{"id":386,"date":"2012-09-19T21:05:20","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T19:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=386"},"modified":"2012-09-19T21:05:20","modified_gmt":"2012-09-19T19:05:20","slug":"the-doctrine-of-nature-origination-in-the-korean-chan-buddhism-of-chinul-and-li-tung-hsuans-hua-yen-by-ken-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/the-doctrine-of-nature-origination-in-the-korean-chan-buddhism-of-chinul-and-li-tung-hsuans-hua-yen-by-ken-small\/","title":{"rendered":"The Doctrine of \u2018Nature Origination\u2019 in the Korean Ch\u2019an Buddhism of Chinul and Li T\u2019ung Hsuan\u2019s \u2018Hua-yen\u2019 – by Ken Small"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ ADMIN Note : The following post was provided par Ken Small as an introduction to a new discovery which is of much interest for the students of the Theosophical teachings on Svabhava. This is opening a new area for research. Thanks to him for sharing this insight with us.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the most important and challenging concepts in Blavatsky\u2019s \u2018Secret Doctrine\u2019 is the doctrine of \u2018svabhava\u2019 or \u2018svabhavat\u2019.<\/p>\n

David Reigle in his opening to his chapter on \u2018The Doctrine of Svabhava\u2019 makes reference to works \u201c\u2026 found in the Bodhisattva-bhumi, attributed to Asanga \u2026 or to Maitreya\u2026 . This text in its tattvartha or \u201creality\u201d chapter speaks of the inexpressible svabhavata (nature or essence) of all the elements of existence \u2026 . Being beyond the range of speech, this absolute (paramarthika) svabhava of all dharmas is accessible only to non-conceptual wisdom (nirvikalpa-jnana)\u2026\u201d (BSB, p.106 \u2013 Reigle)<\/p>\n

Reigle continues in this chapter of his book (Blavatsky\u2019s Secret Books<\/em> p.106) linking this svabhava doctrine<\/em> to the tathagata-garbha<\/em> doctrine found in Maitreya\u2019s Ratna-gotra-vibhaga, <\/em> and questions on svabhava, anatman and sunyata are delved into and a process of clarifying their relation to Blavatsky\u2019s. A question that frequently arises is how these ideas, so harmonious with the Theosophical view, continue in living traditions today?<\/p>\n

The Korean Ch\u2019an (kor. Son) schools descending from the 12th<\/sup> century founding teacher Chinul remain currently active and in practice. Many scholars and practicioners today consider him the founder of the unified Son (Ch\u2019an) \/ Kyo (doctrinal Buddhism) Korean Buddhism of today. Chinul was a unique figure that merged together both Ch\u2019an and Hua-yen view into one school of thought and practice. While this is a large subject to cover that would require a book length text, a few points are here quoted that appear to relate closely to subjects in Blavatsky\u2019s perennial Theosophy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, as I was recently studying the schools and writings that are sourced in the Avatamsaka sutra<\/em> (see Cleary\u2019s translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra<\/em> and his introductory notes), I came across this Korean (Chinul) branch that appears to follow this unique approach to \u2018nature\u2019 or \u2018svabhava\u2019. It is from the Hua yen tradition through a famous layman, named Li T\u2019ung-hsuan (635 CE \u2013 730). His ideas of \u2018nature origination\u2019 find currency again in the Korean Ch\u2019an\/Hua yen teacher Chinul* (1158-1210). Here appears an approach to svabhava<\/em> that appears similar to Blavatsky\u2019s and is rare in Buddhism. I have noted here a few other points of potential confluence between Hua-yen and Blavatsky, including within Hua-yen the following: on the subject of universality and particularity, the one and the many, the nature of time, the identity of mutual interpenetration and identity, the One Mind, microcosm and macrocosm, equivalence of Buddha nature and emptiness, etc. All this is open for new understandings and exploration. It is of interest to also note that within Hua-yen is a unified view of <\/strong>sunyata<\/strong><\/em> and the<\/strong> tathagatagarbha<\/strong><\/em> doctrines<\/strong>. In what follows I will give some brief quotes from translated sources and scholarly commentary about this aspect of Hua-yen tradition. This is no attempt at even an overview of a very vast and complex subject within Hua-yen, but only to give some very introductory ideas and points of reference of areas for its further study with Blavatsky\u2019s Theosophic perennialism.<\/p>\n

Also, always the cautionary note, that it is often rather challenging to get the source terms correctly aligned, when going from Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, Korean and then to the often barely adequate English, where one word may be used for very different ideas, or several words interchangeably for the same Buddhist term. So what follows is very preliminary.<\/p>\n

The Korean \u2018song\u2019 or \u2018songgi\u2019 or Chinese \u2018hsing-chi\u2019 for the Sanskrit svabhava (see Odin p. 63) is translated into English as \u2018nature\u2019. (I have added some areas in bold for emphasis)<\/p>\n

Buswell gives the source for \u2018nature\u2019 as:<\/p>\n

\u201cprakriti, svabhava: The unchanging, absolute nature of all dharmas; contrasted with characteristics.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (CWC – Buswell p.400)<\/em><\/p>\n

Regarding \u2018nature origination\u2019<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Chinul discovered the philosophical basis for such correlated doctrines as the primacy of faith, the primordial identification of sentient beings with Buddha, and sudden awakening, in <\/em>Li<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>T\u2019ung-hsuan\u2019s radical and unorthodox doctrine of nature origination.<\/strong><\/em> (Chi. Hsing-chi; Kor. Yuan-chi) (PMHYB p. 63 Odin)<\/em><\/p>\n

Chinul emphasizes that whereas conditioned origination articulates reality from the perspective of multiple phenomena (shih) or dynamic function (yung), <\/em>nature origination<\/strong><\/em> articulates reality from the perspective of <\/em>principle (li)<\/strong><\/em> or <\/em>universal essence (t\u2019i).<\/strong><\/em> Where as conditioned origination requires an intermediary intellectual framework of interpenetration and mutual fusion to identify principle (li) with phenomena (shih), the more <\/em>radical doctrine of nature-origination<\/strong><\/em>, instead emphasizes the non-production or <\/em>non-origination of phenomena<\/strong><\/em> and requires no intermediary conceptual apparatus. (PMHYB p. 64 Odin)<\/em><\/p>\n

The usual interpretation of faith as a belief in the possibility of becoming a Buddha through the step by step procedure of faith, understanding, practice and authentication was changed into the new idea that faith is the resolute conviction that one is <\/em>already identified with Buddhahood<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong> (PMHYB p. 61 Odin quoting Shim)<\/em><\/p>\n

Regarding the ethic of Hua-yen, Cleary comments:<\/p>\n

The Hua-yen doctrine shows the entire cosmos as one single nexus of conditions in which everything simultaneously depends on, and is depended on by, everything else.<\/strong><\/em> Seen in this light, then, everything affects and is affected by, more or less immediately or remotely, everything else; just as this is true of every system of relationships, so is it true of the totality of existence.\u2026 The accord of this view with the experience of modern science is obvious, and it seems to be an appropriate basis upon which the question of the relation of science and bioethics \u2013 an issue of contemporary concern \u2013 may be resolved. \u2026 <\/em>The ethic of the Hua-yen teaching is based on this fundamental theme of universal interdependenc.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(EITI p. 3 Cleary)<\/em><\/p>\n

Francis Cook states:<\/p>\n

Hua-yen is certainly a type of pan-Buddhism<\/strong><\/em>. (HYB p.92, Cook)<\/em><\/p>\n

We might, as a matter of fact, characterize <\/em>Hua-yen as a species of tathagatagarbha thought which is in turn based on the doctrine of emptiness<\/strong><\/em>. Even this is not the whole truth, for it tends to distort the relationship between the two doctrines. <\/em>Ultimately, sunyata and tathagatagarbha are alternate expressions for the same reality<\/strong><\/em>. <\/em><\/p>\n

(HYB, p.36 Cook)<\/em><\/p>\n

All men possess a point of numinous brightness which is still like space and pervades every region. When contrasted with mundane affairs, it is expediently called <\/em>the noumenal nature.<\/strong><\/em> When contrasted with formations and consciousness, it is provisionally called <\/em>the true mind<\/strong><\/em>. (CWC p. 181 Buswell quoting Chinul)<\/em><\/p>\n

Odin comments on unity and multiplicity in Hua-yen:<\/p>\n

The dialectical interpenetration of unity and multiplicity or subjectivity and objectivety in Hua-yen Buddhism essentially represents a <\/em>microcosmic-macrocosmic model<\/strong><\/em> of reality wherein each dharma or event becomes <\/em>a living mirror of the totality<\/strong><\/em>, reflecting all other dharmas\u2014past, present, and future alike\u2014from its own standpoint in nature \u2026 <\/em>not unlike Leibniz\u2019s theory of \u201cmonads\u201d or perspectival mirrors in the West.<\/strong><\/em> (PMHYB p. 16 Odin)<\/p>\n

Keel quoting Tsung-mi:<\/p>\n

The original <\/em>Essence of True Mind has two kinds of function:<\/strong><\/em> One is the original <\/em>function of Self Nature<\/strong><\/em>, and the other is the <\/em>function according to external conditions<\/strong><\/em>. If we compare them to copper, the quality of copper is its Essence of
\nSelf-Nature, its brightness the function of Self-Nature, and the reflections appearing on it the Functions according to conditions … Analogously, the constant quiescence of Mind is the Essence of Self-Nature, the <\/em>constant knowing of Mind the function of Self-Nature,<\/strong><\/em> and to talk, to speak, and to distinguish are the Functions according to conditions. (TFKST p.87 Keel)<\/em><\/p>\n

Nature giving rise to Characteristics (Phenomena, Functions) is called in Hua-yen doctrine Origination-by-Nature (songgi) as distinguished from Origination-by-condition (yongi). <\/em>To see a phenomena from the vantage point of Origination-by-Nature means to understand it in its phenomenality, in its conditioned nature, and thus in its Emptiness. <\/strong><\/em>So long as a thing is seen in its Nature of Origination-by-Condition, it is Origination-by-nature at the same time. Further, so long as one sees a phenomena in this way, it is seen as a Function of the Essence of True Mind. Thus, for Chinul, <\/em>the logic of Origination-by-Nature underlies the truth of the mysterious Function of True Mind. <\/strong><\/em> Every phenomena, seen in this way, no longer becomes an obstruction to our spiritual freedom but is affirmed plainly as it is.<\/em> (TFKST p.84-85 Keel)<\/em><\/p>\n

Buswell clarifying some implications of \u2018nature origination\u2019:<\/p>\n

Chinul\u2019s acceptance of the doctrine of <\/em>nature origination<\/strong><\/em> (songgi) rather than the conditioned origination of the dharmadhatu stems from the <\/em>formers superiority in the development of practice.<\/strong><\/em> While conditioned origination might be theoretically valid, its efficacy from a pragmatic standpoint is limited. The <\/em>emphasis on nature origination<\/strong><\/em> had <\/em>important implications<\/strong><\/em> for <\/em>Chinul\u2019s synthesis of the theoretical views<\/strong><\/em> of the Hwaom [Hua-yen] and Son [Ch\u2019an] schools \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

(CWC pp. 232-233 Buswell)<\/em><\/p>\n

This is only a brief taste of a few key points in the ideas of Chinul and Li T\u2019ung Hsuan. It is to be hoped that gradually as more of the writings of the Hua-yen and Korean Son (Ch\u2019an) teachers become translated, more light on these ideas will be possible. Certainly, it can be said, that the harmonious confluences between Hua-yen and Blavatsky\u2019s Theosophic perennialism point to a significant and dynamic confluence of views useful to deepening our study and practice in both arenas.<\/p>\n

*The Avatamsaka\u2019s influence continued through out the later course of Ch\u2019an history, and is especially noticeable in the thought of Chinul (1158-1210), who during the Koryo Dynasty (937-1392) revivied the declining fortunes of the Ch\u2019an school in Korea. Chinul was profoundly influenced by Tsung-mi \u2026 Another important influence on chnul was that of Li T\u2019ung-hsuan (635-730), also an important Hua-yen figure. The Avatamsaka\u2019s influence on Ch\u2019an has been such that it has even been suggested that Ch\u2019an is the practical expression of the profound and comprehensive teaching of the Avatamsaka.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

(MTBAAS p.20 Cheng Chien Bhikshu)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

References referred to and recommended for further study:<\/p>\n

Buswell, Robert E. \u2013 The Collected Works of Chinul<\/em><\/p>\n

Cheng Chien Bhikshu \u2013 Manifestation of the Tathagata: Buddhahood According to the Avatamsaka Sutra <\/em><\/p>\n

Cleary, Thomas \u2013 Entry<\/em> into the Inconceivable: An Introduction to Hua-yen Buddhism<\/em><\/p>\n

Cleary, Thomas \u2013 The Avatamsaka Sutra<\/em><\/p>\n

Cook, Francis H. \u2013 Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra<\/em><\/p>\n

Keel, Hee-Sung \u2013 Chinul:The Founder of the Korean Son [Ch\u2019an] Tradition<\/em><\/p>\n

Odin, Steve \u2013 Process Metaphysics and Hua-yen Buddhism<\/em><\/p>\n

Reigle, David and Nancy \u2013 Blavatsky\u2019s Secret Books<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[ ADMIN Note : The following post was provided par Ken Small as an introduction to a new discovery which is of much interest for the students of the Theosophical teachings on Svabhava. This is opening a new area for research. Thanks to him for sharing this insight with us.]   One of the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-five-books-of-maitreya","category-svabhavat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}