Jingying Huiyuan

Jingying Huiyuan (Chinese: 淨影慧遠, "Huiyuan of Jingying Temple", Japanese: Jōyō Eon; c. 523–592) was an eminent Chinese Buddhist scholar-monk of the Dilun branch of Chinese Yogācāra. He was a prolific commentator who wrote various commentaries on key Mahayana Sutras. He was the first Chinese author to write commentaries on the Pure Land Sutras (which still survive) and his commentary on the Contemplation Sutra influenced later Pure Land Buddhist figures like Daochuo and Shandao. Like later Pure Land figures, Huiyuan taught that even ordinary people could attain birth in the Pure Land through recitation of the Buddha Amitabha's name (nianfo).

Huiyuan's philosophy is a synthesis of Yogācāra and buddha-nature thought. Huiyuan's works mainly follow the thought of the previous Dilun masters, who syncretized the Yogacara philosophy of Vasubandhu and the buddha-nature thought of the Nirvana sutra. Huiyuan also later studied with a scholar of the Shelun tradition, Tanqian (曇遷, 542–607).

Huiyuan later resided at Qinghuasi monastery. During the reign of the Northern Zhou Emperor Wu (r. 560–578), there was a persecution of Buddhism in which many temples were seized and many monks forced into lay life or military service. Huiyuan is said to have stood up and debated the emperor on these issues and a transcript of this debate has survived.

After the rise of the Sui Dynasty (581–618), Huiyuan became the overseer of the saṃgha (shamendu) in Henan and worked to restore the Buddhist community. At the request of Emperor Wen (r. 581–604), Huiyuan eventually moved to the capital of Daxing where he resided at Daxingshansi monastery and later at Jingyingsi monastery, built by the emperor specifically for Huiyuan. Huiyuan owes much of this basic metaphysics to his teacher Fashang as well as to earlier Mahayana texts like the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and the Awakening of Faith (which according to Huiyuan, was written based on the Laṅkāvatāra). For Huiyuan, all reality (samsara and nirvana) dependently arises from a pure consciousness or "true mind", the buddha-nature, a doctrine he referred to as "tathāgatagarbha dependent arising" (rulaizang yuanqi), a term he coined. Huiyuan equates the buddha-nature with the Yogacara basis consciousness (ālāyavijñāna). It is the intrinsic reality (ti 體) which "constantly abides" (changzhu 常住; nitya) and yet also adjusts to conditions. Huiyuan also defines it as the primary cause or seed of Buddhahood and as the immutable true pure mind which can never be tainted. In spite of this, Huiyuan also affirms that the buddha-nature can appear or manifest in pure or impure ways. All of these appearances (of samsara and nirvana) are the "functions" (yong) of Buddha-nature, which is the immutable essence (ti) of all things. The false mind gives rise to the illusory world of samsara. However, for Huiyuan, this false mind is provisional, since all things ultimately arise from the true mind, the buddha-nature. Huiyuan's thought also relies on the Yogacara schema of the eight consciousnesses. Likewise, Huikuang (the teacher of Fashang, Huiyuan's teacher) is also said to have been a Pure Land devotee (along with several of his disciples) according to Daoxuan's (596–667) Further Biographies of Eminent Monks (T 2060). Thus it is not surprising that Huiyuan wrote commentaries to two Pure Land sutras (Sukhāvatīvyūha and Contemplation Sutra). He also claims that this sutra is a sudden teaching (as opposed to other, "gradual" Mahayana teachings) placing it on the level as sutras like the Srimala and the Vimalakirti. According to Huiyuan: "since it is taught for the sake of pṛthagjanas [fanfu, ordinary people] and not entered by way of Hinayana, this teaching is known as the 'sudden teaching.'"

Huiyuan further argues that there are two main causes for Buddha visualization meditation. The first cause refers to two visions, the second cause is the making of a vow to be born in the Pure Land. Regarding the two visions, they are the initial "vision of unrefined pure faith" (ts'u ching hsin chien) and the final "vision of true reality" (chen shih chien). In the vision of true reality, one has a personal direct vision of a Buddha (either in a pure land or through supernatural powers). Huiyuan may have derived this teaching from a passage in the Bodhisattvabhumi.

the cultivation of visualization (hsiu kuan, i.e. the sixteen visualizations taught in the Contemplation sutra), the cultivation of acts (hsiu yeh, the three pure acts taught to Vaidehi in the Contemplation sutra), the cultivation of mind (hsiu hsin, which refers to the three minds: the sincere mind, the deep mind, and the mind aspiring for rebirth by transferring merit), devotion (kuei hsiang) which refers to: contemplation (nien), worship (li) praise (t'an), and recitation of his (Amitabha's) name (ch'eng ch'i ming). The last element of devotion is crucial for later pure land Buddhism, and, according to Tanaka, "among those surviving Chinese commentarial texts discussed, Hui yüan's Commentary is the earliest to include recitation as a formal, comprehensive category of causal practice for rebirth". Furthermore, Tanaka also notes that Pure land patriarch Shandao's "five correct practices" (sutra recitation, visualization, worship of Amitabha, oral recitation of Amitabha's name, and praising Amitabha) are very similar to Huiyuan's four causes for birth, "since all the elements of the former can be found in the latter's earlier category". Indeed, Shandao agrees with Huiyuan on various key points, such as classifying the Contemplation sutra as a sudden teaching.

However, Shandao and Huiyuan do disagree on several key issues. For example, Huiyuan sees Amitabha and Sukhavati as transformation bodies (nirmanakayas) while for Shandao, they are reward bodies (sambhogakaya). While they differ on this point, Shandao does borrow Huiyuan's schema of pure land types, since Huiyuan is the first Chinese figure to provide a schema for three types of pure land (one for each aspect of the triple Buddha body or trikaya).

Another difference between Shandao and Huiyuan is that, while Shandao agrees with Huiyuan that the main intent of the Contemplation sutra includes buddha visualization (guanfo), Shandao also adds buddha recollection (nianfo) as part of the sutra's intent. Like Shandao, Huiyuan also argues that the power of devotional acts (including reciting nianfo) can take all types of beings to the pure land, though this is restricted to the three lower lotus grades of rebirth:Despite the fact that those of the lowest grades have created evil karma in this life, they will gain rebirth [in the Pure Land] through the power of devotion (kuei hsiang chih li) with the virtuous teacher guiding them. Regarding the nine grades of rebirth, Huiyuan's analysis is perhaps the earliest such commentary on this hotly debated Pure Land teaching. According to Huiyuan, the two highest grades are for bodhisattvas on the bhumis, the third grade is for ordinary people (Ch: fanfu, Skt. pṛthagjana) who have attained the lower stages of the bodhisattva path (the stages of resolution and lineage), the fourth grade is for Hinayana aryas, while the five lower grades are all for ordinary people (fanfu) of different types. This contrasts with Shandao's exposition of the grades, which holds that all nine grades are for common worldlings. This is why Huiyuan can argue that the sutra was taught for the sake of ordinary wordlings while also including aryas (noble beings on higher stages of awakening) into his ranking the nine grades. This is different from Shandao's way of looking at the nine grades, since for him they are "descriptive statements of the nature and capability of the devotees".

Huiyuan is also the earliest figure to employ the terms "meditative good act" (ting shan) and "non-meditative good act" (san shan). For Huiyuan, meditative good acts refer to all the visualizations taught in the Contemplation sutra while non meditative good acts refer to the three pure acts taught to Vaidehi in the Contemplation sutra. These terms were adopted by many later important commentators including Jizang, Zhiyi and Shandao. However, for Shandao, only the first thirteen visualizations count as meditative, while the others (which focus on the nine grades) he sees as non-meditative and as being linked to recitation of the Buddha's name (nianfo). Thus Shandao emphasizes recitation much more than Huiyuan, who emphasizes the visualization meditations.

Huiyuan's Pure Land commentaries are also important because he is the first commentator to group the "three pure land sutras" (Amitabha Sutra, Amitayus Sutra and Contemplation sutra) into a single set, a grouping that became the canonical set of Pure Land sutras for all later Pure Land Buddhists. According to Tanaka "by placing the Kuan ching [Contemplation Sutra] among the major sutras of his time, Hui yüan legitimatized the Kuan ching as a crucial text for Buddhist exegesis." For example, while the Amitayus sutra states that beings who commit the five grave offenses are exclusive from the Pure Land, the Contemplation Sutra does not. Huiyuan writes that this is because the visualization method taught in the Contemplation Sutra is strong enough to erase the evil karma of past transgressions.

Doctrinal classification Like other Chinese scholars of the time, Huiyuan developed a system of doctrinal classification of Buddhist scripture (panjiao). In his Mahayana Compendium, he provides a schema that divides the various classes of Buddhist scripture as follows:

Doctrine that establishes nature (Doctrine of causation) - Shallow Hinayana (Abhidharma) Doctrine that refutes nature (Doctrine of provisional names) - Profound Hinayana (Chengshilun) Doctrine that refutes form (Doctrine of the false) - Shallow Mahayana which explains the relative truth, the provisional nature of things and the nonexistence of dharmas. Doctrine that manifests the Real (Doctrine of the truth) - Profound Mahayana, which according to Huiyuan "advocates that dharmas exist on the basis of deluded thoughts, which are without substance and necessarily rely on truth. This truth is none other than the 'nature of tathagatagarbha'".

This schema has also been attributed to Hui kuang, the founder of the Dilun tradition.

Although Huiyuan refuses to identify the two Mahayana doctrines with specific sutras, Tanaka writes that the "doctrine of the false" clearly refers to the teaching of emptiness as contrasted with the "true doctrine" of non-emptiness taught in the Nirvana sutra. Japanese scholars thus interpret the doctrine of falsehood here to be referring to the Madhyamaka school while the true doctrine to be referring to the teaching of buddha-nature. Huiyuan's commentary on the Amitayus Contemplation Sutra is the earliest extant treatise on this major Pure Land scripture and the first text to treat this sutra as being on the same level as the other Pure Land sutras. This work elevated the sutra's prominence in East Asian Buddhism. It is closely relied upon by Zhiyi's commentary on the Contemplation Sutra.

Huiyuan's work also influenced the key Pure land patriarch Shandao, especially Shandao's commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. According to Tanaka, the Pure land patriarch Shandao "agreed with Hui yüan on many points, and when he did disagree, he regarded Hui yüan's position as the standard on the subject." Furthermore, Tanaka writes that Shandao's reliance on Huiyuan makes sense since he is said to have studied at Wu chen Monastery on Mount Zhongnan near the capital of Chang'an (modern Xi'an). This monastery was "built by the followers of Ching yeh (564 616), who was a direct disciple of Hui yüan". Huiyuan's commentary also influenced Korean Pure land commentaries during the Silla era, which in turn contributed to the development of Japanese Pure Land thought in the Nara and Heian periods.

Works Huiyuan wrote numerous commentaries on key Mahayana scriptures Some of his main works include: Notes on the Meaning of the Treatise on the Ten Grounds Sūtra (Shidijinglun yiji 十地經論義記, ZZ1.71.2 and 3) (survives in fragmentary form) Notes on the Meaning of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Da panniepanjing yiji 大般涅槃經義記, T 1764), in ten fascicles Notes on the Meaning of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra (Weimojing yiji 維摩經義記, T 1776), in eight fascicles Commentary on the Meaning of the Amitayus Sūtra (Wuliang shou jing yishu 無量壽經義疏) in two fascicles Commentary on the Meaning of the Amitayus Contemplation Sūtra (Guan wuliangshou jing yishu 觀無量壽經義疏) in two fascicles, translated into English in Tanaka (1990) Notes on the Meaning of the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra (Shengmanjing yiji 勝鬘經義記, ZZ1.30.4) in one fascicle (survives in fragmentary form) Commentary to the Awakening of Faith (大乘起信論義疏, T 1843). Some modern scholars have questioned this attribution, but Huiyuan's authorship has been defended by others, like Huanzhen Feng and Yoshizu Yoshihide. Commentary on the Yogacarabhumi in ten fascicles (incomplete) (ZZ 1.61.3) Commentary on the Sutra on Saunas (and Baths of the Saṃgha), 溫室經義記, 1 fascicle (T 1793.39) Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra (Fahuajing shu 法華經疏) (not extant) Commentary on the Flower Garland Sūtra (Huayanjing shu 華嚴經疏) (not extant)