A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

by Wing-Tsit Chan

  This Mind is to be carefully differentiated from that of the Consciousness-Only School. The world is not consciousness itself but the manifestation of the Mind. It is not in constant transformation as is the Mind of the Consciousness-Only School. Instead, it does not change. Since it involves all, it cannot, like the Consciousness-Only School, exclude a certain group of people from salvation. In fact, one of the outstanding features of T’ien-t’ai is the doctrine of universal salvation. Since everything involves everything else, it follows that all beings possess Buddha-nature and are therefore capable of salvation. The logical position of the T’ien-t’ai School cannot tolerate any different position, although the Confucian doctrine that everyone can become a sage definitely prepared for it.7 As to methods for salvation, the school lays dual emphasis on concentration and insight.

  The school can be traced to Kumārajīva,8 but the founder was really Chih-i (538-597)9 who lived and taught in the T’ien-t’ai (Heavenly Terrace) Mountain in Chekiang. Hence the school is called T’ien-t’ai.10 This fact is significant because it indicates that the school is essentially Chinese. It is true that it was founded by Chih-i on the authority of the Indian text, the Lotus Scripture,11 that the doctrine of the Ten Characters of Thusness comes from this scripture, and that the idea that dharmas, Emptiness, and the Middle Path are identical is taught in the Chung lun (Treatise on the Middle Doctrine) of the Three-Treatise School.12 But it was Hui-wen (550-577) who discovered the idea in that treatise and developed it into a central doctrine. The idea of three thousand worlds immanent in a single instant of thought was Chih-i’s own.

  The philosophical ideas underlie the basic scriptures of the school but they are not expressed in lengthy passages. Chih-i’s works are mostly devoted to spiritual cultivation.

  The following selections are from the Ta-ch’eng chih-kuan fa-men13 (The Method of Concentration and Insight) ascribed to Hui-ssu (514-577),14 Hui-wen’s pupil and Chih-i’s teacher, which is perhaps the most philosophical of all. Its authenticity has been questioned because it quotes a scripture which appeared earlier.15 But it is a work in which the equal emphasis of the school on the Mind as the totality of the universe and on the method of concentration and insight is made.

  THE METHOD OF CONCENTRATION AND INSIGHT

  1. The Various Aspects of the Mind

  By concentration is meant to know that all dharmas (elements of existence), from the very beginning have no nature of their own. They neither come into nor go out of existence. Because they are caused by illusion and imagination, they exist without real existence. But the existence of existent dharmas is the same as nonexistence. They are only the one mind, whose substance admits no differentiation. Those who hold this view can stop the flow of erroneous thought. This is called concentration.16

  By insight17 is meant that although we know that [things] originally do not come into existence and at present do not go out of existence, nevertheless they were caused to arise out of the mind’s nature and hence are not without a worldly function of an unreal and imaginative nature. They are like illusions and dreams which [seem to] exist but really do not. This is therefore called insight. . . . It means to base and concentrate on the one mind in order to practice concentration and insight. . . .

  This mind is the same as the Mind of Pure Self-nature, True Thusness, Buddha-nature, Dharma-body, the Storehouse of the Thus-come (Tathāgata), the Realm of Dharmas, and Dharma-nature. . . .

  Question: Why is it called the Mind of Pure Self-nature?

  Answer: Although this mind has been obscured from time immemorial by contaminating dharmas based on ignorance,18 yet its nature of purity has never changed. Hence it is called pure. Why? Because contaminating dharmas based on ignorance are from the beginning separated from the mind. Why do we say that they are separated? Because dharmas with ignorance as their substance are nonexistent dharmas. Their existence is the same as nonexistence. Since they are nonexistent, they cannot be associated with the mind. Therefore we say they are separated. Since there are no contaminating dharmas based on ignorance to be associated with it, therefore it is called pure in nature. Being central (without going to the extreme) and real, it is originally awakened. It is therefore called the mind. For these reasons it is called the Mind of Pure Self-nature.

  Question: Why is it called True Thusness (True Reality)?19

  Answer: All dharmas depend on this mind for their being and take the mind as their substance. When it is compared with dharmas all of them are unreal and imaginary, and their existence is the same as non-existence. Contrasted with these unreal and false dharmas, the mind is regarded as true.

  Furthermore, although dharmas are really nonexistent, because they are caused by illusion and imagination, they have the character of coming into and going out of existence. When unreal dharmas come into existence, this mind does not come into existence, and when the dharmas go out of existence, this mind does not go out of existence. Not coming into existence, it is therefore not increased, and not going out of existence, it is therefore not decreased. Because it neither comes into nor goes out of existence and is neither increased nor decreased, it is called true. The Buddhas of the three ages (past, present, and future) and all sentient beings have this one Pure Mind as their substance. All ordinary and saintly beings and dharmas each have their own differences and differentiated characters. But this True Mind has neither differentiation nor characters. It is therefore called Thusness.

  Furthermore, by True Thusness is meant that all dharmas, being thus real, are merely this one mind. Therefore this one mind is called True Thusness. If there are dharmas outside of the mind, they are neither real nor thus so, but are false and differentiated characters. This is why the Awakening of Faith says, “From the very beginning all dharmas are free from the characters of words and speech, from the characters of terms and concepts, and from the characters of mental causation (groping for objects). At bottom they are all the same, without differentiation, do not change or become different, and cannot be destroyed. They are only one mind. Therefore it is called True Thusness.”20 Because of this meaning, the Mind of Pure Self-nature is also called True Thusness.

  Comment. We have here the major doctrines of the school in a nutshell: the Three Levels of Truth, namely, that dharmas are differentiated (Temporary Truth), that the True Mind is not differentiated (the Truth of Emptiness), and that True Thusness means that dharmas are real in this way (the Truth of the Mean). Furthermore, all this is but the one mind.

  Question: Why is this mind also called Buddha-nature?

  Answer: The word “buddha” means awakening, and nature means the mind. Because the substance of this Pure Mind is not unawakened, it is described as the awakened mind.

  Question: How do you know that this true mind is not unawakened?

  Answer: Unawakening is the basis of ignorance. If this Pure Mind were ignorance, then when all sentient beings attain Buddhahood and ignorance is annihilated, there would be no true mind. Why? Because the mind is ignorance. Since ignorance is naturally annihilated, the Pure Mind naturally exists. We therefore know that the Pure Mind is not unawakening. Furthermore, only when unawakening is annihilated can the Pure Mind be realized. From this we know that the mind is not unawakening. (ch. 1, tsd, 46:642)

  Question: Why is this mind called Dharma-body?21

  Answer: The meaning of dharma consists in functioning, and the body means a place to depend and rest upon. Because the substance of this mind has the function of being affected by contamination, it is influenced by all contaminating dharmas. Precisely because this mind is affected by contamination, it can get hold of and control the power of this influence and also can, on the basis of this influence, manifest the contaminating dharmas. That is to say, the two functions—to hold and to manifest—which this mind by its nature possesses, and the two types of contaminating dharmas—the held and the manifested—are all established on the basis of this one mind, and are neither the same with nor different from it. Therefore this mind
is called Dharma-body. . . .

  Question: Why is this mind also called the Storehouse of the Thus-come (Tathāgata)?22

  Answer:. . . .Because it embodies both the nature and the fact of contamination as well as the nature and the fact of purity without obstacle. Therefore it is called the storehouse by virtue of its ability to store. Because the substance of the storehouse is the same and not differentiated, it is called “thus.” And because all causations arise in the same way, it is called “come” . . . . Because this True Mind is stored (covered) by the shell of ignorance, it is described as the storehouse that is stored. As the substance of the storehouse has neither differentiation nor characters, it is called “thus,” and as its substance fully possesses both functions of contamination and purity, it is called “come.” Therefore it is called the storehouse by virtue of what is stored in it. . . . It is called “thus” because contamination and purity are the same and not differentiated, and it is called “come” because it can produce both contamination and purity. Therefore it is called the Storehouse of Thus-come by virtue of its ability to produce.

  Comment. The spirit of synthesis is here carried to the point of maintaining that both nature (substance) and fact (function) involve contamination and purity at the same time. Fung Yu-lan suggests that this is a dualistic theory of human nature.23 This is true only insofar as the world of phenomenon is concerned, for underlying contamination and purity there is always the Mind of Pure Nature. Applied to the question of salvation, the idea of the coexistence of contamination and purity provides a logical basis for the idea that ordinary people and the Buddhas possess the nature of each other, but through concentration and insight, all can realize Buddha nature and be saved.

  Question: Why is the Pure Mind also called the Realm of Dharmas?24

  Answer: Because dharmas are naturally what they are and because the realm means that in which the natures of dharmas are differentiated. Because the substance of this mind naturally makes all dharmas fully sufficient, it is therefore described as the Realm of Dharmas.

  Question: Why is this Pure Mind called Dharma-nature?

  Answer: Dharma refers to all dharmas and by nature is meant the differentiation of substance. Because this Pure Mind possesses the nature to differentiate, it can become the substance of all dharmas. Furthermore, by nature is meant that the substance is really unchanged, for all dharmas take this mind as their substance. The characters of all dharmas spontaneously come into and go out of existence. Therefore they are called unreal and imaginary, and because this mind is real, unchangeable, and indestructible, it is called Dharma-nature. . . .

  As to the substance and features of the mind, there are three:. . . (1) From the very beginning this mind has been free from all kinds of character. It is the same without differentiation and is in the state of Nirvāṇa. It is not with characters. It is not without characters. It is not either with or without characters. And it is not neither with nor without characters. . . .

  (2) Although it has been explained above that the Pure Mind is free from the characters of all discriminative minds and sense objects, nevertheless these characters are not different from the Pure Mind. Why? Although the substance of this mind is the same and not differentiated, it originally possesses both functions of being contaminated and remaining pure. Furthermore, because of the power of ignorance and imagination to influence it from time immemorial, both its substance and its function of being contaminated manifest themselves according to the influence. These unreal characters have no substance; they are but the Pure Mind. Hence it is said that [substance and features] are not different.

  But at the same time they are not the same. Why? Because, although it possesses the two functions of contamination and purity, the substance of the Pure Mind does not have the character of distinction between the two. It is simply the same and undifferentiated. Simply depending on the unreal characters manifested by the power of influence, there are varying degrees of difference. But these unreal characters come into and go out of existence, whereas the substance of the Pure Mind is eternal: it neither comes into nor goes out of existence, and endures forever without change. Hence it is said that [substance and features] are not the same. . . . (ch. 1, tsd, 46:644-645)

  (3) The substance of the storehouse is the same and undifferentiated, and in fact has no differentiation. In this respect it is the Storehouse of the Thus-come of Emptiness. However, because the substance of this storehouse also has mysterious functions, it possesses all dharma natures to the fullest extent, including their differentiations. In this respect, it is the Storehouse of the Thus-come of Non-emptiness, that is, the differentiation of non-differentiation.

  What does this mean? It means that it does not, like a lump of clay, possess many particles of dust. Why? The lump of clay is false, whereas the particles of dust are real. Therefore each particle has its own distinctive material. But since they are combined to form a lump of clay, it possesses the distinctiveness of the various particles. But the Storehouse of the Thus-come is different from this. Why? Because the Storehouse of the Thus-come is the Real Dharma. It is perfectly harmonious without duality. Therefore the Storehouse of the Thus-come, in its totality, is the nature of a single hair-pore of a single being, and at the same time the nature of all hair-pores of that being. And as in the case of the nature of the hair-pore, so in that of the nature of every dharma in the world. . . . (ch. 2, tsd, 46:648).

  2. Three Ages as an Instant; Substance and Function

  Question: Is an instant of thought on my part an equivalent to the three ages? Is what is seen as a particle of dust the equivalent of the ten cardinal directions?

  Answer: Not only is an instant of thought equivalent to the three ages; we may say that it is the full span of the three ages. Not only is a particle of dust equivalent to the ten cardinal directions; we may say that it is the world of ten directions. Why? Because all dharmas are but one mind. Therefore there is no differentiation in itself, for differentiation is the one mind. As the mind involves all functions, the one mind is differentiation. They are always the same and always different. The Realm of Dharmas [the universe] is naturally so. . . .

  Comment. The all-in-one and one-in-all theory is further developed in the Hua-yen School. T’ien-t’ai exerted a strong influence on it, and through it on Neo-Confucianism.

  Question: If substance and function are not different, it can only be said that the Two Levels of Truth (worldly or relative truth and absolute truth) involve each other. How can worldly truth also involve worldly events?

  Answer: By saying substance and function are not different, one does not mean collecting the different functions of many particles of dust to form the one substance of the lump of clay. It merely means that within the level of worldly truth, every event or character is the total substance of absolute truth. Therefore we say that substance and function are not different. Because of this meaning, if absolute truth involves completely all events and characters within the level of worldly truth, at the same time every single event or character within the level of worldly truth also involves completely all events and characters within the level of worldly truth, (ch. 2, tsd, 46:650)

  Comment. Because the school advocates the doctrine of the harmony of the Three Levels of Truth, it is a definite advance beyond the doctrine of the Two Levels of Truth of other schools. The intention here is not to affirm Two Levels of Truth but to stress the idea that one involves all and all involve one.

  3. The Function of Concentration and Insight

  As to the function of concentration and insight: It means that because of the accomplishment of concentration, the Pure Mind is realized in substance, the nature which is without duality is harmonized through principle (li, rational nature of things), these and all sentient beings are harmoniously identified to form a body of one single character. Thereupon the Three Treasures25 are merged together without being three, and because of this the Two Levels of Truth are fused without being two. How calm, still, and pure!
How deep, stable, and quiet! How pure and clear the inner silence! It functions without the character of functioning, and acts without the character of acting. It is so because all dharmas are from the very beginning the same and not differentiated and because the nature of the mind is naturally so. This is the substance of the most profound Dharma-nature.

  It also means that because of the accomplishment of insight, the substance of the Pure Mind is manifested, and the function of the Realm of Dharmas, which is without obstacle, naturally produces all capabilities to be contaminated and to be pure. . . . Again, owing to the accomplishment of concentration, one’s mind is the same and not differentiated and one no longer remains within the cycle of life and death. Yet owing to the accomplishment of insight, one’s characteristics and functions arise from causation and one does not enter Nirvāṇa. Moreover, owing to the accomplishment of concentration, one remains in the great Nirvāṇa, and yet owing to the attainment of insight, one dwells in the realm of life and death. Furthermore, owing to the accomplishment of concentration, one is not contaminated by the world, but owing to the attainment of insight, one is not bogged down in the realm of extinction [of passions, that is, Nirvāṇa]. Further, owing to the accomplishment of concentration, one achieves eternal extinction in the process of functioning, and owing to the attainment of insight, one achieves eternal function in the state of extinction. Further, owing to the accomplishment of concentration, one knows that the cycle of life and death is the same as Nirvāṇa, and owing to the attainment of insight, one knows that Nirvāṇa is the same as the cycle of life and death. Further, owing to the accomplishment of concentration, one knows that the cycle of life and death and Nirvāṇa cannot be attained at the same time, but owing to the attainment of insight, one knows that transmigration is the cycle of life and death and the absence of transmigration is Nirvāṇa. (ch. 4, tsd, 46:661)