A monk asked, ‘Master Ma, why do you say that mind is Buddha?’
Chinese Chan
Harmony of Difference and Equality (Sandōkai)
Not understanding the way before your eyes, how do you know the path you walk?
Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage by Shitou
Turn around the light to shine within, then just return. The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers, be familiar with their instructions, bind grasses to build a hut, and don’t give up.
The Power of Patriarchs: Qisong and Lineage in Chinese Buddhism
This book provides a detailed biography with a focus on the influential historical writings he composed to defend Chan claims of a “mind-to-mind transmission” tracing back to the historical Buddha.
Your own spiritual light will shine forth permanently, by Hui Neng
Bhikkhu Zhi Chang, a native of Gui Xi of Xin Zhou, joined the Order in his childhood, and was very zealous in his efforts to realize the Essence of Mind. One day, he came to pay homage to the Patriarch,… Read More ›
Ten Verses on Oxherding, Zen master Guoan Shiyuan
In Zen, a herdboy’s search for his lost oxen has served as a parable for a practitioner’s pursuit of enlightenment since this Buddhist sect’s early history in China. In the eleventh century, the Song-dynasty Zen master Guoan Shiyuan (active ca. 1150) codified the parable into ten verses (gāthā), recorded and illustrated in this handscroll…
Buddhism: What is So-Called Tathāgata Chan
Chinese Chan masters in the earlier periods did not possess a unified definition of Tathāgata Chan and Patriarchal Chan—instead, they wrote with rather ambiguous meanings and loose definitions…
A Taste of Zen: Mazu Daoyi
A monk asked, “What is the essential meaning of Buddhism?” Mazu said, “What is the meaning of this moment?”
