Xinxin Ming (alternate spellings Xin Xin Ming or Xinxinming) (Chinese: 信心銘; Pīnyīn: Xìnxīn Míng; Wade–Giles: Hsin Hsin Ming; Rōmaji: Shinjinmei), meaning literally: "Faith-Mind Inscription", is a poem attributed to the Third Chinese Chán Patriarch Jianzhi Sengcan (Chinese: 鑑智僧璨; Pīnyīn: Jiànzhì Sēngcàn; Wade–Giles: Chien-chih Seng-ts'an; Romaji: Kanchi Sōsan) and one of the earliest Chinese Chan expressions of the Buddhist mind training practice.
Title translation
"Xinxin" has commonly been interpreted as "faith" or "trust." For example, one translation is "Faith in Mind" (See The Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Ch'an Masters, Ch'an Master Sheng-Yen). While this interpretation may appear to some to be a departure from the traditional view of seeking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), it is actually a deliberate declaration and poetic polemic of the Chan (Zen) school written as a response to the increasingly popular movement of faith in Amitaba Buddha known as Pure Land Buddhism. From the Chan/Zen point of view, Buddha and Mind are one (即心即佛) (see the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (六祖壇經)), as expressed in Mazu's famous dictum "Mind is Buddha". Thus, faith in outward Buddhas is contrary to the goal of Buddhism, which is the direct experience of enlightenment. This can only be attained by having faith in Mind as Shakyamuni Buddha himself did. Variations of the title include: "Inscription on Trust in the Mind", "Verses on the Faith Mind", and "On Believing in Mind", as well as others. John McRae (1986:316 n. 64) argues that the title should be translated as "Inscription on Relying on the Mind" or "Inscription of the Perfected Mind". The word "inscription" does accurately convey the idea of a truth that can survive the test of time and is the more literal meaning of ming (銘).
Another reading of the text allows that Xinxin could be understood as the Truthful Mind, which is always ready and perfect, implying that there is no need to further "perfect" it. Because in the Chinese language today, Xinxin (信心) usually means "trust", "confidence", or "believing mind", it is often forgotten that Xinxin can also be understood as the truthful mind (信實的心).[1]
From the Chan/Zen view, the true mind is perfect as it is and only false views obscure the true mind's inherent perfection. As the text states,
"Any degeneration of your previous practice on emptiness arises because of false perspectives.
There is really no need to go after the Truth but there is indeed a need to extinguish biased views." (前空轉變 皆由妄見 不用求真 唯須息見)
Moreover, the passage that follows immediately after explicitly warns against losing the original, true mind (失心):
"Do not dwell in the two biased views. Make sure you do not pursue. The moment you think about right and wrong, that moment you unwittingly lose your true mind." (二見不住 慎勿追尋 才有是非 紛然失心)
Whether translated as Faith in Mind, Believing in Mind, Trust in Mind, or The Truthful Mind, the central message of the Xinxin Ming is the same: to point directly to Mind by giving up one-sided views so we can see the One Suchness of reality as it is.(心若不異 萬法一如)
Authorship
Although Sengcan has traditionally been attributed as the author, modern scholars believe that the verse was written well after Sengcan's death, probably during the Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: Tángcháo) (618–907). (Dumoulin, p 97) Some scholars note the similarity with a poem called Mind Inscription or Song of Mind (Xin Ming)[2] attributed to Niu-t'ou Fa-jung (594–657) of the Oxhead school of Chan and have speculated that the Xinxin Ming is an abridged version of the Mind Inscription. Sharf observes that the Xinxin Ming may have been intended as an "improvement" on the earlier Xin Ming (Mind Inscription).[3] The classical source of the Xinxin Ming can be found in the Transmission of the Lamp (Chinese: 景德傳燈錄; Pinyin: Jǐngdé Chuándēng-lù; Wade–Giles: Ching-te Ch'uanteng-lu; Japanese: Keitoku Dentō-roku).[4][5]
History
The Xinxin Ming has been much beloved by Chan (Zen) practitioners for over a thousand years. It is still studied in Western Zen circles.[6]
As an early expression of Chan Buddhism, the Inscription on Faith in Mind reveals the Buddhist missionary use of expedient means (upaya) in China by adapting Taoist terminology to the Buddhist context of awakening. It also draws on the Wisdom sutras as well as the Avatamsaka Sutra and Lankavatara Sutra to express the essential unity of opposites and the basic nature of emptiness (śūnyatā)[7]
The poem professes the need to take pleasant and unpleasant life experiences with a sense of equanimity. Broadly speaking, the Xinxin Ming deals with the principles and practice of non-duality, that is, with the application of nonduality and the results of its practice.[8]
Excerpts
Opening verse
The opening verse, variously translated, sets out the fundamental principle:
The best way [Great Way, the Tao] is not difficult
Dumoulin, Heinrich (1994, 1998). Zen Buddhism: A History, Volume I, India and China, Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall International ISBN0-02-897109-4
McRae, John R (1986). The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN0-8248-1056-2
Pajin, Dusan (1988). On Faith in Mind, Journal of Oriental Studies, Vol. XXVI, No. 2, Hong Kong 1988, pp. 270–288. or here
^A translation of the Xinxin Ming based on this interpretation is available at: [1]. This is consistent with the traditional view of Buddha nature being there all the time. It just waits to be rediscovered.
^Sacred Texts Henrik H. Sorensen translation of "Mind Inscription", the possible original source of Xinxin Ming
^Robert Sharf, Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism, A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise, page 48, University of Hawai'i Press, 2002
^See, e.g., Soeng (2004), p. xiii: "The poem ... is one of the most beloved texts of the Zen tradition and one of the most familiar of the early Zen texts."
^The early great proponent of the Buddhist analysis of emptiness was Nagarjuna (c.150–250 AD) (Chinese: 龍樹).
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