Zen Masters Of China: The First Step East

by Richard Bryan McDaniel, Albert Low (Foreword)

Zen Masters of China presents more than 300 traditional Zen stories and koans, far more than any other collection. Retelling them in their proper place in Zen's historical journey through Chinese Buddhist culture, it also tells a larger how, in taking the first step east from India to China, Buddhism began to be Zen.

The stories of Zen are unlike any other writing, religious or otherwise. Used for centuries by Zen teachers as aids to bring about or deepen the experience of awakening, they have a freshness that goes beyond religious practice and a mystery and authenticity that appeal to a wide range of readers.

Placed in chronological order, these stories tell the story of Zen itself, how it traveled from West to East with each Zen master to the next, but also how it was transformed in that journey, from an Indian practice to something different in Chinese Buddhism (Ch'an) and then more different still in Japan (Zen). The fact that its transmission was so human, from teacher to student in a long chain from West to East, meant that the cultures it passed through inevitably changed it.

Zen Masters of China is first and foremost a collection of mind-bending Zen stories and their wisdom. More than that, without academic pretensions or baggage, it recounts the genealogy of Zen Buddhism in China and, through koan and story, illuminates how Zen became what it is today.

Genres: Zen, Buddhism, Spirituality

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2012

Reviews

[Rossdavidh · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I were a Zen master, or even just a Zen monk, I would review this book in a sentence, perhaps only a fragment. Throwing a thousand words at a Zen book is probably about as un-Zen a thing as one can do. I don't know that, of course. I'm not a Zen master.

This book is full of stories like this:

"A monk once asked Zhaozhou, 'After the body has died and has been reduced to its constituent elements and scattered, is there anything that remains, eternal, non-material?'
'The wind is brisk today,' Zhaozhou replied."

Now, if that story makes sense to you, consider this one.

"During an assembly before Linji, Dingzhou asked, 'What is the purpose of Buddhism?'
Linji slapped his face.
Dingzhou was confused. Not knowing what to do, he stood where he was. A fellow monk leaned towards him and whispered, 'why don't you bow?'
And just as Dingzhou started to bow, he came to awakening."

Or this one:

"Fayan's style was gentler than that employed by the followers of the Linji tradition. One of his basic methods was to repeat, without comment, the question or statement put to him. Once a monk introduced himself before putting his question: 'My name is Echo. Tell me, what is Buddha?'
Fayan's famous reply was, 'You are Echo.'"

Now imagine reading a few hundred pages of these kinds of stories. The mind boggles. Some say that is the point, to break the mind's instinct to attempt to catch everything in words, so that once that instinct is broken one can experience reality as it is, before you describe it. Perhaps. It may also be that some of these Zen masters were kind of jerks. Of course, that wouldn't mean their methods didn't work.

There is a real question in my mind as to whether or not Zen is even a form of Buddhism. I decided, eventually, that it was. Nonetheless, there is no denying that a great deal of Daoist thought was mixed in with Buddhism, as it came out of the Indian subcontinent by way of central Asia. Zen is less than sacrosanct about the Buddha. Ninth-century Chinese Buddhist monk Linji Yixuan famously told his disciples, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Now, the meaning of this is (if I understand it) that you should not let a dogmatic, dualist, and rigid tradition, even one based on the teachings of the Buddha, obscure your ability to experience reality just as it is. But, it is no coincidence that the Buddhist teacher who said this, was from the Zen tradition.

In addition to presenting us with collected and retold Zen stories, Richard McDaniel also gives us the briefest of chronicles about the development of Buddhism from the Buddha's time up through its introduction to China, and then throughout several centuries of Zen thinkers. It is not intended to be a history, but it does sometimes provide some useful context. At different times in China's history, Buddhism has been either embraced or suppressed by the authorities, and this had some influence on how the monks who studied Zen behaved. McDaniel does a good job of giving just enough context to help, without getting in the way of us confronting the Zen stories he is here to show us.

[Karma Gyatso · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full review is available at: http://www.sumeru-books.com/2012/09/z...

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a mild irony in collecting all the Zen stories you can find into one volume, since the very idea of Zen is that all it takes is one such koan to jar the student loose from his attachments and propel him to enlightenment. But never mind. These stories have far more power in their original setting for people who have spent a lifetime studying Buddhism sutras and other lore. Their very simplicity helps someone saturated in deep knowledge slough it all off and return to a simple, enlightened state. For Westerners and others unencumbered with the learning, the stories are doubly puzzling. How could such simple tales produce such a great result? And if you get past that, then you get to ask, what do they mean, just like the disciples who are endlessly puzzled and then enlightened in these pages.

[Catherine Pawasarat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good introduction to the journey of Ch’an from India and through China. Like many Buddhist schools Cha’an emphasizes the lineages, and the lists of masters to students and so on can feel, well, at times a little list-y. It felt like a real service by the author, however, to lay the history out so clearly, provide context for each patriarch or master (not a good book for people who’d like to know about women practitioners BTW), together with some of the best-known and/or most profound koans. I write and/or because some of them seem so brilliant, and some seem to make no sense whatsoever — true Zen style! Appreciated the author’s descriptions of the links between Taoism, Confucianism and Ch’an, which is so spiritually and culturally significant for much of Asia. Now enjoying the sequel, on Zen in Japan.

[Esoteric Grimoire · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Zen Master of China: The First Step East" by Richard Bryan McDaniel is a wonderful introduction of the lives of the Zen Masters of China, short concise biographies accompanied by some historical context for each entry. McDaniel covers from Bodhidharma (c. 500-600 CE), the founder of Zen in China, to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE). Including the "Golden Age of Zen" which would date to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). McDaniel does a great job of dilineating in the different chapters the lines of descent from student to teacher as well as tracing the origins of the two remaining major schools of Zen: Caodong (Soto) and Linji (Rinzai). I highly recommend McDaniel's work to anyone starting their Zen practice or the person interested in this period of Chinese history.

[Cigdem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve learned a lot but have I reached awakening? Upon this question, a Zen master would shout “Ho!” and strike me down!

[Catherine Pawasarat · Rating 4 out of 5]

fine overview

This is a super intro and overview to Ch’an in China, tracing the lineage throughout the centuries from when Bodhidharma brought the teachings from a India, to when the first Japanese came to study Ch’an.
As a history of the lineage, It’s a bit dry, and I can’t imagine a way around this.
The compilation of Zen mondo (dialogues between master and student) is instructive.

[Rui Da silva pinto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has hilarious stories of masters slapping the enlightenment into students, the strangest pedagogical approaches and education aids used by the Zen Masters in China. Awesome read!

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good foundational reading for the evolution and basics of Zen.