The Practice of Mahāyāna Si Nianchu in Sixth Century China: Huisi’s Interpretation and Practice of Si Nianchu in His Sui Ziyi Sanme

by Ching-wei Wang

Assistant Professor National Yunlin University of Science and Technology

Abstract One of the most important recurring themes in Huisi’s 慧思 meditation texts is the practice of Si nianchu 四念處 (smṛty-upasthāna, Four Mindfulnesses). However, unlike the Four Mindfulnesses prescribed in the Pāli Mahā-satipaṭṭhāna Sutta or those described in the Chinese Āgamas, Huisi’s interpretations and practice of the Four Mindfulnesses draws extensively from the Mohe bore boluomi jing 摩訶般若波羅蜜經 (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra; hereafter: The Sūtra on the Perfection of Wisdom), the Da zhidu lun 大智度論 (MahāPrajāpāramitāśāstra; hereafter: The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom), and the Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法蓮華經 (Saddharmapuṇdarīka Sūtra) translated by Kumarājīva.

In this paper, I would like to analyze Huisi’s Four Mindfulnesses in his Suiziyi sanmei 隨自意三 昧 to clarify how Huisi’s Four Mindfulnesses reflected both the basic structure and a type of further development of the traditional Four Mindfulnesses. I would also analyze how Huisi’s elaboration of the Four Mindfulnesses is based on various Mahāyāna sūtras. This analysis will provide more clues for our understanding of the Mahāyāna Four Mindfulnesses meditation in sixth Century China and in the Chinese Mahāyāna meditation tradition. Keywords: Huisi, Si Nianchu (Four Mindfulnesses), Sui Ziyi Sanmei (The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought), Mahāyāna Meditation.

1 The following is a revision of a paper presented in the XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies held in Atlanta in 2008. 154 • Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal Volume 22 (2009)

中國六世紀的大乘四念處禪法─ 慧思在《隨自意三昧》中對四念處之詮釋與修法 王晴薇 漢學資料整理研究所助理教授 國立雲林科技大學 摘要 慧思禪修著作中常見的一個重要主題為「四念處」之修法。然而慧思的「四念 處」與巴利《大念處經》及漢譯《阿含經》中所見之「四念處」不同之處為，慧思 常引用鳩摩羅什所譯之《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》、《大智度論》及《妙法蓮華經》來 詮釋其「四念處」之修法。本文將分析慧思《隨自意三昧》中之「四念處」，以釐 清慧思如何在原始「四念處」之基礎上，以大乘經典來開演其「四念處」修法，並 為解明「四念處」禪法在中國早期禪史及中國大乘禪法中之重要性。 關鍵字：慧思、四念處、隨自意三昧、大乘禪法

Introduction

In light of the research by Jan Yün-hua 冉雲華 on the development of Buddhist meditation in China from the second to the sixth century and Chen Jinhua’s investigation of meditation in the life and works of Daoxuan 道宣 (596-667), it is clear that our understanding of the development of Buddhist meditation tradition in China before the sixth century is quite limited.2 Among the sources available for our examination of the early Chinese Buddhist meditation practices, Tiantai meditation manuals provide some of the most detailed discussion of the actual practice of meditation techniques in and prior to sixth century China.3 In this paper, I will attempt to analyze one meditation manual by Huisi 慧思 (515-

577), identified as the second patriarch of the Tiantai tradition. My analysis also aims to explore what this text can reveal about the meditation practices of its author and the context in which it was written. The earliest inventories of works by Huisi is provided in Daoxuan’s Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks 續高僧傳 and Catalogue of Works in the Imperial Collection of the Great Tang 大唐內典錄. Daniel Stevenson has already made a comprehensive survey of the texts attributed to Huisi and the transmission of these texts by comparing these two lists of works with the titles of the texts mentioned by Guanding 灌頂 (561-632) and Zhanran 湛然 (711782), catalogues of Buddhist works brought to Japan from China during the Tang Period, and some Japanese Tendai commentaries.4 Among the works listed by Daoxuan, four are extant and generally accepted as the works preached by Huisi: Sui

ziyi sanmei 隨自意三昧 (hereafter: The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought), Zhufa wuzheng sanmei 諸法無諍三昧 法門 (Dharma-Gate of the Samādhi Wherein All Dharmas are Without Dispute; hereafter abbreviated as The Samādhi Wherein All Dharmas are Without Dispute), Fahu jing anle xingyi 法華經安樂行義 (hereafter: The Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra’s Course of Ease and Bliss), and Nanyue si da chanshi li shiyuan wen 南嶽思大禪師立誓願文 (Tract on the Vow Established by the Great Dhyāna Master Si, hereafter abbreviated as: Tract on the Vow). In this paper, the text to be analyzed is The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought. First, I will briefly discuss my approach to Huisi and Zhiyi’s texts as “meditation manuals” and the implications of this type of reading. Second, I will outline some of the similarities between Huisi’s meditative practices in Freely Following One’s Though and

the meditation system of Four Mindfulesses described in the Nikāya and Theravāda commentaries. I will also demonstrate how Huisi took some basic frameworks of traditional Buddhist meditation known as the Four Mindfulnesses and transformed them into Mahāyāna dhyāna practices. Huisi did so partly through his reading of the Lotus Sūtra and other Mahāyāna sūtras, and partly followed a meditation tradition that might have been transmitted and developed in China before the sixth Century. 2 See Jan (1991, 1-49) and Chen (2002, 88:332-395). 3 For other available sources such as the Dunhuang manuscripts by Sengchou, see Jan (1991). 4 See Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 45-70).

Reading “Si Nianchu” in Huisi’s Meditation Manuals: Approaches to Tiantai Texts

A close reading of Huisi’s three major meditation texts shows that Four Mindfulnesses (四 念處; smṛty-upasthāna) is one of the most identifiable recurring themes or frameworks in Huisi’s meditation system. The framework of Four Mindfulnesses in Huisi’s works was already noticed and discussed by some scholars.5 Several scholars have pointed out that the Four Mindfulnesses is clearly the central theme of the second scroll of Huisi’s The Samādhi Wherein All Dharmas are Without Dispute. In addition, Daniel Stevenson provided a brief yet through textual survey of the discussion of Four Mindfulnesses in The Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra’s Course of Ease and Bliss along with Zhiyi’s elaboration of Four Mindfulnesses related to this passage in his Si jiaoyi 四教義.6 Furthermore, abstracts of another Huisi’s work, Sishier zimen 四十二字門 (hereafter: Gate of the Forty-two Syllables) also contain discussions of the Four Mindfulnesses. Why is the practice of Four Mindlnesses appear of often in Huisi extant meditation manuals? What are the roles assigned to this meditation method by Huisi? What do these passages about Four Mindfulnesses in Huisi’s meditation manuals tell us about Huisi’s meditation system and the historical context in

which Huisi taught his meditation system? I believe that what we can get out of these texts depends on how we read these texts and our analytical approach for these passages. In the following discussion, several approaches and readings of the Four Mindfulnesses, both in Chinese and Japanese modern academic works, will be presented so that various views on Huisi’s Four Mindfulesses and the issues brought up by various approaches to Huisi’s meditation manuals can be examined. One of the earliest and more systematic analyses of Four Mindfulesses in Huisi’s meditation was made as early as 1965 by Fukushima. Fukushima held that while most scholars stress the kongguan 空觀 (the contemplation of emptiness) aspect

in Huisi’s meditation system, he detected an equal emphasis on jiaguan 假觀 (the contemplation of false existence) in Huisi’s meditation system. Fukushima analyzed the discussion of “mind” in Huisi’s Xin nianchu pin 心念處品 (the chapter on the “mindfulness of mind”) in The Samādhi Wherein All Dharmas are Without Dispute and came to the conclusion that the Four Mindfulnesses in Huisi’s works reflected an emphasis on super powers. It is through the practice of Four Mindfulnesses and the achievement of supernormal powers that Huisi expounded the contemplation of false existence.7 Fukushima also pointed out that there should be more than one set of Four 5 For research in Japanese, see Fukushima (1965, 14:201-205); Shioiri (1989, 11:32-46); Taki (2002, 24:271-285). There are also some references to this practice in Stevenson and Kanno (2006) . Also see the abstracts of the Gates of the Forty-two Syllables in Satō (1961, 184-240), especially p. 215. For Chinese research see Wang (2006, 2:19-38) and (2007, 13:1-53). Also see Ha Lei 哈磊 (2006, 293-318). 6 See Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 47). 7 See Fukushima (1965, 14:201-205), especially see p.204.

Mindfulnesses in Huisi’s meditation manuals because the Four Mindfulnesses leading to the achievement of supernormal powers as expounded in The Samādhi Wherein All Dharmas are Without Dispute is clearly much superior to the Four Mindfulnesses practice designated as the “course of ease and bliss practiced by the bodhisattva with dull faculties (鈍根菩薩安樂行)” in The Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra’s Course of Ease and Bliss.8 A second survey of Huisi’s meditation that also examined Huisi’s practice of Four Mindfulnesses was made by Shioiri, Hōdō in 1989.9 Shioiri’s analyzed Huisi’s The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought by relating Huisi’s practice of the six deportments with the passages in The

Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom and The Sūtra on the Perfection of Wisdom. Shioiri’s analysis of Huisi’s Four Mindfulnesses focused on Huisi’s discussion of six sense consciousness (六受) that arose when the six sense faculties and six sense objects came into contact. Shioiri also briefly mentioned Huisi’s emphasis on “the mindful recollection of mind (心念處)” but did not analyze this aspect of Huisi’s Four Mindfulnesses.10 A third and more ambitious attempt for an analysis of Huisi’s Four Mindfulness was made by Taki

in 2002.11 Taki’s analysis of Huisi’s Four Mindfulnesses is an attempt to identify the continuities and discontinuities of Tiantai meditation from Huisi to Zhiyi. However, unlike Fukushima who distinguished various types of Four Mindfulnesses in Huisi’s different works, Taki seems to have treated the Four Mindfulnesses in Huisi’s three meditation manuals as one overarching system in order to compare this system with both Zhiyi’s meditation system inherited from Huisi and also with Zhiyi’s elaboration of “Four Types of Contents for Instruction (化法四教)” . The above three papers share the same feature of treating Huisi’s discussion of the Four Mindfulness in the context of Tiantai meditation and analyze it

mostly in Tiantai terms. On the foundation set by these scholars, I will try to read Huisi’s meditation manuals and to analyze Huisi’s practice of Four Mindfulnesses against a different backdrop. Before getting into the details of the actual analysis of Huisi’s Four Mindfulnesses, I would like to first briefly talk about what lead me to this approach of Tiantai texts. I was first inspired to explore the history of Buddhist meditation prior to the rise of Chan Buddhism by an excellent work by Jan Yün-hua.12 Jan Yün-hua quoted

Yamposky’s statement: “One of the most peculiar features of this early Ch’an history is that for the most part it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Ch’an of the five schools and seven teachings that derive from Ma-tsu 馬祖 (709-788), Lin-chi 臨濟 (d. 866) and other famous T’ang masters.”13 Prompted by my own curiosity for this relatively unexplored territory, and inspired by Jan Yün-hua’s sketch of the development of Buddhist meditation from the second to the sixth 8 See T 1926, 701a-b. 9 See Shioiri (1989, 11:32-46). 10 See Shioiri (1989, 11:41). 11 Taki (2002, 24:271-285). 12 Jan (1991, 1-49). 13 Jan (1991, 1) and Yampolsky (1983, 2).

century in this articles, as well as Jan’s groundbreaking research on Seng-chou 僧稠 (480560), I started to search for a text or a body of texts as an entry point for my investigation of the development of dhyāna practices in early Chinese Buddhism. With questions such as the nature and actual practices of meditation in China before the sixth century in mind, I started to analyze Zhiyi’s interpretation of four dhyānas practice in his Shi chanboluomi cidifamen 釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 (hereafter: Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna) in my doctoral dissertation.14 This early Tiantai meditation manual of Zhiyi was chosen as the subject of analysis not only because of Daoxuan’s comments of various

branches of meditation in 5th and 6th century China in which Tiantai was credited as one of the superior groups of meditators, but also because Taixu’s 太虛 comment that Zhiyi’s Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna is the most comprehensive work on Dhyānas practiced in China from the Han Dynasty all the way through the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.15 Furthermore, Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna was chosen due to its systematic style and the abundant information about other dhyāna masters prior to Zhiyi contained in this text. In my analysis of this manual, I noticed that four dhyānas was used by Zhiyi as a system or a main thread that ties all meditation practices together.

Zhiyi not only defines “chan 禪” in the term “chan boluomi 禪波羅蜜” as “si chan 四禪 (four dhyānas)” but also uses the practice of “four dhyānas” as a way to interpret and explain the specific techniques involved in the practice of every single meditation method in his Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna. Zhiyi did so by not only frequently referred to the four dhyānas as a basic framework for practice but also constantly gave his disciples detailed instructions on how to practice a given stage of a specific meditation technique in various stages of dhyāna.16 My analysis of this text not only allowed me to look at some “conceptual issues” such as “mundane” and “supra-mundane” from the perspective of

meditation techniques and subjects of concentration involved, but also proved that Tiantai masters could be approached as “dhyāna masters” as well as great philosophers who created great systems of thought. A second insight I gained in the process of analyzing Zhiyi’s Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna is that Tiantai meditation practices were a lot more similar to those meditations practiced in Theravāda traditions in the sixth century than I imagined. When I laid out Zhiyi’s interpretation of various meditation techniques in relation to his interpretative framework of the four dhyānas, some astonishing similarities of this text with the second part on “concentration” in the Visuddhimagga

becomes obvious. Not only do the techniques dealt with in The Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna bear a lot of resemblances to those in the Visuddhimagga, but both texts also share the same feature of prescribing the four dhyānas as a basic requirement, through which practitioners can move between various stages while practicing various meditation techniques (See chart 1).17 At this point, it seems appropriate to

14 See Wang (2001). 15 See Shi Taixu (1980, 1-29). 16 See Wang (2001). 17 A comprehensive comparison of the various meditation techniques in relation to the four

ask some important questions such as what is the import of the fact that in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna meditation, a similar framework was used to support the entire meditation practice? Against this similar framework shared by Visuddhimagga and Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna, is it easier to see what Zhiyi means by chan boluomi 禪波羅蜜 or perfection of meditation to be achieved by Bodhisattvas? Can we identify the differences between Tiantai meditation techniques and the Visuddhimagga as some essential elements of “Mahāyāna Buddhist meditation”, at least from Zhiyi’s perspective? Recognizing that there are no simple answers for these questions, I continued to analyze Huisi’s meditation

manuals as I have found out that Zhiyi’s preoccupation with “chan boluomi (perfection of dhyāna)” was actually a continuation of Huisi’s exposition on the practice of the perfection of dhyāna in the first scroll of The Samādhi Wherein All Dharmas are Without Dispute.18 In the following section, I will analyze one of Huisi’s works that was less studied and analyzed, The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought, as an example of a type of Mahāyāna dhyānas practice that is based on the Four Mindfulesses described in the Nikāya and Theravāda commentaries, but which at the same time bears imprints of Huisi’s reading of the Lotus Sūtra and other Mahāyāna sūtras. This Mahāyāna dhyāna practice, I believe, also reflects a Buddhist meditation tradition that had been transmitted and developed in China for several centuries before Huisi.19 Huisi’s Mahāyāna Si Nianchu in The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought

In Kanno and Daniel Stevenson’s The Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra’s Course of Ease and Bliss: An Annotated Translation and Study of Nanyue Huisi (515-577), Stevenson held that in The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought, Huisi proposed three types of specific meditation techniques for meditatively eliciting insight into the unarisen nature of existents and the intrinsically pure nature. The first technique is the contemplation of the temporal process of movement in terms of a two phases of “not yet having aroused the thought or intention to walk (未生念行)” and “the incipient arousal of the desire or intent to walk (欲生念行)”, thereby demonstrating the “inapprehensibility (不可得)” of motion and its constituents. The second technique is the contemplation of the breath, mind, and body or the “three natures (三性)”.20 The third technique involves contemplation of the dharmas of the eighteen spheres or factors (dhātu), the inapprehensibility of which is demonstrated through the analysis of the six sense dhyānas framework as prescribed in both Visudhimagga and was made in Wang (2004, 3:6188). 18 See Wang (2007, 13:13-24). 19 For some examples of Mahāyāna dhyāna practices in the Gaoseng zhuan 高僧傳, see Wang (2009). 20 See Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 67).

faculties, six sense objects, and six sense consciousnesses. Stevenson’s analysis and many detailed textual sources that he provided, though very helpful in many ways, risk the danger of implying a “doctrinal” reading of The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought and thereby identifying the nature of this text as mainly about “doctines,” because the identification of certain specific techniques in this text gives the impression that the rest of the text is mainly about “ideas” with only sporadic parts dedicated to “meditation techniques.” One alternative of this kind of reading that views the main body of The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought as a doctrinal exegesis or as a text about the “idea” of the simultaneously fulfillment of the six perfections (pāramitā) in the very midst of the six forms of activities21 is to see the whole text as a meditative system, and

Huisi’s recurrent discussion of the “intrinsic emptiness (性空/空寂)”, inapprehensibility and unoriginated nature (無生)” and other “philosophical” or “doctrinal” ideas as “ideas to be incorporated into or applied to meditative practices.”22 In the following, I will try to read the The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought as a meditation manual and discuss the benefits of this approach. I will do so by choosing three important aspects of this text as the focal point of my analysis: the structure of the text, its focus on the examination of mind in various types of deportments, especially walking meditation, and the contemplation of the deportment of standing—a step by step procedure of meditation that starts from the contemplation of body as a banana tree and ends with the view of one’s body as having a shadowy existence. 1. Structure of the Text: The Addition of Contemplation

of the Deportment of Eating The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought is divided into six chapters, each dealing with a specific type of weiyi 威儀 (iriyāpahta; deportment or activity). These six chapters are: “On the Deportment of Walking (行威儀品)”, “On the Deportment of Staying or Standing (住威 21 This theme has been identifi ed by many scholars as the central theme of Huisi’s The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought. Most scholars hold that this theme refl ects the infl uence from the Sūrangama-samādhi Sūtra 首楞嚴三昧經 as Huisi cited this sūtra as his textual reference. Daniel Stevenson also relates Huisi’s practice of the fulfi llment in the six deportments through the simultaneous fulfi llment of the six perfections in a single instant of thought in the Larger Perfection of Wisdom Treatise’s chapter on the “Ten

Thousand Practices Replete Within a Single Mind or Thought 一心具萬行品”. See Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 67). More textual references that show the presence of this practice in the Mahāyāna sūtras are provided by Shioiri, Hōdō. See Shioiri (1989, 41). Shioiri identifi ed three passages other than the passage from the Sūrangama-sāmadhi Sūtra 首楞嚴三昧經: the Vimalakīrti Sūtra (T 475, 543a); the Saṃgharakṣa’s Xiuxing daodi jing (修行道地經; Yogācārabhūmi T 606, 189a); and the Dafangdeng daji jing (大方等大集經; Mahāsamnipāta Sūtra, T 397, 19b). 22 For some of these main ideas in Huisi’s The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought, see Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 66-68).

儀品)”, “On the Deportment of Sitting (坐威儀品)”, “On the Deportment of Sleeping (眠威 儀品)”, “On the Obtaining of the Most Superior Tastes while Performing the Deportment of Eating (食威儀品中具足一切諸上味品)” and “The Deportment of Speaking (語威儀品)” Chapter one through chapter four remind us of certain passages on the contemplation of the body in the Pāli canon. In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the description of the contemplation of various modes of iriyāpahta or deportment is described as: And again, monks, a monk when going, knows ‘I am going’; when standing, he knows ‘I am standing’; when sitting, he knows ‘I am sitting’; when lying down, he knows ‘I am lying down’; or he knows any other position of

the body.23 Huisi’s titles of the first four chapters of his Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought show close connections with the above passages on the contemplation of the four modes of deportment (iriyāpatha) in the Satipaṭṭāna Sutta. Among the six deportments, Huisi held that the deportment of sitting is the most efficient mode leading to the state of concentration; therefore should be the main practice for the Bodhisattva: Among the four bodily deportments, the deportment of sitting is the most stable position. The Bodhisattva should constantly sit in a cross-legged position. With this unwavering state of mind, the Bodhisattva can enter deeply into various types of sāmadhi to observe all sentient beings’ faculties and nature. With the intention of establishing them and leading them to liberation, the Bodhisattva constantly enters into the state of concentration and due to the obtaining of six supernormal powers, purifi es his fi ve types of eyes: the physical eyes, the pure divine eyes, the penetrating eyes of wisdom, the dharma eyes that can discern the truth, and the Buddha eyes of discernment. The Bodhisattva can then perceive all phenomena and gain the ability to liberate infi nite sentient beings of the ten directions. The beings, without anyone liberated prior to or after any other beings, simultaneously achieve the ultimate way. Therefore the Bodhisattva remains constantly in the state of concentration.24

四種身威儀中，坐最為安隱。菩薩常應跏趺端坐不動，深入一切諸三昧門， 觀察一切眾生根性，欲安立令得解脫，是故菩薩常入禪定，起六神通，能淨 五眼：肉眼、清淨天眼、通達慧眼、見真法眼、觀察佛眼，覺了一切，能度 十方世界無量眾生，不前不後，一時得道，是故菩薩常在禪定。

Huisi’s emphasis on sitting meditation is not only a statement but also was put into action as attested by his biographies, thereby supporting my view that Huisi should be foremost seen as a “dhyāna master” and also supporting Stevenson’s view that Huisi should not been 23 Nyanaponika Thera (1996, 118). 24 See X 903, 499b13-18.

162 • Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal Volume 22 (2009)

seen merely as a “Tiantai patriarch,” or “a key figure who contributed to the signification of Buddhism.”25 Among the above six titles of the chapters in the Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought, only the title of chapter five seems to be an addition to the earliest four mindfulnesses practice of the contemplation of body. Chapter five involves the contemplation of the activity of eating. In Huisi’s explanation of this meditation, the perfection of giving 檀波羅蜜 (dānapāramitā) is expounded from the perspective of the

practitioners, especially at the time of receiving alms from the donors. First, upon the reception of alms, the practitioner or Bodhisattva should mentally offer this food to the Buddhas of the ten directions, the various meritorious practitioners, and even the beings in all six realms of existence (六道). This process, presented in the form of gātha, bears many resemblances, both in content and format, to the Puxian pusa xingyuan pin 普賢菩薩行願品 (the chapter on the “Endeavor and Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.”) of the Dafang guangfo huayen jing 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Avamtasaka Sūtra). In his discussion of the process of eating and mental offering before eating, Huisi included verbatim three vows of the Samatabhadra Bodhisattva beginning with: At the time of meals and during the act of eating, [the Bodhisattva] wishes that all sentient beings have the joy of dhyāna (禪悅) as their food and be fulfi lled by the happiness derived from dharma (法喜).26

若飯食時，當願眾生：禪悅為食，法喜充滿。

Instead of providing a whole list of practices in daily life, stated in a very simplistic form as the above gātha provided by the Huayen jing, Huisi focuses solely on the contemplation of eating and explains it both in very concrete terms and also with an elaboration of the concept of “dharma-dhātu” (法界) drawn from both the Huayen jing and the Lotus Sūtra. The practice of dāna-pāramitā is divided into three aspects: First, visualizing that all these beings are satisfied by food and carried by the fragrance of food to the worlds of ten directions as far as the practitioner’s thought can reach is the act of “giving (布施)”, the first step of dāna-pāramitā. The other two aspects of Bodhisattva’s practice of food-giving are fashi 法施 (the giving of Dharma or doctrine) and wuwei shi 無畏施 (the giving of fearlessness or courage). The giving of doctrine while practicing the deportment of eating involves contemplation on the intrinsic and arisen nature of emptiness of both the giver (the Bodhisattva) and the receiver (all sentient beings) by contemplating the emptiness of “form” as the “sense object of seeing (色)”, “aroma” or “the sense object of smell (香)”, “taste” or “the sense object of eating (味)”, and “sensation” or “the sense object of touch (觸)” when the food and the Bodhisattva’s mouth come into contact. The practitioner contemplates that all sentient beings gain the happiness

25 For these two historical images that are usually imposed on Huisi, see See Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 1-44). For Huisi’s biographies, see Tract on Vows and Daoxuan’s biography of Huisi in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks. (T 2060, 562c-564a). 26 T 279, 71c18.

due to receiving the dharma so the sentient beings can cut themselves off from five kinds of fear. This is the giving of courage.27 Huisi continued to explain how the concept of intrinsic dharma nature should be applied in the practice of “sila-pāramitā”, “kṣānti-pāramitā”, “vīrya-pāramitā”, “dhyāna-pāramitā”, and “prajñā-pāramitā” while performing the contemplation of three types of giving in terms of the contemplation of dharma-nature in relation to all sentient beings. The practice of sila-pāramitā entails the contemplation of the non-differential nature of sentient beings that the Bodhisattva should reach by the contemplation of dharma-nature and by the abstention from the observation of the

sentient beings’ keeping or violating the Buddhist precepts. This understanding achieved by the Bodhisattva would further allow sentient beings to give up the thought of “sin” or “merit” and achieve the “samādhi of equality (平等三昧)”28 The practice of kṣānti-pāramitā or perfection of forbearance involves the Bodhisattva’s contemplation of the sentient being’s achievement of an unwavering state of mind after smelling the fragrance of food caused by the Bodhisattva’s contemplation of giving food. The sentient beings, upon attaining the state of concentration with the “flavor of unwavering (得不 動味)”, penetrate into the profound nature of truth (深達實相) and all achieve the perfection of

forbearance.29 The practice of vīrya-pāramitā or perfection of dedication is the Bodhisattva’s contemplation that this mind of giving has no intrinsic nature that can “arise.” Similarly, the food that the Bodhisattva is giving and the sentient beings receiving the food offerings have no intrinsic nature. This perception also allows sentient beings, upon being fulfilled with the fragrance of food, to achieve the perception of “non-abiding (得不住法)”.30 The practice of dhyāna-pāramitā or perfection of meditation is the contemplation that the mind of the donor, the Bodhisattva’s mind at the moment of receiving food from the donor, and the sentient beings that the Bodhisattva gives food to, along

with the food, are all “unarisng” and “non-extinguishing (不生不滅)” and therefore empty by nature. With this contemplation, the Bodhisattva will gain the ability to manifest in the worlds of ten directions while remaining in the state of concentration. The Bodhisattva’s manifest bodies have the ability of discerning the faculties of beings and can benefit sentient beings according to their faculties. 31 Finally, the practice of prajñā-pāramitā or the perfection of wisdom is the contemplation of the Bodhisattva’s sense consciousness, sense objects, and sense faculties which lead to the questions of “Who is seeing this food?” and “Who is taking this food?” After this contemplation, the Bodhisattva gains access to various types of dharma-dhātu such as “the dharma-dhātu entered through form (色入法界海)” which is also called the “the dharma-dhātu entered through consciousness (識入法界海)” or “the dharma-dhātu entered through wisdom (智入法 27 X 903, 504a14-b4. 28 X 903, 504b4-8. 29 X 903, 504b9-17 and T 279, 71c18. 30 X 903, 504b9-17. 31 X 903, 504b17-c6.

界海)”. These three dharma-dhātus are also identical with “the dharma-dhātu entered through the gathering of form”; “the dharma-dhātu entered through the gathering of consciousness” and “the dharma-dhātu entered through the gathering of wisdom”. This dharma-dhātu seems to imply a state of perception as though both sentient beings and Buddhas all exist in these realms, but only the Buddhas can perceive the profound nature of these realms. The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought further provides Huisi’s comments

for the sources from which he drew these thoughts. Huisi mentioned that these insights are expounded in both the Lotus Sūtra, which expresses these insights implicitly and less accessible by readers, and in the Huayen jing which expresses these states of mind explicitly and therefore easier to understand. 32 Huisi’s addition of the contemplation of all sentient beings enjoying various superior flavors, including the flavor of food, the joy of meditation, and profound insights, to the original scheme of contemplation of bodily deportments, signifies one case of the course of development of Mahāyāna meditation. What we can read from these instructions of practice remains an open field to be explored, but so far it is clear that The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought was rendered as a set of concrete meditation techniques for advanced practitioners (or novice Bodhisattvas (新學菩薩) as described in The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought) who are very familiar not only with dhyāna practices but also Buddhist doctrines so that they can apply these doctrines into their dhyāna practices. In this set of practices, the six pāramitā, as well as the “dharma-dhātu” discussed in the Huayen jing and the Lotus Sūtra, are exercised and aimed for as goals of meditation. These states of understanding can be achieved with sophisticated yet clearly prescribed contemplation of daily objects (food) while performing daily activities (having meals). One important feature of this contemplation is that “contemplation of mind” is being stressed, starting from the mental offering of food and the contemplation of the nature of the three parties or elements involved in this action, the giver, the receiver, the object given. The emphasis on the contemplation of mind becomes especially important in the practice of perfection of meditation. Given the importance of contemplation of mind, along with the complicated contemplation (visualization) techniques involved in the contemplation of deportment, which is usually categorized as a type of mindful recollection of body in traditional Buddhist canons, the addition of the deportment of eating reveals the message that contemplation of mind is becoming increasingly important and required in almost every form of mindfulness in this sixth century Chinese Mahāyāna meditation manual.

2. The Application of Mind in Walking Meditation In this section, I would like to analyze another example which bears traces of early Buddhist meditation with a highlight on the contemplation of mind in its process. In the chapter “On the Deportment of Walking,” a passage clearly reveals traces of traditional four mindfulnesses 32 X 903, 504bc6-505a13.

walking meditation practice. In this chapter, Huisi examines “the mind in which the thought or intention of walking has not yet been aroused (未念心)” and “the mind in which the thought or intention of walking has already been aroused (已念心)” as a way to explain to the disciples the “concentration of sūrangama-samādhi (首楞嚴定)” while performing the activity of walking: Question: “Now I do not understand the “concentration of sūrangama samādhi.” How does a Bodhissatva, in his deportment of walking, with moving his feet and pacing forward, remain constantly in the concentration state, and acquire all pāramitās? Please, benevolent one, elaborate on this point for me.”

我今不解首楞嚴定，云何菩薩行威儀中，舉足、動步而常入定，具足一切諸 波羅蜜？唯願仁者為我解說。 Answer: “Listen carefully and contemplate on this! I shall expound the meaning of this for you. When the Bodhisattva is walking, the walking can be divided into two phases: before the foot is raised, and wanting to raise one’s foot. Therefore, [one can differentiate the two stages of thoughts:] before the thought (of raising one’s foot) is arisen and when the thought of raising one’s foot is about to rise. One fi rst contemplates the mind in which the thought of raising ones foot is arisen. When the mind does not have the thought yet, one does not have that thought in one’s mind. One also does not have the thought of the ‘mind’

and the ‘object of thought.’ This is called the nature [xing] of one’s mind. This nature of mind does not have the various states of arising and perishing, ignorance, darkness; neither emptiness nor false (existence); neither vanishing nor continuing; neither having forms nor having anything to gain. This is called the nature of mind. It is also called the Pure Mind of the Self Nature. This Pure Mind of the Self Nature is Nirvana. However, for those who do not comprehend it, it is life and death.” 答曰:「汝當諦聽，善思念之，吾當為汝略說此義。菩薩行時，未舉足、欲 舉足；未生念、欲生念；先觀未念欲念心。未起念時，無有心想，亦無心、 心數法，是名心性。是心性無有生滅，無明無闇，無空無假，不斷不常，無 相貌，無所得故，是名心性，亦名自性清淨心。是自性清淨心者是涅槃，不 能覺了者，即是生死。」 33

Many scholars, while analyzing this passage, focus on how Huisi’s observation of these two phases of mind during the activity of walking serves as the prototype of the system of “four phases of mental activation (四運念心相)” in Zhiyi’s “Samādhi of Maintaining Enlightened Awareness” in his Mohe boruo poluomi yueyi sanmei 摩訶般若波羅蜜覺意三昧 and the system for meditation amidst wholesome, evil, and neutral dharmas in the “Neither Walking nor Sitting Samādhi” in the Mohe zhiguan 摩訶止觀.34 Here I would like to propose a 33 X 903, 497a1-a. 34 See for example, Sakamoto (1990). Also see Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 67)

different slant to the reading by comparing this passage with the Theravāda practice of walking meditation. This process is explained in The Way of Mindfulness by Soma Thera: On account of the diffusion of the process of oscillation born of mental activity, because of that, this yogi knows thus: If there arises the thought, “I shall go,” that thought produces the process of oscillation; the process of oscillation produces expression (the bodily movement which indicates going and so forth). The moving of the whole body through the diffusion of the process of oscillation is called going.35 It should be pointed out that in the Theravāda meditation, the practice of observing the arising of the thought “I shall go” seems to be a very common practice. Huisi’s contemplation of the two phases of mind, “the mind in which the thought or intention of walking has not yet been aroused” and

“the mind in which the thought or intention of walking has already been aroused” surely reminds us of this common practice of Theravāda meditation. However, how does this traditional meditation practice becomes a practice leading to the achievement of the “concentration of sūrangama-samādhi” in Huisi’s The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought? One noticeable difference between the Theravāda commentaries and Huisi’s The Samādhi of Freely Following One’s Thought lies in their different emphasis while involved in meditation. In the Theravāda commentary, we read that with the meditation on modes of deportment, the meditators should gain such thoughts: But the knowledge of this meditator sheds the belief in a living being, knocks out the idea of a soul, and is both a subject of meditation and the development of the Arousing of Mindfulness. Indeed, who goes, whose going is it? On what account is this going? These words refer to the knowledge of the (act of) going (the mode of deportment) of the meditating bhikkhu.36 Huisi’s focus of observation is the nature of the two phases of “the mind in which the thought or intention of walking has not yet aroused” and “the mind in which the thought or intention of

walking has already aroused”. Through an understanding of the nature of these two phases of mind (心性), one can obtain the state of mind that can be called “nirvana” or “the beginningless pure mind of self nature (自性清淨無始心).” This is Huisi’s method of achieving the “concentration of sūrangama-samādhi”. Again, by assigning the contemplation and observation of mind a dominant role the recollection of walking movements, Huisi reshaped this traditional Theravāda Buddhism mindful recollection of the body. However, it should also be noticed that by directing the practitioners’ attention to the changing status of mind relating to changing bodily movements, Huisi did not totally neglect the aspect of body in his meditation system. The following example will be a good illustration of this feature of Huisi’s meditation system. 35 Soma Thera (1981, 55). 36 Soma Thera (1981, 55).

3. The Contemplation of the Deportment of Standing: From the Contemplation of Body as a Banana Tree to the Body as Having a Shadowy Existence of Emptiness The statement in the Diamond Sūtra that one should contemplate worldly phenomena as “a dream,” “an illusion,” “a bubble,” “a shadow,” “dew” and “thunder” (一切有為法，如夢、 幻、泡、影, 如露亦如電，應作如是觀。)37 is well known to most Mahāyāna Buddhists. However, a close reading of early dhyāna sūtras translated into Chinese shows that these metaphorical expressions were prescribed in many dhyāna sūtras as a type of mindful recollection of body. In the Daodi jing 道地經 translated by An Shigao 安世高, two out of the above six images appear as two of the fifty-five images used to compare the practitioner’s body while practicing the recollection of body: The practitioner should utilize the following fi fty-fi ve objects to observe one’s mind … The body is like bubbles that can not be grasped … The body is like dew that disappears soon after the fog [disperses]. 行道者當為五十五因緣自觀身…是身為譬，如沫，不能捉。…是身為譬，如 露，霧不久止。38

In Saṃgharakṣa’s Xiuxing daodi jing 修行道地經 (Yogācārabhūmi) translated by Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, further development of the corresponding passages can be detected: [Practitioners] use fi fty objects to contemplate the fl awed and impure qualities of the body. One’s body is deceiving, unstable … it is like a dream, an illusion, a shadow, a sound, or a wild horse. It appears suddenly as one’s enemy. 以是五十五事觀身瑕穢，是身欺詐，懷無反覆…譬如夢、幻、影、響、野 馬，忽然化現，若如怨家。39 With these two examples of using images such as dreams, bubbles, or illusions as a way to perform the mindful recollection of body, it seems worthwhile to examine Huisi’s contemplation of body that also involves the contemplation of these images. This passage appears in Huisi’s practice of the “contemplation of the deportment of staying or standing (住威儀品)” . The main method for Huisi’s practice of the contemplation of the deportment of staying (standing) involves the contemplation of body and breaths at the time of standing. One first sees that one’s body is like “a cloud in the void (空中雲)” or “a flower in the void (空中華)”, and one’s breaths as “wind in the void (空中風)”. This description, though followed by very detailed and analytical explanation of “the true form (實相)” of mind, form, and breath (三性), seems to imply an actual state that the dhyāna practitioners should actually achieve and feel. As this 37 T 235, 752b28. 38 T 607, 236a. 39 T 606, 219b.

aspect has been discussed by several scholars, I will not repeat this part here.40 Instead, what I would like to point out is that the contemplation of the true form of mind, form, and breath is only a preparatory practice for what follows: When the meditator penetrates deeply into the empty nature of all phenomena, he feels detached from for all nominal existence. Knowing that everything is empty by nature, he possesses the correct view and no longer gives rise to false thoughts. At this juncture, the meditator starts to

contemplate the breath entering and exiting his body throughout the pores of his entire body. He fi rst contemplates the breaths inhaled and exhaled through his nostrils, then he extends this contemplation to the pores throughout his entire body, from head to feet, from skin to marrow. He examines and sees clearly the breaths and sweat that enter and exit in a refi ned manner through his pores. He then can observe his physical body in fi ve different phases and through this practice he returns to the quiescent state of emptiness in a sequential manner. In the fi rst phase of observation, he observes that his skin, muscles, tendons, and bones wrapped in layers resembling a banana tree. He then observes that the entering and exiting of air and breaths from skin all the way to marrow without any obstruction. He contemplates that the air entering does not accumulate in certain spots, nor

the air exiting disperse. This is the fi rst phase of observation of body as a banana tree. The second phase of observation involves seeing this “banana tree” made of bodily parts turn lucid, bright, and pure until it is like a conglomeration of foams. This is called the “observation of foams.” The third phase involves the observation of this conglomeration of foams made up of bodily parts turns even more lucid, bright, and pure as if they are bubbles on the surface of water. This is called “the observation of bubbles.” The fourth phase of observation is an observation that this bubble made of bodily parts is turning even more lucid, thin, and refi ned, as if it is a shadow of a bubble. This is called “the contemplation of shadow.” The fi fth phase of observation is the observation of this shadow, this bodily parts, becomes empty without any forms. This is called the “the observation of emptiness.” When the Bodhisattva achieves this fi ve phases of lucid and clear contemplation, he can see his bodily parts as a fl ower in the void.

深澄空法，離諸假名。知一切空，具足正見，無復妄念。然後觀息遍身出 入，先觀鼻中氣息往還入出，次觀遍身，從頭至足，從皮至髓毛孔。汗垢、 氣息一時微細出入，審諦觀察，明了見之。觀此色身，五相次第，歸空寂 滅。 第一相者，初觀此身皮、肉、筋、骨猶如芭蕉。從皮至髓，氣息一時入出無 礙，觀此氣息入無積聚，出無分散，一色芭蕉觀。 40 See Stevenson and Kanno (2006, 67). The Practice of Mahāyāna Si Nianchu in Sixth Century China • 169 第二相者，次觀身分芭蕉之觀，轉虛空明淨，猶如聚沫，名為水沫觀。 第三相者，觀此沫，觀一切身分，轉空明淨，如水上泡，名為泡觀。 第四觀相者，觀此泡觀轉空微薄，猶如泡影，名為影觀。 第五相者，觀此影，觀一切身分，不見相貌，猶如虛空，名虛空觀。 菩薩具足五種明觀，一切身分如空中華。41

Among the five phases of observation of body, the second through the fifth are the more common in the Buddhist sūtras circulating in China at Huisi’s time, including the sūtras belonging to the Prajñāpāramitā tradition and the dhyāna sūtras that might have Sarvāstivādin origins or connections. The most noteworthy aspect among the five phases though, is the first phase of observation of body as a banana tree. This passage struck me as a close resemblance to an extended passage in the Visuddhimagga on the contemplation of flesh, sinews, bones, and bone marrow as an aspect of “Mindfulness Occupied with the Body”: [Flesh]: There are nine hundred pieces of fl esh. As to the colour, it is all red, like kimsuka fl owers, As to shape, the fl esh of the calves is the shape of cooked rice in a palm-leaf bag. [Sinews]: There are nine hundred sinews. As to colour, all the sinews are white. As

to shape, they have various shapes. For fi ve of the great sinews that bind the body together start out from the upper part of the neck and descend in front, ... They are all the shape of yam shoots. [[[Bones]]]: …The bones of the back of the foot are the shape of a bunch of bruised yams. The heel bone is the shape of the seed of a single-stone palmyra fruit....The shin bones, in the place where they rest on the ankle bones, are the shape of a sindi shoot without the skin removed. [Bone Marrow]: This is the marrow inside the various bones. As to colour, it is white. As to shape, that inside each large bone is the shape of a large can shoot moistened and inserted into a bamboo tube42. The most convincing textual evidence proving that Huisi’s discussion of contemplation of body as a banana tree has connections with the traditional Theravāda observation of body can be found in Zhiyi’s discussion of Tongming guan 通明觀 (The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights) in his Shi chanboluomi cidi famen 釋禪波羅蜜次第 法門 (On the Stages of Meditative Perfection). In this chapter, Zhiyi also used “banana” as a result of observation of one’s skin, bones, and veins after the preliminary meditative practice of observing the air entering and exiting one’s body through pores. In Zhiyi’s discussion of 41 X 903, 498c24-499a12. 42 Visuddhimagga, 271-275.

Tongming guan, many descriptions resemble Huisi’s practice of the contemplation of the deportment of staying (standing): How does the meditator observe his breaths? He should collect his mind, sitting in meditative posture and harmonize his breaths. Single-mindedly he observes or contemplates that the air entering throughout his body. If his discerning mind is bright and sharp, he should perceive that the air entering does not accumulate and the air exiting does not disperse…Though he can perceive the breath (air) entering and exiting throughout the entire body, he perceives the body as the wind in the void and therefore lack of self-nature…This is the achievement of “suchness of mind”43 stage of the practice of observation of breaths.

云何觀息? 謂攝心靜坐，調和氣息，一心諦觀，息想遍身出入。若慧心明 利，即覺息入無積聚，出無分散。...雖復明覺，息入出遍身，如「空中 風」，性無所有，是則略說觀息「如心」相。...44 One further sees the thin skin, thick skin, and fl esh, each having ninety-nine layers. The larger bones and smaller bones, with a total of three hundred and sixty, have ninety-eight layers just as one’s bone marrow. The meditator then realizes that one’s body is not solid, both externally and internally. The body in fact resembles a banana tree.

復見此身薄皮、厚皮、膜肉，各有九十九重，大骨、小骨三百六十，及髓各 有九十八重。…行者如是知是知身內外不實，猶如芭蕉。45

A textual survey shows that the correlation of the banana tree with the emptiness of the body also appears in the Chinese Zingyi ahan jing 增一阿含經 (Ekottarāgama),46 the Guanzan jing 光讚經 translated by Dharmarakṣa,47 the Weimojie jing 維摩詰經 (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa) translated by Kumarajīva48 and several other important Mahāyāna sūtras.49 I cannot go into the details here; however, the question of how to read these Mahāyāna sūtra passages concerning the banana tree as an image that ultimately leads to the contemplation of body as empty by nature in light of Huisi’s meditation manuals is an important issue to be explored. Further

43 “Suchness of Mind” stage refers to the stage of access dhyāna in Zhiyi’s “Tongming guan” chapter of the Shi chanboluomi cidi famen 釋禪波羅蜜次第法門. See Wang (2001). 44 T 1916, 529b27-c3. 45 T 1916, 530b18-c3. 46 T 99, 271c2. 47 T 222, 167c2. 48 T 475, 539b17. 49 See Fo benxing jing 佛本行經 (T 4, 463a8); Foshuo defangdeng dingwangjing 佛說大方等 頂王經 (T 477, 588b12); Foshuo dasheng pusazang zhengfa jing 佛說大乘菩薩藏正法經 (T 316, 840b2); Foshuo yan daosu jing 佛說演道俗經 (T 820, 834a18); and the Da baoji jing 大 寶積經 translated by Bodhiruchi 菩提流支 (T 310, 567c19-20).

investigations in this direction may lead to a new approach of reading the Mahāyāna sūtras that concentrates more on the meditative aspect of the Mahāyāna sūtras.50 In any case, it is through the detailed description of bodily parts provided by Vissudhimagga that we gain some firm grounds for the sometimes very unfathomable descriptions about supernormal powers of the Buddha and Boshidattvas’s meditative states in the Mahāyāna sūtras. Huisi’s dhyāna practice may serve as a starting point for our understanding of some advanced Mahāyāna meditation techniques. Ultimately, this practice, as other practices of the mindfulness recollection of body, still bears its Mahāyāna hallmark stressing the welfare of all sentient beings. The above contemplation of body as a “flower in the void” is only part of the practice of the perfection of giving. When the Bodhisattva achieves the above

contemplation, he realizes that his body is like a flower that exists only because one views it at a distance; if one approaches [its true nature], one can see clearly that it does not really exist. Therefore, the Bodhisattva would be able to help more beings with his comprehension of the nature of body.51 Huisi’s contemplation of deportment of standing seems to follow the meditation tradition of using the images of foams, bubble, and shadow, as a way for the mindful recollection of body attested by the Chinese translation of Daodi jing and Xiuxing daodi jing 修行道地經. However, in those two dhyāna sūtras, the images of foams, bubble, and shadow are described as “metaphors”. While in Huisi’s The Sāmadhi of Freely Following One’s Thought, we see more detailed instructions on steps to be taken by dhyāna practitioners, which reveals the connecting points between Huisi’s contemplation with the Theravāda meditation. Huisi’s language for the description of the practice of these stages of observation of body also betrays a more concrete and

experiential tone compared to the earlier dhyāna sūtras mentioned above. Conclusion When many textual evidences gleaned from various Mahāyāna sūtras and meditation manuals start to point a similar direction and can even be pieced together as a picture, a new approach to Mahāyāna sūtras begins to become valid and accessible to us. At the same time, this approach also opens up more questions to be explored and answered. Mahāyāna meditation and samādhis, though remaining a mystery for ordinary readers like myself, seem to be a bit more accessible through the ladders provided by Huisi and Zhiyi, true historical figures practicing Mahāyāna meditation and samādhis under the guidance of anonymous dhyāna masters active in northern China during the sixth century. These ladders show us a way into the mystery of Mahāyāna

50 See Harrison (1995, 48-69). 51 See X 903, 499a13-17. 「遠望即見，近觀即無。愚人不了，謂實有華；智者覺了，本來 無華。眾生色身如虛空華，畢竟空寂，無生無滅。菩薩觀身如空中立，亦復如是。菩 薩爾時自觀：此身如淨琉璃，空無所有。以此觀法，利益眾生，增長法身，名為檀波 羅蜜，為法施。」

Buddhism, but at the same time also astonish us with the height of the Bodhisattvas’s spiritual achievement. Perhaps through a careful study of the Theravāda canons, commentaries, and their relations to Mahāyāna meditation techniques, we will eventually be able to unlock more mysteries of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Perhaps eventually we will see that some of the miraculous states described in the Mahāyāna sūtras are actually accessible tasks, such as those that Huisi and Zhiyi dedicated their lives to achieve. The Practice of Mahāyāna Si Nianchu in Sixth Century China • 173

Appendix

Chart 1: The Relationship Between the Four Dhyānas and Other Dhyāna Methods in Zhiyi’s The Exposition on the Perfection of Dhyāna

Various Practices

1st dhyāna 2nd dhyāna 3rd dhyāna 4th dhyāna Four arūpa Concentrations Inner Preparatory Expediencies 內方便 Fifteen good and evil capacities 善惡根性 will be manifest in the access dhyāna 未到地定 Mundane dhyāna 世間禪– Four dhyānas 四禪 First dhyāna: anapanasmrti and Six Practices of Contemplation Second dhyāna: anapanasmrti and Six Practices of Contemplation Third dhyāna: anapanasmrti and Six Practices of Contemplation Fourth dhyāna: anapanasmrti and Six Practices of Contemplation Four Infi nite Minds 四無量心 Compassion 悲 (karuṇā) Joy 喜 (muditā) Kindness 慈 (metta) Equanimity 捨 (upekkhā) Four Formless Concentrations 四無色定 Four Formless Concentrations Either Mundane or Supramundane dhyāna. Six Wondrous Gates 六妙門 (1-4 dhyānas, but can cause undefi led enlightenment in the Access dhyāna) (Six Wondrous Gates) (Six Wondrous Gates) (Six Wondrous Gates) (Six Wondrous Gates) 52 The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights was explained in detail by Zhiyi in terms of its dhyāna factors in each dhyāna but not in terms of practices. Please refer to my doctoral dissertation for details. See Wang (2001, 238-240). 174 • Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal Volume 22 (2009) Eighteen Extraordinary and Superior Methods 十八特勝法 Methods 1-4 of the Eighteen Extraordinary and Superior Methods should be practiced in the Access dhyāna. Methods 5-8 Methods 9-10 Method 11 Method 12 Method 13-16 The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights 通明觀 The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights 通明觀52 The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights 通明觀 The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights 通明觀 The Contemplation Leading to Supernormal Powers and Insights 通明觀 (Supramundane dhyāna) Nine Thoughts 九想 Nine Thoughts (1-4 dhyānas but not practiced in the Third dhyāna) Nine Thoughts (1-4 dhyānas but not practiced in the Third dhyāna) Nine Thoughts (1-4 dhyānas but not practiced in the Third dhyāna) Eight Liberations 八背捨 First Liberation Second Liberation Third Liberation Third Liberation 4-8 Liberations Eight Excellences 八勝處 1-2 Excellences 3-4 Excellences 5-8 Excellences Ten Totalization of Domination 十一切處 1-8 Totalization of Domination (1-4 dhyānas) 1-8 Totalization of Domination (1-4 dhyānas) 1-8 Totalization of Domination (1-4 dhyānas) 1-8 Totalization of Domination (1-4 dhyānas) 9-11 Totalization of Domination Nine Graded and Sequential Concentrations 九次第定 Nine Graded and Sequential Concentrations (1-4 dhyānas Nine Graded and Sequential Concentrations (1-4 dhyānas) Nine Graded and Sequential Concentrations (1-4 dhyānas) Nine Graded and Sequential Concentrations (1-4 dhyānas) Nine Graded and Sequential Concentrations (1-4 dhyānas, 4 arūpa and nirodasamapatti) The Practice of Mahāyāna Si Nianchu in Sixth Century China • 175

Abbreviations

T Taishō 大正藏; CBETA v3.7 (Feb. 2008) X Xu zangjing 續藏經; CBETA v3.7. References Primary Sources in Chinese and Pāli Canon Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa. 1999. Visuddhimagga. Trans. Bhikkhu Ñānamoli. Taipei: The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation. Dafangdeng daji jing 大方等大集經. T 397. Dafang kuangfo huayen jing 大方廣佛華嚴經. T 279. Dazhi dulun 大智度論. T 1509. Fo benxing jing 佛本行經. T 193. Foshuo defangdeng dingwangjing 佛說大方等頂王經. T 477. Foshuo dasheng pusazang zhengfa jing 佛說大乘菩薩藏正法經. T 316. Foshuo yan daosu jing 佛說演道俗業經. T 820. Da baoji jing大寶積經. T 310. Guangzan jing 光讚經. T 222. Jingang boruo poluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經. T 235. Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法蓮華經. T 262. Shoulengyan sanmei jing 首楞嚴三昧經. T 642. Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所說經. T 475. Daoxuan 道宣. Xugaoseng zhuan 續高僧傳. T 2060. Huisi 慧思. Fahu jing anle xingyi 法華經安樂行義. T 1926. Huisi 慧思. Nanyue si da chanshi li shiyuan wen 南嶽思大禪師立誓願文. T 1933. Huisi 慧思. Sui ziyi Sanmei 隨自意三昧. XZJ. 903. Huisi 慧思. Zhufa wuzheng sanmei 諸法無諍三昧法門. T 1923. Samgharakśa 僧伽羅剎. Xiuxing daodi jing 修行道地經 (Yogācārabhūmi). T 606. Zhiyi 智顗. Mohe zhiguan 摩訶止觀. T 1911. Zhiyi智顗. Shi chanboluomi cidi famen 釋禪波羅蜜次第法門. T 1916. 176 • Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal Volume 22 (2009)

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