Philosophy of Tao—sheng
Seng-chao died when only thirty years old, so that his influence was less than it might otherwise have been. Tao—sheng (died 434), who was a fellow student with Seng-chao under Kumarajiva, was born at P'eng-ch'eng in the northern part of the present Kiangsu province. He became a monk of wide learning, great brilliancy, and eloquence, of whom it is said that when he spoke even the stones beside him nodded their heads in assent. In his later years he taught at Lu-shan in the present Kiangsi province, which was the center of Buddhist learning at that time, and the place where such great monks as Tao-an (died 3^5) and Hui-yiian (died 410) had lectured. Tao-sheng advanced many theories so new and revolutionary that once he was publicly banished from Nanking by the conservative monks.
Among these is the doctrine that "a good deed entails no retribution." His essay on this subject is now lost. But in the Hung Ming Chi or Collected Es-says on Buddhism, a work compiled by Seng-yu (died 518), there is a treatise by Hui-yiian titled "On the Explanation of Retribution." This essay may represent some aspects of Tao—sheng s concept, though we cannot be sure. Its general idea is to apply the Taoist ideas of wu-wei and wu-hsin to meta-physics. As we have seen, wu-wei literally means non-action, but this non-action does not really signify no action; rather it signifies action that takes jilaee, without effort. When one acts spontaneously, without any deliberate discrimination, choice, or effort, one is practicing non-action. Wu-hsin also literally means no mind. When one practices wu —wei in the manner de -
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scribed above, one is also practicing wu-hsin. If, argues Hui-yuan, one fol-lows the principles of wu—wei and wu-hsin, one then has no craving for or cleaving to things, even though one may pursue various activities. And since the effect or retribution of one's Karma is due to one s craving and cleaving or attachment, one s Karma under these circumstances will not entail any retribution. (Chiian 5.) This theory of Hui—yiian, regardless of whether it is the same as Tao-sheng's original idea or not, is an interesting extension to Buddhist metaphysics of a Taoist theory which originally possessed purely social and ethical significance. As such, it is certainly an important develop-ment in Chinese Buddhism, and one that was to be followed later by the Ch' an school.
Another theory of Tao-sheng is that Buddhahood is to be achieved by Sudden Enlightenment. His essay on this subject is also lost, but the theory is preserved in Hsieh Ling-vim's (died 433) Pien Tsung Lun or "Discussion of Essentials. It was developed in opposition to another theory, that of grad-ual attainment, according to which Buddhahood is to he achieved only through the gradual accumulation of learning and practice. Tao-sheng and Hsieh Ling—yiin did not deny the importance of such learning and practice, but they maintained that its accumulation, no matter how great, is only a sort of preparatory work, which in itself is insufficient for one ever to achieve Buddhahood. Such achievement is an instantaneous act, like the leaping over of a deep chasm. Either one makes the leap successfully, in which case one reaches the other side and thus achieves Buddhahood in its entirety in a flash, or one fails in one s leap, in which case one remains as one was. There are no intermediate steps between.
The reason advanced for this theory is that to achieve Buddhahood means to be one with Wu (Non-being) or, as one might say, with the Universal Mind. The Wu, since it transcends shapes and features, is not a thing in itself, and so is not something that can be divided into parts. Therefore one cannot gain oneness with a part of it today and oneness with another part of it tomorrow. Oneness means oneness with the whole of it. Anything less than this is no longer oneness.
The Pien Tsung Lun records many arguments on this subject between Hsieh Ling—yiln and others. One monk named Seng—wei argued that if the student is one with Wu, he will no longer speak about it, but if he is to learn about Wu in order to get rid of Yu (Being), this learning represents a process of gradual enlightenment. To this Hsieh Ling—yiin answered that when a stu-dent is still in the realm of Yu, whatever he does is learning, but not En-lightenment. Enlightenmen itself is something beyond Yu, though a student must devote himself first to learning, in order to attain Enlightenment.
Seng-wei again asked: If a student devotes himself to learning and hopes thereby for identification with Wu, does he in this way make some advance-ment? If he does not, why does he pursue learning? But if he does, is this not gradual enlightenment? To this Hsieh Ling-yiin answered that devolion
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to learning can have the positive achievement of suppressing the impure ele-ment of the mind. Though such suppression seems to be its extinction, in ac-tual fact it is still not without impure attachment. It is only with Sudden En-lightenment that all attachments are gone.
Again Seng-wei asked: If a student devote himself to learning and prac-tice, can he achieve a temporary identification with Wu! If he can, this tem-porary identification is better than no identification at all, and is it not grad-ual enlightenment? To this Hsieh I.ing-yiin answered that such temporary i-dentification is a false one. A real identification is by its nature everlasting. Though the temporary identification seems to be a real identification, it is so only in the same sense that the suppression of the impure element of the mind seems to be its extinction.
All these arguments are endorsed by Tao—sheng in a letter also included in the Pien Tsung Lun. The latter is now to be found in the Kuang Hung Ming Chi or Further Collections of Essays on Buddhism (chilan 18), a work compiled by Tao-hsiian (596-667).
Another of Tao-sheng' s theories is that every sentient being possesses the Buddha—nature or Universal Mind. His essay on this subject is also lost, but its ideas can be gathered from his commentaries on several Buddhist Sutras. According to these, every sentient being has the Buddha-nature; only he does not realize that he has it. This Ignorance (Avidya) is what binds him to the Wheel of Birth and Death. The necessity, therefore, is for him first to re-alize that he has the Buddha -nature originally within him, and then, by learning and practice, to "see" his own Buddha-nature. This "seeing" conies as a Sudden Enlightenment, because the Buddha—nature cannot be divided; therefore he either sees it as a whole or does not see it at all. Such "seeing" also means to be one with the Buddha-nature, because the Buddha-nature is not something that can be seen Irom outside. This is the meaning of Tao — sheng's statement: "By gaining freedom from illusion, one returns to the Ul-timate, and by returning to the Ultimate, one attains the Original." * The state of attainment of the Original is the state of Nirvana.
But Nirvana is not something external to and altogether different from the Wheel of Birth and Death, nor is the reality of the Buddha-nature external to and altogether different from the phenomenal world. Once one gains Sudden Enlightenment, the latter is at once the former. Thus Tao—sheng says: The Enlightenment of Mahayana Buddhism is not to be sought outside the Wheel of Birth and Death. Within it one is enlightened by the affairs of birth and death." ** The Buddhists use the metaphor of "reaching the other shore" to express the idea of achieving Nirvana. Tao-sheng says: As to reaching the other shore, if one reaches it, one is not reaching the other shore. Both not-reaching and not—not—reaching are really reaching. This shore here means
* QnolpH in the Nifih-pan-ching Ctli-cfiieh or Collected Commentaries to the Parinirvana Sutra, chiton I. ** Quoted in Seng-(!hao's Wei-mou-ching Chit, or Cftmmenlxiry ta the Vimakikirti Sutra, chikvi 7-
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birth and death; the other shore means Nirvana." (Ibid., chtian 9.) Again he says: If one sees Buddha, one is not seeing Buddha. When one sees there is no Buddha, one is really seeing Buddha." (Ibid.)
This is perhaps also the meaning of another theory of Tao-sheng, that for Buddha there is no "Pure Land or other world. The world of Buddha is simply here in this present world.
In an essay titled The Treasure House, which has been traditionally at-tributed to Seng-chao but seems to be a forgery, it is said: "Suppose there is a man who, in a treasure house of golden utensils, sees the golden utensils, but pays no attention to their shapes and features. Or, even if he does pay attention to their shapes and features, he still recognizes that they are all gold. He is not confused by their varying appearances, and therefore is able to rid himself of their L superficial J distinctions. He always sees that their underlying substance is gold, and does not suffer any illusion. This is an il-lustration of what a sage is. (Ch. 3-)
This saying may not come from Seng—chao, but its metaphor has been constantly used by later Buddhists. The reality of the Buddha-nature is itself the phenomenal world, just as the golden utensils are themselves the gold. There is no other reality outside the phenomenal world, just as there is no other gold besides the golden utensils. Some people, in their Ignorance, see only the phenomenal world, but not the reality of the Buddha-nature. Other people, in their Enlightenment, see the Buddha-nature, but this Buddha-na-ture is still the phenomenal world. What these two kinds of people see is the same, but what one person sees in his Enlightenment has a significance quite different from what the other person sees in his Ignorance. This is the meaning ol a common saying of Chinese Buddhism: When ignorant, one is a common man; when enlightened, one is a sage.
Another theory of Tao—sheng is that even the icchantika (i.e., the being who opposes Buddhism) is capable of achieving Buddhahood. This is the logical conclusion of the assertion that every sentient being has the Buddha-nature. But it was in direct contradiction to the Parinirvana Sutra, as known at that time, and consequently Tao-sheng, because he uttered it, was ban-ished for some time irom the capital, Nanking. Many years later, however, when the complete text of the Parinirvana Sutra was translated, Tao-sheng' s theory was found to be confirmed by one of its passages. His biographer, Hui-chiao (died 554), wrote: "Because his interpretation of the icchantika came to be established by Scriptural evidence, his theories of Sudden En-lightenment and that a good deed entails no retribution, also came to be highly honored by the Buddhists of the time. (Kao—seng Chilan or Biogra-phies of Eminent Buddhist Monks, chiian 7)
Hui—chiao also reports another saying of Tao—sheng: The symbol serves to express an idea, and is to be discarded once the idea has been undei— stood. Words serve to explain thought, and ought to be silenced once the thoughts have been absorbed....It is only those who can grasp the fish and
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discard the fishing net that are qualified to seek the truth.' (Ibid.) This fig-ure of speech refers to a saying in the Chuang-tzu which says: "The fishing net serves to catch fish. Let us take the fish and forget the net. The snare serves to catch rabbits. Let us take the rabbit and forget the snare." (Ch. 2-6.) Chinese philosophical tradition makes use of a term called the "net of words. According to this tradition, the best statement is one that does not "fall into the net of words."
We have seen that in Chi-tsang's theory of the three levels of double truth, when one reaches the third level one simply has nolhing to say. On that level there is no danger of falling into the net of words. When Tao-sheng speaks of the Buddha-nature, he almost falls into this net, because by speaking of it as the Mind, he gives people the impression that the limita-tions of definition can be imposed on it. In this respect he is influenced by the Parinirvana Sutra, which emphasizes the Buddha-nature, and so he ap-proaches the Hsing tsung or School of Universal Mind.
Thus, as we shall see in the next chapter, by the lime of Tao—sheng, the theoretical background for Ch anism had been prepared. The Ch'an Masters themselves, however, were needed to put the theories described in the pre-sent chapter into high relief.
In what has been told here we can also find the germ of the Neo-Confu-ciamsm of several centuries later. The theory of Tao—sheng that every man can become a Buddha reminds us of the theory of Mencius that every man can become a Yao or Shun (two traditional sage-kings). (Mencius, VIb, 2..) Mencius also stated that by fully developing our mind, we come to know our nature; and by fully developing our nature, we come to know Heaven. (Men— cius, Vila, 1.) But what he called mind and nature are both psychological and not metaphysical. By giving them a metaphysical interpretation along the line suggested by Tao-sheng's theory, one arrives at Neo-Confucianism.
The idea of the Universal Mind is a contribution of India to Chinese philosophy. Before the introduction of Buddhism, there was in Chinese philosophy only the mind, but not the Mind. The Tao of the Taoists is the mystery of mysteries, as Lao Tzu put it, yet it is not Mind. After the period dealt with in this chapter, there is, in Chinese philosophy, not only mind, but also Mind.
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CHAPTER 22
CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE
1 HE Chinese term Ch an (Japanese reading: Zen) or Ch an—ra is a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit Dhyana, which is usually translated in English as Meditation. The traditional account of the origin of the Ch' an or Zen school is that the Buddha, in addition to his Scriptures, possessed an esoteric teach-ing that was transmitted independently of written texts. This teaching he transmitted personally to one of his disciples, who in turn transmitted it to his own disciple. In this way, it was handed down until it reached Bodhid-harma, who is supposed to have been the twenty—eighth Patriarch in India, and who came to China some time between S±O and 526, where he became the first Tsu (Patriarch, literally, Ancestor) of the Ch'an school in China.
Traditional Account of the Origin of Ch anism
There Bodhidharma transmitted the esoteric teaching to Hui-k' o (486-593), who was China's second Patriarch. The teaching was thus perpetuated until a major split in the school occurred, caused by the two chief disciples of the fifth Patriarch, Hung-jen (605-675). One of them, Shen-hsiu (died 706), be-came the founder of the Northern school; the other, Hui -neng (638-713), founded the Southern school. The Southern school soon surpassed the North-ern one in popularity, so that Hui-neng came to be recognized as the sixth Patriarch, the true successor of Hung—jen. All the later influential groups in Ch' anism took their rise from the disciples of Hui-neng.*
