1. The First Patriarch Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma (?～536)
Bodhidharma was from India (India). In the first year of Liang Datong (527), he landed in Guangzhou and spread Buddhism in China. Bodhidharma crossed the Yangtze River into the Northern Wei Dynasty, first traveled to Luoyang, and then went to Shaolin Temple, where he meditated on the wall of a cave on Wuru Peak for nine years. Based on Mahayana teachings and integrating Chinese spirit, he founded Zen Buddhism in China and was revered as the first ancestor. Among the many people seeking advice, Bodhidharma chose to pass on the mantle to Huike. In the third year of Tianping in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (536 years), Bodhidharma passed away. He was buried in Xiong'er Mountain and a pagoda was erected in Dinglin Temple.
The Chuandeng Dharma Book: Four Elements Theory, Bloodline Theory, Understanding Theory, Destruction of Appearance Theory, Anxin Dharma Door, Wuxin Theory, Absolute View Theory, and the Seven Gates of Zen Contemplation.
2. Master Huike, the second ancestor
Huike (487-593)
Huike, a monk, is the second ancestor of Chinese Zen. His common surname is Ji, from Hulao (now Rongyang County, Henan). When he was a young Confucian scholar, he read a lot of books and had a good understanding of Lao Zhuang and Zhuang Yi studies. After becoming a monk, he studied the inner scriptures of the Tripitaka intensively. When he was about forty years old, he met Bodhidharma, a Buddhist recluse from India, who was wandering in Songluo (now Songshan, Henan - Luoyang), and he became his teacher. Huike studied with Bodhidharma for six years and studied the purpose of One Vehicle. After Bodhidharma passed away, he kept his reputation in the area near the Yellow River. However, because he had become famous in the capital in his early years, many Taoists visited him and asked him to teach him. He taught his thoughts to everyone at any time, so his reputation was very wide. .
The Dharma Book of Chuan Deng: A brief introduction to the essentials of cultivating the Tao and enlightening one’s mind, and verses to show laymen.
3. Master Sengcan, the third ancestor of Zen Buddhism
Sengcan, the third ancestor of Zen Buddhism (?-606)
Also known as Sengcan, Sengcan, etc. Zen monks of the Sui Dynasty
I don’t know who the third ancestor, Master Sengcan, was. At the beginning, he paid homage to his second ancestor in white clothes. After receiving the teachings from Du, he hid in Wan Gong Mountain in Shuzhou. After Emperor Wu of the Later Zhou Dynasty destroyed Buddhism, his ancestors traveled to Sikong Mountain in Taihu County and lived in an impermanent place for more than ten years. No one at that time could know about it. In the twelfth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, at the age of Renzi, he preached the Dharma and Taoism. Later he moved to Luofu Mountain and traveled there for two years, but he still returned to his old place. After more than a month, scholars and people rushed to the place and set up a large sandalwood offering. The ancestor proclaimed his intention to the four people and concluded with his palms clasped under the big tree of the Dharma Assembly. That is, October 15th, Bingyin, the second year of Emperor Yang’s Daye of the Sui Dynasty. Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was posthumously named Zen Master Jianzhi and the Pagoda of Jueji. Before he became a monk, he suffered from wind disease. Although he was cured later, all his hair fell out and he never recovered. Therefore, Shuzhou people call it Chitou Can.
The Dharma Book of the Dharma: The Inscription of Faith
IV. The Fourth Patriarch Daoxin
The Fourth Patriarch Daoxin (580-651)
His common surname was Sima. He was a native of Hanoi (the seat of governance is Qinyang, Henan Province). He became a monk as a young man and took Seng Can as his teacher. In the 13th year of Daye in the Sui Dynasty (617), he led his disciples to Jizhou (the seat of governance is now Ji'an, Jiangxi Province), and later to Qizhou Huangmei ( In today's northwest of Huangmei, Hubei Province, Potou Mountain (later renamed Shuangfeng Mountain) promoted Bodhidharma's Zen method and established his own style. He refused the call of the Tang Dynasty many times and lived in the mountains for more than thirty years to teach the Dharma, with more than 500 disciples. He taught the Dharma to Hongren and opened the Dongshan Dharma School. There is also a lineage of Falong from Jinling Niutou Chan who came from Daoxin's sect. The Zen method of Bodhidharma was spread to Daoxin, and formed a certain scale, and the thought of Zen method also developed considerably. The teachings of Bodhidharma are the theory of mind and nature in "Lenga", and at the same time, it is integrated into the Liyan of "Prajna" Scan phase, but Bodhidharma did not make a theoretical argument for this. Daoxin further theoretically discussed and developed the combination of Prajna and Lanka. His idea of ??freedom of movement and freedom of movement became the basis of Chinese Zen practice life. Basic attitude.
The Chuan Deng Dharma Book: To enter the Tao with peace of mind, you need to use the convenient method and the French teachings taught by Zen Master Niutou Farong.
5. Master Hongren, the Fifth Patriarch
Hongren (601-674)
Hongren, whose common surname was Zhou, was from Huangmei, Hubei. He was born in the first year of Renshou in the Sui Dynasty ( 601). At the age of seven, he became a monk from the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin (580-651). At the age of thirteen, he was officially ordained as a monk. Under Daoxin's sect, he worked during the day and meditated in meditation at night. Daoxin often tested him with the sudden and gradual purpose of Zen Buddhism. He understood things when he encountered them, and finally obtained Daoxin's Zen method. In the third year of Yonghui's reign (651), Daoxin passed the law on to him. In September of the same year, Daoxin passed away and he inherited the throne. Later generations called him the fifth ancestor of Zen Buddhism.
Because there were so many people coming to study from all over the world, he built another Taoist temple in Fengmao Mountain to the east of Shuangfeng Mountain, named Dongshan Temple. His Zen was called Dongshan Method at that time.
The Dharma Text of Chuan Deng: The Supreme Vehicle
VI. The Sixth Patriarch Huineng
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng
Huineng (638~713 ), a monk from the Tang Dynasty. The Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China. One is Huineng. His common surname was Lu, from Fanyang (now Daxing, Beijing). When he was young, he was exiled to Xinzhou, Lingnan (now Xinxing, Guangdong) with his father. After his father died, he moved to Nanhai with his mother. They lived in poverty and sold firewood for a living. At the age of 24, he received financial support and went north to study. In the first year of Longshuo of Tang Dynasty (661), he visited Hongren, the fifth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, in Huangmei. The Fifth Patriarch ordered his followers to work, chopping firewood and stepping on the hammers for more than eight months. At that time, Hongren was already old and eager to pass on the Dharma, so he ordered his disciples to compose verses to present them. Shi Shenxiu's verse goes: "The body is like a bodhi tree, and the mind is like a mirror stand. I always brush it diligently to prevent it from stirring up dust." Hongren thought that he had not seen his true nature and had not taught him the Dharma. Huineng recited a verse and wrote it on the wall: "Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, so how can it cause dust." Seeing this, Hongren called Huineng to the hall to teach him the Diamond Sutra. ", and passed on the mantle of Dunjiao, and ordered him to return to the south.
After Huineng returned south to Guangdong, he went to Faxing Temple in Guangzhou on the eighth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Yifeng (676). According to "Ji Fa Pagoda Records", when Master Yin Zong was teaching the "Nirvana Sutra" in the temple, "sometimes there was a wind blowing and flags were moving. One monk said: The wind is blowing; another monk said: The flags are moving; Huineng Jin Said: It is not the wind that moves, nor the flags that move, but the heart of a benevolent person." When Yin Zong heard about it, he ordained his hair on the 15th day of the first lunar month and received full ordination on the eighth day of the second lunar month, thus leaving the remains of the hair pagoda.
Huineng’s Dharma is “based on concentration and wisdom”, and he also said that “first establish non-thought as the sect”. The so-called no-mind means that although there is seeing, hearing and awareness, it is always empty and still. About "Epiphany". His explanation is: when one's mind becomes empty from its original self, it is enlightenment. That is to say, when the mind is not dwelling, it is a sudden enlightenment. Now, those who are gradually neutralizing the suddenness are like climbing on several levels of platforms, trying to gradually use the steps, but in the end they will not establish the gradual meaning in the gradual. He also said: There is also a charmer who sits in silence with nothing to think about, claiming to be great. This generation of people cannot be said to be evil because of their wrong views. He also said: "Buddhism is in the world, and it is not separated from the world. Looking for Bodhi after leaving the world is just like looking for a rabbit's horns." The stinging verse not only briefly explains that Zen comes from Prajna, but also lays a theoretical foundation for the development of Zen. The establishment of monasteries by Zen masters of various sects had a great influence.
In the second year of Kaiyuan (713), Huineng died in Guoen Temple, Xinzhou. The disciples of Shao and Guangzhou welcomed Huineng's body to Nanhua Temple in Caoxi and worshiped it to this day.
The text of the Dharma Transmission: The Sixth Patriarch’s Altar Sutra and the Oral Formulas of the Diamond Sutra.
Amitabha!