understanding of Chih-i’s concept of Kyō-kan ni mon (教観二門) (two pillars: doctrine
and practice), i.e., concentration on the teachings and on the methods and practices
contained in the treatise “Great Concentration and Insight.”
In understanding the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i paid attention to shohō-jissō (諸滕實
相), the “true aspect of all phenomena,” found at the beginning of chapter two, which
was followed by jū-nyoze (十如是), the “ten factors of life,” which is presented to
suggest the outline and significance of shohō-jissō (諸滕實相), true aspect of all
phenomena. In the traditions of the Chinese sects of scholastic Buddhism, Chih-i focused
attention on two factors which he considered to be the foundation upon which the
concept of jū-nyoze (十如是) functions. One of them, described in the
Buddha-avatamsaka Sutra [華嚴經 Jpn: Kegon-kyō], was jikkai (十界), “the ten
potential states (worlds) of life inherent in each living being,” and the other was
san-seken (三世間), the “three realms of existence” (the realm of living beings, the realm
of the five components, and the material, or environmental realm), which was one of the
subjects of “The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom,” mentioned previously.
With regard to jū-nyoze (十如是), the ten factors, he made it clear that three aspects of
existence, appearance (相), nature (性), and entity (体), become actual function that is
accompanied by potential power (力) and actualization of potential power (作). These
five factors operate along with internal cause (因), condition (縁), latent effect (果),
and manifest effect(報). Ultimately, all of the previous nine actors function consistently
and harmoniously as an interrelated whole (本末究竟等).
So, the jū-nyoze (十如是) mentioned in the text of the Lotus Sutra should be
recognized as the operation of existing things within the world of their actual state of
existence—which can range, within the ten potential worlds of the jikkai (十界), from
ignorance to enlightenment. Moreover, it is necessary to recognize that this scheme is not
only operating with regard to living beings. The material realm does not exist
independently from the mind of living beings; rather, it is an object of perception
paralleling the realm of the living. Thus, the material realm and the realm of living beings
cannot be separated. The realm of the five components (form, perception, conception,
volition, and consciousness), links the material realm with the realm of living beings.
Existing things are recognized through a relationship between a perceiver—the function
of the five components through its eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, and the
corresponding five senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch—and the object of
perception; there is no recognition if one aspect is not present.
Thus from the simple words of shohō-jissō (諸滕實相) and jū-nyoze (十如是)
in chapter two of the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i conceived that the jū-nyoze (十如是) (ten
factors), jikkai (十界) (ten worlds), and san-seken (三世間) (three realms), are
intimately interacting in one’s perception during each moment. This is the basic idea that
underlies the concept of “ichi-nen sanzen”（ 一念三千） —embracing three thousand
realms in a single moment.
2. The Succession of the Concept of ichi-nen sanzen（ 一念三千）
The foregoing was a brief summary of the main theme detailed in Chih-i’s “Great
Concentration and Insight.” However, there is research which claims that the creation of
the concept of “ichi-nen sanzen”（ 一念三千） was done by Chan-jan (湛然), the sixth
patriarch of the T’ien-t’ai sect. This theme is taken up in the work, “Doubt on the Theory
of Ichinen-sanzen (一念三千) in the Maka-shikan (摩訶止観),” by Tetsuei Sato, that
appears in “Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu,” #13, Volume 7-1, but I will not go into detail
on that subject in this paper.
What I would like to address in this presentation is the fact that the doctrine of
ichi-nen sanzen (一念三千滕門) has been transmitted within the T’ien-t’ai/Tendai
tradition as a very significant and important doctrine until the present day.
In Japan, Dengyō Daishi Saichō (伝教大師最澄) [767-822] founded the Hieizan
Enryaku Ji (比叡幱延暦寺), and proposed the establishment of a comprehensive
Buddhism that included en-gyō (円教)(perfect teachings), mikkyō (密教) (esoteric
teachings), zen-shugyō (襌修行) (meditation practice), and kai-ritsu (戒律) (precepts).
The central philosophy of en-gyō (円教), the perfect teachings, is the above mentioned
doctrine of ichi-nen sanzen (一念三千滕門) . The doctrinal texts of the Japanese Tendai
sect, which were developed mainly on the basis of isshin-sangan”(一心三観) (threefold
contemplation in a single mind), were almost uncountable in number, and they were
lectured on and recorded in various ways. After Dengyō Daishi Saichō (伝教大師最澄),
the Lotus Sutra Buddhism of the Heian Period (平安滕華佛教) focused on parallel study