Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (112 page)

A monk asked, “How can one get out of the three realms?”

Xiushan said, “When the three realms become one, then you escape them.”

The monk said, “If not the three realms, what is it?”

Xiushan said, “Where is a place that isn’t of the three realms?”

Xiushan addressed the monks, saying, “Rolling up the screen removes the barrier. Closing the door creates an obstruction. It is just this opening or closing that people have not understood from ancient times to the present. What is to be understood is itself an obstruction, but if one doesn’t understand then one’s function is unrealized.”

PART THREE:

THE LITERARY PERIOD 950–1260

Sixteenth Generation

FENYANG SHANZHAO, “WUDE”

FENYANG SHANZHAO (947–1024) was a disciple and Dharma heir of Shoushan Xingnian. He came from ancient Taiyuan (now a place in modern Shanxi Province). Both of Fenyang’s parents died before he reached the age of fourteen, so at this young age, he entered into the homeless life of a monk. Extremely intelligent and well versed in the Confucian and other classics, Fenyang embodied the keen intelligence and wisdom that imbued the greatest masters of ancient times. He traveled widely and reportedly gained instruction from seventy-one teachers. In Ruzhou, Fenyang studied under Shoushan Xingnian, who confirmed his great awakening and passed to him the mind-seal of the Linji school. After Shoushan died, Fenyang was invited to live and teach at the Taizi Zen Temple, a subtemple of the Taiping (“Great Peace”) Monastery in Fenzhou (now the city of Fenyang in Shanxi Province). He remained there for the next thirty years, forcefully expounding a brilliant Dharma. Fenyang’s familiarity with the teaching styles of many masters was turned to great use. His teachings drew widely from the different schools. As one example, he is known as the first Linji master to use the Caodong school system of “five ranks.”

Fenyang is particularly remembered for his literary achievements and the direct use of Zen stories as a part of Zen training. The development of “literary Zen,” including the formal collection and incorporation into practice of kōans, is traced to Fenyang. This emphasis on the use of kōans gave rise to their widespread collection into
songgu
texts, books of kōans with amended verses. Later, others amended commentaries to the songgu texts and yet another literary form, known as
niansong
, was the result. Well-known examples of these books, such as the
Blue Cliff Record
and the
Gateless Gate
, became widely incorporated into Zen practice.

The development of “literary Zen” was a new and significant development for Zen practice and culture. It has already been shown that, although Zen purportedly shunned using literature of any sort to transmit its essential teaching, the use of certain scriptures is nevertheless closely associated with Zen’s historical development. As noted earlier, Bodhidharma and Daman Hongren employed the Lankavatara and Diamond sutras respectively as teaching devices. Later, students recorded their teachers’ lectures and compiled these lectures into books. But Fenyang went beyond what existed and created a new corpus of literature unique in style and content to the Zen tradition. The songgu literary style that developed from his efforts flourished in the Zen monastic system and spilled into the greater current of Chinese conventional literature.

The songgu genre of literature took as its basis the dialogues between Zen masters and students of earlier times. Presenting an introduction to each of these “public cases,” songgu writers then appended their own laudatory verses to the core stories. The writers did not try to directly explain what the public cases meant. After all, the essential meaning was still considered to be beyond words. Instead, their verses contained allegories and subtle inferences to evoke an intuitive or abstract appreciation and realization.

Other writers amended songgu texts with their own commentaries. The resulting niansong texts would often accumulate the unique comments of different enlightened teachers over a long period of time.

Although Fenyang Shanzhao was himself of the Linji lineage, the stories used in his songgu were of no particular school or current of Zen history. Stories from all of the Zen schools were used in his works. Similarly, the later niansong texts, the
Blue Cliff Record
and the
Book of Serenity
, although associated with the Linji and Caodong Zen schools respectively, contained a large number of stories about Yunmen Wenyan and others of different Zen schools.

The public cases that songgu praised were not always concerned with famous figures in Zen history. Some stories took as their basis traditional scriptural passages, an indication of the influence that sutras continued to exert upon Zen practitioners.

Fenyang’s contribution to the development of Zen literature, and thus to the preservation of the Zen tradition, can hardly be overstated. His verses were widely read and quoted during his own lifetime.

Fenyang studied under fifty-seven teachers. At last he came to Shoushan.

Fenyang asked Shoushan, “What was the meaning of Baizhang rolling up his sitting mat?”

Shoushan said, “When the dragon robe sleeve is shaken open the entire body is revealed.”

Fenyang said, “What does that mean?”

Shoushan said, “It’s like a king that goes out walking. There are no fox tracks.”

At these words Fenyang was enlightened. He prostrated himself to Shoushan, then arose and said, “The moon of empty worlds reflected in ten thousand ancient pools, sought twice, thrice, is finally found.”

Fenyang traveled through the regions of Hunan and Hubei. Everywhere he went the local officials invited him to assume the abbacy of well-known temples. In all, he received eight invitations, but he did not accept any of them. When Shoushan Xingnian died, the Buddhist clergy and lay officials of his district in Fenzhou dispatched the monk Qicong as an envoy to invite Fenyang to assume the vacant abbacy.
¹⁵³

[When Qicong arrived] Fenyang was sleeping with the door to his room closed. Qicong pushed it open, walked in, and said, “Because of the great matter of Buddhadharma, you should abandon trifling matters. Zen master Fengxue feared that spurious talk would exterminate the Linji school. Fortunately, he discovered our late master. But now he also has left the world. You have the ability to carry on the great Dharma of the Tathagatas. There’s no time for lazily napping.”

Fenyang jumped up and grabbed Qicong’s hand, saying, “Only you could make such a speech. I’ll pack my things immediately. I’m going with you.”

After Fenyang assumed the abbacy at Fenzhou, he said to the monks, “Beneath Fenyang’s gate a West River lion crouches.
¹⁵⁴
If anyone comes near he chomps them to death. Is there any expedient to help people enter Fenyang’s gate and personally see the person of Fenyang? Anyone who sees the person of Fengyang can become the teacher of the buddhas and ancestors. Those who can’t see the person of Fenyang are dead right where they stand. Right now, is there anyone who can enter? Hurry up and go in so that you can avoid a wasted life! If you’re not an adept of the dragon gate then you’ll get a mark on your forehead!
¹⁵⁵
Who here is an adept of the Dragon Gate? You’re all getting a mark!”

Fenyang then raised his staff and said, “Go back! Go back!”