Category Archives: Hsuan Hua

Hsuan Hua, Blog

Five Schools of One Buddhism

This year I’m going to be immersed in Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s fourteen volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra. In addition, I’m currently using the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of the Lotus Sutra in my daily practice. The sutra itself is volume 15 of the commentary. In addition, I’m reading a number of other books published by the Buddhist Text Translation Society.

Why? I want to read everything about the Lotus Sutra. In the past I’ve discussed Dogen’s view of the Lotus Sutra and Thich Nhat Hanh’s interpretation of the Lotus Sutra. Hsuan Hau makes a third Chan master with something to say about the Lotus Sutra. So there’s nothing unusual in all of this.

As for my reading outside the Lotus Sutra – I recently re-read the Vimalakīrti Sūtra – that too comes from the Lotus Sutra, specifically Chapter 2.

“Śāriputra! I also expound various teachings to all living beings only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. There is no other vehicle, not a second or a third. Śāriputra! All the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters also do the same.

As Nichiren explains, all of the streams of the Buddha’s teaching flow into the ocean of the Lotus Sutra:

All the sūtras entering the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra take up the one flavor of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō because of the wonderful merit of the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra. There is no reason why they have to be referred to by other names such as Nembutsu, Ritsu, Shingon, or Zen.”

Shoshū Mondō-shō, Questions and Answers Regarding Other Schools, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 165 (2022)

Yes, Nichiren was adamant about rejecting the practices of  Nembutsu, Ritsu, Shingon and Zen, but I’d argue that that doesn’t preclude Nichiren followers from studying all of these streams.

Since I’m  reading Hsuan Hua’s commentary, I want to acknowledge where he is coming from in his view of the Lotus Sutra.

Buddhism: A Brief Introduction includes a useful interview between Hsuan Hua and Karl Ray, which originally appeared in the Shambala Review under the title “Back to the Source.”

Karl Ray: (KR)

The first question I would like to ask is based on an article in which you suggest that Buddhists forget sectarian lines. Can you suggest practical steps that Buddhist organizations can take to bring this about?

Master: (M)

Before the Buddha came into the world there was no Buddhism. After the Buddha appeared, Buddhism came into being, but there was not as yet any division into sects or schools. Sectarianism is a limited view, a view of small scope, and cannot represent Buddhism in its entirety. The complete substance of Buddhism, the totality, admits no such divisions. When you divide the totality of Buddhism into sects and schools, you merely split it into fragments. In order to understand Buddhism in its totality, one must eliminate views of sects and schools and return to original Buddhism. One must return to the root and go back to the source.

KR: That brings me to a question about the different teachings taught here at Gold Mountain Monastery. I understand that you teach five different schools, including the Ch’an School, the Teaching School, the Vinaya School, the Secret School, and the Pure Land School. Can they all be taught like this together? Do they all belong to the original corpus of Buddhist teachings?

M: The Five Schools were created by Buddhist disciples who had nothing to do and wanted to find something with which to occupy their time. The Five Schools all issued from Buddhism. Since they came forth from Buddhism, they can return to Buddhism as well. Although the Five Schools serve different purposes, their ultimate destination is the same. It is said,

There is only one road back to the source, But there are many expedient ways to reach it.

Although there are five different schools, they are still included within one “Buddhism”. If you want to understand the totality of Buddhism, you need not divide it up into schools or sects. Originally there were no such divisions. Why make trouble when there is none? Why be divisive and cause people to have even more false thoughts than they already have?

People think that the Five Schools are something really special and wonderful. In fact, they have never departed from Buddhism itself. It is just like the government of a country. The government is made up of different departments. There is a Department of Health, a Department of Economics, a State Department, a Department of the Interior, and so forth. People may not realize that all these different departments are under a single government. All they recognize is the department, and they don’t recognize the government as a whole. Their outlook is narrow. Now, we wish to move from the branches back to the roots. In the analogy, the roots are the government and the branches are the various departments. People should not abandon the roots and cling to the branches. If you only see the individual departments and fail to recognize the government, you will never be able to understand the problems faced by the country as a whole. You will have no idea what they are all about.

KR: Then one should feel free to pursue any or all of the teachings?

M: Of course. Religion cannot be allowed to tie one up.

KR: And if one chooses to follow only one certain school, can one reach the goal that all of them aim for?

M: All roads lead to Rome. All roads come to San Francisco. All roads will take you to New York. You may ask, ‘Can I get to New York by this road?’ but you would do better to ask yourself, ‘Will I walk that road or not?’

Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, p83-84

Another interesting glimpse into the thinking of Hsuan Hua comes from the Forward to the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association‘s translation of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra.

The Venerable Hsuan Hua’s Vision

Buddhism in the modern Western world isn’t even at the kindergarten level. But what Master Hua could see at the grand scale was that three things were necessary for Buddhism to come into the West. Not just Buddhism in the West, either. To ensure the future of humanity, there were three essential things: translation, education, and maintaining the monastic tradition. Basically, Master Hua could see that humanity would have to start all over again, from a seed; it might preserve some of what we have now, but it would more or less have to start over.

The first essential element in starting over is to maintain the monastic tradition as a choice. It has to be available as a choice. People only really have two modes of living: at-home and left-home. If you live at home, you have to engage with the conditional at some level; you have to participate in some kind of strategic construct-working for a living or whatever-that will take up some amount of time. As a monastic, that’s taken care of. In exchange, you take on the responsibility of maintaining the Dharma in one way or another. As a layperson, you can stay away from spouses and pets as much as you like, but you still have to pay for your apartment and so on; you have to get involved with the conditional, and you can throw in a little meditation here and there. As a monastic, you avoid that, but you have to be a Bodhisattva. That’s the trade-off. Master Hua was very clear: when it comes down to it, it’s one or the other. Maintaining the monastic tradition is vital, as a practical issue, not a just a metaphysical one. On the one hand, people need to have this choice available to them; on the other, someone needs to maintain the Dharma.

The other two elements–education and translation–are intertwined. Whatever framework of reality is operating within a culture at a given time, it comes primarily through the educational construct. So having a thriving system, from elementary up through post-graduate studies, is indispensable to a healthy future. Translation acts a kind of liaison in that process; it can influence the educational construct and help to create an alternative to the one we have now. We’ve barely even scratched the surface of translating the Dharma into English. As more texts become available, people will be faced with a lot of different things. The Buddha was very flexible. He taught to all kinds of conditions. As more of the Dharma is brought into English, plenty of opportunities will open up for people to look at things in a new way.

Master Hua wanted to see hundreds of people working together on translation. He wanted to bring people together from all over the world. Like a Borobudur of translation. The problem is our imagination. We think so small. We don’t really consider just how big a project this could be, and how many people could work on it together. Master Hua wanted to bring everyone together. If our translation work could be like this, it could really be what he envisioned as an essential part of ensuring a better future for all of us.

Doug Powers
Vice President for Finance and Administration,
Professor, Dharma Realm Buddhist University

September 27, 2020

Hsuan Hua, OneThought10Realms, Blog

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

In Nichiren Buddhism, the 10 realms include:

Hell-dwellers
Hungry ghosts
Animals
Fighting demons (asuras)
Humanity
Heavenly beings
Śrāvakas
Pratyekabuddhas
Bodhisattvas
Buddhas

Master Hsuan Hua’s One Thought–Ten Dharma Realms offers a very Chinese interpretation of the realm of ghosts, hungry or not.

Almost everyone has heard of ghosts, but not everyone believes in them. Even some Buddhists do not believe that there are ghosts.

You ask:
What are ghosts?
Ghosts are masses of yin energy.
Sometimes they appear
As a shadow with no form or
As a form with no shadow.

Perhaps you have seen a dark shadow, but when you looked closer it disappeared. Perhaps you have seen what looked like a person, but then that form vanished in the blink of an eye. These phenomena are not easy to understand.

Ghosts are another realm in the ten Dharma Realms. There are as many different kinds of ghosts as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. Some ghosts are affluent and powerful and reign as kings over the ghost realms. However, some are poverty-stricken and devoid of authority–it is often the poor ghosts who bother people and go about causing trouble. If you want to know how many kinds of ghosts there are, work hard on your cultivation, open the five eyes, and develop the six spiritual powers, and then you’ll know.

As for people who say there are no ghosts, I tell them that if there are no ghosts, then there are also no Buddhas, people, or animals, because animals are transformed from ghosts, and so are people, asuras, and so forth. The same applies to devas, Arhats, Solitary Sages, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas.

Why is this?

The ten Dharma Realms are not beyond a single thought. A single thought creates the ten Dharma Realms.

One Thought–Ten Dharma Realms, p70

As a bonus, I offer a Chart of the Heavens. This chart comes from a Chart of Samsara published in Buddhism: A Brief Introduction. Appendix 1 Page 127-131

Hsuan Hua, OneThought10Realms, Blog

Footnotes To Understanding

Yesterday’s post about Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s One Thought–Ten Dharma Realm concluded with a mention of the Age of the Dharma’s Ending. One of the joys of reading this book for me was the footnotes. On the bottom of page 56 we learn:

There are Three Ages of Dharma in Buddhism: Right Dharma, Semblance Dharma, and Dharma’s Ending

  1. The Age of the Right Dharma was the first 1,000 years after the Buddha’s passing when his disciples were diligent in their practice and awakened to the Dharma.
  2. The Age of the Semblance Dharma was the second period of time lasting 1,000 years. People are devoted to the external signs of the Dharma but not many have direct knowledge of the Dharma.
  3. The Age of the Dharma’s Ending is the third period of 10,000 years, when the Dharma is about to disappear and people like to fight and compete rather than cultivate. We are currently in this age.

Although the Three Ages are described in time periods, another way of understanding them is in the present moment. A thought of fighting is the Age of the Dharma’s Ending, a thought of true practice is the Age of the Right Dharma. Similar to the ten Dharma Realms, the Three Ages are also not beyond a single thought in the mind.

Another example is the footnotes on page 49 for the five precepts, the ten good deeds and outflows.

The five precepts consist of 1) not killing. 2) not stealing, 3) not committing sexual misconduct, 4) not lying, and 5) not taking intoxicants. Buddhist practitioners can request to receive these precepts formally as a vow that they then uphold. These precepts are the foundation for spiritual practice.

The ten good deeds are 1) no killing, 2) no stealing, 3) no sexual misconduct, 4) no lying, 5) no divisive speech, 6) no harsh speech, 7) no frivolous speech, 8) no greed, 9) no hatred, and 10) no delusion.

Outflow (Skt. asrava, Ch. you lou 有漏) literally means a “leak” or “flowing out” that an awakened being puts an end to. There are usually three outflows: 1) outflow of sensuality, 2) outflow of existence, and 3) outflow of ignorance. Doing good deeds with outflows is like trying to put water in a leaky bucket. No matter how much water we put into it, the bucket never gets full. For example, if we practice giving with an expectation to be rewarded in the future, then our practice of giving has outflows. The ideal is to give without any attachments or expectations, which ultimately allows us to become free of the conditioned realm.

The discussion of Asuras on page 57 says:

Asuras may be born in the heavens, in the human realm, or in the realms of animals and hungry ghosts.

Dragged by the force of their karma,
they become deluded and confused,
create more karma, undergo the results of their actions,
and then are born again due to the force of their karma.

As cultivators, we must not be contentious, aggressive, or have a violent temper. Then we will be free of the asura realm.

In the footnote we get this explanation of Karma:

Karma is defined as intentional action of body, speech, and mind. Therefore, the force of karma is simply the habitual patterns that push us along into our next moment of existence. If the scope of time is expanded, then the power of karma is in our deep-seated habits that push us on from life to life. However, despite our conditioning, at every moment we have the opportunity to choose what karmic action to take. The Buddha’s teachings give us the tools to take that opportunity rather than just be slaves to our habits.

It is also important to note that karma is not only negative, but can be classified as good, bad, mixed, and neither good nor bad. Good karma leads to a good rebirth, while bad karma leads to a bad rebirth. Mixed karma, a combination of good and bad actions leads to good and bad results. Finally, karma that is neither good nor bad comes from cultivating precepts, meditative stillness, and wisdom. This final type of karma has no outflows and leads to awakening.

Next: Do You Believe in Ghosts?

OneThought10Realms, Hsuan Hua, Blog, Books

It’s All Your Fault

Available from the Buddhist Text Translation Society

In 1972, Chinese Master Hsuan Hua composed a poem about the 10 Dharma realms in one thought and then lectured on the meaning of the verses at the Gold Mountain Dyana Monastery in San Francisco. The Buddhist Text Translation Society translated the lecture and published One Thought – Ten Dharma Realms. The first printing was in 1972 and the second English edition, the one I read, was published in 2019.

My attraction to Hua’s writing comes from the wealth of details and explanations of basic Buddhism, the teachings that exist beneath sectarian differences.

Take the question of Hell.

In Nichiren’s letter, Omonsu Dono Nyobo Gohenji, he says:

Suppose we ask where the Buddha is, and where hell is. Some sutras state that hell is below the earth, while others state that the Pure Land of Buddhas is in the west. But the explicit truth is that both hell and Buddha exist within five feet of our bodies. It probably can be said that hell exists in one’s mind when he despises his father and neglects his mother. As the seed of the lotus brings forth its root and flower, we have the Buddha in our minds.

A similar sentiment appears in Hua’s discussion of the Hell Realm on page 76. Two verses from his poem say:

The hells are filled with misery and pain;
There are no doors, yet we drill on in;

In discussing the first line, Hua says:

This is a miserable place. But if there is anyone who would like to take a trip to the hells, I can guarantee that you’ll get there in no time.

How?

By being worried and depressed, you then go for a vacation in the hells. It is said:

Worry more and more-to the hells for a tour.
Full of happiness and joy-even when old, still a boy.
Cry and yell-make your gloomy room in hell.

If you get worried, you plant a seed in the hells. If you smile, you plant a seed in the heavens. There is another ancient saying:

Daoist immortals over the course of history.
Came only from being happy and free of worry.

If you are depressed and worried all the time, you are actually traveling to the hells. But if you are happy and smile, you’ll look young even if you are old. Crying and weeping is also quite a lot of trouble.

All in all, there is no happiness in the hells. They are full of suffering and distress.

In discussing the second line, he says:

There are no doors to hell, yet you make a door for yourself into the hells. You just keep boring in. These hells are not like the jails that are built by people for holding criminals. If someone commits a crime, they are put into jail. However, the hells are not like this; you yourself force your way in.

Earlier, in describing the Human Realm on page 61, Hua’s poem says:

There is no one else to blame at all.

As Hua explains:

Other people cannot force you to fall into the hells, make you a hungry ghost, or cause you to become an animal. It is entirely up to what you do. You reap what you sow. You yourself must endure the consequences of your own actions.

The need for personal action is again discussed in the description of the Asura Realm, the fighting spirits, on page 56.

Asuras are so belligerent that they can keep on fighting for one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, five hundred, or even a thousand years without getting tired.

With so much fighting and contention in the world now, we are in the Age of the Dharma’s Ending.

Even so, we must make vows:

We do not want the Dharma to end!
We want the Right Dharma to flourish!
Wherever we go, we want to transform our surroundings so that it becomes the Age of the Right Dharma!

If we make these vows, wherever we go will be a place of the Right Dharma. If everybody makes and fulfills these vows, then this Age of the Dharma’s Ending will become the Age of the Right Dharma.

We can turn the situation around.

Next: Footnotes To Understanding

LS45, Hsuan Hua, Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, LS32, Blog

The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra

BTTS Lotus Sutra
Available from Buddhist Text Translation Society

Beginning today I’m using a new translation of the Lotus Sūtra for my daily practice.

The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra was published in 2020 by the Buddhist Text Translation Society. The sūtra itself is volume 15 of a commentary on the Lotus Sūtra given by Hsuan Hua in San Francisco in a series of almost daily lectures between November 1968 and November 1970.

This elegant softcover edition, which was printed in Taiwan, has a gatefold cover. The front gatefold offers:

The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: Saddharma-puṇḍarīka Sūtra) presents the One Buddha Vehicle as Śākyamuni Buddha’s ultimate teaching and a unifying path that embraces and reconciles the variety of Buddhist doctrines as well as the provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles. Provisional and ultimate are shown to be nondual, and their nonduality epitomizes “the essence of things as they really are.” The sūtra also emphasizes that the potential for awakening is ever-present in sentient beings and declares that all of them will one day realize Buddhahood. Famous for its parables, the Lotus Sūtra demonstrates the countless skillful means (upāya) that Buddhas use to lead living beings to liberation.

The Buddhist Text Translation Society, the Dharma Realm Buddhist University and the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association hold the copyright for this translation.

The back cover gatefold offers this on the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association:

The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (formerly the Sino-American Buddhist Association) was founded in 1959 by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in the hopes of making the Buddha’s genuine teachings available throughout the world. To this end, it is committed to the translation and propagation of the Buddhist canon, the promotion of ethical and moral education, and the benefit of all living beings. For more information, please visit www.drba.org.

The back cover gatefold also offers this brief biography for Hsuan Hua:

Even as a child, the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua was a diligent cultivator, bowing to the Buddhas, his parents, and many other beings first thing in the morning and last thing at night. When his mother died, he sat by her grave for three years as an observance of filial respect. After that he left the home life under Venerable Master Changzhi and later received the transmission of the Weiyang Chan lineage from Venerable Master Hsu Yun (Xuyun), becoming its ninth patriarch. He went to Hong Kong in 1949 to propagate the Dharma there, and in 1962 brought the Buddha’s teaching to America, where he established the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, the Buddhist Text Translation Society, the International Translation Institute, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and many branch monasteries, and various educational institutes including Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Developing Virtue Secondary School, and Instilling Goodness Elementary School.

It is worth noting that while Hsuan Hua was a patriarch of the Weiyang Chan lineage, he did not limit himself strictly to chan teachings.

Buddhism: A Brief Introduction
Available Free (plus shipping cost) from the Buddhist Text Translation Society

In Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, a book “Based on the Compassionate Teachings of the Venerable Tripitaka master Hsuan Huan,” Chan is described as having four distinguishing characteristics:

  1. It is not established by words,
  2. It is a special transmission outside the teachings,
  3. It directly points to the human mind,
  4. Through it, one sees one’s own nature and becomes a Buddha.

Chan is transmitted directly from one mind to another mind. Its teaching simply directs the individual to see one’s own inherent, true mind, referred to as “seeing the nature and returning to the source.” That is, the enlightened teacher, profoundly aware of the mind of his student, certifies that the student’s mind is indeed truly “awakened”. This is a direct certification, mind to mind, that can only be done by a Sage.

Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, p89-90

However, the Buddhism that Hsuan Hua brought to America was much more. His Buddhism incorporates the Vinaya School of the Theravada tradition, the “Secret School” – esoteric teaching of mantras – and what is described as “The Teaching (Scholastic) School.”

As explained in Buddhism: A Brief Introduction:

The Chan School exclusively investigates Chan (Dhyana or Zen) meditation. The Teaching School emphasizes scholastic inquiry, exegesis, lecturing sūtras and interpreting and expounding Dharma. The Vinaya School focuses on questions of ethics and cultivating moral self-discipline. Vinaya students strive to be “awesome, majestic, and pure in Vinaya, great models for the three realms of existence”. Then there is the Secret School. “Secret” means “no mutual knowing”. And finally, the Pure Land School teaches the exclusive mindfulness and recitation of “Na Mo A Mi To Fo” (‘Homage to Amitabha Buddha’) the “Vast Six Character Name”.

Some people say that Chan School is the highest of the five. Others claim that the Teaching School, or the Vinaya School, is highest. Cultivators of the Secret School say “The Secret School is supreme.” Practitioners of the Pure Land Dharma-door say, “The Pure Land Dharma door is first, it is superior.” Actually, all Dharmas are equal; there is no high or low. “Highest” is everyone’s own personal opinion; whatever school you like, you claim to be the highest.

Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, p117-118

For my purposes as a follower of Nichiren and his view of the primacy of the Lotus Sūtra and the efficacy of chanting the Daimoku, my favorite is, of course, the Teaching School. It is this aspect of Hsuan Hua’s Buddhism that has brought about this new translation of the sūtra and fourteen volumes of commentary of the The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra.