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Difference between revisions of "Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse's Tso-ch'an I and the "Secret" of Zen Meditation"

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Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse's Tso-ch'an I and the "Secret" of [[Zen Meditation]]  
 
Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse's Tso-ch'an I and the "Secret" of [[Zen Meditation]]  
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Carl Bielefeldt  
 
Carl Bielefeldt  
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It is not entirely without [[reason]] that [[Zen Buddhism]] is known as the  
 
It is not entirely without [[reason]] that [[Zen Buddhism]] is known as the  
[[Meditation School]]. Visitors to the {{Wiki|modern}} [[Zen]] [[monastery]], even if they are prepared to find [[meditation]] there, cannot but be struck by the extent to which the practice {{Wiki|dominates}} the routine. The [[novice monk]] spends his first days almost entirely within the [[meditation]] hall, and, although he is expected during this period to learn some rudimentary features of clerical [[decorum]], it is primarily his willingness to submit to the [[discipline]] of long hours of [[meditation]] in the cross-legged [[posture]] that will determine his admission into the {{Wiki|community}}. Once accepted, he can expect to pass much of his daily [[life]] in this [[posture]]. Although customs differ with the institution and the season, it is not uncommon for the {{Wiki|community}} to spend four to eight hours a day in formal [[meditation]] and at regular inter­
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[[Meditation School]]. Visitors to the {{Wiki|modern}} [[Zen]] [[monastery]], even if they are prepared to find [[meditation]] there, cannot but be struck by the extent to which the practice {{Wiki|dominates}} the routine. The [[novice monk]] spends his first days almost entirely within the [[meditation]] hall, and, although he is expected during this period to learn some rudimentary features of clerical [[decorum]], it is primarily his willingness to submit to the [[discipline]] of long hours of [[meditation]] in the cross-legged [[posture]] that will determine his admission into the {{Wiki|community}}. Once accepted, he can expect to pass much of his daily [[life]] in this [[posture]]. Although customs differ with the institution and the season, it is not uncommon for the {{Wiki|community}} to spend four to eight hours a day in formal [[meditation]] and at regular inter­vals to hold prolonged sessions during which the hours of practice may be increased to twelve, sixteen, or even more. To be sure, there are usually other things to do-rituals and begging rounds, study and lectures, administrative duties and manual labor-but, in [[principle]] at least, the [[monk's]] main work is_meditation. When he meets in private with his [[master]], it is often about the progress of this work that they are likely to talk.  
vals to hold prolonged sessions during which the hours of practice may be increased to twelve, sixteen, or even more. To be sure, there are usually other things to do-rituals and begging rounds, study and lectures, administrative duties and manual labor-but, in [[principle]] at least, the [[monk's]] main work is_meditation. When he meets in private with his [[master]], it is often about the progress of this work that they are likely to talk.  
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Yet there is another [[sense]] il)._l1jch Ze_I!_!!ucic1hism appears to be an "anti-meditation school." For, whatever [[Zen monks]] may talk about in private, wnen they discusstilelrpractice in publiC, Tiley ofte-n seem to go out of their way t6-distance -ifiemselvesfr9lliJhl!ncientBi!ddhist exercises oTsariia_cii3nd_to c;riti:i?e __ the--trnaLcl!.ltivation of [[dhyana]]. The two [[Japanese Zen]] churches, [[Rinzai]] and [[Soto]], have their [[own]] [[characteristic]] ways of going about this: the former most often attacks absorp tion in [[trance]] as a mindless quietism-what it sometimes calls the "[[ghost]] [[cave]]" (kikutsu) of the spirit-and claims to replace it with the more dynamic technique of kanna, or [[koan]] study; the [[latter]] rejects the utilitarian component of {{Wiki|contemplative}} technique-the striving, as it says, to  
 
Yet there is another [[sense]] il)._l1jch Ze_I!_!!ucic1hism appears to be an "anti-meditation school." For, whatever [[Zen monks]] may talk about in private, wnen they discusstilelrpractice in publiC, Tiley ofte-n seem to go out of their way t6-distance -ifiemselvesfr9lliJhl!ncientBi!ddhist exercises oTsariia_cii3nd_to c;riti:i?e __ the--trnaLcl!.ltivation of [[dhyana]]. The two [[Japanese Zen]] churches, [[Rinzai]] and [[Soto]], have their [[own]] [[characteristic]] ways of going about this: the former most often attacks absorp tion in [[trance]] as a mindless quietism-what it sometimes calls the "[[ghost]] [[cave]]" (kikutsu) of the spirit-and claims to replace it with the more dynamic technique of kanna, or [[koan]] study; the [[latter]] rejects the utilitarian component of {{Wiki|contemplative}} technique-the striving, as it says, to  
Carl Bielefeldt
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"make a [[Buddha]]" (sabutsu)-and offers in its stead what it considers the less {{Wiki|psychologically}} limited, more [[spiritually]] profound practice of [[shikan]] taza, or "just sitting." Of course, these critiques of [[meditation]] are not simply {{Wiki|modern}} [[Japanese]] developments; while the contemporary teachings of both schools may owe much to [[Edo]] {{Wiki|sectarian}} ideology, both trace their positions back to the famous Southern Sung [[disputes]] between the advocates of [[k'an-hua]], or [[concentration]] on the [[hua-t'ou]], and the champions of mo-chao, or "[[silent illumination]]." Indeed, whatever their differences in [[psychological]] technique and interpretative strategy, both these positions can be seen as instances of a [[characteristic]] [[Zen]] polemic against {{Wiki|contemplative}} practice that goes back much further, almost to the very origins of the [[religion]] itself. To this extent, the [[Meditation School]] seems never to have been entirely [[happy]] with its [[name]].  
 
"make a [[Buddha]]" (sabutsu)-and offers in its stead what it considers the less {{Wiki|psychologically}} limited, more [[spiritually]] profound practice of [[shikan]] taza, or "just sitting." Of course, these critiques of [[meditation]] are not simply {{Wiki|modern}} [[Japanese]] developments; while the contemporary teachings of both schools may owe much to [[Edo]] {{Wiki|sectarian}} ideology, both trace their positions back to the famous Southern Sung [[disputes]] between the advocates of [[k'an-hua]], or [[concentration]] on the [[hua-t'ou]], and the champions of mo-chao, or "[[silent illumination]]." Indeed, whatever their differences in [[psychological]] technique and interpretative strategy, both these positions can be seen as instances of a [[characteristic]] [[Zen]] polemic against {{Wiki|contemplative}} practice that goes back much further, almost to the very origins of the [[religion]] itself. To this extent, the [[Meditation School]] seems never to have been entirely [[happy]] with its [[name]].  
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The [[Zen]] ambivalence toward its [[own]] specialization is reflected not only in the record of its recurrent and sometimes [[bitter]] [[disputes]] over [[meditation]] but also in the _fact that this record tells us surprisingly little about the actual content of [[Zen]] [[meditation practice]]. If the school's {{Wiki|ideological}} [[doubts]] about the practice have not prevented [[Zen monks]] from engaging in it, they do seem to have made the [[tradition]] more loath than most to discuss the concrete details of its [[spiritual]] [[techniques]]. Still, we are not entirely without resources; for, in addition to what little we can glean from the vast corpus of {{Wiki|biographies}}, sayings, {{Wiki|essays}}, and other writings of the school, we also have recourse to a small but [[interesting]] [[body]] of texts specifically intended to guide the [[practitioner]] through the basics of [[Zen]] [[meditation]]. Most of them, as we might expect, seem to have been written with the [[neophyte]] in [[mind]], a [[characteristic]] that, if it limits their usefulness in determining the full range of [[Zen]] practices, also probably makes them relatively [[faithful]] to the actual [[experience]] of the majority of [[Zen]] practitioners. Like the [[tradition]] as a whole, they tend to eschew the doctrinally tidy, suspiciously systematic accounts of [[meditation]] that we find in the {{Wiki|scholastic}} treatises; unlike much of the [[tradition]], they also tend to avoid [[philosophical]] {{Wiki|obscurity}} and {{Wiki|literary}} fancy-or at least to [[balance]] them with a healthy dose of plain talk.  
 
The [[Zen]] ambivalence toward its [[own]] specialization is reflected not only in the record of its recurrent and sometimes [[bitter]] [[disputes]] over [[meditation]] but also in the _fact that this record tells us surprisingly little about the actual content of [[Zen]] [[meditation practice]]. If the school's {{Wiki|ideological}} [[doubts]] about the practice have not prevented [[Zen monks]] from engaging in it, they do seem to have made the [[tradition]] more loath than most to discuss the concrete details of its [[spiritual]] [[techniques]]. Still, we are not entirely without resources; for, in addition to what little we can glean from the vast corpus of {{Wiki|biographies}}, sayings, {{Wiki|essays}}, and other writings of the school, we also have recourse to a small but [[interesting]] [[body]] of texts specifically intended to guide the [[practitioner]] through the basics of [[Zen]] [[meditation]]. Most of them, as we might expect, seem to have been written with the [[neophyte]] in [[mind]], a [[characteristic]] that, if it limits their usefulness in determining the full range of [[Zen]] practices, also probably makes them relatively [[faithful]] to the actual [[experience]] of the majority of [[Zen]] practitioners. Like the [[tradition]] as a whole, they tend to eschew the doctrinally tidy, suspiciously systematic accounts of [[meditation]] that we find in the {{Wiki|scholastic}} treatises; unlike much of the [[tradition]], they also tend to avoid [[philosophical]] {{Wiki|obscurity}} and {{Wiki|literary}} fancy-or at least to [[balance]] them with a healthy dose of plain talk.  
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Of these [[meditation]] manuals, the earliest and in some ways most influential is a brief tract from the [[Northern Sung]] entitled simply Tsoch' [[ani]] ("{{Wiki|Principles}} of [[Seated Meditation]]"), attributed to a [[monk]] named Ch'ang-Iu Tsung-tse (d. u.). Since this text is not very well known, I would like to introduce it here, together with some reflections on its place  
 
Of these [[meditation]] manuals, the earliest and in some ways most influential is a brief tract from the [[Northern Sung]] entitled simply Tsoch' [[ani]] ("{{Wiki|Principles}} of [[Seated Meditation]]"), attributed to a [[monk]] named Ch'ang-Iu Tsung-tse (d. u.). Since this text is not very well known, I would like to introduce it here, together with some reflections on its place  
 
in the history of the [[Zen]] [[meditation tradition]]. Along the way, I shall suggest that, in [[writing]] his little manual, Tsung-tse broke with what might almost be called a conspiracy of [[silence]] about [[meditation]] and thereby helped to {{Wiki|touch}} off the Southern Sung [[discourse]] on the subject-a [[discourse]] that, in one [[form]] or another, is still with us today.  
 
in the history of the [[Zen]] [[meditation tradition]]. Along the way, I shall suggest that, in [[writing]] his little manual, Tsung-tse broke with what might almost be called a conspiracy of [[silence]] about [[meditation]] and thereby helped to {{Wiki|touch}} off the Southern Sung [[discourse]] on the subject-a [[discourse]] that, in one [[form]] or another, is still with us today.  
The origin of the Tso-ch' an i is not entirely clear. The work is usu-
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The origin of the Tso-ch' an i is not entirely clear. The work is usuaHy ·[[thought]] to have been composed as a section of the Ch' an-yiian ch' ing-kuei ("[[Pure]] Regulations of the [[Zen]] Preserve"), the earliest extant [[Zen]] [[monastic code]], compiled by Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse in 1103. The bestknown version of this code does indeed contain the manual in fascicle 8, but this version represents a revised and enlarged edition published in 1202 by a certain Yii [[Hsiang]] (d.u.).' A variant text of the Ch'an-yiian ch' ing-kuei, produced in [[Korea]] from blocks carved in 1254 and based on a [[Northern Sung]] text printed in 1111, does not include the Tso-ch 'an i. By far the earliest extant version of Tsung-tse's code, dated within a decade of the composition of the work, this variant strongly suggests that the original text of the Ch' an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei lacked the manual of  
Ch' ang-/u Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
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[[meditation]].  
aHy ·[[thought]] to have been composed as a section of the Ch' an-yiian ch' ing-kuei ("[[Pure]] Regulations of the [[Zen]] Preserve"), the earliest extant [[Zen]] [[monastic code]], compiled by Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse in 1103. The bestknown version of this code does indeed contain the manual in fascicle 8, but this version represents a revised and enlarged edition published in 1202 by a certain Yii [[Hsiang]] (d.u.).' A variant text of the Ch'an-yiian ch' ing-kuei, produced in [[Korea]] from blocks carved in 1254 and based on a [[Northern Sung]] text printed in 1111, does not include the Tso-ch 'an i. By far the earliest extant version of Tsung-tse's code, dated within a decade of the composition of the work, this variant strongly suggests that the original text of the Ch' an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei lacked the manual of  
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[[meditation]]. 2
 
 
If the Tso-ch 'an i was not in fact written as a part of Tsung-tse's [[monastic code]], we cannot be certain of its date or, indeed, of its authorship. Still, there is [[reason]] to think that it belongs to the period, around the turn of the twelfth century, in which Tsung-tse flourished. We know that the manual was in circulation well before the publication of Yii Hsiang's edition, for an abbreviated version of the text already appears in the "[[Dhyana]]" section of the Ta-tsang i-lan ("Compendium of the [[Canon]]"), the lengthy collection of [[scriptural]] passages compiled by Ch'en  
 
If the Tso-ch 'an i was not in fact written as a part of Tsung-tse's [[monastic code]], we cannot be certain of its date or, indeed, of its authorship. Still, there is [[reason]] to think that it belongs to the period, around the turn of the twelfth century, in which Tsung-tse flourished. We know that the manual was in circulation well before the publication of Yii Hsiang's edition, for an abbreviated version of the text already appears in the "[[Dhyana]]" section of the Ta-tsang i-lan ("Compendium of the [[Canon]]"), the lengthy collection of [[scriptural]] passages compiled by Ch'en  
Shih (d.u.) sometime prior to 1157.' Ch'en Shih's quotation does not identify the author, but it does provide us with a terminus ad quem probably within a few decades of Tsung-tse's [[death]]. Yii Hsiang's version, moreover, contains a quotation from the [[Zen master]] Fa-yiin Fa-hsiu (1027-1090), the presence of which indicates that the text cannot be earlier than mid eleventh century. This quotation is particularly significant because, as Yanagida [[Seizan]] has pointed out, it lends some credence to the [[tradition]] of Tsung-tse's authorship of the Tso-ch 'an i. Although we have few details on Tsung-tse's [[life]], we do know that he originally entered the order under Fa-hsiu. Hence, the [[appearance]] here of this [[master's]] saying-words not recorded elsewhere-would seem to provide circumstantial {{Wiki|evidence}} for the work's ascription to his [[student]] Tsung-tse. 4
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Shih (d.u.) sometime prior to 1157.' Ch'en Shih's quotation does not identify the author, but it does provide us with a terminus ad quem probably within a few decades of Tsung-tse's [[death]]. Yii Hsiang's version, moreover, contains a quotation from the [[Zen master]] Fa-yiin Fa-hsiu (1027-1090), the presence of which indicates that the text cannot be earlier than mid eleventh century. This quotation is particularly significant because, as Yanagida [[Seizan]] has pointed out, it lends some credence to the [[tradition]] of Tsung-tse's authorship of the Tso-ch 'an i. Although we have few details on Tsung-tse's [[life]], we do know that he originally entered the order under Fa-hsiu. Hence, the [[appearance]] here of this [[master's]] saying-words not recorded elsewhere-would seem to provide circumstantial {{Wiki|evidence}} for the work's ascription to his [[student]] Tsung-tse.  
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However the Tso-ch' an i originated, it quickly became a well-known work after its publication in the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei. The early and enduring reputation of the text among [[Zen]] students was no [[doubt]] considerably enhanced by its association with Tsung-tse's [[monastic code]], for the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei was widely regarded by the [[tradition]] as an expanded version of the original [[Zen]] regulations established by Po-chang Huai-hai (720-814). Hence, some who used its [[meditation manual]] may have done so in the [[belief]] that it preserved an [[ancient]] [[rite]] set down by the founder of [[Zen]] [[monasticism]].' In this, they were probably mistaken. Though Tsung-tse himself claims that his Ch 'an-yiian ch' ing-kuei represents a revision of Po-chang's {{Wiki|rules}} to fit the circumstances of his day, it is by no means clear that he knew what those {{Wiki|rules}} were. Despite Po-
 
However the Tso-ch' an i originated, it quickly became a well-known work after its publication in the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei. The early and enduring reputation of the text among [[Zen]] students was no [[doubt]] considerably enhanced by its association with Tsung-tse's [[monastic code]], for the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei was widely regarded by the [[tradition]] as an expanded version of the original [[Zen]] regulations established by Po-chang Huai-hai (720-814). Hence, some who used its [[meditation manual]] may have done so in the [[belief]] that it preserved an [[ancient]] [[rite]] set down by the founder of [[Zen]] [[monasticism]].' In this, they were probably mistaken. Though Tsung-tse himself claims that his Ch 'an-yiian ch' ing-kuei represents a revision of Po-chang's {{Wiki|rules}} to fit the circumstances of his day, it is by no means clear that he knew what those {{Wiki|rules}} were. Despite Po-
Carl Bielefeldt
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chang's [[fame]] as the creator of an {{Wiki|independent}} [[Zen]] [[monastic]] system, and despite repeated references in the {{Wiki|literature}} to the "[[Pure]] Regulations of Po-chang" (Po-chang ch 'ing-kuei), there is little {{Wiki|evidence}} that this [[monk]] actually produced a written code and still less that it survived to Tsungtse's time. • In any case, given the radical changes in the [[Zen]] [[monastic]] system that had taken place in the centuries between the mid [[T'ang]] and the Sung, we may be sure that much in the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei would have been unfamiliar to Po-chang. Particularly when we turn to our text, the Tso-ch 'an i, the [[connection]] with Huai-hai seems remote indeed. There is no {{Wiki|evidence}} whatsoever that this [[T'ang]] [[master]] wrote a [[meditation manual]]; and especially if-as appears likely-Tsung-tse's [[own]] manual was not originally intended for the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei, there is no [[reason]] to think that it was based on Po-chang's teachings.  
 
chang's [[fame]] as the creator of an {{Wiki|independent}} [[Zen]] [[monastic]] system, and despite repeated references in the {{Wiki|literature}} to the "[[Pure]] Regulations of Po-chang" (Po-chang ch 'ing-kuei), there is little {{Wiki|evidence}} that this [[monk]] actually produced a written code and still less that it survived to Tsungtse's time. • In any case, given the radical changes in the [[Zen]] [[monastic]] system that had taken place in the centuries between the mid [[T'ang]] and the Sung, we may be sure that much in the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei would have been unfamiliar to Po-chang. Particularly when we turn to our text, the Tso-ch 'an i, the [[connection]] with Huai-hai seems remote indeed. There is no {{Wiki|evidence}} whatsoever that this [[T'ang]] [[master]] wrote a [[meditation manual]]; and especially if-as appears likely-Tsung-tse's [[own]] manual was not originally intended for the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei, there is no [[reason]] to think that it was based on Po-chang's teachings.  
 
In the absence of any {{Wiki|evidence}} that Po-chang authored the prototype for the Tso-ch 'an i, Tsung-tse's manual represents the earliest known work of its kind in the [[Zen tradition]]. This does not, of course, by any meaimisake it entirely without precedent in the {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[Buddhist literature]]; indeed, Tsung-tse himself calls our [[attention]] to several earlier accounts of [[meditation]] on which he drew. In a passage of the Tso-ch 'an i warning against the "doings of [[Mara]]" (mo-shih), which can afflict the higher [[stages of meditation]] practice, he advises the reader who seeks further [[information]] to consult the Suraligama-sutra, [[T'ien-t'ai's]] Chihkuan, and Kuei-feng's Hsiu-cheng i. Of these, the first presumably refers to the [[T'ang]] text in ten fascicles [[traditionally]] attributed to [[Paramiti]], a work quite popular with Tsung-tse's Sung contemporaries, which contains a detailed [[discussion]] of fifty demoniacal [[states of mind]] into which the [[practitioner]] may fall. 7 Apart from this particular [[discussion]], there is nothing in the Suraligama text that would serve as a basis for Tsung-tse's description of [[meditation]]. Such is not the case, however, with the other two works he mentions, which clearly have more intimate connections with his [[own]] manual.  
 
In the absence of any {{Wiki|evidence}} that Po-chang authored the prototype for the Tso-ch 'an i, Tsung-tse's manual represents the earliest known work of its kind in the [[Zen tradition]]. This does not, of course, by any meaimisake it entirely without precedent in the {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[Buddhist literature]]; indeed, Tsung-tse himself calls our [[attention]] to several earlier accounts of [[meditation]] on which he drew. In a passage of the Tso-ch 'an i warning against the "doings of [[Mara]]" (mo-shih), which can afflict the higher [[stages of meditation]] practice, he advises the reader who seeks further [[information]] to consult the Suraligama-sutra, [[T'ien-t'ai's]] Chihkuan, and Kuei-feng's Hsiu-cheng i. Of these, the first presumably refers to the [[T'ang]] text in ten fascicles [[traditionally]] attributed to [[Paramiti]], a work quite popular with Tsung-tse's Sung contemporaries, which contains a detailed [[discussion]] of fifty demoniacal [[states of mind]] into which the [[practitioner]] may fall. 7 Apart from this particular [[discussion]], there is nothing in the Suraligama text that would serve as a basis for Tsung-tse's description of [[meditation]]. Such is not the case, however, with the other two works he mentions, which clearly have more intimate connections with his [[own]] manual.  
 
We cannot say with {{Wiki|certainty}} which text Tsung-tse intends by his reference to the [[Chih-kuan]]. One [[thinks]] first of the famous Mo-ho chihkuan ("Greater [Treatise on] [[Calming]] and [[Discernment]]") by [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[Chih-i]] (538-597), a work that includes two lengthy [[sections]] on the various morbid and demoniacal states to which the [[meditator]] is susceptible. 8 Similar discussions, however, appear in other [[meditation]] texts by [[Chih-i]], and it would seem that a more likely candidate here is the so-called [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] ("Lesser [Treatise on] [[Calming]] and [[Discernment]]"). Not only does this work contain an explanation of mo-shih, but, more importantly, it provides a concrete description of the preparation for, and practice of, [[meditation]], several of the [[elements]] of which are reflected in the  
 
We cannot say with {{Wiki|certainty}} which text Tsung-tse intends by his reference to the [[Chih-kuan]]. One [[thinks]] first of the famous Mo-ho chihkuan ("Greater [Treatise on] [[Calming]] and [[Discernment]]") by [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[Chih-i]] (538-597), a work that includes two lengthy [[sections]] on the various morbid and demoniacal states to which the [[meditator]] is susceptible. 8 Similar discussions, however, appear in other [[meditation]] texts by [[Chih-i]], and it would seem that a more likely candidate here is the so-called [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] ("Lesser [Treatise on] [[Calming]] and [[Discernment]]"). Not only does this work contain an explanation of mo-shih, but, more importantly, it provides a concrete description of the preparation for, and practice of, [[meditation]], several of the [[elements]] of which are reflected in the  
Tso-ch 'an i. Moreover, it is the basis for the [[discussion]] of [[meditation]]  
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Tso-ch 'an i. Moreover, it is the basis for the [[discussion]] of [[meditation]] practice in the Hsiu-cheng i, the other work to which Tsung-tse refers us!  
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
 
practice in the Hsiu-cheng i, the other work to which Tsung-tse refers us!  
 
 
The Yiian-chiieh [[ching]] hsiu-cheng i ("[[Cultivation]] and [[Realization]] According to the [[Perfect Enlightenment]] Siltra") by [[Kuei-feng Tsung-mi]] (780-841) represents an extended explication of [[Buddhist practice]] according to the Yiian-chiieh [[ching]]. It consists of three major divisions dealing with the [[conditions]] for practice, the method of {{Wiki|worship}}, and the method of [[meditation]]. As Sekiguchi Shindai has shown, large [[sections]] of the text, especially of the first and third divisions, are taken directly from the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]]. Indeed, when these [[sections]] are assembled and rearranged, it appears that [[Tsung-mi]] has quoted [[Chih-i's]] work almost in toto. It is passages from these same [[sections]], in which the Hsiu-cheng i is relying on the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], that have parallels in our text. 10  
 
The Yiian-chiieh [[ching]] hsiu-cheng i ("[[Cultivation]] and [[Realization]] According to the [[Perfect Enlightenment]] Siltra") by [[Kuei-feng Tsung-mi]] (780-841) represents an extended explication of [[Buddhist practice]] according to the Yiian-chiieh [[ching]]. It consists of three major divisions dealing with the [[conditions]] for practice, the method of {{Wiki|worship}}, and the method of [[meditation]]. As Sekiguchi Shindai has shown, large [[sections]] of the text, especially of the first and third divisions, are taken directly from the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]]. Indeed, when these [[sections]] are assembled and rearranged, it appears that [[Tsung-mi]] has quoted [[Chih-i's]] work almost in toto. It is passages from these same [[sections]], in which the Hsiu-cheng i is relying on the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], that have parallels in our text. 10  
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Although we can assume from Tsung-tse's reference to the [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[chih-kuan]] that he was familiar with [[Chih-i's]] manual and may, indeed, have consulted it in the [[writing]] of his [[own]], the question of its direct influence on his text remains problematic. Sekiguchi, in his several studies of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], has called [[attention]] to the parallels between the two texts and has emphasized the [[degree]] to which not only Tsung-tse's work but also many of the subsequent [[meditation]] manuals of [[Zen]] have relied, at least indirectly, on [[Chih-i]]. Such {{Wiki|emphasis}}, it may be noted, is but an extension of this [[Tendai]] scholar's general argument for the [[T'ien-t'ai]] influence on the [[Zen tradition]]. 11 Whatever the [[merits]] of that argument as it applies to the early history of the school, its significance in this case would seem to have some real historical and textual limitations.  
 
Although we can assume from Tsung-tse's reference to the [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[chih-kuan]] that he was familiar with [[Chih-i's]] manual and may, indeed, have consulted it in the [[writing]] of his [[own]], the question of its direct influence on his text remains problematic. Sekiguchi, in his several studies of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], has called [[attention]] to the parallels between the two texts and has emphasized the [[degree]] to which not only Tsung-tse's work but also many of the subsequent [[meditation]] manuals of [[Zen]] have relied, at least indirectly, on [[Chih-i]]. Such {{Wiki|emphasis}}, it may be noted, is but an extension of this [[Tendai]] scholar's general argument for the [[T'ien-t'ai]] influence on the [[Zen tradition]]. 11 Whatever the [[merits]] of that argument as it applies to the early history of the school, its significance in this case would seem to have some real historical and textual limitations.  
 
The [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], as Sekiguchi has emphasized, proba­of [[meditation]] aailableto-the bly representstne first practicalmanual  
 
The [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], as Sekiguchi has emphasized, proba­of [[meditation]] aailableto-the bly representstne first practicalmanual  
 
{{Wiki|Chinese}}. Although it draws on material from severaTilliaiT _n_ancrchinese sources, 1niTffers from earlier worlsin being expnsslyintended to introduce the prcrtc-e of seated meditauon to tnebeginin ngSludent. 12 Except for a brief final section, therefore, it omits [[discussion]] of the kind of technical [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[doctrine]] [[characteristic]] of most of [[Chih-i's]] writings and emphasizes instead the concrete description of the actual [[techniques]] of [[mental]] and [[physical]] [[discipline]]. For this [[reason]], the work-and especially its "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]] on the control of [[body]], [[breath]], and mind-could serve as a handy, nonsectarian guide to the basics of [[Buddhist]] [[mental]] [[discipline]]; in fact, not only [[Tsung-mi]] but also many other [[Buddhist]] writers, from Tao-hsiian (596-667), [[Shan-tao]] (613-681 ), and [[Fa-tsang]] (643-712) on, referred to this [[chapter]] in their [[own]] presentations of [[seated meditation]]. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that by the [[Northern Sung]] a brief text like Tsung-tse's Tso-ch 'an i, itself intended as a [[meditation]] primer,  
 
{{Wiki|Chinese}}. Although it draws on material from severaTilliaiT _n_ancrchinese sources, 1niTffers from earlier worlsin being expnsslyintended to introduce the prcrtc-e of seated meditauon to tnebeginin ngSludent. 12 Except for a brief final section, therefore, it omits [[discussion]] of the kind of technical [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[doctrine]] [[characteristic]] of most of [[Chih-i's]] writings and emphasizes instead the concrete description of the actual [[techniques]] of [[mental]] and [[physical]] [[discipline]]. For this [[reason]], the work-and especially its "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]] on the control of [[body]], [[breath]], and mind-could serve as a handy, nonsectarian guide to the basics of [[Buddhist]] [[mental]] [[discipline]]; in fact, not only [[Tsung-mi]] but also many other [[Buddhist]] writers, from Tao-hsiian (596-667), [[Shan-tao]] (613-681 ), and [[Fa-tsang]] (643-712) on, referred to this [[chapter]] in their [[own]] presentations of [[seated meditation]]. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that by the [[Northern Sung]] a brief text like Tsung-tse's Tso-ch 'an i, itself intended as a [[meditation]] primer,  
 
1should reflect something of this popular guide. Yet such {{Wiki|reflection}} should 'not [[blind]] us to the fact that, unlike the tso-ch 'an section of [[Tsung-mi]]' s  
 
1should reflect something of this popular guide. Yet such {{Wiki|reflection}} should 'not [[blind]] us to the fact that, unlike the tso-ch 'an section of [[Tsung-mi]]' s  
Carl Bielefeldt
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Hsiu-cheng i, Tsung-tse's manual is [[essentially]] a new work, original in both its [[language]] and the focus of its treatment."  
 
Hsiu-cheng i, Tsung-tse's manual is [[essentially]] a new work, original in both its [[language]] and the focus of its treatment."  
 
The T'ien-t 'ai [[hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] 's [[discussion]] of [[meditation practice]] is divided into ten chapters covering, in addition to the morbid and demo­
 
The T'ien-t 'ai [[hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] 's [[discussion]] of [[meditation practice]] is divided into ten chapters covering, in addition to the morbid and demo­
 
niacal states, such topics as control of [[desire]] and [[abandonment]] of the nivarafJa, [[development]] of kusula-mula, practice of [[samatha]] and vipasya­
 
niacal states, such topics as control of [[desire]] and [[abandonment]] of the nivarafJa, [[development]] of kusula-mula, practice of [[samatha]] and vipasya­
 
na, and so on. Tsung-tse ignores most of this technical material: not only, as might be expected, is there nothing in the Tso-ch 'an i comparable to [[Chih-i's]] concluding [[chapter]] on the [[T'ien-t'ai]] {{Wiki|dogma}} of the [[three truths]] (san-ti), but even on the central practice of [[chih-kuan]] itself we find not a [[word]]. Of the five chapters devoted to [[Chih-i's]] standard list of twenty-five [[spiritual]] [[techniques]] (fang-pien), only the first, on fulfilling the [[conditions]] for [[meditation]], and (especially) [[the fourth]], on regulating [[physical]] and [[mental activities]] in [[meditation]], find significant parallels in our text. These parallels, moreover, aside from certain standard [[Buddhist]] admonishments, are limited almost wholly to the concrete description of the [[meditation]] posture-material that, by Tsung-tse's time, was surely the common lore of {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[Buddhist monks]] and precisely the sort in which one would expect to find the least innovation. Under the circumstances, the question of influence, if it still remains relevant, becomes too vague to sustain much [[interest]]. 14  
 
na, and so on. Tsung-tse ignores most of this technical material: not only, as might be expected, is there nothing in the Tso-ch 'an i comparable to [[Chih-i's]] concluding [[chapter]] on the [[T'ien-t'ai]] {{Wiki|dogma}} of the [[three truths]] (san-ti), but even on the central practice of [[chih-kuan]] itself we find not a [[word]]. Of the five chapters devoted to [[Chih-i's]] standard list of twenty-five [[spiritual]] [[techniques]] (fang-pien), only the first, on fulfilling the [[conditions]] for [[meditation]], and (especially) [[the fourth]], on regulating [[physical]] and [[mental activities]] in [[meditation]], find significant parallels in our text. These parallels, moreover, aside from certain standard [[Buddhist]] admonishments, are limited almost wholly to the concrete description of the [[meditation]] posture-material that, by Tsung-tse's time, was surely the common lore of {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[Buddhist monks]] and precisely the sort in which one would expect to find the least innovation. Under the circumstances, the question of influence, if it still remains relevant, becomes too vague to sustain much [[interest]]. 14  
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Tsung-tse's Tso-ch 'an i, then, is probably neither an [[elaboration]] of an earlier manual by Po-chang nor an al:>_l:>reyiation of [[Chih-i's]] work. Instead, it combines a portion of the kind of material fou11.cLin Lh I'ient' ai text with a dash of die-particular apprach-f() nieclitation charcteristic of some arlier Zen-writin- gs. Theresulting mix=-dtilesirliJ;le, colloquial style in which-it is presented-gives Tsung-tse's [[Buddhism]] a very different flav() fr;>ll:l __ ::_hih-i's sixth-ce!!_t':!_r_§c:ho!_a,tic -versloiJ.i the same time, it gives his [[meditation]] teachings. a conservativ matter-of­
 
Tsung-tse's Tso-ch 'an i, then, is probably neither an [[elaboration]] of an earlier manual by Po-chang nor an al:>_l:>reyiation of [[Chih-i's]] work. Instead, it combines a portion of the kind of material fou11.cLin Lh I'ient' ai text with a dash of die-particular apprach-f() nieclitation charcteristic of some arlier Zen-writin- gs. Theresulting mix=-dtilesirliJ;le, colloquial style in which-it is presented-gives Tsung-tse's [[Buddhism]] a very different flav() fr;>ll:l __ ::_hih-i's sixth-ce!!_t':!_r_§c:ho!_a,tic -versloiJ.i the same time, it gives his [[meditation]] teachings. a conservativ matter-of­
 
f act [[quality]] tlJ.at_ Qntrasts with__ll!lll::h_Q{ibe-it;;-v-;;-i-g::z_rn_liteiruure on the [[subject]]. This [[quality]] may, in fact, have been an important factor in the [[popularity]] of hiLI_lnl_a, ual, but it also makes the work-for all its seeming innocuousness-rather controversial. For if the text itself is new, its teachings, from the {{Wiki|perspective}} of [[Sung Dynasty]] [[Zen]], appear as something of a throwback to an earlier, less ideologically developed treatment of [[Buddhist]] practice-a treatment in some ways more akin to that of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] than to the received position of the school. Despite the widespread [[acceptance]] of the Tso-ch 'an i, this [[Wikipedia:Heterodoxy|heterodox]] [[character]] of the work was not entirely lost on its early readers, some of whom were prompted to react. To see why they were concerned, we shall need to recall the way in which the [[tradition]] had dealt with [[meditation]]. But first, let us look at what Tsung-tse himself has to say, and how his [[teaching]] compares with that of [[Chih-i]]. 15  
 
f act [[quality]] tlJ.at_ Qntrasts with__ll!lll::h_Q{ibe-it;;-v-;;-i-g::z_rn_liteiruure on the [[subject]]. This [[quality]] may, in fact, have been an important factor in the [[popularity]] of hiLI_lnl_a, ual, but it also makes the work-for all its seeming innocuousness-rather controversial. For if the text itself is new, its teachings, from the {{Wiki|perspective}} of [[Sung Dynasty]] [[Zen]], appear as something of a throwback to an earlier, less ideologically developed treatment of [[Buddhist]] practice-a treatment in some ways more akin to that of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] than to the received position of the school. Despite the widespread [[acceptance]] of the Tso-ch 'an i, this [[Wikipedia:Heterodoxy|heterodox]] [[character]] of the work was not entirely lost on its early readers, some of whom were prompted to react. To see why they were concerned, we shall need to recall the way in which the [[tradition]] had dealt with [[meditation]]. But first, let us look at what Tsung-tse himself has to say, and how his [[teaching]] compares with that of [[Chih-i]]. 15  
 
The Tso-ch 'an i is a very brief text of no more than some 600-700  
 
The Tso-ch 'an i is a very brief text of no more than some 600-700  
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
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characters. Addressed to "the [[bodhisattva]] who studies prajfia," it opens with a reminder that the [[meditation]] to be described here should be cultivated for the [[benefit]] not just of the [[practitioner]] but of [[all living beings]]. Tsung-tse then mentions some preliminary [[conditions]] for the practice: the [[meditator]] should {{Wiki|renounce}} [[worldly]] [[activities]] and seek quiet quarters, and he should regulate his eati_11_g and [[sleeping]] [[habits]], avoiding either deprivation or {{Wiki|indulgence}}. After these brief prefatory remarks, the text proceeds directly to the description of the [[meditation posture]]: one is to sit erect on a mat in the classic [[yogic]] cross-legged position (chieh chiafu tso) or the variant semi-cross-legged position (pan chia-fu tso), with hands in the [[traditional]] [[meditation mudra]] of the [[Dharmadhatu]] ([[fa-chieh]] ling-yin); the {{Wiki|tongue}} rests against the palate, and the lips and {{Wiki|teeth}} are closed; the [[eyes]] are kept slightly open; the [[breath]] is regulated. Having thus composed himself, the [[meditator]] is to relinquish all judgments and simply observe his [[thoughts]] as they arise; once observed, [[thoughts]] will cease, and eventually the [[mind]] will become unified.  
 
characters. Addressed to "the [[bodhisattva]] who studies prajfia," it opens with a reminder that the [[meditation]] to be described here should be cultivated for the [[benefit]] not just of the [[practitioner]] but of [[all living beings]]. Tsung-tse then mentions some preliminary [[conditions]] for the practice: the [[meditator]] should {{Wiki|renounce}} [[worldly]] [[activities]] and seek quiet quarters, and he should regulate his eati_11_g and [[sleeping]] [[habits]], avoiding either deprivation or {{Wiki|indulgence}}. After these brief prefatory remarks, the text proceeds directly to the description of the [[meditation posture]]: one is to sit erect on a mat in the classic [[yogic]] cross-legged position (chieh chiafu tso) or the variant semi-cross-legged position (pan chia-fu tso), with hands in the [[traditional]] [[meditation mudra]] of the [[Dharmadhatu]] ([[fa-chieh]] ling-yin); the {{Wiki|tongue}} rests against the palate, and the lips and {{Wiki|teeth}} are closed; the [[eyes]] are kept slightly open; the [[breath]] is regulated. Having thus composed himself, the [[meditator]] is to relinquish all judgments and simply observe his [[thoughts]] as they arise; once observed, [[thoughts]] will cease, and eventually the [[mind]] will become unified.  
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Having completed his description of the practice, Tsung-tse praises it as "the [[Dharma-gate]] of ease and [[joy]]." When properly performed, it is easy to do arid gpoolorootfioocfi md [[mind]]. Still, he warns, when done improperly, it can lead to {{Wiki|illness}} ana, as we have seen, can generate various undesirable [[experiences]], against which one should brace oneself. The text goes on to advise that, on leaving [[samadhi]], one should arise slowly and [[calmly]] and, at all times, should try to maintain a [[meditative]] [[calm]] in order to develop the ability to enter [[samadhi]] at will (ting-li). Finally, the Tso-ch 'an i closes with an [[appreciation]] of [[meditation]] and an admonition to put it into practice: without it, one will simply drift aimlessly in the sea of sarpsara, at the [[mercy]] of [[death]]; with it, the surface waves of the [[mind]] will subside, and the {{Wiki|pearl}} of liberating [[wisdom]] beneath will appear of its [[own]] accord. Therefore, we are reminded, the siitras have recommended it, and the great [[sages]] of the [[tradition]] have practiced it. We should cultivate this [[meditation]] without delay, lest [[death]] intervene before its benefits are [[realized]].  
 
Having completed his description of the practice, Tsung-tse praises it as "the [[Dharma-gate]] of ease and [[joy]]." When properly performed, it is easy to do arid gpoolorootfioocfi md [[mind]]. Still, he warns, when done improperly, it can lead to {{Wiki|illness}} ana, as we have seen, can generate various undesirable [[experiences]], against which one should brace oneself. The text goes on to advise that, on leaving [[samadhi]], one should arise slowly and [[calmly]] and, at all times, should try to maintain a [[meditative]] [[calm]] in order to develop the ability to enter [[samadhi]] at will (ting-li). Finally, the Tso-ch 'an i closes with an [[appreciation]] of [[meditation]] and an admonition to put it into practice: without it, one will simply drift aimlessly in the sea of sarpsara, at the [[mercy]] of [[death]]; with it, the surface waves of the [[mind]] will subside, and the {{Wiki|pearl}} of liberating [[wisdom]] beneath will appear of its [[own]] accord. Therefore, we are reminded, the siitras have recommended it, and the great [[sages]] of the [[tradition]] have practiced it. We should cultivate this [[meditation]] without delay, lest [[death]] intervene before its benefits are [[realized]].  
 
Such, in outline, is our text. Most of it is rather standard [[Buddhist]] fare, and those familiar with [[Chih-i]] will indeed [[recognize]] echoes of his presentation of [[meditation]]. The opening admonition to the [[bodhisattva]] is, of course, a [[constant]] refrain of the [[Mahayana literature]] and echoes a similar passage in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]]: "The [[practitioner]] beginning to study tso-ch 'an and intending to cultivate the [[dharmas]] of the [[Buddhas of the Ten Directions]] and [[three realms]] should first produce the great [[vow]] to lead all [[beings]] to [[liberation]] and to seek the [[supreme enlightenment]] of a [[Buddha]]." 16 The [[suspension]] of wordly [[activities]] and the retirement to secluded quarters, besides being obvious good advice, are items on an [[ancient]] list of five [[conditions]] for [[meditation]] discussed in the "Chiiyiian" [[chapter]] of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]]: [[purity]] in keeping the [[precepts]],  
 
Such, in outline, is our text. Most of it is rather standard [[Buddhist]] fare, and those familiar with [[Chih-i]] will indeed [[recognize]] echoes of his presentation of [[meditation]]. The opening admonition to the [[bodhisattva]] is, of course, a [[constant]] refrain of the [[Mahayana literature]] and echoes a similar passage in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]]: "The [[practitioner]] beginning to study tso-ch 'an and intending to cultivate the [[dharmas]] of the [[Buddhas of the Ten Directions]] and [[three realms]] should first produce the great [[vow]] to lead all [[beings]] to [[liberation]] and to seek the [[supreme enlightenment]] of a [[Buddha]]." 16 The [[suspension]] of wordly [[activities]] and the retirement to secluded quarters, besides being obvious good advice, are items on an [[ancient]] list of five [[conditions]] for [[meditation]] discussed in the "Chiiyiian" [[chapter]] of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]]: [[purity]] in keeping the [[precepts]],  
Carl Bielefeldt
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provision of [[food]] and clothing, retirement to a quiet place, [[cessation]] of [[worldly]] involvements, and [[contact]] with good friends. 1' Moderation in [[food]] and [[sleep]] corresponds to the first two of the five kinds of regulation given in [[Chih-i's]] "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]]: [[food]], [[sleep]], [[body]], [[breath]], and mind.18  
 
provision of [[food]] and clothing, retirement to a quiet place, [[cessation]] of [[worldly]] involvements, and [[contact]] with good friends. 1' Moderation in [[food]] and [[sleep]] corresponds to the first two of the five kinds of regulation given in [[Chih-i's]] "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]]: [[food]], [[sleep]], [[body]], [[breath]], and mind.18  
Similarly, of course, the description of the [[meditation posture]] has antecedents in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], though Tsung-tse's passage is considerably abbreviated and, in fact, departs from [[Chih-i's]] model on some basic points: where the [[latter]] prefers to sit with the right leg crossed over the left, Tsung-tse opts for the position, more often seen in [[Zen]], with the left on top; where [[Chih-i]] recommends that the [[eyes]] be closed, Tsung-tse goes out of his way to criticize this practice.1 9 Again, as we have seen, the subsequent warning on perverse states explicitly invokes [[Chih-i]], and the remarks on remaining [[mindful]] on leaving [[samadhi]] recall advice in the closing section of his "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]]. 20
+
Similarly, of course, the description of the [[meditation posture]] has antecedents in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], though Tsung-tse's passage is considerably abbreviated and, in fact, departs from [[Chih-i's]] model on some basic points: where the [[latter]] prefers to sit with the right leg crossed over the left, Tsung-tse opts for the position, more often seen in [[Zen]], with the left on top; where [[Chih-i]] recommends that the [[eyes]] be closed, Tsung-tse goes out of his way to criticize this practice.1 9 Again, as we have seen, the subsequent warning on perverse states explicitly invokes [[Chih-i]], and the remarks on remaining [[mindful]] on leaving [[samadhi]] recall advice in the closing section of his "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]].  
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If these passages in the Tso-ch 'an i resemble material in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], more [[interesting]] are the passages that have no close equivalents. Of these, the most important and problematic is the [[teaching]] on the [[mental]] aspect of meditatioD. The "T'iao:.ilo''- ciUipter-rotwtos the description of the [[meditation posture]] with a [[discussion]] of the [[techniques]] for regulating the [[mind]] to avoid the twin [[obstacles]] of [[torpor]] and agitation;'1 and in other chapters [[Chih-i]] recommends various [[mental]] [[antidotes]] for different [[spiritual]] problems. But the core of his [[meditation]] is, of course, the [[traditional]] exercises of [[samatha]] and [[vipasyana]], from which his manual takes its [[name]]. In the "Cheng-hsiu" [[chapter]], which is devoted to these exercises, he divides them into five types, depending on the purposes for which they are practiced. Of these, the first, intended to overcome the rough fluctuations of the [[mind]] at the outset of [[meditation]], is basic. There are [[essentially]] two types of [[samatha]] exercises for this {{Wiki|purpose}}: one is more or less mechanical, involving fixation on an [[object]] or [[conscious]] suppression of random [[thoughts]]; the other is [[intellectual]], in which the [[practitioner]] is to understand as each [[thought]] occurs that its [[object]] arises from [[conditions]] and has no [[nature]] of its [[own]]. This understood, the [[mind]] will not [[grasp]] the [[object]], and deluded [[thoughts]] will cease. A somewhat more complicated technique is recommended for the [[vipasyana]] practice: if the [[meditator]] has failed to put an end to deluded [[thoughts]] through [[samatha]], he should reflect on these [[thoughts]], asking himself whether they [[exist]] or not. [[Chih-i]] then supplies a set of arguments that the [[practitioner]] can rehearse to convince himself that neither the [[mind]] nor its [[object]] can be grasped; thus convinced, the [[mind]] will break o(f {{Wiki|discrimination}} and become still."  
 
If these passages in the Tso-ch 'an i resemble material in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]], more [[interesting]] are the passages that have no close equivalents. Of these, the most important and problematic is the [[teaching]] on the [[mental]] aspect of meditatioD. The "T'iao:.ilo''- ciUipter-rotwtos the description of the [[meditation posture]] with a [[discussion]] of the [[techniques]] for regulating the [[mind]] to avoid the twin [[obstacles]] of [[torpor]] and agitation;'1 and in other chapters [[Chih-i]] recommends various [[mental]] [[antidotes]] for different [[spiritual]] problems. But the core of his [[meditation]] is, of course, the [[traditional]] exercises of [[samatha]] and [[vipasyana]], from which his manual takes its [[name]]. In the "Cheng-hsiu" [[chapter]], which is devoted to these exercises, he divides them into five types, depending on the purposes for which they are practiced. Of these, the first, intended to overcome the rough fluctuations of the [[mind]] at the outset of [[meditation]], is basic. There are [[essentially]] two types of [[samatha]] exercises for this {{Wiki|purpose}}: one is more or less mechanical, involving fixation on an [[object]] or [[conscious]] suppression of random [[thoughts]]; the other is [[intellectual]], in which the [[practitioner]] is to understand as each [[thought]] occurs that its [[object]] arises from [[conditions]] and has no [[nature]] of its [[own]]. This understood, the [[mind]] will not [[grasp]] the [[object]], and deluded [[thoughts]] will cease. A somewhat more complicated technique is recommended for the [[vipasyana]] practice: if the [[meditator]] has failed to put an end to deluded [[thoughts]] through [[samatha]], he should reflect on these [[thoughts]], asking himself whether they [[exist]] or not. [[Chih-i]] then supplies a set of arguments that the [[practitioner]] can rehearse to convince himself that neither the [[mind]] nor its [[object]] can be grasped; thus convinced, the [[mind]] will break o(f {{Wiki|discrimination}} and become still."  
 
0 Tsung-tse's [[meditation]] does not quite correspond to any of these [[techniques]]. What he calls the "[[essential]] [[art]]" of [[meditation]] is simply this:  
 
0 Tsung-tse's [[meditation]] does not quite correspond to any of these [[techniques]]. What he calls the "[[essential]] [[art]]" of [[meditation]] is simply this:  
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen]] Me ditation
+
 
\ Do not think of any good or [[evil]] whatsoever.W henever a [[thought]] occurs, be r I ; {{Wiki|aware}} of it ([[nien]] ch 'i chi chiieh); as soon as you are {{Wiki|aware}} of it, it will vanish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of [[objects]] (wang [[yuan]]), you will naturally become unified (i-p 'ien).  
+
Do not think of any good or [[evil]] whatsoever.W henever a [[thought]] occurs, be r I ; {{Wiki|aware}} of it ([[nien]] ch 'i chi chiieh); as soon as you are {{Wiki|aware}} of it, it will vanish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of [[objects]] (wang [[yuan]]), you will naturally become unified (i-p 'ien).  
 
This passage has no parallel in_ the_lis"iao chih-kugn; as we shall shortly see, it probably derives fro_!!l [[Zen]] sources. If it has any analog in [[Chih-i's]] teachings, it is not in the [[chih-kuan]] [[techniques]] described in his manual, but rather in the simple [[mindfulness]] practice recomm_ended as one of the famous four kinds of [[samadhi]] in the Mo-ho chih-kuan-the practice referre_a_ to in-ere as neither walking nor sitting (fei-hsing fei-tso) and otherwise known as the [[samadhi]] of [[awareness]] of [[mind]] (chiieh-i san-mei):  
 
This passage has no parallel in_ the_lis"iao chih-kugn; as we shall shortly see, it probably derives fro_!!l [[Zen]] sources. If it has any analog in [[Chih-i's]] teachings, it is not in the [[chih-kuan]] [[techniques]] described in his manual, but rather in the simple [[mindfulness]] practice recomm_ended as one of the famous four kinds of [[samadhi]] in the Mo-ho chih-kuan-the practice referre_a_ to in-ere as neither walking nor sitting (fei-hsing fei-tso) and otherwise known as the [[samadhi]] of [[awareness]] of [[mind]] (chiieh-i san-mei):  
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The [[master]] Nan-yiieh [i.e., [[Hui-ssu]]] called this [practice] "to follow [[one's own mind]]" (sui-tzu-i)-that is, to cultivate [[samadhi]] whenever the [[mind]] arises (i ch 'i chi hsiu san-mei). The Ta-p 'in [[ching]] (Paficavif!lsati) refers to it as the [[samadhi]] of [[awareness]] of mind-that is, [a [[state]] in which] wherever the [[mind]] may be directed, one is [[conscious]] of, and clear about, it.. ..  
 
The [[master]] Nan-yiieh [i.e., [[Hui-ssu]]] called this [practice] "to follow [[one's own mind]]" (sui-tzu-i)-that is, to cultivate [[samadhi]] whenever the [[mind]] arises (i ch 'i chi hsiu san-mei). The Ta-p 'in [[ching]] (Paficavif!lsati) refers to it as the [[samadhi]] of [[awareness]] of mind-that is, [a [[state]] in which] wherever the [[mind]] may be directed, one is [[conscious]] of, and clear about, it.. ..  
 
"[[Awareness]]" (chiieh) here means {{Wiki|luminous}} [[understanding]] (chao-liao); "[[mind]]" (i) means the [[mental]] [[dharmas]] (hsin-shu; [[caitasika]]) .... In practicing this, when a [[mental]] [[dharma]] arises, one reflects on, and [[contemplates]], it, without attending to its development-its source or outcome, its point of origin or destination."  
 
"[[Awareness]]" (chiieh) here means {{Wiki|luminous}} [[understanding]] (chao-liao); "[[mind]]" (i) means the [[mental]] [[dharmas]] (hsin-shu; [[caitasika]]) .... In practicing this, when a [[mental]] [[dharma]] arises, one reflects on, and [[contemplates]], it, without attending to its development-its source or outcome, its point of origin or destination."  
 
Whatever the antecedents of Tsung-tse's practice, it differs in one important [[respect]] from iilevipa-yan-rne(fiiations recommended in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] . In these meclifafwns, as is characteristically the case in [[vipasyana]], the practli:ioner IS expected to engage the obJect achvely, [[contemplating]] if in tefms-msome-troddhtst-ctuctrtife-unfilhenas brought about a change in the way the [[object]] occurs to him. In contrast, Tsungtse's [[meditation]] seems to involve no such discursive [[activity]]; instead, the [[practitioner]] is teilnquTSi_i.llictg;ents anclpssively observe his [[thoughts]] as they"come ariog-o:-In this [[sense]], his practice -lsmore akin to such common [[samatha]] iecfirliquesasiottow1ngti1ebeath-, -observing the [[activities]] of the [[body]], and so on. The difference is worth noting because the activepassive {{Wiki|dichotomy}} is a recurrent theme in [[Zen]] discussions of [[meditation]] and one source of internecine dispute. Some of the dispute is no [[doubt]] engendered by the linkage of this theme with the somewhat similar but separable {{Wiki|dichotomy}} of clarity and [[calm]], a {{Wiki|matter}} quite vexing to the [[Zen]]  
 
Whatever the antecedents of Tsung-tse's practice, it differs in one important [[respect]] from iilevipa-yan-rne(fiiations recommended in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] . In these meclifafwns, as is characteristically the case in [[vipasyana]], the practli:ioner IS expected to engage the obJect achvely, [[contemplating]] if in tefms-msome-troddhtst-ctuctrtife-unfilhenas brought about a change in the way the [[object]] occurs to him. In contrast, Tsungtse's [[meditation]] seems to involve no such discursive [[activity]]; instead, the [[practitioner]] is teilnquTSi_i.llictg;ents anclpssively observe his [[thoughts]] as they"come ariog-o:-In this [[sense]], his practice -lsmore akin to such common [[samatha]] iecfirliquesasiottow1ngti1ebeath-, -observing the [[activities]] of the [[body]], and so on. The difference is worth noting because the activepassive {{Wiki|dichotomy}} is a recurrent theme in [[Zen]] discussions of [[meditation]] and one source of internecine dispute. Some of the dispute is no [[doubt]] engendered by the linkage of this theme with the somewhat similar but separable {{Wiki|dichotomy}} of clarity and [[calm]], a {{Wiki|matter}} quite vexing to the [[Zen]]  
 
[[meditation tradition]]. On this [[latter]] issue as well, it is instructive to compare the Tso-ch '[[ani]] with the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] .
 
[[meditation tradition]]. On this [[latter]] issue as well, it is instructive to compare the Tso-ch '[[ani]] with the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] .
It will be recalled that the [[chih-kuan]] practice I summarized earlier is expressly recommended for the control of the gross fluctuations of the [[mind]]; it is intended to put an end to the {{Wiki|stream}} of deluded [[thoughts]] char-
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It will be recalled that the [[chih-kuan]] practice I summarized earlier is expressly recommended for the control of the gross fluctuations of the [[mind]]; it is intended to put an end to the {{Wiki|stream}} of deluded [[thoughts]] characteristic of [[ordinary consciousness]] and to bring about the [[calm]], concen­
Carl Bielefeldt
 
acteristic of [[ordinary consciousness]] and to bring about the [[calm]], concen­
 
 
trated [[state of samadhi]]. This same [[state]] would seem to be the goal of Tsung-tse's [[meditation]]: one is to observe one's [[thoughts]] so that they will cease; one is to continue observing them until they no longer occur and the [[mind]] becomes unified. This agreement on the goal of the practice is hardly surprising: no [[doubt]] most [[Buddhists]] would hold with Tsung-tse that the unified [[state of samadhi]], or [[dhyana]], is indeed the [[essential]] [[art]] of [[meditation]]. They would also hold, however, that this [[state]] is not an end in itself. Whether or not it is a necessary [[condition]] for [[enlightenment]], it is not a sufficient one but must be supplemented by the generation of [[insight]], or [[wisdom]]. On this point [[Chih-i]] would surely concur, as his entire [[chih-kuan]] system makes quite clear. Whether Tsung-tse would also agree is much less clear, at least from the text of the Tso-ch 'an i. His [[silence]] on this {{Wiki|matter}} makes it possible to interpret the work as recommending the elimination of [[thought]] for its [[own]] [[sake]]. A tendency toward some such [[understanding]] of [[yogic]] [[discipline]] is probably endemic to the [[Buddhist meditation]] teachings, from the early [[dhyana]] and samiipatti systems on, and the [[religion]] has repeatedly been obliged to counter it with an {{Wiki|emphasis}} on the need for [[doctrinal]] study. [[Zen Buddhism]], with its focus on [[meditation]] and its [[characteristic]] dismissal of {{Wiki|theoretical}} studies, has probably been particularly susceptible to this tendency and has often struggled mightily against it. Hence, if only by omission, the Tso-ch'an i account of [[meditation]] touches a [[sensitive]] {{Wiki|nerve}} in the [[tradition]].  
 
trated [[state of samadhi]]. This same [[state]] would seem to be the goal of Tsung-tse's [[meditation]]: one is to observe one's [[thoughts]] so that they will cease; one is to continue observing them until they no longer occur and the [[mind]] becomes unified. This agreement on the goal of the practice is hardly surprising: no [[doubt]] most [[Buddhists]] would hold with Tsung-tse that the unified [[state of samadhi]], or [[dhyana]], is indeed the [[essential]] [[art]] of [[meditation]]. They would also hold, however, that this [[state]] is not an end in itself. Whether or not it is a necessary [[condition]] for [[enlightenment]], it is not a sufficient one but must be supplemented by the generation of [[insight]], or [[wisdom]]. On this point [[Chih-i]] would surely concur, as his entire [[chih-kuan]] system makes quite clear. Whether Tsung-tse would also agree is much less clear, at least from the text of the Tso-ch 'an i. His [[silence]] on this {{Wiki|matter}} makes it possible to interpret the work as recommending the elimination of [[thought]] for its [[own]] [[sake]]. A tendency toward some such [[understanding]] of [[yogic]] [[discipline]] is probably endemic to the [[Buddhist meditation]] teachings, from the early [[dhyana]] and samiipatti systems on, and the [[religion]] has repeatedly been obliged to counter it with an {{Wiki|emphasis}} on the need for [[doctrinal]] study. [[Zen Buddhism]], with its focus on [[meditation]] and its [[characteristic]] dismissal of {{Wiki|theoretical}} studies, has probably been particularly susceptible to this tendency and has often struggled mightily against it. Hence, if only by omission, the Tso-ch'an i account of [[meditation]] touches a [[sensitive]] {{Wiki|nerve}} in the [[tradition]].  
 +
 
In fairness to Tsung-tse, it must be pointed out that he is not entirely oblivious to the question of [[wisdom]]. In his opening remarks he recommends the [[cultivation]] of [[samadhi]] for one who has taken the [[Bodhisattva Vows]] and seeks to study prajfia. This passage undoubtedly reflects the [[traditional formula]] of the three [[disciplines]] (san-hsiieh) and suggests that, like most [[Buddhists]], Tsung-tse understood the three as a series, such that [[meditation]] is based on [[ethics]] and somehow leads to [[wisdom]]. Unfortunately, he does not pause to discuss the question of just how it leads to [[wisdom]], although later on he does give at least a hint of what he may have had in [[mind]]. In his rather rambling [[discussion]] of the benefits of [[meditation]], he seems to offer three: it will make one [[happy]], healthy, and [[peaceful]]; it will prepare one to face [[death]]; and it will lead to [[wisdom]]. This last is expressed through of a well-known {{Wiki|metaphor}}:  
 
In fairness to Tsung-tse, it must be pointed out that he is not entirely oblivious to the question of [[wisdom]]. In his opening remarks he recommends the [[cultivation]] of [[samadhi]] for one who has taken the [[Bodhisattva Vows]] and seeks to study prajfia. This passage undoubtedly reflects the [[traditional formula]] of the three [[disciplines]] (san-hsiieh) and suggests that, like most [[Buddhists]], Tsung-tse understood the three as a series, such that [[meditation]] is based on [[ethics]] and somehow leads to [[wisdom]]. Unfortunately, he does not pause to discuss the question of just how it leads to [[wisdom]], although later on he does give at least a hint of what he may have had in [[mind]]. In his rather rambling [[discussion]] of the benefits of [[meditation]], he seems to offer three: it will make one [[happy]], healthy, and [[peaceful]]; it will prepare one to face [[death]]; and it will lead to [[wisdom]]. This last is expressed through of a well-known {{Wiki|metaphor}}:  
 
To seek the {{Wiki|pearl}}, we should still the waves; if we disturb the [[water]], it will be hard to get. When the [[water]] of [[meditation]] is clear, the {{Wiki|pearl}} of the [[mind]] will appear of itself. T herefore, the [[Perfect Enlightenment Sutra]] says, "Unimpeded, immaculate [[wisdom]] always arises dependent on [[meditation]]."'•  
 
To seek the {{Wiki|pearl}}, we should still the waves; if we disturb the [[water]], it will be hard to get. When the [[water]] of [[meditation]] is clear, the {{Wiki|pearl}} of the [[mind]] will appear of itself. T herefore, the [[Perfect Enlightenment Sutra]] says, "Unimpeded, immaculate [[wisdom]] always arises dependent on [[meditation]]."'•  
 
As Tsung-tse uses it, the {{Wiki|metaphor}} itself may have become somewhat opaque, but we can still discern the outlines of the model behind it:  
 
As Tsung-tse uses it, the {{Wiki|metaphor}} itself may have become somewhat opaque, but we can still discern the outlines of the model behind it:  
Ch 'ang-/u Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
+
 
 
[[wisdom]] rests deep within the [[mind]], obscured only by the surface fluctuations of'thought; once these fluctuations are [[calmed]], it is automatically made [[manifest]]. Hence, [[meditation]] leads to wis-dom not-lf!-ihetisual [[sense]] that it prepares the [[mind]] to undertake the [[discipline]] oCprajna, but in the [[sense]] that it uncovers a preexistent praji'Hl. inJ1eren-fiifthe mina.-trnhis [[sense]], it is possible to speak of the [[calm]] of [[meditation]], if not as an end in itself, at least as a sufficient [[condition]] for that end. The {{Wiki|theory}} behind this way of speaking-the model of the [[pure]], [[enlightened mind]] covered by discursive thinking-is by no means, of course, an uncommon one, not only in [[Zen texts]] but also in [[Chih-i's]] writings and other versions of [[Mahayana]]. Whatever we may say of it as a {{Wiki|theory}}, from the {{Wiki|perspective}} of practice it [[offered]] [[Buddhism]] a handy way of dealing with the difficult question of the relationship between [[samadhi]] and prajiia and provided a meaningful rationale for the [[cultivation]] of [[meditation]]. These [[virtues]] notwithstanding, the {{Wiki|theory}} was questioned by some of the most influential figures of the early [[Zen]] movement-figures whose teachings became the basis for {{Wiki|orthodoxy}} in the later [[tradition]]. On this point -too, tfien, the Tso-ch 'an i could raise the [[eyebrows]] (if not the hackles) of its more thoughtful readers.  
 
[[wisdom]] rests deep within the [[mind]], obscured only by the surface fluctuations of'thought; once these fluctuations are [[calmed]], it is automatically made [[manifest]]. Hence, [[meditation]] leads to wis-dom not-lf!-ihetisual [[sense]] that it prepares the [[mind]] to undertake the [[discipline]] oCprajna, but in the [[sense]] that it uncovers a preexistent praji'Hl. inJ1eren-fiifthe mina.-trnhis [[sense]], it is possible to speak of the [[calm]] of [[meditation]], if not as an end in itself, at least as a sufficient [[condition]] for that end. The {{Wiki|theory}} behind this way of speaking-the model of the [[pure]], [[enlightened mind]] covered by discursive thinking-is by no means, of course, an uncommon one, not only in [[Zen texts]] but also in [[Chih-i's]] writings and other versions of [[Mahayana]]. Whatever we may say of it as a {{Wiki|theory}}, from the {{Wiki|perspective}} of practice it [[offered]] [[Buddhism]] a handy way of dealing with the difficult question of the relationship between [[samadhi]] and prajiia and provided a meaningful rationale for the [[cultivation]] of [[meditation]]. These [[virtues]] notwithstanding, the {{Wiki|theory}} was questioned by some of the most influential figures of the early [[Zen]] movement-figures whose teachings became the basis for {{Wiki|orthodoxy}} in the later [[tradition]]. On this point -too, tfien, the Tso-ch 'an i could raise the [[eyebrows]] (if not the hackles) of its more thoughtful readers.  
 
Tsung-tse's approach to [[Buddhism]] may not be quite that of sixthcentury [[T'ien-t'ai]] treatises, but neither is it quite what we are familiar with from the recorded sayings of the great [[Zen masters]] of the late [[T'ang]] and Five Dynasties-sayings so popular among Tsung-tse's Sung contemporaries. If anything, he seems rather to take us back to an earlier phase of the school, when the [[Zen]] {{Wiki|movement}} was still seeking to articulate its basic [[doctrinal]] positions and define a [[form]] of [[religious]] pre1ctice consistent witb_them. Indeed, of all the preceding [[Zen]] {{Wiki|literature}}, his manual is perhaps most reminiscent of the kind of material one sometimes finds in the texts associated with the seventh-century [[East Mountain]] [[tradition]] of the [[patriarchs]] [[Tao-hsin]] (580-651) and [[Hung-jen]] (601674). In the teachings of these men and their immediate successors in the so-called [[Northern School]] of the eighth century, we find the most explicit descriptions of [[Zen]] [[meditation]] prior to the Tso-ch 'an i itself. In their teachings also we find the beginnings of the [[doctrines]] that, in the hands of their rivals in the [[Southern School]], would render [[Zen]] [[meditation]] peculiarly problematic and help to [[silence]], for some three centuries, the open [[discussion]] of its [[techniques]].  
 
Tsung-tse's approach to [[Buddhism]] may not be quite that of sixthcentury [[T'ien-t'ai]] treatises, but neither is it quite what we are familiar with from the recorded sayings of the great [[Zen masters]] of the late [[T'ang]] and Five Dynasties-sayings so popular among Tsung-tse's Sung contemporaries. If anything, he seems rather to take us back to an earlier phase of the school, when the [[Zen]] {{Wiki|movement}} was still seeking to articulate its basic [[doctrinal]] positions and define a [[form]] of [[religious]] pre1ctice consistent witb_them. Indeed, of all the preceding [[Zen]] {{Wiki|literature}}, his manual is perhaps most reminiscent of the kind of material one sometimes finds in the texts associated with the seventh-century [[East Mountain]] [[tradition]] of the [[patriarchs]] [[Tao-hsin]] (580-651) and [[Hung-jen]] (601674). In the teachings of these men and their immediate successors in the so-called [[Northern School]] of the eighth century, we find the most explicit descriptions of [[Zen]] [[meditation]] prior to the Tso-ch 'an i itself. In their teachings also we find the beginnings of the [[doctrines]] that, in the hands of their rivals in the [[Southern School]], would render [[Zen]] [[meditation]] peculiarly problematic and help to [[silence]], for some three centuries, the open [[discussion]] of its [[techniques]].  
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[[Tao-hsin]] in the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi ("Record of the [[Masters]] and  
 
[[Tao-hsin]] in the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi ("Record of the [[Masters]] and  
 
[[Disciples]] of the Lm1kavatiira") and the Hsiu-hsin yao fun ("[[Essentials]] of  
 
[[Disciples]] of the Lm1kavatiira") and the Hsiu-hsin yao fun ("[[Essentials]] of  
Carl Bielefeldt
+
 
the [[Cultivation]] of the [[Mind]]"), attributed to [[Hung-jen]]. Whether or not this material represents accurate reports of the [[Buddhism]] of the Fourth and [[Fifth Patriarchs]], it does preserve for us the [[understanding]] of their [[Buddhism]] current among influential factions of [[Zen]] in the eighth century. Both texts are highly {{Wiki|practical}} in approach and provide fairly concrete instructions on a range of [[spiritual]] [[techniques]]. These seem to fall into three general types. One is a contemplation on [[emptiness]] roughly of the sort we have seen in [[Chih-i's]] [[meditations]]. We find this type, for example, in the [[Tao-hsin]] section of the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi, where it appears in {{Wiki|conjunction}} with the famous practice of "guarding the one without moving" (shou-i pu-i). Here we are told to [[contemplate]] all [[dharmas]] of both [[body]] and mind-from the [[four elements]] and [[five skandhas]] to the [[dharmas]] of [[prthagjana]] and arya-recognizing that they are all [[empty]] and quiescent, without origination or [[cessation]], and so on. We should continue this practice in all [[activities]], day and night, until we can see [[our own existence]] as but a {{Wiki|reflection}}, a [[mirage]], an {{Wiki|echo}}. Should random [[thoughts]] intrude on the [[meditation]], we are to see whatever occurs as  
 
the [[Cultivation]] of the [[Mind]]"), attributed to [[Hung-jen]]. Whether or not this material represents accurate reports of the [[Buddhism]] of the Fourth and [[Fifth Patriarchs]], it does preserve for us the [[understanding]] of their [[Buddhism]] current among influential factions of [[Zen]] in the eighth century. Both texts are highly {{Wiki|practical}} in approach and provide fairly concrete instructions on a range of [[spiritual]] [[techniques]]. These seem to fall into three general types. One is a contemplation on [[emptiness]] roughly of the sort we have seen in [[Chih-i's]] [[meditations]]. We find this type, for example, in the [[Tao-hsin]] section of the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi, where it appears in {{Wiki|conjunction}} with the famous practice of "guarding the one without moving" (shou-i pu-i). Here we are told to [[contemplate]] all [[dharmas]] of both [[body]] and mind-from the [[four elements]] and [[five skandhas]] to the [[dharmas]] of [[prthagjana]] and arya-recognizing that they are all [[empty]] and quiescent, without origination or [[cessation]], and so on. We should continue this practice in all [[activities]], day and night, until we can see [[our own existence]] as but a {{Wiki|reflection}}, a [[mirage]], an {{Wiki|echo}}. Should random [[thoughts]] intrude on the [[meditation]], we are to see whatever occurs as  
 
ultimately not occurring, as coming from nowhere and going nowhere;  
 
ultimately not occurring, as coming from nowhere and going nowhere;  
 
when [[thoughts]] are seen thus, the [[mind]] becomes stabilized. 25  
 
when [[thoughts]] are seen thus, the [[mind]] becomes stabilized. 25  
More commonly encountered, and probably more [[characteristic]] of the [[tradition]], are two other types of [[meditation]]. One recommends the observation of some [[symbol]] of what, for want of a better term, we may call the [[Wikipedia:Absolute (philosophy)|ultimate]] principfe:-srhrc ,forexainple; isthe-polliJia:ronepractice [[samadhi]] ([[i-hsing sanmei]]; ekavyuha-samadhi), introduced at the outset of the [[Tao-hsin]] section of the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi. Here (following the instructions of the [[Wen-shu]] shuo [[ching]]) the [[practitioner]] is to focus on the image of a single [[Buddha]], [[recognizing]] therein the [[Wikipedia:Identity (social science)|identity]] of that [[Buddha]] with the entire [[Dharmadhatu]] and with the practitioner's [[own mind]]. 26 In the [[Hung-jen]] section the same text, we find a [[meditation]] on the numeral one, either {{Wiki|projected}} onto the horizon or [[visualized]] internally; in this [[meditation]] one [[experiences]] a [[sense]] of [[unlimited]] [[space]] analogous to the [[dharmakaya]]. 27 Similarly, the Hsiu-hsin yao tun, using the {{Wiki|sun}} as a {{Wiki|metaphor}} for the true, [[enlightened mind]] within us all, recommends (following the [[Kuan wu-liang-shou ching]]) the contemplation of an image of the disk of the {{Wiki|sun}}. 28
+
More commonly encountered, and probably more [[characteristic]] of the [[tradition]], are two other types of [[meditation]]. One recommends the observation of some [[symbol]] of what, for want of a better term, we may call the [[Wikipedia:Absolute (philosophy)|ultimate]] principfe:-srhrc ,forexainple; isthe-polliJia:ronepractice [[samadhi]] ([[i-hsing sanmei]]; ekavyuha-samadhi), introduced at the outset of the [[Tao-hsin]] section of the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi. Here (following the instructions of the [[Wen-shu]] shuo [[ching]]) the [[practitioner]] is to focus on the image of a single [[Buddha]], [[recognizing]] therein the [[Wikipedia:Identity (social science)|identity]] of that [[Buddha]] with the entire [[Dharmadhatu]] and with the practitioner's [[own mind]]. 26 In the [[Hung-jen]] section the same text, we find a [[meditation]] on the numeral one, either {{Wiki|projected}} onto the horizon or [[visualized]] internally; in this [[meditation]] one [[experiences]] a [[sense]] of [[unlimited]] [[space]] analogous to the [[dharmakaya]]. 27 Similarly, the Hsiu-hsin yao tun, using the {{Wiki|sun}} as a {{Wiki|metaphor}} for the true, [[enlightened mind]] within us all, recommends (following the [[Kuan wu-liang-shou ching]]) the contemplation of an image of the disk of the {{Wiki|sun}}.  
The other type of technique involves some sort of simple [[concentration]] exercis._whichwQuldsem to be the pra,ctical import ofTao1isin's most basic desripti()l)_()f'' gurctlrig the one withmt movig."Jlils-tech­
+
 +
The other type of technique involves some sort of simple [[concentration]] exercis._whichwQuldsem to be the pra,ctical import ofTao1isin's most basic desriptif'' gurctlrig the one withmt movig."Jlils-tech­
 
nique is dfinea-simply s maille-;)tlited-observation of one thing ([[kuan i wu]]) until the [[mind]] becomes fixed in [[samadhi]]. If the [[mind]] wanders, it is to be brought back to the [[object]], as the saying goes, like a bird held by a string. Just as the archer gradually narrows his aim to the very center of the target, so too the [[meditator]] should learn to focus his [[attention]] until the [[mind]] remains fixed on its [[object]] in each [[moment]],  
 
nique is dfinea-simply s maille-;)tlited-observation of one thing ([[kuan i wu]]) until the [[mind]] becomes fixed in [[samadhi]]. If the [[mind]] wanders, it is to be brought back to the [[object]], as the saying goes, like a bird held by a string. Just as the archer gradually narrows his aim to the very center of the target, so too the [[meditator]] should learn to focus his [[attention]] until the [[mind]] remains fixed on its [[object]] in each [[moment]],  
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
+
 
 
and [[right mindfulness]] ([[cheng-nien]]) is {{Wiki|present}} without interruption. 29 Closest, perhaps, to Tsung-tse's description of [[meditation]] are some of the accounts of [[Hung-jen's]] practice of "[[guarding the mind]]" (shou-hsin) given in the Hsiu-hsin yao tun. In the most explicit of these, we are told to abandon the seizing of [[objects]], to regulate [[body]], [[breath]], and [[mind]], and then gently to focus on the fluctuations of [[consciousness]] (hsin-shih liu-tung) until they disappear of their [[own]] accord. When they do so, they take with them all the [[obstacles]] to [[complete enlightenment]]. 30  
 
and [[right mindfulness]] ([[cheng-nien]]) is {{Wiki|present}} without interruption. 29 Closest, perhaps, to Tsung-tse's description of [[meditation]] are some of the accounts of [[Hung-jen's]] practice of "[[guarding the mind]]" (shou-hsin) given in the Hsiu-hsin yao tun. In the most explicit of these, we are told to abandon the seizing of [[objects]], to regulate [[body]], [[breath]], and [[mind]], and then gently to focus on the fluctuations of [[consciousness]] (hsin-shih liu-tung) until they disappear of their [[own]] accord. When they do so, they take with them all the [[obstacles]] to [[complete enlightenment]]. 30  
 
The {{Wiki|distinction}} among these types of [[meditation]] is not always clear, and such catchplifases as "guarding the one',- or ''guarmng the [[mind]]" could, in praCtice, denote_av-afiety of COiltemplatlve-ted1mques. Whatever their diftfe erices,theyseem joshareacOiiiiDOn {{Wiki|theoretical}} contextthe [[characteristic]] [[East Mountain]] [[doctrine]] of the [[pure]], radiant [[consciousness]] [[inherent]] m every mind-and a common purpose-the detas_hment from, and eventual suppression of, the {{Wiki|stream}} of discursive [[thoughts]] that obscures thisCoilsciousness. Perhaps most significantly, on the basis of these common [[elements]], each of _the tecbniqueis.lYP.ically_._prese.nted as at once readily accessible to the beginner and yet leading directly to  
 
The {{Wiki|distinction}} among these types of [[meditation]] is not always clear, and such catchplifases as "guarding the one',- or ''guarmng the [[mind]]" could, in praCtice, denote_av-afiety of COiltemplatlve-ted1mques. Whatever their diftfe erices,theyseem joshareacOiiiiDOn {{Wiki|theoretical}} contextthe [[characteristic]] [[East Mountain]] [[doctrine]] of the [[pure]], radiant [[consciousness]] [[inherent]] m every mind-and a common purpose-the detas_hment from, and eventual suppression of, the {{Wiki|stream}} of discursive [[thoughts]] that obscures thisCoilsciousness. Perhaps most significantly, on the basis of these common [[elements]], each of _the tecbniqueis.lYP.ically_._prese.nted as at once readily accessible to the beginner and yet leading directly to  
[[enlightenment]]. -------·----------·
+
[[enlightenment]].  
 +
 
 
This abrupt leap from a seemingly rather pedestrian {{Wiki|psychophysical}} exercise to the rarified reaches of the [[spiritual path]] is well expressed in a passage from the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi attributed to [[Tao-hsin]]. There we are told that, when one first sets out to practice [[meditation]] and observe the [[mind]], he should seek [[solitude]]. Sitting erect, he should loosen his robe and belt, [[relax]] his [[body]], stretch himself several times, and exhale fully; then he will have a [[sense]] of expanding to his [[true nature]] and will become clear and vacant, [[tranquil]] and still. When he has thus regulated [[body]] and [[mind]] and settled his [[spirit]], his [[breathing]] will be [[calm]]; as he gradually controls his [[mind]], it will become clear and bright. When his contemplation becomes clear, and both inside and out become [[empty]] and [[pure]], the [[mind]] itself will be quiescent, and the iirya [[mind]] (sheng-hsin) will appear. The text then goes on to tell us that the [[nature]] of this [[mind]], always functioning within us, is the [[Buddha-nature]], and that one who [[experiences]] this [[nature]] is forever released from smpsara and has transcended this [[world]]; he has, as the VimalakTrti Siltra says, suddenly regained his [[original mind]] (pen-hsin)."  
 
This abrupt leap from a seemingly rather pedestrian {{Wiki|psychophysical}} exercise to the rarified reaches of the [[spiritual path]] is well expressed in a passage from the Leng-ch 'ieh [[shih-tzu]] chi attributed to [[Tao-hsin]]. There we are told that, when one first sets out to practice [[meditation]] and observe the [[mind]], he should seek [[solitude]]. Sitting erect, he should loosen his robe and belt, [[relax]] his [[body]], stretch himself several times, and exhale fully; then he will have a [[sense]] of expanding to his [[true nature]] and will become clear and vacant, [[tranquil]] and still. When he has thus regulated [[body]] and [[mind]] and settled his [[spirit]], his [[breathing]] will be [[calm]]; as he gradually controls his [[mind]], it will become clear and bright. When his contemplation becomes clear, and both inside and out become [[empty]] and [[pure]], the [[mind]] itself will be quiescent, and the iirya [[mind]] (sheng-hsin) will appear. The text then goes on to tell us that the [[nature]] of this [[mind]], always functioning within us, is the [[Buddha-nature]], and that one who [[experiences]] this [[nature]] is forever released from smpsara and has transcended this [[world]]; he has, as the VimalakTrti Siltra says, suddenly regained his [[original mind]] (pen-hsin)."  
 
Though this passage tells us little about the [[mental]] technique involved, its concrete description of some of the [[physical elements]] reminds us of both the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] and the Tso-ch 'an i. Indeed, the passage has been singled out by Sekiguchi as the first extant [[Zen]] account of [[meditation techniques]]. 32 What is perhaps most striking from a [[doctrinal]] {{Wiki|perspective}} is its apparent identification of the [[calm]], clear [[state of samadhi]] with the [[attainment]] of the iirya [[path]], and the [[impression]] it gives that the beginning [[meditator]], simply by quieting his [[mind]], can in a single  
 
Though this passage tells us little about the [[mental]] technique involved, its concrete description of some of the [[physical elements]] reminds us of both the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] and the Tso-ch 'an i. Indeed, the passage has been singled out by Sekiguchi as the first extant [[Zen]] account of [[meditation techniques]]. 32 What is perhaps most striking from a [[doctrinal]] {{Wiki|perspective}} is its apparent identification of the [[calm]], clear [[state of samadhi]] with the [[attainment]] of the iirya [[path]], and the [[impression]] it gives that the beginning [[meditator]], simply by quieting his [[mind]], can in a single  
Carl Bielefeldt
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s1ttmg attain this [[samadhi]] and propel himself onto that [[path]]. Such hyperbolic praise of [[meditation]] is not, of course, unusual in [[Buddhist literature]]; in fact, the message here is quite similar to the direct identification of [[samatha]] with the [[attainment]] of nirval).a that we sometimes find in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] itself. 33 Nor is the recommendation of a single, simple practice for exclusive [[cultivation]] without ample precedent: it is a [[characteristic]] of some of the very [[Mahayana sutra]] {{Wiki|literature}} on which both [[Chih-i]] and the [[East Mountain]] [[teachers]] like to draw for their accounts of [[meditation]]. Unlike more conservative interpretations of such {{Wiki|literature}}, the [[East Mountain]] teachings tend to ignore the various graded  
 
s1ttmg attain this [[samadhi]] and propel himself onto that [[path]]. Such hyperbolic praise of [[meditation]] is not, of course, unusual in [[Buddhist literature]]; in fact, the message here is quite similar to the direct identification of [[samatha]] with the [[attainment]] of nirval).a that we sometimes find in the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] itself. 33 Nor is the recommendation of a single, simple practice for exclusive [[cultivation]] without ample precedent: it is a [[characteristic]] of some of the very [[Mahayana sutra]] {{Wiki|literature}} on which both [[Chih-i]] and the [[East Mountain]] [[teachers]] like to draw for their accounts of [[meditation]]. Unlike more conservative interpretations of such {{Wiki|literature}}, the [[East Mountain]] teachings tend to ignore the various graded  
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hierarchies of vehicles, [[paths]], stages, and the like that provide the [[traditional]] contexts for specific [[meditations]]. In effect, then, they seem to reduce the panoply of [[Buddhist]] [[spiritual]] exercises to a single practice and the {{Wiki|perpetuity}} of the [[bodhisattva path]] to a single [[experience]]. In this, they are presenting one [[form]] of a "sudden" version of [[Buddhist practice]].  
 
hierarchies of vehicles, [[paths]], stages, and the like that provide the [[traditional]] contexts for specific [[meditations]]. In effect, then, they seem to reduce the panoply of [[Buddhist]] [[spiritual]] exercises to a single practice and the {{Wiki|perpetuity}} of the [[bodhisattva path]] to a single [[experience]]. In this, they are presenting one [[form]] of a "sudden" version of [[Buddhist practice]].  
 
The [[Zen tradition]] may look to its [[own]] [[Sixth Patriarch]] for its [[doctrine of sudden enlightenment]], but by his day, of course, notions of a sudden approach to practice had been current in [[Chinese Buddhism]] for some time. One such notion was basic to the early [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[discussion]] of [[meditation]] and is well expressed in Kuan-ting's oft-quoted introduction to the [[Mo-ho chih-kuan]]. There we are told that, unlike the [[gradual cultivation]] of [[samatha-vipasyana]], which proceeds through the [[marga]] by [[overcoming]] in turn the [[obstacles]] [[characteristic]] of each of the [[stages of the path]], the "{{Wiki|perfect}} sudden" (yiian-tun) practice takes from the start the [[ultimate reality]] of the [[Dharmadhatu]] itself as the sole [[object of meditation]]. Such a practice is based on what [[T'ien-t'ai]] considers the [[highest]] version of Buddhism-the [[one Buddha vehicle]], in which, as the text says, every [[sight]] and every {{Wiki|smell}} is the [[Wikipedia:Absolute (philosophy)|ultimate]] [[Middle Way]], in which [[ignorance]] is [[identical]] with [[enlightenment]], saJTlsara is [[identical]] with nirval).a, and there is no [[religious]] [[path]] leading from one to the other. In such a practice, [[samatha]] is nothing but the quiescence of dharma/a itself (fahsing chi-jan), and [[vipasyana]] is but its [[constant]] [[luminosity]] (ch 'ang­
 
The [[Zen tradition]] may look to its [[own]] [[Sixth Patriarch]] for its [[doctrine of sudden enlightenment]], but by his day, of course, notions of a sudden approach to practice had been current in [[Chinese Buddhism]] for some time. One such notion was basic to the early [[T'ien-t'ai]] [[discussion]] of [[meditation]] and is well expressed in Kuan-ting's oft-quoted introduction to the [[Mo-ho chih-kuan]]. There we are told that, unlike the [[gradual cultivation]] of [[samatha-vipasyana]], which proceeds through the [[marga]] by [[overcoming]] in turn the [[obstacles]] [[characteristic]] of each of the [[stages of the path]], the "{{Wiki|perfect}} sudden" (yiian-tun) practice takes from the start the [[ultimate reality]] of the [[Dharmadhatu]] itself as the sole [[object of meditation]]. Such a practice is based on what [[T'ien-t'ai]] considers the [[highest]] version of Buddhism-the [[one Buddha vehicle]], in which, as the text says, every [[sight]] and every {{Wiki|smell}} is the [[Wikipedia:Absolute (philosophy)|ultimate]] [[Middle Way]], in which [[ignorance]] is [[identical]] with [[enlightenment]], saJTlsara is [[identical]] with nirval).a, and there is no [[religious]] [[path]] leading from one to the other. In such a practice, [[samatha]] is nothing but the quiescence of dharma/a itself (fahsing chi-jan), and [[vipasyana]] is but its [[constant]] [[luminosity]] (ch 'ang­
 
chao). 34  
 
chao). 34  
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In one [[sense]], the {{Wiki|distinction}} here between "[[gradual]]" and "sudden" practices can be seen as one between antidotal [[meditations]], which are intended to counteract specific [[spiritual]] [[obstacles]], and what we might call [[wisdom]] [[meditations]], which, like the [[venerable]] nirvedha-bhagTya exercises, take the [[metaphysical]] [[doctrines]] of [[Buddhism]] as their theme and lead directly (and, by necessity, quite suddenly and inexplicably) to an [[insight]] into the [[truth]] of these [[doctrines]]. The model here seems clearly to be the last of such [[meditations]], the mighty [[vajropamasamadhi]], in which the [[bodhisattva]] vaults, in one [[moment]] of [[trance]], to supreme, [[perfect enlightenment]]. For his part, [[Chih-i]] is ever careful to hedge around such moments of {{Wiki|ecstatic}} [[vision]] with the drudgery of [[traditional]] Bud-
 
In one [[sense]], the {{Wiki|distinction}} here between "[[gradual]]" and "sudden" practices can be seen as one between antidotal [[meditations]], which are intended to counteract specific [[spiritual]] [[obstacles]], and what we might call [[wisdom]] [[meditations]], which, like the [[venerable]] nirvedha-bhagTya exercises, take the [[metaphysical]] [[doctrines]] of [[Buddhism]] as their theme and lead directly (and, by necessity, quite suddenly and inexplicably) to an [[insight]] into the [[truth]] of these [[doctrines]]. The model here seems clearly to be the last of such [[meditations]], the mighty [[vajropamasamadhi]], in which the [[bodhisattva]] vaults, in one [[moment]] of [[trance]], to supreme, [[perfect enlightenment]]. For his part, [[Chih-i]] is ever careful to hedge around such moments of {{Wiki|ecstatic}} [[vision]] with the drudgery of [[traditional]] Bud-
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
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dhist {{Wiki|training}} and to find room on his one [[great vehicle]] for even the humblest [[forms]] of upliya. Ever the [[scholar]], he never forgets the {{Wiki|distinction}} between {{Wiki|theory}} and practice or the various levels of [[philosophical]] [[discourse]] and [[spiritual]] {{Wiki|maturation}}. Yet for those impatient to {{Wiki|taste}} the {{Wiki|fruits}} of his supreme [[Buddha vehicle]], the prospect of a sudden [[meditation]] beyond the old practices of the bodhisattvamlirga was too tempting to postpone to the final course.  
 
dhist {{Wiki|training}} and to find room on his one [[great vehicle]] for even the humblest [[forms]] of upliya. Ever the [[scholar]], he never forgets the {{Wiki|distinction}} between {{Wiki|theory}} and practice or the various levels of [[philosophical]] [[discourse]] and [[spiritual]] {{Wiki|maturation}}. Yet for those impatient to {{Wiki|taste}} the {{Wiki|fruits}} of his supreme [[Buddha vehicle]], the prospect of a sudden [[meditation]] beyond the old practices of the bodhisattvamlirga was too tempting to postpone to the final course.  
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The most obvious problem with the "sudden" [[meditation]], of course, is that, taken in itself, its radical [[nondualism]] undermines the  
 
The most obvious problem with the "sudden" [[meditation]], of course, is that, taken in itself, its radical [[nondualism]] undermines the  
 
rationale for its practice. [[Chih-i's]] ample [[Buddhism]] could easily live with this problem, for its {{Wiki|catholic}} embrace of upliya allowed him room to discuss the {{Wiki|practical}} [[methods]] of even this most mysterious and [[metaphysical]] of meditations-hence the Mo-ho chih-kuan's detailed presentation of the practice of [[contemplation of the mind]], in which the "sudden" [[meditation]] is effected through the {{Wiki|recognition}} of the three thousand [[dharmas]] in every [[thought]] (i-nien san-ch' ien). Similarly, the early [[Zen]] {{Wiki|movement}}, though no [[doubt]] inspired by the notion of a {{Wiki|perfect}} [[Buddha vehicle]], still tended to operate within a model-of the [[Buddha-nature]] obscured..t.:.... hat retains what T'ien-t'alwould call the [[relative]] (hsiang-tai) [[understanding]] more [[characteristic]] of the separate (pieh) [[bodhisattva vehicle]]. Though its [[vision]] of [[meditation]] may have narrowed to the single, sudden practice that leads directly to [[enlightenment]], it still takes for granted the kind of distinctions-between {{Wiki|theory}} and practice, [[hetu]] and [[phala]], [[meditation]] and wisdom-that allow it to speak frankly of the upliya through which this practice is implemented. But as the {{Wiki|movement}}, perhaps in the heat of {{Wiki|sectarian}} competition, began to focus more and more narrowly on the [[supreme vehicle]] (wu-shang sheng), on the one [[true teaching]] (chen-tsung), on the [[meditation]] of the [[Tathagata]] ([[ju-lai]] ch' an), and so on, the [[metaphysics]] of the [[absolute]], [[nondual]] [[truth]] became the norm. Thus, the radiant [[Buddha-nature]] became ever brighter, its [[obscurations]] ever emptier, and the {{Wiki|contradiction}} [[inherent]] in any description of a method for inducing the "sudden" practice ever more obvious.  
 
rationale for its practice. [[Chih-i's]] ample [[Buddhism]] could easily live with this problem, for its {{Wiki|catholic}} embrace of upliya allowed him room to discuss the {{Wiki|practical}} [[methods]] of even this most mysterious and [[metaphysical]] of meditations-hence the Mo-ho chih-kuan's detailed presentation of the practice of [[contemplation of the mind]], in which the "sudden" [[meditation]] is effected through the {{Wiki|recognition}} of the three thousand [[dharmas]] in every [[thought]] (i-nien san-ch' ien). Similarly, the early [[Zen]] {{Wiki|movement}}, though no [[doubt]] inspired by the notion of a {{Wiki|perfect}} [[Buddha vehicle]], still tended to operate within a model-of the [[Buddha-nature]] obscured..t.:.... hat retains what T'ien-t'alwould call the [[relative]] (hsiang-tai) [[understanding]] more [[characteristic]] of the separate (pieh) [[bodhisattva vehicle]]. Though its [[vision]] of [[meditation]] may have narrowed to the single, sudden practice that leads directly to [[enlightenment]], it still takes for granted the kind of distinctions-between {{Wiki|theory}} and practice, [[hetu]] and [[phala]], [[meditation]] and wisdom-that allow it to speak frankly of the upliya through which this practice is implemented. But as the {{Wiki|movement}}, perhaps in the heat of {{Wiki|sectarian}} competition, began to focus more and more narrowly on the [[supreme vehicle]] (wu-shang sheng), on the one [[true teaching]] (chen-tsung), on the [[meditation]] of the [[Tathagata]] ([[ju-lai]] ch' an), and so on, the [[metaphysics]] of the [[absolute]], [[nondual]] [[truth]] became the norm. Thus, the radiant [[Buddha-nature]] became ever brighter, its [[obscurations]] ever emptier, and the {{Wiki|contradiction}} [[inherent]] in any description of a method for inducing the "sudden" practice ever more obvious.  
It is this {{Wiki|contradiction}}, of course, that so tickled the fancy of the {{Wiki|movement}} known to us as the [[Southern School]] and inspired the severe {{Wiki|criticisms}} of [[meditation]] that we find in texts like the [[Platform Sutra]] and [[Shen-hui's]] T'an yii ("Platform Teachings") and Ting shih-fei tun ("[[Determination]] of the [[Truth]]"). Taking its stand in the uncompromised cardinal [[principle]] (ti-i i) of the [[Perfection of Wisdom]] alone, the {{Wiki|movement}} [[delighted]] in pointing out the folly of [[methods]] to overcome what was, after all, not really real. Now the "sudden" practice was to be precisely that which sees through the unreal and abandons all upliya-that which is without [[attributes]] (wu-hsiang), without {{Wiki|intentionality}} ([[wu-wei]]), without artifice (wu-tso), and so on. Since it was without [[characteristics]], this practice could not be described; since it was without artifice, nothing  
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Carl Bielefeldt could be done about it: it was enough to [[recognize]] this fact and leave off misguided attempts to cultivate [[Buddhism]]. [[Meditation]], as [[Buddhist]] [[cultivation]] par [[excellence]] (and the forte of the [[Northern]] [[masters]]), was particularly to be avoided: any [[effort]] to control or suppress [[thoughts]] was ipso facto a "[[gradual]]" -and, hence, at best a second-rate-form of [[Buddhism]]. In first-rate [[Buddhism]], the true meaning of sudden [[meditation]] was simply that the [[mind]] was inherently [[calm]], inherently without any deluded [[thoughts]] (wu-nien) that might disturb it. In this way, the {{Wiki|practical}} thrust of early [[Zen]] [[meditation]] was overwhelmed by its [[own]] [[logic]]: [[religious]] prescription was sublated in [[metaphysical]] description, and [[samadhi]] was {{Wiki|liberated}} from its [[earthly]] burdens, to join prajiia in the [[higher realm]] of [[pure]] [[Principle]].  
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It is this {{Wiki|contradiction}}, of course, that so tickled the fancy of the {{Wiki|movement}} known to us as the [[Southern School]] and inspired the severe {{Wiki|criticisms}} of [[meditation]] that we find in texts like the [[Platform Sutra]] and [[Shen-hui's]] T'an yii ("Platform Teachings") and Ting shih-fei tun ("[[Determination]] of the [[Truth]]"). Taking its stand in the uncompromised cardinal [[principle]] (ti-i i) of the [[Perfection of Wisdom]] alone, the {{Wiki|movement}} [[delighted]] in pointing out the folly of [[methods]] to overcome what was, after all, not really real. Now the "sudden" practice was to be precisely that which sees through the unreal and abandons all upliya-that which is without [[attributes]] (wu-hsiang), without {{Wiki|intentionality}} ([[wu-wei]]), without artifice (wu-tso), and so on. Since it was without [[characteristics]], this practice could not be described; since it was without artifice, nothing could be done about it: it was enough to [[recognize]] this fact and leave off misguided attempts to cultivate [[Buddhism]]. [[Meditation]], as [[Buddhist]] [[cultivation]] par [[excellence]] (and the forte of the [[Northern]] [[masters]]), was particularly to be avoided: any [[effort]] to control or suppress [[thoughts]] was ipso facto a "[[gradual]]" -and, hence, at best a second-rate-form of [[Buddhism]]. In first-rate [[Buddhism]], the true meaning of sudden [[meditation]] was simply that the [[mind]] was inherently [[calm]], inherently without any deluded [[thoughts]] (wu-nien) that might disturb it. In this way, the {{Wiki|practical}} thrust of early [[Zen]] [[meditation]] was overwhelmed by its [[own]] [[logic]]: [[religious]] prescription was sublated in [[metaphysical]] description, and [[samadhi]] was {{Wiki|liberated}} from its [[earthly]] burdens, to join prajiia in the [[higher realm]] of [[pure]] [[Principle]].  
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Thus, by the mid eighth century, even as the {{Wiki|movement}} was becoming known as the [[Meditation School]], it was beginning to find itself unable openly to advocate the [[practice of meditation]]. This predicament is well reflected in the writings of [[Shen-hui]] himself: hemmed inJ>y_)1is [[doctrine]] of no-t)Joug!gand js rejeqio1!_9f C()ntemplative practices, he is left with little room for [[cultivation]] and can only hint shyfy at how one might go about practicing h-is Buaahism:-Not surprisirigry-pefhaps; what he hints at turns out to be a vesion of the [[mindfulness]] technique we have seen in Hung-jen-the same practice recommended much later by Tsung-tse.  
 
Thus, by the mid eighth century, even as the {{Wiki|movement}} was becoming known as the [[Meditation School]], it was beginning to find itself unable openly to advocate the [[practice of meditation]]. This predicament is well reflected in the writings of [[Shen-hui]] himself: hemmed inJ>y_)1is [[doctrine]] of no-t)Joug!gand js rejeqio1!_9f C()ntemplative practices, he is left with little room for [[cultivation]] and can only hint shyfy at how one might go about practicing h-is Buaahism:-Not surprisirigry-pefhaps; what he hints at turns out to be a vesion of the [[mindfulness]] technique we have seen in Hung-jen-the same practice recommended much later by Tsung-tse.  
 
In the Ting shih-fei tun, when asked about [[no-thought]] (wu-nien), [[Shen-hui]] replies that it is not [[thinking]] about being or nonbeing, about good or [[evil]], [[bodhi]] or nirval).a, and so on; it is nothing but the [[Perfection of Wisdom]], which is itself one-practice [[samadhi]]. He then describes this [[samadhi]].  
 
In the Ting shih-fei tun, when asked about [[no-thought]] (wu-nien), [[Shen-hui]] replies that it is not [[thinking]] about being or nonbeing, about good or [[evil]], [[bodhi]] or nirval).a, and so on; it is nothing but the [[Perfection of Wisdom]], which is itself one-practice [[samadhi]]. He then describes this [[samadhi]].  
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Similarly, in the T'an yu, in warning against the misguided attempt to {{Wiki|purify}} the [[mind]] of [[delusion]], he says,  
 
Similarly, in the T'an yu, in warning against the misguided attempt to {{Wiki|purify}} the [[mind]] of [[delusion]], he says,  
 
Friends, when you correctly employ the [[mind]], if any deluded [[[thought]]] occurs and you think about things either near or far, you should not try to constrain it.W hy? Because, if the putting forth of a [[thought]] is a [[sickness]], the constraint of it is also a [[sickness]]. ... If any deluded [[[thought]]] occurs, be {{Wiki|aware}} of it (jo yu wang ch 'i chi chiieh). When [[awareness]] and [[delusion]] have both disappeared, this is the [[non-abiding]] [[mind]] of the [[original nature]]."  
 
Friends, when you correctly employ the [[mind]], if any deluded [[[thought]]] occurs and you think about things either near or far, you should not try to constrain it.W hy? Because, if the putting forth of a [[thought]] is a [[sickness]], the constraint of it is also a [[sickness]]. ... If any deluded [[[thought]]] occurs, be {{Wiki|aware}} of it (jo yu wang ch 'i chi chiieh). When [[awareness]] and [[delusion]] have both disappeared, this is the [[non-abiding]] [[mind]] of the [[original nature]]."  
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In keeping with his "sudden" [[doctrine]], [[Shen-hui]] seems to be trying here to close the gap between the [[spiritual]] exercise and its goal-to offer  
 
In keeping with his "sudden" [[doctrine]], [[Shen-hui]] seems to be trying here to close the gap between the [[spiritual]] exercise and its goal-to offer  
 
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]  
 
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]  
a unified [[practice of samadhi]] and prajii.a and provide an account of this practice that will be no more (and no less) than a description of the [[enlightened state]] itself. Since that [[state]] is our [[natural state of mind]], and [[meditation]] and [[wisdom]] are both [[inherent]], clearly only the most passive, most minimal of [[meditations]] will do-hence his rejection of formalized contemplation and [[visualization]] [[techniques]] in favor of a simple [[mindfulness]]. Yet for all his [[doubts]] about [[dhyana]] and suspicions of [[samadhi]], his description of practice still seems to suggest (though he is careful to keep this {{Wiki|ambiguous}}) that [[no-thought]], or the original, [[non-abiding]] [[nature of the mind]], is to be discovered when [[thoughts]] have been [[extinguished]]. In this, he is not so different from the earlier [[tradition]] or from Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse. In fact, [[Shen-hui's]] [[Buddhism]] remains rather conservative: while he argues ardently for the Sudden School, he acknowledges here and there that his "[[sudden awakening]]," though it launches one directly onto the [[path]], must still be followed by a [[gradual cultivation]] of that [[path]]." As is well known, this [[teaching]] of [[sudden enlightenment]] and [[gradual practice]] ([[tun-wu]] chien-hsiu) was fixed in its classic [[form]] by his self-styled descendant in the fifth generation, the [[Hua-yen]] [[master]] Kueifeng [[Tsung-mi]].
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a unified [[practice of samadhi]] and prajii.a and provide an account of this practice that will be no more (and no less) than a description of the [[enlightened state]] itself. Since that [[state]] is our [[natural state of mind]], and [[meditation]] and [[wisdom]] are both [[inherent]], clearly only the most passive, most minimal of [[meditations]] will do-hence his rejection of formalized contemplation and [[visualization]] [[techniques]] in favor of a simple [[mindfulness]]. Yet for all his [[doubts]] about [[dhyana]] and suspicions of [[samadhi]], his description of practice still seems to suggest (though he is careful to keep this {{Wiki|ambiguous}}) that [[no-thought]], or the original, [[non-abiding]] [[nature of the mind]], is to be discovered when [[thoughts]] have been [[extinguished]]. In this, he is not so different from the earlier [[tradition]] or from Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse. In fact, [[Shen-hui's]] [[Buddhism]] remains rather conservative: while he argues ardently for the Sudden School, he acknowledges here and there that his "[[sudden awakening]]," though it launches one directly onto the [[path]], must still be followed by a [[gradual cultivation]] of that [[path]]." As is well known, this [[teaching]] of [[sudden enlightenment]] and [[gradual practice]] ([[tun-wu]] chien-hsiu) was fixed in its classic [[form]] by his self-styled descendant in the fifth generation, the  
 +
 
 
[[Tsung-mi]] sought to check the [[Zen]] School's rapid drift toward a radical rejection of works and to steer its practice back onto a more [[traditional]] [[Buddhist]] course. To this end, he tried to align its teachings with {{Wiki|scholastic}} categories and confine its [[definition]] of "[[sudden awakening]]" to an [[initial insight]] [[attained]] at the early [[stages of the path]]. 38 Thus freed from the need for a single, "sudden" [[meditation]], he could, as we have seen, advocate the frankly [[gradual]] [[techniques]] of [[Chih-i's]] [[Hsiao]] chihkuan. Yet as heir to the [[supreme vehicle]] of the [[Southern School]], even [[Tsung-mi]] had to bite his {{Wiki|tongue}}. Such [[techniques]] belonged, after all, only to the very lowest [[form]] of [[Zen]], that which teaches "the stopping of [[delusion]] and [[cultivation]] of [[mind]]" (hsi-wang hsiu-hsin). As we learn in his General Preface (Ch 'an-yiian chu-ch 'iian chi tu-hsii), this [[form]] of [[Zen]], though it [[recognizes]] the [[Buddha-nature]] [[inherent]] in all [[beings]], still believes that in [[ordinary beings]] the [[nature]] is obscured by [[ignorance]], and, hence, that there is a real difference between [[prthagjana]] and iirya. On these grounds, it encourages the [[contemplation of the mind]] (kuan-hsin), in order to wipe away deluded [[thoughts]]. Thus it emphasizes [[techniques]] for entering [[samadhi]], [[teaching]] one to "dwell in a quiet place, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the [[world]], to regulate [[body]] and [[breath]], to sit in [[silent]] [[meditation]] with the {{Wiki|legs}} crossed, the {{Wiki|tongue}} pressed against the  
 
[[Tsung-mi]] sought to check the [[Zen]] School's rapid drift toward a radical rejection of works and to steer its practice back onto a more [[traditional]] [[Buddhist]] course. To this end, he tried to align its teachings with {{Wiki|scholastic}} categories and confine its [[definition]] of "[[sudden awakening]]" to an [[initial insight]] [[attained]] at the early [[stages of the path]]. 38 Thus freed from the need for a single, "sudden" [[meditation]], he could, as we have seen, advocate the frankly [[gradual]] [[techniques]] of [[Chih-i's]] [[Hsiao]] chihkuan. Yet as heir to the [[supreme vehicle]] of the [[Southern School]], even [[Tsung-mi]] had to bite his {{Wiki|tongue}}. Such [[techniques]] belonged, after all, only to the very lowest [[form]] of [[Zen]], that which teaches "the stopping of [[delusion]] and [[cultivation]] of [[mind]]" (hsi-wang hsiu-hsin). As we learn in his General Preface (Ch 'an-yiian chu-ch 'iian chi tu-hsii), this [[form]] of [[Zen]], though it [[recognizes]] the [[Buddha-nature]] [[inherent]] in all [[beings]], still believes that in [[ordinary beings]] the [[nature]] is obscured by [[ignorance]], and, hence, that there is a real difference between [[prthagjana]] and iirya. On these grounds, it encourages the [[contemplation of the mind]] (kuan-hsin), in order to wipe away deluded [[thoughts]]. Thus it emphasizes [[techniques]] for entering [[samadhi]], [[teaching]] one to "dwell in a quiet place, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the [[world]], to regulate [[body]] and [[breath]], to sit in [[silent]] [[meditation]] with the {{Wiki|legs}} crossed, the {{Wiki|tongue}} pressed against the  
 
palate, and the [[mind]] fixed on a single [[object]]." Such is the [[Zen]] of [[Shenhui's]] notorious enemy, the benighted [[Northern]] [[master]] [[Shen-hsiu]]; Shenhsiu's [[understanding]], says [[Tsung-mi]], may differ somewhat from that of [[T'ien-t'ai]], but his [[techniques]] are basically the same. 39  
 
palate, and the [[mind]] fixed on a single [[object]]." Such is the [[Zen]] of [[Shenhui's]] notorious enemy, the benighted [[Northern]] [[master]] [[Shen-hsiu]]; Shenhsiu's [[understanding]], says [[Tsung-mi]], may differ somewhat from that of [[T'ien-t'ai]], but his [[techniques]] are basically the same. 39  
 
1 The [[highest]] [[form]] of [[Zen]], in contrast, "directly reveals the [[nature]] of  
 
1 The [[highest]] [[form]] of [[Zen]], in contrast, "directly reveals the [[nature]] of  
Carl Bielefeldt
+
 
 
the [[mind]]" (chih-hsien [[hsin-hsing]]). Here all [[dharmas]] are just the [[true nature]], which is without [[attributes]] (wu-hsiang) and without [[conditions]] ([[wu-wei]]), beyond all {{Wiki|distinctions}} of wthagjana and iirya, [[cause and effect]], [[good and evil]], and so on. In this [[teaching]], deluded [[thoughts]] are inherently quiescent, and [[mental objects]] inherently [[empty]]: there is only the numinous [[awareness]] (ling-chih) that is one's [[own]] [[true nature]], without [[thought]] (wu-nien) and without [[form]] (wu-hsiang). The practice of this [[Zen]] is simple and, by now, quite familiar.  
 
the [[mind]]" (chih-hsien [[hsin-hsing]]). Here all [[dharmas]] are just the [[true nature]], which is without [[attributes]] (wu-hsiang) and without [[conditions]] ([[wu-wei]]), beyond all {{Wiki|distinctions}} of wthagjana and iirya, [[cause and effect]], [[good and evil]], and so on. In this [[teaching]], deluded [[thoughts]] are inherently quiescent, and [[mental objects]] inherently [[empty]]: there is only the numinous [[awareness]] (ling-chih) that is one's [[own]] [[true nature]], without [[thought]] (wu-nien) and without [[form]] (wu-hsiang). The practice of this [[Zen]] is simple and, by now, quite familiar.  
If one is {{Wiki|aware}} that all [[attributes]] are [[empty]], the [[mind]] will naturally be without [[thought]] (wu-nien). As soon as a [[thought]] occurs, be {{Wiki|aware}} of it ([[nien]] ch 'i chi chiieh); as soon as you are {{Wiki|aware}} of it, it will cease to [[exist]]. The pro­
+
If one is {{Wiki|aware}} that all [[attributes]] are [[empty]], the [[mind]] will naturally be without [[thought]] (wu-nien). As soon as a [[thought]] occurs, be {{Wiki|aware}} of it ([[nien]] ch 'i chi chiieh); as soon as you are {{Wiki|aware}} of it, it will cease to [[exist]]. The pro­found gate of practice lies precisely here.  
found gate of practice lies precisely here. 40
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If even [[Tsung-mi]] was thus constrained by the "sudden" [[doctrine]] to relegate the [[meditation]] teachings of his [[own]] Hsiu-cheng i to the lowest rank of [[Zen]], it is hardly surprising that his more radical contemporaries would be reluctant to associate their [[Buddhism]] with [[meditation]]. And though his {{Wiki|catholic}} [[vision]] would be preserved by men like Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975) and others who sought to integrate [[Zen]] and the {{Wiki|scholastic}} systems, already by his day the mantle of the [[Sixth Patriarch]] had passed to the radicals. In their style of [[Zen]], the {{Wiki|emphasis}} shifts, as is sometimes said, from "[[substance]]" (t'i) to "function" (yung)-from the glorification of the [[calm]], radiant [[Buddha-nature]] latent in every [[mind]] to the celebration of the [[natural wisdom]] active in every [[thought]]. Now the everyday [[mind]] is the Way, and the suppression of that [[mind]] is a mistake. In such a setting, to talk of sitting [[calmly]] in [[meditation]] is in poor {{Wiki|taste}}; rather, one must be ever on one's toes, vitally engaged in the [[object]]. Thus, the great [[masters]] of the second half of the T'ang-especially those of the dominant [[Hung-chou]] School of [[Tsung-mi's]] adversary [[Ma-tsu]] Taoi (709-788)-turned their often remarkable energies to the creation of new [[techniques]] more appropriate to the new [[spirit]] of the "sudden" practice. The old [[forms]] of [[cultivation]] were superseded-at least in the [[imagination]] of the tradition-by the {{Wiki|revolutionary}} [[methods]] of beating and shouting or spontaneous {{Wiki|dialogue}}, and formal [[discussion]] of [[Buddhist doctrine]] and praxis gave way to suggestive [[poetry]], enigmatic sayings, and iconoclastic anecdotes. In the process, the [[philosophical]] rationale for [[Zen practice]], not to mention its [[psychological]] content, became part of the great {{Wiki|mystery}} of things. 41
+
If even [[Tsung-mi]] was thus constrained by the "sudden" [[doctrine]] to relegate the [[meditation]] teachings of his [[own]] Hsiu-cheng i to the lowest rank of [[Zen]], it is hardly surprising that his more radical contemporaries would be reluctant to associate their [[Buddhism]] with [[meditation]]. And though his {{Wiki|catholic}} [[vision]] would be preserved by men like Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975) and others who sought to integrate [[Zen]] and the {{Wiki|scholastic}} systems, already by his day the mantle of the [[Sixth Patriarch]] had passed to the radicals. In their style of [[Zen]], the {{Wiki|emphasis}} shifts, as is sometimes said, from "[[substance]]" (t'i) to "function" (yung)-from the glorification of the [[calm]], radiant [[Buddha-nature]] latent in every [[mind]] to the celebration of the [[natural wisdom]] active in every [[thought]]. Now the everyday [[mind]] is the Way, and the suppression of that [[mind]] is a mistake. In such a setting, to talk of sitting [[calmly]] in [[meditation]] is in poor {{Wiki|taste}}; rather, one must be ever on one's toes, vitally engaged in the [[object]]. Thus, the great [[masters]] of the second half of the T'ang-especially those of the dominant [[Hung-chou]] School of [[Tsung-mi's]] adversary [[Ma-tsu]] Taoi (709-788)-turned their often remarkable energies to the creation of new [[techniques]] more appropriate to the new [[spirit]] of the "sudden" practice. The old [[forms]] of [[cultivation]] were superseded-at least in the [[imagination]] of the tradition-by the {{Wiki|revolutionary}} [[methods]] of beating and shouting or spontaneous {{Wiki|dialogue}}, and formal [[discussion]] of [[Buddhist doctrine]] and praxis gave way to suggestive [[poetry]], enigmatic sayings, and iconoclastic anecdotes. In the process, the [[philosophical]] rationale for [[Zen practice]], not to mention its [[psychological]] content, became part of the great {{Wiki|mystery}} of things.  
 +
 
 
For all this, it is [[doubtful]] that many [[Zen monks]], even in this period, actually escaped the practice of [[seated meditation]]. We may recall, for example, that the [[Sixth Patriarch]] himself, in the Platform Slitra, leaves as his final [[teaching]] to his [[disciples]] the advice that they continue in the practice of tso-ch 'an, just as they did when he was alive; that in the Li-tai Ch 'ang-lu T sung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]  
 
For all this, it is [[doubtful]] that many [[Zen monks]], even in this period, actually escaped the practice of [[seated meditation]]. We may recall, for example, that the [[Sixth Patriarch]] himself, in the Platform Slitra, leaves as his final [[teaching]] to his [[disciples]] the advice that they continue in the practice of tso-ch 'an, just as they did when he was alive; that in the Li-tai Ch 'ang-lu T sung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]  
 
[[fa-pao]] chi ("Record of the Generations of the [[Dharma]] [[Treasure]]") the radical [[Pao-t'ang]] [[master]] [[Wu-chu]] (714-777), whom [[Tsung-mi]] saw as negating all [[forms]] of [[Buddhist]] [[cultivation]], still admits to practicing tsoch 'an; that Hui-hai's Tun-wu ju-tao yao men ("[[Essential Teaching]] of Entering the Way Through [[Sudden Awakening]]") begins its [[teaching]] on "[[sudden awakening]]" by identifying tso-ch 'an as the fundamental [[practice of Buddhism]]; that [[Ma-tsu]] himself, though he is chided by his [[master]] for it, is described by his biographers as having constantly practiced tsoch 'an; and that, according to the Ch 'an-men kuei-shih ("[[Zen]] Regulations"), Po-chang found it necessary to install long daises in his [[monasteries]] to accommodate the [[monks]] in their many hours of tso-ch 'an. 42 Such indications of the widespread [[practice of meditation]] could no [[doubt]] be multiplied severalfold. Indeed, the very fact that [[Wu-chu]], [[Huai-jang]], [[Lin-chi]], and other [[masters]] of the period occasionally felt obliged to make {{Wiki|light}} of the practice can be seen as an indication that it was taken for granted by the [[tradition]]. It is probably safe to assume that, even as these [[masters]] labored to warn their [[disciples]] against fixed notions of [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|training}}, the [[monks]] were sitting with {{Wiki|legs}} crossed and tongues pressed against their palates. But what they were doing had now become a [[family]] secret. As [[Huai-jang]] is supposed to have said to the [[Sixth Patriarch]], it was not that [[Zen monks]] had no practice, but that they refused to  
 
[[fa-pao]] chi ("Record of the Generations of the [[Dharma]] [[Treasure]]") the radical [[Pao-t'ang]] [[master]] [[Wu-chu]] (714-777), whom [[Tsung-mi]] saw as negating all [[forms]] of [[Buddhist]] [[cultivation]], still admits to practicing tsoch 'an; that Hui-hai's Tun-wu ju-tao yao men ("[[Essential Teaching]] of Entering the Way Through [[Sudden Awakening]]") begins its [[teaching]] on "[[sudden awakening]]" by identifying tso-ch 'an as the fundamental [[practice of Buddhism]]; that [[Ma-tsu]] himself, though he is chided by his [[master]] for it, is described by his biographers as having constantly practiced tsoch 'an; and that, according to the Ch 'an-men kuei-shih ("[[Zen]] Regulations"), Po-chang found it necessary to install long daises in his [[monasteries]] to accommodate the [[monks]] in their many hours of tso-ch 'an. 42 Such indications of the widespread [[practice of meditation]] could no [[doubt]] be multiplied severalfold. Indeed, the very fact that [[Wu-chu]], [[Huai-jang]], [[Lin-chi]], and other [[masters]] of the period occasionally felt obliged to make {{Wiki|light}} of the practice can be seen as an indication that it was taken for granted by the [[tradition]]. It is probably safe to assume that, even as these [[masters]] labored to warn their [[disciples]] against fixed notions of [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|training}}, the [[monks]] were sitting with {{Wiki|legs}} crossed and tongues pressed against their palates. But what they were doing had now become a [[family]] secret. As [[Huai-jang]] is supposed to have said to the [[Sixth Patriarch]], it was not that [[Zen monks]] had no practice, but that they refused to  
 
defile it. 43  
 
defile it. 43  
In one [[sense]], then, the style of classical [[Zen]] can be seen as the culmination of the efforts of the early {{Wiki|movement}} to {{Wiki|liberate}} [[Buddhism]] from its [[monastic]] confines and to open the [[religion]] to those unequal to, or unattracted by, the rigors of the [[traditional]] course of [[yogic]] [[discipline]]. In another sense-a [[sense]], I think, too rarely recognized-its style represented the termination of such efforts, brought about in part by the very [[success]] of the school itself. The earlier [[meditation]] texts of the [[East Mountain]] [[tradition]], like most of the [[Tun-huang]] [[Zen]] materials, were written by men who were striving to promote a new brand of [[Buddhism]] attractive to the new [[society]] of the mid [[T'ang]]. To this end, they sought, among other things, to articulate a {{Wiki|practical}} approach to [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|training}} accessible to the [[ordinary man]] and to advertise that approach as a {{Wiki|distinctive}} asset of the school. By the turn of the ninth century, however, the public promotion of [[Zen]] was no longer an issue, for by then the school was comfortably established as a legitimate institution. Now it could remain ensconced on its famous [[mountains]] and wait for its followers to come; and now it could revert to the [[esoteric]] style of the cloister, where [[meditation practice]] was taken for granted and its [[techniques]] transmitted orally within the {{Wiki|community}}. In the context of this {{Wiki|community}}, where the [[monk]] enjoyed intimate [[contact]] with the [[meditation master]], the radical new devices of shouting, beating, riddles, and repartee undoubtedly served to invigorate the practice and inspire the [[practitioner]] Carl Bielefeldt
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In one [[sense]], then, the style of classical [[Zen]] can be seen as the culmination of the efforts of the early {{Wiki|movement}} to {{Wiki|liberate}} [[Buddhism]] from its [[monastic]] confines and to open the [[religion]] to those unequal to, or unattracted by, the rigors of the [[traditional]] course of [[yogic]] [[discipline]]. In another sense-a [[sense]], I think, too rarely recognized-its style represented the termination of such efforts, brought about in part by the very [[success]] of the school itself. The earlier [[meditation]] texts of the [[East Mountain]] [[tradition]], like most of the [[Tun-huang]] [[Zen]] materials, were written by men who were striving to promote a new brand of [[Buddhism]] attractive to the new [[society]] of the mid [[T'ang]]. To this end, they sought, among other things, to articulate a {{Wiki|practical}} approach to [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|training}} accessible to the [[ordinary man]] and to advertise that approach as a {{Wiki|distinctive}} asset of the school. By the turn of the ninth century, however, the public promotion of [[Zen]] was no longer an issue, for by then the school was comfortably established as a legitimate institution. Now it could remain ensconced on its famous [[mountains]] and wait for its followers to come; and now it could revert to the [[esoteric]] style of the cloister, where [[meditation practice]] was taken for granted and its [[techniques]] transmitted orally within the {{Wiki|community}}. In the context of this {{Wiki|community}}, where the [[monk]] enjoyed intimate [[contact]] with the [[meditation master]], the radical new devices of shouting, beating, riddles, and repartee undoubtedly served to invigorate the practice and inspire the [[practitioner]]
 +
 
 
with a more vivid [[sense]] of his goal. But outside this context, these devices [[offered]] few clues to how the ordinary believer might [[gather]] himself [[spiritually]] for the leap to nirval)a. Ironically enough, then, the {{Wiki|practical}} effect of the [[new doctrine]] of "[[sudden awakening]]" was to reseal the doors of the [[meditation]] hall and reopen the [[traditional]] gap between clerical and [[lay Buddhist]] practice.  
 
with a more vivid [[sense]] of his goal. But outside this context, these devices [[offered]] few clues to how the ordinary believer might [[gather]] himself [[spiritually]] for the leap to nirval)a. Ironically enough, then, the {{Wiki|practical}} effect of the [[new doctrine]] of "[[sudden awakening]]" was to reseal the doors of the [[meditation]] hall and reopen the [[traditional]] gap between clerical and [[lay Buddhist]] practice.  
 
In any case, from the establishment of [[Zen]] as a separate [[Buddhist tradition]] and the {{Wiki|recognition}} of the "sudden" [[doctrine]] as its {{Wiki|distinctive}} [[teaching]], it was over three centuries before the school began to discuss its [[meditation practices]] in public. By this time, of course, the [[Zen]] {{Wiki|movement}} had undergone considerable change. From a loose network of {{Wiki|independent}} [[meditation]] communities surrounding prominent [[masters]], it had grown to become the central [[monastic]] [[organization]] of [[Chinese Buddhism]], rapidly coming under control of the [[state]]. As its ranks swelled and its {{Wiki|social}}, {{Wiki|political}}, and economic responsibilities broadened, the school was forced to turn its [[attention]] to the formalization and regulation of its {{Wiki|institutions}} and practices. At the same time, in their new position of prominence, [[Zen monks]] were mingling with the lay {{Wiki|political}} and ,[[intellectual]] {{Wiki|elite}} and, in the process, finding themselves participating in,  
 
In any case, from the establishment of [[Zen]] as a separate [[Buddhist tradition]] and the {{Wiki|recognition}} of the "sudden" [[doctrine]] as its {{Wiki|distinctive}} [[teaching]], it was over three centuries before the school began to discuss its [[meditation practices]] in public. By this time, of course, the [[Zen]] {{Wiki|movement}} had undergone considerable change. From a loose network of {{Wiki|independent}} [[meditation]] communities surrounding prominent [[masters]], it had grown to become the central [[monastic]] [[organization]] of [[Chinese Buddhism]], rapidly coming under control of the [[state]]. As its ranks swelled and its {{Wiki|social}}, {{Wiki|political}}, and economic responsibilities broadened, the school was forced to turn its [[attention]] to the formalization and regulation of its {{Wiki|institutions}} and practices. At the same time, in their new position of prominence, [[Zen monks]] were mingling with the lay {{Wiki|political}} and ,[[intellectual]] {{Wiki|elite}} and, in the process, finding themselves participating in,  
 
:and reacting to, {{Wiki|secular}} Sung {{Wiki|culture}}. In response, the school began to sharpen its {{Wiki|poetic}} skills, develop a proper history of the {{Wiki|church}}, and produce a [[body]] of {{Wiki|literature}} on the sayings of its [[masters]] that would advertise the [[tradition]] through the new {{Wiki|medium}} of printed [[books]] and would appeal to the new {{Wiki|classicism}} of a resurgent [[Wikipedia:Confucianism|Confucian]] {{Wiki|scholarship}}. The school also began to consider ways in which its [[monastic practices]] might be translated into [[forms]] accessible to_a wider_se ment of the {{Wiki|community}}, SO that it COUICJ assume ItS rightful place in the nascent ung [[religious]] reformation. Hence, for the first time in a long time, the school was obliged to face the fact that it had such practices and to set about explaining them in public.  
 
:and reacting to, {{Wiki|secular}} Sung {{Wiki|culture}}. In response, the school began to sharpen its {{Wiki|poetic}} skills, develop a proper history of the {{Wiki|church}}, and produce a [[body]] of {{Wiki|literature}} on the sayings of its [[masters]] that would advertise the [[tradition]] through the new {{Wiki|medium}} of printed [[books]] and would appeal to the new {{Wiki|classicism}} of a resurgent [[Wikipedia:Confucianism|Confucian]] {{Wiki|scholarship}}. The school also began to consider ways in which its [[monastic practices]] might be translated into [[forms]] accessible to_a wider_se ment of the {{Wiki|community}}, SO that it COUICJ assume ItS rightful place in the nascent ung [[religious]] reformation. Hence, for the first time in a long time, the school was obliged to face the fact that it had such practices and to set about explaining them in public.  
Tsung-tse stands, at the close of the eleventh century, near the beginning of some of these {{Wiki|tendencies}}, {{Wiki|tendencies}} that would soon yield the new [[Zen]] of the Southern Sung. He seems to have been a man of his time, and in several ways his [[Buddhism]] both reflects and contributes to the [[emerging]] reformation. Unfortunately, we know little of his [[life]]: though the school's histories make note of him and preserve a few of his sayings, they record no dates and almost no biographical [[information]]. For the most part, they simply repeat the brief notice in the Chien-chung chingkuo hsu teng lu ("Further Record of the [[Lamp]], from the Chien-chung Ching-kuo {{Wiki|Era}}"), the first of the histories in which he appears. Since this work was compiled during his [[lifetime]] by Fo-kuo Wei-po, a fellow [[disciple]] of Tsung-tse's first [[master]], Fa-hsiu, what little it does record is no [[doubt]] to be trusted. There we are told that Tsung-tse was from Yungnien, in Lo-chou ({{Wiki|modern}} Honan), and that his [[family]] [[name]] was {{Wiki|Sun}}. As Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
+
 
 +
Tsung-tse stands, at the close of the eleventh century, near the beginning of some of these {{Wiki|tendencies}}, {{Wiki|tendencies}} that would soon yield the new [[Zen]] of the Southern Sung. He seems to have been a man of his time, and in several ways his [[Buddhism]] both reflects and contributes to the [[emerging]] reformation. Unfortunately, we know little of his [[life]]: though the school's histories make note of him and preserve a few of his sayings, they record no dates and almost no biographical [[information]]. For the most part, they simply repeat the brief notice in the Chien-chung chingkuo hsu teng lu ("Further Record of the [[Lamp]], from the Chien-chung Ching-kuo {{Wiki|Era}}"), the first of the histories in which he appears. Since this work was compiled during his [[lifetime]] by Fo-kuo Wei-po, a fellow [[disciple]] of Tsung-tse's first [[master]], Fa-hsiu, what little it does record is no [[doubt]] to be trusted. There we are told that Tsung-tse was from Yungnien, in Lo-chou ({{Wiki|modern}} Honan), and that his [[family]] [[name]] was {{Wiki|Sun}}. As Ch 'ang-lu  
 
a youth, he excelled in [[Wikipedia:Confucianism|Confucian]] studies. He was encouraged to study [[Buddhism]] by Yuan-feng Ch'ing-man, a [[Yun-men]] [[monk]] in the [[lineage]] of the influential T'ien-i 1-huai (993-1064), and, as we have seen, subsequently entered the order under 1-huai's [[disciple]] [[Fa-yun]] Fa-hsiu. Thereafter, he studied with another of 1-huai's [[disciples]], Ch'ang-lu Ying-fu (d. u. ), under whom he [[attained]] a [[sudden awakening]] to the way. He was favored with the {{Wiki|patronage}} of the [[Lo-yang]] official [[Yang]] Wei (fl. 10671098) and was honored by the court. Fo-kuo identifies him as a [[monk]] of the Hung-chi ch'an-yuan in Chen-ting, the [[monastery]] where, as we know from its colophon, the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei was composed in 1103.44  
 
a youth, he excelled in [[Wikipedia:Confucianism|Confucian]] studies. He was encouraged to study [[Buddhism]] by Yuan-feng Ch'ing-man, a [[Yun-men]] [[monk]] in the [[lineage]] of the influential T'ien-i 1-huai (993-1064), and, as we have seen, subsequently entered the order under 1-huai's [[disciple]] [[Fa-yun]] Fa-hsiu. Thereafter, he studied with another of 1-huai's [[disciples]], Ch'ang-lu Ying-fu (d. u. ), under whom he [[attained]] a [[sudden awakening]] to the way. He was favored with the {{Wiki|patronage}} of the [[Lo-yang]] official [[Yang]] Wei (fl. 10671098) and was honored by the court. Fo-kuo identifies him as a [[monk]] of the Hung-chi ch'an-yuan in Chen-ting, the [[monastery]] where, as we know from its colophon, the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei was composed in 1103.44  
 
This is all that the [[Zen]] histories have to tell us, but Tsung-tse is also remembered in the {{Wiki|literature}} of [[Pure Land]]. As early as the Lo-pang wenlei ("Texts on Sukhavatl"), the miscellany of [[Ching-t'u]] material published in 1200 by Shih-chih Tsung-hsiao, he is listed as the last of the five great [[patriarchs]] who carried on the [[tradition]] of the [[Lotus Society]]. A brief notice there informs us that he was given the [[honorific title]] Tz'u-chueh, "[[Compassionate]] [[Enlightenment]]" (which also appears in the colophon of the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei), and that he was living at Ch'ang-lu during the Yuan-yu {{Wiki|era}} (1086-1093). There he was active in proselytizing and, apparently in 1089, founded a [[Lotus Assembly]] ([[lien-hua]] sheng-hui) to promote the [[universal]] [[cultivation]] of the [[nien-fo]] [[samadhi]]. His practice was to seek [[rebirth]] in the [[Western Pure Land]] by reciting the [[name]] of [[Amitabha]] up to ten thousand times a day, recording each {{Wiki|recitation}} with a cross. 45 P'u-tu's [[Lu-shan]] lien-tsung pao-chien ("[[Precious]] [[Mirror]] of the [[Lotus School]] of [[Lu-shan]]"), of 1305, also contains a brief {{Wiki|biography}}, which gives Tsung-tse's place of origin as [[Hsiang-yang]] and adds the [[information]] that he lost his father as a boy and took [[vows]] at the age of twenty-nine. Even as [[abbot]] of Ch'ang-lu, we are told here, he remained a deeply filial son and guided his mother in the [[nien-fo]] practice, so that she passed on in beatitude. He is said to have written a Ch 'uan [[hsiao]] wen, a work in 120 [[sections]] "promoting filial piety," as well as a Tso-ch 'an [[chen]] (sic), or "Lancet of Meditation."46 Tsung-hsiao's collection of [[Pure Land]] writings, the Lo-pang i-kao ("Documents on Sukhavatl"), also reports on Tsung-tse's Ch 'uan [[hsiao]] wen and provides a short extract; and the Lo-pang wen-lei preserves a few minor pieces by Tsung-tse, [[including]] a preface to the [[Kuan]] wu-/iang-shou [[ching]], some verses, and several brief tracts. 47  
 
This is all that the [[Zen]] histories have to tell us, but Tsung-tse is also remembered in the {{Wiki|literature}} of [[Pure Land]]. As early as the Lo-pang wenlei ("Texts on Sukhavatl"), the miscellany of [[Ching-t'u]] material published in 1200 by Shih-chih Tsung-hsiao, he is listed as the last of the five great [[patriarchs]] who carried on the [[tradition]] of the [[Lotus Society]]. A brief notice there informs us that he was given the [[honorific title]] Tz'u-chueh, "[[Compassionate]] [[Enlightenment]]" (which also appears in the colophon of the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei), and that he was living at Ch'ang-lu during the Yuan-yu {{Wiki|era}} (1086-1093). There he was active in proselytizing and, apparently in 1089, founded a [[Lotus Assembly]] ([[lien-hua]] sheng-hui) to promote the [[universal]] [[cultivation]] of the [[nien-fo]] [[samadhi]]. His practice was to seek [[rebirth]] in the [[Western Pure Land]] by reciting the [[name]] of [[Amitabha]] up to ten thousand times a day, recording each {{Wiki|recitation}} with a cross. 45 P'u-tu's [[Lu-shan]] lien-tsung pao-chien ("[[Precious]] [[Mirror]] of the [[Lotus School]] of [[Lu-shan]]"), of 1305, also contains a brief {{Wiki|biography}}, which gives Tsung-tse's place of origin as [[Hsiang-yang]] and adds the [[information]] that he lost his father as a boy and took [[vows]] at the age of twenty-nine. Even as [[abbot]] of Ch'ang-lu, we are told here, he remained a deeply filial son and guided his mother in the [[nien-fo]] practice, so that she passed on in beatitude. He is said to have written a Ch 'uan [[hsiao]] wen, a work in 120 [[sections]] "promoting filial piety," as well as a Tso-ch 'an [[chen]] (sic), or "Lancet of Meditation."46 Tsung-hsiao's collection of [[Pure Land]] writings, the Lo-pang i-kao ("Documents on Sukhavatl"), also reports on Tsung-tse's Ch 'uan [[hsiao]] wen and provides a short extract; and the Lo-pang wen-lei preserves a few minor pieces by Tsung-tse, [[including]] a preface to the [[Kuan]] wu-/iang-shou [[ching]], some verses, and several brief tracts. 47  
 +
 
'·; Tsung-tse's [[Pure Land]] writings seem, in one [[sense]], to {{Wiki|present}} anbther side of his [[religion]], a side quite different from that of the [[Zen]] [[abbot]] who composed the [[monastic code]] and the [[meditation manual]]. For in these writings, and especially in the piece called [[Lien-hua]] sheng-hui lu wen ("Record of the [[Lotus Assembly]]"), apparently written for his nien­
 
'·; Tsung-tse's [[Pure Land]] writings seem, in one [[sense]], to {{Wiki|present}} anbther side of his [[religion]], a side quite different from that of the [[Zen]] [[abbot]] who composed the [[monastic code]] and the [[meditation manual]]. For in these writings, and especially in the piece called [[Lien-hua]] sheng-hui lu wen ("Record of the [[Lotus Assembly]]"), apparently written for his nien­
 
fo congregation, he emphasizes the difficulty of actually practicing [[monastic]] [[Buddhism]] in this [[Saha world]] and encourages his readers to turn  
 
fo congregation, he emphasizes the difficulty of actually practicing [[monastic]] [[Buddhism]] in this [[Saha world]] and encourages his readers to turn  
 
Carl Bielefeldt  
 
Carl Bielefeldt  
to [[Amitabha]] and to call upon him to take them up to the next [[world]], where they may enjoy the [[purity]] and [[bliss]] of SukhavatL Whereas in the Saba [[world]] the [[practitioner]] is plagued by {{Wiki|demons}} and assailed by {{Wiki|sexual}} and other sensory temptations, in Sukhavatl he is bathed in the radiance of [[Amitabha]], everything around him proclaims the [[Dharma]], and his [[karma]] is [[purified]]; there are no {{Wiki|demonic}} [[experiences]] there, and no women.48
+
to [[Amitabha]] and to call upon him to take them up to the next [[world]], where they may enjoy the [[purity]] and [[bliss]] of SukhavatL Whereas in the Saba [[world]] the [[practitioner]] is plagued by {{Wiki|demons}} and assailed by {{Wiki|sexual}} and other sensory temptations, in Sukhavatl he is bathed in the radiance of [[Amitabha]], everything around him proclaims the [[Dharma]], and his [[karma]] is [[purified]]; there are no {{Wiki|demonic}} [[experiences]] there, and no women.
 +
 
In another [[sense]], Tsung-tse's [[Pure Land]] piety seems of a piece with his approach to [[Zen]]. For, as is clear from his regimen of multiple [[recitations]], Tsung-tse was no {{Wiki|protestant}} ideologue of [[pure]] grace, seeking to deny the efficacy of works. Like other [[Zen masters]] who sought conciliation with the [[Ching-t'u]] teachings, he held that "[[Amitabha]] is our [[own]] [[nature]], and the [[Pure Land]] our [[own mind]]," and that "the cardinal [[principle]] [of these teachings] is to think [on him] without [[thought]] (wu-nien), and to be born [therein] without [[birth]] (wu-sheng). "49 Hence, elsewhere he could claim that "[[nien-fo]] and the study of [[Zen]] do not interfere with each other: they are but two [[methods]] based on the same principle."'0 And as in his [[Zen]] writings, so too here it is less the [[principle]] than the method of the [[Pure Land]] faith-perhaps especially its power to overcome [[spiritual]] obstacles-that seems to have most attracted him. He recommends the [[nien-fo]] practice in particular to beginners, as a means of developing kanti, and also to those near [[death]], as a means of relieving [[pain]] and [[calming]] the [[mind]]. 51  
 
In another [[sense]], Tsung-tse's [[Pure Land]] piety seems of a piece with his approach to [[Zen]]. For, as is clear from his regimen of multiple [[recitations]], Tsung-tse was no {{Wiki|protestant}} ideologue of [[pure]] grace, seeking to deny the efficacy of works. Like other [[Zen masters]] who sought conciliation with the [[Ching-t'u]] teachings, he held that "[[Amitabha]] is our [[own]] [[nature]], and the [[Pure Land]] our [[own mind]]," and that "the cardinal [[principle]] [of these teachings] is to think [on him] without [[thought]] (wu-nien), and to be born [therein] without [[birth]] (wu-sheng). "49 Hence, elsewhere he could claim that "[[nien-fo]] and the study of [[Zen]] do not interfere with each other: they are but two [[methods]] based on the same principle."'0 And as in his [[Zen]] writings, so too here it is less the [[principle]] than the method of the [[Pure Land]] faith-perhaps especially its power to overcome [[spiritual]] obstacles-that seems to have most attracted him. He recommends the [[nien-fo]] practice in particular to beginners, as a means of developing kanti, and also to those near [[death]], as a means of relieving [[pain]] and [[calming]] the [[mind]]. 51  
 
Tsung-tse, it seems, was a {{Wiki|practical}} and a [[compassionate]] man. Undistracted by [[dogmatic]] niceties, he directly addressed the everyday problems of [[spiritual cultivation]]; undaunted by the {{Wiki|weight}} of [[tradition]], he sought to open up the {{Wiki|mystery}} of [[Zen practice]] and to share with others, both inside and outside the cloister, some of the [[techniques]] and  
 
Tsung-tse, it seems, was a {{Wiki|practical}} and a [[compassionate]] man. Undistracted by [[dogmatic]] niceties, he directly addressed the everyday problems of [[spiritual cultivation]]; undaunted by the {{Wiki|weight}} of [[tradition]], he sought to open up the {{Wiki|mystery}} of [[Zen practice]] and to share with others, both inside and outside the cloister, some of the [[techniques]] and  
 
{{Wiki|institutions}} that might aid them in that [[cultivation]]. On the one hand, deploring the [[confusion]] and corruption of [[monastic]] [[tradition]] that accompanied the rapid growth of the school, he tried to rationalize the {{Wiki|training}} of [[monks]] by setting out, in his Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, a detailed code of the bureaucratic {{Wiki|structure}}, administrative procedures, and [[ritual]] [[forms]] of the [[Zen]] institution. On the other hand, [[lamenting]] the isolation of that institution from the [[Pure Land]] [[faith]] of the lay {{Wiki|community}}, he sought-like his Yiin-men predecessors 1-huai and Ying-fu-to  
 
{{Wiki|institutions}} that might aid them in that [[cultivation]]. On the one hand, deploring the [[confusion]] and corruption of [[monastic]] [[tradition]] that accompanied the rapid growth of the school, he tried to rationalize the {{Wiki|training}} of [[monks]] by setting out, in his Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, a detailed code of the bureaucratic {{Wiki|structure}}, administrative procedures, and [[ritual]] [[forms]] of the [[Zen]] institution. On the other hand, [[lamenting]] the isolation of that institution from the [[Pure Land]] [[faith]] of the lay {{Wiki|community}}, he sought-like his Yiin-men predecessors 1-huai and Ying-fu-to  
 +
 
encourage interaction, bringing [[Ching-t'u]] practices into the [[ritual]] of his [[monastery]] and taking the [[Zen]] {{Wiki|emphasis}} on [[mental]] [[cultivation]] out to his [[nien-fo]] [[society]]. It was probably for the [[sake]] of both these goals that he took it upon himself to make available, for the first time, a {{Wiki|practical}} guide to the procedures of [[Zen]] [[meditation]]. 52  
 
encourage interaction, bringing [[Ching-t'u]] practices into the [[ritual]] of his [[monastery]] and taking the [[Zen]] {{Wiki|emphasis}} on [[mental]] [[cultivation]] out to his [[nien-fo]] [[society]]. It was probably for the [[sake]] of both these goals that he took it upon himself to make available, for the first time, a {{Wiki|practical}} guide to the procedures of [[Zen]] [[meditation]]. 52  
 
Tsung-tse may not have left us many profound [[Zen]] sayings, but what he did leave had a profound impact on subsequent [[Zen]] {{Wiki|literature}}.  
 
Tsung-tse may not have left us many profound [[Zen]] sayings, but what he did leave had a profound impact on subsequent [[Zen]] {{Wiki|literature}}.  
 
His Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei became the inspiration and often the model  
 
His Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei became the inspiration and often the model  
Ch' ang-/u Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
+
 
for a new [[body]] of [[monastic]] {{Wiki|codes}}. Whereas before its publication there had apparently been-if we discount the elusive Po-chang ch 'ing-kueino detailed written {{Wiki|rule}}, in the centuries following its [[appearance]] we find a steady {{Wiki|stream}} of such texts in both [[China]] and [[Japan]]. Though some of these {{Wiki|codes}} would, in time, come to supplant his [[own]], many of the practices and {{Wiki|institutions}} first set down by Tsung-tse endured. And though [[Zen]] [[monasteries]] would change considerably after his day, Tsung-tse's basic [[principle]] that they should be governed by written regulations remained a [[permanent]] fixture of the school. '3
+
for a new [[body]] of [[monastic]] {{Wiki|codes}}. Whereas before its publication there had apparently been-if we discount the elusive Po-chang ch 'ing-kueino detailed written {{Wiki|rule}}, in the centuries following its [[appearance]] we find a steady {{Wiki|stream}} of such texts in both [[China]] and [[Japan]]. Though some of these {{Wiki|codes}} would, in time, come to supplant his [[own]], many of the practices and {{Wiki|institutions}} first set down by Tsung-tse endured. And though [[Zen]] [[monasteries]] would change considerably after his day, Tsung-tse's basic [[principle]] that they should be governed by written regulations remained a [[permanent]] fixture of the school. '
 +
 
 
Similarly, although the [[Zen tradition]] had managed to survive for half a millennium without producing a [[meditation manual]], once Tsungtse's Tso-ch 'an i appeared, it seems to have found a ready market and soon spawned a new genre of {{Wiki|practical}} guides to [[mental]] [[cultivation]]. We have already seen that an abbreviated version of the text was quickly picked up by the [[layman]] Ch'en Shih for inclusion in his Ta-tsang i-lan, a work intended to make available a digest of the basic teachings of [[Buddhism]] for popular consumption. Following the publication of Yii Hsiang's edition of the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, the full text of the manual circulated within the [[monastic community]] as well; and, in 1338, it was incorporated, with only minor variations, in Te-hui's important Ch 'ih-hsiu Po-chang ch 'ing-kuei ("{{Wiki|Imperial}} Recension of the [[Pure]] Regulations of Po-chang"). This work-compiled by order of the last {{Wiki|Mongol}} [[emperor]], Shun-tsung-became the standard code for the [[Zen]] [[monasteries]] of the [[Ming]]. Shortly after its publication, it was taken to [[Japan]], like the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei before it, where it provided a model for the regulation of the [[monasteries]] of the [[gozan]] system. In this way, Tsungtse's Tso-ch 'an i spread its influence throughout the lay and clerical communities of both [[China]] and [[Japan]] and became a basic source for the description of [[Zen]] [[meditation]].,.  
 
Similarly, although the [[Zen tradition]] had managed to survive for half a millennium without producing a [[meditation manual]], once Tsungtse's Tso-ch 'an i appeared, it seems to have found a ready market and soon spawned a new genre of {{Wiki|practical}} guides to [[mental]] [[cultivation]]. We have already seen that an abbreviated version of the text was quickly picked up by the [[layman]] Ch'en Shih for inclusion in his Ta-tsang i-lan, a work intended to make available a digest of the basic teachings of [[Buddhism]] for popular consumption. Following the publication of Yii Hsiang's edition of the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, the full text of the manual circulated within the [[monastic community]] as well; and, in 1338, it was incorporated, with only minor variations, in Te-hui's important Ch 'ih-hsiu Po-chang ch 'ing-kuei ("{{Wiki|Imperial}} Recension of the [[Pure]] Regulations of Po-chang"). This work-compiled by order of the last {{Wiki|Mongol}} [[emperor]], Shun-tsung-became the standard code for the [[Zen]] [[monasteries]] of the [[Ming]]. Shortly after its publication, it was taken to [[Japan]], like the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei before it, where it provided a model for the regulation of the [[monasteries]] of the [[gozan]] system. In this way, Tsungtse's Tso-ch 'an i spread its influence throughout the lay and clerical communities of both [[China]] and [[Japan]] and became a basic source for the description of [[Zen]] [[meditation]].,.  
It is perhaps a measure of the [[success]] of Tsung-tse's manual that it was soon imitated. Although there had long been a genre of brief {{Wiki|poetic}} appreciations of meditation-texts known as "[[meditation]] lancets" (tsoch' an [[chen]]), "[[meditation]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}}" (tso-ch 'an [[ming]]), and so on-the [[popularity]] of the Tso-ch' an i soon inspired others to try their hands at the new, more explicit style of text. This seems to have been particularly true in [[Japan]], where, of course, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the school was earnestly seeking to explain itself to both the lay and clerical communities and to promote itself as a legitimate and attractive alternative to the established sects of [[Buddhism]]. In later [[Japanese Zen]], the Tso-ch 'an i was probably best known through its inclusiontogether with the [[Hsin-hsin ming]] ("Inscription on Trusting the [[Mind]]"), Cheng-tao ko ("[[Song of Realization]] of the Way"), and K'uo-an's Shihniu t'u ("Ten Oxherding Pictures")-in the extremely popular collection called the Shibu roku ("Fourfold Record"). Exactly when these four Carl Bielefeldt
+
It is perhaps a measure of the [[success]] of Tsung-tse's manual that it was soon imitated. Although there had long been a genre of brief {{Wiki|poetic}} appreciations of meditation-texts known as "[[meditation]] lancets" (tsoch' an [[chen]]), "[[meditation]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}}" (tso-ch 'an [[ming]]), and so on-the [[popularity]] of the Tso-ch' an i soon inspired others to try their hands at the new, more explicit style of text. This seems to have been particularly true in [[Japan]], where, of course, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the school was earnestly seeking to explain itself to both the lay and clerical communities and to promote itself as a legitimate and attractive alternative to the established sects of [[Buddhism]]. In later [[Japanese Zen]], the Tso-ch 'an i was probably best known through its inclusiontogether with the [[Hsin-hsin ming]] ("Inscription on Trusting the [[Mind]]"), Cheng-tao ko ("[[Song of Realization]] of the Way"), and K'uo-an's Shihniu t'u ("Ten Oxherding Pictures")-in the extremely popular collection called the Shibu roku ("Fourfold Record"). Exactly when these four
 +
 
 
texts were first collected-and whether in [[China]] or Japan-is not known, but it is likely that the [[Japanese]] were already familiar with Tsung-tse's manual before the Shibu roku appeared. As early as 1198, the Ta-tsang i-lan version was quoted by [[Yosai]] (or [[Eisai]], 1141-1215) in his Kazen gokoku ron ("Treatise on the Promotion of [[Zen]] for Defense of the Nation"); and soon thereafter, in 1233, the [[Soto]] [[master]] [[Dogen]] (12001253) incorporated most of the Ch' an-yiian ch' ing-kuei text into his [[own]] [[meditation manual]], the Fukan [[zazen]] gi ("[[Universal]] Promotion of the  
 
texts were first collected-and whether in [[China]] or Japan-is not known, but it is likely that the [[Japanese]] were already familiar with Tsung-tse's manual before the Shibu roku appeared. As early as 1198, the Ta-tsang i-lan version was quoted by [[Yosai]] (or [[Eisai]], 1141-1215) in his Kazen gokoku ron ("Treatise on the Promotion of [[Zen]] for Defense of the Nation"); and soon thereafter, in 1233, the [[Soto]] [[master]] [[Dogen]] (12001253) incorporated most of the Ch' an-yiian ch' ing-kuei text into his [[own]] [[meditation manual]], the Fukan [[zazen]] gi ("[[Universal]] Promotion of the  
{{Wiki|Principles}} of [[Meditation]]"). 55
+
{{Wiki|Principles}} of [[Meditation]]").  
 +
 
 
This last work is undoubtedly the most famous attempt to improve on the Tso-ch' an i, but it was by no means the only one. Perhaps the earliest such text is the Ju-ju chii-shih [[tso-ch'an]] i ("Lay man Ju-ju's {{Wiki|Principles}} of [[Meditation]]"), attributed to the [[Yang-ch'i]] lay follower Yen Ping  
 
This last work is undoubtedly the most famous attempt to improve on the Tso-ch' an i, but it was by no means the only one. Perhaps the earliest such text is the Ju-ju chii-shih [[tso-ch'an]] i ("Lay man Ju-ju's {{Wiki|Principles}} of [[Meditation]]"), attributed to the [[Yang-ch'i]] lay follower Yen Ping  
 
(d. 1212?) and preserved in the Kanazawa bunko. Yen Ping quotes from Tsung-tse but goes on to offer his [[own]] explanation of [[meditation]], {{Wiki|reflecting}} the [[k'an-hua]] practice popular in his day. We do not know when this work was introduced into [[Japan]], but we do know that it was only one of a considerable number of similar [[meditation]] texts that circulated in the [[Kamakura period]]. 56 [[Dogen]], for example, wrote no less than four descriptions of [[zazen]], and his descendent [[Keizan]] (1268-1325) added his [[own]], relatively lengthy contribution, the [[Zazen]] yojin ki ("Admonitions on [[Meditation]]"). Similarly, we have a [[Zazen]] gi by Muhon [[Kakushin]] (1207-1297), founder of the Hotto branch of [[Rinzai]], and a [[Zazen]] ron by [[Enni Ben'en]] (1202-1280), written for his {{Wiki|patron}}, the Regent Kujo Noriie. In the same period, the important [[Lin-chi]] {{Wiki|missionary}} [[Lan-ch'i Tao-lung]] ([[Rankei Doryu]], 1213-1278) composed a wellknown [[Zazen]] ron and also a brief [[Zazen]] gi. In addition to such [[meditation]] tracts, the [[masters]] of this period produced an abundance of informal writings-homilies, epistles, and so on, often in Japanese-that [[taught]] the basic [[techniques]] of [[Zen]] [[mental]] [[discipline]] to [[monk]] and [[layman]] alike."  
 
(d. 1212?) and preserved in the Kanazawa bunko. Yen Ping quotes from Tsung-tse but goes on to offer his [[own]] explanation of [[meditation]], {{Wiki|reflecting}} the [[k'an-hua]] practice popular in his day. We do not know when this work was introduced into [[Japan]], but we do know that it was only one of a considerable number of similar [[meditation]] texts that circulated in the [[Kamakura period]]. 56 [[Dogen]], for example, wrote no less than four descriptions of [[zazen]], and his descendent [[Keizan]] (1268-1325) added his [[own]], relatively lengthy contribution, the [[Zazen]] yojin ki ("Admonitions on [[Meditation]]"). Similarly, we have a [[Zazen]] gi by Muhon [[Kakushin]] (1207-1297), founder of the Hotto branch of [[Rinzai]], and a [[Zazen]] ron by [[Enni Ben'en]] (1202-1280), written for his {{Wiki|patron}}, the Regent Kujo Noriie. In the same period, the important [[Lin-chi]] {{Wiki|missionary}} [[Lan-ch'i Tao-lung]] ([[Rankei Doryu]], 1213-1278) composed a wellknown [[Zazen]] ron and also a brief [[Zazen]] gi. In addition to such [[meditation]] tracts, the [[masters]] of this period produced an abundance of informal writings-homilies, epistles, and so on, often in Japanese-that [[taught]] the basic [[techniques]] of [[Zen]] [[mental]] [[discipline]] to [[monk]] and [[layman]] alike."  
 +
 
If the rather sudden {{Wiki|proliferation}} of such writings, both in [[Japan]] and on the continent, bears {{Wiki|witness}} to the historical significance of Tsung-tse's manual in pioneering a new genre of [[meditation]] {{Wiki|literature}}, it also probably indicates that the authors of these writings were not wholly satisfied with his account of [[meditation practice]]. In fact, almost none of the texts that succeeded it retains the Tso-ch 'an i's core passage on the [[venerable]] [[concentration]] exercise that Tsung-tse calls the [[essential]] [[art]] of tso-ch' an, and almost all of them seek, in one way or another, to supplement (or replace) his rather [[humble]], frankly utilitarian [[interpretation]] of the practice with the higher [[insights]] of [[Zen]] [[wisdom]]. For, by the time the first of these texts appeared, the school had already moved to stop the leak in the one true [[vehicle]] and right the alarming list toward [[samadhi]] that seemed to follow from his approach. If the Sung [[discourse]] on medi-
 
If the rather sudden {{Wiki|proliferation}} of such writings, both in [[Japan]] and on the continent, bears {{Wiki|witness}} to the historical significance of Tsung-tse's manual in pioneering a new genre of [[meditation]] {{Wiki|literature}}, it also probably indicates that the authors of these writings were not wholly satisfied with his account of [[meditation practice]]. In fact, almost none of the texts that succeeded it retains the Tso-ch 'an i's core passage on the [[venerable]] [[concentration]] exercise that Tsung-tse calls the [[essential]] [[art]] of tso-ch' an, and almost all of them seek, in one way or another, to supplement (or replace) his rather [[humble]], frankly utilitarian [[interpretation]] of the practice with the higher [[insights]] of [[Zen]] [[wisdom]]. For, by the time the first of these texts appeared, the school had already moved to stop the leak in the one true [[vehicle]] and right the alarming list toward [[samadhi]] that seemed to follow from his approach. If the Sung [[discourse]] on medi-
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
+
 
tation opens with Tsung-tse's gentle advice on how to [[calm]] the [[mind]], it also begins with his contemporary Hui-hung's stern reminder that the practice of [[Bodhidharma]] should not be confused with the [[cultivation]] of [[dhyana]] (hsi-ch 'an) or his [[tradition]] with those misguided quietists who would turn the [[mind]] into "[[dead]] [[wood]] and cold ashes" (k'u-mu ssuhui). 58 These two poles marked out once again the old field of [[discourse]] within which the new teachings of mo-chao and [[k'an-hua]] would be [[debated]].  
 
tation opens with Tsung-tse's gentle advice on how to [[calm]] the [[mind]], it also begins with his contemporary Hui-hung's stern reminder that the practice of [[Bodhidharma]] should not be confused with the [[cultivation]] of [[dhyana]] (hsi-ch 'an) or his [[tradition]] with those misguided quietists who would turn the [[mind]] into "[[dead]] [[wood]] and cold ashes" (k'u-mu ssuhui). 58 These two poles marked out once again the old field of [[discourse]] within which the new teachings of mo-chao and [[k'an-hua]] would be [[debated]].  
 +
 
The Southern Sung teachings of mo-chao and [[k'an-hua]] are regularly understood as two opposing approaches to [[Zen]] [[mental]] {{Wiki|training}}: the former seeking to identify it with the primal [[nature of the mind]] itself-what is sometimes called the practice "before the [[aeon]] of {{Wiki|annihilation}}" (k 'ung-chieh i-ch' ien); the [[latter]] preferring to focus it on the [[insight]] into the [[nature of the mind]] ([[chien-hsing]]) that comes through the power of the [[kung-an]]. These two approaches dominate the new [[meditation]] {{Wiki|literature}} that succeeds the Tso-ch 'an i and set the terms of the subsequent [[Japanese]] [[debates]] between [[Soto]] and [[Rinzai]]. Yet, whatever their differences, there is an obvious [[sense]] in which each represents a reaffirmation of the [[traditional]] [[Zen]] preference for the "sudden" practice of the supreme wisdom-whether it be through the [[metaphysical]] elevation of [[meditation]] to the [[nondual]] [[realm]] revealed by such [[wisdom]] or through the [[psychological]] reduction of [[meditation]] to the act of [[wisdom]] that reveals this [[realm]]. To this extent, each must also reassert the classical [[Zen]] [[doubts]] about [[yogic]] technique and distance itself from Tsung-tse's mechanical method of [[concentration]]. In fact, even as the new [[meditation]] {{Wiki|literature}} was carrying  
 
The Southern Sung teachings of mo-chao and [[k'an-hua]] are regularly understood as two opposing approaches to [[Zen]] [[mental]] {{Wiki|training}}: the former seeking to identify it with the primal [[nature of the mind]] itself-what is sometimes called the practice "before the [[aeon]] of {{Wiki|annihilation}}" (k 'ung-chieh i-ch' ien); the [[latter]] preferring to focus it on the [[insight]] into the [[nature of the mind]] ([[chien-hsing]]) that comes through the power of the [[kung-an]]. These two approaches dominate the new [[meditation]] {{Wiki|literature}} that succeeds the Tso-ch 'an i and set the terms of the subsequent [[Japanese]] [[debates]] between [[Soto]] and [[Rinzai]]. Yet, whatever their differences, there is an obvious [[sense]] in which each represents a reaffirmation of the [[traditional]] [[Zen]] preference for the "sudden" practice of the supreme wisdom-whether it be through the [[metaphysical]] elevation of [[meditation]] to the [[nondual]] [[realm]] revealed by such [[wisdom]] or through the [[psychological]] reduction of [[meditation]] to the act of [[wisdom]] that reveals this [[realm]]. To this extent, each must also reassert the classical [[Zen]] [[doubts]] about [[yogic]] technique and distance itself from Tsung-tse's mechanical method of [[concentration]]. In fact, even as the new [[meditation]] {{Wiki|literature}} was carrying  
on the work (begun by Tsung-tse) of disseminating [[Zen]] [[methods]], Tsungtse's [[own]] method-and the method of the early [[patriarchs]] of the school -was being dismissed as mere "toying with the [[spirit]]" (lung ching-hun) and as leading to the "deep pit" (shen-k'eng) of [[quietude]]. The [[Meditation School]] was once again closing the doors on its practice and moving to preserve the [[ancient]] secret of [[Zen]] [[meditation]]. 59
+
on the work (begun by Tsung-tse) of disseminating [[Zen]] [[methods]], Tsungtse's [[own]] method-and the method of the early [[patriarchs]] of the school -was being dismissed as mere "toying with the [[spirit]]" (lung ching-hun) and as leading to the "deep pit" (shen-k'eng) of [[quietude]]. The [[Meditation School]] was once again closing the doors on its practice and moving to preserve the [[ancient]] secret of [[Zen]] [[meditation]].  
 +
 
 +
 
 
Notes  
 
Notes  
 +
 
I. See Chung-tiao pu-chu Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, ZZ21 16/5.438-471. For the original date of Tsung-tse's compilation, see his preface, ibid., 438a. The Zoku zokyo text is based on eighteenth-century [[Japanese]] printings; earlier, somewhat variant [[traditions]] of Yii Hsiang's edition are preserved in a Southern Sung [[printing]] from 1209 and a mid-Kamakura {{Wiki|manuscript}} in the collection of the Kanazawa bunko. (See Kagamishima Genryu, "Kanazawa bunko [[bon]] [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] ni tsuite," Kanazawa bunko kenkyu, vol. 14, no. 3 [1968], pp. 1-6.) An annotated {{Wiki|modern}} edition can be found in Kagamishima et al., Yakuchu [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] ([[Tokyo]]: Sota-shu shumucho, 1972). My [[discussion]] here of the texts of the Tso-ch 'an i is indebted to Kagamishima 's  
 
I. See Chung-tiao pu-chu Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, ZZ21 16/5.438-471. For the original date of Tsung-tse's compilation, see his preface, ibid., 438a. The Zoku zokyo text is based on eighteenth-century [[Japanese]] printings; earlier, somewhat variant [[traditions]] of Yii Hsiang's edition are preserved in a Southern Sung [[printing]] from 1209 and a mid-Kamakura {{Wiki|manuscript}} in the collection of the Kanazawa bunko. (See Kagamishima Genryu, "Kanazawa bunko [[bon]] [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] ni tsuite," Kanazawa bunko kenkyu, vol. 14, no. 3 [1968], pp. 1-6.) An annotated {{Wiki|modern}} edition can be found in Kagamishima et al., Yakuchu [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] ([[Tokyo]]: Sota-shu shumucho, 1972). My [[discussion]] here of the texts of the Tso-ch 'an i is indebted to Kagamishima 's  
Carl Bielefeldt
+
 
 
introduction to this work, pp. 1-25, and to Yanagida Seizan's "Kaisetsu;' in Kajitani Sonin et a!., [[Shinjin]] mei [[Shodo]] ka Jugyu zu [[Zazen]] gi, [[Zen]] no [[goroku]], vol. 16 ([[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1974), pp. 225-238.  
 
introduction to this work, pp. 1-25, and to Yanagida Seizan's "Kaisetsu;' in Kajitani Sonin et a!., [[Shinjin]] mei [[Shodo]] ka Jugyu zu [[Zazen]] gi, [[Zen]] no [[goroku]], vol. 16 ([[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1974), pp. 225-238.  
 
2. [[Discussion]] of the [[Korean]] text and comparison of its contents with the Yii [[Hsiang]] edition can be found in Kozaka Kiyii, "Zen'en [[shingi]] no hen'yo katei ni tsuite: Korai [[bon]] [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] no kosatsu o kaishite;' IBK, vol. 20 (1972), pp. 720-724; and in Kagamishima's Yakuchu Zen'en [[shingi]], pp. 51!.  
 
2. [[Discussion]] of the [[Korean]] text and comparison of its contents with the Yii [[Hsiang]] edition can be found in Kozaka Kiyii, "Zen'en [[shingi]] no hen'yo katei ni tsuite: Korai [[bon]] [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] no kosatsu o kaishite;' IBK, vol. 20 (1972), pp. 720-724; and in Kagamishima's Yakuchu Zen'en [[shingi]], pp. 51!.  
 +
 
3. See [[Showa]] [[hobo]] somokuroku 3.1305a-b. On the date of this work, see  
 
3. See [[Showa]] [[hobo]] somokuroku 3.1305a-b. On the date of this work, see  
 
Yanagida [[Seizan]], "Zenseki kaidai," in [[Nishitani Keiji]] and Yanagida [[Seizan]], Zenke [[goroku]], vol. 2, Sekai koten bungaku zenshU, vol. 36B ([[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1974), p. 496. The Ta-tsang i-lan text is quite similar to Yii Hsiang's version but lacks several more or less parenthetical amplifications.  
 
Yanagida [[Seizan]], "Zenseki kaidai," in [[Nishitani Keiji]] and Yanagida [[Seizan]], Zenke [[goroku]], vol. 2, Sekai koten bungaku zenshU, vol. 36B ([[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1974), p. 496. The Ta-tsang i-lan text is quite similar to Yii Hsiang's version but lacks several more or less parenthetical amplifications.  
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See his so-called "Fukan [[zazen]] gi senjutsu yurai;' in Okubo Doshii, Dagen [[zenji]] zenshU, vol. 2 ([[Tokyo]]: Chi kuma shobO, 1970), p. 6.  
 
See his so-called "Fukan [[zazen]] gi senjutsu yurai;' in Okubo Doshii, Dagen [[zenji]] zenshU, vol. 2 ([[Tokyo]]: Chi kuma shobO, 1970), p. 6.  
 
6. For Tsung-tse's reference to the Po-chang code, see Kagamishima, Yakuchu Zen'en [[shingi]], p. 3. Our earliest source for Po-chang, the epitaph by Ch'en  
 
6. For Tsung-tse's reference to the Po-chang code, see Kagamishima, Yakuchu Zen'en [[shingi]], p. 3. Our earliest source for Po-chang, the epitaph by Ch'en  
 +
 
Hsii, written in 818 just after his [[death]], makes no reference to a Po-chang ch' ing-kuei ("[[T'ang]] [[Hung-chou]] Po-chang shan ku Huai-hai ch'an-shih t'aming," Ch 'iian T [['ang]] wen, fasc. 446, pp. 4b-7a.); in fact, the [[tradition's]] [[knowledge]] of Po-chang's famous {{Wiki|rule}} seems to have been limited to brief notices [[attached]] to his {{Wiki|biography}} in the Sung kao-seng chuan (T50. 770c771a) and Ching-fe ch'uan-teng lu ("[[Ch'an-men]] kuei-shih," T51.250c-
 
Hsii, written in 818 just after his [[death]], makes no reference to a Po-chang ch' ing-kuei ("[[T'ang]] [[Hung-chou]] Po-chang shan ku Huai-hai ch'an-shih t'aming," Ch 'iian T [['ang]] wen, fasc. 446, pp. 4b-7a.); in fact, the [[tradition's]] [[knowledge]] of Po-chang's famous {{Wiki|rule}} seems to have been limited to brief notices [[attached]] to his {{Wiki|biography}} in the Sung kao-seng chuan (T50. 770c771a) and Ching-fe ch'uan-teng lu ("[[Ch'an-men]] kuei-shih," T51.250c-
 
251b). It is no [[doubt]] because the [[information]] contained in these sources is all he had on Po-chang's regulations that Tsung-tse felt it worth [[including]] the appended notices on Po-chang's {{Wiki|rule}}, under the title "Po-chang kueisheng sung," at the end of his [[own]] code (Kagamishima, Yakuchu [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]], pp. 340-352).  
 
251b). It is no [[doubt]] because the [[information]] contained in these sources is all he had on Po-chang's regulations that Tsung-tse felt it worth [[including]] the appended notices on Po-chang's {{Wiki|rule}}, under the title "Po-chang kueisheng sung," at the end of his [[own]] code (Kagamishima, Yakuchu [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]], pp. 340-352).  
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Concile de [[Lhasa]] [{{Wiki|Paris}}: Impremerie Nationale de {{Wiki|France}}, 1952], pp. 43-52,  
 
Concile de [[Lhasa]] [{{Wiki|Paris}}: Impremerie Nationale de {{Wiki|France}}, 1952], pp. 43-52,  
 
n. 3.) Sekiguchi Shindai suggests that the reference here is to the earlier Surangamasamtidhi-sutra (Shou-/eng-yen san-mei [[ching]], T#642), translated by Kumarajfva (see his [[Tendai]] [[shikan]] no kenkyu [[[Tokyo]]: [[Iwanami]] shoten, 1969], p. 323); but this text, though it contains a [[discussion]] of [[Mara]], does  
 
n. 3.) Sekiguchi Shindai suggests that the reference here is to the earlier Surangamasamtidhi-sutra (Shou-/eng-yen san-mei [[ching]], T#642), translated by Kumarajfva (see his [[Tendai]] [[shikan]] no kenkyu [[[Tokyo]]: [[Iwanami]] shoten, 1969], p. 323); but this text, though it contains a [[discussion]] of [[Mara]], does  
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
+
 
not provide explicit [[information]] on his obstructions of [[meditation]]. Kagamishima, Yakucha [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]], p. 282, appears to have the two siitras confused.  
 
not provide explicit [[information]] on his obstructions of [[meditation]]. Kagamishima, Yakucha [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]], p. 282, appears to have the two siitras confused.  
 
8. T46.106a-lllc, ll4c-117a.  
 
8. T46.106a-lllc, ll4c-117a.  
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14. Prior to Sekiguchi's publication of his table of the texts, Yamauchi Shun'yu did his [[own]] comparison and analysis of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] and T so-ch 'an i; he also concludes that [[Chih-i's]] influence is largely limited to the description of the [[meditation posture]] (see "[[Zazen]] gi to [[Tendai]] [[sho]] [[shikan]]," Shagaku kenkyil, vol. 8 [1966], pp. 29-50).  
 
14. Prior to Sekiguchi's publication of his table of the texts, Yamauchi Shun'yu did his [[own]] comparison and analysis of the [[Hsiao]] [[chih-kuan]] and T so-ch 'an i; he also concludes that [[Chih-i's]] influence is largely limited to the description of the [[meditation posture]] (see "[[Zazen]] gi to [[Tendai]] [[sho]] [[shikan]]," Shagaku kenkyil, vol. 8 [1966], pp. 29-50).  
 
15. The following summary is based on the text in Kagamishima, Yakucha [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]], pp. 279-283, a full translation of which appears in the Appendix, below.  
 
15. The following summary is based on the text in Kagamishima, Yakucha [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]], pp. 279-283, a full translation of which appears in the Appendix, below.  
 +
 
16. T46.465b. This passage occurs in the vulgate version as the introduction to the "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]], but it seems originally to have represented an introduction to the [[discussion]] of [[samatha]] and [[vipasyana]] in the "Cheng-hsiu"  
 
16. T46.465b. This passage occurs in the vulgate version as the introduction to the "T'iao-ho" [[chapter]], but it seems originally to have represented an introduction to the [[discussion]] of [[samatha]] and [[vipasyana]] in the "Cheng-hsiu"  
 
[[chapter]] (see Sekiguchi, [[Tendai]] [[sho]] [[shikan]] no kenkya, pp. 150-151).  
 
[[chapter]] (see Sekiguchi, [[Tendai]] [[sho]] [[shikan]] no kenkya, pp. 150-151).  
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26. Yanagida, Shoki no [[zen]] shi, vol. I, p. 186. Though [[Chinese tradition]], both inside and outside of [[Zen]], tends to interpret the term [[i-hsing]] as "single practice," it seems clear that here, as in the [[sutra]] itself, the {{Wiki|emphasis}} is on the original [[sense]] of "single array" -i.e., the entirety of the [[Dharmadhatu]]  
 
26. Yanagida, Shoki no [[zen]] shi, vol. I, p. 186. Though [[Chinese tradition]], both inside and outside of [[Zen]], tends to interpret the term [[i-hsing]] as "single practice," it seems clear that here, as in the [[sutra]] itself, the {{Wiki|emphasis}} is on the original [[sense]] of "single array" -i.e., the entirety of the [[Dharmadhatu]]  
 
[[manifest]] in the [[samadhi]].  
 
[[manifest]] in the [[samadhi]].  
 +
 
27. Ibid., p. 287.  
 
27. Ibid., p. 287.  
 
28. Tsui-shang sheng tun, T48.378a-b.  
 
28. Tsui-shang sheng tun, T48.378a-b.  
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If the [[practitioner]] [[knows]] that the [[mind]] is without [its [[own]]] [[nature]], why should there be [[reality]] to the [[dharmas]] [that arise from the [[mind]]]? . . . Being [[empty]] and without [[substance]], they cannot be grasped. If they are not grasped, the [[mind]] of deluded [[thoughts]] (wang-nien hsin) will cease; if the [[mind]] of deluded [[thoughts]] ceases, it is quiescent and [[unconditioned]] ([[wuwei]]). This unconditionedness is the original source of all [[dharmas]]. If one rests one's [[mind]] in this original source, it is without [[defilement]]; if the [[mind]] is without [[defilement]], then all [[karmic]] [[activity]] of saqtsara ceases. When the [[karmic]] [[activity]] of saqsara ceases, this is itself nirval).a. (See Sekiguchi's edition, [[Tendai]] shO [[shikan]] no kenkyu, pp. 339-340.)  
 
If the [[practitioner]] [[knows]] that the [[mind]] is without [its [[own]]] [[nature]], why should there be [[reality]] to the [[dharmas]] [that arise from the [[mind]]]? . . . Being [[empty]] and without [[substance]], they cannot be grasped. If they are not grasped, the [[mind]] of deluded [[thoughts]] (wang-nien hsin) will cease; if the [[mind]] of deluded [[thoughts]] ceases, it is quiescent and [[unconditioned]] ([[wuwei]]). This unconditionedness is the original source of all [[dharmas]]. If one rests one's [[mind]] in this original source, it is without [[defilement]]; if the [[mind]] is without [[defilement]], then all [[karmic]] [[activity]] of saqtsara ceases. When the [[karmic]] [[activity]] of saqsara ceases, this is itself nirval).a. (See Sekiguchi's edition, [[Tendai]] shO [[shikan]] no kenkyu, pp. 339-340.)  
 
34. T46.1 c-2a.  
 
34. T46.1 c-2a.  
 +
 
35. [[Hu Shih]], [[Shen-hui]] [[ho-shang]] i-chi (rev. ed., {{Wiki|Taipei}}: [[Hu Shih]] chi-nien [[kuan]], 1970), pp. 308-309.  
 
35. [[Hu Shih]], [[Shen-hui]] [[ho-shang]] i-chi (rev. ed., {{Wiki|Taipei}}: [[Hu Shih]] chi-nien [[kuan]], 1970), pp. 308-309.  
 
36. Ibid., p. 249; reading [[cheng]] for fei in line 8 and supplying wang chii before mieh in line II.  
 
36. Ibid., p. 249; reading [[cheng]] for fei in line 8 and supplying wang chii before mieh in line II.  
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41. The basic {{Wiki|theoretical}} position of this "classical" style of [[Zen]] is already depicted in [[Tsung-mi]] himself. Thus, for example, in the Tu-hsu passage we have just seen, he distinguishes between two versions of the [[highest]] [[Zen]]: one (the Southern position), based on the [[true nature]] of "numinous [[awareness]]" and the [[cultivation]] of [[no-thought]]; the other (the [[Hung-chou]] position) identifying the [[Buddha-nature]] with the {{Wiki|totality}} of [[human]] states. According to this [[latter]] view, there is no point in [[rousing]] the [[mind]] to cultivate the [[Path]]: true [[awakening]], [[cultivation]], and verification lie only in the free expression of one's natural [[mind]] in all circumstances (T48.402c).  
 
41. The basic {{Wiki|theoretical}} position of this "classical" style of [[Zen]] is already depicted in [[Tsung-mi]] himself. Thus, for example, in the Tu-hsu passage we have just seen, he distinguishes between two versions of the [[highest]] [[Zen]]: one (the Southern position), based on the [[true nature]] of "numinous [[awareness]]" and the [[cultivation]] of [[no-thought]]; the other (the [[Hung-chou]] position) identifying the [[Buddha-nature]] with the {{Wiki|totality}} of [[human]] states. According to this [[latter]] view, there is no point in [[rousing]] the [[mind]] to cultivate the [[Path]]: true [[awakening]], [[cultivation]], and verification lie only in the free expression of one's natural [[mind]] in all circumstances (T48.402c).  
 
42. T 'an [[ching]], T48.345a20-21; Li-tai ja-pao chi, T51.19la1-2; Tun-wu ju-tao yao men, ZZ2/15/5.420c14-15; Ching-fe [[ch'uan]] teng lu, T51.240c18ff; ibid., 251a13.  
 
42. T 'an [[ching]], T48.345a20-21; Li-tai ja-pao chi, T51.19la1-2; Tun-wu ju-tao yao men, ZZ2/15/5.420c14-15; Ching-fe [[ch'uan]] teng lu, T51.240c18ff; ibid., 251a13.  
 +
 
43. Ching-fe ch 'uan teng lu, T51.240c. Huai-jang's famous [[criticism]] of Matsu's [[meditation]] appears at the same location; for an example of Wu-chu's {{Wiki|denial}} that he enters [[samadhi]] or abides in [[meditation]], see Li-tai ja-pao chi, ibid., 195a29; [[Lin-chi's]] dismissal of those who "sit motionless with {{Wiki|tongue}} pressed against the palate" appears in [[Lin-chi]] lu, T47.501a.  
 
43. Ching-fe ch 'uan teng lu, T51.240c. Huai-jang's famous [[criticism]] of Matsu's [[meditation]] appears at the same location; for an example of Wu-chu's {{Wiki|denial}} that he enters [[samadhi]] or abides in [[meditation]], see Li-tai ja-pao chi, ibid., 195a29; [[Lin-chi's]] dismissal of those who "sit motionless with {{Wiki|tongue}} pressed against the palate" appears in [[Lin-chi]] lu, T47.501a.  
 
44. ZZ2B/9/2.133c. The table of contents of the Hsu teng lu (ibid., 12a) gives the graph i rather than tse as the second [[element]] of Tsung-tse's [[name]], and in fact a number of other early sources follow the [[form]] "Tsung-i." The prob­
 
44. ZZ2B/9/2.133c. The table of contents of the Hsu teng lu (ibid., 12a) gives the graph i rather than tse as the second [[element]] of Tsung-tse's [[name]], and in fact a number of other early sources follow the [[form]] "Tsung-i." The prob­
Line 216: Line 252:
 
48. Lo-pang wen-lei, T47 .177b-178b; the same text is preserved in the [[Lung-shu]] [[ching-t'u]] wen under the title "Ch'iian ts'an-ch'an jen chien hsiu [[ching-t'u]]" ("Promotion of the Combined [[Cultivation]] of [[Pure Land]] Among [[Zen]] Practitioners;' T47. 283c- 284c).  
 
48. Lo-pang wen-lei, T47 .177b-178b; the same text is preserved in the [[Lung-shu]] [[ching-t'u]] wen under the title "Ch'iian ts'an-ch'an jen chien hsiu [[ching-t'u]]" ("Promotion of the Combined [[Cultivation]] of [[Pure Land]] Among [[Zen]] Practitioners;' T47. 283c- 284c).  
 
49. T47.177b23, 178a20.  
 
49. T47.177b23, 178a20.  
Carl Bielefeldt
+
 
 
50. "[[Nien-fo]] [[tsan]] [[ch'an]] [[chiu]] tsung-chih shuo," [[Lu-shan]] lien-tsung pao-chien, T47.318b25-26.  
 
50. "[[Nien-fo]] [[tsan]] [[ch'an]] [[chiu]] tsung-chih shuo," [[Lu-shan]] lien-tsung pao-chien, T47.318b25-26.  
 
51. "[[Lien-hua]] sheng-hui wen," T47. 177c; "[[Nien-fo]] hui-hsiang fa-yiian wen;' ibid., 178c.  
 
51. "[[Lien-hua]] sheng-hui wen," T47. 177c; "[[Nien-fo]] hui-hsiang fa-yiian wen;' ibid., 178c.  
 
52. Tsung-tse's [[nien-fo]] practice appears several times throughout the Ch 'anyuan ch 'ing-kuei and clearly represented a major [[element]] in the [[ritual]] of his [[monastery]]. His combination of [[Zen tradition]] with Sung popular [[religion]] is perhaps nowhere better [[symbolized]] than in his saying "The one [[word]] 'filial' is the gateway to all {{Wiki|mysteries}}," an expression that gives a homey, [[ethical]] twist to [[Tsung-mi's]] famous [[metaphysical]] dictum, "The one [[word]] '[[awareness]]' is the gateway to all {{Wiki|mysteries}}" (quoted in [[Lu-shan]] lien-tsung paochien, T47. 306c26).  
 
52. Tsung-tse's [[nien-fo]] practice appears several times throughout the Ch 'anyuan ch 'ing-kuei and clearly represented a major [[element]] in the [[ritual]] of his [[monastery]]. His combination of [[Zen tradition]] with Sung popular [[religion]] is perhaps nowhere better [[symbolized]] than in his saying "The one [[word]] 'filial' is the gateway to all {{Wiki|mysteries}}," an expression that gives a homey, [[ethical]] twist to [[Tsung-mi's]] famous [[metaphysical]] dictum, "The one [[word]] '[[awareness]]' is the gateway to all {{Wiki|mysteries}}" (quoted in [[Lu-shan]] lien-tsung paochien, T47. 306c26).  
53. For the history of the early {{Wiki|literature}} on the [[monastic rule]] in [[China]] and [[Japan]], see lmaeda Aishin, Chusei [[zenshu]] shi no kenkyu ([[Tokyo]]: [[Tokyo]] daigaku shuppankai, 1970), pp. 56-72; Martin Collcutt, Five [[Mountains]]: The [[Rinzai Zen]] [[Monastic]] Institution in {{Wiki|Medieval}} [[Japan]] ([[Cambridge]]: [[Harvard University]] Press, 1981), pp. 133-170.  
+
53. For the history of the early {{Wiki|literature}} on the [[monastic rule]] in [[China]] and [[Japan]], see lmaeda Aishin, Chusei [[zenshu]] shi no kenkyu ([[Tokyo]]: [[Tokyo]] daigaku shuppankai, 1970), pp. 56-72; Martin Collcutt, Five [[Mountains]]: The [[Rinzai Zen]] [[Monastic]] Institution in {{Wiki|Medieval}} [[Japan]] ([[Cambridge]]: [[Harvard University]] Press, 1981), pp. 133-170.
 +
 
54. For Te-hui's text of the Tso-ch 'an i, see T48.1143a-b. The manual also appears in the Tzu-men ching-hsiin, a compendium of [[practical advice]] for [[Zen monks]] compiled in 1313 by Yung-chung (d.u.) (T48.1047b-c). However, since the extant text of this work is a much later, greatly expanded version, we cannot be entirely certain that the Tso-ch 'an i was included in the original.  
 
54. For Te-hui's text of the Tso-ch 'an i, see T48.1143a-b. The manual also appears in the Tzu-men ching-hsiin, a compendium of [[practical advice]] for [[Zen monks]] compiled in 1313 by Yung-chung (d.u.) (T48.1047b-c). However, since the extant text of this work is a much later, greatly expanded version, we cannot be entirely certain that the Tso-ch 'an i was included in the original.  
 
55. For the Shibu roku text, the earliest extant version of which is a [[gozan]] [[printing]] from the fourteenth century, see [[Omori Sogen]], Kunchu [[Zenshu]] shibu roku ({{Wiki|Kyoto}}: Kichud6, 1962), pp. 1-18. For Yosai's quotation, see T80.12a14-17. As Yanagida has pointed out, the fact that [[Yosai]] often quotes the Ch' an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei but uses the Ta-tsang i-fa n as his source for the Tso-ch' an i provides additional {{Wiki|evidence}} that, when he visited [[China]] in 1187, the manual was still not included in Tsung-tse's code (see Yanagida's additional notes to the Kazen gokoku ron, in [[Ichikawa Hakugen]] et al., Chusei zenke no [[shiso]], [[Nihon]] [[shiso]] taikei, vol. 16 [[[Tokyo]]: lwanami shoten, 1972], p. 398; and his "[[Yosai]] to Kazen gokoku ron no kadai," ibid., pp. 471-476). [[Dogen's]] Fukan [[zazen]] gi can be found at Okubo [[Doshu]], Dagen [[zenji]] [[zenshu]], vol. 2, pp. 3-5.  
 
55. For the Shibu roku text, the earliest extant version of which is a [[gozan]] [[printing]] from the fourteenth century, see [[Omori Sogen]], Kunchu [[Zenshu]] shibu roku ({{Wiki|Kyoto}}: Kichud6, 1962), pp. 1-18. For Yosai's quotation, see T80.12a14-17. As Yanagida has pointed out, the fact that [[Yosai]] often quotes the Ch' an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei but uses the Ta-tsang i-fa n as his source for the Tso-ch' an i provides additional {{Wiki|evidence}} that, when he visited [[China]] in 1187, the manual was still not included in Tsung-tse's code (see Yanagida's additional notes to the Kazen gokoku ron, in [[Ichikawa Hakugen]] et al., Chusei zenke no [[shiso]], [[Nihon]] [[shiso]] taikei, vol. 16 [[[Tokyo]]: lwanami shoten, 1972], p. 398; and his "[[Yosai]] to Kazen gokoku ron no kadai," ibid., pp. 471-476). [[Dogen's]] Fukan [[zazen]] gi can be found at Okubo [[Doshu]], Dagen [[zenji]] [[zenshu]], vol. 2, pp. 3-5.  
 
56. The Kanazawa {{Wiki|manuscript}} of Yen Ping's text has been edited by Ishii Shud6, in Kanazawa bunko shiryo zensho, vol. I ([[Yokohama]]: Kanazawa bunko, 1974), pp. 155-161. Yen Ping's {{Wiki|biography}} does not appear in the [[Ch'an]] histories, but the Hsii ch'uang teng lu (T51.701a) identifies him as a follower of [[Ta-hui's]] [[disciple]] Hsiieh-feng Hui-jan.  
 
56. The Kanazawa {{Wiki|manuscript}} of Yen Ping's text has been edited by Ishii Shud6, in Kanazawa bunko shiryo zensho, vol. I ([[Yokohama]]: Kanazawa bunko, 1974), pp. 155-161. Yen Ping's {{Wiki|biography}} does not appear in the [[Ch'an]] histories, but the Hsii ch'uang teng lu (T51.701a) identifies him as a follower of [[Ta-hui's]] [[disciple]] Hsiieh-feng Hui-jan.  
 
57. For [[Dogen's]] descriptions of [[meditation]], all of which reflect Tsung-tse's text, see (in addition to the Fukan [[zazen]] gi mentioned above) his Eihei koroku (Okubo, Dagen [[zenji]] [[zenshu]], vol. 2, pp. 165-166), Shabo [[genzo]] [[zazen]] gi (ibid., vol. I [[[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1969], pp. 88-89), and Benda ho (ibid., vol. 2, pp. 317-318). The [[Zazen]] yojin ki can be found in SOlo shu zensho, [[Shugen]], vol. 2 (1930; repr., [[Tokyo]]: SotO-shu zensho kankokai, 1971), p. 423-427; see also [[Keizan's]] Sankon [[zazen]] setsu, ibid., 428-429. For Kakushin's [[Zazen]] gi, see Dai [[Nihon]] [[bukkyo]] zensho, vol. 96, pp. 211-212; more explicit instruction on [[meditation]] appears in his Hotto kokushi hogo, ibid., pp. 220-222. Enni's [[Zazen]] ron appears as Shoichi kokushi hOgo, in Zenmon hogo shu, vol. 2, pp. 411-424. For Lan-ch'i's [[Zazen]] ron, see Daikaku [[zenji]] [[zazen]] ron, Kokuyaku zengaku taisei, vol. 23  
 
57. For [[Dogen's]] descriptions of [[meditation]], all of which reflect Tsung-tse's text, see (in addition to the Fukan [[zazen]] gi mentioned above) his Eihei koroku (Okubo, Dagen [[zenji]] [[zenshu]], vol. 2, pp. 165-166), Shabo [[genzo]] [[zazen]] gi (ibid., vol. I [[[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1969], pp. 88-89), and Benda ho (ibid., vol. 2, pp. 317-318). The [[Zazen]] yojin ki can be found in SOlo shu zensho, [[Shugen]], vol. 2 (1930; repr., [[Tokyo]]: SotO-shu zensho kankokai, 1971), p. 423-427; see also [[Keizan's]] Sankon [[zazen]] setsu, ibid., 428-429. For Kakushin's [[Zazen]] gi, see Dai [[Nihon]] [[bukkyo]] zensho, vol. 96, pp. 211-212; more explicit instruction on [[meditation]] appears in his Hotto kokushi hogo, ibid., pp. 220-222. Enni's [[Zazen]] ron appears as Shoichi kokushi hOgo, in Zenmon hogo shu, vol. 2, pp. 411-424. For Lan-ch'i's [[Zazen]] ron, see Daikaku [[zenji]] [[zazen]] ron, Kokuyaku zengaku taisei, vol. 23  
Ch 'ang-/u Tsung-tse and [[Zen Meditation]]
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([[Tokyo]]: Nish6do shoten, 1930), pp. 1-8; his [[Zazen]] gi is preserved in a {{Wiki|manuscript}} of the Kanazawa bunko (see Kanazawa bunko shiryo zensho, vo!. I, pp. 161-168).  
 
([[Tokyo]]: Nish6do shoten, 1930), pp. 1-8; his [[Zazen]] gi is preserved in a {{Wiki|manuscript}} of the Kanazawa bunko (see Kanazawa bunko shiryo zensho, vo!. I, pp. 161-168).  
 
58. In the Lin-chien lu, ZZ2/21/3.295d.  
 
58. In the Lin-chien lu, ZZ2/21/3.295d.  
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chi chiieh) is [the practice of] one who toys with his [[spirit]]." ("Lancet of [[Zen]] " [Ch 'an [[chen]]], appended to the [[Wu-men kuan]], T48.299b 1-3.)  
 
chi chiieh) is [the practice of] one who toys with his [[spirit]]." ("Lancet of [[Zen]] " [Ch 'an [[chen]]], appended to the [[Wu-men kuan]], T48.299b 1-3.)  
 
Appendix  
 
Appendix  
The following translation of the T so-ch 'an i is based on the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei text appearing in Kagamishima Genryii et al., Yakuchii [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] ([[Tokyo]]: Soto-shii shiimucho, 1972), pp. 279-284. Notes in the translation refer to variants in the Ta-tsang i-lan text ([[Showa]] hobO somokuroku 3.1305a-b). A fully annotated [[Japanese]] translation is provided in Kajitani Son in et al., [[Shin]]}i n mei [[Shodo]] ka Jiigyo zu [[Zazen]] gi, [[Zen]] no [[goroku]], vol. 16 ([[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1971), pp. 145-164.  
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The following translation of the T so-ch 'an i is based on the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei text appearing in Kagamishima Genryii et al., Yakuchii [[Zen]] 'en [[shingi]] ([[Tokyo]]: Soto-shii shiimucho, 1972), pp. 279-284. Notes in the translation refer to variants in the Ta-tsang i-lan text ([[Showa]] hobO somokuroku 3.1305a-b). A fully annotated [[Japanese]] translation is provided in Kajitani Son in et al., [[Shin]]}i n mei [[Shodo]] ka Jiigyo zu [[Zazen]] gi, [[Zen]] no [[goroku]], vol. 16 ([[Tokyo]]: Chikuma [[shobo]], 1971), pp. 145-164.
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PRINCIPLES OF SEATED [[MEDITATION]]  
 
PRINCIPLES OF SEATED [[MEDITATION]]  
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T he [[bodhisattva]] who studies [[prajna]] should first arouse the [[thought]] of [[great compassion]], make the extensive [[vows]], and vigorously cultivate [[samadhi]]. Vowing to save [[sentient beings]], you should not seek [[liberation]] for yourself alone.  
 
T he [[bodhisattva]] who studies [[prajna]] should first arouse the [[thought]] of [[great compassion]], make the extensive [[vows]], and vigorously cultivate [[samadhi]]. Vowing to save [[sentient beings]], you should not seek [[liberation]] for yourself alone.  
 
Now cast aside all involvements and discontinue the {{Wiki|myriad}} affairs. [[Body]] and [[mind]] should be unified, with no [[division]] between [[action]] and rest. Regulate [[food]] and drink, so that you take neither too much nor too little; adjust [[sleep]], so that you neither deprive nor indulge yourself.  
 
Now cast aside all involvements and discontinue the {{Wiki|myriad}} affairs. [[Body]] and [[mind]] should be unified, with no [[division]] between [[action]] and rest. Regulate [[food]] and drink, so that you take neither too much nor too little; adjust [[sleep]], so that you neither deprive nor indulge yourself.  
 
When you sit in [[meditation]], spread a thick mat in a quiet place. Loosen your robe and belt, and assume a proper [[posture]].' Then sit in the cross-legged position: first place your right foot on your left thigh; then place your left foot on your right thigh.' Or you may sit in the semi-cross-legged position: simply rest your left foot on your right foot. Next, place your right hand on your left foot, and' your left hand on your right palm. Press the tips of your thumbs together. Slowly raise your torso and stretch it forward. Swing to the left and right; then straighten your [[body]] and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right, forward or backward. Keep your hips, back, neck, and head in line, making your [[posture]] like a stiipa. But do not strain your [[body]] upward too far, lest it [[cause]] your [[breathing]] to be forced and unsettled.' Your [[ears]] should be in line with your shoulders, and your {{Wiki|nose}} in line with your {{Wiki|navel}}. Press your {{Wiki|tongue}} against your palate, and close your lips and {{Wiki|teeth}}. The [[eyes]] should remain slightly open, in order to prevent [[drowsiness]]. If you attain [[samadhi]] [with the [[eyes]] open], it will be the most powerful. In [[ancient]] times, there were [[monks]] {{Wiki|eminent}} in the [[practice of meditation]] who always sat with their [[eyes]] open. More recently, the Ch 'an [[master]] Fa-yiin Yiian-t'ung criticized those who sit in [[meditation]] with their [[eyes]] closed, likening [their practice] to the [[ghost]] [[cave]] of the Black Mountain. Surely this has a deep meaning, known to those who have mastered [[[meditation practice]]].'  
 
When you sit in [[meditation]], spread a thick mat in a quiet place. Loosen your robe and belt, and assume a proper [[posture]].' Then sit in the cross-legged position: first place your right foot on your left thigh; then place your left foot on your right thigh.' Or you may sit in the semi-cross-legged position: simply rest your left foot on your right foot. Next, place your right hand on your left foot, and' your left hand on your right palm. Press the tips of your thumbs together. Slowly raise your torso and stretch it forward. Swing to the left and right; then straighten your [[body]] and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right, forward or backward. Keep your hips, back, neck, and head in line, making your [[posture]] like a stiipa. But do not strain your [[body]] upward too far, lest it [[cause]] your [[breathing]] to be forced and unsettled.' Your [[ears]] should be in line with your shoulders, and your {{Wiki|nose}} in line with your {{Wiki|navel}}. Press your {{Wiki|tongue}} against your palate, and close your lips and {{Wiki|teeth}}. The [[eyes]] should remain slightly open, in order to prevent [[drowsiness]]. If you attain [[samadhi]] [with the [[eyes]] open], it will be the most powerful. In [[ancient]] times, there were [[monks]] {{Wiki|eminent}} in the [[practice of meditation]] who always sat with their [[eyes]] open. More recently, the Ch 'an [[master]] Fa-yiin Yiian-t'ung criticized those who sit in [[meditation]] with their [[eyes]] closed, likening [their practice] to the [[ghost]] [[cave]] of the Black Mountain. Surely this has a deep meaning, known to those who have mastered [[[meditation practice]]].'  
 
Once you have settled your [[posture]] and regulated your [[breathing]], you should [[relax]] your {{Wiki|abdomen}}. Do not think of any good or [[evil]] whatsoever. Whenever a [[thought]] occurs, be {{Wiki|aware}} of it; as soon as you are {{Wiki|aware}} of it, it will van-
 
Once you have settled your [[posture]] and regulated your [[breathing]], you should [[relax]] your {{Wiki|abdomen}}. Do not think of any good or [[evil]] whatsoever. Whenever a [[thought]] occurs, be {{Wiki|aware}} of it; as soon as you are {{Wiki|aware}} of it, it will van-
Carl Bielefeldt
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ish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of [[objects]], you will naturally become unified.T his is the [[essential]] [[art]] of [[seated meditation]]. •  
 
ish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of [[objects]], you will naturally become unified.T his is the [[essential]] [[art]] of [[seated meditation]]. •  
 
Honestly {{Wiki|speaking}}, [[seated meditation]] is the [[Dharma-gate]] of ease and [[joy]]; if, nevertheless, [[people]] often become ill [from its practice], it is because they do not take proper care.I f you [[grasp]] the point of this [practice], the [[four elements]] [of the [[body]]] will naturally be {{Wiki|light}} and at ease; the [[spirit]] will be fresh and sharp; [[thoughts]] will be correct and clear; the {{Wiki|flavor}} of the [[Dharma]] will sustain the [[spirit]]; and you will be [[calm]], [[pure]], and [[joyful]]. ' One who has already developed clarity may be likened to the [[dragon]] gaining the [[water]] or the [[tiger]] taking to the mountains.E ven one who has not yet developed it, by letting the [[wind]] fan the flame, will not have to make much [[effort]]: if you just assent to it, you will not be deceived. • Nevertheless, as the [[path]] gets higher, {{Wiki|demons}} flourish, and agreeable and [[disagreeable]] [[experiences]] are manifold. Yet, if you just keep [[right thought]] {{Wiki|present}}, none of them can obstruct you.T he Surangama-sutra, [[T'ien-t'ai's]] Chihkuan, and Kuei-feng's Hsiu-cheng i give detailed explications of these {{Wiki|demonic}} occurrences, and those who would be prepared in advance for the unforeseen should be familiar with them. '
 
Honestly {{Wiki|speaking}}, [[seated meditation]] is the [[Dharma-gate]] of ease and [[joy]]; if, nevertheless, [[people]] often become ill [from its practice], it is because they do not take proper care.I f you [[grasp]] the point of this [practice], the [[four elements]] [of the [[body]]] will naturally be {{Wiki|light}} and at ease; the [[spirit]] will be fresh and sharp; [[thoughts]] will be correct and clear; the {{Wiki|flavor}} of the [[Dharma]] will sustain the [[spirit]]; and you will be [[calm]], [[pure]], and [[joyful]]. ' One who has already developed clarity may be likened to the [[dragon]] gaining the [[water]] or the [[tiger]] taking to the mountains.E ven one who has not yet developed it, by letting the [[wind]] fan the flame, will not have to make much [[effort]]: if you just assent to it, you will not be deceived. • Nevertheless, as the [[path]] gets higher, {{Wiki|demons}} flourish, and agreeable and [[disagreeable]] [[experiences]] are manifold. Yet, if you just keep [[right thought]] {{Wiki|present}}, none of them can obstruct you.T he Surangama-sutra, [[T'ien-t'ai's]] Chihkuan, and Kuei-feng's Hsiu-cheng i give detailed explications of these {{Wiki|demonic}} occurrences, and those who would be prepared in advance for the unforeseen should be familiar with them. '
 
When you come out of [[samadhi]], move slowly and arise [[calmly]]; do not be hasty or rough. After you have left [[samadhi]], 10 always employ appropriate means to {{Wiki|protect}} and maintain the power of [[samadhi]], as though you were protecting an {{Wiki|infant}}; then your [[samadhi]] power will easily develop.  
 
When you come out of [[samadhi]], move slowly and arise [[calmly]]; do not be hasty or rough. After you have left [[samadhi]], 10 always employ appropriate means to {{Wiki|protect}} and maintain the power of [[samadhi]], as though you were protecting an {{Wiki|infant}}; then your [[samadhi]] power will easily develop.  
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This one [[teaching]] of [[meditation]] is our most urgent business.I f you do not settle [the [[mind]]] in [[meditation]], or [[dhyana]], then, when it comes down to it, you will be completely at a loss. 11 Therefore, [it is said,] "To seek a {{Wiki|pearl}}, we should still the waves; if we disturb the [[water]], it will be hard to get." When the [[water]] of [[meditation]] is clear, the {{Wiki|pearl}} of the [[mind]] will appear of itself.T herefore, the Per­
 
This one [[teaching]] of [[meditation]] is our most urgent business.I f you do not settle [the [[mind]]] in [[meditation]], or [[dhyana]], then, when it comes down to it, you will be completely at a loss. 11 Therefore, [it is said,] "To seek a {{Wiki|pearl}}, we should still the waves; if we disturb the [[water]], it will be hard to get." When the [[water]] of [[meditation]] is clear, the {{Wiki|pearl}} of the [[mind]] will appear of itself.T herefore, the Per­
 
fect [[Enlightenment]] [[Sutra]] says, "Unimpeded, immaculate [[wisdom]] always arises dependent on [[meditation]]." And the [[Lotus Sutra]] says, "In a quiet place, he practices control of the [[mind]], abiding motionless like Mt.S umeru." 12 Thus, we know that transcending the profane and surpassing the {{Wiki|holy}} are contingent on the [[condition]] of [[dhyana]]; shedding [this [[body]]] while seated and fleeing [this [[life]]] while [[standing]] are dependent on the power of samadhi.E ven if one devotes oneself to the practice one's entire [[life]], one may still not be in time; how then could one who procrastinates possibly overcome [[karma]]? Therefore, an [[ancient]] has said, "Without the power of [[samadhi]], you will meekly cower at death's door." Shutting your [[eyes]], you will return [to the [[earth]]] in vain; just as you are, you will drift [in saiTI­
 
fect [[Enlightenment]] [[Sutra]] says, "Unimpeded, immaculate [[wisdom]] always arises dependent on [[meditation]]." And the [[Lotus Sutra]] says, "In a quiet place, he practices control of the [[mind]], abiding motionless like Mt.S umeru." 12 Thus, we know that transcending the profane and surpassing the {{Wiki|holy}} are contingent on the [[condition]] of [[dhyana]]; shedding [this [[body]]] while seated and fleeing [this [[life]]] while [[standing]] are dependent on the power of samadhi.E ven if one devotes oneself to the practice one's entire [[life]], one may still not be in time; how then could one who procrastinates possibly overcome [[karma]]? Therefore, an [[ancient]] has said, "Without the power of [[samadhi]], you will meekly cower at death's door." Shutting your [[eyes]], you will return [to the [[earth]]] in vain; just as you are, you will drift [in saiTI­
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13. "Even if one ... [[perfect enlightenment]].:" "[[[Meditation]]] is our most urgent business. "
 
13. "Even if one ... [[perfect enlightenment]].:" "[[[Meditation]]] is our most urgent business. "
 
</poem>
 
</poem>
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{{R}}
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[[Category:Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism]]

Latest revision as of 08:06, 23 September 2020



Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse's Tso-ch'an I and the "Secret" of Zen Meditation


Carl Bielefeldt

It is not entirely without reason that Zen Buddhism is known as the Meditation School. Visitors to the modern Zen monastery, even if they are prepared to find meditation there, cannot but be struck by the extent to which the practice dominates the routine. The novice monk spends his first days almost entirely within the meditation hall, and, although he is expected during this period to learn some rudimentary features of clerical decorum, it is primarily his willingness to submit to the discipline of long hours of meditation in the cross-legged posture that will determine his admission into the community. Once accepted, he can expect to pass much of his daily life in this posture. Although customs differ with the institution and the season, it is not uncommon for the community to spend four to eight hours a day in formal meditation and at regular inter­vals to hold prolonged sessions during which the hours of practice may be increased to twelve, sixteen, or even more. To be sure, there are usually other things to do-rituals and begging rounds, study and lectures, administrative duties and manual labor-but, in principle at least, the monk's main work is_meditation. When he meets in private with his master, it is often about the progress of this work that they are likely to talk.

Yet there is another sense il)._l1jch Ze_I!_!!ucic1hism appears to be an "anti-meditation school." For, whatever Zen monks may talk about in private, wnen they discusstilelrpractice in publiC, Tiley ofte-n seem to go out of their way t6-distance -ifiemselvesfr9lliJhl!ncientBi!ddhist exercises oTsariia_cii3nd_to c;riti:i?e __ the--trnaLcl!.ltivation of dhyana. The two Japanese Zen churches, Rinzai and Soto, have their own characteristic ways of going about this: the former most often attacks absorp tion in trance as a mindless quietism-what it sometimes calls the "ghost cave" (kikutsu) of the spirit-and claims to replace it with the more dynamic technique of kanna, or koan study; the latter rejects the utilitarian component of contemplative technique-the striving, as it says, to

"make a Buddha" (sabutsu)-and offers in its stead what it considers the less psychologically limited, more spiritually profound practice of shikan taza, or "just sitting." Of course, these critiques of meditation are not simply modern Japanese developments; while the contemporary teachings of both schools may owe much to Edo sectarian ideology, both trace their positions back to the famous Southern Sung disputes between the advocates of k'an-hua, or concentration on the hua-t'ou, and the champions of mo-chao, or "silent illumination." Indeed, whatever their differences in psychological technique and interpretative strategy, both these positions can be seen as instances of a characteristic Zen polemic against contemplative practice that goes back much further, almost to the very origins of the religion itself. To this extent, the Meditation School seems never to have been entirely happy with its name.

The Zen ambivalence toward its own specialization is reflected not only in the record of its recurrent and sometimes bitter disputes over meditation but also in the _fact that this record tells us surprisingly little about the actual content of Zen meditation practice. If the school's ideological doubts about the practice have not prevented Zen monks from engaging in it, they do seem to have made the tradition more loath than most to discuss the concrete details of its spiritual techniques. Still, we are not entirely without resources; for, in addition to what little we can glean from the vast corpus of biographies, sayings, essays, and other writings of the school, we also have recourse to a small but interesting body of texts specifically intended to guide the practitioner through the basics of Zen meditation. Most of them, as we might expect, seem to have been written with the neophyte in mind, a characteristic that, if it limits their usefulness in determining the full range of Zen practices, also probably makes them relatively faithful to the actual experience of the majority of Zen practitioners. Like the tradition as a whole, they tend to eschew the doctrinally tidy, suspiciously systematic accounts of meditation that we find in the scholastic treatises; unlike much of the tradition, they also tend to avoid philosophical obscurity and literary fancy-or at least to balance them with a healthy dose of plain talk.

Of these meditation manuals, the earliest and in some ways most influential is a brief tract from the Northern Sung entitled simply Tsoch' ani ("Principles of Seated Meditation"), attributed to a monk named Ch'ang-Iu Tsung-tse (d. u.). Since this text is not very well known, I would like to introduce it here, together with some reflections on its place in the history of the Zen meditation tradition. Along the way, I shall suggest that, in writing his little manual, Tsung-tse broke with what might almost be called a conspiracy of silence about meditation and thereby helped to touch off the Southern Sung discourse on the subject-a discourse that, in one form or another, is still with us today. The origin of the Tso-ch' an i is not entirely clear. The work is usuaHy ·thought to have been composed as a section of the Ch' an-yiian ch' ing-kuei ("Pure Regulations of the Zen Preserve"), the earliest extant Zen monastic code, compiled by Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse in 1103. The bestknown version of this code does indeed contain the manual in fascicle 8, but this version represents a revised and enlarged edition published in 1202 by a certain Yii Hsiang (d.u.).' A variant text of the Ch'an-yiian ch' ing-kuei, produced in Korea from blocks carved in 1254 and based on a Northern Sung text printed in 1111, does not include the Tso-ch 'an i. By far the earliest extant version of Tsung-tse's code, dated within a decade of the composition of the work, this variant strongly suggests that the original text of the Ch' an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei lacked the manual of meditation.

If the Tso-ch 'an i was not in fact written as a part of Tsung-tse's monastic code, we cannot be certain of its date or, indeed, of its authorship. Still, there is reason to think that it belongs to the period, around the turn of the twelfth century, in which Tsung-tse flourished. We know that the manual was in circulation well before the publication of Yii Hsiang's edition, for an abbreviated version of the text already appears in the "Dhyana" section of the Ta-tsang i-lan ("Compendium of the Canon"), the lengthy collection of scriptural passages compiled by Ch'en Shih (d.u.) sometime prior to 1157.' Ch'en Shih's quotation does not identify the author, but it does provide us with a terminus ad quem probably within a few decades of Tsung-tse's death. Yii Hsiang's version, moreover, contains a quotation from the Zen master Fa-yiin Fa-hsiu (1027-1090), the presence of which indicates that the text cannot be earlier than mid eleventh century. This quotation is particularly significant because, as Yanagida Seizan has pointed out, it lends some credence to the tradition of Tsung-tse's authorship of the Tso-ch 'an i. Although we have few details on Tsung-tse's life, we do know that he originally entered the order under Fa-hsiu. Hence, the appearance here of this master's saying-words not recorded elsewhere-would seem to provide circumstantial evidence for the work's ascription to his student Tsung-tse.

However the Tso-ch' an i originated, it quickly became a well-known work after its publication in the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei. The early and enduring reputation of the text among Zen students was no doubt considerably enhanced by its association with Tsung-tse's monastic code, for the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei was widely regarded by the tradition as an expanded version of the original Zen regulations established by Po-chang Huai-hai (720-814). Hence, some who used its meditation manual may have done so in the belief that it preserved an ancient rite set down by the founder of Zen monasticism.' In this, they were probably mistaken. Though Tsung-tse himself claims that his Ch 'an-yiian ch' ing-kuei represents a revision of Po-chang's rules to fit the circumstances of his day, it is by no means clear that he knew what those rules were. Despite Po-

chang's fame as the creator of an independent Zen monastic system, and despite repeated references in the literature to the "Pure Regulations of Po-chang" (Po-chang ch 'ing-kuei), there is little evidence that this monk actually produced a written code and still less that it survived to Tsungtse's time. • In any case, given the radical changes in the Zen monastic system that had taken place in the centuries between the mid T'ang and the Sung, we may be sure that much in the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei would have been unfamiliar to Po-chang. Particularly when we turn to our text, the Tso-ch 'an i, the connection with Huai-hai seems remote indeed. There is no evidence whatsoever that this T'ang master wrote a meditation manual; and especially if-as appears likely-Tsung-tse's own manual was not originally intended for the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei, there is no reason to think that it was based on Po-chang's teachings. In the absence of any evidence that Po-chang authored the prototype for the Tso-ch 'an i, Tsung-tse's manual represents the earliest known work of its kind in the Zen tradition. This does not, of course, by any meaimisake it entirely without precedent in the Chinese Buddhist literature; indeed, Tsung-tse himself calls our attention to several earlier accounts of meditation on which he drew. In a passage of the Tso-ch 'an i warning against the "doings of Mara" (mo-shih), which can afflict the higher stages of meditation practice, he advises the reader who seeks further information to consult the Suraligama-sutra, T'ien-t'ai's Chihkuan, and Kuei-feng's Hsiu-cheng i. Of these, the first presumably refers to the T'ang text in ten fascicles traditionally attributed to Paramiti, a work quite popular with Tsung-tse's Sung contemporaries, which contains a detailed discussion of fifty demoniacal states of mind into which the practitioner may fall. 7 Apart from this particular discussion, there is nothing in the Suraligama text that would serve as a basis for Tsung-tse's description of meditation. Such is not the case, however, with the other two works he mentions, which clearly have more intimate connections with his own manual. We cannot say with certainty which text Tsung-tse intends by his reference to the Chih-kuan. One thinks first of the famous Mo-ho chihkuan ("Greater [Treatise on] Calming and Discernment") by T'ien-t'ai Chih-i (538-597), a work that includes two lengthy sections on the various morbid and demoniacal states to which the meditator is susceptible. 8 Similar discussions, however, appear in other meditation texts by Chih-i, and it would seem that a more likely candidate here is the so-called Hsiao chih-kuan ("Lesser [Treatise on] Calming and Discernment"). Not only does this work contain an explanation of mo-shih, but, more importantly, it provides a concrete description of the preparation for, and practice of, meditation, several of the elements of which are reflected in the Tso-ch 'an i. Moreover, it is the basis for the discussion of meditation practice in the Hsiu-cheng i, the other work to which Tsung-tse refers us! The Yiian-chiieh ching hsiu-cheng i ("Cultivation and Realization According to the Perfect Enlightenment Siltra") by Kuei-feng Tsung-mi (780-841) represents an extended explication of Buddhist practice according to the Yiian-chiieh ching. It consists of three major divisions dealing with the conditions for practice, the method of worship, and the method of meditation. As Sekiguchi Shindai has shown, large sections of the text, especially of the first and third divisions, are taken directly from the Hsiao chih-kuan. Indeed, when these sections are assembled and rearranged, it appears that Tsung-mi has quoted Chih-i's work almost in toto. It is passages from these same sections, in which the Hsiu-cheng i is relying on the Hsiao chih-kuan, that have parallels in our text. 10

Although we can assume from Tsung-tse's reference to the T'ien-t'ai chih-kuan that he was familiar with Chih-i's manual and may, indeed, have consulted it in the writing of his own, the question of its direct influence on his text remains problematic. Sekiguchi, in his several studies of the Hsiao chih-kuan, has called attention to the parallels between the two texts and has emphasized the degree to which not only Tsung-tse's work but also many of the subsequent meditation manuals of Zen have relied, at least indirectly, on Chih-i. Such emphasis, it may be noted, is but an extension of this Tendai scholar's general argument for the T'ien-t'ai influence on the Zen tradition. 11 Whatever the merits of that argument as it applies to the early history of the school, its significance in this case would seem to have some real historical and textual limitations. The T'ien-t'ai hsiao chih-kuan, as Sekiguchi has emphasized, proba­of meditation aailableto-the bly representstne first practicalmanual Chinese. Although it draws on material from severaTilliaiT _n_ancrchinese sources, 1niTffers from earlier worlsin being expnsslyintended to introduce the prcrtc-e of seated meditauon to tnebeginin ngSludent. 12 Except for a brief final section, therefore, it omits discussion of the kind of technical T'ien-t'ai doctrine characteristic of most of Chih-i's writings and emphasizes instead the concrete description of the actual techniques of mental and physical discipline. For this reason, the work-and especially its "T'iao-ho" chapter on the control of body, breath, and mind-could serve as a handy, nonsectarian guide to the basics of Buddhist mental discipline; in fact, not only Tsung-mi but also many other Buddhist writers, from Tao-hsiian (596-667), Shan-tao (613-681 ), and Fa-tsang (643-712) on, referred to this chapter in their own presentations of seated meditation. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that by the Northern Sung a brief text like Tsung-tse's Tso-ch 'an i, itself intended as a meditation primer, 1should reflect something of this popular guide. Yet such reflection should 'not blind us to the fact that, unlike the tso-ch 'an section of Tsung-mi' s

Hsiu-cheng i, Tsung-tse's manual is essentially a new work, original in both its language and the focus of its treatment." The T'ien-t 'ai hsiao chih-kuan 's discussion of meditation practice is divided into ten chapters covering, in addition to the morbid and demo­ niacal states, such topics as control of desire and abandonment of the nivarafJa, development of kusula-mula, practice of samatha and vipasya­ na, and so on. Tsung-tse ignores most of this technical material: not only, as might be expected, is there nothing in the Tso-ch 'an i comparable to Chih-i's concluding chapter on the T'ien-t'ai dogma of the three truths (san-ti), but even on the central practice of chih-kuan itself we find not a word. Of the five chapters devoted to Chih-i's standard list of twenty-five spiritual techniques (fang-pien), only the first, on fulfilling the conditions for meditation, and (especially) the fourth, on regulating physical and mental activities in meditation, find significant parallels in our text. These parallels, moreover, aside from certain standard Buddhist admonishments, are limited almost wholly to the concrete description of the meditation posture-material that, by Tsung-tse's time, was surely the common lore of Chinese Buddhist monks and precisely the sort in which one would expect to find the least innovation. Under the circumstances, the question of influence, if it still remains relevant, becomes too vague to sustain much interest. 14

Tsung-tse's Tso-ch 'an i, then, is probably neither an elaboration of an earlier manual by Po-chang nor an al:>_l:>reyiation of Chih-i's work. Instead, it combines a portion of the kind of material fou11.cLin Lh I'ient' ai text with a dash of die-particular apprach-f() nieclitation charcteristic of some arlier Zen-writin- gs. Theresulting mix=-dtilesirliJ;le, colloquial style in which-it is presented-gives Tsung-tse's Buddhism a very different flav() fr;>ll:l __ ::_hih-i's sixth-ce!!_t':!_r_§c:ho!_a,tic -versloiJ.i the same time, it gives his meditation teachings. a conservativ matter-of­ f act quality tlJ.at_ Qntrasts with__ll!lll::h_Q{ibe-it;;-v-;;-i-g::z_rn_liteiruure on the subject. This quality may, in fact, have been an important factor in the popularity of hiLI_lnl_a, ual, but it also makes the work-for all its seeming innocuousness-rather controversial. For if the text itself is new, its teachings, from the perspective of Sung Dynasty Zen, appear as something of a throwback to an earlier, less ideologically developed treatment of Buddhist practice-a treatment in some ways more akin to that of the Hsiao chih-kuan than to the received position of the school. Despite the widespread acceptance of the Tso-ch 'an i, this heterodox character of the work was not entirely lost on its early readers, some of whom were prompted to react. To see why they were concerned, we shall need to recall the way in which the tradition had dealt with meditation. But first, let us look at what Tsung-tse himself has to say, and how his teaching compares with that of Chih-i. 15 The Tso-ch 'an i is a very brief text of no more than some 600-700

characters. Addressed to "the bodhisattva who studies prajfia," it opens with a reminder that the meditation to be described here should be cultivated for the benefit not just of the practitioner but of all living beings. Tsung-tse then mentions some preliminary conditions for the practice: the meditator should renounce worldly activities and seek quiet quarters, and he should regulate his eati_11_g and sleeping habits, avoiding either deprivation or indulgence. After these brief prefatory remarks, the text proceeds directly to the description of the meditation posture: one is to sit erect on a mat in the classic yogic cross-legged position (chieh chiafu tso) or the variant semi-cross-legged position (pan chia-fu tso), with hands in the traditional meditation mudra of the Dharmadhatu (fa-chieh ling-yin); the tongue rests against the palate, and the lips and teeth are closed; the eyes are kept slightly open; the breath is regulated. Having thus composed himself, the meditator is to relinquish all judgments and simply observe his thoughts as they arise; once observed, thoughts will cease, and eventually the mind will become unified.

Having completed his description of the practice, Tsung-tse praises it as "the Dharma-gate of ease and joy." When properly performed, it is easy to do arid gpoolorootfioocfi md mind. Still, he warns, when done improperly, it can lead to illness ana, as we have seen, can generate various undesirable experiences, against which one should brace oneself. The text goes on to advise that, on leaving samadhi, one should arise slowly and calmly and, at all times, should try to maintain a meditative calm in order to develop the ability to enter samadhi at will (ting-li). Finally, the Tso-ch 'an i closes with an appreciation of meditation and an admonition to put it into practice: without it, one will simply drift aimlessly in the sea of sarpsara, at the mercy of death; with it, the surface waves of the mind will subside, and the pearl of liberating wisdom beneath will appear of its own accord. Therefore, we are reminded, the siitras have recommended it, and the great sages of the tradition have practiced it. We should cultivate this meditation without delay, lest death intervene before its benefits are realized. Such, in outline, is our text. Most of it is rather standard Buddhist fare, and those familiar with Chih-i will indeed recognize echoes of his presentation of meditation. The opening admonition to the bodhisattva is, of course, a constant refrain of the Mahayana literature and echoes a similar passage in the Hsiao chih-kuan: "The practitioner beginning to study tso-ch 'an and intending to cultivate the dharmas of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions and three realms should first produce the great vow to lead all beings to liberation and to seek the supreme enlightenment of a Buddha." 16 The suspension of wordly activities and the retirement to secluded quarters, besides being obvious good advice, are items on an ancient list of five conditions for meditation discussed in the "Chiiyiian" chapter of the Hsiao chih-kuan: purity in keeping the precepts,

provision of food and clothing, retirement to a quiet place, cessation of worldly involvements, and contact with good friends. 1' Moderation in food and sleep corresponds to the first two of the five kinds of regulation given in Chih-i's "T'iao-ho" chapter: food, sleep, body, breath, and mind.18 Similarly, of course, the description of the meditation posture has antecedents in the Hsiao chih-kuan, though Tsung-tse's passage is considerably abbreviated and, in fact, departs from Chih-i's model on some basic points: where the latter prefers to sit with the right leg crossed over the left, Tsung-tse opts for the position, more often seen in Zen, with the left on top; where Chih-i recommends that the eyes be closed, Tsung-tse goes out of his way to criticize this practice.1 9 Again, as we have seen, the subsequent warning on perverse states explicitly invokes Chih-i, and the remarks on remaining mindful on leaving samadhi recall advice in the closing section of his "T'iao-ho" chapter.

If these passages in the Tso-ch 'an i resemble material in the Hsiao chih-kuan, more interesting are the passages that have no close equivalents. Of these, the most important and problematic is the teaching on the mental aspect of meditatioD. The "T'iao:.ilo- ciUipter-rotwtos the description of the meditation posture with a discussion of the techniques for regulating the mind to avoid the twin obstacles of torpor and agitation;'1 and in other chapters Chih-i recommends various mental antidotes for different spiritual problems. But the core of his meditation is, of course, the traditional exercises of samatha and vipasyana, from which his manual takes its name. In the "Cheng-hsiu" chapter, which is devoted to these exercises, he divides them into five types, depending on the purposes for which they are practiced. Of these, the first, intended to overcome the rough fluctuations of the mind at the outset of meditation, is basic. There are essentially two types of samatha exercises for this purpose: one is more or less mechanical, involving fixation on an object or conscious suppression of random thoughts; the other is intellectual, in which the practitioner is to understand as each thought occurs that its object arises from conditions and has no nature of its own. This understood, the mind will not grasp the object, and deluded thoughts will cease. A somewhat more complicated technique is recommended for the vipasyana practice: if the meditator has failed to put an end to deluded thoughts through samatha, he should reflect on these thoughts, asking himself whether they exist or not. Chih-i then supplies a set of arguments that the practitioner can rehearse to convince himself that neither the mind nor its object can be grasped; thus convinced, the mind will break o(f discrimination and become still." 0 Tsung-tse's meditation does not quite correspond to any of these techniques. What he calls the "essential art" of meditation is simply this:

Do not think of any good or evil whatsoever.W henever a thought occurs, be r I ; aware of it (nien ch 'i chi chiieh); as soon as you are aware of it, it will vanish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of objects (wang yuan), you will naturally become unified (i-p 'ien). This passage has no parallel in_ the_lis"iao chih-kugn; as we shall shortly see, it probably derives fro_!!l Zen sources. If it has any analog in Chih-i's teachings, it is not in the chih-kuan techniques described in his manual, but rather in the simple mindfulness practice recomm_ended as one of the famous four kinds of samadhi in the Mo-ho chih-kuan-the practice referre_a_ to in-ere as neither walking nor sitting (fei-hsing fei-tso) and otherwise known as the samadhi of awareness of mind (chiieh-i san-mei):

The master Nan-yiieh [i.e., Hui-ssu] called this [practice] "to follow one's own mind" (sui-tzu-i)-that is, to cultivate samadhi whenever the mind arises (i ch 'i chi hsiu san-mei). The Ta-p 'in ching (Paficavif!lsati) refers to it as the samadhi of awareness of mind-that is, [a state in which] wherever the mind may be directed, one is conscious of, and clear about, it.. .. "Awareness" (chiieh) here means luminous understanding (chao-liao); "mind" (i) means the mental dharmas (hsin-shu; caitasika) .... In practicing this, when a mental dharma arises, one reflects on, and contemplates, it, without attending to its development-its source or outcome, its point of origin or destination." Whatever the antecedents of Tsung-tse's practice, it differs in one important respect from iilevipa-yan-rne(fiiations recommended in the Hsiao chih-kuan . In these meclifafwns, as is characteristically the case in vipasyana, the practli:ioner IS expected to engage the obJect achvely, contemplating if in tefms-msome-troddhtst-ctuctrtife-unfilhenas brought about a change in the way the object occurs to him. In contrast, Tsungtse's meditation seems to involve no such discursive activity; instead, the practitioner is teilnquTSi_i.llictg;ents anclpssively observe his thoughts as they"come ariog-o:-In this sense, his practice -lsmore akin to such common samatha iecfirliquesasiottow1ngti1ebeath-, -observing the activities of the body, and so on. The difference is worth noting because the activepassive dichotomy is a recurrent theme in Zen discussions of meditation and one source of internecine dispute. Some of the dispute is no doubt engendered by the linkage of this theme with the somewhat similar but separable dichotomy of clarity and calm, a matter quite vexing to the Zen meditation tradition. On this latter issue as well, it is instructive to compare the Tso-ch 'ani with the Hsiao chih-kuan . It will be recalled that the chih-kuan practice I summarized earlier is expressly recommended for the control of the gross fluctuations of the mind; it is intended to put an end to the stream of deluded thoughts characteristic of ordinary consciousness and to bring about the calm, concen­ trated state of samadhi. This same state would seem to be the goal of Tsung-tse's meditation: one is to observe one's thoughts so that they will cease; one is to continue observing them until they no longer occur and the mind becomes unified. This agreement on the goal of the practice is hardly surprising: no doubt most Buddhists would hold with Tsung-tse that the unified state of samadhi, or dhyana, is indeed the essential art of meditation. They would also hold, however, that this state is not an end in itself. Whether or not it is a necessary condition for enlightenment, it is not a sufficient one but must be supplemented by the generation of insight, or wisdom. On this point Chih-i would surely concur, as his entire chih-kuan system makes quite clear. Whether Tsung-tse would also agree is much less clear, at least from the text of the Tso-ch 'an i. His silence on this matter makes it possible to interpret the work as recommending the elimination of thought for its own sake. A tendency toward some such understanding of yogic discipline is probably endemic to the Buddhist meditation teachings, from the early dhyana and samiipatti systems on, and the religion has repeatedly been obliged to counter it with an emphasis on the need for doctrinal study. Zen Buddhism, with its focus on meditation and its characteristic dismissal of theoretical studies, has probably been particularly susceptible to this tendency and has often struggled mightily against it. Hence, if only by omission, the Tso-ch'an i account of meditation touches a sensitive nerve in the tradition.

In fairness to Tsung-tse, it must be pointed out that he is not entirely oblivious to the question of wisdom. In his opening remarks he recommends the cultivation of samadhi for one who has taken the Bodhisattva Vows and seeks to study prajfia. This passage undoubtedly reflects the traditional formula of the three disciplines (san-hsiieh) and suggests that, like most Buddhists, Tsung-tse understood the three as a series, such that meditation is based on ethics and somehow leads to wisdom. Unfortunately, he does not pause to discuss the question of just how it leads to wisdom, although later on he does give at least a hint of what he may have had in mind. In his rather rambling discussion of the benefits of meditation, he seems to offer three: it will make one happy, healthy, and peaceful; it will prepare one to face death; and it will lead to wisdom. This last is expressed through of a well-known metaphor: To seek the pearl, we should still the waves; if we disturb the water, it will be hard to get. When the water of meditation is clear, the pearl of the mind will appear of itself. T herefore, the Perfect Enlightenment Sutra says, "Unimpeded, immaculate wisdom always arises dependent on meditation."'• As Tsung-tse uses it, the metaphor itself may have become somewhat opaque, but we can still discern the outlines of the model behind it:

wisdom rests deep within the mind, obscured only by the surface fluctuations of'thought; once these fluctuations are calmed, it is automatically made manifest. Hence, meditation leads to wis-dom not-lf!-ihetisual sense that it prepares the mind to undertake the discipline oCprajna, but in the sense that it uncovers a preexistent praji'Hl. inJ1eren-fiifthe mina.-trnhis sense, it is possible to speak of the calm of meditation, if not as an end in itself, at least as a sufficient condition for that end. The theory behind this way of speaking-the model of the pure, enlightened mind covered by discursive thinking-is by no means, of course, an uncommon one, not only in Zen texts but also in Chih-i's writings and other versions of Mahayana. Whatever we may say of it as a theory, from the perspective of practice it offered Buddhism a handy way of dealing with the difficult question of the relationship between samadhi and prajiia and provided a meaningful rationale for the cultivation of meditation. These virtues notwithstanding, the theory was questioned by some of the most influential figures of the early Zen movement-figures whose teachings became the basis for orthodoxy in the later tradition. On this point -too, tfien, the Tso-ch 'an i could raise the eyebrows (if not the hackles) of its more thoughtful readers. Tsung-tse's approach to Buddhism may not be quite that of sixthcentury T'ien-t'ai treatises, but neither is it quite what we are familiar with from the recorded sayings of the great Zen masters of the late T'ang and Five Dynasties-sayings so popular among Tsung-tse's Sung contemporaries. If anything, he seems rather to take us back to an earlier phase of the school, when the Zen movement was still seeking to articulate its basic doctrinal positions and define a form of religious pre1ctice consistent witb_them. Indeed, of all the preceding Zen literature, his manual is perhaps most reminiscent of the kind of material one sometimes finds in the texts associated with the seventh-century East Mountain tradition of the patriarchs Tao-hsin (580-651) and Hung-jen (601674). In the teachings of these men and their immediate successors in the so-called Northern School of the eighth century, we find the most explicit descriptions of Zen meditation prior to the Tso-ch 'an i itself. In their teachings also we find the beginnings of the doctrines that, in the hands of their rivals in the Southern School, would render Zen meditation peculiarly problematic and help to silence, for some three centuries, the open discussion of its techniques. This is not the place to explore in detail the early Zen meditation literature, a job in any case better left to those more expert in this matter than I. But it is worth recalling here several general features of this literature that help to explain some of the attitudes of the later tradition. Of the East Mountain corpus, we may take as examples the teachings of Tao-hsin in the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi ("Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Lm1kavatiira") and the Hsiu-hsin yao fun ("Essentials of

the Cultivation of the Mind"), attributed to Hung-jen. Whether or not this material represents accurate reports of the Buddhism of the Fourth and Fifth Patriarchs, it does preserve for us the understanding of their Buddhism current among influential factions of Zen in the eighth century. Both texts are highly practical in approach and provide fairly concrete instructions on a range of spiritual techniques. These seem to fall into three general types. One is a contemplation on emptiness roughly of the sort we have seen in Chih-i's meditations. We find this type, for example, in the Tao-hsin section of the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi, where it appears in conjunction with the famous practice of "guarding the one without moving" (shou-i pu-i). Here we are told to contemplate all dharmas of both body and mind-from the four elements and five skandhas to the dharmas of prthagjana and arya-recognizing that they are all empty and quiescent, without origination or cessation, and so on. We should continue this practice in all activities, day and night, until we can see our own existence as but a reflection, a mirage, an echo. Should random thoughts intrude on the meditation, we are to see whatever occurs as ultimately not occurring, as coming from nowhere and going nowhere; when thoughts are seen thus, the mind becomes stabilized. 25 More commonly encountered, and probably more characteristic of the tradition, are two other types of meditation. One recommends the observation of some symbol of what, for want of a better term, we may call the ultimate principfe:-srhrc ,forexainple; isthe-polliJia:ronepractice samadhi (i-hsing sanmei; ekavyuha-samadhi), introduced at the outset of the Tao-hsin section of the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi. Here (following the instructions of the Wen-shu shuo ching) the practitioner is to focus on the image of a single Buddha, recognizing therein the identity of that Buddha with the entire Dharmadhatu and with the practitioner's own mind. 26 In the Hung-jen section the same text, we find a meditation on the numeral one, either projected onto the horizon or visualized internally; in this meditation one experiences a sense of unlimited space analogous to the dharmakaya. 27 Similarly, the Hsiu-hsin yao tun, using the sun as a metaphor for the true, enlightened mind within us all, recommends (following the Kuan wu-liang-shou ching) the contemplation of an image of the disk of the sun.

The other type of technique involves some sort of simple concentration exercis._whichwQuldsem to be the pra,ctical import ofTao1isin's most basic desriptif gurctlrig the one withmt movig."Jlils-tech­ nique is dfinea-simply s maille-;)tlited-observation of one thing (kuan i wu) until the mind becomes fixed in samadhi. If the mind wanders, it is to be brought back to the object, as the saying goes, like a bird held by a string. Just as the archer gradually narrows his aim to the very center of the target, so too the meditator should learn to focus his attention until the mind remains fixed on its object in each moment,

and right mindfulness (cheng-nien) is present without interruption. 29 Closest, perhaps, to Tsung-tse's description of meditation are some of the accounts of Hung-jen's practice of "guarding the mind" (shou-hsin) given in the Hsiu-hsin yao tun. In the most explicit of these, we are told to abandon the seizing of objects, to regulate body, breath, and mind, and then gently to focus on the fluctuations of consciousness (hsin-shih liu-tung) until they disappear of their own accord. When they do so, they take with them all the obstacles to complete enlightenment. 30 The distinction among these types of meditation is not always clear, and such catchplifases as "guarding the one',- or guarmng the mind" could, in praCtice, denote_av-afiety of COiltemplatlve-ted1mques. Whatever their diftfe erices,theyseem joshareacOiiiiDOn theoretical contextthe characteristic East Mountain doctrine of the pure, radiant consciousness inherent m every mind-and a common purpose-the detas_hment from, and eventual suppression of, the stream of discursive thoughts that obscures thisCoilsciousness. Perhaps most significantly, on the basis of these common elements, each of _the tecbniqueis.lYP.ically_._prese.nted as at once readily accessible to the beginner and yet leading directly to enlightenment.

This abrupt leap from a seemingly rather pedestrian psychophysical exercise to the rarified reaches of the spiritual path is well expressed in a passage from the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi attributed to Tao-hsin. There we are told that, when one first sets out to practice meditation and observe the mind, he should seek solitude. Sitting erect, he should loosen his robe and belt, relax his body, stretch himself several times, and exhale fully; then he will have a sense of expanding to his true nature and will become clear and vacant, tranquil and still. When he has thus regulated body and mind and settled his spirit, his breathing will be calm; as he gradually controls his mind, it will become clear and bright. When his contemplation becomes clear, and both inside and out become empty and pure, the mind itself will be quiescent, and the iirya mind (sheng-hsin) will appear. The text then goes on to tell us that the nature of this mind, always functioning within us, is the Buddha-nature, and that one who experiences this nature is forever released from smpsara and has transcended this world; he has, as the VimalakTrti Siltra says, suddenly regained his original mind (pen-hsin)." Though this passage tells us little about the mental technique involved, its concrete description of some of the physical elements reminds us of both the Hsiao chih-kuan and the Tso-ch 'an i. Indeed, the passage has been singled out by Sekiguchi as the first extant Zen account of meditation techniques. 32 What is perhaps most striking from a doctrinal perspective is its apparent identification of the calm, clear state of samadhi with the attainment of the iirya path, and the impression it gives that the beginning meditator, simply by quieting his mind, can in a single

s1ttmg attain this samadhi and propel himself onto that path. Such hyperbolic praise of meditation is not, of course, unusual in Buddhist literature; in fact, the message here is quite similar to the direct identification of samatha with the attainment of nirval).a that we sometimes find in the Hsiao chih-kuan itself. 33 Nor is the recommendation of a single, simple practice for exclusive cultivation without ample precedent: it is a characteristic of some of the very Mahayana sutra literature on which both Chih-i and the East Mountain teachers like to draw for their accounts of meditation. Unlike more conservative interpretations of such literature, the East Mountain teachings tend to ignore the various graded

hierarchies of vehicles, paths, stages, and the like that provide the traditional contexts for specific meditations. In effect, then, they seem to reduce the panoply of Buddhist spiritual exercises to a single practice and the perpetuity of the bodhisattva path to a single experience. In this, they are presenting one form of a "sudden" version of Buddhist practice. The Zen tradition may look to its own Sixth Patriarch for its doctrine of sudden enlightenment, but by his day, of course, notions of a sudden approach to practice had been current in Chinese Buddhism for some time. One such notion was basic to the early T'ien-t'ai discussion of meditation and is well expressed in Kuan-ting's oft-quoted introduction to the Mo-ho chih-kuan. There we are told that, unlike the gradual cultivation of samatha-vipasyana, which proceeds through the marga by overcoming in turn the obstacles characteristic of each of the stages of the path, the "perfect sudden" (yiian-tun) practice takes from the start the ultimate reality of the Dharmadhatu itself as the sole object of meditation. Such a practice is based on what T'ien-t'ai considers the highest version of Buddhism-the one Buddha vehicle, in which, as the text says, every sight and every smell is the ultimate Middle Way, in which ignorance is identical with enlightenment, saJTlsara is identical with nirval).a, and there is no religious path leading from one to the other. In such a practice, samatha is nothing but the quiescence of dharma/a itself (fahsing chi-jan), and vipasyana is but its constant luminosity (ch 'ang­ chao). 34

In one sense, the distinction here between "gradual" and "sudden" practices can be seen as one between antidotal meditations, which are intended to counteract specific spiritual obstacles, and what we might call wisdom meditations, which, like the venerable nirvedha-bhagTya exercises, take the metaphysical doctrines of Buddhism as their theme and lead directly (and, by necessity, quite suddenly and inexplicably) to an insight into the truth of these doctrines. The model here seems clearly to be the last of such meditations, the mighty vajropamasamadhi, in which the bodhisattva vaults, in one moment of trance, to supreme, perfect enlightenment. For his part, Chih-i is ever careful to hedge around such moments of ecstatic vision with the drudgery of traditional Bud-

dhist training and to find room on his one great vehicle for even the humblest forms of upliya. Ever the scholar, he never forgets the distinction between theory and practice or the various levels of philosophical discourse and spiritual maturation. Yet for those impatient to taste the fruits of his supreme Buddha vehicle, the prospect of a sudden meditation beyond the old practices of the bodhisattvamlirga was too tempting to postpone to the final course.

The most obvious problem with the "sudden" meditation, of course, is that, taken in itself, its radical nondualism undermines the rationale for its practice. Chih-i's ample Buddhism could easily live with this problem, for its catholic embrace of upliya allowed him room to discuss the practical methods of even this most mysterious and metaphysical of meditations-hence the Mo-ho chih-kuan's detailed presentation of the practice of contemplation of the mind, in which the "sudden" meditation is effected through the recognition of the three thousand dharmas in every thought (i-nien san-ch' ien). Similarly, the early Zen movement, though no doubt inspired by the notion of a perfect Buddha vehicle, still tended to operate within a model-of the Buddha-nature obscured..t.:.... hat retains what T'ien-t'alwould call the relative (hsiang-tai) understanding more characteristic of the separate (pieh) bodhisattva vehicle. Though its vision of meditation may have narrowed to the single, sudden practice that leads directly to enlightenment, it still takes for granted the kind of distinctions-between theory and practice, hetu and phala, meditation and wisdom-that allow it to speak frankly of the upliya through which this practice is implemented. But as the movement, perhaps in the heat of sectarian competition, began to focus more and more narrowly on the supreme vehicle (wu-shang sheng), on the one true teaching (chen-tsung), on the meditation of the Tathagata (ju-lai ch' an), and so on, the metaphysics of the absolute, nondual truth became the norm. Thus, the radiant Buddha-nature became ever brighter, its obscurations ever emptier, and the contradiction inherent in any description of a method for inducing the "sudden" practice ever more obvious.

It is this contradiction, of course, that so tickled the fancy of the movement known to us as the Southern School and inspired the severe criticisms of meditation that we find in texts like the Platform Sutra and Shen-hui's T'an yii ("Platform Teachings") and Ting shih-fei tun ("Determination of the Truth"). Taking its stand in the uncompromised cardinal principle (ti-i i) of the Perfection of Wisdom alone, the movement delighted in pointing out the folly of methods to overcome what was, after all, not really real. Now the "sudden" practice was to be precisely that which sees through the unreal and abandons all upliya-that which is without attributes (wu-hsiang), without intentionality (wu-wei), without artifice (wu-tso), and so on. Since it was without characteristics, this practice could not be described; since it was without artifice, nothing could be done about it: it was enough to recognize this fact and leave off misguided attempts to cultivate Buddhism. Meditation, as Buddhist cultivation par excellence (and the forte of the Northern masters), was particularly to be avoided: any effort to control or suppress thoughts was ipso facto a "gradual" -and, hence, at best a second-rate-form of Buddhism. In first-rate Buddhism, the true meaning of sudden meditation was simply that the mind was inherently calm, inherently without any deluded thoughts (wu-nien) that might disturb it. In this way, the practical thrust of early Zen meditation was overwhelmed by its own logic: religious prescription was sublated in metaphysical description, and samadhi was liberated from its earthly burdens, to join prajiia in the higher realm of pure Principle.

Thus, by the mid eighth century, even as the movement was becoming known as the Meditation School, it was beginning to find itself unable openly to advocate the practice of meditation. This predicament is well reflected in the writings of Shen-hui himself: hemmed inJ>y_)1is doctrine of no-t)Joug!gand js rejeqio1!_9f C()ntemplative practices, he is left with little room for cultivation and can only hint shyfy at how one might go about practicing h-is Buaahism:-Not surprisirigry-pefhaps; what he hints at turns out to be a vesion of the mindfulness technique we have seen in Hung-jen-the same practice recommended much later by Tsung-tse. In the Ting shih-fei tun, when asked about no-thought (wu-nien), Shen-hui replies that it is not thinking about being or nonbeing, about good or evil, bodhi or nirval).a, and so on; it is nothing but the Perfection of Wisdom, which is itself one-practice samadhi. He then describes this samadhi. Good friends, for those at the stage of practice, whenever a thought occurs to the mind, be aware of it (hsin jo yu nien ch 'i chi pien chiieh-chao). When what has occurred to the mind disappears, the awareness of it vanishes of its own accord. This is no-thought." Similarly, in the T'an yu, in warning against the misguided attempt to purify the mind of delusion, he says, Friends, when you correctly employ the mind, if any deluded [[[thought]]] occurs and you think about things either near or far, you should not try to constrain it.W hy? Because, if the putting forth of a thought is a sickness, the constraint of it is also a sickness. ... If any deluded [[[thought]]] occurs, be aware of it (jo yu wang ch 'i chi chiieh). When awareness and delusion have both disappeared, this is the non-abiding mind of the original nature."

In keeping with his "sudden" doctrine, Shen-hui seems to be trying here to close the gap between the spiritual exercise and its goal-to offer Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and Zen Meditation a unified practice of samadhi and prajii.a and provide an account of this practice that will be no more (and no less) than a description of the enlightened state itself. Since that state is our natural state of mind, and meditation and wisdom are both inherent, clearly only the most passive, most minimal of meditations will do-hence his rejection of formalized contemplation and visualization techniques in favor of a simple mindfulness. Yet for all his doubts about dhyana and suspicions of samadhi, his description of practice still seems to suggest (though he is careful to keep this ambiguous) that no-thought, or the original, non-abiding nature of the mind, is to be discovered when thoughts have been extinguished. In this, he is not so different from the earlier tradition or from Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse. In fact, Shen-hui's Buddhism remains rather conservative: while he argues ardently for the Sudden School, he acknowledges here and there that his "sudden awakening," though it launches one directly onto the path, must still be followed by a gradual cultivation of that path." As is well known, this teaching of sudden enlightenment and gradual practice (tun-wu chien-hsiu) was fixed in its classic form by his self-styled descendant in the fifth generation, the

Tsung-mi sought to check the Zen School's rapid drift toward a radical rejection of works and to steer its practice back onto a more traditional Buddhist course. To this end, he tried to align its teachings with scholastic categories and confine its definition of "sudden awakening" to an initial insight attained at the early stages of the path. 38 Thus freed from the need for a single, "sudden" meditation, he could, as we have seen, advocate the frankly gradual techniques of Chih-i's Hsiao chihkuan. Yet as heir to the supreme vehicle of the Southern School, even Tsung-mi had to bite his tongue. Such techniques belonged, after all, only to the very lowest form of Zen, that which teaches "the stopping of delusion and cultivation of mind" (hsi-wang hsiu-hsin). As we learn in his General Preface (Ch 'an-yiian chu-ch 'iian chi tu-hsii), this form of Zen, though it recognizes the Buddha-nature inherent in all beings, still believes that in ordinary beings the nature is obscured by ignorance, and, hence, that there is a real difference between prthagjana and iirya. On these grounds, it encourages the contemplation of the mind (kuan-hsin), in order to wipe away deluded thoughts. Thus it emphasizes techniques for entering samadhi, teaching one to "dwell in a quiet place, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the world, to regulate body and breath, to sit in silent meditation with the legs crossed, the tongue pressed against the palate, and the mind fixed on a single object." Such is the Zen of Shenhui's notorious enemy, the benighted Northern master Shen-hsiu; Shenhsiu's understanding, says Tsung-mi, may differ somewhat from that of T'ien-t'ai, but his techniques are basically the same. 39 1 The highest form of Zen, in contrast, "directly reveals the nature of

the mind" (chih-hsien hsin-hsing). Here all dharmas are just the true nature, which is without attributes (wu-hsiang) and without conditions (wu-wei), beyond all distinctions of wthagjana and iirya, cause and effect, good and evil, and so on. In this teaching, deluded thoughts are inherently quiescent, and mental objects inherently empty: there is only the numinous awareness (ling-chih) that is one's own true nature, without thought (wu-nien) and without form (wu-hsiang). The practice of this Zen is simple and, by now, quite familiar. If one is aware that all attributes are empty, the mind will naturally be without thought (wu-nien). As soon as a thought occurs, be aware of it (nien ch 'i chi chiieh); as soon as you are aware of it, it will cease to exist. The pro­found gate of practice lies precisely here.

If even Tsung-mi was thus constrained by the "sudden" doctrine to relegate the meditation teachings of his own Hsiu-cheng i to the lowest rank of Zen, it is hardly surprising that his more radical contemporaries would be reluctant to associate their Buddhism with meditation. And though his catholic vision would be preserved by men like Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975) and others who sought to integrate Zen and the scholastic systems, already by his day the mantle of the Sixth Patriarch had passed to the radicals. In their style of Zen, the emphasis shifts, as is sometimes said, from "substance" (t'i) to "function" (yung)-from the glorification of the calm, radiant Buddha-nature latent in every mind to the celebration of the natural wisdom active in every thought. Now the everyday mind is the Way, and the suppression of that mind is a mistake. In such a setting, to talk of sitting calmly in meditation is in poor taste; rather, one must be ever on one's toes, vitally engaged in the object. Thus, the great masters of the second half of the T'ang-especially those of the dominant Hung-chou School of Tsung-mi's adversary Ma-tsu Taoi (709-788)-turned their often remarkable energies to the creation of new techniques more appropriate to the new spirit of the "sudden" practice. The old forms of cultivation were superseded-at least in the imagination of the tradition-by the revolutionary methods of beating and shouting or spontaneous dialogue, and formal discussion of Buddhist doctrine and praxis gave way to suggestive poetry, enigmatic sayings, and iconoclastic anecdotes. In the process, the philosophical rationale for Zen practice, not to mention its psychological content, became part of the great mystery of things.

For all this, it is doubtful that many Zen monks, even in this period, actually escaped the practice of seated meditation. We may recall, for example, that the Sixth Patriarch himself, in the Platform Slitra, leaves as his final teaching to his disciples the advice that they continue in the practice of tso-ch 'an, just as they did when he was alive; that in the Li-tai Ch 'ang-lu T sung-tse and Zen Meditation fa-pao chi ("Record of the Generations of the Dharma Treasure") the radical Pao-t'ang master Wu-chu (714-777), whom Tsung-mi saw as negating all forms of Buddhist cultivation, still admits to practicing tsoch 'an; that Hui-hai's Tun-wu ju-tao yao men ("Essential Teaching of Entering the Way Through Sudden Awakening") begins its teaching on "sudden awakening" by identifying tso-ch 'an as the fundamental practice of Buddhism; that Ma-tsu himself, though he is chided by his master for it, is described by his biographers as having constantly practiced tsoch 'an; and that, according to the Ch 'an-men kuei-shih ("Zen Regulations"), Po-chang found it necessary to install long daises in his monasteries to accommodate the monks in their many hours of tso-ch 'an. 42 Such indications of the widespread practice of meditation could no doubt be multiplied severalfold. Indeed, the very fact that Wu-chu, Huai-jang, Lin-chi, and other masters of the period occasionally felt obliged to make light of the practice can be seen as an indication that it was taken for granted by the tradition. It is probably safe to assume that, even as these masters labored to warn their disciples against fixed notions of Buddhist training, the monks were sitting with legs crossed and tongues pressed against their palates. But what they were doing had now become a family secret. As Huai-jang is supposed to have said to the Sixth Patriarch, it was not that Zen monks had no practice, but that they refused to defile it. 43

In one sense, then, the style of classical Zen can be seen as the culmination of the efforts of the early movement to liberate Buddhism from its monastic confines and to open the religion to those unequal to, or unattracted by, the rigors of the traditional course of yogic discipline. In another sense-a sense, I think, too rarely recognized-its style represented the termination of such efforts, brought about in part by the very success of the school itself. The earlier meditation texts of the East Mountain tradition, like most of the Tun-huang Zen materials, were written by men who were striving to promote a new brand of Buddhism attractive to the new society of the mid T'ang. To this end, they sought, among other things, to articulate a practical approach to Buddhist training accessible to the ordinary man and to advertise that approach as a distinctive asset of the school. By the turn of the ninth century, however, the public promotion of Zen was no longer an issue, for by then the school was comfortably established as a legitimate institution. Now it could remain ensconced on its famous mountains and wait for its followers to come; and now it could revert to the esoteric style of the cloister, where meditation practice was taken for granted and its techniques transmitted orally within the community. In the context of this community, where the monk enjoyed intimate contact with the meditation master, the radical new devices of shouting, beating, riddles, and repartee undoubtedly served to invigorate the practice and inspire the practitioner

with a more vivid sense of his goal. But outside this context, these devices offered few clues to how the ordinary believer might gather himself spiritually for the leap to nirval)a. Ironically enough, then, the practical effect of the new doctrine of "sudden awakening" was to reseal the doors of the meditation hall and reopen the traditional gap between clerical and lay Buddhist practice. In any case, from the establishment of Zen as a separate Buddhist tradition and the recognition of the "sudden" doctrine as its distinctive teaching, it was over three centuries before the school began to discuss its meditation practices in public. By this time, of course, the Zen movement had undergone considerable change. From a loose network of independent meditation communities surrounding prominent masters, it had grown to become the central monastic organization of Chinese Buddhism, rapidly coming under control of the state. As its ranks swelled and its social, political, and economic responsibilities broadened, the school was forced to turn its attention to the formalization and regulation of its institutions and practices. At the same time, in their new position of prominence, Zen monks were mingling with the lay political and ,intellectual elite and, in the process, finding themselves participating in,

and reacting to, secular Sung culture. In response, the school began to sharpen its poetic skills, develop a proper history of the church, and produce a body of literature on the sayings of its masters that would advertise the tradition through the new medium of printed books and would appeal to the new classicism of a resurgent Confucian scholarship. The school also began to consider ways in which its monastic practices might be translated into forms accessible to_a wider_se ment of the community, SO that it COUICJ assume ItS rightful place in the nascent ung religious reformation. Hence, for the first time in a long time, the school was obliged to face the fact that it had such practices and to set about explaining them in public.

Tsung-tse stands, at the close of the eleventh century, near the beginning of some of these tendencies, tendencies that would soon yield the new Zen of the Southern Sung. He seems to have been a man of his time, and in several ways his Buddhism both reflects and contributes to the emerging reformation. Unfortunately, we know little of his life: though the school's histories make note of him and preserve a few of his sayings, they record no dates and almost no biographical information. For the most part, they simply repeat the brief notice in the Chien-chung chingkuo hsu teng lu ("Further Record of the Lamp, from the Chien-chung Ching-kuo Era"), the first of the histories in which he appears. Since this work was compiled during his lifetime by Fo-kuo Wei-po, a fellow disciple of Tsung-tse's first master, Fa-hsiu, what little it does record is no doubt to be trusted. There we are told that Tsung-tse was from Yungnien, in Lo-chou (modern Honan), and that his family name was Sun. As Ch 'ang-lu a youth, he excelled in Confucian studies. He was encouraged to study Buddhism by Yuan-feng Ch'ing-man, a Yun-men monk in the lineage of the influential T'ien-i 1-huai (993-1064), and, as we have seen, subsequently entered the order under 1-huai's disciple Fa-yun Fa-hsiu. Thereafter, he studied with another of 1-huai's disciples, Ch'ang-lu Ying-fu (d. u. ), under whom he attained a sudden awakening to the way. He was favored with the patronage of the Lo-yang official Yang Wei (fl. 10671098) and was honored by the court. Fo-kuo identifies him as a monk of the Hung-chi ch'an-yuan in Chen-ting, the monastery where, as we know from its colophon, the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei was composed in 1103.44 This is all that the Zen histories have to tell us, but Tsung-tse is also remembered in the literature of Pure Land. As early as the Lo-pang wenlei ("Texts on Sukhavatl"), the miscellany of Ching-t'u material published in 1200 by Shih-chih Tsung-hsiao, he is listed as the last of the five great patriarchs who carried on the tradition of the Lotus Society. A brief notice there informs us that he was given the honorific title Tz'u-chueh, "Compassionate Enlightenment" (which also appears in the colophon of the Ch 'an-yuan ch 'ing-kuei), and that he was living at Ch'ang-lu during the Yuan-yu era (1086-1093). There he was active in proselytizing and, apparently in 1089, founded a Lotus Assembly (lien-hua sheng-hui) to promote the universal cultivation of the nien-fo samadhi. His practice was to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land by reciting the name of Amitabha up to ten thousand times a day, recording each recitation with a cross. 45 P'u-tu's Lu-shan lien-tsung pao-chien ("Precious Mirror of the Lotus School of Lu-shan"), of 1305, also contains a brief biography, which gives Tsung-tse's place of origin as Hsiang-yang and adds the information that he lost his father as a boy and took vows at the age of twenty-nine. Even as abbot of Ch'ang-lu, we are told here, he remained a deeply filial son and guided his mother in the nien-fo practice, so that she passed on in beatitude. He is said to have written a Ch 'uan hsiao wen, a work in 120 sections "promoting filial piety," as well as a Tso-ch 'an chen (sic), or "Lancet of Meditation."46 Tsung-hsiao's collection of Pure Land writings, the Lo-pang i-kao ("Documents on Sukhavatl"), also reports on Tsung-tse's Ch 'uan hsiao wen and provides a short extract; and the Lo-pang wen-lei preserves a few minor pieces by Tsung-tse, including a preface to the Kuan wu-/iang-shou ching, some verses, and several brief tracts. 47

'·; Tsung-tse's Pure Land writings seem, in one sense, to present anbther side of his religion, a side quite different from that of the Zen abbot who composed the monastic code and the meditation manual. For in these writings, and especially in the piece called Lien-hua sheng-hui lu wen ("Record of the Lotus Assembly"), apparently written for his nien­ fo congregation, he emphasizes the difficulty of actually practicing monastic Buddhism in this Saha world and encourages his readers to turn Carl Bielefeldt to Amitabha and to call upon him to take them up to the next world, where they may enjoy the purity and bliss of SukhavatL Whereas in the Saba world the practitioner is plagued by demons and assailed by sexual and other sensory temptations, in Sukhavatl he is bathed in the radiance of Amitabha, everything around him proclaims the Dharma, and his karma is purified; there are no demonic experiences there, and no women.

In another sense, Tsung-tse's Pure Land piety seems of a piece with his approach to Zen. For, as is clear from his regimen of multiple recitations, Tsung-tse was no protestant ideologue of pure grace, seeking to deny the efficacy of works. Like other Zen masters who sought conciliation with the Ching-t'u teachings, he held that "Amitabha is our own nature, and the Pure Land our own mind," and that "the cardinal principle [of these teachings] is to think [on him] without thought (wu-nien), and to be born [therein] without birth (wu-sheng). "49 Hence, elsewhere he could claim that "nien-fo and the study of Zen do not interfere with each other: they are but two methods based on the same principle."'0 And as in his Zen writings, so too here it is less the principle than the method of the Pure Land faith-perhaps especially its power to overcome spiritual obstacles-that seems to have most attracted him. He recommends the nien-fo practice in particular to beginners, as a means of developing kanti, and also to those near death, as a means of relieving pain and calming the mind. 51 Tsung-tse, it seems, was a practical and a compassionate man. Undistracted by dogmatic niceties, he directly addressed the everyday problems of spiritual cultivation; undaunted by the weight of tradition, he sought to open up the mystery of Zen practice and to share with others, both inside and outside the cloister, some of the techniques and institutions that might aid them in that cultivation. On the one hand, deploring the confusion and corruption of monastic tradition that accompanied the rapid growth of the school, he tried to rationalize the training of monks by setting out, in his Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, a detailed code of the bureaucratic structure, administrative procedures, and ritual forms of the Zen institution. On the other hand, lamenting the isolation of that institution from the Pure Land faith of the lay community, he sought-like his Yiin-men predecessors 1-huai and Ying-fu-to

encourage interaction, bringing Ching-t'u practices into the ritual of his monastery and taking the Zen emphasis on mental cultivation out to his nien-fo society. It was probably for the sake of both these goals that he took it upon himself to make available, for the first time, a practical guide to the procedures of Zen meditation. 52 Tsung-tse may not have left us many profound Zen sayings, but what he did leave had a profound impact on subsequent Zen literature. His Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei became the inspiration and often the model

for a new body of monastic codes. Whereas before its publication there had apparently been-if we discount the elusive Po-chang ch 'ing-kueino detailed written rule, in the centuries following its appearance we find a steady stream of such texts in both China and Japan. Though some of these codes would, in time, come to supplant his own, many of the practices and institutions first set down by Tsung-tse endured. And though Zen monasteries would change considerably after his day, Tsung-tse's basic principle that they should be governed by written regulations remained a permanent fixture of the school. '

Similarly, although the Zen tradition had managed to survive for half a millennium without producing a meditation manual, once Tsungtse's Tso-ch 'an i appeared, it seems to have found a ready market and soon spawned a new genre of practical guides to mental cultivation. We have already seen that an abbreviated version of the text was quickly picked up by the layman Ch'en Shih for inclusion in his Ta-tsang i-lan, a work intended to make available a digest of the basic teachings of Buddhism for popular consumption. Following the publication of Yii Hsiang's edition of the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, the full text of the manual circulated within the monastic community as well; and, in 1338, it was incorporated, with only minor variations, in Te-hui's important Ch 'ih-hsiu Po-chang ch 'ing-kuei ("Imperial Recension of the Pure Regulations of Po-chang"). This work-compiled by order of the last Mongol emperor, Shun-tsung-became the standard code for the Zen monasteries of the Ming. Shortly after its publication, it was taken to Japan, like the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei before it, where it provided a model for the regulation of the monasteries of the gozan system. In this way, Tsungtse's Tso-ch 'an i spread its influence throughout the lay and clerical communities of both China and Japan and became a basic source for the description of Zen meditation.,. It is perhaps a measure of the success of Tsung-tse's manual that it was soon imitated. Although there had long been a genre of brief poetic appreciations of meditation-texts known as "meditation lancets" (tsoch' an chen), "meditation inscriptions" (tso-ch 'an ming), and so on-the popularity of the Tso-ch' an i soon inspired others to try their hands at the new, more explicit style of text. This seems to have been particularly true in Japan, where, of course, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the school was earnestly seeking to explain itself to both the lay and clerical communities and to promote itself as a legitimate and attractive alternative to the established sects of Buddhism. In later Japanese Zen, the Tso-ch 'an i was probably best known through its inclusiontogether with the Hsin-hsin ming ("Inscription on Trusting the Mind"), Cheng-tao ko ("Song of Realization of the Way"), and K'uo-an's Shihniu t'u ("Ten Oxherding Pictures")-in the extremely popular collection called the Shibu roku ("Fourfold Record"). Exactly when these four

texts were first collected-and whether in China or Japan-is not known, but it is likely that the Japanese were already familiar with Tsung-tse's manual before the Shibu roku appeared. As early as 1198, the Ta-tsang i-lan version was quoted by Yosai (or Eisai, 1141-1215) in his Kazen gokoku ron ("Treatise on the Promotion of Zen for Defense of the Nation"); and soon thereafter, in 1233, the Soto master Dogen (12001253) incorporated most of the Ch' an-yiian ch' ing-kuei text into his own meditation manual, the Fukan zazen gi ("Universal Promotion of the Principles of Meditation").

This last work is undoubtedly the most famous attempt to improve on the Tso-ch' an i, but it was by no means the only one. Perhaps the earliest such text is the Ju-ju chii-shih tso-ch'an i ("Lay man Ju-ju's Principles of Meditation"), attributed to the Yang-ch'i lay follower Yen Ping (d. 1212?) and preserved in the Kanazawa bunko. Yen Ping quotes from Tsung-tse but goes on to offer his own explanation of meditation, reflecting the k'an-hua practice popular in his day. We do not know when this work was introduced into Japan, but we do know that it was only one of a considerable number of similar meditation texts that circulated in the Kamakura period. 56 Dogen, for example, wrote no less than four descriptions of zazen, and his descendent Keizan (1268-1325) added his own, relatively lengthy contribution, the Zazen yojin ki ("Admonitions on Meditation"). Similarly, we have a Zazen gi by Muhon Kakushin (1207-1297), founder of the Hotto branch of Rinzai, and a Zazen ron by Enni Ben'en (1202-1280), written for his patron, the Regent Kujo Noriie. In the same period, the important Lin-chi missionary Lan-ch'i Tao-lung (Rankei Doryu, 1213-1278) composed a wellknown Zazen ron and also a brief Zazen gi. In addition to such meditation tracts, the masters of this period produced an abundance of informal writings-homilies, epistles, and so on, often in Japanese-that taught the basic techniques of Zen mental discipline to monk and layman alike."

If the rather sudden proliferation of such writings, both in Japan and on the continent, bears witness to the historical significance of Tsung-tse's manual in pioneering a new genre of meditation literature, it also probably indicates that the authors of these writings were not wholly satisfied with his account of meditation practice. In fact, almost none of the texts that succeeded it retains the Tso-ch 'an i's core passage on the venerable concentration exercise that Tsung-tse calls the essential art of tso-ch' an, and almost all of them seek, in one way or another, to supplement (or replace) his rather humble, frankly utilitarian interpretation of the practice with the higher insights of Zen wisdom. For, by the time the first of these texts appeared, the school had already moved to stop the leak in the one true vehicle and right the alarming list toward samadhi that seemed to follow from his approach. If the Sung discourse on medi-

tation opens with Tsung-tse's gentle advice on how to calm the mind, it also begins with his contemporary Hui-hung's stern reminder that the practice of Bodhidharma should not be confused with the cultivation of dhyana (hsi-ch 'an) or his tradition with those misguided quietists who would turn the mind into "dead wood and cold ashes" (k'u-mu ssuhui). 58 These two poles marked out once again the old field of discourse within which the new teachings of mo-chao and k'an-hua would be debated.

The Southern Sung teachings of mo-chao and k'an-hua are regularly understood as two opposing approaches to Zen mental training: the former seeking to identify it with the primal nature of the mind itself-what is sometimes called the practice "before the aeon of annihilation" (k 'ung-chieh i-ch' ien); the latter preferring to focus it on the insight into the nature of the mind (chien-hsing) that comes through the power of the kung-an. These two approaches dominate the new meditation literature that succeeds the Tso-ch 'an i and set the terms of the subsequent Japanese debates between Soto and Rinzai. Yet, whatever their differences, there is an obvious sense in which each represents a reaffirmation of the traditional Zen preference for the "sudden" practice of the supreme wisdom-whether it be through the metaphysical elevation of meditation to the nondual realm revealed by such wisdom or through the psychological reduction of meditation to the act of wisdom that reveals this realm. To this extent, each must also reassert the classical Zen doubts about yogic technique and distance itself from Tsung-tse's mechanical method of concentration. In fact, even as the new meditation literature was carrying on the work (begun by Tsung-tse) of disseminating Zen methods, Tsungtse's own method-and the method of the early patriarchs of the school -was being dismissed as mere "toying with the spirit" (lung ching-hun) and as leading to the "deep pit" (shen-k'eng) of quietude. The Meditation School was once again closing the doors on its practice and moving to preserve the ancient secret of Zen meditation.


Notes

I. See Chung-tiao pu-chu Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei, ZZ21 16/5.438-471. For the original date of Tsung-tse's compilation, see his preface, ibid., 438a. The Zoku zokyo text is based on eighteenth-century Japanese printings; earlier, somewhat variant traditions of Yii Hsiang's edition are preserved in a Southern Sung printing from 1209 and a mid-Kamakura manuscript in the collection of the Kanazawa bunko. (See Kagamishima Genryu, "Kanazawa bunko bon Zen 'en shingi ni tsuite," Kanazawa bunko kenkyu, vol. 14, no. 3 [1968], pp. 1-6.) An annotated modern edition can be found in Kagamishima et al., Yakuchu Zen 'en shingi (Tokyo: Sota-shu shumucho, 1972). My discussion here of the texts of the Tso-ch 'an i is indebted to Kagamishima 's

introduction to this work, pp. 1-25, and to Yanagida Seizan's "Kaisetsu;' in Kajitani Sonin et a!., Shinjin mei Shodo ka Jugyu zu Zazen gi, Zen no goroku, vol. 16 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1974), pp. 225-238. 2. Discussion of the Korean text and comparison of its contents with the Yii Hsiang edition can be found in Kozaka Kiyii, "Zen'en shingi no hen'yo katei ni tsuite: Korai bon Zen 'en shingi no kosatsu o kaishite;' IBK, vol. 20 (1972), pp. 720-724; and in Kagamishima's Yakuchu Zen'en shingi, pp. 51!.

3. See Showa hobo somokuroku 3.1305a-b. On the date of this work, see Yanagida Seizan, "Zenseki kaidai," in Nishitani Keiji and Yanagida Seizan, Zenke goroku, vol. 2, Sekai koten bungaku zenshU, vol. 36B (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1974), p. 496. The Ta-tsang i-lan text is quite similar to Yii Hsiang's version but lacks several more or less parenthetical amplifications. (Major variants are indicated in the notes to my translation, appended below.) It is possible, of course, that this earliest extant text of the T soch' an i is closer to the original and that the longer version represents a later expansion. Given the character of Ch'en Shih's digest, however, it is more likely that he quoted only the basic material of the manual. 4. See Yanagida's "Kaisetsu," in Kajitani et a!., Shinjin mei, pp. 232-233. The Ta-tsang i-lan version does not include the reference to Fa-hsiu; however, since this version is quite abbreviated, its absence there, although it does not help Prof. Yanagida's argument, does not detract from it. We shall come back later to what little is known of Tsung-tse's biography; for the reference to his association with Fa-hsiu (Yiian-t'ung ch'an-shih), see Chien-chung ching-kuo hsii teng lu, ZZ2B/9/2.133c1 1-12. 5. So, for example, the Japanese Zen master Dogen (1200-1253) justifies his own revisions of Tsung-tse's manual on the grounds that, "though it follows Po-chang's original intentions (ko i), it adds several new clauses by I Shih [i.e., Tsung-tse]" and, therefore, suffers from various sorts of errors. See his so-called "Fukan zazen gi senjutsu yurai;' in Okubo Doshii, Dagen zenji zenshU, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Chi kuma shobO, 1970), p. 6. 6. For Tsung-tse's reference to the Po-chang code, see Kagamishima, Yakuchu Zen'en shingi, p. 3. Our earliest source for Po-chang, the epitaph by Ch'en

Hsii, written in 818 just after his death, makes no reference to a Po-chang ch' ing-kuei ("T'ang Hung-chou Po-chang shan ku Huai-hai ch'an-shih t'aming," Ch 'iian T 'ang wen, fasc. 446, pp. 4b-7a.); in fact, the tradition's knowledge of Po-chang's famous rule seems to have been limited to brief notices attached to his biography in the Sung kao-seng chuan (T50. 770c771a) and Ching-fe ch'uan-teng lu ("Ch'an-men kuei-shih," T51.250c- 251b). It is no doubt because the information contained in these sources is all he had on Po-chang's regulations that Tsung-tse felt it worth including the appended notices on Po-chang's rule, under the title "Po-chang kueisheng sung," at the end of his own code (Kagamishima, Yakuchu Zen 'en shingi, pp. 340-352). 7. Shou-/eng-yen ching, T19.147a-155a. This work is now generally thought to be of Chinese origin. (See Mochizuki Shinko, Bukkyo kyoten seiritsu shi ron [1946; repr., Tokyo: Hozokan, 1978], pp. 493-508; Paul Demieville, Le Concile de Lhasa [[[Wikipedia:Paris|Paris]]: Impremerie Nationale de France, 1952], pp. 43-52, n. 3.) Sekiguchi Shindai suggests that the reference here is to the earlier Surangamasamtidhi-sutra (Shou-/eng-yen san-mei ching, T#642), translated by Kumarajfva (see his Tendai shikan no kenkyu [[[Tokyo]]: Iwanami shoten, 1969], p. 323); but this text, though it contains a discussion of Mara, does

not provide explicit information on his obstructions of meditation. Kagamishima, Yakucha Zen 'en shingi, p. 282, appears to have the two siitras confused. 8. T46.106a-lllc, ll4c-117a. 9. For the Hsiao chih-kuan discussion of mo-shih, see Hsiu-hsi chih-kuan tsoch 'an fa yao, T46.470b-472b. This work, in one (or two) fascicles, summarizes Chih-i 's earlier and much longer Shih ch 'an po-lo-mi tz 'u-ti fa-men (T#I916; see Sekiguchi, Tendai sho shikan, lwanami bunko 33-309-3 [[[Tokyo]]: lwanami shoten, 1974], pp. 203-207). T#l915 is based on the vulgate version; another, widely variant text entitled Liieh-ming k 'ai-meng ch 'u-hsiieh tso-ch 'an chih-kuan yao-men is preserved in Japan. For a study and comparison of all extant versions, see Sekiguchi, Tendai sho shikan no kenkya (1954; repr., Tokyo: Sankibo busshorin, 1961). 10. See Sekiguchi, Tendai sho shikan no kenkya, pp. 29-32. The text of the Hsiu-cheng i can be found at ZZ2B/I/4-5.361-498; for a summary of its contents, see Kamata Shigeo, Shumitsu kyogaku no shiso shi teki kenkya (Tokyo: Thkyo daigaku shuppankai, 1975), pp. 499-521. Tsung-mi also quotes extensively from the Hsiao chih-kuan in his Yiian-chiieh ching ta-shu ch 'ao (ZZI I 14/5.454aff). Sekiguchi, op. cit., pp. 285-302, provides a table comparing the "Cheng-hsiu" section of the Hsiao chih-kuan with the Hsiucheng i, the Ta-shu ch 'ao, and Chih-i's Ch 'an-men yao-liieh (ZZ2/4/1.3537); Kamata, op. cit., pp. 524-608, gives a similar table of the first three of these works covering the first and third divisions of the Hsiu-cheng i. II. Sekiguchi's general argument goes back at least to his Tendai sho shikan no kenkya and Daruma daishi no kenkya (1957; rev. ed., Tokyo: Shunjusha, 1969); he has reviewed many of the points of that argument in Tendai shikan no kenkya, pp. 271-281. This last work (pp. 328-335) provides an elaborate table comparing the relevant sections of the Hsiao chih-kuan and Hsiucheng i with parallel passages in the T so-ch 'an i and several other Zen texts. 12. See Chih-i's introduction, Sekiguchi, Tendai sho shikan no kenkyil, p. 322. There is a tradition that the work was composed for Chih-i's brother, the layman Ch 'en Chen, who had been diagnosed as terminally ill; after he practiced the repentence recommended in the book, his health was fully restored. (For a discussion of the story, see Sekiguchi, op. cit., pp. 51-62.) 13. For a list of early texts affected by the Hsiao chih-kuan, see Sekiguchi, Tendai shikan no kenkyil, pp. 343-344. 14. Prior to Sekiguchi's publication of his table of the texts, Yamauchi Shun'yu did his own comparison and analysis of the Hsiao chih-kuan and T so-ch 'an i; he also concludes that Chih-i's influence is largely limited to the description of the meditation posture (see "Zazen gi to Tendai sho shikan," Shagaku kenkyil, vol. 8 [1966], pp. 29-50). 15. The following summary is based on the text in Kagamishima, Yakucha Zen 'en shingi, pp. 279-283, a full translation of which appears in the Appendix, below.

16. T46.465b. This passage occurs in the vulgate version as the introduction to the "T'iao-ho" chapter, but it seems originally to have represented an introduction to the discussion of samatha and vipasyana in the "Cheng-hsiu" chapter (see Sekiguchi, Tendai sho shikan no kenkya, pp. 150-151). 17. T46.462c-463b. 18. T46.465b-466c. 19. For the Hsiao chih-kuan description of the tso-ch 'an posture, see T46.465c7ff. Carl Bielefeldt 20. T46.466b. 21. T46.466a. 22. T46.466c-469b. 23. T46.14b28-c4; see also Chih-i's Chiieh-i san-mei, T46.621-627. The interesting interpretation here of the term "chiieh-i" (usually "bodhyariga") is discussed at some length in Neal Donner, "The Great Calming and Contem­ plation of Chih-i;' (Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1976), pp. 252-253, n. 249. See also the chapter in this volume by Daniel Stevenson. 24. The metaphor of water and waves is best known in Zen from the Larikiivatiira Sutra (e.g., T16.538c); Tsung-tse's line on the pearl here is probably from Tung-shan Liang-chieh (see T'ien-sheng kuang teng lu, ZZ2B/8/ 4.353d). The passage from the Yiian-chiieh ching occurs at T17.919a21. 25. The Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi appears at T85 .1283ff; here I am using the edition in Yanagida, Shoki no zen shi, vol. I, Zen no goroku, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1971), pp. 248-249. 26. Yanagida, Shoki no zen shi, vol. I, p. 186. Though Chinese tradition, both inside and outside of Zen, tends to interpret the term i-hsing as "single practice," it seems clear that here, as in the sutra itself, the emphasis is on the original sense of "single array" -i.e., the entirety of the Dharmadhatu manifest in the samadhi.

27. Ibid., p. 287. 28. Tsui-shang sheng tun, T48.378a-b. 29. Yanagida, Shoki no zen shi, vol. I, p. 241. 30. Tsui-shang sheng tun, T48.379a. 31. Yanagida, Shoki no zen shi, vol. I, p. 255. 32. See, e.g., his Tendai shikan no kenkyu, p. 346. 33. So, for example, this passage on "samatha through comprehension of the truth" (I 'i-chen chih): If the practitioner knows that the mind is without [its own] nature, why should there be reality to the dharmas [that arise from the mind]? . . . Being empty and without substance, they cannot be grasped. If they are not grasped, the mind of deluded thoughts (wang-nien hsin) will cease; if the mind of deluded thoughts ceases, it is quiescent and unconditioned (wuwei). This unconditionedness is the original source of all dharmas. If one rests one's mind in this original source, it is without defilement; if the mind is without defilement, then all karmic activity of saqtsara ceases. When the karmic activity of saqsara ceases, this is itself nirval).a. (See Sekiguchi's edition, Tendai shO shikan no kenkyu, pp. 339-340.) 34. T46.1 c-2a.

35. Hu Shih, Shen-hui ho-shang i-chi (rev. ed., Taipei: Hu Shih chi-nien kuan, 1970), pp. 308-309. 36. Ibid., p. 249; reading cheng for fei in line 8 and supplying wang chii before mieh in line II. 37. See, e.g., Ting shih-fei tun, Hu Shih, op. cit., p. 287. 38. Hence his distinction (following Ch'eng-kuan) between the awakening of understanding (chieh-wu), which is to be followed by gradual cultivation, and the awakening of realization (cheng-wu), which represents the culmination of the Path. (See, e.g., his Yiian-chiieh ching ta shu ch'ao, ZZI/14/ 3.280b.) The structure here clearly recapitulates the classical progression of the miirga from darsana, through bhiivanii, to asaik!fa. See the concluding Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and Zen Meditation chapter in this volume by Robert Buswell for a detailed discussion of Tsungmi's theory of the Path. 39. T48.402b-c. 40. Ibid., 403a4-6. This passage is repeated under the section on Shen-hui's Hotse School in Tsung-mi's Zenmon shishi shoshii zu (*Ch' an-men shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi t'u), ZZ2/15/5.436c. Note that, for all its "higher wisdom," the first sentence here could be used to summarize the description of samatha through comprehension of the truth that we have seen in the Hsiao chihkuan. 41. The basic theoretical position of this "classical" style of Zen is already depicted in Tsung-mi himself. Thus, for example, in the Tu-hsu passage we have just seen, he distinguishes between two versions of the highest Zen: one (the Southern position), based on the true nature of "numinous awareness" and the cultivation of no-thought; the other (the Hung-chou position) identifying the Buddha-nature with the totality of human states. According to this latter view, there is no point in rousing the mind to cultivate the Path: true awakening, cultivation, and verification lie only in the free expression of one's natural mind in all circumstances (T48.402c). 42. T 'an ching, T48.345a20-21; Li-tai ja-pao chi, T51.19la1-2; Tun-wu ju-tao yao men, ZZ2/15/5.420c14-15; Ching-fe ch'uan teng lu, T51.240c18ff; ibid., 251a13.

43. Ching-fe ch 'uan teng lu, T51.240c. Huai-jang's famous criticism of Matsu's meditation appears at the same location; for an example of Wu-chu's denial that he enters samadhi or abides in meditation, see Li-tai ja-pao chi, ibid., 195a29; Lin-chi's dismissal of those who "sit motionless with tongue pressed against the palate" appears in Lin-chi lu, T47.501a. 44. ZZ2B/9/2.133c. The table of contents of the Hsu teng lu (ibid., 12a) gives the graph i rather than tse as the second element of Tsung-tse's name, and in fact a number of other early sources follow the form "Tsung-i." The prob­ lem has been discussed in Kondo Ryoichi, Choro Sosaku ni tsuite;' IBK, vol. 14 (1966), pp. 280-283. There is some uncertainty about Tsung-tse's place of residence. The Chen-ting district is in modern Hopei, but the Hung-chi monastery there has not been identified. The Hung-chi ssu known in Zen records is at Ch'ang-lu, in modern Kiangsu. 45. T47.193c. 46. T47 .324c. P'u-tu goes on to report that Tsung-tse once had a dream in which he was approached by a man named P'u-hui, who sought membership in the Lotus Assembly for himself and his brother P'u-hsien. After awakening, Tsung-tse realized that these were the two bodhisattvas who appear in the Hua-yen ching (T10.279bff). The story of the dream is found among Tsung-tse's writings in the Lo-pang wen-lei, ibid., 178a-b; the source of the other information here is unknown. 47. Lo-pang i-kao, T47. 249a; the notice is taken from the Lung-shu ching-t 'u wen, T47 .271a. Tsung-tse's preface appears at T47 .167a-b; see also his "Lien-hua sheng-hui lu wen" (dated 1089), "Nien-fo fang t'ui fang-pien wen," "Nien-fo hui-hsiang fa-yiian wen," ibid., 177b-178c; and his verses, ibid., 219c-220a. 48. Lo-pang wen-lei, T47 .177b-178b; the same text is preserved in the Lung-shu ching-t'u wen under the title "Ch'iian ts'an-ch'an jen chien hsiu ching-t'u" ("Promotion of the Combined Cultivation of Pure Land Among Zen Practitioners;' T47. 283c- 284c). 49. T47.177b23, 178a20.

50. "Nien-fo tsan ch'an chiu tsung-chih shuo," Lu-shan lien-tsung pao-chien, T47.318b25-26. 51. "Lien-hua sheng-hui wen," T47. 177c; "Nien-fo hui-hsiang fa-yiian wen;' ibid., 178c. 52. Tsung-tse's nien-fo practice appears several times throughout the Ch 'anyuan ch 'ing-kuei and clearly represented a major element in the ritual of his monastery. His combination of Zen tradition with Sung popular religion is perhaps nowhere better symbolized than in his saying "The one word 'filial' is the gateway to all mysteries," an expression that gives a homey, ethical twist to Tsung-mi's famous metaphysical dictum, "The one word 'awareness' is the gateway to all mysteries" (quoted in Lu-shan lien-tsung paochien, T47. 306c26). 53. For the history of the early literature on the monastic rule in China and Japan, see lmaeda Aishin, Chusei zenshu shi no kenkyu (Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku shuppankai, 1970), pp. 56-72; Martin Collcutt, Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981), pp. 133-170.

54. For Te-hui's text of the Tso-ch 'an i, see T48.1143a-b. The manual also appears in the Tzu-men ching-hsiin, a compendium of practical advice for Zen monks compiled in 1313 by Yung-chung (d.u.) (T48.1047b-c). However, since the extant text of this work is a much later, greatly expanded version, we cannot be entirely certain that the Tso-ch 'an i was included in the original. 55. For the Shibu roku text, the earliest extant version of which is a gozan printing from the fourteenth century, see Omori Sogen, Kunchu Zenshu shibu roku (Kyoto: Kichud6, 1962), pp. 1-18. For Yosai's quotation, see T80.12a14-17. As Yanagida has pointed out, the fact that Yosai often quotes the Ch' an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei but uses the Ta-tsang i-fa n as his source for the Tso-ch' an i provides additional evidence that, when he visited China in 1187, the manual was still not included in Tsung-tse's code (see Yanagida's additional notes to the Kazen gokoku ron, in Ichikawa Hakugen et al., Chusei zenke no shiso, Nihon shiso taikei, vol. 16 [[[Tokyo]]: lwanami shoten, 1972], p. 398; and his "Yosai to Kazen gokoku ron no kadai," ibid., pp. 471-476). Dogen's Fukan zazen gi can be found at Okubo Doshu, Dagen zenji zenshu, vol. 2, pp. 3-5. 56. The Kanazawa manuscript of Yen Ping's text has been edited by Ishii Shud6, in Kanazawa bunko shiryo zensho, vol. I (Yokohama: Kanazawa bunko, 1974), pp. 155-161. Yen Ping's biography does not appear in the Ch'an histories, but the Hsii ch'uang teng lu (T51.701a) identifies him as a follower of Ta-hui's disciple Hsiieh-feng Hui-jan. 57. For Dogen's descriptions of meditation, all of which reflect Tsung-tse's text, see (in addition to the Fukan zazen gi mentioned above) his Eihei koroku (Okubo, Dagen zenji zenshu, vol. 2, pp. 165-166), Shabo genzo zazen gi (ibid., vol. I [[[Tokyo]]: Chikuma shobo, 1969], pp. 88-89), and Benda ho (ibid., vol. 2, pp. 317-318). The Zazen yojin ki can be found in SOlo shu zensho, Shugen, vol. 2 (1930; repr., Tokyo: SotO-shu zensho kankokai, 1971), p. 423-427; see also Keizan's Sankon zazen setsu, ibid., 428-429. For Kakushin's Zazen gi, see Dai Nihon bukkyo zensho, vol. 96, pp. 211-212; more explicit instruction on meditation appears in his Hotto kokushi hogo, ibid., pp. 220-222. Enni's Zazen ron appears as Shoichi kokushi hOgo, in Zenmon hogo shu, vol. 2, pp. 411-424. For Lan-ch'i's Zazen ron, see Daikaku zenji zazen ron, Kokuyaku zengaku taisei, vol. 23

(Tokyo: Nish6do shoten, 1930), pp. 1-8; his Zazen gi is preserved in a manuscript of the Kanazawa bunko (see Kanazawa bunko shiryo zensho, vo!. I, pp. 161-168). 58. In the Lin-chien lu, ZZ2/21/3.295d. 59. "To indulge yourself by forgetting objects (wang yiian) is to fall into the deep pit. . . . To be aware of your thoughts as soon as they occur (nien ch 'i chi chiieh) is [the practice of] one who toys with his spirit." ("Lancet of Zen " [Ch 'an chen], appended to the Wu-men kuan, T48.299b 1-3.) Appendix The following translation of the T so-ch 'an i is based on the Ch 'an-yiian ch 'ing-kuei text appearing in Kagamishima Genryii et al., Yakuchii Zen 'en shingi (Tokyo: Soto-shii shiimucho, 1972), pp. 279-284. Notes in the translation refer to variants in the Ta-tsang i-lan text (Showa hobO somokuroku 3.1305a-b). A fully annotated Japanese translation is provided in Kajitani Son in et al., Shin}i n mei Shodo ka Jiigyo zu Zazen gi, Zen no goroku, vol. 16 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1971), pp. 145-164.

PRINCIPLES OF SEATED MEDITATION

T he bodhisattva who studies prajna should first arouse the thought of great compassion, make the extensive vows, and vigorously cultivate samadhi. Vowing to save sentient beings, you should not seek liberation for yourself alone. Now cast aside all involvements and discontinue the myriad affairs. Body and mind should be unified, with no division between action and rest. Regulate food and drink, so that you take neither too much nor too little; adjust sleep, so that you neither deprive nor indulge yourself. When you sit in meditation, spread a thick mat in a quiet place. Loosen your robe and belt, and assume a proper posture.' Then sit in the cross-legged position: first place your right foot on your left thigh; then place your left foot on your right thigh.' Or you may sit in the semi-cross-legged position: simply rest your left foot on your right foot. Next, place your right hand on your left foot, and' your left hand on your right palm. Press the tips of your thumbs together. Slowly raise your torso and stretch it forward. Swing to the left and right; then straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right, forward or backward. Keep your hips, back, neck, and head in line, making your posture like a stiipa. But do not strain your body upward too far, lest it cause your breathing to be forced and unsettled.' Your ears should be in line with your shoulders, and your nose in line with your navel. Press your tongue against your palate, and close your lips and teeth. The eyes should remain slightly open, in order to prevent drowsiness. If you attain samadhi [with the eyes open], it will be the most powerful. In ancient times, there were monks eminent in the practice of meditation who always sat with their eyes open. More recently, the Ch 'an master Fa-yiin Yiian-t'ung criticized those who sit in meditation with their eyes closed, likening [their practice] to the ghost cave of the Black Mountain. Surely this has a deep meaning, known to those who have mastered [[[meditation practice]]].' Once you have settled your posture and regulated your breathing, you should relax your abdomen. Do not think of any good or evil whatsoever. Whenever a thought occurs, be aware of it; as soon as you are aware of it, it will van-

ish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of objects, you will naturally become unified.T his is the essential art of seated meditation. • Honestly speaking, seated meditation is the Dharma-gate of ease and joy; if, nevertheless, people often become ill [from its practice], it is because they do not take proper care.I f you grasp the point of this [practice], the four elements [of the body] will naturally be light and at ease; the spirit will be fresh and sharp; thoughts will be correct and clear; the flavor of the Dharma will sustain the spirit; and you will be calm, pure, and joyful. ' One who has already developed clarity may be likened to the dragon gaining the water or the tiger taking to the mountains.E ven one who has not yet developed it, by letting the wind fan the flame, will not have to make much effort: if you just assent to it, you will not be deceived. • Nevertheless, as the path gets higher, demons flourish, and agreeable and disagreeable experiences are manifold. Yet, if you just keep right thought present, none of them can obstruct you.T he Surangama-sutra, T'ien-t'ai's Chihkuan, and Kuei-feng's Hsiu-cheng i give detailed explications of these demonic occurrences, and those who would be prepared in advance for the unforeseen should be familiar with them. ' When you come out of samadhi, move slowly and arise calmly; do not be hasty or rough. After you have left samadhi, 10 always employ appropriate means to protect and maintain the power of samadhi, as though you were protecting an infant; then your samadhi power will easily develop.

This one teaching of meditation is our most urgent business.I f you do not settle [the mind] in meditation, or dhyana, then, when it comes down to it, you will be completely at a loss. 11 Therefore, [it is said,] "To seek a pearl, we should still the waves; if we disturb the water, it will be hard to get." When the water of meditation is clear, the pearl of the mind will appear of itself.T herefore, the Per­ fect Enlightenment Sutra says, "Unimpeded, immaculate wisdom always arises dependent on meditation." And the Lotus Sutra says, "In a quiet place, he practices control of the mind, abiding motionless like Mt.S umeru." 12 Thus, we know that transcending the profane and surpassing the holy are contingent on the condition of dhyana; shedding [this body] while seated and fleeing [this life] while standing are dependent on the power of samadhi.E ven if one devotes oneself to the practice one's entire life, one may still not be in time; how then could one who procrastinates possibly overcome karma? Therefore, an ancient has said, "Without the power of samadhi, you will meekly cower at death's door." Shutting your eyes, you will return [to the earth] in vain; just as you are, you will drift [in saiTI­ sara]. Friends in Ch'an, go over this text again and again. Benefiting others as well as ourselves, let us together achieve perfect enlightenment. 1

NOTES TO APPENDIX

I. "When you sit ...p roper posture ": lacking.
2. "Then sit ...r ight thigh.": "For the cross-legged position, first place your left foot on your right thigh; then place your right foot on your left thigh."
3. "your right hand on your left foot, and ": lacking.
4. "But do not ... unsettled.": lacking.
5. "If you attain ... [[[meditation practice]]].": lacking.
6. "This is the essential art of seated meditation.": lacking.
7. "Honestly speaking ...c alm, pure, and joyful.": "If you grasp the point of this [practice], the four elements [of the body] will naturally be light and at ease: thus it is called the Dharma-gate of ease and joy."
Ch 'ang-lu Tsung-tse and Zen Meditation
8. "by letting the wind fan the flame, will not have to make much effort.:" lacking.
9. "Nevertheless, ...f amiliar with them.:" lacking.
10. "do not be ...s amadhi;': lacking.
II. "This one teaching ...a t a loss.:" lacking.
12. "The Lotus Siltra .. . Mt. Sumeru.:" lacking.
13. "Even if one ... perfect enlightenment.:" "[[[Meditation]]] is our most urgent business. "



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