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Huayan
The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty, Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' () as well as on the works of the Huayan patriarchs, like Fazang. The name ''Flower Garland'' is meant to suggest the crowning glory of a Buddha's profound understanding of ultimate reality. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea, Kegon in Japan and Hoa Nghiêm in Vietnam. This tradition also had a strong influence on Chan Buddhism. History Origins There are various versions of the ''Avatamsaka sutra.'' The earliest texts associated with the ''Avatamsaka sutra'' are the ''Dousha jing'' (Taisho 280), produced by Lokaksema (Buddhist monk), Lokaksema in the latter part of the second century CE and the ''Pusa benye jing'' (T. 281), translated by Zhi Qian in the early to mid third century ...
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Kegon
The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' () as well as on the works of the Huayan patriarchs, like Fazang. The name ''Flower Garland'' is meant to suggest the crowning glory of a Buddha's profound understanding of ultimate reality. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea, Kegon in Japan and Hoa Nghiêm in Vietnam. This tradition also had a strong influence on Chan Buddhism. History Origins There are various versions of the ''Avatamsaka sutra.'' The earliest texts associated with the ''Avatamsaka sutra'' are the ''Dousha jing'' (Taisho 280), produced by Lokaksema in the latter part of the second century CE and the ''Pusa benye jing'' (T. 281), translated by Zhi Qian in the early to mid third century. There is evidence that these smaller ...
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Hwaeom
The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' () as well as on the works of the Huayan patriarchs, like Fazang. The name ''Flower Garland'' is meant to suggest the crowning glory of a Buddha's profound understanding of ultimate reality. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea, Kegon in Japan and Hoa Nghiêm in Vietnam. This tradition also had a strong influence on Chan Buddhism. History Origins There are various versions of the ''Avatamsaka sutra.'' The earliest texts associated with the ''Avatamsaka sutra'' are the ''Dousha jing'' (Taisho 280), produced by Lokaksema in the latter part of the second century CE and the ''Pusa benye jing'' (T. 281), translated by Zhi Qian in the early to mid third century. There is evidence that these smaller ...
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Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various schools of Buddhism in India following the parinirvana of The Buddha and later spread throughout Asia. The Buddhist path combines both philosophical reasoning and meditation.Siderits, Mark. Buddhism as philosophy, 2007, p. 6 The Buddhist traditions present a multitude of Buddhist paths to liberation, and Buddhist thinkers in India and subsequently in East Asia have covered topics as varied as phenomenology, ethics, ontology, epistemology, logic and philosophy of time in their analysis of these paths. Pre-sectarian Buddhism was based on empirical evidence gained by the sense organs ('' ayatana'') and the Buddha seems to have retained a skeptical distance from certain metaphysical questions, refusing to answer them because they were not conducive to liberation but led instead to further speculation. A recurrent theme in Buddhist philosophy has been the reificatio ...
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Fazang
Fazang () (643–712) was the third of the five patriarchs of the Huayan school of Mahayana Buddhism, of which he is traditionally considered the founder. He was an important and influential philosopher, so much so that it has been claimed that he “was in fact the real creator of what is now known as Hua-yen”. Fazang’s ancestors came from Sogdia, a major center for trade along the Silk Road (modern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), but he was born in the Tang capital of Chang'an (now Xi'an), where his family had become culturally Chinese. Names Although there remains ambiguity with varying interpretations of biographical sources, most recent scholarship promotes that the well-known name Fazang is not only the monk's dharma-name, but the secular name he used prior to being ordained. His surname was Kang, which originated from his place of birth, Kangjuguo. Furthermore, he had the nickname of Xianshou 賢首 which appears to have been the style-name given to him by his parents, desp ...
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Chengguan (monk)
Chengguan (or Ching-liang) (738–839) was an important representative of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, under whom the school gained great influence. Chengguan lived through the reigns of nine emperors and was an honored teacher to seven emperors starting with Xuanzong (玄宗) until Wenzong (文宗). The General Survey of Longxing’s Chronology chronicled during Southern Song and A Brief Account of the Five Patriarchs of Fajiezong of Qing recorded a difference of one year in Chengguan’s birth year (737-838 CE or 738-839 CE), but both documented that he lived to be 102. According to the Song Biographies of Preeminent Monks Chengguan had studied the vinaya, the Three Śāstras when they were popular studies in the south and under more than one teacher, perused commentaries such as Awakening Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dacheng Qixin Lun 大乘起信論), studied the Avataṃsaka Sūtra with Indian master Fashen 法詵 (718-778 CE), the Lotus Sūtra and the Vimalakīrti ...
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Avatamsaka Sutra
The ' (IAST, sa, 𑀅𑀯𑀢𑀁𑀲𑀓 𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭) or ''Buddhāvataṃsaka-nāma-mahā­vaipulya-sūtra (The Mahāvaipulya Sūtra named “Buddhāvataṃsaka”)'' is one of the most influential Mahāyāna sutras of East Asian Buddhism. In Classical Sanskrit, ''avataṃsaka'' means garland, wreath, or any circular ornament, such as an earring.'''' Thus, the title may be rendered in English as ''A Garland of Buddhas'', ''Buddha Ornaments'', or ''Buddha’s Garland''. In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, the term ''avataṃsaka'' means “a great number,” “a multitude,” or “a collection.” This is matched by the Tibetan title of the sutra, which is ''A Multitude of Buddhas'' (''""''). The ''Buddhāvataṃsaka'' has been described by the translator Thomas Cleary "the most grandiose, the most comprehensive, and the most beautifully arrayed of the Buddhist scriptures." The ' describes a cosmos of infinite realms upon realms, mutually containing one another. This sut ...
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Dushun
Dushun () (557–640) was the First Patriarch of the Huayan School of Chinese Buddhism, which has the Indian Avatamsaka Sutra as its central scripture. Biography Dushun was born in present-day Shaanxi province. He ordained at the age of seventeen and became a student of a monk named Weichen, from whom he learned meditation at Yinsheng temple. Dushun later retired to Zhixiang temple, a monastery in the Zhongnan mountains in the south of Shaanxi. There, Dushun began an in-depth study of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. The second patriarch, Zhiyan (602-668 CE), studied under Dushun at Zhixiang temple and became recognized as his formal successor. Works Around fourteen works have been ascribed to Dushun throughout history; however, only two works can be definitively attributed to him. The first is ''The Ten Mysterious Gates of the Unitary Vehicle of the Huayan'' (zh: ''Huayan yisheng shixuan men''). This text was composed by Zhiyan Zhiyan () (602–668) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who is ...
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Guifeng Zongmi
Guifeng Zongmi () (780–1 February 841) was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar and bhikkhu, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze school of Southern Chan Buddhism. He wrote a number of works on the contemporary situation of Tang Buddhism, which also discussed Taoism and Confucianism. He also wrote critical analyses of Chan and Huayan, as well as numerous scriptural exegeses. Zongmi was deeply interested in both the practical and doctrinal aspects of Buddhism. He was especially concerned about harmonizing the views of those that tended toward exclusivity in either direction. He provided doctrinal classifications of Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachings, accounting for the apparent disparities in doctrines by categorizing them according to their specific aims. Biography Early years (780-810) Zongmi was born in 780 into the powerful and influential He () family in what is now central Sichuan. In his early years, he studied the Chinese c ...
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Datong Huayan Si 2013
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,105,591 of whom 1,790,452 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of the 2 out 4 urban districts of Pingcheng and Yungang as Yunzhou and Xinrong are not conurbated yet. History The area of present-day Datong was close to the state of Dai, which was conquered by the Zhao clan of Jin in 457 BC. It was a frontier land between the agricultural Chinese and the nomads of the Great Steppe. The area was well known for its trade in horses. The area of present-day Datong eventually came under the control of the Qin dynasty, during which it was known as Pingcheng County (平城县) and formed part of the Qin commandery of Yanmen. Pingcheng County continued under the Han dynasty, which founded a site within pr ...
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Zhiyan
Zhiyan () (602–668) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who is considered the second patriarch of the Chinese Buddhist Huayan school. Zhiyan was born in the second year of the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui. He was a devotee of the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' and was critical of the philosophy of Xuanzang. Zhiyan lectured on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' at Yunhua Temple and was a teacher to the influential Huayan patriarch Fazang. He passed away at Qingjing Temple in the first year of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (March 31, 867 – September 22, 904), né Li Jie, name later changed to Li Min and again to Li Ye, was the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 888 to 904 (although he was briefly deposed .... Further reading * Gimello, Robert M. (1976). "Chih-Yen, (602-668) and the foundations of Huayan Buddhism", Dissertation: Columbia University 602 births 668 deaths Huayan Buddhists {{Mahayana-stub ...
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Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism (the other being ''Theravāda'' and Vajrayana).Harvey (2013), p. 189. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna Sūtras and their emphasis on the ''bodhisattva'' path and ''Prajñāpāramitā''. ''Vajrayāna'' or Mantra traditions are a subset of Mahāyāna, which make use of numerous tantric methods considered to be faster and more powerful at achieving Buddhahood by Vajrayānists. "Mahāyāna" also refers to the path of the bodhisattva striving to become a fully awakened Buddha (''samyaksaṃbuddha'') for the benefit of all sentient beings, and is thus als ...
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Chan Buddhism
Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song dynasties. Chan is the originating tradition of Zen Buddhism (the Japanese pronunciation of the same character, which is the most commonly used English name for the school). Chan Buddhism spread from China south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon, and, in the 13th century, east to Japan as Japanese Zen. History The historical records required for a complete, accurate account of early Chan history no longer exist. Periodisation The history of Chan in China can be divided into several periods. Zen, as we know it today, is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Zen, some of which remained influential while others vanished. Ferguson distinguishes three p ...
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