From Mazu to Nanquan
The two main lines of
Chinese Zen Buddhism derive from Ma-tsu [i.e. Mazu] and Shih-t’ou. While it
is
clear that Chinese Zen in no sense began at this time, it is also true
that Zen as we know it today first took a clearly defined form during
the third generation after Hui-neng....In contrast to the
passive style
of meditation practices in the Northern school, Ma-tsu promoted the
dynamic Zen of the Sixth Patriarch; his teacher, Nan-yueh Huai-jang,
had convinced him of the futility of simply sitting in
meditation. The
chronicle reports:
 [Ma-tsu] was residing
in the
monastery of Dembo-in where he sat constantly in meditation. The
master, aware that he was a vessel of the Dharma, went to him and
asked, “Virtuous one, for what purpose are you sitting in meditation?”
Tao-i answered: “I wish to become
a Buddha.”
Thereupon the master picked up a
tile and started rubbing it on a stone in front of the hermitage.
Tao-i asked: “What is the Master
doing?”
The master replied: “I am
polishing [this tile] to make a mirror.”
“How can you make a mirror by
polishing a tile?” exclaimed Tao-i.
“And how can you make a Buddha by
practicing zazen?” countered
the master. [Zen
Buddhism: A History, Volume 1, 161-163]
- Why would Mazu’s master chide him for practicing zazen?
- What does this have to do with the Platform Sutra of the 6th Patriarch, Hui Neng?
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Ma-tsu is the dominant figure in early Zen. The
principal stage of his activity was Chiang-hsi (Kiangsi)
Province.
Crowds of disciples streamed after him and he often changed
location. With him begins the mainstream of Chinese Zen, out of which would arise
the powerful Rinzai school. He was the first to make use of
shouting
(Chin., ho; Jpn., katsu) as a means of fostering
enlightenment, a means later made famous by Lin-chi (Jpn.,
Rinzai). With Ma-tsu paradox is mixed with rudeness. On one occasion, at
the
conclusion of a paradoxical dialogue, he suddenly grabbed the nose of
his disciple Pai-chang and twisted it so violently that the disciple
cried out in pain—and
attained enlightenment. [Zen
Buddhism: A History, Volume 1, 163]
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Once the monks
of the Eastern Hall were disputing about a cat. Nan-ch’üan [i.e. Nanquan; J: Nansen],
holding up the cat, said, “Monks, if you can say a word of Zen, I will
spare the cat. If you cannot, I will kill it!” No monk
could answer. Nan-ch’üan finally killed the cat. In
the evening, when Chao-chou came back,
Nan-ch’üan told him of the incident. Chao-chou took off his
sandal,
put it on his head, and walked off. Nan-ch’üan said, “If you
had
been there, I could have saved the cat!” [Mumonkan, Case 14] |
The
“Gateless Gate”
Wu-men Kuan (J: Mumonkan)
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Gateless is the Great Tao,
There are thousands of ways to it.
If you pass through this barrier,
You may walk freely in the
universe.
[Mumonkan, 10]
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The
Koan “Mu!” (Chinese:
Wu)
Case 1
A monk asked Joshu in all earnestness,
“Has a dog Buddha
nature or not?”
Joshu said, “Mu!” |
Mumon’s Commentary
...concentrate your whole self, with its 360
bones and joints and 84,000 pores, into Mu making your whole body a
solid lump of doubt. Day and night, without ceasing, keep digging
into it, but don’t take it as “nothingness” or as “being”
or “non-being.” It must be like a red-hot iron ball which you
have
gulped down and which you try to vomit up, but cannot. You must
extinguish all delusive thoughts and feelings which you have cherished
up to the present. After a certain period of such efforts, Mu
will come to fruition, and inside and out will become one
naturally. You will then be like a dumb man who has had a
dream. You will know yourself and for yourself only.
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Then all of a sudden, Mu will break open
and astonish the heavens and shake the earth. It will be just as
if you had snatched the great sword of General Kan. If
you meet a Buddha, you will kill him. If you meet an ancient Zen
master, you will kill him. Though you may stand on the brink of
life and death, you will enjoy the great freedom. In the six
realms
and the four modes of birth, you will live in the samadhi of innocent
play.
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Mumon’s Final Verse
Dog!
Buddha nature!
The
perfect manifestation, the absolute command;
A
little “has” or “has not,”
And
body is lost! Life is lost!
[Gateless Gate, 11-2; cf. Mumonkan, 19-20]
“So do I have Buddha-Nature or not?”
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