A Study Of The Thoughts About Repentance In Chinese Buddhism

Repentances evolved from Indian Buddhist repentances blended with Chinese traditional cultures formed one of the very charming features of Chinese Buddhism. This dissertation deals with the thoughts about repentance in Chinese Buddhism in five chapters.Chapter 1: The theoretical resources of the thoughts about repentance in Chinese Buddhism. The Agamas and Hinayana precepts contain rich thoughts about repentance and couch the origin of Mahayana repentance. In Mahayana sutras and precepts, repentance is an important practice of Bodhisattvas who repent endlessly for themselves and others out of their endless mercy for endless sentient beings. In Chinese Han territory, Bodhisattvas precepts are conferred with the prerequisite of repentance. Bodhisattvas have more means of repentance, which are more powerful than Hinayana repentances. By Bodhisattva's repentance, people can even purify parajika sins.Chapter 2: Causality in the thoughts about repentance in Chinese Buddhism. Chinese Buddhism formed its own semantics about repentance. While the Vinaya scholars as Yijing and Yuanxiao strictly observed the original meaning of repentance in Sanskrit, masters of the schools as Taiantai, Faxiang, Pure Land and Chan developed the latent meanings of repentance from the middle way perspective and a synthesis of Mahayana and Hinayana. Through analyzing the concept of sin incausality, the basic theory of repentance, they explained the possibility of repentance from the fixedness of sins and proposed the methodology of three repentances for three hindrances. Three repentances are different in levels for their different subduing or extinguishing effects.Chapter 3: Precepts in the thoughts about repentance in Chinese Buddhism. Chinese Buddhist precepts were closely related with repentance. Since master Dao'an of Eastern Jin established the rules for Chinese sangha, uposatha and repentances by Vinaya were observed as paragon. Daoxuan, a great Vinaya master in early Tang, divided repentances into phenomenal repentances, noumenon repentance and Vinaya repentances, which perfectly harmonized of Mahayana and Hinayana thoughts about repentances.Chinese Buddhist masters included repentance in Buddhist basic precepts. They explained the basic three refuges and the five precepts with Mahayana thoughts and regarded them as repentances. They considered the ten Meritorious Deeds the root precepts for bodhisattvas. Violation of the ten Meritorious Deeds precepts was sin so serious as surely to cause effects even after repentance.The formless repentance was closely related with the formless precepts. The formless repentance, or the self-nature repentance, was a part of the formless precepts of Chan Buddhism. Ode to the Formless in Platform Sutra holds that only through enlightenment of Mahayana reality can one really extinguish sins. As noumenon repentance, formless repentance was often used as ko'an. A way of sudden enlightenment, it was later combined with phenomenon repentances of gradual dharma gate.Chapter 4: Sinicized repentance dharma gates. Sinicized Buddhism developed its characteristic dharma gates. The "five-dharma" repentances, originated in Indian scriptures, were developed into systematical rituals in which the five ways of repentance were mutually containing. Repentance through mindfulness of the Buddha was simple and effective and gained the greatest popularity through the recommendation of the schools as Tiantai and Pure Land. Repentance through sutras recitation was used both as both a branch of repentance rituals and as a method ofrepentance alone. Reality repentance was to awaken to the emptiness of sins through insight into the reality. The reality being formless and non-birth, reality repentance was also called the formless repentance and non-birth repentance. Considered the real repentance beyond all formal ones, reality repentance is the most important sinicized repentance. Chinese Buddhist masters developed highly advanced repentance psychology. Zhi'yi proposed the theory of sequential and counter-sequential ten minds in the process of repentance. Repentance through the Water of Compassionate Samadhi (Cibei Sanmei Shui Chan) suggested the repentance means of generating seven minds. Sincerity, frankness, passion, right faith, shame and confession were strongly emphasized. Repentance was actually regarded as a psychological way to enlightening of the nature of mind and meaning of life.Chapter 5: The features of Sinicized repentance. Sinicized repentances own its special features in thoughts and practices. 1. The phenomenal repentances are united with noumenon repentance. 2. Meditation is united with repentance. Repentance is considered preparation of meditation and meditation is considered a direct and effective way of repentance. 3. Compassion is united with piety in repentance. Piety is actually enlarged into a sinicized expression of compassion. Compassion-piety entitles one to repent for sentient beings and all parents and relatives in countless eons. 4. Repentance can be performed for others. Repentance is considered to have the magic power to pacify the nation, to eliminate disaster and to save the dead ones from suffering. People often perform repentance rituals to reverse misfortune, which stifles the purpose of repentance in pursuit after the truth of life.