though they might make Dogen and Sosan wonder.
　　 The first motto, "Everywhere  is the image of the Buddha,
hence  do  all  things  as  a  Buddhist  mass", reflects  the
Hua-yen(i) doctrine that the Buddha Vairocana is manifesting
himself everywhere.(l6) Sot'aesan  by this motto intended  to
renovate  the way of worshipping  the Buddha.  In his view it
was hard to prove whether  the Buddha  statue had any potency
to bless or punish  tire faithful;  the practice  in question
was obsolete  and superstitious, unable to keep pace with the
growth  of  human  intelligence.   In  Sot'aesan's  view  the
practice  could  do more  harm  than service  to the original
teachings of the Buddha (K. 131).
　　 The second  motto, "Practice  ch'an(j) (sort, zen) at all
times and places". reflects Sot'aesan's intention of bringing
the heart of the Buddhist

P.431

way into the daily  life of all.  If this could  be done, Won
Buddhism  could solve the problems  of the opposing  parties.
Sot'aesan described thus the essence of son:

　　 True   ch'a(j)  lies   in  taking   the  True   Emptiness
　　 [chen-kung(k)] as  the  substance  of the  mind  and  the
　　 Marvelous  Existence  [mioo-yu(l)] as the function of the
　　 mind so that the mind is as immovable as a great mountain
　　 in trying situations and, when left alone, the purity and
　　 serenity  of the mind is like the empty  and vast sky, If
　　 one continues ch'an, all the discriminations  of the mind
　　 will be based on samadhi such that the functioning of the
　　 six roots will coincide  with the self-nature  (svabhava)
　　 of  Silent   Emptiness   [k'ung-chi(m)  ]  and   Numinous
　　 Awareness [ling-chih(n)] (K. 81).

Sot'aesan took this as the Mahayanistic  ch'an or zen and the
integrated   practice  of  the  Triple  Discipline  (samadhi,
prajna, sila). Ch'an was to be the way of lving in samsara.
　　 The spirit of reformation  of Buddhism was found in still
another  motto, "Buddha dharam is worldly  living and worldly
living  is  Buddha  dharma  itself."  This  motto  challenges
Dogen's  way of the Buddha dharma, and is not independent  of
the previous  two.  Sot'aesan  here brought the Buddha dharma
which had been hiding, if not lost, in remote mountains  into
the urban  and rural  areas  to deliver  the sentient  beings
there.
　　 The question  now becomes whether  this Buddhist  way was
not the way of the Confucian, or whether  one could sincerely
carry out the moral duties spelled out by the Confucian moral
system while one was following the Buddhist way.

III.   SYNTHESIS OF METAPHYSICAL TENETS

　　 Once one learns  of the Four Grand  Platforms  and of the
mottos  for reformatian, one can feel that the Buddha  dharma
is near at hand;  yet one can feel  it quite  implausible  to
follow the Buddha dharma as Won

P.432

Buddhism  suggests, let alone to graft  the Confucian  way to
it. Some may even feel that there is a catch in such a claim,
for  black  and  white  mixed  can  only  produce  gray.  For
Sot'aesan, however, it was not only possible but necessary to
so mix.  To a newly  converted  disciple  from  the Confucian
tradition  who  worried  about  the long  standing  Confucian
prejudice  against Buddhism for its nihilism and otherworldly
aspects, Sot'aesan said:

　　 ...Wu-chi(o)   [Ultimateless]   or   T'ai-chi(p)   [Great
　　 Ultimate]  in the Chou-i(q) is true essence  of emptiness
　　 [hsu-wu(r) ']  and  annihilation  [chi-mieh(s) ] with  no
　　 selfish desires. Tsu-ssu's(t) state of equilibrium cannot
　　 be the Mean unless it is emptiness and annihilation;  nor
　　 can the illustrious  virtue of the Ta-hsueh be manifested
　　 without   emptiness   and  annihilation.   Thus,  various
　　 religions use different words and names, but the truth is