Zen Masters Of China. Richard Bryan McDaniel
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Название: Zen Masters Of China
Автор: Richard Bryan McDaniel
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Здоровье
isbn: 9781462910502
isbn:
This is not a work of scholarship, but one academic issue needed to be addressed early in the process of writing. Although Zen originated in China, it comes to North America and Europe as a Japanese tradition. Educated Japanese can read Chinese characters, but they do not pronounce them as the Chinese do. To confuse matters further, the way in which the Chinese pronunciations are rendered into the Roman alphabet has undergone a recent change. The name of the individual who originated the koan that is often first presented to Zen students (the same individual who asked the new monk if he had eaten yet) is written
Because the Japanese and Wade-Giles romanizations are often more familiar to actual practitioners of Zen, my original inclination had been to give all names in their Japanese forms, which would also have allowed consistency throughout the three volumes of stories. On reflection, this seemed inappropriate, and so I follow current usage and give them in the Pinyin form. In the appendix, however, I provide a table in which the names are presented in all three forms.
I have chosen, however, to retain the more familiar Japanese forms for other terms that come from these original languages. So the tradition is called Zen, not Ch’an [Wade-Giles] or Chan [Pinyin]. Where appropriate, I will first introduce a term in Chinese (gongan) followed by the Japanese form (koan), which will then become the usual form in the text.
Finally, Zen is, above all, a practice. These stories may lead one to the practice, as they did me, but on their own they do not provide the necessary instruction. For those readers who are interested in the actual practice of Zen, I recommend either Albert Low’s Zen Meditation: Plain and Simple (originally published as An Invitation to Practice Zen) or Robert Aitkin’s Taking the Path of Zen. Both are admirable for their clarity and brevity.
“Why did the First Patriarch come east?”
Zen Masters
of China
Prologue in India
The story goes that one day the Buddha’s disciples were gathered at the Bamboo Grove to listen to one of his dharma talks. Dharma is a word with several meanings. At times it simply means “phenomenon” or the way things are, the laws governing existence. When used in Buddhist texts, however, it usually refers to the general content of the Buddha’s teachings.
Among the disciples gathered that day was one named Kasyapa. To distinguish him from another disciple with the same name, he came to be known as Mahakasyapa or the “Great Kasyapa.” Mahakasyapa was the son of the richest man in the kingdom of Magadha, located in what is now the northeastern corner of India. His father’s wealth was so great that it exceeded that of the king. But wealth alone does not necessarily bring contentment or security.
Mahakasyapa was drawn to religious life after waking one morning to find a poisonous snake creeping along the bed beside his wife. Mahakasyapa froze in terror, unable to brush the serpent away for fear that if he startled it, it would bite his wife and cause her death. When at last the snake moved off the bed, onto the floor, and out of the bedchamber, Mahakasyapa woke his wife and told her of the danger in which they had been. The two of them were sensitive and reflective individuals, and the incident made them ponder the fragile nature of human life. It became clear to Mahakasyapa that he should look for a teacher who would help him understand the significance of life. So he sought out the Buddha, who accepted him as a pupil.
Those who gathered about the Buddha were referred to as the sangha. They lived collectively, following a strict discipline that included the practice of dhyana, or meditation. Kasyapa adapted to sangha life easily.
On the day in question, the disciples who gathered to listen to the Buddha probably expected him to discuss one of the many themes he returned to time and again—such as the origin of suffering and the path to freedom from suffering, or the chain of causation, or the doctrine of impermanence. However, on this occasion, instead of speaking the Buddha simply sat before the assembled monks and twirled a flower between his fingers. Some disciples shifted in their seats uneasily, some felt impatient, others wondered if there were some hidden significance in the Buddha’s silence; but Mahakasyapa smiled—even though, it is said, he attempted to control his expression because it was, after all, a solemn occasion.
The Buddha noticed that smile and finally spoke: “I have the eye of the true teaching,” he told the assembly, “the heart of nirvana—or liberation—the true aspect of no-form, the unquestionable dharma. Today I have passed these on to Mahakasyapa.”
Buddha is not a name but rather a title meaning “the awakened one.” The man now known as the Buddha had been a prince named Siddhartha Gautama. At his birth, astrologers predicted that he would either grow up to become a great secular or great religious leader. His father, King Suddhodana, naturally hoped the boy would succeed him on the throne, so he tried to shield his son from those sorrows that often draw people to the religious life.
The child was raised in luxury and seclusion. The accounts of his early life insist that he had no contact with sickness, old age, or death until he was nearly thirty years old, by which time he was already married and his wife was pregnant.
However, the ease and privileges of his life had eventually begun to pall, and he grew curious about what life was like beyond the grounds of the palace. So one day he ordered his charioteer, Channa, to take him to see the kingdom he was to inherit. On that first outing, they encountered an old man. The prince stared at him in wonder, then turned to Channa and asked:
“Tell me, Channa, what kind of being is that over there, moving so slowly and with such great effort? Can it be a man? He does not look like other men I have seen. His hair is sparse and white, unlike that of other men. His skin is wrinkled and hangs loosely on his neck and arms, unlike that of other men. His mouth is sunken, and he appears to lack the teeth of other men. His back is stooped, and he supports himself on that stick, unlike other men. His movements are halting, and his limbs quiver, unlike those of other men. What kind of being, O Channa, is he?”
“Prince, he is only a man like yourself who has grown old and frail with the passing of the years.”
“Is it perhaps, Channa, that only this man is subject to this deterioration of age, or are all men so subject?”
“All men, my Prince, are subject to the deterioration of their powers and faculties as they grow older. Even you, sir.”
Distressed by this information, Prince Siddhartha ordered Channa to return to the palace. But not long after, he felt compelled to go out into the kingdom once again. On this occasion, they encountered a man sick with fever, emaciated but with a swollen belly, covered with flies, and soiled by his own filth.
“What kind of being, O Channa,” Prince Siddhartha asked the charioteer, “is that over there? Surely his body is not like that of other men. His shaking and sweating are not like the behavior of other men. The moans and incomprehensible sounds proceeding from his mouth are not like the words СКАЧАТЬ