Linji Yixuan’s 臨済義玄 “Person with Nothing to Do” and “True Person without Rank”: Linji’s Succession to and Development of the Chan Thought of Mazu 馬祖

Abstract

Linji’s Chan thought is reflected in the concepts of “the person with nothing to do” and “the true person without rank.” Inherited from Mazu Daoyi 馬祖道一 through Mazu’s successor Huangbo Xiyun 黄檗希運, Linji’s thought centered on unconditional faith in truth as the direct manifestation of absolute emptiness. As a means of reifying this view, Linji added the element of function to the concept of “the person with nothing to do,” which Chan masters of the Mazu lineage employed to emphasize nondiscrimination. Furthermore, he introduced the notion of “the true person without rank” as a way to more clearly express his view of the equivalence of self and function.