traditions of mental culture and moral-ascetic cultiva-
tion. In the latter function, the recitation may be part
of a visualization exercise in which the meditator imag-
ines or images the paradise of Amitabha, the Pure Land.
Traditional understandings of meditation on the
name include conceiving of it as concentrated wish or
devotion, as meditation on the true name or essence
of the Buddha, or as an aid to visualizing Amitabha’s
Western Paradise. Additionally, the recitation of the
sacred name has been used as part of Chan meditation
practice.
The Chan use of language in meditation is less ex-
plicit that it is in Tantric tradition, as the Chan tradi-
tion claims to have access to an experience that is
nonconceptual and free from the boundaries of lan-
guage. Yet important strands of the tradition claim that
this nonconceptual mode of being is achieved through
a peculiar use of words. Although ostensibly the ulti-
mate meaning of Chanis “an independent transmis-
sion that is outside doctrinal teaching, and does not
rely on words,” Chan has had much to do with words,
and has developed a specialized language of the un-
spoken and the ineffable.
The Chan traditions (chanzong,or Zenin contem-
porary Western parlance) began to develop an ap-
proach that was described as a method of no-method,
but which was in fact a radical method, using a rhetoric
of iconoclasm and paradox. The tradition conceives
enlightenment as already present in the mind, or,
rather, as the mind itself being already enlightened and
therefore requiring no cultivation, no meditation.
Some strands of the tradition argue accordingly that
method and meditation are superfluous; truth must be
grasped directly, without mediation; delusion and suf-
fering are nothing but a mistake, and if one abandons
the mistake, the true mind manifests itself. Such ex-
treme statements perhaps were put into practice
among a limited circle of disciples and for a short time
during the Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.), but, in the-
ory, this rhetoric remained in the tradition as an ideal
description of Chan.
Be that as it may, the most characteristic Chan use
of language developed in the Song dynasty (960–1279
C.E.) and is known in the West as the KOAN—
borrowing the Japanese pronunciation (koan) of the
Chinese gong’an. The term refers today to a key word
or phrase used as the pivot or focus for meditation
and believed to be derived directly from the words of
ancient masters. The key phrase is usually found in an
anecdotal or legendary exchange between disciple and
master. These dialogues are known as “question and
answer” (Japanese, mondo; Chinese, wenda) and are
for the most part presented as vignettes of incidents
or anecdotes of dialogues from the lives of great Chan
masters. The incident or exchange was regarded as a
“public case” (the meaning of gong’an), hence a
“court precedent” embodying the wisdom of the
greatest judges of what is true enlightenment, that is,
the great meditation masters of the past. The master’s
“verdict” or judgment was the key phrase (huatou) in
the anecdote.
In the Japanese Rinzai tradition, the meditator mem-
orizes the anecdote with its key phrase (both called
koanin common parlance) and uses the phrase as the
focus of concentrated attention. In China, Korea, and
Vietnam, it is common to reserve the cases for study,
reflection, commentary, or debate, and make the focus
of meditation a more general or all-encompassing
question, such as: “What is it?” “Who is it?” “Who is
reciting the sutras?” In this phrasing, the itand the who
are the focus of concentrated attention.
Whatever the assigned question might be, the med-
itator is expected to cultivate undistracted awareness
of the koan during sitting meditation and then “take
it with him wherever he goes.” This is reminiscent of
the kasinaexercise, in the sense that the person is ex-
pected to become one with, and think of nothing but,
the object of meditation.
But the exercise also develops insight because the
phrase becomes an object of inquiry as part of the ques-
tion formulated in the koan (e.g., “What is this?”) The
answer has to be nondiscursive: a gesture or a sound,
or perhaps even the right unquestioned and unreflec-
tive word. A common reply is an interjection. Among
the interjections, some have become classical answers
on the same plane with other sayings of the great mas-
ters. One such word is ho!(Japanese, katsu!), a Chi-
nese monosyllabic expression indicating a sharp
scolding or sarcastic surprise. The Chan master Can of
Boyun Wuliangsi states,
Throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, walk with
your key phrase (huatou), stand with your key phrase, sit
with your key phrase, lie down with your key phrase.
Your mind should feel just like a thorn bush, so you can-
not swallow such notions as “person,” “self,” “delusion,”
etc. Whether you are walking, standing, sitting, or lying
down, turn your entire body into a ball of DOUBT. ...
Then, upon hearing some sound or seeing some shape
or color, most certainly you will shout, “Ho!” This sin-
gle sound takes you to the end. (Taisho2024, vol. 48,
1100a2–7)MEDITATION