Tien Tai Method in Cultivation Looking into the Mind As said in all Mahayana Scriptures, Prajna is where there is awareness, therefore the practice of looking into the mind is of fundamental importance for disciplining the mind. Because we are not used to revert ourselves to awareness of the mind […]
Tien Tai Buddhism
6 posts
Understanding Tien Tai Sect (Part 5) Ten Positions Achieved in Cultivation Further to the doctrine of Identity in Six Degrees, Tien Tai sect relates it to the Ten Positions or Stages achieved in the cultivation of Buddhahood. They are: First Stage of Ordinary Being [凡夫位] — equivalent to Identity in […]
Understanding Tien Tai Sect (Part 4) The Practice in Tien Tai Sect The Tien-tai sect emphasized the contemplative insight into mind [觀心]. Contemplation and wisdom are just like legs and eyes respectively. One cannot reach the destination without one of them. There are two aspects in contemplative insight into mind, […]
Understanding Tien Tai Sect (Part 3) The Perfect Harmony of the Triple Truth [三諦圓融] Based on the Three Universal Truths, Tien-tai believes there is a true state or noumenon, which can be realized through its manifested phenomena. There is no noumenon besides phenomena, and phenomenon itself is noumenon in nature. […]
Understanding Tien Tai Sect (Part 2) Classification of Teaching The Tien-tai sect classifies the Buddha’s teaching in Five Periods and Eight Teachings [五時八教]. The Eight Teachings are subdivided into two groups, one is the Fourfold Doctrines of Conversion [化法四教] and the other is the Fourfold Methods of Conversion [化儀四教]. An […]
Understanding Tien Tai Sect (Part 1) Tien-tai is actually the name of a mountain in Chekiang Province in China. As one of the most prominent patriarchs, Chih-i [智顗] lived and taught his followers in Mount Tien-tai during the Ch’en and Sui Dynasties, the sect is named after the mountain. The other name […]
