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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 Commentary

Li and Sudden Enlightenment

Does Tao-sheng provide adequate metaphysical and epistemological grounds for sudden enlightenment? The key to this question lies in the concept of li: a term of extreme significance in the Chinese philosophical tradition, and one that is ubiquitous in Tao-sheng’s writings. li has a wide spectrum of implications embracing both the particular and the universal, yet it may be safe to relate li to the essential substance underlying all things, including the Buddha’s teachings. However, Tao-sheng seems to take particulars as representations of the universal, and therefore, in his view, there is no serious conflict between the two levels. It may be possible to see li as a metaphysical term for the ultimate reality. li is identified with what is immutable (ch’ang): nirvāṇa, Dharmatā, and Dharma-kāya. By losing it one enters into the bondage of birth-and-death (saṃsāra); and by attaining it one reaches nirvāṇa. Whatever it is, li represents that by which one is to be enlightened; that is, it is the content of enlightenment.

Then, why sudden enlightenment? Because li is indivisible and nonanalytic, and the ontological nature of li dictates its epistemological mode. Tao-sheng makes this point in his [Commentary on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra]: “The true li (or Truth) is self-so (tzu-jan): enlightenment also is [the process of] mysteriously identifying oneself with [Truth]. What is true being not gradational (nondifferentiated), then can enlightenment allow any [stages of] changing?” The interrelation of ontology and epistemology seen here receives a clearer exposition by Tao-sheng in the following quotation: “What is the meaning of sudden? It means that li is indivisible; while the word enlightenment means illuminating the ultimate [that li is]. Hence, nondual enlightenment matches with indivisible li. [The distinction between] li and knowledge being done away with, we call it sudden enlightenment.” Thus, the indivisible nature of li requires an equally indivisible means to grasp it.

As a corollary, one also can consider the expression one. li is often described as “one,” especially in the [Commentary on the Lotus Sutra]. One is found along with such words as ultimate (or “final”) (chi), mysterious (miao), everlasting (ch’ang), as well as vehicle (yāna), referring to One Vehicle as the point of synthesis in the dialectical process involving the three vehicles. Hsieh’s argument in the [Pien-tsung lun] begins with the premise that “li is united with the One ultimate (or one and final).” As a logical consequence in his view, “one enlightenment” therefore is in order: “with one enlightenment all the fetters of existence are dispensed with simultaneously.”

Tao-sheng does not specifically reject the established doctrine of stages (bhūmi), which apparently typifies gradual enlightenment, but he locates the ultimate li beyond the confines of the ten stages. The ten stages and four grades of sagehood are merely the means that the Buddha devised to bring li within reach of all sentient beings.

Faith (hsin) is relegated by Tao-sheng as something short of enlightenment. “Understanding through faith” (hsin-chieh) in his view is not genuine enlightenment: when enlightenment sets in, faith gives way. In the [Pien-tsung lun] we find this view reiterated by Hsieh Ling-yūn; “Understanding is not to be gradually reached, whereas faith arises [gradually] from instruction. What do I mean by this? The fact that faith arises from instruction [shows that] there is such a thing as the work of daily advancement. But since [final] understanding is not gradual, there can be no such thing as partial entry into illumination.” In this way, Buddhahood does not allow gradual access, but rather an all-or-nothing, once-and-for-all situation.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p33-34
Tao-Sheng Commentary, Blog

The Meaning of Li

Before exploring Tao-sheng and his commentary on the Lotus Sūtra it is necessary to define the meaning of the Chinese word li 理. In his commentary, Tao-sheng repeatedly references li, but what exactly is he pointing at?

The original doctoral thesis upon which Young-Ho Kim’s book, “A Study and Translation: Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra” is based is available for download. (PDF). In addition, Walter Liebenthal published a biography of Tao-sheng in Monumenta Nipponica in October 1955. This too is available for download. (PDF)

I took both PDFs and uploaded them to Google’s NotebookLM. This service allows the user to have an AI assistant analyze specific texts and answer questions based on the content of those texts, which ensures that the answers are limited to the facts at hand and not based on wider and perhaps unreliable sources. I’ve tested this before. See Understanding Kaji Kito.

Tao-sheng’s commentary on Kumārajīva’s translation of the Lotus Sutra was completed in 432 CE, two years before he died. Kumārajīva completed his translation in 406 CE. Tao-sheng’s commentary is the earliest one to survive to this date.

How does Tao-sheng’s philosophy differ from the Chinese Taoist and New Taoist philosophy of his day?

The NotebookLM offered this bottom line:

Overall, Tao-sheng’s philosophy represents a unique synthesis of Buddhist thought with elements of Chinese philosophical language and concepts. While he borrows from the vocabulary of Taoism and Neo-Taoism, his system ultimately centers on the Buddhist goal of enlightenment and universal salvation, differentiating him from the dominant philosophical trends of his day.

On the question of li, NotebookLM summarizes Tao-sheng’s perspective saying:

Tao-sheng’s definition of li is not presented as a clear-cut definition but emerges from his application of the term in his commentary on the Lotus Sutra. He sees li as the underlying principle of Buddhist teachings, the object of enlightenment, and a reality that is both particular and universal. He associates li with profoundness, transcendence, and omnipresence. While advocating sudden enlightenment, he also acknowledges the possibility of a gradual process of realization. His use of li reflects a sophisticated attempt to synthesize Buddhist teachings with Chinese philosophical concepts.

When asked “What is li?”, NotebookLM responded:

Li in Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra
The term li 理 is central to Tao-sheng’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra, appearing 139 times throughout the text. It’s a complex concept with a range of meanings, reflecting both Buddhist teachings and Tao-sheng’s engagement with Chinese philosophy, particularly Neo-Taoism. The sources suggest that Tao-sheng does not offer a concise definition of li. Instead, its significance unfolds through how he employs the term to illuminate the Lotus Sutra.

Li as a Tool for Understanding

  • Li acts as a lens through which to understand the deeper meaning and intent behind the Buddha’s words in the Lotus Sutra.
  • Tao-sheng uses li to reveal the essential principles and truths embedded within the text, emphasizing that comprehending li is crucial for attaining enlightenment.

Li as the Underlying Reality

  • Tao-sheng portrays li as a profound, often elusive, reality that underlies the world of appearances.
  • He suggests li is both particular and universal, echoing the Neo-Taoist thinkers Wang Bi and Guo Xiang.
    • Just as Wang Bi recognized a universal li and Guo Xiang focused on the particular li of individual things, Tao-sheng seems to bridge these two perspectives.
  • In the context of the Lotus Sutra, li signifies the ultimate reality that encompasses and harmonizes the seemingly diverse teachings of the Buddha, representing the unity of the three vehicles and the One Vehicle.
  • Tao-sheng also connects li with the Buddhist concept of the Dharma-kāya, suggesting its omnipresent and formless nature.

Li and Language

  • Given the profound nature of li, Tao-sheng acknowledges the limitations of language in fully expressing it.
  • He compares words to “fishnets and traps,” useful for guiding people towards li but ultimately discarded once the goal is reached.
  • Despite their limitations, words and symbols remain essential, particularly for those who have yet to realize li.

Li as the Object of Enlightenment

  • Tao-sheng directly links the realization of li with enlightenment, distinguishing his view from Neo-Taoism, where li may be a philosophical principle but not necessarily the target of spiritual practice.
  • He uses terms like “perceive,” “trace to the end,” “know,” “penetrate,” and “comprehend” to describe the process of realizing li.
  • This suggests a noetic path to enlightenment, involving both understanding and direct experience.

Li and the Path to Enlightenment

  • While Tao-sheng is known for his advocacy of sudden enlightenment, his commentary on the Lotus Sutra reveals a more complex perspective.
  • He acknowledges that grasping li may involve a gradual process of refining one’s understanding and purifying the mind.
  • This apparent contradiction might reflect Tao-sheng’s attempt to harmonize the Lotus Sutra’s teachings on both gradual cultivation and sudden insight with the philosophical context of his time.

Key Characteristics of Li in Tao-sheng’s Commentary

  • Underlying Principle: Li represents the essence of the Buddha’s teachings in the Lotus Sutra.
  • Ultimate Reality: Li points to a profound reality that underlies the world of appearances.
  • Both Particular and Universal: Li encompasses both specific truths and a unifying principle.
  • Object of Enlightenment: Realizing li is equivalent to attaining enlightenment.
  • Beyond Language: Li cannot be fully captured by words, yet language serves as a provisional guide.
  • Path to Enlightenment: Grasping li can involve both sudden insight and gradual cultivation.

Tao-sheng’s use of li showcases his skill in weaving together Buddhist concepts with existing Chinese philosophical language to make the teachings of the Lotus Sutra accessible and meaningful for a Chinese audience.

As I incorporate Tao-sheng’s commentary into my annotations on the Lotus Sutra, I will link each occurrence of the word li back to the above explanation.

Next: Li and Sudden Enlightenment