Dámó dàshī wù xìng lùn 達磨大師悟性論
Treatise on Awakening to the Nature by Master Bodhidharma
A short Chán doctrinal treatise attributed to Bodhidharma on the direct recognition of the buddha-nature (wù xìng 悟性); parallel recension preserved as gate 5 of KR6q0084 Shǎoshì liù mén
About the work
A one-juan short Chán treatise, X63 n1219. Parallel recension preserved as gate 5 of the Shǎoshì liù mén. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted.
The text articulates in compressed form the jiàn xìng 見性 / wù xìng 悟性 (“seeing the nature” / “awakening to the nature”) doctrine that becomes the Southern-School signature in the mid-to-late 8th century. Doctrinally the text is somewhat more sophisticated than the Èrrù sìxíng lùn (KR6q0112) and probably later: its wù xìng vocabulary is specifically characteristic of the mature post-Shénhuì period.
Tiyao
Not a WYG text; no 四庫 tíyào exists. No preface; attributed to Bodhidharma via the title only.
Abstract
Scholarly consensus (Yanagida, McRae) places the Wù xìng lùn in the post-Shénhuì mid-to-late-8th-century stratum of Bodhidharma-attributed pseudepigraphic literature, slightly earlier than the Xuè mài lùn (KR6q0113) but clearly post-dating both the Èrrù sìxíng lùn (KR6q0112) and the Northern-School Dūnhuáng materials.
Dating bracket: notBefore 700 (earliest plausible wù xìng doctrinal stratum), notAfter 900 (working terminus ante quem). Probably mid-to-late 8th century in core composition. Catalog dynasty 梁 reflects the traditional Bodhidharma-attribution.
Translations and research
- Red Pine. 1987. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. North Point Press.
- Broughton, Jeffrey L. 1999. The Bodhidharma Anthology. California.
- Yanagida Seizan 柳田聖山 1969. Daruma no goroku.
Other points of interest
The Wù xìng lùn together with the Xuè mài lùn constitutes the mid-late-Táng / Five-Dynasties stratum of Bodhidharma-attributed texts, both reflecting Southern-School doctrinal vocabulary and both being post-Shénhuì pseudepigraphic productions. The pairing of these two with the earlier Èrrù sìxíng lùn and the earlier-still Dámó Duànjì lùn / Wú xīn lùn (KR6q0103) into the composite Shǎoshì liù mén (KR6q0084) aggregates texts of three distinct dates under a single editorial frame.