16--Indra is King of Heaven in Hinduism, who fights demons with his thunderbolt. Buddhism adopted him as its defender, but he is considered to be inferior to the Buddha. His net is a favorite Buddhist metaphor. The net is decorated with a bright jewel on each knot of the mesh. Each of these many jewels reflects not only the image of every other jewel, but all the other jewels, and so on to infinity.
17--Avidya, notably ignorance of facts and principles about dharmas.
18--This is ālaya consciousness. For its characterization, see above, ch. 23, sec. 3.
19--These are the two translations of the word. It denotes perfect wisdom.
20--That is, in the state of Thusness (Tathātā), devoid of characters.
21--I-ch’ieh-chung chih in Chinese; it means that one knows from one kind of knowledge all the ways of the various Buddhas. It is the highest of the Three Wisdoms, namely, the wisdom of Buddha’s Direct Disciples, who know the character of universality of the emptiness of all dharmas; the wisdom of bodhisattvas or saints, who know the character of specialty, that is, differences and diversities; and the wisdom of the Buddhas, who know both. Thus the last types of wisdom include the preceding two.
22--Source unidentified. A similar saying is found in Hua-yen ching, sec. 10, pt. 1, tsd, 9:442.
23--The word ch’ü here is not to be understood as to take, apprehend, seize, or accept, but to cling to or to be attached to.
24--For this concept, see above, ch. 24, n.19.
25--I have not been able to trace the source of this quotation.
26--See above, ch. 19, introduction.
27--I have not been able to trace the source of this quotation.
28--Hua-yen ching, sec. 22, pt. 3, tsd, 9:558.
29--To Buddhists, the view that things come to an end is a great heresy, as wrong as the view that things are eternal.
30--One who has dedicated himself to seek salvation for himself and others.
31--Hua-yen ching, sec. 10, pt. 2, tsd, 9:443.
32--ibid., sec. 20, tsd, 10:101.
33--Vimalakīrtinirdeśa sūtra (Scripture Spoken by Vimalakīkti), sec. 5 (with slight alteration), tsd, 14:544. I am grateful to Professor Nakamura Hajime of the University of Tokyo and Professor Mou Tsung-san of Hong Kong for this information.
34--Hua-yen ching, sec. 13, tsd, 9:450.
35--Vimalakīrtinirdeśa sūtra, sec. 9, tsd, 14:551.
36--These mountains are believed to encircle the earth.
37--Hua-yen ching, sec. 11, tsd, 9:447.
38--ibid., sec. 13, tsd, 9:451.
39--ibid., sec. 16, tsd, 9:465, a paraphrase.
40--ibid., sec. 2, pt. 3, tsd, 9:414.
THE ZEN (CH’AN) SCHOOL OF SUDDEN ENLIGHTENMENT
1--Hu Shih, “Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism in China: Its History and Method,” Philosophy East and West, 3 (1953), p. 12.
2--Suzuki, “Zen: A Reply to Hu Shih,” ibid., p. 40.
3--See Hu Shih, Hu Shih lun-hsüeh chin-cliu (Recent Essays on Learned Subjects by Hu Shih), 1931, pp. 486-487, T’ang Yung-t’ung, Han Wei Liang-Chin Nan-pei-ch’ao Fo-chiao shih (History of Chinese Buddhism from 206 b.c. to a.d. 589), Shang-hai, 1938, pp. 779-780, and Lo Hsiang-lin, T’ang-tai wen-hua shih (History of the Civilization of the T’ang Dynasty, 618-907), Taiwan, 1955, pp. 110-123. Tradition said that Bodhidharma came to Canton in 520 or 527. Hu rejects these dates and said he came during 470-475. Lo believes he arrived between 465 and 524. T’ang thinks he died in China before 534. For his biography see Hsü kao-seng chuan (Supplement to the Biographies of Eminent Monks), ch. 19, tsd, 50:551 and Chingte ch’uan-teng lu (Records of the Transmission of the Lamp Compiled during the Ching-te Period, 1004-1107), sptk, 3:1 b-9b. It is not certain whether he was a Persian or the son of an Indian prince. He first came and settled in a monastery in Canton. Unproved traditional accounts have added that he was invited by the emperor to go to the capital at Nanking. When the emperor asked if there was any merit in building temples or copying scriptures, he said no. Realizing that the emperor did not understand, he left and went to Lo-yang. For forty or fifty years he propagated the Lanka doctrine in North China and attracted many followers.
4--For his biography, see Sung kao-seng chuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks Compiled in the Sung Period [988]), ch. 8, tsd, 50:54, and Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu, 3:14b-16a. Accounts of his life are mostly legends. It is agreed that he was a bright boy and that after he joined the Buddhist order he spent most of his time in spiritual cultivation and teaching. In 659 he was favored with an imperial audience.
5--See translation by Suzuki, Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. It is from the existing Sanskrit text. The scripture that Bodhidharma is said to have transmitted is one of the four Chinese translations which were evidently made from different Sanskrit texts that are lost.
6--The Chin-kang ching or Vajracchedikā, perhaps the most popular Buddhist scripture in China. Among English translations, see Conze, Buddhist Wisdom Books, pp. 21-71, with commentary, and Shao Chang Lee, Popular Buddhism in China, pp. 27-52.
7--For his biography, see Sung kao-seng chuan, ch. 8, tsd, 50:755-756, and Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu, 4:15a-b. He was quite a student of Chinese philosophy before he joined the Buddhist order, having thoroughly studied Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and the Book of Changes. He became a monk probably at fifteen or older and Hung-jen’s pupil in 669 when he was at least fifty years old. He was therefore Hung-jen’s pupil for six years until the latter died. He was an abbot in a monastery in Hupei in central China until he was called by the empress. See Lo Hsiang-lin, T’ang-tai wen-hua shih, pp. 105-108, 136-143.
8--See Sung kao-seng ch’uan, ch. 8, tsd, 50:754-755 and Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu, 5:3a-5b. His life story told in the following selections is probably legendary. He was a native of Kwangtung. It is fairly certain that he was an orphan at three, went to visit Hung-jen at thirty-four, and became a Buddhist priest in Canton at thirty-nine. See Lo Hsiang-lin, ibid., pp. 143-156.
9--For his biography see Sung kao-seng chuan, ch. 8, tsd, 50:756-757 and Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu, 5:24a-b. His dates are usually given as 668-760, but after recent research Hu Shih decided on 670-762. See Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academica Sinica, 29 (1958), p. 875; extra vol. 4 (1960), p. 6. He studied Confucianism and Taoism before be became a Buddhist priest. After he was thirty, he went south to see Hui-neng. Much affected, he returned north to preach the doctrine of sudden enlightenment. In 720 he was appointed to be a priest in Honan and in 745 he was invited to live in a temple in the eastern capital, Lo-yang. Eight years later he was banished to Kiangsi because he was suspected of “gathering large crowds with harmful motives.”
10--For this concept, see above, ch. 24, n.19.
11--For the doctrine of universal salvation, see above, ch. 24 Introduction.
12--Pu-shuo-p’o.
13--Kung-an in Chinese and koan in Japanese.
14--Ts’ao-shan Pen-chi Ch’an-shih yü-lu (Recorded Conversations of Zen Master Pen-chi, 840-901), tsd, 47:539.
15--Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu, 19:14b. One of the most famous koans. Pi-yen lu (Records of the Green Cave), no. 12.
16--See Appendix for comments on Ching. Also see below, ch. 34, comment on sec. 12, and lists of topics in chs. 31 and 32.
17--These selections are made from the oldest version of the Liu-tsu t’an-ching discovered in a Tun-huang cave in 1900. In 1907 Sir Aurel Stein brought it to the British Museum. It contains about 11,000 Chinese characters and is included in tsd, no. 2007, 48:337-345. There are many mistakes in the Tun-huang copy. In these selections, the most obvious mistakes have been corrected. Minor corrections, however, have not been noted in footnotes. Sectioning follows the collated edition by Suzuki Teitarō and Kuda Rentarō, published in Tokyo in 1934, entitled Tonkō shutsudo Rokuso dankyō (The Platform Scripture of the Sixth Patriarch Uncovered at Tun-huang). For a complete translation and a lengthy discussion of this Tun-huang manuscript, see Wing-tsit Chan, trans., The Platform Scripture, The Basic Classic of Zen Buddhis
m, St. John’s University Press, 1963.
There are five later versions of the Liu-tsu t’an-ching. The latest version (tsd no. 12008, 48:345-365) is dated 1291. It is included in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) editions of the Buddhist Canon of 1420-1440 and is therefore generally called the Ming Canon version. It has been in general use for centuries. For two English translations and a partial German version, see Bibliography under “Hui-neng.” The Tun-huang version bears a very long title, of which Liu-tsu . . . . t’an-ching is only a part, and ascribes it to Hui-neng. Dr. Hu Shih thinks that it was probably by an eighth-century monk, most likely a follower of Shen-hui’s school (Philosophy East and West, 3 [1953], p. 11). In any case, the later the version was, the more additions and interpolation, so that the Ming Canon version is twice as long as the oldest text. However, elaboration does not alter the general story or the fundamental teachings.
18--Literally “South of the mountain ranges,” in the region of present Canton in South China.
19--Insertion according to Ui Hakuju, Zenshūshi kenkyū (Studies in the History of Zen), vol. 2, Tokyo, 1941, p. 119.
20--A fang, which could be a sizable area or simply a room.
21--Read chi (record) as ch’i (already), according to Ui, ibid., p. 120.
22--Where the blessings will keep on growing.
23--English translation by Suzuki, Laṅkāvatāra sūtra. Laṅka is an island’ south of India, popularly identified with Ceylon
24--Read yü (in) as ju (as). The popular (Ming Canon) version, sec. 2, has ju.
25--Original note in the text.
26--This is fa-men in Chinese. See above, ch. 24, n.13.
27--Read fa (start) as hou (afterward).
28--Insertion following Suzuki and Kuda. See n.17.
29--The popular version, sec. 4, has “self dharma,” that is, the dharma of self, instead of dharma-self, or dharmas and the self. In this case the four characters become those of a self, a human being, a being among men, and a being with a definite span of life.
30--See below, n.44.
31--Or spheres of objects. See above, ch. 23, n.8.
32--The popular version, sec. 4, has “if merely” instead of “don’t”, which makes the sentence say the opposite.
33--Read wu (no) as ssu (die), following the popular version, sec. 4.
34--Reading mo (none) as jo (if), following ibid.
35--Read hsi (stop) as ssu (to think), following Suzuki and Kuda.
36--Read ch’ü (go) as ch’i (arise), following ibid.
37--See ch. 24, n.19. Insertion according to the popular version, sec. 4.
38--Vimalakīrtinirdésa sūtra, sec. 1, tsd, 14:537. The words “externally” and “internally” do not appear in the original scripture.
39--Read chao (to attach) as k’an (to look at). The reason is obvious from what follows.
40--This interpretation accords with the sense in the popular version, sec. 5.
41--Read shang (up) as hsin (mind), according to the popular version, sec. 5.
42--Sec. 3, tsd, 14:541.
43--The scripture is part of sec. 10 of the Bramajāla sūtra (Fan-wang ching, or Brahma-net Scripture). See tsd, 24:1003.
44--Buddhism conceives a Buddha to have a threefold body, namely, the Law-body or spiritual body (Dharmakāya), the Reward-body or Enjoyment-body (Sambhogakāya), and the Transformation-body or body of incarnation (Nirmāṇakāya). The Law-body is the Buddha-body in its self-nature, the body of the Dharma or truth, the body of reality, the body of principle. This “body” has no bodily existence. It is identical with truth. In various schools it is identical with the Realm of Dharma (Dharmadhātu), Buddha-nature, or the Storehouse of the “Thus-come” (Tathāgatagarbha). The Reward-body is the person embodied with real insight, enjoying his own enlightenment or that of others. The Transformation-body is a body variously appearing to save people. The three bodies are three in one, are possessed of all Buddhas, and are potential to all men.
45--Original note in the text.
46--See above, ch. 20, n.41.
47--This word has been added according to the popular version, sec. 6.
48--Read k’an-ching (see reverence) as chao-clüng (attach to sphere), according to Suzuki and Kuda, and also Ui, p. 130.
49--A bodhisattva is one who is strongly determined to seek enlightenment and salvation for all.
50--Read ming (name) as to (much), according to Suzuki and Kuda.
51--Read hsin (mind) as wang (to destroy), according to Suzuki and Kuda.
52--Read tsai (in) as yen (saying), according to tsd, 48:140.
53--Insertion according to ibid.
54--This reading follows the popular version.
55--Read jan (infected) as hsin (mind), to conform with the sentence that follows.
56--See n.43.
57--See n.42.
58--Read wei (to act) as wei (to say), according to the popular version, sec. 2.
59--This clause is added according to ibid.
60--These are from the “Recorded Sayings” in the Shen-hui Ho-shang i-chi (Surviving Works of Priest Shen-hui), ed. by Hu Shih, Shanghai, 1930. For a French translation, see Bibliography.
61--There are 52 grades, divided into six stages, toward Buddhahood. The first stage consists of ten grades, namely, faith, unforgetfulness, serious effort, wisdom, calmness, non-retrogression, protection of the Law, the mind to reflect the light of the Buddha, discipline, and free will. Ordinarily one has to go through all six stages before achieving Buddhahood.
62--One word here is missing in the text.
63--Nothing is known of him.
64--Saddharmapuṇḍarika sūtra (Scripture of the Lotus of the Good Law), ch. 3, tsd, 9:13. See Soothill, trans., The Lotus of the Wonderful Law, p. 93.
65--He assisted his brother, King Wu (r. 1121–1116 b.c.) in founding the Chou dynasty and later became prime minister during the reign of King Wu’s son. He used to fish.
66--Fu Yüeh was helping people build dykes when the sovereign Wu-ting (r. 1339–1281 b.c.) heard of him and later appointed him prime minister.
67--This is a quotation from Analects, 20:1.
68--Hu Shih (Shen-hui Ho-shang i-chi, p. 131) thinks that what follows is probably a quotation from some scripture.
69--Referring to the story in Saddharmapuṇḍarika sūtra, ch. 12, tsd, 9:35. See Soothill, p. 174.
70--For the last three vehicles, see above, ch. 25, n.14. For bodhisattvas, see n.74.
71--Wei-mo-chieh ching, sec. 12, tsd, 14:554.
72--Avidyā, particularly ignorance of facts and principles about dharmas.
73--Paraphrasing a passage in Nirvāṇa sūtra, ch. 26, tsd, 12:788.
74--Bodhisattvas are beings who are enlightened and are ready to become Buddhas but because of their compassion they remain in the world to save all sentient beings.
75--Lao Tzu, ch. 42.
76--For his biography see Sung kao-seng chuan, ch. 12, tsd, 50:779. Not much is known of him. His school is called the Lin-chi school (Rinsai in Japanese) because he lived in the Lin-chi monastery in Hopei.
77--He was Wang Ching-ch’u, prefect of the Honan Prefecture, and a Buddhist lay pupil of Zen Master Ling-yu (771-853).
78--Commentators are not agreed on the meaning of this sentence. The present interpretation is harmonious with the spirit of independence and revolt of the Zen School.
79--The phrase cheng-chü here does not mean evidence but to make clear.
80--This refers to Zen Master Hsi-yün (d. 850) who lived in the Huang-po Mountain. For his work, see Bibliography.
81--One gets nowhere in so doing.
82--Chuang Tzu, ch. 22, hhcc, 7:49b. cf. Giles trans., Chuang Tzu, 1961 ed., p. 215. See above, ch. 8, comment on C, 2.
83--Hu Shih, “Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism in China: Its History and Method,” Philosophy East and West, 3 (1953) p. 21.
84--Suzuki, “Zen: A Reply to Hu Shih,” ibid., p. 36.
85--See above, ch. 22, Introduction.
86--Fu Hsüan-feng (b. a.d. 28) put the fish he caught in a basket and submerged it under water so those fish which wished to escape could do so. He and his wife worked in the farm for others.
87--This saying and part of what precedes immediately come from a song by Zen Master Ming-tsan (fl. 788) in tsd, 49:606.
88--An arhat or arhan is the ideal being in Hīnayāna or Small Vehicle, a saint or worthy who is no longer subject to incarnation.
89--For the Three Worlds, see above, ch. 20, n.38.
90--Zen Master Pao-ch’e of Ma-ku Mountain.
91--Avalokiteśvara, the bodhistattva “who sees the world’s sound,” or the cries of suffering. The name may also mean the one who sees reality as it is, free and at ease. Characterized by compassion, this Buddhist saint assumes many forms, has many faces and hands the better to see and help sentient beings toward salvation. In popular Chinese religion, the saint had assumed a feminine form and has come to be known in the West as Goddess of Mercy.
92--A bodhisattva in the diamond-realm, the realm of wisdom as contrasted with the realm of principle, the two realms representing those of effect and cause, respectively.
93--Huang-po’s disciple Ch’en Mu-chou.
94--This monk lived in the Ta-yü Mountain in Kiangsi Province.
95--This was actually said in the same story recorded in Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu, 12:3b.
96--History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, 1953, p. 401.
THE REVIVAL OF CONFUCIANISM: HAN YÜ AND LI AO
1--Li Wen Kung chi (Collected Works of Li Ao), “Recovery of the Nature,” pt. 1, sptk, l:7a-8a.
2--Han’s courtesy name was T’ui-chih and his posthumous title was Wen (Culture). He had a “presented scholar” degree and served in many governmental posts, i.e., professor of the national university, censor, assistant departmental chief, and divisional chief. He was demoted several times. As a result of his protest against the Buddhist relic in 819, he was banished to Ch’ao-chou in South China, where, it is said, he successfully told the crocodiles to leave the place. In the next year he was made director of education. Later he became vice-minister in the ministry of the army, then censor, and finally vice-minister in the ministry of civil personnel.
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