The Regulations of the Ch'an Line

The Ch'an line, from the time of its founding by Bodhidharma, to the Sixth Patriarch, and on up to the time of Po-chang, usually made its quarters in the temples of the Vinaya sect.

Although it had separate buildings, there was yet no agreement on rules concerning teaching and administration.

The Ch'an Master Po-chang Ta-chih, constantly concerned about this, said: "The Way of the Patriarchs should be one of expanding and transforming mankind.

We hope that it will not die out in the future.

Why should we accord our practices with every detail of the Agamas (Theravada Vinaya rules)?"

Someone said, "The 'Yoga-sastra' and the 'Ying-lo Ching' contain the Mahayana regulations.

Why not follow them!"

Po-chang said "What I follow isn't bound by the Great or Small Vehicles, and doesn't differentiate between them.

We must strike a balance between the broad and the narrow, and establish rules that are suitable."

Thereupon, beginning a new idea, he established entirely different meditation dwellings.

In the community, everyone whose Dharma-eye is respectably powerful is called "Chang-lao" just as in India men of age and understanding were called "Subhuti", etc.

After they have become "Transformers" or "Refiners" they live in the fang-chang room.

Like Vimalakirti's room, it is without individual bedrooms.

The reason that we build lecture halls, but no Buddha-halls, is to show that the Buddhas and Patriarchs personally appoint the Masters even today, and it is they who become the "Buddha".

Students enter the Comrades' Hall, without distinction of many or few, high or low.

In order of how many seasons they've spent, they arrange and set up long connected benches and put up clothes racks to hang their equipment on.

They sleep with their pillows leaned against the edge of the bench, on the auspicious right side of the body, because they do zazen for long hours, and need a little rest.

Thus they have all the Four Dignities (standing, sitting, walking and lying down).

Aside from entering the Master's room to receive the teaching, students are permitted to be diligent or idle; the high and the low are not bound to a common rule.

This whole group has study in the morning and an assembly in the evening.

When the old chief ascends his high seat and gives a lecture, the leaders and the group stand in rows listening.

The "Guest" and the "Host" trade questions and answers to display the principles of the Dharma—to display how they follow and live by the Dharma.

Meals are held twice a day at suitable times, because it is necessary to be frugal, and to show that Dharma and food go together.

When working outside, those of high and those of low rank work equally hard.

Po-chang established ten offices and called them "liao-she" ("huts").

Each office has one man as chief, who is in charge of a number of men who each look after the affairs of their own department.

Item: the man in charge of cooking is called "The rice head". The man in charge of vegetables is called "The greens head". The others all follow this pattern.

If there is someone who has falsely taken the name and stolen the form of a comrade, muddying the pure community and obstructing its affairs, then the welfare worker (Wei-na) investigates, removes his nameplate and clothes rack, and has him leave the grounds.

The reason for this is to preserve the peace of the community.

If that person has actually transgressed in some serious way then he should be beaten with a staff; assemble the group and burn his robe, bowls and equipment, and chase him out by a side gate.

This shows his disgrace.

Being particular about this one custom has four advantages:

First, not muddying the pure community will give birth to reverence and faith.

Item: if the three inheritances (word, deed and thought) are not good, men cannot live together.

In accordance with the customs it is sometimes appropriate to use the “Brahma Altar” method to regulate someone [ostracizing an offender with total silence].

Some persons must be thrown out of the community— when the community is tranquil, reverence and faith will grow.

Secondly, the forms of the comrades are not destroyed, and the Buddhist precepts are complied with.

Item: punish offenders properly, if they were allowed to keep their robes you'd regret it later.

Third, this way you don't trouble the law courts, and you keep out of criminal litigation.

Fourth, it doesn't leak to outsiders—this protects the harmony of the tradition.

Item: when people come from all over to live together, what distinguishes the common man and the sage?

Even when the Tathagata was in the world there were six classes of common monks; how much more today, in the decline of the Dharma, we cannot hope to have absolutely none.

If one comrade commits an error, and all the other comrades make accusations, they surely don't realize that they are demeaning the community and destroying the Dharma; how great this destruction is.

If the Ch'an group of these days wishes to move without hindrance, we must rely on Po-chang's Thick Grove regulations to manage affairs.

Furthermore, it is not on account of the worthy ones that we set up a law guarding against transgressions.

It is better to have rules and no faults, than it is to have faults and no rules.

With Master Po-chang's protection, the Dharma has flourished and grown!

That the Ch’an Line is nowadays standing foremost can be traced to Po-chang.

We have related the essentials and displayed them for comrades of future generations, that they forget not their roots.

The complete rules are provided at all "Mountain Gates".

~Record of the life of the Ch'an master Po-chang Huai-hai [Bojang Whyhigh]

Translated by Gary Snyder from the Ching-tê Chuan-têng Lu, 'Transmission of the Lamp'

Submitted February 18, 2022 at 01:33AM by NothingIsForgotten https://ift.tt/XuV09m2