This course provides an introduction to the study of the history, major teachings, and practices of the major Chinese religions and spiritual practices and is deigned to give conceptual tools to appreciate diverse religious practice in East. It covers the development of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism and wide range of popular and local religions. From historical perspective we will also explore the development of key theological, religious and philosophical doctrines as well as associated practices. An effort will be made to spend time on each tradition according to its importance to Asia as a whole. We will explore the role of religions in politics and social relations in East and South, South East Asia and China in particular, and will analyze the origins, central teachings, divisions and branches, rituals and practices, influences on culture, and responses to modern challenges for each tradition. The emphasis throughout the course is on the hermeneutic difficulties attendant upon the study of religion in general, and Asian religions in particular. We will explore new Asian religions as dynamic, ongoing forces in the lives of individuals and in the collective experience of modern societies.
Schools and Texts - Part 1
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From the course by National Research University Higher School of Economics
Religions and Society in China
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From the lesson
Sinified Buddhism as an almost independent tradition
This module's content outlines the main texts and doctrines of Chan Buddhism, enumerates the main schools and branches, explains the influence that Buddhism had and has on Chinese life and art.
Meet the Instructors
Aleksey A. MaslovHead
School of Asian Studies
[MUSIC]
Hello, we're continuing to discuss the main Buddhist ideas and
the development of Buddhism in China.
Today, we'll speak about the Chinese period of the development of Buddhism.
But last time we already spoke about the Chinese Buddhism.
But at that time the first stage of Chinese Buddhism
was very closely connected to the Indian Buddhism, to the Indian ideas,
to the Indian Sanskrit texts.
So in this way Chinese Buddhism was not completely independent.
Today, we will discuss what has been pure Chinese Buddhism.
Chinese Buddhism which cut the roads from Indian basis.
As an example, I will show you the first one of the first Chinese school,
which is called San Lun zong, the School of Three Texts or Three Treatise.
It means that this school was completely based on the three main scriptures,
that's one of the main Chinese idea.
There are a lot of schools at that time of Buddhism in China, and
all the schools use different text.
No one teacher, no one school used all the text,
all the bunch of text that were included in the Tripiṭaka.
So for example, San Lun zong's school decided to use three texts.
And made these texts as a main base, main ideas, and main impetus for
training a teacher, thats why in the name of the school San Lun zong.
Another point that the school was a pure Chinese school because it
used the Indian idea which was transformed in Chinese [FOREIGN].
This idea is called Madhyamika or Madhyamaka.
Madhyamaka means the teaching of all the complete emptiness, and
the idea of the middle way.
What does it mean?
It means that everything in this life, everything around us is just
an emptiness, complete emptiness, nothing exists in reality.
Even emptiness is not empty, it means that emptiness doesn't exist itself.
So it means the final and absolute nonexistence.
What do you see in this life?
What is around us?
What is my speech?
What is my food?
What is my feelings?
It is just my illusions,
nothing more because of the basis in all these illusions is just an emptiness.
We can see not the reality but different kind of karmas,
the particles very small particles that are empty by itselfs.
None of this karma exists by itself,
we can see this called the coexistence or co-arising of different karmas.
That's why the world around me is so colorful, is so
full of colors, of feelings.
Because I can see just a co-existence because I believe in karmas.
Then the point of view of the ordinary man, of the ordinary people, of the great
person who tries to understand this world, that's the great illusion.
But if I'm a Buddhist, I should look inside and much deeper,
much deeper than the ordinary people.
It means I can understand,
I should understand that everything is just emptiness.
It's just my illusion, it means that I should overcome all these illusions.
I have to get rid of all these illusions and
finally understand that emptiness is empty, myself is empty so far.
That is the idea of the main emptiness which was developed by the Chinese school,
text oriented school San Lun zong.
Just an example, the majority of Chinese schools are also based on the different
kind of the transformation and different varieties of the Madhyamaka ideas.
And also based on different texts and scriptures.
If we speak about the pure Chinese tradition, we can name several Chinese
schools, some of them rised during the Tong and Song dynasty.
Some of them die or perished very early, but anyway they were cross connected.
All these schools effected to the future schools of Chinese Buddhism.
And first of all, they effected to the development of the Chan or
Zen tradition in China.
Some schools were cross connected to the Indian tradition into the Indian
philosophy.
For example, this so called the Weishizong, the Consciousness-Only school.
Another one maybe one of the most important or
at least the most famous school of Chinese Buddhism is called Tiantai school or
the Heavenly Terrace or Heavenly Platform, and we'll speak about that later.
Another school is called the Jingtu zong.
Jingtu zong which is Pure Land school.
Jingtu or Pure Land it means the Buddhist Heaven.
And after some meditation, after some purification,
I can find myself in the Pure Land, so it means in the Buddhist heaven.
Another school, one of the most important of the early Chinese Buddhists is
called the Huayang school, the school of Garland.
And we will speak about it later, so these several schools became
a first Chinese schools that had some roots in Indian tradition.
But at the same time the exception the old traditional meditation,
the old teaching, the old texts.
And first of all teachers, so
all the schools were represented by Chinese teachers.
One of the most important as fas as I said was the Taintai school.
Taintai school existed in China, it's also flourished in Japan.
The name of school could be translated as a heavenly platform or platform of heaven.
One explanation of the name of this school is that the founder of this school was for
some period of time, spend in the Tiantai Mountains,
that's the explanation of the name of the school.
But the school flourished between the 4th patriarch.
Zhiyi which lived in the 6th century.
Zhiyi established its own meditation tradition and the school was based on
the meditation practice which was already a part of Buddhist tradition, but
not the main part.
Zhiyi decided to make meditation as the main every day
practice of all Buddhists, of ll fours of its tradition.
Tiantai developed a very, very rich theory about
Buddhism and about the Buddhist point of view.
First of all Zhiyi told that in one thought,
in one idea we can find everything.
So it means that I can embrace in one idea,
all things, all ideas of this world.
It means that only one idea and
the multiplicity of this world are just the same, that's the first idea.
There are several truth in this life, and Zhiyi called this truth,
this called the threefold truth, the three levels of reality.
The first one is the truth of emptiness, everything is just empty.
Another point that the truth of the false,
it means that everything that is around me is just non-existence.
Nothing exists in the reality, so everything is just fake existence.
And finally, the third kind of truth is called the truth of the middle way.
All things, all ideas, everything, exists and
not exists at the same time ,it means the middle way.
And so I have to understand that nothing is just a reality.
Everything just an emptiness and this emptiness is also empty.
Tiantai school was one of the most important school
of the early Chinese Buddhism, but they're not the only one.
Next time, we'll speak about the [FOREIGN] school,
which was very influential school during the medieval Chinese Buddhism.
[MUSIC]
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