DESCRIPTION
Lineaged Buddhism refers to a form of Buddhist practice that emphasizes the teacher-student relationship; the teacher being regarded as a present embodiment of a lineage of teachers going back to the historic Buddha (who is also regarded as having been the embodiment of an ancient lineage of awakened beings stretching back kalpas upon kalpas).
Although this understanding can be found in the earliest forms of Buddhism, as a refined form of practice it is one of the foundations of Zen Buddhism. Session 7 gives a brief summary of the emergence of the Chan/Zen 禪 (dhyāna or jhāna, ‘meditation’) schools in China and Japan during the 7th - 9th Century.
Primary Texts
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
The Lankavatara Sutra and/or the Vajra Sutra
Suggested Reading
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, trans. Philip B. Yampolsky