十方禪林=Ten-Direction Buddhist Community; 准提法=Cundi Dharma; 顯密圓通成佛心要=the Essentials of Becoming a Buddha by harmonizing of Sutra and Tantra; 南懷瑾=Nan Huai-Chin; 首愚=ShouYu
Up to now, most of the academic researches on Cundi Dharma focus on the associated Buddhist scriptures. The related researches including the practice system of Cundi Dharma. Some theories paid attention to the propagation of the religious thoughts. And there are discourse of editions which focus on the studies of the rituals concerning the practice and its theories which was stated by Master Daochen in the Liao Dynasty in “the Essentials of Becoming a Buddha by harmonizing of Sutra and Tantra（《顯密圓通成佛心要集》）＂. This thesis attempts to deeply analyze the thoughts and the practices of Cundi Dharma and taking “Ten-Direction Buddhist Community which is known as a “Dharma Center” as study case in which Cundi Dharma is propagating in the Chinese-culture society. This thesis aims to examine the Cundi Dharma propagated by the “Dharma Center” from both macro and micro perspective. The so-called macro perspective is to historically explore the position of the Cundi Dharma propagated by this “Dharma Center” from the time of introducing and developing this Dharma in China. As for the micro perspective, is to understand the in-depth thoughts and to investigate the practices in-details of the Cundi Dharma, which is propagated by the “Dharma Center”. The conclusion of the thesis shows that (1) The Cundi Dharma propagated by the “Dharma Center” can be regarded as a re-innovation which was edited by Nan Huai-Chin carrying on Master Daochen’s contribution to “Cundi Dharma in Chinese style “and can be understood as “Cundi Dharma in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Style”. It conforms to the criteria set by Master Taixu's for “ Chinese Esoteric Buddhism”, (2) The core thoughts of the Cundi Dharma propagated by Master Shou-Yu, the founder of the “Dharma Center”, is to “Realize the Vairocana Dharma- Realm First, Practicing Vows of Samantabhadra flowingly (先悟毗盧法界，後修普賢行願海)”. This is because of the rituals of Cundi Dharma propagated by the “Dharma Center” are fully equipped with the three essentials when practicing the Buddhist Dharma: Insight, Practice, and Aspiration. “Insight” is equivalent to “Realize the Vairocana Dharma-Realm First (先悟毗盧法界)” in Daochen's words, as to “Practice” and “Aspiration”, both refer to “Practice Vows of Samantabhadra flowingly (後修普賢行願海)”, (3) The key points of the Cundi-Dharma practice propagated by the “Dharma Center” are the Prajna (“wisdom”) and the Vajra chants; in addition, emphasizing the body-structure and the Mingmen（the gate of vitality） from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Prajna is like the locomotive, guiding the train in the right direction; Vajra chants are like the engines that are necessary to the train. Both complement each other. At the same time, to explain the rationale of the Cundi Dharma practice based on the TCM’s body-structure and theory of the gate of vitality also makes Cundi Dharma easier to realize according to the Chinese culture.
