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Home , Gyeongheo, Huineng, Hwaeom, Hyujeong, Jinul, Koan

Steven Heine. . Dimensions of Asian Series. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2014. 206 pp. $17.00, paper, ISBN 978-0-8248-3974-1.

Reviewed by John Jorgensen

Published on H- (May, 2015)

Commissioned by Gregory A. Scott (University of Edinburgh)

Koans (公案) or cases are generally described lightenment. Transmission includes a mythology as a major method of teaching used in Zen to deal with a crisis, monasticism and the enforce‐ (in Chinese, Chan; in Korean, Seon) Buddhism to ment of behavioral regulations, and succession or induce a student to reach enlightenment. By con‐ the choice of a true heir who will continue the centrating intensely on these paradoxical conun‐ transmission. It is this analysis into six elements drums, students are led to an overwhelming doubt that constitutes the core and strength of this produced by a logical impasse, the tension of book. As the aim of this series, Dimensions of which is broken by adopting a new outlook that Asian Spirituality, is to provide a short work on an supposedly overcomes dualism and other distort‐ Asian school of religious thought or central con‐ ing psychological concepts and conditions. This cept for general readers, this book includes no enlightenment needs to be verified in turn by a notes, references, indexes, or . certified master for it to be deemed legitimate and However, the core arguments will also be useful not a self-delusion. for scholars of Zen. Because of the cryptic and seemingly illogical The core theme of Heine’s book—detailing the statements and actions depicted in koans, at‐ functions of koans into six elements—parallels a tempts have been made to analyze their functions number of similar attempts by Chinese schol‐ beyond the basic idea that they are skillful means. ars. Yang Xinying’s Chanzong Wumenguan Steve Heine’s Zen Koans attempts to go beyond zhongyao gongan zhi yanjiu (Studies of the signifi‐ the stereotypical idea of the and such instru‐ cant koans of the Wumenguan of the Chan school) mentalist interpretations by arguing that koans (1989) analyzes koans according to rules of have two main aims: personal religious transfor‐ thought, language, behavior, and the appropriate mations and transmission, which are both related use of objects as found in the Wumenguan, a ma‐ to the process of realizing transcendence. Trans‐ jor koan collection of 1,229 that is the chief object formation is made up of doubt in pursuit of the of Heine’s analysis. Another attempt at such anal‐ goal, the experience of a spontaneous break‐ ysis was made by Huang Lianzhong in his Chan‐ through or enlightenment, and the expression of zong gongan ti-xiang-yong sixiang zhi yanjiu enlightenment by communicating the path to en‐ (Studies of the substance, form, and function H-Net Reviews thought of Chan school koan) (2002). This analysis explained and analyzed. While I largely concur uses the key terms of the Dasheng qixin lun (Ma‐ with the analysis, there are places in the transla‐ hayana Awakening of Faith): the substance that is tion that are dubious and have implications for the mind of sentient beings, the expression of that the analysis. For example, in this case, the hero, characteristic or form, and the functions of the , the sixth patriarch, who is fleeing south rising and ceasing mind to explain koans. These with the robe and bowl symbolic of the patriar‐ terms are further subdivided. For example, func‐ chal transmission of Zen from the Buddha in a di‐ tions are divided into the recording of incidents of rect transmission, is addressed by head monk enlightenment, the establishment of a topic via di‐ Ming, a former general, as “powerful master” alogue, suggestions that unify contradiction, guid‐ (p. 89). The term xingzhe, translated as “powerful ance to a correct method of realization, direct master” by Heine, is properly translated as “pos‐ conversion by getting the student to see their tulant.” Despite Heine’s later discussion of xingzhe mind-source, and the process of bringing students and its various meanings, here it is definitely “pos‐ to a correct understanding of Buddhism. There are tulant” as can be seen from the hagiography of probably other such analyses in Chinese, Korean, Huineng from which this koan is extracted and and Japanese of koans, but unfortunately Heine from its use in a text. In this point in the and other writers using English seem to have hagiography, Huineng was not yet a monk; he had largely ignored these analyses. not been tonsured and was working as a me‐ Some of the above interpretations are in dan‐ nial, hulling grain in the monastery of the fifth pa‐ ger of being reduced to what Victor Sōgen Hori de‐ triarch. Thus the head monk, a person of consider‐ scribes as “instrumentalist approaches” or inter‐ able status in the monastic system, is asking a per‐ preting koans as “scriptural exegesis” and not son of the lowest status, not even a formal mem‐ as “experience.” Heine’s transmission category ber of the monkhood, and an illiterate southern overlaps at times with such instrumentalist ap‐ barbarian to boot, for instruction. The use of proaches. This is not, however, to deny that koans xingzhe was meant to convey surprise that a head may have some instrumentalist aims, but Hori monk would ask this uncouth youth for instruc‐ contends that koans are “realizational,” in which tion. If Huineng was a “powerful master,” some‐ the koan and the mind merge.[1] thing not attested in Zen dictionaries as a render‐ ing of xingzhe, it would be unremarkable that the Despite my minor misgivings about his instru‐ head monk would request instruction from mental approaches, and his largely ignoring these Huineng. alternative visions of koans, I think that Heine’s analyses in chapters 3 to 5, those that cover the Zen philologists, such as Mujaku Dōchū topics of the six themes that Heine has detected, (1653-1745) who is responsible for the standard are valuable and corrective contributions to the edition of the Linji lu used in , were very par‐ literature on koans, and are well demonstrated ticular about the accuracy of the Zen texts, for a from the koans selected as examples. Of course, koan could lose its impact if it was not correctly not all of the koans contain all six of these aims, transmitted or translated. “What is the sound of and in an appendix Heine designates the main two hands clapping?” instead of Hakuin’s in-your- theme or aim of each case in the Wumenguan. face koan of “What is the sound of one hand clap‐ ping?” would be of no value as a koan. Therefore One case, number 23, “Thinking of neither even a minor deviation from the presumed origi‐ good nor evil,” contains all six themes. Each para‐ nal text has implications. Heine translates the fa‐ graph or section of the translation of this koan is mous (no) koan as, “Does even a dog have the labeled with the dominant theme, which is later Buddha- or not?” The “even” is a misread‐

2 H-Net Reviews ing of the Chinese character huán, read hái here. There are other such examples of the confu‐ The character is simply a marker of a question sion of myth or legend with history. There needs to and thus the translation should be “Does a dog be a clearly stated distinction between what mod‐ have a Buddha-nature?” without the implied dis‐ ern historians regard as history and what Zen pro‐ paragement of dogs that “even” carries. A differ‐ pagandists deem as “history” for the aims of this ent error is found in “Zhangzhuo, the Accom‐ book to be achieved. For example, koans are read plished One.” It should be “Zhang back into the early history of Zen on the assump‐ Zhuo.” “Accomplished One” or xiucai is rather like tion that records of incidents of enlightenment saying PhD or Dr., for this was a degree. Moreover, were read in the early period as koan and used as Heine’s statement that “the character for the koans. Moreover, there is an error concerning the name Zhang literally means ‘unskilled’” is incor‐ lineal affiliation of , a major rect (p. 120). It is “zhuo” that means “unskilled.” figure who appears in the koan tradition. Heine Such translation errors detract from the main states that Zhaozhou “was in a collateral impact the book is aiming for: “to set the record to Mazu’s” (p. 44). Zhaozhou was in a direct lin‐ straight by analyzing the classic background of eage from Mazu via . The state‐ texts and rites.... By investigating history carefully ment should probably read “Zhaozhou was in a ... to form an authentic appreciation of this unique collateral lineage to Linji’s.” approach to spirituality” (p. 12). Yet the version of The “history” improves as Heine shifts his at‐ history presented in this book, especially the early tention to the , but even here I have pre-koan period of Zen, is very questionable, for it qualms about some statements, such as mixes Zen mythology (that is, invented and thus when he writes that Dahui was “ever wary of im‐ not simply legend) with history. For example, perial authorities, who sought to suppress any cul‐ Heine states that “introduced Zen tural expression that might be considered subver‐ as a separate school during the sixth century,” sive” (p. 48). While it was the case that the imperial came to in “the mid-500s,” had a meeting authorities suppressed any suggestions of subver‐ with Emperor Wu of Liang, and “established sion, the reason why Dahui and his chief lay sup‐ Shaolin Temple ... near Chang’an” (pp. 38, 39, 40). porter, who were seeking students among the bu‐ Firstly, there is no credible evidence that Zen exist‐ reaucrats, were both punished by exile was not ed as a separate school until several centuries lat‐ subversive cultural expression but rather their er, and some scholars argue that Zen did not pointed criticism of the appeasement policies of even emerge at all until much later. Secondly, the the then chief minister, Qin Gui (1090-1155). This earliest evidence of Bodhidharma from the Xu was more about political factional fights than gaoseng zhuan, the Luoyang qielan ji, and the Erru about subversive cultural expression. sixing lun suggests that Bodhidharma arrived in I also have concerns about a number of state‐ north China in the early 500s and was dead by the ments made about Zen beyond China. I would ar‐ 520s. Some scholars have even questioned Bodhid‐ gue that the claim that the first evidence of Zen in harma’s existence. The meeting with Emperor Wu Japan, unless by Zen it is meant koan practice, was an invention by (684-758) and Bod‐ which is too narrow a definition, was in the late hidharma did not establish the , 1100s is wrong (p. 35), for it ignores evidence of which was nowhere near Chang’an but about sev‐ “Zen” being brought to Japan as early as 663 by enty kilometers from Luoyang. It was established Dōshō and in the ninth century by monks, in 496 by a northern Wei emperor for Buddhab‐ such as Saichō. Again, I do not think that hadra.[2] (1158-1210), who introduced koan practice in Ko‐

3 H-Net Reviews rea, abandoned (in Korean, ) Heine also seeks to “uncover and interpret once he had learned of Dahui’s method of koan profound levels of metaphorical significance” (p. practice (p. 22). Rather, Jinul taught koans to only 12). This is a useful endeavor and these metaphors the most advanced students while continuing to are mostly well analyzed. However, in some in‐ use Huayan and Zen materials exclusive of koans stances the analysis could be misleading, as in the to teach less able students. He used Huayan, as in‐ gloss on the “transmission of the lamp” as “sym‐ terpreted by Li Tongxuan and Zongmi, to provide bolizing the torch being passed from the main a doctrinal foundation for Zen practice. master of one generation to his successor in the Overall, the “history” here is far too romantic, next” (p. 46). This metaphor is not like the handing Zen being described as a “renegade” school during over of the Olympic torch from the hands of one the (pp. 46, 129). This is buying into runner to the next as in a relay, but rather the igni‐ Zen rhetoric. In fact, Shenxiu, later labeled the tion of one lamp from another lamp or torch as in Northern Chan leader, was invited with great fan‐ the metaphor of lighting one candle from another fare to the imperial court circa 700. Emperors candle used by Buddhists to illustrate that nothing Zhongzong in 706 and Xuanzong in 725 ordered is transmitted, like a , during . Puji, Shenxiu’s heir, to head Shenxiu’s assembly Again, in regard to the cypress tree in the and to live in a specified monastery. Shenhui, the courtyard that was Zhaozhou’s reply to the ques‐ champion of Huineng and Southern Chan, was tion, “What is the meaning of the first patriarch employed by the state to raise funds from 745 and Bodhidharma coming from the West?” (case 37 of was invited to meet Emperor Xuanzong in 753. the Wumenguan), Heine writes that “it is crucial to Huijian (719-92), one of Shenhui’s heirs, was or‐ see that the cypress tree was emblematic in Chi‐ dered by Emperor Daizong during the period from nese lore of longevity and loyalty” (p. 29). Rather, 766 to 780 to build a lineage hall for the seven pa‐ the cypress was usually associated with death, as triarchs of Zen, in which Shenhui was probably en‐ imperial tombs in particular were surrounded shrined as the seventh patriarch. Huijian was also with planted cypress trees. In ancient times, when ordered by Emperor Dezong sometime after 785 to a person died, the mourners erected a cypress tree “confirm the Chan teachers of the two lineages of or plank of cypress wood in the courtyard of the North and South.” Dayi (746-818), a disciple of deceased into which the spirit of the dead entered. Mazu, was invited to worship at the court chapel This was called “the gate of misfortune.” The cy‐ and was closely associated with the heir-apparent press was also associated with the west, the direc‐ to tion where the sun set, symbolic of death.[4] So, the throne, the future Shunzong circa 800 to 805. the cypress, if it was not used simply due to cir‐ [3] Given such evidence and the support for “Zen” cumstances by Zhaozhou, but metaphorically, monks given by leading scholars and top bureau‐ would not suggest longevity but rather that Bod‐ crats during that latter half of the Tang dynasty, hidharma came to China to die, which is why Wu‐ Zen can hardly be described as a “renegade” men’s verse says, “Those who accept [Zhaozhou’s] school. Although Zen’s claim to an exclusive lin‐ words will die (sang)” or lose (Wumenguan, eage and a teaching beyond doctrine rankled T48.297c10). Sang also has a sense of funeral, and some other Buddhist schools during the Tang, the link of the cypress and the courtyard makes these schools themselves had their own disputes, this a more likely interpretation in my . such as those between Huayan and Faxiang. This One aspect missing from this analysis of koan does not make Zen “renegade” Buddhism. practice is the overall Buddhist context, in particu‐ lar the omission of the issue of faith or confidence

4 H-Net Reviews and of the vows that Zen monastics, Buddhism in October 1980, resulting in the Min‐ like other Buddhist monastics in East Asia, take on jung Buddhist movement that was critical of admission to the Buddhist Order. Although Heine much of institutional Zen practice and doctrine. covers doubt and intensive practice, he does not While Heine excoriates an observer who prob‐ deal with faith, especially in his discussion of the lematized the word “enlightenment,” which has six stages of narrative of the spiritual process. “myriad levels,” as an apologist for misconduct by Faith is the first of the three essentials of koan a (p. 172), Heine himself defends koan practice according to many Zen masters, such as practice. For example, Heine claims that Mishima Gaofeng Yuanmiao (1238-95) in his Chanyao (The Yukio (1925-70) made a “forgone conclusion” in Essentials of Chan) or Seosan his novel Kinakakuji (1956) about the negative ef‐ (1520-1604). In summary they said, “There are fects of koans because Mishima was a Shinto na‐ three essentials for Zen investigation [of the tionalist who “rejected Buddhism as a foreign ide‐ koan]: the first is to have a basis of great faith, the ology” and so was “inclined to repudiate Bud‐ second is to have zealous ambition, and the third dhism” (pp. 169, 73). As Heine admits, Mishima is to have great doubt” (Xu Zangjing 122.673a17- was following court documents that revealed b1). Faith was a prerequisite for practice, as is stat‐ abuse via koan rhetoric, and I think Heine here ed by the Huayan jing (Avatamsaka ): “Faith has himself made a hasty judgment. Shotaro Iida is the origin of the Way” (T9.433a26). Faith is the and Hagiwara Takao argue that Mishima later core message also of the influential made a “more than amateurish treatment of the Awakening of Faith. This faith is a confidence that formidable system of ‘Buddhist .’” They Buddhism, and not some other religion, holds the claim that “this is the first ever literary expression answer to one’s quest, and that Zen in particular is of ‘Buddhist Idealism’ ... in the world.”[5] Mishima worth the strenuous effort required. Even then one may then have been criticizing Zen from a Yuishi‐ has to choose a style of Zen or which master to en‐ ki (nothing-but ) position, just like trust one’s spiritual guidance to. Given the allega‐ some of the Critical Buddhists of China, Ouyang tions of sexual impropriety made against some so- Jingwu (1871-1943) and Lü Cheng (1896-1989). They called enlightened Zen masters, as well as the ac‐ and the later Critical Buddhists in Japan criticized tive promotion of war by Japanese masters before Zen and by implication koan practice for lacking the Pacific War, and the advocacy of killing Com‐ a proper critical and analytical approach, and for munists by some South Korean masters, the issue maintaining the existence of a permanent of faith or trust becomes even more crucial. Heine essence in the guise of the Buddha-nature. One suggests, following , that one refer back cannot simply attack the superficial critics of to “genuine Zen” and the “classic literature and koans who merely maintain that they are illogical practice as seen in appropriate historical perspec‐ nonsense or “gobbledygook” (p. 71), for that is at‐ tive” (p. 163). However, this depends on getting the tacking straw men. One needs to engage the in‐ historical perspective right and finding a “gen‐ formed and analytical critics. uine” Zen teacher, no easy matter. Again, the “observer” or apologist for the mis‐ Heine is right in seeking to eliminate the mis‐ deeds of certain Zen masters who have broken the use of koans and Zen more broadly and to advo‐ Buddhist behavioral codes is correct in problema‐ cate ethical behavior and repentance, but some of tizing the word “enlightenment” and noting “there the other suggested remedies, such as “govern‐ are myriad levels of enlightenment” (p. 172). The ment oversight of temple budgetary affairs” in Ko‐ respected modern scholar and Chan master rea (p. 171), have proven to lead to even greater Shengyen (1930-2009) stated in a lecture in 1978 ti‐ problems, such as the government persecution of tled “Kung-an” (i.e., koan) that there are “various

5 H-Net Reviews levels of enlightenment.”[6] Song dynasty Zen Zen monastery.[8] Even though “only a Zen mas‐ texts mention multiple incidents of enlighten‐ ter can determine who is being authentic” (p. 31), I ment in a monk’s career, and Jinul had three “en‐ think a would-be student should study Buddhism lightenments,” the second on reading the Platform first and observe the master’s conduct before Sutra and the last on meditating on Zhaozhou’s committing to following a master. “No” koan as introduced in a text by Dahui. Fur‐ Moreover, I would eschew any idea that the thermore, sometimes an “enlightened” master, a powers of Zen masters and koans can be de‐ bodhisattva, may exhibit signs of what may ap‐ scribed as “mystical,” something Heine does at pear to be inappropriate but unintentional behav‐ least twelve times in this book, because this could ior. A bodhisattva may have wet dreams, but these hinder any attempt to dispassionately examine are involuntary and are the result of residual koans and intended masters as worthy of trust. As karmic habituation.[7] This is why, in many cases, this book is part advocacy (see page 6), I feel the Zen masters continued to train long after their ini‐ need to caution against certain ideas about Zen tial enlightenment and acceptance by a teacher and the need for would-be practitioners to take to as their successor, something advocated by Zong‐ heart Heine’s laudable analysis of the “transmis‐ mi (780-840) in his slogan of “sudden enlighten‐ sion” aspect of koan practice, which emphasizes ment and then gradual cultivation,” and possibly the necessity of ethical observance, institutional why the reputedly long-lived Zhaozhou (778?-897) propriety, and the imperative for the truly enlight‐ only taught in the last forty years of his life, thirty ened to communicate and lead others to enlight‐ years after he was supposedly enlightened (p. 29). enment. This requirement lies at the core of the An enlightened individual, one who has taken the , which declare one will not bodhisattva vows and acted on them, is said to enter until all sentient beings are liberat‐ have embodied the non-karmic producing pre‐ ed. I would also stress that koan practice is not the cepts, those that continually adhere in the body be-all and end-all practice of Zen, and that a single but do not appear in language and actions. In oth‐ anecdote, such as that of and Gemmyo, er words, a fully trained Zen master ideally does that “leave[s] little room for ... repentance” (p. 133) not violate the precepts. does not make a rule. After all, there is much ma‐ The problems of selecting a master are com‐ terial, even from the Tang dynasty, on Zen repen‐ pounded by the apparently antinomian conduct tance.[9] of a number of famous Zen monks, some with In conclusion, this book, while excellent in its high reputations. In , examples include the analysis of koans overall, has faults that detract “reviver” of Zen, Seong’u (1849-1912), from its declared aims and its conclusions. Al‐ who in a later stage of his life ate meat, drank al‐ though there is much to admire in the book, the cohol, and sported with women. His pupil, Han’am devil is in the details. Chungwon (1876-1951), in his account of conduct Notes for Gyeongheo, warned readers to learn from Gyeongheo’s teachings and not from his [1]. Victor Sōgen Hori, Zen Sand: The Book of conduct because in Buddhism one relies on the Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice (Honolulu: Dharma and not on the person. He reasoned that University of Hawai`i Press, 2003), 5-13, 8-9. unless one is enlightened, one can only trust, [2]. See Tonami Mamoru, The Shaolin which can lead one into error. Another example of Monastery Stele on Mount Song, trans. P. A. Her‐ the mad monk is Jungkwang, who boasted of hav‐ bert (Kyoto: Istituto Italiaono di Cultura Scuola di ing sex with many women, even with chickens. Studi sull’ Asia Orientale, 1990). And yet he had been the abbot of an important

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[3]. John Jorgensen, Inventing Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch: Hagiography and Biography in Early Ch'an (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 410, 412. [4]. See entries for baicheng and baili among others in Morohashi Tetsuji, ed., Dai Kan‐ Wa jiten and Hanyu dacidian (Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 2012). See also baizi Chan, mean‐ ing the Chan school, from the fact that Chan monks burned cypress or juniper as incense. This term appears in the late Tang period. [5]. Shotaro Iida with Hagiwara Takao, “Bud‐ dhist Idealism Reflected in The Sea of Fertility ( Hōjō no Umi) of Yukio Mishima (1925-1970),” in Facets of Buddhism, by Shotaro Iida (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991), 95-126, quotations on 110, 112. [6]. Shengyen, Ch’an (Taipei: chuban‐ she, 1979), 108. [7]. Etienne Lamotte, “Passions and Impreg‐ nations of the Passions in Buddhism,” in in Honour of I. B. Horner, ed. L. Cousins, A. Kunst, and K. R. Norman (Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing, 1974), 91-104. [8]. Lewis Lancaster, Dirty Mop: The Unlimited Action Paintings and Poems of Jung Kwang, the Mad Monk (: Asian Humanities Press, 1983). [9]. See Bai Jinxian, Tangdai Chanzong chan‐ hui sixiang yanjiu (Taipei: Wenshizhe chubanshe, 2009).

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Citation: John Jorgensen. Review of Heine, Steven. Zen Koans. H-Buddhism, H-Net Reviews. May, 2015.

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URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=43145

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