TSO-CH'AN
By Master Sheng-Yen（圣严法师）
中华佛学研究所所长、东吴大学哲学系
教授
中华佛学学报第二期(1988.10月出版)
页361-386
页361
Origins of the Term Tso-ch'an
The Chinese term tso-ch'an 坐禅（ zazen ） was in
use among Buddhist practitioners even before the
appearance of the Ch'an (Zen) School. Embedded in the
term
is the word ch'an, a derivative of the Indian
dhyana,
which is the yogic practice of attaining
samadhi in
meditation. Literally translated, tso-
ch'an means
"sitting ch'an" and has a comprehensive
and a specific
meaning. The comprehensive meaning
refers to any type of
meditation practice based on
taking the sitting
posture. The specific meaning
refers to the methods of
practice that characterize
Ch'an Buddhism.
The earliest Chinese translations of Buddhist
sutras that
describe methods of samadhi appear around
the end of the
second century A.D. The most famous
of these was the
Tso-ch'an ching 坐禅经, The Sutra of
Sitting Ch'an, translated
by K'ang Seng-hui 康僧会.
In the beginning of the
fifth century A.D.,
Kumarajiva 鸠摩罗什 translated a
large number of
sutras on the practice of samadhi. One
of these was
the Tso-ch'an san-mei ching 坐禅三昧经. The Sutra
on
Tso-ch'an and Samadhi. So we see that the term tso-
ch'an was used in China as early as the second cent-
ury,
and there are at least two sutras that use the
term in
their titles. We know that many monks during
this time
practiced tso-ch'an to achieve samadhi in
the Indian
tradition. This is especially revealed in
the chapter
Hsi-ch'an p'ien 习禅篇, On Cultivating
Ch'an, in the
Kao-seng chuan 高僧传, The Biographies
of Eminent Monks. This
was compiled in the Liang Dy-
nasty 梁朝 (502-557).
During the Sui Dynasty 隋朝 (589-617) the T'ien-
t'ai 天台
master Chin-I 智顗wrote the Hsiao chin-
kuan 小止观. The Minor
页362
Treatise on Samatha-Vipasyana.
In it he describes
tso-ch'an in terms of three aspects:
how to regulate
one's body, one's breath, and one's mind. In
the
section on regulating the body, the posture of sitting
meditation is the most important factor. In a later
work
called Ta chih-kuan 摩诃止观, The Major Treatise
on
Samatha-Vipasyana, he described four methods
to attain
samadhi. The first method is called samadhi
Through
Constant Sitting 常坐三昧, the second,
Samadhi Through
Constant Walking 常行三昧. The third
is Samadhi Through Half
Walking, Half Sitting 半行半
坐三昧. The fourth is The Samadhi
Neither Through
walking Nor Sitting 非行非坐三昧.
Tso-ch'an and Samadhi
The references above
show that several centuries
before the coming of the Ch'an
schools, tso-ch'an
already reached a high state of
development in
China, both as a practice and a
scriptural topic.
These references also show the close
association
between tso-ch'an and samadhi in Chinese
Buddhist
practice prior to Ch'an.
What is
samadhi? Indian tradition defines nine
levels of samadhi,
each with its identifying
characterisitcs. For our
purposes, however, we need
only to provide a general
definition of samadhi. If,
through practice, especially
tso-ch'an, one can get
one's mind to a unified state,
this state can be
called samadhi. To say that the
mind is unified
doesn't mean that the person has a sense
or idea of
being coextensive with the universe. Rather, it
means
that the mind is simply not moving. There is no
distinction between inside and outside, self and
environment.
There is no sense of time and space. There
is
only the sense of existence. So this state of united
mind is called samadhi. This is not a state of
nothought,
or no-mind, since there is at least the
awareness of self
experiencing samadhi. It is a state
of one-thought, or
one-mind, and is not considered
enlightenment in Ch'an.
页363
Roots of Tso-ch'an in India
In most spiritual traditions of India, the yogis
practice dhyana to attain samadhi at its various
levels. After years of austere practice as a yogi,
the
self-exiled Indian prince Siddhartha recognized
that his
realization was incomplete. He sat under the
bodhitree
vowing not to rise until he had resolved
the question of
death and rebirth. Only when he
became enlightened one
evening, after seeing a bright
star, did he rise. He had
become the Buddha, the
primal transmitter of Buddhism in
our epoch. The
Buddha's experience became the paradigm of
tso-ch'an
practice.
With the rise
of Buddhism, two forms of practice
developed. One is called
samadhi liberation and the
other is called wisdom
liberation. The practice of
wisdom liberation does not
cultivate the nine
levels of samadhi. but goes
directly into the
enlightened state. Ch'an follows the
path of wisdom
liberation.
Tso-ch'an
of the Patriarchs
When pre-Ch'an masters
practiced, they mostly
used the methods given in the
translated Hinayana
sutras. For them, tso-ch'an referred
to methods of
sitting to attain samadhi. But among the
later
masters of Ch'an, the term was reserved for methods
of attaining enlightenment without samadhi as an
intermediate or final stage.
The First Patriarch of
Ch'an, the Indian monk
Bodhidharma 菩提达摩, arrived in China
around 520 A.
D., and established himself in the Shao Lin
Temple
少林寺. There he wrote the treatise, Erh ju ssu hsing
二入四行. The Two Entries and the Four Practices. One
of the
entries was the Entry Through Principle 理入.
This was in
fact direct penetration to the
experience of
Buddha-nature. According to legend,
Bodhidharma sat
facing the wall in the temple for
nine years. The posture
he used was the same as those
used by previous masters to
attain samadhi. He sat
with
页364
crossed legs and concentrated mind. However, the
goal was different it was to develop wisdom without
going
through samadhi. He did not use the Hinayana
methods such
as visualizing the parts of one's body.
Bodhidharma's
approach was based on the Lankavatara
Sutra which advised
"taking no door as the Dharma
door" and "not using any
language, words or symbols
as the foundation."
While the historical facts of Bodhidharma's life
are scant,
there is no doubt that he practiced
tso-ch'an. There is also
little doubt that he was
enlightened before going to
China. Even so, when he
settled in the Shao-Lin
Temple, he continued
tso-ch'an practice. His great
contribution to Ch'an
was his insistence on
directly experiencing
Buddha-nature through Tso-ch'an.
The Fourth Patriarch Tao-hsin 道信（580-651 ）
wrote Ju-tao
anhsin yao fang-pien men 入道安心要方便
门. The Methods for Entering
the Path and Calming
the Mind. In it, he quoted from the
Lankavatara Sutra
and the Wen-shu shuo po-jo ching
文殊说般若经. The
Prajna Sutra Spoken by Manjusri. He
stresses the
importance of tso-ch'an for the beginner, with
emphasis on the right posture. The neophyte must then
contemplate the five skandhas the material skandha of
form
(the elements), and the four mental skandhas :
feeling,
perception, phenomena, and consciousness.
The Manjusri
Sutra says, "He should contemplate the
five skandhas as
originally empty and quiescent,
non-arising,
non-perishing, equal, without
differentiation.
Constantly thus practicing, day or
night, whether sitting,
walking, standing or lying
down, finally one reaches
an inconceivable state
without any obstruction or form.
This is the Samadhi
of One Act (I-hsing sanmei) 一行三昧."
In a sense, the Fourth Patriarch is describing
the two
meanings of tso-ch'an in Ch'an. In the
beginning the
practitioner starts by taking the
sitting posture. He
will use simple and basic methods
of regulation the body
and mind. At an advanced
stage,
页365
he will not be limited to sitting, but in
any posture,
his mind will be in accord with the Samadhi
of
One Act.
His disciple, the Fifth Patriarch
Hung-jen (602-
675), wrote an essay, Hsiu-hsing Yao Lun,
修行要论,
The Essentials of Cultivation, which emphasizes
sitting. He quoted from the I-chiao ching 遗教经, The
Sutra of
the Buddha's Last Bequest, which says "When
the mind is
placed at one point, there is nothing
that cannot be
attained." The one-pointedness of mind
to which he referred
was not samadhi, but one's
original or true mind. He also
said that correct posture
is critical. Beginners should,
for example,
follow the Kuan wu-liang shou fo ching 观无量寿佛经,
Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Unlimited
Life,
which says that one should sit upright with
correct
thoughts, closing one's eyes and mouth, and
sit day and
night. From many sources we can see that
the Fifth Patriarch
did sit a lot. The Biographies
of Eminent Monks 高僧传
describe the Fifth Patriarch
foregoing sleep to sit all
night. In the same book,
Shen-hsiu 神秀（active 671-706）, a
disciple of Hung
-jen 弘忍 and founder of the Northern Branch
of the
Ch'an School, is described as taking tso-ch'an as
his main job.
Hui-neng 惠能（638-713）, who
succeeded Hung-jen
as the Sixth Patriarch, was not an
advocate as
sitting as the path to enlightenment. With
him, we
have a distinction between tso-ch'an which
attains
enlightenment through sitting, and tso-ch'an which
attain enlightenment without sitting. Hui-neng had a
different interpretation of what tso-ch'an means. He
said
that when there is no mind, or no thoughts
arising, that is
called "sitting" (tso). When you see
internally that the
self-nature is not moving, that
is Ch'an.
This was different from the sitting tso-ch'an of
Bodhidharma.
The Sixth patriarch took his inspiration
from the Samadhi
of One Act, described in the
Manjusri Sutra mentioned above.
The method is to put
your mind steadfastly on the One Dharma
Realm
页366
一法界, in which
there is no differentiation into
forms. Quoting from the
Vimalakirti Sutra 维摩诘经,
he also said, "The
straight-forward mind is the Path
." Its meaning is that all
forms are equivalent to
one form. Any time, any
place, whether walking,
standing, sitting or lying
down, there is no
situation that is not an
opportunity to practice
tso-ch'an. In this view sitting
was not only not
necessary, but could be a hindrance.
Fundamentals of Tso-ch'an
As we
saw above, tso-ch'an was practiced in China
long before the
appearance of Ch'an. The earlier
masters practiced
according to methods in the
Hinayana sutras, which
emphasized the techniques
collectively known as
samatha-vipasyana. Generally
speaking, these were methods
for achieving samadhi
through three aspects:
regulating one's body,
regulating one's breathing,
and regulating one's
mind.
Regulating the Body by Sitting
To regulate
the body by sitting, one should ob-
serve the Vairocana
Seven-Points of Sitting 毘卢遮那
七支坐法. This refers to the seven
rules of correct
sitting posture. Each of these criteria
has been used
unchanged since ancient days.
Point One: The Legs
Sit on the floor with
legs crossed either in the
Full Lotus or Half Lotus position.
To make the Full
Lotus, put the right foot on the left
thigh, then
put the left foot crossed over the right leg
onto
the right thigh. To reverse the direction of the
feet is also acceptable.
To take the Half Lotus
position requires that
one foot be crossed over onto the
thigh of the other.
The other foot will be placed
underneath the raised
leg.
The Full or Half
Lotus are the correct tso-ch'an
postures
页367
according to the seven-point method.
However, we
will describe some alternative postures since
for
various reasons, people may not always be able to
sit in the Full or Half Lotus.
A position, called the
Burmese position, is
similar to the Half Lotus, except
that one foot is
crossed over onto the calf, rather than the
thigh, of
the other leg. Another position consists in
kneeling
. In this position, kneel with the legs together.
The
upper part of the body can be erect from knee to
head, or the buttocks can be resting on the heels.
If
physical problems prevent sitting in any of
the above
positions, then sitting on a chair is
possible, but as a last
resort to the above postures.
The positions above are
given in the preferred
order, the Full Lotus being the most
stable, and most
conductive to good results. Sitting
cross-legged
is most conducive to sitting long periods with
effective concentration. The position one can take
depends on factors such as physical condition,
health, and age. However, one should use the position
in
which prolonged sitting (at least twenty minutes
or more)
is feasible and reasonably comfortable.
however, do not
use a position that requires little,
or the least
effort, because without significant
effort, no good
results can be attained.
If sitting on the floor, sit on a
Japanese-style
zafu (round meditation cushion) or an
improvised
cushion, several inches thick. This is partly
for
comfort, but also because it is easier to maintain
an erect spine if the buttocks are slightly raised.
Place a larger, square pad, such as a Japanese
zabuton,
underneath the cushion. Sit with the
buttocks
towards the front half of the cushion, the
knees resting on
the pad.
Point Two: The Spine
The spine must be upright. This does not mean to
thrust your
chest forward, but rather to make sure
that your lower
back is
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erect, not
just slumped. The chin must be tucked in
a little bit. Both
of these points together cause
you to naturally maintain a
very upright spine. An
upright spine also means a
vertical spine, leaning
neither forward or backward, right
or left.
Point Three: The Hands
The hands form a so-called Dharma Realm Samadhi
Mudra 法界定印.
The open right palm is underneath,
and the open left palm
rests in the right palm. The
thumbs lightly touch to
form a closed circle or
oval. The hands are placed in
front of the abdomen,
and rest on the legs.
Point Four: The Shoulders
Let the shoulders
be relaxed, the arms hanging
loosely. There should be no
sense of your shoulders,
arms or hands. If you have any
sensation of these
parts, there is probably tension in
those areas.
Point Five: The Tongue
The tip of the tongue should be lightly
touching the roof
of the mouth just behind the front
teeth. If you have too
much saliva, you can let go of
this connection. If you have
no saliva at all, you
can apply greater pressure with
the tip of the
tongue.
Point Six:
The Mouth
The mouth must always be closed. At
all times,
breath through the nose, not through the mouth.
Point Seven: The Eyes
The eyes should be slightly open and gazing
downward at a
forty-five degree angle. Rest the eyes
in that direction,
trying not to stare at anything.
closing the eyes may
cause drowsiness, or visual
illusions. However, if your
eyes feel very tired you
can
页369
close them for a short while.
Regulating the Body by Walking
Regulating the
body by walking consists of slow
walking and fast walking.
Walking meditation is
especially useful for a change of
pace when engaged
in prolonged sitting, such as on
personal or group
retreats Periods of walking can be taken
between
sittings.
In slow walking, the upper
body should be in the
same posture as in sitting, the
difference being in
the position of the hands. The left
palm should lightly
enclose the right hand, which is a
loosely formed fist.
The hands should be held in front of,
but not touching,
the abdomen. The forearms should be
parallel to the
ground. The attention should be on bottom of
the feet
as you walk very slowly, the steps being short,
about
the length of one's foot. If walking in an enclosed
space, walk in a clockwise direction.
Fast walking in
done by walking rapidly without
actually running. The
main difference in posture
from slow walking is that the
arms are now dropped
to the sides, swinging forwards and
backwards, as in
natural walking. Take short fast steps,
keeping the
attention on the feet.
Supplementary Exercise
Sitting and walking
are the two basic methods of
regulating your body. There is a
supplementary aspect
which is to exercise for a short period
after sitting,
even if you only do one sitting per day.
The form of
exercise is a matter of individual choice,
but it
should be moderate, such as T'ai Chi 太极 or Yoga.
Regulation the Breath
Regulation
the breath is very simple. It's just
your natural
breathing. Do no try to control your
breathing. The
breath is
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used as a
way to focus, to concentrate the minds. In
other words, we
bring the two things regulating the
breathing and
regulating the mind - together.
Regulating the
Mind by Counting the Breath
The basic method
of regulating the mind is to
count one's breath in a
repeating cycle of ten
breaths. The basic idea is that by
concentration on
the simple technique of counting, this
leaves the
mind with less opportunity for wandering
thoughts.
Starting with one, mentally (not vocally) count
each
exhalation until you reach ten, keeping the attention
on the counting. After reaching ten, start the cycle
over
again, starting with one. Do not count during
the
inhalation, but just keep the mind on the intake
of air
through the nose. If wandering thoughts occur
while
counting, just ignore them and continue
counting. If
wandering thoughts cause you to lose
count, or go beyond
ten, as soon as you become aware
of it, start all over again
at one.
If you have so many wandering thoughts that keep
ing count is difficult or impossible, you can vary
the
method, such as counting backwards from ten to
one, or
counting by twos from two to twenty. By giving
yourself best
employed when
your breathing has naturally
descended to the
abdomen. The technique consists
simply in mentally
follwing the movements of the
tan-t'ien as the
abdomen moves in and out as a natural
consequence of
breathing. This method is more energetic
than the
methods of breath counting or following, and
should
be used only after gaining some proficiency in those
methods. In any case, the method should not be
forced.
General Instructions
Although the methods of tso-ch'an given above
are simple
and straightforward, it is best to
practice them under
the guidance of a teacher.
Without a teacher, a
meditator will not be able to
correct beginner's
mistakes, which if uncorrected,
could lead to problems or
lack of useful results.
In practicing tso-ch'an, it is
important that
body and mind be relaxed. If one is
physically or
mentally tense, trying to do tso-ch'an can be
counter-productive. Sometimes certain feelings or
phenomena arise while meditating. If you are relaxed,
whatever symptoms arise are usually good. It can be
pain,
soreness, itchiness, warmth or coolness, these
can all be
beneficial. But in the context of
tenseness, these
same symptoms may indicate
obstacles.
For example, despite being relaxed when doing
tso-ch'an,
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you may sense pain in
some parts of the body.
Frequently, this may mean that
tensions you were not
aware of are benefiting from the
circulation of blood
and energy induced by
meditation. A problem
originally existing may be
alleviated. On the other
hand, if you are very tense while
doing tso-ch'an and
feel pain, the reason may be that
the tension is
causing the pain. So the same symptom of
pain can
indicate two different causes: an original
problem
getting better, or a new problem being created.
A safe and recommended approach is to initially
limit
sitting to half an hour, or two half-hour
segments, in as
relaxed a manner as possible. This
refers not only to
your inner, but also your outer
environment. For
beginners, if the mind is burdened
with outside concerns,
it may be better to relieve
some of these burdens before
sitting. For this
reason, it is best to sit early in
the morning,
before dealing with the problems of the day.
Sitting
times may be increased with experience. But people
who do tso-ch'an for extended periods may become so
engrossed in their effort that they may not recognize
their
tensions. This frequently exists because their
minds are
preoccupied getting results. So to work
hard on
tso-ah'an means to just put your mind on
tso-ch'an
itself. If you can just do that, these is
no need for
tension to arise. On the contrary, deeper
relaxation, and
calming of the body and mind should
uld result.
The Tso-ch'an of "outer Paths" 外道禅
In his
Liusu t'an ching 六祖坛经, The Platform
Sutra, Hui-neng 惠能
says that if one were to stay
free from attachment to
any mental or physical
realms, and to think of neither
good nor evil, that
is, refrain from discriminating,
neither thought nor
mind will arise. This would be the true
"sitting" of
will arise. This would be the true "sitting"
of
Ch'an. Here, "sitting", not limited to mere physical
sitting, refers to a practice where the mind is not
influenced, disturbed, or distracted, by anything
coming
up, whether internally or in the environment.
If you were
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to experience your self-nature,
this would be called
"Ch'an" (Kensho in Zen). To see
self-nature is to
see one's own unmoving Buddha-nature,
and is the mo
st fundamental level of enlightenment.
Without
tso-ch'an in this sense, one cannot attain
Ch'an.
Hence tso-ch'an is the method, Ch'an the result.
Since Ch' an is sudden enlightenment, when it occurs,
it is
simultaneous with tso-ch'an.
Hui-neng was critical of
certain attitudes in
practice which did not conform to
his criteria of
the true tso-ch'an which leads to Ch'an.
These
practices are referred to as "outer path" tso-ch'an
because they are also found in other disciplines, for
example, Taoism. A couple of anecdotes will illustrate
some
of these not-Ch'an attitudes in tso-ch'an.
The first
anecdote involves a disciple of
Hui-neng's Nan-Yueh
Huai-jang 南岳怀怀让 (677-744).
Huai-jang observed a monk named
Ma-tsu 马祖 (709-788)
who had a habit of doing tso-ch'an
all day long.
Realizing this was no ordinary monk,
Huai-jang asked
Ma-tsu, "why are you cd" is mind which is
involved in
the ordinary world, and moves as usual, but
is not
attached to anything. Another sense comes from the
root meanings of the words p'ing 平 and ch' ang 常,
and can
be construed to mean a mind which is "level"
and
"constant", that is, in a state of constant
equanimity.
In either sense, there is no
attachment. So the point
is, the kind of tso-ch'an
that Ma-tsu did before he met
Huai-jang emphasized
physi- cal aspects at the expense of
being grounded
in mind.
The second "outer
path" anecdote also involves
disciples of Hui-neng. When
Shih-t'ou Hsi-ch'ien 石
头希迁 (700-790) was a young monk, he
approached the
dying Hui-neng and asked, "Master, after
you pass
away, what should I do?" Hui-neng said, "You
should
go to Hsing-szu". Shih-tou understood him to
say
hsun-szu 寻思, which means "seek thoughts". This was
actually a term for the method of meditating by
watching
one's thoughts. Shih- t'ou was unaware that
there was
another disciple of the Sixth Patriarch by
the name of
Ch'ing-yuan Hsing-szu 青原行思 (?-740),
so he just assumed
that the master told him to prac-
tice watching his
thoughts. After Hui-neng died,
Shih-tou constantly
sought out very isolated, quiet
places and spent his time
in tso-ch'an, neglecting
all else, An elder in the
assembly saw this and
asked,
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"The master is dead; what are you doing here in
empty sitting?" Shih-t'ou replied, "I am only
following the
master's instructions. He told me to
watch my
thoughts." The elder said, "you should
realize you have
an elder Dharma brother whose name
is Hsing-szu. Why
don't you hurry and go to study
with him?"
Indeed, the tso-ch'an which consists in sitting
in a quiet
place, immersed in tranquillity, is widely
practiced. This
kind of tso-ch'an, which Shih- t'ou
practiced until he
learned of his error, was also
criticized by Hui-neng in
the Ching-te ch'uan teng lu
景德传灯录， The Transmission of the
Lamp. In it, he
said, "if you hold the mind and contemplate
silently,
this is a disease and not Ch'an. Constantly
sitting,
restraining your body, how does this help
the
principle (of attaining enlightenment)?" Using this
kind of tso-ch'an, one can enhance health and mental
calmness, even attain samadhi. But for a
practitioner
who has become attached to such peaceful
meditation, the
habit can become an obstacle.
Both of these anecdotes are
critical of certain
kinds of attitudes in practicing
tso-ch'an. Insofar
as they are similar to "outer path"
methods, they
are not correct Ch'an. The masters were not
critical
of tso-ch'an itself, which is a necessary
practice
to make progress in Ch'an, especially for
beginners.
The great masters practiced tso-ch'an, even if
they
were sometimes critical of practitioners who had
"Ch'an sickness." And most continued practicing even
after becoming enlightened, sometimes very intensively.
In the Biography of Eminent Monks 高僧传, it is
said that that
Master Pai-chang Huai-hai 百丈怀海
(720-814) established the
design for the living
quarters of his monastery. In
the meditation hall
there were long, connected sleeping
platforms. Its
purpose was for people who had been
meditation for a
long time to take a break and lie down.
From this
description we can infer that the intent
was for
monks to spend most of their time in tso-ch'an, and
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only minimal time in sleeping.
This in spite of the
fact that Pai-chang was a disciple of
Ma-tsu, who as
a master, advocated non-sitting methods.
This same
design was used in many future monasteries.
The Tso-ch'an of Ch'an
At the
beginning of the article we said that the
term tso-ch'an had
both a comprehensive and a
specific meaning. The
comprehensive meaning refers to
any type of meditation
based on sitting, including
the fundamental methods
and the "outer path"
approaches described above. The
specific meaning
refers to the specific methods developed
and used by
the Ch'an masters to attain the state of
seeing
Buddha-nature. This is also referred to as seeing
self-nature, wu 无, or in Japanese, kensho. The two
major
methods of Ch'an which have come down to us are
the method of
Silent Illumination 默照 and the method
of the kung-an 公案.
Each of these methods ultimately
led to the founding of a
major branch of Ch'an
Buddhism, respectively the
Ts'ao-tung 曹洞 (Soto) and
the Lin-chi 临济 (Rinzai) schools.
Silent Illumination Ch'an
The
term Mo-chao Ch'an 默照禅, Silent Illumination
Ch'an is
associated with the Sung Dynasty master
Hung-chih
Cheng-chueh 宏智正觉 (1091-1157). However,
the practice
itself may be traced back at least as
far as Bodhidharma.
In his treatise The Two Entries
and the Four Practices,
the Entry by Principle was
described as "leaving behind
the false, return to the
true: make no discrimination of
self and others. In
contemplation, one is stable and
unmoving, like a
wall."
In his verse Hsin
hsin ming 信心铭, Affirming
Faith in Mind, the Third
Patriarch, Seng-Ts'an, 僧灿
(?-?) Says:
The ultimate path has nothing difficult. Simply
avoid discrimination and selection...The mind
endures out
thought for ten
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thousand years.
"one thought" refers to the mind which is
completely clear and free from attachment. "The
thousand years" is simply a very long time without
interruption. We can read similar passages in later
descriptions of Silent Illumination.
Master Shih-shuang
Ch'ing-chu 石霜庆诸 (805-888)
lived on a mountain called
Shih-shuang for 20 years.
His disciples just sat continually,
even sleeping in
the upright position. In their
stillness, they
looked like so many dead tree stumps, that
they were
named "the dry wood sangha." Shih-shuang has
two
famous phrases of advice. One was, "To sit Ch'an, fix
your mind on one thought for ten thousand years". The
other
was, "let yourself be like cold ashes, or like
dry wood."
Hung-chih himself studied for a while with Master
K'u-mu
Fa-ch'eng 枯木法成. He was called K'u-mu (dry
wood) because when
he sat, his body resembled a block
of dry wood. In the hands
of Hung-chih, this practice
evolved into what he called
Silent Illumination. He
describes "silent sitting" thus:
"Your body sits
silently; your mind, quiescent,
unmoving. This is
genuine effort in practice. Body and
mind are at
complete rest. The mouth so still that moss
grows
around it. Grass sprouts from the tongue. Do this
without cease, cleansing the mind until it gains the
clarity of an autumn pool, bright as the moon
illuminating the evening sky."
In another place,
Hung-chih said, "In this silent
sitting, whatever realms may
appear, the mind is
very clear as to all the details, yet
everything is
where it originally is, in its own place.
The mind
stays on one thought for ten thousand year, yet
does
not dwell on any forms, inside or outside."
How is Silent Illumination different from "outer
path"
tso-ch'an? In criticizing other path practice,
Hui-neng used
the phrase chu-hsin kuan-ching 住心观
境, or "fixing the
mind on one thing and
contemplating that state."
This is a method of
samadhi that
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lacks wisdom. Or more accurately, samadhi
is not a
method; it is a consequence, or goal of practice.
It
has no space, no time, no sense of environment.
Silent Illumination is different in that, while it
keeps
the mind still (the silent aspect), it is clear
about the
inner as well as the outer states (the
illumination
aspect). Samadhi is silent but not
illuminating. In
Silent Illumination there is no
abiding (chu), that is,
nothing to dwell on, no place
to dwell in. In the
deep level of Silent
Illunination, the mind is not
influenced by or
disturbed by the environment.
However, it is not
fixed in samadhi, but is in a bright
state of ming 明
, or illumination. In Silent
Illumination the
meditator works continually to maintain
this ming.
To understand Mo-chao Ch'an, it is important
to
understand that while there are no thoughts, the mind
also is still very clear, very aware. Both the
silence
(mo) and the illumination (chao) must be
there. According to
Hung-chih, while there is nothing
going on in your mind, you
are not unaware that nothing
is happening. If your mind
is unknowing, this is
Ch'an sickness, not Ch'an. So in
this state, the mind
is transparent. In a sense, it is
not completely
accurate to say there is nothing there,
because the
transparent mind is there. But it is accurate in
the
sense that there is nothing there that can become an
attachment or obstruction. At this stage, the mind is
without form. Its power is there, its function being
to fill
the mind with illuminating power, like the
sun, shining
everywhere. Hence, Silent Illumination
is the tso-ch'an in
which there is nothing moving but
the mind is bright,
illuminated.
In Zen, the form of zazen called
Shikantaza is
quite similar to Silent Illumination. It was
introduced
in Japan by Master Dogen (1200-1252), after his
return
from study with Ch'an masters in China. In the book
Fukanzazenji, the principles of zazen for everyone,
he
stressed the need for a foundation in the ordinary
methods
of zazen. While he does not explicitly
discuss
shikant-
页379
aza, he does
say, "You should therefore cease from
therefore cease
from practice based on intellectual
understanding, pursuing
words and following after
speech, and learn the
backward step that turns your
light inwardly to illuminate
yourself. Body and mind
of themselves will drop away, and
your original face
will manifest. "For Dogen, the method of
shikantaza
is to "just sit", with no thoughts in your mind.
So,
in a sense, the method is not a method at all, but
more of a prescription, or guideline. When thoughts
are
abandoned, it becomes possible for the mind to
illuminate. It is also then possible to experience
satori. If such a non-attached state of mind can be
maintained, even in daily life, regardless of one's
activity, whether moving or still, you will manifest
the
wisdom function, the true Ch'an.
Kung-an Ch'an
公案禅
Once, after the Buddha gave a sermon to
his
senior disciples, he picked up a flower and without
saying anything, held it up before the assembly. All
the
monks, except one, were mystified. Mahakasyapa
alone knew
the Buddha's meaning, and saying nothing,
smiled. Thus,
the Buddha transmitted to Mahakasyapa
the wordless doctrine
of Mind. Although this
incident preceded by over a
thousand years the rise
of Ch' an, it is often cited
as an example of an
early kungan.
What is a
kung-an? A kung-an is a story of an
incident between a
master and one or more disciples,
which involves an
understanding or experience of
enlightened mind. The
incident usually, but not
always, involves dialogue.
When the incident is
remembered and recorded, it
become a matter of
"public record", which is the
literal meaning of
kung-an. Often what makes the
incident worth
recording is that, as a result of the
interchange, a
disciple has had as awakening, an
experience of
enlightenment. The disciple's mind, if only
for an
instant, transcends attachment and logic, and sees a
glimpse of wu,
页380
emptiness, or Buddha-nature. At this instant, there
is a
transmission of Mind 传心 between master and
disciple.
Master Chao-chou 赵州 (778-897), was asked by a
monk, "does a
dog have Buddha-nature? ", to which
the master replied,
"Wu", meaning no, nothing. As
kung-ans go, this is a
basic one, but possibly the
most famous. In some cases,
there is no record of an
awakening, but the story is
remembered because it
contains, or expresses, meanings
crucial to the
understanding of enlightenment. Here is
another
kungan, also involving Chao-chou.
Chao-chou had a disciple who met an old woman on
the road and asked her, "How do I get to T'ai Shan
台山
(Mount T'ai)?" She said, "Just keep going." As
the monk
started off, he heard the old lady remark,
"He really
went!". Afterwards, the disciple mentioned
this to
Chao-chou who said, "I think I'll go over
there and see
for myself." When he met her, Chao-chou
asked the same
question, and she said the same thing"
Just keep going." As
Chao-chou started off, he heard
the old lady say again,
"He really went!" When
Chao-chou returned, he said, I've
seen through that
old lady. "What did Chao-chou find out
about the old
lady? What is the meaning of this lengthy and
obscure
kung-an?
Kung-ans occurred very early
in Ch'an history
and simply become records of incidents
between
masters and disciples in the context of
practice.
These kunt-ans were very much alive,
spontaneous.
Around the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) Ch'an
masters
began using kung-ans from the records aso investigate
the meaning of the historical kung-an. In his attempt
to
plumb the meaning of the kung-an, the student has
to
abandon knowledge, experience, and reasoning,
since the
answer is not suspectible to these methods.
He must find the
answer by ts'an kung-an 参公案, by
"investigating the
king-an. " This
页381
requires his sweeping from his consciousness
everything but
the kung-an. When there is nothing in
his mind but the
kung-an, there is a chance for an
experience of Ch'an, an
awakening.
Closely related, but not identical to the
kung-
an, is the hua-t'ou 话头. A hua-t'ou, literally "
head of a thought", is a question that the meditator
inwardly asks himself. For example, "What is wu?", or
"Who
am I?". As in the kung-an, the answer is not
resolvable
through reasoning, but requires ts'an
hua-t'ou 参话头,
"investigating the hua-t'ou." The
meditator devotes his
full attention to repeatedly,
incessantly, asking himself
the hua-t'ou. His ou, but
by then Chan-chou had already left,
saying nothing.
页382
Another way kung-an and hua-t'ou are closely
related is
that a hua-t'ou can give rise to a
king-an, and vice
versa. For example, the question
"The 10, 000 dharmas
return to One; to what does the
One return?" was originally
a dimple hua-t'ou. Once a
student asked Chao-chou this same
question, to which
the master answered, "The fabric I
bought from
Ch'ing-chou 青州 weighs seven chin 斤." A
hua-t'ou
became a kung-an because of the interaction with
the
master, and the answer he gave to it.
The
central or key phrase in a kung-an frequently
serves as the
source for a hua-t'ou. The often-used
hua-t'ou "What is
wu?", is derived from Chao-chou's
"Does a dog have
Buddha-nature?" kung-an.
P'ang Yun 庞蕴 (?-811) a lay
disciple of Ma-tsu
马祖, resolved to follow the Path, threw
his wealth
into the river, and became a basket weaver.
While
plying his trade one day, he met a monk begging for
alms. Giving the monk some money, Layman P'ang
asked
him, "what is the meaning of giving alms? "
The monk said,
"I don't know. What is the meaning of
giving alms?" And
Layman P'ang replied, "Very few
people have heard about
it." The monk answered, "I
don't understand." And Layman
P'ang asked, "who is
it that doesn't understand?" This
incident became a
kung-an that gave birth to a whole
series of hua-t'
ous of the "who" type. Some variations on
it were
"Who is reciting Buddha's name?", "Who is
investigating
Ch'an?", "Who is dragging a corpse? " ect.
However, many hua-t'ous have no relationship
whatever to
kung-ans, but are simply questions
concerning Buddha-nature
that either arise spontaneously,
or are assigned by the
master as a method of practice.
As we said,
the use of the kung-an or hua-t'ou
from previous records
was not common until the Sung
dynasty 宋朝, with the
appearance of The Transmission
of the Lamp 传灯录. This text
contained many
spontaneous kung-ans and hua-t'ous. Fen-yang
页383
Shan-chao 汾阳善昭 (947-1024)
compiled a collection
of 100 kung-ans, called Hsien-hsien
ipai Chih 先贤一
百则, One Hundred Selections from Previous Sages.
Wu-men Hui-k'ai 无门慧开 (1183-1260) compiled a
collection of 48
kung-ans, called Wu-men kuan 无门关
(Mu-monkan), the Gateless
Gate. These all promoted and
encouraged the use of kung-ans.
The records of the Ch'an sect, including the
Transmission of the Lamp, and the collections of
kung-ans, do not frequently refer to tso-ch'an practice.
It
was understood that by the time practioners began
to
ts'an Ch'an, they already had a very good
foundation in tso-ch'an. Such a basis is needed if
one is
to effectively practice kung-an and hua-t'ou.
Beginners
may get some usefulness out of the
constant
repetition, but this will be similar to
chanting a
mantra. Because the beginner lacks the
ability to bring
his mind to a deep quiescent state,
it would be
difficult, if not impossible to
experience self-nature
or become enlightened.
Throughout Ch'an history we
read of advanced
practitioners who visited masters in
order to assess
their own understanding of Ch'an, or
certify their
own attainment. These situations were
well-suited
for applying the methods of kung-an and
hua-t'ou. It
is important to remember that any interchange
between
master and disciple can be an opportunity for a
live, spontaneous kung-an or hua-t'ou, and that these
practices should not be thought of as being limited
to the
sayings and questions from the historical
record.
Ta-hui Tsung-kao 大慧宗杲 (1089-1163) was one of
the greatest
advocates of kung-an practice. From his
record of sayings we
see that he maintained that tso
-ch'an was very necessary
to settle the wandering
mind, and bring about emergent
samadhi. It is only
then that the student can effectively
use the kung-
an or hua-t'ou. Even though kung-an and
hua-t'ou
practice can be done while walking, standing, or
even
lying down, its fundamental basis is still tso-ch'an.
页384
If through tso-ch'an a
student's mind has become
very peaceful and stable, the
application of the
kung-an or hua-t'ou may cause the
rising of the Great
Doubt 大疑情. This doubt is not the ordinary
doubt of
questioning the truth of an assertion. It is
the
doubt that arises out of ts'an Ch'an, investigating
Ch'an. It refers to the practitioner's deeply
questioning state of mind as a result of using the
kung-an
or hua-t'ou. The resolution of the kung-an or
hua-t'ou
hinges on the nurturing of the great doubt.
Because the
answer to his questions cannot be
resolved by logic,
he must continually return to his
question, and in the
process, clear his mind of
everything else except the
Great Doubt.
Eventually, this accumulated "doubt mass"
疑团
can disappear in one of two ways. One way is that,
due to lack of concentration or energy, the meditator
will
not be able to sustain the doubt, and it will
dissipate.
Another way is that by persisting until
his doubt is like a
"hot ball of iron stuck in his
throat", the doubt
mass will disappear in an
expollution. If the explosion
has enough energy, it is
possible that the student will
experience "Ch'an",
see Buddha-nature, become enlightened.
If not, there
will probably still be some attachment in
his mind.
It is necessary for a master to confirm
his
experience, since the student, with rare exceptions,
cannot do that himself. Even as great a master as
Ta-hui did not penetrate sufficiently on his first
experience. His master Yuan-wu K'e-ch'in 圆悟克勤
told him,
"you have died, but you haven't come back
to life." He was
confirmed on his second experience.
So what is a true
experience? It takes an adept
master to tell. If he is
not a genuine master, he
won't know the difference.
Tso-ch'an After Enlightenment
In
the Sung Dynasty, Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse 长芦宗
颐 wrote the
Tso-ch'an i 坐禅仪，The Manual of tso-ch'an.
In it, he said that a
person who has just experienced
Buddha-nature should con-
页385
tinue to practice
tso-ch'an. Then it is possible to
become like the dragon who
gains the water, and the
tiger who enters the mountains.
The dragon gaining
the water returns to his ancestral
home, and is free
to dive as deep as he wishes. The tiger
entering the
mountain has no opposition; he may ascend the
heights
and roam wherever he wills. So Ch'ang-lu is
saying
that practicing tso-ch'an after enlightenment enhance
and deepens one's realization.
Yueh-shan Wei-yen
药山惟俨 (745-828), an
enlightened monk, was doing
tso-ch'an. His master,
Shih-t'ou asked him, "What are you
doing tso-ch'an
for? " Yueh-shan answered, "Not for
anything." "That
means you are sitting idly", Shih-t'ou
continued.
Yueh-shan said, "If this is idle sitting, then
that
would be for something." The master then said, "What
is it that is not for anything?" The monk answered,
"A
thousand sages won't know."
On the one hand, we say that
persons who have
had realization should do tso-ch'an to
enhance their
enlightenment; on the other hand, we
say the
enlightened person sits without purpose. What is
the
explanation? For the practitioner whose enlightenment
is not deep, practice is necessary to deepen it; for
one
who is deeply enlightened, practice is just part
of daily
life.
One day, when Ch'ao-chou was already thoroughly
enlightened and actively helping others, his tso-ch'
an was
interrupted by a visit from a prince. He did
not rise from
his seat, explaining himself with a
verse:
Ever since youth I have foregone meat. This body
is now
old. When visitors come, I have no strength
to rise from
the Buddha-seat.
Later, when a messenger of the prince
came, Chao
-chou did rise from his seat to greet the man.
Chao
chou's puzzled attendant asked him why he got up for
the man of lesser rank.
页386
Chao-chou said, "When people of the first rank call,
I
receive them at my cushion. When the second rank
call, I
come down from my cushion. But when people
of the third
rank come, I go to the temple gate to
greet them." These
anecdotes convey the idea that
the enlightened ancient
masters still regarded
tso-ch'an as very important.
However, if we wish to practice the Samadhi of
One Act, as
advocated by Hui-neng, we will remember
that in the true
tso-ch'an the mind does not abide
in anything, hence is
not limited to finding expression
in sitting. For one who can
continuously practice
the Samadhi of One Act, the ultimate
tso-ch'an is no
tso-ch'an.