The Śūraṅgama Sūtra , sudden awakening and gradual cultivation in Chan Buddhism during the Tang and Song periods

ABSTRACTThis article undertakes an indepth examination of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra’s influence on the ideas of sudden awakening and gradual cultivation in Chan Buddhism during the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties. It focuses on the complex relationship between the sūtra and these ideas within the meditation teachings of the Shenxiu Lineage 神秀系 of the Northern School and the Heze Lineage 菏澤系 of the Southern School, conducting detailed analysis of their intellectual history and offering a new exploration of connections between Northern Chan and Heze Shenhui’s 菏澤神會 (684–758) ideas about subitism and gradualism. This article also proposes a new interpretation of Chan Śūraṅgama study from the late Tang to the Song in relation to discussions about sudden awakening and gradual cultivation. It points out differences in meditation teachings between the Song and Tang periods with regard to this question, and on this basis examines how such teachings were Sinicised through the incorporation of Tathāgatagarbha scriptures such as the Śūraṅgama, according to different trajectories of intellectual history.KEYWORDS: Śūraṅgama Sūtrameditationsudden–gradualNorthern Chan Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Sharf, Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism, 312.2. Su, ‘Shu Liu Zihou Dajian chanshi bei hou’, 2084.3. In the opening juan of the Dafoding shoulengyan jing shujie mengchao (X no. 287, 13: 1.504), Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 (1582–1664) wrote, ‘During the Song, there were chancellors and ministers who deeply committed themselves to Buddhist study and explicated the Śūraṅgama, including Wengong [Wang Anshi] and Zhang Guanwen Wujin. Objectively speaking, their commentaries were excellent’ (有宋宰執大臣, 深契佛學, 疏解《首楞[嚴經]》者, 文公與張觀文無盡也. 文公之疏解, 與無盡之海眼, 平心觀之, 手眼具在).4. Da foding rulai miyin xiuzheng liaoyi zhupusa wanxing shoulengyan jing (henceforth Lengyan jing), T no. 945, 19: 10.155. English translation modified from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 461.5. Translator’s note: This term xiqi (also translated as ‘habitual residue,’ ‘karmic habits or imprints,’ ‘habituated behavioural tendencies or dispositions,’ etc.) refers to the patterned effects of karmic habituation or ‘perfumation’ (xunxi 熏習) on the mind both within and across lifetimes, which continue to influence behaviour and thus generate new karmic effects. It has been described as a type of karmic ‘seeds’ or ‘latent potentialities’ (zhongzi 種子; Skt. bīja), or as the trace that remains after a seed has been destroyed. Like seeds, the habit-energies are stored within the ‘storehouse-consciousness’ (alaiyeshi 阿賴耶識; Skt. ālaya-vijñāna), according to the Yogācāra tradition as well as to the Śūraṅgama, which states: ‘From the subtle storehouse-consciousness, the habit-energies can burst forth into a torrent’ (陀那微細識, 習氣成暴流). The sūtra’s English translators explain: ‘Although the eight consciousnesses doctrine of the Consciousness-Only school [i.e. Chinese Yogācāra] is not explicitly taught in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, traditional commentators have found this doctrine to be useful in explaining the meaning of the text. The Consciousness-Only school describes the mind as a system of seven active consciousnesses (vijñāna), all of which develop out of an eighth, the “storehouse consciousness.” The latter is passive and contains the potentials, or “seeds” (bija), for the development and activity of the first seven consciousnesses [i.e. those associated with the sense of self and the six sensory fields, which] are usually experienced as separate and distinct, but these faculties remain fundamentally one’—a unity that the sūtra helps the practitioner to attain through ‘gradual cultivation.’ Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 194 and xxx; original Chinese quotation above from: T no. 945, 19: 5.124.6. Translator’s note: The Śūraṅgama quotation above recurs throughout this article in reference to the gradual removal of karmically conditioned habit-energies through meditation and other types of ‘cultivation.’ (See note on ‘cultivation’ below.) In order to understand the relationship between this quotation, which refers only to the five aggregates, and the removal of their corresponding habit-energies, it is helpful to look at the preceding sentences in the sūtra: ‘Until your six sense faculties [corresponding to the aggregate of consciousness] merge [through the meditation taught in the sūtra] and become interchangeable, you will never be able to put an end to your deluded mental acts. That is why at present this subtle clarity of mind is still bound up with subtle habit-energies associated with sight, sound, tactile awareness [touch, smell, and taste], and mental awareness. … The five aggregates arise in successive layers, beginning with the coming into being of consciousness. Their perishing begins with the ceasing to be of the aggregate of form. One then suddenly awakens to the principle …’ (非汝六根互用合開, 此之妄想無時得滅? 故汝現在見聞覺知中串習幾 … . 此五陰元重疊生起, 生因識有滅從色除, 理則頓悟 … ’). Translation modified from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 460–461; original: Lengyan jing, T no. 945, 19: 10.154–155.7. Lengyan jing, T no. 945, 19: 4.119. Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 141.8. Translator’s note: Throughout this article, ‘cultivation’ (xiu 修; Skt. bhāvanā) usually designates something like ‘meditation’ in the sense of mental training (a term I’ve reserved for translating chanxiu 禪修, literally ‘dhyāna cultivation’). However, ‘cultivation’ is a broader term that also includes other types of Buddhist ‘practice’ (xing 行), ‘training’ (lian 煉), or ‘study’ (xue 學), such as the ‘cultivation of virtuous action’ (xiushan 修善) and ‘cultivation of moral discipline’ (xiujie 修戒). The ‘cultivation of virtuous action’ is discussed in the last section of this article on Song-period Chan masters Yuanwu and Dahui. For Yuanwu, virtuous action constitutes a ‘support for meditation’ (xiushan fuchan 修善扶禪), whereas for Dahui meditation is aimed at ‘supporting action in accordance with the Way’ (fuchi daoye 扶持道業).9. Dafoding Shoulengyan jing shujie mengchao, X no. 287, 13: 1.504.10. For Yinshun’s discussion of the relationship between the Śūraṅgama and early Chan history in particular within his study of Chan history in general, see his Zhongguo Chanzong shi, 126–129. According to the Japanese historian Ibuki Atsushi, the Śūraṅgama’s influence on Chan did not begin to develop until the Song dynasty (Ibuki, Chan de lishi, 15).11. See Gong, Chanshi gouchen, chapter five: ‘Zhongguo Chanzong lishi shang de fangbian tongjing—cong 6 dao 9 shiji’ 中國禪宗歷史上的方便通經——從 6 到 9 世紀 [‘Using Scriptural Interpretation as Expedient Device’ in Chan History from the Sixth to the Ninth Century].12. Yinshun, Zhongguo Chanzong shi, 128.13. According juan six of the Song gaoseng zhuan (T no. 2061, 50: 6.738), ‘It is said that the Śūraṅgama Sūtra was first obtained by Chan Master Shenxiu of Dumen Monastery in Jingzhou when he was inside [the imperial palace], and later transmitted by the monk Huizhen 慧震 (d.u.) of Guantao at Dumen Monastery, where it was encountered and explicated by Weique 惟慤 (fl. eighth century). Later, Dharma Master Hongyan 弘沇 (d.u.) of Sichuan wrote a commentary called the Zizhongshu 資中疏 [Zizhong Commentary]. This text also quoted Huizhen’s earlier commentary, so it contained both contemporary and archaic interpretations. It circulated throughout Sichuan, and more recently it has circulated in Jiangbiao [the area south of the Yangzi River]’ (一說《楞嚴經》初是荊州度門寺神秀禪師在內時得本, 後因館陶沙門慧震於度門寺傳出, 愨遇之著疏解之. 後有弘沇法師者, 蜀人也, 作義章開釋此經, 號資中疏. 其中亦引震法師義例, 似有今古之說. 此岷蜀行之, 近亦流江表焉).14. For details on Qian’s evidence against this legend, see juan one of his Dafoding shoulengyan jing shujie mengchao, X no. 287, 13: 1.520.15. See Hu, ‘Lengyan jing de laili you qi zhong butong de shuofa’ 《楞嚴經》的來歷有七種不同的說法 [There Are Seven Different Theories about the Origin of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra], in Hu Shi xueshu wenji, 564.16. ‘Perhaps students of Puji of the Northern School obtained the text from within [the imperial palace] and transmitted it to Dumen [Monastery], after which [Huizhen of] Guantao visited and obtained it, and then spread the legend that Datong [Shenxiu] had written it’ (或者北宗照寂之徒從內得本, 傳歸度門. 而館陶搜訪得之, 遂訛傳為大通寫本也). Dafoding shoulengyan jing shujie mengchao, X no. 287, 13: 1.520.17. The Lidai fabao ji (T no. 2075, 51: 1) recounts that Baotang Chan borrowed examples from the Śūraṅgama involving ideas such as the rejection of ‘Hīnayāna’ traditions, subduing the demon Māra through meditation, ‘freedom from thought’ or ‘non-conceiving’ (wunian 無念), and the criticism of ‘broad learning’ (duowen 多聞). We will not discuss these in detail here.18. Translator’s note: The Sanskrit term samādhi (Ch. ding 定, sanmoti 三摩提, sanmei 三昧) has been translated as ‘concentration,’ ‘unification of mind,’ ‘stabilization of attention,’ etc., depending on the tradition. In the Eightfold Path, ‘correct samādhi’ appears as one type of meditation alongside ‘correct mindfulness’ (zhengnian 正念; Skt. samyak-smṛti) as another, but in the Threefold Training those two are combined with ‘correct effort’ to form the broader ‘samādhi training’ (dingxue 定學; Skt. samādhi-śikṣa), denoting something like contemplative practices in general. I have therefore used the term samādhi to translate ding throughout this article, rather than choosing among its possible English equivalents. The Sanskrit dhyāna has a similar range of meanings, but in this article its Chinese counterpart chan 禪 is used specifically to designate either: (a) the Chan School; or (b) meditation in general, so I have translated it in one of those two ways. On the four ways the term samādhi is used in the Śūraṅgama, see Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, xlv.19. Han, Chanzong Beizong Dunhuang wenxian lujiao yu yanjiu, 48.20. QTW 231.2334–35.21. Han, Chanzong Beizong Dunhuang wenxian lujiao yu yanjiu, 116–119.22. Ibid., 114.23. Ibid., 165.24. QTW, vol. 262, 2659.25. Han, Chanzong Beizong Dunhuang wenxian lujiao yu yanjiu, 242.26. Dasheng wusheng fangbianmen, T no. 2834, 85: 1275b13–15.27. Dasheng wusheng fangbian men, T no. 2834, 85: 1275b18–20.28. Ibid., 125 and 211.29. Dunwu Dasheng zhengli jue, B no. 195, 35: 835a12–15.30. Translator’s note: Translation from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 255.31. Dunwu Dasheng zhengli jue, B no. 195, 35: 804, 816, 817–835.32. ‘Dazhao chanshi taming’, QTW, vol. 262, 2659.33. In his commentary Lengqie jing jizhu, the monk Zhengshou 正受 (1147–1209) examined the concept of ‘four graduals and four suddens’ (四漸四頓) from juan one of the Liu-Song 劉宋 (424–479) translation of the Lengqie jing, upon which early Chan had been largely based. Zhengshou explained that here ‘gradual’ refers to the ‘purificatory removal of contamination arising in one’s own mind’ (淨除自心現流), corresponding to the work of subduing fetters through training and practice; whereas ‘sudden’ refers to ‘inconceivable wisdom’ (不思議智), insight into the principle after the fetters have been subdued. See Lengqie jing jizhu, 22. On this point, Zongmi 宗密 (780–841) offered a good explanation in juan three of his Yuanjue jing dashu chao (X no. 245, 9: 3c.532): ‘The four graduals at the beginning are limited to cultivation practice, because the realisation of the principle has not yet taken place; the four suddens that follow are therefore limited to the period after the realization of the principle’ (上之四漸, 約於修行, 未證理故; 下之四頓, 約已證理故). In other words, the Lengqie jing’s distinction between gradual and sudden refers to two periods: training and practice prior to awakening to the principle, and sudden awakening. The Lengqie jing is thus inclined toward gradual cultivation followed by sudden awakening.34. ‘According to legend,’ Yinshun writes, ‘the Śūraṅgama was translated at Zhizhi Monastery 制旨寺 in Guangzhou, and Zhidao 志道 (d.u.), who transmitted the Tanjing and especially valued the Southern’s School’s tenets, also came precisely from that city. This is not at all to say that the Śūraṅgama emerged from there, but that the teaching that awakening could be attained directly from the observation of one’s nature was first transmitted to Guangzhou by an Indian monk whose name is not known. (This was a primitive, popular version of the Tathāgatagarbha doctrine linked to Bodhidharma’s Lengqie meditation.) … This meditation teaching, moreover, has been continuously transmitted down to this day in the Guangzhou area’. ——而這一禪法, 在廣州一帶, 還在不斷的流傳. Yinshun, Zhongguo Chanzong shi, 128–29.35. Nanzong dunjiao zuishang Dasheng mohe boreboluomi jing liuzu Huineng dashi yu Shaozhou Dafansi shifa tanjing (henceforth Tanjing), T no. 2007, 48: 1.340.36. Tanjing, T no. 2007, 48: 1.342.37. Ibid., 1.340.38. Ibid., 1.338.39. Ibid., 1.342.40. Hu asserted that Shenhui ‘used sudden awakening to overturn gradual cultivation,’ but that the philosophy of his successor Zongmi proposed that after ‘quiet knowing’ (寂知) it was still necessary to ‘fully align oneself with conditions, practicing all the different gates’ (舉體隨緣, 作種種門)—in other words, that gradual cultivation was necessary after sudden awakening. Hu claimed that the concept of gradual cultivation that Zongmi proposed was a sort of ‘eclectic’ position after Shenhui’s philosophy of sudden awakening, mistakenly inconsistent with the positions of Huineng and Shenhui on the matter. See Hu, ‘Heze Shenhui zhuan’ 荷澤神會傳 [Biography of Heze Shenhui], in Hu Shi xueshu wenji, 345–346.41. Jingde chuandeng lu, T no. 2076, 51: 28.439.42. Gomez, ‘Purifying Gold’, 67–165.43. See ‘Nanyang Heshang wenda zazhengyi’ 南陽和尚問答雜徵義 [The Nanyang Monk’s Question and Answer Examination of Various Points of Doctrine] in Yang, ed. & colla., Shenhui Heshang chanhua lu, 80–81.44. Jingde chuandeng lu, T no. 2076, 51: 28.439c21–25.45. ‘Putidamo Nanzong ding shifei lun’ 菩提達摩南宗定是非論 [Treatise of Deciding the Correct and Wrong (Views) about the Southern Tradition of Bodhidharma] in Yang, ed. & colla., Shenhui Heshang chan hua lu, 30.46. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 1.403.47. Hu, ‘Lengqie zongkao’, in Hu Shi xueshu wenji, 128–129.48. ‘Putidamo Nanzong ding shifei lun’, in Yang, ed. & colla., Shenhui Heshang chan hua lu, 34.49. Hu, ‘Lengqie zongkao’, in Hu Shi xueshu wenji, 127.50. According to juan three of Zongmi’s Yuanjue jing dashu chao (X no. 245, 9: 3c.532), Shenhui ‘First served under [Shen]xiu of the Northern School for three years. After [Shen]xiu was ordered to the imperial court, the former [Shenhui] then sought out the Reverend [Huineng] in Lingnan’ (先事北宗秀三年, 秀奉敕追入, 和尚遂往嶺南和尚).51. The relationship between these two documents and the Northern School was first noticed by Yanagida Seizan in ‘Hokushū zen no ichi shiryō’ (published in 1971) and ‘Hokushū zen no shisō’ (1974). Shortly thereafter, Tanaka Ryōshō conducted a detailed exploration of this relationship in the relevant chapters of Tonkō zenshū bunken no kenkyū (1983) and Tonkō butten to zen (1980, co-edited with Shinohara Hisao). Yanagida and Tanaka both argued that these two documents had been erroneously regarded as Southern School texts, whereas in fact they belonged to the Northern School’s philosophy, expressing the latter’s response after being criticised by Shenhui. One idea they expressed was that the Northern School’s transmission had always involved sudden awakening. John McRae’s work on this topic in The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch’an Buddhism diverged in some respects. For example, Tanaka had believed that the Yaojue was more advanced than the Zhenzong lun with regard to ‘the study of the principle’ (xueli), and that both were probably produced after the Tanyu 壇語 [Platform Sermon] as Northern responses to Shenhui’s criticism. By contrast, McRae argued that the Yaojue was written earlier than the Zhenzong lun, for which it may have been a prototype. Moreover, it was probably produced before the Tanyu and significantly influenced Shenhui’s doctrine of sudden awakening. Since the 1990s, Japanese scholars have uncovered new findings confirming McRae’s hypothesis, especially following the discovery of the ‘Houmochen Dashi shouta ming’ 侯莫陳大師壽塔銘 [Inscription of the Funerary Stūpa for Grand Master Houmochen]. Ibuki Atsushi, for example, has argued that the Yaojue’s author was Houmochen, that he completed it in 712, and that the Zhenzong lun was indeed a revised version of the same text. Shenhui’s doctrine of sudden awakening emerged later, precisely under the influence of these two documents. See Ibuki, ‘Tongo shinshū kanetsuna kanetsuna hannya shugyō tachi higan hōmon yōketsu to Kataku Jinne’, published in 1992. Later, Tanaka updated his account in ‘Jinne tōmei to Kō Ma Kuchin ju tōmei no shutsugen to sono igi’ (1998).52. For example, the Yaojue states, ‘[The word] “without” refers to [a condition where] the mind is completely free from conceptualisation. [The word] “fixed” refers to [a condition where] the mind does not arise. [In the phrase] “should generate states of mind,” “should” means “ought to,” and “generate” means “observe.” Therefore, “should generate states of mind that are not fixed on anything” means “ought to observe the place where nothing is located”’ (一切心無, 是名無/所; 更不起心, 名之為住. 而生其心者, 應者, 當也; 生者, 看也. 當無所處看, 即是而生其心也). See Han, Chanzong Beizong Dunhuang wenxian lujiao yu yanjiu, 266.53. Ibid., 270–271.54. Han, Chanzong Beizong Dunhuang wenxian lujiao yu yanjiu, 245.55. Bernard Faure argued that, following the discovery of these documents, it could be simply put that Shenhui’s doctrine of sudden awakening was ‘plagiarized’ from the Northern School. (Faure, Chan Insights and Oversights, 118.)56. Han, Chanzong Beizong Dunhuang wenxian lujiao yu yanjiu, 54–56.57. ‘Guifeng Chanshi beiming bingxu’, in the QTW, vol. 743, 7692.58. Yuanjue jing lueshu chao, X no. 248, 9: 2.838.59. Translator’s note: This full phrase appears only in Zongmi’s commentary. The term ‘understanding of purity’ (jingjie 淨解) appears once in the Yuanjue jing, and its context helps clarify what Zongmi means by this phrase (in his passage quoted in the next footnote): ‘If practitioners meet a good teacher, the teacher will awaken them to the essence of pure perfect enlightenment. Discovering arising and cessation, they will directly know that this mind’s very nature is that of anxiety. There may be a practitioner who permanently severs that anxiety and experiences the purity of the realm of reality, but who allows his understanding of purity in turn to become a hindrance. This person is tending towards perfect enlightenment but is not perfectly free’ (若遇善友教令開悟淨圓覺性發明起滅, 即知此生性自勞慮. 若復有人勞慮永斷得法界淨, 即彼淨解為自障礙, 故於圓覺而不自在). Translation modified from Muller, Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, 159 (emphasis added); original: Yuanjue jing, T no. 842, 17: 1.917.60. Juan ten of the Yuanjue jing lueshu chao (X no. 248, 9: 10.926) states: What is called ‘the mind that understands purity’ belongs merely to the level of discriminating cognition. As the Dasheng qixin lun says, the ability to understand the words [of the scriptures intellectually], too, is ignorance; growing weary of suffering and yearning for joy belong to the deluded mind. A practitioner at this stage, with the level of enlightenment corresponding to this type of mind, has the attached view described by the [Yuanjue] jing. Since this type of enlightenment is not true, the Dasheng qixin lun classifies it as ‘semblance of enlightenment.’ The [Yuanjue jing lue]shu [圓覺經略疏; Abridged Commentary on the Yuanjue jing] summarises those who have awakened but not yet attained buddhahood, quoting the Śūraṅgama: ‘This text of the second stage of those four wholesome roots is also the appearance before the cultivation of this stage, so one takes it as the object of enlightenment.’ 謂淨解之念亦是粗分別等也, 如論中說能知名義, 亦是無明, 厭苦欣樂是妄心也. 正當此位者, 即此覺異念之覺, 是經中所住之見. 覺此覺非真故, 配為論中相似覺. 疏結地前證覺者, 佛頂經云: 是彼四善根中頂地之文, 亦是地前行相故取為證.61. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 1.399.62. Yuanjue jing dashu chao, X no. 245, 9: 1.472. Translation from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 161.63. Yuanjue jing dashu, X no. 243, 9: 1.353. Translation of Dasheng qixin lun quotation based on Jorgensen, Lusthaus, Makeham and Strange, eds. and trans., Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith, 117, modified to reflect the substitution of 唯 for 雖 in the version cited here, along with terminological changes for consistency.64. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 1.402. Translation modified from Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 118–19.65. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 2.408. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 154.66. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 2.407. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 151.67. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 2.407; Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 150.68. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 2.407. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 151.69. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 2.407. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 151.70. Yuanjue jing dashu chao, X no. 245, 9: 3. 535.71. Chanyuan zhu quanji duxu, T no. 2015, 48: 1.402. Translation modified from Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 121.72. Zhonghua chuanxindi Chanmen shizi chengxitu, X no. 1225, 63: 33. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, 84.73. Zhonghua chuanxindi Chanmen shizi chengxitu, X no. 1225, 63: 35.74. Yuanjue jing dashu chao, X no. 245, 9: 3a.518.75. Yuanjue jing dashu chao, X no. 245, 9: 3.535.76. See Gong, Song-Ming Lengyan xue yu Zhongguo Fojiao de zhengtongxing, 33–47.77. Song gaoseng zhuan, T no. 2061, 50: 12.782.78. The Jingde chuangdeng lu, T no. 2076, 51: 18b.344, also states that he ‘studied the Śūraṅgama and illuminated the mind-ground, through which the response to circumstances was quick and agile, in profound agreement with the scripture. However, there were many aspects of the profound teachings that the students could not yet penetrate, so it was necessary to seek further guidance’ (閱《楞嚴經》發明心地, 由是應機敏捷與修多羅冥契, 諸方玄學有所未決必從之請益).79. Da foding shoulengyan jing shujie mengchao, X no. 287, 13: 1.503.80. Those four sequences were: ‘(1) gradual cultivation followed by sudden awakening; (2) sudden awakening followed by gradual cultivation; (3) gradual cultivation followed by gradual awakening; (4) sudden awakening followed by sudden cultivation’ (一漸修頓悟, 二頓悟漸修, 三漸修漸悟, 四頓悟頓修). Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 36b.626.81. Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 36.626.82. Ibid., 88.898. Translation modified from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 393.83. Translator’s note: According to the author, this probably refers to a lost Tang-period commentary by Dharma Master Weique.84. Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 17.504. Translation of Śūraṅgama quotation modified from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 194.85. Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 24.554.86. Ibid., 18.511.87. Ibid., 9.462. Translation of Śūraṅgama quotation modified from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 13.88. Translator’s note: Yanshou’s quotation is missing the second half of the original sentence from the Śūraṅgama (性火真空, 性空真火), which reverses the formulation and is probably implied (although the following lines suggest he may be reading the first half in isolation, which could also be interpreted as ‘fire and the nature [of all sentient beings] are both empty, in reality’). As for the ‘ancient explanation’ that Yanshou paraphrases next, the only place where fire is mentioned in the Dasheng qixin lun is the following passage, which provides one plausible way to understand what Yanshou means here:Only when replete with causes and conditions can the dharmas of the buddhas be brought to maturity. It is like the combustible nature of wood being the direct cause of fire. If there is no one who knows this, then people will have no recourse to the means necessary [to ignite the wood] – and it is impossible that the wood will be able burn by itself. It is just the same with sentient beings. Even though they may possess the power of habituation by the direct cause [of suchness], it will be impossible for them to eliminate afflictions or enter nirvana by themselves unless they encounter buddhas, bodhisattvas, or good teachers and use them as conditions’ (translation modified from Jorgensen, Lusthaus, Makeham and Strange, eds., Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith, 97–98) 諸佛法有因有緣, 因緣具足乃得成辦. 如木中火性是火正因, 若無人知, 不假方便能自燒木, 無有是處. 眾生亦爾, 雖有正因熏習之力, 若不值遇諸佛菩薩善知識等以之為緣, 能自斷煩惱入涅槃者, 則無是處 (Dasheng qixin lun, T no. 1666, 32: 1.578).89. Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 69.806. Translation of Śūraṅgama quotation from Buddhist Text Translation Society, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 123.90. Translator’s note: The author believes this also refers to the lost Tang-period commentary by Weique mentioned above.91. Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 25.560.92. The ‘initial enlightenment’ described in the Dasheng qixin lun involved a gradual awakening process progressing through stages from ‘non-enlightenment’ (bujue 不覺) to ‘semblance of enlightenment,’ ‘partial enlightenment’ (suifenjue 隨分覺), and ‘final enlightenment.’ Only after arriving at this last stage could one complete the sudden awakening of ‘accordance [with inherent enlightenment or suchness] in a single thought-moment.’ This was the stage of ‘non-conceiving’ or ‘freedom from thought’ (wunian 無念), arrived at by ‘fulfilling the skilful means’ (manzu fangbian 滿足方便), i.e. undergoing the different expedient processes of gradual cultivation. Only after arriving at the stage of ‘final enlightenment’ could one [discover that] ‘there is really no difference from initial enlightenment’ (實無有始覺之異), i.e. differences among its various processes – [thus realising] pure inherent enlightenment. This was a type of sudden awakening achieved through gradual cultivation. See the Liang version of the Dasheng qixin lun, T no. 1666, 32: 576.93. Lü, ‘Lengyan bai wei’, 370.94. The ‘Huike zhuan’ 慧可傳 [Biography of Huike] records a ‘prophecy’ by Huike 慧可 (487–593) about the Lengqie jing’s transmission: ‘Each time [Hui]ke completed his talks on the [Lengqie meditation] method, he would comment, “After four generations, this sūtra will become [reduced to a topic of training in] “the names and forms”. What a pity!’ (每可說法竟, 曰: 此經四世之後, 變成名相, 一何可悲). Xu gaoseng zhuan, T no. 2060, 50: 16.552.95. Jiatai pudenglu, X no. 1559, 79: 22.423.96. Lengyan jing shujie mengchao, X no. 287, 13: 1.504.97. Nansong-Yuan-Ming Chanlin sengbao zhuan, X no. 1562, 79: 5.606.98. Jitai pudeng lu, X no. 1559, 79: 22.376.99. Translator’s note: The term translated as ‘misread’ here, duancuo, specifically means to guess incorrectly where sentences and phrases should begin or end, and thus completely change the meaning. This must have occurred frequently, since Chinese writing had no punctuation at the time (other than characters signifying the beginning of a quotation, the end of an interrogative or exclamatory phrase, etc.). Scriptural expertise, such as that practiced by Anmin, thus entailed the ability to discern the sentences’ intended grammatical structure. The idea suggested here is that a hermeneutical mistake could function as an expedient device, leading to sudden insight beyond the words on the page.100. Dahui Pujue Chanshi yulu, T no. 1998A, 47: 905.101. Ibid., 940.102. On Song-period ‘Nothing-to-Do Chan’ and its criticism by Linji School adherents such as Yuanwu and Dahui, see Tsuchiya, Beisong Chanzong sixiang jiqi yuanyuan, first section of chapter five.103. Nansong-Yuan-Ming Chanlin sengbao zhuan, X no. 1562, 79: 12.638.104. See Tsuchiya, Beisong Chanzong sixiang jiqi yuanyuan, 227–234.105. Jiatai pudenglu, X no. 1559, 79: 11.359. Translator’s note: According to the author, the identity of the Minxing mentioned here is currently unknown.106. Foguo Keqin Chanshi xinyao, X no. 1357, 69: 2.474.107. Dahui Pujue Chanshi yulu, T no. 1998A, 47: 14.868.108. Ibid., 25.920.109. Dahui Pujue Chanshi yulu, T no. 1998A, 47: 22.903.110. Ibid., 24.912b26–c2.111. Ibid., 24.912.112. Translator’s note: The author explains that ‘in contrast with the style of Crazy Chan’s downplaying of practice’ this phrase aimed to ‘emphasise the need after awakening to consummate cultivation and action in accordance with the Way through the myriad practices of the Six Perfections, thereby upholding the Chan School’s style and preventing it from declining.’113. Chinese and international historians of Chan disagree about the specific intellectual characteristics of these two currents within the early school. See Gong, Chanshi gouchen, chapter 5.