Right from the outset, John Blofeld’s book – translation of “Ch’an Master Hui Hai Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening” looked promising.
Having read his excellent translation of “The Zen Teaching of Huang Po On the Transmission of Mind” it was only too natural to explore Hui Hai’s teachings. Being contemporary of Huang Po, his title of the “Great Pearl” was bestowed upon him by his master Ma Tsu, as a compliment to the shinning quality of his shastras; although his official religious name was Hui Hai (Ocean of Wisdom).

“Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening” book possesses a distinct advantage over other books containing teachings of other Ch’an masters, such as Huang Po, in that the Great Pearl composed it himself, and consequently had a freedom to compose and arrange his material at will, whereas teachings written by Huang Po and other Zen masters consist only of what their disciples and followers chose to record for posterity.
Thus in reading “Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening” we are directly exposed to Hui Hai’s enlightened mind, with the only possible distortion coming from the translation process.

The book is quite short – about 120 pages, with another 40 or so pages consisting of translator’s comments and valuable addenda.
Hui Hai’s teachings are understandable, even to a Zen novice like myself, although they will make a special appeal to those readers with a detailed knowledge of the various facets of traditional Buddhist doctrine. Make no mistake though, although he frequently refers to the Mahayana sutras, he remains a staunch believer in the doctrine of sudden as opposed to gradual Enlightenment. Listen to his words: “It is written that bodhi is attainable at the very moment we make up our minds to achieve it – that is to say in this life and not in some lives to come.”
Hopefully, you don’t need more encouragement to get your hands on this enlightening book…