This dissertation is a textual and philosophical study of the Mo-ho-chih-khan (Mahayana Cessation and Contemplation), a 6th century Chinese work of the T'ien-t'ai Master Chih-yi (538-597). Its title may be sanskritized as maha-samatha-vipasyana, and might suggest that it merely represents the practical aspect of T'ien-t'ai teachings. Nevertheless, it is intended to incorporate and synthesize various Buddhist doctrines and practices in a more comprehensive and harmonious system. Chih-yi's theory and teaching of chih-kuan (cessation and contemplation) reflects the culmination of his life-long endeavor on religious practice, primarily focused on meditation.
Chapter One examines the historical backdrop of the Sinification of Buddhism concerning the following issues: the great Dharma flows to the East, the rise of the doctrinal classification, Chih-yi's role in the process of transformation, and his creative development of the chih-kuan system of practice in the Mo-ho chih-kuan.
Chapter Two examines the formation of the Mo-ho chih-kuan concerning the following aspects: the role of the Mo-ho chih-kuan in the formation of T'ien-t'ai school, the contextual development of chih-kuan system, and the internal structure and hermeneutic perspective of the Mo-ho chih-kuan.
Chapter Three analyzes the hermeneutic complexity and multiplicity of the Mo-ho chih-kuan including two aspects: the multi-layered meanings of chih-kuan and the Chih-yi's hermeneutic standpoint.
Chapter Four investigates the ultimate notion in the Mo-ho chih-kuan involving three issues: the notion of perfect and sudden, the ultimate reality as identical with all Dharmas, and the doctrine of the tentative and the ultimate truths.
Chapter Five investigates the doctrinal foundation for practicing the non-duality of doctrine and practice from three points: the mutual dependence of doctrinal principle and practical contemplation, the formulation of the three truths and the three contemplations, and the hermeneutic structure of the three truths and the three contemplations.
Chapter Six examines the cultivation proper of the non-duality of doctrine and practice from two aspects: the pedagogical devices as well as the therapeutic approach and the ten objects/realms of contemplation.
Chapter Seven summarizes the main themes of this dissertation into three points: Chih-yi's contribution and the influence of the Mo-ho chih-kuan, the decline of Chih-yi's teaching of cultivation, and Chih-yi's unanticipated patriarchate.
