Korea Journal of Buddhist StudiesISSN:1598-0642(Print)불교학연구회

What is the definition of the tenet (宗) which is one of the most important features in the system of understanding Buddhist sūtras, especially the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra in Huayan school? Fazang (法藏) defines the tenet of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra as what the language shows or represents (語之所表). On the other hand, Huiyuan (慧苑), who is a disciple of Fazang, does not follow Fazang’s definition and describes it as what the language values or appreciates (語之所尙). Since then most scholars accept the definition of Huiyuan and Chengguan who also follows Huiyuan’s view. One of them claims that the definition of Fazang is for that of Buddhist logic which means assertion or proposition, not for the tenet of sūtras. Another says that the definition of Fazang is too broad to use as a definition of the tenet of sūtras. The tradition of defining the tenet should not be seen as unique to the East Asian Buddhism. Rather it is very similar to the tradition of judging sūtras as nitārtha or neyārtha in Indian Buddhism. Fazang’s definition looks like the assertion of the Mahāsāṅghika sect which says that all the sūtras spoken by the Buddha are nitārtha. Huiyuan’s position is similar to that of the Sarvāstivādin sect which argues that there are nitārtha and neyārtha as well in the sūtras by the Buddha. According to the theory about dependent arising of dharmadhātu by Fazang, every single character of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra fully represents the tenet of that sūtra. It is because every single character of that sūtra is mutually identical and mutually interpenetrated with all other dharmas of the dharmadhātu again and again without limit. Thus if only some of the core, not every single character, are the tenet of that sūtra, it is the same as claiming that the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra is not a wholly complete sūtra. Fazang seems to assert that what all phrases of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra represent is the very tenet of that sūtra from this viewpoint. And I think this assertion is shared with Zhiyan (智儼) and Uisang (義相) who established the early Huayan school together.