Self-Improvement Is Identical With Teaching Others

There are two aspects of Mahayana practice:"self-improvement" and "teaching others".Self-improvement is also known as "self-benefit" or "self-enlighten",which refers to the enlightenment and liberation through self-practice.Teaching others is also known as "benefit others" or "enlighten others",which refers to bring all sentient beings to become enlightened and liberated.Self-improvement maintains Mahayana Buddhism as the spirit of liberation,while teaching others is the fundamental characteristic of Mahayana Buddhism which are both indispensable.In Mahayana doctrines,Prajna thought proves extremely effective to selfimprovement,but it is not enough to provide a positive theoretical support for the enlightenment of all sentient beings.It was not until the establishment of Buddha nature thought that Mahayana Buddhism got a relatively complete theoretical explanation in both of the aspects.However,the Buddha nature thought faces two theoretical difficulties:one is how to balance the tension with Prajna thought;The second is how to explain the arising of all dharma(especially the defilements).In this regard,different sutras and sects have different theoretical construction,thus forming different ideological systems of"Enlighten".Generally speaking,all Mahayana sects take "Benefit Self and Others" as their cardinal meaning,but in practice,they tend to attach importance to self-improvement and despise teaching others.This tendency is also reflected in academic research of Buddhist,which is a deficient for the study of Mahayana Buddhism.In Chinese Buddhism,Tiantai sect pays the most attention to the issue of "Enlighten"and systematically discusses it.Its actual founder,Master Zhiyi,inspired by Saddharmapundarika Sutra,Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra and other sutras,combined with his own experience of meditation,set up a "paradoxical interpretation" of Buddha nature(or Reality),that is,to interpret Buddha nature through the complete unification and eradication of opposites such as "identity of three nobles","ignorance is dharma natrue","Buddha nature includes good and evil" etc.Thus,on the basis of Prajna thought,the rationality of teaching others is established.Therefore he responded many of the problems involved in "Enlighten".These thoughts and their enrichment and development by later studies of Tiantai sect constitute the main contents of the "Enlighten" thought in Tiantai sect.This paper focuses on the "Enlighten" thought of Tiantai Sect,inspects the theoretical construction in "Enlighten all sentient beings" of Mahayana,especially Tiantai Sect,analyzes Master Zhiyi’s "paradoxical interpretation" of Buddha nature and its significance in the issue of "Enlighten",to reveal the logical context of "Enlighten"thought in Mahayana Buddhism and the origin and development of "Enlighten" thought in Tiantai Sect.Summary of each part:Foreword:It is proposed that Mahayana Buddhism includes two aspects of practice,namely,self-improvement and teaching others,so as to invoke the theme.Introduction:The origin of the theme is mainly about how to understand the idea to enlighten all sentient beings on the thought of emptiness,which is an important issue in the construction of Mahayana Buddhism doctrine.This part also introduces the significance of the theme,the status quo of research,the methodology,etc.Chapter Ⅰ:Definition and Overview.This chapter discusses the definition of"Enlighten" and the overview of "Enlighten" thought in Tiantai sect.Firstly,it introduces the definition of "Enlighten" by Master Zhiyi,and then examines the concept of"Enlighten" in Sanskrit and Chinese.On this basis,ten issues related to "Enlighten" are put forward,that is,"why people need to be taught","why people can be taught","who can be the teacher","what is the motivation of teaching others","what is the relationship between the teacher and those being taught","what is the relationship between selfimprovement and teaching others","what is the goal of teaching","what is the principle of teaching","what are the methods of teaching","what are the contents of teaching",etc.which taken as the frame to summarize the "Enlighten" thought in Tiantai Sect.From this,we can understand that Tiantai sect has an ideological system of "Enlighten" thought.Its theoretical basis is the "paradoxical interpretation" of Buddha nature or Reality of Maste Zhiyi,and its most thorough expression is "self-improvement is identical with teaching others".Chapter Ⅰ:Buddhistical Foundation.Mahayana Buddhism puts forward the practical proposition of "Enlighten all sentient beings",which links individual’s liberation with all sentient beings,and establishes a series of concepts and theories for this purpose.These contents constitute the Buddhistical foundation of the thought of "Enlighten" in Tiantai sect.It can be roughly divided into three stages:the first stage is to carry forward the bodhisattva act of mercy and altruism through the concrete description of bodhisattva;in the second stage,Prajna thought established the norms of emptiness for the doctrine and practice of Mahayana Buddhism,but it was not enough to provide positive theoretical support for the practice of teaching others;in the third stage,different thought systems were established centering on the concepts of Buddha nature and Store consciousness,which provided a positive theoretical explanation for the "Enlighten" of Mahayana Buddhism.Among them,the Buddha nature thought in Mahaparinirvana Sutra had a great impact on Master Zhiyi.Chapter Ⅲ:Sutra Basis.Master Zhiyi explained the Buddha nature paradoxically and established the theoretical basis of "Enlighten" thought in Tiantai sect.In this process,he was inspired by many sutras,the most important of which are Saddharmapundarika Sutra and Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra.Saddharmapundarika Sutra,which "opening the provisional to disclose the real" comprehensively expounds the idea of "Enlighten all sentient beings" of Mahayana,and establishes the ideological framework for Maste Zhiyi.The thought of "Inconceivable Liberation" and "Enter the Gate of Non-Duality" in Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra is the direct source of the "paradoxical model" of Maste Zhiyi.In addition,sutras such as Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra,Mahaparinirvana Sutra,Madhyamaka sastra,Mahaprajnaparamita sastra are also important bases for Master Zhiyi to construct his "Enlighten" thought.Chapter Ⅳ.Theoretical Forerunner.The formation of "Enlighten" thought of Master Zhiyi is also related to the thought of Master Huiwen and Master Huisi,the forerunners of Tiantai Sect.Master Huiwen is one of the key figures in the rise of Mahayana meditation in China.His practice of meditation contains a clear altruism,which laid the foundation for the thought of Tiantai.Under the strong awareness of "End of the Dharma",Master Huisi has great enthusiasm for maintaining the long existence of Buddhism and the practice of meditation.His meditation thought integrates Prajna thought and Tathagatagarbha thought,attaches importance to the significance of "Initiate the Bodhi Mind" and emphasizes the daily world.These are inherited and developed by Master Zhiyi.This chapter also discusses The Dharma ofMahayana Samatha-Vipassana,which links the Samatha-Vipassana with self-improvement and teaching others,and thus has theoretical significance to the issues of "Enlighten".The thought of "Buddha nature includes defilement and purity" described in this book is similar to the thought of "Buddha nature includes good and evil" of Master Zhiyi,which the same moral structure and spiritual purport,or can be regarded as one of the theoretical sources of "Enlighten"thought in Tiantai Sect.Chapter Ⅴ:Master Zhiyi’s Thought of "Enlighten".This chapter starts with four topics to investigate the "Enlighten" thought of Master Zhiyi.The first section combs the Teaching Cassification system of Master Zhiyi,and believes that it is a syllabus of"Enlighten" which based on the sentient beings,focusing on the practice of teaching,and emphasizing the initial opportunity.The second section inspects Master Zhiyi’s thought of "self-improvement is identical with teaching others",and believes that it clarifies the true form of Mahayana practice,that is,only in teaching others can we truly improve ourselves,and only in improving ourselves can we truly teaching others.The third section excavates the views of Master Zhiyi on the motivation of "Enlighten".Through the analysis of the thoughts of "three elements of Buddha nature","middle way Buddha nature" and "Buddha nature includes good and evil",it points out that the fundamental motivation of "Enlighten" lies in the Truth,and its specific manifestation requires the teachers to understand the Truth through meditation.The fourth section analyzes the"divine connection" which is the principle behind "Enlighten".Master Zhiyi took"Dependent Origination" as the essence of "divine connection",and specifically attributed it to the practice of meditation,which largely dispelled the mystery of "divine connection",and got through many issues of the thought of "Enlighten".Chapter Ⅵ:Development.The "Enlighten" thought of Tiantai sect has been basically shaped by Master Zhiyi,but the later studies of Tiantai Sect developed it to face the social and cultural environment of different times.This chapter briefly introduces the development of the "Enlighten" thought of Tiantai sect from three aspects:the reinterpretation of Zhiyi’s Buddha-nature theory,the simplification and maintenance of the meditation,and the application of "Enlighten" thought in Zen Interpretation of Zhouyi.Conclusion:Summarize the full text and put forward views on further research.