The Reconciliation of Zen and Pure
Land Buddhism
Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma
I am quite pleased to follow Rev. Thich Tam Tue after his beautiful
lecture last Sunday on Amitabha Buddha. It seems so odd that Pure Land and Zen should be
reconciled, since their philosophic basis and their view on life vary so much. But in
China, Korea and Vietnam, these two schools did come to form a syncretic, holistic view of
Buddhism. And this is the topic that I have chosen to speak on today.
First, I should mention a little about the history of Buddhism in
Vietnam. Buddhism came to Vietnam from India by sea in the first century of the common
era, during the time of King Asoka, India's great Buddhist emperor. They brought, of
course, Hinayana Buddhism, today known as Theravada Buddhism. Two hundred years later a
Chinese community was well established. From a description of a Chinese convert, who wrote
that the monks wore saffron robes, shaved their heads and ate only one meal a day, it is
clear that Theravadan monks were serving their community.
As you know, Bodhidharma came from India to China in 520 C.E. and
introduced Zen (or the meditation school) to them. In the latter part of the sixth century
(580 C.E.) a monk came from India, bringing Zen to Vietnam. His name was Vinitaruci (Ty ni
da lu chi in Vietnamese). Two hundred fifty years later a Chinese monk entered Vietnam to
fulfill his Bodhisattva vows, to save all living beings. This school became known as Vo
Ngon Thong school. The third Zen school arrived at the beginning of the eleventh century
and was known by its founder's name, Thao Duong. This school was a union of Zen and Pure
Land.
It was the seventeenth century when Lam Te Buddhism reached Vietnam.
The founding master of this school is the famous Lin Chi, better known by his Japanese
name, Rinzai. This school became known by the Vietnamese master who popularized the
school, Lieu Quan. It became the most important school in Central Vietnam, and all
Buddhist monks ordained at this temple are in the Lieu-Quan lineage line. Now, the lineage
line does not necessarily tell you what their practice is. For example, Rev. Thich
Tam-Thien's (Kusala) practice has a lot of Theravada elements in it. Rev. Thich Tam-An
(Ruja) is totally a Theravada practice. Rev. Thich Tam-Tue (Rev. Tri Ratna Priya)
practices more of the Zen-Pure Land tradition. Probably the only disciples here who
practice primarily the Lieu-Quan form of Buddhism are myself, Thich Tam-Tri (Vajra) and
Br. Jnana (Lynn). This mixed practice is typical of Vietnamese Buddhism itself where monks
of different traditions practice together in the same temples: Theravada, Pure Land and
Zen, with a little tantra mixed in for good measure. This is, I believe, also common in
China and Korea.
At any rate, the lineage of this temple is Lieu-Quan, a totally Zen
tradition, coming directly from Lin Chi of China. It was popularized by monks who felt
that Zen had become too polluted by Pure Land, and who wanted to revert to pure Thien or
Zen.
Ven. Thich Nhat-Hanh says of the Thien school in his book Lotus in a
Sea of Fire:
"In the history of Vietnamese Buddhism, Thien is by far the most
important sect. The practice of Thien is by no means easy. It requires a profound and
powerful inner life, long and persistent training, and a strong firm will. The attitude of
Thien toward the search for truth and its view of the problem of living in this world are
extremely liberal. Thien does nor recognize any dogma or belief that would hold back man's
progress in acquiring knowledge or in his daily life. Thien differs from Orthodox
religions in that it is not conditioned by any set of beliefs. In other words, Thien is an
attitude or methodology for arriving at knowledge and action. For Thien the techniques of
right eating and drinking, of right breathing and right concentration and meditation, are
far more vital than mere beliefs. A person who practices Zen meditation does not have to
rely on beliefs of hell, Nirvana, rebirth or causality; he has only to rely on the reality
of his body, his psychology, biology, and his own past experiences of the instruction of
Zen masters who have preceded him. His aim is to attain, to penetrate , to see. Once he
has attained satori (insight) his action will conform by itself to reality."
So, you see, this temple was founded by a man who identified himself as
a Zen monk. In fact, I did not learn much of Pure Land until the refugees arrived from
Vietnam. Dr. Thien-An, understanding Americans, taught us pure Zen, and that was his point
of departure. To the Vietnamese, his point of departure was Amitabha Buddha and Pure Land
thought. Now how could such divergent attitudes be found in one man and taught by him?
Since Zen is more a methodology than a system of thought, although it
certainly does have a system of thought, the self-power of Zen, contains the other power
of Pure Land. Once you have self power, you must have other power. After all, the
Recitation of the Buddha's name is used as a concentration exercise. This is where
Chinese/ Vietnamese Pure Land differs from Japanese forms. The Vietnamese Pure Land
adherents also meditate whenever they have the time to, whereas Jodosinshu says that
meditation is a mere psychological trick, where you think you are capable of saving
yourself. They say we must drop meditation and all thoughts of saving ourselves, and rely
only upon Buddha Amitabha to save us. Their practice is to realize exactly who and what
they are, without any rosy constructs placed upon their realization.
If your practice is to devoid everything in your mind, does it matter
is you use a koan, shikentaza or recreating the Buddha in your mind? All of these
techniques work if they are done with great diligence and bring the meditator to the same
point, to the satori experience (that is to insight, which Theravadans praise so much.)
When you begin Pure Land practice, you think of the Buddha and his Pure
Land as being apart from you. But as you practice it, slowly you come to realize that you
and Amitabha are one and the same. You can experience the Pure Land right here and now.
For instance, the great Japanese Zen man, D. T. Suzuki was fascinated
by Pure Land. He studied it and translated their writings in to English. He came to the
conclusion that Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are the same. And Dr. Thien-An certainly
believed it.
Update: 01-12-2001
