Huāyán xiūchán guānzhào rù jiětuō mén yì 華嚴修禪觀照入解脱門義
The Doctrine of Entry into the Gate of Liberation through Avataṃsaka Meditation, Contemplation, and Illumination by 高辨 (述)
About the work
A two-fascicle Kegon meditation manual by Myōe Kōben 明惠高辨 (1173–1232), expounding the contemplative aspect of the Avataṃsaka tradition. The work’s compound title — xiū-chán 修禪 (cultivation of dhyāna) + guān-zhào 觀照 (contemplative illumination) + rù jiě-tuō mén 入解脱門 (entry into the gate of liberation) — declares its synthesis: it integrates the meditative practice of dhyāna with the Kegon doctrine of the jiě-tuō mén (the vimokṣa — the gateways to liberation, modelled on the Avataṃsaka’s Daśabhūmika stages) under a single contemplative-philosophical framework.
Abstract
Authorship and dating: The author-attribution at the head of the work — “Western-Mountain Aranya-śramaṇa Kōben has expounded this” (西山蘭若沙門高辨述) — and the terminal colophon — “Among my staff-wanderings beyond the formless world, my hand has not let go of the sacred texts. Long having explored the hidden meanings, I have just now attained this essential gate. With some leisure, taking it up, I sketch from memory the spirit of practice. This is no hope of fame or gain — solely the search for the direct path of victorious advance. At the time: Jōkyū 2 (= 1220), 9th month, 30th day, by night, at the Western Mountain Sekisui-in Zen-bō, [I have] recorded this” — both confirm authorship and date. Myōe Kōben (1173–1232; DILA A001007). The composition is precisely dated: notBefore = 1220, notAfter = 1220.
Doctrinal content: the work opens with a striking parable: “A snake or cow that drinks water can produce the change of poison or medicine; a foolish or wise man hearing the Dharma sees it as either the wrong way or the right way.” Myōe then argues that one cannot rely on a single-flavoured account of the Dharma’s effects: one must understand the erh (twin) law of gain and loss on the basis of the listener’s character. The opening verse — addressed to Vairocana, the world-teaching-master, to Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra, and to the open-bestowing of praṇidhāna (vow-power) — sets the contemplative-devotional tone of the work.
The body of the text expounds the jiě-tuō mén (gates of liberation) of the Avataṃsaka, integrating them with the dhyāna practice through what Myōe calls “two-fold simultaneous practice” (jù-xíng zhī yòng-xīn 倶行之用心) — the contemplative and the doctrinal practised together. The work is a methodological complement to Myōe’s parallel KR6t0028 Huā-yán fó-guāng sān-mèi guān mì bǎo-zàng on the Buddha-light samādhi and KR6t0026 Huā-yán xìn-zhǒng yì on the doctrine of faith — the three works together forming Myōe’s Kegon contemplative trilogy of 1220–1221.
The closing verse-prayer is characteristic of Myōe: “I now meet the Dharma left behind / as if standing before the World-Honored One in the flesh. / Though born after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, / I have already opened the Buddha’s wisdom-eye. / Bowing in the direction of the wheel-turning, / weeping in remembrance and longing, / I have briefly explained the wondrous meaning / and suddenly entered the gate of liberation.”
Translations and research
- No complete Western-language translation located.
- Frédéric Girard, Un moine de la secte Kegon à l’époque de Kamakura — discusses the work in connection with Myōe’s Sekisui-in meditation practice.
- George J. Tanabe, Myōe the Dreamkeeper — analyses the work as one of the principal medieval Japanese Kegon meditation manuals.
- Mochizuki, Bukkyō daijiten, s.v. Myōe 明惠 and Kegon shuzen kanshō nyū gedatsu-mon gi 華嚴修禪觀照入解脱門義.
Other points of interest
The work’s location — the Sekisui-in Zen-bō 石水院禪房 at Nishi-yama (West Mountain), in the Tōga-no-o region — is itself significant: Sekisui-in was Myōe’s personal Zen meditation hall and the place of his deepest contemplative practice. The work is therefore a primary witness to Myōe’s actual meditation experience and doctrinal-contemplative synthesis at the height of his Kōzan-ji revivalist project.