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Autumn Retreat - The Recorded Sayings of Linji
Receiving the Linji Record from five Venerable Masters—Ma Gu, Dan Ha, Dao Nhat, Lu Shan, and Thach Cung—this tradition, though “pure and without confusion,” was still ridiculed; even in the time of Master Dao Nhat, 350 monastics listened to his teachings, yet none could grasp its spirit. The path of practice is not merely the transmission of words, but persistent practice: Master Ma Zu diligently sat in meditation, not sleeping, prompting Master Nan Yue to polish a tile “to make a mirror,” and realizing, “How can sitting meditation make one a Buddha?” Meditation is not limited to posture: eating rice, drinking tea, carrying water, chopping wood—all are meditation when the mind is awake.
The Zen lineage continued through Master Bai Zhang with the teaching “no work, no food”, giving rise to agricultural Zen in monasteries with vegetable gardens, planting cassava and sweet potatoes, raising cattle. Genuine labor is integrated with practice; every action, such as watering vegetables or sowing seeds, is still meditation. The shout and stick of Master Dao Nhat were transformed by Linji into a Dharma door, but they only have value when imbued with insight and loving-kindness; those without wisdom who imitate them only cause harm.