Entangling Vines Page 33
Xuedou Chongxian (Hsüeh-tou Ch’ung-hsien, Setchō Jūken; 980–1052; Cases 19-1, 194) was a native of Suizhou , in present Sichuan ; his family name was Li . While still young he became a monk at the temple Puan yuan under a priest named Renxian . After taking the full precepts he visited a number of Zen masters, finally entering the assembly under Zhimen Guangzuo (d. 1031), a Yunmen-line master living in Suizhou , in modern Hubei . After succeeding to Zhimen’s Dharma Chongxian resided at Mount Cuifeng in Suzhou , modern Jiangsu , and then at Zisheng si on Mount Xuedou in Zhejiang , where he lived for thirty years until his death at the age of seventy-two. He was very active in teaching and writing, earning a reputation as the reviver of the Yunmen school and producing more than seventy heirs. He was also a talented poet, and his writings are considered among the best in the literature of Zen. Particularly well known is his work Xuedou baize songgu , a compendium of one hundred koans with Xuedou’s own verses on each case; this became the basis of the later koan collection Biyan lu (Blue Cliff Record). After his death Emperor Renzong (r. 1022–62) conferred upon him the posthumous title Great Master Miaojue .
Xuefeng Yicun (Hsüeh-feng I-ts’un, Seppō Gison; 822–908; Cases 22-1, 43, 200, 256) was a native of Nan’an in Quanzhou , present Fujian , with the family name Zeng . Xuefeng is said to have been deeply interested in things related to Buddhism from the time he was a young child. At the age of twelve he became a novice at the temple Yujian si in Putian , and at seventeen he received full ordination. During the great persecution of Buddhism in 845 under Emperor Wuzong (814–46) Xuefeng disguised himself in lay clothing but nevertheless continued his practice at Mount Furong under the Zen master Lingxun (9th c.), the first teacher of Xuansha Shibei.
In 853 he joined the assembly under Daci Huanzhong (780–862), a disciple of Baizhang Huaihai. Yantou Quanhuo and Qinshan Wensui were also there as monks in training at the time; the three became Dharma friends and subsequently set off on an extended pilgrimage to the Jiangnan region to study under various masters, notably Yangshan Huiji, Touzi Datong, and Dongshan Liangjie. Under Dongshan, Xuefeng served as cook for the community. At the age of thirty-nine, on Dongshan’s advice, Xuefeng left to study with Deshan Xuanjian, accompanied by Yantou and Qinshan.
Under Deshan he attained a degree of insight, but it was several years later, while he was on pilgrimage with Yantou, that he finally attained full awakening. At the inn where they were lodging during a long snowstorm Xuefeng devoted himself to meditation while Yantou slept and relaxed. When Xuefeng reproved his brother disciple, Yantou compared him to a clay idol in a village shrine. Xuefeng thereupon admitted his inability to attain true peace of mind. In response to Yantou’s offer to check his understanding, he spoke of the insights he had had while listening to the words of his various teachers. Finally Yantou said, “Haven’t you heard that that which enters through the front gate is not the family treasure?… If you wish to spread the great teaching, it must pour forth from your own heart, and cover heaven and earth.” With these words Xuefeng was thoroughly enlightened.
In 866, several years after Deshan’s death, Xuefeng, Yantou, and Qinshan set off to meet Linji Yixuan, but parted company after meeting Linji’s disciple Elder Ding on the way and hearing that the great master had died. Xuefeng went to Min and built a hermitage in Jian’an . In 875 he founded the temple Chongsheng si (Xuefeng si ) on Mount Xianggu in Fujian. The assembly under him numbered fifteen hundred; his fifty-six Dharma successors included such important figures as Xuansha Shibei and Yunmen Wenyan, from whom two of the most important lines of Zen teaching developed.
Xutang Zhiyu (Hsü t’ang Chih-yü, Kidō Chigu; 1185–1269; Cases 28-2, 61, 71, 87, 104, 105, 133 n., 143, 145, 146, 158, 183-2, 186, 200, 205, 270-2, 271) was a native of Siming , in present-day Zhejiang ; his family name was Chen . He entered a local temple named Puming si at the age of sixteen and studied under a priest named Shiyun . After an extended pilgrimage he arrived at Mount Jing in Hangzhou , where he joined the assembly under Yun’an Puyan and eventually became the master’s Dharma heir. He visited a number of other masters after leaving Yun’an and eventually served as priest of several important temples. After a temporary retirement occasioned by political difficulties he was imperially appointed to head the temple Jingci si and Yun’an’s monastery on Mount Jing.
Among Xutang’s students was the Japanese monk Nanpo Jōmyō, the founder of the Japanese Rinzai lineage that includes all present-day Rinzai masters in Japan. The koans included in the “Alternate Answers” section of the Recorded Sayings of Xutang are still used in advanced Japanese Rinzaischool koan training.
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Yang Danian (Yang Ta-nien, Yō Dainen; n.d.; Case 137), also known as Yang Yi (Yang I, Yō Oku), was a native of Puchengxian in present Fujian . His brilliance was recognized from childhood; at the age of eleven, at the request of Emperor Taizong, he wrote five scrolls of poetry in the imperial presence. He later held a succession of official posts, including prefect of Henan and Ruzhou . A serious Zen practitioner, he became a Dharma successor of Guanghui Yuanlian; he was one of the compilers of the Jingde-Era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp and the author of the preface.
Yangqi Fanghui (Yang-ch’i Fang-hui, Yōgi Hōe; 992–1049; Cases 172, 183-1), founder of the Yangqi branch of Linji-school Zen, was a native of Yichunxian in Yuanzhou , present-day Jiangxi ; his family name was Leng . It is said that he took a trip to the monastery on Mount Jiufeng in Ruizhou , present Jiangxi, and, unable to bear the thought of leaving, shaved his head and became a monk. He later traveled widely in search of a teacher, finally entering the assembly under Shishuang Chuyuan on Mount Nanyuan . He followed Shishuang when the latter moved to Mount Shishuang . After succeeding to Shishuang’s Dharma he taught at Putong Chanyuan on Mount Yangqi in Yuanzhou, then, in 1046, moved to the temple Haihui si on Mount Yungai in Tanzhou , in present Hunan . The teaching line he founded remains alive today in Japanese Rinzai Zen, making Yangqi an ancestor of all present-day Japanese Rinzai masters.
Yangshan Huiji (Yang-shan Hui-chi, Kyōzan Ejaku; 807–83; Cases 60, 65, 76, 82, 116, 123, 149, 151, 187, 192, 206, 238) was a native of of Shaozhou in present Guangdong . His family name was She . He sought to become a monk from the age of fifteen but met with his parents’ opposition; at the age of seventeen he finally gained their permission after cutting off two of his fingers to demonstrate his determination.
After studying the vinaya at Nanhua si he visited several of the greatest masters of his time, finally joining the assembly under Danyuan Yingzhen. Upon attaining a measure of awakening he left again on pilgrimage and entered the temple of Guishan Lingyou, then living in Tanzhou . One day he asked Guishan, “Where does the true buddha abide?” Guishan answered, “Through the marvelous functioning of awareness without thought, turn the mind inward to contemplate the infinity of the spirit’s light. With thinking exhausted the mind returns to its source, where nature and form are eternal and phenomena and principal are nondual. There is the true buddha suchness!” With these words Yangshan attained complete enlightenment. After fifteen years Yangshan succeeded to Guishan’s Dharma; he and Guishan are honored as the cofounders of the Guiyang school. Later he lived on Mount Yang in Yuanzhou , in present-day Jiangxi ; at Guanyin yuan , also in Jiangxi; and on Mount Dongping in Shaozhou. To Guishan’s style of Zen he added use of the circle-figures that he had received from Danyuan (see Case 238), and that became one of the characteristic teachings of the Guiyang lineage. His posthumous title is Great Master Zhitong ; his nickname was “Little Śākyamuni.”
Yantou Quanhuo (Yen-t’ou Ch’uan-huo, Gantō Zenkatsu; 828–87; Cases 22-1, 61, 166, 171, 256) was a native of Nan’an in Quanzhou , part of the present-day province of Fujian ; his family name was Ke . He became a novice under a certain Master Yi of the temple Lingquan si and received the full precepts at the temple Ximing si in Chang’an. At first he devoted himself to the study of the scriptures, particularly the Nirvana Sutra, but later he became interested in the prac
tice of Zen. At the temple of Daci Huanzhong (780–862) he met Xuefeng Yicun and Qinshan Wensui, monks in training at that time. The three set off on a pilgrimage that took them to Yangshan Huiji, Touzi Datong, Dongshan Liangjie, and Deshan Xuanjian. Yantou was one of Deshan’s most brilliant students; many koans consist of exchanges between him, Deshan, and Deshan’s other students, with Yantou generally having the last word.
According to the Zen legend that forms the background of Case 166, sometime after succeeding to Deshan’s Dharma Yantou worked as a ferryman on a lake in Ezhou , in the southeastern part of present-day Hubei. Subsequently he lived on Mount Yantou in the same province. When public order broke down near the final years of the Tang dynasty the assembly dispersed, but Yantou remained. One day bandits came to the monastery when Yantou was sitting in meditation. Angry at finding nothing worth taking, they stabbed the master. Yantou remained calm, it is said, but gave a great shout that resounded for a distance of ten li.
Yanyang Shanxin (Yen-yang Shan-hsin, Gen’yō Zenshin; n.d.; Case 6) was a Dharma heir of the great Zen master Zhaozhou Congshen; otherwise little is known of him. After finishing his training he resided at the temple Xinxing yuan on Mount Yanyang . He is said to have kept a tiger and a snake that would eat from his hand.
Ying’an Tanhua (Ying-an T’an-hua, Ōan Donge; 1103–63; Cases 30, 59, 75) was a native of Huangmei in present Hubei ; his surname was Jiang . At age seventeen he became a monk at the temple Dongchan si in the same province, then traveled to Suizhou , present Hubei, to begin his Zen training under a Caodong master named Shuinan Shousui (1072–1147). From there he visited Yuanwu Keqin, who advised him to study with Yuanwu’s disciple Huqiu Shaolong (1077–1136). After succeeding to Huqiu’s Dharma he served as priest of a number of temples, finally settling at the great monastery on Mount Tiantong , in present-day Zhejiang . He and his contemporary Dahui Zonggao were known as the Linji school’s “Two Amṛta Gates” for their era owing to their skill and vigor as masters. Ying’an, the teacher of Mian Xianjie, is an ancestor of all Rinzai Zen masters in Japan today.
Yongjia Xuanjue (Yung-chia Hsüan-chüeh, Yōka Genkaku; 675–713; Cases 168 n., 229 n.), one of the greatest disciples of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, was a native of Yongjia in Wenzhou , present Zhejiang . His lay name was Dai . He became a monk while still quite young and studied the Tripitaka; he also practiced the śamatha-vipaśyanā meditation of the Tiantai school and is said to have mastered the practice of maintaining the meditative mind within all the activities of life.
At the urging of another priest he went to visit Huineng. Upon meeting him Yongjia showed none of the usual signs of respect, but instead he circled Huineng three times, then stood calmly. When Huineng asked about this behavior, Yongjia replied, “The matter of birth-and-death is urgent, and impermanence is terribly swift.” “Why don’t you experience no-birth and awaken to the not-swift?” asked Huineng. “To experience it is itself no-birth, to awaken is itself the not-swift [i.e., that which is unmoving],” answered Yongjia. “That’s right!” said the Sixth Patriarch, upon which Yongjia bowed and paid his respects.
Though he stayed at Huineng’s monastery only a single night, he was recognized as one of the Patriarch’s successors. He returned to Wenzhou and taught the multitude of students who gathered around him. Among his works is the The Song of Enlightenment . His detailed instructions on praxis in the Zen tradition were set out in the Anthology of Yongjia of the Chan School (T 48:2013), from which the following passage comes:
He who aspires to seek the great Way must first of all make pure the three acts [of body, word, and thought] through pure practice. Then, in the four forms of demeanor—sitting, standing, walking, and lying—he will enter the Way by degrees. When he has reached the state where the objects of the six roots have been thoroughly penetrated while conforming with conditions, and the objective world and the subjective mind both have been stilled, he will mysteriously meet with the marvelous principle. (T 48:388b; from Sasaki 2009, p. 222)
Yongming Yanshou (Yung-ming Yen-shou, Yōmei Enju; 904–75; Case 271 n.) was a native of Yuhang in Zhejiang ; his family name was Wang . Although he wished to enter the monkhood from the time he was a child, it was only after serving as an official until the age of twenty-eight that he could receive ordination under Cuiyan Lingcan (n.d.). He eventually became the Dharma heir of Tiantai Deshao, and thus the third ancestor of the Fayan school. He later lived at the temples Zisheng si on Mount Xuedou ; Xueyin si in Wuyue ; and Yongming si in Hangzhou . He wrote the Record of the Source Mirror , highly regarded in Korea; thirty-six Korean monks were sent to study with him, with the result that the Fayan school flourished in Korea even as it ultimately disappeared in China. In Zen circles Yongming is especially known for his use of the nenbutsu practice, the invoking of Amitābha Buddha’s name, believing that the combined practice of meditation and the nenbutsu was the surest path to enlightenment. This approach came to characterize Chinese Zen training.
Yu Di (Yü Ti, U Teki; d. 818; Cases 39, 86) was a native of the Henan region. Following a distinguished military career he served as governor of the districts of Huzhou (791–93), Suzhou (793–98), and Xiangzhou (798–808). He was an able administrator, though arrogant and dictatorial. During his tenure in Xiangzhou he launched a persecution of Buddhism that ended only with his conversion by Ziyu Daotong, in an exchange described, in part, in Case 39. The full story is that Yu Di ordered all mendicant monks in his jurisdiction brought to the central court in the district capital, Xiangyang , where they were condemned to death. Hearing of this, Daotong journeyed to Xiangzhou, where he was arrested at the border and brought to the central court. There he faced Yu:
The Prefect, seated grandly on a chair, put a hand on the hilt of his sword and asked, “Bah! You teacher. Don’t you know that the Prefect of Xiangyang has the freedom to put you to the sword?” The Master said, “Don’t you know a King of Dharma doesn’t fear birth-and-death?” The Prefect said, “Priest, have you ears in your head?” The Master responded, “My eyebrows and eyes are unhindered. When I, a poor monk, meet with the Prefect in an interview, what kind of hindrance could there be?” At this the Prefect threw away his sword, donned his official uniform, bowed low, and asked, “I have heard there is a statement in the teaching that says that the black wind blows the ships, and wafts them to the land of the Rakṣasas. What does this mean?” “Yu Di!” the Master called. The Prefect’s face changed color. The Master remarked, “The land of the Rakṣasas is not far!” The Prefect again asked, “What about Buddha?” “Yu Di!” the Master called again. The Prefect answered, “Yes?” The Master said: “Don’t seek anywhere else.” At these words the Prefect attained great enlightenment, bowed low, and became his disciple. (Sasaki, Iriya, and Fraser 1971, pp. 22–23; adapted)
In 808 Yu Di’s son married the eldest daughter of Emperor Xianzong (r. 805–20). He went to live in Chang’an and was given a ministerial post, but in 813 fell from favor and was demoted. He died soon afterward.
Yu Di was, along with Pei Xiu, Yang Danian, and Li Zunxu (d. 1038), one of the Four Worthies —Chinese government officials who were accomplished Zen practitioners. Yu was a good friend of the great layman Pang Yun (see Case 86), and the compiler of Pang’s recorded sayings.
Yuanming (Yüan-ming, Enmyō; n.d.; Case 194) was the imperially bestowed title of Deshan Yuanmi , a monk of the early Song period. He was a successor of Yunmen Wenyan and lived on Mount De in Langzhou .
Yuanwu Keqin (Yüan-wu K’o-ch’in; Engo Kokugon; 1063–1135; Cases 32, 73, 77, 89, 92, 96, 98, 99 n., 112, 155 n., 266) was a native of Songning , in Pengzhou , modern Sichuan ; his surname was Luo . His family had a long tradition of Confucian scholarship, and Yuanwu, able to memorize a text of a thousand characters in a single day, showed promise in this direction. However, Yuanwu felt a strong connection with Buddhism after visiting a temple and reading several Buddhist texts. He became a monk and devoted himself to the study of Buddhist thought until a serious illness made him d
espair of resolving the problem of samsara through the mastery of doctrine.
Taking up the practice of meditation, he embarked on a long pilgrimage that took him to a number of teachers. Most sanctioned his understanding, but Wuzu Fayan would not. As Keqin left in anger, Fayan called out, “Remember me when you are ill.” Soon afterward, at Mount Jin , Keqin fell sick and, taking this as a sign, returned to Fayan and remained with the master until he succeeded to his Dharma. In 1102 Keqin returned to Sichuan to care for his ill mother, and, at the request of the local prefect, lectured at Liuzu si and Zhaojue si . In the Zhenghe era (1111–17) Keqin went south and met the official Zhang Wujin, who became a follower and invited him to reside at Lingquan yuan on Mount Jia , in present Hunan .
By now Keqin was well known and had many students, including important government officials. He served as the priest of a succession of notable temples, including Daolin si in Tanzhou , Tianning si in Dongjing , and Zhenru yuan on Mount Yunju . It was while at the temples Zhaojue si, Lingquan yuan, and Daolin si that Yuanwu delivered the lectures that later formed the great Zen literary work Blue Cliff Record. A purple robe and the title Zen Master Foguo were conferred on him by Emperor Huizong (r. 1100–25). The name by which he is best known, Zen Master Yuanwu , was bestowed on him by Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127–62). Keqin had sixteen Dharma heirs; of these the two most important were Dahui Zonggao and Huqiu Shaolong (1077–1136). Through Huqiu, Yuanwu is an ancestor of all present-day Rinzai Zen masters.
Yuezhou Qianfeng (Yüeh-chou Ch’ien-feng; Esshū Kenpō; n.d.; Cases 17, 138, 211) was a Caodong master of the late Tang period and a Dharma heir of Dongshan Liangjie. He lived in Yuezhou , in present-day Zhejiang ; otherwise nothing is known of him.