The Chan School points directly to the human mind and brings sudden awakening to Buddhahood; its encounters of wit let people skilled at argumentation study it with exhilarating satisfaction, with a feeling of the road turning amid the peaks, of sudden illumination, and of coming back from the dead. Watching the Chan patriarchs of old scold the Buddha and revile the patriarchs, discuss emptiness and speak of existence, keep the precepts within their minds, and leave no trace — this once seemed to someone like me, who loves freedom and is not bound by trifles, so admirable that I pounded the table in delight and immediately chose to study the Dharma door of the Chan School. Little did I know that once I stepped inside, I would learn that studying the Chan School requires care and caution at every step; with the slightest inattention, one falls either into one-sided emptiness or into existence. Without Chan Master Shenxiu’s “constantly wipe it diligently, and never let it gather dust,” it is very difficult to fully comprehend the state of the Sixth Patriarch’s “originally there is not a single thing — where could dust gather?” Therefore sudden awakening must always be combined with gradual cultivation, and one must have the skill of Chan contemplation. That the Chan patriarchs of old did not talk about states or cultivated skill does not mean they had no states and no cultivated skill; many of the huatou and gong’an, though on the surface they discuss the view, are in fact entirely about the states and cultivated skills of meditative concentration. Without real experiential attainment, your responses in encounters of wit will certainly not be on the mark.
Chan Buddhism engages directly with original nature, entering straight into the tiger’s den, so to speak. Through its cultivation and realization, profound insights surge like wave upon wave; thus, those possessed of great courage, resolve, and superior spiritual capacity ought to choose the path of Chan. (I say this merely as an advertisement for Chan.)
1 thought on “9. I Like the Chan School”