Not only did he advocate
non-attachment to precepts, Tuệ Trung also criticized practitioners who were
attached to the formalities in meditation practice, hence getting fettered
themselves. That was why he said:
If
meeting Gautama, who got used to freezing cold,
I
would not restrain from kicking His hip.
Gautama is the name of an
Enlightened One. Tuệ Trung used the
name to refer to those who got enlightened.
Tuệ Trung was a Buddhist follower who did not observe precepts rigidly,
nor did he pray to Buddhas. He even
said that if he had met Gautama, he would have kicked against His hip. This sounds challenging, and unacceptable
for a Buddhist like Tuệ Trung. But in accordance with the Thiền
spirit, doctrines, precepts, and even Buddhas are only the means, not the
ultimate goal. Once enlightened, the
practitioner needs to abandon or throwing down everything, including Buddhas. Only the fully enlightened could
have such a view. During the Trần
Dynasty not only Tuệ Trung but also King Trần Thái Tông held the view that
“ there is no Buddha, nor is there any Patriarch,” and, similarly, no precepts, nor
chanting sutras with the bell and the wooden fish. In otherwords, enlightenment is in the mind and heart, by one’s
own efforts, and not praying for help from outsiders. That way he was against the attachment attitudes and blind
religious faith.
Some misunderstood Tuệ Trung’s
non-attachment to precept observance, and said that Tuệ Trung could get
enlightened without using any means.
That was completely wrong, for he did practice thiền/meditation. In his teachings, Tuệ Trung also relied on Dharma teachings, which he considered as
a means. However, once one gets enlightened, the
means becomes useless. That was the
fundamental idea in Tuệ Trung’s philosophy of enlightenment.
Based on that philosophy, when
asked who the meditation practitioner needed to prostrate to first, the
Patriarch or the Buddha, Tuệ Trung said, “Neither.” He then recited the following gatha:
Once
we were strolling freely,
The
Stupa owner rolled his eyes and got angry at us,
because
we did not prostrate to either the Buddha or the Patriarch.
For
we have the jewel and the clear autumn light within.
Paying homage or prostrating to the
Buddha and the Patriarch are formalities created by humans whose minds get used
to looking outwards. Tuệ Trung’s not
doing so reflected the true nature of the Way.
The purpose of Buddhism is to look inwards and examine the mind, in
order to return to “the old home,” as
Tuệ Trung said. Therefore, if we are
blindly attached to the doctrines, we will become our own slaves.
From the view that Buddha is within
us, not without, Tuệ Trung confirmed that enlightenment could be attained right
in this worldly life, not in another world.
The Buddhist follower should lead a simple normal life, and try to
attain enlightenment in that mundane life.
[The author of History of Vietnam Thought, Vol. 1, wrote,” Tuệ Trung’s
idea of a socially engaged life is that Buddhist practitioners could lead a
normal secular life, free from any precepts, or monastic rules, including
having a vegetable diet, chanting Buddhas’ names, observing the precept of
forebearance/tolerance, and sitting meditation, for they may realize their
Buddha Nature right in this mundane life.”]
Tuệ Trung’s non-attachment in Thiền
not only reveals an enlightened Thiền master’s thought. It also reflects a practical view of a
layperson. This perception about non
attachment shows us the nature of the Way.
At the same time it opposes the illusion and ignorance in some Buddhist
followers by pointing out that eating non-vegetable foods does not make the
eater pure or impure. Instead, it is
the impure mind filled with attachment, selfishness, deceitfulness, arrogance,
and ill will and greed,etc., that makes a person impure....According to Buddhist rules for
novices, humans must eat to live; so whatever food offered by the
donors must be consumed, and should not be wasted.
To Tuệ Trung, there is hardly any
difference between a Buddha and an ordinary being except with regard to the
distinction about enlightenment and illusion.
Humans, therefore, often compare Buddhas and beings to two persimmons:
one is sweet (the enlightened), the other, bitter (the ignorant). Tuệ Trung advised Dharma learners to
understand the fundamental nature of issues, which is often hidden in
apparently illogical statements.
Although his words and behaviors appeared to be against Buddhist
doctrines, they actually confirmed that he was truly an excellent Thiền
master. His ideas never distort the
doctrines; in fact, they awaken Buddhist learners. That is why Tuệ Trung's Thiền should be considered a valuable and
unique legacy in Oriental culture in general, and in Vietnamese culture in
particular –one that must be well respected and carefully preserved.
With his view on enlightenment
without attaching to precepts or abandoning practical responsibilities toward
the nation, Tuệ Trung became a typical thinker and Buddhist representative of
his time. His life was that of an
enlightened payperson who was fully aware of his way of living and behaving,
free from dualistic thinking about religious appropriation vs.
inappropriation. His way of living was
inherited selectively from the cultural values which he had learned from previous
enlightened Thiền masters such as Tiêu Dao, Quy Sơn, Tạ Tam, Thạch Đầu, Lão
Bàng, etc.
Tuệ Trung thought that the
enlightened one needed to mingle with the mundane world. He said:
When
you come to the country of the naked, you should take off your clothes with
joy,
It
does not mean you do not know how to act decently; it simply means you obey the
people’s mundane rules.
He referred to a legend in ancient
China which was about a country where people went naked, and a visiting king
also had to follow the rules and took off his clothes. Tuệ Trung implied that when mingling with
the multitude, one had to follow their rules, customs, and life style, etc. Even
going naked if necessary would not be considered indecent. He told us to respect local culture, and to
understand the mundane way of living thoroughly. Tuệ Trung practiced meditation, but never left the ordinary and
mundane world.
Tuệ Trung’s view about the
enlightened one’s way of living is similar to King Trần Thái Tông’s
thoughts. Both considered formalities
and practice methods (or the means) were for those who had not attained
enlightenment. The enlightened no longer had to rely on the means, such as
observing precepts, chanting sutras with the bell and the wooden fish. Tuệ Trung inherited this way of living from
the tradition of Thiền, especially from his Thiền master Tiêu Dao. ....Besides, he was also influenced by the socially engaged
philosophy from Hui Neng (Huệ Năng), the Sixth Patriarch in China. Huệ Năng said that Buddhist Dharma is to be
found right in the mundane world. It is
useless to find the Dharma elsewhere, just as one tries to find the horn on the
hare’s head, or the hair on the turtle’s body.
Impossible. Buddhist Dharma is
right here in this world.
Tuệ Trung became a glorious star in
Vietnamese Buddhism during the Lý and Trần Dynasties. However, the unique and outstanding aspect of his thought is the
idea of “dwelling in the mundane world but continuing to shine brightly.” This
is the most striking aspect of his thoughts.
It was his individual characteristic that distinguished him from Trần
Thái Tông and Trần Nhân Tông in epistemology.
Tuệ Trung also helped to make Việt
Nam Buddhism different from Chinese Buddhism in his view about enlightenment
not only for oneself but also for others. His work collection, Thượng Sĩ Ngữ
Lục, may be considered a synthesis of Indian, Chinese, and Vietnamese
Buddhism. It advocated the view of Buddhism engagement in the mundane world,
and it is a great contribution to Buddhist and national culture in Việt Nam,
against the assimilation trends of foreign invaders.
A layperson yet a scholar well verse in Buddhism, Tuệ Trung had
contributed a unique view in epistemology, a combination of Thiền,
non-dualism, non-attachment with his own learning. To him, it was a learning process, not only accumulated through learning,
but also from perception that changed with time. He advised people to live in accordance with the laws of
nature. He had repeated this advice
several times when he talked about his views on birth-death, precepts, and
thiền.
Since he acknowledged the value of
learning, Tuệ Trung advocated the idea that “meditation practice/thiền and
learning the Dharma should go hand in hand,” which later thrived in Vietnamese
Buddhism. His contributions show that
he is an exemplary thinker, a Thiền philosopher, and a colossal figure in the
establishment of national culture.
Source:
Nguyen Duc Dien. The Non-Attachment View in Tue Trung Thuong Si's T
hien. (Quan diem pha chap trong thien hoc cua Tue Trung Thuong Si). 04/14/2012
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phap-mon/thien-dinh/to-su/10699-Quan-diem-Pha-chap-trong-thien-hoc-cua-Tue-Trung-Thuong-Si.html
