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The Influence of Sheng-Yen's Lay Disciples 《禪與人類文明研究》第 7 期（2020） International Journal for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization Issue 7 (2020) THE INFLUENCE OF SHENG-YEN’S LAY DISCIPLES IN THE GROWTH OF BUDDHIST MEDITATION IN THE UNITED STATES Greg Wilkinson (Brigham Young University) ABSTRACT Sheng-Yen 聖嚴 (1930-2009) through monastic training in Taiwan, graduate studies in Japan, and teaching mediation in the west, became one of the most prominent figures of modern Chan Buddhism. He established the Dharma Drum Mountain or Fagushan 法鼓山 as a spiritual, cultural, and educational foundation in 1989. His influence in the west has been aided through selecting and ordaining several of his western disciples as lay dharma heirs. The work of these disciples has had a significant impact on the development of meditation practices in the United States through their teaching and publishing. Today, California lawyer Gilbert Gutierrez and London physician Simon Child, two of Sheng-yen’s five lay dharma heirs, have helped shape the characteristics of Buddhist meditative pluralism in the United States and have been instrumental in defining Dharma Drum meditation for its western followers. KEYWORDS Sheng-yen, Fagushan, Dharma Drum, Gilbert Gutierrez, Chan 103 《禪與人類文明研究》第 7 期（2020） International Journal for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization Issue 7 (2020) The “meditation” landscape of contemporary America is broad and varied. Hundreds of meditation instructors—American, Asian, and beyond—teach every conceived form of meditation in and through religions, schools, businesses, exercise classes, websites, and smart phone apps. These developments have certainly welcomed a variety of potential practitioners, yet often at the expense of coherent precepts and practices. Definitions and discourses on meditation and mindfulness have become so complex that comprehensive understandings are limited. In response to this challenge, Buddhist Chan Masters like Sheng-yen (1930-2009) and the religious organization he founded, Dharma Drum (Fagushan 法鼓山), strive to bring a form of “orthodoxy” to meditation precepts and practices by setting forth a definitive, and yet transcultural, understanding of Chan that is grounded in tradition and lineage through dharma heirs, teachers ordained to spread his teachings and meditation practices. (Sheng-yen, 2007). Dharma heirs not only provide a continuation of tradition, but they also allow for adjustments to ecclesiastical structures in order to meet the needs of diverse cultural contexts. Sheng-yen developed a two-tier system (monastics from Asia and lay teachers in the west) for spreading Dharma Drum precepts and practices outside of Taiwan. He was committed to spreading Buddhism around the world, especially in the United States. During the final years of his life, he divided his time between Dharma Drum centers in Taiwan and the Chan Meditation Center (CMC) in the United States. In Taiwan, he developed a monastic organization that included hundreds of monks and nuns and thousands of lay volunteers. In the west, he ordained several lay dharma heirs. These close followers were tasked with spreading the Dharma in the West without taking on monastic tonsure. Currently, there are four Sheng-yen lay dharma heirs in the West (John Cook (b. 1930), the first lay dharma heir, passed away in 2011). There are also thirteen monastic dharma heirs in Asia. This paper focuses on Sheng-yen’s lay Dharma heirs, most directly California Lawyer Gilbert Gutierrez (1951-), who was the final person to receive lay ordination from Master Sheng-yen in 2002. This paper analyzes the specifics of Sheng-yen’s internationalization of Chan Buddhism, the teachings of Gutierrez, and then offers four benefits of Gutierrez’s Chan teachings and practices in regards to language, monasticism, mysticism, and missionizing. Research for this paper began with a review of Sheng-yen’s writings which are translated into English and widely available in the United States. I have focused on those writings that emphasize meditation practice (Sheng-yen, 2008a; 2007, 121-140; 2006; 2001b, 107-198; 1999; 1998; 1996; 1993; 1982). I have also completed a review of other literature by lay dharma heirs (Crook, 2012a; 2012b; 1991; Gutierrez, 2007-2017; Sheng-yen, et al 2016). These works provided background for two field studies. In December 2016, I completed two weeks of field work in Jishan and Taipei, Taiwan, which included ten days of study at Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) through the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts. In April 2017, I completed field study at the Dharma Drum Retreat Center (DDRC) outside of Pine Bush, New York, where Gutierrez led a meditation retreat at the DDRC. In these contexts, daily dharma talks focused on the fundamentals of the Buddha Nature. These two events allowed for direct comparison and analysis of Sheng-yen’s two- tiered system, both lay and monastic, for spreading Buddhism and Chan practice globally. 104 《禪與人類文明研究》第 7 期（2020） International Journal for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization Issue 7 (2020) SHENG-YEN IN AMERICA Sheng-yen was born outside of Shanghai in 1930. He took monastic tonsure at thirteen years of age. He fled to Taiwan in 1949 and joined the Nationalist Army. After a ten-year term of service, he returned to monastic training, including a six-year solitude retreat on the southern tip of Taiwan. He then completed graduate degrees in Buddhist Studies from Risshō University in Japan. After completing his PhD in 1975, Sheng-yen moved to New York City. From that time, he moved continuously between Taipei and New York, establishing both Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York and the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in Pine Bush, New York. While he struggled with English and often taught using a translator, he established a growing meditation community of both Asian and Western practitioners focusing on the disciplined practice of Chan or Zen seated meditation. SHENG-YEN LINEAGE AND DHARMA HEIRS Master Sheng-yen had an impressively eclectic lineage. He was the 62nd lineage holder of the Chan Six Patriarch Huineng (638-713).149 He was the 57th generation lineage holder of Linji (810?-866), founder of the Linji (Japan: Rinzai) school of Chan. In the Caodong (Japan: Sōtō) tradition, he was the 50th generation lineage holder of Dongshan (807-869). Additionally, Sheng- yen’s time spent studying Buddhism in Japan made him astutely familiar with Zen traditions. This variety of influences and lineages are reflected in his teachings on meditation practices. Overall, Sheng-yen consistently advocated meditation discipline and the necessity of significant time in seated meditation. Essentially, all these lineages illustrate a few key things. First, Sheng-yen is a link to Chan authenticity validated by lineage’s history, ordination, and esoteric teachings. Second, multiple lineages provide trans-sectarian legitimacy to Sheng-yen helping establish his orthodoxy to a wider section of Buddhists both domestic and international. Third, these lineages legitimize Dharma Drum as a continuation of traditional Buddhism rather than simply a new religious movement. In one of his books onChan, Sheng-yen recognizes the paths of enlightenment through principle and practice. He argues that entry through principle (leaving behind all false thought through making no discriminations between self and others with a mind that is calm and stable) is so difficult. It is almost always an event of enlightenment following a lifetime of practice (a process of methods including: accepting karmic retribution, adapting to conditions, no seeking, and union with the dharma). In essence these steps can be summarized as Paticcasamuppada or causes and conditions never fail (Sheng-yen 1998, 4-6). 149 Descendants of the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng do not trace their lineage further back to the Fifth Patriarch, Hongren (601-674) because the lineage of the sixth generation is disputed with lineage dividing primarily between Huineng and Shenxiu (606-706). 105 《禪與人類文明研究》第 7 期（2020） International Journal for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization Issue 7 (2020) Master Sheng-yen advocated common Linji methods such as hua tou (Japan: watō), as well as common Caodong methods of focusing and the breath and silent illumination. Hua tou can be roughly translated as head full of words. This method takes one single phrase, usually a question associated with a kōan or student-master discussion. One of the most common hua tou questions is “what is wu or emptiness?” The goal is not to analyze or answer the question but to exhaust the intellect and allow for non-conceptual calmness of mind. Focusing, watching, and counting the breath reduces wandering thoughts as one locks into a single intentional act. Silent illumination is a parallel practice to the Caodong method of quiet seated meditation where the mind focuses on its own stillness and brings the illumination of awareness to any stray thoughts. Sheng-yen would not recommend this method for beginners because, unlike hua tou, and focusing on the breath, there is no intentional act to center and calm the mind. Gilbert Gutierrez also taught this preference for beginners during the DDRC retreat. Overall, these three methods were consistently the preferred methods taught by Sheng-yen and were the main suggestions offered in Taiwan at DDM, in New York at DDRC, and in John Crook’s description of a Sheng-yen seven-day retreat (1991, 6-10). Sheng-yen’s first lay dharma heir was world renown ethnologist John H. Crook (1930- 2011). Although the same age, Crook followed Sheng-yen as his personal Chan master and received ordination as a dharma heir in 1993. He helped spread the Dharma through several publications on meditation and Chan Buddhism (Crook, 2012; 2009a; 2009b; 2002; 1991) as well as editing and translating several books by Sheng-yen. Following Crook, Simon Child (1956-) and Max Kälin (1943-) became lay dharma heirs of Sheng-yen in 2000.
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