Changsha Jingcen

Changsha Jingcen was a student of Nanquan Puyuan who is known for the extraordinary scope and boldness of his teaching. His most famous statement—"The entire universe in all ten directions is the eye of the monk; the entire universe in all ten directions is the everyday speech of the monk; the entire universe in all ten directions is the whole body of the monk"—expands the boundaries of self to encompass all of reality.

This teaching of the complete interpenetration of the practitioner and the cosmos influenced later Caodong and Soto thought, particularly Dogen's understanding of practice-realization. Changsha's vision of the practitioner as coextensive with the universe itself points to a non-dualism so thorough that no separation remains between the one who practices and the world in which practice occurs. His exchanges with students pushed constantly toward this all-encompassing perspective.