Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 23 • Number 1 • 2000 n JIKIDO T A K A S A K I In memoriam Prof. Hajime Nakamura 1 DANIEL BOUCHER On Hu and Fan Again: the Transmission of "Barbarian" Manuscripts to China 7 A N N HEIRMAN What Happened to the Nun Maitreyl? 29 C H A R L E S B . JONES Mentally Constructing What Already Exists: The Pure Land Thought of Chan Master Jixing Chewu (1741­1810) JAN NATTIER The Realm of Aksobhya: A Missing Piece in the History of Pure Land Buddhism REIKO O H N U M A The Story of RupavatI: A Female Past Birth of the Buddha BHIKKHU PASADIKA A Hermeneutical Problem in S N 42, 12 (SN IV, 333) and A N X , 91 (AN V , 178) 43 71 103 147 O S K A R V O N HINUBER Report on the Xllth Conference of the IABS 155 Accounts of the Xllth IABS Conference 161 C H A R L E S B , JONES Mentally Constructing What Already Exists: The Pure Land Thought of Chan Master Jixing Chewu fflmWfig (1741­1810) L INTRODUCTION One aspect of Chinese Pure Land history that has begun receiving atten­ tion during the past twenty years is the existence of a widely­recognized series of "patriarchs" (zu whose number stands at thirteen (although one list I have seen contains fourteen names). These are figures whom Pure Land devotees acknowledge as shapers, defenders, and revivers of the tradition. Twelfth in this series is the mid­Qing dynasty figure of Jixing Chewu |£|IfS(ti§, a Chan monk in the Linji line who, in mid­life, abandoned the practice of Chan and devoted himself exclusively to the Pure Land path. After this change of direction, he put his energy into building up his home temple, the Zifu Temple | f ^ § # on Hongluo Mountain H i i U L l in Hebei, into a center for Pure Land practice, and his talks and essays focused on issues related to Pure Land practice, philoso­ phy, and apologetics. His essays, as well as notes recorded by disciples during his dharma­talks, were later compiled into a relatively small work called "The Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Chewu" (Chewu chanshi yulu Wi^WMWi$k)- The writings contained in this brief 1 2 1. See for example Y u 1981: 36­52 for a survey of patriarchs and an account of the formation of the list. The only source of which I am aware for fourteen patriarchs is found in DAOYUAN 1978, p. 330­331, which lists Cizhou Mft as the four­ teenth after Yinguang. However, from DAOYUAN's remarks this appears to be a part of a personal crusade to add Cizhou to the list, a move that has so far failed to attract wide support. 2. Chewu chanshi yulu, Z Z 109: 750­790. Another edition is found i n OUYI 1980, 2: 589­664. The thirteenth patriarch, the late­Qing/early Republican era figure Yinguang, also privately printed an edition that re­arranged the different parts of this work and gave them new section titles without altering the actual content, under the title Mengdong chanshi yiji WMWMMM ( A n anthology of Chan Master Mengdong's [i.e., Chewu's] literary remains). A l l references to the Dai Nihon Zoku Zokyo w i l l be given as " Z Z , " and the volume and page numbers that follow will be taken from the Taiwan reprint edition. Tmirnnl nf the Intomntirmn] A vvnrintinn nf Tiu/Jslhivt Stii/He? anthology show a very gifted literary mind at work: full of parallel phrases, literary allusions, and clear, concise writing, it is a joy to read. The contents reveal his wide learning in several branches of Buddhist thought: perfection of wisdom, Tiantai Huayan, and Chan. His overriding concern is to generate a desire on the part of his reader to follow in the Pure Land path, and to settle any intellectual doubts that the reader might have by demonstrating that Pure Land practice and soteriology are fully compatible with the highest and most speculative Buddhist philosophy. In addition, it contains stele inscriptions, fore­ words and prefaces to other works, and his famous "One Hundred Gathas on the Teachings" (Jiaoyi baijie), a set of one hundred four­line verses all beginning with the line "The single word Amitabha..." (yi ju Mituo) and going on to praise the wonderful effects and doctrinal signif­ icance of this name. In this article, we will begin our examination of this figure with a resume of his life, and then look more closely at his methods of Pure Land practice, and his incorporation of mind­only thought into Pure Land theory as the basis for practice. I L THE LIFE OF CHEWU There is only one source for Chewu's biography, and that is the "Brief Sketch of the Life of Chan Master Chewu" (Chewu chanshi xing lue f S l o l f BH5fTB§) written by the monk Mulian and appended to the end of "The Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Chewu" (Chewu chanshi yulu W'\^WMW$M). This brief outline of the master's life is remarkably un­hagiographical. Mulian claims that he heard everything from eyewit­ nesses and Chewu's close associates, and that he intentionally presents his material in a straightforward, unembroidered manner. The result is a true biography that is very modern in its style and content. Chewu's ordination name was Jixing; "Chewu," along with "Natang ift^iL" were his style­names (zi and he was also occasionally called (hao Mengdong WM- He came from Fengrun County g f | § | in what is now Hebei Province, the son of a family surnamed Ma. He was a gifted student and an avid reader in his youth, taking in the classics, 3 3. Z Z 109: 788­790. Other sources recount Chewu's life, but they are all summaries or abbreviations of this work. See, for example, the entry " J i x i n g " in the Foguang Da Cidian 1988, 5947c­5948a; and PENG 1987: 360­363. A s a way of demonstrating the variability in the Pure Land patriarchal tradition, this last source lists him as the eleventh, not the twelfth, patriarch. histories, and anything else he came across. As Mulian says, "There is nothing that he did not survey." The course of his life was changed at the age of twenty­two by a serious illness, which had the effect on him, as it has had on many other famous Buddhist figures, of awakening him to the evanescence of life. As soon as he recovered, he left home and went to the Sansheng Hermitage (sansheng an ^ M ^ ) , in Fangshan County JH l U i i , also in Hebei, and took refuge under the monk Rongchi Sitfe, who tonsured him. The following year, he received the full precepts from the Vinaya Master Hengshi S l C f i i © of the Xiuyun Temple [Iijji^f, twenty­five kilometers west of Beijing. For the first few years after ordination, he immersed himself in doctrinal and textual studies, attending lectures on a variety of scriptures including the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, the Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the Suramgamasamadhisutra. He travelled to one monastery after another, and eventually mastered the teachings of all the schools. In the course of his studies, he concentrated especially on the Faxiang teachings of con­ sciousness­only, teachings that he would adapt later in life to explain the Pure Land. He also began Chan practice sometime during this period, and had his breakthrough in the year 1768, while practicing under the master Cuiru WiU at the Guangtong Temple flflt^­ As Mulian writes, "Master, student, and the Way all came together, and he received the mind­seal [from Cuiru] in the 36th generation of Linji." Thus, at the age of twenty­seven, Chewu was already an accomplished scholar and a certi­ fied Chan master. Five years later, Cuiru moved away to the Wanshou Temple HtlP^f, and Chewu remained at the Guangtong Temple to con­ tinue "leading the assembly in the practice of Chan." He remained there as an eminent Chan teacher for the next fourteen years, and his fame spread far and wide. Mulian credits Chewu with contributing to a revival of Chan teaching and practice. Despite the success of his career as a Chan teacher, Chewu felt there was still something missing. He himself later wrote: 4 From the guisi 51E year of the Qianlong reign period (1773) I was the abbot of 1 led the people in Chan practice, talking the Guangtong Temple in Jingdu here and there, and my words were recorded. In the dingxi T H year (1777) my 5 4. A l s o known as the Tanzhe Temple A f f i ^ f . There is an entry on this temple i n the Foguang da cidian, 6106b­6107a. 5. The text in the Zoku Zokyo gives this date as the dingmao T#P year (1807), which is clearly incorrect. The verson of the text found in the Jingtu shiyao, first store of karma was deep and heavy, and so the conditions for all [kinds of] i l l ­ nesses increased. 6 He began to look at the example of the Song dynasty Chan master and scholar­monk Yongming Yanshou ^K^MMw (904­975), a genuinely enlightened master living in times that Chewu considered far more con­ ducive to the dharma who had turned to the Pure Land. Reflecting on Yanshou's example of reciting Amitabha's name 100,000 times daily in hopes of gaining rebirth, Chewu thought, "how much more in this age of decline would it be especially right and proper to follow and accept [this path], coming to rest one's mind in the Pure Land? He began to turn away from Chan practice and toward recitation, and Mulian reports that he eventually set aside only a short period of each day for receiving guests, and devoted the rest of his time to worship and recitation of Amitabha's name. In the 57th year of the Qianlong emperor (i.e., 1792), Chewu accepted an invitation from the Juesheng Temple ft^fe# near Beijing to come and serve as its abbot, a post he held for the next eight years. During this time, he restored the original buildings and added several others "so that all the old and sick could have a place to go for help, and beginners would have a convenient [place] in which to recite and practice." Both resident clergy and the local people admired him for his devotion and strict observance of the precepts, and many came to hear him preach or to receive advice and encouragement in their practice. In 1800, he moved once again to the Zifu Temple on Hongluo Mountain near Beijing, where he remained for the last ten years of his life. During this time, he carried on as before: teaching disciples, restoring the temple, meeting with lay devotees, and lecturing. In the third month of 1810, he began to have premonitions that his life was nearing its end, and he made arrangements for his own cremation and 7 8 published in 1678 and reprinted in expanded form in 1930 by Ven. Yinguang to include the Chewu chanshi yulu has the dingxi T f f i year (1777), which seems much more likely. See OUYI Zhixu H M W f f i 1980, 2: 593. 6. Z Z 1 0 9 : 7 5 0 b l O ­ l l . 7. Z Z 109: 789al­2. 8. There is an entry on this temple in the Foguang da cidian 1988, 6796b­c. It was constructed in 1733, and its most notable feature, according to the dictionary, is its large, eight­sided bronze bell, which is 9.6 meters in height and inscribed with several surras, mantras, and illustrations. chose a senior disciple to succeed him as abbot. At one point, he assem­ bled the resident clergy and admonished them with these words: The Pure Land dharma­gate covers all [beings] of the three roots [i.e., inferior, middling, superior]; there is no level of capability that it does not take in. For many years now I have labored along with the assembly to build up this daochang MM- It was originally for the sake of drawing [people] from all directions to practice pure karma together. It would behoove everyone always to observe the rules and procedures I have set up; you are not permitted to alter course. This is so that perhaps the old monks and the assembly w i l l not be burdened with any hardships. 9 About two weeks before his death, he detected the first slight symptoms of the illness that would take him. He called together his disciples and set them to the task of helping him remain focused on the Pure Land by reciting the Buddha's name by his bedside, and he began to see signs that he would be reborn there: innumerable pennants and banners filled the sky in the west. When his disciples expressed sadness that he was leaving them, he told them: "I have arrived in the realm of the sages ­ you should be happy for your master. Why do you remain in suffering?" On the seventeenth day of the twelfth month, he reported having seen a vision of Manjusri, Avalokitesvara, and Mahasthamaprapta in the west, and told his followers that he fully expected to see the Buddha Amitabha himself that day. His disciples chanted the name more intensely, and Chewu said that with every nian, he could see more of the Buddha's body. He died that day, sitting upright with his hands in the Amitabha­ mudra. The assembly could smell an unusual fragrance filling the room. After the first seven days of the funeral period, the master's face looked like he was still alive; it was filled with compassion and peace. Hair that was white at the end of his life turned black, and was extraordinarily lustrous. After the second seven days, he was placed in the vault, and after the third seven days he was cremated. Over one hundred relics (sarira) were collected, and his followers, respecting his wishes, placed his remains in the common pagoda rather than construct a special struc­ ture just for him. Chewu died at the age of seventy, having been a monk for 49 years. Mulian, who wrote the master's biography a decade or so later, says nothing of his recognition as a "patriarch" of the Pure Land School, but Yinguang's (£PTTJ, 1861­1940) 1933 expanded edition of Peng Jiqing's (M$WM, 1740­1796), 1783 Jingtu sheng xian lu (Record of the sages and worthies of the Pure Land) labels him the eleventh patriarch, and O G A S A W A R A Senshu believes that the popularity of this anthology of biographies and rebirth stories may have contributed to his acceptance throughout China as such 10 11 III. CHEWU'S METHODS OF PURE LAND PRACTICE At different times in Pure Land history, masters have recommended various forms of practice to their followers. In China, Lushan Huiyuan JMlhWM (344­416) and Tiantai ^ founder Zhiyi (538­597) taught forms of meditative contemplation suitable for rigorously disci­ plined practitioners. Guifeng Zongmi ^ l l j f ^ ® (780­841) described four different methods of nianfo and even today one can find a work that describes forty­eight different methods of nianfo, each of which serves a different purpose or is suited to a different circum­ stance. How did Chewu envision the methods of Pure Land practice and what results did he expect from them? A. The prerequisites. In concert with other Pure Land writers, Chewu recommended that practitioners develop certain beliefs and attitudes prior to the actual practice of nianfo. The first was bodhicitta (putixin IISl'LO, the altruistic intention to dedicate the merit of all one's practices to the benefit of other living beings. After that, one needed faith and vows. Faith came first, and was indeed the basis for the generation of vows: "One need only have deep faith in the Buddha's words, and in dependence upon them generate a vow to hold on to his 14 name (chi ming ^^S)." As to vows, Chewu explains these both in terms of the practitioner's own aspiration to achieve rebirth in SukhavatI, and Amitabha's vows to 12 13 10. P E N G 1987: 360. 11. O G A S A W A R A 1951: 10. A s O G A S A W A R A notes, the list of patriarchs of the Pure Land school has undergone many changes as different authorities proposed their own versions. Modern usage makes Chewu the 12th, not the 11th patriarch, as one can see in the monastic breviary most i n use i n Taiwan, the Fomen bibei kesong ben, which includes a liturgy for honoring the patriarchs on page 118­ 119, and i n the list given by V e n . D A O Y U A N in his study of Pure Land's "globalization" (shijie hua 1S#{b) in D A O Y U A N 1978: 330­331. 12. ZHENG 1991. 13. Z Z 109: 754al0. 14. Z Z 109: 758b2; see also 109: 769b8­10. bring rebirth about. In a long hortatory essay designed to engender faith and vows on the part of his audience, Chewu relates the following story: For example, take Y i n g K e He was a man who had not given up alcohol and meat. Later, he began reading biographies of those who have gone to rebirth. With each story he read, he gradually gained more willingness until at last he gave up the food [and] recited the Buddha's name. After seven days, he felt the Buddha appearing to him, comforting him and saying, " Y o u have ten years remaining to your life. Recite the Buddha's name well, and after ten years I w i l l receive you." K e replied, "In this Sana world, it is easy to lose true recitation. I wish that I could attain rebirth even sooner, and serve all of the worthies." The Buddha said, "Since you have made this wish, I will come for you in three days." Three days later, he attained rebirth. 15 At the end of this essay, after presenting several such inspirational stories of vows made and aspirations granted, Chewu drives home his point: A h ! There is nothing that the Buddha w i l l not achieve for the sake of sentient beings. He is truly a kind and compassionate mother and father. If one wishes rapid rebirth [in the Pure Land, as in the story of Y i n g K e H M ] , then he leads them to rapid rebirth. [...] Thus, he shows kindness to all; how is it that he should withhold his compassion from me alone? He brings to pass the vows of all beings; how is it that he should frustrate my vows alone? [...] Therefore, these three seeds: faith, vow, and practice, are exhausted by the single word v o w . 16 Besides faith and vows (and practice, mentioned in the above quotation and to which we will come shortly), a list of four requisite states of mind appears in another essay. Here Chewu says: In nianfo, one needs to produce four kinds of mind. What are these four? First, from beginningless time up to the present one has created karma; one must generate a mind of shame. Second, having had an opportunity to hear this dharma gate, one must generate a mind of joy. Third, one's karmic obstructions are beginningless, and this dharma­gate is difficult to encounter, and so one ought to generate a mind of great sorrow. Fourth, as the Buddha is thus compassionate, one ought to generate a mind of gratitude. If [even] one of these four minds are present, then one's pure karma w i l l be fruitful. 17 18 15. Z Z 109: 757al6­b3. 16. Z Z 109: 757b9­16. 17. jing ye a term frequently used in Pure Land writings to refer specifically to Pure Land practices. The locus classicus of this term is the Guan wuliangshou fo jing MMMmffiM (or Meditation Sutra), where the Buddha Sakyamuni uses this term to refer to the practices and attitudes that w i l l lead to rebirth in Sukhavatl. See, for example, T.365, 12:341c8. 18. Z Z 109: 772b5­8. This list of four prerequisite states of mind does not appear in any of the three Pure Land scriptures, although it may come from another source within the Chinese Pure Land tradition. One item that Chewu explicitly leaves out of the list of prerequisites for practice is confession of faults. Chewu states that the lack of any need for confession in fact constitutes one of Pure Land's advantages over the other dharma­gates. He says: Moreover, the other gates of cultivation require one to confess one's present karma; i f any manifest karma is not confessed, then it constitutes an obstacle on the Way, leaving one without a path for advancement. But the one who practices pure karma goes to rebirth carrying their karma with them; there is no need to confess one's karma. This is because when the mind reaches the point of reciting the Buddha's name just once, one is able to extinguish the faults [accumulated over] 8,000,000,000 kalpas. 19 And so, with these preliminaries in place, one is ready to begin practice. What does one then do? B. Oral/mental invocation and the goal of attaining rebirth. The term nianfo is ambiguous: the first character, nian, can mean either to contemplate or think about, or it can mean to recite aloud. Thus, in reading Pure Land texts, one must always attend to the context within which an individual author discusses nianfo in order to clarify whether he or she means oral invocation and recitation or mental contemplation and visualization. In the case of Chewu, we find evidence that he taught nianfo at various times in both senses, and so extra care is needed to determine which meaning he gives in any given passage. In this section, we will look at the places where Chewu uses terms such as chi ming J# % ("hold the name"), nian yilduo sheng l&.—I^W ("recite one/many soundfs]), or cheng ming fM^& ("invoke the name"), and see how he en­ visioned this aspect of practice and what results he expected it to bring. Aside from the term nianfo ^ f f i itself, the term that Chewu most commonly uses for Pure Land practice is chi ming "to hold the name." In the Pure Land scriptures, this term (or its expanded form zhichi minghao t^vf^iSI) does not necessarily mean oral recitation of the name, although such practice is not excluded either. For example, Luis G O M E Z ' s translation of the relevant passage from the shorter Sukhavativyuhasutra reads as follows: 19. Z Z 109:758b8­ll. Sariputra, i f good men or good women hear this explanation of the qualities of the Buddha Amita, and embrace his name (zhichi minghao and keep it i n mind single­mindedly and without distraction, be it for one day, or for two, for three, for four, for five, for six, or for seven days, then, when their lives come to an end, the Buddha Amita, together with his holy entourage, w i l l appear before them. A t the time of their death, their minds free of any distorted views, they w i l l be able to be reborn forthwith in Amita Buddha's Land of Supreme B l i s s . 20 Similarly, the final instructions of Sakyamuni Buddha at the end of the Meditation Sutra are: "Hold well to these words. 'Holding these words' means to hold the name of the Buddha Amitayus." In both cases, the emphasis is on the name itself rather than on any meditative visualiza­ tion of the Buddha, his retinue, or his land. One hears the name, and one keeps it firmly in mind. Whether one does so through spoken recitation or mental concentration appears to be left to the practitioner's discretion. Chewu uses the term chi ming Jf^r in exactly this sense. At times he clearly uses the term in the sense of oral invocation, as when he says, "when one holds to the name with a mind of faith and aspiration, each recitation will be a seed for a nine [­petalled] lotus. Reciting one time is the proper causal basis for rebirth." Here, "reciting one time" is my rendering of chi yi sheng 8 f > where sheng ("sound") is a numerary adjunct used for counting a number of audible repetitions. Nevertheless, in other places where the term occurs, he seems to mean something more like keeping the name in one's mind and letting it dominate one's thoughts at all times. For example, in the middle of a discussion of the basic identity of the Buddha that is recited or contemplated (nian) with the practitioner, he says, "the causal mind of the self that is itself the Buddha, with profound faith and total resolve, holds the name exclu­ sively and sincerely." In the context of this discussion within which this statement appears, it is clear that Chewu is recommending that the practitioner keep the name in mind at all times, understanding that the 21 22 23 20. G O M E Z 1996: 148. H i s translation of the same passage from the Sanskrit text appears on page 19. Interestingly, it omits the words "this explanation of the qualities o f " and stipulates only that people should hear the name itself and bring it to mind. Thus, the Sanskrit focuses more concretely than the Chinese on the sense of hearing the name and remembering it. 21. T.465, 12:346bl5­16. 22. Z Z 109: 754M0­11. presence of the name both realizes and brings about the identity of his or her mind with the Buddha. In the final analysis, we must say that Chewu was indifferent on the issue of oral versus mental invocation of the name, and he used the term chi ming jfvf^ freely in both senses, sometimes emphasizing one or the other explicitly as in the examples given above, and other times leaving the issue ambiguous. We find in his writings no attempt to categorize or systematize oral and mental methods of chi ming as we see in, for instance, Zhuhong ftS's "audible," "silent," and "half­audible and half­silent" typology with its recommendations as to when or for whom one or the other was most appropriate. What mattered to Chewu was that, whatever means one used, the name, and not a visualized image, predominated in one's mind every waking moment. The reason for this emphasis lay in Chewu's explanation of the rela­ tionship between Amitabha's name and his reality. Chewu equated the name "Amitabha" and the title "Buddha" with the existence of all the virtues that enable a being to merit the name "Amitabha Buddha": "The Buddha that appears in an instant of thought establishes his name with all of his virtue; outside of this virtue, there is no name. By means of the name one calls virtue in; outside of that name, there is no virtue." In this and similar passages, Chewu appears to assume that Amitabha could not even establish his own name as a Buddha i f he did not exercise the merits and virtues by which he earned that title; the name depends on the reality that gives it validity. Therefore, the simple name "Amitabha" held in the mind or on the lips stands as a placeholder for the full visual­ ized image of the Buddha and opens the mind to the Buddha's full reality. This may perhaps serve to account for Chewu's apparent lack of interest in training students to perform the visualization techniques found in the Meditation Sutra and his emphasis on the practice of chi ming Finally, it is quite clear from almost every passage in the Recorded Sayings that Chewu takes for granted that the goal of practice is the attainment of rebirth in the Pure Land of Sukhavatl. The stories he recounts to illustrate the power of even the most frivolously­made vows all show how beings attain the rebirth that they desire, and he devotes much space to instilling a longing for the Pure Land in his readers. 24 25 24. Y U 1981: 59. 25. Z Z 109: 762b5. See also 109: 767b7. However, the question for the next section is: Is rebirth in the Pure Land at the end of the present life the only goal he imagined for his students and followers? Or did chi ming bring other benefits in this life? C. Mental contemplation and the goal of enlightenment. The first essay in Chewu's Recorded Sayings begins this way: The essence of all the gates of teaching is to illuminate the mind; the essence of all the gates of practice is to purify the mind. Now for illuminating the mind, there is nothing to compare with nianfo Recollect the Buddha (yi fo tSflX contemplate the Buddha (nianfo), and you will surely see the Buddha manifesting before you. This is not a provisional skillful means! One attains to the opening of the mind oneself. Is this kind of Buddha­contemplation (nianfo) not the essence of illuminating the mind? Again, for purifying the mind, there is also nothing to compare with nianfo. When one thought conforms [to the Buddha], that one thought is Buddha; when thought after thought conforms [to the Buddha], then thought after thought is Buddha. When a clear jewel drops into turbid water, the turbid water cannot but become clear; when the Buddha's name enters into a chaotic mind, that mind cannot help but [be] Buddha. Is this kind of Buddha­ contemplation not the essence of purifying the m i n d ? 26 Thus, at the very outset we get clues as to the results that Chewu expected to obtain from the practice of nianfo: the illumination of the mind, the purification of the mind, and a vision of the Buddha Amitabha, all accomplishments that are to come about not after death, but in this very life. Throughout his writings, he discussed (a) the way in which nianfo had its effects instantaneously, (b) the way in which it caused practitioners to manifest their innate Buddha­mind, and (c) the need to persevere in the practice every moment over a lifetime in order to maintain the identity of the self and the Buddha and assure the attain­ ment of rebirth. We will examine these three aspects of his teaching in turn. (a) Chewu saw the mind as an ongoing process of thinkings that could radically alter their course from one moment to the next. He reminds his reader in several places that thought creates karma, and karma has only ten directions into which it can lead one: the traditional ten realms of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, sravakas, gods, asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell­denizens. He says: With the manifestation of a single moment of the mind, all of reality can become delusion and all delusion can become reality. On my last day there is no change [in my fundamental nature], and on my last day I w i l l follow my conditioning. Now i f it is not the conditioning of the Buddha­realm and the thought of the Buddha­realm, then I w i l l have thoughts of one of the other nine realms. If it is not one of the three vehicles [of sravaka, pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattva], then I w i l l have thoughts of the six worldly paths. If I do not have thoughts of [the realms of] gods and humans, then I w i l l have thoughts of the three evil paths. If I do not have thoughts of [the realms of] animals and hungry ghosts, then I w i l l have thoughts of the hells. A s an ordinary being, I cannot but have thoughts; only a Buddha has accomplished [the feat of] having the substance of the mind empty of all thoughts. [...] If a thought arises, then it must fall into one of the ten realms; there is no thought that subsists outside of the ten realms. Every thought that arises is a condition for receiving [future] rebirths. There is no­one who knows this principle and yet fails to nianfo. 21 Thus, for Chewu, every instant was a pivotal moment in which one's fate could be decided and one's trajectory altered. The law of cause­and­ effect meant that the contents of one's mind set one on a certain path. Since everyone had thoughts at every moment (fully­enlightened Buddhas excepted), then their path was set or re­set at every moment. Since there were only ten possible directions to go, then one's path must of necessity be chosen from among those ten. The most desirable path, as he thought should be obvious to all, was that of the Buddhas, and to put oneself on that path, one had to nianfo. That meant, as outlined above, to practice chi ming Jvf^&, to hold the name which, as the vessel of all the Buddha's virtues, was the Buddha itself. (b) Based on this principle, Chewu could assert that allowing the Buddha's name to dominate one's mind for a moment made it identical with the Buddha in that moment. He stated the matter in this way: What is "being a Buddha"? "Being a Buddha" is just reciting the Buddha's name and contemplating the Buddha's proper and dependent [recompense]. Thus, it is easy. A sutra says, "When your mind thinks of the Buddha, then it is the thirty­ two marks and the 80 minor characteristics." H o w could this not mean that thinking of the Buddha entails being the Buddha? A n d becoming the Buddha means that one is the Buddha. 28 In a later essay, Chewu elaborates on this idea further. When one's mind is filled with Amitabha Buddha (even if only through holding the name 27. Z Z 109: 752bl4­753a2. 28. Z Z 109:754bl8­755a3. The term "proper recompense" (zheng bao IE$K) and "dependent recompense" (yi bao $c$|z) refer respectively to the fruition of a Buddha's pure karma in terms of his own natural attributes (stature, adornments, intelligence, wisdom, strength, and so on) and in terms of his environment (land, dwelling, retinue, and so on). in mind without any other mental imagery), then it becomes identical to the Buddha in that instant: N o w i f at this present moment, my mind is focused on Amitabha, the Western Region, and on seeking rebirth in the Pure Land of utmost bliss, then at this very moment the proper and dependent [recompense] of the western region are within my mind, and my mind is within the proper and dependent [recompense] of the western region. They are like two mirrors exchanging light and mutually illumi­ nating each other. This is the mark of horizontally pervading the ten directions. If it firmly exhausts the three margins of time, then the very moment of contemplat­ ing the Buddha is the very moment of seeing the Buddha and becoming the Buddha. The very moment of seeking rebirth is the very moment of attaining rebirth and the very moment of liberating all beings. The three margins of time are all a single, identical time; there is no before and after. [...] Awakening to this principle is most difficult; having faith in it is most easy. 29 The fact that nianfo revealed Buddha­nature so directly in this way made its practice superior to any method that Chan had to offer. The two phrases in the Meditation Sutra, 'this mind becomes the Buddha,' 'this mind is the Buddha,' are simpler and more direct than the Chan statements 'direct pointing to the person's mind,' and 'see [one's own] nature and become a Buddha.' W h y is this? Because 'seeing the nature' is difficult and 'being a Buddha' is easy. 30 As this passage and the quotation that opened this section show, even though Chewu turned his back on Chan, illumination of the mind and the uncovering of its inherent Buddhahood remained important goals for him. What had changed was the method he recommended for attaining these goals. (c) The fact that the course of the mind could be turned in a single instant presented practitioners with a wonderful opportunity. A single moment spent filling the mind with Amitabha's name made the mind Amitabha for that moment. However, there was also a danger: in the very next moment the mind was liable to turn back to its old patterns of thought, and Chewu asserted that the benefits of nianfo could all be lost as quickly as they were gained: However, i f i n this very moment one occasionally loses the illumination, or suddenly produces regressive regrets, and is out of accord with the Buddha, then karma can [once again] entangle the mind, and the present sensory­realm w i l l 29. Z Z 109: 756a3­9. 30. Z Z 109: 754M6­18. revert to its previous recompense. A s a result, one w i l l again be just another suffering sentient being in the land of endurance. 31 Such an idea contrasts sharply with the ebullient optimism of a Shinran or an Ippen that rebirth is assured after the first utterance of the nembutsu. In practical terms, this meant that the Pure Land practitioner was under the necessity of maintaining this practice of chi ming from one moment to the next, deepening it and strengthening it through constant application all their lives. Not only that, but Chewu thought that this life was too precious even to waste it on other Buddhist practices; they were not as reliable as nianfo, and thus time and energy spent in their pursuit was time taken away from the critical practice of chi ming This day has passed; our lives are now that much shorter. The light that passes in a span of time is also the light that passes through a span of our lives. Can you not cherish it? Knowing how precious is the spirit (jingshen ff then one must not dissipate it uselessly; hold on to the Buddha's name each and every moment! The days and nights [must] not pass away empty; practice pure karma each and every instant! If one sets aside the Buddha's name and cultivates the holy practices of the three vehicles, this too is squandering one's spirit. Even this is like a common mouse trying to use a 1000­pound crossbow; how much more the activities of those in the six paths of birth­and­death! If one puts aside pure karma i n favor of the small results of the provisional vehicles, this is also an empty passage of days and nights. Even this would be like using a precious jewel to buy one garment or one meal; how much more choosing [to aim for] the small results with outflows of [rebirth in the realms of] deities or humans! 32 This constant practice had two purposes. One was to maintain the iden­ tity of one's own mind and the Buddha's mind as much as possible, which led to the very this­worldly or pre­mortem results of illumination and purification. In this it provided the same results that Chan practice promises, but much more easily and reliably. The other purpose was to establish the mind in this identification with the Buddha Amitabha so that, at the moment of death, one would be much more likely to have one's mind properly focused at this most criti­ cal juncture. This raises a point in which I believe one may see a major difference of opinion between Chinese and Japanese Pure Land thought. Chinese masters tended to be much less sanguine than their Japanese 31. Z Z 109:756b9­12. 32. Z Z 109:758al­8. "Pure karma" (jingye to Pure Land practice. is a term specifically used to refer counterparts about the certainty of rebirth, and one can even find stories within the tradition about devoted practitioners who, despite years of nianfo practice, are distracted from it on their deathbeds and lose their place in the Pure Land. While Chewu may not express the idea quite this starkly, he is very frank about the possibility that one may turn away from the practice in a moment and never recover it again: 33 However, i f at the very moment the mind can turn its karma [...], the great mind suddenly regresses and the true practices are compromised, then karma w i l l be able to [once again] entangle the m i n d . 34 It is imperative, according to Chewu, that the last thought in this life­ time be fixed on Amitabha; only then is rebirth assured. And, he says, the arising of this thought at the proper time does not happen by chance. One must prepare for it through prior training. Thus, constant practice not only provides the pre­mortem benefits of purifying the mind and manifesting its original Buddha­nature; lifelong effort also sets up a pattern of thought that makes the arising of concentration on Amitabha and his Pure Land at the crucial moment of death more and more likely the longer it is prolonged. At this point we have a fairly complete picture of the kinds of practices Chewu advocated and the goals that he expected the the practi­ tioner to realize through them. It remains now to examine the way in which he thought that the practice of chi ming J f ^ j made these goals possible. The key, as we shall see, lay in a melding of Pure Land and mind­only thought. 35 33. The modern Taiwan Pure Land Master Zhiyu once told this story during a dharma­talk: There was once an elderly layman who had two wives. He was very pious, and practiced nianfo ardently for many years. He developed a serious illness, and knew that his death was near, so he concentrated his mind and practiced intensely on his bed, and reported to those around him that he could see Amitabha and his retinue coming to receive him. Right at this critical moment, his second wife came into the room crying and agitated, and asked him how she and her son were to get along once he was dead. The layman assured her that he would provide for them in his w i l l , but the distraction proved disastrous for him. He lost the vision of Amitabha and could not get it back. Instead of the Buddha and his attendants, he now saw a wall of black and the pathway to hell opening before him. This story is found i n Zhiyu 1992: 58. 34. Z Z 109:756b2­4. 35. See Z Z 109: 762al­3. I V . THE BUDDHA AND THE DEVOTEE IN THE MIRROR OF THE MIND Like many commentators in the Chinese Pure Land tradition, Chewu concerned himself at times to explain how nianfo worked to bring about the results it did, and these explanations brought him into the realms of the theological and the metaphysical. However, a comparison of Chewu's writings on this aspect of Pure Land theory with other writers' demonstrates a narrower range of concerns than one finds in most other texts. A reading of M O C H I Z U K I Shinko l u f f ' s History of Chinese Pure Land Thought (Chugoku jodokyori-shi ^WiW^iMMA) shows that Pure Land thinkers in China historically took on a wide range of problems in explaining the workings of Pure Land practice: the nature of the Pure Land itself; how the Pure Land fit into the overall picture of the cosmos and the various other realms that constituted it; how defiled beings could be reborn in the Pure Land without defiling it in turn; the relationship of Amitabha to Sakyamuni; how the Amitabha seen in visions and dreams relates to the Amitabha who lives in his distant Pure Land; how to define both the practices and goals of Pure Land in the vocabulary of principle (li W) and phenomena (shi and so on. In contrast, Chewu's comparatively small literary output deals with only one or two problems of this sort in any depth: the relationship of Pure Land thought to the two truths of Madhyamika, and its compatibility with the principle of mind­only. Of the two, the latter draws the lion's share of his thought and is elaborated in more detail and subtlety. However, his exposition of the theme of mind­only contains an interesting twist that makes a closer examination worthwhile. Near the end of Chewu's Recorded Sayings, one finds a creed of sorts that he composed which lists ten essential articles of faith for practition­ ers. Of these ten, the sixth says, "Believe that there really is a Pure Land," and is followed by an editorial gloss that reads, "Its existence is no different from the present Saha world." The tenth article reads, "Believe that the only source of all dharmas is the mind." These two statements in juxtaposition define the problem that appears to have pre­ occupied Chewu greatly: to confirm the existence of Amitabha and his Pure Land in a literal, realistic way while simultaneously upholding the 36 37 36. MOCHIZUKI 1932, passim. 37. Z Z 109: 788a. fundamental tenet of Chinese Buddhist thought which held that all reality is nothing more than a manifestation of mind. Chewu was certainly not the first Chinese Buddhist to apply mind­only thought to Pure Land practice. This had been done throughout history by Pure Land's supporters and detractors both. One of the main issues dividing the two camps was not whether the Pure Land and the Buddha who created and sustained it were mind­only ­ all agreed that they were. The difference lay in their willingness or unwillingness to accept that they also existed literally, apart from the Saha world, off to the west, as a destination for those of low capacities who had failed to realize the truths of mind­only and universal emptiness. This latter position, sometimes called "Western Direction Pure Land" (xifang jingtu IS 7? )#rdt), was rejected by detractors in favor of a strict mind­only construction called "Mind­Only Pure Land" (weixin jingtu ^ L ) # i ) . The supporters claimed that both "Western Direction Pure Land" and "Mind­Only Pure Land" were equally true, and this is the position that Chewu, in the simultaneous affirmations of the sixth and tenth articles, defended. The detractors of Pure Land practice liked to point out that a literal belief in Amitabha as a Buddha external to one's own consciousness to whom one could cry for help, and the belief in the real existence of SukhavatI as a land localizable to the west were violations of a basic Buddhist understanding of the world. Their favorite prooftexts were the dictum in the "Chapter on Buddha­Lands" in the VimalakTrti Sutra that stated: "If the bodhisattva wishes to acquire a pure land, he must purify his mind. When the mind is pure, the Buddha­land will be pure," and the statement in the Meditation Sutra: "This mind creates the Buddha; this mind is the Buddha." For example, the Ming dynasty Buddhist reformer Hanshan Deqing (1546­1623) disparaged the practice of cheng ming fM^S or chi ming if it consisted solely of oral invocation without any effort made to purify the mind. In his view, the practice of nianfo absolutely had to be accompanied by a strict observance of the precepts and the firm intention to cut off the roots of desire, after which one could engage in either recitation or visualization exercises. N 3 8 39 40 38. O n the opposition between xifang jingtu see SHI Jianzheng 1989: 48. and weixin jingtu t ^ W f ­ i t , 39. WATSON, trans. 1997, p. 29. 40. Guan wuliangshou fo jing l i * J W # S , T.365, vol. 12:343a21. However, during the course of this practice, one must understand that while one will be reborn in the Pure Land, this birth will really be "no­ birth" and the going "non­going." This, he claimed, was the splendor of the teaching of "Mind­Only Pure Land." Hanshan was uncompro­ mising in his belief that nianfo only worked when used as an active form of self­cultivation and mental illumination; it did not work automatically for the ignorant and the defiled. Chewu fully agreed that the Buddha Amitabha and the land SukhavatI were manifestations of the mind. The opening statement of his longest and most sustained exposition of his thought begins with the statement, "It is essential to know that the phrase 'a-mi-tuo-fo' M*M¥fc{$p has its main import in the doctrine of mind­only." From this starting­point he goes on to demonstrate the truth of the doctrine of mind­only from the three viewpoints of direct experience, the use of similes and metaphors, and the testimony of enlightened beings and Buddhas. After these demonstrations, he argues that a further examination of the meaning of the word "mind" in "mind­only" reveals the multivalence of this word. Following an analysis from Guifeng Zongmi j±£ll#^?5's (780­841) Chan yuan zhu quan ji dou xu WMWi?&MW>f¥ (T.2015, vol. 48, p. 397­415), Chewu states that "mind" can mean the insentient, material mind­organ, the mind composed of the eight consciousnesses of the Faxiang or Weishi school, the unenlightened alayavijhana, and the enlightened dlayavijhana which is the "true mind." This last aspect is the "mind" one affirms in the doctrine of "mind­only," and this mind exists inherently (ben you $ ^ f ) and beginninglessly (wu shi Mtn) in all beings, whether worldlings or Buddhas. To affirm that all of reality, whether the Saha world or SukhavatI, is mind­only is to affirm its non­ duality with this mind. 41 42 Up to this point in his argument, Chewu has said nothing with which a critic such as Hanshan Deqing l&|_L[M?ff could find fault. However, Chewu then begins to shift the terms of the debate in such a way as to simultaneously affirm the reality of other things, including the Buddha, as external to the mind and existent in a provisional, phenomenal way. He asserts that, just as one can take the word "mind" and make it part of the compound "mind­only," one may take any phenomenon and make it part of a parallel compound, "X­only." The equal pervasion of the 41. Hanshan Deqing 1: 437, 439. 42. Z Z 109: 763al0 ff. enlightened mind that all sentient beings possess with all other phe­ nomena makes this novel construction of "X­only" thought possible. If the mind pervades everywhere horizontally and exhausts everything vertically, then the meaning of mind­only is complete, and the meaning of all the other " X ­ only" doctrines (wei yi n§= H ) is also complete: form­only, sound­only, smell­ only, flavor­only, touch­only, dharma­only, right on up to subtle­obscuration only and particle­only. Only when these " X ­ o n l y " doctrines attain completion does one complete the true meaning of mind­only. If the meanings of all these other " X ­ o n l y " doctrines are not attained, then one is left with only the empty name of "mind­only" rather than the true meaning of "mind­only." It is only because the meanings of all these other "X­only" are attained that one can say that dharmas lack fixed characteristics, and the import is that they encounter condi­ tions, as one could also say of subtle­obscuration­only and particle­only. 43 Thus, because this fundamental mind unobstructedly pervades all phe­ nomena, one can say that they also unobstructedly pervade the mind and each other, and everything can become the "only" reality there is. Chewu uses "mind­only" as a way of affirming the Huayan doctrine of the mutual interpenetration of principle and all phenomena and of all phenomena with each other. Within this understanding, Chewu then begins to discuss the status of Amitabha. One of the variables that one may insert into the algebraic expression "X­only" is "Buddha": thus, "Buddha­only" is just as much the case from the ultimate point of view as "mind­only." As he develops his argument further, Chewu then goes on to stress the transcendence of all oppositions in the enlightened mind, and the mutual interpenetration of all distinct phenomena that takes place even while the transcendence of oppositions undercuts their distinctiveness one from another. Thus, the mind of the practitioner who recites the name "Amitabha," as we have seen, actually incorporates the complete reality of Amitabha (through the transcending of oppositions between practitioner and Buddha) while remaining distinct from him (through the Huayan doc­ trine of perfect interpenetration which requires that distinctions be maintained in order to have things that can interpenetrate). Because this complete coincidence of transcendence and immanence is impossible for the rational mind to hold, it is inconceivable, and can only be under­ stood by "surpassing feelings and leaving aside views." 44 43. Z Z 109: 764al6­b3. 44. That Chewu draws his inspiration from Huayan thought on this point is clear from his use of the metaphor of the jewels in Indra's net at 764M0­11. Chewu sums up his argument as follows: First, we took "mind­only" as the meaning. Second, we took "Buddha­only" as the meaning. Third, we took "transcendence of oppositions and perfect interpene­ tration" as the meaning. Finally, we took "surpassing feelings and leaving aside views" as the meaning. Only when one takes all four of these meanings as the primary import does one get a proper understanding of the single phrase, "Amitabha." H o w , then, could it be simple to talk about the proper understand­ ing! 4 5 How, indeed! What has Chewu done with this argument? First, he has co­opted the detractors' position of "mind­only," agreeing with them that this doctrine is fundamental to orthodox belief and making it a member of his own list of ten essential beliefs. But then, by making use of the Huayan doctrine of mutual, unobstructed interpenetration, he advances his position in two ways that begin to undercut the position of the strict "Mind­Only Pure Land" partisans. First, he de­centers the practitioner's mind. Those critics who depended upon the above­quoted statements from the VimalakTrti Sutra and the Meditation Sutra tended to emphasize the centrality of the indi­ vidual's mind while ignoring the status of other beings and phenomena. When they repeatedly argued that the purity or impurity of the practi­ tioner's mind constituted the decisive factor in the attainment of rebirth (as Hanshan Deqing argued) or in the adornment of one's own pure land through self­purification (as the Sixth Chan Patriach Huineng litb stated), they left any notion of Amitabha as a being who existed in his own right out of the account altogether. The practitioner's own mind then becomes the central creative and organizing principle for all of reality. Chewu's exposition of "Buddha­only" and all the other "X­only" philosophies that flow logically from the pervasion of mind into all reality takes the practitioner's own mind out of the center and places it as one phenomenon among all others, not creating them, not dominating them, not organizing them in any way, but interacting with them equally and reciprocally. Second, he reaffirms the real distinction between the practitioner and the Buddha in such a way that Amitabha can be seen as a genuinely different being from the practitioner without violating the principle of 46 45. Z Z 109:765al­3. 46. YAMPOLSKY 1967:156­159. non­duality. Amitabha, as much as any other being or phenomenon, exists external to and in distinction from the practitioner. The critics, in over­emphasizing the mind's role in "creating" Amitabha and "being" Amitabha, had neglected Amitabha as an autonomous being who is free to act according to his own purity and enlightenment, independently of the practitioner's level of attainment. Chewu, on the other hand, affirmed both positions at the same time, and so re­positioned Amitabha as a phenomenon in the world as well as an instantiation of the principle that pervaded the world. This allowed the practitioner and the Buddha to co­exist in a relationship of mutuality and equality as fellow phenomena, where neither could subsume or dominate the other. B y emancipating Amitabha from the domination of the practitioner's mind, Chewu set the stage for the explanation of the efficacy of nianfo according to the concept of ganying $kJM found in other parts of his Recorded Sayings. Chewu, like many other Pure Land thinkers, attributed the efficacy of nianfo to ganying, a kind of sympathetic vibration or resonance that took place when one set one's mind upon Amitabha. The non­dual relationship of perfect interpenetration at the level of phenomenon ­ phenomenon explained in terms of "mind­only" as given above ­ gave Chewu the freedom to explain how this ganying worked. B y affirming the principle of "mind­only," Chewu agreed that Amitabha was an image (a phcenomenon in the Greek sense) in the practitioner's mind, even i f only the name appeared there with no accompanying visualiza­ tion. However, by maintaining Amitabha's autonomy from the practi­ tioner's mind, Chewu was able to affirm that the practitioner was equally an image in Amitabha's mind. The result of nianfo, therefore, was to bring two authentically­separate­yet­interpenetrating minds into a similarity and simultaneity of content in such a way that they could begin to "vibrate" together, setting in motion the mechanism of ganying that would lead to illumination and rebirth. Unenlightened beings cannot conceive of this mutual interpenetration of two minds, and so in discussing it one necessarily has to look at the matter from the point of view of either the practitioner's mind or Amitabha's mind, as Chewu does in a passage that is a rhetorical tour deforce: Now the reason that Amitabha can be Amitabha is that he deeply realized his self­ nature as mind­only. However, this Amitabha and his Pure Land ­ are they not [also the practitioner's own] self­natured Amitabha and a Mind­Only Pure Land? This mind­nature is exactly the same in both sentient beings and Buddhas; it does not belong more to Buddhas and less to beings. If this mind is Amitabha's, then sentient beings are sentient beings within the mind of Amitabha. If this mind is sentient beings', then Amitabha is Amitabha within the minds of sentient beings. If sentient beings within the mind of Amitabha recollect (nian) the Amitabha within the mind of sentient beings, then how could the Amitabha within the mind of sentient beings fail to respond to the sentient beings within the mind of Amitabha? 47 In other words, Amitabha and the practitioner are related to each other within a completely symmetrical two­way contemplation. Amitabha is a phenomenon of the practitioner's mind, but at the same time, the practitioner is a phenomenon of Amitabha's mind. Amitabha, being an omniscient Buddha, is always aware of sentient beings, but these beings, in their delusion and distraction, are seldom aware of Amitabha. However, when someone begins the practice of nianfo, then both become aware of each other and each becomes a phcenomenon within the other's mind, and this sets up the resonance. Non­duality is the key: the distinction between beings and Buddhas as phenomenon (shi !$) makes this relationship possible, while their fundamental identity in terms of principle (// Ijg) makes this resonance possible. Thus, Chewu summa­ rizes: "This means that the one is the many, always identical and always distinct [...] this is the essential summary of nianfo"** V . CONCLUSIONS What is Chewu's place in the Pure Land tradition, how original are his formulations, and how do we profit from this reading of his works? At the outset of an evaluation of his significance, it seems that Chewu's claim on our attention and study should be assured because of his place within the lineage of Chinese Pure Land patriarchs. For those who study the Chinese Pure Land tradition, this in itself makes some level of awareness of his life and thought self­evidently worthwhile. But to dig deeper, we may ask: how significant a figure is he within the wide and varied scope of Chinese Pure Land thought? That he was acclaimed a patriarch within a relatively short time of his death would indicate that he enjoyed a high reputation among devotees of nianfo, and so we can assume a certain amount of charisma on his part, although it does not seem to have issued in the organization of his followers into any great nianfo societies among clerics and laity. Also, within the history of Pure Land ideas and doctrinal developments, his legacy may 47. Z Z 109: 761a2­8. 48. Z Z 109: 761al5­17. seem rather meager. After all, he left only one slim text in two juan to posterity which deals, as I observed earlier, with only a narrow range of concerns when compared with the wide­ranging reflections of earlier figures such as Yunqi Zhuhong 1189^2; or Ouyi Zhixu ISM^^li. This paucity of literary and philosophical output may well justify scholars in leaving him to one side while they explore the writings of other, more prolific figures. However, it seems to me that he had at least one very original idea that merits allocating some time and energy to the study of his work. That idea is the re­working of "mind­only" thought along Huayan lines as given in section IV above. But how original was this idea? A n examination of the Pure Land tradition that preceded Chewu shows that many thinkers before him had written about the non­ duality of the Buddha and the practitioner, and of the simultaneous affirmation of conventional and ultimate truth with regard to the Buddha and his land. It may be worth taking a moment to examine briefly some of these antecedents. The application of mind­only thought to Amitabha and his realm of Sukhavati is among the oldest trends in the Chinese Pure Land tradition. The Pratyutpannasamadhisutra (Ch. Banzhou sanmei jing l ^ i ^ H H ^ M, T.418), one of the first scriptures to be translated into Chinese in the second century C.E., puts forth this idea. In Paul H A R R I S O N ' S trans­ lation, the relevant passage says: "Whatever I think, that I see. The mind creates the Buddha. The mind itself sees him. The mind is the Buddha." Here, however, the concern is specifically with the vision of Amitabha achieved by an experienced practitioner in nianfo as a visual­ ization exercise, and therefore deals with Amitabha as an image, not as an autonomous being. One can easily see this as part of a larger concern within meditative circles about the status of visualized objects generally, as seen in the Samdhinirmocanasutra. Lushan Huiyuan I t U i l l M (344­416), upon reading this and related passages in the Pratyutpannasamddhisutra, sensed that it was speaking only of Amitabha as an internally­generated image, and was led to ask the Central Asian monk and translator Kumarajlva to clarify for him how such an internal image could act like an independent being: answering questions, touching the practitioner on the head, and so forth. Kumarajlva's response hints at the notion of a reciprocity between Buddha and practitioner. One can see the Buddha in the pratyutpanna49 49. T.418, vol. 13:905c­906a. The translation is found in HARRISON 1998, p. 21. samadhi, he says, because while the practitioner's mind is turned toward the Buddha, the Buddha emits light that illumines the ten directions. Thus, seeing the Buddha is similar to a tuning a radio to the frequency of a particular radio station; when tuned correctly, it catches the signal. Just so, when the practitioner's mind is "tuned" to the frequency of a Buddha's light, one achieves a vision of that Buddha, and the image that appears is simultaneously an appearance in the mind and a true represen­ tation of an actual, externally­existent Buddha. While this exchange succeeded in relating an internal vision of Amitabha to an externally­ existent Amitabha, it did not place the practitioner and the Buddha in the relationship of parity in the way that Chewu's construction does. Since Chewu's biography mentions the major impact that Yongming Yanshou ^C^Mw had on his thought, one might reasonably expect to find precedents for the former's Pure Land theology in the latter's writings. One of Yanshou's shorter works, the catechetical tract Wanshan tong guiji H U |S]f§H (Anthology on the myriad virtues return­ ing to the same [source], T.2017), does have a short series of questions and answers that deal explicitly with the meaning of the term weixin jingtu Dft>L^?­zh, or "Mind­Only Pure Land." However, the questions raised regarding this Mind­Only Pure Land and the answers given evince very different concerns from those of Chewu. Yanshou's fictitious questioner wants to know how the visualization of an external Buddha, violating as it does the principle of mind­only, can possibly avoid entrapping the practitioner in delusion and discrimination. Yanshou replies that this is an upaya, a skillful teaching device by which all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas lead the unenlightened in the right direction, even though what they teach might not be literally or ultimately true. Beginners on the bodhisattva path, who have not yet realized that all of reality is mind­only, simply cannot grasp the ultimate nature of their own minds and the Buddha that they contemplate. For them, contemplating the Buddha and seeking rebirth i n an objectified SukhavatI is all right as a provisional measure. With time, they will eventually come to the realization that the Buddha and his land were creations of their minds all along, and they will revise their perception 50 50. T.1856, vol. 45:134b5­22; 134c7­12. The reader is also referred to KlMURA Eiichi's critical edition of this text found in KlMURA 1960­62, 1:34­36, with a modern Japanese rendering at 1: 165­169. of reality accordingly. Chewu's concern to validate the practice of chi ming as a means of purifying the mind or to defend the idea of an Amitabha that actually does exist in a manner autonomous from the practitioner's mind appear quite antithetical to Yanshou's claim that such a Buddha appears only as an up ay a. Yunqi Zhuhong ftflSt^STs most extended doctrinal treatment of Pure Land thought, the long preface to his commentary on the shorter SukhavatTvyuhasutra (Fo shuo amituo jing shu chao i^t^MWW^MMM^, Z Z 33: 326­491) has surprisingly little to say on the subject of weixin jingtu R i ^ L ^ i . For the most part, Zhuhong contents himself to affirm the nature of Amitabha and SukhavatI as mind­only and repeat Yongming Yanshou's exposition of the ultimate truth of mind­only coupled with the need for a provisional discrimination of practitioner from Buddha as an upaya. Only once does Zhuhong actually use the technical vocabulary of the Consciousness­Only school (at Z Z 33:356al7­b9), where he brings in the eight consciousnesses and the alayavijnana, only to reduce them to the "one mind" (yi xin — J\J) of the phrase "the single, un­ perturbed mind" (yi xin bu luan — >L^SL). In so doing, he demon­ strates that his primary doctrinal background is not actually in Consciousness­only thought, but in Tiantai ^ pr thought and its concern to show how all phenomena are ultimately grounded in the "one mind" or "absolute mind." It is this mind to which Zhuhong refers when he calls everything "mind­only." So far, we have not encountered the relationship that Chewu described between practitioners and Amitabha, based on an epistemology that held between two autonomous beings, each holding the other in his gaze. One can find some idea of a mutuality of this sort in the writings of the eighth century Pure Land thinker Feixi fH$§. Feixi also used Huayan thought to advocate the efficacy of Pure Land practice by showing the non­duality and mutual illumination of the practitioner's and the Buddha's mind. This idea, found in Feixi's Nianfo sanmei baowang lun ^ f ^ B ^ I l t (T. 1967, 47: 141c­142b, section 15, and following sections passim), seems similar to Chewu's reasoning on the mutuality of mind­only. However, Feixi's primary concern here appears to be affirming that the practitioner is an instantiation of the Buddha, relating the two in terms of phenomenon (shi ijl) and principle (li J l ) . In other words, it is an ontological argument relating the inherent but inchoate 51 51. T.2017, 966b26 ff. Buddhahood of the practitioner to the realized Buddhahood of Amitabha as if it were a question of relating the many to the one. While Chewu, as seen in one quotation given above (at the end of section III), does in one instance use the language of "the many and the one" to describe the relationship, the majority of his essays present an epistemological analysis of the image of the Buddha that appears in the practitioner's mind at the same time that an image of the practitioner appears in the Buddha's mind. This is far from an exhaustive survey of all Chinese Pure Land litera­ ture, and one could go on indefinitely multiplying individual examples of past Pure Land masters. Based on a reading of M O C H I Z U K I ' s History, however, it appears that one would only continue seeing the analyses and concerns given in the previous paragraphs appearing again and again. It is safe to conclude that, in this one instance within his limited literary remains, Jixing Chewu did indeed hit upon an original way of explaining the relationship between Amitabha Buddha and the beings, both unenlightened and enlightened, who contemplate either his image or his name. His analysis went beyond the chorus of predecessors in the tradition whose primary concern was to emphasize the non­duality of this relationship while disparaging the appearance of duality as a delu­ sion that the Buddha exploits as a skillful expedient. Chewu, going against the stream, argues that the distinction between the Buddha and the devotee is a real one, and it will not be overcome or superceded even with the attainment of enlightenment. Buddhas and other beings are independent entities, interrelated as phenomena in each other's minds, as much separate as identical. Their separateness makes a relationship possible, while their identity makes possible the resonance of ganying ZBM through which the Buddha saves beings and takes them at death to a really­existent Pure Land in the west. Because of the originality of this insight, as well as his patriarchal status within the tradition, Chewu deserves more scholarly attention than the half­paragraph accorded him in M O C H I Z U K I ' s History, and the author hopes that this small study has made a start in his rediscovery. 52 52. M O C H I Z U K I 1932: 534­535. Works cited: Chappell, David W . 1986: "From Dispute to Dual Cultivation: Pure Land Responses to Ch'an Critics," In Peter N . Gregory, ed. Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism. Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism 4. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, p. 163­198. Chewu fffefg 1990: Mengdong chanshi yiji W-MWffiMft ( A n anthology of Chan Master Mengdong's [i.e., Chewu's] literary remains), ed. Yinguang 1930. 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