A Taste of Buddhism
Introduction
According to the recent distribution of religious populations, there are about 2 billion
Christians, 1.2 billion Muslims but only about 785 million Buddhists, out of which about 102
millions in China and 89 millions in Japan and only 7 millions in India. Both Christianity and
Islam, since their establishment, have been and are still being patronized and supported by
their respective countries which provide religious education to children in schools and in
monasteries. Their holy scriptures such as the Bible and the Koran are widely studied and are
translated into different languages, and are easily accessed and comprehended by their
peoples. Lacking in such favourable environment, Buddhism has yet to be generally
understood by people of the world, except in the country of origin, India where Buddhism was
first started and in China, Japan, Korean and other countries in south-east Asia.
The Rise of Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and is also a philosophy, the latter of which is recognized as one of the
academic disciplines in many universities. Its founder, Siddhattha Gautama (in Sanskrit
language) lived in North India in 6th century BC. His father, Suddhodana was the ruler of the
kingdom of the Sakyas (in modern Nepal). Gautama married a beautiful princess,
Yasodharaota, at the age of 16, leading a luxurious and comfortable life. However, he had
been so confronted with the suffering of his people and with the reality of life, such as
sickness, death, poverty and inequality etc., that he abandoned his princely life and left
behind his wife and his child Rehula at the age of 29 to lead an ascetic life in search
of solutions and deliverance.
At first, Gautama wandered about the Ganges valley studying with traditional religious
leaders and famous teachers undergoing rigorously ascetic practices, like yoga, meditation
and prolonged fasting. For six years, he did not attain his goal and finally he decided to end
his asceticism and fasting, and to pursue his own way. He restored his health and
continued with his meditation. At the age of 35, Gautama, under the Bodhi-tree, a papal tree,
attained Enlightenment, after which he was known as Buddha or Bodhisattva (the
Enlightened One).
Unlike other religious founders, Gautama neither claimed himself as Saviour, nor inspired
from any god or external power. He attributed his realization and attainment to human
endeavour and human intelligence. He believed that everyone has the potentiality
to become a Buddha through one’s determination, efforts and wisdom. He encouraged his
disciples not to seek refuge in or help from anybody else but themselves. For the remaining
45 years until his death at the age of eighty, Buddha taught adeptly without distinction to men
and women, peasants and businessmen, nobles and the poor, according to their disposition,
intelligence and level of comprehension, and helped them develop themselves to work
out their own emancipation.
Buddha taught his disciples through discourses in Maghadi, a language similar to Pali,
which was described as a soft, melodious and smooth-flowing language. At the end of each
teaching,Buddha summarized his thoughts in gatha (a set of verses, stanza or songs)
created in high tension with spiritual insight so that his disciples could easily memorize
through repeated recitation and singing. Throughout his life time, there was not
any written record of his teaching because Buddha considered both words and writings
could never accurately described one’s own feelings and sensations to other people. It was
only after his death that his disciples gathered in five prolonged councils to recite and to
record in writing Buddha’s words of discourses and to be attested. It was in the fourth
council and about four hundred years after Buddha’s death that the first set of written
scripture was established forming the canonic texts comprised in the ‘three Baskets’
(Tripitaka) : namely the Discipline (Vinaya, in Sanskrit language), the Texts (Sutta) and a
Summary of the Teaching (Abhidamma). All Buddhists regard Buddha, his teachings
(Dharma), and the Order of Monks (Sangha), as the ‘Triple-Gem’, ‘Three Refuges’ or
(Triratna).
After Buddha’s death and during each of the councils within the following five hundred years,
there were disputes among Buddhist disciples in respect of Buddha’s teaching, his doctrines
and disciplines. They broke up into two main groups or schools with different sects. One is
called the System or School of the Elders (Theravada), which was considered to be the
orthodox and original form of Buddhism and are accepted and followed mainly in Sri
Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos etc., and is later named as ‘Small Vehicle’
(Hinayana). The other group was called ‘Great Vehicle’ (Mahayana), a form of Buddhism of
later development, and largely followed in China, Japan, Korea and Tibet. The basic
difference is that Hinayana emphasizes on individual’s deliverance or awakening while the
latter emphasizes more on the awakening of the majority of common people.
The Changes and Development of Buddhism
After Buddha’s death, Buddhism gradually became one of the big religious groups in India. It
had its glorious time in the 3rd century during the reign of the king Asoka who was converted
into a Buddhist. Not only did he unite India but also help expand Buddhism from Central Asia
to Greece and Indochina. He encouraged peaceful co-existence among other religions in
India, such as Hinduism, Jainism and Islam. After this period, Buddhism suffered many
setbacks when other racial and religious groups from Asia Minor began to invade India
intermittently from 7th century onwards, occupying different parts of India and destroying
many monasteries. It was between 12th and 13th century that Islam completely penetrated
into India and eliminated Buddhism which, however, continued to exist in south-east Asia.
On the other hand, Buddhism had spread into China since 2nd century and from China to
Japan, and Korea. Through the joint efforts of Indian Buddhist missionaries and the Chinese
scholars, who were converts of Buddhism in China, many Buddhist scriptures (sutta) were
translated into classical Chinese. Buddhism took roots and developed steadfastly in China.
Nowadays, Buddhism has long been mingling with Chinese Confucianism and Taoism and
become part and partial of Chinese culture.
Essence of the Tenets of Buddhism
Unlike Christianity where Christian faiths can study the Holy Bible to understand Jesus
Christ’s teaching, there are hundreds and thousands of scriptures in Buddhism which
contain Buddha’s words, discourses and ways of practices in the language of Pali, Sanskrit
and Chinese, which are not easily understood by non-Buddhists. Thanks to the efforts and
hard work of many Buddhist scholars over the past hundred of years, Buddha’s teaching has
been handed down to the present day world with translation of different languages. The basic
tenets of Buddha’s teachings and philosophy in respect of his Ultimate Truth and the Reality of
Life can be summarized in the Four Signs or Characteristics:
1. All conditioned things are impermanent (Samhkara Anitya)
2. All things in the universe (Dharma, in the broad sense of Buddhism) are without self
( Dharma Anitya),
3. All conditioned things are suffering (Samkhara Dukkha),
4. The Attainment of Nirvana.
1. All conditioned things are impermanent
According to the doctrine of Conditioned Genesis (Paticca-samuppada) in Buddhism,
nothing in the world is absolute and independent. Everything is conditioned, relative,
interdependent and interconnected. This theory of relativity can be described as follows:
a. When this is, that is;
b. This arising, that arises;
c. When this is not, that is not;
d. This ceasing, that ceases.
Buddha states that all conditioned and non-conditioned things, ranging from humans,
animals, plants and organism to nations and organizations, must undergo the process of
arising, existence, disintegration and cessation in the course of their existence. There
is nothing which is permanent, everlasting and unchanged,including the sun, the moon, the
earth and every planet in the universe. In a human body, everyday thousands and millions
of human cells die but at the same time millions and millions of new cells grow and develop
to keep an individual alive until the human body degenerates and deceases. In this regard,
Buddha declares,“ If it is the nature of arising, it has within itself the nature, the germ,of its
cessation, and its destruction.” The duration of existence of ll conditioned and non-
conditioned things in the history of the universe is just like a split of seconds. He also said
that one should view all conditioned things in the world as dreams, mirages,bubbles,
shadows; as well as dews and flashes. He considered that not only the world is in
continuous flux and is impermanent, but also human life, from birth to getting old, sickness
and death, is like a mountain river; there is not a moment, not an instant, not a second when
it stops flowing.
2. All things in the universe (Dharma) are without self (Dharma Anitya)
In Buddhism, Dharma can also be referred to everything which has its consistent form,
specific quality and characteristics such as water, minerals, and plants that could be easily
identified. This doctrine correlates significantly to another doctrine of Buddhism,
The Five Aggregates (Pancaskandha) which include:
1) The Aggregate of Matter (Repakkhandha),
2) The Aggregate of Sensations (Vedanakkhandha),
3) The Aggregate of Perception (Sannakkhandha),
4) The Aggregate of Mental Formation (Samkharakkhandha),
and
5) The Aggregate of Consciousness (Vinnanakkhandha).
According to Buddhism, a living being is composed of six elements: solidity, liquidity, heat,
motion, space and consciousness. Solidity refers to the bone structure of the living being,
water refers to the blood, heat refers to bodily temperature and motion refers to breath.
The four elements, together with consciousness and the required space form the human
body. These six elements are in turn represented by the Five Aggregates, which are
categorized under two main groups - the physical aggregate and the mental aggregate. The
physical aggregate refers to the Aggregate of Matter. The other Aggregates are grouped
under the mental aggregate. These two groups of aggregates form the physical and mental
parts of the human body and are exemplified by six important physical and sensual organs:
the eye, the ear, the nose,the tongue, the body and the mind (brain and neural system).
These internal faculties, through contacts with their corresponding objects in the external
world, experience sensations, perception, mental formation leading to volitional activities and
give rise to consciousness as follows:
Physical External World Mental Aggregates
Aggregate Objects
(Matter)
Eye visible form visual consciousness,
Ear sound auditory consciousness,
Nose odour olfactory consciousness,
Tongue taste gustatory consciousness,
Body tangible things tactile consciousness,
It is the function of mental consciousness of the living being that is responsible for
identifying external objects to assess and to make decisions. Consciousness is arising
from conditions and is dependent on matter, sensation, perception, and mental formation.
A living being, or an individual, or ‘I’ according to Buddhism, is only a convenient name or a
label to the combination of these five aggregates. They are all impermanent, all constantly
changing in a flux of momentary arising and disappearing, and there is no unchanging,
everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul within and without. Since Dharma covers
everything in the universe, conditioned or non-conditioned things, good or bad, relative or
absolute, it does not have a being which could be called ‘I’ or ‘self’.
3. All conditioned things are suffering (Samkhara Dukkha)
The concept and nature of Dukkha, in Buddhism, means more than suffering. It includes all
kinds of suffering in life like birth, old age, sickness, association with unpleasant persons
and conditions, separation from beloved ones and pleasant conditions, not getting what one
desires, grief, lamentation, and distress etc. In addition, it also refers to suffering resulted
from changes, and to the arising from conditioned states. In short, whatever impermanent is
Dukkha.
This doctrine of Dukkha is also called the First Noble Truth, which, together with The
Second Noble Truth (Samudaya), the arising or origin of Dukkha; The Third Noble Truth
(Nirodha), the cessation of Dukkha; and the Fourth Noble Truth, (Magga), the way leading
to the cessation of Dukkha, form the Four Noble Truths (Cattari Ariyasaccam). Buddha says,
“ He who sees Dukkha sees the arising of Dukkha, sees the cessation of Dukkha, and sees
also the path leading to the cessation of Dukkha.”
The Second Noble Truth helps individuals understand the arising or the origin of Dukkha.
The important reasons is firstly, that living beings do not understand that all conditioned
things are impermanent and that all conditioned things or Dharma do not have ‘self’; and
secondly, due to an individual’s desire, lust and the craving ‘thirst’ (tanha), one chases
incessantly after sensual love, fames, powers, moneys, luxuries, long life and the next life.
They feed the lust and desire of the false ‘self’ and try to increase the possessions of
the‘ self’. These volitional activities are described in Buddism as deeds or (karma), which
are resulted from living beings’ ‘ignorance’. The accumulation of the karma, be they good
or bad, will determine whether one would, in the next life, become heavenly beings, human
beings, ‘asuras’ (between human beings and the lower level world), hungry ghosts, animals
and be in hell in the Cycle of Existence (Samsara). Unless one attains heavenly level which
is Dukkha free, one would continuously be in the Cycle of Existence to struggle with
Dukkha life after life.
4. The Attainment of Nirvana
The most essential and important Buddha’s teaching is found in The Third Noble Truth
(Nirodha), which is the Cessation o Dukkha. It refers to an individual’s emancipation,
liberation, and freedom from suffering, as well as from the continuity of Dukkha. Since the
main root of Dukkha is the ‘thirst’ (tanha), to uproot Dukkha or to eradicate the ‘thirst’ is
to drive towards complete cessation. This can be done through the development of one’s
intelligence and wisdom (Panna) which Buddha declared that all living beings can develop.
With wisdom, one can calm down all conditioned things, give up defilements, detach from
the ‘thirst’, see things as they are without ignorance and discover the secret of life that all
forces feverishly produce the continuity of Samsara, the Cycle of Existence are in illusion.
Then one would not produce any more karma-formation because there is no illusion and no
more‘thirst’ for continuity. One will then see the Absolute Truth and attain Nirvana and
become one of the happiest being in the world. In Buddhism, it is possible for one to realize
Nirvanain this very life and it is not necessary to wait till one dies to attain it.
The way and means to enhance one’s wisdom and to realize Nirvana is through practising
the Fourth Noble Truth (Magga), which is represented by the Noble Eightfold Path
comprising eight steps:
1) Right Understanding,
2) Right Thoughts,
3) Right Speech,
4) Right Action,
5) Right Livelihood,
6) Right Effort,
7) Right Mindfulness,
8) Right Concentration.
In brief, they can be categorized into three inter-related parts:
• the Ethical Conduct (Sila), including Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood;
• Mental Discipline (Samadhi), including Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right
Concentration; and
• Wisdom (Panna), deriving from Right Understanding and Right Thought.
Through observing and practising the Noble Eightfold Path, one can develop first, self-
discipline in body, word, and mind; second,self-development in universal love and
compassion for all living beings for the good and happiness of the many; and third, self
purification and the formation of noble qualities of thoughts,including thoughts of selfless
renunciation or detachment,thoughts of universal love and compassion, and thoughts of
non-violence.
Buddha taught the above fundamental doctrines to his disciples after his Enlightenment
and throughout the rest of his 45 years’ preaching. All his teaching and doctrines were
dissipated in discourses with his disciples and but were infiltrated deeply into their minds
and hearts and later transferred into all kinds of scriptures in Hinayana and in Mahayna.
Buddhism in the Present Day Life
For the past one thousand and five hundred years, Buddhism has been undergoing
tremendous changes with the center of study and activities shifting from India to China,
which, by now, has the largest Buddhist population with hundreds and thousands of
Buddhist scriptures translated from Pali and Sanskrit into Chinese. Since the past two and
three centuries, Buddhist scriptures have been translated into other national languages and
Buddhism has been gradually spread and accepted by many other countries. Nowadays,
one can learn or study Buddhism through proper channels with Buddhists and in
monasteries.
Alternatively, one can study Buddha’s thoughts and doctrines in search of one’s
philosophical interest. For people who want to do away with Buddhist rituals and ceremonies,
they can study Buddhist teaching and doctrines for the purpose of developing self-discipline,
mental culture or development. Buddhism requires its disciples to have faith in Buddha’s
teaching, to fully comprehend his doctrines, to practise them consistently and to prove his
words and teaching. Many people, through studying and practising Buddha’s teaching
including meditation, are able to attain cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances,
such as lustful desires, hatred, ill-will, indolence, worries and restlessness; and cultivate the
qualities as concentration, awareness, intelligence, will, the analytical capacity, confidence,
tranquility, joy and compassion.
Buddha’s teaching was based on universal love, compassion and most important of all,
service to others. His teaching did not take life out of the context but as a whole in its social,
economic and political aspects. That is the reason why Buddha’s teaching still prevails in
the world of today. In one of his scriptures, Buddha clearly stated that poverty is the cause
of immorality and crimes such as theft, falsehood, violence, hatred and cruelty. He suggested
that crime cannot be eradicated by punishment but by improving the economic condition of
the people. He said that there are four things which are conducive to an individual’s
happiness: first, one should be skilled, efficient, earnest and energetic in whatever
profession one is engaged in; second, one should protect one’s income which one earns
righteously; third, one should have good friends who will help one away from evil; and fourth,
one should spend reasonably, in proportion to one’s income, and live within one’s means.
For the good of mankind, Buddha advocated and preached non-violence, peace as its
universal message, and did not approve any kind of violence or destruction of life. He stated
that the whole country could become corrupt, degenerate and unhappy when the heads of
its government, the ministers and administrative officers become corrupt and unjust. He
considered a nation as a vast conglomeration of individuals. A nation or a state does not act.
It is the individuals who think and who act. What is applicable to an individual is applicable to
the nation. If hatred can be appeased by love and kindness on individual scale, surely it can
be realized on the national and international scale too. He said that the only conquest that
brings peace and happiness is self-conquest: one may conquer millions in battle, but he who
conquers himself, only one, is the greatest of conquerors.
In summary, Buddhism, like many other religions preaches, love, peace and non-violence,
which is desperately in need by peoples and nations of the world today. Buddha’s teaching
should have tremendous influences on individuals and on all nations at large. If his teaching
can be widely spread among peoples and nations and be practised intensively and
extensively, the world would become peaceful and joyful than what it is now.
Chan (Zen) Buddhism At A Glance
Introduction
In the western world, most people’s knowledge of Buddhism relates closely to Zen, which is
a distinctively Japanese form of Buddhism. The name Zen is the Japanese transliteration of
the Chinese word, Chan. It is an abbreviation of Chan-na or (dhavana, in Sanskrit), which
loosely means meditation. Professor Walpola Sri Rahula stated that it was unfortunate that
hardly any other section of Buddha’s teaching was so much misunderstood as ‘meditation’.
He said that Buddha’s meditation aims at producing a state of perfect mental health,
equilibrium and tranquility. It is mental culture in the full sense of the term. It is not most
people think as an escape from the daily activities of life, assuming a particular posture, like
a statue in some cases, or cells or in monasteries, being absorbed in some kind of mystic or
mysterious thought or trance. It also aims at cleansing the mind of impurities and
disturbances and cultivating qualities of concentration, confidence, tranquility, and insight
into the nature of things, including the realization of nirvana. In general, practising Buddhist
meditation is good for physical health, relaxation and efficiency in work.
Buddhist meditation also has its practical function to enable an individual to be aware and
mindful of the fact that one should live in the present moment and in the present action. It is
easily accepted by and appeals to many people in Japan and in other industrial countries in
Europe in North America.
In the latter part of this article, Chan, Chan-na or dhavana will be used throughout instead of
using Zen because Zen originated in India, grew and flourished in China and it was only one
of the schools of Chan Buddhism that was later transmitted to Japan between 11th and 12th
centuries to form Zen Buddhism.
Origin and Development of Chan Buddhism
It was said that Chan Buddhism originated with Buddha’s disciple, Kashayapa, also known
as Mahakashyapa. During one of Buddha’s sermons in Rajagaha, India, Buddha unusually
kept silent for a long while. When all his disciples were anxiously expecting Buddha to begin
his sermon, Buddha held up a flower, slightly touched it and smiled gracefully but did not
utter a word. All the attendants were bewildered and did not understand except Kashayapa
who thoroughly read Buddha’s mind and smiled spontaneously. Buddha recognized
Kashayapa’s sudden enlightenment, and told his disciples that Kashayapa had attained the
true meaning of awareness with his capacity to see things penetratingly with broad-
mindedness; to feel the indescribable joy and quietude of nirvana; to realize truthfulness
without form; and to transmit dharma (Buddha’s teaching) without dependent on scriptures
in metaphysical way. He then gave Kashayapa his mantle and told him to spread this specific
kind of transmission of his teaching (dhavana) to the rest of the world. Since then Kashayapa
became the first patriarch of the Chan sect of Buddhism in India. Before his death,
Kashayapa passed it on to Ananda, who was another disciple of Buddha. It was after twenty-
eight generations that Chan Buddhism was introduced to China in 520 century by
Bodhidharma, who travelled to south China and became the first patriarch of the Chan
Buddhism lineage in China.
Chan Buddhism in China
By the late seventh century, there were already many Chan monasteries and other Buddhist
sects established in China. The most significant person in the history of Chan Buddhism
development in China is the sixth patriarch, Hui-neng (638-713 century), who was an illiterate
peasant but became enlightened upon hearing a phrase of the Diamond Sutra
(Vajracchedika-sutra) recited by a merchant in an open market where he sold firewood. Hui-
neng was later chosen as the heir by the Chan’s fifth patriarch, Hong-ren (601-674 century).
This amazing story was related by Hui-neng himself in the “Scripture of the Sixth Patriarch
(Liuzutanjing, in Chinese)”, which was by far the only scripture ever written in Chinese
language and was treated as a Buddhist sutra. The story ran like this.
Hui-neng’s father was a Chinese official but died early. He received little education and had
to work as a firewood cutter to make a living in the town of Xinzhou of the Guangdong
Province in south China. One day, while he was delivering firewood to the vendor in the
open market, he heard a merchant recited Buddhist sutra and was extremely thrilled by a
phrase, “the heart (mind) is enlivened when it does not dwell on anything”. He asked the
merchant about the source of this particular phrase and learned that it came from the
Diamond Sutra, which was one of the paramount Mahayana sutras, and that Hong-ren was
the fifth patriarch of the Chan Buddhism sect at the East Chan Monastery in the town of
Qizhow of Hubei province, which was in the northern part of China.
The merchant was so moved by Hui-neng’s determination to go and learn under Master
Hong-ren that he gave Hui-neng ten tails of silver, (which were lot of money in that time) to
fulfill his dream.
Having arranged someone to help take care of his mother, Hui-
neng went direct to Qizhou to look for Hong-ren. When he was introduced to Hong-ren,
Hong-ren asked him, “Where do you come from and what do you want?”
Hui-neng replied, “I came from Xinzhou in the southern part of China and want nothing but
to become a Buddha.”
“So you are a southerner and a barbarian, who do not have Buddha nature; how could you
expect to attain Buddhahood?”
Hong-ren tried to test and find out whether Hui-neng had Buddha-nature or the capacity to
learn Buddhism.
“There may be southerners and northerners, as well as barbarian and monk, but as far as
Buddha-nature goes, there is no distinction in it”, Hui-neng retorted back.
Hong-ren was pleased with his answer but specially arranged to put him to work in the
kitchen to man the rice-pounder for the brotherhood of monks. Hui-neng worked patiently
there for about eight months. One day Hong-ren gathered all the monks of the monastery
and announced that he was about to retire and was looking for an heir among them. He
asked that anyone who considered himself having attained awareness should submit to him
a stanza to prove his achievement. At that time, the most senior and revered monk among
the lot was Shen-xiu( died in 706), who after several sleepless nights, struggled to compose
a stanza. Being lack of confidence, he dared not hand it to Hong-ren but wrote it on a piece
of paper and stealthily posted it on the wall of the southern corridor in the middle of the night
without a signature. He thought that even if he was not chosen by the patriarch, he would
not loose face. The stanza read
This body is the Bodhi-tree
The heart (mind) is like a stand with a shinging mirror
Take heed to keep it always clean
And let no dust collect on it.
The next day all the monks read the stanza and were very impressed by it. Although there
was not a signature, they allthought that it was Shen-xiu who did it. Hong-ren saw the
stanzaand knew it was Shen-xiu’s work. He asked Shen-xiu to come to his office and
praised him that the stanza was a good piece of work but did not show his awareness. He
encouraged Shen-xiu to keep upthe spirits so that he could eventually gain awareness.
Simultaneously, Hong-ren told all the monks that the stanza was a good model which they
should learn by heart.
Hui-neng learned about the story indirectly from a young monk He asked the monk to lead
him to the corridor. Being illiterate, he could not read the stanza. When he heard a visiting
scholar reading the stanza loudly, he completely understood its meaning and wanted to
respond directly. He requested the scholar to write his stanza on the wall as well. The
scholar reluctantly helped him write the stanza on a piece of paper and posted on the wall
on the west corridor. It stanza read:
The Bodhi is not like the tree
Neither is there a shinging mirror and the stand
As there is nothing from the first
Where can the dust itself collect?
The next day, when the monks saw this anonymous stanza, they were greatly shocked by
such a witty masterpiece. Hong-ren read
it and recognized that Hui-neng had attained awareness. To protect Hui-neng from being
attacked by other jealous monks, he loudly told the monks that this stanza did not show any
awareness either and tore it off from the wall. He then went to the rice- pounder compound
to meet Hui-neng and said nothing except using his stick to hit on the ground three times and
left. Hui-nen understood what Hong-ren meant. At midnight, Hui-neng went to see Hong-ren
who told himthat he had attained awareness. He gave him his patriarchal mantle and
proclaimed Hui-neng as his legitimate heir. He asked Hui-neng to leave the monastery right
away and headed to the south as there would be a desperate hunt for his life afterwards by
thousands of people who wanted to snatch the mantle.
Hui-neng took the mantle and started his flight and hid among a crowd of hunters for fifteen
years in Guangdong region until he was discovered by another patriarch who heard and
impressed by Hui-neng’s witty remarks during an attendance of audience. He recognized this
should be the allegedly disappeared sixth patriarch chosen by Hong-ren, who died a few
years after Hui-nen’s escape. At that time, after the disappearance of Hui-neng and the death
of Hong-ren, Shen-xiu was appointed by the emperor as the head of the Chan sect and the
Imperial Monk of the empire. Such proclamation divided Chan sect of Buddhism into North
and South schools. The North school was headed by Shen-xiu and stressedon the
purification of the mind through long and continued practice,i.e. “gradual enlightenment”.
South school was headed by Hui-neng and it stressed on “sudden enlightenment”.
After Hui-neng became the legitimate sixth patriarch of Chan sectof Buddhism, his
descendents in the ninth century furtherdeveloped it into five “houses” and the Chan sect
continued to expand with imperial support during the Song dynasty. It suffered interruption
during the Mongolian rule in the Yuen dynasty but resumed its religious activities throughout
the Ming dynasty and in the early Qing dynasty till its gradual decline in the late nineteen
century, and especially after the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China. Chan
Buddhism was transmitted to Japan in the eleventh century when Japanese monks Eisai
(1141-1215) and Dogen (1200-53) both studied under Chinese masters during the Ming
dynasty, and then founded the Rinzai and Soto schools respectively upon their return to
Japan.
Essence and Characteristics of Chan Buddhism
The essence of Chan is that first, it recognizes there is a special transmission outside the
Buddhist scriptures. Second, it is not dependent upon words and letters in transmission.
Third, the transmission directly points at the heart (mind) of the person. Fourth, an individual
can see one’s nature and attain awareness or Buddhahood. Hui-neng was a classical
example of how an illiterate man who, due to his innate Buddha-nature, attained sudden
enlightenment without going through long years of studying sutras. However, one should not
be mistaken that one could dispense totally with Buddhist scriptures. When Budhidharma
came to China, he brought with him four rolls of Lankavatara Sutra which contained the
fundamental concepts and principles of Buddhism. After his death, his heir Hui-he was an
extremely learned and revered patriarch. After Hui-neng became the sixth patriarch, despite
his illiteracy, he encouraged his followers to study Diamond Sutra regularly in order to attain
awareness. Besides he could even clear the doubts of other monks on any part of
Mahayana sutras by just asking them to read the specific paragraphs or phrase to him.
Hence, both the Lankavatara Sutra and the Diamond Sutra have become the two paramount
scriptures of Chan Buddhism in China.
As far as Chan Buddhism is concerned, Hui-neng had his own interpretation which greatly
influenced Chan’s development in later years. Hui-neng told his disciples that in Buddhism,
there is no distinction between “gradual and sudden enlightenment”. Any individual who
attains awareness through gradual or sudden process should “recognize one’s heart (mind)
and sees one’s true nature”. Hui-neng told his followers that Chan Buddhism, ever
since its establishment, defined “without thought” as its principle; “without form”` as its body;
and “without dwelling” as its base. “Without thought” means one’s sensual organs recognize
the matter’s existence but without any involvement with it sensationally or emotionally i.e. to
know the object but to detach from it. “Without form” means Buddhist transmission does not
rely on any pragmatic format so that one can perceive or understand according to one’s
nature and conditions. “Without dwelling” means one should not stick to, stay on anything
rigidly, and be tied to one’s thought and principle to rule out any other possible changes.
According to Hui-neng, Chan simply means one maintains a calm and peaceful mind without
being disturbed or affected by other people or objects whether one is walking, working,
eating and sleeping. One should also bear no greed, ill-will, selfishness, hatred, evil and
treacherous mind when one deals with other people. Referring to “Zuo-Chan” or Buddhist
meditation in the form or sitting like a statue crossed-legged, Hui-neng stated that while one
is in the sitting posture, one should, under whatever positive or negative conditions, stay
calm and tranquil outside and maintain unwavering emotionally and sensationally inside. In
fact, both silence and motion co-exist simultaneously in such a state as two sides of Chan,
or meditation. Silence is to stop all sorts of improper thoughts that are cropping up
incessantly, but the energy of the mind is being conserved to be used in exercising one’s
wisdom. Therefore, when one is in the state of “Zuo-Chan” or meditation, one is not only in
the state of silence but also in deep thinking, exploring and thought-searching into the
Reality of Nature. Since improper thoughts are stopped, barriers are removed for the
emergence of wisdom. An individual may then attain awareness according to one’s desire
and wish through “Zuo-Chan” and meditation.
However, there is a famous case about Chan’s meditation. It said that one day Master
Huai-rang, the disciple of Hui-neng, asked his student, Mazu who sat like a statue doing
“Zuo-Chan” ormeditation,“What is the purpose of Zuo-Chan?
Mazu answered, “I want to become a Buddha.”
Then Master Huai-rang picked up a piece of tile and started to grind it on a stone. Mazu was
surprised and asked his master,
“Why do you grind the tile?”
His master replied, “To make a mirror.”
Mazu dazzled and said, “How can a tile turn into a mirror?”
His master answered, “If a tile cannot be turned into a mirror, how could “Zuo-Chan”
(meditation) make you a Buddha?”
Mazu understood immediately. Master Huai-rang said,
“The idea is the same as a man riding on an ox-cart. If the ox does not move, what would
you do? Do you hit the ox, or the cart?”
“In other words, you are learning Chan. Its essence is to attain awareness, not ‘Zuo-Chan”.
If you want to be a Buddha, there is no specific format or condition such as sitting cross-
legged like a statue. Dharma has no border and no limit.”
This case states clearly that any individual who wants to practise Chan Buddhism should not
solely rely on meditation. Instead, one should read Buddhist scriptures, think and meditate to
suit one’s interests. There are many interesting, witty, poignant and thought-provoking cases
or stories about Chan which were recorded how masters of Chan in the past tried in various
ways to help their students attain awareness. These cases or stories are still relevant
to our present day life. Some of these will be translated later on the web to meet the desire
of those who want to know more about Chan
Buddhist Meditation and the Present Day Life
In China, Chan Buddhism developed into five “Houses” after Hui-neng but only the “Linji
House” and the “Cao Dong House “still prevail. As far as Zuo-Chan or Buddist meditation
is concerned, it has been widely practised by many people who may not be Buddhists just
for relaxation, physical health and qi-kung purpose. Buddhist meditation, in general, aims at
cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desires, hatred, ill-will,
indolence, worries and restlessness and cultivating concentration, awareness, intelligence
confidence and tranquility. It deals with our body, our feelings, our sensation and our mind
in relations to our mindfulness or awareness, and attention or observation. It has many
forms which one may sit, stand, walk or lie down as one likes. But for cultivating mindfulness
of in-and-out breathing, one should sit with crossed-legs with the body erect and mindfulness
alert. It is good for physical health, for relaxation, sound sleep and for efficiency in daily work.
It makes one calm and peaceful.
Another practical and useful form of Buddhist meditation aims at mental development so that
one can be aware and mindful of whatever one does, physically or verbally, during the daily
routine of work in one’s life, private, public or professional. One should be mindful of the act
which one performs at the moment, such as eating, drinking, walking, standing sitting, lying
down, and sleeping. Nowadays, many people do not generally live in their actions and in the
present moment. Though they seem to be doing something now, here, they live somewhere
else in the thoughts, in their imaginary problems and worries or in desires or speculations
about the future. So they are unhappy and discontented with the present moment and with
the work at hand. According to Chan Buddhism, one should not escape life but to face the
real life situation at the present moment without brooding over the past or worrying about the
future.
Chan Buddhism teach people that they should learn not be unhappy about their unhappy
feeling, not to be worried about their worries. But try to see clearly why there is a sensation
or a feeling of unhappiness, worry or sorrow; and try to examine it objectively as another
person, about it arises, its cause, its disappearance and its cessation. In this way, one’s
mind can grow and dispassionate towards sensations, and becomes detached and free.
Thus, if one could follow Buddhist meditation, one would be able to lead a happy and
contented life. However, one should receive proper training on Buddhist meditation. Or else
one would go astray easily getting into nowhere and would harm oneself unknowingly.
Conclusion
China is the place where Buddhism was transplanted, grows and develops in the fertile soil
under a favorable environment. Presently, there are many Buddhist sects spreading
throughout the territories. Nevertheless, Buddhism has yet to be transmitted to other parts of
the world because it is affected by the deficiency of first learned monks who are proficient in
various international languages and second, properly translated Buddhist scriptures
from Chinese into other languages. It was fortunate that just before and after the Second
World War, Chan (Zen) Buddhism was spread from Japan to the western world and it
appeals to many professionals, business executives ministers and academics. Other sects of
Buddhism in India, China, East and South-east Asia are still awaiting further development and
transmission. There is the need for joint efforts among various sects of Buddhism to promote
its religion and its philosophy so that ordinary people and lay Buddhists could learn and
practise it to enrich their spiritual and physical lives. Chan Buddhism has its glorious days a
thousand years ago in China. It has many documents, manuscripts, books and records in
different forms written in classical Chinese and compiled by venerable monks and Buddhist
scholars. These are invaluable treasures for the study of Chan Buddhism. If these materials
could be translated into international languages, it would be beneficial to all the peoples in
the world because Chan Buddhism is relatively easy to be comprehended and accepted by
common people comparing to the teachings of other sects of Buddhism. It is pleased to learn
that recently a Chinese philanthropist has avowed to promote Buddhism to the western
world by donating handsome amount of money to a fund foundation to establish Buddhist
institutes to spread Buddhism. Before long, it is believed that Buddhism will become more
popular in the years to come.
| CHINESE CHINESE |
A TASTE OF BUDDHISM by Anthony YB Tang Copyright © 2006 All copyrights are reserved for the author. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior consent of the publisher or writer is an infringement of the copyright law. |
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