Entangling Vines Read online

  Similar to this is another of Jingcen’s remaining teachings:

  The entire universe is your eye; the entire universe is your complete body; the entire universe is your own luminance; the entire universe is within your own luminance. In the entire universe there is no one who is not your own self. I repeat what I am continually saying to you: All the Buddhas of the Three Worlds (past, present, and future) and all the sentient beings in the dharmadhatu, these are the light of Great Intrinsic Wisdom (Mahāprajñā). (T 51:274a; Miura and Sasaki 1966, p. 275)

  Changsheng Jiaoran (Ch’ang-sheng Chiao-jan, Chōshō Kōnen; n.d.; Case 14). Little is known of this figure other than that he practiced under Xuefeng Yicun and resided on Mount Changsheng in Fuzhou in modern Fujian .

  Changshui Zixuan (Ch’ang-shui Tzu-hsüan, Chōsui Shisen; d. 1038; Case 223) was a native of Jiaxing in Xiuzhou , present Zhejiang . He shaved his own head and took up the study of the Śūraṅgama Sutra, attaining a deep realization upon coming across a line on the nonarising of the two aspects of movement and stillness. Seeking to deepen his understanding, he subsequently studied under Langye Huijue and eventually succeeded to Langye’s Dharma. He later resided at Changshui and wrote a ten-volume commentary on the Śūraṅgama Sutra; he was known for advocating the unity of Zen and scriptural study and worked for the revival of the philosophical Huayan school.

  Chen Cao (Ch’en Ts’ao, Chin Sō; 9th c.; Case 153), a government official and a Dharma heir of Muzhou Daozong, was one of the great lay Zen practitioners of the Tang dynasty; most of what is known of him comes from the information contained in Blue Cliff Record 33. It was at Chen Cao’s residence that Yunmen Wenyan convalesced after his leg was broken in his encounter with Daozong.

  Chouyan Liaoyun (Ch’ou-yen Liao-yün, Chūgan Ryōhin; n.d.; Case 46-2). Dōmae identifies this figure as a Dharma successor of a certain Heshan Shouxun (also known as Fodeng Shouxun ). Chouyan served as priest of Chouyan si in the province of Zhejiang . Otherwise almost nothing is known of his life.

  Chuanzi Decheng (Ch’uan-tzü Te-ch’eng, Sensu Tokujō; 9th c.; Case 257). Chuanzi was a Dharma heir of Yaoshan Weiyen (745/50–828/34), under whom he trained for thirty years. His Dharma brother was the great master Yunyan Tansheng (782–841), whose Dharma heir was Dongshan Liangjie, one of the founders of the Caodong (Sōtō) school. Following the great persecution of Buddhism in 845, Decheng worked as a ferryman, from which his name derives (“Chuanzi” means “boatman”). His most famous Dharma heir was Jiashan Shanhui; after transmitting the Dharma to him he is said to have capsized his boat and vanished into the water.

  Ciming (Tz’u-ming, Jimyō). See Shishuang Chuyuan.

  Cui Hao (Ts’ui Hao, Sai Kō; 704–54; Case 196) was a native of Bianzhou . He graduated as jinshi about 730, and was noted not only for his literary talents, which impressed even the poetic genius Li Bo , but also for his love of drinking and gambling. The most famous of his poems, “Yellow Crane Pavilion,” has been translated under the title “Yellow Crane Tower” by Stephen Owen:

  That old man has already ridden [the yellow crane] away,

  And here in this land there remains only Yellow Crane Tower.

  The yellow crane, once it had gone, will never come again,

  But white clouds of a thousand years go aimlessly on and on,

  Clear and bright in the sunlit stream the trees of Hanyang,

  Springtime’s grasses, lush and green, all over Parrot Isle.

  Sun’s setting, the passes to home—where can they be?

  Beside this river of misty waves, it makes a man sad.

  (Minford and Lau 1994, p. 828)

  The story of the Yellow Crane Pavilion is related as follows by Hori:

  The Yellow Crane Pavilion, overlooking the Yangtze River, is a famous landmark in Hubei Province. Right across from it in the river lay the picturesque Isle of the Parrots. Long ago there used to be a drinking place here run by a man called Hsin. A strange old man used to come to Hsin’s place to drink. Though he never had any money, Hsin never pressed him for payment. One day, after this had gone on for some time, the old man took the peel of an orange and with it drew a picture of a yellow crane on a blank wall. Later when customers would clap their hands and sing, the crane on the wall would flutter and dance. The bar became famous and Hsin became wealthy. Ten years went by and the strange old man appeared again. He blew a flute, a white cloud came down, the crane flew down from the wall. The old man climbed onto the back of the crane and then rode the white cloud off into the sky. Afterward Hsin built a large pavilion that he named the Yellow Crane Pavilion after the drawing of the yellow crane. (2003, p. 727)

  Cui Langzhong (Ts’ui Lang-chung, Sai Rōchū; 9th c.; Case 13). It is unknown who this figure was; the word indicates an official who assisted the imperial secretary.

  D

  Dachuan Puji (Ta-chuan Fu-chi, Daisen Fusai; 1179–1253; Case 8) was a native of the province of Zhejiang ; his family name was Zhang . He became a monk at age nineteen and studied under various masters, succeeding to the Dharma of Zheweng Ruyan (Che-weng Ju-yen, Setsuō Nyoen; 1151–1225) in the line of Dahui Zonggao. He later compiled the important Zen biographical work Wudeng huiyuan (Compendium of the Five Lamps).

  Dadao Guquan (Ta-tao Ku-ch’üan, Daidō Yokusen; 10th–11th c.; Case 173), also known as Bajiaoan Guquan (Pa-chiao-an Ku-ch’üan, Bashōan Yokusen), was a native of Quanzhou , in present-day Fujian . Soon after becoming a monk he began study under Fenyang Shanzhao, whose Dharma successor he became. He then embarked on an extended pilgrimage, meeting, among other masters, Shishuang Chuyuan (Ciming Chuyuan), as described in Case 173. The Biographies of Monks of the Zen School (X 79:522b) describes him as one of Chinese Zen’s notable eccentrics—intelligent but slovenly, boastful and disrespectful in manner, indifferent to worldly convention, and, after ordination, dismissive of the precepts. Acting as he pleased, he soon found himself unwelcome at most monasteries, a development that seemed of no concern to him. Later, however, he served as priest at several temples, among them Lingfeng si and Bajiao an , before dying at the age of ninety-two.

  Dahui Zonggao (Ta-hui Tsung-kao, Daie Sōkō; 1089–1163; Cases 19-2, 32, 46-4, 92, 134, 141, 227, 229, 230 n., 231 n., 232) was a native of Xuanzhou in the province of Anhui ; his family name was Xi . After studying the Confucian teachings in his childhood he was ordained as a monk at the age of sixteen under a priest named Huiqi at the temple Huiyun si . He took the full commandments the following year. Later he set out on an extended pilgrimage that took him to important Caodong masters of his time and to the Huanglong-line Linji master Zhantang Wenzhun (1061–1115). After Wenzhun’s death he went to the temple Tianning Wanshou si and studied under Yuanwu Keqin; the story of his awakening under Yuanwu is related in Case 92. At Wanshou si, Dahui was a brother disciple of Huqiu Shaolong (Hu-ch’iu Shao-lung, Kukyū Jōryū; 1077–1136), one of the ancestors of all present-day Japanese Rinzai masters. After receiving Dharma transmission from Yuanwu, Dahui succeeded him as master of Wanshou si. His renown grew, and in 1126 he received a purple robe and the honorary name Great Master Fori from Lü Shun , Minister of the Right.

  Zonggao went south following the fall of the Northern Song dynasty to the Jurchen invaders in 1127 and resided with his teacher Yuanwu, who was then living at the temple Zhenru yuan on Mount Yunju . After Yuanwu’s return to Sichuan in 1130, Zonggao stayed for a time in a hermitage on the site of an old Yunmen-school temple, then moved to Yunmen an in Jiangxi and, later, Yangyu an in Fujian . It was from this period that Zonggao became known for his criticism of “silent illumination Zen” and support of “koan-introspecting Zen.”

  From 1137 Zonggao lived at Nengren Chanyuan on Mount Jing in Zhejiang , where he had been invited to serve by Zhang Jun , the prime minister and a former student of Yuanwu. Defrocked in 1141 for supporting armed resistance against the Jurchen, Zonggao went to Hengyang in Hunan and, about ten years later, to Meiyang in Guangdong . There he helped the populace, which was suffering from a plagu
e. He was officially pardoned in 1155 but remained in Meiyang until 1158, when, on imperial command, he returned to Mount Jing and taught an assembly of nearly 1,700 monks until his death in 1163.

  Daitō (or, more generally, National Teacher Daitō ). The posthumous title of the Japanese monk Shūhō Myōchō.

  Damei Fachang (Ta-mei Fa-ch’ang; Daibai Hōjō; 752–839; Cases 5, 66) was a native of Xiangyang in present-day Hubei ; his family name was Zheng . He studied doctrine for thirty years before entering the assembly under Mazu Daoyi, where he was awakened by Mazu’s statement, “This very mind is buddha” (see Case 5). After receiving transmission from Mazu he practiced in seclusion for forty years on Mount Damei (Great Plum Mountain), in modern Zhejiang . One day a monk sent by Mazu to check on Damei asked, “What did Mazu say that caused you to live on this mountain?” Damei replied, “Mazu said, ‘This very mind is buddha.’” “Nowadays Mazu teaches differently,” said the monk. “Now he says, ‘Not mind, not buddha.’” Damei responded, “That old monk is always confusing people! He may say, ‘Not mind, not buddha,’ but I’ll stay with, ‘This very mind is buddha!’” When the monk reported this to Mazu, Mazu said, “Monks, the plum is ripe” (“Damei” means “Great Plum”). An increasing number of seekers gathered around Damei, and finally the community founded the monastery Husheng si , where Damei taught an assembly of six to seven hundred monks. One day Damei said:

  Monks, strive to reach the root; do not chase after the branches. Reach the root, and the rest will naturally follow. If you wish to perceive the root, just see into your own mind. This mind is the source of all, both mundane and supramundane. When mind arises the various dharmas arise; when mind is extinguished, the various dharmas disappear. When the mind is unattached to good and evil, all things are in their true state. (T 51:254c)

  Danxia Tianran (Tan-hsia T’ien-jan, Tanka Tennen; 738/39–824; Case 44). Danxia’s place of origin and family name are unknown. As a young man he and his friend Pang Yun (later known as the Zen poet Layman Pang ) were on their way to the capital to take the government examinations when they encountered a Zen monk, who asked, “How can becoming an official compare with becoming a buddha?” and suggested that they meet Mazu Daoyi. Mazu accepted Pang as a student but told Danxia to go instead to Shitou Xiqian. The young man went to Shitou’s monastery on Mount Nanyue, where he worked for several years as a manual laborer before finally becoming ordained.

  According to one account, Danxia received the name Tianran when Shitou, shaving Danxia’s head for the first time, noticed the crown of Danxia’s head suddenly rise up of itself. “Tianran (spontaneously)!” Shitou said in surprise. Another account, in Blue Cliff Record 76, has Danxia returning to Mazu’s monastery after three years of training under Shitou. As soon as he arrived he straddled the Mañjuśrī image. When the monks complained of this to Mazu, Mazu replied, “My son is just being natural .” After similar behavior at Shitou’s monastery, Shitou commented, “This young student will end up smashing shrines and images”; his words were borne out in Danxia’s burning of the buddha image at Huilin si , described in Case 44.

  After receiving transmission from Shitou, Danxia went on pilgrimage for a number of years; his exchanges during this time with his old friend Pang are particularly well known. He finally settled on Mount Danxia in Hunan , where an assembly of over three hundred monks gathered around him. One day he announced that he was leaving on pilgrimage again. Putting on his hat and straw sandals and taking up his staff, he died before his foot touched the ground. Danxia is known for his excellent poetry, and his verses are often quoted in Zen literature like the Record of Linji.

  Danyuan Yingzhen (Tan-yüan Ying-chen, Tangen Ōshin; 8–9th c.; Cases 65, 238). Little is known of Yingzhen except that he served as the attendant of Nanyang Huizhong, one of the Sixth Patriarch’s most important successors. As described in Case 238, he received from Nanyang the teaching on the ninety-seven circle-figures (), which he passed on to his student Yangshan Huiji.

  Daowu Yuanzhi (Tao-wu Yüan-chih, Dōgo Enchi; 768/69–835; Cases 220 n., 257), also known as Daowu Zongzhi , was a native of Jiangxi , with the lay name Zhang . While still a child he received ordination from Baizhang Weizheng, then studied under Yaoshan Weiyan (744/45/51–827/28/34), whose Dharma heir he eventually became. He later settled and taught on Mount Daowu in Tanzhou , in the province of Hunan . Yuanzhi’s Dharma-brother (and actual brother) was Yunyan Tansheng (782–841), a forebear of the Caodong school; the brothers appear together in a number of koans, usually with Daowu in the role of the compassionate and more deeply awakened older brother (e.g., X 80:113b–c). Daowu received the title Great Master Xiuyi .

  Daoxuan (Tao-hsüan, Dōsen; 596–667; Case 227) was an early Chinese Buddhist historian and the founder of the Nanshan Vinaya school . He become a monk in 611 and later received the full precepts under the priest Zhishou (567–635), then in 624 began training on Mount Zhongnan . There he founded the Nanshan Vinaya school, based on the Four-part Vinaya (Dharmaguptavinaya). From 645 he assisted the great translator monk Xuanzang (600?–664). He was also a prolific writer, producing a number of volumes on the Vinaya and also such historical works as the Xu gaoseng zhuan (Supplementary “Biographies of Eminent Monks”; T 50:2060). His Nanshan school is the only Vinaya school to have survived in China and is thus the tradition under which all Chinese monks receive the precepts.

  Dayu (Ta-yü, Daigu; 8–9th c.; Case 187). Very little is known of this figure; the Jingde-Era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp says of Dayu that he was a disciple of the master Guizong Zhichang, a Dharma successor of Mazu Daoyi who resided at the temple Guizong si on Mount Lu (T 51:273c).

  Dazhu Huihai (Ta-chu Hui-hai, Daiju Ekai; n.d.; Case 70) was a native of Fujian , with the family name Zhu . He was ordained at the temple Dayun si under the priest Daozhi , then went to study with Mazu Daoyi. The Jingde-Era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp records that when Mazu asked Dazhu why he came, Dazhu replied, “I seek the Buddhadharma.” Mazu asked, “Without examining the treasure in your very own home, why do you leave the house and run about searching? There is nothing here. What Buddhadharma do you seek?” Dazhu bowed and asked, “What is the treasure of my very own home?” Mazu answered, “That which is right now questioning me is your very own treasure. It contains everything, with nothing lacking. You are free to use it as you wish. Why do you seek outside?”

  Huihai later returned to his hometown to care for his aging ordination teacher. There he wrote his great treatise, the Essentials of Instantaneous Awakening . When Mazu read this he reported to the assembly, “In Yuezhou there is a great pearl. Its perfect, bright light penetrates everywhere without hindrance.” From then on Huihai was known as Dazhu , “The Great Pearl.” At the beginning of the Essentials of Instantaneous Awakening is the following exchange:

  “How should one practice in order to attain liberation?”

  “The only way to attain liberation is through sudden awakening.”

  “What is sudden awakening?”

  “‘Sudden’ means immediately dropping deluded thought. ‘Awakening’ means realizing that there is nothing to be attained.”

  “From where should one practice?”

  “From the root.”

  “What is the root?”

  “Mind is the root.” (X 63:18a)

  Deng Yinfeng (Teng Yin-feng, Tō Inpō; n.d.; Case 252) was a native of Shaowu in present-day Fujian; Deng was his family name. He trained under Shitou Xiqian and Mazu Daoyi, and eventually succeeded to the latter’s Dharma. Later he spent his winters at Mount Nanyue in present-day Hunan and his summers at Mount Wutai in Shanxi . Legend has it that one day he set out to climb the peak of Mount Wutai but in the course of the climb encountered the battling forces of the imperial army and the rebel Wu Yuanji (783/93–817). He threw his staff into the air and flew through the sky over the soldiers, who ceased fighting when they saw the monk’s feat. Deng is said to have died standing up in front of the Diamond Cave on Mount Wutai.


  Deshan Xuanjian (Te-shan Hsüan-chien, Tokusan Senkan; 782–865; Cases 22-1, 22-2, 54, 123, 128, 155, 166 n., 170 n., 171, 194, 197 n., 205, 256) was a native of Jiannan in Sichuan , with the family name of Zhou . He was deeply interested in doctrine and the sutras as a young monk, devoting so much attention to the Diamond Sutra (Jingang jing ) that he earned the nickname “Diamond Sutra Zhou” (Zhou Jingang). Hearing of the “mind is buddha” teachings of the Southern school of Zen, he packed his commentaries and set off south intending to prove the Zen people wrong. As he approached his destination he stopped at a teahouse for some refreshments (, lit., “to refresh the mind”). The old woman at the teahouse, seeing his commentaries on the Diamond Sutra, said, “The Diamond Sutra says, ‘Past mind is unobtainable, present mind is unobtainable, and future mind is unobtainable.’ What mind is the learned monk seeking to refresh?” Unable to answer, Deshan went to the master Longtan Chongxin, whose name he heard from the old woman. The story of his enlightenment is related in Case 128.

  After leaving Longtan he visited the master Guishan Lingyou, then lived in solitude for thirty years in Liyang , Hunan . During the Buddhist persecution under Emperor Wuzong (r. 814–46) Deshan took refuge in a cave on Mount Dufu . Following Wuzong’s death he was called by the provincial governor to serve as abbot of the monastery Gude Chanyuan on Mount De , where he soon attracted a large following. He often used the stick in his teaching (as Linji Yixuan often used the shout); one of his well-known statements was, “If you can speak, thirty blows! If you can’t speak, thirty blows!” Deshan received the honorary title Great Master Jianxing .

  Devadatta (Tipodaduo , Ti-p’o-ta-to, Daibadatta; Case 113). Devadatta, a cousin of Śākyamuni and a brother of Ānanda, is said to have had a dislike for Śākyamuni since childhood, to the extent of killing a white elephant that Śākyamuni presented to him. Later he became a disciple after hearing one of the Buddha’s sermons. He grew jealous of his cousin, however, and tried to take over leadership of the sangha. He convinced the prince Ajātaśatru, son of the Buddha’s patron King Bimbisāra, to murder his father and usurp the throne, then, with Ajātaśatru’s support, made several attempts on Śākyamuni’s life. In the first attempt, hired assassins were so impressed by the Buddha that they became his disciples. In the second, Devadatta attempted to roll a boulder over Śākyamuni, but the stone stopped short. In the third, Devadatta released a mad elephant in Śākyamuni’s path, but the elephant was rendered gentle by the Buddha’s compassion. Devadatta then attempted to divide the sangha by advocating rigorous asceticism and accusing Śākyamuni of soft living. Initially five hundred newly converted monks from the sangha in Vaishālī followed him but were later brought back to Śākyamuni’s fold by Śariputra and Maudgalyāyana. Devadatta is said to have finally fallen into hell alive. In the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, however, Śākyamuni says that Devadatta was his teacher in a previous existence and will be reborn in the future as a buddha named Heavenly Emperor.