Layman Pang
Layman Pang (Chinese 龐居士 Páng Jūshì; Japanese Hōkoji) (740–808) was a celebrated lay Buddhist in the Chinese Chán (Zen) tradition. Much like Vimalakīrti, Layman Pang is considered to exemplify the potential for non-monastic Buddhist followers to live an exemplary life and to be fully awakened. Biography Pang is his family name, and Jushi is the title in Chinese for the Sanskrit Upasaka (a non-ordained follower of the Buddha). 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. Originally from Hengyang in the southern Chinese province of Hunan, Pang was a successful merchant with a wife, son, and daughter. The family's wealth allowed them to devote their time to study of the Buddhist sūtras, in which they all became well-versed. Pang's daughter Ling Zhao was particularly adept, and at one point even seems to have been more advanced and wise than her father, as the following story illustrates: After Pang had retired from his profession, he is said to have begun to worry about the spiritual dangers of his material wealth, and so he placed all of his possessions in a boat which he then sunk in