201130

On the Concept of "Salvific Impetus" and

"Resonantal Stimulus and Response"
in the Early Period of Chinese Buddhism,
Focusing on the Case of

Daosheng and Sengliang

Hkoshi KANNO

On the Concepts of "Salvifie Impetusnand uStimuhs

and Response''inthe Early Period of Chinese Buddhism,

Focusing on the Cases of Daosheng and Sengliang

Hiroshi KarLnO

1. The Problem

Early Mahyna sras in india came to expound not only the attainment of

Buddhahood by specific bodhisattvas such as Skyamuni, but also the attainment of

Buddhahood by awide range of living beings, which was a very different idea from
that of earlier Nikya Buddhism. Alongwith this idea, theyalso began to expound

the existence of Buddhas such as Amitbha Buddha and Sakyamuni Buddha as

enlightened in the remote past,and as having extremely great power to save living
beings Also, the Mahyna Ni7Va Siitra, which was amiddle-period Mahyna

satra, expounded the idea of Buddha-nature as the ground of living beings'

attainment of Buddhahood. Because ordinary living beings becoming extremely

dignified Buddhas was not only dicult to believe, it was thought to bealmost

impossible, Mahyna Buddhist thought concerning the salvation of living beings

developed in various ways. If we call such thought soteriology, I think we can say
that one formof soteriology in Chinese Buddhism was the idea of "stimulusand
response" (ganying).And ``SalviTIC impetus''1 (ji) which was established in

relation to this idea of "stimulus and response" Seemed to play an important role in

soteriology as an orlglnal concept of Chinese Buddhism2

To state my conclusion at the outset: the term"salvific impetus" (ji), which

was coined as a Buddhist term in China, means living beings'spiritual or religious

Conditions which elicit the appearance and teaching activities of Buddhas and

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bodhisattvas, and cause living beings to be receptive to them This definition of

"salvific impetus" comes from Daosheng'S(355?-434) usage, and this "Salvific

impetus" was established as a Buddhist termWhat is more, it came to refer

generally to living beings'religious conditions and their religious abilities I think

that in the background of its Buddhist usage there was the meaning of the slight
beginning of movement as a sign of coming events, as seen in the Yljing(Xici

) : "To know the impetus of things (/) is the most consummate skilL The

noble man (junzi) uses no nattery in his intercourse with the highand takes no

freedoms in companionship with the lowI This shows that heknows the impetus of

things.lmpetus is the slight beginning Of movement, and the earliest sign of good
fortune. The noble man, seeing it, acts promptly and is never slow the entire day"

(,,,
,). Likewise the Buddhist usage appears to be drawing on the
meanlngS Of mechanical structure or1nCtion shown in the term ``Heavenly sprmgs''

(tianji) in the chapters of "The Great and Most Honoured Master"(),

``The Revolution of Heaven"(), and "The Floods of Autumn"() of the

zhuangzi. Althoughit is difficult to determine precisely when this usage was

first established,3 it was definitely established at the latest by the time of

Daosheng's work, which provided the first significant number of examples in the

history of Chinese BuddhismAsfor the usage of the concept of "salvific impetus,"

the Fahua xuanyiof Zhiyi(5381598) and Guanding(561-632), the
second section of ``the gate of stimulus and response" (ganying men)" of the

chapter of ``trace of teachings" (jiaoji yi) in Jizang'S(549-623) Dasheng

xuanlunvol. 5, the chapter of ``stimulus and response" (ganying yi) of

Huijun'S(d. u.) Dasheng silun xuanyljivol1 6 and so on are very

famous.40n the other hand, in this paper I will take up Daosheng's Miaofa lianhua

jing shuas a representative example from the time when the concept of

"salvific impetusn was firmly established,and will examine his usage of usalvific

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Hiroshi Kanno

impetus" and its philosophicalmeanlng5Furthermore, as an example from a little

later than Daosheng, I will also deal with Sengliang6, who took over the idea of
``salvific impetusand stimulus and responseestablished by Daosheng, and i will

examine his idea of ``stimulus and response" using the Da banniepanjingjljie

, which includes his commentary on Mahayna Nirvaa Siitra, as the primary

source materials.

2. Daosheng's Usages of "Salvificlmpetus" in his Miaofa lianhua jing shu

AsDaosheng established the meaning Of the word ``Salvific impetus''to indicate
beings'religious conditions, the single word "salvific impetus" signifies living beings,

in contrast to the Buddha, even thoughthere are examples which have attributive
words such as "salvific impetus of sentient beings" (, Dai nippon zokuz6ky6

[hereaer ZZ] 2B23.4, 396d97) and ``salvic impetus of living beings''

(, 397b8). For example:
The reason why [ariputTa] asked [the Buddha to preach] three times is not

that the sage [i.e., the Buddha]wished [him to do] so, but that [riputra'S]

salvific impetus required it (400a13-14:,,)

Also, the text states:

The reason why there is a difference between superiorand inferior realms,

and between long and short life spans lwhen they attain Buddhahood in the

future], is not because the sage wishes it to be so. As the salvific impetus

requires them, he indicates various differences [conceming landsand life

spans] (406b4-5:,,)
Moreover, there are cases in which jiis modified by various epithets to indicate

the specifies of living beings'conditions. To take just a few examples, we find

references to "mental salvific impetus''(, 398C3 and 403dl) , "salvific impetus for

actively stimulating the One [Vehicle]" (, 402b18) , "salvific impetus which

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accepted the previous cultivation" (, 403b9) , ``Salvific impetus for including

the Greater [Vehicle]''(, 404b15116, 404b17) , ``invisibly profound salvific

impetus''(, 404C5) , "salvific impetus for embracing the Greater lvehicle]''(
, 405a12-13) , "Salvific impetus for laccepting Buddhist] way''(, 412b2) , and
"salvific impetus to become enlightened''(, 412b4). Thus the Buddhist usage of

``salvific impetus''was established quite clearly in Daosheng's work

3. Why Daosheng Emphasizes ``Salvific lmpetus''

There are two major reasons why Daosheng places such importance on "salvific

impetus" The first is to acknowledge the role of asalvific impetusnindoctrinal

classification; the second is to point to the role of asalvific impetusn in the

functioning of "stimulus and response" between the sage (ie, Buddhas aLnd
bodhisattvas) and ordinary people.
As to the former, Daosheng states his basicunderstanding of doctrinal

classification, before explaining four kinds of "dharma-wheels,"8 at the beginning of

the Miaofa lianhua jing shu:
The reason why [the Buddha] preaches various sras and different teachings

is not because the underlying principle is litself varied] , it is actually because

the salvifTIC impetus of sentient beings () stimulates [the Buddha] in

difFerent ways and they become enlightened in a myriad of ways Therefore,

the great sage manifests the existence of diverse strands of teaching thus
expounding various doctrines (396dl1-13:,o

,).
In sum, Daosheng recogmizes that the reason why the Buddha preached various
teachings is that there are different stages of maturity in the asalvific impetus" of
living beings A similar idea is shown in the fbllowlng

What avarious background causes and conditionsn means is that living beings'

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Hiroshi Kanno

mental salvific impetuses () are diverse and the ways of becoming

enlightened are various-sometimes throughalmsglVlngand precepts,

sometimes through supernatural powers. So they are called "various" [in the

satras] (398C3-4:,,,,,

).
Althoughthe termappeared in the chapter Qisuxunofthe Huinanzi
in the sense of "etherealInCtions,''I interpret it as meaning ``mind" here.

AIso, the text states:

The ways in which the sage hangs the candle [of the Dhamas] and leads

[living beings] expediently are not limited. In some cases he resorts to

[perfbming] supernatural wonders, in others he resorts to invoking the
names

[of

Buddhas

and

bodhisattvas].

Because

there

are

various

salvic

impetuses, beings accept and reject [what is ored by the Buda] in

different ways (412a15-16:,,

,).

Even thoughthese statements do not refer explicitly to the satras and teachings of
the Buddha, they provided the grounds fr various methods of cultivating living

beings by Buddhasand bodhisattvas due to the diversity of their Hsalvific impetus"

Next, I will consider the function of Hsalvific impetusn in the operation of

stimulus and response''between the sage and ordinary people indeed, the usage of

usalvific impetusn in doctrinal classification, as mentioned above, shows that the sage

responds by the diverse teachings to the diversity of living beings'"Salvific

impetusesn Therefore, We can say that it is in a broad sense one modality of

"stimulus and response" between the sage and ordinarypeople

The idea of stimulus and response is a traditional Chinese concept91 The wenyan
commentary to the hexagram qianof the Yljingstates, ``Identical sounds
respond to oneanother and identicalvital energies seek one another" (,
) and the tanCommentary to the hexagram xianstates, "Xianis here

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used in the sense ofg. The weak (trigram) is above, and the strong one is

below. The two vital energies stimulate and respond to one another, and thereby

form aunion" (.).

The idea of the stimulus and response is that this world keeps the
exchange-relationship that two relative existences of the same nature (for example,
yinand yang) seek one another, stimulate one another, and respond to one
another. The ``Ingrained Ideas" (keyi) chapter of the Zhuangzi states, "The life of

the sage is the action of Heaven and his death is the transfrmation common to all

things He responds to the influence acting on him, and moves only when he

feels the pressure" (,0...,). This

points out the passivity in the action of the sage who abides inhe stage of doing

nothing and being natural10 If the idea or stimulus and response as the view that
two relative existences exchange with one another is combined with the idea of the

sage's response to all things, the idea of stimulus and response between the sage and

the ordinary people as Buddhist soteriology may appear There are actually two
forms of Buddhist acceptance of the idea of stimulus and response of the Yljing1 One
is the idea of poetic justice typically fund in Lushan Huiyuan(334-416) ll

and another is the idea of stimulus and response between the sage and the ordinary
people, which this paper is considering12
Returnlng tO the topic of the Yljing and Zhuangzi, in the case of stimulus and
response in the Yljing the agents of stimulation aLnd response are interchangeable

While in the Zhuangzi, the sage is the agent of both. Even thoughthe Zhuangzi
assumes the existence of external objects that stimulate the mind of the sage, the

zhuangzi does not focuson this topic On the other hand, in the Buddhist idea of
stimulus and response typically fund in Daosheng, the agent of stimulation is the

ordinary person and that of response is the sage, and this clear distinction is a
characteristic feature of his work. This distinction was seenalready in Zhi Dun'S

statement that ``All things stimulate the sage and he calmly responds to them"

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Hiroshi Kanno

(Daxiaopin duibi yaochao xu, T no 2145, 55 56a2-3:,

). Daosheng's idea is identicalwith that of Zhi Dun on this point, and he

regards the agent of stimulation as the salvific impetus of ordinary people In sum,

Daosheng's emphasis on "salvific impetus" is related to clarifying the agent of

stimulation in stimulus and response between the sage and ordinary people
concernlng the interpretation of at one time''in the introductory Chapter, the text

states:

``Time" means that if the salvific impetus of living beings stimulates the sage,
he can respond to it The fact that the ways of the ordinary people and of the
sage interact with one another and do not miss a favorable opportunity is

called`at one time" (397b7-9:,,,,

).
The model of the salvific impetus of ordinary people stimulating the sage and the

sage responding to it is plainly shown here.Asthere is agloss, "GanB means to

stimulate" (,), the meaning ofgan in ganyingis to stimulate.13
Daosheng coined a new phrase "to actively stimulate the sage''(kousheng)

thus expressing ``to stimulate the sage''(gansheng) more positively It seems

that koushengmeans that ordinary people actively stimulate the sage's

cultivation.14For example, the text states, "If the salvillC impetus which accepted

the previous cultivation actively stimulates () the sage, he then responds

[dwnward] to it,, (403a9:,); ``The householder [of the

burning house] having come, the previous conditions were also activated The
salvific impetus actively stimulates () the sage This is provisionally called

someone speaksj The sage's response being thoroughly realized, people do not fail
t listen t it" (403a17-18:,,,,
). Or again "The salvific impetus including the Greater [vehicle] actively
stimulates () the sage. This is called `seeing his fatherH'(404b15-16
,). And again "Living beings have the salvific impetus to become

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enlightened which actively stimulates the sage, and he has the way of realizing lhis
cultivation] thoroughly''(412b4-5:,) , In sum, Daosheng's
understanding is that in stimulus and response between the sage and the ordinary

people, the fact that the salvific impetus of ordinary people actively stimulates the
sage is an indispensable prerequisite fore sage's response This is explicitly shown

in the following Statement:15

If there is no salvific impetus for laccepting the Buddhist] way within la

living being], the sage will not respond (412b2:,).
Furthermore, this concept of ``active stimulation" () seems to have hadan

influence on posterity, and we find a number of examples. Liuqiu'Swuliangyi

jing xumentions the stimulus of actively stimulating the sage" (

, T no. 2145, 55.68a14). Fayao'Sannotation in the Da banniepanjingjljie
states, "A great person having passedinto nirvaa, there was no one
actively stimulating () [the sage] , and so there was an earthquake expressing

niwa-pa. This is the outcome of the urgency of the reques'' (T no. 1763, 37.

399C22123:,,,,).

It also

states, ``Mafijugri speaksand actively stimulates the great sage" (471C28:,

). And we also find some examplesinSengliang's annotation in the Da

banniepan jingjljie, which we will consider at a later point

The reason why Daosheng values the salvific impetus of ordinary people is that
he does not regard the ordinary people as objects of one-sided relief from the sage

alone, but pays attention to the ordinary people's own roles in their salvation. Also,

Daosheng seems to have theview that it is not throughthe grace of the Buddha, but
rather througha universal truth that people are saved. I infer that this has an
intimate relationship with Daosheng's insistence on the universality of
Buddha-nature without discriminating against the icchantika. 16

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Hiroshi Kanno

4. "Salvific impetus" in Daoshengand its Relationship to the Ideas of the Lotus Siitra
Thus far I have considered the idea of "Salvific impetus" and "stimulus and response"

in Daosheng outside the specific context of the Lotus Siitra,17 but weknow that this
idea appeared most often in the Miaofa lianhuajing shu compared to his 246 notes in
the Da banniepanjingjljie18 and more than 600 notes in the Zhu weimojiejing19hink

that the reason for this is that the Lotus Siitra clarifies the Buddha's preaching career
and especially the process of completion of theravaka's salvation based on the

foundationalscheme of the assimilation of the three vehicles by the one vehicle. In

such parables as the tale of the three carts and the burning house in the Simile and

Parable Chapter and the tale of the prodigal son in the Belief and Understanding
Chapter, the Lotus Siitra expounds the process of the completion of the sage's response

to and cultivation of the ordinarypeople alongwith the manifestation and matur'ing

of the salvific impetus of the ordinary people. Therefore, Daosheng also refers to the

idea of "Salvific impetus" and "stimulus and response" quite often in his exegesis on

the Simile and Parable Chapterand the Belief and Understanding Chapter The
subject of the Bodhisattva Avalokitevara Chapter is Avalokitegvara's salvation of

living beings, and so Daosheng also includes noteworthy ideas concerning "salvific
impetus''and "stimulus and response" in the exegesis on this chapter

I have clarified the establishment of the Buddhist usage of "salvific impetus" in

Daosheng and its significance, indicating the ground of the diversity of the Buddha's
teaching and his cultivation, and clarifying the agent of the stimulus in "stimulus

and response," as well as the reason why the idea of "salvific impetus" and "stimulus
and response" appears very oen in the Miaofa lianhuajing shu,

5. Sengliang's Idea of "Stimulus and Response" in the Da banniepanjingjljie

The idea of "stimulus and response" isfundamental to the soteriology of the form of

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Buddhism which centers on the consideration of the relationship between the sage
and ordinary people and which developed graduallyOm the Six Dynasties to the

sui-Tang period20 Above I have dealt with the process of that idea's formation from

the earliest period to the time of Daosheng. In this section I will consider Sengliang,
who took an active part following Daosheng in the fih century

First of all, I quote materials concerning Sengliang's idea of ``stimulus and

response" andgive a brief explanation of their content Based on this, I will analyze
the characteristic features of his idea in the next section.
1. [The Buda'S] response to [living beings'] stims is in itself the sphere

fthe Buddha. If [he] does notannounce [thahe will enter nirvaa]with his

voice, they do not know anything (T no. 1763, 37.384C3-4,

,).21
This anntati.n is to the lines "When [the Buddha] entered ninJaa On the 15th of

February, he spoke loudly throughhis superrLat1-I power His voice prevailed

everywhere

to

the

highest

heaven

The

most

honored

one

is

golng

tO

enter

nina''(T no. 375, 12.605a9114:,,o

, .,).22The content of ``Stimulus and

responsen is that living beings stimulate the Buddha and he responds to themAs
they are not conscious of their own ustimulus,n ustimulus and responsen is said to be
the sphere of the Buddha This is also pointed out in Comment 21 The concrete
content of the Buddha's response is to enter nirvaa

2. The manifestation of the response lof the Buddha] is the sphere of the

Buddhas. [The Buddha] enters nirvaqa in response to living beings, and his
extinction is not dependent on the Buddha lhimself]. It is as if the body
moves and then the shadow also disappears. How could we ask [the Buda to

abide long inhis world]? (394b28-29,

)
Thisannotaion is to the lines ``Now Cunda (Chuntuo) , don't grieve very much.

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Hiroshi Kanno

You should be jubilant and feel deeply lucky to have been the one to make the final
offering to the Tathgata, and to have accomplished and fulfilled dana-paramita. You

should not ask the Buddha to abide long in this world. You should now observe
that spheres of the Buddhas are all impermanent. The essentialnatures and
eharacteristies of phenomena are also like this''(612C16-20:

,,
,) in the Cunda Chapter. The people praised

Cunda upon hearing that the Buddha had accepted his final almsglVlngand he
himself then spoke in verse frm, danclng With great joy. In his verses, he told the

Buddha, ``For this reason, World-Honored One, you Shoud increase living beings'

faith and stay long in this world to sever their sufferings of the cycle of birth and
death" (612C12-13:,,,). The
above-cited sdtra's sentences are the Buddha's response to Cunda's request. In sum,
although Cunda asked the Buddha to stay long in this world, Sengliang described the
manifestation of the Buddha's response as been the sphere of the Buddhas, in which

ordinary people do not engage,and the Buddha's entrance into nirvaFla is just a
response to living beings and not his own voluntary action23

For comparison, Daosheng commented on these sentences, "The matter of

response to [living beings'] stimulus is the sphere of the Buddha" (394b26:,

) and Fayaocommented, ``[The Buddha'S] response is due to living

beings'stimulus" (394C2-3:). Thus both of them refer to the idea of

stimulus and response.

3.What "[the Buddha will] enter nifVaa''means is the response to living

beings. [Cunda] cannot ask [the Buddha] to [abide long in this world]

(394C28:,).
This annotation is to the line ``Today [the Buddha]will enter tu'rva-Qd'(613a13:

) which is part of the verses that the Buddha spoke to Cunda in the Cunda
Chapter. Here it is also stated that to enter nifVaa is a response to living beings.

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4. "The Buddha is in the unconditioned stae''was stated above and this

import is sufficient. To respond to living beings is skillful meansand this

meaning is deficient (396a5-6:,o,
).

This annotation is to the line ``Next, Maiijuin-, suppose there was a poor
woman .''(613C3:) in the Cunda Chapter. Actually there
is no``the Buddha is in the unconditioned state" in the sras but there is a

sentence "Therefore, MaAjugri, you should not say that the Thus Come One is
identicalwith all conditioned things''(613C1-2:
). However, there is a sentence ``If one has a correct view, he should say that the

Thus Come One is definitely unconditioned" (613C13-14:,

). The two expressions of ``you should not say that the Thus Come One is identical

withall conditioned thingsn and ahe should say that the Thus Come One is definitely
unconditioned" have the same meaning Thus Daosheng comments on the same
sentence, "The above statement that `you should not sayhat the Buda is

identical with conditioned things'can be interpreted as meaning that the Buda is

uncnditioned,'(396all2:,).

The meaning of Sengliang's annotation is that to respond to living beings, ie,

to enter nirvaa in response to living beings, is a skillful means and its import is

deficient and inferior. In comparison to this, to regard the Buddha as unconditioned

is sufficient and superior This is based on the idea found inthe sra thatthe

Buddha,s nifVa is a skillall means for the sake of living beings24, which is stated in

"The Buddha praises Cunda, 'very well, very welL You shouldknOw that the Tlms
come one enters nirvaa using a skillful means in accordancewith living beings"'

(614C28-29).

5.Aslcunda] is afraid that the sincerity of only a single person would be

insufficient to elicit lthe Buddha'S] response, he plans to make his request
with the backing of he entire assembly (398b27-28,,

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Hiroshi Kanno

).
This annotation is to the lines ``At that time, Ctmda listened to the Btlddha's words

and said cryingaloud and moaming, 'How painful! How painfu1! The world is vain

and empty.'Furthermore, he said to the crowd, `Let us now throw otuselves to the
ground and beseech the Buddhawith one voice not to enter tlirvaa" (614C5-8:

,,,,,
,) in the Cunda Chapter. Here it is explicitly that

the sincerity of ``one person" (Cunda) may not stimulate the Buddha. The character
yingseems to imply reverence for the Buddha, based on a hierarchicalrelationship

between the Buddha and living beings. The characterfuin fuyingis assumed

to be its counterpart, indicating the Buddha's response to those on a lower level.

Actually, this tem appeared in the statement that ``Salvific impetus which resulted

from the previous cultivation stimulates the sage and he responds ldownward] to it"
(ZZ 2B23-4, 403a9:,[-]) in Daosheng's Miaofa lianhuajing
shu.

6. The fact that the Buddhaand Cunda preach that stimulus and response
sustains eternally is shown explicitly in the sentence above (T no. 1763,

37.399C15-16:,).
This annotation is to a part of the very beginning of the Sorrowfulness (aitan)

Chapter. As "the sentence above" indicates the content of the Cunda Chapter, we
know that Sengliang considers one of the imports of the Cunda Chapter to be the

idea of stimulus and response.As for its content, it is important to note the fact
that the relationship of stimulus and response between the Buddha and living beings

is eternally sustained25 To understand His eternally sustained,n we will refer to some

of Sengliang'Sannotations on the Sorrowfulness Chapter. The fact that to enter

niyvaa is based on the Buddha's compassion is shown in the statement "Out of pity

for [living beings], [the Buddha] manifests his extinction''(400b27:,

). Also he writes, " `That which is true'means the truth of [the Buddha'S] being

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eternal (). The truth of [the Buddha'S] being eternal is difrlCult to understand

As it cannot be understood by one who has a distractedmind or is cowardly,

Concentrated meditation is necessary [to understand it]''(401b15-16:,

,) in his comment on "The real

nature f the Thus cone One is tmle and not inverted''(616b314:)

we find ``the truth of [the Buddha'S] being eternal''here and the term is rephrased
as "the truth f [the Buddha'S] abiding eternally" () It is shown in ``What
to enter [ni,vaa], means is that the truth of lthe Buddha'S] abiding eternally was

previously hidden by impermanence and living beings could not see itv As now they
can see it, we call this `entering [nirvapa]='(401C1-2:,,,

,). "The truth of [the Buddha'S] being eternal''(

) and "the truth of [the Buddha'S] abiding eternally''() can thus be

interpreted as the truththat the Buddha abides eternally.As for the fact that
althoughthe Buddha in reality abides eternally he nonetheless enters nirvaa for the

sake of living beings, Sengliang comments, "Asthe Buddha has attained the eternal,
[the satra] names it `abidingJ The Buddha enters nirvaa forhe sake of living

beings, but he does not become extinguished" (401clO:,o

,) and `` `To enter nirva-d means that eternalthings have no extinction;

and it is for the sake of living beings that lthe Buddha] becomes extinguished"
(401C26_27:,,). In sum,althoughthe Buddha in

reality abides eternally'he provisionally manifests his entrance into nirvapa based on

compassion for living beingsI Althoughthe Buddha enters ni,vapa, the fact of his
abiding eternally is not altered, and even his entrance into nin,aa is based on

compassion for living beings Thus the relationship of stimulus and response
betweenhe Buda and living beings continues to exist even when the Buda

enters nirva-a. Therefore, that relationship is also said to be sustained eternally

7.O cherish,, meanshat the stimulus [of living beings] naturally accords

with lthe Buddha] in afundamental way and is no different lfrom that of the

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Hiroshi Kanno

Buddha] (408b21:,,).
This comment is to the lines ``Great King, if you really cherish me, i have one wish.
The King immediately answers, `If you want anything, even my right arm or any
other parts [of my body], I will give you whatever you like''(618al1-13:

,o,,,) in the
parable of new and old doctors of the Sorrowfulness Chapter. The fact that the
King, who is compared to living beings, gradually comes to cherish the guest doctor,
who is compared to the Buddha, is understood aS meaning that living beings are

matured through the Buddha's cultivation, which is expressed as ``stimulus''of living

beings.

8.Asthe salvific impetus lof living beings] Comes to actively stimulate the
Budha, [the sra] uses this expression (409a2:,).

This annotation is to the lines "Soon afterward, the King became ill agalm He

called this [gruest] doctor, `I am suffering from disease. How can it be Cured?'"
(618a22-23:,,). This comment
means that the salvific impetus of living beings, who are compared to the King,
needs the Buddha, who is compared to the guest doctor. "To actively stimulate" (kou
) is a more positive expression of ``to stimulate" (gan) and this term is used

oen in Daosheng's Miaofa lianhua jing shu. Also, "salvific impetus" is often used in

the same sense in Daosheng's Miaofa lianhuajing shu. Sengliang also uses terms such
as "salvific impetus,''``condition as salvific impetus" (jiyuan),and ``ability as

salvific impetus" (genji).

9. The suffering of the cycle of birth and death is keen and the trigger of

emancipating lfrom the suffering] moves again. At the time of [his]

becoming enlightened, the salvific impetus lof living beings] actively

stimulates the sage. This is the meaning of ``call the doctor" (452a8-9:

,,).
Thisannotation is to the line "[The warrior] called a good doctor, desiring to be

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ctued" (649a12:;) in the parable of the warrior in the Nature of

the Thus Come One Chapter.When a warrior who wore a diamond on his forehead
fought with another warrior, he lost his jewel Having injured his forehead, he called
a good doctor to cure him The factthat living beings, who are compared to a
warrior, need the Buddha, who is compared to a good doctor, is expressed as athe

salviTIC impetus lof living beings] Comes to actively stimulate the sage" throughthe
idea of stimulus and response.
10. [The Buda] responds universally toe six realms and appears in

accrdance with stimulus [of living beings] (466blO:,).

This commenis to the lines aNext, good sons, Suppose afull moon appears
everywhere.. The Thus Come One abides eternally and is tnchaLnging"

(657bll_C3:, ...) in the

parable of the Moon Chapter. The idea that the Buddha responds to stimulus of
living beings to save theminthe six realms based on the idea of resonantalstimulus
and response is shown inhis comment

11. lThe sentences] show that the dharma-body transcends the relationship

lwith living beings],and that if there is a stimulus from living beings, lthe
Buddha] responds lto it], and they indicate that there is no difference

between the appearance and the extinction lof the Buddha] in the function of
great compassion (497C21-22,,

).
This comment is to a part of the Brahma-carya Chapter (699b171701a12) , in which

the Buddhagives various examples concerning his saving Of living beings in the past
in response to the Bodhisattva Kyapa,s opln10n that there are no benefits in the

compassion of bodhisattvas This comment indicates very well the basic structure of
stimulus and response that the Buddha responds to living beings'stimulus and

furthermore, as it shows explicitly that the dharma-body transcends the relationship

lto living beings], making it clear that the Buddha's response results from his

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Hiroshi Kanno

acceptance of the stimulus of living beings, even though they are not conscious of
that fact.

6. Analysis of Sengliang's idea of Stimulus and Response

Above I have compiled materials concerning the idea of stimulus and response from
Sengliang's Commentaries. Finally, i would like to summarize some characteristic

features of his idea of stimulus and response. They include the following:

(1) The matter of stimulus and response between the Buddha and living beings is
the sphere of the Buddha, in which ordinary people do not engage (based on

comments 1 and 2 above).

(2) That relationship of stimulus and response is treated as sustained eternally

(based on comment 6).

(3) The basic structure of stimulus and response is that if there is a stimulus from

living beings, the Buddha responds to it (based on comment ll).

(4) Therefre, the actions of living beings requesting and promoting the Buddha's

salvation are called the ``stimulus" (gan), and considered to bevital(based on

comments 5 and 7). Needless to say, this effect ofliving beings on the Buddha is not
something they are conscious of. And so stimulus and response is the sphere of the
Buddha, as was shown in comment 1.
(5) This effect of living beings on the Buddha is called ``active stimulus''(kou) ,

which is a more positive expression than "stimulus" (gan B),and so there appear
expressions such as ``to actively stimulate the Buddha" (koufo) and ``to actively

stimulate the sage" (kousheng) (based on comments 8 and 9).

(6) Living beings'"stimulus" is referred to in the comments on parables such as that

of new and old doctors of the Sorrowfulness Chapterand that of the warrior in the
Nature of the Thus Come One Chapter in the NinJaa Silt,la Concretely speaking, the

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idea that living beings stimulate the Buddha appears in the case of interpreting that

the King or warrior's request for a new doctor to cure him (based on comments 7, 8

and 9). In other words, Sengliang interpreted these parables using the framework of
the idea of stimulus and response.

(7) As to the actual content of the Buddha's response, its generalcontents, such as

the salvation of living beings in the six realms (based on comment 10) and the
activities of the dharma-body (based on comment ll) , are taken up sometimes, but
as these comments are on the Nina Si2tyla, Whose main topic is the Buddha's nirvaQa,

it is especially noteworthy that Sengliang regarded thect thathe Buddha enters

nirvaa aS a COnCrete instance of the Buddha's response (based on comments 2, 3 and

4). In sum, Sengliang describes the Buddha's entrance into nirvapa as not his own
voluntary action, but as the result of accepting living beings'ustimulusn Therefore,
it is also regarded as a skillI means (based on commen4) by which the Buda

responds tO living beings In a word, Sengliang interpreted the Buddha's nirvapa

through the idea of stimulus and response.

Having analyzed some characteristics of Sengliang's idea of stimulus and

response, we can see that there are almost no differences between Daosheng's idea of
stimulus and response and that of Sengliang, except for the fact that Sengliang's
understanding is influenced by the Nirvapa Siitra, e.g., on point (7) immediately

above. As mentionedalready, the idea of astimulus and response,n which can be said

to befundamentalto Buddhist soteriology in China, developed gradually from the

Six Dynasties to the Sui-Tang period. I have tried to clarifythe basic features of
this idea in the writings of Daosheng and Sengliang during the early period of
Chinese Buddhiam.

7. Conclusion

The idea of stimulus and response developed in Chinese Buddhism based on the

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Hiroshi Kanno

problem of understanding the Buddha's salvation of living beings in Chinese

Buddhism this took the distinctive form of the idea that the salvific impetus of living
beings stimulates the response of the Buddha, drawing on traditional Chinese ideas
of stimulus and response From the Liang dynasty onward, Buddhist thinkers went

on to engage in detailed studies of problems such as living beings'good or bad

salvific impetus and which ones (goodand bad) in the past, present and future can
become a salvific impetus stimulating the Buddha's response

Finally, I would like to present three reasons why asalvific impetus" was
strongly valued in Chinese Buddhism
First, the Buddha must understand the capacities and abilities of living beings
in order to achieve the effect of cultivating them. In Buddhism it is considered very
important to give medicine suited to the disease (), ie, to provide a

teaching appropriate to the spiritual capacities of living beings () For

example, according to a parable introduced in the southernversion of the Nirvaa

saira, ol. 24,26riputra could not understand the spiritual capacities of a laundry

worker and a blacksmith, and he taht them breath-Counting meditation and the

contemplation of the impurity of the body uslng dried bones, respectively As a

result, they were not able to gain good results from their training, which resulted in
erroneous views. Thus the Buddha scolded Sriputra and taught appropriate

meditations to each of them himself, as a result of which they both were able to
become arhats.
second, as China accepted all of the Buddhist sras, which had developed over a

long period in india, as the Buddha's own preaching, it became necessary to explain

the diversity of the sdtras'ContentsI Chinese monks found a key to resolving this
problem in the diversity of spiritualcapacities of living beingsI The idea of varied

spiritualcapacities is central to the doctrinalclassification systems produced in

china. This is shown expicitly in Daosheng'S statement, ``The reason why [the

Buddha]

preaches

various

satrasand

different

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teachings

is

not

because

the

underlying principle is litself varied] , it is actually because the salvific impetus of

sentient beings () stimulates [the Buddha] in different ways and they become

enlightened in a myriad of ways. Therefore, the great sage manifests the existence
of diverse strands of teaching thus expounding various doctrines" (396dlll13).
Third, as the idea of the Latter Days of the Dharma (mofa) spread in China

and Japan, people came to reect on the inferiority of their own spiritualcapacities

This represented an emphasis on the spiritual capacities of human beings as religious

self-awareness or introspection27

erword

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Prof. Jam Nattier for her expertise in
editing the English version of this paper.
This paper is an English translation of my ``Chgoku bukky6 shoki no ki to

kann6 shis6 ni tsuite,''Jinbunronshii 19 (2007), pp. 33151. The original Japanese

paper was presented at the second Conference of Buddhist Studies between China

and Japan at Renmin University in Beijing sponsored by the Institute for the Study
of Buddhism and Religious Theory at Renmin University of China. The Chinese
version of his paper will be plblished by that Insitute this year. Here l have also

included material from two other papers,viZ., "Jikud6sh6 ni okeruki to kann6 shis6
ni tsuite,''(Indogaku buk&olgaku kenii 32-1 [1983] , pp. 261-264, Chiigoku hokke shis6

no kenbJii (Tokyo: ShunjBsha, 1994, pp. 79186) , and "Dai hatsunehan b70-jBge ni okeru

S6ry6 no kann6 shis6,''To-h0- 3 (1987) , pp. 166-174,with some modifications.

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
19520055 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Hiroshi Kanno

1 Young-ho Kin translated jE'as "triggering mechanism" See TaoISheng 's CommenEafy On the Lotus Stra- A

stu4v and TranslatLan, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990 However, I use ``salvific impetus"
throughout this paper
2 It is difficult t find a Sanskrit term directly corresponding to the "salvific impetus" (JL') and it seems

that some examples found in Chinese satras and treatises are not direct translations, but reveal the
innuence of the usage founded in China This is different from the ease of "faculty" or "ability" (gen),
which has a meaning similar to "salviflC impetusand it is a direct Chinese translation of the Sanskrit term
indn_va. The original meaning of gen is "ability." For example, as the sense of vision (cak--LndrL'ya,)

gets its name from the fact that it has the ability to bring forth sight-consciousness, the five faculties of
belief, endeavor, memory, meditation andwisdom have the exquisite ability to attain enlightenment, they
are named the five "faculties''(gen). Based on this original meaning of L'ndriya, it came to refer to living

beings, abilities to accept teachings and to the idea of classifying them into those of keen capacity and dull
capacity, Or into the three categories of upper,middle, and lower capacity JL'and gencombine to

produce the expression jigenand genj, and these in turn combine with yuameaning a religious
condition to produce the expression ji.vuanand gen,I-nSee Mizutani K6sei, "Kikon my6gik6,"
Bukb}oI Bunka kenkv8 (1959), pp 41-48
3Asthe body of this paper mainly considers the concept of the "salvific impetus(jL) in Daosheng, I

would like to refer to its usage by other persons who were contemporarywith or slightly prior to him here
As for Zhi Dun(314-366), we find some examples ofJiin his writings such as DaxiaopL-n duibiyaochao

u(T no. 2145, 55.56a5), Shtjiawen foxE'ang zap bing xIL(T no 2103,
52.196b18), and WeLmojLe Zan(197a24) The word jtin these examples may have the same

meaning as that of Daosheng consideredinthis paper, ie, the meaning of living beings7 religious conditions
As for Sengzhao(3847-414) , we also find some examples ofjLin his writings such as Zhu weL'moJlejing

(T no. 1775, 38.344alO, 344C16, 362clO, 381b14)and the Da lLuyimln ShLLsection of the
zhaolun(T no. 1858, 45.156a17), but these examples do not seem to have the same meaning

4 see the Fahua Jruan_VE.vol 6A (T not 1716, 33746C-749a), Dasheng xuanIunvol5 (T no

1853, 45.66a7-67al), and Dasheng sIIun xuanyLjEvol 6 (DaiNippon zokuz6ky6El

[hereaer ZZ.i.74.I, 30d1-43d7).
5 0n Daosheng,s idea of stimulus and response,see Morie Toshitaka,Jiku D6sh6 no kann6 shis6,"

IT7dogaku bukb,oTgaku kenkvii 21-1 (1972) , pp 140-141

6 Fuse K6gaku considers Sengliangin his Nehanshno kenb,u, part ll (1942; reprinted in 1973, Kokusho
kank6kai), pp. 232-241. He suggested that Sengliang was Daoliang, whose biography was recorded in
the Gaoseng zhL,ang(vol 7)I Daoliang passed away at the age of 69 during the Taishi era
[465-471] of the Songdynasty (see T no_ 2059, 50372b14-15) The seventy-one volumes of the Da
banntepan jing jljLe, which includes commentaries on the N,,vana Stra by nineteen people,

among them Sengliang, were compiled during the Liangdynasty.AsSengliang's commentary always

appears immediately after Daosheng'S, we may infer that Sengliang is chronologically the second of these

figures.And Sengliang's annotations appear more often than those of any other commentator The Da
bannlepan jlng J'jt.e divides the NlrVSbtra into 2864 paragraphs, and Sengliang's annotations appearwith

2130 f these. The second most frequent to appear are those of Sengzong(438-496), whose
annotations are adopted in only 1415 paragraphs. See Kanno Hiroshi, "Dai haEsILnehan0- jbge no kisoteki
kenky," To-yo- bunka vol, 66 (1976) , pp 93-173

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7 citations in parentheses refer to glosses in Daosheng's MiaojTa lianhuajing shu The English translations of
citations from the Miaofa lianhua jElng shy are translated by myself, referring to Young-ho Kin, TaoISheng 's
Commentary On ike Lotus Sitra

8 The four kinds of dharma-wheels are the "good-and-pure dharma-wheel"(), the "skillful

dharma-wheel''() , the "true-and-real dharma-wheel" () , and the "residueless dharma-wheel"

().

9Asfor the stimulus and response as the Chinese cosmology, see Robert H Sharf, Coming to Tenns with
ch,.nese BuddhEsm, Kuroda Institute Studies in EastAsian Buddhism, no 14, Honolulu: University of Hawai`i
press, 2002, pp. 771133. This paper does not dealwith the concept of ml-a-a However, I would like to

just say that nirmaf.7a-k&a has two major Chineseranslations such as transformation body (huashen)
and response body (yingshen) and that transformation body is more direct translation of nirma-pa-k&a

and response body is more related to the idea of "stimulus and response''
10 similar to this is a statement in the YEjing(Xici), "In yi, there is no thoughtand no action

Even thoughit is quiescent and does not move, it responds to and deals smoothlywith all phenomena and
events under the sun''(,). This statement is difGerent in
at yt'(the principle of change) is the topic, not the sage

ll see Lushan Huiyuan'S Ming baoyE'ng lu'7, "The basis [which is a mind] is moved by delusion, the

retribution lof guilt and good fortune] naturally appears Its reason is not that there are ofrlCerS in an
aerworld, but that [they] mistake how to control themselves. Thus, the retribution of guilt and good

fone is only based on the [mental] movement [afFeced by external objects]. lAer themind] is moved,
its retribution] naturally appears, and so its way lof causeand efFect] is called natural" (T no 2102,

52.33C21_23:,,,).
on this topic, see lkeda Rosan, "Tendai kann6 shis6 no seiritsu igi,''Komazawa daigaku bukkV0- gakubu kelZb7i;
kiy0- 29 (1971) , pp. 931112;also, Miura Kunio, "Eon ni okeru chgokuteki shiyui," in Fukunaga Mitsuji (ed) ,

chdgobL Chhsei no shdb701 to bunka (Kyoto: Ky6to daigaku jinbunkagaku kenkyQjo, 1982, pp 103-125) I
12 0n the second form, the idea of stimulus and response between the sage and ordinary people, see
sengzhao'SNiepan wuming lunin the Zhaolun, "Thus, the attitude of the sage in this

world is lonely and insubstantial He does not become attached to anything nor compete with anyone He
leads [living beings] but does not precede them and he responds to the influence acting on him like an echo
inhe deep valley or an image in a clearmirror" (T no. 1858, 45.158b23-25,

,,,).
13 Althoughit is a later interpretation, the Dasheng xuanlunvol 5 states, "What ganmeans is to

attract and invite.Whatyt.ngmeans is to attend and accept''(T no. 1853, 4566a8:,,

).
14 The Zihanchapter of the Analecls (Lunyu) states, I set it forth from one end to the other and

exhaust it''(). The.Iingdian shiwenglosses "kou,''saying "it is pronounced kou.

lAnd its meaning is to] set in motion" (.). The meanings of "kou'and "kou'are

identical.
15 Daosheng's annotation in the Zhu weimojie jingvol. 2 (T no 1775, 38343a22-27) shows a

similar thought more clearly.

16 see "AlHiving beings are none other than Buddhas, and theyalso are nifV" (408b16-17:

)_ Also, on the story that Daosheng was expelled from Jiankangbecause he insisted on
the attainment of Buddhahood by icchantika, see Daosheng's biography recorded inhe Chu sanzangj',jL'

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Hiroshi Kanno

vol. 15 (T no. 2145, 55.111a7-ll). Also see Kanno Hiroshi, "DaL'hatsunehanbJ6jiige ni okerud6sh6 chd,"
N,hon bl,kb701 blLnka kenIIL rOnSh3 (1985) , pp 74-851 0n Daosheng's theory of the attainment of Buddhal100d
by lCChantikas, see Furuta Kazuhiro, Choku bukkya ni okeru issendai shis6 no juy6" lanz'gakuho1 52-1

(1972) , pp. 38-53; Kobayashi Masami, "Jiknd6sh6 no daij6 sh6j6 kan to issendai j6butsugi," philosophL'a
(Waseda University) 67 (1979), pp. 45-75.
17 Daosheng wrote the Yingyouyuan lunwhich is not extant (see T no 2059, 50366C19) From its

title, it seems to have argued that the condition of salvific impetus stimulating the Buddha is indispensable

to Buddha's response, but this paperwill not consider it any more

18Asfor Daosheng's examples of the Da bannLepanjLngj,jie, see T nol 1763, 37394b26, 417b24-25, 420a9-10,
550b22-23 and so on.

19Asfor Daosheng's examples of the ZhLL WeL'mojLlejL-ng, See T no 1775, 38337b17-18, 411bl0-ll, 411b26-27
andsoon.
20 0n the idea of "stimulus and response" after theLiangdynasty, see Fukushima K6Sai, "Chigino

kann6ron

to

sono

shis6teki

haikei,"

tanL

gakuh0-

49-4

(1970),

pp.

36-49.

He

Clarified

very

well

the

relationship between faith in the Bodhisattva Avalokitevara and the idea ofstimulus and response", as

well as the idea of "stimulus and response" of masters of the Satyasiddhi schooland the Sanlun
sehoolas well as ZhiyiThis paper considers the idea of " stimulus and response" before the
Liangdynasty, that is, in its earliest form As for other papers, see Fukushima K65ai, "Tendai ni okeru

kann6 no ronri," Jndogaku bukb0-gakzL kenb7h 18-2 (1970) , ppl 694-697; Morie Toshitaka, ``Ry6 sandai hosshi
no kann6 shis6," Indogaku bukkw-gaku kenkv22-1 (1973), pp 142-1431 Suwa Takashige, "Ekin Daljol shiron

gengL nimierukann6 shis6," Jndotetsgaku Bukb6 kenb7a 19 (2004) , pp 177-186

21 From here on I record the page, column, and line of citations from the Da banniepanjlngjljE'e
22 From here on 1 record the page, column, and line of citations from the southern edition of the NEfVana
siitra. The sentences and phrases being commented upon are g-ven in boldface type
23 The expression "the manifestation of [the Buddha'S] response to living beings" () occurs in

seng-ang,s annotation; for example: "As for the birth at the palace of the King and the nL-rvana at the two

trunks [of the Sala trees], to appear and activate is designated as birth, and to enter extinction is
designated as niwa This is the manifestation of lthe Buddha'S] response to living beings" (563a19-20:

,o,o). The emphasis on the fact that the Buddha's

action is one which responds to living beings'circumstances, ie, that it is one which accepts their innuence,

results necessarily from the structure of the idea of stimulus and response For example, Daosheng's ML-aofa
ILanhuajLng shu states very often that the Buddha's actions such as preaching the three vehicles and entering
mrvapa, are the result of the inence of living beings'circumstances and are not based on his ownnature;

Movement and quiescence are only for the sake of living beings It is not because of the sage himselF'(ZZ
2B23.4, 398b4:.); ``[The Buddha'S] existence and disappearance is for the sake of
living beings" (398d18) ; "The reason whyriputra] asked [the Buddha to preach] three times

is not that the sage [i.C., the Buddha] wished [him to do] so, but that lgariputra'S] salvific impetus
required it" (400a13-14-=o); "The fourth shows that the reason why lthe
Buda] preaches the three vehicles is not that the sage wants to do so but that he can not help appearing

[in this world to preach them]" (400a15-16=,o); "The furth segment

shows that the sage does not intend to set up the three teachings, but because it is difTlCult for living beings

to acquire enlightenment througha single [vehicle] due to their defilements, [the Buddha] can not help
appearing to preach the three vehiclesI How could it be that he wants to do so?" (400C5-7:

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,.); "Even thoughthe Tao of the Thus

Come One is one, living beings, on the contrary, regard it as three. The three comes from living beings
own dispositions, but the truth (lL') is always one. For example, althoughrain from the cloud is uniform,

the medicinal trees are [that grow because of it] varied. It is the medicinal trees that are varied, not the

rain from the cloud" (405d4-5:,,----,

o); "The reason why there is a difference between superior and inferior realms,and

between long and short life spans [when they attain Buddhahood in the future], is not because the sage
wishes it to be so As the salvific impetus requires them, he indicates various dirences [Concerning lands

and life spans" (406b4-5,,); "The difference

between existence and extinction comes from the various spiritual capacities of [living beings]. How could
it be dependent on the sage?" (408dl12=,DF'po); "However, the reason why [the

sage] takes specific shapes and life spans is that it comes from various delusions lof living beings] How
could it be dependent on the sage?" (40915,o); "If one recognizes
Gayis not true, he also understands [the Buddha'Song life span is not true. Therefore, it should be

known that long or short [life span of the Buddha] comes from living beings. The sage is always in the
unconditioned state''(409d5-7,.); "If there are
times when [the Buda] is not existent, and there are places where [the Buda] is not present, this

applies only to living beings, not to the sage" (409dl0-ll:,); "If

there is no salvific impetus for [accepting the Buddhist] waywithin [a living being], the sage will not
respond''(412b2:,).

24 This thought is the same as one of"In order to save livmg beings, I appear to enter nE,Nana aS a Skillful
means But in actuality l do not enter into extinction and I am always here, preaching the teaching" (T no.
262, 943b16-17=,.,) in the Life Span of the Thus Come One

Chapter of the Lotus Siitra.

25 There is a similar idea in Daosheng,s commentary: "Asto the response to a stimulus, it cannot stop for an
instant" (T no. 1763, 37.420a9-10:,).

26 see T no. 375, 12.764a221b5.

27 This third point was not considered in this paper On this topic, see 6ch6 Enichi, "Bukky6 ni okeru
shGky6teki jikaku," in Chhgoku bu6 no kenb7ii, vol, 2, Ky6to: H6Z6kan, 1958.

Iiberative impetus stimulus and response Daosheng()

Sengliang() Buddhist soteliology

((Professor at Soka University) )

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