DOCSLIB.ORG

The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an a n d t h e F o r m a t io n o f E a r l y c h a n b u d d h i s m Jolm R. M cRic KURODA INSTITUTE STUDIES IN EAST ASIAN BUDDHISM 3 KURODA INSTITUTE STUDIES IN EAST ASIAN BUDDHISM Studies in Ch ‘an and Hua-yen Edited by Robert M. Gimello and Peter N. Gregory Dogen Studies Edited by William R. LaFleur STUDIES IN EAST ASIAN BUDDHISM 3 The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch’an Buddhism J ohn R. M c R ae University of Hawaii Press HONOLULU © 1986 KURODA INSTITUTE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values is a non­ profit, educational corporation, founded in 1976. One of its primary objectives is to promote scholarship on Buddhism in its historical, philosophical, and cultural ramifications. The Institute thus attempts to serve the scholarly community by providing a forum in which scholars can gather at conferences and colloquia. To date, the Institute has sponsored six conferences in the area of Buddhist Studies. Volumes resulting from these conferences, as well as individual studies, are planned for publication in the present series. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McRae, John R., 1947- The Northern School and the formation of early Ch’an Buddhism. (Studies in East Asian Buddhism ; no. 3) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Zen Buddhism—China—History. I. Title. II. Series. BQ9262.M36 1986 294.3’927’0951 86-4062 ISBN 0-8248-1056-2 This book is dedicated to Reverend Eugene “Bub-In ” Wagner o f the American Buddhist Order Contents Foreword xi Preface xiii Abbreviations and Conventions of Usage xv Introduction 1. The Transmission of Ch’an According to the Platform Sutra 1 2. The Platform Sutra as Historical Allegory 2 3. The Traditional Interpretation of the Platform Sutra's “Mind-verses” 4 4. Implications for this Study 6 5. Ch’an’s Pseudohistorical Doctrine and the Historical Study of Ch’an 7 6. The Origin of the Terms “Northern School” and “East Mountain Teaching” 8 7. The Distinction Between Legend and History 10 8. The Approach TaKen Here 11 Part One: History C h a p t e r I: Bodhidharma, His Immediate Successors, and the Masters of the Lankavatara Sutra 1. The Legend of Bodhidharma 15 2. The Life of Bodhidharma 16 3. Seng-fu 19 4. Hui-k’o 21 5. Hui-k’o’s Successors 23 6. Fa-chung and the Masters of the Lankavatdra Sutra 24 7. The Possible Use of the Lankavatara Sutra in Early Ch’an 27 C h a p t e r II: From Provincial China to Lo-yang and Ch’ang-an 1. Bodhidharma and the East Mountain Teaching 30 2. Tao-hsin’s Biography in the Hsu kao-seng chuan (HKSC) 31 3. An Outline of Tao-hsin’s Career 33 4. Hung-jen’s Life and Legendary Character 35 5. Hung-jen’s Lesser Students 36 6. Hung-jen and the Nature of the East Mountain Community 40 viii Contents 7. Fa-ju 43 8. Shen-hsiu: Biographical Sources 44 9. Shen-hsiu’s Early Life and Training 46 10. The Identification of Shen-hsiu with Wei-hsiu 48 11. Shen-hsiu at Yu-ch’uan ssu 50 12. Shen-hsiu in Lo-yang and Ch’ang-an 51 13. Shen-hsiu’s Death and Its Aftermath 54 14. Lao-an and his Disciples 56 15. Hsuan-tse and Fa-hsien 59 C h a p t e r III: The Seventh Generation and Beyond 1. The Contour of Later Northern Ch’an History 61 2. Hsiang-mo Tsang 63 3. Ching-hsien 63 4. I-fu 64 5. P’u-chi 65 6. P’u-chi’s Disciples 67 7. Comments on P’u-chi’s Later Successors 69 8. The Northern School in Tibet 71 C h a p t e r IV: The Development of the “Transmission of the Lamp” Histories 1. Legend and Encounter Dialogue in Ch’an Literature 73 2. The Structure and Function of the “Transmission of the Lamp” Texts 74 3. The Theoretical Basis of the “Transmission of the Lamp” Texts 76 4. The Origin of the Transmission Theory 77 5. The Transmission Theory in Early Chinese Buddhism 79 6. The Ta-mo-to-lo ch’an ching (Meditation Sutra o f Dharmatrdta) and Its Prefaces 80 7. Other Evidence Related to the Provenance of the Transmission Theory 82 8. Hints of the Transmission Theory in an Early Ch’an Text 83 9. Fa-ju’s Epitaph 85 10. The Author of the Ch 9uan fa-pao chi (Annals o f the Transmission o f the Dharma-treasure, or CFPC) 86 11. The Contents of the Ch ’uan fa-pao chi (CFPC) 87 12. Ching-chueh and the Leng-ch ’ieh shih-tzu chi (Records o f the Masters and Disciples o f the LankQ\vatara\, or LCSTC) 88 13. The Leng-ch9ieh shih-tzu chi (LCSTC) and the Lankavatara Sutra 90 14. The Northern School and Encounter Dialogue 91 15. Encounter Dialogue, Ma-tsu Tao-i, and the Northern School 93 Contents ix Pari Two: Doctrine C h a p t e r V: The Earliest Teachings of Ch’an 1. Introductory Remarks 101 2. The Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices (Erh-ju ssu-hsing lun, or EJSHL) 102 3. The Message of the Letters 107 4. The Meaning of the Four Practices 108 5. The Entrance of Principle 110 6. The Practice of “Wall-contemplation” 112 7. Bodhidharma’s Treatise and the Later Development of Ch’an Doctrine 115 C h a p t e r VI: The Basic Doctrines of the East Mountain Teaching 1. Problems in the Study of the East Mountain Teaching 118 2. Textual Information 121 3. The Treatise on the Essentials o f Cultivating the Mind (Hsiu-hsin yao lun) 121 4. The Metaphor of the Sun and Clouds 132 5. Shou-hsin and Meditation Practice in the Hsiu-hsin yao lun 136 6. The Background of shou-ipu i or “Maintaining the One without Wavering” 138 7. The Meaning of “Maintaining the One without Wavering” in Ch’an 140 8. The Metaphor of the Mirror 144 9. The Use of the Mirror in Early Ch’an Texts 145 10. The Sun, the Mirror, and Bodhidharma’s Treatise 146 C h a p t e r VII: Shen-hsiu and the Religious Philosophy of the Northern School 1. Introductory Remarks 148 2. The Treatise on Perfect Illumination (Yuan-ming lun) 149 3. The Five Expedient Means (Wu fang-pien) 171 4. Shen-hsiu and the Teachings of the Northern School 196 5. The Use of Extended Metaphor in the Writings of the Northern School 198 6. Northern School Metaphors as “Contemplative Analysis” 201 7. Possible Antecedents to the Use of Contemplative Analysis in the Northern School 205 8. The Construction of Shen-hsiu’s Thought 207 9. The Identity of the Yuan-ming lun or Treatise on Perfect Illumination 209 10. The Gradual, Sudden, and Perfect Teachings in the Yuan-ming lun 211 X Contents 11. Constant Practice and the Perfect Teaching 212 12. The Reverse and Direct Contemplations in the Yuan-ming lun 213 13. Shen-hsiu’s Instructions on Meditation 215 14. The Construction of the Wu fang-pien 218 15. The First Expedient Means and the Awakening o f Faith 219 16. The Unique Aspects of the First Expedient Means 224 17. The Second Expedient Means 225 18. Descriptions of Meditation Practice in the Wu fang-pien 228 19. Meditation in the Northern School 230 Conclusion 1. The Original Meaning of the Platform Sutra Verses 235 2. Phases of Northern School History 238 3. Other Factions of Ch’an During the Late Eighth Century 240 4. Institutional Reasons for the Decline of the Northern School 242 5. Doctrinal Ramifications of the Decline of the Northern School 244 6. The Static and Dynamic Components of Early Ch’an Doctrine 245 7. Final Reflections on the Northern School and the Study of Ch’an 250 Appendix Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-treasure 255 Notes Notes to the Introduction 271 Notes to Part One 275 Notes to Part Two 302 Notes to the Conclusion 345 Notes to the Appendix 346 Bibliography 349 Character Glossary 361 Index 375 Chinese Texts following page 394 Hsiu-hsin yao lun Yuan-ming lun Foreword Many of the manuscripts found at T\in-huang contain material of special significance to the history and development of Ch’an Buddhism. While scholars such as Hu Shih and Daisetsu SuzuKi contributed noteworthy studies in the period before World War II, it was not until the documents in the Stein and, later, the Pelliot Collections became generally available on microfilm that research made substantial advances. In the forefront of the new studies, which amounted to a reassessment and rediscovery of much of early Ch’an history, were Japanese scholars in both Kyoto and ToKyo. Among these scholars, the foremost is un­ doubtedly Professor Yanagida Seizan of the Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University. Professor Yanagida, a consum­ mate scholar and prolific writer who combines encyclopedic learning with Keen insight, has published widely in all areas of Ch’an and Zen studies. Yet despite constant demands on his time, he has always been most generous in the help he has given to students from the West. Dr. McRae, after extensive study with Professor Stanley Weinstein at Yale, went to Japan seeKing the advice and guidance of Professor Yana­ gida.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Subjectivity of 'Mu-Shin' (No-Mind-Ness): Zen Philosophy As
    No.01503005, March 2015 Journal of Integrated Creative Studies Subjectivity of ‘Mu-shin’ (No-mind-ness): Zen Philosophy as interpreted by Toshihiko Izutsu Tadashi Nishihira1 1 Professor, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. In this paper, we consider whether there is any subjectivity in the state of ‘Mu-shin (No-mindness)’. Dr. Toshihiko Izutsu, a Japanese philosopher, has tried to answer this question with the example of a master musician absorbed in playing his harp. The master musician is so absorbed in playing and so completely one with the music itself, that he is no longer conscious of his fingers or of the instrument. But he is not ‘unconscious’, for he is conscious of himself as identified with the music. Izutsu explained that ‘Paradoxical as it may sound, he is so fully conscious of himself as identified with music that he is not ‘conscious’ of his act of playing in any ordinary sense of the word.’Izutsu called this particular phase of ‘awareness of self in full identification with music’ ‘Mu-shin teki Syutaisei (the subjectivity of Mu-shin)’.We may think of this particular phase as that which is prior to the subject-object bifurcation. However, Izutsu taught us that Zen-text has expressed this phase in four different ways, and it is these four types of ‘Mu-shin’ expression that we consider here. Keywords: Mushin (No-mind-ness), D.T.Suzuki, T.Izutsu, Zen Philosophy, Concureent nature 1 Subjectivity of ‘Mu-shin’ (No-mind-ness): Zen Philosophy as interpreted by Toshihiko Izutsu 1.
    [Show full text]
  • HOW to GET ZEN ENLIGIITENMENT - on MASTER ISHIGURO's FIVE-DAYS' INTENSIVE COURSE for ITS Atfainment
    Psydtolollia. 1959. Z. 107-1 E. HOW TO GET ZEN ENLIGIITENMENT - ON MASTER ISHIGURO'S FIVE-DAYS' INTENSIVE COURSE FOR ITS ATfAINMENT- KO]l SATO Kyoto Univmity Westerners have mostly approached Zen Buddhism through the writings of Dr. Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki. Suzuki's contribution in this respect is incomparably great. He is not only the highest Zen philosopher, but also the best example of Zen personality. When Dr. Cla­ rence H. Graham of Columbia University stayed in Kyoto as a lecturer of the AmeriCan Studies Seminar in the summer of 1952, the writer introduced him to Dr. Suzuki, who was also lecturing at Columbia and who happened to come to Kyoto with Karen Homey. They talked together about one hour, and after that Graham said to me that "he (Suzuki) is one of the most charming persons I ever met." Then the writer said to him, "that is Zen person­ ality." Suzuki is now in his ninetieth year and still active, continuing his study and writing. When the writer met him in New York in 1956, he asked the writer to get for him Trigant Burrow's book "Science and Mall's BcJwvior" and Franz Alexander's book "Fundamcntals of Psychoanalysis." When the writer met him in December last year, he was physically and mentally in very good condition. He is so-to-say the Zen 'personality' itself. But Dc. Suzuki is not a Zen master who trains disciples in monasteries.* Here arises some limitation in the understanding of Zen among Westerners who have approached Zen through his books. Many of them have read Suzuki's writings, and understood the Zen way of thinking quite well, some of them like Dc.
    [Show full text]
  • Mindfulness-Based Strategic Awareness Training : a Complete Program for Leaders and Individuals / Juan Humberto Young
    Mindfulness‐Based Strategic Awareness Training Mindfulness‐Based Strategic Awareness Training A Complete Program for Leaders and Individuals Juan Humberto Young This edition first published 2017 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148‐5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley‐blackwell. The right of Juan Humberto Young to be identified as the author has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
    [Show full text]
  • Soto Zen: an Introduction to Zazen
    SOT¯ O¯ ZEN An Introduction to Zazen SOT¯ O¯ ZEN: An Introduction to Zazen Edited by: S¯ot¯o Zen Buddhism International Center Published by: SOTOSHU SHUMUCHO 2-5-2, Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8544, Japan Tel: +81-3-3454-5411 Fax: +81-3-3454-5423 URL: http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/ First printing: 2002 NinthFifteenth printing: printing: 20122017 © 2002 by SOTOSHU SHUMUCHO. All rights reserved. Printed in Japan Contents Part I. Practice of Zazen....................................................7 1. A Path of Just Sitting: Zazen as the Practice of the Bodhisattva Way 9 2. How to Do Zazen 25 3. Manners in the Zend¯o 36 Part II. An Introduction to S¯ot¯o Zen .............................47 1. History and Teachings of S¯ot¯o Zen 49 2. Texts on Zazen 69 Fukan Zazengi 69 Sh¯ob¯ogenz¯o Bend¯owa 72 Sh¯ob¯ogenz¯o Zuimonki 81 Zazen Y¯ojinki 87 J¯uniji-h¯ogo 93 Appendixes.......................................................................99 Takkesa ge (Robe Verse) 101 Kaiky¯o ge (Sutra-Opening Verse) 101 Shigu seigan mon (Four Vows) 101 Hannya shingy¯o (Heart Sutra) 101 Fuek¯o (Universal Transference of Merit) 102 Part I Practice of Zazen A Path of Just Sitting: Zazen as the 1 Practice of the Bodhisattva Way Shohaku Okumura A Personal Reflection on Zazen Practice in Modern Times Problems we are facing The 20th century was scarred by two World Wars, a Cold War between powerful nations, and countless regional conflicts of great violence. Millions were killed, and millions more displaced from their homes. All the developed nations were involved in these wars and conflicts.
    [Show full text]
  • Ānāpānasatisuttaṃ the Discourse on Mindfulness of in and out Breathing Majjhima Nikāya – 118 CONTENTS Setting 1. Mindf
    Ānāpānasatisuttaṃ The Discourse on Mindfulness of In and Out Breathing Majjhima Nikāya – 118 CONTENTS Setting 1. Mindfulness of In and Out breathing 5. Preliminary Steps 5. First Tetrad 5. Second Tetrad 6. Third Tetrad 6. Fourth Tetrad 6. Fulfillment of the Four Progressions of Mindfulness 7. First Tetrad 7. Second Tetrad 8. Third Tetrad 8. Fourth Tetrad 9. Fulfillment of the Seven Factors of Awakening 9. Fulfillment of Perfect Knowledge and Freedom 12. Notes 13. Setting: Evaṃ me sutaṃ: ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṃ viharati pubbārāme migāramātupāsāde sambahulehi abhiññātehi abhiññātehi therehi sāvakehi saddhiṃ, āyasmatā ca sāriputtena āyasmatā ca mahā moggallānena āyasmatā ca mahākassapena āyasmatā ca mahā kaccāyanena āyasmatā ca mahākoṭṭhitena āyasmatā ca mahākappinena āyasmatā ca mahācundena āyasmatā ca anuruddhena āyasmatā ca revatena āyasmatā ca ānandena aññehi ca abhiññātehi abhiññātehi therehi sāvakehi saddhiṃ. I have heard thus: At Sāvathi, in the Eastern Grove, at the mansion of Migāra’s mother; there the Sublime One was abiding with many well known and distinguished elder disciples: Venerable Sāriputta, Venerable Mahā Moggallāna, Venerable Mahā Kassapa, Venerable Mahā Kaccayana, Venerable Mahā Koṭṭhita, Venerable Mahā Kappina, Venerable Mahā Cunde, Venerable Anuruddha, Venerable Revata, Venerable Ānanda, together with other well known and distinguished elder disciples. Tena kho pana samayena therā bhikkhū nave bhikkhū ovadanti anusāsanti. Appekacce therā bhikkhū dasapi bhikkhū ovadanti anusāsanti. Appekacce therā bhikkhū
    [Show full text]
  • Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition Dr Hisamatsu Shin’Ichi, at Age 87
    Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition Dr Hisamatsu Shin’ichi, at age 87. Photograph taken by the late Professor Hy¯od¯o Sh¯on¯osuke in 1976, at Dr Hisamatsu’s residence in Gifu. Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition Hisamatsu’s Talks on Linji translated and edited by Christopher Ives and Tokiwa Gishin © Editorial matter and selection © Christopher Ives and Tokiwa Gishin Chapters 1–22 © Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-333-96271-8 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Empty Cloud, the Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master Xu
    EMPTY CLOUD The Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master XU YUN TRANSLATED BY CHARLES LUK Revised and Edited by Richard Hunn The Timeless Mind . Undated picture of Xu-yun. Empty Cloud 2 CONTENTS Contents .......................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ......................................................................... 4 Introduction .................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER ONE: Early Years ............................................................ 20 CHAPTER TWO: Pilgrimage to Mount Wu-Tai .............................. 35 CHAPTER THREE: The Journey West ............................................. 51 CHAPTER FOUR: Enlightenment and Atonement ......................... 63 CHAPTER FIVE: Interrupted Seclusion .......................................... 75 CHAPTER SIX: Taking the Tripitaka to Ji Zu Shan .......................... 94 CHAPTER SEVEN: Family News ................................................... 113 CHAPTER EIGHT: The Peacemaker .............................................. 122 CHAPTER NINE: The Jade Buddha ............................................... 130 CHAPTER TEN: Abbot At Yun-Xi and Gu-Shan............................. 146 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Nan-Hua Monastery ..................................... 161 CHAPTER TWELVE: Yun-Men Monastery .................................... 180 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Two Discourses ......................................... 197 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: At the Yo Fo & Zhen Ru Monasteries
    [Show full text]
  • Right Mindfulness
    2 Right Mindfulness MEMORY & ARDENCY ON THE BUDDHIST PATH ≥HfiNISSARO BHIKKHU (GEOFFREY DeGRAFF) for free distribution 3 Inquiries may be addressed to: The Abbot Metta Forest Monastery PO Box 1409 Valley Center, CA 92082 USA Copyright © ≥h›nissaro Bhikkhu 2012 This book may be copied or reprinted for free distribution without permission from the publisher. Otherwise all rights reserved. 4 “Just as a royal frontier fortress has a gatekeeper—wise, experienced, intelligent—to keep out those he doesn’t know and to let in those he does, for the protection of those within, and to ward off those without; in the same way, a disciple of the noble ones is mindful, endowed with excellent proficiency in mindfulness, remembering & recollecting what was done and said a long time ago. With mindfulness as his gatekeeper, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity.” — AN 7:63 5 Contents Abbreviations Introduction PART ONE Chapter 1: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper Chapter 2: The Lessons of Fabrication Chapter 3: Experience Is Purposeful Chapter 4: The Burden of Bare Attention PART TWO Chapter 5: Mindfulness of Reading Chapter 6: The Structure of Breath Meditation Chapter 7: Fleshing out the Four Tetrads PART THREE Chapter 8: A Slice of Mindfulness Chapter 9: A Structure for Ardency Chapter 10: Why Appendix 1: The fin›p›nasati Sutta Appendix 2: The Mah› Satipa˛˛h›na Sutta Appendix 3: Jh›na & Right Concentration Glossary 6 Abbreviations AN Aºguttara Nik›ya Cv Cullavagga Dhp Dhammapada DN Dıgha Nik›ya Iti Itivuttaka MN Majjhima Nik›ya SN Saªyutta Nik›ya Sn Sutta Nip›ta Thag Therag›th› Thig Therıg›th› Ud Ud›na References to DN, Iti, and MN are to discourse (sutta).
    [Show full text]
  • Was Buddha Completely Mu
    Buddha lost in translation? I have always had great faith in zazen. Before ever practicing it, I had already experienced temporary cessation of my separateness in different kind of activities; during sports or under extreme stress or danger. So when I began zen I immediately knew that this is it, the direct, uncompromising path which leads to complete and permanent dissolution of separation. In a life or death situation it is relatively easy to follow our true nature. The real issue is everyday life. At the beginning of my zen training, during a three-day retreat, I spontaneously experienced the real power of zen. Due to severe back pain, I had to sit in half-lotus and just persevere like an idiot. Without preconceptions, expectations, or thoughts about progress, breath-counting, samadhi, kensho, satori, or Mu. (At the time these zenistic terms meant nothing to me.) Less than two days after being completely stuck, almost unable to breathe, it all just collapsed and everything was fresh and shining. After a couple of months, this experience, which had come a bit too early, faded. But it sealed my marriage to zen and gave me huge motivation – perhaps too huge. I was like the poor man who found treasure in someone else’s yard and was ready to sell all his own property to buy it. A couple of years later I was in Japan experiencing the effects of the Japanese Rinzai system on my own body. To sum it up: keisaku to Nirvana. Forcibly being beaten into enlightenment. My first impression was that this is the way for those who don’t want to sit, who do not have real faith or doubt, who have not yet come to their own personal koan.
    [Show full text]
  • The Koan Is Said to Pose to the Ze N Practitione R a Parado X Unsolvabl E by the Rational , Intellectualizing Mind
    11 Koan and Kensho in the Rinzai Zen Curriculum G. VICTOR SOGEN HORI LCCORDING to a widely accepted model, a koan i s a clever psycho- logical device designed to induce satori or kensho. The koan is said to pose to the Ze n practitione r a parado x unsolvabl e by the rational , intellectualizing mind. Drive n int o a n eve r more desperat e corne r b y his repeate d futil e at - tempts to solve what cannot be rationally solved, the practitioner finally breaks through the barrier of rational intellection to the realm of preconceptual an d prelinguistic consciousnes s variousl y calle d pur e consciousness , no-mind , without-thinking, or emptiness. Thi s breakthrough i s called satori or kensho. The cleverness of the koan consists in the fact that rather than attacking reason and logi c fro m outside, th e koa n use s reaso n t o driv e itsel f int o a self - contradiction and cause its own destruction. In this picture, the koan is funda- mentally an instrument and has no use except as a means for psychologically inducing kensho. These two notions—the koan as nonrational, psychological instrument, an d kensho a s th e breakthroug h t o nonrational , noncognitive , pure consciousness—nicely support each other.1 However, thes e conceptions o f koan an d kensho were criticized long ago . Dogen, i n th e "Sansuiky5 " ("Mountains an d Water s Sutra") fascicle of the Shobogenzo, writes: In grea t Sun g Chin a toda y there ar e a grou p o f scatterbrained people , whose number i s so large that the y cannot possibly be scare d of f by the faithfu l few.
    [Show full text]
  • The Immaculacy of Emptiness
    "...and to the Source Kept True," Part I: The Immaculacy of Emptiness. Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett — Shasta Abbey, California – USA — This article was first published in the Spring issue of the Journal of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives©1989 Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. Revised 1994. Some years ago I changed the translation of the word "mu" in the Hannyashingyo, or Scripture of Great Wisdom, from "voidness" or "emptiness" to "purity." This was not an idle change or a personal opinion since it was based on my master's and my own understanding of the teachings of Bodhidharma of whom we are both direct descendants. Many translators of The Scripture of Great Wisdom, being Christian missionaries and therefore frequently more interested in converting Buddhists to Christianity than having an accurate, in-depth understanding of what the Buddhist Scriptures teach, were not as careful as I believe they could have been in their translations: had they been so, they would have discovered that "voidness" and "emptiness" are words that only peripherally touch the implications of "mu." Anyone who meditates deeply and has any real spiritual realisation knows that this voidness and emptiness are the fullest voidnesses and emptinesses possible. I used the phrase "the immaculacy of emptiness" to try and push people on beyond emptiness and voidness for many years: in the end, however, I decided that the teachings of Bodhidharma, whose authority on the subject is absolutely unimpeachable, made it extraordinarily clear that the word "mu" should be translated as "pure" and that western Buddhists should not be intimidated by the trick sophistry of those who only peripherally understand Zen.
    [Show full text]
  • Great Master Bodhidharma: His Life and Teachings a Lecture Series Given in February 2021 - by Rev
    Great Master Bodhidharma: His Life and Teachings A lecture Series given in February 2021 - by Rev. Master Leandra Robertshaw - 1: Setting the Scene I have chosen to offer these talks largely because I know many trainees have a particular attraction to Bodhidharma and his teachings. I seem to have come to share their sense of him but at first more circumspectly. This may be part of a general questioning of what it is to be a monk and how we conduct ourselves as monks of the OBC. Nowadays I dare to question our rites and rituals and whether they do help us to live our lives as fully as any human being can so that we really know in a way that is beyond belief, that we all have the potential to become Buddha. This seems to be the essence of any spiritual life, though other spiritual traditions would, of course, describe it differently. Nowadays I love and respect Bodhidharma’s iconoclastic approach and smile at the legends that abound around his life and death. How much is fantasy; how much is weaving an intriguing story; how much is verifiable fact at this distance of many centuries later? Bodhidharma (Bodaidaruma) is our 28th Ancestor as Makakashyô is considered the first Ancestor (see the Denkôroku). Bodhidharma is also thought of as the first Zen Ancestor in our Ancestral line. Why was he given the title of the “first ancestor of Zen” given that there were so-called Zen masters in China before he arrived? I will return to this question in due course.
    [Show full text]