Shenhui's (_??__??_) Bodhisattva-sila Thought

Parallelisms between the early stage of Chars Buddhism (_??__??_) and the Mahayana-Bodhisattva-sila Movement (_??__??__??__??__??__??__??_) have been pointed out. Northern Song Chan's (_??__??_) Wushen Fangbian men (_??__??__??__??__??__??__??_), Shenhui's Platform-Words (_??__??__??__??_), the Lidai fabao ji and the Dunhuang Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (_??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??_)" ‹Mind-ground-Formless-sila (_??__??__??__??__??_)› record the giving and receiving of the Mahayana-Bodhisattva-CIla according to the rites prescribed in the Fanwang jing (_??__??__??__??__??_) since the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin (_??__??__??__??_). That Shenhui's Platform Words also has the character of a ritual for conferring the bodhisattvasila has been pointed out. However, the rite in the Platform Words was seen as having a transient character belonging to traditional sila studies preceding the Sixth Patriarch Huineng's (_??__??__??__??_) Mind-ground-Formless-sila (_??__??__??__??__??_). But by this report, I want to try to reexamine a conventional opinion about Shenhui's (_??__??_) Bodhisattva-sila thought and its historic positioning, taking as a clue a record of a sermon found in the beginning part of his Platform Words.