Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism

300 Pages·2007·1.97 MB·English

by  Mario Poceski

Ordinary Mind as the Way
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Ordinary Mind as the Way
The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism
Mario Poceski
2007
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LibraryofCongressCataloging‐in‐PublicationData
Poceski,Mario.
Ordinarymindas theway:theHongzhouschoolandthegrowthofChanBuddhism/MarioPoceski.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978‐0‐19‐531996‐5
1.Hongzhou(Sect)—History.2. ZenBuddhism—China—History.I.Title.
BQ9550.H652P632007
294.3′927—dc22 2006021028
987654321
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid‐freepaper
Acknowledgments
Theorigins ofthisbookgo back about twodecades, tomy earlymonasticyears in East Asia. Therecorded sayings of
Mazu, Huangbo, and other medieval Chan monks were among the first Chinese texts I ever read. My ongoing
engagementwiththeHongzhouschool'sliteratureledtothepublicationofmyfirstbook,whichcontainedtranslations
fromtherecords ofMazu andhis disciples. Followingmyentryintotheacademicworld,initiallyas a graduatestudent
inBuddhiststudiesattheUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles, Ireceivedinvaluablehelpandsupportfroma number
of excellentteachers and colleagues. I am especially indebted to Robert Buswell, who guided my doctoral research at
UCLA. I also wanttoacknowledge thesupervision I receivedfrom theother members of my dissertationcommittee:
Benjamin Elman, William Bodiford, and David Schaberg.
MuchoftheinitialresearchforthebookwasconductedatKomazawaUniversity,Japan,between1997 and1999,with
generous financialsupport in theform ofCharlotteW. Newcombeand Fulbright-Hays fellowships. Duringmy stay at
Komazawa, I especially benefited from the immense knowledge and outstanding scholarship of Ishii Shūdō, who
generously answered a host of questions, assisted me with the procurement of research materials, and helped me
socialize into Japanese academic life. I also wish to thank Ogawa Takashi, who extended his friendship to make my
stay in Tokyo more pleasurable, and who kindly proofread an early draft of the bibliography of East Asian works. I
offer special thanks to Tennei-ji temple in Kyoto for the photographic image and permission
vi
to use the painting of Mazu that appears on the cover, and to Kanazawa Bunko in Yokohama for their kind
permission to take and use the pictures of ancient Chan manuscripts from their collection that appear as figures 2.1
and 5.1.
Albert Welter and John McRae read early drafts of the manuscript and offered valuable feedback that I incorporated
into the book. The same applies to the two readers who reviewed the manuscript for Oxford UniversityPress. I also
thankStevenHeineforhis friendshipand helpfulprofessional advice, as wellas forcommenting ona draftversionof
the introduction. Among my colleagues at the Universityof Florida, I am indebted to Richard Wang for checking the
Chinese characters in the glossary and the bibliography. I wouldalso like to acknowledge the support I received from
mycolleagues intheReligionDepartment,especiallyDavid Hackett, ManuelVásquez, Vasudha Narayanan,and Jason
Neelis. I am appreciative of the financial support I received from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the
UniversityofFlorida,whichprovideda generous summer grantthatenabledmetogobacktoKomazawain2002 for
follow‐up research. I am especially grateful to Ruth Sheng for the Chinese calligraphy that graces the title pages, and
for proofreading the Chinese text in the glossary and the bibliography.
I extend special thanks to Cynthia Read and Oxford University Press for their interest in my project and the skilled
workonthemanuscript.IwouldespeciallyliketoacknowledgetheworkofLindaDonnellyandJuliaTerMaat.Finally,
I wish to express gratitude to my wife, Hiroko Poceski, for her love, patience, and support.
Contents
Abbreviations and Conventions, xi
Introduction, 3
Mazu and the Hongzhou School, 4
The Study of Chan History, 7
Images of the Hongzhou School, 8
About this Volume, 11
Summary of the Chapters, 14
Part I: History
1. The Life and Times of Mazu Daoyi, 21
Early Years in Sichuan, 22
Formative Monastic Training, 23
Travel East, 25
Study with Huairang, 26
Initial Teaching in Fujian and Jiangxi, 29
Training of Disciples in Hongzhou, 30
Final Days and Passing Away, 32
2. Regional Spread of the Hongzhou School, 45
Backgrounds of Mazu's Disciples, 45
Xitang Zhizang, 47
Baizhang Huaihai, 49
viii
Other Monks Active in Jiangxi and the South, 52
Spread to Central China, 55
Growth in the Lower Yangtze Region, 56
Expansion to the North, 60
Mazu's Disciples in Chang'an, 61
Ruman and Chan in Luoyang, 68
3. The Hongzhou School and Mid‐Tang Chan, 85
Pattern of Growth, 86
Literati Associations and Networks of Patronage, 89
Interactions with other Chan Lineages, 95
Contours of the Chan Movement, 99
Lineage and Religious Identities, 103
Reconfiguration of Chan Orthodoxy, 106
Influence on the Spread of Chan in Korea, 108
Transitions in Tang Chan, 110
Later Developments, 111
Part II. Doctrine and Practice
4. Doctrinal Contexts and Religious Attitudes, 125
The Traditions and Doctrines of Tang Buddhism, 126
Doctrinal Taxonomies, 129
Monastic Mores and Ideals, 131
Attitudes toward Meditation, 135
Canonicity and Attitudes toward Scriptural Authority, 139
Use of Scriptures, 144
5. Mind, Buddha, and the Way, 157
Detachment, 159
Expedient Means, 163
Mind and Buddha, 168
Some Critiques, 172
“It Is Not a Thing,”, 177
Ordinary Mind, 182
6. Path of Practice and Realization, 193
The “Sudden” and “Gradual” Paradigms, 194
AVanishing Paradigm, 199
ix
A Gradual Path of Practice, 203
Stages of the Path, 207
Comparable Conceptual Models, 212
Awakening and Realization, 215
Conclusion, 225
Appendix, 233
Glossary, 249
Bibliography, 257
Index, 275