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Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism: Selected from the Transmission of the Lamp
This unique and masterfully translated collection is an essential text for those interested in the authentic teachings of Ch’an Buddhism, the discipline that emerged in seventh-century China and flourished there until the thirteenth century. Known in the West as “Zen”, it is widely practiced in Japan today. This book includes the teachings of the great Ch’an Masters selected from the earliest Ch’an text, The Transmission of the Lamp, and also the author’s own interpretations derived from over twenty years of study and experience in Ch’an, primarily with Dr. D. T. Suzuki and other leading Japanese Zen masters. The teachings are made up of kung-an (koan in Japanese), which are the expressions of the inner experience and illuminations of enlightened human beings, an inner experience that is transmitted from generation to generation and which represents the essential characteristic of the teachings of Ch’an.
333 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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December 7, 2025
TRANSLATIONS OF CHINESE TEXTS, WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND COMMENTARY
Chang Chung-Yuan (1907-1988) taught philosophy in Chinese universities before he came to the United States. He received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has lectured at Columbia, Rutgers, and other American universities, as well as in Europe. He was a research fellow in Taoism and Ch’an Buddhism for ten years with the Bollingen Foundation of New York. He was sent to Japan from 1960-1963 to work on the research and translation of Ch’an scripts. He then became a professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii.
He wrote in the Foreword of this 1969 book, “For many Westerners the understanding of Chinese Ch’an Buddhism (or Zen Buddhism, as it is called in Japanese) presents… problems. First of all, there is the problem of finding it, since much of the literature has not yet been translated, particularly the ancient Chinese texts that we are making available, in part, in this volume. But there is another barrier… Chinese Ch’an Buddhism, when we first approach it, may seem strange and unfamiliar. Yet the work of the Ch’an Buddhists is a historical milestone in the development of the mind and personality of man, though its significance has been little appreciated in the West until recent years, when some of the treasures of Ch’an literature have been interpreted and made available to its admirers and students. This work is an effort to enlarge that understanding.” (Pg. viii)
He adds later, “For Ch’an Buddhists, intellection was a hindrance to the achievement of enlightenment. The logical and metaphysical approach depended heavily upon intellectual effort, but these efforts often resulted in mere knowledge about reality, failing to reveal reality itself. Nature, they felt, was not an internal imposition of a mechanical system, but…. is an invisible but all-pervading and far-reaching universal self which is considered the Source of All Things… For the Ch’an Buddhist, being and nonbeing, life and death, right and wrong, are mutually identified; they all emerge from this original face… Therefore, self-realization is the essential principle in the teachings of Ch’an.” (Pg. x-xi)
He explains, “‘The Transmission of the Lamp,’ from which the texts in this book are taken, consists mainly of more than a thousand ‘kung-an’ [‘koans,’ in Japanese], expressions of the inner experience and illumination of enlightened men, from the ancient patriarchs and masters to the disciples of Fa-yen Wen-i in the 10th century… it is the earliest of the historical records of Ch’an Buddhism and is the first and best source for the study of Ch’an. Its thirty volumes record the sayings of over 600 masters and the names of more than a thousand others. The present work comprises the translation of the fascicles of 19 masters, representing the Five Schools of Ch’an Buddhism as well as the earliest Ch’an teachings. Because these dialogues of irrelevant questions and answers may be new to the reader, I have written an interpretative introduction for each group of masters.” (Pg. xiii)
He states in the Introduction, “This ‘Absolute beyond Reason’ is the Ultimate Reality of all things. But for the Buddhist, it is the Buddha nature within all beings. The Madhyamika maintains that when all particular existence is reduced to ‘sunyata,’ or Emptiness, by the dialectical process of negation of negation, Supreme Enlightenment takes place and ‘prajna-paramita’ or ‘non-dual knowledge,’ is fulfilled.” (Pg. 4)
He continues, “Prajna means the highest intuition which views things in their aspect of ‘sunyata.’ Sunyata is neither relativity or nothingness, but Ultimate Reality, or the Absolute. When the Madhyamika Buddhist says that all things are empty, he is not expressing a nihilistic view, but speaking of Ultimate Reality, which cannot be placed in any modern logical system.” (Pg. 4-5)
He reports, “Freedom from thought and anxiety is picturesquely described by a later master: It is like a pail of water when the bottom has fallen away. When nothing retains the water and it has all dropped, the negation is indeed complete.” (Pg. 6)
He notes, “The Middle Way philosophy involves both prajna and sunyata, which cannot be considered apart from one another, They are, in fact, two aspects of one inseparable reality. However, generally speaking, a distinction is drawn in that sunyata is reached by a process of manifold negation, while prajna is realized by an immediate and intuitive identification.” (Pg. 9-10)
He recounts, “Once Huang-po was asked, ‘If you say that mind can be transmitted, then how can you say it is nothing?’… Huang-po answered, “You have heard the expression ‘transmission of the mind’ and so you think there must be something transmitted. You are wrong, Thus, Bodhidharma said that when the nature of the mind is realized, it is not possible to express it verbally. Clearly, then, nothing is obtained in the transmission of the mind, or if anything is obtained, it is certainly not knowledge.” (Pg. 85-86)
He reports another encounter, “Master Huai-jang (677-744) came to see Ma-tsu, and asked him what it was he sought through meditation. Ma-tsu replied that he wished to achieve Buddhahood; whereupon Huai-jang took a piece of brick and began grinding it against a stone. When Ma-tsu asked why he ground the brick thus, Huai-jang replied that he was planning to make it into a mirror. Ma-tsu, surprised, demanded, ‘How can you ever make a brick into a mirror by polishing it?’ Huai-jang in turn asked, ‘How can you ever achieve Buddhahood through mediation?’” (Pg. 231)
He states, “Once a monk questioned Chao-chou and Ch’an, and Chan-chou awakened him in the following fashion. ‘Have you finished your rice gruel?’ ‘Yes, I have finished it,’ the monk replied. ‘Then go and wash your dishes,’ said Chao-chou. This simple activity of the Ch’an monk, washing the dishes after eating gruel, is the most ordinary thing, the sort of activity that is completely spontaneous and requires no mental effort. While engaged in it, a man is free from assertion and negation... When one reaches this state of mind, one’s inner power meets with no obstructions or limitations, and it was thus that the … disciple was awakened.” (Pg. 140)
He recounts, “The Master… came to the assembly and said: ‘The Tao is attained by one’s inner awakening; it does not depend upon words. Look at the invisible and boundless. Where can you find any intermittence? How can you reach it by the labor of the intellect? It is simply the reflection of illumination, and that is your whole daily task. Only those who are ignorant will go in the opposite direction.’ A monk asked, ‘What is the realm of [your] mind?’ The Master replies, ‘Plants and trees are not abundant.’” (Pg. 222)
On another occasion, “The Master said to the assembly… ‘The ancient sages could not bear your sufferings and threw their whole beings in front of you, crying, “The entire being is the Truth, and every objective pursuit of it fails.” Let me tell you that anything you can directly point at will not lead you to the right trail. Really, you have not found, as yet, your entrance to Ch’an. You would do better to study and find out for yourself. Besides dressing, eating, moving bowels, releasing water, what else is there to do? There is no reason for you to create so many illusions. What is the use of it?” (Pg. 288-289)
This book will interest those who are studying Ch’an Buddhism.
Chang Chung-Yuan (1907-1988) taught philosophy in Chinese universities before he came to the United States. He received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has lectured at Columbia, Rutgers, and other American universities, as well as in Europe. He was a research fellow in Taoism and Ch’an Buddhism for ten years with the Bollingen Foundation of New York. He was sent to Japan from 1960-1963 to work on the research and translation of Ch’an scripts. He then became a professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii.
He wrote in the Foreword of this 1969 book, “For many Westerners the understanding of Chinese Ch’an Buddhism (or Zen Buddhism, as it is called in Japanese) presents… problems. First of all, there is the problem of finding it, since much of the literature has not yet been translated, particularly the ancient Chinese texts that we are making available, in part, in this volume. But there is another barrier… Chinese Ch’an Buddhism, when we first approach it, may seem strange and unfamiliar. Yet the work of the Ch’an Buddhists is a historical milestone in the development of the mind and personality of man, though its significance has been little appreciated in the West until recent years, when some of the treasures of Ch’an literature have been interpreted and made available to its admirers and students. This work is an effort to enlarge that understanding.” (Pg. viii)
He adds later, “For Ch’an Buddhists, intellection was a hindrance to the achievement of enlightenment. The logical and metaphysical approach depended heavily upon intellectual effort, but these efforts often resulted in mere knowledge about reality, failing to reveal reality itself. Nature, they felt, was not an internal imposition of a mechanical system, but…. is an invisible but all-pervading and far-reaching universal self which is considered the Source of All Things… For the Ch’an Buddhist, being and nonbeing, life and death, right and wrong, are mutually identified; they all emerge from this original face… Therefore, self-realization is the essential principle in the teachings of Ch’an.” (Pg. x-xi)
He explains, “‘The Transmission of the Lamp,’ from which the texts in this book are taken, consists mainly of more than a thousand ‘kung-an’ [‘koans,’ in Japanese], expressions of the inner experience and illumination of enlightened men, from the ancient patriarchs and masters to the disciples of Fa-yen Wen-i in the 10th century… it is the earliest of the historical records of Ch’an Buddhism and is the first and best source for the study of Ch’an. Its thirty volumes record the sayings of over 600 masters and the names of more than a thousand others. The present work comprises the translation of the fascicles of 19 masters, representing the Five Schools of Ch’an Buddhism as well as the earliest Ch’an teachings. Because these dialogues of irrelevant questions and answers may be new to the reader, I have written an interpretative introduction for each group of masters.” (Pg. xiii)
He states in the Introduction, “This ‘Absolute beyond Reason’ is the Ultimate Reality of all things. But for the Buddhist, it is the Buddha nature within all beings. The Madhyamika maintains that when all particular existence is reduced to ‘sunyata,’ or Emptiness, by the dialectical process of negation of negation, Supreme Enlightenment takes place and ‘prajna-paramita’ or ‘non-dual knowledge,’ is fulfilled.” (Pg. 4)
He continues, “Prajna means the highest intuition which views things in their aspect of ‘sunyata.’ Sunyata is neither relativity or nothingness, but Ultimate Reality, or the Absolute. When the Madhyamika Buddhist says that all things are empty, he is not expressing a nihilistic view, but speaking of Ultimate Reality, which cannot be placed in any modern logical system.” (Pg. 4-5)
He reports, “Freedom from thought and anxiety is picturesquely described by a later master: It is like a pail of water when the bottom has fallen away. When nothing retains the water and it has all dropped, the negation is indeed complete.” (Pg. 6)
He notes, “The Middle Way philosophy involves both prajna and sunyata, which cannot be considered apart from one another, They are, in fact, two aspects of one inseparable reality. However, generally speaking, a distinction is drawn in that sunyata is reached by a process of manifold negation, while prajna is realized by an immediate and intuitive identification.” (Pg. 9-10)
He recounts, “Once Huang-po was asked, ‘If you say that mind can be transmitted, then how can you say it is nothing?’… Huang-po answered, “You have heard the expression ‘transmission of the mind’ and so you think there must be something transmitted. You are wrong, Thus, Bodhidharma said that when the nature of the mind is realized, it is not possible to express it verbally. Clearly, then, nothing is obtained in the transmission of the mind, or if anything is obtained, it is certainly not knowledge.” (Pg. 85-86)
He reports another encounter, “Master Huai-jang (677-744) came to see Ma-tsu, and asked him what it was he sought through meditation. Ma-tsu replied that he wished to achieve Buddhahood; whereupon Huai-jang took a piece of brick and began grinding it against a stone. When Ma-tsu asked why he ground the brick thus, Huai-jang replied that he was planning to make it into a mirror. Ma-tsu, surprised, demanded, ‘How can you ever make a brick into a mirror by polishing it?’ Huai-jang in turn asked, ‘How can you ever achieve Buddhahood through mediation?’” (Pg. 231)
He states, “Once a monk questioned Chao-chou and Ch’an, and Chan-chou awakened him in the following fashion. ‘Have you finished your rice gruel?’ ‘Yes, I have finished it,’ the monk replied. ‘Then go and wash your dishes,’ said Chao-chou. This simple activity of the Ch’an monk, washing the dishes after eating gruel, is the most ordinary thing, the sort of activity that is completely spontaneous and requires no mental effort. While engaged in it, a man is free from assertion and negation... When one reaches this state of mind, one’s inner power meets with no obstructions or limitations, and it was thus that the … disciple was awakened.” (Pg. 140)
He recounts, “The Master… came to the assembly and said: ‘The Tao is attained by one’s inner awakening; it does not depend upon words. Look at the invisible and boundless. Where can you find any intermittence? How can you reach it by the labor of the intellect? It is simply the reflection of illumination, and that is your whole daily task. Only those who are ignorant will go in the opposite direction.’ A monk asked, ‘What is the realm of [your] mind?’ The Master replies, ‘Plants and trees are not abundant.’” (Pg. 222)
On another occasion, “The Master said to the assembly… ‘The ancient sages could not bear your sufferings and threw their whole beings in front of you, crying, “The entire being is the Truth, and every objective pursuit of it fails.” Let me tell you that anything you can directly point at will not lead you to the right trail. Really, you have not found, as yet, your entrance to Ch’an. You would do better to study and find out for yourself. Besides dressing, eating, moving bowels, releasing water, what else is there to do? There is no reason for you to create so many illusions. What is the use of it?” (Pg. 288-289)
This book will interest those who are studying Ch’an Buddhism.
October 31, 2023
I read something in this book in 2016 or 2017 that has stuck with me and possibly changed my life.
"When a mental attitude and the external world emerge, the
natures of both are non-existent. Originally there is no knower
of the cause of the emergence. The capacity of mind and the
known are identical. When their origin is illumined, all that is
in emergence no longer emerges. Emergence itself ceases... .
When a mental attitude and the external world are not
created, it is the Void. ..."
"When a mental attitude and the external world emerge, the
natures of both are non-existent. Originally there is no knower
of the cause of the emergence. The capacity of mind and the
known are identical. When their origin is illumined, all that is
in emergence no longer emerges. Emergence itself ceases... .
When a mental attitude and the external world are not
created, it is the Void. ..."
January 11, 2022
what is a word before it is said
August 24, 2015
Dense.
May 7, 2016
Incredibly dense but essential.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews