Chan Master Wuzhu (714–774 CE), founder of the Baotang School — one of Tang Dynasty’s ten great Chan lineages — studied under Master Wuxiang at Chengdu’s Jingzhong Temple and became his Dharma heir. Master Wuzhu taught “no-thought” Zen, guiding seekers beyond dogma. His school’s essence lay in “Any arising thought is delusion; cease the mind to extinguish falsity”, exalting non-discrimination as supreme wisdom.
When Chancellor Du Hongjian traveled to Sichuan, he summoned Wuzhu for an audience. Governor Cui Ning mobilized monks to escort the master to Konghui Temple. The two magnificoes jointly hosted a Triple Dharma Assembly — confucianists, Daoists, and Buddhists expounding their truths.
After rites, the Chancellor inquired:
“I heard the ‘Golden Monk’ (Master Wuxiang) taught: ‘No recollection, no thought, no delusion.’ Are these three gates to enlightenment?”
Wuzhu replied: “Yes.”
“Are these one teaching or three?”
“No recollection is precepts; no thought is concentration; no delusion is wisdom. Without deluded thoughts, one embodies all three. Thus — neither one nor three.”
“But the third character — shouldn’t it be ‘forget’?”
“It is ‘delusion’.” (Note: the two words are homophones in Chinese)
“What proof supports this?”
“The Dhammapada says: ‘If you generate a mind to cultivate, this is delusion, not true cultivation. Without such delusion, your practice becomes boundless.’”
Hearing this, the Chancellor’s doubts vanished.
Philosophical Notes:
Shattering Conceptual Boxes
Wuzhu’s “neither one nor three” dismantles rigid categorization. Precepts, concentration, wisdom — three facets of one awakened mind, inseparable as light is to the sun.
The Razor of “Delusion”
Changing ‘forget’ to ‘delusion’ (Note: the two words are homophones in Chinese) exposed a radical truth: even “effortful practice” becomes bondage if tinged by self-conscious striving. True cultivation is effortless non-abiding.
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