Perfect Integration—Chi-i's Analysis And Integration Of Perfect Containing To Schools Of Emptiness And Existence

During the Buddhism spreading towards East Asian,both the schools of Emptiness and Buddha-nature were introduced to China,which had significant impacts to Chinese Buddhists' understanding of Buddhism philosophy.These two doctrines had formed different Chinese Buddhist philosophical schools in the period between Wei-Jin and North-South Dynasties.While Chih-i,the real founder of Tian Tai Buddhism,merged these two main steams of Buddhism thoughts of that age into a new broad and even marvelously sophisticated Buddhism system,which is called The Doctrine of Truth Under Perfect Teachings which granted some new forms and contents towards Emptiness,Nagarjuna philosophy and Buddha-nature.The core thought of Chih-i's philosophy is Threefold Truth,which contains Emptiness,Conventional Existence and The Middle Path,which was developed as a extension from the Twofold Truth of Nagarjuna by forging Buddha-nature and even all of the realms of dharma in order to construct The Doctrine of Perfectly Integrated Threefold Truth so that three thousand worlds are contained in one samsara mind.Under the doctrine of The Doctrine of Truth Under Perfect Teachings,Emptiness is not the Distinct Emptiness at all which only functions as eliminating the svabhava but the truth itself which is simultaneously Emptiness,Conventional Existence and the Middle.While Buddha-nature is not the Distinct Middle or Principle but the truth which contains all the realms of dharma and shall be seen as Middle Path Buddha Nature,which is completely identical with emptiness.Therefore,under these philosophical field,Chih-i gave his own comments about the debate between the schools of emptiness and existence,arguing that scholars of these two schools attached each side and couldn't see the whole picture of Buddha's teachings.These quarrels could be ceased if one obtained the enlightenment of perfect teachings.The reasons that Chih-i gave such comments were because of the great cultural background differences between India and China,besides his deep insightsand profound Buddhism spiritual practice experiences,which contributed the different understanding of Buddhism in Chih-i's philosophy comparing with the Buddhist schools in ancient India.