As for Chih-i’s work Hsüan-i (The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra), it is composed of ten fascicles, and the interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra follows the five categories of analysis named “Five Sections” (Wu-chang) as a general guideline. These Five Sections are Chih-i’s own system of interpreting Buddhist sūtras. With the means of the “Five Sections” – Name (Ming), Substance (T’i), Gist (Tsung), Function (Yung), and Teaching (Chiao) – the interpretation is no longer passively following the scripture chapter by chapter. Rather, the interpretation is made according to these categories, and the revelation of the themes of the scripture is also revolved around these categories. As a result, Chih-i’s Hsüan-i is no longer limited to the nature of a commentary. It becomes the medium to express Chih-i’s own thought. Moreover, the Five Sections that are applied for the systematic interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra, refer to the structure of the text Hsüan-i itself. Within the domain of the Five Sections, a vast and complex structure of illustrations is laid out, focusing on the themes of the Lotus Sūtra. (Page XXII)
I have 90 quotes that I expect to publish from The Beginnings of Buddhism. In the past when I’ve finished a book, I’ve added all to the quotes to the website and scheduled one to be published per day until they run out. I don’t want to do that this time because of the nature of the topic. These quotes, while valuable in understanding the roots of early Buddhism, need to be kept in perspective of the Ultimate Truth revealed in the Lotus Sūtra.
With regard to the Four Teachings, Chih-i argues that the positions of the Tripiṭaka, the Common, and the Separate Teachings must be abandoned. This is because, once they have fulfilled their roles as tentative positions, i.e., after one has progressed from these three teachings to the Perfect Teaching, and attained the ultimate position of the Perfect Teaching, these tentative positions are no longer needed. Moreover, at the moment when these tentative positions hinder one’s attainment of the ultimate position on the path of religious practice, they must be abolished too.
Arising and abandoning are the two aspects of evaluating various levels of religious attainment as positions that belong to the Four Teachings respectively. According to Chih-i, the positions that belong to the three teachings (Tripiṭaka, Common, and Separate) are coarse, seeing that the doors of these teachings are expedient means or contain expediency. This proposes that truth expounded by the Buddha in these teachings is relative, which functions to guide beings to eventually reach the Ultimate Truth. The positions of the Perfect Teaching are considered to be subtle, for the door of the Perfect Teaching directly reveals the Ultimate Truth without having to employ expedient means as the Relative Truth. Therefore, “arising of positions” (Wei-hsing) is to confirm the legitimacy of various positions regardless of whether they are coarse or subtle, from the viewpoint that all of them are beneficial in terms of suiting different abilities of sentient beings. On the other hand, the abandonment of these tentative positions (Wei-fei) is necessary for the arising of new positions. Attainment arises according to conditions. Along with the arising of new conditions, new positions are produced, with which old positions must be abandoned. With regard to the Four Teachings, Chih-i argues that the positions of the Tripiṭaka, the Common, and the Separate Teachings must be abandoned. This is because, once they have fulfilled their roles as tentative positions, i.e., after one has progressed from these three teachings to the Perfect Teaching, and attained the ultimate position of the Perfect Teaching, these tentative positions are no longer needed. Moreover, at the moment when these tentative positions hinder one’s attainment of the ultimate position on the path of religious practice, they must be abolished too. (Volume 1, Page 60) The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism
This book makes an initial investigation into T’ien-t’ai Chih-i’s masterpiece The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (Hsuan-i) in an endeavor to unravel his systematic approach to elaborating Buddhism and his Buddhist philosophy in religious salvation. This book is divided into two volumes. Volume one concentrates on the uniqueness of the Hsuan-i and Chih-i’s achievements in the Hsuan-i. As the embodiment of Chin-i’s own philosophy, the coherent and integrated nature of his text fully displays his perfect and harmonizing philosophy. Closely related to the first volume is the second volume of this book. In order to make the assessment of Chih-i’s system, thoughts and achievements comprehensible in the context of the Hsuan-i, volume two launches an unprecedented exploration of this gigantic text Hsuan-i, giving a delineation of the whole work by outlining, explaining and analyzing its complicated structure, its rich content, and its sophisticated theories. The textual study of this book brings into light a new perspective of understanding the depth of Chih-i’s philosophy, and contributes to the field of study of T’ien-t’ai Buddhism.
As I work my way through books on Buddhism, I’m constantly weighing them against Nichiren’s writings and the Lotus Sūtra. In introductory books such as Basic Buddhist Concepts and The Beginnings of Buddhism, I find pieces of Buddhist concepts implied in the Lotus Sūtra but glossed over. I wonder how this all fits together.
Chih-i has stressed the unique feature of the Lotus Sūtra by comparing the Lotus Sūtra with other sūtras:
“All these various sūtras aim at catering to the will of others [i.e., living beings], causing others to gain benefits. They do not discuss the intention of the Buddha, and to where his intention tends. The present [Lotus] Sūtra is not so. Regarding the doctrines [which make up the Buddhist] system [of thought], the Mahāyāna and Hinayāna methods of contemplation, the ten powers and [four forms of] fearlessness [of the Buddha], and various rules and customs [of the Buddhist religion], [the Lotus Sūtra] does not discuss them at all, for they have already been stated in the previous sūtras. [The Lotus Sūtra] only discusses the original career of the Tathāgata’s preaching, how he resorted to the sudden and gradual [methods of the teaching] in [his] middle career, and how he finally approached [his] end career [by revealing] the great cause [of universal salvation]. [The Lotus Sūtra exhibits] the framework of [the Buddha’s] teaching, and [makes known] the expedient means [the Buddha employs] to universally transform [sentient beings].
Mou Tsung-san also reiterates the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra, in a way which is akin to Chih-i’s viewpoint. Its superiority is demonstrated by the fact that it is not concerned with expressing certain doctrines, but it only establishes the merging and ultimate teaching in order to reveal the real intention of the Buddha for universal salvation of sentient beings underlying his various teachings. Mou Tsung-san considers this nature of the sūtra as belonging to the level of the transcendent. This is to say that the Lotus Sūtra is concerned with wisdom and insight into the Ultimate Truth. In order for one to understand this Truth, one first has to acquire the basic knowledge stated in other Buddhist scriptures.
Hurvitz has also indicated a similar view when he comments on the nature of the Lotus Sūtra. He states that the Lotus Sūtra takes the existence of a formulated Hinayāna philosophy (Four Noble Truths, dependent origination, substantiality of the dharmas, insubstantiality of the ego, personal release, etc) and of an equally formulated Mahāyāna philosophy (insubstantiality of the dharmas, bodhisattvahood, the Six Perfections, etc) for granted.
And as I read I discover the threads of Buddhism taken for granted and acquire some of the basic knowledge merged in the Ultimate Truth contained in the Lotus Sūtra.
