A Study Of Huang Bo Xiyun And His Zen Thoughts

Huangbo Xiyun(?-855)was an important Zen master in the history of Southern Zen.In terms of time,he was between the Hongzhou Sect founded by Mazu Daoyi and the Linji Sect created by Yixuan.The relationship between the two can be said to be a link between the past and the next.However,the academic circles have not paid enough attention to Huangbo Xiyun,and often put Huangbo Xiyun under the perspective of Hongzhou Sect for research.This is largely determined by his time background.In fact,Huangbo Xiyun has a unique system of Zen theory.Huangbo Xiyun lived from the Middle Tang to the late Tang Dynasty.At this time,the Tang Dynasty society showed the characteristics of a looser feudal political structure,a southerly economic center of gravity,and a confluence of Confucianism,Buddhism,and Taoism.In addition,Huangbo Xiyun also experienced "Policy of Destory Buddhism in Huichang period(840-846)",these are the background of the era that cannot be ignored for Huangbo Xiyun and his Zen thoughts.Huangbo Xiyun was a monk in his hometown of Fuqing when he was a child.Since childhood,he has shown his interest in Buddhism and his wisdom beyond ordinary people.Later,Huang Bo Xiyun left his hometown and came to Hongzhou,where he learned about chance at Baizhang Huaihai,a disciple of Mazu Daoyi.At the same time,he was recognized and taught by Baizhang Huaihai.In his later years,Huangbo Xiyun opened the sect and preached the Dharma.He first taught the Dharma at Huangbo Temple in Gao’an County.This stage took about ten years.Later,the official Pei Xiu invited Huangbo Xiyun to reach the Zhongling Longxing Temple in the second year of Huichang(842)to teach the Dharma.Later,he went to Kaiyuan Temple in Wanling to preach the Dharma,and asked every day.After that,Pei Xiu compiled the Zen method he received from Master Huangbo Xiyun in the eleventh year of Dazhong(857)into the "Huangbo Mountain Duanji Zen Master’s Method of Conveying the Mind" "And "The Records of Wanling Mausoleum of Zen Master Huangbo Mountain Duanji".Huangbo Xiyun’s Zen thought inherited the thought of "that is,the heart is the Buddha",which is the common characteristic of all Southern Zen masters.In addition,Huangbo Xiyun’s Zen is also a return to Lao-Zhuang’s thoughts,which is reflected in his“No-mind and Senseless is Tao” thinking.He believes that if he can completely “rest the opportunity and forget the view”,he will achieve the “Tao” and “let Zen become everywhere in life”.It is a "No-mind person of Tao" who is in the life,where there is everywhere for meditation.Finally,Huangbo Xiyun inherited Mazu Daoyi’s Zen,and started Linji Yixuan’s Zen.On the one hand,Ma Zu Daoyi put forward the idea of"Neither the mind nor the Buddha".Compared with directly saying that the mind is the Buddha,this is a kind of Progress in dialectical thinking,but Mazu did not discuss how the idea of "non-heart and non-Buddha" can be implemented into practice,and Huangbo Xiyun’s "No-mind" is an answer to this;on the other hand,Huangbo Xiyun’s" The thought of "the No-mind person of Dao" is an inspiration to Linji Yi Xuan’s "Wu Wei Zhen Ren" thought.Literally,this is a theory that personifies "Buddha",but in fact,it is thinking about inspiring practitioners to explore the realm of true heart and liberty.