故事背景：

禅宗五祖弘忍召集门人要求众人作偈，欲传衣钵。众人谦让给教授师神秀。神秀在深夜时，在堂前写下偈子：
「身是菩提树，心如明镜台，时时勤拂拭，勿使惹尘埃。」

五祖看后，认为神秀未见性，却也可令众人依之修行。惠能听闻后，因不识字，请旁人写下自做的偈子：
「菩提本无树，明镜亦非台，本来无一物，何处惹尘埃？」

门人惊讶。五祖恐有人嫉恨伤害惠能，用鞋将偈子抹去，道：「这首偈并未见性。」众人听后作罢。次日，五祖到碓坊，以手杖在舂米用具上敲三下离去。惠能领悟，在三更时进方丈室（猴哥！你的悟性就是这样学的啊！），五祖授以金刚经，讲至「应无所住而生其心」，惠能大悟，作偈：「何期自性本自清静，何期自性本不生灭，何期自性本自具足，何期自性本无动摇，何期自性能生万法。」五祖知其已悟性，遂传衣钵于六祖惠能。

偈子英译：

身是菩提树，心如明镜台，时时勤拂拭，勿使惹尘埃。
My body is a bodhi tree
My mind a mirror mantel
Brushed from time to time
So no dust shall settle

Legend says Shakyamuni Buddha sat under a bodhi tree - aka Sacred Fig, for six years without moving, and attained enlightenment. In this gatha, Shenxiu compares his body to the bodhi tree, his mind to a calm and still mirror, impervious to outside influence. Both body and mind are to be "brushed" from time to time, to shed the dust that are the temptations and anxieties of the material world. The 5th Patriarch of Zen in China, Hongren, after seeing this gatha, did not feel that Shenxiu had attained enlightenment.

菩提本无树，明镜亦非台，本来无一物，何处惹尘埃？
Bodhi means not the tree
Mind's mirror has no mantel
In a state of nothingness
Where would dust settle?

This gatha is written by Huineng, the future 6th Patriarch of Zen in China, as a direct challenge and refusal to Shenxiu's gatha. At this time, Huineng shows great promise and comprehension towards enlightenment, but has not foregone his bullheadedness. In his challenge he claims: Bodhi means enlightenment, which has nothing to do with the tree. The mirror refers to a serene state of mind, not a physical mirror mantel. This inner mirror reflects everything away, retaining nothing. So in this state of nothingness, how can there be any "surfaces" for the proverbial dust that is temptation, vexation, etc., to settle? Based on his gatha, the reigning 5th Patriarch was able to see Huineng's true potential, and proceeds to guide him towards enlightenment.