A Study Of Life Aesthetics In "The Six Tribes"

This dissertation aims at interpreting the Platform Sultra from perspective of aesthetics, combined with the life aesthetics to explore the connotation of life aesthetics in the Platform Sultra. To study the life aesthetics in the Platform Sultra, firstly must to understand Zen’s life aesthetic thoughts. The author made a rough comb in the introduction part of the Zen’s aesthetics research, and reveals the Zen aesthetics and life aesthetics are based on life ontology and also the relationship beyond life which determines the theoretical in common between the two.The Platform Sutra as a representative work in Zen theory has an important position and role. There are many researches about Plat Sutra’s zen aesthetics in academia,but few of the researches observe it from an overall aesthetic perspective. Therefore, study the life aesthetics contains in Plat Sutra has innovation meaning and meanwhile enriched the connotation of Zen aesthetics.First chapter, as in China, the growth and development of Zen Buddhism can’t leave the influence and impact of Chinese traditional culture. The dissertation considered from different aspects of life care of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, reveals their viewpoints of life, and highlight the value of life in Chinese traditional culture and the long life consciousness. Moreover, Chinese zen aesthetics is a kind of unique aesthetic life, from the perspective of life aesthetics review zen aesthetics, able to make it easier for us to grasp the spiritual essence of zen aesthetics and special significance.Second chapter, summarized of Huineng’s life aesthetic thoughts in Platform Sultra. Huineng’s Zen thoughts mainly reflected in the ontology of mind, epistemology of the insight theory and the methodology of the self-help three aspects. Therefore, to study its life aesthetics must stick to these three aspects. Huineng think the people’s nature mind are clean, ethereal and full of wisdom, this is the foundation of being a Buddha, the author thinks these aspects constitute the root of life’s beauty. Through insight, people are able to recognize the nature mind and prajna wisdom, it helps them to see the essence of life. Insight is of highly aesthetic characteristics, people can arrive the freedom and harmony realm through insight,it provides the practice guidance of life to encourage individual life beyond the internal and external limitations and integrated true,good and beaty together into the realm of life.Third chapter, give a refining and summary of the aesthetic qualities in Platform Sultra for reveal the beauty in life aethetics of zen.Three aspects mainly:The harmony state of life ontology and universe ontology. The Buddhists’ ideal state of the pursuit of moksha and the freedom state of beyond life. The three aspects are layer-layer progressive, closely with human and nature and also get people from the objective material world back to the subjective spiritual world. Finally achieve the freedom state in the subjective world. The freedom state is the ultimate purpose of life aesthetic, and Zen also based on the real world and trying to realize the freedom of human’s hearts and with the external things, present the most beautiful state of life.Forth chapter, we also need to notice the deficiency of the life aesthetic after the sufficient study of Platform Sultra. Huineng’s Zen theory is based on the mind ontology, and "mind" is an abstract concept of ontology. The "mind" as the symbol of life, it’s also a concept of abstract and emptiness. So the ontology will inevitably lose foundation and getting more mysterious. The enlightenment of epistemology block Buddhists into their heats for the life meaning and moksha. From a purely emotional experience to build the own theory, necessarily exclude rationality in different degree and leads to Zen aesthetics more emphasis on the main body, the perceptual and human nature, which has subjective idealism in the epistemology. Finally Huineng’s view of practice has broken the traditional cultivation methods, cancelled all external form but the "enlightenment", which separated people from the objective world which resulted the separation of individual and society. In conclusion, we must view the life aesthetics of Platform Sutra from a dialectical angle, discard the dross and select the essential, eliminate the false and retain the true to achieve the goal of critical inhertitance and creatively study.