Buddhism continued to grow and develop in India. After Buddha’s death, Mahakasyapa organized the First Council of Buddhist followers. They collectively recalled Buddha’s teachings and memorized them so that his sermons would be remembered. These teachings, or sutras, became the basis of Buddhism.
Over time, the sutras were written, along with numerous interpretations. Followers began to divide into ideologically different sects, each with its own interpretation of Buddha’s original enlightenment experience and how it should be expressed in practice. Inevitably, strong differences led to the splitting of Buddhism into two major divisions that still exist today: the Mahayana and the Hinayana (Theravada).
Mahayana Buddhism offered a viable path for the masses to follow. Unlike Hinayana Buddhism, which attempted to retain the purity of spirit in Buddha’s original message by withdrawing from worldly life, Mahayana Buddhists stayed involved in everyday transactions. The ideal person in Mahayana, the bodhisattva, though seeking enlightenment, must turn away from paradise to become involved in helping others overcome suffering. Not until the entire world is enlightened can a bodhisattva withdraw from the world.
The new dimensions of meditative awareness through the practice of Buddhism spread to neighboring countries—China, Korea, and Japan. But in India, Hinduism reabsorbed Buddhism, so that Buddhism largely disappeared in its land of origin. By contrast, as Mahayana Buddhism spread to China, many innovations were incorporated that would develop even further in Japan. With time, Buddhism grew to become a worldwide religion, with many sects emphasizing different interpretations of what Buddha meant by his teachings. Zen Buddhism was one of the forms of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in China. Drawn directly from Buddha’s enlightenment, Zen captures the spirit of the founder to transmit enlightenment to anyone who is willing to seek.
CHAPTER 2
Early Zen in China and Korea
When the hubless wheel turns, Master or no master can stop it.
It turns above heaven and below earth, South, north, east, and west.
—Mumonkan, Case 8, in Reps 1994, 124
For centuries, the threads of Taoism and Confucianism had been intimately woven into the fabric of Chinese cultures. Both are thought to have had their origins around the sixth century B.C., over six hundred years before Buddhism arrived in China and more than a thousand years before Zen began. Buddhism might not have been as widely accepted if the Chinese people had not already been practicing these earlier religions, which paved the way for Buddhist thought. The two philosophies complement each other perfectly. Taoism has been called the Way of Heaven. Confucianism has been called the Way of Man. Taoism guided people spiritually, helping them return to the source, the mysterious Tao that is in the deepest nature of everything and everyone. Confucianism offered a compass for ethical behavior, to sincerely follow the golden mean, chung, thereby discovering both inner and outer harmony. From China, Buddhism made its way to Korea, and then to Japan.
Landscape painting depicting a hidden forest monastery
BUDDHISM COMES TO CHINA
Mahayana Buddhism took its first steps on Chinese soil during the first century A.D. Beginning in outlying areas of China, Buddhism gradually spread into the heart of the country via well-established trade routes. China avidly embraced Buddhism, and by A.D. 500, Buddhism was even more popular in China than it had been in India.
The Chinese added their own unique perspective, blending Buddhism with Confucianism and Taoism. Chinese translators who introduced Buddhism often couched it in Taoist terms to make it more understandable and easier to assimilate. For example, Chinese translators substituted the word Tao for the Sanskrit word marga, or “Path.” The Chinese had long believed that Tao, a mysterious Oneness, was the foundation and essence of al being. This old Chinese concept merged with the new Buddhist ideas, giving Chinese Buddhism a flavor never quite intended by the Sanskrit texts.
Many new Buddhist sects emerged in China around the time that Zen began. In fact, the years between A.D. 500 and 800 were the most creative for Chinese Buddhism. T’ien-t’ai (Tendai), Pure Land, and Hua-yen were three sects that began in China and would live on in Japan and Korea as prominent forms of Buddhism. Zen was also founded during this period.
ZEN BEGINNINGS
Returning to the root,
we get the essence.
—“Hsin Hsin Ming,” Byth 1969, 101
Without the creative inspiration of the Chinese people combining with the religious mysticism of India, Zen as we know it would not have come to be. Zen blends the spirit of emptiness from Buddhism with the true nature of Tao, a mysterious Oneness that permeates and guides everything. Zen emerged as a new Mahayana Buddhist sect in A.D. 500, guiding people to enlightened experience through the practice of meditation. In fact, Zen is the Japanese word for meditation. The Chinese word is Ch’an, which is how Zen was known to the people of China. The regular practice of meditation continues to be the cornerstone of Ch’an and Zen, as it was in the beginning.
The First Patriarch of Zen was an Indian Buddhist monk who was given the name Bodhidharma by his teacher of Buddhism, Pranatara. It was Pranatara’s dying wish that Bodhidharma travel to China and spread the teachings of Mahayana: The mind is the buddha. Bodhidharma followed his teacher’s wish and made the long, difficult journey to China.
Once on Chinese soil, Bodhidharma traveled around the countryside preaching his method. He said:
I don’t talk about precepts, devotion, or ascetic practices. . . These are fanatical, provisional teachings. Once you recognize your moving, miraculously aware nature, yours is the mind of all buddhas. (Pine 1989, 42-43)
Buddha is Sanskrit for “aware.” Bodhidharma believed that all of your awareness—whether seeing, hearing, moving your arms and legs, even blinking—is intimately identified with buddha nature. “This nature is the mind. And the mind is the Buddha. And the Buddha is the path. And the path is Zen” (Pine 1989, 29).
Emperor Wu, of the Liang dynasty (502-57), heard about this radical monk from India and summoned him for an audience. Emperor Wu was a generous patron of Buddhism and zealously supported Buddhist doctrine. He said to Bodhidharma, “I have built many Buddhist temples and distributed many scriptures. Have I acquired merit?”
Bodhidharma answered, “Absolutely none.” Bodhidharma believed that merit derives from wisdom, which is cultivated by meditation, not external acts.
Emperor Wu then asked, “Who then is before me?”
Bodhidharma replied, “I do not know!”
Bodhidharma’s answers shocked and confused the emperor, who did not understand that Bodhidharma was attempting to demonstrate his commitment to the purity and simplicity of Zen. Buddha mind, the state of consciousness discovered through meditation, is the same for all people, peasants and kings alike. Everyone has a buddha mind, part of the Oneness, without any hierarchy or superiority. Anyone can become Buddha through meditation’s transformation.
Bodhidharma quickly became disillusioned by the lack of understanding and commitment in those he encountered. According to legend, he traveled to a cave near the Shaolin temple in Hunan Province and sat facing a wall, meditating for nine years, speaking to no one. Word spread that there was an intensely devoted monk deep in meditation who had great wisdom. Many came, hoping to learn from him, but Bodhidharma sat quietly, gaze fixed. No successor was among them. No one was worthy.
Finally, one man, Hui-k’o (487-593), was said to have cut off his own arm and handed it to Bodhidharma as a symbol of his absolute dedication to the Way. With this gesture from Hui-k’o, Bodhidharma helped him realize enlightenment and accepted him as a worthy