Hosso-shu

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Hossō-shū ( Japanese 法相 宗 , German school of Dharma qualities ; also Yui-shiki-shū ( 唯識 宗 ), German only-consciousness school ; or also Yuga-shū ( 瑜伽 宗 ), German yoga - School ) is the name of a school in Japanese Buddhism . Like its Chinese counterpart, the Faxiang , it is based on the idealistic teachings of Vijñānavāda or Yogācāra.

history

The Hossō-shū was initiated in 660 in the Asuka period by Dōshō ( 道 昭 ; 629-700), who had previously studied under Xuan Zang and Kui Ji ( Chinese  窺基 ; 632-682) for about seven years and the new teachings for the first time made famous in Japan. The second transmission of the teachings happened in the year 665 through Chitatsu or Chidatsu ( 智達 ) and Chitsū ( 智通 ). The third tradition was carried out by Chie-bong ( Chinese  智 鳳 ; Japanese Chihō ), Chiran ( 智 鸞 ) and Chiyū ( 智 雄 ), all of whom had studied around 703 with Zhi Zhou ( Chinese  智 周 ; 678-733).

A student Chie-bongs, gembo ( 玄昉 ;? -746), brought after his studies (about 716-734) at Zhi Zhou as the fourth tradition, the latest Chinese interpretations in the Nara period to Japan and founded on Kofuku-ji , the so-called "Northern Tradition", while the previous teaching tradition was now known under the name "Southern Tradition", the center of which was the Gangō-ji .

The Hossō-shū was extremely popular for a long time (especially during the late Nara period) and was hard to ignore in the critical discourse of Buddhist scholars in Japan, especially because of their writings on Buddhist logic. After the emergence of the Tendai and Shingon shu in the Heian period , it was the only one of the six original Nara schools that was not yet in complete stagnation.

Jōshō ( 定 照 ; 911-983), abbot at Kōfuku-ji, set up two study temples at his temple (Ichijō-in and Daijō-in), which should remain the learning centers of the Hossō-shū in the following generations.

During the Heian period, the Hossō-shū appeared mainly with extensive catalogs of writings and commentaries on their own and other Buddhist teachings in Japan. Mention should be made here in particular Eichō , Zōshun and his pupil Kakuken (1131-1212; his brother of Myōhen and Chōken and uncle of Shōkaku and Jōkei ). In addition, the teachings of the Hossō-shū adapted increasingly to esoteric Buddhism ( Mikkyō ) since the middle of the Heian period .

Jōkei ( 貞 慶 ; 1155-1213), Kakuken's nephew and grandson of Fujiwara Michinori , became one of the outstanding figures of the Hossō-shū in the Kamakura period . After he joined the Kofuku-ji at the age of eight years of the church and remained there for 30 years, he was due to bad experience with the now already corrupt Nara Buddhism a hermit on Mount Kasagi, who was then as the Pure Land of the Buddha Maitreya was . There he devoted himself to the worship of Maitreya, the practice of strict vinayas and studied the Hosso teachings, which he wanted to re-systematize and combine with Mikkyo, Zen and Nembutsu . His most important writing is the Yuishiki Dōgakushō (in German about: "Treatise on the study of Vijñānavāda"). His work of Vinaya restoration was continued in particular by his students Kainyo , Kakushin and Ryosan .

One of the last great representatives of the Hossō-shū was Ryōhen ( 良 遍 ; 1192 / 94–1252), who at the age of 49 became a hermit at Chikurin-ji on Mount Ikoma, where he mainly devoted himself to the worship of Siddhartha Gautama, Maitreya, Jizō and Amida as well as the systematization of the Hossō teachings in connection with Kegon , Tendai and Sanron teachings and the Nembutsu of the pure land . After its impact history, the Hossō-shū fell into almost complete historical insignificance. The great lay movements of Nichiren and Pure Land Buddhism had largely eroded the claims to validity and effectiveness of the old Nara schools at this time.

So the Hossō-shū went largely in the course of historical development in other schools. In 1892 Hōryū-ji , Kōfuku-ji and Yakushi-ji were declared the three main temples of the Hossō-shū under a single abbot. The number of branch temples at that time was only about 40.

The Hossō-shū currently no longer exists in the strict sense as an independent school.

Fonts

The most important basic text of the Hossō-shū is the Jōyuishiki-ron ( 成 唯識 論 ; in German, for example: "Proof that everything is just consciousness") of Xuan Zang , in turn a transmission of the Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstra from Dharmapala (Japanese Gohō , around 600). It is a collection of commentaries on Vasubandhus Triṃśikā kārikā (in German about "Thirty Verses").

The six basic sūtras that are also mentioned and quoted in the Jōyuishiki-ron are:

  1. Daihōkō-butsu-kegonkyō ( 大方 廣佛 華嚴 經 ; skt. Buddhāvataṃsaka-nāma-mahāvaipulya-sūtra )
  2. Gejim-mik-kyō ( 解 深 密 經 ; skt. Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra , German about "explanation of the deep and mysterious")
  3. Daijō-nyūryōga-kyō ( 楞 伽阿 跋 多 羅 寶 經 ; skt. Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra , dt. About "Mahayana Sutra from the arrival of the Buddha in (Sri) Lanka")
  4. Daijō-mitsugon-kyō ( 大乘 密 嚴 經 ; skt. Ghanavyūha-sūtra , German about "Mysterious Radiant Sutra")
  5. Nyorai-shutsugen-kudokushōgon-kyō (not preserved)
  6. Abidatsuma-kyō (not preserved)

In addition, other scriptures of the Abhidharma literature were also included, such as the Yuga-ron (Skt. Yogācāra-bhūmi-śāstra ) of the Asaṅga .

In its classification of the Buddhist canon , the Hossō-shū used a three-step model that is intended to illustrate the development of Buddhist teaching:

  1. Doctrine of existence (postulate of the existence of the Dharma to dissolve the illusion of an independent self; these are the Hinayana Sutras)
  2. Doctrine of emptiness (postulate of emptiness of the Dharma to dissolve the illusion of its independent existence; these are various Prajñāpāramitā sutras)
  3. Teaching of the Middle Way (rejection of the postulates of existence and non-existence according to the teaching of the Middle Way ; these are Mahayana sutras such as the Kegon-kyō , the Gejim-mik-kyō , the Konkōmyō-kyō ( Skt.Suvarna-prabhāsa- (uttama) -sūtra ), the Hoke-kyō and the Nehangyō ).

Teaching

Primacy of consciousness

Similar to the previous schools in India (especially early Buddhism ) and China, the Hossō-shū (especially in the Jōyuishiki-ron ) asserts the thesis that everything in the conventional sense is only consciousness ( 一切 唯識 , issai yuishiki ). This is to be understood in such a way that the existence of objects can only be thought or imagined as being mediated by consciousness. Consciousness is therefore a condition for the possibility of any knowledge (cf. transcendental ). On the other hand, with regard to any object, consciousness always helps to construct it and at the same time presents it as objectively true. Because of its own emptiness (Japanese kū ) it misses the form of true reality (in the understanding of the Hossō-shū so-called " suchness " or "suchness"; 眞 如 , shinnyo ), which is therefore only possible through a pure consciousness without any or . Wrong reference to an object or object can be deduced.

Each of the “One Hundred Factors of Existence” is assigned to the Hossō-shū according to one of three different modes of conscious understanding:

  1. Illusory , discriminatory nature ( 遍 計 所 執 性 , henge shoshūshō ; the normal but erroneous state of the ordinary person in samsara , who misses the true suchness of the world in consciousness)
  2. Dependent nature ( 依 他 起 性 , etaki shō ; insight into the existence of phenomena as a combination of causes and conditions)
  3. Perfectly completed nature of reality ( 円 成 実 性 , enjō jishō ; insight into the true nature of all phenomena (suchness), which consists in the complete interaction of all phenomena with one another)

Memory awareness

In the differentiated presentation of the “One Hundred Factors of Existence”, Hossō-shū and Jōyuishiki-ron distinguish eight factors of existence that correspond to the various types of consciousness. The most important type of consciousness is the so-called " memory consciousness " ( 阿 頼 耶 識 , araya shiki or honshiki ), a continuum of karma-forming forces and phenomenal ideas that are largely independent of individual life , which in turn are accumulated in so-called "seeds" ( 種子 , shūji ) are justified. These are themselves the results of past or present attachments and interaction with the seven other types of consciousness. The conveyance of truth through the contaminated, conventional consciousness is therefore always contingent (even if its sequence is always consistent) and therefore always partly imaginary.

Enlightenment

To enter nirvana , the memory consciousness has to be calmed down and cleared of the seeds. After enlightenment , it is then transformed into a “mirror wisdom” ( 鏡 智 , kyōchi ). In this state, the memory consciousness reflects the objective world like a mirror. Correspondingly, the five types of consciousness of sensual perception change into “ wisdom of action” ( 作事 智 , saji chi or 成 所作 智 , jō shosa chi ), the type of consciousness of the mental functions in “observation wisdom ” ( 妙觀察智 , myō kanzacchi ) and the consciousness type of the idea of ​​an ego in the "equality wisdom " ( 平等性智 , byōdōshō chi ).

With regard to the point, which is disputed in almost all Yogācāra schools, whether the possibility of enlightenment is inherent in the subject or must first be acquired, the Hossō-shū took a mediating point of view: There are beings with seeds that help to enlightenment, as well as also those beings who are able to develop such seeds. As a consequence, however, this analysis also resulted in postulating beings who in fact never attain enlightenment (" Icchantika "; Japanese 一 闡提 , issendai ), which the Hossō-shū harshly criticized other Mahāyāna schools (especially the Tendai-shū ) brought in.

Another criticism from the Mahāyāna was that the Hossō-shū did not accept the doctrine of “one vehicle” ( ekayana ) as set out in the Lotus and Nirvana Sutra. Instead, she classified the ekayāna as a teaching ( upaya ) adapted only for certain beings , which was only not intended for the issendai .

literature

  • Robert E. Buswell, Donald S. Lopez, Jr .: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press, Princeton 2014, pp. 297-298.
  • John Keenan: Scripture on the Explication of the Underlying Meaning. Numata Center, Berkeley 2000, ISBN 1-886439-10-9 .
  • Thomas A. Kochumuttom: A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience. A New Translation and Interpretation of the Works of Vasubandhu the Yogacarin, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1999.
  • Daigan Lee Matsunaga, Alicia Orloff Matsunaga: Foundation of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. I: The aristocratic age. Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles / Tokyo 1974, ISBN 0-914910-25-6 .
  • Daigan Lee Matsunaga, Alicia Orloff Matsunaga: Foundation of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. II: The mass movement (Kamakura & Muromachi periods). Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles / Tokyo 1976, ISBN 0-914910-27-2 .
  • Gregor Paul: Philosophy in Japan: from the beginning to the Heian period; a critical investigation . Iudicium, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-89129-426-3 .
  • John Powers: Wisdom of Buddha: The Samdhinirmochana Sutra. Dharma Publishing, Berkeley 1995, ISBN 0-89800-246-X .
  • Shun'ei Tagawa: Living Yogacara: An Introduction to Consciousness-Only Buddhism. Wisdom Publications, 2009, ISBN 0-86171-589-6 .
  • Diana Paul: Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Paramartha's Evolution of Consciousness. Stanford University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-8047-1187-9 .