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P'ang Yun (Layman P'ang)

Timeline (740? - 808)

Poems by P'ang Yun (Layman P'ang)
Books

The Sayings of Layman P'ang is an important Chinese Zen / Chan classic, a collection of short, sometimes enigmatic dialogs and poems from this unusual sage. He is one of the first of the great Chinese Buddhist masters to reject the life of a monk even after enlightenment, choosing instead to remain a simple "layman." That act opened the way for subsequent generations of non-monastic seekers, and householder sages.

He did, however, reject wealth and worldly attachments as a snare. He was prosperous in his youth, but decided that he worried too much about his wealth, so he decided to get rid of it. Initially, he was going to give his wealth away, but then thought that whoever received his wealth would become as attached to it as he had. So, instead, he piled all his worldly goods on a boat, floated it out to the middle of a lake, and sank it.

After that, he, his wife, and their children lived a simple life, supporting themselves by making bamboo utensils.

Despite his subsequent poverty, he lived a rich life interacting regularly with many of the enlightened Buddhist masters of his era, and they honored him as belonging among them.

Poems by P'ang Yun (Layman P'ang)

The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell

Amazon.com

The Sayings of Layman P'ang: A Zen Classic, Translated by James Green

Amazon.com

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