Yongjia Xuanjue
Yongjia Xuanjue
c. 665 – 713
Yongjia Xuanjue was a Tiantai monk who visited the Sixth Patriarch Huineng and received confirmation of his awakening in a single night, earning the nickname "the Overnight Guest." His visit to Huineng was brief—he arrived in the evening, engaged in a searching dialogue, and departed the next morning with Huineng's seal of approval. This encounter exemplifies the Chan principle that realization does not depend on length of training but on the depth of insight.
Yongjia's enduring contribution is the Zhengdaoge, the Song of Enlightenment, one of the most widely chanted and studied texts in the Chan and Zen traditions. This long poem celebrates the freedom of awakened mind in vivid, soaring language: "In walking, just walk; in sitting, just sit—above all, don't wobble." The Song of Enlightenment bridges the literary and meditative traditions, expressing profound insight through rhythmic verse that has inspired practitioners for over a millennium.
Names
Teachers
Students
No linked student records yet.
Teachings
- proverbIn Walking, Just Walk
In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.
- verseSong of Enlightenment (Zhengdaoge)
Have you not seen? The person of the Way who has gone beyond learning, who does not strive, who does not contrive? Neither rejecting thought nor seeking truth, the real nature of ignorance is Buddha-nature itself; this empty, illusory, changeable body is nothing other than the Dharma body. In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.
Master Record Sources
d. 713
Yongjia Xuanjue
Qingyuan line
- koan_refsChart of the Chan Ancestors
7
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Yongjia Xuanjue
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Dajian Huineng