Spring cleaning of the Mind

My fellow colleagues, being women, started cleaning our tables. Although i commented that we will be relocated to another part of the office, she said its tradition to clean the dust and dirt away before CNY, aka Spring-cleaning.

The word dust reminded me of this story about Hui Neng, the 6th Patriarch.

One day the Fifth Patriarch told his monks to express their wisdom in a poem. Whoever had true realization of his original nature (Buddha Nature) would be ordained the Sixth Patriarch.

The head monk, Shen Hsiu, was the most learned, and wrote the following:

The body is the wisdom-tree,
The mind is a bright mirror in a stand;
Take care to wipe it all the time,
And allow no dust to cling.

"身是菩提树，心如明镜台。时时勤拂拭， 勿使惹尘埃。"

The poem was praised by other monks, but The Fifth Patriarch knew that Shen Hsiu had not yet found his original nature.

On the other hand, Hui Neng couldn't even write, so someone had to write down his poem, which read:

Fundamentally no wisdom-tree exists,
Nor the stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is empty from the beginning,
Where can the dust alight

"菩提本无树，明镜亦非台。本来无一物，何处惹尘埃。"

The Fifth Patriarch pretended that he wasn't impressed with this poem either, but in the middle of the night he summoned Hui Neng. The Fifth Patriarch gave him the insignia of his office, the Patriarch's robe and bowl. Hui Neng was told to leave for the South and to hide his enlightenment and understanding until the proper time arrives for him to propagate the Dharma.