The ''Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi'' (; ; also translated as ''Song of the Jeweled Mirror Samadhi'' and ''Sacred Mirror Samadhi'') is a

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

poem in

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

that appeared during the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. The work is often attributed to

Dongshan Liangjie Dongshan Liangjie (807–869) (; ) was a Chan Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty. He founded the Caodong school (), which was transmitted to Japan in the thirteenth century (Song-Yuan era) by Dōgen and developed into the Sōtō school of Zen. Do ...

(Japanese: Tōzan Ryōkai), the co-founder of the

Caodong Caodong school () is a Chinese Chan Buddhist sect and one of the Five Houses of Chán. Etymology The key figure in the Caodong school was founder Dongshan Liangjie (807-869, 洞山良价 or Jpn. Tozan Ryokai). Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" ...

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...

branch of Zen Buddhism, although modern research suggests this is unlikely.

Dating and attribution

The poem is first mentioned in Juefan Huihong's biographical compilation of 1119, the ''Chanlin sengbao zhuan'' (''Chronicle of the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

Treasure in the Groves of Chan''), written over 200 years after Dongshan Liangjie's death. Huihong, however, does not attribute the poem to Dongshan. He writes instead that the poem was given to Dongshan by his teacher,

Yunyan Tansheng Yunyan Tansheng (; ) was a Chán Buddhist monk during the Tang Dynasty. Ancient biographies record that he was from Jianchang. He is said to have become a monk when he was sixteen at Shimen Temple with Baizhang Huaihai as his teacher. After twenty y ...

. Huihong further speculates that Yunyan's teacher,

Yaoshan Weiyan Yaoshan Weiyan (; Hànyǔ Pīnyīn: Yàoshān Wéiyǎn; ) was a Zen Buddhist monk who lived during the Tang dynasty. Biography As with most monks of the Tang Dynasty, there are conflicting lines of evidence concerning Yaoshan's life. The earliest ...

, probably entrusted it to him in turn. Huihong relates that he came upon the poem in 1108, when it was given to a scholar Zhu Yan by a monk, whom he does not identify. The scholar Morten Schlütter notes that the poem's provenance is doubtful given the way it came to Huihong, and furthermore the style differs substantially from works of the era that Huihong attributes it to. Most later historical sources, such as the ''Zengaku daijiten'', the ''Bussho kaisetsu daijiten'', and ''Shinsan zenseki mokuroku'', attribute the poem to Dongshan Liangjie rather than Yunyan, although again, neither is likely to be the true author.

References

External links

Lecture on The Most Excellent Mirror—Samadhi
Columbia Zen Buddhist Priory

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110926065937/http://www.deepspringzen.org/classes/JewelMirrorTranslationStudyFeb-March05.pdf ''Jewel Mirror Samadhi'' translation study {{Buddhism topics Zen texts Buddhist poetry

Dating and attribution

See also

References

External links