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Revision as of 01:29, 17 January 2025 by Likes Thai Food (talk | contribs) (Created page.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Master Yüan is an iconoclastic teacher who appears in the Bodhidharma Anthology, which contains the earliest known records of Chan. Apart from appearing in this text, he is otherwise unknown. According to Jeffrey Broughton, despite being an obscure figure, and not appearing in Chan genealogical charts, Yüan may be the earliest "Zen master."
Teachings
According to Broughton, Yüan's teachings prefigure the hallmark doctrine of sudden awakening advocated by the later Southern School of Chan, thus making its hero, Huineng, a "descendant in rhetoric" of Yüan. Yanagida also considers Yüan's teaching to anticipate the radical and spontaneous approach of Linji Yixuan, as Yüan taught that one must have energy and liveliness so as to not be deceived by others and the Dharma. Broughton states that:
"He is iconoclastic, consistently criticizing reliance on the Dharma, reliance on teachers, reliance on meditative practice, reliance on canonical texts. Faith in Buddhist teachings and teachers, praxis according to the traditional rules, and learning in scripture lead to nothing but self-deception and confusion. From this stance Master Yüan never budges. His relentless boldness prefigures much in the stance of the full-blown Ch'an tradition."
While Yüan criticizes such things as reliance on texts, teachers, and traditional practices, he speaks positively of bodily energy (t'i-ch'i) and spirit (ching-shen). Such terms can be found in Daoist works such as the Zhuangzi and Liezi, and in Chinese medical texts, ching-shen also refers to vim, vigor, and stamina. For Yüan, energy and spirit are necessary to overcome ingenious artifice (ch'iao-wei), another term appearing in the Zhuangzi. However, as Broughton points out, this does not make Yüan a Daoist, but rather a Buddhist in the Bodhidharma circle who cast his understanding in native Chinese terms. According to Master Yüan, to give rise to the thought of moving toward the path is to have "crafty artifice," a mind of devices in which "a hundred ingenious schemes arise." Yüan says:
"If you desire to cut off crafty artifice, don't produce the thought of enlightenment and don't use knowledge of the sutras and treatises. If you can accomplish this, then for the first time you will have bodily energy. If you have spirit, do not esteem understanding, do not seek Dharma, and do not love knowledge, then you will find a little quietude. . . . If you do not seek wonderful understanding, do not serve as a teacher for people, and also do not take Dharma as your teacher, you will walk alone spontaneously."
References
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, page 5, University of California Press, 1999
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, page 118, University of California Press, 1999
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, page 95, University of California Press, 1999
- John R. McRae. Yanagida Seizan's Landmark Works on Chinese Ch'an, page 89, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 7, 1993. Numéro spécial sur le Chan/Zen : Special Issue on Chan/Zen. En l'honneur de Yanagida Seizan
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, page 148, University of California Press, 1999
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, page 85, University of California Press, 1999
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, pages 85-86, University of California Press, 1999
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, pages 40-41, University of California Press, 1999
- Jeffrey Broughton. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, page 41, University of California Press, 1999