I've been fascinated with Obaku since coming across it, and I had been looking for some of their texts.
Obaku Zen seems to be the realest representation of Chan in Japan. From Approaching the Land of Bliss: Religious Praxis in the Cult of Amitabha by Richard Karl Payne, Kenneth Kazuo it states that,
The arrival of a popular, illustrious representative of Chan with legitimate claim to the mantle of Linji forced such Myoshinji leaders as Gudo Toshoku to define true Rinzai practice against the foil of the more all-embracing Chinese Chan. As tensions between the Chinese teacher and his followers and the Myoshinji leadership increased, tolerance for the more inclusive Buddhist practice of Isshi Bunsho and Ungo disappeared. As a result, Ungo's advocacy of the actual chanting of the nenbutsu--as opposed to merely using Amida and the Western Pure Land to illustrate Zen teachings--was denounced as an Ingen-like distortion of the Zen of the teachers and patriarchs.
This really, however, was more of Japanese Zen trying to forge its own identity (without the Chinese Pure Land concept, which I believe would be to its detriment). The most prolific Japanese Zen Masters have to be Hakuin of the Rinzai lineage, and Dogen of Soto, both of these schools took much influence from Obaku.
Taking Hakuin as an example, this quote is from Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright:
[...]Hakuin was adamantly opposed to the Ming style of "mixing" Pure Land and Zen. Scorning nembutsu koan, he championed a "pure" form of Rinzai Zen practice based on zazen, contemplating the "old cases" (kosoku) of the Tang and Song patriarchs, and manual labor. He did not oppose the Obaku concerns with precepts and sutra copying, but neither did he view them as vital matters.
Hakuin made two sangha halls where he promoted his own vision of Rinzai:
Insofar as those monasteries featured Obaku-style meditation halls and rigorous communal discipline, Hakuin was not as free from the influence of Ming Buddhism as he liked to profess. In his approach to lay followers, moreover, he took an eclectic and tolerant approach that owed much to Obaku Zen. His well-known Zazen wasan (Vernacular Hymn in Praise of Zazen), for example, belongs to the genre made popular by Ungo Kiyp's Ojo Yoka (Song of Rebirth in the Pure Land) and even contains some lines that are almost identical to the latter work. For lay followers, Hakuin also recommended recitation of the Enmei jukku kannongyo (Life Prolonging Tenclause Kannon Sutra) as a form of practice similar to the nembutsu recitation of the Pure Land Schools.
I find that very interesting, and really wish to read Chan/Zen Master Ungo Kiyo's Ojoyoka (if anyone has access to this text, could they please post it in full, or link to an accessible PDF of it? I haven't had luck enough to find it, beyond what is made available in Approaching the Land of Bliss which I can preview a portion of it in Google Preview, here is some of its excellence below the break.
The Ojoyoka
Homage to the greatly compassionate and greatly merciful Amida Buddha of the Western Pure Land of Ease and Comfort! (Namu shiho kirai shikai daizu daihi omitofu) (repeat three times)
Namu Amida-aa, namu Amidabutsu, nama Amidabutsu, namu Amida-a, namu Amidabutsu, namu Amida-a
When one awakens to Amida Buddha then He is not far away, when one is deluded then He is in the distant West.
(This is me cutting off the text, but, do you think this is the origin of "Bodhidharma coming from the West"?)
Although the teachings of the three countries are numerous, none surpasses the teaching of Sakyamuni.
Without exception, in Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, good receives good retribution and evil receives evil retribution.
From time immemorial people of wisdom have considered the Buddha's Way to be the teaching that subdues [the passions] in this world and the next.
In every generation among the worthy rulers and subjects of the three countries, there is no one who does not esteem Sakyamuni's teaching.
[...]
When one awakens to Amida Buddha then He is not far away, when one is deluded then He is in the distant West.
That people who widely disseminate the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism do not enter any path is deplorable. The failure of people to believe in either cause and effect or enlightenment is the fault of the monks who violate the precepts.
It is regrettable that the evil monks' sins arise in this manner, destroying people's aspiration for the Way. It is particularly mournful that these worldy-wise evil teachers use the buddha-vehicle as a means to make a living. They laud themselves saying, "In all the world, I am awakened." Oh, the people seeking fame and profit are numerous! Seeking fame and profit--this is suffering is it not?
One is used by people and one is used by wealth. The treasures gathered through immoral action accumulate, but they cause the body's ruin in this life and the next. It is said that these treasure's cause the body's ruin, furthermore, this acquisitive heart is fruitless.
Carefully observing those who seek fame and profit, one sees that they are just creating suffering in this world and the next. When one changes the heart that seeks fame and profit and devotes oneself to the truth, then there is enjoyment and bliss in this life and the next.
If one forgets about fame and profit, right and wrong, poverty and wealth, and birth and death, then for clergy and laypersons alike this very body is Buddha.
When people see these elegantly attired monks, they regard them as those who enjoy the favor of the buddhas and kami--how laughable this is! These corrupt, thieving, and elegantly attired monks, will inevitably become the dregs of hell.
The idiocy of these monks, who, not knowing of the King of Death's transcendental faculty of the heavenly eye, bilk the parishioners. Even though one endeavors to uphold the precepts, does zazen and nenbutsu, if one's heart is evil, the karma that results in hell is created.
Those people who uphold the precepts, do zazen and nenbutsu, and are compassionate and merciful--they will achieve buddhahood. Compassionate and merciful true patriarchs and teachers who uphold the precepts, hearing about them, one is deeply moved.
[...]
Oh Buddha! The udambara flower does not bloom in this corrupt world, and the briars of the false teachings proliferate. The grasses and trees on Hanazono's Mt. Shobo--I wish that they would be as fine as the springs of old.
Since the Way of Heaven and Earth is unchanged, even we of the latter age may also look forward to awakening.
Sakyamuni and Amida were originally people, and we have human form as well, haven't we? It is said that Bodhidharma, Baozhi, and Avalokitesvara, were identical because they all possessed a compassionate and merciful heart.
How unfortunate it is that evil thoughts arise easily, but a compassionate and merciful heart is difficult to put forth. Since both the Pure Land and Hell are within our hearts, if an evil thought arises, you should think "Watch out!"
It is said that although the faults of others are easy to discern, even a wise person finds it difficult to discern their own faults.
[...]
Eko: Homage to Sakyamuni Buddha the Original Teacher who eternally abides in the Triple World; to the great saint Manjusri; to the Mahasattva Samantabhadra; homage to the great compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. We vow to extend the merit [of this recitation] equally to all beings so that they may give rise to an awakened mind-heart and be reborn in the Pure Land.
Submitted December 23, 2017 at 10:12PM by Dillon123 http://ift.tt/2kMYdzL
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