Fengxue Yanzhao
Fengxue Yanzhao
c. 896 – c. 973
Fengxue Yanzhao, whose name means "Wind Cave," was a student of Nanyuan Huiyong who is credited with preventing the Linji lineage from dying out. At a time when the school had dwindled to very few practitioners, Fengxue's realization and teaching ability ensured that the transmission continued. The tradition remembers him as the savior of the Linji line.
In one famous exchange, Fengxue addressed the assembly: "If I raise the first move, you will have a master but no student. If I raise the second move, you will have a student but no master. If I raise the third move, you will have neither master nor student." A monk asked, "What about the third?" Fengxue said, "There is no meeting at all." This teaching on the progressive dissolution of the teacher-student duality points to the ultimate freedom that the Linji tradition seeks—a freedom beyond all relational categories, including the category of "teacher" and "student" itself.
Names
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Teachings
- koanWithout Words, Without Silence
A monk asked Fuketsu: "Without speaking, without silence, how can you express the truth?" Fuketsu observed: "I always remember springtime in southern China. The birds sing among innumerable kinds of fragrant flowers." Mumon’s comment: Fuketsu used to have lightning Zen. Whenever he had the opportunity, he flashed it. But this time he failed to do so and only borrowed from an old Chinese poem. Never mind Fuketsu's Zen. If you want to express the truth, throw out your words, throw out your silence, and tell me about your own Zen. Without revealing his own penetration, He offered another's words, not his to give. Had he chattered on and on, Even his listeners would have been embarrassed.
Master Record Sources
Fengxue Yanzhao
Linji
- koan_refsChart of the Chan Ancestors
38, 61 29,34 24 32,38 54,59
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Fengxue Yanzhao
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Nanyuan Huiyong