T1609 Three Short Treatises by Vasubandhu, Sengzhao, and Zongmi

Notes

Notes

1 T.221:32c19-20.

2 Cf. Laozi35.

3 T.224:475a19-21.

4 The commentators Yuankang and Wencai suggest that this refers to the general idea of the "Guan qulai pin" section of T.1564:3c6ff, which speaks of the interdependence and thus "emptiness" of the place from which movement proceeds, of the goer, and of going itself.

5 An allusion to a story from Zhuangzi21.3. Confucius speaks to his disciple Yan Hui about the study of the Dao,

"I have taught you all my life and now, as we stand shoulder to shoulder, you have forgotten everything: is this not sad?" Seng zhao departs from the wording and meaning of the original story, clearly influenced by the Guo Xiang commentary on the Zhuangzi,and transforms the passage into a reflection on the topic of time.

6 Likely a reference to Vairambha, the hurricane that occurs at the end of an eon. 7 Mount Meru, which stands at the center of our world. 8 Image from Zhuangzi1.1, representing fickle springtime breezes. 9 Here the term "Sage" is traditionally interpreted as referring either to Confucius from Lunyu9.17; or by Yuankang, controversially, to the Buddha from the Da banniepan jing(T.374:398c26).

10 T.630:451c25-26.

11 T.1509:428a12-13.

12 An allusion to an allegory from Zhuangzi6.2. To keep his boat safe from thieves a man hides it in a gully inside a mountain, which in turn is hidden in the middle of marshland. A strong man sneaks up in the middle of the night, heaves the boat onto his back, and carries it off. Traditionally this has been read as expressing the vanity of our efforts to counter the transience of things. (Zhuangzi's final injunction is to "hide the world in the world, so that nothing can be lost. ") The second image, of Confucius standing on the bank of the river, comes from Lunyu9.17: "Standing by a river, Confucius sighed and said,

'The passing away of things is like this. Day and night it never stops.

'" Both images are used here as exemplifications of impermanence or, in the language of the essay, of the "shifting" of things. 13 See note 12.

14 Laozi78.

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15 The image of piling up a mound comes from Lunyu9.19, where it is used as a metaphor for the incremental process of learning or self-cultivation: "It is like piling up a mound: if I stop just one basketful of dirt short of completing the task, I have stopped completely; it is also like leveling ground: even if I have dumped just one basketful of dirt, this is a step forward and I am making progress.

" The locus classicusfor "A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step" is Laozi64. 16 Source unknown. There are resonances with Yijing,Xi Ci, I:4. 17 According to the commentator Yuankang, this is an allusion to a passage from Zhuangzi 2.12: "People busy about in agitation, the sage is slow and witless—he joins the ten thousand years into a singular purity. All things are for him in this way, he gathers them all into one.

"

18 Historical evidence regarding these theories is scant and their polemical presentation in this text is descriptively unreliable. Traditionally six (or, in some sources, seven) theories were identified. In this text three are brought into focus. The theory of "original nothingness" is associated variously with the exegetes Daoqian (286-374 C.E.) or Dao'an (312 or 314-385 C.E.). Śūnyatāor tathatāis identified with the pre-Buddhist Chinese concept of wu(nothingness) as the primordial origin of all things. The theory of "no-mind" is usually linked with Zhi Mindu (fl. ca. 326 C.E.). It is sometimes thought of as a subjectivist-psychological response to the more objectivistic orientation of "original nothingness.

" "Emptiness as form" is usually associated with Zhi Daolin

(known also as Zhi Dun; 314-366 C.E.). The name of this theory is an allusion to the formula "form is emptiness, emptiness is form,

" representative of much of the Prajñāpāramitā literature immensely popular in Sengzhao's period. The meager available evidence suggests that Zhi Dun's conception of emptiness was largely similar to Seng zhao's as formulated in this chapter. Sengzhao, however, portrays him as a believer in a world of composite and thus "empty" dharmas on the one hand, and indivisible and thus "non-empty" dharmas on the other, a position he denounces. 19 Literally,

"beyond 'the doctrine of names.

'" The latter is a general reference to classical

Chinese theories of language, which investigate the relationship between names (ming) and things or actualities (shi), often in a normative moral or political context. Here, more specifically, it is a polemical term for realist conceptions of language. 20 T.1509:105a5-11?

21 T.1564:7c16-17? (Suggested by Yuankang.)

22 An allusion to a story from Zhuangzi3.2. Cook Ding is so skilled at cutting up an ox that his cleaver needs no sharpening; after seventeen years of use it is still as sharp as if just taken off the whetstone. This is in contrast to the mediocre butcher who does not skilfully carve up an oxen but crudely "hacks" it apart. 23 T.221:36c19-23.

24 T.223:378c10-14.

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25 T.475:537c15. The "youth" is Ratnakāra, leader of a group of young nobles who, in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa,approach the Buddha and ask him how to purify the buddha field. 26 T.656:109a1.

27 T.224:425c27.

28 Likely a reference to T.1564:33b3-7.

29 Likely a reference to the verses in T.1509:105a5-10. 30 Likely a summary of T.221:40a26-b10.

31 The source and scope of this reference are obscure. The content is reminiscent of the chapters "Guan wuyin pin" and "Guan ku pin.

"

32 Likely a reference to T.630:454c2.

33 The "master from Yuanlin Grove" is a reference to Zhuangzi. The "metaphors of finger and horse" are discussed in Zhuangzi2. 34 A reference to the Radiance;see T.221:140c15. 35 Mahayana. This paragraph traces, in hagiographic mode, the narrative of Kumārajīva's life.

36 An allusion to Laozi14.

37 Traditionally regarded as Śākyamuni Buddha's birthplace. 38 The Later Liang kingdom (386-403 C.E.). The ruler Lü Long, under increasing pressure from the neighboring Northern Liang and Southern Liang territories, suffered a crucial defeat at the hands of the Later Qin general Yao Shuode in 401 C.E.The Later Qin forces besieged the Liang power base at Guzang, where Kumārajīva had been held since 385. To end the siege Lü Long, on the advice of his younger brother Lü Chao, agreed to offer nominal submission to the Later Qin. He sent to the Later Qin capital of Chang'an a number of his family members and prominent clans as hostages. Kumārajīva seems to have been included in this group, and he reached Chang'an in February of 402. Lü Long eventually submitted to the Later Qin formally in 403 C.E. and moved from Guzang to Chang'an.

39 The commentators Yuankang and Wencai give a pious twist to the story so as to make it seem that the goal of Yao Shuode's military mission to Guzang was strictly to fetch Kumārajīva and bring him to Chang'an.

40 An allusion to a prophesy in the Radiance,according to which after the passing of the Buddha the Dharma would spread first to the south, then to the west, and finally to the north.

41 An allusion to Zhuangzi22.7.

42 T.221:97c7-9; T.223:354a12-13.

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43 Cf. T. 224:428a17ff.

44 "Markless knowing" and "knowledgeless illumination" can be understood as "understanding, " "insight.

"

45 Cf. T.586:39b11.

46 T.474:519c21; cf. also T.475:537c18. See also note 25. 47 T.221:140c15. See also note 32.

48 The "Two Principles" are yinand yang,a pair of complementary opposites, such as light and dark, male and female, etc., whose configurations form all phenomena. 49 An allusion to Laozi 5: "Heaven and Earth are not humane: they take the myriad things as straw dogs. The sage is not humane: he takes the common people as straw dogs.

"

50 Cf. T.223:262c24-25.

51 This is a polemic against positive valuations of the "reversal of intuition" —stopping

or overturning ordinary ways of perceiving—as the primary mode of accessing the Dao. Prajñāis not accessed in this manner.

52 The "three poisons" are desire (or greed), anger (or hatred), and ignorance (or delusion). 53 The four inverted views are seeing the impermanent as permanent, seeing non-self as self, seeing suffering as joy, and seeing the impure as pure. 54 "Horse" and "hare" are metaphors for different degrees of understanding. The hare, which crosses the river of samsara by swimming frantically on the surface, represents the śrāvaka (hearer). The horse reaches deeper into the water with his hooves—this is the pratyekabuddha (solitary enlightened one). A third animal is often mentioned, the elephant, whose strength allows him to reach the very bottom. The elephant is the bodhisattva. Cf. T.186:488b20-26; T.1547:445c9-114. The allegory of the three animals crossing the river appears in "Nirvana is Unnameable, " section 13, p. 118.

55 Source unknown.

56 Source uncertain; Wencai refers to T.1509:190c20. 57 T.223:326b9-10. Note that this is not from the Radiance. 58 "Ultimate reality" can be understood as "ultimate truth. " Here Sengzhao seems to be

trying to distinguish between two types of objects, or two types of "conditions" of knowing: ordinary conditioned objects, and unconditioned "ultimate" truth. Since prajñāperceives "ultimate truth,

" it is not a kind of knowledge, since the latter by definition is restricted to conditioned things. 59 This passage is not a literal quotation but a general paraphrase of a central idea of the Middle Way Treatise(T.1564). It has been speculated that if this reatise was published 126

Notes

in 409 C.E.and Sengzhao's essay was brought to Lushan in 408, Sengzhao must have seen a draft version of the translation of the Middle Way Treatisebefore publication of his completed essay.

60 Possibly a reference to T.1564:33b3-7 and the verse at 33b13. Remarkably, Sengzhao seems to assume that there is such a thing as "ultimate truth" beyond conditioned dharmas, while the Middle Way Treatiseconsistently denies the existance of such a beyond, insisting that "the ultimate" is the ultimate truth about the conditioned, i.e., its emptiness.

61 Cf. T.221:53b18-22, 12c4-12.

62 Source unknown.

63 An allusion to Laozi4, 56.

64 The five realms of rebirth are the realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and gods.

65 Cf. T.223:382c23-24.

66 An allusion to a passage from Zhuangzi 8.1, where such actions are portrayed as examples of an unnaturalness that violates the Dao.

67 T.223:390a4.

68 T.223:384c23-24.

69 An allusion to Laozi1.

70 Cf. T.630:452b29.

71 The exchanges between Chang'an in the north and Lushan in the south, where Liu Yimin was stationed, were compromised as a consequence of the political and military turmoil that eventually led to the demise of the Later Qin in the north (417 C.E.) and the establishment of the Liu Song regime in the south (420 C.E.). Sengzhao sent his answer to Liu Yimin through a messenger, but Liu passed away before receiving it. 72 Huiyuan (334-416 C.E.) was an influential Buddhist monk who established the important Buddhist community at Lushan. In 402 he assembled one hundred and twentythree followers in front of an image of Amitābha Buddha to vow to be reborn in his "pure land" Sukhāvatī, an event traditionally considered to mark the beginning of the Pure Land tradition. One of the most erudite Buddhist thinkers of his age, Huiyuan was renowned, among other things, for his tracts stipulating the proper relationship between the sangha and the state, and for his sophisticated correspondence with Kumārajīva, which has survived.

73 A classical description of the ideal gentleman, with origins in the Yijing, Qian. 74 Daosheng (355-434 C.E.) was active at Lushan from 397 to 405, when he joined Kumārajīva's community in Chang'an. There he took part in the translation activities, 127

Essays of Sengzhao

and began writing his many texts in various genres, of which very few survive, unfortunately. In 408 he returned to Lushan, carrying Sengzhao's essay "Prajñāwithout Knowing.

" He traveled extensively and befriended the literatus Xie Lingyun. He was a proponent of an original doctrine of subitism as well as of the doctrine that buddhahood is inherent in all sentient beings, both of which became the object of much debate in the late 420s.

75 The commentator Yuankang opines that this "Principle" refers to emptiness. However, the term could equally well be read in the plural, and with a lower case "p" ("principles"), in the sense that all individual things are defined by their own character, or principle. Liu Yimin was apparently troubled by what he saw as a logical contradiction in Sengzhao's description of the sagely mind: it is perfectly quiescent, yet it reaches the "apex" of reality.

76 An allusion to Yijing,Xi Ci, I: 10. Alternatively, an allusion to Zhuangzi13.9, where a wheelwright speaks to Prince Huan about the art of making wheels, and argues that the secret to making wheels is in working neither too leisurely, nor too hurriedly. 77 Here Liu Yimin presents Sengzhao with two possible readings of the latter's exposition of "the power of sagely wisdom": prajñācan either be a form of extraordinarily powerful cognition accessed by a cessation of ordinary understanding, or it can be a solitary withdrawal into a type of spiritual self-absorption. In his response Sengzhao tries to complicate Liu's question.

78 An allusion to T.474:525c3.

79 The "square inch of the heart" is a literary expression for the human heart or mind. 80 An allusion to a poem by Ruan Ji (210-263 C.E.), one of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove; see note 81.

81 "Bamboo Grove" alludes to a social, artistic, and philosophical trend of the late third century, traditionally known as the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, which was associated with the ideal of the poet-hermit seeking artistically elevated reclusion during times of political turmoil.

82 An allusion to Laozi10, 22.

"The One" (and "guarding" it) are important images in

Daoist cosmological reflection. The One mediates between the origin of things in nonbeing and the world of being.

83 Zhi Faling. He was a disciple of Huiyuan, on whose behest he traveled to Khotan in 392 C.E.and brought back a number of sutra texts, including the Avataṃsaka-sūtra (Flower Ornament Sutra), later translated in 421 C.E.under Buddhabhadra as the sixty-fascicle Huayan jing (T. 278).

84 The "two masters" referred to here are most likely *Dharmayaśas and *Dharmagupta (see also note 87). Vibhāṣāis an abbreviation for a genre of Mainstream scholastic writing, most famously represented by the Mahāvibhāṣā-śāstra,a key compendium 128

Notes

of the Sarvāstivāda school from Kashmir translated under Saṃghadeva (var. Saṃgha bhūti) in Chang'an in 383 C.E. 85 Buddhabhadra. He arrived in Chang'an around 406-408 C.E. and enjoyed great renown for his expertise on monastic rules and in dhyāna.Initially on good terms with Kumārajīva, according to tradition he was eventually expelled from the Chang'an community due to an altercation with its elders on matters of discipline (he was reportably critical of the harem kept by Kumārajīva). He moved to Lushan and joined Huiyuan's congregation, and died in the southern capital Jiankang in 429 C.E.Buddhabhadra is credited with a number of important translations.

86 87 Buddhayaśas. He was the teacher of Kumārajīva in Kashmir before Kumārajīva's "conversion" to Mahayana. Here "Tripiṭaka" refers to Mainstream (non-Mahayana) texts. In 408 C.E., at Kumārajīva's invitation, he went to Chang'an and became involved in the translation academy. Among other texts, Buddhayaśas oversaw the translation of the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya(T. 1428).

The Shelifu apitan lun (Skt. Śāriputra-abhidharma-śāstra, T. 1548). Translated by *Dharmayaśas and *Dharmagupta 407-415 C.E.

88 An allusion to a story from Zhuangzi 24.6. A "man from Ying" asks an artisan to remove—with an axe, no less!—a speck of mud from the tip of his nose. The artisan swings the axe "with such dexterity that it stirs up a wind" and removes the speck of mud, as the man from Ying stands there without flinching, and unharmed. 89 Concentration and wisdom are two of the six pāramitās, or perfections. Liu Yimin suggests that Sengzhao's "prajñā,

" defined by the latter as still yet active, should be

thought of in terms of the duality between concentration (meditation) and the wisdom to which it leads. Liu seems to assume that if the sage's insight is "uniquely penetrating, " as Sengzhao's asserts, it is because the sage has modified, through the practice of concentration, his ordinary mode of cognition and has developed another type of cognition, or a cognition that gives him access to some other content. 90 Cf. T.223:292c15-17, 302a19-21, 374b4-b8.

91 An allusion to Laozi41.

92 Cf. T.221:6c2-7.

93 I follow the variant recension in Huida's Zhaolun shu,X.866:71a13. 94 Source uncertain; Yuankang suggests this refers to the general sense of T. 221. 95 Cf. T.223:223a13-14.

96 See also notes 32 and 45.

97 See analysis in Yuankang's commentary, T.1859:189a24ff.

98 Here Sengzhao critiques the view, expressed earlier by Liu Yimin, that the sagely 129

Essays of Sengzhao

mind's "ultimate affirmation and corresponding" is merely a special type of cognition, extraordinary in its content, a "wisdom" attained through " concentration. "

99 This lengthy argument is a response to Liu Yimin's question from the final section of his letter about what specifically makes the sagely mind different from the mind of an ordinary person.

100 An allusion to Zhuangzi2.5.

101 An allusion to Zhuangzi3.2.

102 An allusion to Laozi25.

103 This reference to nirvana has frequently been read as invoking the Mahāparinirvāṇamahā-sūtra.Given that this sutra was translated into Chinese only after Sengzhao's death (two translations were produced, one between 416-418 C.E. under Buddhabhadra, and one begun in 421 under Dharmakṣema), commentators and scholars have speculated that this essay could only have been written after 416, and therefore its attribution to Sengzhao is at least in part spurious. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Sengzhao must have seen, and somehow understood, the Sanskrit original of the Mahāpari nirvāṇa-mahā-sūtrabefore publication of the first translation, but recent scholarship has weakened the force of such speculation. As the commentator Yuankang observes, the essay speaks only of the idea of nirvana and does not reference the Mahāpari nirvāṇa-mahā-sūtraitself. 104 An allusion to Analects4.25.

105 An allusion to story in Zhuangzi21.2, which describes a meeting of two men whose minds are united in the Dao.

106 Yao Song was the younger brother of the king, Yao Xing. Correspondence between the two on topics of Buddhist doctrine has been preserved in the Guang hongming ji,T.2103:228a-230a.

107 Mañjuśrī and Maitreya are bodhisattvas who embody, respectively, wisdom and compassion. 108 The "Ten Wings" is a set of early commentaries on the Yijing,traditionally, though spuriously, attributed to Confucius.

109 An allusion to Laozi21.

110 In Buddhist cosmology, Jambudvīpa is the southern of the four continents encircling Mount Meru, and is here a shorthand reference to our world. 111 This parenthetical note was most likely added later by the editors of Sengzhao's Essays.

112 The "four streams" of samsara: desire, ignorance, existence, and false views. 113 See note 13.

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114 The five types of vision are the physical organ of the eyes, the eye of the gods, the wisdom eye, the Dharma eye, and the buddha eye. 115 The two types of hearing are hearing with the physical organ of the human ear and the ear of the gods.

116 Source uncertain. Yuankang suggests the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahā-sūtra,but this is doubtful.

117 Source uncertain. Yuankang sees this as reflecting the general meaning of the Zhonglun, or again of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahā-sūtra. 118 The four kinds of emptiness, or four kinds of formlessness, associated with the four formless concentrations, i.e., limitless space, limitless consciousness, nothingness, and neither consciousness nor nonconsciousness. 119 In Mahayana sutras,

"nine classes of beings" is a classification scheme grouping living beings in three main categories with three subcategories each, on the basis of the nature of their karmic endowment. 120 "Eight factors of liberation" and "seven members of awakening" are two lists of elements of Buddhist practice conducive to liberation. Specific contents of the lists vary. 121 The "three illuminations" are divine vision, knowledge of previous lifetimes, and extinction of contamination.

122 "Resolve" refers to a bodhisattva's vow to save all beings. 123 The six supernatural powers are unhindered physical power, divine vision, divine hearing, awareness of the minds of others, cognizance of former lifetimes, and eradication of the afflictions.

124 The five vehicles are five types of religious practice and their corresponding destinations or realms of rebirth as humans, gods, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and buddhas. 125 Sarvajñatāliterally means "all-knowledge, " omniscience.

126 The nine abodes of being span from the upper reaches of the realm of desire (Skt. kāmadhātu) below to the four dhyānas above. 127 Source unknown.

128 An allusion to Laozi13.

129 Source unknown.

130 The "basis of misery" refers here to the body. 131 Source uncertain. The metaphor of extinguishing a lamp's flame is common in both Mainstream and Mahayana texts.

132 Cf. T.475:555a1-24.

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Essays of Sengzhao

133 Cf. T.221:145a12ff.

134 Commentators trace this quotation to either the Xiuxing daodi jing(T. 606), Dharma rakṣa's translation of Saṃgharakṣa's *Yogācārabhūmi-sūtra;or to the Taizi ruiying benqi jing (T.185:478c21-22), a third-century translation of a "biography" of the Buddha's previous lives.

135 I.e., the Buddha's activities during his forty-five-year teaching career. 136 Cf. T.221:123b8-9; T.1775:353a2-3. 137 Source unknown; Wencai points to the Huayan jing (T. 278), but this is anachronistic. 138 Source unknown.

139 The commentator Hanshan Deqing refers to the general contents of chapter 32 of the Huayan jing(T.278:599b21ff). 140 An allusion to Laozi6.

141 An allusion to the description in Zhuangzi1.5 of the transcendent beings that inhabit Mount Guye.

142 Cf. Laozi6.

143 An allusion to Zhuangzi22.5. 144 This passage gives the traditional account of Śākyamuni Buddha's last days and death. 145 Cf. Laozi2.

146 Cf. T.1509:289b1-3.

147 Extinguishing of afflictions by means of analytic meditation leads to a complete nonbeing of afflictions (for a standard exposition of this term, see T.1509:743a1-2). The opponent wants to define nirvana as a complete nonbeing, an idea rejected by Sengzhao. 148 Source unclear; cf. T.223:378c9ff. 149 Cf. Laozi2.

150 The six sense objects are the objects of the five physical senses (eye, ears, nose, tongue, and body) and of the mind. 151 Despite the traditional tracing of this passage to the Da banniepan jing,it more likely reflects the content of chapter 12 of Kumārajīva's translation of the Vimalakīrtinir deśa(T. 475). 152 Perhaps a reference to T.223:275b20ff. 153 T.475:539c25.

154 Source uncertain. Commentators suggest T.475:548a16-18 or T.339:471a. 132

Notes

155 Possibly an allusion to a story from Zhuangzi12.9, which conveys the idea that the Dao cannot be expressed in words and can be only learned through practice. 156 157 T.221:114b10. Directly after the statement quoted here, in which the Buddha asserts that the three groups differ with regard to "the unconditioned,

" the Buddha's interlocutor

Subhūti asks if this is really the case. The Buddha responds in the negative and says that the distinction between the three groups is merely a matter of a naming convention. This is the traditional presentation of Śākyamuni Buddha's previous lives. Eons before his embodiment as Śākyamuni he was a brahman by the name of Sumedha (Sengzhao uses the alternative Chinese name, Rutong, for Māṇava), who received from Dīpaṃ kara, the buddha of that eon, the prediction that he too would one day become a buddha. Cf. T.420:932b.

158 The phrase "the sutras disagree" is ambiguous, and I leave it as such. Yuankang takes it to mean that the content or meaning of the scriptures differs (T.1859:197c2); Wencai reads it as suggesting that the scriptural evidence conflicts with the position of the present author (X.970:212a20).

159 Cf. T.262:26a20-22.

160 The idea here is that according to standard presentations, especially in the mature texts of the Prajñāpāramitā tradition, followers of all three vehicles of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas all attain insight into emptiness at the seventh stage of the Buddhist path, but while śrāvakas stop there, bodhisattvas continue to practice until the tenth stage and then ideally attain buddhahood after that. Here the "author" argues that the emptiness realized by all categories of practitioners is the same for all, and any differences between them that do exist pertain only to their differing methods of practice. The standard view, echoed also by commentators, is that śrāvakas practice based on the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, pratyekabuddhas rely on the teaching of dependent origination (Skt. pratītyasamutpāda), while bodhisattvas use the six pāramitās as their guide. 161 T.221:114a30-b3; T.223:275c25ff. The passage addresses a point crucial to the problem of subitism and gradualism, namely, how is it possible that while beings in all three vehicles attain insight into "the unconditioned,

" real differences remain

between the depth and quality of their insight?

162 Cf. Laozi23.

163 Cf. Laozi57.

164 "Beings of the two vehicles" are śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. The "wisdom of eradication" (Skt. kṣayajñāna) is the wisdom arrived at by the arhat who has accomplished the complete and permanent elimination of the fetters (saṃyojana). 165 The "wisdom of nonarising" (Skt. anutpādajñāna) is the wisdom attained by the bodhisattva that consists of the understanding that the fetters have been eliminated and will never reemerge. Alternatively, it refers to insight into, and acceptance of, 133

Essays of Sengzhao

the nonarising and nonceasing of dharmas, i.e., their emptiness. In this passage, as well as elsewhere throughout this chapter, when discussing the three vehicles and the problem of gradualism versus subitism, Sengzhao channels the vocabulary, current in his day, of the ten stages of religious practice as developed in Prajñāpāramitā texts (although not in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, generally considered to be the earliest representative of this category of texts). The first seven stages are common to the three vehicles and culminate in the elimination of the fetters (see note 167). This is followed by the stages of the pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, and buddha. While the bodhisattva is "higher" than the arhat and pratyekabuddha,the three by and large share the same attainments of stages one to seven. The opponent in this passage emphasizes their commonality; in his reponse Sengzhao emphasizes the bodhisattva's superiority. 166 A paraphrase of T.221:5a27ff; see also T. 223, ch. 3. Śāriputra asks the Buddha: if the "wisdoms" attained by the srota-āpanna("steam-enterer,

" the first stage of the

Mainstream path), arhat, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, and buddha are all equally insights into emptiness, why insist that the bodhisattva's wisdom is the highest? The Buddha answers that it is because of the bodhisattva's vow to save other beings. 167 Yuankang suggests that this is a nonliteral reference to the Lotus Sutra. 168 Yuankang claims that this invokes the Vibhāṣā,T.1547:445c17-19. The metaphors of the three animals and three arrows as representing the three vehicles are present also in the surviving writings of Huiyuan, the leader of the Lushan community to which Liu Yimin belonged (T.1856:130c13-14). The image of the three animals also appeared previously in Sengzhao's essay "Prajñāwithout Knowing,

" p. 80.

169 Śāriputra, along with Mahāmaudgalyāyana, was one of Śākyamuni Buddha's two main disciples; he was renowned for his wisdom. Maitrāyaṇīputra, one of the Buddha's ten principal disciples, was famous for his eloquence in preaching the Dharma. 170 Cf. Laozi8.

171 Likely an allusion to the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa.The Buddha instructs Maitrāyaṇīputra to visit with the ailing Vimalakīrti. The latter criticizes Maitrāyaṇīputra's "Lesser Vehicle" teachings as being like a firefly in comparison to the "sun" of the Buddha. See T.475:541a2; cf. also T.221:5b16.

172 "Three more stages" refers to the standard scheme of ten stages in the Prajñāpāramitā literature; see note 160. For Sumedha, see note 157.

173 The image of mixing up north and south appears also in the Mouzi lihuo lun (T.2102:6c20), composed certainly by 465 C.E.but likely much earlier. More pertinent, Xie Lingyun uses the image in the concluding statements of his Bianzong lun (T.2103:225c11-14).

174 T.224:425c27.

175 Cf. T.223:308b17ff.

134

Notes

176 This story of Sumedha is found in T.1509:180a23-b5. See also note 157. 177 Wencai points to chapter 20 in the Radiance,but a more fitting passage is found at T.221:94b24-28. Yuankang suggests that this is a reference to T.1509:592b2-6. 178 Cf. especially T.425:16b20-22. 179 Cf. T.630:452b29.

180 Cf. T.586:39b10-20.

181 Cf. T.614:282c7-10.

182 Cf. T.475:554b3-6.

183 Wencai suggests that this refers to the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahā-sūtra,T.374:487a22-23, but the overlap is minimal.

184 The "principle" here is emptiness, which is not marked by a temporal beginning or end. 185 Cf. T.223:278b25-29.

186 Yuankang indicates that this idea is present in the Larger Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra,and in the Daji jing (T. 397), without specifying the exact location. Wencai predictably points to the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahā-sūtra.Cf. also T.708:815b7-8. 187 Cf. T.475:539c25.

188 Cf.T.221:146b11-12.

189 From a well-known exchange between a goddess and Śāriputra in the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa,T.475:548a9. In response to this question Śāriputra remains silent, which is traditionally read as meaning that awakening is not limited by time. 190 Wencai sees a correspondence with T.374:536a11. Yuankang says that this expresses "the general meaning of scriptures. "

191 The "Two Principles" here refers to Heaven and Earth. See also note 48. 192 Yuankang suggests that this refers to the general meaning of the texts referred to so far. Wencai again points to the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahā-sūtra,T.374:495a1, 537a7-9. 193 Cf. T.475:542b18-19.

194 Cf. T.221:113a29-113b6.

195 See Laozi41 for "Great Image" and "Great Sound. "

196 Cf. Laozi73.

197 Cf. Foshuo bashi jing,T.581:965a10-14. 198 This final paragraph has traditionally been read either as a summary of this chapter or of all of Sengzhao's essays taken together; see T.1859:200c20-23. 135

TREATISE ON THE ORIGIN OF HUMANITY

Contents

Contents Translator's Introduction 141 Treatise on the Origin of Humanity Preface 147 I. Critique of Deluded Clinging II. Critique of the Partial and Shallow Teachings III. The Direct Revelation of the True Source IV. The Merging of the Roots and the Branches 149 153

163

165

Notes 169 139

Translator’s Introduction

Translator's Introduction

The Treatise on the Origin of Humanityis an English translation of the Yuanren lunby Zongmi (780-841 C.E.), one of the most systematic of the great doctrinal masters of Chinese Buddhism. He was educated in Confucianism and well versed in Daoist texts during the early years of his career, but he grew dissatisfied with their concern merely for the mundane facets of life. His own interest was the Way (Dao) or Nature (xing), and Zongmi was dissatisfied in his studies for a while. Eventually he met a monk of the Chan Buddhist tradition, and finding that Chan practices were concerned with self-discovery, he renounced household life and ordained as a Buddhist monk in his late twenties. Chan Buddhist teaching, practice, and monastic life at that time were very effective in solving the religious problems for many people, especially in regard to establishing calmness in a restless mind. Zongmi was no ordinary person, however; in his intellectual interests he constantly sought to understand and explain the doctrinal underpinnings of the power of religious practices. The Mahayana teaching of a great compassion toward all sentient beings further inspired him in his doctrinal quest. In order to satisfy his thirst for knowledge, Zongmi left his homeland in Guozhou (modern-day eastern Sichuan province) and traveled to other places in China. In the course of his travels he secured some works belonging to the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism. While this school placed emphasis on meditative practices, it also featured what is arguably the most sophisticated form of philosophy to appear in East Asia. Drawn to the Huayan doctrine, Zongmi initially lectured on the texts but then contacted Chengguan (733-839), the most respected Buddhist master in the Tang capital of Chang'an at the time. Impressed by Zongmi's intellect and earnestness, Chengguan accepted the youthfulmonk as his disciple and initiated him into the Huayan school.

Chengguan, the leader of Buddhism in the empire and an eminent thinker of the age, attracted a number of distinguished intellectuals to study with him. Zongmi's association with this master brought him into the circle of the Chinese elite. This new situation gave him the opportunity to study Buddhism in a more 141

Treatise on the Origin of Humanity

systematic manner and under the best guidance available. His association with leading scholars and philosophers stimulated him to deeper reflections on the philosophical problems confronting Chinese thinkers. This work, the Yuanren lun,was one of the products of that scholarly association. The discussion about the "origin of humanity" was one of the burning questions in the Tang capital at the time, beginning with an essay written by the most influential Confucian scholar, Han Yü (768-824), joined by two other distinguished thinkers and friends, Liu Zongyuan (773-819) and Liu Yuxi (772-842). These men were the leading writers and thinkers of the age; Zongmi knew of their discussions and became a personal friend of Liu Yuxi. There is no doubt that Zongmi wrote the Treatise on the Origin of Humanityas his contribution to the debate. During his time in the capital Zongmi was a very prolific writer and compiler, with more than forty titles attributed to him. Of these the longest work was his compilation of the Chanzang(Collection of Chan Buddhist Writings) in one hundred and thirty chapters; unfortunately, only the preface of this work is extant (Taishō 2015).

Compared with other works written or compiled by Zongmi, the Yuanren lun was much less known in earlier records, and in fact neither Buddhist nor non-Buddhist bibliographers noted this title as an independent work by Zongmi. The earliest non-Buddhist catalogue that records this treatise is the bibliographical chapter of the Xin Tang shu(New History of the Tang Dynasty), compiled by Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) and others between 1044-1060. The Jejong gyojang chongnokcompiled by the Korean monk Uicheon (1055-1101) in 1090 is the earliest Buddhist bibliography to record the Yuanren lunas an independent work by Zongmi. Earlier and more authentic sources, such as the inscription of Zongmi written by Pei Xiu (787-860?), or the biography of him in the Song gaoseng zhuan (Song Collection of Biographies of Eminent Monks,Taishō 2061) by Zanning (919-1002), do not mention this work. This lack of information from the earlier references does not have any bearing on the authenticity of this work, however. Its contents, context, and style of writing and phraseology all prove that the Treatise on the Origin of Humanitywas without doubt composed by Zongmi. Moreover, the earliest extant catalogue of works by Zongmi mentions a few titles that are no longer available, including the Daosu chouda wenzhi in ten chapters, which has been lost for a long time. The title of this work indicates that it was a collection of correspondence between Zongmi and disciples or 142

Translator's Introduction

friends, both clergy and laypeople. The earliest known commentator of the Yuanren lun,Jingyuan (1011-1088), had already pointed out that the so-called preface of the Yuanren lunwritten by Pei Xiu "contradicts the theme of the work: the preface belongs to the Fazhi, not to the Yuanren lun.

" This suggests that the

Yuanren lunwas originally part of a larger collection, not an independent work. The text mentioned by Jingyuan, Fazhi,seems to be most likely an abbreviation of the Daosu chouda wenzhi.This work was separated from the collection and became an independent title during the eleventh century C.E.At the time Jingyuan wrote the commentary there was already some confusion about the work and the large collection. Jingyuan was one of the masters under whom the Korean bibliographer Uicheon studied, which explains why the bibliography in the Jejong gyojang chongnok is the earliest Buddhist record that mentions the Yuanren lunas an independent work.

Although the Treatise on the Origin of Humanityhas enjoyed a high degree of popularity in China, Korea, and Japan for a thousand years, it was unknown to European scholars until the twentieth century. Hans Haas of Heidelberg first translated the work into German in 1909,

1 but it did not seem to produce any

noticeable impact on European scholarship. Haas' German translation includes the text but the notes from the original have not been translated. Recent research shows that Zongmi, an outstanding commentator, annotated a number of very important Buddhist texts, including some of his own works. The notes found in the Yuanren lun(which are placed in parentheses and italicized in this translation) are a good example of Zongmi's commentarial command. The comments explain the source, context, and subtle philosophical points discussed in the text and they also connect various segments of the text on the same or related problems, thus helping readers gain systematic knowledge from other parts of the work as a whole. This makes readers aware of the historical context of the discussion as well. A good example can be seen in a few words from a note in Part II of the Treatise,in which the annotation explains the reason why the book is titled the "origin of humanity": its intent is "to confront the secular teachings" (see Part II,

"Critique of the Partial and Shallow Teachings,

" section 1, p. 153ff).

This indicates that this work is indeed connected with the debate on the origin of humanity current in Zongmi's lifetime.

The quality of Haas' German translation is representative of European knowledge of the Buddhist tradition at large, and Chinese Buddhism in particular, at 143

Treatise on the Origin of Humanity

the time of its publication. The situation showed a little improvement over the next few years. The earliest complete English rendering of the Yuanren lun was published by Kaiten Nukariya in 1913, as an appendix to his work The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan. 2

As far as Zongmi's contribution is concerned, however, the translation of the Yuanren lun,titled "Origin of Man,

" as merely an appendix in a work devoted

to Chan/Zen had no impact on scholars. On the technical side, Nukariya's English translation goes further than Haas' German version, since most of the original annotations have been loosely rendered in English. However, Nukariya moved Zongmi's annotation into footnotes and interspersed them with his own comments; as a consequence, readers cannot distinguish Zongmi's notes from those of the translator.

An English translation of the treatise by Yoshito S. Haketa was published in 1969 in The Buddhist Tradition in India, China, and Japan, edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary.

3 This was the first translation published in North America, and this version is more accurate than the earlier European versions, an improvement that clearly indicates the advancement of the discipline over the previous sixty years. However, this translation does not include any of the original annotation. Moreover, this volume is a collection of translated selections from Buddhist sources in general and its usefulness for understanding Zongmi is therefore limited. The only book-length study on the Yuanren lunis Peter N. Gregory's 1981 dissertation,

"Tsung-mi's Inquiry into the Origin of Man: A Study of Chinese Buddhist Hermeneutics.

"4

This volume presents a new translation of the Chinese text. In the course of translating from the Taishō shinshū daizōkyō edition, I also benefited from consulting Shigeo Kamata's Japanese translation, the Genninron, 5 and a modern

Chinese version in the Zhongguo fojiao sixiang ziliao xuanbian. 6

144

Treatise on the Origin of Humanity by

Zongmi, a Monk of Caotang Temple of Zhongnan Mountain 708a

Preface

All the active myriad living beings have their roots, [just as Laozi said:] "The myriad things are teeming, each of them returns back to its root. " There is

not a single creature that has branches but is rootless. Furthermore, how could the most conscious one of the three powers of life (i.e., a human being) remain without the original source? Besides,

"those who know others are wise, he

who knows himself is enlightened.

" Now, if one has received a human body

but still does not know from whence he came, how can he know where he will transmigrate in the next life? How could he understand past and present worldly affairs? In recent decades I have learned from no fixed teachers but I have investigated my origins through studies of Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts. This persistent investigation of the origin has finally achieved its goal. Scholars of the present time who study Confucianism, however, merely know a limited perspective: that this body came from the lineage of one's parents and grandparents. When viewed from a broader perspective, they believed that a single nebulous material force (qi) was divided into two: yin and yang.The Two produced the Three—Heaven, Earth, and humanity. The Three produced the myriad things. The myriad things and humanity both take material force as their origin. Speaking from an immediate perspective, those who have studied the laws of the Buddha say only that the human body is a result of the effects from corresponding deeds one did in a previous life. When understood from a broader point of view, they assert that such deeds were rooted in delusion and, subsequently, came to the conclusion that the store consciousness (ālayavijñāna) is the origin of the body. All claim that their investigations have been exhaustive but actually this is not the case. Confucius, Laozi, and Śākyamuni are all perfect sages. They responded to the needs of beings at different times, establishing different ways of teachings. Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachings are mutually supportive so as to benefit average people. The sages urged diligence in myriad practices, illustrating the beginning and end of cause and effect; they carefully investigated all dharmas, showing the root and the manifestation of birth (utpāda). Although these were their intentions, there is a difference between the nominal and the 147

I. Critique of Deluded Clinging

Treatise on the Origin of Humanity

real. The two teachings (i.e., Confucianism and Daoism) are exclusively expedient; Buddhism is expedient as well as real. As far as the encouragement of myriad practices, punishment of the wicked, exhortation of the good, and caring for people is concerned, the three teachings are worthy of being practiced. In regard to "inferring the principle of the myriad dharmas and exploring all natures to their origin,

" however, only Buddhism apprehends this perfectly.

Scholars of the present age cling only to their respective sects, and even those who learn Buddhism are still missing the complete truth. Consequently, they are unable to enquire into the ultimate source of Heaven and Earth, humanity, and all things. I will now investigate the myriad dharmas according to Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachings, starting with the shallow and going into the deep, causing those who have studied the provisional teachings to become free from obstruction and thus attain the ultimate root. I will then show the gradual process of birth, according to the complete teaching, so that the partial [understanding] culminates in perfect understanding, and further extend this to all the branches. (The

"branches

"

means Heaven, Earth,

humanity, and the myriad things.) This treatise comprised of four parts is entitled "On the Origin of Humanity.

"

This concludes the Preface to the Treatise on the Origin of Humanity. 148

I. Critique of Deluded

Clinging

(For practitioners of Confucianism and Daoism.) The two teachings of Confucianism and Daoism say that all living beings such as humans or animals, etc., are produced, completed, nourished and brought up by the great Dao, which is void. They also say that "The Way models itself on that which is self-so,

" and it has produced the primordial material force. The primordial material force produced Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth produced the myriad things. Therefore stupidity and wisdom, a noble birth and a low birth, poverty and wealth, sorrow and joy are all received by them from Heaven at the time of their birth. Later, after dying, they will return to Heaven and Earth and return to the void.

The main thrust of the non-Buddhist teachings, however, is to establish the conduct for humanity, not to inquire into its ultimate origin. The myriad things discussed in the two teachings are limited to the phenomenal world. Although they point to the great Dao as the root, they do not completely explain agreeability and adversity, arising and ceasing, purity and defilement, or causes and conditions. Consequently, those who practice these teachings are not aware that the doctrines are provisional and cling to them as perfect teachings. Now I will take up a few brief points and questions. [Confucians and Daoists] say that the myriad things were produced by the great Dao, which is void. This means that the great Dao is the root of life and death, wisdom and folly; it is the base of good and evil, calamity and blessings. If the root and the base are eternal, then calamity, disorder, evil, and stupidity cannot be eliminated, and blessings, happiness, virtue, and good cannot increase. What then would be the use of the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi? If the Dao has nurtured tigers and wolves, given birth to [the wicked] Jie and Zhou,

7brought early death to [virtuous] Yan and Ran,

8and visited misfortune

on the brothers [Bo] Yi and [Shi] Qi,

9how could this Dao be called esteemed?

Again, it has been said that the myriad things are produced and transformed by Nature and do not arise due to causes and conditions. If this is the case, then birth and transformation would take place everywhere free from causes 149

708b

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and conditions. This means that a stone might give birth to grass, grass might give birth to a man, and men might give birth to animals, etc. Furthermore, it would also mean that all birth would be without the distinction of prior and subsequent, that the time of rising from bed [after sleep] would be no different whether in the morning or evening, that immortality does not depend on alchemy and herbs, that peace does not depend on virtuous talents, and that humaneness and justice are not dependent on education and cultivation. If this is so, how could the doctrines established by Laozi, Zhuangzi, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius have become the norm?

Again, it has been said that all things are produced by the primordial material force (qi). If this is so, how would a living being that is suddenly born and has not yet learned to think be able to able to love and hate, be proud and willful? If you say that following birth one would be able to spontaneously express love, hatred, and so on, and naturally understand the five virtues and the six arts, why then are these accomplished only after undergoing the causes and conditions of learning?

Again, does life suddenly come to be through the endowment of material force, and death come to pass through the sudden disintegration and disappearance of material force? What then would there be left to become ghosts and spirits? Moreover, there are people in the world who are able to recall clearly past events from their previous lifetimes. From this, we know that the present life continues from the previous one and is not due to a sudden reception of material force. Again, if we examine ghosts and spirits we see that their numinous awareness has never been interrupted. From this it is known that nonexistence after death is not the result of the sudden disintegration of the material force. Therefore, there are literary records of [the practice of] sacrifice and prayer to the spirits. Furthermore, there are those who have been revived from near-death and recounted their experiences in the nether realm, and those who [as spirits] after their deaths asked their wives or children to take revenge or show gratitude. Have not such stories been recounted in the past and present?

Others object, saying that if it were the case that people become ghosts after death, then all the ghosts from ancient times on would crowd the streets and roads and others would encounter them, so why is this not the case? The answer is that people die and [are reborn] into [one of] the six realms of 150

I. Critique of Deluded Clinging

transmigration. It is not necessarily the case that everyone becomes a ghost and that ghosts will become human beings when they die. How could ghosts endlessly accumulate from ancient times? Besides, the material force of Heaven and Earth is originally without intelligence, and human beings are endowed with this nescient material force. How then could they suddenly come to have intelligence? Also plants are endowed with this same material force, so why are they not intelligent?

It has also been said that [if one is] poor or rich, noble or base, wise or foolish, good or evil, or has good luck or bad luck, calamities or blessings— it is all the Mandate of Heaven. The endowment of Heaven includes more poor people and fewer rich ones, more base and fewer noble, or even more calamitous and less blessed. If increase and decrease are allotted by Heaven, why is Heaven so unjust? Even more so in the case of those who do not practice [good conduct] yet are of the nobility, or those who observe moral principles yet remain in a low social class; those who lack virtue yet are wealthy, virtuous yet poor; unjust people who are lucky, while those who are just are unlucky; the good die young and the cruel are long-lived. People of the Way perish, while those without the Way flourish. If all these come from Heaven, why does Heaven grant prosperity to those who lack the Way and destroy those who follow it? Where are the rewards of fortune for the good and profit for the modest? Or the punishment of calamity for the debauched and loss for the excessive?

Again, if disorder and rebellion are also the Mandate of Heaven, then why do the teachings established by the sages reproach only humanity but not Heaven? They punish people but not the Mandate; this is definitely unfair. Yes, the Book of Songscriticizes corrupt governments, and the Book of Historical Documentspraises the kingly way. The Book of Ritesextols stable leadership, and the Classic of Musiccalls for the transformation of manners. How can these be regarded as following the heavenly intention above and obeying the will of Heaven? From this we know that those who have devoted themselves to these teachings are not yet able to understand the origin of humanity. 151

708c

II. Critique of the Partial

and Shallow Teachings

(For those who practice the incomplete doctrines of Buddhism.) There are five grades of Buddhist teachings, from shallow to deep: (1) The teaching for humans and gods, (2) the teaching of the Lesser Vehicle (Hinayana), (3) the Great Vehicle (Mahayana) teaching of dharma characteristics, (4) the Great Vehicle teaching that refutes phenomenal appearances, (These teachings are included in this section.) and (5) the One Vehicle teaching that reveals the Dharma-nature. (This is included in Section III.)

(1) For those who have just been initiated, the Buddha discussed the doctrine of good and evil karmic retribution in the three periods of past, present, and future. This means that if a person has committed the ten most grave unwholesome activities he will fall into hell after he dies; crimes committed at a middling level will lead to rebirth as a hungry ghost (preta); crimes of the lowest degree will lead to rebirth as an animal. Thus the Buddha has prescribed something analogous to the five constant virtues of the worldly teachings (Although the secular teachings of India are different from [the Chinese] ritual standard, they do not differ as far as punishing the wicked and extolling the good are concerned. Nor do they depart from the five constant virtues of humaneness[ren],justice[yi],etc., thus providing cultivatable virtues. Taking the manner of greeting as an example, the practice in China is to raise both hands together, while in Tibet the manner is to lower one '

s two hands separately.), causing people to observe the five precepts. (Not killing is humaneness, not stealing is justice, not committing adultery is propriety[li], not lying is trustworthiness[xin], not consuming wine and meat cleanses the spirit, which is beneficial for wisdom [zhi]). This enables one not to fall into the three lower realms and to be reborn in the human realm. If a person practices the ten wholesome behaviors at the highest level, as well as giving and the precepts, he or she will be reborn in one of the six heavens in the realm of desire; if a person practices the four kinds of meditation and the eight kinds of concentration, he or she will be reborn in the heavens of form and formlessness. (The reason that the realms of heavenly beings, ghosts, and hells are not 153

709a

Treatise on the Origin of Humanity

mentioned here is that these belong to the different spheres that cannot be reached through the senses of seeing or hearing. If ordinary people do not even know the branches, how can they know the root? This is why the origin of humanity is presented here in order to counteract secular teachings. As I am now discussing the Buddhist scriptures, [Buddhist terms] are used here.) This is why the teaching is called the teaching of humans and gods. (However, karma is of three kinds: first, evil; second, good; and third, nonretributive. There are also three times of retribution: effected in the present life, in the next life, and in the subsequent rebirth.) According to this teaching, karma is the origin of one's existence.

It may be questioned now that if being reborn in one of the five realms is due to the effect of karma, who is it that creates karma and receives the retribution? If it is the [bodily organs and members of the] eyes, ears, hands, and feet that create karma, why don't the eyes, ears, hands and feet of someone who has just died have the same functions of seeing, hearing, etc. as when the person was alive? If you say that it is the mind that creates karma, then what is this mind (written with the character for "heart")? If it means the physical heart, then the substance of the heart is confined to the body. How then could it suddenly enter into the eyes and ears and decide "yes" and "no" externally? If one cannot decide "yes" or "no,

" how could one accept and

reject things? Moreover, if the mind and the eyes, ears, hands, and feet are essentially separated from each other, how can they communicate with other internal and external organs to coordinate movement and create karma jointly? You might say that it is only feelings of joy and anger, like and dislike that stimulate the body and mouth to create karma. Yet feelings of joy, anger, etc. arise and cease from moment to moment without any enduring substance. What, then, is the agent that creates karma? If you say that one should not inquire into individual items, that it is the entire body/mind complex that creates karma, then who will receive the retribution of suffering or happiness after the body dies? If you say that there is another body that still exists after death, then how can the body/mind that has committed sins or cultivated merit cause that future mind/body to receive the effects of suffering or happiness [from its acts]? If this is the case, how unfortunate is the one who has cultivated merit, and how fortunate is the one who has committed sins! What is this divine Principle (shenli) that is so unjust? From this we know that the 154

II. Critique of the Partial and Shallow Teachings

practitioners of this teaching only believed in karmic causation but did not penetrate to the origin of existence.

(2) The teaching of the Lesser Vehicle asserts that since the beginningless past the physical body and the thinking mind arise based on the power of causes and conditions, and they arise and cease from moment to moment continuously and endlessly, like a steady trickle of water or the flames of a lamp. The body and mind provisionally assemble, appearing to be unitary and permanent, but ordinary ignorant people do not realize this and thus grasp it as a self. By treasuring this self people develop the three poisons of attachment (attaching to fame and profit so as to prosper the self), ill-will (aversion toward disagreeable objects for fear that they may harm the self), and ignorance (illogical considerations). The three poisons stimulate the mind and motivate [acts of] the body and speech, thus creating all kinds of karma. Once karma is formed it is difficult to escape. This is why people receive a suffering or a joyful body in one of the five destinies (as the result of their particular karma), and either a superior or inferior place in the triple world (as the result of shared karma). One grasps the received body as the self and repeatedly gives rise to attachment and so on, creates karma, and again receives retribution. The body then passes through birth, old age, sickness, and death again and is reborn. The worlds too pass through the stages of formation, existence, decay, and voidness; they are emptied and formed again. (About the formation of the world from the empty kalpa, a verse says:)

A great wind rises up in the realm of space (kongjie), Reaching everywhere, without limit.

Sixteen lakṣas10 in thickness,

Adamantine, indestructible.

This is called the wind that supports the world,

The golden treasury cloud of Light-sound (Ābhāsvara) Heaven. Spread over the three thousand realms,

Rain falls [and forms pools] up to the axles of the wagons; The wind so strong one cannot hear the flow of water,

Which rises to the height of eleven lakṣas.

First the diamond realm is created,

Then the golden treasury cloud next.

155

Treatise on the Origin of Humanity

Pouring rains filled this up,

Thus creating the realm of Brahmā.

All realms down to the Yāma Heaven were created in sequence, Vibrant winds purified the waters.

The seven metals and materials of Mount Sumeru, Along with the dregs, become mountainous lands, The four continents and joyless hells, All surrounded by salty oceans—

The world of names and things is thus established. After passing through one kalpaof increase and decrease, And arriving at the bliss of the second meditation. They eventually descend to be born in the human world, Where they first eat thin earth cakes (pṛthivī-parpaṭaka) and shrubs from the forests.

Millet is taken later,

Undigested and passed quickly.

Male and female forms are distinguished, Lands are divided and rulers are established. Ministers and officials are recruited, And everything is thus differentiated. After this they pass through nineteen more kalpas of increase and decrease,

Making twenty [minor] kalpas of increase and decrease in total. This is called the kalpaof formation (vivarta-kalpa). It might be argued that the kalpaof annihilation (saṃvarta-sthāyī-kalpa) points to the vacuous Dao mentioned by the Daoists. However, the Dao embodies tranquil illumination and supernormal penetration, which are not vacuous. The Daoists might have been confused, or perhaps wished to put forward an expedient means in order to eliminate human desires, and so they pointed to the realm of emptiness as the Dao. The great wind in the realm of space is what the Daoists called the single material force of the Primordial Chaos. This is why they say that "The Dao produced the One. "11The "golden

treasury cloud" refers to the beginning of material formation, which is the Supreme Polarity (taiji). The "rain falls down. . . " but does not flow is the

156

II. Critique of the Partial and Shallow Teachings

congealing of the yinmaterial force. Creation is possible only when yinand yang are united.

"The realm of Brahmā . . . and Mount Sumeru" is what

[Daoists] call Heaven; the "dirt and dregs" are Earth. This is what is meant by "The One produced the Two.

"12 The "bliss of the second meditation . . .

born into the human world" means humanity. This is what Daoists call "The Two produced the Three.

" The three potencies (san-cai) are now complete.

The various items described following "thin earth cakes" is what the Daoists mean by "The Three produce the myriad things.

" This corresponds to the

period of the Three August Emperors, in which people lived in caves and ate raw food, as fire had not yet been harnessed. However, because there were not yet any literary records at the time, accounts transmitted to people of later generations are unclear. Errors occurred in transmission and discrepancies appeared in the literature of various schools.

Because the Buddhist teachings were clearly known throughout the trichiliocosm and were not confined to the great Tang empire, Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts are not fully in accord. The word "abiding" means the abiding kalpa (vivarta siddha). This too passes through twenty minor kalpas of increase and decrease. The word "destruction" means the kalpaof destruction (saṃvarta), which too passes through twenty minor kalpas of increase and decrease. The first nineteen kalpas of increase and decrease destroy sentient beings, and the last destroys the natural world. The agents of destruction are the three calamities of fire, flood, and wind. The word "space" means the kalpaof annihilation (saṃvarta-sthāyin), which also passes through twenty [cycles of] increase and decrease. In this period of annihilation there is neither a world nor sentient beings.]

Kalpaafter kalpa,birth after birth, the endless and beginningless wheel of transmigration goes on, like the pulley over a well. (The Daoists understand only that there was a period of vacuity before the formation of the world, the "

vacuous and undifferentiated material force

" that is called the Primordial

Beginning. They do not know that long before this empty period there were already thousands and thousands of hundreds of thousands of pervasive kalpas of formation, abiding, destruction, and annihilation, ending and beginning again. From this, we know that even the shallow teaching of Lesser Vehicle Buddhism already surpasses the deepest teaching of the non-Buddhists.) This is due to the failure to understand that this body has never 157

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been a self. That it is not a self means that the body is a form created by the union of physical and mental elements. If these are investigated and analyzed, the physical elements are the four gross elements of earth, water, fire, and air, and the mental elements are the four aggregates of feeling (the ability to feel pleasant and unpleasant sensations), perception (the ability to apprehend images), mental formation (the ability to act in transition from moment to moment), and consciousness (the ability to discriminate). If each one of these were a self, then there would be eight selves.

Furthermore, there are many elements within the great element of earth. Each of the three hundred and sixty bones can be counted separately; the skin, hair, tendons, muscles, liver, heart, spleen, and kidneys are all distinct from one another. Various functions of the mind are also distinct: seeing is not hearing, joy is not anger; such also is the case of the eighty-four thousand afflictions. Which among these numberless things should be selected out as the self? If they are all selves, then there would be a hundred or a thousand selves—in which case there is bound to be confusion created by the multiplicity of masters within a single body. Apart from these there is no other separate dharma. No matter how much you seek this self you will not find it.

So we should immediately realize that the body is nothing other than a seeming conglomeration of myriad conditions. If there is originally no self, for whom would there be craving and ill-will? For whom is there killing or stealing, giving or morality? (This is knowing [the first of the Four Noble Truths], the truth of suffering.) Thereafter, one does not become attached to contaminated good or evil in the triple world (this refers to [the third of the Four Noble Truths,]the truth of eliminating the causes of suffering) but cultivates insight only from the contemplation of no-self ([the fourth of the Four Noble Truths,]the truth of the path). Because attachment and so on are cut off, all karmic activities cease and the thusness of no-self is attained (the truth of cessation). One is even able to attain the realization of arhatship. Through extinguishing body and mind you are able to cut off all suffering. According to this teaching, the two dharmas of form and mind, as well as craving, ill-will, and delusion, are the origin of the [sense] faculties, the body, and the natural world. There is no other dharma of the past or future that can be regarded as the origin.

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It may be questioned now that the substance of the entity that was born and reborn through many transmigrations would endure without any interruption. Now, the five [sense] consciousnesses cannot arise without causal conditions (the sense organs and their objects are the conditions), and the thinking consciousness sometimes does not function (such as during states of fainting or deep sleep, or in the concentration of extinction [i.e., cessation], the thoughtless concentration, or the heaven of no-thought). In the formless heaven there are no four gross elements. What then holds the entity together without extinction throughout many transmigrations? From this we know that those who exclusively hold to this teaching also do not get to the origin of human existence.

(3) The Mahayana teaching of dharma characteristics asserts that all sentient beings from the beginningless past are naturally endowed with the eight kinds of consciousness. Of these eight, the store consciousness (ālaya vijñāna) is the root. It transforms suddenly into the seeds of the sense organs, the body, and the material world; the other seven consciousnesses are then produced in turn, and all of these are capable of transforming their respective objects, though none is a real dharma. How do they transform? It is said that it is due to the discrimination of self and dharmas empowered by perfuming. When all the consciousnesses arise, they appear as the apparent self and dharmas due to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses being obscured by ignorance. Therefore people attach to a real self and real dharmas, just as a sick person [has hallucinations] (serious illness muddles the mind, thus one sees strange things and people) or as if in a dream (everyone knows what dream images are like). Because of the effects of illness or dreams, the content of the mind appears to be various objective phenomena. When we are dreaming we grasp the dream images as if they were actual external objects. Only after we awaken do we know that these are only the [images] in the dream. It is the same with the self, which is nothing but the transformation of consciousness. In delusion we grasp the existence of a self and its objects. From this delusion karma is created and [the cycle of] birth and death goes on endlessly. (This was discussed in detail above.) When this principle is understood, then you will know that the self and body are nothing but the transformations of consciousness, and that consciousness is the basis of the body. (The incomplete aspects of this doctrine are refuted in the following section.) 159

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(4) The Mahayana teaching of the refutation of characteristics refutes both the prior Mahayana and Hinayana attachment to the characteristics of dharmas. This is the principle of the emptiness and tranquility of the true nature after the hidden is revealed. (The refutation of dharma characteristics is not confined to the Perfection of Wisdom [Prajñāpāramitā] literature but is found throughout the Mahayana scriptures. The previous three teachings were discussed according to their sequence of development, but this teaching refutes attachment wherever it is encountered, regardless of time period. Therefore, Nāgārjuna propounded the two kinds of wisdom[prajñā]:first is shared wisdom and second is unshared wisdom. "Shared" [wisdom]refers to that which

is heard, believed in, and understood by adherents of the two vehicles, the teaching that refutes attachment to dharmas;

"

unshared" [wisdom]refers

to that which is exclusively understood by bodhisattvas as it secretly reveals the buddha-nature. The two Indian exegetes Śīlabhadra and Jñānaprabha established their respective teachings of the three periods of time in reference to this teaching of emptiness. Some say that this teaching came before the establishment of the consciousness only[i.e., Yogācāra]doctrine of dharma characteristics; others say that that it was posited afterward. I support the latter position.)

If you wish to refute the former, you would first ask: If the transformed objects are unreal how can the transforming consciousness be real? If you say that one exists while the other does not (this analogy will be used in refutation of other teachings later), then perceptions in a dream would be different from the thing that is perceived in the dream. If they are different, then what is seen in the dream is not the [actual] thing, which is not seen in the dream. Otherwise, when one awakens and the dream disappears, the seen thing would still remain. Again, if the thing is not in the dream it would be real; and if that which appears in a dream is not an [actual] thing, where do its characteristics come from? From this we can know that while in the dream, both the perceptions and the things perceived in the dream seem to show the distinctions of "seer" and "seen,

" but in fact they are both void and unreal,

and thus utterly nonexistent. Consciousness is also like this. It has no selfnature and exists only nominally in dependence on myriad conditions. The Madhyamaka-śāstrasays:

160

II. Critique of the Partial and Shallow Teachings There has never been a single dharma

Not produced by causes and conditions.

Hence, among all dharmas

There are none that are empty.

The accompanying prose says,

ing—I say they are empty.

"13

The Awakening of Mahayana Faith says:

"Dharmas produced from dependent aris-The discrimination of all dharmas is only due to illusory thought. If one frees oneself from illusory thought, then the defining characteristics of all objective realms disappear.

14

[The Diamond] Sutrasays,

"All things that have characteristics are false and ephemeral. Those who separate from characteristics are called buddhas. "15

(These kinds of statements can be found throughout the Mahayana canon.) It is known from this that both the mind and objects are empty; only this is the real principle of the Mahayana. If one seeks for the origin of humanity according to this, the form of existence is originally empty and the emptiness is the root. Now let us examine the teaching again: If mind and object are both nonexistent, who is the knower of this nonexistence? Furthermore, if all objects are unreal, what makes the false phenomena manifest? Moreover, none of the manifested false phenomena could arise without relying on something that is real. Without the wet and immutable water, how could we see the false characteristics of waves? Without a clear and immutable mirror, how could we see the unreal and temporary reflections? Again, as mentioned earlier, both the perceptions and objects that appear in a dream are unreal; if this is true, then the unreal dream must be dependent on the sleeping person. Now, if the mind and the object are both empty, how can we explain the basis upon which the false phenomenon manifests? From this it is known that this teaching merely refutes attachment to discriminations, it still does not reveal the real and sapient nature. Hence, the Dharma Drum Sutra says, "All the scriptures on the doctrine of emptiness require further explanation (neyārtha). "16

("Require further explanation

"

means that some points still remain unexplained.) The scripture of the Great Perfection of Wisdomsays, "The teaching

of emptiness is the initial entrance into the Great Vehicle. "17

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