Hung-jen

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Hung-jen (Jap., Gunin or Kōnin; 601–74). Fifth patriarch of Chaʾn/Zen in China. He lived on Mount Pʾing-jung, the East Mountain, hence his following were known as ‘The Pure Gate of the East Mountain’. He did not exclude sudden enlightenment (tongyō) but advocated progressive control of mind, especially by concentration on the figure one (Chinese character being a single horizontal line) as it merges in the horizon of perception. The One became a central concept in Chʾan/Zen, particularly in the realization by the mind of its buddha-nature (buddhatā). Tsui-shang-chʾen lun (Jap., Sai-jōjō-ron) is attributed to Hung-jen, but doubtfully. His successor was Hui-neng.

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