An iconographic thangka depiction of Moheyan is held in the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art collection, St. Francis College, Loretto, Pennsylvania.
Dunhuang sojourn
Whilst the East Mountain Teachings were in decline, having been attacked by Heze Shenhui as a supposed "gradual enlightenment" teaching, Moheyan traveled to Dunhuang, which at the time belonged to the , in 781 or 787 CE. For Moheyan, this was a new opportunity for the spread of Chan.
Council of Lhasa
After teaching in the area of Dunhuang, Moheyan was invited by King Trisong Detsen of Tibet to settle at Samye Monastery, then the center of emerging Tibetan Buddhism.. Moheyan promulgated a variety of Chan and disseminated teachings from Samye where he attracted a considerable number of followers.
However, in 793 Trisong Detsen resolved that Moheyan did not hold the true Dharma. Following intense protests from Moheyan’s supporters, Trisong Detsen proposed to settle the matter by sponsoring a debate: dialectic is an ancient aspect of the and Chinese religions, as it is in Himalayan tradition. The most famous of these debates has become known as the "Council of Lhasa", although it may have taken place at Samye, a considerable distance from Lhasa. For the famed Council of Lhasa, an Indian monk named was invited to represent Indian Buddhism, while Moheyan represented Northern School Chán and Chinese Buddhism. Most Tibetan sources state that the debate was decided in Kamasila’s favour and Moheyan was required to leave the country and that all sudden-enlightenment texts were gathered and destroyed by royal decree. This was a pivotal event in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, which would afterward continue to follow the late Indian model with only minor influence from China. Moheyan’s teachings were a mixture of the 'East Mountain Teachings' associated with Shenxiu and Baotang Chán.
Moheyan’s teaching
Most of what is known of Moheyan’s teaching comes from fragments of writings in Chinese and Tibetan found in the Mogao caves at Dunhuang, Gansu, China. The manuscript given the appellation ''IOL Tib J 709'' is a collection of nine Chan texts, commencing with the teachings of Moheyan.
Moheyan taught in the tradition of the “sudden enlightenment” school of Southern Chan . This dichotomy is a historical construction as both Northern and Southern Schools contained 'gradualist teachings' and 'sudden teachings' and practices. Moheyan held that ''all'' thought prevented enlightenment: “Not thinking, not pondering, non-examination, non-apprehension of an object---this is the immediate access ." He also believed that carrying out good or evil acts leads to transmigration rather than liberation as these acts “lead to heaven or hell.”
An important aspect of Moheyan’s teaching was that if all thought, good or bad, obscures enlightenment, then all actions must be based on the simplest principles of conduct. To achieve proper conduct, all conceptions, without exception should be seen as false: “If one sees conceptions as no conception, one sees the Tathāgata.” To rid oneself of all conceptions, one must practice meditation, trance, and contemplating the mind: “To turn the light towards the mind’s source, that is contemplating the mind. …one does not reflect on or observe whether thoughts are in movement or not, whether they are pure or not, whether they are empty or not.”
While Moheyan took a radical approach to the achievement of enlightenment , his position was weakened when questioned by, and entering into debate with, those people who could not meditate, who could not “turn the light of the mind towards the mind’s source.” He conceded that practices such as the “perfection of morality”, studying the sutras and teachings of the masters and cultivating meritorious actions were appropriate. These types of actions were seen as part of the “gradualist” school and Moheyan held that these were only necessary for those of "dim" facility and “dull” propensity. Those of “sharp” and "keen" facility and propensity do not need these practices as they have “direct” access to the truth through meditation. This concession to the “gradualists”, that not everyone can achieve the highest state of meditation, left Moheyan open to attack on the basis of a dualistic approach to practice. To overcome these inconsistencies in his thesis, Moheyan claimed that when one gave up all conceptions, an automatic, all-at-once attainment of virtue resulted. He taught that there was an “internal” practice to liberate the self and an “external” practice to liberate others . These were seen as two independent practices, a concession to human psychology and scriptural tradition.
Legacy
The teachings of Moheyan and other Chan masters were unified with the Kham Dzogchen lineages through the ''Kunkhyen'' , Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo.
The Dzogchen School of the Nyingmapa was often identified with the 'sudden enlightenment' of Moheyan and was called to defend itself against this charge by avowed members of the that held to the staunch view of 'gradual enlightenmnent' .
Iconography
According to Ying Chua , Moheyan is often depicted holding a ''shankha'' and a ''mala'' :
He is usually depicted as a rotund and jovial figure and holding a mala, or prayer beads in his left hand and a sankha, conch shell in his right. He is often considered a benefactor of children and is usually depicted with at least one or more playing children around him.
Primary sources
Moheyan . ''IOL Tib J 709'' . Source:
Secondary sources
Electronic
*Schrempf, Mona . “Hwa shang at the Border: Transformations of History and Reconstructions of Identity in Modern A mdo.” ''JIATS'', no. 2 : 1-32. Source:
*Gōmez, Luis O, 1983, The Direct and the Gradual Approaches of Zen Master Mahayana: Fragments of the Teachings of Mo-Ho-Yen in Studies in Ch’an and Hua-Yen, Robert M. Gimello & Peter N. Gregory University of Hawaii Press, 3rd printing, ISBN 0-8248-0835-5
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*Powers, John. ''History as Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China'' Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195174267
*Yamaguchi Zuihō. ''The Core Elements of Indian Buddhism Introduced into Tibet''. In Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson , ''Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism'' Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1949-1
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