Dharma transmission

Template:Short description Template:See also Template:Overquotation Template:Zen Buddhism Template:Western Buddhism In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (kechimyaku) theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself."Template:Sfn The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family".Template:Sfn

In Rinzai-Zen, inka shōmei (印可証明) is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation",Template:Sfn but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (shike) of the training halls.Template:Sfn There are only about fifty<ref name=Antaiji10 group=web /> to eighty<ref group=web name="Buddhadharma">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> of such inka shōmei-bearers in Japan.

In Sōtō-Zen, dharma transmission is referred to as shiho, and further training is required to become an oshō.<ref name =Antaiji2 group=web />

History

The notion and practice of Dharma Transmission developed early in the history of Chan, as a means to gain credibilityTemplate:Sfn and to foster institutional ties among the members of the Chan community.Template:Sfn Charts of dharma-lineages were developed, which represented the continuity of the Buddhist dharma. Originally these lineages only included the Chinese Patriarchs, but they were later extended to twenty-eight Indian Patriarchs and seven Buddhas.Template:Sfn

Chan lineage

The Chan tradition developed from the established tradition of "Canonical Buddhism",Template:Sfn which "remained normative for all later Chinese Buddhism".Template:Sfn It was established by the end of the sixth century, as a result of the Chinese developing understanding of Buddhism in the previous centuries.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

One of the inventions of this Canonical Buddhism were transmission lists, a literary device to establish a lineage. Both Tiantai and Chan took over this literary device, to lend authority to those developing traditions, and guarantee its authenticity:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Template:Quote

The concept of dharma transmission took shape during the Tang period, when establishing the right teachings became important, to safeguard the authority of specific schools.Template:Sfn The emerging Zen-tradition developed the Transmission of the Lamp-genre, in which lineages from Shakyamuni Buddha up to their own times were described.Template:Sfn

Another literary device for establishing those traditions was given by the Kao-seng-chuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks), compiled around 530.Template:Sfn The Chan-tradition developed its own corpus in this genre, with works such as Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952) and the Jingde Records of the Transmission of the Lamp (published 1004). McRae considers Dumoulin's A History of Zen to be a modern example of this genre, disguised as scientific history.Template:Sfn

Chinese patriarchs

File:Bodhidharma.and.Huike-Sesshu.Toyo.jpg

Dazu Huike offering his arm to Bodhidharma. Ink painting by Sesshū Tōyō, 1496, Muromachi period, Japan.

The Chan lineages picture the semi-legendary monk Bodhidharma as the patriarch who brought Chan to China. Only scarce historical information is available about him, but his hagiography developed when the Chan tradition grew stronger and gained prominence in the early 8th century.

According to McRae, it is not clear that the practitioners surrounding Bodhidharma and his disciple Huike considered themselves as belonging to a unified movement or group, such as a "Chan school," nor did they have any sense of sharing any continuity with the later tradition. He says even the name "proto-Chan" is not really reflective of their activities.Template:Sfn

Six Chinese patriarchs

By the late eighth century, a lineage of the six ancestral founders of Chan in China had developed.Template:Sfn Due to the influence of Huineng's student Shenhui, the traditional form of this lineage had been established:Template:Sfn

1. Bodhidharma ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) ca. 440 – ca. 528
2. Huike ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) 487–593
3. Sengcan ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) ?–606
4. Daoxin ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) 580–651
5. Hongren ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) 601–674
6. Huineng ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) 638–713

File:Huineng-tearing-sutras.svg

Huineng tearing sutras

However, certain questions remain. Regarding the connection between the second and third patriarchs, on the one hand, and the fourth patriarch, on the other; Whalen Lai points out, "Huike was a dhuta (extreme ascetic) who schooled others, and one of his disciples was Sengzan (d. 606). However, the link between this pair and Daoxin (580–651, now deemed the fourth Chan patriarch) is far from clear and remains tenuous."Template:Sfn

According to Wendi Adamek:

There was no 'Chan school' in existence during the time of the six Chinese patriarchs—it cannot even be said to have begun with Shenhui, the one who yoked six names to a powerfully generative idea. However, once the imaginary line had been drawn in the sands of the past, it began to sprout real branches. It continues to put forth new shoots even today.Template:Sfn

Shenhui and Huineng

According to tradition, the sixth and last ancestral founder, Huineng (惠能; 638–713), was one of the giants of Chan history, and all surviving schools regard him as their ancestor. The dramatic story of Huineng's life tells that there was a controversy over his claim to the title of patriarch. After being chosen by Hongren, the fifth ancestral founder, Huineng had to flee by night to Nanhua Temple in the south to avoid the wrath of Hongren's jealous senior disciples.

Modern scholarship, however, has questioned this narrative. Historic research reveals that this story was created around the middle of the 8th century, beginning in 731 by Shenhui, a successor to Huineng, to win influence at the Imperial Court. He claimed Huineng to be the successor of Hongren instead of the then publicly recognized successor Shenxiu.Template:Sfn In 745 Shenhui was invited to take up residence in the Ho-tse temple in Luoyang. In 753 he fell out of grace and had to leave the capital to go into exile. The most prominent of the successors of his lineage was Guifeng ZongmiTemplate:Sfn According to Zongmi, Shenhui's approach was officially sanctioned in 796, when "an imperial commission determined that the Southern line of Chan represented the orthodox transmission and established Shen-hui as the seventh patriarch, placing an inscription to that effect in the Shen-lung temple".Template:Sfn

Doctrinally the Southern School is associated with the teaching that enlightenment is sudden, while the Northern School is associated with the teaching that enlightenment is gradual. This was a polemical exaggeration, since both schools were derived from the same tradition, and the so-called Southern School incorporated many teachings of the more influential Northern School.Template:Sfn Eventually both schools died out, but the influence of Shenhui was so immense that all later Chan schools traced their origin to Huineng, and "sudden enlightenment" became a standard doctrine of Chan.Template:Sfn

Indian patriarchs

In later writings this lineage was extended to include twenty-eight Indian patriarchs. In the Song of Enlightenment (證道歌 Zhèngdào gē) of Yongjia Xuanjue (永嘉玄覺, 665–713), one of the chief disciples of Huìnéng, it is written that Bodhidharma was the 28th patriarch in a line of descent from Mahākāśyapa, a disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha, and the first patriarch of Chán Buddhism.Template:Sfn

Twenty-eight Indian patriarchs

Keizan's Transmission of the Light gives twenty-eight patriarchs up to and including Bodhidharma in this transmission:Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Refn

Mahākāśyapa

File:China, Hebei province, Southern Xiangtangshan caves, Northern Qi dynasty - Standing Disciple Mahakasyapa Holding a Cylindrical Reliquary - 1972.166 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif

Mahākāśyapa holding a reliquary, sixth century, Hebei province, China

According to the traditional Chan accounts, the first Dharma transmission occurred as described in the Flower Sermon. The Buddha held up a golden lotus flower before an assembly of "gods and men". None who were in attendance showed any sign of understanding except his disciple Mahākāśyapa, who offered only a smile. The Buddha then said,

Epstein comments, "Thus Mahākāśyapa received the transmission of Dharma and became the first Buddhist patriarch."Template:Sfn

Function

Though dharma transmission implies the acknowledgement of insight into the teachings of Buddhism as understood by the Zen tradition, especially seeing into one's true nature, dharma transmission is also a means to establish a person into the Zen tradition:Template:Sfn

The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family".Template:Sfn

Esoteric and exoteric transmission

According to Borup the emphasis on 'mind to mind transmission' is a form of esoteric transmission, in which "the tradition and the enlightened mind is transmitted face to face".Template:Sfn Metaphorically this can be described as the transmission of a flame from one candle to another candle,Template:Sfn or the transmission from one vein to another.Template:Sfn In exoteric transmission the requirement is "direct access to the teaching through a personal discovery of one's self. This type of transmission and identification is symbolized by the discovery of a shining lantern, or a mirror."Template:Sfn

This polarity is recognizable in the emphasis that the Zen-tradition puts on maintaining the correct Dharma transmission, while simultaneously stressing seeing into one's nature: Template:Quote

Nevertheless, while the Zen tradition has always stressed the importance of formal Dharma transmission, there are well known examples of Mushi dokugo, such as Nōnin, Jinul and Suzuki Shōsan who attained awakening on their own, though all of them were familiar with the Zen-teachings.

Family structure

According to Bodiford, "Zen is the predominant form of Buddhism because of dharma transmission":Template:Sfn Template:Quote

Bodiford distinguishes seven dimensions which are discernible in both family relationships and in dharma lineages:

1. Ancestral dimension: "Ancestors (so) constitute a fundamental source of power".Template:Sfn Performing rituals in honour of the ancestors keeps them in high regard "among the living".Template:Sfn
2. Biological dimension: the dharma lineage creates (spiritual) offspring, just as the family creates new life.Template:Sfn
3. Linguistic dimension: dharma heirs receive new names, which reflect their tie to the dharma 'family'.Template:Sfn
4. Ritual dimension: rituals confirm the family relationships. One's teacher is honored in rituals, as are deceased teachers.Template:Sfn
5. Legal dimension: teachers have the obligation to discipline their students, just as students have the obligation to obey their teachers.Template:Sfn
6. Institutional and financial dimension: dharma heirs have an obligation to support their home temple, both financially and ritually.Template:Sfn
7. Temporal dimension: long-term relationships foster the previous dimensions.Template:Sfn

The family-model is easier recognized when East Asian languages are being used, because the same terminology is used to describe both earthly and spiritual family relations.Template:Sfn

Dharma transmission is both concrete and abstract:Template:Sfn Template:Quote

This feature gives dharma transmission a great flexibility:Template:Sfn Template:Quote

Contemporary use in the Chan and Zen traditions

Within the various Chan and Zen traditions, dharma transmission has different meanings, and most schools distinguish between the recognition of awakening itself and the responsibilities of monastic leadership.Template:Sfn

Chinese Chan

Traditional Chinese Chan still exists in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, though it is less known in the west than Japanese Zen.

In the Chinese Buddhist tradition, there are 3 systems of transmission:Template:Cn

1. Tonsure system: a person becomes tonsured as a novice monastic under the Master's school. He or she is given a Dharma name (Template:Linktext) at the time of tonsure based on the Master's lineage. This name is also called "the outer name (Template:Linktext)" because it is used by all people to address the novice. This name is used for life. At the same time, the Master will give the novice sramanera (or sramanerika) ten precepts.
2. Ordination system: a novice will become fully ordained as a Bhikṣu monk or Bhikṣuni nun with the Triple Platform Ordination (Observing the Śrāmanera, Bhikṣu and Bodhisattva precepts). This ordination must be presided by ten senior monks with at least ten years of seniority with a pure practice in upholding the monastic precepts. In this ceremony, the ten witnessing masters represent the Triple Gem accepting the novice into the Sangha. At this time, another Dharma name (Template:Linktext) is given. This name is called "precept name (Template:Linktext) or inner name (Template:Linktext)" because it is used only by one's Master. This name represents the novice's precept lineage transmission.
3. Dharma transmission system:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This system upholds the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye through the generations of transmission. This is the Mind-to-Mind seal of the Dharma that is beyond the scriptures. At this time, another Dharma name is given. This is also called "the inner name" and used only by one's Master. This name represents the novice's Dharma lineage transmission. After receiving this name, one will use this name instead of the name received during precept ordination to write one's Dharma name (Inner Name)(Outer Name).

It is customary to refer to one's own tonsure Master as "Gracious Master", precept Master as "Root Master" and Dharma transmission Master as "Venerable Master". In Chinese Buddhism, these 3 systems are separate and are not performed by the same Masters. Moreover, due to the strong emphasis on the Dharma, when a person receives Dharma transmission, he or she is recognized as that Chán Master's Dharma son or daughter. Lay Buddhists may also receive this Dharma transmission, but this is very rare and with very few incidences. Most of the monks and nuns who received transmission have already been tonsured and ordained by other Masters.

Rinzai

All Rinzai lineages pass through Hakuin Ekaku, the 18th century revivalist, who considered himself to be an heir of Shoju Rojin (Shoju Ronin, Dokyu Etan, 1642–1721), though Hakuin never received formal recognition of his insight from Shoju Rojin, let alone transmission of his lineage.Template:Sfn When he was installed as head priest of Shōin-ji in 1718, he had the title of Dai-ichiza, "First Monk":Template:Sfn Template:Quote

All contemporary Rinzai-lineages stem formally from Inzan Ien (1751–1814) and Takuju Kosen (1760–1833),Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn both students of Gasan Jito (1727–1797). Gasan is considered to be a dharma heir of Hakuin, though "he did not belong to the close circle of disciples and was probably not even one of Hakuin's dharma heirs".Template:Sfn

Through Hakuin, all contemporary Japanese Rinzai-lineages relate themselves to the Ōtōkan lineage, brought to Japan in 1267 by Nanpo Jomyo, who received dharma transmission in China in 1265.<ref group=web name=ROZ>Rinzai-Obaku Zen - What is Zen? - History</ref>

Insight and succession

In the Rinzai school, a difference is made between acknowledgement of insight and succession in the organisation: Template:Quote

According to Mohr, Template:Quote

The most common form of transmission in Rinzai Zen is the acknowledgement that one has stayed in the monastery for a certain amount of time, and may later become a temple priest.Template:Sfn

Further practice

After finishing koan-study, further practice is necessary: Template:Quote

Inka shōmei

Common transmission does not include inka shōmei. Ideally inka shōmei is "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation",Template:Sfn but practically it is being used for transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (shike) of the training halls.Template:Sfn Training halls are temples which are authorised for further training after being qualified as a temple priest.

There are only about fifty<ref name=Antaiji10 group=web /> to eighty<ref group=web name="Buddhadharma" /> such inka shōmei-bearers in Japan: Template:Quote

A qualified Zen master bestows inka only upon "those select few"Template:Sfn who have successfully completed the entire Rinzai koan curriculum,Template:Sfnm and "are eligible to serve as sōdō roshi,Template:Sfn that is, master of a training hall, in distinction from a common temple:

Template:Nihongo (Korean: Inga) literally means "the legitimate seal of clearly furnished proof":Template:Sfn

Sōtō

In Sōtō, dharma transmission is the acknowledgement of the ties between teacher and student. It has been subject to changes over the history of the Sōtō-school.Template:Sfn

Though Dōgen emphasized the importance of the purity of the teachings, and highly valued lineage and dharma transmission, the Sōtō-school has its origins in various lineages and dharma transmissions.Template:Sfn Dogen received dharma transmission from his Chinese teacher Rujing, with whom he studied two years, but in medieval Sōtō he was also considered to be a dharma heir of Myōzen, a Rinzai-teacher, with whom he studied eight years.Template:Sfn And Tettsū Gikai, the dharma-grandson of Dogen, was also lineage-holder of Nōnin, the founder of the Dharuma-shu, also a Rinzai-school.Template:Sfn Gikai passed this lineage over to Keizan, who thereby was also lineage-holder in at least two lineages.Template:Sfn

To make the history of Sōtō even more complicated, the Caodong-lineage that Dogen inherited through Rujing was passed on previously from the Caodong-master Dayang Jingxuan to Touzi Yiqing via the Rinzai-master Fushan Fayuan. Fushan Fayuan had once studied under Dayang Jingxuan. When Jingxuan died Fayuan had received Jingxuan's "portrait, robe, and a verse that expressed his teaching",Template:Sfn promising "to pass them on to a suitable successor". Fayuan chose his student Touzi Yiqing to inherit this lineage,Template:Sfn a fact that was acknowledged in Keizan's Denkoroku, but "[i]n the standard versions of Dogen's writings, however, all direct references to Yiqing's indirect succession have been eliminated".Template:Sfn

Criteria

Manzan Dokahu (1636–1714), a Sōtō reformer, Template:Quote

According to Manzan, even an unenlightened student could receive dharma transmission: Template:Quote

In Sōtō-zen, since Manzan Dokahu, two criteria are applied for dharma transmission:

1. Isshi inshō – "Exclusive authentication from no more than one teacher".Template:Sfn This criterion "prohibits clerics inheriting more than one lineage"Template:Sfn
2. Menju shihō – "Face-to-face bestowal of succession".Template:Sfn This criterion "prohibits conferral by proxy, conferral at a distance to strangers, or posthumous conferral".Template:SfnTemplate:Refn

Status

In contrast to the status that dharma transmission has begotten in the west, in Sōtō it has a relatively low status: Template:Quote

To supervise the training of monks, further qualifications are necessary: Template:Quote

The duties which come with this full qualification were not always appreciated. In the medieval organisation of the Sōtō-shu, when rotation of abbotship was the norm. Dharma transmission at a branch temple obliged one to serve at least one term as abbot at the main temple. Abbotship gave severe duties, and financial burdens, for which reason many tried to avoid the responsibility of abbotship:Template:Sfn Template:Quote

Spiritual realization

The Sōtō-shu also confers inka shōmyō (or inshō) "[granting] the seal of approval to a realization of enlightenment",Template:Sfn upon students. This is an Template:Quote

Dharma transmission is part of the maintenance of the Sōtō-institutions. Authority and temple-property are handed down, often from father to son.Template:Sfn It is not a guarantee for spiritual attainment: Template:Quote

Shiho

Dharma transmission is also called shiho.Template:Sfn In the Sōtō school a student receives Dharma transmission during a denbō ceremony, which is the last ceremony of their shiho ceremony:

Muhō Noelke, the German-born former abbot of the temple Antai-ji, describes his understanding of shiho: Template:Quote

Shiho is done "one-to-one in the abbot's quarters (hojo)".<ref name=Antaiji2 group=web /> Three handwritten documents certify the dharma transmission; Template:Quote

The procedure has to take place only once in one's life, and binds the student to the teacher forever: Template:Quote

If a students does not have the feeling he wants to be tied to this teacher for the rest of his life, he may refuse to take dharma transmission from this particular teacher.<ref name=Antaiji2 group=web /> Since the time of Manzan Dōhaku (1636–1714), multiple dharma transmissions are impossible in Sōtō Zen.<ref name=Antaiji2 group=web />Template:Sfn

Further study

According to Muho Noelke, dharma transmission marks the beginning of the real learning: Template:Quote

After Dharma transmission one has become a member of the "blood line" of Zen, but is not yet qualified as an Oshō. After the ten-e and zuise ceremonies, one is qualified as an oshō. There-after one has to practice for some time, at least six months, in an sôdô-ango, an officially recognized Sōtō-shu training centre.<ref name=Antaiji5 group=web>Muho Noelke, Part 5: Sessa-takuma - ango as life in a rock grinder</ref>

After that one can start to work in a temple. The newly acquired status is confirmed in the kyoshi-honin ceremony. There-after follows the first practice-period in one's own temple, with the aid of a susho (head monk). This is followed by the Jushoku-himei ceremony, which confirms one's status as dai-oshō.<ref name=Antaiji5 group=web />

Sanbo Kyodan

The Sanbo Kyodan mixes Sōtō and Rinzai-elements.Template:Sfn Students in this school follow the Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, in which great emphasis is placed on kensho, the initial insight into one's true nature.Template:Sfn Having attained kensho is publicly acknowledged in a jahai-ceremony.Template:Sfn After working through the Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, which may take as short as five years,Template:Sfn the student receives a calligraphy testifying that he or she "has finished the great matter".Template:Sfn This is publicly acknowledged in the hasansai-ceremony, giving the status of hasan.Template:Sfn

The Sanbo Kyodan has two levels of teaching authority, namely junshike ("associate zen master"), and shōshike ("authentic zen master").Template:Sfn Junshikes can give dokusan, authorize kensho, and supervise part of the koan-study. Shoshikes can supervise the advanced koan-study, and perform religious ceremonies, such as the precept-ceremony and wedding ceremonies.Template:Sfn

The process toward gaining these titles has seen some variations within the Sanbo Kyodan. Hasansai may be preparatory to the junshike-title, but may also be the promotion to this title. And promotion to shoshike may be preparatory to dharma transmission, but may also be equivalent to it.Template:Sfn

In dharma transmission, the student receives the sanmotsu, akin to the Sōtō shiho ceremony.Template:Sfn This is coupled with the Rinzai notion on inka.Template:Sfn In Rinzai, only students who have completed the complete Rinzai koan curriculum and "are eligible to serve as sōdō roshi,Template:Sfn that is, master of a training hall, in distinction from a common temple, receive inka. In the Sanbo Kyodan, inka is derived from Harada's Rinzai master Dokutan Sōsan.Template:Sfn

White Plum Asanga

File:Shiho ceremony.jpg

Michel Genko Dubois (left) and Dennis Genpo Merzel performing "mind to mind" in Dubois's shiho ceremony

In the White Plum Asanga, Dharma transmission comes first, and qualifies one as a sensei.Template:Sfn This may be followed by inka, the final acknowledgemment.Template:Sfnm

Korean Seon

In Korean Seon, Inka (In'ga) typically refers to the private acknowledgement of dharma transmission from a teacher to their student. "Transmission" is used to refer to the public ceremonial version of the same acknowledgement.

Both are considered equal in authority and "realization". A monk with either In'ga or the public "transmission" is qualified to hold the post of Seon Sa (seonsa; {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), or "Zen Master" for a temple, and give transmission to their own students (either, In'ga or public "transmission"). The majority of Zen Masters in Korea have only received, and only give In'ga, with the formal transmission ceremony being far more rare.Template:Sfnp

In the Western Kwan Um School of Zen created by the Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, "Inka" is granted to an individual who has completed their koan training and is granted the title Ji Do Poep Sa Nim (jido beopsa-nim; {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). Dharma transmission in the Kwan Um School of Zen comes after inka, denoting the individual is now a Seon Sa Nim.Template:Sfn Seung Sahn himself is quoted saying in reference to the administration of his Western organization,

Vietnamese Thiền

Thích Nhất Hạnh has created a ritual known as "Lamp Transmission", making a teacher a dharmācārya—an individual with "limited teaching authority".Template:Sfn

Criticism

Early Buddhist rejection of lineal-succession

According to Robert Sharf, early Indian Buddhist materials explicitly reject the paramparā ideal of lineal-succession, the "notion that sacred teachings are authorized through an unbroken line of enlightened sages."<ref>Robert Sharf, Buddhist Veda and the Rise of Chan, in Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, edited by Yael Bentor and Meir Shahar, pages 88-89, Brill, 2017</ref> As such, Buddha refused to appoint any successor to guide the sangha after his death. Instead, he laid out procedures by which monks could govern themselves without dependence on a single charismatic leader.<ref>Michel Clasquin-Johnson, On the Death of the Charismatic Founder: Re-viewing some Buddhist Sources, in Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 12, issue 34 (Spring 2013), page 3</ref> According to Clasquin-Johnson, the early sangha was a form of limited participatory democracy in which leadership rested not on any individual but upon a set of abstract principles.<ref>Michel Clasquin-Johnson, On the Death of the Charismatic Founder: Re-viewing some Buddhist Sources, in Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 12, issue 34 (Spring 2013), page 12</ref> In this way, Buddha advised his students to take the Dharma as their master after his passing, rather than take refuge in a living person.<ref>Michel Clasquin-Johnson, On the Death of the Charismatic Founder: Re-viewing some Buddhist Sources, in Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 12, issue 34 (Spring 2013), page 11</ref> As the Dazhidu lun says, "when the Buddha was about to enter Nirvana he said to his followers: 'From now on, rely on the Dharma, and not on people!'"<ref>John Alexander Jorgensen. The Earliest Text of Ch'an Buddhism: The Long Scroll, pages 326-327, note 1, the Australian National University, October 1979</ref>

In the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta, which contains the Buddha's final teachings, he said:

It may be, Ananda, that to some among you the thought will come: 'Ended is the word of the Master; we have a Master no longer.' But it should not, Ananda, be so considered. For that which I have proclaimed and made known as the Dhamma and the Discipline, that shall be your Master when I am gone.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Similarly, in the same sutta, Buddha tells his students, "be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourselves, seeking no external refuge; with the Dhamma as your island, the Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Mahāparinibbāna-sutta also denies any distinction between esoteric and exoteric doctrine and rejects the idea that the sangha should depend on a teacher who holds some things back with a "closed fist."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

According to Clasquin-Johnson, much of the Mahayana tradition has reverted, in some variation or another, to pre-Buddhist Indian practices in which religious sects depended on charismatic leaders who passed authority onto their chief disciples, as exemplified by Zen patriarchal lineages (as well as the Tibetan tulku system).<ref>Michel Clasquin-Johnson, On the Death of the Charismatic Founder: Re-viewing some Buddhist Sources, in Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 12, issue 34 (Spring 2013), page 5</ref> Similarly, Sharf points to the Brahmanicization of Buddhism as a likely contributing factor to Chan's preoccupation with an esoteric master-to-disciple transmission.<ref>Robert Sharf, Buddhist Veda and the Rise of Chan, in Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, edited by Yael Bentor and Meir Shahar, page 92, Brill, 2017</ref>Template:Refn

Criticism from within the Zen tradition

The institutions of dharma transmission have come under criticism at various times throughout Zen history. Zen masters like Linji and Ikkyū "were said to have refused to receive transmission certificates," seeing the procedure as corrupt and institutionalized.<ref>Borup, Jørn. Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism: Myōshinji, a Living Religion, p. 10. Brill, 2008.</ref> During the Ming dynasty, important masters like Hanshan Deqing, Zibo Zhenke, and Yunqi Zhuhong did not belong to any formal lineage.<ref>Cleary, J.C. Zibo, The Last Great Zen Master of China, p. 59. Asian Humanities Press, Berkeley, California, 1989.</ref><ref name="Wu-2008" /> According to Jiang Wu, these eminent Ming Chan monks emphasized self-cultivation while criticizing formulaic instructions and nominal recognition. Wu writes that at this time "eminent monks, who practiced meditation and asceticism but without proper dharma transmission, were acclaimed as acquiring 'wisdom without teachers' (wushizhi)."<ref name="Wu-2008">Template:Cite book</ref> Hanshan's writings indicate that he seriously questioned the value of dharma transmission, seeing personal enlightenment as what truly mattered in Zen. As Wu observes, for Hanshan, "the enlightenment of the mind was more important than the nominal claim of dharma transmission. Because true enlightenment experience was valued, a few self-proclaimed Chan masters in the late Ming gained reputations as eminent monks without acquiring dharma transmission."<ref name="Wu-2008" />

The Ming Caodong master, Wuyi Yuanlai (1575–1630), believed that by his time all Chan lineages had already been broken. However, he felt that if one could realize one's own mind, and if this matched with their original understanding, the former Chan schools could still be considered present. On the other hand, he said giving dharma transmission just to keep Chan institutions alive was "adding water to dilute the milk." He felt having insight without formal transmission was preferable to having transmission without insight, as the former does no harm to the Dharma, while the latter deceives the Buddha, the world, and oneself.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 16, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref>

Several important medieval Japanese masters like Takuan Sōhō eschewed formal transmission and did not believe it was necessary since the Dharma was always available to be discovered within.Template:Sfn Some of these figures were even considered "self-enlightened and self-certified" (jigo jishō), since they claimed to have achieved "wisdom without a teacher" (無師智, pinyin: wúshīzhì; Japanese: 無師独悟, mushi-dokugo). They include Suzuki Shōsan, and Myōshin-ji figures like Daigu, Ungo and Isshi.Template:Sfn The Tokugawa era Sōtō master Dokuan Genkō (1630–1698) was scathingly critical of the dharma transmission method which he called "paper Zen."Template:Sfn According to Dokuan, "what is called Zen enlightenment is not dependent on another’s enlightenment. It is only what you realize for yourself, attain for yourself, just as you know when you’ve eaten enough rice to satisfy your hunger, or drunk enough water to slake your thirst."Template:Sfn Dokuan's critique of the transmission system went as far as to claim that only those who were self-awakened actually had the wisdom of the Buddha:

In today’s Zen temples they transmit the robe and bowl [i.e., the symbols of the teacher’s transmission]; but while the name continues, the reality [of enlightenment] has long ceased to exist. Those who carry on the wisdom of the buddhas and patriarchs rely on themselves, being enlightened independently, without a teacher; so that even though the name has ceased, the reality itself continues.Template:Sfn

Modern Chinese Buddhists like Tanxu, Taixu and Yinshun also criticized dharma transmission, seeing it as a Chinese invention that was not taught by the Buddha. Taixu held that the practice led to sectarianism, and Tanxu wrote that it contributed to the decline of Zen.<ref name="Travagnin-2009">Template:Cite book</ref> Yinshun believed that the Dharma was not something that could belong to anyone and thus it could not be "transmitted" in a lineage.<ref name="Travagnin-2009" />

Abuse scandals

In the USA and Europe dharma transmission is linked to the unofficial title roshi, older teacher. In the Western understanding roshis are "part of a tradition that imputes to them quasi-divine qualities,"Template:Sfn someone who "is defined by simplicity, innocence, and lack of self-interest or desire."Template:Sfn Such idealization is connected to mythologized lineage claims going back to medieval China of a direct mind-to-mind transmission from one enlightened master to another by which a living teacher derives their prestige and privileged position.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization, Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 18, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref>

Nevertheless, contrary to how it has often been presented, the authorisation of teachers through dharma transmission does not mean that teachers are infallible,Template:Sfn as is clear from the repeated appearance of scandals:Template:Sfn Template:Quote

According to Stuart Lachs, such scandals have been possible because of the status given to roshis by dharma transmission, and "a desire for the master's aura, recognition, and approval."Template:Sfn He says: Template:Quote

With the idealization of the teacher through ideas of lineage and dharma transmission comes the reification of the role and position of the student. Where the actions of a teacher, defined by the institutional role, are necessarily considered good and pure, critical thinking on the part of the student can be dismissed as ego-driven and self-centered. This creates an opening for all kinds of potential abuse. Consequently, students may become objectified as a means to achieve a teacher's ends, or fulfill their desires, whatever those may be.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization, Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, pages 27-29, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref>

While teachers are socially defined in idealized terms, they may be simultaneously aware of their own human shortcomings. In this sense, the consciousness of such a teacher is split, with the idealization producing an internal otherness and alienation. Such a teacher may come to actually disdain the student who accepts their idealized status, looking upon the student with contempt as one who is easily fooled, seeing them as an object to be used.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization, Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, pages 28-29, 34, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref>

Dharma transmission as a social construct

According to Lachs, idealized concepts of lineage and dharma transmission (as well as ritual behaviors, like koan interviews) serve to legitimate hierarchical structures in Zen, giving undeserved levels of authority to Zen teachers.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 1, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref> Students are expected to take it on faith that a teacher’s title implies their infallibility, demonstrating that despite Zen's self-definition as beyond words and letters, in terms of its hierarchical organization, words and titles matter a great deal.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 3, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref> Lachs points out that the three terms, Zen master, dharma transmission, and Zen lineage, make up a conceptual triad which is used to establish institutional authority in Zen.<ref>Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 8, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref>

As Bernard Faure observes, such terms acquire their definitions and significance within a particular discourse. Regarding the socially constructed nature of what is transmitted through master-disciple relationships in Zen Buddhism, Faure writes:

The definition of masters and disciples, and of what is supposed to be transmitted through them, is primarily social. Despite the constant reference to ultimate truth, it does not acquire its validity from some extra-social criterion but is closely related to status. [...] Chan masters [...] are not masters because they have realized the truth and can now teach it (although, of course, this may be the case); rather, they can teach the truth because, having been socially defined as Chan masters, what they teach has the performative power of being the truth. [...] [T]he 'master function' is a 'position' determined by the discourse; it is a function (and not a pure origin) of discourse. In this sense, its performative power requires a broad social consensus. [...] The increasing importance of title and rank in Chan, at first glance paradoxical in an antinomian teaching, can be interpreted as reflecting a shift in the locus of power—namely, that symbolic domination, initially located in the individual master, is now located in the institution.<ref>Bernard Faure, The Rhetoric of Immediacy, pages 22-23, Princeton University Press, 1991</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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According to Alan Cole, the goal of Zen genealogical texts is to privatize enlightenment, which is presented as something no longer openly available to the general public, or to those lacking a lineage.<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, page 25, University of California Press, 2009</ref> Cole explains this as a kind of stealing of truth away from more public sources of enlightenment, which, among other things, include the Buddhist sutras.<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, page 26, University of California Press, 2009</ref> However, as Cole points out, this process requires the public's cooperation in an ideological exchange, acceptance of the lineage as a historical reality, and the desire of those outside the lineage to possess what the lineage has.<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, pages 25-26, University of California Press, 2009</ref> In return for its gift of belief, the public is promised a kind of "partial sharing" in the universal good which the lineage claims to be in possession of.<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, page 26, University of California Press, 2009</ref> However, as Cole points out, "the prior moment of exchange—when the public verified and legitimized the lineage—is left unspoken, making the gift from the lineage look sublimely disinterested and benevolent."<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, page 27, University of California Press, 2009</ref> This serves to cloak the basic dependence of the lineage on the public.<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, page 26, University of California Press, 2009</ref> According to Cole, the lineage's privatization of truth depends on an "Other" who, as an outside observer and reader of Zen genealogical texts, accepts the lineage's authority as something prior to and behind the narrative and not merely in it.<ref>Alan Cole, Fathering Your Father: The Zen of Fabrication in Tang Buddhism, page 26, University of California Press, 2009</ref>

Historical criticism

According to Mario Poceski, during the formative years of its development in the Tang era, Chan was a diffuse and heterogeneous movement which lacked rigid orthodoxy and an independent institutional structure.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, pages 42 & 45, Springer 2022</ref> However, by the Song dynasty, Chan had formed into a "state-sanctioned orthodoxy with a narrow conception of religious authority."<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 42, Springer 2022</ref> As Poceski observes, unlike earlier Chan in which charismatic monks challenged or reframed established religious norms, Song Chan became centered around the office of the Chan master, an officially certified religious functionary whose authority rested on an institutionalized lineage model. Such orthodoxy was further reinforced by fixed forms of practice and routinized modes of commentary on an authoritative canon.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 42, Springer 2022</ref> Additionally, transmission records were constructed which portrayed masters according to a predetermined style of Chan-like behavior, thus maintaining the fictionalized presentation of a distinct Chan persona.<ref>Welter, Albert. Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism, page 62. Oxford University Press, 2006.</ref>

With the growth of Chan as a distinct tradition came concerns about origins and legitimacy, and Chan thus became preoccupied with "convoluted processes of lineage construction" in an attempt to fashion a unique Chan identity.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 44, Springer 2022</ref> Sharf observes that the rise of Chan was closely associated with ideological tropes in which the authority of teachers was based on myths of lineal descent, and this involved "the production and manipulation of pseudo-historical lineages."<ref>Robert Sharf. Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise, page 59, University of Hawaii Press, 2002</ref> Likewise, Foulk writes that lineages belong, either partly or wholly, to the realm of ideology and myths fabricated retrospectively to gain authority, political power, and patronage.<ref>T. Griffith Foulk. The Ch'an Tsung in Medieval China: School, Lineage, or What? The Pacific World, New Series, No. 8, 1992, page 18</ref> For Poceski, at the heart of this was the image of the Chan master (chanshi 禪師) whose identity was based on membership in a distinguished group of religious virtuosos.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 45, Springer 2022</ref> As Poceski points out, well-known genealogical schemata were used to situate individual masters within illustrious spiritual ancestries, which served as sources of religious legitimacy and authority.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, pages 51-52, Springer 2022</ref> According to Welter, historical accuracy was not the main motivating factor in the creative construction of lineal connections.<ref>Welter, Albert. Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism, page 62. Oxford University Press, 2006.</ref> Rather, transmission records were forged with an aim to elevate particular Chan factions, as well as their political supporters.<ref>Welter, Albert. Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism, page 6. Oxford University Press, 2006.</ref>

The notion of lineage evolved over time, and by the Northern Song it had become increasingly institutionalized.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 51, Springer 2022</ref> According to Poceski, preoccupation with lineage helped to create "an ahistorical sense of continuity" between the Chan of the Tang and Song dynasties, as it served to conceal certain paradigm shifts and ruptures that occurred during the Tang-Song transition.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 52, Springer 2022</ref> This illusion of continuity "obfuscates the very real and consequential differences that separate the dissimilar Chan traditions that flourished during the Tang and Song eras."<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 52, Springer 2022</ref> By the Song, Chan had become increasingly embedded in sociopolitical structures.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, pages 52-53, Springer 2022</ref> With the establishment of religiopolitical networks and linkages to nexuses of imperial power came important ramifications for teachings, practices, and institutions.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, pages 52-53, Springer 2022</ref> For example, Foulk points out that monastic institutions were so controlled by the state that they were nearly an extension of the national polity, with matters of doctrinal orthodoxy even being decided by imperial edict.<ref>Theodore Griffith Foulk. The "Ch'an School" And Its Place In The Buddhist Monastic Tradition, page 50, University of Michigan, 1987</ref>

As part of an effort to control and regulate Buddhism, Chan monasteries received official recognition by the imperial state, and government officials came to either influence or control the selection of abbots.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 53, Springer 2022</ref> At the same time, as the position of abbot required official membership in a Chan lineage, ambitious monks sought to obtain inheritance certificates (sishu 嗣書) to advance their careers, sometimes by dishonest means.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 54, Springer 2022</ref> Foulk observes the many abuses of this situation recounted by Dōgen, and states that "inheritance certificates were routinely given to senior monastic officers, presumably so that their way to an abbacy would not be blocked."<ref>T. Griffith Foulk. Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism, in Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, Edited by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, page 160, University of Hawaii Press 1993</ref> According to Poceski, inheritance certificates are a peculiar feature of Chan which were invented during the Song dynasty.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 54, Springer 2022</ref> Foulk observes that inheritance certificates were not merely religious symbols, but were rather actual legal documents recognized by civil authorities.<ref>T. Griffith Foulk. Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism, in Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, Edited by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, page 160, University of Hawaii Press 1993</ref> Foulk states that the Chan lineage was essentially a mythological entity that nonetheless became an institutional reality when the government officially recognized dharma transmission, which he explains as a kind of ritual reenactment of mythology involving an inheritance certificate.<ref>T. Griffith Foulk. The Ch'an Tsung in Medieval China: School, Lineage, or What? The Pacific World, New Series, No. 8, 1992, page 28</ref> Poceski observes the way in which this overall situation reflects a routinization of charisma:

A major stipulation for all Chan monasteries, which de facto meant most public monasteries, was that the new abbot had to be recognized as an official member of a Chan lineage. Consequently, the Chan master came to act as a sanctioned religious functionary, a prominent prelate endorsed by the state, rather than an independent spiritual virtuoso whose authority was to a large extent based on his personal charisma and unique vision.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 53, Springer 2022</ref>

Moreover, Poceski points out that abbots enjoyed opportunities for personal enrichment as well as control of the monastery's finances. With this situation came certain abuses such as the selling of abbotships and the acceptance of bribes by officials who controlled the process of abbot selection.<ref>Mario Poceski. Chan and the Routinization of Charisma in Chinese Buddhism, in The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in Honor of Steven Heine, Chinese Culture 6, edited by Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng, page 54, Springer 2022</ref> Later in Tokugawa Japan as well, Michel Mohr observes that "the misuse of Dharma-succession practices had become a plague that affected the credibility of the entire Zen Buddhist clergy."<ref>Michel Mohr. Zen Buddhism during the Tokugawa Period, The Challenge to Go beyond Sectarian Consciousness, page 358, in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1994 21/4</ref>

Furthermore, according to Lachs, dharma transmission has not always been based on the spiritual qualities or realization of the recipient. It has been given at times for various other reasons, such as securing political benefits to a monastery, perpetuating a lineage (even if the recipient has not awakened), and to imbue missionaries with authority in hopes of spreading Dharma to other countries.<ref>Stuart Lachs. Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 14, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref> Lachs also observes that in modern Sōtō, temples are often kept within families, with dharma transmission functioning as a formality for abbots to pass temple control to their eldest sons (thereby securing a comfortable place of retirement for themselves).<ref>Stuart Lachs. Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, page 15, Revised paper from presentation at the 1999 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion</ref>

See also

• Mushi dokugo
• Lineage (Buddhism)
• Zen ranks and hierarchy

In other religions

• Apostolic succession
• Guru-shishya tradition
• Isnad
• Parampara
• Silsila
• Semikhah

References

Works cited

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Web references

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Further reading

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External links

• Roshi and His Teachers, Dharma Transmission,and the Rochester Zen Center Lineage Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede discusses lineage and Dharma transmission.
• Coming Down from the Zen Clouds:A Critique of the Current State of American Zen Stuart Lachs criticizes Dharma transmission in Zen
• Dharma Transmission & Succession, A Sweeping Zen Roundtable Discussion (Podcast) Erik Storlie, Myoan Grace Schireson and Eshu Martin discuss Dharma transmission & succession
• Sweeping Zen: Inka shomei
• Married monks?
• Erik Fraser Storlie: Lineage Delusions: Eido Shimano Roshi, Dharma Transmission, and American Zen
• Muho Noelke: What does it take to become a full-fledged Sōtō-shu priest and is it really worth the whole deal?
• The Formation of Soto Zen Priests in the West, A Dialogue
• Interview with Mel Weitsman
• Jeffrey S. Brooks, On Self-Ordination, taking the title Sotapanna (Stream Winner), beginning a new Vehicle of Buddhism and Using the Buddha's terminology for hierarchy within that new vehicle