Since long ago, Chan masters have emphasized the superiority of Chinese Chan to Indian dhyāna by using two opposing concepts: “tathāgata-dhyāna (如來禪)” and “patriarch-dhyāna (祖師禪)”. In general, the concept of “tathāgata-dhyāna” is recognized to have been brought into Chan Buddhism by Heze Shenhui (荷澤神會), based on the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and to have been inherited by his follower Guifeng Zongmi (圭峰宗密). However, this is not correct. Shenhui created this concept from the descriptions of the Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasure (傳法寶紀, Chuan fabao ji), and Zongmi first connected it to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.
