Xin Ming
The Xin Ming, or "Mind Inscription", also rendered in the Wade-Giles romanization as Hsin ming, is a Chan Buddhist text attributed to Niutou Farong, whom the Oxhead School regarded as its founder. The Xin Ming can be found in chapter thirty of the The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp. It is not to be confused with the famous Xinxin Ming, or "Faith-Mind Inscription", which is a related but separate text.
Question of authorship and relationship to other texts
Although attributed to Niutou Farong, the Xin Ming can be grouped together with a number of early Chan texts which were probably composed sometime during the eighth or ninth century. These texts exhibit a similarity of lexical terms and doctrinal content, and include: the Jueguan lun, the Wuxin lun, the Xinwang Ming, and the Xinxin Ming.John McRae doubts that the Xin Ming can be attributed to Niutou Farong. According to Henrik Sorensen, although no definitive proof exists that the Xin Ming was authored by Niutou Farong, a number of points, as well as style and content, allow for the text to be associated with Farong and the Oxhead School. Sorensen also observes the similarity between it and the Jueguan lun, and says, "there seems to be little doubt that they are both the product, if not by the same author, then at least by followers of the same type of Ch'an doctrine." According to Yanagida Seizan, the Jueguan lun is either by Farong or one of his close disciples.
Sorensen further notes the close affinity, both in content and style, between the Xin Ming and the famous Xinxin Ming. Additionally, Robert Sharf points out that the well-known Xinxin Ming closely resembles the Xin Ming and it has been suggested by some scholars that the Xinxin Ming was intended as an "improvement" on the earlier Xin Ming. Although the famous Xinxin Ming is traditionally attributed to the third Chan patriarch Sengcan, this is not taken seriously by scholarship, and both it and the earlier Xin Ming are considered to be associated with the Oxhead School.
Excerpts and analysis of contents
Sharf observes that the Xin Ming and the slightly later, and more famous, Xinxin Ming, bear a close resemblance to each other, and points to the Oxhead School associations of both texts. A term that occurs in both works is self-illumination, and in the Xin Ming one finds the following:Bodhi exists originally
It has no need of being preserved
Afflictions have no intrinsic existence
They do not need to be eradicated
Numinous knowing is self-illuminated
The myriad dharmas return to Thusness
There is no return, no receiving
Cut off contemplation, forget preservation
One can also find in this passage a rejection of the notion of "maintaining" or "preserving". According to Kuno, the Xin Ming exhibits opposition to "maintaining mind", a contemplative practice of the Northern School. Henrik Sorensen likewise observes that the Xin Ming contains references to, and rejections of, the practice of shouxin. For example: "By grasping the mind and maintaining stillness, one will still not be able to leave behind the sickness." Commenting on the points in common between the Xin Ming and the Xinxin Ming, Dusan Pajin observes the similarity between the Xin Ming's admonition against using the mind to maintain tranquility and a stanza in the Xinxin Ming in which one finds: "To use the mind to hold the mind / Is it not a great mistake?"
Sorensen notes the presence of terms commonly associated with Daoism in the Xin Ming, such as wuwei :
Enjoying the Dao is calming
Wandering at ease in the truly real
Nothing to do , nothing to attain
Relying on nothing, appearing naturally
Sorensen also observes the appearance in the Xin Ming of the Daoist term ziran. This term occurs twice in the text, both times in connection with brightness :
Without unifying, without dispersing
Neither quick nor slow
Bright, peaceful and naturally so
It cannot be reached by words
And also:
Do not extinguish ordinary feeling
Only teach putting opinions to rest
When opinions are no more, the heart ceases
When heart is no more, practice is cut off
There is no need to prove the Void
It is naturally bright and penetrating