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in India. The Lankavatara Sutra states that there are both gradual and sudden (yugapat) ways of awakening, the former by purification of the tainted outflows or projections (ashrava) of the mind, and the latter by paravritti–an instantaneous “turning about” within the depths of consciousness whereby dualistic views are cast off. It is likened to a mirror immediately reflecting whatever forms and images appear before it.1 There is, too, a clear connection between the idea of immediate awakening and the teaching of the Vajracchedika, or “Diamond Cutter Sutra,” on the fact that to attain awakening is not to attain anything. In other words, if nirvana is actually here and now so that to seek it is to lose it, a realization through progressive stages is hardly appropriate. One would have to see into it in the present moment, directly.

Although its origins are probably later than those of Zen in China, there is also a tradition of this kind in Tantric Buddhism, and there is nothing to indicate that there was a reverse influence from Chinese Zen. Parallels to Zen sayings may be seen in a tenth-century Tantric work by Saraha:

If it [the Truth] is already manifest, what’s the use of meditation?

And if it is hidden, one is just measuring darkness. (20)

Mantras and tantras, meditation and concentration,

They are all a cause of self-deception.

Do not defile in contemplation thought that is pure in its own nature,

But abide in the bliss of yourself and cease those torments. (23)

Whatever you see, that is it,

In front, behind, in all the ten directions.

Even today let your master make an end of delusion! (28)

The nature of the sky is originally clear,

But by gazing and gazing the sight becomes obscured. (34)2

Tibetan Buddhism likewise comprises a tradition of the Short Path, considered as a swift and steep ascent to nirvana for those who have the necessary courage, though a doctrine more suggestive of the Zen emphasis on immediacy and naturalness is found in the “Six Precepts” of Tilopa:

No thought, no reflection, no analysis,

No cultivation, no intention;

Let it settle itself.3

Immediate release without any special contrivance or intention is also implied in the Tantric idea of sahaja, the “easy” or “natural” state of the liberated sage.

This is not the place to discuss the real meaning of immediate awakening and naturalness, but these instances are cited to show that the tradition of a direct path existed outside China, suggesting some original source in Indian Buddhism. An obvious reason for the lack of materials would be that a principle of this kind, so easily open to misinterpretation, might have been kept as a “secret doctrine,” discussed openly only in later times. Zen tradition does indeed maintain that immediate awakening is not communicated by the sutras, but has been passed down directly from master to pupil. This does not necessarily imply anything so “esoteric” as an experience conveyed by telepathy, but something much less sensational. Thus when Hindu pandits insist that wisdom is not to be gained from the scriptures but only from a teacher or guru, it means that the actual texts–such as the Yoga-sutras–contain only the headings of the doctrine, and that its full explanation requires someone who has learned the oral tradition. To this it should hardly be necessary to add that since the tradition is primarily an experience, words can communicate it no more and no less than any other experience.

However, it is not really necessary to suppose that there was ever a specific Dhyana School in India. The creation of Zen would seem to be sufficiently explained by the exposure of Taoists and Confucians to the main principles of Mahayana Buddhism. Therefore the appearance of trends very close to Zen can be seen almost as soon as the great Mahayana sutras became available in China–that is to say, with the work of the great Indian scholar-monk Kumarajiva. Kumarajiva was translating the sutras in Ku-tsang and Ch’ang-an between 384 and 413, at which time one of his outstanding students was the young monk Seng-chao