Bodhidharma And The Chinese Patriarchs.
Feb 28, 2010 17:23:57 GMT 1
Post by Shi Da Dao on Feb 28, 2010 17:23:57 GMT 1
The following is quoted from The Bliff Cliff Record (Pi Yen Lu), translated by Thomas & JC Cleary - my copy is dated 1992. This section deals with the over-view from Shakyamuni to Hui Neng, focusing on the development of Ch'an Buddhism in China. The quote is from pages xx - xxi of the Introduction:
'Shakymuni Buddha used ancient techniques of yoga, but only to break concrete and abstract attachments and realise moksha, freedom, not to attain supposedly higher states. We have several documents purported to record teachings of Bodhidharma, the standard slogan of later times is that he pointed directly to the human mind, and undoubtedly used various methods to accomplish this. Bodhidharma is said to have had four adept disciples in China, and by the seventh century was recognised as one of the few meditation teachers of early times who inspired a continuing, living succession.
Bodhidharma's principle heir Hui k'e (486-593), the second patriarch, and his successor Seng Ts'an (d 606), the thrid patriarch, still living in a time of disunity and strife in what had been the Chinese empire, seemed to have wondered around, engaging in local activity but never establishing any fixed abode as teaching centres. Hui K'e spent many years in Yeh, a metropolis in the northeast quarter of China, and is said to have met ten enlightened students over the years. After large numbers of monks and nuns were made to return toe lay life, and monastic properties were taken by the governments in northern China around 577, Hui K'e spent the last sixteen years of his life dressed as a laymen, even though the bans were later lifted, and the Budhist communities resumed their growth and prosperity. He was opposed by an established Buddhist teacher, as Bodhidharma had been opposed by both Indian and Chinese lecturers, for unorthodox teachings and methods, and eventually killed. Seng Ts'an, of whom almost nothing is known, was also a layman when he met Hui k'e, he was his teacher for ten years in the mountains of Anwei, evidently near the close of the sixth century. He is said to have written the long poem Xin Xin Ming which has alwas been popular and is considered the first classic of Chinese Ch'an.
The Fourth Patriarch of Ch'an, Tao Hsin (580-651), settled down on a mountain in central China for over thirty years, and a community of five hundred people eventually gathered around him. This community maintained its own livelihood, and Tao Hsin ignored the invitations of T'ang imperial court, which usually richly patronised Buddhists. Tao Hsin is said to have spent two years on a journey to south China in later life. He wrote a book about standards of conduct for Bodhisattvas, those following the path of knowledge of reality, he also wrote a book on meditation, outlining various methods and their effects, referring to various scriptural sources. Ch'an had not been wide spread during the times of the earlier patriarchs, but with Tao Hsin it came to be known all over China.
Tao Hsin was a strict teacher and only approved of one successor out of his many disciples, this was Hung Jen (602-675), the Fifth Patriarch. Hung Jen was with Tao Hsin from the age of seven until his late thirties, working by day and meditating by night. Among Hung Jen's eleven enlightened successors were Shen Hsiu (602-706) and Hui Neng (638-713): Shen Hsiu, a learned monk as well as a meditation master, was considered the sixth patriarch in the tradition of the so called northern school of Ch'an; Hui Neng, an illiterate wood-cutter, was considered the sixth patriarch in the tradition of the so called southern school. Teachers of the northern school worked mostly in or near urban areas of north China, especially the western capital of T'ang, Ch'ang-an. These lineages died out by the end of the T'ang dynasty. There is a saying in Ch'an that each generation must go beyond its predecessors for the transmission to continue.
'Shakymuni Buddha used ancient techniques of yoga, but only to break concrete and abstract attachments and realise moksha, freedom, not to attain supposedly higher states. We have several documents purported to record teachings of Bodhidharma, the standard slogan of later times is that he pointed directly to the human mind, and undoubtedly used various methods to accomplish this. Bodhidharma is said to have had four adept disciples in China, and by the seventh century was recognised as one of the few meditation teachers of early times who inspired a continuing, living succession.
Bodhidharma's principle heir Hui k'e (486-593), the second patriarch, and his successor Seng Ts'an (d 606), the thrid patriarch, still living in a time of disunity and strife in what had been the Chinese empire, seemed to have wondered around, engaging in local activity but never establishing any fixed abode as teaching centres. Hui K'e spent many years in Yeh, a metropolis in the northeast quarter of China, and is said to have met ten enlightened students over the years. After large numbers of monks and nuns were made to return toe lay life, and monastic properties were taken by the governments in northern China around 577, Hui K'e spent the last sixteen years of his life dressed as a laymen, even though the bans were later lifted, and the Budhist communities resumed their growth and prosperity. He was opposed by an established Buddhist teacher, as Bodhidharma had been opposed by both Indian and Chinese lecturers, for unorthodox teachings and methods, and eventually killed. Seng Ts'an, of whom almost nothing is known, was also a layman when he met Hui k'e, he was his teacher for ten years in the mountains of Anwei, evidently near the close of the sixth century. He is said to have written the long poem Xin Xin Ming which has alwas been popular and is considered the first classic of Chinese Ch'an.
The Fourth Patriarch of Ch'an, Tao Hsin (580-651), settled down on a mountain in central China for over thirty years, and a community of five hundred people eventually gathered around him. This community maintained its own livelihood, and Tao Hsin ignored the invitations of T'ang imperial court, which usually richly patronised Buddhists. Tao Hsin is said to have spent two years on a journey to south China in later life. He wrote a book about standards of conduct for Bodhisattvas, those following the path of knowledge of reality, he also wrote a book on meditation, outlining various methods and their effects, referring to various scriptural sources. Ch'an had not been wide spread during the times of the earlier patriarchs, but with Tao Hsin it came to be known all over China.
Tao Hsin was a strict teacher and only approved of one successor out of his many disciples, this was Hung Jen (602-675), the Fifth Patriarch. Hung Jen was with Tao Hsin from the age of seven until his late thirties, working by day and meditating by night. Among Hung Jen's eleven enlightened successors were Shen Hsiu (602-706) and Hui Neng (638-713): Shen Hsiu, a learned monk as well as a meditation master, was considered the sixth patriarch in the tradition of the so called northern school of Ch'an; Hui Neng, an illiterate wood-cutter, was considered the sixth patriarch in the tradition of the so called southern school. Teachers of the northern school worked mostly in or near urban areas of north China, especially the western capital of T'ang, Ch'ang-an. These lineages died out by the end of the T'ang dynasty. There is a saying in Ch'an that each generation must go beyond its predecessors for the transmission to continue.