Yishan’s Guanjing suiwen jianglu: Related to the Syncretism of Chan and Pure Land Buddhism

Abstract

This paper deals with Yishan’s (義山) idea of “mindfulness of the Buddha” found in the paragraph on guangming bianzhao (光明遍照) in his commentary on the Meditation Sūtra named Guanjing zuiwen jianglu (觀経随聞講録). In this paragraph, Yishan reveals the idea that light symbolizes the nature of Amita-Buddha’s compassion. Under the guidance of this idea, some terms were created in order to explain Amita-Buddha’s compassion taking in every sentient being. His idea conveyed by those terms is somewhat close to realism which was eventually utilized to explain the dynamic relation between observation and reciting (觀・念両宗).

Compared with the syncretism of Chan and Pure Land Buddhism in Ming Dynasty, especially the sect of Zhuhong 雲棲袾宏,they both embraced “invoking the Buddha’s name” as their exclusive practice. However, the ultimate realm of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism emphasizes the might of Absolute Other while Chan and Pure Land Buddhism focus on self-power leading to enlightenment. Regardless of this difference, they both take Huayan as the basis for their interpretations of Pure Land Buddhism.