other school

Zen

Other

Top-level school branch

This category includes significant figures in Chan and Zen history who do not fit neatly into the major school classifications. Among them are Layman Pang Yun, one of the greatest lay practitioners in Chan history, whose dialogues with Mazu Daoyi and Shitou Xiqian demonstrate that awakening is not confined to the monastic institution. Other figures include precursors and contemporaries of the Five Houses whose lineages developed independently or whose school affiliation is ambiguous in the historical sources.

Masters in this branch

Sources in use

Image: Wikimedia Commons: Dr. MINAMOTO Takahito practices Zen meditation in a Japanese-styled room of his own Kyoto-Higashiyama Villa, in Higashiyama ward, Kyoto city, Japan.jpg · Public Domain / CC (Wikimedia)