A Brief Introduction to Zen (Chan)
Buddhist Koan (Gong An)
By Grandmaster B.F. YeYoung
Buddhism went to China about the time of the birth of Jesus, and several hundred years after the death of the Buddha. Prior to Buddhism’s arrival, the ancient Chinese thoughts had focused on the cultivation of Qi, submission to Heaven and Earth, and worshipping Spirits and Ghosts for more than two thousand years. While the original Indian Buddhism was sinified by the Chinese culture, Buddhism also ramified and transmuted the Chinese culture at the same time. China became the main country to host Buddhism in the world. Chan Buddhism was a product of the cultural ramifications. The formation and establishment of Chan Buddhism in the middle of the Tang dynasty (618-907) completed the sinification of Buddhism, which was the crucial reason for Chan Buddhism migrating again to Japan (ramified as Zen Buddhism) to seek for the new territory a couple hundred years later.
Chan/Zen Buddhism is regarded as one of the best spiritual cultivations in the world today, but the essential cultural characteristics in the Chan/Zen Buddhism are not well recognized. One may see Chan as the Chinese cultural practice, and Zen as the Japanese religious practice. The general view is that Chan/Zen Buddhism is typically Japanese, and some believe that the Chan/Zen Buddhism has a philosophically dialectic nature. The modern Western cultural stock of Zen intellectual verbiage has been built since T. D. Suzuki’s Zen introduction to the West in 1951.
Next to the Sitting Meditation, koan is the most important structure of Chan/Zen Buddhism. Koan often consists of a story, dialogue, question, and/or statement. Koan’s meaning is often ambiguous and indefinite, and cannot be understood by rational thinking, but may be accessible through intuition as many Westerners suggest. Joseph Campbell once articulated the parallel understandings of the images of the Buddha and Jesus beautifully: “The Christ idea and the Buddha idea are perfectly equivalent mythological symbols. Two ways of saying the same thing: that a transcendent energy consciousness informs the whole world and informs you.” Such an axiom is both beautifully and misleadingly paralleled. From the Chinese Buddhist viewpoint, the idea of being a Buddha is all but the pliant or skillful “worldly way,” whereas the idea of Jesus is the focus of the rational and concrete faith. The ”worldly way” is individualistic and anarchic, whereas the faith in Christ is collective, orderly, and assertive. It is the common sense that a Buddhist wishes to become the Buddha one day, a Christian will not and cannot wish to become Jesus in any case. If the “transcendent energy consciousness” were God, the parallels would be that the Buddhist tries to “be” God, whereas the Christian tries to “know” God. The cultural and religious discrepancies are quite clear.
All classical koan were compiled in Chinese, which were heavily colored by the Chinese thinking and culture. The key to understanding enlightenment through the riddle-like Koan is to be and to do, not to know and to think. One may find that the Chan practice has very little to do with the abstract dialectics or religious rituals. As the famed English Blofeld explains: “There is no possible way of dealing with your question in words, but the Way is all around you and within you, for you to experience by direct perception.”
The Chan Master Zhaozhou’s renowned phrase of “go have some tea” becomes the ultimate answer to enlightenment in the Chan history. There is no thinking and analyzing, or rationality and reasoning, thus there is no logical conclusion. The bottom line is to be and to do, to practice, so why not go have some tea!
Master Zhaozhou (778-897)
Zhaozhou Congshen was born in Shandong province. He became a Buddhist monk when he was a kid. Zhaozhou studied with Master Nanquan Puyuan (743-843). His family name was Hao, and Congshen was his Buddhist ordained name. His monastery was located in Zhaozhou, Hebei province therefore he was also known as Master Zhaozhou. His teaching was known as Zhaozhou style.
Go Have Some Tea
Painting by Xiang YeYoung
The Zen Master Zhaozhou (778-897 AD) asked a visitor: “Have you been here before?” The new visitor replied, “Yes I have.” The Zen Master said: “Go have some tea.” The Zen Master asked another visitor, and he answered: “No, I’ve never been here before,” and the Zen Master told him: “Go have some tea.” The Zen Master’s student asked: “Why did you tell the new visitor and the old visitor all to go have some tea?” The Zen Master said to his student: “Go have some tea.”
Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon
Go Wash Your Bowl
Painting by Xiang YeYoung
The new student asked the Zen Master, “I just got here, I want to learn the Dharma, will you direct me?” The Zen Master asked the new student “have you eaten yet?” The new student said that he had eaten. The Zen Master said, “Ok then, go wash your bowl.” The student suddenly realized what Dharma is.
Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Li Evon
The Enlightened Monk Goes to Hell First
Painting by Xiang YeYoung
A government official asked the Zen Master, “Will you go to hell too?” The Zen Master replied, “I’m the first one who’ll go there.” The official said “But you’re an enlightened monk, why would you go to hell?” The Zen Master said, “If I don’t go there, who’ll teach you?”
Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon
Do Pine Nuts Have Buddha Nature?
Painting by Xiang YeYoung
Someone asked, “Do pine nuts have Buddha nature?” The Zen Master answered yes. “So when will they become Buddhas?” The Zen Master answered when the emptiness drops on the ground. “When will the emptiness drop on the ground?” The Zen Master said when the pine nuts become Buddhas.
Translation by Xiang YeYoung and Siyi Evon
