One of the earliest attempts to translate this important work into English was by Sasaki Shigetsu , a pioneer Zen master in the U. At the time of his death, he entrusted the project to his wife, Ruth Fuller Sasaki. Determined to produce a definitive translation, Mrs. Sasaki assembled a team of talented young scholars, both Japanese and Western, who in the following years retranslated the text in accordance with modern research on Tang-dynasty colloquial Chinese.
The materials assembled by Mrs. Sasaki and her team are finally available in the present edition of the Record of Linji. The notes, nearly six hundred in all, are almost entirely based on primary sources and thus retain their value despite the nearly forty years since their preparation. It is said of Joshu that 'his lips emitted light, ' evoking clearly his own experience and enlightenment.
His teachings are a keynote in the official koan of Zen. One of the recovered Zen texts was a seven-piece collection, the Bodhidharma Anthology. In its most non-dualistic form, existential freedom comes only from realization of the "true man":. He is without form, without characteristics, without root, without source, and without any dwelling place, yet is brisk and lively. The process of such identification, this "thirst for becoming" a deeply insightful teaching of the Buddha himself , is manifest in the endless stream of our personal tendencies, divided neatly by Buddhists into the triad of desire, aggression, and ignorance.
When we realize ourselves to actually be this free inner agent, then we become that freedom itself. In the chronicle of Lin-chi's rugged teaching, we see a beautiful example of action without hesitation. The true man, ever and always, is free and unperturbed. How can this be? There are no dharmas [genuine objective phenomena] to be disliked.
Actually, this is a very radical statement, and begins to undercut Lin-chi's own previous teaching. Such self-dismissal, and awareness of the relativity of all conceptual teaching, no matter how clear, is the hallmark of the Ch'an school. Words may be able to point us to the goal, but pondering their intellectual matter is surely not the goal itself.
Two ideas stand out here. First, the true inner Way-man is utterly non-physical, formless, and beyond all phenomenal activity. Thus, that One can never be burned, drowned, or in any other way essentially affected by physical conditions.
Without intending to do so, this statement is not too far from the ordinary New Age understanding of Higher Self, but that is another matter! What is pure spacious light cannot be affected by the movement of the four elements. Thus, the Taoist sage, as described by Chuang Tzu, is unruffled by gain or loss or disaster of any kind. The true man, real sage knows himself to be, and has fused in awareness with, this essential agent, and thus stands free of misfortune and the cycles of phenomenal display.
Or shout, or just do as you please? Of course, acting freely without total comprehension and fusion in this state of inner freedom can have disastrous consequences, as many a recent teacher-scandal shows. Regarding action and non-action, which gives us another comparison with Taoist thought as Taoists speak extensively about wu-wei, or non-doing , Lin-chi states:.
If you try to seize it [Buddha-nature] within motion, it takes a position within motionlessness. If you try to seize it within motionlessness, it takes a position within motion Virtuous monks, motion and motionlessness are merely two kinds of states; it is the non-dependent Man of the Way who utilizes motion, and utilizes motionlessness.
Only when we at last recognize the insubstantiality of all such states, can we utilize them all freely. At that point, we begin to be a real teacher and guide to others on the 'path to' enlightenment. Hence, a Master may fall silent, shout, beat, or walk away from an inquiring student. All are still conditioned, and all are still far from real enlightenment. I am sure some Buddhists criticized the Taoist notion of wu-wei as just another form of quietism, an apparent attachment to motionlessness.
However, the real meaning of Taoist wu-wei is not quietism at all, but rather, activity in harmony with the ever-changing, ever-unchanging Way of all life. Later on in this same talk, Lin-chi speaks of the vanity of the act of searching itself for the true man, the inner Buddha-nature:. He is brisk and lively, with no roots al all.
Though you try to embrace him, you cannot gather him in; though you try to drive him away, you cannot shake him off. If you seek him he retreats farther and farther away; if you don't seek him, then he's right there before your eyes, his wondrous voice resounding in your ears. If a man has no faith [in this], he'll waste his entire life. Lin-chi's description of the true man fits the ideal Ch'an Master or student : brisk and lively, with no roots at all. The "inner agent" clings to nothing: "the man of the Way leaves no trace of his activity.
So Lin-chi had to cut through all that his disciples brought him, and most certainly, their understanding of Buddhism, coming as it did from conceptual process, and not liberation itself:. Even if such things existed, they would only be works and writings for the guidance of little children, expedient remedies for illnesses, and displays of names and phrases.
Their concepts are not particularly important at all. What is really important is simply the One who considers them. It is no less than the true man searching outside himself, for himself.
The very searcher that which is sought. Indeed, Hindu yoga says the exact same thing:. Thus, in all his words and acts, Lin-chi uses expedient means to cut through his students' endless round of seeking and conceiving. His teaching of the "true man without rank" is merely yet another form of "name and phrase. Tracing the life stories of 12 Chinese Zen Masters, who, together, shaped what was to become known as Zen's Golden Age, this volume, based on scholarly and historical records, discusses how ancient Zen insight is relevant for the 21st century.
Through a close analysis of Zen encounter dialogues gong'ans and Huayan Buddhist philosophy, Buddhism and Postmodernity offers a new ethical paradigm for Buddhist-postmodern philosophy.
The tradition of Chan Buddhism—more popularly known as Zen—has been romanticized throughout its history. In this book, John R. McRae shows how modern critical techniques, supported by recent manuscript discoveries, make possible a more skeptical, accurate, and—ultimately—productive assessment of Chan lineages, teaching, fundraising practices, and social organization.
Synthesizing twenty years of scholarship, Seeing through Zen offers new, accessible analytic models for the interpretation of Chan spiritual practices and religious history. Writing in a lucid and engaging style, McRae traces the emergence of this Chinese spiritual tradition and its early figureheads, Bodhidharma and the "sixth patriarch" Huineng, through the development of Zen dialogue and koans.
McRae argues that Chinese Chan is fundamentally genealogical, both in its self-understanding as a school of Buddhism and in the very design of its practices of spiritual cultivation. Furthermore, by forgoing the standard idealization of Zen spontaneity, we can gain new insight into the religious vitality of the school as it came to dominate the Chinese religious scene, providing a model for all of East Asia—and the modern world.
Ultimately, this book aims to change how we think about Chinese Chan by providing new ways of looking at the tradition. Often misunderstood as a system of mind games, the Chan path leads to enlightenment through apparent contradiction.
While demanding the mental and physical discipline of traditional Buddhist doctrine, it asserts that wisdom Buddha-nature is innate and immediate in all living beings, and thus not to be achieved through devotion to the strictures of religious practice. You arrive without departing. Master Sheng-yen provides an unprecedented understanding of Chan, its precepts, and its practice. Beginning with a basic overview of Buddhism and meditation, Hoofprint of the Ox details the progressive mental exercises traditionally followed by all Buddhists.
Known as the Three Disciplines, these procedures develop moral purity, meditative concentration, and enlightening insight through the "stilling" of the mind. Master Sheng-yen then expounds Chan Buddhism, recounting its centuries-old history in China and illuminating its fundamental tenets.
He contemplates the nature of Buddhahood, specifies the physical and mental prerequisites for beginning Chan practice, and humbly considers what it means to be an enlightened Chan master. Drawing its title from a famous series of pictures that symbolizes the Chan path as the search of an ox-herd for his wayward ox, Hoofprint of the Ox is an inspirational guide to self-discovery through mental transformation. A profound contribution to Western understanding of Chan and Zen, this book is intended for practicing Buddhists as well as anyone interested in learning about the Buddhist path.
With the growing popularity of Zen Buddhism in the West, virtually everyone knows, or thinks they know, what a koan is: a brief and baffling question or statement that cannot be solved by the logical mind and which, after sustained concentration, can lead to sudden enlightenment. But the truth about koans is both simpler--and more complicated--than this.
In Opening a Mountain, Steven Heine shows that koans, and the questions we associate with them--such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?
To establish a new monastery, "to open a mountain," the Zen master had to tame these wild forces in regions most remote from civilization.
In these extraordinary encounters, fingers and arms are cut off, pitchers are kicked over, masters appear in and interpret each other's dreams, and seemingly absurd statements are shown to reveal the deepest insights. Heine restores these koans to their original traditions, allowing readers to see both the complex elements of Chinese culture and religion that they reflect and the role they played in Zen's transformation of local superstitions into its own teachings.
Offering a fresh approach to one of the most crucial elements of Zen Buddhism, Opening a Mountain is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the full story behind koans and the mysterious worlds they come from. Zen Buddhism distinguishes itself by brilliant flashes of insight and its terseness of expression. The haiku verse form is a superb means of studying Zen modes of thought and expression, for its seventeen syllables impose a rigorous limitation that confines the poet to vital experience.
Here haiku by Matsuo Basho - the greatest Japanese haiku poet - are translated by Robert Aitken, with commentary that provides a new and deeper understanding of Basho's work than ever before.
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