The Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, was poor, illiterate and had no standing in the monastic community. He had received the robe and bowl in secret from Hung Mei, who recognized his achievement and realized that the other monks were not yet ready to accept this unknown as the new Patriarch. Hui-neng fled the monastery and lived in seclusion for sixteen years with a group of hunters he chanced upon. When he finally began to teach, Yin Sung asked the Sixth Patriarch, “How was the Huang Mei doctrine taught?” He replied, “There was no teaching but the Patriarch only discussed looking into (self)-nature and did not postulate meditation and deliverance.” - On the Transmission of Buddhism from India to China