Text: Li Man
Baizhang Huaihai (720-814) was one of the most important figures in the history of Zen Buddhism in China, commonly known as Wang, named Muzun, and a native of Changle, Fujian. In his early years, Huaihai became a monk in Chao'an, Guangdong Province, and was later ordained as a lawyer in the Law Dynasty at Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue, and then studied the scriptures at the Fucha Monastery in Lujiang, Anhui Province, for more than ten years; finally, he "learned the three things to practice" and accumulated profound knowledge of scriptures, laws, and Buddhist studies.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty (766), Huaihai heard that Matsu Daoyi was preaching at Gonggong Mountain in Nankang (present-day Ganxian County, Jiangxi), so he went to return to The House and became Matsu's attendant, and then followed Matsu and finally obtained the true transmission of the ancestors. Huaihai, Xitang Zhizang, and Nanquan Puyan were deeply impressed by the Matsu Dao, and were known as the three great masters under the Matsu Gate.
During the Tang Dynasty (766-779), the squire Gan Zhen built a nunnery in Daxiong Mountain (also known as Baizhang Mountain) in Xinwu (present-day Fengxin, Jiangxi), Hongzhou, and heard that Huaihai of Xiaoxiongshan PuhuaYuan was deeply educated and exquisite in Zen, so he welcomed Huaihai into the nunnery he built and renamed the nunnery Baizhang Temple. Since then, Huaihai has set up his own Zen monastery here, led the masses to practice, and his influence has gradually grown, and he has finally become a climate, and he has finally grown old here, and is known as the Baizhang Huaihai Zen Master.
Huaihai died in the ninth year (814) of Emperor Xianzong of Tang. Emperor Muzong of Tang honored him as the "Great Wisdom Zen Master", Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty posthumously honored him as the "Zen Master of Juezhao", and Emperor Yuanshunzong posthumously honored him as the "Zen Master of the Myo-Jong Sect".
The two most famous disciples under Huaihai Gate were Lingyou of The Mountain and Huang Berberry Xiyun. Lingyou and his disciple Yangshan Huiyu founded one of the five schools of Zen Buddhism, the Yang Sect, and Huang Berberry's introductory disciple Linji Yixuan founded one of the five schools of Zen Buddhism, the Linji Sect, which later gave rise to two branches, the Huanglong Sect and the Yangqi Sect. It is precisely because of the spread of Master Huaihai that the Hongzhou Zen system has flourished, and its followers have spread all over the world, and its influence has spread throughout ancient and modern times, becoming the first major sect of Zen Buddhism.
History says, "Matsu built a jungle and established a clear rule." "Before Matsu Daoyi, Zen Buddhism did not have its own independent place of practice, and Zen monks often traveled the world or lived in Vinaya monasteries. Matsu Dao pioneered the Zen Monastery (also known as the Jungle) dedicated to the intensive practice of Zen monks, giving Zen Buddhism its own independent stronghold as a sect. Inheriting the mantle of Matsu, Huaihai also built his own Zen Monastery to gather monks and pioneered the Zen Forest Qing Rules, so that Zen Buddhism as a sect had its own independent practice norms and codes of conduct. The two of them contributed to Zen Buddhism eventually becoming an independent Buddhist sect.
In the "Hundred Zhangqing Rules", the general request system is an important part of it. The so-called universal invitation system is a system in which all the monks who live in the temple participate in labor. One of the most important features of Zen Buddhism, which distinguishes itself from other schools of Chinese Buddhism, is self-cultivation and self-sufficiency. This is crucial for the survival and development of Zen Buddhism.
Most of the other Buddhist sects rely on the support of their followers. The Zen monks were originally wandering monks, and when they traveled to the party, they begged for food to survive. This mode of subsistence is extremely dependent, casting a deep shadow over the monks' personal independence and spiritual autonomy.
After the Zen monks concentrated in the Zen Monastery, survival became a great problem. Self-cultivation and self-sufficiency are therefore the only choice. However, this choice also implies great contradictions. Farming will inevitably take up a lot of time for reading the scriptures and meditating on meditation, and may even make Zen monks become ordinary farmers, thus losing their pure faith and conviction. And abandoning farming, it is difficult to survive. The wise Master Baizhang Huaihai then created a practice method of integrating agriculture and Zen, and truly reached the realm of both agricultural and zen meditation.
"Don't do it for a day, don't eat for a day" is a famous saying passed down from master Huaihai to the world. It is not only the embodiment of Huaihai's character of taking the lead in setting an example and being strict with himself, but also contains profound Zen truths. Unlike the general Buddhist sect, which is far away from the fireworks of the world and divorced from the reality of life, Zen science advocates that Zen principle is not separated from human life, and life contains the truth of Zen; so that Zen philosophy has finally developed into a unique life Zen.
"Ginseng Zen is not different from agricultural affairs, and agricultural affairs are not different from ginseng Zen" is the core theory of Agricultural Zen Thought. This theory has a deep Zen basis. Zen buddhism holds that Buddha-nature is everywhere in the world of nature, and everything in the world and everything in the world is the manifestation of Buddha-nature. Therefore, a person who really has the eyes of Zen Buddhism, "the eye is the Tao, and everywhere it stands", no matter where he is, no matter what he does, he can find the Zen machine and understand the Zen meaning. Just as the so-called "carrying water and collecting firewood, there is nothing but a wonderful way" and "walking is also Zen, sitting is also Zen, and the language is silent and quiet." Therefore, whether it is cultivating the land or cutting rice and picking tea, it is all a matter of discovering Zen machines and an opportunity to realize the Zen Path.
This integrated practice of agriculture and Zen not only solves the need for survival, but also completely gets rid of the dependence on begging for food and subsistence; it not only establishes the practical basis for the personality independence and spiritual autonomy of Zen monks, but also injects decisive factors into Zen Buddhism's life zen that penetrates into human life and eventually becomes a "poetic dwelling".
The labor of the Zen monk is essentially different from the labor of the layman, whose labor is only a means of making a living, and the harvesting of fruits is its only purpose; therefore, the labor process itself is reduced to hard labor, and the layman avoids it and is afraid of it; and the work of the Zen monk is a life activity in which the object and the self are integrated and "can be destroyed", that is, the object and the self are one, the process and the result are one, and the means and the end are integrated. Therefore, labor becomes the form of the noble truths, the process of faith practice, the process of self-improvement and self-realization, and in essence the process of showing life and enjoying life.
According to the "Quotations of The Zen Master Yangshan Hui Shun", The Spirit of The Mountain asked Yang Shan Hui Shu, "Eighty-four good knowledges are produced under the Matsu Gate, how many people get great opportunities, and how many people get great uses?" Yang Shan replied: "Hundred Zhangs have great opportunities, Yellow Barberry has great use, and the rest are all singing masters." Shan Yun: "If it is, so it is!" ”
Lingyou of Mt. Misaki is a high-ranking disciple under the Huaihai Gate and a re-disciple of Matsu Daoyi, and naturally knows the Matsu Daoyi Zen Method. Matsu Doichi's original Zen method is known as "great machine use". The so-called "machine" here refers to opportunities. The so-called "use" here refers to the application. The so-called "machine use", as the saying goes, is the meaning of the camera acting, adapting to the situation, moving in response to the opportunity, and achieving the goal. Matsu Dao's original Zen teaching method has such characteristics.
The above-mentioned dialogue between Lingyou and Hui Ning originates from the teaching of Zen between Matsu Daoyi and Hyakujō Huaihai. According to the "Five Lantern Society Yuan", the master re-participated, and the waiter stood up the second time. Zu looked at the rope bed corner whisker. The Teacher said, "That is, use it this way, use it away from this." Zu Yue: "Ru opened two pieces of skin backwards, who will be the teacher?" "The master took the whisk and put it up. Zu Yue: "That is, this is the use, away from this use." "The master hangs the whisk in the old place. As soon as Zu Zhenwei drank, Shi Zhi was deaf for three days.
When Hyakujo was standing next to Matsu to attend school, Matsu happened to look at the dust hanging on the corner of the Zen bed. Huai Hai then said, "Use it for this, use it away from here." This means that Zen is embodied in the act of using this dust, but it is not limited to the act of using this dust. Logically, such an answer is in line with Buddhist Zen principles. Zen buddhism holds that Buddha-nature is "omnipresent and everywhere is nothing." "Omnipresence" means that everything is the embodiment of the Buddha, the manifestation of Buddha-nature; of course, Buddha-nature is also embodied in the role of this dust- whisker; therefore, through the effect of dust-blowing, it is possible for the monks to feel buddha-nature and understand Zen. "Nothing is there" means that Buddha-nature is an absolute entity, not a relatively limited reality, so it is necessary to sweep away the concept of equating Buddha-nature with real facts, and to transcend the actions of lay people who cling to the interests of reality, in order to perceive Buddha-nature and understand Zen. Matsu then asked, "Why are you teaching monks in the future?" "Huai Hai should put up the action of dusting, which means that I am enlightened to learn monks like this." Ma Dao responded, "Use it for this, use it away from this." Huaihai thought that Matsu recognized his opinion, so he hung the Buddha dust back to the original place, but he was caught off guard by Matsu's angry voice, and his voice was so loud and fierce that Huaihai was deaf for three days.
Why was Matsu angry, and what was Huaihai's fault? Huaihai's mistake is to cling to the fixed teaching mode of others (others put up dust, he also puts up dust), and indulges in the logical formula of Zen (not to be separated from it), and there is no real Zen experience in the mind. Zen practitioners who have practiced at home, forget their feelings and forget me, are selfless and exclusive, and are uninhibited and left and right, neither sticking to Zen jurisprudence nor stubbornly clinging to logical procedures. Zen monks who have attained the Tao, "My mind is the Buddha, and the Buddha is my heart", all of them are free, they are free, they are free, and they are processed. Matsu's anger and anger are actually in a straightforward and fierce way, cutting off Huaihai's fixed logical thinking, sweeping away his inner obsession with the fait accompli, breaking his parrot-style tongue-like formula, so that he is lost, returning to the truth, returning to nothingness, truly returning to the nirvana mind and reaching the realm of "my heart is the Buddha, the Buddha is my heart".
The whole process of Matsu's preaching can be said to be a matter of fate, spontaneous, without deliberate pretense, and in the realm of Zen. Huai Hai was drunk by this and finally realized it. Huaihai's so-called "Three Days of Deafness" is actually the meaning of his own enlightenment of the Zen Path. Since then, Huaihai has inherited the Zen method of Matsu Daoyi's fate, and he should be enlightened and drunk on the head.
The ways and methods of huaihai enlightened monks are recorded in many Zen texts:
The monk asked, "How is it strange?" The master said, "Sit alone on The Great Peak." "When the monk prays, the master beats. The monk thought he understood the truth in Huaihai's words, and Huaihai split his head and beat him.
The monk asked, "How is a Buddha?" The Master said, "Who is Ru?" "So-and-so." The master said, "Ru Zhi A?" "Clearly distinguished." Shi Nai held up his whisk and said, "Will you still see you?" "See." Shi Yang flicked his son and beat him. The monk replied like a stream, as if the head was the Tao, and Huai Hai was splitting the head and beating.
These two techniques are the same as Matsu Dao: when the head sticks, cut off its habitual logical thinking, sweep away its obsessive attachment to fixed routines, and make it lost, back to the truth, back to nothing.
The Five Lantern Society yuan also records: "When the general please is in the land, suddenly a monk hears the drum, raises the head of the tan, and laughs and returns." Master: 'Junya! This is the door to Kannon' enlightenment. When the master returned to the hospital, he called his monk and asked, 'Is it appropriate to see what is the truth? "When you are hungry, smell the drums, and eat." The master laughed. "When the monks were hoeing the ground, the drums in the temple came and a monk returned laughing. The monks were puzzled, but Huaihai immediately recognized that this monk had entered the Guanyin Enlightenment Path. Zen monks have those who see the color and realize the Tao, the so-called witnesses to the Dao, and there are also those who hear the sound and realize the Tao, the so-called Guanyin into reason. Huaihai took this opportunity to preach the Tao, and it was also in line with the Zen method of Matsu Daoyi. Therefore, the Huaihai Zen Method is truly the true transmission of Matsu Daoyi, just as the Lingyou Hui Shu Master and disciple said, he has gained great use.
"Five Lanterns"
The "big" of the big machine means omnipresent, all-encompassing, omnipotent. The so-called "great machine" means that Buddha-nature is everywhere, and zen machines appear everywhere. Those who have attained great opportunities are the Tao, and everywhere they know the Zen machine. The so-called "big use" means to apply all directions and use infinitely. Those who have great uses, left and right, vertical and horizontal, omnipotent, wonderful uses are endless. Baizhang Huaihai is exactly this kind of great Zen master who has made great use of great opportunities.
The Zen method of drinking with the head stick is the family style that Huaihai inherited from Matsu. The agricultural Zen thought and practice of "not doing it for a day, not eating for a day" is the first creation of Huaihai. The latter was particularly far-reaching, eventually becoming a family style that Hongzhou Zen has been passed down for thousands of years. Today, the monks of Zhenru Zen Temple in Yunshan, Jiangxi and Baofeng Zen Temple in Jing'an, Jiangxi are still practicing agricultural Zen.
(The author is a professor of Nanchang Normal University and vice president of Jiangxi Aesthetics Research Association)