Zhiyi

For the given name, see Zhiyi (given name).

Zhiyi
智顗
Painting of Śramaṇa Zhiyi.
Personal life
Born	16 February 538 Gong'an County, Hubei, China
Died	3 August 597(597-08-03) (aged 59) Tiantai County, Zhejiang, China
Nationality	Chinese
Other names	Chen De'an (陳德安), Master Tiantai (天台大師), Master Zhizhe (智者大師)
Religious life
Religion	Buddhism
Temple	Waguan Temple Guoqing Temple
School	Tiantai
Lineage	4th generation
Dharma names	Zhiyi
Senior posting
Teacher	Faxu (法緒) Huikuang (慧曠) Nanyue Huisi

Zhiyi
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	智顗
Simplified Chinese	智𫖮
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhìyǐ Wade–Giles Chih4-i3 IPA [ʈʂɻ̩̂.ì] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Ji-ngáih Jyutping Zi3-ngai5 IPA [tsi˧.ŋɐj˩˧]
Korean name
Hangul	지의
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Jiui
Japanese name
Kanji	智顗
Transcriptions Romanization Chigi

Zhiyi (Chinese: 智顗; pinyin: Zhìyǐ; Wade–Giles: Chih-i; Japanese pronunciation: Chigi; Korean: 지의; 538–597 CE) also called Dashi Tiantai (天台大師) and Zhizhe (智者), was the founder of the Tiantai Buddhist tradition and its fourth patriarch. Śramaṇa Zhiyi is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. As the first major Chinese Buddhist thinker to construct a comprehensive religious system based primarily on Chinese interpretations of Buddhism, Zhiyi played a crucial role in synthesizing various strands of Mahayana Buddhism into a unique coherent framework. According to David W. Chappell, Zhiyi "has been ranked with Thomas Aquinas and al-Ghazali as one of the great systematizers of religious thought and practice in world history."

Zhiyi relied on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra as the main basis for his system, though he also drew on numerous texts, such as the works of Nagarjuna. One of his central innovations was the Threefold Truth, which unifies the truths of emptiness, and provisional existence, with a holistic third truth: the middle. Zhiyi also developed an influential doctrinal classification system known as the Five Periods and Eight Teachings. Zhiyi's comprehensive work on Buddhist practice, the Mohe Zhiguan, outlines step-by-step instructions for Buddhist meditation and cultivation, combining traditional Indian methods with unique innovations. This text continues to serve as an influential guide for meditators across East Asian Buddhist traditions.

Zhiyi's Tiantai school became the most significant Buddhist traditions in imperial China, and its teachings later spread to Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Zhiyi's synthesis of doctrine and practice remains a cornerstone of East Asian Buddhist philosophy. His three great works, the Great Calming and Insight (Mohe Zhiguan), the Profound Meaning of The Lotus Sutra, and the Words and Phrases of The Lotus Sutra are the foundational treatises for the Tiantai and Tendai (Japanese) traditions. Zhiyi's works also influenced other Buddhist traditions, like Zen, Pure Land and Nichiren Buddhism, and continue to be studied by Asian Buddhists for their depth, clarity, and systematic approach to Buddhist thought. His system provides a universalist Mahayana framework which allowed it to easily adapt to new times and cultures.

Biography

Stupa (pagoda) of Zhiyi at Zhenjue temple

Born with the surname Chen (陳) in Huarong District, Jing Prefecture (now Hubei), Zhiyi lost his parents and hometown of Jiangling to the Western Wei army when he was just seventeen. He subsequently became a Buddhist monk at eighteen. As a young monk, he studied Mahayana sutras and the Vinaya.

At 23, Zhiyi met his first teacher, Nanyue Huisi (515–577 CE), a meditation and Lotus Sutra master who would later be listed as Zhiyi's predecessor in the Tiantai lineage. On first meeting, Huisi is said to have greeted Zhiyi as an old friend, since he recognized that they had both been present in the Lotus Sutra assembly at Vulture's Peak. Under Huisi's tutelage (from 560 to 567), Zhiyi practiced the suiziyi sanmei (the samādhi of freely flowing thoughts), the Lotus Sutra based "four practices of ease and bliss" (si anle xing), the lotus repentance ritual and the meditative recitation of the Lotus Sutra.

In 567, Zhiyi (now 30) traveled to Waguansi monastery at the Southern capital of Jinling (Jiangsu) to give teachings on the Lotus Sutra and the Dazhidu lun. He spent eight years at the capital teaching. Then, in 575, he moved to Tiantai mountain (Zhejiang province) to practice meditation for eleven years. He also built a monastery there, which was later named Xiuchansi (修禪寺).

In 585 he returned to the capital of Jinling as requested by the king of Chen. It is here that he would write his influential commentary on the Lotus Sutra, the Miao Falianhua wenju (妙法蓮華文句, Words and Phrases of the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower, or Fahua wenju for short, T. 1718). He also acted as preceptor of the bodhisattva precepts to the future Emperor Yang (r. 604-617) of Sui, who granted Zhiyi the title of Dashi "Zhizhe" (Great Master Wise Man). He then founded another monastery in his native Jingzhou which later came to be called Yuquansi (玉泉寺).

In the latter part of his life, he lectured on his other great works, the Fahua xuanyi (Profound Meaning of The Lotus Sutra) and the Mohe zhiguan (Great Calming and Insight). He also wrote two commentaries on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa just before the end of his life in 597.

Works

Statue of Zhiyi holding a scripture, at Mii-dera temple, Shiga prefecture, Japan

Major works

Zhiyi's major works are known as the "Three Great Works of Tiantai" (天台三大部) or "Three Great Texts of the Lotus". These key works were compiled and edited by Zhiyi's disciple Guanding (561–632) from Zhiyi's lectures and writings. The three texts are:

• Words and Phrases of the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower (Miao Falianhua wenju 妙法蓮華文句, or Fahua wenju for short, T. 1718), a traditional commentary which discusses each passage of the sutra.
• Profound Meaning of the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower (Miao Falianhua jing xuanyi 妙法蓮 華經玄義, short title: Fahua xuanyi 法華玄義, T. 1716), a commentary which discusses the essential meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
• Great Calming-Insight (Mohe Zhiguan 摩訶止觀, T. 1911), a large treatise on doctrine and practice, based on lectures given by Zhiyi towards the end of his life, which were edited and arranged by his student Guanding. The title owes its name to the practice of samatha (止 zhǐ, calming or stabilizing meditation) and vipasyana (觀 guān, clear seeing or insight), which Zhiyi uses to cover the entirety of the Buddha Dharma. This work, though seen by tradition as also based on the Lotus Sutra, actually draws on numerous Mahayana texts to explicate the "perfect and sudden" (yuan-tun) teachings on meditation. It cites sutras like the Avatamsaka Sutra extensively, even more than the Lotus Sutra.

These are the three Major Tiantai treatises studied in mainland Tiantai and Japanese Tendai and remain the cornerstone of the tradition's doctrine and practice.

Zhiyi also wrote three shorter works on meditation practice, explaining different approaches calming and insight practice:

• Explanation of the Sequential Dharma Gates of Dhyāna Pāramitā (釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 T 1916), which presents his teachings on the "gradual and sequential" approach to calming and insight meditation and was written towards the beginning of Zhiyi's career
• The Smaller Calming-and-Insight, somewhat similar in approach to the Explanation
• The Six Wondrous Dharma Gates (六妙法門 T 1917), presents the "variable" approach to calming and insight

The Xiao Zhiguan (simplified Chinese: 小止观; traditional Chinese: 小止觀; pinyin: Xiǎo Zhǐguān; Wade–Giles: Hsiao chih-kuan; lit Small Calming and Insight) was probably the first practical manual of meditation in China. With its direct influence on the Tso-chan-i, this smaller meditation treatise was very influential in the development of Chan meditation.

Other attributed works

There are also numerous other texts attributed to Zhiyi in the Taishō Tripiṭaka, though scholars are unsure of their provenance. Many of these may have been written by his disciples or later Tiantai authors, but they remain important in the Tiantai tradition, which generally considers them authentic. These secondary attributed works are:

1. 金剛般若經疏 (T 1698) — Commentary on the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra
2. 仁王護國般若經疏 (T 1705) — Commentary on the Sūtra for Humane Kings
3. 觀音玄義 (T 1726) — Profound Meaning of Avalokiteśvara
4. 觀音義疏 (T 1728) — Commentary on the Meaning of Avalokiteśvara
5. 觀無量壽經疏 (T 1750) — Commentary on the Sūtra on the Visualization of Amitāyus
6. 阿彌陀經義記 (T 1755) — Notes on the Meaning of the Amitābha Sūtra
7. 維摩經玄疏 (T 1777) — Profound Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra
8. 維摩經略疏 (T 1778) — Concise Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra
9. 金光明經玄義 (T 1783) — Profound Meaning of the Golden Light Sūtra
10. 金光明經文句 (T 1785) — Textual Commentary on the Golden Light Sūtra
11. 請觀音經疏 (T 1800) — Commentary on the Sūtra of Inviting Avalokiteśvara
12. 菩薩戒義疏 (T 1811) — Commentary on the Meaning of the Bodhisattva Precepts
13. 修習止觀坐禪法要 (T 1915) — Essentials of Seated Meditation in the Practice of Calming and Contemplation
14. 四念處 (T 1918) — The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
15. 天台智者大師禪門口訣 (T 1919) — Oral Instructions on Meditation from the Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai
16. 觀心論 (T 1920) — Treatise on Contemplating the Mind, also called Treatise on the Churning of Milk
17. 釋摩訶般若波羅蜜覺意三昧 (T 1922) — Explanation of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Enlightening-Thought Samādhi
18. 法界次第初門 (T 1925) — Gradual Entry into the Dharmadhātu
19. 四教義 (T 1929) — The Fourfold Teachings
20. 方等三昧行法 (T 1940) — Practice Methods for the Samādhi of the Expanded Teachings
21. 法華三昧懺儀 (T 1941) — Repentance Ritual for the Lotus Sūtra Samādhi
22. 淨土十疑論 (T 1961) — Treatise on Ten Doubts about the Pure Land
23. 五方便念佛門 (T 1962) — The Five Expedient Gates of Mindfulness of the Buddha

Teaching

Interpretation of the Lotus Sutra

Illustration of the parable of the burning house from the Lotus Sutra. A father (Buddha) uses three carts to entice his sons out of a burning house (samsara). Afterwards, Buddha reveals that there is only one great magnificent ox-cart (the One Vehicle).

Zhiyi divides the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra into two parts: the Trace Gate (迹門 Ch. jimen, J. shakumon) and the Original Gate (本門, Ch. benmen, J. honmon).

Trace teaching

The first 14 chapters constitute the Trace Gate (i.e. it presents the nirmanakaya, the Buddha as a "manifestation"), which reveals the teaching of the One Vehicle by opening the provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles (the Śrāvaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva paths) to reveal the true reality of the One Vehicle. This portion emphasizes the Buddha’s skillful means (upaya) in presenting various methods to different kinds of beings, all of which constitute the one vehicle and lead them all to Buddhahood. For Zhiyi, this means that while the various doctrines and methods taught by the Buddha in all the different sutras might sometimes seem contradictory, they are ultimately describing and leading to the same state of Buddhahood. Zhiyi describes this aspect of the sutra by stating that it “opens the three vehicles to reveal the one vehicle.”

For Zhiyi, the Lotus Sutra's doctrine of the One Vehicle (ekayāna) offered an inclusive meta-doctrine for understanding all Buddhist teachings. Zhiyi described the One Vehicle as "subtle" and "wonderful" compared to lesser, coarser teachings—though this distinction is only relative. From the ultimate perspective, the One Vehicle transcends comparison since no teaching exists outside it and it thus includes all the Buddha's teachings and in fact, is all the teachings. Thus, Zhiyi saw the One Vehicle as open and all-encompassing, integrating all of Buddhism into a single holistic framework. This One Vehicle teaching is also called the "Round" or "Complete" Teaching (yuan jiao 圓教), since it encircles everything, and lacks any sharp edges or divisions Zhiyi saw the Complete teaching of the One Vehicle as being composed of four types of unity: the oneness of the teachings (all teachings of the Buddha are non-contradictory and have one intent), the oneness of the practices (all lead to Buddhahood), the oneness of persons (all will attain Buddhahood), and the oneness of reality. According to Zhiyi, any text which is consistent with these concept teaches "the Subtle Dharma" (miaofa). As Zhiyi states in the Profound Meaning of Lotus Sutra: "various terms name one ultimate reality. Only one ultimate reality is given many names."

Original teaching

The latter 14 chapters constitute the Original Gate, which reveals that Śākyamuni Buddha is not a recently enlightened being but in fact attained Buddhahood countless aeons ago (it thus presents the "original" or "primordial" Buddha, 本佛). This ancient Buddha’s birth and apparent passing away (into nirvana) is just a skillful means, in reality, he has been ever-present in this very world, which is actually a serene pure land. Zhiyi proposed that this primordial Buddha embodies all three Mahāyāna buddha bodies simultaneously. Zhiyi’s interpretation presents these three bodies as inseparable and interpenetrating, such that the reward (Saṃbhogakāya) and manifest (Nirmāṇakāya) bodies share in the Dharmakāya's timelessness. This synthesis reflects Zhiyi's principle of unity, wherein the infinite and finite are fully interfused.

In commenting on the "Description of Merits" chapter (17) of the sutra, Zhiyi outlines several stages for the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, known as "four stages of faith" and "five stages of practice". According to Lopez and Stone:

The four stages of faith are (1) to arouse even a single thought of willing acceptance (also translated as “a single moment’s faith and understanding”); (2) to understand the intent of the sūtra’s words; (3) to place deep faith in the sūtra and expound it widely for others; and (4) to perfect one’s own faith and insight. The “five stages of practice” are (1) to rejoice on hearing the Lotus Sūtra; (2) to read and recite it; (3) to explain it to others; (4) to practice it while cultivating the six perfections; and (5) to master the six perfections.

Threefold Truth and Threefold Contemplation

Statue of Zhiyi at the Tendai home temple of Enryaku-ji, Mount Hiei, Japan

The foundational underpinning of Zhiyi's system is his doctrine of the threefold truth (sandi 三諦). Zhiyi's doctrine represents a significant adaptation of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka philosophy. While Nāgārjuna's system centers on two truths—the conventional and the ultimate—Zhiyi expanded this framework by adding a third category: the Middle. This innovation helped bridge the gap between the apparent dichotomy in the two truths model, and offered a more integrated and holistic view of reality.

Zhiyi's Threefold Truth comprises the following:

1. Emptiness (kong [空]): This is the true nature of reality, the fact that all phenomena lack inherent existence or self-nature (svabhāva). This corresponds to Nāgārjuna's ultimate truth, wherein all things are seen as empty due to their dependent origination.
2. Provisional or Conventional Existence (jia [假]): Despite their emptiness, phenomena appear and function within the realm of conditioned arising. This reflects the mundane or conventional truth in Madhyamaka, which Zhiyi glosses as "the twelvefold conditioned co-arising of ignorance" and as "illusory existence".
3. The Middle (zhong [中]): This truth is the mutual integration of emptiness and provisional existence. It emphasizes that reality is simultaneously empty and conventionally existent. Zhiyi viewed this Middle Truth as transcending all dualistic extremes (existence, non-existence, being, emptiness, defilement, and purity), affirming both aspects as unified and non-contradictory and describing it as "wondrous being identical to true emptiness." It can be explained as "a simultaneous affirmation of both emptiness and conventional existence as aspects of a single integrated reality." It is also described by Zhiyi as the "inconceivable" ultimate in which “any one [perspective] interfuses with all three, and the three, one”.

Zhiyi regarded these three as inseparable, emphasizing their mutual integration: each truth encompasses the others in a dynamic interplay rather than existing in isolation. One can only understand them as a whole, never apart. Zhiyi describes this as: "the perfect integration of the three truths: one-in-three, three-in-one" (sān dì yuán róng yī sān sān yī, 三諦圓融一三三一). Furthermore, according to Donner and Stevenson, the triple truth was also seen by Zhiyi as a tetralemma, which includes emptiness, and conventional existence, alongside the simultaneous affirmation and simultaneous negation of existence and emptiness.

Each aspect of the one truth has a corresponding contemplative aspect. This is known as the Threefold Contemplation (sanguan 三观) and is based on a passage from the Pusa yingluo benye jing (Taisho no. 1485):

1. Entering Emptiness from the Conventional (zong jia ru kong 從假入空): This practice begins by contemplating the dependent, conditioned nature of all phenomena, thereby discerning their emptiness. This corresponds to the contemplation of the two truths and aligns with the insight of arhats and bodhisattvas following foundational Buddhist teachings.
2. Entering the Conventional from Emptiness (zong kong ru jia 從空入假): Having recognized emptiness, one sees that emptiness is also empty and "re-enters" the conventional. This step reaffirms the practical, provisional existence of things, enabling compassionate engagement with the world. This corresponds to the wisdom of bodhisattvas in Mahayana teachings.
3. Contemplation of the Middle (zhong dao di yi yi di 中道第一義课): This practice harmonizes the previous two insights, transcending conceptual distinctions. Emptiness and existence are "simultaneously illumined and simultaneously eradicated". The middle reflects the wisdom of the Buddha and the ultimate teaching. It is a non-dual, unitary reality that integrates the other two truths simultaneously while also transcending them.

Zhiyi emphasized that the highest form of contemplation is "perfect and immediate calming and contemplation," where all three truths are perceived as a unified whole in a single instant of awareness. According to Zhiyi, "the supreme truth of the middle path" is "the reality of non-duality", as well as "the enlightened perception of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas", and is thus beyond all words and concepts, even though it can be called by various names like "Buddha-nature" (佛性 fóxìng), Thusness (Skt. tathātā, 如如 ruru), tathāgatagarbha (如来藏 rulaizang), and the Dharmadhatu (法界 fajie).

According to Paul Swanson, Zhiyi's triune doctrine arose from the need to make explicit the relationship between the first and second truths of classical Indian Mahayana (an issue which also may have led to the development of Yogacara's "three natures"). Zhiyi developed his theory of a threefold truth by drawing on Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, which explains the two truths as: "We state that whatever is dependent arising, that is emptiness. That is dependent upon convention. That itself is the middle path" (MMK, XXIV.18). Swanson also notes that various scholars have criticized Zhiyi for adding a third "truth", when no Indian author explains Madhyamaka this way. However, according to Swanson, the major point of Zhiyi's analysis is that reality is a single integrated truth (which may be explained with two or three aspects). As such, it is not a deviation from classical Madhyamaka. Swanson thinks that one of the main reasons for this development is that it was a useful device for undoing Chinese misunderstandings of the two truths (such as seeing them as referring to being and non-being, to two separate levels of reality or to an essential reality and its functions).

Three Thousand in One Thought

Zhiyi understood reality as a single integrated whole. This holism has been described in different ways, such as "the interinclusiveness of the ten realms" or "the interpenetrating unity of all aspects of reality". According to Swanson, for Zhiyi "everything contains everything else, and the whole contains all things." Zhiyi used the simile of a drunk man who perceives the sun as spinning around, while in reality there is just one sun (a simile found in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra).

Zhiyi also explained this teaching through the doctrine of the Three Thousand [Realms] in a Single Thought [/Moment] (Chinese: 一念三千; Pinyin: Yīniàn Sānqiān). According to this teaching, the various ten realms of existence of Buddhist cosmology are all interconnected and interpenetrating. Furthermore, each of these states of existence can be experienced in one's own mind, and can therefore be seen as a kind of experience and a way of seeing the world, as well as a realm of rebirth. Zhiyi states in a famous passage:

Now a single thought [literally, “one mind”] comprises ten dharma-realms, and each dharma- realm also comprises ten dharma-realms, giving a hundred dharma-realms. A single realm comprises thirty kinds of worlds; hence a hundred dharma-realms comprise three thousand kinds of worlds. These three thousand are contained in a single moment of thought. Where there is no thought, that is the end of the matter, but if there is even the slightest thought, it immediately contains the three thousand [realms].

The term three thousand realms can generally refer to all phenomena (all dharmas), just like the Chinese term "ten thousand things". The number "Three Thousand" itself is derived by Zhiyi from the Ten Realms, multiplied by ten [because of the mutual interfusion of the Ten Worlds in each other], which gives 100. 100 multiplied by ten [the Ten Factors listed in Ch. 2 of the Lotus Sutra gives us 1,000 phenomena. Finally, 1,000 multiplied by 3 [the Three Realms of Existence: Self, Other, and Environment] which gives 3,000 phenomenal "realms" of existence. According to Swanson, the main idea here is that "all reality is interpenetrating and inclusive, so that one short thought contains all of reality." Stone explains this as the idea that an any single ordinary thought and all phenomena in the universe "exist at each moment in a mutually inclusive relationship." According to Stone, this concept "represents a totalistic view of interdependent reality: the Buddha and ordinary worldlings, body and mind, cause and effect, subject and object, sentient and non-sentient are mutually encompassed in every moment of thought."

While reality is a unified whole, it be explained in different ways according to Zhiyi, such as through the schemas of the Three Subtle Dharmas (sentient beings, Buddha and mind) and the Ten Suchnesses to explain the various realms and how they have the same nature of the threefold truth. Since reality is unified in these ways, by contemplating one's mind, one can contemplate the whole of reality, including Buddhahood itself. Zhiyi explains this by commenting on a passage from the Avatamsaka Sutra which states that "if one disports one's mind in the dharmadhatu (all of reality) as if in space, then one will know the objective realm of all Buddhas." According to Zhiyi:

The dharmadhatu is the middle. Space is emptiness. The mind and Buddhas are conventional existence. The three together are the objective realm of all Buddhas. This means that if one contemplates [the thoughts of] one's mind, one can become endowed with all Buddha-dharmas.

Zhiyi also calls the single reality "the inconceivable mind" (不思議心 pu ssu i hsin), which contains all three thousand dharmas and the threefold truth. However, this "inconceivable mind" must not be understood as a kind of idealism in which reality arises from a single pure mind (a concept which would become influential in later Chinese Buddhism, especially in Zen). While this model presents a certain kind of non-duality, it emphasizes the ontological primacy of the "one mind" as pure and true, while perceiving worldly phenomena as illusory by-products of deluded consciousness. Zhiyi, however, proposed a different interpretation of Mahayana non-dualism. He rejected the idea that phenomena arise from an original mind. Instead, he described a relationship beyond vertical causation (mind generating phenomena) or horizontal containment (all things existing within mind). As Zhiyi writes:

Were the mind to give rise to all phenomena, that would be a vertical [relationship]. Were all phenomena to be simultaneously contained within the mind, that would be a horizontal [relationship]. Neither horizontal nor vertical will do. It is simply that the mind is all phenomena and all phenomena are the mind...[This relationship] is subtle and profound in the extreme; it can neither be grasped conceptually nor expressed in words. Therefore, it is called the realm of the inconceivable.

Zhiyi’s view reinterprets the world not as a mere realm of delusion, but as one with enlightenment itself, the “real aspect of all dharmas”. Thus, Buddhist practice is not about returning to a supposed original purity but about awakening to wisdom directly within the complexities of ignorance and worldly experience.

Meditation theory

Zhiyi's works on meditation (Ch. chan, Skt. dhyana) or calming and insight (zhi-guan, śamatha-vipaśyanā) comprise the most systematic and extensive works on Buddhist meditation practice written in imperial China. Already in Zhiyi's Xiao Zhiguan, śamatha and vipaśyanā are said to be the most essential and foundational element of Buddhist pracitce, since "cessation is the preliminary gate for overcoming the bonds [of the afflictions], [and] contemplation is the proper requisite for severing delusions." In the more mature Mohe Zhiguan, Zhiyi's understanding of the term zhi-guan is all encompassing, going beyond the traditional understanding which merely applies to specific aspects of meditation. For Zhiyi, zhi and guan include within it all Buddhist practices. This is because "zhi" refers to the static aspects of Buddhist practice, all the ways of "stopping" and bringing to "cessation" negative qualities (like defilements and delusions) as well as ethics (sila), while "guan" refers to all dynamic aspects of wisdom (prajña) and insight which lead us to seeing reality clearly.

Zhiyi's mature understanding of zhi-guan has a threefold aspect:

• Causal: The traditional understanding of the dual aspects of Buddhist practice in which śamatha (calming the mind or cessation of defilements and hindrances) and vipaśyanā (true seeing, insight or contemplation) are joined together. Calming is like closing a room to keep out wind, insight is like lighting a lamp. For Zhiyi, a balance of the two must be maintained, "these two aspects are like the two wheels of a cart, or the two wings of a bird; if one side is cultivated disproportionately, then one falls prey to mistaken excess."
• Effect: This refers to the effects of all religious practices: they help calm and still the mind, and they develop wisdom.
• Reality: Finally, Zhiyi also understands zhiguan as referring to ultimate reality itself, which has the nature of "quiescence and illumination."

The Four Samadhis

Zhiyi developed a curriculum of practice which was distilled into the 'Four Samadhis' (Chinese: 四種三昧; pinyin: sizhong sanmei). These Four Samadhi were expounded in Zhiyi's 'Mohe Zhiguan'. The Mohe Zhiguan is the magnum opus of Zhiyi's maturity and is held to be a "grand summary" of the Buddhist Tradition according to his experience and understanding at that time.

The text of the Mohe Zhiguan was refined from lectures Zhiyi gave in 594 in the capital city of Jinling and was the sum of his experience at Mount Tiantai c.585 and inquiry thus far. Parsing the title, 'zhi' refers to "ch’an meditation and the concentrated and quiescent state attained thereby" and 'guan' refers to "contemplation and the wisdom attained thereby". Swanson reports that Zhiyi held that there are two modes of zhi-guan: that of sitting in meditation 坐, and that of "responding to objects in accordance with conditions" 歷緣對境, which is further refined as abiding in the natural state of a calm and insightful mind under any and all activities and conditions.

Swanson states that Zhiyi in the Mohe Zhiguan

...is critical of an unbalanced emphasis on "meditation alone", portraying it as a possible "extreme" view and practice, and offering instead the binome zhi-guan 止觀 (calming/cessation and insight/contemplation, śamatha-vipaśyanā) as a more comprehensive term for Buddhist practice.

The "Samadhi of One Practice" (Skt. Ekavyūha Samādhi; Ch. 一行三昧) which is also known as the "samadhi of oneness" or the "calmness in which one realizes that all dharmas are the same" (Wing-tsit Chan), is one of the Four Samadhi that both refine, mark the passage to, and qualify the state of perfect enlightenment expounded in the Mohe Zhiguan. The term "Samadhi of Oneness" was subsequently used by Daoxin.

The Four Samadhis are

• "Constantly Seated Samādhi" (chángzuò sānmèi 常坐三昧) - 90 days of motionless sitting, leaving the seat only for reasons of natural need.
• "Constantly Walking Samādhi" (chángxíng sānmèi 常行三昧) - 90 days of mindful walking and meditating on Amitabha.
• "Half-Walking Half-Seated Samādhi" (bànxíng bànzuò sānmèi 半行半坐三昧) - Includes various practices such as chanting, contemplation of the emptiness of all dharmas and the "Lotus samādhi" which includes penance, prayer, worship of the Buddhas, and reciting the Lotus sutra.
• "Neither Walking nor Sitting Samādhi" (fēixíng fēizuò sānmèi 非行非坐三昧) - This includes "the awareness of mental factors" as they arise in the mind. One is to contemplate them as "not moving, not originated, not extinguished, not coming, not going".

Classification of teachings

In order to provide a comprehensive framework for Buddhist doctrine, Zhiyi sometimes described the various Buddhist sutras into the five types "five flavors" of the teaching, each suitable for certain types of beings. According to Zhiyi, the five flavors of the Buddha's teachings were: the Flower Garland, Āgama, Correct and Equal (Mahayana), Prajña and Lotus-Nirvana (corresponding to Lotus and Nirvana Sutras) flavors. These were compared in order to the five stages of milk: fresh milk, cream, curds, butter and ghee (clarified butter).

Later Tiantai figures would draw on the work of Zhiyi to develop the more extensive system of the "Five Periods and Eight Teachings." Japanese scholars like Sekiguchi Shindai have shown that this more developed system is the work of Zhanran and that Zhiyi never uses these "Five Periods and Eight Teachings" terminology, though he does describe the other sets of categories (but only twice in his whole collected works) which would be later systematized by Zhanran. For example, in his Fa-hua hsuan-i, Zhiyi explains that there are three categories of teachings: the sudden teaching, the gradual teaching and the variable.

Also, in his Ssu chiao i and other works, Zhiyi describes "four teachings" (四教) which arise from and actualize the three contemplations:

Because one can enter emptiness through the analysis of provisional existence, there arises the Tripitaka Teaching [including the four noble truths]. Because one can enter emptiness through experiencing provisional existence (as empty), there arises the Shared Teaching. From within the second (contemplation) for entering provisional existence from emptiness, there arises the Distinct Teaching [which is unique to bodhisattvas]. From the third correct contemplation of the Middle Way in one mind, there arises the Complete Teaching [which is the One Vehicle, the fully integrated threefold truth].

These four teachings were understood by Zhiyi as follows:

• The Tripitaka Teachings (zàngjiào, 藏教) which represents the Hinayana teachings on the four noble truths, renunciation and attainment of arhatship. It is aimed at individuals with limited spiritual capacity and remains incomplete as it relies on the duality between existence and emptiness.
• The Shared Teachings (tōngjiào, 通教) which emphasizes the understanding of emptiness, a principle that applies across all Buddhist paths. It prepares practitioners for deeper Mahayana insights but is not itself ultimate.
• The Distinct Teachings (biéjiào, 别教) which are exclusively Mahayanist. This teaching establishes the middle truth. Spiritual progress unfolds gradually through fifty-two bodhisattva stages Despite reaching the middle truth, its methods are seen as somewhat cumbersome due to reliance on gradualism and dualism.
• The Perfect Teaching (yuánjiào, 圆教) which directly reveals the ultimate truth "all at once" without reliance on provisional methods. This corresponds to the ultimate meaning of the One Vehicle, presenting the middle truth in an immediate and comprehensive manner. Intended for bodhisattvas with the sharpest spiritual faculties, it is regarded as the most profound and complete teaching. The Mohe Zhiguan sets out to explain how to practice this path.

In spite of these classification schemes, Zhiyi did not see the various classes of teaching as necessarily hierarchical, since each one had the same intent of the One Vehicle and thus had its own role to play in the Buddha's soteriological plan.

Contribution to Chinese medicine

Zhiyi's writings also show a deep understanding of traditional medical knowledge. His works incorporates Traditional Indian Buddhist medicine, with Chinese folk and Daoist medical knowledge.

For example, Zhiyi makes use of Indian medical systems based on the “four great elements”(“四大”) along with Chinese theories of the “five internal organs”(“五藏”) to explain the nature of different diseases and their causes. He also discusses various treatment methods such as herbal remedies, meditation to calm the mind (止心), six qi therapy (六气治病法), twelve-breath therapy (十二息治病法), and the recitation of mantras.

Ultimately, for Zhiyi, these medical practices were seen as supporting the ultimate goal of Buddhism, the contemplation of the mind.

See also

• Guoqing Temple
• Zhou Jichang

Primary sources in translation

• Dharmamitra (trans.): The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation by Shramana Zhiyi, Kalavinka Press 2008, ISBN 978-1-935413-00-4
• Donner, Neal & Daniel B. Stevenson (1993). The Great Calming and Contemplation. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
• Shen, Haiyan. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: T’ien-t’ai Philosophy of Buddhism, Volumes I and II. Delhi: Originals, 2005. ISBN 8188629413
• Swanson, Paul L.; trans. (2020). Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: T'ien-t'ai Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan, 3-volume set. UH Press.
• Tam, Wai Lun (1986). A Study and Translation on the Kuan-hsin-lun of Chih-i (538-597) and its Commentary by Kuan-Ting, Hamilton, Ontario: McMaster University
• Thich Tien Tam, trans. (1992). Ten Doubt about Pure Land by Dharma Master Chi-I (T. 47 No. 1961). In: Pure Land Buddhism - Dialogues with Ancient Masters, NY: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada & Buddha Dharma Education Association, pp. 19–51.

Secondary sources

• Chappell, David W. (1987). 'Is Tendai Buddhism Relevant to the Modern World?', Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 14/2-3, 247–266.
• Chappell, David Wellington (2013). A Guide to the Tiantai Fourfold Teachings, in: Tsugunari Kubo; Terry Abbott; Masao Ichishima; David Wellington Chappell, Tiantai Lotus Texts. Berkeley, California: Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai America. pp. 153–210. ISBN 9781886439450.
• Dumoulin, Heinrich (1993). "Early Chinese Zen Reexamined ~ A Supplement to 'Zen Buddhism: A History'", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1993 20/1.
• Dumoulin, Heinrich (author); Heisig, James W. (trans.) & Knitter, Paul, trans. (2005). Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 1: India and China. World Wisdom. ISBN 978-0-941532-89-1
• Hurvitz, Leon (1962). Chih-i (538–597): An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Buddhist Monk. Mélanges Chinois et Bouddhiques XII, Bruxelles: Institut Belge des Hautes Études Chinoises.
• Kantor, Hans-Rudolf (2002). Contemplation: Practice, Doctrine and Wisdom in the Teaching of Zhiyi (538-597), Inter-Religio 42, 21-37
• Lopez, Donald S.; Stone, Jacqueline I. (2019), Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sūtra, Princeton University Press
• Rhodes, Robert (2012). The Development of Zhiyi´s Three Contemplations and its Relation to the Three Truths Theory. In Conference Papers: Tiantai Buddhist Thought and Practice, Taipei: Huafan University, pp. 312–357
• Swanson, Paul L. (1989). Foundations of T'ien-T'ai Philosophy, Asian Humanities Press, California. ISBN 0-89581-919-8.
• Stevenson, Daniel B. (1986). The Four Kinds of Samādhi in Early T'ien-t'ai Buddhism. In: Peter N. Gregory: Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism Vol. 1, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp.  45–98. ISBN 0-8248-1088-0.
• Shen, Haiyan; Nasoraia, Brikha H. S. (17 June 2017). "On Tiantai Zhiyi's Theory of the Three Categories of Dharma". Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences. 11 (2). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 237–256. doi:10.1007/s40647-017-0183-x. ISSN 1674-0750. S2CID 256393493.