Dayi Daoxin ( Chinese: 大毉道信;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Dàyī Dàoxìn;''

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

: ''Ta-i Tao-hsin;''

Rōmaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logogram, logographic characters borrowe ...

: ''Daii Dōshin''), who lived from 580 to 651, was the fourth

Chán Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song d ...

Buddhist Patriarch, following Jianzhi Sengcan ( Chinese: 鑑智僧璨;

Pīnyīn Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Jiànzhì Sēngcàn'';

: ''Chien-chih Seng-ts'an'';

: ''Kanchi Sōsan'') and preceding Daman Hongren ( Chinese: 弘忍;

: ''Hóngrěn'';

: ''Hung²-jen³'';

: ''Kōnin/Gunin''; Korean romanization: ''Hong'in''). The earliest mention of Daoxin is in the "Further Biographies of Eminent Monks" ( Chinese: 續高僧傳;

: ''Xù Gāosēng Zhuàn'';

: ''Hsü Kao-seng Chuan'';

: ''Zoku Kosoden'') by Tao-hsuan (d. 667). A later source, the "Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-treasure" ( Chinese: 傳法寶記;

: ''Chuánfǎ Bǎojì'';

: ''Ch'üanfa Paochi'') written around 712, gives further details of Daoxin's life. As with many of the very earliest Chan masters, the accuracy of the historical record is questionable and in some cases, contradictory in details. The following biography is the traditional story of Daoxin, culled from various sources, including the "Compendium of Five Lamps" ( Chinese: 五燈會元;

: ''Wǔdēng Huìyuán)'', compiled in the early thirteenth century by the monk Dachuan Lingyin Puji (1179–1253).

Biography

Daoxin, whose surname was Si-ma, was born in Yongning County, Qizhou ( Chinese: 蕲州府永宁县), which is the former Guangji County ( Chinese: 湖北省广济县; 742–1987), renamed in 1987 as Wuxue City,

Hubei Province Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major politi ...

( Chinese: 湖北省武穴市). He began studying Buddhism at the age of seven and although his teacher was a man of impure moral conduct, Daoxin maintained the Buddhist morality on his own without his teacher's knowledge for five or six years. According to Jianzhi Sengcan's chronicle in the ''Compendium of Five Lamps'', Daoxin met Sengcan when he was only fourteen years old. The following exchange took place: :Daoxin: I ask for the Master’s compassion. Please instruct me on how to achieve release. :Sengcan: Is there someone who constrains indsyou? :Daoxin: There is no such person. :Sengcan: Why then seek release when you are constrained by no one? Upon hearing these words, Daoxin was enlightened. He attended to Sengcan for the next nine years. When Sengcan went to Mount Lo-fu he refused permission for Daoxin to follow him, saying “The

Dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

has been transmitted from Patriarch odhiharma to me. I am going to the South and will leave you

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to spread and protect he Dharma”(from the ''Ch’üan fa pao chi'') For ten years he studied with Zhikai at Great Woods Temple on

Mount Lu Mount Lu or Lushan ( zh, s=庐山, t=, p=Lúshān, Gan: Lu-san) is a mountain situated in Jiujiang, China. It was also known as Kuanglu () in ancient times. The mountain and its immediate area are officially designated as the Lushan National ...

. Zhikai (Wade–Giles: Shih-k’ai) was an adept of the

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. Drawing from earlier Mahāyāna sources such as Madhyamaka, founded by Nāgārjuna, who is traditionally regarded as the f ...

and Sanlun schools and also chanted the Buddha's name as part of his practice; Daoxin's practice was influenced by these other schools. Daoxin received ordination as a monk in 607. In 617, Daoxin and some of his disciples traveled to Ji Province (modern Ji'an City in

Jiangxi Province ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

) and entered the town, which was under siege by bandits. Daoxin taught the residents the '' Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra'' (''Perfection of Wisdom'') which caused the bandits to abandon their siege. Daoxin eventually settled at East Mountain Temple on Shuangfeng ("Twin Peaks") where he taught

Chan Buddhism Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning " meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song ...

for thirty years and attracted large numbers of practitioners, some records say five hundred laypeople and monks.McRae, 1986:32 In 643 the emperor Tai Zong invited Daoxin to the capital city but Daoxin refused to appear. Three times the emperor sent emissaries and three times Daoxin refused the invitation. The third time the emperor instructed to either bring back Daoxin or his head. When the emissary related this instruction to Daoxin, Daoxin exposed and stretched out his neck to allow the emissary to chop off his head. The envoy was so shocked he reported this event to the emperor, who then honored Daoxin as an exemplary Buddhist monk. In August, 651, Daoxin ordered his students to build his

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

as he was soon to die. According to the ''Hsü kao-seng chuan,'' when asked by his disciples to name a successor, Daoxin replied, “I have made many deputations during my life.” He then died. The emperor Dai Zong honored Daoxin with the posthumous name “Dayi” (Great Healer).

Teachings

The teachings of Daoxin (and his successor, Hongren) are known as the '' East Mountain Teachings,'' a precursor to the flowering of Chan on a national scale some seventy-five years later at the beginning of the eighth century. Of significance is that Daoxin was the first Chan master to settle at one spot for an extended period of time, developing a stable community life which would lead to monastic Chan communities throughout China. Dumoulin speculates that as alms begging was no longer viable (due to the size of Daoxin's community and its relative isolation from centers of population), the monks had no choice but to work in the fields and develop administrative skills as well as engage in meditation practice. Henceforth, Chan practice could no longer be confined to the meditation hall but the spirit of practice had to extend to the daily duties as well. The need to extend religious practice to all aspects of one's life became a central theme in Chan teachings. As the record of Daoxin's teachings (''The Five Gates of Daoxin'') did not appear until the second decade of the eighth century, after Hongren's record, its historical accuracy is in some doubt. The ''Chronicle of the Lankavatara Masters'', which appeared in the early eighth century, has Daoxin quoting from the Prajnaparamita (''Perfection of Wisdom'') and ''Pure Land'' sutras, although McRae refers to an anecdote in Daoxin's biographical entry in the ''Xu gaoseng zhuan'' in which he advises the recitation of the ''Prajñāpāramitā'' as “entertaining, but it cannot be taken seriously,” and also notes that the biography lacks any mention of scriptural study or lecturing. According to McRae, this may be an indication that Daoxin elevated the practice of meditation above all else. It is clear that Daoxin taught meditation, for as the Zen scholar Seizan Yanagida observes, the expression “''

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'' of one practice” was the heart of Daoxin's practice. ''The Five Gates of Daoxin'' quotes him as saying “Buddha is the mind. Outside of the mind there is no Buddha.” In a later chronicle he is quoted exhorting his students to “Sit earnestly in meditation! Sitting in meditation is basic to all else….Do not read the sutras, discuss with no one!” (ibid) On his deathbed, the ''Compendium of Five Lamps'' records that Daoxin said, “All of the myriad dharmas of the world are to be dropped away. Each of you, protect this understanding and carry it into the future.”Ferguson, 2000:28

References

Sources

* Dumoulin, Heinrich (1994, 1998) Zen Buddhism: A History, Volume I, India and China, Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall International *Ferguson, Andy (2000) Zen's Chinese heritage: the masters and their teachings, *McRae, John R (1986) The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press, *Zong, Desheng (2005
Three Language-Related Methods in Early Chinese Chan Buddhism
Philosophy East and West 55.4 (Oct 2005) p 584 (19)

Biography

Teachings

References

Sources

Further reading