禅Masters

Xitang Zhizang

Linji

Xitang Zhizang

c. 735 – c. 814

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Xitang Zhizang was one of the three great students of Mazu Daoyi, alongside Baizhang Huaihai and Nanquan Puyuan. He taught at Xitang (West Hall) and was known for a deep and quiet style that complemented the more dramatic approaches of his dharma brothers. The three students are often mentioned together as exemplifying different facets of Mazu's teaching.

In one famous exchange, Mazu asked Xitang, "What is it?" Xitang struck the ground. On another occasion, a monk asked Xitang about the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West. Xitang replied, "What is the meaning of the question you have just asked me?" This turning of the question back on the questioner is characteristic of the Hongzhou school's emphasis on the immediacy of the questioner's own mind as the only place where truth can be found.

Names

dharma · enXitang Zhizang
alias · enHsi-t'ang Chih-tsang
alias · enSeidô Chizô

Teachers

Students

Teachings

  • koanKeichu's Wheel

    Mumonkan Case 8

    Getsuan said to his students: "Keichu, the first wheel-maker of China, made two wheels of fifty spokes each. Now, suppose you removed the nave uniting the spokes. What would become of the wheel? And had Keichu done this, could he be called the master wheel-maker?" Mumon’s comment: If anyone can answer this question instantly, his eyes will be like a comet and his mind like a flash of lightning. When the hubless wheel turns, Master or no master can stop it. It turns above heaven and below earth, South, north, east, and west.

    tr. Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps, 1934

    Commentator: Wumen Huikai, Speaker: Xitang Zhizang

Master Record Sources