Buddhology, the study of Sakyamuni and the Buddha’s teachings, mainly focuses on the compilation and annotation of Buddhist classics. It is sometimes equated with modern Buddhist studies, but is often used in conjunction with more traditional research methods. Within different Buddhist traditions, many different schools have emerged.
Famous Buddhist researchers in modern China include Master Taixu, Master Yinshun, Liang Qichao, Ouyang Jingwu and Lu Cheng.
That is the study of Buddhism. In terms of the direction of its discussion, it usually focuses on the elaboration of the ideological system, origin, development, etc.; in terms of its content scope, in addition to the teachings proclaimed by the Buddha, it also includes his subsequent disciples, later masters, and scholars of all generations. Based on the teachings of the Buddha, various important Buddhist doctrines are explained, selected, and discussed. In terms of categories of teaching content, Buddhism encompasses two aspects: theory and practice, including the four teachings, principles, practices, and realizations. As for Buddhism as it is called in modern times, it is used to popularize Buddhism in the world and to save sentient beings with new learning abilities, or to respond to the academic trend of the times and emphasize the use of new methods to organize and explain it in an orderly and systematic manner. The academic ones.
The Buddha imparted his teachings to his disciples, who passed them on to later generations. The contents of the collected sutras, laws, and commentaries are nothing more than an analysis of the phenomena of the universe and the truth of life, and guidance on how to achieve liberation and achieve ultimate peace and happiness. The method. Therefore, the themes discussed in Buddhism center on the liberation of life and also discuss the issues of the universe. The development of the Indian Buddhist system can be divided into five periods according to the historical progress of Master Yinshun:
(1) The period of liberation and return based on the voice-hearer
From the Buddha The period from the establishment of the teaching to the death of the Buddha is the period during which the Buddha lived and taught. The focus of the teachings during this period was to declare personal liberation.
(1) The view of dependent origination is the fundamental position of Buddhism and the content of Buddha’s enlightenment. That is to use the twelve causes and conditions as a specific form to transcend and resolve all suffering.
(2) The Eightfold Path, this is the idea of ??a middle way away from happiness and asceticism. Namely: Right View, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
(3) The Four Noble Truths, these are the four truths about social life. Namely: the truth of suffering (explaining that the truth of social life is full of distress and uneasiness), the truth of suffering (explaining the reasons for suffering, the origin of troubles, and the truth of craving), and the truth of cessation (explaining the truth of cessation of suffering and the removal of distress and uneasiness, in order to achieve the goal) The truth of the absolutely stable Nirvana state), the truth of the Tao (explanation of the method to reach Nirvana).
(2) The period of sravaka-teaching that tends to the Bodhisattva
Starts from the split between the two fundamental sects, Theravada and Dharma, to the rise of early Mahayana Buddhism, that is, after the death of the Buddha. Four hundred years (approximately the fourth century BC to the first century BC), this period is equivalent to the period of sectarian Buddhism. From the perspective of the fundamental thoughts and fundamental spirits of the two major factions, this period presents a state of opposition between practicalism (conservatives) and idealism (idealists). A hundred years after the death of the Buddha, the Dharma he taught has been integrated into the four Agama Sutras (the Za (corresponding), Zhong, Chang, and Zeng Yi (increased branches)) (in the Southern Transmission, the Za Sutra was added to make it five). Around 100 BC, the two fundamental schools had split into twenty schools, namely the twenty schools of Theravada. In order to emphasize and prove the authority and orthodoxy of their own sect, each sect re-edited the holy scriptures from various standpoints, and thus gradually established the Sutra Collection and the Vinaya Collection. Due to the discrepancy in the content of the scriptures passed down and compiled by various sects, disputes arose between them. Some monks who were dedicated to studying the teachings dedicated themselves to explaining and commenting on the teachings, organizing and classifying them, and many treatises (Abhidharma, Abhidhamma, Abhidhamma, transliterated) appeared. Daruma).
Among the twenty sects, the Theravada system is more important, such as Sarvastivada, Sutrastudy, and Dazi. Among them, it is said that Sarvastivada advocates that all dharmas are real (Brahma dravyatah!sat) and "exist in their own form" (Brahma svalaks!an!ata). All dharmas can exist independently without relying on anything, and all living beings depend on their existence. The aggregates, places, and realms of feeling are combined and continuous, and the conditions are used to establish the transfer of karma and results. This is called "the eternal existence of the dharma body" or "the real existence of the three times." It is believed that the natural world is composed of atoms (extremely small) constitute.
The Jingliang Department believes that there are only four elements of materiality and the real existence of the heart. It also advocates "the real existence of the present" and "the past has no body", and denies that the mind has dharmas, the mind does not correspond to the dharmas, and the inaction The actual existence of Dharma, although it does not recognize the reality of the personal subject Pudgala (Pudgala), it posits the five aggregates as the false subject of reincarnation. In the Duzi Division, Butejia Luo is the main body of reincarnation, which is different from the five aggregates. On the other hand, in the public system, it emphasizes the transcendence and absoluteness of the Buddha and the virtues of the Bodhisattva. It believes that "the Bodhisattva is willing to be reborn in the lower realms in order to benefit sentient beings." Thoughts such as "there is" and "the twelve places are not real".
(3) The Bodhisattva-based period of both great and small prosperity
This is the period when Mahayana Buddhism began to be publicly popular. It was between the 400th and 700th century of the Buddhist calendar (approximately from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD). Although the Buddhism of this period was dominated by Bodhisattva thought, it did not despise Hinayana or deny Hinayana.
The representative figure in this issue is Nagarjuna. In the "Middle Theory" thought he revealed, he criticized all philosophical ideas that set up the existence of substantial laws, and believed that all the real world of experience has birth and death. Because of the changes that have come, it is emphasized that all dharmas should not be real, but empty and have no self-nature.
The absolute position of observing that the nature of all dharmas is empty is called "True Truth"; the relative position of recognizing that the world is attached to it is called "Conventional Truth". This kind of empty principle is called "dependent origination"; it does not adhere to the concept of any one end, so it is called the middle way. His theory of the body of the Buddha is the theory of the wonderful truth of the Mahayana reality and the wonderful existence of dependent origination, which is "to observe the Dharma by observing the Dependent Origination, and by observing the Dharma, one can see the Tathagata."
(4) The Bodhisattva's shunt period that tends to the Tathagata
During the seven hundred to one thousand years after the death of the Buddha (approximately from the third to the sixth century AD), this is the Mahayana A period when Buddhism was divided and paralleled. During this period, the "problem of becoming a Buddha" was divided into two theories:
(1) The seed of Buddhism originates from the origin and is gradually cultivated through unobstructed hearing and diffusion.
(2) Buddha-nature inherently exists, that is, all living beings inherently have the virtue of Tathagata, so everyone can become a Buddha.
About eight hundred years after the death of the Buddha, two major thinkers appeared in Indian Buddhism, namely Asanga and Vasubandhu brothers. They opposed the early Nagarjuna Madhyamaka view of "emptiness" and relied on consciousness only. The ideal theory that says that all existence in the real world is not real exists, and establishes three types of illusions and illusions: "the nature of all calculations", "the nature of relative reality", and "the nature of complete reality" of absolute reality. All things are manifested by our consciousness. There are three types of transformations in this kind of consciousness: alaya consciousness, mana consciousness, and six consciousnesses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind).
(5) The period of unity of Brahma and Buddha with the Tathagata as the foundation
This period is also the period when Buddhism is gradually dying out. Scholars who are inclined to the Tathagata's original entity have integrated the secular mystical mantras, and their thoughts have gradually merged with the Brahmanism of Brahmanism, thus entering the era of "Tathagata is the foundation, Brahma and Buddha are one".
Due to the prosperity of Mahayana Buddhism, looking up to the sublime merits of saints, and the rise of various thoughts such as the immeasurable power of the Buddha, the great wishes of Bodhisattvas, and the blessings of others, Mahayana Buddhism evolved into a esoteric sect. Scholars in this period focused on the pursuit of Buddhahood in mind and body, and lost sight of the altruistic spirit of Mahayana.
Buddhism since the eighth century of Buddhism has been characterized by the revival of Brahmanism on the outside, and the proliferation of ideas such as spirituality, truth, perfection, other powers, mystery, sensual pleasure, and sudden realization, etc., and the Brahma God. Assimilation, by the 16th century in the Buddhist calendar, Buddhism finally disappeared in India. Since Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty, there have been many different sects and inconsistent views. In order to eliminate conflicts and avoid contradictions, Chinese Buddhists have used the method of critical teaching to integrate and digest various views. There are eight, ten, and thirteen sects in China. According to the eight old Mahayana schools, among them Zen, Jing, Vinaya, and Tantra belong to practice, while Three Treatises, Tiantai, Huayan, and Consciousness-only are based on righteousness. The four schools of thought are summarized as follows:
(1) The Three Treatises School
The Three Treatises originally belonged to the Madhyamika system of Mahayana Buddhism in India, and were developed in the late Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577). , was introduced to the south of the Yangtze River by Monk Lang from Liaodong, and was completed by Jiaxiang Ji Zang in the early Tang Dynasty. The basic classics on which this sect is based are:
(1) The Middle Way, which refutes the erroneous views of Brahmanism, Hinayana Buddhism, and other Mahayana sects, and converts to the teachings of the Middle Way.
(2) The Twelve Doors Theory corrects the erroneous views of Mahayana Buddhists themselves.
(3) Hundreds of essays, refuting the heretical ideas of Brahmanism. Its theory mainly has three aspects: (1) Destroy evil and reveal righteousness. That is to say, all gains and insights are destroyed: refuting the heretical view of the "real self", covering up the Bitan sect's "real existence" view, refuting the Chengshi sect's "empty" sentimental view, destroying Everything in the Mahayana has something to gain and something to see. In this way, the inside and outside are completely broken, and the big and small are all reviled, and the purpose is to "get nothing". (2) The difference between true truth and conventional truth is that, for the sake of conventional truth, all dharma are established without changing the true reality; for the sake of true truth, the truth is stated without breaking the false name. Therefore, according to the theory of the two truths, existence is the existence of emptiness, and emptiness is the emptiness of existence. From this, it is the correct view that there is no attainment. (3) The Eight Impartial Paths reveal the principle that all dharmas are neither born nor destroyed, are continuous and impermanent, are neither the same nor different, nor come nor go away, so as to eliminate the "four pairs" of arising and passing away, discontinuation of permanence, one difference, and coming and going. The bias of "Eight Strategies" shows that everything in the universe has no fixed nature. Essentially, this sect uses "destruction but not establishment" to get rid of all paranoid views; it takes "no gain" as its fundamental purpose and believes that all dharmas are originally without form and will perish on their own. Therefore, the so-called confusion and enlightenment cannot be achieved. Becoming a Buddha is all a false name, but it takes "enlightenment" as its true essence, and all dharmas that are stained and purified are originally dead, and "no attainment of correct contemplation" is the most wonderful path.
(2) Tiantai Sect
In the seventh year of Emperor Chen Xuan’s founding (575), Master Zhiyi entered Tiantai Mountain and founded this sect. Tracing back to the inheritance, it is inherited from Nagarjuna. After the Northern Qi Zen Master Huiwen read the Commentary and the Great Wisdom, after obtaining the wonderful idea of ??one mind and three contemplations, it was passed down that Zen Master Nanyue Huisi realized the Lotus Samadhi, wrote the Mahayana Samatha-Vipassana, and then taught wisdom. Master Yi cultivated the method before the Lotus Samadhi, promoted the teachings, and integrated the theory of nature and emptiness according to the Lotus Sutra, and finally completed the Tiantai sect. His works include the Profound Meaning of the Lotus, the Sentences of the Lotus, and the Mahasamatha and Kanpa, which are known as the three major Tiantai works in the world.
The teachings of this sect say that one mind contains the ten dharma realms. By observing this mind quietly, one can realize the truth that "afflictions are Bodhi and life and death are Nirvana". There are three main points in its outline: namely, the worldview of one thought and three thousand things, the philosophy of one mind and three views, and the philosophy of the harmony of the three truths. It points out the mutual integration of all dharmas and the ultimate unity of the entire universe. The principle represented by each phenomenon (object or mind) is the three truths of perfection (empty, false, and neutral), which means that things or life itself is the reality. , that is, it is like this; advocating that all dharmas are equal, this is the central idea of ??Tiantai Zhiguan.
In essence, the Tiantai School uses the Lotus Sutra as the basis to directly reveal the philosophy of the reality of all dharmas. From the perspective of "principle", it uses the perfection of emptiness, falsehood, and in-between The Three Truths reveal the essence of all dharmas; speaking from the aspect of "things", they reveal the thoughts of "nature and virtue" (the original nature and virtue) of hundreds of realms and three thousand things; and the so-called mutual integration of things, that is, The reality of all dharma and the original nature of the dharma realm (fa'er nature).
(3) Huayan Sect
It is also known as Xianshou Sect and Dharma Realm Sect, named after the Huayan Sutra. Du Shun (557-640) was the founder of Huayan Sect. Before the founding of this sect, there was the Dilu sect in China. The Dilu sect was based on Vasubandhu's "Ten Ground Sutras". The Huayan sect absorbed the teachings of the Dilu sect and entered the prosperous period of Chinese Buddhism; on the other hand, it unified the time. The old and new theories of various sects are based on the theoretical basis of the dependent origination of consciousness. In terms of constructing the theory of judging teachings and observing behavior, although on the surface it criticizes the Tiantai and consciousness-only theories, it actually adopts the theories of the two schools.
However, generally speaking, the Huayan Sect establishes its sectarian principles in accordance with the Huayan Sutra. Its principle of unimpeded dependent origination is developed from the thought of 'Prajna', and further based on the 'primordial emptiness of Dharma nature' of 'Prajna'. It is clarified that all the dharmas in the Dharma Realm are equal and even integrated as a whole due to their "nature and emptiness", and can enter into the endless and unobstructed concept of "one and many" that "interact". This is the so-called "universal dependent origin of the Dharma Realm". The important teachings of this sect include: the Six Meanings of Causes, the Six Phases, and the Ten Mysteries, etc., to show its thoughts on the dependent origin of the Dharma Realm that are perfect and unobstructed.
(4) The Consciousness-Only Sect
This sect has the distant Indian Maitreya Bodhisattva as its leader. Maitreya was born and taught the Yoga Master’s Earth Theory. He inherited the teachings and wrote the Solemn Theory and took the Mahayana. Argument. Vasubandhu then wrote the Twenty Treatises on Consciousness Only and the Thirty Treatises on Consciousness Only. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang went to India to seek Dharma and learned yoga, consciousness-only and other theories from masters such as Jiexian and Zhiguang. After returning to China, his disciple Qi Ji followed Master Xuanzang's dictation and wrote the Consciousness-Only Commentary to reveal the secrets. He also wrote the Consciousness-Only Theory to explain it, thus forming the Consciousness-Only Sect.
This sect has many names, profound meanings, and emphasis on analysis. It has five hundred dharma (eight mental dharma, fifty-one mental states, eleven color dharma, and twenty-four non-corresponding behavior dharma). , six unconditioned dharmas), three self-natures (all-inclusive nature, other-originating nature, perfected reality), five natures (Sravaka nature, Pratyekabuddha nature, Bodhisattva nature, indefinite nature, and natureless sentient beings) ). Based on "alaya consciousness", it explains the principle that "all things are only consciousness, and there is nothing outside consciousness". The root cause is that there are hidden seeds in Alaya consciousness. Seeds are also called "habits" and are divided into two types: famous saying seeds and karma seeds. In reality, with consciousness as the center, the mind with leakage is transformed into real wisdom without leakage. The eighth consciousness is transformed into the wisdom of the great round mirror, the seventh consciousness is transformed into the wisdom of equality, and the sixth consciousness is transformed into the wisdom of wonderful observation. Turn the first five consciousnesses into complete wisdom, and finally return the consciousness that can be observed to emptiness, and realize the world of "energy and everything are one". The classification of Buddhist studies can be viewed from several different angles. From a historical point of view, it can be divided into primitive Buddhism and Buddhist thought that developed Buddhism; from a geographical point of view, it is divided into two systems: Southern Buddhism and Northern Buddhism; from the content of teachings, there are two schools of Mahayana and Maharaja and Quanshi There are various dichotomies such as the two sects of teaching, Shengjing sect, the two sects of Sutra and Esoteric sect, and the two sects of teaching and Zen.
In the development of modern Buddhism, Chinese and foreign scholars are also committed to reclassifying Buddhism as a prerequisite for new research, which has become a modern Buddhist academic trend.
For example, the research system summarized by Japanese scholar Junjiro Takanan is as follows: ①Buddhism studied, such as the teachings of various schools such as Kusha, Chengshi, and Consciousness Only. ②Buddhism that is considered, such as the teachings of Prajna, Huayan, Tiantai and other sects. ③Visual Buddhism, such as the teachings of Zen and Shingon. ④The Buddhism of faith is like the teachings of Pure Land Sect. ⑤Practical Buddhism is like the teachings of the Vinaya Sect. American scholar Dr. Megovorn divides Buddhism into two branches: transcendental philosophy (ontology) and relative philosophy (cosmology).
Modern scholars often divide all Buddhism into "cosmology" which aims to explain the truth of all things and is centered on theory, and "liberation" which explains the true meaning and method of liberation and takes practice as its purpose. "On" the two gates. The cosmology of Buddhism is broad. There are schools that explain the multiplicity of all things arising from the causal continuity of phenomena; there are schools that advocate idealistic monism that material phenomena are developed by spiritual principles; there are schools that affirm the ontology of reality that transcends phenomena; There is a school of thought that does not distinguish between noumenon and phenomenon, attributes phenomena to noumenal activities, and advocates that phenomena are noumenon.
In summary, cosmology can be divided into two major systems, namely the theory of dependent origination and the theory of reality.
1. The theory of dependent origination explains the emergence of all dharmas in the universe. Based on the law of cause and effect among all dharmas and the differences in investigation and explanation of various schools of thought, various theories of dependent origination are produced:
① Attributing the cause of the emergence of all things to our karma is called the theory of dependent origination of karma (Kusha theory).
② From a subjective perspective, it is believed that everything is manifested by our eighth alaya consciousness, which is called the theory of dependent origination (consciousness-only theory).
③Establishing the ontology of reality and using it to explain the emergence of all phenomena is called the theory of dependent origination (the theory of true eternity).
④ Starting from the theory that the ontology is the phenomenon and the phenomenon is the ontology, it is called the theory of dependent origination of the Dharma Realm (Huayan theory).
⑤ List the six elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, and regard all laws of the universe as the spiritual movement of the Dharma body on one day, which is called the theory of the six elements of dependent origination (the theory of mantra).
The Theory of Dependent Origination explains the birth and death of all dharmas from the vertical aspect of time, which is called the "Cosmic Phenomenon Theory"; the Theory of Reality explains the ultimate truth of all dharmas from the horizontal aspect of space, which is the "Cosmic Phenomenon Theory". ontology”.
2. Reality theory. In various schools of Buddhism, there are also many kinds of reality theory:
① Deny the existence of the subjective self, but for phenomena The Dharma affirms the existence of its legal body, which is called Dharma theory.
② Those who advocate that both the self-body and the dharma body are empty are called dharma emptiness theory (Twenty Hinayana and Chengshi theory).
③Based on the view of entity, it is advocated that phenomena are empty or false, but entities are real, which is called the theory of existence and space (consciousness-only theory).
④ Those who reject the investigation of relative existence and emptiness and regard absolute unavailability as the ultimate ideal are called the theory that all forms are empty (Madhyamaka theory). ⑤ The positive description of the entity, the observation as the ontology is the phenomenon, and the reality that everything in the universe is the same is called the theory of the reality of all dharmas (Tiantai theory).
The theory of liberation is to apply the principle of liberation in practice and follow the upward path to achieve the ultimate goal. This department of liberation can be divided into three major systems: the theory of substance of liberation, the theory of form of liberation, and the theory of stages of liberation.
1. The theory of the essence of liberation, that is, the true state of liberation. Therefore, Nirvana, Tathagata, Buddha Land, and Buddha Body are all expressions of the essence of liberation.
2. The formal theory of liberation refers to various practices that reveal the essence, such as the Vinaya sect’s practice of observing precepts and seeking liberation (theory of precepts), the various sects’ practice of meditation and seeking liberation (theory of meditation), and the various sects’ judgments The pursuit of liberation from confusion (the theory of breaking confusion) and the pursuit of liberation in the Pure Land Sect (the theory of rebirth) are both forms of liberation.
3. On the stage of liberation, ordinary people want to use the power of practice to reach the other side of the ideal from the ordinary to the holy. Their practice has a gradual progression due to the depth of their power, and even ultimately becomes a Buddha; this The theory of the stages of attainment and attainment of similar practices (theory of positions), whether all sentient beings are equal, the issue of liberation of the possibility of transcending the ordinary and becoming a saint (the theory of caste), etc., all belong to the stage of liberation theory.