Linji Yixuan

Japanese painting of Linji

Linji Yixuan (; ''Rinzai Gigen''; died 866 CE) was a Tang dynasty (618-907) Chinese monk and teacher of the Hongzhou school of Chinese Chan (Zen). Linji was the leading figure of Chan Buddhism in the Tang, and the ''Recorded Sayings of Linji'' (''Línjì yǔlù''), which contains his teachings, is seen as a major Zen text which exemplifies the iconoclastic and antinomian spirit of Zen. He is also known by the posthumous title Huizhao Chanshi (, “Meditation Master of Illuminating Wisdom”).

Linji was a student of Huangbo Xiyun and is also considered to be the founder of the influential Linji school of Chan. This school actually developed in the Song dynasty (960-1279) among descendants of Linji, who created various mythic stories about Linji in the process of founding their new school of Zen. Today he is seen as the founder of the various Linji regional traditions, including the Japanese Rinzai school, the contemporary Korean Seon schools (all which consider themselves to be of the "Imjae" line, i.e. Linji) and the Lâm Tế school of Vietnamese Zen.

Biography

Sources

Information on Linji is based on the ''Línjì yǔlù'' and other sources like the '' Zutang ji,'' '' Jingde chuan-denglu'', ''Song gaoseng zhuan'' (''Song-dynasty Biographies of eminent monks''), and the ''Tiansheng guang-denglu (Tiansheng-era Extensive record of the transmission)''. However, the composition of these sources, like the ''Línjì yǔlù'', occurred over various stages of historical development, culminating in the Song dynasty version of the ''Línjì yǔlù'' published by the Linji school. This text thus includes stories and passages attributed to Linji by later authors. As such, according to Albert Welter, "the life of the historical person Linji is shrouded in legend." Yanagida Seizan also writes "If we construct a chronology of the master’s life it must be a tentative one only, based for the most part upon traditional material rather than upon facts that can be substantiated with historical accuracy.

Life

According to the sources, Linji was born during the Yuanhe era (806–820) into a family named Xing () living in Nanhua (), Cao () Prefecture (modern Yanzhou in Shandong Province). Little is known of his early life. According to the ''Guzunsu yulu'' (''Recorded sayings of the ancient worthies''), "After shaving his head and receiving the full precepts, he frequented the lecture halls; he mastered the vinaya and made a thorough study of the sutras and śāstras." Yanagida Seizan writes that his teachings indicate that Linji was knowledgeable in the Mahayana sutras and also "show the influence of works of the Huayan (Avataṃsaka) and Weishi (“Consciousness-only”; Yogācāra) schools." Seizan also mentions that he seems to have been expert in the teachings of Yogācāra, since the ''Zutang ji'' depicts Linji's first meeting with Dayu as being a discussion on the '' Treatise on the stages of Yogācāra practice'' (''Yuqie lun'' ).

After this period of study however, Linji turned to meditative practice, as sermon 18 of the ''Record of Linji'' states "But later, when I realized that they were only remedies to help the world and displays of opinion, I threw them all away, and, searching for the Way, I practiced meditation." Linji then traveled to Jiangnan where he met Chan master Huangbo Xiyun (), at some point between 836 and 841. He likely stayed with Huangbo at Mount Huangbo for about three years until he had a great enlightenment. According to sources like the ''Record of Linji'', Linji questioned Huangbo three times about the central meaning of Buddhism and Huangbo struck him three times. Then Huangbo sent Linji to meet the reclusive monk Dàyú (). After exchanging some words with this monk, Linji attained an awakening or (見性, jianxing). He then returned to Huangbo and told him what had occurred. Huangbo slapped Linji, saying “You lunatic, coming back here and pulling the tiger’s whiskers!” Then Linji responded with a loud shout. After this event, Linji stayed with Huangbo for some time, or he may have traveled to practice with Dayu for a time as well. The various sources differ on this issue.
Linji temple

In around 849 or 850 Linji, an older forty year old, left on a pilgrimage. Little is known of this pilgrimage, though the Chuandeng lu mentions that he visited Bodhidharma’s memorial tower in Henan. In about 851, Linji settled in Zhenzhou, Hebei where he led a small temple located southeast of the city of Zhenzhou. It was known as the Linji yuan (, “Temple Overlooking the Ford”) since it was on the banks of the Hutuo River. It is the name of this temple which gave Linji his name. Linji's temple may have been supported by the Wang family patriarch Wang Yuankui (d. 855) or one of his sons.

Linji lived and taught in this temple for about ten years. Linji's students included Zhaozhou Congshen, Puhua, Sansheng Huiran, Baoshou Yanzhao, Xinghua Cunjiang, Mayu, Longya Judun, Dajue, and Xingshan Jianhong. In about 863 or 864, Linji left Linji temple to accept an invitation by Lord Jiang Shen, regional commissioner of Hezhong, who had his seat at Puzhou (). From Puzhou, Linji traveled to Weifu on the invitation from Grand Marshal and President of the Grand Imperial Secretariat, Lord He. At Weifu, he stayed at Jiangxi chanyuan temple (), of Guanyin si (). He stayed at this temple for a year, receiving visitors, until his death. The Linji Lu describes his death as follows:

Suddenly one day the master, although not ill, adjusted his robes, sat erect, and when his exchange with Sansheng ansheng Huiranwas finished, quietly passed away. It was on the tenth day of the first month in the eighth year of Xiantong [18 February 867] of the Tang dynasty.

Posthumous influence

file:Pavilion of shared history, Jingshan, 2023.jpg, Pavilion in memory of the shared origin of Chinese Linji and Japanese Rinzai in Jingshan Temple
After Linji's death, his disciples then cremated him and built a memorial pagoda for the master's remains in the capital of Daming Prefecture. The Chinese emperor decreed that Linji was to receive the posthumous title "Huizhao Chanshi" (, “Meditation Master of Illuminating Wisdom”).

According to Yanagida Seizan, "Linji died probably in his early or mid-fifties, and thus did not reach the advanced age of many of the illustrious masters of his time. Nor did he leave a large body of notable disciples to disseminate his style of Chan."

Of Linji's small body of disciples, only Xinghua Cunjiang's line of transmission survived. Very little is known of Cunjiang's heir Nanyuan Huiyong. The three succeeding figures from Nanyuan: Fengxue Yanzhao, Shoushan Shengnian, and Fenyang Shanzhao, all remained in the Yellow river area. According to Albert Welter, "While the inspiration for the Linji Chan faction was, of course Linji Yixuan, the real founder of the movement was, as noted previously, Shoushan Shengnian (926—993), a fourth-generation descendant."

Fenyang Shanzhao's heir, Shishuang Chuyuan, transmitted the Linji lineage to Southern China. Shishuang was instrumental in promoting and expanding the influence of the Linji school. Over time, this tradition became one of the largest and most influential schools of Chan in East Asia, with branches in Japan ( Rinzai), Korea and Vietnam.

Linji's students compiled and passed on his teachings in various sources, the most famous of which is the ''Recorded Sayings of Linji (Línjì yǔlù)''.

The ''Record of Linji'' and other sources

The ''Línjì yǔlù'' (; Japanese: ''Rinzai-goroku'', ''Recorded Sayings of Linji'') or ''Línjìlù'' for short, is a collection of sayings and anecdotes attributed to Linji which is traditionally considered to be the main source of Linji's teachings. The full title is ''Zhenzhou linji huizhao chanshi yulu'' (, ''Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Huizhao of Linji in Zhenzhou'').

The standard edition of the ''Línjì yǔlù'' (c. 1120) was not completed until two hundred fifty years after Linji's death (866)." Thus parts of the text likely reflects the concerns of the Song dynasty Linji school rather than that of Linji in particular. The standard edition was first included within the massive ''Tiansheng guangdeng lu'' by the lay believer Li Zunxu (a student of Guyin Yuncong) in 1036 and it was independently printed in 1120 by Yuanjue Zongyan at Mount Gu in Fuzhou (present-day Fujian).

Yanagida Seizan writes that "we have no way of determining exactly what the earliest version of the ''Linji lu'' was like or when it was compiled." In spite of this, Yanagida Seizan still held that the main twenty two sermons in the ''Línjì yǔlù'' "provide us with an account of the man and his teaching".

Furthermore, earlier passages from Linji's sermons can be found in texts compiled before the 11th century, such as the ''Zutang ji'', the ''Zongjing lu,'' the ''Jingde Chuan-deng lu'' and the ''Tiansheng guang-denglu (Tiansheng-era Extensive record of the transmission)''. These passages contain minor differences with the parallel passages from Linji's sermons found in the ''Línjì yǔlù'' according to Yanagida.

Albert Welter also notes that the earliest fragments of Linji's teachings are found in the '' Zutang ji'', which was compiled in 952. However, regarding the contents of the ''Linji-lu'', he writes:

Ultimately, the story of the Linji lu is the story of a movement that found its voice and identity through the image and alleged teachings of Linji. What these teachings represent are not the words of one man, which are in any case irretrievable, but the combined aspirations of the movement as a whole, projected onto the persona of Linji as founder. Linji wrote nothing himself. Our knowledge of his teachings allegedly depends on notes taken by students of his sermons, lectures, dialogues, and other interactions. The names of those who originally kept such notebooks are unknown to us. Eventually, fragments of Linji's teachings were included in Chan transmission records.

The ''Línjì yǔlù'' contains stories of Linji's interactions with teachers, contemporaries, and students. The recorded lectures are a mixture of the conventional and the iconoclastic; those who resented the iconoclastic nature of Linji discourse saw him as “one of the most infamous Chinese Chan masters who censored traditional Buddhist practices and doctrines.” Despite the iconoclasm, however, the ''Línjì yǔlù'' reflects a thorough knowledge of the ''sūtra''s. Linji's style of teaching, as recorded in that text, exemplifies Chán development in the Hongzhou school () of Mazu and his successors, such as Huangbo, Linji's master.

Teachings

Iconoclasm

The ''Linju lu'' presents Linji as an iconoclastic teacher who used shocking language in vernacular Chinese to disrupt the tendency of his listeners to grasp at concepts such as buddhas, patriarchs, bodhisattvas, stages of practice and levels of attainment. He famously said, "If you meet a buddha, kill the buddha." While Linji's language may sound extreme, it reflects an attitude which considers grasping at buddhas, bodhi, nirvana, Dharma, and other such related Buddhist concepts, as a kind of delusion. As Burton Watson observes:

Such sentiments can already be seen in earlier Chan sources. For example, Shenhui points out that while lust for wealth and sex is "gross falsity," activating one's intention to grasp bodhi, nirvana, emptiness, purity, and concentration is "subtle falsity." Likewise, Huangbo said that to conceive of a buddha is to be obstructed by that buddha, while the '' Bloodstream Sermon'' criticized the worshipping of buddhas as holding onto appearances.

Non-dependency

According to Linji, Zen students fail to make spiritual progress because they lack faith in themselves and are thereby "twisted and turned" by whatever environment they encounter. They cling to phrases and are obstructed by words like "common mortal" and "sage," and for Linji, this is to still be dependent on something. Rather than rely on buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the Chan patriarchs, Linji taught his listeners that they should be non-dependent persons of the Way:

True person

Although we may be "twisted and turned" by dependencies and externals, Linji taught that the true person, the one who "has the ability to speak dharma and listen to it," is a "solitary brightness" (or the one )who is not swayed by various situations or environments:

Similarly, Linji described the mind as a "single bright essence" (or "one pure radiance," ) which is formless and penetrates all directions. According to Linji, because this mind is formless, it is everywhere emancipated, and thus there was no need to go "rushing around everywhere looking for something." Instead, Linji advised his listeners to stop and take a good look at themselves.

Another way in which Linji referred to the true person was "the true man with no rank" (). According to Welter, all early sources agree that the notion of "the true man with no-rank" (which can also mean "a sage without any location") was a major teaching of Linji. In what is perhaps the earliest source of this teaching, the '' Zutang ji'', it is presented as follows:

Other sources contain similar statements. In the ''Chuandenglu'', for example, Linji says, "within your lump of red flesh there is a true man with no rank, constantly entering and exiting the openings of your face." When a monk asks who the true man is, Linji responds by saying, "The true man with no rank—what a dried lump of shit!"

Faith

Linji criticized relying on methods and practices in order to realize this true person. He said that to engage in religious practice was to generate karma keeping one bound to the realm of birth and death, while "the real person," "this person who is right now listening to the Dharma," was without any adornments or practices. Instead of reliance on practices to see our innate nature, Linji taught that we should simply have faith () in it: "Just have faith in this thing that is operating in you right now. Outside of it, nothing else exists."

According to Buswell, faith for Linji was not blind acceptance, but an inherent faculty emanating constantly from the enlightened nature, and was thus equivalent to the "innate functioning" of the mind-essence. Buswell also notes the striking difference between Linji's teachings, in which faith plays a prominent role, and the teachings of the later Linji School master, Dahui, who valued doubt over faith.

Nothing to do

In addition to faith, Linji also emphasized non-seeking and ''wú shì'' (), a term often translated as "nothing-to-do," but which also has the meaning of no affairs, no concerns, no matters, and no business. He says:

Accordingly, Linji taught that there was no need to make any special effort. Instead, we have simply to be ordinary: "Followers of the Way, as to buddhadharma, no effort is necessary. You have only to be ordinary, with nothing to do—defecating, urinating, wearing clothes, eating food, and lying down when tired."As Jinhua Jia points out, this recognition of the fundamental value of the human being echoes the teachings of Mazu Daoyi, for whom everyday ordinary activities were the function of buddha-nature.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 76, State University of New York Press, 2006

Linji further connects non-doing with "turning one's light around" (), a term that occurs throughout various Chan texts, such as Zongmi's ''Sub-commentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment'' (where it refers to recognizing one's original enlightenment). According to Linji, when we stop our seeking and turn our own light in upon ourselves, we will on that very instant have nothing to do.

However, "turning one's light around" does not necessarily imply anything like staring at the mind or concentrating within. Linji quotes Shenhui's well-known criticism of such things as arresting the mind, staring at silence, summoning the mind to focus it on externals, controlling the mind to make it clear within, and concentrating the mind to enter into meditation. Moreover, Linji says that looking for something within is just as wrong as seeking externally, since there's nothing within that can be grasped: "Outside the mind there is no Dharma, and even inside the mind it can't be grasped. So what is there to seek for?"

Lineage

See also

* Buddhism in China
* Dharma Drum Retreat Center – Chán Buddhism retreat center
* List of Rinzai Buddhists

Notes

References

Sources

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Further reading

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External links

Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 47, No. 1985
The Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association online Chinese character text of ''The Record of Linji'' (臨濟録 ''Linji Lu'')

Japanese translation of Linji

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yixuan, Linji
9th-century Chinese philosophers
866 deaths
Chinese scholars of Buddhism
Tang dynasty Buddhists
Chan Buddhist monks
Tang dynasty philosophers
Rinzai Buddhists
Spiritual teachers
Chinese Zen Buddhists
Year of birth unknown
Philosophers from Shandong
People from Dongming County