A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace: The Zen Teaching of Huangbo with a Modern Commentary

by Seon Master Subul

Overview

Penetrate the nature of mind with this contemporary Korean take on a classic of Zen literature.

The message of the Tang-dynasty Zen text in this volume seems simple: to gain enlightenment, stop thinking there is something you need to practice. For the Chinese master Huangbo Xiyun (d. 850), the mind is enlightenment itself if we can only let go of our normal way of thinking.

The celebrated translation of this work by John Blofeld, The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, introduced countless readers to Zen over the last sixty years. Huangbo’s work is also a favorite of contemporary Zen (Korean: Seon) Master Subul, who has revolutionized the strict monastic practice of koans and adapted it for lay meditators in Korea and around the world to make swift progress in intense but informal retreats. Devoting themselves to enigmatic questions with their whole bodies, retreatants are frustrated in their search for answers and arrive thereby at a breakthrough experience of their own buddha nature.

A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace is a bracing call for the practitioner to let go and thinking and unlock the buddha within.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614295303
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	04/30/2019
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 5.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Seon Master Subul Sunim (b. 1953) is an influential monk in Korean Buddhism’s Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist tradition in Korea. He was first ordained in 1975. He founded the organization Anguk Seonwon in Busan in 1989 and opened a branch in Seoul in 1996. Over twenty-five thousand laypeople have taken part in more than 300 retreats with Master Subul in Korea and around the world. Recently, Subul Sunim has served as the abbot of Beomeosa Monastery and as the Seon master at the International Meditation Center at Dongguk University.

Robert E. Buswell, Jr. (b. 1953), is Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he holds the Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities.

Seong-Uk Kim is the Il Hwan and Soon Ja Cho Assistant Professor of Korean Culture and Religion at Columbia University

Table of Contents

Translators' Introduction 1

Preface Seon Master Subul Sunim 11

Part I Essentials of Transmitting the Mind-Dharma (Chuanxinfayao)

Pei Xiu's Preface 17

1 Realize the One Mind and You Will Be a Buddha 21

2 No-Mind 30

3 The Mind That Is Originally Pure 39

4 Wise Nourishment 48

5 The Dharma Body Is Like Empty Space 54

6 The Mind and Sense Objects Are One and the Same 63

7 The True Dharma of the One Vehicle 70

8 Cultivating the Way 84

9 The Mind of the Great Vehicle 90

10 Mind Is the Buddha 97

11 The Mind-to-Mind Transmission 102

12 Mind and Realms 105

13 A Person without Concerns 108

14 Acting Effortlessly 109

15 Huineng Becomes the Sixth Patriarch 113

Part II The Wanting Record (Warding lu)

1 The Way Means Awakening to tile Mind 115

2 No-Mind Is the Way 127

3 Put Your Mind to Rest 131

4 No Mind and No Dharma 134

5 Nothing to Learn 141

6 There Is Only the One Mind 151

7 The Bodhisattva Boundless Body 154

8 The Enlightenment Site of Truth 163

9 Originally There Is Not a Single Thing 169

10 Why Did Bodhidharma Come from the West? 171

11 The Simile of Mercury 187

12 The Buddha's Loving-Kindness and Compassion 190

13 The Most Strenuous Practice 193

14 The Practice of No-Mind 196

15 Transcending the Three Realms of Existence 198

16 Ascending the Hail (Shangtang) Sermon 201

The Account of Activities (Xingzhuang)

17 On Mount Tiantai 225

18 The Single-Flavor Seon of Guizong 227

19 Repeatedly Slapping a Novice 229

20 Prior to the King with the Awe-inspiring Voice 231

21 A Bamboo Hat 232

22 Do Not Rely on Even a Single Thing 233

23 The Role of a Master 235

24 Tracking an Antelope 236

25 An Encounter Dialogue with Pei Xiu 238

26 The Goose King 240

27 Bestowing a Name 242

28 Pei Xiu's Poem Dedicated to the Master 243

29 The Pure Seon of the Tathagata 245

30 A Ram's Horns 265

31 Kasyapa and Ananda 267

32 Cutting through Wisdom with Wisdom 269

33 Seeing the Nature 272

34 If One Thought Does Not Arise, That Is Bodhi 280

35 The Dharma Gate of Nonduality 284

36 No Traces 287

37 The Sage Ksantivadin 291

38 Past, Present, and Future Are Unascertainable 294

39 The Dharma Body Is Unascertainable 296

40 All Relativity Is Eradicated 298

41 It Is Hard to See the Genuine Relics of the Buddha 300

42 There Is No Dharma to Be Transmitted 303

43 Unobstructed Wisdom 304

44 How Not to Fall into Practice Ranks 312

Notes 315

Bibliography 335

Index 341

About the Contributors 361

Editorial Reviews

"This meticulous and beautiful translation of a contemporary Korean Zen master's commentary on a Chinese Buddhist classic will benefit countless readers on their journey to spiritual awakening."

Associate Professor Hwansoo Ilmee Kim

Although not often highlighted in popular Buddhist books, Korean Zen teachers have played a crucial role in the preservation, continuation, and reinterpretation of the Chinese Zen tradition since medieval times. This commentary on the teachings of the great Chan master Huangbo (d. 850) by an eminent contemporary Korean Seon master introduces Western readers and practitioners not only to that vital role but also to the vitality of the contemporary Korean Zen tradition. Seon (Zen) Master Subul is a preeminent teacher of ganhwa Seon, “the Zen of examining meditative topics,” and he orients his approach to Huangbo’s text around this technique, thus combining the best of medieval Chinese Zen and contemporary Korean Zen. This book should be inspiring to serious practitioners of Zen, in particular, but also to all Buddhist practitioners.

Mu Soeng

How wonderful to have a clear new translation of the Zen teachings of Huangbo, one of the greatest masters of Zen’s golden era. Korean Seon Master Subul’s commentary is a marvelous addition to the original text, adding refinement to the meaning. Strongly suggested reading for all practitioners.

Richard Shrobe

"This meticulous and beautiful translation of a contemporary Korean Zen master's commentary on a Chinese Buddhist classic will benefit countless readers on their journey to spiritual awakening."  

—Associate Professor Hwansoo Ilmee Kim