「會三歸一」與「開權顯實」——《法華經》中的「宗教對話」思想及其在天臺宗中的運用="To Unite the Three Vehicles in One" and "to Explore the Temporary Teaching of the Three Vehicles and Reveal the Final Truth":On the Concept of "Religious Dialogue" in the Lotus Sutra and Its Practice in Tiantai School
法華經=Lotus Sutra; 天台宗=Tiantai school; 會三歸一="to unite the three vehicles in one"; 開權顯實="to explore the temporary teaching of the three vehicles and reveal the final truth"; 宗教對話=religious dialogue
The"religious dialogue",initiated by Christianity and joined by other religions,is a much discussed topic among religious circles and scholars.Nevertheless,the concept of religious dialogue itself is not something new since the Mahayana school of the Indian Buddhism began to advocate religious dialogue in the first century while the Chinese Buddhist schools originated from the Mahayana school reached the peak of perfection of religious dialogue both in theory and praxis.The paper makes an analysis of such concepts of religious dialogue as"uniting the three vehicles in one"and"exploring the temporary teaching of the three vehicles and reveal the final truth"in the Lotus Sutra and the theory and praxis of the Tiantai school in reconciling the Mahayana and Hinayana schools or Buddhism and Confucianism.The thesis contends that the religious dialogue put forward by Christianity is occasional and extrinsic since there is not such an idea in the Bible while the Mahayana dialogue is intrinsic to the Buddhist scriptures and is what Buddhism promotes.
