The Third Patriarch of Chan (Zen), Jianzhi Sengcan, is remembered for his text Xinxin Ming or "Faith in Mind." One of the earliest Chinese Chan expressions of the Buddhist mind training practice, it sometimes surprises people who thought Buddhism was not a matter of "faith." In fact, its polemics are a direct response to the rise of Pure Land Buddhism, which did indeed call on the "believer" to have "faith" in a surrogate deity, Amitabha Buddha. Sengcan says (in my flippant paraphrase), "Forget about calling on outside help. Trust your mind."
Sengcan's emphasis on the mind is apparent in the very first lines:
The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
This was seen in a famous Zen story, as told by Paul Reps in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones:
When Banzan was walking through a market he overheard a conversation between a butcher and his customer.
"Give me the best piece of meat you have," said the customer.
"Everything in my shop is the best," replied the butcher. "You cannot find here any piece of meat that is not the best."
At these words Banzan became enlightened.
["Banzan" was the Chinese monk Panshan.]
Anyway...
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One ought not to discriminate between better and worse, or even this or that. But I do.
Twenty-four "gods" (zhutian) line either side of the main hall at Lingyin Si in Hangzhou. Here are some of them, and frankly... I'm not too crazy about them.
Oh, I like the zhutian well enough. They're an eclectic lot, including everyone from actual Hindu gods and goddesses (Shiva, Brahma, Indra, Lakshmi, Saraswati, etc.) and celestial bodies (Surya, the Sun; and Chandra, the Moon) to Chinese emperors revered by Daoists. The "Spirit of the Bodhi Tree" is there, as is the "King of Hell." And of course there are other figures we know, like the four commonly seen in the "Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings" at the front of many temples.
No, it's the style of these statues that puts me off. I mean, look at them! They look like something you could buy on Etsy.
But these guys! They're some of the Twelve Heavenly Generals (Shí'er Shen Jiang), protective attendants of Bhaisajyaguru (Yaoshi Fo), the Medicine Buddha. Like the 24 Gods, the are evenly split into two groups, ranged down either side of the large "Hall of Medicine guru Buddha" (their translation). This, this is what I call statuary.
What do you think?