Tag Archives: Hua-yen

The Astounding Assembly

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Vajragoni

Our choice of translation for this series on the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra is by Kosho Yamamoto, from Dharmakshema’s Chinese version and edited and revised by Dr. Tony Page in 2007. From time to time we will also draw-upon the translation from the Chinese by Mark L. Blum and the redacted version from the Chinese of Dharmakshema by Huiyan, Huiguan, and Xie Lingyun, translated into English by Charles Patton. read more

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Hua-Yen, or a View of Totality

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Vajragoni


Bringers of life by Alex Groseth

Before engaging the Sutra it is advisable that we present a brief overview of its doctrinal foundation, which is rooted in Hua-yen Buddhism. Also translated as “Flowery Splendor” (thus the title of the Sutra), Hua-yen is an all-encompassing matrix of syncretic-connections that are inter-dependent and thus constitute a resolution of form and principle as defined in such concepts as shih (phenomena) and li (noumenon)—both of which we shall explore more fully soon. The “holographic-model” is an apt depiction of the inner-mechanism of Hua-yen, wherein each three-dimensional image is a reflection and part and parcel of the larger whole—thus the microcosm within the macrocosm scheme of things. The school’s grand systematizer was Fa-tsang (643-712), its renowned Third Patriarch. One could say that he gave birth to its Holographic-Model when he exhibited it for Empress Wu in the following fashion: read more

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Entry into the Dharmadhātu

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Vajragoni

Our next series (beginning in November) will be focusing on a sutra which is the final chapter of the much larger-one, none-other than the majestic Avataṃsaka Sūtra, commonly known as the Flower Ornament Sutra. The Gandavyūha-sūtra is the climax of this marvelous Hua-yen text and highlights the following: read more

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