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Hsiang-yen Chih-hsien
Xiangyan Zhixian (; Japanese: Kyōgen Chikan; ''c''. 820–898) was a Tang dynasty Chan master of the Guiyang school. A Dharma heir of Guishan Lingyou, the story of Xiangyan's enlightenment is rather famous in the Chan and Zen traditions. According to this story, he had been an accomplished scholar of Buddhist '' sūtra''s, but for many years had made very little headway in his meditation practice. One day, his master asked him what his original face was before birth, to which he could not respond—this question became his '' kōan'', and he subsequently burned his ''sūtra''s and left the monastery because he could not figure it out. One day, while working, he heard the sound of a tile striking the ground and attained enlightenment. Additionally, there is a ''kōan'' attributed to Xiangyan in ''The Gateless Gate'': the story is that of a man hanging in a tree by his teeth being asked why Bodhidharma Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a Golden age (metaphor), golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The House of Li, Lǐ family () founded the dynasty, seizing power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire and inaugurating a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Zhou dynasty (690–705), Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant. The devast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chan Master
Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authorization to teach and transmit the tradition themselves. China Until the Tang Dynasty, the term "Chánshī" (禅师; Dhyana Master) was regularly used for a monk who was a master of chan, or meditation, versus those who specialized in Dharma (scriptural teachings) and Vinaya (discipline and moral precepts). This included several important figures who were later not considered to be part of the "Chán school" per se, such as Tiantai Master Zhiyi. In contemporary China, the term "Chán" (禪), being simply one of many terms for forms of meditation, is not limited to the Chan school alone. The majority of lay people are not formally tied to a particular "school" of Buddhist practice. For monastics, most Chan practitioners receive transmission int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guiyang School
The Guiyang school (, also read Weiyang School) is one of the sects of Chan Buddhism. History The Guiyang school was the first established house of the Five Houses of Chán. Guiyang is named after master Guishan Lingyou (771–854) and his disciple, Yangshan Huiji (813–890). Guishan was a disciple of Baizhang Huaihai, the Chan master whose disciples included Huangbo Xiyun, who in turn taught Linji Yixuan, founder of the Linji school.Ven. Jian Hu. "Buddhism in the Modern World" Stanford University, May 25, 2006, p. 1 After founding the Guiyang School, Yangshan moved his school to what is now modern Jiangxi. The Guiyang school is distinct from the other schools in many ways, notably in its use of esoteric metaphors and imagery in the school's kōans and other teachings. Lineage Absorption into the Linji school Over the course of Song Dynasty (960–1279), the Guiyang school, along with the Fayan and Yunmen schools were absorbed into the Linji school. Xuyun Xuyun or Hsu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharma Heir
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' ('' kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself."Haskel, 2 The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family". In Rinzai-Zen, ''inka shōmei'' is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation", but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (''shike'') of the training halls. There are only about fifty to eighty of such ''inka shōmei''-bearers in Japan. In Sōtō-Zen, dharma transmission is referred to as ''shiho'', and further training is required to become an oshō. History The notion and practice of Dharma Transmission developed early in the history of Chan, as a means to gain credibility and to foste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guishan Lingyou
Guishan Lingyou (; Japanese: Isan Reiyu) (771–853) was a Chinese Chan master during the Tang Dynasty and the founder of the Guiyang school. Life *771: born under the secular surname Zhao, born in Changxi, Fujian province *785: became a Buddhist monk at age 15, received tonsure ceremony at Shanjian Temple in Fujian, received the monastic precepts at Longxing Temple in Hangzhou where he studied sutra and Vinaya Pitaka. *793: at age 23, followed Zen Master Baizhang Huaihai Baizhang Huaihai (; pinyin: ''Bǎizhàng Huáihái''; Wade-Giles: ''Pai-chang Huai-hai''; ja, Hyakujō Ekai) (720–814) was a Zen master during the Tang Dynasty. A native of Fuzhou, he was a dharma transmission, dharma heir of Mazu Daoyi (Wade ..., as his dharma heir disciple *820: became the abbot of Tongqing Temple in Guishan, Hunan Province. Master Lingyou trained many disciples, included Yangshan Huiji (813 - 890), his dharma heir. The Guiyang school was named after master Guishan Lingyou and his discip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; " taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and the ; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sutra
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, sutras are a distinct type of literary composition, a compilation of short aphoristic statements.Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pages 54–55 Each sutra is any short rule, like a theorem distilled into few words or syllables, around which teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar, or any field of knowledge can be woven. The oldest sutras of Hinduism are found in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of the Vedas. Every school of Hindu philosophy, Vedic guides for rites of passage, v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Original Face
The original face is a term in Zen Buddhism, pointing to the nonduality of subject and object. Origins The phrase "original face" originates in Huangpo's Chuanhsin fayao (857) and the Hui-sin edition (967) of the Platform Sutra: This question appears in case 23 of the Mumonkan: This koan is transformed in the question Interpretation The "original face" points to "the nonduality of subject and object": Comparable statements are: "Look at the flower and the flower also looks"; "Guest and host interchange". It is not "pure consciousness", as it is often understood in western thinking, reached by "cleaning the doors of perception": Comments Zen masters have commented on the original face: Artistic impressions Philip Whalen The American poet Philip Whalen Philip Glenn Whalen (October 20, 1923 – June 26, 2002) was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation. Biography Born in Portland, Oregon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word (). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters "public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable" and "table; desk; (law) case; record; file; plan; proposal." According to the Yuan dynasty Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben ( 1263–1323), originated as an abbreviation of (, Japanese —literally the "official correspondence; documents; files" of a "government post"), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang dynasty China. / thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle. Commentaries in col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gateless Gate
''The Gateless Barrier'' ( Mandarin: 無門關 ''Wúménguān''; Japanese: 無門関 ''Mumonkan''), sometimes translated as ''The Gateless Gate'', is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開; Japanese: ''Mumon Ekai''; 1183–1260). The title has a double meaning and can also be understood as Wumen's Barrier; the compiler's name, which literally means "No Gate", is the same as the title's first two characters. Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen. A classic edition includes a 49th case composed by Anwan (pen name for Cheng Ch'ing-Chih) in 1246. Wu-liang Tsung-shou also supplemented the volume with a verse of four stanzas composed in 1230 about the three checkpoints of Zen master Huanglong. These three checkpoints of Huanglong should not be confused with Doushuai's Three Checkpoints found in Case 47. Along with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to a 17th century apocryphal story found in a manual called Yijin Jing, he began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. He is known as Dámó in China and as Daruma in Japan. His name means "''dharma'' of awakening ( bodhi)" in Sanskrit. Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend and unreliable details. According to the principal Chinese sources, Bodhidharma came from the Western Regions, which typically refers to Central Asia but can also include the Indian subcontinent, and is described as either a "Persian Central Asian" or a "South Indian ..the third son of a great Indian king." Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books by decree in 1586, it is the second oldest university press after Cambridge University Press. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics known as the Delegates of the Press, who are appointed by the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford. The Delegates of the Press are led by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's chief executive and as its major representative on other university bodies. Oxford University Press has had a similar governance structure since the 17th century. The press is located on Walton Street, Oxford, opposite Somerville College, in the inner suburb of Jericho. For the last 500 years, OUP has primarily focused on the publication of pedagogical texts and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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