The Zen Tradition
Although the lineage chart claims that Zen started with Buddha and had 27 ancestors in India before Bodhidharma brought it to China, the historical evidence is that Zen, more properly known as Chan, arose in China, went to Korea, where it was called Soen, and from there to Japan, where it was called Zen. From China it also went south to Vietnam, where it was called Thien. The Japanese were the first to reach out to westerners, which is why we call it Zen. For students in the Kwan Um School of Zen, obviously the first texts to be familiar with are Zen Master Seung Sahn’s books. During his lifetime he wrote and/or authorized The Compass of Zen (his overview of Buddhism), Dropping Ashes on the Buddha (a compilation from his early encounters with American students), The Whole World is a Single Flower (a source for many of our kong-ans), Ten Gates (his discussion of key kong-ans) and Only Don’t Know (a compilation of his teaching letters). Wanting Enlightenment is a Big Mistake is a posthumous collection done without his supervision.
The Zen tradition is carried largely by the stories of our ancestors (kong-ans). Two anthologies collect much of the essential Zen texts. There is surprisingly little overlap between them, and it’s useful to have both:
Zen Sourcebook is a compilation of texts from China, Korea, and Japan, and includes a number of texts of women.
The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader is a collection of texts from China and Japan.
The major traditions relating to our school are:
Chinese Zen (Chan)
Zen (Soen) in Korea
Zen in Japan
In addition, contemporary scholarship has brought to deserved prominence the activities of Buddhist women as both teachers and practitioners.
We also include information on Buddhism in America in the 20th/21st centuries.
Chinese Zen (Chan)
Chinese Zen (more properly called Chan) begins with the foundational myth of Bodhidharma’s encounter with the Emperor in the 6th century. Huineng emerged in the 7th century. The long collapse of the Tang dynasty and Confucian persecution of Buddhism mean that many of the figures we read about in kong-ans — Majo (Matsu), Baizhang (Pai Chang/Baek Chang). Huang Baek (Huang Po), Joju (Chaochou), Dong Sahn (Deshan), and so on — lived in difficult times. Buddhism had a resurgence in the Song Dynasty, which is the period in which what we now call Zen solidified.
The key Zen texts are compilations of kong-ans. Andy Ferguson’s Zen’s Chinese Heritage, the most complete contemporary introduction to Chinese Chan, presents some of the text of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, the defining compilation of biographical information about Chinese Zen masters from the Tang and Song Dynasties. The most significant compilations, however, are shorter anthologies created in the Song Dynasty, specifically for teaching purposes:
Mumonkan, compiled by Zen Master Mumon, consists of 48 kong-ans, is the defining collection, still in use today. For KUSZ students, Zen Master Seung Sahn’s translation is the most important, but there are many other, more complete translations, such as Robert Aitken Roshi, The Gateless Gate.
Blue Cliff Record consists of 100 kong-ans. The characteristic Song Dynasty Zen anthology, also very influential, if in places quite obscure. Zen Master Seung Sahn translated the cases only; Thomas Cleary’s translation is the only complete version in English.
A good overview of the kong-an tradition can be found in Richard Shrobe’s Elegant Failure: A Guide to Zen Koans
Important Chinese ancestors (note that the word often translated as patriarch in fact is gender-neutral in Chinese) are:
Bodhidharma the first ancestor.
Huineng the sixth ancestor. His Platform Sutra (a.k.a.Sutra of Hui Neng) is a seminal text with many translations. Among the many translations, Philip Yampolsky’s provides an excellent introduction to the legend of Huineng and the significance of the Platform Sutra.
Mazu (Ma Jo),whose sayings are collected in Master Ma’s Ordinary Mind. Mazu’s grandteacher was Huineng. His many students (he gave transmission to over a dozen people) include Baizhang and Layman Pang.
Baizhang (Pai Chang/Baek Chang), who created the first set of temple rules and made Chan self-reliant, i.e., not reliant on begging for sustenance (“a day without work is a day without eating”).
Huangbo (Huang Baek) whose writings are collected in The Zen Teachings of Huang Po. Huangbo’s teacher was Baizhang.
Linji the founder of the several Linchi schools (Korean Soen is one; Rinzai Zen is another) whose sayings are collected in the Linchi Record. Linji’s teacher was Huangbo.
Deshan (Duk Sahn) was a contemporary of Linji from a different lineage. (Arcane fact: his ancestry traces to Huineng’s teacher but not to Huineng.)
Yunmen (Un Mun) whose sayings are collected in The Yunmen record. His grandteacher was Deshan.
Dahui whose writings are collected in Swampland Flowers. He lived 200 years after Yunmen, at the time of consolidation of Zen in the Song dynasty. It was Dahui who laid the foundations of what we know as kong-an practice; the great kong-an collections were produced over a time period of a hundred years, beginning when he was alive.
Other important and accessible texts are:
Xin xin ming, Xin ming and related texts: These are early Zen gathas (traditional Buddhist poems) attributed, respectively, to Jianzhi Sengcan and Niutou Farong, the third and fourth traditional Chinese ancestors of Chinese Zen. The Xin xin ming has been translated by Stanley Lombardo, as well as many others; the Xin ming has been translated by Jess Row and is also available with commentary in Sheng Yen, Song of Mind.
Shunryu Suzuki, Branching Streams Flow In The Darkness: A translation and commentary on the Tang Dynasty Zen text Cantongqi (Ch.) or Sandokai (Jap.), by Shitou Xiqian. Along with the Xin xin ming, Cantongqi is one of the most important texts of Chinese Zen.
Zen (Soen) in Korea
Important Korean ancestors are:
Chinul who shaped Korean Buddhism in the 11th century. Tracing Back the Radiance is an extensive selection from his work.
Taego was the first Korean to receive formal transmission (from a Chinese teacher); all Korean lineages trace back to him. He was a major Buddhist teacher in both Korea and China. A Buddha from Korea is a compilation of his writings.
So Sahn whose Mirror of Zen is a distillation of 17th century Korean Soen still used in monastic training. He is famous for organizing a monk’s army which successfully defeated a Japanese invasion.
Kyong Ho the great reformer of Korean Buddhism in the late 19th/early 20th century; he is the great great grandfather of our school; our temple rules are a modification of his.
Man Gong the great grandfather of our school.
Ko Bong the grandfather of our school.
Seung Sahn the father of our school.
The best introduction to Korean Zen is (of course) Zen Master Seung Sahn’s books. Richard Shrobe’s Don’t Know Mind: The Spirit of Korean Zen is also an excellent resource.
Zen in Japan
Zen underwent huge development and change in Japan after it was introduced in the 12th century, notably the division in the Soto and Rinzai schools (originally the Caodong and Linji schools in China). Kwan Um School students don’t necessarily need to delve deeply into Japanese Zen, but it’s important to be familiar with a few of the most important figures—notably Dogen and Hakuin.
Kazuaki Tanahashi, Moon in a Dewdrop: Selected Writings of Dogen: An excellent introduction to the voluminous and inescapably difficult works of Dogen.
Norman Waddell, The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin: A short selection of Hakuin Zenji’s clear and accessible writings, including his essential “Song of Zazen.”
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: The classic teachings on Soto Zen presented by the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center—one of the best books to give an absolute beginner.
Buddhist Women
Women were active practitioners and teachers from the time of the Buddha. The books listed here are just a few contemporary works which document a history that was too often unknown outside women’s monastic institutions.
Susan Murcot, The First Buddhist Women describes the lives and translates the poems of women disciples of the Buddha.
Grace Schierson, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters: an overview of the role women played in Zen, covering China, Korea and Japan.
Beata Grant, Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns, and Eminent Nuns: Women Chan Masters of 17th Century China.
The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, ed. by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon: An interesting compilation of kong-ans from a particular standpoint, with commentary by one hundred contemporary Buddhist teachers, all of them women, most of them Zen, many from our school.
Wendy Garling, Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha’s Life mines sutras for information about the women who lived with and practiced with Sakyamuni, from before his birth to his death, as well as what Sakyamuni’s life would have been like in the palace and after.
Buddhism in America
For a good (although partial) overview of how Buddhism planted itself in non-Asian communities in America, the classic text is by Rick Fields: How The Swans Came To The Lake: A History of Buddhism in America. Michael Downing’s Shoes Outside the Door is a cautionary (and meticulously researched) tale of what can go wrong in an American Zen community (Richard Baker and San Francisco Zen Center in the 1980’s).