Traditionally, the Northern School has been considered a splinter group of little significance because of an inferior gradualistic doctrine of spiritual discipline. This reputation is shown to be unfounded, and examination reveals that the Northern School played an important role within the development of early Ch'an and that its doctrines emphasized the constancy of religious practice rather than either gradual or sudden attainment.
The first of three major sections is devoted to the background of the Northern School within the Chinese Buddhist meditation tradition. Topics covered include the life of Seng-ch'ou (480-560) and meditation theory in the T'ien-t'ai School.
Section Two is devoted to the historical evolution of early Ch'an. This begins with reviews of the information available concerning Bodhidharma and his immediate successors and the East Mountain community of Tao-hsin (580-651) and Hung-jen (600-74). There is a detailed study of the masters active in Ch'ang-an and Lo-yang during the early eighth century, with special attention paid to Shen-hsiu (606?-706), whose name is most closely associated with the Northern School. The last chapter of this section considers the Northern School's "transmission of the lamp" texts that established the sectarian identity of Ch'an as a whole.
The final section is devoted to religious doctrine. Translations, summaries, and analyses are included for works attributed to Bodhidharma, Hung-jen, Shen-hsiu, and others. The study of these works reveals the existence of two basic themes of Ch'an doctrine, the passive construct of the Buddha Nature immanent within all sentient beings and the image of the mirror as an active model for the enlightened mind. These themes may be found in Bodhidharma's treatise and were carried on in the texts of the East Mountain Teaching and the Northern School, respectively.
A translation of one text and editions of two others are included in appendixes.
