Term Paper on "Buddhism Daoism"

Term Paper 7 pages (2270 words) Sources: 7

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Buddhism and Daoism

There are many factors that facilitated the introduction of Buddhism into China. In some ways the groundwork was being set for Buddhism in the prior religious philosophies of China at the time. Confucianism and especially Daoism (Taoism) created some of the structures for understanding and even necessitating the philosophical and spiritual principles of the Buddhist philosophy. There did, however, exist a common thread of awareness, of collective insight that gave the Chinese culture at the time and appreciation, almost a need for Buddhism. In fact the Sanskrit word, Sutra, literally means thread and is an antecedent of the word suture. The Sutras not only bound Buddhism together but sutured together the philosophies of China with itself as well.

Much like the appreciation of a new art form, Buddhism was not only accepted by the Chinese culture, but Buddhism itself also went through some adaptations to become part of the Chinese culture. In a sense a new Buddhism arose from the act of understanding Daoism and Confucianism.

Although not necessarily accurate, according to most Chinese historians Buddhism was officially recognized in China circa 67 a.D. Some time prior to that that date, the emperor, Ming-Ti, had a vision, it was of a large golden image of a man with a halo surrounding his head and hovering above his palace. "His advisers, some of whom were no doubt already favorable to the new religion, interpreted the image of the dream to be that of Buddha, the great sage of India, who was inviting his adhesion."(Hodous 4)

However it was not until between the third and sixth centuries a.D., that the introduction of Buddhism had revolutionized the religious culture in China, and the various religions, Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism began to adapt to each other in a dance of blending and understanding.

The Indian religion soon became a Chinese one as its writings were translated and as it came to absorb local beliefs and practices. Taoism, for its part, made substantial borrowings from Buddhism. Meanwhile, the popular religion practiced daily by lay people of all social classes took from Buddhism and Taoism a pantheon of protective gods, and Confucianism continued to uphold filial piety as the model of all virtue. (Aubin 10)

The T'ang Dynasty in China 618-907 CE was a period of great change in both the areas government and philosophically.

It was also a time of blending various philosophical schools of thought. Daoism and Confucianism were of purely Chinese origin and have had deep cultural impact on their society for centuries. Buddhism, however, was imported from India but was able to adapt well to the previous two philosophies as well as the people of China who had become disillusioned with their existing religious lot in life. Both life and traditional widow was being reevaluated and merged during this dynasty. Exiting scriptures were often translated to fit more in line with the mores of the T'ang period. In fact, there was an entire school of Tao-te-ching interpretation that arose, which was known as the Twofold Mystery School. It adapted to the philosophy of the Buddhist sect known as Madhyamaka (the Middle Way). This school of thought flourished in the seventh century under the T'ang dynasty.

It represented a school of philosophy and religion that strived for a balance between being and nonbeing, between the positive and negative, the Yin and the Yang, in approaching the Dao. Finally rejecting each in turn because any form of comprehension in relation to the ultimate truth of the Dao can only be a means, never an end. (Kohn and Lafargue 134)

The following is an example of the subtle change to an original text of the Dao Te Ching as an illustration of this influence. Li Yueh, a T'ang commentator on the Dao Te Ching at the time, created the following changes to the traditional version of the text. This is certainly an excellent example of an idiosyncratic personal translation that was influenced greatly by the newly developing Buddhist philosophy. The last lines of chapter 25 had been usually read as the following:

Man models himself after earth,

Earth models itself after heaven,

Heaven models itself after the Tao,

The Tao models itself after so-being.

Li Yueh, however, changes the punctuation and proposes the following new version:

What models itself after earth is earth,

What models itself after heaven is heaven,

What models itself after the Tao is the Tao

This is so-being. (Kohn and Lafargue 128)

One can see in this translation that the non-linear approach of Buddhism is more apparent in the latter translation than in the former. A change from the step-by-step approach to life that Daoism proffers, as well as, Confucianism was beginning to take place. But Daoism itself had much more in common with Buddhism and these two eastern Philosophies did share the common thread of nature, or reality as the ultimate goal. While Daoism viewed it in a system in stages, Buddhism viewed it as a whole, complete, just where it is with not need for improvement or change.

In Buddhism the world that one experiences it is simply a product of our thoughts, maya, illusion. In Buddhist philosophy, the gods, the earth, heaven and the Dao can be thought of in the same way as not having a self, a real definition that can be stated. The world we perceive exists only as a phenomenon of mind. "They are therefore no less real than anything else we experience; and in the Buddhist framework, they are subordinate to Buddha whatever their nature." (Wilson 25) This was the concept, the common thread, the underlying Sutra that these philosophies shared.

Furthermore, not only did the indigenous culture adapt to Buddhism but the imported philosophy from India also began to take on traces of the native philosophies of China as it made its way into the culture:

As I have already suggested, the religion of Shakyamuni, when it was transmitted from India to other countries with very different languages and cultures, naturally did not remain unchanged. Though the philosophical core of the religion stayed the same, various adaptations in matters of custom and procedure and various shifts of doctrinal emphasis took place in the new environments into which it was introduced, so that in time China, for example, developed its own distinctive Chinese Buddhism, and the same process was repeated later in Japan. (Ikeda 4)

If there was one person that contributed most to the reiterative translation of Buddhist Texts into a comprehensible language for China it was a man named Kumarajiva. He lived between 344 and 413 CE, was born in India and migrated to China and was instrumental in delivering the philosophy of Buddhism, particularly the Mahayanain sutras and treatises. He nurtured the systematic inspiration and future development of Buddhism in China. In fact, Two of Kumarajiva's translations and one attributed to Aryadeva and Vasubandhu became the founding basis of the Madhyamika school of thought. This school later became known as the San Lun or Three Treatises School in China. (Smith 127)

Kumarajiva embodied the perfect combination of knowledge background and talent to complete these translations. He was a very talented linguist who had a mastery understanding of Sanskrit, the original language of the Sutras' of Buddhism as well as a command of the languages of Central Asia and China. He was also a disciple of Buddhism and had a broad understanding of all the multifaceted Buddhist doctrine including both the Hinyana and Mahayana schools of thought. He was also able to pass on his talents to many adroit young disciples to carry on the work.. (Ikeda 49; Smith 127-128)

Another shared trait that Buddhism later focused on was the concept of mediation. Daoist monks focused on mediation and concentration of mind; although this concept in Buddhism had always been a part of the philosophy, it had not achieved such a high position in the religion until entering China. Ch' an in China, and later known as Zen in Japan, meditation became the mainstay of Buddhism for the future.

Ch'an, or the Meditation School. Ch'an Buddhism is undoubtedly one of the most distinctive and original products of the Chinese mind. 'The Chinese genius, working on the raw material of Indian thought, with contributions from Confucianism and Taoism with Bodhidharma as midwife, produced the essentially Chinese school of Ch'an. It has been described by the philosopher, Hu-shih, as a 'reformation and revolution in Buddhism' the character Ch'an is derived from the Sanskrit word for meditation, dhyana, and hence the school was designated the Meditation school. But it uses meditation as a means of direct enlightenment of the mind. It is not contemplative in the sense that it precludes activity. (Smith 128)

There were also existing ideas and concepts in Daoism that quite closely mirrored Buddhism, making it even more adaptable. For instance, Karma, of the law of action in Buddhism, often mistranslated as cause and effect, has a similar concept in Daoism, Wu-Wei also usually poorly translated as non-action.… READ MORE

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