Robin Beck

Tiantai, Maka Shikan, & Ichinen Sanzen

Ki to Revitalization
On the Three-Fold Training
Wisdom-Insight Cultivation
A Glance at Tiantai

There are presently no complete translations of the "Great Samatha-Vipassana", aka "Maka Shikan". There are some partial translations. I am going to be entering links to information about these and other good T'ien T'ai material. Many thanks to Peter Johnson, Brian Holly, P Jones, Terry Ruby, & Jim Celer for resources and help compiling this information over the past four years.

The Chinese T'ien T'ai School, of which Maka Shikan is a central work, does not really exist per se, though there is still the Temple, located in the Tiantai Mountains of China. However, T'ient T'ai has exerted a considerable influence on several extant Japanese Schools -- notably the Tendai Shu at Mt. Hiei Enryakuji and the Jimon Tendai Shu at Miidera Onjoji.

Also Daruma Zen, Rinzai Zen, Jodo Shu, Soto Zen, Jodo Shinshu, and Nichiren Buddhism all began as Kamakura Era reform movements within Tendai. I would add that Shingon Shu at Mt. Koya evolved side by side with Tendai, to the extent that Tendai-Shingon was pretty much one Hieian School, in contrast to the older Nara Buddhism.

The Maka Shikan itself is a sort of Meditation Manual on Ichinen Sanzen, the principle of Mindfulness of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment. It was a series of sermons delivered by Chih-I, aka Grand Master Tendai {T'ien T'ai/Tendai Daishi/Mahacharya}. These were recorded by a disciple. He, unfortunately, did not complete the task, so there never will be a full translation.

Ichi is one, Nen is translation of Sati-Smrti, or mindfulness, and Sanzen is 3000. Samatha Bhavana(s) {Shi} is/are methods of stopping, ceasing, or calming the brain {manas} & ego mind {mano}, to enter deep concentration {samadhi/dhyana } and cultivate various mindfulnesses. Vipassana Kan} means direct insight, observation, contemplation, seeing, etc. Shikan could be rendered-- "stop and see for yourself." In this case, what one stops are various mental afflictions and what one sees is/are the Ten Dwellings/kinds of Dwellers {Dhatu/Loka, Kai}, the Mutual Possesion thereof, the Ten Suchnesses or 'Thats' {Tatha, Nyoze} of causation, and the Three Stages or Screens {San Seken} of life activity.

The "Dharma Essentials for Cultivating Stopping and Contemplation and Sitting in Dhyana" {Shoshi Shikan Zazen Homon?} is another, similar Meditation Manual; not on Ichinen Sanzen.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Maka Shikan Links:
Paul L. Swanson
Mo-ho chih-kuan now available on CD-ROM: link to Kosei Publishing for details and to order. Download Sample files
Paul Swanson's tranlation presently goes through chapter 4 (the 25 ways and means) and so is the most complete to date.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Peter Johnson & T'ient T'ai Net:
The Great Calm-Observation*Mo-Ho Chih Kuan *Maka Shi Kan*Maha Samatha Vipasyana
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson
THE THREE KINDS OF CALMING AND CONTEMPLATION
From Kuan-ting's Introduction to Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-chih
The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-I's Mo-Ho Chih-Kuan (Classics in East Asian Budd) (Hardcover)

Selections from Chi-i's Great Calming and Contemplation
These excerpts from a paper by Professor Daniel B. Stevenson are presented as part of the education program of the Ch'an Meditation Center, Institute of Chung-Hwa Buddhist Culture.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Thomas Cleary
Stopping and Seeing: A Comprehensive Course in Buddhist Meditation (First Three Chapters)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small Calming-and-Contemplation
{this is a different work; it is a much shorter meditation manual, not on Ichinen Sanzen, but with a similar outline to the Maka Shikan.}
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Dharmamitra: The Dharma Essentials for Cultivating Stopping and Contemplation and Sitting in Dhyana (Syou-syi Jr-gwan Dzwo-chan Fa-yao) Link By the Swei Dynasty Shrama.na(3) Chih-i(4) of T'ien-t'ai Mountain's Dhyana Cultivation Monastery. Translation by Dharmamitra (5) Transliterations: Yale; modified ASCII. (6)
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Kalavinka Dharma Treasury The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation Dharma Essentials for Cultivating Calming-and-Contemplation and Sitting in Dhyana xiu-xi zhi-guan zo-chan fa-yao (Taisho n. 1915) By Dhyana Meditation Master Sramana Zhi-yi from Tian-tai Mountain's Dhyana Cultivation Monastery(538-597 CE)
The full-version integrated-file Adobe PDF Ebook Recommended Donation: ($5) - Note: Full-Version eBooks Require a Password: "kalavinka" (lower case) Scroll Down
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Translators
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Paul Swanson
*Permanent Fellow and Director, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture *Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Nanzan University. His areas of specialization are Japanese Religions (Shugendo) and Buddhist Studies (T'ien-t'ai/Tendai Buddhism). Publications include: *Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy, a study of the threefold truth as the basic structure of T'ien-t'ai Buddhist philosophy, including an annotated translation of part of the Fa-hua hsuan-i. *Religion and Society in Modern Japan, a collection of essays intended for use as a textbook for classes on Japanese religions. *'Pruning the Bodhi Tree', a collection of essays on "Critical Buddhism" *If you teach me Japanese, I'll teach you English, a guide to exchanging language. His current projects include: *translating the Mo-ho chih-kuan into English *editing a series of books on Asian religion. Download a list of published writings in PDF format.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Peter Johnson The Buddhism of T'ien T'ai This site is dedicated to sharing the teachings of Buddhism as taught by Chih-I, the Great Teacher of T'ien T'ai (538-597 CE) There is no T'ien T'ai School in the world today as such. However, most forms of Buddhism found today in China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan can trace their roots to the Buddhism of T'ien T'ai.

Yahoo! Group tientai · T'ien T'ai & The Lotus SutraThis Group is a forum for advancing an understanding of the T'ien T'ai School of Buddhism. The Great Master of T'ien T'ai, Chih-I (538-597 CE), was the definitive teacher of Chinese Buddhism. Most Far East Schools of Buddhism owe a great deal to the work of Chih-I and his followers. In China this includes Ch'an, Pure Land, Hua-Yen and the later Esoteric Schools. In Japan this includes Tendai, Shingon, Jodo, Zen, and especially Nichiren. The principles of T'ien T'ai apply to all these schools and will greatly benefit the efficacy of any of these practices. There is a website at http://www.tientai.net that is produced by this group. We give updates here on new postings. Please ask any questions you have and we will try to respond promptly to any inquiries.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Neal Donner is a writer who has published a variety of books and articles, mostly on East Asian Studies and music, and is an active member of the Libertarian Party of California.

Dr. Daniel B. Stevenson University of Kansas vAssociate Professor Religious Studies
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Thomas Cleary holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. He is the translator of more than fifty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Islamic texts from Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Pali, and Arabic.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Kalavinka Dharma Salons
Kalavinka Dharma Treasury is primarily a growing collection of Bhikshu Dharmamitra's original translations of traditional Buddhist stories, verses, analogies, and teachings not otherwise available in English. Hopefully students of Dharma at every level of sophistication will find these classic-tradition materials authored by great Dharma eminences worthy of their time and interest.

Kalavinka Dharma Treasury
Kalavinka Dharma Salons are presided over by Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a Seattle-based, fully-ordained, Chinese-tradition, translator monk, who is one of the original American disciples of the late Ch'an Patriarch, Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. Dharmamitra has over 20 years in robes (1969-1975; 1991 to present), possesses a solid background in monastic and academic study of all Buddhist traditions, and advocates ecumenical respect for all classic Theravada and Mahayana practices. (Enjoy Dharmamitra's free Dharma translations and preview his upcoming offerings at the Kalavinka.org.)
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
more coming
Posted by rbeck at September 23, 2005 10:59 AM

Contemplation in Nichiren Practice

Kanjin Insight Cultivation

Euro-American Buddhists, other than Soka Gakkai and Shin members, are mostly interested in Meditation. As such, those who have looked into Theravada, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism often ask about the role of contemplative practices in Nichiren Buddhism. Here is a short answer:

Nichiren explained the Lotus Sutra Gohonzon {Main Object of Veneration} in Kanjin Honzon Sho. Kan/Kuan is a translation of Vipassana/vipashyana, as in Shikan/Chikuan {samatha-vipassana}. The most standard English translation of Vipassana is Insight. Kan/Kuan is the same Chinese Character as in Kannon/Kuanyin; it also rendered as observation, regarding. seeing, reflection, & contemplation.

Jin/shin here is a rendering of citta. This can mean mind or heart; but it is not limited to the brain organ {Mano} nor the physical heart {Hridaya}. It is more like the core or "heart of the matter." Asanga took citta to mean alaya; or the 8th/storehouse consciousness. The Tiantai School divides the 8th consciousness into the conditioned {alaya} and the unconditioned 9th or Amala
consciousness. So the Honzon can be seen as a tool, like a mirror, to reflect one's deepest levels of consciousness. Chanting meditation in front of the Honzon fully engages the 5 senses and the organic brain in this contemplation.

Also, Nichiren-Lotus Sutra Chanting Medtitation is more of a mindfulness {smrti/Sati/Nen} meditation as opposed to a concentration {Samadhi} meditation. We are not cultivating the 4 form-absortions {rupa-dhyana}. Of course, that is also true of za-zen; which is poorly named {shikan-taza is better}.

Another thing is how chanting kanjin deals with The Five Hindrances and Bonno {Klesha} {Got Bonno? }. This is maybe active rather than passive? The concept we use is sansho shima and we tend to gloss over the meaning. Sansho Shima {three obstacles and four devils} include the Five Hindrances, Bonno, and more.

There is much more to this practice; but that is a summary of the contemplative aspect. There is also the charasmatic evangelical aspect of Nichiren Buddhism . Soka Gakkai International - USA {SGI-USA}, to which I belong, is very weak, even pathetic, at the teaching the contemplative aspect; but is much stronger at the evangelical aspect.

Dial Up Internet

Otanjo-e: Pix

Otanjo-e: Nativity & Synchronicity

Posted by rbeck at February 17, 2006 02:38 PM

Dial Up Internet

Otanjo-e: Nativity & Synchronicity

Life and legends of Nichiren

See Otanjo-e: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nichirenpix/message/545

Posted by rbeck at May 10, 2005 02:54 AM
Updated February 15, 2006

"Tomorrow [2/16] is Nichiren's birthday, Tanjo, Otanjo or Otanjo-e ..." Otanjo-e Message nichirenpix 445 of 445 by Taidancer. nichirenpix · Nichiren Buddhist Art & Culture .

See Also, Kominato-Zan Tanjoji Temple Nichiren Shu Major Temples.

Also, maybe e-visit Tanjoh-Ji, Kominatosan, Grand Head Temple, Nichiren Shu, Kominato, Kamogawa-City,Chiba, Japan. The temple was originally located at the site of the Holy Priest Nichiren's birthplace but was moved to the present location after it was destroyed twice by earthquakes and tidal waves in 1498 and 1703."

Posted by rbeck at February 16, 2006 12:54 AM

Dial Up Internet

Waking up to the Pure Land

Nirvana, Deathlessness, & Emptiness

"If the minds of the people are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds." -- Nichiren

The terms pure and impure appear in the Agamas/Nikyas and are synonymous with unconditioned and conditioned. Other synonyms of 'pure' are unborn, unbecome, unmade, and deathless. Annicca {impermanent}, dukkhá {unsatisfactory}, and anattá {not self} are qualities of that which is impure, conditioned, born, become, made, and mortal. As to what causes impurity:

"Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is defiled by incoming defilements." -- The Buddha

Mind here is 'citta' meaning heart-mind or alaya/amala; that is the 8th/9th consciousness. It is not the brain {mano/manas}, nor is it the physical heart {hridaya}. Alaya refers to the impure, conditioned citta; amala is the pure, unconditioned citta. Defilements are Klesha/Bonno -- things like the 3 poisons, 5 afflictions, or 10 defilements. Those are what are "evil."

To the best of my knowledge, the Pali Canon tells us how to wake up, and what we wake up from; but not exactly what we wake up to. It does say it is there:

"Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is freed from incoming defilements."-- The Buddha

Also:

"There is an unborn,an unbecome, an unmade, an unconditioned. If there were not, there could be no escape from what is born, become, made, and conditioned. But since there is an unborn [eternity], an unbecome [joy], an unmade [true self], an unconditioned [purity], therefore is there release from what is born [impermanent], become [unsatisfactory], made [not self], and conditioned [impure]."-- The Buddha

The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra tells us that we wake up to true self, eternity, purity, and joy. The Impure reformed is Pure, Annicca reformed is Eternity, Dukkha reformed is Joy, and Anatta reformed is True Self. These appear to be in the Lotus Sutra as: Superior Practices {true self}, Firmly Established or Enduring Practices {eternity}, Pure Practices {purity}, and Boundless Practices {joy}.

When we are awake, our land is the Buddha Field or Pure Land.

Eyes Of The World

Right outside this lazy summer home
You aint got time to call your soul a critic no.
Right outside the lazy gate of winters summer home,
Wondrin where the nut-thatch winters,
Wings a mile long just carried the bird away.

Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world,
The heart has its beaches, its homeland and thoughts of its own.
Wake now, discover that you are the song that the mornin brings,
But the heart has its seasons, its evenins and songs of its own.

Robert Hunter

Dial Up Internet

Questions on Practice

I made this a separate entry. leda has many good questions.

In my view, the Lotus Sutra based practice taught by Nichiren is the best way to "wake up to" the "true self, eternity, purity and joy."

There are other practices that help me with specific afflictions. I mention how I use these in the specefic entries.

"Anyone who attempts to propagate the teachings of Buddhism must understand the capacity and basic nature of the persons he is addressing. .. . Ordinary teachers who lack an understanding of capacity should teach only the Lotus Sutra to those who are under their instruction. " -- Nichiren

Posted by rbeck at January 26, 2007 12:58 AM

Dial Up Internet

Nirvana: The Deathless

Nirvana, Deathlessness, & Emptiness

Does Nirvana mean realizing that all existence is transient (anicca), and all things are unsatisfactory (dukkha) , and there is no abiding self (anatta)?

See also: "The Unborn" @ Independent Nichiren, Tusker Sangha

All formations are impermanent.
All formations are unsatisfactory.
All phenomena, everything whatsoever, are not self.

The key word is formations. Formations are things which arise from causes and conditions. In others words; anicca, dukkha and anatta are qualities of conditioned existence.

Verse 277: "All conditioned phenomena are impermanent"; when one sees this with Insight-wisdom, one becomes weary of dukkha. This is the Path to Purity.

Verse 279: "All phenomena (dhammas) are without Self"; when one sees this with Insight-wisdom, one becomes weary of dukkha. This is the Path to Purity.

Purity refers to the conditioned, the deathless, the unborn.

The Udana {the third book of the Khuddaka Nikaya}

There is an unborn,
an unbecome,
an unmade,
an unconditioned.

If there were not,
there could be no escape
from what is born, become, made, and conditioned.

But since there is
an unborn, an unbecome, an unmade, an unconditioned,
therefore is there release
from what is born, become, made, and conditioned.


"That the Buddha-Principle (Buddha-dhatu) or Buddha-Matrix (Tathagatagarbha) is the essence (svabhava) or Dharmakaya (ultimate level of being) of the Buddha and of all persons and creatures, in contrast to the five skandhas (impermanent components which make up the "mundane ego"); the Buddha-dhatu is the "True Self", which inheres in the Buddha's deepest being, as well as being truly present in our own body-and-mind complex, and into which we should "enter". Such "entry" is enabled when we have cleared away the kleshas (negative mental, moral and behavioural tendencies) from our inner world. The chief kleshas are desire, anger, delusion and pride." -- © Dr Tony Page 2004

"The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, as translated into English by Kosho Yamamoto and edited and revised by Dr. Tony Page (Nirvana Publications, London, 1999-2000)."
Nirvana Sutra on line

Dial Up Internet