| Huayan | |||||||||||||||||
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 TheThree Worthies of Huayan (Manjushri (left),Vairocana (center), andSamantabhadra (right)), a triad venerated in Huayan –Dazu Rock Carvings,Chongqing,China | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 华严宗 | ||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 華嚴宗 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Hoa Nghiêm tông | ||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 華嚴宗 | ||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 화엄종 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 華嚴宗 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 華厳宗 | ||||||||||||||||
| Kana | けごん しゅう | ||||||||||||||||
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| Sanskrit name | |||||||||||||||||
| Sanskrit | Avataṃsaka | ||||||||||||||||
TheHuayan school ofBuddhism (traditional Chinese:華嚴;simplified Chinese:华严;pinyin:Huáyán,Wade–Giles:Hua-Yen, "Flower Garland," from theSanskrit "Avataṃsaka") is aMahayana Buddhist tradition that developed inChina during theTang dynasty (618-907).[1] The Huayan worldview is based primarily on theBuddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra (Chinese:華嚴經;pinyin:Huáyán jīng,Flower Garland Sutra) as well as on the works of Huayan patriarchs, likeZhiyan (602–668),Fazang (643–712),Chengguan (738–839),Zongmi (780–841) andLi Tongxuan (635–730).[2][1]
Another common name for this tradition is theXianshou school (Xianshou being another name for patriarch Fazang).[3] The Huayan School is known asHwaeom inKorea,Kegon inJapan andHoa Nghiêm inVietnam.
The Huayan tradition considers theFlower Garland Sutra to be the ultimate teaching of the Buddha.[1] It also draws on other sources, like theMahayana Awakening of Faith, and theMadhyamaka andYogacara philosophies.[4] Huayan teachings, especially its doctrines of universal interpenetration, nature origination (which sees all phenomena as arising from a single ontological source), and theomnipresence ofBuddhahood, were very influential onChinese Buddhism and also on the rest ofEast Asian Buddhism.[5][4] Huayan thought was especially influential onChan (Zen) Buddhism, and some scholars even see Huayan as the mainBuddhist philosophy behind Chan/Zen.[6][2]
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TheBuddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra (The Garland of Buddhas Sutra, orThe Multitude of Buddhas Sutra) is a compilation of sutras of various length, some of which originally circulated as independent works before being combined into the "full"Avataṃsaka.[7] One of the earliest of these texts, theTen Stages Sutra (Daśabhūmika), may date from the first century CE.[8] These various sutras were probably joined shortly before its translation into Chinese, at the beginning of the 5th century CE.[8][9]
There are various versions of the ChineseAvataṃsaka (Chinese:Huāyán Jīng 華嚴經, "Splendid Flower Adornment Sutra"). The full sutra was translated into Chinese three times (in versions of 40, 60, and 80 fascicles or"scrolls", 卷).[10] The earliest Chinese texts associated with theAvataṃsaka are theDousha jing (Taisho 280), produced byLokaksema (fl. 147–189) in the latter part of the second century CE, and thePusa benye jing (Book of the Original Acts that Adorn the Bodhisattva, T. 281), translated by Zhi Qian (fl. ca. 220–257 CE) in the early to mid third century. There is evidence that these smaller or partialAvataṃsaka sutras circulated on their own as individual scriptures.[11]
As soon as the largeHuāyán Sūtra appeared in China, anexegetical tradition grew up around the text in order to explain it.[3] The first translation of the largerHuāyán Sūtra (in 60 fascicles) is often dated to theSouthern Dynasties era (c. 420–589), when a translation team led byGandharan masterBuddhabhadra produced a full Chinese translation of the text.[12] There is also evidence of aHuāyán Sūtra tradition in theNorthern Dynasties (386-581) era. TheAvataṃsaka teachings are associated with figures like Xuangao (402-444) who led a community with Daorong at Binglingsi cave, and Zhidan (c. 429–490), who argued that only theHuāyán Sūtra teaches the "sudden teaching" (while other Mahayana texts teach the gradual teaching).[12]
Xuangao, a disciple of Buddhabhadra, was associated with the teaching of the "Huāyán Samadhi" which is said to have been passed on to him by Buddhabhadra.[13] According to Hamar, Xuangao's tradition is a precursor to the Huayan school and may have even composed the apocryphalBrahma's Net Sūtra(Fanwang Jing T1484).[14] Xuangao's tradition is also associated with Chinese meditation cave grottoes such as theYungang Grottoes,Maijishan Grottoes and theBingling Temple Grottoes.[15]
The origins of some of the teachings of the Huāyán school proper can also be traced back to theDilun school, which was based onthe Shidijing lun (十地經論),Vasubandhu's commentary to theDaśabhūmikā-sutra (which is part of theAvataṃsaka Sūtra) translated byBodhiruci and Ratnamati.[16] Dilun figures like Ratnamati's disciple Huiguang (468–537) emphasized the study of the entireAvataṃsaka and Dilun masters likely had their own commentaries on the text (but none have survived in full). Only a few extracts remain, such as parts of Huiguang's commentary and parts of Lingyu's (518–605).[16]
Lingbian (靈辨, 477–522) was another early figure who studied and commented on theAvataṃsaka.[16] He is referred to by Fazang as a great devotee ofManjushri, and 12 fascicles of Lingbian's commentary to theAvataṃsaka survive, being the earliest significant Chinese commentary on theAvataṃsaka which is extant.[16]Jingying Huiyuan (523-592) was another prominentDasabhūmika master in the North. Huiyuan's lineage was a major force in transmitting the Dasabhūmika tradition in Chang'an during the earlySui dynasty. Other monks like Pu'an also focused on Huayan sutra study during the Sui. The integration of different Huayan sutra lineages at Zhixiang temple became a key base for the future Huayan School.[17]
The founding of the Huayan school proper is traditionally attributed to a series of five patriarchs who were instrumental in developing the school's doctrines during theTang dynasty (618 to 907). These Huayan "patriarchs" (though they did not call themselves as such) were erudite scholar-practitioners who created a unique tradition of exegesis, study and practice through their writings and oral teachings.[18][17] They were particularly influenced by the works of the Dilun and Shelun schools ofChinese Yogacara.[16]
These five patriarchs are:[19][20][4][17]
While the above list is the most common one, other Huayan patriarchal lists add different figures, such asNagarjuna,Asvaghosa,Vasubandhu, and the lay masterLi Tongxuan (Chinese:李通玄, 635?-730), the author of theXin Huayan Jing Lun (新華嚴經論,Treatise on the new translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra), a popular and lengthy commentary on theAvatamsaka.[3][29]Li Tongxuan's writings on theHuayan sutra were particularly influential on later Chan Buddhists, who often preferred his interpretations.[30]
Another important Huayan figure of the Tang era was Fazang's main discipleHuiyuan (慧苑, 673–743) who also wrote a commentary on theAvatamsaka Sutra.[29] Because Huiyuan modified some of Fazang's interpretations, he was retroactively sidelined from the Huayan lineage of patriarchs by later figures likeChengguan who criticized some of his doctrinal positions.[16] According to Imre Hamar, Huiyuan compared theDaoist teachings on the origination of the world to the Huayan teaching on the dependent arising of the tathagatagarbha. Huiyuan also incorporated Daoism and Confucianism into his panjiao (doctrinal classification) system. Chengguan disagreed with this.[31]
After the time of Zongmi and Li Tongxuan, Chinese Huayan generally stagnated in terms of new developments, and then eventually began to decline. The school, which had been dependent upon the support it received from the government, suffered severely during theGreat Buddhist Persecution of the Huichang era (841–845), initiated byEmperor Wuzong of Tang.[26] The Huichang persecution caused significant destruction of temples and scriptures, disrupting the formal transmission lineage of the Huayan School. After this, the history of the school became more about the transmission of Huayan doctrine within the broader Buddhist landscape rather than a strict lineage.[17] The middle and late Tang also saw the unity of Chan and doctrines, including Huayan. During this time Huayan philosophy was absorbed into Chan, with some figures considered patriarchs of both schools. Xiqian's (700-790)Can Tong Qi (参同契) is an example of Chan absorbing Huayan theory.[17]
The school stagnated even further in the conflicts and confusion of the late Tang dynasty and theFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-979) era. After the fall of the Tang dynasty several Huayan commentaries were lost. However, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era, Huayan remained influential, being part of the "Huayan-Chan" lineages influenced by Zongmi which were very popular in the north, especially in theKhitanLiao Empire (916-1125) and theTangut kingdom (1038-1227) of theWestern Xia.[32] Various masters from these non-Chinese kingdoms are known, such as Xianyan (1048-1118) from Kailong temple in Khitan Upper capital, Hengce (1049-1098), Tongli dashi from Yanjing, Daoshen (1056?-1114?), Xianmi Yuantong, from LiaoWutaishan, Zhifu (fl. during the reign of Liao Daozong, 1055–1101).[33]
The Liao and Xia Huayan traditions were more syncretic, adopting elements of Zongmi'sHeze Chan influenced Huayan, as well asChinese Esoteric Buddhism (zhenyan),Hongzhou Chan, and evenTibetan Buddhism in some cases.[34] Several texts from the Liao Huayan tradition have survived, such as master Daochen's (道㲀) Chan influencedAccount of Mirroring Mind (Jingxin lu, 鏡心錄) and his esoteric influencedCollection of Essentials for Realization of Buddhahood in the Perfect Penetration of the Exoteric and Secret Teachings (Xianmi Yuantong chengfo xinyao, 顯密圓通成佛心要 T no. 1955).[33][35] Another important Huayan esoteric source of this period is Jueyuan's sub-commentary on Yixing’s commentary to theMahāvairocana sūtra.[36]
According to Daochen, the best approach to Buddhahood is the “combined practice of the exoteric and esoteric” (xianmi shuangxiu, 顯密雙修) which is for those of the highest capacity. However, he also recommended that those of "middling and lesser faculties...can choose to practice a single method according to their preference, be it the exoteric or esoteric.”[37] Daochen's esoteric teachings focused on the dharani ofCundi which he saw as "the mother of all Buddhas and the life of all bodhisattvas" and also drew on theMani mantra. The combined use of both of these is found in theKāraṇḍavyūhasūtra.[38]
Another Liao Tangut work which survives from this period isThe Meaning of the Luminous One-Mind of the Ultimate One Vehicle (Jiujing yicheng yuan-ming xinyao 究竟一乘圓明心要) by Tongli Hengce (通理恆策, 1048–1098).[34] The works of the Liao tradition are important because they served as one of the sources of the later Huayan revival during the Song.[34]
After theFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Huayan lineage experienced a revival in the followingSong dynasty (960-1279) centered around Hangzhou. A prominent feature of this period of Huayan history was the integration of Huayan doctrine with other Buddhist schools, including Chan, Pure Land, and Tiantai.[17] During the Song, Tang era Huayan commentaries which had been dispersed were returned in 1085 by theGoryeo monkUicheon.Uicheon (義天, 1055–1101) was thus an important figure of this revival period.[39] The chief Chinese Huayan figures of the Song dynasty revival were Changshui Zixuan (子璇, 965–1038), Jinshui Jingyuan (靜源, 1011–1088), and Yihe (義和, c. early twelfth century).[40][30]
Jingyuan is known for his sub-commentary to Chengguan'sHuayan sutra commentary, while Zixuan is famed for his twenty-fascicleNotes on the Meaning of theŚūraṅgama Sūtra (首楞嚴義疏注經).[30][28] While the Huayan school is generally seen as having been weaker than Chan or Tiantai during the Song, it still enjoyed considerable support from Chinese elites and from Buddhist monastics.[41] Another important figure in the Song revival of Huayan was Guangzhi Bensong (廣智本嵩, fl. 1040), a master from the fromKaifeng. He is well known for hisThirty gāthās on the Contemplation of the Dharma-realm and Seven syllables of the title of the Huayan (Huayan qizi jing ti fajie guan sanshi men song 華嚴 七字經題法界觀三十門頌, Taisho no. 1885). Some of his other works have survived in Tangut.[34]
New Huayan practice and ritual manuals were also written during the Song, such as Jinshui Jingyuan's "Rites on Practicing the Vows ofSamantabhadra" (Chinese: 華嚴普賢行願修證儀;Pinyin:Huáyán Pǔxián Xíngyuàn Xiūzhèng Yí, Taisho Supplementno. X1473).[42] These rites were influenced byTiantai school ritual manuals, as well as by earlier Huayan materials.[39][42] Song era Huayan monks also developed distinctly Huayan forms of "concentration and contemplation" (zhi guan), inspired by Tiantai methods as well as theAvatamsaka sutra and Huayan thought.[39]
Jinshui Jingyuan also helped organize some state recognized Huayan public monasteries, like Huiyin temple.[3][42] Jingyuan is known for his association withMount Wutai, which has been a key center for Huayan Buddhism since the Song dynasty.[3]
In the Song, Huayan studies also thrived within the Chan School. Chan monks like Yongming Yanshou (904-975) drew on Huayan in their works. Yanshou quoted extensively from Huayan works in hisZong Jing Lu (宗镜录). Prominent Chan masters like Keqin (1063-1135) also incorporated Huayan doctrine into their teachings and writings.[17]
In the later Song, there were also four great Huayan masters: Daoting, Shihui (1102-1166), Guanfu, and Xidi.[28]
During theYuan dynasty (1271-1368), the government encouraged the integration between Chan and doctrinal teaching. While Chan records incorporated more Huayan content, the main force transmitting Huayan theories was from doctrinal schools. Figures like Datong and Purui were active in promoting Huayan studies, often following the style of Tang masters like Chengguan.[28][17]
During the Ming dynasty, Huayan remained influential. One important event during the early Ming was when the eminent Huayan monk Huijin (1355-1436) was invited by theXuande Emperor (1399-1435) to the imperial palace to preside over the copying of ornate manuscripts of theBuddhāvataṃsaka,Prajñāpāramitā,Mahāratnakūṭa, andMahāparinirvāṇa Sūtras.[43]
During the sixteenth century,Beijing was the center of Chinese Buddhist doctrinal study.[44] During the late Ming, Kongyin Zhencheng (1547–1617), Lu'an (or Lushan) Putai (fl. 1511) of Beijing's Da Xinglong monastery and Yu’an Zhengui (born 1558) were some of the most influential scholars of Huayan thought.[45][44] Huayan philosophy was also influential on some of the most eminent monks of the Ming era, includingZibo Zhenke andYunqi Zhuhong (1535–1615), both of whom studied and drew on Huayan thought and promoted the unity of practice (Chan and Pure Land) and study.[46][47] Zhuhong himself was a student of Wuji Mingxin (1512-1574) of Bao'en monastery, who in turn was a disciple of Lu'an Putai.[44] Another influential student of Wuji was Xuelang Hong'en (1545-1608), who became the most famous teacher inJiangnan and lead revival of Huayan studies during this time.[44] His main students include Yiyu Tongrun (1565-1624), Cangxue Duche (1588-1656), Tairu Minghe (1588-1640) and Gaoyuan Mingyu (fl. 1612).[44]
During theQing dynasty (1644-1912), Huayan philosophy continued to develop and exert a strong influence onChinese Buddhism and its other traditions, including Chan andPure Land. During the Qing, the most influential Huayan figures were Baiting Xufa (柏亭續法 1641-1728) and Datian Tongli (1701-1782).[44] Xufa wrote various works on nianfo, including:Short Commentary on the Amitabhasutra, andStraightforward Commentary on theAmitāyurdhyāna Sūtra”. Another influential figure was the lay scholarPeng Shaosheng (彭紹升, 1740–1796).[48]
Baiting Xufa and Peng Shaosheng were known for their synthesis of Huayan thought with Pure Land practice which is termed "Huayan-Nianfo".[48] For the scholar monk Xufa, the practice ofnianfo (contemplation of the Buddha) was a universal method suitable for everyone which was taught in theAvatamsaka Sutra and could lead to an insight into the Huayan teachings of interpenetration.[48] Xufa generally defended the mind-only Pure land view which saw the Pure land andAmitabha Buddha as reflections of the “one true mind” (yixin 一心, zhenxin 真心) or the "one truedharmadhatu."[48] Similarly, for Peng Shaosheng, Amitabha was synonymous with the Vairocana Buddha of theAvatamsaka sutra, and the pure land was part of Vairocana's Lotus Treasury World. As such, the practice of nianfo and of the methods of theAvatamsaka would lead to rebirth in the Pure land (which is non-dual with all worlds in the universe) and see Buddha Amitabha (which is equal to seeing all Buddhas).[48]
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In the 7th century, the Huayan school was transmitted intoSilla, where it is known as Hwaeom (화엄).[49] This tradition was transmitted by the monkUisang (의상대사, 625–702), who had been a student ofZhiyan together with Fazang.[50] After Uisang returned to Korea in 671, established the school and wrote various Hwaeom works, including a popular poem called theBeopseongge, also known as theDiagram of the Realm of Reality, which encapsulated the Huayan teaching.[51][52] In this effort, he was greatly aided by the powerful influences of his friendWonhyo, who also studied and drew on Huayan thought and is considered a key figure of Korean Hwaeom.[53] Wonhyo wrote a partial commentary on theAvataṃsaka Sūtra (theHwaŏm-gyŏng so).[54] Another important Hwaôm figure wasChajang (d. between 650 and 655).[55]
After the passing of these two early monks, the Hwaeom school eventually became the most influential tradition in Silla, remaining so until its demise.[56] Royal support allowed various Hwaôm monasteries to be constructed on allfive of Korea's sacred mountains, and the tradition became the main force behind the unification of various Korean Buddhist cults, such as those ofManjushri,Maitreya andAmitābha.[56] Important figures include the Silla monk Beomsu, who introduced the work of Chengguan to Korea in 799, and Seungjeon, a disciple of Uisang.[57] Another important figure associated with Hwaôm was the literatus Choe Chiweon. He is known for his biographies of Fazang and Uisang, as well as other Huayan writings.[58] Towards the end of the Silla era, Gwanhye ofHwaeomsa and Master Heuirang (875-927) were the two most important figures. During this period, Hwaeomsa andHaeinsa were the centers of sub-sects that disputed with each other on matters of doctrine.
Hwaeom remained the predominant doctrinal school in theGoryeo (918–1392).[59] An important figure of this time wasGyunyeo (923–973).[60][61] He is known for his commentary on Uisang'sDiagram of the Realm of Reality.[62] He also unified the southern and northern factions of Hwaeomsa and Haeinsa. Korean Buddhism declined severely under the ConfucianJoseon era (1392–1910). All schools were forced to merge into one single school, which was dominated by theSeon tradition. Within the Seon school, Hwaeom thought would continue to play a strong role until modern times and various Hwaeom commentaries were written during the Joseon era.[62]
Kegon (Japanese:華厳宗) is theJapanese transmission of Huayan.[63] Huayan studies were founded in Japan in 736 when the scholar-priestRōben (689–773), originally a monk of theEast Asian Yogācāra tradition, invited the Korean monkShinjō (traditional Chinese:審祥; ;pinyin:Shenxiang;Korean pronunciation:Simsang) to give lectures on theAvatamsaka Sutra at Kinshōsen Temple (金鐘山寺, also 金鐘寺Konshu-ji orKinshō-ji), the origin of laterTōdai-ji. When the construction of the Tōdai-ji was completed, Rōben became the head of the new Kegon school in Japan and received the support ofemperor Shōmu.[64] Kegon would become known as one of theNanto Rikushū (南都六宗) or "Six Buddhist Sects ofNanto". Rōben's discipleJitchū continued administration of Tōdai-ji and expanded its prestige through the introduction of imported rituals.
Kegon thought would later be further popularized byMyōe (1173–1232), the abbot and founder ofKōzan-ji Kegon temple.Myōe combined the Kegon lineage withTendai andShingon esoteric lineages.[65][66][67] He was a prolific scholar monk who composed over 50 works.[68] Myōe promoted the practice of themantra of light (kōmyō shingon) as simple efficacious practice that was available to all, lay and monastic. He also promoted the idea that this mantra could lead to rebirth inAmitabha's pure land, thus providing a Kegon alternative to popular Japanese Pure Land methods.[69]
Over time, Kegon incorporated esoteric rituals fromShingon, with which it shared a cordial relationship. Its practice continues to this day, and includes a few temples overseas.
Another important Kegon figure wasGyōnen (1240–1321), who was a great scholar (who studied numerous schools includingMadhyamaka,Shingon, andRisshu Vinaya) and led a revival of the Kegon school in the lateKamakura era.[70] He was also known as a great historian ofJapanese Buddhism and as a great Pure Land thinker.[70] His Pure Land thought is most systematically expressed in hisJōdo hōmon genrushō (淨土法門源流章, T 2687:84) and it was influenced by various figures of his day, such as the Jodo monk Chōsai, and the Sanron figure Shinkū Shōnin, as well as by his understanding of Huayan thought.[70]
In theTokugawa period, another Kegon scholarly revival occurred under the Kegon monk Hōtan (1657-1738. a.k.a. Sōshun, Genko Dōjin) and his disciple Fujaku (1707-1781).[70]
During theRepublican Period (1912–1949), various monks were known for their focus on Huayan teaching and practice. Key Huayan figures of this era include Cizhou (1877–1958), Zhiguang (1889–1963), Changxing, Yingci,Yang Wenhui, Yuexia, Shouye, and Kefa. Some of these figures were part of a network of Huayan study and practice.[3]
In 1914, Huayan University, the first modern Buddhist monastic school, was founded inShanghai to further systematize Huayan teaching and teach monastics. It helped to expand the Huayan tradition into the rest of intoEast Asia,Taiwan, and the West. The university managed to foster a network of educated monks who focused on Huayan Buddhism during the 20th century. Through this network, the lineage of the Huayan tradition was transmitted to many monks, which helped to preserve the lineage down to the modern day via new Huayan-centred organizations that these monks would later found.[71]
Several new Huayan Buddhist organizations have been established since the latter half of the 20th century. In contemporary times, the largest and oldest of the Huayan-centered organizations in Taiwan is theHuayan Lotus Society (Huayan Lianshe 華嚴蓮社), which was founded in 1952 by the monk Zhiguang and his disciple Nanting, who were both part of the network fostered by the Huayan University. Since its founding, the Huayan Lotus Society has been centered on the study and practice of the Huayan Sutra. It hosts a full recitation of the sutra twice each year, during the third and tenth months of the lunar calendar. Each year during the eleventh lunar month, the society also hosts a seven-day Huayan Buddha retreat (Huayan foqi 華嚴佛七), during which participants chant the names of the buddhas and bodhisattvas in the text. The society emphasizes the study of the Huayan Sutra by hosting regular lectures on it. In recent decades, these lectures have occurred on a weekly basis.[71]
Like other Taiwanese Buddhist organization's, the Society has also diversified its propagation and educational activities over the years. It produces its own periodical and runs its own press. It also now runs a variety of educational programs, including a kindergarten, a vocational college, and short-term courses in Buddhism for college and primary-school students, and offers scholarships. One example is their founding of theHuayan Buddhist College (Huayan Zhuanzong Xueyuan 華嚴專宗學院) in 1975. They have also established branch temples overseas, most notably in California'sSan Francisco Bay Area. In 1989, they expanded their outreach to theUnited States of America by formally establishing theHuayan Lotus Society of the United States (Meiguo Huayan Lianshe 美國華嚴蓮社). Like the parent organization in Taiwan, this branch holds weekly lectures on the Huayan Sutra and several annual Huayan Dharma Assemblies where it is chanted. It also holds monthly memorial services for the society's spiritual forebears.[71]
In Mainland China, Huayan teachings began to be more widely re-propagated after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Various monks from the network of monks fostered by the original Huayan University, such as Zhenchan (真禪) and Mengcan (夢參), were the driving factors behind the re-propagation as they travelled widely throughout China as well as other countries such as the United States and lectured on Huayan teachings. In 1996, one of Mengcan's tonsured disciples, the monk Jimeng (繼夢), also known as Haiyun (海雲), founded theHuayan Studies AssociationArchived 2019-09-30 at theWayback Machine (Huayan Xuehui 華嚴學會) inTaipei, which was followed in 1999 by the founding of the largerCaotangshan Great Huayan Temple (Caotangshan Da Huayansi 草堂山大華嚴寺). This temple hosts many Huayan-relatedactivities, including a weekly Huayan Assembly. Since 2000, theassociation has grown internationally, with branches inAustralia,Canada, and theUnited States.[71]
The doctrines of the Huayan school ended up having profound impact on the philosophical attitudes ofEast Asian Buddhism. According to Wei Daoru their theory of perfect interfusion was "gradually accepted by all Buddhist traditions and it eventually permeated all aspects of Chinese Buddhism."[5] Huayan even is seen by some scholars as the main philosophy behindChan Buddhism.[6]
Huayan thought had a noticeable impact onEast Asian Esoteric Buddhism.Kukai (774-835) was deeply knowledgeable of Huayan thought and he saw Huayan as the highest exoteric view.[72] Some of Kukai's ideas, such as his view of Buddhahood in this body, was also influenced by Huayan ideas.[73]
During the post-Tang era, Huayan (along with Chan) thought also influenced theTiantai school.[74] Tiantai school figures who were influenced by Huayan and Chan were called the "off mountain" (shanwai) faction, and a debate ensued between them and the "home mountain" (shanjia) faction.[74]
Huayan thought was also an important source for thePure Land doctrine of theYuzu Nembutsu sect ofRyōnin (1072–1132).[75] Likewise, Huayan thought was important to some Chinese Pure Land thinkers, such as theMing exegeteYunqi Zuhong (1535–1615) and the modern lay scholarYang Wenhui (1837–1911).[76]
Chinese Chan was profoundly influenced by Huayan, though Chán also defined itself by distinguishing itself from Huayan.[77]Guifeng Zongmi, the Fifth Patriarch of the Huayan school, occupies a prominent position in the history of Chán.Mazu Daoyi, the founder of the influentialHongzhou school of Chan, was influenced by Huayan teachings, like the identity of principle and phenomena.[78] He also sometimes quoted from Huayan sources in his sermons, like Dushun'sFajie guanmen (Contemplation of the Realm of Reality).[79] Mazu's studentBaizhang Huaihai also draws on Huayan metaphysics in his writings.[80]
Dongshan Liangjie (806–869), the founder of theCaodong lineage, formulated his theory of theFive Ranks based on Huayan's Fourfold Dharmadhatu teaching.[81] The influentialCaodong text calledCantongqi, attributed toShitou, also draws on Huayan themes.[80] In a similar fashion,Linji, the founder of theLinji school, also drew on Huayan texts and commentaries, such as Li Tongxuan'sXin Huayan Jing Lun (新華嚴經論,Treatise on the new translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra).[82][83] This influence can also be seen in Linji's schema of the "four propositions".[80] According to Thomas Cleary, similar Huayan influences can be found in the works of other Tang dynasty Chan masters likeYunmen Wenyan (d. 949) andFayen Wenyi (885-958).[80]
During theSong dynasty, Huayan metaphysics were further assimilated by the various Chan lineages.[84] Cleary namesTouzi Yiqing (1032-1083) andDahui Zonggao (1089–1163) as two Song era Chan figures which drew on Huayan teachings.[85] The Ming era Chan masterHanshan Deqing (1546-1623) is known for promoting the study of Huayan and for his work on a new edition of Chengguan's commentary on the Huayan sutra.[86]
A similar syncretism with Zen occurred in Korea, where the Korean Huayan tradition influenced and was eventually merged withSeon (Korean Zen). The influence of Huayan teachings can be found in the works of the seminal Seon figureJinul.[87] Jinul was especially influenced by the writings of Li Tongxuan.[65]
Huayan thought has also been influential on the worldview ofThich Nhat Hanh, particularly his understanding of emptiness as "Interbeing".[88]
The Huayan school's central text is theAvataṃsaka Sūtra (Flower Garland Sutra,Ch.Huāyán Jīng), which is considered the supreme Buddhist revelation in this tradition. There are three different translations of the work in Chinese and other related sutras as well. According to Paul Williams, theAvataṃsaka Sūtra is not a systematic philosophical work, though it does contain variousMahayana teachings reminiscent ofMadhyamaka andYogacara, as well as mentioning a pure untainted awareness or consciousness (amalacitta).[89][2]
The sutra is filled with mystical and visionary imagery, focusing on figures like thebodhisattvasSamantabhadra andManjushri, and theBuddhasShakyamuni, andVairocana. Vairocana is the universal Buddha, whose body is the entire universe and who is said to pervade every atom in the universe with his light, wisdom, teachings, and magical emanations.[90]
According to theHuayan sutra:
The realm of the Buddhas is inconceivable, no sentient being can fathom it....The Buddha constantly emits great beams of light, in each light beam are innumerable Buddhas....The Buddha-body is pure and always tranquil, the radiance of its light extends throughout the world....The Buddha's freedom cannot be measured— It fills the cosmos and all space....With various techniques it teaches the living, sound like thunder, showering the rain of truth....All virtuous activities in the world come from the Buddha's light....In all atoms of all lands Buddha enters, each and every one, producing miracle displays for sentient beings: Such is the way of Vairocana....In each atom are many oceans of worlds, their locations each different all beautifully pure. Thus does infinity enter into one, yet each unit's distinct, with no overlap....In each atom are innumerable lights pervading the lands of the ten directions, all showing the Buddhas’ enlightenment practices. The same in all oceans of worlds. In each atom the Buddhas of all times appear, according to inclinations; While their essential nature neither comes nor goes, by their own power they pervade the worlds.[91]
All these awakened activities and skillful techniques (upaya) are said to lead all living beings through thebodhisattva stages and eventually toBuddhahood. These various stages of spiritual attainment are discussed in various parts of the sutra (book 15, book 26).[92]
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An important doctrine that the Huayan school drew from this sutra is the idea that all levels of reality are interrelated, interpenetrated and interfused, and so "inside everything is everything else". As theHuayan sutra states:
They . . . perceive that the fields full of assemblies, the beings and aeons which are as many as all the dust particles, are all present in every particle of dust. They perceive that the many fields and assemblies and the beings and the aeons are all reflected in each particle of dust.[90]
According to Dumoulin, the Huayan vision of "unity in totality allows every individual entity of the phenomenal world its uniqueness without attributing aninherent nature to anything".[93] According to Williams, this interfused vision of the cosmos is the total realm of all phenomena, the "Dharma realm" (Dharmadhatu) as seen from the point of view of a Buddha. The focus of the Huayan sutra is thus how to attain this contemplative universal vision of ultimate reality, as well as the miraculous powers of Buddhas and bodhisattvas with which they communicate their vision of the ultimate truth.[90]
Furthermore, because all things are interconnected and interfused, the Buddha (and his cosmic body and universal light) is present everywhere and so is his wisdom, which is said to be all pervasive. As chapter 32 of the sutra states: "in the class of living beings there is no place where the wisdom ofTathagata is not present."[94]
TheAwakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Dasheng Qixin Lun, 大乘起信論) was another key scriptural source for Huayan masters like Fazang and Zongmi, both of whom wrote commentaries on this treatise.[95] TheLotus sutra was also seen as an important scripture in Huayan. Various Huayan masters saw theLotus sutra as a sutra of definitive (ultimate) meaning alongside theAvatamsaka.[96] Fazang also considered theLankavatara sutra to be a definitive sutra, and he wrote a commentary on it.[97][98] TheSutra of Perfect Enlightenment was also particularly important for the Huayan patriarchZongmi.
The Huayen patriarchs wrote numerous other commentaries and original treatises.Fazang for example, wrote commentaries on theAvatamsaka, theLankavatara Sutra, theAwakening of Faith, theBrahmajāla Sūtra (Taisho no. 40, no. 1813) and theGhanavyūha Sūtra (no. X368 in the supplement to the Taisho canon,Xu zang jing 續藏經 vol. 34).[99][100][101]
Perhaps the most important commentaries for the Chinese Huayan school are Fazang's commentary on theAvatamsaka Sutra, theHuayan jing tanxuan ji (華嚴經探玄記,Record of Investigating the Mystery of the Avatamsaka sutra) in 60 fascicles and Chengguan'sExtensive Commentary on the Buddhāvataṃsaka sutra (Da fang-guang fo huayan jing shu, 大方廣佛華嚴經疏, T. 1735), and his sub-commentary (T. 1736).[16][102] Other Huayan figures likeZhiyan, andLi Tongxuan also wrote influential commentaries on theHuayan sutra.
Fazang wrote a number of other original Huayan treatises, such asTreatise on the Golden Lion, which is said to have been written to explain Huayan's view of interpenetration toEmpress Wu.[103] Another key Huayen treatise isOn the Meditation of the Dharmadhātu attributed to the first patriarchDushun.[104]
Peter N. Gregory notes that the Huayan commentarial tradition was: "not primarily concerned with a careful exegesis of the original meaning of the scripture." Instead it was concerned with specific doctrines, ideas and metaphors (such as nature origination, the dependent arising of the dharmadhatu, interfusion, and the six characteristics of all dharmas) which was inspired by scripture.[105]
Huayan thought seeks to explain the nature of theDharmadhatu (法界,fajie, the realm of phenomena, the Dharma realm), which is the world as it is ultimately, from the point of view of a fully awakened being. InEast Asian Buddhism, theDharmadhatu is the whole of reality, the totality of all things. Thus, Huayan seeks to provide aholistic metaphysics that explains all of reality.[106]
Huayan philosophy is influenced by theHuayan sutra, otherMahayana scriptures like theAwakening of Faith and theLotus Sutra, as well as by the various Chinese Buddhist traditions likeChinese Yogacara, the buddha-nature schools like Shelun and Dilun, andMadhyamaka (Sanlun). Huayan patriarchs were also influenced by non-buddhistChinese philosophy.[107]
Some key elements of Huayan philosophy are: the interpenetration and interfusion (yuanrong) of all phenomena (dharmas), "nature origination," (xingqi) - how phenomena arise out of an ultimate principle, which is buddha-nature, or the "One Mind", how the ultimate principle (li) and all phenomena (shi) are mutually interpenetrated, the relation between parts and the whole (understood through the six characteristics), a unique Huayan interpretation of theYogacara framework of the three natures (sanxing) and a unique view ofVairocana Buddha as an all pervasive cosmic being.[108][109][110]
A key doctrine of Huayan is the mutual containment and interpenetration (xiangru) of all phenomena (dharmas), also known as "perfect interfusion" (yuanrong, 圓融). This is associated with what is termed "dharmadhatupratityasamutpada" (法界緣起,fajie yuanqi, the dependent arising of the whole realm of phenomena), which is Huayan's unique interpretation ofdependent arising.[111][108] This doctrine is described by Wei Daoru as the idea that "countless dharmas (all phenomena in the world) are representations of the wisdom of Buddha without exception" and that "they exist in a state of mutual dependence, interfusion and balance without any contradiction or conflict."[5] According to the doctrine of interpenetration, any phenomenon exists only as part of the total nexus of reality, its existence depends on the total network of all other things, which are all equally connected to each other and contained in each other.[5]
According to Fazang, since the sum of all things determines any individual thing, “one is many, many is one” (yi ji duo, duo ji yi). Furthermore, according to Fazang “one in many, many in one” (yi zhong duo, duo zhong yi), because any dharma penetrates and is penetrated by the totality of all things.[110]Thomas Cleary explains this Buddhistholism as one which sees the universe "as one single nexus of conditions in which everything simultaneously depends on, and is depended on by, everything else. Seen in this light, then, everything affects and is affected by, more or less immediately or remotely, everything else; just as this is true of every system of relationships, so is it true of the totality of existence."[112] In this worldview, all dharmas are so interconnected that they are fused together without any obstructions in a perfectly harmonious whole (which is the entire universe, theDharmadhatu).[111]
In the Huayan school, the teaching of interpenetration is depicted through various metaphors, such asIndra's net, a teaching which may have been influenced by theGandhavyuha chapter's climax scene in Vairocana's Tower.[113] Indra's net is an infinite cosmic net that contains a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, with each jewel being reflected in all of the other jewels,ad infinitum. Thus, each jewel contains the entire net of jewels reflected within.[113]
Other Huayan metaphors included a hall of mirrors, the rafter and the building, and the world text.[114][115] The rafter-building metaphor can be found in Fazang's famous “Rafter Dialogue”.[111] Fazang argues that anyrafter (any part) is essential to the existence of its building (standing in for the universe, the dharmadhatu). Likewise, the identity and existence of any rafter is also dependent on it being part of a building (otherwise it would not be a rafter).[116][115] Therefore, any phenomenon is necessarily dependent upon all phenomena in the universe, and because of this, all phenomena lack any metaphysical independence or essential nature (svabhava).[117]
TheDiscernments of the Dharmadhatu attributed toDushun, the founding patriarch of the Huayan school, is structured around three meditative insights, or “discernments,” that distill the experiential and metaphysical implications of theHuayan Sutra. Rather than offering a textual exegesis, this work aims to render the Huayan teachings accessible for contemplation and practice. The first discernment affirms the identity of form (rūpa) and emptiness (śūnyatā), a theme rooted in Indian Mahayana thought. His presentation of the idea follows classic presentations of emptiness found in IndianPrajñaparamita andMadhyamaka texts.[118]
The second discernment, which Dushun entitles the "mutual non-obstruction ofli andshi," marks a distinctive turn in Huayan metaphysics and introduces new terminology unique toEast Asian Buddhism.[119] Dushun presents ultimate reality as a patterned activity, introducing the termli (principle or pattern) to characterize the underlying structure of reality as it is perceived inBuddhahood. This reframing of the ultimate as a regular universal principle presents the ultimate as an immanent reality manifest as the patterns of all phenomena. This is significantly different than the purelyapophatic truth of emptiness which communicates a lack of self-existence.[120][119] Dushun also employs the termshi (phenomena, events, or things) to refer to the multiplicity of empirical reality, to all things. By doing so, he broadens the focus of contemplation from the elementarydharmas alone to all types of things, including composite entities.[120][119]
The second discernment elaborates ten interrelated themes organized into five dialectical pairs: mutual pervasion, mutual manifestation, mutual concealment, identity, and distinction betweenli andshi. These thematic pairs collectively articulate the paradoxical claim that the universal (li) and the particular (shi) not only coexist but also interpenetrate and pervade each other fully. The analogy of waves and water (where each wave both arises from and pervades the ocean) serves to illustrate how discrete things can appear distinct while lacking fixed boundaries. This framework preserves individual differentiation while affirming a radical ontological interdependence.[120] Thus, according to the second discernment, each particular thing, due its empty, fluid and indeterminate nature, is filled with the ultimate principle of all things, and likewise the ultimate principle contains all particular things.[121]
The third and highest contemplative discernment, the “total pervasion and accommodation,” shifts the main focus of contemplation to phenomena (shi), and the relationships among them, abandoning any mention of principle (li) altogether.[122] This final discernment emphasizes the value of the phenomenal world and presents phenomena as self-sufficient, and groundless. Phenomena are presented here as having no ultimate base, support or source but themselves as interrelated things. Thus, in this final discernment, all things appear due to a radical interrelatedness with all other things, not due to any absolute reality that undergirds them.[122] Furthermore, in this discernment, each phenomenon is understood to encompass and be encompassed by all other phenomena. This is because the emptiness of all phenomena entails their total fullness, since their emptiness entails that they lack any essential boundaries.[122] As such, even the smallestparticle reflects and contains all other particles in thecosmos, in arecursive andfractal-like structure of relations.[120]
Dushun summarizes the discernments through the following short phrases: one is in one (common sense worldly view), one is in all (first discernment), all are in one (second discernment), all are in all (third discernment).[122] Dushun's threefold discernment formed the conceptual basis for later Huayan theories of perfect interfusion and totalistic harmony. Though Dushun’s articulation remains suggestive rather than fully systematic, it laid the groundwork for further philosophical elaboration by later figures such asFazang.[120]
One framework which is used by the Huayan tradition to further explain the doctrine of interpenetration is the "perfect interfusion of the six characteristics" (liuxiang yuanrong 六相圓融).[123] Each element of the six characteristics refers to a specific kind of metaphysical relation.[117][110] The six characteristics are:[117][110]
The second patriarch Zhiyan taught an important doctrine called the ten mysterious gates, or ten profound principles (十玄門 Shí Xuán Mén). These ten statements provide a further explication of the main implications and significance of the Huayan interfusion theory. The ten profound gates are:[17][124][125]
The Buddhist doctrine of interpenetration also has several further implications in Huayan thought:[126][4]
Furthermore, according to the lay Huayan masterLi Tongxuan, all things are just the one truedharma-realm (Ch.yi zhen fajie), and as such, there is no ontological difference between sacred and secular, awakening and ignorance, or even betweenBuddhahood and living beings.[4] Because of the unity of ordinary human life and enlightenment, Li also held that Chinese sages likeConfucius andLaozi also taught the bodhisattva path in their own way.[4]
The Huayan doctrines of interfusion and non-duality also lead to several seeminglyparadoxical views. Some examples include: (1) since any phenomenon X is empty, this implies X is also not X; (2) any particular phenomenon is an expression of and contains the absolute and yet it retains its particularity; (3) since each phenomenon contains all other phenomena, the conventional order of space and time is violated.[127]
A radical implication of the Huayan view is their view ofphilosophy of time. As perFazang,time is not as an independent entity but is entirely constituted by the interdependent relationships among all phenomena (dharmas). For Fazang, dharmas and their relationsare time; they do not exist "in" time. Each dharma's temporal designation as past, present, or future is relative andcontingent on its relationship to other dharmas, expressed through the binary relation “earlier than–later than.” In hisSanbao zhang, Fazang subdivides each of the three main tenses into three subcategories (e.g., past-past, past-present, past-future, etc.), emphasizing that temporal designations are mutually interdependent and context-dependent, with no absolute temporal identity. Tense arises only within specific relational pairings of dharmas and can change when the relational context changes, though within any given two-place relation, temporal roles remain fixed. Thus, Fazang affirms that a single dharma may be simultaneously past, present, and future when viewed from different relational standpoints.[128]
Fazang’s theory of causation also reducescausality to a relative and relational phenomenon, rather than a fixed law. Thus, Fazang affirms that causation flows not only from past to future but also from future to past, allowing the present to be both the recipient and generator of karmic influence. This acceptance ofretrocausality is understood in a framework in which the "present" has active power (youli) while the past and future are “without power” (wuli), yet still influenced by the present. Although causality is asymmetrical within each causal relationship, Fazang maintains that no single causal relationship or temporal perspective is ontologically privileged. Instead, all relational connections are equally valid, and their truth becomes fully evident only from the standpoint of enlightened wisdom, which transcends conventional notions of “before” and “after”, or "cause" and "effect". Thus, while Fazang's model includes temporal symmetry across relations and asymmetry within them, he does not claim that either is ontologically superior. A major implication of this view of causality is that one's future mindstream as a Buddha in the future can aid in the liberation of oneself in the present. As Fazang writes: "If we follow the logic of dependent origination, if there is not that (future) Buddha, then there is no me now. And if there is no me now, then there is not that Buddha."[128]
An important metaphysical framework used by Huayan patriarchs is that of principle (li 理, or the ultimate pattern) and phenomena (shi 事).[114][117] 'Principle' is the ultimate reality (paramārtha-satya) which is endless and without limits, while phenomena (shi) refers to the impermanent and relative dharmas.[114]
InFazang's influentialEssay on the Golden Lion (Taishō no. 1881), Fazang uses the statue of a goldenChinese lion as a metaphor for reality. The gold itself stands in for the ultimate principle, while the appearance and relative shape of the lion statue is the relative and dependent phenomena as they are perceived by living beings.[117] Because the ultimate principle is boundless, empty and ceaseless, it is like gold in that it can be transformed into many forms and shapes.[129] Also, even though phenomena appear as particular things, they lack any independent existence, since they all depend on the ultimate principle.[117]
Furthermore, Huayan sees the ultimate principle and the relative phenomena as interdependent, unified and interfused, that is to say, they arenon-dual.[130] Referring to the analogy of the golden lion, Paul Williams states:
Both gold and lion exist simultaneously; both, Fazang says, are perfect and complete. There are two ways of interpreting this obscure point. First, noumenon and phenomena mutually interpenetrate and are (in a sense) identical. There is no opposition between the two. The one does not cancel out the other. Second, Fazang explains elsewhere that since all things arise interdependently (following Madhyamika), and since the links of interdependence expand throughout the entire universe and at all time (past, present, and future depend upon each other, which is to say the total dharmadhatu arises simultaneously), so in the totality of interdependence, the dharmadhatu, all phenomena are mutually interpenetrating and identical.[130]
The ultimate principle is associated with various Mahayana terms referring to ultimate reality, such as the "One Mind" of theAwakening of Faith,Suchness, thetathagatagarbha (the womb oftathagatas), buddha-nature, or just "nature". This nature is the ontological source and ground of all phenomena.[116]
Nature origination (xingqi) is a key idea in Huayan thought. The term derives from chapter 32 of theAvataṃsaka Sūtra, titled "Nature Origination of the Jewel King Tathāgata" (Baowang rulai xingqi pin, Skt.Tathāgata-utpatti-sambhava-nirdesa-sūtra).[110][94] Nature origination refers to the manifestation of the ultimate nature in the phenomenal world and its interfusion with it.[94] That is to say, the ultimate, pure nature, is interdependent on and interpenetrates the entire phenomenal universe, while also being its source. For Huayan patriarchs likeFazang, the ultimate nature is thus seen as non-dual with all relative phenomena.[116] Because the ultimate source of all things is also interdependent and interconnected with them, it remains a ground which is empty of self-existence (svabhava) and thus it is not an independent essence, like amonotheistic God.[116][110][131]
In the preface to hisHsing yüan p'in shu,Chengguan wrote, "How great the true dhatu (ta-tsai chen-chieh)! The myriad dharmas owe their inception to it (wan-fa tzu-shih)."Zongmi elaborates on this, laying out his explanation of nature origination. For Zongmi, the "true dhatu" refers to the essential nature of the mind of the one dharmadhātu (yi fajie xin), while the myriad dharmas refer to its phenomenal appearances. "The one true dharmadhātu" is thus the pure mind that is the source of both buddhas and sentient beings. As Zongmi says, "There is not a single dharma that is not a manifestation of the original mind. Nor is there a single dharma that does not conditionally arise from the true dhatu."[132]
Zongmi explains that this one dharmadhātu gives rise to all phenomena through two orders of causation: [1] nature origination (xingqi), and [2]conditioned origination (yuanqi). Regarding the former, where "nature" refers to the source qua the pure mind, "origination" refers to its manifestation as phenomenal appearances.[133] This also refers to "the arising of functioning (yung) based on the essence (t'i)." For Zongmi, this means that "the entire essence of the dharmadhatu as the nature arises (ch'i) to form all dharmas."[134] Conditioned origination, on the other hand, refers to the manner in which phenomena arise contingent upon other phenomena. As each phenomenon is linked to every other phenomenon, all phenomena are infinitely contingent. But while every phenomenon is connected to every other phenomenon, nature origination means that each of these phenomena is simultaneously based on the nature (xing), which is the ultimate source. In this way, conditioned origination is made possible by nature origination.[135]
Huayan teachings underwent a shift in emphasis in theTang from the doctrine ofshih-shih wu-ai toli-shih wu-ai, or from the unobstructed interpenetration of phenomenon and phenomenon to the unobstructed interpenetration of principle and phenomena. AlthoughFazang had taught that all phenomena were manifestations of an intrinsically pure mind, thus articulating his metaphysics within the ontological framework ofli-shih wu-ai, he nonetheless held thatshih-shih wu-ai, the unobstructed interpenetration of phenomenon and phenomenon, was the ultimate teaching. For Fazang,li-shih wu-ai is transcended inshih-shih wu-ai.[136][note 1] This position of seeing the interfusion of phenomena as being the highest perspective is also found in the works of the earlier Huayan patriarchs,Dushun andZhiyan.[138]
On the other hand, whileChengguan upheld Fazang's position thatshih-shih wu-ai represents the highest teaching of the Buddha, he emphasizedli-shih wu-ai, the unobstructed interpenetration of principle and phenomena, as that which madeshih-shih wu-ai possible. That is, it is only because all phenomena (shih) are formed from principle, or the absolute (li), that phenomena do not obstruct one another.Zongmi went even further than his teacher Chengguan in emphasizingli-shih wu-ai overshih-shih wu-ai, excluding the perfect teaching (referring toshih-shih wu-ai) from hispanjiao scheme, or classification of Buddhist doctrines, altogether.[137]
As an example of this shift in emphasis, where Chengguan understands the ten profundities, or ten mysteries (shi xuan), to be the paradigmatic expression ofshih-shih wu-ai and subjects them to an extensive analysis, Zongmi gives them little attention, mentioning them only in passing without bothering to list or discuss them any further. Moreover, where Chengguan had made use of the vocabulary ofshih andli to elaborate his theory of the fourfold dharmadhātu (that of: [1] phenomena,shih; [2] principle,li; [3] the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena,li-shih wu-ai; and [4] the non-obstruction of phenomenon and phenomenon,shih-shih wu-ai), Zongmi eschews the language ofli andshih altogether. Zongmi instead refers to a passage in which Chengguan emphasized the "one true dharmadhātu" (i-chen fa-chieh) as the essential reality and source of the four. This one true dharmadhātu is the One Mind embacing manifold existence. Zongmi identifies this with thetathāgatagarbha, the highest teaching in his doctrinal classification system.[139]
For Zongmi, the principal teaching of theAvataṃsaka Sūtra is the tathāgatagarbha, or buddha-nature, and not the unobstructed interpenetration of phenomena. However, he says the principal teaching which "reveals the nature" makes up only one part of theAvataṃsaka.[140] Zongmi accordingly displaces theAvataṃsaka in favor of theAwakening of Faith (which emphasizes the One Mind).[141] For Zongmi, the unobstructed interpenetration of all phenomena is seen as less important than the one true dharmadhātu upon which those phenomena are based.[142] In emphasizingli-shih wu-ai overshih-shih wu-ai, as well as nature origination over conditioned origination, Zongmi was also concerned to provide an ontological basis forChan practice, thus reflecting the wider context of Zongmi's thought.[143]
In the cosmology of theAvatamsaka sutra, our world is just one of the immeasurable number of worlds in a multiverse called "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers" (Kusumatalagarbha-vyuhalamkara-lokadhatu-samudra).[144] TheAvatamsaka states that this entire cosmos has been purified by the Buddha Vairocana through his bodhisattva practices for countless aeons, after having met countless Buddhas. The sutra also states that our world is in Vairocana'sbuddhafield.[145] Vairocana is closely associated withShakyamuni Buddha, in some cases he is even identified with him in theAvatamsaka Sutra.[146] Huayan generally sees Shakyamuni as an emanation body (nirmanakaya) from the ultimate BuddhaVairocana ("The Illuminator").[147]
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Furthermore, Huayan thought sees the entire universe as being the very body of Vairocana, who is seen as a supreme cosmic Buddha. Vairocana is infinite, his influence and light is limitless, pervading the entire universe.[109] Furthermore, Vairocana is really the ultimate principle (li), theDharmakaya, Suchness and "the substance underlying phenomenal reality".[148] However, while Vairocana as ultimate principle is eternal, it also transforms and changes according to the needs and conditions of sentient beings. Furthermore, Vairocana is empty, interdependent and interfused with all phenomena in the universe.[148] Thus, Vairocana is both immanent (due to its dependent and interfused character) and transcendent (as the immutable basis of all things).[149]
According toFazang, while thenirmanakaya Shakyamuni taught the otherMahayana sutras, Vairocana teaches theAvatamsaka Sutra through his ten bodies which are: the All-Beings Body, the Lands Body, the Karma Body, the Śrāvakas Body, the Pratyekabuddha Body, the Bodhisattvas Body, the Tathāgatas Body, the Wisdom Body, the Dharma Body, and the Space Body.[150] Fazang sees these ten bodies as encompassing all phenomena (animate and inanimate) in the "three realms", i.e. the entire universe.[151][94]
Huayan has a unique interpretation of thethree natures (trisvabhāva) of classical Yogācāra. According to Fazang, the three natures are ultimately identical, as each of the three natures has dual aspects ofemptiness and truth on the one hand, and existence and falsity on the other. For the perfected nature (pariniṣpanna), its true/empty aspect is that it is immutable, while its false/existing aspect is that it obeys conditions. The dependent nature (paratantra) has essencelessness for its true/empty aspect, while it has seeming reality for its false/existing aspect. Finally, the true/empty aspect of the imagined nature (parikalpita) is its nonexistence in reality, while its false/existing aspect is that it exists to the senses. Regarding their true/empty aspects, Fazang regards the immutability of the perfected, the essencelessness of the dependent, and the nonexistence of the imagined to be identical. He also regards their false/existing aspects to all be identical as well, namely the conditionedness of the perfected, the seeming reality of the dependent, and the existing to the senses of the imagined. For Fazang, the aspects in the true/empty category are "root," while the aspects in the false/existing category are "limbs." The limbs develop from the root. Thus, where the limbs are derivative, the root is their source.[152]
Fazang also differs from standard Yogācāra "pivot" models of the three natures, in which the imagined and the perfected pivot on the dependent. That is, in the Yogācāra pivot model, the imagined and perfected are merely different ways of apprehending the dependent. For Fazang, on the other hand, the dependent and the imagined natures pivot on the perfected (which is equated with the One Mind), as its unconditioned and conditioned aspects.[153]
The cosmogonic role of self-cognition
Unlike the classicalYogācāra model which regardsself-cognition as aneffect of consciousness' subjective aspect perceiving its objective aspect, Huayan treats self-cognition as thecause of consciousness' subjective and objective aspects.[154] Where the Yogācāra model is concerned with epistemology, the Huayan model is cosmogony-oriented.[155] That is, according toFazang, self-cognition is the original karmic appearance which causes the delusive world of samsāra with all its suffering.[156] It is a state in which the mind is aware only of itself.[157] According to Zhihua Yao, "It is not contributed by an external agency because the arising or awareness is inherent to the mind or reality itself."[158] However, although this arising is based on reality itself, Fazang says it is karmic since [1] it is an action and [2] it is the cause of suffering.[159] Of this karmic activity, Fazang states that, "Although this is (a form of) active conceptualization, it is exceedingly subtle and in a dependently originated single characteristic, that which can (cause) and that which is (caused) are not divided."[160]
The active role of suchness
According to Fazang, a semblance of suchness arises which stirs the Mind-as-Suchness to produce the karmic consciousness. This has two aspects which are simultaneous: [1] based on a semblance of suchness there arises delusion, and [2] based on delusion there arises a semblance of suchness. Fazang explains the karmic consciousness in terms of the essence of mind having become activated by the perfuming of ignorance.[161] As such, Fazang held thatsuchness plays an active role in creating the realm of perception and the world of phenomena. This is unlike the Yogācāra view ofXuanzang, for whom suchness plays only a passive role in the evolution of the phenomenal world.[162] According to thefaxiang (dharma characteristics) view associated with Xuanzang's Yogācāra, the relationship of phenomena to suchness is that of "house and ground" in which the ground (suchness) supports the house (phenomena), but the two are nonetheless distinct. On the other hand, according to thefaxing (dharma nature) view of Huayan, the relationship between suchness and phenomena is one of "water and wave" in which the wind of ignorance stirs the water (suchness) to produce waves (phenomena).[163]
The singular nature of the shared sensory world
Other differences between Huayan and classical Yogācāra were highlighted duringMing dynasty debates over the nature of thebhājanaloka, or container world (i.e. the shared world of sensory experience). According to classical Yogācāra, strictly speaking, each being occupies its own sensory world, which nonetheless overlaps with those of other beings with whom a suitable karmic connection is shared. Thus, according to this view, there are technically as many sensory worlds as there are beings. Huayan exegetes such as Kongyin Zhencheng (1547–1617) in the Ming dynasty rejected this. Drawing on Huayan notions, such as that of an all-encompassing holisticdharmadhātu, Zhencheng argued that there is just a single sensory world which is shared by all beings.[164][note 2]
Objective idealism versus subjective idealism
According toFung Yu-lan, where Xuanzang's classical Yogācāra is a system ofsubjective idealism, Huayan is one ofobjective idealism.[166] Regarding the Huayan position, Fung says, "the central element in Fa-tsang’s philosophy is a permanently immutable 'mind' which is universal or absolute in its scope, and is the basis for all phenomenal manifestations. That is to say, his philosophy is a system of objective idealism. As such, it approaches realism more closely than does an idealism which is purely subjective. This is because, in a system of objective idealism, it is possible for the objective world to survive even when separated from a subject."[167] Regarding the Yogācāra and Huayan schools,Wing-Tsit Chan says, "in both schools, the external world, called external sphere by Hsüan-tsang and the Realm of Facts by Fa-tsang, is considered manifestations of the mind. In both schools, these manifestations have universal and objective validity, although the degree of validity is higher in Hua-yen. The interesting thing is that Hua-yen presupposes a preestablished harmony while the Consciousness-Only School does not."[166]
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In order to understand the vast number of texts and teachings they had received from India, Chinese Buddhist schools developed schematic classifications of these various teachings (calledpanjiao),[95] such as theFive Periods and Eight Teachings of theTiantai school.
The Huayan school patriarch Zhiyan developed a five tiered doctrinal classification of the Buddha's teaching which was expanded on by later figures such as Fazang. The five tiers are:[168][169][170][4]
Huayan andChan had doctrinal arguments regarding which would be the correct concept of sudden awakening. The teachings of the Chan school were regarded as inferior by Huayan masters, a characterization which was rejected by Chan masters.[77]
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The Huayan school developed numerous practices as part of their conception of the bodhisattva path. These include devotional practices, studying, chanting and copying of theAvatamsaka sutra,repentance rituals, recitation ofdharanis, andmeditation.[3][42][171] These various elements might also be combined in ritual manuals such asThe Practice of Samantabhadra's Huayan Dharma Realm Aspiration and Realization (華嚴普賢行願修證儀,Taisho Supplement, No. X1473) by Jinshui Jingyuan (靜源) which are still practiced together by Huayan communities during day long events.[172]
According to Paul Williams, some of the central practices for the Huayan tradition were textual practices, such as the recitation of theAvataṃsaka Sūtra.[173] Theritual chanting, studying and copying of the sutra was often done in "Huayen Assemblies" (Huayanhui), who would meet regularly to chant the sutra. Chanting the entire sutra could take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.[3]
Regular chanting of important passages from the sutra is also common, particularly theBhadracaryāpraṇidhāna (The Aspiration Prayer for Good Conduct), sometimes called the "Vows of Samantabhadra".[174][175] Solo chanting practice was also common, and another common element of reciting the sutra was bowing to the sutra during the chanting.[3] Since this practice is time-consuming, it was also often done in solitary retreats calledbiguan, which could last years.[3]
Copying the entire sutra (or passages from the sutra) by hand was also another key practice in this tradition and some sutra copyists were known for their excellentcalligraphy. This practice was also sometimes combined with chanting and bowing as well.[3]Sutra copying is a traditional Buddhist practice which remains important in modern Chinese Buddhism. Another element that was sometimes added to this practice was to use one's own blood in the process of sutra copying (sometimes just blood mixed with the ink).[3] This blood writing was rare, but it was done by a few celebrated figures, likeHanshan Deqing (1546-1623) and theRepublican Period monk Shouye.[3]
Another practice which is often highlighted in theAvatamsaka sutra and in the Huayan school is that ofbuddhānusmṛti (Ch.nianfo), contemplation of the Buddha.[176] InChinese Buddhism, one popular method of contemplating the Buddha is to recite the Buddha's name. The practice of reciting the names of the Buddhas was also seen as a way to achieve rebirth in Vairocana'sPure Land, the Lotus Treasury World (Skt. Padmagarbha-lokadhātu; Ch.Lianhuazang shijie 蓮花藏世界).[177][178] This Pure Land contains the entire universe, including our world, and it is identical with the entireDharmadhatu.[178] As such, for Huayan, our own world (known as the "Sahā world") is also the Lotus Storehouse Pure Land.[179] Huayan also saw Vairocana's Pure land as non-dual and interfused withAmitabha's Pure Land ofSukhavati.[180]
The practice of Buddha contemplation was promoted by various figures, such as the Huayan patriarchsChengguan,Zongmi, theGoryeo monkGyunyeo (923–973) andPeng Shaosheng, a householder scholar of theQing dynasty.[177][179][180][48]
The patriarchGuīfēng Zōngmì taught four types of buddhānusmṛti (nianfo), a schema that was also adopted by later Chinese figures:[180] These four types of nianfo are the following:[181][180]
Another leading figure in the teaching of Huayan Nianfo was the 12th century Song monk Yihe (義和) who combined the method of nianfo with Huayan meditation teachings and the practice of theten vows of Samantabhadra and saw this practice as a method of realizing the Huayan vision of ultimate reality.[48] During the Qing, Baiting Xufa (1641-1728) and the lay scholar Peng Shaosheng (1740–1796) further promoted Huayan-Nianfo methods.[48] Huayan Pure Land practice also sometimes included devotion to bodhisattvas likeAvalokiteshvara. This promoted by figures like the Korean monksŬisang and Ch'ewŏn.[179][178]
The lay scholar-practitionerLi Tongxuan (635-730) writes of a meditative practice based on the 9th chapter of theAvatamsaka sutra. The practice, named "the contemplation of Buddhalight" (foguang guan), focused on contemplating and visualizing the universal light which is radiated by the Buddha in one's mind and expanding one's contemplation further and further outwards until it fills the entire universe.[183] This contemplation of the Buddha's light leads to a state of joyful tranquility which leads to insight into emptiness.[184] The meditative teachings of Li Tongxuan were especially influential on the Japanese Kegon monkMyōe, who promoted a similar practiced that he termed "the Samadhi of Contemplating the Buddha's Radiance" (Japanese:bukkō zanmaikan, 佛光三昧觀).[185][65]
Another visualization type meditation was promoted by the Korean Huayan monkCh’ewŏn. Ch’ewŏn taught visualization meditation (kwansang 觀想) on bodhisattvaAvalokiteshvara.[186] According to Ch’ewŏn, this is effective because Avalokiteśvara’s sphere of realization, the essence of one's own mind and Avalokiteśvara and one’s own body are mutually interfused and interpenetrating.[186]
Various Huayan texts provide different frameworks for the practice of meditation and the development ofsamadhi. Huayan sources mentions two keysamadhis, the ocean-seal samadhi (Ch.haiyin sanmei) and the huayan samadhi (huayan sanmei).[187] Some key Huayan sources which discuss meditation include Dushun'sContemplation of the Realm of Reality (Fajie guanmen) andThe Ending of Delusion and theReturn to the Source (Wangjin huanyuan) attributed to Fazang.[51] Dushun's meditative framework was based on three main stages of contemplation: (1) seeing all dharmas as empty, (2) the harmony of all dharmas with the ultimate principle, and (3) seeing all dharmas as equally containing each other without obstruction.[51] Another key Huayan contemplative text is the "Cessation and Contemplation in the Five Teachings of Huayan" (Huayan wujiao zhiguan 華嚴五教止觀).[107]
The theory of the "fourfold Dharmadhatu" (sifajie, 四法界) eventually became the central meditative framework for the Huayan tradition. This doctrinal and meditative framework is explained inChengguan's meditation manual titled "Meditative Perspectives on the Huayan Dharmadhatu" (Huayan Fajie Guanmen, 華嚴法界觀門) and its commentaries.[107] TheDharmadhatu is the goal of the bodhisattva's practice, the ultimate nature of reality which must be known or entered into. According to Fox, the Fourfold Dharmadhatu is "four cognitive approaches to the world, four ways of apprehending reality".[107]
These four ways of seeing reality are:[107][188]
According to Fox, "these dharmadhatus are not separate worlds – they are actually increasingly more holographic perspectives on a single phenomenological manifold...they more properly represent four types or orders of perspectives on experience."[107] Furthermore, for Huayan, this contemplation is the solution to the problem of suffering which lies in the "fixation or attachment to a particular perspective. What we think are the essences of objects are really therefore nothing but mere names, mere functional designations, and none of these contextual definitions need necessarily interfere with any of the others."[107]
Regarding the practical application of this teaching, Baiting Xufa correlated the practice ofnianfo with the fourfold Dharmadhatu as follows:[48]
Fazang promoted the practice of severaldharanis, such as the Xuanzang's version of theDhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara-ekadaśamukha.[189]
The synthesis of Huayan withChinese Esoteric Buddhist practices was a feature of the Buddhism of theKhitanLiao Dynasty.[190] Jueyuan, a Huayan monk from Yuanfu Temple during the Liao Dynasty and author of theDari jing yishi yanmi chao, practiced esoteric rituals likeHoma and Abhiseka based on theVairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra and the tradition ofYixing.[191] Furthermore, according to Sorensen, the iconography of the Huayan Vairocana Buddha and the Esoteric Mahavairocana also became fused during the post-Tang period.[192]
Perhaps the most important figure in the synthesis of Huayan and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism was the 11th century monk Daoshen (道蝗), author of theXianmi yuantong chengfo xinyao ji (顯密圓通成佛心要集Collection of Essentials for the Attainment of Buddhahood by Total [Inter-]Penetration of the Esoteric and the Exoteric, T1955).[193] The work is divided into three parts. Part one summarizes the Huayan philosophy, which Daoshen sees as the highest form of the explicit or manifest Buddhist teachings. It also discusses the praxis of Huayan, here called “cultivating the ocean of Samantabhadra’s practices”, which includes numerous exoteric Buddhist practices such as breath meditation, meditation on emptiness, prostrations, offerings, confession rites, vows, and buddha name recitation.[193]
The second part of this work teaches esoteric Buddhism or mantra method (Mijiao,Zhenyan), with a focus on theCundi dharani and other mantras (like theMani mantra) which are said to have many powerful effects and is recommended even for laypersons. Finally, the third part promotes "the systematic integration of exoteric doctrine and occult practice, arguing that each is incomplete without the other, whether they are practised in sequence or in tandem."[193]
According to Gimello:
Daozhen’s central thesis in the work is that the “body” of Huayan doctrine and the envisaged image of Cundi are somehow co-inherent, and that by invoking the presence of the goddess we somehow confirm the truth of the doctrines and render them practically efficacious. In other words, Daozhen holds that if one recites Cundi dharani and/or visualizes the dharani in its graphic form as an array of Sanskrit letters or Chinese characters, and then imagines the goddess’s anthropomorphic bodily image emerging from the intoned and envisioned syllables of the spell, all the while performing the corresponding manual gestures (mudra), one will thereby both quicken and verify the truth of the doctrines, and one will do this not merely allegorically but also, if I may say so, sacramentally.[193]
Important esoteric texts used in the Liao tradition included the:Cundī-dhāraṇī, theUsṇīsavijayā-dhāranī, theNīlakaṇthaka-dhāranī and theSutra on the Great Dharma Torch Dhāraṇī ( 大法炬陀羅尼 經,Da faju tuoluoni jing) among others.[191] In the Liao,stupas,pagodas and statues were often empowered with dharanis andmantras. These structures would often be filled or inscribed with dharanis, sutras, or mantras like theSix syllable mantra of Avalokiteshvara. Pillars inscribed with dhāraṇīs and mantras were also common.[194]
The synthesis of Esoteric Buddhist practice with Huayan Buddhism remained popular during theJin dynasty (1115–1234), whereUsṇīsavijayā andCundī practices were some of the most popular.[195] A similar synthesis of Huayan-Chan Buddhism (derived from Zongmi) with esoteric Buddhist teachings and practices fromTibetan Buddhism (mainlySakya andKagyu) also occurred in Buddhism of theWestern Xia (1038–1227) dynasty.[196]
Dharanis like theCundī-dhāraṇī, theUsṇīsavijayā-dhāranī, and theNīlakaṇthaka-dhāranī remain important in modern Huayan Buddhism and are chanted in modern Dharma assemblies. Another dharani / esoteric practice in modern Huayan is the contemplation of the 42 Avatamsaka syllables (a version of thearapacana alphabet, which is a contemplation found in various Mahayana sources).[197][198]
The Japanese Kegon school was known for adopting many esoteric mantras and practices from theShingon school. The Kegon monkMyōe was known for his widespread promotion of the popularMantra of Light (kōmyō shingon, 光明眞言).[199] Due to influence from the Shingon school, today's Kegon school retains numerous esoteric Buddhist elements.
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The Huayan school defended asudden awakening view. This is because thebuddha-nature is already present in all sentient beings, and also because their theory of universal interpenetration entails thatBuddhahood is interfused with the very firststage of a bodhisattva's path.[200][201] Thus, according to patriarch Fazang, “when one first arouses the thought of enlightenment [bodhicitta] one also becomes perfectly enlightened”.[201]
Similarly, according to Gimello, Huayan masterLi Tongxuan understands the path as follows:
The first access of faith in the mind of the practitioner is in itself the culmination of the entire path, the very realization of final Buddhahood.... ‘Faith’ or confidence in the possibility of enlightenment is nothing but enlightenment itself, in ananticipatory and causative modality.[202]
This interpenetration of all elements of the path to awakening is also a consequence of the Huayan view of time, which sees all moments as interfused (including a sentient being's present practice and their eventual future Buddhahood aeons from now). Since time itself is empty, all moments (past, present, and future) are interfused with each other.[201][203] As Fazang writes, "beginning and end Interpenetrate. On each [bodhisattva] stage, one is thus both a Bodhisattva and a Buddha."[203]
As such, Huayan does not understand a bodhisattva's progress through the bodhisattva stages (bhumis) as being linear.[201] Instead, as soon as one reaches the earlier stages of "perfection of faith" (which is part of Huayan's 52 bhumi model), one has also acquired all the stages, as well as Buddhahood.[203] This doctrine of "enlightenment at the stage of faith" (信滿成佛,xinman cheng fo) was a unique feature of Huayan and was first introduced by Fazang though it has a precedent in a passage of theAvatamsaka Sutra.[204]
In Huayan, Buddhahood transcends all concepts, times and stages. Because practice cannot create something that is not immanent, Huayan sees the bodhisattva path as simply revealing what is already there (buddha-nature, which is buddhahood itself concealed within sentient beings). In spite of this doctrine, Huayan patriarchs also argued that the gradual practices of the bodhisattva stages are still necessary. This is because all stages retain their particularity even while being wholly interfused and only through the practice of the bodhisattva path does the immanent Buddhahood manifest.[204][205][206]
Thus, according to Li Tongxuan "there is no other enlightenment" than simply following the bodhisattva path, and furthermore:
Primordial wisdom is made manifest through meditation; cultivation does not create it or bring it into being. If one simply follows the Bodhisattva Path and learns the bodhisattva practices, primordial wisdom will shine forth of itself....[206]
Similarly, patriarchZongmi held that Buddhahood is reached through "sudden awakening followed by gradual cultivation" and he also held that "sudden and gradual are not only not contradictory, but are actually complementary".[107]
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