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The Chinese Buddhist Wheel...
171 one reads the statement such as “Avidyā hides the real from us and in its place puts forth the unreal appearance'' as stated in Bodhi Caryā Avatāra, 25 as it is understood by our author, it is sufficient to demonstrate the concreteness of Chinese expressions. There is no doubt that as far as Mahāyana Buddhism in India is concerned, the concept of avidyā becomes more and more metaphysical and abstract.
Similarly, out of the twelve links in the Indian Wheel, there are a few other terms such as sarkhārā, vijññāna, nāmarūpa, vedanā, tanhā, upådāna and bhava which are more psychological and abstract, but are not found in the Chinese Wheel. In the case of the latter, a more concrete term, such as 'obstinate view of Self' (ātmagrāha or wo-chih) is adopted. Furthermore, it is traditionally known that out of the twelve links in Indian Buddhism, “two factors are assumptions relating to the past existence of a being” and “two more links... to explain...the root of all our future existence.”26 Wien this is compared with the Chinese wheel it will be seen that except for the first and the last, the remaining eight are all concentrated on the present life. In the case of the first item, the Original Enlightenment, which is both immutable and mutuable though not simultaneously, it is ever present no matter whether we are aware of it or not. Henceforth, it includes the present. On this matter Tsung-mi has been influenced by Ch’an Buddhism. We may recall an early statement by Tsung-mi : "that though all the sentient beings innately possess the Buddha-nature, yet the Nature cannot be seen as it is veiled by the beginningless ignorance... As Buddhas have eliminated false thought, they could see the Nature fully and clearly.'21 One may also recall the Analects 11:11 where Confucius refuses to discuss death. Nakamura has noted a similar expression in Ch'an master Hui-hai, and regards it as 'strikingly Chinese' though he misunderstands the tendency as 'utilitarian’ 28
Though not referred to in the Ming edition of the work, both the Korean and Gozamban editions of the work have
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