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

Southern Chan, persisting in its "What, me worry?" attitude, continued to perfect the
Buddhist-Daoist synthesis. Hui Neng, considering himself a simple man of Dao, gathered
many followers at his monastery, Bo Lin (Fragrant Wood) which he founded at "Ts'ao Ch'i"
located near the city of Shao Guan, about l20 miles north of Canton. The monastery is
popularly called Nan Hua Si which means Elegant (in the sense of classic) South China
Monastery. (Note: Nan Hua Si is the monastery in which the author of this work was
ordained.)
So thoroughly identified with Daoism is the Sixth Patriarch's Chan that even today
Daoists have their own shrine inside his monastery's gates. Until recently, when the practice
was outlawed by civil authorities, Daoists set off firecrackers everyday to drive away any evil
spirits who might wish to molest him. (His body, preserved, lacquered, and dressed in
priestly garb, is still displayed there.)
On August 28, 7l3, Hui Neng, the gentle saint of Buddhism and humble man of Dao,
died without, as far as we know, naming a successor. A few years later one of his disciples, a
priest named Shen Hui, motivated either by a personal claim to the title of Seventh Patriarch
or by a sincere desire to restore throughout China the rightful title of Sixth Patriarch to his
master, took exception to Shen Xiu's usurpation of the title and decided to set the record
straight. He lobbied mightily against Shen Xiu's successors in an effort to restore the title to
its southern claimants. Being a rather eloquent speaker, he attracted much attention.
The Tang emperor, one of Wu's grandsons, was at the time having critical money
problems. Expensive civil wars had virtually bankrupted him and as he cast about looking
for new sources of revenue, he saw in Shen Hui's crusade a way by which he could
circumvent the moral order that Shen Xiu had installed and get some much needed cash out
of wealthy Buddhist laymen. The Emperor summoned the agitating southern priest and made
a deal with him: The Crown would recognize southern claims to the patriarchy if Shen Hui
would raise money for the Crown by selling ordination certificates and other spiritual goodies
to laymen. Religion, always a boon to tax dodgers, once again came to the rescue of the rich.
For one large and quick payment, years of tax-free living could be enjoyed. Hordes of idle
gentlemen received an overnight call to priestly glory. And when the Emperor decreed that
henceforth Hui Neng of the Southern School was to be the one and only Sixth Patriarch,
everybody who was anybody murmured "Amen." The problem of succession was finally
solved.
This infusion of new talent into Buddhist ranks did little to improve priestly
performance. Northern Buddhism, demoralized by such imperial venality, forgot new
reforms and remembered old iniquities. Once again, it proved receptive to the contagion of
tantric practices.
Northern Chinese Buddhism soon became something that civilized men could very
well do without. And in droves, civilized men opted to do just that. More and more of the
CHAPTER 4 ORIGINS OF THE TWO MAIN SCHOOLS OF CHAN
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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