Sengcan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sengcan (僧璨; Wade-Giles Seng-Ts'an Japanese: Sosan; ?-606) was the Thirteeth Patriarch of Chan (Zen), or, as is more usually said, the Third Chinese Patriarch. Little is known about Sengcan, except that he was the Dharma Successor of the Second Chinese Patriarch Dazu Huike, and was in turn the master of the Fourth Patriarch Dayi Daoxin. According to the Keizan Osho Denko-roku, Sengcan was suffering from leprosy when he met Huike. The encounter is quoted from Thomas Cleary's translation:

Sengcan: I am riddled with sickness. Please absolve me of my sin. Huike: Bring your sin here and I will absolve you. Sengcan (after a long pause): When I look for my sin, I cannot find it. Huike: I have absolved you. You should live by the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

It is further recorded in the Denko-roku that Sengcan was a layman over forty years of age when he met Huike. The sickness he was suffering from was said to be leprosy.

During the Buddhist persecution under the Wei Dynasty from 574-577, it is said that Sengcan feigned mental illness in order to escape execution. Finally, he went into seclusion for ten years on Mount Huangong. A legend says that his mere presence here pacified the wild tigers.

The authorship of the Xinxinming Hsin Hsin Ming (Verses on Faith-Mind) 信心銘, is attributed to him, which attempts to capture the entirety of Zen Buddhism doctrine in one poem. It emphasizes non-duality and the need to give up attachment to separations and distinctions made by the knowing and desiring mind. It remains to this day one of the most popular Zen texts. The opening lines read:

The Great Way is not difficult For those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent Everything becomes clear and undisguised.

The great Chan master Zhaozhou Congshen (Joshu Jushin) frequently quoted these opening lines, as in the second example of the Biyanlu: The real Way is not difficult, it only abhors choice and attachment (Katsuki SEkida, TWo Zen Classics). The Xinxinming is one of the earliest Chan writings, and already shows hints of the synthesis of Daoism and Buddhism that is so characteristic of Zen. Posthumously, Sengcan received the honorary title JIanzhi (Wade-Giles: Chien-chih/Jap. Kanchi).