1 GUIFENG ZONGMI 圭峰宗密

Final stage of construction.

Guifeng Zongmi  圭峰宗密 (Tsung-mi) 780-841

   馬祖道一 Mazu Daoyi 709–788     浄衆神会  Jingzhong Shenhui 720–794 

張 衛中 Zhang Weizhong (Chang Weichung) d. 821

                            Weizong had two important students:

Trying to make sense of history when there is a mixture of legend, misinformation and the work of scholarship is not easy and finally all one can do is re-construct what appears to be logical and at the same time coincides with the experiences of practices and actual contemplation, not theory.

One of the great problems is the inconsistency between the clear assertion of Guifeng Zongmi that the contemplations of the apparent lineage of Huineng and Shenhui were without doubt the most elevated all of the Chan contemplations, together with the assertion of his followers that he was in fact a master in line with those concepts and the fact that Huineng's contemplation/no-contemplation was not what he himself taught.

Great misunderstanding flows from the concept held for centuries, by those who grasp at straws and build houses from them, in considering lineage as a direct line of transmission of the Dharma to one prime receiver.

The Chinese character 宗 zong has a variety of dictionary meanings and although "school" is an attractive catch-all it does not reflect the true sense of the character. Other definitions are "purpose," "model," and "clan," but in academic circles or artistic work, which applies in the Chan classifications, it means more completely "to take as one's model or inspiration."

Thus, for example one might take Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman, as one's inspiration or model yet not attempt to rule Rome with honor.

Zongmi, then, clearly inspired by the contemplations espoused but not necessarily attained by Heze Shenhui, could clearly, if he did not really catch the significance, choose the way that was more appropriate for his temperament, which psychologically one may determine as sensitive but also discriminating.

Historians (or his students) appear to have been confused in determining that Heze Shenhui was his inspiration with regard to what he himself practiced and taught, for his teachings appear to be influenced most not by Heze Shenhui but Jingzhong Shenhui (720-794), who was a student of Jingzhong Wuxiang (Wu-hsung-Jin, 684-762).

Whether this ideological transfer of allegiance to Heze was deliberate or accidental or who was responsible we cannot ascertain.

Since there had been established an orthodox, though fraudulent, lineage back to Daman Hongren through Huineng, the deception on the part of whoever was responsible in the biographies would not appear too great, for by way of Jingzhong Shenhui inspiration could in any event have been maintained, as the lineage was:

浄衆神会 Jingzhong Shenhui (720–794)   

張衛中 Zhang Weizhong (Chang Weichung) d. 821

Suizhou Daoyuan (750-820))

The aim of any deception then was to maintain a link to Huineng himself, legitimizing one's own position. The subtle deception comes with confusion over the identity of Weizhong, who was also known as I-chou Nanyin. 

It was Daoyuan, in that line as a Dharma heir, who Zongmi claims as his own teacher.

Deliberately or not we cannot tell, but Weizhong allied himself appropriately with Shenhui (Heze) and not his teacher Jingzhong Shenhui. Thus it was easy to establish the claim that Zongmi was actually linked with Heze Shenhui, whose tradition he considered the most elevated possible. 

We know what Heze Shenhui's position was and from the direct experience of contemplation we can ascertain that his theoretical master Huineng had indeed attained the most direct access to Awakening through the contemplative bridge of the Life Force due to his simplicity and his great natural compassion that required no development. We call this the direct Contemplation of True Function.

Let us then now, in a very brief manner, look at Zongmi himself and what he taught.

Zongmi was born in 780 into the powerful and influential Ho family. In his early years, he studied the Confucian classics.

In 801 he became familiar with the virtues of meditation and sought out the acquaintance of noted monks.

At the age of twenty-two, he returned to the Confucian classics and deepened his understanding, studying at  the I-hsüeh yüan Confucian Academy in Sui-chou. His studies included Dao classics such as the works of Laozi.

At the age of twenty-four, Zongmi met the Chan master Daoyuan and trained in Chan Buddhism for two or three years, receiving Daoyuan’s seal of Buddha mind understanding in 807.

But in his autobiographical summary he states that it was the Sūtra of Perfect Awakening (Yüan-chüeh ching) which led him to enlightenment: "His 'mind-ground' opened thoroughly… its meaning was as clear and bright as the heavens." (quoted in Gregory, 2002:33)

Zongmi’s sudden mind-ground opening after reading only two or three pages of the scripture had a profound impact upon his subsequent scholarly career.

Here are reproduced important parts of the sutra which may explain his new and clear understanding of Awakening.

圓覺經    Yuán​ jué​ jīng

First we can see in the Sutra the clear explanation of the nature of apparent existence, and indeed non-existence, as without substance or the original nature, the uncarved wood, while with Awakening, the inference is that the original nature can be attained.

"Good sons, this 'ignorance' actually lacks substance. It is like a man who is dreaming. At the time of the dream, there is no non-existence. But when he awakens he finds that there is nothing for him to hold on to. Similarly, when the sky-flowers disappear from the sky, you cannot say that there is a definite point of their disappearance. Why? Because there is no point from which they arose. All sentient beings falsely perceive arising and ceasing within the unarisen. Therefore they say that there is 'transmigration through life-and-death.'"

"Good sons, in the practice of Perfect Enlightenment of the causal stage of the Tathāgata one understands these 'sky-flowers,' thus there is no transmigration, nor body/mind to undergo life-and-death. But they are not caused to be non-existent. It is because they lack original nature."

Here in the next lines we see clearly the case which Zongmi makes for the two truths, the necessity of understanding that the illusions of Samsara, when impediments are eliminated, stand in balance with the new unconscious awareness that is natural, which can be awakened by contemplation. It must be understood that the apparent awakening, since it rests upon discernment, is also illusion and that the awakening exists only by inference. It is because it cannot be contained by the mind, yet is changeless and indestructible, that it can be called perfect.

Now, this [prior] awareness is in itself void, like empty space. Yet since this awareness that perceives it to be like empty space is none other than the appearance of sky-flowers, you also cannot say that there is no nature of awareness. Existence and non-existence both being dispelled is called 'according with pure awakening.' 

The base of all Chan contemplations is explained here in the next excerpt. One uses the conceptual illusion and one extinguishes that illusion by means of the ultimate conceptualization. One does not then enter into a state of "nothingness" but the natural state of the mind where discernments without consciousness are made without cognition.

"Good sons, all bodhisattvas and sentient beings of the degenerate age should separate from all illusory and false realms. By firmly abiding in separation from thought, you also separate from the thought of 'illusion.' You also separate from the illusion of 'separation.' You also separate from this separation from this illusion of separation. You will reach 'nothing to be separated from,' which is the removal of all illusion. It is like making a fire with two sticks. The fire blazes and the wood is consumed; the ashes fly away and the smoke vanishes. Using illusion to remedy illusion is exactly like this. Yet even though all illusions are extinguished, you do not enter into nothingness."

We also have a very clear warning of the useless pursuit of Awakening with a cognitive intellect.

"Good sons, habituated discursive thought arises from the conditioned mind. The six data-fields, false conceptualization and conditioned energies are not the true essence of mind —indeed, they are like sky-flowers. But using discursive thought to discern the Buddha-state is like the sky-flowers further producing 'sky-fruits.' Circular false thoughts are useless here."

"Good sons, false, floating thoughts and numerous clever views are incapable of perfecting the expedient means of Perfect Enlightenment." 

Zongmi in those first moments of discovery had only opened his mind, grasping the basic truth, and he was aware of Huineng and the theoretical "direct" attainment which was available.

We know that his beliefs were then influnced by the 華嚴 Huayan model derived from the Avatamsaka Sutra. 

He believed in the necessity of scriptural studies in Chan in order to fully understand the truth, for that is what had brought him to that point in his studies, and was highly critical of what he saw as the antinomianism of the Hung-chou models derived from Mazu Daoyi (explained in other sections) which practiced "entrusting oneself to act freely according to the nature of one’s inner experiences."

He wrote to Master Chengguan, who was an undisputed authority on Huayan and also respected for his knowledge of Chan and Tientai models as well as the older San-lun theories. In 810, at the age of thirty, Zongmi met 灵峰 Lingfeng, a disciple of the preeminent Buddhist scholar and Ling-feng gave Zongmi a copy of Chengguan’s commentary and subcommentary on the 华严經, Huayan Sūtra.

In 812 Zongmi travelled to the Western capital, Chang’an, where he spent two years studying with him. Zongmi withdrew to Mount Chung-nan, southwest of Chang’an, in 816 and began forming his definitive ideas and composing texts, among them an annotated outline of the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment and a compilation of passages from four commentaries on the sūtra.

For the next three years Zongmi traveled and, returning in 819 and late in that year, after having used the extensive libraries of various monasteries available, completed his commentary and sub-commentary on the Diamond Sūtra, which had been Huineng's first inspiration.

Four years later, after having returned to Mount Chung-nan, he finished his own commentary on the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment.

When precisely he gathered together his own important ideas on Awareness, blending them with the Buddha-mind understanding he had received from Daoyuan and the brilliance of Huayan that became so important for the development of Awakening, cannot be ascertained; but that Awareness had been central to his ideas for some time is certain.

We will not concern ourselves here with his numerous essays on the contemporary situation of Buddhism in Tang China, containing critical analysis of the various Chan and scholastic models of the period, or his clear analysis of the development of Chan and Huayan, because his approach to Awareness is the most important point for understanding this particular form of Contemplation.

Zongmi quoted often the phrase "The one word 知, chih (zhi), is the gateway to all mysteries."

However, Zongmi is clear in insisting chih must not be interpreted as either "wisdom", "prajna which is intuitive" or discrimination (fen-pieh).

Certainly we can assure readers that it is not what recently some call "deep self-awareness."

For Zongmi, chih refers to the ever-present ground of awareness that underlies all sentient experience, whether deluded or awakened.

It is the "one word" which is the last conceptualization of what awareness is cognitively and this is "the gateway," for dwelling with this word

leads beyond to the undefinable awareness of the Feminine Principle and thus Awakening.

Be sure that this is understood. That Buddha mind itself is the ground for awareness beyond the intellect which defines all forms of experience.

Zongmi attributes this phrase to Heze Shenhui, although it was quoted by Chengguan of Huayan, who in turn attributed it to a Chan master south of the river, which could indeed be Heze Shenhui, although it appears in none of his texts.

The concept of the gate 门, men, is also interesting, for Zongmi changes that character to 源, yuan, meaning source or origin. Is this a significant

change?

Indeed it is from the correct Chan contemplation standpoint for the last conceptualization, in this case the specific and necessary source or

origin by which the contact is made with the unconscious and natural ground of awareness.

We cannot conclude that Zongmi finally understood the Direct contemplation of Huineng, but he did develop the close approximation of

Awareness Contemplation. Nevertheless he insists upon its combination with the teachings embedded in canonical word and that the

transmission of Chan must include the sutras and treatises as a standard.

We find that Zongmi did not include, although a patriarch of the Huayan system, the "sudden" and "perfect" categories in his classification of

Buddha Dharma.

Instead he uses two categories which are interesting:

1. The negation of Phenomenological appearance, which we can term as the "acceptance of Emptiness."

2. The Revelation of Nature, which is effectively  the "Attention" paradigm.

Yet that revelation of Nature he still divides as "Sudden" and "Natural." Was it that he did after all recognize his own theoretical contemplation

approach as "sudden" and also the possibility of a spontaneous "natural" awakening, without realizing that Huineng's awakening was indeed

that spontaneous, natural and direct variety?

We must be careful here and really try to make clearer what "direct" really means as far as contemplation is concerned, for it may be considered

quite different from an intellectual academic classification.

Zongmi directly "points to 指" the "essence 知知" which was effectively "awareness of awareness," or "natural awareness beyond cognitive

awareness."

Gregory uses the character "體" claiming that it has the sense of "the thing-in-itself," which is valid, adding "that it connotes the direct

experience of the Mind itself in contrast to the more abstract knowledge of its symbolic representation."

First, from the point of view of actual contemplation beyond the theory, what we must say is that it reveals only ONE aspect of the MIND, which

is ESSENCE.

We see particularly within Korean Buddha Dharma the use of that special character 體 together with 用, then having the joint significance of 體用,

Essence and Function. Function in terms of actual contemplation is a second element of mind. It is in fact the element revealed by Huineng's

contemplation. It was clearly mentioned by Wonhyo (617-686) writing and studying the Tathāgatagarbha position as well as Yogācāra.

We will deal more fully with "function" when we speak elsewhere of Huineng, but it is important here to understand more deeply what "essence" is.

Now essence in and of itself is just a word. Can we go further, knowing full well that it certainly is not the appearance of the phenomena, nor its

negation? Indeed we can, for Mind, after all, is in and of itself an experience, an awareness, that has its natural operation without the necessity

that it be named.

It is a direct awareness of one right-brain operation which, without going into the details of advanced students or the contemplation practice

itself, is an awareness which is "ever-present Awareness" (長指體) not the "numinous Awareness" (靈體) of Alaya nor the "unobscured numinous

Awareness (靈體 不昧) of Alaya nor even the "empty tranquil Awareness" (空寂體) of Bodhidharma contemplations.