《禪與人類文明研究》第 7 期（2020） International Journal for the Study of Chan and Human Civilization Issue 7 (2020)

THE INFLUENCE OF SHENG-YEN’S LAY DISCIPLES IN THE GROWTH OF BUDDHIST IN THE UNITED STATES

Greg Wilkinson (Brigham Young University)

ABSTRACT

Sheng-Yen 聖嚴 (1930-2009) through monastic training in , graduate studies in Japan, and teaching mediation in the west, became one of the most prominent figures of modern . He established the 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

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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 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 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 , Taiwan, which included ten days of study at (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.

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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 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 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 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

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Master Sheng-yen advocated common Linji methods such as (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. The following year Žarko Andričević (1955-) became the fourth Dharma Heir, and in 2002 Gilbert Gutierrez (1951-) became Sheng-yen’s fifth and last lay dharma heir in the west. Each of these dharma heirs are 63rd generation lineage holders of Huineng as well as the 58th generation of the Linji lineage and the 51st generation in the Caodong lineage, but more accurately they are the second generation of the Sheng-yen Dharma Drum Lineage of Chinese Chan. These lineages create links between Chan traditions and the adaptations necessitated by conditions in the west. While these lay dharma heirs have studied Chan practices and writings in general, they focus most directly on the teachings received from Sheng-yen while they were under his tutelage. They become cultural intercessors to Chan practices as general as well as the liturgical perpetuators of Shen-yen’s specifics for meditation practice.

DDRC SEVEN-DAY RETREAT WITH GILBERT GUTIERREZ

The Dharma Drum Retreat Center is a meditation compound outside of Pine Bush, New York (about eighty miles north of New York City). The center includes several buildings including a central house, monastic housing, a kitchen/dining hall, and two large dorms. The center of activity is the meditation hall perched on a hill overlooking the rest of the center. Every week retreats, conferences, and events bring visitors from all over the world to the center. Monks, from

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Taiwan, and local volunteers manage these activities with assistance from two employees and service provided by visitors. The structure of The Essentials of Buddha Nature Seven-day Retreat was set by Dharma Drum monastic Cheng Hu Fashi and closely followed Dharma Drum method. The complete seven- day retreat mandated and respected noble silence. Sheng-yen set forth the rules of noble silence as no talking (except when required for jobs or safety), no noise, no thinking!, (avoiding thought during meditation and including meditation to all actions by centering thought on what is happening: eating, working, resting, etc.), no looking at others, no looking about, no listening to pleasing sounds, no analysis of talks, maintaining separateness, being on time, following the bells and boards promptly, and finally the whole day is practice and should be approached that way (Crook 1991, 23-25). Gender segregation was also observed with men on the east and women on the west during meditation and meal halls; they also had separate sleeping quarters. The retreat schedule started a 4:00 am with meditation activities starting at 4:30 and ending at 10:00 pm. The schedule seemed to represent one of the most important Sheng-yen legacies. It was presented as not just a program or order but as the center of liturgical practice that could provide great benefits if it was followed with sincerity and devotion.

(daily schedule for DDRC Gilbert Gutierrez retreat, this schedule follows exactly descriptions of seven-day retreats led by Master Sheng-yen)

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Chan hall activities included standing and seated yoga exercises, walking meditation, direct observation, prostrations, and interviews with the teacher. However,we spent the vaste majority of time, about ten hours per day, in silent seated meditation on an assigned cushion or listening to dharma talks. The schedule required a significant ammount of austerity and discipline, which allowed practitioners to quickly fall into a familiar (but not comfortable) routine that supported meditation practices.

(DDRC Chan Hall (top), practioner cushion (left), central icon (right).

There were several subtle differences between DDM in Taiwan and DDRC in New York. Morning and evening services in Taiwan and New York included the same chants. During the morning service the Heart was followed by the Ten and Four Great Vows, The Three Refuges, and finally the prayer for the Transfer of . The evening service included the to the Avalokitesvara, Heart Sutra, Food Conversion Mantra, Amrta Mantra, Mantra of Universal Offerings, Four Great Vows, Admonition to the Assembly, the Three Refuges, and a prayer for the Transfer of Merit. The services, which consisted of constant chanting, took about 30 minutes to complete. However, the differences in liturgical method are the most significant in illustrating the American accommodation and assimilation at DDRC. The central difference was

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language. In Taiwan, understandably, the entire liturgy is done in Chinese. At DDRC, the liturgy is done in both English and Chinese except for the Heart Sutra, which is only chanted in English. I had no previous experience with English chanting of or . Japanese Pure Land and Buddhism insist that liturgical chanting be done in Japanese to be authentic. The inclusion of English was instructive, as practitioners could understand the sutras and mantras during the liturgy. At DDM morning and evening service is done very quickly; often, the over one hundred monastics, and even novices with Chinese proficiency, struggled to keep up. Thankfully, DDRC services were completed sitting on the cushions rather than standing and kneeling. The inclusion of English represents Dharma Drum’s emphasis on education and right views as essential to meditation productivity. While some Buddhist groups in America, like Nichiren and Pure Land, often insist that chanting be done in its traditional Asian language, Dharma Drum emphasized the necessity of instruction as well as experience for understanding. They struck a balance between tradition and innovation by providing some chants in the language of the practitioners and some in Chinese. If there were only Chinese participating in the retreat, the chanting would be performed in Chinese. One of the most significant parts of the DDRC retreat was Gutierrez’s dharma talks and interviews. His mastery of Buddhist sutras, in English translation, was thorough and extensive. He referenced several sutras in each including writings by Boshan, Linji, , and . He often provided commentary on selected sutras, line by line, evidencing a deep knowledge of the early schools of thought as well as the history and teachings of masters within the Chan lineage. After learning my interests in how monasticism and meditation work together in progressing toward enlightenment, he recommended I read the Vimalakirti Sutra which explains how laypeople can sometimes school monastics on teachings of emptiness. However, as previously stated, Gutierrez most commonly referenced source and greatest influence was Master Sheng-yen. His respect, deference, and affinity for Sheng-yen was apparent. He commonly referred to Sheng-yen’s published writings, but more often talked about personal interactions with the Chan Master and how this helped him individually understand Buddhist teachings or improve his meditation practices. It was quickly understandable that Gutierrez focused his instruction on perpetuating the influence of Master Sheng-yen. The key Buddhist teachings presented by Gutierrez during the Fundamentals of Buddha Nature Retreat was the universal non-dual nature of mind and Paticcasamuppada or “causes and conditions never fail.” These two understandings were presented as the core of right view, which is what distinguishes meditation from other psycho-physical practices, and also what distinguishes Sheng-yen Chan meditation from other meditation schools and teachers promulgated in America. Gutierrez argued for the benefits of the Sheng-yen meditation legacy, especially in comparison to the ever-broadening definitions of mindfulness in America and the growing popularity of meditation practices including practices such as vipassana (insight meditation), and metta or loving kindness meditation techniques. He consistently taught that discipline to meditation methods needed to not only maintain no thought in the short term, but also focus on the overall goal of transcending the self along with its emotions, habitual tendencies, and preferences

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represented by the bliss experiences of the unified mind realized through meditation. He constantly repeated the directions of “no thought” and “stick to your method.” It seemed that most practitioners at the retreat were using some intentional method such as hua tou or focusing on the breath. Gutierrez made suggestions about methods but was more interested in commitment and discipline to a selected method rather than a benefit analysis of the method options.

BENEFITS OF AMERICAN LAY DHARMA HEIR GILBERT GUTIERREZ

Meditation and Language The Chinese language is a significant barrier for many international Dharma Drum practitioners (Nuttall, 2016). Chinese language ability was not a criterion for Sheng-yen in selection of Dharma heirs. Gilbert Gutierrez has very little Chinese language ability. He can effectively explain concepts and practices using Chinese terms, but is quick to defer to Chinese monks or students for the proper pronunciation of those terms. In the 21st century, reading Chinese is less of a liability than it has been in the past. Persuasive arguments can be made for the necessity of proficiency in Chinese in order to fully understanding and scriptures. However, for Gutierrez’s purposes, extensive and sophisticated translations suffice to teach the essential precepts of meditation both through sutras found in the and the words of Sheng-yen. Gutierrez’s current Buddhist studies would possibly focus on studying or over Chinese or Japanese. For English-speaking practitioners, learning from a native English speaker is a uniquely beneficial experience. Gutierrez is well versed in the most prevalent Buddhist terms in Sanskrit and Chinese and able to discuss and argue various idiomatic or semantic issues. These issues came up more than once during the retreat, as practitioners asked about issues concerning translations of texts as well as which Buddhist terms were better to refer to in their original languages. Gutierrez’s advantages come both from English native ability and from rhetoric training as a lawyer. Confidence is also a factor; Gutierrez can quickly cut through questions or inquiries that do make a significant difference for correct views and those that do not. Following the conclusion of the retreat, the Chinese practitioners also expressed surprise at the ability to follow Gutierrez’s Dharma talks and the insights provided from hearing analysis of familiar sutras in English. Furthermore, there is a language barrier between lay dharma heirs and monastics that can often have significant consequences, creating a kind of balkanization among teachers and leaders in America. However, this is changing as more monastics become proficient in English. The April retreat was supervised by DDRC monk in residence Chang Hu Fashi, who has gained impressive English proficiency in just under a year since arriving at the DDRC. As more monks come to America and are able to use English skills to communicate with lay dharma heirs, the language issues will continue to subside for western practitioners, and even American-born Chinese and Dharma Drum will increase its international influence. The commitment of Sheng-yen to teach

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and spread the Dharma in America should provide ample motivation and evidence for both tiers (lay dharma heirs and monastics) to continue his legacy in the West.

Meditation and Monasticism At first look, the lack of monastic commitment, discipline, and experience would seem to be the most glaring distinction between lay dharma heirs and their monastic counterparts in American Buddhism or even hundreds of current Dharma Drum monks and nuns around the world. Gutierrez acknowledges that a monastic path for himself was probably prevented only by circumstance in which he started following Sheng-yen after becoming a . He also taught during the retreat that his current Buddhist vows necessitate a next life spreading the dharma most likely as a monastic. However, lay dharma heirs do provide certain advantages. Monasticism includes principles of renunciation and austerity. Gutierrez has applied himself to certain elements of austerity. He has committed himself to meditation retreats and daily practice, he is vegetarian, has limited his law practice in order to align with Buddhist precepts, and spends much of his time and resources traveling in order to spread the dharma. The daily monastic schedule paralleled by the retreat may not be followed exactly, but the ordination as a dharma heir has altered his path to one marked by much more austerity than the average American Buddhist. There is a stark distinction between monks or nuns and laypeople in regards to renunciation. Whether through vows of social renunciation, celibacy or material renunciation through poverty, laypeople can approximate monastic discipline through living the , but they cannot match the monastic community, nor completely understand monastic life. Nevertheless, layperson dharma heirs do have specific benefits. As many anecdotal examples illustrate, monasticism is practically impossible or at least pragmatically unwise without a . Both an institution or ecclesiastical structure and community or supporting laity are necessary for a functioning monastery and both these structures support the monk or nun in their vows and provides a check on their power. Without these checks, as in America, authority and power can often lead to excess and abuse (see Downing, 2001; Oppenheimer, 2013). Sheng-yen’s teachings also hedged against the likelihood of excess common among other Buddhist organizations, which transmitted monastic ordination without monastic supporting infrastructures. Sheng-yen called money and sex “the two red lights in his life.” He said that these red lights required more care as he gained more students and reputation. He was careful to treat others “with compassion and wisdom, not emotion” and never reciprocated the American tendency to respond with emotion and physical contact (Sheng-yen 2008b, 189-191). Gutierrez followed Sheng-yen’s legacy and insisted on discipline of practice and retreat etiquette to make sure that the effectiveness of his teaching was not influenced by emotions. By separating monasticism and dharma heirs in the West, Sheng-yen may have created an ideal leadership situation, which avoided some of the pitfalls experienced by other Buddhist organizations in America. Lay dharma heirs have been able to focus on teaching and promoting the Dharma without having to worry as much about ecclesiastical responsibilities or institutional concerns. In fact, Sheng-yen said that this separation between dharma heir and institutional

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leadership paralleled his role at Dharma Drum’s Nongchan Temple (農禪寺). He explained, “Master , I should make clear, did not exactly give me Nongchan Monastery. The monastery’s ownership belonged to a board of directors, not to me. What he gave me was a mission to pass on the dharma (Sheng-yen 2008b, 164).” Gutierrez, on several occasions, related a similar sentiment in saying that he did not get anything from Sheng-yen except a piece of paper and life- long vow to pass on the dharma through teaching meditation. Sheng-yen also taught that in America monastics did not hold the same position as they did in Asia. When he started teaching in the Bronx at the Temple of Great Enlightenment, his followers were predominantly Chinese. “If the Chinese people there saw a Westerner, they would say. ‘A foreigner has come.’ I often reminded my fellow monastics that we were the foreigners and they were the natives (154)!”

Meditation and Mysticism Gutierrez seriously studied various forms of qi gong for many years before encountering Chan meditation and Master Sheng-yen. He shows respect to his previous qi gong teachers, as well as the power and benefits their teachings and practices represent. His qi gong studies and experiences were freely shared by his podcasts and retreat dharma talks and students quickly understood that Gutierrez has deep and firm beliefs in the meta-physical and esoteric elements of religious experiences. Following Sheng-yen’s lead and teachings, Gutierrez was careful about sharing mystical experiences, especially those which were facilitated by the meditation practices he was teaching his students. He only shared one meditation experience with the retreat students and insisted the experience was not being audio/video recorded; he also provided context for the experience so that it would not become a distracting expectation for his students insisting that any experience that hinders practice should be avoided. Sheng-yen consistently reminded his students that he taught meditation practices, not meditation experiences. He explained that sharing experiences gained through meditation can create false and harmful expectations for beginning students and should remain exoteric and private because once expressed in words, what is shared is distinct from the actual experience itself (Sheng-yen 2008b, 124-26). Gutierrez also consistently taught that his choice to study and follow Sheng-yen rather than various qi gong masters was because mysticism for its own sake was not satisfying and sometimes not justified. While the meta-physical powers of qi gong masters were real and productive, he taught that it did not have wisdom like the practices and teachings of Sheng-yen. It created an interesting dichotomy where exoteric mysticism, which can be overt and sensorial, is recognized as having little eternal significance or relevance. The esoteric mystical opportunities represented by Sheng-yen may represent less overt power than other traditions or practices, but it contains the wisdom and compassion necessary for eternal relevance and real transformation. Gutierrez taught that intrinsic to the wisdom of Chan is the principle of no self, which prevents the power of the teacher from inappropriately influencing the student or claiming that their teachings are requisite or essential for progression. Overall, Gutierrez does not shy away from defining meditation as a spiritual and religious practice. He often talks of the necessity of faith, of openness to the reality of mystical experiences

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which should be embraced as experiential and esoteric. Meditation, for Gutierrez, is ultimately much more than psycho-physical wellbeing or social mindfulness.

Meditation and Missionizing As stated earlier, Gilbert Gutierrez is significant in domesticating and indigenizing Sheng- yen’s style of orthodox Chan Buddhism for Americans. His loyalty and respect for Sheng-yen and his extensive direct training from him at New York’s Chan Meditation Center, allows for an authentic and legitimate continuation of Dharma Drum teachings. Gutierrez cooperates often with the members, volunteers, and chapters of Dharma Drum in America. He travels regularly to teach both Chinese and American practitioners of Buddhism. Despite this, Gutierrez has remained institutionally independent. His Riverside Chan Meditation Group does not shy away from the connections to Sheng-yen, including the Chan Meditation Center, the Dharma Drum Retreat Center, and the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association in Taiwan (Riverside Chan Meditation Group, 2017). Nevertheless, Gutierrez remains outside the burgeoning organization of Dharma Drum, allowing him to be more approachable and relevant to potential American practitioners. This also distinguishes Gutierrez from Simon Child and John Crook, who both took a more formal institutional role in the Dharma Drum organization by presiding over the in England. This balance Gutierrez has struck between institutional independence and organizational cooperation provides a model of international missionizing of Buddhism. In comparison, Christian missionizing in Asia has often failed to truly and independently indigenize in the way Gutierrez and his meditation group have achieved, with a structure that is self-governing, self-perpetuating, and self-funding. Many Christian converts in Asia have argued that foreign missionaries have not just brought religious beliefs and practices but also political, economic, and social expectations. While they may accept the religion, they reject the associated colonial ideologies and institutions (Mullins 1993, 261-264). Gutierrez, as a lay dharma heir, represents a true missionizing hybrid, which continues Shen-yen’s legacy while growing an independent American Buddhist community. Gutierrez’s balance between respect for Dharma Drum monastic or organizational hierarchies, while maintaining his own equality and independence within his meditation practices and organization, not surprisingly follows closely the teachings of Sheng-yen. In speaking of the relationship between master and disciple Sheng-yen said, “it should be 30 percent teacher-student, 70 percent fellow dharma practitioners (Sheng-yen 2008b, 192).” Gutierrez in his teachings treats his students, from all walks of life, as his fellow dharma practitioners by respecting their method choices and presenting all instruction, especially personal advice, as suggestions. Also, his emphasis and interpretation on the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada, as causes and conditions never fail, promotes equality and independence among meditation practitioners because everyone’s causes and conditions must be recognized as distinct, thus the 84,000 paths to enlightenment.

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THE FUTURE OF SHENG-YEN-LINEAGE CHAN IN THE WEST

Sheng-yen-lineage Chan in the West will most likely continue its two-tiered propagation. Chinese immigrants and American-born Chinese will support the Dharma Drum’s Chan Meditation Center and Retreat Center in New York as well as the chapters throughout North America and Europe. This structure allows for more direct influence of Dharma Drum leaders and institutions from Taiwan, creating a consistency of teachings and practices significant for religious authenticity and legitimacy. Independent lay dharma heirs will represent the other tier. Gilbert Gutierrez, through the activities of his Riverside Chan Group (Gutierrez, 2016), as well as his travels to teach at various Dharma Drum centers and chapters, advances the indigenization and relevance of Chan in the United States. Both tiers are significant in maintaining the vitality of Sheng-yen’s legacy in the West. Cooperation between the tiers is critical. As both tiers strive together, Dharma Drum will spread orthodox Chan precepts and practices credibly and persuasively thus allowing Sheng-yen meditation to distinguish itself from the complex mindfulness discourses of American spiritualism which seems, at times, to be only grounded in self-confirmation for expectations of an exotic East. The future of the first tier, through monastic lineage and Dharma Drum institutions, seems clear and promising. The second tier of lay dharma heirs presents more questions. Although the responsibilities of a growing Taiwan organization have limited his international travel or direct leadership, current Dharma Drum Abbott Guo Dong could follow Sheng-yen’s example and designate additional lay dharma heirs in the west. Current lay dharma heirs, like Gilbert Gutierrez, can designate their own lay dharma heirs. The possibility of both would advance the advantages stated above. At the Fundamentals of Buddha Nature retreat in April 2017, Gilbert Gutierrez was accompanied by his senior-student Sentha Sivabalan. Within the boundaries of the retreat procedures, I was able to observe Sivabalan as a serious and sincere student of meditation and Buddhist precepts. Her 15 years as Gutierrez student and knowledge of Indian languages would make her an ideal choice for a lay dharma heir. Although Sheng-yen did not choose a female lay dharma heir, Simon Child has chosen two female dharma heirs recently. In 2015, Fiona Nuttall was ordained by Child and became the third generation of the Sheng-yen Dharma Drum lineage of Chinese Chan. Nuttall was followed in 2016 by Rebecca Li, PhD, who practices and serves in New Jersey and at the Chan Meditation Center. This next generation of dharma heirs by Child may signify that Dharma Heir ordination from Gilbert Gutierrez is possible, if not likely. Because Child’s two ordinations and Guitierrez’s most likely selection are women, Dharma Drum has a great opportunity to lead American Buddhism in a reformation to equality often frustrated by monastic traditions and institutional structures. This two-tier system is effective for internationalizing Chinese Chan while tethering it to canon, lineage, and tradition as well as distinguishing it from the evolution (devolution) of meditation precepts and practices within the endless permutations of American spiritualism. In 2002, Richard Hughes Seager argued that American Buddhism would emerge from a winnowing of old-line ethnic, new immigrant, and Euro-American convert groups (2002, 118). The ingenuity

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of Sheng-yen’s methods for spreading Buddhism, especially Chan, in the West provides evidence that American Buddhism is emerging but far from a process of winnowing. Dharma Drum has successfully brought together each of Seager’s constituent Buddhist communities within the same organization by being flexible enough to welcome non-traditional potential practitioners while maintaining Sheng-yen’s legacy of meditation orthodoxy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Crook, J. H. (2012). Introducing Buddhism: A Guide for Western Beginners. London: Western Chan Fellowship. ———. (2009a). World Crisis and Buddhist Humanism: End Games: Collapse or Renewal of Civilisation. London: New Age Books. ———. (2009b). The of Layman John. Raleigh, NC: Lulu. ———. (2002). Illuminating Silence. London: Watkins. ———. Catching a Feather on a Fan: A Zen Retreat with Master Sheng Yen. Longmead, UK: Element Books Limited. Downing, M. (2002). Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press. Gutierrez, G. (2007-2017). Dharma Talks by Gilbert Gutierrez. Available at: http://dharmatalks.riversidechan.org [Accessed 30 April 2017]. Mullins, M. (1993). “Christianity as a New Religion: Charisma, Minor Founders, and Indigenous Movements.” Religion and Society in Modern Japan. Mark Mullins, Shimazono Susumu, Paul L. Swanson, eds. Fremont, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 257- 272. Nuttall, F. (2016). “2016 Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony.” Chan Magazine (Summer). Oppenheimer, M. (2013), The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side. New York City, NY: The Atlantic Books. Riverside Chan Meditation Group. (2017). Riverside Chan Meditation Group: Dharma Talks and Events. Available at: http://riversidechan.org. Sheng-yen. (2008a). The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination. Boston, MA: Shambhala. ———. (2008b). Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Buddhist Monk. New York City, NY: Doubleday. ———. (2007). Orthodox : A Contemporary Chan Master’s Answers to Common Questions. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications\. ———. (2006). Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism. Boston, MA: Shambhala.

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———. (2001a). There is No Suffering: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications. ———. (2001b). Hoofprint of the Ox: Principles of the Chan Buddhist Path as Taught by a Modern Chinese Master. Daniel Stevenson, trans. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ———. (1999). Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion Through Ch’an Buddhism. New York, NY: Doubleday. ———. (1998). In the Spirit of Ch’an: An Introduction to Ch’an Buddhism. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications. ———. (1996). Dharma Drum: The Life and Heart of Chan Practice. Boston, MA: Shambhala. ———. (1993). Zen Wisdom: Knowing and Doing: Thirty-Eight Conversations with Ch’an Master Sheng-yen. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications. ———. (1982). Getting the Buddha Mind: On the Practice of Ch’an Retreat. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications. Sheng-yen, et al. (2016). Chan Comes West. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum, 2nd edition. Seager, R. H. (2002). “American Buddhism in the Making.” Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia. Charles S. Prebish and Martin Bauman, ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 106-119.

BIOGRAPHY

Greg Wilkinson, Assistant Professor of Religious Education, Brigham Young University, received a PhD from the University of Iowa in Religious Studies with a focus in modern Japanese religions and previously taught Japanese Religions for the East Asian Studies Department, University of Arizona. His current research interests include Asian new religious movements, contemporary uses of the Buddhist Canon, and modern Japanese pilgrimage. One of his most recent publications was a volume on the modern Buddhist canon, edited with Professor Jiang Wu entitled Reinventing the Tripitaka: Transformation of the Buddhist Canon in Modern East Asia (Lexington Press, 2017).

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