從無住本立一切法=All Dharmas are set up owing to the [root of] non-abidingness; 無住=non-abidingness; 無住本=the [root of] non-abidingness; 天台宗=Tientai School; 本=root; 即=identify (with); 具=embrace; 存有論=ontology
The Vimalakirti Sutra says, “All Dharmas are set up owing to the [root of] non-abidingness”. Many schools of Buddhism in ancient China, including Tientai, Huayen, Yogacara, Sanlun, and Chan, interpret this term differently. And the interpretation of Tientai School is the most profound and seems to be most abundant in the existing written material. Many modern scholars in oriental or Buddhist studies appreciate the works of Tientai School, and among these scholars, Mou Zongsan, the leading modern Neo-Confucian philosopher, is the most famous one. His representative work in Buddhist studies, Buddha-Nature and Prajna, systematically examined the Buddha’s teachings in doctrinal classification according to the philosophy of Tiantai Buddhism, and concluded it as a kind of Buddhist ontology. Does Buddhism have any ontological elements? There are different views on this question of Buddhist ontology.
First of all, we do not approach the thesis from Mou’s conception of Buddhist ontology. By comparing and analyzing the similarities and differences among the related works of the Tientai’s masters, i.e. Zhiyi, Zhanran, and Zhili, we try to go back to the original starting point or common ground of Tientai Buddhism on this subject. Then, we will compare it to Mou’s viewpoint within the second volume of Buddha-Nature and Prajna.
Secondly, the Sanskrit word of “root” of “All Dharmas are set up owing to the [root of] non-abidingness” is (mūla). Its original meaning means “origin, root.” We will be back to the Sanskrit text of Vimalakirti Sutra to examine the translation and the related Sanskrit meaning of this word. From the Tientai’s viewpoint, the paper compares the different opinions of contemporary academics on the subject of Buddhist ontology, especially focused on the idea of “All Dharmas”. Furthermore, the Tientai’s masters come across this term from Vimalakirti Sutra and interpret it creatively. Strictly speaking, Tientai’s masters develop their own ideas through the interpretation and classification of the Buddhist scripture, and use these ideas to give new meanings to some daily Chinese words, for example, identify (with), embrace, change, make, clear etc. All these are to be discussed in the paper.
