It is the purpose of this series to discuss various topics that are brought up concerning Dahui and his letters. Given the scope and medium, rather than publishing it as one long piece, I have divided it into sections:
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The intelligentsia and Silent Illumination Zen prevalent in Dahui's time, and his criticism of them.
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The alleged burning of the Blue Cliff Record woodblocks by Dahui, and what evidence can be found in support of this legend.
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Dahui's use of the head-phrase (huatou), and it's purpose, limits, and applications.
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Dahui Zonggao's enlightenment journey was standard; scholarly education, studying with Buddhists, seeking a qualified Master. His enlightenment was confirmed by his teacher, Yuanwu Keqin, when he was still relatively young. After study, he went on to teach at various temples, under different circumstances, for many years. Amongst Zen writers, Dahui is one of the most prolific, with a collection of sayings spanning thirty volumes, twelve of which are letters. He also wrote several books, and the largest collection of cases published since the Transmission of the Lamp.
The Letters of Chan Master Dahui Pujue, (Dahui Pujue chanshi shu* 大慧普覺禪師書) consists of 62 letters, 59 of which are addressed to 40 lay scholar-officials ranging from Vice Ministers to local magistrates and Confucian academics. At the end of Broughton's collection are two letters to Chan teachers. They were compiled and editted by three of Dahui's students; monks Xuefeng Huiran (雪峯慧然), and Lingyin Daoyin (靈隱道印), and the scholar-official Huang Wenchang (黃文昌; 1128–1165). Broughton's version also contains commentary by Mujaku Dōchū (1653–1744), a Japanese monk-scholar of the Rinzai school during the Edo period.
A few notes: Dahui mentions in the letters that he assumed at least some of them would be copied and circulated, so the idea that they comprise private instruction is not accurate. He often shared quotes or asked recipients to look at the letters he'd penned to others for guidance and inspiration.
As for the head-phrases, it might be the case that they are so often mentioned in the letters because the overwhelming majority of them are addressed to lay people—Broughton points out that head-phrases are never mentioned in letters to Zen teachers. Whether that was their only purpose is not clear; in his sermons, Dahui relates a story of pushing a student with "what person is that?" repeatedly— the student awakened, and Dahui wrote, "I, Dahui, from this point onward implemented [head-phrases] and very often spoke of them for people."
It must also be noted that I have yet to see scholarship on the providence of the letters.
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Below are abstracts of the main points of each section of the essay. For those not interested in reading them, the most relevant issues of each section are included, with details and evidence to be found in the posts themselves.
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[Part 1: Pretending Smarties, Cultivating Dummies, and Dahui's "Not-Zen"]
When Dahui was young, the Caodong school went from almost extinct to nearly half of all Zen students. At the same time, the popularity of Zen literature exploded, and many lay people and scholar-officials were discussing the cases. Dahui saw many as thieves of Zen's authority, sealing transmission frivolously and teaching heterodox ideas. These teachings, which he calls "Zen illnesses", include; engirding mind and forcing stillness; not-thinking and not-knowing; accepting everything as is; being bold and unconstrained, natural, relativistic and self-interested; and debating cases, adding to questions and answers, and making up trivial poetry.
Dahui saw the teachings of the Caodong school of his time as "truly pathetic." To him, they were attempting to sidestep enlightment, or shortcut the distance in perpetuity, not believing in awakening. Adherents were taught to seek common peace and contentment, and were lured by their desire to false teachers. He argued these ideas and practices led to endless anxiety, and that when efforts to silence mind were stopped, thinking returned. On meditation, he explains that its proper use is to foster a temporary space whereby calm can be carried into daily "noisiness" when necessary.
Much the same, Dahui saw the literati as meandering down cul-de-sacs in search of an edge to overtake enlightenment. They were addicted to the tastiness of study and debate. As with silent illumination, he clarifies the various consequences of the pitfalls inherent, offering solutions.
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[Part 2: Sifting Through Ashes]
Many are the claims that Dahui burned the woodblocks of the Blue Cliff Record. This story has been passed around for centuries as an argument against the reading of Zen texts. It is almost unheard of for contemporary writers to cite a source for this claim.
In my research, I discuss the genealogy of the chanlin baoxun, a case collection with the first recorded reference to the event, as well as an afterword included in a later edition of Blue Cliff Record. Amongst the issues, both these works were published in Japan two to three hundred years after Dahui's death, while the destruction of the woodblocks were never mentioned by Dahui or any of his immediate successors. Though we know the Blue Cliff Record disappeared for a hundred years, all this leaves many unanswered questions, the consequences of which are discussed in the essay.
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[Part 3: Head-Phraseology]
Huatou, which I mostly discuss as head-phrases, were used by Yuanwu to avoid reflection and debate amongst his students and people reading Zen literature. Within a few generations of Dahui, up to today, head-phrases became huatou; empty sentences used to clean mind and life—repeating wu 無 and basking in the calm became the new Zen snake oil.
This section discusses "gongfu", another word for cultivation; proper gongfu is leaping free in one bound, turning from defilement, otherwise defined as pursuit and rejection. Gongfu uses energy, and is juxtaposed to awakening energy; when all that is required is done, "the thief is arrested,"—gongfu energy decreases, making space for awakening energy. All cultivation forms a barrier to enlightenment; it is preferring stillness and seeking attainment rather then occupying one's ground of experience. Various head-phrases are discussed in detail; their purpose, application, and outcomes, which is a mind "like a snowflake on a stove" that has "lost the hemp sack."
Submitted September 08, 2021 at 03:44PM by OneoftheUnfettered https://ift.tt/3z4uDJn
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