The Five Houses Of Ch'an (Ch'an Wu-jia).
Mar 23, 2010 15:07:49 GMT 1
Post by Shi Da Dao on Mar 23, 2010 15:07:49 GMT 1
The following is an excellent over-view of the so-called Five Houses of Ch'an, quoted from Charles Luk's book entitled 'The Secrets of Chinese Meditation' page 66 - 70. Charles Luk's enlightened commentaries transform a dry text, into a living Dharma-door.
The Yun Men Dharma (Ummon Zen)
Here, Yun Men gave the following warning:
'When light does not penetrate, there are two kinds of illness. The first is when there is absence of clearness everywhere with the presence of something ahead. The other is when although the light penetrates the void, there is still the semblance of something through which light does not entirely penetrate,
The Dharmakaya has also two kinds of illness. The first is that when reaching the Dharmakaya, one cannot forsake the reality of things (dharma), thereby preserving the conception of an ego; one thus stops on the bordrline. The other illness is that even after one has penetrated through the Dharmakaya, one still grasps it and pants for the hereafter.'
The Yun Men Dharma is not easily understood by beginners as it is rather for men of high spirituality. It is noted for its cakes, its one-word answers, its Three Gates and its seemingly offensibe words which have only one aim, to wipe out the disciples' prejudices and hesitations when distinguishing between the immutable Self and changing illusions; in other words, to remove all remaining traces of the subtle view of ego and things (dharmas), so that the disciples can realise the absolute Dharmakaya. This is what Han Shan called the self-preservation and self-awareness of the ego.
The Lin Chi Dharma (Rinzai Zen)
If an advanced disciple still clung to the remaining traces of ego and things (dharma), Lin Chi, in order to wake him up, would give a shout which the master called 'a shout not used as a shout' in performance of the teacher's 'great function' of awakening and fully vitalised potentiality of a student so that it could unite with the absolute. Lin Chi taught his pupils not to cling to anything in order to get out of the realm of illusions. He said:
'Sometimes the subject is snatched away but object is not; sometimes the object is snatched away but the subject is not; sometimes both subject and object are snatched away; and sometimes both subject and object are noy snatched away.'
His Dharma consists, therefore, in eradicating the subject when there is no attachment to an object; in eliminating the object when there is no attachment to a subject; in wiping out boht subject and object when there is attachment to both; and in forsaking nothing when both subject and object are not grasped.
He urged his disciplies to interpret the Dharma correctly, that is from the 'host' position, and to disregard all illusions which are but aspects of the non-existent 'guest'. He taught them to hit the first rate meaning in order to realise the absolute, for the second rate meaning leads only to the realisation of the non-existence of phenomena and the third rate meaning only to the comprehension of the teaching without experiential realisation of it. He then explained that in order to realise the first rate meaning. they should pass through Three Profound Gateways, each with three Vitals Stages, that is nine vital phases of training, in order to realise the Dharmakaya. These Vital Stages include both Hinayana and Mahayana Teachings. Readers will find an account of all the five Ch'an sects with details explanations Series Two of my Ch'an and Zen Teaching.
Lin Chi is noted for his use of four kinds of shout in his teaching. He also urged his disicples to distinghuish clearly between 'host' and 'guest' in order to avoid confusion in their meditation. According to his Dharma, relations between 'Host' and 'Guest' are classified into four positions: that of guest looking at host; that of host looking at guest; that of guest looking at guest and that of host looking at host, so that students can be clear about the absolute Self and relative illusions.
The Kuei Yang Dharma (Ikyo Zen)
A student should over-come the last obstructions-ego and things (dharma)-to realise his Dharmakaya, or a central body, which is called 'Substance' in Buddhist termonology. A substance which is incapable of performing its saving function is useless, and a master should train his disciples in the right performance of 'Function'. The story of the Kuei Yang sect relates how Kuei Shan trained his disciple Yang Shan in the realisation of Substance and Function. For instance, he would say to his pupil that the later only realised function but did not realise its body or vice versa so that the student became well versed in the doctorine of Substance and Function. As substance should be all-embracing in order to realsie Universal Enlightenment, that is the fifty-first stage of Bodhisattva development for welfare of Self, its function should be universal for realising Wonderful Enlightenment, that is the fifty-second or last stage of Bodhisattva development into Buddhahood for the welfare of all living beings. Whe Yang Shan asked about the abode of the real Buddha, his master Kuei Shan replied:
'Turn inwards the subtleness of your thoughtless thinking to think of spiritual brightness until your thinking is exhausted, then return it to its source where the fundamental nature its formal expressions eternally abide, where activity and principle are not a dualism and where is the suchness of the real Buddha.'
This is the region where the fundamental nature, or Substance, and its beneficial activity, or Function, are but the One Reality of the absolute Dharmakaya.
The Ts'ao Tung Dharma (Soto Zen)
In order to make the Dharma more clear, Tung shan and his disciple Ts'ao Shan classified the progressive stages of self-cultivation into five positions of (1) Host, or Prince, or thr real containing the seeming; (2) Guest, or Minister, or the seeming containing the real; (3) Host coming to light, or Prince looking a Minister, or Resurgence of the real; (4) Guest returning to Host, or Minister returning to Prince, or the seeming uniting with the real; and (5) Host in Host, or Prince and Minister in harmony, or Integration of the real and the seeming. In practice, these five progressive positions are: Shift, Submission, Achievement, Collective Achievement and Absolute Achievement. These five positions serve to enable a student to distinguish between the Host, or Self, and the Guest, or illusory externals, and if he can do so in practice, he will not be mislead by his old habits contracted since time without beginning.
Followers of the Ts'ao Tung sect should know its Dhamra which is summarised in Tung Shan's Gatha of the Seal of the Precious Mirror Samadhi.
The Fa Yen Dharma (Hogen Zen)
This Dharma is based on the Buddha's teaching according to which the triple world of desire, form and beyond form are but creations of the One Mind and all phenomena are but the product of its consciousness. It urges all students to realise the identity of this One Mind with its surroundings for realising the absolute state and he who succeeds in personally experiencing this Dharma will remain immutable in the midst of changing phenomena. This is the state where the fundamental nature and its formal expressions eternally abide, where activity and principle are not a dualism and where is the suchness of the real Buddha as taught by the Kuei Yang sect.
The Yun Men Dharma (Ummon Zen)
Here, Yun Men gave the following warning:
'When light does not penetrate, there are two kinds of illness. The first is when there is absence of clearness everywhere with the presence of something ahead. The other is when although the light penetrates the void, there is still the semblance of something through which light does not entirely penetrate,
The Dharmakaya has also two kinds of illness. The first is that when reaching the Dharmakaya, one cannot forsake the reality of things (dharma), thereby preserving the conception of an ego; one thus stops on the bordrline. The other illness is that even after one has penetrated through the Dharmakaya, one still grasps it and pants for the hereafter.'
The Yun Men Dharma is not easily understood by beginners as it is rather for men of high spirituality. It is noted for its cakes, its one-word answers, its Three Gates and its seemingly offensibe words which have only one aim, to wipe out the disciples' prejudices and hesitations when distinguishing between the immutable Self and changing illusions; in other words, to remove all remaining traces of the subtle view of ego and things (dharmas), so that the disciples can realise the absolute Dharmakaya. This is what Han Shan called the self-preservation and self-awareness of the ego.
The Lin Chi Dharma (Rinzai Zen)
If an advanced disciple still clung to the remaining traces of ego and things (dharma), Lin Chi, in order to wake him up, would give a shout which the master called 'a shout not used as a shout' in performance of the teacher's 'great function' of awakening and fully vitalised potentiality of a student so that it could unite with the absolute. Lin Chi taught his pupils not to cling to anything in order to get out of the realm of illusions. He said:
'Sometimes the subject is snatched away but object is not; sometimes the object is snatched away but the subject is not; sometimes both subject and object are snatched away; and sometimes both subject and object are noy snatched away.'
His Dharma consists, therefore, in eradicating the subject when there is no attachment to an object; in eliminating the object when there is no attachment to a subject; in wiping out boht subject and object when there is attachment to both; and in forsaking nothing when both subject and object are not grasped.
He urged his disciplies to interpret the Dharma correctly, that is from the 'host' position, and to disregard all illusions which are but aspects of the non-existent 'guest'. He taught them to hit the first rate meaning in order to realise the absolute, for the second rate meaning leads only to the realisation of the non-existence of phenomena and the third rate meaning only to the comprehension of the teaching without experiential realisation of it. He then explained that in order to realise the first rate meaning. they should pass through Three Profound Gateways, each with three Vitals Stages, that is nine vital phases of training, in order to realise the Dharmakaya. These Vital Stages include both Hinayana and Mahayana Teachings. Readers will find an account of all the five Ch'an sects with details explanations Series Two of my Ch'an and Zen Teaching.
Lin Chi is noted for his use of four kinds of shout in his teaching. He also urged his disicples to distinghuish clearly between 'host' and 'guest' in order to avoid confusion in their meditation. According to his Dharma, relations between 'Host' and 'Guest' are classified into four positions: that of guest looking at host; that of host looking at guest; that of guest looking at guest and that of host looking at host, so that students can be clear about the absolute Self and relative illusions.
The Kuei Yang Dharma (Ikyo Zen)
A student should over-come the last obstructions-ego and things (dharma)-to realise his Dharmakaya, or a central body, which is called 'Substance' in Buddhist termonology. A substance which is incapable of performing its saving function is useless, and a master should train his disciples in the right performance of 'Function'. The story of the Kuei Yang sect relates how Kuei Shan trained his disciple Yang Shan in the realisation of Substance and Function. For instance, he would say to his pupil that the later only realised function but did not realise its body or vice versa so that the student became well versed in the doctorine of Substance and Function. As substance should be all-embracing in order to realsie Universal Enlightenment, that is the fifty-first stage of Bodhisattva development for welfare of Self, its function should be universal for realising Wonderful Enlightenment, that is the fifty-second or last stage of Bodhisattva development into Buddhahood for the welfare of all living beings. Whe Yang Shan asked about the abode of the real Buddha, his master Kuei Shan replied:
'Turn inwards the subtleness of your thoughtless thinking to think of spiritual brightness until your thinking is exhausted, then return it to its source where the fundamental nature its formal expressions eternally abide, where activity and principle are not a dualism and where is the suchness of the real Buddha.'
This is the region where the fundamental nature, or Substance, and its beneficial activity, or Function, are but the One Reality of the absolute Dharmakaya.
The Ts'ao Tung Dharma (Soto Zen)
In order to make the Dharma more clear, Tung shan and his disciple Ts'ao Shan classified the progressive stages of self-cultivation into five positions of (1) Host, or Prince, or thr real containing the seeming; (2) Guest, or Minister, or the seeming containing the real; (3) Host coming to light, or Prince looking a Minister, or Resurgence of the real; (4) Guest returning to Host, or Minister returning to Prince, or the seeming uniting with the real; and (5) Host in Host, or Prince and Minister in harmony, or Integration of the real and the seeming. In practice, these five progressive positions are: Shift, Submission, Achievement, Collective Achievement and Absolute Achievement. These five positions serve to enable a student to distinguish between the Host, or Self, and the Guest, or illusory externals, and if he can do so in practice, he will not be mislead by his old habits contracted since time without beginning.
Followers of the Ts'ao Tung sect should know its Dhamra which is summarised in Tung Shan's Gatha of the Seal of the Precious Mirror Samadhi.
The Fa Yen Dharma (Hogen Zen)
This Dharma is based on the Buddha's teaching according to which the triple world of desire, form and beyond form are but creations of the One Mind and all phenomena are but the product of its consciousness. It urges all students to realise the identity of this One Mind with its surroundings for realising the absolute state and he who succeeds in personally experiencing this Dharma will remain immutable in the midst of changing phenomena. This is the state where the fundamental nature and its formal expressions eternally abide, where activity and principle are not a dualism and where is the suchness of the real Buddha as taught by the Kuei Yang sect.