Mazu Connection Paradox

In the case of Huairang, the little that is known about his biography definitely undermines the historicity of the affiliation between him and Huineng. First, Huairang’s epitaph was written in the year 815, some seventy years after his death, at the request of two of Mazu’s disciples, so it can hardly be used to suggest that the connection between Huineng and Huairang was historical rather than legendary. In addition, the paucity of detail concerning Huairang’s biography—he is said to have been a mountain practitioner who did not “open the Dharma” to others— suggests that he was historically insignificant. And, needless to say, nothing like the story introduced above occurs in the epitaph. In fact, the Transmissions of Treasure Grove [Temple] (Baolin zhuan), the Hongzhou school’s important contribution to the “transmission of the lamp” genre of Chan literature, written about 801, describes Huairang’s enlightenment as having been gained under the guidance of the Northern school monk Lao’an. Actually, none of the men traditionally recognized as Huineng’s most important successors—Huairang, Qingyuan, Yongjia Xuanjue, and Nanyang Huizhong—are mentioned in the Dunhuang version of the Platform Sutra. ~Seeing through Zen, John R. McRae.

Submitted June 17, 2017 at 03:21AM by ZenMovie http://ift.tt/2tbHlVE