Jingying Huiyuan

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Jingying Huiyuan(523 - 592) 
淨影慧遠

Jingying Huiyuan. (J. Jōyō Eon; K. Chǒngyǒng Hyewǒn 淨影慧遠) (523-592). Chinese monk and putative Di lun exegete during the Sui dynasty. Huiyuan was a native of Dunhuang. At an early age, he entered the monastery of Guxiangusi in Zezhou (present-day Shanxi province) where he was ordained by the monk Sengsi (d.u.). Huiyuan later studied various scriptures under the vinaya master Lizhan (d.u.) in Ye, the capital of the Eastern Wei dynasty. In his nineteenth year, Huiyuan received the full monastic precepts from Fashang (495-580), ecclesiastical head of the saṃgha at the time, and became his disciple. Huiyuan also began his training in the Dharmaguptaka "Four-Part Vinaya" (Sifen lü) under the vinaya master Dayin (d.u.). After he completed his studies, Huiyuan moved back to Zezhou and began his residence at the monastery Qinghuasi. In 577, Emperor Wu (r. 560-578) of Northern Zhou began a systematic persecution of Buddhism, and in response, Huiyuan is said to have engaged the emperor in debate; a transcript of the debate, in which Huiyuan defends Buddhism against criticisms of its foreign origins and its neglect of filial piety, is still extant. As the persecution continued, Huiyuan retreated to Mt. Xi in Jijun (present-day Henan province). Shortly after the rise of the Sui dynasty, Huiyuan was summoned by Emperor Wen (r. 581-604) to serve as overseer of the saṃgha (shamendu) in Luozhou (present-day Henan). He subsequently spent his time undoing the damage of the earlier persecution. Huiyuan was later asked by Emperor Wen to reside at the monastery of Daxingshansi in the capital. The emperor also built Huiyuan a new monastery named Jingyingsi, which is often used as his toponym to distinguish him from Lushan Huiyuan. Jingying Huiyuan was a prolific writer who composed numerous commentaries on such texts as the Avataṃsakasūtra, Mahāparinirvānasūtra, Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra, Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra, Shidi jing lun (Vasubandhu's commentary on the Daśabhūmikasūtra), Dasheng qixin lun, and others. Among his works, the Dasheng yi zhang ("Compendium of the Purport of Mahāyāna"), a comprehensive encyclopedia of Mahāyāna doctrine, is perhaps the most influential and is extensively cited by traditional exegetes throughout East Asia. Jingying Huiyuan also plays a crucial role in the development of early Pure Land doctrine in East Asia. His commentary on the Guan Wuliangshou jing, the earliest extant treatise on this major pure land scripture, is critical in raising the profile of the Guan jing in East Asian Buddhism. His commentary to this text profoundly influenced Korean commentaries on the pure land scriptures during the Silla dynasty, which in turn were crucial in the evolution of Japanese pure land thought during the Nara and Heian periods. Jingying Huiyuan's concept of the "dependent origination of the tathāgatagarbha" (rulaizang yuanqi)—in which tathāgatagarbha is viewed as the "essence" (ti) of both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra, which are its "functioning" (yong)—is later adapted and popularized by the third Huayan patriarch, Fazang, and is an important precursor of later Huayan reconceptualizations of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda; see fajie yuanqi). (Source: "Jingying Huiyuan." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 392. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)


On the topic of this person

Article
Buddha-Nature of Insentient Beings
This encyclopedia entry discusses the historical origins and dissemination of the idea that Buddha-nature exists not only in sentient beings but also in insentient things. This doctrine emerged in various ways in medieval China with thinkers such as Jingying Huiyuan (523-592), Jiaxiang Jizang (549-623), and most prominently with Jingxi Zhanran (711-782) of the Tiantai school. This position later spread to Japan, being advocated by figures such as Kūkai and Dōgen. The underlying rationale for this position is generally grounded on the principle of nonduality and the idea of the Buddha’s all-pervading and embracing nature. The notion of the Buddha-nature of insentient beings is not only a doctrinal matter but also functions as a meditation technique whereby one learns to view phenomena as direct expressions of ultimate reality and to see oneself and the “outside” world as identical.
Chen, Shuman. "Buddha-Nature of Insentient Beings." In Vol. 1 of Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. 2nd ed. Edited by David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden, and Stanton Marlan, 208–12. Boston: Springer, 2014.
PhD Diss
Chen, S.: The Liberation of Matter: Examining Jingxi Zhanran’s Philosophy of the Buddha-Nature of Insentient Beings in Tiantai Buddhism
Abstract

This dissertation examines the notion that not only sentient beings but also insentient ones, e.g., flora, mountains, rivers, and manmade objects, have Buddha-nature. Employing an exegetical approach, I investigate Jingxi Zhanran’s (711-782) theory of the Buddha-nature of insentient beings. Emphasizing the all-pervasiveness of Buddha-nature and the nonduality of mind and material, he eliminates the absolute distinction between sentient and insentient beings and contends that Buddha-nature includes all beings. Additionally, insisting on the Tiantai notion of mutual inclusion, which reveals a two-way relationship between sentience and insentience, Zhanran reverses the positions of the subjective observer and the objective phenomenon, subjectifying insentient beings.
      In addition to examining the theoretical profundity of Zhanran’s theory, my study examines the issues of sentience versus insentience and Buddha-nature that took place before Zhanran and discusses the subsequent Tiantai concerns with the Buddha-nature of insentient beings. Through textual analysis, I reexamine the emergence of the Chinese thought that connects Buddha-nature to insentient things, initially presented by Jingying Huiyuan (523-592) and Jiaxiang Jizang (549-623). I also illustrate that the concept of the Buddha-nature of insentient beings is implied in Zhiyi’s (538-597) thought by interpreting Zhiyi’s teachings that inspired Zhanran’s advocacy. Furthermore, I analyze, on doctrinal grounds, Chinese Tiantai descendants’ endorsement of Zhanran’s theory, contrasting it with their Japanese counterparts’, the latter who found it difficult to conceptualize how insentient beings’ spiritual cultivation might occur.

      I ultimately argue that Zhanran, indeed, articulates the Buddhahood of insentient beings, and that the modality of their practice through the nonduality between passivity and activity, and between Buddhahood and “insentienthood” can be explained. By raising questions about the human relation to the insentient world and exploring possibilities for attaining harmony through transcending the duality between selfness and otherness, and subjectivity and objectivity, I hope to contribute to the reexamination of anthropocentric religious liberation.
Chen, Shuman. "The Liberation of Matter: Examining Jingxi Zhanran’s Philosophy of the Buddha-Nature of Insentient Beings in Tiantai Buddhism." PhD diss., Northwestern University, 2014.

Affiliations & relations

  • Fashang · teacher
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