〈心要法門〉=Dharma Essentials of the Mind; 心性=nature of mind; 澄觀=Ch'eng-kuan; 華嚴宗=Hua-yen tsung; 禪宗=Chan tsung; 如來藏=tathagatagarbha; 如來藏緣起=origin of tathagatagarbha
This paper aims to explore nature of mind in Ch'eng-kuan perspectives through Dharma Essentials of the Mind, focusing on the real meanings of nature of mind that it presents. Dharma Essentials of the Mind contains what Ch'eng-kuan expressed to the prince the gist of the contents of Dharma practice. The text just covers five hundred words and clearly reveals the key points of Dharma practice, so it can be said to sum up the ideas of Ch'eng-kuan. “Nature of mind” is the word created by the academics for ideological interpretations, but since its development there have been different interpretations for the term “nature of mind” in the fields of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. This paper tries to examine it mainly through the substance of Chan tsung, “nature of mind -- pure heart is Tathagatagarbha.” In the period of Indian Buddhism and schools of Buddhism, the idea of “nature of mind” already existed. But when Buddhism was introduced to China, the term “nature of mind” has three levels of interpretation of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and it is an important core subject of Chinese philosophy. It is ontological, axiological, and humanistic; however, in Buddhism, “theory of nature of mind” is based on Buddhahood attainment. Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra says, “All sentient beings have tathagata wisdom and good nature, but due to persistent delusions and attachment, Buddhahood cannot be achieved. It shows the thoughts of Tathagatagarbha and purity of nature mind. The factors for Buddhahood attainment lie in the “nature of mind.” In theory, it puts forward the theory of “mind” carrying out ideas, which extends to the later Confucian school of idealist philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties. The paper tries to realize and study Ch'eng-kuan’s thoughts of nature of mind through his writings, and examines whether Ch'eng-kuan is the pioneer carrying out “Chan syncretism.” It aims to clarify Ch'eng-kuan’s ideological meaning for Chan, and confirm whether his idea of “mind” is really as true as what originates in tathagatagarbha.
