Buddhism as Philosophy: Exercise in Observing Observation: The Nonduality of Paradoxical and Representational Thinking in Chinese Buddhism

Abstract

Abstract The article provides a philosophical interpretation of the practice of “contemplating mental activity” (guanxin 觀心) in sixth-century Chinese Tiantai Buddhism and explains its relevance to the development of East Asian Buddhism in general. As the title suggests, the topic is about the philosophical question of the nonduality of representational and paradoxical thinking. According to Tiantai, representational thinking creates empty constructs; deconstruction reveals the unreal but does not eliminate it. Paradoxically, deconstructive contemplation recognizes that nothing real can be found in linguistic representations and therefore no “language” can be erased. From Tiantai’s soteriological perspective, the mind’s self-induced deceptions are inevitable but retain an instructive quality that must be disclosed by “contemplating the mind”. The perfection of contemplation can be achieved through the realization that construction can become deconstruction, just as deconstruction brings construction, as manifested in the textual transmission of Buddhist doctrine (Buddhadharma).