Looking for a good place to start to learn the Basic doctrine and teachings of Tendai

[Snowbeast]

I am having a hard time finding a basic introduction to what Tendai's views are. Does someone know where I can find a good simple introduction, maybe written towards a lay believer? I have a few books on Tiantai, but I find them very hard to understand. Thank you.

[Queequeg]

Basically Mahayana Madhyamika. Zhiyi builds on that, but it is a very steep learning curve. And then there is the Vajrayana aspects in Tendai. It's not an easily accessible teaching. It's an advanced and complete teaching.

https://books.google.com/books?id=WYD_CwAAQBAJ&dq

This is not a Buddhism 101 book. It assumes basic knowledge but is one of the better books out there.

[Snowbeast]

Basically Mahayana Madhyamika. Zhiyi builds on that, but it is a very steep learning curve. And then there is the Vajrayana aspects in Tendai. It's not an easily accessible teaching. It's an advanced and complete teaching.

https://books.google.com/books?id=WYD_CwAAQBAJ&dq

This is not a Buddhism 101 book. It assumes basic knowledge but is one of the better books out there.

Thank you for your answer. I do have that book but it is very difficult, maybe I will try reading it again or work up to it in time.

[Queequeg]

It might be a good idea to start with basic Mahayana.

This is an excellent introduction:

https://www.bdkamerica.org/book/teachin ... sh-edition

[Snowbeast]

It might be a good idea to start with basic Mahayana.

This is an excellent introduction:

https://www.bdkamerica.org/book/teachin ... sh-edition

Wow! So I have seen this book many times(and my temple gives away a small version of it) but I have never looked through it. This is exactly what I have been looking for. Now, do you know by any chance if they make books that are simply laid out like this but that about specific schools? I would love a book on Tendai(or any school) that was laid out like this. I have found ones on less popular schools like Jodoshu, Huayan, and Shingon but nothing on Tendai like this.

[Queequeg]

It might be a good idea to start with basic Mahayana.

This is an excellent introduction:

https://www.bdkamerica.org/book/teachin ... sh-edition

Wow! So I have seen this book many times(and my temple gives away a small version of it) but I have never looked through it. This is exactly what I have been looking for. Now, do you know by any chance if they make books that are simply laid out like this but that about specific schools? I would love a book on Tendai(or any school) that was laid out like this. I have found ones on less popular schools like Jodoshu, Huayan, and Shingon but nothing on Tendai like this.

If the Tendai folks out there are reading this... looks like a shovel ready project, don't you think?

[Seishin]

I will PM you

[rory]

Hellow Snowbeast: firs things I'lve linked a nice intro to Tendai Buddhism below.

Also Brook Ziporyn is an academic just like Paul Swanson, and an academic's understanding of Tiantai philosophy is very different from practitioners practicing Tendai! So it's important to understand that.

Here is a short discussion of the Tendai school from a Tendai temple website:

History of Tendai Buddhism Lineage

Buddhism was brought from India to China around the second or third century A.D., it then developed into a Chinese form of Buddhism.

The Tendai school bases it's teaching mainly on the Hokke-kyo (The Lotus Sutra), the Nehangyo (The Nirvana Sutra, and Nagarjuna's Daichidoron (Commentary on the Great Wisdom Sutra). The Chinese T'ien T'ai school was founded by Zhiyi (Tendai Daishi) who lived from 538-597 A.D. as a result of his meditation and practice based on the Lotus sutra. The name Tendai is the Japanese pronunciation of T'ien T'ai- the name of the mountain in China where Zhiyi maintained a monastery.
The Japanese Tendai school was founded in 806 A.D. by Saicho (767-822 A.D.), also known by his posthumous title of Dengyo Daishi. In the early days of the ninth century, Saicho was sent to China to study and secure texts to contribute to Japan's knowledge of Buddhism. His main objective was attained when he arrived at Mt.T'ien T'ai, the birthplace of the school. He brought Buddhist teachings of T'ien Ta'i, C'han (Zen), Esotericism (Mikkyo) and the Mahayana precepts to Japan.

After his return to Japan, he built himself a thatched hut on Mt.Hiei (Hieizan), northeast of the present-day city of Kyoto, intending to lead a life of meditation and prayer. This hermitage later became the present day headquarters of the Tendai sect and monastery of Enryakuji.

Mt.Hiei has long been a leading center of Buddhist studies in Japan.Thus, in the Kamakura Period (1192-1333 A.D.), new Japanese Buddhist schools developed out of Tendai; namely, the Yuzunenbutsu, Jodo, Jodoshin, Ji, Rinzai Zen, Soto Zen and Nichiren school. The founders of all these schools studied on Mt.Hiei, near Kyoto where the head temple of the Tendai school is still located.

-from the Hawaii Tendai Mission Service book
https://www.tendai-usa.org/lineage

Introduction of Tendai Teachings

Tendai Buddhism was authorized as an officially recognized Buddhist School by the Japanese Imperial court on January 26th, 806 C.E. Dengyō Daishi (Saichō 最澄, 767- 822), the founder of Japanese Tendai Buddhism, believed in the teaching of Ekayāna (One Vehicle); everyone is equal and anyone can attain spiritual awakening. He was authorized to educate and train monks to spread this teachings based on the One Vehicle. Dengyō Daishi’s wish was for official recognition of Tendai. In addition, he hoped that each school of Buddhism in Japan at that time should co-exist in order to relieve the sufferings of all sentient/living beings. Because of this, when the imperial court authorized the teaching of Tendai Buddhism, the court also supported a number of monks for other schools of Buddhism in terms of monetary allowances for their educations.


Integration of Sutra & Tantra

The founder of Japanese Tendai School, Saichō (767-822), constructed his first temple on Mt. Hiei in 788 with the support of the Japanese Government of the Heian Period. The current Konponchūdō (Main temple) was reconstructed by the third Tokugawa Shōgunate Iemitsu, in 1641. A perpetual light was lit by Saichō praying that the light would burn forever, until future Buddha (Maitreya) will appear in Japan. Saichō’s prayer is recorded in the selected collections of Imperial poems “Igniting the Dharma Light brightly until the next Buddha (Maitreya) appears.” And this poem became the song of the Japanese Tendai School today.

The Heian era began in 793 when Emperor Kanmu (his reign 781-806) moved the capital from Nara to Kyōto city in order to stop interference from the Office of Monastic Affairs of the Nara Traditional Buddhism. Then Emperor Kanmu requested the young monk Saichō to get a traditional lineage from Chinese Tendai Buddhism. Kanmu dispatched Saichō to cross the ocean to China. Saichō successively got the T’ien-t’ai traditional lineage as well as Bodhisattva Precepts from Tao-sui 道邃 at Mount T’ien-t’ai founded by Zhiyi (538-597). While he was in the T’ien-t’ai mountain he also received Ox Head School of Ch’an 牛頭禅 from Hsiu-jan 脩然. Saichō also received Esoteric initiations from Shun-hsiao 順暁 at a mountain temple east of Chig-hu in Yuch-chou. For Saichō, it was a good chance to have the first Mahāyāna Precepts Center at Mount Hiei for this very occasion. Saichō crossed the ocean to China in 804, staying there for one year and successfully obtaining the T’ien-t’ai lineage as well as esoteric Buddhism. Eventually, Japanese Tendai transmitted the four types of teachings from China i.e. En (Perfect Teaching of the Lotus Sūtra), Mitsu (Esoteric Teaching), Zen Meditation, and Kai (Mahāyāna Precepts). Upon Saichō’s return to Japan, Emperor Kanmu, unfortunately, was sick in bed. Therefore, his first task was to pray for Kanmu’s recovery from illness. Eventually, he offered the first esoteric fire ritual ceremony in Japan.



Triple Views in a thought & Three Thousand Realties in a Single Moment of Consciousness.

The T’ien-t’ai concept of discerning the real is referred to as the Isshin-sangan and the Ichinen-sanzen concept. The Isshin-sangan is a type of T’ien-t’ai meditation in which one views a phenomenon from three viewpoints in a single moment of consciousness, i.e.,

​

1. Kū (emptiness空); all phenomena are relative and dependent upon other phenomena, and all existence is in its essence devoid of permanency, since they arise due to various causes. This is non-substantiality, ku.



2. Ke (Conventional假); nevertheless, phenomena is there as real, but the phenomena is provisional in appearance. This is temporal reality.



3. Chū (middle中); since each phenomenon is a blending of both kū and ke, it should be seen as occupying a midway point between the poles of two extreme views of emptiness and temporality.



For the T’ien-t’ai follower, these ‘sangan三観’ or ‘Issin-Sangan一心三観' are one in essence and they correspond to the intuitive understanding of Ku, Ke, and Chu at one and the same time, but not to gradual understanding. Kū, ke, and chū correspond, respectively,to the three aspects of phenomena: its dependence upon conditions of causation, its temporary existence, and its true nature. These three aspects of phenomena cannot be independent of each other. This doctrine of Isshin-sangan occupies a central position in the T’ien-t’ai Sect and is regarded as the ultimate teaching of the Buddha.



Kū, ke, and chū indicate, respectively, the three aspects of phenomena: its dependence upon conditions of causation, its temporary existence, and its true nature. These three aspects cannot be independent of each other. This doctrine of Isshin-sangan occupies a central position in the T’ien-t’ai Sect and is regarded as the ultimate teaching of the Buddha.



Ichinen-sanzen: Three thousand realities exist in a single moment of consciousness. Whether we are conscious or not, the three thousand realities are in each single moment of our consciousness. This is the basic idea of the Tendai Doctrine. According to the Mo ho chi kuan (Great Manual for Calming the Mind / Discerning the Real), based upon the Lotus sūtra, there is the following expression:



“What we call Perfect Sudden is to relate our mind to reality from the very beginning, and visualize the object of the mind. Such is in fact identical with the Middle Way. This is not different from the conceptual truth. When our mind relates to the Dharma Realm even our visual forms and fragrance do not differ from the Middle Way. Our world, the Buddha world, the world of sentient beings, or the five aggregates are all, in fact, the expressions of Middle Way.”ii



The Middle Way is a unique feature of the Tendai concept of discerning the real. Esoteric Buddhism views the phenomena and principle through the esoteric ritual of the three secrets (tri-guhya), body (mudrā), speech (mantra), and mind (visualization). This Middle Way is identical with such esoteric expressions of a practical view in order to harmonize contradictory opinions. In other words, the esoteric ritual of Shingon Buddhism is nothing but the expression of the Middle truth. This point of view is Tendai esotericism.



Three-thousand realities include every phenomenal existence. Our world consists of ten realms iii, Each of the ten realms of beings includes the other nine realms. Accordingly there are one-hundred realms in number. The ten suchness of the Lotus sūtra iv are involved in the hundred realms. Thus, everyone conceives of one-thousand realms. These one-thousand realms are manifold in the three realms of existence i.e., the realms of sentient beings, non-sentient beings, and the five aggregates which constitute all beings, sentient or non-sentient.

Without consciousness three thousand realities are in a single moment of consciousness.



Union of the Exoteric and Esoteric Teaching

We can trace exoteric and esoteric teachings back to the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra. The following expressions of the sūtra show the esoteric element in the sūtra: “Of the true bodhisattvas, their mother is the transcendence of wisdom, their father is the skill in liberating technique; the leaders are born of such parents.”viii



The translator of this sūtra, Robert Thurman, comments that wisdom (prajñā) is the bell and liberating technique (upāya) is the vajra.ix Union of both upāya and prajñā is the great liberation mokṣa. Shingon esoteric Buddhism says the union of the Garbha Realm Maṇḍala and the Vajradhātu Maṇḍala is the great liberation.



Tendai esotericism, on the other hand, is derived from the Lotus sūtra. The hermeneutics of the Lotus in T’ien-t’ai by Zhiyi is that the first 14 chapters are upāya, skill in means, and the last 14 chapters are the prajñā wisdom and the Buddha’s eternal life. Saichō interpreted the first 14 chapters in terms of the Tendai concept of Original Enlightenment. Our life consists of two worlds, that is, the apparent or phenomenal world, and the eternal worlds, the apparent and the eternal. Saichō established two options for training curriculums for Tendai Monks. One was a course of meditation practices, śamatha (Calmness) and the other for Esoteric practices, Vipaśyanā (discernment). Those monks in the former course were required to master exoteric Buddhism, while the latter course requires mastery of Vairocana esotericism. Nowadays, the culmination of the exoteric course involves meditation at Ninaidō halls on Mt. Hiei. They practice meditations for ninety days until the living Buddha appears in front of the practitioner. After the practice, the monks are secluded for twelve years in the Jōdoin temple where the founder Saichō sleeps on Mt. Hiei, Practicing Rōzangyō. A present-day example of the esoteric course is Kaihōgyō. Monks wake up midnight and leave Myoodō hall for a pilgrimage visiting 260 sacred places around Mt. Hiei for 1,000 days over seven years.



During the ritual practice gyō, he walks 18 miles a day at first and building up to 52 miles a day toward the end. These two examples represent extreme training in the two courses, the Calming the Mind course and the Discerning the Real esoteric way. In the case of ordinary priests they have to stay 65 days for practicing both of the two courses at Gyōin monastery on Mt. Hiei. This is the minimum required for every Tendai priest in Japan.



The first one month, the novitiate priest practices recitations of exoteric sūtras. The latter one month entails learning the esoteric practices known as The Four Initiations into Esoteric Buddhism, which are the Juhachidō (Eighteen Ways to Welcome Buddhas), the Taizōkai (Garbhadhātu Maṇḍala), Kongōkai (Vajradhātu Maṇḍala) and Goma (Fire ritual). Before entering into the esoteric course, practitioner prostrates to the thousand Buddhas for esoteric initiation.



Sūtra and Tantra

Sūtras are the texts of discourses by Buddha Śākyamuni and Tantra are the rituals on how to idealize the ceremony woven together with sūtras expounded by Buddha. Tendai emphasizes the historical Buddha Śākyamuni who represents the exoteric world, and the eternal Buddha Vairocana who represents the esoteric world of the Dharmakāya (the highest aspect of the threefold Buddha bodies). Both of them are one and the same. This is a major difference between Shingon esoteric Buddhism (Tōmitsu) and Tendai esoteric Buddhism (Taimitsu). Shingon esoteric Buddhism founded by Kūkai (774-835) asserts that the teachings of the Mahāvairocana Sūtra and the Vajrashekhara Sūtra are superior to the Lotus Sūtra, and that the Buddha Vairocana is distinct from and pre-eminent to Śākyamuni. There are other dissimilarities between Tendai esotericism and Shingon esotericism, such as reliance on different sūtras and texts, and variant lineages, but a characteristic of Tendai Buddhism is its insistence that the Tendai lotus teachings and Shingon esotericism have fundamentally the same meaning.



The Basis of Saichō’s Mahāyāna Buddhism

The main exoteric Māhāyāna Sūtra which Saichō relied on was the Lotus Sūtra, while the esoteric sutra was the Mahāvairocana sūtra. The core teaching of Japanese Tendai is based on the Chinese T’ien-t’ai philosophy initiated by Zhiyi (538-597) in his Mo ho chi kuan (The Great Manual of Calmness and Discernment) based upon the Lotus sūtra). The tantric text, the Mahāvirocana Sūtra, was a slightly later work than the Mo ho chi kuan and was composed around the 7th century in the region that is now Afghanistan. Both the Lotus Sūtra and the Mahāvairocana Sūtra emphasize compassion as central to Māhāyāna Buddhism. Saichō says in his Sange gakushōshiki, “Buddhists with religious minds are called bodhisattvas in the West (i.e. India), and gentlemen in the East (i.e. China). They take the bad upon themselves in order to benefit others. This is the height of compassion.”x



----------------------------------------------------------------

The above is selected excerpts from Tendai Buddhist Sect Overseas Charitable Foundation (2013, Nov. 27) THE FIRST MAHĀYĀNA PRECEPTS PLATFORM AT MT.HIEI BY DENGYŌ DAISHI SAICHŌ



Footnotes:

i Heian period in Japan continued 390 years from 794 AD when Emperor Kanmu moved Capital to Kyoto to 1192 AD when Yoritomo established the first Shogunate Government in Kamakura.

ii The Mo hi chi kuan Taisho Tripitaka, vol.46. pp.lc23-25.

iii Ten Realms of living beings: hell, the world of hungry spirits, animals, ashuras, and men; heaven, the world of Sravkas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattva, and Buddhas. And each of the ten realms of beings contains the other nine in itself. Thus there are one hundred realm altogether. These one hundred realms have each the ten factors of beings (jyunyoze). Thus there are conceived to be one thousand realms. These one thousand realms can be seen in the three realms of existence: the realms of sentient being, non-sentient beings, and the five aggregates (skandhas) which constitute all being, sentient or non-sentient. These three thousand realms are contained in one mind. This is an important doctrine of Tendai School that all phenomena in this world are included in one thought which human beings think in their daily lives.

iv Only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom the reality of existence, that is to say, all existence has such a form, such a nature, such an embodiment, such a potency, such a function, such a primary cause, such a secondary cause, such an effect, such a recompense, and such a complete whole. Taisho Tripitaka vol.9 p.5c.

v A Guide to the Tiantai Fourfold Teachings, TIANTAI LOTUS TEXTS, BDK English Tripitaka Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai America, Inc. 2013) pp.153-210 tr, D.Chappel & M.Ichishima

vi Tendaishu Zensho Vol.10 p.26a.

vii Cf. The Features of the concept of Enmitsu-Itchi in Ninku's writing, Journal of Buddhist Studies, Vol.51 December 2009

viii Robert A.F. Thurman, tr., The Holy Teachings of Vimalakirti (Pennsylvania State University, 1983) p.67

ix Thurman, p.124 notes 24

x Paul Groner, SAICHŌ: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School (Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series, 1984) p.117

https://www.tendai-usa.org/what-is-tendai-buddhism
You can read more about Tendai here: https://www.tendai-usa.org/copy-of-what ... i-buddhism
If you have any more questions feel free to ask!
gassho
Rory

[Snowbeast]

Thank you very much Seishin and Rory. I think I have everything I need now.

I was wondering Rory, you saying that an academic view is going to be different from a practitioners view is very eye opening to me. I have no trouble reading materials from practitioners (even some writings by masters ) but academic books are just way too confusing. Could you tell me more about the differences? I felt inadequate in my Buddhist studies after trying to read stuff by Swanson and Zyporin and it is good to hear it is a common problem. I am a chef by trade so my schooling was more technical in focus.

[Fortyeightvows]

I am having a hard time finding a basic introduction to what Tendai's views are. Does someone know where I can find a good simple introduction, maybe written towards a lay believer? I have a few books on Tiantai, but I find them very hard to understand. Thank you.

Now, do you know by any chance if they make books that are simply laid out like this but that about specific schools? I would love a book on Tendai(or any school) that was laid out like this. I have found ones on less popular schools like Jodoshu, Huayan, and Shingon but nothing on Tendai like this.

I have to say that I would very recommend to you "Foundation of Japanese Buddhism" by Daigan Matsunaga
Get the first volume- It covers the 6 nara schools first and then covers the Heian period schools. (Volume 2 covers the Kamakura schools)
I promise that this is the book you are looking for!

[rory]

I was wondering Rory, you saying that an academic view is going to be different from a practitioners view is very eye opening to me. I have no trouble reading materials from practitioners (even some writings by masters ) but academic books are just way too confusing. Could you tell me more about the differences? I felt inadequate in my Buddhist studies after trying to read stuff by Swanson and Zyporin and it is good to hear it is a common problem. I am a chef by trade so my schooling was more technical in focus.

An academic's purpose is very different from that of a temple. Here is a good example:

Purpose of Kongosan Eigenji​
Vajra Mountain Wisdom Source Temple

To promote an enhanced understanding of Buddhism in order to help all sentient beings, and to transmit the light of the Dharma - the teachings of Dengyo Daishi Saicho to encourage interfaith dialogue; to foster a compassionate awareness of the need to protect the Earth's fragile environment.
https://www.tendai-usa.org/about

As for the academic, they may have many purposes: to do new research, present novel theories, to enhance their reputation, to become famous, to be the preeminent in their field, to achieve tenure, to dispute old theories, to be so obscure everyone thinks they are geniuses;-) (see Judith Butler, a good example of this)etc...

But you might enjoy reading Dr. Saso, one note, he was originally a Jesuit priest and has returned to being one at this time.

Dr.Michael Saso
Professor Saso is a scholar of the religious practices of Japan and China, with a particular emphasis on Taoism. He has translated Japanese and Chinese religious texts and related works and has written several books on Asian religion. His knowledge of Taoism and Buddhism comes from within those communities: he is an initiated Taoist priest of the Zhengyi Sect as well as an ordained Tendai Buddhist monk having connection to the Hawaii Tendai-shu Buddhist Mission.
He maintains a blog with many excellent academic articles on Buddhism and East Asian religion.

https://www.tendai-usa.org/links
gassho
Rory

[Fortyeightvows]

Alot of academics are believers themselves.