Bodhidharma crossed from India in the middle of the Liang Dynasty (520-526, late Southern Song Dynasty) and continued to develop through Hui ke, Sangha, Daoxin and Hongnin until the advent of Huineng and his Tantra Sutra, marking the official completion of the process of localization of "Indian Buddhism", the "establishment" of Zen Buddhism, and its brilliance in chinese cultural history.
Zen Buddhism is known as "Zen" and pays attention to "practicing Zen according to the heart and enlightening the mind with Zen". There are many changes from Dharma to Huineng, Dharma points out that insightfulness, wisdom can pay attention to enlightenment and enlightenment. But no matter how it changes, it is nothing more than to exalt the human heart and see the will of the Buddha. How did the mind evolve and change from Dharma to Huineng? Zen Gujun believes that exploring these questions is very beneficial for understanding Zen Buddhism and improving practice.
One: Dharma - Wall View Peace of Mind, Two Into Four Elements Theory
When Dharma, the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism, came from India to the Northern Wei Dynasty to teach the Dharma, wei was mainly popular in the study of sutra teachings, and could not understand dharma's Mahayana Zen method, and only a few disciples such as Hui Ke and Daoyu could understand and pass on the Dharma Zen Dharma. (Wu Xianlin. On the Zen Spirit of Bodhidharma[J].Studies in Religious Studies, 2006, (3): 48-52.) Dharma Meditation is mainly based on the Lengya Sutra and centered on the Wall View, the Peace of Mind Method, that is, to reassure practitioners and then reach a state of concentration. The Dzogchen said, "Dharma teaches people to be at ease with the wall, to stop the various conditions on the outside, to have no breathing in the heart, and to have a heart like a wall, and to enter the path. (The Preface to the Zen Source Commentaries, Vol. 2, Taisho Zang, vol. 48, p. 403.) ）
The so-called "wall view" is to look at the wall, the mind is like a wall, the outside, the edges can not enter, the inside, the heart is not uneasy. This is a unique Zen method taught by Dharma. Dao Xuan spoke highly of it: "The Mahayana wall view has the highest merit, and the flow of learning in the world is like a city." (The Biography of the Continuing High Monk, vol. 20, "Treatise on the Aftermath of the Practice of Zen", Taisho Zang, vol. 50, p. 596.) It can be seen that the arrival of Dharma, although it did not start a hit, its influence was very extensive. Later, Zen master Baizhang Huaihai and Huang Tiller Zen Master under the Nanzong Zen Gate praised the uniqueness of the "wall view" in Dharma Zen with "the heart is like a wooden stone, there is no discernment" and "the heart is like a stubborn stone, all seamless".
Dharma's "wall view" meditation method was not understood by most practitioners at that time, so it used the "two into four elements" to effectively guide people to practice in order to attain Buddhahood and achieve the state of nirvana. The so-called "second entry" refers to "rational entry" and "line entry", and "four lines" refers to "complaining about the line", "following the fate", "doing nothing", and "calling the law". Rationalization is theoretical thinking that belongs to teaching, and entry belongs to practice, that is, the doctrine of combining theory and practice of Zen.
The Book of the Teachers of Lengya records: "The one who is rationalized, that is, through the teachings of the Enlightened Sect, is convinced that there is the same truth as all the saints, but they are vain and cannot be revealed, and if they also give up their delusions to return to the truth, concentrate on the wall view, have no self-him, all the saints, etc., persevere, and do not follow the words, that is, they meditate with the truth, and they are silent and nameless, and the name is reasonable." (The Records of the Teachers of Lengya (Vol. 1)[M], Selected Materials on Chinese Buddhist Thought[G].Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 1991.)
From this we can see that the way of "rationalization" in Dharma Zen is clear, using "speech (sutra teaching)" as a means of enlightenment and wisdom, revealing the pure nature of sentient beings covered by "guest dust" and using the form of wall-view to contemplate the mind.
And the "Four Elements" (Biography of the Continuing High Monk, vol. 16, "The Biography of Bodhidharma"). The first is to "repay the grievances", cultivate the path of suffering to the extreme, when the thoughts of the past, give up the end, many loves and hates, although there is no offense now, it is my pretense, willing to accept it, there is no resentment; the second is "follow the fate", all sentient beings have no self, bitterness follows the fate, even if they have honor, etc., the cause of the cause, the present side has it, the fate is not there, what joy is there? Gains and losses follow fate, the mind does not increase or decrease, violates the calm of the wind, and obeys the Fa; the third is "nothing to seek and do", the world is long-lost, greedy everywhere, the name is sought, the Taoist is enlightened, the reason and the conventional are reversed, the peace of mind is inaction, the form follows the operation, the three realms are suffering, who is at peace? The scriptures say: If there is a request, there is suffering, and there is no need to be happy; the fourth is "calling the Law and doing it", that is, the principle of sexual purity.
Bodhidharma's idea of "two into four elements" is said to be a practice method of self-mind and behavior control, "rationalization" belongs to the theoretical thinking of teachings, and "walking" belongs to the practice of Zen, linking and unifying the establishment of faith and meditation practice, speech and internal evidence, theory and practice, and seeking the original mind in order to seek Buddha's results.
Two: Hui Ke - no words, self-awareness of Buddha-nature
Hui Ke (487–593), a native of Hu prison (present-day Xingyang, Henan). He was born less of a Confucian and later became a monk. When he was about forty years old, he met Dharma, that is, he was a teacher and studied for six years. Erzu Hui is the direct successor of Dharma Zen, and in the process of inheriting Dharma Zen, he constantly absorbs the local Chinese thought and culture, so that the vein of Zen Zen can continue, which can be said to be the well-deserved second ancestor of Zen.
Hui Ke believes that "all sentient beings have Buddha-nature", but they are covered by various defilements and cannot be manifested. That is to say, all sentient beings are like Tibet, and the original mind of man is no different from that of a Buddha, and as long as ignorance and defilements are broken, everyone can become a Buddha, oppose clinging to words, and attach importance to self-realization. According to the Biography of Hui Ke in Volume XVI of the Biography of the Continuing High Monk, Hui Ke inherited the Dharma tradition of re-reading Hui rather than language, and was an advocate of a free method of interpreting scriptures that was "exclusively attached to the occult" and did not care about the written word. The fundamental theme of his Zen studies is to "forget words and forget thoughts, and have no right view."
Master Hui Ke once quoted the Ten Lands Sutra Cloud: "Among the beings, there is a Vajra Buddha, like the sun wheel, the body is clear and perfect, the celebration is boundless, only for the five yin and heavy obstacles, the sentient beings do not see, if the wisdom wind drifts, the five yin heavy clouds are destroyed, and the Buddha's nature is illuminated, and it is clear and clear." He believes that buddha-nature is sufficient for everyone, and that it is necessary to be self-conscious, sincere and inward-looking, and to manifest one's own Buddha-nature. This method of interpretation of the sutras by Hui Ke and the self-consciousness that points directly to the buddha's undifferentiated nature highlight the Dharma-vinaya mental method and have a great influence on the thinking of later generations of Zen Buddhism.
Three: Sangha - there is no difficulty in the path, only to choose
There are very few historical materials about the monk, only that he followed the second ancestor Hui Ke to learn Buddhism for several years, and then was awarded the mantle as the three ancestors of Zen Buddhism, and there is a "Faith Inscription" circulated in the world, although the number of words is small, but the words are pearlescent, which has had a profound impact on later generations of Zen Buddhism, and its Zen thought can only be found in the "Faith Inscription".
The inscription of faith begins with the phrase "There is no difficulty in the way, but there is no choice." But don't hate love, understand it", this can be seen as the essence of the Three Ancestors Zen Method - to achieve the highest state of meditation is to return to the most authentic state of human beings. "There is no need to seek the truth, but to see the truth" there is no need to "seek the truth", only by extinguishing all kinds of delusions, we can achieve the "one heart is not born, and all laws are blameless" as stated in the "Letter of Faith".
"Let it go, the body has nothing to live in." Willful and unruly. This primitive state of pursuit of the mind and the naturalistic meditation life principle of the Sangha are practiced by most Zen masters in later generations.
Fourth: Daoxin - recite the Buddha's mind and keep one's mind unswerving
Daoxin (579-651), an early monk, went to Shuzhou, Anhui province, to learn Zen from the monk Xuan in the Anhui Gong Mountains. The Four Patriarchs Daoxin emphasized the role of the "heart", believing that "to read the Buddha is to remember the mind, and to seek the heart is to seek the Buddha" In the course of practice, we must achieve "keeping oneness" and "seeing the mind." (ZHANG Baomin. Jiaozuo Evening News. Jiaozuo: Jiaozuo Evening News, 2012 (5).) Daoxin said in "Entering the Path of Peace and Security to Facilitate the Dharma": "I want this Dharma, according to the Lengya Sutra, the hearts of the Buddhas are the first. According to the Manjushri Prajnaparamita Sutra, the three lines are ambiguous, that is, the mind of the Buddha is a Buddha, and the delusion is of an ordinary person. ”
In the process of reciting the Buddha's mind, Daoxin said: "Those who keep one's mind unswervingly, with this empty eye, pay attention to a thing, and when there is no question day and night, concentrate on not moving." His heart was scattered, and he was eager to take it. If the rope is tied to the bird's foot, if you want to fly, you can also grab it. I watch it all day long, and I am self-determined. ("Entering the Path to Be At Ease and Convenient Methods", see Quoted in the Records of the Teachers of Lengya, Taisho Zang, vol. 85, p. 1287.) ）
He also said, "Keeping one's word unswervingly and staying still and still can enable scholars to see Buddha-nature and enter the gate early." The so-called immutable observance of oneness is to observe things with the eyes of the emptiness of all things, persevere, reach a state of concentration of mind, and then maintain meditation in order to attain the ideal state of seeing Buddha-nature.
Five: Forbearance - keeping the original sincerity, delusions do not arise
Hongnin (601-675), born in Huangmei, was a disciple of Daoxin. It has the same Zen method and Zen style as Daoxin, but the two are slightly different, and on the basis of Daoxin's "shouyi theory", Hongnin emphasizes "keeping the heart first", which is the so-called "shou original heart". The Supreme Treatise says, "This guardian of the mind is the root of nirvana, the key door to enlightenment, the sect of the twelve sutras, and the ancestor of the three Buddhas." Hirohito believes that keeping one's mind is the key to learning Buddhism and becoming a Buddha.
In the Supreme Theory, it is said that the pure mind of the self-nature of sentient beings is covered by delusional defilements and cannot be manifested, and as long as the mind is firmly guarded and the delusional thoughts do not arise, the pure mind will naturally appear. He also said, "All the Buddhas of the three worlds are born from the nature of the mind. First keep the true heart, delusions do not arise, my heart is destroyed, and then I become a Buddha.
That is to say, keeping the true heart is the starting point, basis, and key for all sentient beings to become Buddhas. By looking at the mind and keeping the mind, the mind enters the realm of pure emptiness, returns to its original state, and obtains an inner liberation. Hirohito's regency opens the way for Huineng's epiphany.
Six: Huineng - Enlightenment, enlightenment, one thought to become a Buddha
Huineng (638-713) was originally an illiterate Zen master, who was enlightened by hearing the Diamond Sutra's "should be born of his heart without dwelling" under the circumstances of fate, and studied under the Five Patriarchs Hongnin and founded the Southern Zen Buddhism, he attached importance to educating people with simple sentences and direct attacks on people's hearts, advocated single-mindedness, and put forward the theory of epiphany. Historian Chen Yinke once praised the Six Patriarchs: "I hereby put forward the purpose of pointing directly to the human heart and seeing the nature of becoming a Buddha, sweeping away the monks' cumbersome study of chapters and sentences, destroying the Qingqing, sending deafness and vibration, and consolidating a major event in the history of Buddhism in our country!" ”
He advocated the need for long-term practice, the need to pay attention to the complicated Buddhist rituals, and advocated a simple method of enlightenment. In practice, Huineng emphasizes "taking Dinghui (Hui) as the basis" (Tantra Sutra 13), believing that concentration is wisdom, and wisdom is concentration, highlighting that wisdom plays a decisive role in practice. Therefore, it was once said that "confusion is gradual cultivation, and enlightened people are cultivated", that is, the Dharma has no gradual division, but people are conducive to the distinction of blunt confusion.
The Tantra 26 says: "The first thought is mortal, and the last thought is Buddha." That is to say, the difference between ordinary people and Buddhas lies in the difference between one thought, and the transformation of ideas becomes the root of meditation. Since the Middle Tang Dynasty, "all words and Zen are originally Caoxi." (Liu Zongyuan, "The Sixth Ancestor of Cao xi gave the Great Zen Master Tablet and Preface", Quan Tang Wen, vol. 587, p. 5933, photocopy of Zhonghua Bookstore, August 1982 edition.) Huineng's Cao Xi Dharma is widely practiced by meditators.
Since then, Zen Buddhism has been formally founded in China, and in the period after the Middle and Tang Dynasties, it has created a situation of supremacy under the heavens. Later, there were the Zen sects headed by the Five Sects and Seven Schools, and although the various sects isolated their doors and self-proclaimed themselves, they were not separated by doctrinal and doctrinal differences and side doors, but they still jointly inherited and promoted the Zen ideas of Zen Buddhism. Due to their different methods, attitudes, and styles of attracting scholars, they also have some choices and emphasis on the Buddhist scriptures, and for the needs of their own development, they are eclectic and form a thriving scene.
Throughout the history of Zen Buddhism, it is not only the epitome of the development of Chinese Buddhism, but also its development and reform determines the trend of Chinese Buddhism, and its emergence is the beginning of the sinification of Buddhism, so that Chinese Buddhism has got rid of the shackles of Indian Buddhism, established a new Type of Buddhist ideological system that conforms to the characteristics of Chinese culture, attracts and accepts the participation of Chinese literati and the working masses, and makes it a new religion with Chinese literary feelings.