Cheap Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism: Selected from the Transmission of the Lamp (Book) (Shih. Tao-Yuan) Price

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A fascinating text
The Amazon.com 'blurb' for this book is a trifle vague. This material - translated by Chang Chung Yuan, a modern day Chinese scholar from Taiwan, was taken from the 'Ch'uan Teng Lu' (Jpn. Dentoroku) or 'Records of the 'Transmission of the Lamp,' edited by the Chinese Master Tao-yuan, published circa 1007. <
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> This was the primary source D.T. Suzuki drew on for the Zen anecdotes found in his famous trilogy, and it has been a key source for Chinese Buddhist translators, too (Chang Chung Yuan evidently valued its sources). Lu K'uan Yu (cf. Ch'an and Zen Teachings, Series 2 - much recommended) also drew on Tao-yuan's 'Lamp' sources. So far as we can refer to 'original' Ch'an/Zen sources - in written form, they are to be found here. These are the masters who shaped a whole tradition, their sayings - in fragmentary form, appearing in texts like the Pi-yen Lu (Jpn. Hekiganroku) or 'Blue Cliff Record.' The 'Trans- mission of the Lamp' - presented here, gives us the background sources from which such sayings were culled. It is instructive to digest these sayings in their original context. Modern-day Zen students will probably focus on the chapters dealing with Lin Chi (Jpn. Rinzai), Tung-shan (Jpn. Tozan), Yun-men (Jpn. Ummon), Chao-chou (Jpn. Joshu) etc., although the chapters dealing with earlier masters such as Yung-chia (Jpn. Yoka) ought not to be skipped over, because they show the over-lap between Ch'an/Zen and the Madhyamika influenced T'ien-Tai (Jpn. Tendai) teachings. (The full length Chinese text of the 'Lamp' includes a number of T'ien-t'ai masters, virtually regarded as a branch or sub-sect of Ch'an). <
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> Chang Chung Yuan's translations are for the most part reliable, his introductory discussions, frequently witty. In other respects, however, he seems to be a victim of certain contemporary prejudices. He adopts an almost 'Hegelian' approach to the development of Ch'an or Zen, suggesting that Yung-chia's T'ien-t'ai predilections were not quite up to the mark - or fell short of the later - 'developed' Ch'an, shorn of its more obvious 'Indian' elements, in favour of the uniquely Chinese Ch'an idioms - the prototypical kung-an (Jpn. koan). It is true that the development of Ch'an idioms gave the tradition its distinctive 'flavour' - but, there is no reason to suppose that Yung-chia's enlightenment was any less deep or thorough-going - than that of his successors. By and large, Chinese Buddhists take a more generous view of Yung-chia's teachings - including its T'ien-tai elements. Yung-chia was regarded as an enlightened master by no less than Hui-neng (Jpn. Eno),and the former was able to hold his own - in dialogue with the renowned Patriarch. Yung-chia's writings are studied in Chinese, Japanese and Korean temples to this day. Chang Chung Yuan has left the 'Indian' elements in Yung-chia's teaching less centrally related to Ch'an, than they might have been. By way of compensation, references to the Avatamsaka-sutra influenced Hua-yen (Jpn. Kegon) school, do re-establish the intuitive correspondence between the Chinese Ch'an idioms - and elements of 'Indian' Buddhist thought. Even so, the view of Ch'an/Zen that comes over in the translator's commentarial material, is predominantly that of the 'anti-scriptural' and iconoclastic face - regrettably exaggerated in some Western accounts of the tradition. The translator makes much of well known idioms, such as the saying that " 'ping chang hsin' (the every day mind) is the way" - without telling us much about what Ch'an/Zen practice actually involves. The translations per se - are fine, but they need to be digested in the light of more focused accounts of Ch'an practice. <
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> For centuries, Tao-yuan's 'Transmission of the Lamp' was the earliest collection of Ch'an/Zen records available. An earlier collection - the Tsu T'ang Chi (Jpn. Sodoshu. Kor. Chodang chip)- 'Collected Records from the Ancestors Hall' was effectively lost - for centuries, until woodblock copies of the text were rediscovered at the Haein-sa temple in Korea. Subsequent comparison of these two texts has led to speculation that the 'Tang' sources contained in the 'Lamp' text have been creatively reconstructed - or presented in such a way, to bestow a sense of continuity to the tradition, not apparent in the earlier material - and thus, possibly invented. At the very least, the received scholarly opinion, is that the 'Tang' sources found in the 'Lamp' text have been reshaped by Sung editors. <
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> While not quite the stuff of 'conspiracy theory -there is an element of 'over-kill' in these observations. It may well be that Tao-yuan and other editors 'tightened up' the material at their disposal and gave it more definite form. So what? Tang China wasn't provided with Jumbo jets, express trains or the inter-net. It took many, long years, to collect such Ch'an records - and, therefore, it is hardly surprising that the Tsu Tang Chi was incomplete. Indeed, the editors of the earlier collection acknowledged as much. Modern scholars have made rather much of the claim that Tao-yuan's text was structured to place greater emphasis upon the Ch'an tradition as a 'special transmission outside the scriptures'(chiao-wai pieh-chuan/Jpn. kyoge betsuden. Rediscovery of the 'lost' Tsu Tang Chi - which escaped the attention of later Buddhist editors, also refers to Ch'an as a'special transmission.' On reflection, modern scholars seem prone to worry over-much about such 'problems.' If Tao-yuan's 'Lamp' text was tampered with, to strengthen the position of the Ch'an school - as some would argue, why did the Chinese monk-editors concerned leave the T'ien-tai influences so conspicuously in place? Other masters (e.g. Yung-ming) featured in Tao-yuan's 'Lamp' text, evidently did not see the 'special transmission' (pieh chuan)as antithetical to the sutra-based teachings. Albert Welter deserves credit, for emphasizing this complementary view. Moreover, the Chuan Teng Lu contains Tsung Mi's critique of the perceived dangers associated with the Hung-chou school, the very school likely to be priviliged by the extreme advocates of the 'pieh-chuan'(Jpn. betsuden)or 'special transmission.' Hence, it begs a number of questions to suggest that the Chuan Teng Lu has been 'doctored' in the way proposed. In fact, on close examination, the Chuan Teng is anything but a tidy, doctored text. It has healthy, rough edges, and to my way of thinking, that shows a distinct lack of guile. So far as they go, the records in the Chuan Teng Lu give us the flavour of Ch'an - in its heyday. They are more complete than those of the Tsu Tang Chi, and thus constitute the best source to consult for accounts of Ch'an teaching in the hands of its most able exponents. We ought to remember the time-frame required, to collect such records from temples, scattered throughout the key Ch'an centres of China. Savour these Ch'an sayings - until they have exhausted their purpose. They make excellent spurs for practice. <
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Invaluable Source
This is an invaluable sourcebook for the original teachings of the Chinese schools of Buddhist meditation that eventually gave birth to what we Westerners know as Zen. It contains both original texts and elightening commentaries, and is highly recommended.