法藏六相說之探討─以《探玄記‧十地品》初地菩薩為主=An Examination of the Six Characteristics of the Daśabhūmika sūtra in Tan Xuan Ji Written by Fazang –Focus on the First Bhūmi.
In his book The Philosophy of Huayan School(華嚴宗哲學), Professor Fang Dong-Mei, a contemporary philosopher, discussed about the Buddhist teachings of “cosmic harmony” in helping Westerns to deal with the symptoms of opposing and dualistic mentality. Also, in the book Fazang(法藏), Mr. Fang Li-Tian, a researcher from Mainland China, mentioned that the doctrine of “Six Characteristics” (六相说) is the most important doctrine of Huayan School of Buddhism. Although the “Six Characteristics” is considered to be one of the main thoughts in conveying the meanings of “cosmic harmony” in the Dharma realm and therefore cannot be neglected in research fields, studies on the “Six Characteristics” are scarce. However, most of the studies conducted on the “Six Characteristics” are either in conjunction with the “Ten Profoundly Wondrous Gates” m, or with “cosmic harmony” from the standpoint of “Ten Stages” of Huayen School. Reading through the details of the entire Dasabhumika Sutra (《十地經》), one cannot find the actual words “Six Characteristics”. How were, then, the “Six Characteristics” said to be one of the main thoughts of Huayan School implicitly conveyed in the Tan Xuan Ji,（the Records of Exploring the Abstruse《探玄记》)? How did Fazang explain the “Six Characteristics”? Had the thoughts of Fazang been influenced by others? These are the main questions that this thesis attempts to explore and discuss.
