Editing Linji Yixuan (section)

==Teachings==
{{Zen Buddhism}}

=== Iconoclasm ===
The ''Linju lu'' presents Linji as an iconoclastic teacher who used shocking language in vernacular Chinese to disrupt the tendency of his listeners to grasp at concepts such as [[Buddhahood|buddhas]], patriarchs, [[Bodhisattva|bodhisattvas]], [[Bhūmi (Buddhism)|stages of practice]] and levels of attainment.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=26}} He famously said, "If you meet a buddha, kill the buddha."{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=52}} While Linji's language may sound extreme, it reflects an attitude which considers grasping at buddhas, [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|bodhi]], [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|nirvana]], [[Dharma]], and other such related Buddhist concepts, as a kind of delusion. As Burton Watson observes:

{{Blockquote|The message of Lin-chi's sermons, reiterated with almost wearisome persistence, is that his followers are allowing all this talk of goals and striving, of buddhas and patriarchs, to cloud their outlook and to block the path of understanding. All such words and concepts are external and extraneous postulations, attachment to which is just as much a delusion and impediment as attachment to any crasser objective, such as sensual gratification or material gain. Again and again he exhorts them to put aside all such external concerns and to turn their gaze within, where the [[Buddha-nature]] inherent in all beings is to be found.<ref>{{harvp| Watson|1999| pp= xxi-xxii}}</ref>}}

Such sentiments can already be seen in earlier Chan sources. For example, [[Shenhui]] points out that while lust for wealth and sex is "gross falsity," activating one's intention to grasp bodhi, nirvana, [[Śūnyatā|emptiness]], purity, and concentration is "subtle falsity."<ref>McRae, John R., Robson, James, Sharf, Robert H., Vries, Fedde de and Buswell, Robert E.. Zen Evangelist: Shenhui, Sudden Enlightenment, and the Southern School of Chan Buddhism, page 54, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2023</ref> Likewise, [[Huangbo Xiyun|Huangbo]] said that to conceive of a buddha is to be obstructed by that buddha, while the ''[[Bodhidharma#Attributed works|Bloodstream Sermon]]'' criticized the worshipping of buddhas as holding onto appearances.<ref>The Zen Teaching of Huang-po on the Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld, page 71, Grove Press, Inc. New York, 1958</ref><ref>Pine, Red. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, p. 25. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Nov 1, 2009.</ref>

===Non-dependency ===
According to Linji, Zen students fail to make spiritual progress because they lack faith in themselves and are thereby "twisted and turned" by whatever environment they encounter.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=23}} They cling to phrases and are obstructed by words like "common mortal" and "sage," and for Linji, this is to still be dependent on something.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=36}} Rather than rely on buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the Chan patriarchs, Linji taught his listeners that they should be non-dependent persons of the Way: 
{{blockquote|You listening to the Dharma, if you are men of the Way who depend on nothing, then you are the mother of the buddhas. Therefore the buddhas are born from the realm that leans on nothing. If you can waken to this leaning on nothing, then there will be no Buddha to get hold of. If you can see things in this way, this is a true and proper understanding.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=36}}}}

===True person===
Although we may be "twisted and turned" by dependencies and externals, Linji taught that the true person, the one who "has the ability to speak dharma and listen to it," is a "solitary brightness"{{sfnp|Broughton|Watanabe|2013|pp=40, 45, 77, 128}} (or the one {{zh|labels=no|l=shining alone|p=gū míng|c=孤明}}){{sfn|Sasaki|2009|p=163}}who is not swayed by various situations or environments:
{{blockquote|Followers of the Way, this lone brightness before my eyes now, this person plainly listening to me—this person is unimpeded at any point but penetrates the ten directions, free to do as he pleases in the threefold world. No matter what environment he may encounter, with its peculiarities and differences, he cannot be swayed or pulled awry.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=33}}{{refn|group=note|Japanese commentators associate solitary brightness with "mind," "original nature," "natural face," "original source of all the buddhas," "the ārya knowledge of awakening on one's own," "the dharma substance of the mind ground," and "The thing 'you let loose to fill up the dharmadhātu and roll up so that it is not enough to stand up a single strand of hair'."<ref>The Record of Linji: A New Translation of the Linjilu in the Light of Ten Japanese Zen Commentaries, translated by Jeffrey L. Broughton with Elise Yoko Watanabe, page 163, note 52; page 179, note 131; page 252, note 604; Oxford University Press 2013</ref>}}}}

Similarly, Linji described the mind as a "single bright essence" (or "one pure radiance," {{lang|zh|一精明}}) which is formless and penetrates all directions.<ref>{{harvp|Watson|1999|p=25}}</ref>{{sfn|Sasaki|2009|p=165}} According to Linji, because this mind is formless, it is everywhere emancipated, and thus there was no need to go "rushing around everywhere looking for something."<ref>{{harvp|Watson|1999|pp= 25-26}}</ref> Instead, Linji advised his listeners to stop and take a good look at themselves.<ref>{{harvp|Watson|1999|pp=  26-27}}</ref>

Another way in which Linji referred to the true person was "the true man with no rank" ({{zh|labels=no|p=wúwèi [[Zhenren|zhēnrén]] |c=無位真人}}). According to Welter, all early sources agree that the notion of "the true man with no-rank" (which can also mean "a sage without any location") was a major teaching of Linji.{{sfn|Welter|2008|p=87}} In what is perhaps the earliest source of this teaching, the ''[[Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall|Zutang ji]]'', it is presented as follows:{{sfn|Welter|2008|p=87}} 
{{blockquote|On one occasion, the Master (Linji) addressed the assembly: "I, a mountain monk, tell you clearly—within the body-field of the [[Skandha|five skandhas]] there is a true man with no-rank, always present, not even a hair's breadth away. Why don't you recognize him?" 

Then, a monk asked: "What is this true man with no rank?" 

The Master struck him, and said: "The true man with no-rank—what an impure thing."}}

Other sources contain similar statements. In the [[The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp|''Chuandenglu'']], for example, Linji says, "within your lump of red flesh there is a true man with no rank, constantly entering and exiting the openings of your face." When a monk asks who the true man is, Linji responds by saying, "The true man with no rank—what a dried lump of shit!"{{sfn|Welter|2008|p=88}}{{refn|group=note|Japanese commentators on the ''Linji lu'' associate the lump of red flesh, or the "red-meatball," with the first of the four types of mind in [[Guifeng Zongmi|Zongmi's]] ''Chan Prolegomenon;'' and the true man, or true person, with Zongmi's "real mind."<ref>The Record of Linji: A New Translation of the Linjilu in the Light of Ten Japanese Zen Commentaries, translated by Jeffrey L. Broughton with Elise Yoko Watanabe, pages 145-146, notes 31 & 32,  Oxford University Press 2013</ref> Regarding the four types of mind, Zongmi says: "The first is helituoye. This means the mind that is a lump of flesh. This is the mind in each of the five viscera in the body. [...] The second is the pondering-of-objective-supports mind. This is the eight consciousnesses [vijñāna], because all [eight] are capable of pondering as objective supports their own sense objects. [...] The third is zhiduoye [citta]. This means the mind that accumulates and produces, because only the eighth consciousness accumulates [karmic] seeds and produces the [seven] active [consciousnesses]. [...] The fourth is ganlituoye. This means real mind or true mind. This is the true mind."<ref>Jeffrey L. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, page 117, Columbia University Press, 2009</ref>}}

===Faith===
Linji criticized relying on methods and practices in order to realize this true person. He said that to engage in religious practice was to generate [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]] keeping one bound to the realm of birth and death, while "the real person," "this person who is right now listening to the Dharma," was without any adornments or practices.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=43, 44}} Instead of reliance on practices to see our innate nature, Linji taught that we should simply have [[Faith in Buddhism|faith]] ({{zh|labels=no|p=xìn |c=信}}) in it: "Just have faith in this thing that is operating in you right now. Outside of it, nothing else exists."{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=41}}{{refn|group=note|Compare with [[Foyan Qingyuan|Foyan]]: "I always tell you that what is inherent in you is presently active and presently functioning, and need not be sought after, need not be put in order, need not be practiced or proven. All that is required is to trust it once and for all. This saves a lot of energy."<ref>Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, translated by Thomas Cleary, page 8, North Atlantic Books, 1994</ref>}}

According to Buswell, faith for Linji was not blind acceptance, but an inherent faculty emanating constantly from the enlightened nature, and was thus equivalent to the "innate functioning" of the mind-essence.<ref>Robert E. Buswell, Jr., page 342, in Sudden and Gradual Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, edited by Peter Gregory, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1987, 1991</ref> Buswell also notes the striking difference between Linji's teachings, in which faith plays a prominent role, and the teachings of the later [[Linji school|Linji School]] master, [[Dahui Zonggao|Dahui]], who valued doubt over faith.<ref>Robert E. Buswell, Jr., page 354, in Sudden and Gradual Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, edited by Peter Gregory, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1987, 1991</ref>{{refn|group=note| Linji speaks of doubt negatively. For example: "A moment when your mind is in doubt is delusion,"<ref>Three Chan Classics, page 21, Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999</ref> and "If you have a moment of doubt, delusion enters your mind."<ref>Three Chan Classics, page 25, Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999</ref> See also the famous ''[[Xinxin Ming]]'' (Faith-Mind Inscription): "Small views of foxy doubts / Are too hasty or too late / Attach to them, the measure will be lost / Certain to enter on a deviant path / Letting go of them, it goes naturally."<ref>Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume 8, Chan Poetry and Inscriptions, translated by Randolph S. Whitfield, page 86, Books on Demand, 2020</ref>}}

=== Nothing to do ===
In addition to faith, Linji also emphasized non-seeking and ''wú shì'' ({{lang|zh|無事}}), a term often translated as "nothing-to-do," but which also has the meaning of no affairs, no concerns, no matters, and no business.<ref>{{cite journal |first= Daisetz T. |last=Suzuki |title=Rinzai on Zen |page=15, note 7 |journal=Chicago Review |volume=12 |issue=2 |date=Summer 1958 |doi=10.2307/25293449}}</ref> He says:

{{blockquote|Followers of the Way, as I look at it, we're no different from [[The Buddha|Shakyamuni]]. In all our various activities each day, is there anything we lack? The wonderful light of the six faculties has never for a moment ceased to shine. If you could just look at it this way, then you'd be the kind of person who has nothing to do for the rest of his life.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=24}}}}

Accordingly, Linji taught that there was no need to make any special effort. Instead, we have simply to be ordinary: "Followers of the Way, as to buddhadharma, no effort is necessary. You have only to be ordinary, with nothing to do—defecating, urinating, wearing clothes, eating food, and lying down when tired."{{sfn|Sasaki|2009|pp=11}}As Jinhua Jia points out, this recognition of the fundamental value of the human being echoes the teachings of [[Mazu Daoyi]], for whom everyday ordinary activities were the function of buddha-nature.<ref>Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 76, State University of New York Press, 2006</ref>

Linji further connects non-doing with [[Turning the light around|"turning one's light around"]] ({{zh|labels=no|p=fǎn zhào|c=返照}}), a term that occurs throughout various Chan texts, such as [[Guifeng Zongmi|Zongmi's]] ''Sub-commentary to the [[Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment]]'' (where it refers to recognizing one's [[original enlightenment]]).{{sfn|Sasaki|2009|pp=28, 174-175}} According to Linji, when we stop our seeking and turn our own light in upon ourselves, we will on that very instant have nothing to do.{{sfn|Sasaki|2009|p=28}}{{refn|group=note|Compare with the ''[[Xinxin Ming]]'':<br /><br />"In self-illumination, vast and clear,<br />The mind’s power exerts itself no more."<ref>Three Chan Classics, page 126, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999</ref>}}

However, "turning one's light around" does not necessarily imply anything like staring at the mind or concentrating within. Linji quotes [[Shenhui|Shenhui's]] well-known criticism of such things as arresting the mind, staring at silence, summoning the mind to focus it on externals, controlling the mind to make it clear within, and concentrating the mind to enter into meditation.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=43}} Moreover, Linji says that looking for something within is just as wrong as seeking externally, since there's nothing within that can be grasped: "Outside the mind there is no Dharma, and even inside the mind it can't be grasped. So what is there to seek for?"{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=43}}{{refn|group=note|Compare with the following, attributed to Baozhi:<br /><br />"Inward looking, outward looking, all are bad"<ref>{{cite book |author=Shi Daoyuan {{lang|zh-Hant|釋道原}} |title=Records of the Transmission of the Lamp |title-link=Records of the Transmission of the Lamp |volume=8: Chan Poetry and Inscriptions |translator-first=Randolph S. |translator-last=Whitfield |date=2020 |orig-year=1004-1007|isbn=9783751939737 |publisher= Books on Demand GmbH |location=Germany |page=27}}</ref>}}