It is a known trend that Zen Buddhism in China started getting mixed with Pureland elements since the Yuan dynasty. Researchers have depicted such trend as a decline in Zen thinking in the sense that Zen has gotten less pure. Rather than making evaluations based on “purity”, however, it is germane to adopt a historical perspective and inquire how Zen- Pureland syncretistic thinking came about, focusing on the affinity between Zen and Pureland thought and its interactions through the Yuan dynasty.
This essay would touch on the following issues: the advent and popularization of the Choices Between Four Permutations of Zen and Pureland Practices (Chan-Jing Siliaojian), a document attributed to the Song dynasty Zen Master Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 that preaches the importance of Pureland practice in combination with Zen, by the Yuan dynasty Zen Masters Zhongfeng Mingben 中峰明本 (1263-1323) and his disciple Tianru Weize 天如唯則 (1286-1354); and, through an analysis of their thought and practices, define the actual meaning of Zen-Pureland syncretism 禪淨合一 in historical context. I will highlight the subtle difference between practicing Zen and Pureland teachings unanimously 一致 and in tandem 兼修 and point to two diverse interpretations of the saying “Amitabha is our innate nature; Pureland resides in our minds” 自性彌陀，唯心淨土. The new practice of Zen meditation by way of reciting the Buddha’s name 參究念佛 is essentially an improvised form of Kanhuachan 看話禪, a distinctive tradition of the Linji 臨濟 sect, which integrates Pureland thinking with Zen praxis. The formation and development of this practice has been well documented by academic research.
Zen, being the mainstream of Chinese Buddhism, necessarily interacts with different thoughts throughout the course of history to produce myriad changes in form and practice. Therefore, we must not merely focus on the genealogy and debates within the Zen sect itself, but should also be aware of how different teachings interact and affect one another. Only then can we “realize the inexhaustible great use of Zen teachings” 見出禪法的無盡大用, as explicated by Master Sheng Yen in the preface of his Chanmen Lizhu Ji《禪門驪珠集》.
