Pureland Zen and its Development ? Lookg at Pureland Zen净土襌

bohiruci SG

净土襌的折析

Pureland Zen takes the essence of Buddha recitation with Great Reflections on the Chan Aspect to help Buddhist practitioner enter the Samadhi of Buddha Recitation

Which is a good practice

Since the fall of Sung dynasty in China , many Patriach of Pureland emphasize this practice as they saw several of the Chan practitioner encountered problems in their practice

Pureland Chan address this many aspect of with a look at all addressing the "letting go of all pheonomenon " and Buddha recitation with a focus on the Self-nature Amitabha .

So its not the west one seek on deathbed ,but the self -nature one reborn in one Western Paradise upon deathbed

JitKiat SG

Master Yongming Yanshou seems to be 1st to practise both Zen and PL:

Master Yongmíng Yánshòu (永明延壽 Japanese; Yōmei Enju, 904-975 or 76) was the third patriarch in the line of Fa-yen(885-958). He compiled the highly influential 100 fasc.,Record of the Mirror of Orthodoxy [py] Zōngjìng lù (宗鏡錄 Japanese; Sūgyō roku). Another work is this three fascicle, Ten Thousand Deeds Merging into One,

In this work he (unlike other Ch’an masters at that time), did not reject the view that the Pure Land is in the West outside one’s mind. He himself aspired to be born there and urged others to do so. He “fully explains” the theoretical basis for his view in the 万善同歸集. [source; Inagaki, Hisao, The Three Pure Land Sutras, page.131] He also advocated the joint practice of Ch’an meditation and nien-fo recitation.

年迁住永明寺，接化徒众。大师日行一百零八件佛事为常课，其中重要的项目

有：受持神咒（大悲咒、尊胜陀罗尼咒）、念佛、礼佛、忏悔、诵经（《法华

经》、《般若心经》、《华严净行品》）、坐禅、说法。每日虔礼十方十佛、

释迦、文殊、普贤、弥勒、观音、势至等，每夜施食于旷野鬼神等。大师发愿

求生西方，日念弥陀圣号十万声。日暮时往别峰行道念佛，随从常数百人。清

宵月明之夜，时闻螺贝天乐的音声。忠懿王敬重其德，闻此大为感动，感叹：

"自古求西方者，未有如此之切也。"遂为大师建西方香严殿以成其志，赐号智

觉禅师。

　　大师住永明十五年，弟子数千人。常为众人授菩萨戒，施食放生，泛爱慈

柔。一切功德悉皆回向众生，以作往生净土之资粮。劝勉大众老实念佛，以身

作则，坐断一切狂慧口舌，解散一切义学藩篱，精修万行，庄严净土。

大师四料简是 (forgive my translation)：

　　有禅有净土，犹如带角虎，现世为人师，来生作佛祖。

Practise both Zen/PL is like a tiger with horns. One will become great teacher in present life, Buddha in next life.

　　无禅有净土，万修万人去，若得见弥陀，何愁不开悟。

Practise PL alone is also safe, one will achieve enlightenment in pureland after meeting Amitabha Buddha

　　有禅无净土，十人九磋路，阴境若现前，瞥尔随他去。

Practise Zen alone is risky, Negative karma may still take over during death

　　无禅无净土，铁床并铜柱，万劫与千生，没个人依怙。

Without Zen/PL, Hell awaits, one has no refuge at all

An Eternal Now SG

My Master advocates both self-power and other-power depending on one's capacity.

My Master, Ven Shen Kai, has two masters. His Master in China (ven Xue Song http://xuesong.org/ ) practice Pure Land, his other Master when he went to Taiwan, Ven Dong Chu, was a Ch'an teacher. My Master is also the holder of the lineage from Linji Ch'an.

Ven Dong Chu is also the master of Ven Sheng Yen, who is my Master's dharma brother.

My Master initially taught Pure Land Buddhism when he first started preaching, but after that he taught Ren Cheng because he sees the need to teach Ren Cheng to the west.

Whether it is Ch'an or Pure Land, he said Ren Cheng is

'fei chan fei jing' (neither zen nor pure land),
'ji chan ji jing' (yet both zen and pure land),
'xian mi shuang xiu' (practices both silent/esoteric and exoteric, but the 'esoteric' here doesn't mean vajrayana),
'xing jie xiang yin' (practice and understanding converges).

We also advocate realising the Pure Land in the Mind, and the Self-Nature Amitabha. (wei xin jing tu, zi xing mi tuo)

An Eternal Now SG

http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol7no2e.htm

Volume 7 no 2
Venerable Shen-Kai Answers Amitabha - what does it mean? To many "Amitabha Buddha" is a symbol of Buddhism. To some practitioners of Buddhism chanting or reciting "Amitabha Buddha" is a method of cultivation. What is the meaning of Amitabha Buddha, what is the intent in chanting "Amitabha Buddha and how does this work? Once again, the Bliss Compass endeavours to dispel any misconception and show us the blissful culture of Buddhism.

1. We often hear of Buddhism practitioners chanting Amitabha Buddha; what is the meaning of Amitabha?

Amitabha means infinite brightness, infinite life and infinite merits. Indeed, it means infinity of all that is good. Generally, people only know that Teacher of the Western Pure Land (or Western Paradise) is Amitabha Buddha. But they do not know that they also have within themselves a Pure Land and Amitabha. This is known as the 'Pure Land of the Mind' and the 'Own-Nature Amitabha'.

2. Since we also have Amitabha Buddha in our mind, how should we cultivate so that we can manifest our Own-nature Amitabha?

i. If somebody scolds me with unkind words, I shall respond by saying "Amitabha Buddha". By this, not only am I not accepting the abuse, in contrast the infinite brightness that illumines with the recital of "Amitabha Buddha" eliminates the darkness brought by the abuse.

ii. If somebody gives me a present, I shall say "Amitabha Buddha". By this I mean, "thank you very much". Therefore, not only do we have infinite brightness in our heart, by virtue of giving the giver shall have infinite blessings and merits as well. In this way, we are in spiritual union with Amitabha Buddha.

iii. If I see someone who is well endowed, good-looking, kind and peaceful, I shall remark "Amitabha Buddha". By this, I congratulate the person for having such attributes similar to the Amitabha Buddha. I compliment him as Amitabha Buddha to mean that he is similarly well endowed.

iv. If I see a student studying, I shall say "Amitabha Buddha". It is also acceptable if you say that he is very hardworking or very clever. However, sometimes an intelligent person may be fooled by his own intelligence. There is no guarantee that a student who does well in his studies now will definitely grow up to be good. But, when we use the name "Amitabha Buddha" to compliment him, then we evoke the brightness to illumine in him. Not only will he do well in his studies and his career, he will also be a Bodhisattva when he grows up, or even become Buddha someday.

v. If we happen to pass by an abattoir, a place where pigs, cows or other animals are slaughtered, and since we understand that the effect of the karma of killing is rebirth in the realm of hell, and we make a verbal comment to that effect, is it appropriate? While we do not know whether the person who is committing the killing will be reborn in hell, but when we speak of hell, we immediately strike a resonance with hell. Because suffering and darkness prevail in hell, at the mention of the word, we have already struck an accord with suffering and darkness. If we say "Amitabha Buddha" instead, then brightness spontaneously illumines in our mind and the image of the abattoir will not take root in our mind.

vi. If we come across two parties bickering, quarrelling or fighting with each other, we do not join in. By our participation, we plant the cause to be reborn in the realm of the Asura, which is not a desirable thing. We only need to have Amitabha Buddha in our mind and say "Amitabha Buddha" just once, and then in future we will not be in spiritual union with the beings of the Asura realm.

vii. If we chance on seeing some traders in the market cheating on the scales, we immediately say "Amitabha Buddha". Because cheating arises from greed which resonates with the realm of the ghosts, it is a cause for rebirth in such a realm in future. By saying "Amitabha Buddha" just once, then not only do we not resonate with the realm of ghosts but also we are in spiritual union with Amitabha Buddha and we become illumined with infinite brightness.

viii. People in general have a curious nature. If we stumble upon someone else's secrets, we are driven by our curiosity to peek into it to find out more. If this person is committing a crime, this may spell trouble: our life may be in danger. By saying "Amitabha Buddha" in our mind and we quickly distance from it, then we are in union with all that are virtuous and bright. We do not resonate with darkness.

ix. If we come across a drowning man, of course, we save him if we have the ability. However, if we could not be of help and in the meantime someone else is saving him, we say "Amitabha Buddha". By calling out "Amitabha Buddha" just once, it strikes resonance with the drowning person and he immediately attain the brightness and accomplishment of Amitabha Buddha. Then, our mind is also in spiritual union Amitabha Buddha.

x. If a person tells you tales about someone else, those tales are not your business. The Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch states, "I see someone engaging in gossip-mongering, I do not participate. If I participate in the gossiping, then I have done wrong." That the person is wrong is his own business. Your participation means that you have also done wrong. If this person speaks a lot of ills about another person and in the end you say just once "Amitabha Buddha", that is good enough. If you participate in the gossiping, this person may go around speaking ill of you too. But, when you say "Amitabha Buddha", then you are in resonance with brightness and that person would not be able to invent gossips and speak ill of you. Therefore, "Amitabha Buddha" is indeed really very useful. Regardless of whether the situation is good, bad or neither good nor bad, when we say "Amitabha Buddha", our mind will be at ease and we attain brightness, and in this way we resonate with brightness.

3. How do we cultivate this habit of chanting or reciting "Amitabha Buddha"?

It is not easy to acquire the habit of chanting or reciting "Amitabha Buddha". If you say "Amitabha Buddha" but Amitabha Buddha is not in your heart and mind, then that would not do. We should have brightness in our mind all the time so that we are in spiritual union with Amitabha Buddha. In that way, when you say "Amitabha Buddha" and your actions, speech and mind are in spiritual union with Amitabha Buddha, then that is good enough.

4. How do we cultivate to have brightness in our mind?

Actually, it is quite easy to cultivate brightness in our mind. We must carry out the principle behind "The mind of the past cannot be grasped; the mind of the present cannot be grasped; the mind of the future cannot be grasped." (The Three Minds; Vol 6, Issue no. 4) The past is already gone and you cannot bring it back; the future is not here yet, and there is no way you can bring it here at this moment; and, whatever you have in your mind at this moment will not stay because as soon as the next thought arises in your mind, the previous thought ceases.

Therefore, we have to cultivate non-ego-form (i.e. not self-centred; not having the notion of "I" or "mine"). The ego gives rise to the notion of possession, for example, my wife, my husband, my houses and assets, my children, etc. And, we are not even clear about where actually is this "I".

5. What is "I"? Is it real?

Can anybody find the "I" in you? It is not an easy task. If you say "I can see you", who is this "I" that you are referring to? You may reply that the "I" is in fact your eyes. If you say, "I can hear you speaking of the Dharma", it is your ears not the "I" that heard me. Not only are the eyes and ears not the "I", even if they are, what about the nose, mouth, tongue, limbs, body, head or hair? They are not the "I" too. Since we cannot locate it, it does not seem meaningful to attach to this ego. Therefore, a Buddhism practitioner should comprehend this non-ego-form and maintain non-ego at all times. One will then realise that all forms are false (an illusion), including the ego-form. The "I" is false.

The "human-form" refers to the notion of a relative opposite when we encounter another person. Since we cannot find the ego-form or "I-form", how then can we find the human-form? We cannot. This is because the ego-form of the person whom we encounter is also not real; it is empty. The ego-form is empty, therefore, and naturally the human-form is also empty. Since the ego-form and the human-from are empty, it follows that the "sentient being-form" is also empty.

Thus, the sense of time, or the time-form is also empty. A Buddhism practitioner should cultivate to be detached from the 'Three Minds'[1] and the 'Four Forms'[2]: not grasping the mind of the past, the present and the future, and not attached to the notion of the ego-form, the human-form, the sentient being-form and the time-form.

Notes:
[1] The Three Minds: (i) the past is gone and cannot be grasped. (ii) After this moment, the present becomes past and also cannot be grasped. (iii) The future is not here yet and therefore cannot be grasped too.

[2] The four forms: Form - Characteristics; (i) Everybody has an ego, this is the ego- form. (ii) When we see another person, we perceive the human-form. (iii) When thoughts arise in our mind, we perceive the sentient being-form. (iv) The continuity of these thoughts through time gives rise to the time-form.

6. What happens when we realised the non-existence of the Four Forms?

When you free yourself from all forms, you will realise that all things are in fact empty. Within this emptiness there is infinite brightness. When you realise this infinite brightness, then the Amitabha Buddha in fact resides in your mind.

7. Since the "I" is false, what do we do with it?

Although the "I" is false, we can still make use of it to cultivate merits [3] by performing all deeds that are meritorious. In this way we attain infinite merits.

When we perform meritorious deeds, it does not mean that we do them only for today. We did them in the past, we do them presently and we will do them in the future. We have ethics and our code of ethics must prevail in the past, present and future. Since we have infinite brightness and infinite merits - in the past … present … future … past … present … future … past … present … future …. This is the meaning of "infinite life".

In this way, we have manifested our "Own-nature Amitabha". At this time even though we are still at home and have not gone to the Western Pure Land, our home is already a part of the Western Pure Land.

Notes:
[3] Merits: Non-arising and non-ceasing of the mind; deeds that are performed from a pure, enlightened mind, free from the Three Minds and the Four Forms.

8. When we refer to the Pure Land, what does it mean?

The land of all the Buddhas of the ten directions (The ten directions of space, i.e. the eight points of the compass and the nadir and zenith) is called Pure Land. Where does a Pure Land come from? It comes from a pure mind; first and foremost, the mind must be purified, only then will there be Pure Land. Our mind is like the great earth because like the great earth, many things can grow from the mind. The mind is often likened to a planting field or land. Therefore, when a person is kind-hearted, he is said to have a "virtuous mind-land", "virtuous mind-field" or "bright mind-land". Our every decision and idea are all born of the mind. Therefore, whether it is heaven or hell, they are solely created by the mind. When the thoughts of the mind are virtuous, then they lead to virtuous actions. In this way, people ascend to heaven. If on the other hand, the mind thinks of evil, makes evil decisions and evil deeds are committed, then one descends to hell. Thus, heaven and hell are created by the mind.

If the mind does not attach to the thoughts of good or evil and in this way is purified, then "a pure mind begets a pure land". If each and every person's mind is pure, then the land of our country will also be pure.

Thus, it does not mean that people who seek to be reborn in the Western Pure Land in their next life can do so by virtue of their karma. It depends on the kind of karma. If it is virtuous, then rebirth takes place in a good realm, a higher realm. If it is evil, then it takes place in an evil realm, a lower realm. It is only when the karma is pure that rebirth can take place in the Western Pure Land.

Karma refers to whatever that we do - the actions of our body, what we say and what goes on in our mind. It is only when the actions, speech and thoughts are pure, that people can be reborn in the Western Pure Land. It is possible for us to be pure in the three karma's (actions, speech and thoughts) by reciting "Amitabha Buddha". It only takes one person's mind to be pure for it to bring about a positive effect on one's surroundings. When all the members of the family have purified their minds, all members of the society have purified their minds, the entire human race across the world has purified its mind, then a Pure Land on earth is achieved.

9. Besides chanting Amitabha Buddha, what else should one practise?

Practitioners of the method of chanting the Buddha's name not only recite "Amitabha Buddha", but in addition should also cultivate merits. It is stated in the Amitabha Sutra that rebirth in the Western Pure Land is not possible via conditions that are lacking in virtuous roots, blessings and merits. For instance, when we have practised and perfected the Six Parameters (1. Observing the Precepts, 2. Endurance, 3. Giving, 4. Zeal and Progress, 5. Meditation, and 6. Wisdom), then to be reborn in the Western Pure Land is a simple matter. If you have accomplished a mind that is as pure as the Amitabha Buddha's, then there is no necessity for Amitabha Buddha to come and guide you to the Western Pure Land. At that time you are already a great Bodhisattva. Not only can a great Bodhisattva go the Western Pure Land; he can go to any pure land as he pleases.

sanath SG

From a Pure Land perspective, which does not neccessarily accord with PL-Zen:

Collection of Passages Revealing

Compiled by Gutoku Shinran,
Disciple of Sakyamuni

[Preface]

As I reflect, I find that our attainment of shinjin arises from the heart and mind with which Amida Tathagata selected the Vow, and that the clarification of true mind has been taught for us through the skillful works of compassion of the Great Sage, Sakyamuni. But the monks and laity of this latter age and the religious teachers of these times are floundering in concepts of "self-nature" and "mind-only," and they disparage the true realization of enlightenment in the Pure Land Way. Or lost in the self-power attitude of meditative and non-meditative practices, they are ignorant of true shinjin, which is diamondlike.

Here I, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Sakyamuni, reverently embrace the true teaching of the Buddhas and Tathagatas and look to the essential meaning of the treatises and commentaries of the masters. Fully guided by the beneficent light of the three sutras, I seek in particular to clarify the luminous passage on the "mind that is single." I will pose questions concerning it and then present clear testimony in which explanation is found.

Mindful solely of the depth and vastness of the Buddha's benevolence, I am unconcerned about being personally abused. Let companions who aspire for the Pure Land and all who abhor this defiled world accept or discard what they will of this work, but let them not ridicule the teaching.

夫以：获得信乐，发起自如来选择愿心；开阐真心，显彰从大圣矜哀善巧。

然末代道俗，近世宗师；沉自性唯心，贬净土真证；迷定散自心，昏金刚真信。

爰愚秃释亲鸾，信顺诸佛如来真说，披阅论家、释家宗义。广蒙三经光泽，特开一心华文。且至以为，遂出明证。诚念佛恩深重，不耻人伦言。忻净邦徒众，厌秽域庶类，虽加取舍，莫生毁谤矣！

An Eternal Now SG

Of course there are schools that emphasize solely on other-power, which is also valid. Those that practice self-power is also valid though not practiced in PL school.

An Eternal Now SG

But the monks and laity of this latter age and the religious teachers of these times are floundering in concepts of "self-nature" and "mind-only," and they disparage the true realization of enlightenment in the Pure Land Way. Or lost in the self-power attitude of meditative and non-meditative practices, they are ignorant of true shinjin, which is diamondlike.

I think he's refering to those who preach Amitabha is Mind-only. This is a false view, as Amitabha has vowed and as skillful means to deliver all sentient beings to Sukhavati which resides in the west.

Actually it IS true that Amitabha is Mind-only, inseparable from One Mind/Self-nature, though we also cannot say that there is no Amitabha or pure land or sukhavati in the west. Just like although we say all Buddhas' ultimate nature is Dharmakaya, we can't say there is no Sambhogakaya or Nirmanakaya.

Of course, one should never disparage other-power or Amitabha's vows whatever one practices.

An Eternal Now SG

~ Ven Shen Kai

Spnw07 SG

Or lost in the self-power attitude of meditative and non-meditative practices, they are ignorant of true shinjin, which is diamondlike.

I agree with the above observation. Not all Zen Masters can accept the Amitabha Buddha Dharma Door. This is also mentioned by Pureland practitioner, Master Chin Kung.

If even Zen masters can't accept Pureland, much less others who practise other forms of Buddhism. It is not absolutely impossible, but very hard for all or even one from other Buddhist school of thoughts to feel like learning more in-depth about Pureland and understanding it from a purely Pureland perspective.

But not all will or have disparaged the Pureland Dharma Door though. Since it is mentioned by Sakayamuni Buddha that he will use his Buddha's powers to help safeguard the expounding and spread of the Pureland Dharma Door in our Dharma-ending age for the benefit of all, no one will find easy to totally eradicate the traces leading to this Dharma Door, no matter how respected he/she is in the Buddhist community.

sanath SG

An article on the 3 streams of Chinese Pure Land:

Honen's Establishment of a Chinese Lineage

A common method of legitimation which East Asian Buddhist sects have used is establishing a lineage of the transmission from Shakyamuni Buddha himself down to their particular founder, and from thence to the present age. This is always established in order to invest the teachings with authority. It was during the Sung Dynasty (960-1297) that the establishment of official lineages for the various schools of Buddhism became common. The Ch'an school lineage was established at this time through Tao-yuan's Ching-te-chuan-teng-lu. Yuan-chao (1048-1116) established the nine patriarchs of the Four Part Vinaya school in his Nan-shan-lu-tsung tsu-ch'eng-t'u-lu, and Chih-p'an (circa late thirteenth century) established the T'ien-t'ai lineage in his Fo-tsu-t'ung-chi. Pure Land Buddhism was in turn influenced by these earlier examples, and Tsung-hsio (1151-1214) established the Pure Land lineage in his Le-pang-wen-lei (T. 1469, vol. 47). This lineage is as follows: Hui-yuan of Lu-shan, Shan-tao, Fa-chao, Shao-k'ang, Sheng-ch'ang, and Tsung-tse. Honen's lineage, however, differs fundamentally in that he neither recognized Hui-yuan as Shan-tao's teacher nor as a patriarch at all.

In Honen's Commentary on the Jodosanbukyo (Sanbukyo shaku), in reference to the Amida Sutra, he says:

In the Pure Land school of Shan-tao, no one studied directly under him, and no one praises him. But I, through his writings, have inherited his intention and so have founded the Pure Land sect. Therefore, in the Pure Land school there is nothing one can call a lineage, nor is there any proof of the oral transmission of its teachings. Nevertheless, on the basis of the teaching of the sutras and commentaries, and on my personal experience, I have established the Pure Land sect. (SHZ. 145)

Honen's Pure Land sect differed in this regard from the Buddhism of the Nara and Heian periods in that it made no claim to have been transmitted through a continuous master-disciple lineage. Although inspired by Shan-tao's works, it was in fact based on Honen's personal religious experience.

This very lack of transmission provided grounds for harsh criticism, from the established Tendai and Shingon sects and the temples of Nara. Honen attempted to respond to such criticism in the Gyakushu seppo, when he named his own five patriarchs of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism (jodogoso) [T'an-luan, Tao-ch'o, Shan-tao, Huai-kan and Shao-k'ang] as constituting the Pure Land lineage.(SHZ. 264)

The Chinese lineage established by Tsung-hsiao was not made on the basis of a direct master-disciple relationship or on the common thought of Pure Land masters, but rather on the respective careers of each in propagating Pure Land teachings and on chronological order. By the time Tsung-hsiao wrote the Le-pang-wen-lei in 1200, it had already been two years since Honen had dictated the Senchakushu in which he classified three different Pure Land lineages and insisted on the veracity of his five patriarch lineage. Honen designated the three lineages as those of Hui-yuan of Lu-shan, T'zu-min, and Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao.

The first one of Hui-yuan was centered around the practice of the nembutsu with visualization. This form of nembutsu practice is advocated in the Pratyutpanna Sutra (Pan-chou-san-mei ching), one of the first sutras dealing with Amida Buddha, and stresses the nembutsu as a practical means or upaya for reaching ultimate wisdom and the samadhi of emptiness. Hui-yuan lived during a period in which he could have seen the Amida Sutra as translated by Kumarajiva and the P'ing-teng-chueh ching and Ta-ami-t'o ching (both earlier versions of the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (Wu-liang-shou ching). His nembutsu teaching, however, is mostly based on the Pratyutpanna Sutra and not on the sutras associated with the Sutra of Immeasurable Life, which expounds Amida Buddha's power of the original vow (hongan). This teaching succeeded onwards to the T'ien-t'ai master Chih-i (538-97) and the Hua-yen master Ch'eng-kuan (738-839). To Honen, who insisted on the recited nembutsu as the true practice, Hui-yuan's visualized nembutsu ought to be rejected. Thus, we can see why Honen differentiated Hui-yuan from Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao and established another lineage.

The second lineage of T'zu-min is based around his syncretic teaching of the Ch'an, Pure Land and Vinaya schools in which he combined meditation, nembutsu practice, and observance of the precepts. Especially after the T'ang Dynasty (618-907), not only Pure Land but also other schools tended towards this syncretic mixing of teachings. Fa-chao of the middle T'ang, Wan-chao of the Sung, and Ch'u-hung (1532-1612) and Chih-hsu (1599-1655) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are examples of typical masters who brought other teachings into their own schools. T'zu-min's teachings also revolved around the visualization practices of the Pratyutpanna Sutra (Pan-chou-san-mei ching). Further, his syncretic approach contradicted Honen's principle of the selection of the exclusive practice of the nembutsu (senju-nembutsu), Honen clearly differentiated it from the Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao lineage which was firmly centered in the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (Wu-liang-shou ching), the Meditation Sutra (Kuan wu-liang-shou ching), and the Amida Sutra (A-mi-t'o ching).

Finally, the third lineage of Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao is the very one which became the lineage of the Pure Land denomination (Jodo Shu) in Japan. In the Senchakushu, Honen lists the five patriarchs as follows: T'an-luan, Tao-ch'o, Shan-tao, Hui-kuan and Shao-k'ang. There are, however, two separate opinions on its Dharma transmission. The first begins with Bodhiruci and follows to Hui-ch'ung, Tao-chang, T'an Luan, Ta-hai, and Fa-shang. The second begins with Bodhiruci and follows to T'an Luan, Tao-ch'o, Shan-tao, Huai-kan, and Shao-k'ang (Senchakushu Chapt.1). In the Senchakushu, Honen does not distinguish which lineage is correct, but in his other works, he only uses the second transmission. He cites the T'ang Kao-seng-chuan (Bibliography of Eminent Masters Complied in the T'ang Dynasty)[T.50,425-707]1 and the Sung Kao-seng-chuan (Bibliography of Masters Compiled in the Sung Dynasty)[T.50,709-900]2 as sources for this transmission, although in actuality these works do not contain such a transmission (Ruiju Jodo Goso Den, SHZ. 843-57). The key master in this lineage is clearly Shan-tao. From his standpoint, Tao-ch'o, his teacher, is designated the Second Patriarch, and Hui-kuan, his direct disciple, is designated the Fourth Patriarch. The First and Fifth Patriarchs, T'an-luan and Shao-k'ang, are designated not on the basis of the master-disciple relationship but rather on the connection of commonness of thought. T'an-luan had a great influence on the thought of both Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao and was thus designated the First Patriarch. Shao-k'ang in turn was greatly influenced by Shan-tao, eventually becoming known as a latter day Shan-tao, and was thus designated the Fifth Patriarch. Honen's five patriarch lineage based on the master-disciple relationship and commonness of thought, therefore, clearly contrasts that of Tsung-hsiao's.

If we reflect on Honen's classification of the three lineages of Pure Land Buddhism, we can easily see how he rejected Hui-yuan's lineage based on the nembutsu with visualization and T'zu-min's based on syncretic teachings and selected the one of Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao based on his unprecedented teaching of the exclusive recited nembutsu. However, this lineage was not one of direct transmission from one patriarch to the next. Historically speaking, although Shan-tao and Huai-kan were clearly related as master and disciple, this "lineage" of five Chinese patriarchs was Honen's own original concept. Thus his Pure Land sect continued to receive criticism as lacking any clear line of direct transmission.

http://www.jsri.jp/English/Honen/TEACHINGS/clineage.html

sanath SG

The above article seems to come out in small characters and i have no way to edit or correct it, can someone else please do for me, thanks.

Gassho

An Eternal Now SG

Done.

An Eternal Now SG

I agree with the above observation. Not all Zen Masters can accept the Amitabha Buddha Dharma Door. This is also mentioned by Pureland practitioner, Master Chin Kung.

From my understanding, most or all *modern* Chinese Ch'an/Zen masters do not teach Zen to the exclusion of PL/Amitabha dharma door. Even Chinese Zen/Ch'an masters do teach the pure land method nowadays because the Ch'an methods may not suit everyone. Though of course there is a difference emphasis when compared to the Pure Land school.

In Japan, it is a different case. If I remember correctly Sanath has mentioned to me before, Zen in Japan is purely Zen and do not mix with Pure Land practices, with the exception of a small school called Obaku (I think).

In the past, there is a lot of sectarianism between not only Zen and Pure land but all sorts of sects and schools. Not only in China but especially in Japan, where the sectarian situation is very competitive. Sometimes each sect would disparage or even slander each other or say nasty things about each other, as you may have heard before if you read the history. Glad we have generally evolved out of it and this isn't a v big problem now.

Spnw07 SG

Teaching Pureland using Zen concepts or vice versa is equally not suitable for everyone. But well, let's hope that eventually things will work out on their own.

sanath SG

Yes, Obaku-shu (黃檗宗) came in to Japan from China around the end of the Ming Dynasty, introduced by a Chinese monk Ingen (Yin Yuan 隱元) who was the Abbot of the 黃檗萬福寺 in Fuzhou (this temple still exists, but heard it's quite ulu so difficult to go to) who was invited by Rinzai monks in Japan to teach. By that time PL-Zen had become the mainstream in China, but not in Japan. Even till today, Zen and Pure Land teachings in Japan are not mixed.

Gassho

An Eternal Now SG

Gassho

I see.. yeah I remembered about it.. thanks for clarifying.