The earliest [T’ien-t’ai/Tendai Origin Myth] is the biography of Chih-i by his disciple Kuan-ting (561-632), according to which Hui-ssu (515-577) welcomed Chih-i as a disciple, saying, “In the past, we heard the Lotus together on Sacred [Eagle] Peak; impelled by this karmic connection, you have now come again!” The tradition that Hui-ssu and Chih-i had together heard the Buddha’s original preaching of the Lotus Sūtra was widespread in China, even outside the T’ien-t’ai school, and appears to have represented their shared mastery of the “Lotus samādhi,” the insight into the profound meaning of the Lotus Sūtra that Chih-i would later express as the threefold truth. Prominent among Japanese antecedents for the incorporation of this account into the Eshin and Danna origin myth is the lineage that Saichō drew up for his newly established Tendai school, which identifies Hui-ssu and Chih-i in the line of transmission as “auditors on Sacred [Eagle] Peak in India.” Saichō traced the historical roots of his lineage to Hui-ssu and Chih-i; however, the Buddha with whom he began the lineage is not the historical Śākyamuni, but, in the words of the Fo-shūo kuan P’u-hsien P’u-sa hsing-fa Ching, Śākyamuni who is “Vairocana Pervading All Places.” As noted in chapter l, this early conflation of the historical Śākyamuni with the omnipresent cosmic Buddha would undergo major development in Tendai esoteric thought. Eventually it also gave rise to the tradition, recurring in medieval Tendai ritual and doctrinal transmission texts, that “the assembly on Sacred [Eagle] Peak is solemnly [present] and has not yet dispersed” (ryōzen ichie ennen misan). (Page 102-103)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismQuotes
The One Entity of True Reality
According to Chih-i’s theory of one mind embracing three thousand dharmas (I-nien San-ch’ien), the mind of a single sentient being contains Ten Dharma-realms. Why? The Ten Dharma-realms are the manifestation of the True Reality. Considering that sentient beings originally possess True Reality (i.e., the real nature of entities), the Ten Dharma-realms that are the manifestation of the True Reality are likewise present everywhere and are contained in the minds of sentient beings. An evil thought belongs to the worlds of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, and animals; a good thought belongs to the worlds of human and heaven beings; and a thought of compassion belongs to the realm of the bodhisattva and the Buddha. Obviously, it would not be possible for different Dharma-realms to be manifest if one’s mind did not contain all of the Ten Dharma-realms. On the one hand, one instant thought includes the whole universe, and one dharma is identical to all dharmas. On the other hand, the whole universe only exists in every single thought, whereby all dharmas are identical to one dharma. Chih-i’s theory is that the reason one’s thought corresponds to a certain realm at a certain moment signifies that one good thought designates the manifestation of virtue and concealment of evil, and one evil thought the manifestation of evil and concealment of virtue. Good and evil are one entity, and the difference lies in the state between manifestation and concealment. Good and evil transform according to conditions, which is similar to the relationship between ice and water. This indicates that both aspects exist as the one entity of True Reality, which arises in turn with causes and conditions. (Vol. 2, Page 252-253)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismOur Ordinariness
We may think we are ordinary but within each of us underneath the mask of ordinariness is our true identity of enlightened beings. We may not be capable always of seeing our own enlightened nature; we may be so deeply in disguise as to fool ourselves. Yet as we practice we can become more aware of our true nature and our true relationship with the Eternal Buddha as identified in the Lotus Sutra.
Our ordinariness is what enables us to perfect our lives and makes it possible for us to relate to and teach others in society.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraSeeking More Balanced View To Tendai Original Enlightenment Thought
Whether the new schools are seen as emerging from the “womb” of Tendai original enlightenment thought, or taking form as a reaction against it, or developing out of it by dialectical process, all these views reflect the influence of an evolutionary model of Buddhist history in which the new Kamakura Buddhism represents the apex. Occasionally there is even a hint of telos at work, as though the very raison d’être of Tendai original enlightenment thought was to give rise to the new Kamakura Buddhism. Hongaku thought thus becomes merely one more locus from which to reassert tired stereotypes of a vibrant, reformist “new Buddhism” reacting against a corrupt, elitist “old Buddhism.”
To point out that existing models of the relationship between Tendai hongaku thought and the new Kamakura schools serve to privilege the latter is in no way to disparage the achievements of men like Shinran, Dōgen, and Nichiren. Nevertheless, such assumptions prejudice our understanding and need to be reexamined if a more balanced view is to be obtained.
All Expedient Vehicles Become Subtle
First, the subtle Track of Real Nature shows that although sentient beings originally possessed the treasure of the Buddha-nature, they were not aware of this fact before the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra. Thus, the Track of Real Nature in the various teachings of the Buddha before the Lotus Sūtra is coarse. Upon the revelation of the One Buddha vehicle in the Lotus Sūtra, the practitioners of the other three teachings are able to see the Buddha-nature as the treasure of enlightenment they inherently possess, whereby the coarse dharma in the past becomes the subtle dharma in the present. Second, the Track of the Illumination of Wisdom is subtle if one abandons one’s attachment to striving to attain wisdom and reach truth. One should understand that wisdom and truth are inseparable, and it is false to seek outwardly instead of inwardly, in view of the fact that one’s wisdom is always contained in one’s nature. As long as one realizes that truth and wisdom are identical to each other as one entity, this realization implies that the Track of the Illumination of Wisdom is subtle, representing One Great Vehicle that is neither horizontal nor vertical. Third, the subtle Track of Accomplishment delineates that innumerable practices and dharma-doors, which are contained in the tathāgatagarbha are, by nature, the manifestation of the suchness of the Buddha-nature. With such an understanding, all expedient vehicles become subtle, and there is no more relative, only the ultimate. (Vol. 2, Page 251)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismAwakening to the Middle Way
Understanding the Truth of the Middle Way can help us to overcome one-sided views. Awakening to the Middle Way allows us to let go of the one-sided anything, and allows us to let go of the one-sided view of non-existence, which attempts to find something unchanging and independent to cling to. The Truth of the Middle Way frees us of worldly delusion even as it allows us to remain fully involved in the world as bodhisattvas.
Lotus SeedsBeyond Two-Dimensional Cardboard Backdrop Of Hongaku Critics
The influence of hongaku thought has been detected in virtually every medieval departure from the monastic ideal, from the sexual license of ranking clerics to the predations of warrior monks. How, one begins to wonder, did so decadent an intellectual tradition manage to survive and flourish for nearly six hundred years?
In fact, the characterization outlined above is a two-dimensional picture of the incredibly rich tradition of medieval Tendai, in effect reducing it to a cardboard backdrop against which to depict the more fully embodied personae of the new Buddhist founders. The doctrine of original enlightenment may indeed have served at times to rationalize misconduct or have been used ideologically to support the authority of ruling elites. Charges that this discourse undermined traditional scholarship, denied the necessity of practice, and contributed to moral corruption are not altogether groundless. But they need to be reexamined and seriously qualified in the light of both primary documents and the historical context. This will be the task of subsequent chapters. (Page 93)
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Opening The Coarse To Reveal The Subtle
The purpose of Chih-i’s judging the coarseness and subtlety of the Three Tracks in the Four Teachings is, on one hand, to stress the superiority of the Perfect Teaching by affirming the subtlety of the Threefold Track in the Perfect Teaching, and on the other hand, to foreshadow his argumentation in terms of “opening the coarseness and revealing the subtlety” (K’ai-ts’u Hsien-miao). In Chih-i ‘s view, distinguishing either coarse or subtle teachings is not the real intention of the Buddha. Whereas all entities of the universe are a manifestation of the True Reality, so called coarse dharmas (as relative teaching) actually contain the subtle dharmas (as ultimate teaching). The ultimate teaching reflects the real intention of the Buddha expounding various dharmas whether coarse or subtle, which aim at leading beings to pursue the One Vehicle of Buddhahood. Hence, before the revelation of the real intention of the Buddha, the three teachings (Tripiṭaka, Common, and Separate) were relative and coarse dharma. Only when the coarse dharma is displayed as containing the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, does it become subtle dharma, since it can also guide beings to attain Buddhahood. For this reason, Chih-i argues that the distinction of coarse or subtle only lies in one’s capabilities to conceive of it as such. The subtlety of the Threefold Track as the One Buddha-vehicle is explicated with reference to the Buddha-nature that all sentient beings possess. In view of all beings possessing the Buddha-nature, every being is capable of conceiving the subtle Threefold Track as the One Buddha-vehicle. The reason the vehicle of the Perfect Teaching is subtle is because the practitioner of the Perfect Teaching realizes that that there are no other vehicles to seek except for this One Buddha-vehicle, which can reveal the ultimate Buddha-nature. (Vol. 2, Page 250-251)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismNichiren’s Emphasis on Practice
The major critic of Tamura [Yoshirō]’s presentation of Nichiren is Hanano Michiaki, a scholar of both Nichiren and medieval Tendai. Hanano opposes the move of Asai, Shigyō, Tamura, and others to exclude from the consideration of Nichiren’s thought those texts attributed to him that deal with hongaku ideas. In contrast to Tamura and the Nichiren Shū scholars, Hanano positions Nichiren firmly within the intellectual tradition of Tendai original enlightenment thought. Like them, however, Hanano sees Nichiren as emphasizing practice, in contrast to a purely theoretical and abstract Tendai hongaku doctrine, thus “elevating it [original enlightenment thought] to the realm of religion.” (Page 91-92)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismThe Characteristic of the True Reality
How is this characteristic of the True Reality, which cannot be conceptualized either vertically or horizontally, reflected? Such a characteristic can be revealed through the synonymous terms of the True Reality such as the “Supreme Meaning of Emptiness” and “tathāgatagarbha.” Chih-i reiterates that the True Reality is specified in the Perfect Teaching as the “Supreme Meaning of Emptiness,” which indicates “constant quiescence and luminosity” embodied by the Track of the Illumination of Wisdom. “Constant quiescence and luminosity” are the meaning expressed in the passage of the Lotus Sūtra:
“Adorned with the power of concentration and wisdom, the Buddha dwells at the Greater Vehicle, and liberates sentient beings according to the dharma he attains.”
This passage implies that upon the attainment of Buddhahood, the Buddha-vehicle does not cease to be executed (i.e., illuminated) in order to liberate others, even in the state of quiescence. In fact, the Buddha continues his endless career of saving beings, but his action is non-action, which is spontaneous and natural according to conditions. As a result, the Buddha-vehicle is still executed. Such a state of quiescence and luminosity designates the depth of the execution of the Buddha-vehicle incalculable. (Vol. 2, Page 249-250)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism