作者單位：中華佛學研究所所長＝Director, Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies 法鼓文理學院副教授暨禪文化研修中心主任=Associate Professor, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts Director, Chan Research and Practice Center
關鍵詞
聖嚴法師=Master Sheng-Yen; 數數=numeral counting; 數數念佛=counting and reciting the buddha’s name; 話頭禪=Hua-Tao Chan; 默照禪=Silent Illumination Chan
Among the chan methods taught by Master Sheng-Yen, there is the method of “counting and reciting the buddha’s name” which is often used to countervail problems like “breath-counting turning out breath-control” or “following-the-breath turning out drowsiness and scatter-brained”. Such method is similar to the method of “counting the Buddha-name recitation ten times”, a method promoted by Venerable Yin-Kuang, an eminent monk in a period from late Qing dynasty to early Republican era in Chinese history. Venerable Yin-Kuang apprehended that “the mind is very difficult to handle”, and after trials of applying such method, he was amazed by its refined effects. This article will center on the method of counting and reciting the buddha’s name, in order to investigate it through a variety of perspectives. The author first explores origins of the concept of “number”, the meanings in Chinese and Hindu cultures, and the substance in numerals and numeration. The effort is to reveal that “counting” possesses the powers of “continuously circling”, “one is ten”, “vacancy”, and “wisdom”, by which the Consciousness of Numeration presented in Alaya Vijnana could be transformed into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom. In the end, it could lead to seeing the nature and attaining Buddhahood. Furthermore, the exploration advances to why and how Master Sheng-Yen combined “counting” and “Buddha-name recitation” as the method of “counting and reciting the buddha’s name”, along with the nature and the fulfilling approaches of such practice. In addition, “Xuan-Shi” Lineage, branching from the fifth patriarch Hung-Ren in Chan School, once promoted Buddha-name recitation in Chan practice. Is this connected to the method of counting and reciting the buddha’s name? What’s the difference between the method of counting and reciting the buddha’s name as well as the traditional method of Buddha-name recitation? What are the similarities and differences among methods of counting and reciting the buddha’s name promoted by Masters Zun-Shi, Yin-Kuang, and Sheng-Yen? After dealing with these questions, the article then explores how Master Sheng-Yen, while teaching Hua-Tao and Silent Illumination, introduced the method of counting and reciting the buddha’s name to lead to Chan-investigation and silent illumination? What is the theoretical framework and practical application in such connection? Overall, this article aims at not only a thorough exploration of the Chan method of counting and reciting the buddha’s name, but also the development of a new perspective on the idea that “Buddha-name recitation is in itself Chan investigation and Silent Illumination.”
