The Tien-tai school emphasizes the unraveling double cultivation of concentration and contemplation and the importance of combining both learning and practice. There are two main paradigms: one is to interpret the teachings comprehensively and sophisticatedly, giving priority to contemplating the ultimate truth and viewing the religious practices as a supplement. Another is to grasp the essentials of teaching and meditation, and give priority to religious practices with the wisdom contemplation embedded. In this article, Zhi-I (智顗) and Zun-Shi (遵式) are chosen as the representative individuals of these two paradigms. The close integration of theory and meditation in the Perfect Teaching which require the use of the three wisdoms in one thought to contemplate on the interfusion of three truths is quite difficult, even for Zhi-I himself. Therefore, Zhi-I’s thought of teaching and meditation gives top priority to wisdom contemplation, and uses various samādhi practice methods as supplementary means to realize the Middle Way reality. This kind of profound and difficult meditation practice of the Perfect Teaching looks to Buddhist elites of sharp faculty for shouldering this responsibility. Zun-Shi was taught under Tien-tai master I-Tung, and studied hard on the teachings of this school. Although he was proficient in the concentration and contemplation theories of the Perfect Teaching, he showed a strong inclination towards diligent practice. He laid emphasis on grasping the wisdom contemplation essentials of the Perfect Teaching, and integrated them into the religious practice methods, with an attempt to realize the truth of the Perfect Teaching through repentance and Buddha-recitation practices. This pattern of comprehension and practice which gives top priority to ritual practices corresponds to the faculty and practice requirement of the majority of Buddhist practitioners, and is beneficial to the transmission and inheritance of Tien-tai teaching and meditation tradition.
Keywords:
Tien-tai teaching and meditation, Chi-I, Zun-Shi, wisdom contemplation, religious practice