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(ce SSD ARI AL. ip se ps ke. we ef 11 23 39 717 87 105 117 129 135 140 143 155 169 183 193 209 221 235 249 261 273 287 299 309 TRUTH AND TRADITION IN CHINESE BUDDHISM INTRODUCTION As the title of the book indicates, it will be our object to present the nature and history of Mahayana Buddhism as that history has been evolved on Chinese soil, and as it unfolds itself according to its own nature in the present-day life of this great culture- land of the Far East. We have, therefore, taken as a motto for the entire book that great dominating saying which incontestably has become the principal thought of the Chinese Mahayana, “The salvation of all living things’”’ (P‘u chi chung shéng, 7% # 2 4b). Mahayana Buddhism, or, in other words, the Bud- dhism of the Great Vehicle, has, in recent years, attracted to itself by its very massiveness the in- creasing attention of investigators. This interest is due not merely to its tremendous thought-structures and systems, and its highly developed apparatus of worship, which give it a special position in the life of the East, but also to the fact that it meets, in a most remarkable manner, many of the great religious cravings of life which men in all times and all places feel more or less consciously. [1] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM It is not without significance that it is Mahayana and Christianity which just at the present time gather to themselves the greater number of the religious “élite” of the East, for, as is well known, there are many points of similarity between these two religions, We should, therefore, fail in our purpose if we did not here take up this relationship for further investigation. Hinayana, also the Buddhism of the Little Vehicle, (that is to say, the original Indian Buddhism) offers a great many points of likeness in form to Christianity; but one must say of these that, for the most part, they are of an accidental nature, have arisen under similar psychological conditions, or point back to a common possession from earlier periods in the history of the race. It is quite otherwise with Mahayana (Ta Ch‘éng, KR ¥#), with its striking cult of the trinity, its strong emphasis on faith as the saving fact, and on the great new birth which brings man into the “Western Paradise” (Hsi-fang Chi Lo Shih Chieh, Py Fy Fe 388 tik FR) where the great merciful father of all reigns—he who has sent the “Mightiest One” ('Ta-shih-chih, % 3 8) down to earth in human form, and who now with ‘his gracious spirit” (Kuan-yin, #1 #) draws men to himself. ; We shall have opportunity to see all these and many other points of similarity as, little by little, we present the systems and ideas by means of quotations from literature and historical surveys. We mention the fact here merely to show how natural and [2] INTRODUCTION explicable is the intense interest which in the last few decades has been seen among sinologues who have treated of these things. Occasionally, indeed, this interest has driven some investigators to too hasty conclusions, since they have proclaimed results before the lines of connection were entirely uncovered. The whole subject has, for this reason, come into con- siderable disrepute; but the dissatisfaction will vanish, and, indeed, is already beginning to vanish before the honest and laborious research work which is now being carried on according to the best scientific methods, and which has already produced significant results. It is clear that specialists from the different countries of Asia must work together for this: sinologues who from China, Mahayana’s second motherland in the Far East, can make comparisons with Buddhism’s fresh spiritual advances in Japan; men who can explore the ancient monastic libraries of Korea, and push into the dim culture of Tibet and Mongolia; Indiologues who, from the ancient Pali and Sanskrit texts and the corrupt Mahayana systems of the boundary lands, can trace out the lines of thought and connections which point toward the West; Persiologues who can untangle the fine spiritual threads which knit ancient Iran, Persia, and Mesopotamia to Asia Minor and the kingdom of Greece on the west and to India on the east. But perhaps the greatest need is for men with large vision and a sane judgment, who can bind the whole together in a harmonious and scientifically justifiable manner. [3] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM As we shall see later, it has been proved beyond all doubt that certain of the countries here named very early received quite direct influences from Western Christianity, and this is evident in the moulding of the Mahayana doctrines. This is very probably the case with Nestorianism in China. On this we shall later have occasion to make a few remarks. China must quite naturally play a leading rdle when the nature and activities of Mahayana Buddhism are to be investigated. From China Buddhism spread both to Korea and Japan. Here the great schools, or. sects, were formed. Here, also, the new Tripitaka canon, which represents Mahayana, took shape. And finally here, in spite of all local shades of difference, one finds the purest form of Mahayana. It is quite otherwise in Tibet and Nepal, where the coarsest demon worship and animism throw an almost impenetrable veil over Mahayana Buddhism’s fine lines of thought. No wonder that interest is more and more centred in China and Japan, and that students begin to take up the study of Mahayana in these lands as a separate religious form which deserves its own independent treatment. It is indeed high time that it were so. It has been long enough the case that to study Buddhism meant chiefly to immerse oneself in the original Indian Buddhism (Hinayana; Chinese: Hsiao Ch‘éng, 3). In contrast to Mahayana this was called the “higher,” or the genuine, while Mahayana was often looked upon as a corrupt variation, a less worthy religious form, which one could dismiss with a few general [4] INTRODUCTION remarks. But times have changed. One has had to face the fact that the original Buddhism did not suc- ceed in maintaining itself as a universal religion even within the boundaries of India. On the other hand, Mahayana, enriched and fructified by the deepest and highest currents of spiritual thought from the West and the East, has in quite a remarkable manner understood how to gather to itself not merely the in- different masses in a more or less mechanical worship, but has also shown that it has been able to give to ‘more deeply religious souls, the most highly cultured people of the East, some draughts from the universal springs of the life of God. It has become a living religion. We have named especially China and Japan. No- where else has Mahayana so stirred the hearts of men or produced more beautiful flowers of thought. It is in these countries, too, that the title the ‘‘ Higher Buddhism’”’ has come to be used of Mahayana, a fact which may be somewhat bewildering to those who are accustomed to give that name to the original Indian Buddhism. But the name originated with the Chinese Buddhists themselves, who, in their ordination, first go through the “lower stage” (Hinayana) and after- wards are consecrated to the ‘“‘higher stage”? (Maha- yana).! One hears occasionally that Buddhism in the Far East is a decadent religion. This is not the case. On the contrary, a noticeable advance can be traced in 1Cf. Archbishop Séderblom’s “Kompendium der Religions-geschichte,” p. 265. [5] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM recent years. This advance has its deepest springs in the purest form of the higher Buddhism, that form which in so many ways reminds one of Christianity — the “Pure Land” School (Chingt‘u, #¥ +). We can- not, therefore, avoid devoting special attention to this particular form of Mahayana. It is clear that a conscientious and serious considera- tion of these things will make necessary a new orienta- tion towards the work of Christian missions. For some it may mean a complete revolution of thought with regard to missions and the attitude toward non- Christian peoples, especially those of higher culture. Nevertheless, the sooner this revolution comes the better for themselves and for God’s world. For others it will not mean a revolution, but only a clearer understanding of that which they have theo- retically known and professed for many years. It will merely emphasize those profound words from our New Testament concerning God who “left not Himself without witness,” “but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him”’;? the God who “‘ made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth; . . . that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.? These people will consider it an honour and a privilege to discover with St.