Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (142 page)

JUEFAN HUIHONG (n.d.) was a student of Yunan Kewen. He came from Benchun in Jiangxi Province. He was not only one of the great Zen teachers of the Linji/Huanglong lineage, but was a pivotal figure in an era when Zen literature reached its zenith. He authored and compiled a large number of classic Zen commentaries and biographies, including the
Treasured Biographies of the Monks of the Zen Monasteries
(in Chinese,
Chan Lin Seng Bao Zhuan
) and a volume of
Biographies of Eminent Monks
(in Chinese,
Gao Seng Zhuan
).

At the age of nineteen, Juefan received ordination at the Celestial Kings Temple in Luoyang, where he received his first Dharma name, Huihong (“Vast Wisdom”). Juefan reportedly possessed a photographic memory and the ability to remember a book completely after one reading. He wrote poetry under the pen name “Hongdong Jinghua.” A Buddhist scholar and philosopher, he thoroughly mastered the “consciousness-only” doctrine of Buddhist thought. The
Wudeng Huiyuan
provides a brief account of his life.

When Qingliang was fourteen, his mother and father died. He then lived as a novice monk under Zen master Sanfeng Qing. Every day he learned several thousand words [of the sutras]. Qingliang mastered a great number of books and completely attained his teacher’s Dharma. At the age of nineteen he passed his examinations and entered the clergy at Tianwang Temple in Luoyang, receiving ordination there. He then learned the Madhyamika and consciousness-only doctrine from the monk Xuanmi.

After four years, he stopped studying sutras, and proceeded to study under Master Zhenjing at Guizong. When Zhenjing moved to Shimen, Juefan followed him there. Zhenjing feared that Qingliang suffered from the illness of being too erudite. Whenever Zhenjing spoke of Xuansha’s situation before his enlightenment, he would engender doubts in Qingliang. Whenever Qingliang would say something, Zhenjing would say, “Is what you are saying in accord with the Way?”

One day, Qingliang suddenly lost all his doubts. He then composed this verse:

When Lingyun saw them once, he never looked again,
Those branches adorned in red and white did not reveal blossoms.
The wretched fisherman who caught nothing from his boat
Has returned to net fish and prawns on dry land.

Zhenjing was delighted with Qingliang’s verse, declaring it to be of the highest order. Not long after this, Qingliang went on to visit many other famous teachers. They all praised him highly, and because of this he became famous throughout the many Zen monasteries.

The official Xian Mozhu invited Qingliang to become abbot of Beijingde Temple in Fuzhou. Later, he moved to Qingliang Temple [in Nanjing].

Qingliang said to the monks, “In the Surangama Sutra, the Tathagata said to Ananda, ‘When you smell the fragrance of the sandalwood log that burns in this hearth, the fragrance appears to come from a single sandalwood log, yet everywhere within forty li of the city of Shravasti it may be perceived at the same time. What do you say about this? Does this fragrance arise from the sandalwood; does it arise from your nose; or does it arise in the air?

“Ananda! If you say it arises in your nose, then it could be said to be created by your nose. In that case it would come forth from your nose. There is no sandalwood within your nose. So how is there the scent of sandalwood in your nose? If you say that you smell the fragrance, such that it enters your nose, and that within your nose the fragrance is created, then to say that ‘you smell’ the fragrance is illogical. If the fragrance arises in the air, then because the nature of the air is permanent, the fragrance would always be present. So why then would we need to burn this sandalwood log in the hearth? If the fragrance exists in the wood, then the material of this fragrance would be reduced to smoke when the wood is burned. If the nose were thought to be smelling the smoke of this fragrance, then when the smoke rushed into the sky, it could not travel too far. How could it be smelled at a distance of forty li?

“For this reason, it may be said that the fragrance, the nose, and the perception of the fragrance, all have no abode. Thus, the smelling and fragrance are both empty illusions, fundamentally linked to causality, and having no self-nature.’”

Zen master Qingliang then said, “Enter this perception of the nose. Closely observe for yourself that it is unborn!”

[Qingliang then raised an example from the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, wherein] the Buddha asked, “What is it that hears? Does ‘hearing’ employ the ears to hear? Is it ‘hearing consciousness’ that hears? It may be proposed that it is the ears that hear, but the ears do not have consciousness, so they cannot hear. If it is proposed that it is ‘hearing consciousness’ that hears, then does not such consciousness exist only in a moment of thought? Thus it would not be able to differentiate [different sounds], and would therefore not be able to hear. If it is proposed that it is consciousness itself that hears, then I say it cannot do so. Why is this? The five senses perceive the five objects of the senses. Thereafter, consciousness perceives consciousness. Consciousness cannot simultaneously perceive the five objects of the senses. It can only perceive these objects as existing in the past or in the future. If consciousness were able to perceive the manifestation of the five objects of the senses, then even someone blind and deaf would be able to perceive sound. Why is this? It is because consciousness is indivisible.”

Qingliang then said, “It is this ‘perception of the objects of the senses’ that accords with the fundamental mystery. It gives evidence to what is unborn and accords with the fundamental mystery. What, after all, is this state?”

After a long pause, Qingliang said, “The white ape has long since called across the thousand cliffs. Blue ropes enmesh the furnace of words!”

In the second year of the Jiangyan era of the Song dynasty [1128], Juefan died at Tongan. As a result of a petition to the emperor by the official Kuo Tianmin, Juefan received the posthumous name “Precious Enlightenment Perfect Clarity.”

DOUSHUAI CONGYUE

DOUSHUAI CONGYUE (n.d.) was a disciple of Yunan Kewen. He came from ancient Ganzhou (a place in modern Jiangxi Province). He resided and taught at Doushuai Monastery in Longxing Prefecture (now a district in Nanchang City).

Congyue was the head monk at Daowu Monastery, and on one occasion he led a group of monks on a journey to visit Zen master Yungai Zhi. After only a few sentences of conversation, Zhi knew that Congyue possessed special ability.

Zhi laughed and said, “I observe that your breath is unusual. Why is it that when you speak your breath is like that of a drunkard?”

Congyue’s face became flushed and he broke out in a sweat, and he said, “I hope the master won’t spare your compassion.”

Zhi continued to talk to Congyue, goading him. Congyue was flustered and didn’t understand. He asked to have a private interview with Zhi.

In the abbot’s room, Zhi asked Congyue, “Have you ever seen Zen master Fachang Diyu?”

Congyue said, “I’ve read the record of his talks. I understood it all, so I don’t want to see him.”

Zhi said, “Have you seen Zen master Dongshan Wenhe?”