Tiānzhúguó Pútídámó chánshī lùn 天竺國菩提達摩禪師論
Treatise of the Indian Chán Master Bodhidharma by 菩提達摩 (attributed); critical edition by 方廣錩 (整理)
About the work
A short Dūnhuáng Chán treatise in one fascicle, falsely ascribed to Bodhidharma, the legendary first patriarch of Chán. The text enumerates fifteen “gates” or “doors” (mén 門) of meditation practice — chándìng 禪定門, zhìxīn 制心門, zhàoxīn 照心門, juéxīn 覺心門, cháxīn 察心門, zhèngxīn 正心門, zhīxīn 知心門, liǎoxīn 了心門, dáxīn 達心門, zhēngxīn 徵心門, xīxīn 息心門, dìngxīn 定心門, wùxīn 悟心門, zhùxīn 住心門, ānxīn 安心門 — and explains each by drawing on canonical citations (Wéimó jīng 維摩經, Huáyán 華嚴, Wúliángshòu guān jīng 無量壽觀經, Wéishí lùn 唯識論, Yíjiào jīng 遺教經). It closes with a question-and-answer section distinguishing Mahāyāna from Hīnayāna meditation.
Abstract
Two distinct Dūnhuáng works circulate under the title Dámó chánshī lùn 達摩禪師論. The first, preserved in the collection of Hashimoto Gyōin 橋本凝胤 in Japan, bears a Táng Kāiyào 1 (681) date and treats three “comfort dharma-gates” (xúhuǎn 徐緩, wéijìng 唯淨, wéishàn 唯善); it was published in Sekiguchi Shindai’s 關口真大 Daruma daishi no kenkyū 達摩大師之研究. The second, identified by Tanaka Ryōshō 田中良昭 in Pelliot chinois 2039 (BnF), is the work edited here. Fāng Guǎngchāng adds a third witness — Beijing Library Běixīn 1254 + 1255, two fragments shown to be a single original scroll containing this text alongside Chán cè wèndá 禪策問答 (KR6v0003) and Xī zhēng lùn 息諍論 (KR6v0004). The Beijing manuscript adds c. 600 characters of summary and a Mahāyāna/Hīnayāna chán dialogue not found in P.2039, which Fāng treats as later interpolation. Neither witness is recorded in any traditional scriptural catalogue or canonical edition. Fāng identifies the manuscript group as part of Zōngmì’s 宗密 Chánzàng 禪藏 transmitted to Dūnhuáng. Composition is firmly Táng, almost certainly later than 681 but before the early ninth century.
Translations and research
- Sekiguchi Shindai 關口真大, Daruma daishi no kenkyū 達摩大師之研究 (Tōkyō: Shunjūsha, 1957) — first publication of the Hashimoto manuscript witness.
- Tanaka Ryōshō 田中良昭, Tonkō Zenshū bunken no kenkyū 敦煌禪宗文獻の研究 (Tōkyō: Daitō shuppansha, 1983) — identification of P.2039.
- Fāng Guǎngchāng 方廣錩, “Tiānzhú-guó Pútídámó chánshī lùn 整理本前言,” in Zàngwài fójiào wénxiàn 藏外佛教文獻 vol. 1 (Beijing: Zōngjiào wénhuà, 1995) — the 題解 translated above is from this edition.
Other points of interest
The text is one of the principal Dūnhuáng witnesses to the lost Chánzàng 禪藏 anthology compiled by Guīfēng Zōngmì 圭峯宗密 (780–841); the same scroll preserves KR6v0003 Chán cè wèndá and KR6v0004 Xī zhēng lùn.