Buddha-Nature of Insentient Beings

Revision as of 16:09, 31 May 2019

Article

Citation:	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.

Article Summary

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.

References

Barkes, Graham. 1997. "Voices of Mountains, Trees, and Rivers: Kukai, Dogen, and a Deeper Ecology." In Mary Evelyn Tucker and Duncan Ryuken Williams, eds. Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 111-30.

Barnhill, David Landis. 2001. “Relational Holism: Huayan Buddhism and Deep Ecology.” In David Landis Barnhill and Roger S. Gottlieb, eds. Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Grounds. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Chen, Shuman. 2011. “Chinese Tiantai Doctrine on Insentient Things’ Buddha-Nature,” in Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 24: 71-104.

Findly, Ellison Banks. 2008. Plant Lives: Borderline Beings in Indian Traditions. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

King, Sallie B. 1991. Buddha Nature. New York: State University of New York.

LaFleur, William R. 1973. "Saigyō and the Buddhist Value of Nature," in History of Religions 13 (2): 93-128.

Penkower, Linda L. 1993. "T’ien-t’ai During the T’ang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism." PhD diss., Columbia University.

Schmithausen, Lambert. 2009. Plants in Early Buddhism and the Far Eastern Idea of the Buddha-Nature of Grasses and Trees. Lumbini [Nepal]: Lumbini International Research Institute.

Sharf, Robert H. 2007. "How to Think with Chan Gong’ans." In Charlotte Furth, Judith Zeitlin, and Hsiung Ping-chen, eds. Thinking with Cases: Specialized Knowledge in Chinese Cultural History. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 205-243.

Shively, Donald H. 1957. "Buddhahood for the Nonsentient: A Theme in nō Plays." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 20 (1/2): 135-161.

Stone, Jacqueline I. 1999. Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

Ziporyn, Brook. 2000. Evil and/or/as the Good: Omnicentrism, Intersubjectivity, and Value Paradox in Tiantai Buddhist Thought. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Asia Center.

Ziporyn, Brook. 2009. "How the Tree Sees Me: Sentience and Insentience in Tiantai and Merleau-Ponty." In Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism, edited by Jin Y. Park and Gereon Kopf, 61-82. Lanham, MD: Lexington.

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 |AuthorPage=Chen, S.
 |PubDate=2014
-|ArticleSummary=This encyclopedia entry discusses the historical origins and dissemination of the idea that Buddha-nature exists in insentient things. The author explains that this doctrine emerged in medieval China with thinkers such as  Jingying Huiyuan (523-592), Jiaxiang Jizang (549-623), and  Jingxi Zhanran (711-782) of the Tiantai school and later spread to Japan, being advocated by figures such as Kūkai. The underlying rationale for this position stemmed from
+|ArticleSummary=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.
 |ArticleReferences=* Barkes, Graham. 1997. "Voices of Mountains, Trees, and Rivers: Kukai, Dogen, and a Deeper Ecology." In Mary Evelyn Tucker and Duncan Ryuken Williams, eds. ''Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 111-30.