Fuke Zen

Fuke Zen ( _ja. 普化禪) was a branch of Zen Buddhism which existed in Japan from the 13th century until the late 19th century. Fuke monks were noted for playing the shakuhachi flute as a form of meditation. 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 pilgrimage.

The Founder Puhua

Fuke Zen, according to some accounts, is derived from the teachings of the Chinese 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.

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. [Ferguson, page 100.]

Many stories about Puhua also appear in the Record of Linji that added to his reputation as having a rough and uncompromising manner of expressing the Buddhha Dharma. 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. [Schloegl, page 66-67]

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 resurrection that equals the famous resurrection story of Bodhidharma, the Indian master who brought the Ekayana school of India to China that became the Chan sect of Buddhism.

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. [Schloegl, page76.]

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 master Wumen (無門) of the Linji lineage. Kakushin became a disciple of Chôsan, a 17th generation teacher of the Fuke sect of China. [See external link to Fuke Shakuhachi.]

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 suizen (吹禪). These musician-monks were known at first as "komosō" (薦僧; literally "straw-mat monks") and, by the mid-1600s, as "komusō" (虚無僧; literally "emptiness monk").

Fuke Zen in general stressed pilgrimage, and its adherents were mostly lay-practitioners rather than clergymen. During the Edo period (1603-1867), many ronin 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 Restoration. The new government promulgated a grand council proclamation banning the practice of Fuke Zen and playing the shakuhachi 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 shakuhachi 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, honkyoku, made a very slow recovery. The recovery is continuing to this day.

ee also

*Rinzai Zen
*Obaku Zen

Notes

References

*Ferguson, Andy. "Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings". Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2000. ISBN 0-86171-163-7.
*Watson, Burton; tr. "The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi: A Translation of the Lin-chi lu". New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-231-11485-0.
*Schloegl, Irmgard; tr. "The Zen Teaching of Rinzai". Shambhala Publications, Inc., Berkeley, 1976. ISBN 0-87773-087-3.

External links

* [http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/asianodyssey/html/1970_67.html A portrait] of Hotto Kokushi, the founder of Japanese Fuke
*"The Zen Teaching of Rinzai" (a.k.a. The Record of Rinzai) [http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Teachings_of_Rinzai.pdf PDF] [http://finevery.googlepages.com/Teachings_of_Rinzai.htm Text]
* [http://www.cbeta.org/result/normal/T47/1985_001.htm Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 47, No. 1985] The Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association online Chinese character text of "The Record of Linji" (臨濟録 "Linji Lu")
* [http://fuke-shakuhachi.com/en_history_fukeshakuhachi.htm Fuke Shakuhachi]