My old university research paper about the
Buddhist teachings of a famous ancient Chinese monk from the 7th century.
Funny how I wrote this 20 years ago, as an undergraduate student in year four, for a course “History of Chinese Thought”, long before I became a “dharma girl”
(in the Tibetan tradition).
I didn’t know anything about anything but the professor did say to me:
I didn’t know anything about anything but the professor did say to me:
“Final exam, you wrote the best answer, better than my graduate students, on the
emptiness question – on the definition of nothingness. ”
Ha ha: I was that girl who got good grades in school. And now, in this our Dog-eat-doggy 21st century, I still haven’t learned all the tricks to “empty” my two mental obscurations – afflictive and knowledge – directly.
Like The Elephant Man, I fight for my human dignity, I cry,
Lama says, “We are all in jail, our minds, in
jail. Samsara Jail . You, must get out of jail, samsara
jail. Study and practice the Buddha-dharma.
Your mind, get out of jail.”
Ha ha: I was that girl who got good grades in school. And now, in this our Dog-eat-doggy 21st century, I still haven’t learned all the tricks to “empty” my two mental obscurations – afflictive and knowledge – directly.
Like The Elephant Man, I fight for my human dignity, I cry,
“I
have afflictions, but I am not an affliction: I
am a human being.
With feelings. Therefore, I
am not an object of abandonment.”
This our troubled times, I
fight for the dignity of all SSBs,
“You are not an affliction: you
are a suffering sentient being.
Therefore, you are
also not an object of abandonment.”
我是有情 、雖然「我」有煩惱、我並不是「煩惱」所以、我不是「拋棄之物 」妳們也不是 。
The Ch’an Teachings of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng 「六主惠能教授」
By Judy Lin – PHIL 323 – Dr Daniel L Overmyer – UBC – Submitted 6 April 1987
Ch’an
禪 is the short form of the Chinese term Ch’an-na 禪那 , a phonetic corruption of the Sanskrit
term Dhyana, literally translated as
‘meditation’. [i] In the Ch’an
teachings of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng 六主惠能 (638-713), meditation is understood
as Enlightenment – the direct awakening of the mind to see the true essence of
reality. This Ch’an idea is fundamentally a development of Indian Mahayana
Buddhist philosophy within the Chinese frame-of-mind, where the “Chinese mind
completely asserted itself, in a sense, in opposition to the Indian mind.” [ii] Not only is Hui-neng credited with having
brought the still abstract and cerebral nature of Ch’an thought – since Brahmin Bodhidharma first introduced Buddhism
to Northern China in the late fifth century – down to a level more suitable to
the tastes of the practical Chinese mentality, but Hui-neng’s teachings also
reveal his unique directness of understanding and dynamism of response that
have determined the course Ch’an
thought was to follow from the eighth century Tang Dynasty to the present. [iii]
The major concern here is to attempt
at an understanding of the concepts and aims of Ch’an from the perspective of Hui-neng, through an examination of
the Liu-tsu T’an-ching 六主臺經 : The
Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch,
a significant work which purports to convey his teachings. This paper will deal with Hui-neng’s
recognition of Enlightenment as a personal experience of True Reality achieved
by seeing into one’s original nature directly (chien-hsing 見性), which is the essence of Ch’an.
The Enlightenment experience will be clarified in terms of Hui-neng’s
concept of no-thought (wu-nien 無念) and its relation to non-form and
non-abiding, Emptiness (sunyata), intuitive wisdom (Prajna), Samadhi of Oneness, straightforward mind, tso-ch’an 作禪and
ch’an-ting 禪定
. This paper will also deal with the
significance of stressing Hui-neng’s
“complete illiteracy”, his criticism of the practice of kan-ching 看靜 –
to keep an eye on Purity, and his revolutionary identification of Dhyana (ting 定) and Prajna (hui 慧).
I have relied on Philip B.
Yampolsky’s English translation of the Tun-huang manuscript
version of Hui-neng’s teachings in his Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch as a primary resource for the treatise of
this paper, and also used Wing-Tsit Chan’s own edited translation, The
Platform Scripture, contained in his A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy
as a companion to Yamposky’s. Daisetz
Eitaro Suzuki’s The Zen Doctrine of No-Mind as well as Yampolsky’s
“Introduction” in his Platform Sutra and Heinrich Dumoulin’s A
History of Zen Buddhism have been extremely helpful in guiding my thoughts
on the interpretation of Hui-neng’s teachings.
The authenticity of the book is
questionable. According to Yampolsky,
the Tun-huang manuscript version, written between 830-860 with obvious
errors and areas of illegibility, is evidently a copy of an earlier version, which had undergone many revisions
since it was first compiled, so the book states, by the head monk Fa-hai. [iv] Section 47 of the Platform Sutra
states that possession of a written copy of the Sutra by worthy disciples
serves as authouritative proof of having grasped the import of Master
Hui-neng’s teachings and being able to expound it to others. [v] This suggests that many copies of the text
were in circulation at the time. The Tun-huang
manuscript is the earliest version extant; no original version of the Platform
Sutra exists to justify the doubts concerning the reliability of the
information. The book itself is composed
of the sermons given by Hui-neng at the Ta-fa Temple with an autobiography and
other materials. The story of Hui-neng
was corrupted through the process of transmission. What evidence is left to discern the few facts
from the legend of Hui-neng is minimal; legend and fact are so closely
bound/intertwined as to be difficult to distinguish. Nevertheless, his disciples consider the book
as a spiritual legacy containing the essential teachings of their Master. [vi]
The portrayal of Hui-neng as
“completely illiterate” serves to emphasize the uniqueness of his character as
a simple man of humble origins whose own spiritual insights into the Buddhist dharmas enabled him to inherit the
highest position in Ch’an, despite being
unlearned and never becoming an ordained monk.
Hui-neng is shown narrating his own story and hence, bringing a level of
intimacy to his teachings. Losing his
father in childhood, Hui-neng supports his mother by peddling firewood. One day, he hears a man reciting The Diamond
Sutra and was immediately enlightened.
He seeks Hung-jen, the Fifth Patriarch
in Feng-mu Shan to learn from him the Buddhadharma, but was accepted into the
monastery as a rice pounder. There, he composes a verse in response to the
head monk Shen-hsiu’s verse, revealing his greater understanding of the Dharma
and was thereby acknowledged by Hung-jen as his successor. Hui-neng leaves the monastery to devote the
rest of his life expounding his knowledge of Buddhadharma to all who wished to
learn it. Hui-neng may not have been a
scholar, but he was no ignoramus: The
Platform Sutra reveals many instances where he quotes selections from Mahayana
Sutras, showing his familiarity with some Classical Buddhist literature. Portraying Hui-neng as lacking in knowledge
of words and letters underlines the Master’s own intent to rid Ch’an of the
intellectualism and verbalism that is characteristic of the Buddhist teachings
of his predecessors. [vii] Hui-neng himself says: “The practice of self-awakening does not lie
in verbal arguments.” [viii] Enlightenment is not dependent upon one’s
ability to analyze and rationalize the concepts in the written scriptures, but
on one’s deep understanding of the spiritual essence behind the works conducive
to the attaining of Enlightenment. In
this sense, Enlightenment is accessible to even the most ordinary labourer who
had no scholarly advantages.
The basic ideas of Hui-neng’s
teachings derive their source from the classical literature of the Prajanparamita,
Nirvana
and Vimalakirti sutras. [ix] Hui-neng himself stresses that his teachings
are not original: “My teaching has been
handed down from the sages of the past; it is not my own personal knowledge.” [x] As a Buddhist, he frequently uses Sanskrit
terms and phrases, and speaks of them in terms of Ch’an. The Platform Sutra
devotes a section to Hui-neng conferring the “Formless Precepts” – sutras from
Mahayana literature – to over ten-thousand monks, nuns, lay followers,
officials and Confucian scholars assembled before him. The purpose of this seems to serve to
initiate a general group into Buddhism. [xi] As a Buddhist, he also believes that
salvation lies in Enlightenment and aims for universal salvation through
Enlightenment of each and every human being.
Enlightenment will free us from “the four states of phenomena”[xii]: birth, being, change, death.
Ch’an
concerns itself with the cultivation of the mind because our perception of
ourselves and the world in which we live is produced from the mind. Hui-neng’s Ch’an seeks to change our ordinary perception of life and things
which is limited and relative to acquire a new perception that realizes True
Reality, which is absolute and unlimited, and thus attain emancipation. Ch’an
is also the mind’s awakening to or realization of the true essence of the mind
that perceives reality as it really is.
This perception is what Hui-neng more concretely states as “seeing into
one’s original nature” (chien-hsing 見性).
[xiii] This realization relies on the illumination
of the mind by the light of Prajna –
an intuitive, spiritual knowing and experiencing the true essence of the mind
by the mind directly and without a medium.
Hui-neng is all too aware that intellectual discourse hinders the mind’s
awakening to its True Self; therefore, he does not assume an attitude of
intellectualism but goes straight to the heart of the matter to speak of
Enlightenment as a real, tangible experience of seeing into one’s Self-Nature
which can be defined as knowing hsing
性 – the vital force, the inner creative
energy, the principle of vitality, and the ultimate dominant force of our
entire being which is capable of being known by the mind. [xiv] Knowledge hsing
is also knowledge of Prajna, which is also knowledge of Self-Nature
and is the enlightenment-experience.
Hui-neng’s notion of Ch’an Enlightenment begins with the idea
“pen-lai wu-i-wu” 本來無一物: From the first, not a thing is. [xv] Although this phrase is not found in the Tun-huang
version of The
Platform Sutra, it
is the first proclamation made by Hui-neng which distinguishes his teachings
from that of his predecessors and peers.
This ideas is illustrated in his two verses:
菩提本無樹 Fundamentally, perfect wisdom has no
tree.
明鏡亦非臺 Nor has the bright mirror any stand.
本來無一物 Buddha Nature is forever clear and
pure.
何處惹塵埃 Where
is there any dust?
The mind is the tree of perfect
wisdom.
The body is the stand of a bright
mirror.
The bright mirror is originally clear
and pure.
The
above verses are Hui-neng’s response to (his rival monk scholar) Shen-hsiu’s 神秀own verse:
身是菩提樹 The body is the tree of perfect
wisdom (bodhi).
心如明鏡臺 The mind is the stand of a bright
mirror.
時時勤佛拭 At all times diligently wipe it.
The
mirror-mind is an important symbol for the activity of the mind when it engages
in meditation – a daily practice which is essential to emancipation. The differing viewpoints of Hui-neng and Shen-hsiu
account for their differerent
interpretations. Dumoulin says: “Shen-hsiu depicts the mirror-mind as
passive, standing and must be continually wiped clean to free it of dust. “Dust” represents the obscurities and passions aroused
by desires, images, thoughts of the human psyche. Meditation is necessary to oppose the activities
of this psyche in order to attain a completely quiet mind. Meditation means to purify one’s own mind
which is defiled by obscurities and passions of this life and must be restored
to its original purity through meditative effort.” [xviii] Hui-neng’s verse says that “viewing the mind… is of
itself delusion, and as delusions are just like fantasies, there is nothing to
be seen… man’s nature is of itself pure, but because of false thoughts, True
Reality is obscured. If you exclude the
delusions, then the original nature reveals its purity.” [xix] Emancipation lies in the realization that the
mind is already undefiled.
The following passage reveals
Hui-neng’s opposition to the idea of kan-ching
看淨 – “to keep an eye on Purity” [xx]
- a quietist method of meditation practiced by the Northern School of
Shen-hsiu.
The
deluded man clings to the characteristics of things, adheres to the Samadhi of
oneness, [thinks] that straightforward mind is sitting without moving and
casting aside delusions without letting things arise in the mind. This he considers to be the Samadhi of
oneness. This practice is the same as
insentiency and the cause of an obstruction of the Tao. [xxi]
For
Hui-neng, Shen-hsiu’s meditative experience is equivalent to the practice of
mental sterility and is almost suicidal.
This method has the effect of tranquilizing the mind by wiping out all
thoughts, but the mind still clings to an object which is the contemplation of
the purified and thus empty mind – neither of which is emancipation. Hui-neng’s criticism of kan-ching 看淨is similar to Lao-Tsu’s own: “Can you clean and purify your profound
insight, so it will be spotless?” [xxii] Hui-neng regards the two concepts of Samadhi
of Oneness and Straightforward Mind as synonymous. When Hui-neng says: “Only practicing straightforward mind, and in
all things having no attachments whatsoever, is called the Samadhi of oneness, [xxiii]
he speaks of “the ultimate meditational attitude” [xxiv]
of the liberated and transcendental mind that clings to no finite object, not
even to the Samadhi of Oneness itself.
Hui-neng’s concept of no-thought (wu-nien 無念)
clarifies the activity of the Enlightened Mind.
The Platform Sutra states no-though as the central doctrine of
Hui-neng’s teachings. No-thought is
associated with “non-form as the substance, and non-abiding as the basis” [xxv]
which are the operating nature of the mind.
The mind is depicted as having thoughts in succession, but there is no
clinging:
Successive
thoughts do not stop; prior thoughts, present thoughts, and future thoughts
follow one after the other without cessation.
If one instant of thought is cut off, the Dharma body separates from the
physical body and in the midst of successive thoughts there will be no place
for attachment to anything. If one
instant of thought clings, then successive thoughts cling; this is known as
being fettered. If in all things
successive thoughts do not cling, then you are unfettered. [xxvi]
The
mind that does not cling to thoughts is devoid of thought. It is the natural function of the mind to
have thoughts, but it is the original state of the mind to be non-abiding which
is having no attachments to thoughts.
The mind is pure and purity is formless, so how can we speak of clinging
to anything? Having thoughts does not
defile the mind; the non-abiding mind is full of thoughts but sees them in a
non-objective way. Non-abiding means the
mind perceives things in its true thusness without distinctions and
classifications which is hsing 性 –
the indestructible and undefinable substance underlying all things. In the following passage, Hui-neng seems to
be clarifying the non-abiding nature of no-thought in terms of this hsing:
“No”
is the “no” of what? “Thought” means
“thinking” of what? “No” is the
separations from the dualism that produces the passions. “Thought” means thinking of the original
nature of True Reality. True Reality is
the substance of thoughts; thoughts are the function of True Reality. If you give rise to thoughts from your
self-nature, then, although you see, hear, perceive, and know, you are not
stained by the manifold environment, and are always free. [xxvii]
Hui-neng
also recognizes hsing or the
non-abiding mind as operating like the “Tao…that circulates freely; why should
he impede it?” [xxviii]
Hui-neng’s
doctrine of no-thought is drawn from the philosophy of the Prajnaparamita
Sutras. Stated in prajnaparamita terms, no-thought is
sunyata-emptiness. Emptiness does not
mean nothingness in the sense of pure void where there is nothing existing in
the mind for the non-abiding mind to know and experience:
The
capacity of the mind is broad and huge, like the vast sky. Do not sit with a mind fixed on
emptiness. If you do, you will fall into
a neutral kind of emptiness. Emptiness
includes the sun, moon, stars and planets, the great earth, mountains and
rivers, all trees and grasses, bad mane and good men, bad things and good
things, heaven and hell; they are all in the midst of emptiness. The emptiness of human nature is also like
this. [xxix]
The
mind must be allowed to function as itself and of itself to its full capacity,
unimpeded, undisturbed and unlimited in scope.
The no-thought mind acknowledges
the existence of all things externally but internally does not see them in
dualistic terms of shape, form and subject-object relations. The non-abiding mind experiences things
intuitively without placing a limit of any kind; because its perception is
without bounds, it is capable of knowing all things. Implicit in the above passage is a
cosmological perception of man’s relationship with the universe: the mind that is empty is the
non-discriminating mind that perceives the universe as unified oneness and
sameness based on the realization that since hsing 性
is present in all
life and things, it is the underlying substance that unties them all into
Absolute Wholeness. This unifying
identification arises from the mind’s awareness of awareness itself. Suzuki calls it “identification seeing” and
explains it better in this illustration:
When
I see the flower and the flower sees me means that the flower ceases to be
flower. I cease to be myself. Instead there is unification. The flower vanishes into something higher
that a flower and I vanish into something higher than any individual object. [xxx]
In
Hui-neng’s concept of “seeing into one’s Self-Nature” lies his revolutionary
identification of meditation (Dhyana/ting 定)
and intuitive wisdom (Prajna/hui 慧) as the basis of his Ch’an teaching. Hui-neng
sees meditation as conducive to revealing one Prajna. Both are
inter-related and inter-connected:
Never
under any circumstances say mistakenly that meditation and wisdom are
different; they are a unity, not two things.
Meditation itself is the substance of wisdom; wisdom itself is the
function of meditation. At the moment
when there is wisdom, then mediation exists in wisdom. At the moment when there is meditation, then
wisdom exists in meditation. [xxxi]
The above is a fundamental concept
where Prajna is not only the function
of meditation but is also the intuitive wisdom inherent in our original nature;
thus, the realization of Prajna is
essential to attaining Enlightenment. Dhyana is also defined as calmness (ting 定), which is the state of the
non-abiding mind that sees Prajna and is thus awakened. To think of Dhyana and Prajna
as existing separately is to think dualistically. Dhyana
and Prajna are like Hui-neng’s
illustration of the lamp and light: “If
there is a lamp, there is light; if there is no lamp, there is no light.” [xxxii] Although the identification of the two ideas
was not originated by Hui-neng since
it was drawn from the Nirvana Sutra, it was revolutionary at the time,
serving as his reaction against those Buddhist schools which saw them as
separate or valued one over the other. [xxxiii]
In
the teachings, Hui-neng does place some weight on the practice of meditation
and on the reading of scriptures as essential to the attaining of
Enlightenment. As to scriptures,
Hui-neng singles out the Diamond Sutra for attention. His preference is likely due to the fact that
he was enlightened upon hearing it. He
says: “With only one volume of the Diamond
Sutra, you many see into your own natures… Should a person of the Mahayana hear
the Diamond Sutra, his mind will open and he will gain awakening. [xxxiv] In the Platform Sutra, he speaks of tso-ch’an 坐禪 –
sitting-in-meditation:
…
“sitting” means without obstruction anywhere, outwardly and under all
circumstances, not to activate thoughts.
“Meditation” is internally to see the original nature and not become
confused. [xxxv]
Hui-neng also sees tso-ch’an 坐禪as
ch’an-ting 禪定 :
“Outwardly to exclude form is Ch’an;
inwardly to be unconfused is meditation (ting 定).” [xxxvi] Therefore, Ch’an meditation is practicing samadhi
of oneness and to realize the non-abiding mind.
Hui-neng tells us that meditation can be practiced “at all times,
walking, staying, sitting, and laying”, [xxxvii]
but he does not venture further to denote a process of mediation for us because
there is no specific formula to follow for attaining Enlightenment. Meditation and scripture are valued to the
extent of preparing the mind for the moment of awakening but are not the means
to it. Although both methods must play
subordinate roles to the ultimate goal of Enlightenment itself, they serve to
sensitize the mind to respond quickly and spontaneously – the only way Ch’an can be attained without any
hindrances.
Hui-neng’s
Enlightenment is an experience that comes suddenly, at once, as opposed to
gradual. For Hui-neng, there is no
distinction in the awakening itself; the only difference lies in the method
used to attain it and in the individual’s degree of sensitivity to grasp True
Reality:
Good
friends, in the Dharma, there is no sudden or gradual, but among people, some
are keen and others dull. The deluded
recommend the gradual method, the enlightened practice the sudden teaching…
Once enlightened, there is from the outset no distinction between the two
methods. [xxxviii]
…
If the deluded person understands and his mind is awakened, then there is no
difference between him and the man of wisdom. [xxxix]
Although Hui-neng stressed the
“suddenness” of Enlightenment, this does not imply that the awakening is easily
attainable. It must involve a thorough
experience of practicing straightforward mind, which involves meditation and
studying scriptures before one can attain Enlightenment. Hui-neng fails to define the specific
characteristics of this sudden awakening.
However, it must involve a transcendental breaking away from our ordinary
consciousness that is immediate in its occurrence. Suzuki explains the “sudden” experience of
awakening more clearly as a “leap, logical and psychological”:
The
logical leap is that the ordinary process of reasoning stops short, and what
has been considered
irrational is perceived to be perfectly natural while the psychological leap is
that the orders of consciousness are overstepped and one is plunged into the
Unconscious which is not, after all, unconscious. This process is discrete, abrupt, and altogether beyond calculation;
this is “seeing into one’s own Self-Nature”. [xl]
Hui-neng
recognizes Ch’an Enlightenment as the
same Enlightenment-experience Buddha had under the bodhi tree near the river
Nairanjana. [xli] The “seeing into one’s Self-Nature” was first
attained by Buddha, but
each and everyone of us possessed the same potential to be Buddhas or Enlightened
Ones. Buddha was a “sentient being”. [xlii] We as sentient beings can also be Buddhas
regardless of social or intellectual differences as indicated in Hui-neng’s
response to Hung-jen’s 弘忍question
as to his potential for becoming a Buddha:
“Although people are distinguished as northerners and southerners, there
is neither north nor south in the Buddha-nature. The physical body of the barbarian and [that
of] the monk are different. But what
difference is there in their Buddha-nature?
[xliii] Although we may differ in physical
attributes, class, and intelligence, internally, our Self-Natures are al the
same. Realization of one’s Self-Nature
is also realization of Buddha-nature or Buddha-wisdom.
Throughout the book, Hui-neng
stresses the need for self-realization:
Good friends, see for yourselves the
purity of your own natures, practice and accomplish for yourselves…
self-practice is the practice of the Buddha; by self-accomplishment, you may
achieve the Buddha Way for yourselves. [xliv]
Spiritual wisdom is not to be found
externally but resides within the mind of the practitioner himself for “the ten
thousand dharmas are all within our
own minds” [xlv]
and “in your own physical bodies you have in yourselves the attributes of
inherent enlightenment, so that with correct views you can be saved. If you are awakened to correct views, the
wisdom of Prajna will wipe away
ignorance and delusions, and you all will save yourselves.” [xlvi]
Although Hui-neng states that the
enlightened must “seek a good teacher to show them how to see into their own
natures,” [xlvii]
the awakening itself is our responsibility.
The Cha’an Master can do no
more than guide us in the right direction.
This seems to be what Hui-neng does:
his method of teaching consists primarily of sermons before large and
small groups and the elucidation of specific questions asked. The individual has only these to rely on for
instruction; otherwise, he is left alone to attain his own Enlightenment.
Hui-neng
stresses Buddha’s own Enlightenment-experience as an example for each and every
individual to follow. Buddha’s
self-achievement gives us not only the incentive but also the confidence to
achieve that which is inherent in us all.
Hui-neng’s emphasis on practicing straightforward mind, seeing into
one’s own nature, sitting-in-meditation, and so forth, all point to the goal of
universal salvation. Meditation and
scripture reading serve to
elevate the mind to a deeper awareness of itself and ultimately of the true
essence of life and things that is tantamount to Enlightenment. Self-realization resides in an intuitive and
spiritual experience of the foundation of life to realize that there is nothing
from which we are to be saved, but that we are, in fact, already saved. Realization that this is so will free us from
the many kalpas (cycles) of births
and rebirths. Of course, Hui-neng cannot
be suggesting that Enlightenment is a physical liberation from the existence
which the unenlightened mind regards as the source of all our sufferings. Enlightenment is a psychological liberation
from the normal perspective that is competitive and full of Ego, to acquire a
new perspective of life and things that is non-competitive and Ego-free; which
will bring us eternal happiness, peace and contentment of mind. Enlightenment is also a spiritual liberation
of the intuitive wisdom residing in the mind, to see the self and the world in
its true thusness, or the hsing 性underlying
and unifying all beings, and is the foundation of life. Nowhere in the Platform Sutra does
Hui-neng speak of changing or escaping from the world in which we live to
achieve salvation. Salvation begins
internally: it is rooted in the mind’s changing
its perception of the Self and of the universe on a more positive level without
limit. Hui-neng’s Ch’an is definitely a positive affirmation of life and things. Although Hui-neng does not specifically
describe how Ch’an is to be practiced
in our everyday living [his disciples and followers later denote how Ch’an applies to practical living], he
does not deny that Ch’an is
influenced by the external conditions of the daily activities of working,
eating and sleeping. Hui-neng must
acknowledge that Ch’an does not limit
itself to mind-liberation only, but it is also applicable in daily living, if
his statement that even as a layman Ch’an
can be attained and practiced is any indication.
Hui-neng’s
teachings speak of Ch’an on such a
simple and basic level. He has done away
with the conceptualism, to deal with Ch’an
directly and specifically as a personal and dynamic experience of the
mind. His approach is so plain and
simple: see into your own Self-nature
and practice the non-abiding mind, and you will attain Enlightenment. However, the only difficulty lies in the
actual awakening: for the ordinary
person, breaking the familiar pattern of perceiving reality on a dualistic
level is an extremely difficult process since the mind has for eons of time fallen
into this bad habit of thinking rationally, conceptually and subjectively. Ch’an
cannot be so easily known by the uninitiated because it may take many years of
meditation and scripture reading to purge the mind of its limited way of
thinking in preparation for the moment of awakening; sometimes, it may never
happen. If Enlightenment were so easily
attainable, we would all easily become an Enlightened One. And even after the awakening is achieved, one
must keep practicing it so as not to allow the mind to fall back to its old ways
of thinking, and thus risk losing our realizations. In this respect, only those who have been enlightened can really know Ch’an.
Those of us who are still unawakened but who attempt to understand Ch’an through the scholarly approach can
only know Ch’an on a superficial
level, and a second-hand one at best.
Hui-neng’s Ch’an notion of
universal salvation is an idealistic one:
it is difficult to accomplish, but thankfully, not impossible.
Good job, Judy! Well and clearly written, based on a good grasp of the ideas involved and on careful reading. Graded paper: 120/150 I
Exam: 124/150 I
Final: 120/150 I
-- Dr Daniel L Overmyer , PHIL 323: History of Chinese Thought, UBC , April 1987
ང་
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|
是
|
我
|
煩惱
|
有
|
雖然
|
ང་
|
ཉོན་མོངས་
|
མིན།
|
བྱས་ཙང་
|
ང་
|
དབྱུག་ཡས་
|
མ་རེད།
|
我
|
煩惱
|
不是
|
所以
|
我
|
拋棄之物
|
不是
|
Footnotes
[i] Fung Yu-Lan,
A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (New York: The Free Press, 1948) 255.
[ii] Daisetz
Teitaro Suzuki, Studies in Zen, ed. Christmas Humphreys (New York: A Delta Book, 1955), 155.
[iii]
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, The Zen Doctrine of No Mind, ed. Christmas
Humphreys (London: Ryder & Company,
1969), 9.
[iv]
Philip B. Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967) xi-xii.
[v]
Yampolsky, 91. The handing over of
written sutras is a departure from the tradition of handing over the robe and
bowl as symbols of having grasped the Dharma (Buddha’s words).
[vi]
Suzuki, The Zen Doctrine of No Mind, 10.
[vii]
Suzuki, 15.
[viii]
Yampolosky, Section 13.
[ix]
David J. Kalupahana, Buddhist Philosophy:
A Historical Analysis (Honolulu:
The University of Hawaii Press, 1976) 167-168.
[x]
Yampolsky, Section 12.
[xi]
Yampolsky, 117-118.
[xii]
Yampolsky, Section 13.
[xiii]
Suzuki, 25.
[xiv]
Suzuki, 40. The mind is beyond
distinctions, and therefore, does not perceive on the limited and dualistic level
of logical and conceptual thought.
Because we think dualistically, our language is also so. Language is also necessary for communication,
but it has no relation to the reality as it is.
The words we use attempt to describe and define what existence is, but
existence exists as thusness and is therefore beyond the limits that human
language places upon it.
[xv]
Suzuki, 22.
[xvi]
Wing-Tsit, Chan, A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1963), 432 –
section 8.
[xvii]
Chan, 431, section 7.
[xviii]
Heinrich Dumoulin, A History of Zen Buddhism, translated from the German
by Paul Peachey (Boston: Beacon Press,
1969), 47-48.
[xix]
Yampolsky, section 18.
[xx]
Suzuki, 25.
[xxi]
Yampolsky, section 14. Samadhi of
Oneness is defined by Kobayashi as “concentration in the unified oneness of the
universe”.
[xxii]
Chan, 144, section 10.
[xxiii]
Yampolsky, section 14.
[xxiv]
Yampolsky, 115.
[xxv]
Yampolsky, section 17.
[xxvi]
Yampolsky, section 17.
[xxvii]
Yampolsky, section 17.
[xxviii]
Yampolsky, section 14.
[xxix]
Yampolsky, section 24.
[xxx]
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, The Awakening of Zen, edited by Christmas Humphreys
(London: Rider & Company, 1958), 24.
[xxxi]
Yampolsky, section 13.
[xxxii]
Yampolsky, section 15.
[xxxiii]
Yampolsky, 115.
[xxxiv]
Yampolsky, section 28.
[xxxv]
Yampolsky, section 19.
[xxxvi]
Yampolsky, section 19.
[xxxvii]
Yampolsky, section 14.
[xxxviii]
Yampolsky, section 16.
[xxxix]
Yampolsky, section 30.
[xl]
Suzuki, No-Mind, 54.
[xli]
Suzuki, Studies in Zen, 137.
[xlii]
Yampolsky, section 23.
[xliii]
Chan, 430-431.
[xliv]
Yampolsky, section 19.
[xlv]
Yampolsky, section 30.
[xlvi]
Yampolsky, section 21. The idea that Buddha-Nature
is inherent in our own natures is another expression found in the
Prajnaparamita Sutra, but the idea of including the physical body as the abode
of emancipation is a radical departure from the Indian mind which regards the
body as the source of all human sufferings.
The fact that we have a body causes us to suffer the cycles of birth,
death and rebirth. We are reminded of
the Confucianist’s regard of the body as sacred because it was given to us by
our parents, and out of filial respect for them, the body must be protected
from harm.
[xlvii]
Yampolsky, section 12.
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