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Mumonkan
''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 th ... [...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] |
Wumen Huikai
Wumen Huikai (; Wade-Giles: Wu-men Hui-k'ai; ja, Mumon Ekai) (1183–1260) was a Chinese Chán (Japanese: Zen) master during China‘s Song period. He is most famous for having compiled and commentated the 48-koan collection ''The Gateless Barrier'' (Mandarin: 無門關 Wúménguān; Japanese: 無門関 Mumonkan).Aitken, Robert: The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-men Kuan (Mumonkan. North Point Press, 1990, ) Early life and education Wumen was born in Hangzhou. His first master was Gong Heshang. Wumen received his spiritual education, also called Dharma transmission in Buddhist teaching, in the Linji line (Japanese: Rinzai) of Zen from Zen master Yuelin Shiguan (月林師觀; Japanese: Gatsurin Shikan) (1143–1217). Yuelin gave Wumen the koan, a spiritual question, of " Zhaozhou’s dog", with which Wu-men struggled for six years before he attained realization. After Yuelin confirmed Wumen‘s understanding of it, Wumen wrote his enlightenment poem: :A thunderclap under the clear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yunmen Wenyan
Yunmen Wenyan (; romaji: ''Ummon Bun'en''; 862 or 864 – 949 CE), was a major Chinese Chan master of the Tang dynasty. He was a dharma-heir of Xuefeng Yicunbr>} Yunmen founded the Yunmen school, one of the five major schools of Chán (Chinese Zen). The name is derived from ''Yunmen'' monastery of Shaozhou where Yunmen was abbot. The Yunmen school flourished into the early Song Dynasty, with particular influence on the upper classes, and eventually culminating in the compilation and writing of the ''Blue Cliff Record''. The school would eventually be absorbed by the Linji school later in the Song. The lineage still lives on to this day through Chan Master Hsu Yun (1840–1959). Biography Early years Yunmen was born in the town of Jiaxing near Suzhou and southwest of Shanghaipg 230, Dumoulin 1994. to the Zhang family, apparently in 864 CE. His birth year is uncertain. The two memorial stele at the Yunmen monastery states he was 86 years old when he died in 949 CE, which sugges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zen Koan Collections
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ... of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan Buddhism, Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Korean Seon, Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen. The term Zen is derived from the Japanese language, Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (''chán''), an abbreviation of 禪那 (''chánnà''), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ध्यान Dhyāna in ... [...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] |
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] |
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standardized form of Mandarin Chinese that was first developed during the Republican Era (1912‒1949). It is designated as the official language of mainland China and a major language in the United Nations, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is largely based on the Beijing dialect. Standard Chinese is a pluricentric language with local standards in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore that mainly differ in their lexicon. Hong Kong written Chinese, used for formal written communication in Hong Kong and Macau, is a form of Standard Chinese that is read aloud with the Cantonese reading of characters. Like other Sinitic languages, Standard Chinese is a tonal language with topic-prominent organization and subject–verb–object (SVO) word order. Compar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Language
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu, Austroasiatic, Koreanic, and the now-discredited Altaic, but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), there was a massive influx of Sino-Japanese vocabulary into the language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese. Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords. The basis of the standard dialect moved f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Cliff Record
The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; ).K. Sekida, ''Two Zen Classics'' (1977) p. 18-20 The book includes Yuanwu's annotations and commentary on ''100 Verses on Old Cases'' (), a compilation of 100 kōans collected by Xuedou Chongxian (980–1052; , '). Xuedou selected 82 of these from ''The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp'', with the remainder selected from the ''Yunmen Guanglu'' (, ''Extensive Record of Yunmen Wenyan'', 864–949). Name and origin The ''Blue Cliff Record'' derives its name from the temple where Yuanwu Keqin wrote most of his commentaries, the Blue Cliff Cloister (碧巖院, ''Bìyán Yuàn'') in Hunan. The work was originally called Xuedou's ''Juko'' (''ju'', verse; ''ko'', old koans) before its ''Blue Cliff Record'' title was attributed. Yuanwu first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hakuin Ekaku
was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, focusing on rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice. Biography Early years Hakuin was born in 1686 in the small village of Hara, at the foot of Mount Fuji. His mother was a devout Nichiren Buddhist, and it is likely that her piety was a major influence on his decision to become a Buddhist monk. As a child, Hakuin attended a lecture by a Nichiren monk on the topic of the Eight Hot Hells. This deeply impressed the young Hakuin, and he developed a pressing fear of hell, seeking a way to escape it. He eventually came to the conclusion that it would be necessary to become a monk. Shōin-ji and Daishō-ji At the age of fifteen, he obtained consent from his parents to join the monastic life, and was ordained at the local Zen temple, Shōin-ji. When the head monk at Shōin-ji took ill, Hakuin was sent t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rinzai School
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan Eisai (1141 –1215). Contemporary Japanese Rinzai is derived entirely from the Ōtōkan lineage transmitted through Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1769), who is a major figure in the revival of the Rinzai tradition. History Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Linji Yixuan (Japanese: Rinzai Gigen). Kamakura period (1185–1333) Though there were several attempts to establish Rinzai lines in Japan, it first took root in a lasting way through the efforts of the monk Myōan Eisai. In 1168, Myōan Eisai traveled to China, whereafter he studied Tendai for twenty years. In 1187, he went to China again, and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which is known in Japan as Rinzai. Decades ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhaozhou Congshen
Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (; Wade-Giles: ''Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen''; ja, Jōshū Jūshin) (778–897) was a Chán (Zen) Buddhist master especially known for his "paradoxical statements and strange deeds". Zhaozhou became ordained as a monk at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn (南泉普願 748–835; J: Nansen Fugan), a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788; J. Baso Do-itsu), and eventually received the Dharma from him. When Nanquan asked Zhaozhou the koan "What is the Way?", the two had a dialogue, at the height of which Zhaozhou attained enlightenment. Zhaozhou continued to practice under Nanquan until the latter's death. Subsequently, Zhaozhou began to travel throughout China, visiting the prominent Chan masters of the time before finally, at the age of eighty, settling in Guānyīnyuàn (觀音院), a ruined temple in northern China.''Ibid.'' There, for the next 40 years, he taught a small group of monks. Zhaozhou is sometimes touted as the greatest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
