Shèngyī Guóshī yǔlù 聖一國師語録
Recorded Sayings of National Master Shōichi by 圓爾 Enni Ben’en (語); compiled by 師錬 Kokan Shiren (纂)
About the work
A single-fascicle Recorded Sayings collection (語錄 yulu) of 圓爾 Enni Ben’en (1202–1280), founder of Tōfuku-ji 東福寺 in Kyoto, posthumously titled Shōichi Kokushi 聖一國師. Compiled by his dharma-grandson Kokan Shiren 師錬 (Sanshō Niōson, 1278–1346) and prefaced Genkō 元徳 3 (1331), 2nd month, 5th day at Tōfuku-ji.
Prefaces
The preface by Shiren explains the circumstances of compilation. “The Buddha merely preaches; he does not compile. The compilation is the work of the disciples. Our Eichi (慧日 — Tōfuku-ji’s nickname) master’s preachings could fill a sea-treasury; his disciples are as the inhabitants of the Vulture-Peak. Yet all transformed and spread to the four directions early on, leaving no time for compilation. There is a Shukushu (忠首坐 — the senior monk Chū) who said to me: ‘Our patriarch’s chains-of-flowers (i.e. teachings) have not been threaded; half-a-century has passed, and a few more years risk the subtle words being lost. Master, have you the will?’ I replied: ‘Brother and I together bequeath this. I said the compilation is the work of the disciples — how can I dare?’ He said: ‘Who compiled? The Bodhisattvas of Wonderful-Virtue, Great-Tortoise, and Kāśyapa-Joy.’ He asked: ‘Kāśyapa-Joy succeeded whom?’ ‘He succeeded Great-Tortoise.’ ‘Is this not the grandson’s project?’ ‘It seems so but is not yet so.’ ‘If there were even a resemblance, that would be near enough.’ I could not refuse…” Shiren then reports that the result is only a worm-eaten remnant (蠹簡殘編) — the dūshu (Du-zhi) edict to the Liù-dīng (Six Soldiers) summoned the heavenly thunderclap down; what fell among men is a single tip of Mt. Tài-shān’s hair.
The work proper opens: 聖一國師住東福禪寺語録 (“Recorded sayings of National Master Shōichi residing at Tōfuku Zen Temple”).
Abstract
Content: the standard yulu genre — formal jōdō 上堂 (“ascending the hall”) sermons, informal shōsan 小參 (“small assemblies”), hōgo 法語 (dharma-talks), encounter-dialogues with disciples, occasion-verses, and jibun 自門 (self-funerary verses). The work as preserved is acknowledged in the preface to be only a fragmentary remnant of the master’s far more extensive original teaching.
Significance: the earliest of the Japanese Rinzai-Zen yulu** preserved in the Taishō canon, and a foundational document of the Tōfuku-ji Shōichi-ha 聖一派 lineage. The compilation by Kokan Shiren (the author of the Genkō Shakusho 元亨釋書 — the first Japanese Buddhist history-of-the-school) is itself an important Gozan-literature artifact.
Translations and research
- No complete English translation located.
- Dumoulin, Heinrich, Zen Buddhism: A History, vol. 2: Japan, World Wisdom, 2005, pp. 31–35.
- Bielefeldt, Carl, Dōgen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation, Berkeley: UC Press, 1988 — discusses Enni Ben’en within the early Japanese Zen context.
Links
- CBETA: T80n2544
- DILA Buddhist Person Authority: A001419 (圓爾)