RG ST 21 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Shenhui, Huineng, Nanquan
Document Summary
Following huineng and shenhui, famous masters founded branches of chan in the tang dynasty (618-907) including: Each has a type of zen that they illustrate. The lineage traces back to the sixth patriarch huineng. Southern school-emphasized instant enlightenment, iconoclastic attitude towards. Little is heard from ns after triumph of ss. The tension that begins between suspicion towards language and texts but also the use of these as a medium to communicate. Described as an intuitive method-nonconceptual feeling or experience, aimed at discovering the reality of self. This reality is the fundamental unity which pervades the world. This reality is called (cid:522)mind(cid:523) or (cid:522)buddha-nature(cid:523) present in all sentient beings. This reality is (cid:522)empty(cid:523) sunya), inexpressible, and inconceivable. Chan masters often resort to silence or negation to illustrate this. Reality or buddha-nature only apprehended by intuition directly, completely, and instantly. To apprehend it, one must calm the mind and have no conscious thought.
