Yuquan Shenxiu was one of the most influential Chan masters of his day, a Patriarch of the East Mountain Teaching of Chan Buddhism.
11 Facts About Yuquan Shenxiu
2.
Yuquan Shenxiu was born in Weishi County, suburb of Luoyang, Henan, then secondary capital of China.
3.
Traces of his activities for the next twenty-five years were lost, the Chuan Fabao Ji claim that Yuquan Shenxiu studied the Buddhist regulations and ceremonies and devoted himself to the practice of meditation and the development of wisdom.
4.
The aforementioned Chuan Fabao Ji states that he studied with Hongren for six years, thereby leaving in 657, before the arrival of the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng, with whom Yuquan Shenxiu supposedly had the famous verse-writing contest.
5.
Yuquan Shenxiu initially took up residence at the Jade Spring Monastery but soon one was built for him, the Monastery of the Six Perfections where he spent the next quarter century.
6.
The Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-treasure describe Yuquan Shenxiu's path being bedecked with flowers and the master riding on a litter of the type reserved for the imperial family.
7.
Privately, Hongren asked Yuquan Shenxiu to compose another verse as Hongren believed that Yuquan Shenxiu's verse did not display true understanding of the Dharma.
8.
When told the story of Hongren's contest, Huineng asked a monk to take him to the wall where Yuquan Shenxiu's verse was written.
9.
Shenhui, a successor of Huineng, publicly criticized Yuquan Shenxiu and associated him with the "Northern School", a term which Shenhui is thought to have invented.
10.
Yuquan Shenxiu was highly educated and studied the Buddhist scriptures assiduously.
11.
Yuquan Shenxiu taught that there is a profound stillness and tranquility in all things.