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According to the Transmission of the Lamp, Mazu was a student of Nanyue Huairang (677-744) at Mount Heng in Hunan.
A story on Mazu's enlightenment was transcribed in 952 & it went as follows:
Reverend Ma was sitting in a spot, and Reverend Rang took a tile and sat on the rock facing him, rubbing it. Master Ma asked, "What are you doing?" Master [Huairang] said, "I'm rubbing the tile to make it a mirror." Master Ma said, "How can you make a mirror by rubbing a tile?" Master [Huairang] said, "If I can't make a mirror by rubbing a tile, how can you achieve buddhahood by sitting in meditation?"
This story downgrades the purificative and gradualist practices & supports instead the direct insight into the Buddha-nature.
While Hakuin lived nearly 1,000 years after Huineng, they are spiritually connected through the Rinzai (Linji) Zen lineage:
1. Huineng → Mazu Daoyi → Linji Yixuan (founder of Rinzai Zen) → ... → Hakuin