So the section on Buddhism in the Song, we're going to be looking successively at two different aspects. First of all, Chan self-cultivation and then Tiantai —another school of Buddhism, Tiantai ritual practice. The section on Chan self-cultivation is based on the chapter by Juhn Ahn called "Buddhist Self-Cultivation Practice." His basic thesis is that the emergence of public monasteries and "intensifying lineage rivalry affected the practice of Buddhist self-cultivation." Just as access to officialdom was increasingly by means of examination-demonstrated merit, "more often than not," says Juhn Ahn, "more often than not, it was a charismatic Chan master that was invited to serve as the new abbot by the local prefect in charge of filling the vacant abbacy." So you heard that: It's the local prefect who's filling the abbacy. So this reveals the meaning of public monastery: it's a monastery supported by the state, in which the state is involved very intimately insofar as they're the ones who are naming the abbot when he has to be replaced. So what exactly is Chan charisma? A "charismatic master" was one who could attract disciples because of his "kindness and (his) virtue," <i>hui</i> 惠 and <i>de</i> 德, who "values an assembly" more than he "values himself." Above all, he ensures "the disciplined lifestyle of an assembly governed by the pure rules (<i>qinggui</i> 清規) of a public monastery," what Ahn calls a "ritualized culture of learning." He states: "Communal training on long platforms in the sangha hall, entering the abbot's quarters for instruction, practicing long hours of seated meditation (<i>zuochan</i> 坐禪), and gathering in the morning and evening to listen to the abbot preach the dharma from an elevated seat in the dharma hall." That concretely is what Juhn Ahn is referring to by "a ritualized culture of learning." Chan culture was above all marked by a "distinctive style of speech or locution that 'pointed directly at the mind of people'," <i>zhizhi renxin</i> 直指人心, and candidates for abbacies had to demonstrate that they had "exceptionally sharp (<i>feng</i> 鋒)," like the sharpness of a sword, had "exceptionally sharp <i>chan</i> sparring skills." "Competition among Chan masters for (such) students was fierce." The Chan equivalent of state examinations was the spirited exchanges between master and disciple, and we'll be seeing some of that, when the latter had "entered his quarters." But this—the sharp sparring between, this exchange between master and disciple— was preceded by "long hours of meditation," including that of a new kind, on something called in Chinese <i>gong'an</i> 公案, more often known in the West by the Japanese pronunciation of the term, <i>koan</i>, such as, "The matter of the donkey is not yet done and the matter of the horse has already arrived." Think about it; figure that one out. Or, on "the critical point of the story (<i>huatou</i> 話頭)." And we'll be talking more about this <i>huatou</i>, this critical point of the story in what follows. Ahn gives the example of a certain Po'an Zuxian 破庵祖先, whose dates are 1136 to 1211, who "went to have an audience with the Chan master Shui'an 水庵 at (the Buddhist monastery) Shuanglin 雙林寺." There were two long corridors in this monastery: "Every night without sleeping," says Po'an Zuxian, "every night without sleeping I walked from the east to the west corridor and practiced meditative work by raising the critical point of a story (the <i>huatou</i>) for investigation. After making two or three circuits between the two corridors, I returned to the sangha hall to make a critical move." And what's very interesting is, Ahn points out, "a critical move" here, <i>yizhuo</i> 一著, is a term that comes from chess. So this gives us a very clear idea of the fact that this is truly competitive, looking for the right repartee, the clever repartee. In addition to austerities like long hours of meditation and fighting sleep, Chan training involved what Ahn calls "pilgrimages" to visit other monasteries and learn with a variety of masters. As it meant that determination to achieve the goal of enlightenment was more important than being loyal to a master, this practice "played a critical role in the development of a competitive culture of Chan learning." And here the example is given of a certain Meng'an Yuancong 蒙菴元聡, whose dates are unknown but he's from the mid-12th century as we'll see. He was disciple of a certain Hui'an Miguang 晦菴彌光 who died in 1155. Shortly after tonsure, Meng'an Yuancong "voiced his desire to join the assembly to focus exclusively on investigating himself in order to complete the great matter." That is to say of enlightenment. He also asked to be exempted from all other duties expected of the assembly. Miguang told him that "the Buddha Dharma lies in all functions and mundane actions," and "if you do not reach an understanding in a month, I will punish you and show no mercy." Yuancong put a copy of the words, "The Buddha Dharma lies in mundane actions" above the window in his cell and studied it without sleeping "for half a month." So there's the austerity: without sleeping for half a month. "Yuancong eventually attained awakening, and as Miguang claimed, this awakening came from a mundane affair. Catching sight of Yuancong weeping by himself, Miguang asked his disciple for an explanation. As Yuancong was about to explain that he had received news of his father's death, Miguang grabbed him by the collar, slapped him, and asked, 'Where does ignorance and all the afflictions come from?' Miguang then slapped him again. (And) at that (very) moment Yuancong is said to have attained awakening." We're now going to look at Chan locution vs. seated meditation, so this sharp sparring skill as opposed to these long bouts of seated meditation. And we'll refer here to an article in another book, a wonderful book on <i>Buddhism in the Song</i>, edited by Peter Gregory and Daniel Getz. This particular chapter is by Morten Schlütter and it's called "Silent Illumination, Kung-an Introspection, and the Competition for Lay Patronage in Sung Dynasty Ch'an." And what we see in this chapter is that the tension between Chan locution on the one hand and seated meditation on the other comes to the surface in the following story about Dahui Zonggao 大慧宗杲, whose dates are 1089 to 1163, who criticizes Zhenxie Qingliao 真歇青了, whose dates are 1099 to 1151, saying that "silent illumination Chan," <i>mozhaochan</i> 默照禪, over-emphasized "inherent enlightenment" and thus obscured the hard work needed in order to overcome delusion. And what exactly was meant by that we will investigate by looking at another chapter, [about] Miaodao 妙道, written by Miriam Levering in the same <i>Buddhism in the Song</i> book, "Miaodao and her Teacher Dahui." Miaodao's dates are also mid-12th century and this is her story, as told by Miriam Levering. Miaodao was studying with Qingliao on Mount Xuefeng 雪峰山 in Fujian when, at Qingliao's invitation, Dahui came to give a sermon there in the spring of 1134. Miaodao then moved to a summer retreat where Dahui was a guest instructor. Dahui describes her asking him to do a rite of repentance because, quote, "When I study supreme wisdom, I encounter many demonic obstacles… My vow," my desire, my goal, "my vow is that all sentient beings may attain sudden awakening." Dahui compliments her on her desire to save others and performs the ritual that she had asked for. Her aspiration for enlightenment and desire to repent is praiseworthy and makes her the equal of the buddhas of the three worlds, but this, says Dahui, is far less meritorious "than understanding that there are no Buddhas of the three worlds to be equal to… that there is no birth and no death, no sage and no ordinary person… and no Buddha and no dharma. If you can see it this way, that is the real repentance." "When Miaodao came to visit him and insisted there 'is no delusion and no awakening'," no doubt thinking that she was corresponding to what he had just said, "He scolded her. She asked for some expedient means to awaken her." And this time, "Dahui distinguished between the ordinary mind, which is deluded, and the awakened mind, in which distinctions are transcended. But while in the end there are no distinctions, it is dangerous to focus on that and better to focus on <i>huatou</i>, because 'apprehending the truth intellectually will not lead to awakening'. Dahui tells her now to reflect on Mazu's 'Mind itself is the Buddha'." Mind itself is the Buddha, "and 'not mind, not the Buddha, not things,' or Juzhi's raising a finger." He says, "Ultimately, what principle is it? This, then, is my expedient means. Think it over, Miaodao." Silent meditation, the <i>mozhaochan</i>: "Silent meditation, he suggests, is also an expedient means which people risk seeing as an ultimate teaching." So he ends with a series of <i>huatou</i> for her reference—which we just read— and tells her how to understand Mazu's phrase: mind you, "It is not the mind, it is not the Buddha, it is not a thing." Okay? So: that's the phrase and here is what he says. "1) You must not take it as a statement of truth. 2) You must not take it to be something you do not need to do anything about. 3) Do not take it as a flint-struck spark or a lightning flash. 4) Do not try to divine the meaning of it. 5) Do not try to figure it out from the context in which I brought it up." So clearly telling [her] to cool it with regard to all the intellectual reflection on the matter. "'It is not the mind, it is not the Buddha, it is not a thing'; after all, what is it?'" So this is the way Dahui puts the challenge now to Miaodao. Dahui then referred to Xiangyan, who was awakened when he heard the sound of a pebble striking a bamboo: he had been blocked for years by having too much knowledge and being too clever, too sharp, and he was awakened only after he was given a question he could not answer: "How does one study Chan? One has to awaken suddenly and directly have no mind; only then can you be joyful and at peace… If you use the mind to make the mind not exist, the mind exists all the more." This is the counsel that Dahui gives to Miaodao. Later, Miaodao has a moment of joy: "I saw," says Dahui, "I saw she wanted to open her mouth and shouted 'Ho?' and said: 'Wrong! Get out!' Why? Because I saw that what she had was not the real thing. For her heels had not touched the earth." So Dahui blocked her on purpose, but Miaodao came back and said, "I really do have an entrance." Then, says Dahui, "I stopped blocking her path and asked her how she understood the <i>huatou</i>." She responded: "I only understand this way." Dahui replied, "You added in an extra 'only understand this way'." What's left? - "I." "Then she understood: 'She was the first of my students to succeed in investigating Chan'." So here through this story of the interaction between Dahui and Miaodao we understand what is meant by this contrast between <i>mozhaochan</i>, silent meditation Chan, and Chan focused on these <i>huatou</i>, on these <i>gong'an</i>, on these statements which puzzle and for which an intellectual investigation is not adequate; there has to be a sudden awakening. Dahui Zonggao is a clearly very central character to the story of Chan Buddhism in the Northern Song, and we'd like to look at one more aspect of his relationship with the society of his time and notably his relationship to a figure who is more associated with Daoxue, the Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism that we'll be talking about later. So it's Dahui and Zhang Jiucheng 張九成, whose dates are 1092 to 1159, and for this we'll be relying on yet another chapter in <i>Buddhism in the Song</i>, this one written by Ari Borrell and called "Gewu or Gongan? Practice, Realization, and Teaching in the Thought of Zhang Jiucheng." Zhang was originally the disciple of Yang Guishan 楊龜山, whose dates are 1053 to 1135. Yang Guishan had been one of the primary opponents of Wang Anshi and his followers like the infamous Chief Councilor Cai Jing 蔡京, whose dates are 1047 to 1126. So opponent of Wang Anshi and the counselor Cai Jing, seeing them as Legalists out to enrich the state at the expense of general welfare. When Chief Councilor Zhao Ting "led a dramatic shift" in personnel to anti-Wangs, Zhang became one of the most vocal advocates of Daoxue at the court and, and one of the most militant opponents of peace. Zhang Jiucheng was dismissed in late 1138 for his criticism of Emperor Gaozong on the war issue. In 1140, he visited Dahui, who said to him: "When the mind is not rectified, it is treacherous and depraved and motivated by the pursuit of profit. When the mind is rectified, it is loyal and righteous," <i>zhong</i> 忠 and <i>yi</i> 義, "and perfectly in accord with principle… The mind of bodhi 菩提 is the mind of loyalty and righteousness; the names are different," Buddhist and Confucian, "but they have the same essence." At the time, writes Borrell, <i>zhongyi</i>, loyal and righteous, referred to the pro-war critics, and an enlightened mind meant loyal service to an endangered dynasty. In 1141, Zhang and Dahui met again and were charged with sedition and exiled to southern Jiangxi, where they stayed until Chief Councilor Qin Gui's death in 1155. So here we see a very interesting convergence of the vision of Dahui Zonggao, the Chan monk, and Zhang Jiucheng, the advocate of Daoxue.
