Hua-yen came to serve as the philosophical basis for the other schools of Buddhism more concerned with practice and realization. Thus not only is there no mutual exclusiveness at all between Hua-yen and Ch'an, but they are mutually complementary in a most profound and organic way. The Chinese have a saying: "Hua-yen for philosophy, Ch'an for practice." This does not imply a choice, but rather the interrelationship of the two. As D. T. Suzuki remarked, Hua-yen is the philosophy of Zen and Zen is the practice of Hua-yen. Put another way, the picture of existence presented by Hua-yen is the universe experienced in Zen enlightenment. Without the practice and realization of Zen, Hua-yen philosophy remains mere intellectual fun, never a vibrant reality. Hua-yen, in turn, serves as an intriguing lure to the practitioner, a stimulus to effort, and a promise of a vision undreamed on in our more common hours. For these two reasons, Hua-yen is far from insignificant in the history of Buddhism.
---Francis H. Cook---
No comments:
Post a Comment