structural:summarization
Meditation and wisdom

Huineng taught that meditation and wisdom were not sequential, with one being prior to and giving rise to the other, since in that case "the Dharma would have two characteristics." Instead, Huineng says they are not different and form an essence-function relationship. For Huineng, wisdom is the function of meditation, while meditation is the essence of wisdom. In this way, when wisdom is present, so too is meditation; and when meditation is present, so too is wisdom. Huineng uses an analogy of a lamp and its light to illustrate this point. Where light is the function of a lamp, the lamp is the essence of the light.

As Gregory points out, Huineng's oneness of meditation and wisdom is a sudden practice, as it does not treat meditation, or concentration, as a means of achieving wisdom. For that would be to understand meditation and wisdom dualistically. Moreover, using meditation as a means takes enlightenment as something to be realized in the future. Such an understanding is gradualistic and fails to recognize the enlightenment that is already present.