Records of the Transmission of the Lamp

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Ron Pavellas

I have the first three volumes of this 30-volume work, “consisting of putative biographies of the Chan (or Zen) patriarchs and other prominent Buddhist monks. It was produced in the Song dynasty by Shi Daoyuan.” (Wikipedia). The “Lamp” in the title refers to the Dharma, the teachings of Buddhism.

Volumes 1 to 3 are devoted to the history of Indian Buddhism; the history of Buddhism in China starts with Bodhidharma in volume 4; Volume 5 recounts the elevation of the sixth Chinese Patriarch, Huineng, and his teachings. I have just ordered these last two volumes.

Bodhidharma, Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1887

Bodhidharma is the first Patriarch of Chan in China, and he is also the last of the 28 Indian Buddhist patriarchs. Bodhidharma traveled to China to introduce the Way of Gautama Buddha, the first ‘Enlightened One’ in India *(See Footnote).

Throughout (the Records) the standard question asked by many monks is, ‘What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West,– meaning, ‘What is the meaning of Buddhism coming to China’ or, philosophically, ‘what is the purpose of Buddhism?’ (from the introductory ‘The Basic Structure of ‘The Records’).

The ’lamp’ continued to pass, sequentially, through other patriarchs until there was a split into two perceptions of how one may attain enlightenment. The Sixth Patriarch, Huineng, asserted that there is a way other than endless readings of the Dharma and the performance of ‘Zazen’ (sitting contemplation). He himself achieved enlightenment “suddenly.”

… on the next day, the (fifth) Patriarch secretly went to Huineng’s room and asked, “Should not a seeker after the Dharma risk his life this way?” Then he asked, “is the rice ready?” Huineng responded that the rice was ready and only waiting to be sieved. The Patriarch secretly explained the Diamond Sutra to Huineng, and when Huineng heard the phrase “one should activate one’s mind so it has no attachment,” he was “suddenly and completely enlightened, and understood that all things exist in self-nature. The Dharma was passed to Huineng at night, when the Patriarch transmitted “the doctrine of sudden enlightenment” as well as his robe and bowl to Huineng. He told Huineng, “You are now the Sixth Patriarch. Take care of yourself, save as many sentient beings as you can, and spread the teachings so they will not be lost in the future.”

Liang Kai, The Sixth Patriarch Cutting the Bamboo, Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD)

… Most of what we know about Huineng comes from the Platform Sutra, which consists of the record of a public talk that includes an autobiography of Huineng, which was a hagiography, i.e. a biography of a saint portraying him as a hero… The Sutra became a very popular text to be circulated around, attempting to increase the importance of this exclusive lineage of Huineng. As a result, the account might have been altered over the centuries. Shenhui (685-758) was the first person to claim that Huineng was both a saint and a hero. As a result of this contested claim, modifications were made to the Platform Sutra… (Wikipedia)

Despite questions about who said what, when, and for what purpose, we find this on the website of the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia:

… during the Chinese Tang Dynasty, the 6th Chinese Chan Patriarch, Hui-neng (638-713 C.E) founded the Sudden School of Chan Buddhism which paved (the way) for the subsequent development of Chan/Zen Buddhism in modern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and in the west today… The Buddha-nature, an Ultimate Truth, is discerned when the insubstantiality or selflessness of person, and that of all phenomena, are intuited or insightfully perceived. All forms of substantialism are rejected. The sharpness of Sudden teaching is that the Ultimate Truth is perceived directly instead of the conventional gradual method of progressive cultivation…

Many of us in the West have grown to respect and admire Buddhism but find it mysterious. It is not logical.

Yes.

*Footnote: Upon reading further since this posting I find that Gautama Buddha (AKA Shakyamuni or Siddhartha) was the 4th Buddha of this kalpa (era). Nonetheless, he is the Buddha after whom all other Indian Buddhas are counted, Nos. 1-28, the last being the first Patriarch of Chinese Buddhism, namely Bohidharma.

Posted in Buddhism, Chan, Dharma, Sudden Enlightenment, Zen | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

FACTS!

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Ron Pavellas

We see headlines daily, to the effect of— Russia! China! The European Union! The USA! (or, “America!”) These and a few other nations are major players in the world’s economy, and holders of power concomitant with their economic strength, as measured by Gross Domestic Product. (I admit there are other important strengths attributable to any given nation, but these are not as easily measurable.)

Here are ‘facts’ for the most populous nations of the world, the fourteen that each contain over one hundred million people. But, right away, I and the reader have a problem in that one of these ‘nations’ is the European Union. You will have your own opinion as to whether the EU belongs in this list.

These fourteen entities (40, if you count each of the 27 members of the European Union) comprise around two-thirds of the world’s population, so I assert that what happens in and by these nations is vitally important to the remaining 159 countries which are listed in the World Factbook of the Central Intelligence Agency of the USA, the source of my information.

What a trove! The reader can select the items of his or her interest to ponder; I note these:

  • China and India together contain slightly more than one-third of the earth’s human population. They have an extensive common border with a few small countries wedged between them in the Himalaya Mountain Range. These two countries have tense relations over boundaries, and over the fact that India gives refuge to the Dalai Lama, the leader-in-exile of Tibetan Buddhists of the former administrative region of Tibet, of the Republic of China (before it became the ‘People’s Republic of China’).
  • The EU and the USA hold around 10% of the world’s population. They have  the highest ratio of Gross Domestic Product per person in the world, by far.
  • Not many in the West are aware that Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world; we don’t get much news about Indonesia in Europe and North America.
  • The median age in the EU, Japan, and Russia are all 40 years or more. The USA and China are not far behind at 38.5.and 38.4.  These are aged nations, compared to a median age of 31 years for the world, and the even more youthful nations of Nigeria, Bangladesh, Philippines, Egypt, and Mexico.
  • Japan and Russia have a small, negative population growth rate. That is, their populations are slowly shrinking, currently. Japan has no net migration, but Russia has a comparatively large net migration of +1.7 persons per thousand population. I believe the largest part of this in-migration is due to ethnic Russians migrating from nations which were formerly part of the Soviet Union.
  • Nine of the fourteen countries have a negative net migration; that is, more people leave the country than arrive from other countries. The only countries to which more people want to arrive to than leave are: the EU, the USA–and Russia, as noted in the previous bullet.

What about Gross Domestic Product? See here:

“The definition of a third world country has evolved from the political meaning during the Cold War to the economic meaning of today.” (Source)

The reader will readily note that I have assigned the “Economic Tier Number” of #1.5 to Russia. I believe it is a telling fact that the GDP of Russia is well below the USA, Japan, and the EU, even though Russia gives the general impression, by its international behavior, that it is in the top tier.

Another telling fact is that China, despite its almost constant presence in the headlines, world-wide corporate offices, and halls of governments, is, economically, a second-tier country. It should be remembered that approximately two-thirds of China’s population are the peasantry, not the city-dwellers we see in the news reports. The GDP per person in China is heavily weighted toward the city-dweller, leaving the peasant at the level of “third-world” countries.

I will leave my discussion here, hoping you will find other points of interest which you might share with the reader in the comments section.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Demography, Economics, Gross Domestic Product | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments