Emptiness (Śūnyatā, 空) and Dependent Arising (Pratītyasamutpāda, 緣起)  are common tenets in all Buddhist schools, but different schools give the terms different interpretations. In this essay, I will examine the philosophical development of the concepts of Emptiness and Dependent Arising in the Tiantai school, and discuss how they have influenced the cosmology of Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia.  

The Tiantai school of Buddhism was founded in six century China. The major theses of Tiantai school are established by the fourth patriarch Zhiyi, who regards the Lotus Sutra as having the highest status of all Buddhist doctrines. Zhiyi takes Emptiness and Dependent Arising to be the core concepts of his defining argument – the Threefold Truth (三諦), which includes the truth of Emptiness, the truth of Temporariness, and the truth of the Middle Way. The truth of Emptiness states that all dharmas are empty in the sense that they do not have inherent self-nature. The truth of Temporariness states that all dharmas depend on many causal factors to exist. Without these factors, things would not have come into being. Therefore, dharmas exist, but they exist provisionally, temporally, and dependently. I argue that the first two truths proposed by Zhiyi are similar to Nagarjuna’s theory of Twofold Truths: on the level of the phenomenal world, all things exist independently and provisionally; on the level of ultimate reality (Nirvana), however, things are all empty in nature. (Mitchell and Jacoby, p. 160) Nevertheless, Zhiyi makes an explicit integration of the truth of Emptiness and the truth of Temporariness by constructing a third truth: the truth of the Middle Way. In Fahua xuanyi (法華玄義), Zhiyi explains the notion of Middle as “The reality of non-duality is called the Middle.” The “Way” is translated from the Chinese word “Dao (道)”, which means “the ultimate reality of the universe”. Thus, the truth of the Middle Way simply states that the ultimate reality of the world is that all dharmas are both provisionally existent and empty. Finally, Zhiyi completes his argument by saying, in Fahua xuanyi, “Though these are an integrated unity, they are called threefold; though they are threefold, they are called a unity.” Therefore, the Threefold Truths can be seen as three aspects of one thing – the real nature of our world. In other words, Emptiness, Dependent arising, and the Middle Way are ultimately identical. Standing alone, each of them represents a partial truth; taken together, they jointly depict the one reality.  

Zhiyi’s notion of Threefold Truths reveals a fundamental distinction between the cosmology of early Buddhist traditions and Tiantai Buddhism (as well as other major Mahayana schools). Early Buddhism sees the phenomenal world and nirvana as two separate realms of existence. The ordinary sentient beings who live in the phenomenal world go through the endless cycles of life in the six dharma realms. When one is enlightened, he/she will exit the six dharma realms and be completely free from the cycles of life and death. The phenomenal world is not real, since all things are devoid of inherent self-nature and independent existence. The realm of nirvana is the ultimate reality – it is real, unconditioned, and empty. (Mitchell and Jacoby, p. 62)

Figure 1. A painting showing the Cyclic Existence, or Saṃsāra, in early Buddhism

On the other hand, the Tiantai school rejects the duality of this worldview by claiming that there is no other realm outside the provisionally existent phenomenal world as shown in the Threefold Truths. In other words, the phenomenal world is nirvana and nirvana is the phenomenal world, as Zhiyi puts it in Mohe Zhiguan (摩訶止観), “A single, unalloyed reality is all there is.” Zhiyi describes the worldview of Tiantai as having ten dharmas realms. Besides the previous six mundane realms, there is also four holy realms: the realm of Śrāvaka (Hearers of Buddha, 緣覺乘), the realm of Pratyekabuddhayāna (Solitary Buddha, 辟支佛), the realm of bodhisattva (菩薩), and the realm of Buddha. One notable characteristic of this worldview is that the ten dharma realms are mutually contained, meaning that they are all part of the whole world. Thus, all ten dharma realms are at the same time empty, provisionally and dependently existing, and manifesting the Middle Way.

Figure 2. A painting showing the Ten Dharma Realms

Base on this worldview, Zhiyi puts forward another important thesis for the Tantai school:

“One mind contains ten dharma-realms, but each of these dharma-realms contains ten dharma-realms, resulting in 100 dharma-realms. One realm contains 30 kinds of worlds, hence 100 dharma-realms contain 3,000 worlds. These 3,000 worlds are contained in a fleeting moment of thought.” (Mitchell and Jacoby, p.235)

The assumption of this argument is that all of us have Buddha nature – the potential to become a Buddha. Indeed, the Lotus Sutra says that “the Buddhas of the present and future, whose numbers are beyond calculations”. Base on the Tiantai worldview, those Buddhas reside in the same reality as we do. The moment they gain true enlightenment, they turn the phenomenal world into Nirvana. Thus, entering Nirvana depends on nothing more than our own mind’s ability to perceive and understand the reality. The minds of sentient beings conceive all dharmas to be full of defilements and attachments; they are thus stuck in the cycles of life and death and can never be totally free from Duḥkha (suffering). The minds of Śrāvaka, Pratyekabuddhayāna, and bodhisattva are able to conceive all dharmas to be dependently arisen, thus they separate the phenomenal world and Nirvana into two distinct realms. Finally, the minds of Buddha conceive all three thousand worlds to realize their true nature – all things in the world are provisionally and dependently existent, empty in nature, and manifest the Middle Way. Thus, he/she is able to understand Cosmo as one unified reality. Therefore, one can conclude that the creation of three thousand worlds in one thought depends on one’s own mental power – one thought can bring one down to the realm of hell; the other can raise one up to the realm of Buddha.

All in all, the Tiantai school developed a new cosmology for Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia based on the concepts of Emptiness, Dependent Arising, and the Middle Way. By eliminating the barrier between the phenomenal world and the realm of Nirvana, Tiantai Buddhism offers all sentient beings a chance to be free from suffering and become enlightened. Personally, I appreciate the Tiantai tradition for making the very first attempt to transform early Indian Buddhism into a more accessible and inclusive religion. I also found the major arguments made by the Tiantai scholars logical and rigorous, so I am convinced (and impressed) by this development.

Works Cited

Donald W. Mitchell, S. H. (2013). Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.