Zhiyi

Zhiyi's Xiao Zhiguan offers an exposition of the practice of śamatha (calming or cessation) and vipaśyanā (wise seeing or contemplation). Zhiyi's Xiao Zhiguan states:[7]

There are many ways to enter the true reality of nirvana, but none that is more essential or that goes beyond the twofold method of cessation-and-contemplation. The reason is that "cessation" is the preliminary gate for overcoming the bonds [of passionate afflictions]; "contemplation" is the proper requisite for severing delusions. "Cessation" provides good nourishment for nurturing the mind; "contemplation" is the sublime technique for arousing spiritual understanding. "Cessation" is the preeminent cause for [attaining] dhyanic concentration; "contemplation" is the basis [for the accumulation of] of wisdom. If one perfects the twofold aspects of concentration (samadhi) and wisdom, then one is fully endowed with the aspects of both benefiting oneself and benefiting others.

Zhiyi also notes that it’s necessary to have a balance between śamatha and vipaśyanā:[8]

It should be known that these two aspects are like the two wheels of a cart, or the two wings of a bird; if one side is cultivated disproportionately, then one falls prey to mistaken excess.

Part of a series on
Eastern philosophy
China Hundred Schools of Thought Confucianism Persons Confucius Mencius Topics Face Filial piety Guanxi Ren Li Unity of knowledge and action Theory of Good Human Nature Theory of Evil Human Nature Neo Confucianism Han Yu Wang Yangming Zhu Xi New Confucianism Xiong Shili Mou Zongsan Daoism Persons Laozi Zhuangzi Lie Yukou Topics Tao Yin yang Wu wei Legalism Han Feizi Shang Yang Mohism Mozi Military and Strategy Sun Tzu Han Buddhism Tientai Zhiyi Huayan school Fazang Guifeng Zongmi East Asian Mādhyamaka Jizang Chinese Chan Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism Sakya Sakya Pandita Nyingma Longchenpa Gelug Tsongkhapa Four Tenets system Rangtong-Shentong Svatantrika-Prasaṅgika distinction Maoism Mao General topics De Qi
India Āstika (orthodox) Vedic philosophy Agastya Aruni Ashtavakra Atri Vashistha Yajnavalkya Mimamsa Jaimini Vedanta Advaita Badarayana Gaudapada Adi Shankara Dvaita Madhvacharya Sri Vaishnavism Ramanuja Neo-Vedanta Vivekananda Aurobindo Samkhya Kapila Yoga Patanjali Nyaya Gotama Navya-Nyāya Gangesha Upadhyaya Vaisheshika Kanada Nāstika (heterodox) Ājīvika Charvaka Kashmir Shaivism Abhinavagupta Pratyabhijna Tantra Tamil Valluvam Valluvar Other Chanakya General topics Ahimsa Atomism Atman Ātman (Hinduism) Ātman (Buddhism) Ātman (Jainism) Artha Anekantavada Brahman Dharma Indian logic Karma Kama Maya Moksha Nondualism Samadhi Pramana Yoga Jainism Haribhadra Umaswati Buddhism The Buddha Traditions Madhyamika Nagarjuna Yogacara Vasubandhu Dharmakirti Indian logic Dignāga Topics Dukkha Anatta Anicca Maitrī Nirvana Pratītyasamutpāda Emptiness
Japan Traditions Japanese Buddhism Japanese Zen Sōtō school Dogen Rinzai school Eisai Shingon Kukai Japanese Confucianism Fujiwara Seika Hayashi Razan Nakae Tōju Itō Jinsai Ogyū Sorai Kokugaku Motoori Norinaga Modern Thought Statism Kyoto School Kitaro Nishida
Korea Traditions Korean Buddhism Wonhyo Uisang Hwaeom Uicheon Cheontae Jinul Seon Korean Confucianism Persons Jeong Dojeon Seo Gyeongdeok Yi Eonjeok Yi Hwang Yi I Yi Ik Bak Jiwon Jeong Yak-yong Gim Jeong-hui Topics Silhak, Seohak Donghak Choe Je-u Modern Thought Persons Jaegwon Kim Topics Minjung theology Juche
Philosophy portal

Zhiyi developed a curriculum of practice which was distilled into the 'Four Samadhis' (Chinese: 四種三昧;[9] pinyin: sizhong sanmei).[10] These Four Samadhi were expounded in Zhiyi's 'Mohe Zhiguan'.[11] The Mohe Zhiguan is the magnum opus of Zhiyi's maturity and is held to be a "grand summary" of the Buddhist Tradition according to his experience and understanding at that time.[12] The text of the Mohe Zhiguan was refined from lectures Zhiyi gave in 594 in the capital city of Jinling and was the sum of his experience at Mount Tiantai c.585 and inquiry thus far.[9] Parsing the title, 'zhi' refers to "ch’an meditation and the concentrated and quiescent state attained thereby" and 'guan' refers to "contemplation and the wisdom attained thereby".[13] Swanson reports that Zhiyi held that there are two modes of zhi-guan: that of sitting in meditation 坐, and that of "responding to objects in accordance with conditions" 歷緣對境, which is further refined as abiding in the natural state of a calm and insightful mind under any and all activities and conditions.[13]

Swanson states that Zhiyi in the Mohe Zhiguan:

...is critical of an unbalanced emphasis on "meditation alone", portraying it as a possible "extreme" view and practice, and offering instead the binome zhi-guan 止觀 (calming/cessation and insight/contemplation, śamatha-vipaśyanā) as a more comprehensive term for Buddhist practice.[14]

The "Samadhi of One Practice" (Skt. Ekavyūha Samādhi; Ch. 一行三昧) which is also known as the "samadhi of oneness" or the "calmness in which one realizes that all dharmas are the same" (Wing-tsit Chan), is one of the Four Samadhi that both refine, mark the passage to, and qualify the state of perfect enlightenment expounded in the Mohe Zhiguan.[11] The term "Samadhi of Oneness" was subsequently used by Daoxin.[15]

The Four Samadhis are:[16][17]

• "Constantly Seated Samādhi" (chángzuò sānmèi 常坐三昧) - 90 days of motionless sitting, leaving the seat only for reasons of natural need.
• "Constantly Walking Samādhi" (chángxíng sānmèi 常行三昧) - 90 days of mindful walking and meditating on Amitabha.
• "Half-Walking Half-Seated Samādhi" (bànxíng bànzuò sānmèi 半行半坐三昧) - Includes various practices such as chanting, contemplation of the emptiness of all dharmas and the "Lotus samādhi" which includes penance, prayer, worship of the Buddhas, and reciting the Lotus sutra.
• "Neither Walking nor Sitting Samādhi" (fēixíng fēizuò sānmèi 非行非坐三昧) - This includes "the awareness of mental factors" as they arise in the mind. One is to contemplate them as "not moving, not originated, not extinguished, not coming, not going".

In order to provide a comprehensive framework for Buddhist doctrine, Zhiyi classified the various Buddhist sutras into the Five Periods and Eight Teachings (traditional Chinese: 五時八教; simplified Chinese: 五时八教; pinyin: wǔshí bājiào). These were also known as goji hakkyō in Japanese and osi palgyo (오시팔교) in Korean. According to Zhiyi, the five periods of the Buddha's teachings were as follows:[18][19][20]

1. The Flower Garland period – taught immediately after the Buddha attained Enlightenment, lasting 3 weeks. The teachings at this time were incomprehensible to all but advanced bodhisattvas, and thus Shakyamuni Buddha started over with more basic (the Agama) teachings.
2. The Agama Period – taught at Deer Park, and lasting 12 years. These consisted of the most elementary teachings of the Buddha including karma, rebirth, the Four Noble Truths, etc.
3. The Correct and Equal Period – lasting 8 years. This marks the Buddha's teachings that begin to transition from so-called "Hinayana" teachings to Mahayana ones.
4. The Wisdom Period – lasting 22 years. The teachings here consist of the Perfection of Wisdom teachings among others. Here, the teachings were intended to demonstrate that the classifications of Hinayana and Mahayana were expedient only, and that were ultimately empty.
5. The Lotus and Nirvana Period – lasting 8 years. The teachings of this final period mark the most "perfect" teachings, namely the Lotus Sutra and the Mahayana Nirvana Sutra, which encompass the Buddha's original intention.

These were compared in order to the five stages of milk: fresh milk, cream, curds, butter and ghee (clarified butter).[18]

Further. the teachings of the Buddha were organized into four types based on the capacity of listener:[18]

• Sudden teachings
• Gradual teachings
• Indeterminate teachings
• Secret or "esoteric" teachings.

and four types of sources:

• Hinayana
• Mahayana
• Teachings found in both
• Teachings that transcend both (e.g. Lotus Sutra)

Together these were the Eight Teachings of the Buddha attributed to Zhiyi.

Zhiyi taught the principle of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Thought Moment (Chinese: 一念三千; Pinyin: Yīniàn Sānqiān) in his 'Great Concentration and Insight', based on the Lotus Sutra. The number 'Three Thousand' is derived from the Ten Worlds, multiplied by ten [because of the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds], which gives 100, multiplied by ten [the Ten Factors listed in Ch. 2 of the Lotus Sutra which gives 1,000. 1,000 multiplied by 3 [the Three Realms of Existence: Self, Other, and Environment] which gives 3,000.[21]

Volume 5 of Great Concentration and Insight states:

Life at each moment is endowed with the Ten Worlds. At the same time, each of the Ten Worlds is endowed with all Ten Worlds, so that an entity of life actually possesses one hundred worlds. Each of these worlds in turn possesses thirty realms, which means that in the one hundred worlds there are three thousand realms. The three thousand realms of existence are all possessed by life in a single moment. If there is no life, that is the end of the matter. But if there is the slightest bit of life, it contains all the three thousand realms.... This is what we mean when we speak of the 'region of the unfathomable'.[21]