Chan “Dialogues” from the Tang Dynasty

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

Alan Cole

Published:

2016

Publisher:

University of California Press

This chapter explores “Chan dialogue,” considering two dialogue texts from the Tang dynasty. The <italic>Discourse on the Essentials of Cultivating Mind</italic> was, at some point, attributed to Hongren, though its final section says that it was put together by his students. Meanwhile, the <italic>Discourse on No-Mind</italic> promises to present an account of the final truth of Buddhism or, rather, the “great Dao,” as the author calls it. Looking closely at these two Tang dialogue texts, it would seem that the two kinds of Buddhism that were identified in the <italic>Two Entrances and Four Practices</italic> have now been brought together to form a unified discourse in which the karmic form of Buddhism—the Second Entrance—is presented as something to be dreaded, while the sudden, “trapdoor” teachings promise that karmic Buddhism can be overcome as one somehow gains enlightenment and instant access to an innate form of buddhahood.

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