Buddhism in China: Hua-yen

Berger

Intro to Asian Religions

The Establishment of Chinese Buddhism

The legendary dream of emperor Ming (58-75) in 64 CE Three Kingdoms period (220-589) leads to Buddhist

popularity in both the “foreign” north and “native” south Confucian objection to Buddhism’s anti-family social

order and other-worldly tendencies answered by Muo Tzu (4th century)

Translation teams bring Buddhist scriptures to China, making liberal use of Daoist religious vocabulary

Imperial patronage under Tang Dynasty (618-906)

The Rise of Hua Yen (華厳 ) Translation of Avatamsaka sutra in 420 Institutionalization of school by Ta Shun (557-640) Philosophical system made by Fa tsang (643-712)

Defeated doctrines of other schools in the imperial court of Empress Wu Tze Tian (625-705)

Empress Wu patronizes Hua-yen to legitimate rule School practically obliterated in persecutions of Emperor

Wu Tsung (842-845). Hua Yen school taken to Japan in 736 and established as

major Buddhist institution, Kegon

Teachings of Fa-tsang’s Hua-Yen Treatise I

The six characteristics (p. 503)“Universality” –a whole entity“Particularity” –unique qualities of an entity“Identity” –the union of qualities in making an entity“Difference” –the uniqueness of each quality“Integration” –the capacity of unique qualities to give

rise, co-dependently, to entities“Disintegration” –-preservation of the unique

differences of each quality within an entity

Teachings of Fa-tsang’s Hua-Yen Treatise II

Universals in rafter-building illustration (504-05)A rafter is the building since it creates a buildingEach rafter is a total condition of building’s existence,

since, were any rafter to be removed, the universal which is that building would cease to exist

The building is not an independent entity, it is only the dependently co-arisen union of its parts

Teachings of Fa-tsang’s Hua-Yen Treatise III

Particulars and the identity of part and whole (505)Parts of a whole, as rafters of a building, are only parts

depending on their contribution to construction of a whole.

Part is identical with whole, for the part creates that whole and not something else. Were there no rafters, there would be no building, and with no building, there would be no rafters

Teachings of Fa-tsang’s Hua-Yen Treatise IV

Conditions of the existence of a whole, its parts, are identical with one another, as are rafters and tiles, insofar as they function identically to create building (506)

Parts remain physically themselves and thus different from one another, as the rafter and tiles, else they could not construct the building (506)

Teachings of Fa-tsang’s Hua-Yen Treatise V

The One-Many relation as key to wisdom (507)The unity of one in many and many in one is a

realization of “wonderful integration”Picture of dependent co-arising is positive insight into

creativity and necessity of each individual to the whole universe

Insight into one-many relationship is how the world appears to an enlightened mind

Reading for Next Class

Sourcebook, 508-517