DOCSLIB.ORG

SAN DIEGO Encounter Dialogue

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
SAN DIEGO Encounter Dialogue UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: SAN DIEGO Encounter Dialogue: The Literary History of a Zen Buddhist Genre A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Literature by Ben Van Overmeire Committee in charge Professor Richard Cohen, Chair Professor Suzanne Cahill Professor Page Dubois Professor Emily Roxworthy Professor Pasquale Verdicchio 2016 Copyright Ben Van Overmeire, 2016 All rights reserved SIGNATURE PAGE The Dissertation of Ben Van Overmeire is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically Chair University of California, San Diego 2016 iii DEDICATION To my family iv EPIGRAPH 霞一日問居士。昨日相見何似今日。士曰。如法舉昨日事來。作箇宗眼。霞曰。祇 如宗眼還著得龐公麼。士曰。我在你眼裡。霞曰。某甲眼窄。何處安身。士曰。是 眼何窄。是身何安。霞休去。士曰。更道取一句。便得此語圓。霞亦不對。士曰。 就中這一句。無人道得。 Another day, Master Xia asked Layman Pang: “How does yesterday, when we saw each other, resemble today?” The Layman said: “It is as if, relying on the Dharma, you examine yesterday’s affair and create a lineage eye.” Xia said: “Only if my lineage eye returns to attach to the honored Pang!” The Layman said: “I am in your eye.” Xia said: “This person’s eye is narrow. How can you put a body there?” The Layman said: “How is this eye narrow? How is this body to be put?” Xia ceased, and started to go away. Pang said: “If you say one more phrase, then this conversation will be perfect.” Xia did not answer. The Layman said: “As for getting this one phrase exactly right, no one can do it.” The Sayings of Layman Pang v TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE........................................................................................................ iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. iv EPIGRAPH ....................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ ix VITA ................................................................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ..................................................................... xii INTRODUCTION: Zen Encounter Dialogues as Utopian Riddles.............................. 1 Overview..................................................................................................................................... 1 What is Zen? .............................................................................................................................. 3 “Encounter Dialogue” or “Koan”?.......................................................................................... 6 Encounter Dialogue as Genre................................................................................................. 12 Encounter Dialogue as Riddle ................................................................................................ 14 Encounter Dialogues as Utopian Narratives......................................................................... 20 Chapter Overview ................................................................................................................... 26 A note on language conventions ............................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 1: Reading Chan Encounter Dialogue during the Song Dynasty: The Record of Linji, the Lotus Sutra, and the Sinification of Buddhism ........................... 31 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 31 Comparison: The Lotus Sūtra................................................................................................ 35 vi History and Legend ................................................................................................................. 39 The Lotus Sutra as Legend...................................................................................................... 43 The Record of Linji as History................................................................................................ 45 Gongan Practice in The Gateless Barrier............................................................................... 48 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 50 CHAPTER 2: Zen and the Art of Swordsmanship: Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi and Japanese Modernity........................................................................................................ 52 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 52 Musashi and Modernity .......................................................................................................... 55 Overcoming Modernity: The Way of the Samurai .............................................................. 59 Zen and the Art of War........................................................................................................... 64 Meeting your Mother: Encounters with Zen masters.......................................................... 69 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 75 CHAPTER 3: Mirrors of Zen: Encounter Dialogues as Frame-Stories in Daisetz Suzuki’s An Introduction to Zen Buddhism and Janwillem van de Wetering’s The Empty Mirror ................................................................................................................... 77 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 77 Suzuki’s Mirrors in the Text .................................................................................................. 80 Van de Wetering’s The Empty Mirror.................................................................................... 92 Reflecting and Empty Mirrors............................................................................................. 104 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 106 CHAPTER 4: “Mountains, Rivers, and the Whole Earth:” Gender, Lineage, and Reenactment of Encounter Dialogue........................................................................... 108 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 108 vii Linji and Mayu Play Guanyin.............................................................................................. 111 Gender and Performance...................................................................................................... 118 Lineage and Performance..................................................................................................... 125 Grasping and Granting: Two Types of Encounter Dialogue ............................................ 133 From Mind to Body, From Lineage to Kinship.................................................................. 139 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 146 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................... 150 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Unlike the Zen school, which confines the roots of one’s spiritual development to those masters enshrined in lineage records, this dissertation is the product of a collective, one that I wish to acknowledge here. This dissertation would have gone nowhere without my advisor, Richard Cohen. For seven years now, Richard has been the creative and intellectual force driving my thinking forward, always inviting me to dig deeper and argue stronger. I am humbled by his self-effacing commitment to education, and can imagine no one guiding me better in the strange world of academia. Though coming later to this project, Suzanne Cahill has also been decisive in its formation. If there’s any merit to my translations of classical Chinese in the pages to come, that merit is due to Suzanne’s kind patience in teaching me this quirky tongue. Her non-assuming way of being a great scholar is as moving as it is inspirational. I would not have disposed of the variety of theoretical tools I use here without Page Dubois. Her seminars and encouragement are a beacon in UCSD’s literature department, and I count myself lucky to have worked with her. Pasquale Verdicchio nurtured my understanding and respect for Zen practitioners, something easily lost when one reads too much in modern Zen scholarship. Finally, Emily Roxworthy expertly guided my explorations of performance theory. I would have been lost without her. Beyond my dissertation committee, numerous friends and colleagues assisted me in the process of writing this manuscript. Among them, I particularly wish to thank Nadeen Kharputly, Wai-lim Yip, Emily Goodman, Monica Hoffman, Ilaria Tabusso- Marcyan, Paulina Gonzalez, Bailey Chandler, Sarika Talve-Goodman, David Jordan, ix Marcel Hénaff, Daisuke Miyao, and Stanley Chodorow. Any errors that remain are obviously my own,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Female Holder of the Lineage: Linji Chan Master
    Beata Grant - Female Holder of the Lineage: Linji Chan Master... http://muse.jhu.edu.libproxy.wustl.edu/journals/late_imperial_c... Copyright © 1996 by The Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved. Late Imperial China 17.2 (1996) 51-76 Access provided by Washington University @ St. Louis Female Holder of the Lineage: Linji Chan Master Zhiyuan Xinggang (1597-1654) Beata Grant The late Ming and early Qing witnessed a brief but vital revival of the Linji Chan Buddhist lineage. 1 It came at a time when the notion of lineage and sectarian distinctions seemed to have little to recommend it: not one of the four Great Buddhist Masters of Ming--Yunqi Zhuhong (1535-1615), Daguan Zhenke (1543-1603), Hanshan Deqing (1546-1623) and Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655)--felt it necessary or perhaps even advisable to associate themselves with a formal Chan lineage and all are listed in the "lineage unknown" section of the official biographies of Chan monks. Nevertheless, there were a few Buddhist masters who were very much interested in restoring the fading glory of the line that traced itself back to the iconoclastic and brilliant Tang master, Linji Yixuan (d. 866). Of these, the most well-known was Miyun Yuanwu (1565-1641, hereafter referred to as Yuanwu). Yuanwu was of peasant stock, and spent much of his early years engaged not in study but rather in hard physical labor. He managed to educate himself, however, and when he was thirty years old, he left his wife and family and went to Mt. Longchi (Zhejiang) where he became a disciple of Linji Chan Master Huanyou Zhengzhuan (1549-1614).
    [Show full text]
  • The Pāṃsukūlacīvara ! Towards an Anthropology of a Trans-Traditional Buddhist Robe ! ! ! !
    ! ! ! ! ! ! Faculty of Arts and Philosophy SIMON BULTYNCK ! ! ! ! The Pāṃsukūlacīvara ! Towards an anthropology of a trans-traditional Buddhist robe ! ! ! ! Master’s dissertation submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Asian Languages and Cultures ! 2016 ! ! ! ! ! Supervisor! ! Prof.!dr.!Ann!Heirman! ! ! ! Department!of!Languages!and!Cultures! ! Dean! ! Prof.!dr.!Marc!Boone! Rector! ! Prof.!dr.!Anne!De!Paepe! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! iii! ! ! iv! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! while striving for death’s army’s rout the ascetic clad in rag-robe clout got from a rubbish heap, shines bright mārasenavighātāya as mail-clad warrior paṃsukūladharo yati in the fight. sannaddhakavaco yuddhe ! khattiyo viya sobhati this robe the world’s great teacher wore, pahāya kāsikādīni leaving rare Kási cloth varavatthāni dhāritaṃ and more; yaṃ lokagarunā ko taṃ of rags from off paṃsukūlaṃ na dhāraye a rubbish heap who would not have tasmā hi attano bhikkhu a robe to keep? paṭiññaṃ samanussaraṃ ! yogācārānukūlamhi minding the words paṃsukūle rato siyāti he did profess ! when he went ! ! into homelessness, ! let him to wear ! such rags delight ! as!one!! ! in!seemly!garb!bedight.*! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! v! ! ! ! ! vi! ! Abstract Superlatives in academics are scarce; in humanities they are almost taboo. And yet it is probably fair to say that one of the most significant robes of all Buddhist monastic attire is the pāṃsukūlacīvara. Often poorly translated as ‘robe from the dust-heap’, this trans- tradition monastic type of dress, patched from cast-off rags, has been charged with du- bious symbolism and myth throughout Buddhist literature. This thesis aims to bridge the gap between anthropological and text-critical research on the topic and to further widen both the scope of its study.
    [Show full text]
  • Zen Is a Form of Buddhism That Developed First in China Around the Sixth Century CE and Then Spread from China to Korea, Vietnam and Japan
    Zen Zen is a form of Buddhism that developed first in China around the sixth century CE and then spread from China to Korea, Vietnam and Japan. The term Zen is just the Japanese way of saying the Chinese word Chan ( 禪 ), which is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word Dhyāna (Jhāna in Pali), which means "meditation." In the image above one sees on the left the character 禪 in Japanese calligraphy and on the right an ensō, or Zen circle. In Japan the drawing of such a circle is considered a high art, the expression of a moment of enlightenment by the Zen master calligrapher. The tradition known as Chan Buddhism in China, and Zen Buddhism in Japan, brings together Mahāyāna Buddhism and Daoism. This confluence of Buddhism and Daoism in Zen is most obvious in the Chinese script on the left which reads: "The heart-mind (xin 心) is the buddha (佛), the buddha (佛) is the path (dao 道), the path (dao 道) is meditation (chan 禪)." The line is from a text called the Bloodstream Sermon attributed to the legendary Bodhidharma. An Indian meditation master, Bodhidharma had come to China around 520 CE and in time would come to be regarded as the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism. In Bodhidharma’s Bloodstream Introduction to Asian Philosophy Zen Buddhism Sermon (in the Chan Buddhism online selections) it is evident that Bodhidharma had absorbed something of Daoism after he came to China. The Mahāyāna Buddhist teachings that are most evident in Bodhidharma’s text are the teachings of emptiness (Śūnyatā) from the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras as well as the notion of the buddha-nature (dharmakāya) that is part of the Mahāyāna teaching of the three bodies (trikāya) of the Buddha.
    [Show full text]
  • Contents Transcriptions Romanization Zen 1 Chinese Chán Sanskrit Name 1.1 Periodisation Sanskrit Dhyāna 1.2 Origins and Taoist Influences (C
    7/11/2014 Zen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Zen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism[note 1] that Zen developed in China during the 6th century as Chán. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea and Chinese name east to Japan.[2] Simplified Chinese 禅 Traditional Chinese 禪 The word Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (dʑjen) (pinyin: Chán), which in Transcriptions turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna,[3] which can Mandarin be approximately translated as "absorption" or "meditative Hanyu Pinyin Chán state".[4] Cantonese Zen emphasizes insight into Buddha-nature and the personal Jyutping Sim4 expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit Middle Chinese [5][6] of others. As such, it de-emphasizes mere knowledge of Middle Chinese dʑjen sutras and doctrine[7][8] and favors direct understanding Vietnamese name through zazen and interaction with an accomplished Vietnamese Thiền teacher.[9] Korean name The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahāyāna Hangul 선 thought, especially Yogācāra, the Tathāgatagarbha Sutras and Huayan, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality, Hanja 禪 and the Bodhisattva-ideal.[10][11] The Prajñāpāramitā Transcriptions literature[12] and, to a lesser extent, Madhyamaka have also Revised Romanization Seon been influential. Japanese name Kanji 禅 Contents Transcriptions Romanization Zen 1 Chinese Chán Sanskrit name 1.1 Periodisation Sanskrit dhyāna 1.2 Origins and Taoist influences (c. 200- 500) 1.3 Legendary or Proto-Chán - Six Patriarchs (c. 500-600) 1.4 Early Chán - Tang Dynasty (c.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is a Koan
    WHAT IS A KOAN AND WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT? Jeff Shore Koan practice is a catalyst to awaken as Gautama Buddha did. Early Chan (Chinese Zen) encounters and statements are precursors of koans. Eventually these impromptu encounters and statements led to the practice of focusing on the koan as one’s own deepest question. The point is to directly awaken no-self, or being without self. This was done through rousing the basic religious problem known as great doubt. This doubt calls into question the very nature of one’s being, and that of all others. Over time, koan cases and commentaries developed to explore and express awakening from a dream world or nightmare of isolation and opposition. Particularly in Japan, koan curricula developed to foster awakening and to refine it in all aspects of life. Scholars have examined koan practice in light of its history, texts, social and political contexts, and sectarian conflicts. The aim here is to clarify what koans are and how they are used in authentic practice. The koan tradition arose out of encounters between teachers and disciples in Tang Dynasty (618-907) China. The koans now used in monastic training and in lay groups worldwide grew out of this tradition. Admirers tend to consider koan practice a unique and peerless spiritual treasure. Critics see koan practice as little more than a hollow shell. There are good reasons for both views. By inviting readers to directly open up to their own great doubt, this paper provides a sense of what koan practice is from the inside.
    [Show full text]
  • Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism
    Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism Kevin Buckelew Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2018 © 2018 Kevin Buckelew All rights reserved Abstract Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism Kevin Buckelew This dissertation explores how Chan Buddhists made the unprecedented claim to a level of religious authority on par with the historical Buddha Śākyamuni and, in the process, invented what it means to be a buddha in China. This claim helped propel the Chan tradition to dominance of elite monastic Buddhism during the Song dynasty (960–1279), licensed an outpouring of Chan literature treated as equivalent to scripture, and changed the way Chinese Buddhists understood their own capacity for religious authority in relation to the historical Buddha and the Indian homeland of Buddhism. But the claim itself was fraught with complication. After all, according to canonical Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha was easily recognizable by the “marks of the great man” that adorned his body, while the same could not be said for Chan masters in the Song. What, then, distinguished Chan masters from everyone else? What authorized their elite status and granted them the authority of buddhas? According to what normative ideals did Chan aspirants pursue liberation, and by what standards did Chan masters evaluate their students to determine who was worthy of admission into an elite Chan lineage? How, in short, could one recognize a buddha in Song-dynasty China? The Chan tradition never answered this question once and for all; instead, the question broadly animated Chan rituals, institutional norms, literary practices, and visual cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • Buddhist Studies
    Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 24 • Number 1 • 2001 MINORUHARA In memoriam J.W. de Jong 1 JINHUA JIA Doctrinal Reformation of the Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism 7 NADINE OWEN Constructing Another Perspective for Ajanta's Fifth-Century Excavations 27 PETER VERHAGEN Studies in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Hermeneutics (1) Issues of Interpretation and Translation in the Minor Works of Si-tu Pan-chen Chos-kyi-'byun-gnas (16997-1774) 61 GLENN WALLIS The Buddha's Remains: mantra in the ManjusrTmulakalpa 89 BOOK REVIEW by ULRICH PAGEL Heinz Bechert [et al.]: Der Buddhismus I: Der Indische Buddhismus und seine Verzweigungen 127 Treasurer's Report 2000 135 JINHUA JIA Doctrinal Reformation of the Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism* Hu Shi asserts that "Chinese" Chan proper first took on complete shape in the Hongzhou school.1 This assertion has been generally accepted, and the Hongzhou school is regarded as the beginning of "classical" or "golden-age" Chan. However, when discussing exactly what marks the beginning of this new type of Chan, or in other words, what kind of reformation Mazu Daoyi JSffill-- (709-88) brought to the Chan tradition, there have been quite different explanations. YANAGIDA Seizan |7PEBIIll[ posits that the m6st salient characteristic of the Hong­ zhou school is that it is a Chan of everyday life and a religion of humanity.2 IRIYA Yoshitaka A^ilfij regards the ideas, "function is identical with [Buddha-]nature" and "daily activities are wonderful functions," as the core of Daoyi's teaching.3 John McRAE assumes that "encounter dialogue" distinguishes the "classical" Chan of Mazu from the "pre-classical" Chan of the Northern, early Southern, and Niutou schools.4 Bernard FAURE takes the disappearance of one-practice samadhi (yixing sanmei — ffzLW) as "an indicator of the 'epistemologi- cal split' that opened between early Chan and the 'classical' Chan of the * I thank Professors Paul W.
    [Show full text]
  • A Geographic History of Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism: the Decline of the Yunmen Lineage
    decline of the yunmen lineage Asia Major (2019) 3d ser. Vol. 32.1: 113-60 jason protass A Geographic History of Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism: The Decline of the Yunmen Lineage abstract: For a century during China’s Northern Song era, the Yunmen Chan lineage, one of several such regional networks, rose to dominance in the east and north and then abruptly disappeared. Whereas others suggested the decline was caused by a doctri- nal problem, this essay argues that the geopolitics of the Song–Jin wars were the pri- mary cause. The argument builds upon a dataset of Chan abbots gleaned from Flame Records. A chronological series of maps shows that Chan lineages were regionally based. Moreover, Song-era writers knew of regional differences among Chan lin- eages and suggested that regionalism was part of Chan identity: this corroborates my assertion. The essay turns to local gazetteers and early-Southern Song texts that re- cord the impacts of the Song–Jin wars on monasteries in regions associated with the Yunmen lineage. Finally, I consider reasons why the few Yunmen monks who sur- vived into the Southern Song did not reconstitute their lineage, and discuss a small group of Yunmen monks who endured in north China under Jin and Yuan control. keywords: Chan, Buddhism, geographic history, mapping, spatial data n 1101, the recently installed emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100–1126) I authored a preface for a new collection of Chan 禪 religious biogra- phies, Record of the Continuation of the Flame of the Jianzhong Jingguo Era (Jianzhong Jingguo xudeng lu 建中靖國續燈錄, hereafter Continuation of the Flame).1 The emperor praised the old “five [Chan] lineages, each ex- celling in a family style 五宗各擅家風,” a semimythical system promul- gated by the Chan tradition itself to assert a shared identity among the ramifying branches of master-disciple relationships.
    [Show full text]
  • Zen Masters at Play and on Play: a Take on Koans and Koan Practice
    ZEN MASTERS AT PLAY AND ON PLAY: A TAKE ON KOANS AND KOAN PRACTICE A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Brian Peshek August, 2009 Thesis written by Brian Peshek B.Music, University of Cincinnati, 1994 M.A., Kent State University, 2009 Approved by Jeffrey Wattles, Advisor David Odell-Scott, Chair, Department of Philosophy John R.D. Stalvey, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Chapter 1. Introduction and the Question “What is Play?” 1 Chapter 2. The Koan Tradition and Koan Training 14 Chapter 3. Zen Masters At Play in the Koan Tradition 21 Chapter 4. Zen Doctrine 36 Chapter 5. Zen Masters On Play 45 Note on the Layout of Appendixes 79 APPENDIX 1. Seventy-fourth Koan of the Blue Cliff Record: 80 “Jinniu’s Rice Pail” APPENDIX 2. Ninty-third Koan of the Blue Cliff Record: 85 “Daguang Does a Dance” BIBLIOGRAPHY 89 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are times in one’s life when it is appropriate to make one’s gratitude explicit. Sometimes this task is made difficult not by lack of gratitude nor lack of reason for it. Rather, we are occasionally fortunate enough to have more gratitude than words can contain. Such is the case when I consider the contributions of my advisor, Jeffrey Wattles, who went far beyond his obligations in the preparation of this document. From the beginning, his nurturing presence has fueled the process of exploration, allowing me to follow my truth, rather than persuading me to support his.
    [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]
  • How Poetry Became Meditation in Late-Ninth-Century China
    how poetry became meditation Asia Major (2019) 3d ser. Vol. 32.2: 113-151 thomas j. mazanec How Poetry Became Meditation in Late-Ninth-Century China abstract: In late-ninth-century China, poetry and meditation became equated — not just meta- phorically, but as two equally valid means of achieving stillness and insight. This article discusses how several strands in literary and Buddhist discourses fed into an assertion about such a unity by the poet-monk Qiji 齊己 (864–937?). One strand was the aesthetic of kuyin 苦吟 (“bitter intoning”), which involved intense devotion to poetry to the point of suffering. At stake too was the poet as “fashioner” — one who helps make and shape a microcosm that mirrors the impersonal natural forces of the macrocosm. Jia Dao 賈島 (779–843) was crucial in popularizing this sense of kuyin. Concurrently, an older layer of the literary-theoretical tradition, which saw the poet’s spirit as roaming the cosmos, was also given new life in late Tang and mixed with kuyin and Buddhist meditation. This led to the assertion that poetry and meditation were two gates to the same goal, with Qiji and others turning poetry writing into the pursuit of enlightenment. keywords: Buddhism, meditation, poetry, Tang dynasty ometime in the early-tenth century, not long after the great Tang S dynasty 唐 (618–907) collapsed and the land fell under the control of regional strongmen, a Buddhist monk named Qichan 棲蟾 wrote a poem to another monk. The first line reads: “Poetry is meditation for Confucians 詩為儒者禪.”1 The line makes a curious claim: the practice Thomas Mazanec, Dept.
    [Show full text]
  • Chan Teachings of Huineng
    Chan Teachings of Huineng Buddhism in Every Step B1 Venerable Master Hsing Yun © 2014 Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center All rights reserved. Written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun Translated by the Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center Edited and proofread by Venerable Yi Chao, Jonathan Ko, and John Gill Table of Contents I. The Sixth Patriarch’s Platform Sutra 1 II. An Introduction to Chan 6 III. Teaching Methods of the Chan School 12 Chan Teachings of Huineng I. The Sixth Patriarch’s Platform Sutra Who was Huineng? The Sixth Patriarch’s Platform Sutra, often simpli- fied into the Platform Sutra, is a sacred text of the Chan, or meditation, School. Though of particular importance to the Chan School, the sutra’s influ- ence extends to many other Buddhist schools. It is also considered one of the finest works of Chinese literature. The Platform Sutra is a collection of Dharma talks given by Venerable Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan School of Buddhism. Huineng’s fasci- nating life is something of a legend in itself. Though the Sixth Patriarch was said to be an illiterate wood- cutter, due to his store of merit from previous lives and his quick grasp of the Dharma, he quickly 1 achieved enlightenment under the guidance of the Fifth Patriarch and became a great master. His influ- ence can still be felt today. I would, however, like to take this opportunity to state that the Sixth Patriarch was far from illiter- ate. On the contrary, he was an extremely well read, and had profound insights regarding many Buddhist sutras.
    [Show full text]