Hongzhi Zhengjue (Chinese:
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Title | Chan master |
Personal | |
Born | 1091 |
Died | 1157 |
Religion | Buddhism |
School | Chan |
Senior posting | |
Teacher | Danxia Zichun |
Predecessor | Danxia Zichun |
Life
editAccording to the account given in Taigen Dan Leighton's Cultivating the Empty Field, Hongzhi was born to a family named Li in Xizhou, present-day Shanxi province. He left home at the age of eleven to become a monk, studying under Caodong master Kumu Facheng (
In 1129, Hongzhi began teaching at the Jingde monastery on Mount Tiantong, where he remained for nearly thirty years, until shortly before his death in 1157, when he ventured down the mountain to bid farewell to his supporters.
Texts
editThe main text associated with Hongzhi is a collection of one hundred of his kōans called the Book of Equanimity (Chinese:
Hongzhi is often referred to as an exponent of Silent Illumination Chan (Mokushō Zen (
Aside from his own teacher, Eihei Dōgen—the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan—quotes Hongzhi in his work more than any other Zen figure.[4]
Sources
edit- Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi. Edited and translated by Taigen Dan Leighton. Tuttle Library of Enlightenment. Boston; Rutland, Vermont; Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000 (revised, expanded edition). ISBN 0-8048-3240-4
- The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans. Translation and commentary by Gerry Shishin Wick. Boston: Wisdom Publication[s], 2005. ISBN 978-0-86171-387-5
- The Book of Serenity. Translated by Thomas Cleary. Hudson, New York: Lindisfarne Press, 1990.
- Guo Gu (
果 谷 Guǒ Gǔ), Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala, 2021. ISBN 978-1-61180-872-8. Contains translations of passages from Hóngzhì Zhēngjué's writings on Silent Illumination (默 照 , mòzhào; Japanese: mokushō).
References
edit- ^ a b The Bright Field of Spirit: The Life and Teachings of Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue
- ^ Hongzhi, Dogen and the Background of Shikantaza
- ^ Buswell Jr., Robert E.; Lopez Jr., Donald S. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 197. ISBN 9781400848058.
- ^ Heine, Steven (2010), "Dōgen, Zen Master, Zen Disciple: Transmitter or Transgressor", in Heine, Steven; Wright, Dale S. (eds.), Zen Masters, Oxford University Press, p. 119, ISBN 9780195367652