Huineng · Theology

Sudden, Not Gradual

The great fault line of Chan: the Southern school&rsquo;s <em>sudden</em> awakening against the Northern school&rsquo;s <em>gradual</em> cultivation - and what &lsquo;sudden&rsquo; really means, which is not fast, but immediate and whole rather than reached by degrees.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that the Southern school of Huineng championed sudden awakening against the gradual cultivation associated with the Northern school of Shenxiu, that &lsquo;sudden&rsquo; means immediate and whole rather than by stages, and that Huineng himself said sudden and gradual are names for the capacities of people,…

Leads to Xunzi.

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