Vasasita
Vasasita
5th c. – Unknown
Vasiṣṭha (transliterated *Vasasita* in the Chinese sources), twenty-fifth patriarch in the Chan list, is named in the *Jǐngdé Chuándēng Lù* as the disciple of Siṃha Bhikṣu and the teacher of Puṇyamitra[1]. He belongs to the legendary stratum of the late Indian lineage; the traditional accounts emphasize the continuity of transmission through the period of the Mihirakula persecution rather than supplying independently verifiable biographical detail.
Dumoulin notes that the post-Siṃha section of the lineage functions narratively as a survival sequence: the Dharma is preserved through three further generations under conditions of political hostility, and is then released eastward by Prajñātāra to Bodhidharma[2].
Names
Disciples of Vasasita
Teachers and lineage of Vasasita
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- dialogueWhat Kings Cannot Destroy
After receiving the transmission from Siṃha Bhikṣu under conditions of persecution, Vasiṣṭha wandered in hiding. A student found him and asked: 'If the king destroys the Dharma, what do we do?' Vasiṣṭha said: 'The king cannot destroy the Dharma. He can destroy monasteries and books and monks. But that which is transmitted from mind to mind—he has never seen it and does not know where it lives.' Keizan's verse: The dynasty crumbles to dust. / The monasteries burn to ash. / That which was transmitted before words— / it was never in the building.
Other masters in Indian Patriarchs
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
trad. 5th c. CE
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Vasasita
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Indian Patriarchs
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Simha