AAR 1999 Panel Report
"Authority and Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism" (A103)
By the panelists
Chair: Charles Muller
Panelists: Albert Welter (University of Winnipeg); Griffith Foulk (Sarah Lawrence College); Stuart Lachs (unaffiliated); Lawrence Gross (Iowa State University)
Respondent: Angela Zito (New York University)
The idea for this panel was originally conceived by Stuart Lachs and Charles Muller to bring scholarly focus on the question of how it is that an array of secular forces are brought into play in empowering the position of "the master" in the Ch'an/Zen tradition, in both the context of the historical documentation and modern practice. The general hypothesis taken by all four panelists was that the tradition's own account of the process of authorization has tended to give the impression that the authority of the teacher is mainly contingent upon his self-realization. But an examination of the historical literature of the past, and actual practice in modernity belies this notion, as authority has clearly been designated based on a wide range of non-religious factors. Intimately connected with the certification of the master in both past and present is the institution of dharma transmission, which is often retroactive and contrived.
The first paper was presented by Albert Welter, with the title "Official Recognition in Chinese Ch'an Buddhism during the Early Sung Period." The primary thrust of this paper was to show the extent to which the conferral of authority, whether it be during the lifetime of a teacher or posthumously, was greatly contingent on the degree to which recognition of the teacher had been granted (or made to appear to have been granted) by a government official or institution. This process was marked by three characteristics: (1) The fact that imperial support and recognition were crucial to the establishment of authority; (2) Ch'an records documented not only lineages, but also connections with officialdom; both were important to a Ch'an master's identity; (3) Government officials played a prominent role in forging Ch'an identity through such activities as the writing of monk's epitaphs and participation in the compilation and editing of Ch'an transmission histories (teng-lu).
These tendencies can be seen already in the T'ang dynasty in such figures as Shen-hsiu, who won official recognition for Ch'an, and who was acknowledged as the leading Ch'an figure in official T'ang histories after his death. They were in further evidence in the ninth century relationships of the government official P'ei-hsiu with Tsung-mi and Huang-po. During the Five Dynasties and early Sung, support for Buddhism varied according to region, and the Ch'an histories (transmissions of the lamp) compiled in this period reflect the perspective of different lineages that prospered under official support. With the reestablishment of central authority in the Sung, Chan lineages promoted by the government reflected official preferences.
Griffith Foulk's presentation was closely related to the above paper in that it dealt with means of legitimization found in the same Sung literature. Foulk's focus, however, was more on the linguistic structure of the Ch'an records, especially that of the ritualized discourse, describing the behavior and deportment of the teacher. Such standardized terms as "ascending the hall" (shang-t'ang) and "entering the room" (ju-shih) were used in such a way as to lend an air of authority to the teacher. Such structures were used in a standardized format, unrelated to any attainment that might have been possessed by the teacher in question.
Like Welter, Foulk pointed out the degree to which after-the-fact compositions were the primary means by which the hierarchical structures of the Ch'an tradition were created, with the most basic strategy of authorization being the lineage transmission going from `Saakyamuni Buddha down to the current time. Also, like Welter, Foulk stressed the point that the records of the "transmission of the flame" needed state approval, and these were in turn, necessary to corroborate lineages. In addition to this, the encounter dialogs (wen-tao) were highly stylized and ritualized, in such a way as to potentize the authority of the master. Therefore, in the later usage of these dialogs (and down to the present), the so-called "spontaneous" responses are not really spontaneous, but completely scripted and ritualized. Since the master is speaking from the "high seat", whatever he says must automatically be profound, even when the actual content is rather mundane, as in the case of "Chao-chou's bowl."
Stuart Lach's presentation brought the shift of the discussion to the modern context, focusing on the degree to which the mere appellation of certain terminology, such as "Master", or "roshi" is often sufficient to imbue a Zen teacher with an air of unquestionable authority. In a sense, the type and extent of such authority takes on special dimensions in the modern/Western context, due to the newness of the tradition, as Western practitioners have demonstrated a tendency to accept an idealized Asian version of Ch'an/Zen, which has become a source of problems in North America. The tradition of dharma-transmission in the West is also understood from this idealized East Asian version and hence, regarded as conferring an almost unassailable authority to modern teachers.
As in the case of the historically oriented presentations by Welter and Foulk, an objective examination of historical records demonstrates that dharma-transmission as used in East Asia is often contrived. Finally, the method of teaching and examining the koan in itself can be seen as a ritual whose every aspect serves to reinforce the superior status of the master. In this idealized version of Zen, the student must present him/herself to the master who ostensibly represents the fully enlightened mind of the Buddha. Lachs then applied a theoretical framework developed by the sociologist Peter L. Berger to show how the position of "master" (at least in the modern/Western setting) is one of "alienation"--wherein both teacher and disciple create and live a situation of disconnection from each other--and disconnection from their real state of being. The teacher deceives himself and his students by internalizing the idealizations of the Zen institution and by attempting to act the part, the students invite deception by their desire for an outstanding master.
The fourth presentation, made by Larry Gross, returned once again to a more historical view--this time pre-modern Japan--following themes similar to the first three panelists. Gross analyzed the achievement of authority into two main processes: lineage transmission and the enlightenment experience. An interesting point was made regarding the Zen tradition, that even though the rhetoric of the school tells us that written documents are not to be held in great esteem, the documents that establish lineage transmissions (which are often forged and contrived) are viewed with a greater level of reverence than any other written document, whether it be the Heart Sutra, or any other text. In the final analysis, it is the distinction of legitimate vs. illegitimate in terms of dharma transmission that is more important than matters of enlightenment, such as sudden/gradual. Gross concluded by offering a "hermeneutics of transmission" that focuses on four categories: (1) the role of the Buddha; (2) the role of the student; (3) the authentication of experience, and (4) the worship of texts and ancestors.
The panel was lucky to have a superb respondent in Angela Zito, who began by pointing out the unusual degree of coherence of the four papers, and summed their theme up by pointing out that they were all, in a sense, asking the single question of "How is the master 'masterful' and why?" She then asked each one of the panelists perceptive questions regarding key points in their papers, to which each of them responded. After these rejoinders, we had a fair amount of time for discussion between the panelists and the audience. This discussion was quite lively, continuing right up through the close of the session.