Li Tongxuan; subitism; Buddhist nature; Huayan jing; Exposition of the Huayan jing; faith; nature-origination; nonduality; “Entering the Realm of Reality”; Sudhana; enlightenment in a single lifetime
摘要
Huayan Buddhism (華嚴佛敎) is often understood as Chinese Buddhism’s effort to bring phenomena to the forefront of Buddhist discourse. The Huayan fourfold worldview (華嚴四法界), a trademark of the Huayan School, well illustrates this aspect of the school. Developed by the Huayan patriarchs, Dushun (杜順 557-640), Fazang (法藏,643-711), and Chengguan (澄 觀,738-839), the paradigm was meant to demonstrate the harmonious interpenetration of all phenomena. Compared to these Huayan thinkers, the lay Buddhist Li Tongxuan (李通玄, 635-730) has been known as an unorthodox thinker in Chinese Huayan Buddhism, although the applicability of expressions such as orthodox and unorthodox in this context is debatable. This paper discusses the Huayan Buddhism of Li Tongxuan. At the core of Li’s Huayan Buddhism rests the claim that the sentient beings are equipped with exactly the same quality with the Buddha. In his analysis of the Eighty Fascicle Version of Huayan Buddhism, Li claims that Huayan teaching is a Subitist teaching that proposes the awakening in this lifetime. In this context, unlike “orthodox” Huayan thinkers, Li claims that the “Entering into the Realm of Reality” chapter is the core of the Huayan jing and that Sudhana’s pilgrimage in the chapter demonstrates the importance of practice as opposed to the theorization. This paper discusses these issues by examining Li’s concept of time which I identify as “non-temporality.” The first section discusses the concept of non-temporality in connection with the Buddhist themes of existence and non-existence and Li’s doctrinal classification. The second section deals with Li’s discussion of nature-arising and subitism. The third section discusses Li’s comparative interpretation of Sudhana inthe Huayan jing and the Dragon Girl in the Lotus Sūtra. The paper concludes with a consideration of the ontological and existential implications of Li’s Huayan phenomenology and its relevance to our time.
目次
1. Existence and Non-existence in Buddhist Philosophy 211 2. Non-Temporality and Nature-Origination 218 3. Non-temporality and Sudden Enlightenment: Dragon Girl and the Youth Sudhana 222 4. Returning to the Phenomenal World Once Again 229 References (Primary and Secondary Sources) 235
