THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MASTERS' DHARMA NAMES AS EVIDENCE
IN CONSTRUCTION: PLEASE RETURN
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HEZE SHENHUI (Ho-tse Shen-hui), 神會神会
HE - TO CARRY ON ONE'S SHOULDER ZE - THE FAVOUR OF BENEVOLENCE
SHEN - MYSTERIOUS HUI - TO SEE
His name can be translated as.
" CARRYING ON ONE'S SHOULDER THE FAVOUR OF BENEVOLENCE: SEEING THE MYSTERIOUS"
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GUIFENG ZONGMI, 圭峰宗密, 780-841
GUIFENG ZONGMI, 圭峰宗密, 780-841. A claimed Dharma Heir of Heze Shenhui.
But he states that it was the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yüan-chüeh ching) which led him to enlightenment, his "mind-ground opened thoroughly". At that time he was with Suizhou Daoyuan, 遂州道圓.
GUI - JADE TABLET FENG - HIGHEST LEVEL
ZONG - MODEL MI - SECRET
My concept of the Model which was secret is a reference to what for Zongmi might have been the Practice of Huineng, which he may well have considered beyond understnding and easy replication. His name then reflects his dedication to the understanding of "the Secret Model of the Highest Level Jade Tablet".
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QINGYUAN XINGSI, 青原行思, 660 -740
Another Dharma-heir of Huineng.
QING - THE COLOR OF NATURE YUAN - ORIGINAL
XING - BEHAVIOUR - SI - TO CONSIDER
His name fully translated then was "Considered Behaviour as the Original Color of Nature."
His posthumous title was Hongzhi (Hung-chi, Gusai), “Helping Others.” His name reflects that posthumous title, for it was:
It is interesting now to see how the names of his Dharma Heirs YUNMEN WENYAN, 雲門文偃 (d.949); FAYAN WENYI, 法眼文益 (885-958) and the CAODONG masters DONGSHAN LIANGCHIEH 洞山良价 (807-869) and CAOSHAN BENJI, 曹山本寂, (840-941) fare in this examination.
It is interesting to note that these three Masters dealt with the three pure
Identity states, AVERSION, ACQUISITIVENESS and CONFUSION.
YUNMEN WENYAN, 雲門文偃
YUN - CLOUD MEN - GATEWAY
WEN - FORMAL YAN - TO STOP
His name fully translated then was "Gateway to the Couds by Stopping the Formal," which reflects his corrective method but really no more. The character for WEN also signifies "Gentle" and although I have no doubt the apparent conflict caused by Yunmen's ways was at its source GENTLE.
FAYAN WENYI, 法眼文益
FA - BUDDHIST TEACHING YAN - CRUX
WEN - GENTLE YI - BENEFIT
His name fully translated then was "Crux of the Buddhist Teaching through a Gentle Benevolence," which reflects the Concept of "Helping Others" of QINGYUAN XINGSI and the way of life of Huineng himself.
DONGSHAN LIANG JIE 洞山良价
DONG - CAVE SHAN - MOUNTAIN
LIANG - VERY MUCH JIE - GOOD
His name fully translated is "Very much good of Cave Mountain". This is once again the clear benevolence tradition of QINGYUAN XINGSI and HUINENG.
CAOSHAN BENJI, 曹山本寂
CAO - CAO STATE SHAN - MOUNTAIN
BEN - SOURCE JI - SILENT
His name as "Silent Source of Cao State Mountain" can be said to reflect the Stillness of the Mind advocated by the Caodong Model.
SHITOU XIGIAN, 石頭希遷,
SHI - ROCK TOU - HEAD
XI - INFREQUENT GIAN - TO MOVE
He was the sole Dharma-heir of Qingyuan Xingsi.
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NANYUE HUAIRANG, 南嶽懐譲, 677-744.
NAN - SOUTH YUE - HIGHEST MOUNTAIN
HUAI - PURE MIND RANG - TO YIELD
Translating, we then have his name as "Yielding to the True Mind from Highest South Mountain".
Mazu Daoyi, 709-788, was the sole Dharma-heir of Nanyue Huairang, and the other two models, LINJI YIXUAN 臨済義玄 (Rinzai) and GUIYANG 溈仰, stem from that fount.
GUISHAN LINGYU, 沩山灵佑, 771-854, and his disciple YANGSHAN HUICHI, 仰山慧寂, 813-890, founded the Guiyang model.
LINJI YIXUAN 臨済義玄
LIN - TO ARRIVE JI - TO HELP
YI - MEANING XUAN - MYSTERIOUS
His name fully translated certainly reflects the objectivity of his method: "Help at Arriving at the 'Mysterious Meaning' behind the words".
GUISHAN LINGYOU, 沩山灵佑
GUI - NAME OF A RIVER SHAN - MOUNTAIN
LING - EFFECTIVE YOU - PROTECTION
YANGSHAN HUIJI, 仰山慧寂
YANG - UPWARD SHAN - MOUNTAIN
HUI - INTELLIGENT JI - SILENT
Yongjia Xuanjue 永嘉玄覺 d. 665-713
Forever auspicious mysterious awareness