The Sixth Patriarch heard someone recite the Diamond Sutra phrase “arouse the mind without placing it anywhere,” and he awakened.

Ling-yun saw a peach blossom and awakened.

Hsiang-yen heard a tile fragment strike bamboo, and he awakened.

Lin-chi was given sixty blows by Huang-po, and he awakened.

Tung-shan noticed his own reflection when he was crossing a river, and he awakened.