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Mazu Daoyi (709–788) (, Japanese: Baso Dōitsu) was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. He is known as the founder of the Hongzhou school of Zen. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his Extensive Records.
He is most famously known for his two teaching statements: "This Mind is Buddha" ( ji xin shi fo 即心是佛) and "Ordinary Mind is the Way."Jinhua Jia (2012), The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, SUNY Press, pp. 67-68.
In the Transmission of the Lamp, compiled in 1004, Mazu is described as follows:
According to the Transmission of the Lamp, Mazu was a student of Nanyue Huairang (677-744) at Mount Heng in Hunan
A story in the entry on Nanyue Huairang in the Transmission of the Lamp is regarded as Mazu's enlightenment-account, though the text does not claim it as such. An earlier and more primitive version of this story appears in the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall which was transcribed in 952:
This story echoes the Vimalakirti Sutra and the Platform Sutra in downgrading purificative and gradualism practices instead of subitism into the Buddha-nature.
Traditionally, Mazu Daoyi is depicted as a successor in the lineage of Huineng, since his teacher Nanyue Huairang is regarded as a student and successor of Huineng. This connection between Huineng and Nanyue Huairang is doubtful, being the product of later rewritings of Chan history to place Mazu Daoyi in the traditional lineages.
Mazu Daoyi is perhaps the most influential teaching master in the formation of Chan Buddhism. While Chan became the dominant school of Buddhism during the Song dynasty, the earlier Tang dynasty and Mazu Daoyi's Hongzhou school became regarded as the "golden age" of Chan. The An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) led to a loss of control by the Tang dynasty, and metropolitan Chan began to lose its status while "other schools were arising in outlying areas controlled by warlords. These are the forerunners of the Chan we know today. Their origins are obscure; the power of Shen-hui's preaching is shown by the fact that they all trace themselves to Hui-neng."
This school developed "shock techniques such as shouting, beating, and using irrational retorts to startle their students into realization". These shock techniques became part of the traditional and still popular image of Chan masters displaying irrational and strange behaviour to aid their students. Part of this image was due to later misinterpretations and translation errors, such as the loud belly shout known as katsu. In Chinese "katsu" means "to shout", which has traditionally been translated as "yelled 'katsu'" – which should mean "yelled a yell."See James D. Sellmann & Hans Julius Schneider (2003), Liberating Language in Linji and Wittgenstein. Asian Philosophy, Vol. 13, Nos. 2/3, 2003. Notes 26 and 41
During 845-846 staunchly Taoist Emperor Wuzong of Tang persecuted Buddhist schools in China along with other dissidents, such as Nestorian church:
This persecution was devastating for metropolitan Chan, but the school of Mazu and his likes survived, and took a leading role in the Chan of the later Tang.
However, according to Jia, while Mazu's theory that Buddha-nature manifests in function is similar to the Huayan doctrine of nature-origination, there is nonetheless a difference. Jia says:
...while their theoretical frameworks are the same, the target and content of the Huayan nature-origination and Mazu’s idea that function is identical with Buddha-nature are nevertheless different. In the Huayan theory, the pure Buddha-nature remains forever untainted, even though it gives rise to defiled phenomena and originates the realization of all sentient beings’ enlightenment. In Mazu’s doctrine, the spontaneous, ordinary state of human mind and life, which is a mix of purity and defilement, is identical with Buddha-nature.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 78, State University of New York Press, 2006
If you want to know the Way directly, then ordinary mind is the Way. What is an ordinary mind? It means no intentional creation or action, no right or wrong, no grasping or rejecting, no terminable or permanent, no profane or holy. The sūtra says, “Neither the practice of ordinary men, nor the practice of sages—that is the practice of the Bodhisattva.” Now all these are just the Way: walking, abiding, sitting, lying, responding to conditions, and handling matters.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 123, State University of New York Press, 2006
Jia states that "identifying absolute buddha-nature with the ordinary human mind, Mazu confirmed that the entirety of daily life was of ultimate truth and value."Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 76, State University of New York Press, 2006 Similarly, Peter Gregory observes that Mazu's Hongzhou school collapses essence (buddha-nature) into function ("all activities—whether good or bad, enlightened or deluded").Peter Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism, page 237, University of Hawaii Press, 2002 As an example of this, when Fenzhou Wuye told Mazu he did not understand the meaning of "this mind is the Buddha," Mazu responded: "This very mind that doesn't understand is it, without any other thing."Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 129, State University of New York Press, 2006
Mazu's sermons indicate that awakening and ignorance form a false dichotomy since "originally there is no ignorance," and hence "awakening also need not be established."Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 127, State University of New York Press, 2006 He says, "Since limitless kalpas, all sentient beings have never left the Samadhi of dharma-nature, and they have always abided in the samādhi of dharma-nature. Wearing clothes, eating food, talking and responding, making use of the six senses, all activities are dharma-nature."Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 127, State University of New York Press, 2006 Accordingly, there was no need to deliberately try to enter into samādhi since, as Mazu says, "You are the diamond-samādhi by yourself, without again intending to attain samādhi by concentration."Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 122, State University of New York Press, 2006
It originally existed and exists at present. It does not depend on the cultivation of the Way and seated meditation. Neither cultivation nor seated meditation—this is the pure Chan (dhyāna) of Tathāgata.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 125, State University of New York Press, 2006
However, while the Way cannot be cultivated, Mazu does say it can be defiled by "intentional creation and action." He says, "The Way needs no cultivation, just not defiling it. What is defilement? When you have a mind of birth and death and an intention of creation and action, all these are defilement."Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 123, State University of New York Press, 2006 For Mazu, the Way belongs neither to cultivation nor even to non-cultivation, since to practice the former is to be like the śrāvakas (who follow the Hinayana), while falling into the latter position is to be no different than a pṛthagjana, an ordinary, worldly person.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 126, State University of New York Press, 2006
This mind originally existed and exists at present, without depending on intentional creation and action; it was originally pure and is pure at present, without waiting for cleaning and wiping. Self-nature attains nirvāna; self-nature is pure; self-nature is liberation; and self-nature departs from.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 122, State University of New York Press, 2006Although Mazu did not use the term, as Jia points out, this relates to the doctrine of original enlightenment ( benjue).Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 73, State University of New York Press, 2006 Indeed, Mazu said, "All of you should believe that your mind is Buddha, that this mind is identical with Buddha."Mario Poceski, Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism, page 142, Oxford University Press, 2007
In the famous East Asian śāstra, the Awakening of Faith, original enlightenment is situated among two other terms, "non-enlightenment" ( bujue) and "actualized enlightenment" ( shijue), and the three together form a cycle of religious practice.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 73, State University of New York Press, 2006 That is, in the Awakening of Faith, although all beings are originally enlightened, they do not recognize this fact and this constitutes non-enlightenment. They must therefore engage in religious practice to achieve actualized enlightenment which leads one back to one's original enlightenment.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 73, State University of New York Press, 2006 However, as Jia points out, Mazu's approach is different. Where the Awakening of Faith teaches a cycle of practice to regain original enlightenment by moving from non-enlightenment to actualized enlightenment, Mazu simplifies the cycle, emphasizing only original enlightenment.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 73, State University of New York Press, 2006 Thus, one can discover that which "originally existed and exists at present" without any need for religious practice.Jinhua Jia, The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China, page 73, State University of New York Press, 2006
Are you practicing to sit in meditation, or practicing to sit like a Buddha? As to sitting in meditation, meditation is neither sitting nor lying. As to sitting like a Buddha, the Buddha has no fixed form. In the non-abiding Dharma, one should neither grasp nor reject. If you try to sit like a Buddha, you are just killing the Buddha. If you attach to the form of sitting, you will never realize the principle.Cheng Chien Bhikshu (Mario Poceski), Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-tsu and the Hung-chou School of Ch'an, pages 59-60, Asian Humanities Press, 1992
Yanagida Seizan saw this story as an indication that Mazu rejected formal sitting meditation.Mario Poceski, Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism, page 136, Oxford University Press, 2007 According to Mario Poceski, Yanagida's stance reflects "popular views about classical Chan's rejection of formal meditation, which go back to Hu Shi's pioneering studies of Shenhui and early Chan history." For Poceski, the story "simply asserts that the originally existing Buddha-nature does not depend on the practice of meditation or any other spiritual exercise," a doctrinal position which can also be found in the Vimalakīrti Sūtra.Mario Poceski, Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism, pages 136-137, Oxford University Press, 2007
Bernard Faure observes that seated dhyana was a point of contention in the developing Chan school, noting that quietist tendencies are criticized in the Vimalakīrti Sūtra. Criticism of seated dhyāna can be found in Shenhui attacks on the so-called Northern school. As Faure states, for Shenhui, "the true practice must be non-intentional ( wuzuo)," a stance also illustrated in Mazu's dialogue with Nanyue (which Faure deems to be fictional). According to Faure, Nanyue's criticism is directed at "the idea of 'becoming a Buddha' by means of any practice, lowered to the standing of a 'means' to achieve an 'end'."
Faure notes that seated dhyāna as mere quietism was also condemned by Linji Yixuan, who criticized the practitioner who "sits down cross-legged with his back against a wall, his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth, completely still and motionless." For Linji, "motion and motionlessness are merely two kinds of states; it is the non-dependent Man of the Way who utilizes motion and utilizes motionlessness." Faure further maintains that criticism of seated dhyāna as quietism reflects a resentment toward the socio-economic role and position of monks in Tang dynasty society who, quoting Gernet, "undertook only pious works, reciting sacred texts and remaining seated in dhyāna".
Some worried that the spontaneity and emphasis on wisdom (direct insight) promoted by Mazu could be misunderstood, and despite the criticisms and doctrinal debates, seated dhyāna continued to be practiced, even by many of its critics. Guifeng Zongmi, heir to Shenhui's Heze School, successfully sought to restore the balance between concentration and wisdom which had been disturbed by Shenhui's sudden rhetoric and emphasis on wisdom. Regarding the stance of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, according to Zongmi, although it says that it is not necessary to sit, this does not mean that it is necessary not to sit. Zongmi says, "Whether or not to be seated depends on what is most suited to the capacities of the practitioner."
John McRae points out that such things as calling to a person by name just as they are leaving bring the attention of the student to the perfection of their automatic response, "yes?" Following Ogawa Takashi, McRae says the goal was "to alert the student to the fact that his Buddha-like ordinary mind was functioning perfectly all the time, like the selfless and undefiled reflection of the mirror, even as the student used that 'ordinary mind' to pose questions and respond automatically to his own name." This "represents the fundamental capability of cognition, the bare working of the human mind" as "primordial cognitive capacity."
Other anthologies where Mazu appears include:
Other examples of kōans in which Mazu figures are as follows:
A generation later his lineage through Baizhang came to include Huangbo Xiyun (d.850), and his celebrated successor Linji Yixuan (d.866). From Linji Yixuan derived the Linji school and the Japanese sect, the Rinzai school.
A second line was Guishan Lingyou (771-853), to whom the Guiyang school was named, and therein Yangshan Huiji (807-883).
Guifeng Zongmi (圭峰 宗密) (780–841), an influential teacher-scholar and patriarch of both the Chan Buddhism and the Huayan school claimed that the Hung-chou tradition believed "everything as altogether true".
According to Zongmi, the Hongzhou school teaching led to a radical nondualism that believed that all actions, good or bad, are expressions of the essential Buddha-nature and therefore denied the need for spiritual cultivation and moral discipline. This was a dangerously Antinomianism view as it eliminated all moral distinctions and validated any actions as expressions of the essence of Buddha-nature.
While Zongmi acknowledged that the essence of Buddha-nature and its functioning in the day-to-day reality are but different aspects of the same reality, he insisted that there is a difference. To avoid the dualism he saw in the Northern Line and the radical nondualism and antinomianism of the Hung-chou school, Zongmi's paradigm preserved "an ethically critical duality within a larger ontological unity."
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