14 ann heirman and stephan peter bumbacher
much older story dealing with the Buddha who walks over the water
and rescues a boat).
Turning to the spread of Chan Buddhism, Grif th Foulk further
raises the question how medieval Chinese Buddhists, all Mahyna
followers, themselves conceived of the transmission of the dharma. For
Mahyna Buddhists, the buddha-mind is in fact present in all living
beings. Consequently it does not need to be transmitted, but only dis-
covered. Still, the way to discover it needs to be passed on, and, as a
consequence, lineages of transmission were created. This was especially
so in the various Chan schools, where the founder of the tradition,
Bodhidharma, is portrayed as the transmitter of a very special dharma
that goes back to
kyamuni himself. Discussions on the continuation
of the Chan lineage arose, such as to whom was the dharma transmit-
ted, and in which way did the subsequent transmissions take place?
The importance of scriptures as a means for transmission decreased,
and other devices were used instead. The dharma was passed on from
mind to mind, from master to disciple. In this way, a Chan family with
many branches, a mixture of historical and mythological relations, came
into being. It in uenced people’s thinking at different times and places.
In the Japanese Kamakura period (1185–1333), the Chan ( Jap. Zen)
mythology, ideology and teaching styles were transmitted to Japan. Zen
monastic institutions, governed by a whole set of rules, were established,
modelled on the great public monasteries of China. In recent years,
nally, Zen Buddhism and the activities associated with it found their
way to America and Europe, carefully transmitting the dharma along
an unbroken master-disciple-lineage.
* * *And so we have come to the end of our journey through Central and
East Asia. Along the way, the wheel continued to turn. In some regions,
it left virtually no traces, in other regions it became an integrated part
of society and culture. It came along the merchant routes and intro-
duced itself in the most diverse environments. It lived in symbiosis
with many other philosophical and religious systems, it adapted itself
and it was adapted. It was actively promoted, or just happened to be a
useful instrument in the eyes of rulers. It attracted or lost the nancial
support of individuals and monarchs alike. Its texts were translated
and explained, its notions rejected or embraced. It was turned over
and over again.