40b.5 Transmission Outside The Scriptures

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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?
Transmission outside the scriptures?

The evolution of Chn Buddhism as a religion in its own right
by Piya Tan 2008 (2nd rev), 2009 (3rd rev) Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. (Voltaire, alternative translation of passage from Questions sur les miracles, 1765)
Here we will examine the rise of Chn , that is, the ancestor of Korean Seon , Japanese Zen , Vietnamese Thin, and their various descendents found today in the West and elsewhere. Of special interest is the transformation of Tathgata Chn (rli chn ) into patriarch Chn (zsh chn ), how the Buddha was effectively replaced by the ancestor during the Golden Age of Chn in China.1
5.1 BODHI,DHARMA AND THE CHN LINEAGE

5.1.1 Who was Bodhi,dharma? Bodhidharma (Ptdm , or simply Dm , early 5th century CE),2 the earliest and a major legendary figure in Chn, traditionally said to have brought it to China. We know very little about Bodhidharma, and we have no contemporary information on him. Later accounts were layered with legend, but most accounts agree that he was either a South Indian or Persian monk who travelled to southern China and subsequently moved northwards. 5.1.1a Bodhidharma Traditional sources are not agreed (woodcut print by Tsukioka on when Bodhidharma came to China. Yoshitoshi, 1887) One early account claimed that he arrived during the Li Sng period (420-479), and later accounts dated his arrival during the Ling dynasty (502-557), but he was primarily active in the Northern Wi (386534).3 Modern scholars date him around the early fifth century,4 so that the 6th century can be said to be the Bodhidharma Century. According to a well known account, Bodhidharma, failing to make a favourable impression in southern China, headed northwards to Northern Wi and lived in a cave near the Sholn monastery . It was in 5.1.1b Daruma doll of the this connection that legends about his association of Chinese kungfu Okiagari-koboshi type arose.5 While living in the cave, he was said to have faced a wall6 for (photo by Farah Eliane de nine years, not speaking for the entire time.7 A version of this legend Benutzer, 2005)
On a study of Tathgata Chn & patriarch Chn, see Y, Chn-fang, Chan education in the Sung, 1989. For refs, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma. 3 For some of the accounts, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma. 4 Jeffrey Broughton in Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2003 1: 57, 130. 5 Chinese martial arts have existed before the arrival of Bodhidharma. His status in martial arts is due to his role in the institutionalization of Chinese martial arts, presumably by introducing exercises, meditation, discipline, newer techniques etc, to the native fighting methods during his stay at the Shaolin monastery. See WONG Kiew Kiat, The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense, Health and Enlightenment, Rutland, VT & Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2002. 215 pp. See also: http://static.wikipedia.org/new/wikipedia/en/articles/a/s/i/Asian_martial_arts_%28origins%29.html. 6 This is called bgun , wall-gazing: but the Chinese sources interpret it differently: see under Medi tation at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma. 7 LIN Boyuan 1996: 182.
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SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese
says after sitting in meditation for that long his legs atrophied,8 which is why East Asian Daruma wobble dolls (bdowng ) have no legs!9 Another famous legend says that he fell asleep for seven years into his nine years of wall-gazing. Angry with himself, he cut off his eyelids to prevent it from happening again.10 It is said that, when his eyelids fell to the floor, the first tea plants sprouted up; and thereafter tea would provide a stimulant to help keep Chn students awake during meditation.11 Similarly, we only know of his death through legends, where one of them says that, after the nine years, Bodhidharma passed away, seated upright.12 Another legend says that he simply disappeared, leaving behind the Yjn Jng (literally, Muscle/Tendon Change Classic), a qgng manual (though this has been doubted by several martial arts historians).13 5.1.2 The Chn root quatrain. 5.1.2.1 THE BODHIDHARMA VERSE. The traditional Chn view has been that the famous quatrain or four slogans originated with Bodhidharma, and that they contain the essence of Chn, thus:14 jio wi bi zhun b l wn z zh zh rn xn jin xng chng f A special [separate] transmission outside the teachings, do not depend on written words,15 directly point to the human mind, see ones nature and become Buddha. (See T2008.360a24-360c12 & 2008.364c9-364c24)
Contemporary writers following orthodox Chn views, regard this quatrain as the product of the Tng period, reflecting the rise to prominence of Chn during the golden age, that is, the 8th and 9th centuries.16 The truth is that these slogans were separately found in works dating before the Sng, but they do not appear together as a quatrain until well into the Sng. They were then attributed to Bodhi,dharma in a collection of sayings of Chn master Fnghu (or more colloquially, Hui or Huai)17 (992-1064), preserved in the Chrestomathy from the Patriarchs Hall (Ztngshyun TX64.1261), compiled by Mn Shnqng (du) in 1108.18 It was the early Sng historian and scholar-monk Znnng (919-1001) [5.1.2.3] who attributed this three-line verse to Bodhidharma [5.1], thus:
H Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History vol 1: India and China, 2005: 86. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daruma_doll & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okiagari-koboshi. 10 Alan W Watts, The Way of Zen. Pelican Books, 1962: 106. 11 Maguire 2001: 58. 12 LIN Boyuan 1996: 182. 13 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Jin_Jing. 14 H Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History vol 1: India and China, 2005: 85; Welter, The disputed place of a special transmission outside the scriptures in Chan 1996, Mahkyapas smile 2000. 15 Most trs take wnz () as a dvandva (words and letters), but the more common usage is as karmadhar aya (descriptive cpd), which I follow here. 16 This is the position, eg of Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism, 1988: 85, following the works of Japanese Rinzai scholars like FURUTA Shkin and YANAGIDA Seizan. 17 More fully, Yunzhu yngq fnghu chnsh , or in brief, Hu chnsh . See also Miura, Zen Dust 1966: 228-230; Suzuki, Essays 1 1927: 176; Welter 2000: 77-80. 18 The Ztngshyun is a record of masters associated with the Ynmn lineage. The quatrain was attr to Bodhidharma in two places by Huai, in ch 5 (TX64.1261.377b & 379a). See Miura, Zen Dust 1966: 228-230; Suzuki, Essays 1 1927: 176; Foulk, Controversies concerning the separate transmission, 1999: 265 f; Welter, Mah Kyapas smile, 2000: 77-80.
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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture? zh zh rn xn jin xng chng f b l wn z Directly point to human mind, see ones nature and become Buddha, do not depend on written words.19
Significantly, the first line, A special [separate] transmission outside the teachings was missing in this ancient verse. The first linea special [separate] transmission outside the teachings (jio wi bi zhun ) was controversial from the start, as already mentioned. The most common line was the last, or rather the first half (two characters) of itsee ones nature (jin xng )which was an old Daoist idea, promoted by Doshng (535-434), a disciple of Kumra,jva, well known for his Daoist learning [2.2.3]. The first full line(jin xng chng f ) see ones nature and become Buddhafirst appeared in the commentary to the Nirva Stra [4.1.1], in a statement attributed to the Koguryo monk Snglng (5th-6th cent)20 before the Tng dynasty. And the two middle linesdo not depend upon written words (b l wnz ) and directly point to the human mind (zh zh rn xn ) became well known only at the end of the Tng period. The controversial first linea special transmission outside the teachings (jio wi bi zhun )was said to be found on the tomb inscription of Lnj Yxun (d 867) [5.3.2], attributed to his disciple, Fngxu Ynzho (896-973), and appended to the end of the Lnj l ,21 the record of Lnjs teachings. However, as the Japanese Zen scholar, YANAGIDA Seizan, has pointed out, the historical authenticity of this inscription is very uncertain.22 It is more certain, however, that this first line was first documented in the Ztng j (Anthology of the Patriarchs Hall), compiled in 952. It is mentioned in the Jngd chundng l (The Jingde Era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp), completed in 1004, and where it was attributed to Gushng, in his biography [5.1.2.6]. We are now certain that this first line was not the invention of Bodhidharma, the Lnj or anyone of the Tng Chn tradition. In fact, it is perhaps not earlier than the Tang dynasty, certainly not before the 5th-6th centuries. At the start of the 12th century, the saying, a special transmission outside the teachings, was mentioned in the list of Chn sayings attributed to the Chn patriarch Bodhidharma in Ztng j (952). Connecting the Lnj line and Bodhidharma was the culmination of identity-building for the Lnj lineage by its own members. The inclusion of this quatrain into the Lnj record was clearly for the sake of legitimizing the Lnj lineage during the Sng dynasty to compete for the support of the elite, which was a common practice then. The current version of the Chn quatrain is also found in an edition of the Lnj l dated 1120. The character jio in the first line means religion (and as a verb jio means teach), but is often mistranslated as scripture which would be jng . In the second line, wnz does not mean word but (Chinese) character, written word. In other words, Chn does not reject any sutra or scripture. This means that for the Chn tradition (as with early Buddhism), it is the spirit of the teaching, not the word of the teaching that is the true transmission. This is further supported by the next two lines: such a transmission occurs through the living word, and as such is a direct transmission from teacher to pupil, or from one person to another (that is, not through books or a dead medium). That Chn and Zen reject scriptures
See Welter, The disputed place of a special transmission outside the scriptures in Chan, 1996: 1. One of the earliest eminent monks from Goguryeo or Koguryo (5th-6th cent) who travelled in China and lived there for a lengthy period, and where he studied Snln and Huyn before returning home. (X gosng zhun T 2060.50.425c25, Gosng zhun T 2059.50.351b25) (based on AC Muller). 21 T1985.47.495b-506c. One of the most popular texts in the Chn schools of East Asian Buddhism. There are numerous English trs, incl The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi by Burton Watson, Columbia Univ Press, 1999. 22 Shoki no Zenshi 2, 1976.
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interestingly is a western scholarly construction due to a simple mistranslation! This may explain the fact that Chn and Zen are the most prolix and verbose of Buddhist schools!23 5.1.2.2 WYU, FYN CHN AND THE WN MONKS. One of the most successful, if not the most successful, Buddhist kingdoms of ancient China was the Wyu kingdom (907-978) [4.1.1], whose capital was at Hngzhu .24 The king of Wyu highly respected the Chn patriarch Fyn Wny th (885-958), and was deeply influenced by his teachings. In fact, 10 century China was dominated by the practitioners and supporters of the Fyn lineage, many of whom were of great fame and influence. The Fyn circle regarded Chn as the quintessential apex of all Buddhism, which it viewed as an indispensable force in the creation of a civilized society.25 Driven by this vision of a Buddhist utopia, the Wyu rulers made the building and rebuilding of Buddhist institutions and sites their central concern. The Mt Tinti complex was rebuilt, and new Buddhist centres, such as the Yngmng temple in Lnn (west of Hngzhu), constructed. Ambassadors were sent to Japan and Korea to collect copies of important texts no longer found in China. In due course, the monastics of Wyu built a great reputation for themselves and Buddhists throughout China were drawn to its monasteries. The leading Wyu official and monk Znnng [5.1.2.3] was a high official in the royal court of the second Sng emperor, Tizng (, r 626-649), the emperor of letters (wnd ). The wn () revival in early Sng marked an important turning point in Chinese intellectual history, which [f]rom its outsetsignaled a return to native values and a study of the sources that discusses them,26 and there was a consensus that this revival be guided by Confucianism. While some argued for the purist classical culture (gwn ), others (including Znnng) proposed a broader view to embrace innovative forms. This was the period of the lettered monks (wnsng ). Understandably, Znnng, who was himself a prolific literato, proposed that Buddhism be a part of this Sng renaissance, that is, to be included in the new definition of culture (wn ), but was strongly opposed by the Confucianists. Although he did not succeed in his proposals, his learning and writings continued to impress and influence the emperor and the court. In other words, he was himself a Buddhist wn master. Znnngs numerous works reflected his broad knowledge of the Chinese literary tradition, but sadly none of these works survived. 5.1.2.3 WYU: ZNNNG AND YNSHU. Wyu Chn continued the old Tng traditions, but its patriarchs distinguished themselves with the syncretic harmonization between Chn and Huyn (by Wny , 885-958), between Chn and Tinti (by Dsho , 891-972), and between Chn and Pure Land (by Ynshu , 904-975). Wyu Chn was officially represented at the Sng court by Znnng [5.1.2.2]. Znnng accepted the three-line Tng verse attributed to Bodhidharma (that is, without the first line) [5.1.2.1], and accepted Bodhidharmas teachings as a branch of the larger tradition coming down from Shakyamuni. Znnng held the view that those who took Chn to be independent of the mainstream teaching did not understand that
See Vladimir K[eremidschieff], Legends in Chan, 2005. Wuyue was a small but significant kingdom that covered the area of modern Jings shng and Zhjing shng . It was ruled over by Qinli (902-931), his son and three grandsons for over 70 years, the longest surviving of all the states of the Five Dynasties and Ten King doms period Wcho shgu ( ) [2.3.4]. Qian Liu started as a common soldier but rose to become an able and shrewd Tng military governor, and died at 80, the longest lived ruler of the period. His successsors wisely gave up expansionism, and focussed on building a network of commercial, diplomatic and cultural relations which enriched the kingdom and ensured its survival despite its small size and relatively limited natural sources. See Cambridge Ency of China, 1991: 175. 25 Further see Welter 2006a: 5 & 2006b: 186-207. 26 See Albert Welter, A Buddhist response to the Confucian revival, 1999.
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The scriptures are the words of the Buddha, and meditation (Chn) is the thought of the Buddha: there is no discrepancy whatsoever between what the Buddha conceives in his mind and what he utters with his mouth. (Znnng, T50-790a)27 Znnngs inspiration was Zngm (780-841) [4.3.3.1], a patriarch of both Chn and Huyn, and who presented a harmonious syncretism of Chn and Buddhism as a whole.28 Zngm was also the model for Yngmng Ynshu (904-975), the leading Wyu Chn authority. Ynshu, as such, advocated the practice of Chn in accordance with Indian Buddhism, opposing those who have become attached to emptiness, and (whose practice) is not compatible with the scriptures (T48.961b), following the words of Zhy and the Tinti school. According to Ynshu, it is necessary to engage in two types of meditation practice, namely, calmness (sh ) and insight (l ), in order to awaken. Calmness may arise from common activities such as worship, etc.29 Those who become attached to emptinessthat is, those who devoted themselves to cultivating insight at the expense of engaging in mindfulness of common daily activitiesshould learn to calm their minds, for example, by focussing on their breath. Meditation practice, in other words, should be harmonized between calm and insight. OPPOSING VIEWS. Some Chn teachers outside of the Wyu community saw the two conceptions of harmony between Chn and the scriptures and a special transmission outside the scriptures as competing epistemologies. The former was a form of rationalism, a view that scripture is a means of communicating the truth, while the latter was a sort of mysticism, a view that enlightenment is beyond word and thought, and that scripture is incapable of conveying it. Simply put, the early Sng Chn debate was whether Chn was rationalist or an independent mystical tradition. Sng Chn is generally presented as denying rationalism in favour of a special transmission outside the teachings that does not depend on written words, taking the two slogans as a couplet. Here, both phrases point to the common principle that enlightenment, as experienced by the Buddha and transmitted through the patriarchs, is independent of verbal explanations, including the Buddhas teachings as scripture and later doctrinal elaborations. This view was rejected by Wyu Chn, which regarded the injunction, do not depend on written words and the principle of a special transmission outside the teachings as opposing ideas. Wyu Chn accepted Bodhidharmas warning against attachment to scriptures and doctrines, but did not accept that this warning amounted to a categorical denial of scripture. However, as Chn became established in the Sng, its priests and officials rose to challenge the Wyu Chn view, and insisted on an independent tradition outside the scriptures. In short, the view that Chn was a special transmission outside the scriptures was a post -Tng innovation, a view rejected by the Wyu Chn tradition and generally unaccepted today, too. We will now examine how the Lnj line, during the Sng period, successfully argued for official recognition as a special transmission outside the teachings, claiming for Chn a unique identity in Chinese Buddhism. 5.1.2.4 CODNG ASCENT. Before the time of Dhu Znggo ( 1089-1163) [5.1.3], when the gngn was not yet a developed form, the predominant Chn practice form was the so called silent illumination meditation (mzho chn ) of the Codng school [5.3.2], which had been moribund then. However, during early 12th century, it had a suprising growth spurt and flourished well enough to attract the support of the literati. Apparently, this Codng renascence proved disruptive of the other groups, especially the powerful Lnj, After all, literati and funds were finite, and the Codng success had diverted support and resources away from the Lnj.
See Heine & Wright, The Koan, 2000: 89 f & Wright, The disputed place of a special transmission out side of the scriptures in Chan, 1996: 2-5 digital. 28 Zanning also argued that Buddhism should be a part of mainstream Chinese culture ( wn ): see Albert Welter, A Buddhist response to the Confucian revival, 1999: 21-61. 29 See Heine & Wright, The Koan, 2000: 90 f.
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Although the Codng ascent began even before Dhu, it was only when he came to Fjin in 1134, that he realized its extent, mainly as a result of Qnglio Zngju (also known as Zhnxi Qnglio 1091-1152), the abbot of the prestigious Xufng s (Snow Peak Monastery) in Fuzhou since 1130 (Jinyn 4th year ). Dhu expressly resented the Codng success, especially concerned that the literati were caught up with silent illumination, 30 which was actually very traditional meditation. Dhu vehemently denounced Qnglio and his meditation, and almost all his attacks on silent illumination Chn were in the form of epistles to the literati or in his sermons given to the literati.31 Dhus attacks against the Codng had one interesting characteristic: they were sharp but lacking any point. Take for example this characteristic excerpt from one of his epistles to the literati: Heretical teachers teach literati to regulate the mind and to do quiet-sitting, completely separating themselves from all matters, ceasing and resting. This is clearly a case of using the mind to cease the mind, using the mind to rest the mind, and using the mind to apply the mind. Practicing in this way, how can they not fall into the realm of [dead-end] dhyna and annihilation like the nonBuddhists and the Hnaynists? (Dhu yl T47.923b9-12)32 Throughout his attacks, he rarely specified what exactly was wrong with silent illumination Chn or why its followers misunderstood Chn enlightenment.33 There was a very good reason for Dhus very biased and blanket attack on Codng. After all, the Codng system of silent illumination Chn was very little different from traditional meditation, and which was well taught by the Codng masters, especially Hngzh Zhngju and Qnglio Zngju (both students of Dnxi Zchn , 1064-1117).34 The point is that Dhu was not concerned with the difference in meditation: there was very little significant difference between his system and that of Codng. He attacked Codng especially for its teaching silent illumination Chn to the literati. When he realized that too many members of the literati were studying under Codng masters, his concern reached panic level.35 And so, as we shall see, just as Shnhu [5.2.3] was to the Northern School, Dhu was to Codng! [5.2.1.2] Significantly, in his attacks, Dhu consistently presented his warnings against silent illumination meditation together with his advocacy of his gngn meditation method.36 As Morten Schltter notes: Therefore there is little doubt that Ta-hui [Dhu] developed his Kung-an Introspection method as a direct response to the Silent Illumination teachings of the Tsao-tung [Codng] tradition, and mainly in order to entice literati away from these teachings. Ta-hui saw Kung-an Introspection Chan as an antidote to what he considered the passivity and lack of enlightenment of Silent Illumination. To Ta-hui, Kung-an Introspection Chan was a shortcut to enlightenment, a technique that both simplified kung-an practice and amplified its power and efficacy. (Schltter 2000: 190)
Dhu yl T47.1998A.885a24-885a3; also tr in Christopher Cleary, Swampland Flowers: the Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui, NY: Grove Press, 1977: 124 (with some inaccuracies). (Schltter 2000: 199 n 114) 31 See Dhus pshu (mass sermons) and fy (Dharma talks) at T47.863-916, and his letters at T47.916-943. 32 See also Araki, Daieo sho 67; cited in Bielefeldt (tr), Dgens Manuals, 1988: 101. 33 Even when he did try to explain his position, he was perfunctory and philosophical, eg When the actualiza tion of enlightenment (shju ) merges with inherent enlightenment (bnju ), then this is called Buddha (Dahui pju chnsh pshu TX5.466b2-7; see also Dhu yl, T47.888a12-18; Ishii, Sdai zensh, 2000: 343; cf Dhu yl, T47.878b27-c3 for parallel passage without criticism of silent illumination). See Schltter 2000:113, 116-126. 34 See Dnxi Zchn chnsh yl . 35 See Schltter 2000: 127-135. 36 See eg T47.884c-886a, 890a-892c, 901c, 923a, 933c, 937a-b.
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Even though Dhus gngn meditation was meant for monastics, he astutely and freely now prescribed it for the literato laity. His Machiavellian cunning worked, since the gngn meditation was easier to do and fit in more easily with the literatis busy lives. And the silent illumination method became so discredited through Dhus attacks that it was never used again in a positive sense.37 Here again we have a very good example of how a great masters wrong view was piously taken up by the admiring laity in the manner warned by the (Ahitya) Thera Sutta (A 5.88). [5.2.3.10] 5.1.2.5 JNGD CHUNDNG L AND FZ TNGJ. In critical studies of texts, internal evidence or lack of them, especially in a number of texts, can be helpful in ascertaining the facts. The Jngd zhundng l (The Jingde Era Record of the Lamp Transmission),38 an influential transmission record promoting the Fyn lineage compiled by fellow Wyu monk Doyun (du), a Korean, is oddly inconsistent with the mood of harmony between Chn and the scriptures referred to in the writings of Ynshu and Znnng. Although it was a Wyu work, it was strongly sectarian, emphasizing transmission verses and encounter dialogues. It is a style that was at odds with conventional Buddhism and harmony between Chn and the scriptures. In fact, its strong sectarian tone became the model for the new style of Buddhist biography prevalent in Sng Chn, which emphasized lineage as the basis for sectarian identity. Even more interesting, as Albert Welter points out, are the two prefacesone by Yngy and the other by Doyunto the Jngd zhundng l, but only one is appended to it. The preface by Yngy (974-1020), a prominent Sng official who re-edited the text and provided it with the title by which we know it today, is appended, and is the standard edition. However, the preface by the original compiler of the text, Doyun, was preserved separately.39 Yngy s preface reveals that Doyuns original transmission record had been edited by leading Sng officials, headed by Yngy himself. Since Doyuns original compilation is no longer extant, it is difficult to assess how the text had been changed. Doyuns original title for the work, Fz tngj 40 (Complete Chronicle of the Buddhas and the Patriarchs), suggests harmony between Chn and the Buddhist tradition, but Yngy s bowdlerized revision, the Jngd zhundng l, showed otherwise. This disparity is clearly hinted at in their respective prefaces. Doyuns Chn practice was consistent with Wyu Chn, especially in promoting a myriad practices are employed according to differences among practitioners, as advocated by Ynshu. Yngy , on the other hand, projected Chn as a special practice outside the scriptures, which promoted Chn exclusivity and undermines pluralism. Yngy s reinterpretation of Chn showed the prominence that Chn had in Sng society, and the role that the Sng literati played in determining Chn ideology. In fact, Yngy , more than any other figure, was responsible for establishing Chn as a special transmission outside the scriptures in official Sng Chn circles. 5.1.2.6 THE TINSHNG GUNGDNG L. When we look at any scripture, especially when it is printed in a neat volume or set of volumes, we may have the impression that they were put altogether in the same neat manner. But religious texts, even the early Buddhist canon, have a complicated history of being an open canon at first, and then closed at some point in the religions history. Similarly, we often hear or
Schltter 2000: 191. Codng however flourished as St Zen in Japan, through the lineage of Dgen (1200 1253) (who received Dharma transmission from Tintng Rjng (1163-1228), the 13th Codng patriarch), and is today the largest of the Japanese Zen schools (the other two being Rinzai and Obaku). Unlike Dhu [5.1.3.1], Dgen was more Sutra-based. For refs, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soto. For Dgens Shbgenz, see http://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.html. [5.1.3.3] 38 T2076.51.196-467, completed in 1004 (1st year of Jngd , Sng dynasty). He was a mid-Kory period monk who built the Heungwangsa (in ancient Korea). The work has 2 prefaces, one by Yngy (1004, Sng dynasty, T2035-402c.23), and the other by Yi Saek (1372, Kory; app). 39 Welter 1996: 5. 40 Fozu tongji (54 fasc), by Zhpn (1220-1275), completed in 1269 (T2035.49.129a-475c); an extensive historical record of Buddhism from a Tinti perspective, written in the style of secular historical records, along with various historical, doctrinal, cosmological, and other expositions.
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read about Chn and Bodhidharmas famous quatrain, and we think that must be a very ancient saying. But the reality, even more so the history, of such received wisdom is very complicated. The history of institutional Buddhism in imperial China was closely link with the court. There is clear evidence of this in the Sng period, when the Lnj lineage asserted its supremacy with the publication of the Tinshng gungdng l . It was compiled by L Znx (988-1038)the son-inlaw of emperor Tizng (r 976-998), brother-in-law of the emperor Zhnzng (r 998-1023), and elder relative of the emperor Rnzng (r 1023-1064)so that even the text bore the reign title, Tinshng , and the emperor himself contributed a preface.41 Upon completion, the Gungdng l was admitted to the Buddhist canon, following the precedent of the Chundng l before it, and with it, Lnjs reputation was further enhanced. Lnjs teachings were recorded in toto in the Gungdng l for the first time. He became the official transmission link down from Mz (677-744), Bizhng (749-814) and Hungb (d 850) [5.3.2]. As Welter has noted, Hungb was not the only, or even the best candidate as Lnjs Dharma -master, nor was the route to Lnj the only possible choice for Chn orthodoxy.42 The point here is that the patriarchal status was one of prestige, not spirituality. According to the Tinshng gungdng l, the interpretation of Chn as a special transmission outside the scriptures was not the innovation of Bodhidharma or Lnj, as suggested in later tradition. The first mention of a special transmission outside the scriptures in the Tinshng gungdng l was in the biography of Chn master Yxin Gushng (late 10th-early 11th cent), from the Gungjio Temple on Mt Bon in Szhu ,43 a recipient of the patriarchs purple robe (zy ) [5.2.2.2.]. He is reputed to be cold and severe, tough and frugal and that even patch-robed monks respected and feared him.44 Gushng used the phrase in connection with a sermon in which he tried to explain the meaning of Bodhidharmas coming from the west,

Dm x li fchun dngt zhzh rnxn jinxng chngf kungy xli de y jiowi bizhun
When Bodhidharma came from the west and transmitted the Dharma in the eastern lands (ie, China), direct pointing to the human mind, see ones nature and become a Buddha.... What is the meaning of his coming from the west? A special transmission outside the scriptures.
(TX78.1553.496a23-b2)
This same link between Bodhidharmas message and the interpretation of Chn as a special transmission outside the scriptures is found in the biography of Chn master Shshung (or Nnyn) Chyun () (987-1040) of Mt Nnyn in Yunzhu (early 11th cent). As the teacher of both Yngq fnghu (992-1049) and Hnglng Hunn (1002-1069), heads of the two branches that dominated the Lnj lineage since the Sng, the influence of Chyuns interpretation was of great significance for the future of Sng Chn. 5.1.2.7 THE BUDDHAS FLOWER AND MAH KYAPAS SMILE. The Tinshng gungdng l did not link the phrase a special transmission outside the scriptures to Bodhidharma, but it has a story that is innovative. It is said that a special transmission was first made by Shakyamuni himself to Kayapa: once Shakyamuni held up a flower, and Kyapa responded with a smile at the assembly. This is one of
On Renzongs pref, incl a tr, see Albert Welter, Monks, Rulers and Literati, 2006b: 186-188. Welter 2006: 1 f. 43 See Welter 2006a: 6. 44 Orig from Jzhu (Hbi ), and a Dharma successor of Shushn Shngnin (also pronounced Xngnin) (926-993), Guisheng is the 5th generation after Lnj (Fz ldi tngzi T2036.49.482a20). See Taigen Dan Leighton & S Okumura (tr), Dogens Pure Standards for the Zen Community, 1996: 139. http://www.ancientdragon.org/dharma/articles/sacred_fools_and_monastic_rules#f6.
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the most famous Chn stories illustrating a key event advocating a silent transmission independent of the written word.45 Shakyamunis Dharma transmission to Kyapa is noted in the Jngd zhundng l as a transmission of the pure Dharma-eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana, but there is no mention of the famous episode of the flower and Kayapas smile. The flower story was first mentioned in Chn transmission records in the Tinshng gungdng l, understandably a key text that established Sng Chn identity in terms of a special transmission outside the scriptures. In the apocryphal story, Shakyamuni, acknowledging Kayapas smile upon presenting the flower to the assembly, announces: I possess the treasury of the true Dharma-eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana. I entrust it to Mah Kayapa. The treasury of the true Dharma-eye (zhngfyn zng ),46 the essence of Shakyamunis teaching, was not yet linked in any way to the expression a special transmission outside the scriptures, but would be soon. In fact, by Sng times, the expression the treasury of the true Dharma-eye became a catchword of Chan ideology, but it no longer referred to the tripiaka. It signified, rather, a special collection (piaka; tsang) [zng ] that comprised no texts at all but simply the eye or formless essence of the dharmathe Buddha-mind or enlightenment itself. It was also used to refer to the sayings of Chan patriarchs, especially when collected and used as kung-an. (Foulk 1999: 230 & n19) The appearance in the same transmission record, the Tinshng gungdng l, of an interpretation of Chn as a tradition independent of Buddhist scripture, and a story about how that independent tradition began, showed how actively Chn promoters laboured to reconstruct their image in the early Sng. The first version of the story to make explicit what was only implicitly drawn in the Tinshng gungdng l was the Dfn tinwng wn fjuy jng (The Scripture on the Heavenly Lord Mah,brahm Asking the Buddha About His Doubt). According to the Dfn tinwng wn fjuy jng version of the story, as Shakyamuni sat before the assembly holding the lotus-blossom given him by brahmin, Kayapa, without saying a word, broke into a smile. The Buddha then proclaimed, I possess the treasury of the true Dharma-eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana, miraculous Dharma-methods born of the formlessness of true form, not established on words and letters, a special transmission outside the scriptures, etc. and went on to entrust it to Kayapa. This proclamation, as it were, directly linked the Buddhas teaching, the treasury of the true Dharma eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana, etc, to the Chn identity as a special transmission outside the teaching. Ironically, scripture is used under the pretext of scriptural authorization! There is no evidence that the Dfn tinwng wn fjuy jng existed before the Sng, and it is widely regarded as apocryphal evidently the story of Shakyamuni and Kyapa was invented for the purpose of legitimizing the lineage. This new persona of Chn as a special transmission outside the scriptures was moulded through a uniquely Chn literary form, the gngn (Jap: koan) or public notice, or more figuratively, case studies. [5.1.3.1]. The Wmngun (Gateless Gate),47 compiled at the end of the Sng period, includes the story of the interaction between Shakyamuni and Kyapa as one of its case studies, following the version established in the apocryphal Dfn tinwng wn fjuy jng. Through the inclusion of the story in the Wmngun, put the final touch, as it were, on Chn as a special transmission outside the scriptures, so that this is the received tradition to this day. Albert Welter concludes:
See Albert Welter, Mahkyapas smile, 2000. This is a tt; cf 5.1.3.2 where it is the title of Dahui Zonggaos only work. 47 The Gateless Gate (Wmngun ; Jap Mumonkan) is a collection of 48 koan anecdotes compiled by the Chinese Chn master Wmn Huki (1183-1260) and published in 1229. These are encounters between various well-known Chinese Chn figures highlighting a decisive moment in their teaching. These condensed episodes are each accompanied by a short comment and poem by Hui-kai himself. The whole Wmngun can be downloaded from http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htm.
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What does all this suggest about the nature of the Chn tradition? Rather than the standard view of Chn as intrinsically representative of specific norms and values, I see the Chn tradition as the struggle between contending forces and interpretations. This process reveals Chn practitioners manufacturing their identities by forging their own histories, deciding what is important, what to include and exclude. There was no one uniform consensus regarding what Chn teaching represented. Even basic principles were disputed. Rather, there were contending views promoted by recognized leaders. As power shifted from one branch to another, the orthodox interpretation of Chn also changed, reflecting the views of masters representing different lineages. The study also suggests that the dynamic forces shaping Chn interpretation were not exclusive to Chan, or even Buddhist, participants. Chn developed in a larger secular world, where connections to powerful warlords and officials, not to mention members of the imperial family, played a decisive role in determining what orthodox view of Chn received official acceptance. Finally, these forces shaping the interpretation of Chn are not historically isolated to one particular period. They have functioned, in some form, throughout Chn history, and continue to shape our understanding and interpretation of Chn teaching today. (Welter 1996: 7) 5.1.2.8 CHN VIOLENCE. Chn Buddhism can be very violentin words and stories, at least.48 But where did this institutional violence come from? And is it to be taken literally? The history of Chn can be viewed as how a Chinese Buddhism evolves from being a reflection of an early Indian teaching to the light that is utterly Chinese. During the 8th century, mostly through efforts initiated by the unscrupulous southern priest Shnhu [5.2.3], Chn become more Chinese than it was Buddhist. One way that Chn asserted its independence was to largely abandon the Indian religious terminology, as noted by Buswell: One way to assert that independence was to express Buddhist doctrines in a new way, using language more in keeping with the Chinese preference for concrete, laconic description over the abstract, periphrastic formulations more common to Indian philosophy. (Buswell 1987: 334) This is not to suggest that early Indian Buddhism does not use paradoxical language. Indeed, we can find examples of provocative resonances even in small collections such as the Dhammapada and the Apadna,49 for example: Cut down the forest, but not the tree. Having cut down the forest and growths, Having killed mother and father, A realm together with its governor Let go of the front. Let go of the back. with the mind released from everything, From the forest arises fear. O bhikshus, you are forest-free! wnd two kings, and having slaughtered the brahman wanders unafflicted. (Dh 283) (Dh 294)
Let go of the middle. Crossing to the far shore, do not again undergo birth and decay. (Dh 348)
The man without desire, who knows the unmade, who has cut off the link, who has got rid of the occasions (for quarrels and rebirth), who is an eater of what is abandoned by others he is indeed the highest person. (Dh 97; DhA 7.8/2:187) The nature of the Chinese languagepictographic, monosyllabic and concretehas less penchant for addressing the abstract. Chinese imageries tend to be measureable or nature-related (this latter, like the
48 49
On Chn shouts and blows, see Chan education in the Sung, 1989: 68 f. Mah Pajpat Gotam Ther Apadna (Ap 2.17.27-25/531). See Dh 97 = SD 10.6.
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verses of the Thera,gh and Ther,gth).50 Abstract and conceptual terms in Chinese, especially religious language, ultimately derived from the Indian Buddhist texts, for example, tathgata,garbha (womb of Buddhahood), tathat (suchness), dharma,dhtu (realm of reality), Buddhatva (Buddha-nature), and nirva. The Chinese Buddhist mode of philosophical discourse is usually laconic and palpable (brief and appealing to the senses), and often enough, to extremes. See this Wmngun51 case 21, Wumens Dry dung-stick (rshy ynmn shju ), for example:

A monk asked Ynmn, What is Buddha?52 Ynmn replied, A dry dung-stick! (gnshju; Jap kanshiketsu) (Wmngun case 21: T 48.295c5)
The author of this koan certainly did not find this inspiration from the early Indian texts: there is no such imagery there. This philosophical earthiness is indigenous to China and is licenced by such examples as the renowned description of the Dao in Zhuangzi, in the chapter entitled Knowledge rambling in the north (Zhbiyu ):
Dngguzi wn y Zhungzi
.
Dongguozi asked Zhuangzi, saying, Concerning the Dao, where is it to be found? Zhuangzi replied, Theres nowhere it is not found. Dongguozi said, You must be more specific.53 It is in lowly bugs (like crickets and ants). Is there a lower example? It is in barnyard grass.54 Is there a still lower example. It is in a clay tile. Is there an extremely low example? In that dung! To this Dongguozi gave no reply. (Zhuangzi 22)55
Suwi do, w h zi.

.
Zhungzi yu: W su bzi.

.
Dngguzi yu: Q r hu k
. ? . ? . ? ?
Zhungzi yu: Zi luy. Yu: H q xi xi? Yu: Zi tbi. Yu: H q y xi xi? Yu: Zi w p Yu: H q y shn xi? Yu: Zi sh n. Dngguzi b yng
5.1.2.9 CHN LINEAGES. John McRaes instructive study, Seeing Through Zen (2003), explores the distinctive and central role of lineage in Chn Buddhism. He notes that this genealogical approach is so
Chad Hanson, Language and Logic in Ancient China, 1983 notes that Classical Chinese philosophical theories had no role for abstractions (37). For a characterization of Indian locutionary styles, see Robert Gimello, Mysticism and its contexts, 1983: 74. Hajime NAKAMURA, Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples (ed Philip P Wiener) 1964: 178-180. 51 The Gateless Gate (Wmngun , Jap Mumonkan) is a collection of 48 Chn koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Chn master W mn Huki () (1183-1260). See http://www.sacredtexts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htm. (T2005.48.292c-299c) 52 rh sh f has the senses of What is Buddha? and How to be Buddha? 53 Here I follow Burton Watson. 54 Echinochloa crusgalli. 55 See Kenneth Chen, Buddhism in China, 1964: 362. For Eng tr, see http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu2.html#22; for Chin text (bilingual format), see http://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2712&if=en), http://www.cnd.org/Classics/Philosophers/Zhuang_Zi/22.hz8.html, http://www.chinapage.com/philosophy/zhuangzi/zhuangzi-text.html.
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central to Chns self-understanding that, while not without precedent, had unique features. It is relational (involving interaction between individuals rather than being based solely on individual effort), generational (in that it is organized according to parent-child, or rather teacher-student, generations) and reiterative (ie, intended for emulation and repetition in the lives of present and future teachers and students. (2003: 8) Two important reasons may be proposed for the key role of lineage in Chn Buddhism.56 The first is where the Chn community did not rely on any one Mahyna text as its foundation scripture. The Huyn school, for example, took the Avatasaka Stra (Huyn Jng) as their key text; and the Nirvana school, the Nirva Stras (Nipn jng ), and so on. Without a special text to identify itself with, the Chn school had to resort to the conception of lineage. But this is not a very strong reason. The main reason for the Chn emphasis on lineage was a powerful Confucian influence regarding how best Chn can legitimize itself, especially in an urban society where the powerful and the affluent decided the rules [5.1.2.1]. Scholars like John Jorgenson and John McRae note that the Chn lineage closely paralleled Chinese funerary practice: My contention is that Chn provided a format for Buddhist practice that matched the patron implied by Chinese funerary customs. The starting point for this analysis is John Jorgensons observation of the structural similarities between Chn lineage assertions of the eighth century and funerary practice, in which the organization of halls venerating Chn patriarchs was seen to resemble that of conventional ancestral halls.57 From a broader perspective, the proliferation of Chn lineages mimics that of conventional family genealogies, creating a parallel realm of filiation between living and dead. Indeed, where conventional genealogies are devoted individually to separate family groups, Chn transmission of the lamp texts create an entire universe of fictive relationships. Thus each individual practitioner is securely placed within a generational successive network, and all of those succession relationships are concatenated into a massive network of interlocking identities. Where conventional family genealogies were in dialogue both with each other and with contemporary social practice, transmission of the lamp texts provide the Chn lineage system with its own global context for the idealization of religious identity.58 (McRae 2003: 148; reparagraphed) McRae offers a detailed criticism of the Chn lineage tradition, but he also notes that it was so central to Chn that it is hard to envision any claim to Chn bereft of lineage claims. For example, in Japanese St (Chin Codng ), lineage charts are a central part of the Sanmatsu, the documents of Dharma transmission, and which is regularly included in the daily chanting in Zen temples and monasteries. In Japan, during the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), some questioned the lineage system and its legitimacy. The Zen master Dokuan Genko (1630-1698), for example, openly questioned the necessity of written acknowledgment from a teacher, which he dismissed as paper Zen. A number of Tokugawa teachers did not adhere to the lineage system, and they were called mushi dokugo ( wsh dw, independently awakened without a teacher) or jigo jisho ( zw zzhng, self-awakened and self-certified).59
In the Christian Bible, the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph is given by two passages from the Gospels, Matt 1:2-16 and Luke 3:23-38. Both of them trace Jesus line back to king David (a prophetic requisite for the Christ) and from there on to Abraham. Luke traces the line all the way back to Adam. These lists are identical between Abraham and David, but they differ radically from that point onward. According to classics scholar Howard W Clarke, the two accounts cannot be harmonized and today the genealogy accounts are generally taken to be theological constructs. 57 See John Jorgenson, The Imperial lineage of Chan Buddhism, 1987. 58 On conventional family genealogies, see Ebrey, Confucianism and Family Rituals, 1991. With additional study of Sng-dynasty recorded sayings literature. We may recognize intralineage efforts to identify creation that parallel those of individual family genealogies. [McRae] 59 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushi_dokugo.
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Modern Chn-Seon-Zen Buddhists generally downplay the significance of the dynamics of the lineage system, encouraged in part by the revelations of academic researches into Chn history, and focus more on the spiritual study and contemplative practice. There is also a tacit openness to other Buddhist traditions, especially early Buddhism.60 5.1.3 The gngn. 5.1.3.0 GNGN AND KNHU CHN. Historically (that is, as understood by the Chn traditions), a gngn (Jap: koan) was a brief saying, dialogue, or anecdote culled from the hagiographies (chuandng l ) and discourse records (yl )61 [5.1.3.4]. The practice of commenting on sayings of the patriarchs was first attested in mid-tenth century Chn literature.62 Before that, passages from the patriarchal records that were used for commentary were known as old cases (gz ).63 As Foulk notes, such a practice was not simply a means of elucidating the wisdom of ancient patriarchs for the sake of disciples or a larger audience. It was also a device for demonstrating the rank and spiritual authority of the master himself. (2000: 17). Discourse records (yl ) compiled from the latter half of the 11th century onwards often contain separate sections entitled Comments on old cases, that is, jg citation of transactions (literally, proposals to buy), or ning raising an ancient precedent, or nint raising a point for question or analysis. The phrase ning is often found in the compound, ning sngg , which means to raise (nin) and analyze an ancient precedent, and then to write and attach ones own verse to it. This is a well-known Chn-Seon-Zen literary genre.64 Such cases or stories, when used in instructions, were never quoted in full, but merely alluded to, which assumes the students or audiences familiarity with them. Apparently, such exchanges were done orally. By the mid-11th century, these discourse records include sections called verses on old cases (sngg , lit ancient eulogies). Unlike the well-known old cases, which were only alluded to, these verse commentaries (written ad hoc by Chn masters) were often cited in full alongside the root case (bnz ), so that the audience would better appreciate the verse commentary. This also suggests that such verses were not as well known as the old cases. The old cases came to be called gngn (, Jap koan), but it is not exactly clear how this occurred. The term gngn was used figuratively at first. It was not even a Buddhist term, but came from the mediaeval Chinese legal system. The term itself could refer to a Chinese magistrates desk; but it could also refer to a complex legal case, where gng () means public, official, unbiased and n () means legal case. One of the oldest references to this is found in the mid-11th-century by Xudu Chngxin (d 1052) in his The Monks Xudus Verses on Old Cases (Xuduxin hshng sngg 65 ), that is, the original 100 cases serving as the basis for the Blue Cliff Records.
Buswell, eg, in is The Zen Monastic Experience, confesses, From what little reading I had done, I was not much impressed with Zen, and in fact even today, after practicing Sn for some fifteen years, I still see myself as something of a closet Hnaynist. (1992: 18) 61 These discourse records are those of Chn masters who flourished from the 10th cent onwards. Early examples incl Ynmn Kungzhn chnsh gungl ( T47.544c-576c), Fyn Wny ( 885-958) (T47.588a-594a); Fnyng Shnzho ( 947-1024) (T47.594-629c), Yngq Fnghu ( 993-1046) (T47.640a-646a), & Hnglng Hunn ( 1002-1069) (T47.629c-636b). 62 The oldest reliable and datable text we have on this is the Ztng j (Collection From the Patriarchs Hall ) (952): see YANAGIDA Seizan (ed), Sodsh, Zengaki ssho 4, Kyoto: Chbun, 1984. 63 This term is from Buswell 1987:375. For a description of the rites and monastic setting of such a practice, see T Griffith Foulk, Myth, ritual, and monastic practice in Sng Chan Buddhism, 1993. 64 One of the earliest examples are the discourse records of Xudu Chngxin (980-1052) (T47.669a713b) & Yunw Kqn (1063-1135) (T47.713b-810c), both best known as the compilers of the Blue Cliff Records (Byn l ) [5.5.1]. 65 T48.2003.140a11; also called The Monk Xuduxians 100 Verses on Old Cases (Xuduxin hshng biz sngg ): see Foulk 2000: 19+20. The term appears only once, in case 64, immediately following case 63, Nnqun and the cat. See Foulk 2000: 19 f.
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Over a century later, Yunw Kqn (1063-1135), in his commentary on The Monks Xudus Verses on Old Cases (preserved in his Blue Cliff Collection, Byn j ), clearly uses the term gngn to refer to the dialogues themselves as texts. In his pointers (chush ) and prose commentaries (pngchng ), Yunw calls the old cases gngn throughout. As noted by Foulk, Yunw was implying that when Xudu collected and attached comments to them, he was taking on the role of a magistrate. 66 In its earliest usages, term gngn was used to compare the spiritual authority of a Chn master with the legal authority of a magistrate, not in reference to the old cases of the patriarchs (id). As such, we have stories of Chn masters dealing thirty blows (snsh bang ), when the student was guilty of the wrong response.67 By the end of the 13th century, during the Mongol Yan dynasty, the old cases were like legally binding documents, the idea being that they should be regarded as authoritative standards for judging spiritual attainment (Foulk 2000: 18). This is very clear in Extensive Records of the Monk Zhngfng (Zhngfng hshng ) by Zhngfng Mngbn (, 1263-1323), a Yan priest following the tradition of Dhu Znggo [5.1.3.2]. Zhngfng gives this detailed definition of the gngn: Gongan may be compared to the case records of the public law court. Whether or not the ruler succeeds in bringing order to his realm depends in essence upon the existence of law. Gng or public is the single track followed by all sages and worthy men alike, the high est principle which serves as a road for the whole world. n or records are the orthodox writings which record what the sages and worthy men regard as principles. The koans do not represent the private opinion of a single man, but rather, the highest princeple received alike by us and by the hundreds and thousands of bodhisattvas of the three realms and the ten directions. This principle accords with the spiritual source, tallies with the mysterious meaning, destroys birth-and-death, and transcends the passions. It cannot be understood by logic; it cannot be transmitted in words; it cannot be explained in writing; it cannot be measured by reason. It is like a poisoned drum that kills all who hear it, or like a great fire that consumes all who come near it.... The koans are something that can be used only by men with awakened minds who wish to prove their understanding. They are certainly not intended to be used merely to increase ones lore and provide topics for idle discussion. The so-called venerable masters of Chn are the chief officials of the public law courts of the monastic community, as it were, and their collections of sayings are the case records of points that have been vigorously advocated. Occasionally, men of former times, in the intervals when they were not teaching, in spare moments when their doors were closed, would take up these case records and arrange them, give their judgment on them, compose verses of praise on them and write their own answers to them. Surely they did not do this just to show off their erudition and contradict the worthy men of old. Rather, they did it because they could not bear to think that the great Dharma might become corrupt. Therefore they stooped to using expedient means in order to open up the wisdom eye of the men of later generations, hoping thereby to make it possible for them to attain the understanding of the great Dharma for themselves in the same way. Zhngfng hshang gung l quoted in Miura & Sasaki (tr), Zen Dust 1966: 4-6; rev) Furthermore, it was Zhngfng who wrote that gngn is an abbreviation for gngf zh nd ( 68 ), that is, a public legal record in the Tng dynasty.
66 67
See T48.144b & Foulk 2000: 20. See eg the mid-9th cent record on Hungb Xyn at T51.291c. 68 See Miura & Sasaki, The Zen Koan, 1965: 4-6; T Griffith Foulk, The form and function of koan literature, 2000: 21 f; John McRae, Seeing Through Zen, 2003: 172-173 n16.
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A watershed in gngn history occurred in the Sng dynasty, with the development of the Chn of phrase-contemplation (knhu chn ) [5.1.3.3]. The word or phrase (hutu ) [5.1.3.5] to be contemplated on was usually derived from a root case (bnz ) of the ancient dialogues. The foremost promoter of this new Chn technique was Dhu Znggo ( 1089-1163) [5.1.3.2], the most famous of the Sng priests. Foulk conjectures that Dhu, feeling that the silent illumination Chn (mzho chn ) was vainly trying to gain insight (gun , see, Skt vipayan) without first attaining calm (zh , stop, Skt amatha). But, he notes, this was probably pure rhetoric. For, [i]f Ta-hui had been interested only in promoting the cultivation of trance states [dhyna] as a means of cutting off discursive thought, he could have avoided the words of the patriarch altogether and recommend other, entirely non-discursive objects of mental concentration, such as the devices (binch , Skt kasia). (2000: 23). The key fact remains, as Foulk points out, that the gngn is a literary genre. This also explains why a gongan does not make sense to the uninitiated. Gongans have power to function in the Chn mind and society because what identifies words or actions as expressions of the mental state of enlightened people is never the semantic content of the words themselves, but only their attribution to a Chan patriarch in a flame history [dngl ] biography, a discourse record, or (subsequently) a koan collection. (2000: 39). The gngn (Jap koan) come a long way, and has today entered into popular vocabulary to mean a paradox, enigma, or enigma. There is even a Singapore website where the koan is recommended for mothers (which may not really be a bad idea, after all)!69 We shall also discuss below how the koan be useful as a counselling tool [5.1.3.5]. But, first, let us discuss a topic that is closely related to gngn and counselling, that is, doubt. 5.1.3.1 CHN AND DOUBT. Discounting metropolitan Chn [5.2.3.1], elitist Chn [5.1.2.6+7], and other unchanly Chns, traditional or spiritual Chn stresses on mindfulness, mental focus and liberation by transcending language and thought. Language and thought may be the most common way we function or communicate, but they are not always the most effective means of personal experience or of communicating. Language (because it is a human construct) and thought (because it is a mental construct) are the inevitable grounds for doubt or feeling of doubt (yqng ), as Chn often say, and doubt is one of the greatest hindrances to mental cultivation and spiritual realization. Yet the very same poison, properly understood, is the door to wisdom.70 One of the most enduring and instructive aspects of Chn is its penchant for religious doubting; not that doubting is good in itself, but that it is the beginning of inquiry that leads to liberating wisdom. To doubt is to know that we are still unliberated, and entails seeking the conditions for the doubt. In this sense, doubting leads to knowing. But it is a dynamic kind of doubting, not that of perceiving our inabilities or weaknesses. Doubt arose in the young Bodhisattvas mind when he saw the first three sights of an old man, a sick man and a dead man (manifestations of the three great evils), but it also moved him to seek a solution for themand he became Buddha. Doubt prevents enlightenment; it is like a closed door. To open the door of doubt is to destroy doubt. This is done by directly pointing to the human mind (jio wi bi zhun ) [5.1.2.1], that is, by transcending or bypassing the limitations of language and directly see true reality (a notion important in early Buddhist meditation, too). The most famous way in which this was done was through the koan [5.1.3],71 that is, stretching the limits of language so as to totally demolish it.
http://www.singaporemoms.com/parenting/Koans#references. See HSIEH Dinghwa, Doubt as a unique Chn approach to cultivation and enlightenment, 2005. 71 Chin gngn (); Kor kungan ( ); Jap kan (); Viet cng n; lit, a public notice, issued by, or dealt with by a Chinese government office. Chn used it to refer to a specific Buddhist meditation method (to distinguish it from the traditional Indian methods of samatha-vipayan). Koans usually consists of the presenta tion of a problem drawn from classical texts, or from teaching records and hagiographies of Tng and Sng period Chinese Chn masters. After the case is presented, a question is asked regarding a key phrase ( hutu ) in the story, which usually presents a position that contradicts accepted Buddhist doctrinal positions or everyday logic. Its
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Dhu Znggo [5.1.3.2] took the idea of doubt very seriously and warned his students that they must always doubt words, so as not to be fooled by them. In fact, they should doubt their very existence. He said, Many students today do not doubt themselves, but they doubt others. And so it is said, Within great doubt there necessarily exists great enlightenment.72 This was taken up five centuries later by the great Japanese Rinzai teacher, Hakuin (1685-1768), who also taught that great doubt was necessary for one to awaken to reality. GOFNG YUNMIO. In China itself, even just before Dhu, his own teacher, Yunw Kqn still treated the feeling of doubt (yqng ) in the traditional early Buddhist manner, as something harmful to faith, which should be diligently avoided at all timesbut especially so in the course of gngn investigation.73 It was Yunws famous disciple, Dhu who, as we have seen, turned his teaching on doubt on its head, re-conceiving it instead as the principal force driving one toward enlightenment.74 The most systematic presentation of Dhus knhu chn, however, is found in the Chnyo (The Essentials of Chn)75 by the Yan-dynasty Lnj master, Gofng Yunmio (12391295). Gofngs main work was to systematize knhu chn practice into three principal parts he called the three essentials (snyo ): (1) the faculty of great faith (dxngn ); (2) great passionate intent (dfnzh ); and (3) the great feeling of doubt (dyjng ). Gofng treated faith as the essence (t ) of doubt, and enlightenment as the function (yng ) of doubt [2.3.8.2]drawing on the popular apocryphal Awakening of Faith (Dshng qxn ln , T32.1667). [5.2.4.6] Since the foundation of virtually all sinitic or East Asian Buddhism is that enlightenment is immanent in all beings,76 Gofng explained that ultimately all that needed to be done to achieve enlightenment was simply to have faith wholeheartedly, that is, let go of the notion that we are not enlightened! His rationale is found in the Chnyo: Faith is the essence (t ) of doubt, enlightenment is the function (yng ) of doubt. When faith is a hundred percent, so too is doubt. When doubt is a hundred percent, so too is enlightenment.77 This was of course Gofngs view, one which Dhu approved of. 5.1.3.2 DHU ZNGGO. The 12th-century Chn master Dhu Znggo (1089-1163)78 often referred to as Dhu, for shorta disciple of Yunw Kqn ( 1063-1135)79 and the 12th
purpose is not to elicit a rational answer, but to serve as a focal point for a dynamic form of contemplation, which results in a non-dualistic experience. (AC Muller: http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(b516c6848). For a historical background of gongan in China and Japan, see Heine & Wright The Kan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism, 2000. 72 (T47.1998A.886a27-28); Jap tr: Chgoku zenshshi 100. 73 Robert Buswell, The transformation of doubt, 2004: 231, see esp 227-230. For a comprehensive treatment, see Ding-Hwa Hsieh, Yan-wu Ko-chins (1063-1135) teaching of Chn Kung-an practice, 1994. For a selection of Yunws works, see J C Cleary & Thomas Cleary (trs), Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu, Boston & London: Shambhala, 1994. 74 Buswell 2004: 232; see esp Buswell, The short-cut approach of kan-hua meditation, 1987: 343-356. On the use of the term enlightenment as a Chn term, see 5.5.4. 75 More fully, Gofng Yunmio chnsh chnyo (TX70.1401.707a09). 76 Expressed in the idea of Buddha-nature (Fxng ) [2.3.2]. 77 X zh y y xn wi t, w y y wi yng; xn yu shfn, y yu shfn; y de shfn, w de shifn; (TX70.1401.707a8-9). 78 The basic source for Dahuis life is Dhu pju chnsh ninp (Chronological biography of Dahui), compiled by his disciple, Zyng . There is also an inscription written by Zhng Jn , Dhu pju chnsh tmng compiled by Zuyong, incl in Dhu pju chnsh yl (T1998a = 47.811b-943a, esp 836-837). The Dialogue of Pointing to the Moon, Zhyu l Chih-yueh lu , compiled by Chu Ju-chi Qrj of the Ming Qrj , also contains some additional information not found in the above, chuan 31 (T4.2097-2106 of the Taipei repr ed). See McRae 2003: 123-126, which is based on Levering 1978. For Dahuis correspondences, see http://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/archive/dahuishu.zip. For a summary, see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahui_Zonggao.
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generation of the Lnj line of Chn, was best known as a keen advocate of the gngn or koan () [5.1.2.7] for achieving Chn enlightenment. Dhu had humble beginnings: when he was 10, a fire wiped out his family fortune.80 In 1101, when he was 13, he abandoned his classical education that had hardly begun to become a monk. Dhu was tonsured at 16 and formally ordained (received the precepts) the following year. As an intellectually brilliant young monk, he was drawn to the works of the innovative Ynmn Wnyn 81 (864-949). While reading through a Mahyna text, he was said to have had a profound religious 82 experience. The following year, he began his wanderings to study under different teachers, sometimes sampling several teachers in a single year. Most of these teachers were from the Codng school, whose system he purportedly mastered within two years, but only to denounce them later! [Below & 5.1.2.4] In 1116 (when Dhu was 27), he met the retired Northern Sng prime minister and lay Buddhist scholar, Zhng Shngyng (1043-1122),83 and a little later, Hn Zcng ( c1086-1135), a relative of the imperial family, both of whom would be important influences in his life. In due course, he was recommended to study under Yunw Kqn, joining his assembly in 1125. He vowed to himself,84 I will give this master nine summers as the limit. If his teaching does not differ from that of other masters, and if he gives me his approval easily. I will then write a treatise denouncing Chn Buddhism, instead of taxing my spirit and wasting precious time on it. I will devote myself to a sutra or a treatise, and cultivate virtue so that I can be reborn as a Buddhist. (Ziyong, Nianpu, Hsuan-ho 6th year, p 17b) 5.1.3.2 Dhu Znggo After only six weeks, he had an enlightenment experience during one of 85 (1089-1163) Yunws sermons. However, getting his enlightenment certified by Yunw was another matter. Yunw told him to work on the koan, The East Mountain walks over the water. On one of the sessions, Yunw rebuked Dhu, Your great problem is that you do not doubt the words enough! (by yj, sh wi dbng , ). He was then given a new koan, To be and not to beit is like a wisteria leaning on a tree (y j wj, rtng ysh , ). He reported to his master three or four times daily, only to be told he was wrong each time. After some six months, he made a total of 49 such attempts. Only in the fifth month of 1125, did he gain the Chn breakthrough.86 Even if this account was exaggerated, it showed that either Dhu was a very patient and determined student, or that Yunw was making sure that he had weaned Dhus pride. Considering that Dhu was still as samsaric as before, perhaps even more so at this point, this account was to blandish him which would further enhance the prestige of his lineage.
Yunws comys on koans are compiled in the famous Byn l (The Blue Cliff Record) [5.5.1]. Yu 197: 213. It is likely that this early misfortune had such an impact on him, that he would be esp concerned with cultivating connections with the gentry ( shdf ). However, Dahui was not unique here, as the various distinguished teachers of his time (incl Yunw Kqn) were of the same disposition: see Buswell 1987: 323. On the shidafu (shih-ta-fu), see Watanabe, Local shih-ta-fu in the Sung, 1986. 81 See Urs App, Master Yunmen, 1994. 82 Probably what is known as savega in early Buddhism: see Mah,parinibbna S (D 16.5.8/2:140) + SD 9 Intro (7c), and also Atammayat = SD 19.13 (6.1.2). 83 See Levering, Da-hui Zong-gao and Zhang Shang-ying, 2000b. 84 In our own times, we could hear such a remark from a zealous young Buddhist speaker, as Venerable so -andso is a highly attained teacher he is able to remember my name, after meeting me only once! 85 See Levering, Chan enlightenment for laymen, 1978: 24 f; McRae 2003: 124 & n9; & Levering, The Education of Ta-hui Tsung-kao, 2006. 86 Ziyong, Nianpu, Hsuan-ho 7th year, p 18a.
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In the same year (1125), Dhu was awarded the purple robe (zy ) [5.2.2.2] by Lushun, the Minister of the Right (yudchn ).87 The following year, however, the Jrchen Tartars (Nzhn 88 ) captured the Northern Sng capital, Binjng (modern Kaifeng, Henan), along with the imperial household. The capital was moved south, marking the beginning of the Southern Sng (Nn Sng 1127-1279). Dhu also moved south and continued teaching both monks and laymen. It was at this time that he began his severe criticisms of the Codng (Jap: St) school, ridiculing it as the heretical Chn of silent illumination (mzho xichn ). Dhus strong denunciation of the Codng school reminds us of Shnhus evangelical attacks on Shnxi [5.2.1.2] and promoting Hunng in the 8th century [5.2.3.7]. However, while Shnhu was against a whole school (the Northern school), Dhu, however, only attacked a meditation systemhe was against sitting meditationand in its place promoted the gngn. However, there is an important similarity in both cases: their denunciations (which are documented) were aimed at attracting attention and legitimization to their own lineage by gaining the support of the gentry and literati.89 As an accomplished intellectual priest, Dhu became very popular with the literati and gentry, as well as Chn priests. In 1137, at the age of 49, the Southern Sng prime minister, Zhng Jn , a pupil of Dhu, appointed him as abbot of Jng shn monastery in the Southern Sng capital of Lnn (west of Hngzhu ). Within a few years his community grew to two thousand, and among his lay followers were many high ranking officials. Dhu became the acknowledged Buddhist leader of the Southern Sng dynasty. (Yu 1979: 216) His connections with the gentry would be his own undoing (for a while, anyway). A high official he was close toa follower named Zhng Jichng 90fell out of favour with the new prime minister, and consequently Dhu, too, lost his imperial honors and ordination certificate (he was laicized). In 1141 (at 52) he escaped to Hngzhu (in Hnn ), where he was caught, and exiled to live with the army at Jichng , living there for 14 years.91
The 3rd highest court rank of feudal China and Japan, who was in charge of military affairs, justice, the treasury, and the imperial privy. 88 Bi Sng (960-1127). The emperor then was Huzng ( 1082-1135; r1100-1125), a great patron of the arts and a great artist himself, but an indulgent Daoist romantic. The Sng joined forces with the Jurchen Tartars to defeat the Liao. After the Liao were defeated, the Jurchens turned on Sng. Huizong abdicated, leaving the critical state of affairs in the hands of his largely unprepared son, Qnzng (, 1100-1161; r1126-1127). The Jurchen captured the capital, Kaifeng, and took the two emperors and their families prisoners, exiling them to Manchuria. Gozng ( 1107-1187; r1127-1162), the only son of Huzng was away from Kaifeng, thus spared capture, fled south and set up the Southern Sng (1126-1279). 89 Dhus attacks against the Codng sitting meditation is reminiscent of the virulent reactions of the 20 th-cent scholar monks of Vajirrma, Colombo (Sri Lanka)esp Soma Thera, Kassapa Thera, and Kheminda Therawho castigated [Mahsis Sri Lankan] centers for teaching unorthodox methods that threatened the true Dhamma and endangered both the institution of Buddhism and Buddhist themselves (George D Bond, The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka, 1988: 163). What is interesting here is that these scholar monks were not meditation teachers at all, and their rhetoric was an worried reaction against the phenomenal success of Mahasis methods which (as in Shnhus and Dhus cases), could (and probably did) divert funds and followers away from them. See also Robert Sharf 1995: 263-265, 256. 90 Zhang was a vice-president belonging to a party of courtiers who advocated war at the borders, and who had offended Qngu , the leader of the peace faction. According to one account, Dahui himself was the direct cause of this catastrophe. In order to celebrate Zhng jichngs deep understanding of Buddhism, Dahui gave a special lecture at his monastery on Jing Shan where he made reference to the Bow of the Divine Arm ( shnbgng ) as a figure of speech. However, there was border unrest at that time and this very weapon was under discussion for possible use in the campaign. Qingui thought that Dahui was purposely ridiculing the court and as such laicized and banished him to Hengzhou. See Shsh jgl jun 4 (T49.889). Dhu Ninp , Shoxng , 11th year, pp 40b-41a. 91 Now called Hngyng (), the second largest city of Chinas Hunan Province.
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When he reached 62, he was transferred to Mixin (present-day Mizhu , NE Gungdng ), then notorious for plagues and bad weather, and lived there for five years. Some fifty of Dhus priests died there in a plague (Ferguson 2000: 441). Throughout these difficult years, Dhu continued teaching the Lnj tradition, attracting both gentry and commoners. Finally, in 1155, Dhu (at 77) was pardoned and allowed to return to his former monastery at Jng shn where he continued teaching until he died five years later in 1163. Zhngjn, his pupil who made him abbot of the Jng shn monastery, eulogized, aptly in worldly Sng language, that he had the will of a loyal subject and the heart of a compassionate bodhisattva. Unlike the Hnayna sravakas and pratyeka-buddhas, he is not tired of samsara and he does not selfishly desire nirvana.92 Dhu wrote only one work, a collection of koans of preceding Chn masters, entitled Zhngfyn zng (the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).93 He also compiled with a fellow monk named Takuei, a work entitled, Chnln boxn (Jewel Teachings of the Chn Monastic Tradition), an anthology of instructions of Chn abbots on the virtues and ideals of monastic life. His sermons and letters were collected by his disciples into thirty juan, entitled Dhu pju chnsh yl (T1998). DHUS WOMEN DISCIPLES. A significant contribution of Dhu is that he not only gave Dharma transmission to the nun Miodo (fl 1134-1155?),94 but also designated her as his primary Dharma heir. Although Miodo was not the first woman Chn master, she was the first who was historically documented. It is said that she lived as a laywoman in a monastery for a while. Her Chn enlightenment in 1134 had a great impact on Dhus teaching. A few stories about her illustrate the fear that monks had of sex and how this held them back: she once appeared naked in the meditation-hall (chntng ; Jap: zendo) in order to show them that the disturbance was in their own minds. She received imperial approval to be a teacher and abbot, and was eventually ordained.95 Dhu had another nun pupil, Miozng ( alias Wzh 1095-1170),96 ordained in 1162, who was also outspoken and controversial. From 1163 (a year after ordination) to her death, she was abbess of Zshu nunnery, in Pngjing prefecture (Pngjing f, Szhu in Jiangsu). She also received the purple robe.97 Both women were recorded in the imperially sanctioned lineage text, Essentials of the Society of Linked Lamps (Lindng huyo ).98 5.1.3.3 DHU ZNGGO AND KNHU CHN. Tng-dynasty Chn and Sng-dynasty Chn were very different in character.99 Doctrinally, Tng Chn taught intrinsic enlightenment (bnjumn ), while Sng Chn taught experiential [acquired] enlightenment (shjumn ). The seeker of experiential enlightenment, having awakened from delusion, went on to cultivate or experience enlighten-
Ninpu, Shao-hsing 26th year, p 52b. Cf 5.1.27 where it is a tt. This work is different from the better known Treasury of the True Dharma Eye or Shbgenz of Dgen, the St Zen patriarch (1200 -1253), which is 95-fasc collection on Zen practice and enlightenment: see http://scbs.stanford.edu/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zanmai_o_zanmai/translation.html. [5.1.2.4n] 94 She was daughter of Hung Shng (1044-1130), Minister of Rites to emperor Huizong just after his accession in 1101; later Prefect of Fuzhou (1111-1118). See Levering, Miao -tao and her teacher Ta-hui, 1999: 190-193. 95 Miriam Levering has done groundbreaking research on Miaodao and on the role of women in Chn Buddhism (Miao-tao and her teacher Ta-hui, 1999). 96 She was grand-daughter of prime minister Su Sung (1020-1101), and married scholar-official Hs Shou-yan (du). In her 30s, she lost interest in worldly affairs, and studied under many Chn masters before meeting Dhu. 97 See Chia-tai pu-teng lu (TX137.136b617-137a8); also Wu-teng hui-yan (TX138.401b10-402a2), compiled by the Yan Nien-chang (1280-1323), with detailed dates of Miazongs ordination and death (see T49.700b7 -c25). See Bernard Faure, The Power of Denial, 2003: 131. 98 Miozng (TX136.362d-363c) & Miodo (TX363c-364a). See Levering 1999: 189. 99 On the Sng emphasis on the literary ( wn ), see [5.1.2.2].
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ment. This practice was unique to Sng Chn and is referred to as phrase-observing meditation (knhu chn )100 [5.5.2.3], made famous by Dhu Znggo. Dhu exerted a very strong influence in Korean Seon through the works of Jinul (Zhn, 11581210) and Japanese Zen through Dgen (Doyun, 1200-1253) [5.1.2.4]. Dhu often used the famous koan on Zhozhus Dog, the very first one in the Wmngun101 [5.1.2.8]
Zhozhu hshang, ynsng wn Guzi hi yu fxng y w Zhu yn: W
A monk asked the monk Zhozhu: Has a dog the Buddha-nature or not? Zhu answered, Wu! (Y Zhozhu guzi ; Wmngun case 1)
Zhozhus Dog is an excellent example showing that koans only work, or work best, with the Chinese or Chinese-based languages (those of East Asia). This koan is best used in the original Chinese version, if any Chn enlightenment is to be experienced. The huatou is in the word w, which should not be translated. Having understood the koan, we then simply let the w settle into our consciousness. The mind will open to it just like that.102 The purpose of the koan is to break the mental mould of thought constructions or mental rut caused by language. The reason is clear: the pictographic nature of the Chinese language easily reifies an idea [2.6-2.7], and at least in pre-modern times, not suited for abstract thinking [2.7.1], unlike an alphabetbased language (like Sanskrit and Pali). Understandably, pre-modern Chinese civilization was better known for its practical philosophical and scientific ideas rather than abstract philosophy or religions. Dhus style of instruction using koans profoundly influenced all the Lnj (Jap: Rinzai) teachers after him both in China and Japan. Although he viewed koan practice as the most effective way to Chn enlightenment, he saw this practice in his time as becoming a superficial literary study. In a characteristically Chn fashion, he ordered the suppression of his own teachers masterly collection of koans, the Blue Cliff Record (Byn l ; Jap: Hekiganroku)103 [5.5.1], burning all copies and the wooden printing blocks, effectively taking the venerated text out of circulation for the next two centuries. If we follow Dhus track record so far, it is not difficult to see his book-burning as being less than magnanimous. Book-burning had occurred before in Chinathe most notorious being the one ordered by the first emperor, Qn Sh Hung (259-210 BCE), who, to silence critics of his autocratic imperial rule, burned their books, especially those of the Confucian scholars, and banished or executed them. Dhu found his teachers work, the Blue Cliff Record, a distraction from his plans to have the Chn world revolve around himself. He was phenomenally successful in his plans. His innovative teaching became known as the phrase-observing meditation (knhu chn ) [see above]. Although he believed that koans were the best way to Chn enlightenment, being deeply influenced by Daoism and Confucianism, he declared, If one achieves a genuine breakthrough, then (one realizes that) a Confucian is no different from a Buddhist, and a Buddhist is no different from a Confucian; a monk is no different from a layman, and a layman is no different from a monk; an ordinary man is no different from a sage, and a sage is no different from an ordinary man.104 Either that, or he saw himISHII Shd, Kung-an Chan and the Tsung-men tung-yao chi (tr A Welter), 2000; Foulk, The form and function of koan literature, 2000: 22 f. See http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?77.xml+id(b770b8a71-79aa). 101 See http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/mumonkan.htm. (T2005.48.292c-299c) 102 See Foulk, The form and function of koan literature, 2000:37-42 103 Byn L ; Jap Hekigan roku (); Kor Byeogam nok (); Viet Bch nham lc. A collection of 100 gongan , orig compiled by the 4th-generation Yunmen monk Xuedou Zhongxian (980-1052) and later commented on by the 11th-cent monk Yunw Kqn (1063-1135). As an outstanding Chn literary work, it is a central object of study for later knhu () practitioners [5.1.3.5]. (T 2003.48.139a-292a). For the text, see http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/eric.boix/Koan/Hekiganroku/index.html. 104 Araki, Daie Sho 1969: 145.
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self as even above Chinas greatest sages, which would then point to a megalomanic tendency or delusions of personal grandeur. 5.1.3.4 TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP. By the 11th century, koans of earlier masters were eagerly collected and some teachers even began to invent their own koans. The most famous example of an anthologies of earlier koans is the Chundng l (The Transmission of the Lamp)105 compiled by Doyun in 1004, comprising over a thousand koans ranging from those of the ancient patriarchs and masters to the disciples of Fyn in the 10th century. [5.1.2.5] An early example of the second type of koan anthology are the recorded sayings of the Lnj master, Fnyng Shnzho (947-1024). It has 300 koans found in three collections. The first collection consists of old koans, for each of which Fenyang wrote a verse summarizing the general meaning of the koan in poetical language. The second consists of his own koans appended with his own answers. The third collection comprises old koans, along with his alternate answers to them. These three collections became the models for later koan-based exercises.106 The rise of koan anthologies was mainly due to an internal crisis. After the persecution of Buddhism in 845 [7.4.1.3], the Chn masters were dying without the rise of new ones. Within fifty years, a whole generation of illustrious Chn masters died one after the other: Gushn , 853; Hungb , 855; Dshn , 865; Lnj , 866; Dngshn , 869; Yngshn , 891; and Coshn , 900 [5.3.2]. Chn Buddhismunlike Tinti or Huyn, both of which were scripture-based, or Pure Land which was faith-basedhad always stressed on personal religious experience, that is, the Chn enlightenment and its certification by living masters. In a Buddhism that is heavily Confucianized and subtly Daoized, even enlightenment had to be measured and certified. The Chn master decided when his pupil was ready for training and for what sort of training, and when he had awakened.107 Beginning with Dhu, the enlightenment tool was the gngn or koan. The days of Suzuki and romantic Chn are over: scholars now know that the koan was not always a skilful means. Chinese scholar Yu writing about Dhu, comments: It was hoped that through the collection of earlier koans, and through the concentrated meditation on these koans, the original experience of enlightenment could be re-enacted. Suzuki thought this development indispensable for the survival of Chan after the passing of those charismatic leaders of Tang.108 However, as we shall see, this emphasis on koan exercise was indeed a double-edged sword. It could grant more life to Chan, but if handled wrongly, it could also kill its very life. (Yu, Ta-hui Tsung-kao and Kung-an Chan, 1979: 219)
See CHANG Chung-yuan, Original Teachings of Chan Buddhism (NY: Random House, 1969) for selected trs. See also Sohako Ogata (tr), Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Hummingbird, 1986; 2nd ed as The Transmission of the Lamp: Early Masters, rev ed Paul F Schmidt, Wolfboro, NH: Longwood Publishing Group, 1990. (Unfortunately ridden with numerous typos and mispronunciations): see review by HSIEH Ding-hwa, Philosophy East and West 44,1 Jan 1994: 180-183. 106 See Miura & Sasaki, Zen Dust, 1966: 355-356. 107 Interestingly, we see such meditation measuring today, who are too quick to confirm the attainment of streamwinning by their candidates: Just how quick can be seen in a pamphlet published by U Ba Khins meditation center, entitled Personal Experiences of Candidates (Buddhists and non-Buddhists) [partly reproduced in WL King, Theravda Meditation, 1980: 126-132]. This pamphlet relates the case of a European businessman, Mr A, who attained sotpatti after only two days of training under U Ba Khin. U Ba Khin tested him, requiring that he go into the fruition state (phala) with a vow to arise just after 5 minutes [op cit 130]. (Sharf 1995: 263). Kings report goes on to say that he could enter nirvana at will. Although such meditation descriptions closely resemble dhya na, U Ba Khin assured his critics that an experienced teacher alone will be able to differentiate between the two (op ci t 132). Implicit to all this was apparently the notion that U Ba Khin was enlightened. For full record, see http://vipassana.awardspace.info/forum/index.php?topic=77.0. What is troubling, however, is the unprecedented measuring and certification of meditation, in both Chn and systems like U Ba Khins. 108 Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism, 2nd Series, 1933: 90-93.
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5.1.3.5 HOW TO HUATOU. Generally, a koan refers to a mind-altering dialogue or an event that took place between a Chn master and his student. As Garma CC Chang notes, In short, koan means a Zen story, a Zen situation, or a Zen problem.109 The Chn monks of Sng however seldom used the term gngn , but more often used hutu , and referred the meditation on a koan as cn hutu or kn hutu . Literally, hu means speech, remark, sentence, and tu means either the beginning or the ending of something, because the Chinese sentence can be read left-to-right (as in English) or in reverse. Since tu literally means head, we can take it as the part of the sentence that we should head for, that is, grasp: it is, as it were, the handle of the sentence, its catchphrase. Thus, combined, hutu means, the head (or handle) of a sentence, or more technically, this is the lemma or headword that holds the essence of the sentence, as it were. When you grasp the hutu, you have a handle on the sentences meaning. You have found the finger pointing to the moon: now, you only need to you look directly to the moon. You need neither the finger nor the pointing any more. While koan refers to the whole situation or event, huatou means specifically the critical word or key point of the situation. The distinction between a koan and a huatou may be illustrated by Dhus favourite koan, Zhozhus Dog. A monk asked master Zhozhu,110 Does a dog have the Buddha-nature? Zhozhu answered, Wu! (see above). The entire dialogue is called a koan, but a Chn practitioner should think of neither the question nor answer. Instead, he should concentrate singlemindedly heartedly on the key-word wuthis is his huatou. A huatou may be regarded as a pregnant thought which, when subjected to proper examination will reveal the nature of the human mind. Nan Huai-chin explains it this way: In the contemporary idiomatic Shanghai dialect, if you want to ask someone, What is your problem? or What do you want? you say, What is your huatou? Whenever a thought starts to form, this is the beginning of a sentence. But what are the origin and whereabouts of an incipient thought? This is indeed a great problem. To find out the source of this thoughtthis is huatou. It is the beginning of a phrase, a problem. To work on a huatou is the method of dwelling upon the origin and root source of this phrase. This dwelling upon includes the combined effort of studying, guessing, experiencing, observation, contemplation and quiet deliberation of the huatou. (NAN Huai-chin, Chn y do gi ln , 1968: 77 f) From a romantic distance, all this sounds mystical, but such an exercise, as noted by Buswell, does not fit well into a meditation regime aimed at concentration: [H]wadu [Korean for huatou] is not intended to guarantee a state of samdhi but a state in which both the calmness of samdhi and the perspicuity of praj are maintained If one were to try to place the state of mind engendered through kanhwa pratice in the stages in Buddhist meditation continued in the Theravda school, I believe it would be rather more akin to acess concentration (upacra-samdhi), which accompanies ten specific types of discursive contemplations. (Buswell, The Korean Monastic Experience, 1992: 159) However, it is less problematic if we situate the koan practice Buswell mentions here as an anti-conceptualizing strategy, which has a vital role in early Buddhist meditation. The Vitakka,sahna Sutta (M 20) teaches a mental strategy against conceptualizing (worrying, etc) by way of thought reduction, where the distracted meditator stops and examines the troubling thought, just as it is, thus: If, bhikshus, while the monk is not minding and is disregarding those thoughts, there still arises in him evil unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, hate or delusion,
109 110
Garma CC Chang, The Practice of Zen , NY: Perennial Library, 1959: 71. That is, Zhozhu Cngshn (778-897), Tng Chn master in the lineage of Nnyu Huirng (677-744), and direct pupil of Nnqun Pyun (748-835): T2036.49.481c28.
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then he should attend to the stilling of the thought-formation (vitakka,sakhra,santhna manasikarato) [by identifying the causes]111 of those evil unwholesome thoughts.112 Then the evil unwholesome thoughts are eliminated and disappear. By their elimination, the mind thus stands firm internally, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated. SIMILE OF THE WALKER. Bhikshus, just as a man finding no reason for walking fast, walks slowly; finding no reason for walking slowly, stands; finding no reason for standing, sits down; finding no reason for sitting down, lies downthus giving up an awkward posture for an easy oneeven so should the monk get rid of the evil unwholesome thoughts by attending to the stilling of the thought-formation. Then the evil unwholesome thoughts are eliminated and disappear. By their elimination, the mind thus stands firm internally, settles down, becomes unified and concentrated. (M 20.6/1:120) = SD 1.6 The Dharma section explains the method theoretically, while the simile passage actually gives a graphically clearer way how to let go of the troubling mind. There is a catch here: the teachings here by themselves are usually difficult to grasp at first. Even if we have a total intellectual grasp of the passage, it still remains to be personally applied and seen to work for ourselves. A mature meditation teacher trained in the early Buddhist teachings would generally advise the student to do any of these processes as we are inclined to: (1) Simply notice the nature of the troubling thought-process: how it arises, peaks and passes away, or (2) A simple trick here is to ask ourselves Why am I thinking like this? or better What is going on here? or, (3) Identify the key-word in the troubling thought, eg worry, and examine this huatou: What is this thing? What is going on here? (Once you are familiar with the practice, you do not even need to ask the questionthe answer will arise just by calmly looking on.) As these are not intellectual questions, we do not in any way try to answer them: we simply ask the questions as often as necessary, but most importantly remaining silent so that the answers would arise on their own. It is as simple as that, but be prepared to be surprised and stilled by the answer when it does arise. This is an early Buddhist application of doubting the mental words that trouble us. The idea is to doubt the problem that is troubling us. An apocryphal Chn story goes that the second Chinese patriarch, Huk [5.2.3.1], approached Bodhidharma [5.1.1] to be his pupil, but Bodhidharma rejected him, retorting, When the snow turns red! So Huk stood in the snow for a while reflecting, and then cut his arm and offered it to Bodhidharma; the snow at his feet was redwith Huks blood! Accepted at last as Bodhidharmas disciple, Huk then asked him: My mind is not at peace: please still my mind! Bring your mind here, and I will still it for you! I have searched for my mind, but I simply cannot apprehend it. There, I have stilled it for you! ( Chundng l, T51.219b) [7.5.3.1]113
Vitakka,sakhra,sahna. MA explains sakhra here as condition, cause or root, and takes the compound to mean stopping the cause of the thought. The Chinese gama version, M 101 = T1.588b26, however, instructs that one should use intention and volition to gradually decrease the (unwholesome) thoughts (dngy sxng jinjin q nin ). This is accomplished by investigating the unwhole some thought thus: What is the cause? What is the cause of its cause? and so on. MA explains that such an investigation would loosen the mind from the flow of evil thoughts, eventually ending them. This is perhaps the most important and interesting of all the methods; hence, the title of the Sutta. See Intro (2) above. 112 The Daddabha J (J 322, the story of the lion and the hare) illustrates this method of going to the root or source of the problem. 113 See also Wdng huyun ( Compendium of the Five Lamps, 1252 or 1253), Beijing, Zhonghua Shuju, 1984: 44; Ztng j (late 10th cent) Loyan (Henan): Zhong Zhou, 2001: vol 2; Jngd zhundng l
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No one, not even a serious Chn practitioner, would take this account anything more than a story, even if an edifying one. We are simply unlikely to give an arm or a leg to get a problem solved. Furthermore, even if we were desperate enough to part with a piece of our body, Bodhidharmas answer is not likely ever to solve our problem: we are not Huk! The story is the koan; look for its huatou. See it directly in your mind. Do not think, do not seek. The answer will come. It is so hard-hitting, yet so crystal clear to you, there is no more need for asking, or worrying, or doubting. Now apply this to your problem, the next time you have one. 5.1.3.6 DEAD-WORD AND LIVE-WORD. One of the most distinctive Chn hermeneutic tools was that of the dead-word (sz )114 and live-word (huz ) dichotomy. These words were attributed to Dngshn Shuch ( d 900), a pupil of Ynmn Wnyn ( 864-949).115 These terms were also used by Dhu, from whom the Korean monk Chinul (Zhn 1158-1210) and later Korean tradition adopted them.116 The live-word, on the other hand, allows no conceptualizing conjured up by the deluded mind. As Dhu described it, This one word is the weapon which smashes all types of wrong knowledge and wrong conceptualization.117 As understood and used by Chn teachers, any theoretical description, whether of Chn or not, would be considered dead-word, while any teaching not intended to explain, but to enlighten us, would be a live-word. Dead-words are nice to talk about, but are soon tiresome and not helpful in spiritual cultivation, or often a hindrance to enlightenment. Even the Chn teachings or the koan, when contemplated in a theoretical manner becomes dead-word, and Dhu warned his students to investigate the live-word, not to investigate the dead-word.118 These two termsdead-word and live-wordare remarkably close to the twin terms of explicit [definitive] (lioy , Skt ntrtha) and implicit [indefinitive] (blioy , Skt neyrtha)119 [6.4.8]. In the meditation training of the early Buddhist tradition, the student is first given theoretical instructions about some suitable doctrine (such as the five aggregates), and the nature of mental hindrances. In the actual meditation practice, the student is often gently, sometimes abruptly, reminded or induced to let go of conceptualizing and experience the meditation object or state directly.120 This latter part is little different from the way that live-word is described, but we must remember that they are used in different systems of meditation. However, there is a Madhyamika catch here: we are still dealing with a duality here. Without the dead-word, there is no living-word. The two are not verbal or cognitive entities, but merely our perception: we need to re-tune our perception, as it were, to see beyond the death of words, into the living word. We directly understand the dead-word when we see it as reflecting the present moment of our daily life (of course, this is only one way of explaining it). Generally, this task is easier with the guidance of a wise experienced teacher. 5.1.3.7 WHO IS FIT TO TALK WITH? A wise teacher is the one who knows how to properly answer a questioner and help him in his problem. The Kath,vatthu Sutta (A 3.67) recounts the Buddhas insightful advice on how a person should be judged by the way he treats the questioner. The main points are summarized here:
vol 3 (T51.2076.196-467); Wmngun case 41 (T48.2005). See also McRae, The Northern School and the Formation of the Early Chan Buddhism, 1986: 15 f. 114 Cf dead letters of apparent precepts (xingji ) [4.3.3.2]. 115 See CHANG Chung-yuan, Original Teachings of Chan Buddhism, 1969: 271. 116 For example, see Dahui yulu 14 (T47.870b passim). For Chinuls discussion, see Buswell, Korean Approach to Zen, 1983: 240. For a Vajrayna account, see Michael Broido, Does Tibetan Hermeneutics Throw Any Light on Sandhbha? Journal of the Tibet Society 2 1982: 16-20. 117 Dahui Yulu 26 (T47.921c), qu in Buswell, 1983: 338. 118 See R Buswell, Chan hermeneutics: A Korean view, in D Lopez (ed), Buddhist Hermeneutics, 1988:246 f. 119 See Levels of Learning = SD 40a.4 (2). 120 See eg Mental Cultivation = SD 15.1.
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The four kinds of questions 1 When you are engaged in discussion with someone, you should know whether he is fit to talk with or unfit to talk with. He is fit to talk with (1) if he categorically answers a categorical question; (2) if he gives an analytical or qualified answer when it is an analytical question; (3) if he counter-questions when a counter-question is needed; (4) if he puts aside a question when it should be put aside. The four principles of discourse 2 A person is fit to talk with (5) if he keeps to what is possible and what impossible;121 (6) if he keeps to agreed assumptions (7) if he keeps to known teachings;122 (8) if he keeps to proper procedure. The threefold decorum of discourse 3 A person is fit to talk with, (9) if he does not evade the issue by wandering from one topic to another; (10) if he does not lead the discussion astray [off the point]; (11) if he does not show anger, aversion or discontent. Further decorum of discourse 4 A person is fit to talk with, (12) if he does not put down [the questioner]; (13) if he does not crush him; (14) if he does not ridicule [laugh at] him; (15) if he does not grasp at his little mistakes. Be attentive to a teacher 5 Note this in a person you are speaking with: (16) if he does not listen to you, he is not attentive; and (17) if he listens to you, he is attentive.
(A 3.67/1:197-199) = SD 46.11
5.1.3.8 DO NOT GIVE ZEN ANSWERS! A case in point is a Buddhism and Science symposium held in Singapore in July 2008. Two scientists and a monk presented parallels between, as advertised, Buddhism and science. The hydrologist spoke of how our mind, when emotionally pent up (such beings angry) is like a flooding dam that suddenly breaks and floods the lowlands with widespread damage. The geneticist clarified that even when a chicken gene is put in soya bean, there is no chicken in it. And the monk (a pupil of a contemporary Chn master) then presented how Buddhism had progressed with brain science, presenting what were some kind of glimpses from the Sutta Discovery paper on Consciousness and meditation (SD 17.8c).123 What is interesting, yet troubling, was that none of the questions asked from the floor were fully answered at all! Here are some typical exchanges that occurred (with the questions simplified): Question: Answer: Question: When does [sic] life begin? [Meaning how does Buddhism define life, etc.] (After some ball-passing as to which speaker should answer): At 60! Can you explain how the four satipatthanas work on the triune brain during meditation? How does breath meditation help in the process here?
Cf Kvu 3.1.4/1:229. Be; Ee a,vda. Alt tr: the teaching of one who knows. Comy glosses as teachings that are under stood, that are known (ata,vde jnita,vde, AA 2:309). 123 Written in 2006. Accessible at http://dharmafarer.googlepages.com/08cConsciousnessmeditation.piya.pdf.
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SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese Sounds like you know the answer; why dont you tell me the answer!124
The following passage is fairly representative of Dhus sentiments regarding sitting meditation, and although his original intentions (that is, before worrying about the Codng ascendancy) were quite different, these words sound very familiar in our own times, especially of non-meditating modernists: In recent years, heretical teachers sprang up within the sangha like wild weeds, and blinded the eyes of numerous sentient beings. When one does not use the koans of the ancients in meditation, he will be like a blind man without a walking stick and cannot advance even one step .... [Some people] think that Buddha Dharma and Chn cultivation are not dependent upon written words. Therefore they denigrated all koans as ready-made. They just sit in a ghostly cave on a dark mountain after their meals. They call this practice silent illumination, dying the great death, the state before the birth of ones parents. They sit there until calluses appear on their bottoms, yet they still do not dare to move. On the contrary, they regard this as the gradual maturation of their effort. (Dhu yl, juan 19, T47.890c-891a)125 Further, Dhu noted that those heretical teachers only had an intellectual understanding of Chn and koans: Nowadays there are people who have never personally experienced enlightenment, but only know how to play intellectual tricks. Before they ascend the high seat in the morning, they would stay up all night, memorizing two phrases from this pamphlet [koan collection] and two phrases from that one. After pasting them together they present the end product like a bouquet. They can talk with great fluency, but people with clear eyesight know this is a ridiculous parody. (Dhu yl, juan 13, T47.863b-c)126 Dhu fiercely attacked those Chn teachers who advocated silent sitting (zuchn ), claiming that it would breed passivity, torpor and delusion. According to Dhu, passively sitting in meditation leads to drowsiness (hnchn ), and intellectualizing the meaning of a koan only leds to conceptualization (dioj )two foes equally deadly in the life of a Chn practitioner.127 Any seasoned meditator, however, would know that if such a simple practice is problematic, the critic obviously has either not tried it or not benefitted from it, or is simply unable to meditate. Perhaps this explains why there are many so-called Chn temples (chns ) in our midst without any chn (meditation)! How should we practise Chn then? Dhu claimed that the only effective way to avoid these two dangers and to realize our true mind by intensive concentration upon a koan. As he put it, if we failed to use a koan, then we would be like a blind man without a walking stick, unable to take even one step. But first, Dhu stressed that we should have faith in the method, and feel the urgency of the task. In ones daily activities, one should [mentally] paste the words life and death on ones forehead and feel as if one owes someone a million strings of cash and the debtor is right outside the door asking for payment.128 Dhus imageries clearly reflected his intellectual familiarity with the Sutras, but were applied to meditation. He directed these same ancient similes and reminders to his pet practice: the koan. On account of such worldly developments in the name of Chn and Zen, and their popular perception, the word Zen if often used today in the sense of being fashionable or mystical. Not only are fashionable furniture and indoor decoration said to be zen, there was in 2011 even a Hongkong 3 -D erotic period movie called Sex and Zen. The word zen has met its karma and joined the league of extrareligious words like jesuit (one given to cauistry or political cunning). It is instructive if we are to carefully reflect on how such developments occur.
124 125
For a more helpful answer, see Meditation and consciousness = SD 17.8c (6.2.6). This passage is from Chun-Fang Yu 1979: 225. 126 This passage is from Chun-Fang Yu 1979: 225 f. 127 Araki, Daie Sho 1969: 57. 128 Dahui yulu, jun 24, pp 47 + 910c.
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5.2 NORTHERN-SOUTHERN SCHOOLS CONTROVERSY

5.2.1 Shnxi and Hunng 5.2.1.1 DISCIPLES OF HNGRN. An important landmark in Chinese Buddhism is the controversy or polemics arising between the northern and southern schools of pre-classical Chn (8th century). The lesson here is that in the dynamics of early Chn (especially during the Sng period), history is often secondary to legend, and that truth and doctrine are secondary to rhetoric and propaganda. From the traditional records, as we have them, the controversy arose between two Chn factionsthe northern and the southern schoolscentering the status of sudden enlightenment (the subitist position) and the gradual enlightenment (the gradualist position). All this, as we shall see, was the machination of one unscrupulously zealous monk. The best known account of the controversy is recorded in the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (Liz tn jng ) [5.2.5]. According to this Chinese text, both Shnxi (606?-706)129 and Hunng ( 638-713) [5.2.4] were disciples of Hngrn (601-674), the fifth Chn patriarch. Hngrn, seeking a successor to the title of sixth patriarch, asked his disciples to compose a verse each that would demonstrate their respective levels of enlightenment. [5.2.4.4] All the other monks expected Shnxi, the senior disciple, to be the successor. Shnxi composed a verse which Hngrn publicly praised, but told Shnxi in private that it fell short of the mark. When Hunng, then still a lay temple hand, heard about the contest, he instantly knew what to write but, being an illiterate manual worker130 (says the Platform Stra), had a temple page inscribe his verse on a wall. Hngrn, hearing of this verse, publicly declared that this verse was lacking, but late that night called the layman Hunng to his room and transmitted his Dharma to him, naming him as his successor as the sixth patriarch, and giving him the robe and bowl of Bodhidharma [5.1] as tokens. In traditional Chn literature, Shnxis verse represents the gradualist position while Hunngs states the subitist position, and Hngrns approval of the latters verse is meant to show that the subitist position is the true teaching of the patriarchs. In traditional Chn documents, the Northern School (Bizng ) of Shnxi is represented as teaching gradual enlightenment. Philosophically, gradual here does not necessarily mean taking an extended period of time to awaken, but indicates the dualistic view that differentiates enlightenment from ignorance, or practice from attainment. No matter what length of time one specifies from the beginning of practice to the enlightenment, it is gradual only because the two are viewed as separate. According to doctrine of Buddha-nature [4.1, 4.2] that was current 5.2.1.2 Yqun Shnxi in China from the 4th century onwards, all sentient beings have the (605-706) capacity to become Buddhas. Teachings of sudden enlightenment, (From stele engraving) which became standard doctrine within Chn after the controversy, held that all beings are inherently endowed with Buddhahood. As such, enlightenment takes literally no time at all, since practice and enlightenment are not separate. According to this view, the Northern School adhered to a position of untenable dualism, and was as such unorthodox. The real situation was that this unchanly dispute over sudden versus gradual enlightenment was all machinated by the wily evangelist Shnhu (688-762)131 [5.2.3] as a struggle for religious orthodoxy and supremacy. It is of little interest to the ordinary Buddhists, suffering in samsara and seeking to get out. No amount of Chn philosophy could help them. Indeed, if the Chn school were ever to survive, it still had to use gradual methods for the dense masses. In fact, as Faure has observed, most of the
http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?79.xml+id(b795e-79c0) (Enter as guest). Hunngs manual labour is simply a part of the Chn monastic incumbents daily duties [2.3.3]. 131 (670-762): these are Keowns dates, 2003: 110. Hu Shihs dating is 688-762 (Hu Shih 1958: 875: see Yampolsky 1967: 36 n124). John R McRae gives (684-758), see 1987: 227. See Schltter 2007: 383n.
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time, they merely concealed this fact with their sudden terminology (1986: 117). The point is that Chn would not have survived if not for its words, shouts and disputes.132 5.2.1.2 WHO WAS SHNXI? Yqun Shnxi ( 605-706) was one of the most influential Chn Buddhist masters of his day, a patriarch of the East Mountain Dharma-door (Chin Tung-shan famen): this long name was often given the diminutive appellation Northern School by Shnhu (670762). Shnxi was Dharma-heir of Hngrn [5.2.1.1]. In late 700 the empress W invited Shnxi to the capital at Luyng to teach Chn Buddhism. For the last five years of his life, Shnxi travelled between the two capitals of Luyng and Chngn, teaching Buddhism before passing away at his monastery, the Dngd tingng s , sitting in meditation, in 706. The reigning emperor Zhngzng (705-710) granted the posthumous title of Dtng chnsh (Greatly Penetrating Dhyana Master), only the second time in Chinese Buddhism and the first for three hundred years that this imperial honour had been bestowed (McRae, 1986: 55). The Lngji shz j (Records of the Teachers and Disciples of the Lankavatara) states that Shnxis last words were Qqzh that is, bent over, curved, straight (T85.2837.1290b13). The meaning of these words has puzzled many scholars. McRae thinks that they might refer to some progressive perfection Shen-hsiu felt he had achieved. Or, taking the first two characters as a compound, one could read the statement as the vagaries of the world are now straightened [in the state of nirva to come] (1986: 54). The renowned Japanese Buddhologist YANAGIDA Seizan notes that qqjio is a pan-chiao, or doctrinal classification, term for an indirect method of teaching by which the Buddha brought his listeners to the ultimate truth in a step-by-step or even roundabout fashion, and as such he interprets the phrase as the teachings of the expedient means have been made direct.133 Although Shnxi was the legitimate sixth patriarch of Chn Buddhism, the Southern School, at the instigations of Shnhu, rejected him, and made counter-claims, splitting the Chn School. The Southern School promoted Hunng [5.2.1.1, 5.2.3] as their sixth patriarch, and this rivalry continued into the following century. Shnxi saw himself as teaching in the East Mountain tradition of Hngrn but, on account of the machinations of Shnhu in early 730s, was labeled as a teacher of the Northern School in subsequent Chn records. Shnxi was highly educated and steeped in Buddhist scripture. He interpreted the scriptures by way of metaphors of skilful means (Skt upya, fngbin ) for mental contemplation mind, advocating the attainment of Buddhahood in all daily activities, here and now. Every act was seen as meditation practice.134 For example, he saw simple activities, like taking a bath, as a religious act. He taught that soap used to clean away dirt is actually the ability of discrimination by which one can ferret out the sources of evil within oneself. Cleaning the mouth with toothpicks is nothing less than the Truth by which one puts an end to false speech. Overt religious activities such as burning of incense were seen as the unconditioned Dharma, which perfumes the tainted and evil karma of ignorance and cause it to disappear. (McRae 2003: 50) In meditation practice, Shnxi taught that the student should develop the natural ability of the mind to illuminate and understand all things (McRae 2003: 53), and to see the emptiness of all things. He taught that there is a profound stillness in all things. A Northern School text known as the Five Skillful Means states: In purity there is not a single thing Peaceful and vast without limit, its untaintedness is the path of awakening [enlightenment]. The mind serene and awakening distinct, the bodys serenity is the bodhi tree. (McRae 2003: 53). Even though Shnxi and the Northern School were subsequently attacked as teaching a gradualist approach to enlightenment, the Gunxn ln (Treatise on Contemplation of the Mind), a text which
For an interesting study, see Hu Shih 1953. For a sympathetic treatment, see Ding-hwa HSIEH 2005. See Shoki no zenshi 1:305. Nakamura Hajime, Bukkygo daijiten (3 vols), Tokyo: Tky shoseki, 1975 1: 187b, cites a comy on the Avatasaka Stra by Chnggun (738-839) as the locus classicus of qqzh. See McRae 1986: 55. 134 This is of course a familiar stance, which is known as full awareness ( sampajaa): see Satipahna S (M 10.8/1:57) = SD 13.3.
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is unquestionably written by him [Shnxi] (McRae 1986: 207) clearly states: It does not take long to witness this (ie, to realize sagehood); awakening [enlightenment] is in the instant. Why worry about your white hair (ie, about your age)? (id). It was Shnxis exhortations to constant, unremitting practice that gave Shnhu the opening to attack the teaching as gradualist. In any case, Shnhus attacks on Shnxi occurred some thirty years after Shnxis death. During his lifetime, and especially his relatively brief teaching in the capital cities of the Tng Dynasty, Shnxis teachings were received with widespread acceptance and reverence. The influence of Shnxis teachings on subsequent Chn doctrine and practices is, however, still a somewhat open question, especially the Northern School did not survive the political changes and social turmoil in the north. The Southern School, on the initiative of Shnhu, flogged the dead horse that is the Northern School, and its received history became the dominant ideology for centuries to come. [5.2.3] 5.2.2 W Ztin 5.2.2.1 RISE TO GREATNESS. The story of W Ztin, the only woman to rule China as an empress, was contemporaneous with that of the sixth patriarch. We will study the W Ztin story first as a backdrop to Hunng, and 5.2.2.1 W Ztin also because her story is significant in terms of a strategic study of Buddhist By a court painter history, and is, in many ways, more complicated than the Hunng story [5.2.4.1]. If there were ever a single woman who manipulated Buddhism to her worldly benefit for most of her adult life, and to affect a whole nation to boot, it would be W Ztin (r 625-705), personal name Wzho ,135 often referred to as Tinhu the Heavenly Empress Consort during the Tng Dynasty and as Whu the Empress Consort W in later times. She was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant. As de facto ruler of China, first through her husband and her sons (665-690), not unprecedented in Chinese history, she then broke all precedents when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the Zhu (interrupting the Tng dynasty), and ruled personally as the Sacred and Divine Empress Regnant (Shngshn hungd ) and its variations (690-705). Her rise and reign was harshly criticized by Confucian historians but, after the 1950s, has been viewed under a different light. At the tender age of 13, the beautiful W Ztin joined the emperor Tizngs harem. Later, however, she became a nun, but then returned to the world to become a secondary consort of emperor Gozng , around 652. After vicious palace intrigues, she ousted the legitimate empress Wang ( Wng hunghu), and in late 655, had her brutally murdered, and gained total dominance over the emperor, consolidating her power during the periods when he was too ill to rule. From 660 onwards she built up her power with consummate skill. During the time when W Ztin had usurped the throne, apparently some Buddhist clerics saw this as an occasion for consolidating themselves. Antonino Forte, in his monograph on Buddhism during the W Zho 136 usurpation of the Tng throne, suggests that the Tantric priests Bodhi,ruci137 and Mani,cintana, tried to curry favour with the empress, by apparently interpolating the Sanskrit manuscript of the Boy jng (Rain of Jewels Sutra) to include explicit references to a female world-monarch (cakravarti).138 When Gozng (r 650-683) died, he was succeeded by Zhngzng (r 684, 705-710), but when he showed signs of being independent, empress W deposed him, and installed his brother, Ruzng
W Ztins cousins son Zong Qinke created a number of new characters in 689, from which she chose the character 2 herself, and which thenceforth became taboo for others. The orig character was prob orig . 136 The characer was formed by contracting the last two characters of her name W Ztin . 137 This is a different Bodhi,ruci who was a north-Indian scholar-monk [3.4.4.5]. 138 Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century , 1976: 125-136. See McRae 1990: 17. 244.
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(r 684-690, 710-712), as nominal emperor, with her as the power behind the throne. In 688, when
some Tng princes rebelled against her, they were easily put down. A series of bloody purges followed, where many of the royal family and court officials were killed. For several years, her secret police had a free hand in rooting out all opposition. By 685, the empress W had been carrying on an affair with the priest Huiy (d 695) [5.2.2.3], and during the next few years, Huaiyi would be progressively bestowed with greater and greater honours.139 Shortly after W Ztin took the throne, she elevated the status of Buddhism to be above that of Daoism, officially sanctioning the religion by building temples named Dyn s (Great Cloud Temple) in every prefecture of the regions of the two capitals, Luyng and Chngn, and also made dukes of nine senior priests. 5.2.2.2 W AS MAITREYA. In 690, W Ztin performed a series of ceremonies and rituals, preparing (that is, legitimizing herself in usurping the Dragon Throne, and so becoming the empress of a new dynasty, the Zhu , and to become the only woman ruler in Chinese history. Her rise came at a time when women played an important role in public life, which was probably the result of the semi-foreign origins of many of the great clans that dominated Tng court life. Since the patriarchal Confucians were fervently against a woman being above them, much less as empress, W Ztin astutely turned to Buddhism to legitimize her claims to the throne. Under such circumstances, the Buddhist priests were either obliged to assist her, or saw this as a great opportunity to promote the religion (or probably both, and making the best of the situation). From such documents as the Ldi fbo j [5.4], we know that she used two main strategies. Firstly, she claimed that she was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha; secondly, she concocted the story that she has Bodhidharmas robe (which confered patriarchship upon the holder). In the same year (690), W introduced the presentation of the purple robe ( zy) [5.1.3.2], upon a group of priests, including her lover, the priest Huaiyi , as a mark of special favour. The earliest record we have on this event is found in the Jitng sh (Old Tng History): Huaiyi, Faming and others made the Dayun jing, in which was displayed a series of signs [concerning the Heavenly] Mandate and in which it was said that Zetian was Maitreya who had descended to be born and act as the head of the JambudvpaHuaiyi, Faming and others, nine people, were all enfeoffed dukes of a subprefecture and were given different objects: all were given the purple kya and a silver bag for the tortoise. (Jiutang shu juan 183)140 According to Adamek, the princely purple robe, the imperial talisman, and fief, were indigenous Chinese symbols and substance of enfranchisement, free passage into ancestral ritual arena, heavenly sanction, and material privilege. The giving of the purple robe was merely a mark of imperial favour, not one of the talismans of imperial legitimacy (2000: 71). However, invoking Indian Buddhist mythology, she took the giving of the robe an act of merit that a universal-monarch (cakra,varti) gained from such a gift to the sangha. We should not miss the most significant point regarding empress Ws conferring the purple robe upon eminent and favoured priests. The presentation of the purple robe had an ancient precedent: purportedly, that of the Buddha bestowing a gold-embroidered robe on Mah Kyapa.141 Only this time, it was W Ztin who gave the
Zizhi Tongjian vol 203-205. Tr A Forte in Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century , 1976: 4 f. 141 There is no canonical account of the Buddha giving such a golden robe to Mah Kassapa. However, the Cvara S (S 16.11) recounts how the Buddha exchanged his worn-out hempen dust-heap-robe [rag-robe] (sa pasukla nibbasana) for Mah Kassapas patch-cloak outer robe (paa,pilotika saghi) (S 16.11/2:221) = SD 77.5. It is only in the Sayutta Comy that we find the story of how the Buddha, on first meeting Mah Kassapa, thinks, I will make this monk a forest dweller, a rag -robe wearer and a one-meal eater from his very birth (as a monk). After Mah Kassapa had used his own robe as a spread for the Buddha to sit on, the Buddha remarks that it is very soft, and at once Mah Kassapa presents it to him. In exchange, the Buddha gives him his own rag -robe (SA 1:199): see Piya Tan, The Buddha and His Disciples, 2004 6:16 (or ch 6.4). Mah,parinibbna S (D 16), however,
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robe. By this act, she had usurped the two highest positions of the Buddhist realm, that of the Buddha himself, and that of the patriarch who was the only legitimate person to hand down the patriarchal robe! All this might have worked well for the Buddhists. To enthrall and domesticate the other subjects at large, W played on important symbols, something deeply loved and easily understood by the traditional Chinese. Through an auspicious confluence of signs characteristic of her rule, she fashioned a dynastic identity in the time-honoured imperial way, that is, the relationship of name (such as the dynastic name Zhu ) and symbols (such as the tortoise, a Chinese symbol of longevity), to invoke universal harmony in terms of Han cosmology. 5.2.2.3 W AS PATRIARCH-MAKER. In 692, Hunng, at W Ztins request sent Bodhidharmas robe to her at Luyngso says the Ldi fbo j! She was said later to have given it to the monk Zhshn (609-702) [5.2.4.1], who thus claimed to be the seventh patriarch in the lineage of the Botng monastery (Botngs zng ). The reason for Ws pious generosity is recorded in a dramatic story of a duel between Zhishen and the Indian monk Trepiaka (said to be a mind-reader): [Zhishen] imagined himself dressed in laymans garb looking toward the section office of the western market. Then Trepiaka said, How can [you], a worthy (bhadanta) monk, wear laymans clothing and gaze into the midst of a market? Shen [ie, Zhishen] said, Very good, try it again. [Another similar scenario follows.] Shen said, This time will be really good, try one more. Then right where he was, by relying on the Dharma he produced no thoughts at all. That Trepiaka searched throughout the Three Worlds, but in vain. The Trepiaka brahmin was filled with reverence and respect, and he bowed his head down at Shens feet, telling the Venerable, I did not know that in the country of the Tng there was Mahyna Buddha-Dharma [Empress W] Zetian saw that the Trepiaka had taken refuge in Chn master Shen. Zetian submitted a question to all the bhadanta: Do the Venerables have any desires? Shenxiu , Xuanyue , Laoan and Xuanze all said, We have no desires. Zetian asked Chn master Shen, Does the Venerable have any desires? Chn Master Shen, fearing that he would not be allowed to return home, complied with the will of Zetian and replied, I have desires. Zetian further asked, How can you have desires? Shen replied, That which is born has desire. That which is not born has no desire. At these words, Zetian was enlightened. (T51.2075.184a25-b9; Adameks tr, reparagraphed) When Zhishen insisted on returning home, Zetian gives him the Bodhidharma-Hunng robe,142 and other gifts, including an embroidered image of Maitreya. Wendi Adamek notes the significance of this story: It is significant that bestowal of the robe takes place in the context of an enlightenment experience signaling Dharma transmission, or mutual understanding between master and pupil, which was a frequent motif in Chn hagiographies. Here, however, the transmission is characterized by several kinds of inversion.
has a story of Pukkusa the young Mallas gift of burnished gold -coloured robes to the Buddha (D 16.4.35/2:133 = SD 9), but this is a late story interpolated into the sutta. For discussion on Indian sources, see Padmanabh S Jaini, Stages in the Bodhisattva career of the Tathgata Maitreya, in Sponberg & Hardacre, Maitreya, Future Buddha, 1988: 74-76; MIYAJI Akira, Kijiru daiichi ybu bo vruto tenj kutsu hekiga (Murals on vaulted ceilings in the type-one style Kizil Caves [II]), Bukkyo Geijutsu (Ars Buddhica) 183 1989: 45-48; Jonathan Silk, The origins and early history of the Mahratnaka tradition of Mahyna Buddhism with a study of the Ratnarstra and related materials, PhD diss, Univ of Michigan, 1994: 54-68. 142 As we shall see later [5.4.3], this is more properly called Shnhus robe, after the mastermind behind the creation of the Sixth Patriarch story.
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First, the transmission of the sudden teaching, the identity between Buddha-Nature and ordinary function that is beyond words, finds its voice as the antinomian affirmation of desire. Second, it is the bestower who is awakened by the recipient. Third, a worldly ruler stands in for the Dharma ruler, Huineng, who is still alive at the time and is subsequently informed by the empress of the fate of his robe. Finally, the bestower is a woman and an empress, a lusus naturae [quirk of nature]who perhaps not incidentally, was known for her sexual appetites and also for having had her lover ordained the better to bestow upon him legitimacy and favors. (Adamek 2000: 65, reparagraphed) Ws lover was the priest Huaiyi, whom she acquired in 685. Sadly, Huaiyi in due course became jealous that W Ztin had taken another lover, the imperial physician Shn Nnqi , and in a heated passion, burned down the imperial meeting hall and the Heavenly Hall . Huaiyi was executed in 695. After that, she apparently gave less attention to mysticism and was more absorbed than ever before in the affairs of state.143 However, she also became overly pious towards saintly monks. 5.2.2.4 W ZTIN & SHNXI. In late 700, empress W Ztin invited the aged Shnxi [5.2.1.2] to the capital at Luyng to teach Chn Buddhism. His welcome in 701 was by all accounts quite spectacular. The Chun fboj (The Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-treasure, T85.2838) describe Shnxis path being bedecked with flowers and the master riding on a royal litter. In an unprecedented gesture, the empress herself knelt before the Chn master, touching her forehead to the ground in great reverence, lying prostrate for a inordinately long while. The Annals go on to say that From princes and nobles down, everyone [in the capital] took refuge in him. (McRae 1986: 51) [5.2.1.2] Empress Ws zealous religiosity and ravenous worldliness stand in such stark contrast that it is suggestive of the psychological defence mechanism of compartmentalization or isolation. Compartmentalization is the separation of thoughts, emotions and beliefs, restricting them to a particular action. For example, a salesman spends all the week days making sales in every means possible, with the notion that people are generally gullible; but on Sunday, he prays piously at the church or temple. In the case of W, it was possible that she was fully focussed on the moment, being extremely pious, or at other times, being voraciously worldly. However, if W were to only externally show her piety (maybe to win the support of pious Buddhists or impress others of her religiosity), but simply lacking any feeling of piety, then she could be putting up the defence mechanism of isolation, that is, the separation of feelings from ideas and events (for example, describing a murder with graphic details with no emotional response). Of course, she could be susceptible to either one on different occasions. 5.2.2.5 DREAMS OF A BUDDHA-LAND. The gentry Buddhists, especially the monastics, basked in the pious attention directed to them by empress W, which was mutually beneficial. The Buddhists legitimized W as a female cakra,varti, and they were well rewarded here and now. In fact, the excited clergy dreamt of building a Buddha-land of the empire, not through territorial expansion but by superimposing institutional Buddhism over all the land. After all, the empress was Maitreya, the future Buddha, a bodhisattva. The idea of the bodhisattva-ruler was not new: it was found in both Mahyna and Hnayna societies. Notable Chinese examples were emperor W of Ling (r 502-549) and emperor Wn of Su (r 581-604). W Ztin was, of course, unique: not only was her state ideology based on a complex cakra,varti and bodhisattva symbolismas recorded in the Jiutang shu as mentioned abovebut she dared to wear the mantle of Maitreya, the future Buddha himself. The Italian sinologist Antonino Forte notes that the manipulation of the Maitreya symbol was machinated by Ws priest advisors, who indeed, at least provisionally, believed in the advent of a utopian Buddha-land through Ws efforts. In their commentary to the Dyn jng (Mah,megha Stra), they made the claim that W was Maitreya, but softened by noting that maitreya merely means one who
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was compassionate or benevolent.144 Forte thinks that the monks who wrote the commentary appealed to the popularity of Maitreya, but were also wary of the subversive aspects of Maitreya millennarianism. The priests, in other words, wanted to win popular support but without any messianic messages that might raise expectations too high or trigger an open uprising.145 The reality of the situation was that the priests were trying to shift the balance of power from the gentry to the military and civil bureaucracy.146 5.2.2.6 SHATTERED DREAMS. After about 700, the aged empress W surrendered more power to her latest favourites, whose frivolous excesses finally drove her ministers to impeach them. When that failed, they organized a coup which deposed the empress and restored Zhongzong to the throne. But the emperor was dominated by empress Wei ( Wi hunghu) and ministers who had served empress W. It was also a period of severe natural disasters and economic strain. By 750, the situation in the empire had changed so much, especially with the An Lushan rebellion [5.2.2.4], gentry Buddhism lost its support of the court and began to face the vengeance of the Daoists and the Confucians who dominated the courts in their turn. A Malay proverb goes after every flood, the sands change (sekali air bah, sekali pasir berubah): those who swim with the powerful, will sink with them, too. 5.2.3 Shnhu, creator of modern Zen? The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.147 It was mainly the southern monk Shnhus [5.2.1.1] ambition, genius and evangelism that created much of Zen as we know it today, especially the Zen that piously or fondly looks back to the Platform Sutra. Shnhu was, of course, a man of his own times, moulded and motivated by the vicissitudes of 8th century southern China, in the twilight of the Tng dynasty, a time marked by religious persecutions and political rebellions.148 5.2.3.1 METROPOLITAN CHN. Zhng Yu (677-730),149 the great Tng poet and writer, in his biographical monuments, listed the following as the religious genealogy of Shnxi: Name Bodhidharma Huk Sngcn Doxn Hngrn Shnxi Traditional Simplified none none none none none Wade-Giles Pu-ti-ta-mo Hui-ko Seng Tsan Tao-hsin Hung-jen Shen-hsiu Pinyin Ptdm Huk Sngcn Doxn Hngrn Shnxi Dates (d c530) [5.2.1] (487-593) (d c606) (580-651) (601-674) (605-706)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
After Shnxis death, two of his disciples, Pj (651-739) and Yf (658-736), continued to be honoured as national teachers or sangharajahs (gush ). In their biographical monuments after death, we find same genealogy, which remained unchallenged for thirty years, and is in fact one of the several
Forte 1976: 156. The comy is Dyn jng shnjy sh (Commentary on the Meaning of the Prophecy on [Her Majesty] Shenhuang in the Great Cloud Sutra), S 6502; tr in Forte 1976:183-238. See also Adamek 2000: 72 f. 145 Jan Nattier points out that notions of Maitreya as a world ruler stems from the Chinese apocrypha (influenced no doubt by Chinese political praxis), whereas in Indian Buddhist canonical sources there is no blending of spiritual and political rule, the latter remaining strictly subordinate. This is symbolized by the disappearance of the seven jewel talismans of the Cakravartins rule when Maitreya is enlightened. See Jan Nattier, The meaning of the Mai treya Myth: A typological analysis, in Maitreya, the Future Buddha, ed Alan Sponberg & Helen Hardacre, Cambridge Univ Press, 1988: 34. [Adameks fn] 146 Forte 1976: 153-159, 199 f. 147 Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (1599) 3.2.75-76. Also, note Shakespeares idiosyncratic grammar. 148 The rest of this section is mainly based on Hu Shihs article, 1953, but cf McRae 2001 & 2003: 107 -111. 149 Zuyan CHEN, Chang Yeh: First Poet of the High Tang, Tang Studies 12 1994: pp. 1-10. Paul W Kroll, On the date of Chang Yuehs Death, Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) 2,2 Jul 1980: 264265: http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/c01/56.html.
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lineages of the ascetic Lakvatra school, better known as the Lak school (Lngqi zng ) since Bodhidharmas time. Shnhu was notorious for his vicious and victorious attacks on the Northern school, but there were other schools of Chn in his own time, too. In a Machiavellian manner, he created a bogeyman calling it the Northern School so that the other schools would rally around him. Anyway, in the end, this was what happened after he was honoured by the powers that be and, even posthumously, continued to shape Chn and its various forms to this day. The Chn of Shnhus time was basically of two kinds: Tathgata Chn (rli chn ), represented by the obscure unorganized rustic practitioners, mostly provincial monks scattered in the countryside and distant mountains, and patriarch Chn (zsh chn ), that is, the better known well-organized urban schools.150 Dmn Hngrn (601-674) lived and taught in rural Hungmi , in eastern Hbi Province, in west central China. Hngrns pupils, such as Shnxi, in due course moved to the imperial capitals, Chngn and Luyng. As such, their tradition had been called metropolitan Chn [4.3.3.2]151 that is, the Chn patronized by notorious empress W Ztin [5.2.2]. It was in this metropolitan and imperial ambience, that Shnxi begun to produce Chn history,152 or rather his descendents rewrote Chn history in the form of a lineage. Shnxi called his lineage the East Mountain teaching (Dngshn zng ) or East Mountain Dharma Door (Dngshn Fmn 153 ) of Hngrn. The reason for this development is understandable: in the crowded life of the imperial metropolis, the Chn group felt a need to consolidate itself with a Chn identity. The best way to identify and legitimize itself would be to build up this identity by way of an ancestral lineage attributed retrospectively to the putative founder of Chan, Bodhidharma. (Buswell 1987: 357 n3) According to John McRae, the earliest recorded instance of such written recording was the epitaph (or inscription) of the monk Fr (638-689), a pupil of Hngrn. By the second decade of the 8th century, Hngrns later followers had produced two new texts listing the transmission from Bodhidharma to Shnxi. These were the Annals of the Transmissions of the Dharma Treasure (Chun fbo j 154 155 ) and the Record of the Teachers and Disciples of the Lakvatra (Lngqi shz j ). We have no records of the teachings and writings of provincial Huangmei, which were probably simple and unsophisticated. When Hngrns successors and descendents moved to the busy and sophisticated ambience of the capitals, with their literate society, the new writings, too, became more systematic and sophisticated for the purpose of proselytization.156 Very soon after metropolitan Chn rose in the north, the evangelical southern priest, Shnhu, manipulated a rustic Chn ascetic, Hunng, making him the sixth patriarch. And, as already mentioned, while Shnhu was working to enthrone the obscure ascetic Hunng, other urban Chn schools were also busily fabricating histories of their own lineages and of Chn as a whole. They compiled their own lamp
On a study of Tathgata Chn & patriarch Chn, see Y, Chn-fang, Chan education in the Sung, 1989; K Kimura, Bodhidharmas practice of recompense and formation of Chan Buddhism, 1998. 151 A term suggested by Jeffrey Broughton (unpublished MS) to John R McRae (2003: 157 n20); see McRae, Seeing Through Zen, 2003: 18, 35-35, 45, 48, 245, esp 45-73 (ch 3), Metropolitan Chan: Imperial Patronage and the Chan Style; a Chan boom in imperial capi tals. 152 On the interesting notion of production of history, see David William Cohen 1994: xiii-xxv, esp xv-xvi. It is a convenient term for the selective recall, reconstruction, creation or usage of the past with a political agenda. The famous term is based on the simile someone combings ones hair to make oneself presentable, as stated in this pass age: almost every morninghad combed Camellas hair into a bun, to disguise the spot, a six inch bald spot on the back of her head. (Cohen 1994: 10). 153 See McRae 2003: 48 f, 36-38. 154 T2838.85.1291 (1 fasc by Dufei ). See McRae 1986: 8 f. 155 T2837.85.1283-1291 (1 fasc by Jngju ). This text traces the beginning of the Chn lineage to Guabhadra rather than Bodhidharma (see McRae 2003: 26), an aberration ignored by the later Chan tradition (McRae 2003: 162 n8). See McRae 1986: 8 f. On Jngju, see http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?6d.xml+id('b6de8-89ba'). 156 See McRae 2003: 49-48-56, 84-86.
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records (dngl ) [5.1.2.5] to legitimize their lineages, and wrote recorded sayings (yl ) to canonize and glorify their patriarchs [5.1.3.1]. With this, Tathgata Chn began to be replaced by patriarch Chn: as such, historically, Tathgata Chn ended with the East Mountain school of Shnxi and his immediate successors. From the inscriptions of the Tinti monk Zux Xunlng (673-754), done by Lhu (717?-774?) probably shortly after Xuanlangs demise, four Chn schools are mentioned: (1) The Northern School (Bizng ), which went back to the Buddha himself, who transmitted the mind-dharma to Kyapa, down through 29 patriarchs157 until Bodhidharma, who transmitted the Lakvatra Stra, which passed through eight generations, down to the Chn master Hngzhng . (2) The one fountain-head of Northern Chn, beginning in the sixth generation from Bodhidharma, to the Chn master Datong (Shnxi), then down to the Chn master Tazhi (Yf), who handed it down to the Chn master Jung (unknown) of the Shanbei Temple in Chngn. (3) Southern Chn, descended from Bodhidharma to the fifth patriarch Sngcn [an error for Hngrn], from whom it was transmitted to Hunng. (4) Ox-head (Nitu ) school, transmitted from Bodhidharma to Doxn, in the fourth generation, and down to the Chn master Farong (594-657) of Nitu shan (Ox-head Mountain), then down to the Chn master Jingshan. Regarding this list, Yampolsky notes that it would seem evident that Li Hua considered the Northern School of Chan as the dominant one, although he recognized the presence of the Southern School, without mentioning Shen-huis name (1967: 39). The omission of any mention of Shnhu, Yampolsky surmises, was probably because the inscription was made while Shnhu was in exile (753-759)158 [5.2.3.4]. 5.2.3.2 SHNHU ATTACKS THE NORTHERN SCHOOL. In 734, while Pj was still living, Shnhu, before a large gathering in a monastery in Huatai,159 openly challenged the validity of Shnxis lineage and his school. He claimed that Bodhidharma gave Huk the robe (jish , Skt ksya) as testimony to the transmission of the true teaching after Huk cut off his arm and offered it to Bodhidharma (a tale fabricated by Shnhu). This robe, Shnhu claimed, was handed down by Huk to his chosen successor, and in four generations, came down to Hngrn, who, however, gave it, not to Shnxi, but to Hunng in the south [5.2.1]. Shnhu went on to openly charge Pj for usurping the title of seventh patriarch, thus establishing his teacher as the sixth patriarch, as recorded in his Shnhu yl: During his lifetime the Chan Master Shen-hsiu stated that the role symbolic of the Dharma, as transferred in the sixth generation, was at Shao-chou;160 he never called himself the Sixth Patriarch. But now Pu-chi [Pj ] calls himself by the title of the Seventh Patriarch, and falsely states that his Master was the Sixth. This must not be permitted. (Shnhu yl [Hu Shih text, frag 3]; Hu Shih 1930: 176, qu in Yampolsky 1967: 28) Either Shnhu deeply believed in the myth he had created or out of pure hubris, when warned of the gravity of his charges, replied that he did not fear for his life. He even went on to charge that the teaching of Shnxi and Pj was false because it recognized only gradual enlightenment (another fabrication of his).
Usu the number is 28, the number of patriarchs also held by the East Mountain (Northern) school. The difference in the numbering is whether Madhyntika, the 3 rd patriarch, is incl or excl. See Yampolsky 1967:39 n187. 158 Following Hu Shih that Shnhu returned to Luyng at 89 [5.2.2.6]. 159 , simplified , Huti in modern Henan, central China. 160 One of the temples Hunng lived in, the Cox gunggu s , is located southeast of Shaozhou.
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Shnhu, in his dialogue with Dharma master Yuan, proudly proclaimed that he was a tenth-stage bodhisattva, misquoting a passage from the Nirva Stra.161 It is interesting, observes Mario Poceski, to note that Shenhuis vrazen boast that he is a tenth stage bodhisattva constitutes a prajika offense, the most serious form of monastic transgression that leads to automatic exclusion from the order. (2002: 12). Shnhu further condemned what the Chinese then took to be the fourfold satipatthanas (Skt smtypasthna) or dhyana formula162 as taught by Pj and the students of Shnxi. Shnhu charged that all this was a hindrance to enlightenment.163 He declared that all forms of sitting meditation164 were simply unnecessary. If it is right to sit in meditation, then why should Vimalakrti scold Sriputta for sitting in meditation in the woods? he reasoned. Here in my school, to have no-thought is sitting-meditation, and to see our original nature is chn (Skt dhyna; P jhna)! A brilliant scholar and speaker Shnhu might have been, but obviously, he was no meditator. Here, the great Chinese scholar and writer, Hu Shih,165 makes this important remark: Thus Shen-hui proceeded from denunciation of the most highly honored school of the empire to a revolutionary pronouncement of a new Chan which renounces chan itself and is therefore no chan at all. This doctrine of Sudden Enlightenment he does not claim as his own theory or that of his teacher, the illiterate monk Hui-neng of Shaozhou, but only as the true teaching of all the six generations of the school of Bodhidharma.166 All this, according to the newly discovered documents, took place in 734 in a monastery in Huatai, which was a provincial capital fairly far away from the great cities of Changan and Loyang. (Hu Shih 1953:7) 5.2.3.3 SHNHU FABRICATES CHN HISTORY. In 745, Shnhu was invited to the Hz Monastery in Luyng, the eastern capital of the empire, and would in due course be known by the title of the Master of Hz . He arrived in Luyng at the advanced age of 77 and remained there more than eight years. There, he repeated his open challenge that the line of transmission claimed by the school of Shnxi, Yf, and Pj was not historical, and that their teaching of gradual enlightenment was false. As an eloquent preacher and dramatic tale-spinner, he made up many apocryphal stories, such as Bodhidharmas meeting with emperor W of Liang, and the tale of the second patriarch Huks cutting off his own left arm to show his earnest desire for Dharma instruction.167 Such stories were later further embellished and enshrined in the traditional history of Chinese Chan.
161 162
See Yang Zengwen 1996: 24. That is, a fourfold formula of concentrat ing the mind in order to enter dhyana, settling the mind in that state by watching its forms of purity, arousing the mind to shine in insight, and finally controlling the mind for its inner verification. 163 The Mahyna generally regard enlightenment as being always present and perfect, needing only to be un covered. The Chin term for enlightenment is usu w , Kor oh, Jap satori (from vb satoru, /, to know, understand). The Jap satori is used interchangeably with kensh (). The point is that the East Asian , oh, satori, kensh, etc are not syn with the early Indian Buddhist term bodhi (ts). Even pt , which is Chin for bodhi, does not always refer to the early Indian idea. Generally, I refer to enlightenment in the Chn context or Chn enlightenment, and awakening (bodhi) to the early Buddhist context. See Foulk, The form and function of koan literature, 2000: 41 f. 164 Zuchn ; Jap zazen. 165 For a summary of Hu Shihs important pioneer work in uncovering the truth about Shnhu, see Yampolsky 1967: 24 n67 (very useful long bibliographical analysis). 166 The doctrine of sudden enlightenment was first taught by the philosopher monk Doshng who died in 434. See Hu Shih, Development of Zen Buddhism in China, The Chinese Social and Political Science Review, 15,4 , 1932: 483-485. 167 See Hu Shih 1953: 8. However, according to Yampolsky, it appears more likely that they were common sto ries, current at the time [eg the story of Huks cutting off his arm is already found in the Chun fbo j ], and that the Shen-hui merely borrowed them for the effect they might have. (1967 : 27).
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Shnhus discourses (Shnhu yl)168 show that he was in close communication with a number of prominent literati and statesmen of his times. From this group, he chose the eminent poet Wng Wi (701-761)169 as the biographer of his teacher, Hunng (whom he probably had never met) [5.2.4]. Undoubtedly, this is the earliest legendary biography of Hunng and is preserved in section 63 of the Tng wncu ,170 where it is stated that the Chn master Hngrn regarded his southern barbarian171 lay labourer as having alone understood his teaching, gave him the robe of the patriarchs and then told him to flee. 5.2.3.4 SHNHUS EXILE.172 Shnhus eloquence and evangelism attracted a great following, and this became his undoing. His public talks were drawing such huge crowds that he attracted the attention of the authorities. In 753, the martyr-statesman Ly , Chief of Imperial Censors, presented a memorial to emperor Xunzng (685-762, r 713-756),173 reporting that Shnhu was gathering large crowds of people around him and might be suspected of some conspiracy injurious to the interests of the State. The emperor then exiled him to Yyng , in Jingx , whence he was thrice transferred in the next two years.174 During the third year of Shnhus exile, the n Lshn rebellion (755-763) broke out threatening to topple the Tng dynasty. The rebel armies, originating from the northeastern provinces and sweeping across the northern plains were, within a few months, able to capture the eastern capital, Luyng, and block all the passes leading to Chngn, the other capital, located 300 km to the west. Chngn fell in 756. The emperor fled to Chngd ,175 leaving his son and crown prince, Szng ( 711762, r 756-762), in the northwest to take charge of affairs. The heir apparent was proclaimed the new emperor and was able to organize a government and rally the loyal armies to fight the rebellion and save the empire. In 757, both capitals were recovered, and the rebellion was suppressed within six years. 5.2.3.5 ORDINATION CERTIFICATES. Shnhu and his school might well have ended in obscurity, if not for the An Lushan Rebellion, and it was clearly an era of high social drama. This rebellion, led by an ambitious man of the world, general An Lushan, lasted for nearly a decade and badly strained the imperial treasury. When the new government was formed in 756, it needed funds to crush the rebellion. To raise badly needed funds, the new emperor Szng ordered, in 757, that ordination platforms be built in major prefectures, and aspirants be allowed to become monasticsby donating incense money (xingshuqin ) (a lucrative euphemism) of a hundred strings of cash176 in exchange for ordination certificates (ddi ). The high cost of such a document was well worth it: the holder was exempt from taxation, corve, and conscription.177 [4.3.3.7]
Shnhu yl . See Hu Shih (ed), Shen-Hui Ho-Shang I-Chi (1930) & Suzuki (ed), Ho-tse Shen-Hui Chan-Shih Yulu (1934). 169 Known as the Poet Buddha (shf ), was a Tng Dynasty Chinese poet, musician, painter and statesman. See http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Wang-Wei. 170 Orig 10 vols, rebound in 2 vols, Shanghai : Shangwuyin shuguan, 1951(Wnyu wnk ed). 171 This was prob alluding to the fact that Hunng was a Glo , ie a tribesman from the deep southwest [5.2.3.1]. 172 See Hu Shih, Shen-hui ho-shang i-chi, 1968: 64-66. 173 The 7th and longest reigning emperor of Tng. He is not to confused with the 17 th Tng emperor, Xunzng Hsan-tsung, (r 847-860) (notice the tonal pinyin). 174 See Kenneth Chen, Buddhism in China, 1964: 353-355. 175 Capital of Sichuan (Szechuan) prov, SW China, on the Min River. It is a port and the commercial centre of the Chengdu plain, the main farming area of Sichuan. A cultural seat since ancient times, it is commonly called little Beijing. See http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Chengdu.html. 176 Theoretically, the candidates should be able to recite 500 pages of scripture before being allowed to be ordained. See Ui 1939: 234. 177 Ordination certificates were banned during the Sng, and in its place, a poll tax was imposed on monastics. See Timothy Brook, Praying for Power, 1993: 32.
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5.2.3.6 THE POWER OF MONEY. The authorities recalled the great eloquence and charisma of the exiled Shnhu, probably on account of his Chn friends in high places, such as Mio Jnqng and Fng Gun . So Shnhu, at 89, returned to the devastated city of Luyng, attracted huge crowds, and sold a great number of ordination certificates. Through this, he succeeded in significantly replenishing the imperial coffers.178 Understandably, the Japanese Buddhologist UI Hakuju openly disapproves of Shnhus actions as traits deserving of moral censure and criticism for intolerance. (1939: 227) The new emperor, in appreciation of Shnhus monetary contributions, invited him to his restored palace and ordered the Department of Works to accelerate the building of his new quarters at the Hz Monastery (Hz s ), which was then returned to him. Re-ensconced on his Dharma-throne here, he continued to recruit disciples against the Northern School. Hence, his lineage is sometimes known as the Hz School (Hz zng ). The exiled heretic Shnhu had become an honoured and successful hero of the empire. He died in 762 at ninety-two, leaving behind his lifes work: the myth of Hunng which would shape much of Chn Buddhism up to our times. 5.2.3.7 THE SEVENTH PATRIARCH. In 770, a decade after Shnhus death, by an imperial decree, his chapel was named The Hall of Wisdom Transmission of the True School. The Chn monk historian and Shnhu sympathiser, Zngm ( 780-841)179 of the Hz school, reports that in 796 emperor Dzng issued an imperial decree establishing the Master of Hz, Shnhu, officially as the seventh patriarchwhich implied that his teacher, the illiterate monk, Hunng, was officially recognized by the authorities as the sixth patriarch. In 815, at the request of the Viceroy of Lngnn , an imperial decree conferred posthumous honours on Hunng [5.2.4], who had died 106 years ago (which would date his death as in 711, instead of the traditional date of 713). The decree designated him the Master of Great Insight. On public request, two of the great writers of the age, Li Zngyun (773-819) and Li Yx (772-842), wrote two biographical monuments in honour of Hunng, wherein he was referred to as the sixth patriarch after Bodhidharma. The Hunng myth is now received history, and Shnhus victory was enhanced, even after his death. Through rhetoric and mythopoeia, and sheer political serendipity, Shnhu successfully created the sixth patriarch who is honoured even to this day. John McRae, in his Seeing Through Zen (2003), gives this overview of Shnhu: What is significant here is that Shenhui achieved his success as a fundraiser not in spite of any other-worldliness of the Chn tradition, but by means of his iconoclastic rhetoric. For example, the famous encounter between Bodhidharma and Emperor W of the Liang [2003:2], which
See Yampolsky 1967: 26; McRae 2003:107. More fully Gufng Zngm : see PN Gregory 1987: 279 f. At 24, Zngm met the Chn master Suzhu Doyun and trained in Chn for 2-3 years, receiving Doyuns seal in 807, when he was or dained as a monk. (There are no records of Tao-yan other than Zngms testimony. Zngm traced his Chn line age to Hz Shnhu (680-758) and Hunng (638-713), and referred to this lineage as the Hz.) In his autobiographical summary, he states that it was the apocryphal Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yunjujng ) which led him to enlightenment, his mind-ground opened thoroughlyits [the scriptures] meaning was as clear and bright as the heavens (qu in Peter N Gregory, 2002: 33) Zngms sudden enlightenment after reading o nly 2-3 pages of the sutra had a profound impact upon his subsequent scholarly career. He taught the necessity of scripture studies in Chn and was highly critical of what he saw as the antinomianism of the Hngzhu school derived from Mz Doy (709-788) which practised entrusting oneself to act freely according to the nature of ones feelings. (Gregory 2002: 19). Zngm kept to his Confucian moral values throughout and conti nued to integrate them with Buddhism (op cit 293-294). It was Zngms association with the powerful that led to his downfall in 835 in an event known as the Sweet Dew Incident (Gnl zh bin ). A high official and friend of Zngm, Lxn (d 835), plotted with emperor Wenzong to curb the power of the court eunuchs by massacring them all. The plot failed and Lxn fled to Mt Chung-nan (Zhngnn shn ) seeking refuge with Zngm. Lxn was quickly captured and executed. Zngm, too, was arrested and tried for treason. Impressed with Zngms bravery in the face of execution, the eunuch generals pardoned him. Nothing is known about his activities after this. See Gregory 2002: 85-90.
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on the surface seems like a clear denunciation of merit-oriented activity, in fact occurs for the first time in Chn literature in the written transcript of Shenhuis presentation at a large-scale Buddhist fund-raising gathering. In other words, Shenhui found an appealing and effective way to tell his listeners, in essence, Your donations on behalf of the sagha are empty and ultimately of no religious merit. However, through your aspirations to achieve enlightenment on behalf of all living being and your undertaking of this basically simple path of Chn practice, you should go ahead and make those donations anyway. Iconoclastic language was used, not to undercut the action of contributing to the sagha, but to nuance the manner in which the fund-raising request was made. Judging from Shenhuis career as a fund-raiser, this paradoxical appeal for donations worked. Although I have paraphrased the underlying message of Shenhuis mission here in stark and simple terms, this should not be taken to imply a cynical or corrupt ploy on his part. There is an overly ambitious side to Shenhuis vigorous factionalism that created an identity crisis in early Chn [2003:56], but we do not have enough information to accuse him of anything really seamy. It seems better to accept his abilities as a public evangelist as based on a real ability to move his listeners to moments of transformative religious inspiration. In the process, though, he articulated the Chn message in a way that was eminently suited to successful find-raising activities. (McRae 2003: 108) 5.2.3.8 WORLDLY SUCCESS AND RELIGIOUS TRUTH. With Shenhuis phenomenal success in promoting Hunng as the sixth patriarch, and serendipitously, with the disappearance of Shnxis East Mountain School (hinayanized by Shnhu as the Northern School) through historical vicissitudes (mainly, on account of the loss of patronage of those in power), his Hz School became supreme. There was a frantic rush by every Chn school to take Shnhu (in effect, Hunng) as their Chn ancestors. [5.3.2] The well-documented history of Shnhu records the colourful past of Chn in China.180 It is an excellent record of how worldly success creates religious truth. People are more easily moved by palpable display of power and material success, which are regarded as the fruiting of a persons good karma.181 Without a deep and mature understanding of the Buddha Dharma, however, people are easily swayed by the world, and here we can see official history and tradition supporting such a powerful counter-current of strange happenings in the name of Buddhism.182 Vox populi. vox dei.183 Religion is often made up of stories, which are taken by the faithful to be literally true, but we need to carefully ask ourselves what such stories are really about, and if they are wholesome and beneficial to anyone. As McRae has noted, Many of the most famous stories of Chan appear first in the transcriptions of [his Shnxis] sermons and lectures: Bodhidharma and Emperor W, Bodhidharma and Hui-ko, but not, curiously enough, many stories about his own teacher Hui-neng There is a palpable sense of fictional creativity here, such that some of the dialogues with famous laymen may have been made up out of whole cloth they are too clearly structured, too much of a logical pattern, to represent spontaneous exchanges. (2000: 66)
See eg John McRae, Shen-hui: Zen evangelist, 2004. For a study, see Virtue Ethics = SD 18.11. 182 We are here reminded of the phenomenal success of the Sinhalese Siyam Nikaya missions such as in Malaysia in the 20th and 21st century in a similar tone: see eg Piyasilo, How Malaysian Buddhists Solve Their Problems (1992) & New Directions in Buddhism Today (1992). 183 The voice of the people is the voice of God, an old saying often erroneously attr to the 12 th cent English historian, William of Malmesbury. An early ref to the expression was in a letter from scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher, Alcuin of York (c 735-804), to the Holy Roman emperor, Charlemagne, in 798, but it is believed to have been in earlier use. The full quotation from Alcuin reads: Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 3rd ed, 1993), And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~hulld/q2004-02-11.html.
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The point is that Chn Buddhism was not a revolution against scholasticism, and the success of Chan might better be viewed as an accommodation to the tastes of the rising literati class in the Sung (Welter 2000: 101 n12). The famous collections of Chn dialogues (yl ) [5.1.3] and the pious hagiographies or lamp transmission records (dngl ) [5.1.3] were compiled and edited to appeal to Sng literary taste and sociopolitical sensitivities. When a religious teacher wants to impress an important point on his audience, he would tell a story, and if he is famous or of some status (such as a chief high priest or a high lama), the story is often taken as gospel truth. Even when the story does have a point, its spirit is not often taken or quickly forgotten. Other speakers (out of piety or guile) then seize such hallowed stories and make it theirs; and so they all become prisoners of the story. Veritably, the sins of the fathers do visit their children,184 that is, until the imprisoning walls are broken down, or at least a chink is made in the wall through which a vision of true reality can be glimpsed. What is the lesson here? We see here the power of the word that could support a whole system of religious hierarchy and hegemony never seen in early Indian Buddhism. This dogma of the word will only be surpassed in the modern world with the Word of the Bible Christianity, and other cultish Buddhisms. When the purpose is to centre power and religious will upon an individual or lineage to hold a church or cult together, nothing is as powerful as the printed word. For this reason, such leaders often ensure that their writings are well published and widely circulated. Such writings characteristically try to promote the teacher above the teachings. 5.2.3.9 BUDDHISM WITHOUT BOUNDARIES? The point is that, we need to be very careful how we accept religious teachings (or any kind of information, for that matter) from anyone no matter how knowledgeable, famous, powerful, wealthy, titled or agreeable, whether monastic or lay. A good place to see and hear how some big Buddhist names make fools of themselves or hold wrong views is any large Buddhist gathering, especially a global conference. Ajahn Brahmavamso, in his talk on Human rights in Buddhism (Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, 9th June 2000) has some sobering words for us here: We also need some checks and balances, because we need boundaries for everybody. Sometimes when we dont understand the meaning of freedom, we remove all the boundaries, whether in the practice of religion, or in the practice of education. Whether its living together as a family or just in general life, we dont put boundaries in place because we think freedom means no boundaries. We get into all sorts of confusion. In fact one of the speakers at this conference, who[m] I didnt really respect, said she was a Buddhist without boundaries. I was not at all inspired by her. Why do you even call yourself a Buddhist if you dont have any boundaries? To be a Buddhist youve got to have boundaries. I accept some statements and ideas but not others, otherwise why call yourself a Buddhist. Why not call yourself a Buddhist-Christian-Jewish-Moslem-Atheist-freethinker? Thats not having boundaries. The point is, its good to have boundaries. (Brahmavamso, 2007:154; reparagraphed) On the positive side, there is Buddhism without boundaries, that is, the cultivation of lovingkindness to such a level that we do not differentiate between self and other, we go beyond differences and categories. This is a very advanced and beautiful stage in lovingkindness practice, when we fully feel the lovingkindness, when it is no more on the level of thought and language. It is a dhyanic experience of lovingkindness. Even when you come out of such an experience, its wholesome force propels you on with unconditional love for all beings. Such lovingkindness is not the sheepish and delirious unthinking acceptance of everything and everyone: everything is not beautiful, only thinking makes it so. When we go beyond thinking and truly feel in a selfless way, then everything is beautiful. That is to say, there is the potential of goodness in everyone. This goodness is not found outside of ourselves, but in the inner stillness of our calm minds. You can inThis is based on a self-contradicting statement from the Bible: Yes, they do, Exod 20.5, 34:6 -7, Deut 5.9, cf 1 Cor 15.22; No, they dont, Deut 24.16, Ezek 18.20; see: http://www.carm.org/diff/Deut5_9.htm.
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spire others to think, but only they can think for themselves. You also need to inspire others to truly feel, because they can only feel for themselves. The practice of the breath meditation and the cultivation of lovingkindness are the best tools for experiencing such thinking and feeling.185 5.2.3.10 SEEKERS BEWARE! In such discourses as the Vmasaka Sutta (M 47), the Buddha tells us that all teachers should be carefully investigated with regards to their behaviour, speech and thought, even those of the Buddha himself, and he openly shows us how to do this. This sutta is worth reading from beginning to end.186 The point is that just because something has been spoken or attested to by a great monk or nun, priest or priestess, a high lama, a chief high priest, or a venerable doctor so and so, or a great Chn master, or a very old fatherly figure, or your favourite teacher, need not be the truth or even a helpful half-truth. We may feel inspired or elated by the presence or thought of such a personthis wonderful feeling is the result of our own faith and desire to learn, but not necessarily because of the person. Or, we could feel a deep respect, fear, or awe for such a wonderful figurethis could be because we were a monastic slave in China or Tibet, or a temple hand in Sri Lanka or Thailand, our past lives.187 In an important way, this is what is meant by putting the Teaching above the teacher. Furthermore, for this reason, it is sometimes hard to explain why we can be powerfully or uncontrollably drawn to a person, especially a religious figure. We do not need rebirth regression therapy or past-life regression (PLR) therapy to understand why. Such therapies may be interesting and dramatic, but not always accurate or even useful, because our memory, even under hypnosis, could fail us. After all, our memory is what we choose to remember or what we think we remember. The solution to our problems lies in present-moment awareness and effort, and true spiritual friends. The message of the (Ahita) Thera Sutta (A 5.88) is simple and clear: even if a teacher is senior, is famous, receives much public 5.2.4.1 Hunng tearing up donations, is deeply experienced in the Dharma, and is very learned, he sutras, by Ling Ki () still may have wrong view. The wrong views of such a teacher easily (fl late 12th-early-13th cent). and deeply affect the public (including the gods) to their great detriment. Then there are those who, merely on account of five qualities, attribute charisma to that teacher, so that they perceive him or her not only as right, but as the only one who is right. Such a teacher easily attracts a cult and badly damages Buddhism.188 5.2.4 The real Sixth Patriarch. 5.2.4.1 HUMBLE BEGINNINGS. Who really was Djin Hunng 189 of Shozhu 190 (638-713), whom we all know famously as the sixth patriarch? Did he ever call himself or know that he was the sixth patriarch? Did Hunng write the Platform Sutra [5.2.4], or who actually wrote it? What do we know of the illiterate monk Hunng, the sixth patriarch? These are the main questions we will now explore.191 In the Records of the Masters and the Law of the Lank School (Lngji rnf zh ),192
On the nature of meditation, see Bhvan = SD 15.1. M 47 = SD 35.6. 187 On slavery in ancient India, see The Person in Buddhism = SD 29.6b (6). 188 A 5.88/3:114-116 = SD 40.16. 189 Also written either as or . He is sometimes, but rarely, known as Cox Hunng : Cox was the village in Gungdng (south China), where he was the abbot of Boln s . 190 Located north of Gungdng, and now called Shogun . 191 Much of what follows in the section is based on Hu Shih 1953: 9-17. 192 Only fragments are extant. It is qu in another history of the Lak School written a little later and preserved among the Dunhuang MSS.
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written shortly after Shnxis death in 706 by one of his students, it was stated that the Lak master Hngrn (the fifth patriarch, 601-674) had stated before his death that there were eleven disciples or heirs who could carry on his teaching. These eleven included: Shnxi, Zhshn () of Zhzhu (in modern Sichuan), Hunng of Shozhu, and seven other fairly well-known monks and one layman. The second heir, Zhshn (d 702) [5.2.2.3], was a Chn teacher in western China, and from whom, says the historian Zngm ware descended two of the seven important Chn schools of the 8th century. Hu Shih takes Hngrns list of eleven heirs to be fairly authentic, because it was probably made before Shnhus put forth his dramatic challenge and long before the two schools descended from Chih-hsin [Zhshn] became nationally famous. (1953: 10). We may then conclude, adds Hu Shih, that Hunng was one of the eleven better-known disciples of Hngrn. The claim that Hunng alone was the secret inheritor of the true teaching and the robe of the patriarchs was very likely a myth invented by Shnhu (id). According to a biography of Hunng by Wng Wi ( 701-761) [5.2.4.2], written between 734 and 740,193 Hunng was born of a lowly family in Lngnn , where an aborigine tribe lived peacefully with the Chinese. In fact, in Shnhus brief account of Hunngs life, and in the Platform Sutra, he was called a Glo ,194 one of the aboriginal peoples of the southwest (north of Vietnam). He was a manual laborer, moving northward and finding work at the monastery where the master Hngrn resided, where he was a quick learner. After the alleged transmission of the patriarchal robe, he returned to the south where for 16 years living among the poor and the lowly, the farmers and the small tradesmen. Then, he was discovered by a teacher of the Parinirva Stra195 who ordained him and started him on his own teaching career. Most accounts of Hunng say that he retired to the Boln s in Cox (in Guangdong, south China). Some traditions say that Hunng was summoned to the imperial capital by the emperor Zhongzong or the empress W [5.2.2.3]. In any case, Hunng declined, preferring to spend his days in the mountains and forests teaching the Dharma.196 5.2.4.2 HUNNGS CHARISMA. What did Hunng teach? According to Wang Wei, he taught forbearance (rn ), as evident from these passages he quoted: He who forbears denies his own life and is therefore selfless. This formed his first vow and his principal teaching. He often said with a sigh: To give even all the Seven Treasures as alms, or to practise Chn for even myriads of years, or to write with all the ink in the universenone of these can compare with a life of non-activity (wwi ) and infinite love. (Wang Wei 446-449: Nng chnsh bi ) Of Hunng, the Tng literato and philosopher, Li Zngyun, at Shnhus behest, glowingly wrote in 816 [5.2.4.5] that his teaching began with the goodness of human nature and ended with the goodness of human nature. There is no need of ploughing or weeding: it was originally pure.
Wang Weis inscription is undated. The year 740 is most likely as he became Censor of General Affairs in 739, and since the Shnhu Ylu gives this title (Hu Shih 1968: 137). For discussion, see Yampolsky 1967: 23. It also made an early reference to Shnhus being persecuted for his desire to present to his prince a precious pearl. (Hu Shih 1953: 10) 194 The Gelao region (same name) is now called Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa, in Vietnam. The Gelao are one of the oldest peoples of China. According to the ancient chronicles, their ancestors came from the border region between Sichuan and Shaanxi Provinces, from where they migrated toward Guizhou Province in the 5th cent BCE. Possibly they were one of the main components of the Yelang Kingdom that was established in Guizhou about this time. During the Han period, Yelang kingdom (known then as Lao) became its tributary. See http://www.ethnic-china.com/Gelao/gelaoindex.htm. 195 D bnnipn jng (Nirva Stra), T12.374.365-606. Accessible at http://www.cbeta.org/result/T12/T12n0374.htm. 196 For a detailed study, see Kees Kuiken, The other Neng, 2002.
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From such testimonials, and from Shnhus emphasis on sudden enlightenment, concludes Hu Shih (1953: 11), we may infer that this southern master of lowly Gelao origin was probably a tutu (dhutaga or ascetic monk),197 as most of the earlier members of the Lak School were, whose first principle, according to Bodhidharma, was forbearance of all insult and suffering.198 On the significance of al this, Hu Shih instructively observes: He probably learned from his life-experience among the simple folks that there was the real possibility of opening the hearts and minds of men through some act of sudden awakening. Shenhui used the proverbial expression the sword pierces directly through. The Chinese people to this day have translated the notion of sudden enlightenment into a simple proverb: He lays down the butchers cleaver, and immediately becomes a Buddha. That was probably the kind of simple and direct message which Huineng had for the poor and the lowly who understood him and loved him. He made light of all the ink in the universe, and left no writing. Thus the first Chinese School of Chan was established through Shenhuis thirty years (730760) of bitter fighting and popular preaching, and through the official recognition of Huineng as the Sixth Patriarch and Shenhui as the Seventh Patriarch of the True School. By the last quarter of the eighth century, there began a great stampede in the Chan schoolsa stampede of almost every teacher or school of Chan to join the school of Huineng and Shenhui. It was not easy, however, to claim a tie to Shenhui, who had died only too recently. But Huineng had died early in the eighth century, and his disciples were mostly unknown ascetics who lived and died in their hilly retreats. One could easily claim to have paid a visit to some of them. (Hu Shih 1953: 11 f) We have no clear or convincing evidence that Shnhu ever visited Hunng. Whatever accounts we have of his visits to Hunng differ from one another. Hunng (638-713) would be about 50 when Shnhu (688-762) was born. The Sng Gosng zhun (T50.765c) and Wang Weis inscription199 indicate that he was middle-aged when he met Hunng. The Jngd chundng l (T51.245a) and Zhnghu chun xnd chnmn shz chngxt200 say that he was then 14, and in the Platform Sutra (48), Hunng is said to have referred to Shnhu as a young monk (xiosng ). The purpose of this account of an early meeting was of course to reinforce the credibility of Shnhus links with Hunng or to highlight them (like how we would list our service record and prestigious awards in our curriculum vitae). Hu Shih, in his Shnhu hshang yj, points out that since Wng Wi's inscription was made while Shnhu was still alive, Wang Weis information (that Shnhu was middle-age when he met Hunng), is probably credible (1968: 7). According to Yampolsky, the story of the youthful Shnhus visit to Hunng, and the various details of Shnhus life, especially found in Jngd chundng l and Zngms work, may best be regarded as legends of the type which tended to grow up around any priest of exceptional fame. (1967: 26 n69)
On the early Buddhist conception of dhutaga, see Bakkula S (M 124) = SD 3.15 Intro (2). We should here be careful not to simply and piously transpose the Indian ascetic model onto the Chinese ascetic. There was (and is) a tendency in Chinese Buddhism to take such practice more as a ritual than a sustained practice. Shnhu, who was a monk of the world, clearly exploited this ascetic ideal in Hunng, and the Lakvatra School (which was ascetic at that time) and the Lakvatra Stra, knowing all this would attract much sympathy of the pious and the powerful for his purposes. On the other hand, since we have so little historical facts about Hunng, it could well be Shnhu himself who invented the ascetic Shnhu. 198 See DT Suzukis tr of Bodhidharmas teachings in Essays, First Series, 1927: 163-178. 199 Wang Yu-cheng chi-chien-chu nd: 449. 200 Chart of the Master-Disciple Succession of the Chn Gate that Transmits the Mind Ground in China (TX63.1225.31b13-14).
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5.2.4.3 A NATIVE OF SOUTH CHINA. Hunng is perhaps the most famous figure in Chn history, and the deepest and strongest ancient rock on which all of Chn since the 8th century are founded. Yet, we have very little historical fact about him. There is effectively almost no historical record about him, but pious and polemical legends about him abound. Djin Hunng (638-713) [5.2.4.1] was a Chinese ascetic monk who is one of the most important figures of the entire Chn tradition of East Asia and their branches, vicariously installed by Shnhu [5.2.3] as the sixth patriarch of Chn Buddhism, and effectively its last official patriarch. After him, there were respective unofficial patriarchs of different lineages. He is known as Daikan En in Japanese and as Hyeneung in Korean. Shnhu introduced the famous legend of Hunngs lowly origins, as a young illiterate firewoodseller, one day heard the Diamond Sutra (Jngng jng )201 and travelled 800 km (500 miles) to meet the fifth Chn patriarch, Hngrn (601674), in North China. Then came the famous verse-writing competition. But before we go on to examine the mind-verses, one related point is worth noting, as McRae suggests, that is, in some of its details the Platform Stra account is clearly written as historical allegory. Note, for example, the shift from Lakvatra Stra to Diamond Stra implied in the account (ie, in the cancellation of the painting commission and Hngrns teaching to Hunng), which parallels the two texts changes in popularity over the course of the eighth century. The position of the Lakvatra within Chn was always ambiguous, since the text was more revered in the abstract than actually studied. However, it was generally associated with Northern school teachers. Shnhu was one of the first monks of his day, but by no means the only one, to favour the Diamond, which was becoming more widely popular throughout the Chinese tradition at the time. Hence, in the Platform Stra the two texts roughly symbolize the Northern and Southern schools. Also, Shnxis prominence within Hngrns community and Hunngs inferior status may be taken as an indication of the relative strengths of the two faction prior to the composition of the Platform Stra. (McRae 2003: 62) 5.2.4.4 VERSES OF SHNXI AND HUNNG. According to the well known legend, in a dramatic poetry contest in 661, the senior East Mountain monk, Shnxi (605706),202 wrote this mind-verse,203 204 () () () () shn sh p t sh xn r mng jng ti sh sh qn f sh w sh r chn i The body is the bodhi tree, the mind like a bright mirror's stand. Ever strive to polish it and let not any dust collect. (T48.2008.348b24-25)
According to Platform Sutra, Hngrn publicly praised this verse and instructed all his monks to recite it. But privately, Hngrn asked Shnxi to compose another verse, as Hngrn believed that Shnxis verse lacked a true understanding of the Dharma. Shnxi was unable to do so. Meanwhile, the illiterate Hunng heard a novice chanting this verse and asked about it. When told the story of Hngrns contest, Hunng asked a monk to take him to the wall where Shnxi's verse was written. There he asked someone to write his own verse. Hunngs mind-verse read:
In full Vajra-c,chedik Prajn,pramit Stra (Jngng br blum jng ), Skt ed Vaidya: http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/Sutra/roman/Sutra51.html. Taish: T8.235.748-752. Kumrajvas tr: http://www2.fodian.net/BaoKu/FoJingWenInfo.aspx?ID=T0235. 202 For refs, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenxiu. 203 See also McRae 2003: 61-62. 204 vll (m sh yu chn i) = (m sh r chn i).
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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture? Bodhi originally is no tree. The bright mirror too has no stand. From the start, there is not a single thing. So where could dust collect? (T48.2008.349a7-8)
John McRae, in Seeing Through Zen (2003),205 points out that the earliest version of the Platform Sutra has two versions of Hunngs mind-verse (with McRaes translations): () () () () p t bn w sh mng jng y w ti f xng chng qng jng h ch yu chn i yujiyu xn sh p t sh shn wi mng jng ti mng jng bn qng jng h ch rn chn i Bodhi originally has no tree. The mirror also has no stand. The Buddha-nature is always clear and pure. Where is there room for dust? (T48.2007.338a7-8) And another verse says: The mind is the bodhi tree The body is the bright mirror's stand. The bright mirror is originally clear and pure. Where could there be any dust? (T48.2007.338a10-11)
() () () ()
It is only in later versions that the third line, Fundamentally [or, From the start] there is not a single thing is found (McRae 2003: 61 f). These variations apparently show that these verses have evolved over time. An interesting observation by McRae is that there is no reference to Shnhu in the Platform Sutra. Shnhus own works never mention the mind-verses or anything like the Platform Sutra story, which is an important indication that the verses were composed after his death. At the very least, the verses could not have been written prior to Shenhuis vigorous campaign on behalf of Huineng as sixth patriarch, nor Shenhuis vigorous espousal of the teaching of sudden enlightenment. One of the most important features of the Platform Stra, in other words, is that it incorporates Shenhui' innovations while writing him out of the story.even as Shenhui transformed the understanding of the evolution of Chn, the factionalist cast of his campaign stigmatized Shenhui himself. (McRae 2003: 63) As regards the verses themselves, the traditional interpretation, since the time of the Chn and Huyn systematizer, Zngm (780-841), was that Shnxis verse represented gradualism and Hunngs subitism (that enlightenment occurs in a single transformation that is both total and instantaneous). Scholars now reject this simplistic explanation. McRae explains:
5.2.4.6 Mummified remains of Djin Hunng (638-713)
(Zongmi artificially claimed succession from Shenhui, but given the manifest difference between Shenhuis teachings and the Platform Stra, Zongmis interpretation should be recognized as a tactical distortion of the original.)
205
See also McRae 1987: 2.
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First, the verse attributed to Shenxiu does not in fact refer to gradual or progressive endeavor, but to a constant practice of cleaning the mirror. Hence, Zongmis traditional interpretation is conceptually incorrect. Second, the verse attributed to Huineng could not stand alone (nor could any of the variants attributed to him), since it could not be understood without reference to Shenxius verse. Since the two verses constitute an indivisible pairthey indicate a single polarity, not two separate teachingsit is inappropriate to use either verse as a key to the religious teachings of the two historical individuals Shenxiu and Huineng. (McRae 2003: 63 f) Furthermore, there is no indication that the historical Shnxi ever wrote anything like the verse attributed to him in the Platform Sutra, or even that he made any metaphorical identification between the mind and the mirrors stand. However, it would have been entirely in character for him to have done so Shenxiu might have posited the body as the overall setting for enlightenment (ie the bodhi tree), the sensory and intellectual activity of the mind as the proximate support for enlightenment (ie the mirrors stand), and the pure or enlightened mind itself as the illuminative surface of the mirrorand the act of rubbing the mirror clean of dust as a standard maintenance operation similar to maintenance of the Buddhist precepts or monastic regulations. Based on the most comprehensive reading of the texts pertaining to Shenxiu, it is apparent that the basic message was that of the constant and perfect teaching, the endless personal manifestation of the bodhisattva ideal. (McRae 2003: 64 f) 5.2.4.5 HUNNG BECOMES A MONK. It should be noted that at this point, Hunng was still a layman. Hunng returned to Canton (Gungdng ), in south China, in 676. It is said that when he was 39, he arrived at the Zhzh s ,206 under the abbacy of Ynzng , an authority on the Nirva Stra [4.1.1]. A popular legend says that there he met two monks arguing as to whether the banner on a staff was moving or the wind was moving, and he declared that it was neitherit was the mind that moved.207 The abbot, impressed, spoke with Hunng and discovered that he was the fifth patriarchs heir. Hunng was ordained in the same year (676).208 For the next 37 years, he propagated the teaching. As we have already noted [5.2.4.2], Hunngs teachings were simple, mainly based on forbearance, and that his teaching began with the goodness of human nature and ended with the goodness of human nature. There is no need of ploughing or weeding: it was originally pure (Li Zngyun). An important departure from early Buddhism was that Hunng taught sudden enlightenment, that is, he understood Buddhism in terms of the Daoist non-activity ( wwi). Indeed, it could be said that much of Chn was Daoist philosophy covered with a veneer of Buddhist meditation.209 5.2.4.6 HUNNGS TEACHINGS. The Platform Sutra records Hunng as teaching that we all have the Buddha-nature and that our nature is originally pure. Instead of reading scriptures, building temples, makIn Gungzhu . This is another name for the F xng s . See UI, Zensh shi kenky II 1943: 205 f on the name change. 207 Case 29 of the Gateless Gate (Wmngun Jap Mumonkan), a collection of 48 koan anecdotes compiled by the Chinese Chn master Wmn Huki (1183-1260) and published in 1229. These are encounters between various well-known Chinese Chn figures highlighting a decisive moment in their teaching. These condensed episodes are each accompanied by a short comment and poem by Hui-kai himself. Furuta distinguishes between the use of koan during the Tng as a teaching targeted at specific individuals in specific situations (characterized as a rhetorical or pedagogical use, Buswell) and the use of koan in a rationalized system of pract ice during the Sng: Furuta 1956: 813-818; qu in Buswell 1987: 356 n5. For another humorous repartee, see Taming of the Bull = SD 8.2 (11). 208 This is from Yampolskys summary of the Skei daishi betsudeni, a Jap version of a lost Chin biography of Hunng by Xngto , a pupil of his, but which combines the various legends and adds new materials: see Yampolsky 1967: 70 n29. 209 See eg Peter N Gregory 1987: 17 & RJ Lynn 1987: 382 f.
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ing offerings, reciting the Buddhas name, and praying for rebirth in paradise, we should instead simply seek to discover our own nature, in which all the Buddhas and Buddhist doctrines are present. The way to discover our Buddha-nature is through calm and wisdom, which will be attained when we are freed from deliberate thought and from attachment. To him, the traditional sitting meditation is useless, for stillness is not motionlessness but the state of having an untroubled inner nature and an absence of false view. If we see our own nature, enlightenment will suddenly occur, without any help. Early Indian Buddhism teaches that moral virtues should be the basis and support for mental concentration, which in turn, is a means for attaining liberating wisdom, Hunng of the Platform Sutra taught the inseparability and identity of meditation and wisdom. Using an analytic device probably introduced by the so-called neo-Daoist philosopher Wng B (226-249) [6.4.3], the tyng model,210 Hunng (that is, the Platform author) claimed that meditation (samdhi) is the essence (t ) of wisdom (praj), and wisdom is the function (yng ) of meditation [2.3.8.2]. Clearly contradicting the early Buddhist teachings, Hunng taught that wisdom did not produce meditation, nor did meditation produce wisdom; nor were meditation and wisdom different from each other. Natthi jhna apaassa pa natthi ajhyato yamhi jhna ca pa ca sa ve nibbna,santike There is no meditation211 for one lacking wisdom, There is no wisdom for one without meditation. In whom there are meditation and wisdom, He, indeed, is in nirvanas presence.
(Dh 373)
He drew the analogy of a lamp: the lamp is the t (wisdom), and its light is the yng (function). Wherever there is a burning lamp, there is light; wherever there is lamplight, there is a lamp. Lamp and light are different in name but identical in substance (t), hence they are non-dual. 5.2.4.7 THE ROOTS OF NO-THOUGHT. The Chinese Buddhist notion of the non-duality of wisdom and meditation began here in the Platform Sutra. Hereafter, with the exception of later syncretists like Ynshu in China and Chinul (1158-1210) in Korea, Chn theorists abandoned the terms and concepts of samdhi and praj in their description of meditation practice. Instead, they advocated the practice of no-thought (wnin ) or no-mind (wxn ). This is defined in the Platform Sutra simply as No thought is not to think even when you are thinking212 (wninzh y nin r b nin 213 ). With the Chn emphasis on direct insight, there is no place left for the progressive development of samdhi and praj. Ultimately, what need was there to retain such terms if samdhi and praj were collapsed into one another, or were said always to be present? (Buswell 1987: 330). Buswell has pointed out that this early Chn notion of non-duality of no-thought closely parallels the early Buddhist teaching of papaca, that is, mental proliferation,214 or conceptualization as a form of projection (xln ), of imputing ones own vision of the world to the world itself, and assuming that to be the sole reality. He insightfully adds: Concepts are convenient for ordering the overwhelming chaos of sensory impression and for allowing reasoned response to those perceptions. But this very convenience prompts the person to view the world through arbitrary stereotypestreating everything always in terms of what it means to him, rather than what it actually is.215 But suppose a person were able to enjoy the benefits of using concept while keeping his mind free from the problems they create. That is, if one
See AC Muller, Tiyong, Interpenetration and Sincerity in the Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean, http://www.acmuller.net/articles/aar-1999-gl-dom.html & also Ti and yong, at http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/G025. 211 On the possible of dhyana as jhna in Chan and Zen, see Bad friendship = SD 64.17 (7.4.2). 212 Buswells orig tr is No thought is not to think even when involved in thought. 213 Liuzu tan jing (T48.338c5) = Yampolsky 1967: 138. McRae suggest that antecedents for no-thought appear in Northern School writings: see 1983: 393. 214 On papaca, see Madhu,piika S (M 18) = SD 6.14 (2). 215 See Bhikkhu ananda, Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought, 1971: esp 2-22 [Buswells fn].
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could conceptualize while remaining in a state of nonconceptualization, wouldnt one then be free of the pathological effects of concepts? Such a state is not unknown in Indian materials, which mention the peculiar mental condition of the enlightened person who remains unconscious but can still think.216 (Buswell 1987: 331 f) 5.2.4.8 SHNHU THE MASTERMIND. But all this is Chn ideology, that is, they are not so much religious beliefs as they are political dogmas (or tenets of religious politics). Shnhu played prophet with projecting Hunng as the Buddhas equal as his mouthpiece, and the Platform Sutra as his testament. For, Shnhu wished to destroy the Northern School by hinayanizing it: he claimed that Shnhu taught the gradual method to enlightenment! [5.2.3.2]. Shnhus bad karma was immediate, as it were: he was exiled on suspicions of being a security threat to the empire (his public rallies were attracting large crowds), or on account of the reactions of East Mountain Chn sympathisers, or very likely for both reasons [5.2.3.4]. Very likely, Shnhu would have failed in his intrigue if Shnxis Northern (that is, the East Mountain) had survived the turmoil of religious politics in the north [5.2.2.6]. We have no record that Shnxi or any East Mountain exponent ever rebutted or even mentioned Shnhus charges. It is possible that during Shnhus own lifetime, his ravings against the north were only appreciated by his immediate audience. Or, that the northern Chn practitioners, well supported by the imperial court, especially the empress W Ztin [5.2.2], did not deign to be embroiled in such low intriques. Indeed, part of Shnhus reason for attacking the East Mountain school could well be that he was utterly jealous of the glorious imperial patronage that it was receiving. After the death of the Chief of Imperial Censors, Ly, Shnhus chief antagonist at court) [5.2.3.4], his fortune brightened when, through selling ordination certificates [5.2.3.5], he raised a significantly great sum of money for the royal funds to end the n Lshn rebellion [5.2.3.6]. Shnhu was richly rewarded by the emperor by being reinstated to his Hz temple, and given a new residence and titles. However, in his lifetime, he was not really successful in destroying the East Mountain school. But his ideas were becoming very popular, thanks to imperial patronage (again). The sentiments of Ling S ( 753-793), a leading Tinti lay Buddhist and prose master of Sng reflects the reality of the times (and our times, too): Nowadays, few men have the true faith. The followers of Chan path go so far as to teach the people that there is neither Buddha nor Dharma, and that neither evil nor goodness has any significance. When they teach the doctrines to average people, or those below average, they are believed by all those who live in worldly desires. Such ideas are accepted as great truths which sound pleasing to the ear. And the people are attracted to them like moths in the night are drawn to their death in the burning candle Such doctrines are as damaging and dangerous as Mra and the ancient heretics themselves. (Liang Su, On the Tiantai School, Tngwncu 61)217 5.2.4.9 CONCLUSIONS. JAN Yun-hua, in his paper,218 collects related materials from twenty-three sources (ie, twelve epigraphical, six historical and five literary), including some recent discoveries, and re-examines them in the light of recent scholarship. The following conclusions are made: (1) The dispute of the seventh patriarchship is a logical and historical continuation of the early dispute on the sixth patriarchship.
Dependent on all that [four elements, etc] he thinks not, and yet he does think ( tampi nissya na jhyati, jhyati na pana, A 5:324 f) quoted in ananda, 1971: 53; see also Magic of the Mind, 1974: 68-80 & 1971: 57-62. [Buswells fn] 217 See Hu Shih 1953: 14 & Kenneth Chen, 1964: 356 f. 218 The Dispute of the Seventh Patriarchship of Chan Buddhism: A Re -Examination of Epigraphical and Literary Sources. University of Hong Kong, Journal of Chinese Studies [year] 37:417-456 (in Chinese).
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(2) The controversy of the seventh patriarch began with the claim of Pj (651-739) and it was denounced by Shnhu (684-758), but the denunciation failed to stop the claim at once. It was not until the mid-eighth century CE did the Hz and Nitu branches of Chn begin openly to make counter-claims of the seventh patriarch. It was towards the end of the eighth century that Shnhu has finally declared by the imperial court as the seventh patriarch. Thereafter, all the sources dated in the ninth century unaminously recorded that the patriarch is Shnhu. However, as the Hz branch of Chn declined after the fall of the Tng empire, the historical disputes in the Chn School no longer attract scholars attention. (3) The dispute produced a number of new ideas or qualifications for the transmission of religious leadership, and these were new development in Buddhist as well as in Chinese history. (4) The idea of patriarchship in Chn Buddhism did not come from the Indian Buddhist tradition, but was an adaptation and transformation of the ancient Chinese way in recording family lineage. The word zong () originally did not have the meaning of school or sect, but referred to ancestor(s), (z ). The Chn monks borrowed this secular Chinese usage of family lineage and transformed it into a sacred lineage of religious transmission, thus a teacher-disciple relationship replaced the father-son lineage. The blood connection was hence transformed into a holytruth connection. This transformation returned to the Chinese tradition again when the NeoConfucian orthodoxy and the Daoist school adopted the usage in recording their religious lineage, hence the Chn idea of patriarchship had a larger sphere of influence on Chinese culture. The legendary battle between Shnxi and Hunng is likely to have been just thata Chn legend, a Zen tale, a complete fabrication. Although this elaborate Chn allegory has outlived its original usefulness, it still has something to say to contemporary Chn students. Even if no verses were ever written on Hngrns monastery wall or that the Platform Sutra are not the words of Hunng, the Chn students of today generally value Chn teachings more than its colourful history. 5.2.5 The real Platform Sutra. 5.2.5.1. THE MGO-CAVES TEXTS. It might be said that Shnhu had programmed the Platform Sutra for the sole purpose of destroying the Shnxis school. Very likely, Shnhu would have failed in his intrigue if the Northern (that is, the East Mountain) school of Shnxi had survived the turmoil of religious politics in the north [5.2.2]. However, in troubled times, someone or some group hid a cache of valuable ancient texts of their times in the walled-up Mgo caves (Mgo k ) of Dnhung. Mgo Caves, or Mgo Grottoes (Mgo k ), also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas or, simply, Dnhung Caves, form a system of 492 temples 25 km [15.5 mi] southeast of the centre of Dnhung, an oasis town strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Chinese Central Asia west of Xian, a former capital of China, in Gansu province, on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The Mgo Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes, which along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are the three most famous ancient sculptural sites of 5.2.5.1c Paul Pelliot China.219 The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist in Cave 16, Dunhuang, 1908 art spanning a period of 1,000 years and covering 45,000 square meters of frescos, 2,415 painted statues and five wooden-structured
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves. Sadly, today, the desert is rapidly swallowing the Mogao area, and the caves are in serious danger of being lost: see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-gatheringsandstorm-encroaching-desert-missing-water-399653.html.
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caves.220 Construction of the Buddhist cave shrines began in 366 CE as repositories of scriptures and art.221 Besides priceless paintings, sculptures, the Mgo caves housed some 50,000 Buddhist scriptures, historical documents, textiles, and other relics that stunned the world in the early 1900s.
5.2.5.1a Mgo Caves, Dunhuang

www2.kenyon.edu/.../Fac/Adler/Asia490/syl490.ht m
5.2.5.1b A cave shrine, Mgo Caves, Dunhuang (British Museum)
In 1908, Paul Pelliot, a French Sinologist and explorer of Central Asia, discovered a huge cache of ancient texts in Cave 16 of the Mgo Caves in Dnhung. These manuscripts were hand-written in many languages, including Chinese, Tibetan and Uighur, and had been hidden away safely during a period of civil unrest, and then left undisturbed for centuries after. The manuscripts were removed by Paul Pelliot and Aurel Stein, and divided between them the British Library in London and the Bibliothque nationale in Paris, with smaller holdings in Beijing, Petrograd (St Petersburg, USSR) and Copenhagen.222 Amongst the Dnhung manuscripts walled up in the cave in the 9th century are found the earliest examples of Chinese movable-type printing, as well as the earliest versions of many Buddhist texts, making them an invaluable source for the history of Buddhism in China, India and Tibet. One of these rare finds is the Platform Sutra. 5.2.5.2 THE PLATFORM SUTRA IS NOT A SUTRA. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch223 Liz tn jng , or fully , which is fully translated as follows:

220 221
nnzng dnjio zushng dchng mh bru blum jng luz hunng dsh
The Southern School Sudden Enlightenment Foremost Teaching Mahyna Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Hunng, the Great Master,
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves#cite_note-unesco-0. See http://www.chinapage.com/dunhuang.html and also http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/arts/design/06cott.htm. 222 For a catalogue of the texts in the Schoyen collection, see http://www.schoyencollection.com/china.htm. 223 Liz tn jng. For refs, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Sutra. For Chin text: http://www.hfu.edu.tw/~bauruei/5rso/texts/6zen/te55.htm & http://www.fgs.org.tw:81/gate/gb/www.fgs.org.tw/master/masterA/library/ebook/sutra/sixth-huinang/default.htm. For tr, see The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: the text of the Tung-Huang Manuscript tr Philip B Yampolsky 1967 (intro & nn omitted).
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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture? shozhu dfns shf tn jng Dharma taught at the Shaozhou Dafan Temple Platform Sutra.
This was the title of the Dnhung text brought back by the Japanese monk Ennin ( or , 793/794864) in 847.224 The sutra is often simply referred to as the Platform Sutra (Tn jng ). It was probably originally composed late in the 8th century (around 780), but the text as we have it today was probably composed around 820. The original text had been greatly revised and greatly enlarged by interpolations throughout the ages so that the current edition (on which the English translation was based) is about twice the length of the oldest text preserved in the Dnhung caves and brought to the British Museum by Aurel Stein in 1907. The Dnhung version, from its calligraphic style, was probably composed between 830 and 860.225 This earliest text is now accessible in the Taish 48.2007, and also in Suzukis edition of 1934. An important explanation for this wild variation in the sizes and contents of the Platform Sutras is that, soon after Shnhus time, the various Chn schools, each bowdlerized the text as they saw fit. Each group claimed that their version was the authentic one to legitimize their own school. This earliest Chinese text of the Platform Sutra extant contains about 11,000 Chinese characters. The current edition contains about 22,000 characters. So, about half of the current edition of the Platform Sutra represents the interpolations and additions of the last ten centuries. Internal evidence shows that even the oldest Tunhuang text is made up of two parts, the second half being apparently a later addition. The lack of a text in any earlier form, the haziness surrounding Fa-hai, the alleged compiler, the similarity of many parts of the sermon to Shen-huis works, the fact that no mention of the Platform Sutra is found among the works of Shen-hui, the lack of any reliable information concerning the Ta-fan Temple where Hui-nengs sermons are said to have been delivered, all contribute to the conviction that the Platform Sutra was purely a product of Shen-huis school. (Yampolsky 1967: 97) Yampolsky adds that there are two sources that support the idea that an original version of the Platform Sutra existed, and that it was compiled shortly after Hunngs death.226 The first source is from the Jngd chundng l (The Jingde Record of Transmission of the Lamp) [5.1.2.5], which contains the sayings of Nnyng Huzhng ( d 775),227 a disciple of the sixth patriarch, in which he laments the conditions in which the Platform Sutra then exists. He complained that the work had been vulgarized, changed and added to, so that the original instruction and intention had been distorted, that this had created confusion among students who came later, and that as such the teaching was facing destruction. The second source is quoted by advocates of an early version of the Platform Sutra is an inscription by Wi Chhu (773-828) for h dy (745-818), a pupil of Mz. The text contains a passage that characterized four different branches of Chn: the Northern School, the Southern School, the Oxhead School, and the teaching of Mz Daoyi. The passage on Shnhu probably referred to the fact that there came a point where his pupils distorted the original work, and made it into a status symbol. From all this, it is clear that although the Platform Sutra is called a jng , a classicit is not a sutra in the proper sense of the word, at least as referring to an early Buddhist text [2.4.6.5]. However, the early Mahyna texts are also called stra although they were written very much after the Buddhas passing. The Platform Sutra is unique in the sense that, although not a traditional or authentic sutra, it is so called and accepted so generally. This occurred because of the elaborate promotion given to it by Shnhu and the events of his time [5.2.3]. He had fully exploited the ambiguity of the Chinese term, jng .
224 225
For a detailed study of the Platform Sutra as a text, see Yampolsky 1967: 88-110 (Intro). For details, see Philip Yampolsky 1967: 90 n3. 226 Yampolsky 1967: 97 f. 227 T50.762b-763b (Gosng zhun ); Ztng j 1:113-130.
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5.3 POLITICS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

5.3.1 Chn politics. Academic studies of the controversy between the Northern and Southern Schools reveal many problems with the traditional accounts of both the schools. Scholars have good reason to doubt that the two protagonists in the mind-verse contest, Shnxi and Hunng, ever resided together at Hngrns monastery on Dngshn (East Mountain) at the same time. Furthermore, the reality is that both the Northern School and the Southern School held the same subitist view on practice and enlightenment. In fact, the Southern School literature written during less heated moments openly acknowledges the need to spend time preparing oneself for the moment of sudden enlightenment. [2.2.2] Ironically, during the Council of Lhasa, which was held in Samyes Ling in Tibet, in 792-794 to debate the subitist and gradualist positions, it was Kamala,la, an Indian monk,228 who defended the gradualist position, while a Northern Chn School monk, Huashang Mohoyen or Heshang Moheyan,229 who held the subitist position. Records of the nature of the debate and who won were uncertain. According to Tibetan accounts, Mohoyen lost the debate and was banished, and this marked the crucial point where Tibetan Buddhism began to be permanently aligned to Indian Mahyna. In China, the controversy seemed to have been politically motivated. Both Shnxi and Hunng lived out their last days peacefully, each enjoying great success. Shnxi was particularly prominent at the court of the infamous empress W of the Tng dynasty [5.2.2], and was one of only three Buddhist monks to have a biography in official court records. However, in 732, some 24 years after Shnxis death, a disciple of Hunng named Hz Shnhu 230 (684-758), denounced Shnxis lineage for teaching a gradualist position, and claimed that his own teacher, Hunng, had received and maintained the true teaching of sudden enlightenment [5.2.3.2]. Although he received a sympathetic hearing from some court officials, it is said that the Northern School 231 had some powerful allies in court who convinced the emperor to have Shnhu exiled in 753.232 As we have noted, Shnhu and his school might well have ended in obscurity [5.2.3.4], if not for the An Lushan Rebellion. Shnhu was able to raise incense money through his own ordination campaigns, selling ordination certificates and giving the money to the authorities. The impressed emperor reinstated Shnhu. Ironically, Shnhu had made the very same accusation of Shnxi, that he had sold out the true Dharma for 30 pieces of silver! During the more settled and prosperous evening of his life, Shnhu built up his school, and ended his extreme non-dualistic sudden enlightenment polemics, and acknowledged the need for some preparation and practice leading up to the awakening experience.233 5.3.2 Legitimization through lineage. Through Chn history after Hunng, Shnhus rhetoric of sudden enlightenment became the norm thereafter, so that anyone who held a gradualist view might be accused of holding to a false dualism. In addition, Shnhus lineage succeeded in having the mantle of
Kamala,la was the main disciple of nta,rakita (abbot of Nalanda University), and founder of the first monastery in Tibet. 229 Hshang Mhyn , which actually simply means Mahyna monk, and not a name. For his teachings, see Luis O Gmez 1983. For other refs, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Ho_Yen. 230 For a useful discussion, see McRae 1987: 227-278. 231 This was Shnhus own polemical and pejorative name for those whom he felt had no right to the spirit of Bodhidharmas teachings. The point is that the term Southern School is rarely used. In deed, the pre-sectarian Northern School masters represented the entirety of early Chn, albeit a diverse company, at the beginning of the 8th century. The Chn communities of Chngn and Luyng referred to their own teaching as the East Mountain teaching (Dngshn zng ) [5.2.3] or the Lakvatra school (Lngqi zng ) [5.2]. See McRae 1987: 251-253. 232 One of their likely allies was prob Ly [5.2.3.4]. 233 On the uncertainty of Shnhus death date, see McRae 1987: 237.
228
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the sixth patriarch officially transferred from Shnxi to their own progenitor Hunng, from whom all Chn priests thenceforth trace their lineage.234 Neither the Northern nor the Southern School survived the Huchng persecution of Buddhism (Huchng fif ) in 845 [7.4.1.3]. Of the early Chn schools, only the Hngzhu school survived this Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution. As such, the later Chn schools inevitably have to trace their ancestry to Hunng through the Hngzhu school. Hence, the various forms of classical Chn adhered to sudden awakening teaching. There were actually two Hngzhu lines, both coming down directly from Hunng, one evolving into the Lnj school and the other into the Codng school. The first Hngzhu line evolved into the Lnj (Jap: Rinzai Zen) school, which traced its lineage thus:235 Nnyu Huirng (677-744) Mz Doy (709-788)236 Bizhng Huihi (720-824)237 Hungb Xyn (d c 850) Lnj Yxun (d 867) [5.1.2.1] The second Hngzhu line evolved into the Codng school (Jap: St Zen) [5.1.2.4], which traced its lineage thus: Qngyun Xngs (c 660-740) Shtu Xqin (700-790) Coshn Bnj (840-901) Dngshn Lingji (807-869) Now we come to an interesting question: Why did Chn regard a patriarchal lineage with such significance? Unlike the other major schools of East Asian Buddhism that legitimized their existence and teachings by centering themselves around a particular Mahyna text, the Chn tradition, in rejecting the scriptures as final authority,238 had to resort to other means of legitimization of its authenticity, that is, the lineage of patriarchs. This was clearly the case for Chn in 7th-8th century China: this is the first reason, but we will examine the second, more important, reason after this [5.4].
See John MacRae 1986 esp 235-253; see also Peter N Gregory 1987. McRae 1987: 326-328. 236 See http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/MaTsu_and_Unfolding_of_Southern_Zen.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazu_Daoyi. 237 See http://www.dabase.org/paichang.htm. 238 Suzuki humorously observes: Zen claims to be a specific transmission outside the scripture and to be al together independent of verbalism, but it is Zen masters who are the mo st talkative and most addicted to writing of all sorts. (Intro to Zenkei Shibayamas A Flower Does Not Talk, Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1971:9)
235
234
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The transmission histories, like all other Chan works, were intended to function as catalysts for the enlightenment of the readers by exposing them to examples of true religiosity and perfected behavior. In addition to this lofty goal, these texts had two other purposes of a propagandistic and quasi-historical nature: (1) to glorify the sages of the past and thereby legitimize the status of their living disciples and (2) to rationalize the origins and existence of the Chan School itself. The latter is of greater importance here, since one of the tasks undertaken by the Northern School239 was to establish Chan as a legitimatein its own eyes, the legitimateschool of Chinese Buddhism. This task was rendered difficult by the fact that Chan lacked any single underlying scriptural tradition from which it could trace its descent. Unlike the Tien-tai School, for example, which used the Lotus Sutra, or the Pure Land School, which revered the three Pure Land scriptures, the Chan School did not have any specific canon that might provide the answers to its particular religious dilemmas. On the contrary, the very existence of Chan was based on a reaction against the excessive reliance on scriptural study, and the school seems to have purposely avoided identification with any specific scriptural tradition. Instead, Chan presented itself as a separate transmission outside the teachings and cautioned its followers Do not rely on words! True, as a meditation school, Chan grew out of centuries of Chinese Buddhist religious practice, but as a school, nonetheless, it had to establish its own identity separate fromand yet somehow superior, in its own terms, to the other Chinese Schools. It did this by formulating the transmission of the lamp theory. (McRae 1986:75 f)240 We have briefly examined Chinas only empress W Ztins political use of Buddhism [5.2], and the evangelical Shnhus creation of the Hunng myth to promote the Southern School. The two stories are actually intimately related, or more exactly, that the Eastern Mountain School (or Northern School to Shnhu and his followers) was well-favoured by W Ztin was the main prod for Shnhu to denounce Shnxi. W Ztin was an amoral ruler, but it was advantageous to be patronized by her rather than otherwise. Shnhu must have been righteously angered by such an unholy affair, and yet it was difficult not to envy Shnxi and the Eastern Mountain lineage and their elevated metropolitan status. [5.2.3.1] Shnhu vehemently denounced Shnxi being lionized by W Ztin [5.2.2.4], Chinas most powerful woman known for her ruthlessness against her enemies and excesses in worldly pleasures. Above all, she was a woman who had usurped the dragon throneand Chinas dragon had always been male. But if we take a second careful look at Shnhu, his personality, methods and teachings reveal that he was ruthless to his enemies and indulged in worldly excesseshe vehemently denounced Shnxi beyond the spirituality and decorum of monkish or priestly training. He immediately responded to the courts need of war funds, sold a prodigious number of ordination certificates and gave the collection to the emperor, knowing fully that he would benefit from it. [5.2.3.5+6]. In short, Shnhu was envious of Shnxi and the East Mountain School, and was in fact trying to emulate, if not, outdo them. And how did Shnhu try to do this?
Chan begins to denote a specific doctrinal and meditative ideology around the time of Hui Neng (638713). Although Chn tradition describes a transmission by five patriarchs culminating in Hui Neng as the sixth patriarch, as noted above, that transmission is more fiction than fact. Hui Nengs followers established the Southern School of Chn, which unleashed a polemical tirade against the Northern School. Since the Northern School disappeared about a thousand years ago, our only source of information on these schools had been the prejudiced accounts of the Southern school until the discovery at Dunhuang early in the twentieth century of Northern School documents. We now know that many different versions of lineage histories were circulated, and, more importantly, that the positions attributed to the Northerners by their Southern rivals were grossly inaccurate and unfair. In fact, the Northern School had initially been the more successful of the two, but its success led to its ultimate ruination, since its growing dependence on Imperial patronage made it a vulnerable target during times of Imperial persecution of Buddhism. The Southern School, because it had taken root in remote areas less affected by actions of the Central government, survived the persecutions relatively intact. (Lusthaus 1998: 13 f). For transmission lineages see La motte 1988a:206-212, 696-699. 240 See also The Taming of the Bull = SD 8.2.
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5.3.3 The spirit of the Dharma. By now, we have a good idea that we must not always believe what we read in a Chn or Zen text. Another way of putting it is that a Chn text often separates the boys from the men, as it were. If you take the story or teaching literally, you are probably still a boy (or girl), but if you read the text and then slap your teacher, then you are a true Chn man (or woman). The question now is: are you taking me here literally or otherwise? Good Dharma teachers and writers use words very freely so that we, the hearers and readers, may be free from them, and read between the lines. The purpose of the teachers talking is to lessen mental noise, so that we can let go of harping on the past or running into the future. When enough has been said, the teachers silence is so powerful that we are enveloped in it and permeate ourselves with our own inner stillness. Dharma masters often have little respect for history. After all, what is history? It is mostly the records of the lives and contributions of the powerful, or how they viewed the past. That being the case, it does not really matter when exactly it was that Bodhidharma arrived in China, or if he was actually a real person. From the very start, the different Chn schools had been creating their own Bodhidharmas, and telling amazing stories about himfor their own good, that is, to fit their own view of Buddhist sagehood. McRae notes how this dynamic process continues even into our own times: A 1992 Taiwanese movie account of Bodhidharmas life shows him not only sitting rock-solid in meditationa full nine years without moving a muscle!but also as a miraculously gifted martial artist catching arrows in his teeth and flying through the air, his legs churning in the manner of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon! The modern martial arts cinema tradition has remade the image of Bodhidharma according to its own needs, just as the medieval China tradition did. The results are different, but the process is basically unchanged. (McRae 2003: 27) In the Dharma-inspired mind, there is no one image of the Buddha, or Bodhidharma, or the patriarchs, or the sutras, that is right. It depends on what your spiritual needs are. But there is a sacred system in this apparent free-for-all, that is, the mind-training that an accomplished teacher is capable of giving to a ready pupil. It is a common fact that any traditional sutra, in the hands or mouth of a teacher presents it in his own way: he interprets the text or puts the text into context. A sutra has no life of its ownif that were so, anyone just reading it would awaken. A sutra is like a musical score of a masterly composition, and a good teacher is its virtuoso performer. Each performer has his own style, but the music is the same: it plays by the score. In the right ambience and the right frame of the listeners mind, by merely listening to the well-played music, his mind calms down to such a clarity that he is liberated from dullness into a creative openness.
5.4 LDI FBO J

5.4.1 Dnhung-cave text. The Ldi fbo241 j (T2075.179)242 is an early Chn (c780) hagiographical (but apocryphal) work, the only extant relic of the obscure Botng Temple school (Botng s zng )243 of Schun that combined a sectarian history of Buddhism and Chn in China with an account of the 8th-century Chn master Wzh (714-774) centred in the wild Sichuan frontier of southwest China. It consists of a chronologically arranged series of biographies followed by a collection of dialogues and lectures. The Ldi fbo j was discovered in the early 20th century in the Mgo caves at the Silk Road oasis of Dnhung in northwestern China. The discovery of the Dnhung manuscripts has been compared
Where there are double 3rd tone characters, the first character assumes the 2nd tone, thus, fbo. Tr as Record of the Dharma -Jewel Through the Generations or Record of the Transmission of the DharmaTreasure Through the Ages. This work should be distinguished from the earlier Ldo snbo j T2034) by Fi Zhngfng (d after 598), completed in 598. 243 Meaning, the school of the Tng Dynasty Protector Temple.
242 241
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with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as these documents have radically changed our understanding of medieval China and east Asian Buddhism.244 Sinologist Wendi Adameks The Mystique of Transmission (2007) is not only its first English translation, but is a close reading of the Ldi fbo j. Adamek, here and in her related writings, shows how the Ldi fbo j advances its claims for the supremacy of the Botng school by attempting to appropriate symbols of legitimacy valid in both an old order and an emerging new order. The two orders are heuristically characterized as the centrifugal force of the Tng imperial household and aristocratic elites, and the scholastic Buddhist establishments of Chngn and Luyng, versus the increasingly autonomous provincial military and administrative elites associated with naturalist Southern Chn Buddhism. While the biographies of the first half of the Ldi fbo j reveal an anachronistic attachment to symbols of idealized Buddhist Imperial cooperation, the latter half of the text advocates an extreme interpretation of Southern Chn, propounding an antinomian and minimalist doctrine. In the writings of Shnhu ( 684-758), we see the transmission of the monastic robe serving as a tension both the Southern mythology of unbroken mind to mind transmission and a notion of lineage and legitimacy after the model of the imperial ancestor cult. Adamek compares the Ldi fbo j with other sources from the 4th through 8th centuries, chronicling changes in the doctrines and practices involved in transmitting medieval Chinese Buddhist teachings. While she is concerned with familiar Chn themes like patriarchal genealogies and the ideology of sudden awakening, Adamek also highlights aspects that make the Ldi fbo j distinctive: formless practice, the inclusion of female practitioners, the influence of Daoist metaphysics, and connections with early Tibetan Buddhism. 5.4.2 A text of thoughtless purity. W Ztins material Buddhism was the extension of herself over her empire beyond political presenceshe tried to be Empress and Buddha. Through Buddhism, her matriarchal hold on China was both secular and religious: her power extended over both this life and the future of her subjects, as it were. The line that divided the secular and the religious was blurred or removed under W. Understandably, Ws successes would inspire others, and indeed they did. A whole Chinese textLdi fbo245 j was inspired by W Ztins amoralistic apotheosis. The Ldi fbo j was composed near Chngd by an anonymous disciple or disciples of the Botng founder, Wzh [5.4.1]. Wzh himself claimed descent from the charismatic Korean Chn master Wxing (684-762), well known as the founder of the Jngzhng (Pure Assembly) sect. As YANAGIDA Seizan has shown, Botng was the most radical of the early Chn groups in Schun. It extended Shnhus teaching of no-thought (wnin ) [5.2.4.7] to entail the rejection of all forms of traditional Buddhist ethical precepts and practice.246 Botng, however, was only significant within the generation of Wzhs immediate disciples: it was essentially a Wzh cult, against which Chn stalwarts like Zngm fervently spoke against.247 The Ldi fbo j was composed around 780, within living memory of W Ztins times (r 625706). It is a work of self-promoting religious fiction, and was criticized even shortly after its appearance. The sharpest contemporary criticism was that found in the Bishn l (Record of North Mountain) by Shnqng (d 814), who noted its sectarian agenda.248 In a more recent assessment, John McRae notes that amongst the texts of early Chn guilty of patent fabrications and questionable attributions the Ldi fbo jis undoubtedly the most egregious of all. (1986: 11)
244 245
See Wendi L Adamek 2000: 60. Where there are double 3rd tone characters, the first character assumes the 2nd tone, thus, fbo. 246 See The Li-tai fa-pao chi and the Chan doctrine of sudden enlightenment, in Lai & Lancaster (eds), Early Chan in China and Tibet, 1983: 13-49. Peter Gregory has dealt with the importance of Zngms reaction against these radical Chn movements in Sichuan in his essays, Tzung -mi and the Single Word Awareness (chih) (1985) and What happened to the Perfect Teaching? (1988: 224 f): see Gregory 1987: 305. For Zngms characterization of the Botng teachings, see the Dai Nippon Daizokyo: ZZ1/14/3.278cd. 247 See eg Peter N Gregory 1988: 224 f & Wendi L Adamek 2000:59 f. 248 T 2113.52.573a-636c (10 fasc).
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5.4.3 Shnhus robe. One of the most frequent and strongest criticisms against the Ldi fbo j is its story of Bodhidharmas robe. According to the popular Hunng story, the robe verified his status as the sixth patriarch, but upon empress Ws request, Hunng sent it to her in Luyng. The empress was said to have later presented it to the monk Zhisen, who claimed to be the seventh patriarch of the Botng school [5.2.2.3]. Through the story of Zhishens encounter with the mind-reader Trepiaka, Zhishen was presented as finally outwitting Trepiaka with his (Zhishens) manifestation of no-thought, and so received the Bodhidharmas robe. Adamek explains: In order to understand why they would risk such an incredible story, we must understand that this kind of coup de thtre was not unprecedented and had worked for another Chn dramaturge, namely, Shnhu. We may also call the robe Shnhus robe, for although Southern School claims hinge on Hunngs possession of Bodhidharmas robe, modern Chn scholars have shown that these claims refer back to the symbolic framework created by Shnhu.249 (Adamek 2000: 65) Shnhu created a religious political structure of Chn patriarchy by fusing diverse historical and doctrinal sources to support his notion of an exclusive patriarchal succession in which only one patriarch in each generation received mind-to-mind transmission (that is, certification) of the true Dharma from the previous patriarch, going right back to the Buddhas transmission to Mah Kyapa [5.1.2.7]. Shnhu claimed that the robe and the Dharma had been passed down through six generations to Hunng, thus [cf 5.2.3.1]: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Name Bodhidharma Huke Sengcan Daoxn Huineng Traditional
Simplified none none none none
Wade-Giles Pu-ti-ta-mo Hui-ko Seng Tsan Tao-hsin Hui-neng
Pinyin Ptdm Huk Sngcn Doxn Hunng
Dates (d c530) [5.2.1] (487-593) (d c606) (580-651) (638-713)250 [5.2.3.3]
To fabricate his lineage and hagiographies of these six Chn ancestors, Shnhu relied on two slightly different genealogies in the early 8th century proto-Chn, that is, the Chun fbo j (Chronicle of the Transmission of the Dharma-Jewel, T85.2838) [5.2.2.3] and the Lngqi shz j (Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Lankvatra Stra, T85.2837). The authors of these works had in turn been influenced by notions of patriarchal succession found in the late 7th-century epitaph for the monk Fr (638-689), who with Shnxi [5.2.1.1], were prominent disciples of Hngrn .251 Frs epitaph is the earliest record we have on their claim to the lineage of the East Mountain (Dngshn ), thus:
See esp Anna Seidel, Dene (Jap: tiny ; Chin: chuny transmission of the robe), Hbgirin, Dictionnaire encylopdique du Bouddhisme daprs les sources chinoises et japonaises 8: Eng tr forthcoming. 250 See Adamek 2000: 66 for discussion & sources (n20). 251 Tng zhngyu shmn Fr chnsh xngzhung (Epitaph for the Tng ramaa of the Central Peak, Chn master Fr), in Jnsh xbin 6:2a-b; see YANAGIDA Seizan, Shoki Zensh shisho no kenky (Research on early Chn historiographical texts), Kyoto: Hzkan, 1967: 487 -496.
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SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese Bodhidharma (d c530)252 Huk (487-593) Sngcn (d c606) Doxn (580-651) Hngrn (601-674) [5.2.3.1].
5.4.4 Versions of the Platform Sutra. Of the many stories of the robe-and-Dharma transmission from Hngrn to Hunng, the so called Platform Sutra of the Six Patriarch (Liz tn jng ) [5.2.4] is the version with which we are most familiar with today. A late version of the Platform Sutra was incorporated into the Jngd chundng l (1004)253 [5.1.2.5], thus becoming the first Chn history to receive imperial sanction. But the earliest extant versions of the Platform Sutra itself, are Dnhung manuscripts [5.2.5.1] dating from about the same time as the Ldi fbo j (c780). Adamek shows how the corresponding passages from the Platform Sutra and the Ldi fbo j, both illustrating the relative similarity of their accounts of Hunngs inheritance of the robe but their complete divergence regarding the transmission after Hunng. I have here arranged the two texts with the Ldi fbo j (probably slightly earlier) on the left and the Dunhuang Platform Sutra on the right, highlighting the divergences:
In Bodhidharmas biography, included in the mid-7th cent X gosng zhun (Further Biographies of Eminent Monks), he is portrayed as transmitting the La kvatra S to Huk (T50.2060.552b). 253 The Jingde Era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, T2076.51.196-467.
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SD 40b Ldi fbo j (T51.2075.182b13-16) composed c780 (tr Wendi L Adamek) (A) [Transmission:] In the night [Hunng] was secretly summoned to [the Masters] room, and when they had spoken together for three days and tree nights, [Hngrn] entrusted [Hunng] with the Dharma and robe, [saying,] You are to be the Great Master of this world, and thus I command you to depart quickly.
5 Transmission Outside the Scripture? Platform Sutra (Dunhuang S5475) composed 830-860 (oldest parts, 780) (tr Philip Yampolsky 1967: 133, 176) (A) [9 Transmission:] At midnight the Fifth Patriarch called me into the hall and expounded the Diamond Stra to me. Hearing it but once, I was immediately awakened, and that night I received the Dharma. None of the others knew anything about it. Then he transmitted to me the Dharma of Sudden Enlightenment and the robe, saying, I make you the Sixth Patriarch. The robe is the proof and is to be handed down from generation to generation. My Dharma must be transmitted from mind to mind. You must make people awaken to themselves If you stay here there are people who will harm you. You must leave at once. (B) [49 On his death-bed:] The robe may not be handed down. In case you do not trust in me, I shall recite the verses of the preceding five patriarchs, composed when they transmitted the robe and the Dharma. If you depend on the meaning of the verse of the First Patriarch, Bodhidharma, then there is no need to hand down the robe.
(B) [On his death-bed:] Do not ask. After this, hardships will arise in great profusion. How often have I faced death on account of this robe? At Master [Dao]Xins place it was stolen three times, at Master [Hong] Rens place, it was stolen three times, and now at my place it has been stolen six times. But at least no one will steal this robe of mine, for a woman has taken it away. So dont ask me any more.
A woman was, of course, none other than the empress W, who had given the robe to Zhishen, Dharma ancestor, thrice removed (great-grandfather in the Dharma), of the Botng founder, Wzh. As noted by Adamek, the genealogical implications are complicated by the fact that although Zhishen is actually a disciple of the fifth patriarch Hngrn, he receives Hunngs robe from the empress and passes it on to his disciple Chuji [Chj , 669-736], who passes it on to Wuxiang [Wxing ]. (2000: 68) Also interesting is the fact that Shnhu is more often mentioned in the Ldi fbo j than in the Platform Sutra, even though the Sutra was the standard version of the Southern School Chn transmission. 5.4.5 W Ztins robe. To understand the significance of the phrase, a woman, we must look at the Vajra,samdhi Stra (Jngng snmi jng T9.273),254 another apocryphal work composed in Silla (one of the three kingdoms of early Korea) by Wnhyo (Yunxio, 617-686)255 around 685. The text merges tathgata,garbha and the teachings associated with the East Mountain School, rendered in sutra style, so that it was regarded as a translation of a lost Sanskrit original until the late 20th century.256 Although the Vajra,samdhi Stra was composed before or during the time of W Ztin, it was still listed as non-extant in the Chinese canon produced under her auspices in 695, and yet it was widely known and widely accepted to be included in the Kiyun canon of 730.257
For text, see http://www2.fodian.net/sutras/sutra.cgi?T0273. See http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?51.xml+id(b5143-66c9). 256 See Robert Buswell, The Formation of Chan Ideology in China and Korea: The Vajrasamdhi -Stra, a Buddhist apocryphon, 1989: 171-181. 257 That is, the Kiyun period of Tng emperor Xunzng (713-341), when the monk Zhshng (669740) made a number of important compilations, incl the Kiyun shjio l (T 2154.55.477-724, 20 fasc) (The Kiyun Record of Shakyamunis Teachings) and the J zhjng lchn y (an anthology of
255 254
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The Vajra,samdhi Stra introduces a novel concept called the robe of the tathgatas [the Buddhas thus come], thus: Although he does not go forth into homelessness (pravrajita) he is not longer part of the household. For this reason, while he does not wear the dharma-robes and neither observes the Prtimoka precepts [monks disciplinary rules] nor participate in the Poada [fortnightly religious observance], he does not engage in personal licentiousness in his own mind and obtains the fruition of sainthoodTaeryk Bodhisattva remarked, This is inconceivable! Even though such a person has not gone forth into homelessness, he cannot but have gone forth. Why is this? He has entered the domicile of nirva, where he dons the robe of the tathgatas and sits on the bodhiseat (bodhimaa). Such a person should be worshipped respectfully even by ramaas. (Buswell 1989: 220) The wearer of the robe of the tathgatas is neither an exceptional person such as the super layman Vimala,krti, nor is he an exemplary monk who observes the precepts. For such a robe is really inconceivable; for, what does a Buddha-body wear? Adamek believes that that the mystique of legitimacy enveloping Shenhui/Huineng/Bodhidharmas robe is patterned after this inconceivable robe of the tathgatas. Furthermore, the kind of figure Shenhui promoted in the sixth patriarch Huineng embodies some of the same ambiguous qualities of the one who has not gone forth and cannot but have gone forthto whom monks in ordinary Dharma robes should pay homage. (Adamek 2000: 70) It should be remembered that in both Shnhus writings and the Ldi fbo j, Hunng is not ordained until after he has received the Dharma transmission from Hngrn, and even then does so only when an eminent monk wished to become his disciple. Based on such ideas, Wzh went on to devalue the activity of the ordinary ramaa. Understandably, Zngm criticized the Botng school precisely for antinomian habit of conferring the monastic robes on those without any evidence of Buddhist practice.258 Adamek gives a very insightful analysis of the real situation: I suggest that the appeal of the one who has not gone forth and cannot have but gone forth reflects a certain disenchantment with the garb of the ordinary monk, a disenchantment that followed the restoration of the Tng after the reign of Empress W, was given direction by the Emperor Xunzng, and was accelerated by the An Lushan rebellion. In order to understand the devaluation of the status of the ordinary monk in the late eighth century, I believe we must consider it as part of the critical response to W Ztins attempted fashioning of a new order of Buddhist elites. Therefore, let us now consider the Buddhist fashions for which the empress was most infamous. (Adamek 2000:71) The empress Ws other Buddhist fashions have been noted earlier [5.2.2], so they will only be briefly listed here. In 690, empress W introduced the conferring of the purple robe upon favoured priests. With this act, she usurped the position of the highest Buddhist office, that of the patriarch who was the only legitimate person to do so. Like the Buddha conferring the patriarchal robe to Kyapa, empress W now confers the purple robe to other priests [5.2.2.3]. By proclaiming herself as Maitreya (with the blessings of the eminent priests), she was not only the secular empress, but also the religious overlord of a Buddha-land, taking over the role of Amitabha [5.2.2.2]. All such acts of W Ztin were of course scripturally legitimate, that is, scripture-based in terms of the gospel according to Wzh and his cult as recorded in the apocryphal Ldi fbo j [5.4.2]. Both Shnhu and the Ldi fbo j referred to the robe received by Mah Kyapa as gold-embroidered,
repentance rituals). This reappearance is due to the common 7 th- and 8th-century practice of choosing the title for a work composed in China from among works listed in the catalogs as no longer extant. See Buswell 1989: 33-40/ 258 See Adamek 2000: 79.
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which is the usually Chinese description of Mah Prajpats gift to the sangha, but not of Shakyamuni transmission to Mah Kyapa.259 However, what is more relevant here is Mah Prajpats gift of robes to the Buddha.260 In the more melodramatic Mahyna re-telling of the Mah Prajpat story, she wandered into the assembly looking for a monk to accept the robes, but all refusedexcept Maitreya. Jonathan Silk comments, This version, of course, which omits Mahkyapa completely, provides a direct link between kyamuni and Maitreya. (1994: 61).261 As Maitreya, empress W thus saw herself as the true owner of the patriarchal robes, which she therefore had the right to give to those she favoured.262 One of Empress Ws strongest support for legitimizing herself as a woman ruler comes from the Dyn jng [5.2.2.3], which contains a prophecy that female deva (dev) Jnggung would be reborn as a female Buddhist ruler, possibly arousing in her an unconscious defence mechanism of identification.263 Another apocryphal text, the Pxin ps shuc zhngmng jng (Sutra on the Attestation Spoken by the Bodhisattva Samanta,bhadra)264 gives further support to Ws rule in terms of an apocalyptic vision of the birth of a Buddhist kingdom in China. Samanta,bhadra appears in the text as an avenging angel and protective midwife, and in one place, he is called Mah Prajpat.265 Adamek fittingly gives an overview of such scriptural exploitation and manipulation: Perhaps fittingly, while weaving a symbol of scriptural prophecy to bestow on their empress, the cadre of monks captured not only a blushing Dev but also the more ambiguous shades of a willful Mahprajpat and a punitive Samantabhadra. Although in the Dayun jing the Buddha praises shame as the Dharma robe of all beings, it is hubris for which W Ztin is most consistently remembered by Chinese historians. Thus, the precedent she established of bestowing robes on monks became a dubious honor, resonant with the story of Mahprajpat, locus classicus for the trope of the monk who refuses to give up his tattered robes and accept fine clothing from a wealthy lay devotee. Although Buddhist literature abounds with words of praise and evocations of merit for those who give good, clothing, bedding and medicine for the use of the Sagha, there was ambivalence towards laypersons who gave costly and personal gifts to individual monks. (Adamek 2000: 76)
5.5 CHN: A REAPPRAISAL

5.5.1 Chn too follows the gradual path. Is Chn/Zen Buddhism any different from other form of Chinese Buddhism? Is it really as unique as claims it to benot relying on scripture, dedicated to hard work, being creative of beauty, and so on? Robert E Buswell, Jr, in his study of contemporary Korean Sn monastic life,266 observes, Perhaps the most fundamental self-definition of the Zen school repeated
There is canonical, but late, story about the gold-coloured robes offered by Pukkusa Malla,putta to the Bud dha, which when donned by the Buddha, his body glowed radiantly in transfiguration: see Mah,parinibbna S (D 9.4.35-37/2:133 f) = SD 9. See also Adamek 2000: 74 f. 260 The canonical ref is Dakkhia Vibhaga S (M 142/3:253-257) = SD 1.9, which is a historical statement on the greater spiritual benefits of giving to the sangha rather than to an individual, and is not a statement of the lower status of women, patriarchy, etc. 261 For refs on Maitreya, see Foulk, Controversies concerning the separate transmission, 1999: 226 & n12. 262 See Adamek 2000:75. 263 As a defence mechanism, identification is the unconscious modelling of ones self upon another persons character and behaviour, or on a perceived being, as here in Wus case. Such an identification provide her with a sense of self-empowerment: for a summary, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_mechanism. 264 T85.2879. For textual analysis & part tr, see Forte 1976: 271-280. 265 Forte 1976: 276. Mah Prajpapats name in Chin is Dshng zh (Great lord of beings), an epithet of Samanta,bhadra. 266 Buswells Buddhist life and training covered Theravada, Chn, Sn (Korean Chn) and Hwaom (Korean Huyn): Wat Bovoranives, Bangkok, Thailand, 1972-73 (Theravada); Polamji, Landau Island, Hong Kong, 197374 (Chan); Songgwangsa, Cholla Namdo, Korea, 1974-79 (Sn and Hwaom). He confesses, From what little read 259
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ad infinitum in Western literatureso fundamental that it is often made to constitute a virtual root paradigm267 of the Zen traditionis the famous four-line aphorism [5.1.2.1] attributed to Bodhidharma, the Indian monk whom Zen tradition considers to be its founder (1992: 217). Now we know it is an expression of the protean genius of the Chinese mind, so that nothing is too sacred to be sinicized. The first two lines seem to define Chn268 as a special transmission outside the teachings, | do not depend on the written word.269 At face value, many teachers and writers depict Chn as radically bibliophobic and advocating that doctrinal learning has no place in Chn training. But is this view correct? Buswell speaks from his experience: Sn monastic life in modern Korea suggests not. Most Korean monks training in the meditating hall have extensive knowledge of Buddhist doctrine, ranging from basic Hnayna and Mahyna stras, to theoretical treatises on Sn praxis and collections of Sn lore. Most begin their meditation training only after they were steeped in the basic teachings of Buddhism. [A]s one monk told me, an infant must learn to crawl before it tries to walk, and so too must monks study before they begin to meditate. (Buswell 1992:217) Buswell goes on to tell us that books on Theravada (such as vernacular translations of Pali texts) are just as popular reading as those on Chn. A monk who had been for several years serving as the catechist at Songgwang-sa (Cholla-namdo, South Korea) told Buswell that the pragmatic quality of the Pali materials was especially appealing to meditators, as they did not find many practical instructions in their own Sn literature for dealing with the inevitable problems that can arise during meditationlassitude, distraction, fantasizing (1992: 218). So while meditators may not read while on retreat, they are clearly not ignorant of Buddhist doctrinal teachings. Early Chn made much use of personal oral transmissions of teachings, especially through the use of koans [5.1.3], and which later became the central practice of the Lnj (Jap Rinzai) school. These koans were accompanied by anecdotes, most of which were compiled during the Sng dynasty, and become one of the largest corpus of Chinese Buddhist writings. Any pretense Chan may have still retained about being a teaching that did not rely on words and letters was hardly supportable given the rapid proliferation of such anthologies within different teaching lineages. The compilation of kung-an collections, with their distinctive language and style, illustrates the tendency in Sng dynasty Chan toward refined literary activity, which was termed lettered Chan (wen-tzu Chan).270 These literary endeavors helped to bring Chan into the mainstream of Chinese cultural life and also led to a fertile interchange between Chan and secular belles let tres.271 (Buswell 1987: 345)
ing I had done, I was not much impressed with Zen, and in fact even today, after practicing Sn for some fifteen years, I still see myself as something of a closet Hnaynist. (1992: 18) 267 Root paradigm, a term coined by Victor Turner, Drama, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic action in human society, (Symbol, Myth, and Ritual Series), Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ Press, 1974: 64, 154 & chs 2, 6 & 8. More fully, Turners term is cultural root paradigm, defined as a model that is continually reinvested with energ y within the social drama, going beyond the cognitive and the moral to the existential domain where it becomes cloth ed with allusiveness, implications and metaphor (154). By social drama, Turner means a period in which conflicting groups and people attempt to establish their own paradigms or to reconfigure extant paradigms. 268 By Chn or Chan () (Skt dhyna; P jhna) here, I include all its various non-Chinese forms such as Korean Sn (Seon) , Japanese Zen , and Vietnamese Thin. 269 Most translations take written word (wnz) as a dvandva (words and letters), but the more common usage is as karmadharaya, which I follow here. 270 A term suggested by Robert Gimello, Poetry and the Kung-an in Chan practice, 1986: 9-10. 271 Belles letters /"bl `ltr/ are creative writing valued for their aesthetic content.
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Only the later teachers of the Lnj (Jap: Rinzai) school took exception and rejected lettered Chn, and even tried to burn the xylographs of the Blue Cliff Record [5.1.3.1] to keep it out of circulation. But Chn Buddhism had taken a new direction from which it never turned back. 5.5.2 Chn monastics are just like other monastics. 5.5.2.1 DOES CHN REALLY POINT DIRECTLY RO MANS MIND? The last two lines of Bodhidharmas quatrain apparently defines Chn as a directly pointing to mans mind, | seeing into our own nature and becoming Buddha. The claim of these two linesthat Chn is intent on awakeningand by extension, its monasteries and centres are formed to train people in such pursuitsis clearly not evident when we look at such institutions. While it is true that the meditation hall and the monks practicing there are the focus of much of the large monasterys activities, the majority of its residents spend no time in meditation, and may have no intention of even undertaking such training. Zen monastic life is broad enough to accommodate people of a variety of temperaments and interestsadministrators, scholars, workers offering them many different kinds of vocations. (Buswell 1992: 218) A common wrong viewmostly held by scholars of Buddhism in the 20th centuryof Buddhism in general, and of Chn-Zen in particular, is that Buddhists place great importance on transformative experience in religious practice, or that they take the goal of awakening seriously.272 From Buswells life as a practising monk in the Songgwang-sa, his observations of the monks thereand Korean monks in generalsuggest that a disciplined life, not the transformative experience of enlightenment, is actually most crucial to the religion, and he adds, The Koreans (and the Chinese and Indian Buddhists before them) created such structured regimens for their monasteries because they recognized that few meditators would have much chance of progressing in their practice without them. In this endorsement of discipline over transformation, the Sn monks of Korea would find much in common with their Buddhist counterparts in Southeast Asiaor even with the Benedictines of France. (Buswell 1992:219) For effective meditation training, the trainee (whether monastic or lay) is advised neither to read anything nor be involved in unnecessary work. Such instructions are clearly laid out in Theravada works, such as the Visuddhi,magga.273 The point is that when we meditate, we just meditate, directly watching the meditation object or cultivating mindfulness.274 5.5.2.2 IS CHN REALLY ABOUT SUDDEN ENLIGHTENMENT? Modern writings on Chn and Zen (mostly of the 20th century) mostly presume that enlightenment occurs suddenly, not as a gradual unfolding of true reality. For a Chn meditator, it seems, complete and sudden enlightenment would automatically, as it were, follow all religious cultivation. The tathgata,garbha doctrine [4.2] conceived all beings as being inherently enlightened buddhas.275 The Chn conception of sudden enlightenment (dnw ) effectively opened the doors of nirvana to
William Carrithers, in his The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka: An anthropological and historical study (Delhi: Oxford Univ Press, 1983: 18-20) cites and discusses William James Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) as providing a possible paradigm for such ideas. Carrithers argues that the Theravada monastic life is not so much envisioned as centred around meditation as it is around moral purity. The spectacular enlightenment stories retold in Philip Kapleaus Three Pillars of Zen (Tokyo: John Weatherhill, 1965), notes Buswell, suggests that such experiences are commonplace (Buswell 1992: 219 n3). 273 Vism 3.29-56/90-97. 274 For a Theravada meditation preparation, see eg Brahmavamso, Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond: A meditators handbook. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006; Singapore: Buddhist Fellowship repr as Happiness Through Meditation, 2006: 7-11. 275 See the apocryphal Ta-sheng chi-hsin lun (T32.575c21-22), which says, Enlightenment is the mind of the sentient beings; this [ordinary] mind includes in itself all states of being of the phenomenal world and the transcend-
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not only the dedicated monastics, but also to the laity [5.5.2.4], that is, to anyone who followed the Chn teachings, or strictly speaking, to those who could be certified by a recognized Chn master. Chn enlightenment, in other words, could be ritually handed down from master to pupil, which is clearly different from the early Indian notion of bodhi [5.5.4]. Buswell speaks of a popular short-cut to such a subitist enlightenment: Even a casual perusal of Korean Sn literature will reveal that there is much support within the Korean tradition for subitism. The technique of kanhwa Sn,276 virtually the only type of meditation used in contemporary Korean monasteries, is even termed a shortcut (kyngjl; Chin ching-chieh)277 to enlightenment because of its emphasis on generating an instantaneous awakening instead of developing a sequential series of practices. But when Korean meditation monks who are training in the kanhwa technique routinely admit that they expect it will take upwards of twenty years of full-time practice to make substantive progress in their practice, there seem to be valid grounds for questioning how subitist in practice the Sn tradition really is. (Buswell 1992: 220; emphasis added, reparagraphed) 5.5.2.3 CHN IS NOT ALL WORK. Another putative scholarly view of Chn is that it values manual labour, invoking Bizhngs aphorism: A day without work, a day without food278 [2.3.5]. We now know that Bizhng Huihi (720-824) [5.3.2] did not compose the Pure Rules, but that it was only later attributed to him. In fact, the oldest extant piece of monastic code we have is Xufngs Shguzh (or Xufngs Code) [2.3.5], a brief set of six rules compiled by Xufng Ycn (822908), meant to give the essence of the traditional Vinaya. Rule 2 reads: ,,,,, The [supervision of] the two types of landed estates, the monasterys fields and [lands that are on] long-term [lease], is to be undertaken by monastic officials who will be rotated annually; all should be subject to service. The permanent property of the stpa and the monastery has been donated to the monks of this monastery, and should on no account be taken elsewhere. (TX119.486d-487b; tr Mario Poceski, Xuefengs Code, 2003: 55) This rule evidently shows that even during the late Tng period, even a Chn monastery needed careful administration and maintenance. The paradigmatic portrayal the sixth patriarch, Hunng [5.2.2] as a monastery hand loses its romantic luster, when we consider it was logical that a large monastery in ancient China needed regular maintenance. Hunng was portrayed as an illiterate barbarian labourer from the southwest working in the monastery before his enlightenment. However, after becoming a seniour monk, like anyone of senior rank in a feudal society, he needed to do less manual work. However, it is easy to gave the wrong impression that regular and heavy work was a rule in such monasteries, as Buswell comments, But the emphasis on how unusual it was for a laborer such as Hui-neng to ascend the patriarchy suggests, to the contrary, that it was decidedly atypical for the Zen monks to work.279 One wonders to what extent this impression of Buddhist monasticism in Western literature has been subtly
ental world, Yoshito HAKEDA (tr), The Awakening of Faith, NY: Columbia Univ Press, 1967: 28. See Buswell 1987: 324 f. 276 That is, knhu chn [5.1.3.1]. 277 Jngji . See also Buswell 1987: 350. 278 Martin Collcutt, for example, says, Other features of early Chan monastic life were its stress on frugality and the sustenance of the community by the joint labour of all its members. ( Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Mountain Institution in Medieval Japan, Harvard East Asian Monographs 85, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ Press, 1981: 9). 279 For a convincing argument, see John R McRae 1986: 42-43.
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influenced by Christian models, where a life of labour was especially emblematic of the Cistercians.280 (Buswell 1992: 220) As a rule, contemplative monks (especially Chn monks) do little, indeed any, work. If any work is done, it is done mindfully in connection with the meditation training. As already mentioned, Theravada works, such as the Visuddhi,magga, give clear instructions for the meditator not to be involved in reading, studying or physically working when he is meditating.281 If there is any work to be done, this would be limited to a certain appointed or appropriate time. Any study would be in the form of calm instructions on meditation, again at a certain appointed or appropriate time. The report that Buswell gives of a retreat period in a Korean monastery sounds familiarly like that of any Theravada or Buddhist retreat: Although every monk in the monastery has a specific duty during the retreat periods, the meditation monks are invariably given all the lightest jobsserving as the verger of a small shrine (required to perform a cursory, five-minute service each day), for instance, or sweeping the meditation hall (twenty minutes). The most time-consuming work, such as tilling, planting, and working the fields or logging the forests, is done by hired laborers (who in the past would have been serfs awarded to the monasteries). The most odious of daily tasks crucial to running the monastery, such as preparing meals or cleaning the latrines, are carried out by unordained postulants. Most other important jobs are performed by the many monks, often new to their vocations, who occupy support positions in the monastery. After a monk has finished his postulancy and perhaps a few years of service to his home monastery, he could conceivably pass the rest of his life in the meditation hall, doing virtually no manual labour at all. (Buswell 1992: 221) During the late 20th century, books like DT Suzukis Zen and Japanese Culture (1970) presented the notion of a pervasive impact of Zen on indigenous aesthetic culture. We were told of Zen in areas ranging from landscape architecture to flower arrangements, the tea ceremony, haiku and other poetry, painting, N drama, even swordsmanship and martial arts. But the testimony of Korean Sn monastic life (as, I have been told, is also the case in modern Japanese Zen) offers little support for such a view. Korean Sn monasteries provide no institutionalized backing for such aesthetic activities and set aside no time in the daily schedule for monks to pursue them. The support staff is much too busy to have time for painting or poetry. The meditation monks are required to be totally devoted to their practice and would not even be allowed to use a brush for painting or calligraphy. Monks drink a lot of tea, but there is none of the close attention to the details of the process that we are led to presume should be the case from the Japanese tea ceremony. (Buswell 1992: 221) 5.5.2.4 CHN IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. According to Hu Shih, Chn is merely one religious movement among others, and its development was an integral part of the political history of the Tng (Hu Shih 1953. According to DT Suzuki, however, Zen transcends history, and that historians are by definition reductionists (Suzuki 1953). During the 1950s and 1960s, Chn/Zen studies have multiplied, strongly influenced by Yanagida Seizans historical works on early Chn (Shoki zensh shisho no kenky, 1967). These studies, Bernard Faure notes, were also written in reaction against the appropriation of Zen by the counter-culture of the Sixties. The first task was to free Zen from its association, spread by Suzuki and his epigons,282 with the kind of Oriental mysticism denounced in France by [French literary critic] Ren Etiemble under the name of Zaine. (1993:72-74)283
See Max Weber, The Sociology of Religions, 1922:181. Vism 3.29-56/90-97. 282 An epigon is an inferior imitator of some distinguished writer, poet, artist, musician, etc. 283 See also http://scbs.stanford.edu/resources/bibliography/faure/zen_studies.html & Eteimbles review of Faure in Nouvelle Revue Franaise 328 May 1980:179. On critique of Chn studies by Hu Shih, by Suzuki, and by Dumoulin, see McRae 2003: 101-107, 120.
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Even respectable scholars such as William Theodore de Bary, describe Chn Buddhism as trying to develop forms of Buddhist praxis that would appeal to the special religious needs of the laity, to bring salvation within the reach of ordinary people.284 This putative notion is encouraged by the common misunderstanding that the sudden enlightenment taught by Chn can be found in mundane experience without the need for any proper mindfulness or meditation practice as taught in early Buddhism [5.5.2.3]. Robert E Buswell, Jr, in a self-confession, admits to having a similar view earlier of Chn when he wrote on the historical development of Zen praxis: In an article on the evolution of the kanhwa technique, I claim that Zen sought to make the summum bonum of Buddhism [viz enlightenment] readily accessible to ordinary people living active, engaged lives in the world, and not just to religious specialists ensconced in isolated mountain monasteries. [1987: 325]. I describe Ta-hui, the Chinese systematizer of kanhwa Sn, as embrac[ing] ordinary life as the ideal venue for Buddhist meditation practice. [353]. To be fair to myself, I did qualify these statements by suggesting that Zen did not mean to impugn cenobitic training, but was simply countering a persistent bias in Buddhism toward celibate monastic life. [353]. But even if one accepts this caveat, the realities of modern Sn training in Korea testify that it is only within the specialized praxis institution of the meditation hall that anyone has much of a chance to succeed in kanhwa practice.what reasonable hope would there be for laypeople? The protestations of past masters to the contrary, Sn monastic life suggests that the technique of kanhwa Sn was never seriously intended for the laity, but instead targeted those few monks with the fortitude to endure many years of ascetic training in the meditation hall. (Buswell 1992: 222) Buswell spent a year as a Thai monk of the reformist Dhammayut sect, two years studying Chn in Hongkong and two more as a monk in a Korean Sn monastery. He has noticed that the monastic training is both cases are very similar, that is, they train within an extensive web of religious thought and practice, a web that reticulates with the historical, institutional, and cultural contexts of their centuries-old tradition. (1992: 222).285 He observes that These monks know that while Zen masters teach sudden enlightenment, they follow in their daily practice a rigidly scheduled regimen of training. They know that while Zen texts claim to eschew doctrinal understanding, monks are expected first to gain a solid grounding in Buddhist texts before starting meditation practice. They know that while the iconoclastic stories of the past Zen masters glorify seemingly antinomian behavior, monks are pledged to maintain a sober, disciplined lifestyle. Much of Western scholarship, by contrast, through seeking to interpret the classical literature of Zen in the abstract, divorced from such contexts, had promulgated a nave view of the tradition as literally iconoclastic, bibliophobic, and antinomian.286 Zen monks are sophisticated enough in their understanding of their tradition to mediate in their daily lives these polaritiespolarities of structure and transformation, discipline and iconoclasm, learning and bibliophobia, morality and antinomianism; it is time that our scholarship learn to do the same. (Buswell 1992: 222 f) 5.5.3 Chn Buddhism and the dead. John McRae, in his in-depth study, Seeing through Zen (2003), gives an interesting overview of how Chn was received by Chinese society at large. He suggests that traditional Chinese cultural views regarding death, afterlife and divinity are contrary to early Indian teachings because the aim is to maintain an ongoing series of relationships between deceased ancestors and the living (146). Therefore, the Chn patriarchal lineage evolved mostly into a mortuary religion,
De Bary (ed), Sources of Japanese Tradition, NY: Columbia Univ Press, 1958: 232. I have myself spent 5 years as a bhikkhu in Wat Srakes, Bangkok (of the larger and older Mahniki sect), a nd I concur with Buswells observation. 286 Buswell: I have benefited here from T Griffith Foulks comments on an earlier draft of this chapter.
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which provided a format for Buddhist practice that matched the pattern implied by Chinese funerary customs (147 f). It was a great idea, as it removed the restrictive barriers of a biological family, turning the sangha into a wall-less and gateless universal family. McRae insightfully observes: My contention is that Chn provided a format for Buddhist practice that matched the pattern implied by Chinese funerary customs. The starting point for this analysis is John Jorgensons observation of the structural similarities between Chn lineage assertions of the eighth century and funerary practice, in which the organization of halls venerating Chn patriarchs was seen to resemble that of conventional ancestral halls.287 From a broader perspective, the proliferation of Chn lineages mimics that of conventional family genealogies, creating a parallel realm of filiation between living and dead. Indeed, where conventional genealogies are devoted individually to separate family groups, Chn transmission of the lamp texts create an entire universe of fictive relationships.288 (McRae 2003: 148) Inspired by Daoism, the Chn masters saw the Buddha as a cosmic being, almost as the ancient brahmins viewed their Brahman. Though such a view, the notions of cosmic Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were easily accepted by Chinese Buddhism, which lies at the root of east Asian Buddhism. Although the Chn lineage begins with the Buddha, he was simply abandoned there as a mere foothold, as it were, for climbing to greater heights. The position of a teacher and refuge was effectively taken over by the ancestors of the lineage of Chn masters. In fact, the placing of the Buddha at the head of the lineage was more like a grand family trophy to legitimize the lineage. On another level, the Chn genealogical network functioned as a means of exclusion. Scholars like Nancy Jay have noted that rituals (such as sacrifices) provide a means for effecting both in-group solidarity and exclusion of the other. This meeting of patriarchal lineage and sacrificial practice in agrarian societies served to support hierarchies of power that excluded women. McRae sees a similar parallel in that the Chn genealogical pattern effectively excludedor, more to the point, worked to exclude many types of religious practitioner from access to power within the Chinese Buddhist institution as a whole. Devotees of other styles of self-cultivation were marginalized or lumped together under the competing Tinti banner. Even the Pure Land tradition was forced to adopt a lineage system to justify its existence,289 and other rubrics for the understanding of Buddhist history were effaced by the genealogical model. And of course, women were nowhere to be seen in Sng-dynasty Chnat least not without being reconfigured as surrogate males.290 In other words, Chn provided Chinese Buddhists with a way of ordering their sacred lineage in a fashion that resembled other basic feature of Chinese society. (McRae 2003:148) 5.5.4 Why Chn masters are not awakened. In this study, I have always taken care to use the expression Chn enlightenment (and avoided the term awakening) so that we do not confuse the Chn or Zen idea with the early Indian notion of awakening (bodhi). Indeed, it is germane to speak of Chn enlightenmenta fitting imagery reflecting the transmitting of the Chn lampas against early Indian Buddhist awakening, which is a matter of self-effort. Whatever our terminology, the two should not be misunderstood as referring to the same idea.
See John Jorgenson, The Imperial lineage of Chan Buddhism, 1987. On conventional family genealogies, see Ebrey, Confucianism and Family Rituals in Imperial China , 1991. With additional study of Sng-dynasty recorded sayings literature, we may recognize intralineage efforts at identity creation that parallel those of individual family genealogies. (McRaes fn) 289 See Daniel A Getz, Jr, Tien-tai Pure Land societies and the creation of the Pure Land patriarchs, 1999. 290 But cf Miaodao and Miaocong, pupils of Dahui [5.1.3.2].
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John McRae has noted the difficulty, even impossibility, of describing the nature of an exclusively experiential state, what when one has not attained them. We can at best compare descriptions of bodhi, as McRae carefully notes: Nevertheless, even without assuming that we could access the actual experiences of real individuals,291 it would be useful to compare the descriptions of bodhi in Indian philosophical texts with those of enlightenment experiences in Chn texts. Where the former describe the ultimate in terms of wisdom and transcendence, I suspect the Chinese texts tend to a greater emphasis on realizations of the interdependence of all things. Or one might examine whether the rhetoric of nyat is used differently in Indian and Chinese texts, with the former being used to obliterate worldly distinctions, and the latter being used in effect to reify them. (The originary enlightenment theories of medieval Japanese Buddhism seem to fit this latter case.) (McRae 2003:150) Mahyna enlightenment and Hnayna awakening are literally and spiritually worlds apart. The two should not confound nor conflate the two. Any Chn priest who claims to be suddenly enlightened and place himself on the same level as the Buddha (indirectly claiming supreme awakening), could be said to be guilty of an offence entailing defeat (prjika), that is, automatically falling from the state of monkhood or nunhood.292 However, no such offence is entailed if we do not equate any terms of Chn enlightenment (wwi, satori, etc) with the early Buddhist conception of bodhi, etc.293 Since Chn and other forms of Chinese Buddhism and East Asian Buddhisms are effectively different Buddhist religions in their own right, there is no problem of their transgressing the monastic rules of early Buddhism. But this is merely a technical point, which would only interest the traditional monastic and practitioner. Chn Buddhism is changing to stay relevant in our own times. Chn monastics are aware, after a century of open critique in the light of what might be called open Buddhisma holistic and interdisciplinary study and practice of Buddhismthat Chn has become more Chinese (or Japanese, or Korean) than Buddhist. Such a bent may serve well in implementing a nationalist state ideology but it may fall back into a recidivist Chn of the 8th century China. Chn Buddhism adapted well to Chinese society, and it will surely well adapt to our contemporary world. For this, Chn will need to re-chart its course by reorientating itself to the north star that is early Buddhism. For this reason, for example, the serious Chn meditators of all traditions in our times at least never fail at least to make the early Buddhist texts a part of their compulsory reading.294 We need not throw out the bath-water along with the baby, especially when the baby has the potential of maturing into a wise adult, that is, carries the Buddha-seed in him. 080603; 080926; 091202; 100922; 111231; 120806; 121108
See Robert H Sharf, Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of meditative experience, 1995, & Experience, 1998; also McRae 2003: 155 n7. McRae has advised that the word practice should be understood as process or activity (2003: 174 n37; see also 160 n22 on the Chinese xng in this context). 292 That is, the 4th prjika against claiming superhuman states (uttari,manussa,dhamma) that one has not really attained (Pr 4 = V 3:109). 293 On satori, see Foulk 2000: 40-42. 294 Buswell 1992: 21 f.
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SD 40b

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

Transmission outside the scriptures?

5.1 BODHI,DHARMA AND THE CHN LINEAGE

SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

Suwi do, w h zi.

Zhungzi yu: W su bzi.

SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

SD 40b.5 How Buddhism Became Chinese

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

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5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

Piya Tan Answer:

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

5.2 NORTHERN-SOUTHERN SCHOOLS CONTROVERSY

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Zizhi Tongjian vol 205.

5 Transmission Outside the Scripture?

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

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SD 40b () () () () p t bn w sh mng jng y fi ti bn li w y w h ch r chn i

5.2.4.6 Mummified remains of Djin Hunng (638-713)

See also McRae 1987: 2.

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