Sengcan
Chan Buddhism · d. 606
“The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.”
Sengcan was the third Chinese patriarch of Chan Buddhism. Almost nothing is known of his life — fitting for a teacher whose central message was the dissolution of the self that wants to be known.
He is remembered entirely for one text: the Xinxin Ming (Faith in Mind), a poem of roughly 600 characters that distils the whole of Chan teaching.
Its opening line — “The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences” — has been a touchstone for fourteen centuries.
Key teachings
Non-Preference
Stop choosing between this and that, good and bad. The Great Way opens when preferences dissolve.
Faith in Mind
Trust the mind itself. Not belief, but a settling into what is already present without grasping.
Notable works
Xinxin Ming (Faith in Mind)
One of the oldest Chan poems. 600 characters on the dissolution of duality.
One teaching like this each morning — and Mu, a companion who remembers your path.
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