446 t. griffith foulk
nger and that the dharma is one’s own mind. Thus he simply transmit-
ted mind by means of mind without relying up scriptures, manifested
the principle, and destroyed attachments. It is for this reason that he
spoke as he did. It was not that he preached liberation entirely apart
from scriptures.^24Zongmi’s point of view was accepted by some later Chan historians,
notably Yongming Yanshou (904–976), author of the massive
Records of the Source Mirror (Zong jing lu ).^25
Many in the tradition, however, took the position that the Chan lin-
eage transmitted “mind” alone, apart from any scriptures or doctrines.
A Hongzhou school text entitled Essentials of the Transmission of Mind by
Chan Master Duanji of Mount Huangbo (Huangbo shan duanji chanshi chuan
xin fayao ), for example, states that:
From the time the great master Bodhidharma arrived in China he only
preached the one mind and only transmitted one dharma. Using buddha to
transmit buddha, he did not speak of any other buddhas. Using dharma to
transmit dharma, he did not speak of any other dharma. The dharma was
the dharma that cannot be preached, and the buddha was the buddha that
cannot be grasped, since their wellspring is the pure mind. Only this one
thing is truth; all other things are not truth.^26This passage makes clear that Huangbo Xiyun (–850?) took
a position different from Zongmi on the question of Bodhidharma’s
teaching methods and use of scriptures.
The Patriarchs Hall Collection, compiled in 952, agrees with Huangbo
and his Hongzhou school that the Chan lineage literally dispensed
with scriptures. In its biography of Bodhidharma, we nd the follow-
ing exchange:
Huike proceeded to ask [Bodhidharma], “Master, can this dharma [you
have just taught] be set down in writing (wenzi jilu ) or not?”
Bodhidharma replied, “My dharma is one of transmitting mind by means
of mind; it does not rely on scriptures.”^27The Patriarchs Hall Collection is also the locus classicus of another slogan
that came to be used to characterise the Chan lineage: “A separate
transmission outside the teachings” (jiaowai biechuan ).^28
(^24) Preface to the Collected Writings on the Source of Chan (Chanyuan zhuquanji duxu), T.2015.
48.400b17–26; see also T.2015.48.405b2–4. 25
T.2016.48.415a–957b.
(^26) T.2012A.48.381b17–21.
(^27) Zutang ji, Yanagida (ed.), Sodsh, 37a.
(^28) Yanagida (ed.), Sodsh, 130b.