Difference between revisions of "Dahui Zonggao"
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− | [[Dahui Zonggao]] (1089–1163) ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Ta-hui Tsung-kao]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Daie Sōkō]]) was a 12th century {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[Chan]] ([[Zen]]) [[master]] best known as a keen advocate of the use of [[koans]] to achieve [[enlightenment]]. He successfully created an ‘{{Wiki|orthodoxy}}’ of [[teaching]] through [[koans]] which influenced all subsequent [[teachers]] in the [[Linji]] ([[Japanese]]: [[Rinzai]]) [[tradition]] of [[koan]] practice in [[China]], [[Korea]] and [[Japan]]. Although he saw [[koan]] practice as the most effective method to [[enlightenment]], he saw this practice in his [[time]] as becoming a [[superficial]] {{Wiki|literary}} study and, in a radical move, he ordered the suppression of his own teacher’s masterly collection of [[koans]], The [[Blue Cliff Record]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Pi Yen Lu]]; {{Wiki|Pinyin}}: [[Bìyán Lù]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Hekiganroku]]), burning all copies and the wooden blocks to print them, effectively taking the venerated text out of circulation for the next two centuries. | + | |
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+ | [[Dahui Zonggao]] (1089–1163) ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Ta-hui Tsung-kao]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Daie Sōkō]]) was a 12th century {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[Chan]] ([[Zen]]) [[master]] best known as a keen advocate of the use of [[koans]] to achieve [[enlightenment]]. He successfully created an ‘{{Wiki|orthodoxy}}’ of [[teaching]] through [[koans]] which influenced all subsequent [[teachers]] in the [[Linji]] ([[Japanese]]: | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | [[Rinzai]]) [[tradition]] of [[koan]] practice in [[China]], [[Korea]] and [[Japan]]. Although he saw [[koan]] practice as the most effective method to [[enlightenment]], he saw this practice in his [[time]] as becoming a [[superficial]] {{Wiki|literary}} study and, in a radical move, he ordered the suppression of his [[own]] [[teacher’s]] masterly collection of [[koans]], The [[Blue Cliff Record]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Pi Yen Lu]]; {{Wiki|Pinyin}}: [[Bìyán Lù]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Hekiganroku]]), burning all copies and the wooden blocks to print them, effectively taking the venerated text out of circulation for the next two centuries. | ||
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[[File:Imag47es.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | [[File:Imag47es.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
− | [[Dahui]] was a [[disciple]] of [[Yuanwu Keqin]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Engo Kokugon]]) (1063-1135) and was the 12th generation of the [[Linji]] line of [[Chan]]. He was a vigorous critic of what he called the "{{Wiki|heretical}} [[Ch'an]] of [[silent]] [[illumination]]" ([[mo-chao hsieh-ch'an]]) of the [[Caodong]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Ts'ao-tung]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Sōtō]]) school. His [[teaching]] became known as the "[[Ch'an]] of [[kung-an]] ([[koan]]) {{Wiki|introspection}}" ([[k'an-hua ch'an]]). Although he believed that [[koans]] were the best way to achieve [[enlightenment]], he also [[recognized]] the [[teaching]] of {{Wiki|Confucius}} and {{Wiki|Lao-tzu}} as valuable, saying, "If one achieves a genuine breakthrough, then [one realizes that] a {{Wiki|Confucian}} is no different from a [[Buddhist]], and a [[Buddhist]] is no different from a {{Wiki|Confucian}}; a [[monk]] is no different from a [[layman]], and a [[layman]] is no different from a [[monk]]; an [[ordinary man]] is no different from a [[Wikipedia:Sage (sophos|sage]], and a [[Wikipedia:Sage (sophos|sage]] is no different from an [[ordinary man]]." | + | [[Dahui]] was a [[disciple]] of [[Yuanwu Keqin]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Engo Kokugon]]) (1063-1135) and was the 12th generation of the [[Linji]] line of [[Chan]]. He was a vigorous critic of what he called the "{{Wiki|heretical}} [[Ch'an]] of [[silent]] [[illumination]]" ([[mo-chao hsieh-ch'an]]) of the [[Caodong]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Ts'ao-tung]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Sōtō]]) school. His [[teaching]] became known as the "[[Ch'an]] of [[kung-an]] ([[koan]]) {{Wiki|introspection}}" ([[k'an-hua ch'an]]). Although he believed |
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+ | that [[koans]] were the best way to achieve [[enlightenment]], he also [[recognized]] the [[teaching]] of {{Wiki|Confucius}} and {{Wiki|Lao-tzu}} as valuable, saying, "If one achieves a genuine [[breakthrough]], then [one realizes that] a {{Wiki|Confucian}} is no different from a [[Buddhist]], and a [[Buddhist]] is no different from a {{Wiki|Confucian}}; a [[monk]] is no different from a [[layman]], and a [[layman]] is | ||
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+ | no different from a [[monk]]; an [[ordinary man]] is no different from a [[Wikipedia:Sage (sophos|sage]], and a [[Wikipedia:Sage (sophos|sage]] is no different from an [[ordinary man]]." | ||
[[File:Amitabha1.JPG|thumb|250px|]] | [[File:Amitabha1.JPG|thumb|250px|]] | ||
{{Wiki|Biography}} | {{Wiki|Biography}} | ||
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[[File:Buddha-face.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | [[File:Buddha-face.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
− | [[Dahui]] was born in [[Hsuan Ch’eng]], Anwhei Province, to the Hsi family. He left home at sixteen and became a [[Buddhist monk]] at seventeen. His {{Wiki|initiatory}} [[name]] was [[Tsung Kao]]. Following the [[tradition]] of the day, he wandered from [[Chan]] {{Wiki|community}} to {{Wiki|community}}, seeking instruction. He studied under a [[Caodong]] [[master]] and mastered the [[essentials]] of the [[Five Ranks of the House of Caodong]] in two years. He studied all the records of the [[Five Houses]] of [[Chan]], being particularly drawn to the words of [[Yunmen Wenyan]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Yün-men Wên-yen]] [[Japanese]]: [[Ummon Bun’en]]), 864-949, founder of one of the "[[Five Houses]]" of [[Chan]]. He sought out instruction on the sayings of the old [[masters]] collected and commented on by [[Xuedou Chongxian]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Hsüeh-tou Ch’ung-hsien]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Setchō Jūken]]) which became the basis for the [[koan]] collection, the [[Blue Cliff Record]]. Dissatisfied with [[intellectual]] study, at the age of twenty-one he went to [[Treasure]] Peak, near the {{Wiki|modern}} city of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province, to study with [[Zhan Tangzhun]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Chan-t'ang Wen-chun]]), a [[master]] of the [[Huang-lung]] branch of the [[Linji School]]. Although [[Dahui]] developed a great [[intellectual]] [[understanding]] of [[Chan]], [[enlightenment]] eluded him. [[Recognizing]] his potential and great [[intellectual]] {{Wiki|abilities}}, [[Zhan Tangzhun]] made [[Dahui]] his personal {{Wiki|attendant}}. One day [[Tangzhou]] asked [[Dahui]], "Why are your nostrils [[boundless]] today?" [[Dahui]] replied, "(Because) I’m at your place." [[Tangzhou]] retorted, "You phony [[Chan]] man." | + | |
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+ | [[Dahui]] was born in [[Hsuan Ch’eng]], Anwhei Province, to the Hsi [[family]]. He left home at sixteen and became a [[Buddhist monk]] at seventeen. His {{Wiki|initiatory}} [[name]] was [[Tsung Kao]]. Following the [[tradition]] of the day, he wandered from [[Chan]] {{Wiki|community}} to {{Wiki|community}}, seeking instruction. He studied under a [[Caodong]] [[master]] and mastered the [[essentials]] of the [[Five Ranks of the House of Caodong]] in two years. He studied all the records of the [[Five Houses]] of [[Chan]], being particularly drawn to the words of [[Yunmen Wenyan]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Yün-men Wên-yen]] [[Japanese]]: [[Ummon Bun’en]]), 864-949, founder of one of the | ||
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+ | "[[Five Houses]]" of [[Chan]]. He sought out instruction on the sayings of the old [[masters]] collected and commented on by [[Xuedou Chongxian]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Hsüeh-tou Ch’ung-hsien]]; [[Japanese]]: [[Setchō Jūken]]) which became the basis for the [[koan]] collection, | ||
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+ | the [[Blue Cliff Record]]. Dissatisfied with [[intellectual]] study, at the age of twenty-one he went to [[Treasure]] Peak, near the {{Wiki|modern}} city of Nanchang in [[Jiangxi Province]], to study with [[Zhan Tangzhun]] ([[Wade-Giles]]: [[Chan-t'ang Wen-chun]]), a [[master]] | ||
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+ | of the [[Huang-lung]] branch of the [[Linji School]]. Although [[Dahui]] developed a great [[intellectual]] [[understanding]] of [[Chan]], [[enlightenment]] eluded him. [[Recognizing]] his potential and great [[intellectual]] {{Wiki|abilities}}, [[Zhan Tangzhun]] made [[Dahui]] his personal {{Wiki|attendant}}. One day [[Tangzhou]] asked [[Dahui]], "Why are your nostrils [[boundless]] today?" [[Dahui]] replied, "(Because) I’m at your place." [[Tangzhou]] retorted, "You phony [[Chan]] man." | ||
Another [[time]], when [[Dahui]] was twenty-six, [[Tangzhou]] called him over and said, | Another [[time]], when [[Dahui]] was twenty-six, [[Tangzhou]] called him over and said, | ||
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− | Later, after [[Dahui]] achieved the great breakthrough, [[enlightenment]] [[experience]] as the answer to the riddle of [[life]] and [[death]] and the great [[doubt]] necessary to have the [[determination]] to break through became {{Wiki|central}} to [[Dahui’s]] [[teaching]]. When [[Tangzhou]] was ill, [[Dahui]] asked him to whom he could turn to continue his studies. [[Tangzhou]] said, "There’s a fellow from [[Szechuan]] named [[Ch’in]] ([[Yuanwu Keqin]]). Although I don’t know him, you must place your reliance on him, and you’ll be able to complete your affair." On his way to [[T’ien Ning]] [[Monastery]] in the old {{Wiki|imperial}} city of Pien, [[Dahui]] [[vowed]] to work with [[Yuanwu]] for nine years and if he did not achieve [[enlightenment]] or if [[Yuanwu]] turned out to be a false [[teacher]], giving approval too easily, [[Dahui]] would give up and turn to [[writing]] [[scriptures]] or treatises. [[Yuanwu]] gave [[Dahui]] [[Yunmen’s]] saying, "[[East Mountain]] walks on the [[water]]" as a [[koan]] to work through. [[Dahui]] threw himself into the [[koan]] and struggled with it day and night, giving forty-nine answers to the [[koan]], but all were rejected by his [[teacher]]. Finally, on May 13, 1125, he broke through. Later, he recalled the event: | + | "You can talk about [[Ch'an]] very well; you can quote the sayings of former [[masters]] and write commentaries on them. You are eloquent in giving [[sermons]] and quick with the exchanges during interviews. But there is one thing which you still do not know". [[Ta-hui]] asked what it was. [[Tangzhou]] answered, "What you do not have is the [[awakening]]. Thus, when I talk with you in my room, you have [[Chan]]. But as |
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+ | soon as you leave the room, you lose it. When you are awake and attentive, you have [[Chan]]. But as soon as you fall asleep, you lose it. If you continue like this, how can you ever conquer [[life]] and [[death]]?" [[Dahui]] agreed, saying, "This is precisely my point of [[doubt]]." | ||
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+ | Later, after [[Dahui]] achieved the great [[breakthrough]], [[enlightenment]] [[experience]] as the answer to the riddle of [[life]] and [[death]] and the great [[doubt]] necessary to have the [[determination]] to break through became {{Wiki|central}} to [[Dahui’s]] [[teaching]]. When [[Tangzhou]] was ill, [[Dahui]] asked him to whom he could turn to continue his studies. [[Tangzhou]] said, "There’s a | ||
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+ | fellow from [[Szechuan]] named [[Ch’in]] ([[Yuanwu Keqin]]). Although I don’t know him, you must place your reliance on him, and you’ll be able to complete your affair." On his way to [[T’ien Ning]] [[Monastery]] in the old {{Wiki|imperial}} city of Pien, [[Dahui]] [[vowed]] to | ||
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+ | work with [[Yuanwu]] for nine years and if he did not achieve [[enlightenment]] or if [[Yuanwu]] turned out to be a false [[teacher]], giving approval too easily, [[Dahui]] would give up and turn to [[writing]] [[scriptures]] or treatises. [[Yuanwu]] gave [[Dahui]] [[Yunmen’s]] saying, "[[East Mountain]] walks on the [[water]]" as a [[koan]] to work through. [[Dahui]] threw himself into the [[koan]] and struggled with it day and night, giving forty-nine answers to the [[koan]], but all were rejected by his [[teacher]]. Finally, on May 13, 1125, he broke through. Later, he recalled the event: | ||
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+ | [[Master]] [[Yuan-wu]] ascended the high seat in the lecture hall at the request of Madame [[Chang K'ang-kuo]]. He said, "Once a [[monk]] asked [[Yun-men]] this question, 'where do all the [[Buddhas]] come from?' [[Yun-men]] answered. 'The [[East Mountain]] walks over the [[water]]' ([[Tung-shan shuei sheng hsing]]). But if I were he, I would have given a different answer. 'Where do all the [[Buddhas]] come | ||
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+ | from?' 'As the fragrant breeze comes from the [[south]], a slight coolness naturally stirs in the palace pavilion.' When I heard this, all of a sudden there was no more before and after. [[Time]] stopped. I ceased to [[feel]] any {{Wiki|disturbance}} in my [[mind]], and remained in a [[state]] of utter [[calmness]]. | ||
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+ | As it turned out, [[Yuanwu]] did not give approval too easily. He said, "It is indeed not easy to arrive at your {{Wiki|present}} [[state of mind]]. But unfortunately, you have only [[died]] but are not yet [[reborn]]. Your greatest problem is that you do not [[doubt]] words enough. Don't you remember this saying? 'When you let go your hold on the precipice, you become the [[master]] of your [[own]] [[fate]]; to [[die]] and afterward come to [[life]] again, no one can then deceive you." [[Yuanwu]] gave [[Dahui]] the [[koan]], "To be and not to be --- | ||
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+ | it is like a wisteria leaning on a [[tree]]" to work on and after six months, [[Dahui]] achieved the final [[breakthrough]] and was [[recognized]] by [[Yuanwu]] as a [[Dharma]]-heir in the [[Linji]] [[tradition]]. [[Yuanwu]] assigned [[teaching]] duties to [[Dahui]] and [[Dahui’s]] [[fame]] spread far and wide. A high ranking government official, the [[Minister]] of the Right, [[Lu Shun]], gave [[Dahui]] a | ||
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+ | purple robe and the honorific, "[[Fo-jih]]", the {{Wiki|Sun}} of [[Buddhism]]. The following year, 1126, the [[Nu-chen]] [[Tartars]] captured the [[Emperors]] [[Hui-tsung]] and Chin-tsung and the {{Wiki|capital}} was moved to the [[south]] and the Southern {{Wiki|Song dynasty}} began. [[Dahui]] also moved [[south]] and [[taught]] both [[monks]] and [[laymen]]. It was at this [[time]] that he began his severe [[criticism]] of the "{{Wiki|heretical}} [[Ch'an]] of [[silent]] [[illumination]]" of the [[Caodong school]] which he would continue for the [[rest]] of his | ||
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+ | [[life]]. He became a great favorite of the educated and literate classes as well as [[Chan]] [[monks]] and in 1137, at the age of forty-nine, the prime [[minister]], [[Chang Chun]], a [[student]] of [[Dahui]], appointed [[Dahui]] as [[abbot]] of [[Ching-shan]] [[monastery]] in the [[Southern Song]] {{Wiki|capital}} of Lin-an ({{Wiki|Hangzhou}}). Within a few years his [[sangha]] grew to two thousand and among his | ||
− | + | lay followers were many high ranking officials. [[Dahui]] became the [[acknowledged]] leader of [[Buddhism]] of the Southern {{Wiki|Song dynasty}}. However, {{Wiki|disaster}} was about to befall him. Because of his association with a high official who fell out of favor with the prime [[minister]], all [[Dahui’s]] {{Wiki|imperial}} honors and his [[ordination]] {{Wiki|certificate}} were stripped from him and he was | |
− | + | sent in exile to [[Heng-chou]] ([[Hunan]]) in the year 1141. At the age of sixty-two he was transferred to {{Wiki|present}} day [[Guangdong]], a place notorious in those days for plagues and {{Wiki|hostile}} [[elements]]. Some fifty of [[Dahui’s]] [[monks]] [[died]] there in a [[plague]]. Throughout these difficult years, [[Dahui]] continued [[teaching]] in the [[Linji]] [[tradition]] of [[Chan Buddhism]], | |
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+ | attracting both gentry and commoners. Finally, in 1155, [[Dahui]] was pardoned and was allowed to return to his former [[monastery]] at [[Ching-shan]] where he continued his [[teaching]] until he [[died]] five years later on the 10 August 1163. He wrote a final verse for his [[disciples]], saying, "Without a verse, I couldn’t [[die]]." | ||
[[Birth]] is thus | [[Birth]] is thus | ||
Line 24: | Line 75: | ||
What’s the fuss? | What’s the fuss? | ||
− | He had been a [[Chan]] [[monk]] for fifty-eight years and the [[Emperor]] Xiaozong bestowed upon him the posthumous title "[[Chan]] [[Master]] of Great [[Wisdom]]," from which the [[name]] [[Dahui]] derives. | + | He had been a [[Chan]] [[monk]] for fifty-eight years and the [[Emperor]] [[Xiaozong]] bestowed upon him the posthumous title "[[Chan]] [[Master]] of Great [[Wisdom]]," from which the [[name]] [[Dahui]] derives. |
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Teachings | Teachings | ||
− | Only one work can be attributed to [[Dahui]], a collection of [[koans]] entitled [[Cheng-fa yen-tsang]] (The [[Storehouse of the True Dharma Eye]])(J. [[Shobogenzo]]). He also compiled the [[Ch'an-lin pao-hsun]] ([[Treasured Teachings of the Ch'an Monastic Tradition]]), instructions of former [[Chan]] [[abbots]] about the [[virtues]] and ideals of [[monastic]] [[life]], in collaboration with another [[monk]], [[Ta-kuei]]. A [[disciple]] of [[Dahui]], [[Tsu-yung]], compiled a collection of [[Dahui’s]] [[life]] and [[teaching]] called [[Ta-hui Pu-chueh Ch'an-shih nien-pu]] ([[Chronological Biography of Chan Master Ta-hui]]). The [[Chih-yueh lu]], compiled by [[Chu Ju-chi]] of the [[Ming]], also contains [[information]] on [[Dahui’s]] teachings and is the basis of the J. C. Cleary translation Swampland [[Flowers]], of which the majority is a collection of letters [[Dahui]] wrote to his students. [[Dahui’s]] letters to [[lay people]] reveal a [[compassionate]] [[teacher]] who believed that the [[enlightenment]] promised by the [[Buddha]] was available to all [[people]], regardless of their daily [[activities]] and that the best way to achieve this was through the use of [[koans]] as a daily [[meditation]] device. Although there were hundreds of [[koans]] available, [[Dahui]] used only a few, believing that deep [[penetration]] of one or two [[koans]] would be enough to attain [[enlightenment]]. To achieve this, one had to work assiduously and with great [[determination]], like someone whose "head is on [[fire]]". It mattered little to [[Dahui]] whether a [[person]] was particularly {{Wiki|intelligent}} or not---liberation was available to all. He wrote: "It doesn’t [[matter]] whether your [[rational]] [[understanding]] is sharp or dull; it has [[nothing]] to do with matters of sharpness or [[dullness]], nor does it have anything to do with quiet or {{Wiki|confusion}}." [[Dahui]] often used the famous [[koan]], "A [[monk]] asked [[Zhàozhōu]], ‘Does a {{Wiki|dog}} have [[Buddha-nature]]?’ [[Zhàozhōu]] replied, ‘No’ ({{Wiki|Chinese}}: Wu; [[Japanese]]: Mu), the first [[koan]] in The [[Gateless Gate]]. He taught that | + | Only one work can be attributed to [[Dahui]], a collection of [[koans]] entitled [[Cheng-fa yen-tsang]] (The [[Storehouse of the True Dharma Eye]])(J. [[Shobogenzo]]). He also compiled the [[Ch'an-lin pao-hsun]] ([[Treasured Teachings of the Ch'an Monastic Tradition]]), instructions of former [[Chan]] [[abbots]] about the [[virtues]] and ideals of [[monastic]] [[life]], in collaboration with another [[monk]], |
+ | |||
+ | [[Ta-kuei]]. A [[disciple]] of [[Dahui]], [[Tsu-yung]], compiled a collection of [[Dahui’s]] [[life]] and [[teaching]] called [[Ta-hui Pu-chueh Ch'an-shih nien-pu]] ([[Chronological Biography of Chan Master Ta-hui]]). The [[Chih-yueh lu]], compiled by [[Chu Ju-chi]] of the [[Ming]], also contains [[information]] on [[Dahui’s]] teachings and is the basis of the J. C. Cleary translation Swampland [[Flowers]], of which the majority is a collection of letters [[Dahui]] wrote to his students. [[Dahui’s]] letters to [[lay people]] reveal a | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[compassionate]] [[teacher]] who believed that the [[enlightenment]] promised by the [[Buddha]] was available to all [[people]], regardless of their daily [[activities]] and that the best way to achieve this was through the use of [[koans]] as a daily [[meditation]] device. Although there were hundreds of [[koans]] available, [[Dahui]] used only a few, believing that deep [[penetration]] of one or two [[koans]] | ||
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+ | would be enough to attain [[enlightenment]]. To achieve this, one had to work {{Wiki|assiduously}} and with great [[determination]], like someone whose "head is on [[fire]]". It mattered little to [[Dahui]] whether a [[person]] was particularly {{Wiki|intelligent}} or not---liberation was available to all. He wrote: "It doesn’t [[matter]] whether your [[rational]] [[understanding]] is sharp or dull; it has [[nothing]] to do | ||
+ | |||
+ | with matters of [[sharpness]] or [[dullness]], nor does it have anything to do with quiet or {{Wiki|confusion}}." [[Dahui]] often used the famous [[koan]], "A [[monk]] asked [[Zhàozhōu]], ‘Does a {{Wiki|dog}} have [[Buddha-nature]]?’ [[Zhàozhōu]] replied, ‘No’ ({{Wiki|Chinese}}: Wu; [[Japanese]]: Mu), the first [[koan]] in The [[Gateless Gate]]. He [[taught]] that | ||
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+ | This one [[word]] ‘no’ is a knife to sunder the doubting [[mind]] of [[birth]] and [[death]]. The handle of this knife is in one’s [[own]] hand alone: you can’t have anyone else wield it for you…You consent to take hold of it yourself only if you can abandon your [[life]]. If you cannot abandon your [[life]], just keep to where your [[doubt]] {{Wiki|remains}} unbroken for a while: suddenly you’ll consent to abandon your [[life]], and then you’ll be done. | ||
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+ | The {{Wiki|concept}} of ‘[[doubt]]’ was very important in [[Dahui’s]] [[teaching]] and he warned his students that they must ‘[[doubt]]’ words to not be fooled by them. Furthermore, they needed to ‘[[doubt]]’ their very [[existence]]. He said, "Many students today do not [[doubt]] themselves, but they [[doubt]] others. And so it is said, ‘Within great [[doubt]] there necessarily [[exists]] great | ||
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+ | [[enlightenment]].’" This was taken up five hundred years later by the great [[Japanese]] [[Rinzai]] [[teacher]], [[Hakuin]], who also [[taught]] great [[doubt]] as necessary to [[awaken]]. Another important aspect of [[Dahui’s]] teachings was his relentless and merciless attacks on the practice of "[[silent]] [[illumination]]", that is, sitting in [[meditation]] in [[tranquility]] and quietness. He labeled [[teachers]] of this type of [[meditation]] practice as "{{Wiki|heretical}}" and complained, | ||
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+ | They just sit in a ghostly {{Wiki|cave}} on a dark mountain after their meals. They call this practice "[[silent]] [[illumination]]", "dying the great [[death]]", "the [[state]] before the [[birth]] of one's [[parents]]." They sit there until calluses appear on their bottoms, yet they still do not dare to move." | ||
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− | + | He felt that this type of practice just leads to [[drowsiness]], blankness and intellectualization and [[conceptualization]] of [[Chan Buddhism]] rather than [[enlightenment]]. He [[thought]] that [[teachers]] who [[taught]] this method of [[meditation]] had "never [[awakened]] themselves, they don’t believe anyone has [[awakened]]." For [[Dahui]], [[koans]] were the only way to [[enlightenment]] and without | |
− | + | [[koans]], one would "be like a [[blind]] man without a walking stick: unable to take even one step." But [[koans]] had to be penetrated fully, not intellectualized. It was this {{Wiki|fear}} of superficiality and intellectualization of old [[koans]] that led him to destroy all copies of his [[own]] [[teacher’s]] masterpiece, the [[Blue Cliff Record]], to save [[Chan]] and to authenticate proper [[koan]] practice. By all accounts, [[Dahui]] was a remarkable [[teacher]]. | |
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</poem> | </poem> | ||
{{R}} | {{R}} | ||
[http://www.tamqui.com/buddhaworld/Dahui_Zonggao www.tamqui.com] | [http://www.tamqui.com/buddhaworld/Dahui_Zonggao www.tamqui.com] | ||
[[Category:Chan]] | [[Category:Chan]] |
Latest revision as of 12:36, 26 December 2023
Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) (Wade-Giles: Ta-hui Tsung-kao; Japanese: Daie Sōkō) was a 12th century Chinese Chan (Zen) master best known as a keen advocate of the use of koans to achieve enlightenment. He successfully created an ‘orthodoxy’ of teaching through koans which influenced all subsequent teachers in the Linji (Japanese:
Rinzai) tradition of koan practice in China, Korea and Japan. Although he saw koan practice as the most effective method to enlightenment, he saw this practice in his time as becoming a superficial literary study and, in a radical move, he ordered the suppression of his own teacher’s masterly collection of koans, The Blue Cliff Record (Wade-Giles: Pi Yen Lu; Pinyin: Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku), burning all copies and the wooden blocks to print them, effectively taking the venerated text out of circulation for the next two centuries.
Dahui was a disciple of Yuanwu Keqin (Wade-Giles: Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in; Japanese: Engo Kokugon) (1063-1135) and was the 12th generation of the Linji line of Chan. He was a vigorous critic of what he called the "heretical Ch'an of silent illumination" (mo-chao hsieh-ch'an) of the Caodong (Wade-Giles: Ts'ao-tung; Japanese: Sōtō) school. His teaching became known as the "Ch'an of kung-an (koan) introspection" (k'an-hua ch'an). Although he believed
that koans were the best way to achieve enlightenment, he also recognized the teaching of Confucius and Lao-tzu as valuable, saying, "If one achieves a genuine breakthrough, then [one realizes that] a Confucian is no different from a Buddhist, and a Buddhist is no different from a Confucian; a monk is no different from a layman, and a layman is
no different from a monk; an ordinary man is no different from a sage, and a sage is no different from an ordinary man."
Dahui was born in Hsuan Ch’eng, Anwhei Province, to the Hsi family. He left home at sixteen and became a Buddhist monk at seventeen. His initiatory name was Tsung Kao. Following the tradition of the day, he wandered from Chan community to community, seeking instruction. He studied under a Caodong master and mastered the essentials of the Five Ranks of the House of Caodong in two years. He studied all the records of the Five Houses of Chan, being particularly drawn to the words of Yunmen Wenyan (Wade-Giles: Yün-men Wên-yen Japanese: Ummon Bun’en), 864-949, founder of one of the
"Five Houses" of Chan. He sought out instruction on the sayings of the old masters collected and commented on by Xuedou Chongxian (Wade-Giles: Hsüeh-tou Ch’ung-hsien; Japanese: Setchō Jūken) which became the basis for the koan collection,
the Blue Cliff Record. Dissatisfied with intellectual study, at the age of twenty-one he went to Treasure Peak, near the modern city of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province, to study with Zhan Tangzhun (Wade-Giles: Chan-t'ang Wen-chun), a master
of the Huang-lung branch of the Linji School. Although Dahui developed a great intellectual understanding of Chan, enlightenment eluded him. Recognizing his potential and great intellectual abilities, Zhan Tangzhun made Dahui his personal attendant. One day Tangzhou asked Dahui, "Why are your nostrils boundless today?" Dahui replied, "(Because) I’m at your place." Tangzhou retorted, "You phony Chan man."
Another time, when Dahui was twenty-six, Tangzhou called him over and said,
"You can talk about Ch'an very well; you can quote the sayings of former masters and write commentaries on them. You are eloquent in giving sermons and quick with the exchanges during interviews. But there is one thing which you still do not know". Ta-hui asked what it was. Tangzhou answered, "What you do not have is the awakening. Thus, when I talk with you in my room, you have Chan. But as
soon as you leave the room, you lose it. When you are awake and attentive, you have Chan. But as soon as you fall asleep, you lose it. If you continue like this, how can you ever conquer life and death?" Dahui agreed, saying, "This is precisely my point of doubt."
Later, after Dahui achieved the great breakthrough, enlightenment experience as the answer to the riddle of life and death and the great doubt necessary to have the determination to break through became central to Dahui’s teaching. When Tangzhou was ill, Dahui asked him to whom he could turn to continue his studies. Tangzhou said, "There’s a
fellow from Szechuan named Ch’in (Yuanwu Keqin). Although I don’t know him, you must place your reliance on him, and you’ll be able to complete your affair." On his way to T’ien Ning Monastery in the old imperial city of Pien, Dahui vowed to
work with Yuanwu for nine years and if he did not achieve enlightenment or if Yuanwu turned out to be a false teacher, giving approval too easily, Dahui would give up and turn to writing scriptures or treatises. Yuanwu gave Dahui Yunmen’s saying, "East Mountain walks on the water" as a koan to work through. Dahui threw himself into the koan and struggled with it day and night, giving forty-nine answers to the koan, but all were rejected by his teacher. Finally, on May 13, 1125, he broke through. Later, he recalled the event:
Master Yuan-wu ascended the high seat in the lecture hall at the request of Madame Chang K'ang-kuo. He said, "Once a monk asked Yun-men this question, 'where do all the Buddhas come from?' Yun-men answered. 'The East Mountain walks over the water' (Tung-shan shuei sheng hsing). But if I were he, I would have given a different answer. 'Where do all the Buddhas come
from?' 'As the fragrant breeze comes from the south, a slight coolness naturally stirs in the palace pavilion.' When I heard this, all of a sudden there was no more before and after. Time stopped. I ceased to feel any disturbance in my mind, and remained in a state of utter calmness.
As it turned out, Yuanwu did not give approval too easily. He said, "It is indeed not easy to arrive at your present state of mind. But unfortunately, you have only died but are not yet reborn. Your greatest problem is that you do not doubt words enough. Don't you remember this saying? 'When you let go your hold on the precipice, you become the master of your own fate; to die and afterward come to life again, no one can then deceive you." Yuanwu gave Dahui the koan, "To be and not to be ---
it is like a wisteria leaning on a tree" to work on and after six months, Dahui achieved the final breakthrough and was recognized by Yuanwu as a Dharma-heir in the Linji tradition. Yuanwu assigned teaching duties to Dahui and Dahui’s fame spread far and wide. A high ranking government official, the Minister of the Right, Lu Shun, gave Dahui a
purple robe and the honorific, "Fo-jih", the Sun of Buddhism. The following year, 1126, the Nu-chen Tartars captured the Emperors Hui-tsung and Chin-tsung and the capital was moved to the south and the Southern Song dynasty began. Dahui also moved south and taught both monks and laymen. It was at this time that he began his severe criticism of the "heretical Ch'an of silent illumination" of the Caodong school which he would continue for the rest of his
life. He became a great favorite of the educated and literate classes as well as Chan monks and in 1137, at the age of forty-nine, the prime minister, Chang Chun, a student of Dahui, appointed Dahui as abbot of Ching-shan monastery in the Southern Song capital of Lin-an (Hangzhou). Within a few years his sangha grew to two thousand and among his
lay followers were many high ranking officials. Dahui became the acknowledged leader of Buddhism of the Southern Song dynasty. However, disaster was about to befall him. Because of his association with a high official who fell out of favor with the prime minister, all Dahui’s imperial honors and his ordination certificate were stripped from him and he was
sent in exile to Heng-chou (Hunan) in the year 1141. At the age of sixty-two he was transferred to present day Guangdong, a place notorious in those days for plagues and hostile elements. Some fifty of Dahui’s monks died there in a plague. Throughout these difficult years, Dahui continued teaching in the Linji tradition of Chan Buddhism,
attracting both gentry and commoners. Finally, in 1155, Dahui was pardoned and was allowed to return to his former monastery at Ching-shan where he continued his teaching until he died five years later on the 10 August 1163. He wrote a final verse for his disciples, saying, "Without a verse, I couldn’t die."
Birth is thus
Death is thus
Verse or no verse
What’s the fuss?
He had been a Chan monk for fifty-eight years and the Emperor Xiaozong bestowed upon him the posthumous title "Chan Master of Great Wisdom," from which the name Dahui derives.
Teachings
Only one work can be attributed to Dahui, a collection of koans entitled Cheng-fa yen-tsang (The Storehouse of the True Dharma Eye)(J. Shobogenzo). He also compiled the Ch'an-lin pao-hsun (Treasured Teachings of the Ch'an Monastic Tradition), instructions of former Chan abbots about the virtues and ideals of monastic life, in collaboration with another monk,
Ta-kuei. A disciple of Dahui, Tsu-yung, compiled a collection of Dahui’s life and teaching called Ta-hui Pu-chueh Ch'an-shih nien-pu (Chronological Biography of Chan Master Ta-hui). The Chih-yueh lu, compiled by Chu Ju-chi of the Ming, also contains information on Dahui’s teachings and is the basis of the J. C. Cleary translation Swampland Flowers, of which the majority is a collection of letters Dahui wrote to his students. Dahui’s letters to lay people reveal a
compassionate teacher who believed that the enlightenment promised by the Buddha was available to all people, regardless of their daily activities and that the best way to achieve this was through the use of koans as a daily meditation device. Although there were hundreds of koans available, Dahui used only a few, believing that deep penetration of one or two koans
would be enough to attain enlightenment. To achieve this, one had to work assiduously and with great determination, like someone whose "head is on fire". It mattered little to Dahui whether a person was particularly intelligent or not---liberation was available to all. He wrote: "It doesn’t matter whether your rational understanding is sharp or dull; it has nothing to do
with matters of sharpness or dullness, nor does it have anything to do with quiet or confusion." Dahui often used the famous koan, "A monk asked Zhàozhōu, ‘Does a dog have Buddha-nature?’ Zhàozhōu replied, ‘No’ (Chinese: Wu; Japanese: Mu), the first koan in The Gateless Gate. He taught that
This one word ‘no’ is a knife to sunder the doubting mind of birth and death. The handle of this knife is in one’s own hand alone: you can’t have anyone else wield it for you…You consent to take hold of it yourself only if you can abandon your life. If you cannot abandon your life, just keep to where your doubt remains unbroken for a while: suddenly you’ll consent to abandon your life, and then you’ll be done.
The concept of ‘doubt’ was very important in Dahui’s teaching and he warned his students that they must ‘doubt’ words to not be fooled by them. Furthermore, they needed to ‘doubt’ their very existence. He said, "Many students today do not doubt themselves, but they doubt others. And so it is said, ‘Within great doubt there necessarily exists great
enlightenment.’" This was taken up five hundred years later by the great Japanese Rinzai teacher, Hakuin, who also taught great doubt as necessary to awaken. Another important aspect of Dahui’s teachings was his relentless and merciless attacks on the practice of "silent illumination", that is, sitting in meditation in tranquility and quietness. He labeled teachers of this type of meditation practice as "heretical" and complained,
They just sit in a ghostly cave on a dark mountain after their meals. They call this practice "silent illumination", "dying the great death", "the state before the birth of one's parents." They sit there until calluses appear on their bottoms, yet they still do not dare to move."
He felt that this type of practice just leads to drowsiness, blankness and intellectualization and conceptualization of Chan Buddhism rather than enlightenment. He thought that teachers who taught this method of meditation had "never awakened themselves, they don’t believe anyone has awakened." For Dahui, koans were the only way to enlightenment and without
koans, one would "be like a blind man without a walking stick: unable to take even one step." But koans had to be penetrated fully, not intellectualized. It was this fear of superficiality and intellectualization of old koans that led him to destroy all copies of his own teacher’s masterpiece, the Blue Cliff Record, to save Chan and to authenticate proper koan practice. By all accounts, Dahui was a remarkable teacher.