Question: Does ignorance have a cause or not? Does decay-and-death have a result or not? If they do they should certainly be considered as links. If not, they fall into the category of dharmas without a cause or effect.⁴⁰⁰

Answer: They do have [causes and effects] but these [causes and effects in themselves] are not links. Ignorance has a cause: incorrect conceptualizations. Decay-and-death has a result: sorrow. Also, ignorance has a cause, which is decay-and-death. Decay-and-death has an effect, which is ignorance. Passion and attachment in the present is [caused by] ignorance in the past. Name-and-form, the six senses, contact, and experience in the present, if they continue in the future, are called decay-and-death. It is as explained [previously] that experience is the condition for passion. One should know that [in the same way] decay-and-death is explained as the condition for ignorance. It is like a chariot; [the various parts] are interdependent causes [of a chariot being a chariot].

400

Or, they represent a doctrine which denies causation, one of the four heretical non-Buddhist teachings. return

For the twelve [links of] conditioned [co-arising to be included in] one moment means that if one takes life due to a covetous mind, the corresponding foolishness is “ignorance;” the corresponding thoughts are the “volitional actions;” the corresponding mind is “consciousness;” if karma is produced, “name-and-form” necessarily follows; if karma is produced, “the six senses” necessarily follow; the corresponding contact is “contact”; the corresponding experience is “experience;” the covetousness is “passion”; the corresponding bonds are “attachment”; the physical, verbal and mental [actions] are “existence”; in this way all dharmas arise, this is “rebirth”; for all these dharmas to change is “decay”; and for all these dharmas to be destroyed is “death.”

Vasumitra³⁹³ says that causes are “conditioned arising” and dharmas which are born from causes are “conditioned birth.” Of the twelve links of causation, two [ignorance and volitional activity] refer to the past and are merely [the extreme of] eternalism. Two [links of rebirth and decay-and-death] refer to the future and are merely [the extreme of] nihilism. The present [i.e., the other eight links] clarifies the Middle Path. By analyzing the three causes of the present [of passion, attachment, and existence] one explains the two results [of rebirth and decay-and-death] in the future. By analyzing the five results in the present [of consciousness, name-and-form, six senses, contact, and experience] one explains the two causes in the past [of ignorance and volitional activity].

The past, present, and future all have the twelve links. By analyzing causes and results these sorts of explanations are made.

393

This probably refers to the Vasumitra who was one of the authoritative commentators on the – Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra. Once again I could not track down the source for, nor figure out the meaning and significance of, Chih-i’s comments. return

[A] re “twelve-fold conditioned arising” and “twelvefold conditioned birth” the same or different?³⁸⁶

[Answer] They are the same. They are not different in the sense that they refer to all conditioned things [saṃskṛta-dharma]. However, there are distinctions [which can be made].

“Conditioned arising” refers to causes [hetu] and “conditioned birth” refers to results [phala]. The first two [links of ignorance and activity] are “conditioned arising.”³⁸⁷ The next five [links of consciousness, name-and form, the six senses, contact, and sensation] are “conditioned birth.”³⁸⁸ The next three [links of passion, attachment, and existence] are “conditioned arising.”³⁸⁹ The last two [links of rebirth and decay-and-death] are “conditioned birth.”³⁹⁰

Also, [another distinction between conditioned arising and conditioned birth is that] ignorance corresponds to “conditioned arising,” volitional activity corresponds to “conditioned birth,” and so forth to rebirth corresponding to “conditioned arising” and decay-and-death corresponding to “conditioned birth.”

386

These phrases are two different Chinese translations for the same Sanskrit term, Pratītyasamutpāda. One can imagine that various ingenious scholastic interpretations were constructed in China to explain the supposed subtle difference between these two terms, as Chih-i proceeds to do. Chan-jan and the other commentators trace this issue back to the Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra. return

387

The causes of one’s present life. return

388

The results of past lives, which is this present life. return

389

The causes for future lives. return

390

The results which will be the content of future lives. return

The Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra³⁷⁸ says that an artist paints all shapes by distributing the five colors. There are beautiful and ugly [images]. [The basis for these images] is discovered in the hand of the artist. The distinctions in the six destinies are not creations by Īśvara and so forth, but appear from a single thought of an ignorant mind.

When there is a combination of ignorance and the worst kind of evil activity,³⁷⁹ then the causes and conditions of hell arise, as an artist uses the color black. When there is a combination of ignorance and mediocre evil activity, then the causes and conditions of beasts arise, as an artist uses the color red. When there is a combination of ignorance and lesser evil activity, then the causes and conditions of preta arise, as an artist uses the color blue-green. When there is a combination of ignorance and lesser good activity, then the causes and conditions of asura arise, as an artist uses the color yellow. When there is a combination of ignorance and mediocre good activity, then the causes and conditions of human beings arise, as an artist uses the color white. When there is a combination of ignorance and the best good activity, then the causes and conditions of heavenly beings arise, as an artist uses the most superior white color.

One should know that it is through a combination of ignorance and every sort of [good and/or evil] activity that there arises name-and form, the six senses, experience, passion, attachment, existence, rebirth, decay, sickness, death, and so forth. [The results] are different according to the [past] level [of good and evil activity]. All the destinies such as that of human and divine beings include all [”10,000″] pleasures and sufferings which begin with rebirth and end in death, and after death they return to another rebirth. They roll through the past, present, and future like the wheels of a carriage on fire. Therefore a Sutra says, “Sentient beings are drowning in the whirlpool of the river of existence. Blinded by ignorance, they are not able to escape.”³⁸⁰

A Sutra also calls this a “twelve-linked chain” because we are all caught and tied up in it.³⁸¹ It is also called the “twelve leveled castle,” and the “twelvefold garden of thorns.”³⁸² This [interpretation of twelvefold dependent co-arising is [that phenomena are always] newly arising and perishing and do not remain [the same] from one thought to another thought. Therefore it is called [the understanding of] dependent co-arising as arising and perishing.

Part four of the [P’a sa] Ying lo ching³⁸³ says that ignorance is the condition for volitional activity, which gives birth to the twelvefold [chain of dependent co-arising]… up to birth being the condition for decay and death and gives birth to the twelvefold [chain of dependence].³⁸⁴ Thus there are one hundred and twenty links of conditioned co-arising.³⁸⁵ The first involves nescience so the rest up to decay and death also involve nescience. It involves nescience because it is [a state of] unenlightenment. The first [link of ignorance] is [a state of] unenlightenment, so the rest up to and including decay and death are [states of] unenlightenment. Birth is caused by nescience and death is caused by nescience.

If one is awakened concerning [the true nature of] conditioned co-arising, conditioned co-arising no longer occurs. If nescience does not occur, then future rebirth and death is exhausted. This is called being “enlightened.” To be enlightened means to follow the way [of the Buddha to enlightenment].

378

This Sūtra is often quoted by Chih-i, who considered it a Mahāyāna text on meditation. According to the Bukkyō kaisetsu daijiten V, 329—330, its content is generally closer to Hinayāna teachings, but it contains Mahāyānistic elements, such as the analogy of the mind as a painter, which is very similar to that found in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. The following comments by Chih-i are a summary of teachings found in this Sūtra. The Sutra says, “As a single artist produces many decorations, so a single mind produces various kinds of karma. Things are manifested in five colors; the perception of these arouses passions and pleasures. The [images] painted by the five sense organs are also like this. … Attractive and ugly forms are drawn … the activity of the mind is also like this. It is able to produce good and evil retribution.” return

379

In T’ien-t’ai doctrine, the first two links of twelvefold conditioned co-arising, that is, ignorance (avidyā) and volitional activity (saṃskāra), correspond to the Tripiṭaka Teaching, and therefore are discussed under the rubric of the interpretation of conditioned co-arising as conceptually understood and as arising and perishing. return

380

This phrase is from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. return

381

This phrase is from the P’a-sa ying lo ching. This P’a-sa ying lo ching is not to be confused with the Ying lo ching which is an apocryphal Chinese Sūtra and one of Chih-i’s sources for the term “threefold truth.” In the Fa hua hsüan i, however, both of these texts are referred to merely as the Jên wang Ching. return

382

I was unable to locate the sources for these descriptions of twelvefold pratītyasamutpāda. The Shakusen kōgi identifies the phrase “twelve-leveled castle” as being from the Wu chü chang chü ching, but this text is not extant, as least as far as I was able to determine. return

383

The following is a summary of the Ying lo ching. The Ying lo ching says, “Ignorance is a condition for volitional activity, which also gives birth to the twelve [links]. Volitional activity is a condition for consciousness, which also gives birth to the twelve [links]. Consciousness is a condition for name and form, which also gives birth to the twelve [links] … and so forth. return

384

In other words, each of the twelve links includes the other eleven links. return

385

Twelve links times eleven should give the figure of one hundred and thirty-two. Chan-jan addresses this problem in the Fa hua hsüan i shih ch’ien [Annotations on “The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra,”] and says that since birth and death are one category (saṃsāra), the figure of one hundred and twenty is reached by multi plying twelve by ten instead of eleven. return

“[T]ranscendental” means that in whatever place, there the Lord of the Four Teachings distinctly exists in various bodies, with various words, and gives various sermons. [At some times and places] he hides his grand body of immeasurable virtues and is manifested as six feet tall, shining gold and purple. [At other times and places] he does not preach the sweet taste and eternal pleasure [of nirvāṇa] but the bitter taste of transiency. For him [as Śākyamuni] to reject the royal robes and pick up the dung pot is called an “expedient means” [upāya]. If he opens the gate of expedient means and reveals the aspects of true reality [as in the Lotus Sūtra], the body one faces is the perfect and eternal body; the Dharma one faces is the perfect Dharma; the practice and reality one faces are all true reality.

In this way, although these are all the shared teachings of one voice [of the one eternal Buddha], there are distinctions such as Hinayāna and Mahāyāna. Although there are long and short as to the capacity [of sentient beings] to receive, that which is revealed is ultimately only one. Various terms name one ultimate [reality]. Only one ultimate [reality] is given many names. To discuss the shared and distinct aspects of teaching, practice, and reality in this way makes it difficult to understand the [distinct] aspects, but easy to clarify [the one underlying principle of] reality.

There are two kinds [of teachings]. The first is “suitable” [teaching]²⁶ and the second is “transcendental” [teaching].²⁷

Suitable [teaching] refers to the preaching of various teachings appropriate to various conditions, like the Buddha of the Tripiṭaka [Teaching]. Since the conditions are distinct, the teachings are distinct. [However,] since [fundamentally] the Lord is one, the teachings have a shared commonality. [That is, they are in basic agreement.] If one practices based on these teachings, there is the [varying] ability to receive²⁸ and [the one common goal] which is to be realized.

Although various names are given for reality, actually there are not numerous [different] realities. The Lotus Sūtra [illustrates this and] says, “[The father] took off his jeweled necklace . . . and put on dirty robes” and said “If you work diligently there is no need to go elsewhere. I will increase your wages” and finally “poured oil on his feet.”²⁹

This is a limited explanation of the principle of physical and verbal practice [suitable for certain people] and there is no further interpretation.³⁰ The “suitable” teachings, practice, and reality of the Shared, Distinct, and Perfect [Teachings] are also like this. [If understood in this way], the meaning [of the distinct aspects] is easy to understand, but the integrated [Oneness] of reality is difficult [to understand].
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 166

Teachings are What the Buddha Taught, p
basically in response to capabilities. There are distinctions and differences in the scriptures because the capabilities [of sentient beings] are not the same. The golden words in a beautiful voice [i.e. the Buddha’s sermons] all share a commonality in the sense that they are all words of the Buddha. Therefore we use the two terms of “shared” and “distinct” [with regard to teaching].

With regard to practice: sentient beings can enter nirvāṇa, the true Dharma treasure [house], through various gates. It is like the cause [for rebirth in a physical saṃsāric] body was explained variously by five hundred monks, and the Buddha said that none were incorrect.⁴

Thirty-two bodhisattvas each entered a [different] gate of non-duality [each gave a different interpretation of non-duality], yet Mañjuśrī approved of them all.⁵ The Ta Chih tu lun⁶ clarifies that all ānāpāna breathing meditations⁷ are [included in] the Mahāyāna, because they are all unattainable.⁸ One should know that practices are distinct, but that which is to be realized is the same. Guṇabhadra says that “although all the [Buddhist] treatises appear to be different, the reality [underlying] practice⁹ is the same.”¹⁰

Concerning reality: though it is non-dual, it has many names. The Ta Chih tu lun [Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom] says, “Prajn͂ā-wisdom is a single dharma, though the Buddha explains it with many terms.”¹¹ The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says that liberation is also like this: it has many terms.¹² It is like Indra, the Lord of Heaven, who has a thousand different names.¹³ Since the names are different there are distinctions. Since the reality is one there is shared commonality.

Now, to call [the Lotus Sūtra] the “Sūtra” of “the subtle Dharma” reflects the shared commonality and the distinctiveness of its teachings. To speak of “A great cart given to all the sons equally”¹⁴ and “They rode this jeweled vehicle directly to the place of enlightenment¹⁵ reflects the shared commonality and distinctiveness of practice. Or, to speak of the “true aspects of reality”¹⁶ or to speak of “the Buddha’s knowledge and insight”¹⁷ or of” Mahāyāna,” or of “household chores”¹⁸ or of the “single ground”¹⁹ or of “real thing”²⁰ or of “the place of treasures”²¹ or of “the jewel sown”²² [in the garment] or of “great undifferentiating wisdom,”²³ these all refer to the shared and distinct [aspects] of reality.²⁴ Based on these three meanings [of teaching, practice, and reality] I have established the two terms [of shared and distinct].

4

In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra five hundred monks question Śāriputra about the cause for being reborn in saṃsāra, and each give their understanding of the answer which led to their gaining of arhatship. Some said that ignorance and passion were the cause for rebirth in saṃsāra, others attributed it to attachment, the five desires, karma, and so forth. Śāriputra asked the Buddha which of these five hundred monks was right, and the Buddha answered that “None are incorrect.” return

5

In the eighth chapter of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra on the subject of non-duality, thirty-one bodhisattvas (Mañjuśrī makes the thirty-second) each expound on their understanding of “entry into the doctrine of non-duality” (ādvaya-dharmamukhapraveśa). Mañjuśrī praises them all, saying that they have “all spoken well.” However, Mañjuśrī adds the criticism that since they have all used words to describe their understanding of non-duality, their explanations still imply duality. There follows the famous scene where Mañjuśrī asks Vimalakirti his opinion of non-duality, and Vimalakirti remains silent, thus perfectly “expressing” the meaning of non-duality. return

6

The Shakusen kōgi refers to the Ta Chih tu lun “section 48-3” (T. 25, 402a?) but I was unable to find a corresponding passage. See Bukkyō taikei-I, 421. return

7

Meditation based on counting one’s breaths. In China it was usually considered a “Hinayāna” type meditative technique. return

8

This phrase is used often by Chih-i to describe the ultimate “unattainability” of the goal of practice. Since all is empty of eternal substantial Being, there is no thing to be attained. Another interpretation or use of this phrase is that what is being described is beyond conceptualization, i.e. one cannot grasp conceptually where these dharmas originate, where they go, what they are, and so forth, because they are empty. return

9

Or, “the principle of practice.” return

10

Guṇabhadra was a Brahman from central India who came to China in the early fifth century A.D. See biography in the Kao seng chuan, T. 50, 340a—342b. This quote is found near the end of his biography on 342a21. return

11

The verse continues with, “Different terms are applied in accordance with the capacity of sentient beings.” return

12

See the section of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra which expands on the meaning of liberation, T. 12, 632a26-635c8; Yamamoto I, 115-130. return

13

See the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, T. 12, 810b8-12; Yamamoto Ill, 830. return

14

See the parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 14c17-18; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 71. return

15

See the parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 15a13; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 74. return

16

A term used often in the Ta Chih tu tun, Lotus Sūtra, and T’ien-t’ai philosophy to refer to the positive aspects of reality. See the section in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra on “Expedient Means,” T. 9, 5a—b; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 22ff. Or, in the introduction to the Lotus Sūtra, “The doctrine of the reality-marks of the dharmas I have already preached to you ” (Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 19). return

17

Another important phrase in the chapter on “Expedient Means” in the Lotus Sūtra. See T. 9, 7a-b; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 30ff. return

18

These are tasks assigned to the prodigal son by his rich father to help him mature. See the parable of the prodigal son in the Lotus Sūtra; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 87, T. 9, 16b-17. return

19

Ekabhūmi. This refers to the one earth which acts as the basis for the growth of various plants and trees. See the parable of medicinal herbs in the fifth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 19b5. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 101-102 translates as follows: “A thick cloud spreads out, covering the whole thousand-millionfold world and raining down on every part of it equally at the same time, its infusions reaching everywhere. The grass and trees, the shrubs and forests, and the medicinal herbs – whether of small roots, stalks, branches, and leaves, or of middle-sized roots, stalks, branches, and leaves, or of large roots, stalks, branches, and leaves – and also all trees, great and small, whether high, intermediate, or low, all receive some of it. Everything rained on by the same cloud in keeping with its nature gains in size, and its blossoms and fruit spread out and bloom. Though produced by the same earth, and moistened by the same rain, yet the grasses and trees all have their differences.” return

20

Another phrase from the fifth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra: T. 9, 20b22. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 109, translates the context as follows: “Kāśyapa, let it be known that, when by invoking causes and conditions and a variety of parables I demonstrate the Buddha Path, this is my expedient device. The other Buddhas are also this way. Now, for your sakes, I preach the most true reality. return

21

Another name for the ultimate goal of Buddhahood or nirvāṇa. Used to refer to the goal of the travelers in the parable of the magical castle, Lotus Sūtra chapter seven, T. 9, 26a24. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 148, translates, “There is a great multitude wishing to traverse this road to arrive at a cache of precious jewels.” return

22

This refers to the parable of the jewel sown in the poor friend’s coat, in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 29a. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 164-165 translates this section as follows: “There is a man who arrives at the house of a close friend, where he gets drunk on wine, then lies down. At that time, his friend, having official business, is on the point of going away, when he sews a priceless jewel into the interior of the first man’s garment and departs, leaving it with him. The first man, laid out drunk, is unaware of anything. When he has recovered, he sets out on his travels, then reaches another country, where he devotes every effort to the quest for food and clothing. He suffers such hardship that he is content with however little he may get. Then his friend, encountering him by chance, speaks these words to him: ‘Alas, Sir! How can you have come to this for the sake of mere food and clothing? Once, I, wishing to afford you comfort and joy, as well as the natural satisfaction of your five desires, in such-and-such a year, on a certain day of a certain month, sewed a priceless jewel into the inside of your garment. Surely it is still there. Yet you, not knowing of it, have suffered pain and grief in quest of a livelihood. How foolish you have been! Now you need only take this jewel, exchange it for what you need and have things always as you wish, suffering neither want nor shortage.’ The Buddha is also thus. return

23

A phrase from the eleventh chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 32b28—29. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 183, translates the context: “How excellent, O Śākyamuni, O World-Honored One, that with great undifferentiating wisdom you can teach the bodhisattva-dharma, that you can preach to the great multitudes the Scripture of the Blossom of the Fine Dharma, which Buddhas keep protectively in mind.” return

24

All of these concepts, phrases, and parables illustrate the idea that although reality is verbally and conceptually differentiated on a conventional level, it is ultimately One. return