Sengcan
Sengcan ( Chinese 僧璨 , Pinyin Sēngcàn , W.-G. Seng-ts'an ; Japanese僧 燦, Sosan ; † 606 ) was the third patriarch of the Chan in China .
According to legend, Sengcan had leprosy and was therefore initially rejected by Huike and finally accepted as a student with the argument that the highest path made no difference.
Sengcan is considered to be the author of the first didactic poem in the tradition of Chan (Zen), Xinxinming ( 信心 銘 , Xìnxīn míng ), the "inscription of trust in the mind", (Japanese Shinjinmei ). In these verses Sengcan tries to express the entire Zen doctrine in one poem. The emphasis is on non-duality and the distance from aversion and affection and the turning away from the separation of past, present and future. Xinxinming is an example of the integration of the teachings of Buddhism and Daoism .
Web links
- Literature by and about Sengcan in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sengcan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jianzhi Sengcan; 鑑 智 僧璨; Kanchi Sosan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | 3. Patriarch of Chan, 2. Successor of Bodhidharma |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 526 |
| DATE OF DEATH | at 606 |