Sengcan (510–606 CE) was the Third Patriarch of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism. In his early forties, Sengcan, then a lay follower, visited Master Huike, the Second Patriarch, and attained awakening under Huike’s guidance. Huike then ordained him as a monk and passed on to him the robe and bowl — the symbolic transmission of the Dharma — making Sengcan the Third Patriarch of Chan Buddhism.
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