Description
The term “Chan” contracts channa, the Chinese transliteration of Sanskrit dhyāna or meditation/contemplation. Chan denotes a school of Chinese Buddhism that, generally speaking, values meditative insight over scholastic knowledge. Chan denies to be based on scriptural exegesis (as is the case with all the other schools of Buddhism) and therefore sees itself as a unique – and superior – tradition within Buddhism in general. Its key concepts are those of transmission and immediacy.
This entry will present Chan in terms of its intradenominational characterization, its hagiography, its religious practice, and its relevance as an object of scholarly analysis.
Characteristics
Central to Chan’s self-representation is the claim that the Buddha transmitted not only teachings as pointers toward and mediations of truth but also awakening itself as immediate realization of truth. The transmission of awakening is based on direct communication between the heart of the Buddha (and/or his...
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References
Takakusu, J., & Watanabe, K., (Eds.). (1924–1932). Taishō shinshū daizōkyō (Vol. 100). Tokyo: Taishō issaikyō kankōkai. Abbreviated as T; references are by volume, serial number, page, and column.
Primary Sources
Biyanlu, T48.2003:139a–225c (T. Cleary & J. C. Cleary (Trans.) (1977). The blue cliff record. Boston: Shambhala).
Liuzu tanjing, T 48.2008:346a-362b, J.R. McRae (Trans.) (2000). The platform sutra of the sixth patriarch. Translated from the Chinese Tongkao. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.
Wumenguan, T48. 2005:292a–299c (R. Aitken (Trans.) (1990). The gateless barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan). San Francisco: North Point Press).
Secondary Sources
Faure, B. (1991). The rhetoric of immediacy: A cultural critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Gregory, P. N., & Getz, D. A., Jr. (Eds.). (2002). Buddhism in the Sung. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Heine, S., & Wright, D. S. (Eds.). (2008). Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist theory in practice. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
McRae, J. (1986). The northern school and the formation of early Ch’an Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Schlütter, M. (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.
Welter, A. (2008). The Linji lu and the creation of Chan orthodoxy. The development of Chan’s records of sayings literature. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
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Döll, S. (2013). Chan. In: Runehov, A.L.C., Oviedo, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_1622
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_1622
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