From Dispute to Dual Cultivation: Pure Land Responses to Ch'an Critics

From Dispute to Dual Cultivation: Pure Land Responses to Ch'an Critics

David W. Chappell

Although the eighth century falls within the so-called golden age of Chinese Buddhism, the very vitality of BuctdhlSiTlat that time was markelhy the strong ancfcompetingreHgTousclaims of vanous·new sectarian movemerits.iliiSclfcrprer-will explcrreLtie-c-no flictlTiai split two of these groups, Pure !li! __ jl._nci_.C:_h_an, beginning with the evolution of Ch'an criticisms of Pure Land devotionalism in the seventh and early eighth centuries. Separate sections wlivil:JeCJe oted-to-thrdifferent Pure Land responses to Ch'an-those of Tz'u-min Hui-jih (680-748), Fei-hsi (d.u.), and the Wu fang-pien nien-fo men ("The Gateway of the Five Expedient Methods for Contemplating the Buddha"). These three responses represent different patterns, ranging from opposition to Ch'an to integration with it. The implications of these options will be discussed in the final section.

Pure Land and Ch'an are often described as the two major poles of Buddhist praclicein East Asia.dPiireTiincfaevotees-emphasize-the inadequacies of their own capac1fies and theTi.itifliy-oftileTrtime5;saivation can only be achieved atnq"Lner:: fii!!JI!j J11i).t rebkf_fi1_, m ·another place (tile Western Pure Land), and through anotbs:r power (Amitabha Buddha). By contrast, Ch'an affirms the completeness of the present moment and human capacities, coJlcimi-tlie-iip-ace=tiffieIIsiill.iii.Os of Pure Gl!a symbolisn:I_!rii- _is-.!!!LaiilallD Jnr-arg_l!in&_fpr the nonduality of oneself and the Buddha, as welL--Jb_Jdentity_ of this realm andtne J>ureLarid· -:--WilereasPueiand devotionalism calls upon an exterriafpoer Ch'an affirms self-Jeliance anare]ecTs--dependence upon externrureug1olls-o6jects-:-t1iedramatic-cc)i1irasfb-etween these two religious ophonsls·s-tflkingly revealed in their artistic styles. Amitabha Buddha is portrayed in vivid concreteness and the Pure Land drawn with precise detail, whereas Ch'an art takes this present world as its subject but treats it with a lack of formal detail to emphasize freedom and tranquility and to dissolve static concreteness and separation.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Pure Land and Ch'an beGame distinct and competing denominations in Japa;;- In Chifla;e break wasnever institutionalized in such a final form. Instead, the two were joined nln--actTaTectaiC roaranci-ariltli ectural!Y_Jn recent centuries by having bothaCh'an meditation hall and a recitation hall for Pure Land devotionalism in the same monastery. This was possible in China because by the eriif6Hlie e1glieil1C nti.uy larger frames of reference had been devised to reconcile Pure Land and Ch'an. But at the beginning of the eighth century, instead of a pattern of living together harmoniously, Pure Land and Ch'an were in open conflict with each other.

I. Ch'an Attacks on Pure Land Devotionalism

Pure Land devotionalism entered China in a wide variety of Mahayana texts recommendingrel) ihit TnAmitaona'S VesTefn Paradise as the most effective Wiiito giun-afuvorabibith leacfing to eventual enllghtenmet:1 Visualization tecini Tques manirach.aliii iig methods for attaining rebirth with a compassionate Buddha figure, and other devotional practices shared by the Amitabha movement were also an integral part of the Perfection of Wisdom (prajfiiipiiramitii) tradition. Since this tradition, established by Kumarajiva (344-413), was accepted by Chinese Buddhists as authoritative in questions of doctrine and practice from the sixth century on, Pure Land ideas therefore became a part of Buddhist orthodoxy in China. And since Ch'an often turned to Perfection of Wisdom texts as a scriptural basis, one would not have expected an eighth century Ch'an attack on Pure Land devotionalism as an inferior and misguided practice. Thus, in order to understand the historical setting for the eighth-century conflict between the two traditions, we must first review briefly the relation between the Perfection of Wisdom texts and Pure Land devotionalism.

It is not surprising that the encyclopedic commentary on the Perfection of Wisdom, the Ta-chih-tu-lun, should have a major section on the Pure Lands.

2 Supported by the prestige of Nagarjuna as its alleged author, the Ta-chih-tu-lun came to be accepted by Chinese Buddhists as a definitive authority on questions of doctrinal orthodoxy. At the other extreme was the Heart Siltra, which condensed the Perfection of Wisdom insights into a short form for liturgical use. Indeed, the Heart Sutra became the most popular liturgical text in all East Asian Buddhism most likely because it so clearly embodied the dialectical harmony between the philosophy of emptiness and explicitly devotional practices. After proclaiming that the five skandhas, the eighteen dhiitu, the Twelvefold Chain of Causation, the Four Noble Truths, and various other key Buddhist ideas are all empty, the text offers a simple mantra to be recited Pure Land Responses to Ch 'an Critics to cure all ills. This device of sweeping away all religious structures and then offering them back again (but supposedly with a new awareness) is 'also a frequent theme in the Diamond Sutra. Conveniently summarizing this Perfection of Wisdom attitude is the Vimalakirti Sutra, which asserts that, "although he knows that the various Buddha Lands and sentient beings are empty, at the same time [the bodhisattva] is always cultivating a Pure Land to save all beings."'

By the seventh century the passage that was invariably cited to show how !he philosapnyoT emptiness iet !!-Ij:J!c 0cei1ii tioned together came from the Wen-shu shuo ching (Saptasatika-prajnilpilramitil-sutra; "Siitra on the Perfecuon QL om WTho .Spo.kn- biM afijusrl"). The key passage-from thlstextquoted again and agin by all parties throughout the T'ang Dynasty. The chapters by Daniel Stevenson and Bernard Faure have· alieady noted that the account of one-practice samadhi outlined in the Wen-shu shuo ching contains two distinct approaches to practice: a radical approach that takes the Dharmadhatu itself as its "object" as well as an expedient approach that concentrates on the idealized image or name of a particular Buddha-what the later Pure Land tradition referred to as the contemplation of Principle (likuan) and contemplation of phenomena (shih-kuan). The double valence of the Wen-shu shuo ching passage came to serve as a doctrinal litmus test, revealing the religious orientation of the interpreter by which aspect of the practice he selected for emphasis. The passage was thus used by various groups in the early separation of Ch'an and Pure Land to support their particular sectarian claims. A translation follows: Mafijusri asked: "World-Honoured One, what is one-practice samadhi?" T he Buddha replied: "The Dharmadhatu has a single characteristic. Taking the Dharmadhatu as the object [of contemplation] is called one-practice samadhL If sons and daughters of good families want to enter one-practice samadhi, they should first listen to the Perfection of Wisdom and then practice as instructed. Only then will they be able to enter one-practice samadhi, and just like the Dharmadhatu itself they will not slide back, will not be de­ stroyed, will be inconceivable, will be without obstructions, and will be without characteristics. Sons and daughers of good families who want to enter into one-practice samadhi should take up residence in an untrammeled

spot, give up all confused thoughts, and, without adhering to any characteristic, concentrate their mind on a particular Buddha and single-mindedly recite his name. By properly facing in the direction of that Buddha, keeping their body upright, and being able to maintain uninterrupted concentration on a single Buddha, thought after thought, then, within that very mindful, ness, they will be able to see all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future.

Why? Because being mindful of the boundless infinity of the merit of one Buddha is the same as [being mindful of] the merit of infinite Buddhasthey are nondual and inconceivable. The Buddha Dharma is equal and with- out distinctions. All [[[Buddhas]]] achieve supreme perfect enlightenment by relying on [this] one suchness. They all thereby become endowed with incal­ culable merit and boundless eloquence. Those who enter one-practice samadhi thus fully know that the Dharmadhatu of Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges is free from any mark of difference.

This passage is quoted prominently at the beginning of the section on the fourth Ch'an patriarch in the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi ("Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Latikiivatiira"), where one-practice samadhi is said to be one of the cornerstones of the teaching of Tao-hsin

(580-651 ). It is important not only to notice the prii!:Y given to the formless, nondualistic state _Slf onc.ti.samadhi D:iJ?:hil!_ed by Ch'an, but also to recognize the positive role given to devotionalism, ritual;and recitation of a Buddha's name (nien-]o) as_a.mcthocCio--ttain this_tate. I heclassic-Oafanceoctween these two-aspctsf onPctice samadhi had been struck by T'ien-t'ai Chih-i (538-597) in his Mo-ho chih-kuan ("[Treatise on] the Great Calming and Discernment"). As Daniel Stevenson discusses in detail in his chapter earlier in this volume, Chih-i cites this passage from the Wen-shu shuo ching as canonical support for his constantly sitting samadhi, 5 in which the practitioner is to remain seated in meditation for ninety days. If his mind should wander, he is to recite the Buddha's name as recommended by the siitra. Chih-i's emphasis is not just on recitation, but on cultivating one-practice samadhi in order to overcome all duality. In an eloquent description bordering on the ecstatic, Chih-i describes the ultimate Mahayana awareness in which the duality of defilements and purity is transcended, all living beings are no different from the Buddha, evil is not separate from nirval_1a, and true cultivation is non-cultivation and vice versa. This is the Perfection of Wisdom and appears at first glance to be the highest attainment.

The interpretation of this passage by the Leng-ch' ieh shih-tz 'u chi echoes Chih-i's nondualistic emphasis. Immediately after quoting this passage, the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi repeats a statement from the Vima/akrrti Siitra that all modes of activity are the place of enlightenment (tao-ch 'ang, bodhima(l(fa), even lifting or lowering one's foot. It then quotes from a scripture especially valued by T'ien-t'ai, P'u-hsien kuan ching ("Meditation on Samantabhadra Siitra"), to recommend the repentance and meditation on true reality that eradicates all illusions. To achieve lucidity and serenity, one should constantly be mindful of a Buddha or recite his name (nien-fo), a practice that the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi explains according to the Ta-p'in ching (Pancavif!lsatisahasrika-prajniipiiramita-sutra, "The Siitra of the Perfection of Wisdom in Twentyfive Thousand Lines"), which claims that, since the Buddha has no form, there is no object of meditation but only mindfulness of the nonsubstantiality and interpenetration of all things. This awareness of non­ duality pacifies the mind (an-hsin). The Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi goes on to illustrate nondualistic thinking by asserting that the Pure Land, Buddha-nature, enlightenment, the Tathagata, nirval).a, and so on are identical, while acknowledging that the methods for realizing nonduality are endless. According to the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi, Tao-hsin emphasizes that all activities can be agents for enlightenment, since for those with insight there is nothing that is apart from the one true suchness, there is nothing that is not enlightenment.

The Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi then presents Tao-hsin as turning to answer a number of specific questions relating mostly to practice. T he stage is set by affirming that true reality is formless yet contains all forms and so is serene yet diverse. The Ch'an practitioner is to be aware like a mirror, but like a plant he does not grasp or seek anything in particular. Accordingly, he is urged to identify with the natural rhythm of things (chih-jen-yun). Some may be able to do this by themselves, some may need a teacher, and some may need three to five years of practice. Those with keen abilities can appreciate the interpenetration of all phenomena, but those less gifted may find it helpful to follow specific practices. According to the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi, Tao-hsin saw these as involving the use of expedient methods (like the Pure Land practices) in the light of the Perfection of Wisdom teaching. Nevertheless, if we know our mind originally neither is born nor dies but is ultimately pure and is identical to the Pure Buddha Land, then it is not necessary to face toward the West. ... The Buddha causes beings who have dull capacities to face toward the West, but he does not teach people with keen abilities to do so. • We do not know if the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi account of Taohsin's ideas is wholly accurate; therefore, we cannot be certain that Taohsin classified Pure Land devotionalism as a practice for the dull-witted, as this passage claims. Doubt over the reliability of the Leng-ch 'ieh shihtzu chi in this regard is raised by the fact that Tao-hsin's disciple Hung­

jen (601-674) produced various Ch'an followers who advocated Pure LandJi@Ctfcs:-(l)FaCfiffi- 615:::'701) and his- disciple Chih-wei (d.-680); (2) Chih-shen (609-702), his disciple Ch'u-chi (d. 730s), and Ch'u-chi's disciple Wu-hsiang (K. Musang; 694-762); and (3) Hsiian-shih (d.u.) and his disciples. 7 Furthermore, this portion of the text is stylistically very different from the first section, which quotes the Wen-shu shuo ching, thus giving rise to the suspicion that it may have been interpolated later when the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi was compiled in the eighth century by an advocate for Northern Ch'an. 8 In any case, whether or not Ch'an criticism of Pure Land devo-

tionalism appeared in the seventh century, it definitely was present by the early eighth century, when the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi was compiled. In addition, such criticism was also clearly evident in sections 35-37 of the Tun-huang text of the Platform Siitra. In neither case, however, is it clear precisely who is being attacked, since the early development of Pure Land devotionalism as a self-sufficient movement took place in a different area of China, beginning in Shansi Province. 9 Indeed, Philip Yampolsky proposes that the Platform Siltra might have been reacting to the type of Ch'an advocated by the Szechwan school that derived from Chihshen. '0 In any event, by the early eighth century, when the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi and possibily the Platform Siltra were compiled, both the Northern Ch'a n of the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tzu chi and the Southern Ch' an of the Platform Siltra had rejected Pure Land devotionalism as an inferior path practiced by those of dull capacities.

The Platform Siltra teaches that there are not only two grades of beings, those with dull capacities and those with keen capacities, but also two corresponding forms of practice, "gradual" and "sudden." Those with keen capacities, "by making the mind pure, are without crime." The Perfection of W isdom teaching "has nothing to do with recitations."

"The deluded person merely recites; the wise man practices with his mind."12 The text claims that it is wrong to try to accumulate merit for the sake of a better rebirth, the extinction of bad karma, and enlightenment in the future: The ignorant person practices seeking future happiness, does not practice the Way, And says that to practice seeking future happiness is the Way. Though he hopes that alms-giving and offerings will bring boundless happiness, As before, in his mind the three karmas are created.'

This Ch'an emphasis on the inner practice of the mind called for the transcendence of temporal distinctions in a sudden realization in the immediate present. It also served to dissolve spatial distinctions, since for the enlightened "the Western [[[Pure]]] Land can be seen here in China." "If inside and outside are clear, this will be no different from the Western Land." One should not look for the Buddha outside of oneself as do the devotees of Amitabha. "The siitras say to take refuge in the Buddha within yourselves; they do not say to rely on other Buddhas." 14 Indeed, "separation from form on the outside is ch'an; being untouched on the inside is meditation (ling)." '5 One should avoid all dualism between self and the Buddha.'• In contrast to Ch'an, the vitality of Pure Land devotionalism, and the source of its later attack on Ch'an, was based upon the usefulness

and validity of conventional space-time distinctions. It is within this framework that Pure Land thinkers interpreted the Wen-shu shuo ching. For example, Tao-ch'o (562-645) quoted the text to justify the spread of vocal recitation of Amitabha's name, since the text implies that meditation on and recitation of the name of one Buddha involves all Buddhas. 17 Later, the systematizer of Pure Land thought, Shan-tao (613-681 ), quoted this passage to show that, if one is having difficulty in attaining undistracted meditative insight, solitary recitation of the name of the Buddha is more effective than the more difficult practice of visualization. 18 As these references make clear, Pure Land devotionalism had a totally different motivation from Ch'an in its use of Perfection of Wisdom materials. Instead of emphasizing formlessness and mental clarity, the Pure Land masters used the doctrine of nonduality to justify the cosmic significance of specific practices. This divergence of Pure Land interpretation from Ch'an practice is most vividly illustrated by the writings of Tz'u-min Hui-jih.

II. The Counterattack of Tz'u-min Hui-jih

By the middle of the seventh century, Pure Land devotionalism in North chrna_nad.deY199-suH!clei1Tmomefiililll-ailct--silr-awareess to produce it;first hist?_r!!l1_ C::hJt;Uct.).--Thtrngth f the Pure Land movement can also be seen by the fact that Shan-tao developed his religious thought almost totally within a Pure Land framework. Unlike his teacher, Tac>Cli'o-(562_:_645),-hemade very-few references to other sources, and what opponents he had were from the Yogacara tradition. The arguments of these opponents emphasized the high requirements for entering the Pure Land and the incomplet"eiiessof"the oerieliis of rebirth there. A.lthough-snan:ra:a· personaily-pref'e-rred-visuaWzatic)n-feefmiques, he argued for low _t!I_!_t!a.!l_rq_u_i!_!!1_t!r1t_5_:)_t_h __ e.ureland:=-_I!l!_Il_l_lil that the use of vocal recitation of the Buddha's name with sincere intent was a sufficient rrieaii"s-for-rebirth-l:herefurihe-most-humble-voi.- -

The first-PureLad- thini-to felth-fllbnt-of Ch'an criticisms of Pure Land was Tz'u-min Hui-jih (680-748). That his ideas continue the emphasis of Shan-iaoccanoeseen clearly in the three Pure Land hymns he composed (which are preserved in the writings of Fa-chao recovered at Tun-huang). In addition, Hui-jih launched a vigorous counterattack to Ch'an criticisms in his major writing, the Liieh chu-chinglun nien-jo fa-men wang-sheng ching-t 'u chi ("A Collection Outlining Various Scriptures and Treatises Regarding Methods of Contemplating the Buddha and Rebirth in the Pure Land"). 20 Originally in three fascicles and believed to be lost, the text was partially restored earlier in this century when Ono Gemmyo discovered the first fascicle in Korea. 21 Hui-

jih had organized the text into three parts, beginning, in the first, with a refutation of the errors of Ch'an. Fortunately for us, it is this section of the text that has survived; the other two sections-which set forth the "correct teachings (cheng-tsung) of the Pure Land nien-fo" and try to resolve various doctrinal problems-remain lost.

Because Hui-jih moved to Kuang-chou (Canton) in South China, it is quite possible that he directly encountered the disciples of Hui-neng/ Shen-hui and their attack on Pure Land devotionalism. In describing the views of Ch'an leaders, Hui-jih first attributes to them the idea that the world is empty and tranquil and that there is not a single thing that has real existence. "All the various dharmas are like hairs on a tortoise or horns on a rabbit; they originally have no substance. Although they are born and die, there is no good that can be cultivated and no evil that can be cut off." Yet, according to Hui-jih, these people "only cause their inner mind to be pacified and dwell in emptiness, understanding that the world is false and the ten thousand dharmas are nonexistent."22 Thus, after attaining meditative concentration (ch 'an-ting), they discard the remaining external practices as empty-including all the usual Pure Land practices, such as "nien-fo, reciting scripture, seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, plus practicing the Six Perfections of a bodhisattva, copying scriptures, making images, establishing temples, worshipping in a temple, being filial to one's parents, serving one's teachers and elders, and so on." Hui-jih charges that, according to Ch'an, these are all causes for birth-and-death, not liberation, because they entail "attachment to form and empty distinctions." Hui-jih concludes that this viewpoint of the Ch'an masters is totally in error, being contrary to the scriptures, the truth, and the Buddha.

Not only have Ch'an masters distorted and rejected the Buddhist teachings, Hul-jl_li c_oiiii.iiues lhey-are also guilty ornrrogance by falsely believing -memsetves- robe W!Se-He-conaemns- Their- path -to -enlightenment, the cultivattonof -emptiness (hsiu-k'ung), because it is difficult, lengthy, and filled with suffering. Having upbraided Ch'an masters at length for their arrogance and the difficulty their teachings cause others, Hui-jih boldly charges them with not even achieving adequate meditative concentratfon7Chim-tmff.It they haQ,-tliey-wouldat-ieasd1ave achieved the stage-of concentration with defilements (yu-lou ting), with its five supernatural powers (wu-t'ung), to say nothing of the Mahayana achievement of undefiled concentration, with its sixth power of "supernatural consciousness of the waning of vicious propensities." As one who had spent seventeen years travelling in India, Hui-jih expresses no little arrogance himself in remarking that this Ch'an method, "coming from the East [[[China]]], had not yet heard about realizing these five powers, to say nothing of the six powers!"2 4

Indeed, Hui-jih claims that Ch'an masters are often guilty of committing the Buddhist offense of claiming to have achieved enlightenment in thls._body:Masiersai:td disdpTes praise each other, saying that they haveafready attained enlightenment, but they are wrong, he concludes. They teach their disciples to look for the Buddha not outside but inside. "Don't rely on the teachings of these Ch'an masters," warns Hui-jih. "They are common men, and none of them has realized true understanding." 25

In response to the Ch'an criticism of Pure Land practice as being attached to form and false methods, 26 Hui-jih appeals to scriptural authority by quoting passages from eight scriptures recommending nienfo. The last passage Hui-jih cites is the one from the Wen-shu shuo ching translated earlier; in doing so, however, he significantly omits the first part, which recommends cultivation in terms of the Perfection of Wisdom. 27 Instead, he concludes by saying: "All these scriptures say that nien-fo is the cause for enlightenment. How can one abruptly have true understanding based on common emotions? This is a rejection of the holy teaching. It is to speak falsehoods and is not the cause for attaining Buddhahood. How can anyone be so reckless! "

Of course, such an appeal to scriptures was destined to meet with little success among Ch'an practitioners, whose teachings "repeatedly say that to read aloud the Mahayana scriptures is attachment to the falseness of form and is not a cause for achieving Buddhahood." All that Hui-jih could do was attack this position as "meaningless" and "worse than a raging fire that burns the Buddha's teachings and injures the good capacities of people!'29 Hui-jih finally appeals to the Diamond Siitra, which recommends its own reading and recitation, 30 and goes on to quote other practices from other scriptures. He concludes: Various practices are broadly taught in the scriptures as a cause for becoming a Buddha, not merely the Six Perfections [of a bodhisattva]. How can Ch'an masters be so strongly attached to meditative concentration (ch 'anling) as the correct cause of Buddhahood, and not [realize the importance of] the remaining [five] perfections? Rather, all the holy teachings say that wisdom is supreme, and the correct cause for Buddhahood, while the remaining practices are all supplementary conditions. ... How can they praise meditative concentration as supreme?" Next Hui-jih goes on to defend the practice of making Buddhist images, which Ch'an masters repeatedly say "has merit but is not a cause for Buddhahood."32 This is followed by a defense of copying scriptures as beneficial preparation for enlightenment. "Although all this is attachment to form," acknowledges Hui-jih, "it is not false. It is necessary as a cause and is not empty."33 To prove this, he then outlines four kinds of falseness34 to show that the ten thousand practices are not false but are "marvellous causes that should produce the fruit of enlightenment and nirva1.1a."35 These four kinds of falseness are:

l. The essential unreality of conditioned phenomena (shih), in comparison with Principle (li), which is true reality

2. The cause and effect of birth-and-death, which is impermanent and unreal, in comparison to the cause and effect of transcending attachments, which is true, enduring enlightenment and nirva1.1a

3. The profane mind, which is dualistic and attached to distinctions, in comparison to the holy mind, which understands names as temporary and is free of attachment

4. The unreality (wu) of all things produced by delusions and attachments, such as perceiving a rope to be a snake, in comparison to the existence (yu) of everything as causally produced

Thus, when properly understood, conditioned practices can be used to reach the unconditioned. One can only practice using forms, but those forms must not obstruct one's quickly leaving birth-and-death and rapidly attaining liberation. 36 Accordingly, he criticizes the "unrecorded mind" (wu-chi hsin; also criticized in the East Mountain SchooP7) which is balanced, never wavers to left or right, and does not conform to distinctions. How can we benefit ourselves and others, asks Hui-jih, or find an impetus to transcend the world, if we are in agreement with the natural rhythm of things? Being without an effective cause, nothing can be accomplished, let alone the fruit of liberation. 38 Hui-jih advocates Pure Land devotionalism in the remaining sections of our text: When the ten thousand practices are quickly completed, then we quickly attain Buddhahood. Although the Pure Land is only one gateway, if we exhaustively and single-mindedly cultivate and study this one form, with the vow to be reborn in that land, then in this manner all the dharmas will be completed. How do I know? Because we will attain rebirth in the Pure Land and there all dharmas will be perfected." Hui-jih then contrasts the Pure Land devotee with the Ch'an practitioner. It is interesting that the standard he uses is not the lowest of the nine ranks of the Kuan wu-liang-shou ching ("Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life Sutra"), but the highest. •• Whereas the Shansi movement of Pure Land (associated with T'an-luan [ca.488-ca.554], Tao-ch'o, and

Shan-tao) was concerned to guarantee a minimal method for salvation, Hui-jih emphasizes its high requirements in order to offset what he considers to be the pernicious reductionism and false extremism of Ch'an. Accordingly, the Pure Land practice he advocates involves: (1) being compassionate, not killing, and maintaining all the precepts; (2) uphold-

ing, reading, and reciting the Mahayana scriptures; and (3) cultivating the six forms of mindfulness and dedicating the merit of that cultivation to being reborn in the Pure Land. By following these practices for up to seven days, one is assured of rebirth in the Pure Land. The six forms of mindfulness are: mindfulness of (I) the Buddha, (2) the Dharma, (3) the Sangha, (4) charity, (5) the precepts, and (6) the heavens, plus mindfulness of the bodhisattvas Kuan-yin (Avalokitesvara) and Ta-shih (Mahasthamaprapta) as advised in the Kuan wu-liang-sheng ching. Basically, these practices entail nien-fo, scripture chanting, and invocation of the bodhisattvas, in addition to vegetarianism. Those who drink and eat meat, Hui-jih warns, will have bad luck and be reborn in hell. The text ends with an extended appeal against alcohol and meat-eating.

In considering the virulence of Hui-jih's criticisms, we should not forget the major life experiences that informed his religious orientation. He left for India in 702 at the age of twenty-two and returned to Ch'angan in 719, when he was thirty-nine. On his return journey he began fasting in a mountain retreat and prayed to Kuan-yin, who immediately appeared and revealed the teachings of rebirth in the Pure Land. Thus, having spent the formative years of his adult life seeking the "authentic" tradition at its source in India, he understandably objected to the Buddhist tradition's being shunned or dangerously abbreviated by Ch'an. In addition, the Ch'an demotion of Pure Land devotion to the status of ancillary or even deluded and obstructive practice was in direct contradiction to his own religious experience. Finally, his move into Kuangchou in South China during his mature years placed him in direct contact with the full force of the rising Southern School of Sudden Enlightenment, which contrasted dramatically with his lifetime of search. In summary, his main objections to Ch'an masters were:

I. They distort and deny basic Buddhist teachings. 2. They are arrogant. 3. They cause suffering to others through their distorted and difficult teachings. 4. Their own achievements in ch 'an practice fall far short of Mahayana teaching. 5. They claim to have achieved enlightenment when they have not. 6. They reject the scriptures and what the scriptures teach and are thus a scourge to Buddhism. 7. They injure human capacities for learning by misleading people. 8. They mistakenly reject nien-fo, even though many scriptures recommend it. f· They mistakenly elevate ch 'an (i.e., dhyana) as the supreme practice, but among the S1x Perfections of a bodhisattva It 1s traditionally considered less important than wisdom.

10. External practices like making images and reciting scriptures are not empty but are recommended by the scriptures and have temporary use as an efficient cause to help stimulate enlightenment.

II. Ch'an emphasis on an open and harmonized mind lacks any means to stimulate transcendence and compassion. 12. Their disregard for basic precepts is unorthodox and harmful, and those who break precepts are in danger of being reborn in hell. The great Japanese Pure Land figure Honen (1133-1212) divided Chinese Pure Land into three branches, those of (l) Lu-shan Hui-yi.ian (344-416); (2) Tao-ch'o and Shan-tao; and (3) Tz'u-min Hui-jih, who is seen as reconciling the practice of scripture learning, precepts, nien-fo, and ch 'an. Although Hui-jih did want to reconcile nien-jo and ch 'an, we must remember that he does this by taking ch 'an as the Chinese word for samadhi or dhyana. He was thus recommending meditation (ch 'an-ting)

in its classical Buddhist forms, not the teachings and practices of the Chinese Ch'an movement, which, on the contrary, he thoroughly condemned. The vehemence of his polemic put Hui-jih in direct opposition to the Southern School of Ch'an. In life experience, teachings, and temperament, he contrasts sharply with Shen-hui and Hui-neng, and he differs from Shan-tao in the breadth of his perspective. Hui-jih is a fitting model for Pure Land in the T'ang Dynasty. His influence was strong; he converted Ch'eng-yi.ian (713-803) to Pure Land devotionalism, even though Ch'eng-yi.ian began his Buddhist practice as a disciple of the Ch'an master Ch'u-chi (himself a disciple of Chih-shen, one of the ten main disciples of the fifth Ch'an patriarch, Hung-jen). Ch'eng-yi.ian42 became the teacher of Fa-chao, perhaps the most influential Pure Land teacher of the ninth century in China. 43 Furthermore, Hui-jih's writings were current in the tenth century, and Yung-ming Yenshou (904-975) quoted Hui-jih as well as Southern Ch'an patriarch Huineng with approval. 44 Yi.ian-chao (1 048-1116) reprinted his work in the Sung Dynasty, but its sharp criticisms of Ch'an provoked a complaint by Ssu-ming Pao-ying to the secular authorities, who stopped its circulation and destroyed the printing blocks.' This marked the end of Hui-jih's role as a Pure Land critic of Ch'an in China.

III. The Dialectics of Fei-hsi

During the eighth century, the Southern Sc!_loo_ly_f Ch'an en_:J._er partially by cl_efinill-e_!_f ()\'LagainsL!rjQIJL J>!!e !.,agel pr_ctices. This development precipitated the strong reaction seen in the writings of Huijih and marked the point of greatest controversy between Pure Land and Ch'an. Nevertheless, these extremes did not represent all practitioners, and various theoretical and practical methods were available for integrating Pure Land and Ch'an into a common world view. Representative of the attempt to accommodate the different approaches of the two schools was the position put forward by Fei-hsi. Although an important Pure Land thinker of the eighth century, Fei-hsi was less aggressive in his approach to Ch'an than Hui-jih. •• In his Nien-fo san-mei pao-wang fun ("Treatise on the Contemplation of the Buddha as the Jewel King of Meditation"), he responded to a variety of issues by offering support and guidance rather than criticism. Not only was he less assertive than Hui­ jih, 47 he also offered a balance between the Lotus samadhi practice of non-despising and the nien-fo samadhi teaching of beholding all the Buddhas of the present age (pan-chou; pratyutpanna).

Fei-hsi's Nien-fo san-mei pao-wang fun comprises twenty sections, which are divided into three parts dealing with (1) future Buddhas, (2) the present Buddha Amitabha, and (3) the past Buddha Sakyamuni. Part one, consisting of the first seven sections, 48 focuses on future Buddhas and is based on chapter twenty of the Lotus Stura, in which Bodhisattva Sadaparibhuta-parivarta (Never Disparaging) venerates everyone, whether laity or clergy, as a future Buddha. Even if some people break the precepts or are in hell, they should never be disparaged or held in contempt, since that creates duality in the mind and shows a lack of respect for their future destiny as Buddhas. Fei-hsi also quotes the same passage from the Leng-ch 'ieh pao-chi ching that Hui-jih had used49 to argue for vegetarianism and for respecting living beings by not killing them for food. The second part of the text, consisting of the next six sections, 50 is devoted to the present Buddha, Amitabha, who is now abiding in the Western Pure Land. In contrast to part one, which draws on the Lotus and T'ien-t'ai traditions, part two contains Fei-hsi's major Pure Land teachings. It strongly advocates chanting the Buddha's name with a loud voice5' and recommends group recitation after the practice of Lu-shan Hui-yiian's group. 52

However, it is part three (sections fifteen to twenty)53 that deals with the relation of Pure Land and Ch'an. Fei-hsi begins with an affirmation of the essential unity of the Buddha and the devotee. They differ only because the devotee is still in the state of preparation (yin), whereas Sakyamuni Buddha represents the fruition (kuo). Nevertheless, when seen together, the preparation and fruition have the same attributes (hsiang-t 'ung). 54 This unity in diversity is then analyzed more closely in section fifteen in terms of two categories made famous in Hua-yen thought: Principle (li) and phenomena (shih). The gateway of Principle is an awareness of emptiness: Buddha and mind do not exist in themselves. Nor is the Buddha produced from the mind, or the mind from the Buddha. Rather, their mutuality and interrelatedness enable both to appear. When both are tranquil (shuang-chi), there is calmness (chih; samatha). When there is mutual illumination (shuang-chao), there is insight (kuan; vipasyana). Calmness and insight are not identical. Illumination (insight), which is always tranquil,i s the mind without an object of mindfulness; whereas tranquility (calmness),w hich is always illuminating,i s the cultivation of nien-fo. The Tathagata realizes the samadhi of both tranquility and illumination.

Although Principle involves emptiness and a mind without an object of contemplation, this is balanced by its manifestation in the realm of phenomena (shih) and the use of objects of contemplation to accomplish this goal." Just as a wedge is used to remove a wedge,. .. so mindfulness (nien) is used to calm the mind."56 Fei-hsi then quotes the famous reference to methods for obtaining one-practice samadhi found in the Wen-shu shuo ching to support the use of reciting the name of the Buddha.W ith this method one becomes just like an archer who practices to such a degree that, "after he has no-mind (wu-hsin), everywhere is the target for the arrow to hit."57 Fei-hsi is concerned with the maturation of mindfulness,58 which involves "using the mind of nien-fo to enter into the patience based on the insight of non-arising."59 Fei-hsi argues that this assumes an accessible Buddha who responds, who appears, and whose activity is not just a temporary skillful means, but involves an automatic opening of the mind.T hus, Fei-hsi presents a reasoned argument for the "dual cultivation of no-mind and mindfulness of the Buddha,o f Principle (li) and phenomena (shih). "60 This use of Principle and phenomena pioneers an important new vehicle for conceptualizing dual cultivation of Ch'an and Pure Land,w hich was quoted later in the Nienfo ching ("A Mirror of Devotion to [[[Amitabha]]] Buddha ")61 and which became an essential device in the thought of Yung-ming Yen-shou.

In section sixteen Fei-hsi elaborates further on this theme of "the middle path of no-mind and no-Buddha," by which he means transcending both the conceptualizing mind and the Buddha who is conceptualized.62 Continuing at the level of emptiness (li rather than shih), he posits the fundamental identity of all activities.C ontemplating the true reality of the Buddha is like contemplating the true reality of the body (oneself); there is no difference.6 3 Echoing T'ien-t'ai and Ch'an expressions, Feihsi says that delusions are identical ·to nirvaija·a.Ii'c!ttJ>entient beings are identical to the various Buddhas.64 Moreover, nien-fo is not different from true no=ihought(wii-nien), and rebirth in t_Q Ptrei,,:anci is trueQObirth.6 5 This interpretation of Pure Land teachings and practices in terms of Per feciTo n OfWisoo-rrr aocirine-places Felhsrln--th-i-Dtia. of Chinese BUddhiSm and:C:Q-nl1ectsf1im.with f'anTu1m aridTo-ch'o,w ho interpreted Pure Land devtionalis-min-siriiiiarierms. - ·-· -

Fei-hsi continues by quoting from the account of Hui-k'o (recognized by then as the Second Patriarch of Ch'an) in the Hsii kao-seng chuan ("Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks ") in which Hui-k'o teaches that delusion and nirval)a are related as form to shadow or as sound to its echo: one is the root of the other.T o try to be free of sentient beings in order to seek Buddha-nature is like dampening the sound in order to search out the echo.T herefore, one should realize that they are a single path. Stupidity and wisdom are not different.6 6 Fei-hsi then invokes Bodhidharma to say that one "must not abandon mindfulness (nien) existing in no-thought, nor abandon birth established in no-birth. .. . Delusions are identical to nirval)a, sentient beings are identical to the various Buddhas. ... T hus, mindfulness of the Buddha (nien-fo) is true no-mind (chen wu-nien). Rebirth in the Pure Land is at the same time no-birth (wu-sheng, i.e., non-arising)."67 Again, similar statements can be found in the writings of T 'an-luan, Chih-i, and Tao-ch'o from the sixth and seventh centuries and are based on the Perfection of Wisdom dialectic. In section seventeen Fei-hsi presents his view of nien-fo as the king of all the other samadhis.6 8 Nien-fo is the jeweled king sam ad hi because it does not abide anywhere.R ather, it is like a dream wherein one experiences vastness without coming or going anywhere.69 Nevertheless, even though it does not abide in good or evil, nien-fo is always in accord with Principle (li); it is a mental practice involving good elements, not evil or uncertain ones.7 0

Fei-hsi moves to the concrete level of daily practice in the eighteenth section of Nien-fo san-mei pao-wang fun. Having adopted the dialectic of Principle (/i) and phenomena (shih), of nien-fo as no-thought (wunien), and having accepted the supremacy of nien-fo as non-abiding, he raises the question of what kinds of offerings can be made now that the Buddha has passed away.F ei-hsi acknowledges that any of the ten thousand practices (since they all participate in the Dharmadhatu and can purify our body, mind, and speech) can be called an offering.H ow could one think that the true realm itself would not also be an offering! Indeed, since all dharmas, whether permanent or impermanent, cannot be acquired (because they are empty), neither can offerings to the Buddha be acquired (as Principle, /i). 71 However, having said all this, Fei-hsi then comments that, when the Buddha was in the world, clouds of flowers or oceans of incense were not sufficient offerings to express proper devotion. People today do little but think of themselves and neglect ceremonies, yet they consider themselves reverential. How arrogant! Today to offer a single flower with sincerity is very rare, but such an act is the beginning of holiness.72 T hus, while affirming the level of Principle (li), Fei-hsi is also anxious to establish the obligations of practice in the phenomenal realm (shih).

Now Fei-hsi comes to his criticism of Ch'an. How does just offering flowers with the mind or "burning mental incense to worship a mental Buddha" differ from "monkey business" or looking at a plum forest from the outside but not entering to taste its fruit? It is hard to survive when one uses only mental clothes and food! How can one neglect the Six Perfections and the ten thousand practices simply because one's mind has a view of nonbeing? We must not be so careless, Fei-hsi admonishes. Rather, we must learn from the practices of Esoteric Buddhism (Chenyen) that reverence caiinortre-meretyme-ntafbut rriusre-xpres;-i[[[self]] in form according lothe rea1m of phenomena (sfiih).-Adornments; incense, and flowers must alwaysbe-offi!red unceasingly during the six daily times of worship. 73 In section nineteen Fei-hsi echoes the Heart Sutra, stating that, just as form is identical to emptiness, so flowers are not just phenomena (shih) but also Principle (li). 14 He then moves back into the realm of phenomena, the realm of cause and effect, with a long passage on the good retribution for faith (hsin) and the bad retribution for disbelief. He asserts that doing evil to others, such as slandering them or looking at them maliciously, will result in defective speech or sight for aeons to come. Moreover, cultivation of good qualities will surely bring benefits; for example, a king who practices the bodhisattva ideal of relinquishing attachment to his body, head, eyes, bone marrow, and brain, even though he is ignorant at the time, will completely fulfill all of the Six Perfections in the future. Thus beings pass on their own defects or merit. If one wants to keep sentient beings from having their carts overturned in the crooked ruts of their predecessors, one should offer a flower. Making images of earth and wood, copying scriptures on bamboo and silk, shaving one's head and becoming a monk or nun, all such practices uphold the Three Jewels and the threefold discipline of morality, meditation, and wisdom. They all express reverence and give beings access to true reality. As the Lotus Sutra says: Those people who, with reverence, make an offering of flowers, incense, or banners at a temple or before a jeweled image or a picture and utter even a single word [of praise], their future Buddhahood is already assured." This is possible, Fei-hsi claims, not just because evil is balanced with good, but because such offerings invoke the true formlessness of the wisdom that uses evil to grasp emptiness. One can break evil karma by establishing the perfection of giving (dlinapliramitli) by making offerings of flowers. 76 Thus the section on "worshipping true reality with perfect sincerity of mind, body, and speech" ends by reaffirming traditional religious practices in the face of Ch'an iconoclasm. In the last section Fei-hsi uses a parable to introduce a new doc-

trine. 77 When an emperor goes on tour, he is preceded by chariots, officials, and foot soldiers, who carry an imperial banner and announce with a loud voice the coming of the emperor. People who do not clear the way but intrude onto his pathway will receive the punishment of heaven and be killed immediately. On the other hand, when these same soldiers return to their home villages, if they speak the emperor's name, they will be killed immediately. The soldiers are the same, and their action is the same, but the context and purpose are entirely different (yiian-ch 'i chih shu). 78 Thus, if we offer flowers without knowing the Lotus Sutra, the reward will simply be rebirth in heavenly palaces. However, if we join the samadhi jeweled king (the Lotus Sutra), we are like officials in the emperor's retinue, and even offering a flower will achieve Buddhahood. Such an offering is the Buddha-seed, but it must conform to the situational principle (yiian-ch' i li) illustrated by this parable. It is like birds that fly to Mt. Sumeru-all have the same color-or waters that flow into the ocean-none returns to its individual identity.

After discussing how a word (i.e., the emperor's name) used in two different contexts can bring about either glory or death, Fei-hsi draws on a Buddhist scripture to say that all elements (beings, forms, etc.) can be either mundane or marked by samadhi, just as the ocean is contained in a hair or Mt. Sumeru in a mustard seed.8 0 He argues that how we understand a situation is what is most important." As his conclusion, he asserts that the Lotus samadhi is identical to the nien-fo samadhi. Thus, if we have this understanding when we offer a flower, we are offering it to the Buddha-essence in the past, present, and future. It is like shooting an arrow at the earth-no matter where one shoots, one cannot miss the target!82 Or, as the title of this section states, "the ten thousand virtuous practices are all the same (wan-shan t'ung-kuei) and can complete the gate of samadhi."83 Fei-hsi summarizes his position with the eight character phrase: The dual illumination of movement and tranquility; The perfect interfusion of Principle (li) and phenomena (shih)."

IV. Developmental Models

Another text that relates to our theme is the short eighth-century Wu fang-pien nien-fo men ("The Gateway of the Five Expedient Methods for Contemplating the Buddha")," which offers a different perspective on nien-fo than those texts we have examined so far in tracing the controversy between the Pure Land and Ch'an schools. This text is an expanded version of a shorter text discovered by SatO Tetsuei entitled Wu fang-pien men ("Five Expedient Methods"), which survives in a ninth-century copy in the Sh osoin of Todaiji. '6 The expanded text consists of four sections:

1. Five kinds of dhyana (ch 'an)

2. Five methods of nien-fo samadhi

3. Questions and answers

4. Nien-fo contemplation according to the T'ien-t'ai fourfold teachings

Only sections one and four are included in the shorter text," which is less than one third the length of the expanded version. The parallel sections are virtually identical in the two texts, except that the expanded text omits the title for section four that is included in the shorter version. Although both the shorter and expanded versions are attributed to T'ient'ai Chih-i, the expanded version must have been compiled after 713, and even the shorter version was probably written after Chih-i's death. Whatever its authorship, the shorter version is definitely in the T'ien-t'ai tradition. Even though the longer version shows clear Hua-yen influence, both texts have a coherent view that offers a significant alternative to the nien-jo controversy as it developed between Pure Land and Ch'an advocates. The shorter text will be outlined first, followed by an analysis of its expanded version.

The five kinds of dhyana discussed at the beginning of both versions of the text are: (1) freezing the mind dhyana (ning-hsin ch 'an), (2) subduing the mind dhyana (chih-hsin ch 'an), (3) true essence dhyana (t'i-chen ch 'an), (4) expedient methods for conforming to circumstances dhyana (jang-pien sui-yiian ch 'an), and (5) eliminating the distinctions of the two extremes dhyana (hsi erh-pien fen-pieh ch 'an). As these are briefly

explained, the first and second involve contemplating an image (such as in the more traditional nien-jo practice); the third involves realizing the true nature of things as empty; the fourth moves from emptiness to enter the realm of temporary existence; and the fifth transcends the two extremes of emptiness and expediency. The last three echo the three truths and three views at the heart ofT'ien-t'ai thought.

The first section of the text concludes with the observation that one can distinguish five kinds of dhyana in the progression from the superficial to the profound. However, from the point of view of perfect discernment (yiian-kuan), there is no distinction as to superficial and profound, although the superficial and profound are still evident. Accordingly, the text is called "Five Expedient Methods." Various configurations of these five kinds of dhyana can be found in Chih-i's writings. For example, the first three appear as a group and the last four appear as a group, but the five never occur together as a group." On the other hand, a century after Chih-i the northern line of

Ch'an organized its doctrines in terms of five scriptures, which were interpreted under the rubric "five expedient methods " (wu fang-pien). •• Since T'ien-t'ai and Northern Ch'an Buddhists mingled in the same geographical area with students practicing under masters from both traditions, the Wu fang-pien men may have evolved within that milieu as a new packaging of Chih-i's ideas. The other section of the shorter text (section four of the longer version) is entitled "Achieving Detachment from Thought (li-nien) by Means of the Fourfold Teachings concerning Nien-jo Meditation." The fourfold teachings-i.e., tripitaka (tsang), shared (I 'ung), distinctive (pieh), and complete (yuan)-constitute Chih-i's major arrangement of Buddhist teachings in terms of four ascending stages of spiritual understanding. Each of the four is subdivided into numerous other stages, which, when taken together, constitute the fifty-two stages of the bodhisattva's career. The brief discussion of the fourfold teachings in our text, however, focuses on the way the mind that practices nien-fo should be viewed in relation to the aim of being detached from thought (li-nien), a central aim of Northern Ch'an practice!0 Our text's attempt to reconcile nien-fo with li-nien by making use of the progressive stages of understanding represented by the T'ien-t'ai fourfold teachings reveals how it tries to recast T'ien-t'ai ideas within the context of Northern Ch'an teachings. First, the rise of thinking (nien) is analyzed according to the tripitaka teaching as a cooperative activity between mental intent and dharmic conditioning. W hen one thinks of Buddha (nien-jo), the thought that arises is identical to the dharma that is produced so that the three forms (i.e., perceptual awakening, perceptual faculties, and perceived object) are seen to be in constant process. Thus there is no (separate and substantial) Buddha and no (separate and enduring) thought. Next, the mind that practices nien-jo is analyzed according to each of the remaining three teachings and correlated with the T'ien-t'ai three truths of emptiness, expediency, and the middle. Both the tripitaka and shared teachings involve a movement from seeing form to being aware of emptiness, initially through analysis and subsequently by seeing the emptiness of the essential nature of Buddha and mind. The distinctive teaching involves adopting an expedient use of terms in the bodhisattva path. . Finally, the complete teaching avoids extremes and embraces both emptiness and expediency in the Middle Way. The last level alway s contains, balances, reconciles, and completes all the previous stages in the T'ient 'ai world view. Even though each teaching is shown to contain no Buddha and no thought, one must nevertheless "not relinguish thought distinctions but seek to be detached from thought (li-nien).

The central theme in the two sections of the shorter text is an examination of the contemplation of the Buddha (nien-jo) in terms of (I) pro gressive stages of spiritual insight (the five dhyanas and the fourfold teachings) based on (2) the recognition of the dialectic between form and emptiness and the dynamic relationship of the mind to its object of cognition and (3) their resolution in the three truths. The first section concludes that the distinction between superficial and profound dhyana practices is still evident although empty, whereas the last section emphasizes that one must not relinguish thought even while one transcends it. This text mounts a powerful defense of nien-fo practice consistent with

T'ien-t'ai principles. Sato Tetsuei concludes that it agrees with Chih-i's mature thought and that there is no reason to deny that the text was written by Chih-i, although there is also no binding reason to attribute it to him. Based on the late date of the first catalog reference to the text (805)92 and the key role of the two Northern Ch'an terms around which the text is organized (wu fang-pien and li-nien), an early eighth-century date would seem most plausible; in all probability, it was written by a T'ien-t'ai follower influenced by Northern Ch'an. The expanded version of the text inserts a section on five methods of nien-fo samadhi (section two) and a section of questions and answers (section three). This last section must have been added after 713, as the answers consist of lengthy quotations from the Ta-pao-chi ching93 translated by Bodhiruci in 706-713. The last quotation deals with the visualization of the Buddha, whose body and images are not different from the letters of his name in that all are empty of any essential nature. The proper way to view a picture of the Buddha is to see it as the body of suchness/Tathagata: it is beyond realization and attainment; neither comes nor goes; transcends birth-and-death, purity and form, the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance; and is without beginning, middle, or end. The first quotation is another version of the Wen-shu shuo ching passage explaining one-practice samadhi.

The main portion of the expanded text94 is a list of five methods of nien-fo samadhi that became so central to the work that the text's name was changed to emphasize the five expedient methods of nien-fo instead of the five expedient methods of dhyana. Although the earliest catalog reference to this new title is in 839 by Ennin (794-864), 95 the source for this section is much older. The fourth Hua-yen patriarch, Ch'eng-kuan

(738-839), quotes this same list in his subcommentary to the Avatarilsaka (Hua-yen ching sui-shu yen-i-ch 'ao), saying that it was taught by "a man of old" (ku-jen). 96 He could not have been too ancient, however, since the fifth and culminating method of nien-fo is based on "the perfect understanding of nature origination" (hsing-ch'i yiian-t'ung), a doctrine first formulated by the second Hua-yen patriarch, Chih-yen (602-668).97 The five expedient methods of nien-fo samadhi are:

1. Calling the Buddha's name to attain rebirth in the Pure Land

2. Visualizing the form of the Buddha to eradicate sins

3. Realizing that all items of perception are mind-only

4. Transcending both the mind and its objects of perception

5. The perfect understanding of nature origination

The first method of nien-fo is basic to the Shansi Pure Land movement of T'an-luan, Tao-ch'o, and Shan-tao: "When one vocally recites 'Nan-wu 0-mi-t'o-fo,' the mind must vow to be born in [[[Amitabha's]]] land."9' The second method, involving the visualization of Amitabha to eradicate past sins, was perfected by Shan-tao. •• In their role of calming and redirecting the mind by focusing on a Buddha image, both of these methods parallel to some degree the first two forms of dhyana listed at the beginning of the text. The third method of nien-fo is used to prevent harmful stagnation and substantialization. In the fivefold dhyana scheme of the first section, attention is given in the third stage to the true nature of things as empty. The nien-fo scheme, however, emphasizes understanding all phenomena as mind-only (wei-hsin) and empty of enduring distinctions. The contrast between the two schemes becomes even greater when the fourth method of nien-fo directs attention to the mind and its objects as equally nonsubstantial; the practitioner is to return from emptiness to reenter the expedient manifold phenomena with penetrating understanding according to the dhyana scheme.

The fifth level of the nien-fo scheme moves beyond the state of deep objectless and subjectless meditation to the perfect understanding of nature origination. This is a transcendent level of nirval).a beyond birthand-death, beyond mind and its objects, in which the merit achieved in the previous four levels is inapplicable. This description echoes Huayen's use of the tathiigatagarbha tradition to affirm a transcendent dimension in the midst of the phenomenal realm-something very different from the fifth stage of dhyana which was concerned to reconcile the dialectic of emptiness and temporary existence in typical T'ien-t'ai fashion. The two schemes are similar insofar as the fifth stage represents the consummation of the previous stages, but the different terminology reflects the different doctrinal legacies of T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen. In both cases, however, nien-fo is viable as a metaphor and is given new interpretations as a practice. In the dhyana scheme the superficial and profound, the expedient and empty, are perfectly interfused, and nien-fo practice is thereby made meaningful. In the nien-fo scheJ:!le understanding of nature origination involvesthecoiripietiQnQfgjl vows, the per- fetioq(afi)elngs in the Pure Land, the unityof aJl!lel rt§., and the takii1iQf Q_f1_ body as an infinite number of bodies. In this transcendent level, where all interfuses in the rise of true nature, mundane nien-fo meditation is maintained as a metaphor while having been freed from specific reference to Amitabha to include all.Bu_ddbas_and all wisdom.

The Wu fang-pien 'nlen-fo men betrays no evidence of the rivalry between SouthernCh'an andPureLana-devotionalism. Instead, there is Da

a harmonious use of devotional practices within T'ien-t'ai and Northern Ch'an doctrinal categories in the shorter text as well as within Hua-yen doctrinal categories in the expanded text. The shorter text provides the rationale that legitimizes the spiritual validity of expedient methods (fang-pien; upaya) at each level without discussing expediency per se. On the other hand, the new Hua-yen-influenced scheme of five methods of nien-fo in the expanded text discusses the use of numerous expedient devices-including the fivefold, step-by-step arrangement-used by the Buddhas to facilitate enlightenment in beings. But this and all other lists -such as the ten degrees of faith, the ten stages of the bodhisattva, etc. -never go beyond nien-fo, which the expanded text claims gives birth to them all.

All of these sections of the text illustrate principles that were important features of T'ien-t'ai. First, the five levels of dhyana and nien-fo echo the p'an-chiao schemes-such as the five periods (wu-shih) and five flavors (wu-wei)-used by T'ien-t'ai to classify the Buddha's teachings. The basic assumption behind these schemes is that the Buddha taught different things at different times because the needs and capacities of people were different. People are thought to be at different levels of spiritual growth, and expedient devices are considered necessary for those at lower levels. However, beyond these principles of growth, stages, and expendiency lies the recognition that the most elementary contains the ultimate and vice versa. Each element has a range of levels. Thus onepractice samadhi can consist in recitation of the Buddha's name and at the same time be ultimate, formless reality. Similarly, an image of the Buddha can be viewed as a picture and as beyond distinctions of space and time. In the expanded text this idea is expressed by the presence of nien-fo at all levels of spiritual growth.

The Wu fang-pien nien-fo men outlines an alternative Pure Land response to Ch'an. Instead of offering a counterattack (as did Hui-jih) or a corrective to restore a balanced dialectic (as did Fei-hsi), it interprets both Pure Land and meditative practice (ch 'an) in terms of progressive levels of spiritual attainment. In this way it utilizes a pattern of coping with diversity that harks back to the p'an-chiao schemes of earlier Chinese Buddhism and beyond that to early Mahayana classification as exemplified by the Lotus Sfltra. 100 In the eighth century a variety of schemes were current, most notably the "five periods and eight teachings" of Chan-jan (717-782) and the fivefold scheme of Fa-tsang (643712), both of which had been evolved to integrate and prioritize the vast array of conflicting Indian Buddhist sources that had been introduced to China. In contrast to such efforts to organize Indian materials, the schemes offered in the Wu fang-pien nien-fo men were guides for spiritual growth using ideas and practices, particularly nien-fo devotionalism, that had become deeply rooted in China.

The organization of Pure Land devotionalism and Ch'an in terms of stages of spiritual growth was a natural one for T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen thinkers, but it was not accepted among Pure Land and Ch'an advocates until a century or two later. Ch'eng-kuan reflects some of the stages in this process. In his commentary on the twenty-one types of nien-fo samadhi listed in the chapter on the practice and vows of Samantabhadra from the Gwu;Javyuha (Hua-yen ching hsing-yiian p'in shu), he writes that they can be grouped into five categories:

1. Recitation of the Buddha's name in reference to an externally perceived Buddha and Pure Land

2. Mind-only nien-fo in which one is aware that "this mind is Buddha, this mind becomes a Buddha"

3. Extinction of both the mind and the object of its visualization as nonsubstantial

4. The non-obstruction of mind and its object of perception based on mutual interpenetration, and the mutual embrace of Principle

(li) and phenomena (shih), existence and emptiness

5. The inexhaustible identity of oneself with all things 101

However, as we have seen in his subcommentary to the Avatamsaka, Ch'eng-kuan also quotes without comment a different list of five categories of nien-fo from "a man of old" -a list that is equivalent to the one in our expanded text. Nevertheless, this list is lost in an ocean of other lists and technical detail and seems to have had little importance in his work.

In any event, these are not merely lists of various kinds of nien-fo, they represent ascending levels of spiritual growth. The simple recitation of the Buddha's name and the use of visual forms is not rejected, but expanded and transformed, as one moves to higher levels. Hence a ladder was built between those of inferior and those of superior capacities, laying the foundation for the dual cultivation of Pure Land and Ch'an.

This ladder becomes clearer when we look at Tsung-mi (780-841 ), who is already famous as a bridge figure since he is revered as a patriarch in both the Hua-yen and Ch'an traditions. In his subcommentary to Ch'eng-kuan's commentary on the chapter on the practice and vows of Samantabhadra (Hua-yen ching hsing-yuan p 'in shu-ch 'ao), 102 Tsung-mi reworked Ch'eng-kuan's five categories of nien-fo into four: I. Vocally calling on the name of the Buddha, which he illustrates by quoting the passage from the Wen-shu shuo ching cited earlier. 2. Visualizing the form of the Buddha as an image in a painting, etc.; he quotes the Ta-pao-chi ching to say that since the visualization of an image of the Buddha is identical to the Buddha itself,

one will receive the five spiritual powers and attain the all-pervading light samadhi to see all Buddhas in the Ten Directions.

3. Visualizing the major and minor marks of the Buddha, which will eradicate the karma of countless kalpas of past wrongs. 4. Contemplation of the absolute (shih-hsiang or dharmakaya), viewing the true self-nature within one's own body and within all dharmas; he again quotes from the Wen-shu shuo ching: "Nonarising and non-extinction, neither coming nor going, nameless and formless-this is what is called Buddha. By viewing the absolute within one's own body, one views the Buddha. . . . Focusing on the one mark of the Dharmadhatu is called one-practice samadhi." Tsung-mi then quotes the Ta-chih-tu-lun to say not to fix attention on the physical form or on the marks of the Buddha, for there is nothing that his body has. "Therefore, use no-thought (wu-i) as contemplation of the Buddha (nien-fo)."

It is interesting to note how frequently Tsung-mi uses the Wen-shu shuo ching. Moreover, the passages he draws from it and from the Tapao-chi ching (which contains the Wen-shu shuo ching as one of its texts) to illustrate the first two kinds of nien-fo are the same passages used as illustrations in the Wu fang-pien nien-fo men. However, the list of the five dhyanas in the Wu fang-pien nien-fo ching ends with the T'ien-tai three views, and the list of the five methods of nien-fo of the expanded text ends with Hua-yen, whereas Tsung-mi replaced these T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen categories with categories more compatible with Ch'an. Tsungmi's position thus culminates in the dual cultivation of Pure Land and Ch'an: "Therefore, no-thought (wu-i) can be considered as contemplating the Buddha." 103 The final practice of contemplating the Buddha as the absolute

(shih-hsiang nien-fo) is related to Tsung-mi's doctrine of mind, which is derived from the Awakening of Faith. He considers the mind in terms of two aspects: the absolute (t'i) and the phenomenal (hsiang). The phenomenal aspect includes the physical mind (ju-t'uan hsin), the objectperceiving mind (yiian-lii hsin; i.e., the eight modes of consciousness), and the accumulating and generating mind (chi-ch'i hsin; i.e., the lilayavijfillna). Following the tathllgatagarbha tradition, Tsung-mi then defines the absolute mind (chien-shih hsin) as including both purity and impurity while being beyond phenomenal change. It is One Mind, suchness, Buddha-nature, the tathllgatagarbha, true nature. 104 It is interesting that Tsung-mi has three aspects of the phenomenal mind, much as he had three phenomenal aspects of nien-fo, whereas all is unified in the nien-fo on the absolute, which is also the goal of Ch'an. Besides his classification of different levels of nien-fo, Tsung-mi also offers a convenient organization of Ch'an into three teachings: (1)

stopping of the false and cultivation of the mind (hsi-wang hsiu-hsin); (2) complete emptying (min-chiieh wu-chi); and (3) direct revelation of the mind-nature (chih-hsien hsin-hsing). 105 These categories are used by Yenshou in his Tsung-ching-lu, where he quotes from Tsung-mi at length. 106 In addition, Yen-shou adopts from Tsung-mi a similar arrangement for classifying all of Buddhism (and the myriad practices involved in dual cultivation), namely, (l) the teaching of form (hsiang), (2) the teaching of emptiness (k'ung), and (3) the teaching of true nature (hsing). 107 In these terms, the historical practice of Pure Land inclines to the first category, iconoclastic Ch'an to the second, whereas the truth lies in the last category where both can meet.

V. Patterns of Pure Land Responses to Ch'an

Many of the twelve criticisiil_ _l(!y_Lc! t :h: 'an_bY. Hui-jih are not merely defe11ss o(fure \!1---Q!--_QQ.Q!(!_al--it{zed_ Ch'an becauseit had broken a dialectical balance inherent in the Perfection of Wisdom traditfo-ri For exampfe-;th.eSurangamasainiiahT-sufra, one of the eartresf and most often translated Perfection of Wisdom texts in China, says that the bodhisattva neither urges nor avoids upholding moralityj_BtJhr.__hej).e:___ct_e_"Q:T§)nc)X11rDn?rrTf save other beings. 108 Thus, the bodhisattva maintains all traditional religious behavior and distinctions for the sake of perfecting others, even though he knows that both good and bad eternally dwell in true reality (fa-hsing) and transcend the actions of body, speech, and mind. 109 On the other hand, like Vimalaklrti, the bodhisattva of the tenth stage is said to be able to make himself blind, dumb, and lame to save beings and to disport with female musicians while maintaining inner purity and concentration. 110 This behavior, which violates traditional Buddhist morality, is undertaken by a bodhisattva of the highest stage, one who has already fulfilled all of the conventional religious practices. Thus two of the major dialectical balances in the Perfection of Wisdom tradition involved: (1) practicing conventional Buddhism for the sake of others, even though one has the awareness that there is nothing to be

achieved, that there is neither good nor bad, and that all things are ultimately nirval).a; 111 and (2) not practicing conventional Buddhism while inwardly dwelling in the highest level of Buddhist attainment just short of Buddhahood. Hui-jih criticizes Ch'an practitioners for violating both of these dialectics.TJrYQic[g(QIi-ilt}n. standard-Huddhlst-morality, practices, and beliefs for_tll _Si!l, g_f_Q_th_ ers_:_:_espce fally-tlioseassociated with Pure Land-ancftheir unconventioalbenavfor was acc:ompanied not by high inner attaiiimerifoufoyarroga igno- rimce of the tradition, and even a

lack of meditative attainment. Carl Bielefeldt's chapter in this volume highlights the bind that Ch'an had created for itself by the mid eighth century when its affirmation of sudden enlightenment as a nondiscursive state of inner tranquility inhibited any open discussion of training and teaching. That this resulted in unconventional behavior unsupported by knowledge of the tradition or by true wisdom is reported not just by Hu ijih, but by Ch'an documents as well. Although he may have had additional reasons (such as the inundation of Ch'an monasteries with insincere and unprepared monks in flight from war and famine), Kuei-shan Ling-yu (771-853) offers a number of criticisms of Ch'an monks that echo those of Hui-jih. This fact is striking-especially since Kuei-shan was the dharma heir of Po-chang and thus stood squarely in the Hungchou lineage of Ma-tsu and Huang-po, perhaps the most iconoclastic of all Ch'an traditions. In his Kuei-shan ching-ts'e ("Kuei-shan's Admonishing Stick"), he criticizes Ch'an monks for their arrogant, undisciplined, and uninformed behavior:

Not yet versed in the rules of the order, you have absolutely no self-discipline. Sometimes you talk big, with a loud voice, spewing forth words without constraint. And as you have no respect for your seniors, peers, or subordinates, you are no different from a gathering of [haughty] Brahmans. Making a racket with your dishes, you get up to leave as soon as you have finished eating. With your daily activities all awry you have absolutely nothing of the appearance of a monk. You rise from your seat in agitation and disturb the thoughts of others. As you have not taken in even a bit of the rules, you have not even the slightest hint of dignified manners. Therefore on what basis do you discipline later generations, since to the new learners you present nothing they can depend upon to emulate? Even when others caution you in return, you simply reply, "I am a mountain [backwoods/ Ch'an iconoclast] monk." As you have not yet heard of the unremitting practice of Buddhism, up to now you have only been coarse and rude. Seen in this way, because your initial resolve has turned into negligence and avariciousness, in the long run you dilly-dally in the secular world and thus end up rude and vulgar. [Later,] not realizing that you are stumbling along old and decrepit, in all matters you touch you will end up facing a wall. [Now] when young learners consult you, you have no words of guidance, or if you do discuss and explain, it is not in accord with the scriptures. But if someone speaks to you rudely, you then carry on about the rudeness of the younger generation and become so thoroughly enraged that your words alarm them.112

Based on this self-criticism from within Ch'an, many of Hui-jih's criticisms can be deflected away from Ch'an itself and levied at those who only claimed to be Ch'an monks but had no Ch'an attainment. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that Ch'an iconoclasm and slogans of sudden attainment removed many traditional safeguards and often encouraged Pure Land Responses to Ch 'an Critics unconventional and undisciplined behavior. Furthermore, Ch'an's "nonreliance on words and letters" was unorthodox and could be taken to entail the rejection of many external religious practices. Thus, as we have seen, the first pattern of Pure Land response to Ch'an is essentially a rejection and counterattack condemning Ch'an theory and practice as arrogant, distorted, unorthodox, harmful, and basically non-Buddhist.

AlthQ!!_gh Ch'an found some support for its practice LTIJh Perfection of Wisdom tradition, ffure Larldtillnkers also-based themselves on that tradition ouTi.indefstoool11nTerifisofi1ietlrst -dialectical balance outlinecfeaflier;namefy theY.cultivaTeadevofionalism tor themselves and others even though at a fundamental level they were aware that all was empty and there was nothing to attain. For example, two of the issues that T'an-luan addresses in his Wang-sheng-lun chu ("Commentary on the Treatise on Being Reborn in the Pure Land") are (l) how can rebirth in the Pure Land be recommended when the Buddha teaches a solution to the bondage of rebirth? and (2) how can focusing on one Buddha and rebirth in one place be recommended, since that involves attachment to distinctions (fen-pieh; Skt. vika/pa)? T'an-Iuan responds that such problems can only be resolved by recognizing that there are two levels of meaning. Rebirth implies a physical level, although really there is no rebirth. To be unborn means that "all dharmas are mutually dependent." 113 Second, discriminating beings assume that there is being and nonbeing, negation and affirmation, good and evil. "Because of discrimination, one wallows in the three stages of existence and receives the pain of the various discriminations, the pain of selecting and rejecting: this is an extended sleep in a long night, with no hope of escape. These beings, on meeting Amitabha Tathagata's unchanging glory, . . . obtain release from the various bonds of mental activity." 114

These same issues of rebirth, discrimination, and attachment to form were also faced by Tao-ch'o. According to him, the Pure Land of Amitabha includes both form and non-form. Although he heRrfCfia the forrlelf ss Amitabha was superior to Amitbha as form, he endeavored to defenathe lattei as aiegirimateandnecessarytrmporarymanifestation for tnose smraepeii.aenConfor-m: Tao::(JI-s o "fou-nd li ha-rd to accept that devotion to the Buddha coulcrinvolve harmful attachment to form. To support his belief, he appealed to the authority of scripture and quoted passages from the Nirvllf}a Sutra and the Ching-t'u-lun ("Treatise on the Pure Land") that advocated worship and love of the True Dharma. Taoch'o concludes: "Therefore, although this is grasping onto form, such grasping does not correspond to binding attachment. In addition, the form of the Pure Land that we are discussing is identical to form without defilements, form that is true form." 115 In Indian Buddhism there were different attitudes toward the relative legitimacy of using particular phenomena as expedient aids (upllya). David W. Chappell Tao-ch'o justified the practice in terms of the concept of two truths: conventional (saf!lvrti) and ultimate (paramiirtha). The Madhyamika tradition as represented in India by Candraklrti understood "conventional truth" as a purely negative term. Nagao Gadjin points out that Candraklrti interpreted saf!lvrti as "(1) falsehood through ignorance, (2) contingent existence without substance, and (3) conventional terminology, manner of speaking, and name." 11 6On the other hand, the Yogacara tradition interpreted conventional truth in positive terms.S thiramati radically differed with Candraklrti's interpretation of saf!lvrti, glossing the term as udbhavana-saf!lvrtti ("manifestation"): "Saf!lvrtti is thus an utterance, attempting to express the inexpressable Absolute .... Such a state of being may be appropriately compared with the notion of miirga, the way which leads to the Absolute on the one hand, and which emerges from the Absolute on the other." 11 7 It is this latter sense of saf!lvrti, as manifestation, that reverberates throughout those Chinese Buddhist traditions based on the tathiigatagarbha doctrine. Ching-ying Hui-yiian's (523-592) positive interpretation of conventional truth is adopted by Tao-ch'o, who invokes the Wu-shang-i ching ("Sutra Concerning the Ultimate Foundation") from the tathiigatagarbha tradition.181 This acceptance of the validity of conventional truth reinforces the idea of the nonduality of the phenomenal and the absolute (shih and li), form and non-form, knowing and not-knowing, passion and enlightenment, advocated by such influential thinkers as Seng-chao, T'ien-t'ai Chih-i, and later Hua-yen masters.T he interrelationship of the absolute and the phenomenal was to be a major emphasis of Fei-hsi.

In defending Pure Land devotionalism, Fei-hsi has a two-stage argument. From the li-shih perspective, all things (shih) are not different from nirval).a, and conventional life (whether it involves religious practices or the passions) cannot be avoided in the pursuit of enlightenment. To avoid it would be like dampening the sound to seek the echo or removing the form to find the shadow. Nevertheless, even though from the point of view of ultimate truth (li) all things are not different from nirval).a, all things are not equally good.R ather, at the level of conventional truth (shih) there are practical consequences, some better than others. Hence, instead of criticizing Ch'an behavior in terms of ignorance of the Buddhist tradition as Hui-jih had done, Fei-hsi expresses his concern in terms of reaping bad karma and evil rebirths on the conventional/phenomenal level. For example, he comments that those who speak with slander or look with malicious intent will suffer defective speech or sight for aeons to come. In contrast, traditional religious and moral practices bring future rewards and Buddhahood.T he point is clear: .Chan-practi- -tioners who reject these religious activities are in danger of reaping future punishments: Orc-rssome-c11' an thinkersefiCfSpeaK:Inthis way-for

example, Ta-hui (1089-1163) in his sermons to laity.119 But in most Ch'an teaching this point was either understated or ignored. Accordingly, an important concern of Fei-hsi is to teach beneficial attitudes and devotional p;a-ctices-aiihe-conve-rifloriaT fever He ridicules the Ch;ari-tendey to;-ard "bur-f1illgmentaTTncense-to--w-o-rship a mental Buddha" and- advocates concrete offenngs of flowers, mcense, banners, images, anascflptuies-as-recorrimenaeafO-d!SC!pTesoy the Lotus Stitra. Yet Fei-hsi al_s_o_r;;ri_ti__c_:izmin_dles_sj"eligioslty. Nten-fo may be the king of all samadhis, but to speak the emperor's name carelessly when not in his entourage may lead to death; to offer flowers to the Buddha without understanding the Lotus Sutra can only bring minimal rewards, not Buddhahood. Fei-hsi accordingly emphasizes not only correct bodily actions, but also proper understanding. Rote recitation of the Buddha's name isl not adequate. Thus cultivation should be practiced both inwardly and outwardly. Li and shih should be perfectly interfused.

Fei-hsi strongly advocates Pure Land devotionalism while also affirming Ch'an masters and their teaching. Unlike Hui-jih, who launched a counterattack against Ch'an, Fei-hsi, because of his background in the Lotus tradition, was committed to seeing all people as future Buddhas. In this sense he implicitly criticized every Pure Land and Ch'an thinker who rejected the other practices as wrong or inferior. All Buddhists share the same attributes as the Buddha, they just have not yet achieved complete fruition. This approach spells an end to sectarian rivalry.

Fei-hsi recognizes the diffencQeen_ __ PlliT_Li!JJ.d_and _ _ Ch'an practices but J:fQQc_ ilt:thITllJY identifying them as two poles in a dialectic of-mut-u;:i interdepndence. His applicat!"on of the li-shih polarity was innovative-and argued for a balance between Ch'an, which emphasized Principle (li), and Pure Land, which taught specific practices (shih). However, his contribution did not end with his use of the li-shih polarity; he also made use of the dialectic of samatha (chih or ting) and vipasyana (kuan or hui). On the one hand, Pure Land calms, settles, and removes distractions (samatha) through devotional practices to Amitabha (nienfo). On the other hand, the Ch'an tenet of no-thought (wu-nien) brings wisdom (vipasyana) to the practice. Thus, Fei-hsi takes two key terms from the heart of Ch'an and Pure Land and, rather than opposing them, unites them as the two functions that Buddhism has always claimed were interrelated. This adoption of the dialectic combinations of li and shih in doctrine and of samatha (i.e., nien-fo) and vipasyana (i.e., wu-nien) in practice became the classic Chinese resolution for the tension between the two religious orientations of Ch'an and Pure Land. Appropriately, Fei-hsi concludes his treatise with a couplet reaffirming this dialectic of tranquility and movement, li and shih.

These last two points are developed further in the Wu jang-pien nien-jo men. Fei-hsi argues that people are not to be rejected because of their present limitations but are to be affirmed because of the attributes they share in their common destiny, which culminates in Buddhahood. Similarly, the Wu jang-pien nien-fo men sees nien-fo and dhyana (ch 'an) not as two opposing and static religious options, but as multidimensional practices that change at different levels of spiritual development and lead to Buddhahood. Fei-hsi sees nien-jo and ch 'an as fulfilling different roles that are mutually supportive and in some ways can be identified. In the Wu fang-pien nien-fo men the juxtaposition of the two schemes of nien-jo and dhyana (ch 'an) implies some relationship, although its exact nature is never spelled out. Only with Tsung-mi and Yen-shou do Pure Land and Ch'an become integrated into a unified vision of spiritual growth.

The Wu jang-pien nien-fo men and the related passages from Ch'eng-kuan and Tsung-mi have a very different tone from the writings of Hui-jih and Fei-hsi. Instead of offering commentary and criticism in response to competing religious movements, as Hui-jih and Fei-hsi did, these later writings are more theoretical and detached. They often treat nien-jo and ch 'an as dimensions of our inner world of meditation rather than as the slogans of externally contending religious groups. Thus their aim is to outline stages of religious growth within an overall scheme rather than to defend Pure Land devotionalism against Ch'an criticisms. Moreover, the Wu-jang-pien nien-jo men and related writings provide a doctrinal basis that is compatible with the Ch'an emphasis on mind as the arena where one's religious destiny is decided. This also echoes Feihsi's emphasis that the meaning of any act is determined by the contextthe primary context being one's understanding. Thus, in both the devotionalism of the Pure Land/Lotus tradition and the formless practices of Ch'an, mind can be seen as a central element. This idea will be of growing importance in later centuries as a basis for dual cultivation of Pure Land and Ch'a n. The specific contribution of the Wu jang-pien nien-fo men and related writings is the means for transcending the Pure Land/Ch'an rivalry by asserting that both can and should be multidimensioned and that they both need one another and are interrelated. The sources of these views were the Lotus, T'ien-t'ai, Perfection of Wisdom, tathiigatagarba, Hua-yen, and meditative traditions found in Chinese Buddhism, which provided perspectives broader than either Pure Land or Ch'an. At least five basic principles were invoked from these traditions.

I. All beings are at various stages of religious growth, which are not f)-, mutually exclusive or absolute, but are interrelated and share a common destiny. Pure Land Responses to Ch 'an Critics2. Thus, mutual respect should be engendered between Buddhists as fellow travellers on the same path and equal participants in the final goal.

3. All practices are temporary and none is absolute; yet some practice is always necessary, since there is no li without shih, no emptiness without form, and since all beings are living in a conditioned body in a world of dependent origination.

4. From the point of view of the ultimate (li) all things are not different from nirvaJ.la, true nature, mind, and Buddhahood. Thus, one's view of particular practices and people should always see both the space-time particulars and their ultimate true nature as expressions of the absolute.

5. Ultimate truth always involves the interplay and balance of emptiness and expediency, li and shih, as expressed in the three truths of T'ien-t'ai, the five expediencies of the Wu fang-pien nien-fo men, and the three stages of Tsung-mi. While these principles provided a basis for defending Pure Land devotionalisrrtagamsret'T'nl'fafl"aclr,r they alsu-natfsce-nded any-sectarian rivalry by showing religion as a_p.focess.1ifJnellioiiiJ1f ofT'anluan, Tao-Ch'o, Chi-tsang, Chih-i, and Shan-tao sixth-and seventh-century Pure Land devotionalism had been multidimensioned and incorporated views of emptiness, two truths, an absolute dharmakaya, temporary expediencies, and stages of religious growth. '20 Still, not all Pure Land devotees were as knowledgeable as those sixth- and seventh-century thinkers, and the Ch'an criticisms of Pure Land devotees probably had more than a grain of truth to them. At the same time, criticisms were also leveled against Ch'an practices by Ch'an masters themselves, revealing that ignorant Ch'an practitioners existed who did not represent the highest levels of their movement. Apparently, then, both Pure Land and Ch'an movements involved some emotionally charged, simplistic, and uninformed groups that gained momentum not only through the salvific nature of their own religious experiences, but also through the development of a false sense of their own uniqueness and superiority. Although these rival groups expressed a less than adequate or comprehensive awareness of their own tradition, their rivalry arose at a time when Buddhism was vigorous and popular, and to some degree the Ch'an-Pure Land rivalry is an expression of this vitality. The wide range of responses by advocates of Pure Land devotionalism to Ch'an attacks during the eighth century reminds us how strong the sectarian rivalry had been at one time in China between Ch'an and Pure Land. It also shows that affirmation of a shared Perfection of Wisdom - - ----------------------------tradition was no guarantee of unanimity. Insofar as the Perfection of Wisdom dialecticafbalance reemerged,

ing from Chinese experimentation with a variety of Buddhist forms. The Chinese Buddhist dialectical and developmeiiiaFmodels of religious growth that emerged to resolve the conflict eventually became the classic methods for interpreting and propagating Pure Land practices in China. Thus, the creativity of the period expressed itself not only in the formation of new groups and new rivalries, but also by the development of new and enduring methods of religious integration.

Notes

I. T his conclusion was reached by Gregory Schopen, "Sukhavatf as a Generalized Religious Goal in Sanskrit Mahay ana Siitra Literature," Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. I9 (1977), pp. I77-210.
2. SeeT25.108a-II4c.
3. Tl4.550ai-2; cf. 545c26-27.
4. T8.73Ia-b.
5. T46.I4c22-29.
6. T85.I287c8-I2.
7. See Ui Hakuju, Zenshushi kenkyu, vol. I (Tokyo: lwanami shoten, I935; repr., I966), pp. I7I-I92.
8. For a recent study of the Leng-ch 'ieh shih-tz'u chi, see Tanaka Ryosho, Tonko zenshu bunken no kenkyu (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, I983), pp. 2360.
9. See my article "T he Formation of the Pure Land Movement in China: Taoch'o and Shan-tao," in James Foard, ed., The Pure Land Tradition: History and Development (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, forthcoming).
10. Philip Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (New York: Columbia University Press, I967), p. II9, where Chih-shen is romanized as Chih-hsien.
II. Ibid., sec. I6, p. I37; sec. I9, p. I63.
12. Ibid., sees. 24-26, pp. I46-I47. I3. Ibid., sec. 33, p. I 54. I4. Ibid., sec. 23, p. I46.
I5. Ibid., sec. I9, pp. I40-I41.
I6. Ibid., sees. 45-46, pp. I70-I73.
I7. T47. I4c22-29. I8. T47.439a.
I9. T he first historian of early Pure Land is Chia-ts'ai, who wrote a three fascicle work in the mid seventh century entitled Ching-t'u-lun (T#I963) to clarify the doctrines and practices of Pure Land devotionalism and to set down the biographies of twenty of the early devotees. T hus for Chia-ts'ai Pure Land already constituted a clearly evolving movement (i-tsung) mostly centered in Shansi province (see T47 .83b).
20. T#2826.
2I. For an account of this discovery, see Ono Gemmyo, "On the Pure Land Doctrine of T z'u-min," Eastern Buddhist, vols. 2-3 (I930), pp. 200-2IO.
22. T85.I236bi3-I7.
23. Ibid., I236b2I-cl.
24. Ibid., I237b20-29.
Pure Land Responses to Ch 'an Critics
25. Ibid., 1237c17-25.
26. Ibid., 1238a11-12.
27. Ibid., 1238b16-23. 28. Ibid., 1238b23-25. 29. Ibid., 1238b25-28.
30. Ibid., 1238c.
31. Ibid., 1239b21-28.
32. Ibid., 1239c4-5.
33. Ibid., 1240b18-19.
34. Ibid., 1240b23-1241a18.
35. Ibid., 1241a22.
36. Ibid., 1241a18-29.
37. T48.378b22-26.
38. T85.1241a19-b19.
39. Ibid., 1241cl-4; cf. 1242a13-20.
40. Ibid., 1241c4; 1242a13, 24, 25; 1242b2.
41. Ibid., 1242b4-27.
42. See the study by Tsukamoto ZenryO, "Nangaku Shoon den to sono Jodokyo," loho Gakuho, no. 2 (1931), pp. 186-249.
43. See the study by Tsukamoto Zenryo, 10 chuki no Jodokyo: Toku ni Hossho Zenshi no kenkya (Kyoto: T6h6 bunka gakuin Kyoto kenkyiisho, 1933).
44. See T48.963c and 973c; 959a18-19 for Hui-neng.
45. Ono reports that Chih-p'an's Fo-tsu t'ung-chi gives an account of this censorship by the government ("Tz'u-min," p. 202).
46. Although Fei-hsi's age and date of death are unknown, there are several references to his activities between 740 and 780 (see Mochizuki Shink6, Chagoku Jodokyorishi [[[Wikipedia:Kyoto|Kyoto]]: H6z6kan, 1946; repr., 1964], pp. 282-283), and the Nien-fo san-mei pao-wang fun must have been written during that time. However, Morimoto Shinjun dates the text precisely at 742, but does not give his evidence (see Ono Gemmy6, ed., Bussho kaisetsu daijiten [[[Tokyo]]: Dait6 shuppansha, 1932], vol. 8, p. 421).
47. Fei-hsi comments in his preface that he searched for thirty years and that, although he does not have all the answers, he offers these twenty methods outlined in his text (T47. 134a5-14).
48. T47.134a-137c.
49. T85.1242b.
50. T47.138a-141a.
51. Ibid., 139c-140a.
52. Ibid., 140b.
53. Ibid., 141b-144c.
54. Ibid., 141b14.
55. Ibid., 141c8-23.
56. Ibid., 142a26-27. 57. Ibid., 142a16-20.
58. Ibid., 142a27-bl.
59. Ibid., 142b22.
60. Ibid., 141c3.
61. T47.128b17-18.
62. T47 .142c2.
63. Ibid., 142c4-5, 23-24.
64. Ibid., 142c27-28.
65. Ibid., 142c29-143a.
David W. Chappell
66. Ibid., 142cll-16.
67. Ibid., 142c26-143a I.
68. Ibid., 143a29.
69. Ibid., 143a28-b5.
70. Ibid., 143a7-25.
71. Ibid., 143b14-18.
72. Ibid., 143b23-cl.
73. Ibid., 143c5-12.
74. Ibid., 143c15.
75. Leon Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), pp. 39-40; cf. 79.9al0-ll and 16.
76. T47.143cl5-144al4.
77. Ibid., 144al5-b29.
78. Ibid., 144a22.
79. Ibid., 144al5-16. 80. Ibid., 144a26-29.
81. Ibid., 144bl-4.
82. Ibid., 144b5-13.
83. It is interesting that the classic work on dual cultivation by Yen-shou used the name of this last section as its title: Wan-shan t'ung kuei (see T#2017).
84. T47.144bl7-18.
85. T47.81c-83a.
86. For Sato Tetsuei's account and analysis of his discovery of this ninth-century version of the text, see his article "Tendai daishi go hoben men ni tsuite," IBK, vol. 2, no. 2 (1954), pp. 396-403. A photocopy of the shorter text is available in Sato Tetsuei, Tendai daishi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1961), p. 645.
87. T47.81c25-82a9 and 83al0-25.
88. Sato, Tendai daishi no kenkyu, pp. 652-654.
89. See the section on "The Method of 'Five Upaya' in Northern Ch'an" by Robert Zeuschner in his "Awakening in Northern Ch'an," in David Chappell ed., Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, forthcoming).
90. See Robert Zeuschner, "The Concept of Li-nien ('Being Free from Thinking') in the Northern Line of Ch'an Buddhism," in Lewis Lancaster and Whalen Lai, eds., Early Ch'an in China and T ibet (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1983), pp. 131-148.
91. T47.83a24.
92. Dengyo daishi shOrai taishu roku, T55.1056al5.
93. Tll.655b-c and 513b-514a.
94. T47 .82a9-b29.
95. Jikaku daishi zai to so shin roku, T55.l077a29.
96. D6.667b.
97. For a discussion of the first use of the phrase "nature origination" (hsingch 'i) as a technical term, see Robert M. Gimello, "Chih-yen (602-668) and the Foundations of Hua-yen Buddhism" (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1976), pp. 442-445. For further references see note 56 in the following chapter by Robert Buswell.
98. T47.82bl6-17.
99. See, for example, T47 .22-30.
100. For discussion of the p'an-chiao schemes, see Leon Hurvitz, Chih-i (538-
Pure Land Responses to Ch 'an Critics
597), Melanges chinois et bouddhiques, vol. 12 (1960-1962), pp. 214-244. This is not a purely Chinese invention; it can be seen in such Indian texts as the Wu-liang-i-ching (7l).386a28-b28), translated in 481 and partially quoted by Chih-i in his Fa-hua hsiian-i (D3.807b28-c8); the NirvlifJa Siltra (TI2.691a3-5), which Chih-i also quotes (D3.807bl-3); and the Saf!1dhinirmocana Siltra (Shen-mi chieh-t 'o ching, Tl6.673cl7-674a 1), translated by Bodhiruci in 514. These three texts distinguish (I) different teachings of the Buddha (2) intended for different levels of understanding and (3) taught at different times, (4) but taught in an identical and consistent way (5) in a sequential and (6) progressive order. Similarly, the Avatamsaka Siltra (7l).616bl4-19) refers to the progressive reception of the Buddha's wisdom in terms of the capacities of the hearers. Of course, the idea is implicit throughout the Lotus Siltra.
101. D5.924b; cf. discussion by Mochizuki Shinko, Chilgoku Jodokyorishi, pp.
306-309.
102. ZZI/7/5.457a-c. 103. Tll.513b-514a.
104. Ch 'an-yiian chu-ch' iian-chi tu-hsii, T48.40lc; cf. the translation by Jeffrey Broughton, "Kuei-feng Tsung-mi: The Convergence of Ch'an and the Teachings" (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1975), pp. 133-138; cf. also Jan Yiin-hua, "The Mind as the Buddha-nature: The Concept of the Absolute in Ch'an Buddhism," Philosophy East and West, vol. 31 (1981), pp. 471-472.
105. See Ch'an-yiian chu-ch'iian-chi tu-hsii, T48.402bl5ff. 106. See T48.614al9ff.
107. See T48.440bl4-15 and 959al3-18.
108. Tl5.632al5-17.
109. Ibid., 632b5-IO.
110. Ibid., 63lcl6-17, 21-22. Ill. Ibid., 636b8-9.
112. ZZ2/16/2.144), translated by Melvin Takemoto, "The Kuei-shan ching-ts'e: Morality and the Hung-chou School of Ch'an" (M.A. thesis, University of Hawaii, 1983), pp. 81-82.
113. T40.827bl8ff; 831bl3ff; and 838cl0ff.
114. Ibid., 839c8-15, translated by Roger Corless, "T'an-luan's Commentary on the Pure Land Discourse: An Annotated Translation and Soteriological Analysis of the Wang-sheng-lun chu" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1973), p. 268.
115. An-to-chi, Tl8cl5-17.
116. Nagao Gadjin, "An Interpretation of the Term 'Sarpvrti' (Convention) in Buddhism," Silver Jubilee Volume of the Zinbun-Kagaku-Kenkyu-syo (Kyoto: Zinbun-kagaku-kenkyu-syo, 1954), p. 553.
117. Ibid., p. 555.
118. T47.8bl5ff.
119. See Miriam Levering, "Ta-hui and Lay Buddhists: Ch'an Sermons on Death," in David Chappell, ed., Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society.
120. For the use of these principles in Pure Land thought, see David Chappell,
"Chinese Buddhist Interpretations of the Pure Lands;' in Michael Saso and David Chappell, eds., Buddhist and Taoist Studies, vol. I (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1977),