Fuke Zen was a branch of
ZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chán. This word is in turn derived from the Sanskrit dhyāna, which means "meditation" ....
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
which existed in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from the 13th century until the late 19th century. Fuke monks were noted for playing the
shakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. Its name means "1.8 Shaku", referring to its size. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
as a form of
meditationMeditation is used here as a broad term for practices done by a sole practitioner without much, if any, external aide, often for the purpose of self-transformation...
. It was characterized in the public imagination of Japan by its monks' playing of the shakuhachi flute while wearing a large woven basket hat that covered their entire head as they went on
pilgrimageIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of many major religions participate in pilgrimages...
.
Fuke Zen, according to some accounts, is derived from the teachings of the
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
Zen teacher Linji Yixuan (c.
Fuke Zen was a branch of
ZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chán. This word is in turn derived from the Sanskrit dhyāna, which means "meditation" ....
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
which existed in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from the 13th century until the late 19th century. Fuke monks were noted for playing the
shakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. Its name means "1.8 Shaku", referring to its size. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
as a form of
meditationMeditation is used here as a broad term for practices done by a sole practitioner without much, if any, external aide, often for the purpose of self-transformation...
. It was characterized in the public imagination of Japan by its monks' playing of the shakuhachi flute while wearing a large woven basket hat that covered their entire head as they went on
pilgrimageIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of many major religions participate in pilgrimages...
.
The Founder Puhua
Fuke Zen, according to some accounts, is derived from the teachings of the
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
Zen teacher Linji Yixuan (c. 800–866), known in Japan as Rinzai Gigen. However, the Fuke school counted as its founder one of Linji's contemporaries Pǔhuà (普化), whose name is read as Fuke in Japanese. Puhua was reputedly a multi-talented monk, known for being inventive and at the same time quite strict.
One story of Puhua particularly demonstrates his unique style of nonverbal
Chan-People:* Chan Marshall, American musician better known as Cat Power* Chan , Chinese surname; Mandarin transcription of the same name is Chen ** Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan...
:
When Panshan Baoji was near death, he said to the monks, "Is there anyone among you who can draw my likeness?"
Many of the monks made drawings for Panshan, but none were to his liking.
The monk Puhua stepped forward and said, "I can draw it."
Panshan said, "Why don't you show it to me?"
Puhua then turned a somersault and went out.
Panshan said, "Someday, that fellow will teach others in a crazy manner!"
Having said these words, Panshan passed away.
Many stories about Puhua that appear in the Record of Linji add to his reputation of having a rough and uncompromising manner of expressing the
dharmaThe term , is an Indian spiritual and religious term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term. A Hindu's Dharma is affected by a person's age, class, occupation, and sex. In Indian languages it can be equivalent simply to "religion", depending on context...
. For example:
44.a. One day the master [Linji] and Fuke went to a vegetarian banquet given them by a believer. During it, the master asked Fuke: "'A hair swallows the vast ocean, a mustard seed contains Mt. Sumeru' – does this happen by means of supernatural powers, or is the whole body (substance, essence) like this?" Fuke kicked over the table. The master said: "Rough fellow." Fuke retorted: "What place is this here to speak of rough and refined ?"
b. The next day, they went again to a vegetarian banquet. During it, the master asked: "Today's fare, how does it compare with yesterday's?" Fuke (as before) kicked over the table. The master said: "Understand it you do – but still, you are a rough fellow." Fuke replied: "Blind fellow, does one preach of any roughness or finesse in the Buddha-Dharma?" The master stuck out his tongue.
There is some controversy as to the degree and nature of his musical talents, but his followers would often reflect on a certain story for inspiration: the story describes Puhua going through his hometown, ringing a bell to summon others to enlightenment. The same, for many Fuke practitioners, applied to the shakuhachi, and its mastery was seen as a path to enlightenment.
Death of Puhua
The passing of Puhua is recounted in the Record of Linji. In addition to giving a special importance to Puhua's ringing bell, it is particularly striking as a story of Buddhist
resurrectionThe resurrection of dead humans is a central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It may refer either to the resurrection of particular individuals, or a general resurrection of humanity....
that equals the famous resurrection story of
BodhidharmaBodhidharma was a Buddhist monk from southern India who lived during the early 5th century and is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China....
, the Indian master who brought the
EkayanaEkayāna is a Sanskrit word that can mean "one path" or "one vehicle". The word took on special significance as a metaphor for a spriritual journey in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad...
school from India to China, which became the Chan sect of Buddhism. The story:
65. One day at the street market Fuke was begging all and sundry to give him a robe. Everybody offered him one, but he did not want any of them. The master [Linji] made the superior buy a coffin, and when Fuke returned, said to him: "There, I had this robe made for you." Fuke shouldered the coffin, and went back to the street market, calling loudly: "Rinzai had this robe made for me! I am off to the East Gate to enter transformation" (to die). The people of the market crowded after him, eager to look. Fuke said: "No, not today. Tomorrow, I shall go to the South Gate to enter transformation." And so for three days. Nobody believed it any longer. On the fourth day, and now without any spectators, Fuke went alone outside the city walls, and laid himself into the coffin. He asked a traveler who chanced by to nail down the lid.
The news spread at once, and the people of the market rushed there. On opening the coffin, they found that the body had vanished, but from high up in the sky they heard the ring of his hand bell.
Fuke Lineage in Japan
Fuke Zen was brought to Japan by Shinchi Kakushin (心地覺心)(1207-1298), also known as Muhon Kakushin (無本覺心) and posthumously as Hotto Kokushi (法燈國師). Kakushin had travelled to China for six years and studied with the famous Chinese
Chan-People:* Chan Marshall, American musician better known as Cat Power* Chan , Chinese surname; Mandarin transcription of the same name is Chen ** Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan...
master
WumenWumen Huikai is a Song period Chán master most famous as the compiler of and commentator on the 48-koan collection The Gateless Gate . Wumen was at that time the monastery.Wumen was born in Hangzhou and his first master was Gong Heshang...
(無門) of the Linji lineage. Kakushin became a disciple of Chôsan, a 17th generation teacher of the Fuke sect of China.
Although it no longer exists as a religious organization, Fuke Zen's following during the feudal period was quite extensive. Its members could be easily recognized by their practice playing the shakuhachi flute, which was considered a form of meditation and was called
suizenis a Zen practice consisting of playing the shakuhachi bamboo flute as a means of attaining self-realization. The monks from the Fuke sect of Zen who practiced suizen were called komusō ....
(吹禪). These musician-monks were known at first as
komosō (薦僧; literally "straw-mat monks") and, by the mid-1600s, as
komusōA was a mendicant monastic of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism. Komusō were characterised by the straw basket worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego. They are also known for playing solo pieces on the shakuhachi...
(虚無僧; literally "emptiness monk").
Fuke Zen in general stressed
pilgrimageIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of many major religions participate in pilgrimages...
, and its adherents were mostly lay-practitioners rather than clergymen. During the
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
(1603-1867), many
roninA was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege.-Etymology:...
became incorporated into the sect, and due to the temperaments of these former samurai, the sect gained the reputation of harbouring troublemakers. Members of the Fuke sect were also given permission by the Bakufu government of the time to travel freely throughout the country, a significant dispensation considering the severe travel restrictions of the time. In reality, some of the Fuke monks were spies for the Bakufu government, a practice which helped seal the sect's demise when the government itself fell.
Development and demise
Fuke, which had initially been a loose affiliation of monks and lay pilgrims, solidified as a sect around 1700. However, the sect died out in 1871 following the
Meiji RestorationThe , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure...
. The new government promulgated a grand council proclamation banning the practice of Fuke Zen and playing the
shakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. Its name means "1.8 Shaku", referring to its size. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
for religious reasons. This is because, as described above, in practice many of the Fuke were spies and informers for the government. Practice of the
shakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. Its name means "1.8 Shaku", referring to its size. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
was banned entirely for four years by the Meiji government, after which it was decreed that secular playing was permitted. From that time onward the playing of original Fuke pieces,
honkyokuHonkyoku are the pieces of shakuhachi or hocchiku music played by mendicant Japanese Zen monks called komusō. Komusō played honkyoku for enlightenment and alms as early as the 13th century. Honkyoku is the practice of suizen...
, made a very slow recovery. The recovery is continuing to this day.
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