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68-623: Regarding awakening, Harold Stewart explains: In Buddhist terminology this all-decisive moment is known as the Awakening of the Buddha-Mind, or Bodaishin [...] There are three practically synonymous terms in the Mahayana for this: Bodaishin (Sanskrit: Bodhicitta); Busshin, literally 'Buddha-Heart' of Great Compassion (Sanskrit: Tathagatagarbha, or the latent possibility of Buddhahood inherent in all beings); and Bussho (Sanskrit: Buddhata), or

136-439: A Science Daily article states, may reduce inflammatory and behavioral responses to stress that have been linked to depression and a number of medical illnesses. Mettā meditation is a central practice within mindfulness-based pain management (MBPM), the effectiveness of which has been supported by a range of studies. A 2015 meta-analysis, synthesizing various high-quality experiments on loving-kindness meditation, found

204-587: A Brahman king of South India" (c. 715 CE). Some traditions specifically describe Bodhidharma to be the third son of a Pallava king from Kanchipuram . The Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices written by Tan Lin (曇林; 506–574), contains teachings that are attributed to Bodhidharma. The text is known from the Dunhuang manuscripts . The two entrances to enlightenment are

272-443: A long-term effect could be shown, though these effects might not hold true for everybody. In one proof-of-concept study, uncontrolled in sample selection and benchmarking, the researchers report therapeutic potential for psychological problems like depression or social anxiety, when combined with other reliable treatments. The application of mettā meditation for the treatment of psychological and other healthcare-related problems

340-474: A medium-sized[quantify] improvement to daily positive emotion, with meditation on the loving-kindness aspect of mettā having a greater effect than practices with a focus on compassion. The length of time meditating did not affect the magnitude of positive impact of the practice. S. R. Bishop, in a 2002 review, suggests caution on claims of benefits, and states, "what has been published has been rife with methodological problems. At present, we know very little about

408-633: A mind of benevolence one direction of the world, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth, and so above, below, around and everywhere, and to all as to himself; one abides suffusing the entire universe with benevolence, with a mind grown great, lofty, boundless and free from enmity and ill will. So mettāsahagatena cetasā ekaṃ disaṃ pharitvā viharati. Tathā dutiyaṃ. Tathā tatiyaṃ. Tathā catutthiṃ. Iti uddhamadho tiriyaṃ sabbadhi sabbattatāya sabbāvantaṃ lokaṃ mettāsahagatena cetasā vipulena mahaggatena appamāṇena averena abyāpajjena pharitvā viharati. In

476-473: A mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let her thoughts of boundless lovingkindness pervade the whole world: above, below and across, without obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity. ⋮ This they say is divine abiding here. She will surely not come again to any womb (rebirth in the sense-desire realm). Metta or lovingkindness here, states Harvey,

544-482: A person who, depending on tradition, may or may not be internally visualized. Two different methodological approaches have been discerned in recent review papers: practices that focus on compassion, and practices focusing on loving-kindness. Focusing on compassion means that meditation consists of the wish to relieve a being from suffering, whereas focusing on loving-kindness means wishing a being happiness. The practice gradually increases in difficulty with respect to

612-530: A sign of transmission of the Dharma: a robe, a bowl, and a copy of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra . The transmission then passed to the second ancestral founder Dazu Huike, the third Sengcan, the fourth ancestral founder Dayi Daoxin, and the fifth ancestral founder Daman Hongren . With the fourth patriarch, Daoxin ( 道信 580–651), Chan began to take shape as a distinct school. The link between Huike and Sengcan, and

680-421: Is "without steps or gradations. One concentrates, understands, and is enlightened, all in one undifferentiated practice." Sharf notes that the notion of "Mind" came to be criticised by radical subitists, and was replaced by "No Mind," to avoid any reifications. A large group of students gathered at a permanent residence, and extreme asceticism became outdated. The period of Daoxin and Hongren came to be called

748-421: Is a Brahmavihara (divine abode) or an immeasurable that leads to a meditative state by being a counter to ill-will. It removes clinging to negative states of mind, by cultivating kindness unto all beings. The "far enemy" of mettā is hate or ill-will, a mind-state in obvious opposition. The "near enemy" (quality which superficially resembles mettā but is in fact more subtly in opposition to it),

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816-601: Is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism . It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song dynasties . Chan is the originating tradition of Zen Buddhism (the Japanese pronunciation of the same character , which is the most commonly used English name for the school). Chan Buddhism spread from China south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon , and, in

884-671: Is a Pali word, from maitrī which was itself derived from mitra which, states Monier-Williams, means "friend". The term is found in this sense in the Vedic literature, such as the Shatapatha Brahmana and various early Upanishads, and Vedanga literature such as Pāṇini 's Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.4.36. The term appears in Buddhist texts as an important concept and practice. Buswell and Lopez, as well as Harvey, translate mettā as "loving-kindness". In Buddhist belief, this

952-516: Is a heartfelt aspiration for the happiness of all beings. It is different from "lack of ill-will", and more an antidote to fear and hatred. It is the precept to conquer anger by kindness, conquer the liar by truth, conquer the stingy by giving, and conquer evil by good, says Harvey. In over a dozen discourses, the following description (in English and Pāli) is provided for radiating loving-kindness in six directions: One abides, having suffused with

1020-530: Is a mention of four right sentiments: Maitri, pramoda, karunya, and madhyastha: Benevolence towards all living beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous, compassion and sympathy for the afflicted, and tolerance towards the insolent and ill-behaved. In the Pāli Canon , the term metta appears in many texts such as the Kakacupama Sutta and Karaniya Metta Sutta . Other canonical materials, such as in

1088-506: Is a section entitled Mettākathā ( Ps . 2.4, "Story on Loving-Kindness"). In this instruction, a general formula (below, in English and Pāli), essentially identical to the aforementioned Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta verse (especially evident in the Pāli), is provided for radiating benevolence: In addition, this instruction categorizes twenty-two ways in which "the mind-deliverance of benevolence" ( mettācetovimutti ) can be radiated with Moreover,

1156-583: Is a topic of research. Hofmann et al. discuss the potential use for therapy and report insufficient data, with some promising studies so far. Those studies could show a positive impact on problems such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety. According to Hofmann et al. , there needs to be more rigorous research, especially with the application of Buddhist approaches to loving-kindness and compassion meditation. In an eight-week pilot study in 2005, loving-kindness meditation led to reduced pain and anger in people with chronic lower back pain. Compassion meditation,

1224-616: Is associated with the East Mountain School . It is a method named "Maintaining the one without wavering" ( shou-i pu i, 守一不移), the one being the nature of mind , which is equated with Buddha-nature. In this practice, one turns the attention from the objects of experience, to the perceiving subject itself. According to McRae, this type of meditation resembles the methods of "virtually all schools of Mahayana Buddhism," but differs in that "no preparatory requirements, no moral prerequisites or preliminary exercises are given," and

1292-411: Is attachment ( greed ): here too one likes experiencing a virtue, but for the wrong reason. Mettā meditation, or often "loving-kindness meditation", is the practice concerned with the cultivation of mettā , i.e. benevolence, kindness, and amity. The practice generally consists of silent repetitions of phrases such as "may you be happy" or "may you be free from suffering", for example directed at

1360-492: Is equitable, and "good volitional acts conduce pleasant situations, while bad volitional acts conduce unpleasant situations". The Maitri Upanishad teaches, states Juan Mascaró, that peace begins in one's own mind, in one's longing for truth, in looking within, and that "a quietness of mind overcomes good and evil works, and in quietness the soul is one: then one feels the joy of eternity." The Isha Upanishad similarly discusses universal amity and loving-kindness, but without

1428-683: Is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend. There are three principal sources for Bodhidharma's biography: The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang by Yáng Xuànzhī's (楊衒之, 547), Tan Lin's preface to the Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices (6th century CE), and Dayi Daoxin 's Further Biographies of Eminent Monks (7th century CE). These sources vary in their account of Bodhidharma being either "from Persia" (547 CE), "a Brahman monk from South India" (645 CE), "the third son of

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1496-523: Is extended for all those born in the lower realms. The Pali canon says that there are a number of benefits from the practicing of metta meditation, including: The canon also upholds fully ripened metta development as a foremost antidote to ill will: Mettā meditation is regularly recommended to the Buddha 's followers in the Pali canon. The canon generally advises radiating metta in each of

1564-545: Is particularly discernible in the early Upanishadic thought, and it is unclear as to what extent and how early Upanishadic traditions of Hinduism and Sramanic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism influenced each other, on ideas such as "four immeasurables", meditation, and Brahmavihara. In the Jain text, the Tattvartha Sutra (Chapter 7, sutra 11), which is accepted by all Jain sub-traditions as authoritative, there

1632-577: Is referred to as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian " ( 碧眼胡 ; Bìyǎn hú ) in Chinese Chan texts. Only scarce historical information is available about him but his hagiography developed when the Chan tradition grew stronger and gained prominence in the early 8th century. By this time a lineage of the six ancestral founders of Chan in China was developed. Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma

1700-601: Is the first of the four sublime states ( Brahmaviharas ) and one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism . The cultivation of benevolence ( mettā bhāvanā ) is a popular form of Buddhist meditation . It is a part of the four immeasurables in Brahmavihara (divine abidings) meditation. Metta as "compassion meditation" is often practiced in Asia by broadcast chanting, wherein monks chant for

1768-567: The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra . As a result, early masters of the Chan tradition were referred to as "Laṅkāvatāra masters". As the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra teaches the doctrine of the Ekayāna "One Vehicle", the early Chan school was sometimes referred to as the "One Vehicle School". In other early texts, the school that would later become known as Chan is sometimes even referred to as simply the "Laṅkāvatāra school" (Ch. 楞伽宗, Léngqié Zōng ). Accounts recording

1836-658: The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra the Chinese supposed that the teaching of Buddha-nature was, as stated by that sutra, the final Buddhist teaching, and that there is an essential truth above sunyata and the two truths. When Buddhism came to China, there were three divisions of training: It was in this context that Buddhism entered into Chinese culture. Three types of teachers with expertise in each training practice developed: Monasteries and practice centers were created that tended to focus on either

1904-929: The Paṭisambhidāmagga , elaborate on it as a practice. Yet other canonical sources, such as the Abhidhamma , underline the key role of benevolence in the development of wholesome karma for better rebirths. This basic statement of intention and verse can also be found in several other canonical discourses. May all beings be happy and secure, may they be happy-minded. Whatever living beings there are—feeble or strong, long, stout or medium, short, small or large, seen or unseen (ghosts, gods and hell-beings), those dwelling far or near, those who are born or those who await rebirth may all beings, without exception be happy-minded. Let none deceive another nor despise any person whatever in any place; in anger or ill-will let them not wish any suffering to each other. Just as

1972-462: The Buddha's thirty-two Characteristics . Other important translators of meditation texts were Kumārajīva (334–413 CE), who translated The Sutra on the Concentration of Sitting Meditation , amongst many other texts; and Buddhabhadra . These Chinese translations of mostly Indian Sarvāstivāda Yogacara meditation manuals were the basis for the meditation techniques of Chinese Chan. Buddhism

2040-478: The East Mountain Teaching , due to the location of the residence of Hongren at Huangmei. The term was used by Yuquan Shenxiu (神秀 606?–706), the most important successor to Hongren. By this time the group had grown into a matured congregation that became significant enough to be reckoned with by the ruling forces. The East Mountain community was a specialized meditation training centre. Hongren

2108-599: The Srimala Sutra , one of the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras , figures in the stories about Bodhidharma. Huike is regarded as the second Chan patriarch, appointed by Bodhidharma to succeed him. One of Huike's students, Sengcan , to whom is ascribed the Xinxin Ming , is regarded as the third patriarch. By the late 8th century, under the influence of Huineng's student Shenhui , the traditional list of patriarchs of

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2176-514: The Tang dynasty to lend credibility to the growing Chan-school. Only scarce historical information is available about him, but his hagiography developed when the Chan tradition grew stronger and gained prominence in the early 8th century. By this time a lineage of the six ancestral founders of Chan in China was developed. The actual origins of Chan may lie in ascetic practitioners of Buddhism, who found refuge in forests and mountains. Huike , "a dhuta (extreme ascetic) who schooled others" and used

2244-515: The laity . The compassion and universal loving-kindness concept of metta is discussed in the Metta Sutta of Buddhism, and is also found in the ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism and Jainism as metta or maitri . Small sample studies on the potential of loving-kindness meditation approach on patients suggest potential benefits. However, peer reviews question the quality and sample size of these studies. Mettā

2312-431: The "four immeasurables" and related metta -meditation were his unique ideas, states Harvey Aronson, in a manner similar to "cessation, quieting, nirvana". The pre-Buddha Chandogya Upanishad , states Jayatilleke, in section 8.15 teaches metta and ahimsa (doctrine of non-harm, esp. non-violence) to all creatures claiming that this practice leads to Brahmaloka . The shift in Vedic ideas, from rituals to virtues,

2380-478: The 13th century, east to Japan as Japanese Zen . The historical records required for a complete, accurate account of early Chan history no longer exist. The history of Chan in China can be divided into several periods. Zen, as we know it today, is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Zen, some of which remained influential, while others vanished. Andy Ferguson distinguishes three periods from

2448-488: The 5th century into the 13th century: Although John R. McRae has reservations about the division of Chan history in phases or periods, he nevertheless distinguishes four phases in the history of Chan: Neither Ferguson nor McRae gives a periodisation for Chinese Chan following the Song-dynasty, though McRae mentions When Buddhism came to China, it was adapted to the Chinese culture and understanding. Theories about

2516-573: The Atharvaveda, and various Upanishads. A major early Upanishad of Hinduism, named Maitri Upanishad , discusses universal kindness and amity. The Maitri Upanishad , states Martin Wiltshire, provides the philosophical underpinning, by asserting, "what one thinks, that one becomes, this is the eternal mystery". This idea, adds Wiltshire, reflects the assumption in the ancient thought that one influences one's own environment and situation, causality

2584-467: The Buddha was tired or ill. The Buddha silently held up and twirled a flower and his eyes twinkled; several of his disciples tried to interpret what this meant, though none of them were correct. One of the Buddha's disciples, Mahākāśyapa , gazed at the flower and smiled. The Buddha then acknowledged Mahākāśyapa's insight by saying the following: I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvāṇa,

2652-994: The Buddha-nature. Busshin may also refer to Buddhakaya , the Buddha-body, "an embodiment of awakened activity." Chan / Zen is also called foxin zong (Chinese) or busshin-shū (Japanese), the "Buddha-mind school." Chan Buddhism The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen Chan ( traditional Chinese : 禪 ; simplified Chinese : 禅 ; pinyin : Chán ; abbr. of Chinese : 禪那 ; pinyin : chánnà ), from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning " meditation " or "meditative state" ),

2720-607: The Buddha. Post-Buddha, these same virtues are found in the Hindu texts such as verse 1.33 of the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali , wherein the word maitri is synonymous with metta . Loving-kindness ( maitri ), along with compassion and equanimity, are found in the early Upanishads of Hinduism, while loving-kindness ( metta ) is found in early Sutras of Jainism along with compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity. The ancient Indian Paccekabuddhas who are mentioned in

2788-484: The Chan lineage had been established: In later writings, this lineage was extended to include 28 Indian patriarchs. In the Song of Enlightenment (證道歌 Zhèngdào gē ) of Yongjia Xuanjue (永嘉玄覺, 665–713), one of the chief disciples of Huìnéng , it is written that Bodhidharma was the 28th patriarch in a line of descent from Mahākāśyapa, a disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha , and the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism. Mahākāśyapa

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2856-467: The Christian Era, this barbarian influence was infiltrating China just when it was least politically stable and more vulnerable to sedition. As the philosophy and practice infiltrated society, many traditionalists banded together to stop the foreign influence, not so much out of intolerance (an attitude flatly rejected by both Taoism and Confucianism), but because they felt that the Chinese worldview

2924-551: The Vinaya and training of monks or the teachings focused on one scripture or a small group of texts. Dhyāna ( Chan ) masters tended to practice in solitary hermitages, or to be associated with Vinaya training monasteries or the dharma teaching centers. The later naming of the Zen school has its origins in this view of the threefold division of training. McRae goes so far as to say: ... one important feature must not be overlooked: Chan

2992-570: The Yogacara meditation teachings of the Sarvāstivāda school of Kashmir circa 1st-4th centuries CE. The five main types of meditation in the Dhyana sutras are anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing); paṭikūlamanasikāra meditation, mindfulness of the impurities of the body; loving-kindness maitrī meditation; the contemplation on the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda ; and the contemplation on

3060-524: The ancient root Mid (love). These Vedic words appear in the Samhita , Aranyaka , Brahmana , and Upanishad layers of texts in the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. Speaking the truth I desire this: May I enjoy her lovingkindness as do ye, May not one of you supplant another, She hath enjoyed my lovingkindness, the all-knower. Similarly, the term appears in hymn 55 of Book 19 of

3128-515: The canon, this basic formula is expanded upon in a variety of ways. For instance, a couple of discourses provide the following description of how to gain rebirth in the heavenly realm of Brahmā ( brahmānaṃ sahavyatāya maggo ) : May all beings be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live contentedly. Mettākathā ( Ps. 2.4) In the Khuddaka Nikāya ' s Paṭisambhidāmagga , traditionally ascribed to Sariputta ,

3196-596: The concepts". Judging from the reception by the Han of the Hinayana works and from the early commentaries, it appears that Buddhism was being perceived and digested through the medium of religious Daoism (Taoism). Buddha was seen as a foreign immortal who had achieved some form of Daoist nondeath. The Buddhists' mindfulness of the breath was regarded as an extension of Daoist breathing exercises. The first Buddhist converts in China were Taoists. They developed high esteem for

3264-444: The directional pervasions can then be applied to each of the unspecific and specific pervasions. For instance, after radiating benevolence to all beings in the east ( Sabbe puratthimāya disāya sattā... ), one radiates it to all beings in the west and then north and then south, etc.; then, one radiates it to all breathing things in this fashion ( Sabbe puratthimāya disāya pāṇā... ), then all creatures, persons, and so forth until such

3332-475: The early Buddhist Suttas , those who lived before the Buddha, mention all "four immeasurables" and Brahmavihara, and they are claimed in the Suttas to be previous incarnations of the Buddha. According to Ian Harris, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that the metta -concept containing four Brahmavihara meditation practices "did not originate within the Buddhist tradition". The Buddha never claimed that

3400-518: The entrance of principle and the entrance of practice: The entrance of principle is to become enlightened to the Truth on the basis of the teaching. One must have a profound faith in the fact that one and the same True Nature is possessed by all sentient beings, both ordinary and enlightened, and that this True Nature is only covered up and made imperceptible [in the case of ordinary people] by false sense impressions ". The entrance of practice includes

3468-567: The following four increments: This text was used and studied by Huike and his students. The True Nature refers to the Buddha-nature . Bodhidharma settled in Northern Wei China. Shortly before his death, Bodhidharma appointed his disciple Dazu Huike to succeed him, making Huike the first Chinese-born ancestral founder and the second ancestral founder of Chan in China. Bodhidharma is said to have passed three items to Huike as

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3536-409: The fourth patriarch Daoxin "is far from clear and remains tenuous". With Daoxin and his successor, the fifth patriarch Hongren ( 弘忍 601–674), there emerged a new style of teaching, which was inspired by the Chinese text Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana . According to McRae, the "first explicit statement of the sudden and direct approach that was to become the hallmark of Ch'an religious practice"

3604-553: The history of this early period are to be found in the Records of the Laṅkāvatāra Masters ( Chinese : 楞伽師資記 ). Bodhidharma is recorded as having come into China during the time of Southern and Northern Dynasties to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words". Throughout Buddhist art , Bodhidharma is depicted as a rather ill-tempered, profusely bearded and wide-eyed barbarian. He

3672-583: The ineffable Tao and Buddha-nature , and thus, rather than feeling bound to the abstract "wisdom of the sūtras", emphasized Buddha-nature to be found in "everyday" human life, just as the Tao. Chinese Buddhism absorbed Neo-Daoist concepts as well. Concepts such as T'i-yung (體用 Essence and Function) and Li-shih (理事 Noumenon and Phenomenon, or Principle and Practice) first appeared in Hua-yen Buddhism, which consequently influenced Chan deeply. On

3740-571: The influence of other schools in the evolution of Chan vary widely and are heavily reliant upon speculative correlation rather than on written records or histories. Numerous scholars have argued that Chan developed from the interaction between Mahāyāna Buddhism and Taoism . Buddhist meditation was practiced in China centuries before the rise of Chan, by people such as An Shigao (c. 148–180 CE) and his school, who translated various Dhyāna sutras (Chán-jing, 禪経, "meditation treatises"), which were influential early meditation texts mostly based on

3808-456: The newly introduced Buddhist meditational techniques, and blended them with Taoist meditation . Representatives of early Chinese Buddhism like Sengzhao and Tao Sheng were deeply influenced by the Taoist keystone works of Laozi and Zhuangzi . Against this background, especially the Taoist concept of naturalness was inherited by the early Chan disciples: they equated – to some extent –

3876-399: The other hand, Taoists at first misunderstood sunyata to be akin to the Taoist non-being . The emerging Chinese Buddhism nevertheless had to compete with Taoism and Confucianism: Because Buddhism was a foreign influence, however, and everything "barbarian" was suspect, certain Chinese critics were jolted out of complacency by the spread of the dharma [...] In the first four centuries of

3944-512: The six directions, to whatever beings there may be. A different set of practical instructions, still widely used today, is found in the 5th century  CE Visuddhimagga ; this is also the main source for the "near and far enemies" given above. In addition, variations on this traditional practice have been popularized by modern teachers and applied in modern research settings. Mettā is found in pre-Buddhist Vedic Sanskrit texts as Maitrī , Maitra , and Mitra , which are derived from

4012-576: The targets that receive the practitioner's compassion or loving-kindness. At first the practitioner is targeting "oneself, then loved ones, neutral ones, difficult ones, and finally all beings, with variations across traditions". According to Martin Wiltshire, prior to the advent of the Buddha , there existed traditions of Brahmaloka and of meditation with the four virtues of loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. The early Buddhist texts assert that pre-Buddha ancient Indian sages who taught these virtues were earlier incarnations of

4080-571: The teachings, a style which is also used in the Platform Sutra. The establishment of a community in one location was a change from the wandering lives of Bodhidharma and Huike and their followers. It fitted better into the Chinese society, which highly valued community-oriented behaviour, instead of solitary practice. Mett%C4%81 Maitrī ( Sanskrit ; Pali : mettā ) means benevolence, loving-kindness, friendliness , amity, good will, and active interest in others. It

4148-546: The term mettā . These teachings of universal maitri influenced Mahatma Gandhi. In Jainism, Yogabindu – the 6th-century yoga text by Haribhadra – uses the Sanskrit word maitri in verses 402–404, in the sense of loving-kindness towards all living beings. Some pilot research studies on the effect of mettā meditation indicate an increase in positive emotions for practitioners. In particular, an immediate impact on positive emotions after practice as well as

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4216-464: The true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa. Traditionally the origin of Chan in China is credited to Bodhidharma , an Iranian-language speaking Central Asian monk or an Indian monk. The story of his life, and of the Six Patriarchs, was constructed during

4284-469: Was a plain meditation teacher, who taught students of "various religious interests", including "practitioners of the Lotus Sutra, students of Madhyamaka philosophy, or specialists in the monastic regulations of Buddhist Vinaya ". The school was typified by a "loose practice," aiming to make meditation accessible to a larger audience. Shenxiu used short formulas extracted from various sutras to package

4352-492: Was being turned upside down. One point of confusion for this new emerging Chinese Buddhism was the two truths doctrine . Chinese thinking took this to refer to two ontological truths : reality exists on two levels, a relative level and an absolute level. Taoists at first misunderstood sunyata to be akin to the Taoist non-being. In Indian Madhyamaka philosophy the two truths are two epistemological truths : two different ways to look at reality. Based on their understanding of

4420-419: Was exposed to Confucian , Taoist and local Folk religious influences when it came to China. Goddard quotes D.T. Suzuki , calling Chan a "natural evolution of Buddhism under Taoist conditions". Buddhism was first identified to be "a barbarian variant of Taoism", and Taoist terminology was used to express Buddhist doctrines in the oldest translations of Buddhist texts, a practice termed ko-i , "matching

4488-632: Was never any such thing as an institutionally separate Chan "school" at any time in Chinese Buddhist history (emphasis McRae). The Chan tradition ascribes the origins of Chan in India to the Flower Sermon , the earliest source for which comes from the 14th century. It is said that Gautama Buddha gathered his disciples one day for a Dharma talk . When they gathered together, the Buddha was completely silent and some speculated that perhaps

4556-475: Was not nearly as separate from these other types of Buddhist activities as one might think [...] [T]he monasteries of which Chan monks became abbots were comprehensive institutions, "public monasteries" that supported various types of Buddhist activities other than Chan-style meditation. The reader should bear this point in mind: In contrast to the independent denominations of Soto and Rinzai that emerged (largely by government fiat) in seventeenth-century Japan, there

4624-618: Was the first, leading the line of transmission; Twenty-eight Fathers followed him in the West; The Lamp was then brought over the sea to this country; And Bodhidharma became the First Father here: His mantle, as we all know, passed over six Fathers, And by them many minds came to see the Light. In its beginnings in China, Chan primarily referred to the Mahāyāna sūtras and especially to

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