The Concept of Guarding the One from the Zhuangzi 《莊子》 to Early Chan Buddhism

Abstract

This paper traces the conception of “guarding the One” (shou yi 守一), an equivalent to “one-practice samādhi” from the East Mountain Teaching (dong shan fa men 東山法門) in early Chan Buddhism, back to the Zhuangzi《莊子》. “Guarding the One” and “nurturing the shen” (yang shen 養神) appear frequently in the context of Daoist spiritual training for longevity. In early medieval Chinese Buddhism, with the influence of the discourse of Daoist spiritual training and the karma theory from India, the concept of shen 神 generally developed into a pure substance of the mind. This substance of the mind also echoes the theory of Buddha-nature, and played a significant role in “Fourth Patriarch” Daoxin’s interpretation of “guarding the One”.