And then, when the Master saw Huineng’s verses, He knew immediately this guy was already truly highly enlightened. But what did He (Hongren) do? He used His shoes to erase it, like, “This is garbage.” You know what I mean? He said, “This is also nothing. Yes, it’s nothing.” …But then at night, He went to Huineng’s room… to where He was polishing rice. When He saw Huineng working very hard, He was very touched. He said, “Oh, because of enlightenment, You really, really bear all this.”
He understood the nature of it. It says in the sutra your heart, meaning your mind, your thoughts, should not dwell on anything, then you’ll achieve the Wonder. Something like that. So, He understood immediately. Understanding, realizing, and knowing are all different things. Not like, “Oh, He read that and I heard that, I can repeat it.” It’s different. It’s different from your realization inside.
