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

According to the recent studies Uisang and his disciples had peculiar theories and their own ways of practice which were very different from others. The most distinct ones are the theory of the conversion at Tri-yana highest level, the exclusive concentration on Huayan jing and the high regard for the practice of meditation. In fact we can find these characteristics in most of the works of the school. But the logical backgrounds of the characteristics and the mutual relation between them have not been fully understood because most of the Uisang school’s literature mentions them very briefly. In these circumstances the Huayan jing Catechism , which was recently proved to be the lecture notes of Uisang, can be very important material in understanding this matter. As this book tells much about the theory and the ways of practice we can find some clues to explain them systematically.In the Huayan jing Catechism we can see the well-articulated theory of conversion at the Tri-yana Highest level. The catechism argues that the practitioner of tri-yana should convert to eka-yana and follow the teachings of the Huayan jing . Even a person who attained the highest level of tri-yana, the Buddha of tri-yana, is not an exception. The buddha of tri-yana should convert to eka-yana and practice according to the Huayan jing . This argument is based on the thought in this book that all the sutras other than the Huayan jing are provisional teachings suggested to people of low quality in special circumstances to correct their false understandings. Only the Huayan jing directly tells the perfect truth to the practioners of the highest qualities. Following the imperfect teachings of provisional sutras cannot make practitioners reach perfect enlightenment. Only the followers of the perfect teaching of the Huayan jing can attain perfect enlightenment.The evaluation of the sutras told in the Huayan jing Catechism is also closely related with the practice ways of Uisang School. As the perfect teaching, the Huayan jing Catechism says, the Huayan jing is made of the special language of dependent arising of Dharma realm, in which one word denotes all the other ones. So the teaching of the Huayan jing cannot be understood by theoretical studies. It can be understood only when the practitioner attains nondiscriminating cognition (無分別智) through meditation. The practices of Uisang and his disciples correspond to the contents of the Huayan jing Catechism . They are valued only the Huayan jing without paying any interest to other sutras or Buddhist theories. And they tried to understand the teaching of the Huayan jing by meditating on the meaning of the sutra. This was much different from other Huayan scholars who concentrated on theoretical understanding of the Huayan jing .In this way the Huayan jing Catechism shows much about the logical backgrounds of the Uisnag School’s characteristics and the mutual relation between them. So we can regard this book as a guide to the general understanding of the thoughts and practices of the school.