The Toxic Influence of "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin Must Be Subjected to Targeted Elimination!

2006/3/15 18:59:29

If Jin Yong greatly influenced popular culture, then his fellow townsman, "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin, has had an even greater influence on the intellectual class. His reach is so vast — spanning party, government, military, and commerce — that he has taken on the appearance of being the representative of traditional Chinese culture. Among the many hats piled on his head, the two most prominent are: Grand Master of Chan Buddhism and Grand Master of Chinese Studies, with the latter largely owing its existence to the former. Previously, others have criticized "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin, but traditional Chinese culture has yet to recover its vitality after the impact of the May Fourth Movement, and the lineage of Chan has been in decline since the Song Dynasty. Most critics have been shooting at nothing, and matters of the Chan lineage are beyond anyone's competence to address. As for the tangled vines of Chinese Studies, let them remain tangled. But within the gates of the Chan lineage, no wild foxes shall be allowed to hide. Today I shall expose "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin's wild fox tail, lest he and his lineage of disciples continue to blind people's true vision and ultimately damage the lifeblood of the nation and traditional culture.

Since "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin's errors are too numerous to enumerate, I'll just address three:

First: Misunderstanding the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, taking so-called "spiritual knowing-awareness nature" as a basis. Since the Chan lineage has been in decline since the Song Dynasty, later figures such as Xueyan Qin and Gaofeng Miao were mostly of the mud-dragging, water-splashing variety, which stirred "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin into a great tangle of vines over "whether one can be master during dreamless, thoughtless sleep." But the master of masters — when was mastery ever mastered? The knowing of knowing — when was knowing ever known? Even being able to be master is just the activity of a spirit-soul manipulator. Talking about mastery or non-mastery — it's all tangled vines, blinding people's true vision.

Second: Recklessly proclaiming so-called "mind-observation method" and "emptiness between the three intervals." In former times, Dahui Zonggao originally lacked the eye to penetrate the barrier. His promotion of the huatou method stirred up trouble from nothing and was a bane contributing to the decline of the Chan lineage, yet it still had some redeeming value. Now "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin's proclaimed "mind-observation method" and "emptiness between the three intervals" are like a blind person describing an elephant, playing with mud while carrying a board — they only make people laugh.

Third: If the first two, though having nothing whatsoever to do with the Chan lineage, could at least produce some minor fruit of the human and heavenly realms, then "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin's reckless claims about the Three Bodies — saying that Chan Buddhism only realizes the Dharma Body but not the Reward Body and Transformation Body — fully reveal the wild fox and only serve to accumulate negative karma. Let me ask "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin one question: You say each and every person — which one is not already fully endowed with the Three Bodies? What is there to realize and what is "realized"? From what is realization realized?

A famous teacher is often not an enlightened teacher. His teacher Yuan Huanxian already had unclear Dharma vision, yet his wild talk was still relatively restrained. "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin has many works that surpass his teacher's — to the point of confusing blue with red. Here I've only casually picked out a few items; even if the rest could be exhaustively listed, there's no spare time for that. Due to his worldly connection with Chiang Ching-kuo, "Grand Master" Nan Huaijin has indeed already and can continue to make efforts toward national reunification; as for Chinese Studies and Confucian-Daoist matters, he may babble to his heart's content. But as for peddling the affairs of the Tathāgata and the Patriarchs, it's best avoided if avoidable. This realm is no child's play; one should reflect deeply and know deeply.