Some examples of how the chinese character 禪(chan) is used before Bodhidharma's supposed arrival in China

The word zen - name of this sub - is a transliteration of the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character, 禪(chan).

禪 itself is an abbreviation used to represent the sanskrit word 'dhyana'. The full Chinese term for ‘dhyana’ is 禪那 (chan na).

Before Bodhidharma's supposed arival in China, the chinese character 禪 (as dhyana) is already in used in many Buddhist sutras/sastras. Here are the titles of some chinese Buddhist sutras/sastras translated between 300-500 CE:

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1. 《達摩多羅禪經》Dhammo-Tara (Dharma-Eye) Dhyana Sutra – translated by Buddhabhadra (359－429). This text talks about meditation techniques like anapanasati (aka mindfulness of in-out breath).

2. 《坐禪三昧經》Seated Dhyana Samadhi Sutra – translated by Kumarajiva (334-413). This is a compilation of various Buddhist meditation techniques suggested for people of different temperament (like foulness meditation for lustful people, metta meditation for people full of ill-will, contemplation of dependent origination for foolish/deluded people…).

3. 《禪秘要經》Esoteric Essentials of the Dhyana Sutra - translated by Kumarajiva (334-413). This sutra talks about techniques like white bone meditation and foulness meditation.

4. 《禪法要解》Essential Explanations of Dhyana Techniques - translated by Kumarajiva (334-413). This text talks about foulness meditation and the four dhyana-heavens (the typical four jhanas of Theravada Buddhism).

5. 《治禪病秘要經》Esoteric Essentials of Treating Dhyana Diseases Sutra – translated by Juqu Jingsheng (?-464). This text talks about the methods to treat the various diseases of meditation (like sores/ulcers/pus, choking, ghostly hallucinations, headaches/eye-aches/ear-deafness, prophecy-like omens...).

6. 《五門禪要用經》Uses of the Five Methods of Dhyana Sutra – translated by Dharmamitra，(356－442). This text talks about the five methods of meditation - anapanasati (aka mindfulness of in-out breath), foulness, metta (loving-kindness), contemplation of dependent origination, recitation of buddhas’ names.*

These chinese texts can be found in the cbeta website. Just search the chinese titles.

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The Chinese character 禪 (chan) in the context of Buddhism refers to 'dhyana' as meditation or quiet-contemplation or samatha-vipassana or concentration-insight...

What's interesting is how it came to be used as the representative name of the Zen school (禪宗 chan zong) in China.

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Fun fact:

There is not a single use of the term 褝师 (zen teacher/master) in that famous text written by Dahui Zonggao - 正法眼藏 (zheng fa yan zang, aka Shobogenzo).

When addressing learned monks (like Yantou or Langya for example) in his text, Dahui used the term 和尚 (he shang) instead of 褝师 (chan shi).

So if you ever see the term zen teacher/master in Dahui's text, take note that it is an inappropriate translation or quote.

And for those who are interested, 和尚 (Upadhyaya in sanskrit or Osho in japanese) is an honorific Buddhist title used to address learned monks.

Submitted May 13, 2019 at 09:14AM by chintokkong http://bit.ly/2HmSmeZ