Jōjitsu-shū

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The Jōjitsu-shū ( Japanese成 実 宗; dt. About "School of Realization of Truth") was a Buddhist school in Japan during the Nara period .

history

The Chinese forerunner of Jōjitsu-shū, the Chengshi zong ( Chinese  成 實 宗 , Pinyin Chéngshí zōng , W.-G. Ch'eng-shih tsung ), was a sub- school of the Sanlun school and is commonly called the late Hinayana and the so-called 13 large Buddhist schools in China ( Chinese  十三 宗 , Pinyin shísān zōng ) counted.

Likewise, in Japan the Jōjitsu-shū only existed for a very short time as an independent school. For the most part, their teachings were received along with those of the Sanron-shū , with which they were introduced in Japan between 600 and 625. The traditional representation locates the original tradition about Goguryeo and attributes it to the monk Ekan ( Chinese  慧 灌 , Pinyin Huìguàn ; Kor. 혜관, Hyegwan ), who is said to have brought it to Japan together with the Sanron teachings. The close historical connection between Sanron and Jōjitsu teachings can also be seen in Eji (慧慈), teacher of Prince Shōtoku Taishi and himself a representative of Sanron and Jōjitsu-shū.

Only at the beginning of the eighth century did the Jōjitsu-shū experience a brief period of independence from other schools.

A government proclamation from 806 listed the Jōjitsu-shū as a branch of the Sanron-shū, in which it was finally completely absorbed.

Fonts

The basic text of the school is the Jōjitsu-ron (成 實 論), which is Harivarman's Satyasiddhi-śāstra as it was translated into Chinese in 411 by Kumārajīva . It gives a lecture primarily teachings of Sautrantika called sutras -School of early Indian Buddhism and criticized concepts of Sarvastivada . But it is also sometimes counted as part of the Dharmagup --aka or Bahuśrutīya school or simply understood as an independent and eclectic work. An exact assignment is extremely difficult because the Sanskrit original has not survived.

The Jōjitsu-ron consists of five parts. The first part deals with the three jewels and the following parts deal with the four truths in great detail .

One of the few exceptions to the marginalization of the Jōjitsu-shū in the intellectual debates of Nara Buddhism was the - lost - Jōjitsu-ron-sho (成 實 論 疏), a work by the Korean Do-chang ( Chinese  道 藏 , Pinyin Dàozàng , W .-G. Tao-tsang ; Hangeul 도장; Japanese Dōzō), who immigrated to Yamato from Paekche around 680 .

The Jōjitsu-ron-sho is a commentary on the Jōjitsu-ron . It comprised 16 volumes and briefly caused a growing interest in Jōjitsu-ron and his teachings.

Teaching

With the Jōjitsu-ron , the Jōjitsu-shū turns radically against any ontological dualism . The existence of different areas of being is excluded. On the other hand, existence can only be understood in the conventional sense. If analyzed consistently, however, it becomes clear that there is no substance, therefore everything must be empty ( kū ). Even the factors of existence thus only exist as designations, but outside of these designations, nothing existing corresponds to them. The Nirvana appear herein as a complete negation of any idea of substantiality or existence, it denotes not an independent being. That the factors of existence exist in the conventional sense, are empty in the sense of an absolute truth, also corresponds - from the standpoint of the representatives of the Jōjitsu-shū - to the teaching of the twofold truth ( satyadvaya ) of the Middle Way .

The Jōjitsu-shū was often defamed throughout its existence by the Sanron-shū because of its views on unsubstantiality as hinayanistic and incompatible with the Middle Way of Mahayana ; it lacks the ability to practice the doctrine of the emptiness of the Dharma. In fact, the school was also often assigned to the Mahayana, especially because of the claim that the attachment to the idea of ​​emptiness itself is a state of mind that prevents entry into nirvana.

See also

literature

  • Daigan Lee Matsunaga and Alicia Orloff Matsunaga: Foundation of Japanese Buddhism; Vol. I; The aristocratic age . Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles and Tokyo 1974. ISBN 0-914910-25-6 .
  • Gregor Paul: Philosophy in Japan: from the beginning to the Heian period; a critical investigation . Iudicium, Munich 1993. ISBN 3-89129-426-3 .