Around the time of the Epoch, Indian Buddhism was introduced to China through the Western Regions. The first transmission of Buddhism did not acquire an independent ideological status and was regarded as the same as the Xiandao Fangshu. In the court and folk, the Buddha (Floating Tu) was worshipped with Huang Lao. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were translations of the sutras, which were translated as the Hinayana meditation and the study of Bixian and the Mahayana pranayama. The Mahayana Prajnaparamita texts are basically interpreted in the context of Lao Zhuang and metaphysics, and they are therefore widely disseminated and interpreted as a fresh and profound source of thought in the ideological and spiritual life of the scholar-class, and become xianxue.
With the continuous introduction of Buddhist texts, it became possible to have a deeper, more systematic, and more truthful understanding of the Buddhist texts. In this sense, Kumarosh and Sangha Zhao became epoch-making figures in the history of Chinese Buddhist thought.
Rosh is a great translator of Chinese Buddhism alongside the occult. He translated the study of the Madhyamaka of Prajnaparamita, taking nagarjuna and Devas as his teachings, expounding the Taoist view of dependent arising voidness, vigorously denouncing the impropriety of "Geyi", correcting the biases of the Six Schools and Seven Sects, and making the true meaning of Indian Mahayana thought begin to spread in Middle-earth.
Kumarosh
Kumarajiva's contribution (344-413) was also reflected in the fact that he trained a large number of outstanding Buddhist scholars. Among these disciples, there are many people who have studied and preached the Prajnaparamita in depth, but among them, those who can really be called the true teachings of Kumarosh and have the greatest influence and the highest prestige in future generations should be pushed monks.
Monk
Sangha was the youngest and most talented disciple under Kumarosh. The monk's active involvement in translation work caused him to follow Kumarosh, which enabled him to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Indian Prajnaparamita doctrine, especially the basic theories of the Mahayana Madhyamaka school. Therefore, his understanding of Prajnaparamita represented the highest level of Chinese Buddhism at that time. More importantly, on the basis of accurately grasping Prajnaparamita and Madhyamaka, Sangha was able to combine the traditional Chinese ideological categories to make new interpretations of Indian Buddhism, which promoted the process of sinification of Buddhism. It can be said that the doctrine of Monk Zhao is the earliest important theoretical achievement of Buddhism created Chinese after the introduction of Buddhism to China, and it is also a representative of Buddhist thought during the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The main works of sangha are the Commentaries on the Vimal Sutra and the prefaces to various sutras and treatises, the most famous of which is the Treatise on The Teachings of The Cause. The Treatise on Causes consists of five parts: The Theory of the Non-Migration of Things, The Theory of Non-Vacuum, The Theory of Prajnaparamita, The Theory of Nirvana without Name, and The Doctrine of The True Meaning of The Sect.
I. The Theory of Non-Vacuum is the cosmology of dependent arising, that is, sexual emptiness
The Theory of Non-Vacuum discusses whether the existence of the universe is real, that is, the question of existence and non-existence, color and emptiness. He said that the question of existence is the central theoretical question of Prajnaparamita and the highest question of the universe. Only those who are wise and know the actual state of the Dhamma can answer this question. At that time, there were so-called six schools and seven schools of Buddhism. Their doctrines all revolve around the relationship between existence and non-existence and non-existence, and each has its own gains but also losses, which is not in line with the fundamental purpose of the Madhyamaka school, so Monk Zhao criticized them all.
The fundamental theory that Sangha used to criticize each school is the "dependent voidness" theory of the Indian Madhyamaka school, and the fundamental meaning of the "dependent voidness" theory is threefold; First of all, all laws in the universe are produced by the support of various conditions, and there is no self-nature. Secondly, all laws in the universe are impermanent, in absolute motion and change, and cannot be unchanged, let alone eternal. Third, the specific nature and properties of the Universal Law of The Word Universe exist by looking at other things or their opposites. Without this condition of contemplation, it is impossible to exist independently. The meaning of "emptiness" in the Madhyamaka school is "no", not "nothing", which denies that the universal law has its "self-nature".
The purpose of the Monk Zhao's criticism of the "mindlessness" is to understand "emptiness" as "no attachment to things", that is, as long as the mind does not attach itself to external objects, it is "empty", and the nature of external objects is still there. The gain of this theory is that paying attention to inner non-attachment can achieve the purpose of "divine tranquility" and is not in line with the justice of the Middle Way.
That is, the view of the color school is to affirm that all things have no self-nature, that things and phenomena are not formed by themselves, and that the generation of things and phenomena under the conditions of cause and effect shows that there is no self-nature. This is what it gains, and what it loses is that after it has come up with "color is emptiness", it thinks that "color is different from emptiness", which exposes that it only understands the "dependent voidness" side of the Madhyamaka school, but does not understand the side of "sexual voidness". In fact, the complete interest of the Madhyamaka school is the unity of these two aspects, and its complete conclusion is that "color is emptiness, and emptiness is color."
The Original Muhan Sect regarded "nothingness" as the essence that could give birth to all things, and its influence on metaphysics was very obvious. Monk Zhao criticized this school of doctrine as advocating "nothingness" in its heart, and all its speech tended to be "nothing". It holds that non-being, existence is non-existence; Non-nothing, nothing or nothing, everything is nothing. In fact, although all things and phenomena in the universe do not have their own nature, essence, or substance, their functions and phases are clear and clear, and their histories are clear, and they are not "empty" without them.
Monk Zhao believes that the mindlessness, that is, the color, and the original non-different sect all have a bias of gain, but also a partial loss, and have not mastered the Madhyamaka method.
The monk Zhaoli did not vacuum theory, and made an argument from the two aspects of breaking and standing.
First of all, the monks rebuked the "cessation of emptiness" at the end of the Indian Madhyamaka sect. The fundamental mistake of "stopping emptiness" is to understand "emptiness" as "nothingness," and to say "emptiness" means to have nothing. As the true meaning of non-existence and non-nothingness (emptiness), is it necessary to exclude everything that is in the process of birth and death from cognition, and there is nothing in front of people's senses, and then "emptiness"? Of course not. "Emptiness" means that all things have no self-nature in themselves, and the fact that all things are clearly and unambiguously presented to people precisely shows that it has no self-nature.
Secondly, Sangha Believes that the existence and non-existence of the Universal Law of the Universe is the existence and non-existence without self-nature, and the existence and non-existence without self-nature, which is in the middle of the Middle Way, which is "false existence" and "false nothingness". Yes, if it really exists, then it should be natural and constant, and it does not need to be based on any karmic conditions; Nothingness, if it is true, should also be natural and permanent, and there is no need to rely on any causal conditions to be nothing. Therefore, being and not being are not true beings and true nothings, but "false beings" and "false nothings."
Third, monk Zhao believes that all the laws of the universe are mutually observed. Because there is "being" because it is treated with "nothing"; Because there is "nothing" when looking at "being"; Neither can be established without the opposite. If things and phenomena are self-contained, then they have a natural, eternal, unchanging, independent and unattainable nature, that is, "real". And the "name" that refers to this "truth", as one of things and phenomena, must also have the same "real" nature, in fact, both things and phenomena are under conditions of cause and effect, moving and changing, and treating each other. It can be seen from this that all things have no self, essence, or substance.
The monks deny that all things have their own nature, and use the Madhyamaka theory and method of "dependent voidness". The key point of this theory and method is: First, the universe does not presuppose an ontology, origin, entity, and so on; The second is to emphasize in thinking that "no is not separated" or "not one is not different". Before him, this kind of Madhyamaka theory and method was not introduced to China, and people often knew the world with a hypothetical ontology, origin, and entity as the starting point and end point, and was in the mode of thinking of "either-or, non-other is this". Wang Bi's Theory of Gui Wu and Guo Xiang's theory of individuation, as well as the six schools and seven schools of Buddhism influenced by metaphysics, all affirm the existence of the self-nature, ontology, and entity above, in, before, or outside the universe of things and phenomena, and even that it is itself self-nature, ontology, and entity, and that there is no non-nothing, that nothing is non-existence, and that thinking is in a state of paranoia.
It can be said that Sangzhao's "Theory of Non-Vacuum" is a negation and correction of this paranoid theory and method.
Second, the "Theory of The Indomitable Things" is the dynamic and static view of extreme motion
The monks used the theory of dependent voidness and the Madhyamaka method to deny the self-nature of the universal law, and also to deny the self-nature of movement and rest. According to the Theory of the Madhyamaka Sect, motion and stillness depend on the universal laws of the universe, which have neither self-nature, nor movement nor stillness. Observe its stillness in the motion of the universal law, so that it moves without leaving the stillness; Do not leave the movement to observe the stillness, so the stillness does not leave the movement. The ignorant man, on the other hand, does not understand the relationship between the two. It is precisely because movement and stillness are not the same, so, starting from the Buddhist purpose of breaking down attachment, we say silence to those who are clinging to it, and we say that we are still to those who are still.
After clarifying the relationship between motion and stillness, that is, movement and stillness, monk Zhao focused on the paranoid concept of people repelling stillness with movement, and used stillness to deny spontaneous movement.
first. The monk zhao observes things from the perspective of impermanence, the universe is born and dies at every moment, so the ten thousand laws are not eternal and unchanging, and the things of the previous moment and the things of the next moment are similar and continuous relationships, neither the same thing is exactly the same thing, nor is it two completely different things, neither one nor different, this existence is "false existence" and "illusionary existence". Combined with motion and stillness, the previous moment things are born and disappear, and the next moment, things are no longer exactly the same as before.
Because the things of the past do not continue to the present, the world sees the continuity of movement but does not see the discontinuity of movement, and the monk Zhao emphasizes the discontinuity of movement. In terms of continuity, things are moving, because things before and after the moment are not different; In terms of discontinuity, things are static, because things before and after the moment are not --。 It is worth noting that when the monks emphasize the discontinuity of movement, as mentioned above, they do not deny its continuity, but only on the other side of the continuity that people see, and at the same time expound the discontinuity between them, emphasizing the relationship between movement and static, that is, the relationship between movement and static. It is precisely because there is no movement away from stillness, no movement, no difference between movement and stillness, and no self-nature of movement and stillness, that it is possible to break people's attachment to movement. Monk Zhao's emphasis on "not leaving is not leaving", which is his profound place, and it is precisely where people often misunderstand him, because people emphasize "separation", and this is exactly the paranoia that Monk Zhao wants to break.
Second, monk Zhao further emphasizes the phase-i.e. relationship between movement and stillness from the perspective of time. As mentioned above, the purpose of the monks is only to break the prejudices of people in the past and the present of their own nature.
Third, Monk Zhao pointed out that everything has a cause and effect, and people often emphasize the continuity of cause and effect from the indifference of things, believing that cause is the cause of this thing and effect is the effect of this thing, thus denying discontinuity with continuity, and clinging to cause and effect is the cause and effect of self-nature.
Third, the epistemology of Transcendence is the inner epistemology of Prajnaparamita
Prajna is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word Prajna, meaning wisdom, that is, to know the universal laws as they really are. According to Buddhist theory, the universal universal law was originally born without birth, born without birth, and destroyed in an instant, and people have always had the delusion of pursuing the eternal essence, life, soul, happiness, self, etc., so they cannot know the universal law truthfully. And only by effectively breaking through such delusions and doing nothing can it be possible to truly understand the universal laws of the universe.
Monk Zhao denies the confusion and wisdom of the world, because this understanding is aimed at the five yins such as "color", and this object is only the "false existence" and "illusionary existence" that are born and disappear in an instant, and the things before and after the moment are not different. And people take this as one or different object, take this "false existence" and "illusory existence" as "self-nature", either partial to existence, or partial to nothingness, or partial to dry movement, or partial to static, and so on, so "if there is knowledge, there is some ignorance".
Monk Zhao further affirmed pranayama, and this understanding naturally does not take the five yins such as "color" as the object of understanding, but it does not leave the five yins such as "color". This is still the insistence of the Madhyamaka theory of "dependent voidness" and the "not oneness, no difference" method.
On the one hand, the monk said that the object of knowledge of the divine wisdom is the true truth, and the true truth is not the object of knowledge, because once there is mutual contemplation of what can be done, then true wisdom must also be the confusion of "false existence". Moreover, the true truth originally has no concrete image and cannot become the object of knowledge, so how can true wisdom become knowledge?
If we cling to a phaselessness, then "phaselessness" also becomes a "phase", giving up existence and clinging to a nothingness, and there is no difference between them, just like escaping from a mountain peak and hiding in a ravine, still paranoid, still taking the universal law of "having phases" as the object of self-nature, and the result achieved is still self-natured knowledge——— confusion. Here, it is not difficult to find a comprehensive critique of metaphysical epistemology by the monks.
On the other hand, sangha said; Although "Shengzhi" does not target the five yins (things) such as "color", it does not leave the five yins (things) such as "color"; Although the mysterious knowledge lies outside the world, it is always in the world. In this way, while conforming to the changes of the universal law and being able to understand the universal law, there is nothing that cannot be perceived, but at the same time it is not the kind of paranoid "confusion" that arises from the self-nature of the universal law.
Why is it that the object of knowledge is not the five yins such as "color", but not away from the five yins such as "color"? Sangha says that there is no self-nature (entity) but it is not without specific functions and phases. To say that it has, in terms of its own nature, is inherently empty, has no self-nature, and certainly cannot say its shape and name; If you want to say that it is nothing, in terms of function and form, it is clear and clear. That is to say, the wise man who has mastered the "holy wisdom" treats the false existence without regarding it as his own nature, and does not treat the self-nature without erasing the function and form of his "false existence", and on the one hand does not cling to the existence of the self and the absence of the "false existence"; On the other hand, it is also not willing to abandon the non-existence of one's own nature and the existence of "false existence".
From the above, it can be seen that the epistemology of sangha is a comprehensive understanding of the emptiness of self-nature and the existence of dependent arising (false existence).
All in all, the Monk Zhao, with the theory of "dependent arising voidness" and the same method of the Madhyamaka sect, consistently, from a high vantage point, on the water, and freely destroyed the ontology, motion and static theory of Wei and Jin metaphysics and the early Prajnaparamita influenced by metaphysics, and established the cosmology of dependent arising and voidness, that is, the theory of kinetic motion and extreme stillness, that is, the epistemology of transcendence and innerness, which is completely in line with the theories and methods of the Indian Madhyamaka Sect.