SUN-FACE BUDDHA The Teachings of Ma-tsu and the Hung-chou School of Ch'an Introduced and Translated by Cheng Chien Bhikshu PART ONE INTRODUCTION Formation of the Ch'an School The Life and Teaching of Ma-tsu The Monastic Tradition Tsung-mi's Evaluation of the Hung-chou School A Note on the Translations PART TWO:‭ THE RECORD OF MA-TSU Biography Sermons Dialogues PART THREE:‭ MA-TSU'S DISCIPLES Hsi-t'ang Chih-bang Paichang Huai-hai Nanch'iian P'u-yiian Tachu Hui-hai Shih-kung Hui-tsang Ma-ku Pao-ch'e Ta-mei Fa-ch'ang Fen-chou Wu-yeh Wu-tai Yin-feng Hung-chou Shui-lao Layman P'ang-yiin Kuei-bung Chih-ch'ang Appendix:‭ Sources for the Translations Glossary Bibliography Preface The present work presents primary materials on the life and teaching of Ma-tsu (‬709-788)‬,‭ who is together with Hui-neng (‬638-713)‬ often considered the greatest Ch'an master in history.‭ By extension it also presents materials on the teachings of Ma-tsu's Hung-chou school.‭ Ma-tsu's unique approach to Buddhist practice,‭ characterized by its immediacy,‭ openness,‭ and spontaneity,‭ changed Ch'an's course of development,‭ and served as a model for the creative developments in Ch'an teaching methods and modes of expression that took place during the later period of Tang Dynasty (‬618-906)‬,‭ when the Ch'an school became the predominant religious force in China.‭ The Chinese text on which this volume's translation of the Record of Ma-tsu is based is the edition of Chiang-hsi ma-tsu tao-i ch 'an-shih yii-lu (‬Record o the Sayings o Ch 'an masterMa-tsu Tao-i of Kiangs O from Ssu-chia yii-lu (‬Records of Four Masters)‬,‭ a Ming Dynasty (‬1368-1644)‬ collection.‭ The division of the text into chapters and sections is not found in the original.‭ This division,‭ together with the chapter headings,‭ has been suplied to faciliate better orientation and easier reading of the texts.‭ The chapters on Ma-tsu's disciples which form the third part of this volume follow the order of their appearance in the Record of Ma-tsu.‭ I have added Kuei-tsung to the list out of deference to Huang-po's opinion about his importance.‭ Further information about the Chinese sources for the translations can be found in the Appendix,‭ together with a list of previous English translations which contain parts of the texts translated in this volume.‭ In doing the present translations I have to a varing degrees consulted these works and express overall indebtedness to them.‭ The purpose of this volume is to make accessible in English the teachings of Ma-tsu and his disciples to anyone interested who is unable to read the original Chinese.‭ It is primarily meant for the general public,‭ especially for readers who are interested in exploring the spiritual relevance o the teachings in question.‭ The Introduction is only intended to provide basic information about the historical,‭ institutional,‭ and doctrinal backgrounds which were decisive in shaping the overall tone,‭ the contents,‭ and the ways o communicating the teachings presented in the translations,‭ which will hopefully prevent possible misinterpretations of the texts and help the reader to better appreciate the uniqueness and the significance o the teachings presented.‭ In the translation I have tried to keep to the original asclosely as possible.‭ For those unfamiliar with Sanskrit and Buddhist technical terms,‭ a glossary has been appended after the main body of the text.‭ Some of the technical terms that do not appear frequently have been explained in the notes.‭ A brief note about some of the conventions followed.‭ .‭.‭.‭ Part One Introduction The unification of China under the short-lived Sui Dynasty (‬590-618)‬ paved the way for the great political,‭ economic,‭ and social achievements of the T'ang Dynasty (‬618-906)‬,‭ which was to become the apogee of Chinese cultural history.‭ Under the relative peace and a stable social structure T'ang China experienced unparalleled development in the arts,‭ crafts,‭ and sciences,‭ and this period has rightly been called the Golden Age of Chinese civilization.‭ T'ang Chinese inherited a rich Buddhist tradition which had been in their country for over a half millennium,‭ during which time the Indian religion had been transformed and adapted to the indigenous temperament and culture of the Chinese.‭ The foreign religion found numerous adherents at all levels o society,‭ from poor peasants to emperors.‭ Such was the enthusiasm of the populace for the teaching of the Buddha,‭ or at least for the outward manifestations of it,‭ that on numerous occasions,‭ in the memorials presented to the throne by Confucian scholars,‭ staggering information is found about the economic power of the Buddhist monastic corntnunity and its great influence on the ways in which Chinese society functioned.‭ This led to a number of attempts by the state to bring the monastic community under its control and to limit its number,‭ which if unchecked,‭ the bureaucrats feared,‭ would go completely out of control.‭ By the beginning of the eighth century most of the translation of Buddhist literature from Indian languages into Chinese was already completed,‭ the translations done under the patronage o the Empress Wu (‬r.‭ 684-7093 being the last major undertaking in that direction,‭ and all of the important sutras were readily available in reasonably accurate translations.‭ Besides the translations of the sfitras and the treatises off the Indian masters,‭ there was a massive corpus of apocryphal texts composed in China,‭ many of which became accepted as scripturally authentic in time.‭ This process of introduction of the new religion,‭ its gradual assimilation and adaptation,‭ and the subsequent maturity of understanding and mastery of its doctrines,‭ led to the creative manifestations of the Chinese religious genius,‭ which in turn gave birth to the distinctly Chinese schools o Buddhism.‭ Though all of these schools could trace their origins back to the Indian tradition,‭ with different stress and emphasis on certain aspects of the doctrine they had a very distinct character of their own,‭ which reflected native Chinese patterns of thought.‭ The first o these schools to be established was the T'ien-t'ai school,‭ whose founder Chih-i (‬538 597)‬ is regarded as one of the most brilliant minds ever to appear in Chinese Buddhist history.‭ Drawing from a great number of sutras,‭ Indian treatises,‭ and the works of the Chinese monks prior to him,‭ especially those of his teacher Hui-ssu (‬515-577)‬,‭ he created a very comprehensive system in which he brought teaching and practice,‭ conventional and ultimate,‭ sudden and gradual,‭ into a harmonious unity where all distinctions lose their identity into theultimate reality of the Middle Way.‭ Besides arranging the scriptures in the p'ah-chiao (‬division o f the teachings)‬ scheme,‭ which can be understood both as an attempt to present a chronological arrangement of the sutras,‭ as well as an attempt to clarlfy the relationship between the ultimate and provisional teachings in the dtras,‭ he also compiled the various meditation techniques known during his time into his work.‭ dealing with meditation practice.‭ From the "gradual" methods of his first work Tz'u-ti ch'an-men (‬Gradual Ch'an (‬Meditation.‭ Practice)‬,‭ his works include a great variety of methods suited to various types of individuals,‭ and lead to the "perfect sudden" practice as outlined in his monumental Mo-ho chih- kuan (‬Great Calmness and Insight)‬,‭ where one takes the supreme reality as the object of meditation from the beginning of one's practice.‭' What is impressive about Chi-i's stupendous system is that while never leaving the complete teaching of the One Vehicle,‭ in which there is nothing that is not the supreme reality,‭ where there is no suffering to be obliterated and no Nirvana to be achieved,‭ and where mundane and supramundane lose their identity,‭ he still retains a very realistic outlook about the realities of the human predicament,‭ and very clearly points to the actual practices that one has to undertake in order to truly experience the truth of the teaching in one's own being.‭ The importance of Chih-i for the later developments in Chinese Buddhism cannot be overstated.‭ His works influenced the formulation of the teachings of both Hua-yen and Ch'an schools of Tang,‭ and his influence on the latter still awaits proper assessment.‭ Most of the meditation manuals o f the Ch'an school bear an impression of Chih-i works,‭ and despite the efforts on the part of some of the members of the Ch'an school to cover the arhad great impact on the development o this new school.‭ Another important school which emerged on the Chinese religious scene not long after the formation of the T'ient'ai school was the Hua-yen school.‭ Its name comes from the stitra on which it based its doctrines:‭ the Avatamsaka Sutra or Hua-yen ching in chinenese.‭ The stura itself is a collection of a number of sutras skillfully arranged together within the framework of the totalistic perspective of the one true dharmadhatu.‭ The Avatamsaka Sutra can be taken as both the most consummate statement on the Buddha's enlightenment,‭ and an unsurpassed exposition o the way of the Bodhisattva which covers all the aspects of the Buddhist Path.‭ One of the basic themes that permeates the entire sutra,‭ according to the Hua-yen School,‭ is the interdependence and interpenetration of all phenomena in the universe,‭ in which each phenomenon is dependent on,‭ and at the same time determining,‭ all other phenomena.‭ The main figures in the formulation