Wuzu Fayan
Wuzu Fayan
c. 1024 – c. 1104
Wuzu Fayan (五祖法演, c. 1024–1104), the "Fifth Patriarch Fayan" — so called because he taught at the Dongshan-si on Mount East-Mountain (Wǔzǔ-shān), the same site where the Fifth Patriarch Hongren had taught some four centuries earlier, and not to be confused with the earlier Fayan Wenyi — was the major Yangqi-line Linji master of the late Northern Song[1]. He was the Dharma heir of Baiyun Shouduan and the teacher of three of the most consequential figures of Song-period Chan: Yuanwu Keqin, Foyan Qingyuan, and Foguo Weibai[2].
Wuzu is one of the most cited teachers in the Song koan literature, and his recorded sayings — collected as the *Wǔzǔ Fǎyǎn Chánshī Yǔlù* — are characterised by terse, paradoxical formulations that refuse both affirmation and negation. His teaching is the immediate background of the Linji-house style codified in his student Yuanwu's *Bìyán Lù* and his grand-student Dahui's *huatou* curriculum[3].
Names
Disciples of Wuzu Fayan
Teachers and lineage of Wuzu Fayan
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
Goso said: "When you meet a Zen master on the road you cannot talk to him, you cannot face him with silence. What are you going to do?" Mumon’s comment: In such a case, if you can answer him intimately, your realization will be beautiful, but if you cannot, you should look about without seeing anything. Meeting a Zen master on the road, Face him neither with words nor silence. Give him an uppercut And you will be called one who understands Zen.
A monk asked Joshu why Bodhidharma came to China. Joshu said: "An oak tree in the garden." Mumon’s comment: If one sees Joshu's answer clearly, there is no Shakyamuni Buddha before him and no future Buddha after him. Words cannot describe everything. The heart's message cannot be delivered in words. If one receives words literally, he will be lost, If he tries to explain with words, he will not attain enlightenment in this life.
- proverbWuzu's Encouragement
I told Yuanwu: do not measure your awakening against another's. Each awakening is a particular voice; the chorus only sings if every voice keeps its own pitch.
Other masters in Linji
Master Record Sources
c. 1024-1104
Wuzu Fayan
Linji
- koan_refsChart of the Chan Ancestors
35,36 38,45
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
c. 1024-1104
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Wuzu Fayan
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Baiyun Shouduan