a clue to the authorship of the awakening of faith

7/28/2019 A Clue to the Authorship of the Awakening of Faith

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THE JOURNAL

OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

EDiTOR-IN-CHIEFA . K. Narain

University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

EDITORSHeinz Bechert Leon Hurvitz

Universitat Gottingen, FRG UBC , Vancouver, CanadaLewis Lancaster A lexander W. MacDonald

University of California, Berkeley, USA Universite de Paris X, Nanterre, FranceB.J. Stavisky A lex Waym an

WN 1IR, Moscow, USSR Columbia University, New York, USA

ASSOCIATE EDITORStephan Beyer

University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

Volume 3 1980 Number 1


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CONTENTS

I . ARTICLES1. A Study of the Madhyamika Method of Refutation,

Especially of its Affinity to that of Kathdvatthu,by Shohei Ichimura 7

2 . Prajnaparamita and the Buddhahood of the Non-SentientWorld: The San-Lun Assimilation of Buddha-Natureand Middle Path Doctrine, by Aaron K. Koseki 16

3 . A Clue to the Authorship of the Awakening of Faith:"&k$ananda's" Redaction to the W ord "Nien,"by Whalen W. Lai 34

4 . T h e Abhidharmika Not ion o f Vijndnaand its Soteriological Significance, by Braj M. Sinha 54

5. Som e Com men ts on Ts ong kha pa's Lam rim chen mo andProfessor Wayman's Calming the Mind and Discerning theReal, by Geshe Sopa 6 8

Alex W ayman Replies to Geshe Sopa 93G eshe Sopa Replies to Alex Wayman 98

II. SHORT PAPERS1. Ar cha eolog ical Excavations at Piprahwa and Ganwaria

and the Identification of Kapilavastu, by K. M. Srivastava 1032 . Notes on the Textcritical Editing of the

Bodhisattvdvaddnakalpalatd, by Frances Wilson 111


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I I I . BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES1. Santideva: Mystique bouddhiste des Vile et VHIe siecles,by Amalia Pezzali 1152. On Knowing Reality: The Tattvartha Chapter of Asariga's

Bodhisattvabhumi, by Janice Dean Willis 1173. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine inMahayana Tradition, by Diana Y. Paul 1204. Wittgenstein and Buddhism, by Chris Gudmunsen. 122

IV. NOTES AND NEWS1. A Rep ort on the 2n d Conference of the IABS 1272. Report on A Critical Dictionary of Pali 130

Contributors 132


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Un consciou s . In the end, neither smrti nor ksana, subjectivity or Unconscious, exhausts the ful l range of meaning of nien or wu-nien.

Jacques Gernet in his study of Shen-hui, the leading disciple ofHui-neng who capital ized on wu-nien, offers acitta, acittaka, asamjnisamd-patti an d nirodhasamdpatti for wu-nien.7 All these Sanskrit words sugge stthe absence of mind or mental activity. They are better choices andjustifiable as part of the Ch'an psychology. It is, however, risky to re-Sanskritize Ch'an terms since this tradition has always freely usedwords . Acitta etc., furthermore, cannot solve our problems with theAF M or the AFM S. Gern et works on the assumption, as Suzuki has to alarge extent, that wu-nien is a synonym for wu-hsin (no-mind). Sometimes in Ch'an, wu-hsin is ind eed just o ne m ore radical way of saying wu-nien, but in the case of the AFM, the two terms are not the same. Inalmo st all cases, nien is an inferior reality to hsin. Wu-hsin is used onceonly . Nien, as we will see, is intrinsically "negative." It is som eth ing to be"negated" (wu), emptied, abolished, so as to free the Mind (hsin). Hsindoes not share the same negative connotations. If a negative mind isintended, the pref ix wangP (deluded) is usually added, but it is almostredun dant to add wang to the negative nien.Philip Yampolsky's translation of the Platform Sutra (1967)ap pe ar ed at the sam e time as Yosh ito Hakeda's translation of the AFM.Yampolsky has offered no-thought for wu-nien (with a reference toG e r n e t8). Hakeda however consistently departs from his colleague innot u sing "n o-thought." Instead he equates vikalpa with nien and takeswu-nien to im ply its opp osite , avikalpa, or else acintya. His choice is basedon the assumption that nien is shor t for wang-nien (deluded th ought) , asynonym o f wang-hsiangl (deluded thought) , or fen-piehr (differentiat ion), the preferred translations for vikalpa (differentiation, differentiating consciousness) . Th e AFM doe s use the term wang-nien, and evenwang-hsin (delud ed mind ). How ever, there are two technical p roblemshe re: (a) the AFM often uses nien simply by itself without the adjectivewang, and (b) Hakeda also associates vikalpa with the AFM discussionon the ming-tzu-hsiang* function of the mind (the form of mind thatdifferentiates names and realities).

It is wu-nien that poses the greatest challenge to Hakeda's read ing.Avoiding "no-thought," Hakeda takes wu-nien to mean acintya (theunthinkable) and the avikalpa (what is not analyzable by the intellect).In E nglish , he stays with either "beyond empirical predication or determination" and "beyond what they are thought to be." 9 To do so ,however, he often has to go around the original by using qualifiers.36


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Ironically, Hakeda is often only doing what the A F M S has tried to do. "Siksa-na nd a," th e alleged translator to the AFMS, had had the same troublewith nien and wu-nien.

The AFMS' Attempts at Editing the Nien IdeologyT hr ou gh a comparison of the AFM and the AFMS ideology,10 wesee, very interestingly , how the AFMS consistently (a) adds the adjective

wang, deluded, to nien, though t, and (b) dro ps all references to wu-nien,even at the risk of tampering with the organic whole of the discourse.Beca use th e AFM has more inte rnal consistency than the AFMS in thisand other areas11, it can be assumed that th e AFM is the original andthe AFMS a redaction, and not the other way around. Below is onepassage of th e AFM (in my literal trans lation) , followed by the same inthe AFMS (Suzuki's, somewhat edited) and Hakeda's translation. T heAFMS drops wu-nien, and adds such a long substitute passage that Ihave to skip some part of it.AFM : T h e object-realms of thefivesenses and the mind a re ultimatelywu-nien (no -tho ugh t). . . . Sentient beings . . . delud ed by ignoranc e mistake the mind as thoug ht {nien) bu t the mind itself nev ermoves (tung).1 If a person can so examine it and realize that themind itself is wu-nien (no-th oug ht), he would smoothly and in dueaccord en ter the gate of Suchness.12

The AFM reference to wu-nien does not make the best of sense.How can the first five senses (matter, smell, etc.) be thoughtless?Ho wever, th e basic message in Chinese is: the mind is passive ("nevermoves") until it is deluded ("moved") by thought, nien. To know thatm ind an d reality are essentially free from tho ug ht, wu-nien, is to returnthe mind to Suchness. Suchness is, says the AFM, "free from th ou gh t." ,3AFMS: These modes of existence such as matter etc. (the skandhas)are imperfect. Why are they imperfect? When we divide somegross (or composite) matter, we can re duce it to atoms (anu). Butas the atom will also be subject to further division, all forms ofmaterial existence, whether gross or fine, are nothing but theshadow of particularization produced by a subjective mind[vikalpa], and we cannot ascribe any degree of (absolute orindependent) reality to them. [The same applies to the otherskandhas and the asamkrtadharmasthe AFMS goes on at length to37


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enumera te . ] Al l be ings , because o f the i r mis l ead ing ignorance ,imagine that the mind is being disturbed, while in real i ty i t is not .Bu t when they unders t and tha t t he d i s tu rbance o f the mind i s" n e i t h e r b i r t h n o r d ea t h " 1 4 [Suzuki 's t ransla t ion : im m orta l i ty ] IS ,t hey wou ld then en te r in to the ga te o f Suchness . 1 6T h e A FM S passage here r ea li zes prec ise ly tha t one canno t ap p ro

pr ia te ly re fer to the f ive senses (eyes , ears , nose , m ou th a nd touch) ashav ing " though t . " Though t a t bes t can be the co r re l a t e to the s ix thfacul ty , the mind . Therefore the AFMS "very log ical ly" re- in terpretsthe passage by d ropp ing the r e fe rence to wu-nien and reads themessage as one of "absence of substance" in the skandhas misperceivedby th e "subject ive m ind ." T h e AFM S the n has to resu rrec t the theo ry ofa t o m s , anu (used in the Abhidharma-ko'sa and m ore recendy inco rpora tedi n t o t h e Vijnaptimdtratdsiddhi) to fill the g a p left by its d ro p p in g wu-nien.This b r ings in the who le d i scuss ion o f the compounded and uncom-p o u n d e d dharmas that have p layed no ro le in the AFM and no ro le inthe rest of the AFMS. I t is logical to assume that this is the resul t ofr ed ac t i o n b y t h e AF M S .H ak ed a: T h e objects of th e five senses an d of the m ind are in the f inalanalys is bey ond wh at they are thou gh t to be {wu-nien). . . . Peop le,because of thei r ignorance, assume Mind (Suchness) to be whatthe y th ink i t to be , th o ug h M ind in fact is unaffe cted {tung) even ifi t is fal se ly pre d ic ate d . I f a m an is ab le to observe an d un de rs t an dth at M ind is be yo nd w hat i t is th ou gh t to be, the n h e will be able toconfo rm to and en te r the r ea lm o f Suchness . 1 7

H ak eda ' s t rans l a t ion i s r a t he r roun d-ab ou t . P robab ly re ly ing onth e AF M S, i t m an ag es to m ak e bet ter (Sanskr it ) sense of wu-nien. It alsofo llows t he AF M S in tak in g the wor d tung (mo ve) in th e passive voice tomean "be ing d i s tu rbed" o r "be ing a f fec t ed . " The mind i s "unaf fec tedeven i f i t i s fa l se ly pred icated ." This reading i s no t warran ted by theg r a m m a r . I 8 I t also do es n ot co nc ur w ith th e discussion on hsin a n d niene l s ew h e r e in t h e AF M . Tung is c learly the m ove m ent br ou gh t abou t bynien; this is cal led at one point wang-tung, d e l u d ed m o v em en t . 1 9 T h emind by i t se l f does not move; the nien natural ly does . To mis take them o v e m e n t of nien for the immo vable min d is the ma rk of the igno ran t ;the reversal i s the en t rance in to Suchness . So e lsewhere the AFM wel lsays, an d Hak ed a h i m se l f a ck n o wl ed g es :

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AF M (H ak ed a) : W ater an d wind a re in separa b le ; bu t wate r is no tmo b i l e by n a tu r e (tung.. . . Likewise, m an 's M ind, pu re in i ts ow nna tu re , is s t i r r ed (tung) by th e wind of igno ran ce . . . . Yet Mind isn o t m o b i le by n a tu r e . . . . 2 0

T h e AF M S, inc iden ta lly , has cha nge d som ewh at th is c ruc ia l passage int h e A F M . 2 1T h e im m utab i l i ty of min d is as c learly se t for th in an ot he r crucia l

p a s s ag e in t h e A F M .AF M (My t r ans la t io n ) : In o th er wo rds , the na tu r e o f the m ind is

always wu-nien (without tho ugh t) ; the refore i t is said to be im m utab le (pu-pien).^ Because the mind may not (a lways) a t ta in the OneDharmadha tu , the re fo re i t f a i l s to co r respond ( to Suchness ) .Su dd en ly a tho ug h t rose and th i s cons t i tu ted igno rance . 2 2A FM (H ak ed a) : W ha t is cal led the essent ia l na tu re of M ind is a lwaysbey ond tho ug h ts . It i s, the re fo re , de f ined as " imm utab le . " W henthe One World of Reali ty is yet to be realized, the Mind ( ismutable and) is not in per fect uni ty (with Suchess) . Suddenly , (a

de lu de d) t ho ug ht ar ises ; ( this s ta te) is cal led ig no ranc e. 2 3In long no ta t ions , Hakeda sugges t s akasmdt for the Chinese hu-jan.24 yThe AFMS preserves the sense of the changless mind, buy typical ly , i ted i ts of f a l l reference to wu-nien.A FM S (Suzu ki , wi th m in or change s) : W hile the essence of the mind ise te rna l ly c lean and pure , the in f luence o f ignorance makes

poss ib le the ex is tence of a def i led mind. But despi te the def i ledm in d, th e m in d ( itse lf ) is e te rna l , c lear , p u re , an d no t subject tot ran sform atio n . Fu r th er as i ts or ig inal na tur e is f ree f rom par t icu-la r iza t ion (fen-pieh, vikalpa), i t knows in i tself no change whatever , though i t p roduces everywhere the var ious modes o f ex i s tence . W he n th e (Dh arm adh a tu ) is no t r ecogn ized , the re islack ing the co r respondence (wi th Suchness ) . Ignorance andpar t icu lar izat ion then ar ise , g iv ing r ise to var ious def i ledconsc iousnesses . 2 5

The Sinitic Meaning of N i e n and W u - n i e nNien i s a complex concept involv ing several layers of meanings

drawn f rom Ind ian and Ch inese conno ta t ions . Of the Sanskr i t , smrti is3 9


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t an g en t i a l , ev en t h o u g h t h e Platform sutra l a ter would m ake f ree use ofit (nien chen-ju26 , mindfu lness o f Suchness as the mean ing o f nien inxvu-nien). Ksana is often implied. Vikalpa is th e most re levant . T h e AFMand AFMS accep t the in sp i ra t ion o f xvu-nien as coming f rom a sutra.T h e sutra is suspected to be the Lankdvatdra sutra.AFM (My t rans la t ion ) : T hu s a sutra says, "If th er e is any se ntien t b ein gwho can perce ive xvu-nien, he would be advancing towardBu ddh a-w isdo m ." (Ha ked a g ives " tha t wh ich is beyond thou gh t"for xvu-nien.)21

A FM S (Suzuki ) : T he re fo re i t is sa id in the Sut ra that those w ho havean ins igh t in to th e nonrea l i ty {wu-hsiang [characterlessness]) of allsubjectivity (xvang-nien, vikalpa) at tain the wisdom of the Ta thag ata. 2 8T h e ci ted passage is no t foun d in th e Lankdvatdra sutra but the AFM S isp robab ly r igh t i n p ruden t ly r e -cons t i tu t ing xvu-nien as wu-hsiang a n dxvang-nien {vikalpa). I t is safe to assume that the AFM simplif ies thesutra's denunciat ion of vikalpa in to xvu-nien.

Wu-nien, how ever , is m or e than vikalpa. Even Suzuk i , G erne t a ndYampolsky accep t a Tao i s t sou rce fo r xvu-hsin o r xvu-nien. The bo ldes ts t a t emen t i s t ha t o f Wing- t s i t Chan comment ing on the Platform sutra:

The doc t r ine o f the absence o f though t (xvu-nien) is no cult ofunc ons ciou sne ss . N or is it a Zen invent ion ( in the Platform Sutra).I t goes back to Ta ois m , Neo -Ta oism a nd t he Ear ly Seven Schoolsof Buddhism, a l l o f which taught "having no mind of one ' s own,"tha t is , hav ing no men ta l a t t ach me n t wh ich wou ld keep the m indi n b o n d a g e . "

Indeed , one can f ind the idea of xvu-hsin o r hsin-xvu in Chuang-tzuz a n din the commentary on i t by Kuo Hsiang .y Below are of fered a fewsam pl in gs f rom th e Ea stern C hin and th e Six Dynast ies per io d , up toT ' a n C h ' i e n , 2 the f i r s t known scholar of the AFM:

a ) Ch i h M i n - t u a a of the hsin-xvu ibschool: "W he n the sutra t eachesthat al l dharmas are empty , i t i s in tending that the peoplewould empty thei r minds so as no t to ho ld on to the emptyi l lus ions ." 3 0b) H o Ch ' eng- t ' i en , 3 0 an an t i -Buddh i s t t h inker : "The Grea t Mana n d t h e g e n t l e m a n m a k e h u m a n i t y (jen)*d t he i r concern .T h e i r m i n d s d o n o t h a r b o u r nien, but take on form an d sha pes

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T . 57 6a /H ak ed a 34: Lin t ru th ] a l thou gh all the var ious dharmas a p p e a ras though t -momen t s , t he re i s ne i ther tha t wh ich can conce ive o tt h e m (k'o-nien)*? nor that which can be perceived of such (neng-nien).3^

T h e d isa pp ea ra nc e of the object - realm ( the object to the senses) as wellas th e subject is d ram at ical ly p ut for th .

T h e last pa rt is no t easily intelligible unle ss on e is familiar w ith th eusage o f nien i n med i t a t ion {smrti). As ear ly as the th i rd c entury A.D . ,Ch inese fo l lowing the A ndpdna sutra (A n-pan shou-i ching)*T began tou n d e r s t a n d a n d u s e t h e w o r d nien with reference to the psychologicalreduc t ion o f se l f and phenomena in to though t - in s t ances (nien, ksana)t ha t t h e min d is mind fu l o f {nien, smrti) at the moment . All real i t ies arem o m en t a r y , an d a r e d u e to t h e nien (not du e to the m ind , hsin). In so faras men (vikalpa) is false, the T r u e i tself is b ey o n d nien (wu-nien), b ey o n dthe conceiver or the conceived of (so-nien" ,*s neng-nien). In Suchness ,there is nei ther the subject nor the object . (See ci tat ions later . )T . 57 6a /H ak ed a 34: By the Em pt iness of Suchne ss is m ea nt . . . that

it is free (li) from th e all th e differe nt iated forms of the dharmasbecause [ the Suchness MindJ has no hsii-wang-hsin-nien*1 vain,d e l u d ed , p sy ch i c t h o u g h t s (vikalpa).In c on t ras t to th is ideal , the re i s the de lud ed m ind of sen t ien t beings .T . 57 6b /H ak ed a 35 : Because a ll sen t ien t beings , possessing thewang-hsin, d e l u d ed m i n d , ex p e r i en ce nien-nien, the succession oftho ug h t -m om en t s , each be ing d i f fe ren t and no t mu tua l ly co r res

ponding , therefore ( they have to be to ld that ) every th ing i sempty . However , once f ree f rom the de luded mind , li-wang-hsin,( they wo uld know that) there is actually nothing h er e to be em ptied.H e re w e see the severa l mean in gs o f nien en ter ing in to the overall def i n i t ion o f the "d e lu ded tho ug h t . " Th i s passage a lso shows the p roper lyqual i f ied use of the term wang-hsin. One can say li-nien o r li-wang-hsinb u t n ev e r li-hsin*u by itself.T . 37 6b /H ak ed a 38 -39 : T h e com m on peop le may a t ta in ( some)chiieh ( real izat ion) : in kno win g that a form er nien, t h o u g h t , h a sgiven r ise to evi l , they can stop a succeeding thought fromrising.. .. T h e T w o Ve hicles of th e srdvaka and the pralyekabuddhaas well as the ini t iate bodhisattva may real ize, within nien-i,^ t h evar i an t t hough t , nien-wu-i,** t h e n o n va r ia n c e o f t h o u g h t s . . . . T h e42


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Dharmakdya bodhisattva may (further) realize, within nien-chu, axthe abiding thought, nien-wu-chu, the non abiding thou ght. . . .(Only) he who completes all the bodhisattva bhumu and the updyascan in i-nien, a single instant, align (his mind with Suchness),realizing that when the mind is first aroused, the mind itself hasno initial form, because, in itself, the mind is far from (yiian-li) baeven the smallest of nien [that rises]. . . . Th erefo re a sutra says "Ifthere is any sentient b eing wh o can perceive wu-nien, he would beadvancing toward Buddha-wisdom."

T h e a bove passage involves an unortho dox use of the four forms (ssu-hsiang),^ i.e., the Sarvastivadin analysis of four "moments" in anydharma-event, what I translated (in keeping with the meaning of theC hin ese) as the rise, the abiding, the variance and th e cessation of nien.

The Four Moments and Their Reversaljdti sthiti anaythdtva nirodhabirth > abidin g varying cessation(sheng) (chu) (i) (mieh)

bc

the enlig hten ed the Dharm akaya Two Vehicles and comm oners canrealizes the bodhisattvas can initiate bodhisattvas cease thisun bo rn < attain nonabiding-^ can realize non-


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( to a t ta in) wu-nien, no - tho ug ht . (Fail ing th is) therefo re a ll sen t ien tbein gs are n o t sa id to be en l ig h te ne d . T his is becau se ( for the m ),f rom the very begin ning , thoug ht has succeeded thoug ht , nien-nienhsiang-hsii, and ( they have) yet to li-nien, dissociate themselvesf rom tha t s t r ea m o f thoug h t . Th er e fo re they a re said to be in"beginning less ignora nce ." If a perso n a t ta ins wu-nien, no- though t ,then he rea l i zes how the fo rms o f the mind undergo ( the fou rfor m s of) r ise , ab id ing , var iance a nd cessation . Th is is becaus e h eis o n e w i th n o - t h o u g h t .Befo re the "beg inn ing less ignorance" i s wu-nien. T h e wu-nien

(suchne ss) mi nd i s f ree f rom the v ic iss itude of tho ug ht -m om en ts . Fo rthe de luded , t he re has a lways been nien in endless succession, hsiang-hsii f rom the beginning . To know the u l t imate paradoxhow an incip i en t t hough t can emerge f rom a though t - f ree mindis the same asa t t a i n i n g wu-nien itself. Free f rom nien, a person can perceive ther i s ing , ab id ing , vary ing and ceasing of nien itself. To do tha t , a per sonm u s t b r eak t h e " co n t i n u o u s m i n d , " t h e hsiang-shii hsin, citta-santdna,that i s , says the AFM, the dlaya-vijndna.T . 37 6 /H ak ed a 4 1 : H e des t roys the co m po un d consciousness [ thedlaya-vijndna] and b r ings an end to the fo rms o f the con t inuousm ind , th ere by le t t ing manifes t the D har m aka ya . . . because a llhsin-shih chih-hsiang, forms of mind and consciousness , arei g n o r a n c e itself.

But where does the cont inu i ty consciousness i t se l f come f rom?F r o m t h e m i n d ! T h e hsin "somehow" g ives r i se to nien which thencont inues on by i t se l f wi th no end .T . 577 a /H ake da 45 : Co ncern ing the fo rm o f con tinu ity : . . . t he Mindgives rise to nien, t ho ug h t , an d i t co r respond ing ly con t inues wi thn o e n d .T . 577b /H ak ed a 48 : C onc ern in g the con t inu i ty consc iousness[evolved f rom the M ind ] : as it co rre spo nd s to nien, i t cont inueswi t h n o en d .

Nien is the fo rm of igno ran ce itself. Som et imes i t is igno ranc e thatis the root of nien. Elsew here , it is sa id that the sud de n em erg en ce ofnien cons t i tu t es ignorance . Bo th ignorance and nien are beginningless .I t is a l so ign or an ce act ing as Su chn ess 3 8 th at gives rise to wang-hsin, b8 a44


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d e l u d e d m i n d (vikalpa) with in . T h e n , l a te r, the de l ude d object s app ea rw i t h o u t .T . 755c /H ak ed a 50: Sud den ly a tho ug ht ar ises; this is called ignoranc e.T 578 a / H ak ed a 56 : Because ( ignorance) per fum es Suchness , the re ist h e d e l u d e d m i n d . . . . T h e u n e n l i g h t e n e d nien, though t , a r i sesand thereby the de luded ob jec t - r ea lm i s man i fes ted .

Nien i s , wi th in man, the deluded thought ; in consciousness , i t i sthe momentary f rame by which a l l th ings are known; in t ime, i t i s am om en t ; in con t ras t w i th the imm ovab le min d , it is the e ver -chan g ingsantdna. But is nien r ea l? No .T . 579 c /H ak ed a 73 : T h e ob jec t -r ea lms o f the five senses and themind a re u l t imate ly xvu-nien (no t s t ruc tu red accord ing to ou rtho ug h ts ) . . . . Sen t ien t be ings . . . de lud ed by ignora nce mis taketh e min d a s nien [which ch ang es] , bu t th e mind nev er moves . I f aperson could so examine i t and real ize that the mind i tse l f is xvu-

nien (wi thou t though ts ) , he wou ld smooth ly and in due accorden te r t h e g a t e o f S u ch n es s . 3 9As ide f rom thos e passages in which nien m eans "m ed i ta t ive r eco l

lect ion ," these are v ir tual ly a l l the key passages in the AFM involv ingnien. The AFMS ed i ted some o f these , d id away wi th xvu-nien allto ge th er b u t , a s wi th H ak ed a , it is una b le to ab an do n the tone o f o the rnien p as s ag es . Th e ed i t i n g b e in g h ap h aza r d , t h e A F M S i s b e t t e rco n s id e r ed a r ed ac t io n . Nien be ing somehow non-Sanskr i t i c ye tin te g ra l to the AF M , the AFM is be t te r cons ide red C h inese in o r ig in .

Di f fe rences be tween nien a n d hsin mean th a t xvu-nien canno t bes imply t r aced back to Chuang- tzu ' s "no-mind" as so many scho la r ss u g g e s t . T h e d e e p e r n u a n c e o f nien has to be found elsewhere . In thecha p te r o n (hum an) na tu re and f ee ling , hsing-ch'ing,^ in the Po-hu-t'ung 1(C om pre he ns i ve D iscuss ion a t the W hi te T ige r Hal l [in A .D. 39 un de rimp e r i a l s p o n s o r s h ip ] ) , 4 0 we find this subtler Han classification of hsina n d nien: " W h a t d o hsing a n d ch'ing signify? Hsing is th e w ork of yang bjas ch'ing tha t o f yin. b k M a n is bo rn ou t of the r ecep t ion o f the yin-yangethers and is thus endowed with the Five Natures [ the f ive v ir tues] andth e S ix Em ot io ns [joy, ang er , grief, happ iness , love , ha t r ed ] , Ch'ing alsomeans pass iv i ty (ching)b| while hsing bm[s exis tence (sheng).bn T h e i rr ecep t io n p r o cu r e s l i f e . Th e r e f o r e , t h e Kou mingchiieh says: 'Emotions45


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r ise from yin; i t is desires based on shih nien **> ( m o m en t a r y t h o u g h t ) .N a t u r e c om e s fromyang; i t is always in tu n e to t he li bp(Principle). ' Yangis con sider ate of o the r ; yin knows only selfish gain. T he ref or e, em otionsa r e g r e ed y an d n a t u r e is d i r ec t ed at h u m an i t y . 4 2 "T 'a n g Y un g- t 'un g bqcites a s ligh t ly d i f feren t ed i t ion , which read sin par t :

Nien-lii *>r ( th ink ing and po nd er i ng ) is in acco rdanc e wi thshih ( t im e) . . . an d hsing ( h u m a n n a t u r e ) . 4 2Hsing shou ld be read as ch'ing in the last line, i.e. nien-lii is associatedwi th act ivated hsing or the emot ions .T h e C h i n e s e c h a r a c t e r nien i s a combinat ion of "present" and"mind ." I t s t ies wi th shih ( t ime) explain why i t was chosen to renderksana, m o m e n t . Nien usual ly is em plo ye d to den ot e "to thin k of, tore m em be r ; t ho ug h t , r eco l l ec tion ." Th i s is t he r eason for its be ingcho sen to t r ans l a t e smrti, to recall o r be pre sen dy m indfu l of. T h e wo rddi d no t ha ve as yet a negat iv e conn ota t ion in th e classical pe riod , bu t byHan , u n d e r t h e i n f l u en ce o f yin-yang classification, the mind (hsin) isa l igned wi th yang a n d nien (and a host of other mental funct ions l ike ia n d lu ) cam e t o b e r eg a r d ed a s yin. Such mental act ivi t ies distract them in d f ro m i ts o r ig inal ly passive , who lesome s ta te . T h e min d becom esact ive , ex t rover ted and resdess in i t s mental act iv i t ies (nien). T h i s yin-yang div is ion paral le l s the more basic one a t tending hsing a n d ch'ing.T h e M u s i c ch ap t e r o f t h e Book of R ites says:

A h u m an b e i n g a t b i r t h (sheng) is passive; this is his nature. Inco ntac t with thin gs , [emotions] are act ivated; this is the de sir ingaspec t o f h i s na tu re . 4 3

T h e yang na tu re i s t he pen, bsbasis; th e yin emo t ions a re mo, b t the subse-quen t s . One shou ld a lways p reserve o r r e tu rn to the pen and not bemisled by the mo. In the psyche, th is means ab id ing wi th the pass ivem i n d , hsin, and not being pul led down by the act ive nien. I n H a nth ou gh t , t he Sage ab ides wi th the pen so mu ch so that he is said to be wu-ch'ing,bu without emot ions . He i s impassive as impar t ia l Heaven itself.A lth ou gh t he or ig inal ideal in Con fucian an th rop olog y is no t to e l iminate feel ings {jen-ch'ingby) al together bu t to f ind the harmony betweenhsing a n d ch'ing (cf. the Doctrine of the Mean), pos t -Han though t l eansm o re a nd m or e towa rd asce ti ca l den ia l , be ing m ore aware o f the ha rm46


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t h e i o r t h e nien can do to the imm obi le m ind . W he n the AFM descr ibesthe mind as bas ical ly pu-tung (not moving) and b lames a l l deludedm o v e m e n t s , wang-tung, o n th e nien, i t is following this Han tradit ionmu ch mo r e t h an an y k n o w n l eg i t ima te I n d i an B u d d h i s t p r eced en t .

Han Psychology A FM PsychologyN a t u r e , yang, a n d li I M ind, passive, Suc hne ss

n o u m e n a lp h e n o m e n a l

E m o t i o n , yin, a n d nien I Co nsciou sness, active, nienT h e s t ruc tu ra l con t inu i ty is d ia g ra m m ed above . T h e d is junc t ion o fh a v i n g yang an d pass iv ity toge th er on the "n ou m en al" s ide is a p ro b lemnative to the Han classif icatory system itself.

Wu-nien i s an ear ly Chinese Buddhis t ideal , a gateway to nirvanaand en l igh tenmen t long befo re Ch inese knew a l l the f ine po in ts abou tvikalpa as the d i f f e ren t ia t ing consc iousness . Wu-nien was use d as is , withno apology, and in need of no pref ix , i .e . wu-wang-nien (amkalpa).T o g e t h e r w i t h i (a close cou sin of nien, meaning also the f irst s t ir r ing ofm i n d ) , nien was und er s too d as the inc ip ien t thou gh t in the ea rly An-panshou-i (Anapana) med i ta t ive t r ad i t ion . K 'ang Seng-hu i ' s *>w preface toth is sutra descr ibes the f r eedom ga ined th rough the fou r dhydnas, o rh o w t h e e x t r a n e o u s nien or defiled i-nien can be f inally removed:

T h e m in d i s t h e n co n t r o l led . T h e nien ( thought process) has beenrever sed . The var ious skandhas are dea d . Th is is cal led " re turn ing ."The var ious des i r es hav ing d ied down, the mind i s wu-hsiang(wi thou t th ou gh t ) . Th is is ca lled "pur i ty . " 4 4

Vikalpa is no t a n i s sue he re . T h e Lankdvatdra sutra w as th en u n k n o w n ,even to Ind ia . In the runn ing commentary to the f i r s t chap te r o f theMing-tu-chingh*(Chih Ch 'ien by polishe d retran slation of th e AstasdhasrikdPrajndpdramitd sutra)45 f rom the same per iod (ca. 222-229) , we en cou nte rth e s ame g en e r a l u s e o f nien a n d wu-nien by th e c o m m en ta to r .

C on ce rn in g consciousn ess as the ro ot of all real it ies, the Dharma-pdda has said, "The mind is the root of all reali t ies . All good andev il com e f rom i t. M is fo r tune a nd p un ish m en t a re likewise du e toco n s c io u s n es s . " W h en ( o u r ) skandhas ar e f lawed (by des ires a ndact iv i ty) , we cannot recognize the t ru th of wu-nien. Wu-nien isw i th o u t a s o u r ce . 4 647


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Not only is wu-nien beginningless, the em ergence of the first tho ugh t o rnien from the originally wu-nien mind is just as my sterious. Since niengives rise to life and dea th of ph eno m ena (jdti-nirodha), the reversal ofnien is freely seen as the negation of life and death or samsdra {sheng-mieh):

By activity is m eant th e mind of life and d eath {samsdra). Th e darkskandhas give rise secredy to the nien. Erase the nien and on e can,in on e step , attain th e xvu-pu-weib^(the wu-wei> nonaction, that iswu-pu-wei, accom plishing all).47

T h e Ming-tu commentary contains more explanations of the nativeconcepts of t and nien. Examples from this early period can be multiplied , bu t perh ap s the m ost lucid usage that reveals its link with the Po-hu-tung is from Hsi Ch'ao,ca a student of Chih Tun,cbi n the fourthcentury. In his Feng-fa-yaocc (Essentials of Faith), he returns to thefamiliar them e of th e m ind as the cre ator of all realities, spoken of bythe Dharmapdda.4* Th e word i (intention) is often chosen in this periodto re n d er that active side of citta (mind, cetana, will) as well as the psychicpredispositions, samskdra, in the twelve niddnas.

T h e Vimalakirti Sutra says: All the various dharmas take form(ksing) according to i (intention, thought), cd The sign of goodfo rtu ne stirs (within) as the incipient elem ents and the affairs (ofth e world) res po nd accordingly as the result. As a nien rises, thereis yucc (being). As a li i ceases, ther e is wuci (nonbeing). W here the i(intentions) is at peace, all encounters run smoothly. Where thech'ing (feelings) are obstructed, hazards abound. Therefore it issaid: Causes for penetratio n and imp edim ent lie within ourselvesand not in things.49

It is also said:In his m ind (the m an of the Way) should gu ard against the tiniestbeginning of lii. With the ultimate li (Principle) as his castle, hecommands over the fundamental {pen) and restrains the secondaries {mo, subseq uents). H e would not, prio r to the events takingshape {hsing), ever so lightly arouse any hsin-nien (mentalthoughts) .50

H er e we see the m ore detailed parallel structure to the Po-Hu-tung:

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changelessli (Principle)activech'ing(emotions)

passivehsing (nature)i (intention)nien (thought)lii (pondering)

formlessurn (nonbeing)yu (being)hsing (form)

pen (origin)mo (subsequents)

The same structure then emerges in the AFM in the form of:Suchness Mind, ideal wu-nien neither life nor death, immobile

4 (emanation into consciousness via the tathdgatagarbha) I 1 4 * Continuous nien (dlayaxnjnana) | life and death, samsdra, changeDe cided ly the AFM structure is mu ch more complicated. T h e d escentfrom pen (hsin, mind) into the mo (subsequent consciousness) alone isextremely intricate. Suchness is also given a double aspect just underthe effable side of its essence: the sunya and the asunya (empty and notem p ty ) etc. Still, the sinitic stam p of aligning hsin (mind ) with an invariable principle (Suchness) and shih (consciousness)and the culpablenienwith m om entary chang es is unmistakable. T he re is indeed thisbasic thread ru nn ing throu gh H an reflection on hsin-nien and the AFMquasi-Yogacara psychology. The key concepts of nien and wu-nien inthe AFM cann ot be unde rstood outside this native framework.

Reasons for the Redaction of the A FM into the A F M SThe above study shows that nien and wu-nien are problematical

concepts in the AFM. They have defied the Sanskritist's attempts atdirect correlation because they contain elem ents drawn from a Ch inesepre -Bu dd hist u se of the term. We have seen how H akeda has repeatedlytried to m ak e sens e of the term s by rem oldin g them so as to accord withInd ian logic. Th e sam e motivation lies behind the AFMS redaction ofth e AF M . Within fifty years after the appearan ce of the AFM in Ch ina,th ere w ere already ch arges that the AFM was a six-century forgery bythe masters of the Dasabhumika sdstra in the N orth. T h e criticism cam efrom the Samgraha school founded by Paramartha in the South.H siian -tsan g was frustrated eno ug h with this unsettled controversy, soit is said , that he w en t to Ind ia to bring back the definitive answ er. D ue49


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the superiority of the Fa-hsing cJ position of the AFM and henceforthde m ote d W ei-shih to the dub ious inferiority of Fa-hsiang^K . . . Allthat, however, would belong to another study for another occasion.54

N O T E S

1. Given asjrncl ( thus of ten t rans la ted as "m an's or iginal natu re") ; i t could b eju cm ( " to en te r " ) . T rans la t ion mine .

2 . Moc h i z uk i , Daijo kishinron no kenkyu cn (Kyoto, 1922).3 . O ng oi ng project s ince my disser ta t ion (Harv ard , 1975) .4 . Mochizuki suggests Korea because of the discovery of the AFMS in Korea.5 . S uz uk i , A svaghosa's Discourse on the A wakening of Faith in the Mah ayana

(Chicago: Open Cour t , 1900) , p . 56 .6. Op. at. ( L ondon : R i de r 8c Co. , 1949), pp . 29-30, 56.7. G e r n e t , Entretiens du Maitre de Dhyana C hen-houei du H o-tso (Hanoi , 1949) , pp.

1 2-1 3 , note 5 . He of f e r s the F rench "absence de pensee . "8 . Yampolsky , The Platform Sutra of The Sixth Patriarch (New York: Columbia

U n i . Press , 1967) , p p. 137-39, with note 69 dev oted to wu-nien.9 . H a ke da , A wakening of Faith A ttributed to Asvaghosa (New York: Columbia Uni .Press , 1967) , p . 73 note .

10 . Kashiwagi Hi roo fa i led to do this in his "Sh ikus han and a n o yaku to tsutaera-r e ru Da i jo k i sh inron ," Indogaku Bukkyogaku kenkyu, 10.2 (1962), pp. 124-25.

11. Another tes t -case is AFMS' redact ion of the "water -wave" metaphor .12 . T. 44 , p . 579c .13. T. 44 , p . 576ab .14 . Of ten taken in China to mean nirvana, but AFMS might have in mind the

or ig ina l d ia lec t ic s of Madhyamika .15 . Suzuki t rans , c i t , p . 104 . Un war r an te d r ead ing .16 . T. 44 , p . 588a .17 . Hakeda , t r ans , c i t . , pp . 7 2-7 3 .18 . T h e pass ive voice is not in ten de d; th e AFMS of Suzuki is probab ly the m ode l .19 . T. 44 , p . 580a .2 0 . Ha ke da , t r ans , c it ., p . 41 .2 1 . Dealt with in my disser ta t ion.

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2 2 . T. 44, p. 577c.2 3 . Hakeda, trans, cit. , p. 51.2 4 . T he more immediate precedent o f hu-jan is Hsi Ch'ao's Feng-fa-yao or, further

back, Ku o Hsiang's use of k'uai-jan;co this issue is to be dealt with in com panion pieces on"hu-jan nieh-ch'i"cV in the AFM.2 5 . Suzuki, trans, cit., p. 79.2 6. Platform sutra but only in the later popular version.2 7. T. 44, p. 576b and Hakeda, trans, cit. , p. 39.2 8. Suzuki, trans, cit., p. 65.29. A Source Book ofChmese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton Uni. Press, 1963), p. 43 5.3 0. As rep orted by Chi-tsangc< l in his Chung-lun-shu.cr3 1 . T. 52. p. 19b.3 2 . T. 52, p. 34b.3 3 . T. 5 2 , p . 30c.3 4 . From my translation in an ongoing study of his Ming-fo-lun, T. 52, p. 18c.3 5. From his Wa ng shih-fei-lun;a see m y translation in "T'an-ch'ien an d the Early

Ch'an Tradition," Early Ch'an in China and Tibet, ed . by W. Lai and Lewis Lancaster, for thcoming from the Berkeley Buddhist Series.

3 6 . T. 44, pp. 577b, 586a.3 7 . AFM gives k'o-niencu ("can be thought of"); AFMS gives the preferred so -

n t f n c v ("that which is being thought of); see T. 44, pp. 576a, 584c.3 8. Tou chy i ssue in the AFM philosophy. W6 nh yo c w realized that to posit this is

contrary to the logic of Yogacara as listed in the Samgraha.3 9. Translation slightly different from one offered earlier.4 0 . See translation by Tjan Tjoe Som, Po Hu Tung, in Sinica Leidensia (Leiden:

E.J. Brill, 1952).4 1. My translation; compare ibid., vol. II, p. 565.4 2 . T'ang, Han-Wei liang-Chin Nan-pei-chao Fo-chiao-shih (Peking reissue: Chung

hua, 1955).4 3 . My translation; see Theodore de Bary ed. , Sources of Chinese Tradition (New

York: Columbia Uni. Press, 1960), p. 168.4 4 . T. 5 5 , p . 43b . Wu-hsiang is close to meaning wu-men.45 . T. 8 , no . 225 , pp. 478-508 .4 6 . T. 8, p. 480b. From my completed translation of this running commentary.47. T. 8, p. 479a.48. The first chapter in the Pali Dhammapdda.49. My translation, from T . 5 2 , p. 88b; compare Ziircher's version in op . cit., I, p. 172.50. My translation, from T. 52, p. 87a; compare Ziircher's, ibid., p. 167.5. T. 52, p. 583c .5 2 . Ibid.5 3 . T, 52, p. 575a.54 . See my "Fa-tsang's cx Criticism of Wei-shih," paper read at the national con

ference of the Association for Asian Studies (1979) in the North American BuddhistAssoc iation session ; this is based on a translation of the hsin-shih-lun^V chapter in the W u-chiao-chang; cz see also an accom pany ing piece to the present study, "Suddenly a T h o u g h tRose: Chinese Understanding of Mind and Conciousness" (mn., 1980).

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a clue to the authorship of the awakening of faith

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