Fayan Wenyi - Disciple of Dizang

Hello friends. So recently there has been a bit of contention around Zen Masters, Axioms, and the veracity of the book entitled, The Five Houses of Zen as translated by Thomas Cleary.

So I purchased it. And I thought, yea I could sit here in bed and read this book by myself while eating mandarins and dates, or, I could take the time to create content for this online forum, and discuss this case with all of you fellows.

So our first look at a Zen Master featured within will involve Qingliang Wenyi, commonly referred to as Fa-Yen who authors Ten Guidelines for Zen Schools, which is the primary text we will discuss in subsequent posts. He is the titular founder of one “school of Zen”, the Fayan school.

A brief history of lineage,

FAYAN WENYI (885–958) was a disciple of Dizang. He came from ancient Yuhang (near the city of Hangzhou). At the age of seven, he entered a monastery headed by a Zen master named Quanwei. Well educated and erudite as a young man, Fayan studied the Confucian classics. He received ordination at the age of twenty at Kaiyuan Temple in Yuezhou (now the city of Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province). He then proceeded to Maoshan, a seaport in Ye County of Zhejiang Province, where he studied under the Vinaya master Xijiao. Later, Fayan studied Zen under Changqing Huileng.

Fayan has two separately recorded awakening stories.

First, from The Transmission of the Lamp,

Guichen^1a asked, “Where are you going?”

Fayan replied, “On an ongoing pilgrimage.”

Guichen said, “Why do you go on a pilgrimage?”

Fayan replied, “I don’t know.”

Guichen said, “Not knowing is most intimate.”

At these words Fayan instantly experienced enlightenment.

The second comes from The Record of Zen Master Fayan Wenyi

When the snow was gone, the three monks bade farewell and started to depart. Dizang accompanied them to the gate and asked, “I’ve heard you say several times that ‘the three realms are only mind and the myriad dharmas are only consciousness.’”

Dizang then pointed to a rock lying on the ground by the gate and said, “So do you say that this rock is inside or outside of mind?”

Fayan said, “Inside.”

Dizang said, “How can a pilgrim carry such a rock in his mind while on pilgrimage?”

Dumbfounded, Fayan couldn’t answer. He put his luggage down at Dizang’s feet and asked him to clarify the truth. Each day for the next month or so Fayan spoke about the Way with Dizang and demonstrated his understanding.

Dizang would always say, “The Buddhadharma isn’t like that.”

Finally, Fayan said, “I’ve run out of words and ideas.”

Dizang said, “If you want to talk about Buddhadharma, everything you see embodies it.”

At these words Fayan experienced great enlightenment.

Penetrating the great affair under Zen master Luohan Guichen, Fayan became his Dharma heir. He went on to establish one of the five traditionally recognized schools of Zen. The Fayan school style is popularly traced to Dizang’s teacher, Xuansha. However, Fayan successfully spread the school’s influence, and its teachings became synonymous with his name.

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So now that we have some idea of who Fayan was, what teachers and lineage he had, as well as records of his enlightenment experience, let’s examine his translated text from The Five Houses of Zen, and discuss what he has to say.

Author's Own Preface

I shed the cage of entanglements in youth and grew up hearing the essentials of the Teaching, traveling around calling on teachers for nearly thirty years. The Zen schools, in particular, are widespread, most numerous in the South.^1b Yet few in them have arrived at attainment; such people are rarely found.

Anyway, even though noumenal principle is a matter for sudden understanding, actualities must be realized gradually.² The teaching methods of the schools have many techniques, of course, but insofar as they are for dealing with people for their benefit, the ultimate aim is the same.

If, however, people have no experience of the doctrines of the teachings, it is hard to break through discrimination and subjectivity.³ Galloping right views over wrong roads, mixing inconsistencies into important meanings, they delude people of the following generations and inanely enter into vicious circles.

I have taken the measure of this, and it is quite deep; I have made the effort to get rid of it, but I have not fully succeeded. The mentality that blocks the tracks just grows stronger; the intellectual undercurrent is not useful.

Where there are no words, I forcefully speak out; where there is no dogma, I strongly uphold certain principles.⁴ Pointing out defects in Zen schools, I briefly explain ten matters, using word critical of specific errors to rescue an era from decadence⁵.

NOTES FROM AN 🦉

1a. Luohan Guichen is Dizang, Fayan’s teacher.

1b. What is he contrasting the Zen schools with in this paragraph? The distinction must have some meaning for him to make it, is he referring to more traditional Buddhist schools?

1. Actualities are a matter of gradual realization. Well I like that quote, but there isn’t much to talk about if one hasn’t experienced sudden awakening

2. The doctrine does serve a purpose, it is an aid to breaking through our subjectivity. So it is said that Huineng awakened upon hearing the Dharma spoken. I think there is a nuance here, that the Dharma as passed down is medicine inoculated for human consumption, easy to swallow and digest. However as Dizang says above, “If you want to discuss the Buddhadharma, everything you see embodies it.” So it is that one master was enlightened at the sound of pebbles and another at the sight of a flagpole.

3. This is a striking comment to me, worthy of consideration.

4. What are the ten matters? Was the Tang Dynasty known to be decadent or is this a shot at the various Zen, or perhaps Buddhist schools?

Well that was a lot to cover and we haven’t even gotten into the Ten Guidelines yet. Prepare yourselves because I have the sense that Fayen is sparing no one, and is more that willing to excoriate those deserving.

Come one, come all! New and old, big and small, simpletons and geniuses of r/zen and beyond, let us know what you think of Fa-Yen, Disciple of Dizang, head of the Fayen school of Zen.

Submitted March 17, 2022 at 07:57PM by Owlsdoom https://ift.tt/M7sJXTY