Huayan

The Huayan school of Buddhism (traditional Chinese: 華嚴; simplified Chinese: 华严; pinyin: Huáyán, Wade–Giles: Hua-Yen, "Flower Garland," from the Sanskrit "Avataṃsaka") is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra (Chinese: 華嚴經; pinyin: Huáyán jīng, Flower Garland Sutra) as well as on the works of Huayan patriarchs, like Zhiyan (602–668), Fazang (643–712), Chengguan (738–839), Zongmi (780–841) and Li Tongxuan (635–730).

Another name for this tradition is the Xianshou school (賢首, Xianshou being another name for patriarch Fazang). The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea, Kegon in Japan and Hoa Nghiêm in Vietnam.

The Huayan tradition considers the Flower Garland Sutra to be the ultimate teaching of the Buddha. It also draws on other sources, like the Mahayana Awakening of Faith, and the Madhyamaka and Yogacara philosophies. Huayan teachings, especially its doctrines of universal interpenetration, nature origination (which sees all phenomena as arising from a single ontological source), and the omnipresence of Buddhahood, were very influential on Chinese Buddhism and also on the rest of East Asian Buddhism. Huayan thought was especially influential on Chan (Zen) Buddhism, and some scholars even see Huayan as the main Buddhist philosophy behind Chan/Zen.

The Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra (The Garland of Buddhas Sutra, or The Multitude of Buddhas Sutra) is a compilation of sutras of various length, some of which originally circulated as independent works before being combined into the "full" Avataṃsaka. One of the earliest of these texts, the Ten Stages Sutra (Daśabhūmika), may date from the first century CE. These various sutras were probably joined shortly before its translation into Chinese, at the beginning of the 5th century CE.

There are various versions of the Chinese Avataṃsaka (Chinese: Huāyán Jīng 華嚴經, "Splendid Flower Adornment Sutra"). The full sutra was translated into Chinese three times (in versions of 40, 60, and 80 fascicles or "scrolls," 卷). The earliest Chinese texts associated with the Avataṃsaka are the Dousha jing (Taisho 280), produced by Lokaksema (fl. 147–189) in the latter part of the second century CE, and the Pusa benye jing (Book of the Original Acts that Adorn the Bodhisattva, T. 281), translated by Zhi Qian (fl. c. 220–257 CE) in the early to mid third century. There is evidence that these smaller or partial Avataṃsaka sutras circulated on their own as individual scriptures.

As soon as the large Huāyán Sūtra appeared in China, an exegetical tradition grew up around the text in order to explain it. The first translation of the larger Huāyán Sūtra (in 60 fascicles) is often dated to the Southern Dynasties era (c. 420–589), when a translation team led by Gandharan master Buddhabhadra produced a full Chinese translation of the text. There is also evidence of a Huāyán Sūtra tradition in the Northern Dynasties (386–581) era. The Avataṃsaka teachings are associated with figures like Xuangao (402–444) who led a community with Daorong at Binglingsi cave, and Zhidan (c. 429–490), who argued that only the Huāyán Sūtra teaches the "sudden teaching" (while other Mahayana texts teach the gradual teaching).

Xuangao, a disciple of Buddhabhadra, was associated with the teaching of the "Huāyán Samadhi" which is said to have been passed on to him by Buddhabhadra. According to Hamar, Xuangao's tradition is a precursor to the Huayan school and may have even composed the apocryphal Brahma's Net Sūtra (Fanwang Jing T1484). Xuangao's tradition is also associated with Chinese meditation cave grottoes such as the Yungang Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes and the Bingling Temple Grottoes.

The origins of some of the teachings of the Huāyán school proper can also be traced back to the Dilun school, which was based on the Shidijing lun (十地經論), Vasubandhu's commentary to the Daśabhūmikā-sutra (which is part of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra) translated by Bodhiruci and Ratnamati. Dilun figures like Ratnamati's disciple Huiguang (468–537) emphasized the study of the entire Avataṃsaka and Dilun masters likely had their own commentaries on the text (but none have survived in full). Only a few extracts remain, such as parts of Huiguang's commentary and parts of Lingyu's (518–605).