Baizhang Huaihai

This article deals with the Buddhist Zen master, for other meanings see Baizhang, Fujian .

Baizhang Huaihai ( Chinese  百丈 懷 海 , Pinyin Bǎizhàng Huáihái , W.-G. Pai-chang Huai-hai ; Japanese Hyakujō Ekai , * 720; † 814) was a Chinese Zen master (Chan) at the time of the Tang Dynasty . It was in the Dharma tradition of Mazu Daoyi . His students included Huangbo Xiyun , Linji Yixuan, and Zhenzhou Puhua .

Monk rule

The tradition attributes to Baizhang the introduction of rules for Chinese Zen monks, the Pure Rules of Baizhang ( Chinese  百丈 清 規 , Pinyin Bǎizhàng qīngguī , W.-G. Pai-chang ch'ing-kuei ). Korean 백장 청규 The rule consisted of a modification of the Vinayapitaka and was first used in the monastery Ta-chih shou-sheng ch'an-ssu (Dazhi Shousheng Chan-si; Jp. Daichijusho-zenji), which Baizhang had founded. Unfortunately no text has survived. The innovation mainly consisted of a meditation hall that would later become typical of the school of Chán:

"During the times of ascetic practice, the monks slept on the same straw mat on which they sat for meditation and on which they ate their meals according to a precisely defined ritual. Both this practice, which was formulated by Pai-chang, and that The architecture of the monastery became the model for later Zen monasteries. "

According to other views, the rules were developed much later. This is how Taixu and Hsu Yun see it among others .

Because the Zen monks were farming, they could survive the Great Buddhist Persecution under Tang Wuzong more easily than other schools that were more dependent on alms. The rules are still used today in many Zen monasteries. Among other things, the famous phrase "A day without work is a day without food" is part of its inventory. (一日 不做 一日 不 食).

to teach

Baizhang's teachings and sayings were translated into Sayings and Doings of Pai-Chang by Thomas Cleary . Baizhang is also ascribed the gong to " Wild Fox ".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 《百丈 清 规》 初探
2. ↑ 不 立 佛殿 ， 唯 樹 法堂 －－ 唐代 叢林 的 生活 規範 & Dumoulin 2005a: 170.
3. ↑ 백장 청규
4. ↑ Poceski 2010: 19.
5. ↑ During periods of ascetic practice the monks would sleep on the same straw mat on which they sat in meditation and on which, according to defined ritual, they took their meals. Both the lifestyle Pai-chang spelled out as well as the architectural form of his monastery became models for later Zen monasteries. Dumoulin 2005a: 171.
6. ↑ 论 人间 佛教 的 现代 品格
7. ↑ 虛雲 和尚 法 彙 - 規約
8. ^ Cleary 1978.
9. ↑ Every time Baizhang, Zen Master Dahui, gave a dharma talk, a certain old man would come to listen. He usually left after the talk, but one day he remained. Baizhang asked, "Who is there?" The man said, "I am not actually a human being. I lived and taught on this mountain at the time of Kashyapa Buddha. One day a student asked me, 'Does a person who practices with great devotion still fall into cause and effect? ' I said to him, 'No, such a person doesn't.' Because I said this I was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. Reverend master, please say a turning word for me and free me from this wild fox body. " Then he asked Baizhang, "Does a person who practices with great devotion still fall into cause and effect?" Baizhang said, "Don't ignore cause and effect." Immediately the man had great realization. Bowing, he said, "I am now liberated from the body of a wild fox. I will stay in the mountain behind the monastery. Master, could you perform the usual services for a deceased monk for me?" Baizhang asked the head of the monks' hall to inform the assembly that funeral services for a monk would be held after the midday meal. The monks asked one another, "What's going on? Everyone is well; there is no one sick in the Nirvana Hall." After their meal, Baizhang led the assembly to a large rock behind the monastery and showed them a dead fox at the rock's base. Following the customary procedure, they cremated the body. That evening during his lecture in the dharma hall Baizhang talked about what had happened that day. Huangbo asked him, "A teacher of old gave a wrong answer and became a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. What if he hadn't given a wrong answer?" Baizhang said, "Come closer and I will tell you." Huangbo went closer and slapped Baizhang's face. Laughing, Baizhang clapped his hands and said, "I thought it was only barbarians who had unusual beards. But you too have an unusual beard!" Kazuaki Tanahashi (ed.): Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dōgen, Boston: Shambhala Publications 1999: 263-64.

literature

• Heinrich Dumoulin: Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 1: India and China. World Wisdom Books 2005a. ISBN 9780941532891 .
• Shōhei Ichimura: The Baizhang Zen monastic regulations. Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2006. ISBN 1-886439-25-7 .
• Mario Poceski: Monastic Innovator, Iconoclast, and Teacher of Doctrine: The Varied Images of chan Master Baizhang. In: Steven Heine; Dale S. Wright (ed.), Zen Masters. , Oxford University Press 2010.
• Yifa: The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Chanyuan qinggui. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press 2004. Review by Jiang Wu