,this work is licensed under a ,creative ,commons ,attribution #c4j ,unported ,license1 http3_/_/creativecommons4org_/ ,,the ,,zen ,,experience ,library ,journal called it1 ,the best history of ,zen ever written4 ,the truth of ,zen has always resided in individual experience rather than in theoretical writings4 ,to give the modern reader access to understanding of this truth1 ,,the ,,zen ,,experience illumines ,zen as it was created and shaped by the personalities1 perceptions1 and actions of its masters over the centuries4 ,beginning with the twin roots of ,zen in ,indian ,buddhism and ,chinese ,taoism1 we follow it through its initial flowering in ,china under the ,first ,patriarch ,bodhidharma2 its division into schools of gradual and sudden enlightenment under ,shen-hsui and ,shen-hui2 the ushering in of its golden age by ,hui-neng2 the development of shock enlightenment by ,ma-tsu2 its poetic greatness in the person of ,han-shan2 the perfection of the use of the koan by ,ta-hui2 the migration of ,zen to ,japan and its extraordinary growth there under a succession of towering ,japanese spiritual leaders4 ,rich in historical background1 vivid in revealing anecdote and memorable quotation1 this long-needed work succeeds admirably in taking ,zen from the library shelves and restoring its living1 human form4 ,,books ,,by ,,thomas ,,hoover ,nonfiction ,zen ,culture ,the ,zen ,experience ,fiction ,the ,moghul ,caribbee ,wall ,street ,samurai 7,the ,samurai ,strategy7 ,project ,daedalus ,project ,cyclops ,life ,blood ,syndrome ,all free as e-books at www4thomashoover4info ,,the ,,zen ,,experience ,thomas ,hoover ,,signet1 ,,signet ,,classics1 ,,mentor1 ,,plume1 ,,meridian ,,and ,,nal ,,books are published in the ,united ,states by ,the ,new ,american ,library1 ,inc41 #afcc ,broadway1 ,new ,york1 ,new ,york #ajjai4 ,first ,printing1 ,march1 #aihj #bcdefghi ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,library of ,congress ,cataloging in ,publication ,data ,bibliography ,zen ,buddhism--,history4 ,priests1 ,zen--,biography4 ,,isbn #j-deb-bebbh-h ,copyright 7,c7#aihj by ,thomas ,hoover ,all rights reserved www4thomashoover4info ,key words3 ,author3 ,thomas ,hoover ,title3 ,the ,zen ,experience ,zen ,history1 ,buddhism1 ,zen ,buddhism1 ,zen ,history1 ,seng-,chao1 ,tao-sheng1 ,lao ,tzu1 ,chuang ,tzu1 ,kuo ,hsiang1 ,nagarjuna1 ,seng-chao1 ,tao-,sheng1 ,bodhidharma1 ,hui'ko1 ,seng-,ts'an1 ,tao-hsin1 ,fa-jung1 ,hung-jen1 ,shen- hsiu1 ,hui-neng1 ,ma-tsu1 ,huai-hai1 ,nan'chuan1 ,chao-,chou1 ,p'ang1 ,han- shan1 ,huang-po1 ,lin-,chi1 ,rinzai1 ,soto1 ,tung-shan1 ,ts'ao-shan1 ,kuei- shan1 ,yun-men1 ,fa-yen1 ,ta-hui1 ,eisai1 ,dogen1 ,hakuin ,,permissions ,selections from ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vols4 ,i and ,,ii1 by ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth 7,tokyo3 ,the ,hokuseido ,press1 copyright 7,c7 #aifj1 #aifd by ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth1 copyright 7,c7 #aigh by ,frederick ,franck71 reprinted by permission of ,joan ,daves4 ,selections from ,cold ,mountain by ,han-shan1 ,burton ,watson1 trans4 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aigj71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,the ,recorded ,sayings of ,layman ,pang1 ,ruth ,fuller ,sasaki et al41 trans4 7,new ,york3 ,john ,weatherhill71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,anthology of ,chinese ,literature1 ,cyril ,birch1 ed41 ,gary ,snyder1 trans4 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 copyright 7,c7 #aife by ,grove ,press71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,tao3 ,a ,new ,way of ,thinking by ,chang ,chung-yuan1 7,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 ,perennial ,library1 copyright 7,c7 #aige by ,chang ,chung- yuan71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selection from ,a ,history of ,zen ,buddhism by ,heinrich ,s4 ,j4 ,dumoulin1 ,paul ,peachey1 trans4 7,new ,york3 ,pantheon ,books1 #aifb71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selection by ,ikkyu from ,some ,japanese ,portraits by ,donald ,keene 7,tokyo3 ,kodansha ,international1 #aigi71 reprinted by permission of author4 ,selections from ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism by ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selection from ,the ,sutra of ,hui-neng1 ,price and ,wong1 trans4 7,boulder3 ,shambala ,publications71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,the ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,philip ,yamplosky1 trans4 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,the ,zen ,master ,hakuin by ,philip ,yamplosky 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aiga71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,the ,golden ,age of ,zen by ,john ,c4 ,h4 ,wu 7,taipei1 ,taiwan3 ,hwakang ,book ,store71 reprinted by permission of author4 ,selections from ,the ,zen ,teaching of the ,hui ,hai on ,sudden ,illumination by ,john ,blofeld 7,new ,york3 ,samuel ,weiser1 #aigb71 reprinjted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,zen ,master ,dogen by ,yoho ,yukoi 7,new ,york3 ,john ,weatherhill71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism by ,chang ,chung- yuan 7,new ,york3 ,vintage1 #aifi71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,swampland ,flowers by ,christopher ,cleary 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 copyright 7,c7 #aigg by ,christopher ,cleary71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,the ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po on the ,transmission of ,mind by ,john ,blofeld 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 copyright 7,c7 #aieh by ,john ,blofeld71 reprinted by permission of publisher4 ,selections from ,zen-,man ,ikkyu1 a dissertation by ,john ,sanford1 ,university of ,north ,carolina1 ,chapel ,hill1 reprinted by permission of author4 ,selections from ,zen is ,eternal ,life by ,roshi ,jiyu-,kennett 7,dharma ,publishing1 copyright 7,c7 #aigf by ,roshi ,jiyu-,kennett71 reprinted by permission of author74 ,,acknowledgments ,heartfelt thanks go to ,dr4 ,philip ,yampolsky of ,columbia ,university1 who reviewed the manuscript in draft and clarified many points of fact and interpretation4 ,i also am indebted to the works of a number of ,zen interpreters for the ,west1 including ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,john ,blofeld1 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 and ,charles ,luk4 ,in cases where this finger pointing at the moon mistakenly aims astray1 ,i alone am responsible4 ,,contents ,preface to ,zen ,taoism3 ,the ,way to ,zen ,lao ,tzu ,chuang ,tzu ,kuo ,hsiang3 ,a ,neo-,taoist ,the ,seven ,sages of the ,bamboo ,grove ,the ,buddhist ,roots of ,zen ,the ,buddha ,nagarjuna ,kumarajiva ,seng-chao ,tao-sheng ,the ,synthesis ,,part ,i4 ,,the ,,early ,,masters #a4 ,bodhidharma3 ,first ,patriarch of ,zen #b4 ,hui-k'o3 ,second ,patriarch of ,zen #c4 ,seng-,ts'an1 ,tao-hsin1 ,fa-jung1 and ,hung-jen3 ,four ,early ,masters #d4 ,shen-hsiu and ,shen-hui3 ,gradual and ,sudden ,masters #e4 ,hui-neng3 ,sixth ,patriarch and ,father of ,modern ,zen ,,part ,,ii4 ,,the ,,golden ,,age ,,of ,,zen #f4 ,ma-tsu3 ,originator of ,shock ,enlightenment #g4 ,huai-hai3 ,father of ,monastic ,ch'an #h4 ,nan-ch'uan and ,chao-chou3 ,masters of the ,irrational #i4 ,p'ang and ,han-shan3 ,layman and ,poet #aj4 ,huang-po3 ,master of the ,universal ,mind ,,part ,,iii4 ,,sectarianism ,,and ,,the ,,koan #aa4 ,lin-chi3 ,founder of ,rinzai ,zen #ab4 ,tung-shan and ,ts'ao-shan3 ,founders of ,soto ,zen #ac4 ,kuei-shan1 ,yun-men1 and ,fa-yen3 ,three ,minor ,houses #ad4 ,ta-hui3 ,master of the ,koan ,,part ,,iv4 ,,zen ,,in ,,japan #ae4 ,eisai3 ,the ,first ,japanese ,master #af4 ,dogen3 ,father of ,japanese ,soto ,zen #ag4 ,ikkyu3 ,zen ,eccentric #ah4 ,hakuin3 ,japanese ,master of the ,koan #ai4 ,reflections ,notes ,bibliography ,,the ,,zen ,,experience ,the sole aim of ,zen is to enable one to understand1 realize1 and perfect his own mind4 ,garma ,c4 ,c4 ,chang ,,preface ,,to ,,zen ,lao ,tzu1 ,buddha1 ,confucius ,some call it seeing1 some call it knowing1 and some describe it in religious terms4 ,whatever the name1 it is our reach for a new level of consciousness4 ,of the many forms this search has taken1 perhaps the most intriguing is ,zen4 ,growing out of the wisdom of ,china1 ,india1 and ,japan1 ,zen became a powerful movement to explore the lesser-known reaches of the human mind4 ,today ,zen has come westward1 where we are rediscovering modern significance in its ancient insights4 ,this book is an attempt to encounter ,zen in its purest form1 by returning to the greatest ,zen masters4 ,zen teachings often appear deceptively simple4 ,this misconception is compounded by the ,zen claim that explanations are meaningless4 ,they are1 of course1 but merely because genuine ,zen insights can arise only from individual experience4 ,and although our experience can be described and even analyzed1 it cannot be transmitted or shared4 ,at most1 the teachings of ,zen can only clear the way to our deeper consciousness4 ,the rest is up to us4 ,zen is based on the recognition of two incompatible types of thought3 rational and intuitive4 ,rationality employs language1 logic1 reason4 ,its precepts can be taught4 ,intuitive knowledge1 however1 is different4 ,it lurks embedded in our consciousness1 beyond words4 ,unlike rational thought1 intuition cannot be taught or even turned on4 ,in fact1 it is impossible to find or manipulate this intuitive consciousness using our rational mind--any more than we can grasp our own hand or see our own eye4 ,the ,zen masters devised ways to reach this repressed area of human consciousness4 ,some of their techniques--like meditation--were borrowed from ,indian ,buddhism1 and some--like their antirational paradoxes--may have been learned from ,chinese ,taoists4 ,but other inventions1 like their jarring shouts and blows1 emerged from their own experience4 ,throughout it all1 however1 their words and actions were only a means1 never an end4 ,that end is an intuitive realization of a single great insight--that we and the world around are one1 both part of a larger encompassing absolute4 ,our rational intellect merely obscures this truth1 and consequently we must shut it off1 if only for a moment4 ,rationality constrains our mind2 intuition releases it4 ,the irony is that the person glimpsing this moment of higher consciousness1 this ,oneness1 encounters the ultimate realization that there is nothing to realize4 ,the world is still there1 unchanged4 ,but the difference is that it is now an extension of our consciousness1 seen directly and not analytically4 ,and since it is redundant to be attached to something already a part of you1 there is a sudden sense of freedom from our agonizing bondage to things4 ,along with this also comes release from the constraints of artificial values4 ,creating systems and categories is not unlike counting the colors of a rainbow--both merely detract from our experience of reality1 while at the same time limiting our appreciation of the world's richness4 ,and to declare something right or wrong is similarly nearsighted4 ,as ,alan ,watts once observed1 ,zen unveils behind the urgent realm of good and evil a vast region of oneself about which there need be no guilt or recrimination1 where at last the self is indistinguishable from ,god4 ,and1 we might add1 where ,god is also one with our consciousness1 our self4 ,in ,zen all dualities dissolve1 absorbed in the larger reality that simply is4 ,none of these things is taught explicitly in ,zen4 ,instead they are discovered waiting in our consciousness after all else has been swept away4 ,a scornful twelfth-century ,chinese scholar summarized the ,zen method as follows3 ,since the ,zen masters never run the risk of explaining anything in plain language1 their followers must do their own pondering and puzzling--from which a real threshing-out results4 ,in these pages we will watch the threshing-out of ,zen itself--as its masters unfold a new realm of consciousness1 the ,zen experience4 ,,taoism3 ,,the ,,way ,,to ,,zen ,taoism is the original religion of ancient ,china4 ,it is founded on the idea that a fundamental principle1 the ,tao1 underlies all nature4 ,long before the appearance of ,zen1 ,taoists were teaching the superiority of intuitive thought1 using an anti-intellectualism that often ridiculed the logic-bound limitations of conventional ,chinese life and letters4 ,however1 ,taoism was always upbeat and positive in its acceptance of reality1 a quality that also rubbed off on ,zen over the centuries4 ,furthermore1 many ,taoist philosophers left writings whose world view seems almost ,zen-like4 ,the early ,chinese teachers of meditation 7called dhyana in ,sanskrit and ,ch'an in ,chinese7 absorbed the ,taoist tradition of intuitive wisdom1 and later ,zen masters often used ,taoist expressions4 ,it is fitting1 therefore1 that we briefly meet some of the most famous teachers of ,chinese ,taoism4 ,,lao ,,tzu ,one of the most influential figures in ancient ,chinese lore is remembered today merely as ,lao ,tzu 7,venerable ,master74 ,taoist legends report he once disputed 7and bettered7 the scholarly ,confucius1 but that he finally despaired of the world and rode an oxcart off into the west1 pausing at the ,han-ku ,pass--on the insistence of its keeper--to set down his insights in a five-thousand-character poem4 ,this work1 the ,tao ,te ,ching 7,the ,way and the ,power71 was an eloquent1 organized1 and lyrical statement of an important point of view in ,china of the sixth century ,b4,c41 an understanding later to become an essential element of ,ch'an ,buddhism4 ,the word ,tao means many1 many things--including the elan vital or life force of the universe1 the harmonious structuring of human affairs1 and--perhaps most important--a reality transcending words4 ,taoists declared there is a knowledge not accessible by language4 ,as the ,tao ,te ,ching announces in its opening line1 ,the ,tao that can be put into words is not the real ,tao4 ,also fundamental to the ,tao is the unity of mind and matter1 of the one who knows and the thing known4 ,the understanding of a truth and the truth itself cannot be separated4 ,the ,tao includes and unifies these into a larger reality encompassing both4 ,the notion that our knowledge is distinguishable from that known is an illusion4 ,another teaching of the ,tao ,te ,ching is that intuitive insight surpasses rational analysis4 ,when we act on our spontaneous judgment1 we are almost always better off4 ,chapter #ai declares1 ,let the people be free from discernment and relinquish intellection 4 4 4 ,hold to one's original nature 4 4 4 ,eliminate artificial learning and one will be free from anxieties4#a ,the wise defer to a realm of insight floating in our mind beyond its conscious state4 ,taoists also questioned the value of social organization1 holding that the best government is the one governing least and that the wise deal with things through non-interference and teach through no-words4#b ,taoists typically refused to draw value judgments on others' behavior4 ,lao ,tzu asks1 ,what is the difference between good and bad8#c and concludes1 ,goodness often turns out to be evil4#d ,there is complete acceptance of what is1 with no desire to make things better4 ,lao ,tzu believed good and bad were both part of ,tao and therefore1 ,even if a man is unworthy1 ,tao will never exclude him4#e ,if all things are one1 there can be no critical differentiation of any part4 ,this concentration on inner perception1 to the exclusion of practical concerns1 evoked a criticism from the third-century-,b4,c4 ,confucian philosopher ,hsun ,tzu that has a curiously modern ring of social consciousness4 ,lao ,tzu understood looking inward1 but knew nothing of looking outward4 4 4 4 ,if there is merely inward-looking and never outward-looking1 there can be no distinction between what has value and what has not1 between what is precious and what is vile1 between what is noble and what is vulgar4#f ,but the refusal of ,lao ,tzu to intellectualize what is natural or to sit in judgment over the world was the perfect ,chinese precedent for ,ch'an4 ,,chuang ,,tzu ,the second important figure in ,taoism is the almost equally legendary teacher remembered as ,chuang ,tzu1 who is usually placed in the fourth century ,b4,c41 some two centuries after ,lao ,tzu4 ,an early historian tells that once ,chuang ,tzu was invited to the court to serve as a minister1 an invitation he declined with a typical story3 ,an ox is selected for a festival and fattened up for several years1 living the life of wealth and indulgence--until the day he is led away for sacrifice4 ,at that reckoning what would he give to return to the simple life1 where there was poverty but also freedom8 ,in ,chuang ,tzu's own book of wisdom1 he also derided the faith in rationality common to ,chinese scholars4 ,to emphasize his point he devised a vehicle for assaulting the apparatus of logic--that being a nonsense story whose point could only be understood intuitively41 ,there has yet to be found a more deadly weapon against pompous intellectualizing1 as the ,ch'an ,buddhists later proved with the koan4 ,chuang ,tzu also knew how quickly comedy could deflate1 and he used it with consummate skill1 again paving the way for the absurdist ,zen masters4 ,in fact1 his dialogues often anticipate the ,zen mondo1 the exchanges between master and pupil that have comic_/straight-man overtones4 ,in this regard1 ,chuang ,tzu also sometimes anticipates twentieth-century writers for the ,theater of the ,absurd1 such as ,beckett or ,ionesco4 ,significantly1 the ,columbia scholar ,burton ,watson suggests that the most fruitful path to ,chuang ,tzu is not to attempt to subject his thoughts to rational and systematic analysis1 but to read and reread his words until one has ceased to think of what he is saying and instead has developed an intuitive sense of the mind moving beyond the words1 and of the world in which it moves4#g ,this is undoubtedly true4 ,the effect of comic parody on logic is so telling that the only way to really understand the message is to stop trying to understand it4 ,concerning the limitations of verbal transmission1 ,chuang ,tzu tells a story of a wheelmaker who once advised his duke that the book of ancient thought the man was reading was nothing but the lees and scum of bygone men4 ,the duke angrily demanded an explanation--and received a classic defense of the superiority of intuitive understanding over language and logic4 ,i look at the matter in this way2 when ,i am making a wheel1 if my stroke is too slow1 then it bites deep but is not steady2 if my stroke is too fast1 then it is steady1 but does not go deep4 ,the right pace1 neither slow nor fast1 cannot get into the hand unless it comes from the heart4 ,it is a thing that cannot be put into words2 there is an art in it that ,i cannot explain to my son4 ,that is why it is impossible for me to let him take over my work1 and here ,i am at the age of seventy1 still making wheels4 ,in my opinion1 it must have been the same with the men of old4 ,all that was worth handing on died with them2 the rest1 they put into their books4#h ,chuang ,tzu's parable that perhaps best illustrates the ,taoist ideal concerns a cook who had discovered one lives best by following nature's rhythms4 ,the cook explained that his naturalness was easy after he learned to let intuition guide his actions4 ,this approach he called practicing the ,tao1 but it is in fact the objective of ,zen practice as well4 ,prince ,wen ,hui remarked1 ,how wonderfully you have mastered your art4 ,the cook laid down his knife and said1 ,what your servant really cares for is ,tao1 which goes beyond mere art4 ,when ,i first began to cut up oxen1 ,i saw nothing but oxen4 ,after three years of practicing1 ,i no longer saw the ox as a whole4 ,i now work with my spirit1 not with my eyes4 ,my senses stop functioning and my spirit takes over4#i ,what he described is the elimination of the rational mind1 which he refers to as the senses1 and the reliance upon the intuitive part of his mind1 here called the spirit4 ,he explained how this intuitive approach allowed him to work naturally4 ,a good cook changes his knife once a year because he cuts1 while a mediocre cook has to change his every month because he hacks4 ,i've had this knife of mine for nineteen years and have cut up thousands of oxen with it1 and yet the edge is as if it were fresh from the grindstone4 ,there are spaces between the joints4 ,the blade of the knife has no thickness4 ,that which has no thickness has plenty of room to pass through these spaces4 ,therefore1 after nineteen years1 my blade is as sharp as ever4#aj ,lao ,tzu and ,chuang ,tzu did not see themselves as founders of any formal religion4 ,they merely described the obvious1 encouraging others to be a part of nature and not its antagonist4 ,their movement1 now called ,philosophical ,taoism1 was eclipsed during the ,han ,dynasty 7#bjf ,b4,c4-,a4,d4 #bbj7 in official circles by various other systems of thought1 most particularly ,confucianism 7which stressed obedience to authority-- both that of elders and of superiors--and reverence for formalized learning1 not to mention the acceptance of a structured hierarchy as part of one's larger social responsibility74 ,however1 toward the end of the ,han era there arose two new types of ,taoism3 an ,esoteric ,taoism that used physical disciplines to manipulate consciousness1 and a ,popular ,taoism that came close to being a religion in the traditional mold4 ,the first was mystical ,esoteric ,taoism1 which pursued the prolonging of life and vigor1 but this gave way during later times to ,popular ,taoism1 a metaphysical alternative to the comfortless1 arid ,confucianism of the scholarly establishment4 ,the post-,han era saw the ,philosophical ,taoism of ,lao ,tzu and ,chuang ,tzu emerge anew among ,chinese intellectuals1 actually coming to vie with ,confucianism4 ,this whole era witnessed a turning away from the accepted values of society1 as the well-organized government of the ,han era dissolved into political and intellectual confusion4 ,government was unstable and corrupt1 and the ,confucianism which had been its philosophical underpinning was stilted and unsatisfying4 ,whenever a society breaks down1 the belief system supporting it naturally comes under question4 ,this happened in ,china in the third and fourth centuries of the ,christian era1 and from it emerged a natural opposition to ,confucianism4 ,one form of this opposition was the imported religion of ,buddhism1 which provided a spiritual solace missing in the teachings of ,confucius1 while the other was a revival among intellectuals of ,philosophical ,taoism4 ,,kuo ,,hsiang3 ,a ,,neo-,,taoist ,in this disruptive environment1 certain intellectuals returned again to the insights of ,lao ,tzu and ,chuang ,tzu1 creating a movement today known as ,neo-,taoism4 ,one of the thinkers who tried to reinterpret original ,taoist ideas for the new times was ,kuo ,hsiang 7d4 ca4 #cab71 who co- authored a major document of ,neo-,taoism entitled ,commentary on the ,chuang ,tzu4 ,it focused on the important ,taoist idea of wu-wei1 once explained as follows3 4 4 4to them the key concept of ,taoism1 wu 7literally1 nonexistence71 is not nothingness1 but pure being1 which transcends forms and names1 and precisely because it is absolute and complete1 can accomplish everything4 ,the sage is not one who withdraws into the life of a hermit1 but a man of social and political achievements1 although these achievements must be brought about through wu-wei1 'nonaction' or 'taking no unnatural action4' #a1aa ,this concept of wu-wei has also been described as abstaining from activity contrary to nature and acting in a spontaneous rather than calculated fashion4 ,in ,kuo ,hsiang's words3 ,being natural means to exist spontaneously without having to take any action4 4 4 4 ,by taking no action is not meant folding one's arms and closing one's mouth4 ,if we simply let everything act by itself1 it will be contented with its nature and destiny4 7#ab7 ,kuo ,hsiang's commentary expanded on almost all the major ideas of ,chuang ,tzu1 drawing out with logic what originally had been set in absurdism4 ,criticizing this1 a later ,ch'an monk observed1 ,people say ,kuo ,hsiang wrote a commentary on ,chuang ,tzu4 ,i would say it was ,chuang ,tzu who wrote a commentary on ,kuo ,hsiang4#ac ,nonetheless1 the idea of wu-wei1 processed through ,buddhism1 emerged in different guise in later ,ch'an1 influencing the concept of no-mind4 ,,the ,,seven ,,sages ,,of ,,the ,,bamboo ,,grove ,other ,chinese were content merely to live the ideas of ,neo-,taoism4 ,among these were the ,seven ,sages of the ,bamboo ,grove1 men part of a larger movement known as the ,school of ,pure ,conversation4 ,their favorite pastime was to gather north of ,loyang on the estate of one of their members1 where they engaged in refined conversation1 wrote poetry and music1 and 7not incidentally7 drank wine4 ,to some extent they reflected the recluse ideal of old1 except that they found the satisfaction of the senses no impediment to introspection4 ,what they did forswear1 however1 was the world of getting and spending4 ,although men of distinction1 they rejected fame1 ambition1 and worldly station4 ,there is a story that one of the ,seven ,sages1 a man named ,liu ,ling 7ca4 #bba-ccj71 habitually received guests while completely naked4 ,his response to adverse comment was to declare1 ,i take the whole universe as my house and my own room as my clothing4 ,why1 then1 do you enter here into my trousers4#ad ,it is also told that two of the sages 7,juan ,chi1 #baj-fc1 and his nephew ,juan ,hsien7 often sat drinking with their family in such conviviality that they skipped the nuisance of cups and just drank directly from a wine bowl on the ground4 ,when pigs wandered by1 these too were invited to sip from the same chalice4 ,if one exempts all nature--including pigs-- from distinction1 discrimination1 and duality1 why exclude them as drinking companions8 ,but perhaps the most significant insight of the ,seven ,sages of the ,bamboo ,grove was their recognition of the limited uses of language4 ,we are told1 ,they engaged in conversation 'til1 as they put it1 they reached the ,unnameable1 and 'stopped talking and silently understood each other with a smile4' #a,s ,,the ,,buddhist ,,roots ,,of ,,zen ,there is a legend the ,buddha was once handed a flower and asked to preach on the law4 ,the story says he received the blossom without a sound and silently wheeled it in his hand4 ,then amid the hush his most perceptive follower1 ,kashyapa1 suddenly burst into a smile 4 4 4 and thus was born the wordless wisdom of ,zen4 ,the understanding of this silent insight was passed down through the centuries1 independent of the scriptures1 finally emerging as the ,chinese school of ,ch'an1 later called ,zen by the ,japanese4 ,it is said the absence of early writings about the school is nothing more than would be expected of a teaching which was1 by definition1 beyond words4 ,the master ,wen-yu summed it up when he answered a demand for the ,first ,principle of ,ch'an with1 ,if words could tell you1 it would become the ,second ,principle4 ,this version of ,zen's origin is satisfying1 and for all we know it may even be true4 ,but there are other1 considerably more substantive1 sources for the ideas that came to flower as ,ch'an4 ,taoism1 of course1 had plowed away at the ,confucianist clutter restraining the ,chinese mind1 but it was ,buddhism that gave ,china the necessary new philosophical structure--this being the metaphysical speculations of ,india4 ,pure ,chinese naturalism met ,indian abstraction1 and the result was ,ch'an4 ,the school of ,ch'an was in part the grafting of fragile foreign ideas 7,buddhism7 onto a sturdy native species of understanding 7,taoism74 ,but its simplicity was in many ways a re-expression of the ,buddha's original insights4 ,,the ,,buddha ,the historic ,buddha was born to the high-caste family ,gautama during the sixth century ,b4,c4 in the region that is today northeast ,india and ,nepal4 ,after a childhood and youth of indulgence he turned to asceticism and for over half a decade rigorously followed the traditional ,indian practices of fasting and meditation1 only finally to reject these in despair4 ,however1 an auspicious dream and one final meditation at last brought total enlightenment4 ,gautama the seeker had become ,buddha the ,enlightened1 and he set out to preach4 ,it was not gods that concerned him1 but the mind of man and its sorrowing4 ,we are unhappy1 he explained1 because we are slaves to our desires4 ,extinguish desire and suffering goes with it4 ,if people could be taught that the physical or phenomenal world is illusion1 then they would cease their attachment to it1 thereby finding release from their self-destructive mental bondage4 ,the ,buddha neglected to set down these ideas in written form however1 perhaps unwisely leaving this task to later generations4 ,his teachings subsequently were recreated in the form of sermons or sutras4 ,in later years1 the ,buddhist movement split into two separate philosophical camps1 known today as ,theravada and ,mahayana4 ,the ,theravada ,buddhists-- found primarily in southeast ,asia1 ,sri ,lanka1 and ,burma--venerate the early writings of ,buddhism 7known today as the ,pali ,canon7 and tend to content themselves with practicing the philosophy of the ,buddha rather than enlarging upon it with speculative commentaries4 ,by contrast1 the followers of ,mahayana--who include the bulk of all ,buddhists in ,china1 ,japan1 and ,tibet--left the simple prescriptions of the ,buddha far behind in their creation of a vast new literature 7in ,sanskrit1 ,tibetan1 and ,chinese7 of complex theologies4 ,chinese ,ch'an grew out of ,mahayana1 as of course did ,japanese ,zen4 ,,nagarjuna ,after the ,buddha1 perhaps the most important ,buddhist figure is the second-century ,a4,d4 ,indian philosopher ,nagarjuna4 ,some call him the most important thinker ,asia has produced4 ,according to ,tibetan legends his parents sent him away from home at seven because an astrologer had predicted his early death and they wished to be spared the sight4 ,but he broke the spell by entering ,buddhist orders1 and went on to become the faith's foremost philosopher4 ,today ,nagarjuna is famous for his analysis of the so-called ,wisdom ,books of ,mahayana1 a set of ,sanskrit sutras composed between #ajj ,b4,c4 and ,a4,d4 #ajj4 7,included in this category are ,the ,perfection of ,wisdom in #h1jjj ,lines1 as well as the ,diamond ,sutra and ,heart ,sutra1 both essential scriptures of ,zen47 ,nagarjuna was the originator of the ,middle ,path1 so named because it strove to define a middle ground between affirmation of the world and complete negation of existence4 ,reality1 said ,nagarjuna1 cannot be realized through conceptual constructions1 since concepts are contained inside reality1 not vice versa4 ,consequently1 only through the intuitive mind can reality be approached4 ,his name for this reality beyond the mind's analysis was sunyata1 usually translated as emptiness but sometimes as the ,void4 7,sunyata is perhaps an unprovable concept1 but so too are the ego and the unconscious1 both hypothetical constructs useful in explaining reality but impossible to locate on the operating table47 ,nagarjuna's most-quoted manifesto has the logic-defying ring of a ,zen 3 ,nothing comes into existence nor does anything disappear4 ,nothing is eternal1 nor has anything any end4 ,nothing is identical or differentiated4 ,nothing moves hither and thither4 ,as the ,ch'an teachers interpreted the teaching of sunyata1 the things of this world are all a mental creation1 since external phenomena are transient and only exist for us because of our perception4 ,consequently they are actually created by our mind 7or1 if you will1 a more universal entity called ,mind74 ,consequently they do not exist outside our mind and hence are a void4 ,yet the mind itself1 which is the only thing real1 is also a void since its thoughts cannot be located by the five senses4 ,the ,void is therefore everything1 since it includes both the world and the mind4 ,hence1 sunyata4 ,as a modern ,nagarjuna scholar has described sunyata1 or emptiness1 it is a positive sense of freedom1 not a deprivation ,this awareness of 'emptiness' is not a blank loss of consciousness1 an inanimate space2 rather it is the cognition of daily life without the attachment to it4 ,it is an awareness of distinct entities1 of the self1 of 'good' and 'bad' and other practical determinations2 but it is aware of these as empty structures4#af ,the ,zen masters found ways to achieve the cognition without attachment postulated by ,nagarjuna1 and they paid him homage by making him one of the legendary twenty-eight ,indian ,patriarchs of ,zen by posthumous decree4 ,,kumarajiva ,the ,indian missionary who transmitted the idea of ,emptiness to ,china was ,kumarajiva 7#cdd-dac71 a swashbuckling guru who1 more than any other individual1 was responsible for planting sophisticated ,mahayana ,buddhist ideas in ,chinese soil4 ,before telling his story1 however1 it may be well to reflect briefly on how ,buddhism got to ,china in the first place4 ,although there are records of a ,buddhist missionary in ,china as early as ,a4,d4 #adh1 historians are hard pressed to find the name of an out- and-out native ,chinese ,buddhist before sometime in the third century4 ,buddhism1 which at first apparently was confused with ,taoism1 seems to have come into fashion after the ,neo-,taoists ran out of creative steam4 ,shortly thereafter1 around ,a4,d4 #bji1 intelligible ,chinese translations of ,indian ,mahayana sutras finally began to become available4 ,there were many things about ,buddhism1 however1 that rubbed ,chinese the wrong way4 ,first there were the practical matters3 ,buddhism allowed1 if not encouraged1 begging1 celibacy1 and neglect of ancestors--all practices to rankle any traditional ,chinese4 ,then there were fundamental philosophical differences3 ,buddhism offered to break one out of the ,hindu cycle of rebirth1 something the ,chinese had not realized they needed2 and ,indian thought was naturally geared to cosmic time1 with its endless cycles of eons1 whereas the ,chinese saw time as a line leading back to identifiable ancestors4 ,early missionaries tried to gain acceptability for ,buddhism by explaining it in ,taoist terms1 including stretching the two enough to find matching concepts or ideas with superficial similarity1 and they also let out the myth that the ,buddha was actually ,lao ,tzu1 who had gone on to ,india after leaving ,china4 ,when barbarians sacked the ,northern ,chinese center of ,loyang in the year #cac and took over ,north ,china's government1 many of its influential ,confucianist scholars fled to the south4 ,these emigres were disillusioned with the social ideas of ,confucianism and ready for a solace of the spirit4 ,thus they turned for comfort to ,buddhist ideas1 but using ,neo-,taoist terminology and often treating ,buddhism more as a subject for salon speculations than as a religion4 ,by translating ,buddhism into a ,neo-,taoist framework1 these southern intellectuals effectively avoided having to grapple with the new ideas in ,buddhist metaphysics4 ,in ,north ,china1 the ,buddhists took advantage of the new absence of competing ,confucianists to move into ruling circles and assume the role of the literate class4 ,they preached a simple form of ,buddhism1 often shamelessly dwelling on magic and incantations to arouse interest among the greatest number of followers4 ,the common people were drawn to ,buddhism1 since it provided for the first time in ,china a religion that seemed to care for people's suffering1 their personal growth1 their salvation in an afterlife4 ,thus ,buddhism took hold in ,north ,china mainly because it provided hope and magic for the masses and a political firewall against ,confucianism for the new rulers4 ,as late as the beginning of the fifth century1 therefore1 ,buddhism was misunderstood and encouraged for the wrong reasons in both north and south4 ,kumarajiva1 who would change all this1 was born in ,kucha to an ,indian father of the ,brahmin caste and a mother of noble blood4 ,when he was seven he and his mother traveled to ,kashmir to enter ,buddhist orders together4 ,after several years of studying the ,theravada sutras1 he moved on to ,kashgar1 where he turned his attention to ,mahayana philosophy4 ,at age twenty we find him back in ,kucha1 being ordained in the king's palace and sharpening his understanding of the ,mahayana scriptures4 ,he also1 we are told1 sharpened his non-,buddhist amorous skills1 perhaps finding consolation in the illusory world of the senses for the hollow emptiness of sunyata4 ,in the year #chb or #chc1 he was taken captive and removed to a remote area in northeastern ,china1 where he was held prisoner for almost two decades1 much to the dismay of the rulers in ,ch'ang-an1 who wanted nothing more than to have this teacher 7who was by then a famous ,buddhist scholar7 for their own4 ,after seventeen years their patience ran out and they sent an army to defeat his recalcitrant captors and bring him back4 ,he arrived in ,ch'ang-an in the year #dja and immediately began a project crucial to the future of ,chinese ,buddhism4 ,a modern scholar of ,chinese religion tells what happened next4 4 4 4 ,chinese monks were assembled from far and near to work with him in translating the sacred texts4 ,this was a 'highly structured project1' suggestive of the cooperative enterprises of scientists today4 ,there were corps of specialists at all levels3 those who discussed doctrinal questions with ,kumarajiva1 those who checked the new translations against the old and imperfect ones1 hundreds of editors1 sub-editors1 and copyists4 ,the quality and quantity of the translations produced by these men in the space of eight years is truly astounding4 ,thanks to their efforts the ideas of ,mahayana ,buddhism were presented in ,chinese with far greater clarity and precision than ever before4 ,sunyata--,nagar- juna's concept of the ,void--was disentangled from the ,taoist terminology that had obscured and distorted it1 and this and other key doctrines of ,buddhism were made comprehensible enough to lay the intellectual foundations of the great age of independent ,chinese ,buddhism that was to follow4#ag ,the ,chinese rulers contrived to put ,kumarajiva's other devotion to use as well1 installing a harem of ten beautiful young ,chinese girls for him1 through whom he was encouraged to perpetuate a lineage of his own4 ,this genetic experiment apparently came to nothing1 but two native ,chinese studying under him1 ,seng-chao 7#chd-dad7 and ,tao-sheng 7ca4 #cfj- #dcd71 would carry his contribution through the final steps needed to open the way for the development of ,ch'an4 ,,seng-,,chao ,the short-lived ,seng-chao was born to a humble family in the ,ch'ang-an region1 where he reportedly got his indispensable grounding in the ,chinese classics by working as a copyist4 ,he originally was a confirmed ,taoist1 but after reading the sutra of ,vimalakirti 7which described a pious nobleman who combined the secular life of a bon vivant businessman with an inner existence of ,buddhist enlightenment1 a combination instantly attractive to the practical ,chinese71 ,seng-chao turned ,buddhist4 ,in the year #cih1 at age fifteen1 he traveled to the northwest to study personally under the famous ,kumarajiva1 and he later returned to ,ch'ang-an with the master4 ,conversant first in the ,taoist and then in the ,buddhist classics1 ,seng- chao began the real synthesis of the two that would eventually evolve into ,ch'an4 ,the ,china scholar ,walter ,liebenthal has written that the doctrine of ,nagarjuna's ,middle ,path1 sinicized by ,seng-chao1 emerged in the later ,ch'an thinkers cleansed of the traces of ,indian origin4 ,he declares1 ,seng-chao interpreted ,mahayana1 the ,ch'an founders ,hui- neng and ,shen-hui re-thought it4#ah ,three of ,seng-chao's treatises exist today as the ,book of ,chao 7or ,chao ,lun71 and they give an idea of how ,chuang ,tzu might have written had he been a ,buddhist4 ,there is the distrust of words1 the unmistakable preference for immediate1 intuitive knowledge1 and the masterful use of wordplay and paradox that leaves his meaning ambiguous4 ,most important of all1 he believed that truth had to be experienced1 not reasoned out4 ,truth was what lay behind words2 it should never be confused with the words themselves3 ,a thing called up by a name may not appear as what it is expected to appear2 a name calling up a thing may not lead to the real thing4 ,therefore the sphere of ,truth is beyond the noise of verbal teaching4 ,how then can it be made the subject of discussion8 ,still ,i cannot remain silent4#ai ,the dean of ,zen scholars1 ,heinrich ,dumoulin1 declares1 ,the relationship of ,seng-chao to ,zen is to be found in his orientation toward the immediate and experiential perception of absolute truth1 and reveals itself in his preference for the paradox as the means of expressing the inexpressible4#bj ,dumoulin also notes that the ,book of ,chao regards the way to enlightenment as one of gradual progress4 ,however1 the idea that truth can be approached gradually was disputed by the other major pupil of ,kumarajiva1 whose insistence that enlightenment must arrive instantaneously has caused some to declare him the ideological founder of ,zen4 ,,tao-,,sheng ,the famous ,tao-sheng was the first ,chinese ,buddhist to advance the idea of sudden enlightenment1 and as a result he earned the enmity of his immediate colleagues--and lasting fame as having anticipated one of the fundamental innovations of ,zen thought4 ,he first studied ,buddhism at ,lu-shan1 but in #dje he moved to ,ch'ang-an1 becoming for a while a part of the coterie surrounding ,kumarajiva4 ,none of his writings survive1 but the work of a colleague1 ,hui-yuan1 is usually taken as representative of his ideas4 ,tao-sheng is known today for two theories4 ,the first was that good deeds do not automatically bring reward1 a repudiation of the ,indian ,buddhist concept of merit4 ,the other1 and perhaps more important1 deviation he preached was that enlightenment was instantaneous4 ,the reason1 he said1 was simple3 since ,buddhists say the world is one1 nothing is divisible1 even truth1 and therefore the subjective understanding of truth must come all at once or not at all4 ,preparatory work and progress toward the goal of enlightenment1 including study and meditation1 could proceed step-by-step and are wholesome and worthwhile1 but to reach the other shore1 as the phrase in the ,heart ,sutra describes enlightenment1 requires a leap over a gulf1 a realization that must hit you with all its force the first time4 ,what exactly is it that you understand on the other shore8 ,first you come to realize--as you can only realize intuitively and directly--that enlightenment was within you all along4 ,you become enlightened when you finally recognize that you already had it4 ,the next realization is that there actually is no other shore1 since reaching it means realizing that there was nothing to reach4 ,as his thoughts have been quoted3 ,as to reaching the other shore1 if one reaches it1 one is not reaching the other shore4 ,both not-reaching and not-not-reaching are really reaching4 4 4 4 ,if one sees ,buddha1 one is not seeing ,buddha4 ,when one sees there is no ,buddha1 one is really seeing ,buddha4#ba ,little wonder ,tao-sheng is sometimes credited as the spiritual father of ,zen4 ,he championed the idea of sudden enlightenment1 something inimical to much of the ,buddhism that had gone before1 and he distrusted words 7comparing them to a net which1 after it has caught the fish of truth1 should be discarded74 ,he identified the ,taoist idea of wu-wei or nonaction with the intuitive1 spontaneous apprehension of truth without logic1 opening the door for the ,ch'an mainstay of no- mind as a way to ultimate truth4 ,,the ,,synthesis ,buddhism has always maintained a skeptical attitude toward reality and appearances1 something obviously at odds with the wholehearted celebration of nature that characterizes ,taoism4 ,whereas ,buddhism believes it would be best if we could simply ignore the world1 the source of our psychic pain1 the ,taoists wanted nothing so much as to have complete union with this same world4 ,buddhism teaches union with the ,void1 while ,taoism teaches union with the ,tao4 ,at first they seem opposite directions4 ,but the synthesis of these doctrines appeared in ,zen1 which taught that the oneness of the ,void1 wherein all reality is subsumed1 could be understood as an encompassing whole or continuum1 as in the ,tao4 ,both are merely expressions of the ,absolute4 ,the ,buddhists unite with the ,void2 the ,taoists yearn to merge with the ,tao4 ,in ,zen the two ideas reconcile4 ,with this philosophical prelude in place1 we may now turn to the masters who created the world of ,zen4 ,,part ,i ,,the ,,early ,,masters 4 4 4 in which a sixth-century ,indian teacher of meditation1 ,bodhidharma1 arrives in ,china to initiate what would become a ,buddhist school of meditation called ,ch'an4 ,after several generations as wanderers1 these ,ch'an teachers settle into a form of monastic life and gradually grow in prominence and recognition4 ,out of this prosperity emerges a split in the eighth-century ,ch'an movement1 between scholarly urban teachers who believe enlightenment is gradual and requires preparation in traditional ,buddhism1 and rural ,ch'anists who scorn society and insist enlightenment is experiential and sudden1 owing little to the prosperous ,buddhist establishment4 ,then a popular teacher of rural ,ch'an1 capitalizing on a civil disruption that momentarily weakens the urban elite1 gains the upper hand and emasculates urban ,ch'an through his preaching that the authentic line of teaching must be traced to an obscure teacher in the rural south1 now remembered as the ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,hui-neng4 ,,chapter ,,one ,,bodhidharma3 ,,first ,,patriarch ,,of ,,zen ,there is a ,zen legend that a bearded ,indian monk named ,bodhidharma 7ca4 #dgj-ecb71 son of a ,south ,indian ,brahmin king1 appeared one day at the southern ,chinese port city of ,canton1 sometime around the year #ebj4 ,from there he traveled northeast to ,nanking1 near the mouth of the ,yangtze ,river1 to honor an invitation from ,china's most devout ,buddhist1 ,emperor ,wu of the ,liang ,dynasty4 ,after a famous interview in which his irreverence left the emperor dismayed1 ,bodhidharma pressed onward to the ,buddhist centers of the north1 finally settling in at the ,shao-lin monastery on ,mt4 ,sung for nine years of meditation staring at a wall4 ,he then transmitted his insights and a copy of the ,lankavatara sutra to a successor and passed on--either physically1 spiritually1 or both4 ,his devotion to meditation and to the aforementioned sutra were his legacies to ,china4 ,he was later honored as father of the ,chinese ,dhyana1 or ,meditation1 school of ,buddhism1 called ,ch'an4 ,bodhidharma attracted little notice during his years in ,china1 and the first historical account of his life is a brief mention in a chronicle compiled well over a hundred years after the fact1 identifying him merely as a practitioner of meditation4 ,however1 later stories of his life became increasingly embellished1 as he was slowly elevated to the office of ,first ,patriarch of ,chinese ,ch'an4 ,his life was made to fulfill admirably the requirements of a legend1 as it was slowly enveloped in symbolic anecdotes illustrating the truth more richly than did mere fact4 ,however1 most scholars do agree that there actually was a ,bodhidharma1 that he was a ,south ,indian who came to ,china1 that he practiced an intensive form of meditation1 and that a short treatise ascribed to him is probably more or less authentic4 ,although the legend attached to this unshaven ,indian ,buddhist tells us fully as much about early ,ch'an as it does about the man himself1 it is nonetheless the first page in the book of ,zen4 ,bodhidharma1 the ,teacher of the ,law1 was the third son of a great ,brahmin king in ,south ,india1 of the ,western ,lands4 ,he was a man of wonderful intelligence1 bright and far-reaching2 he thoroughly understood everything that he had ever learned4 ,as his ambition was to master the doctrine of the ,mahayana1 he abandoned the white dress of a layman and put on the black robe of monkhood1 wishing to cultivate the seeds of holiness4 ,he practiced contemplation and tranquillization2 he knew well what was the true significance of worldly affairs4 ,inside and outside he was transpicuous2 his virtues were more than a model to the world4 ,he was grieved very much over the decline of the orthodox teaching of the ,buddha in the remoter parts of the earth4 ,he finally made up his mind to cross over land and sea and come to ,china and preach his doctrine in the kingdom of ,wei4#a ,china at the time of ,bodhidharma's arrival was a politically divided land1 with the new faith of ,buddhism often supplying a spiritual common denominator4 ,bodhidharma happened to appear at a moment when an emperor in the northwest1 the aforementioned ,wu 7reigned #ejb-di71 had become a fanatic ,buddhist4 ,shortly after taking power1 ,wu actually ordered his imperial household and all associated with the court to take up ,buddhism and abandon ,taoism4 ,buddhist monks became court advisers1 opening the imperial coffers to build many lavish and subsequently famous temples4 ,emperor ,wu led ,buddhist assemblies1 wrote learned commentaries on various sutras1 and actually donated menial work at temples as a lay devotee4 ,he also arranged to have all the ,chinese commentaries on the sutras assembled and catalogued4 ,concerned about the sanctity of life1 he banished meat 7and wine7 from the imperial table and became so lax about enforcing criminal statutes1 particularly capital punishment1 that critics credited his good nature with an increase in corruption and lawlessness4 ,while the ,taoists understandably hated him and the ,confucianists branded him a distracted ineffectual sovereign1 the ,buddhists saw in him a model emperor4 ,quite simply1 ,emperor ,wu was to southern ,chinese ,buddhism what ,emperor ,constantine was to ,christianity4 ,the emperor was known for his hospitality to visiting ,indian monks1 and it is entirely possible he did invite ,bodhidharma for an audience4#b ,according to the legend1 ,emperor ,wu began almost immediately to regale his visiting dignitary with a checklist of his own dedication to the faith1 mentioning temples built1 clergy invested1 sutras promulgated4 ,the list was long1 but at last he paused1 no doubt puzzled by his guest's indifference4 ,probing for a response1 he asked1 ,given all ,i have done1 what ,merit have ,i earned8 ,bodhidharma scowled1 ,none whatsoever1 your majesty4 ,the emperor was stunned by this reply1 but he pressed on1 trying another popular question4 ,what is the most important principle of ,buddhism8 ,this second point ,bodhidharma reportedly answered with the abrupt ,vast emptiness4#c ,the emperor was equally puzzled by this answer and in desperation finally inquired who1 exactly1 was the bearded visitor standing before him--to which ,bodhidharma cheerfully admitted he had no idea4 ,the interview ended as abruptly as it began1 with ,bodhidharma excusing himself and pressing on4 ,for his first miracle1 he crossed the ,yangtze just outside ,nanking on a reed and headed north4 ,the legend of ,bodhidharma picks up again in ,north ,china1 near the city of ,loyang4 ,the stories differ1 but the most enduring ones link his name with the famous ,shao-lin monastery on ,mt4 ,sung4 ,there1 we are told1 he meditated for nine years facing a wall 7thereby inventing wall gazing7 until at last1 a pious version reports1 his legs fell off4 ,at one time1 relates another ,zen story1 he caught himself dozing and in a fit of rage tore off his eyelids and cast them contemptuously to the ground1 whereupon bushes of the tea plant--,zen's sacramental drink-- sprang forth4 ,another story has him inventing a ,chinese style of boxing as physical education for the weakling monks at ,shao-lin1 thereby founding a classic ,chinese discipline4 ,but the most famous episode surrounding his stay at the ,shao-lin concerns the monk ,hui-k'o1 who was to be his successor4 ,the story tells that ,hui-k'o waited in the snows outside ,shao-lin for days on end1 hoping in vain to attract ,bodhidharma's notice1 until finally in desperation he cut off his own arm to attract the master's attention4 ,bodhidharma advocated meditation1 sutras1 and the trappings of traditional ,buddhism as a way to see into one's own nature4 ,his legends represent ,zen in its formative period1 before the more unorthodox methods for shaking disciples into a new mode of consciousness had been devised4 ,however1 one of the stories attributed to him by later writers sounds suspiciously like a ,zen mondo 7the traditional consciousness- testing exchange between master and monk74 ,according to this story1 the disciple ,hui-k'o entreated ,bodhidharma1 saying1 ,master1 ,i have not found peace of mind4 ,i beg you to pacify my mind for me4 ,bodhidharma replied1 ,bring me your mind and ,i will pacify it for you4 ,hui-k'o was silent for a time1 finally conceding he could not actually find his mind4 ,there1 said ,bodhidharma1 ,i have pacified it for you4 ,this symbolic story illustrates eloquently the concept of the mind as a perceiver1 something that cannot itself be subject to analysis4 ,logical introspection is impossible4 ,the mind cannot examine itself any more than the eye can see itself4 ,since the mind cannot become the object of its own perception1 its existence can only be understood intuitively1 as ,hui-k'o realized when he tried to plumb its whereabouts objectively4 ,the actual teachings of ,bodhidharma are not fully known4 ,the first notice of the blue-eyed barbarian 7as later ,chinese called him7 is in the ,chinese ,buddhist history entitled ,further ,biographies of ,eminent ,priests1 usually dated around the year #fde1 more than a century after he came to ,china4 ,this biography also contains the brief text of an essay attributed to ,bodhidharma4 ,at the time it was compiled1 ,bodhidharma had not yet been anointed the ,first ,patriarch of ,zen3 rather he was merely one of a number of priests teaching meditation4 ,accordingly there would have been no incentive to embellish his story with an apocryphal essay1 and for this reason most authorities think it is authentic4#d ,a later1 more detailed version of the essay by ,bodhidharma is contained in the ,records of the ,transmission of the ,lamp 7,a4,d4 #ajjd74 ,this latter text is usually the one quoted1 and it is agreed to be the superior literary document4#e ,we are in good company if we accept this essay as a more or less accurate record of the thoughts of the ,first ,patriarch4 ,the text that ,bodhidharma left was meant to show others the several ways to enlightenment4 ,there are many ways to enter the ,path1 but briefly speaking1 they are two sorts only4 ,the one is ,entrance by ,reason and the other ,entrance by ,conduct4#f ,the first of these paths1 the ,entrance by ,reason1 might more properly be called entrance by pure insight4 ,the path advocated seems a blending of ,buddhism and ,taoism1 by which the sutras are used as a vehicle for leading the seeker first to meditation1 and then to a nonliterary state of consciousness in which all dualities1 all sense of oneself as apart from the world1 are erased4 ,this is an early and eloquent summary of ,zen's objectives4 ,by ,entrance by ,reason we mean the realization of the spirit of ,buddhism by the aid of scriptural teaching4 ,we then come to have a deep faith in the ,true ,nature which is one and the same in all sentient beings4 ,the reason that it does not manifest itself is due to the overwrapping of external objects and false thoughts4 ,when one1 abandoning the false and embracing the true1 and in simpleness of thought1 abides in pi-kuan pure meditation or wall-gazing1 one finds that there is neither selfhood nor otherness1 that the masses and the worthies are of one essence1 and firmly holds on to this belief and never moves away therefrom4 ,he will not then be guided by any literary instructions1 for he is in silent communication with the principle itself1 free from conceptual discrimination1 for he is serene and not- acting4#g ,bodhidharma is given credit for inventing the term pi-kuan1 whose literal translation is wall-gazing1 but whose actual meaning is anyone's guess4 ,pi-kuan is sometimes called a metaphor for the mind's confrontation with the barrier of intellect--which must eventually be hurdled if one is to reach enlightenment4 ,in any case1 this text is an unmistakable endorsement of meditation as a means for tranquilizing the mind while simultaneously dissolving our impulse to discriminate between ourselves and the world around us4 ,it points out that literary instructions can go only so far1 and at last they must be abandoned in favor of reliance on the intuitive mind4#h ,the other ,path 7or ,tao7 he described was called the ,entrance by ,conduct and invokes his ,indian ,buddhist origins4 ,the description of conduct was divided into four sections which1 taken together1 were intended to subsume or include all the possible types of ,buddhist practice4 ,by ,entrance by ,conduct is meant the ,four ,acts in which all other acts are included4 ,what are the four8 #a4 ,how to requite hatred2 #b4 ,to be obedient to karma2 #c4 ,not to seek after anything2 and #d4 ,to be in accord with the ,dharma4#i ,the first ,act of ,conduct counseled the believer to endure all hardships1 since they are payment for evil deeds committed in past existences4 ,what is meant by ,how to requite hatred8 ,those who discipline themselves in the ,path should think thus when they have to struggle with adverse conditions3 ,during the innumerable past ages ,i have wandered through multiplicity of existences1 all the while giving myself to unimportant details of life at the expense of essentials1 and thus creating infinite occasions for hate1 ill-will1 and wrong-doing4 ,while no violations have been committed in this life1 the fruits of evil deeds in the past are to be gathered now4 ,neither gods nor men can foretell what is coming upon me4 ,i will submit myself willingly and patiently to all the ills that befall me1 and ,i will never bemoan or complain4 ,in the ,sutra it is said not to worry over ills that may happen to you4 ,why8 ,because through intelligence one can survey the whole chain of causation4 ,when this thought arises1 one is in concord with the principle because he makes the best use of hatred and turns it into the service of his advance towards the ,path4 ,this is called the way to requite hatred4#aj ,the second ,rule of ,conduct is to be reconciled to whatever comes1 good or evil4 ,it seems to reflect the ,taoist attitude that everything is what it is and consequently value judgments are irrelevant4 ,if good comes1 it is the result of meritorious deeds in a past existence and will vanish when the store of causative karma is exhausted4 ,the important thing to realize is that none of it matters anyway4 ,we should know that all sentient beings are produced by the interplay of karmic conditions1 and as such there can be no real self in them4 ,the mingled yarns of pleasure and pain are all woven of the threads of conditioning causes4 4 4 4 ,therefore1 let gains and losses run their natural courses according to the ever changing conditions and circumstances of life1 for the ,mind itself does not increase with the gains nor decrease with the losses4 ,in this way1 no gales of self- complacency will arise1 and your mind will remain in hidden harmony with the ,tao4 ,it is in this sense that we must understand the rule of adaptation to the variable conditions and circumstances of life4#aa ,the third ,rule of ,conduct was the teaching of the ,buddha that a cessation of seeking and a turning toward nonattachment brings peace4 ,men of the world remain unawakened for life2 everywhere we find them bound by their craving and clinging4 ,this is called attachment4 ,the wise1 however1 understand the truth1 and their reason tells them to turn from the worldly ways4 ,they enjoy peace of mind and perfect detachment4 ,they adjust their bodily movements to the vicissitudes of fortune1 always aware of the emptiness of the phenomenal world1 in which they find nothing to covet1 nothing to delight in4 4 4 4 ,everyone who has a body is an heir to suffering and a stranger to peace4 ,having comprehended this point1 the wise are detached from all things of the phenomenal world1 with their minds free of desires and craving4 ,as the scripture has it1 ,all sufferings spring from attachment2 true joy arises from detachment4 ,to know clearly the bliss of detachment is truly to walk on the path of the ,tao4#ab ,the fourth ,rule of ,conduct was to dissolve our perception of object- subject dualities and view life as a unified whole4 ,this merging of self and exterior world ,bodhidharma calls pure mind or pure reason4 ,the ,dharma is nothing else than ,reason which is pure in its essence4 ,this pure ,reason is the formless ,form of all ,forms2 it is free of all defilements and attachments1 and it knows of neither self nor other4#ac ,having set forth this rather elegant statement of ,zen and ,buddhist ideals1 as ascribed to ,bodhidharma1 it unfortunately is necessary to add that it appears to have been taken directly from the ,vajrasamadhi ,sutra 7attributing quotations from the sutras to ,patriarchs was common71 with the sole exception of the term pi-kuan4#ad ,at the very least1 the legend at this time does not portray ,bodhidharma as a despiser of the sutras4 ,he was1 in fact1 using a sutra as a vehicle to promote his practice of intensive meditation4 ,it is not known what role meditation played in ,buddhism at this time4 ,however1 the scholar ,hu ,shih questions how well it was understood4 ,an early ,buddhist historian's ,biographies1 which covered the whole period of early ,buddhism in ,china from the first century to the year #eai1 contained only #ba names of 'practitioners of dhyana 7meditation7' out of a total of about #dej4 ,and practically all of the #ba;dhyana monks were recorded because of their remarkable asceticism and miraculous powers4 ,this shows that in spite of the numerous yoga manuals in translation1 and in spite of the high respect paid by intellectual ,buddhists to the doctrine and practice of dhyana1 there were1 as late as #ejj1 practically no ,chinese ,buddhists who really understood or seriously practiced dhyana or ,zen4#ae ,perhaps ,bodhidharma1 arriving in #ebj1 felt his praise of meditation1 using the words of an existing sutra1 could rouse ,chinese interest in this form of ,buddhism4 ,as it turned out1 he was successful beyond anything he could have imagined1 although his success took several centuries4 ,as ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki sums it up1 ,while there was nothing specifically ,zen in his doctrine of ',two ,entrances and ,four ,acts1' the teaching of pi-kuan1 wall-contemplation1 was what made ,bodhidharma the first patriarch of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china4#af ,suzuki interprets pi- kuan as referring to the mind in a thoughtless state1 in which meditation has permitted the rational mind to be suppressed entirely4 ,the use of meditation for this goal instead of for developing magical powers1 as had been the goal of earlier dhyana masters1 seems to have been the profound new idea introduced to ,china by ,bodhidharma4#ag ,the passage of ,bodhidharma is also swathed in legend4 ,what eventually happened to this traveling ,indian guru8 ,did he die of poison1 as one legend says2 or did he wander off to ,central ,asia1 as another reports2 or did he go to ,japan1 as still another story would have it8 ,the story that has been the most enduring 7recorded in a ,sung work1 ,ching-te ch'uan-teng-lu7 tells that after nine years at the ,shao-lin monastery decided to return to ,india and called together his disciples to test their attainment4 ,the first disciple reportedly said1 ,as ,i view it1 to realize the truth we should neither rely entirely on words and letters nor dispense with them entirely1 but rather we should use them as an instrument of the ,way4 ,to this1 ,bodhidharma replied1 ,you have got my skin4 ,next a nun came forward and said1 ,as ,i view it1 the ,truth is like an auspicious sighting of the ,buddhist ,paradise2 it is seen once and never again4 ,to this ,bodhidharma replied1 ,you have attained my flesh4 ,the third disciple said1 ,the four great elements are empty and the five skandhas constituents of the personality3 body1 feelings1 perception1 will1 and consciousness are nonexistent4 ,there is1 in fact1 nothing that can be grasped4 ,to this ,bodhidharma replied1 ,you have attained my bones4 ,finally1 it was ,hui-k'o's turn4 ,but he only bowed to the master and stood silent at his place4 ,to him ,bodhidharma said1 ,you have attained my marrow4#ah ,according to a competing story1 ,bodhidharma died of poisoning at the age of #aej and was buried in the mountains of ,honan4#ai ,not too long thereafter a lay ,buddhist named ,sung ,yun1 who was returning to ,china after a trip to ,india to gather sutras1 met ,bodhidharma in the mountains of ,turkestan4 ,the ,first ,patriarch1 who was walking barefoot carrying a single shoe1 announced he was returning to ,india and that a native ,chinese would arise to continue his teaching4 ,sung ,yun reported this to ,bodhidharma's disciples on his return and they opened the master's grave1 only to find it empty save for the other shoe4 ,how much of the story of ,bodhidharma is legend8 ,the answer does not really matter all that much4 ,as with ,moses1 if ,bodhidharma had not existed it would have been necessary to invent him4 ,although his first full biography 7ca4 #fde7 makes no particular fuss over him1 less than a century after this1 he was declared the founder of ,zen1 provided with a lineage stretching directly back through ,nagarjuna to the ,buddha1 and furnished an exciting anecdotal history4 ,yet as founders go1 he was a worthy enough individual4 ,he does seem to have devised a strain of ,buddhist thought that could successfully be grafted onto the hardy native ,chinese ,taoist organism4 ,he also left an active disciple1 later to be known as the ,second ,patriarch1 ,hui-k'o1 so he must have had either a charismatic personality or a philosophical position that distinguished him from the general run of meditation masters4 ,it is important to keep in mind that ,bodhidharma1 man and myth1 was the product of an early form of ,zen4 ,the later masters needed a lineage1 and he was tapped for the role of ,first ,patriarch4 ,the major problem with ,bodhidharma was that many of his ideas were in direct contradiction to the position adopted by later ,zen teachings4 ,for instance1 recall that he promoted the reliance on a sutra 7the ,lankavatara72 and he heavily stressed meditation 7something later ,zen masters would partially circumvent74 ,the ,jesuit scholar ,heinrich ,dumoulin has declared that ,bodhidharma's attributed teaching in no way deviates from the great ,mahayana sutras4#bj ,it is1 in fact1 a far cry from later ,zen ideas1 says ,john ,wu1 the ,chinese authority4#ba ,finally1 he left no claim to patriarchy1 nor did his first biographer offer to do this for him4 ,perhaps the evolution of ,zen is best demonstrated by the slow change in the paintings of ,bodhidharma1 culminating in the latter-day portrayals of him as a scowling grump4 ,his image became successively more misanthropic through the centuries1 perhaps as a way of underscoring the later ,zen practice of establishing a rather dehumanized relationship between the ,zen master and pupil1 as the master shouts1 beats a monk1 and destroys his ego through merciless question-and- answer sessions4 ,for all we know1 the wall-gazing ,brahmin of ancient ,china may have had a wry smile to go along with his droll sense of humor4 ,perhaps it is fitting to close with the most lasting apocrypha associated with his name1 to wit the stanza that later masters attributed to him as an alleged summary of his teaching1 but which he1 promulgator of the ,lankavatara ,sutra1 would undoubtedly have disowned3 ,a special transmission outside the sutras2 ,no reliance upon words and letters2 ,direct pointing to the very mind2 ,seeing into one's own nature4 ,chapter ,two ,,hui-,k',o3 ,,second ,,patriarch ,,of ,,zen ,hui-k'o 7#dhg-eic7 first enters the history of ,zen as an eager ,chinese scholar devoted to meditation4 ,wishing to become a disciple of the famous ,indian monk who had recently installed himself at the ,shao-lin monastery1 ,hui-k'o set up a vigil outside the gate4 ,time passed and the snows began to fall1 but still ,bodhidharma ignored him1 declaring1 ,the incomparable doctrine of ,buddhism can only be comprehended after a long hard discipline1 by enduring what is most difficult to endure and by practicing what is most difficult to practice4 ,men of inferior virtue are not allowed to understand anything about it4#a ,finally ,hui-k'o despaired and resorted to an extreme measure to demonstrate his sincerity3 he cut off his own arm and offered it to the master4 7,this act reportedly has been repeated since by an occasional overenthusiastic ,zen novice47 ,even a singleminded master of meditation like ,bodhidharma could not ignore such a gesture1 and he agreed to accept ,hui-k'o as his first ,chinese disciple4 ,unlike ,bodhidharma1 ,hui-k'o is not a mysterious1 legendary figure1 but rather is remembered by a detailed history that interacts periodically with known events in ,chinese history4#b ,he came from the ,chi family and was originally named ,seng-k'o1 only later becoming known as ,hui-k'o4 ,the most reliable report has him coming from ,wu-lao1 with a reputation as a scholarly intellectual preceding him4 ,indeed he seems to have been a ,chinese scholar in the finest sense1 with a deep appreciation of all three major philosophies3 ,confucianism1 ,taoism1 and ,buddhism4 ,it was toward the last1 however1 that he slowly gravitated1 finally abandoning his scholarly secular life and becoming a ,buddhist monk4 ,he was around age forty1 in the prime of what was to be a very long life1 when he first encountered ,bodhidharma at the ,shao-lin monastery4 ,whether he lost his arm by self-mutilation1 as the later ,zen chronicles say1 or whether it was severed in a fight with bandits1 as the earliest history reports1 may never be determined4#c ,the later story is certainly more pious1 but the earlier would seem more plausible4 ,for six years he studied meditation with ,bodhidharma1 gradually retreating from the life of the scholar as he turned away from intellectualism and toward pure experience4 ,when ,bodhidharma finally decided to depart1 he called in all his disciples for the famous testing of their attainment recounted in ,chapter l4#d ,hui-k'o1 by simply bowing in silence when asked what he had attained1 proved that his understanding of the master's wordless teaching was superior1 and it was he who received the ,lankavatara ,sutra4 ,the event reportedly was sealed by a short refrain1 now universally declared to be spurious1 in which ,bodhidharma predicted the later division of ,ch'an into five schools3 ,originally ,i came to this land ,to transmit the ,dharma and to save all from error ,a flower with five petals opens2 ,of itself the fruit will ripen4#e ,as the story goes1 ,hui-k'o remained at the ,shao-lin for a while longer and then went underground1 supporting himself through menial work and learning about ,chinese peasant life firsthand4 ,reportedly1 he wanted to tranquilize his mind1 to acquire the humility necessary in a great teacher1 and not incidentally to absorb the ,lankavatara ,sutra4 ,when asked why he1 an enlightened teacher1 chose to live among menial laborers1 he would reply tartly that this life was best for his mind and in any case what he did was his own affair4 ,it was a hard existence1 but one he believed proper4 ,perhaps it was in this formative period that the inner strength of ,ch'an's first ,chinese master was forged4 ,hui-k'o's major concern during this period must inevitably have been the study of the ,lankavatara ,sutra entrusted him by ,bodhidharma4 ,the ,lankavatara was not written by a ,zen master1 nor did it come out of the ,zen tradition1 but it was the primary scripture of the first two hundred years of ,ch'an4 ,as ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki has noted1 there were at least three ,chinese translations of this ,sanskrit sutra by the time ,bodhidharma came to ,china4#f ,however1 he is usually given credit1 at least in ,zen records1 for originating the movement later known as the ,lankavatara school4 ,as the sutra was described by a non-,ch'an ,chinese scholar in the year #fde1 ,the entire emphasis of its teaching is placed on ,prajna 7highest intuitive knowledge71 which transcends literary expression4 ,bodhidharma1 the ,zen master1 propagated this doctrine in the south as well as in the north1 the gist of which teaching consists in attaining the unattainable1 which is to have right insight into the truth itself by forgetting word and thought4 ,later it grew and flourished in the middle part of the country4 ,hui-k'o was the first who attained to the essential understanding of it4 ,those addicted to the literary teaching of ,buddhism in ,wei were averse to becoming associated with these spiritual seers4#g ,the ,lankavatara purportedly relays the thoughts of the ,buddha while ensconced on a mountain peak in ,sri ,lanka4 ,although the work is notoriously disorganized1 vague1 and obscure1 it was to be the stone on which ,hui-k'o sharpened his penetrating enlightenment4 ,the major concept it advances is that of ,mind1 characterized by ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki as absolute mind1 to be distinguished from an empirical mind which is the subject of psychological study4 ,when it begins with a capital letter1 it is the ultimate reality on which the entire world of individual objects depends for its value4#h ,on the question of ,mind1 the ,lankavatara has the following to say3 4 4 4 the ignorant and the simple minded1 not knowing that the world is what is seen of ,mind itself1 cling to the multitudinousness of external objects1 cling to the notions of being and non-being1 oneness and otherness1 bothness and not-bothness1 existence and non-existence1 eternity and non-eternity4 4 4 4#i ,according to the ,lankavatara1 the world and our perception of it are both part of a larger conceptual entity4 ,the teachings of the ,lankavatara cast the gravest doubt on the actual existence of the things we think we see4 ,discrimination between oneself and the rest of the world can only be false1 since both are merely manifestations of the same encompassing essence1 ,mind4 ,our perception is too easily deceived1 and this is the reason we must not implicitly trust the images that reach our consciousness4 4 4 4 ,it is like those water bubbles in a rainfall which have the appearance of crystal gems1 and the ignorant taking them for real crystal gems run after them4 4 4 4 ,they are no more than water bubbles1 they are not gems1 nor are they not-gems1 because of their being so comprehended by one party and not being so comprehended by another4#aj ,reality lies beyond these petty discriminations4 ,the intellect1 too1 is powerless to distinguish the real from the illusory1 since all things are both and neither at the same time4 ,this conviction of the ,lankavatara remained at the core of ,zen1 even after the sutra itself was supplanted by simpler1 more easily approached literary works4 ,as ,hui-k'o studied the ,lankavatara and preached1 he gradually acquired a reputation for insight that transcended his deliberately unpretentious appearance4 ,throughout it all1 he led an itinerant life1 traveling about ,north ,china4 ,it is reported that he found his way to the capital of the eastern half of the ,wei kingdom after its division in the year #ecd4 ,here1 in the city of ,yeh-tu1 he taught his version of dhyana and opened the way to enlightenment for many people4 ,though unassuming in manner and dress1 he nonetheless aroused antagonism from established ,buddhist circles because of his success1 encountering particular opposition from a conventional dhyana teacher named ,tao- huan4 ,according to ,further ,biographies of the ,eminent ,priests 7#fde71 ,tao-huan was a jealous teacher who had his own following of as many as a thousand1 and who resented deeply the nonscriptural approach ,hui-k'o advocated4 ,this spiteful priest sent various of his followers to monitor ,hui-k'o's teaching1 perhaps with an eye to accusing him of heresy1 but all those sent were so impressed that none ever returned4 ,then one day the antagonistic dhyana master met one of those former pupils who had been won over by ,hui-k'o's teachings4 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki translates the encounter as follows3 ,when ,tao-huan happened to meet his first messenger1 he asked3 ,how was it that ,i had to send for you so many times8 ,did ,i not open your eye after taking pains so much on my part8 ,the former disciple1 however1 mystically answered3 ,my eye has been right from the first1 and it was through you that it came to squint4#aa ,the message would seem to be that ,hui-k'o taught a return to one's original nature1 to the primal man without artificial learning or doctrinal pretense4 ,out of resentment the jealous dhyana master reportedly caused ,hui-k'o to undergo official persecution4 ,in later years1 beginning around #egd1 there was a temporary but thorough persecution of ,buddhism in the capital city of ,ch'ang-an4 ,sometime earlier1 an ambitious sorcerer and apostate ,buddhist named ,wei had decided to gain a bit of notoriety for himself by attacking ,buddhism1 then a powerful force in ,ch'ang-an4 ,in the year #efg he presented a document to the emperor claiming that ,buddhism had allowed unsavory social types to enter the monasteries4 ,he also attacked worship of the ,buddha image on the ground that it was un-,chinese idolatry4 ,instead1 he proposed a secularized church that would include all citizens1 with the gullible emperor suggested for the role of pope4 ,the emperor was taken with the idea and after several years of complex political maneuvering1 he proscribed ,buddhism in ,north ,china4 ,as a result1 ,hui-k'o was forced to flee to the south1 where he took up temporary residence in the mountainous regions of the ,yangtze ,river4 ,the persecution was short-lived1 since the emperor responsible died soon after his decree1 whereupon ,hui-k'o returned to ,ch'ang-an4 ,however1 these persecutions may have actually contributed to the spread of his teaching1 by forcing him to travel into the countryside4 ,the only authentic fragment of ,hui-k'o's thought that has survived records his answer to an inquiry sent by a lay devotee named ,hsiang1 who reportedly was seeking spiritual attainment alone in the jungle4 ,the inquiry1 which seems more a statement than a question1 went as follows3 4 4 4 he who aspires to ,buddhahood thinking it to be independent of the nature of sentient beings is to be likened to one who tries to listen to an echo by deadening its original sound4 ,therefore the ignorant and the enlightened are walking in one passageway2 the vulgar and the wise are not to be differentiated from each other4 ,where there are no names1 we create names1 and because of these names1 judgments are formed4 ,where there is no theorizing1 we theorize1 and because of this theorizing1 disputes arise4 ,they are all phantom creations and not realities1 and who knows who is right and who is wrong8 ,they are all empty1 no substantialities have they1 and who knows what is and what is not8 ,so we realize that our gain is not real gain and our loss not real loss4 ,this is my view and may ,i be enlightened if ,i am at fault8#ab ,this question1 if such it is1 sounds suspiciously like a sermon and stands1 in fact1 as an eloquent statement of ,zen concerns4 ,hui-k'o reportedly answered as follows1 in a fragment of a letter that is his only known extant work4 ,you have truly comprehended the ,dharma as it is2 the deepest truth lies in the principle of identity4 ,it is due to one's ignorance that the mani-jewel is taken for a piece of brick1 but lo6 when one is suddenly awakened to self-enlightenment it is realized that one is in possession of the real jewel4 ,the ignorant and the enlightened are of one essence1 they are not really to be separated4 ,we should know that all things are such as they are4 ,those who entertain a dualistic view of the world are to be pitied1 and ,i write this letter for them4 ,when we know that between this body and the ,buddha1 there is nothing to separate one from the other1 what is the use of seeking after ,nirvana as something external to ourselves8#ac ,hui-k'o insists that all things spring from the one ,mind1 and consequently the ideas of duality1 of attachment to this or that phenomenon1 or even the possibility of choice1 are equally absurd4 ,although he knew all too well that enlightenment could not be obtained from teaching1 he still did not advocate a radical break with the traditional methods of the ,buddhist dhyana masters4 ,his style was unorthodox1 but his teaching methods were still confined to lectures and meditation4 ,this low-key approach was still closer to the tradition of the ,buddha than to the jarring techniques of sudden enlightenment destined to erupt out of ,chinese ,ch'an4 ,toward the end of his life1 ,hui-k'o was back in ,ch'ang-an1 living and teaching in the same unassuming manner4 ,his free-lance style seems to have continued to outrage the more conventional teachers1 and a later story records a martyr's death for him4#ad ,one day1 while a learned master was preaching inside the ,k'uang-chou ,temple1 ,hui-k'o chanced by and started to chat with the passersby outside4 ,gradually a crowd started to collect1 until eventually the lecture hall of the revered priest was emptied4 ,this famous priest1 remembered as ,pien-ho1 accused the ragged ,hui-k'o to the magistrate ,che ,ch'ung-j'an as a teacher of false doctrine4 ,as a result he was arrested and subsequently executed1 an impious #ajf-year-old revolutionary4 ,chapter ,three ,,seng-,,ts',,an1 ,,tao-,,hsin1 ,,fa-,,jung1 ,,and ,,hung-,,jen3 ,,four ,,early ,,masters ,the ,fifth ,patriarch1,hung-jen 7left7 ,the master succeeding ,hui-k'o was ,seng-ts'an 7d4 #fjf71 who then taught ,fa-jung 7#eid-feg7 and ,tao-hsin 7#ehj-fea71 the latter in turn passing the robe of the patriarchy to ,hung-jen 7#fja-gd74 ,the masters ,seng- ts'an1 ,tao-hsin1 and ,hung-jen are honored today as the ,third1 ,fourth1 and ,fifth ,patriarchs1 respectively1 and revered as the torchbearers of ,ch'an's formative years4 ,yet when we look for information about their lives1 we find the sources thin and diffuse4 ,one reason probably is that before #gjj nobody realized that these men would one day be elevated to founding fathers1 and consequently no one bothered recording details of their lives4 ,during the seventh century the scattered teachers of dhyana seem to have gradually coalesced into a sort of ad hoc movement--with sizable followings growing up around the better-known figures4 ,a certain amount of respectability also emerged1 if we can believe the references to imperial notice that start appearing in the chronicles4 ,it would seem that the dhyana or ,ch'an movement became a more or less coherent sect1 a recognizable if loosely defined school of ,buddhism4 ,however1 what the movement apparently was striving to become was not so much a branch of ,buddhism in ,china as a ,chinese version of ,buddhism4 ,the men later remembered as the ,third1 ,fourth1 and ,fifth ,patriarchs have in common a struggle to bend ,buddhist thought to ,chinese intellectual requirements1 to sinicize ,buddhism4 ,whereas they succeeded only in setting the stage for this transformation 7whose realization would await other hands71 they did establish a personality pattern that would set apart all later masters3 a blithe irreverence that owed as much to ,chuang ,tzu as to ,bodhidharma4 ,when reading the biographies that follow1 it is useful to keep in mind that the explicit details may well have been cooked up in later years to satisfy a natural ,chinese yearning for anecdotes1 with or without supporting information4 ,yet the fact that the dhyana practitioners eventually became a movement in need of a history is itself proof that these men and their stories were not complete inventions4 ,in any case1 they were remembered1 honored1 and quoted in later years as the legendary founders of ,ch'an4 ,,seng-,,tsan1 ,,the ,,third ,,patriarch 7d4 #fjf7 ,the question of the ,second ,patriarch ,hui-k'o's successor was troublesome even for the ancient ,ch'an historians4 ,the earliest version of his biography 7written in #fde1 before the sect of ,ch'an and its need for a history existed7 declares1 ,before ,hui-k'o had established a lineage he died1 leaving no worthy heirs4 ,when it later became necessary for ,ch'an to have an uninterrupted patriarchy1 a revised history was prepared which supplied him an heir named ,seng-ts'an1 to whom he is said to have transmitted the doctrine4#a ,the story of their meeting recalls ,hui-k'o's first exchange with ,bodhidharma1 save that the roles are reversed4 ,the text implies that ,seng-ts'an was suffering from leprosy when he first encountered ,hui-k'o1 and that he implored the ,master for relief in a most un-,zenlike way1 saying3 ,i am in great suffering from this disease2 please take away my sins4 ,hui-k'o responded with1 ,bring me your sins1 and ,i will take them away4 ,after a long silence1 ,seng-ts'an confessed1 ,i've looked1 but ,i cannot find them4 ,to which ,hui-k'o replied1 echoing ,bodhidharma's classic rejoinder1 ,behold1 you have just been cleansed4 ,another version of the story says ,hui-k'o greeted ,seng-ts'an with the words1 ,you are suffering from leprosy2 why should you want to see me8 ,to this ,seng-ts'an responded1 ,although my body is sick1 the mind of a sick man and your own mind are no different4 ,whatever actually happened1 it was enough to convince ,hui-k'o that he had found an enlightened being1 one who perceived the unity of all things1 and he forthwith transmitted to ,seng-ts'an the symbols of the patriarchy--the robe and begging bowl of ,bodhidharma--telling him that he should take refuge in the ,buddha1 the ,dharma 7the universal truth proclaimed by ,buddha71 and the ,sangha 7the ,buddhist organization or priesthood74 ,seng-ts'an replied that he knew of the ,sangha1 but what was meant by the ,buddha and the ,dharma8 ,the answer was that all three were expressions of ,mind4#b ,this exchange seems to have taken place while ,hui-k'o was in the northern ,wei capital of ,yeh-tu4#c ,in later years ,seng-ts'an found it necessary to feign madness 7to escape persecution during the anti- ,buddhist movement of #egd71 and finally he went to hide on ,huan-kung mountain for ten years1 where his mere presence reportedly was enough to tame the wild tigers who had terrorized the people there4 ,the only surviving work that purportedly relays his teaching is a poem1 said to be one of the earliest ,ch'an treatises1 which is called the ,hsin-hsin- ming1 or ,on the ,believing ,mind4#d ,it starts off in a lyrical1 almost ,taoist1 voice worthy of ,chuang ,tzu1 as it celebrates man's original nature and the folly of striving4 ,there is nothing difficult about the ,great ,way ,but1 avoid choosing6 ,only when you neither love nor hate1 ,does it appear in all clarity4 ,do not be anti- or pro- anything4 ,the conflict of longing and loathing1 ,this is the disease of the mind4 ,not knowing the profound meaning of things1 ,we disturb our 7original7 peace of mind to no purpose4#e ,next1 the poem turns to an acknowledgment of the ,mahayanist concept of the all-encompassing ,mind1 the greatest single truth of the universe1 and of ,nagarjuna's ,void1 the cosmic emptiness of sunyata4 ,things are things because of the ,mind4 ,the ,mind is the ,mind because of things4 ,if you wish to know what these two are1 ,they are originally one ,emptiness4 ,in this ,void both 7,mind and things7 are one1 ,all the myriad phenomena contained in both4#f ,the poem closes with an affirmation of the ,ch'an credo of unity and the absence of duality as a sign of enlightenment4 ,in the ,world of ,reality ,there is no self1 no other-than-self4 4 4 4 ,all that can be said is ,no ,duality6 ,when there is no duality1 all things are one1 ,there is nothing that is not included4 4 4 4 ,the believing mind is not dual2 ,what is dual is not the believing mind4 ,beyond all language1 ,for it there is no past1 no present1 no future4#g ,since the earliest historical sources maintain that ,seng-ts'an left no writings1 some have questioned the attribution of this lilting work to the ,third ,patriarch4 ,whatever its authorship1 the real importance of the poem lies in its subtle merging of ,taoism and ,buddhism4 ,we can watch as the voices of ancient ,china and ancient ,india are blended together into a perfect harmony until the parts are inseparable4 ,it was a noble attempt to reconcile ,buddhist metaphysics with ,chinese philosophical concepts1 and it was successful in a limited way4 ,as for ,seng-ts'an1 the legends tell that he finally was overcome by his longing for the south and1 handing down the symbols of the patriarchy to a priest named ,tao-hsin1 he vanished4 ,,tao-,,hsin1 ,,the ,,fourth ,,patriarch 7#ehj-fea7 ,china1 whose political turmoil had sent the early ,patriarchs scurrying from one small kingdom to another1 found unity and the beginnings of stability under a dynasty known as the ,sui 7#eha-fah71 the first in three and a half centuries 7since the end of the ,han in #bbj7 able to unify the land4#h ,this brief dynasty 7which soon was replaced by the resplendent ,t'ang7 came to be dominated by the ,emperor ,yang1 a crafty politician who maneuvered the throne away from an elder brother-- partially1 it is said1 by demonstrating to his parents his independence of mind by abandoning all the children he begat in the ladies' quarters4 ,whereas his father had undertaken the renovation of the ,north ,chinese capital of ,ch'ang-an--not incidentally creating one of the glories of the ancient world and the site of the finest moments of the later ,t'ang ,dynasty--,emperor ,yang decided to reconstruct the city of ,loyang1 some two hundred miles to the east4 ,the result was a ,western ,capital at ,ch'ang-an and an ,eastern ,capital at ,loyang1 the latter city soon to be the location of some pivotal episodes in ,ch'an history4 ,for the construction of ,loyang1 a fairyland of palaces and gardens1 millions of citizens were conscripted and tens of thousands died under forced labor4 ,emperor ,yang's other monument was a grand canal1 linking the ,yellow ,river in the north with the rich agricultural deltas of the ,yangtze in the south1 near ,nanking4 ,the emperor loved to be barged down this vast waterway--journeys that unsympathetic historians have claimed were merely excuses to seek sexual diversions away from the capital4 ,in any case1 his extravagances bankrupted the country and brought about his overthrow by the man who would become the founder of the ,t'ang ,dynasty1 later to reign under the name of ,emperor ,t'ai-tsung 7ruled #fbf-di74 ,the ,t'ang is universally regarded as one of the great ages of man1 and it is also considered the ,golden ,age of ,ch'an4 ,the founding emperor1 ,t'ai-tsung1 was a wise and beneficent ,son of ,heaven1 as ,chinese rulers were styled4#i ,under his influence1 the capital city of ,ch'ang-an became the most cosmopolitan metropolis in the ancient world1 with such widespread influence that when the first visiting ,japanese came upon it1 they were so dazzled they returned home and built a replica for their own capital city4 ,the city was laid out as a grid1 with lavish vermilion imperial palaces and gardens clustered regally at one end4 ,its inhabitants numbered upward of two million1 while its international markets and fleshpots were crowded with traders from the farthest reaches of ,asia and ,europe1 echoing with a truly astounding cacophony of tongues3 ,indian1 ,japanese1 ,turkish1 ,persian1 ,roman ,latin1 and ,arabic1 not to mention the many dialects of ,chinese4 ,christians moved among the ,buddhists1 as did ,muslims and ,jews4 ,artisans worked with silver1 gold1 jewels1 silks1 and porcelains1 even as poets gathered in wine shops to nibble fruits and relax with round-eyed foreign serving girls4 ,such were the worldly attractions of ,ch'ang-an during the early seventh century4 ,this new sophistication and urbanization1 as well as the political stability that made it all possible1 was also reflected in the change in ,ch'an--from a concern chiefly of nomadic dhyana teachers hiding in the mountains to the focus of settled agricultural communities centered in monasteries4 ,the growth in ,ch'an toward an established place in ,chinese life began to consolidate under the ,fourth ,patriarch1 ,tao-hsin1 the man whose life spanned the ,sui and the early ,t'ang dynasties4 ,he is best remembered today for two things3 ,first1 he was particularly dedicated to meditation1 practicing it more avidly than had any dhyana master since ,bodhidharma2 and second1 he is credited with beginning the true monastic tradition for ,ch'an4 ,his formation of a self-supporting monastic community with its own agricultural base undoubtedly brought ,ch'an a long way toward respectability in ,chinese eyes1 since it reduced the dependence on begging4 ,itinerant mendicants1 even if teachers of dhyana1 had never elicited the admiration in ,china they traditionally enjoyed in the ,indian homeland of the ,buddha4 ,begging was believed to fashion character1 however1 and it never disappeared from ,ch'an discipline4 ,indeed1 ,ch'an is said to have encouraged begging more than did any of the other ,chinese ,buddhist sects1 but as a closely regulated form of moral training4 ,tao-hsin1 whose family name was ,ssu-ma1 came from ,honan1 but he left home at seven to study ,buddhism and met the ,third ,patriarch1 ,seng- ts'an1 while still in his teens4 ,when ,seng-ts'an decided to drop out of sight1 he asked this brilliant pupil to take up the teaching of dhyana and ,bodhidharma's ,lankavatara ,sutra at a monastery on ,mt4 ,lu4 ,tao-hsin agreed and remained for a number of years1 attracting followers and reportedly performing at least one notable miracle4 ,the story says that he saved a walled city from being starved out by bandits by organizing a program of public sutra chanting among its people4 ,we are told that the robbers retired of their own accord while1 as though by magic1 previously dry wells in the city flowed again4 ,one day not too long thereafter ,tao-hsin noticed an unusual purple cloud hanging over a nearby mountain4 ,taking this as a sign1 he proceeded to settle there 7the mountain later became known as ,shuang-feng or ,twin ,peaks7 and found the first ,ch'an community1 presiding over a virtual army of some five hundred followers for the next thirty years4 ,he is remembered today as a charismatic teacher who finally stabilized dhyana teaching4 ,in an age of political turmoil1 many intellectuals flocked to the new school of ,ch'an1 with its promise of tranquil meditation in uneasy times4 ,tao-hsin apparently encouraged his disciples to operate a form of commune1 in which agriculture and its administration were merged with the practice of meditation4#aj ,in so doing1 he seems not only to have revolutionized the respectability of dhyana practice1 but also to have become something of a national figure himself4 ,this1 at any rate1 is what we may surmise from one of the more durable legends1 which has him defying an imperial decree to appear before the emperor1 ,t'ai-tsung4 ,this legend concerns an episode which allegedly took place around the year #fde4 ,as the story goes1 an imperial messenger arrived one day at the mountain retreat to summon him to the palace1 but ,tao-hsin turned him down cold4 ,when the messenger reported this to the emperor1 the response was to send back a renewed invitation4 ,again the messenger was met with a refusal1 along with a challenge4 ,if you wish my head1 cut it off and take it with you4 ,it may go but my mind will never go4 ,when this reply reached the emperor1 he again dispatched the messenger1 this time bearing a sealed sword and a summons for the master's head4 ,but he also included a contradictory decree requiring that ,tao-hsin not be harmed4 ,when the master refused a third time to come to the palace1 the messenger read the decree that his head should be severed4 ,tao-hsin obligingly bent over1 with the command ,cut it off4 ,but the messenger hesitated1 admitting that the imperial orders also forbade harming him4 ,on hearing this ,tao-hsin reportedly roared with laughter1 saying1 ,you must know that you possess human qualities4#aa ,the ,fourth ,patriarch's teachings are not well known1 other than for the fact that he supposedly devised and promoted new techniques to help novices achieve intensive meditation4 ,the following excerpt of his teaching illustrates his fervor for dhyana4 ,sit earnestly in meditation6 ,the sitting in meditation is basic to all else4 ,by the time you have done this for three to five years1 you will be able to ward off starvation with a bit of meal4 ,close the door and sit6 ,do not read the sutras1 and speak to no man6 ,if you will so exercise yourself and persist in it for a long time1 the fruit will be sweet like the meat which a monkey takes from the nutshell4 ,but such people are very rare4#ab ,the de-emphasis on the sutras points the way to later ,ch'an4 ,interestingly1 however1 the usefulness of sitting in meditation would also come under review in only a few short years1 when the new style of ,ch'an appeared4 ,the reports of ,tao-hsin say that ,hung-jen1 who was to become the ,fifth ,patriarch1 was one of his followers and grasped the inner meaning of his teaching4 ,it was ,hung-jen whom he asked to construct a mausoleum in the mountainside1 the site of his final repose1 and when it was finished he retired there for his last meditation4 ,after he passed away1 his body was wrapped in lacquered cloth1 presenting a vision so magnificent that no one could bear to close the mausoleum4 ,aside from his historical place as the founder of the first real community for ,ch'an1 there is little that can be said with assurance about ,tao-hsin4 ,however1 a manuscript discovered early in this century in the ,buddhist caves at ,tun-huang purportedly contains a sermon by the ,fourth ,patriarch entitled ,abandoning the ,body4 ,the method of abandoning the body consists first in meditating on ,emptiness1 whereby the conscious mind is emptied4 ,let the mind together with its world be quieted down to a perfect state of tranquility2 let thought be cast in the mystery of quietude1 so that the mind is kept from wandering from one thing to another4 ,when the mind is tranquilized in its deepest abode1 its entanglements are cut asunder4 4 4 4 ,the mind in its absolute purity is like the ,void itself4#ac ,the text goes on to quote both ,lao ,tzu and ,chuang ,tzu1 as well as some of the older sutras1 and there is a considerable reference to ,nagarjuna's ,emptiness4 ,this text1 real or spurious1 is one more element in the merging of ,taoism and ,buddhism that was early ,ch'an1 even as its analysis of the mind state achieved in meditation anticipates later ,ch'an teachings4 ,,fa-,,jung1 ,,the ,,st4 ,,francis ,,of ,,zen 7#eid-feg7 ,in the parade of ,patriarchs1 we should not overlook the maverick ,fa- jung1 a master who was never officially crowned a ,patriarch1 but whose humanity made him a legend4#ad ,fa-jung 7#eid-feg71 whose family name was ,wei1 was born in a province on the south bank of the ,yangtze ,river and in his early years was a student of ,confucian thought4 ,but before long his yearning for spiritual challenge led him to ,buddhism4 ,he finally settled in a rock cave in the side of a cliff near a famous monastery on ,mt4 ,niu-t'ou1 where his sanctity reportedly caused birds to appear with offerings of flowers4 ,according to the ,zen chronicle ,transmission of the ,lamp 7#ajjd71 sometime between #fbg and #fdi the ,fourth ,patriarch1 ,tao-hsin1 sensed that a famous ,buddhist was living on ,mt4 ,niu-t'ou and went there to search out the man4 ,after many days of seeking1 he finally came upon a holy figure seated atop a rock4 ,as the two meditation masters were becoming acquainted1 there suddenly came the roar of a tiger from the bramble farther up the mountain4 ,tao-hsin was visibly startled1 causing ,fa-jung--friend of the animals--to observe wryly1 ,i see it is still with you4 ,his meaning1 of course1 was that ,tao-hsin was still enslaved by the phenomenal world1 was not yet wholly detached from his fears and perceptions4 ,after they had chatted a while longer1 ,fa-jung found occasion to leave his seat and attend nature at a detached location4 ,during his absence ,tao-hsin wrote the ,chinese character for the ,buddha's name on the very rock where he had been sitting4 ,when ,fa-jung returned to resume his place1 he was momentarily brought up short by the prospect of sitting on the ,buddha's name4 ,expecting this1 ,tao-hsin smiled and said1 ,i see it is still with you4 ,he had shown that ,fa-jung was still intimidated by the trappings of classical ,buddhism and had not yet become a completely detached master of the pure ,mind4 ,the story says that ,fa-jung failed to understand his comment and implored ,tao-hsin to teach him ,ch'an1 which the ,fourth ,patriarch proceeded to do4 ,tao-hsin's message1 once again1 was to counsel nondistinction1 nonattachment1 nondiscrimination2 he said to abjure emotions1 values1 striving4 ,just be natural and be what you are1 for that is the part of you that is closest to the ,buddhist ideal of mental freedom4 ,there is nothing lacking in you1 and you yourself are no different from the ,buddha4 ,there is no way of achieving ,buddhahood other than letting your mind be free to be itself4 ,you should not contemplate nor should you purify your mind4 ,let there be no craving and hatred1 and have no anxiety or fear4 ,be boundless and absolutely free from all conditions4 ,be free to go in any direction you like4 ,do not act to do good1 nor to pursue evil4 ,whether you walk or stay1 sit or lie down1 and whatever you see happen to you1 all are the wonderful activity of the ,great ,enlightened ,one4 ,it is all joy1 free from anxiety--it is called ,buddha4#ae ,after ,tao-hsin's visit1 the birds offering flowers no longer appeared3 evidence1 said the later ,ch'an teachers1 that ,fa-jung's physical being had entirely vanished4 ,his school on ,mt4 ,niu-t'ou flourished for a time1 teaching that the goals of ,ch'an practice could be realized by contemplating the ,void of ,nagarjuna4 ,as ,fa-jung interpreted the teachings of the ,middle ,path3 ,all talk has nothing to do with one's ,original ,nature1 which can only be reached through sunyata4 ,no-thought is the ,absolute ,reality1 in which the mind ceases to act4 ,when one's mind is free from thoughts1 one's nature has reached the ,absolute4#af ,although ,fa-jung's teachings happened to be transmitted to ,japan in later years1 through the accident of a passing ,japanese pilgrim1 his school did not endure in either country beyond the eighth century4 ,his was the first splinter group of ,zen1 and perhaps it lacked the innovation necessary to survive1 because it clung too much to traditional ,buddhism4 ,as ,fa-jung's years advanced1 he was encouraged to come down from his mountain and live in a monastery1 which his better judgment eventually compelled him to do4 ,it is reported that after his final farewell to his disciples he was followed down the mountain by the laments of all its birds and animals4 ,a more ordinary teacher would have been forgotten1 but this beloved ,st4 ,francis of ,zen became the topic of lectures and a master remembered with reverence ever after4 ,,hung-,,jen1 ,,the ,,fifth ,,patriarch 7#fja-gd7 ,the other well-known disciple of the ,fourth ,patriarch1 ,tao-hsin1 was the man history has given the title of ,fifth ,patriarch1 ,hung-jen 7#fja- #gd74 ,the chronicles say that he came from ,tao-hsin's own province and impressed the master deeply when1 at age fourteen1 he held his own with the ,fourth ,patriarch in an introductory interview4 ,as the exchange has been described1 ,tao-hsin asked the young would-be disciple his family name1 but since the word for family name is pronounced the same as that for nature1 ,hung-jen answered the question as though it had been1 ,what is your 'nature'8--deliberately misinterpreting it in order to say1 ,my 'nature' is not ordinary2 it is the ,buddha-nature4 ,tao-hsin reportedly inquired1 ,but don't you have a 'family name'8 ,to which ,hung-jen cleverly replied1 ,no1 for the teachings say that our 'nature' is empty4#ag ,hung-jen went on to become the successor to the ,fourth ,patriarch1 with an establishment where several hundred followers gathered4 ,the chronicles have little to say about the actual life and teachings of the ,fifth ,patriarch1 but no matter4 ,his place in history is secured not so much for what he said--there is actually very little that can reliably be attributed to him--but rather for his accidental appearance at the great crossroads of ,zen4 ,hung-jen and his monastery became the symbol of a great philosophical debate that occupied the first half of the eighth century1 a conflict to be examined in detail in the two chapters to follow4 ,suffice it to say here that the chronicles at least agree that he was an eminent priest and well respected1 a man to whom an early-eighth-century document attributes eleven disciples of note4#ah ,among those listed who are particularly important to the events that follow are a monk named ,shen-hsiu and another named ,hui-neng1 the men whose names would one day be associated with a celebrated midnight poetry contest in ,hung-jen's monastery4 ,this contest eventually came to symbolize the conflict between the teachings of gradual enlightenment and sudden enlightenment1 between intellectual and intuitive knowledge1 between sophisticated urban ,buddhism and unlettered rural teachers1 and between promoters of the abstruse but challenging ,lankavatara ,sutra sanctioned by ,bodhidharma and the cryptic ,diamond ,sutra4 ,quite simply1 it was a battle between what would eventually be known as the ,northern and ,southern schools of ,ch'an1 and it concerned two fundamentally opposing views of the functions of the human mind4 ,as things turned out1 the gradual1 ,northern1 ,lankavatara ,sutra faction went on for years thinking it had won--or perhaps not really aware that there was a battle in progress-- while the anti-intellectual1 ,southern1 ,diamond ,sutra faction was gathering its strength in the hinterlands for a final surge to victory4 ,when the ,southern school did strike1 it won the war handily and then proceeded to recast the history of what had gone before1 even going so far as to put posthumous words of praise for itself into the mouths of the once-haughty ,northern masters4 ,thus the mighty were eventually brought low and the humble lifted up in the annals of ,ch'an4 ,it is to the two masters whose names are associated with this battle that we must turn next4 ,chapter ,four ,,shen-,,hsiu ,,and ,,shen-,,hui3 ,,gradual ,,and ,,sudden ,,masters ,whereas the ,ch'an ,patriarchs of earlier times had been1 more often than not1 fractious teachers ignored by emperors and gentry alike1 the ,t'ang ,dynasty saw ,ch'an masters rise to official eminence1 receiving honors from the highest office in ,china4 ,the first half of the eighth century witnessed what was to be the greatest battle within the school of ,ch'an1 but it was also the time when ,ch'an was finally recognized by ,chinese ruling circles4 ,the name most often associated with this imperial recognition is the famous1 or perhaps infamous1 ,empress ,wu4#a ,wu was not born to royalty1 but in the year #fch1 when she was thirteen1 she was placed in ,emperor ,t'ai-tsung's harem as a concubine of relatively low rank4 ,disapproving historians claim that one day she managed to catch the crown prince1 the heir apparent to the aging emperor1 in what we today might euphemistically call the bathroom1 and seduced him at a moment when he was without benefit of trousers4 ,thus she was already on familiar terms with the next emperor when her official husband1 ,emperor ,t'ai-tsung1 went to his ancestors in the summer of #fdi4 ,although she was only twenty-four years old1 custom required that she join all the deceased emperor's concubines in retirement at a monastery--which ordinarily would have been the last anyone heard of her4 ,as it happened1 however1 the new emperor's first wife was childless1 with the effect that he began devoting increasing attention to a favorite concubine4 ,knowing of the emperor's earlier acquaintance and infatuation with ,wu1 the barren empress recalled her from the convent1 intending to divert the emperor from his current favorite4 ,the cure1 however1 turned out to be far more deadly than the ailment4 ,through an intrigue that apparently included murdering her own child by the emperor and then blaming the empress1 ,wu soon had both the empress and the competing concubine in prison4 ,not content with mere imprisonment for her rivals1 she went on to have them both boiled alive--after first amputating their hands and feet1 eliciting a dying curse from the concubine that she would return as a cat to haunt ,wu4 ,to escape this curse1 ,wu permanently banned cats from the imperial compound1 and eventually persuaded the emperor to move the government from ,ch'ang-an to ,loyang1 where for the next half century she tried to exorcise the memory of her deed4 ,in late #fhc ,wu's husband1 the emperor1 died1 and for a time she allowed his son1 the true heir1 to occupy the throne--until she could find a pretext to take over the government completely4 ,a couple of years after the emperor's death1 when ,wu was aged sixty1 she became infatuated with a lusty peddler of cosmetics and aphrodisiacs1 a man whose virility had made him a favorite with various serving ladies around the palace4 ,to give him a respectable post1 she appointed him abbot of the major ,buddhist monastery of ,loyang--enabling him to satisfy1 as it were1 a double office in the service of the state4 ,his antics and those of his followers did the cause of ,buddhism little good over the next few years4 ,when in #fie his arrogance finally became too much even for ,wu1 she had him strangled by the court ladies and his body sent back to the monastery in a cart4 ,although ,wu is remembered today as an ardent ,buddhist1 some have suggested that her devotions turned as much to the claims of fortune telling by ,buddhist nuns 7some of whose organizations in ,loyang reportedly ran brothels on the side7 as to a pious concern with ,indian philosophy4 ,,shen-,,hsiu 7#fje-gjf71 ,,the ,,first ,,sixth ,,patriarch ,it is known that around #gja ,empress ,wu invited an aging ,ch'an monk named ,shen-hsiu1 follower of the ,lankavatara school of ,bodhidharma1 to come north to the imperial capital from his monastery in central ,china4#b ,he was over ninety at the time and had amassed a lifelong reputation for his rigorous practice of dhyana4 ,shen-hsiu agreed reluctantly1 reportedly having to be carried on a pallet into the presence of the empress4 ,it is said that ,wu curtsied to him1 an unusual act for a head of state1 and immediately moved him into the palace1 where he seems to have become the priest-in- residence4 ,as for why ,empress ,wu would have chosen to honor a lineage of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 it has been pointed out that she was at the time attempting to supplant the established ,t'ang ,dynasty of her late husband with one of her own4 ,and since the ,t'ang emperors had honored a ,buddhist lineage1 it was essential that she do the same--but one of a different school4 ,shen-hsiu was both eminent and unclaimed1 an ideal candidate to become the court ,buddhist for her fledgling dynasty--which1 needless to say1 was never established4 ,nonetheless1 ,shen-hsiu was given the title of ,lord of the law of ,ch'ang-an and ,loyang1 and he preached to vast crowds drawn from the entire northern regions4 ,to solidify his eminence1 ,wu had monasteries built in his honor at his birthplace1 at his mountain retreat1 and in the capital4 ,shen-hsiu1 who briefly reigned as the ,sixth ,patriarch of ,ch'an1 was described in the early chronicles as a sensitive and bright child who1 out of despair for the world1 early on turned away from ,confucianism to become a ,buddhist monk4 ,at age forty-six he finally found his way to the ,east ,mountain retreat of the ,fifth ,patriarch1 ,hung-jen1 where he studied under the master until achieving enlightenment4 ,as noted previously he was among the eleven most prominent individuals remembered from the monastery of the ,fifth ,patriarch4 ,he later left the monastery and traveled for almost two decades1 during which time another of the students of ,hung-jen1 ,fa-ju1 eclipsed him in fame and followers4 ,however1 ,shen-hsiu seems to have been the best known ,master1 eventually becoming the titular head of the ,lankavatara faction1 also to be known as the ,northern school--possibly because ,shen-hsiu brought it to the urbanized1 sophisticated capitals of ,north ,china1 ,loyang and ,ch'ang-an4 ,this was ,ch'an's most imperial moment1 and no less than a state minister composed the memorial epitaph for ,shen-hsiu's gravestone4 ,although his specific teachings are not well known1 a verse survives from one of his sermons that seems to suggest that the teachings of ,ch'an were really teachings of the mind and owed little to traditional ,buddhism4 ,the teaching of all the ,buddhas ,in one's own ,mind originally exists3 ,to seek the ,mind without one's ,self1 ,is like running away from the father4#c ,after he died a pupil named ,p'u-chi 7d4 #gci7 carried on his organization in the capital4 ,this was the high point of official ,ch'an1 signifying the moment of the ,lankavatara school's greatest prestige4 ,perhaps most important1 the success of ,shen-hsiu was also the success of ,ch'an1 or what appeared to be success4 ,the sect had risen from being the passion of homeless teachers of dhyana to the object of imperial honors in the midst of ,china's finest moment1 the ,t'ang ,dynasty4 ,the ,t'ang was an era to be remembered forever for its poetry1 its art1 its architecture1 its cultural brilliance4#d ,unfortunately for ,northern ,ch'an1 this cultural brilliance was beginning to be the province of groups other than the blueblooded gentry that traditionally had controlled ,china's culture4 ,the glories of the ,t'ang were to some degree the creation of the non-gentry1 and an outcast warrior would before long bring the government to its knees1 even as an obscure ,ch'an master from the rural south was soon to erase ,shen-hsiu's seemingly permanent place in history4 ,,shen-,,hui 7#fgj-gfb71 ,,the ,,martin ,,luther ,,of ,,ch',,an ,the ,david to ,shen-hsiu's ,goliath was a master with a similar- sounding name3 ,shen-hui4 ,this theological street fighter was a native of the province of ,hupeh1 some distance south of the lavish twin ,t'ang captials of ,ch'ang-an and ,loyang4#e ,he began as a ,taoist scholar1 but later turned to ,buddhism1 traveling even farther south around his fortieth year to become the disciple of a priest named ,hui-neng1 whose temple was ,ts'ao-ch'i1 just north of the southern port city of ,canton in ,kuangtung province4 ,it will be remembered that ,hui-neng 7whose legend we will explore in the next chapter7 had also been a disciple of the ,fifth ,patriarch1 ,hung-jen1 studying alongside ,shen-hsiu4 ,shen-hui is thought to have studied under ,hui-neng for around five years1 until the latter's death in #gac4 ,after this he traveled about ,china1 ending up at ,hua-t'ai1 slightly northeast of the capital of ,loyang4 ,he seems to have been a man of charismatic presence1 one who inspired followers easily4 ,then1 in the year #gcb1 at a convocation of ,ch'an worthies at the temple1 he mounted the platform and1 in a historic moment1 declared that the great ,ch'an organizations of ,china1 heretofore beholden to ,shen-hsiu as ,sixth ,patriarch1 were following a false master4#f ,the historical significance of this convocation and ,shen-hui's attack might be likened to the defiant act of ,martin ,luther1 when he challenged church hierarchy in sixteenth-century ,germany4 ,with superb audacity1 ,shen-hui went on to spell out a new history of ,ch'an that supported his claims4 ,his revised chronicle culminated with the name of his old teacher ,hui-neng1 theretofore an obscure follower of the ,fifth ,patriarch1 ,hung-jen1 whom he declared ,sixth ,patriarch4 ,he insisted that ,shen-hsiu1 the man honored by ,empress ,wu1 had posed falsely as the heir of ,hung-jen4 ,the ,northern school of ,shen-hsiu and his heir1 ,p'u-chi1 had perpetrated a historical deceit1 said ,shen-hui1 robbing the true ,sixth ,patriarch1 the southerner ,hui-neng1 of his due recognition4 ,for ,shen-hui to have challenged the hand-picked school of the ruling family was an incredibly courageous act1 but perhaps one that was just audacious enough to win public sympathy4 ,he touted this new proposition more or less full-time between the years #gcb and #gde1 as he traveled about ,north ,china and got to know the officials of the ,t'ang regime4 ,his political standing gradually improved and he was eventually invited 7in #gde1 at age seventy-seven7 to ,loyang to assume leadership of the great ,ho-tse temple4 ,although the particular object of his criticism1 ,shen-hsiu's disciple ,p'u-chi1 had died in #gci1 ,shen-hui's attacks on the lineage continued undiminished4 ,politics finally caught up with him1 however1 when a follower of ,shen- hsiu's ,northern ,ch'an named ,lu ,i1 who just happened to be chief of imperial censors1 accused him of plotting against the government 7citing as evidence the large crowds he routinely attracted74 ,finally1 ,emperor ,hsuan-tsung 7grandson of ,empress ,wu7 himself summoned ,shen-hui from ,loyang to ,ch'ang-an1 where he questioned the master and finally sent him into exile in the deep south4 ,this was about #gec4 ,it was at this point that ,chinese political history and ,ch'an collide1 for the throne was soon to need ,shen-hui's help4 ,emperor ,hsuan-tsung 7reigned #gab-gef7 has been credited by many with the wreck of the ,t'ang ,dynasty4 ,at the beginning of his reign the capital had been in the east at ,loyang 7where ,empress ,wu had moved it4 to escape her memories71 but the aristocracy in the west successfully pressured him to bring it back to ,ch'ang-an4 ,in his declining years ,hsuan-tsung became infatuated with the wife of his son1 a lady now infamous in ,chinese history as ,yang ,kuei-fei4 ,she subsequently was divorced by her husband and became a member of the emperor's harem in #gch1 coming to enjoy enormous influence in affairs of state4 ,she had first been brought to the emperor's attention by one of her relatives1 and in typical ,chinese style she procured government posts for all available members of her family4 ,as the poet ,tu ,fu 7#gab-ggj7 described her machinations3 ,so many courtiers now throng around the court ,that honest men must tremble2 ,and it's said that the gold plate from the treasury ,has gone to the kinsmen of ,lady ,yang4#g ,although none of these blood relatives ever rose to the rich opportunities the situation afforded1 another of her favorites compensated abundantly for their political ineptitude4 ,his name was ,an ,lu-shan1 a barbarian of ,turkish extraction1 born in #gjc1 who first entered ,china as a slave to an officer in a northern garrison of the empire4 ,after distinguishing himself as a soldier1 he came to the attention of ,yang ,kuei-fei1 who was so charmed by the man that she adopted him as her son4 ,before long he was a familiar figure at the court1 reportedly very fat and possessing a flair for entertaining the bored aristocracy by his flippancy4 ,eventually he was made governor of a frontier province1 where under pretense of a foreign threat he proceeded to recruit an army of alarming proportions and questionable allegiance4 ,meanwhile1 back in the capital1 ,lady ,yang and her relatives had taken over the government1 whereupon they unwisely decided that ,an ,lu-shan should be brought under firmer control4 ,with their hostility providing him just the pretext needed1 he marched his new army toward ,ch'ang-an1 pausing only long enough to conquer ,loyang and proclaim himself emperor4 ,this was in ,january #gef4 ,by ,july he had also taken ,ch'ang-an1 from which the royal family had already fled4 ,conditions deteriorated sufficiently that the troops supporting the throne demanded1 and got1 the head of ,lady ,yang ,kuei-fei as the price for continued support4 7,on imperial orders she was strangled by a eunuch47 ,in the meantime1 the imperial ,t'ang forces found reinforcements1 including some ,arab mercenaries4 ,after a battle outside ,ch'ang-an which left ,an ,lu-shan's forces in disarray1 the rebel was murdered1 some say by his own son4 ,soon thereafter the victorious mercenaries sacked and looted ,loyang1 ending forever its prominence in ,chinese history4 ,the government of the ,t'ang survived1 but it was penniless after the many war years in which it could not enforce taxation4#h ,the time was now #geg1 some four years after ,shen-hui's banishment4 ,the destitute government1 desperate for money1 decided to set up ordination platforms in the major cities across ,china and raise cash by selling certificates of investiture for ,buddhist monks4 7,since entry into the priesthood removed an individual from the tax rolls1 it was accepted practice for the ,chinese government to require an advance compensation47 ,shen-hui's oratorical gifts were suddenly remembered by some of his former followers1 and the old heretic was recalled to assist in the fundraising4 ,he was such an effective fundraiser in the ruined city of ,loyang that the government commissioned special quarters to be built for him on the grounds of his old temple1 the ,ho-tse4 7,he was later to be remembered as the ,master of ,ho-tse47 ,the price for his cooperation seems to have been the official acceptance of his version of ,ch'an's history4 ,in his battle with the ,northern school of ,ch'an he had outlived his opponents and through a bizarre turn of events had finally won the day4 ,solely through his persistence1 the obscure ,southern ,ch'an monk ,hui-neng was installed as ,sixth ,patriarch in ,ch'an histories 7replacing ,shen-hsiu71 and one history went so far as to declare ,shen-hui himself the ,seventh ,patriarch4 ,the philosophical significance of what ,shen-hui's ,southern doctrine brought to ,ch'an has been described as nothing less than a revolution4 ,a modern ,zen scholar has claimed that ,shen-hui's revolution produced a complete replacement of ,indian ,buddhism with ,chinese philosophy1 keeping only the name4 ,shen-hui1 he claims1 swept aside all forms of meditation or dhyana and replaced it with a concept called no-mind3 the doctrines of absence of thought and seeing into one's original nature4#i ,perhaps this philosophical coup d'etat may best be understood by comparing the ,northern and ,southern teachings4 ,the discredited ,northern school of ,shen-hsiu had preached that the road to enlightenment must be traversed step by step1 that there were in fact two stages of the mind--the first being a false mind which perceives the world erroneously in dualities1 and the second a true mind which is pure and transcends all discriminations and dualities1 perceiving the world simply as a unity4 ,one proceeds from the false mind to the true mind step by step1 through the suppression of erroneous thought processes by the practice of dhyana or meditation1 in which the mind and the senses slowly reach a state of absolute quietude4 ,the ,southern school took issue with this theory of the mind on a number of points4 ,to begin1 they said that if there really is no duality in the world1 then how can the mind be divided into false and true8 ,they argued that the answer quite simply is that there is only one mind1 whose many functions are all merely expressions of single true reality4 ,the unity of all things is the true reality2 our minds are also part of this reality2 and upon realizing this1 you have achieved the same enlightenment experience once realized by the ,buddha4 ,there is no false mind and true mind1 nor is there any need for a long program of dhyana to slowly suppress false thoughts4 ,all that is needed is to practice absence of thought and thereby intuitively to realize a simple truth3 ,one unity pervades everything4 ,this realization they called ,buddha-mind1 and it could only happen all at once 7not step by step71 at any time and without warning4 ,this moment of primal realization they called seeing into one's original nature4 ,although ,shen-hui is somewhat vague about exactly what practice should replace meditation1 the scholar ,walter ,liebenthal has inferred the following about ,shen-hui's attitude toward sudden enlightenment as a replacement for meditation3 ,he seems to have rejected meditation in the technical sense of the word4 ,instead of methodical endeavors designed to promote religious progress he recommends a change of point of view leading to non-attachment4 4 4 4 ,non-attachment in this case means that external objects are not allowed to catch our fancy44 4 4 ,a thing recollected is isolated1 it is singled out of the whole1 and is thus an illusion2 for all short of the undifferentiated continuum is illusive4 ,the senses work as usual 4 4 4 but 'no desire is aroused4' 4 4 4 ,this change happens suddenly1 that is1 it is not dependent upon preceding exertions2 it can be brought about without first passing through the stages of a career4 ,that is why it is called 'sudden awakening4' #aj ,liebenthal interprets ,shen-hui as saying that whereas the purpose of meditation should be merely to erase our attachment to physical things1 it also removes our cognizance of them1 which is not necessarily a requirement for nonattachment4 ,it should be possible for us to be aware of the world without being attached to it and enslaved by it4 ,according to ,shen-hui's sermon3 ,when thus my friends are told to discard as useless all they have learned before1 then those who have spent fifty or more1 or only twenty years practicing meditation1 hearing this1 might be very much puzzled4 4 4 4 ,friends1 listen attentively1 ,i speak to you of self- deception4 ,what does self-deception mean8 ,you1 who have assembled in this place today1 are craving for riches and pleasures of intercourse with males and females2 you are thinking of gardens and houses4 4 4 4 ,the ,nirvana ,sutra says1 ,to get rid of your passions is not ,nirvana2 to look upon them as no matter of yours1 that is ,nirvana4#aa ,so far so good2 but how do we reach this state of recognition without attachment8 ,apparently the way is to somehow find our original state1 in which we were naturally unattached to the surrounding world4 ,the way is to mentally disassociate ourselves from the turmoil of society that surrounds us and look inward1 touching our original nature4 ,in this way1 both prajna and samadhi1 awareness and noninvolvement1 which have been described as the active and passive sides of meditation1 are achieved simultaneously4 ,now1 let us penetrate to that state in which we are not attached4 ,what do we get to know8 ,not being attached we are tranquil and guileless4 ,this state underlying all motions and passions is called samadhi4 ,penetrating to this fundamental state we encounter a natural wisdom that is conscious of this original tranquility and guilelessness4 ,this wisdom is called prajna4 ,the intimate relation between samadhi and prajna is thus defined4 4 4 4 ,if now you penetrate to that state in which your mind is not attached1 and yet remains open to impressions1 and thus are conscious of the fact that your mind is not attached1 then you have reached the state of original blankness and tranquility4 ,from that state of blankness and tranquility there arises an inner knowledge through which blue1 yellow1 red1 and white things in this world are well distinguished4 ,that is prajna4 ,yet no desires arise from these distinctions4 ,that is samadhi4 4 4 4 ,it follows that freedom from attachment 7to external things1 which replaces meditation in ,ch'an ,buddhism71 enables you to look into the heart of all the ,buddhas of the past1 and yet it is nothing else than what you yourselves experience today4#ab ,perhaps the most revolutionary thing about this approach was that it seemed to eliminate the need for all the traditional apparatus of ,buddhism4 ,it had little or nothing to do with organized religion1 and even less connection with the mountains of ,indian philosophy that had gone before4 ,a thousand years of ,indian thought had been distilled down to a single truth3 ,the realization of our original nature comprises enlightenment4 ,if this were taken at face value1 then there was no longer any need for the ,buddhist community1 the sutras1 the chanting1 even meditation4 ,there was1 in fact1 no longer any need for ,buddhism4 ,it had been reduced1 as the ,chinese scholar ,wing-tsit ,chan has observed1 to a concern for the mind alone4 ,by redefining meditation1 ,shen-hui had laid the foundations of ,chinese ,zen which was no ,zen at all4#ac ,as ,shen-hui now described meditation or dhyana3 ,sitting motionless is no dhyana2 introspection into your own mind is no dhyana2 and looking inward at your own calmness is no dhyana4#ad4 4 4 ,here in my school1 to have no thoughts is sitting1 and to see one's original nature is dhyana 7,ch'an74#ae ,what happened to ,indian meditation8 ,no wonder the scholar ,hu ,shih has described this new teaching as a ,chinese revolt against ,buddhism4 ,the political triumph of ,shen-hui made ,southern ,ch'an the official sect1 but it also meant that he1 now one of the leading religious figures in ,china1 had necessarily become a part of the ruling establishment4 ,little wonder that the actual future of ,ch'an soon reverted back to rural teachers1 men who could more convincingly claim to despise the ways of the world1 as they meditated in their secluded mountain retreats far from imperial patronage4 ,shen-hui's school of ,southern ,ch'an of ,ho-tse temple1 which had established dominance in the north1 was soon to be eclipsed by these new vigorous but unlettered rural ,ch'anists4#af ,interestingly1 the official recognition of the court seemed to quickly extinguish any school of ,ch'an that received it4 ,shen-hsiu was honored by ,empress ,wu1 and his school was then supplanted by that of ,shen-hui1 whose own imperial recognition and honors were soon to be dust in the history of ,ch'an1 as the new rural school burst on the scene and effectively took over4#ag ,the disorders surrounding and following the rebellion of ,an ,lu-shan are commonly considered today as signaling the decline of the great age of the ,t'ang ,dynasty4 ,they certainly signified the atrophy of the war-torn ,north ,chinese capitals as the political power in ,china4 ,loyang and ,ch'ang-an came to be replaced in economic influence by the south1 a region relatively untouched by the constant struggles ,north ,china had to mount against barbarian invaders4 ,northern scholars retired to the pastoral south1 where they lazed in peaceful gardens and recalled the great poets of the early ,t'ang4 ,thus ,northern urban ,ch'an followed the general demise of ,north ,chinese political strength4 ,was ,shen-hui really the father of the new meditationless ,ch'an of the mind8 ,some traditional scholars claim it was not really ,shen-hui who revolutionized ,ch'an1 but rather his master1 the ,southern teacher ,hui- neng4 ,for example1 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki believed that whereas ,shen-hui was correct in equating meditation with the primal knowledge of self called prajna1 he actually taught that this knowledge came about through rational understanding rather than intuition4#ah ,it was ,hui-neng1 said ,suzuki1 who correctly understood that prajna was intuition and who knew that it could be realized only through the sudden path rather than through the step-by-step path4 ,this may well have been true4 ,just as the ,apostle ,paul interpreted the teachings of an obscure provincial teacher1 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and popularized them among the urban centers of the ,roman ,empire1 so ,shen-hui dispensed the ideas of ,hui-neng in northern cities1 possibly tempering them where necessary to gain acceptance from the more rationally inclined urban ,ch'anists4 ,to continue the analogy1 ,shen-hui 7like ,paul7 never quotes his mentor directly in his writings--something he certainly would have done if there had been anything to quote--but in a few decades there would be a full autobiography of ,hui-neng complete with a sermon4 ,shen-hui's own contribution was to open the way for the anti-meditation rural school to take over ,ch'an4 ,we may now turn to the legendary ,hui-neng1 remembered as the ,sixth ,patriarch4 ,chapter ,five ,,hui-,,neng3 ,,the ,,sixth ,,patriarch ,,and ,,father ,,of ,,modern ,,zen ,the master honored today as the father of modern ,zen was an impoverished country lad from ,south ,china1 whose attributed autobiography1 ,the ,platform ,sutra of ,hui-neng1 is the only sutra of ,buddhism written by a ,chinese4#a ,in this work1 ,hui-neng 7#fch-gac7 told the story of his rise from obscurity to fame4 ,he described his father as a high ,chinese official who1 unjustly banished and reduced to a commoner1 died of shame while ,hui-neng was still a small child4 ,to survive1 the fatherless boy and his mother sold wood in the marketplace at ,han-hai1 near ,canton in ,south ,china4 ,then one day he chanced to overhear a man reciting a passage from the ,diamond ,sutra4 ,hui-neng stopped to listen1 and when he heard the phrase ,let your mind function freely1 without abiding anywhere or in anything1 he was suddenly awakened4 ,upon inquiry1 he discovered that the reciter was a follower of the ,fifth ,patriarch1 ,hung-jen4 ,this teacher1 the stranger said1 taught that by reciting the ,diamond ,sutra it was possible to see into one's own nature and to directly experience enlightenment4 ,the ,diamond ,sutra 7sometimes called the ,vajracchedika ,sutra7 became the passion of ,hui-neng as well as the touchstone for the new ,chinese ,ch'an4 ,an unusually brief work1 it has been called the ultimate distillation of the ,buddhist ,wisdom ,literature4 ,the following excerpt is representative of its teaching4 ,all the mind's arbitrary concepts of matter1 phenomena1 and of all conditioning factors and all conceptions and ideas relating thereto are like a dream1 a phantasm1 a bubble1 a shadow1 the evanescent dew1 the lightning's flash4 ,every true disciple should thus look upon all phenomena and upon all the activities of the mind1 and keep his mind empty and selfless and tranquil4#b ,the ,diamond ,sutra does not search the philosophic heights of the ,lankavatara ,sutra1 the treatise revered by the early dhyana school of ,bodhidharma1 and precisely for this reason it appealed to the ,southern school--whose goal was the simplification of ,ch'an4 ,hui-neng could not resist the call and immediately set out for the ,east ,mountain monastery of the ,fifth ,patriarch4 ,when he arrived1 ,hung-jen opened the interview by asking the newcomer his origin4 ,hearing that he was from the ,canton region1 the old priest sighed1 ,if you're from the south you must be a barbarian4 ,how do you expect to become enlightened8 ,to this ,hui-neng shot back1 ,the people in the north and south may be different1 but enlightenment is the same in both regions4 ,although this impertinence caused the master to immediately recognize ,hui-neng's mental gifts1 he said nothing and simply put him to work threshing and pounding rice4 7,this exchange1 incidentally1 will be recognized as the memorable first encounter between two generations of masters1 an obligatory element in all the legends of the early ,patriarchs47 ,for the next eight months1 the young novice toiled in obscurity1 never so much as seeing the ,fifth ,patriarch4 ,then one day the old priest called an assembly and announced that he was ready to pass on the robe of the patriarchy to the one who could compose a verse showing an intuitive understanding of his own inner nature4 ,the disciples talked over this challenge among themselves and decided1 ,the robe is certain to be handed down to ,shen-hsiu1 who is head monk and the natural heir4 ,he will be a worthy successor to the master1 so we will not bother composing a verse4 ,shen-hsiu1 the same master later exalted by the ,empress ,wu in ,loyang1 knew what was expected of him and began struggling to compose the verse4 ,after several days' effort1 he found the courage to write an unsigned gatha on a corridor wall in the dark of night4 ,our body is the ,bodhi-tree ,and our mind a mirror bright4 ,carefully we wipe them hour by hour1 ,and let no dust alight4#c ,when the ,fifth ,patriarch saw the verse1 he convened an assembly in the corridor1 burned incense1 and declared that they all should recite the anonymous passage4 ,afterward1 however1 he summoned ,shen-hsiu to his private quarters and inquired if he was author of the verse4 ,receiving an affirmative reply1 the master said1 ,this verse does not demonstrate that you have yet achieved true understanding of your original nature4 ,you have reached the front gate1 but you have not yet entered into full understanding4 ,prepare your mind more fully and when you are ready1 submit another gatha4 ,it is a ,ch'an commonplace that ,shen-hsiu's verse stressed methodical practice and was perfectly logical--just the opposite of the sudden1 anti-logical leap of intuition that is true enlightenment4 ,shen-hsiu departed1 but try as he might he could not produce the second gatha4 ,in the meantime1 ,hui-neng overheard the monks reciting ,shen-hsiu's lines4 ,although he recognized that its author had yet to grasp his own original nature1 ,hui-neng asked to be shown the verse and allowed to do homage to it4 ,after he was led to the hall1 the illiterate lad from the barbarian south asked to have a gatha of his own inscribed next to the one on the wall4 ,there is no ,bodhi-tree ,nor stand of a mirror bright4 ,since all is void1 ,where can the dust alight8#d ,although the assembly was electrified by the insight contained in this gatha1 the diplomatic old ,fifth ,patriarch publicly declared that its author lacked full understanding4 ,during the night1 however1 he summoned young ,hui-neng to the darkened meditation hall1 where he expounded the ,diamond ,sutra to him and then ceremonially passed to him the robe of ,bodhidharma1 symbol of the patriarchy4 ,he also advised him to travel immediately to the south1 to stay underground for a time in the interest of safety1 and then to preach the ,dharma to all who would listen4 ,hui-neng departed that very night1 crossing the ,yangtze and heading south--the anointed ,sixth ,patriarch at age twenty-four4 ,when the other monks realized what had happened1 they hastily organized a party to retrieve ,hui-neng and the ,ch'an relics4 ,finally one of the pursuers1 a burly former soldier1 reached the new ,sixth ,patriarch in his hideaway4 ,suddenly overcome by the presence of ,hui-neng1 he found himself asking not for the return of the robe but rather for instruction4 ,hui-neng obliged him with1 ,not thinking of good1 not thinking of evil1 tell me what was your original face before your mother and father were born4 ,this celebrated question--which dramatizes the ,zen concept of an original nature in every person that precedes and transcends artificial values such as good and evil--caused the pursuer to be enlightened on the spot4 ,for the next several years ,hui-neng sought seclusion1 living among hunters in the south and concealing his identity4 ,the legends say his kindly nature caused him sometimes to secretly release animals from the hunters' traps and that he would accept only vegetables from their stewpots4 ,but this life as an anonymous vagabond1 a ,patriarch while not even a priest1 could not be his final calling4 ,one day when the time felt right 7in #fgf1 as he neared forty71 he renounced the life of a refugee and ventured into ,canton to visit the ,fa-hsing temple4 ,one afternoon as he lingered in the guise of an anonymous guest1 he overheard a group of monks arguing about a banner flapping in the breeze4 ,one monk declared1 ,the banner is moving4 ,another insisted1 ,no1 it is the wind that is moving4 ,although he was only a lay observer1 ,hui-neng could not contain himself1 and he interrupted them with his dramatic manifesto1 ,you are both wrong4 ,it is your mind that moves4 ,the abbot of the temple1 standing nearby1 was dumbstruck by the profound insight of this stranger1 and on the spot offered to become his pupil4 ,hui-neng declined the honor1 however1 requesting instead that his head be shaved and he be allowed to enter ,buddhist orders1 a priest at last4 ,he was shortly acclaimed by one and all as the ,sixth ,patriarch1 and after a few months in ,canton he decided to move to a temple of his own at ,ts'ao-ch'i1 where he taught for the next four decades4 ,from this monastery came the teachings that would define the faith4 ,the foregoing story1 perhaps the most famous in the ,zen canon1 is drawn mainly from the aforementioned ,platform ,sutra of ,hui-neng1 purportedly an autobiography and sermon presented to an assembly in his later years4#e 7,the setting was a temple near his monastery1 where he was invited to lecture one day by the local abbot4 ,it was transcribed by one of his disciples1 ince ,hui-neng traditionally was said to have been illiterate47 ,the document has come down to us in three parts4 ,the first part is the story just summarized3 a poetry contest at the monastery of the ,fifth ,patriarch in which the man later to lead ,northern ,ch'an is humiliated by a bumpkin1 who himself must then flee the wrath of the ,ch'an establishment and wait for recognition in the south4 ,the second part is a lecture that scholars believe probably represents the general outline of ,hui-neng's views on man's original nature4 ,the third part is a highly embellished account of his later years1 usually dismissed as the pious invention of a more recent date4 ,the real life of ,hui-neng is a historical puzzle that may well never be resolved4 ,for example1 it is common to note that the later ,ch'an writers took great pains to render ,hui-neng as illiterate and unlettered as possible1 the more to emphasize his egalitarianism4 7,this in spite of the fact that the sermon attributed to him refers to at least seven different sutras47 ,the facts were adjusted to make a point3 ,if a simple illiterate wood peddler could become ,patriarch1 what better proof that the faith is open to all people8 ,many of the traditional anecdotes surrounding his early years are similarly suspect1 and in fact the most respected ,hui-neng scholar has declared1 ,if we consider all the available material1 and eliminate patiently all the inconsistencies by picking the most likely legends1 we can arrive at a fairly credible biography of ,hui-neng4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we eliminate the legends and the undocumented references to the ,sixth ,patriarch1 we may conclude that there is1 in fact1 almost nothing that we can really say about him4#f ,yet does it really matter whether the legend is meticulously faithful to the facts8 ,hui-neng is as much a symbol as a historical individual1 and it was essential that his life have legendary qualities4 ,in his case1 art may have helped life along a bit1 but it was for a larger purpose4 ,the purpose was to formalize the new philosophical ideas of ,southern ,ch'an4 ,the second part of the ,platform ,sutra1 which details his philosophical position1 has been characterized as a masterpiece of ,chinese thought1 the work not of a scholar but of a natural sage whose wisdom flowed spontaneously from deep within4 ,yet it is commonly conceded that the uniqueness of his message lies not so much in its being original 7which most agree it is not7 but in its rendering of the basic ideas of ,buddhism into ,chinese terms4#g ,buddhism itself seems at times to be in question1 as the ,sixth ,patriarch discounts traditional observances1 even suggesting that the ,buddhist ,western ,paradise1 known as the ,pure ,land1 might be merely a state of mind4 ,the deluded person concentrates on ,buddha and wishes to be born in the other land2 the awakened person makes pure his own mind4 4 4 4 ,if only the mind has no impurity1 the ,western ,land is not far4 ,if the mind gives rise to impurities1 even though you invoke the ,buddha and seek to be reborn in the ,west1 it will be difficult to reach 4 4 4 but if you practice straightforward mind1 you will arrive there in an instant4#h ,hui-neng also questioned the traditional ,ch'an practice of sitting in meditation1 declaring it to be more a mind-set than a physical act 7if his ,sutra is authentic1 then he predates his pupil ,shen-hui on this point74 ,he also broke it apart into two different categories3 the sitting and the meditation4 4 4 4 what is this teaching that we call sitting in meditation8 ,in this teaching sitting means without any obstruction anywhere1 outwardly and under all circumstances1 not to activate thoughts4 ,meditation is internally to see the original nature and not become confused4#i ,elsewhere he is quoted as declaring that protracted sitting only shackles the body without profiting the mind4#aj ,although ,hui-neng severely took to task those who depended on meditation1 there is no evidence that he forbade it entirely4 ,what he did reject was a fixation on meditation1 a confusion--to use a later ,zen expression--of the finger pointing at the moon with the moon itself4 ,even so1 this was a radical move4 ,hui-neng presents us with the startling prospect of a dhyana teacher questioning the function of dhyana--until then the very basis of the school4 ,yet the sutra is far from being all negative4 ,it has a number of positive messages1 including the following3 ,all people are born in an enlightened state1 a condition in which good and evil are not distinguished4 ,nor are there distracting discriminations1 attachments1 and perturbations of the spirit in this primal estate4 7,a very similar view is found throughout the poetry of ,william ,wordsworth1 to give only one example from ,western thought4#aa7 ,but if man's original nature is pure and unstained1 how then does evil enter into a person's character8 ,he faces this classic theological question head-on3 ,good friends1 although the nature of people in this world is from the outset pure in itself1 the ten thousand things are all within their own natures4 ,if people think of all the evil things1 then they will practice evil2 if they think of all the good things1 then they will practice good4 ,thus it is clear that in this way all the dharmas 7aspects of humanity7 are within your own natures1 yet your own natures are always pure4 ,the sun and moon are always bright1 yet if they are covered by clouds1 although they are bright1 below they are darkened1 and the sun1 moon1 stars1 and planets cannot be seen clearly4 ,but if suddenly the wind of wisdom should blow and roll away the clouds and mists1 all forms in the universe appear at once4 4 4 4 ,if a single thought of good evolves1 intuitive wisdom is born4 ,as one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness1 so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance4#ab ,as ,hui-neng viewed it1 there is latent within us all the condition of enlightenment1 the state that precedes our concern with good and evil4 ,it can be reclaimed through an intuitive acquaintance with our own inner natures4 ,this is well summarized by the ,hui-neng scholar ,philip ,yampolsky3 ,the ,platform ,sutra maintains that the nature of man is from the outset pure1 but that his purity has no form4 ,but by self-practice1 by endeavoring for himself1 man can gain insight into this purity4 ,meditation1 prajna1 true reality1 purity1 the original nature1 self- nature1 the ,buddha nature1 all these terms1 which are used constantly throughout the sermon1 indicate the same undefined ,absolute1 which when seen and experienced by the individual himself1 constitutes enlightenment4#ac ,this condition of original innocence that is enlightenment can be reclaimed through no-thought1 a state in which the mind floats1 unattached to what it encounters1 moving freely through phenomena1 unperturbed by the incursions and attractions of the world1 liberated because it is its own master1 tranquil because it is pure4 ,this is the condition in which we were born and it is the condition to which we can return by practicing no-thought4 ,although it happens to be similar to the condition that can be realized through arduous meditation1 ,hui-neng apparently did not believe that meditation was required4 ,this primal condition of the mind1 this glimpse into our original nature1 could be realized instantaneously if our mind were receptive4 ,but what is this state called no-thought8 ,according to ,hui-neng3 ,to be unstained in all environments is called no-thought4 ,if on the basis of your own thoughts you separate from environment1 then1 in regard to things1 thoughts are not produced4 ,if you stop thinking of the myriad things1 and cast aside all thoughts1 as soon as one instant of thought is cut off1 you will be reborn in another realm4 4 4 4 ,because man in his delusion has thoughts in relation to his environment1 heterodox ideas stemming from these thoughts arise1 and passions and false views are produced from them4#ad ,yampolsky characterizes no-thought as follows3 ,thoughts are conceived as advancing in progression from past to present to future1 in an unending chain of successive thoughts4 ,attachment to one instant of thought leads to attachment to a succession of thoughts1 and thus to bondage4 ,by cutting off attachment to one instant of thought1 one may1 by a process unexplained1 cut off attachment to a succession of thoughts and thus attain to no-thought1 which is the state of enlightenment4#ae ,precisely how this condition of no-thought enlightenment is achieved is not explained in the ,platform ,sutra and in fact has been the major concern of ,zen ever since4 ,the one thing that all will agree is that the harder one tries to attain it1 the more difficult it becomes4 ,it is there inside1 waiting to be released1 but it can be reached only through the intuitive mind4 ,and it happens suddenly1 when we least expect4 ,the master ,hui-neng stands at the watershed of ,zen history4 ,indeed he may be the watershed1 in the embodied form of a legend4 ,there seems reason to suspect that he was canonized well after the fact1 as was ,bodhidharma4 ,but whereas ,bodhidharma provided an anchor for the original formation of a separate ,dhyana sect in ,chinese ,buddhism1 ,hui-neng became the rallying symbol for a new type of ,ch'an1 one wholly ,chinese1 and one that seemed to discount ,bodhidharma's old mainstay1 meditation4 ,he became the ,chinese answer to the ,indian ,bodhidharma4 ,hui-neng redefined the specific characteristics of the ,ch'an goal and described in nontheological terms the mind state in which duality is banished4 ,but he failed to go the next step and explain how to get there4 ,all he did was point out 7to use the terminology of logic7 that meditation not only was not a sufficient condition for enlightenment1 it might not even be a necessary condition4 ,what then was required8 ,the answer to this question was to be worked out during the next phase of ,ch'an1 the so-called ,golden ,age of ,zen1 when a new school of ,southern ,ch'an exploded 7to use a common description7 in the south and went on to take over all of ,ch'an4 ,these new teachers seem to have accepted ,hui-neng as their patron1 although the direct connection is not entirely clear4 ,these masters learned how to impose a torture chamber on the logical mind1 bringing to it such humiliations that it finally annihilated ego or self and surrendered to prajna1 intuitive wisdom4 ,they devised systematic ways to produce the state of no-thought that ,hui-neng and ,shen-hui apparently could only invoke4 ,,part ,,ii ,,the ,,golden ,,age ,,of ,,zen 4 4 4 4 in which teachers of rural1 ,southern ,ch'an begin to experiment with new ways to precipitate the sudden enlightenment experience1 even bringing into question the role of meditation4 ,along with the search for new techniques goes the attempt to define precisely what enlightenment is and to formalize the transmission process4 ,during this time1 ,ch'an monasteries become independent organizations and ,ch'an a recognized1 if eccentric1 ,buddhist sect4 ,the iconoclastic1 self- supporting ,ch'an establishments ride out a persecution of ,buddhism in the mid-ninth century that effectively destroys all other ,buddhist schools in ,china4 ,this is the great creative era of ,ch'an1 in which the sect secures its own identity and creates its own texts for use by later generations4 ,chapter ,six ,,ma-,,tsu3 ,,originator ,,of ,,shock ,,enlightenment ,ma-tsu 7right7 and ,layman ,p'ang ,if ,hui-neng was the ,sixth ,patriarch1 then who was the seventh8 ,although several of his followers are mentioned in the ,platform ,sutra1 the only one who seems to have made any difference in ,ch'an history was ,shen-hui 7#fgj-gfb71 who successfully destroyed the ,northern school of ,shen-hsiu 7#fje-gjf7 and elevated ,hui-neng4 ,although ,shen-hui was given the accolade of ,seventh ,patriarch in some parts of the north1 history was to be written elsewhere4 ,shen-hui's school of ,southern ,ch'an was soon compromising with the remaining ,northern ,ch'anists--conceding that the study of the sutras could go along hand in hand with sudden enlightenment--and he seems to have enjoyed a little too much his role as imperial socialite4 ,the only member of ,shen-hui's school to realize any historical prominence was ,tsung-mi 7#ghj-hda71 whose fame attaches not to his original thought but rather to his scholarly writings describing the various sects of ,ch'an4#a ,a litterateur and friend of the famous poet ,po ,chu-i 7#ggb-hdf71 he also tried unsuccessfully to mediate between the followers of the step-by-step sutra-reading ,buddhists of the cities and the all-at-once1 anti-literary proponents of sudden enlightenment in the country1 but he succeeded only in bringing the history of ,northern ,ch'an to a dignified close4#b ,the ,chinese scholar ,hu ,shih skillfully pinpoints why the social success of ,shen-hui's new ,southern school in the north actually contributed to its decline4 ,as he saw it3 ,the explanation is simple4 ,zennism could not flourish as an officially patronized religion1 but only as an attitude of mind1 a method of thinking and a mode of living4 ,an officially patronized teacher of ,buddhism is obliged to perform all the traditional rituals and ceremonies which the true ,zennist despises4 ,shen-hui succeeded in establishing ,zennism as a state religion1 but by so doing he almost killed it4 ,all further development of ,chinese ,zen had to come from those great teachers who valued simple life and intellectual freedom and independence more than worldly recognition4#c ,and in fact just such teachers had begun springing up like mushrooms4 ,on lonely mountaintops1 teachers of sudden enlightenment were experimenting with new ways to transmit wordless insight4 ,they seem to have despised traditional ,buddhism1 perhaps partly because ,buddhism--by which is meant the cultural elitists and aristocrats in the capitals of ,ch'ang-an and ,loyang--had so long despised them4 7,recall the ,fifth ,patriarch's greeting to ,hui-neng3 ,if you're from the south1 you must be a barbarian47 ,although traditional ,buddhism 7including teachers of dhyana7 continued to flourish1 and the city of ,ch'ang-an remained a model for ,asian civilization1 the political power of the ,t'ang government in the north gradually withered4 ,and as it declined1 so too did the fortunes of the traditional ,ch'an establishments that had flourished under imperial patronage4 ,the new ,ch'an teachers of the ,southern school may have felt smug in their new prestige and independence1 but they still were subject to the ingrained ,chinese desire for a lineage4 7,perhaps in the land of ,confucius1 spiritual ancestors were essential to dignity47 ,the triumph of the legend of ,hui-neng in the north had not been lost on the ,ch'anists elsewhere1 and it effectively meant that for any ,ch'an school to have respectability nationwide1 it had to be able to trace its lineage back to this illiterate southerner and his temple at ,ts'ao- ch'i4 ,unfortunately this turned out to be difficult1 since by the time ,hui-neng actually came to be recognized as the ,sixth ,patriarch1 he had been dead for half a century and there were few ,chinese who even knew firsthand of his existence--and none besides ,shen-hui who ever claimed to have studied under him4 ,how then could he be made the founder of the ,ch'an schools blooming all over ,china8 ,the scholar ,hu ,shih has speculated somewhat knavishly on how ,hui-neng's lineage may have been created after the fact3 ,by the last quarter of the eighth century1 there began to be a great stampede of almost all the ,ch'an schools to get on the bandwagon of the school of ,hui-neng4 4 4 4 ,hui-neng died early in the eighth century1 and his disciples were mostly unknown ascetics who lived and died in their hilly retreats4 ,one could easily have paid a visit to some of them4 ,so in the last decades of the century1 some of those unknown names were remembered or discovered4 ,two of the names thus exhumed from obscurity were ,huai-jang of the ,heng ,mountains in ,hunan1 and ,hsing-ssu of the ,ch'ing-yuan ,mountains of ,kiangsi4 ,neither of these names appeared in earlier versions of ,hui-neng's life story4#d ,these two masters1 ,nan-yueh ,huai-jang 7#fgg-gdd7 of ,hunan and ,ch'ing- yuan ,hsing-ssu 7d4 #gdj7 of ,kiangsi1 were made the missing links between ,hui-neng and the two schools of ,ch'an that would one day become ,japanese ,rinzai and ,soto1 respectively4 ,since the lineage most important for the early years of ,ch'an's ,golden ,age was that which would one day be the ,rinzai school1 the tradition of ,huai-jang will be examined here first4 ,as noted above1 although the legend says that ,huai-jang once studied under the ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,hui-neng1 supporting historical evidence is not readily found4 ,however1 he is thought to have studied under another follower of the ,fifth ,patriarch ,hung-jen and to have been a part of the general scene of ,southern ,ch'an4#e ,his actual function may have been to supply a direct line of descent between ,hui- neng and the man who was to be the creator of ,rinzai ,zen as we know it today4 ,that man is the famous ,ma-tsu ,tao-i 7#gji-ghh71 who even if not a direct spiritual descendant of ,hui-neng was certainly a product of the same exciting period of intellectual ferment4 ,according to the more or less contemporary record left by the northern historian ,tsung-mi1 ,ma-tsu 7which means ,patriarch ,ma7 was a native of ,szechuan who was ordained a monk at an early age by a ,korean master in his home province4#f ,young ,ma traveled on1 as was common with beginning ,ch'an monks1 and 7so say the later legends7 finally came to the monastery of ,huai-jang1 located on ,mt4 ,nan-yueh4 ,the story of their first encounter became a standard among later ,ch'an masters1 for it is a particularly effective discrediting of that onetime ,ch'an mainstay1 meditation1 which became anathema to the more revolutionary ,southern school4 ,as the story goes1 ,huai-jang one day came upon ,ma-tsu absorbed in meditation and proceeded to question the purpose of his long bouts of dhyana4 ,ma-tsu immediately replied1 ,i want to become a ,buddha1 an enlightened being4 ,saying nothing1 ,huai-jang quietly picked up a brick and started rubbing it on a stone4 ,after a time ,ma-tsu's curiosity bested him and he inquired1 ,why are you rubbing that brick on a stone8 ,huai-jang replied1 ,i am polishing it into a mirror4 ,ma-tsu probably knew by this time that he had been set up1 but he had to follow through3 ,but how can you make a mirror by polishing a brick on a stone8 ,the celebrated answer was3 ,how can you become enlightened by sitting in meditation8 ,the point1 driven home time and again throughout the eighth century1 was that enlightenment is an active1 not a passive1 condition4 ,and ,ma- tsu himself was to become the foremost exponent of enlightenment as a natural part of life4 ,ma-tsu always made a profound impression on his contemporaries1 and no small part may be attributable to his peculiar physical traits4 ,as ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp describes him3 ,in appearance and bearing he was most striking4 ,he glared as a tiger does and he ambled like a cow4 ,he could touch his nose with his tongue1 and on the soles of his feet were wheel-shaped marks physical qualities also attributed to the ,buddha4 ,during the period of #gac-da he studied the dhyana 4 4 4 under ,master ,huai-jang1 who then had nine disciples4 ,of these only ,ma-tsu received the sacred mind seal4#g ,however1 his real immortality derives from his contribution to the arsenal of methods for shocking novices into enlightenment4 ,it will be recalled that the legendary ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,hui-neng1 neglected to explain exactly what a person should do to see into one's own nature4 ,ma-tsu apparently was the first master who developed non-meditative tricks for nudging a disciple into the state of no-thought4 ,he was an experimenter1 and he pioneered a number of methods that later were perfected by his followers and the descendants of his followers4 ,he was the first master to ask a novice an unanswerable question1 and then while the person struggled for an answer1 to shout in his ear 7he liked the syllable ,ho67--hoping to jolt the pupil into a non-dualistic mind state4 ,another similar technique was to call out someone's name just as the person was leaving the room1 a surprise that seemed to bring the person up short and cause him to suddenly experience his original nature4 ,a similar device was to deliver the student a sharp blow as he pondered a point1 using violence to focus his attention completely on reality and abort ratiocination4 ,other tricks included responding to a question with a seemingly irrelevant answer1 causing the student to sense the irrelevancy of his question4 ,he would also sometimes send a pupil on a goose chase between himself and some other enlightened individual at the monastery1 perhaps in the hope that bouncing the novice from one personality to another would somehow shake his complacency4 ,whatever the technique1 his goal was always to force a novice to uncover his original nature for himself4 ,he did this by never giving a straight answer or a predictable response and therefore never allowing a disciple to lapse into a passive mental mode4 ,ma-tsu also seems to have simplified the idea of what constitutes enlightenment4 ,as he defined it1 seeing into one's own nature simply meant understanding 7intuitively1 not rationally7 who you are and what you are4 ,this truth could be taught with whatever method seemed appropriate at a given moment4 ,as ,hu ,shih so eloquently describes his teaching1 4 4 4 any gesture or motion1 or even silence1 might be used to communicate a truth4 ,recall the ,buddha once enlightened a follower by holding up a flower4 ,ma-tsu developed this idea into a pedagogical method for the new ,zen4 ,there is no need to seek any special faculty in the mind for the enlightenment4 ,every behavior is the mind1 the manifestation of the ,buddha-nature4 ,snapping a finger1 frowning or stretching the brow1 coughing1 smiling1 anger1 sorrow1 or desire 4 4 4 is the functioning of the ,buddhahead3 it is the ,tao1 the ,way4 ,there is no need to perform any special act1 be it dhyana or worship1 in order to achieve the ,tao4 ,to be natural is the ,way4 ,walk naturally1 sit naturally1 sleep naturally1 live naturally--that is the ,way4 ,let the mind be free3 do not purposely do evil2 nor purposely do good4 ,there is no ,law to abide1 no ,buddhahood to attain4 ,maintain a free mind and cling to nothing3 that is ,tao4#h ,thus it seems that the most preeminent ,ch'an master of the eighth century not only repudiated all the apparatus of traditional ,buddhism1 he also simplified enlightenment down to a quite secular condition of acceptance of the natural state of human affairs4 ,for instance1 although he was familiar with the great ,mahayana sutras1 ,ma-tsu never mentions ,hui-neng or the ,diamond ,sutra4 ,his ,ch'an1 expressed in simple everyday language1 seems merely so many ways of finding out who you are and what you are4 ,furthermore1 there seems to be nothing specifically that you can do to accelerate the occurrence of sudden enlightenment1 other than use traditional practices to make your psyche as uncomplicated as possible and then wait for the moment to strike 7he1 of course1 experimented to find ways to accelerate the arrival of that moment74 ,but he has nothing encouraging to say about the effectiveness of meditation as an aid to finding the desired non-rational insight1 which he sometimes described using the borrowed term ,tao3 ,cultivation is of no use for the attainment of ,tao4 ,the only thing that one can do is to be free of defilement4 ,when one's mind is stained with thoughts of life and death1 or deliberate action1 that is defilement4 ,the grasping of the ,truth is the function of everyday-mindedness4 ,everyday-mindedness is free from intentional action1 free from concepts of right and wrong1 taking and giving1 the finite or the infinite4 4 4 4 ,all our daily activities--walking1 standing1 sitting1 lying down--all response to situations1 our dealings with circumstances as they arise3 all this is ,tao4#i ,ma-tsu eventually left ,huai-jang 7if1 in fact1 he ever met him in the first place7 and presided over a community of ,ch'an disciples at ,k'ai- yuan temple in ,kiangsi4 ,this was to be the incubator for the greatest thinkers of the eighth century1 and the setting for some of the finest ,ch'an anecdotes4 ,the anecdote1 incidentally1 is the perfect ,ch'an teaching device1 since it forces the listener to find its meaning in his own inner experience4 ,the sermon provided the theoretical basis for an idea1 but the anecdote showed the theory in action and made the listener share in a real experience1 if only vicariously4 ,but first we will begin with a sermon credited to him1 in which he summarizes the philosophical position he held4 ,there was nothing particularly new about his understanding2 it was his method that was novel4 ,his sermon said1 in essence1 that reality is merely our mind1 and that enlightenment comprised the nonrational recognition of this4 ,all of you should realize that your own mind is ,buddha1 that is1 this mind is ,buddha's ,mind4 4 4 4 ,those who seek for the ,truth should realize that there is nothing to seek4 ,there is no ,buddha but ,mind2 there is no ,mind but ,buddha4#aj ,again there is the counsel against discriminations between good and evil1 since the original ,mind transcends these3 ,do not choose what is good1 nor reject what is evil1 but rather be free from purity and defilement4 ,then you will realize the emptiness of sin4#aa ,this is not a preachment of values2 rather it is the insight that there is a reality beyond our puny discriminations4 ,if you can achieve this larger perspective1 then good and evil become an inconsequential part of the larger flow of life4 ,his sermon then returns to the theme of the mind as the arbiter of reality1 recalling the ,void of ,nagarjuna and pointing out that even the workings of the mind are ephemeral and possess no self-nature4 ,thoughts perpetually change and cannot be grasped because they possess no self-nature4 ,the ,triple ,world of desire1 form1 and beyond-form is nothing more than one's mind4 ,the multitudinous universe is nothing but the testimony of one ,dharma truth4 ,what are seen as forms are the reflections of the mind4 ,the mind does not exist by itself2 its existence is manifested through forms4 4 4 4 ,if you are aware of this mind1 you will dress1 eat1 and act spontaneously in life as it transpires1 and thereby cultivate your spiritual nature4 ,there is nothing more that ,i can teach you4#ab ,the essence of this teaching is that reality is1 for us1 merely what our mind says it is1 and enlightenment or becoming a ,buddha is merely coming to terms with ourselves and with this tricky mind that constantly devises our reality for us4 ,this credo is remembered most vividly in two anecdotes that were later enshrined in a famous collection of koans called the ,wu-men ,kuan 7or ,mumonkan in ,japanese74 ,in both of these anecdotes1 ,ma-tsu is asked1 ,what is ,buddha8--meaning what is the spirituality that all seek4 ,in one he replied1 ,mind is ,buddha 7,mumonkan1 ,case #cj71 and in the other anecdote he said1 ,no mind1 no ,buddha 7,mumonkan1 ,case #cc71 which merely affirms that spirituality is in the mind1 and for its realization one must realize the mind4#ac ,in either instance he is merely following the earlier idea that there is no reality and thus no enlightenment outside the mind4 ,these two exchanges are part of a single anecdote of ,ma-tsu recorded in the chronicles4 ,a monk asked why the ,master maintained1 ,the ,mind is the ,buddha4 ,the ,master answered1 ,because ,i want to stop the crying of a baby4 ,the monk persisted1 ,when the crying has stopped1 what is it then8 ,not ,mind1 not ,buddha1 was the answer4 ,how do you teach a man who does not uphold either of these8 ,the ,master said1 ,i would tell him1 ',not things4' ,the monk again questioned1 ,if you met a man free from attachment to all things1 what would you tell him8 ,the ,master replied1 ,i would let him experience the ,great ,tao4#ad ,as the scholar ,john ,wu has pointed out1 ,this dialogue reveals an important secret about ,ma-tsu's art of teaching4 ,sometimes he used a positive formula1 sometimes he used a negative formula4 ,on the surface they are contradictory to each other4 ,but when we remember that he was using them in answering persons of different grades of attainments and intelligence1 the contradiction disappears at once in the light of a higher unity of purpose1 which was in all cases to lead the questioner to transcend his present state4#ae ,another example of a seemingly contradictory position is recorded as a koan in another famous collection1 the ,blue ,cliff ,record 7,case #c74 ,in this anecdote1 ,ma-tsu is asked one day about his health1 and he responded with1 ,sun-faced ,buddhas1 ,moon-faced ,buddhas4#af ,according to a ,buddhist tradition1 a ,sun-faced ,buddha lives for eighteen hundred years1 a ,moon-faced ,buddha lives only a day and a night4 ,perhaps he was proposing these two contradictory cases to demonstrate the irrelevance of an inquiry after his physical state4 ,it would have been far better if the question had concerned his mind4 ,a story describing how ,ma-tsu handled other teachers who wandered by depicts very well the way that he could undermine logic and categorization4 ,in a particularly famous anecdote1 a visiting teacher proposed a condition of duality1 a condition equivalent to that of a switch that can be either off or on4 ,having permitted the teacher to adopt this very un-,zen position1 ,ma-tsu proceeds to demolish him4 ,the story goes as follows3 ,a monk who lectured on ,buddhism came to the ,master and asked1 ,what is the teaching advocated by the ,ch'an masters8 ,ma-tsu posed a counterquestion3 ,what teachings do you maintain8 ,the monk replied that he had lectured on more than twenty sutras and sastras4 ,the ,master exclaimed1 ,are you not a lion8 ,the monk said1 ,i do not venture to say that4 ,the ,master puffed twice and the monk commented1 ,this is the way to teach ,ch'an4 ,ma-tsu retorted1 ,what way do you mean8 and the monk said1 ,the way the lion leaves the den4 ,the ,master became silent4 ,immediately the monk remarked1 ,this is also the way of ,ch'an teaching4 ,at this the ,master again asked1 ,what way do you mean8 ,the lion remains in his den4 ,when there is neither going out nor remaining in1 what way would you say this was8 ,the monk made no answer4 4 4 4#ag ,ma-tsu had posed a seemingly unanswerable question1 at least a question that logic could not answer4 ,this provocative exchange1 later to be known as a mondo1 was a new teaching technique that departed significantly from the earlier methods of ,hui-neng and ,shen-hui1 who mounted a platform1 gave a sermon1 and then politely received questions from the audience4 ,but how did ,ma-tsu handle this question when it was presented to him8 ,he fell back on the fact that reality is what we make it1 and all things return to the mind4 ,he once handled essentially the same question that he put to the visiting monk1 showing how it can be done4 ,his response is the essence of ,zen4 ,a monk once drew four lines in front of ,ma-tsu4 ,the top line was long and the remaining three were short4 ,he then demanded of the ,master1 ,besides saying that one line is long and the other three are short1 what else could you say8 ,ma-tsu drew one line on the ground and said1 ,this could be called either long or short4 ,that is my answer4#ah ,language is deceptive4 ,but if it is used to construct an anti-logical question1 it can equally be used to construct an anti-logical reply4 ,ma-tsu discovered and refined what seems to have eluded the earlier teachers such as ,hui-neng and ,huai-jang3 namely1 the trigger mechanism for sudden enlightenment4 ,as noted earlier1 he originated the use of shouting and blows to precipitate enlightenment1 techniques to become celebrated in later decades in the hands of men such as ,huang-po and ,lin-chi1 masters who shaped the ,rinzai sect4 ,as a typical example1 there is the story of a monk coming to him to ask1 ,what was the purpose of ,bodhidharma's coming from the ,west8 which is ,ch'an parlance for ,what is the basic principle of ,zen8 ,as the monk bowed reverently before the old master waiting for the reply that would bring it all together1 ,ma-tsu knocked him to the ground1 saying1 ,if ,i do not strike you1 people all over the country will laugh at me4 ,the hapless monk picked himself up off the ground and--suddenly realizing he had just tasted the only reality there is--was enlightened on the spot4#ai ,obviously1 every boxer does not experience enlightenment when he receives a knockout punch4 ,the blow of enlightenment is meant to rattle the questioning mind and to disrupt1 if only for an instant1 its clinging to abstractions and logic4 ,it seems almost as though enlightenment were a physical phenomenon that sometimes can best be achieved by a physical process--such as a blow or a shout4 ,the violence seemed to work both ways1 for the monks often gave him a dose of his own medicine4 ,an example is reported in the following story3 ,it happened once that his disciple ,yin-feng was pushing along a cart1 while ,ma-tsu was sitting on the road with his feet stretched out4 ,yin- feng requested him to draw back his feet1 but ,ma-tsu said1 ,what is stretched out is not to be drawn back again6 ,yin-feng retorted1 ,once advanced1 there is no turning backward6'' ,disregarding the master1 he kept pushing the cart until it ran over and injured his feet4 ,ma-tsu returned to the hall with an axe in his hand1 saying1 ,let the one who a few moments ago injured my feet with his cart come forward6 ,yin- feng1 not to be daunted1 came forward stretching his neck in front of the master4 ,the master peacefully put down his axe4#bj ,the significance of this story1 if it has any significance1 is that it conveys the atmosphere of ,ch'an monasteries around #gej4 ,it demonstrates that the leader of a monastery had to win his spurs4 ,he had to be tougher1 more audacious1 and faster than anybody else4 ,during the ,t'ang it was common to use the ox as a metaphor for all that is uncontrollable in human nature4 ,the ox was not necessarily bad2 it just had to be governed4 ,the rigor with which this control was applied at ,ma-tsu's monastery is illustrated in the story concerning one of the disciples1 a former hunter who ,ma-tsu encountered one day working in the monastery kitchen4 ,what are you doing8 asked the master--a question that never got a straight answer from an enlightened ,ch'an monk4 ,i am herding an ox1 the man replied1 a metaphorical way of saying he was trying to discipline himself4 ,and how1 shot back ,ma-tsu1 do you go about tending it8 ,the monk replied1 ,whenever it starts to go to grass i4e41 self-indulgence1 ,i yank it back by the nostrils the tender part of the great animal4 ,to which ,ma-tsu admiringly replied1 ,if you really can do that by yourself1 then ,i may as well retire4#ba ,this story illustrates the emphasis on self-control that was a part of the ,ch'an monasteries4 ,yet self-control was only to be practiced for what it gave in return4 ,there were no value judgments or rules that had to be followed4 ,the point was to do what seemed the most rewarding4 ,for example1 there is a story that a local governor asked ,ma-tsu1 ,master1 should ,i eat meat and drink wine8 ,the master did not give him a reply that implied a value judgment1 but rather outlined the rewards of the two possible paths3 ,to eat and drink is your natural right1 to abstain from meat and wine is your chance for greater blessedness4#bb ,ma-tsu often used the structure of language1 with its natural capacity for parallels1 as a teaching tool in itself4 ,another time a monk asked1 what is the meaning of ,bodhidharma coming from the ,west8 ,what is the meaning of your asking at this moment8 replied the ,master4#bc ,the monk was interested in abstract issues 7using the ,ch'an metaphor for enlightenment's meaning72 ,ma-tsu reminded him that the only reality that mattered was his own being1 his own needs4 ,and he did it using almost identical language4 ,ma-tsu was constantly testing his disciples1 keeping them on their toes and reinforcing their enlightenment4 ,there is the story that one evening while enjoying the moonlight with three of his disciples 7including the two most famous1 ,huai-hai and ,nan- ch'uan71 he asked them the question what should we do right now1 this very moment8--a typical ,zen challenge4 ,one of the monks said1 ,it would be best to be studying the sutras of the ancients who have achieved enlightenment4 ,the monk ,huai-hai1 who was later to receive ,ma-tsu's mantle1 countered1 ,it would be good to practice meditation4 ,at that point ,nan-ch'uan1 the third monk1 simply rose1 shook the sleeves of his robe1 and silently walked away4 ,ma-tsu acknowledged this as the right answer and declared1 ,the sutra scriptures are returnable to the ,buddhist canon1 and meditation to the undifferentiated ocean1 but ,nan-ch'uan alone leaps over and transcends these4#bd ,nan-ch'uan's response was a triumph of physical action and simplicity over religiosity and abstraction4 ,ma-tsu is reported in the chronicles to have had #aci enlightened disciples1 many of whom went on to become ,ch'an leaders in their own districts4 ,the most outstanding were the monks ,huai-hai and ,nan-ch'uan and a layman named ,p'ang--all three of whom are today remembered in anecdotes that have become ,ch'an scriptures4 ,but others were probably just as active and enlightened4 ,southern ,ch'an was expanding1 with mountaintop retreats blossoming everywhere4 ,many teachers probably have been forgotten only because they had no disciples who took the pains to transcribe and preserve their teachings4 ,ma-tsu himself also apparently wrote nothing1 but he was more fortunate in his disciples4 ,in any case1 he reportedly died in the typical ,ch'an way4 ,he predicted his death a month in advance1 and when the time came1 he bathed1 assumed the meditation posture1 and silently passed on4 ,chapter ,seven ,,huai-,,hai3 ,,father ,,of ,,monastic ,,ch',,an ,among the many celebrated disciples of ,ma-tsu1 the man whose influence has been most pervasive throughout the succeeding centuries was ,po- chang ,huai-hai 7#gbj-had74 ,he is the master credited with founding the first wholly ,ch'an monastery1 with devising a special set of rules for ,ch'an discipline1 and with writing a closely argued treatise on sudden enlightenment4 ,whereas ,ma-tsu and others of his disciples such as ,nan- ch'uan experimented with ways to help novices break through the barrier of reason1 ,huai-hai examined the phenomenon of enlightenment itself and described the mental state of preparedness necessary to reach the ,other ,shore4 ,huai-hai has been somewhat unjustifiably neglected by the modern ,zen movement1 perhaps because his expository style did not lend itself to memorable anecdotes or koan cases4 ,the accounts of ,huai-hai's origin are contradictory1 but he seems to have begun his ,buddhist studies early1 becoming the pupil of a master named ,tao-chih in a small town in the present-day province of ,chekiang4#a 7,it was this master who gave him the religious name ,huai-hai1 or ,ocean of ,wisdom47 ,after he came to maturity1 the story goes1 he heard of the great master ,ma-tsu in the province of ,kiangsi1 and he traveled there to study4 ,among the many anecdotes surrounding ,huai-hai's stay with ,ma-tsu1 perhaps the finest is that of the auspicious first encounter4 ,the story says that when ,huai-hai arrived1 the old master immediately asked what previous temple he had traveled from1 followed by3 ,what do you come here to find8 ,huai-hai replied1 ,i have come to discover the truth of ,buddha4 ,to this ,ma-tsu replied1 ,what can you expect to learn from me8 ,why do you ignore the treasure in your own house and wander so far abroad8 ,understandably puzzled1 ,huai-hai asked1 ,what is this treasure that ,i have been ignoring8 ,to which came the celebrated reply3 ,the one who questions me at this moment is your treasure4 ,everything is complete in it4 ,it is lacking in nothing1 and furthermore the things it possesses are inexhaustible4 ,considering that you can use this treasure freely1 why then do you persist in wandering abroad8 ,it is said that with these words ,huai-hai suddenly had an intuitive1 non-rational acquaintance with his own mind4#b ,among the other classic tales of ,huai-hai's apprenticeship under ,ma-tsu is the often repeated account of the day the two of them were walking together along a path when suddenly a flock of migratory geese was heard passing overhead4 ,ma-tsu turned to his pupil and asked1 ,what was that sound8 ,huai-hai innocently replied1 ,it was the cry of wild geese4 ,ma-tsu paused and then demanded of his pupil1 ,where have they gone8 ,huai-hai said1 ,they have flown away4 ,this was an unacceptably drab1 straightforward answer for a ,zen man1 and in disgust ,ma-tsu whirled1 grabbed ,huai-hai's nose1 and twisted it until his disciple cried out in panic1 causing ,ma-tsu to observe1 ,so you thought they had flown away4 ,yet they were here all the time4#c ,the legends say that this exchange1 in the typical harsh style of ,ma- tsu1 caused ,huai-hai to confront his original nature4 ,what ,ma-tsu had done was to give his pupil a vivid lesson in the concept of an indivisible unity which pervades the world2 things do not come and go-- they are there always1 part of a permanent fabric4 ,huai-hai was being invited to stop viewing the world as a fragmented collection of elements and see it rather as a unified whole4 ,the interactions of master and novice were always dynamic4 ,for example1 another story says that one day ,ma-tsu asked ,huai-hai how he would teach ,ch'an4 ,huai-hai responded by holding up a dust whisk vertically4 ,ma-tsu continued by asking him1 ,is this all there is8 ,is there nothing more8 ,huai-hai replied by throwing down the whisk4 7,one interpreter has said that raising the dust whisk revealed the mind's function1 whereas throwing it down returned function to the mind's substance47#d ,according to some versions of this episode1 ,ma-tsu responded by shouting at the top of his lungs1 rendering ,huai-hai deaf for three days4 ,this shout is said to have been the occasion of ,huai-hai's final enlightenment4 ,huai-hai seems to have been a kindly man1 warm and personable1 not given to the roughhouse methods of some of his contemporaries4 ,instead of flamboyance1 we find a friendly type who concentrated on guiding a community of disciples 7sometimes called a ,zen forest7 and giving a helping hand to all4 ,we will pass over the many other anecdotes involving his stay with ,ma-tsu and turn instead to his more significant contributions to the growth of ,ch'an4#e ,these fall into two major categories3 ,first1 he founded the first wholly ,ch'an monastery and for it formulated a set of monastic rules that are today still respected in ,zen monasteries2 and second1 he was one of the first ,southern ,ch'an masters to explore the psychology of sudden enlightenment and to write a lucid analysis of the mental preparation it required4 ,before detailing ,huai-hai's contribution to monastic ,ch'an1 perhaps it would be well to recall briefly the character of the traditional ,buddhist monastery in ,china during the ,t'ang 7#fah-ijg7 era4 ,buddhist monasteries had long been governed by a set of rules known as the vinaya4 ,these rules prescribed everything from the color of the robes for the priesthood to the penalties attached to eating onions or garlic 7forbidden primarily because they were thought to be stimulants1 not necessarily because of their social liabilities in close quarters74 ,there were also some specific and quite solemn commandments--for example1 monks or nuns could be expelled from the community for stealing1 killing1 lying1 or sexual congress4 ,originating in ,india1 these rules had been subsequently transplanted to ,china1 where they gradually were made even more strict1 although their enforcement apparently was not always rigorous4 ,perhaps because of this laxity the ,t'ang regime established penalties even more severe than those imposed by the ,buddhist authorities4 ,for example1 whereas the vinaya indirectly countenanced the eating of meat 7through the loophole that all charitable gifts must be accepted since they give the laity merit1 and if a gift happened to be meat it still had to be consumed for the sake of the donor71 the ,t'ang government prescribed thirty days of hard labor for monks caught partaking4 ,since citizens entering ,buddhist orders were taken off the tax rolls1 the government took pains to ensure that monastic life was rigorous enough to discourage simple tax dodgers4#g ,although the ,chinese ,buddhist schools were almost all members of the side of ,buddhism known as ,mahayana1 they apparently followed the rules of ,theravada ,buddhism1 since the latter were clearer and more easily understood4#h ,huai-hai decided to merge the two sets of rules and from them to devise a new set of guidelines specifically for ,ch'an1 thereby creating a code of monastic discipline that eventually would rule ,zen behavior throughout the world4 ,the record concerning how the ,ch'an monastic system initially was established is less detailed than we might wish4 ,the legendary ,fourth ,patriarch1 ,tao-hsin1 was said to have been the first dhyana master to settle down in one place and nurture a band of disciples4 ,dhyana teachers seem to have allied themselves with the conventional ,buddhists in the decades that followed1 living in their monasteries much as the hermit crab finds a home in the shells of other species4 ,if their numbers were large they might have their own separate quarters1 but they still had to respect the rules of their host sect1 which more often than not was the ,vinaya school4#i ,gradually1 however1 a transformation occurred1 as ,ch'an masters became increasingly distinguishable from the leaders of other sects and ,ch'an itself grew to increasing proportions1 particularly in the south4 ,it is not surprising that the man who made monastic ,ch'an a reality was ,ma-tsu's pupil ,po-chang ,huai-hai4 ,in the recorded anecdotes ,huai-hai is characterized as a level-headed1 pragmatic man whom one can easily imagine having superior administrative ability4 ,as ,john ,wu characterizes his rules1 ,it was this rule of ,huai-hai that instituted for the first time the ,zen monastic system4 ,in its emphasis on moral discipline and its matter of factness1 it is comparable to the ,holy ,rule of ,st4 ,benedict4 ,the duties of the ,abbot and various functionaries under him are meticulously defined4 ,the daily life of the monks is regulated in detail4 ,of particular interest are the rites of taking vows and the universal duty of working in the fields4#aj ,it is difficult to say exactly what was the nature of the rules ,huai- hai formulated1 since his original precepts have been recast a number of times down through the years1 with the earliest surviving version being that preserved in a #abhb ,chinese ,yuan ,dynasty document called the ,holy ,rule of ,po-chang ,huai-hai4 ,if we look beyond the details1 however1 we see that his emphasis on the creation of a self-supporting monastic establishment was in a sense a further sinicization of ,indian ,buddhism1 through the rejection of begging as the primary means of support4 7,begging was not abandoned entirely1 since it is valuable for teaching humility2 instead it was retained in a regulated1 symbolic form1 but made a second line of economic defense47 ,the monasteries were intended to survive on their own1 since ,huai-hai insisted that meditation and worship be integrated with physical labor4 ,whereas the ideal ,indian holy man was one who relied on begging1 ,huai-hai believed that in ,china it was holier to work for a living4 ,this was the core of his teachings1 as symbolized in his famous manifesto3 ,a day without work is a day without food4 ,nothing could have been more sympathetically received among the ,chinese1 and ,huai-hai is probably rightly credited with inoculating ,ch'an against the governmental persecution of #hde that destroyed so many other ,buddhist sects4 ,he practiced what he preached1 and even when he reached old age he continued to toil in the fields4 ,in fact1 his disciples finally became so concerned for his health that they took the unprecedented step of hiding his gardening hoe4 ,but true to his rule1 he refused to eat until it was returned4 ,perhaps we can infer something of ,huai-hai's regulations from the routine in contemporary ,zen monasteries 7of the ,rinzai sect74#aa ,monks rise well before light 7before they can see the lines in the palm of their hand71 and after their morning toilet they gather in the main hall for sunrise devotions--in this case rapid chanting of scriptures1 a device more for developing powers of concentration than for piety4 ,they then return to the meditation hall1 where chanting resumes4 ,next comes breakfast1 usually plain rice with a modest vegetable garnish1 and then back to the meditation hall for ceremonial tea and announcements of the day's schedule4 ,afterward each monk meets individually with the master in his quarters1 where the monk's enlightenment is tested and a koan may be assigned4 7,the master1 incidentally1 enjoys a private room2 the monks sleep together in a common hall1 arranged according to rank47 ,after this1 the monks attend to the garden and grounds of the monastery1 and later in the morning there may be begging or visits to lay patrons for donations4 ,after lunch 7the main meal2 its leftovers are supper7 there is more work in the garden of the monastery1 planting and harvesting1 as well as repairing the buildings or other maintenance chores4 ,later on there may be more chanting1 as well as cleaning and upkeep of the interior of the buildings4 ,and in between there may be meditation4 ,then as nightfall descends the evening bell rings out to signify the work day's ending4 ,during the evening the monk may meditate more or receive further instruction from the master or his brothers4 ,finally1 late in the evening1 to bed--at the end of a long day4 ,it should be noted that there are also many special days on which meals1 ceremonies1 or activities may assume a different character4 ,it is significant that the monasteries of early ,ch'an are said not to have had a ,buddha hall or a place for worship2 rather they had only a ,dharma or lecture hall1 in which the master gave a talk1 followed by sharp exchanges with his disciples1 who often were rowdy and sometimes left at will to demonstrate their independence of mind4 ,these were places of irreverence and unfettered intellectual inquiry2 and apparently there was no enforced study of the traditional ,buddhist literature4 ,with monasteries of their own where they could do as they pleased1 the ,ch'an masters found their rebellion complete4 ,theirs now was an unhampered search for the perennial philosophy4 ,with this in mind we may now turn to the psychological teachings of the lawgiver ,huai-hai4 ,unlike the piecemeal story of his contribution to monastic life1 which is preserved in spirit more than in letter1 the writings on enlightenment that bear his name are rather firmly attributed4 ,this is1 in fact1 a significant new aspect of ,ch'an history1 since his work represents one of the oldest documents actually composed by a master--as compared to a sermon transcribed and edited by some follower4 ,according to the extant writings1 after ,huai-hai had studied with ,ma-tsu for several years1 he returned to his home temple to care for his first master1 ,tao-chih1 who was by then aged and ill--an act of duty any ,chinese would immediately understand4 ,it was during this return visit with his old master that he composed a treatise setting forth the theoretical basis of sudden enlightenment4 ,it is said that when this document was shown to ,ma-tsu1 he compared ,huai-hai to a great pearl whose luster penetrated all time and space4 7,curiously1 ,ma- tsu himself appears not to have made a great fuss about the meaning of sudden enlightenment1 seemingly taking the theory for granted and moving along to the practice47 ,the ,zen ,teaching of ,huai-hai on ,sudden ,illumination was composed in the form of an imaginary question-and-answer session1 in which ,huai-hai effectively interviewed himself on the question of sudden enlightenment and the specific problems a person might encounter in trying to prepare for it4 ,he stressed that one of the most important things to do was to suspend making value judgments about things1 since this leads almost directly to splitting things into camps of good and bad1 likes and dislikes4 ,this opens one to the world of categories and dualities1 just the opposite from oneness4 ,according to ,huai-hai1 the first thing to do is strive for3 4 4 4 total relinquishment of ideas as to the dual nature of good and bad1 being and non-being1 love and aversion1 void and non-void1 concentration and distraction1 pure and impure4 ,by giving all of them up1 we attain to a state in which all opposites are seen as void4 4 4 4 ,once we attain that state1 not a single form can be discerned4 ,why8 ,because our self-nature is immaterial and does not catch a single thing foreign to itself4 ,that which contains no single thing is true ,reality4 4 4 4#ab ,the desire to avoid love and aversion is inextricably tied with the freedom from distinctions1 duality1 judgments1 or prejudices3 ,wisdom means the ability to distinguish every sort of good and evil2 dhyana means that1 though making these distinctions1 you remain wholly unaffected by love or aversion for them4#ac ,elsewhere he describes this goal as3 ,being able to behold men1 women and all the various sorts of appearances while remaining as free from love and aversion as if they were actually not seen at all4 4 4 4#ad ,in this manner we can operate on the principle of unity1 even in a world where appearances have multiplicity4 ,but how exactly can we say that all things are one8 ,it is not something that can be fully understood with the rational mind1 and initially it must be taken partly on faith1 as a holding action until we can understand it intuitively4 ,his translator ,john ,blofeld uses the traditional ,buddhist analogy of the sea1 which is both constantly changing and yet eternally changeless3 ,contemplation of the movement and shifting composition of sea-waves is a useful symbolical approach2 for1 not only are the waves and the sea identical in substance1 but also a given wave does not preserve its individual identity for a single moment as the water composing it is never for an instant entirely the same2 thus1 by the time it reaches us from a distance1 every drop it contains will be other than the drops composing it when we saw it first4 ,on the other hand1 sea-water is sea-water and the wave is entirely composed of that4 ,each wave is void--a mere fluctuating appearance identical in substance with every other wave and with the entire ocean4 4 4 4#ae ,waves are a perfect metaphor for the idea of everything and nothing at once1 since they are both ephemeral and part of a larger reality1 the sea1 out of which they emerge1 assume a physical appearance1 and then dissolve4 ,they seem to exist1 yet you cannot grasp and hold them4 ,they are both existing and nonexistent4 ,thus they resemble the ,void1 a kind of energy that manifests itself through diverse illusory objects of the senses1 but which is itself ungraspable1 changeless unity4 ,with this in mind1 perhaps it is easier to understand ,huai-hai when he declares3 ,the nature of the ,absolute is void and yet not void4 ,how so8 ,the marvellous substance of the ,absolute1 having neither form nor shape1 is therefore undiscoverable2 hence it is void4 ,nevertheless1 that immaterial1 formless substance contains functions as numerous as the sands of the ,ganges1 functions which respond unfailingly to circumstances1 so it is also described as not void4#af ,by focusing on this idea of unity in an ,absolute1 we also interact with our own perception of time4 ,since it is important that the mind not dwell on anything1 naturally enough this applies to time as well as space4 ,if you want to understand the non-dwelling mind very clearly1 while you are actually sitting in meditation1 you must be cognizant only of the mind4 4 4 4 ,whatever is past is past1 so do not sit in judgment upon it2 for when minding about the past ceases of itself1 it can be said that there is no longer any past4 ,whatever is in the future is not here yet1 so do not direct your hopes and longings towards it2 for1 when minding about the future ceases of itself1 it can be said that there is no future4 ,whatever is present is now at hand2 just be conscious of your non-attachment to everything--non-attachment in the sense of not allowing any love or aversion for anything to enter your mind2 for1 when minding the present ceases of itself1 we may say that there is no present4#ag ,he has taken the idea of the now to an interesting new dimension4 ,by cutting off thoughts of past and future1 you not only save yourself mental anguish1 you also no longer need distinguish the idea of the present 4 4 4 and you have just eliminated a major aspect of attachment4 ,huai-hai is not blind to the difficulty of such rigorous mind control1 and he offers some of the first practical advice from a ,ch'an master for controlling the mind4 ,not surprisingly1 it is an admonition to stop trying so hard1 to just focus on goals rather than forcing the mind's behavior4 ,for example1 if you are meditating and your mind wants to meander and look for something to dwell on1 what should you do8 ,should your mind wander away1 do not follow it1 whereupon your wandering mind will stop wandering of its own accord4 ,should your mind desire to linger somewhere1 do not follow it and do not dwell there1 whereupon your mind's questing for a dwelling place will cease of its own accord4 ,thereby1 you will come to possess a non-dwelling mind--a mind which remains in the state of non-dwelling4 ,if you are fully aware in yourself of a non-dwelling mind1 you will discover that there is just the fact of dwelling1 with nothing to dwell upon or not to dwell upon4 ,this full awareness in yourself of a mind dwelling upon nothing is known as having a clear perception of your own mind or1 in other words1 as having a clear perception of your own nature4#ah ,by way of wrapping up his treatise1 he summarizes his technique for sudden illumination in a bold manifesto3 ,you should know that setting forth the principle of deliverance in its entirety amounts only to this--,,when ,,things ,,happen1 ,,make ,,no ,,response3 ,,keep ,,your ,,minds ,,from ,,dwelling ,,on ,,any ,,thing ,,whatsoever3 ,,keep ,,them ,,forever ,,still ,,as ,,the ,,void ,,and ,,utterly ,,pure4#ai ,perhaps it is time we asked what exactly is the point of all this4 ,when we have achieved his goal1 we have effectively cut off all attachments1 rationality1 discernment1 values1 sensations4 ,but why would we want to do this in the first place8 ,huai-hai answers that by releasing ourselves from this enslaving bondage to our ego and its attachments1 we become the masters of our own being1 free to experience the world but no longer at its mercy4 ,and furthermore we no longer have even to think about being in the state of no-thought4 ,it is this natural state of wisdom that is our goal4 ,concentration 7dhyana7 involves the stilling of your mind 4 4 4 so that you remain wholly unmoved by surrounding phenomena4 ,wisdom means that your stillness of mind is not disturbed by your giving any thought to that stillness1 that your purity is unmarred by your entertaining any thought of purity and that1 in the midst of such pairs of opposites as good and evil1 you are able to distinguish between them without being stained by them and1 in this way1 to reach the state of being perfectly at ease and free of all dependence4#bj ,this is the state called enlightenment1 a new way of experiencing reality that relies entirely upon intuition4 ,then we realize that all this time our rational mind has been leading us along1 telling us that appearances are real and yet keeping us from really experiencing things firsthand1 since the rational mind believes in names1 categories1 duality4 ,consequently1 before this sudden moment of intuitive understanding1 we saw the world as through a glass darkly1 with ourselves as subject and the falsely perceived exterior world as object4 ,after this experience we see things clearly1 but we perceive them for what they really are--creations of mind as devoid of genuine substance as the world we create in our dreams or the ocean's waves that we can see but cannot hold4 ,knowing this1 we can regard the world dispassionately1 no longer caught in the web of ego involvement that enslaves those not yet enlightened4 ,since this whole world view only can be understood intuitively1 it is not surprising that it must one day dawn on you when you least expect1 like a sudden inspiration that hits you after logic has failed4 ,huai-hai's instructions are intended to be preparations for this moment1 attributes to adopt that will make you ready and receptive when your sudden enlightenment hits4 ,huai-hai's concept of sudden enlightenment was quite straightforward1 and it apparently was not absolutely necessary that meditation be employed4 7,in fact1 he has defined dhyana as a state of mind1 not an action47 ,enlightenment is release from the ego1 the primary thing standing in the way of mental peace in a world of getting and spending1 of conflict and competition4 ,the ancient ,ch'an masters knew well the griefs and mental distress that haunt the heart of man1 and thinkers such as ,huai-hai explored its cure more fully than we realize today4 ,chapter ,eight ,,nan-,,ch',,uan ,,and ,,chao-,,chou3 ,,masters ,,of ,,the ,,irrational ,nan-ch'uan ,p'u-yuan ,the best-remembered disciple of ,ma-tsu was ,nan-ch'uan ,p'u-yuan 7#gdh- #hce71 founder of a famous monastery and a brilliant if short-lived lineage whose finest example was his pupil ,chao-chou ,ts'ung-shen 7#ggh- #hig74 ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp reports that ,nan-ch'uan was born in the ,north ,china province of ,honan4#a ,he began study of meditation at age ten1 and according to the ,biographies of ,eminent ,monks compiled in the ,sung 7,sung kao-seng chuan7 he went to study ,buddhism on ,mt4 ,sung1 near ,loyang1 when he was thirty and became a priest of traditional ,buddhism1 apparently of the ,vinaya school4#b ,after his ordination1 he traveled to various of the better-known monasteries1 perfected his knowledge of ,buddhist scriptures1 and landed finally at the mountain establishment of the ,ch'an master ,ma-tsu4 ,the legend says that although there were eight hundred followers of ,ma- tsu1 the precocious ,nan-ch'uan was immediately elevated to the position of the foremost disciple1 and none of the others ventured to debate with him4#c ,he finally achieved his complete enlightenment under the old master4 ,it is not clear when he arrived or how long he stayed with ,ma- tsu1 but he reportedly left the monastery in #gie--;as he neared fifty--and founded his own community on ,mt4 ,nan-ch'uan1 a location in ,anhwei province north of ,kiangsi1 building the original lodging with his own hands and attracting several hundred disciples4 ,his most famous follower1 aside from the later master ,chao-chou1 was the layman ,lu ,hsuan1 the provincial governor of the ,hsuan district4 ,the story says that after residing in his mountain retreat for thirty years1 without once venturing out1 he finally acceded to the requests of the governor to come down and teach ,ch'an to the people on the plain4 ,he thus enjoyed a great fame as a teacher of ,ch'an1 although today he is remembered by anecdotes rather than by any attributed writings4 ,the governor seems to have been puzzled by some of the teachings of ,seng-chao 7#chd-dad71 the early1 pre-,ch'an ,buddhist4 ,he specifically asked ,nan-ch'uan the meaning of a statement in ,the ,book of ,chao that all things come from the same source and accordingly there can be no difference between right and wrong1 which are themselves the same1 by virtue of a common origin4 ,the story says that ,nan-ch'uan pointed to a patch of peonies in the garden and said1 ,governor1 when people of the present day see these blossoms1 it is as if they see them in a dream4#d ,the point seerns to be that the unenlightened cannot fully perceive the flower as it really is1 cannot experience it directly and purely4 ,instead it is approached as an object apart from the viewer1 the subject4 ,it is not seen as an extension of his or her own reality4 ,the ordinary mind permits this dichotomy of nature1 but in the ,zen mind1 man and flower become one1 merged into a seamless fabric of life4 ,this is the kind of statement that in later years would be isolated from the chronicles and made into a public case or koan1 a teaching device for novices4 ,its meaning is not meant to be discerned through the logical processes1 and even less through the medium of language4 ,when a later master was asked what ,nan-ch'uan had meant1 he answered with the equally enigmatic ,pass me a brick4#e ,the other celebrated story about the governor is perhaps easier to understand4 ,the story says that one day ,lu ,hsuan posed the following problem to ,nan-ch'uan3 ,what if ,i told you that a man had raised a goose in a bottle1 watching it grow until one day he realized that it had grown too large to pass through the bottle's neck8 ,since he did not want to break the bottle or kill the goose1 how would he get it out8 ,nan-ch'uan began quietly1 ,my esteemed governor1 and then he shouted1 ,,the ,,goose ,,is ,,out6 ,the story says that ,lu ,hsuan suddenly was enlightened on the spot4#f ,nan-ch'uan had shown that one who posed a hypothetical question could be answered by an equally hypothetical response4 ,there is a common ,ch'an 7and ,taoist7 reference to a truth being caught in the net of words4 ,here ,nan-ch'uan shows how to extract truth from verbal encumbrances4 ,another anecdote recounts a similar incident3 ,a monk said to ,nan-ch'uan1 ,there is a jewel in the sky2 how can we get hold of it8 ,nan-ch'uan said1 ,cut down bamboos and make a ladder1 put it up in the sky1 and get hold of it6'' ,the monk said1 ,how can the ladder be put up in the sky8 ,nan-ch'uan said1 ,how can you doubt your getting hold of the jewel8#g ,many of his finest exchanges with pupils are preserved in ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp4 ,for maximum impact it is perhaps best to lean back and let his wordplay wash over the rational mind like a cool1 cleansing surf4 ,as with the ,taoist ,chuang ,tzu1 the best way to comprehend this antilogical phenomenon is to forget about trying to grasp it intellectually1 for only then can we understand4 ,the ,governor said1 ,there is a piece of stone in my house4 ,sometimes it stands up and sometimes it lies down4 ,now1 can it be carved into the image of ,buddha8 ,yes1 it is possible1 answered the ,master4 ,but it is impossible to do so8 countered the ,governor4,it is impossible6 ,it is impossible6 exclaimed the ,master4#h ,this dialogue sounds almost as though it were from an undiscovered scene from ,waiting for ,godot1 as ,vladimir and ,estragon test the meaninglessness of language4 ,and for pure ,ionesco1 it is hard to top the following incident3 ,once ,master ,nan-ch'uan told ,kuei-tsung and ,ma-yu that he was going to take them with him to visit ,nan-yang ,hui-chung1 the ,national ,teacher4 ,before they began their journey1 ,nan-ch'uan drew a circle on the road and said1 ,as soon as you give a right answer we will be on our way4 ,thereupon ,kuei-tsung sat down inside the circle and ,ma-yu bowed in woman's fashion4 ,the ,master said to them1 ,judging by this answer1 it will not be necessary to go4#i ,the attitude of ,nan-ch'uan toward conventional pieties1 as well as toward the societal1 rationalistic concerns of ,confucianism1 are perhaps best illustrated by the farewell he gave to his distinguished follower3 ,when ,governor ,lu was about to return to his office in ,hsuan-cheng1 he came to bid the ,master good-bye4 ,the latter asked him1 ,governor1 you are going back to the capital4 ,how will you govern the people8 ,the ,governor replied1 ,i will govern them through wisdom4 ,the ,master remarked1 ,if this is true1 the people will suffer for it4#aj ,nan-ch'uan had a refreshing lack of pomposity that would have well served a good many other ,zen masters1 ancient and modern4 ,when the ,master was washing his clothes1 a monk said1 ,master6 ,you still are not free from 'this'8 ,master ,nan-ch'uan replied1 lifting the clothes1 ,what can you do about 'this'8#aa ,this calls to mind the anecdote concerning ,alexander the ,great1 who when asked if he was a god as had been widely reported1 responded by suggesting that the question be directed to the man who carried out his chamber pot4 ,his attitude toward the great ,ch'an teachers of the past seems similarly lacking in awe4 ,a monk inquired1 ,from patriarch to patriarch there is a transmission4 ,what is it that they transmit to one another8 ,the ,master said1 ,one1 two1 three1 four1 five4 ,the monk asked1 ,what is that which was possessed by the ancients8 ,the ,master said1 ,when it can be possessed1 ,i will tell you4 ,the monk said dubiously1 ,master1 why should you lie8 ,the ,master replied1 ,i do not lie4 ,the ,sixth ,patriarch ,hui-neng lied4#ab ,nan-ch'uan was accustomed to the rough-and-tumble of ,ma-tsu's monastery1 a place of shouting1 beating1 harangues1 insults1 mindless interviews1 misleading clues1 and mind-fatiguing irrelevancies4 ,yet it was all done with a high intensity and intended for the quite noble purpose of forcing a disciple to find his own first nature1 his own enlightenment4 ,the monastery as it developed under these wild men of ,southern ,ch'an was nothing less than a high-pressure cell for those who chose to enter4 ,although these new techniques for shaking nonintellectual insights into ,ch'an novices were essentially the invention of ,ma-tsu1 they were transplanted1 refined1 and expanded by men like ,nan-ch'uan1 whose new monastery seems to have had the same deadly-serious zaniness as ,ma-tsu's4 ,chao-chou ,ts'ung-shen ,some of the most instructive anecdotes associated with ,nan-ch'uan are those involving his star pupil1 ,chao-chou ,ts'ung-shen 7#ggh-hig71 who came to be one of the major figures of the ,golden ,age of ,ch'an and one of the best-remembered of the wild ,southern masters4 ,although his real name was ,ts'ung-shen1 he is remembered in history 7as are many ,ch'an masters7 by the name of the mountain where he held forth during his mature years4 ,he was born in ,ts'ao-chou in ,shantung and early on became a novice monk at a local monastery4 ,however1 the urge to travel was irresistible and he left before being ordained1 arriving at ,nan- ch'uan's monastery while still a lad4 ,the traditional first exchange typifies their long and fruitful relationship4 ,nan-ch'uan opened with the standard question3 ,where have you just come from8 ,i have just left ,shui-hsiang named for a famous state of ,buddha4 ,have you seen the standing image of ,buddha8 ,what ,i see is not a standing image of ,buddha but a supine ,enlightened ,one6 ,are you your own master or not8 ,yes1 ,i am4 i4e41 ,i already have a master4 ,where is this master of yours8 ,in the middle of the winter the weather becomes bitterly cold4 ,i wish all blessings on you1 sir4 ,at this1 ,nan-ch'uan decided that this visitor was promising and permitted him to become his disciple4#ac ,chao-chou's strange answer seems to have been his own way of signifying he had chosen ,nan-ch'uan as his future master4 ,nan-ch'uan1 for his own part1 seems to have recognized in this quizzical repartee all the makings of a great ,ch'an worthy4 ,the exploits of ,nan-ch'uan and ,chao-chou form the core of the great anecdotal literature of ,ch'an's ,golden ,age4 ,neither was a great innovator1 a great writer1 or a great organizer1 but together they were able to explore the highest limits of the dialogue as a vehicle for enlightenment4 ,and their dialogues1 incidentally1 did not always necessarily require words4 ,one day1 in the monastery of ,nan-chu'an1 the monks of the east and west wing had a dispute over the possession of a cat4 ,they all came to ,nan-ch'uan for arbitration4 ,holding a knife in one hand and the cat in the other1 ,nan-ch'uan said1 ,if any one of you can say the right thing1 this cat will be saved2 otherwise it will be cut into two pieces4 ,none of the monks could say anything4 ,nan-ch'uan then killed the cat4 ,in the evening1 when ,chao-chou returned to the monastery1 ,nan-ch'uan asked him what he would have said had he been there at the time4 ,chao-chou took off his straw sandals1 put them upon his head1 and walked out4 ,whereupon ,nan-ch'uan commented1 ,oh1 if only you had been here1 the cat would have been saved4#ad ,chao-chou's response used no language and was devoid of distinctions1 being neither positive nor negative4 ,this is one of the most celebrated stories in ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp1 and one that is probably richer if we avoid subjecting it to too much commentary4 ,the point was specifically intended to be as simple as possible1 but this very simplicity is disturbing to the complicated intellectual mind4 ,there is a particularly telling story of the exchange ,chao-chou held with ,nan-ch'uan concerning the ,tao1 meaning the way to enlightenment3 ,when ,chao-chou asked his master1 ,what is the ,tao8 the latter replied1 ,tao is nothing else than the ordinary mind4 ,is there any way to approach it8 pursued ,chao-chou further4 ,once you intend to approach it1 said ,nan-ch'uan1 you are on the wrong track4 ,barring conscious intention1 the disciple continued to inquire1 how can we attain to a knowledge of the ,tao8 ,to this the master replied1 ,tao belongs neither to knowledge nor to no-knowledge4 ,for knowledge is but illusive perception1 while no-knowledge is mere confusion4 ,if you really attain true comprehension of the ,tao1 unshadowed by the slightest doubt1 your vision will be like the infinite space1 free of all limits and obstacles4 ,its truth or falsehood cannot be established artificially by external proofs4 ,at these words ,chao-chou came to an enlightenment4 ,only after this did he take his vows and become a professed monk4#ae ,nan-ch'uan's assertion that ,tao is nothing else than the ordinary mind1 but that it cannot be reached by deliberate searching1 is the longstanding commonplace of ,ch'an4 ,however1 he here adds an interesting new assertion3 ,he claims here that although the person finding this enlightenment has no doubt of its reality1 it cannot be proved or disproved by any objective tests4 ,there is no way that the enlightened person can be shown objectively to have achieved his goal4 ,the ,ch'an masters could test enlightenment by matching the claimant's illogic against their own2 if his craziness matched1 then the disciple passed4 ,but there is1 by definition1 no objective test of enlightenment4 ,but then1 how do you test the ultimate realization that there is nothing to realize other than what you knew all along8 ,quite simply1 the master's intuition is the final authority4 ,their dialogues frequently were full of electricity1 as witness another exchange that ended quite differently3 ,chao-chou asked1 ,tao is not external to things2 the externality of things is not ,tao4 ,then what is the ,tao that is beyond things8 ,the master struck him4 ,thereupon ,chao- chou took hold of the stick and said1 ,from now on1 do not strike a man by mistake4 ,the ,master said1 ,we can easily differentiate between a dragon and a snake1 but nobody can fool a ,ch'an monk4#aj ,chao-chou here seems to be declaring to ,nan-ch'uan that his enlightenment is genuine4 ,and ,nan-ch'uan1 for his part1 is asserting that the ,master's judgment1 not the monk's1 is the final criterion4 ,in another incident ,chao-chou actually has the last word4 ,once ,nan-ch'uan said to ,chao-chou1 ,nowadays it is best to live and work among members of a different species from us4 7,this recalls the ,buddhist proverb3 ,it is easier to save the beasts than to save mankind47 ,chao-chou1 however1 thought otherwise4 ,he said1 ,leaving alone the question of 'different1' let me ask you what is 'species' anyway8 ,nan-ch'uan put both of his hands on the ground1 to indicate the species of the quadrupeds4 ,chao-chou1 approaching him from behind1 trampled him to the ground1 and then ran into the ,nirvana ,hall crying1 ,i repent1 ,i repent4 ,nan-ch'uan1 who appreciated his act of trampling1 did not understand the reason of his repentance4 ,so he sent his attendant to ask the disciple what was he repenting for4 ,chao-chou replied1 ,i repent that ,i did not trample him twice over4#ag ,in spite of such occasional bursts of exuberance1 ,chao-chou seems overall to have been comparatively mild-mannered for a ,ch'an master4 ,he rarely chose to berate or beat his disciples1 as did ,ma-tsu or his own master1 ,nan-ch'uan4 ,in many ways1 ,chao-chou was the finest hope for the lineage of ,nan-ch'uan1 but he seems not to have been overly concerned with its continuation4 ,in fact1 it is somewhat ironic that ,huai-hai1 who was more an organizer than a creator1 ended up with a lineage perpetuating his line down to the present day1 whereas ,nan-ch'uan's lineage effectively ended with his disciple ,chao-chou1 although both men were remarkable teachers4 ,in fact1 ,chao-chou almost never did settle down to run a monastery4 ,after ,nan-ch'uan died he resumed his travels and for many years roamed across ,china1 visiting with other ,ch'an masters4 ,he seems to have gradually worked his way back north1 for it was in the north that he realized his most lasting fame and influence4 ,but his reputation was gained before he had a monastery of his own and without the aid of permanent disciples4 ,the real acclaim seems to have been associated with a journey to a famous ,buddhist pilgrimage site1 ,mt4 ,wut'ai1 in the northeastern edge of ,shensi province1 where he preached a sermon that brought him wide recognition4 ,although he loved nothing more than wandering the craggy mountains of ,china1 friends tried to convince him to settle down--as related in an incident when he was near eighty1 after many years of wandering3 ,once1 as he was visiting ,chu-yu1 the latter said1 ,a man of your age should try to find a place to settle down and teach4 ,where is my abiding place8 ,chao-chou asked back4 ,what8 said his host1 ,with so many years on your head1 you have not even come to know where your permanent home is6 ,chao-chou said1 ,for thirty years ,i have roamed freely on horseback4 ,today1 for the first time ,i am kicked by an ass6#ah ,he finally did settle down1 at eighty1 accepting an invitation to come and live at the ,kuan-yin monastery in ,chao-chou in northeastern ,china1 where he stayed until his death some forty years later4 ,his lack of interest in worldly1 administrative details is illustrated by the story that during his forty years as abbot of the monastery he installed no new furnishings and made no attempt to collect alms4 ,perhaps this tells us why ,huai-hai's line won the day4 ,yet ,chao-chou was the popular favorite4 ,his preference for colloquial language endeared him to the people4 ,he tried to demonstrate that enlightenment can be found and subsequently heightened through ordinary everyday activities4 ,the following anecdote suggests his idea of ,buddhism had little to do with the ,buddha3 ,master ,chao-chou was asked by a monk1 ,who is the ,buddha8 ,the one in the shrine1 was the answer4 ,isn't it a clay statue that sits in the shrine8 the monk went on4 ,yes1 that is right4 ,then who is the ,buddha8 the monk repeated4 ,the one in the shrine1 replied the ,master4 ,a monk asked1 ,what is my own self8 ,have you finished your rice gruel8 asked the ,master4 ,yes1 ,i have finished it1 replied the monk4 ,then go and wash your dishes1 said the ,master4 ,when the monk heard this1 he was suddenly awakened4#ai ,the thrust of this anecdote is that through the everyday doing of what needs to be done1 we can find authentic values and our original nature4 ,as the modern scholar ,chang ,chung-yuan points out1 ,this simple activity of the ,ch'an monk1 washing the dishes after eating gruel1 is the most ordinary thing1 the sort of activity that is completely spontaneous and requires no mental effort4 ,while engaged in it1 a man is free from assertion and negation4#bj ,when we are doing manual tasks we experience them directly2 we do not have to intellectualize about them4 ,this acting without thought1 without judgments of good or bad1 is in fact a parable of enlightenment4 ,so it was that ,chao-chou could so effectively use rote tasks as a teaching device1 for they showed a novice how he could free his mind from its enslavement to opinions and values4 ,this stress on the meaningfulness of daily manual activities1 as distinct from philosophical speculation1 seems to have been the major position of ,chao-chou4 ,this attitude is particularly borne out in another celebrated ,chao-chou anecdote4 ,one morning1 as ,chao-chou was receiving new arrivals1 he asked one of them1 ,have you been here before8 ,yes1 the latter replied4 ,help yourself to a cup of tea1 he said4 ,then he asked another1 ,have you been here before8 ,no1 ,your ,reverence1 this is my first visit here4 ,chao-chou again said1 ,help yourself to a cup of tea4 ,the ,prior of the monastery took ,chao-chou to task1 saying1 ,the one had been here before1 and you gave him a cup of tea4 ,the other had not been here1 and you gave him likewise a cup of tea4 ,what is the meaning of this8 ,chao- chou called out1 ,prior6 ,yes1 responded the ,prior4 ,help yourself to a cup of tea6#ba ,behind this possibly deceptive simplicity1 however1 there must have been a penetrating intelligence1 for a very large number of his anecdotes were important enough to become enshrined in those famous collections of koans the ,mumonkan and the ,blue ,cliff ,record4 ,one of the best known is the following3 ,a monk asked1 ,since all things return to ,one1 where does this ,one return to8 ,when ,i was in ,tsing-chou1 ,i had a robe made which weighed seven chin pounds replied the ,master4#bb ,the answer is a perfect example of no-thought1 the anti-logic condition in which rationality is disengaged4 ,to attempt to subject it to analysis would be to miss the entire point4 ,an even more famous koan1 and one that has become the traditional starting point for beginners1 is the following3 ,a monk asked ,chao-chou1 ,has a dog the ,buddha ,nature8 ,chao-chou answered1 ,mu4#bc ,here the word mu1 meaning nothingness or un1 is an elegant resolution of a perplexing ,zen dilemma4 ,had ,chao-chou answered in the affirmative1 he would have been tacitly instigating a dualistic view of the universe1 in which a dog and a man are allowed to be discussed as separate objects4 ,but to have responded negatively would have been to even more strongly betray the ,zen teaching of the ,oneness permeating all things4 ,an answer was called for1 but not an explanation4 ,so the master responded with a nonword--a sound that has been adopted in later ,zen practice as symbolic of the unity of all things4 ,this wisdom made ,chao-chou such a legend in his own lifetime that many monks from the south came north to try to test him1 but he always outwitted them1 even when he was well past a hundred4 ,perhaps it would be well to round out his story with a garland of some of the exchanges he had with new monks3 ,a new arrival said apologetically to the master1 ,i have come here empty-handed6 ,lay it down then6 said the master4 ,since ,i have brought nothing with me1 what can ,i lay down8 asked the visitor4 ,then go on carrying it6 said the master4#bd ,one day ,chao-chou fell down in the snow1 and called out1 ,help me up6 ,help me up6 ,a monk came and lay down beside him4 ,chao-chou got up and went away4#be ,a monk asked1 ,when a beggar comes1 what shall we give him8 ,the master answered1 ,he is lacking in nothing4#bf ,when a monk asked him1 ,what is the real significance of ,bodhidharma's coming from the west8 his answer was1 ,the cypress tree in the courtyard4 ,when the monk protested that ,chao-chou was only referring to a mere object1 the ,abbot said1 ,no1 ,i am not referring you to an object4 ,the monk then repeated again the question4 ,the cypress tree in the courtyard6 said the ,abbot once more4#bg ,a monk besought him to tell him the most vitally important principle of ,ch'an4 ,the master excused himself by saying1 ,i must now go to make water4 ,think even such a trifling thing ,i have to do in person4#bh ,chao-chou was of a unique breed of ,golden ,age masters1 who created ,ch'an's finest moment4 ,even ,chao-chou knew this1 for he is quoted as recognizing that ,ch'an had already passed through its most dynamic epoch4 ,ninety years ago1 he said1 ,i saw more than eighty enlightened masters in the lineage of ,ma-tsu2 all of them were creative spirits4 ,of late years1 the pursuit of ,ch'an has become more and more trivialized and ramified4 ,removed ever farther from the original spirit of men of supreme wisdom1 the process of degeneration will go on from generation to generation4#bi ,chao-chou died in his one hundred and twentieth year1 surely one of the most venerable ,ch'an masters4 ,fortunately his pessimistic assessment of ,ch'an's future was only partly correct4 ,although he himself had no illustrious heirs1 there were other ,southern ,ch'an masters who would extend the lineage of ,ma-tsu into what would one day be the ,rinzai school1 among these a layman named ,p'ang and the master ,huang-po4 ,chapter ,nine ,p',,ang ,,and ,,han-,,shan3 ,,layman ,,and ,,poet ,han-shan ,each of the better-known disciples of ,ma-tsu exemplified some particular aspect of ,ch'an3 ,whereas ,po-chang ,huai-hai advanced ,ch'an's organizational and analytical side1 ,nan-ch'uan embodied the illogical1 psychologically jolting approach to the teaching4 ,but what about the ,ch'an outside the monasteries8 ,did ,ma-tsu's influence extend to the lay community8 ,although little has been preserved to help answer these questions1 we do have the stories of two ,ch'an poets who operated outside the monastic system3 ,layman ,p'ang 7#gdj8-haa7 and ,han-shan 7#gfj8-hdj874 ,they were part of a movement called chu-shih1 lay believers who were drawn to ,buddhism but rejected the formal practices1 preferring to remain outside the establishment and seek enlightenment on their own4#a ,however1 ,p'ang studied under ,ma-tsu himself1 and ,han-shan sometimes echoed the master's teachings in his verse4 ,layman ,p'ang ,the man known to history as ,layman ,p'ang was born in the mid-eighth century4#b ,he grew to manhood in the city of ,heng-yang1 where his ,confucianist father served as a middle-level official4 ,although he was educated in all the classics1 he became a practicing ,buddhist early and never faltered in his devotion4 ,sometime after marrying he became so obsessed with the classic ,chinese ideal of a spiritual-poetic hermitage that he actually had a thatched cottage built adjacent to his house4 ,here he spent time with his wife--and now a daughter and son--meditating1 composing poetry1 and engaging in characteristically ,chinese musings4 ,a story relates that he was sitting in his thatched cottage one day when he became exasperated with the difficulties of his path and declared1 ,how difficult it is6 ,how difficult it is6 ,my studies are like drying the fibers of ten thousand pounds of flax by hanging them in the sun4 ,his wife overheard this outburst and contradicted him1 ,easy1 easy1 easy4 ,it's like touching your feet to the ground when you get out of bed4 ,i have found the teaching right in the tops of flowering plants4 ,his daughter1 ,ling-chao1 heard both outbursts and showed them the truth with her assertion1 ,my study is neither difficult nor easy4 ,when ,i am hungry ,i eat4 ,when ,i am tired ,i rest4#c ,then one day1 thought to have been sometime between the years #ghe and #gij1 ,p'ang decided to go the final step and sever his ties with the materialism that weighed him down4 ,after donating his house for a temple1 he loaded his remaining possessions into a boat--which he proceeded to maneuver into the middle of a river and sink4 ,we do not know if his wife and son welcomed this final freedom from material enslavement1 but his daughter seems to have approved1 for she helped him wend his now-penurious way through the world by assisting him in making and selling bamboo household articles4 ,free at last1 ,p'ang traveled about from place to place with no fixed abode1 living1 so the legends say1 like a leaf4 ,the image of ,p'ang and his daughter as itinerant peddlers1 wandering from place to place1 made a searing impression on the ,chinese mind1 and for centuries he has been admired in ,china--admired1 but not necessarily emulated4 ,whom did ,p'ang go to visit8 ,he seems to have known personally every major ,ch'an figure in ,china4 ,the first master visited was the famous ,shih-t'ou 7#gjj-gij71 sometime rival of ,ma-tsu4 7,it will be recalled that the ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,hui-neng1 had among his disciples a master called ,huai-jang 7#fgg-gdd71 teacher of ,ma-tsu and head of the lineage of now ,japanese ,rinzai4 ,another of the ,sixth ,patriarch's legendary followers was ,hsing-ssu d4 #gdj1 whose pupil ,shih-t'ou is connected to the line that became ,japanese ,soto4 ,ma-tsu and ,shih-t'ou headed the two major movements of ,southern ,ch'an in the eighth century47#d ,in #ghf ,p'ang appeared at the retreat of ,shih-t'ou on the mountain called ,nan-yueh4 ,he greeted ,shih-t'ou by asking him one of the standard ,ch'an questions1 which ,shih-t'ou answered by quietly placing a hand over ,p'ang's mouth-- causing the ,layman's first enlightenment experience4 ,p'ang studied under ,shih-t'ou--although probably in a nonmonastic capacity--for some time1 until one day ,shih-t'ou decided to test him4 ,tell me1 began ,shih-t'ou1 how have you practiced ,ch'an after coming here to this mountain8 ,p'ang shot back in a characteristic manner1 saying1 ,there is really nothing words can reveal about my daily life4 ,shih-t'ou continued1 ,it is just because ,i know words cannot that ,i ask you now4 ,at this1 ,p'ang was moved to offer a verse3 ,my daily activities are not unusual1 ,i'm just naturally in harmony with them4 ,grasping nothing1 discarding nothing1 ,in every place there's no hindrance1 no conflict4 ,my supernatural power and marvelous activity3 ,drawing water and carrying firewood47#e7 ,the declaration that drawing water and carrying firewood were miraculous acts demonstrated ,p'ang's understanding of everyday- mindedness--the teaching of no-teaching1 the approach of no-approach4#f ,the story says that ,shih-t'ou acknowledged the ,layman's enlightenment1 and went on to inquire whether ,p'ang wished to exchange his pauper's robe of white for a monk's raiment of black4 ,p'ang reputedly answered him with an abrupt ,i will do what ,i like4 ,apparently concluding that he had absorbed all of ,shih-t'ou's teaching1 ,p'ang arose and absented himself1 heading for ,kiangsi and the master ,ma-tsu4 ,p'ang's adventures with ,ma-tsu are not particularly well recorded1 given the two years he reportedly studied under the master4 ,however1 the account of their meeting has become a ,ch'an standard4 ,according to the story1 ,p'ang asked ,ma-tsu1 ,what kind of man is he who has no companion among all things8 ,ma-tsu answered1 ,after you swallow all the water in the ,west ,river in one gulp1 ,i will tell you4 ,it is said that when ,p'ang heard this1 he was suddenly aware of the essence of ,ch'an4#g ,if this exchange seems puzzling1 with its subtle wordplay that weaves in and out between realism and symbolism1 what about another recorded exchange between the two3 ,one day the ,layman addressed ,ma-tsu1 saying3 ,a man of unobscured original nature asks you please to look upward4 ,ma-tsu looked straight down4 ,the ,layman said3 ,you alone play marvelously on the stringless ch'in lute4 ,ma-tsu looked straight up4 ,the ,layman bowed low4 ,ma-tsu returned to his quarters4 ,just now bungled it trying to be smart1 then said the ,layman4#h ,the modern master ,charles ,luk speculates that ,p'ang's request to ,ma-tsu to look up at an enlightened man was intended to trap the old master3 ,in reply ,ma-tsu looked down to reveal the functioning of the enlightened mind4 ,p'ang then praised the master for playing so well on the stringless lute4 ,thereat ,ma-tsu looked up to return functioning to the enlightened mind4 4 4 4 ,in ,ch'an parlance1 looking down is 'function1' which means the mind wandering outside to deliver living beings1 and looking up is returning function to 'substance' 7the mind7 after the work of salvation has been done4 ,p'ang's act of prostrating is 'function' and ,ma-tsu's return to the abbot's room means returning function to 'substance' to end the dialogue1 for nothing further can be added to reveal substance and function4#i ,although the ,layman declined monastic orders1 he apparently could hold his own with the best of ,ma-tsu's followers1 as well as with other ,ch'an monks he encountered in his travels4 ,often monks sought him out merely to match wits4 ,a typical exchange is reported with a follower of ,shih-t'ou named ,p'u-chi1 who once came to test ,p'ang3 ,one day ,p'u-chi visited the ,layman4 ,i recall that when ,i was in my mother's womb ,i had a certain word1 said the ,layman4 ,i'll show it to you1 but you mustn't hold it as a principle4 ,you're still separated from life1 said ,p'u-chi4 ,i just said you mustn't hold it as a principle1 rejoined the ,layman4 ,how can ,i not be awed by a word that astounds people8 said ,p'u-chi4 ,understanding such as yours is enough to astonish people1 replied the ,layman4 ,the very statement 'don't hold it as a principle' has become a principle1 said ,p'u-chi4 ,you're separated not only by one or two lives1 said the ,layman4 ,it's all right for you to reprove a rice-gruel -eating monk like me1 returned ,p'u-chi4 ,the ,layman snapped his fingers three times4#aj ,the precise meaning of this exchange will not be tackled here1 but ,p'ang apparently came off on top4 ,now and then1 however1 ,p'ang seems to have been equaled or bested4 ,there is a story of an exchange he had with one of the monks at ,ma-tsu's monastery1 named ,shih-lin4 ,one day ,shih-lin said to the ,layman3 ,i have a question ,i'd like to ask4 ,don't spare your words4 ,please go on1 said the ,layman4 ,how you do spare words6 exclaimed ,shih-lin4 ,unwittingly by this discussion we've fallen into a snare of words1 said the ,layman4 ,shih-lin covered his ears4 ,you adept1 you adept6 cried the ,layman4#aa ,another time ,p'ang is reminiscent of ,chao-chou in demonstrating that it is possible to hold one's own without the use of words4 ,the ,layman was once lying on his couch reading a sutra4 ,a monk saw him and said3 ,layman6 ,you must maintain dignity when reading a sutra4 ,the ,layman raised up one leg4 ,the monk had nothing to say4#ab ,layman ,p'ang studied under ,ma-tsu for two years1 but he finally decided to resume his life as a wandering student of ,ch'an4 ,he left ,ma-tsu declaring the family his source of strength1 or so it would seem from his parting verse presented to the master4 ,i've a boy who has no bride1 ,i've a girl who has no groom2 ,forming a happy family circle1 ,we speak about ,birthless4#ac ,and off he went to travel1 a completely enlightened man after his stay in ,kiangsi4 ,he turned increasingly to poetry during these years of wandering across the central part of ,china1 composing some of his most sensitive verse4 ,one poem in particular seems to capture the carefree spirit of these years of wanderings3 ,the wise man1 perceiving wealth and lust1 ,knows them to be empty illusion2 ,food and clothes sustain body and life-- ,i advise you to learn being as is4 ,when it's time1 ,i move my hermitage and go1 ,and there's nothing to be left behind4#ad ,one of ,layman ,p'ang's most enduring companions was the monk ,tan-hsia ,t'ien-jan1 known for his irreverence4 ,the following is typical of the exchanges recorded between the two3 ,when the ,layman was walking with ,tan-hsia one day he saw a deep pool of clear water4 ,pointing to it with his hand1 he said3 ,being as it is we can't differentiate it4 ,of course we can't1 replied ,tan-hsia4 ,the ,layman scooped up and threw two handfuls of water on ,tan-hsia4 ,don't do that1 don't do that6 cried ,tan-hsia4 ,i have to1 ,i have to6 exclaimed the ,layman4 ,whereupon ,tan-hsia scooped up and threw three handfuls of water on the ,layman1 saying3 ,what can you do now8 ,nothing else1 replied the ,layman4 ,one seldom wins by a fluke1 said ,tan-hsia4 ,who lost by a fluke8 returned the ,layman4#ae ,to attempt to explicate this exchange would be to ride the wind4 ,they are in a completely different reality from that in which mere books are written and read4 ,what occupied ,madam ,p'ang during the ,layman's wanderings is not known4 ,however1 she seems well on the way to enlightenment herself4 ,a story says that one day she went to a ,buddhist temple to make an offering of food4 ,the priest asked her the purpose of the offering so that he could post the customary notice identifying the name of a donor and the date and purpose of the gift4 ,this was called transferring merit1 since the knowledge of her good deed would be transferred from herself to others4 ,it is reported that ,mrs4 ,p'ang took her comb1 stuck it in the back of her hair1 and announced to the stunned priest1 ,transference of merit is accomplished4#af ,she seemed a part of ,p'ang's enlightenment1 even if not a companion in his travels4 ,eventually ,p'ang and his daughter1 ,ling-chao1 ended up back in the north1 near ,hsiang-yang1 the city of his birth1 which he had left when a very small child4 ,but instead of moving into the town1 they lived in a cave about twenty miles to the south4 ,and to this cave often journeyed a distinguished visitor--,prefect ,yu ,ti of ,hsiang province1 an important official who had learned of ,p'ang's verse and his reputation for ,ch'an teaching4 ,originally a vicious and arrogant dictator who delighted in persecuting ,buddhists1 he had been converted by a ,ch'an monk and had become a strong supporter of the faith4 ,in fact1 it is ,yu ,ti whom we must thank for our knowledge of ,p'ang1 for it was he who collected the poetry and stories of the ,layman after his death4 ,p'ang lived in his cave with ,ling-chao for two years1 and then he suddenly declared that it was time to die4 ,in a dramatic gesture1 he assumed a meditating posture and asked ,ling-chao to go outside and tell him when the sun reached high noon1 at which time he would pass on4 ,she went out1 but quickly returned to announce that it was already noon but that there was an eclipse4 ,p'ang jumped up and ran out to see this event1 but while he was gone ,ling-chao seated herself in his place1 folded her hands1 and died herself4 ,p'ang returned from her diversionary announcement1 saw what had happened1 and declared1 ,her way was always swift4 ,now she has gone ahead of me4 ,in respect he postponed his own death for a week4#ag ,hearing of this episode1 ,prefect ,yu ,ti rushed to the scene4 ,the ,layman addressed him with1 ,i pray you to hold all that is thought to be real as empty1 and never take that which is empty as being real4 ,farewell4 ,the world is merely a shadow1 an echo4#ah ,he then laid his head on the prefect's knee and died4 ,he left a request that his body be cremated and his ashes scattered across the waters of nearby lakes and rivers4 ,when ,p'ang's wife heard of the death of her husband and daughter1 she said1 ,that stupid girl and ignorant old man have gone away without telling me4 ,how unbearable4#ai ,she then relayed the news to her son1 who was in the fields hoeing4 ,he too subsequently died miraculously1 while still standing up4 ,for her own part1 ,madam ,p'ang journeyed about the countryside bidding her friends farewell1 and then secluded herself1 where it was never known4 ,and with her passing ends the saga of ,layman ,p'ang4 ,this real-life individual was honored as ,china's answer to the mythical ,indian businessman ,vimalakirti1 who combined enlightenment with the life of the market4 ,han ,shan ,an even more elusive figure is the hermit ,han-shan1 whose name means ,cold ,mountain1 the site where he supposedly resided4 ,he is an almost totally lengendary character1 for we actually know nothing for sure about when he lived 7the current best guess is late eighth to early ninth century74 ,almost everything known about him has been gleaned from his poems and from a presumably contemporaneous preface to these poems composed by a mysterious hand untraceable to any historical ,chinese individual4 ,his was some of the most confessional1 yet joyous1 verse penned in ,t'ang ,china1 and he has been claimed by the ,ch'anists as one of theirs--although he might just as easily have been a ,taoist conversant in ,buddhist jargon4 ,han-shan embodied the archetypal hero of the ,chinese imagination3 a member of the rural gentry who gave up his staid family life and some sort of scholarly career to become a wandering poet4 ,as he describes his own early life in the years before his wanderings3 ,from my father and mother ,i inherited land enough ,and need not envy others' orchards and fields ,creak1 creak goes the sound of my wife's loom2 ,back and forth my children prattle at their play4 99 99 99 ,the mountain fruits child in hand ,i pluck2 ,my paddy field along with my wife ,i hoe4 ,and what have ,i got inside my house8 ,nothing at all but one stand of books4#bj ,so we have a gentleman scholar1 comfortably well off1 with wife and children and an idyllic life undisturbed by the incursions of the world4 ,it is all too perfect by half1 and sure enough sometime before his thirtieth year his life was disrupted by an 7undescribed7 event so catastrophic that his wife and family turned him out3 ,i took along books when ,i hoed the fields1 ,in my youth1 when ,i lived with my older brother4 ,then people began to talk2 ,even my wife turned against me4 ,now ,i've broken my ties with the world of red dust2 ,i spend my time wandering and read all ,i want4 ,who will lend a dipper of water ,to save a fish in a carriage rut4#ba ,just when this sad event took place we do not know4 ,however1 by the time ,han-shan was thirty he found himself on ,cold ,mountain1 part of the ,t'ien-tai mountain range and near the town of ,t'ang-hsing4 ,thirty years ago ,i was born into the world4 ,a thousand1 ten thousand miles ,i've roamed1 ,by rivers where the green grass lies thick1 ,beyond the border where the red sands fly4 ,i brewed potions in a vain search for life everlasting4 ,i read books1 ,i sang songs of history1 ,and today ,i've come home to ,cold ,mountain ,to pillow my head on the stream and wash my ears4#bb ,he described his life in the mountains in a number of verses that often seem more ,taoist than ,buddhist4 ,one of the most lyrical follows3 ,ever since the time when ,i hid in the ,cold ,mountain ,i have kept alive by eating the mountain fruits4 ,from day to day what is there to trouble me8 ,this my life follows a destined course4 ,the days and months flow ceaseless as a stream2 ,our time is brief as the flash struck on a stone4 ,if ,heaven and ,earth shift1 then let them shift2 ,i shall still be sitting happy among the rocks4#bc ,he was a contradictory individual1 one minute solemn in his search for ,mind1 and the next minute a buoyant bon vivant1 writing verses that seem almost a ,t'ang version of our own carpe diem3 ,of course there are some people who are careful of money1 ,but not ,i among them4 ,because ,i dance too much1 my garment of thin cloth is worn4 ,my bottle is empty1 for ,i spurt out the wine when we sing4 ,eat a full meal4 ,don't tire your feet4 ,the day when weeds are sprouting through your skull1 ,you will regret what you have been4#bd ,the life he describes for himself is one immersed in poetry4 ,he is the compleat poet1 whose only concern is writing 7not publishing7 verse4 ,once at ,cold ,mountain1 troubles cease-- ,no more tangled1 hung-up mind1 ,i idly scribble poems on the rock cliff1 ,taking whatever comes1 like a drifting boat4#be ,but if his poems were written on a rock cliff1 how then were they preserved8 ,thereon hangs a tale1 or more likely a legend4 ,at some unknown time1 ,han-shan's verses 7some three hundred7 were collected and supplied with a preface4#bf ,the person who takes credit for saving ,han- shan from a country poet's oblivion identifies himself as ,lu-ch'iu ,yin1 a high official4 ,as it happens1 the ,t'ang ,chinese were very fussy about keeping records on such things as high officials1 and a ,lu-ch'iu ,yin is not remembered among their ranks4 ,consequently1 some have speculated that the author of the preface was in fact a ,buddhist priest who wished to remain anonymous4 ,at any rate1 according to the story1 our official first heard of ,han-shan upon becoming ill just before a planned trip to a new prefecture and1 after failing to be helped by a doctor1 was cured by a wandering priest1 who then told him that in the prefecture of his destination he would need further protection from bodily ills4 ,lu-ch'iu ,yin asked him for the name of a master1 and the priest told him to be on the lookout for two eccentric-appearing kitchen servants at the ,kuo- ch'ing monastery dining hall1 named ,han-shan and ,shih-te4 ,when he arrived at his new post1 he immediately sought out this monastery and was amazed to learn the story was true4 ,people around the temple said1 ,yes1 there is a ,han-shan4 ,he lives alone in the hills at a place called ,cold ,mountain1 but he often comes down to the temple to visit his friend1 ,shih-te4 ,the cook1 ,shih-te1 it turned out1 saved leftovers for his friend ,han-shan1 who would come and take them away in a bamboo tube1 merrily laughing and joking along the length of the temple veranda as he carted away his booty4 ,once the monks caught him and exposed his system1 but he only laughed all the more4 ,his appearance was that of a starving beggar1 but his wisdom was that of a man of enlightenment4 ,lu-ch'iu ,yin anxiously pressed on to the kitchen1 where sure enough he found ,han-shan and ,shih-te1 tending the stoves and warming themselves over the fire4 ,when he bowed low to them1 they broke into gales of laughter and shouted ,,ho back at him4 ,the other monks were scandalized and wondered aloud why a distinguished official would bow to a pair of ne'er-do-wells4 ,but before he could explain1 the pair clasped hands and bolted out of the temple4 7,the giggling ,han-shan and ,shih-te became a staple of ,zen art for a millennium thereafter47 ,determined to retrieve them1 he arranged for the monastery to provide them permanent accommodations and left a package of clothes and incense for them4 ,when they failed to reappear1 he had a bearer carry his gifts and accompany him up into the mountains4 ,finally they glimpsed ,han-shan1 who yelled1 ,thief6 ,thief6 at them and retreated to the opening of a cave4 ,he then bade them farewell with1 ,each of you men should strive to your utmost6 ,whereupon he disappeared into the cave1 which itself then closed upon him1 leaving no trace4 ,the preface says ,han-shan was never seen again4 ,in homage the disappointed ,lu-ch'iu ,yin had his poems collected from where they had been composed--on scraps of bamboo1 wood1 stones1 cliffs1 and on the walls of houses4 ,thus there came to be the collected oeuvre of ,han-shan4 ,han-shan's poems support at least part of this somewhat fanciful story4 ,he does seem to have been ,buddhist in outlook1 and as one of his translators1 ,burton ,watson1 has declared1 4 4 4 to judge from his poetry1 ,han-shan was a follower of the ,ch'an sect1 which placed great emphasis on individual effort and was less wary of emotionalism than earlier ,buddhism had been4 4 4 4 ,though he writes at times in a mood of serenity1 at other times he appears despondent1 angry1 arrogant1 or wildly elated4 4 4 1#bg ,as did ,layman ,p'ang1 ,han-shan seems to have believed that the ,way is found in everyday-mindedness1 a point of view most forcefully expounded by ,ma-tsu4 ,as ,han-shan declares in one of his poems3 ,as for me1 ,i delight in the everyday ,way1 ,among mist-wrapped vines and rocky caves4 ,here in the wilderness ,i am completely free1 ,with my friends1 the white clouds1 idling forever4 ,there are roads1 but they do not reach the world2 ,since ,i am mindless1 who can rouse my thoughts8 ,on a bed of stone ,i sit1 alone in the night1 ,while the round moon climbs up ,cold ,mountain4#bh ,many of his verses reinforce the belief that he was indeed a follower of ,southern ,ch'an4 ,for example1 he seemed to believe that the mind itself is the ,buddha that all seek4 ,talking about food won't make you full1 ,babbling of clothes won't keep out the cold4 ,a bowl of rice is what fills the belly2 ,it takes a suit of clothing to make you warm4 ,and yet1 without stopping to consider this1 ,you complain that ,buddha is hard to find4 ,turn your mind within6 ,there he is6 ,why look for him abroad8#bi ,interestingly enough1 for all his rather traditional ,ch'an sentiments and admonitions1 he was much more in touch with human concerns than were most followers of ,ch'an4 ,for one thing1 he lived alone in the mountains1 an isolated ascetic cut off from human contact1 and the resulting loneliness was something those caught up in the riotous give-and-take of a ,ch'an monastery never knew4 ,he gives voice to this loneliness in a touching poem4 ,i look far off at ,t'ien-t'ai's summit1 ,alone and high above the crowding peaks4 ,pines and bamboos sing in the wind that sways them ,sea tides wash beneath the shining moon4 ,i gaze at the mountain's green borders below ,and discuss philosophy with the white clouds4 ,in the wilderness1 mountains and seas are all right1 ,but ,i wish ,i had a companion in my search for the ,way4#cj ,the admission of loneliness and near-despair in many of his verses has always been a troublesome point for ,zen commentators4 ,the enlightened man is supposed to be immune to the misgivings of the heart1 focused as he is on oneness and nondistinction4 ,but ,han-shan worried a good bit about old age1 and he also missed his family1 as he admits1 albeit through the medium of a dream3 ,last night in a dream ,i returned to my old home ,and saw my wife weaving at her loom4 ,she held her shuttle poised1 as though lost in thought1 ,as though she had no strength to lift it further4 ,i called4 ,she turned her head to look1 ,but her eyes were blank--she didn't know me4 ,so many years we've been parted ,the hair at my temples has lost its old color4#ca ,but perhaps it is this non-,ch'an quality1 this mortal touch1 that elevates ,han-shan to the rank of a great lyrical poet4 ,he actually manages to be both a plausible ,buddhist and a vulnerable human being4 ,few other poets in ,chinese letters managed to combine genuine ,buddhism with such memorable verse4 ,as ,burton ,watson has observed1 ,in the works of most first-rate ,chinese poets1 ,buddhism figures very slightly1 usually as little more than a vague mood of resignation or a picturesque embellishment in the landscape--the mountain temple falling into melancholy ruin1 the old monk one visits on an outing in the hills4 ,han-shan1 however1 is a striking exception to this rule4 ,the collection of poetry attributed to him 4 4 4 is permeated with deep and compelling religious feeling4 ,for this reason he holds a place of special importance in ,chinese literature4 ,he proved that it was possible to write great poetry on ,buddhist1 as well as ,confucian and ,taoist1 themes2 that the cold abstractions of ,mahayana philosophy could be transformed into personal and impassioned literature4 4 4 4 ,the language of his poems is simple1 often colloquial or even slangy 4 4 4 but many of his images and terms are drawn from the ,buddhist sutras or the sayings of the ,southern ,school of ,zen1 whose doctrine of the ,buddha as present in the minds of all men--of ,buddha as the mind itself-- he so often refers to4 ,at the same time he is solidly within the ,chinese poetic tradition1 his language again and again echoing the works of earlier poets4 4 4 4#cb ,with ,han-shan we return repeatedly to the world of ,cold ,mountain1 which was--as another of his translators1 ,arthur ,waley1 has pointed out--as much a state of mind as a locality4 ,it was this1 together with his advice to look within1 that finally gives ,han-shan his haunting voice of ,ch'an4 ,he seems not to have cared for the supercilious masters who dominated the competitive world of the monasteries4 ,he invited them to join him in the rigorous but rewarding world of ,cold ,mountain1 where the mind was ,buddha and the heart was home4 ,when men see ,han-shan ,they all say he's crazy ,and not much to look at-- ,dressed in rags and hides4 ,they don't get what ,i say ,i don't talk their language4 ,all ,i can say to those ,i meet3 ,try and make it to ,cold ,mountain4#cc ,chapter ,ten ,,huang-,,po3 ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,universal ,,mind ,perhaps the most thoughtful ,zen philosopher of them all was ,huang-po 7d4 #hej871 who picked up where the earlier teachers had left off and brought to a close the great creative era of ,ch'an4 ,he also stood at the very edge of the tumultuous watershed in ,chinese ,buddhism1 barely living past the #hde ,great ,persecution that smashed the power of all the ,buddhist schools except that of the reclusive ,southern ,ch'anists4 ,originally named ,hsi-yun1 the master moved at a young age from his birthplace in present-day ,fukien to ,mt4 ,huang-po in the same province1 the locale that gave him his ,ch'an title4 ,his biography declares that his voice was articulate and mellifluous1 his character open and simple4#a ,he later decided to make a pilgrimage to see the famous ,ma-tsu1 but when he arrived in ,kiangsi he was told that the master had died4#b ,po-chang ,huai-hai was still there1 however1 and consequently ,huang-po settled down to study with him instead4 ,huang-po is known to us today primarily through the accident of having a follower obsessed by the written word4 ,this man1 ,pei ,hsiu1 was also a high ,chinese official who served as governor in two of the provinces where ,huang-po at various times resided4 ,he studied under ,huang-po both times 7all day and night1 so he claimed7 and later produced an anecdotal summary of the master's teachings now known as ,on the ,transmission of ,mind4#c ,this document was extensive1 representing one of the most detailed descriptions of an early master's thoughts4 ,pei ,hsiu also reports in his preface 7dated #heh7 that he sent his work back to ,kuang ,t'ang monastery on ,mt4 ,huang-po to have it authenticated by the old monks there who still remembered the sayings of the master4#d ,by the time of ,huang-po the issue of gradual versus sudden enlightenment was decisively resolved in favor of the latter4 ,he therefore turned instead to two major remaining questions3 #a7 how enlightenment fits into the mental world1 and #b7 how this intuitive insight can be transmitted4 ,before he was through he had advanced these issues significantly and had laid the philosophical basis for the next phase of ,ch'an in ,china--to be dominated by the school of his pupil ,lin- chi4 ,huang-po struggled with a fundamental dilemma of ,ch'an3 how the wordless wisdom of intuition can be passed from generation to generation4 ,enlightenment necessarily has to be intuitive1 and that means traditional teaching methods are useless4 ,there are no conceptual formulations or concepts4 ,it is by definition wordless4 ,it has to be realized intuitively by the novice1 by himself4 ,the masters had isolated a type of knowledge that words could not transmit4 ,it was this transmission of wordless insight1 of ,mind1 that obsessed ,huang-po4 ,his teachings are well summarized by his biographer ,pei ,hsiu1 who declared3 ,holding in esteem only the intuitive method of the ,highest ,vehicle1 which cannot be communicated in words1 he taught nothing but the doctrine of the ,one ,mind2 holding that there is nothing else to teach1 in that both mind and substance are void4 4 4 4 ,to those who have realized the nature of ,reality1 there is nothing old or new1 and conceptions of shallowness and depth are meaningless4 ,those who speak of it do not attempt to explain it1 establish no sects1 and open no doors or windows4 ,that which is before you is it4 ,begin to reason about it and you will at once fall into error4#e ,he seems to have been preoccupied with the issue of transmission even during the early days of studying under ,huai-hai4 ,his very first question to the older master reportedly was ,how did the early ,ch'an masters guide their followers8 ,huai-hai answered this very un-,ch'an question with silence1 an implied rebuke4 ,when ,huang-po pressed the point1 ,huai-hai called him a disappointing disciple and said he had best beware or he 7,huang-po7 would be the man who lost ,ch'an4#f ,in a later episode1 however1 ,huai-hai designates ,huang-po as a successor in ,dharma1 via a famous transmission exchange in which ,huang- po finally demonstrates wordless communication4 ,one day ,huai-hai asked ,huang-po1 ,where have you been8 ,the answer was that he had been at the foot of the ,ta-hsiung ,mountain picking mushrooms4 ,huai-hai continued1 ,have you seen any tigers8 ,huang-po immediately roared like a tiger4 ,huai-hai picked up an ax as if to chop the tiger4 ,huang-po suddenly slapped ,huai-hai's face4 ,huai-hai laughed heartily1 and then returned to his temple and said to the assembly1 ,at the foot of the ,ta-hsiung ,mountain there is a tiger4 ,you people should watch out4 ,i have already been bitten today4#g ,this enigmatic utterance by ,huai-hai has been taken by many to signify that ,huang-po was being acknowledged as a worthy being1 perhaps even a successor4 ,the scholar ,chang ,chung-yuan has observed that the genius of this response was its freedom from the trap of logical assertion or negation4#h ,the act signified freedom from the alternatives of words or silence4 ,could it be that with this incident we have finally captured a wordless transmission8 ,huang-po also had a number of exchanges in later years with ,nan-ch'uan 7#gch-hbd71 another of his seniors who had studied at the feet of old ,ma-tsu4 ,as the story is reported in ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp3 ,some time later ,huang-po was with ,nan-ch'uan4 ,all the monks in ,nan- ch'uan's monastery were going out to harvest cabbage4 ,nan-ch'uan asked ,huang-po1 ,where are you going8 ,huang-po answered1 ,i am going to pick cabbage4 ,nan-ch'uan went on1 ,what do you use to pick cabbage8 ,huang- po lifted his sickle4 ,nan-ch'uan remarked1 ,you take the objective position as a guest1 but you do not know how to preside as a host in the subjective position4 ,huang-po thereupon knocked on the ground three times with his sickle4#i ,when ,blofeld translates this puzzling episode from ,on the ,transmission of ,mind1 he comments that he has been unable to find a modern ,zen master who could explain its meaning4#aj ,however1 ,nan-ch'uan's final remark questions the degree of ,huang-po's enlightenment1 and some assume the latter knocked on the ground to signify defeat4#aa ,as did other masters1 ,huang-po also employed silence as a teaching device1 using it to teach wordless insight by example4 ,one particularly pointed story involves none other than his biographer1 the official ,pei ,hsiu4 ,in ,pei ,hsiu's introduction to his transcript of ,huang-po's teachings he says that they first met in #hdc when he invited the master to lecture at ,lung-hsing ,temple in ,chung-ling1 the district which he governed4 ,six years later1 in #hdi1 the governor was in charge of ,wan- ling1 and he again invited the master to come and teach1 this time at the local ,k'ai-yan temple4#ab ,when ,huang-po arrived in ,wan-ling1 for what was to be the second teaching session with ,pei ,hsiu1 the story says that the governor made the mistake of presenting the master with a written exposition of the teachings of ,ch'an4 ,huang-po greeted this with silence1 his exposition of ,ch'an4 ,the ,prime ,minister invited the ,master to the city and presented his own written interpretation of ,ch'an to him4 ,the ,master took it and put it on the table4 ,he did not read it4 ,after a short silence1 he asked the ,prime ,minister1 ,do you understand8 ,the minister answered1 ,i do not understand4 ,the ,master said1 ,it would be better if you could understand immediately through inner experience4 ,if it is expressed in words1 it won't be our teaching4#ac ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp reports that after this episode at ,wan- ling1 the spirit of ,huang-po's school became widespread south of the ,yangtze ,river4#ad ,this exchange brings out the essence of ,huang-po's concerns4 ,his most insistent conviction was that ,ch'an cannot be taught1 that it must be somehow gained intuitively4 ,he was contemptuous of conceptual thought1 believing it to be the greatest hindrance to achieving intuitive insight4 ,the problem is the mistaken belief that ,zen can somehow be taught and understood if only one grasps the concepts4 ,but concepts only serve to obstruct intuition2 ,zen intuition can work only outside concepts4 ,as ,huang-po phrased it3 ,since ,zen was first transmitted1 it has never taught that men should seek for learning or form concepts4 ,studying the ,way is just a figure of speech4 ,it is a method of arousing people's interest in the early stages of their development4 ,in fact1 the ,way is not something which can be studied4 ,study leads to the retention of concepts and so the ,way is entirely misunderstood4#ae ,the use of the rational mind in the study of ,ch'an is only meaningful at the beginning4 ,but once the fish of intuitive insight has been snared in the net of the rational mind's ken1 the net must be discarded4 ,elsewhere he likens the extended use of analytical thought to the shoveling of dung4#af ,concepts1 it turns out1 are only one of the mind's many constructs4 ,the mind also provides our perception of concrete objects1 thereby creating them to suit its needs4 ,hills are hills4 ,water is water4 ,monks are monks4 ,laymen are laymen4 ,but these mountains1 these rivers1 the whole world itself1 together with the sun1 moon1 and stars--not one of them exists outside your minds6 4 4 4 ,phenomena do not arise independently1 but rely upon 7the mental7 environment 7we create74#ag ,since reality is created by the mind1 we will never know what is real and what is illusion4 ,examples of this are commonplace4 ,the electron is both a wave and a particle1 depending upon our point of view4 ,which is reality8 ,furthermore1 concepts limit4 ,by treating the world using rational constructs1 we force it into a limited cage4 ,but when we deal with it directly1 it is much more complex and authentic4 ,to continue the example1 the electron may be something much more complex than either a wave or a particle1 since it behaves at times like either or both4 ,it may in fact be something for which our rationality-bound mind has no concept4 ,the illusory world we think we see around us1 deceptively brought to us by our untrustworthy senses1 leads us to conceptual thought and to logical categories as a means to attempt its understanding4 ,the resulting intellectual turmoil is just the opposite of the tranquility that is ,ch'an4 ,but avoidance of conceptual thought leads to a serene1 direct1 and meaningful understanding of the world around us1 without unsettling mental involvement4 ,ordinary people all indulge in conceptual thought based on environmental phenomena1 hence they feel desire and hatred4 ,to eliminate environmental phenomena1 just put an end to your conceptual thinking4 ,when this ceases1 environmental phenomena are void2 and when these are void1 thought ceases4 ,but if you try to eliminate environment without first putting a stop to conceptual thought1 you will not succeed1 but merely increase its power to disturb you4#ah ,what is worse1 reliance on misleading perception blocks out our experience of our own pure mind4 ,people in the world cannot identify their own mind4 ,they believe that what they see1 or hear1 or feel1 or know1 is mind4 ,they are blocked by the visual1 the auditory1 the tactile1 and the mental1 so they cannot see the brilliant spirit of their original mind4#ai ,when he was asked why ,zen students should not form concepts as other people do1 he replied1 ,concepts are related to the senses1 and when feeling takes place1 wisdom is shut out4#bj ,huang-po is so adamant against the deceiving world of the senses he even comes down hard on the pleasures of the gourmet4 ,thus1 there is sensual eating and wise eating4 ,when the body suffers the pangs of hunger and accordingly you provide it with food1 but without greed1 that is called wise eating4 ,on the other hand1 if you gluttonously delight in purity and flavour1 you are permitting the distinctions which arise from wrong thinking4 ,merely seeking to gratify the organ of taste without realizing when you have taken enough is called sensual eating4#ba ,the point here seems to be that the use of the senses for pleasure is an abuse and distracts one from the illusion of the world1 which itself obscures our mind from us4 ,the ideal man he describes in terms of one who can remain passive even when confronted by a manifestation of good or of evil4 ,he commends the person who has the character to remain aloof1 even when in the ,buddhist heaven or the ,buddhist hell3 ,if he should behold the glorious sight of all the ,buddhas coming to welcome him1 surrounded by every kind of gorgeous manifestation1 he would feel no desire to approach them4 ,if he should behold all sorts of horrific forms surrounding him1 he would experience no terror4 ,he would just be himself1 oblivious of conceptual thought and one with the ,absolute4 ,he would have attained the state of unconditioned being4#bb ,truth is elusive4 ,it is impossible to find it by looking for it4 ,and the world of the senses and the conceptual thought it engenders are actually impediments to discovering real truth4 ,he provides an analogy in the story of a man who searches abroad for something that he had all along4 ,suppose a warrior1 forgetting that he was already wearing his pearl on his forehead1 were to seek for it elsewhere1 he could travel the whole world without finding it4 ,but if someone who knew what was wrong were to point it out to him1 the warrior would immediately realize that the pearl had been there all the time4#bc ,he concludes that the warrior's finding his pearl had nothing to do with his searching for it1 just as the final realization of intuitive wisdom has nothing to do with the graduated practice of the traditional ,buddhists4 ,so1 if you students of the ,way are mistaken about your own real ,mind 4 4 4 you will indulge in various achievements and practices and expect to attain realization by such graduated practices4 ,but1 even after aeons of diligent searching1 you will not be able to attain to the ,way4 ,these methods cannot be compared to the sudden elimination of conceptual thought1 the certain knowledge that there is nothing at all which has absolute existence1 nothing on which to lay hold1 nothing on which to rely1 nothing in which to abide1 nothing subjective or objective4 ,it is by preventing the rise of conceptual thought that you will realize ,bodhi 7enlightenment72 and1 when you do1 you will just be realizing the ,buddha who has always existed in your own ,mind6#bd ,the traditional practices neither help nor hinder finding the way1 since they are unrelated to the final flash of sudden enlightenment-- which is in your mind from the beginning1 ready to be released4 ,what then did he teach1 if there is nothing to be taught8 ,the answer seems to be to stop seeking1 for only then does wisdom come4 ,furthermore1 to study a doctrine of nonattachment puts you in the compromising position of becoming attached to nonattachment itself4 ,if you students of the ,way wish to become ,buddhas1 you need study no doctrines whatever1 but learn only how to avoid seeking for and attaching yourselves to anything4 4 4 4 ,relinquishment of everything is the ,dharma1 and he who understands this is a ,buddha1 but the relinquishment of ,,all delusions leaves no ,dharma on which to lay hold4#be ,but just how does ,huang-po manage to practice what he preaches8 4 4 4 ,most students of ,zen cling to all sorts of sounds and forms4 ,why do they not copy me by letting each thought go as though it were nothing1 or as though it were a piece of rotten wood1 a stone1 or the cold ashes of a dead fire8 ,or else1 by just making whatever slight response is suited to each occasion8#bf ,his final admonitions were organized by ,pei ,hsiu and summarized in the following list1 reported as ,huang-po's answer to the question of what guidance he had to offer those who found his teaching difficult4 ,i have ,,nothing to offer4 4 4 4 ,all you need to remember are the following3 ,first1 learn how to be entirely unreceptive to sensations arising from external forms1 thereby purging your bodies of receptivity to externals4 ,second1 learn not to pay attention to any distinctions between this and that arising from your sensations1 thereby purging your bodies of useless discernments between one phenomenon and another4 ,third1 take great care to avoid discriminating in terms of pleasant and unpleasant sensations1 thereby purging your bodies of vain discriminations4 ,fourth1 avoid pondering things in your mind1 thereby purging your bodies of discriminatory cognition4#bg ,huang-po struggled mightily with the problem of transmission4 ,since the doctrine was passed mind-to-mind1 he was obliged to find a transmission that somehow circumvented the need for words1 something to bring a novice up against his own original nature4 ,his contribution here was not revolutionary3 ,he mainly advocated the techniques perfected by ,ma-tsu1 including roars and shouts1 beatings1 calling out a disciple's name unexpectedly1 or just remaining silent at a critical moment to underscore the inability of words to assist4 ,he also used the technique of continually contradicting a pupil1 until the pupil finally realized that all his talking had been just so many obscuring concepts4 ,but just what was this mind that was being transmitted8 ,his answer was that nothing was transmitted1 since the whole point was just to jar loose the intuition of the person being taught4 ,once ,huang-po was asked1 ,if you say that mind can be transmitted1 then how can you say it is nothing8 ,he answered1 ,to achieve nothing is to have the mind transmitted to you4 ,the questioner pressed1 ,if there is nothing and no mind1 then how can it be transmitted8 ,huang-po answered1 ,you have heard the expression 'transmission of the mind' and so you think there must be something transmitted4 ,you are wrong4 ,thus ,bodhidharma said that when the nature of the mind is realized1 it is not possible to express it verbally4 ,clearly1 then1 nothing is obtained in the transmission of the mind1 or if anything is obtained1 it is certainly not knowledge4#bh ,he finally concludes that the subject cannot really even be discussed1 since there are no terms for the process that transpires4 ,just as sunyata--that emptiness or ,void whose existence means that conceptual thought is empty and rational constructs inadequate--is not something that can be transmitted as a concept1 so too is the ,dharma or teaching1 as well as ,mind1 that essence we share with a larger reality4 ,even statements that concepts are pointless must fall back on language and consequently are actually themselves merely make-do approximations1 as are all descriptions of the process of transmission4 ,he finally gives up on words entirely1 declaring that none of the terms he has used has any meaning4 ,a transmission of ,void cannot be made through words4 ,a transmission in concrete terms cannot be the ,dharma4 4 4 ,in fact1 however1 ,mind is not ,mind and transmission is not really transmission4#bi ,he was working on the very real problem of the transmission of understanding that operates in a part of the mind where speech and logic cannot enter4 ,as ,john ,wu has pointed out1 in a sense ,huang-po had come back full circle to the insights of ,chuang ,tzu3 good and evil are meaningless2 intuitive knowledge is more profound than speech-bound logic2 there is an underlying unity 7for ,chuang ,tzu it was the ,tao or ,way2 for ,huang-po1 the ,universal ,mind7 that represents the ineffable absolute4#cj ,in effect1 ,huang-po laid it all out1 cleared the way1 and defined ,ch'an once and for all4 ,the ,perennial ,philosophy was never more strongly stated4 ,the experimental age of ,ch'an thus drew to a close1 its job finished4 ,with his death at the midpoint of the ninth century1 there was little more to be invented4#ca ,it was time now for ,ch'an to formalize its dialectic1 as well as to meet society and make its mark in the world4 ,the first was taken care of by ,huang-po's star pupil1 ,lin-chi1 and the second was precipitated by the forces of destiny4 ,the death of ,huang-po coincided with a critical instant in ,chinese history whose consequences for future generations were enormous4 ,once before ,chinese politics had affected ,ch'an1 producing a situation in which ,southern ,ch'an would steal the march on ,northern ,ch'an4 ,and now another traumatic episode in ,chinese affairs would effectively destroy all ,buddhist sects except ,southern ,ch'an1 leaving the way clear for this pursuit of intuitive wisdom--once relegated to wandering teachers of dhyana--to become the only vital ,buddhist sect left in ,china4 ,as noted previously1 resentment toward ,buddhism had always smoldered in ,chinese society4 ,periodically the conservative ,chinese tried to drive this foreign belief system from their soil1 or failing that1 at least to bring it under control4 ,the usual complaints revolved around the monasteries' holdings of tax-free lands1 their removal of able-bodied men and women from society into nonproductive monastic life1 and the monastic vows of celibacy so antithetical to the ,chinese ideals of the family4 ,the ,ch'an monasteries1 deliberately or not1 worked hard to defuse many of these complaints4 ,indeed1 some would say that ,ch'an managed to change ,buddhism into something the ,chinese could partially stomach4 ,ch'anists were just the opposite of parasitical on society1 since they practiced ,po-chang ,huai-hai's injunction of a day without work being a day without food4 ,also1 the unthinking piety of traditional ,buddhists was reviled by ,ch'anists4 ,furthermore1 ,ch'an dispensed with much of the rigmarole and paraphernalia favored by the ,buddhist sects that stuck to its ,indian origins more closely4 ,the resentment felt toward ,buddhists was summarized in a document issued in #hai by a scholar-bureaucrat named ,han ,yu4#cb ,his recital of ,buddhism's failings came down particularly hard on the fact that the ,buddha had not been ,chinese4 ,han ,yu advocated a complete suppression of this pernicious establishment3 ,restore its people to human living6 ,burn its books6 ,and convert its buildings to human dwellings6#cc ,as resentment toward the worldly influence of ,buddhism grew during the ninth century1 there came to power an emperor who decided to act4 ,the ,emperor ,wu-tsang 7r4 #hda-df7 is now thought to have gone mad as a prelude to his persecution of the ,buddhists4 ,but his edicts were effective nonetheless4 ,the state had begun tightening its grip on ,buddhism when he came into power in #hda1 but in ,august #hde he issued the edict that ultimately had the effect of destroying traditional ,buddhism and urbanized ,northern ,ch'an in ,china4 ,over a period of two years he destroyed #d1fjj big temples and monasteries and over #dj1jjj smaller temples and retreats4 ,he freed #aej1jjj male and female slaves or temple attendants and evicted some #bfe1jjj monks and nuns1 forcing them back into secular life4 7,this was out of a total ,chinese population estimated to be around #bg million47 ,and not incidentally1 the state reclaimed several million acres of property that had belonged to the monasteries4 ,the effect of this was to obliterate virtually all the great ,buddhist establishments1 including the ,buddhist strongholds in the capitals of ,chang-an and ,loyang1 which were reduced to only two temples and thirty monks in each of the two cities4#cd ,the irony of the ,great ,persecution was that it actually seemed to invigorate ,southern ,ch'an4 ,for one thing1 these rural ,ch'an teachers had long been iconoclasts and outcasts themselves1 as they disowned ostentatious temples and even the scriptures4 ,almost as much a philosophy as a religion1 ,southern ,ch'an had long known how to do without imperial favor and largess4 ,and when a further edict came down demanding that all ,buddhist paraphernalia1 including statues and paintings1 be burned1 the outcast ,ch'an monasteries had the least to lose1 since they had even done a bit of burning themselves--if we are to believe the story of ,tan-hsia 7#gch-hbd71 a famous ,ch'an monk who once burned a ,buddhist statue for warmth4 ,southern ,ch'an teachers just melted for a time back into secular life1 from which they had never been far in any case4#ce ,the result of all this was that after #hdf the only sect of ,buddhism with any strength at all was rural ,ch'an4 ,chinese ,buddhism literally became synonymous with ,southern ,ch'an--a far cry from the almost fugitive existence of the sect in earlier years4 ,and when ,buddhism became fashionable again during the ,sung1 ,southern ,ch'an became a house religion1 as ,northern had once been4 ,the result was that ,ch'an gradually lost its iconoclastic character4 ,but out of this last phase of ,ch'an developed one of the most powerful tools ever for enlightenment1 the famous ,zen koan1 whose creation preserved something out of the dynamism of ,ch'an's early centuries4 ,,part ,,iii ,,sectarianism ,,and ,,the ,,koan 4 4 4 in which the ,ch'an movement diversifies into a variety of schools1 each beholden to a master or masters advocating an individualized path to enlightenment4 ,from this period of personality and experimentation gradually emerge two main ,ch'an paths1 the ,lin-chi and the ,ts'ao-tung 7later called ,rinzai and ,soto in ,japan74 ,the ,lin-chi school concludes that enlightenment can be precipitated in a prepared novice through shouts1 jolts1 and mental paradoxes4 ,the ,ts'ao-tung relies more heavily on the traditional practice of meditation to gradually release enlightenment4 ,the faith grows in numbers1 but quality declines4 ,to maintain ,ch'an's intellectual vigor1 there emerges a new technique1 called the koan1 which uses episodes from ,ch'an's ,golden ,age to challenge novices' mental complacency4 ,this invention becomes the hallmark of the later ,lin-chi sect1 and through the refinement of the koan technique ,ch'an enjoys a renaissance of creativity in ,china4 ,chapter ,eleven ,,lin-,,chi3 ,,founder ,,of ,,rinzai ,,zen ,the ,great ,persecution of #hde brought to a close the creative ,golden ,age of ,ch'an1 while also leaving ,ch'an as the dominant form of ,chinese ,buddhism4 ,in the absence of an establishment ,buddhism for ,ch'an to distinguish itself against1 the sect proceeded to evolve its own internal sectarianism4 ,there arose what are today known as the five houses1 regional versions of ,ch'an that differed in minor but significant ways4#a ,yet there was no animosity among the schools1 merely a friendly rivalry4 ,in fact1 the teachers themselves referred back to the prophecy attributed to ,bodhidharma that the flower of dhyana ,buddhism would one day have five petals4 ,the masters who founded the five schools were all individualists of idiosyncratic character4 ,yet the times were such that for the most part their flowers bloomed gloriously only a few decades before slowly fading4 ,however1 two of the sects did prosper and eventually went on to take over the garden4 ,these two houses1 the ,lin-chi and the ,ts'ao-tung1 both were concerned with dialectics and became the forerunners of the two ,zen sects 7,rinzai and ,soto7 eventually to flourish in ,japan4 ,of the two1 the ,lin-chi is most directly traceable back to the earlier masters1 since its founder actually studied under the master ,huang-po4 ,the master known today as ,lin-chi 7d4 #hff87 was born in the prefecture of ,nan-hua1 in what today is ,shantung province4#b ,he reportedly was brilliant1 well behaved1 and filled with the filial devotion expected of good ,chinese boys4 ,drawn early to ,buddhism1 although not necessarily to ,ch'an1 he shaved his head and became a monk while still young4 ,his early studies were of the sutras1 as well as the vinaya or ,buddhist rules and the sastra or commentaries4 ,but in his early twenties he decided that he was more interested in intuitive wisdom than orthodoxy and consequently took the road in search of a master4 ,thus he arrived at the monastery of ,huang-po already a fully ordained monk4 ,but his learning was traditional and his personality that of a timorous fledgling monk4 ,for three years he dutifully attended the master's sermons and practiced all the observances of the mountain community1 but his advancement was minimal4 ,finally the head disciple suggested that he visit ,huang-po for an interview to try to gain insight4 ,the young man obligingly went in to see the master and asked him the standard opener3 ,what is the real meaning of ,bodhidharma's coming from the ,west8 ,huang-po's wordless response was to lay him low with a blow of his stick4 ,lin-chi scurried away in perplexity and related the story to the head disciple1 who encouraged him to return1 which he did twice more4 ,but each time he received the same harsh reception4 ,he was finally so demoralized that he announced plans to leave the monastery and seek enlightenment elsewhere4 ,the head monk related this to ,huang-po together with the opinion that this young novice showed significant promise4 ,so when ,lin-chi came to bid ,huang-po farewell1 the master sympathetically directed him to the monastery of a kindly nearby teacher1 the master ,ta-yu4 ,perhaps it was all planned1 but when ,lin-chi arrived at the second monastery and related his unhappy treatment at the hands of ,huang-po the master ,ta-yu listened patiently and then declared1 ,huang-po treated you with great compassion4 ,he merely wanted to relieve your distress4 ,upon hearing this ,lin-chi suddenly understood that ,huang-po was transmitting the wordless insight to him1 the understanding that ,ch'an lies not in the words produced in the abbot's room but rather in the realization of his intuitive mind4 ,it suddenly was all so obvious that the young monk could not contain his joy and declared1 ,so ,huang- po's ,buddhism is actually very simple2 there's nothing to it after all6 ,this struck the master ,ta-yu as either impertinent or a significant breakthrough1 so he grabbed ,lin-chi and yelled1 ,you scamp6 ,a minute ago you complained that ,huang-po's teaching was impossible to understand and now you say there is nothing to it4 ,what is it you just realized8 ,speak quickly6 7,only in a spontaneous utterance is there real1 uncalculated evidence of enlightenment47 ,lin-chi's answer was to pummel ,ta-yu in the ribs three times with his fist4 ,the older master then discharged him 7or perhaps kicked him out7 with the observation1 ,your teacher is ,huang-po1 and therefore you do not concern me4 ,thus the enlightened young novice trudged back up the mountain to ,huang-po's monastery4 ,the master greeted him with the puzzled observation3 ,haven't you come back a bit too soon8 ,you only just left4 ,in response ,lin-chi bowed and said1 ,it's because you've been so kind to me that ,i came back so quickly1 and he proceeded to relate the story of his sudden enlightenment4 ,to which ,huang-po declared1 ,what a big mouth that old man has4 ,the next time ,i see him ,i'll give him a taste of my staff4 ,to this ,lin-chi yelled1 ,why wait6 ,i can give it to you now1 and proceeded to slap the master's face4 ,the startled ,huang-po declared1 ,this crazy monk is plucking the tiger's whiskers4 ,whereupon ,lin-chi emitted the first of what was to be a lifetime of shouts1 affirming his wordless insight4 ,the satisfied ,huang-po called an attendant and said1 ,take this crazy fellow to the assembly hall4 ,this is a perfect example of sudden enlightenment that took many years to achieve4 ,lin-chi had been a plodding1 earnest young man until the moment of his sudden enlightenment1 which occurred over a seemingly uncalculated remark by a teacher not even his own master4 ,in fact1 all ,huang-po had done was to assail him with a staff4 ,but ,lin-chi was transformed suddenly from a milksop to the founder of a school1 probably the greatest radicalization since the ,apostle ,paul was struck down on the road to ,damascus4#c ,still1 ,lin-chi's sudden enlightenment had come about at the end of a highly disciplined period of preparation4 ,as he later described it3 ,in bygone days ,i devoted myself to the vinaya and also delved into the sutras and sastras4 ,later1 when ,i realized that they were medicines for salvation and displays of doctrines in written words1 ,i once and for all threw them away1 and searching for the ,way1 ,i practiced meditation4 ,still later ,i met great teachers4 ,then it was1 with my ,dharma ,eye becoming clear1 that ,i could discern all the old teachers under ,heaven and tell the false ones from the true4 ,it is not that ,i understood from the moment ,i was born of my mother1 but that1 after exhaustive investigation and grinding discipline1 in an instant ,i knew of myself4#d ,like a reformed addict1 he railed most against his own recent practices4 ,he proceeded to denounce all the trappings of ,buddhism1 even the ,ch'an ,patriarchs themselves1 as he shattered the chains of his former beliefs3 ,followers of the ,way1 if you want insight into ,dharma as is1 just don't be taken in by the deluded views of others4 ,whatever you encounter1 either within or without1 slay it at once3 on meeting a buddha slay the buddha1 on meeting a patriarch slay the patriarch1 on meeting an arhat slay the arhat1 on meeting your parents slay your parents1 on meeting your kinsman slay your kinsman1 and you attain emancipation4 ,by not cleaving to things1 you freely pass through4#e ,after his enlightenment1 he had many exchanges with ,huang-po in which he came off ahead as often as not4 ,it is also interesting that many of the interactions involved the manual labor of the monastery1 an indication of the significance of work in ,ch'an life4 ,one famous joust between ,lin-chi and ,huang-po went as follows3 ,one day ,master ,lin-chi went with ,huang-po to do some work in which all the monks participated4 ,lin-chi followed his master who1 turning his head1 noticed that ,lin-chi was carrying nothing in his hand4 ,where is your hoe8 ,somebody took it away4 ,come here3 let us discuss something1 commanded ,huang-po and as ,lin- chi drew nearer1 he thrust his hoe into the ground and continued1 ,there is no one in the world who can pick up my hoe4 ,however1 ,lin-chi seized the tool1 lifted it up1 and exclaimed1 ,how then could it be in my hands8 ,today we have another hand with us2 it is not necessary for me to join in4 ,and ,huang-po returned to the temple4#f ,this story can be interpreted many ways4 ,john ,wu says1 ,obviously he was using the hoe as a pointer to the great function of teaching and transmitting the lamp of ,ch'an4 4 4 4 ,this was a symbolic way of saying that in a mysterious manner the charge was now in his hands4#g ,however1 as ,freud once remarked concerning the celebrated phallic symbolism of his stogie1 ,sometimes1 madam1 it's just a cigar1 and one suspects that in this little slapstick episode1 the hoe might possibly be just a hoe4 ,another exchange between ,huang-po and ,lin-chi may have more dialectical significance4 ,according to the story3 ,one day ,huang-po ordered all the monks of the temple to work in the tea garden4 ,he himself was the last to arrive4 ,lin-chi greeted him1 but stood there with his hands resting on the hoe4 ,are you tired8 asked ,huang-po ,i just started working2 how can you say that ,i am tired8 ,huang-po immediately lifted his stick and struck ,lin-chi1 who then seized the stick1 and with a push1 made his master fall to the ground4 ,huang-po called the supervisor to help him up4 ,after doing so1 the supervisor asked1 ,master1 how can you let such a madman insult you like that8 ,huang-po picked up the stick and struck the supervisor4 ,lin-chi1 digging the ground by himself1 made this remark3 ,let all other places use cremation2 here ,i will bury you alive4#h ,of ,lin-chi's final quip1 which tends to take the edge off a really first-rate absurdist anecdote1 ,john ,wu makes the following observation1 ,this was a tremendous utterance1 the first authentic roaring1 as it were1 of a young lion4 ,it was tantamount to declaring that his old conventional self was now dead and buried1 with only the ,true ,self living in him2 that this death may and should take place long before one's physical decease2 that it is when this death has taken place that one becomes one's ,true ,self which1 being unborn1 cannot die4 ,from that time on1 there could no longer be any doubt in ,huang-po's mind that his disciple was thoroughly enlightened1 destined to carry on and brighten the torch of ,ch'an4#i ,whether this is true or not1 it does seem clear that ,lin-chi's pronounced personality appealed to old ,huang-po1 who loved to match wits with him as he came and went around the monastery4 ,he even allowed the young master liberties he denied others4 ,for example1 ,lin-chi once showed up during the middle of a summer meditation retreat1 something strictly forbidden4 ,he then decided to leave before it was over1 something equally unprecedented3 ,one day after half the summer session had already passed1 ,lin-chi went up the mountain to visit his master ,huang-po whom he found reading a sutra4 ,lin-chi said to him3 ,i thought you were the perfect man1 but here you are apparently a dull old monk1 swallowing black beans ,chinese characters4 ,lin-chi stayed only a few days and then bid farewell to ,huang-po1 who said3 ,you came here after the summer session had started1 and now you are leaving before the summer session is over4 ,i came here simply to visit you1 ,master6 ,without ado1 ,huang-po struck him and chased him away4 ,after having walked a few li1 ,lin-chi began to doubt his enlightenment in ,ch'an1 so he returned to ,huang-po for the rest of the summer4#aj ,some time after ,lin-chi received the seal of enlightenment from ,huang- po1 he decided to go his own way and departed for the province of ,hopei1 where he became the priest of a small temple on the banks of a river4 ,this little temple was called ,overlooking the ,ford1 or lin- chi in ,chinese1 and it was from this locale that he took his name4 ,after he was there for a time1 however1 some local fighting broke out1 forcing him to abandon his pastoral riverbank location4 7,this disturbance may well have been connected with the disruptions of the #hde persecution of ,buddhism47 ,but even when in the middle of a war he seems to have always been a man of ,ch'an4 ,there is an episode that strongly resembles the eighteenth-century essayist ,dr4 ,samuel ,johnson's kicking a stone to refute ,berkeley's proposition that matter is nonexistent3 ,one day the ,master entered an army camp to attend a feast4 ,at the gate he saw a staff officer4 ,pointing to an open-air pillar1 he asked3 ,is this secular or sacred8 ,the officer had no reply4 ,striking the pillar1 the ,master said3 ,even if you could speak1 this is still only a wooden post4 ,then he went in4#aa ,fortunately1 ,ch'an was not a sect that required a lot of paraphernalia1 and ,lin-chi merely moved into the nearby town1 where the grand marshal donated his house for a temple4 ,he even hung up a plaque with the name ,lin-chi1 just to make the master feel at home4 ,but things may have heated up too much1 for ,lin-chi later traveled south to the prefecture of ,ho1 where the governor1 ,counselor ,wang1 honored him as a master4 ,there is a telling conversation between the two that reveals much about the teaching of ,ch'an at the time4 ,apparently the ,ch'anists had completely abandoned even any pretense of traditional ,buddhism--again a fortuitous development1 considering traditional ,buddhism's imminent destruction4 ,one day the ,counselor ,wang visited the ,master4 ,when he met the ,master in front of the ,monks' ,hall1 he asked3 ,do the monks of this monastery read the sutras8 ,no1 they don't read sutras1 said the ,master4 ,then do they learn meditation8 asked the ,counselor4 ,no1 they don't learn meditation1 answered the ,master4 ,if they neither read sutras nor learn meditation1 what in the world are they doing8 asked the ,counselor4 ,all ,i do is make them become buddhas and patriarchs1 said the ,master4#ab ,lin-chi eventually traveled on1 finally settling at the ,hsing-hua temple in ,taming prefecture1 where he took up his final residence4 ,it was here that a record of his sermons was transcribed by a humble heir named ,ts'un-chiang4 ,the result was ,the ,record of ,lin-chi1 one of the purest exercises in the dialectics of the nondialectical understanding4 ,but1 as ,heinrich ,dumoulin observed1 ,zen has never existed in pure experience only1 without admixture of theoretical teachings or methodical practice1 as it has sometimes been idealized4 ,it could not exist in that fashion1 for mysticism1 like all other human experience1 is dependent on the actual conditions of human life4#ac ,indeed1 ,lin-chi was one of the first to develop what might be called a dialectic of irrationality4 ,he loved categories and analysis in the service of nonconceptual inquiry1 and what he created were guides to the uncharted seas of the intuitive mind4 ,lin-chi is best known for his use of the shout4 ,he shared the concern of ,huang-po and ,ma-tsu with the problem of wordless transmission and to their repertory of beatings and silences he added the yell1 another way to affirm insights that cannot be reasoned4 ,we may speculate that the shout was rather like a watered-down version of the beating1 requiring less effort but still able to startle at a critical instant4#ad ,he seems to have been particularly fond of classifying things into groups of four1 and one of his most famous classifications was of the shout itself4 ,he once demonstrated the shout to a hapless monk as follows3 ,the ,master asked a monk3 ,sometimes a shout is like the jeweled sword of a spirit ,king i4e41 extremely hard and durable2 sometimes a shout is like the golden-haired lion crouching on the ground i4e41 strong1 taut1 and powerful2 sometimes a shout is like a weed-tipped fishing pole i4e41 probing and attracting the unwary2 and sometimes a shout doesn't function as a shout4 ,how do you understand this8 ,as the monk fumbled for an answer1 ,lin-chi gave a shout4#ae ,his philosophy of the shout as a device for cutting off sequential reasoning was thus demonstrated by example4 ,but the question those who relate this story never resolve is3 ,which of the four shouts was the shout he used on the student8 ,john ,wu in ,the ,golden ,age of ,zen speculates that this shout was of the first category1 since it was meant to cut off the monk's sequential thought1 but that seems a rather simplistic mixing of the metaphorical with the concrete4#af7 ,lin-chi also was not averse to the use of the stick in the pursuit of reality1 as the following example illustrates4 ,the story also shows that the use of the stick was meaningful only if it was unexpected4 ,once the ,master addressed the assembly4 ,listen1 all of you6 ,he who wants to learn ,dharma must never worry about the loss of his own life4 ,when ,i was with ,master ,huang-po ,i asked three times for the real meaning of ,buddhism1 and three times ,i was struck as if tall reeds whipped me in the wind4 ,i want those blows again1 but who can give them to me now8 ,a monk came forth from the crowd1 answering3 ,i can give them to you6 ,master ,lin-chi picked up a stick and handed it to him4 ,when the monk tried to grab it1 the ,master struck him instead4#ag ,there also is a story indicating that ,lin-chi believed that when the shout failed to work1 the stick might be required4 ,the ,master took the high seat in the ,hall4 ,a monk asked1 ,what about the cardinal principle of the ,buddha-dharma8 ,the ,master raised his whisk4 ,the monk shouted4 ,the ,master struck him4 ,another monk asked3 ,what about the cardinal principle of the ,buddha- dharma8 ,again the ,master raised his whisk4 ,the monk shouted4 ,the ,master also shouted4 ,the monk faltered2 the ,master struck him4#ah ,yet another series of exchanges sounds a similar theme4 ,the ,master asked a monk1 ,where do you come from8 ,the monk shouted4 ,the master saluted him and motioned him to sit down4 ,the monk hestitated4 ,the ,master hit him4 ,seeing another monk coming1 the ,master raised his whisk4 ,the monk bowed low4 ,the ,master hit him4 ,seeing still another monk coming1 the ,master again raised his whisk4 ,the monk paid no attention4 ,the ,master hit him too4#ai ,he was also challenged by a nun1 one of the few recorded instances of a master actually matching wits with a woman who had taken ,ch'an orders4 ,the ,master asked a nun3 ,well-come or ill-come8 ,the nun shouted4 ,go on1 go on1 speak6 cried the ,master1 taking up his stick4 ,again the nun shouted4 ,the ,master hit her4#bj ,what ,lin-chi also brought to ,ch'an was a dialectical inquiry into the relationship between master and pupil1 together with a similar analysis of the mind states that lead to enlightenment4 ,he seems remarkably sophisticated for the ninth century1 and indeed we would be hard pressed to find this kind of psychological analysis anywhere in the ,west that early4 ,the puzzling1 contradictory quality about all this is that ,lin-chi believed fervently in intuitive intelligence1 and in the uselessness of words--even warning that questions were irrelevant3 ,does anyone have a question8 ,if so1 let him ask it now4 ,but the instant you open your mouth you are already way off4#ba ,among his dialectical creations were various fourfold categorizations of the intangible4 ,we have already seen his four categories of the shout4 ,he also created the four categories of relationship between subject and object1 also sometimes called the ,four ,processes of ,liberation from ,subjectivity and ,objectivity4 ,some believe this served to structure the four standpoints or points of view which ,lin-chi used in instructing his students4#bb ,lin-chi's original proposition1 the basis of all the later commentary1 is provided in ,the ,record of ,lin- chi as follows3 ,at the evening gathering the ,master addressed the assembly1 saying3 ,sometimes ,i take away man and do not take away the surroundings2 sometimes ,i take away the surroundings and do not take away man2 sometimes ,i take away both man and the surroundings2 sometimes ,i take away neither man nor the surroundings4#bc ,as ,chang ,chung-yuan describes these four arrangements1 the first is to take away the man but not his objective situation1 i4e41 to take away all interpretation and just experience the world without subjective associations4#bd 7,this is quite similar to the approach of the ,japanese haiku poem1 in which a description of something is provided completely devoid of interpretation or explicit emotional response47 ,the second arrangement is to let the man remain but take away objectivity4 ,as ,john ,wu interprets this1 ,in the second stage1 people of normal vision1 who see mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers1 must be reminded of the part that their own mind contributes to the appearance of things1 and that what they naively take for objectivity is inextricably mixed with subjectivity4 ,once aware of subjectivity1 one is initiated into the first stages of ,ch'an1 when one no longer sees mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers4#be ,this is merely the ,ch'an commonplace that non-attachment or objectivity liberates one's self from bondage to the outside and thus leads to enlightenment4#bf ,as ,dumoulin describes these1 ,in the first and second stages1 illusion departs first from the subject and then from the object2 clinging to subjective intellectual perception and to the objective world is overcome4#bg ,lin-chi's third stage is to take away both the man and his objective situation4 ,in other words1 it is liberation from 4 4 4 the attachments of both subjectivity and objectivity4 ,lin-chi's famous ',ho6' 4 4 4 often served this purpose4#bh ,in a blow of a master's staff or a shout there is nothing one can grasp1 either objectively or subjectively4 ,this is the next-to-last stage in the progression toward liberation from the mind's tyranny4 ,in the fourth stage we find the final condition1 in which objectivity and subjectivity cease to be distinguishable4 ,what this means is that there is no intellectuation at all1 that the world simply is4 ,as ,dumoulin declares1 reality is comprehended in its final oneness4#bi ,or as the story says3 ,before enlightenment1 mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers2 during the study of ,zen1 mountains are not mountains and rivers are not rivers2 but when there finally is enlightenment1 mountains are again mountains and rivers are rivers4 ,in this final state the distinction and confrontation of subject and object dissolve1 as we are finally at one with the nameless world4 ,another of ,lin-chi's famous dialectical categories is his ,fourfold ,relationship possible ,between ,questioner and ,answerer or ,between ,guest and ,host4 ,the point of the structure he sets up is to elucidate the interaction of master and novice1 but he does so using metaphor of host and guest--where the host represents the universal ,self and the guest the ego-form self4#cj ,lin-chi's sermon on the subject went as follows3 ,a true student gives a shout1 and to start with holds out a sticky lacquer tray4 ,the teacher1 not discerning that this is an objective circumstance1 goes after it and performs a lot of antics with it4 ,the student again shouts but still the teacher is unwilling to let go4 ,this is 4 4 4 called the guest examines the host4 ,sometimes a teacher will proffer nothing1 but the instant a student asks a question1 robs him of it4 ,the student1 having been robbed1 resists to the death and will not let go2 this is called the host examines the guest4 ,sometimes a student comes forth before a teacher in conformity with a state of purity4 ,the teacher1 discerning that this is an objective circumstance1 seizes it and flings it into a pit4 ,what an excellent teacher6 exclaims the student1 and the teacher replies1 ,bah6 ,you can't tell good from bad6 ,thereupon the student makes a deep bow2 this is called the host examines the host4 ,or again1 a student will appear before a teacher wearing a cangue and bound with chains4 ,the teacher fastens on still more chains and cangues for him4 ,the student is so delighted that he can't tell what is what3 this is called the guest examines the guest4#ca ,in the first category1 according to ,chang ,chung-yuan1 the ego meets the universal ,self4#cb ,in the second category the universal ,self encounters the ego-form self4 ,in the third category1 the universal ,self of one meets the universal ,self of another1 and in the fourth category the ego of one encounters the ego of another4 ,or if we are to interpret this in the concrete1 in the first encounter1 an enlightened master meets an unenlightened novice2 in the second an enlightened novice meets an unenlightened master 7which did happen72 in the third an enlightened master meets an enlightened novice2 and in the fourth category an unenlightened master meets an unenlightened novice1 to the mutual delusion of both4#cc ,lin-chi has been called the most powerful master in the entire history of ,ch'an1 and not without reason4 ,his mind was capable of operating at several levels simultaneously1 enabling him to overlay very practical instruction with a comprehensive dialectic4 ,he believed in complete spontaneity1 total freedom of thought and deed1 and a teaching approach that has been called the lightning method--because it was swift and unpredictable4 ,he was uncompromising in his approach1 and he was also extremely critical of the state of ,ch'an in his time--a criticism probably justified4 ,he found both monks and masters wanting4 ,it seems that ,ch' an had become fashionable1 with the result that there were many masters who were more followers of the trend than followers of the ,way4 ,so whereas ,huang-po often railed against other sects of ,buddhism1 ,lin-chi reserved his ire for other followers of ,ch'an 7there being few other ,buddhist sects left to criticize74 ,he even denounced his own students1 who often mimicked his shouting without perceiving his discernment in its use4 ,he finally had to set standards for this1 announcing to the assembly one day that henceforth only those who could tell the enlightened from the unenlightened would have the right to shout4 ,you all imitate my shouting1 he said1 but let me give you a test now4 ,one person comes out from the eastern hall4 ,another person comes out from the western hall4 ,at their meeting1 they simultaneously shout4 ,do you possess enough discernment to distinguish the guest from the host i4e41 the unenlightened from the enlightened8 ,if you have no such discernment1 you are forbidden hereafter to imitate my shouting4#cd ,his major concern seems to have been that his students resist intellection4 ,lin-chi himself was able to speculate philosophically while still a natural man1 using conceptual thought only when it served his purpose4 ,but perhaps his students could not1 for he constantly had to remind them that striving and learning were counterproductive4 ,followers of ,tao6 ,lin-chi said1 the way of ,buddhism admits of no artificial effort2 it only consists in doing the ordinary things without any fuss--going to the stool1 making water1 putting on clothes1 taking a meal1 sleeping when tired4 ,let the fools laugh at me4 ,only the wise know what ,i mean4#ce ,or as he said at another time3 ,the moment a student blinks his eyes1 he's already way off4 ,the moment he tries to think1 he's already differed4 ,the moment he arouses a thought1 he's already deviated4 ,but for the man who understands1 it's always right here before his eyes4#cf ,the problem1 he believed1 was that too many teachers had started teaching and explaining rather than forcing students to experience truth for themselves4 ,thus these teachers had no right to criticize their monks1 since they themselves had failed in their responsibility4 ,there are teachers all around who can't distinguish the false from the true4 ,when students come asking about 4 4 4 the objective surroundings and the subjective mind1 the blind old teachers immediately start explaining to them4 ,when they're railed at by the students they grab their sticks and hit them1 shouting1 ,what insolent talk6 ,obviously you teachers yourselves are without an eye so you've no right to get angry with them4#cg ,and finally1 in his old age1 ,lin-chi became something of a monument himself1 a testing point for enlightenment in a world where true teachers were rare4 ,he even complained about it4 ,hearing everywhere of old man ,lin-chi1 you come here intending to bait me with difficult questions and make it impossible for me to answer4 ,faced with a demonstration of the activity of my whole body1 you students just stare blankly and can't move your mouths at all2 you're at such a loss you don't know how to answer me4 ,you go around everywhere thumping your own chests and whacking your own ribs1 saying1 ,i understand ,ch'an6 ,i understand the ,way6 ,but let two or three of you come here and you can't do a thing4 ,bah6 ,carrying that body and mind of yours1 you go around everywhere flapping your lips like winnowing fans and deceiving villagers4#ch ,his school prospered1 becoming the leading expression of ,ch'an in ,china as well as a vital force in the ,zen that later arose among ,japan's samurai4 ,and his dialectical teachings became the philosophical basis for later ,zen1 something he himself probably would have deplored4 7,later teachers seem to have given ,lin-chi's categories more importance than he actually intended1 for he professed to loathe systems and was in fact much more concerned with enlightenment as pure experience47 ,in any case1 when he decided that his days were through he put on his finest robes1 seated himself in the meditation posture1 made a brief statement1 and passed on4 ,the year is said to have been #hff or #hfg4 ,chapter ,twelve ,,tung-,,shan ,,and ,,ts',,ao-,,shan3 ,,founders ,,of ,,soto ,,zen ,tung-shan ,virtually all the masters encountered up to this point have been traceable to ,ma-tsu1 descendant in ,dharma of the legendary ,huai-jang and his master1 the ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,hui-neng4 ,this was the line that became ,japanese ,rinzai ,zen1 many centuries later4 ,however1 ,hui-neng had another follower1 a shadowy figure remembered as ,ch'ing-yuan ,hsing-ssu 7d4 #gdj7 whose line also was perpetuated to present-day ,japan4#a ,his foremost pupil was ,shih-t'ou 7#gjj-ij71 and a common description of the eighth-cen- tury ,ch'an establishment was3 ,in ,kiangsi the master was ,ma-tsu2 in ,hunan the master was ,shih-t'ou4 ,people went back and forth between them all the time1 and those who never met these two great masters were completely ignorant4#b ,shih-t'ou jousted with ,ma-tsu1 and they often swapped students4 ,ma-tsu sent his pupils on their way with a wink and the advice that ,shih-t'ou was slippery4#c ,this legendary master was forebear of three of the five houses of ,ch'an arising after the ,great ,persecution of #hde1 although the only one of the three surviving is the ,ts'ao-tung1 which arose during the later ,t'ang 7#fah- #ijg7 and early ,five ,dynasties 7#ijg-ifj7 period and remains today as ,japanese ,soto4 ,one of the cofounders of the ,ts'ao-tung house was known as ,tung-shan ,liang-chieh 7#hjg-hfi71 who was born in present day ,chekiang but eventually found his way to what is now northern ,kiangsi province4#d ,as did most great masters1 he took ,buddhist orders early1 and one of the most enduring stories of his life has him confounding his elders--an event common to many spiritual biographies4 ,he began as a novice in the ,vinaya sect1 an organization often more concerned with the letter of the law than its spirit4 ,one day he was asked to recite the ,heart ,sutra1 but when he came to the phrase ,there is no eye1 ear1 nose1 tongue1 body1 or mind1 he wonderingly touched his own face and then inquired of his master1 ,i have eyes1 ears1 nose1 tongue1 and so forth2 how1 then1 can the sutra say there are no such things8#e ,the ,vinaya master was dumbfounded by his iconoclasm and suggested that his bent of mind would be more readily cultivated in the ,ch'an sect4 ,so off he went to ,mt4 ,sung1 where he subsequently was ordained at the precocious age of twenty-one4 ,afterward he traveled across ,china1 typical for young monks of the age4 ,ironically enough1 considering that his line eventually rivaled ,ma- tsu's1 his first stop was the monastery of ,nan-ch'uan1 one of the foremost disciples of ,ma-tsu4 ,as he arrived1 ,nan-ch'uan was announcing a memorial service to be conducted the next day on the anniversary of his master's death1 a standard ,chinese custom4 ,nan-ch'uan remarked1 ,when we serve food for ,master ,ma-tsu tomorrow1 ,i do wonder whether he will come for it4 ,none of the monks made a reply but ,tung-shan came forth out of the crowd and said1 ,as soon as he has companions he will come4 ,hearing this1 ,nan-ch'uan praised him3 ,although this man is young1 he is worthy of being trained4'' ,tung- shan said to him1 ,master1 you should not make a slave out of an honorable person4#f ,tung-shan studied briefly with ,nan-ch'uan making a name for himself in the process and then traveled on4 ,he later landed at the monastery of a teacher named ,yun-yen1 but after a successful period of study he announced his intention to again continue down the road4 ,yun-yen1 however1 protested losing his star pupil4 ,after you leave here1 it will be very hard for us to see each other again1 said ,master ,yun-yen4 ,it will be very hard for us not to see each other again1 answered ,tung-shan4 4 4 4 ,then ,yun-yen said to him1 ,you must be very careful1 as you are carrying this great thing4 ,tung-shan was puzzled4 ,later when he was crossing the water and saw his image reflected1 he suddenly understood the teaching of ,yun-yen4#g ,by the year #hfj ,tung-shan had a monastery of his own and was besieged by disciples4 ,he subsequently moved to ,tung-shan 7,mt4 ,tung7 in what is today ,kiangsi province1 the locale that provided his historic name4 ,his respect for ,yun-yen's enigmatic wisdom was explained years later4 ,one day1 when the ,master was conducting the annual memorial service for ,master ,yun-yen1 a monk asked him3 ,what instruction did you receive from the late ,master ,yun-yen8 ,although ,i was there with him1 he gave me no instruction1 answered the ,master4 ,then why should you conduct the memorial service for him1 if he did not instruct you8 persisted the monk4 4 4 4 ,it is neither for his moral character nor his teaching of ,dharma that ,i respect him4 ,what ,i consider important is that he never told me anything openly4#h ,yet ,tung-shan does not seem completely against the cultivation of enlightenment1 as were some of the other1 more radical ,ch'anists4 ,take1 for example1 the following reported encounter3 ,a government officer wanted to know whether there was anyone approaching ,ch'an through cultivation4 ,the ,master answered3 ,when you become a laborer1 then there will be someone to do cultivation4#i ,the officer's question would have elicited a shout from ,lin-chi1 a blow from ,huang-po1 and advice from ,chao-chou to go wash his rice bowl4 ,although ,tung-shan may have avoided the deliberate absurdities of the ,lin-chi masters1 his utterances are often puzzling nonetheless4 ,part of the reason is that he preferred the metaphor to the concrete example4 ,unlike the repartee of the absurdist ,lin-chi masters1 his exchanges are not deliberately illogical4 ,instead we find a simple reluctance to say anything straight4 ,but if you follow the symbolic language1 you realize it is merely another clever way of never teaching with words1 while still using language4 ,his frequent speaking in metaphors can be appreciated by the following exchange1 which uses language emeshed in symbols4 ,monk3 ,with what man of ,tao should one associate1 so that one will hear constantly what one has never heard8 ,the ,master3 ,that which is under the same coverlet with you4 ,monk3 ,this is still what you1 ,master1 can hear yourself4 ,what is it that one will hear constantly which one has never heard8 ,the ,master3 ,it is not the same as wood and stone4 4 4 4 ,monk3 ,who is he in our country that holds a sword in his hand8 ,the ,master3 ,it is ,ts'ao-shan4 ,monk3 ,whom do you want to kill8 ,the ,master3 ,all those who are alive will die4 ,monk3 ,when you happen to meet your parents1 what should you do8 ,the ,master3 ,why should you have any choice8 ,monk3 ,how about yourself8 ,the ,master3 ,who can do anything to me8 ,monk3 ,why should you not kill yourself1 too8 ,the ,master3 ,there is no place on which ,i can lay my hands4#aj ,the ,ch'an teachers deliberately avoided specifics1 since these might cause students to start worrying about the precise definition of words and end up bogged down in conceptual quandries1 neglecting their real nature--which cannot be reached using words4#aa ,but further than this1 the monk thinks he will trap the master by asking him if his injunction to kill includes his own parents4 7,remember ,lin-chi's ,on meeting your parents1 slay your parents47 ,but ,tung-shan answered by accusing the monk--indirectly--of making discriminations4 ,as for self-murder1 ,tung- shan maintains his immaterial self-nature is indestructible4#ab ,the dialectic of ,tung-shan1 subsequently elaborated by his star pupil1 ,ts'ao-shan1 represents one of the last great expressions of ,chinese metaphysical thought4 ,he defined a system of five positions or relations between the ,particular or ,relative and the ,universal or ,absolute1 defined as follows4#ac ,in the first state1 called the ,universal within the ,particular1 the ,absolute is hidden and obscured by our preoccupation with the world of appearances4 ,however1 the world of appearances is in fact a part of the larger world of ,absolute reality4 ,when we have achieved a true understanding of the objective world we realize that it is no more real than our senses make it1 and consequently it represents not absolute reality but merely our perception4 ,this realization leads to the second phase4 ,in the second state1 called the ,particular within the ,universal1 we recognize that objective reality must always be perceived through our subjective apparatus1 just as the ,absolute must be approached through the relative1 since all particularities merely exemplify the ,absolute4 ,even good and bad are part of this same ,universality4 ,it is all real1 but simply that--no values are attached1 since it is all part of existence4 ,this1 says the scholar ,john ,wu1 is the state of enlightenment4#ad ,in dialectical terms1 this rounds out the comparison of the ,particular and the ,universal1 with each shown to be part of the other4 ,but they must ultimately be resolved back into sunyata1 the ,void that encompasses everything4 ,neither the ,universal or ,absolute1 nor the particulars that give it physical form1 are the ultimate reality4 ,they both are merely systems in the all-encompassing ,void4 ,the third and fourth stages he defines exemplify achieving enlightenment by ,universality alone and achieving enlightenment by ,particularity alone4 ,the third stage1 enlightenment through ,universality1 leads one to meditate on the ,absolute1 upon the single wordless truth that defines the particular around us as part of itself4 7,it sounds remarkably similar to the ,tao47 ,this meditation is done without props1 language1 or any of the physical world 7the particular7 surrounding us4 ,enlightenment through the ,particular1 through experience with the phenomenal world1 was the fourth stage4 ,this received the most attention from the ,lin-chi sect--whose masters would answer the question ,what is the meaning of ,ch'an8 with ,the cypress tree in the courtyard or ,three pounds of flax4#ae ,at the fifth stage1 enlightenment reaches the ,void1 the state that cannot be contained in a concept1 since all concepts are inside it4 ,when you finally reach this state of wordless insight1 you realize that both words and wordlessness are merely part of this larger reality4 ,action and nonaction are equally legitimate responses to the world4 ,tung-shan demonstrated this when he was asked1 ,when a snake is swallowing a frog1 should you save the frog's life8 ,to this he answered1 ,to save the frog is to be blind i4e41 to ultimate oneness and therefore to discriminate between frog and snake2 not to save the frog is not to let form and shadow appear i4e41 to ignore the phenomena4#af ,perhaps ,tung-shan was demonstrating that he was free of discrimination between either option4#ag ,the question of the subjective and the objective1 the ,universal and the ,particular1 permeated ,tung-shan's teachings4 ,once the ,master asked a monk what his name was4 ,the monk answered that his name was so-and-so4 ,the ,master then asked3 ,what one is your real self8 ,the one who is just facing you4 ,what a pity6 ,what a pity6 ,the men of the present day are all like this4 ,they take what is in the front of an ass or at the back of a horse and call it themselves4 ,this illustrates the downfall of ,buddhism4 ,if you cannot recognize your real self objectively1 how can you see your real self subjectively8 ,how do you see your real self subjectively8 the monk immediately asked4 ,you have to tell me that yourself4 ,if ,i were to tell you myself1 it would be seeing myself objectively4 ,what is the self that is known subjectively8 ,to talk about it in such a way is easy to do1 but to continue our talking makes it impossible to reach the truth4#ah ,there also is a poem1 known as the ,pao-ching ,san-mei1 traditionally attributed to ,tung-shan4#ai ,one quatrain will give the flavor of the verse3 ,the man of wood sings1 ,the woman of stone gets up and dances1 ,this cannot be done by passion or learning1 ,it cannot be done by reasoning4#bj ,this has been interpreted as the idea of ,universality penetrating into ,particularity4 ,the wooden man singing and the stone maiden dancing are explained as evidence of the power of ,universality4#ba ,tung-shan had a number of distinguishing qualities4 ,he often used ,taoist language in his teachings1 quoting ,chuang ,tzu to make a point4 ,reportedly he never used the shout or the stick to shock a novice into self-awareness4 ,and whereas his dialogues often used metaphors that at first appear obscure1 there are never the deliberate absurdities of the ,lin-chi masters1 who frequently answered a perfectly reasonable question with a deliberate inanity merely to demonstrate the absurdity of words4 ,unlike the ,lin-chi masters1 he seems less concerned with the process of transmission than with what exactly is transmitted4 ,tung-shan viewed words as did ,chuang ,tzu1 namely as the net in which to catch the fish4 ,whereas the ,lin-chi masters viewed enlightenment as a totality1 ,tung- shan teachers believed that enlightenment arrived in stages1 and they were concerned with identifying what these stages were4 ,this was1 in fact1 the purpose of his five categories of ,particularity and ,universality1 which became a part of the historic dialectic of ,zen enlightenment4 ,ironically1 with the emergence of the idea of stages1 we seem back to a concept of gradual enlightenment--arrived at because the ,chinese mind could not resist theoretical speculations4 ,tung-shan's deathbed scene was almost worthy of comic opera4 ,one day in the third month of #hfi he made known his resolve to die and1 shaving his head and donning his formal robes1 ordered the gong to be struck as he seated himself in meditation4 ,but his disciples began sobbing so disturbingly that he finally despaired of dying in peace and1 opening his eyes1 chided them4 ,those who are ,buddhists should not attach themselves to externalities4 ,this is the real self-cultivation4 ,in living they work hard2 in death they are at rest4 ,why should there be any grief8#bb ,he then instructed the head monk to prepare offerings of food to ignorance for everyone at the monastery1 intending to shame all those who still clung to the emotions of the flesh4 ,the monks took a full week to prepare the meal1 knowing it was to be his last supper4 ,and sure enough1 upon dining he bade them farewell and1 after a ceremonial bath1 passed on4 ,the most famous disciple of ,tung-shan1 ,master ,ts'ao-shan 7#hdj-ija71 was born as ,pen-chi on the ,fukien coast4 ,passing through an early interest in ,confucianism1 he left home at nineteen and became a ,buddhist4 ,he was ordained at age twenty-five and seems to have found frequent occasion to ,visit ,tung-shan4 ,then one day they had an encounter that catapulted ,ts'ao-shan into the position of favored pupil4 ,the exchange began with a question by ,tung-shan3 ,what is your name8 ,my name is ,ts'ao-shan4 ,say something toward ,ultimate ,reality4 ,i will not say anything4 ,why don't you speak of it8 ,it is not called ,ts'ao-shan4#bc ,it is said that ,tung-shan gave ,ts'ao-shan private instruction after this and regarded his capability highly4 ,the anecdote1 if we may venture a guess1 seems to assert that the ,universal cannot be reached through language1 and hence he could only converse about his objective1 physical form4 ,after several years of study1 ,ts'ao-shan decided to strike out on his own1 and he announced this intention to ,tung-shan4 ,the older master then inquired3 ,where are you going8 ,i go where it is changeless4 ,how can you go where it is changeless8 ,my going is no change4#bd ,ts'ao-shan subsequently left his master and went wandering and teaching4 ,finally1 in late summer of #ija1 the story says that ,ts'ao- shan one evening inquired about the date1 and early the next morning he died4 ,although the recorded exchanges between ,tung-shan and ,ts'ao-shan are limited to the two rather brief encounters given1 the younger master actually seems to have been the moving force behind the dialectical constructions of the ,ts'ao-tung school4 ,the ancient records1 such as ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp1 all declare that ,ts'ao-shan was inspired by the ,five ,states of ,universality and ,particularity to become a great ,buddhist4 ,as ,dumoulin judges1 ,it was ,ts'ao-shan who first1 in the spirit of and in accordance with the master's teachings1 arranged the five ranks in their transmuted form and explained them in many ways4 4 4 4 ,the fundamental principles1 however1 stem from ,tung- shan1 who for that reason must be considered to be their originator4#be ,the ultimate concern of both the ,ts'ao-tung and ,lin-chi doctrines was enlightenment4 ,the difference was that ,ts'ao-tung masters believed quiet meditation was the way1 rather than the mind-shattering techniques of ,lin-chi4 ,ts'ao-tung 7,soto ,zen7 strives to soothe the spirit rather than deliberately instigate psychic turmoil1 as sometimes does the ,lin-chi 7,rinzai74 ,the aim is to be in the world but not of it2 to occupy the physical world but transcend it mentally1 aloof and serene4 ,a further difference has been identified by the ,british scholar ,sir ,charles ,eliot1 who concludes that whereas ,lin-chi regards the knowledge of the ,buddha nature 444 as an end in itself1 all-satisfying and all-engrossing1 the ,ts'ao-tung 4 4 4 held that it is necessary to have enlightenment after ,enlightenment1 that is to say that the inner illumination must display itself in a good life4#bf ,thus ,eliot suggests the ,ts'ao-tung took something of an interest in what you do1 in distinction to the ,lin-chi school1 which preferred to focus on inner wisdom4 ,the ,ts'ao-tung sect1 at least in its early forms1 was fully as dialectical in outlook as was the ,lin-chi4 ,in this it was merely carrying on1 to some extent1 the example of its forebear ,shih-t'ou1 who was himself remembered as deeply interested in theoretical and intellectual speculations4 ,today the ,ts'ao-tung sect is differentiated from the ,lin-chi primarily by its methods for teaching novices4 ,there is no disagreement about the goal1 merely about the path4 ,it is interesting that the whole business of the ,five ,ranks seems not to have survived the ,sung ,dynasty4 ,ts'ao-tung's real contribution was essentially to revive the approach of ,northern ,ch'an1 with its stress on meditation1 intellectual inquiry1 stages of enlightenment1 and the idea that ,ch'an is not entirely inner- directed but may also have some place in the world at large4 ,this is the real achievement of ,ts'ao- tung1 and the quality that enabled it to survive and become ,soto4 ,chapter ,thirteen ,,kuei-,,shan1 ,,yun-,,men1 ,,and ,,fa-,,yen3 ,,three ,,minor ,,houses ,yun-men 7left7 ,the five houses or sects of ,ch'an that arose after the ,great ,persecution of #hde did not all appear simultaneously1 nor did they enjoy equal influence4 ,whereas the ,lin-chi and the ,ts'ao-tung were destined to survive and find their way to ,japan1 the three other houses were treated less kindly by history4 ,nonetheless1 in the search for enlightenment1 each of the three other houses contributed techniques1 insights1 and original ideas that enriched the ,zen tradition4 ,it is with the stories of the masters who founded the three extinct houses that we close out the era preceding the ,sung ,dynasty and the rise of the koan4 ,,kuei-,,shan1 ,,founder ,,of ,,the ,,kuei-,,yang ,,sect ,this earliest of the five houses was founded by a contemporary of ,huang-po and follower of the ,ma-tsu tradition known by the name ,kuei- shan 7#gga-hec74 ,under his original name1 ,ling-yu1 he left home at fifteen to become a monk1 studying under a local ,vinaya master in present-day ,fukien province4 ,he later was ordained at ,hangchow1 where he assiduously absorbed the vinaya and sutras of both ,theravada and ,mahayana4#a ,then at age twenty-three he traveled to ,kiangsi and became a pupil of the famous ,ch'an lawgiver ,po-chang ,huai-hai4 ,the moment of ,kuei-shan's enlightenment at the hands of ,huai-hai is a ,zen classic4 ,as the story goes3 ,one day as he was waiting upon ,huai-hai1 the latter asked him to poke the stove1 to see whether there was any fire left in it4 ,kuei-shan poked but found no fire4 ,huai-hai rose to poke it himself1 and succeeded in discovering a little spark4 ,showing it to his disciple1 he asked1 ,is this not fire8 ,thereupon ,kuei-shan became enlightened4#b ,just why this seemingly trivial incident should trigger enlightenment is clearly a matter that must be approached intuitively4#c ,kuei-shan received his name from ,mt4 ,kuei1 where he was sent to found a monastery by ,po-chang ,huai-hai4 ,the circumstances of his selection reveal almost more than we would wish to know about the ,ch'an monastic world at the beginning of the ninth century4 ,it happened that ,huai-hai was considering the idea of founding a new monastery on ,mt4 ,kuei in ,hunan province4 ,however1 he was uncertain whether the venture would flourish1 and consequently he turned for advice to a wandering fortuneteller named ,ssu-ma4#d ,this seer responded that ,mt4 ,kuei was an ideal location and would support fifteen hundred monks4 ,however1 ,huai- hai himself would not prosper there1 since ,you are a bony1 ascetic man and it is a fleshy1 sensuous mountain4 ,the advice was to find somebody else4 ,huai-hai consented and began calling in his candidates for ,ssu-ma to examine4 ,the first to be summoned was the head monk--whom ,ssu-ma asked to produce a deep cough and then walk several steps4 ,the wizened old mystic watched carefully and then whispered to ,huai-hai that this was not the man4 ,next to be called in was ,kuei-shan1 currently administrator of the monastery4 ,ssu-ma took one look and nodded his approval to ,huai-hai4 ,that night ,huai-hai summoned ,kuei-shan and assigned his new mission3 ,go to ,mt4 ,kuei and found the monastery that will perpetuate my teachings4 ,when the head monk discovered he had been passed over he was outraged and at the next morning's convocation demanded that ,huai-hai justify this slight4 ,the master replied3 ,if you can make an outstanding response in front of the assembly1 you shall receive the appointment4 ,huai-hai then pointed to a pitcher and said to him1 ,do not call this a pitcher4 ,what1 instead1 should you call it8 ,the head monk answered1 ,it cannot be called a wooden wedge4 ,master ,huai-hai did not accept this1 and turned to ,kuei- shan1 demanding his answer4 ,kuei-shan kicked the pitcher and knocked it over4 ,master ,huai-hai laughed and said1 ,our head monk has lost his bid for ,mount ,kuei4#e ,the head monk's reply had been intellectualizing wordplay1 caught up in the world of names and categories4 ,kuei-shan's reply was spontaneous1 wordless1 and devoid of distinctions4 ,his was a mind that could transcend rationality4 ,kuei-shan did establish the monastery and from it a short-lived school4 ,however1 ,kuei-shan's memory was perpetuated largely through a brilliant pupil later known as ,yang-shan 7#hjg-hhc7 owing to his founding a monastery on ,mt4 ,yang in ,kiangsi province4 ,together their teachings became known as the ,kuei-yang school1 the first of the five houses4 ,the exchanges between ,kuei-shan and ,yang-shan reported in ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp are among the most electric in all ,ch'an4 ,in the following they joust over the distinction between function of wisdom 7which is revealed through action7 and substance or self-nature 7which is revealed through nonaction74 ,once when all the monks were out picking tea leaves the ,master said to ,yang-shan1 ,all day as we were picking tea leaves ,i have heard your voice1 but ,i have not seen you yourself4 ,show me your original self4 ,yang-shan thereupon shook the tea tree4 ,the ,master said1 ,you have attained only the function1 not the substance4 ,yang-shan remarked1 ,i do not know how you yourself would answer the question4 ,the ,master was silent for a time4 ,yang-shan commented1 ,you1 ,master1 have attained only the substance1 not the function4 ,master ,kuei-shan responded1 ,i absolve you from twenty blows6#f ,commentators differ on who won this exchange and whether ,kuei-shan was really satisfied4 ,another story relates similar fast-witted but serious repartee4 ,two ,ch'an monks came from a rival community and said1 ,there is not a man here who can understand ,ch'an4 ,later1 when all the monks went out to gather firewood1 ,yang-shan saw the two1 who were resting2 he took a piece of firewood and asked them1 ,can you talk 7about it78 ,as both remained silent1 ,yang-shan said to them1 ,do not say that there is no one here who can understand ,ch'an4 ,when he returned to the monastery1 ,yang-shan reported to the master1 ,today1 two ,ch'an monks were exposed by me4 ,the master asked1 ,how did you expose them8 ,yang-shan related the incident and the master said1 ,i have now exposed you as well4#g ,the translator ,charles ,luk suggests that ,kuei-shan had exposed ,yang- shan by showing that he still distinguished between himself and the other monks4 ,yet another story1 reminiscent of ,nan-ch'uan1 further dramatizes the school's teaching of nondiscrimination4 ,the report recounts a present that ,kuei-shan sent to ,yang-shan1 now also a master and co-founder of their school3 ,kuei-shan sent ,yang-shan a parcel containing a mirror4 ,when he went to the hall1 ,yang-shan held up the mirror and said to the assembly1 ,please say whether this is ,kuei-shan's or ,yang-shan's mirror4 ,if someone can give a correct reply1 ,i will not smash it4 ,as no one answered1 the master smashed the mirror4#h ,kuei-shan's answer to one pupil who requested that he explain ,ch'an to him was to declare3 ,if ,i should expound it explicitly for you1 in the future you will reproach me for it4 ,anyway1 whatever ,i speak still belongs to me and has nothing to do with you4#i ,this monk1 who later became the famous master ,hsiang-yen1 subsequently burned his sutras and wandered the countryside in despair4 ,then one day while cutting grass he nicked a piece of broken tile against some bamboo1 producing a sharp snap that suddenly triggered his enlightenment4 ,in elation he hurried back to his cell in the abandoned monastery where he was living and burned incense to ,kuei-shan1 declaring1 ,if you had broken the secret to me then1 how could ,i have experienced the wonderful event of today4#aj ,the real contribution of the ,kuei-yang sect is agreed to be the final distinction ,yang-shan made between the ,ch'an of meditation 7based on the ,lankavatara ,sutra7 and instantaneous ,ch'an 7that completely divorced from the sutras74 ,in this final revision of ,ch'an history1 traditional or ,patriarchal ,ch'an was redefined as the anti-sutra establishment of the ,southern school1 while the teaching of the ,lankavatara1 which actually had been the basis of the faith until the middle of the eighth century1 was scorned as an aberration4 ,he emphasized1 in a sense1 ,ch'an's ultimate disowning of ,buddhism--through a new1 manufactured history4 ,kuei-shan died in the prescribed manner3 ,after a ritual ablution he seated himself in the meditation posture and passed on with a smile4 ,he was buried on ,mt4 ,kuei1 home of his monastery4 ,his followers and those of his pupil ,yang-shan composed the ,kuei-yang school1 an early attempt to formalize the anti-sutra position of ,ma-tsu4#aa ,however1 they were supplanted by other much more successful followers of ,huai-hai1 such as ,huang-po and ,lin-chi1 whose school became the real perpetuator of ,ma- tsu's iconoclasm4 ,,the ,,yun-,,men ,,sect ,the ,master ,yun-men 7#hfb_/d-idi7 was born in ,kiangsu province 7some say ,chekiang7 to a family whose circumstances forced them to place him in a ,vinaya temple as a novice4 ,but his inquiring mind eventually turned to ,ch'an1 and off he went to a master1 with his first target being the famous ,mu-chou1 disciple of ,huang-po4 7,mu-chou is remembered as the monk who sent ,lin-chi in for his first three withering interviews with ,huang-po47 ,for two days running1 ,yun-men tried to gain entry to see the master1 but each time he was ejected4 ,the third day he succeeded in reaching ,mu-chou1 who grabbed him and demanded1 ,speak6 ,speak6 ,but before ,yun-men could open his mouth1 the master shoved him out of the room and slammed the door1 catching his leg and breaking it in the process4 ,the unexpected bolt of pain shooting through ,yun-men's body suddenly brought his first enlightenment4#ab ,he journeyed on1 studying with several famous masters1 until finally he inherited a monastery from a retiring master who sensed his genius4 ,yun-men was one of the best-known figures from ,ch'an's waning ,golden ,age1 and stories of his exchanges with monks became a major source of koans4#ac ,he loathed words and forbade his followers to take notes or write down his sermons4 7,however1 his talks were secretly recorded by a follower who attended in a paper robe and kept notes on the garment47 ,as did the earlier masters1 he struggled mightily with the problem of how to prevent novices from becoming attached to his words and phrases4 ,yun-men came to the assembly again and said3 ,my work here is something that ,i cannot help4 ,when ,i tell you to penetrate directly into all things and to be non-attached to them1 ,i have already concealed what is within you4 ,yet you all continue looking for ,ch'an among my words1 so that you may achieve enlightenment4 ,with myriad deviations and artificialities1 you raise endless questions and arguments4 ,thus1 you merely gain temporary satisfactions from verbal contests1 repeatedly quarrel with words1 and deviate even further from ,ch'an4 ,when will you obtain it1 and rest8#ad ,he firmly believed that all teaching was useless2 that all explanations do more harm than good2 and that1 in fact1 nothing worthwhile can ever be taught4 ,the ,master said1 ,if ,i should give you a statement that would teach you how to achieve ,ch'an immediately1 dirt would already be spread on top of your head4 4 4 4 ,to grasp ,ch'an1 you must experience it4 ,if you have not experienced it1 do not pretend to know4 ,you should withdraw inwardly and search for the ground upon which you stand2 thereby you will find out what ,truth is4#ae ,one of ,yun-men's sermons reveals much about the growing pains of ,ch'an4 ,the seriousness of the novices seems to have been steadily deteriorating1 and his characterization of the run-of-the- mill novices of his time presents a picture of waning dynamism4 ,success was clearly bringing a more frivolous student to the monasteries1 and we sense here the warning of a man who rightly feared for the future quality of ,ch'an4 ,furthermore1 some monks1 idle and not serious in their studies1 gather together trying to learn the sayings of the ancients1 and attempt to reveal their own nature through memorizing1 imagining1 prophesying4 ,these people often claim that they understand what ,dharma is4 ,what they actually do is simply talk themselves into endless entanglements and use meditation to pass the time4#af ,he also felt the traditional pilgrimages from master to master had become hardly more than a glorified version of sightseeing4 ,do not waste your time wandering thousands of miles1 through this town and that1 with your staff on your shoulder1 wintering in one place and spending the summer in another4 ,do not seek out beautiful mountains and rivers to contemplate4 4 4 4 ,the fundamental thing for you to do is to obtain the essence of ,ch'an4 ,then your travels will not have been in vain4 ,if you find a way to guide your understanding under a severe master 4 4 4 wake up1 hang up your bowl-bag1 and break your staff4 ,spend ten or twenty years of study under him until you are thoroughly enlightened4#ag ,he also advised that they try to simplify their search1 that they try to realize how uncomplicated ,ch'an really is4 ,let me tell you that anything you can directly point at will not lead you to the right trail4 4 4 4 ,besides dressing1 eating1 moving bowels1 releasing water1 what else is there to do8#ah ,yun-men was one of the most dynamic masters of the late ninth and early tenth century1 providing new twists to the historic problem of nonlanguage transmission4 ,his celebrated solution was the so-called one-word answer4 ,several of these are preserved in the two major koan collections of later years4 ,two of the better-known follow3 ,a monk asked ,yun-men1 ,what is the teaching that transcends the ,buddha and patriarchs8 ,yun-men said1 ,a sesame bun4#ai ,a monk asked ,yun-men1 ,what is ,buddha8 ,yun-men replied1 ,a dried piece of shit4#bj ,the one-word was his version of the blow and the shout4 ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth is particularly fond of ,yun-men and suggests he may have had the keenest intellect of any ,ch'an master--and even goes so far as to declare him the greatest man ,china has produced4#ba ,at the very least ,yun-men was in the great tradition of the iconoclastic ,t'ang masters1 with a touch that bears comparison to ,huang-po4 ,and he probably was wise in attempting to stop copyists1 for his teachings eventually were reduced to yet another abominable system1 as seemed irresistible to the ,chinese followers of the five houses4 ,a later disciple produced what is known as the ,three propositions of the house of ,yun-men4 ,it is not difficult to imagine the barnyard response ,yun-men would have had to this systematization of his thought4#bb ,the school of this most eloquent of ,ch'an masters lasted through the ,sung dynasty1 but its failure to find a transplant in ,japan eventually meant that history would pass it by4 ,nonetheless1 the cutting intellect of ,yun-men was one of the bright stars in the constellation of ,ch'an1 providing what is possibly its purest antirational statement4 ,,the ,,fa-,,yen ,,sect ,the master known as ,fa-yen 7#hhe-ieh71 founder of the third short-lived house of ,ch'an1 need not detain us long4 ,fa-yen's novel method for triggering enlightenment was to repeat back the questioner's own query1 thereby isolating the words and draining them of their meaning4 ,it was his version of the shout1 the silence1 the single word4 ,and whereas the ,lin-chi school was concerned with the ,four ,processes of ,liberation from ,subjectivity and ,objectivity and the ,ts'ao-tung school constructed the five relations between ,particularity and ,universality1 the ,fa-yen school invented the ,six ,attributes of ,being4#bc ,the ,six ,attributes of ,being 7totality and differentiation1 sameness and difference1 becoming and disappearing7 were adapted from the doctrine of another ,buddhist sect1 and in fact later attempts by one of ,fa-yen's disciples to combine ,ch'an and ,pure ,land ,buddhism have been credited with accelerating the disappearance of his school4 ,according to ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp1 the master remembered as ,fa-yen was born as ,wen-i1 near ,hangchow4 ,he became a ,ch'an novice at age seven and was ordained at twenty4 ,learned in both ,buddhist and ,confucianist literature 7though not1 significantly enough1 in the ,taoist classics71 he then got the wanderlust1 as was common1 and headed south to seek out more ,ch'an teachers4 ,he ended up in ,kiangsi province in the city of ,fuchou1 where to escape the floodings of a rainstorm he found himself one evening in a local monastery4 ,he struck up a conversation with the master there1 who suddenly asked him3 ,where are you going1 sir8 ,i shall continue my foot travels along the road4 ,what is that which is called foot travel8 ,i do not know4 ,not-knowing most closely approaches the ,truth4#bd ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp states that he was enlightened on the spot and decided to settle down for a period of study4 ,he eventually became a famous teacher himself1 shepherding as many as a thousand students at one time4 ,one of his most often repeated exchanges concerned the question of the difference between the moon 7i4e41 enlightenment7 and the finger pointing at the moon1 7i4e41 the teaching leading to enlightenment74 ,it was a common observation that students confused the finger pointing at the moon with the moon itself1 which is to say they confused talk about enlightenment with the state4 ,one day a monk came along who thought he was smart enough to get around the dilemma4 ,a monk asked1 ,as for the finger1 ,i will not ask you about it4 ,but what is the moon8 ,the ,master said1 ,where is the finger that you do not ask about8 ,so the monk asked1 ,as for the moon1 ,i will not ask you about it4 ,but what is the finger8 ,the ,master said1 ,the moon6 ,the monk challenged him1 ,i asked about the finger2 why should you answer me1 'the moon'8 ,the ,master replied1 ,because you asked about the finger4#be ,at age seventy-four ,fa-yen died in the manner of other great masters1 calmly and seated in the meditation posture4 ,part of the lineage of ,shih-t'ou and an offshoot of the branch of ,ch'an that would become ,soto1 he was a kindly individual with none of the violence and histrionics of the livelier masters4 ,however1 his school lasted only briefly before passing into history4 ,nonetheless1 a number of disciples initially perpetuated his memory1 and his wisdom is preserved in various ,sung-period compilations of ,ch'an sermons4 ,chapter ,fourteen ,,ta-,,hui3 ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,koan ,to confront the koan--the most discussed1 least understood teaching concept of the ,east--is to address the very essence of ,zen itself4 ,in simple terms the koan is merely a brief story--all the encounters between two monks related here could be koans4 ,during the ,sung ,dynasty 7#ifj-abgi7 these stories were organized into collections1 commented upon1 and structured into a system of study--which involved meditating on a koan and arriving at an intuitive answer acceptable to a ,zen master4 ,faced with the threatening intellectualism of the ,sung scholars1 ,ch'anists created the koan out of the experience of the older masters1 much the way a liferaft might be constructed from the timbers of a storm-torn ship4 ,but before we examine this raft1 it would be well to look again at the ship4 ,it will be recalled that ,ch'an grew out of both ,buddhism and ,taoism1 extracting from them the belief that a fundamental unifying quality transcends all the diversity of the world1 including things that appear to be opposite4 ,however1 ,ch'an taught that this cannot be understood using intellectualism1 which rationally makes distinctions and relates to the world by reducing it to concepts and systems4 ,one reason is that all rationality and concepts are merely part of a larger1 encompassing ,reality2 and trying to reach this ,reality intellectually is like trying to describe the outside of a building while trapped inside4 ,there is1 however1 a kind of thought--not beholden to concepts1 systems1 discriminations1 or rationality--that can reach this new understanding4 ,it is intuition1 which operates in a mode entirely different from rationality4 ,it is holistic1 not linear2 it is unself-conscious and noncritical2 and it doesn't bother with any of the rational systems of analysis we have invented for ourselves4 ,but since we can't call on it at our pleasure1 the next best thing we can do is clear the way for it to operate--by shutting off the rational part of the mind4 ,then intuition starts hesitantly coming out of the shadows4 ,now1 if we carefully wait for the right moment and then suddenly create a disturbance that momentarily short-circuits the rational mind--the way shock suppresses our sense of pain in the first moments of a serious accident--we may get a glimpse of the intuitive mind in full flower4 ,in that instant we intuitively understand the oneness of the world1 the ,void1 the greater ,reality that words and rationality have never allowed us to experience4 ,the ,zen teachers have a very efficient technique for making all this happen4 ,they first discredit rationality for a novice by making him feel foolish for using it4 ,each time the novice submits a rational solution to a koan1 he receives a humiliating rebuff4 ,after a while the strain begins to tell4 ,in the same way that a military boot camp destroys the ego and self-identity of a recruit1 the ,zen master slowly erodes the novice's confidence in his own logical powers4 ,at this point his intuitive mind begins overcoming its previous repression4 ,distinctions slowly start to seem absurd1 because every time he makes one he is ridiculed4 ,little by little he dissolves his sense of object and subject1 knower and known4 ,the fruit now is almost ready to fall from the tree4 7,although enlightenment cannot be made to happen1 it can be made possible47 ,enter at this point the unexpected blow1 the shout1 the click of bamboo1 the broken leg4 ,if the student is caught unawares1 rationality may be momentarily short-circuited and suddenly he glimpses--,reality4 ,the irony is that what he glimpses is no different from what he saw before1 only now he understands it intuitively and realizes how simplistic and confining are rational categories and distinctions4 ,mountains are once again mountains2 rivers are once again rivers4 ,but with one vital difference3 ,now he is not attached to them4 ,he travels through the world just as always1 but now he is at one with it3 no distinctions1 no critical judgments1 no tension4 ,after all that preparatory mental anguish there is no apparent external change4 ,but internally he is enlightened3 ,he thinks differently1 he understands differently1 and ultimately he lives differently4 ,ch'an began by working out the question of what this enlightenment really is4 ,prior to ,ma-tsu the search was more for the nature of enlightenment than for its transmission4 ,this was the doctrinal phase of ,ch'an4 ,as time went by1 however1 the concern shifted more and more from defining enlightenment--which the ,ch'an masters believed had been done sufficiently--to struggling with the process4 ,after ,ma-tsu1 ,ch'an turned its attention to auxiliary means for helping along transmission3 paradoxical words and actions1 shouts1 beatings1 and eventually the koan4#a ,the koan1 then1 is the final step in the auxiliary means4 ,a succinct analysis of the koan technique is provided by ,ruth ,f4 ,sasaki in ,zen ,dust3 ,briefly1 koans consisted of questions the early masters had asked individual students1 together with the answers given by the students2 questions put to the masters by students in personal talks or in the course of the masters' lectures1 together with the masters' answers2 statements of formulas in which the masters had pointed to the profound ,principle2 anecdotes from the daily life of the masters in which their attitudes or actions illustrated the functioning of the ,principle2 and occasionally a phrase from a sutra in which the ,principle or some aspect of it was crystallized in words4 ,by presenting a student with one or another of these koans and observing his reaction to it1 the degree or depth of his realization could be judged4 ,the koans were the criteria of attainment4#b ,called kung-an in ,chinese 7meaning a case or a problem71 the koan was a response to two major challenges that beset ,ch'an in the ,sung era3 ,first1 the large number of students that appeared at ,ch'an monasteries as a result of the demise of other sects meant that some new means was needed to preserve personalized attention 7some masters reportedly had one thousand or even two thousand followers at a monastery72 and second1 there was a noticeable decline in the spontaneity of both novices and masters4 ,the masters had lost much of the creative fire of ,ch'an's ,golden ,age1 and the novices were caught up in the intellectual1 literary world of the ,sung1 to the point that intellectualism actually threatened the vitality of the sect4 ,the koan1 then1 was the answer to this dilemma4 ,it systematized instruction such that large numbers of students could be treated to the finest antirational tradition of the ,ch'an sect1 and it rescued the dynamism of the earlier centuries4 ,although mention of kung-an occurs in the ,ch'an literature before the end of the ,t'ang era 7#fah-ijg71 the reference was to a master's use of a particularly effectual question on more than one student4 ,this was still an instance of a master using his own questions or paradoxes4 ,the koan in its true form--that is1 the use of a classic incident from the literature1 posed as a conundrum--is said to have been created when a descendant of ,lin-chi1 in the third generation1 interviewed a novice about some of ,lin-chi's sayings4#c ,this systematic use of the existing literature was found effective1 and soon a new teaching technique was in the making4 ,examples of classic koans already have been seen throughout this book1 since many of the exchanges of the early masters were later isolated for use as kung-an4 ,but there are many1 many others1 ,perhaps the best- known koan of all time is the exchange between ,chao-chou 7#ggh-hig7 and a monk3 ,a monk asked ,chao-chou4 ,does a dog have ,buddha nature i4e41 is a dog capable of being enlightened8 ,chao-chou answered1 ,mu a word whose strict meaning is nothingness4#d ,quick1 what does it mean8 ,speak6 ,speak6 ,if you were a ,ch'an novice1 a master would be glaring at you demanding an immediate1 intuitive answer4 7,a favored resolution of this1 incidentally1 is simply ,mu1 but bellowed with all the force of the universe's inherent ,oneness behind it4 ,and if you try to fake it1 the master will know47 ,or take another koan1 drawn completely at random4 ,when the monks assembled before the noon meal to hear his lecture1 the ,master ,fa-yen #hhe-ieh pointed at the bamboo blinds4 ,two monks simultaneously went and rolled them up4 ,fa-yen said1 ,one gain1 one loss4#e ,don't think6 ,respond instantly6 ,don't say a word unless it's right1 ,don't make a move that isn't intuitive4 ,and above all1 don't analyze4 ,yun-men #hfb_/d-idi asked a monk1 ,where have you come here from8 ,the monk said1 ,from ,hsi-ch'an4 ,yun-men said1 ,what words are being offered at ,hsi-ch'an these days8 ,the monk stretched out his hands4 ,yun-men struck him4 ,the monk said1 ,i haven't finished talking4 ,yun- men then extended his own hands4 ,the monk was silent1 so ,yun-men struck him4#f ,you weren't there4 ,you're not the monk4 ,but now you've got to do something to show the master you grasp what went on in that exchange4 ,what was spontaneous to the older masters you must grasp in a secondhand1 systematized situation4 ,and if you can't answer the koan right 7it should be stressed1 incidentally1 there is not necessarily a fixed answer71 you had best go and meditate1 try to grasp it nonintellectually1 and return tomorrow to try again4 ,off you go to meditate on ,mu or ,one gain1 one loss1 and the mental tension starts building4 ,even though you know you aren't supposed to1 you analyze it intellectually from every angle4 ,but that just heightens your exasperation4 ,then suddenly one day something dawns on you4 ,elated1 you go to the master4 ,you yell at him1 or bark like a dog1 or kick his staff1 or stand on your hands1 or recite a poem1 or declare1 ,the cypress tree in the courtyard1 or perhaps you just remain silent4 ,he will know 7intuitively7 if you have broken through the bonds of reason1 if you have transcended the intellect4 ,there's nothing quite like the koan in the literature of the world3 historical episodes that have to be relived intuitively and responded to4 ,as ,ruth ,f4 ,sasaki notes1 ,collections of 'old cases1' as the koans were sometimes called1 as well as attempts to put the koans into a fixed form and to systematize them to some extent1 were already being made by the middle of the tenth century4 ,we also find a few masters giving their own alternate answers to some of the old koans and occasionally appending verses to them4 ,in many cases these alternate answers and verses ultimately became attached to the original koans and were handled as koans supplementary to them4#g ,ironically1 koans became so useful1 indeed essential1 in the perpetuation of ,ch'an that they soon were revered as texts4 ,collections of the better koans appeared1 and next came accretions of supporting commentaries--when the whole point was supposed to be circumventing reliance on words6 ,but commentaries always seemed to develop spontaneously out of ,ch'an4 ,today two major collections of koans are generally used by students of ,zen4 ,these are the ,mumonkan 7to use the more familiar ,japanese name7 and the ,hekiganroku 7again the ,japanese name7 or ,blue ,cliff ,record4#h ,masters may work a student through both these collections as he travels the road to enlightenment1 with a new koan being assigned after each previous one has been successfully resolved4 ,the ,blue ,cliff ,record was the first of the two collections4 ,it began as a grouping of one hundred kung-an by a master named ,hsueh-tou ,ch'ung-hsien 7#ihj-ajeb7 of the school of ,yun-men4 ,this master also attached a small poem to each koan1 intended to direct the student toward its meaning4 ,the book enjoyed sizable circulation throughout the latter part of the eleventh century1 and sometime thereafter a ,lin-chi master named ,yuan-wu ,k'o-ch'in 7#ajfc-aace7 decided to embellish it by adding an introduction to each koan and a long-winded commentary on both the koan and the poem supplied by the previous collector4 7,in the case of the poem we now have commentary on commentary--the ultimate achievement of the theologian's art6 ,however1 masters today often omit ,yuan-wu's commentaries1 giving their own interpretation instead4#i7 ,the commentator1 ,yuan-wu1 was the teacher of ,ta-hui1 the dynamic master of the ,lin-chi lineage whom we will meet here4 ,the ,mumonkan1 a shorter work1 was assembled in #abbh by the ,ch'an monk ,wu-men ,hui-k'ai 7#aahc-abfj7 and consists of forty-eight koans1 together with an explanatory comment and a verse4 ,some of the koans in the ,mumonkan also appear in the ,blue ,cliff ,record4 ,the ,mumonkan is usually preferred in the ,japanese summer1 since its koans are briefer and less fatiguing4#aj ,the koan was an invention of the ,sung ,dynasty 7#ifj-abgi71 an era of consolidation in the ,chinese empire after the demise of the ,t'ang and passage of a war-torn interlude known as the ,five ,dynasties 7#ijg-fj74 ,although ,sung ,ch'an seemed to be booming1 ,buddhism in general continued the decline that began with the ,great ,persecution of #hde4 ,for example1 the number of registered monks dropped from around #djj1jjj in #ajba to approximately half that number a scant half-century later4#aa ,but the monks who did come probably had higher education than previously1 for the ,sung educational system was the world's best at the time4 ,colleges were established nationwide1 not just in the sophisticated metropolitan areas1 and scholarship flourished4 ,whether this was good for ,ch'an is not a simple question4 ,the hardy rural monks who had passed beyond the ,buddhist scriptures made ,ch'an what it was4 ,could the powers of the antirational be preserved in an atmosphere where the greatest respect was reserved for those who spent years memorizing the ,chinese classics8 ,the answer to this was to rest with the koan4 ,the ,ch'an master ,ta-hui 7#ajhi-aafc71 who perfected the koan technique1 was rumored to be a reincarnation of ,lin-chi4 ,born in ,anhwei province1 located about halfway between the older capitals of the north and the ,ch'an centers in the south1 he was said to be both pious and precocious1 becoming a devoted monk at age seventeen while assiduously reading and absorbing the teachings of the five houses4#ab ,at age nineteen1 he began his obligatory travels1 roaming from master to master4 ,one of his first teachers reportedly interviewed him on the koans in the collection now known as the ,blue ,cliff ,record1 but he did so by not speaking a word and thereby forcing ,ta-hui to work them out for himself4 ,ta-hui also experimented with the ,ts'ao-tung teachings1 but early on began to question the straitlaced1 quietistic approach of that house4 ,he finally was directed to the ,szechuan teacher ,yuan-wu ,k'o-ch'in of the ,lin-chi school1 beginning the association that would move him to the forefront of the struggle to save ,ch'an via the koan4 ,ta-hui experienced his first enlightenment under ,yuan-wu1 in the master's temple in the ,northern ,sung capital of ,pien-liang4 ,as the story is reported3 ,one day when ,yuan-wu had taken the high seat in the lecture hall1 he said3 ,a monk asked ,yun-men3 ',from whence come all the buddhas8' ,yun- men answered3 ',the ,east ,mountain walks over the water4' ,but if ,i were asked1 ,i would not answer that way4 ',from whence come all the buddhas8' ,a fragrant breeze comes of itself from the south1 and in the palace pavilion a refreshing coolness stirs4 ,at these words ,ta-hui suddenly attained enlightenment4#ac ,after this he grew in experience and wisdom1 eventually taking over many temple duties from ,yuan-wu4 ,he soon became a part of the ,ch'an establishment in the north and in #aabf was even presented with an official robe and title from a minister4 ,then suddenly1 in the midst of this tranquillity1 outside forces intervened to change dramatically the course of ,chinese history4 ,for many years previous1 ,china had been threatened by nomadic peoples from the north and west1 peoples whom the ,chinese haughtily identified as barbarians4 ,the ,sung emperors1 cloistered gentlemen in the worst sense of the term1 had maintained peace in their slowly shrinking domain by buying off belligerent neighbors and occasionally even ceding border territories4 ,they thought their troubles finally might be easing somewhat when their hostile neighbors were overwhelmed by a new warring tribe from ,manchuria4 ,but after a series of humiliating incidents1 the ,chinese found themselves with merely a new enemy1 this time more powerful than any before4 ,china was at last on the verge of being overwhelmed1 something it had forestalled for many centuries4 ,even the invention of gunpowder1 which the ,chinese now used to fire rocket- propelled arrows1 could not save them4 ,before long the barbarians marched on the capital1 and after some years of ,chinese attempts at appeasement1 the invaders carried off the emperor and his entire court to ,manchuria4 ,the year was #aabg1 which marked the end of the ,chinese dynasty now known as the ,northern ,sung 7#ifj-aabg74 ,after this disheartening setback a son of the former emperor moved south and set up a new capital in the coastal city of ,hangchow1 whose charms the ,chinese were fond of comparing favorably with heaven 7in the refrain1 ,heaven above2 ,hangchow below74 ,this new regime1 known as the ,southern ,sung 7#aabg-abgi71 witnessed yet another transformation of ,ch'an4 ,among other things1 ,southern ,ch'an came to resemble eighth-century ,northern ,ch'an1 in its close association with the court and the intelligentsia4 ,when political discord forced the ,northern ,sung government to flee south1 the master ,yuan-wu was assigned a monastery in the southern province of ,kiangsi by the emperor1 and ,ta-hui accompanied him there1 again as head monk4 ,after four years1 ,ta-hui again decided to migrate-- this time alone--to ,szechuan and there to build a secluded hermitage4 ,after another move he was summoned in #aacg by the prime minister1 himself also a former pupil of ,yuan-wu1 to come and establish a temple near the new southern capital of ,hangchow4 ,before long he had collected almost two thousand disciples and was becoming known as the reincarnation of ,lin-chi1 possibly because he was giving new life to the ,lin-chi sect4 ,but then his politics got him in trouble and he was banished for almost fifteen years to various remote outposts1 during which time he began to write extensively4#ad ,finally1 in #aaeh1 he was ordered back to ,hangchow to take over his old temple4 ,since by then old age was encroaching1 he was permitted to retire at this temple and live off imperial patronage4 ,it is said that his pupils swelled to seventeen hundred when he returned and that when he died in #aafc he left ninety- four enlightened heirs4#ae ,ta-hui is regarded today as the great champion of the koan method1 and he was celebrated during his life for a running disagreement he had with the ,ts'ao-tung 7later ,soto7 school4 ,in a sense1 this dispute drew the distinctions that still divide ,zen into two camps4 ,the issue seems to have boiled down to the matter of what one does with one's mind while meditating4 ,the ,ts'ao-tung masters advocated what they called ,silent ,illumination 7mo-chao7 ,ch'an1 which ,ta-hui preferred to call ,silent ,illumination ,heterodox 7mo-chao-hsieh7 ,ch'an4 ,the ,ts'ao-tung master ,cheng-chueh1 with whom he argued1 believed that enlightenment could be achieved through sitting motionless and slowly bringing tranquillity and empty nonattachment to the mind4 ,the koans were recognized to be useful in preserving the original spirit of ,ch'an1 but their brain-fatiguing convolutions were not permitted to disturb the mental repose of meditation4 ,ta-hui1 in contrast1 believed that this silent meditation lacked the dynamism so essential to the sudden experience of enlightenment4 ,his own approach to enlightenment came to be called ,introspecting-the-,koan 7k'an-hua7 ,ch'an1 in which meditation focused on a koan4#af ,another of ,ta-hui's objections to the ,silent ,illumination school seems to have been its natural drift toward quietism1 toward the divorcing of men from the world of affairs4 ,this he believed led nowhere and was merely renouncing humanity rather than illuminating it4 ,these days there's a breed of shaven-headed outsiders i4e41 rival masters whose own eyes are not clear1 who just teach people to stop and rest and play dead4 4 4 4 ,they teach people to keep the mind still1 to forget feelings according to circumstances1 to practice silent illumination4 4 4 4 ,to say that when one has put things to rest to the point that he is unawares and unknowing1 like earth1 wood1 tile1 or stone1 this is not unknowing silence--this is a view of wrongly taking too literally words that were 7only7 expedient means to free bonds4#ag ,he seemed to be counseling never to forget that meditation is only a means1 not an end4 ,instead ,ta-hui advocated meditating deeper and ever deeper into a koan1 focusing on the words until they lose their flavor4 ,then finally the bottom falls out of the bucket and enlightenment hits you4 ,this ,introspecting the ,koan form of ,ch'an 7called ,kanna ,zen by the ,japanese7 became the standard for the ,rinzai sect1 whose students were encouraged to meditate on a koan until it gradually infiltrated the mind4 ,as one commentator has explained1 ,the essential is to immerse oneself patiently and wholeheartedly in the koan1 with unwavering attention4 ,one must not be looking for an answer but looking at the koan4 ,the 'answer1' if it comes1 will come of its own accord4#ah ,as described by ,ta-hui3 ,just steadily go on with your koan every moment of your life4 4 4 4 ,whether walking or sitting1 let your attention be fixed upon it without interruption4 ,when you begin to find it entirely devoid of flavor1 the final moment is approaching3 do not let it slip out of your grasp4 ,when all of a sudden something flashes out in your mind1 its light will illumine the entire universe1 and you will see the spiritual land of the ,enlightened ,ones4 4 4 4#ai ,the important thing is to concentrate totally on a koan4 ,this concentration need not necessarily be confined to meditation1 as ,ta-hui illustrates using one of the more celebrated one-word statements of ,yun-men4 ,a monk asked ,yun-,men1 ,what is ,buddha8 ,yun-,men said1 ,a dry piece of shit4 ,just bring up this saying4 4 4 4,don't ask to draw realization from the words or try in your confusion to assess and explain4 4 4 4 ,just take your confused unhappy mind and shift it onto ,a dry piece of shit4 ,once you hold it there1 then the mind 4 4 4 will naturally no longer operate4 ,when you become aware that it's not operating1 don't be afraid of falling into emptiness4 4 4 4 ,in the conduct of your daily activities1 just always let go and make yourself vast and expansive4 ,whether you're in quiet or noisy places1 constantly arouse yourself with the saying ,a dry piece of shit4 ,as the days and months come and go1 of itself your potential will be purified and ripen4 ,above all you must not arouse any external doubts besides3 when your doubts about ,a dry piece of shit are smashed1 then at once doubts numerous as the sands of the ,ganges are all smashed4#bj ,although ,ta-hui was a strong advocate of the koan1 he was staunchly against its being used in a literary sense4 ,whenever a student starts analyzing koans intellectually1 comparing one against another1 trying to understand rationally how they affect his nonrational intelligence1 he misses the whole point4 ,the only way it can work is if it is fresh4 ,only then does it elicit a response from our spontaneous intelligence1 our intuitive mind4 ,but the ,sung trend toward intellectualism was almost irresistible4 ,the prestige of the ,chinese gentleman--who could quote the ancient poets1 compose verse himself1 and analyze enlightenment--was the great nemesis of ,ch'an4 ,gentlemen of affairs who study the path often understand rationally without getting to the reality4 ,without discussion and thought they are at a loss1 with no place to put their hands and feet--they won't believe that where there is no place to put one's hands and feet is really a good situation4 ,they just want to get there in their minds by thinking and in their mouths to understand by talking--they scarcely realize they've already gone wrong4#ba ,equally bad was the ,ch'an student who memorized koans rather than trying to understand them intuitively4 ,a gentleman reads widely in many books basically in order to augment his innate knowledge4 ,instead1 you have taken to memorizing the words of the ancients1 accumulating them in your breast1 making this your task1 depending on them for something to take hold of in conversation4 ,you are far from knowing the intent of the sages in expounding the teachings4 ,this is what is called counting the treasure of others all day long without having half a cent of your own4#bb ,ta-hui rightly recognized in such scholarship an impending destruction of ,ch'an's innate vigor4 ,at one point1 in desperation1 he even destroyed the original printing blocks for the best-known koan collection of the time1 the ,blue ,cliff ,record compiled by his master1 ,yuan-wu4#bc ,but the trend continued nonetheless4 ,ch'an was not over yet1 however4 ,it turns out that the sect did not continue to fly apart and diversify as might be suspected1 but rather it actually consolidated4 ,although the ,kuei-yang and ,fa-yen houses fizzled comparatively quickly1 the ,yun-men lasted considerably longer1 with an identifiable line of transmission lasting virtually throughout the ,sung ,dynasty4 ,the ,ts'ao-tung house languished for a while1 but with ,silent ,illumination ,ch'an it came back strongly during the ,sung ,dynasty4 ,lin-chi split into two factions in the early eleventh century1 when two pupils of the master ,ch'u-yuan 7#ihf-ajcf7 decided to go their own way1 ,one of these masters1 known as ,huang-lung ,hui-nan 7#ajjb-ajfi71 started a school which subsequently was transmitted to ,japan by the ,japanese master ,eisai1 where it became known as ,oryo ,zen4 ,however1 this school did not last long in ,china or ,japan1 becoming moribund after a few generations4 ,the other disciple of ,ch'u-yuan was a master named ,yang-ch'i ,fang-hui 7#iib-ajdi71 whose school 7known in ,japanese as ,yogi ,zen7 eventually became the only school of ,chinese ,ch'an1 absorbing all other sects when the faith went into its final decline after the ,sung4 ,ta-hui was part of this school1 and it was the branch of the ,lin-chi sect that eventually took hold in ,japan4 ,in closing our journey through ,chinese ,ch'an we must note that the faith continued on strongly through the ,sung largely because the government began selling ordinations for its own profit4 ,ch'an also continued to flourish during the ,mongol-dominated ,yuan ,dynasty 7#abgi- #acji71 with many priests from ,japan coming to ,china for study4 ,during the ,ming ,dynasty 7#acfh-afdd71 it merged with another school of ,buddhism1 the ,pure ,land ,salvationist sect1 and changed drastically4 ,although ,ming-style ,chinese ,ch'an still persists today1 mainly outside ,china1 its practice bears scant resemblance to the original teachings4 ,for the practice of the classical ,ch'an described here we must now turn to ,japan4 ,,part ,,iv ,,zen ,,in ,,japan 4 4 4 in which ,ch'an is imported to ,japan by traditional ,buddhists disillusioned with the spiritual decadence of existing ,japanese sects4 ,through a fortuitous association with the rising military class1 ,ch'an is eventually elevated to the most influential religion of ,japan4 ,before long1 however1 it evolves into a political and cultural rather than a spiritual force4 ,although some ,japanese attempt to restore ,ch'an's original vigor by deliberately attacking its ,high ,church institutions1 few ,japanese ,zen teachers respect its original teachings and practice4 ,japanese teachers contribute little to the ,ch'an 7,zen7 experience until finally1 in the eighteenth century1 a spiritual leader appears who not only restores the original vitality of the faith1 but goes on to refine the koan practice and revolutionize the relationship of ,zen to the common people4 ,this inspired teacher1 ,hakuin1 creates modern ,zen4 ,chapter ,fifteen ,,eisai3 ,,the ,,first ,,japanese ,,master ,there is a twelfth-century story that the first ,japanese monk who journeyed to ,china to study ,ch'an returned home to find a summons from the ,japanese court4 ,there1 in a meeting reminiscent of the ,chinese sovereign ,wu and the ,indian ,bodhidharma some seven hundred years before1 ,japan's emperor commanded him to describe the teachings of this strange new cult4 ,the bemused monk 7remembered by the name ,kakua7 replied with nothing more than a melody on his flute1 leaving the court flabbergasted4#a ,but what more ideal expression of ,china's wordless doctrine8 ,as in the ,china entered by ,bodhidharma1 medieval ,japan already knew the teachings of ,buddhism4 ,in fact1 the ,japanese ruling classes had been ,buddhist for half a millennium before ,ch'an officially came to their attention4 ,however1 contacts with ,china were suspended midway during this time1 leaving ,japanese ,buddhists out of touch with the many changes in ,china--the most significant being ,ch'an's rise to the dominant ,buddhist sect4#b ,consequently the ,japanese had heard almost nothing about this sect when contacts resumed in the twelfth century4 ,to their amazement they discovered that ,chinese ,buddhism had become ,ch'an4 ,the story of ,ch'an's transplant in ,japan is also the story of its preservation1 since it was destined to wither away in ,china4 ,perhaps we should review briefly how traditional ,buddhism got to ,japan in the first place4 ,during the sixth century1 about the time of ,bodhidharma1 a statue of the ,buddha and some sutras were transmitted to ,japan as a gift_/bribe from a ,korean monarch seeking military aid4 ,he claimed ,buddhism was very powerful although difficult to understand4 ,not all ,japanese1 however1 were overjoyed with the appearance of a new faith4 ,the least pleased were those employed by the existing religion1 the ,japanese cult of ,shinto1 and they successfully discredited ,buddhism for several decades4 ,but a number of court intrigues were underway at the time1 and one faction got the idea that ,buddhism would be helpful in undermining the ,shinto-based ruling clique4 ,eventually this new faction triumphed1 and by the middle of the seventh century1 the ,japanese were constructing ,buddhist temples and pagodas4#c ,other imports connected with these early mainland contacts were ,chinese writing and the ,chinese style of government4 ,the ,japanese even recreated the ,t'ang capital of ,ch'ang-an1 consecrated at the beginning of the eighth century as ,nara1 their first real city4 ,the growing ,buddhist establishment soon overwhelmed ,nara with a host of sects and temples1 culminating in #geb with the unveiling of a bronze meditating ,buddha larger than any statue in the world4 ,japan was now awash in thirdhand ,buddhism1 as ,chinese missionaries patronizingly expounded ,sanskrit scriptures they themselves only vaguely understood4 ,buddhism's reputation for powerful magic soon demoralized the simple religion of ,shinto1 with its unpretentious shrines and rites1 and this benign nature reverence was increasingly pushed into the background4 ,the impact of ,buddhism became so overwhelming that the alarmed emperor finally abandoned ,nara entirely to the ,buddhists1 and at the close of the eighth century set up a new capital in central ,japan1 known today as ,kyoto4 ,the emperor also decided to discredit the ,nara ,buddhists on their own terms1 sending to ,china for new1 competing sects4 ,back came emissaries with two new schools1 which soon assumed dominance of ,japanese ,buddhism4 ,the first of these was ,tendai1 named after the ,chinese ,t'ien- t'ai school4 ,its teachings centered on the ,lotus ,sutra1 which taught that the human ,buddha personified a universal spirit1 evidence of the oneness permeating all things4 ,the ,tendai school was installed on ,mt4 ,hiei1 in the outskirts of ,kyoto1 giving birth to an establishment eventually to number several thousand buildings4 ,the monks on ,mt4 ,hiei became the authority on ,buddhist matters in ,japan for several centuries thereafter1 and later they also began meddling in affairs of state1 sometimes even resorting to arms4 ,tendai was1 and perhaps to some degree still is1 a faith for the fortunate few4 ,it did not stress an idealized hereafter1 since it served a class--the idle aristocracy-- perfectly comfortable in the present world4 ,in any case1 it became the major ,japanese ,buddhist sect during the ,heian era 7#gid-aahe71 a time of aristocratic rule4 ,the other important1 and also aristocratic1 version of ,buddhism preceding ,zen was called ,shingon1 from the ,chinese school ,chen-yen1 a magical-mystery sect thriving on secrecy and esoteric symbolism4 ,it appealed less to the intellect than did ,tendai and more to the taste for entertainment among the bored aristocrats4 ,although ,shingon monasteries often were situated in remote mountainous areas1 the intrigue of their engaging ceremonies 7featuring efflorescent iconography1 chants1 and complex liturgies7 and their evocative mandalas 7geometrical paintings full of symbolism7 made this sect a theatrical success4 ,this so-called ,esoteric ,buddhism of ,shingon grew so popular that the sober ,tendai sect was obliged to start adding ritualistic complexity into its own practices4#d ,the ,japanese government broke off relations with ,china less than a hundred years after the founding of ,kyoto1 around the middle of the ninth century4 ,from then until the mid-twelfth century mainland contacts virtually ceased1 and consequently both ,japanese culture and ,japanese ,buddhism gradually evolved away from their ,chinese models4 ,the ,japanese aristocracy became obsessed with aesthetics1 finery1 and refined lovemaking accompanied by poetry1 perfumes1 and flowers4#e ,they distilled the vigorous ,t'ang culture to a refined essence1 rather like extracting a delicate liqueur from a stout potion4 ,the ,buddhist church also grew decadent1 even as it grew ever more powerful and ominous4 ,the priesthood became the appointment of last resort for otherwise unemployable courtiers1 and indeed ,buddhism finally degenerated largely into an entertainment for the ruling class1 whose members were amused and diverted by its rites4 ,this carefree aristocracy also allowed increasing amounts of wealth and land to slip into the hands of corrupt religious establishments4 ,for their own part1 the ,buddhists began forming armies of monks to protect their new wealth1 and they eventually went on to engage in inter-temple wars and threaten the civil government4 ,during this time1 the ,japanese aristocracy preserved its privileged position through the unwise policy of using an emerging military class to maintain order4 ,these professional soldiers seem to have arisen from the aristocacy itself4 ,japanese emperors had a large number of women at their disposal1 through whom they scattered a host of progeny1 not all of which could be maintained idle in ,kyoto4 ,a number of these were sent to the provinces1 where they were to govern untamed outlying areas4 ,this continued until one day the court in ,kyoto awoke to find that ,japan was in fact controlled by these rural clans and their mounted warriors1 the samurai4#f ,in the middle of the twelfth century1 the samurai effectively seized ,japan1 and their strongman invented for himself the title of shogun1 proceeding to institute what became almost eight centuries of unbroken warrior rule4 ,the age of the common man had arrived1 and one of the shogun's first acts was to transfer the government away from aristocratic ,kyoto1 whose sophisticated society made him uncomfortable1 to a warrior camp called ,kamakura1 near the site of modern ,tokyo4 ,the rule of ,japan passed from perfumed1 poetry-writing aesthetes to fierce1 often illiterate swordsmen4 ,coincident with this coup1 the decadence and irrelevance of traditional ,buddhism had begun to weigh heavily upon a new group of spiritual reformers4 ,before long ,tendai and ,shingon were challenged by new faiths recognizing the existence and spiritual needs of the common people4 ,one form this reformation took was the appearance of new sects providing spiritual comfort to the masses and the possibility of eternal salvation through some simple act1 usually the repetition of a sacred chant4 ,one1 and later two1 such sects 7,jodo and ,jodo ,shin7 focused on the ,buddhist figure ,amida1 whose ,paradise or ,pure ,land in the hereafter was open to all those calling upon his name 7by chanting a sort of ,buddhist ,hail ,mary called the nembutsu1 ,praise to ,amida ,buddha74 ,another simplified sect preached a fundamentalist return to the ,lotus ,sutra and was led by a firebrand named ,nichiren1 who also created a chant for his largely illiterate followers4 ,a formula guaranteeing ,paradise had particular appeal to the samurai1 whose day- to-day existence was dangerous and uncertain4 ,the scandalized ,tendai monks vigorously opposed this home-grown populist movement1 occasionally even burning down temples to discourage its growth4 ,but the ,pure ,land and ,nichiren sects continued to flourish1 since the common people finally had a ,buddhism all their own4 ,there were others1 however1 who believed that the aristocratic sects could be reformed from within--by importing them afresh from ,china1 from the source4 ,these reformers hoped that ,buddhism in ,china had maintained its integrity and discipline during the several centuries of separation4 ,and by fortunate coincidence1 ,japanese contacts with the mainland were being reopened1 making it again allowable to undertake the perilous sea voyage to ,china4 ,but when the first twelfth-century ,japanese pilgrims reached the mainland1 they were stunned to find that traditional ,buddhism had been almost completely supplanted by ,ch'an4 ,consequently1 the ,japanese pilgrims returning from ,china perforce returned with ,zen1 since little else remained4 ,however1 ,zen was not originally brought back to replace traditional ,buddhism1 but rather as a stimulant to restore the rigor that had drained out of monastic life1 including formal meditation and respect or discipline4#g ,credit for the introduction of ,lin-chi ,zen 7called ,rinzai7 in ,japan is traditionally given to the aristocratic priest and traveler ,myoan ,eisai 7#aada-abae74h ,he began his career as a young monk in the ,tendai complex near ,kyoto1 but in the summer of #aafh he accompanied a ,shingon priest on a trip to ,china1 largely to sightsee and to visit the home of the ,t'ien-t'ai sect as a pilgrim4 ,however1 the ,t'ien-t'ai school must have been a mere shadow of its former self by this time1 and naturally enough ,eisai became familiar with ,ch'an4 ,but he was hardly a firebrand for ,zen1 for when he returned to ,japan he continued practice of traditional ,buddhism4 ,some twenty years later1 in #aahg1 ,eisai again journeyed to ,china1 this time planning a pilgrimage on to ,india and the ,buddhist holy places4 ,but the ,chinese refused him permission to travel beyond their borders1 leaving ,eisai no choice but to study there4 ,he finally attached himself to an aging ,ch'an monk on ,mt4 ,t'ien-t'ai and managed to receive the seal of enlightenment before returning to ,japan in #aaia1 quite probably the first ,japanese ever certified by a ,chinese ,ch'an master4 ,he was not1 however1 totally committed to ,zen4 ,his ,ch'an teacher was also occupied with other ,buddhist schools1 and what ,eisai brought back was a ,buddhist cocktail blended from several different traditions4#i ,but he did proceed to build a temple to the ,huang-lung 7,japanese ,oryo7 branch of the ,lin-chi sect on the southernmost ,japanese island1 ,kyushu 7the location nearest ,china71 in the provincial town of ,hakata4 ,almost as important1 he also brought back the tea plant 7whose brew was used in ,china to keep drowsy monks awake during meditation71 thereby instituting the long marriage of ,zen and tea4 ,although his provincial temple went unchallenged1 later attempts to introduce this new sect into ,kyoto1 the stronghold of traditional ,buddhism1 met fierce resistance from the establishment1 particularly ,tendai4 ,but ,eisai contended that ,zen was a useful sect and that the government would reap practical benefits from its protection4 ,his spirited defense of ,zen1 entitled ,propagation of ,zen for the ,protection of the ,country1 argued that its encouragement would be good for ,japanese ,buddhism and therefore good for ,japan4#aj ,as in ,india1 so in ,china its teaching has attracted followers and disciples in great numbers4 ,it propagates the ,truth as the ancient ,buddha did1 with the robe of authentic transmission passing from one man to the next4 ,in the matter of religious discipline1 it practices the genuine method of the sages of old4 ,thus the ,truth it teaches1 both in substance and appearance1 perfects the relationships of master and disciple4 ,in its rules of action and discipline1 there is no confusion of right and wrong4 4 4 4 ,studying it1 one discovers the key to all forms of ,buddhism2 practicing it1 one's life is brought to fulfillment in the attainment of enlightenment4 ,outwardly it favors discipline over doctrine1 inwardly it brings the ,highest ,inner ,wisdom4 ,this is what the ,zen sect stands for4#aa ,he also pointed out how un-,japanese it would be to deny ,zen a hearing3 ,japan has been open-minded in the past1 why should she reject a new faith now8 ,in our country the emperor shines in splendor and the influence of his virtuous wisdom spreads far and wide4 ,emissaries from the distant lands of ,south and ,central ,asia pay their respects to his court4 ,lay ministers conduct the affairs of government2 priests and monks spread abroad religious truth4 ,even the truths of the ,four ,hindu ,vedas are not neglected4 ,why then reject the five schools of ,zen ,buddhism8#ab ,eisai was the classic tactician1 knowing well when to fight and when to retire1 and he decided in #aaii on a diversionary retreat to ,kamakura1 leaving behind the hostile1 competitive atmosphere of aristocratic ,kyoto4 ,through his political connections1 he managed to get installed as head of a new temple in ,kamakura1 beginning ,zen's long association with the ,japanese warrior class4 ,eisai seems to have done well in ,kamakura1 for not long after he arrived1 the current strongman gave him financing for a ,zen temple in ,kyoto1 named ,kennin-ji and completed in #abje4 ,eisai returned the favor by assisting in the repair of temples ravaged by the recent wars4 ,it was reportedly for a later1 hard-drinking ruler that ,eisai composed his second classic work1 ,drink ,tea and ,prolong ,life1 which championed the medicinal properties of this exotic ,chinese beverage1 declaring it a restorative that tuned up the body and strengthened the heart4 ,in the great country of ,china they drink tea1 as a result of which there is no heart trouble and people live long lives4 ,our country is full of sickly-looking1 skinny persons1 and this is simply because we do not drink tea4 ,whenever one is in poor spirits1 one should drink tea4 ,this will put the heart in order and dispel all illness4 ,when the heart is vigorous1 then even if the other organs are ailing1 no great pain will be felt4 4 4 4 ,the heart is the sovereign of the five organs1 tea is the chief of the bitter foods1 and bitter is the chief of the tastes4 ,for this reason the heart loves bitter things1 and when it is doing well all the other organs are properly regulated4 4 4 4 ,when1 however1 the whole body feels weak1 devitalized1 and depressed1 it is a sign that the heart is ailing4 ,drink lots of tea1 and one's energy and spirits will be restored to full strength4#ac ,this first ,zen teacher was certainly no ,lin-chi4 ,he was merely a ,tendai priest who imported ,lin-chi's sect from ,china hoping to bring discipline to his school2 he established an ecumenical monastery at which both ,zen and esoteric ,tendai practices were taught2 he consorted with leaders whose place was owed to a military coup d'etat2 and he appeared to advocate ,zen on transparently practical1 sometimes almost political1 grounds4 ,he compromised with the existing cults to the end1 even refusing to lend aid to other1 more pure-minded advocates of ,ch'an who had risen in ,kyoto in the meantime4#ad ,but ,eisai was a colorful figure whom history has chosen to remember as the founder of ,zen in ,japan1 as well as 7perhaps equally important7 the father of the cult of tea4 ,eisai ended his days as abbot of the ,kyoto temple of ,kennin-ji and leader of a small ,zen community that was careful not to quarrel with the powers of ,tendai and ,shingon1 which also had altars in the temple4 ,eisai's ,zen began in ,japan as a minor infusion of ,buddhism's original discipline1 but through an accommodation with the warrior establishment1 he accidentally planted the seeds of ,ch'an in fertile soil4 ,gradually the number of ,zen practitioners grew1 as more and more of the samurai recognized in ,zen a practical philosophy that accorded well with their needs4 ,as ,paul ,varley has explained3 ,zen 4 4 4 stresses cultivation of the intuitive faculties and places a high premium on discipline and self-control4 ,it rejects rational decision- making as artificial and delusory1 and insists that action must come from emotion4 ,as such1 ,zen proved particularly congenial to the medieval samurai1 who lived with violence and imminent death and who sought to develop such things as 'spontaneity of conduct' and a 'tranquility of heart' to meet the rigours of his profession4 ,under the influence of ,zen1 later samurai theorists especially asserted that the true warrior must be constantly prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of his life in the service of his lord--without a moment's reflection or conscious consideration4#ae ,it can only be ironic that what began in ,china as a school of meditation1 then became an iconoclastic movement using koans to beat down the analytical faculties finally emerged 7in an amalgam with other teachings7 in ,japan as a psychological mainstay for the soldiers of a military dictatorship4 ,there was1 however1 another ,japanese school of ,zen that introduced its practice in a form more closely resembling original ,ch'an4 ,this was the movement started by ,dogen1 whose life we may now examine4 ,chapter ,sixteen ,,dogen3 ,,father ,,of ,,japanese ,,soto ,,zen ,the ,soto master ,dogen 7#abjj-ec7 is probably the most revered figure in all ,japanese ,zen4 ,yet until recently he has been comparatively unknown abroad1 perhaps because that great popularizer of ,zen in the ,west1 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 followed the ,rinzai school and managed to essentially ignore ,dogen throughout his voluminous writings4 ,but it was ,dogen who first insisted on intensive meditation1 who produced the first ,japanese writings explaining ,zen practice1 and who constructed the first real ,zen monastery in ,japan1 establishing a set of monastic rules still observed4 ,moreover1 the strength of his character has inspired many ,zen masters to follow4 ,indeed1 it is hard to contradict the scholar ,dumoulin1 who declared him the strongest and most original thinker that ,japan has so far produced4#a ,born ,january #b of the year #abjj an illegitimate son of a noble ,fujiwara mother and a princely father1 ,dogen's circumstances from the start were aristocratic4#b ,around him swirled the literary life of the court1 the powerful centuries-old position of the ,fujiwara1 and the refined decadence of ancient ,kyoto4 ,although his father died when he was two1 his privileged education continued at the hands of his mother and half- brother4 ,he most certainly learned to read and write classical ,chinese1 as well as to versify and debate--all skills that he would one day put to extensive use4 ,his poetic sensitivity 7something traditionally prized by the ,japanese above logic and precision of thought7 was encouraged by all he met in the hothouse atmosphere of ancient ,kyoto4 ,this idyllic1 protected life was shattered at age seven with the sudden death of his mother4 ,but she set the course of his life when1 at the last1 she bade him become a monk and reach out to suffering mankind4 ,a popular tradition has it that at his mother's funeral ,dogen sensed in the rising incense the impermanence of all things4 ,after the shock of his mother's death he was adopted by an uncle as family heir and set on the way to a reluctant career in statecraft4 ,but as he approached age twelve1 the time when a formal ceremony would signify his entry into the male circle of aristocracy1 his reservations overwhelmed him and he slipped away to visit another uncle1 a priest living in the foothills of ,mt4 ,hiei4 ,when ,dogen begged to be allowed to turn his back on the aristocratic world of ,kyoto and fulfill his mother's dying wish by becoming a monk the family was dismayed4 ,but finally they relented1 and he was ordained the following year as a ,tendai brother on ,mt4 ,hiei4 ,already a scholar of the ,chinese classics1 he now turned to the literature of ,tendai ,buddhism4 ,but soon he was snagged on a problem that has haunted theologians ,east and ,west for many centuries4 ,in ,christian terms it is the ,calvinist question of whether man is already saved by predestination or whether he must earn his salvation4 ,dogen formulated this in a ,buddhist context as follows3 ,as ,i study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of ,buddhism1 they maintain that man is endowed with the ,dharma-nature by birth4 ,if this is the case1 why had the ,buddhas of all ages--undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment--to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice8#c ,in other words1 if man already has the ,buddha nature1 why must he struggle to realize it by arduous disciplines8 ,conversely1 if the ,buddha nature must be acquired1 how can it be inherent in all things1 as was taught8 ,this perplexing paradox1 which no one in ,japan's ,tendai ,vatican on ,mt4 ,hiei could resolve1 finally drove ,dogen wandering in search of other teachers4 ,he initially stopped at ,eisai's temple1 ,kennin-ji1 long enough to be taught the basics of ,rinzai ,zen practice1 but then he traveled on4 ,eventually1 though1 he returned to ,kennin-ji1 and in #abag1 began ,zen study under ,eisai's disciple1 ,myozen 7#aahd-abbe74 ,of his relationship with this ,rinzai master he later declared3 ,ever since ,i awakened to the ,bodhi-mind and sought the supreme ,truth ,i made many visits to ,buddhist masters throughout the country4 ,it was thus that ,i happened to meet the ,venerable ,myozen at ,kennin-ji4 ,nine years quickly passed as ,i studied the ,way under him4 ,during that period ,i had the opportunity to learn from him1 to some extent1 the training methods of the ,rinzai ,zen sect4 ,to the ,venerable ,myozen1 leading disciple of my late master ,eisai1 was rightly transmitted the highest supreme ,law and he was unparalleled among his fellow disciples in learning and virtue4#d ,dogen may have been impressed as much by the legend of ,eisai as by the shouting and beating of the ,rinzai sect1 for he often sprinkled stories about ,eisai through his writings and sermons thereafter4 ,but ,dogen still could not find contentment1 even with the ,rinzai he received at ,kennin-ji1 and at age twenty-three he resolved to go to ,china and experience ,ch'an teachings firsthand4 ,so in the spring of #abbc he and ,myozen shipped out for ,china1 intending to visit ,buddhist establishments there4 7,another reason for his hasty decision to go to ,china for study may have been a series of political upheavals involving armed monks1 which resulted in some of his high-placed relations being banished--while a series of executions took place47#e ,after a rough but speedy voyage across the ,east ,china ,sea1 they arrived at ,ming-chou1 down the coast from the ,sung capital of ,hangchow4 ,myozen could not wait and headed straight for the ,ch'an complex on ,mt4 ,t'ien- t'ung4 ,however1 the more cautious ,dogen chose to stay aboard ship until midsummer1 easing himself into ,chinese life slowly4 ,but even there he experienced an example of ,ch'an fervor and devotion that impressed him deeply1 if only because it was so different from what he had seen in ,japan4 ,this lesson was at the hands of a sixty-year-old ,chinese cook from a ,ch'an monastery who visited the ship to purchase some ,japanese mushrooms4 ,dogen became involved in an animated conversation with the old monk and1 since his monastery was over ten miles away1 out of courtesy invited him to stay the night on board ship4 ,however1 the old tenzo monk 7one in charge of monastery meals7 insisted on returning1 saying duty called4 ,but1 ,dogen pressed1 surely there must be others who could cook in such a large monastery1 and besides cooking was hardly the point of ,zen4 ,as ,dogen later recalled his own words3 ,venerable sir6 ,why don't you do zazen ,zen meditation or study the koan of ancient masters8 ,what is the use of working so hard as a tenzo monk8 ,on hearing my remarks1 he broke into laughter and said1 ,good foreigner6 ,you seem to be ignorant of the true training and meaning of ,buddhism4 ,in a moment1 ashamed and surprised at his remark1 ,i said to him1 ,what are they8 ,if you understand the true meaning of your question1 you will have already realized the true meaning of ,buddhism1 he answered4 ,at that time1 however1 ,i was unable to understand what he meant4#f ,such were the exchanges between ,japanese ,buddhist scholars and ,ch'an monastery cooks in the early thirteenth century4 ,in midsummer of #abbc1 ,dogen finally moved ashore and entered the temple on ,mt4 ,t'ien-t'ung called ,ching-te-ssu4 ,his intense study brought no seal of enlightenment1 but it did engender severe disappointment with the standards of ,ch'an monasteries in ,china4 ,although the school that ,dogen found was a branch of ,lin-chi traceable back to the koan master ,ta-hui1 different from the fading school ,eisai had encountered1 ,dogen later would denounce impartially the general run of all ,ch'an masters he met in ,china4 ,although there are in ,china a great number of those who profess themselves to be the descendants of the ,buddhas and patriarchs1 there are few who study truth and accordingly there are few who teach truth4 4 4 4 ,thus those people who have not the slightest idea of what the great ,way of the ,buddhas and patriarchs is now become the masters of monks4 4 4 4 ,reciting a few words of ,lin-chi and ,yun-men they take them for the whole truth of ,buddhism4 ,if ,buddhism had been exhausted by a few words of ,lin-chi and ,yun-men1 it could not have survived till today4#g ,after studying for two years while simultaneously nosing about other nearby monasteries1 ,dogen finally decided to travel1 hoping others of the five houses had maintained discipline4 7,he also seems to have experienced some discrimination as a foreigner in ,china47 ,but the farther he went1 the more despondent he became2 nowhere in ,china could he find a teacher worthy to succeed the ancient masters4 ,he finally resolved to abandon ,china and return to ,japan4 ,but at this moment fate took a turn that--in retrospect--had enormous importance for the future of ,japanese ,buddhism4 ,a monk he met on the road told him that ,t'ien-t'ung now had a new abbot1 a truly enlightened master namd ,ju-ching 7#aafc-abbh74 ,dogen returned to see and was received warmly1 being invited by ,ju-ching to ignore ceremony and approach him as an equal4 ,the twenty-five-year-old ,japanese monk was elated1 and settled down at last to undertake the study he had come to ,china for4 ,the master ,ju-ching became ,dogen's ideal of what a ,zen teacher should be1 and the habits--perhaps even the eccentricities--of this aging teacher were translated by ,dogen into the model for monks in ,japan4 ,ju-ching was1 above all things1 uncompromising in his advocacy of meditation or zazen4 ,he might even have challenged ,bodhidharma for the title of its all-time practitioner1 and it was from ,ju-ching's ,ch'an 7which may also have included koan study7 that ,dogen took his cue4 ,although ,ch'an was still widespread1 ,ju-ching seems to have been the only remaining advocate of intensive meditation in ,china1 and a chance intersection of history brought this teaching to ,japan4 ,significantly1 he was one of the few ,ts'ao-tung masters ever to lead the important ,t'ien-t'ung monastery1 traditionally headed by a member of the ,lin-chi school4 ,ju-ching was a model master3 strict but kindly2 simple in habits1 diet1 dress2 immune to the attractions of court recognition2 and an uncompromising advocate of virtually round-the- clock meditation4 ,but he never asked anything of his monks he did not also demand of himself1 even when advanced in years4 ,he would strike nodding monks to refresh their attention1 while lamenting that age had so diminished the strength in his arm it was eroding his ability to create good monks4 ,ju-ching would meditate until eleven in the evening and then be up again by two-thirty or three the next morning1 back at zazen4 ,he frequently developed sores on his backside from such perpetual sitting1 but nothing deterred him4 ,he even declared the pain made him love zazen all the more4 ,the story of ,dogen's final enlightenment at the hands of ,ju-ching is a classic of ,japanese ,zen4 ,in the meditation hall one early morning all the monks were sitting in meditation when the man next to ,dogen dozed off--a common enough occurrence in early-morning sessions4 ,but when ,ju- ching came by on a routine inspection and saw the sleeping monk1 he was for some reason particularly rankled and roared out1 ,zazen means the dropping away of mind and body6 ,what will you get by sleeping8 ,dogen1 sitting nearby1 was at first startled1 but then an indescribable calm1 an ecstatic joy washed over him4 ,could it be that this was the moment he had been hoping for8 ,could it be that the fruit had been ready to fall from the tree1 with this just the shake needed8 ,dogen rushed to ,ju-ching's room afterward and burned incense1 to signify his enlightenment experience4 ,throwing himself at the master's feet1 he declared1 ,i have experienced the dropping away of mind and body4 ,ju-ching immediately recognized his enlightenment to be genuine 7modern masters reportedly can discern a novice's state merely by the way he rings a gong7 and he replied1 ,you have indeed dropped body and mind4 ,but wait a minute1 ,dogen cautioned4 ,don't sanction me so easily4 ,how do you really know ,i've achieved enlightenment8 ,to which ,ju-ching replied simply1 ,body and mind have dropped away4 ,dogen bowed in acknowledgment of his acknowledgment4 ,and thus1 in ,may #abbe1 was the greatest ,zen teacher in ,japan enlightened4 ,in the fall ,ju-ching conferred upon ,dogen the seal of patriarchal succession of his line of the ,ts'ao-tung sect4#h ,dogen stayed on for two more years studying under ,ju-ching1 but finally he decided to return again to ,japan4 ,when they parted1 ,ju-ching gave his ,japanese protege the patriarchal robe1 his own portrait 7called chinso1 a symbol of transmission71 and bade him farewell4 ,so did ,dogen return to ,japan in the fall of #abbg1 taking with him the koan collection ,blue ,cliff ,record1 which he copied his last night in ,china4 ,but he also brought the fire of a powerful idea1 pure meditation1 that formed the basis for the ,japanese ,soto school of ,zen4 ,dogen returned to ,eisai's old temple of ,kennin-ji1 where he proceeded to write the minor classic ,a ,universal ,recommendation for ,zazen1 introducing the idea of intense meditation to his countrymen4 ,you should pay attention to the fact that even the ,buddha ,sakyamuni had to practice zazen for six years4 ,it is also said that ,bodhidharma had to do zazen at ,shao-lin temple for nine years in order to transmit the ,buddha-mind4 ,since these ancient sages were so diligent1 how can present-day trainees do without the practice of zazen8 ,you should stop pursuing words and letters and learn to withdraw and reflect on yourself4 ,when you do so1 your body and mind will naturally fall away1 and your original ,buddha-nature will appear4#i ,it was the opening shot in a campaign to make pure ,zen the meaningful alternative to the decadent traditional ,buddhism of the aristocracy and the new ,salvationist sect of ,pure ,land4 ,but first the ,japanese had to be taught how to meditate1 so he wrote a meditation handbook that explained exactly how and where to undertake this traditional ,buddhist practice4 ,his directions are worth quoting at length4 ,now1 in doing zazen it is desirable to have a quiet room4 ,you should be temperate in eating and drinking1 forsaking all delusive relationships4 ,setting everything aside1 think neither of good nor evil1 right nor wrong4 ,thus1 having stopped the various functions of your mind1 give up the idea of becoming a ,buddha4 ,this holds true not only for zazen but for all your daily actions4 ,usually a thick square mat is put on the floor where you sit and a round cushion on top of that4 ,you may sit in either the full or half lotus position4 ,in the former1 first put your right foot on your left thigh and then your left foot on your right thigh4 ,in the latter1 only put your left foot on the right thigh4 ,your clothing should be worn loosely but neatly4 ,next1 put your right hand on your left foot and your left palm on the right palm1 the tips of the thumbs lightly touching4 ,sit upright1 leaning to neither left nor right1 front nor back4 ,your ears should be on the same plane as your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel4 ,your tongue should be placed against the roof of your mouth and your lips and teeth closed firmly4 ,with your eyes kept continuously open1 breathe quietly through your nostrils4 ,finally1 having regulated your body and mind in this way1 take a deep breath1 sway your body to left and right1 then sit firmly as a rock4 ,think of nonthinking4 ,how is this done8 ,by thinking beyond thinking and nonthinking4 ,this is the very basis of zazen4#aj ,this first little essay was meant to provide ,japan a taste of the real ,zen he had experienced in ,china1 and it was the beginning of an astounding literary output4 ,dogen asserted that since the ,buddha had meditated and ,bodhidharma had meditated1 the most valuable thing to do is meditate4 ,not surprisingly1 he received a cold response from the other schools in ,kyoto1 both the ,tendai sects and the other ,zen teachers who1 like ,eisai1 taught a syncretic ,zen of compromise with establishment ,buddhism4 ,his rigid doctrine was socially awkward for the syncretic ,zen monks at ,kennin-ji--who seasoned their practice with chants and esoteric ceremonies--and ,dogen finally decided to spare them further embarrassment by retiring to a mountain retreat4 ,off he went to another temple1 ,an'yoin1 where he began to elaborate on the role of meditation in ,zen practice1 writing another essay1 entitled ,bendowa or ,lecture on ,training1 designed to provide a more dialectical defense for zazen4 ,written in the form of eighteen questions and answers1 the ,lecture on ,training was intended to further justify the intense meditation he had described earlier4 ,this essay later became the initial section of a massive book today known as the ,shobogenzo 7,treasure of ,knowledge ,regarding the ,true ,dharma71 which was guarded as a secret treasure of the ,soto school for many centuries4 ,question3 4 4 4 ,for most people the natural way to enlightenment is to read the scriptures and recite the nembutsu ,praise to ,amida ,buddha4 ,since you do nothing more than sit cross-legged1 how can this mere sitting be a means of gaining enlightenment8 ,answer3 4 4 4 ,of what use is it to read the scriptures and recite the nembutsu8 ,it is useless to imagine that the merits of ,buddhism come merely from using one's tongue or voice2 if you think such things embrace all of ,buddhism1 the ,truth is a long way from you4 ,you should only read the scriptures so as to learn that the ,buddha was teaching the necessity of gradual and sudden training and that from this you can realise enlightenment2 do not read them so as to make a show of wisdom with useless intellection4 4 4 4 ,just to continually repeat the nembutsu is equally useless1 for it is a frog who croaks both day and night in some field4 4 4 4 ,they who do nothing 4 4 4 more than study the scriptures 4 4 4 never understand this1 so just stop it and thereby cure your delusions and doubts4 ,just follow the teachings of a true master and1 through the power of ,zazen1 find the utterly joyful enlightenment of ,buddha4#aa ,it is not surprising to find ,dogen firm in the belief that meditation is superior to the practices of two competing movements3 the traditional sutra veneration of the ,tendai sect and the ,pure ,land schools' chanting of the nembutsu to ,amida ,buddha4 ,but what about the ,rinzai ,zen teaching that enlightenment is sudden and cannot be induced by gradual practice8 ,he next attacks this position3 ,question3 ,both in ,india and ,china1 from the beginning of time to the present day1 some ,zen teachers have been enlightened by such things as the sound of stones striking bamboos1 whilst the color of plum blossoms cleared the minds of others4 ,the ,buddha was enlightened at the sight of the morning star1 whilst his follower ,ananda understood the ,truth through seeing a stick fall4 ,as well as these1 many ,zen teachers of the five schools after the ,sixth ,patriarch were enlightened by only so much as a word4 ,did all of them practise ,zazen8 ,answer3 ,from olden times down to the present day1 all who were ever enlightened1 either by colors or sounds1 practised ,zazen without ,zazen and became instantaneously enlightened4#ab ,what exactly is he saying here8 ,it would seem that he is convoluting the early teaching of the ,southern sect1 which proposed that meditation is a mind process that might also be duplicated by other means4 ,dogen seems to be arguing that zazen is efficacious since all who became enlightened were really meditating in daily life1 whether they realized it or not4 ,the ,southern school claimed that dhyana could be anything and therefore it seemed ancillary2 ,dogen claims it could be anything and therefore it is essential4 ,dogen also came back to his original doctrinal dilemma1 the question that had sent him wandering from teacher to teacher in ,japan while still a youth3 ,why strive for enlightenment if all creatures are ,buddhas to begin with8 ,he finally felt qualified to address his own quandary4 ,question3 ,there are those who say that one has only to understand that this mind itself is the ,buddha in order to understand ,buddhism1 and that there is no need to recite the scriptures or undergo bodily training4 ,if you understand that ,buddhism is inherent in yourself1 you are already fully enlightened and there is no need to seek for anything further from anywhere4 ,if this is so1 is there any sense in taking the trouble to practice ,zazen8 ,answer3 ,this is a very grievous mistake1 and even if it should be true and the sages should teach it1 it is impossible for you to understand it4 ,if you would truly study ,buddhism1 you must transcend all opinions of subject and object4 ,if it is possible to be enlightened simply by knowing that the self is1 in its self-nature1 the ,buddha1 then there was no need for ,shakyamuni to try so diligently to teach the ,way4#a ,whether this answer resolves the paradox will be left to the judgment of others4 ,but for all his intensities and eccentricities1 ,dogen was certainly a powerful new thinker1 clearly the strongest dialectician in the history of ,japanese ,zen4 ,he was also a magnetic personality who attracted many followers1 and by #abcc he had so outgrown the space at ,an'yoin that a larger temple was imperative 7which became available thanks to his aristocratic connections74 ,his next move was to ,kosho-ji1 a temple near ,kyoto1 where he spent the succeeding ten years in intense literary creativity1 where he constructed the first truly independent ,zen monastery in ,japan1 and where he found a worthy disciple1 ,koun ,ejo 7#aaih-abhj71 who served as head monk and ultimately as his successor4 ,it was here1 beginning in #abcc1 that ,dogen finally recreated ,chinese ,ch'an totally in ,japan1 right down to an architectural replica of a ,sung-style monastery and an uncompromising discipline reminiscent of his old ,chinese master ,ju-ching4 ,after settling in at ,kosho-ji he began1 in late #abce1 a fundraising drive for the purpose of building the first ,zen-style monks' hall 7sodo7 in ,japan4 ,he believed that this building1 viewed by the lawgiver ,po-chang ,huai-hai as the heart of a ,ch'an monstery1 was essential if he were to effectively teach meditation4 ,the doors would be open to all1 since the onetime aristocrat ,dogen was now very much a man of the people1 welcoming rich and poor1 monks and laymen1 men and women4#ad ,when the meditation hall opened in #abcf1 ,dogen signaled the occasion by posting a set of rules for behavior reminiscent of ,huai-hai's laws set down in eighth-century ,china4 ,a quick skim of these rules tells much about the character of the master ,dogen4 ,no monk shall be admitted to this meditation hall unless he has an earnest desire for the ,way and a strong determination not to seek fame and profit4 4 4 4 ,all monks in this hall should try to live in harmony with one another1 just as milk blends well with water4 4 4 4 ,you should not walk about in the outside world2 but if unavoidable1 it is permissible to do so once a month4 4 4 4 ,keep the supervisor of this hall informed of your whereabouts at all times4 4 4 4,never speak ill of others nor find fault with them4 4 4 4 ,never loiter in the hall4 4 4 4 ,wear only robes of plain material4 4 4 4 ,never enter the hall drunk with wine4 4 4 4 ,never disturb the training of other monks by inviting outsiders1 lay or clerical1 into the hall4 4 4 4#ae ,dogen maintained this first pure ,zen monastery for a decade1 during which time he composed forty more sections of his classic ,shobogenzo4 ,and during this time the tree of ,zen took root in ,japanese soil firmly and surely4 ,but things could not go smoothly forever4 ,dogen's powerful friends at court protected him as long as they could1 but eventually his popularity became too much for the jealous ,tendai monks on ,mt4 ,hiei to bear4 ,to fight their censure he appealed to the emperor1 claiming 7as had ,eisai before him7 that ,zen was good for ,japan4 ,but the other schools immediately filed opposing briefs with the emperor and the court1 culminating in a judiciary proceeding with distinguished clerics being convened to hear both sides4 ,as might have been expected they ruled against ,dogen1 criticizing him for being obsessed with zazen and ignoring the sutras1 etc4 ,it probably was this political setback that persuaded him to quit the ,kyoto vicinity in #abdc and move to the provinces1 where he could teach in peace4#af ,he camped out in various small ,tendai monasteries 7where he wrote another twenty-nine chapters of the ,shobogenzo7 until his final temple1 called ,eihei-ji1 or ,eternal ,peace1 was completed in the mountains of present-day ,fukui prefecture4 ,this site became the center of ,soto ,zen in ,japan1 the principal monastery of the sect4 ,dogen himself was approaching elder statesmanhood1 and in #abdg he was summoned to the warrior headquarters of ,kamakura by none other than the most powerful man in ,japan1 the warrior ,hojo ,tokiyori4 ,the ruler wanted to learn about ,zen1 and ,dogen correctly perceived it would be unhealthy to refuse the invitation4 ,the warriors in ,kamakura would most likely have been familiar with the syncretic ,rinzai ,zen of ,eisai1 which focused on the use of the koan4 ,for his own part1 ,dogen did not reject the koan out of hand 7he left a collection of three hundred72 rather he judged it a device intended to create a momentary glimpse of satori1 or enlightenment1 whose real value was mainly as a metaphor for the enlightenment experience--an experience he believed could be realized in full only through gradual practice4 ,in the pursuit of the ,way ,buddhism the prime essential is sitting 7zazen74 4 4 4 ,by reflecting upon various public-cases 7koan7 and dialogues of the patriarchs1 one may perhaps get the sense of them but it will only result in one's being led astray from the way of the ,buddha1 our founder4 ,just to pass the time in sitting straight1 without any thought of acquisition1 without any sense of achieving enlightenment--this is the way of the ,founder4 ,it is true that our predecessors recommended both the koan and sitting1 but it was the sitting that they particularly insisted upon4 ,there have been some who attained enlightenment through the test of the koan1 but the true cause of their enlightenment was the merit and effectiveness of sitting4 ,truly the merit lies in the sitting4#ag ,dogen spent the winter of #abdg-dh in ,kamakura teaching meditation1 and was in turn offered the post of abbot in a new ,zen monastery being built for the warrior capital4 ,but ,dogen politely declined1 perhaps believing the ,salvationist sects and the syncretic ,zen of ,eisai were still too strong among the samurai for his pure meditation to catch hold4#ah ,or possibly he sensed his health was beginning to fail and he wanted to retire to his beloved mountain monastery1 where the politics of ,kyoto and ,kamakura could not reach4 ,maybe ,dogen's many nights of intense meditation in heat and cold had taken their toll1 or the long hours of writing and rewriting his manual of ,zen had sapped his strength4 ,in any case1 his health deteriorated rapidly after ,kamakura until finally1 in #abec1 all realized that the end was near4 ,he appointed the faithful head monk ,ejo his successor at ,eihei-ji1 and on the insistence of his disciples was then taken to ,kyoto for medical care4 ,however1 nothing could be done1 and on ,august #bh he said farewell1 dying in the grand tradition--sitting in zazen4 ,in the long run1 ,dogen seems the one we should acknowledge as the true founder of ,zen in ,japan2 pure ,zen first had to be introduced before it could grow4 ,but at the time of ,dogen's death it was not at all obvious that ,soto ,zen1 or any ,zen for that matter1 would ever survive to become an independent sect in ,japan4#ai ,perhaps ,dogen felt this too1 for his later writings became increasingly strident in their denunciation of the ,salvationist sects and the syncretic ,rinzai schools4 ,he thought of himself as above sectarianism1 claiming that zazen was not a sect but rather an expression of pure ,buddhism4 ,and perhaps it was after all only an accident that the teacher who had taught him to meditate happened to be a member of the ,ts'ao-tung school4 ,after ,dogen's death1 his small community persevered in the mountains1 isolated and at first preserving his teaching4 ,but eventually internal disputes pulled the community apart1 and the temple fell inactive for a time4 ,furthermore1 his teaching of intensive meditation was soon diluted by the introduction of rituals from the esoteric schools of traditional ,buddhism4 ,in this new form it began to proselytize and spread outward1 particularly in provincial areas1 where its simplicity appealed to common folk4#bj ,it also welcomed women1 something not necessarily stressed in all the ,buddhist sects4 ,although ,soto was by this time pretty much a thing of the past in ,china1 with the last recognized ,chinese ,soto master dying about a century after ,dogen1 the school prospered in ,japan1 where today it has three followers for every one of ,rinzai4 ,ch'an still had ,rinzai masters in ,china1 however1 and in the next phase of ,zen they would start emigrating to teach the ,japanese in ,kamakura4 ,the result was that ,soto became the low-key home-grown ,zen1 while ,rinzai became a vehicle for importing ,chinese culture to the warrior class4 ,it is to this dynamic period of warrior ,rinzai ,zen that we must now look for the next great masters4 ,chapter ,seventeen ,,ikkyu3 ,,zen ,,eccentric ,the earliest ,japanese masters brought ,ch'an from ,china in the hope that its discipline would revitalize traditional ,buddhism4 ,since ,eisai's temple was the first to include ,ch'an practice1 he has received credit for founding ,japanese ,rinzai ,zen4 ,history1 however1 has glorified matters somewhat1 for in fact ,eisai was little more than a ,tendai priest who dabbled a bit in ,ch'an practice and enjoyed a gift for advancing himself with the ,kamakura warlords4 ,nor was ,dogen inspired to establish the ,soto sect in ,japan4 ,he too was merely a reformer who chanced across a ,chinese ,soto master devoted to meditation4 ,it was the powerful discipline of meditation that ,dogen sought to introduce into ,japan1 not a sectarian branch of ,zen4 ,only later did ,dogen's movement become a proselytizing ,zen sect4 ,these and other thirteenth-century ,japanese reformers imported ,ch'an for the simple reason that it was the purest expression of ,buddhism left in ,china4 ,during the early era ,zen focused on ,kyoto and ,kamakura and was mainly a reformation within the ,tendai school4 ,the ,japanese understanding of ,ch'an was hesitant and inconclusive--to the point that few ,japanese of the mid-thirteenth century actually realized a new form of ,buddhism was in the making4#a ,over the next century and a half1 however1 a revolution began1 as ,zen at first gradually and then precipitously became the preoccupation of ,japan's ruling class4 ,the ,zen explosion came about via a combination of circumstances4 ,we have seen that the warrior ruler ,hojo ,tokiyori 7#abbg- #fc7 was interested in the school and offered ,dogen a temple in ,kamakura1 an invitation ,dogen refused4 ,however1 in #abdf an emigre ,ch'an master from the ,chinese mainland named ,lan-ch'i 7#abab-gh7 appeared in ,japan uninvited1 having heard of ,japanese interest in ,ch'an4 ,he went first to ,kyoto1 where he found ,zen still subject to hostile sectarianism1 and then to ,kamakura1 where he managed in #abdi to meet ,tokiyori4 ,the ,japanese strongman was delighted and proceeded to have the temple of another sect converted to a ,zen establishment1 making ,lan-ch'i abbot4 ,shortly after1 ,tokiyori completed construction of a ,sung-style ,zen monastery in ,kamakura1 again putting ,lan-ch'i in charge4 ,this ,chinese monk1 merely one of many in his native ,china1 had become head of the leading ,zen temple in ,japan4 ,when word got back1 a host of enterprising ,chinese clerics began pouring into the island nation seeking their fortune4#b ,thus began the next phase of early ,japanese ,zen1 fueled by the invasion of ,chinese ,ch'an monks4 ,this movement occupied the remainder of the thirteenth century and was spurred along by unsettled conditions in ,china--namely the imminent fall of the ,southern ,sung ,dynasty to the ,mongols and a concurrent power struggle within ,ch'an itself1 which induced monks from the less powerful establishments to seek greener pastures4#c ,in #abfc a senior ,ch'an cleric named ,wu-an 7#aaig-abgf7 arrived in ,kamakura and was also made an abbot by ,tokiyori4#d ,the first monk1 ,lan-ch'i1 thereupon moved to ,kyoto and began proselytizing in the old capital4 ,wu-an subsequently certified ,tokiyori with a seal of enlightenment1 making the military strongman of ,japan an acknowledged ,ch'an master4 ,tokiyori's interest in ,zen did not go unnoticed by the warriors around him1 and his advocacy1 combined with the influx of ,chinese monks appearing to teach1 initiated the ,zen bandwagon in ,kamakura4 ,tokiyori died in #abfc1 and his young son ,tokimune 7#abea--hd71 who came to power five years later1 initially showed no interest in ,zen practice4 ,but he was still in his teens in #abfh when there appeared in ,japan envoys from ,kublai ,khan demanding tribute4 ,the ,mongols were at that moment completing their sack of ,china1 and ,japan seemed the next step4 ,undeterred1 the ,japanese answered all ,mongol demands with haughty insults1 with the not-unexpected result that in #abgd ,kublai launched an invasion fleet4 ,although his ships foundered in a fortuitous streak of bad weather1 the ,japanese knew that there would be more4 ,it was then that ,tokimune began strengthening his discipline through ,zen meditation and toughening his instincts with koans4 ,he studied under a newly arrived ,chinese master whose limited ,japanese necessitated their communicating through a translator4 7,when the enlightened ,chinese found cause to strike his all-powerful student1 he prudently pummeled the interpreter instead47#e ,the samurai also began to take an interest in ,zen1 which naturally appealed to the warrior mentality because of its emphasis on discipline1 on experience over education1 and on a rough- and-tumble practice including debates with a master and blows for the loser--all congenial to men of simple1 unschooled tastes4 ,for their own part1 the perceptive ,chinese missionaries1 hampered by the language barrier1 rendered ,zen as simplistic as possible to help the faith compete with the ,salvationist sects among the often illiterate warriors4 ,in #abha the ,mongols launched another invasion force1 this time #ajj1jjj men strong1 but they were held off several weeks by the steel-nerved samurai until a typhoon 7later named the ,kamikaze or ,divine ,wind7 providentially sank the fleet4 ,the extent to which ,zen training aided this victory can be debated1 but the courage of ,tokimune and his soldiers undoubtedly benefited from its rigorous discipline4 ,the ,japanese ruler himself gave ,zen heavy credit and immediately began building a commemorative ,zen monastery in ,kamakura4 ,by the time of ,tokimuni's premature death in #abhd1 ,rinzai ,zen had been effectively established as the faith of the ,kamakura rulers4 ,his successor continued the development of ,zen establishments1 supported by new ,chinese masters who also began teaching ,chinese culture 7calligraphy1 literature1 ink painting1 philosophy7 to the ,kamakura warriors along with their ,zen4 ,since the faith was definitely beginning to boom1 the government prudently published a list of restrictions for ,zen monasteries1 including an abolition of arms 7a traditional problem with the other sects7 and a limit on the number of pretty boys 7novices7 that could be quartered in a compound to tempt the monks4 ,the maximum number of monks in each monastery also was prescribed1 and severe rules were established governing discipline4 ,out of this era in the late thirteenth century evolved an organization of ,zen temples in ,kyoto and ,kamakura based on the ,sung ,chinese model of five main monasteries 7called the five mountains or gozan7 and a network of ten officially recognized subsidiary temples4 ,furthermore1 ,chinese culture became so fashionable in ,kamakura that collections of ,sung art began appearing among the illiterate provincial warriors--an early harbinger of the ,japanese evolution of ,zen from asceticism to aesthetics4#f ,the creation of the gozan system at the end of the thirteenth century gave ,zen a formal role in the religious structure of ,japan4 ,zen was now fashionable and had powerful friends1 a perfect combination to foster growth and influence4 ,on the sometimes pointed urging of the government1 temples from other sects were converted to ,zen establishments by local authorities throughout ,japan4#g ,the court and aristocracy in ,kyoto also began taking an interest in pure1 ,sung-style ,rinzai4 ,temples were built in ,kyoto 7or converted from other sects71 and even the cloistered emperors began to meditate 7perhaps searching less for enlightenment than for the rumored occult powers74 ,when the ,kamakura regime collapsed in the mid-fourteenth century and warriors of the newly ascendent ,ashikaga clan returned the seat of government to ,kyoto1 the old capital was already well acquainted with ,zen's political importance4 ,however1 although ,rinzai ,zen had made much visible headway in ,japan--the ruling classes increasingly meditated on koans1 and ,chinese monks operated new ,sung-style monasteries--the depth of understanding seems disappointingly superficial overall4 ,the gozan system soon turned so political1 as monasteries competed for official favor1 that before long establishment ,zen was almost devoid of spiritual content4 ,in many ways1 ,japanese ,zen became decadent almost from the start4 ,the immense prestige of imported ,chinese art and ideas1 together with the powerful role of the ,zen clerics as virtually the only group sufficiently educated to oversee relations with the continent1 meant that early on1 ,zen's cultural role became as telling as its spiritual place4 ,perhaps the condition of ,zen is best illustrated by noting that the most famous priest of the era1 ,muso ,soseki 7#abge-acea71 was actually a powerful political figure4 ,this ,zen prelate1 who never visited ,china1 came to prominence when he served first an ill-fated emperor-- subsequently deposed--and later the ,ashikaga warrior who deposed him4 ,muso was instrumental in the ,japanese government's establishment of regular trade with the mainland4 ,he was also responsible for a revision of the gozan administrative system1 establishing 7in #acch7 official ,zen temples in all sixty-six provinces of ,japan and spreading the power base of the faith4 ,although ,muso is today honored as an important ,japanese master1 he actually preferred a syncretic ,zen intermingled with esoteric rites and apparently understood very little of real ,zen4 ,a prototype for many ,zen leaders to come1 he was a scholar1 aesthetician1 and architect of some of the great cultural monuments in ,kyoto1 personally designing several of the capital's finest temples and landscape gardens4 ,thus by the mid-fourteenth century ,zen had become hardly more than an umbrella for the import of ,chinese technology1 art1 and philosophy4#h ,the monks were1 by ,muso's own admission1 more often than not shaven-headed laymen who came to ,zen to learn painting and to write a stilted form of ,chinese verse as part of a gozan literary movement4 ,the overall situation has been well summarized by ,philip ,yampolsky3 ,the monks in temples were all poets and literary figures44 4 4 ,the use of koans1 particularly those derived from the ,blue ,cliff ,record1 became a literary and educational device rather than a method for the practice of ,zen4#i ,he further notes that 4 4 4 with the gozan system frozen in a bureaucratic mold1 priests with administrative talents gained in ascendency4 ,in the headquarters temples men interested in literary pursuits withdrew completely from temple affairs and devoted themselves exclusively to literature4 ,to be sure1 priests gave lectures and continued to write commentaries4 ,but the gozan priests seemed to concern themselves more and more with trivialities4 ,by the mid-fifteenth century ,zen teaching had virtually disappeared in the temples1 and the priests devoted themselves mainly to ceremonial and administrative duties4#aj ,authentic ,zen practice had become almost completely emasculated1 overshadowed by the rise of a ,zen-inspired cultural movement far outstripping ,chinese prototypes4 ,the political convolutions of fourteenth-century ,japan1 as well as the organizational shenanigans of the official ,rinzai ,zen sect1 need not detain us further4#aa ,we need only note that the gozan system1 which so effectively gave ,zen an official presence throughout ,japan1 also meant that the institution present was ,zen in name only4 ,significantly1 however1 a few major monasteries elected not to participate in the official system4 ,one of the most important was the ,daitoku-ji in ,kyoto1 which managed1 by not becoming part of the establishment1 to maintain some authenticity in its practice4 ,and out of the ,daitoku-ji tradition there came from time to time a few ,zen monks who still understood what ,zen was supposed to be about1 who understood it was more than painting1 gardens1 poetry1 and power4 ,perhaps the most celebrated of these iconoclastic throwbacks to authentic ,zen was the legendary ,ikkyu ,sojun 7#acid-adha74 ,the master ,ikkyu1 a breath of fresh air in the stifling1 hypocritical world of institutionalized ,zen1 seems almost a reincarnation of the early ,ch'an masters of the ,t'ang4#ab ,however1 his penchant for drinking and womanizing is more reminiscent of the ,taoists than the ,buddhists4 ,historical information on ,ikkyu and his writings is spread among various documents of uneven reliability4 ,the major source is a pious chronicle allegedly compiled by his disciple ,bokusai from firsthand information4 ,whereas this document has the virtue of being contemporaneous with his life1 it has the drawback of being abbreviated and selectively edited to omit unflattering facts4 ,then there is a collection of tales from the ,tokugawa era 7#afae-ahfh7 which are heavily embellished when not totally apocryphal4 ,the picaresque character created in the ,tokugawa ,tales led one commentator to liken ,ikkyu to the fabulous ,sufi philosopher-vagabond ,nasrudin1 who also became a vehicle to transmit folk wisdom4#ac ,these tales seem to have developed around ,ikkyu simply because his devil-may-care attitude1 combined with his antischolarly pose1 made him a perfect peg on which to hang all sorts of didactic 7not to mention ,rabelaisian7 anecdotes4 ,finally1 there is a vast body of his own poetry and prose1 as well as a collection of calligraphy now widely admired for its spontaneity and power4 ,bokusai's chronicle identifies ,ikkyu's mother as a lady-in-waiting at the imperial palace of ,emperor ,gokomatsu1 who chose from time to time to show her favor4 ,when she was discovered to be with child1 the empress had her sent away1 charging that she was sympathetic to a competing political faction4 ,consequently1 the master ,ikkyu was born in the house of a commoner on ,new ,year's ,day of the year #acid1 the natural son of an emperor and a daughter of the warrior class4 ,at age five his mother made him acolyte in a ,zen monastery1 a move some suggest was for his physical safety1 lest the shogun decide to do away with this emperor's son as a potential threat4 ,his schooling in this gozan era was aristocratic and classical1 founded on ,chinese literature and the ,buddhist sutras4 ,by age eleven he was studying the ,vimalakirti ,sutra and by thirteen he was intensively reading and writing ,chinese poetry4 ,one of his works1 written at age fifteen and entitled ,spring ,finery1 demonstrates a delicate sensibility reminiscent of ,john ,keats3 ,how many passions cling to this wanderer's sleeves8 ,multitudes of falling blossoms mark the passion of ,heaven and ,earth4 ,a perfumed breeze across my pillow2 ,am ,i asleep or awake8 ,here and now melt into an indistinct ,spring dream4#ad ,the poet here has returned from a walk only to find the perfume of flowers clinging to his clothes1 confusing his sense of reality and place4 ,it recalls ,keats' nightingale--,fled is that music3--,do ,i wake or sleep8 ,in this early poem we catch a glimpse of the sensualist ,ikkyu would one day become4 ,at age eighteen he became a novice to a reclusive monk of the ,myoshin- ji branch of ,zen in ,kyoto2 but when his mentor died two years later he wandered for a time disconsolate and suicide-prone4 ,then at twenty-two he decided to try for an interview with ,kaso ,soton 7#aceb-adbh71 the ,daitoku-ji-trained master known to be the sternest teacher in ,japan4 ,as was traditional1 the master at first shut him out and refused an audience4 ,ikkyu resolved to wait outside until death1 taking the dew for his roof and the grasses for his bed4 ,he slept at night under an empty boat and stood all day in front of ,kaso's retreat4 ,after ,kaso repeatedly failed to discourage him1 even once dousing him with water1 the master relented and invited ,ikkyu in for an interview4 ,they were made for each other and for many years thereafter ,ikkyu and ,kaso pursued deep matters tirelessly4 ,ikkyu came to revere ,kaso1 probably one of the few authentic masters of the age1 and he stayed to serve this teacher for almost a decade1 even though life with ,kaso was arduous4 ,since they lived near a major lake1 ,ikkyu would each night meditate in a borrowed fisherman's boat until dawn4 ,when his purse went flat1 he would journey to the capital and sell incense or cheap clothing to poor housewives--afterwards returning to the monastery in the same straw sandals1 hat1 and cloak4#ae ,after three years ,kaso gave him the ,zen name ,ikkyu1 a recognition of his progress4 ,ikkyu's enlightenment occurred in his twenty-sixth year when1 while meditating in the boat1 he was startled by the cry of a crow4 ,he rushed back at dawn and reported this to his master4 ,kaso responded1 ,you have reached the stage of an arhat one who has overcome ego1 but not that of a ,master1 novice4 ,ikkyu replied1 ,then ,i'm perfectly happy as an arhat and don't need to be a ,master4 ,kaso responded1 ,well1 then1 you really are a ,master after all4#af ,although it was customary for monks to receive a certificate from their master attesting to their enlightenment1 the matter of ,ikkyu's certificate is problematical4 ,he himself refused to give out certificates1 and he is depicted in ,bokusai's chronicle as periodically taking out his own and requesting it be destroyed by his disciples-- after which it seemed to miraculously appear again several years later4 ,the quantity of invention and accretion attached to ,ikkyu's disappearing certificate has fostered speculation that he never1 in fact1 actually received a seal4 ,in any case1 he probably would have destroyed his own seal of enlightenment in later years4 ,his life grew progressively more unconventional with time1 just the opposite of most4 ,beginning as a classicist in the finest ,kyoto tradition1 he had gone on to become a spiritual recluse in the mountains under a harsh meditation master4 ,after all this training he then took the road1 becoming a wandering monk in the traditional ,t'ang mode4 ,well1 almost in the traditional mode4 ,he seemed to wander into brothels and wine shops almost as often as into ,zen temples4 ,he consorted with high and low1 merchant and commoner1 male and female4 ,our record of these explorations1 both geographic and social1 is in his writings1 particularly his poetry4 ,he also harbored a vendetta against the complacency and corruption of ,japanese ,zen and its masters1 particularly the new abbot of ,daitoku-ji1 an older man named ,yoso who had once been a fellow disciple of his beloved ,kaso4 ,when ,ikkyu was forty-six he was invited by ,yoso to head a subtemple in the ,daitoku-ji compound4 ,he accepted1 much to the delight of his admirers1 who began bringing the temple donations in gratitude4 ,however1 after only ten days ,ikkyu concluded that ,daitoku-ji too had become more concerned with ceremony than with the preservation of ,zen1 and he wrote a famous protest poem as a parting gesture--claiming he could find more of ,zen in the meat1 drink1 and sex traditionally forbidden ,buddhists4 ,for ten days in this temple my mind's been in turmoil1 ,my feet are entangled in endless red tape4 ,if some day you get around to looking for me1 ,try the fish-shop1 the wine parlor1 or the brothel4#ag ,ikkyu's attack on the commercialization of ,zen was not without cause4 ,the scholar ,jan ,covell observes that in ,ikkyu's time1 ,rinzai ,zen had sunk to a low point and enlightenment was 'sold1' particularly by those temples associated with the ,shogunate4 ,zen temples also made money in sake-brewing and through usury4 ,in the mid-fifteenth century one ,zen temple1 ,shokoku-ji1 furnished all the advisers to the ,shogunate's government and received most of the bribes4 ,the imperial-sanctioned temple of ,daitoku-ji was only on the fringe of this corruption1 but ,ikkyu felt he could not criticize it enough4#ah ,ironically1 ,ikkyu also attacked the writing of ,zen poetry--in his poems4 ,he was really attacking the literary gozan movement1 the preoccupation of monks who forsook ,zen to concentrate on producing forgettable verse in formal ,chinese4 ,they put their poetry before1 indeed in place of1 ,zen practice4 ,ikkyu used his poetry 7later collected as the ,crazy ,cloud ,poems or ,kyoun-shu7 as a means of expressing his enlightenment1 as well as his criticism of the establishment4 ,it also1 as often as not1 celebrated sensual over spiritual pleasures4 ,whereas the ,t'ang masters created illogic and struggled with intuitive transmission1 ,ikkyu cheerfully gave in to the existential life of the senses4 ,in the introduction to one poem he told a parable explaining his priorities4 ,once upon a time there was an old woman who supported a retired hermit for some twenty years4 ,for a long time1 she sent a young girl to serve his food4 ,one day she told the girl to throw her arms around the monk and ask him how he felt4 ,when the girl did so1 the monk told her1 ,i am like a withered tree propped up against a cold boulder after three winters without warmth4 ,the girl went back to the old woman and made her report4 ,twenty years wasted feeding a phony layman6 exclaimed the woman4 ,then she ran him off and burnt his hut to the ground4 ,the grandmotherly old woman tried to give that rascal a ladder4 ,to provide the pure monk with a nice bride4 ,if tonight ,i were to be made such a proposition1 ,the withered willow would put forth new spring growth4#ai ,a particularly lyrical exploration of sensuality is found in a poem entitled ,a ,woman's ,body has the ,fragrance of ,narcissus1 which celebrates the essence of sexuality4 ,one should gaze long at the fairy hill then ascend it4 ,midnight on the ,jade bed amid ,autumn dreams ,a flower opening beneath the thrust of the plum branch4 ,rocking gently between the fairy's thighs4#bj ,ikkyu's amours seem to have produced a number of natural progeny4 ,in fact1 there is the legend that one of ,ikkyu's most devoted followers1 a monk named ,jotei1 was in fact his illegitimate son4 ,according to the ,tokugawa ,tales1 there was a once-rich fan maker in ,sakai whose business had declined to the point that he had to sell his shop and stand on the streetcorner hawking fans4 ,then one day ,ikkyu came by carrying some fans decorated with his own famous calligraphy and asked the man to take them on commission4 ,naturally they all sold immediately and1 by subsequent merchandising of ,ikkyu's works1 the man's business eventually was restored4 ,in gratitude he granted ,ikkyu his daughter1 from which union sprang ,ikkyu's natural son1 ,jotei4 ,this story is questionable but it does illustrate the reputation ,ikkyu enjoyed1 both as artist and lover4 ,furthermore1 he wrote touching and suspiciously fatherly poems to a little girl named ,shoko4 ,watching this four-year-old girl sing and dance1 ,i feel the pull of ties that are hard to dismiss1 ,forgetting my duties ,i slip into freedom4 ,master ,abbot1 whose ,zen is this8#ba ,when ,ikkyu was in his seventies1 during the disastrous civil conflict known as the ,onin war1 he had a love affair with a forty-year-old temple attendant named ,mori4 ,on languid afternoons she would play the ,japanese koto or harp and he the wistful-sounding shakuhachi1 a long bamboo flute sometimes carried by monks as a weapon4 ,this late- life love affair occasioned a number of erotic poems1 including one that claims her restoration of his virility 7called by the ,chinese euphemism jade stalk7 cheered his disciples4 ,how is my hand like ,mori's hand8 ,self confidence is the vassal1 ,freedom the master4 ,when ,i am ill she cures the jade stalk ,and brings joy back to my followers4#bb ,ikkyu also left a number of prose fables and sermons that portray a more sober personality than does his often iconoclastic verse4 ,one classic work1 written in #adeg and called ,skeletons1 has become a ,zen classic4 ,in the section given below he explores the ,buddhist idea of the ,void and nothingness3 ,let me tell you something4 ,human birth is analogous to striking up a fire--the father is flint1 the mother is stone and the child is the spark4 ,once the spark touches a lamp wick it continues to exist through the secondary support of the fuel until that is exhausted4 ,then it flickers out4 ,the lovemaking of the parents is the equivalent of striking the spark4 ,since the parents too have no beginning1 in the end they1 too1 will flicker out4 ,everything grows out of empty space from which all forms derive4 ,if one lets go the forms then he reaches what is called the original ground4 ,but since all sentient beings come from nothingness we can use even the term original ground only as a temporary tag4#bc ,it seems unfortunate that ,ikkyu's prose is not better known today4#bd ,in fact the best-known accounts of ,ikkyu are the apocryphal tales that attached to him during the ,tokugawa era4 ,a typical episode is the following1 entitled ,ikkyu ,does ,magic1 in which the picaresque ,zen-man uses his natural resources to thwart the bluster of a haughty priest from one of the scholarly aristocratic sects--just the thing guaranteed to please the common man4 ,once ,ikkyu was taking the ,yodo no ,kawase ferry on his way to ,sakai4 ,there was a yamabushi mountain ascetic of ,esoteric ,buddhism on board who began to question him4 ,hey1 ,your ,reverence1 what sect are you8 ,i belong to the ,zen sect1 replied ,ikkyu4 ,i don't suppose your sect has miracles the way our sect does8 ,no1 actually we have lots of miracles4 ,but if it's miracles1 why don't you show the sort of miracles that your people have8 ,well1 said the yamabushi1 ,by virtue of my magic powers ,i can pray up ,fudo a fierce guardian deity of ,buddhism before your very eyes and make him stand right there on the prow of the boat4 ,and1 with the beads of his rosary the man began to invoke first ,kongo and then ,seitaka ,esoteric ,buddhist deities4 ,at this1 all the passengers began to look back and forth wondering what was going to happen4 ,then1 just as he had said1 there on the prow of the boat1 the form of ,fudo appeared surrounded by a halo of dancing flames4 ,then the yamabushi made a ferocious face and told him1 ,you'd all better offer him a prayer4 ,this made the other passengers very uneasy-- all that is but ,ikkyu1 who was completely unruffled4 ,well1 spat out the yamabushi1 ,how about you1 ,zen monk8 ,how are you going to deal with my miracle8 ,by producing a miracle of my own4 ,from my very body ,i will cause water to issue forth and extinguish the flames of your ,fudo4 ,you'd better start your prayers up again4 ,and ,ikkyu began to pee mightily all over the flames until at last the yamabushi's magic was counteracted and the entire image melted away4 ,thereupon the passengers on the boat all bowed to ,ikkyu for his wonderful display4#be ,ironically1 the real-life ,ikkyu spent his twilight years restoring ,daitoku-ji after its destruction 7along with the rest of ,kyoto7 from the ten-year ,onin war 7#adfg-gg71 by taking over the temple and using his contacts in the merchant community to raise funds4 ,he had over a hundred disciples at this time1 a popularity that saddened him since earlier 7and1 he thought1 more deserving7 masters had had many fewer followers4 ,thus in the last decade of his life he finally exchanged his straw sandals and reed hat for the robes of a prestigious abbot over a major monastery4 ,his own ambivalence on this he confessed in a poem3 ,fifty years a rustic wanderer1 ,now mortified in purple robes4#bf ,ikkyu's contributions to ,zen culture are also significant4 ,he helped inspire the secular ,zen ritual known today as the tea ceremony1 by encouraging the man today remembered as its founder4 ,he also supported one of the best-known dramatists of the ,no theater and was himself a master calligrapher1 an art closely akin to painting in the ,far ,east and regarded by many as even more demanding4#bg ,he even created a soybean dish 7natto7 now a staple of ,zen monastic cuisine4 ,but as his biographer ,james ,sanford has pointed out1 the real life of this truly great ,japanese master has all but eluded us4 ,his poetry is in classical ,chinese and virtually unknown2 his prose lies largely unread2 and the ,tokugawa legend of ,ikkyu is almost entirely apocryphal4 ,this last travesty has extended even to fictionalizing his role as a child at the monastery2 there is now a popular television cartoon series in ,japan about the irrepressible acolyte ,ikkyu4 ,sanford speculates that his attraction for contemporary ,japanese is that1 in the legend of ,ikkyu1 it is possible for the modern ,japanese mind to re-discover 'native' examples of1 and justification for1 individualism-- a term and concept whose full assimilation into modern ,japanese culture has for over fifty years been blocked by a legacy of residual ,neo- ,confucian norms left over from ,japan's repressive past4#bh ,it does seem true that the ,zen-man ,ikkyu represents a safety valve in ,japanese society1 both then and now4 ,he brought the impulsive candor of ,zen to the world of affairs1 demonstrating by example that after enlightenment it is necessary to return to a world where mountains are again mountains1 rivers again rivers4 ,and by rejecting official ,zen1 ,ikkyu may well have been the most ,zenlike of all ,japanese masters4 ,chapter ,eighteen ,,hakuin3 ,,japanese ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,koan ,the closing era of the ,japanese middle ages1 in the decades following ,ikkyu's death1 is now known as the ,century of the ,country at ,war4 ,japan became a land of quarreling fiefdoms1 and ,zen1 too1 drifted for want of leadership and inspiration4 ,the eventual reunification of the country late in the sixteenth century was led by a brutal military strategist named ,oda ,nobunaga 7#aecd-hb74 ,as part of his takeover he obliterated the militaristic ,buddhist complex on ,mt4 ,hiei by one day simply slaughtering all its monks and burning the establishment to the ground1 thereby ending permanently the real influence of ,buddhism in ,japanese politics4 ,nobunaga was succeeded by an even more accomplished militarist1 ,toyotomi ,hideyoshi 7#aecf-ih71 who brought to the shogunate a flair for diplomacy and cunning compromise4 ,hideyoshi solidified ,japan only to have yet another warlord1 ,tokugawa ,ieyasu 7#aedb-afaf71 maneuver its rule into the hands of his own family--inaugurating the two and a half centuries of totalitarian isolationism known today as the ,tokugawa era 7#afae-ahfh74 ,he also moved the capital to the city whose modern name is ,tokyo1 at last leaving historic ,kyoto in repose4 ,under the ,tokugawa a new middle class of urban merchants and craftsmen arose1 and with it came a version of ,zen for common people1 with masters who could touch the concerns of the working class4 ,among these beloved masters must certainly be remembered the monk ,takuan 7#aegc- #afde7 from ,ikkyu's rebuilt ,daitoku-ji temple1 who introduced ,zen teachings to this new audience1 and the wandering teacher ,bankei 7#afbb- #ic71 whose kindly1 mystical interpretation of oneness through zazen earned him wide fame4 ,overall1 however1 ,rinzai ,zen remained spiritually dormant until the middle of the ,tokugawa era1 when there appeared one of the most truly inspired ,zen teachers of all time4 ,the master ,hakuin 7#afhf-agfi7 was born as ,sugiyama ,iwajiro in ,hara1 a small village at the base of ,mt4 ,fuji4 ,he was the youngest of five children in a family of modest means1 an origin that may have helped him understand the concerns of the poor4 ,as he tells his story1 he was seven or eight when his mother took him to hear a priest from the ,salvationist ,nichiren sect preach on the tormenting ,buddhist hells4 ,he was terrified and secretly began day and night reciting the ,lotus ,sutra 7which claims to protect from the perils of fire or water those who chant the proper incantation74 ,the fear of hell1 with its boiling caldrons1 so permeated his young mind that he even became leary of the traditional ,japanese bath1 then often taken in a round tub fired from the bottom with wood4 ,he claimed this fear of the bath finally convinced him to become a monk4 ,one day when ,i was taking a bath with my mother1 she asked that the water be made hotter and had the maid add wood to the fire4 ,gradually my skin began to prickle with the heat and the iron bath-cauldron began to rumble4 ,suddenly ,i recalled the descriptions of the hells that ,i had heard and ,i let out a cry of terror that resounded through the neighborhood4 ,from this time on ,i determined to myself that ,i would leave home to become a monk4 ,to this my parents would not consent1 yet ,i went constantly to the temple to recite the sutras4 4 4 4#a ,but after several years of study and chanting1 he was dismayed to find he still felt pain 7when he tested himself one day with a hot poker74 ,he resolved to intensify his devotion and at age fifteen he entered a local ,zen temple 7against his parents' wishes7 and was ordained as a monk4 ,hakuin pursued his study of the ,lotus ,sutra1 the primary scripture venerated at this temple 7an illustration of how far ,japanese ,zen had traveled from its tradition of meditation and koans71 but after a year he concluded it was just another book1 no different from the ,confucian classics4 ,he therefore began to drift from temple to temple until1 at nineteen1 he experienced another spiritual crisis4 ,in a book of religious biographies he came across the story of the ,chinese monk ,yen-t'ou 7#hbh-hg71 who had been attacked and murdered by bandits1 causing him to emit screams heard a full three miles away4 ,hakuin was plunged into depression4 ,i wondered why such an enlightened monk was unable to escape the swords of thieves4 ,if such a thing could happen to a man who was like a unicorn or phoenix among monks1 a dragon in the sea of ,buddhism1 how was ,i to escape the staves of the demons of hell after ,i died8 ,what use was there in studying ,zen8#b ,he thereupon took up his staff and set out as an itinerant seeker1 only to meet disappointment after disappointment--until finally he decided to put his future in the hands of chance4 ,one day as the abbot of a temple was airing its library outside1 ,hakuin decided to select a book at random and let it decide his fate4 ,he picked a volume of biographies of ,chinese ,ch'an worthies and opening it read of an eleventh-century ,lin- chi master who kept awake in meditation by boring into his own thigh with a wood drill4 ,the story galvanized ,hakuin1 and he vowed to pursue ,zen training until enlightenment was his4 ,hakuin claims that at age twenty-four he had his first really moving satori experience4 ,he was in a temple in ,niigata prefecture1 meditating on the ,mu koan 7,q3 ,does a dog have ,buddha-nature8 ,a3 ,mu671 and so intense was his concentration that he even forgot sleeping and eating4 ,then one day 4 4 4 ,suddenly a great doubt manifested itself before me4 ,it was as though ,i were frozen solid in the midst of an ice sheet extending tens of thousands of miles4 ,a purity filled my breast and ,i could neither go forward nor retreat4 ,to all intents and purposes ,i was out of my mind and the ,mu alone remained4 ,although ,i sat in the ,lecture ,hall and listened to the ,master's lecture1 it was as though ,i were hearing a discussion from a distance outside the hall4 ,at times it felt as though ,i were floating through the air4 ,this state lasted for several days4 ,then ,i chanced to hear the sound of the temple bell and ,i was suddenly transformed4 ,it was as if a sheet of ice had been smashed or a jade tower had fallen with a crash4#c ,elated with his transformation1 he immediately trekked back to an earlier master and presented a verse for approval4 ,the master1 however1 was not impressed4 ,the ,master1 holding my verse up in his left hand1 said to me3 ,this verse is what you have learned from study4 ,now show me what your intuition has to say1 and he held out his right hand4 ,i replied3 ,if there were something intuitive that ,i could show you1 ,i'd vomit it out1 and ,i made a gagging sound4 ,the ,master said3 ,how do you understand ,chao-chou's ,mu8 ,i replied3 ,what sort of place does ,mu have that one can attach arms and legs to it8 ,the ,master twisted my nose with his fingers and said3 ,here's some place to attach arms and legs4 ,i was nonplussed and the ,master gave a hearty laugh4#d ,again and again he tried to extract a seal from this master1 but always in vain4 ,one of these fruitless exchanges even left him lying in a mud puddle4 ,one evening the ,master sat cooling himself on the veranda4 ,again ,i brought him a verse ,i had written4 ,delusions and fancies1 the ,master said4 ,i shouted his words back at him in a loud voice1 whereupon the ,master seized me and rained twenty or thirty blows with his fists on me1 and then pushed me off the veranda4 ,this was on the fourth day of the fifth month after a long spell of rain4 ,i lay stretched out in the mud as though dead1 scarcely breathing and almost unconscious4 ,i could not move2 meanwhile the ,master sat on the veranda roaring with laughter4#e ,he finally despaired of receiving the seal of enlightenment from this teacher1 although he did have further spiritual experiences under the man's rigorous guidance--experiences ,hakuin interpreted1 perhaps rightly1 as satori4 ,feeling wanderlust he again took to the road1 everywhere experiencing increasingly deep satori4 ,in southern ,ise he was enlightened when suddenly swamped in a downpour4 ,near ,osaka he was further enlightened one evening in a temple monks' hall by the sound of falling snow4 ,in ,gifu prefecture he had an even deeper experience during walking meditation in a monks' hall4 ,he also had a mental and physical collapse about this time1 no doubt resulting from the strain of his intensive asceticism4 ,after his father's death in #agaf1 he studied in ,kyoto for a time1 but the next year he returned to the ,shoin-ji temple near his original home at ,hara4 ,weary of life at thirty-two1 he still was undecided about his future4 ,back at the temple where he had started1 he no longer had any idea of what to do4 ,then a revelation appeared3 ,one night in a dream my mother came and presented me with a purple robe made of silk4 ,when ,i lifted it1 both sleeves seemed very heavy1 and on examining them ,i found an old mirror1 five or six inches in diameter1 in each sleeve4 ,the reflection from the mirror in the right sleeve penetrated to my heart and vital organs4 ,my own mind1 mountains and rivers1 the great earth seemed serene and bottomless4 4 4 4 ,after this1 when ,i looked at all things1 it was as though ,i were seeing my own face4 ,for the first time ,i understood the meaning of the saying1 ,the enlightened spirit sees the ,buddha-nature within his eye4#f ,with this dream he finally achieved full satori4 ,he resolved that the old ramshackle temple would be his final home4 ,he had found enlightenment there and there he would stay1 his own master at last4 ,and sure enough1 ,hakuin never moved again4 ,instead1 the people of ,japan--high and low--came to see him4 ,his simple country temple became a magnet for monks and laymen seeking real ,zen4 ,by force of his own character1 and most certainly without his conscious intention1 he gradually became the leading religious figure in ,japan4 ,by the end of his life he had brought the koan practice back to a central place in ,zen and had effectively created modern ,rinzai4 ,hakuin was the legitimate heir of the ,chinese koan master ,ta-hui1 and the first teacher since to actually expand the philosophical dimensions of ,zen4 ,it will be recalled that ,ta-hui advocated ,introspecting-the- ,koan meditation1 called k'an-hua ,ch'an in ,chinese and ,kanna ,zen in ,japanese1 which he put forth in opposition to the ,silent ,illumination meditation of the ,soto school4 ,hakuin himself claimed that he first tried the quietistic approach of tranquil meditation 7albeit on a koan71 but he was unable to clear his mind of all distractions4 ,when ,i was young the content of my koan meditation was poor4 ,i was convinced that absolute tranquility of the source of the mind was the ,buddha ,way4 ,thus ,i despised activity and was fond of quietude4 ,i would always seek out some dark and gloomy place and engage in dead sitting4 ,trivial and mundane matters pressed against my chest and a fire mounted in my heart4 ,i was unable to enter wholeheartedly into the active practice of ,zen4#g ,thus ,hakuin concluded that merely following ,ta-hui's injunction to meditate on a koan was not the entire answer4 ,he then decided the only way that ,zen could be linked meaningfully to daily life was if a practitioner could actually meditate while going about daily affairs4 ,this idea was rather radical1 although it probably would not have unduly disturbed the ,t'ang masters4 ,hakuin was again extending both the definition of enlightenment1 as it intersects with the real world1 and the means of its realization4 ,he was saying to meditate on a koan in such a manner that you can continue your daily life but be oblivious to its distractions4 ,he invoked the ,chinese masters to support the idea4 ,the ,zen ,master ,ta-hui has said that meditation in the midst of activity is immeasurably superior to the quietistic approach4 4 4 4 ,what is most worthy of respect is a pure koan meditation that neither knows nor is conscious of the two aspects1 the quiet and the active4 ,this is why it has been said that the true practicing monk walks but does not know he is walking1 sits but does not know he is sitting4#h ,hakuin redefined meditation to include a physically active aspect as well as merely a quiet1 sitting aspect4 ,and under this new definition anyone1 even laymen1 could meditate at any time1 in any place4 ,hakuin did not exclude sitting in meditation2 he tried to broaden the definition to include the kind of thing he believed would really produce meaningful enlightenment4 ,in addition1 meditation in action takes away the excuse of most laymen for not practicing introspection-- and what is more1 it brings respect from others4 ,do not say that worldly affairs and pressures of business leave you no time to study ,zen under a ,master1 and that the confusions of daily life make it difficult for you to continue your meditation4 ,everyone must realize that for the true practicing monk there are no worldly cares or worries4 ,supposing a man accidentally drops two or three gold coins in a crowded street swarming with people4 ,does he forget about the money because all eyes are upon him8 444 ,a person who concentrates solely on meditation amid the press and worries of everyday life will be like the man who has dropped the gold coins and devotes himself to seeking them4 ,who will not rejoice in such a person8#i ,hakuin realized that meditating in the middle of distractions was initially more difficult--with fewer short-term rewards--than sitting quietly alone4 ,however1 if you want to make the heightened awareness of ,zen a part of your life1 then you must meditate in daily life from the very first4 ,just as you cannot learn to swim in the ocean by sitting in a tub1 you cannot relate your ,zen to the world's pressures1 stress1 and tensions if it is forever sheltered in silent1 lonely isolation4 ,if this is difficult at first1 persevere and look toward the ultimate rewards4 ,frequently you may feel that you are getting nowhere with practice in the midst of activity1 whereas the quietistic approach brings unexpected results4 ,yet rest assured that those who use the quietistic approach can never hope to enter into meditation in the midst of activity4 ,should by chance a person who uses this approach enter into the dusts and confusions of the world of activity1 even the power of ordinary understanding which he had seemingly attained will be entirely lost4 ,drained of all vitality1 he will be inferior to any mediocre1 talentless person4 ,the most trivial matters will upset him1 an inordinate cowardice will afflict his mind1 and he will frequently behave in a mean and base manner4 ,what can you call accomplished about a man like this8#aj ,quietistic meditation is easier1 naturally1 but a person who practices it will turn out to be just as insecure and petty as someone not enlightened at all4 ,what is equally important1 leisure-time meditation that separates our spiritual life from our activities is merely hiding from reality4 ,you cannot come home from the job and suddenly turn on a meditation experience4 ,he cites the case of someone who excuses himself to meditate1 but who is then so harried and tense it does no good4 ,even should there be such a thing as 4 4 4 reaching a state where the great illumination is released by means of dead sitting and silent illumination 4 4 4 people are so involved in the numerous duties of their household affairs that they have scarcely a moment in which to practice concentrated meditation4 ,what they do then is to plead illness and1 neglecting their duties and casting aside responsibilities for their family affairs1 they shut themselves up in a room for several days1 lock the door1 arrange several cushions in a pile1 set up a stick of incense1 and proceed to sit4 ,yet1 because they are exhausted by ordinary worldly cares1 they sit in meditation for one minute and fall asleep for a hundred1 and during the little bit of meditation that they manage to accomplish1 their minds are beset by countless delusions4#aa ,but what is worse1 these people then blame their careers1 assuming they need more isolation4 ,but this is like the aspiring ocean swimmer in the tub mistakenly desiring less water4 ,they furrow their brows1 draw together their eyebrows1 and before one knows it they are crying out3 ,our official duties interfere with our practice of the ,way2 our careers prevent our ,zen meditation4 ,it would be better to resign from office1 discard our seals1 go to some place beside the water or under the trees where all is peaceful and quiet and no one is about1 there in our own way to practice dhyana contemplation1 and escape from the endless cycle of suffering4 ,how mistaken these people are6#ab ,having determined meditation in the midst of activity is the only meaningful practice1 he next addressed the question of how to go about it4 ,he explained that we can do it by making our activities into meditation4 ,what is this true meditation8 ,it is to make everything3 coughing1 swallowing1 waving the arms1 motion1 stillness1 words1 action1 the evil and the good1 prosperity and shame1 gain and loss1 right and wrong1 into one single koan4#ac ,he gave an example of how to change the implements of daily living into a ,buddhist metaphor1 in this case by a warrior's making his clothes1 sword1 and saddle into a meditation hall of the mind4 ,make your skirt and upper garments into the seven- or nine- striped monks' robe2 make your two-edged sword into your resting board or desk4 ,make your saddle your sitting cushion2 make the mountains1 rivers1 and great earth the sitting platform2 make the whole universe your own personal meditation cave4 4 4 4 ,thrusting forth the courageous mind derived from faith1 combine it with the true practice of introspection4#ad ,if meditation bears no relationship to life1 what good is it8 ,it is merely self-centered gratification4 ,this he condemned1 pointing out that if everyone did nothing but meditate on his own inner concerns1 society at large would fall apart4 ,and ultimately ,zen would be blamed4 ,furthermore1 this inner-directed preoccupation with self-awareness is bad ,zen4 ,hakuin similarly taught that a ,zen which ignored society was hollow and meaningless1 and its monks of no use to anybody4 ,he was particularly stern with conventional ,zen students1 who were content in their own enlightenment and ignored the needs of others4 ,meditation in action for the monk meant the same as for a layman1 with one significant difference4 ,whereas the layman could bring meditation to his obligatory life of affairs1 the monk must bring the life of the world to his meditation4 ,just to hide and meditate on your own original nature produces inadequate enlightenment1 while also shutting you off from any chance to help other people1 other sentient beings4 ,the ancient masters knew1 said ,hakuin1 that a person truly enlightened could travel through the world and not be distracted by the so-called five desires 7wealth1 fame1 food1 sleep1 and sex74 ,the enlightened being is aware of1 but not enticed by1 sensual gratification4 ,the ,third ,patriarch ,seng-ts'an1 d4 #fjf has said3 ,if one wishes to gain true intimacy with enlightenment1 one must not shun the objects of the senses4 ,he does not mean here that one is to delight in the objects of the senses but1 just as the wings of a waterfowl do not get wet even when it enters the water1 one must establish a mind that will continue a true koan meditation without interruption1 neither clinging to nor rejecting the objects of the senses4#ae ,but ,hakuin asked something of a ,zen novice even more difficult than that asked by the ,chinese masters of old--who merely demanded that a monk reject the world1 turn his back1 and shut out its distractions4 ,in contrast1 ,hakuin insists that he meditate while out in the world1 actively immersing himself in its attractions4 ,the older ,ch'an masters advised a monk to ignore the world1 to treat it merely as a backdrop to his preoccupation with inner awareness2 ,hakuin says to test your meditation outside1 since otherwise it serves for nothing4 ,and today ,rinzai monks are expected to silently meditate during all activities1 including working in the yard of the monastery1 harvesting vegetables1 or even walking through the town for their formal begging4 ,hakuin not only redefined meditation1 he also revitalized koan practice among full-time ,zen monks and ultimately brought on a renaissance of ,rinzai ,zen itself4 ,he formalized the idea of several stages of enlightenment 7based on his own experience of increasingly deep satori7 as well as a practice that supported this growth4 ,but most of all ,hakuin was dismayed by what he considered to be the complete misunderstanding of koan practice in ,japan4 ,monks had memorized so many anecdotes about the ancient ,chinese masters that they thought they could signify the resolution of a koan by some insincere theatrics4 #j;f the monks who move about like clouds and water1 eight or nine out of ten will boast loudly that they have not the slightest doubt about the essential meaning of any of the seventeen hundred koans that have been handed down4 4 4 4 ,if you test them with one of these koans1 some will raise their fists1 others will shout katsu1 but most of them will strike the floor with their hands4 ,if you press them just a little bit1 you will find that they have in no way seen into their own natures1 have no learning whatsoever1 and are only illiterate1 boorish1 sightless men4#af ,hakuin breathed new life back into koan theory4 ,for instance1 he seems the first ,japanese master to take a psychological interest in the koan and its workings4 ,he believed a koan should engender a great doubt in the mind of a novice1 and through this great doubt lead him to the first enlightenment or kensho4#ag ,initially he had advocated the ,mu koan for beginners1 but late in life he came up with the famous ,what is the sound of one hand clapping8#ah ,as he described this koan in a letter to a laywoman3 ,what is the ,sound of the ,single ,hand8 ,when you clap together both hands a sharp sound is heard2 when you raise the one hand there is neither sound nor smell4 4 4 4 ,this is something that can by no means be heard with the ear4 ,if conceptions and discriminations are not mixed within it and it is quite apart from seeing1 hearing1 perceiving1 and knowing1 and if1 while walking1 standing1 sitting1 and reclining1 you proceed straightforwardly without interruption in the study of this koan1 then in the place where reason is exhausted and words are ended1 you will suddenly 4 4 4 break down the cave of ignorance44 4 4 ,at this time the basis of mind1 consciousness1 and emotion is suddenly shattered4#ai ,but this is not the end2 rather it is the beginning4 ,after a disciple has penetrated this koan1 he receives koans of increasing difficulty4 ,from ,hakuin's own experience he knew that satori experiences could be repeated and could become ever deeper and more meaningful4 ,although he himself never chose to overtly systematize and categorize koans1 his heirs did not hesitate to do so1 creating the structure that is modern ,rinzai ,zen4 ,how did ,zen finally emerge1 after all the centuries and the convolutions8 ,as ,hakuin's descendants taught ,zen1 a monk entering the monastery was assigned a koan chosen by the master4 ,he was expected to meditate on this koan until his kensho1 his first glimmer of satori1 which might require two to three years4 ,after this a new phase of study began4 ,the monk was then expected to work his way through a program of koans1 requiring as much as a decade more1 after which he might meditate on his own1 in seclusion1 for a time longer4#bj ,the master worked with monks individually 7a practice reputedly left over from the time when ,chinese-speaking masters had to communicate in writing7 via a face-to-face interview 7senzen7 reminiscent of a ,marine ,corps drill instructor harassing a recruit4 ,the monk would bow to the master1 seat himself1 and submit his attempt at resolution of the koan4 ,the master might either acknowledge his insight1 give him some oblique guidance1 or simply greet him with stony silence and ring for the next recruit--signifying an unsatisfactory answer4 ,hakuin made his disciples meditate2 he made them struggle through koan after koan2 he made monastic discipline as rigorous as possible2 and he taught that it is not enough merely to be interested in yourself and your own enlightenment4 ,but he insisted that if you follow all his teachings1 if you meditate the right way and work through increasingly difficult koans1 you too can find the enlightenment he found1 an enlightenment that expressed itself in an enormous physical vitality4 ,even though ,i am past seventy now my vitality is ten times as great as it was when ,i was thirty or forty4 ,my mind and body are strong and ,i never have the feeling that ,i absolutely must lie down to rest4 ,should ,i want to ,i find no difficulty in refraining from sleep for two1 three1 or even seven days1 without suffering any decline in my mental powers4 ,i am surrounded by three- to five-hundred demanding students1 and even though ,i lecture on the scriptures or on the collections of the ,masters' sayings for thirty to fifty days in a row1 it does not exhaust me4#ba ,hakuin was a prolific writer and always aware of his audience4 ,for his lay followers1 he wrote in simple ,japanese and related his teachings to the needs and limitations of secular life4 ,for his monk disciples he wrote in a more scholarly style4 ,and finally1 we have many long elegant letters composed for various dignitaries of government and the aristocracy4 ,he also was an artist of note1 producing some of the most powerful ,zen- style paintings of any ,japanese4 ,like his writings1 these works are vigorous1 impulsive1 and dynamic4 ,he seems to have been an inspiration for many later ,zen artists1 including ,sengai 7#agej-ahcg7 and the ,zen poet ,ryokan 7#ageh-ahca74bb ,hakuin died in his sleep at age eighty-three4 ,during his life he had reestablished ,rinzai ,zen in ,japan in a form fully as rigorous as ever practiced in the monasteries of ,t'ang and ,sung ,china1 and he had simultaneously discovered a way this ,zen could be made accessible to laymen1 through meditation in activity4 ,whereas previous ,japanese teachers had let koan practice atrophy in order to attract a greater number of followers1 ,hakuin simultaneously made ,zen both more authentic and more popular4 ,his genius thereby saved traditional ,zen in its classical form1 while at last making it accessible and meaningful in modern life4 ,chapter ,nineteen ,,reflections ,what is the resilience of ,zen that has allowed it to survive and flourish over all the centuries1 even though frequently at odds philosophically with its milieu8 ,and why have the insights of obscure rural teachers from the ,chinese and ,japanese ,middle ,ages remained pertinent to much of modern life in the ,west8 ,on the other hand1 why has there been a consistent criticism of ,zen 7from early ,china to the present day7 condemning it as a retreat from reality--or worse1 a preoccupation with self amidst a world that calls for social conscience8 ,these questions are complex1 but they should be acknowledged in any inquiry into ,zen thought4 ,they are also matters of opinion3 those wishing to see ,zen as unwholesome are fixed in their critical views1 just as those committed to ,zen practice are unshakably steadfast4 ,what follows is also opinion1 even though an attempt has been made to maintain balance4 ,,social ,,conscience ,,in ,,zen ,a distinguished modern ,zen master was once asked if ,zen followers looked only inward1 with no concern for others4 ,he replied that in ,zen the distinction between oneself and the world was the first thing to be dissolved4 ,consequently1 mere self-love is impossible2 it resolves naturally into a love of all things4 ,stated in this way1 ,zen teachings become1 in a twinkling1 a profound moral philosophy4 ,where there is no distinction between the universe and ourselves1 the very concept of the ego is inappropriate4 ,we cannot think of ourselves without simultaneously thinking of others4 ,zen is not1 therefore1 an obsession with the self1 but rather an obsession with the universe1 with all things--from nature to the social betterment of all4 ,although ,zen initially forces a novice to focus on his own mind1 this is only to enable him or her to attain the insight to merge with all things1 great and small4 ,true ,zen introspection eventually must lead to the dissolution of the self4 ,when this occurs1 we no longer need the chiding of a ,golden ,rule4 ,it is fair to question whether this particular view of social conscience1 which might be described as more passive than active1 adequately refutes the charge of me-ism in ,zen4 ,but perhaps less is sometimes more in the long run4 ,there is no great history of ,zen charity1 but then there have been few if any bloody ,zen ,crusades and little of the religious persecution so common to ,western moral systems4 ,perhaps the humanism in ,zen takes a gentler1 less flamboyant form4 ,in the scales of harm and help it seems as noble as any of the world's other spiritual practices4 ,,zen ,,and ,,creativity ,zen gained from ,taoism the insight that total reliance on logical thought stifles the human mind4 ,logic1 they found1 is best suited to analyzing and categorizing--functions today increasingly delegated to the computer4 ,whereas the logical mode of thought can only manipulate the world view of given paradigm1 intuition can inspire genuine creativity1 since it is not shackled by the nagging analytical mind1 which often serves only to intimidate imaginative thought4 ,zen struggled relentlessly to deflate the pomposity of man's rationality1 thereby releasing the potential of intuition4 ,although much research has arisen in recent times to pursue the same effect--from brainstorming to drugs--,zen challenged the problem many centuries ago1 and its powerful tools of meditation and the koans still taunt our modern shortcuts4 ,,zen ,,and ,,mind ,,research ,that ,zen ideas should find a place in psychoanalysis is not surprising4 ,meditation has long been used to still the distraught mind4 ,japanese researchers have studied the effects of meditation on brain activity for many years1 and now similar studies are also underway in the ,west4 ,the connection between ,zen enlightenment and a heightened state of consciousness has been examined by psychologists as diverse as ,erich ,fromm and ,robert ,ornstein4 ,but perhaps most significantly1 our recent research in the hemispheric specialization of the brain--which suggests our left hemisphere is the seat of language and rationality while the right dominates intuition and creativity-- appears to validate centuries-old ,zen insights into the dichotomy of thought4 ,zen research on the mind's complementary modes may well light the path to a fuller understanding of the diverse powers of the human mind4 ,,zen ,,and ,,the ,,arts ,at times the ancient ,chinese and ,japanese art forms influenced by ,zen seem actually to anticipate many of the aesthetic principles we now call modern4 ,sixteenth-century ,zen ceramics could easily pass as creations of a contemporary potter1 and ancient ,chinese and ,japanese inks and calligraphies recall the modern monochrome avant-garde4 ,zen stone gardens at times seem pure abstract expressionism1 and the ,zen- influenced landscape gardens of ,japan can manipulate our perception using tricks only recently understood in the ,west4 ,japanese haiku poetry and ,no drama1 created under ,zen influence1 anticipate our modern distrust of language2 and contemporary architecture often echoes traditional ,japanese design--with its preference for clean lines1 open spaces1 emphasis on natural materials1 simplicity1 and the integration of house and garden4 ,aesthetic ideals emerging from ,zen art focus heavily on naturalness1 on the emphasis of man's relation to nature4 ,the ,zen artists1 as do many moderns1 liked a sense of the materials and process of creation to come through in a work4 ,but there is a subtle difference4 ,the ,zen artists frequently included in their works devices to ensure that the message reached the viewer4 ,for example1 ,zen ceramics are always intended to force us to experience them directly and without analysis4 ,the trick was to make the surface seem curiously imperfect1 almost as though the artist were careless in the application of a finish1 leaving it uneven and rough4 ,at times the glaze seems still in the process of flowing over a piece1 uneven and marred by ashes and lumps4 ,there is no sense of prettiness3 instead they feel old and marred by long use4 ,but the artist consciously is forcing us to experience the piece for itself1 not as just another item in the category of bowl4 ,we are led into the process of creation1 and our awareness of the piece is heightened--just as an unfinished painting beckons us to pick up a brush1 ,this device of drawing us into involvement1 common to ,zen arts from haiku to ink painting1 is one of the great insights of ,zen creativity1 and it is something we in the ,west are only now learning to use effectively4 ,,zen ,,and ,,perception ,one of the major insights of ,zen is that the world should be perceived directly1 not as an array of embodied names4 ,as noted1 the ,zen arts reinforce this attitude by deliberately thwarting verbal or analytical appreciation4 ,we are forced to approach them with our logical faculties in abeyance4 ,this insistence on direct perception is one of the greatest gifts of ,zen4 ,no other major system of thought champions this insight so clearly and forthrightly4 ,zen would have our perception of the world1 indeed our very thoughts1 be nonverbal4 ,by experiencing nature directly1 and by thinking in pure ideas rather than with internalized speech1 we can immeasurably enrich our existence4 ,the dawn1 the flower1 the breeze are now experienced more exquisitely--in their full reality4 ,zen worked hard to debunk the mysterious power we mistakenly ascribe to names and concepts1 since the ,zen masters knew these serve only to separate us from life4 ,shutting off the constant babble in our head is difficult1 but the richness of experience and imagery that emerges is astounding4 ,it is as though a screen between us and our surroundings has suddenly dropped away1 putting us in touch with the universe4 ,,the ,,zen ,,life ,the heart of ,zen is practice1 sitting1 physical discipline4 ,for those wishing to experience ,zen rather than merely speculate about it1 there is no other way4 ,koans can be studied1 but without the guidance of practice under a master1 they are hardly more than an intellectual exercise4 ,only in formal meditation can there be the real beginning of understanding4 ,zen philosophy1 and all that can be transmitted in words1 is an abomination to those who really understand4 ,there's no escaping the ,taoist adage1 ,those who speak do not know1 those who know do not speak4 ,words can point the way1 but the path must be traveled in silence4 99 99 99 ,,notes ,,preface ,,to ,,zen #a4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,tao3 ,a ,new ,way of ,thinking 7,new ,york3 ,perennial ,library1 #aigg71 p4 #d4 #b4 ,ibid41 p4 #f4 #c4 ,ibid41 p4 #ej4 #d4 ,ibid41 p4 #ade4 #e4 ,ibid41 p4 #aec4 #f4 ,quoted in ,max ,kaltenmark1 ,lao ,tzu and ,taoism 7,stanford1 ,calif43 ,stanford ,university ,press1 #aifi71 p4 #bj4 #g4 ,burton ,watson1 ,introduction to ,the ,complete ,works of ,chuang ,tzu 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aifh71 p4 #g4 #h4 ,arthur ,waley1 ,three ,ways of ,thought in ,ancient ,china 7,garden ,city1 ,n4 ,y43 ,doubleday1 undated reprint of #aici edition71 p4 #ae4 #i4 ,gai-fu ,feng and ,jane ,english1 trans41 ,chuang ,tsu 7,new ,york3 ,vintage ,books1 #aigd71 p4 #ee4 #aj4 ,ibid4 #cji #aa4 ,wm4 ,theodore de ,bary1 ,wing-tsit ,chan1 and ,burton ,watson1 ,sources of ,chinese ,tradition1 ,vol4 #a 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aifj71 p4 #bdj4 #ab4 ,ibid41 pp4 #bdc-bdd4 #ac4 ,quoted by ,fung ,yu-lan1 ,a ,short ,history of ,chinese ,philosophy 7,new ,york3 ,macmillan ,publishing ,co41 ,inc41 #aidh71 p4 #bcj4 #ad4 ,quoted in ibid41 p4 #bce4 #ae4 ,d4 ,howard ,smith1 ,chinese ,religions 7,new ,york3 ,holt1 ,rinehart and ,winston1 #aifh71 p4 #ajf4 #af4 ,frederick ,j4 ,streng1 ,emptiness3 ,a ,study in ,religious ,meaning 7,nashville3 ,abingdon ,press1 #aifg71 pp4 #aei-fj4 #ag4 ,arthur ,f4 ,wright1 ,buddhism in ,chinese ,history 7,stanford3 ,stanford ,university ,press1 #aiei71 p4 #fc4 #ah4 ,walter ,liebenthal1 ,chao ,lun3 ,the ,treatises of ,seng-chao 7,hong ,kong3 hong ,kong ,university ,press1 #aifh71 p4 #fb4 #bdb _/ ,,notes #aj1 #aa7a7a11 pp4 fifi f7#g4 #bj4 ,helnrich ,dumoulin1 ,a ,history of ,zen ,badtihism 7,boston3 ,beacon ,press1 #ajjj71 i4 #fj1 #ba4 ,quoted by ,fung ,yu ,ian1 ,short ,history of 7,chinese ,philosophy1 p1 #beb1 #a4 ,,bodhidharma3 ,,first ,,patriarch ,,of ,,zen #b4 #a4 ,translated by ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aifa71 p4 #a #gi4 ,this is a translation of a passage from the ,records of the ,transmission of the ,lamp compiled in #ajjd by ,tao-yuan4 ,a simpler version of the story can be found in the original source document1 the ,further ,biographies of ,eminent ,priests 7,hsu kao-seng chuan71 prepared around the year #fde by ,tao hsuan1 and translated ,in ,cat's ,yawn1 published by the ,first ,zen ,institute of ,america1 ,new ,york1 #aid #g4 ,the story is repeated also in the ,ch'uan fg- pao chi1 prepared ca1 #gjj #aj by ,tu ,fei1 #b4 ,the fact that this episode does not appear in the earliest story of ,bodhidharma's life makes one skeptical about its authenticity4 ,it is known that ,emperor ,wu welcomed another famous ,indian missionary1 ,paramartha1 who landed in ,canton in #edj 7,smith1 ,chinese ,religions1 p4 #abj74 ,this monk espoused the ,idealistic school of ,buddhism1 which was at odds with the school of ,ch'an4 ,it seems possible that the story of ,bodhidharma's meeting was constructed to counter the prestige that ,wu's ,interest undoubtedly gave the ,idealistic school4 #c4 ,the ,buddhist concept of ,merit might be likened to a spiritual savings account1 ,merit accrues on the record of one's good deeds and provides several forms of reward in this world and the next1 ,the ,idea that good deeds do not engender ,merit seems to have been pioneered by ,tao-sheng 7ca1 #cfj #dcd71 the ,chinese originator of the idea of ,sudden ,enlightenment1 ,emptiness is1 of course1 the teaching of the ,middle ,path of ,nagarjuna1 ,the implication that ,emperor ,wu was startled by this concept is worth a raised eyebrow1 ,sunyata or emptiness was hardly unknown ,in the ,buddhist schools of the time4 ,this whole story is suspect1 being first found ,in the ,ch'uan fa-pao chi of ,tu ,fei 7ca4 #gjj #aj71 but not in the earlier biography1 the ,hsu kao- seng chuan 7,further ,biographies of ,eminent ,priests ,i1 compiled by ,tao- hsuan around #fde1 ,there is1 incidentally1 another competing story of a monk named ,bodhidharma in ,china1 ,he was described as a ,persian and was reported in ,yang ,i ,isuan-chih's ,buddhist ,monasteries ,in ,loyang 7,lo-yang ,ch'leh-lan-chi71 written ,in #edg1 to have been associated with the ,yung- ning monastery1 which would have been possible only between the years #eaf and #ebh4 ,this ,persian figure apparently claimed to be #aej years in age1 and he most probably came to ,china via the trading port of ,canton used by ,persians4 ,this fact has been used by some to cast doubt on the more accepted story of a ,south ,indian monk named ,bodhidharma arriving at ,canton between #ebj and #ebe4 ,perhaps a legendary ,persian was transformed into a legendary ,indian by the ,dhyana school1 or perhaps it was a different individual4 #d4 ,this is the conclusion of the leading ,zen scholar today1 ,philip ,yampolsky1 in ,the ,platform ,sutra of ,the ,sixth ,patriarch 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aifg71 p4 #aj4 #e4 ,english translations of various versions of this essay may be found ,in ,cat's ,yawn by the ,first ,zen ,institute of ,america2 ,in ,i74 ,t1 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series2 and in ,john ,c4 ,h4 ,wu1 ,the ,golden ,age of ,zen 7,taipei3 ,united ,publishing ,center1 #aijg74 ,concerning this essay1 ,philip ,yampolsky 7private communication7 has noted1 ,whereas a version exists ,in ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp1 various texts have been found in the ,tun-huang documents and elsewhere1 so that a more complete version is available4 ,it is considered authentic1 #f4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,ann ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #ahj4 #g4 ,ibid41 pp4 #ahj-ha4 #h4 ,this point is enlarged considerably in an essay attributed to ,bodhidharma but most likely apocryphal1 which ,is translated ,in ,d4 ,t1 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,third ,series 7,new ,york3 ,samuel ,weiser1 ,inc41 #aiga7 pp4 #bd-cj1 #i4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #aha4 #aj4 ,suzuki1 ,ibid4 #aa4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 pp4 #dj #ej4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #ej4 #ac4 ,ibid41 p4 #ej4 #ad4 ,suzuki translates the passage from the ,vajrasamadhi ,sutra in ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 pp4 #ahc-hd4 ,portions are as follows3 ,said the ,buddha3 ,the two entrances are ',entrance by ,reason' and ',entrance by ,conduct1' ',entrance by ,reason' means to have a deep faith in that all sentient beings are identical in essence with the true nature which is neither unity nor multiplicity2 only it is beclouded by external objects1 ,the nature in itself neither departs nor comes4 ,when a man in singleness of thought abides in chueh-kuan1 he will clearly see into the ,buddha-nature1 of which we cannot say whether it exists or exists not1 and in which there is neither selfhood nor otherness4 4 4 4 ,suzuki translates the term chueh-kuan as being awakened or enlightened1 #ae4 ,hu ,shih1 ,the ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china1 ,chinese ,social and ,political ,science ,review1 #ae1d 7,january #aicb71 p4 #dhc1 ,philip ,yampolsky 7private communication7 has questioned this generalization of ,hu ,shih1 noting1 ,there were few practicing ',zen' ,buddhists1 but other ,chinese ,buddhists probably meditated seriously1 although not exclusively4 #af4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p1 #ahf4 #ag4 ,see ,hu ,shih1 ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #dhb3 ,but the whole system of dhyana practice1 even in its concise form as presented in the translated manuals1 was not fully understood by the ,chinese ,buddhists4 4 4 4 ,the best proof of this is the following quotation from ,hui-chiao1 the scholarly historian of ,buddhism and author of the first series of ,buddhist ,biographies which was finished in #eai4 ,in his general summary of the biographies of practitioners of dhyana1 ,hui-chiao said3 ',but the apparent utility of dhyana lies in the attainment of magic powers4 4 4'4' #ah4 ,suzuki 7,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #aia71 points out1 ,nagarjuna says in his famous commentary on the ,prajnaparamita sutra1 ',moral conduct is the skin1 meditation is the flesh1 the higher understanding is the bone1 and the mind subtle and good is the marrow4' ,since this commentary must have been common knowledge1 the interest in ,bodhidharma's alleged exchange with his disciples lies in his recasting of a common coinage4 #ai4 ,from the ,ch'uan fa-pao chi 7ca4 #gjj-aj7 of ,tu ,fei1 as described by ,yampolsky1 ,the ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriach4 ,this story happens to parallel closely the posthumous capers ascribed to certain famous religious ,taoists of the age4 #bj4 ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #gb4 #ba4 ,hu ,shih1 ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #eb4 #bb4 #b4 ,,hui-,k',o3 ,,second ,,patriarch ,,of ,,zen #a4 ,translated in ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4#aij4 #b4 ,he is well documented in ,tao-hsuan's ,hsu kao-seng chuan or ,further ,biographies of ,eminent ,priests 7,a4,d4 #fde74 ,selected portions of this biography are related in ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch2 and ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 which form the basis for much of the historical information reported here4 ,other useful sources are ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism2 and ,chou ,hsiang- kuang1 ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china 7,allahabad1 ,india3 ,indo-,chinese ,literature ,publications1 #aifj74 #c4 ,the ,further ,biographies of ,eminent ,priests by ,tao-hsuan declares that bandits were responsible for severing his arm1 but the #gaj ,chuan fa-pao chi of ,tu ,fei piously refutes this version1 presumably since efforts were starting to get underway to construct a ,zen lineage1 and dramatic episodes of interaction were essential4 ,this later work was also the first to report that ,bodhidharma was poisoned and then later seen walking back to ,india4 #d4 ,as reported by ,dumoulin 7,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #gc71 this story1 which is typical of later ,ch'an teaching methods1 first appears some five hundred years after ,bodhidharma's death1 in the ,ching-te ch'uan- teng-lu 7#ajjd74 #e4 ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #gd4 #f4 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,studies in the ,lankavatara ,sutra 7,london3 ,routledge ,kegan ,paul1 #aicj7 pp4 #d-g4 #g4 ,ibid1 p4 #ei4 #h4 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,manual of ,zen ,buddhism 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aifj71 pp4 #ej-ea4 #i4 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,the ,lankavatara ,sutra 7,london3 ,routledge ,kegan ,paul1 #aicb71 p4 #gi4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #ha4 #aa4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #aic4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #aid4 #ac4 ,ibid41 pp4 #aid-ie4 #ad4 ,chou ,hsiang-kuang1 ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #bd4 #c4 ,,seng-,,ts',,an1 ,,tao-,,hsin1 ,,fa-,,jung1 ,,and ,,hung-,,jen3 ,,four ,,early ,,masters #a4 ,as usual1 the biography can be traced in three sources4 ,the earliest1 the ,hsu kao-seng chuan of ,tao-hsuan 7#fde71 apparently does not mention ,seng-ts'an1 or if it does so it gives him a different name4 ,however1 in the ,ch'uan fa-pao chi of ,tu ,fei 7#gaj7 he receives a perfunctory biography4 ,the more embellished tale1 giving exchanges and a copy of his supposed poem1 is to be found in the later work1 the ,ching-te ch'uan-teng-lu 7#ajjd74 ,dumoulin 7,history of ,zen ,buddhism7 provides a discussion of the earliest historical notices of ,seng-ts'an4 ,the #gaj version of the history is translated in ,cat's ,yawn 7p4 #ad7 and the #ajjd version is repeated in ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series4 #b4 ,suzuki1 who recounts this last story in ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series 7p4 #aie71 points out identical insights in the third chapter of the ,vimalakirti ,sutra4 #c4 ,reportedly ,hui-k'o also transmitted his copy of the ,lankavatara to ,seng-ts'an1 declaring that after only four more generations the sutra would cease to have any significance 7,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 p4 #aa74 ,as things turned out1 this was more or less what happened1 as the ,lankavatara was replaced in the ,ch'an schools by the more easily understood ,diamond ,sutra4 ,the ,lankavatara school was destined to be short-lived and to provide nothing more than a sacred relic for the dynamic ,ch'an teachers who would follow4 #d4 ,suzuki points out 7,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #aif7 that the ,chinese word hsin can mean mind1 heart1 soul1 and spirit1 beingall or any at a given time4 ,he provides a full translation of the poem1 as does ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth in ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #a 7,tokyo3 ,hokuseido ,press1 #aifj74 #e4 ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #a1 p4 #ajj4 #f4 ,ibid41 p4 #aja4 #g4 ,ibid41 p4 #ajc4 #h4 ,a detailed discussion of this era may be found in ,woodbridge ,bingham1 ,the ,founding of the ,t'ang ,dynasty 7,new ,york3 ,octagon ,books1 #aigj74 #i4 ,his biography may be found in ,c4 ,p4 ,fitzgerald1 ,son of ,heaven 7,new ,york3 ,,ams ,press ,inc41 #aiga71 reprint of #aicc ,cambridge ,university ,press edition4 #aj4 ,see ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #gh4 #aa4 ,this story is translated in ,cat's ,yawn1 p4 #ah4 #ab4 ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 pp4 #gh-gi4 #ac4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,third ,series1 p4 #bh4 #ad4 ,a lucid account of ,fa-jung may be found in ,chang ,chung-yuan1 trans41 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism 7,new ,york3 ,random ,house1 #aifi2 paperback edition1 ,vintage1 #aiga71 which is a beautiful translation of portions of ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp 7,ching-te ch'uan-teng-lu71 the text from #ajjd4 ,this text was a major source for the abbreviated biography given here4 #ae4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ai4 #af4 ,ibid41 p4 #e4 #ag4 ,a version of this exchange is given in ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #bjb4 #ah4 ,see ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 p4 #af4 #d4 ,,shen-,,hsiu ,,and ,,shen-,,hui3 ,,gradual ,,and ,,sudden ,,masters #a4 ,for an excellent biography see ,c4 ,p4 ,fitzgerald1 ,the ,empress ,wu 7,vancouver3 ,university of ,british ,columbia1 #aifh74 ,curiously1 nowhere in this biography is there mention of her lionizing of the ,ch'an master ,shen-hsiu1 something that figures largely in all ,ch'an histories4 #b4 ,a biography of ,shen-hsiu from ,ch'an sources may be found in ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch4 ,further details may be found in ,hu ,shih1 ,ch'an 7,zen7 ,buddhism in ,china3 ,its ,history and ,method1 ,philosophy ,east and ,west1 #c1 #a 7,april #aiec71 pp4 #c-bd4 ,see also ,kenneth ,ch'en1 ,buddhism in ,china 7,princeton3 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aifd74 #c4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 p4 #bad4 #d4 ,two books that give something of the intellectual atmosphere of ,t'ang ,china are biographies of its two leading poets3 ,arthur ,waley1 ,the ,poetry and ,career of ,li ,po 7,london3 ,george ,allen ,unwin1 ,ltd41 #aiej72 and ,a4 ,r4 ,davis1 ,tu ,fu 7,new ,york3 ,twayne ,publishers1 ,inc41 #aiga74 #e4 ,for a detailed biography of ,shen-hui1 see ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch4 #f4 ,the scholar who brought the significance of ,shen-hui to the attention of the world was ,hu ,shih1 whose landmark ,english-language papers on ,zen are ,ch'an 7,zen7 ,buddhism in ,china3 ,its ,history and ,method and ,the ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china4 ,these works draw upon the manuscripts discovered this century in the ,tun-huang caves in the mountains of far northwest ,china4 ,these manuscripts clarified many of the mysteries surrounding the early history of ,ch'an1 enabling scholars for the first time to distinguish between real and manufactured history--since some of the works were written before ,ch'an historians began to embroider upon the known facts4 ,a brief but useful account of the finding of these caves and the subsequent removal of many of the manuscripts to the ,british ,museum in ,london and the ,bibliotheque ,nationale in ,paris may be found in ,cat's ,yawn4 ,the best discussion of the significance of these finds and of ,hu ,shih's lifelong interpretive work is provided by ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch4 ,regarding the circumstances of this sermon1 ,walter ,liebenthal 7,the ,sermon of ,shen-hui1 ,asia ,major1 ,n4,s4 #c1 #b #aieb1 p4 #acd7 says1 ,there are only two opportunities to deliver addresses in the ritual of ,buddhist monasteries1 one during the uposatha ceremony held monthly when the pratimoksa rules are read to the members of the community and they are admonished to confess their sins1 one during the initiation ceremony held once or twice a year4 ,for the purpose of initiation special platforms are raised1 one for monks and one for nuns1 inside the compounds of some especially selected monasteries4 #g4 ,quoted in ,hilda ,hookham1 ,a ,short ,history of ,china 7,new ,york3 ,st4 ,martin's ,press1 ,inc41 #aigb2 paperback edition1 ,new ,york3 ,new ,american ,library1 #aigb71 p4 #age4 #h4 ,discussions of the adventures of ,an ,lu-shan may be found in most general surveys of ,chinese history1 including ,hookham1 ,short ,history of ,china1 ,wolfram ,eberhard1 ,a ,history of ,china 7,berkeley3 ,university of ,california ,press1 #aifj72 ,kenneth ,scott ,latourette1 ,the ,chinese3 ,their ,history and ,culture 7,new ,york3 ,macmillan1 #aifb72 ,john ,a4 ,harrison1 ,the ,chinese ,empire 7,new ,york3 ,harcourt ,brace ,jovanovich1 ,inc41 #aigb72 and ,rene ,grousset1 ,the ,rise and ,splendour of the ,chinese ,empire 7,berkeley3 ,university of ,california ,press1 #aifb74 #i4 ,this is the interpretation of ,hu ,shih4 ,for translations of the major works of ,shen-hui1 see ,walter ,liebenthal1 ,the ,sermon of ,shen-hui1 pp4 #acb-ee2 and ,wm4 ,theodore de ,bary1 ed41 ,sources of ,chinese ,tradition1 ,vol4 #a41 pp4 #cef-fj4 ,also see ,edward ,conze1 ed41 ,buddhist ,texts ,through the ,ages 7,oxford3 ,bruno ,cassirer1 #aied71 excerpted in ,wade ,baskin1 ed41 ,classics in ,chinese ,philosophy 7,totowa1 ,n4 ,j43 ,littlefield1 ,adams1 #aigd74 ,a short translation is also provided in ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,third ,series1 pp4 #cg ff4 ,the fullest translation of the works of ,shen-hui found in the ,tun-huang caves is in ,jacques ,gernet1 ,entret_/ens du ,maitre de ,dhyana ,chen-houei du ,ho-tso 7,hanoi3 ,publications de l'ecole frangaise d',extreme-,orient1 ,vol4 #ca1 #aidi74 ,an ,english translation of a portion of this text may be found in ,wing-tsit ,chan1 ,a ,source ,book in ,chinese ,philosophy 7,princeton3 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aifc74 #aj4 ,liebenthal1 ,sermon of ,shen-hui1 pp4 #acf ff4 #aa4 ,ibid41 p4 #add4 #ab4 ,ibid41 pp4 #adf1 #adg1 #adi4 #ac4 ,see ,hu ,shih1 ,ch'an 7,zen7 ,buddhism in ,china4 #ad4 ,hu ,shih1 ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #dic4 #ae4 ,hu ,shih1 ,ch'an 7,zen7 ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #aa4 #af4 ,the differences between the ,northern and ,southern schools of ,ch'an during the eighth century are explored in the works of ,hu ,shih1 ,philip ,yampolsky1 and ,walter ,liebenthal noted elsewhere in these notes4 ,other general surveys of ,chinese religion and culture that have useful analyses of the question include ,wing-tsit ,chan1 ,source ,book in ,chinese ,philosophy1 pp4 #dbe ff41 ,d4 ,howard ,smith1 ,chinese ,religions2 and ,fung ,yu-lan1 ,short ,history of ,chinese ,philosophy4 #ag4 ,a study of the last distinguished member of ,shen-hui's school1 the scholar ,tsung-mi 7#ghj-hda71 may be found in ,jeffrey ,broughton1 ,kuei- feng ,tsung-mi3 ,the ,convergence of ,ch'an and the ,teachings 7,ph4 ,d4 dissertation1 ,columbia ,university1 #aige74 #ah4 ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,zen3 ,a ,reply to ,hu ,shih1 ,philosophy ,east and ,west1 #c1 #a 7,april #aiec71 pp4 #be-df4 #ai4 #e4 ,,hui-,,neng3 ,,the ,,sixth ,,patriarch ,,and ,,father ,,of ,,modern ,,zen #a4 ,a number of ,english translations of the ,platform ,sutra are in existence4 ,among the most authoritative must certainly be counted ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch2 and ,wing-tsit ,chan1 ,the ,platform ,scripture 7,new ,york3 ,st4 ,john's ,university ,press1 #aifc74 ,a widely circulated translation is in ,a4 ,f4 ,price and ,wong ,mou-,lam1 ,the ,diamond ,sutra and the ,sutra of ,hui-,neng 7,berkeley1 ,calif43 ,shambhala1 #aifi74 ,another well-known version is found in ,charles ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching3 ,third ,series 7,new ,york3 ,samuel ,weiser1 ,inc41 #aiga74 ,two lesser-known translations are ,paul ,f4 ,fung and ,george ,d4 ,fung1 ,the ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch on the ,pristine ,orthodox ,dharma 7,san ,francisco3 ,buddha's ,universal ,church1 #aifd72 and ,hsuan ,hua1 ,the ,sixth ,patriarch's ,dharma ,jewel ,platform ,sutra 7,san ,francisco3 ,buddhist ,text ,translation ,society1 #aiga74 #b4 ,from the ,diamond ,sutra1 contained in ,dwight ,goddard1 ed41 ,a ,buddhist ,bible 7,boston3 ,beacon ,press1 #aigj71 p4 #ajb4 ,another version may be found in ,price and ,wong1 ,diamond ,sutra and the ,sutra of ,hui-neng4 ,an extended commentary may be found in ,charles ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching1 ,first ,series1 pp4 #adi-bjh4 ,later ,ch'anists have maintained that ,hung-jen taught both the ,diamond ,sutra and the ,lankavatara ,sutra1 the respective scriptures of what came to be called ,southern and ,northern schools of ,ch'an4 ,however1 most scholars today believe that his major emphasis was on the ,lankavatara ,sutra1 not the ,diamond ,sutra as the legend of ,hui-neng would have4 #c4 ,from ,price and ,wong1 ,diamond ,sutra and the ,sutra of ,hui-neng1 p4 #ae4 #d4 ,ibid41 p4 #ah4 #e4 ,the earliest version of the ,platform ,sutra is that found in the ,tun- huang caves and translated by ,yampolsky and ,chan4 ,this manuscript ,yampolsky dates from the middle of the ninth century4 ,a much later version1 dated #aaec1 was found in a temple in ,kyoto1 ,japan1 in #aicd4 ,this is said to be a copy of a version dating from #ifg4 ,the standard version up until this century was a much longer work which dates from #abia4 ,as a general rule of thumb with the early ,ch'an writings1 the shorter the work1 the better the chance it is early and authentic4 ,for this reason1 the shorter ,tun-huang works are now believed to be the most authoritative and best account of the thoughts of the ,sixth ,patriarch4 #f4 ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 p4 #fi4 #g4 ,the most obvious problem with attribution of the ,platform ,sutra to ,hui-neng is that many of the sections of the sermon appear almost verbatim in ,the ,sermon of ,shen-hui1 indicating that either one was a copy of the other or they had a common source 7which could have been the simple setting down of a verbal tradition74 ,it has been pointed out that ,shen-hui1 who praises ,hui-neng to the skies in his sermon1 never claims to be quoting the master4 ,instead1 he pronounces as his own a number of passages that one day would be found in the work attributed to ,hui-neng4 ,the scholar ,hu ,shih has drawn the most obvious conclusion and has declared that ,shen-hui and his school more or less created the legend of ,hui-neng--lock1 stock1 and sutra4 ,others refuse to go this far1 preferring instead to conclude that ,shen-hui and ,hui-neng are merely two representatives of the same school4 #h4 ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 p4 #aeg4 #i4 ,yampolsky1 ,ibid41 p4 #adj #aj4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #hb4 #aa4 ,see especially ,intimations of ,immortality3 ,our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting3 ,the ,soul that rises with us1 our life's ,star1 ,hath had elsewhere its setting1 and cometh from afar3 ,not in entire forgetfulness1 ,and not in utter nakedness1 ,but trailing clouds of glory do we come 4 4 4 #ab4 ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 pp4 #ada-db4 #ac4 ,ibid41 p4 #aag4 #ad4 ,from ibid41 pp4 #ach-ci4 ,for interpretive comment see ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,the ,zen ,doctrine of ,no ,mind 7,new ,york3 ,samuel ,weiser1 #aigb74 #ae4 ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 pp4 #aaf-ag4 #af4 #f4 ,,ma-,,tsu3 ,,originator ,,of ,,shock ,,enlightenment #a4 ,see ,broughton1 ,kuei-feng ,tsung-mi3 ,the ,convergence of ,ch'an and the ,teachings4 ,it was also around this time that the idea of twenty-eight ,indian ,patriarchs of ,zen1 culminating in ,bodhidharma1 was finally ironed out and made part of the ,zen tradition4 #b4 ,see ,arthur ,waley1 ,the ,life and ,times of ,po ,chu-i 7,london3 ,allen ,unwin1 #aidi74 #c4 ,hu ,shih1 ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #dig4 #d4 ,hu-,shin1 ,ch'an 7,zen7 ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #ah4 #e4 ,for some of ,huai-jang's attributed teachings1 see ,charles ,luk1 ,the ,transmission of the ,mind ,outside the ,teaching 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aige71 pp4 #cb-cg4 ,the reliability of this text should be questioned1 however1 if we accept ,philip ,yampolsky's essay in ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 p4 #ec3 ,huai-jang 7#fgg-gdd7 4 4 4 is known as a disciple of ,hui-neng4 ,information about him is based on sources composed much later than his death2 no mention is made of him in any eighth-century work4 4 4 4 #f4 ,jeffrey ,broughton 7,kuei-feng ,tsung-mi1 p4 #bg7 points out that ,ma- tsu's master's technique for achieving no-mind was to chant a phrase until running out of breath1 at which time the activities of the mind would seem to terminate--a reaction the more skeptical might call physiological4 ,breath control and breath exercises1 it will be recalled1 have always figured largely in ,indian meditative practices4 #g4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #adh4 ,the discussion of ,ma-tsu in this volume supplied valuable background for the analysis provided here4 #h4 ,hu ,shih1 ,development of ,zen ,buddhism in ,china1 p4 #dih4 #i4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #acj4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #adi4 #aa4 ,ibid4 #ab4 ,ibid4 #ac4 ,there are many translations of the ,mumonkan4 ,one of the more recent and scholarly is by ,zenkai ,shibayama1 ,zen ,comments on the ,mumonkan 7,new ,york3 ,new ,american ,library1 #aige74 #ad4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aej4 #ae4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #ie4 #af4 ,the most recent and the most detailed translation of the ,blue ,cliff ,record is by ,thomas and ,j4 ,c4 ,cleary1 ,the ,blue ,,ci iff ,record1 #c vols4 7,berkeley1 ,calif43 ,shambhala1 #aigg74 #ag4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aea4 #ah4 ,ibid41 p4#aea4 #ai4 ,this story is recounted in ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #ajj4 #bj4 ,ibid41 p4 #ajb4 #ba4 ,recounted in ,ibid41 p4 #ajb4 #bb4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'ari ,buddhism1 pp4 #aej-eb4 #bc4 ,ibid41 p4 #aej4 #bd4 ,see ,luk1 ,transmission of the ,mind ,outside the ,teaching1 p4 #df4 #be4 #g4 ,,huai-,,hai3 ,,father ,,of ,,monastic ,,ch',,an #a4 ,this location is given by ,john ,blofeld in ,the ,zen ,teaching of ,hui-,hai on ,sudden ,illumination 7,london3 ,ryder ,co41 #aifb2 paperback reprint1 ,new ,york3 ,weiser1 #aigb71 p4 #bi4 ,charles ,luk 7,transmission of the ,mind ,outside the ,teaching1 p4 #ej7 says3 ,huai-hai1 the ,dharma-successor of ,ma ,tsu1 was also called ,pai ,chang ,po ,ch'ang after the mountain where he stayed at ,hung ,chou 7now ,nanchang1 capital of ,kiangsi province74 ,pai ,chang means3 ,pai1 one hundred1 and ,chang1 a measure of ten feet1 i4e41 ,one-thousand-foot mountain4 ,however1 ,luk identifies the birthplace of ,huai-hai as ,chang ,lo in modern ,fukien province1 as does ,chou ,hsiang- kuang in ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china4 #b4 ,this story is repeated in various places1 including ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen2 and ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teaching of ,hui ,hai on ,sudden ,illumination4 ,this latter reference is as part of a document known as the ,tsung-ching ,record1 being a recorded dialogue of the master taken down by a monk named ,tsung-ching1 who was a contemporary of ,huai-hai4 #c4 ,this story is ,case #ec of the ,hekiganroku or ,blue ,cliff ,record1 a ,sung ,dynasty period collection of ,ch'an stories and their interpretation4 ,the best current translation is probably in ,cleary and ,cleary1 ,blue ,cliff ,record1 ,vol4 #b1 p4 #ceg4 #d4 ,see ,luk1 ,transmission of the ,mind ,outside the ,teaching1 p4 #df4 #e4 ,stories involving him may be found in the ,mumonkan1 ,cases #b and #dj1 and in the ,hekiganroku or ,blue ,cliff ,record1 ,cases #ec1 #gj1 #ga1 #gb4 ,the most complete accounting of anecdotes may be found in ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teachings of ,hui-,hai on ,sudden ,illumination2 and ,thomas ,cleary1 ,sayings and ,doings of ,pai-chang 7,los ,angeles3 ,center ,publicatons1 #aigi74 #f4 ,kenneth ,k4 ,s4 ,ch'en1 7,the ,chinese ,transformation of ,buddhism ,princeton3 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aigc1 p4 #ie7 says1 ,besides the ,vinaya controlling the conduct of the ,buddhist clergy1 the basic code governing ,buddhist and ,taoist monks and nuns during the ,t'ang ,dynasty was the ,tao-seng-ke 7,rules concerning ,buddhist and ,taoist clergy71 formulated during the ,chen-kuan era1 probably #fcg4 ,this ,tao- seng-ke is no longer extant1 however1 but the ,japanese work ,soni-ryo1 which governs the conduct of the community of monks and nuns in ,japan1 was based on it4 ,therefore a study of the ,soni-ryo would give us a good idea of the contents of the ,tao-seng-ke4 4 4 4 ,certain provisions of the ,t'ang codes superseded the monastic code and called for penalties for offenses which went beyond those specified in the ,soni-ryo or the ,buddhist ,vinaya4 #g4 ,for a scholarly discussion of the economic role of ,buddhism in ,t'ang ,china1 see ,d4 ,c4 ,twitchett1 ,monastic ,estates in ,t'ang ,china1 ,asia ,major1 7#aiee-ef71 pp4 #abc-df4 ,he explains that the ,t'ang government was always a trifle uneasy about the presence of un-taxed monastic establishments1 and not without reason4 ,buddhism in ,t'ang ,china was big business4 ,the large monasteries were beneficiaries of gifts and bequests from the aristocracy1 as well as from the palace itself4 7,eunuchs1 along with palace ladies1 were particularly generous47 ,laymen often would bequeath their lands to a monastery1 sometimes including in the will a curse on anyone who might later wish to take the land away from the church4 ,these gifts were thought to ensure better fortunes in the world to come1 while simultaneously resolving tax difficulties for the donor4 ,for the monasteries themselves this wealth could only accumulate1 since it never had to be divided among sons4 ,after ,an ,lu- shan's rebellion1 a flavor of feudalism had penetrated ,chinese society1 and huge tracts came to be held by the ,buddhist monasteries1 to which entire estates were sometimes donated4 ,as a result1 the ,buddhists had enormous economic power1 although we may suspect the iconoclastic dhyana establishments in the south enjoyed little of it4 #h4 ,see ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 pp4 #ajb-jc4 #i4 ,see ,heinrich ,dumoulin and ,ruth ,fuller ,sasaki1 ,the ,development of ,chinese ,zen 7,new ,york3 ,first ,zen ,institute of ,america1 #aiec71 p4#ac4 ,interestingly1 the ,vinaya sect1 founded by ,tao-hsuan 7#eif-ffg71 was primarily concerned with the laws of monastic discipline4 ,the familiarity of ,ch'an teachers with the concerns of this sect may have contributed to the desire to create rules for their own assemblies4 #aj4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #aji4 #aa4 ,see ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,the ,zen ,monk's ,life 7,new ,york3 ,olympia ,press1 #aigb72 ,eshin ,nishimura1 ,unsui3 ,a ,diary of ,zen ,monastic ,life 7,honolulu3 ,university ,press of ,hawaii1 #aigc72 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,first ,series1 pp4 #cad-cfb2 and ,koji ,sato1 ,the ,zen ,life 7,new ,york3 ,weatherhill_/,tankosha1 #aigg74 ,a succinct summary of ,zen monastic life is also provided by ,sir ,charles ,eliot in ,japanese ,buddhism 7,london3 ,routledge ,kegan ,paul1 #aice71 p4 #djf4 #ab4 ,see ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teaching of,hui ,hai on ,sudden ,illumination1 p4 #eb4 #ac4 ,ibid41 pp4 #fj-fa4 #ad4 ,ibid41 p4 #dh4 #ae4 ,ibid41 p4 #acc4 #af4 ,ibid41 p4 #gg4 #ag4 ,ibid41 p4 #ee4 #ah4 ,ibid41 p4 #ef4 #ai4 ,ibid41 p4 #gh4 #bj4 ,ibid41 p4 #ed4 #h4 ,,nan-,,ch',,uan ,,and ,,chao-,,chou3 ,,masters ,,of ,,the ,,irrational #a4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aec4 #b4 ,ibid41 p4 #agh4 #c4 ,according to a biographical sketch of ,nan-ch'uan given by ,cleary and ,cleary in ,blue ,cliff ,record1 p4 #bfb4 #d4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #afj4 ,this was also incorporated in the ,blue ,cliff ,record as ,case #dj 7,ibid41 p4 #bib71 where the ,sung-era commentary is actually more obscure than what it attempts to explain4 #e4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #acf4 #f4 ,ibid41 p4 #acf4 #g4 ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #c1 p4 #eg4 #h4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aei4 #i4 ,ibid41 p4 #aeg4 ,this anecdote is also ,case #fi of the ,blue ,cliff ,record4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #afa4 #aa4 ,ibid4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #afb4 #ac4 ,ibid41 p4 #afd4 ,translation of a ,t'ang text1 ,the ,sayings of ,chao- chou1 is provided by ,yoel ,hoffman1 ,radical ,zen 7,brookline1 ,mass43 ,autumn ,press1 #aigh74 #ad4 ,recounted by ,garma ,c4 ,c4 ,chang in ,the ,practice of ,zen 7,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 #aiei71 p4 #bd4 ,this is also ,case #ad of the ,mumonkan and ,cases #fc and #fd of the ,blue ,cliff ,record4 #ae4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #abg4 ,this is also ,case #ai of the ,mumonkan4 #af4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aei4 #ag4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #abi4 #ah4 ,ibid41 p4 #acc4 #ai4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #afi4 #bj4 ,ibid41 p4 #adj4 #ba4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #acf4 #bb4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aga4 #bc4 ,this is ,case #a of the ,mumonkan1 here quoted from a very readable new translation by ,katsuki ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics3 ,mumonkan #f- ,hekiganroku 7,new ,york3 ,weatherhill1 #aigg71 p4 #bg4 #bd4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 pp4 #add-de4 #be4 ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #c1 p4 #gg4 #bf4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #ade4 #bg4 ,ibid41 p4 #aci4 #bh4 ,ibid41 p4 #adf4 #bi4 ,ibid41 p4 #add4 #cj4 #i4 ,p',,ang ,,and ,,han-,,shan3 ,,layman ,,and ,,poet #a4 ,see ,burton ,watson1 ,cold ,mountain 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aigj71 p4 #ac4 ,this concept of the ,zen layman has longbeen a part of ,zen practice in ,japan1 and for this reason both ,layman ,p'ang and the poet ,han-shan are favorite ,ch'an figures with the ,japanese4 ,in fact1 the eighteenth-century ,japanese master ,hakuin wrote a commentary on ,han-shan4 #b4 ,see ,ruth ,fuller ,sasaki1 ,yoshitaka ,iriya1 and ,dana ,r4 ,frasier1 ,the ,recorded ,sayings of ,layman ,p'ang 7,new ,york3 ,weatherhill1 #aiga71 p4 #ah4 #c4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ade4 ,this story is famous and found in many sources4 #d4 ,as evidenced by a common saying of the time3 ,in ,kiangsi the ,master is ,ma-tsu2 in ,hunan the ,master is ,shih-t'ou4 ,people go back and forth between them all the time1 and those who do not know these two great ,masters are completely ignorant4 ,yampolsky1 ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 p4 #ee4 #e4 ,sasaki et al41 ,recorded ,sayings of ,layman ,p'ang1 p4 #df4 #f4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ade4 #g4 ,see ,ibid41 p4 #age4 #h4 ,sasaki et al41 ,recorded ,sayings of ,layman ,p'ang1 p4 #dg4 #i4 ,luk1 ,transmission of the ,mind ,outside the ,teaching1 p4 #db4 #aj4 ,sasaki et al41 ,recorded ,sayings of ,layman ,p'ang1 p4 #eh4 #aa4 ,ibid41 p4 #fi4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #ga #ac4 ,ibid41 p4#dg4 #ad4 ,ibid41 p4 #hh4 #ae4 ,ibid41 pp4 #ed-ee4 ,the translators explain the last two verses as follows3 ,this is derived from the old ,chinese proverb3 ',to win by a fluke is to fall into a fluke' 7and thus to lose by a fluke74 ,concerning the meaning of this exchange1 it would seem that water is here being used as a metaphor for the undifferentiated ,void1 which subsumes the temporary individuality of its parts the way the sea is undifferentiated1 yet contains waves4 ,when ,tan-hsia accepts this premise a little too automatically1 ,p'ang is forced to show him 7via a splash7 that water 7and by extension1 physical manifestations of the components of the ,void7 can also assume a physical reality that impinges on daily life4 ,tan-hsia tries feebly to respond by returning the splash1 but he clearly lost the exchange4 #af4 ,ibid4 p4 #gc4 #ag4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #agf4 ,also see ,sasaki et al41 ,recorded ,sayings of ,lay man ,p'ang1 p4 #ge4 #ah4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #agg4 #ai4 ,sasaki et al41 ,recorded ,sayings of ,layman ,p'ang1 p4 #db4 ,watson1 ,cold ,mountain1 p4 #ej4 ,watson explains that the #bj4 ,arthur ,waley1 #bg ,poems by ,han-shan1 ,encounter1 #c1 #c 7,september #aied71 p4 #c4 #ba4 opening line about taking along books while hoeing in the field was ,from the story of an impoverished scholar of the former ,han ,dynasty who was so fond of learning that he carried his copies of the ,confucian classics along when he went to work in the fields4 ,the last line is ,an allusion to the perch1 stranded in a carriage rut in the road1 who asked the philosopher ,chuang ,tzu for a dipperful of water so that he could go on living4 #bb4 #bc4 ,ibid41 p4 #ef4 #bd4 #bc4 ,waley1 #bg ,poems by ,han-shan1 p4 #f4 #bd4 ,from ,wu ,chi-yu1 ,a ,study of ,han ,shan1 ,t'oung ,pao1 #de1 #d-e 7#aieg71 p4 #dcb4 #bf4 ,gary ,snyder1 ,han-shan1 ,in ,cyril ,birch1 ed41 ,anthology of ,chinese ,literature1 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aife71 p4 #bja4 #bg4 #bh4 ,see ,ibid41 pp4 #aid-if4 #bi4 #bg4 ,see ,watson1 ,cold ,mountain1 p4 #ad4 ,watson says1 ,zen commentators have therefore been forced to regard ,han-shan's professions of loneliness1 doubt1 and discouragement not as revelations of his own feelings but as vicarious recitals of the ills of unenlightened men which he can still sympathize with1 though he himself has transcended them4 ,he thus becomes the traditional ,bodhisattva figure--compassionate1 in the world1 but not of it4 ,watson rejects this interpretation4 #bh4 ,ibid41 p4 #fg4 #bi4 ,ibid41 p4 #hh4 #cj4 ,ibid41 p4 #gh4 #ca4 ,ibid41 p4 #ha4 #cb4 ,ibid41 pp4 #aa-ab4 #cc4 ,snyder1 ,han-shan1 p4 #bjb4 #aj4 ,,huang-,,po3 ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,universal ,,mind #a4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ajb4 #b4 ,this probably was during the last decade of the eighth century1 since ,ma-tsu died in #ghh4 #c4 ,this volume actually consists of two books1 known as the ,chun-chou ,record 7#hdc7 and the ,wan-iing ,record 7#hdi74 ,they are translated and published together by ,john ,blofeld as ,the ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po4 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aieh74 ,this appears to have been the source for biographical and anecdotal material later included in ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp1 portions of which are translated in ,chang ,chung-yuan4 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism4 ,another translation of biographical1 didactic1 and anecdotal material may be found in ,charles ,luk1 ,transmission of the ,mind ,outside the ,teaching1 whose source is unattributed but which possibly could be a translation of the #afjb work ,records of ,pointing at ,the ,moon1 a compilation of ,ch'an materials4 #d4 ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po1 p4 #bh4 #e4 ,ibid41 p4 #bg4 #f4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ajc4 #g4 ,ibid4 #h4 ,ibid41 p4 #ij4 #i4 ,ibid41 p4 #ajc4 #aj4 ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po1 p4 #ii4 #aa4 ,this gesture of defeat is reported elsewhere to have been a triple prostration4 ,huang-po apparently claimed victory in these exchanges when he either kept silent or walked away4 #ab4 ,wan-ling is reported by ,chang ,chung-yuan to be the modern town of ,hsuan-ch'eng in southern ,anhwei province 7,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #abc74 ,according to ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp the prime minister built a monastery and invited ,huang-po to come lecture there1 which the master did4 ,the monastery was then named after a mountain where the master had once lived4 #ac4 ,ibid41 p4 #ajd4 #ad4 ,ibid4 #ae4 ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po1 p4 #ee4 #af4 ,ibid41 p4 #acj4 #ag4 ,ibid41 pp4 #ha-hb4 #ah4 ,ibid41 p4 #dd #ai4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #hg4 #bj4 ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po1 p4 #ec4 #ba4 ,ibid41 p4 #ci4 #bb4 ,ibid41 p4 #df4 #bc4 ,ibid41 p4 #cg4 #bd4 ,ibid4 #be4 ,ibid41 p4 #dj4 #bf4 ,ibid41 p4 #fa4 #bg4 ,ibid41 p4 #bf4 #bh4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #he4 #bi4 ,blofeld1 ,zen ,teachings of ,huang ,po1 p4 #ej4 #cj4 ,see ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen4 #ca4 ,chang ,chung-yuan reports some disagreement over the actual date of ,huang-po's death4 ,it seems that he is reported to have died in #hdi in ,records of ,buddhas and ,patriarchs in ,various ,dynasties1 whereas the year of his death is given as #hee in the ,general ,records of ,buddhas and ,patriarchs4 #cb4 ,excerpts from the ,han ,yu treatise are provided in ,edwin ,o4 ,reischauer1 ,ennin's ,travels in ,t'ang ,china 7,new ,york3 ,ronald ,press1 #aiee71 pp4 #bba ff4 ,this recounting of a visit by a ninth-century ,japanese monk to ,china reveals indirectly how lacking in influence the ,ch'anists actually were4 ,in a diary of many years ,ch'an is mentioned only rarely1 and then in tones of other than respect4 ,he viewed the ,ch'anists warily and described them as extremely unruly men at heart 7p4 #agc74 ,however1 his trip in ,china was severely disturbed by the sudden eruption of the ,great ,persecution1 making him so fearful that he actually destroyed the ,buddhist art he had collected throughout the country4 #cc4 ,see ,hu ,shih1 ,ch'an 7,zen7 ,buddhism in ,china4 #cd4 ,see ,ibid4 #ce4 ,kenneth ,ch'en1 in ,the ,economic ,background of the ,hui-,ch'ang ,suppression of ,buddhism1 ,harvard ,journal of ,asiatic ,studies1 #ai 7#aief71 points out that the imperial decree required the turning in only of statues made from metals having economic value4 ,those made from clay1 wood1 and stone could remain in the temples4 ,he uses this to support his contention that the main driving force behind the ,great ,persecution was the inordinate economic power of the ,buddhist establishments4 #cf4 #aa4 ,,lin-,,chi3 ,,founder ,,of ,,rinzai ,,zen #a4 ,a discussion of the five houses of ,ch'an may be found in ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 pp4 #ajf-bb2 and ,dumoulin and ,sasaki1 ,development of ,chinese ,zen1 pp4 #ag-cb4 ,useful summaries of their teachings also may be found in ,chou ,hsiang-kuang1 ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china4 #b4 ,accounts of ,lin-chi's life are found in ,the ,record of ,lin-chi1 ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp1 ,the ,five ,lamps ,meeting at the ,source1 and ,finger ,pointing at the ,moon4 ,the most reliable source is probably ,the ,record of ,lin-chi1 since this was compiled by his follower7s74 ,the definitive translation of this work certainly must be that by ,ruth ,f4 ,sasaki1 ,the ,recorded ,sayings of ,ch'an ,master ,lin-chi ,hui-chao of ,chen ,prefecture1 7,kyoto1 ,japan3 ,institute of ,zen ,studies1 #aige7 and recently re-issued by ,heian ,international1 ,inc41 ,south ,san ,francisco1 ,calif4 ,another version1 ,the ,zen ,teachings of ,rinzai1 translated by ,irmgard ,schloegl 7,berkeley1 ,calif43 ,shambhala1 #aigf71 is less satisfactory4 ,the ,lin-chi excerpts from ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp may be found in ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism4 ,excerpts from ,the ,five ,lamps ,meeting at the ,source and ,finger ,pointing at the ,moon are provided in ,charles ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching1 ,second ,series 7,berkeley3 ,shambhala1 #aiga74 ,translations of his sermons1 sayings1 etc4 together with commentary may also be found in ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen2 ,chou ,hsiang-kuang1 ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china2 and ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #c4 #c4 ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth is suspicious that ,lin-chi's story was enhanced somewhat for dramatic purposes1 claiming 7,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #c1 p4 #aea71 ,as in the case of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 ,lin-chi's enlightenment is recounted 'dramatically1' that is to say minimizing his previous understanding of ,zen in order to bring out the great change after enlightenment4 #d4 ,sasaki1 ,recorded ,sayings of ,lin-chi1 pp4 #bd-be4 #e4 ,ibid41 p4 #be4 #f4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 pp4 #aag-ah4 #g4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #aid4 #h4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aah4 #i4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #aie4 #aj4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #aai4 #aa4 ,sasaki1 ,recorded ,sayings of ,lin-chi1 p4 #dc4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #de4 #ac4 ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #abb4 #ad4 ,of ,lin-chi's shout1 ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth says 7,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #c1 p4 #aed73 ,the shout is a war-cry1 but the fight is a sort of shadow- boxing4 ,the universe shouts at us1 we shout back4 ,we shout at the universe1 and the echo comes back in the same way4 ,but the shouting and the echoing are continuous1 and1 spiritually speaking1 simultaneous4 ,thus the shout is not an expression of anything2 it has no 7separable7 meaning4 ,it is pure energy1 without cause or effect1 rhyme or reason4 #ae4 ,after ,sasaki1 ,recorded ,sayings of ,lin-chi1 p4 #dg4 #af4 ,see ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #bja4 #ag4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 pp4 #aba-bb4 #ah4 ,sasaki1 ,recorded ,sayings of ,lin-chi1 p4 #d4 #ai4 ,ibid41 p4 #da4 #bj4 ,ibid41 p4 #dh4 #ba4 ,ibid41 p4 #b4 #bb4 ,ibid41 p4 #gj4 #bc4 ,ibid41 p4 #f4 #bd4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ih4 #be4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 pp4 #bjd-je4 #bf4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ii4 #bg4 ,dumoulin1 ,development of ,chinese ,zen1 p4 #bb4 #bh4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ii4 #bi4 ,dumoulin1 ,development of ,chinese ,zen1 p4 #bc4 #cj4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ie4 #ca4 ,sasaki1 ,recorded ,sayings o_/,lin-chi1 pp4 #bg-bh4 #cb4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ie4 #cc4 ,heinrich ,dumoulin 7,development of ,chinese ,zen1 p4 #bb7 notes that this is merely playing off the well-known four propositions of ,ind ian ,buddhist logic3 existence1 nonexistence1 both existence and nonexistence1 and neither existence nor nonexistence4 #cd4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #bjb4 #ce4 ,ibid41 p4 #bjc4 #cf4 ,sasaki1 ,recorded ,sayings of ,lin-chi4 p4 #bi4 #cg4 ,ibid41 p4 #bd4 #ch4 ,ibid41 p4 #ch4 #ci4 #ab4 ,,tung-,,shan ,,and ,,tsao-,,shan3 ,,founders ,,of ,,soto ,,zen #a4 ,philip ,yampolsky1 in ,platform ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch1 alleges that ,hsing-ssu was resurrected from anonymity because ,shih-t'ou 7#gjj- #ij7 was in need of a connection to the ,sixth ,patriarch4 ,the mysterious master ,hsing-ssu comes into prominence well over a hundred years after his death2 his actual life was not chronicled by any of his contemporaries4 ,neither1 for that matter1 was the life of his pupil ,shih-t'ou1 although the latter left a heritage of disciples and a burgeoning movement to perpetuate his memory4 #b4 ,ibid41 p4 #ee4 #c4 ,the stories attached to ,shih-t'ou are varied and questioned by most authorities4 ,for example1 there is the story that he was enlightened by reading ,seng-chau's ,chao-,jun 7,the ,book of ,chao7 but that his philosophy came from ,lao ,tzu4 #d4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #eh4 #e4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #aga4 #f4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #eh4 #g4 ,ibid41 p4 #fj4 #h4 ,ibid41 pp4 #fa-fb4 #i4 ,ibid41 pp4 #fd-fe4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #gf4 #aa4 ,this is elaborated by ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching1 ,second ,series1 p4 #aff4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #agd4 #ac4 ,extended discussions of this concept are provided by ,chang ,chung- yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 pp4 #da-eg2 and by ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 pp4 #agg-hb4 #ad4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #agi4 #ae4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #di4 #af4 ,see ,luk1 ,chan and ,zen ,teaching1 ,second ,series1 p4 #aci4 #ag4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #ej4 #ah4 ,ibid41 p4 #fi4 #ai4 ,when ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth translates this poem in ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #b1 called the ,hokyozammai in ,japanese1 he includes a grand dose of skepticism concerning its real authorship1 since he believes the poem unworthy of the master 7p4 #aeb74 #bj4 ,ibid41 p4 #aeg4 #ba4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #dh4 #bb4 ,ibid41 p4 #gj4 #bc4 ,ibid41 p4 #ga4 #bd4 ,ibid41 p4 #gb4 #be4 ,dumoulin1 ,development of ,chinese ,zen1 p4 #bf4 #cj4 ,eliot1 ,japanese ,buddhism1 p4 #afh4 #ca4 #ac4 ,,kuei-,,shan1 ,,yun-,,men1 ,,and ,,fa-,,yen3 ,,three ,,minor ,,houses #a4 ,accounts of the lives and teachings of the masters of the ,kuei-yang school can be found in a number of translations1 including ,chang ,chung- yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism2 and ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teachings1 ,second ,series4 ,both provide translations from ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp4 ,other sources appear to be used in ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 which includes a lively discussion of ,kuei-shan and the ,kuei-yang sect4 #b4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #aei4 #c4 ,charles ,luk 7,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching1 ,second ,series1 p4 #eh7 makes a valiant try at explication when he says1 ,huai-hai wanted him to perceive 'that which gave the order' and 'that which obeyed it4' 4 4 4 ,huai-hai continued to perform his great function by pressing the student hard1 insisting that the latter should perceive 'that' which arose from the seat1 used the poker1 raised a little fire1 showed it to him and said1 ',is this not fire8' 4 4 4 ,this time the student could actually perceive the reply by means of his self-nature4 4 4 4 ,hence his enlightenment4 #d4 ,see ,ibid41 p4 #eh4 ,ssu-ma seems to have had a good record in predicting monastic success1 and he was much in demand4 ,although the reliance on a fortuneteller seems somewhat out of character for a ,ch'an master1 we should remember that fortunetelling and future prediction in ,china are at least as old as the ,i ,ching4 #e4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #bjb4 #f4 ,ibid41 p4 #bjd4 #g4 ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching1 ,second ,series1 p4 #fg4 #h4 ,ibid41 p4 #gh4 #i4 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #afg4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #afg4 #aa4 ,john ,wu 7,golden ,age of ,zen1 p4 #afe7 says1 ,the style of the house of ,kuei-yang has a charm all of its own4 ,it is not as steep and sharp- edged as the houses of ,lin-chi and ,yun-men1 nor as close-knit and resourceful as the house of ,ts'ao-tung nor as speculative and broad as the house of ,fa-yen1 but it has greater depth than the others4 #ab4 ,see ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #bfi4 ,other translations of ,yun-men anecdotes1 as well as interpretations and appreciations1 can be found in ,luk1 ,ch'an and ,zen ,teaching1 ,second ,series2 ,chou1 ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china2 ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen2 and ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #b4 #ac4 ,he had six koans out of forty-eight in the ,mumonkan and eighteen koans out of a hundred in the ,hekiganroku4 ,perhaps his extensive representation in the second collection is attributable to the fact that its compiler1 ,ch'ung-hsien 7#ihj-ajbe71 was one of the last surviving representatives of ,yun-men's school4 #ad4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism p4 #bhd4 #ae4 ,ibid41 p4 #bhf4 #af4 ,ibid41 p4 #bbi4 #ag4 ,ibid41 p4 #bbh4 #ah4 ,ibid41 p4 #bbi4 #ai4 ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics3 ,mumonkan ,hekiganroku1 p4 #cdi4 ,this koan is from ,hekiganroku1 ,case #gg4 #bj4 ,from the ,mumonkan1 ,case #ba4 ,the ,chinese term used was kan-shin chueh1 which ,chang ,chung-yuan 7,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #cjj7 characterizes as follows3 ,this may be translated either of two ways3 a piece of dried excrement or a bamboo stick used for cleaning as toilet tissue is today4 #ba4 ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #b1 p4 #adb4 #bb4 ,those with insatiable curiosity may consult ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 pp4 #bdd ff4 #bc4 ,translations of his teachings from ,the ,transmission of the ,lamp are provided by ,chang ,chung3yuan in ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism and by ,charles ,luk in ,ch'an and ,zen ,teachings1 ,second ,series4 ,a translation of a completely different source1 which varies significantly on all the major anecdotes1 is provided in ,john ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen4 ,a translation1 presumably from a ,japanese source1 of some of his teachings is supplied by ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth in ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #b4 ,heinrich ,dumoulin offers a brief assessment of his influence in his two books3 ,development of ,chinese ,zen and ,history of ,zen ,buddhism4 #bd4 ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism1 p4 #bch4 ,a completely different version may be found in ,wu1 ,golden ,age of ,zen1 pp4 #bcb-cc4 #be4 ,buddhism ,chang ,chung-yuan1 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an1 p4 #bdb4 #bf4 #ad4 ,,ta-,,hui3 ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,koan #a4 ,see ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #abh4 #b4 ,isshu ,miura and ,ruth ,fuller ,sasaki1 ,zen ,dust 7,new ,york3 ,harcourt1 ,brace ,world1 #aiff71 pp4 #aj-aa4 #c4 ,ibid41 p4 #aj4 ,this individual is identified as ,nan-yuan ,hui-yang 7d4 #icj74 #d4 ,this is ,case #a in the ,mumonkan1 usually the first koan given to a beginning student4 #e4 ,this is ,case #bf of the ,mumonkan4 ,the version given here is after the translation in ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics3 ,mumonkan ,hekiganroku1 p4 #hi4 #f4 ,this is ,case #ed of the ,hekiganroku4 ,the version given is after ,ibid41 p4 #bif1 and ,cleary and ,cleary1 ,blue ,cliff ,record1 p4 #cfb4 #g4 ,isshu and ,sasaki1 ,zen ,dust1 p4 #ac4 #h4 ,there are a number of translations of the ,mumonkan currently available in ,english4 ,the most recent is ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics3 ,mumonkan ,hekiganroku2 but perhaps the most authoritative is ,zenkei ,shibayama1 ,zen ,comments on the ,mumonkan1 trans4 ,sumiko ,kudo 7,new ,york3 ,harper ,lr ,row1 #aigd2 paperback edition1 ,new ,york3 ,new ,american ,library1 #aige74 ,other translations are ,nyogen ,senzaki and ,paul ,reps1 ,the ,gateless ,gate1 in ,paul ,reps1 ed41 ,zen ,flesh1 ,zen ,bones 7,rutland and ,tokyo3 ,tuttle1 #aieg72 ,sohkau ,ogata1 ,the ,mu ,mon ,kwan1 in ,zen for the ,west 7,new ,york3 ,dial1 #aiei72 and ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #d1 ,mumonkan 7,tokyo3 ,hokuseido1 #aiff74 ,three translations of the ,blue ,cliff ,record are currently available in ,english4 ,there is the early and unsatisfactory version by ,r4 ,d4 ,m4 ,shaw 7,london3 ,michael ,joseph1 #aifa74 ,a readable version is provided in ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics1 although this excludes some of the traditional commentary4 ,the authoritative version is certainly that by ,cleary and ,cleary1 ,blue ,cliff ,record4 #i4 ,this is the case with the version provided in ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics4 #aj4 ,see ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #abh4 #aa4 ,see ,l4 ,carrington ,goodrich1 ,a ,short ,history of the ,chinese ,people 7,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 #aidc71 p4 #afa4 #ab4 ,the most comprehensive collection of ,ta-hui's writings is translated in ,christopher ,cleary1 ,swampland ,flowers3 ,the ,letters and ,lectures of ,zen ,master ,ta ,hui 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aigg74 ,excerpts are also translated by ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,second ,series4 ,biographical information may also be found in ,isshu and ,sasaki1 ,zen ,dust4 #ac4 ,translated in ,isshu and ,sasaki1 ,zen ,dust1 p4 #afc4 #ad4 ,a work known today as the ,cheng-fa-yen-tsang4 ,see ,isshu and ,sasaki1 ,zen ,dust1 p4 #afc4 #ae4 ,see ,ibid4 #af4 ,see ,ibid4 #ag4 ,translated by ,cleary1 ,swampland ,flowers1 pp4 #abi-cj4 #ah4 ,see ,sekida1 ,two ,zen ,classics1 p4 #ag4 #ai4 ,suzuki1 ,essays in ,zen ,buddhism1 ,second ,series1 p4 #ajc4 #bj4 ,cleary1 ,swampland ,flowers1 p4 #fd4 #ba4 ,ibid41 p4 #eg4 #bb4 ,ibid41 p4 #ad4 #be4 ,but he destroyed them in vain4 ,around #acjj a monk managed to assemble most of the koans and commentary from scattered sources and put the book back into print4 ,the problem continues to this day2 there is now available a book of answers to a number of koans--,yoel ,hoffman1 ,the ,sound of ,one ,hand ,clapping 7,new ,york3 ,basic ,books1 #aige74 ,one reviewer of this book observed sadly1 ,now if only getting the 'answer' were the same as getting the point4 #bf4 #ae4 ,,eisai3 ,,the ,,first ,,japanese ,,master #a4 ,this anecdote is in ,martin ,charles ,collcutt1 ,the ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan 7,ph4,d4 dissertation1 ,harvard ,university1 #aige74 #b4 ,although there were various attempts to introduce ,ch'an into ,japan prior to the twelfth century1 nothing ever seemed to stick4 ,dumoulin 7,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 pp4 #ach-ci7 summarized these efforts as follows3 ,the first certain information we possess regarding ,zen in ,japan goes back to the early period of her history4 ,the outstanding ,japanese ,buddhist monk during that age1 ,dosho1 was attracted to ,zen through the influence of his ,chinese teacher1 ,hsuan-tsang1 under whom he studied the ,yogacara philosophy 7#fec74 4 4 4 ,dosho thus came into immediate contact with the tradition of ,bodhidharma and brought the ,zen of the patriarchs to ,japan4 ,he built the first meditation hall1 at a temple in ,nara4 4 4 4 ,a century later1 for the first time in history1 a ,chinese ,zen master came to ,japan4 ,this was ,tao-hsuan1 who belonged to the northern sect of ,chinese ,zen in the third generation after ,shen-hsiu4 ,responding to an invitation from ,japanese ,buddhist monks1 he took up residence in ,nara and contributed to the growth of ,japanese culture during the ,tempyo period 7#gbi-gdi74 4 4 4 ,the contemplative element in the ,tendai tradition1 which held an important place from the beginning1 was strengthened in both ,china and ,japan by repeated contacts with ,zen4 ,a further step in the spread of ,zen occurred in the following century when ,i-k'ung1 a ,chinese master of the ,lin-chi sect1 visited ,japan4 ,he came at the invitation of the ,empress ,tachibana ,kachiko1 wife of the ,emperor ,saga1 during the early part of the ,showa era 7#hcd-hdh71 to teach ,zen1 first at the imperial court and later at the ,danrinji temple in ,kyoto1 which the empress had built for him4 ,however1 these first efforts in the systematic propagation of ,zen according to the ,chinese pattern did not meet with lasting success4 ,i-k'ung was unable to launch a vigorous movement4 ,disappointed1 he returned to ,china1 and for three centuries ,zen was inactive in ,japan4 ,another opportunity for the ,japanese to learn about ,ch'an was missed by the famous ,japanese pilgrim ,ennin1 who was in ,china to witness the ,great ,persecution of #hde1 but who paid almost no attention to ,ch'an1 which he regarded as the obsession of unruly ne'er-do-wells4 #c4 ,a number of books provide information concerning early ,japanese history and the circumstances surrounding the introduction of ,buddhism to ,japan4 ,general historical works of particular relevance include3 ,john ,whitney ,hall1 ,japan1 from ,prehistory to ,modern ,times 7,new ,york3 ,delacorte1 #aigj72 ,mikiso ,hane1 ,japan1 ,a ,historical ,survey 7,new ,york3 ,scribner's1 #aigb72 ,edwin ,o4 ,reischauer1 ,japan3 ,past and ,present1 #crd ed4 7,new ,york3 ,knopf1 #aifd72 and ,george ,b4 ,sansom1 ,a ,history of ,japan1 #c vols4 7,stanford1 ,calif43 ,stanford ,university ,press1 #aieh-fc74 ,studies of early ,japanese ,buddhism may be found in3 ,masaharu ,anesaki1 ,history of ,japanese ,religion 7,london3 ,kegan ,paul1 ,trench1 ,trubner1 #aicj3 reissue1 ,rutland1 ,vt43 ,tuttle1 #aifc72 ,william ,k4 ,bunce1 ,religions in ,japan 7,rutland1 ,vt43 ,tuttle1 #aiee72 ,ch'en1 ,buddhism in ,china2 ,eliot1 ,japanese ,buddhism2 ,shinsho ,hanayama1 ,a ,history of ,japanese ,buddhism 7,tokyo3 ,bukkyo ,dendo ,kyokai1 #aiff72 and ,e4 ,dale ,saunders1 ,buddhism in ,japan 7,philadelphia3 ,university of ,pennsylvania ,press1 #aifd74 #d4 ,in fact1 the popularity of esoteric rituals was such that they were an important part of early ,zen practice in ,japan4 #e4 ,this world is well described by ,ivan ,morris in ,the ,world of the ,shining ,prince3 ,court ,life in ,ancient ,japan 7,new ,york3 ,knopf1 #aifd74 ,a discussion of the relation of this aesthetic life to the formation of ,japanese ,zen may be found in ,thomas ,hoover1 ,zen ,culture 7,new ,york3 ,random ,house1 #aigg2 paperback edition1 ,new ,york3 ,vintage1 #aigh74 #f4 ,one of the most readable accounts of the rise of the ,japanese military class may be found in ,paul ,varley1 ,samurai 7,new ,york3 ,delacorte1 #aigj2 paperback edition1 ,new ,york3 ,dell1 #aigb74 #g4 ,this theory is advanced eloquently in ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan4 ,in later years the ,ch'an sect in ,china itself actually entered a phase of decadence1 with the inclusion of esoteric rites and an ecumenical movement that advocated the chanting of the nembutsu by ,ch'anists--some of whom claimed there was great similarity between the psychological aspects of this mechanical chant and those of the koan4 #h4 ,accounts of ,eisai's life may be found in ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism2 and in ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan4 #i4 ,see ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan4 #aj4 ,see ,saunders1 ,buddhism in ,japan1 p4 #bba4 #aa4 ,translated in ,wm4 ,theodore de ,bary1 ed4 ,sources of ,japanese ,tradition1 ,vol4 #a 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aieh71 pp4 #bcf- #cg4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #bcg4 #ac4 ,de ,bary1 ,sources of ,japanese ,tradition1 pp4 #bci-dj4 #ad4 ,again the best discussion of this intrigue is provided by ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan4 #ae4 #af4 ,varley1 ,samurai1 p4 #de4 #ag4 #ag4 ,,dogen3 ,,father ,,of ,,japanese ,,soto ,,zen #ah4 #a4 ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism1 p4 #aea4 ,this statement may be faint praise1 for ,japan has never been especially noted for its religious thinkers4 ,as philosophers1 the ,japanese have been great artists and poets4 ,perhaps no culture can do everything4 #b4 ,biographical information on ,dogen may be found in ,hee-,jin ,kim1 ,dogen ,kigen--,mystical ,realist 7,tucson3 ,university of ,arizona ,press1 #aige72 ,yuho ,yokoi1 ,zen ,master ,dogen 7,new ,york3 ,weatherhill1 #aigf72 and ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism4 ,translations of his writings maybe found in ,dogen ,kigen--,mystical ,realist and ,zen ,master ,dogen as well as in ,jiyu ,kennett1 ,zen is ,eternal ,life 7,emeryville1 ,calif43 ,dharma1 #aigf72 ,dogen1 ,record of ,things ,heard from the ,treasury of the ,eye of the ,true ,teaching trans1 by ,thomas ,cleary 7,boulder1 ,colo43 ,great ,eastern ,book ,company1 #aigh72 ,francis ,dojun ,cook1 ,how to ,raise an ,ox 7,los ,angeles3 ,center ,publications1 #aigh72 and ,kosen ,nishiyama and ,john ,steven1 ,shobogenzo3 ,the ,eye and ,treasury of the ,true ,law 7,new ,york3 ,weatherhill1 #aigg74 #c4 ,kim1 ,dogen ,kigen--,mystical ,realist1 p4 #be4 #d4 ,yokoi1 ,zen ,master ,dogen1 p4 #bh4 #e4 ,see ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan4 #f4 ,kim1 ,dogen ,kigen--,mystical ,realist1 p4 #bi4 #g4 ,ibid41 p4 #ce4 #h4 ,see ,yokoi1 ,zen ,master ,dogen1 p4 #cb4 #i4 ,ibid41 pp4 #de--df4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #df4 #aa4 ,kennett1 ,zen ,is ,eternal ,life1 pp4 #ada-db4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #aeb4 #ac4 ,ibid41 pp4 #aej-ea4 #ad4 ,dogen's attitude toward women was revolutionary for his time4 ,a sampling is provided in ,kim1 ,dogen ,kigen--,mystical ,realist1 pp4 #ed-ee3 ,some people1 foolish in the extreme1 also think of woman as nothing but the object of sensual pleasures1 and see her this way without ever correcting their view4 ,a ,buddhist should not do so4 ,if man detests woman as the sexual object1 she must detest him for the same reason4 ,both man and woman become objects1 thus being equally involved in defilement4 4 4 4 ,what charge is there against woman8 ,what virtue is there in man8 ,there are wicked men in the world2 there are virtuous women in the world4 ,the desire to hear ,dharma and the search for enlightenment do not necessarily rely on the difference in sex4 #ae4 ,yokoi1 ,zen ,master ,dogen1 pp4 #ce-cf4 #af4 ,see ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,training in ,medieval ,japan1 p4 #ei4 #ag4 ,translated in de ,bary1 ,sources of ,japanese ,tradition1 ,vol4 #a41 p4 #bdg4 #ah4 ,see ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan1 p4 #fb4 #ai4 ,see ,ibid41 pp4 #fb ff4 #bj4,see ,philip ,yampolsky1 trans41 ,the ,zen ,master ,hakuin3 ,selected ,writings1 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aiga71 p4 #e4 #ai4 ,,ikkyu3 ,,zen ,,eccentric #bj4 #a4 ,this view is advanced convincingly by ,collcutt in ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan1 p4 #aac ff4 #b4 ,ibid41 p4 #hj4 #c4 ,this would seem to be one of the reasons for what became of a host of emigrating ,ch'an teachers as sub-sects of the ,yogi branch struggled for ascendency over each other4 #d4 ,wu-an's strength of mind is illustrated by a story related in ,collcutt1 ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan1 p4 #hd3 ,wu-an is said to have shocked the religious sensibilities of many warriors and monks when1 in what has been interpreted as a deliberate attempt to sever the connection between ,zen and prayer in ,japanese minds1 he publicly refused to worship before the statue of ,jizo in the ,buddha ,hill of ,kencho-ji on the grounds that whereas ,jizo was merely a ,bodhisattva1 he1 ,wu-an1 was a ,buddha4 #e4 ,related in ,ibid41 p4 #hh4 #f4 ,collcutt 7,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan1 p4 #aad7 points out that the warrior interest in ,zen and its ,chinese cultural trappings should also be credited partly to their desire to stand up to the snobbery of the ,kyoto aristocracy4 ,by making themselves emissaries of a prestigious foreign civilization1 the warrior class achieved a bit of cultural one-upmanship on the ,kyoto snob set4 #g4 ,collcutt 7,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan1 p4 #ajf7 reports that this conversion of temples to ,zen was not always spontaneous4 ,there is the story of one local governor who was called to ,kamakura and in the course of a public assembly asked pointedly whether his family had yet built a ,zen monastery in their home province4 ,the terrified official declared he had built a monastery for a hundred ,zen monks1 and then raced home to start construction4 #h4 ,a discussion of the contribution of ,zen to ,japanese civilization may be found in ,hoover1 ,zen ,culture4 ,an older survey is ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,zen and ,japanese ,culture 7,princeton1 ,n4 ,j43 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aiei74 #i4 ,yampolsky1 ,zen ,master ,hakuin1 p4 #h4 #aj4 ,philip ,yampolsky1 ,muromachi ,zen and the ,gozan ,system1 in ,john ,w4 ,hall and ,toyoda ,takeshi1 eds41 ,japan in the ,muromachi ,age 7,berkeley3 ,university of ,california ,press1 #aigg71 p4 #cai4 #aa4 ,one of the best political histories of this era is ,sansom1 ,history of ,japan4 ,for the history of ,zen1 the best work appears to be ,martin ,collcutt1 ,the ,zen ,monastic ,institution in ,medieval ,japan 7,cambridge3 ,harvard ,university ,press1 in press71 a revised version of the dissertation cited above4 #ab4 ,english sources on ,ikkyu are less common than might at first be supposed4 ,the most exhaustive study and translation of original ,ikkyu writings to date is certainly that of ,james ,sanford1 ,zen-,man ,ikkyu 7,ph4,d4 dissertation1 ,harvard ,university1 #aigb74 ,there is also a lively and characteristically insightful essay by ,donald ,keene1 ,the ,portrait of ,ikkyu1 in ,archives of ,asian ,art1 ,vol4 #bj 7#aiff-fg71 pp4 #ed-fe4 ,this essay has been collected in ,donald ,keene1 ,landscapes and ,portraits 7,palo ,alto3 ,kodansha ,international1 #aiga74 ,another work of ,ikkyu scholarship is ,sonja ,arntzen1 ,a ,presentation of the ,poet ,ikkyu with ,translations from the ,kyounshu ',mad ,cloud ,anthology' 7,unpublished thesis1 ,university of ,british ,columbia1 ,vancouver1 #aiff74 #ac4 ,see ,thomas ,cleary1 ,the ,original ,face3 ,an ,anthology of ,rinzai ,zen 7,new ,york3 ,grove ,press1 #aigh71 p4 #ac4 ,an example of a ,nasrudin-esque parable told about ,ikkyu is the story of his approaching the house of a rich man one day to beg for food wearing his torn robes and straw sandals4 ,the man drove him away1 but when he returned the following day in the luxurious robe of a ,buddhist prelate1 he was invited in for a banquet4 ,but when the food arrived ,ikkyu removed his robe and offered the food to it4 #ad4 ,sanford1 ,zen-,man ,ikkyu1 p4 #dh4 #ae4 ,ibid41 p4 #fh4 #af4 ,ibid4 pp4 #hj-ha4 #ag4 ,translated by ,keene1 ,landscapes and ,portraits1 p4 #bce4 ,professor ,keene 7personal communication7 has provided a revised and1 he believes1 more fully accurate translation of this verse as follows3 ,after ten days of living in this temple my mind's in turmoil2 ,red strings1 very long1 tug at my feet4 ,if one day you get around to looking for me1 ,try the restaurants1 the drinking places or the brothels4 ,he notes that the red strings of the second line refer to the ties of physical attachment to women that drew ,ikkyu from the temple to the pleasure quarters4 #ah4 ,jon ,covell and ,yamada ,sobin1 ,zen at ,daitoku-ji 7,new ,york3 ,kodansha ,international1 #aigd71 p4 #cf4 #ai4 ,sanford1 ,zen-,man ,ikkyu1 p4 #bba4 #bj4 ,ibid41 p4 #bbf4 #ba4 ,ibid41 p4 #bce4 #bb4 ,ibid41 p4 #bbe4 #bc4 ,ibid41 pp4 #bec-ed4 ,a translation may also be found in ,cleary1 ,original ,face2 and in ,r4 ,h4 ,blyth and ,n4 ,a4 ,waddell1 ,ikkyu's ,skeletons1 ,the ,eastern ,buddhist1 ,n4,s4 #g1 #c 7,may #aigc71 pp4 #aaa-be4 ,also see ,blyth1 ,zen and ,zen ,classics1 ,vol4 #g4 #bd4 ,sanford claims 7,zen-,man ,ikkyu1 p4 #cda7 that ,ikkyu's prose is almost totally unknown in ,japan4 #be4 ,ibid41 pp4 #cbf-bg4 #bf4 ,ibid41 p4 #agb4 #bg4 ,jan ,covell 7,zen at ,daitoku-ji1 p4 #ch7 says1 ,ikkyu's own ink paintings are unpretentious and seemingly artless1 always with the flung-ink technique4 ,his calligraphy is ranked among history's greatest 4 4 4 #cb4 ,sanford1 ,zen-,man ,ikkyu1 p4 #cdb4 #cc4 #ba4 ,,hakuin3 ,,japanese ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,koan #bb4 #a4 ,yampolsky1 ,zen ,master ,hakuin1 p4 #aaf4 ,this is undoubtedly the definitive work by and about ,hakuin in ,english and has been used for all the quotations that follow4 ,another translation of some of ,hakuin's works is ,r4 ,d4 ,m4 ,shaw1 ,the ,embossed ,teakettle 7,london3 ,george ,allen ,unwin1 #aifc74 ,a short translation of ,hakuin's writings may be found in ,cleary1 ,original ,face4 ,perhaps the most incisive biographical and interpretive material may be found1 respectively1 in ,dumoulin1 ,history of ,zen ,buddhism2 and ,isshu and ,sasaki1 ,zen ,dust4 #b4 ,yampolsky1 ,zen ,master ,hakuin1 p4 #aag4 #c4 ,ibid41 p4 #ah4 #d4 ,ibid41 pp4 #aah-ai4 #e4 ,ibid41 p4 #aai4 #f4 ,ibid41 p4 #aba4 #g4 ,ibid41 pp4 #ca-cb4 #h4 ,ibid41 p4 #cc4 #i4 ,ibid41 p4 #di4 #aj4 ,ibid41 p4 #cc4 #aa4 ,ibid41 pp4 #eb-ec4 #ab4 ,ibid41 p4 #ec4 #ac4 ,ibid41 p4 #eh4 #ad4 ,ibid4 #ae4 ,ibid41 p4 #ce4 #af4 ,ibid41 pp4 #fc-fd4 #ag4 ,the great ball of doubt1 known in ,chinese as i-t'uan1 was a classic ,zen phrase and has been traced by ,ruth ,fuller ,sasaki 7,zen ,dust1 p4 #bdg7 back to a tenth-century ,chinese monk1 who claimed in a poem1 ,the ball of doubt within my heart_/,was as big as a big wicker basket4 ,hakuin's analysis of the great ball of doubt is translated in ,zen ,dust1 p4 #dc4 #ah4 ,hakuin's invention of his own koans1 which were kept secret and never published1 is a significant departure from the usual technique of simply taking situations from the classic literature1 and demonstrates both his creativity and his intellectual independence4 ,it also raises the question of whether they really were koans under the traditional definition of public case or whether they should be given a different name4 #ai4 ,yampolsky1 ,zen ,master ,hakuin1 p4 #afd4 #bj4 ,the koan system of ,hakuin is discussed by ,yampolsky in ,zen ,master ,hakuin1 p4 #ae2 and by ,sasaki1 in ,the ,zen ,koan1 pp4 #bg-cj4 #ba4 ,yampolsky1 ,zen ,master ,hakuin1 p4 #cb4 #bb4 ,see ,d4 ,t4 ,suzuki1 ,sengai3 ,the ,zen ,master 7,greenwich1 ,conn43 ,new ,york ,graphic ,society1 #aiga72 ,burton ,watson1 ,ryokan3 ,zen ,monk-,poet of ,japan 7,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aigg72 and ,john ,stevens1 ,one ,robe1 ,one ,bowl3 ,the ,zen ,poetry of ,ryokan 7,new ,york3 ,weatherhill1 #aigg74 ,,bibliography ,anesaki1 ,masaharu4 ,history of ,japanese ,religion4 ,london3 ,kegan ,paul1 ,trench1 ,trubner1 #aicj 7reissue1 ,rutland1 ,vt43 ,tuttle1 #aifc74 ,arntzen1 ,sonja4 ,a ,presentation of the ,poet ,ikkyu with ,translations from the ,kyounshu ',mad ,cloud ,anthology4' ,master's thesis1 ,university of ,british ,columbia1 ,vancouver1 #aiff4 ,baskin1 ,wade1 ed4 ,classics in ,chinese ,philosophy4 ,totowa1 ,n4 ,j43 ,littlefield1 ,adams1 #aigd4 ,berry1 ,thomas4 ,buddhism4 ,new ,york3 ,thomas ,y4 ,crowell ,co41 #aige4 ,bingham1 ,woodbridge4 ,the ,founding of the ,t'ang ,dynasty4 ,new ,york3 ,octagon1 #aigj4 ,birch1 ,cyril4 ,anthology of ,chinese ,literature4 ,new ,york3 ,grove1 #aife4 ,blofeld1 ,john4 ,the ,secret and ,sublime3 ,taoist ,mysteries and ,magic4 ,new ,york3 ,e4 ,p4 ,dutton1 #aigc4 ,blofeld1 ,john1 trans4 ,the ,zen ,teaching of ,huang ,po4 ,new ,york3 ,grove1 #aieh4 ------- ,the ,zen ,teaching of ,hui ,hai on ,sudden ,illumination4 ,london3 ,ryder1 #aifb2 paperback reprint1 ,new ,york3 ,weiser1 #aigb4 ,bloodworth1 ,dennis4 ,the ,chinese ,looking ,glass4 ,new ,york3 ,dell1 #aiff4 ,blyth1 ,r4 ,h4 ,zen and ,zen ,classics4 #g ,vols4 ,tokyo3 ,hokuseido1 #aifj-aigj4 ----- and ,n4 ,a4 ,waddell1 ,ikkyu's ,skeletons1 ,the ,eastern ,buddhist1 ,n4,s4 #g1 #c4 ,broughton1 ,jeffrey4 ,kuei-,feng ,tsung-,mi3 ,the ,convergence of ,ch'an and the ,teachings4 ,ph4,d4 dissertation1 ,columbia ,university1 #aige4 ,bunce1 ,william ,k4 ,religions in ,japan4 ,rutland3 ,tuttle1 #aiee4 ,bynner1 ,witter4 ,the ,jade ,mountain4 ,new ,york3 ,vintage1 #aieg4 ,chai1 ,ch'u1 and ,winberg ,chai4 ,confucianism4 ,new ,york3 ,barron's ,educational ,series1 #aigc4 ----- ,the ,humanist ,way in ,ancient ,china3 ,essential ,works of ,confucianism4 ,new ,york3 ,bantam1 #aife4 ,chan1 ,wing-tsit1 trans4 ,the ,platform ,scripture4 ,new ,york3 ,st4 ,johns ,university ,press1 #aifc4 ------,a ,source ,book in ,chinese ,philosophy4 ,princeton3 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aifc4 ----- ,transformation of ,buddhism in ,china1 ,philosophy ,east and ,west1 ,,vii 7#aieg-eh7 pp4 #ajg-af4 ,chang1 ,garma ,c4 ,c4 ,the ,practice of ,zen4 ,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 #aiei2 paperback edition1 ,perennial ,library1 #aigj4 ,chang1 ,chung-yuan4 ,creativity and ,taoism3 ,a ,study of ,chinese ,philosophy1 ,art1 and ,poetry4 ,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 #aigj4 ----- ,tao3 ,a ,new ,way of ,thinking4 ,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 #aige2paperback edition1 ,perennial ,library1 #aigg4 ----- trans4 ,original ,teachings of ,ch'an ,buddhism 7,the ,transmission of the ,lamp74 ,new ,york3 ,random ,house1 #aifi2 paperback edition1 ,vintage1 #aiga4 ,chatterjee1 ,h41 ed4 ,mula-,madhyamaka-,karika of ,nagarjuna4 ,calcutta3 ,k4 ,l4 ,mukhopadhyay1 #aifb4 ,chau1 ,bhikshu ,thich ,minh4 ,hsuan ,tsang1 ,the ,pilgrim ,er ,scholar4 ,nha- trang1 ,vietnam3 ,vietnam ,buddhist ,institute1 n4d4 ,chen1 ,c4 ,m4 ,the ,lighthouse in the ,ocean of ,ch'an4 ,kalimpong3 ,buddhist ,association of the ,united ,states1 #aife4 ,ch'en1 ,kenneth4 ,buddhism in ,china4 ,princeton3 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aigb4 ----- 4 ,buddhism3 ,the ,light of ,asia4 ,new ,york3 ,barron's ,educational ,series1 ,inc41 #aifh ----- 4 ,the ,chinese ,transformation of ,buddhism4 ,princeton3 ,princeton ,university ,press1 #aigc4 ----- 4 ,the ,economic ,background of the ,hui-ch'ang ,suppression of ,buddhism1 ,harvard journal of ,asiatic ,studies1 #ai1 7#aief71 pp4 #fg-aje4 ,chiang1 ,yee4 ,the ,chinese ,eye4 ,bloomington3 ,indiana ,university ,press1 #aifd4 ,chou1 ,hsiang-kuang4 ,dhyana ,buddhism in ,china4 ,allahabad1 ,india3 ,indo- ,chinese ,literature ,publications1 #aifj4 ,cleary1 ,christopher1 trans4 ,swampland ,flowers3 ,the ,letters and ,lectures of ,zen ,master ,ta ,hui4 ,new ,york3 ,grove1 #aigg4 ,cleary1 ,thomas1 trans4 ,the ,original ,face4 ,new ,york3 ,grove1 #aigh4 ----- 1 ,sayings and ,doings of ,pai-chang4 ,los ,angeles3 ,center ,publications1 #aigi4 ----- 1 and ,j4 ,c4 ,cleary1 trans4 ,the ,blue ,cliff ,record4 #c vols4 ,berkeley1 ,calif43 ,shambhala1 #aigg4 ,conze1 ,edward1 ed4 ,buddhist ,texts ,through the ,ages4 ,oxford3 ,bruno ,cassirer1 #aied4 ,cook1 ,francis ,dojun4 ,how to ,raise an ,ox4 ,los ,angeles3 ,center ,publications1 #aigh4 ,covell1 ,jon1 and ,yamada ,sobin4 ,zen at ,daitoku-ji4 ,new ,york3 ,kodansha ,international1 #aigd4 ,creel1 ,herrlee ,g4 ,what ,is ,taoism8 ,and ,other ,studies in ,chinese ,cultural ,history4 ,chicago3 ,the ,university of ,chicago ,press1 #aigj4 ,davis1 ,a4 ,r4 ,tu ,fu4 ,new ,york3 ,twayne1 #aiga4 ,day1 ,clarence ,burton4 ,the ,philosophers of ,china4 ,new ,york3 ,philosophical ,library1 #aifb2 paperback edition1 ,secaucus1 ,n4 ,j43 ,citadel1 #aigh4 de ,bary1 ,william ,theodore4 ,the ,buddhist ,tradition in ,india1 ,china and ,japan4 ,new ,york3 ,random ,house1 #aigb4 de ,bary1 ,william ,theodore1 ed4 ,sources of ,japanese ,tradition4 #b vols4 ,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aieh4 ----- 1 ,wing-tsit ,chan1 and ,burton ,watson4 ,sources of ,chinese ,tradition1 ,vol4 ,i4 ,new ,york3 ,columbia ,university ,press1 #aifj4 ,dogen1 ,record of ,things ,heard from the ,treasury of the ,eye of the ,true ,teaching4 ,trans4 ,thomas ,cleary4 ,boulder1 ,colo43 ,great ,eastern ,book ,co41 #aigh4 ,dogen1 ,trans4 ,jiyu ,kennett4 ,zen is ,eternal ,life4 ,emeryville1 ,calif43 ,dharma1 #aigf4 ,dumoulin1 ,heinrich4 ,a ,history of ,zen ,buddhism4 ,new ,york3 ,random ,house1 #aifc2 paperback edition1 ,boston3 ,beacon1 #aifi4 ----- 1 and ,ruth ,fuller ,sasaki4 ,the ,development of ,chinese ,zen4 ,new ,york3 ,first ,zen ,institute of ,america1 #aiec4 ,eberhard1 ,wolfram4 ,a ,history of ,china4 ,berkeley3 ,university of ,california ,press1 #aigg4 ,eliot1 ,sir ,charles4 ,japanese ,buddhism4 ,new ,york3 ,barnes ,noble1 #aifi4 ,feng1 ,gai-fu1 and ,jane ,english1 trans4 ,chuang ,tsu4 ,new ,york3 ,vintage1 #aigd4 ----- 4 ,tao ,te-,ching4 ,new ,york3 ,vintage1 #aigb4 ,first ,zen ,institute of ,america4 ,cat's ,yawn4 ,new ,york3 #aidg4 ,fitzgerald1 ,c4 ,p4 ,china--,a ,short ,cultural ,history4 ,new ,york3 ,praeger1 #aifa4 ----- 4 ,the ,empress ,wu4 ,vancouver3 ,university of ,british ,columbia1 #aifh4 ----- 4 ,son of ,heaven3 ,a ,biography of ,li ,shih-min1 ,founder of the ,t'ang ,dynasty4 ,cambridge3 ,university ,press1 #aicc4 ,frederic1 ,louis4 ,daily ,life in ,japan at the ,time of the ,samurai4 ,tokyo3 ,tuttle1 #aigb4 ,fung1 ,paul ,f41 and ,george ,d4 ,fung1 trans4 ,the ,sutra of the ,sixth ,patriarch on the ,pristine ,orthodox ,dharma4 ,san ,francisco3 ,buddha's ,universal ,church1 #aifd4 ,fung ,yu-,ian4 ,a ,short ,history of ,chinese ,philosophy4 ,new ,york3 ,macmillan1 #aidh2 paperback edition1 ,free ,press1 #aiff4 ----- 4 ,the ,spirit of ,chinese ,philosophy4 ,boston3 ,beacon ,press1 #aifb4 ,gernet1 ,jacques4 ,biographie du ,matre ,chen-houei de ,ho-tso1 ,journal ,asiatique1 #bdi 7#aiea71 pp4 #bi-fj4 ----- 4 ,complement aux ,entretiens du ,maitre de ,dhyana ,chen-houei 7#ffh-gfj71 ,,befeo1 #dd1 #b 7#aied71 pp4 #dec-ff4 ----- 4 ,daily ,life in ,china on the ,eve of the ,mongol ,invasion4 ,trans4 ,h4 ,m4 ,wright4 ,new ,york3 ,macmillan1 #aifb4 ----- 4 ,entretiens du ,maitre de ,dhyana ,chen-bouei du ,ho-tso1 ,hanoi1 #aidi4 7,publications de l'ecole frangaise d',extreme-,orient1 ,vol4 #ca74 ,giles1 ,herbert ,a4 ,a ,history of ,chinese ,literature4 ,new ,york3 ,grove1 #aibc4 ,goddard1 ,dwight1 ed4 ,a ,buddhist ,bible4 ,new ,york3 ,dutton1 #aich2 paperback edition1 ,boston3 ,beacon1 #aigj4 ,goodrich1 ,l4 ,carrington4 ,a ,short ,history of the ,chinese ,people1 #dth edn4 ,new ,york3 ,harper ,row1 #aifc4 ,graham1 ,a4 ,c4 ,poems of the ,late ,t'ang4 ,baltimore3 ,penguin1 #aife4 ,grousset1 ,rene4 ,in ,the ,footsteps of the ,buddha4 ,new ,york3 ,grossman1 #aiga4 ----- 4 ,the ,rise and ,splendour of the ,chinese ,empire4 ,berkeley3 ,university of ,california ,press1 #aifb4 ,hall1 ,john ,whitney4 ,japan1 ,from ,prehistory to ,modern ,times4 ,new ,york3 ,delacorte1 #aigj4 ----- 1 and ,toyoda ,takeshi1 eds4 ,japan in ,the ,muromachi ,age4 ,berkeley3 ,university of ,california ,press1 #aigg4 ,hanayama1 ,shinsho4 ,a ,history of ,japanese ,buddhism4 ,tokyo3 ,bukkyo ,dendo ,kyokai1 #aiff4 ,harrison1 ,john ,a4 ,the ,chinese ,empire4 ,new ,york3 ,harcourt ,brace ,jovanovich1 #aigb4 ,hoffmann1 ,yoel4 ,radical ,zen4 ,brookline1 ,mass43 ,autumn ,press1 #aigh4 -------4 ,the ,sound of ,one ,hand ,clapping4 ,new ,york3 ,basic ,books1 #aige4 ,hookham1 ,hilda4 ,a ,short ,history of ,china4 ,new ,york3 ,st4 ,martin's ,press1 ,inc41 #aigb2 paperback edition1 ,new ,york3 ,new ,american ,library1 #aigb4 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