The true dharma doctrine and the bodhisattva ideal

·期刊原文

Chi-tsang's Sheng-man pao-ku: The true dharma
doctrine and the bodhisattva ideal

By Aaron K. Koseki

Philosophy East and West

Volume 34, no.1 January, 1984 p. 67-83

(C) by University of Hawaii Press

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p. 67

INTRODUCTION

Chi-tsang (A.D. 549-623) stands out as one of the
most eminent San-lun(1) scholars in Chinese Buddhism
during the Sui and early T'ang dynasties (circa
581-623) of Chinese history. Among his exegetical
writings,(2) the Sheng-man pao-k'u(a) is, as its
title indicates, a commentary on the Gunabhadra
(394-468) translation of the
`Sriimaalaadevii-si^mhanaada-suutra (The treatise on
the lion's roar of Queen `Sriimaalaa).(3) several
concepts are discussed in this commentary, including
`Sriimaalaa's "bodhisattva vows," the "true dharma,"
"Ekayaana," "Tathaagatagarba," and so forth, and what
unites these seemingly disparate concepts is the
presence of two themes found woven through the
various exegetical passages of the commentary. The
first of these themes concerns the Buddhist concept
of wisdom (praj~naa), variously explained as the
"wisdom of nonduality" or the "nonduality of the
middle path." The second theme concerns bodhisattva
practice and the implications of the Mahayana
Buddhist doctrine of universal enlightenment, the
Tathaagatagarba or buddha-nature (buddhadhaatu). The
relationship between these two themes, one dealing
with religious awareness and the other pertaining to
religious expression, is the central topic of this
study. To illustrate this relationship we will focus
on Chi-tsang's interpretation of the "true dharma"
(saddharma), a concept which has to do with the
dialectical relationship between nonduality and
duality, between equality and diversity, and so
forth. As understood in the San-lun context, the
concept provides an important example of the merging
of the Praj~naapaaramitaa doctrine of nonduality and
the bodhisattva's ethic and practice of
nondiscrimination. For Chi-tsang, the true dharma and
its ethic were ultimately two aspects of a single
methodology: The true dharma as wisdom was the
practice of nondiscrimination and nondiscrimination
was the true dharma.

Although in what follows we are primarily
interested in an analysis of the term and its
implications from a San-lun perspective, a second
major concern of this essay will be to examine its
association with a bodhisattva ideal, and in
particular, its pertinence to `Sriimaalaa's role as a
"female" bodhisattva. The question of `Sriimaalaa's
femininity is important, not only because it
contributed to the popularity of the sutra in some
circles in China, but also because, as one scholar of
the sutra has noted, "This text is a unique
development within the Buddhist tradition because of
its egalitarian view concerning women, portraying, on
the one hand, the dignity and wisdom of a laywoman
and her concern for all beings, and on the other, the
role of a woman as philosopher and teacher."(4)
However, in describing Chi-tsang's view of
`Sriimaalaa and her Dharma, it is not the aim of this
study to describe and justify her religious role in
Buddhism in sociological or anthropological terms.
Rather, our task will be to examine how the San-lun

p. 68

perspective of nonduality was applied and sustained
in both the theoretical and practical interpretation
of the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra. In analyzing this
relationship, we may proceed in two steps, First, we
will examine Chi-tsang's interpretation of
`Sriimaalaa's Dharma and identify certain attitudes
and assumptions in Chi-tsang's commentary that
establish and support his view that nonduality and
the true dharma doctrine are doctrinally related and
mutually illuminating. Second, we will then examine
Chi-tsang's conception of the bodhisattva ideal,
generated by those assumptions, in terms of
`Sriimaalaa's role in the religious life. By
exploring the meaning inherent in this ideal
structure of method and realization, we shall see
that Chi-tsang was neither concerned with the meaning
of men or women in religious situations, nor
interested in the depiction of a female religious
consciousness which was somehow intrinsically
different from a supposed masculine religious
consciousness. Rather, as we hope to show, Chi-tsang
was primarily interested in the description of a
bodhisattva's (nondual) perspective of mankind's
world.

SRIIMAALAA'S DHARMA: A SAN-LUN PERSPECTIVE

How to conceive of the true significance of the
Dharma expounded by `Sriimaalaa is the dominant theme
discussed throughout the Sheng-man pao-k'u. In
reading `Sriimaalaa's major discourse on the true
dharma, namely, her vows to "embrace the true dharma"
(she cheng-fa(b) ; saddharma-parigraha) and to
"comprehend it,"(5) Chi-tsang was aware that the term
referred to the Mahayana Dharma and that other
concepts in the sutra like Tathaagatagarba and
Ekayaana were synonymous with this fundamental
teaching. But while these concepts and other passages
of the sutra were subjected to an exhaustive
line-by-line exegesis, Chi-tsang's explicit reason
for composing the commentary was to apply the San-lun
middle path perspective to terms and concepts found
in the text. In so doing Chi-tsang essentially
reduced the entire text of fifteen chapters to the
single theme of praj~naa, and the key to this
reduction concerns the nature and practical
implications of the term "true dharma." which took
the form of both "principle" (li(c)) and right social
action.(6)

True Dharma--Its Essence and Function

According to the research done by Hirai Shun'ei,(7)
the term "true dharma" has had a continuous history
of development and interpretation since the AAgamas.
These sources generally agree that the term refers to
the body of teaching explained by the Buddha,(8) and
apart from minor changes in vocabulary, the
substitution of certain technical terms for others,
there is very little difference in the Mahayana
interpretation of the term. Texts like the
Ta-chih-tu-lun(d), for example, continue to present
the traditional definition of true dharma as a "store
of teaching" and as a general "path of practice"
leading to enlightenment.(9) However, based on his
research on Chi-tsang's Commentary on the Middle
Treatise (Chung-kuan lun-shu(e)), Hirai notices that
Chi-tsang divided the meaning

p. 69

of Dharma itself into two general categories: a
"principle meaning" (li) and a "functional meaning"
(i-yung(f) ).(10) The key sections of Chi-tsang's
definition are as follows:

Principle: If we speak of the Dharma in terms of its
principle, then it simply means the "one true
dharma." For example, it is said that "the nature of
the true dharma is forever separate...." Again, it is
said that "all individuals without obstruction depart
sa.msaara by the one path....

Function: If we speak of its functional meaning, then
there are three categories. First, Dharma is called
"law(g)," that is, the Dharma is the
principle-teaching of the Buddha. Second, Dharma is
called "self-essence(h)," and again, this is found
throughout the teachings, namely, form, mind and so
forth. Third, the object- support of consciousness(1)
is called Dharma. Form is the object of the eye and
touch is the object of the body. Now, this
object-support of consciousness is also called
Dharma.(11)

What is significant in this definition of Dharma
is that this pattern of an identity between the
"principle-dharma" and the "functional-dharmas" also
defines Chi-tsang's interpretation of `Sriimaalaa's
Dharma: The three functional meanings of "law," "form
and mind," and "object-support"(12) are all functions
(yung(j)) of the true dharma, and in turn, from the
standpoint of t'i(k), any dharma is the very essence
of this single "principle-dharma.'' Since both
aspects are involved and implied in the designation,
"Dharma," Chi-tsang in this way opens up many new
possibilities for the discussion of `Sriimaalaa's
teaching. What is especially significant in the first
passage is his reference to the "one true dharma,"
for here Chi-tsang shows that his definition of this
concept is taken, in fact, from the
Avata^msaka-suutra.(13) This primary definition of
true dharma may also be seen in the Pao-k'u:

The Avata^msaka-suutra says. "The nature of the true
dharma is forever separate from all verbalization.
Expression and nonexpression are entirely the nature
of calmness and extinction." Know that within and
without are profoundly united, and that the object
and subject are both still. I do not know how to
describe it, but if compelled, I simply call it the
knowledge of the true dharma.(14)

This explanation of `Sriimaalaa's wisdom is
identical with Chi-tsang's previous definition of an
ineffable and verbally transcendent
"principle-dharma." "Expression" and
"nonexpression," too, are terms which refer to
discrimination by language and to conceptual and
perceptual distinctions that assume absolute
characteristics. This shift in meaning from the true
dharma as simply a teaching to the true dharma as an
ineffable principle is, of course, anticipated by the
introduction of the emptiness doctrine, and the
attitude expressed by the phrase, "I do not know how
to describe it," is significant for his own
Praj~naaparamitaa perspective of the wisdom of
nonduality. Accordingly, if we compare this
definition with that of the earlier textual
definitions, we can notice that. although both are
arguing that the true dharma is a universal truth,
Chi-tsang's position is in reality more radical. His
arguments differ inasmuch as he is sensitive to the
tendency in verbal designations to impose a
substantial quality onto that aspect

p. 70

of reality called the true dharma. His position does
not, in fact, limit the true dharma to a particular
concept but extends it by associating it with the
wisdom of nonduality. This is the kind of distinction
which Chi-tsang's definition of Dharma tried to elude
or overcome, and to substantiate his position
further, Chi-tsang would elsewhere articulate three
arguments concerning the nature of this wisdom: (1)
The essence of praj~naa transcends subject and object
distinctions; (2) the essence of praj~naa transcends
conceptualization; and (3) the essence of praj~naa
trancends verbalization.(15) Ideally, any
conventional affirmation that might suggest an
absolute, in the form of a self-substantiating
reality, is avoided, and in each case he has chosen
arguments which are similar to the middle path
doctrine which could not be expressed through
conventional language but required a proper intuitive
perspective.(16)

Although we are given a description of the true
dharma as a synonym for the intuitive insight of
wisdom, it would be misleading to characterize the
San-lun view of `Sriimaala's Dharma as utterly
transcendent and incomprehensible. In his treatment
of the term Dharma, it is noteworthy that Chi-tsang
posits a duality of meaning: On the one hand, he
holds to the traditional meaning of wisdom which
signifies the cutting off of intellectual
entanglements; yet he also attempts to give a new
significance to true dharma as a reality present in
the empirical order. In other words, if we reexamine
the meaning of true dharma in the context of his
definition of Dharma itself (that is, "principle and
functional meanings"), then, on the surface his final
lament noted above can be taken as a comment that
language in the end is grievously inadequate to
describe what `Sriimaalaa has comprehended. However,
the intent here is not to present or suggest a
totally independent reality, and the attitude implied
in his statement is far more subtle than regarding it
as a simple lament. Only overtly is Chi-tsang
regretting the limits of verbalization and
conceptualization, for on another level he has
already worked out a theoretical structure in which
the functional aspects of the true dharma could
provide an intuitive sense of the idea behind the
word and of the world it described. When verbal
guides like the true dharma teaching are not regarded
as representing some independent reality, they can
function as a practical force in one's cessation of
attachment, While this is no easy task, for the
conventional use of words tends to posit some kind of
value in the mental constructs that are used, the
dual meaning of Dharma provided Chi-tsang with the
context to discuss the inexpressible principle. More
important, it enabled him to explore the meaning of
true dharma on the phenomenal level.

It is at this point that the three "functional
meanings" of Dharma are crucial. Although terms like
"law," "self-essence," and "object-support" are found
in both non-Buddhist and Abhidharma teachings and are
traditional definitions of the term Dharma, there are
distinct changes in Chi-tsang's definition of their
traditional meanings. One important change that
requires further elucidation is his use of the "three
functional meanings" as a combined synonym for "all
the dharmas." This concerns the third meaning of
dharmas as "object-support"

p. 71

(vi.saya), Chi-tsang's definition of dharmadhaatu
("realm of nonduality"). In general, his definition
of "object-support" borrows the traditional
Abhidharma concepts of the "twelve-aayatana-s" and
the "eighteen-dhaatu-s," but, as Hirai and others
have pointed out," unlike the definition given in the
Abhidharma-ko`sa,(17) dharmadhaatu is not restricted
to the three skandha of sensation (vedaana), mental
conception (sa.mj~na), and volition (sam.skaara), nor
is it limited to "unmanifested form"
(avij~naptiruupa) and "unconditioned dharma"
(asa.msk.rtadharma). Instead, the basis for his
interpretation follows the Ta-chih-tu-lun where the
"object-support of consciousness" is defined as "all
the dharmas": "Because the object-support of
consciousness includes all the dharmas of the
previous seventeen dhaatu, it is called
dharmadhaatu."(18) From the standpoint of the
emptiness and interdependency of all things, this
definition of "object-support" is broader than the
traditional meaning of Dharma because it refers to
the comprehensive nature of the middle path.
Accordingly, when Chi-tsang speaks of all conceptual,
verbal, and conditioned and unconditioned dharmas of
the dharmadhaatu, he is referring to the functional
aspect of the true dharma as a truth dynamically
present in life. This means that `Sriimaalaa's Dharma
was examined from the standpoint of the Sinitic
paradigm of "essence and function" with the motif of
interdependency. Because of essential identity, the
true dharma is a quality possessed by "all the
dharmas" (praj~naa) , and because of functional
identity, any dharma can serve as the basis for the
comprehension of that essential quality despite the
fact that the nature of its essence (emptiness) is
such that it does not readily lend itself to any
ordinary designation. Both aspects are simultaneously
asserted by the single expression, true dharma, and
further, both aspects are involved and implied in the
designation of "all the dharmas" as the "one true
dharma."

In this functional explanation of the true dharma
as a synonym for the totality of being, Chi-tsang's
position has moved quite far from the single
dimension of ineffability. What is significant about
this is that the canonical view asserting the
ineffable quality of the true dharma expressed only
one dimension of wisdom and did not adequately
express his concurrent view of its soteriological
reality. However, because the "one true dharma" and
"all the dharmas" are seen as participants in a
process of interdependency, the intent here is not to
present the true dharma or the middle path as a
noumenal goal, but to describe the identity between
two orders. The result of this interpretation is a
more balanced view between what is inconceivable and
inexpressible and those aspects of phenomenal dharmas
limited to verbalization (that is, "law," "teaching")
and provisional existence ("all the dharmas") .
Chi-tsang stresses this particular identity for its
obvious value in exhibiting the implications of the
wisdom of nonduality, and in `Sriimaalaa's discourse
on the true dharma he saw an attempt to portray a
situation in which the tendency to impose illusory
significance to parts of human experience ceases when
informed by this wisdom. The religious awareness of
the true dharma, however, was neither a destructive
tool which cleared the way for a

p. 72

constructive formulation of truth nor the
substitution of a higher and unchanging reality that
followed the dissolution of all verbal and conceptual
formulations. Quite the contrary; the whole of
Chi-tsang's arguments are directed toward the
development of a proper perspective regarding the
true dharma as a necessary participant in the reality
it expressed.

Middle Path--`Suunya (k'ung(1) ) and A`suunya
(pu-k'ung(m))

How the true dharma functioned as a soteriological
reality can also be seen in its association with
another theme expressed in the
`Sriimaalaadevii-suutra, the Tathaagatagarba.(19) In
the wake of the Praj~naapaaramitaa literature and the
Maadhyamika treatises, this association was
especially important for Chi-tsang because it
represented to him a clarification of the emptiness
(praj~naa) doctrine found in the two earlier
teachings. While this is not the place to comment on
all the finer details of Chi-tsang's Tathaagatagarba
thought,(20) his most significant contribution to the
discussion of `Sriimaalaa's Dharma is the analysis of
the two dimensions of the Tathaagatagarba, empty
(`suunya) and not-empty (a`suunya).(21) The basis for
his discussion was the notion that the potential of
all beings to become buddhas was somehow hidden by
the myriad of defilements of desire, hatred, and
ignorance. While this idea is expressed in various
metaphors in Tathaagatagarba literature, in the
`Sriimaalaadevii-suutra the notion of
"kle`sa-covering" (kle`sako`sa) is presented as
follows:

O World-honored One, there are two kinds of wisdom
with respect to emptiness and the Tathagatagarba...
The Tathaagatagarba is said to be "empty" insofar as
it is removed from, freed of, and distinct from the
kle`sa-covering. It is said to be "not-empty insofar
as it is not removed from, not freed of, and not
distinct from the innumerable Buddha-dharmas, which
are more numerous than the sands of the Ganges
river.(22)

How this passage was understood by Chi-tsang may be
seen in the following statements where he comments on
the meaning of "two kinds of wisdom":

1. The doctrine of the middle path is identical with
the Tathaagatagarba which is empty and not-empty.

2. Because we seek to explain praj~naa, we speak of
the Buddha-nature. Praj~naa is identical with the
wisdom of the middle path, and the wisdom of the
middle path causes sentient beings to part
forever from the dual views of being and
nonbeing. It causes them to understand that,
within sa.msaara, the absence of the seeming and
illusory self arrests the view of being and that
the existence of the Tathaagatagarba arrests the
view of nonbeing. This is the essential meaning
of Buddha-dharmas.(23)

What is significant in these passages, aside from
the relative ease with which he associates middle
path, Tathaagatagarba, and Buddha-nature, is the
peculiar use of the term emptiness (`suunyataa) in
reference to the wisdom of the middle path. Although
in other Mahayana works, particularly the
Praj~naapaaramitaa canon and the Maadhyamika
treatises, all dharmas whatsoever, both conditioned
and unconditioned (sam.sk.rta and asam.sk.rta) alike,
are said to be "empty of own-

p. 73

being," texts like the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra make a
point of singling out that Buddha-dharmas are
not-empty. Moreover, Hirai's study on a`suunya points
out that the concept of not-empty found in the
traditional San-lun sources is solely used as a
synonym for own-being (svabhaava).(24) Consequently,
it appears that the use of the term "`suunya" in the
Tathaagatagarba literature differs some from the use
of the term in the primary San-lun sources. One
reason for this is that "not-empty" was traditionally
understood in its textual or literal meaning as an
antonym for pratiityasamutpaada.(25) On such
principles it would follow that a`suunya was a
self-substantiating reality and could be rejected as
the false view of own-being, a departure from the
traditional middle path doctrine of neither being nor
nonbeing. While Chi-tsang knew of the traditional
meaning of a`suunya, the difference between the
Praj~naapaaramitaa and buddha-nature perspectives on
praj~naa is characteristic of the different emphases
between traditional San-lun sources and texts like
the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra, which affirm the
phenomenal reality of the Tathaagatagarba.(26) For
despite the fact that Chi-tsang was aware of the
error of hypostatizing emptiness (that is, praj~naa,
too, is empty of own-being), in his conflation and
harmonization of these two approaches, the middle
path of `suunya and a`suunya means, in its particular
and concrete sense, praj~naa as it functions in the
empirical order. His association of Tathaagatagarba,
praj~naa, and a`suunya is therefore neither a
question of misunderstanding the doctrine of
emptiness, that is, attributing to praj~naa some
substantial reality, nor is it simply a question of
"what remains in emptiness?" (avasi.s.ta). Rather,
from a middle path perspective the concept of
a`suunya questions the understanding of `Sriimaalaa's
Dharma, for example, as a rarefied realm of total
extinction and asserts its functional value in the
phenomenal order by affirming the capability of all
beings to pursue the one Buddha-vehicle, that is,
Ekayaana, another major theme of the sutra. In
Chi-tsang's case such an understanding of praj~naa in
and of the phenomenal order led, for example, to the
following statement:

In Mahayana it is understood that, from the
beginning, ignorance is non-arising
(anutpattika-dharma-k.saanti). At this time one sees
the two kinds of emptiness: first, the emptiness of
being which means that ignorance is ungraspable; and
second, perceiving the undefiled and final purity of
Buddha-nature is also called emptiness. This, too, is
identical with the two meanings of seeing `suunya and
a`suunya. For if seeing the two kinds of emptiness is
called seeing emptiness, then seeing the profound
existence of the Buddha-nature is called seeing
a`suunya.(27)

While it might appear that the traditional
meaning of praj~naa has been distorted, the phrase,
"profound existence of the Buddha-nature" (fo-hsing
miao-yu(n)) is neither a definition of middle path as
a "positive mean" nor a valorization of the
phenomenal order in a Taoistic sense. It is rather an
assertion of the practical value of the middle path
of nonduality (praj~naa) . While both the
Praj~naapaaramitaa and Tathaagatagarba positions
demonstrate the same handling of the question of
nonduality, to substantiate his position of its
functional meaning inherent in the phenomenal order,
Chi-tsang referred to sutras empha-

p. 74

sizing the a`suunya aspect of praj~naa. While this
conception of nonduality is not a significant
departure from the traditional meaning of emptiness
found in the Praj~naapaaramitaa canon, it is, as
Hirai argues, an understanding of praj~naa
interpreted via texts like the
`Sriimaalaadevii-suutra.(28) Such an understanding is
coincident with the duality of meaning posited by
Chi-tsang's definition of Dharma itself. That is,
although the "principle" of the true dharma could not
be characterized or captured by ordinary locutions
and conceptualizations, Chi-tsang nevertheless spoke
of functional and provisional dharmas (that is, "all
the dharmas") as equal participants in a nexus of
interdependency. This structure implicit in the
meaning of Dharma defines his interpretation of the
`suunya and a`suunya aspects of praj~naa
(Tathaagatagarba) which, like `Sriimaalaa's true
dharma, provides the rationale for a nondualistic
mode of living and thinking.

THE DYNAMICS OF THE TRUE DHARMA: PRAJ~NAA AND UPAAYA

To understand further what the true dharma meant to
Chi-tsang in terms of `Sriimaalaa's bodhisattva
career, it is necessary to see how the middle path
described in terms of empty and not-empty was
understood to provide the substance of the practical
life. The utility of this doctrine was expressed in
the following passage:

The Tathaagata's knowledge of the Tathaagatagarba is
called the "knowledge of the store." The knowledge
which understands the store transcends all attachment
and is therefore called the knowledge of
emptiness.... To know the meaning of what is stored
(so-tsang(o)) is called the knowledge of not-empty,
and to know the meaning of storer (neng-tsang(p)) is
called the knowledge of emptiness... Therefore, the
Nirvaa.na-suutra says, "The Dharma of the middle path
is called Buddha." When one realizes the two
knowledges of empty and not-empty, one comprehends
the middle path.(29)

What is significant here is that, when transferred
from the area of theory or method to that of
religious practice, the same understanding of
nonduality is sustained. The only change is the
introduction of the "two knowledges" (erh-chih(q)),
the knowledge of emptiness and the knowledge of
not-empty, which represent praj~naa and upaaya,
respectively. Since various aspects of this concept
were reported on an earlier occasion,(30) here I
would simply point out the implications that the "two
knowledges" have regarding the direction of
`Sriimaalaa's bodhisattva career.

Within the framework of the bodhisattva's ten
stages of practice (da`sabhuumi), a concept found in
various Mahayana sutras, praj~naa and upaaya are the
essential components of a San-lun model of practice.
Praj~naa, the "perfection of wisdom," is associated
with the sixth stage and indicates the end of
intellectual entanglements (prapa~na), that is, the
end of the illusory view which imposes the character
of own-being onto provisional and interdependent
reality. Ideally, however, praj~naa serves as a guide
for upaaya which defines the direction of Mahayana
practice ("skill-in-means") and gives substantive
meaning to the perspective of wisdom (emptiness).
Guided and informed by praj~naa, upaaya signifies the
application and demonstration of the perspective of
praj~naa as a`suunya. Together, both

p. 75

praj~naa and upaaya, or the knowledge of the "empty
and not-empty" aspects of the Tathaagatagarba,
represent the comprehension of the middle path.

Since `Sriimaalaa's discourse on the true dharma
is intimately connected with her knowledge of `suunya
and a`suunya, the San-lun concept of the "two
knowledges" also pertains to her position on the
bodhisattva path. Although nothing explicitly is said
about this matter in the sutra, Chi-tsang seems to
have accepted the common view that `Sriimaalaa was an
eighth stage bodhisattva who possessed a
"dharma-body" (dharmakaaya) as opposed to a physical
or material body.(31) While there is no detailed
explanation about the actual content of `Sriimaalaa's
practice in the Sheng-man pao-k'u, what her
preeminent status as a bodhisattva meant to Chi-tsang
may be better understood if we examine her
progression through the da`sabhuumi in light of the
following "model" of bodhisattva practice.(32) The
four "levels" outlined below are Chi-tsang's view of
the gradual manifestation of the knowledge of the
middle path which parallels `Sriimaalaa's
comprehension of the true dharma:

1. To contrast the pre-bhuumi stages, the stage of
common worldlings, the first stage is called
"sagely" because it is here that one initially
realizes the nonarising of dharmas.

2. Nonarising is shallow from the initial stage to
the sixth stage; the seventh stage is called the
equality of meditation and wisdom: meditation is
the still mirroring of praj~naa and wisdom is the
moving illumination of upaaya,

3. While nonarising is realized in the seventh
stage, effort is still necessary; in the eighth
stage, effort is no longer required and this is
the realization of nonarising.

4. Although the eighth stage is effortless, it is
still not the end, and the final comprehension of
nonarising occurs in the Buddha-stage.(33)

In this description of the bodhisattva path,
Chi-tsang has essentially restructured the ten
bodhisattva stages into four major categories. While
the specific terminology of these stages is not used,
the progression from the first stage to the final
stage is couched in terms of the perfection of
praj~naa and upaaya. This perspective that the
dharmas are unarisen (anutpattika-dharma-k.saanti),
and hence interdependent, is coincident with
`Sriimaalaa's knowledge of the Tathaagatagarba as
"empty" and "not-empty." While it is clear that the
sources for Chi-tsang's understanding of the
bodhisattva career reveal some of the same intentions
and methods which are found in his interpretation of
the true dharma itself, the meditative employment of
praj~naa and upaaya gives substantive meaning to this
doctrinal concept. In the context of the "two
knowledges" of `suunya and a`suunya, then,
`Sriimaalaa's sutra, her entire discourse on the true
dharma, becomes theoretically explicable as a growth
or maturation of the bodhisattva condition in terms
of the "wisdom of the middle path."

THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL: `SRIIMAALAA'S BODHISATTVA ROLE

If we now try to tie together our understanding
of the true dharma and consider the suggestions
arising out of its methodology, we can formulate some

p. 76

tentative judgments about Chi-tsang's view of the
Mahayana ideal, the bodhisattva, and `Sriimaalaa's
relationship to that ideal. First, if the image of
`Sriimaalaa as a compassionate and sensitive
individual contributed to the popularity of the sutra
among the Chinese in general, then in Chi-tsang's
case in particular, the depiction of her struggle to
comprehend and employ the true dharma was especially
useful to him for its value in exhibiting the
implications of the Praj~naapaaramitaa theme of
nonduality and equality. In general, brief comments
concerning `Sriimaalaa's eminent status within the
social life are found throughout his commentary, and
the most that Chi-tsang would offer is the following
portrayal of her as:

A queen who sought to be the ideal of motherhood in
the world and the standard of virtue among the women
in the palace. She first leads them in worldly
affairs and later guides them in entering the wisdom
of the Buddha. Thus, among the five births, she had a
superior birth.(34)

Although this passage gives a positive view of
`Sriimaalaa, there are a number of statements in
Chi-tsang's commentary which indicate that a woman's
status in both the social and religious life was
indeed "low." For example, in response to the
question of why `Sriimaalaa bowed before the Buddha,
he answered: "Within sa.msaara `Sriimaalaa has again
received a female form, and this is the lowest level
of the common Worlding." (35) Again, Chi-tsang
apparently knew that King Prasenajit was dissatisfied
with his queen for having given birth to a daughter,
and in commenting on this, Chi-tsang noted: "Again,
the female form is defiled, and moreover, it has the
five obstacles and the three burdens."(36) These
"obstacles" refer, of course, to the traditional view
that women could neither achieve Buddhahood nor
become a Brahma god-king, the god `Sakra, King Maara,
or a sage-king turning the Wheel of the Dharma.(37)
Similarly, the "burdens" of a woman meant that she
was subject to her parents (father), husband, and son
throughout her life. In light of such statements,
some students of the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra have
noted that, despite the noble ideas of equality and
nondiscrimination, Chinese commentators like
Chi-tsang were somewhat "conservative" and were still
very hesitant to accord `Sriimaalaa a preeminent
position in the religious life precisely because she
was a woman.(38) Moreover, it has also been suggested
that Chi-tsang understood `Sriimaalaa to be a male in
female form.(39) What is implied by this perception
of `Sriimaalaa, an interpretation which follows
traditional Chinese commentaries on the sutra, is an
attempt to assess her status in the religious life
relative to that of other individuals on the
Da`sabhuumi. That is to say, such a transformation of
male into female form (or vice versa) could only
occur in the eighth bhuumi, the stage of
nonregression.(40)

Anyone reading his commentary would readily agree
with the observation that Chi-tsang does indeed make
a number of ambiguous statements concerning
`Sriimaalaa's status. However, we need to suspend
judgment on two matters: first, if "transformation"
plays any part in this sutra at all, and second,
whether Chi-tsang is describing `Sriimaalaa in her
status as a "common worldling," a sattva, or in

p. 77

her role as a bodhisattva. First, Chi-tsang
apparently accepted the idea that "transformation,"
that is, physiological changes, could occur in the
eighth stage, and this may be seen in his Commentary
on the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua hsuan-lun(r)) where he
discusses in some detail the Naaga-king Saagara's
daughter who achieved enlightenment by "instantly"
turning herself into a man.(41) Nothing of this sort
explicitly occurs in the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra,
and, as Nancy Shuster noted:

In the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra no one challenges
the queen's femaleness, yet she performs her act of
truth in order to remove the doubts of any of her
hearers who might think her incapable of carrying out
her vows. But there is no equivocation in the
Sriimaalaa's attitude toward women. Although the text
repeats patterns found in older texts on women, Queen
`Sriimaalaa is frankly accepted as a true teacher of
the Dharma. Her understanding is never tested in
debate. She is simply presented as a woman wise
through the Buddha's guidance and inspiration....(42)

Although a change of sex is irrelevant in the
context of her sutra, one passage in Chi-tsang's
commentary might give the impression that a
transformation has already occurred:

Now, the path is not travelled alone, but depends on
individuals to broaden it. Accordingly, the essence
of the Mahaasattva of the Dharma-body is entrusted to
a female form who conceals her traces in the palace.
Blending with the light and becoming one with the
mundane, she sought to broaden the influence of her
teaching and thus appeared in the form of a
queen....(43)

In the above allusion to the tao-tzu of the Taoist
sage who "becomes one with the dust,"(44) Chi-tsang
presents the standard view of the Mahayana
bodhisattva who, by embracing the Buddha-Dharma,
observing morality, and cultivating right attitudes
and conduct toward others, is committed to all
sentient existence. The above passage, however, is
problematical depending on one's interpretation of
Mahaasattva. While this term seems to give the
impression that `Sriimaalaa is, in reality, a male, a
closer reading of Chi-tsang's commentary indicates
that Mahaasattva is defined specifically in terms of
praj~naa, that is, the dual aspects of `suunya and
a`suunya.(45) In this context, it has nothing to do
with the status of common worldlings, and pertains to
individuals who not only comprehend the dual paths of
praj~naa and upaaya discussed above, but are also
capable of expounding Buddhist values and truths. The
alternative view -- `Sriimaalaa is a male -- is still
a possibility, and in light of certain contradictory
statements made by Chi-tsang the problem of
completing a description of `Sriimaalaa as a sattva
is not an easy one to resolve. While there is some
evidence to suggest that Chi-tsang was hesitant to
grant to `Sriimaalaa a real "female identity," and
even though it could be determined that, as a woman,
`Sriimaalaa's status in the social life is "low,"
there are still important questions about her role in
the religious life as a bodhisattva left unanswered.
And it is at this point that we should be reminded
that, if status and role are two separate problems,
then a "more complete integration of women within our
understanding of our world(s) is not well served by
constructing a counter system from the feminine point
of view."(46) If, in the Buddhist context in

p. 78

general, the problem of status versus role may be
compared to the distinction between suttva and
bodhisattva, then in Chi-tsang's case in particular,
it should be noted that specific statements about the
meaning women specifically bear in religious
situations are absent. The absence of such
statements, that is, the construction of a separate
system of "feminine religious awareness" for
`Sriimaalaa, is quite instructive, for it shows the
way Chi-tsang thought about Buddhist values. Because
one of the consistent themes in Chi-tsang's writings
is the explication of the method and relization of
wisdom, his emphasis is not on sattvas per se.
Instead, for Chi-tsang the world of the bodhisattva
was the primary world of Buddhist values which, as
Schuster states, "is to assert that for those
commited to the bodhisattva career distinctions on
the basis of sex no longer have any meaning. When one
consciously sets out on the bodhisattva path, one
abandons identification with traditional roles of
either sex.'(47) If this is generally the case in
Chi-tsang's other writings, it seems that the
question of `Sriimaalaa's status as a "common
worldling" cannot really be answered adequately until
the question of her role as a bodhisattva is better
understood.

If we return to Chi-tsang's discussion concerning
`Sriimaalaa's position in the da`sabhuumi, and once
more consider the textual sources for his acceptance
of the view that she was an eighth stage bodhisattva,
two texts, the Vimalakiirti-suutra and the
Ta-chih-tu-lun, reflect the kind of thinking upon
which he based his view of the bodhisattva ideal. For
example, after summarizing a group of arguments that
had earlier been advanced as verification of her
eighth bhuumi position, Chi-tsang wrote:

Again, she [that is, `Sriimaalaa] is like the goddess
in the Vimalakiirti-suutra who changed her body. In
the past many stated that she was a dharma-body of
the eighth stage, and now, the popular theory about
`Sriimaalaa is no less than this. Therefore, we know
that she is a dharma-body of the eighth stage.(48)

By citing the Vimalakiirti-suutra Chi-tsang
acknowledges the fact that `Sriimaalaa is like the
devii who, in her verbal confrontation with
`Saariputra, transforms her body into a male figure
and then returns it to its earlier state.(49) In the
Ching-ming hsuan-lun(s) , a commentary on the
Vimalakiirti, Chi-tsang comments on this
transformation as well as the conventions of "men"
and "women" as follows:

Since the goddess has listened to the Mahayana
doctrine for twelve years, she realizes that there
are neither men nor women, and hence, nothing has
been transformed. If men and women are not like an
illusion, they have fixed characteristics, and thus,
there could be no transformation. But because there
can be transformation, there are no fixed
characteristics, and therefore, we know that [men and
women] are like an illusion....(50)

Again, in commenting on the fallacy of imposing a
partial truth onto the dynamic character of the
middle path, he writes:

Because of karma, kle`sa, and the power of illusion,
the "true character" (shih-hsiang(t)) of reality is
transformed and changed; thus, a woman is not a
woman. "That dharmas are also like this" means that,
because of ultimate truth nothing

p. 79

is present, and because of worldly truth nothing is
absent. Because nothing is present, [dharmas] are
not-existent, and because nothing is absent, they are
not-inexistent. This is none other than the middle
path doctrine.(51)

Given the premise of the true dharma doctrine of
nonduality, praj~naa, the "principle-dharma, "
delineations of immutable and abstract differences
between men and women, beyond the physiological, are
not found in Chi-tsang's writings. Based on his
understanding of an Ekayaana ideal (Tathaagatagarba
or Buddha-nature) open to all, Chi-tsang is not
concerned with the meaning of men or women in
religious situations, but with the depiction of the
praj~naa perspective, a "bodhisattva mahaasattva's"
perspective of mankind's world.

A similar view is also found in the
Ta-chih-tu-lun, the text which influenced Chi-tsang's
view of bodhisattva practice. Although this text is
simply cited as a textual verification that the
bodhisattva of the eighth stage has a dharma-body,
one passage from the Ta-chih-tu-lun is worth citing
in full because it undermines the traditional view of
the "five obstacles." After explaining that "good
sons and daughters" are called "bodhisattva
mahaasattvas" because of their quest to comprehend
praj~naa, the Ta-chih-tu-lun explains:

In the sutras it is said that women have five
obstacles. Upon hearing this their minds regress and
because they cannot give rise to the thought of
enlightenment, those who expound the Dharma do not
explain it to women. For this reason, the Buddha
said: "Good sons and daughters, even women can become
Buddhas, and it is not necessary for them to
transform themselves."(52)

The attitude depicted here should be seen as a kind
of middle path reponse to the traditional view of a
male-oriented religious ideal, and although this
particular passage is not cited in Chi-tsang's
commentary, it is again instructive in showing the
type of thinking which contributed to his
understanding of the bodhisattva ideal. In both the
Ta-chih-tu-lun and in his Vimalakiirti commentary,
ephemeral distinctions are rejected and the middle
path doctrine is stressed. Granting the fact that the
position of individuals in this context is being
discussed at the ideal level, from the middle path
perspective of the true dharma, for example, it would
have been absurd to contend that there was a
radically and intrinsically different religious
awareness for both men and women. Writing solely from
the standpoint of the bodhisattva's "knowledge of the
true dharma," Chi-tsang was not concerned with the
question of women who had to be fitted into a male
scheme of things.

Notwithstanding the somewhat disconcerting and
contradictory statements made about `Sriimaalaa's
status, Chi-tsang's Sheng-man pao-k'u is best
understood in terms of his single-minded exploration
and explication of the theme of wisdom. `Sriimaalaa's
discourse on the true dharma, therefore, should be
understood in terms of his efforts to define a single
structure of method and realization. Even within the
framework of the gradual manifestation of praj~naa
and upaaya discussed above, the use of the term
"stage" (or "levels") of insight into the true dharma
is chosen purposefully to avoid any suggestion of an
amalgam of distinct "seg-

p. 80

ments" (or "types") of understanding, Moreover, since
wisdom and the demonstration of wisdom (upaaya) are
the sole properties of the bodhisattva condition,
they are seen as part of a single and universal (that
is, continuous) reality of growth and maturity
ranging from the stage of the common worlding to the
Buddha-stage. Apart from this context, any selective
attempt to deal with `Sriimaalaa as a sattva requires
some abstract standard of what the position of women
should be in relation to men, and given the fact that
there are conflicting notions about what constitutes
a "high" position or a "subservient" position, one is
thus forced to deal with `Sriimaalaa's status only in
terms of the ambiguities of the human condition. If,
however, it is understood that she has already
transcended the level of the common worldling by
virtue of her "tenth vow,"(53) `Sriimaalaa is, in
effect, already operating within the bodhisattva
(praj~naa) context of `suunya and a`suunya. To be
sure, in her role as a bodhisattva `Sriimaalaa
functions(54) within the same world of distinctions
and hierarchies, but because Chi-tsang does not
contend that there is a separate "feminine religious
awareness," the question of `Sriimaalaa's "female
identity" was not a pressing issue for him regarding
the bodhisattva ideal. This ideal, it should be
noted, does not mean that sexual distinctions are
totally abrogated. In middle path terms,
`Sriimaalaa's identity is at once female and neither
male nor female. That is to say, if we understand
that the middle path context of praj~naa does not
deny the provisional and phenomenal reality of men or
women, then it is precisely in this context that we
may appreciate `Sriimaalaa's "struggle" to attain the
Mahayana goal of liberation by comprehending and
employing the true dharma.

NOTES

1. The present essay is related to one other: Aaron
K. Koseki, "The Concept of Practice in Sanlun
Thought: Chi-tsang and the 'Concurrent Insight' of
the Two truths," Philosophy East and West 31, no.
4 (October 1981), pp. 449-466. I also wish to
express my gratitude to Professor Hirai Shun'ei of
Komazawa University for his invaluable help and
guidance in the preparation of this essay, which
is principally indebted to an article of his on
the concept of true dharma entitled, "Jisso to
shobo-- Kichizo ni okeru ho no kannen to taikei,"
Bukkyo ni okeru ho no kenkyuu [Hirakawa
Commemorative Volume] (Tokyo: Shunjuusha, 1975),
pp. 333-354.

2. For the most part his exegetical commentaries are
on such major Mahayana sources as the Lotus Suutra
(four commentaries), the Vimalakiirtinirdesa (four
commentaries), the Avata^msaka-suutra (one
commentary), the Amitayuurdhyana-suutra (one
commentary), the Sukaavativyuuha-suutra (one
commentary), and the Nirvaa.na-suutra (two
commentaries). For a complete list of his other
works, see Hirai Shun'ei, Chugoku hannya shiso-shi
kenkyuu (Tokyo: Shunjuusha, 1976), pp. 355-356.

3. There are at present two translations of the
`Sriimaalaadevii-suutra available in English: Alex
and Hideko Wayman, The Lion's Roar of Queen
`Sriimaalaa: A Buddhist Scripture on the
Tathaagatagarba Theory (New York: Columbia
University, 1974), and Diana Paul, "A Prolegomena
to the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra and the
Tathaagatagarba Theory: The Role of Women in
Buddhism" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, 1974). Paul's study also
appears in the American Academy of Religion's
dissertation series under the revised title, The
Buddhist Feminine Ideal: Queen `Sriimaalaa and the
Tathaagatagarba.

4. Paul, "Prolegomena," p. 1.

p. 81

5. There are two vows which became the basis for
Chi-tsang's interpretation of true dharma in the
`Sriimaalaa. The first concerns `Sriimaalaa's
"tenth ordinational vow" ("From now until I am
enlightened, I will embrace the true dharma and
never forget it.") and the second pertains to the
first of her "three great vows" ("By my virtuous
deeds, and in all my births, I will realize the
knowledge of the true dharma."). See, for example,
Paul, "Prolegomena," pp. 194-95, 199 for a
translation of these vows. For the text, see
Taisho daizokyo (hereafter cited as T): 217c,
218a.

6. Excerpts preserved in Chi-tsang's commentary
indicate that earlier Chinese commentators of the
sutra associated true dharma with specific
concepts like "the six paaramitaa," "tathataa,"
"eternality," "Ekayaana," etc. For Chi-tsang,
however, `Sriimaalaa's vow to "embrace the true
dharma," the definition given to bodhisattva
practice in her sutra, was not limited to a
question concerning a given set of concepts, but
included a definition concering the nature of
reality. The true dharma, then, was meant to be
more than the series of metaphors symbolically
describing it (that is, "great cloud," "great
earthstore," etc.). Though sensitive to these
potentially instructive series of abstract
symbols, including the feminine symbol of the
Tathaagatagarba as a "womb of enlightenment,"
Chi-tsang was concerned explicitly with the
question of discovering and fully applying the
essence of `Sriimaalaa's Dharma as a source of
inner change as well as moral interpersonal
action.

7. "Jisso to shobo," pp. 333-335.

8. Ibid. Later works like the Abhidharma-ko`sa, for
example, explain: "The essence of the Buddha's
true dharma is twofold: first, the teachings, and
second, realization. The teaching refers to the
suutra, the vinaya, and the abhidharma.
Realization means the individual teachings of the
Three Vehicles." (Cf. T 29: 152b.) Hirai also
notices a similar definition given in the
Mahaavibhaasaa-`saastra (T20: 917c) where the true
dharma is divided into the "worldly truth dharma,"
the body of literature (suutraa, vinaya, and
abhidharma), and the "supreme true dharma,"
namely, the path of the Arhant.

9. See, for example, T 25: 222c: "There are two
kinds of Dharma. First, what was explained by the
Buddha, namely, the canon (tripi.taka) and the
84,000 discourses; second, the meaning of the
Dharma, namely, `siila, samaadhi, and praj~naa,
the Eightfold Path, as well as the fruit of
liberation, nirvaa.na, etc."

10. "Jisso to shobo," p. 333.

11. T 42:124a--b.

12. Hirai ("Jisso to shobo," pp. 334-336) points out
that "law," for example, refers to the earlier
meaning of true dharma as the Buddha's "teaching."
"Self-essence," namely, "form, mind, and neither
form nor mind," refers to the Sarvastivaada scheme
of the "five categories of seventy-five dharmas,"
that is, the sa.msk.rta-dharmas rejected by the
Middle Treatise from the standpoint of
"empty-by-nature." The meaning of "object-support"
is discussed in the body of the essay here
following.

13. See, for example, T9: 615a.

14. T37:26c.

15. Cf. Ta-ch'eng hsuan-lun, T45:17a.

16. One of the characteristic features of the San-lun
definition of true dharma is that it is often used
as an expression of, or in conjunction with, the
term, "true mark of dharmas" (emptiness). The
meditative employment of this term is discussed in
my article, "The Concept of Practice," pp.
458-464.

17. Hirai, "Jisso to shobo," pp. 335-356. For the
traditional definition of dharmadhaatu, see T29:
4a. See. also, Takasaki Jikido, "Dharmataa,
Dharmadhaatu, Dharmakaaya, and Buddhadhaatu--
Structure of Ultimate Reality in Mahayana
Buddhism," Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyuu 14, no. 2
(March 1966): 903-919. Here, and in his other
writings, Takasaki suggests that, as one of the
"eighteen dhaatu," dharmadhaatu in its limited
sense refers to objects which belong to the
ruupadhaatu (form, smell, etc.); in a broader
sense, however, the dharmadhaatu includes things
of an ideational nature which become the objects
of mind. Chi-tsang clearly follows the broader
meaning of the term in the sense that all things
are included in this realm of subject-object
nonduality.

18.Cf. T25: 138b and 202b.

19.See Paul, "Prolegomena," p. 153, regarding the
association between "embracing the true dharma"
and the Tathaagatagarba, which is made for the
first time in the `Sriimaalaadevii-suutra.

20.His comments on this concept may be found
throughout the commentary, but the most specific
statements regarding Tathaagatagarba may be seen
on T37:82c. Here. given the premise of

p. 82

the middle path, Chi-tsang sees the Tathaagatagarba
as a nexus in which both the dharmakaaya and the
conditioned world of sentient beings are equal
participants in the process of pratiityasamutpaada.
The dharmakaaya, though retaining its ultimate
nature, is understood to be essentially identical
with the forms of the conditioned world, and in this
conflation of the one with the other, the middle path
(that is, Tathaagatagarba) means, in its particular
and concrete sense, the realm of sentient beings.

21. T12:221a.

22. Translation by Paul ("Prolegomena," p. 248), with
minor revisions. Cf. T12:221a.

23. T37:72c--73c, 67b.

24. Chuugoku hannya, pp. 642-650.

25. Ibid., p. 642.

26. As far as the topic of Buddha-nature (or
Tathaagatagarba) is concerned, by far the most
influential of the Mahayana sutras on Chi-tsang's
thought is the Mahaaparinirvaa.na-suutra. In this
sutra's chapter on the "Bodhisattva Lion's Roar"
(T12: 767cff.) , Chi-tsang saw the explicit
rationale for identifying the Buddha-nature--the
"first principle of emptiness"--with the middle
path of nonduality.

27. Chung-kuan lun-shu; T42:160c-161a.

28. Chuugoku hannya, pp. 320-321.

29. T37:73a, 73c.

30. Koseki, "The Concept of Practice," pp. 455-458.

31. T37:3a. Arguments for her eighth stage position
are taken from several texts, including: The
Kumaarajiiva/Seng-chao commentary on the
Vimalakiirti-suutra, the Ta-chih-tu-lun, the
Da`sabhuumika, the Nirvaa.na-suutra, and the
commentary on the Lotus Suutra, the
Ta-chih-tu-lun, the Da`sabhuumika, the
Nirvaa.na-suutra, and the commentary on the Lotus
Suutra, the Fa-hua lun (Upade`sa), attributed to
Vasubandhu. The problem surrounding the
definition of her bodhisattva stage in East Asian
Buddhism is discussed by Paul, "Prolegomena," pp.
137-141.

32. This model and its relation to the "two
knowledges" is discussed by Hirai in Chuugoku
hannya, pp 555-581 How this structure of
bodhisattva practice applies to the two truths
theory is discussed in Koseki, The Concept of
Practice," pp.

33. T45:66c. These "levels," `Sriimaalaa's "knowledge
of the true dharma," pertain to her "acquisition"
of the middle path perspective regarding
sarvaj~naa and sarvathaj~naana.. See Hirai,
Chuugoku hannya, pp. 584, 607-609, regarding this
meditational perspective and its application to
the San-lun view of nonduality.

34. T37:3a.

35. Ibid., 12a.

36. Ibid., 3a.

37. In the AAgma texts, see, for example. T1:607b.
and T2:757c.

38. See, for example, Paul, "Prolegomena," pp. 31-32.

39. Ibid., pp. 139-140. See also Hirakawa Akira's
study, Shoki daijo bukkyo no kenkyuu (Tokyo:
Shunjuusha. 1977), pp. 243-282, for an historical
discussion of the image of women in Buddhism.
Hirakawa discusses in some length and detail the
similarities and differences in the image of
women in both Hinayana and Mahayana texts and
describes how the notion of "physiological
transformation" was a Mahayana response (or
compromise) to the traditional view of a male
religious ideal.

40. For an excellent study on the theme of "changing
the female body," see Nancy Schuster, "Changing
the Female Body: Wise Women and the Bodhisattva
Career in some Mahaaratnakuu.tasuutras," Journal
of the International Association for Buddhist
Studies 4, no. 1 (1981):24-69.

41. T 34: 529b-c. For the story of the eight-year old
daughter of the Dragon king Saagara who
transforms her body into a man in order to attain
Buddhahood, see Leon Hurvitz's recent translation
of the Lotus Suutra: Scripture of the Lotus
Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia
University, 1976) , pp. 199-201. See, also,
Schuster's analysis of the story, "Changing the
Female Body," pp. 42-44.

42. Schuster, "Changing the Female Body," pp. 48-49.

43. T37:2b.

44. Chapter 56. See, for example, the translation by
D. C. Lau, Lao Tzu: Tao-te ching (Penguin Books,
1963), p. 117.

45. T 37:25b, where he discusses the concept solely
as an operational term for empty and not-

p. 83

empty. Also see his commentary on the Lotus
Suutra (Fa-hua i-su), T34:461a, for a similar
definition of the term.

46. Cited from Rita Gross, "Methodological Remarks on
the Study of Women in Religion: Review,
Criticism, and Redefinition, " in Women and
Religion (Scholars Press, 1974), p. 157.

47. Schuster, "Changing the Female Body," p. 55.

48. T37:3a.

49. As is well known, the incident involves
`Saariputra's imperfect understanding of reality
in that he discriminates male from female and
assumes that the two are real and distinct. The
story reflects the `sraavaka attitude that women
could not be a source for expounding the Dharma,
and the goddess' change of sex proceeds from that
point. See chapter 7 ("Examining Sentient
Beings") of the sutra and Schuster's ("Changing
the Female Body," pp. 41-42) analysis of the
incident.

50. T38:919c.

51. Ibid., 920a.

52. T25:459a.

53. See note 5. This vow essentially pertains to
Mahayana values, namely, the true dharma as one's
origin and foundation. That is, by ignoring the
true dharma, one essentially abandoned the
Mahayana path, and by abandoning the Mahayana,
one ignored the bodhisattva's practice of the
various paaramitaa. At the lowest level of
regression, one would no longer be committed to
the Mahayana or to the true dharma and would, in
short, be unable to transcend the level of a
common, ignorant worlding.

54. Given the duality of meaning posited by
Chi-tsang's definition of true dharma ("principle
and function"), and within the context of the two
dimensions of the Tathaagatagarba, praj~naa and
upaaya are understood to be complementary, that
is, "praj~naa is the essence of upaaya and upaaya
is the function of praj~naa." `Sriimaalaa's
sutra, then, is conceived of as a "means" of
expounding the Buddha-Dharma, an upaaya
(a`suunya) function of the true dharma (`suunya).