The title, description and transcript may contain inaccuracies.

Autumn Retreat - The Recorded Sayings of Linji

Thich Nhat Hanh · December 11, 2003 · Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France

In the 1950s, Tam Hy (16 years old), after passing the baccalaureate, traveled from Hue to Saigon and wrote articles for the Vietnamese Buddhist newspaper under the pen name Tam Hy. She was encouraged by her teacher to translate Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha—first titled “The Story of the River” and later shortened to “The River Story”—and later translated “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” as “Tạng thư sống chết.” During the years of struggle in Switzerland, Sister Tri Hai (Dharma name Tri Hai) was imprisoned, but still practiced walking meditation 5–10 kilometers each day within a 4 m² cell, maintaining such peace that even the prison officers were moved. After 1975, she resided at Van Hanh University, directed the Phap Luan newspaper, transmitted the precepts to nearly 20 disciples, and recently suffered a car accident that resulted in the death of a nurse and a disciple.

Following the cremation ceremony, the Zen master offered a teaching on the three concepts of True Buddha, True Dharma, and True Path as follows:

The True Path is without substance, the True Dharma is without form, the True Buddha is without image, so that we do not become attached to external appearances.
The Three Jewels—Buddha, Dharma, Sangha—are three conventional designations, but only when united do they become complete; lacking one, we cannot call them by their true name.
In the Linji tradition, “Patriarchal Zen” uses koans or direct words to awaken instantly (the first phrase), in contrast to “Tathagata Zen,” which contemplates body, feelings, mind, and dharmas over a long period. Two kinds of enlightenment (genuine and false) are distinguished by the sign that afflictions have completely dissipated.

Previous Talk December 7, 2003

44m