Linji Yixuan (; ja, 臨済義玄 ''Rinzai Gigen''; died 866 CE) was the founder of the

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

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 ...

during

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

China.

Línjì yǔlù

Information on Linji is based on the ''Línjì yǔlù'' (臨濟語錄; Japanese: ''Rinzai-goroku''), the Record of Linji. The standard form of these sayings was not completed until 250 years after Linji's death and likely reflect the teaching of Chán in the Linji school at the beginning of 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 ...

rather than those of Linji's in particular. This contains stories of his interactions with teachers, contemporaries, and students. The recorded lectures are a mixture of the conventional and the iconoclastic. Those who resented the iconoclasm saw Linji as “one of the most infamous Chinese Chan masters who censored traditional Buddhist practices and doctrines.” George A. Keyworth
“How the Mount Wutai Cult Stimulated the Development of Chinese Chan in Southern China at Qingliang Monasteries,”
''Studies in Chinese Religions'' 2019, 5. Despite the iconoclasm, however, the ''Línjì yǔlù'' reflects a thorough knowledge of the sutras. Linji's teaching-style, as recorded in the ''Línjì yǔlù'', exemplifies Chán development in the Hongzhou school () of

Mazu Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. ...

and his successors, such as Huangbo, Linji's master.

Biography

According to the ''Línjì yǔlù'', Linji was born into a family named Xing () in Caozhou (modern

Heze Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. History Caozhou was at the cent ...

in Shandong), which he left at a young age to study Buddhism in many places. Also according to the ''Línjì yǔlù'', Linji was trained by the Chan master Huángbò Xīyùn (), but attained kensho while discussing Huángbò's teaching during a conversation with the reclusive monk Dàyú (). Linji then returned to Huángbò to continue his training after awakening. In 851 CE, Linji moved to the Linji temple in

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

, where he took his name, which also became the name for the lineage of his form of Chán Buddhism.

Teaching style

Iconoclasm

Linji is reputed for being iconoclastic, leading students to awakening by hitting and shouting.

Three Mysterious Gates

Chán faced the challenge of expressing its teachings of "suchness" without getting stuck into words or concepts. The alleged use of shouting and beating was instrumental in this non-conceptual expression—after the students were well-educated in the Buddhist tradition. Linji is described as using ''The Three Mysterious Gates'' to maintain the Chán emphasis on the nonconceptual nature of reality, while employing sutras and teachings to instruct his students: # The First Gate is the "mystery in the essence", the use of Buddhist philosophy, such as

Yogacara Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through ...

to explain the interpenetration of all phenomena. # The Second Gate is the "mystery in the word", using the Hua Tou for "the process of gradually disentangling the students from the conceptual workings of the mind". # The Third Gate is the "mystery in the mystery", "involving completely nonconceptual expressions such as striking or shouting, which are intended to remove all of the defects implicit in conceptual understanding".

References in popular culture

The titular story of Volume 2 of Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima's

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

comic

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, an ...

revolves around Linji's saying "if you meet a buddha, kill the buddha," in which the protagonist must overcome his self to assassinate a living buddha. In the manga Gensōmaden Saiyūki by

Kazuya Minekura is a Japanese manga artist widely known for the ''Saiyuki'' series. Biography She was born in Kanagawa-ken, and still resides there. Her blood type is A. Her other manga series include ''Wild Adapter'', ''Shiritsu Araiso Koto Gakko Seitokai Shik ...

, Genjō Sanzō purports to live by the concept of "無一物 (''muichimotsu'')," as taught by his teacher Sanzō Kōmyō, who is quoted as saying:

Lineage

Notes

References

Written references

Web-references

Sources

* * Keown, Damien. ''A Dictionary of Buddhism''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. * Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. "Lone Wolf and Cub 2: The Gateless Barrier". Dark Horse, 2000. , * Lowenstein, Tom. ''The Vision of the Buddha: Buddhism – The Path to Spiritual Enlightenment''. * * * Schloegl, Irmgard. ''The Zen Teaching of Rinzai''. Shambhala Publications, Inc., Berkeley, 1976. * *

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

The record of Linji. Translation by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, and introduction by Yanagida Seizan
* ''The Zen Teaching of Rinzai'' (a.k.a. The Record of Rinzai) Translation by Irmgard Schloege
PDF

{{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