Linji Yixuan
[4] Information on Linji is based on the Línjì yǔlù and other sources like the Zutang ji, Jingde chuan-denglu, Song gaoseng zhuan (Song-dynasty Biographies of eminent monks), and the Tiansheng guang-denglu (Tiansheng-era Extensive record of the transmission).
[6] According to the sources, Linji was born during the Yuanhe era (806–820) into a family named Xing (邢) living in Nanhua (南華), Cao (曹) Prefecture (modern Yanzhou 兖州 in Shandong Province).
According to the Guzunsu yulu (Recorded sayings of the ancient worthies), "After shaving his head and receiving the full precepts, he frequented the lecture halls; he mastered the vinaya and made a thorough study of the sutras and śāstras.
"[9] Yanagida Seizan writes that his teachings indicate that Linji was knowledgeable in the Mahayana sutras and also "show the influence of works of the Huayan 華嚴 (Avataṃsaka) and Weishi 唯識 (“Consciousness-only”; Yogācāra) schools.
Linji's students included Zhaozhou Congshen, Puhua, Sansheng Huiran, Baoshou Yanzhao, Xinghua Cunjiang, Mayu, Longya Judun, Dajue, and Xingshan Jianhong.
[17] After Linji's death, his disciples then cremated him and built a memorial pagoda for the master's remains in the capital of Daming Prefecture.
The Chinese emperor decreed that Linji was to receive the posthumous title "Huizhao Chanshi" (慧照禪師, “Meditation Master of Illuminating Wisdom”).
[2] According to Yanagida Seizan, "Linji died probably in his early or mid-fifties, and thus did not reach the advanced age of many of the illustrious masters of his time.
[18] The three succeeding figures from Nanyuan: Fengxue Yanzhao, Shoushan Shengnian, and Fenyang Shanzhao, all remained in the Yellow river area.
[18] Over time, this tradition became one of the largest and most influential schools of Chan in East Asia, with branches in Japan (Rinzai), Korea and Vietnam.
[23] The standard edition was first included within the massive Tiansheng guangdeng lu by the lay believer Li Zunxu (a student of Guyin Yuncong) in 1036 and it was independently printed in 1120 by Yuanjue Zongyan at Mount Gu in Fuzhou (present-day Fujian).
"[24] In spite of this, Yanagida Seizan still held that the main twenty two sermons in the Línjì yǔlù "provide us with an account of the man and his teaching".
[24] Albert Welter also notes that the earliest fragments of Linji's teachings are found in the Zutang ji, which was compiled in 952.
What these teachings represent are not the words of one man, which are in any case irretrievable, but the combined aspirations of the movement as a whole, projected onto the persona of Linji as founder.
The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen The Linju lu presents Linji as an iconoclastic teacher who used shocking language in vernacular Chinese to disrupt the tendency of his listeners to grasp at concepts such as buddhas, patriarchs, bodhisattvas, stages of practice and levels of attainment.
"[29] While Linji's language may sound extreme, it reflects an attitude which considers grasping at buddhas, bodhi, nirvana, Dharma, and other such related Buddhist concepts, as a kind of delusion.
As Burton Watson observes: The message of Lin-chi's sermons, reiterated with almost wearisome persistence, is that his followers are allowing all this talk of goals and striving, of buddhas and patriarchs, to cloud their outlook and to block the path of understanding.
[32][33] According to Linji, Zen students fail to make spiritual progress because they lack faith in themselves and are thereby "twisted and turned" by whatever environment they encounter.
[38][note 1]Similarly, Linji described the mind as a "single bright essence" (or "one pure radiance", Ch: 一精明) which is formless and penetrates all directions.
According to Welter, all early sources agree that the notion of "the true man with no-rank" (which can also mean "a sage without any location") was a major teaching of Linji.
In the Chuandenglu, for example, Linji says, "within your lump of red flesh there is a true man with no rank, constantly entering and exiting the openings of your face."
"[49][note 3] According to Buswell, faith for Linji was not blind acceptance, but an inherent faculty emanating constantly from the enlightened nature, and was thus equivalent to the "innate functioning" of the mind-essence.
[52] In addition to faith, Linji also emphasized non-seeking and wú shì (無事), a term often translated as "nothing-to-do," but which also has the meaning of no affairs, no concerns, no matters, and no business.
"[55] As Jinhua Jia points out, this recognition of the fundamental value of the human being echoes the teachings of Mazu Daoyi, for whom everyday ordinary activities were the function of buddha-nature.
