Shenhui

Heze Shenhui
TitleChán master
Personal
Born684
Died758 (aged 74)
ReligionBuddhism
NationalityChinese (Tang dynasty)
SchoolChán
Senior posting
TeacherDajian Huineng
PredecessorDajian Huineng

Heze Shenhui (Chinese:菏澤神會/菏泽神会; Wade–Giles: Shen-hui; Japanese: Kataku Jinne, 684–758) was a Chinese Buddhist monk of the so-called "Southern School" of Zen, who "claimed to have studied under Huineng."[1][2]

Shenhui is notable for his strident attacks on Yuquan Shenxiu and the associated "Northern School", which was the most prominent branch of Chan Buddhism in China at the time. He accused them of propagating gradual teachings, as opposed to his own sudden teachings.[3]

Shenhui's own lineage, called the Heze lineage (菏澤宗), probably died out around the time of the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution in 845, with Guifeng Zongmi being the only notable monk in the lineage.[4]

  1. ^ John M. Thompson, Huineng (Hui-neng) (638—713), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  2. ^ McRae 2003, p. 68.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Yampolsky 1967, p. 37.