Zen Poetry – by Layman Pang-yun (740-808)

Layman Pang – Biography

Layman Pang (740–808) was a celebrated lay Buddhist in the Chinese Chán (Zen) tradition. Much like Vimalakīrti, who is said to have lived around the time of the Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama) in the 6th to 4th centuries BCE, Layman Pang is considered a model of the potential of the non-monastic Buddhist follower to live an exemplary Buddhist life.

Layman Pang Chinese: 龐居士 Páng Jūshì, Pang is his family name
and Jushi is the title in Chinese for the Sanskrit Upasaka;
his rarely used personal name is 蘊 Yùn,
so his full name would be 龐蘊居士 Páng Yùn Jūshì but is almost never used； Japanese: Hōkoji