Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

, is passed from a Zen master

Zen master

Zen master is an umbrella title sometimes used to refer to an individual who has been recognized by an authorized Zen lineage holder and teacher as having met his or her own teacher's standards of realization or insight. These standards vary widely in different traditions, and may vary among...

 to their disciple and heir. The procedure establishes the disciple as a transmitting teacher in their own right and successor in an unbroken lineage

Lineage (Buddhism)

An authentic lineage in Buddhism is the uninterrupted transmission of the Buddha's Dharma from teacher to disciple.The transmission itself can be for example oral, scriptural, through signs, or directly from one mind to another....

 of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (kechimyaku

Kechimyaku

is a Japanese term for a lineage chart in Zen Buddhism and some other Japanese schools, documenting the "bloodline" of succession of various masters or listing priests in a particular school. In Zen the kechimyaku theoretically links a student to all previous generations back to the Buddha himself...

) theoretically traced back to the Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

 himself." According to Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

 schools, the first instance of Dharma transmission occurred as transcribed in the Flower Sermon

Flower Sermon

Within Zen, and thus from an emic perspective, the origins of Zen Buddhism are ascribed to what is rendered in English as the Flower Sermon, in which Śākyamuni Buddha transmitted direct prajñā to the disciple Mahākāśyapa. In the original Sino-Japanese, this story is called nengemishō...

, when the Buddha held up a golden lotus

Lotus (plant)

Lotus identifies various plant taxa:* Nelumbo, a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers** Nelumbo nucifera, the Sacred or Indian lotus** Nelumbo lutea, the American or Yellow lotus...

 flower given to him by Brahma

Brahma (Buddhism)

' in Buddhism is the name for a type of exalted passionless deity , of which there are several in Buddhist cosmology.-Origins:The name originates in Vedic tradition, in which Brahmā appears as the creator of the universe...

 before an assembly of "gods and men." None who were in attendance showed any sign of understanding except his disciple Mahakasyapa

Mahakasyapa

Mahākāśyapa or Kāśyapa was a brahman of Magadha, who became one of the principal disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha and who convened and directed the first council. Mahākāśyapa is one of the most revered of the Buddha's early disciples, foremost in ascetic practices...

, who offered only a smile. According to Ronald B. Epstein, the Buddha then said, "I have the right Dharma Eye Treasury, the wondrous mind of nirvana, the reality beyond appearance. The Dharma-door of mind to mind transmission has been entrusted to Kāśyapa." Epstein comments, "Thus Mahākāśyapa received the transmission of Dharma and became the first Buddhist patriarch." Speculation over what the Buddha transmitted to Mahakasyapa has taken place ever since, though "[e]ndless speculations will not reveal it—it is to be discovered each for him or herself, in the course of Zen training." It should also be stated that, "... dharma transmission really entails no transmission at all in the sense of something being passed from one person to another, only the awakening of the disciple to the true nature of his or her own being and a mystical realization of identity with all the Buddhas and patriarchs."

Inka

Dharma transmission is sometimes juxtaposed with the term inka, though such a combination of terms can be misleading and cause confusion when not applied to the proper tradition. In the Sōtō

Soto

Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...

 school a student receives Dharma transmission during a denbō ceremony, which is the last ceremony of their shiho

Shiho

refers to a series of ceremonies in Sōtō Zen Buddhism wherein which a priest receives full transmission, inheriting the Dharma from his/her master and becoming empowered to transmit the precepts and lineage to others. A shiho ceremony can last anywhere from one to three weeks, with the final...

 ceremony. T. Griffith Foulk writes of the practice as it is in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, stating, "The usual practice...is for a Sōtō monk to be given Dharma transmission by the priest who ordained him (in most cases his own father), after he returns from his minimum period of monastery training. Because Dharma transmission is a prerequisite to becoming the head priest of a Sōtō branch temple, virtually all Sōtō priests meet this ritual requirement at a relatively early stage in their careers." Inka most often denotes the completion of some sort of koan curriculum.

In the Rinzai school of Zen, inka is the official indicator of mastery and denotes an individual who has successfully completed koan study and received the title roshi. According to Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist...

, "In the Rinzai tradition, inka is equivalent to dharma transmission and is bestowed upon completion of formal study." Soko Morinaga

Soko Morinaga

was a Rinzai Zen roshi. He was head of Hanazono University and abbot of Daishu-in in Kyoto, one of the twenty-four sub-temples of the Daitoku-ji temple complex....

 agrees with Matthiessen, writing, "Inka is the seal of the authentic transmission of Dharma, which is the Law of the universe and the teaching of Shakyamuni."

In the Kwan Um School of Zen

Kwan Um School of Zen

The Kwan Um School of Zen is an international school of Zen centers and groups, founded in 1983 by Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim. The school's international head temple is located at the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode Island, which was founded in 1972 shortly after Seung Sahn first came to...

, inka is granted to an individual who has completed their koan training and is granted the title Ji Do Poep Sa Nim. Dharma transmission in the Kwan Um School of Zen comes after inka, denoting the individual is now a Soen Sa Nim. Seung Sahn

Seung Sahn

Seung Sahn Haeng Won Dae Soen-sa , born Dok-In Lee, was a Korean Jogye Seon master and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen—the largest Zen institution present in the Western world. He was the seventy-eighth teacher in his lineage...

 himself is quoted saying, "Inka and transmission are different. Our 'Ji Do Poep Sa Nim' title is like the Japanese title 'sensei.' In Korea, we call it 'Chong Yong Sun'—your practice is okay, teaching other people is possible. This title has almost disappeared in Korea, although it still exists in China. In Korea we now have the title 'Ip Sung Sunim.'—'head monk.'"

Similarly, in the Sanbo Kyodan

Sanbo Kyodan

Sanbo Kyodan is a Zen sect derived from both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Japanese Zen.-History:...

 and White Plum Asanga

White Plum Asanga

White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...

, Dharma transmission qualifies one as a sensei

Sensei

' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...

, while inka denotes a level of mastery. Thich Nhat Hanh has created a ritual known as "Lamp Transmission", making a teacher a Dharmacharya—an individual with "limited teaching authority." According to author James Ishmael Ford

James Ishmael Ford

James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...

, "Regarding the issue of Dharma transmission, Thich Nhat Hanh has said no single student will succeed him. Instead his community of practice will itself be his successor. He is quoted as saying Maitreya

Maitreya

Maitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...

, the Buddha of future birth, may be a community of practice rather than an individual. What this actually means will only become apparent over the next decades."

Further reading

• Schlütter, Morten (2007). 'Transmission and Enlightenment in Chan Buddhism Seen Through the Platform Sūtra (Liuzu tanjing 六祖壇經).' Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, no. 20, pp. 379–410 (2007). Taipei: Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies. Source: http://www.chibs.edu.tw/publication/chbj/20/chbj2013.pdf (accessed: Saturday April 11, 2009)

External links

• Roshi and His Teachers, Dharma Transmission,and the Rochester Zen Center Lineage Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede discusses lineage and Dharma transmission.
• Coming Down from the Zen Clouds:A Critique of the Current State of American Zen Stuart Lachs criticizes Dharma transmission in Zen
• Dharma Transmission & Succession, A Sweeping Zen Roundtable Discussion (Podcast) Erik Storlie, Myoan Grace Schireson and Eshu Martin discuss Dharma transmission & succession