Attribuée à Huineng
«From the beginning there is not a single thing.»
Fausse attribution
Verdict
Elle ne figure pas dans l'œuvre de Huineng
Huineng's most famous line does not appear in the oldest copy of the Platform Sūtra (Dunhuang, ninth century), where the third line says that buddha-nature is always pure; it appears in the Huixin (967) and Zongbao (1291) versions. It is not false as a text of the tradition, but it cannot safely be attributed to the historical Huineng.
Source: Yampolsky, Philip B. (ed. y trad.). The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: The Text of the Tun-huang Manuscript. Nueva York: Columbia University Press, 1967; reed. 2012 (ISBN 9780231159562).
Ce qu'il a vraiment dit
Paroles vérifiées de Huineng
«Among people there are northerners and southerners; in buddha-nature there is neither north nor south. A barbarian's body is not like Your Reverence's, but what difference is there in buddha-nature?»
Sūtra de la plataforma, versión de Dunhuang, respuesta a Hongren (§3 de Yampolsky). Traducción propia del chino clásico.
«Awakening has no tree, nor has the bright mirror a stand; buddha-nature is always pure: where could there be dust?»
Sūtra de la plataforma, versión de Dunhuang, primera de las dos estrofas de respuesta a Shenxiu (§8 de Yampolsky). Traducción propia del chino clásico.
«Awakening has no tree, nor is the bright mirror a stand; from the beginning there is not a single thing: where would dust alight?»
Sūtra de la plataforma, versión de Zongbao (1291), cap. 1. Esta forma, la más citada, no aparece en la copia de Dunhuang. Traducción propia del chino clásico.