Contemplate one moment of mind as empty, provisional and middle

Take one thought as the object and see it as empty of fixed nature, provisional in its working, and middle in holding both at once.

Perché funziona

The Mo-ho chih-kuan sets its contemplation on the three truths: empty (kong), provisional (jia) and middle (zhong). The first volume describes the perfect faith as believing that all things are empty, provisional and middle, and says the text of this faith is “no one, two or three, yet one, two and three.” The third volume describes the one-mind three contemplations (一心三觀) and states that the three wisdoms are obtained in one mind. Zhiyi also says that the three thousand kinds of world are in “this one thought-mind.” The practice works by taking the mind itself, at a single moment, as the object of study.

Come farlo

1. Learn this contemplation from a qualified teacher before trying the steps below.
2. Begin with the body and breath settled, and a stopping practice steady enough that the mind is not scattered.
3. Bring up one thought or feeling, and look at it as a single moment rather than as a story.
4. Ask whether it has a fixed nature that stays the same, and see how it changes as you look at it: this is the emptiness of the moment.
5. Notice that it nonetheless arises, is felt, and does something in the world: this is its provisional existence.
6. Hold both observations at once without choosing one, and let the mind rest in that balance: this is the middle.
7. If the thought begins to feel unreal or unsteady, stop the contemplation, return to the feet, the breath and the room, and rest before going further.

Prove scientifiche

The three truths are stated in Mo-ho chih-kuan vol. 1, the one-mind three contemplations and the three wisdoms in vol. 3, and the three thousand kinds of world in one thought-mind in vol. 5. Donner and Stevenson translated the first chapter in 1993, and Swanson has published the first complete translation (University of Hawaiʻi Press). Brook Ziporyn’s 2013 chapter on the Tiantai three truths is listed for further reading on the subject. (mechanistic)

This is the most demanding practice on the page, and the Mo-ho chih-kuan itself is dense. It is taught through a teacher and a long study of the text, and the textual method has not been tested in any study. Emptiness taken as nothing being real can be destabilising; see the madhyamaka-emptiness page for why the tradition insists on the middle.

Fonti

• Zhiyi. Mo-ho chih-kuan (摩訶止觀, T1911), vol. 1, Chinese text on Chinese Wikisource. Vol. 2 gives the four samādhis and the ninety-day forms; vol. 1 gives the three truths in the “perfect” teaching.
• Zhiyi. Mo-ho chih-kuan (摩訶止觀, T1911), vol. 3, Chinese text on Chinese Wikisource. The passage on the one-mind three contemplations (一心三觀) and the three wisdoms obtained in one mind.
• Zhiyi. Mo-ho chih-kuan (摩訶止觀, T1911), vol. 5, Chinese text on Chinese Wikisource. The passage that places the three thousand kinds of world in “this one thought-mind” (此三千在一念心).
• Donner, N., & Stevenson, D. B. (trans.). The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i’s Mo-ho chih-kuan. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1993.
• Swanson, P. L. (trans.). Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: T’ien-t’ai Chih-i’s Mo-ho chih-kuan (3 vols.). Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2018.
• Ziporyn, B. (2013). The Three Truths in Tiantai Buddhism. In A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (pp. 256–269). Wiley.

Errore comune

Taking “empty” to mean nothing exists, so that the thought is dismissed rather than examined. The three truths are three ways of seeing one moment, and the middle is what keeps the emptiness from becoming nihilism.