The ''Song of Enlightenment'' (), also translated as ''Song of Awakening'' and ''Song of Freedom'', is a

Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia * Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldw ...

discourse written some time in the first half of the 8th century C.E. and usually attributed to

Yongjia Xuanjue Yongjia Xuanjue (; ), also known as Yongjia Zhenjue (), was a Zen and Tiantai Buddhist monk who lived during the Tang dynasty. The name Yongjia is derived from the city of his birth, which is now called Wenzhou. He is also known by his nickname " ...

. The true authorship of the work is a matter of debate, with a number of elements in the writing suggesting either the text has been substantially changed over time or Yongjia was an unlikely author. The first commentaries appeared in the 11th century during the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

. The first English commentary on the work was written by

Charles Luk Charles Luk (1898-1978) () was an early translator of Chinese Buddhist texts and commentaries into the English language. He was born in Guangdong province, and moved later to Hong Kong, where he wrote most of his books. Buddhist practice Charles ...

. The ''Song'' deals with the methods of and attitudes towards daily Zen practice. A central theme is the contrast between

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

-nature, or reality as it is, versus

buddha-nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gon ...

, or self-nature. It also emphasizes

practice Practice or practise may refer to: Education and learning * Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition * Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing * Practice-based ...

over

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...

-study. It has been considered a central Zen text from the Song Dynasty to the present day. It was apparently so highly esteemed that Dahui Zonggao reported that it was translated from Chinese to

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

so it could be studied elsewhere. Today it is often memorized by Zen practitioners in East Asian countries.

References

External links

The ''Song of Enlightenment'', translated by Nyogen Senzaki with commentary
{{Buddhism topics Zen texts