HISTORICAL SOURCES
BLUE CLIFF RECORD 碧 岩录
The Blue Cliff Records (Chin. Pa-yan-lu ; Jap. Heki-gan-roku) were compiled by Hsueh Tou Ch'ung Hsien (980-1152) and developed by Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in (1063-1135), a master belonging to the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi School – Abbot of a great monastery, the T'ien-ning Wan-shou-ssu in the Northern Sung capital of Pien-liang.
It is based on a collection of ‘conceptually complex' Chan stories compiled around 1000 A.D. in the Sung dynasty. It is one of the two best-known and most frequently studied collections of koans or mind problems that can only be solved when the mind has exhausted cognition
GATELESS GATE 無門關
The author of the Gateless Gate or Gateless Barrier (Chin. Wu-wen kuan; Jap. Mumonkan) was Chinese Ch'an master Wu-men Hui-hai (無門慧開 Mumon Ekai, 1183-1260). It was compiled in the Sung dynasty and is one of the two best-known and most frequently studied collections of koans.
RECORDS OF SILENCE: CHANYUEN-CHINGKUEI 禅苑清規
The Dogen texts (Chin. Chanyuen-chingkuei; Jap. Zennen-shingi) is the oldest extant set of Chan monastic regulations, written during the Northern Sung dynasty in China. In the Southern Sung dynasty, Dogen went to China and compiled the Chiji-shingi (1246) to adjust the Chinese monastic system to Japanese Buddhism.
THE DENKOROKU: The Record of the Transmission of the Light.
Attributed to the thirteenth-century Chan Master Keizan Jokin (1268-1325).
For centuries, Tao-yuan's Transmission of the Lamp was the earliest collection of Ch'an/Zen records available. An earlier collection - the Tsu T'ang Chi (Jpn. Sodoshu. Kor. Chodang chip)- Collected Records from the Ancestors' Hall, was effectively lost for centuries, until woodblock copies of the text were rediscovered at the Haein-sa temple in Korea.
Subsequent comparison of these two texts has led to speculation that the 'Tang' sources contained in the Lamp text have been creatively reconstructed, or presented in such a way to bestow a sense of continuity to the tradition, not apparent in the earlier material -and thus, possibly invented. At the very least, the received scholarly opinion is that the 'Tang' sources found in the Lamp text have been reshaped by Sung editors.
Each chapter in the Denkoroku consists of four parts: the case -or koan- that deals with enlightenment, a brief biographical note on the patriarch, master Keizan's teisho on the case, and a concluding poem. In the third part -indisputably the most important- Keizan clearly expounds the essence of Buddhism and Zen and describes how to access it.
It tells of the enlightenment of the fifty-three masters, beginning with Shakyamuni Buddha and concluding with the twelfth-century Chan Master Ejyo, who was Dogen’s student. After Dogen's death in the second half of the 13th century, his disciples undertook the task of preserving and spreading the master's teachings. At Eihei-ji, a small faction of his disciples, conscious of his viewpoints, gave rise to considerable unrest, antagonism and disputes.
Dogen's disciples had previously held relevant posts as monks in different schools, such as Tendai or the Daruna lineage of Dainichi Nonin. After the master's death, however, a sectarian division opened up led by master Tettsu Gikai, the third abbot at Eihei-ji, which was supported by master Keizan.
Master Gikai was a favorite disciple of master Ejo, in whom Dogen had deposited all his trust. But the schism led to master Gikai, who at the time was seventy years old while Keizan was only twenty, being banished from Eihei-ji. After the partisan, ideological and emotional dispute with the anti-Gikai faction, Keizan finally abandoned Eihei-ji and went to Kaga, in Ishikawa prefecture, where Gikai had founded Daijo-ji monastery.
After this split, the disciples scattered, the monastery's protectors diminished considerably, the community lost its former momentum and Eihei-ji began to decline in importance. Keizan, who had suffered himself the problems arising from the internal dispute at Eihei-ji following Dogen's death, was later designated abbot of Daijo-ji by master Gikai and devoted himself to imparting the teachings that would later be collected and eventually coalesce into the Denkoroku.
The Denkoroku was written in part to refute criticism of master Gikai and consolidate his legitimacy, and ratified the teaching that zazen was the essence of Buddhist enlightenment -a topic that had begun to wane after the dispute at Eihei-ji.
Cada capítulo del Denkoroku consista de cuatro partes: el caso -o koan- que versa sobre la iluminación, una breve nota biográfica sobre el patriarca, el teisho del maestro Keizan sobre el caso y un poema a modo de conclusión. En la tercera parte -indiscutiblemente la más importante- Keizan expone con claridad la esencia del Budismo y del Zen y describe la manera de acceder a ella.
Tras la muerte de Dogen, acaecida durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIII sus discípulos emprendieron la tarea de custodiar y difundir las enseñanzas del maestro. En Eihei-ji, una pequeña facción de sus discípulos consciente de su punto de vista suscitó considerables desórdenes, antagonismos y disputas.
Anteriormente, los discípulos del maestro Dogen habían desempeñado cargos relevantes como monjes de distintas escuelas, como la Tendai o el linaje Daruna de Dainichi Nonin. Tras la muerte del maestro, sin embargo, se abrió una división sectaria acaudillada por el maestro Tettsu Gikai -tercer abad de Eihei-ji- y secundada por el maestro Keizan.
El maestro Gikai era el favorito del maestro Ejo, en quien Dogen había depositado toda su confianza. Pero el cisma terminó provocando el destierro de Eihei-ji del maestro Gikai que, a la sazón, tenía setenta años de edad mientras que Keizan sólo contaba veinte. Tras la disputa partidista, ideológica y emocional con la facción anti-Gikai, Keizan terminó abandonando Eihei-ji y se dirigió a Kaga (prefectura de Ishikawa), en donde Gikai había fundado el monasterio de Daijo-ji.
Tras esta división los discípulos se diseminaron, los protectores del monasterio disminuyeron considerablemente, la comunidad perdió su antiguo ímpetu y la importancia de Eihei-ji comenzó a declinar. Keizan, que había sufrido en su propia persona los problemas suscitados por disputa interna de Eihei-ji que siguió a la muerte de Dogen, fue luego designado abad de Daijo-ji por el maestro Gikai y se dedicó a impartir la enseñanza que posteriormente fue recogida y terminó dando forma al Denkoroku.
En parte, el Denkoroku fue escrito para rebatir las críticas al maestro Gikai y consolidar su legitimidad y ratificó la enseñanza de que el zazen era la esencia de la iluminación budista -un tópico que había comenzado a debilitarse tras la disputa de Eihei-ji.
LENGQIE SHIZI JI 楞伽師資記 Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Lankavatara, by Jingjueh (683-750)