Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

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看話禪

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: phrase-observing meditation

Senses:

  • Gong'an (J. kōan) contemplation; a Chan/Seon/Zen meditation method that seeks direct attainment of enlightenment through investigation of the 'keyword' (Ch. huàtóu; K. hwadu, 話頭). This Chan approach was first popularized by the Chinese Linji 臨濟 monk Dahui 大慧, who taught this method to be superior to the competing Caodong 曹洞 approach to meditation, known as 'silent illumination meditation'  默照禪. Throughout the subsequent history of East Asian Buddhism, phrase-observing meditation would be associated with Linji/Imje/Rinzai, while silent illumination became the main method of Caodong/Sōtō. 看 means 'to see' and 話 means a question. Here 'seeing,' means for the practitioner to probe deeply into the doubts in his own mind, as the key word points to the place where thoughts arise. In Korean Seon it is often applied as a synonym for gong-an 公案, but precisely speaking, the two are different. While gong-an refers to an entire exchange, usually a dialogue between Master and student, hwadu refers to the core issue. Originally in China gong-an meant a precedent in a public case, while in Chan/Seon/Zen training it refers to a realized teaching pointing to the nature of ultimate reality. The gong-an is characterized as a conundrum which cannot be solved by discursive understanding, yet with diligent practice it makes clear the limitations of thought and eventually forces the student to go beyond logical contradictions and dualistic modes of thought. Hwadu is the word or expression into which a gong-an resolves itself through struggle with it as a means of spiritual training. For instance, in the very famous gong-an  'Zhaozhouʼs Dog,'  趙州狗子 the word mu ( 'no,'   'is not'  無)   is the hwadu. In hwadu practice the practitioner is understood to be directly apprehending his original nature 本性 (or buddha-nature 佛性). This is why it is referred to as 'seeing original nature and accomplishing Buddhahood'  見性成佛. The method is seen as a means of access to sudden enlightenment which is revealed at the moment the practitioner breaks open his or her hwadu, thus 'leaping over thousands of teachings of Buddha and successive Chan masters.' The ganhwa approach has been popular in China and Korea, and in recent times is gaining popularity in Western countries. 〔天目中峰和尙廣錄, 憨山老人夢遊集〕 [Ockbae Chun]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Chūgoku bukkyōshi jiten (Kamata) 048

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 148

    Bulgyo sajeon 13a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 186c

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 148, 153

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 174

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 162a/179

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 165

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 187a

    Fo Guang Dictionary 3898

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)476c,2242b,2968c,3096b, (v.9-10)128b

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 2006-12-31

    Updated: 2013-07-10