Hakuin was about seven years old when Bankei died in 1693. So far I have not discovered if Hakuin even knew of Bankei. But he did rail against what he called "Do nothing Zen." Bankei probably worked as hard as Hakuin at attaining enlightenment, until he realized the error of his ways.
Hakuin was always unnecessarily critical of Bankei, apart from the fact Bankei had died long before Hakuin was even old enough to have heard of Zen. When Bankei first began teaching he used the term Original Mind, "Only Original Mind exists," later on adopting the term Fusho, Unborn. Bankei's approach to training didn't require one to physically push oneself to the point of endangering one's health and safety. Remember, Hakuin nearly died from pushing himself to extremes in terms of grueling training. He was only saved from death by learning life sustaining Taoist practices taught to him by the hermit Hakuyu in the Shirakawa Mountains. Bankei stressed remaining in Original Mind, and in this way echoed the Tang Dynasty Master Huang Po, who said "There is absolutely nothing which can be attained." In turn Huang Po echoed what the Buddha had said "I truly attained nothing from complete unexcelled enlightenment."
