seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

fact which northern Buddhist intellectuals found demeaning. Instead of completing the
blending process and developing a Chinese hybrid (as did Southern Chan), they sought
instead to purify the Buddhist strain by instituting a massive rewriting project. Orthodox
Buddhism did not rest until it possessed a new canon, one which was happily uncontaminated
by Daoism. Unfortunately, their desire for purity did not extend to Tantric Buddhist
scriptures; and these latter works immediately became wildly popular.
The affront to Daoist philosophers could hardly serve to stifle Daoist criticism of
Buddhist extravagance. Daoists were therefore pleased to add their voices to the chorus of
civilian authorities who clamored for action against the increasingly reckless Buddhist
hierarchy.
Into this confused mass of theories and practices came a new variant: a
Buddhist/Daoist synthesis called Chan.
By the year 519, the Aryan Prince Bodhidharma had grown so disgusted with
scriptural anarchy that he decided to leave India (or Iran - nobody is really sure which) to sail
to China to teach a new spiritual regimen, one that was mercifully "outside the scriptures."
An enigmatic priest with formidable powers to attain profound states of samadhi but
not much in the way of conversational skills, Bodhidharma seems to have arrived in
Guangzhou like the white knight Lohengrin: the Chinese depict him as being transported
there by a swan. In Guangzhou, where he disembarked, or de-swanned, there can be seen
monastery murals which commemorate his arrival. We can also see, given his curly goldenbrown
beard and aqua eyes, why the Chinese gave him the sobriquet, "The Blue-eyed
Barbarian".
As legend has it, Bodhidharma went north and presented himself to the Emperor Wu
of the Liang Dynasty who, as a dedicated Buddhist, had furthered the cause of his religion by
building many temples and monasteries. The record of their brief encounter would become
the core of Chan belief. Wu: I have performed many good deeds. How much merit have I
earned towards my admittance into Nirvana? Bodhidharma: None whatsoever. Wu: What,
then, as a Buddhist, should have been my aim? Bodhidharma: To be empty of yourself.
Wu: Just who do you think you are? Bodhidharma: I have no idea.
In this startling exchange we learn that there is no such thing as meritorious or
unmeritorious action (good and evil being fictions in the conjured world of the phantom ego),
that kenosis (egolessness) is the aim of Buddhist practice, and that the Buddha Nature cannot
be apprehended intellectually. To be enlightened in Chan is to experience enlightenment.
For nine years, Bodhidharma stayed at Shao Lin Monastery, silently absorbed in the
universe that unfolded in the plane surface of a whitewashed wall.
CHAPTER 4 ORIGINS OF THE TWO MAIN SCHOOLS OF CHAN
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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