(Pai Cheng, Pai-chang Huai-hai, Bai-zhang Hui-hai, Po-chang Hui-Hai, 
Shih Huai-Hai,
Haykujo Ekia in Jap.)

( 720 - 814 )

Pai Chang was the Zen Master famous for establishing the Zen monastic rule. He was always very insistent on working every day. When he was old he persisted in this, and the monks felt sorry for him so they hid his tools. He said, "I have no virtue. Why should others work for me?" And he refused to eat. He said, "A day of no work is a day of no eating." This saying became very famous in Zen circles, and to this day the Zen schools are noted for their practice of work.

Once Yun Yen asked Pai Chang, "Every day there's hard work to do. Who do you do it for?" Pai Chang said, "There is someone who requires it." Yun Yen said, "Why not have him do it himself?" Pai Chang said, "He has no tools."

links

Pai Cheng Record

Zennotes

Discourse by Osho

Transmission Speech
Zen Master Ji Bong

see also his teacher:
Ma Tsu
and his student
Huang Po
 

bibliography

The Blue Cliff Record
by Thomas Cleary, J.C. Cleary
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble

The Zen Teachings of Instantaneous Awakening
by Hui Hai
Paperback (December 1987)
Buddhist Pub Group
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble

The Zen Teaching of Hui Hai on Sudden Illumination
John Blofeld, trans.
Rider and Co. 1962
(see previous entry—more recent version)

Sayings and Doings of Pai-Chang:
Ch'an Master of Great Wisdom
Shih Huai-Hai. Cleary, Thomas, trans.
Los Angeles: Zen Center Publications, 1978.
information and order from:
amazon.com | * | barnes and noble

Review of above by Michael Harings:

The Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist tradition can seem inscrutable to the Western mind. Pai-chang was a great Ch'an master in eighth-century China who channeled much energy into the culture surrounding Buddhism in his time. Reading through his sayings and speeches is a difficult though ultimately rewarding exercise. Though one might like to understand this Adept from an analytical or philosophical disposition, his teaching remains mind-transcending. For instance:

One day as the master [Pai-chang] was walking along with Ma-tsu [his Teacher], they saw a flock of wild ducks fly by.
The ancestor raid, "What is that?"
The master said, "Wild ducks."
Ma-tsu said, "Where have they gone?"
The master said, "Flown away."
Ma-tsu then turned around and grabbed the master's nose; feeling pain, the master let out a cry.
The ancestor said, "Still you say, 'Flown away'?"
At these words the master had insight.

In fact, what this tradition of Ch'an is pointing to in a rather enigmatic way is the incomparable Realization of the Buddha. Such Realization is beyond all language and description, and thus any attempt to describe it is futile. Another Buddhist Master, Seng-chao, spoke of this understanding as follows: "The way of enlightenment cannot be measured or calculated . . . Speaking of it is like setting up a target mound inviting an arrow." However, Pai-chang, like his mentors, gestures roward that Realization by explaining in a negative fashion everything that falls short of Enlightenment. This rhetoric can prove repetitious at times, but if one is receptive it can lead one to an intuitive taste of the ineffable. A typical example:

If one says there is an enlightened nature, this is called slander by attachment, but to say there is no enlightened nature is called slander by falsehood. As it is said, to say that enlightened nature exists is slander by presumption, to say that it does not exist is slander by repudiation; to say that enlightened nature both exists and does not exist is slander by contradiction, and to say that enlightened nature is neither existent nor nonexistent is slander by meaningless argument.

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