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THE JOURNAL
OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
BUDDHIST STUDIES
E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F
A.K. Narain
University of Wisconsin, Mad ison, USA
E D I T O R S
tL.M.Joshi
Punjabi University
PaliaUi, India
Alexander W. M acdonald
UniversaledeParis X
Nanterre, France
Iiardwell Smith
Carleton College
Northjield
Minnesota, USA
Ernst Steinkellner
Universityof Vienna
Wien, Austria
fikido Takasaki
Universityof Tokyo
Tokyo,Japan
RobertThurrnan
Amherst
College
Amherst Massachusetts, USA
A S S I S T A N T E D I T O R
Roger Jackson
Fairfield Unwersity
Fairfield Connecticut, USA
a
Volume 8 1985 Num ber 2
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C O N T E N T S
I . A RTICLES
1 . P a d m a d K a r - p o o n t h e T w o S a t y & s , by
Michael
Broido 7
2.
N o-T ho ug h t in P a o T ' a n gC h ' a n a nd Early A t i-Y oga ,
byA.W Hanson-Barber 61
3 . W on hy o (Yuan Hsiao) on the Nirv ana School :
S um m a t i on U nd e r t he O n e M i nd D oc t r ine ,
byWhalenLai 75
4 .
T h e Bodh isa ttva Idea l o f Th era va da ,byShanta
Ratnayaka 85
5. Na ture in Dog en ' s Ph i losophy and Poe t ry ,by
Miranda Shaw
111
II . B O O K R E V I E W S
1.
Buddhism in Life:
The
Anthropo logical Study of Religion
andthe Sinhalese Practiceof Buddhism, by Martin
Southwold
(G e orge D .B ond ) 1 33
2. Dhamma: Western Academicand SinhaleseBuddhist
Interpretations: A Study o f a Religious Concept,
by Jo h n Ross Ca r te r
(Ha rry M. Buck) 135
3 . Ma trix of ystery: Scientificand H umanistic Aspects of
rDzogs-Chen Thought,
by H e rbe r t
V.
G u e n t h e r
(A.W. Ha nso n-B arber ) 138
4 .
The Sutra of the Contemplationof theBuddha of Immeas
urable Life,
by the Ryuk oku Universi ty T ra ns
la t ion Center
(M inor u Kiyota) 140
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5.
The Sutra of the Wisean d the Foolish (mdo bdzarisblun), or,
the Oceanof Narratives (uliger-un d alai),
t ranslated
byStanley Frye
John R. Kr ueger) 1
6. Tibetan Budd hist Medicine and Psychiatry: The
DiamondHealing
by
Ter ry Clifford
To dd Fenner) 1
O B I T UARI E S 1
L IS T O F C O N T R I B U T O R S 1
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N o-Th oug ht in Pao-T 'ang C h a n and
Early Ati-Yoga
by A.W. Hanson-Barber
T h e no t ion of no - tho ug ht is found in bo th the P ao -T 'ang
school of Ch 'an
1
and the ear ly Ati-Yoga system
2
now preserved
in the Nyingma school o f Tibe tan Buddhism.
3
Some au tho r s
have s ta ted tha t Ch 'an thought and the At i -Yoga thought a re ,
in fact , the same in many aspects . Some have even suggested
that the Ati-Yoga has incorporated Ch'an at an ear ly stage of
its de ve lop m en t or im plied th at the A ti-Yoga is a tantr ic ized
form of Ch 'an .
4
It would seem likely that in part these authors
have formulated their theor ies based on the fact that the not ion
of no- thought appears in both schools . However , as wil l be seen
below, the not ion of no - th ou gh t has a com pletely dif ferent con
notat ion for these two schools of thought .
T h e re is good re aso n he re to select the Pa o-T 'an g school
from among the var ious schools of Ch 'an. Pr imari ly , a s t rong
argument cou ld be made tha t the now infamous Hwa Shang
Mahayana ( the represen ta t ive of the Ch 'an school a t the debate
of bSam yas or Lhasa) was at least in part a representative of
this school , especial ly in his theo ry of no - th ou gh t . This ar g um en t
is no t on ly based on the in form at ion ga the red f rom th e un do ub t
edly exaggerated Tibetan sources about the council , but a lso is
avai lable f rom Chinese sources found at Tun Huang.
:>
T h e r e
fore, i t seems likely that if there were any connection between
Hwa shang 's thought and the no t ion of no- thought in Ch 'an ,
it wo uld be with th e m o re radical version of this no tion fou nd
in the Pao-T'ang school . The Tibetans had easy access to th is
school and i t had obviously become popular enough for one of
its spo kes m en to hav e bee n cho sen for the deb ate .
61
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62
J I A B S V O L . 8 N Q . 2
In this brief paper, I will present a description of both the
actual doctr inal posi t ion that the Pao-T'ang school took on the
not ion of no-thought and how this posi t ion developed within
the Ch'an school. Secondly, I will present a description of the
doctrinal posit ion of this same notion as found in the early
Ati-Yoga. However, a his tory of i ts development within that
school is at present not possible to reconstruct , due to a lack of
any cri t ical study based on the material available.
/. The Development of the Notion of No-Thought in China
Acc ording to Whalen W . La i, the not ion of n o- th ou gh t
(Ch.
wu-nien)
cannot be separa ted f rom the
nien
comp lex found
in the Han t rad i t ion . He has a rgued tha t the not ion of no-
thought can be used to de te rmine the or ig in of
The Awakening
of Faith in the Mahdydna,
the f i rs t Buddhis t work wherein one
encounte rs the not ion of no- thought . However , the not ion of
no - tho ug ht a nd its exac t m ean ing wi th in th is work a re p rob lem
atic;
not only is an E ngl ish ren de rin g diff icult , b ut the not io n
is difficult to co nt en d with even for the alleged tran slatio n m ad e
by Siksananda.
Be that as i t may, within the Ch'an tradit ion one first finds
the not ion of no - th ou gh t be ing pu t for th by the Sou ther n school
to cou n te r t he no t ion o f de t ach m ent f rom thou gh t (Ch . li-nien)
of the Nor thern school . The very use of the te rm no- thought
is eve n fou nd in th e
Platform Su tra of the Sixth Patriarch.
One can
surm ise i t was on e of the key issues that divided the two br an ch es
of Ch 'an . Whether or not the Southern school unders tood cor
rectly the implications of li-nien is s till un de te rm in ed .
7
A l t h o u g h
th is ques t ion is im po r tan t to Bud dho logis t s , the So uth ern school
did finally gain the hea rts of th e Chi ne se , as Suz uki has n o ted :
. . . as time went on (the Southern school) proved to be the w inner
as being in better accord with the thought and psychology of the
Chinese people.
8
From th is beginning , Wu Chu, one of the founders of the
Pao-T 'ang school , deve loped the not ion of no- thought to i t s
radical , a l though logical , conclusion. The not ion put forth by
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N O - T H O U G H T
63
Wu Chu can be found in the
Li Tai Fa Pao Chi,
9
a d o c u m e n t
f o u n d a t T u n - H u a n g .
/ / . The Ch an D octrine of No-Thou ght
The not ion of no- thought has to be seen wi th in a context
of philosophical notions before the fuller implications of i ts
m ea ni ng can be asce r ta ined . This con text cons ists of th ree pa r ts :
1) de f in i tion o f en l igh ten m en t ; 2 ) sud de n en l ig h te nm ent ; and
3) the no t ion of no - tho ug h t p ro pe r .
As is well known, the Ch'an school, basing i tself on the
s ta tements in the
Lanhavatara Sutra
and elsewhere, basically de
f ines en l igh tenment as sva-citta. As Hui Neng exp la ins :
To know our mind is to obtain liberation. To obtain liberation
is to attain Samadhi of Prajna, which is though tlessness. What
is though tlessness? Th oug htlessness is to see and to know all
Dharmas (things) with the mind free from attachment. When in
use it pervades everywhere, and yet it sticks nowhere. What we
have to do is to purify our mind so that the six gates will neither
be defiled by nor attached to the six sense-objects. When our
mind works freely without any hindrance, and is at liberty to
com e or to go, we attain Sam adhi of Prajna or liberation .
10
Thus, as wil l be seen below, this posit ion of defining enlighten
ment as sva-citta is necessari ly implied in the philosophical po
s it ion of the P ao -T 'ang school . T he re fo re , th er e is no d i f ference
between the Southern school and the Pao-T'ang school on th is
point and the above s ta tement by Hui Neng would be accepted
by the Pao-T'ang.
As for poin t three above, one can ascer ta in Wu Chu 's po
s i t ion on this from a s tatement in the
Li Tai Fa Pao Chi:
W h e n
the re is t ru ly no - th ou gh t , the n no - th ou gh t it se lf doe s not
exis t .
1 1
By this is meant that when there really is no discrimi
nation, then one can not even speak of a thing called no discrimi
nat io n . Th is is fur th er e lab orated by a cr it ic ism b ro ug ht agains t
this school by Tsung Mi:
. . . The ir idea is that the cycle of birth and death is du e to the
arising of thought(ch i hsin
d
):when thought arises there is delu-
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64
J I A B S V O L . 8 N Q . 2
sion
(wang
h
);
when no thought, either good or evil, arises there
is truth.
1 2
He fur ther goes on to cr i t ic ize the Pao-T'ang along the same
lines that Hwa Shang Mahayana was cr i t ic ized in Tibet . Final ly ,
he concludes :
Thus, their practice is not (concerned with) right or wrong, but
only values no mind
(wu hsin
1
)
as the p rofound ultimate
{miao
Fur ther , as no ted above , there i s no way to unders tand the
impl ica t ion of the Pao-T 'ang posi t ion o ther than wi th in the
s t ream of su dd en en l igh ten m en t . Th at is , when the d iscr imina
t ions have been comple te ly s topped , en l igh tenmen t mus t come
sudd enly . Th is is fu r th er cor robo ra ted by the c r it ic isms b ro ug ht
against this school by Shen Sh'ing in the
Pel Shan Lu.
XA
T he ref or e , the no t ion of no - tho ug ht is seen as the goal .
When one can s tay wi th in the rea lm of no- thought wi thout
straying from i t , one has arr ived. This can also be ascer tained
f rom the unus ua l p rac tices o f the Pao -T 'an g . Th ey d id no t m ake
offer ings to the B ud dh as , pract ice com pas sion ate act ivi ty , fo llow
even the s ta nda rd e t iq ue t te o f the t ime, o r have the s tan dard
ceremonies o f o rd ina t ion of monks and nuns . Al l o f these cus
toms were seen to be no th ing more than d iscr imina t ions and
therefore on the side of samsara.
Thus , i t has been shown tha t the Pao-T 'ang school under
s tood en l igh tenmen t a s sva-citta, accep ted the theory of sudden
enl igh tenment , and saw no- thought as the goal .
/ / / .
No-Thought in the Ati-Yoga
As ment ioned above , a h is to ry of the development o f the
notion of no- tho ug ht in the Ati-Yoga is a t pre sen t im possible .
This is primarily because most of the materials for a crit ical
study have only become available to the West in the past few
years and as of yet no one has intensively studied the earliest
m ateria l of this system . A stud y of such m ateria l is, of co urs e,
crucial for the history and doctr ine of the rather c loudy ear ly
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N O - T H O U G H T
65
tantr ic per iod. However , lacking th is , I have presented below
mater ia l drawn from the individual perhaps most responsible
for the transmission of Ati-Yoga to Tibet: Sri Simha, who was
the teacher of both Vairocana and Vimalamit ra , who in turn
t ransmit ted the At i -Yoga sys tem that they learned from Sri
Sim ha in to Tib et du rin g the firs t pro pag at ion per iod.
For th is paper , I have drawn on the teachings of Sr i Simha
that were t rans lated in to Tibetan by Vairocana. In th is sect ion
of the invest igation I again wil l use the three categories men
t ioned above to t ry to ga in a comprehens ive unders tand ing of
the notion of no-thought in the Ati-Yoga system.
IV. D efinition of Enlightenment in Ati-Yoga
Unlike the Ch'an school posi t ion on the defini t ion of en
l igh ten m en t p res en ted above , the At i-Yoga posit ion is that e n
l igh ten m en t is def ined as
bodhicitta.
Th is is un de rs to od wi thin
the general context of the tant ras ; the mul t i - level meaning of
bodhicittafou nd within th e tan tric l i tera ture is acc epte d by this
school
in
toto.
He re , the n, is the Ati -Yoga school 's un de rs t an di ng
o f en l i gh t enmen t a s
bodhicitta
and then its un de rs ta nd ing of
wha t bodhicittam eans :
The B hagavan arose from the midst of his profound meditation
without app eara nces (i.e., thought constructs), and spoke: Th e
-supreme vehicle, which is peerless, by whatever mounting on
this great vehicle [that one undertakes] one certainly arises from
samsara. Since [samsara] is the place fwherein one] dep ends upo n
other vehicles, it is proper to meditate upon this [supreme] ve
hicle. Whoever meditates on this great vehicle is similar to the
Jina-Buddhas. Since the great vehicle is
bodhicitta. .
. .
ir
'
. . . from all the spheres of the com plete pu re ocean [like]
skywomb which is the completely pure bodhicitta thig le of all
appearances there arises that very pure awareness from that
sphere . . . From both the p ure awareness and the sph ere one
realizes (that) characteristics and characteristiclessness are iden
tical. Since meat, religious articles, and the marxjala of the gods
and goddesses are realized as not being separate (from the non-
dual pure awareness sphere), it is Anuyoga.
lh
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66
J I A B S V O L . 8 N 0 . 2
T h u s ,
enl ig hte nm en t is un de rs to od in At i-Yoga asbodhicitta.
In the second qu ota t io n wh a t is be in g prese nte d is an exp lana
t ion of how to understand the Anuyoga tantr ic level from the
Ati-Yoga persp ect ive . Th is is an inter est in g fea ture of this system
tha t needs fur the r inves t iga t ion; however , he re wha t must be
poin ted ou t is tha t the qu ota t io n does show tha t the un de rs t an d
ing of
bodhicitta
is within t he usu al con text of the tan tra s .
V. Sudden Enlightenment in Ati-Yoga
W ithin the Ati-Yoga system, en l ig ht en m en t is seen as occur
r ing in an instant . This is so because the non-at t rac t ion to or
non-ave rs ion f rom though t s c an on ly happen sudden ly . Tha t
is when one nei ther t r ies to s top or s tar t thoughts , but res ts in
the s ta te of pure awareness (Tb.
rig pa);
the ac t of a t tachment
to or avers ion f rom thoughts i s s topped in an ins tant . There i s
no middle gr ou nd ; e i the r on e is in the mo de of a t tachm ent /av er
sion or one is not. In the
Root Tantra Without Birth Being the
Great Sky Like Vajrasattva, it says:
As for fulfilling the conditioned minds of all sentient beings,
because of persevering, one is called brave; the body of all
Tathagaias manifests from the five-bodhi meditation; not by
stages but in an instant. In an instant (one becomes) the son of
a good family (i.e., a Bodhisattva).
17
T h e t e rm tha t is he re ren de red as i ns t an t (Tb .
cig car)
has
been brought in to ques t ion by R.A. S te in . He has mainta ined
tha t t he T ib e t an shou ld be un de rs tood as s imu l t aneous and
no t i n s t an taneous .
1 8
However , the mate r ia l tha t he was us ing
was p r imar i ly f rom the Mahamudra t e ach ings and does no t
apply to the Ati-Yoga system. This is so because of the fact that
in the tex ts inves t iga ted , the sudden break- through i s more
of ten spok en of as spon taneou s ly a r i sen (Tb . Ihun grub) o r
exis ting spo ntane ous ly a r i sen (T b. Ihun
gyis
grub pa yin) instead
of i ns t an taneous (Tb . cig car). Th e re f o re , t he T ib e t an t e rm
cig car
shou ld be t rans la ted in th is m ate r ia l a s ins ta ntan eou s ,
and the comments that Professor Ste in has given on this term
do not apply in this case.
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J I A B S V O L . 8 N Q . 2
level, of pure awareness. At slightly lower levels one can be
pure ly a wa re of th ou gh ts ; th a t is , on e is abid ing in a s ta te tha t
has no a t tachment to or avers ion f rom the thought pro jec t ions .
Th is can be seen f rom the fact tha t the term pu re aw aren ess
(Tb .
rig pa)
can act a s bo th a ve rb , m ean ing pure ly aw are , an d
a s a no un , m e a n ing pu re a wa re ne ss .
However , the pure awareness i s f a r more impor tan t to th is
system than that implied above for it is in fact the very goal of
the medita t ion. This can be seen f rom the se lec t ions presented
below:
As for the pure view, because of [that] nature, (i.e., emptiness)
[one] enters right into the meaning. Moreover, the meaning of
pu re is the emp tiness of thatness. Em ptiness means an em p
tiness of attending [to] objects; it is not like being without some
thing . The emp tiness ofathing is the essence of pu re awareness,
and so forth.
2 2
. . . all the
dharrruitas
of dharmas, the
bodhicitta
foundationfrom
the beginning one realizes [them] due to the pure awareness
which is unarisen, unproduced, and without birth and death.
2
*
In the fi rs t qu ota t io n, p u re aw arenes s is def ined as em pti
ness.
Th is is ca lled the p u re view, which m ean s he re the high est
v iew. In the second, the unar isen , unproduced , and non-
samsar ic p ur e awareness is the fou nda t ion of bodhicitta and the
dharmatas o f dha rm a s . He re , a s m e n t ione d be fo re , bodhicittais
a de fin it ion o f e n l igh te nm e n t . The re fo re , e n l igh te nm e n t ' s
foundat ion is rea l izable by pure awareness . However , the pure
awareness does not cause en l ightenment , because th is would
m ean tha t the two terms s tand in a cause and effec t re la t io nsh ip.
This could not be the case , because the pure awareness is un
a r i se n a nd unproduc e d . The re fo re , e n l igh te nm e n t m us t c om e
about in a na tura l spontaneous f la sh , for how can someth ing
tha t is un pro du c e d p ro du c e som e th ing e lse? Th e re fo re , a s s ee n
above and f rom the quota t ion be low, en l ightenment jus t spon
taneously exists.
Sarpsara and nirvana both cannot be distinguished. As there is
no duality, it is separated from fault and is excellent. From the
beginnin g without beg inning it is unspea kable and separate from
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N O - T H O U G H T
69
words. In essence it is the spontaneously sprung nature. The
arising of realization and non-realization: when it is realized,
[one] is a Buddha, and when it is not, [one] is an [ordinary]
sentient being.
24
With regard to the expres s ion o f no- though t p roper , aga in
one should note that there is no specif ic technical term that has
the same weight as the Chinese
wu-nien.
There a re s evera l t e rms
tha t in gene ra l can be in te rp re ted as m ean ing no - tho ug h t
T h e s e a r e : dmigs pa medpa, mi dmigs, semspa med pa, an d mi sems
pa.
T h e f irst is t rans la te d as : wi tho ut ima ginin g, wi tho ut
th o u g h t , an d w i th o u t ap p r e h e n d in g . T h e t ran s l at io n w i tho u t
ap pr eh en d i ng is p robab ly m ore t echn ica l ly accura te , and has
been determined f rom reading var ious passages in the texts
su rveyed . How ever , the m ea n in g wi thou t tho ug h t ( i. e. , no -
tho ug ht) is a lso correct , but in a mo re gene ral sense . T h e second ,
mi dmigs,
having the same basic operative word as the above, is
t echn ica lly no ap pr eh en s io n o r no tho ug h t in a genera l
sense.
Finally
sems
pa med pa can be t rans la te d as : wi th out th ou gh t ,
without imagining, or without intel lectual act ivi ty. Also,mi
sems
pa can be t rans la ted as no- thought , no imagining, or no in te l lec
tual activity. The first translation of these two terms seems to
be the m ore technically correct . This can be de ter m in ed f rom
the fact that for the Ati-Yoga system the term
sems
is und ers to od
as co nstr uc ting m ind . T hi s is a m ind tha t is involved in th e
fundamenta l p rocess o f f ab r ica t ing samsara . Thus , sems pa has
to be unders tood as something more bas ic than in te l lec tual ac
t ivi ty, for this exis ts on a soph is t icated level . A lth ou gh im agin
ing has a con structiv e ele m en t to i t, in English i t seem s to carry
a not ion of being som eth ing that is com pletey dev elop ed in a
framework of i l lus ion. Although one can say that samsara is
i l lus ionary on th e ult im ate level, it do es a p p e a r real on the
conven t iona l l eve l . Imag in ing appears unrea l on the conven
t ional level, so within this co nte xt tran slat ingsems paas im ag in ing
would be unacceptable . This leaves one wi th t rans la t ing th is
te rm as no - tho ugh t . T h e word tho ug h t s eems to con ta in
enough f lexibil i ty to encompass more basic levels of the mental
process as well as the more sophis t icated, and at the same t ime
con ta ins a cons t ruc t ive e le m en t .
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7
J I A B S V O L . 8 N 0 . 2
T h e e tymology hav ing been de t e rm ined , t he ques t ion can
now be ra i sed: Wh at s ta tus does the not ion of no - th ou gh t pr op er
have within the Ati-Yoga system?
As has bee n seen abov e, the goal of m edi ta t ion in this system
is to arr ive a t a s ta te of pu re aw aren ess . Since this p u re aw aren ess
can be un de rs to od as be ing both dyn am ic and a l l -encom pass ing ,
i t must be seen as being beyond the conceptual framework of
the not ion of no - th ou gh t . I t is de te rm ine d as dyn am ic b ecause
it is a posi tive s ta tem ent tha t is op en -en de d abo ut th e e xp er ien ce
of m ed i ta t io n. I t is a l l -enco m pass ing beca use on e can be both
in a s ta te of pure awareness and pure ly aware of something .
This something has been expla ined as the tha tness of objec ts
or thought pro jec t ions .
If p u re aw aren ess is the goal of th e m edi ta t ion , then no -
thought has to be seen as having another re la t ionship to the
process . This re la t ionship, i t seems, is tha t of a by-product of
the m edi ta t ion . W he n on e is fo llowing the presc r ibed proc e
dures of Ati -Yoga, then the f low of thoughts gradual ly s lows
and finally stops. One is not to try to stop the flow of thoughts,
n or is o n e to try to incr ease i t . T h e id ea is to allow th e th o u g h ts
to come or go wi thout a t tachment or avers ion , but a t the same
time to be aware of the flow
itself.
T h e f low of th ou gh ts f inally
sto pp ing of the ir own accord is spo ken of as l ibera ted in their
own place :
What does it mean to understand Buddhahood in this way? [It
means] every thing is com pleted in this body, so thatispurerDzogs
Chen(i.e., Ati-Yoga). Every thing is comp lete in speech , so that
is pure rDzogs
Chen.
Eve rything is com pleted in th e object, so
that is pure rDzogs Chen.Not e nte ring the extensive vehicle of
transmigration is the pure
rDzogs Chen.
T he designation being
liberated in its own place is the p ur e instruction. Cuttin g off
hope and fear in the conditioned mind is the pure instruction.
Gaining confidence in oneself is the pure instruction. So it is
said . . . ,
2r
*
Thus , the use of the va r ious te rms tha t can be rendered as
no - th ou gh t wi th in th i s system m ust be un de rs to od as the use
of a by-produc t to indica te the ac tua l occurrence of something
else , an d in this case that is p u re aw aren ess . Th is is l ike p oin t in g
out the smoke to indicate the f i re .
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VII. Conclusion
I have presented a br ief s tudy of the not ion of no- thought
in Pao-T'ang Chan and ear ly At i -Yoga, sys temat ized under
th re e he ad ing s for each school. T h e firs t he ad ing is su dd en
en l igh ten m en t . Both schools ma inta in as thei r bas ic pos i tion
that enl ightenment comes about suddenly . This i s not a t a l l
surpris ing, given the fact that both schools ' philosophical foun
dat ion is the theory of T ath ag ata ga rbh a.
Under the second heading, that of def in i t ion of enl ighten
ment, i t was noted that the Ch'an school can basically be deter
mined to def ine en l ig h ten m ent as
sva-citta,
while the Ati-Yoga
system defines it asb odhicitta.Th is is a co nsid erab le difference ,
because in i ts development, the Ch'an school has s tar ted with
th e
Ijanakdvaiara Sutra.
I t m ainta in ed a su t ra level un de rs t an di ng
of en l igh tenment and a l though th i s pa r t i cu la r deve lopment i s
seasoned by the theories put forth in the Ijanka and o t he r s imilar
su t ras ,
i t does not go beyond what can be unders tood on the
sutra level . However, with the Ati-Yoga definit ion of enlighten
m e n t
bodhicitta,
on e has en tere d th e realm of the tantras . H ere
the re is a complete ly d i f ferent un de rs ta nd in g of the min d, en
l ightenment, and the process for arr iving at this exalted s tate.
Therefore , the bas ic l ine of developmental d i f ferences between
these two can be s tated as the differences between the sutras
and the tantras .
Finally, the las t heading was the notion of no-thought itself.
It was de ter m ine d that the Ch 'an school un d er inves tigat ion
had the basic notion that i f there was thought, then there was
samsara; whi le i f there was no- thought , then there was n i rvana.
Thus for the Pao-T'ang school , no- thought became the goal .
W ithin Ati-Yoga, the no tion of no -th ou gh t i tself is not pre sen ted
as the goal . The goal , accordingly, is to arr ive at a s tate of pure
awareness . This then would re legate the not ion of no- thought
to a secondary role. This role is more than likely that of a
by -pro du ct . T h a t is, wh en o ne is in the s tate of p u re aw aren ess ,
the thought process has a tendency to decrease and f inally sub
side.
T hu s , when the texts of th is t radi t ion speak of n o- th ou gh t ,
they are pointing out the s tate by using a by-product of that
state as a sign.
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JIABSVOL.8NCV2
N O T E S
1. Because the Ch'an school of Buddhism has been the subject of a
considerable amount of invest igat ion, in th is br ief paper I have only outl ined
major points and elucidated some of the differences between the Pao-T'ang
and other schools of Ch 'an.
2.
Because Ati-Yoga does not now exist as a separate school of Bud
dhism, and histor ical ly f rom the advent of the Nyingma school th is branch
has been pr ese nt , 1 have cal led it a system.
3 . From the hag iog raph y of Vairoc ana we know that the Ati-Yoga was
pro pa ga ted in Kh otan . Also, because the ear ly India n and Tibetan teachers ,
af ter propagating this system in Tibet , departed for Wu Tai Shan, i t may
have been pro pa ga ted th ere , a l th ou gh the identificat ion of the f ive pea ked
m ou nta in m en tion ed in the texts with W u Tai Shan in Ch ina is not cer tain .
However , I have only been able to gain information on this f rom Tibetan
sources. As in other studies of higher tantr ic pract ice in China, information
and research by other scholars seems to be lacking.
4. E.g. , Tucci ,
M inor Buddhist Texts II.
Ser ia Or ien ta le Roma, Roma,
1958,
pp. 2 1, 64 and 115; W.Y. Evan s-W entz,
The Tibetan Book of the(Weal
Liberation. Ox ford: O xford Universi ty Press, 1909, p . 74; H.B . Gu en th er ,
Tibetan Buddhism in Western Perspective, Bou lder : Sham bhala , 1976, pp . 140
f f .; Eva Dargyey,
The Rise of
Esoteric
Buddhism in Tibet.
Delhi: M otilal B anar-
sidass, 1977, p. 9.
5.
Hwa Shang Mahayana (Ch . Ma Ho Yen), seems to have held the
teachin gs of several Ch 'an schools. T h e doctr inal aff il ia t ion of his teachin gs
and the teach ings o f the Pao-T 'ang school have been demonst ra ted by
Hironobu Obata based on the Tun wu ta ch eng
c.heng
li chtieh: see T he Study
of Tibetan C h'an Manu scripts Reco vered from Tun hu an g, by Da ishun
l ' eyana in
E arly Ch an in C hina and Tibet,
Berkeley Bu ddh ist S tudies Ser ies,
1983,
p. 3 3 8. The teach ings of Hwa Sh ang as reco rde d in var ious Tibetan
sources in par t icular are easi ly comparable with the Pao-T'ang teachings in
th e Li Tai Ta Pao Chi, especial ly on the quest io n of N o- T ho ug ht . Also the
Blon po bKa i Thang Yig,
a Nyingma text , c i tes the l ineage of the Ch'an masters
accord ing to the
Li Tai Ta Pao Chi
and en ds th e lis t with H wa S han g. See
Daishun L'eyana, ib id . , p . 335.
6.
Journal of International
Association
of Buddhist Studies,
1980, vol. 3, no.
l , p . 3 4 .
7.
See Rober t B. Zeus chner , Th e Con cep t o fLinien . .. inEarly Chan,
p . 131.
8. D.T . Su/.uki,
Zen Buddhism.
Garden Ci ty : Doubieday Anchor Books ,
1956, pp . 157-8 .
9 . See Ta ish o Shinsh u D ai/.okyo (20 75, 1 74 -196 ) , vol. 51 . Tor fur th er
bibl iographical inform ation see Yanag ida Se i/an , Th e Li 'Tai Fa Pao Ch i in
Early Ch an, p. 44 IT.
10. Pr ice , and M ou-Lan .
The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng.
Berkeley: The Clea r Light Ser ies, 1969, p . 32.
11 . Yan agida Sei/.an, T he Li Ta i Yd Pao Ch i, p . 30 .
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12 .
Ibid. , p. 3 1.
13. Ibid., p . 3 2.
14 . Ibid., p. 3 2.
15 .
Taken f rom
The Root T antra Without Birth Being the Great Sky Like
Vajrasattva ( T b . rDo rje Sem s dPa N am Kha Che rTse Ba i rGyud sKye Ba Med
Pa.)
in Hanson-Barber, A.VV.
The Life and Teachings of Vairocana
(unpub l i shed
disser tation , Univ. of Wisconsin-M adison, 1984), p. 196. T b . text,
Vairo rGyud
Bum. Le h: 1971 , vol. 1, p. 293 .
16. Also taken from
The Root Tantra Without Birth . .
. , p. 201; Tb. text,
p .
297.
17 .
Ibid. , p. 21 1; T b . text, p. 3 05 .
18. Slein, R.A., I l lum ina tion Subite ou Saisie Sim altan ee, in Revue d-e
I Histoire des Religious, vol. 179, 1971.
19.
The Preciou s Whe el of Disputation
(Tb .
Rin po che rTsad pa i Khor lo
bZhugs.)
F I T Peking ed . no . 584 1 , p . 12 1 , p i t. 1. Ha nso n-B arb er , p . 258.
20. Ibid. , p. 196, T b . text, p. 294.
2 1 . Ibid. , p. 23 0, T b. text, p. 117,
pi t .5 .
2 2 .
From the
A Tanlric Com mentary to the Heart Sutra
in Hanson-Barber ,
p .
183 (Tb .
Sher sNying
Grel
jm sNgags su Grelpa bZhugs)
P I T Pek ing ed . no .
5 48 0 ,
p . 113 ,
plt.5. '
2 3 . From Root Tantra . . . . p . 204 , Tb. text , p . 299.
24 . From The Precious Wheelof Disputation,p. 23 6; T b . text, p. 118,pi t .3 .
25.
Ibid. , p. 25 7; T b. text, 118, plt .4 .
Chinese characters
a. jg,k
c f b
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