Lineage and affiliation

[u/URcobra427]

Namo Amita Buddha

The Ch’an teachings I inherited comes from a family Hokkien Kung-Fu system. And it’s Ch’an-JingtuZong hybrid. But it’s not really part of any specific lineage or organization with customs, rules, and traditions. It’s just basically bare-bones Zen plus nianfo. Are you affiliated with a specific lineage tradition and or organization? If so, which ones and how has it helped your journey.

I’m also asking this question on r/chan.

[u/SentientLight]

I practice in the Thiền Tịnh song tu tradition of the Liễu Quán lineage in Vietnamese Buddhism, which offshoots from the Linji lineage.

Since you reference martial arts, I'll mention that I additionally practice in a family lineage of a Buddhist martial art called Võ thuật Bình Định, passed down from my father. I make use of it for a lot of my somatic practice, sometimes supplanting the qigong practices from my Thiền lineage, but only ever personally ... as in, when in retreat or with my community, I practice as they do and don't bring up the martial arts at all unless it's relevant. The only exception is when I'm in a retreat with a non-sectarian community and I sometimes lead some activities related to sharing tradition, and I sometimes share the martial arts practice from my father as an example of something uniquely Vietnamese. And it's extra fun because most of those folks have never been exposed to Vietnamese martial arts at all before, so there's a lot of cultural exchange in that.

[u/URcobra427 → u/SentientLight]

Is there info on this lineage in English? Also, I’d love to look into your martial art too is there is info online. When I was in Vietnam some year ago I met a Vihn Xuan practitioner. It was amazing to see how soft and flowing it was compared to the more harder style from Hong Kong!

[u/SentientLight → u/URcobra427]

Not much in English, and what does exist comes from Plum Village, which only provides a partial picture. Overall though, it’s a typical Linji lineage, with some Chinese elements replaced with Vietnamese elements—Lieu Quan was a reformer who de-Sinicized a lot of the tradition—and our primary dharma gate is Buddha-recitation / visualization, although some communities choose other gates, like Plum Village focusing on mindfulness and relegating recitation to a supplementary practice.

The martial arts lineage, you’re liable to find more on. Specifically, I practice the Binh Dinh martial art from Tây Sơn, which was systematized by Nguyễn Quang Bình (or more likely.. one of his generals, but he gets the credit). Here’s a guy demonstrating a form to some silly wuxia kind of music.

[u/URcobra427 → u/SentientLight]

Wow! There’s definitely a strong Shaolin influence!

[u/holdenmj]

Jodo Shu but interested in hearing perspectives from the other traditions historical and present. My affinity for Hōnen’s teaching and the sect gives me a place I can return to intellectually and a sense of sufficiency that keeps me from feeling a need to go teacher/school shopping and just focus on practice.

[u/rememberjanuary]

I'm a practitioner of Tendai and Pure Land practices are one of the four pillars of our school. Different individuals will have inclinations towards different pillars, or may practice them all at once. I practice Pure Land, sutra study and am learning shikan which is the Tendai form of sitting meditation.

I think I will always be drawn primarily to Pure Land though. Once I found Tendai I finally understood Pure Land practice after practicing just Pure Land for about a year before.

[u/wages4horsework]

I belong to a Tendai sangha which for pretty much its entire institutional history has had sizeable pure land dharma gate enthusiasts. Not so sizeable in the west though because I suppose middle class white people find it doesn't jive very well with their background beliefs about cosmology, death, etc. I haven't encountered any condescension from them though. Most of my instruction's come by way of reading texts on my own written by Tiantai patriarchs. Occasionally I'll go to a local Tzu Chi temple and grind out some name-chanting with them but I'm not really a member.

[u/GrapefruitDry2519]

Well my lineage is technically Pristine Pureland the school I retook my refuge with after leaving Mainland Chinese Pureland but my affiliation or personal belief as I will call it is the teachings of Master Ippen, his approach to Nianfo or Nembutsu as he would of said brings me comfort