Shenxiu

Shenxiu on the DRL

Classical Chinese Authors

English Phonetics	Shenxiu
Chinese Script	神秀
Japanese Transliteration	Jinshū
Korean Transliteration	Sinsu

Dates

Birth:	606?
Death:	706
Place of birth:	Kaifeng in present-day Henan province

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Religious Affiliation

Chan

Teachers

Hongren

Students

Yifu · Puji · Xiangmo Zang

Other Biographical info:

Links

Wiki Pages

• Shenxiu on the DRL
• Shenxiu on the LIB
• Shenxiu on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Shenxiu. (J. Jinshū; K. Sinsu 神秀) (606?–706). Chinese Chan master of the Tang dynasty and putative founder of the "Northern school" (Bei zong ) of early Chan Buddhism. Shenxiu was a native of Kaifeng in present-day Henan province. As an extraordinarily tall man with well-defined features, Shenxiu is said to have had a commanding presence. In 625, Shenxiu was ordained at the monastery of Tiangongsi in Luoyang, but little is known of his activities in the first two decades following his ordination. In 651, Shenxiu became a disciple of Hongren (601-674), cofounder of the East Mountain Teachings (Dongshan famen) and the monk later recognized as the fifth patriarch of the Chan school; indeed, by many early accounts, such as the Chuan fabao ji and Lengqie shizi ji, Shenxiu became Hongren's legitimate successor. According to the famous story in the Liuzu tanjing ("Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch"), however, Shenxiu lost a verse-writing contest to the unlettered Huineng (638-713), whom Hongren then in secret sanctioned as the sixth patriarch. However, it is unclear how long Shenxiu studied with Hongren. One source states that it was for a period of six years, in which case he would have left Hongren's monastery long before Huineng's arrival, making the famous poetry contest impossible. Regardless of the date of his departure, Shenxiu eventually left Hongren's monastery for Mt. Dangyang in Jingzhou (present-day Hubei province), where he remained for over twenty years and attracted many disciples. Shenxiu and his disciples were the subjects of a polemical attack by Heze Shenhui (684-758), who disparaged Shenxiu as representing a mere collateral branch of Bodhidharma's lineage and for promoting what Shenhui called a "gradual" (jian) approach to enlightenment. Shenhui instead promoted a "sudden teaching" (dunjiao), which he claimed derived from a so-called "Southern school" (Nan zong) founded by Huineng, another (and relatively obscure) disciple of Hongren, whom Shenhui claimed was Hongren's authentic successor and the true sixth patriarch (liuzu). Later Chan historians such as Guifeng Zongmi (780–841) began to use the designation "Northern school" (Bei zong) to describe the lineage of Shenxiu and his disciples Yifu (661-736), Puji (651-739), and Xiangmo Zang (d.u.). While Shenhui's characterization of Shenxiu and his supposed "gradualism" is now known to be misleading, subsequent histories of the Chan tradition (see Chuandeng lu) more or less adopted Shenhui's vision of early Chan; thus Huineng, rather than Shenxiu, comes to be considered the bearer of the orthodox Chan transmission. As one mark of Shenxiu's high standing within the Chan tradition of his time, in 700, Shenxiu was invited to the imperial palace by Empress Wu Zetian, where the empress prostrated herself before the nonagenarian monk. She was so impressed with the aged Chan master that she decided to build him a new monastery on Mt. Dangyang named Dumensi. She also gave him the title of state preceptor (guoshi). Upon his death, he was given a state funeral. He is one of only three Buddhist monks whose biography is included in the Tang shi ("Tang Annals"). This is clearly not the profile of an imposter within the Chan lineage. Shenxiu's teachings are known to have focused on the transcendence of thoughts (linian) and the five expedient means (fangbian; S. upāya); these teachings appear in "Northern school" treatises discovered at Dunhuang, such as the Yuanming lun, Guanxin lun, and Dasheng wusheng fangbian men. Shenxiu was an expert on the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, a text favored by Hongren and the early Chan tradition, and is also thought to have written a substantial commentary on the Avataṃsakasūtra. Despite the uncomplimentary portrayal of the "Northern school" in mainstream Chan materials, it is now recognized that Shenxiu and his disciples actually played a much more important role in the early growth and development of the Chan school than the mature tradition acknowledged. (Source: "Shenxiu." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 800–801. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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What is Buddha-nature?
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.