The Huayan or Flower Garland school of
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
(, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of
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 bra ...
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 combi ...
that first flourished in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
during the
Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the ''
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 B ...
'' () as well as on the works of the Huayan patriarchs, like
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 ...
.
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
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 primar ...
in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
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 prima ...
in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and Hoa Nghiêm in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. This tradition also had a strong influence on
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 So ...
.
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 or partial ''Avatamsaka sutras'' circulated on their own as individual scriptures.
The translation of the large ''Avatamsaka sutra'' is often dated to the
Southern Dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...
(420-589) when a translation team led by
Gandharan
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
master,
Buddhabhadra worked on the sutra. There is also evidence of this sutra tradition in the
Northern Dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin, Eastern Jin dy ...
(386-581) where a certain Xuangao (402-444) taught the ''Huayan
samadhi
''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...
''.
Patriarchs
13th century Japanese print of Fazang, Todaiji, Nara, Japan.
The founding of the school is traditionally attributed to a series of five "patriarchs" who were instrumental in developing the schools' doctrines. These five are:
#
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 seventee ...
(), responsible for the establishment of Huayan studies as a distinct field;
#
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 ...
(), considered to have established the basic doctrines of the sect;
#
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 ...
(), considered to have rationalized the doctrine for greater acceptance by society;
#
Chengguan (), together with Zongmi, are understood to have further developed and transformed the teachings
#
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 ...
(), who is simultaneous a patriarch of the
Chinese Chán
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 So ...
tradition and who also incorporated Taoist and Confucian teachings.
These five monks who were later honored as Huayan patriarchs (though they did not call themselves as such) were erudite scholar-practitioners. They connected Buddhism with Chinese traditional culture closely, creating a unique Chinese Buddhist historical trend in developing multiple facets while the tradition’s essence remained the same.
Based on their writings, exegeses, and oral teachings, these men each played a significant and distinct role in the development of the school, although there are certain aspects of this patriarchal scheme which are clearly contrived. For example, Chengguan was born 26 years after Fazang's death. According to Robert Gimello's dissertation on Chih-Yen (1976), "most if not all of the major themes of Huayen thought" can be found in the works of the second patriarch Chih-yen, particularly the classification of scriptures and theories on the
Dharmadhatu
Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality.
Definition
In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhātu ( bo, chos kyi dbyings; ) means "realm of phenomena", "realm of truth", and of the noumen ...
. Thus he names the patriarch Chih-yen (602-668) as the crucial figure in the foundation of Huayan. The tradition reached the height of its influence under Fazang, who was the Buddhist teacher of the
Empress Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...
(684–705).
Another important figure in the development and popularization of Huayan thought was the lay scholar
Li Tongxuan
Li, li, or LI may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects
* Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political tec ...
(, 635?-730), the author of the ''Huáyán lùn'' (), a popular and lengthy commentary on the ''Avatamsaka sutra''. Fazang's disciple
Huiyuan (673-743) also wrote a commentary on the Avatamsaka.
Some accounts of the school also like to extend its patriarch-ship earlier to and
Nāgārjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
.
Stagnation
After the time of Zongmi and Li Tongxuan the Chinese school of Huayan generally stagnated in terms of new development, and then eventually began to decline. The school, which had been dependent upon the support it received from the government, suffered severely during the Buddhist purge of 841-845, initiated by
Emperor Wuzong of Tang
Emperor Wuzong of Tang (July 2, 814 – April 22, 846), né Li Chan, later changed to Li Yan just before his death, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, reigning from 840 to 846. Emperor Wuzong is mainly known in modern times for the r ...
. The school stagnated even further in the confusion of the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
(907-979) period after the fall of the Tang dynasty when some Huayan commentaries were lost.
Revival and Expansion
![Hohhot White Pagoda 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Hohhot_White_Pagoda_4.jpg)
After the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
, the Huayan lineage experienced a revival in the following
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960-1279), and the few Huayan commentaries which had been dispersed were returned in 1085 by the
Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...
monk
Uicheon
Uicheon (28 September 1055 – 5 October 1101) was a Goryeo Royal Prince as the fourth son of King Munjong and Queen Inye from the Incheon Yi clan.https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0043423 He was the younger brother of Sunjong, Seonj ...
.
From the Song dynasty through the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
,
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, and
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
to the
modern period
The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...
, Huayan philosophy continued to develop and new commentaries and rites were written and initiated, such as the "''Rites on Practicing the Vows of
Samantabhadra Samantabhadra (Lit. "All Good", or "Always Auspicious") may refer to:
* Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva), a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with practice and meditation
* ''Samantabhadra'' (Tibetan: ''Kuntu Zangpo''), the name of a Buddha, ...
''" (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
: 華嚴普賢行願修證儀;
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
: ''Huáyán Pǔxián Xíngyuàn Xiūzhèng Yí'') and "''Sagara-mudra Repentance Rites on the Flower Adornment Sutra''" (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
: 華嚴經海印道場懺儀;
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
: ''Huáyánjīng Hǎiyìn Dàochǎng Chànyí'').
Throughout this period, much of Huayan's profound metaphysics, such as that of the
Four Dharmadhātu (; Pinyin: Sìfǎjiè) of interpenetration, was also integrated into the other Chinese Buddhist traditions.
Korean Hwaeom
In the 7th century, the Huayan school was transmitted into
Silla
Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, where it is known as Hwaeom (
Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
: 화엄). This tradition was transmitted by the monk
Uisang
Uisang (625–702) was one of the most eminent early Silla Korean scholar-monks, a close friend of Wonhyo (元曉).
He traveled to China, studying at Mount Zhongnan as a student of the influential Huayan master Zhiyan (智儼) and as a senior ...
(
hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
:의상대사 625-702), who had been, along with
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 ...
, a student of
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 ...
. After Uisang returned to Korea in 671, he worked vigorously toward the establishment of the Hwaeom school. In this effort, he was greatly aided by the powerful influences of his friend
Wonhyo
Won Hyo (617 – April 28, 686) was one of the leading thinkers, writers and commentators of the Korean Buddhist tradition. Essence-Function (), a key concept in East Asian Buddhism and particularly Korean Buddhism, was refined in the syncretic ...
(
hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
:원효대사,
hanja
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...
:元曉), who although not an official representative of the school, relied deeply on Hwaeom metaphysical principles to establish his concept of interpenetrated Buddhism (通佛教).
After the passing of these two early monks, the Hwaeom school became strongly established under the influence of a long series of Hwaeom masters. The Hwaeom school remained in the position of predominant doctrinal school up until the end of the
Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...
Dynasty, when it was placed into a forced merger with the
Seon Seon may refer to:
* Seon, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Aargau
* ''Seon'', a type of arranged marriage in South Korea
* Korean Seon, a Zen school of Korean Buddhism
* Seon (food), steamed vegetable dishes with fillings in Korean cui ...
(Korean Zen) school. Within the Seon school, Hwaeom thought would continue to play a strong role, and continues as such to modern times.
Japanese Kegon
![Daibutsu-den_in_Todaiji_Nara02bs3200](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Daibutsu-den_in_Todaiji_Nara02bs3200.jpg)
Kegon ( ja, 華厳宗, links=no) is the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
transmission of Huayan. Huayan studies were founded in Japan in 736 when the scholar-priest
Rōben
(689 – 773), also known as Ryōben, was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Kegon sect, and clerical founder of the Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. He is popularly known as the . His life spanned the late Asuka period (538 &nd ...
(良辯 or 良弁), originally a monk of the
East Asian Yogācāra
East Asian Yogācāra (, "'Consciousness Only' school" or , "'Dharma Characteristics' school") refers to the traditions in East Asia which developed out of the Indian Buddhist Yogachara systems.
The 4th-century Gandharan brothers, Asaṅga an ...
tradition, invited
Shinshō () to give lectures on the ''
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 B ...
'' at Kinshōsen Temple (金鐘山寺, also 金鐘寺 ''Konshu-ji'' or ''Kinshō-ji''), the origin of later
Tōdai-ji
is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...
. When the construction of the Tōdai-ji was completed, Rōben entered that temple to formally initiate Kegon as a field of study in
Buddhism in Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a ...
, and Kegon-shū would become known as one of the ''
Nanto Rikushū Nanto may refer to:
Places
* Nanto, Veneto, a municipality in Italy
* Nantō, Mie, a town in Japan
* Nanto, Toyama (南砺), a city in Japan
* Nanto (南都), an historical synonym for Nara, Nara, Japan
Other uses
* Nanto Bank, a Japanese regiona ...
'' (南都六宗) or "Six Buddhist Sects of
Nanto". Rōben's disciple
Jitchū
(?–824) was a Buddhist monk in Nara Japan of the Kegon sect, and pupil of Roben. In his later years, Jitchu oversaw the expansion of Tōdai-ji temple, and introduced liturgy and rituals still used today. The most noteworthy of these ceremonie ...
continued administration of Tōdai-ji and expanded its prestige through the introduction of imported rituals.
Kegon thought would later be popularized by
Myōe
(February 21, 1173 – February 11, 1232) was a Japanese Buddhist monk active during the Kamakura period who also went by the name ''Kōben'' ( ja, 高弁). He was a contemporary of Jōkei and Hōnen.
Biography
Myōe was born in what is n ...
(明惠), who combined its doctrines with those of
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
and
Gyōnen (凝然), and is most responsible for the establishment of the Tōdai-ji lineage of Kegon. Over time, Kegon incorporated esoteric ritual from
Shingon Buddhism
Shingon monks at Mount Koya
is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra.
K ...
, with which it shared a cordial relationship. Its practice continues to this day, and includes a few temples overseas.
Modern Era
![Images of five Buddha, Upper Huayan Temple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Images_of_five_Buddha%2C_Upper_Huayan_Temple.jpg)
In 1914, Huayan University, the first modern Buddhist monastic school, was founded in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
to further systematize Huayan teaching and teach monastics. It helped to expand the Huayan tradition into the rest of into
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, and the West. The university managed to foster a network of educated monks who focused on Huayan Buddhism during the 20th century. Through this network, the lineage of the Huayan tradition was transmitted to many monks, which helped to preserve the lineage down to the modern day via new Huayan-centred organizations that these monks would later found.
Several new Huayan Buddhist organizations have been established since the latter half of the 20th century. In contemporary times, the largest and oldest of the Huayan-centered organizations in Taiwan is th
Huayan Lotus Society(Huayan Lianshe 華嚴蓮社), which was founded in 1952 by the monk Zhiguang and his disciple Nanting, who were both part of the network fostered by the Huayan University. Since its founding, the Huayan Lotus Society has been centered on the study and practice of the Huayan Sutra. It hosts a full recitation of the sutra twice each year, during the third and tenth months of the lunar calendar. Each year during the eleventh lunar month, the society also hosts a seven-day Huayan Buddha retreat (Huayan foqi 華嚴佛七), during which participants chant the names of the buddhas and bodhisattvas in the text. The society emphasizes the study of the Huayan Sutra by hosting regular lectures on it. In recent decades, these lectures have occurred on a weekly basis.
Like other Taiwanese Buddhist organization's, the Society has also diversified its propagation and educational activities over the years. It produces its own periodical and runs its own press. It also now runs a variety of educational programs, including a kindergarten, a vocational college, and short-term courses in Buddhism for college and primary-school students, and offers scholarships. One example is their founding of th
Huayan Buddhist College(Huayan Zhuanzong Xueyuan 華嚴專宗學院) in 1975. They have also established branch temples overseas, most notably in California’s
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
. In 1989, they expanded their outreach to the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
by formally establishing th
Huayan Lotus Society of the United States(Meiguo Huayan Lianshe 美國華嚴蓮社). Like the parent organization in Taiwan, this branch holds weekly lectures on the Huayan Sutra and several annual Huayan Dharma Assemblies where it is chanted. It also holds monthly memorial services for the society’s spiritual forebears.
In Mainland China, Huayan teachings began to be more widely re-propagated after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Various monks from the network of monks fostered by the original Huayan University, such as Zhenchan (真禪) and Mengcan (夢參), were the driving factors behind the re-propagation as they travelled widely throughout China as well as other countries such as the United States and lectured on Huayan teachings. In 1996, one of Mengcan's tonsured disciples, the monk Jimeng (繼夢), also known as Haiyun (海雲), founded th
(Huayan Xuehui 華嚴學會) in
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, which was followed in 1999 by the founding of the large
Caotangshan Great Huayan Temple(Caotangshan Da Huayansi 草堂山大華嚴寺). This temple hosts many Huayan-related
activities, including a weekly Huayan Assembly. Since 2000, the
association has grown internationally, with branches in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Influence
The doctrines of the Huayan school ended up having profound impact on the philosophical attitudes of
East Asian Buddhism
East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vi ...
. According to Wei Daoru their theory of perfect interfusion was "gradually accepted by all Buddhist traditions and it eventually permeated all aspects of Chinese Buddhism."
Chinese Chán
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 So ...
was profoundly influenced by it, though Chán also defined itself by distinguishing itself from Huayan.
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 ...
, the Fifth Patriarch of the Huayan school, also occupies a prominent position in the history of Chán. During the Song, the Huayan metaphysics were completely assimilated by the Chán-school.
Texts
''Avataṃsaka Sūtra''
The Huayan school's worldview was inspired on the content of what it considered to be the supreme Buddhist revelation, the ''
Avataṃsaka Sūtra'' (Flower Garland Sutra,
Ch. ''Huāyán Jīng''). The ''Avataṃsaka Sūtra'' is a compilation of sutras of various length, which originally circulated as their own sutras before being combined. The earliest of these texts, the ''
Ten Stages Sutra
The ''Ten Stages Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra''; ; ) also known as the Daśabhūmika Sūtra, is an early, influential Mahayana Buddhist scripture. The sutra also appears as the 26th chapter of the '' ''.Modern Buddhist studies schol ...
'', maybe dates from the first century CE. The ''
Daśabhūmika Sūtra'' describes the ten stages on the
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
-path. The various sutras were probably joined together shortly before its translation into Chinese, at the beginning of the 5th century CE.
According to Williams, the ''Avataṃsaka Sūtra'' is not a systematic philosophical work, but mentions various
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 bra ...
teachings, including
Madhyamaka
Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist ...
śūnyatā
''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā; ), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other p ...
teachings,
Yogacara
Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...
ideas,
as well as mentioning a pure untainted awareness or consciousness (''amalacitta''). It is filled with mystical and visionary imagery, focusing on the Buddha
Vairocana
Vairocana (also Mahāvairocana, sa, वैरोचन) is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East ...
, who is said to pervade every atom of the entire universe with his magical creations and emanations as a way to help all beings:
An important doctrine that the Huayan school drew from this sutra is the idea that all levels of reality are interrelated and interpenetrated, the idea that "inside everything is everything else". The sutra states:
They . . . perceive that the fields full of assemblies, the beings and aeons which are as many as all the dust particles, are all present in every particle of dust. They perceive that the many fields and assemblies and the beings and the aeons are all reflected in each particle of dust.[Williams, Paul, Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, Routledge, 2008, p. 136.]
In the Huayan school, this is depicted in the image of
Indra's net
Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, Sanskrit ''Indrajāla'', Chinese: 因陀羅網) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā (emptiness), pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination),. and interpenetratio ...
. This "unity in totality allows every individual entity of the phenomenal world its uniqueness without attributing an
inherent nature to anything". According to Williams,
As a description of the way things are in our unenlightened world this seems incredible. But the dharmadhatu is the world as seen by the Buddha wherein there is no question of the world (an objectively real world ‘out there’) as distinct from meditative vision. Thus the sutra is less concerned with describing the world this way as with recounting the Bodhisattva’s attainments by which he can see the world in such a light, and the Bodhisattva’s miraculous powers by which, through his magical interventions in this world with no fixed hard boundaries, he can cause things to interpenetrate.
Other texts
Other Mahayana texts such as the ''
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana
''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna'' (reconstructed Sanskrit title: ''Mahāyāna śraddhotpādaśāstra''; ) is a text of Mahayana Buddhism. Though attributed to the Indian master Aśvaghoṣa, no Sanskrit version of it exists and it is now w ...
'' (''Dasheng Qixin Lun'' 大乘起信論), which was a condensation of Chinese thought on awakening and ultimate reality, influenced Huayan masters like Fazang and Zongmi, who both wrote commentaries on the text. The
Lotus sutra
The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
was also seen as an important text in this school, though not as important as the Avatamsaka. The
Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment or Complete Enlightenment () is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra highly esteemed by both the Huayan and Zen schools. The earliest records are in Chinese, and it is believed to be of Chinese origin.
Divided into twe ...
was particularly important for
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 ...
.
The Huayen patriarchs wrote numerous commentaries and original treatises on the Mahayana sutras and Huayen philosophy. Fazang for example, wrote commentaries on the Avatamsaka, the
Lankavatara Sutra and the Awakening of Faith. One of the key Huayen treatises is ''On the Meditation of the Dharmadhātu'' attributed to the first patriarch
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 seventee ...
. Another is
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 ...
’s ''Treatise on the Golden Lion'' which is said to have been written to explain Huayen's view of interpenetration to
Empress Wu
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
.
Peter N. Gregory notes that the Huayan commentarial tradition was:
"not primarily concerned with a careful exegesis of the original meaning of the scripture. Rather, what it discovered in the text was the justification for a number of ideas and metaphors in terms of which it elaborated its own body of doctrine. Many of the key Huayan doctrines that were inspired by the scripture (such as nature origination, the conditioned origination of the dharmadhatu, the samadhi of oceanic reflection, or the six aspects of all dharmas) played only a peripheral role in or had a tenuous connection with the actual Huayan sutra itself. The great commentaries written on the text by Fa-tsang and Ch'eng-kuan were not so much concerned with rendering a faithful and judicious interpretation of the words of the text as they were with using the text as a basis from which to advance a doctrinal agenda that was determined by the context of Sui-Tang Buddhism."
Theory and practice
![Indrasnet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Indrasnet.jpg)
Huayan thought is mainly focused on explaining the nature of the
Dharmadhatu
Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality.
Definition
In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhātu ( bo, chos kyi dbyings; ) means "realm of phenomena", "realm of truth", and of the noumen ...
, the world as it is ultimately, from the point of view of a fully awakened being. It is often said to be the philosophical articulation of Chan meditation. It is influenced by the Avatamsaka and Buddha nature literature as well as by the Chinese Yogacara and Madhyamaka schools. Patriarchs of the school such as Zongmi were also influenced by Chinese philosophy, particularly the classics of
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
.
[Fox, Alan. The Practice of Huayan Buddhism, http://www.fgu.edu.tw/~cbs/pdf/2013%E8%AB%96%E6%96%87%E9%9B%86/q16.pdf ]
Interpenetration
![Mandala_inside_Huayan_Temple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Mandala_inside_Huayan_Temple.jpg)
A key doctrine of Huayan is the mutual containment and interpenetration of all phenomena (''dharmas'') or "perfect interfusion" (''yuanrong'', 圓融). This is associated with what the Huayan sees as its unique contribution, the "
dharmadhatu
Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality.
Definition
In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhātu ( bo, chos kyi dbyings; ) means "realm of phenomena", "realm of truth", and of the noumen ...
pratityasamutpada". This is described by Wei Daoru as the idea that "countless dharmas (all phenomena in the world) are representations of the wisdom of Buddha without exception" and that "they exist in a state of mutual dependence, interfusion and balance without any contradiction or conflict. This thought essentially argues that there is no relationship of cause and result among phenomena and that things are not formed sequentially. Instead, they constitute the world by the mutual interfusion of complete equality."
[Hamar, Imre (Editor). Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism (ASIATISCHE FORSCHUNGEN), 2007, page 189.]
According to this theory, any phenomenon exists only as part of the total nexus of reality, its existence depends on the total network of all other things, which are all equally connected to each other and contained in each other.
The Huayan patriarchs used various metaphors to express this, such as
Indra's net
Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, Sanskrit ''Indrajāla'', Chinese: 因陀羅網) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā (emptiness), pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination),. and interpenetratio ...
, a hall of mirrors and the world text. To illustrate the doctrine to
Empress Wu
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
, the patriarch Fazang:
"called for a candle and placed it surrounded by mirrors on every side. When lit, the candle was reflected in each mirror, and each of the reflections in every other mirror so that in any one mirror were the images of all the others."
This Buddhist doctrine also includes the views that:
*"Practicing one teaching is practicing all teachings"
*Ending one mental defilement is ending all of them
* Truth (or reality) is understood as encompassing and interpenetrating falsehood (or illusion), and vice versa
* Good is understood as encompassing and interpenetrating evil
* Similarly, all mind-made distinctions are understood as "collapsing" in the
enlightened understanding of emptiness (a
tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
traced back to the Buddhist philosopher
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
)
Li and Shi
Another important distinction used by Huayan patriarchs is that of ''li'' and ''shi'', noumenon and phenomenon which was explained using the metaphor of gold and lions, or water and waves. According to Paul Williams:
First, noumenon and phenomena mutually interpenetrate and are (in a sense) identical. There is no opposition between the two. The one does not cancel out the other. Second, Fazang explains elsewhere that since all things arise interdependently (following Madhyamika), and since the links of interdependence expand throughout the entire universe and at all time (past, present, and future depend upon each other, which is to say the total dharmadhatu arises simultaneously), so in the totality of interdependence, the dharmadhatu, all phenomena are mutually interpenetrating and identical.
Fourfold Dharmadhatu and meditation
The theory of the Fourfold Dharmadhatu (''sifajie'', 四法界) is explained in the "Meditative Perspectives on the Huayan Dharmadhatu" (''Huayan Fajie Guanmen'', 華嚴法界觀門) and its commentaries.
This theory is the central meditative framework for the Huayan tradition. Another key text is the "Cessation and Contemplation in the Five Teachings of Huayan" (''Huayan wujiao zhiguan'' 華嚴五教止觀).
The Dharmadhatu is the goal of the bodhisattva's practice, the ultimate nature of reality which must be known or entered into (''ru'', 入). According to Fox, the Fourfold Dharmadhatu is "four cognitive approaches to the world, four ways of apprehending reality".The four ways of seeing reality are:
# All dharmas are seen as particular separate events or phenomena (shi 事). This is the mundane way of seeing.
# All events are an expression of ''li'' (理, the absolute, principle or noumenon), which is associated with the concepts of
shunyata, “One Mind” (''yi xin'' 一心) and
Buddha nature
Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...
# Shi and Li interpenetrate (''lishi wuai'' 理事無礙)
# All events interpenetrate (''shishi wuai'' 事事無礙), "all distinct phenomenal dharmas interfuse and penetrate in all ways" (
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 ...
).
The three levels of Huayan meditation on the Dharmadhatu correspond to the last three views of the Dharmadhatu are:
#Meditation on “True Emptiness.”
#Illuminating the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena.
#Meditation on “universal pervasion and complete accommodation.”
According to Fox, "these dharmadhatus are not separate worlds – they are actually increasingly more holographic perspectives on a single phenomenological manifold...they more properly represent four types or orders of perspectives on experience."
Furthermore, for Huayan, this practice is the solution to the problem of samsara which lies in the "fixation or attachment to a particular perspective. What we think are the essences of objects are really therefore nothing but mere names, mere functional designations, and none of these contextual definitions need necessarily interfere with any of the others."
Other practices
According to Paul Williams, the reading and recitation of the Avatamsaka sutra was also a central practice for the tradition, for monks and laity.
Another practice which is highlighted in the Avatamsaka sutra is that of
Buddhānusmṛti
Buddhānusmṛti (Sanskrit; Pali: Buddhānussati), meaning "Buddha-mindfulness", is a common Buddhist practice in all Buddhist traditions which involves meditating on the virtues of the Buddha, mainly Gautama Buddha as the meditation or contemplat ...
or ''nianfo''-mindfulness of the Buddha.
The tradition also mentions two key
samadhi
''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...
s, the ocean-seal samadhi (Ch. ''haiyin sanmei'') and the huayan samadhi (''huayan sanmei'').
Layman Li Tongxuan developed a unique meditative practice based on the 9th chapter of the Avatamsaka sutra. The practice, named 'the contemplation of Buddhalight' (''foguang guan''), focused on tracing the universal light which is radiated by the Buddha in one's mind and expanding it further outwards.
Sudden enlightenment
Huayan favored the teaching of sudden enlightenment. This is because the Buddha nature is already present in all sentient beings and also because their theory of interpenetration entails that Buddhahood is already present at the first stage of a Bodhisattva's path. According to Li Tongxuan:
e first access of faith in the mind of the practitioner is in itself the culmination of the entire path, the very realization of final Buddhahood.... ‘Faith’ or confidence in the possibility of enlightenment is nothing but enlightenment itself, in an ''anticipatory and causative modality''.[Williams, Paul. Mahayana Buddhism the doctrinal foundations, 2nd edition, 2009, page 144-45.]
Buddhahood was seen as beyond language and stages of practice. Because practices cannot create something that is already not imminent, they were seen as simply revealing what was already there. The patriarch Zongmi formulated his own theory of awakening which was "immediate awakening followed by gradual cultivation" and the view that "immediate and gradual are not only not contradictory, but are actually complementary".
Paradox
Huayan makes extensive use of
paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
in argument and literary imagery. All three types of paradox originate in the tension between
conventional and absolute truth. Huayan uses three types of paradox:
1. Emphasizing the concept of śūnyatā, first is asserted that a phenomenon X is empty, which implies that X is not X. An example from Fazang is the assertion:
2. Reversing the first paradox by asserting that any empty phenomenon is an expression of the absolute non-duality between emptiness and form, or the identity between conditioned, relative reality and the ultimate truth of
tathatā.
This paradox is derived from two doctrinal sources:
* The Huayan concept of "true emptiness."
* The Huayan interpretation of the dialectic of the One Mind in the ''
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana
''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna'' (reconstructed Sanskrit title: ''Mahāyāna śraddhotpādaśāstra''; ) is a text of Mahayana Buddhism. Though attributed to the Indian master Aśvaghoṣa, no Sanskrit version of it exists and it is now w ...
''.
Fazang's paradoxical assertion illustrates this second type:
3. The third variation of paradox is grounded in the Huayan doctrine of the "nonobstruction of all phenomena" (shih shih wu-ai(k)). Each phenomenon is perceived as interpenetrating with and containing all others. This paradoxical violation of the conventional order of time and space is exemplified by Fa-tsang's famous "Essay on the Golden Lion":
Classification of Buddhist teachings
Buddhism was introduced into China in bits and pieces. When the knowledge of Buddhism grew larger, various schools attempted to get a grip on the Buddhist tradition by developing classifications of teachings, such as the
Five Periods and Eight Teachings of the
Tiantai-school.
The Huayan school developed a fivefold classification:
# The
Hinayana-teachings, especially the
Sarvastivadins
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...
# The
Mahayana-teachings, including
Yogacara
Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...
,
Madhyamaka
Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist ...
# The "Final Teachings", based on the
Tathagatagarbha-teachings, especially the
Awakening of Faith
# The
Sudden Teaching, "which 'revealed' (''hsien'') rather than verbalised the teaching"
# The Complete, or Perfect, Teachings of the Avatamsaka-sutra and the Huayan school.
Huayan and
Chan
Chan may refer to:
Places
*Chan (commune), Cambodia
*Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada
People
*Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田)
*Chan Caldwel ...
had doctrinal arguments regarding which would be the correct concept of sudden awakening. The teachings of the Chán-school were regarded as inferior by the Huayan teachers. The Chán-school polemitized against this classification, by devising its own rhetorics in defense.
References
Sources
*
* Cleary, Thomas, trans. (1993). The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sūtra.
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Cleary, Thomas (1995). ''Entry Into the Inconceivable'': An Introduction to Hua-Yen Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press; Reprint edition. (Essays by Tang Dynasty Huayen masters)
* Fa Zang (2014). "Rafter Dialogue" and "Essay on the Golden Lion," in
Justin Tiwald
Justin may refer to: People
* Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin
* Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire
* Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Ro ...
and
Bryan W. Van Norden
Bryan W. Van Norden (Chinese: 万百安, born 1962) is an American translator of Chinese philosophical texts and scholar of Chinese and comparative philosophy. He has taught for twenty five years at Vassar College, United States, where he is curre ...
, eds., ''Readings in Later Chinese Philosophy.'' Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
* Gimello, Robert; Girard, Frédéric; Hamar, Imre (2012). Avataṃsaka Buddhism in East Asia: Huayan, Kegon, Flower Ornament Buddhism ; origins and adaptation of a visual culture, Asiatische Forschungen: Monographienreihe zur Geschichte, Kultur und Sprache der Völker Ost- u. Zentralasiens, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, .
* Gregory, Peter N. (1983)
The place of the Sudden Teaching within the Hua-Yen tradition:an investigation of the process of doctrinal change Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 6 (1), 31 - 60
* Haiyun Jimeng (2006). The Dawn of Enlightenment - The Opening Passage of Avatamsaka Sutra with a Commentary, Kongting Publishing.
* Hamar, Imre, ed. (2007), Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag
* Prince, Tony (2020), Universal Enlightenment - An introduction to the Teachings and Practices of Huayen Buddhism (2nd edn.). Amazon Kindle Book.
External links
Flower Adornment Sutra - Hua Yan Jing - Avatamsaka Original TextArticles by Imre Hamar
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Buddhist philosophical concepts
Buddhism in China