Yaoshan Weiyan
Yaoshan Weiyan
751 – 834
Yaoshan Weiyan (藥山惟儼, 751–834) is recorded in the Tang biographical compilations and in the *Jǐngdé Chuándēng Lù* as the heir of Shitou Xiqian who also spent time studying with Mazu Daoyi — one of the few Tang masters whose biographies place them at both of the great Hongzhou and Qingyuan streams[1]. After leaving Mazu's community he settled on Mount Yao (Yaoshan, in modern Hunan), where his sparse, probing style and his refusal to court official patronage made the mountain a magnet for serious practitioners[2].
The most consequential of his exchanges for later Zen is preserved in the *Jǐngdé Chuándēng Lù*: a monk asked what he was thinking as he sat so still, and Yaoshan answered, "I think of not-thinking" (思量箇不思量底); pressed on how one thinks of not-thinking, he replied, "*Hishiryō* — beyond thinking" (非思量)[3]. Dōgen quotes this dialogue almost verbatim at the climax of the *Fukan Zazengi* and again in the *Zazenshin*, anchoring the Sōtō understanding of *shikantaza* in Yaoshan's formula[4]. Yaoshan's principal heirs Yunyan Tansheng and Daowu Yuanzhi carried his line forward; through Yunyan it reached Dongshan Liangjie and became the Caodong / Sōtō school proper.
Names
Disciples of Yaoshan Weiyan
Teachers and lineage of Yaoshan Weiyan
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- dialogueDon't Think
Yaoshan was sitting in meditation. A monk asked, "What are you thinking, sitting there so still?" Yaoshan said, "I'm thinking of not-thinking." The monk said, "How do you think of not-thinking?" Yaoshan said, "Non-thinking." Xuedou's verse: Not-thinking! What kind of thinking is this? A crane stands in the snow—it's not the same color. A bright moon, a reed flower—each has its own appearance. Non-thinking! All Zen students—understand for yourselves!
- dialogueThe Arrow on High
Yaoshan called the assembly together and said, "I have an arrow here that has been set aside for a long time. Today I intend to release it." A monk said, "What is the target?" Yaoshan descended from his seat, seized the monk, and said, "What do you call a target?" The monk could make no reply. Yaoshan released him and said, "Go—you have lost the arrow."
- dialogueMeeting the Poet Li Ji
The poet-official Li Ji visited Yaoshan and asked, "What is the Way?" Yaoshan pointed upward and then downward and said, "Do you understand?" Li Ji said, "No." Yaoshan said, "The clouds in the sky, the water in the jug." Li Ji composed a verse in praise. Yaoshan glanced at it and said, "The clouds in the sky and the water in the jug—you have written about them very well. But where is the one who pointed up and then down?" Li Ji could make no reply.
- dialogueThinking of Not-Thinking
Once when Yaoshan was sitting in meditation, a monk asked, "What are you thinking, sitting there so still?" Yaoshan said, "I'm thinking of not-thinking." The monk asked, "How do you think of not-thinking?" Yaoshan said, "Non-thinking."
Other masters in Qingyuan line
Master Record Sources
751-834
Yaoshan Weiyan
Qingyuan line
- koan_refsChart of the Chan Ancestors
42,81 7 3,5
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Yaoshan Weiyan
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Shitou Xiqian