A Study of Master Yinshun’s Hermeneutics: An Interpretation of the Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine

Dissertation

Abstract

This study is an examination of Master Yinshun's hermeneutics. It focuses especially on his interpretation of the Buddhist concept known as the tathagatagarbha, which refers to the idea that all sentient beings intrinsically possess the "womb of the Buddha." In some explanations of this teaching, the tathāgatagarbha is symbolic of the practitioner's potential for attaining enlightenment. In others, it functions as a synonym for the Ultimate and becomes the eternalistic substrate for all of existence. It is this latter view to which Yinshun takes exception, seeing it as antithetical to the doctrine of emptiness which espouses the notion that all things, including ideas, material objects, and living beings, lack a permanent and independent nature and thus cannot possess an unchanging, eternalistic form.
I focus particularly on Yinshun's text A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha, for it serves as a concise statement of his interpretation of the tathāgatagarbha and its relationship to emptiness. In this text, Yinshun continually asserts the doctrine of emptiness as the definitive expression of Buddhist truth and relegates the tathāgatagarbha to the category of expedient means. He does this by examining the development of the tathāgatagarbha emphasizing particularly its evolution within pre-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna textual sources said to have had their genesis in India such as the Āgamas, the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras and the Ratnagotravibhāga. For Yinshun, to regard the tathāgatagarbha as the ultimate truth rather than as an expedient means can only result in misguided practice and confusion about how to attain enlightenment.
I conclude by asking a number of general questions about Yinshun's thought and its relationship to the early to mid-twentieth century intellectual milieu in China. I also inquire about how Yinshun's ideas have contributed to the development of contemporary Chinese Buddhist movements flourishing in Taiwan today. (Source: Worldcat Library Materials Online)

Citation	Hurley, Scott. "A Study of Master Yinshun’s Hermeneutics: An Interpretation of the Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine." PhD diss., University of Arizona, 2001. https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/279857/azu_td_3031364_sip1_m.pdf;jsessionid=7F7C9754E7B4C951472D8BB20D5B4BBE?sequence=1.

List of Tables10
Abstract11
Introduction13

Chapter 1. The Controversy: The Relationship between the Doctrine of
Emptiness and the Tathāgatagarbha25

Chapter 2. Yinshun's Interpretation of the "Original Purity of the Mind" and Its
Role in the Development of the Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine43
- 2.1. "Original Purity of the Mind" in pre-Mahāyāna Buddhism45
  - 2.1.1. The "Original Purity of the Mind" and the Cultivation of Samādhi46
  - 2.1.2. Canonical Sources for the "Original Purity of the Mind"
    Doctrine49
  - 2.1.3. Yinshun's Interpretation of the "Original Purity of the Mind”: The Sarvāstivādin Position52
  - 2.1.4. The Role of Metaphors in the Explication of the "Original Purity
    of the Mind"57
  - 2.1.5. Unity of the Mind60
- 2.2. "Original Purity of the Mind" in Early Mahāyāna64
  - 2.2.1. No-Mind and the "Original Purity of the Mind"65
  - 2.2.2. The Bodhisattva Mind69
  - 2.2.3. Bodhicitta, Luminous Purity, and Emptiness72

Chapter 3. Yinshun's Analysis of the Tathāgatagarbha's Relationship to the Perfection
of Wisdom Sūtras, The Huayan Sūtra, and the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra79
- 3.1. The "Equality of all Dharmas" and the "Non-Obstruction of
  Phenomena"81
  - 3.1.1. The Prajñāpāramitā Literature81
  - 3.1.2. Huayan Sūtra84
- 3.2. The Implied Meanings of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory Found in the
  Huayan Sūtra86
  - 3.2.1. Tathāgata's Nature Origination Chapter86
  - 3.2.2. The Ten Stages Chapter90
  - 3.2.3. The Vairocana Chapter93
- 3.3. Mind, Bodhicitta, Bodhi, and Sentient Beings98
  - 3.3.1. Bodhicitta and Bodhi99
  - 3.3.2. Bodhicitta, Bodhi, and the Doctrine of Emptiness103
  - 3.3.3. Bodhicitta, Bodhi, and the Jewel Metaphor107
- 3.4. The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra110

Chapter 4. The Tathāgatagarbha as the womb of the Tathāgata: Yinshun's
Explanation118
- 4.1. Tathāgata and Tathāgatagarbha (Rulai yu rulaizang)123
- 4.2. The Selfhood of Tathāgatagarbha (Rulaizangwo)131
- 4.3. Tathāgatagarbha is not empty (Rulaizangbukong)142

Chapter 5. Yinshun's Interpretation of the Jewel Nature Treatise's Treatment of
the Tathāgatagarbha148
- 5.1. The Ratnagotravibhāga as the Chief Tathāgatagarbha Treatise150
  - 5.1.1. The Jewel Nature Treatise (Jiujing yisheng baoxinglun)150
  - 5.1.2. The Wushangyijing154
  - 5.1.3. The Dasheng fajie wuchabie lun155
- 5.2. The Texts and Treatises on which the Ratnagotravibhāga are Based157
- 5.3 An Analysis of the Meaning of the Ratnagotravibhāga160
  - 5.3.1 The Tathāgatagarbha160
    - 5.3.1.1. The Pervasive Dharmakāya160
    - 5.3.1.2. Suchness without Distinction161
    - 5.3.1.3. The Buddha's Seed Nature162
  - 5.3.2. The Originally Pure Mind163
  - 5.3.3. Non-Emptiness and the Seed Nature168
  - 5.3.4. "Transforming the Base" (Skt. Āśrayaparavṛtti: Chn. Zhuanyi)170

Chapter 6 . Conclusion: Yinshun's Hermeneutics173
- 6.1. Overview of Yinshun's interpretation of Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine174
- 6.2. Where to Go from Here193
References205