禅Hyech'ŏl

dialogue

Founding the First Mountain School

Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms)

Unified Silla

Traditionally attributed

Text

After Hyecheol returned from Tang China carrying the Dharma of Xitang Zhizang, the students gathered around him numbered in the hundreds. A court official came and asked on behalf of the king: 'Why do you settle in the mountain wilderness rather than the capital, where your teaching could reach more people?' Hyecheol replied: 'The mountain is not far from anyone. Mind is not far from anyone. When a person comes here with a sincere question, they have already traveled the whole distance. When they leave, they carry the mountain with them.' The official bowed and reported this to the king, who thereafter provided for the maintenance of Donam Hermitage.

license: public_domain

Attribution

Lineage: Seon

By Hyech'ŏl

Sources

  • contentThe Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea — Robert E. Buswell

    Robert E. Buswell Jr.

    After Buswell, 'The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea' (1989), pp. 117–136, on Hyecheol and the founding of Dongni-san school

    Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms): Founding the First Mountain School

No per-field confidence has been recorded for this teaching yet. Treat individual claims with the caution appropriate to the source list below.

Attribution status: traditional — see editorial policy for what this means.

1 supporting citation on record (see Sources above).

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