The Record of Linji

A collection of the sermons, sayings and encounter dialogues of the Chan master Linji Yixuan, founder of the Linji line (Rinzai in Japan), compiled by his followers and known in its standard form from an edition of 1120. In blunt, colloquial language Linji tells his students that nothing is lacking in them: the 'true person of no rank' is constantly going in and out through the gates of their own faces. Seeking buddhas, patriarchs or special attainments only creates new bonds, so he urges students to stop chasing and simply be ordinary, putting on clothes and eating rice. In his best-known outburst he says that if you meet the Buddha you should kill the Buddha, meaning that one must cut through every attachment, even to holy things. The record also includes his famous shouts and blows, his ways of classifying how a teacher deals with person and situation, and an account of how he came to awakening as a student of Huangbo.

It is the clearest record of classical Chan teaching, and Linji's demand that people trust their own awakened mind rather than any outside authority still has real force.