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Bankei

Unborn The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei

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Bankei Yotaku

Bankei Yotaku. (盤珪永琢) (1622-1693). Japanese ZEN master of the Tokugawa period; also known as Eitaku. Bankei was born in the district of Hamada in present-day Hyogo prefecture. According to his sermons, Bankei was dissatisfied with the standard explanations of the concept of "bright virtue" (mingde) found in the CONFUCIAN classic Daxue ("Great Learning"), and sought explanations elsewhere. His search eventually brought him to the temple of Zuioji, the residence of Zen master Unpo Zensho (1568-1653). After he received ordination and the dharma name Yotaku from Unpo, Bankei left his teacher to perform a long pilgrimage (angya) to various temples and hermitages. After what he describes in sermons as an awakening at the age of twenty-six, Bankei continued his post-awakening training under Unpo's senior disciple, Bokuo Sogyu (d. 1694), and perfected the teaching of FUSHo ZEN ("unborn Zen"). Upon hearing of the arrival of the Chinese monk DAOZHE CHAOYUAN in Nagasaki (1651), Bankei traveled to Sofukuji where Daozhe was residing and furthered his studies under the Chinese master. Bankei spent the rest of his life teaching his "unborn Zen" to both lay and clergy in various locations. He also built and restored a great number of temples and hermitages, such as Ryumonji in his native Hamada. In 1672 he was appointed the abbot of the RINZAI monastery of MYoSHINJI in Kyoto.


TERMS ANYWHERE

Bankei Yotaku

Bankei Yotaku. (盤珪永琢) (1622-1693). Japanese ZEN master of the Tokugawa period; also known as Eitaku. Bankei was born in the district of Hamada in present-day Hyogo prefecture. According to his sermons, Bankei was dissatisfied with the standard explanations of the concept of "bright virtue" (mingde) found in the CONFUCIAN classic Daxue ("Great Learning"), and sought explanations elsewhere. His search eventually brought him to the temple of Zuioji, the residence of Zen master Unpo Zensho (1568-1653). After he received ordination and the dharma name Yotaku from Unpo, Bankei left his teacher to perform a long pilgrimage (angya) to various temples and hermitages. After what he describes in sermons as an awakening at the age of twenty-six, Bankei continued his post-awakening training under Unpo's senior disciple, Bokuo Sogyu (d. 1694), and perfected the teaching of FUSHo ZEN ("unborn Zen"). Upon hearing of the arrival of the Chinese monk DAOZHE CHAOYUAN in Nagasaki (1651), Bankei traveled to Sofukuji where Daozhe was residing and furthered his studies under the Chinese master. Bankei spent the rest of his life teaching his "unborn Zen" to both lay and clergy in various locations. He also built and restored a great number of temples and hermitages, such as Ryumonji in his native Hamada. In 1672 he was appointed the abbot of the RINZAI monastery of MYoSHINJI in Kyoto.

Daozhe Chaoyuan. (J. Dosha Chogen; K. Toja Ch'owon 道者超元) (1630-1698). Chinese CHAN and ZEN master in the LINJI lineage. Daozhe was a native of Xinghua prefecture in present-day Fujian province. He became a student of Gengxin Xingmi (1603-1659), a direct disciple of the Chan master FEIYIN TONGRONG and, after inheriting Gengxin's lineage, became a dharma cousin of the renowned Chan master YINYUAN LONGQI. In 1651, Daozhe traveled to Nagasaki, Japan, where he served as abbot of the monastery Sofukuji for the next five years. During his stay in Japan, a number of important Buddhist figures visited him for instruction, including the monks Dokuan Genko (1630-1698), Kengan Zen'etsu (1618-1690), EGOKU DoMYo, Choon Dokai (1628-1695), and BANKEI YoTAKU. Unlike his compatriot Yinyuan, who continued to reside in Japan, Daozhe returned to China in 1658 and died shortly thereafter. Daozhe played an important role in preparing the ground for Yinyuan's later establishment of the oBAKUSHu in Japan.

fusho Zen. (不生禪). In Japanese, "unborn Zen"; a form of ZEN meditation popularized by the RINZAISHu master BANKEI YoTAKU. The teaching of the "unborn" (fusho) functioned as the central theme of Bankei's vernacular sermons (kana hogo). According to Bankei, the unborn is none other than buddha-nature (FOXING), or buddha mind, itself. As such, he emphatically notes that there is little need actually to seek buddhahood, since everyone is already born with the innate, unborn buddha mind. Bankei's teaching of unborn Zen was harshly criticized by the fellow Rinzai Zen master HAKUIN EKAKU.

Rinzaishu. (濟宗). In Japanese, "Rinzai School"; one of the major Japanese ZEN schools established in the early Kamakura period. The various branches of the Japanese Rinzai Zen tradition trace their lineages back to the Chinese CHAN master LINJI YIXUAN (J. Rinzai Gigen) and his eponymous LINJI ZONG; the name Rinzai, like its Chinese counterpart, is derived from Linji's toponym. The tradition was first transmitted to Japan by the TENDAISHu monk MYoAN EISAI (1141-1215), who visited China twice and received training and certification in the HUANGLONG PAI collateral line of the Linji lineage on his second trip. Eisai's Zen teachings, however, reflected his training in the esoteric (MIKKYo) teachings of the Tendai school; he did not really intend to establish an entirely new school. After Eisai, the Rinzai tradition was transferred through Japanese monks who trained in China and Chinese monks who immigrated to Japan. Virtually all of the Japanese Rinzai tradition was associated with the YANGQI PAI collateral line of the Linji lineage (see YANGQI FANGHUI), which was first imported by the Japanese vinaya specialist Shunjo (1166-1227). According to the early-Edo-period Nijushiryu shugen zuki ("Diagrammatic Record of the Sources of the Twenty-Four Transmissions of the Teaching"), twenty-four Zen lineages had been transmitted to Japan since the Kamakura period, twenty-one of which belonged to the Rinzai tradition; with the exception of Eisai's own lineage, the remaining twenty lineages were all associated with the Yangqi collateral line. Soon after its introduction into Japan, the Rinzai Zen tradition rose to prominence in Kamakura and Kyoto, where it received the patronage of shoguns, emperors, and the warrior class. The Rinzai teachers of this period included monks from Tendai and SHINGONSHu backgrounds, such as ENNI BEN'EN (1202-1280) and SHINCHI KAKUSHIN (1207-1298), who promoted Zen with an admixture of esoteric elements. Chinese immigrant monks like LANXI DAOLONG (J. Rankei Doryu, 1213-1278) and WUXUE ZUYUAN (J. Mugaku Sogen, 1226-1286) also contributed to the rapid growth in the popularity of the Rinzai tradition among the Japanese ruling classes, by transporting the Song-style Linji Chan tradition as well as Song-dynasty Chinese culture more broadly. With the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate in 1338, the major Zen temples were organized following the Song Chinese model into the GOZAN (five mountains) system, a tripartite state control system consisting of "five mountains" (gozan), "ten temples" (jissetsu), and several associated "miscellaneous mountains" (shozan). The powerful gozan monasteries located in Kamakura and Kyoto functioned as centers of classical Chinese learning and culture, and continued to influence the ruling classes in Japan until the decline of the Ashikaga shogunate in the sixteenth century. The disciples of Enni Ben'en and MUSo SOSEKI (1275-1351) dominated the gozan monasteries. In particular, Muso Soseki was deeply engaged in both literary endeavors and political activities; his lineage produced several famous gozan poets, such as Gido Shushin (1325-1388) and Zekkai Chushin (1336-1405). Outside the official gozan ecclesiastical system were the RINKA, or forest, monasteries. DAITOKUJI and MYoSHINJI, the two principal rinka Rinzai monasteries, belonged to the otokan lineage, which is named after its first three masters NANPO JoMYo (1235-1309), SoHo MYoCHo (1282-1337), and KANZAN EGEN (1277-1360). This lineage emphasized rigorous Zen training rather than the broader cultural endeavors pursued in the gozan monasteries. After the decline of the gozan monasteries, the otokan lineage came to dominate the Rinzai Zen tradition during the Edo period and was the only Rinzai line to survive to the present. Despite the presence of such influential monks as TAKUAN SoHo (1573-1645) and BANKEI YoTAKU (1622-1693), the Rinzai tradition began to decline by the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. The monk credited with revitalizing the Rinzai tradition during the Edo period is the Myoshinji monk HAKUIN EKAKU (1685-1768). Hakuin systematized the KoAN (see GONG'AN; KANHUA CHAN) method of meditation, which is the basis of modern Rinzai Zen practice; it is also through Hakuin and his disciples that most Rinzai masters of today trace their lineages. The Rinzai tradition is currently divided into the fifteen branches named after each of their head monasteries, which represents the influence of the head and branch temple system designed in the Edo period. Of the fifteen branches, the Myoshinji branch has largely eclipsed its rivals and today is the largest and most influential of all the Rinzai lines.

KEYS (10k)

   2 Bankei

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   3 Bankei

1:All delusions, without exception, are created as a result of self-centeredness. When you're free from self-centeredness, delusions won't be produced." ~ Bankei,

2:Where can you find anyone who steals because his karma is deep or his sins heavy? Stealing is the karma, stealing is the sin! If it weren't for stealing, that sin and karma couldn't exist. Whether you steal or whether you don't depends on the present state of your own mind, not on your past karma. And what I'm telling you now doesn't go only for stealing. Generally speaking, all delusions are just the same as stealing. Whether you're going to be deluded or you're not going to, all depends on the present state of your own mind. When you're deluded, you're an unenlightened being; when you're not deluded, you're a buddha. There's no special shortcut to being a buddha beyond this. Isn't it so? Everyone, realize this conclusively!" ~ Bankei,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:"When I am hungry I eat,and when I am thirsty I drink." ~ Bankei,

2:All delusions, without exception, are created as a result of self-centeredness. When you're free from self-centeredness, delusions won't be produced." ~ Bankei,

3:These various forms appear different in shape and size, yet they are of a single essence. . . . The Sixth Patriarch called it "essence of Mind". . . Here the Third Patriarch calls it "timeless Self-essence." Bankei called it "unborn Buddha-mind." They all refer to the same thing: Buddha-nature, true self. This essence is not born and can never die. It exists eternally. Some call it energy; others call it spirit. But what is it? No one knows. Any concept we have of what it is can only be an analogy. . . . ~ Dennis Merzel,

4:"Where can you find anyone who steals because his karma is deep or his sins heavy? Stealing is the karma, stealing is the sin! If it weren't for stealing, that sin and karma couldn't exist. Whether you steal or whether you don't depends on the present state of your own mind, not on your past karma. And what I'm telling you now doesn't go only for stealing. Generally speaking, all delusions are just the same as stealing. Whether you're going to be deluded or you're not going to, all depends on the present state of your own mind. When you're deluded, you're an unenlightened being; when you're not deluded, you're a buddha. There's no special shortcut to being a buddha beyond this. Isn't it so? Everyone, realize this conclusively!" ~ Bankei,