Śūnya Tathāgatagarbha and Aśūnya Tathāgatagarbha: Focusing on Several Sui and Tang Commentaries on the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra

Abstract

The Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra 勝鬘師子吼一乗大方便方広経(SMS) is one of the earliest tathāgatagarbha scriptures. The SMS relates śūnya to tathāgatagarbha, and creates śūnya tathāgatagarbha and aśūnya tathāgatagarbha. In this paper, I discuss the śūnya tathāgatagarbha and aśūnya tathāgatagarbha in three Chinese commentaries: Jingyingsi Huiyuan’s 浄影寺慧遠 Shengmanjing yiji 勝鬘経義記, Jizang’s 吉蔵 Shengman baoku 勝鬘宝窟 and Ji’s 基 Shengmanjing shuji 勝鬘経述記, all composed during the Sui and Tang dynasties. The Shengmanjing yiji and Shengman baoku understand śūnya as xingkong 性空, while the Shengmanjing shuji understands śūnya as xiangkong 相空. Combining the interpretation of the commentary of the SMS during the Southern and Northern dynasties, it can be seen that the route of the Chinese Buddhist understanding of the śūnya of the SMS is from xiangkong to xingkong and then back to xiangkong.