I am looking for information and/or pictures about the 97 symbols or
mandalas used by the Guiyang school of Ch'an Buddhism 9th-10th century
CE.  Also called the Igyo school of Zen Buddism in the Japanese
wording.

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Request for Question Clarification by digsalot-ga on 21 Nov 2002 19:19 PST

Ch'an (meditation) is a Buddhist tradition that started off in India.
It was later made its way to Japan where it became known as Zen, the
name that is most familiar to people in the west. The goals of both
Ch'an and Zen are the same.  That is the realization of one's true
nature and the manifestation of that realization in our daily thoughts
and actions. And what is one's true nature? It is nothing less than
waking up and realizing we are Buddha by nature and embody all that
that entails.

However, I am not Zen, I'm Jodo Shinsu (Shin) and am not immediately
familiar with ancient Zen mandalas, though I have designed a few and
am part of the International Mandala Peace Project.
( http://www.mandalaproject.org/About/Main.html )  I'm sorry I cannot
tell you which ones are mine as that would violate our anonymity
policy but I hope you enjoy them while I wait for an answer from the
contact below.  In fact, why don't you design one yourself and submit
it?

If another of our researchers knows offhand or can find the answers, I
hope they jump in on this.

In the meantime, I have emailed Zen Bishop Matsuura Gyokuei in Hawaii
for information.  As soon as he responds, I will let you know.  He
frequently is on the go and there is no guarentee when I will hear
from him.

Namu Amida Butsu
In ghasso
digsalot

Just to fill in some gaps...

http://home.att.net/~ChuanDao/majorsects.htm

Chan  / Zen (J) or Dhyana (meditation) sect. Originally there were
five major schools, however only two of these schools have survived
to the present day.

1. Guiyang / Igyo (J) incorporated mystical and esoteric symbols.
2. Linji / Rinzai (J) used shouts, blows & koans.
3. Caodong / Soto (J) quiet mediation (just sitting).
4. Yunmen / Ummon (J) used one word barriers.
5. Fayan / Hogan (J) made contributions to Zen literature. 


The following is a very neat chart which has some of
the Guiyang/Igyo listed.

http://www2.kenyon.edu/depts/religion/fac/Adler/reln360/Images360/ancestors.pdf

Description: Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader: Detailed, well-laid
out chart of the Zen Ancestors.


http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/yangshan.txt

"There are a number of stories of him involved with occult powers 
although he valued them very little.  One man came and had a long Dharma 
dialogue with him. Yang-shan was the holder of a lineage that has died 
out, in which there were ninety-seven symbols that were used for 
different domains of Zen, different domains of realisation.  For 
example, a circle was used, and this was a dance form of dialogue, a 
dramatic powerful dance form, and we only have a few of these symbols 
remaining in some old koans."


Searched on: Guiyang symbols, Igyo symbols, Guiyang Igyo