Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

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Aemilius
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Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Aemilius »

Anzan Hoshin Roshi says that Sri Simha is actually the 24. ( or 25. in some lists) Zen/Chan patriarch in India. Anzan Hoshin has translated a text from Chan patriarch Simha in his site http://www.wwzc.org/book/zerbu-dunpa-qi ... even-nails. I find this all quite interesting, it has signifigance beyond the Zen school, so I put it here. Zen master Sri Simha is included in the Transmission of the Lamp text, in Thomas Cleary's translation by the name Simha.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
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Thomas Amundsen
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Thomas Amundsen »

Aemilius wrote:Anzan Hoshin Roshi says that Sri Simha is actually the 24. ( or 25. in some lists) Zen/Chan patriarch in India. Anzan Hoshin has translated a text from Chan patriarch Simha in his site http://www.wwzc.org/book/zerbu-dunpa-qi ... even-nails. I find this all quite interesting, it has signifigance beyond the Zen school, so I put it here. Zen master Sri Simha is included in the Transmission of the Lamp text, in Thomas Cleary's translation by the name Simha.
That is very interesting!
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pueraeternus
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by pueraeternus »

Also interesting in this:

http://www.chibs.edu.tw/ch_html/chbj/03/chbj0313.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder if there were any discussion/rebuttal of this article in the Dzogchen subforum?
"Men must want to do things out of their own innermost drives. People, not commercial organizations or chains of command, are what make great civilizations work. Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces. If you over-organize humans, over-legalize them, suppress their urge to greatness - they cannot work and their civilization collapses."
- A letter to CHOAM, attributed to the Preacher
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by deepbluehum »

Chan is related to Sutra Mahamudra. Dzogchen comes from the Dzogchen Tantras. Buddha taught sudden enlightenment in the Pali texts too. So Bhaddiya the Bark-Clad is the first Zen master, I mean Threkchod master. I mean Mahamudra master.
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Jinzang
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Jinzang »

Interesting, but are Garab Dorje and Sri Simha historical persons? Not trying to be confrontational, but I have my doubts how much is accepted uncritically by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners is historically correct. And I have the same doubts about the lineage of Zen before Bodhidharma. Obviously he had teachers, but what historical credibility can be placed in the Indian lineage?
"It's as plain as the nose on your face!" Dottie Primrose
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

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It's a way-cool poem.
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by pueraeternus »

deepbluehum wrote:So Bhaddiya the Bark-Clad is the first Zen master
Not so according to the "official" Chan lineage chart - it is Mahakasyapa. ;)
Jinzang wrote:And I have the same doubts about the lineage of Zen before Bodhidharma. Obviously he had teachers, but what historical credibility can be placed in the Indian lineage
Seriously, the earliest portion of the Chan lineage are all Sravakayana masters, and there is nothing "Chan" about their praxis. Maybe during this period, what they are teaching is really just regular Dhyana focused paths as taught in the early Abhidharma lineages. When Mahayana sutras started appearing, then what we recognize as Chan/Zen practice now begun developing, starting with the Lankavatara, etc.
"Men must want to do things out of their own innermost drives. People, not commercial organizations or chains of command, are what make great civilizations work. Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces. If you over-organize humans, over-legalize them, suppress their urge to greatness - they cannot work and their civilization collapses."
- A letter to CHOAM, attributed to the Preacher
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by pueraeternus »

Jinzang wrote:Interesting, but are Garab Dorje and Sri Simha historical persons? Not trying to be confrontational, but I have my doubts how much is accepted uncritically by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners is historically correct.
To be honest, I think a large part of what we now understand as Dzogchen developed later, and it seems a lot of creative mythic narratives and hagiography were developed after the fact. Only the early Mind series teachings (they weren't even tantras at that point) were pristine.
"Men must want to do things out of their own innermost drives. People, not commercial organizations or chains of command, are what make great civilizations work. Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces. If you over-organize humans, over-legalize them, suppress their urge to greatness - they cannot work and their civilization collapses."
- A letter to CHOAM, attributed to the Preacher
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by deepbluehum »

pueraeternus wrote:Not so according to the "official" Chan lineage chart - it is Mahakasyapa.
If no one laughs did I tell a joke?
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by pueraeternus »

deepbluehum wrote:
pueraeternus wrote:Not so according to the "official" Chan lineage chart - it is Mahakasyapa.
If no one laughs did I tell a joke?
Mu
"Men must want to do things out of their own innermost drives. People, not commercial organizations or chains of command, are what make great civilizations work. Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces. If you over-organize humans, over-legalize them, suppress their urge to greatness - they cannot work and their civilization collapses."
- A letter to CHOAM, attributed to the Preacher
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by deepbluehum »

pueraeternus wrote:
deepbluehum wrote:
pueraeternus wrote:Not so according to the "official" Chan lineage chart - it is Mahakasyapa.
If no one laughs did I tell a joke?
Mu
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Astus »

The Indian lineage of Chan is taken from non-Chan sources and have nothing to do with Chan beyond the lineage concept that was created to legitimise Chinese teachers. I don't know who and when made up the Dzogchen lineage of the early teachers, but even the legends of the two Simhas don't match. Besides this accidental choice of name I see no connection here.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Yudron »

Astus wrote:The Indian lineage of Chan is taken from non-Chan sources and have nothing to do with Chan beyond the lineage concept that was created to legitimise Chinese teachers. I don't know who and when made up the Dzogchen lineage of the early teachers, but even the legends of the two Simhas don't match. Besides this accidental choice of name I see no connection here.
I don't think the received history of the early Dzogchen lineage is "made up." It is incomplete, however... and quite possibly was reconstructed based on oral history after the fact.
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by deepbluehum »

Yudron wrote:
Astus wrote:The Indian lineage of Chan is taken from non-Chan sources and have nothing to do with Chan beyond the lineage concept that was created to legitimise Chinese teachers. I don't know who and when made up the Dzogchen lineage of the early teachers, but even the legends of the two Simhas don't match. Besides this accidental choice of name I see no connection here.
I don't think the received history of the early Dzogchen lineage is "made up." It is incomplete, however... and quite possibly was reconstructed based on oral history after the fact.
No way. The lineage story came from Guru P and blazed into the minds of the Great Tertons.
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Aemilius »

pueraeternus wrote:
deepbluehum wrote:So Bhaddiya the Bark-Clad is the first Zen master
Not so according to the "official" Chan lineage chart - it is Mahakasyapa. ;)
Jinzang wrote:And I have the same doubts about the lineage of Zen before Bodhidharma. Obviously he had teachers, but what historical credibility can be placed in the Indian lineage
Seriously, the earliest portion of the Chan lineage are all Sravakayana masters, and there is nothing "Chan" about their praxis. Maybe during this period, what they are teaching is really just regular Dhyana focused paths as taught in the early Abhidharma lineages. When Mahayana sutras started appearing, then what we recognize as Chan/Zen practice now begun developing, starting with the Lankavatara, etc.
What are your grounds for saying that? That line of thinking presupposes that Buddha Shakyamuni knew only shravakayana, that he didn't know Mahayana, that he didn't know the symbolic transmission outside the sutras! Which is worse than ridiculous! Bhagavan Shakyamuni was fully enlightened, he didn't hold back teachings, but taught everything, including Mahayana and the symbolic transmission of Zen/Dhyan school, when the situation or opportunity arose for it.
There is no need to believe that few narrow minded individuals were the essence of Dharma, that there was nothing else. Have you read the Transmission of the Lamp (or Transmission of the Light)? What causes your unbelief in these early masters of Mahayana?
As it is only your personal lack of faith, it should not be presented as "truth". It has no other justification than your lack of insight in and knowledge of the nature of Mahayana/Chan.
It is widely known that Dharma existed as an oral tradition for several hundreds of years, and even more than a thousand years. This should not be forgotten and dismissed as nonexistent, when it carries the true nature of Dharma. It has been the true nature of early Mahayana Dharma, and also the nature of much of the later transmission of Dharma.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Astus »

Yudron wrote:I don't think the received history of the early Dzogchen lineage is "made up." It is incomplete, however... and quite possibly was reconstructed based on oral history after the fact.
In any case, the two Simhas show know connection.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Yudron »

deepbluehum wrote:
Yudron wrote:
Astus wrote:The Indian lineage of Chan is taken from non-Chan sources and have nothing to do with Chan beyond the lineage concept that was created to legitimise Chinese teachers. I don't know who and when made up the Dzogchen lineage of the early teachers, but even the legends of the two Simhas don't match. Besides this accidental choice of name I see no connection here.
I don't think the received history of the early Dzogchen lineage is "made up." It is incomplete, however... and quite possibly was reconstructed based on oral history after the fact.
No way. The lineage story came from Guru P and blazed into the minds of the Great Tertons.
Hmmmmm. I've heard it said that the concept that a lineage history meant keeping track of transmission from one individual to the next is a relatively modern invention. I'm not sure Guru Rinpoche would have thought that important to preserve. On the other hand the importance of key figures--the great adepts--seems to have been stressed.
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Sherlock »

Yudron wrote:
Hmmmmm. I've heard it said that the concept that a lineage history meant keeping track of transmission from one individual to the next is a relatively modern invention. I'm not sure Guru Rinpoche would have thought that important to preserve. On the other hand the importance of key figures--the great adepts--seems to have been stressed.
I think I remember reading somewhere that there is a small genre of Tibetan literature concerned specifically with tracking the lineages of teachings the author had received and that Jigme Lingpa (if I remember correctly, it might also have been Dudjom Lingpa, but in any case it was a famous terton who lived in either the 18th or 19th century) compiled one of the most detailed books on this. The genre itself dated back hundreds of years though and probably started around the time of the Sarma schools, especially with the Kagyu schools descended from Milarepa and the Sakya school.
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Yudron »

Sherlock wrote:
Yudron wrote:
Hmmmmm. I've heard it said that the concept that a lineage history meant keeping track of transmission from one individual to the next is a relatively modern invention. I'm not sure Guru Rinpoche would have thought that important to preserve. On the other hand the importance of key figures--the great adepts--seems to have been stressed.
I think I remember reading somewhere that there is a small genre of Tibetan literature concerned specifically with tracking the lineages of teachings the author had received and that Jigme Lingpa (if I remember correctly, it might also have been Dudjom Lingpa, but in any case it was a famous terton who lived in either the 18th or 19th century) compiled one of the most detailed books on this. The genre itself dated back hundreds of years though and probably started around the time of the Sarma schools, especially with the Kagyu schools descended from Milarepa and the Sakya school.
Yes, the great lamas in recent history do write down records of teachings received, and these are put in their collected works. In some good scholarly works I've read that this was not tracked in early Tibet.

Jacob Dalton argues, in his dissertation on the dGongs pa dus pai mdo, that it was in the 13th through the 15th centuries that the Nyingma began to place an emphasis on lineage, as a defense against Sarma critics. He argued, also, that lineage is speculative and it is political who gets mentioned when lineages are created.
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Re: Sri Simha in Zen/Chan lineage

Post by Yudron »

By the way, an idea just popped into my head that it would be fun to do an online book group on the Dalton's paper on the dGongs pa dus pai mdo. I would prefer to divide it into sections so we could really in depth on it.

:offtopic:

My goodness, I just figured out Dr. Dalton lives near me. Fun!
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