This is Jenny Raper’s presentation
to the Spiritual Reading Group on the Chinese version of Ch'an Buddhism (Zen in
Japan), given in the Carmelite Library on Tuesday the 17th of April.
When thinking about the
spread of Buddhism I visualize a tiny spring of pure water pushing up gently
through the forest floor high in the mountains, into a tiny rivulet of water
flowing downhill to become a wider and faster stream as it gathers speed
through the plants and the earth. As it
flows and widens, other small streams flow in and more water pours down the
widening cleft, as what is now a river makes its way to the plains where it
finds many channels through which it flows, creating a great estuary flowing
into the ocean.
Buddhism was like this. One man rising up to meet a spiritual
challenge creates a trickle of interest which gathers speed and widens as it
flows through many ancient cultures until it is like an estuary – a river of
many channels, each reaching the ocean of humanity. His teachings flowed from a
small, mountainous kingdom into nearby cultures and gradually broadened into
the whole of South East Asia.
The
ancient Chinese spiritual beliefs and practices were well established when
Buddhism arrived during the Han Dynasty – the 2nd imperial dynasty-
from 206BC until 220CE. They had written inscriptions as early as 3000 BCE and
had developed oracle texts during the Shang period (C1200 BCE), their religious
beliefs centred on the role of the King as the diviner of the will of the Great
God and the lesser gods. He was the
living embodiment of the Kingdom and he alone could communicate with his dead
ancestors who continued their role in guiding the success of the dynasty.
Towards
the end of the Shang period, a great mystical teacher arose – Lao-Tzu - who was
venerated as a sage. He believed people
can access the power of “The Way” or the “Tao” using his collection of ancient
texts based on divinations of the past Emperors. This is the great Book of
Changes known as the I-Ching.
People used this book of oracles as a meditation and as a method of
discovering The Way in their lives.
Other
Taoist classics followed over the centuries – the Classic of History, The
Classic of Odes, The Record of Rites, The Spring and Autumn Annals and possibly
a Classic of Music. Later in the Zou period (C5th – 221 BCE) a concept appeared
of Tian translating as Heaven or Nature.
The
Way or The Tao taught that the entire universe and everything in it flows from
a mysterious and unknown force, known as the Tao.
Tao is The ultimate reality
Explains
the powers that the universe and the wonder of human nature
Believes
everything is One – despite appearances.
Evil
and Good only occur when people forget all is One.
Lao-tse
taught that (even if it is difficult to grasp) “The Tao that can be spoken
of is not the true Tao”. Taoism was the one Chinese teaching that offered
ways to connect to the spiritual world and secure blessings and
protection. It was a path to mysticism
through shamanic practices and meditation.
Meditation was the great tool, and monasteries arose (especially in the
mountains, considered to be sacred) where the masters and monks practiced and
refined their meditation techniques.
Taoists
also developed nine general rules of behaviour.
Practice Non-action
Practice being soft and weak
Practice guarding the female
and never move first
Practice
being nameless
Practice being pure and
tranquil
Practice doing only good
Practice having no desire
Practice knowing when to stop
Practice yielding and
withdrawing.
There
were many levels of The Tao which were practiced by different groups in society
– from the ordinary people to the priests and the Kings.
A
young scholar and teacher, Kong Qui, who lived between 551-479 BCE – became
known as Confucius. He did not promote a
religion, but the way of the 'gentleman', personal relationships, the conduct
of government and most particularly, the conduct of filial devotion, humaneness
and ritual practice. His teachings were
recorded in The Analects of Confucius and used by his followers much like a
religious text. The Han Dynasty was strictly
Confucian and with its fall Confucian beliefs were vulnerable. We know he
visited Lao-tzu, but was not impressed with his spiritual ideals of following
The Tao. Confucius was more concerned with correct behaviour and the stability
of society. Taoism and Confucianism existed side by side for centuries, often
one or the other out of favour with the court. It was into this world of
Chinese belief systems that Buddhism arrived.
The
Buddhism that arrived in China had already undergone several centuries of
development and possessed a huge collections of scriptures – the Dharma - which had been created
by his later followers of Buddha from the oral chanting of the Sanga,
some centuries later. An important point
about them is that these scriptures are open– there is potential for new
wisdom.
However,
some ancient teachings are of paramount importance to being a Buddhist. such as
The four noble truths –
Life
is inevitably sorrowful
Sorrow is
dead to craving
Sorrow can
only stop if craving stops
Disciplined
conduct and meditation can stop it
The
fundamental law of the universe: All life is “transient and changing and they
have no eternal Self or soul, no abiding individuality” [Quoted by Theodore
William De Bary]
The
Mahayana school of Buddhism, which came to China, further taught that there was
a heavenly pantheon of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Was Buddha divine? Well, he had passed away
from existence, so no longer in the world.
Yet, to become a Buddhist, one had to profess - “I take refuge in the
Buddha, the dharma and the sangha.”
These difficulties were able to be overcome by the Chinese in using
Taoist terms – the Indian texts were translated and Chinese schools came into
existence. Following the Mahayana school, their practice was largely based on
reading the scriptures, learning them, probing the hidden meanings using
various methods of commentaries to gain deeper understanding. This way was accompanied by meditation and
asceticism.
For
many Chinese Taoists this was really an academic way of being. Some scholars and teachers developed ideas
that reflected the Taoist teachings and emphasised meditation; this school came
to be called Cha'an, from the Indian dhyana. Owing to the difficulty of translation, the
earliest texts on yoga and dhyana became sinasized (or Chinesed) into various
levels. The emphasis was on meditation
'as a means of attaining an intuitive recognition with all conceptual thinking
set aside and external influence rejected.” (De Bary) Gradually, this style of
Buddhism became separate from studying the scriptures and for teachings to be
transmitted 'mind to mind'. Through
this, the role of a master became essential for the student and all practice
and study was done under his direction.
The Master was entirely in charge of the student's progress, unlike the Mahayana school where the monks
were taught and meditated together. The Cha'an student was also required to
work for the common good of the community of monks as an integral part of his
training. Thus, all of life became a meditation – by concentrating the mind
entirely on tasks one could apply a meditative effect – today called
'mindfulness'. For example, we all know of the raking of gravel into perfect
symbolic patterns – the person wielding the rake becomes the function and at
one with the symbols and the energy of raking in a meditation.
One
of the best know methods of training was the use of the gongan (Koan in Japa).
This was the use of a short
story containing a paradox or enigmatic question and it meant 'public
case'. In the early period, this training
was done in public with students responding the gongan in a meeting of
monks. Gradually, these stories were collected and used as handbooks of
instruction. A further development of
this method was when a gongan could
not be answered satisfactorily, beatings, shouts and gestures were applied by
the master to cause the student to have sudden awakening to the Truth! A tradition developed whereby students who
had advanced could go on pilgrimage to another master in order to progress in
his understanding.
The
goal of Cha'an was to achieve enlightenment.
All Buddhists aim for this, however, Cha'an taught that this could only
be achieved by deep meditation practice.
One story says that the Buddha himself used this method and that it was
brought to China, after 28 generations in India, in 520 CE.
As
the centuries passed and the succeeding dynasties rose and fell, Buddhism rose
and fell with them. Lavish temples and
monasteries were built with monies from the court and the wealthy; many of
these temples and monasteries became very wealthy in their own right. In 845 CE a persecution of Buddhists was
instituted – however this varied and the north became the centre of the
persecution whilst the south where there was less Confucian structure continued
their support of Cha'an Buddhism as a practice of the provincials.
One
of the sticking points in China with Buddhism was monasticism. The early monks
were charged with being unfilial because they had to leave the family. A defence was offered by a Cha'an Master
called Mingben. He wrote that filiality
is the role of the householder and that the monk shows his filiality by
nurturing his parents' dharma-nature and by practice of 'formless' love. He can, by his devotion to meditation apply
merits to his parents whether they are alive or dead. He said there are two forms of love, one near
and intimate and the other 'formless' – which has no end. The great end of formless love is so that the
parents can end their existence of rebirth and suffer transmigration.
Cha'an
became associated with simplicity and discipline in all realms of life. The monks lived a severe life – no
possessions, working hard for the monastery, meditating in silence for long
periods, attending to their Master and undergoing constant testing until their
'awakening' to the Truth. This Chinese
style of Buddhist practice has retained its core and has flowed into South East
Asia where it has developed its own flavours.
In Korea it is known as Seon and in Japan, famously, Zen.
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