PART 3 | The Roots of Zen in India
“If you can realize this directly, only then can you participate with the masters.”
—Wumen Huikai, The Gateless Gate (無門關), Case 1 Commentary
The Indian Origins of Zen
Zen, known as Chán in Chinese, is often viewed through the lens of its flourishing in China, Korea, and Japan. But its true origins lie deeper, in the traditions of ancient India. Zen's journey traces back to Siddhārtha Gautama beneath the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, where he awakened to the truth through stillness and clarity of the mind. This post explores the primary sources and doctrinal foundations that link Zen to its Indian roots.
The Buddha and the Foundations of Dhyāna
The word Zen comes from the Chinese word Chán, which is the shortened version of Chánnà, itself a transliteration of the Sanskrit word dhyāna (Pāli: jhāna). This term refers to refined states of inward concentration cultivated by the historical Buddha. These states involve a progressive quieting of mental activity, clarity of attention, and unshakable presence. They are described extensively in the early Buddhist texts of the Pāli Canon, such as the Dīgha Nikāya and Majjhima Nikāya. These suttas outline four progressively deeper states of inner stillness and awareness, forming the experiential core of what would later become the heart of Chán and Zen practice. I will explore the linguistic and doctrinal evolution of the word Zen more deeply in a future post.
Mahāyāna Developments: The Philosophical Ground for Zen
These doctrinal developments within Mahāyāna Buddhism form a bridge between early Indian meditative teachings and the distinctive style of Zen that would emerge centuries later.
By the early centuries CE, Indian Buddhism had evolved into the Mahāyāna tradition, which emphasized the bodhisattva path and deepened the philosophical inquiry into emptiness (śūnyatā) and mind-only (cittamātra). These doctrines, central to Zen, are expressed in texts such as:
Laṃkāvatāra Sūtra: A foundational Mahāyāna sutra that heavily influenced early Chán.
Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras: These texts, such as the Heart Sutra, articulate the non-conceptual wisdom that pervades Zen teachings.
Bodhidharma and the Mythos of Indian Zen
With these Mahāyāna foundations laid, the historical figure who would transmit the Zen lineage to China enters the scene.
Bodhidharma (c. 5th–6th century CE), a South Indian monk likely from the region of the Pallava kingdom (identified in early Chinese texts as Tianzhu, and referred to in Indian traditions as Bhārata or Āryāvarta; see Tanlin’s preface to the Two Entrances and Four Practices), is regarded as the 28th patriarch in a lineage beginning with the Buddha. Though details of his life remain uncertain, Chinese sources such as the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (Jingde Chuandeng Lu, 景德傳燈錄, 1004 CE) present him as a transmitter of a wordless teaching focused on direct experience and insight into mind.
Among the earliest textual glimpses into his teaching is a short treatise that outlines the heart of his method and philosophy.
Title: 二入四行論 (Er Ru Si Xing Lun) — Two Entrances and Four Practices Treatise
Author: Attributed to Bodhidharma (c. 5th–6th century), though extant versions were compiled and commented upon by later Chinese disciples.
Preserved by: Tanlin (曇林), a disciple or close associate of Bodhidharma, is credited with recording or transmitting the version we have.
The Two Entrances (二入): These describe two complementary approaches to entering the path of liberation:
Entrance by Principle (理入, lǐ rù)
Entrance by Practice (行入, xíng rù)
The Four Practices (四行, sì xíng): These are ways to cultivate and embody the realization of mind’s nature:
Accepting Adversity (報冤行)
Following Conditions (隨緣行)
Being Without Seeking (無所求行)
Acting in Accord with the Dharma (稱法行)
Citation: Broughton, Jeffrey. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen. University of California Press, 1999.
This framework reflects Bodhidharma’s attempt to continue the Indian tradition of dhyāna practice, emphasizing both direct insight into the nature of mind (as seen in Indian sources like the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra) and the embodiment of that insight in daily life. The structure of the Two Entrances and Four Practices echoes the Indian Buddhist distinction between wisdom (prajñā) and conduct (śīla), affirming that Zen’s foundational principles were not innovations of Chinese thought but restatements of enduring Indian paths to liberation.
The Twenty-Eight Patriarchs: A Mythical Lineage
Following Bodhidharma’s arrival in China, Zen authors sought to validate his role by connecting him to a series of direct transmissions that stretched back to the Buddha himself.
Zen texts compiled in China retroactively constructed a lineage of twenty-eight Indian patriarchs beginning with Mahākāśyapa, the monk who, according to legend, silently received the Buddha’s mind-to-mind transmission during the so-called "Flower Sermon." This lineage, though historically unverifiable, is doctrinally significant. It asserts that Zen is not a novel development but the continuation of a stream of realization running back to the Buddha himself. While this lineage cannot be historically verified and likely includes legendary elements, it reflects an oral tradition of transmission that was central to Indian and early Chán practice. The relationship between teacher and student—often affirmed through a single phrase or gesture—was the living vehicle through which the Dharma was passed, long before it was formally recorded in texts like the Transmission of the Lamp.
There is contextual support for the idea that this lineage was preserved orally. In early Indian and Chinese Buddhism, oral transmission was standard—even canonical sutras were passed down orally for centuries. The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (compiled in 1004 CE) documents lineages and Dharma transmissions retrospectively, drawing from oral lore, verse, and symbolic encounters. While no concrete record exists for a full, uninterrupted lineage pre-dating Bodhidharma, the narrative structure resembles oral genealogies found in other traditions. Some patriarch names (e.g., Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu) are well known as major philosophers of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism, but there is no Indian source that presents them as participants in a teacher-student transmission lineage.
In the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (Jingde Chuandeng Lu, 景德傳燈錄), this lineage is established through a narrative of mind-to-mind transmission beginning with Śākyamuni Buddha and extending through twenty-seven Indian patriarchs to Bodhidharma as the twenty-eighth. Each patriarch receives the Dharma directly from their predecessor, often marked by a confirming verse, gesture, or wordless recognition of realization. This structure reinforces the idea that Chán is not a Chinese innovation but a direct continuation of the Buddha’s original transmission of awakening in India.
Some modern scholars have argued that the construction of the lineage may have been politically motivated, serving to legitimize Chán within the broader Buddhist landscape of Tang and Song China, where multiple schools competed for patronage and recognition. (For scholarly discussions of these issues, see McRae, Seeing Through Zen, and Faure, The Rhetoric of Immediacy.)
It’s important to note that some scholars characterize these accounts as symbolic or mythic, however, such interpretations often reflect a historical bias against oral traditions. Many early studies of Buddhism were filtered through Orientalist assumptions, which saw oral dharma transmission as romantic or metaphysical, rather than historically serious. Like the early Buddhist suttas—also transmitted orally for centuries—these narratives may reflect authentic memory and lived transmission rather than mere allegory.
Main Source:
Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (Jingde Chuandeng Lu, 景德傳燈錄): An 11th-century Chinese compilation that forms the basis for much of Zen's historical narrative.
Philosophical Bridges: Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra
Beyond formal lineage, Zen’s conceptual roots show strong affinities with classical Indian Buddhist philosophy.
Even outside the lineage, Indian schools like Mādhyamaka (founded by Nāgārjuna) and Yogācāra (associated with Asaṅga and Vasubandhu) are closely related to Zen's metaphysical outlook. The Mādhyamaka focus on emptiness (śūnyatā) and the Yogācāra emphasis on mind-only (cittamātra) teachings echo throughout Zen texts, especially in their rejection of conceptual elaboration and reliance on direct experience. Nāgārjuna’s doctrine of the middle way, articulated in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, and the Yogācāra model of consciousness presented in texts like the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, provide a philosophical background that parallels many themes later emphasized in Zen.
Sources:
Nāgārjuna. Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Trans. Jay Garfield. The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Oxford University Press, 1995.
Schmithausen, Lambert. Ālayavijñāna: On the Origin and the Early Development of a Central Concept of Yogācāra. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 1987.
Zen's South Asian Tapestry
While Zen matured as a uniquely East Asian form of Buddhism, its roots in the Indian Buddhist tradition remain embedded in every aspect of its practice and doctrine. From the Buddha’s first awakening through deep absorption and clarity, to the philosophical insights of Mahāyāna masters, Zen carries forward the living current of South Asian spiritual inquiry. To study Zen, then, is also to reawaken an ancient South Asian path of inward realization—one that stretches from the Ganges River Valley, where the Buddha taught, to the southern kingdoms that carried his teachings across oceans and dynasties—still pointing, wordlessly, to the mind.
Personal Note:
Chanting the Heart Sutra was a central part of our daily practice at the Shim Gwang Sa temple where I studied. I offered a very personal account of the profound effect this had on my own practice in one of my Dharma Talks. You can find a recording of this talk here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfSJkYB9CmI&t=66s
Thank you for reading. I hope these explorations support your practice and offer something of value along the way.
In the near future, I plan to explore the origins of Zen in India, more on Bodhidharma, the Four Statements, the origins of Zen in India, the origin of the word Zen (dhyāna) and the teachings of several influential Zen Masters from China. If there are other topics you’d like to see covered in future articles, feel free to send us an email —I’d love to hear from you.
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