Since the Dharma was transmitted from Bodhidharma to the East, Chan Buddhism had emphasized“Not relying on words; a separate transmission outside of the teachings.” This doctrine is based on the Tathagata thought如來藏（Tathāgatagarbha) in the Lanka Sutra愣伽經（Lankāvatāra-sūtra). Until the appearance of the sixth Chan patriarch Hui-neng (六祖慧能), his thought and practice gradually changed into the emptiness thought of Vajra Prajna. This change also affected the later Chan. In the practice of the “no-mind is the Way” (無心是道) from cultivating the heart (修心) and keeping the heart(守心) to breaking the heart with the heart(以心破心), which was a huge transformation from gradual practice to sudden enlightenment, had affected the followers of Chan. Master Sheng-Yen inherited the Dharma-line of Caodong and Linji, his whole life was a journey of practicing Buddhism. The pictures of Chan expressed the Chan’s thought. Among them, Puming and Kuo’an’s ”The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures and verses” are the most complete and best-known, which contained the practice of Chan’s thought. Although Puming and Kuo’an were very different in visual presentation, both thoughts were related to Tathagata and Prajna doctrines. This study discusses the Chan thought in the “Ten Ox-Herding Pictures verses” first. Then, it analyzes the life experience and Chan thought of Sheng-Yen according to the“Ten Ox-Herding Pictures verses”. This study discovers that the Chan Buddhism promoted by Master Sheng-Yen also follows the context of combination of Dependent Origination and Emptiness of nature (緣起性空) and Tathagata. Master Sheng-Yen put forward the concept of “Return to the Buddha's original bosom and promote the purification of the world”, that truthfully reflect the ultimate concern of Chan.
