Liu, M.

Ming-Wood Liu

Ming-Wood Liu received his PhD in Buddhist Studies under UCLA’s inaugural professor of Chinese Buddhism, Kenneth Ch’en. Liu is the author of Madhyamaka Thought in China (Sinica Leidensia, 30), and many research articles in Chinese Buddhism, including "Fan Chen's ‘Treatise on the Destructibility of the Spirit’ and its Buddhist Critics" (Philosophy East and West), "The Lotus Sûtra and Garland Sûtra According to the Tien-t'ai and Hua-yen Schools in Chinese Buddhism" (T'oung Pao), and "Madhyamika and Yogacara Interpretations of the Buddhist-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism" (Philosophy East and West). He was a lecturer in Chinese Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. (Source Accessed Jan 14, 2019)

3 Library Items

Article

The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra

In the Buddhist Canon, there are two main corpuses of texts which go by the name Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra (henceforth abbreviated to MNS) and have as their main concern the recounting of the events and dialogues of the last days of the Buddha. The first, presumably of earlier origin, is a comprehensive compendium of Hīnayāna ideas and precepts. It exists today in its Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese versions, and for its attention to factual details has been resorted to as the principal source of reference in most standard studies of the Buddha's life. As for the second, only its Chinese and Tibetan translations are still extant.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"' While it also relates some of the well-known episodes of the final months of the Buddha Śākyamuni, notably his illness and the last meal offered by Cunda, such narrations are treated in the work merely as convenient spring-boards for the expression of such standard Mahayana ideas as the eternal nature of Buddhahood and expedience as method of instruction. Both in style and content, this corpus exhibits the disregard of historical particulars and the fascination with the supernatural and the ideal which characterize Mahāyāna writings in general. As a Mahāyāna sūtra, it is of rather late date, for it mentions such influential "middle Mahāyāna" works as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and the Śūraṃgamasaṃādhi-nirdeśa in its text, and so could not have been compiled before the second century A.D.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000002-QINU`"' It is this Mahāyāna version of the MNS which we are going to examine in our present study. (Liu, introduction, 63)

Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5, no. 2 (1982): 63–94. https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8578/2485.

Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5, no. 2 (1982): 63–94. https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8578/2485.;The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra;The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Ming-Wood Liu;&nbsp

Article

The Problem of the Icchantika in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvaṇa Sūtra

In the Chinese Buddhist Canon, there are two corpuses of texts which go by the name of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra (henceforth, MNS). The first corresponds in main to the Mahāparinibbāna-suttanta in the Dīgha-nikāya of the Pāli Canon. Being essentially Hīnayāna in outlook, it has received little attention in China. The second, which exhibits all the features of a Mahāyāna text, generated immediate enthusiasm on its first introduction into China in the early fifth century, and has exerted enormous influence on the development of Chinese Buddhist thought. Especially worth mentioning in this connection is its teaching of Buddha-nature. It is well-known that the idea of Buddha-nature, one of the central concepts in Chinese Buddhism, was first made popular in the country by the Mahāyāna version of the MNS, which remains the principal source of reference as well as the final authority in all subsequent discussions on the subject. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to assert that without a proper understanding of the Buddha-nature doctrine as appears in this Mahāyāna version of the MNS, it would be impossible to grasp the significance of the subsequent evolution of the concept in the Chinese Buddhist tradition.
It is the orthodox belief that the MNS teaches that all sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature. Since in the MNS "Buddha-nature" refers to "the nature of the Buddha" and "to possess" the Buddha-nature in the case of sentient beings usually indicates "to have in the future,"'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"' this belief amounts to the conviction that the MNS maintains that all sentient beings will achieve Buddhahood someday. This conviction is well attested by the text of the MNS. Thus, we find it clearly expressed in the MNS that "all three vehicles will eventually share the same Buddha-nature":

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Those who refuse to accept the tenet that all sentient beings without exception will possess the Buddha-nature are criticized by the MNS as wanting in faith.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000005-QINU`"' In the sūtra, this idea of the universal presence of the Buddha-nature is presented as one of the distinctive themes of Mahāyāna writings'"`UNIQ--ref-00000006-QINU`"' as well as among the principal claims to excellence of the MNS itself.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000007-QINU`"' It is so highly esteemed that it is described as representing the "essential meaning" (tzu-i) of the Buddha's teaching;'"`UNIQ--ref-00000008-QINU`"' and, together with the doctrine of the eternal nature of the Tathāgata, it is said to be definitive (chüeh-ting) and not open to future amendments.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000009-QINU`"'
If this thesis of the eventual enlightenment of all sentient beings does indeed constitute the central theme of the MNS, it is strongly qualified by the presence in the sutra of the concept of the icchantika. The term "icchantika" is derived from the Sanskrit root is meaning "to desire," "to wish" and "to long for." This explains the variant Chinese renderings of the term "icchantika" as "a being of many desires" (to-yü), "a being cherishing desires" (lo-yü) and "a being full of greed" (ta-t'an).'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000A-QINU`"' But in the MNS, the failings attributed to the icchantikas far exceed those which are usually associated with people of such descriptions. In the sūtra, the icchantika is described as "devoid of good roots"'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000B-QINU`"' and as "the most wicked being."'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000C-QINU`"' He is depicted as "having no capacity for the [true] Dharma"'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000D-QINU`"' such that he can never be rehabilitated by the instruction of the Buddha and so will never attain supreme enlightenment. Taken at its face value, this picture of a being condemned forever to spiritual darkness appears to contradict the proposition of the MNS that all sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature and so are destined for Buddhahood, and commentators of the MNS have been hard pressed to find a viable way out of this apparent dilemma.
The present article, which is the second of a two-part study on the problem of Buddha-nature in the MNS,'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000E-QINU`"' is an attempt to unravel the various strands of thought present in the MNS regarding the character and fate of the icchantikas. It is hoped that our discussion, brief and sketchy as it is, will be of help in throwing light on this highly intricate question. (Liu, "The Problem of the Icchantika," 57–59)

Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Problem of the Icchantika in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 7, no. 1 (1984): 57–81. https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8619/2526.

Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Problem of the Icchantika in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 7, no. 1 (1984): 57–81. https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8619/2526.;The Problem of the Icchantika in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvaṇa Sūtra;The Problem of the Icchantika in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvaṇa Sūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;icchantika;Ming-Wood Liu;&nbsp

Article

The Yogācārā and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism

The idea of Buddha-nature was first made popular in China in the early fifth century with the translation of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra (hereafter cited as MNS),'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"' and since then, it has remained one of the central themes of Chinese Buddhist thought. Already in the fifth and early sixth centuries, a wide variety of theories on the Buddha-nature had begun to appear, but extant information about them remains scanty and scattered.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000002-QINU`"' It is in the writings of Ching-ying Hui-yüan (523–592),'"`UNIQ--ref-00000003-QINU`"' the Yogācārin, and in Chi-tsang (549–623), the Mādhyamika, that we find the earliest available full-scale treatments of the subject. Hui-yüan and Chi-tsang hold a number of views in common with respect to the question of Buddha -nature:

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Nevertheless, given their very different theoretical upbringings and doctrinal affiliations, it is inevitable that they would carry to their explanations of the Buddha-nature concept some of the basic principles and assumptions of their respective philosophical traditions. In examining and comparing the Buddha-nature teachings of Hui-yüan and Chi-tsang our present study attempts to show how the Buddha-nature concept has come to assume divergent significances when read in the context of the two main streams of thought in Mahāyāna Buddhism: Yogācāra and Mādhyamika. (Liu, "The Yogācāra and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism," 171)

Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Yogācārā and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism." Philosophy East and West 35, no. 2 (1985): 171–93.

Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Yogācārā and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism." Philosophy East and West 35, no. 2 (1985): 171–93.;The Yogācārā and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism;The Yogācārā and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Madhyamaka;Yogācāra;Ming-Wood Liu;&nbsp