Category Archives: Tao-Sheng Commentary

Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra

tao-sheng-commentary-bookcover
Available from SUNY Press

Young-ho Kim, a student of philosophy at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, published his doctoral thesis “Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra: A Study and Translation” in May 1985. The State University of New York Press published Kim’s work as “Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra” in 1990 as part of a SUNY series in Buddhist Studies. At the time of SUNY’s publication, Kim was an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Inha University in Korea.

For my purposes, I’ll leave the spelling as Tao-sheng, which is the Wade-Giles spelling. The modern spelling is Daosheng.

SUNY’s teaser for the book says:

(Chu) Tao-sheng stands out in history as a unique and preeminent thinker whose paradigmatic, original ideas paved the way for the advent of Chinese Buddhism. The universality of Buddha-nature, which Tao-sheng championed at the cost of excommunication, was to become a cornerstone of the Chinese Buddhist ideology. This book presents a comprehensive study of the only complete document by Tao-sheng still in existence.

The importance of Tao-sheng’s work is underlined by Yoshiro Tamura in his Introduction to the Lotus Sutra. He writes:

When we look at the Lotus Sutra in light of its final form, we can see the merit of the traditional division of the sutra into two halves between chapters fourteen and fifteen. Daosheng, (355-434), a disciple of Kumarajiva who participated in the translation of sutras, made this division for the first time. Soon after the translation of the Lotus Sutra was finished, he wrote a commentary on it—the first in China, or at least the first that we still have.

Daosheng divided the Lotus Sutra into two parts, according to the teachings of cause and effect. That is, the section from chapters 1 through 14 he defined as that which “explicates the three causes and makes them one cause,” and the section from chapters 15 through 21 he defined as that which “speaks of three effects and makes them one effect.” In addition, the remaining chapters were interpreted as that which “makes three kinds of people equal and makes them one.” Here, “three” signifies the three vehicles and “one” signifies the one vehicle.

On the other hand, Daosheng established the idea of four kinds of Dharma wheel: the good and pure Dharma wheel (general religious thought), the Dharma wheel of skillful means (Buddhist upaya), the true Dharma wheel (true Buddhist thought), and the perfect Dharma wheel (ultimate Buddhist thought). The true Dharma wheel is what reveals the truth of the one vehicle, while the perfect Dharma wheel reveals the everlasting life (the Buddha). The teaching of cause, chapters 1-14, corresponds to the true Dharma wheel, while the teaching of effect, chapters 15-21, corresponds to the perfect wheel of Dharma. The remaining chapters are the dissemination or applied part of the sutra.

Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p65-66

As Tamura points out, Tao-sheng’s commentary played an important role in Tiāntái Zhiyi’s understanding of the Lotus Sutra:

Zhiyi found material for his interpretation of the Lotus Sutra in Daosheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra. While Kumarajiva and his disciples were translating sutras and commentaries they often discussed them with each other and even sought to write commentaries on them. It seems that they set out to write such commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, but of the commentaries written by Kumarajiva’s disciples only Daosheng’s has survived. In any case, of the extant Chinese commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, his is the earliest, making it especially important.

In it Daosheng ponders the title of the Lotus Sutra—Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. In particular, he interprets “Wonderful Dharma” as being the truth that is without shape or sound, and beyond all thought. He understands “Lotus Flower” as including both fruit and blossoms, symbolizing the idea that where there are causes there are effects. This leads him to comment that the pairing of “Lotus Flower” and “Wonderful Dharma” signifies that the Lotus Sutra is the Dharma of wonderful cause and wonderful effect. As mentioned earlier, the sutra has been divided into two halves on the basis of cause and effect.

The law of cause and effect is a law that refers to actual existence. The fact that it is picked out here has to do with the spirit of respect for the concrete and the practical that is generally found in China.

Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p111

I will be publishing quotes from Kim’s discussion of Tao-sheng and his Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra and incorporating Tao-sheng’s commentary into my annotations of the Lotus Sūtra.

Next: The Meaning of Li

Tao-sheng: Bequeathing the Treasure of the Unexcelled Dharma

“The poor son, having wandered from town to town, from country to country, from village to village, came to the city where his father was living.

Past conditions led [him] toward the city where “his father” was staying: li is [what is to be] “reached. ”

The father had been thinking of him for more than fifty years since he had lost him, but never told others [that he had a missing son]. He was alone, pining for his son.

Compassion [arose in the Buddha], thinking they might go astray from li. Yet the “sons,” after receiving the teaching, were lost and immersed in the five forms of existence: this is [the meaning of] “fifty years. ”

[never told others] This means that [the Buddha] never mentioned to others that the two vehicles would achieve Buddhahood. The Buddha’s Great Benevolence was originally aimed at uprooting the suffering [of others], but as they enjoyed birth and death, the true transformative teaching was then turned backward. Here arose the necessity for the exigency of the three. The three [were presented] in accord with the subtle state of their (beings’) minds, and thereafter he would be able to produce the One for them.

[The Buddha] regretted that the earlier transformative teaching was not intensive, with the result that they (beings) returned to delusion and transmigration (saṃsāra). Entirely out of compassion he devised all-round, [provisionary] expressions.

He thought, ‘I am old and decrepit. I have many treasures. My storehouses are filled with gold, silver, and other treasures. But I have no son [other than the missing one]. When I die, my treasures will be scattered and lost. I have no one to transfer my treasures to. Therefore, I am always yearning for my son.’ The father thought again, ‘If I can find my son and give him my treasures, I shall be happy and peaceful, and have nothing more to worry about.’

[The words] old and decrepit refer to [the Buddha’s] last stage of incarnation. [The statement] we have no son means that [the Buddha] has not yet said that the two vehicles will attain to the Buddhahood. [The Buddha] worries that there is nobody to whom to bequeath the treasure of the unexcelled Dharma.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p228

Tao-sheng: The Father and His Son

Suppose there lived a man [in a certain country]. When he was a little boy, he ran away from his father.

The first paragraph, which explains what father and son stand for. Formerly when they as bodhisattvas received the transformative teaching, the li of teaching was the One. The One came from the Buddha; it was the “son,” and the Buddha is identical with the “father.” The process of teaching began like that: it was “young in years.”

The process of the transformative teaching began very early, not yet bearing fruit. He returned to the depth of worldly delusion, and delusion rode [over] the right path. All [the achievements of] the transformative teaching also were gone. This is the implication of “forsaking his father and running off.”

[The boy] lived in another country for a long time, say, for ten, twenty or fifty years.

The self-soness (tzu-jan) of the transformation of sphere is “native land.” The perversion of the [cycle of] birth and death (saṃsāra) is “another country.” It was a long period of departure from the transformative teaching and he stayed there as a human [in saṃsāra]”: he “dwelt” [there].

[The word] five [of fifty or five tens] refers to the five forms of existence. [The word] ten means “dwelling long.” It is not definite; hence, or.

As time passed by, he became poorer [reduced to destitution]. He wandered about all [four] directions, seeking food and clothing.

It is a long time since he abandoned the transformative teaching; he “grew old.” He stumbled in [the cycle of] birth and death”; he was “reduced to destitution.”

He wandered through all the five forms of existence; no place was left unvisited: he “ran about in all four directions.” Growing old, he sought after the joy of the Greater [Vehicle] and that of [the] parables; being in the state of destitution, he sought after the joy of the Lesser [Vehicle].

“While wandering here and there, he happened [gradually] to walk towards his home country.

One does not suddenly receive the retribution of delusion: it is “gradual.” He was advancing gradually toward a nonoriginal place: he was [in the state of] “wandering.” Responding to the force of the transformative teaching, he went back toward enlightenment; he “[happened” to head gradually toward his native land.” He was led by unseen conditions to come [back], but it was not what he intended; hence, happened.

At that time his father stayed [midway] in a city [of that country]. He had been vainly looking for his son ever since.

The second paragraph demonstrates that he (the father) was incarnated as the Buddha in order to preach the doctrine of the three vehicles. The Buddha, having transformed himself and accumulated [meritorious] deeds, had always wanted to seek his sons who might have fallen into [the cycle of] birth and death. This ended badly, as [the Buddha was left] “without finding” them. His sons, having yielded to past conditions (pratyaya) [which were] bound to reach them [soon], had become attached to the pleasure of birth and death and had developed emotional inclinations of a direction different from those they had originally had. Their “father,” in responding to them, condescended to become a Buddha. The trace stopped short of reaching the real: it “stopped midway.” The li of the One Vehicle can ward off what is wrong; it is the “city.” [All beings from] the ten directions have converged on the transformative teaching: [in that sense] they are “one.”

He was now very rich. He had innumerable treasures. His storehouses [treasure houses] were filled [to overflowing] with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, coral, amber and crystal.

Even though he is the Buddha in human form, li encompasses all dharmas. This means that it is rich with the treasure of the dharmas, which is inexhaustible.

The seven sacred treasures cannot be spied on [for stealing]: they are “[in] treasure houses.” li surpasses words: it is “filled to overflowing.”

He had many servants, clerks, and secretaries. He also had countless elephants, horses, carts [carriages], cows, and sheep.

The heretics (tīrthikas) are “attendants”‘ the devils (māras) are “servants.” They are destined to return and follow the transformative teaching: this is what attendants and servants imply. The bodhisattvas are “assistants,” helping spread the right transformative teaching. The voice hearers are “officers,” warding off and restricting the false and wrong. The multitudinous beings in the three spheres are “vassals”; the Buddha is the king who controls them. Elephants and horses, oxen and sheep refer to the meritorious virtues of the three vehicles and “five supernatural powers.” As for carriage, it means that li penetrates everywhere.

He invested his money [profits that flowed in and out] in all the other countries, and earned interest. He dealt with many merchants [and traders] and customers.

The transformative teaching is what “out” refers to. Out of the transformative teaching they went: hence, “the profits that flowed.” “The profits,” belonging to the transformed throughout the five forms of existence, “filled other countries.”

The bodhisattvas received the Dharma to transform [all beings in] the ten directions: they are “merchants and traders.”

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p225-228

Tao-sheng: Faults Caused by Self-Esteem

They felt like dancing with joy, rose from their seats…

The next three [statements] describe why they are pleased. [In the paragraph] from [the clause] “[we], who were at the head of the saṃgha” to [the phrase] “made no effort to seek Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi (unsurpassed, complete enlightenment),” they told [themselves] that they “had already attained” realization, and felt that they did not hope for anything further. [This is] the first [statement].

You have been expounding the Dharma for a long time.

[This is] the second [statement]. In the past they heard the Buddha preaching the Prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtras. Hearing them preached, they became “tired and idle,” thinking solely of “emptiness” (śūnyatā) and “signlessness” (animitta), and giving up forever the will to transform the minds of living beings through the purity of the Buddha-land.

We elders of the Saṃgha were already old and decrepit [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].

[This is] the third [statement]. They are already approaching the last stage of life, advanced in age. Being advanced in years, [“when the Buddha instructed bodhisattvas”] in the unexcelled path, [in their words], “this did not arouse in us the least thought of desire.”

But now we are very glad to hear that you have assured a Śrāvakas of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. We have the greatest joy that we have ever had. We have never expected to hear such a rare teaching all of a sudden. How glad we are! We have obtained great benefits. We have obtained innumerable treasures although we did not seek them.

The aforementioned three [statements] refer to the faults caused by self-esteem. Now, as they suddenly hear the voice hearers receive the prophecy, their hearts are filled with joy but with no self-esteem. Thus, “the immeasurable amount of precious treasures, unsought by us, of themselves” have reached [them]. The meaning of their joyfulness is shown here.

“World-Honored One! Allow us to explain our understanding by telling a parable.

The men of the Lesser Vehicle from the beginning had no great hope; they had hope only in the two vehicles. Again for the sake of them a parable is devised. This part, divided into three paragraphs, illustrates what “the immeasurable amount of precious treasures, unsought by us, of themselves have come into our possession” means. The first [paragraph] shows that formerly when they were in the place where twenty thousand Buddhas were, they were ignorant of the path of Śākyamuni. This formed the relationship of father and son. The second [paragraph] explains that their spiritual triggering force grew so profound and manifest that Śākyamuni deigned to respond to them, preaching the doctrine of the three vehicles. The third [paragraph] discusses the purport of the One ultimate of the Dharma Blossom. This allows, as a secondary effect, the Buddha’s idea to be manifested and helps them, as an immediate effect, to verify what they have heard.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p224-225

Tao-sheng: Something Beyond the Expected

Thereupon the men living the life of wisdom: Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana felt strange because they heard the Dharma from the Buddha that they had never heard before, and because they heard that the World-Honored One had assured Śāriputra of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

As a departure from what was mentioned as three, now they have heard that they are [in reality none other than] the One, and then [have witnessed] [the Buddha’s] granting Body-son the prophecy [of his future enlightenment to] the unexcelled Tao. They heard these words directly pronounced by the Buddha, which they had never heard before. Thanks to this they realized it themselves. What they have attained is something beyond what they had expected; (naturally,] their happiness is double.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p224

Tao-sheng: The Process of the Three Turned One

Chapter 4: Understanding by Faith
Although the four eminent voice hearers have attained to enlightenment through the parable, it seems that their traces have not been thoroughly examined because they have become enlightened just lately. Therefore, they tell themselves [the parable of] “the poor son” in order to [examine and] display their understanding. Their understanding must be thoroughly examined, which is then called belief and understanding. Again, also illustrated here is the process (tao) of the three turned One.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p224

Tao-sheng: There Will Be No Fortune That One Shall Not Collect

In my lifetime or after my extinction
Some will slander this sūtra,
And despise the person
Who reads or recites
Or copies or keeps this sūtra.
They will hate him,
Look at him with jealousy,
And harbor enmity against him.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.

[The Buddha] wishes to transmit [the Dharma] to later generations; thereby, making the Tao prevail in the world. Thus, he has established the rule of gain and loss in order to admonish people: As for the Scripture of Dharma Blossom, there is no meaning (i) that it does not embrace; there is no goodness that it does not hold in its complete possession. If one follows it, there will be no fortune that one shall not collect. If one goes against it, there will be no evil that one shall not encounter. Hence, a wide range of [the punishments and] rewards for sin and goodness are listed for the purpose of amplifying this idea.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p217

Tao-sheng: The Seals of Kings

Śāriputra!
I expound this seal of the Dharma
In order to benefit
[All living beings] of the world.

The wondrous li of the One Vehicle can have no obstruction. Like the seals of the kings there is no place it cannot pass through.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p217

Tao-sheng: When A Statement Is Lofty

Śāriputra!
With this parable I expounded
The teaching of the One Buddha-Vehicle
To all living beings.
All of you will be able to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha
If you believe and receive
These words of mine.

When a statement is lofty [in nature], as a rule, those who follow it are few. li is so deep that certainly very few believe in it. It has been said earlier of the path (tao) of the One Vehicle that its purport is very profound, far-reaching, dark, and signless. It will be pretty difficult for those with a shallow consciousness to have faith in it. The next [verses] illustrate that [the Buddha] cannot commit falsehood by saying, for the sake of men, encouraging words, and by offering rewards. Thus, how could those who are inclined to the [right] direction not drive themselves to believe in and understand them?

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p217

Tao-sheng: Being Made to Know

He was a very rich man.
He had many storehouses.
He made many large carts
Adorned with treasures,
Such as gold, silver,
Lapis lazuli, shell and agate.

The li of the Greater Vehicle is not “made.” But the sons did not know about it earlier; [the Buddha] made them know of it: therefore it was “made.”

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p216

Tao-sheng: Transcended the Three Spheres

At that time the house-owner
Was standing outside the gate [door].
He heard a man say to him:
“Some time ago
Your children entered this house to play.
They are young and ignorant.
They are engrossed in playing.”
Hearing this,
The rich man was frightened.
He rushed into the burning house.

The next three verses are the chant of the third paragraph, concerning the saving of beings by the Buddha out of [his] great compassion. The Thus Come One has transcended the three spheres: he is “standing outside the door.”

[They] were born out of the transformative teaching they had received previously; they are “sons.” The li of the transformative teaching is outside the three spheres; later they themselves chose to deviate from the transformative teaching to immerse themselves again in the five desires: they were “in play.” Because of them (desires), they were reincarnated, they entered this house.” “The householder” having come, the previous conditions also have been reactivated. The subtle triggering mechanism has temporarily become “human speech”; (“someone say”) in order to actively stimulate the Sage. The Sage, able to respond [to the beings] and thoroughly propagate [the transformative teaching], is obliged to listen to them.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p215