Inspiring the future by drawing on ancient wisdom: Lectures on Chan Buddhism given at DDM Vancouver Center
Venerable Guo Yi (果毅法師), Managing Director of DDM Public Buddhist Education Center and Director of DDM Nung Chan Monastery, led a seven-day Silent Illumination Retreat at DDM Vancouver Center from April 5 to 12. After the retreat was concluded, a lecture entitled “Development and Evolution of Chan Buddhism” was held on April 13 and 14, engaging nearly 120 participants with a vast amount of historical materials and literature, to explore the history of Chan School of Buddhism by identifying the crucial and turning points over its 1800 years of development.
As knowledge and academic research results are widely available, the venerable focused her talk on taking a closer look at historical facts, instead of sharing historic stories and legends. By basing on recent academic research, Buddhist scriptures, and literature by patriarchs and eminent monks, she divided the timeline for development of the Chan School since Buddhism spread to China in the Eastern Han Dynasty into five periods—the preparation phase, the pure Chan period, the period of extemporaneous methods of Chan practice, the period of its splendor, and the period of its decline—and talked about their representative figures, writings, features, and the philosophy of their Chan approaches.
In her lecture to the audience on the evolution of Indian dhyana since its spread into China, Ven. Guo Yi analyzed the temporal and spatial context, to reveal how the influences of cultural and social backgrounds came into play as the underlying factors. She painted a clear picture on how to go about learning Chan practice in terms of its historical development, including its internalization into Chinese culture, its growing popularity with the public, the fact that different sects competed for authenticity of their teaching, as well as the progression of its teaching methods and how the Chan School adopted the philosophy of various Buddhist schools and methods of practice. Finally, she concluded that the late Master Sheng Yen inherited both the Linji and Caodong lineages, and created the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Buddhism by incorporating the Silent Illumination practice from Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157), Huatou Chan from Master Xu Yun (1840-1959), Buddha-name recitation Chan from Yunqi Zhuhong (1535–1615), and the idea of Humanistic Buddhism from Master Tai Xu (1890 –1947).
In the two-day lecture explaining the origin of Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Buddhism, Ven. Guo Yi showed participants the development of Chan Buddhism in China from a broader perspective, and engaged them with creative thinking, in an effort to further revitalize Chan Buddhism. As the venerable pointed out, Chan practice has become increasingly popular in the West, where many different Buddhist traditions and lineages have become localized, developing into their 2nd and even the 3rd generation. Compared to other forms of Buddhism as practiced in the West, Chinese Buddhism requires more visibility and Chan practice can serve as an ideal entry point for this purpose. Many Westerners actually admire the depth and profoundness of Chan Buddhist philosophy, as well as Chinese monastic groups upholding the Dharma with precepts for purity. Therefore, we should ponder over how to strive to become more engaged with local communities.