The "Zen Shakuhachi" Historical Evidence Research Web Pages

c. 600 to c. 1480: Pre-Komosō Non-Duality
     The Non-Dualism of Huineng, Shih-t'ou, P'u-k'o, Dōgen,
     Ming-chi, Ikkyū, Rōan & Rakuami

The BEGINNINGS - The ORIGINAL SOURCES:

The UPANISHADS & ADVAITA VEDANTA

ADVAITA - "Not Dual", "Non-Duality", "Non-Division"
अद्वैत (Advaita)

"This realization of non-duality is the end to be attained."

     Shankara in his introduction to the Māndūkya Upanishad
     Kārikā by Gaudapāda, 8th century CE
     Trsl. by Swami Nikhilananda, 1936.

"Vedānta certainly does not help us to bring grist to our individual mill.
It certainly does not tell us how to increase our capacity to enjoy the pleasures derived from material objects.

But Vedānta really teaches us how to enjoy this world after realizing its true nature.
To embrace or comprehend the universe after realizing it as the non-dual Brahman, gives us peace that passeth all understanding."

     Swami Nikhilananda in the preface for his translation of the
     Māndūkya Upanishad, 1936.


ADVAITA ("Non-Duality") & NIRVANA ("Perfect Stilness", lit.: 'Breathed Out'):
The Ultimate Original Inspiration for Shakuhachi Asceticism
अद्वैत (Advaita) & निर्वाण (Nirvana)

"Nirvana is a freeing from the chains of a false sense of individuality.
Nirvana is a state of nonduality (Advaita or Advaya);
a state where the illusion of a false sense of "I" (Parikalpita Swabhava, Fen-bie-xing – in Chinese) does not exist.

Expressed differently, liberation from the illusion of separateness
of the individual Self from the Whole is Nirvana.
Freedom is, Nirvana is, Truth is."

     Dr. Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya, 2019


TAITTIRYA ARANYAKA:

"The blind one found the jewel;
The one without fingers picked it up;
The one with no neck put it on;
And the one with no voice praised it."


EARLY BUDDHISM

SHŪRANGAMA SAMĀDHI SŪTRA:

"Buddha said, 'The sound of the bell continues during a space of time;
How do we become conscious of it?
Does the sound come from the ear, or the ear go to the origin of the sound?

If it does not go (one way or the other) there is no hearing.
For this reason, it must be understood, that hearing and sound are neither special.
We mistakenly put hearing and sound in two (different) places.

Originally it is not a matter of cause and effect or of natural law."


NĀGĀRJUNA - c. 150 to c. 250 CE:
शून्यता

ŚŪNYATĀ - "Non-Substantiality", "Non-Self", "Voidness", "Non-Duality"

sarvaṃ ca yujyate tasya śūnyatā yasya yujyate
sarvaṃ na yujyate tasya śūnyaṃ yasya na yujyate

"All is possible when Emptiness is possible.
Nothing is possible when Emptiness is impossible."

     Quotation from Chapter 24, verse 14, in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.
     Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagarjuna

शून्यता - ŚŪNYATĀ    -     空 - KŪ

"Kū: (Skt.: shūnya or shūnyatā)
A fundamental Buddhist concept, variously translated as non-substantiality, emptiness, void, latency, relativity, etc.
The concept that entities have no fixed or independent nature.

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. INDIA c. 2600 BCE ...

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TAOISM:

6th-5th Century BCE: TAO TE CHING:

無爲 - WU WEI - "Non-action"/"Non-effort"

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. CHINA 1 - ca. 6.000 BCE to 500 CE

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HUINENG (Enō) - 7th century, China

暗不自暗、以明故暗。
以明顯暗、以暗現明。
來去相因。

"Darkness ['An'/'An'] does not become darkness by itself;
it is dark because there is brightness ['Ming'/'Myō:].
Darkness is manifested by brightness, and brightness is revealed by darkness.
One is the cause of the other."

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. CHINA 2 - 500 CE ...

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SHIH-T'OU (Sekitō) - 8th century, China

闇合上中言 明明清濁句

(8) "High and middle words unite in the dark, clean and dirty sentences, in the brightness."

當明中有暗 勿以暗相遇

(14) "Right in the middle of light there is dark,
don't use the mutuality of darkness to meet it."

當暗中有明 勿以明相睹

(15) "Right in the middle of dark there is light,
don't use the mutuality of the light to see it."

明暗各相對 比如前後歩

(16) "The light and dark are mutual polarities,
For example, like front and back steps."

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. CHINA 2 - 500 CE ...

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P'U-K'O/P'U HUA (Fuke) - 9th century, China

明頭来 明頭打
暗頭来 暗頭打
四方八面来 旋風打
虚空来 連架打

Míng tóu lái,
Míng tóu dǎ,
Àn tóu lái,
Àn tóu dǎ,
Sìfāng Bā Miàn lái,
Xuànfēng dǎ,
Xū-Kōng lái,
Lián jià dǎ.

"Bright Head comes - Bright Head strikes,
Dark Head comes - Dark Head strikes;
Four Directions Eight Sides come - Whirlwind strikes;
Empty Sky comes - Flail strikes."

     A very literal, word-to-word rendition of Fuke's myōan poem
     in correct accordance with Chinese subject-verb-object syntax.
     Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson, 2010.
     Textual source: Eido Shimano, 2005, p. 98.

Interpretive translation by T.O., July 2020:

"The Bright Aspect of Duality comes,
The Bright Aspect of Duality hits,
The Dark Aspect of Duality comes,
The Dark Aspect of Duality hits,
Coming from Anywhere & Everywhere,
A Whirlwind hits,
Non-Duality comes - a Knife cuts through ..."

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. CHINA 2 - 500 CE ...

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DŌGEN - 13th century, Japan

明明ハミナ明鏡ナリ。
カルカユヱニ明頭來明頭打トイフ。
イツレノトコロニアラサレハイツレノトコロナシ。

"The Clear Mirror is everything that is bright and clear.
Therefore it is said, 'Clearness ['Myō-tō] comes, Clearness hits'.
As there is no 'where?', there is no 'what place?" [it can be]."

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. JAPAN 2 - 1233-1477

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MING-CHI (Minki) - 14th century, Japan

楠木正成亦前往廣嚴寺參見問曰：
「生死交謝時如何」？
楚俊曰：
「兩頭俱截斷，
一劔倚天寒」

"Some time ago Kusunoki Masashige [1294-July 4, 1336] journeyed to the Kōgon Temple [in Kōbe, present Hyōgo Prefecture] to pay a visit, asking for advice,
'At the time when facing one's death, what to do?'
Answered Soshun [the master],

'CUT OFF (your) DUALISM; a single sword rests against the heavenly cold."

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. JAPAN 2 - 1233-1477

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IKKYŪ - 15th century, Japan

室
   明頭来 明頭打、
   暗頭来 暗頭打、
   四方八面来 旋風打、
   虚空来 連架打。
- - -

"IN THE ABBOT'S QUARTERS -
'If a bright-head comes, strike the bright-head;
If a dark-head comes, strike the dark-head.
Whatever direction it comes from
Strike it like a whirlwind.
And if it comes from emptiness, cut it down with a scythe.'
- - -"

普化和尚
   議論明頭又暗頭
   老禅作略*使人愁
   古往今耒風顛漢*
   宗門年代一風流

"THE MONK P'U-K'O.
Arguing first at the Bright Head ['Myō-tō'], then the Dark ['An-tō'],
That Zen-fellow's tricks fooled them all.
Now, blowing up again, the same old madman,
A sensual youth, howling at the door."

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. JAPAN 2 - 1233-1477

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RŌAN - late 15th century, Japan

竜頭切断兮以来
尺八寸中通古今
吹出無常心一曲
三千里外絶知音
時に文明丁酉   秋
宇治の旧蘆に於いて   朗庵叟書


"When Dualism is cut off,
the shakuhachi dissolves the distinction between Past and Present.
That one unique Sound of Everlasting Impermanence
brings even the Purest of Wisdom [Skt.: Jnana] to an end,
without limit.

The 9th year of Bunmei [1477] - Autumn -
Written among the old reeds of Uji by Rōan the Elder.""

Click here, search and read more: Chronology. JAPAN 3 - 1477-1560

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RAKUAMI - late 15th-16th century, Japan

両頭を切断してより
尺八寸の内古今に通ず
吹き起こす無常の一曲
三千里外に知音を絶つ
作くられたり。

When Dualism is cut off [or, eliminated, rejected],
the inside of the shakuhachi transcends
[the distinction between] Past and Present.
That unique Sound of Impermanence blowing forth
brings even the Purest of Wisdom [Skt.: Jnana] to an end,
without limit."

Click here, search and read more: Rakuami