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Cultivating Confucian Virtues Through Buddhist Meditation

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Cultivating Confucian Virtues Through Buddhist Meditation Cultivating Confucian Virtues Through Buddhist Meditation The «Meditation Essentials» in Yuán Huáng’s program of self-cultivation Gunnar Sjøstedt MA Thesis (60 Credits) in East Asian Culture and History (EAST4591), Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages. UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn 2015 Cultivating Confucian Virtues Through Buddhist Meditation —The «Meditation Essentials» in Yuán Huáng’s program of self-cultivation by Gunnar Sjøstedt (Sjoestedt) i Copyright © Gunnar Sjøstedt 2015 “Cultivating Confucian Virtues Through Buddhist Meditation: The Meditation Essentials in Yuán Huáng’s program of self-cultivation” Gunnar Sjøstedt http://www.duo.uio.no Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo ii Abstract This MA thesis is the first ever comprehensive study of Jìngzuò yàojúe 靜坐要訣 (”The Meditation Essentials”), a Chinese meditation treatise authored by Confucian scholar- official Yuán Huáng (h. Liǎofán, 1533–1606) but largely based on a work lectured one millennium earlier by Buddhist Tiāntāi monk Zhìyǐ (538–597). Its main contribution is the discovery of a link between sitting meditation and the practice of keeping morality ledgers. The primary concern has been, through an analysis and contextualization of the text, to catch a glimpse of how Yuán Huáng conceptualizes and re-conceptualizes meditation, and what the answer to this question might impart in terms of new knowledge about the late Míng period (c. 1530–1644). One aspect in particular of this reconceptualization emerged as particularly significant, and thus became the argumentative focus. This is how meditation relates functionally to the author’s other self-cultivation practices, i.e. what role it plays in what I call his program of self-cultivation. Yuán Huáng is today known mainly for his practice of merit accumulation through the keeping of daily ”Ledgers of Merit and Demerit”. I argue that meditation as conceived by Yúan Huáng must be understood in relation to this practice, and that this relation consists in seeing meditation as an important prerequisite for the karmic efficacy of merit accumulation; meditation is, above all, a way to rid the mind of self-centred desire and cultivate humaneness (rén) in its place, thus instilling in the practitioner the selfless ”no-mind” required for good deeds to result in good karma. Accordingly, the original soteriological goal of Buddhist meditation is partly lost; it is secularized and confucianized, in the sense that it becomes part of a self- cultivation program that aims for moral fulfilment and societal harmony in the here and now. This is demonstrated through a three-step process, with each step involving a progressively broadened perspective: First, I contrast the Meditation Essentials with the work on which it is based, pointing out the significant differences, as well as the likely underlying reasons for them. Second, I compare it to the author’s works on merit accumulation, demonstrating the overriding concern with selfless virtues in both through a discussion of the three fundamental concepts ”no-desire”, ”humaneness” and ”no-mind”. Finally, I use the resulting picture of Yuán Huáng’s conception of meditation to uncover a similar approach to meditation latent in preceding and contemporaneous Neo-Confucian meditators, centring on Liú Zōngzhōu in particular. Thus ending the thesis on a note of wider implications, I contend not only that the relation between meditation and morality ledgers is not exclusive to Yuán Liǎofán, but furthermore that the perceived efficacy of sitting meditation for the purpose of weeding out self-centred desire and intentions was one significant reason for its introduction into Neo-Confucianism. Keywords: Yuán Huáng, meditation, Ledgers of Merit and Demerit, Neo-Confucianism, egocentrism, no-mind, soteriology, secularism, individualism, syncretism. iii Acknowledgements First of all, I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Halvor Eifring, professor of Chinese at the University of Oslo. Halvor is responsible for triggering my interest in this topic in the first place, and his vast knowledge in both the fields of meditation and sinology— a unique academic combination—has been of invaluable help throughout the whole process. Halvor has taken generously of his time to comment on drafts at several stages in the process, gently guiding me towards the discovery of my own path, offering insights while at the same time being careful not to force onto it his own perspective. Our discussions on these occasions have been truly illuminating and inspiring. Moreover, writing an MA thesis can at times be a challenge psychologically as much as it is academically, and I thank Halvor for his kind and wise support and encouragement in this regard as well. Next, I would like to express my gratitude to Guttorm Gundersen and Anders Sydskjør for all the inspiring discussions we have had throughout this year, many of which have aided my understanding of topics relating to this study. Guttorm’s insights into Buddhism and Anders’ into Neo-Confucianism in particular have contributed greatly to my appreciation of these two traditions. On a related note, the (unofficial) Reading Group of Classical Chinese at the University of Oslo, which Anders happily started one year ago, and of which the three of us have been the most faithful attenders, has been a welcome weekly brake—as well as a way for me to strengthen my proficiency in Classical Chinese. Thanks also to Ivo Spira and the other members. For the contributions by these individuals I am truly grateful, yet the responsibility for any inaccuracies remains entirely my own. – Gunnar Sjøstedt, November 23rd 2015. iv Abbreviations ME Meditation Essentials (Jìngzuò yàojué 靜坐要訣) SG Explaining the Sequential Gateway to the Perfection of Dhyāna (釋禪波羅蜜次第法門) T Taishō shinshū dai zōkyō 大正新脩大藏經 (The Standard Japanese version of the Chinese Tripiṭaka) X Shinsan dai nihon zoku zōkyō 卍新纂續藏經 (Supplement to the Chinese Tripiṭaka) v Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ iv Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................ v INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 1. YUÁN HUÁNG AND LATE MÍNG CHINA ....................................................................... 13 1.1. Life: Establishing the fate ................................................................................................................... 13 1.2. Works and legacy: Ocean of Learning; School of Mind ........................................................... 21 2. THE MEDITATION ESSENTIALS AND THE SEQUENTIAL GATEWAY .................... 30 Explaining the Sequential Gateway to the Perfection of Dhyāna ................... 31 2.2. The Huá ................................................................................. 34 2.1. ZhìyǐMeditation and Essentials ....................................................................................................................................... 36 by Yuán ng ........................................................................................... 39 2.3. Genre and title ...................................................................................... 50 2.4. Structure, methodology and content 3. THE2.5. RELATIONProvenance, BETWEENtransmission MERIT and afterlife ACCUMULATION AND MEDITATION ........ 57 Four Admonitions Meditation Essentials ..... 57 3.2. 仁........................................................................................................................................................ 63 3.1. RénCorrespondences between the and the - ............................................................................................................................................. 67 - ............................................................................................................................................... 71 3.3. “No desire” .............................................................................................................................................. 76 3.4. “No mind” 4. NO3.5.-DESIR ConclusionE, RÉN AND NO-MIND IN THE NEO-CONFUCIAN DISCOURSE ON MEDITATION ............................................................................................. 82 ............................................................................. 85 ......................................................................................................................................... 89 4.1. Lǐ Yánpíng, Luó Hóngxiān and Gāo Pānlóng CONCLUSION4.2. Liú Zōngzhōu ............................................................................................................................ 96 Appendix A: Partial Translation of the Meditation Essentials ............................... 99 ......................................................................................... 99 .................................................................... 100 A1. Notes on translation and conventions AppendixA2. Translation B: Copy of of Preface The Original and Chapters Text 1,(靜坐要訣 5 and 6 ) .................................................
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