ZEN BUDDHISM

ZEN BUDDHISM

(Skt.) dhyāna "meditation" → (Ch.) ch'an-na 禪那 → ch'an 禪 → (J.) zen

Traditional Patriarchal (Ancestral) Lineage
[Chart] (186 kb, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Sakyamuni Buddha → Maha-Kasyapa → → →

→ Bodhidharma (5th-6th c.) / Daruma: 28th Indian and 1st Chinese Patriarch

→ Hung-jen (600-674): Fifth Patriarch

Shen-hsiu (d. 706): Leader of “Northern School;” opposed by Shen-hui (670-762)

→ Hui-neng (J. Enō) 慧能(638-713): Sixth Patriarch (according to Shen-hui and Platform Sutra [c. 780])

Verse Attributed to Bodhidharma

A special transmission outside the teaching,	教外別傳	Kyōge betsuden
Not based on the written word;	不立文字	Furyu monji
Directly pointing to the human mind,	直指人心	Jikishi nin'shin
Achieving Buddhahood by seeing one's nature.	見性成佛	Kenshō jōbutsu

Major Schools

Lin-chi / Rinzai 臨濟

Founder: Lin-chi I-hsüan (J. Rinzai Gigen) 臨濟義玄 (d. 866)
Distinctive practice: kōan 公案 "public case" (in conjunction with zazen)
Called kanna zen 看話禪 "introspecting the kōan Zen"
Brought to Japan in 1191 by Myōan Eisai 明庵榮西 (1141-1215)
Revitalized and systematized by Hakuin Ekaku 白隱慧翵 (1686-1769)
Major temples: Daitokuji, Nanzenji, Tōfukuji (all in Kyoto); Engakuji (in Kamakura)

Ts'ao-Tung / Sōtō 曹洞

Founders: Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi (J. Sōzan Honjaku) 曹山本寂 (840-901)
and Tung-shan Liang-chieh (J. Tōzan Ryōkai) 洞山良价 (807-869)
Distinctive method of practice: zazen 坐禪 "sitting meditation"
Called mokushō zen 默照禪 "silent illumination Zen"
Brought to Japan in 1227 by Dōgen Kigen 道元希玄 (1200-1253)
Redefines "silent illumination" as shikan-taza 祗管打坐 : "just sitting"
Major temples: Eiheiji (near Fukui; founded by Dōgen); Sōjīji (Yokohama)

Other Terms