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The Five Houses of Chán (also called the Five Houses of Zen) were the five major schools of Chan Buddhism that originated during Tang China. Although at the time they were not considered formal schools or sects of Buddhism, they are now regarded as important schools in the history of Chán Buddhism.
Zen institutions have an elaborate system of ranks and hierarchy, which determine one's position in the institution. Within this system, novices train to become a Zen priest, or a trainer of new novices.
Zen was not introduced as a separate school in Japan until the 12th century when Eisai traveled to China and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which is known in Japan as the Rinzai. In 1215, Dōgen , a younger contemporary of Eisai's, journeyed to China himself, where he became a disciple of the Caodong master Rujing .
Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva sitting in meditation. In Zen Buddhism two main views on the way to enlightenment are discernible, namely sudden and gradual enlightenment.. Early Chán recognized the "transcendence of the body and mind", followed by "non-defilement [of] knowledge and perception", meaning sudden insight into the true nature followed by gradual purification of intentions.
Dumoulin, Heinrich (2005a), Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 1: India and China, World Wisdom Books, ISBN 978-0-941532-89-1; Garfield, Jay (2002), Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-cultural Interpretation, Oxford University Press; Hakuin (2005), The Five Ranks. In: Classics of Buddhism and Zen. The Collected Translations of Thomas Cleary.
Zen developed a rich textual tradition, based on original Zen writings, such as poems, dialogues, histories, and the recorded sayings of Zen masters. Important Zen texts and genres include: Zen "sutras" or "scriptures" (Ch: jīng ) such as the Platform Sutra , a key work in the development and history of Zen. [ 214 ]
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself."
By the time of the Tang dynasty five-hundred years after Buddhism's arrival into China, it had transformed into a thoroughly Chinese religious philosophy dominated by the school of Zen Buddhism. Neo-Confucianism became highly popular during the Song dynasty and Ming dynasty due in large part to the eventual combination of Confucian and Buddhist ...