5. FAYAN WENYI 法眼文益
Tien Huang 748-807 Yueh Shan 745-828
Lung Tan 8th-9th c. Yun Yen 780-841
Te Shan 782-865 Dongshan 807-869
Hsueh-feng 822-908
Hsuan Sha 835-908 Yunmen 896–949 Caoshan 840-901
Lo Han 867-928
Fa Yen 885-958
FAYEN YUNMEN CAODONG
Method Method Method
Fayen asked the monk Hsüan-tzu why he never asked him anything about Chan. The monk replied he had already reached understanding thanks to another master. Being pressed for an explanation by Fayen, the monk told him that when he asked his master, "What is the Buddha?" he received this answer: "Ping-ting T'ung-tzu comes looking for fire."
-"A good answer!" said Fayan. "But I'm sure that you don't understand it."
-"Ping-ting" explained the monk, "is the god of fire. For him to look for fire is like for me to look for Buddha. I already am the Buddha and there is nothing to look for."
-"Just as I thought!" laughed Fayen. "You didn't get it."
The monk was so offended he left the monastery. But then he repented and went back, humbly asking for instruction.
-"Ask me" said Fayen.
-"What is the Buddha?" asked the monk.
-"Ping-ting T'ung-tzu comes looking for fire!"
Fayen Wenyi,originally studied with Changqing Huileng. But then he encountered Changqing’s cousin in the Dharma, Dizang Guichen, a fateful meeting. Their encounter is the stuff of koans.
Fayen and some companions were caught in a snowstorm and took refuge at Dizang Monastery where the abbot, Luohan Guichen, asked Fayen, “What is your journey?”
In a Chan context any question becomes loaded with traps for Identity and a dual mind.
Fayen replied, “Going around on pilgrimage.”
Dizang pushed a bit further, inquiring, “What do you expect from pilgrimage?”
Then Fayen gave the simplest of answers. “I don’t know.”
Dizang answered, “Not knowing is most intimate.”
Fayen understood. It was his first glimpse of Awakening.
Fayen continued to practice with Dizang and eventually became a Dharma heir, at first teaching at Chongshou monastery in Linchuan, then settled at Qingliang Monastery, where he taught for the rest of his life. It is said at one point there were more than a thousand monastics in residence there.
Other masters who were Dharma Heirs were:
Tiāntāi Désháo 天台德韶 891–972
Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 904–975
Masters dedicated to this theme were absorbed into Tiantai practices.
Fa-yen preguntó al monje Hsüan-tzu por qué nunca le hacía ninguna pregunta acerca del Chan. El monje replicó que ya había alcanzado la comprensión gracias a otro maestro. Apremiado a dar una explicación por Fa-yen, el monje le dijo que cuando le había preguntado a su maestro: "¿Qué es el Buddha?", había recibido esta respuesta: "Ping-ting T'ung-tzu viene a buscar fuego".
"¡Buena respuesta!" —dijo Fa-yen—. "Pero estoy seguro de que no la comprendes".
"Ping-ting" —explicó el monje— "es el dios del fuego. Que él busque el fuego es como que yo busque al Buddha. Yo ya soy el Buddha, y no hay nada que pedir".
"¡Justo lo que pensaba!" —se rió Fa-yen—. "No la has entendido".
El monje quedó tan ofendido que abandonó el monasterio; pero luego se arrepintió y regresó, pidiendo humildemente instrucción.
"Pregúntame" —dijo Fa-yen.
"¿Qué es el Buddha?" —inquirió el monje.
"¡Ping-ting T'ung-tzu viene a buscar fuego!".