20240930 Chan
September 30, 2024•241 words
This page is part of my exploration of the origins of Zen:
https://listed.valdelane.net/55456/20241004-zen
Chan is the Chinese school of Buddhism emphasizing direct experience. Chan has roots in Mahayana Buddhism but it dropped the religious complexity and created something fresh.
« From the Chan perspective, the goal of life is to live fully as a human being, with one’s inherent potential completely developed. This means to become a buddha. To become a buddha means to “wake up.” The goal is not to be reborn in a blissful place such as a heavenly kingdom with Brahmin or other gods. The goal is to be awakened, to realize one’s full capacity as a human being and one’s inherent potential for wisdom and compassion. To become a buddha is to be free from the bondage of suffering. We may say, therefore, that Buddhism is a very humanistic way to realize our full potential. The fourfold axiom of Chan, which defines this tradition of awakening in wisdom and compassion, is:
- A transmission outside of doctrine
- Not dependent on words or language (nor on concepts, labels, or categories)
- Which directly points to the mind by
- Seeing one’s nature in order to realize buddhahood.
» —Guo Gu
The Essence of Chan: A Guide to Life and Practice According to the Teachings of the Bodhidharma by Guo Gu (2012)
https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/essen.pdf
This page is part of my exploration of the origins of Zen: