Hangzhou Tianlong
Hangzhou Tianlong
Dates uncertain
Hangzhou Tianlong was a Guiyang school master who is significant in Chan history as the teacher of Juzhi (Gutei), whose "one-finger Zen" became one of the most famous teaching devices in the tradition and appears as case 3 in the Mumonkan. Juzhi learned from Tianlong the practice of raising one finger in response to every question, and this single gesture became the entirety of his teaching.
Tianlong himself had received this "one-finger" teaching as a distillation of the entire Dharma. His transmission to Juzhi demonstrates one of Chan's most distinctive principles: that the whole of the teaching can be concentrated in a single, irreducible gesture, and that this gesture, when offered with complete sincerity and understanding, communicates everything that words cannot express.
Teachings
- dialogueTianlong Raises One Finger
A monk asked Tianlong, "What is the Buddha?" Tianlong simply raised one finger. The monk asked, "What is the Dharma?" Tianlong raised one finger. The monk asked, "What is the meaning of the patriarch's coming from the West?" Tianlong raised one finger. Whatever he was asked, Tianlong only raised one finger. His student Juzhi saw this and was greatly enlightened, and thereafter he too answered every question by raising one finger.
Master Record Sources
Hangzhou Tianlong
Guiyang
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Hangzhou Tianlong
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Damei Fachang