Buddhism and Daoism Face-off

Buddhism and Daoism Competed Co-existence of Buddhism and Daoism anticipated competition and intermingling between the two

Competition for supremacy led to denunciation of opponentBuddhist monks accused Daoist priests of stealing

their ideas and texts; Daoist reacted with the same accusation

Each conceived and created its new scriptures, known as apocrypha, which simultaneously show the creation of new “gods” or “deities”, and/or resurgent worships and practices

The purposes of new scriptures are: to achieve “scriptural hegemony” to strength liturgical and evangelical monopolies

by integrating other’s favored rituals and practices Aims of New ritual and liturgical procedures: practical:maintain the well-being of their practitioners/followers help them obtain healthy and long life offer protective treatment of disease teach them measures to exorcise the demons

soteriologicalhelp them attain salvation in this world and in the next

world

Each also relied on existing/new liturgical devices: talismans, incantations, invocation of the deity’s name, effigies, icons, diagrams, registers, charts, texts of mysterious origin

Each also adopted vocabulary used by its opponent

This had an ironic outcome two teachings were brought closer reconciliation of differences occured

This also led to the following phenomena: I. Reaffirmation of the powers of “talismans” “Talismans” were widely used in the Celestial

Master (Tianshi) School and the Numinous Treasure (Lingbao) School of Daoism

They were now adopted by Buddhist monks, particularly by Tantric masters in Tang China, for therapeutic and exorcistic purposes similar to that of Celestial Master School of Daoism

II. Reaffirmation of the efficacy of the utterance of “word”

The invocation of the deity’s name is reminiscent of what the Lotus Sutra teaches:

the invocation of Guanyin’s name to free oneself from peril

Invocation of mantra, dhāraņīs

III. Reaffirmation of the exorcistic power of images/icons/statues/sculptures/effigies the deityIV. Reaffirmation of alimentary precepts such as grain-free diet recommended by DaoismVegetarianism recommended by Buddhism

All of these were to fulfill the same salutary purposes for both Buddhists and Daoists within their fields of healing, life-saving, life-prolonging formulas

In their competition, Buddhist monks denounced Daoism, denigrating it as a producer of heretical texts and false sutras.Zhen Luan wrote Laughing at the Dao (Xiaodao lun 笑道論 ) denouncing the counterfeits of the Lotus Sutra forged by the Daoists and accused them of stealing.

Dao’an wrote On the Two Teachings (Erjiao lun 二教論 ), charging Daoists plagiarizing Buddhist scriptures.

Falin, wrote In Defense of What is Right (Bianzheng lun 辨正論 ) accusing Daoists of misappropriating Buddhist scriptures to form Daoist Lingbao scriptures

Buddhist monks accused Daoist priests of plagiarizing some Buddhist scriptures to produce Daoist Scriptures. Examples: Repaying the Profound Kindness of Parents, Revealed by Lord LaoAdapted from Sutra on the Profound Kindness of

Parents, which is itself a Buddhist apocryphonScripture for Pacifying Houses, Revealed by the Lord LaoAdapted from the Sutra for Pacifying Houses, also a

Buddhist apocryphal text

Scripture of the Eight Yang for Pacifying Houses, Revealed by the Most High Lord LaoAdapted from Sutra of Incantations of the Eight

YangDaoist priests also claimed that Buddhist monks plagiarized their scripturesSutra of the Three Kitchens Stolen from Daoist scripture titled Scripture of the

Five Kitchens,[Revealed by Laozi]

Sutra of the Divine Talismans of the Seven Thousand Buddhas to Increase the Account, Preached by the BuddhaStolen from Daoist scripture titled Marvelous Scripture for Prolonging life and for Increasing the Account, Revealed by the Most High Lord Lao

Other adaptation:Daoist: The Marvelous Scripture for Extending Longevity, Revealed by the Most High Heavenly Venerable of the Numinous Treasure

Extension of life is guaranteed by the “Venerable of the Numinous Treasure Prologation-of-Destiny”

Buddhist: Sutra to Extend Destiny, Preached by the Buddha

the same extension is granted by the “Bodhisattva Prolongation of Destiny”

Buddhism and Daoism Transformed

Buddho-Daoist interaction resulted in the transformation of Buddhism and Daoism

Transformation due to fabrication/forgery of scriptures produced by its opponent

Fabrication/forgery involved “plagiarism” or stealing of the opponent’s texts

These texts are referred to as “Buddhist/Daoist apocrypha”

A new apocryphon is likely to anticipate a counter-apocryphon from each one’s opponent

Examples of ApocryphaDaoist Scripture for Unbinding Curse, Revealed by the Most High Lord Lao was a response to the earlier Buddhist Sutra for the Conjuration of Bewitchments, Preached by the Buddha

Buddhist Sutra on Prolonging Life through Worship of the Seven Stars of Northern Dipper, Preached by the Buddha, aka. Great Dipper Sutra, was a response to Daoist Supreme Scripture of the Great Dipper of Mysterious Power Guiding Destiny and Prolonging Life

Buddhist: The Sutra of the Three Kitchens

A Buddhist apocryphon based on Daoist creation

Three kitchens refer to:The spontaneous Kitchen of compassion and

consciousness of the self The kitchen of the four steps towards the

enlightenment of a pratyekabuddha (a self-realized buddha” and the non conceptualization of the auditors

The spontaneous kitchen of being, non-being, and non-divine

The sutra emphasizes Buddhist origin, representing the Buddha’s words, but traces of Daoist phraseology can be detectedBuddhist phraseology is used to lend a perfect

Buddhist coloration: Three Jewels, Six pāramitā, Amitābha, Sukhāvatī

Daoist phraseology lurks beneath them: five phases, broth of jade (yujiang, saliva), eating jujubes, great granary, mobile kitchen;

The structure of the text attests to its Daoist origin: Daoist correlation theory, synergy between one’s body and environment

Main themes:Stresses the importance of reciting the “Method of

Three Kitchens” to be free from hunger, to attain clarity and limpidity

Stresses the importance of reciting the gathas everyday so that on has no need of nourishment for a period of one hundred days or longer

eliminates three poisons, take refuge in the Three Jewels, concentrate upon Amitābha….to gain merits

Performs meditation, drinks only cow’s milk and eats only jujubes or broth

Recites the names of the divinities of the Kitchens

Recites the Buddha’s “dhārani to invite the three meals of the Kitchens”

All in all, recitations of incantations, invocations of deities, and meditation to harmonize the physical and the mental are the main components of the Method of the Sutra

Assimilated Daoist “Method of the Kitchens” to the practices of qi for perfecting the selfa technique for rejuvenationA means leading to attainment of wisdom and

to meeting Amitābha, and even to immortality

Adopted Daoist dietary theoryEat genuinely transcendent diet composed of

“celestial aliments and beverages”

Daoist: The Scripture of the Five KitchensFull name: Miracle of the Disfigurement of The Scripture of the Five Kitchens, Revealed by Laozi

Possibly a reworked version of earlier scriptures such as the Scripture of the Traveling Kitchen and Scripture of the Kitchen Food of the Sun and the Moon

Supposedly produced in mid-eighth century as evidenced by later Daoist literature

Composed of twenty verse lines of five characters each, concerning the cosmic pneuma (qi)within the five viscera

Based on legendary Daoist methods of “Heavenly Kitchens,” a term derived from Buddhism which refers to “food of superior quality”

Quotes the Laozi and the Zhuangzi extensively One commentary says that the goal is: harmonizing primordial qi with “supreme harmony” to attain to the Dao, while in concentration

Three Daoist traditions come into playTheory of correlation between five phases and five

directions Theory of “abstinence from cereals/grains”Alchemy and immortality techniques

Teaches the following:the procedure to abstain from nourishment to

become invisible to spirits and demonsAbsorption of the yellow breath and replacement of

refined breaths produced by nutrition with the pure and subtle breaths generated alchemically in the practitioner’s body

Practitioners are required torecite the Five Kitchens poemKnow how to manipulate different types of

qi in one’s bodyEffects of the above practices, according the Fundamental Treatise for the Absorption of Pneuma:Rejuvenation after three years of practiceStrong vitality and clairvoyance after six years invulnerability and perfect control over the

gods and spirits after nine yearsBecome the “perfected man” zhenren 真人

Attributes of the Daoist “Perfected Man”Health: Never harmed by fire or water; never suffers from hunger or thirst, heat or cold

Longevity: Eternal youth and long lifeImmortality: one never dies

Dunhuang

Competition in combating evils

Sorcerers, witchcraft, shamans are considered evils, sources of human illness

Methods for Confronting these evils developed in both Buddhsim and Daoism

Scriptures were created to deal with them:Buddhist: The Sutra for the Conjuration of

Bewitchments, Preached by the BuddhaDaoist: The Scripture for Unbinding Curses, Revealed

by the Most High Lord Lao

While Daoist text emerged as a response to Buddhist text, Buddhist text had drawn some of its materials from still earlier medieval Daoist sourcesIt is more ideological than ritual text

The Sutra for the Conjuration of Bewitchments, Preached by the Buddha

The sutra aims to destroy the sorcerer, who was a woman, to free the faithful from torments conjured up by curses and to help the faithful attain happiness of paradise

Antidote to sorcery:Dhāranis, murderous incantations, exorcism evocations of bodhisattvas and other divinities

Paradoxical in its “use of evil against evil”

It was produced in keeping with Buddhist notion of mofa (the Latter Days of the Dharma, or the Decline of the Dharma) that had been discussed in earlier apocryphal and genuine sutras:Apocryphal: Sutra of Consecration (Guanding jing)

Genuine: The Lotus Sutra“If you are a victim of curses and poisonsOn the part of a being wishes to harm youInvoke the power of GuanyinAnd [the harm] will return to its instigator”

The Content of the Sutra An old woman prepared bewitchment by burning animal fat in the middle of the night under the star

Made straw dolls, human effigies, talismans ...imprecations and curses Used pins, needles, clods of yellow earth..

Soliloquized in a state of tranceBewitched the cows, sheep, horses, chickens,, dogs, and pigs and bound their proprietors with curses...

The Buddha invites/calls upon the following divinities to come and devour the sorcerer:divine kings of the Green Emperor of the East (belly)

the divine kings of the Red Eemperor of the South (feet)

divine kings of the White emperor of the West (head)

divine kings of the Black emperor of the North (eyes)

divine kings of the Yellow emperor of the Center (hands)

The Buddha also calls upon Celestial kings and other divinities to expel and cause evil spell to return against sorceress devas of the four heavens (head) a Brahman the nāgarājas (dragon kings) of the four heavens

Bull-head Abang (Guardian of Hell)

The Buddha also calls upon these bodhisattvas: Bodhisattva Universal VirtueBodhisattva Changing LightBodhisattva Great Knowledge Bodhisattva Delicate lightBodhisattva Great LightBodhisattva Variegated Light Bodhisattva Moon LightBodhisattva Drangon LightBodhisattva VenusBodhisattva Thousand Yang….

The Buddha also calls the following to devour the sorcerers Giant beast of the east (bodies)Millipede and centipede of the south (eyes)White elephants of the west (heads)Black birds of the north (hearts)Dragon-king of the Yellow Emperor of the center (bodies)

The text indicates that the Buddha knows their names, want them disappear, annihilated, their heads split into seven pieces..

It stresses the merits of recitation of the sutra, accumulation of good deeds and the fields of merit, incantations, and a six-syllable mantra

Daoism’s Attitude towards Sorcery

Why didn’t Daoists devote as much attention to it as Buddhism and produce scriptures earlier than Buddhism?They didn’t believe that demonical possession or illness was due to curses of a few evildoers like shamans and sorcerers

Demons spread as a result of “blood sacrifices” rituals performed by masters of nameless, illicit, and perverse religions or cults

Or people’s belief in “heterodox” gods and the efficacy of the baleful spells taught by ritual masters representing these gods.

The Scripture for Unbinding Curses, Revealed by the Most High Lord Lao

This scripture aims to get rid of the scourge of witchcraft, which was, in Daoist view, instigated by “Barbarians of the West.” It is to help the faithful free from misfortune, attain harmony and health, happiness and longevity…

Daoist eschatology, which copied Buddhist mofa theory, underpinned the themes of the text

Combating sorcerers has to be done exclusively by rites and by writing, not by other means

The Content of the ScriptureThe harmony of High Antiquity have given way to the moral decadence of the end of the world (moshi)

People of “intermediate age” propagated the practices of sorcery and did harm to good people

Victims of these bewitchments must install an alter and invite a Daoist of the Three Grottoes to recite this sutra to generate some merit and cure their illnesses.

To chase away evil spells and assure well-being and longevity, one must recite a special rhymed incantation: (see page78)

Lord Lao calls upon these divinities to help:The Generals of the Three and the FiveThe Emissaries of the Eight WindsThe Vassal Lord of the Nine RegionsTen thousand general and tens of millions of troops

Stresses the recitation of the scripture for curing illnesses, and dissipating misfortunes and calamties

Lord Lao, in the text, says that he traveled to India and transmitted his teaching to people there.

Wherever the sutra is recited, people will gain longevity, be protected by thousand transcendent beings (immortals), and free themselves from diseases

Their happiness in this life is assured; their bodies are strong as gold and stone…

Recurrent themes in both textsUse of the exorcistic formula “May their heads be broken in seven pieces!”

“May [three (earth’s) beams and six (sky’] pillars turn back against their instigators

invocation of exorcistic divinities such the Emperors of the Five Directions (found earlier in Daoist text)

Cloning Daoist Scripture

The Sutra to Increase the [Life] Account, or the Yisuan jing 益算經 , produced by Chinese Buddhist monks, is an appropriation or even an outright copy of a Daoist scripture

The aim is to assure the health and welfare of the faithful so that they can reach the full term of existence—120 years, through invocation of the General of the Six jia (liujia jiangjun 六甲將軍 )

A life span of 120 years is known as “celestial longevity (tianshou 天壽 ) and one’s “life-capital” can be increased to reach this longevity or decreased to die prematurelyDirectors of Destiny (siming 司命 ) survey one’s merits and demerits to decide one’s life span

The calculation of merits or demerits is based on Daoist system of justice that seeks balance between reward and punishmentAccumulation of good deeds is rewarded with

prosperity, fortune and felicity for one’s whole family

Faults that exceed a certain quota bring about ill effects such as severe disease, bankruptcy, or even the death of the guilty party and the extinction of his family line

There are a number of different versions of Buddhist Yisuan Jing that bear different titles.

There are also two different Daoist Yisuan jing

Daoist Yisuan jingConvention: respect the sutraAddition/creation of new divinities:

Various celestial officers Lords of the Five Peaks Divinities of Six jia governing the accountgenerals of the five peaks

Creation of new talismans: the Most High Divine Talismans (or Divine Talismans of the Six Jia)

Divine Talismans of the Great Dao  

Buddhist Yisuanjing jing:New divinities: "seven thousand Buddhas" added to the title Slapdash adjustments and noticeable substitution of Vocabulary used in the Daoist ogriginal:Buddha replaced immortalsBodhisattva for perfected manway of the buddha replaced "orthodox way“The Seven thousand buddhas for the Six Generals

Talismans were now called talismans for the thousand Buddhas.

 

Method to increase life-capitalwear talismans recite scripture offering incense respect three jewels and the precepts

The text is supposed to be used orally for ritual part of it chanted ritual components: Invocations of the Generals of the Six jia, the names of the seven stars of the Northern Dipper, the Three Terraces, and the Five Stars

Further Influence on Buddhism

The Cult of the Great Dipper (Beidou 北斗 )Expressed in the Daoist scripture called Supreme Scripture of the Great Dipper of Mysterious Power [Guiding Original] Destiny and Prolonging Life, or the Scripture of the Great Dipper (Beidou jing)

The core teaching of the scripture:A family possessing the Scripture of the Great Dipper will be blessed its destiny, and its house will enjoy peace

Members of the family are required to worship the scripture and recite the incantations and vows that constitute the core of the teaching

The cult of the Great Dipper expressed in the text derives from Secret Instructions of the Seven Principles, which teaches honoring the Great Dipper to obtain longevity by:Cereal offeringsBurning of the sacrificial paper moneyNightly cult of the stars of the DipperThe rite of “personal destiny” (benming) “Lying down in the Dipper” (on a map of the constellation and pronouncing “incantation of reclining”)

Also expressed in Shangqing Daoist writings such as Shangqing Golden Scripture with Jade Characters, which teaches adepts how to recline on the diagram of the constellation to escape death after nine years of this practice reach immortality afte eighteen years of this practice

Complementary instructions are expounded in several other texts including illustrated “Registers”, which conceived the Great Dipper’s divinities each bearing the title of “lord” and is said to have “allure of Perfected Man”

Based on the same teaching, Buddhists monks created the Sutra on Prolonging Life through Worship of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper, Preached by the Buddha, or Great Dipper Sutra

First expressed in the treatise and liturgical text composed by Tantric Buddhist monks, for instance Yixing and Vajrabodhi, in early Tang times (7th -8th century).

Later incorporated in the Buddhist Great Dipper Sutra produced in the Yuan Dynasty (13th -14 century)

The Daoist sources used in these works include Method of Sir Immortal Ge [Xuan] for Honoring the Great Dipper, which shows two popular and complimentary Daoist cults: the Great Dipper Original Spirits

Divinities in Daoist registers are replicated in Buddhist Great Dipper Sutra