A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (41 page)

(3) But to say that the middle truth consists in what is not one—sided (i.e., what is neither yu nor wu), means to make distinctions. And all distinctions are themselves one-sided. Therefore on the third level, to say that things are neither yu nor wu, and that herein lies the not-one-sided middle path, is 4O2. THE FOUNDATION OF CHINESE BUDDHISM

merely common sense truth. The higher truth consists in saying that things are neither yu nor wu, neither not— yu nor not— wu, and that the middle path is neither one-sided nor not-one-sided. (Erh-ti Chang or Chapter on the Double Truth, sec. I.)

In this passage 1 have retained the Chinese words yu and wu, because in their use the Chinese thinkers of the time saw or felt a similarity between the central problem discussed by Buddhism and lhal discussed by Taoism, in which the same words arc prominent. Though deeper analysis shows that the similarity is in some respects superficial, nevertheless, when the Taoists spoke of Wu as transcending shapes and features, and the Buddhists spoke of Wu as "not-not," there is a real similarity.

Still another real similarity between the Buddhists of this particular school and the Taoists is their method of approach and the final results achieved by this metho d. The method is to mak e use of different l ev els of discourse. What is said in one level is to be immediately denied by a saying on a higher level. As we have seen in chapter ten, this is also the method used in the C h i Wu L u n o r " E q u a l i t y o f T h i n g s i n t h e C h u a n g - t z u , a n d i t i s t h e method that has just been discussed above.

When all is denied, including the denial of the denial of all, one arrives at the same situation as found in the philosophy of Chuang Tzu, in which all is forgotten, including the fact that one has forgotten all.

This state is described by Chuang Tzu as "sitting in forgetfulness," and by the Buddhists as Nirvana.

One cannot ask this school of Buddhism what, exactly, the state of Nirvana is, because, according to it, when one reaches the third level of truth, one cannot affirm anything.

Philosophy of Seng-chao

One of the great teachers of this same school in China in the fifth century was Kumarajiva, who was an Indian but was born in a state in the present Chinese Turkistan. He came to Ch ang —an (the present Sian in Shensi province) in 4OI, and lived there until his death in 4*3-During these thirteen years, he translated many Buddhist texts into Chinese and taught many disciples, among them some who became very famous and influential. In this chapter I shall mention two of them, Seng—chao and Tao—sheng.

Seng-chao (384-414) came from the vicinity of the above-mentioned city of Ch'ang-an. He first studied Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, but later became a disciple of Kumarajiva. He wrote several essays which have been collected as the Chao Lun, or Essays of Seng-chao. One of them, titled "There Is No Real Unreality," says: "All things have that in them which makes them not be yu [having being, existent]

and also have that in them which makes them not be wu [having no being, non-existent]. Because of the former, they are yu and yet not yu. Because of the latter, they are wu and yet not wu....Why is this so?

Suppose the yu is really yu, then it should be yu for all time and

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should not owe its yu to the convergence of causes. [According to Buddhism, the existence of anything is due to the convergence of a number of causes] Suppose the wu is really wu, then it should be wu for all time and should not owe its wu to the dissolution of causes. If the yu owes its yu to causation, then the yu is not really yu....But if all things are wu, then nothing would come about. If something comes about, it cannot be altogether nothing.... If we want to affirm that things are yu, yet there is no real existence of this yu. If we want to affirm that they are wu, yet they have their shapes and features. To have shapes and features is not the same as wu, and to be not really yu is not the same as yu. This being so, the principle of no real unreality' is clear." (Chao-Lun, ch. 1.) In another essay, titled "On the Immutability of Things," Seng-chao says: Most men s idea of mutability is that things in the past do not come down to the present. They therefore say that there is mutability and no immutability. My idea of immutability is also that things of the past do not come down to the present. Therefore I on the contrary say that there is immutability and no mutability. That there is mutability and no immutability is because things of the past do not come down to the present. That there is immutability and no mutability is because things of the past do not vanish away with the past [i.e., though they do not exist today, they did exist in the past]...If we search for past things in the past, they were not wu in the past. If we search for these past things in the present, they are not yu in the present....That is to say, past things are in the past, and are not things that have receded from the present.

Likewise present things are in the present, and are not something that have come down from the past....The effect is not the cause, but because of the cause there is the effect. That the effect is not the cause shows that the cause does not come down to the present. And that, there being the cause, there is therefore the effect, shows that causes do not vanish in the past. The cause has neither come down nor has it vanished. Thus the theory of immutability is clear." (Chan Lun, ch. I.) The idea here is that things undergo constant change at every moment. Anything existing at any given moment is actually a new thing of that moment and not the same as the thing that has existed in the past.

In the same essay Seng-chao says: "[There was a man by the mane of] Fan-chih who, having become a monk in his early years, returned home when his hair was white. On seeing him the neighbors exclaimed at seeing a man of the past who was still alive. Fan-chih said: 'I look like the man of the past, but I am not he.' "At every moment there has been a Fan-chih. The Fan-chih of this moment is not a Fan-chih who has come down from the past, and the Fan-chih of the past was not a Fan-chih of the present who receded into the past. Juding from the fact that everything changes at every moment, we say that there is change but no permanence. And judging from the fact that everything at every moment remains with that moment, we say that there is permanence but no change.

4 0 6 THE FOUNDATION OF CHINESE BUDDHISM

This is Seng—chao s theory to substantiate the double truth on the second level. On this level, to say that things are yu and permanent, and to say that things are wu and mutable, arc both common sense truth. To say that things are neither yu nor wu, neither permanent nor mutable, is the higher sense truth.

Seng—chao also gives arguments to substanliate the double truth on the third or highest level. This he does in an essay titled "On Prqjna [i.e., Wisdom of the Buddha] Not Being Knowledge." Prajna is described by Seng-chao as Sage—knowledge, but, he says, this Sage—knowledge is really not knowledge. For knowledge of a thing consists in selecting a quality of that thing and taking that quality as the object of knowledge. But Sage-knowledge consists in knowing about what is called Wu (Non—being), and this Wu transcends shapes and features and has no qualities; hence it can never be the object of knowledge. To have knowledge of Wu is to be one with it. This state of identification with Wu is called Nirvana. Nirvana and Prajna are two aspects of one and the same state of affairs. As Nirvana is not something to be known, so Prajna is knowledge which is not knowledge. (Chat) Lun, ch.

3.) Hence, on the third level of truth, nothing can be said and one must remain silent.

Philosophy of Tao—sheng

Seng-chao died when only thirty years old, so that his influence was less than it might otherwise have been. Tao—sheng (died 434), who was a fellow student with Seng-chao under Kumarajiva, was born at P'eng-ch'eng in the northern part of the present Kiangsu province. He became a monk of wide learning, great brilliancy, and eloquence, of whom it is said that when he spoke even the stones beside him nodded their heads in assent. In his later years he taught at Lu-shan in the present Kiangsi province, which was the center of Buddhist learning at that time, and the place where such great monks as Tao-an (died 3^5) and Hui-yiian (died 410) had lectured. Tao-sheng advanced many theories so new and revolutionary that once he was publicly banished from Nanking by the conservative monks.

Among these is the doctrine that "a good deed entails no retribution." His essay on this subject is now lost. But in the Hung Ming Chi or Collected Essays on Buddhism, a work compiled by Seng-yu (died 518), there is a treatise by Hui-yiian titled "On the Explanation of Retribution." This essay may represent some aspects of Tao—sheng s concept, though we cannot be sure. Its general idea is to apply the Taoist ideas of wu-wei and wu-hsin to metaphysics. As we have seen, wu-wei literally means non-action, but this non-action does not really signify no action; rather it signifies action that takes jilaee, without effort. When one acts spontaneously, without any deliberate discrimination, choice, or effort, one is practicing non-action. Wu-hsin also literally means no mind. When one practices wu —wei in the manner de -

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scribed above, one is also practicing wu-hsin. If, argues Hui-yuan, one follows the principles of wu—wei and wu-hsin, one then has no craving for or cleaving to things, even though one may pursue various activities. And since the effect or retribution of one's Karma is due to one s craving and cleaving or attachment, one s Karma under these circumstances will not entail any retribution. (Chiian 5.) This theory of Hui—yiian, regardless of whether it is the same as Tao-sheng's original idea or not, is an interesting extension to Buddhist metaphysics of a Taoist theory which originally possessed purely social and ethical significance. As such, it is certainly an important development in Chinese Buddhism, and one that was to be followed later by the Ch' an school.

Another theory of Tao-sheng is that Buddhahood is to be achieved by Sudden Enlightenment. His essay on this subject is also lost, but the theory is preserved in Hsieh Ling-vim's (died 433) Pien Tsung Lun or "Discussion of Essentials. It was developed in opposition to another theory, that of gradual attainment, according to which Buddhahood is to he achieved only through the gradual accumulation of learning and practice. Tao-sheng and Hsieh Ling—yiin did not deny the importance of such learning and practice, but they maintained that its accumulation, no matter how great, is only a sort of preparatory work, which in itself is insufficient for one ever to achieve Buddhahood. Such achievement is an instantaneous act, like the leaping over of a deep chasm. Either one makes the leap successfully, in which case one reaches the other side and thus achieves Buddhahood in its entirety in a flash, or one fails in one s leap, in which case one remains as one was. There are no intermediate steps between.

The reason advanced for this theory is that to achieve Buddhahood means to be one with Wu (Non-being) or, as one might say, with the Universal Mind. The Wu, since it transcends shapes and features, is not a thing in itself, and so is not something that can be divided into parts. Therefore one cannot gain oneness with a part of it today and oneness with another part of it tomorrow. Oneness means oneness with the whole of it. Anything less than this is no longer oneness.

The Pien Tsung Lun records many arguments on this subject between Hsieh Ling—yiln and others.

One monk named Seng—wei argued that if the student is one with Wu, he will no longer speak about it, but if he is to learn about Wu in order to get rid of Yu (Being), this learning represents a process of gradual enlightenment. To this Hsieh Ling—yiin answered that when a student is still in the realm of Yu, whatever he does is learning, but not Enlightenment. Enlightenmen itself is something beyond Yu, though a student must devote himself first to learning, in order to attain Enlightenment.

Seng-wei again asked: If a student devotes himself to learning and hopes thereby for identification with Wu, does he in this way make some advancement? If he does not, why does he pursue learning?

But if he does, is this not gradual enlightenment? To this Hsieh Ling-yiin answered that devolion 410 THE FOUNDATION OF CHINESE BUDDHISM

to learning can have the positive achievement of suppressing the impure element of the mind. Though such suppression seems to be its extinction, in actual fact it is still not without impure attachment. It is only with Sudden Enlightenment that all attachments are gone.

Again Seng-wei asked: If a student devote himself to learning and practice, can he achieve a temporary identification with Wu! If he can, this temporary identification is better than no identification at all, and is it not gradual enlightenment? To this Hsieh I.ing-yiin answered that such temporary identification is a false one. A real identification is by its nature everlasting. Though the temporary identification seems to be a real identification, it is so only in the same sense that the suppression of the impure element of the mind seems to be its extinction.

All these arguments are endorsed by Tao—sheng in a letter also included in the Pien Tsung Lun. The latter is now to be found in the Kuang Hung Ming Chi or Further Collections of Essays on Buddhism (chilan 18), a work compiled by Tao-hsiian (596-667).

Another of Tao-sheng' s theories is that every sentient being possesses the Buddha—nature or Universal Mind. His essay on this subject is also lost, but its ideas can be gathered from his commentaries on several Buddhist Sutras. According to these, every sentient being has the Buddha-nature; only he does not realize that he has it. This Ignorance (Avidya) is what binds him to the Wheel of Birth and Death. The necessity, therefore, is for him first to realize that he has the Buddha -nature originally within him, and then, by learning and practice, to "see" his own Buddha-nature. This "seeing" conies as a Sudden Enlightenment, because the Buddha—nature cannot be divided; therefore he either sees it as a whole or does not see it at all. Such "seeing" also means to be one with the Buddha-nature, because the Buddha-nature is not something that can be seen Irom outside. This is the meaning of Tao — sheng's statement: "By gaining freedom from illusion, one returns to the Ultimate, and by returning to the Ultimate, one attains the Original." * The state of attainment of the Original is the state of Nirvana.