A00255- Ryokan Taigu

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Taigu, Ryokan - A00255

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Ryōkan
Title	Rōshi
Personal life
Born	1758 Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Died	18 February 1831 (aged 72–73)
Religious life
Religion	Buddhism
School	Sōtō

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"But if you don't write of things deep in your own heart,

"What's the use of churning out so many words?"  (07/10/2022)

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"See and realize that this world is not permanent. Neither late nor early flowers will remain."  (12/24/2022)

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Ryōkan (born 1758, Izumozaki, Japan—died Feb. 18, 1831, Echigo province) was a Zen Buddhist priest of the late Tokugawa period (1603–1867) who was renowned as a poet and calligrapher.

The eldest son of a village headman, he became a Buddhist priest at about the age of 17 under the religious name of Taigu Ryōkan. When he was 21 he met an itinerant monk, Kokusen, and followed him to his temple, Entsū-ji, at Tamashima, Bitchū province. He followed a life of monastic discipline there for 12 years. After Kokusen’s death he traveled to various parts of Japan as a mendicant priest. In old age he returned to his native Echigo province, where he studied the Man’yōshū and ancient calligraphy. He developed a strong master-pupil relationship with a young nun, Teishin, who after his death compiled Hachisu no tsuyu (1835; “Dew on the Lotus”), a collection of his haiku and waka poems. He also executed many pieces of calligraphy that are esteemed for their elegant beauty.

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Taigu Ryōkan (大愚良寛^[1]; Japanese pronunciation: [ɾʲoꜜː.kaɴ],^[2] 1758 – 18 February 1831^[a]) was a quiet and unorthodox Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk who lived much of his life as a hermit. Ryōkan is remembered for his poetry and calligraphy, which present the essence of Zen life.

Early life

Ryōkan was born Eizō Yamamoto (山本栄蔵, Yamamoto Eizō) in the village of Izumozaki in Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture) in Japan to the village headman. He renounced the world at an early age to train at nearby Sōtō Zen temple Kōshō-ji, refusing to meet with or accept charity from his family. Once the Zen master Kokusen visited the temple, and Ryōkan was deeply impressed with his demeanour. He solicited permission to become Kokusen's disciple. Kokusen accepted, and the two returned to Entsū-ji monastery in Tamashima (now Okayama Prefecture).

It was at Entsū-ji that Ryōkan attained satori and was presented with an Inka by Kokusen. Kokusen died the following year, and Ryōkan left Entsū-ji to embark on a long pilgrimage. He lived much of the rest of his monastic life as a hermit. His decision to leave Entsū-ji may have been influenced by Gentō Sokuchū, the abbot of the temple. At the time, Gentō was aggressively reforming the Sōtō school to remove perceived 'foreign' elements, including kōan. The scholar Michel Mohr suggests Ryōkan may have been in disagreement with Gentō's efforts.^[3]

Life as a hermit

Portrait and calligraphy

Ryōkan spent much of his time writing poetry, doing calligraphy, and communing with nature. His poetry is often very simple and inspired by nature. He loved children, and sometimes forgot to beg for food because he was playing with the children of the nearby village. Ryōkan refused to accept any position as a priest or even as a "poet." In the tradition of Zen his quotes and poems show he had a good sense of humour and didn't take himself too seriously.

Ryōkan's grave

Ryōkan lived a very simple life, and stories about his kindness and generosity abound. On his deathbed, Ryōkan offered the following death poem to Teishin, his close companion:

裏を見せ 表を見せて 散る紅葉

うらをみせ おもてをみせて ちるもみじ

ura wo mise / omote wo misete / chiru momiji

Now it reveals its hidden side
and now the other—thus it falls,
an autumn leaf.^[4]

Final years

In 1826 Ryōkan became ill and was unable to continue living as a hermit. He moved into the house of one of his patrons, Kimura Motouemon, and was cared for by a young nun called Teishin. "The [first] visit left them both exhilarated, and led to a close relationship that brightened Ryōkan's final years".^[5] The two of them exchanged a series of haiku. The poems they exchanged are both lively and tender. In his later years, as reflected in his devotional poetry, Ryōkan also adopted elements of Pure Land Buddhism into his practice, chanting nembutsu and aspiring for birth in Amida's Pure Land.^[6][7] Ryōkan died from his illness on the 6th day of the new year 1831. "Teishin records that Ryōkan, seated in meditation posture, died 'just as if he were falling asleep'".^[8]

Stories of Ryōkan

It is common practice for a monk to abstain from eating meat. Once a young monk sat to dinner with Ryōkan and watched him eat fish. When asked why, Ryōkan replied, “I eat fish when it's offered, but I also let the fleas and flies feast on me [when sleeping at night]. Neither bothers me at all.”

It is said Ryōkan only slept with most of his body inside of a mosquito net so that he would not hurt the bugs outside.

Ryōkan was fond of rice wine and would sometimes drink it to excess. "I send one of the children to buy some country wine/ And after I'm drunk, toss off a few lines of calligraphy."^[9]

Ryōkan attended the midsummer Bon Festivals. Because he was a monk, he would normally be unable to attend, but sneaked in disguised as a woman.

Ryōkan hated waste, and so any food that he was offered that he did not eat, he put into a little pot. Over time, the food rotted and became filled with maggots and other bugs. When warned against eating it, all Ryōkan said was, “No, no, it's all right. I let the maggots escape before I eat it and it tastes just fine!”

One evening a thief visited Ryōkan's hut at the base of the mountain only to discover there was nothing to steal. Ryōkan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift." The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryōkan sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon." This story may be an interpretation of an account mentioned by Ryōkan in a haiku:

盗人に 取り残されし 窓の月

ぬすっとに とりのこされし まどのつき

nusutto ni / torinokosareshi / mado no tsuki

The thief left it behind:

the moon

at my window.^[10]

Notes

1. Born Hōreki 8 (1758) - died 6th Mutsuki (一月), Tenpō 2 (1831) in the Japanese calendar.

References

1. 相馬御風 (1918). 大愚良寛 [Taigu Ryōkan] (in Japanese). 春陽堂.
2. Kindaichi, Haruhiko; Akinaga, Kazue, eds. (10 March 2025). 新明解日本語アクセント辞典 (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). Sanseidō.
3. Heine, Steven; Wright, Dale S. (2000), The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism, Oxford University Press, p. 245, ISBN 0-19-511748-4
4. Hoffmann, Yoel (translator). Japanese Death Poems. Tuttle, 1986, p. 268. ISBN 0-8048-3179-3
5. Ryūichi Abé and Peter Haskel, Great Fool: Zen master Ryōkan: poems, letters, and other writings. University of Hawaii Press, 1996, p. 19. ISBN 0-8248-1777-X
6. "和歌でたどる良寛の生涯". 良寛ワールド (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 September 2025.
7. Ryūichi Abé and Peter Haskel, Great Fool: Zen master Ryōkan: poems, letters, and other writings. University of Hawaii Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8248-1777-X
8. Abe and Haskel, 1996, p. 19.
9. Abe and Haskell, 1996, p. 109.
10. Written after a thief robbed his hut, as translated in Mitchell, Stephen, editor. The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry. Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 162. ISBN 978-0060920531

Further reading

• Dew-Drops on a Lotus Leaf (Ryokwan of Zen Buddhism), foreword and translation by Gyofu Soma & Tatsukichi Irisawa, (Tokyo), 1950.
• One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryōkan (ISBN 0834801264), 1977, translated and introduced by John Stevens. Weatherhill, Inc.
• The Zen Poems of Ryōkan translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, Princeton University Press, 1981.
• Ryokan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan, translated by Burton Watson, Columbia University Press, 1992.
• Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, Ryōkan (Kodansha Biographies) (ISBN 4770016514), by John Stevens, 1993.
• Great Fool: Zen Master Ryōkan: Poems, Letters, and Other Writings (ISBN 0-8248-1777-X), by Ryuichi Abe (with Peter Haskel), 1996.
• Ryokan's Calligraphy, by Kiichi Kato; translated by Sanford Goldstein and Fujisato Kitajima, (Kokodo) 1997.
• The Zen Fool: Ryōkan (ISBN 0804821283), translated, with an introduction, by Misao Kodama and Hikosaku Yanagashima, 1999.
• Ryokan: Selected Tanka and Haiku, translated from the Japanese by Sanford Goldstein, Shigeo Mizoguchi and Fujisato Kitajima (Kokodo, 2000)
• Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryōkan, translated and edited by John Stevens, Shambhala Publications, 2012.
• Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan (ISBN 1590309820), written by Kazuaki Tanahashi, 2012
• Kakurenbo Or the Whereabouts of Zen Priest Ryokan with translations by Nobuyuki Yuasa, (ISBN 978-0985565114), by Eido Frances Carney, Temple Ground Press, 2013.
• Zen Master Tales: Stories from the Lives of Taigu, Sengai, Hakuin, and Ryōkan, (ISBN 9781611809602), by Peter Haskel, Shambhala Publications, 2022.
• This and That: Selected Short Poems of Ryokan(ISBN 9781966608158), translated by Stan Ziobro and John Slater, Monkfish Book Publishing, 2026.

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A00254 - Ta-Hui (Dahui Zonggao), Twelfth Century Chinese Zen Master

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Ta-Hui

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Dàhuì Zōnggǎo
Personal life
Born	1089 China
Died	10 August 1163 (aged 73-74)
Religious life
Religion	Buddhism
School	Linji
Senior posting
Predecessor	Yuanwu Keqin

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"Don't draw another's bow, don't ride another's horse, don't mind another's business."  (03/17/2024)

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Ta‑hui (Dahui Zonggao) — Great Zen Master of the Linji School

Ta‑hui (1089–1163), whose full name is Dahui Zonggao, was a 12th‑century Chinese Zen master of the Linji school, renowned for championing the use of “public cases” (kung‑an) in meditation and opposing quiet‑sitting practices Wikipedia+1.

Historical and Religious Background

Ta‑hui was born in 1089 in China and died on 10 August 1163 at age 73–74 Wikipedia. He was the 12th generation heir of the Linji (Rinzai) lineage, a major branch of Chan (Zen) Buddhism www.thezensite.com. His teaching emphasized direct insight through koan practice rather than passive “silent illumination” (mo‑chao hsieh‑ch’an), which he considered a “heretical” form of Zen www.thezensite.com.

Teachings and Legacy

Ta‑hui’s most influential contribution was the systematization of kung‑an introspection (kan‑hua ch’an), a method of meditation focused on intense, sustained engagement with a selected koan until a breakthrough occurs www.thezensite.com. He argued that this approach cultivated genuine enlightenment experience, unlike what he saw as the escapist tendencies of quiet‑sitting. His methods influenced Zen in China for centuries and later spread to Japan, where figures like Hakuin Eshin carried forward his teachings www.thezensite.com.

Historical Context

His era followed the Great Persecution of 845 CE, which had weakened institutional Buddhism and pushed many into small, isolated Zen enclaves theosophytrust.org. This environment shaped the rise of more personal, practice‑oriented Zen methods.

Notable Accounts

Osho described Ta‑hui as “the Great Master of Wisdom” and noted that, according to tradition, he attained enlightenment just before death, expressing it in a small verse Osho World+1. While Osho’s interpretation is philosophical rather than historical, it reflects the reverence Ta‑hui commanded in Zen circles.

Summary

Ta‑hui is remembered as:

• A pivotal Linji Zen master who redefined Zen practice through koan work www.thezensite.com.

• A reformer who rejected quiet‑sitting in favor of active, insight‑driven meditation www.thezensite.com.

• A figure of enduring influence in both Chinese and Japanese Zen traditions www.thezensite.com.

If you wish to explore his teachings further, the Dahui Zonggao (大慧宗杲) records and modern scholarly works on koan practice provide detailed insight into his methods and philosophy Wikipedia+1.

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Dahui Zonggao (1089–10 August 1163) (Chinese: 大慧宗杲; Wade–Giles: Ta-hui Tsung-kao; Japanese: Daie Sōkō; Vietnamese: Đại Huệ Tông Cảo) was a 12th-century Chinese Chan (Zen) master. Dahui was a student of Yuanwu Keqin (Wade–Giles: Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in; Japanese: Engo Kokugon) (1063–1135) and was the 12th generation of the Linji school of Chan Buddhism. He was the dominant figure of the Linji school during the Song dynasty.^[1]

Dahui introduced the practice of kan huatou, or "inspecting the critical phrase," of a kōan story. This method was called the "Chan of gongan (kōan) introspection" (看話禪 Kanhua Chan).^[2]

Dahui was a vigorous critic of what he called the "heretical Chan of silent illumination" (默照邪禪 Mozhao Xie Chan) of the Caodong school (Wade–Giles: Ts'ao-tung; Japanese: Sōtō).

Biography

Early years

Dahui was born in Xuancheng, Anhui, to the Xi (奚) family. He left home at sixteen and became a Buddhist monk at seventeen. His initiatory name was Zong Gao. Following the tradition of the day, he wandered from Chan community to community, seeking instruction. He studied under a Caodong master and mastered the essentials of the Five Ranks in two years. He studied all the records of the Five Houses of Chan, being particularly drawn to the words of Yunmen Wenyan (雲門文偃 Wade–Giles: Yün-men Wên-yen Japanese: Ummon Bun’en), 864–949, founder of one of the "Five Houses" of Chan. He sought out instruction on the sayings of the old masters collected and commented on by Xuedou Chongxian (雪竇重顯Wade–Giles: Hsüeh-tou Ch’ung-hsien; Japanese: Setchō Jūken) which became the basis for the koan collection, the Blue Cliff Record.

Zhantang

Dissatisfied with intellectual study, at the age of twenty-one he went to Treasure Peak, near the modern city of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province, to study with Zhantang Wenzhun (湛堂文準 Wade–Giles: Chan-t'ang Wen-chun), a master of the Huang-long (黃龍) branch of the Linji School. Although Dahui developed a great intellectual understanding of Chan, enlightenment eluded him. Recognizing his potential and great intellectual abilities, Zhantang Wenzhun (Zhan Tangzhun) made Dahui his personal attendant. One day Wenzhun asked Dahui,

"Why are your nostrils boundless today?"

Dahui replied, "(Because) I’m at your place."

Tangzhou retorted, "You phony Chan man."^[3]

Another time, when Dahui was twenty-six, Wenzhun called him over and said,

You can talk about Ch'an very well; you can quote the sayings of former masters and write commentaries on them. You are eloquent in giving sermons and quick with the exchanges during interviews. But there is one thing which you still do not know".

Ta-hui asked what it was.

Tangzhou answered, "What you do not have is the awakening. Thus, when I talk with you in my room, you have Chan. But as soon as you leave the room, you lose it. When you are awake and attentive, you have Chan. But as soon as you fall asleep, you lose it. If you continue like this, how can you ever conquer life and death?"

Dahui agreed, saying, "This is precisely my point of doubt."^[4]

Yuanwu

Dahui continued his studies with Yuanwu Keqin(圜悟克勤). On his way to Tianning Wanshou, a monastery in the old imperial city of Bian (modern Kaifeng), Dahui vowed to work with Yuanwu for nine years and if he did not achieve enlightenment, or, if Yuanwu turned out to be a false teacher, giving approval too easily, Dahui would give up and turn to writing scriptures or treatises.

Yuanwu gave Dahui Yunmen’s saying, "East Mountain walks on the water" as a koan to work through. Dahui threw himself into the koan and struggled with it day and night, giving forty-nine answers to the koan, but all were rejected by his teacher. Finally, on May 13, 1125, he broke through. Later, he recalled the event:

Master Yuan-wu ascended the high seat in the lecture hall at the request of Madame Chang K'ang-kuo (張康國夫人). He said, "Once a monk asked Yun-men this question, 'where do all the Buddhas come from?' Yun-men answered. 'The East Mountain walks over the water' (Tung-shan shuei sheng hsing). But if I were he, I would have given a different answer. 'Where do all the Buddhas come from?' 'As the fragrant breeze comes from the south, a slight coolness naturally stirs in the palace pavilion.'" When I heard this, all of a sudden there was no more before and after. Time stopped. I ceased to feel any disturbance in my mind, and remained in a state of utter calmness.^[5]

As it turned out, Yuanwu did not give approval too easily. He said,

It is indeed not easy to arrive at your present state of mind. But unfortunately, you have only died but are not yet reborn. Your greatest problem is that you do not doubt words enough. Don't you remember this saying? 'When you let go your hold on the precipice, you become the master of your own fate; to die and afterward come to life again, no one can then deceive you.^[6]

Yuanwu gave Dahui the koan, "To be and not to be – it is like a wisteria leaning on a tree" to work on and after six months, Dahui achieved the final breakthrough and was recognized by Yuanwu as a Dharma-heir in the Linji tradition.

Teaching career

Yuanwu assigned teaching duties to Dahui and Dahui’s fame spread far and wide. A high ranking government official, the Minister of the Right, Lu Shun, gave Dahui a purple robe and the honorific, "Fori", the Sun of the Dharma. The following year, 1126, the Jürchen Jin dynasty captured the Emperors Huizong and Qinzong; the capital was moved to the south and the Southern Song era began.

Dahui also moved south and taught both monks and laymen. It was at this time that he began his severe criticism of the "heretical Chan of silent illumination" of the Caodong school which he would continue for the rest of his life. He became a great favorite of the educated and literate classes as well as Chan monks and in 1137, at the age of forty-nine, Chancellor Zhang Jun (張浚), a student of Dahui, appointed him abbot of Jingshan monastery in the new capital Lin-an (modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang). Within a few years his sangha grew to two thousand and among his lay followers were many high-ranking officials. Dahui became the acknowledged leader of Buddhism of the Southern Song dynasty.^[7]

Exile and return

A letter written by Dahui to a friend during his exile

However, disaster was about to befall him. Because of his association with a high official who fell out of favor with the prime minister, all Dahui’s imperial honors and his ordination certificate were stripped from him and he was sent in exile to Hengzhou (Hunan) in the year 1141. At the age of sixty-two he was transferred to present day Guangdong, a place notorious in those days for plagues and hostile elements. Some fifty of Dahui’s monks died there in a plague.^[8] Throughout these difficult years, Dahui continued teaching in the Linji tradition of Chan Buddhism, attracting both gentry and commoners. Finally, in 1155, Dahui was pardoned and was allowed to return to his former monastery at Jingshan where he continued his teaching until he died five years later on 10 August 1163. He wrote a final verse for his disciples, saying, "Without a verse, I couldn’t die."

Birth is thus

Death is thus

Verse or no verse

What’s the fuss?^[9]

Emperor Xiaozong of Song bestowed upon him the posthumous title "Chan Master of Great Wisdom," from which the name Dahui derives.^[9]

Teachings

The enlightenment experience as the answer to the riddle of life and death, and the great doubt necessary to have the determination to break through, became central to Dahui’s teaching.

Kanhua chan

Dahui’s letters to lay people reveal a compassionate teacher, who believed that the enlightenment promised by the Buddha was available to all people, regardless of their daily activities. The best way to achieve this was through the use of gong-ans as a daily meditation device.

Gong-ans

Main article: Koan

Gong-ans developed during the Tang dynasty (618–907)^[10] from the recorded sayings collections of Chán-masters, which quoted many stories of "a famous past Chán figure's encounter with disciples or other interlocutors and then offering his own comment on it".^[11] Those stories and the accompanying comments were used to educate students, and broaden their insight into the Buddhist teachings.

Those stories came to be known as gongan, "public cases".^[11] Such a story was only considered a gongan when it was commented upon by another Chán-master.^[11] This practice of commenting on the words and deeds of past masters confirmed the master's position as awakened master in a lineage of awakened masters of the past.^[12]

Dahui saw this practice of commenting on gongans in his time as becoming a superficial literary study. In a radical move to counter this literary emphasis, he even ordered the suppression of his own teacher’s masterly collection of koans, The Blue Cliff Record (Wade–Giles: Pi Yen Lu; Pinyin: Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku), burning all copies and the wooden blocks to print them, effectively taking the venerated text out of circulation for the next two centuries.^[13]

Hua tou practice

Main article: Hua Tou

Dahui introduced the use of k'an-hua, the concentration on the hua tou ("word head") of a gong-an to attain insight.^[14][15][16] Until his time, the developing gongan-tradition consisted mainly of commenting on "old cases", adding comments and poetry. This use of written comments and poetry shows the influence of Chinese literati culture, to which both state officials and most Buddhist higher clergy belonged.^[14][17][16]

Although there were hundreds of koans available, Dahui used only a few, believing that deep penetration of one or two koans would be enough to attain initial awakening or insight. To achieve this, one had to work assiduously and with great determination, like someone whose "head is on fire".^[18] It mattered little to Dahui whether a person was particularly intelligent or not – liberation was available to all. He wrote:

It doesn’t matter whether your rational understanding is sharp or dull; it has nothing to do with matters of sharpness or dullness, nor does it have anything to do with quiet or confusion.^[19]

Dahui often used the famous mu-koan, "A monk asked Zhàozhōu, ‘Does a dog have Buddha-nature or does it not have Buddha-nature?’ Zhàozhōu replied, ‘wu’ (Chinese; Japanese: Mu), "no," "not" (which later became the 18th koan in the collection The Book of Equanimity published 61 years after his death in 1224 and then appearing again as the first koan in The Gateless Gate published 4 years later in 1228). Dahui taught that

This one word ‘no’ is a knife to sunder the doubting mind of birth and death. The handle of this knife is in one’s own hand alone: you can’t have anyone else wield it for you…You consent to take hold of it yourself only if you can abandon your life. If you cannot abandon your life, just keep to where your doubt remains unbroken for a while: suddenly you’ll consent to abandon your life, and then you’ll be done.^[20]

According to Poceski, although Dahui's kanhua Chan purports to be a sudden method, it essentially consists of a process of gradually perfecting concentration. Poceski also observes the role the kanhua technique played in standardizing Chan practice. He argues that this contributed to the routinization of the tradition, resulting in a loss of some of the more open and creative aspects of earlier Chan.^[21]

Doubt

The concept of ‘doubt’ was very important in Dahui’s teaching. He warned his students that they must ‘doubt’ words to not be fooled by them. Furthermore, they needed to ‘doubt’ their very existence. He said,

Many students today do not doubt themselves, but they doubt others. And so it is said, ‘Within great doubt there necessarily exists great enlightenment.’^[22]

Influence on the Rinzai-tradition

His teachings on kanhua practice became the standard for the Linji school tradition of koan practice in China, Korea and Japan. Dahui exerted a strong influence on the Japanese Rinzai teacher Hakuin Ekaku, who also taught great doubt as necessary to awaken.

Rejection of silent illumination

Main article: Shikantaza

Dahui’s teachings contain relentless attacks on the practice of silent illumination, sitting in meditation in tranquility and quietness. He labeled teachers of this type of meditation practice as "heretical" and complained,

They just sit in a ghostly cave on a dark mountain after their meals. They call this practice "silent illumination", "dying the great death", "the state before the birth of one's parents." They sit there until calluses appear on their bottoms, yet they still do not dare to move."^[23]

To his opinion this type of practice leads to drowsiness, blankness and intellectualization and conceptualization of Chan Buddhism rather than enlightenment. He thought that teachers who taught this method of meditation had "never awakened themselves, they don’t believe anyone has awakened."^[24] For Dahui, koans were the only way to enlightenment and without koans, one would "be like a blind man without a walking stick: unable to take even one step."^[18] But koans had to be penetrated fully, not intellectualized. It was this fear of superficiality and intellectualization of old koans that led him to destroy all copies of his own teacher’s masterpiece, the Blue Cliff Record, to save Chan and to authenticate proper koan practice.

Writings

Only one work can be attributed to Dahui, a collection of koans entitled Zhengfa Yanzang 正法眼藏^[25] (The Storehouse of the True Dharma Eye, J. Shobogenzo)^[a]

Dahui also compiled the Chánlín Bǎo Xùn (禪林寶訓, "Treasured Teachings of the Chan Monastic Tradition"), instructions of former Chan abbots about the virtues and ideals of monastic life, in collaboration with another monk, Dagui. A disciple of Dahui, Zuyong, compiled a collection of Dahui’s life and teaching called Dahui Bujue Chanshi Nianbu ("Chronological Biography of Chan Master Dahui"). The Zhiyue lu, compiled by Qu Ruji, also contains information on Dahui’s teachings and is the basis of the J. C. Cleary translation Swampland Flowers, of which the majority is a collection of letters Dahui wrote to his students.^[26]

See also

• Index of Buddhism-related articles
• Schools of Buddhism
• Chan Buddhism
• Yuanwu Keqin
• Kanhua Chan

Notes

1. Dogen's unattributed use of Dahui's title Cheng-fa yen-tsang for Dogen's own most famous life work is an example of Dogen's broad influences. Upon arriving in China, Dogen first studied under Wuji Lepai, a disciple of Dahui, so this is most likely the source of Dogen's knowledge of Dahui's Cheng fa yen tsang. Whether Dogen's failure to attribute his appropriation of the title was simply the manner of the day or deliberate obfuscation is open to interpretation and debate. See also Note 3 of Some Problems in Interpretation: The Early and Late Writings of Dogen

References

1. McRae 2003, pp. 123–133.
2. Yu, p. 211
3. Cleary, p. xi
4. see Yu, p. 213 and Cleary, p. xii
5. Yu p. 214
6. Yu p. 215
7. Yu, p. 216
8. Ferguson, p. 441
9. Cleary, p. xvii
10. Schlütter 2008, p. 111.
11. Schlütter 2008, p. 109.
12. Schlütter 2008, p. 1109.
13. Foster & Shoemaker, p. 186
14. Buswell 1991.
15. McRae 2003, p. 126-133.
16. Schlütter 2008.
17. McRae 2003, p. 126–133.
18. Yu, p. 226
19. Cleary, p. 63
20. Cleary, p. 46
21. Mario Pockeski, Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 56, Springer 2022
22. Dumoulin, p. 258
23. Yu p. 225
24. Cleary, p. 111
25. Xuzangjing Vol. 67, No. 1309 Archived 2008-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association
26. Cleary, pp. xxv–xxvi; Yu, p. 217 and p. 230 n. 8

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E. (1991), The "Short-cut" Approach of K'an-hua Meditation: The Evolution of a Practical Subitism in Chinese Ch'an Buddhism. In: Peter N. Gregory (editor) (1991), Sudden and Gradual. Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited
• Cleary, J.C., 1997 (2006), Swampland Flowers: the letters and lectures of Zen master Ta Hui, Shambhala, ISBN 978-1-59030-318-4
• Cleary, T.; Cleary, J.C. (1977), The Blue Cliff Record, Shambhala, ISBN 0-87773-622-7
• Cleary, T. & Cleary, J.C., 1994, Zen Letters: teachings of Yuanwu, Shambhala, ISBN 0-87773-931-5
• Dumoulin, Heinrich (1994, 1998) Zen Buddhism: A History, Volume I, India and China, Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall International ISBN 0-02-897109-4
• Ferguson, Andy (2000) Zen’s Chinese Heritage: the masters and their teachings, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0-86171-163-7
• Foster, Nelson & Shoemaker, Jack (eds), 1996, The Roaring Stream: a new Zen reader, The Ecco Press, Hopewell, ISBN 0-88001-344-3
• Heine, Steven & Wright, Dale S., 2000, The Koan: texts and contexts in Zen Buddhism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-511749-2
• Leighton, Taigen Daniel; Yi Wu (1991), Cultivating the Empty Field: the silent illumination of Zen master Hongzhi, North Point Press, ISBN 0-86547-475-3
• Levering, Miriam A Monk's Literary Education: Dahui's Friendship with Juefan Huihong; Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, No.13.2 (May 2000) pp. 369–384
• McRae, John (2003), Seeing Through Zen. Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism, The University Press Group Ltd, ISBN 978-0-520-23798-8
• Schlütter, Morten (2008), How Zen became Zen. The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-3508-8
• Watson, Burton, 1993, The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi, Shambhala, ISBN 0-87773-891-2
• Yu, Chun-Fang, 1979, Ta-hui Tsung-kao and Kung-an Ch'an, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, v. 6, p. 211–235

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Ta Hui

“Ta Hui means the “Great Master of Wisdom.”
Only at the last moment it seems he attained enlightenment, just before he died, but then he did not say anything except a small verse. So I have called him “The Great Teacher” — and he was certainly a great teacher. He influenced millions of people; he was a great leader in the sense that anybody who came in contact with him was immediately intellectually convinced. But he had no presence, and he had no inner silence. It seems that only at the last moment he attained the goal, he completed the journey.”
“The great Zen teacher Ta Hui comes from the same lineage as Bodhidharma. He was born four hundred years after Bodhidharma had left for the Himalayas, to disappear into the eternal ice, the eternal silence there.

I have called Ta Hui the great Zen teacher — not a master… it has to be explained to you clearly. The master is one who is enlightened. but sometimes it happens that the master may be enlightened, but is not articulate enough to give expression to what he has known. That is a totally different art.
The teacher is not enlightened, but he is very articulate. He can say things which the master, although he knows, cannot bring to words. The teacher can say them, although he does not know.”
– The Great Zen Master Ta Hui, Chapter #1

“But Ta Hui was certainly a great teacher, because he collected… he went to dozens of enlightened masters. He was so young when he was initiated into monkhood, and he gathered like a bee gathers honey from thousands of flowers. So on the one hand he is very rich; he has brought so much honey from different flowers. But on the other hand he is very poor; he has not contributed anything from his own being. But I am happy that at least in the end, at the very end of his life, he became enlightened. His small verse is certainly of great beauty:”

“Ta Hui himself became enlightened just a minute before he was dying. Death can be of immense help, it can be a blessing in disguise, because now there is no future, no tomorrow. You cannot say, “Today I am busy, tomorrow I will meditate.” You have to drop all business. Now the only significant thing to be done is to be alert and aware, get rid of all your past, and move into death — innocent, clean, clear, unburdened. Then your very death becomes the entry into the divine. Then you are not dying; you are entering into eternal life.”
– The Great Zen Master Ta Hui, Chapter #3

“The so-called teachers like Ta Hui go on saying things, and among so many things, once in a while there may be one arrow hitting the target. But my concern is to show you how humanity has been deceived by teachers. Ta Hui was honored by the emperor of China as a great Ch’an master, a great Zen master, and he has been accepted as a great Zen master since then. When the emperor honored him with the title, who is going to dispute it?”
– The Great Zen Master Ta Hui, Chapter #4

“Ta Hui is a strange fellow, but he represents all those people who try to find their self-nature by intellectual effort. The problem with these people is that they have a good intellect. They can grasp words from masters, they can repeat them; they can deceive people and they can be deceived themselves.”

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Notable Quotes from Ta Hui and Osho on Ta Hui

One of the most famous quotes from Ta Hui is his final verse before death:

“Birth is thus, death is thus. Verse or no verse, that’s the fuss?” www.oshorajneesh.net

This short poem, recorded in the Blue Cliff Record, was written by Ta Hui in the pre-dawn hours before he died. According to Osho, Ta Hui said, “Without a verse, I couldn’t die”, then wrote the lines and let go of the brush, passing on www.oshorajneesh.net. The verse encapsulates the Zen idea that the essence of life and death transcends words.

Osho’s reflections on Ta Hui include:

• “Ta Hui means the ‘Great Master of Wisdom.’ Only at the last moment it seems he attained enlightenment, just before he died, but then he did not say anything except a small verse… He was certainly a great teacher… but he had no presence, and he had no inner silence… only at the last moment he attained the goal, he completed the journey.” oshofriends.com

• “Death can be of immense help… Now the only significant thing to be done is to be alert and aware, get rid of all your past, and move into death — innocent, clean, clear, unburdened. Then your very death becomes the entry into the divine.” oshofriends.com

Another key teaching from Ta Hui, as interpreted by Osho, is on the nature of birth and death:

“Where do we come from at birth? Where do we go at death? If you know where we come from and where we go, then you can be called a disciple of the Buddha.” oshosearch.net

This is part of a meditation that Ta Hui used to point directly to the existential question of existence, urging the seeker to realize the truth beyond conceptual thinking.

In summary:

• Ta Hui’s own quote: “Birth is thus, death is thus. Verse or no verse, that’s the fuss?” www.oshorajneesh.net

• Osho’s insight: Ta Hui was a “great teacher” who, though not enlightened in the traditional sense, could articulate profound truths, and his final verse is a pure expression of Zen non-attachment to form oshofriends.com.

These quotes reflect the Zen emphasis on direct experience, the transcendence of words, and the unity of life and death.

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