Tongo Jap., lit. “sudden [ton] enlightenment [go: satori]”; the teaching of sudden enlightenment, associated with the Southern school. It is contrasted with the teaching of gradual enlightenment (zengo) associated with the Northern school. The distinction between “sudden” and “gradual” is, however, a superficial one deeper Zen realization makes evident that there is no contradiction between the two. Thus Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch of Ch’an (Zen) in China, who is considered the founder of the school of sudden enlightenment, stresses again and again in his Liu-tsu-ta-shih fa-pao-t’an ching that sudden and gradual are not in the dharma: “In the dharma there is neither sudden nor gradual. Because of delusion or enlightenment, it goes slow and fast.”
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Tongo documents
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