ZEN PATRIARCHS (RINZAI LINE BEGINS WITH LIN-CHI)

• Buddha (563-484 B.C)
• Mahakashyapa
• Ananda . . . (27 Indian Patriarchs)
• Bodhidharma (470-543)
• Hui-k'o
• Seng-ts'an
• Tao-hsin
• Hung-jen
• Hui-neng (638-713)
• four patriarchs
• Huang Po (Obaku) (?-850)
• Lin-chi (Rinzai Gigen) (?-866)
• 33 masters
• Shoju Rojin (1642-1721)
• Hakuin Ekaku (19 Jan 1686 - 18 Jan 1769)

SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM

BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI (563-484 B.C)

• awakened one
• tathagatha
• thus gone one
• thus perfected one

BODDHISATVAS

• in Sanskrit, lit. , “enlightenment being”
• one who practices the perfect virtues (paramita) including
• wisdom (prajna)
• compassion (karuna)

FOUR GREAT BODHISATTVA'S VOWS

• The sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all;
• Greed, hatred, and ignorance rise endlessly, I vow to abandon them;
• Dharma gates are countless, I vow to wake to them;
• The Buddha's way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it fully.

TOREI ZENJI: BODHISATTVA'S VOW (see also here)

When I regard the true nature of the many dharmas,
I find them all to be sacred forms of the Tathagata's never-failing essence.
Each particle of matter, each moment, is no other than the Tathagata's inexpressible radiance.
With this realization, our virtuous ancestors gave tender care to beasts and birds with compassionate minds and hearts.
Among us, in our own daily lives, who is not reverently grateful for the protections of life:
food, drink, and clothing! Though they are inanimate things, they are nonetheless the warm flesh and blood, the merciful incarnations of Buddha.
All the more, we can be especially sympathetic and affectionate with foolish people,
particularly with someone who becomes a sworn enemy and persecutes us with abusive language.
That very abuse conveys the Buddha's boundless loving-kindness.
It is a compassionate device to liberate us entirely from the mean-spirited delusions
we have built up with our wrongful conduct from the beginningless past.
With our open response to such abuse we completely relinquish ourselves,
and the most profound and pure faith arises.
At the peak of each thought a lotus flower opens, and on each flower there is revealed a Buddha.
Everywhere is the Pure Land in its beauty.
We see fully the Tathagata's radiant light right where we are.
May we retain this mind and extend it throughout the world
so that we and all beings become mature in Buddha's wisdom.

SCHOOLS OF ZEN BUDDHISM

BODDHIDHARMA (The First Patriarch of Ch'an)

“What is the merit of building monasteries,” asked the emperor Wu-ti.
“No merit,” answered Bodhidharma.
“But what is the most sacred truth of Buddhism.”
the vast emptiness shunyatta and nothing sacred.”
“But then, who are you?”
“I do not know.”

As a result Boddhidharma was sitting in zazen for “nine years in front of the wall”

SATORI / KENSHO / ANNUTARA-SAMYAK-SAMBODHI

• awakening
• knowing
• intuitive looking into

As opposed to (but not excluding) intellectual understanding

"If you are not there even for an instant, you are just like a dead person."

NIRVANA / EXTINCTION

Eextinguishing of greed . . . ignorance . . . hatred . . .

ZEN

• A special transmission outside the scriptures;
• Not depending on words or letters;
• Directly pointing at one's mind;
• Seeing into one's true nature and the attainment of Buddhahood.

HAKUIN (19 Jan 1686 - 18 Jan 1769) ABOUT HIMSELF

“Among an assembly of Buddhas, all Buddhas dislike him,
In a congregation of demons, all demons detest him,
This decrepit old baldy who appears here again on paper!”

HIS KOAN SYSTEM

• Hosshin (universal oneness)
• Kikan (dynamism, spontaneity)
• Gonsen (investigation of words)
• Nanto (difficult to pass through; especially hard to penetrate)
• Kojo (”crowning” koans)
• Tozan’s Five Ranks (see Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki, The Zen Koan)
• Ten Cardinal Precepts
• The Last Barrier
• Ten Cardinal Precepts
• Do not kill.
• Do not steal.
• Do not misuse sex.
• Do not speak falsely.
• Do not use (give or take) drugs.
• Do not discuss the faults of others.
• Do not praise yourself while abusing others.
• Do not spare the Dharma Assets.
• Do not indulge in anger.
• Do not defame the Three Treasures.

SOME CONTEMPORARY RINZAI TEACHERS

Soen Nakagawa Roshi (Mitta Kutsu Soen); 19 Mar 1907-11 Mar 1984). Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa (Shambala)

Suzuki D.T., 18 Oct 1870 - 12 Jul 1966, senior student of Soen Shaku (1859-1919), not a Zen maser

Suzuki’s Lineage

• Bodhidharma (470-543)
• . . .
• Lin-chi (Rinzai) (?-866)
• . . .
• Shoju Rojin (1642-1721)
• Hakuin Ekaku (19 Jan 1686 - 18 Jan 1769)
• Daikyu Eho, Genshu (1716-1776)
• Gasan Jito (1727-1797)
• Inzan Ien, Shoto Ensho (1751-1814)
• Torin Shoju, Dorin Soju (?-1837)
• Taigen Gisan (1768-1837)
• Gisan Zenrai (1802-1878)
• Imakita Kosen, Kosen So'on (1816-1892)
• Shaku Soen
• D.T. Suzuki

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