Chan Buddhism

Overview

Somewhere around the sixth century, a man supposedly sat facing a wall in a cave near Shaolin Monastery for nine years. Whether Bodhidharma actually existed in the way the legends describe is an open question. What is not in question is the tradition that grew from those stories - a tradition that would reshape East Asian civilization and produce some of the most striking spiritual literature in human history.

Chan Buddhism is the root from which Japanese Zen, Korean Seon, and Vietnamese Thien all grew. But calling Chan “the original Zen” misses the point. Chan is a living tradition with its own methods, its own texture, and thousands of active monasteries across China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Where Japanese Zen tends toward purity of method - Soto does shikantaza, Rinzai does koans - Chan is more eclectic. In a single Chinese monastery, you might find sitting meditation (zuochan), silent illumination (mozhao), investigation of a critical phrase (huatou), and Pure Land recitation (nianfo) practiced side by side. This integration is not compromise. It is a deliberate feature.

The tradition traces its lineage through six Chinese patriarchs, from Bodhidharma to Huineng (638-713). Huineng - an illiterate firewood seller from southern China who became the Sixth Patriarch - is the pivotal figure. His Platform Sutra, with its insistence on sudden awakening and the idea that Buddha-nature is not something acquired but something revealed, set the trajectory for all of Chan. “Originally there is not one thing” - his famous verse - remains the tradition’s sharpest koan, even if it is not formally used as one.

The golden age of Chan fell during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The masters of that era - Mazu Daoyi, Linji Yixuan, Zhaozhou Congshen - created a language of paradox, shout, and gesture that scholars still study and practitioners still use. Their recorded dialogues became gong’an (koans in Japanese) - not riddles to be solved intellectually, but catalysts for a shift in consciousness that no amount of reasoning can produce.

History

Chan survived the devastating Huichang persecution that peaked in 845, which destroyed most Buddhist schools in China. It survived because it needed little: no expensive temples, no vast libraries. Two monastics and a patch of ground were sufficient. During the Song dynasty (960-1279), Chan crystallized into five “houses,” of which two endured: Linji (Rinzai) and Caodong (Soto). In the Ming and Qing periods, Chan merged increasingly with Pure Land practice - Master Yunqi Zhuhong (1535-1615) taught that reciting Amitabha’s name and investigating “Who is reciting?” were two doors into the same room. This “dual cultivation” (chan-jing shuangxiu) became characteristic of Chinese Buddhism as a whole.

The twentieth century nearly destroyed Chan. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) shuttered monasteries, smashed statues, and sent monks to “reeducation.” But the tradition did not break. Master Xuyun (1840-1959), who reportedly lived to 119, had restored several monasteries before the revolution. His students continued the work after. Today, Chan is once again one of the largest Buddhist traditions in China.

Modern Chan owes much to two teachers who brought it to the wider world. Sheng Yen (1931-2009), who received transmission in both surviving Chan lineages - Linji and Caodong - founded Dharma Drum Mountain in Taiwan and established practice centers across the Americas and Europe. His teaching was precise, warm, and stripped of unnecessary mystification. Hsuan Hua (1918-1995) founded the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California - a vast monastic complex that maintains strict traditional discipline. Between them, they planted Chan far beyond its Chinese homeland.

What Practice Looks Like

A typical day in a Chan monastery begins between three and four in the morning, announced by a wooden board struck with a mallet. Morning meditation (zuochan) runs for two or three 45-minute periods, with brisk walking (jingxing) between them. The method depends on the lineage and the teacher. It might be huatou - working with a critical phrase, often just “Who?” - held in mind until it generates what Chan calls “great doubt” (da yi). Not intellectual curiosity, but existential bewilderment so thorough that it fills the entire field of consciousness. Sheng Yen described it as swallowing a red-hot iron ball: you can neither spit it out nor swallow it down.

Alternatively, the method might be mozhao - “silent illumination.” No object, no question. Just clear, alert presence without grasping. This method is associated with the Song-dynasty master Hongzhi Zhengjue and is closely related to Japanese shikantaza.

A Chan retreat (chan qi) typically runs seven days. Twelve to fourteen hours of meditation daily. Participants sleep in the meditation hall. The master conducts private interviews and gives public talks. Some monasteries use the xiangban - a flat wooden stick - to help with drowsiness or excessive tension: a sharp tap on the shoulder, neither punishment nor reward.

For laypeople, the entry is gentler: weekend sittings, introductory courses, two- or three-day retreats. Sheng Yen was particularly skilled at making Chan accessible without diluting it. Dharma Drum Mountain runs programs worldwide that welcome beginners.

Voices of the Tradition

If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet the patriarch, kill the patriarch. Only then will you find liberation.

Meditation is not an escape from life. It is an encounter with life, face to face.

Linji was not advocating violence. He was demanding that practitioners kill their attachment to external authority - including the Buddha himself. Do not look for awakening outside yourself. Do not worship images. Look directly: who are you, before all the labels?

How It Differs

Chan and Japanese Zen are parent and child - but the child grew up differently. Japanese Zen split into Soto (shikantaza) and Rinzai (koans); in Chan, these methods often coexist within a single monastery. Chan is more inclusive in its toolkit - recitation, prostrations, even Pure Land practices can supplement meditation. Japanese Zen tends toward methodological purity.

Chan and Pure Land have been intertwined in China for centuries. Master Yunqi Zhuhong taught that reciting Amitabha’s name and meditatively investigating “Who is reciting?” are two entrances to the same door. This is radically different from the Japanese separation of Zen for the elite and nembutsu for the masses.

What critics say. Western scholars have shown that the “golden age” Tang-dynasty Chan is partly a literary construction: the master stories were recorded generations later and edited to serve ideological purposes. Internal critics worry about over-institutionalization: major monasteries in contemporary China can resemble tourist attractions more than places of practice. Some teachers warn of “Chan sickness” - substituting intellectual knowledge of gong’an for living experience.

Who This Tradition Speaks To

This is a doorway, not a diagnosis. But here are some signs that Chan might be your kind of practice.

Chan may resonate with you if you:

• Distrust packaged systems. Multi-level programs with certifications and “progress” exhaust you. Chan offers one question - and your entire life as the answer. - Enjoy paradox. You are drawn to a story that stops the mind cold, rather than a step-by-step instruction manual. Gong’an work exactly this way: the mind hits a wall - and something beyond the mind opens. - Want integration. Chan does not force you to choose between meditation and devotion, between rigor and gentleness. Huatou and nianfo can sit side by side. - Are drawn to Chinese culture. Chan is inseparable from Chinese poetry, calligraphy, tea culture, and martial arts. If that world calls to you, Chan will feel like home within it.

An honest caveat: Chan is less accessible to Western beginners than Japanese Zen. Fewer English-language resources, fewer practice centers in Europe and North America. Methods like huatou can seem baffling without an experienced teacher, and finding a teacher who speaks your language is a challenge in itself.

Where to Practice

Asia:

Dharma Drum Mountain (ddm.org.tw) in Taiwan, founded by Sheng Yen, is one of the most accessible Chan institutions for international visitors, with programs in English and regular retreats. The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (drba.org) in Ukiah, California, founded by Hsuan Hua, maintains strict monastic discipline and welcomes visitors.

North America and Europe:

The Chan Meditation Center in Elmhurst, New York, is Dharma Drum Mountain’s main Western facility. Smaller Chan groups exist in London, Berlin, and several other European cities, though they are less numerous than Japanese Zen centers.

Online:

Dharma Drum Mountain offers online meditation courses and archived talks by Sheng Yen. The International Chan Meditation Center provides virtual retreats and regular online sitting groups.

How to Start

Sit comfortably on a cushion, bench, or chair. Straighten your spine. Half-close your eyes. Rest your hands on your knees or in the mudra (left palm resting on right).

Begin simply: count your exhalations from one to ten, then start over. When you lose count - and you will - just return to one. No frustration. Ten minutes.

When counting becomes stable, try huatou: ask yourself, “Who is sitting here?” Do not look for an intellectual answer. Just keep the question alive. Let it resonate on its own.

Read “The Method of No-Method” or “Silent Illumination” by Sheng Yen. Then find a Dharma Drum Mountain retreat near you. The rest takes care of itself.