ShenXiou (606-706 AD) is the master of Northern Chinese Buddhism. He believes that everyone can achieve Buddhist enlightenment through gradual practice of Buddhism. He writes the following poem.

    My body is the Bodhi* tree

Standing as the Bodhi tree is my body,
Shining like a mirror is my mind.
I polish them day and night,
No dusts should ever land.

* Bodhi: supreme wisdom or enlightenment

HuiLen (638-713 AD) is the master of Southern Chinese Buddhism. He rejects ShenXiou's idea and in response to ShenXiou's poem, he writes:

    Bodhi tree is no tree

    Neither Bodhi tree a real tree,
    Nor shining mirror a real mirror.
    No objects exist in my mind,
    Where can the dusts ever gather?

HuiLen thinks that nothing in the universe is real. (Some people think that virtual reality is a modern thing). Buddhist enlightenment comes as a spiritual leap in faith, not from gradual practice. Both ShenXiou and HuiLen are students of the Fifth Grand Master of Chinese Buddhism--HongRen. Since HuiLen's understanding of Buddhism is a step deeper than ShenXiou's, HuiLen becomes the Sixth Grand Buddhist Master.

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