Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (Chinese: 趙州從諗; Wade-Giles: Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen; Japanese: Jōshū Jūshin) (778–897), was a Chán (Zen) Buddhist master especially known for his "paradoxical statements and strange deeds"^[1]. Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... Events Charlemagne fights the Moors in Spain. ... Events January - the Cadaver Synod July/August- Pope Stephen VII dies and is succeeded by Pope Romanus. ... Chán is the Chinese name for the school of Mahāyāna Buddhism known in Japanese as Zen. ... This article is about the religion Zen. ... Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, which is also a philosophy and a system of psychology[]. Buddhism is also known as Buddha Dharma or Dhamma, which means the teachings of the Awakened One in Sanskrit and Pali, the languages of ancient Buddhist texts. ... Look up paradox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Zhaozhou became ordained as a monk at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn (南泉普願 748–835; J: Nansen Fugan), a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788; J. Baso Do-itsu), and eventually received the Dharma from him^[2]. When Nanquan asked Zhaozhou the koan "What is the Way?", the two had a dialogue, at the height of which Zhaozhou attained enlightenment. Zhaozhou continued to practice under Nanquan until the latter's death. Monasticism is one of the most fundamental institutions of Buddhism. ... Mazu Daoyi (Chn: 馬祖道一) (709 CE–788 CE) (WG: Ma-tsu Tao-yi) was a master of the Chinese Chan Buddhist lineage and a student of the sixth Chan Patriach, Hui-neng. ... A koan (pronounced ) is a story, dialog, question, or statement in the history and lore of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet that may be accessible to intuition. ... Bodhi, the Pāli and Sanskrit word for awakening or enlightenment, is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (Pāli) and bodhati or budhyate (Sanskrit). ...

Subsequently, Zhaozhou began to travel throughout China, visiting the prominent Chan masters of the time before finally, at the age of eighty, settling in Guānyīnyuàn (観音院), a ruined temple in northern China^[3]. Here, for the next 40 years, he taught a small group of monks.

Zhaozhou is sometimes touted as the greatest Chan master of Tang dynasty China during a time when its hegemony was disintegrating as more and more regional military governors (jiédùshǐ) began to assert their power. Zhaozhou's lineage died out quickly due to the many wars and frequent purges of Buddhism in China at the time, and cannot be documented beyond the year 1000. The Jiedushi (T: 節度使 S: 节度使) were regional military governors in China during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. ... Chan and Zen Buddhism maintain records of their historical teachers who have passed the Dharma from generation to generation in an unbroken line since the time of the Buddha. ...

Many koans in both the Blue Cliff Record and The Gateless Gate concern Zhaozhou, with twelve cases in the former and five in the latter being attributed to him. He is, however, probably best known for the first koan in The Gateless Gate: The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: 《碧巖錄》 Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku) is a collection of Zen Buddhist koans originally compiled in China during the Song dynasty in 1125 (宋宣和七年) and then expanded into its present form by the Chan master Yuanwu... The Gateless Gate (無門關, Zh. ...

Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, Buddha-dhatu - Buddha Element, Buddha-Principle) is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. ... Mu (Japanese) or wú (Chinese; 無, simplified: 无) is a word which can be roughly translated as without. While typically used as a prefix to imply the absence of something (ie. ...

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