Disappearing Act: Calmness and Insight in Chinese Buddhism

Abstract:The article explores major changes in the dominant models of meditation that came to characterize the practice of Chinese Buddhism during the first millennium of its growth and transformation. The main line of argument centers on key transformations of the classical model of Buddhist meditation, which postulates two main approaches to contemplative practice: calmness and insight. The main paradigm shifts examined in the article include the pairing of the two approaches in the writings of Zhiyi (538–597) and his Tiantai School, and the conceptual and soteriological reconfigurations that unfolded within the flourishing Chan movement during the Tang era. That is followed by an analysis of the development of a completely new model of Chan meditation during the Song period, which marked the virtual disappearance of calmness and insight from the everyday vocabulary of Chinese Buddhism.摘要:本文研究禪修模式的主要變化，這些變化展現了中國佛教在實踐上千年中的變更及成長。本文主要的論點提出止(定)和觀(慧)這兩種主要的禪觀方法，在佛教禪修中有關鍵性的轉變。文中所探討的主要轉變包括：智顗（538–597）與天台宗對止和觀的論述，以及唐代發展的禪宗在思想上和解脫道上的重構。本文也對宋代新的禪觀模式作全面的分析，指出了止和觀在日常中國佛教詞彙中消失。