三觀=Threefold Contemplation; 四教=Four Teachings; 一心三觀=Threefold Contemplation in One Single Mind; 四種三昧=Four Forms of Samādhi; 修行法門=Practice Ways; 智顗=Zhi-yi; 天台宗=T’ien-t’ai Sect
T’ien-t’ai Sect is a very important sect of Chinese Buddhism. Its theory was made by Zhi-yi(智顗). Zhi-yi provided many practice ways in his works. But these ways still have not being collected altogether now. In my another paper, I have gotten all practice ways in Zhi-yi’s five works of his earlier stage, and shown the developments of the most representative teachings “Threefold Contemplation”(三觀)and “Four Teachings”(四教)and “Four Forms of Samādhi”(四種三昧)during Zhi-yi’s earlier stage. This paper continues to get all practice ways in Zhi-yi’s thirteen works of his later stage, and shows the developments of “Threefold Contemplation” and “Four Teachings”.All of the five works written by Zhi-yi during the period of time dwelling at Tien-tai Mountain, Jue-yi Samādhi(《覺意三昧》), Fa-jie-cidi-chu-me(《法界次第初門》), Little Samādhi and Contemplation (《小止觀》), Shan-men-kou-jue(《禪門口訣》)and Zheng-xin-lun(《證心論》), their major practice way is “Contemplation of Emptiness”(空觀). Nearly all of the other practice ways they had mentioned appear in the work of Zhi-yi’s earlier stage Shi-chan-bo-luo-mi(《釋禪波羅蜜》). In “Three Authoritative Works of T’ien-t’ai Sect”(天台三大部), the complete system of teaching and practice was established. The part of teaching included “Four Teachings of Teaching Way”(化儀四教), “Five Periods of Teaching Time”(五時), and “Four Teachings of Teaching Way”(化儀四教). The other part of practice included “Three Kinds of Contemplation”(三種止觀), “Threefold Contemplation”(三觀)and “Threefold Contemplation in One Single Mind”(一心三觀). Teaching and practice corresponded to each other, so “Four Teachings”had sixteen gates of contemplation. Each of them had “Ten Stages of Practice Way to Succeed”(十法成乘). There were also many practice ways of each “Four Teachings” shown in The Deep Meaning of Lotus Sūtra(《法華玄義》). It also introduced “Five Practices”(五行)of “Separate-teaching”(別教)and “Perfect-teaching”(圓教). The major practice ways of Mo-ho-chih-kuan(《摩訶止觀》)were “Four Forms of Samādhi”, “Twenty Five Convenient Practice Ways”(二十五方便)and “Threefold Calming and Contemplation” ( 三 止 三 觀 ). Futher, it explained “Threefold Contemplation”, “Threefold Contemplation in One Single Mind” and “Ten Stages of Practice Way to Succeed” thoroughly. The Commentaries of Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra(《維摩經疏》)showed a completely mature system of teaching and practice with “Four Teachings” and “Threefold Contemplation” to be its essences. Finally, there was a new practice way of “Perfect-teaching” being introduced in Wei-mo-jing-wen-shu(《維摩經文疏》), that was “Universal Form of Threefold Contemplation”(通相三觀). About the development of “Threefold Contemplation”, “Contemplation of Emptiness” was the major practice way in Zhi-yi’s works written during the period of time dwelling at Tien-tai Mountain. The work of Jue-yi Samādhi(《覺意三昧》) implied three kinds of contemplations,“Contemplation of Emptiness”(空觀), “Contemplation of Illusory Phenomenon”(假觀)and “Contemplation of Middle Way”(中道觀), but not precisely. They were shown in the work of Little Samādhi and Contemplation(《 小止觀 》). But their meaning belonged to the “Separate-teaching”, not “Perfect-teachi