佛教「無情說法」的學理探究 ── 以聖嚴法師為例的現代應用=“Dharma Delivered by the Insentient Beings” in Chinese Chan Buddhism: The Meanings and Its Application in Modern Society─ The Case of Master Sheng Yen
This study centered around the issue of “Wu-Qing-Shuo-Fa, dharma delivered by the insentient beings”, beginning in Tang dynasty in Chinese Chan Buddhism, as the main object of discussion. The author would begin with the theoretical foundation of “dharma delivered by the insentient beings”, and to further discuss issues related to Dharma-nature and Buddha-nature in this, to clarify the doubts about how the insentient beings, of no mouth or thoughts, could deliver teachings of dharma; and would then review how ancient patriarchs applied such dharma delivered by the insentient beings to adapting Chan practitioners; to scrutinize what the critical incident to enlightenment would be in the approach; and to examine the evolvement after such method being introduced to Japan. In addition, for Master Sheng Yen, considering the propagation of Chinese Chan Buddhism as his core idea, how did he activate the teachings of Chan into the construction of hardware in Dharma Drum Mountain, in the natural settings? How did he merge such teachings into that? What is the modern interpretation of “dharma delivered by the insentient beings” contained in this? For all the various aspects mentioned above, the discussion will first be centered around the theoretical foundation of “dharma delivered by the insentient beings”, to inspect how such thoughts, originated from India, could build up all the deliberations and reflections for hundreds of years in China? How the patriarchs in Chan School applied the delicateness of “dharma delivered by the insentient beings” onto chan practitioners? And after the introduction of “dharma delivered by the insentient beings” to Japan, what would be the perception of the Japanese, which led to further evolution in Japanese culture? Finally, the author will take Dharma Drum Mountain founded by Master Sheng Yen as an example, to illustrate how the development of “dharma delivered by the insentient beings” could be applied in modern times, as in the teachings of natural environment, and to demonstrate the essence of Chan incidents vividly.
