IN CONSTRUCTION
澄觀 Chengguan (Cheng-kuan or Ching-liang) 738-839
Here we are interested in the possible founts of inspiration of Zongmi, one of the six great masters of what orthodox Chan calls the Golden Age, which helped him form his view of Chan and the development of his ideas of Contemplation and Practice.
Masters following the Doctrine of Hua Yen (Avatamsaka)
before its Integration in Chan by Zongmi
法順 Dushun (Tu-Shun) 557 -640
智儼 Zhiyan (Chih-Yen) 602-668
法藏 Fazang (Fa-Shiang) 643-712
澄觀 Chengguan (Cheng-Kuan) 738-839
圭峰宗密 Guifeng Zongmi (Kuei-feng Tsung-mi) 740-841
More details about Zongmi will be found in the appropriate section, so here we are interested in where he attained his inspiration with Hua-yen and Chan and what form it took. The reason is not primarily to correct the historical errors which are clung to by orthodox Can and Zen religious Dharma, although the adjustment of history is always important. What we wish to determine is exactly what the fount of his inspirations was that led to competent and useful contemplations as distinct from any of the other five great masters.
Zongmi studied Confucian texts between the ages of six to sixteen. Then, between that stage of his life and about 21, he studied the "Indian tomes," which were Buddha Dharma texts. Giving a clear idea of his frame of mind at that time, he declared, "I was sunk in traps and snares and tasted only chaff and dregs."
How sad it is that most of those who read Dharma texts today do not likewise determine that they are victims of their own intellect and see clearly the traps and snares that their intelligence has led them into, realizing that they too only with intellect capture chaff and dregs.
Zongmi went back for a couple of years to Confucian study until 804. Then we learn in his autobiographical summary about his important first Dharma advance.
Zongmi declared "fortunately I was attracted to Fu Shang" and he furthermore states that it was the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yüan-chüeh ching) which led him to Awakening.
His autobiography declares clearly, "at one word my mind-ground opened thoroughly and with one scroll its meaning was as clear and bright as the heavens." (quoted in Gregory, 2002:33)
Zongmi’s sudden awakening after reading only two or three pages of the scripture (the Sutra of Perfect Awakening) had a profound impact upon his subsequent scholarly career.
Who was this Chan master Fa Shang with whom he studied for two or three years? The other name by which he was known was Sui-chou Tao-yüan (Suizhou Daoyuan).
But because his later experiences with Hua-yen are so important we will begin our study here with 澄觀 Chengguan.
澄觀 Chengguan (Cheng-kuan or Ching-liang) 738-839
In 811 Zongmi sent his first letter to Chengguan, asking that Huayen master for instruction, declaring his strong positive reaction to Chengguan's commentary and sub-commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Then in 812 he met Ling Fen (together with Chengguan), who presented Zongmi with a copy of the 華嚴 經 Hua-Yen Flower Adornment Sutra (Avatamsaka Sutra). It had a great effect on him, as it was instrumental in closing off all Zongmi's questions with regard to the Dharma, so in 812 he spent two years studying with Chenguan.
The question here posed is what influence that text and the few years he spent with Chengguan had upon Zongmi's future teachings and his contemplations, for two years does not appear to be very long. We must then look at Chengguan and his teachings.
The Lineage
法順 Dushun (Tu-Shun) 557 -640
智儼 Zhiyan (Chih-Yen) 602-668
法藏 Fazang (Fa-Shiang) 643-712
澄觀 Chengguan (Cheng-Kuan) 738-839
This orthodox Huayan lineage (before Fazang) was largely an invention of the 'Fourth' patriarch, Chengguan—his predecessors were unaware that they were starting a new lineage and rather thought that they were reviving the true oldtime religion of Paramārtha, although clearly they were Dharma heirs from which Chengguan took inspiration.
Paramārtha, a Sanskrit word that means "uppermost meaning," (parama: uppermost, artha: meaning the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality). Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the illusory, considered false compared to the empirical (paratantra), and finally the superior transcendental (paramārtha).
Chengguan made four important commentaries on the Flower Adornment Sutra, two on the earlier translation by Buddhabhadra (359-429) and two on the later translation by Shikshananda (652-710).
However, previously An Inquiry into Profundity (搜玄記) was made by Zhiyan 智儼 (602-668), which is a schematic analysis of the Sutra based on the Buddhabhadra translation, and it was followed by An Investigation of Profundity (探玄記). However, a much more detailed commentary on the same text by Zhiyan's chief disciple, Fazang 法藏 (643-712).
Why was Huayen so important for Zongmi?
We will discover the answer after learning about Fazang's commentary, which is the last major commentary on the Sutra. It is a detailed explanation of the Shikshananda text by Chengguan. It is called A Commentary and Subcommentary on the Flower Adornment Sutra (華嚴經疏抄), and combines two works in one.
Although an interesting task, we will not enter into that great text here, for fortunately Fazang introduces the commentary with a short poem, in which he takes rather special refuge in the Triple Gem, dedicating any merit that might be accrued in the commentary to the cause of Awakening and the welfare of all beings.
In particular, our interest is in this short poem which preceeds the commentary. This poem is extremely brilliant, for it summarizes the Avatamsaka Sutra in a few lines.
歸依大智海，十身盧遮那，充滿諸法界，無上大慈尊，
方廣離垢法，圓滿解脫輪，普賢文殊等，海會大菩薩，
我在具縛地，希心大法門，唯願見加 哀，令增念智力，
開此密奧藏，廣益於自他，願令法久住，傳燈報佛恩
I take refuge in the ocean of great wisdom
In Vairocana of the ten bodies
Who fills the entire Dharma realm
With unsurpassed benevolence;
And in the vast and stainless Dharma
The wheel of perfect Liberation;
In Samantabhadra, Manjushri
And all the host of bodhisattvas.
Penned as I am in this world of bondage,
I cherish the Dharma in my heart.
I pray that insight and compassion
Increase my mindfulness and wisdom,
That I may reveal this hidden treasure
For the benefit of self and others;
I pray that the Dharma may long endure,
That I may serve to transmit its light
And so repay the Buddha's kindness.
When I find the time I shall certainly translate the poem in the light of new understanding of Chan literature.
Fazang begins by taking refuge with Buddha. In this case, consistent with Huayan, with Vairocana Buddha, in which the term ten bodies signifies "innumerable."
I take refuge in the ocean of great wisdom
In Vairocana of the ten bodies
Who fills the entire Dharma realm
With unsurpassed benevolence.
Vairocana is the wisdom of Enlightenment itself, which pervades the whole physical universe, for the Avatamsaka teaches that Buddhas can be found teaching within every atom. It then pervades our being, so that Buddhahood that exists in all its fullness within us, as our own true nature, our Buddha-nature.
The Avatamsaka Sutra itself declares, 若能念佛心不動，則 常睹見無量佛 — 賢首品, “If you can focus your mind unwaveringly on the Buddha, / You will always see countless Buddhas before you. Furthermore, 常念諸佛心無暫捨 — 明法品, the thought of the Buddhas should never leave your mind even for a moment” .
In the sutra we find, 周遍塵方，普應法界一切群機— 探玄記, ”He fills the universe, not only with wisdom, but also with unsurpassed benevolence and pervades worlds as numerous as motes of dust, responding to beings according to their capacities everywhere throughout the universe”
We must remember too 諸事即法門 — 探玄 記, “all phenomena are gateways to the Dharma.”
Now we learn about that Dharma:
And in the vast and stainless Dharma
The wheel of perfect Liberation
In Samantabhadra, Manjushri
And all the host of bodhisattvas
According to the Huayan teachings, the Dharma, like the Buddha, is all-pervasive and Fazang says, 盡法界為大法輪海，常轉無休息 — 探玄記, “the infinite universe is a vast Dharma wheel that is constantly revolving, it is “stainless” because it is unaffected by the pain and emotional distress that attend life in samsara, and it is “perfect” because it liberates us from all our limitations and blemishes, and makes us one with the changeless realm of Enlightenment.”
But we need help to practise such an exalted teaching. Where do we gain inspiration? Best is the host of bodhisattvas, and especially Samantabhadra and Manjushri. They, together with Vairocana, are the "Three Holy Ones" (三聖) of Huayan. Manjushri represents the innate wisdom within us which is the Female Principle and Samantabhadra represents the actual attainment of Awakening and the pattern of conduct and contemplation.
The importance of these two bodhisattvas for practitioners lies in the fact that Manjushri represents the wisdom that is innate in us, inspiring us to seek Enlightenment (發菩提心) and guiding us on the path, while Samantabhadra embodies the actual Enlightenment we are seeking and provides the pattern of enlightened conduct that we strive to realize in practice.
But where does one start?
Penned as I am in this world of bondage,
I cherish the Dharma in my heart.
I pray that insight and compassion
Increase my mindfulness and wisdom
First, acknowledge the Bondage of Samsara.
Second, cherish the Dharma in your heart, which is precisely a prerequisite for any Contemplation or Meditation.
Third, now we need to attain Insight and accompany it with compassion.
Finally, when this is accomplished, the result will be the Mindfulness that is essential in the world of Samsara and the Wisdom that is not intellectual that arises from Awakening.
Then Fazang offers the traditional benediction:
That I may reveal this hidden treasure
For the benefit of self and others.
I pray that the Dharma may long endure,
That I may serve to transmit its light
And so repay the Buddha's kindness.
CONCLUSION
Knowing well, without doubt, the teachings of Chengguan on the Contemplation of the Five Clusters (Wu yun kuan) and the Contemplation of the Merging of the Three Sages and his Entry into the Realm of Reality, as well as the critical understanding presented by Chengguan of the Hua-yen Teaching of the Mind Essentials, nonetheless Zongmi's important inspiration was expressed best by Fazang 法藏.
Zongmi was convinced by the necessity of great Compassion, certainly together with the appropriate Benevolent Affect and Gladness, and as such he quite easily determined the great value of the compassionate lifestyle of Huineng, who actually lived his compassion of the Life Force as a "two-truth" reality.
This is precisely what Zongmi found incorrect in his examination of the Oxhead teachings.
Furthermore, he must have understood that the contemplative experiences of Huineng led to a Direct experience of Awakening because by living with compassion every moment, Huineng was within the zone of the "becoming of Consciousness," ready for a spontaneous awakening without any preliminaries. It is doubtful that Zongmi understood at that time this subtlety, since those who came after Huineng also appear not to have grasped this significance.
Zongmi was a brilliant observer with great powers of analysis and discrimination due to his temperament and earliest studies, and it is unlikely that he would have really considered Heze Shenhui as a suitable teacher, although there was no doubt in his mind that Shenhui had clear knowledge of Huineng's Direct attainment.
This new opening of his mind made final sense to him, for now he understood fully why the Direct Contemplations of Huineng, which required no traditional sitting meditations at all, actually worked.