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

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|BookToc=*{{i|List of Tables|10}}
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*{{i|Abstract|11}}
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*{{i|Introduction|13}}
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*{{i|Chapter 1. The Controversy: The Relationship between the Doctrine of<br>Emptiness and the ''Tathāgatagarbha''|25}}
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*{{i|Chapter 2. Yinshun's Interpretation of the "Original Purity of the Mind" and Its<br>Role in the Development of the ''Tathāgatagarbha'' Doctrine|43}}
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**{{i|2.1. "Original Purity of the Mind" in pre-Mahāyāna Buddhism|45}}
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***{{i|2.1.1. The "Original Purity of the Mind" and the Cultivation of ''Samādhi''|46}}
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***{{i|2.1.2. Canonical Sources for the "Original Purity of the Mind"<br>Doctrine|49}}
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***{{i|2.1.3. Yinshun's Interpretation of the "Original Purity of the Mind”: The Sarvāstivādin Position|52}}
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***{{i|2.1.4. The Role of Metaphors in the Explication of the "Original Purity<br>of the Mind"|57}}
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***{{i|2.1.5. Unity of the Mind|60}}
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**{{i|2.2. "Original Purity of the Mind" in Early Mahāyāna|64}}
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***{{i|2.2.1. No-Mind and the "Original Purity of the Mind"|65}}
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***{{i|2.2.2. The Bodhisattva Mind|69}}
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***{{i|2.2.3. Bodhicitta,  Luminous Purity, and Emptiness|72}}
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*{{i|Chapter 3. Yinshun's Analysis of the ''Tathāgatagarbha'''s Relationship to the ''Perfection<br>of Wisdom Sūtras'', The ''Huayan Sūtra'', and the ''Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra''|79}}
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**{{i|3.1. The "Equality of all Dharmas" and the "Non-Obstruction of<br>Phenomena"|81}}
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***{{i|3.1.1. The ''Prajñāpāramitā'' Literature|81}}
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***{{i|3.1.2. ''Huayan Sūtra''|84}}
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**{{i|3.2. The Implied Meanings of the ''Tathāgatagarbha'' Theory Found in the<br>''Huayan Sūtra''|86}}
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***{{i|3.2.1. Tathāgata's Nature Origination Chapter|86}}
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***{{i|3.2.2. The Ten Stages Chapter|90}}
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***{{i|3.2.3. The Vairocana Chapter|93}}
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**{{i|3.3. Mind, Bodhicitta, Bodhi, and Sentient Beings|98}}
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***{{i|3.3.1. ''Bodhicitta'' and ''Bodhi''|99}}
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***{{i|3.3.2. ''Bodhicitta'', ''Bodhi'', and the Doctrine of Emptiness|103}}
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***{{i|3.3.3. ''Bodhicitta'', ''Bodhi'', and the Jewel Metaphor|107}}
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**{{i|3.4. The ''Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra''|110}}
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*{{i|Chapter 4. The Tathāgatagarbha as the womb of the Tathāgata: Yinshun's<br>Explanation|118}}
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**{{i|4.1. Tathāgata and ''Tathāgatagarbha'' (''Rulai yu rulaizang'')|123}}
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**{{i|4.2. The Selfhood of ''Tathāgatagarbha'' (''Rulaizangwo'')|131}}
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**{{i|4.3. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' is not empty (''Rulaizangbukong'')|142}}
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*{{i|Chapter 5. Yinshun's Interpretation of the ''Jewel Nature Treatise'''s Treatment of<br>the Tathāgatagarbha|148}}
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**{{i|5.1. The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' as the Chief ''Tathāgatagarbha'' Treatise|150}}
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***{{i|5.1.1. The ''Jewel Nature Treatise'' (''Jiujing yisheng baoxinglun'')|150}}
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***{{i|5.1.2. The ''Wushangyijing''|154}}
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***{{i|5.1.3. The ''Dasheng fajie wuchabie lun''|155}}
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**{{i|5.2. The Texts and Treatises on which the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' are Based|157}}
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**{{i|5.3 An Analysis of the Meaning of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|160}}
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***{{i|5.3.1 The ''Tathāgatagarbha''|160}}
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****{{i|5.3.1.1. The Pervasive Dharmakāya|160}}
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****{{i|5.3.1.2. Suchness without Distinction|161}}
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****{{i|5.3.1.3. The Buddha's Seed Nature|162}}
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***{{i|5.3.2. The Originally Pure Mind|163}}
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***{{i|5.3.3. Non-Emptiness and the Seed Nature|168}}
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***{{i|5.3.4. "Transforming the Base" (Skt. ''Āśrayaparavṛtti'': Chn. ''Zhuanyi'')|170}}
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*{{i|Chapter 6 . Conclusion: Yinshun's Hermeneutics|173}}
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**{{i|6.1. Overview of Yinshun's interpretation of ''Tathāgatagarbha'' Doctrine|174}}
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**{{i|6.2. Where to Go from Here|193}}
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*{{i|References|205}}
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Latest revision as of 21:02, 10 August 2023

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