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A Study of the Jin'gang pi
Tiantai school flourished during the time of its founder, Zhiyi (538-597), and went into decline after his disciple Guanding (561-632) passed away. The adjust it to the changing environment of the Tang China composed a number of exegetic and explanatory works. His effort culminated in his final masterpiece: Jin'gang pi (The Diamond Cutter). In this text, Zhanran presented specifically Tiantai interpretation of the idea that even insentient beings possess the Buddha nature; an argument which opposed the widely accepted interpretation of the Mahaparinirvāṇa sutra statement that only sentient beings possess the Buddha nature.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Environmental Thoughts: A Beautiful Mind for a more Sustainable World
The world is on fire. 2020 saw global temperatures rise 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels. The rising temperatures have triggered violent weather events such as recent heatwaves in Canada, floods in Germany, and wildfires in Australia. Adversely, impacting our food supply, health, economic livelihood, and living conditions. From the famous Fire Sermon in Ādittapariyāya Sutta of the Pāli canon, the Buddha depicts a seemingly similar burning world where “everything is burning…burning with the fires of greed, hate, and delusion.” Our degrading environment can thus be seen as a man-made crisis driven by the three fires of “greedy consumer cultures (i.e. greed), dissatisfaction (i.e. hatred), and other attitudes that can be looked upon as vices (i.e. delusion).” Traditional Buddhist texts indicate this plausible connection between our degrading environment and our deteriorating human nature. As world leaders gather at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) for a way out of our environmental mess, we also look to one of the world’s renowned Buddhist leaders for how Buddhist teachings may offer guidance to address our looming environmental problems.
