Wisdom without a teacher

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Wisdom without a teacher (Chinese: 無師智, pinyin: wúshīzhì; Japanese: 無師独悟, mushi-dokugo, Skt. svayaṃbhūjñāna anācāryaka), sometimes also called "self-enlightened and self-certified" (Jp: jigo-jishō (自悟自証), is a term used in Zen Buddhism to refer to the experience of a Zen practitioner reaching enlightenment (bodhi) or kensho without the aid of a master or teacher.^[1][2][3][4]

The idea of wisdom without a teacher is often considered suspect among various Zen schools, like in the modern Japanese Soto school. William Bodiford writes that since the risk of self-delusion is high, it is common for Zen disciples to rely on their teacher to "authenticate and formally acknowledge" their enlightenment experience.^[5] In spite of this, there have been Zen masters throughout history that have claimed to have awakened without the aid of a teacher and to not have required a teacher to confirm their awakening. This phenomenon is often related to criticisms of Zen institutions, especially the institutions of dharma transmission and transmission certificates.^[6][7]

Mushi-dokugo (無師独悟) is a Japanese term composed of four Chinese characters, or kanji, meaning "independent realization without a master." The character mu (無) means "without" or "no", shi (師) means "master" or "teacher", doku (独) means "independent" or "alone", and go (悟) means "realization" or "understanding" (satoru), also translated as "enlightenment" (satori). When strung together, the characters literally read, "no (無) master (師) independent (独) understanding (悟)." The equivalent Chinese pronunciation is wúshī dúwù.

The idea that the Buddha awakened by himself without a teacher is found in the Early Buddhist Texts. In the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta for example the Buddha proclaims: "I have no teacher (Na me ācariyo atthi), There is no-one like me."^[8]

A Sanskrit term which indicates a kind of jñāna (knowledge) attained "through one's own power" (svayaṃbhū) "without an āchārya" (anācāryaka) appears in the Lotus sutra, chapter 3, in a description of the bodhisattva vehicle in the section on the parable of the burning house. The relevant passage states:

There are other people, who, desiring the wisdom of the Omniscient One (sarvajña-jñāna), the wisdom of the buddhas (buddha-jñāna), the wisdom of the Self- generated One (svayaṃbhu-jñāna), wisdom without a teacher (anācāryaka jñāna), apply themselves to the teaching of the Tathāgata in order to understand the wisdom, powers and confidence of the Tathāgata (tathāgata-jñāna-bala-vaiśāradya), for the sake of the welfare and happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare and happiness of many people, both gods and men, for the sake of the parinirvāṇa of all beings. They are said to be those who, desiring the great vehicle (mahāyāna; tathāgatayāna), escape from the threefold world. Therefore, they are called bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. They are just like some of the boys, who escaped from that burning house, desiring a cart yoked with oxen (go-ratha).”^[9]

The term also appears in the Gaganagañjaparipṛccha:

The Lord, having awakened through his own power (svayaṃbhū), entered into the state of perfect awakening (abhisaṃbuddha) by himself (svayam) to all moments of existence without a teacher (anācāryakam); The Lord is the leader (nāyaka), and teaches the right way (samyagmārgadeśika) to those on bad ways (kumārgapratipanneṣu) without any leader (anāyaka).^[10]

The term "anācāryaka" also appears in the Ratnagotravibhāga, in which it is listed as a quality of the wisdom (jñāna) of the Buddha's attainment of Buddhahood. The Buddha is described as having "perfectly cognized its [Buddhahood's] unutterable nature by one-self (svayam), i.e. by means of self-born knowledge which needs no teacher."^[11] The same text also explains how the Buddha's awakening is "not dependent on others" (aparapratyayabhisambodhi), "because it is realized through one's innate knowledge".^[12]

A parallel term is the self- or masterless ordination (svāmaṃ/ svayambhūtva or anācāryaka upasampadā) in which a Buddhist monk ordains himself without a quorum of monks. The idea is found in Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakoṣabhāṣya with reference to the Vinaya (monastic rule). The term can also refer to taking the bodhisattva vow by oneself, an act which is discussed in the Śrīmālādevisiṃhanāda sūtra and in the Bodhisattvabhūmi.^[13]

The quintessential example of this phenomenon is the Sixth patriarch Huineng who is famously said to have achieved awakening while hearing someone chant the Diamond Sutra.^[14]

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch itself states that it is possible to awaken without a teacher:

If you can become enlightened yourself, don’t rely on external seeking—don’t think I’m saying you can only attain emancipation through [the help of] a spiritual compatriot other than yourself. This is not the case! Why? Within your own minds there is a spiritual compatriot [who will help you] become enlightened by yourself! If you activate the false and deluded, you will become all mixed up with false thoughts. Although some external spiritual compatriots may be teachers, they cannot save you. If you activate the correct and true and contemplate with prajñā, in a single instant [all your] false thoughts will be completely eradicated. If you recognize the self-nature, with a single [experience of] enlightenment you will attain the stage of buddhahood.^[15]

During the Ming dynasty, important masters like Hanshan Deqing, Zibo Zhenke, and Yunqi Zhuhong did not belong to any formal lineage.^[16][17] According to Jiang Wu, these eminent Ming Chan monks emphasized self-cultivation while criticizing nominal recognition through "dharma transmission" documents. Wu writes that for such monks at this time:

"...training through self-cultivation was encouraged, and nominal and formulaic instructions from pretentious masters were despised. Eminent monks, who practiced meditation and asceticism but without proper dharma transmission, were acclaimed as acquiring 'wisdom without teachers' (wushizhi), a laudable title for them but a misfortune in the eyes of the more orthodox Chan masters in later generations, for whom dharma transmission defined their identity as Chan monks in a certain lineage. The negative attitude toward the role of teacher can be seen from Hanshan Deqing’s perspective. Though never receiving dharma transmission, he was often asked to write prefaces to the records of transmission in some obscure lineages. His writings testify that although the practice of dharma transmission was revived, Hanshan Deqing questioned its value seriously. For him, the enlightenment of the mind was more important than the nominal claim of dharma transmission. Because true enlightenment experience was valued, a few self-proclaimed Chan masters in the late Ming gained reputations as eminent monks without acquiring dharma transmission."^[17]

Hanshan Deqing is said to have confirmed his own awakening through his reading of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra instead of through the traditional method of relying on a master. Hanshan wrote that "After my great awakening, having no one to confirm and testify to it, I opened the Śūraṅgama Sūtra to verify my experience. I had not listened previously to lectures on this Sūtra and so did not know its meaning. Now by using the power of the direct reasoning of the nondiscriminating mind and without even the slightest use of its consciousness since there was no room for thinking, I gained after eight months a complete comprehension of its profound meaning without having a single doubt left."^[18]

Similarly, the Ming Chan monk Hanyue Fazang (1573-1635) had an awakening as a young man but could not find any masters to confirm his experience. He turned to the writings of the Song dynasty master Juefan Huihong (1071–1128), the Linji zongzhi and the Zhizheng zhuan, and relying on these texts, was able to verify his awakening and even declared himself to be Huihong's heir, although the two men were separated by many centuries.^[19] This phenomenon, known as "transmission by remote succession", was common in the late Ming when masters were unable to find proper teachers.^[19] Hanyue later wrote in his Guiding Words on the Zhizheng zhuan, “from now on, people who attain enlightenment without a master (wushi ziwu 無師自悟) can use this text to verify their enlightenment (yuci zhengzhi 於此證之).”^[19]

The Japanese Zen teacher Nōnin (died 1196), the founder of the Daruma school, is one Japanese example of mushi-dokugo. He is said to have declared himself to have been a self-enlightened teacher after having abandoned the traditional Tendai establishment.^[20][21]

Dōgen, the founder of the Sōtō school of Japanese Zen, acknowledged in his lifetime that such a phenomenon exists. According to Hee-Jin Kim, "enlightenment-by-oneself, without a teacher (mushi-dokugo), [is] the ultimate Zen principle that every practitioner had to actualize, even while studying under competent teachers and reading the sutras for a number of years."^[22] Independent, critical, reflective thinking as an integral part of meditation is mentioned in the fascicles of the Shōbōgenzō.^[22] That being said, Dogen also wrote that dharma transmission through teacher-student relationships was necessary. The idea of mushi-dokugo is also discussed by Keizan.^{[note 1]} In modern Soto Zen, dharma transmission (shiho) is considered necessary to be an authorized representative of the Soto school but it does not indicate one is enlightened.^{[web 1]}

The unconventional Zen master Bankei was critical of written dharma transmission documents and ripped up his own transmission certificate.^[23] Later, Bankei expressed dissatisfaction with his teacher's level of attainment, feeling he had not grasped the full meaning of the unborn buddha mind.^[24][25]

He also wrote to a disciple that enlightenment did not require a teacher:

This Dharma isn't anything you can learn from someone else. Even if she did see me, it would not help. Please convey this message to her from me. [...] Everybody's mind is the Buddha Mind, which is originally enlightened, so it's not something that is "born" or that "dies"; it neither comes nor goes, but is eternal, unalterable buddhahood. Thus, it's not a matter of your becoming a buddha now for the first time since you've been a buddha right from the start. That's why, instead of following other people's spiritual guidance, it's best to look to your own ordinary straightforward mind.^[26]

During the Edo period in Japan, there were a great many priests who proclaimed to be "self-enlightened." According to Haskel "one of the most striking features of early Tokugawa Zen is the number of celebrated priests who achieved realization on their own". These figures included "such notables as the Myōshin-ji masters Daigu, Ungo, Isshi and the Sōtō priest Suzuki Shōsan."^[27] The Tokugawa era Sōtō master Dokuan Genkō (1630–1698) was scathingly critical of the dharma transmission method which he called "paper Zen".^[28] According to Dokuan, "what is called Zen enlightenment is not dependent on another’s enlightenment. It is only what you realize for yourself, attain for yourself, just as you know when you’ve eaten enough rice to satisfy your hunger, or drunk enough water to slake your thirst".^[28] Dokuan's critique of the transmission system went as far as to claim that only those who were self-awakened actually had the wisdom of the Buddha:

In today’s Zen temples they transmit the robe and bowl [i.e., the symbols of the teacher’s transmission]; but while the name continues, the reality [of enlightenment] has long ceased to exist. Those who carry on the wisdom of the buddhas and patriarchs rely on themselves, being enlightened independently, without a teacher; so that even though the name has ceased, the reality itself continues.^[29]

Famous Korean masters like Wohnyo and Jinul could also be seen as examples. Wohnyo is famously known for his awakening experience after accidentally drinking water from a skull one night while staying in a dark cave during his travels.^[30]

Jinul's intellect and preference for solitude led him to focus on self-study of the scriptures. According to Buswell, Jinul's relationship with his preceptor "does not seem to have been especially close".^[31] Having never had a permanent teacher, Buswell observes, "Chinul made up for the lack of personal instruction by drawing inspiration from the Buddhist scriptures. In the spirit of self-reliance that is central to Buddhism, he took responsibility for his own spiritual development and followed the path of practice outlined in the scriptures and confirmed through his own Sŏn meditation. Chinul's progress in Buddhist practice was, therefore, based on using scriptural instructions to perfect formal Sŏn practice."^[32]

More recently, the Korean Sŏn master Daehaeng, founder of the One Mind Sŏn Center, is said to have awakened by herself without instructions from a teacher. According to Pori Park, Daehaeng "awakened herself through many years of ascetic practices rather than through teachers or going through formal Buddhist training."^[33]

The modern Vietnamese master Thích Thanh Từ is known as one of the most respected Vietnamese Zen teachers in all of Vietnam. He is famously known to have achieved an enlightenment experience through his own efforts without a Zen teacher.^[2]

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