Like other religions, Buddhist canon is full of obscure and strange symbolism. Christianity has the book of Revelations, Judaism has Kabbalah. Sometimes I run across this kind of thing in my Korean-English dictionary of Buddhism (which I read recreationally, because I'm weird). They are always presented quite matter-of-factly, as if any reader would know what it was about.
In the article on 선문오종 [seonmunojong = five Chinese schools of Chan (zen)], the dictionary quotes extensively from someone called Venerable Seosan [서산] (1520-1604). These quotes include little gnomic almost-koans summarizing each of the five schools. These are fascinating because they are so hard to understand what they might be symbolizing.
법안종 Fayan School: "The cloud is chased over the mountain by the wind, and the moonlight is passing over the bridge in company with flowing water."
운문종 Yunmen School: "All sorts of Buddha are preaching in the confinement of a cup when the Dharma staff has already flown into the sky."
위앙종 Weiyang School: "A broken stone monument is lying by the ancient road, and an iron bull is sleeping in the house."
임제종 Linji School: "Behold the thunder in the clear blue sky and the huge sea waves on the land."
조동종 Caodong School: "It is the right view of non-discrimination of existence and non-existence that existed before the advent of Buddha and patriarchs, and before the time when there was not a thing in the universe."
So, based on the summaries presented, which school of Zen do you find most appealing? I think I will look into Weiyang. But I need to study more.
[daily log: walking by the ancient road]
Wow. Incredibly interesting! Thanks for sharing this information. I wanna read more about these different schools of Zen.
Btw... I'm Buddhist and just move back to the US from S.Korea. And I'm still confused about what the best way to say "I'm Buddhist" is.
Is it Cheonun Bulgyo shinja-yo?
Posted by: Mia | 2015.09.22 at 14:55