| Master Uisang's Haein-do the great Dharma-diagram of Korean Buddhism a.k.a. the Ilseung-beopgye-do |
| Uisang in Chang-an the capital of Tang China, mid-7th-century, creating the Haein-do Diagram that summarizes all Hwa-eom [Huayen, Avatamsaka, Flower-Garland] philosophy from the Main Hall of Gyeongju City's Seondo-san Yeongheung-sa Temple |
The Huayan School [Chinese: 華嚴宗; pinyin: Huáyán Zōng] is one of the greatest types of Mahayana Buddhist
philosophy that started and flourished in China during the Tang Dynasty. It is based on the Sanskrit Avataṃsaka
Sūtra [Ch: Huayan Jing; Flower Garland Sutra] and on a lengthy Chinese interpretation of it, the Huayan Lun.
The name "Flower Garland" is meant to suggest the crowning glory of profound understanding, the realization that
universal reality is an inter-woven mutual-connection of enlightened beings, symbolized by a wreath of lotus flowers
with their stems intertwined.
Another key metaphor for this philosophy is Indra's Net -- which hangs over the palace of Indra [top manager of the
heavenly deities in Hinduism / Buddhism; Jeseok in Korean, often depicted as a Buddha (Jeseok-bul) in the folk-
daoist-buddhist Chilseong (Seven Stars) paintings and like a Bodhisattva in many older Shinjung (Assembly of the
Guardian Spirits) paintings], on Mount Meru (the axis-mundi of Hindu & Buddhist cosmology), with a multifaceted
jewel at each vertex, so that each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels -- meaning that infinitely repeated mutual
relations exist among all the seemingly-distinct members of the universe.
This school was transmitted to Korea by Great Master Uisang, close friend of Great Master Wonhyo, and it is known
as the Hwa-eom-jong [-jong = Buddhist School]. Therefore, he is entitled Uisang-josa [-josa = Founding Master].
The most fundamental text of Korea's Hwa-eom school of Buddhism remains the Ilseung-beopgye-do [一乘法界圖,
Chart of the Dharma-world of the Single Vehicle] by Master Uisang [義湘, 625-702]. It is commonly called the
Haein-do [Ocean-Seal diagram], and Gaya-san Haein-sa Temple, one of Korea's largest, most important and most
famous monasteries, is named after it. It is also called the One-Vehicle Dharmadhatu [Buddha-Realm] diagram,
and simply the "Song of the Dharma Nature by the Venerable Uisang".
In the Ilseung-beopgye-do, the ontological doctrine of "dependent co-arising of the dharma-world", central to the
Hwaeom School, is depicted as if engraved on a rectangular seal (ink-stamp), in the form of a poem in 30 lines with
seven characters on each line (210 characters in sum), in an unbroken maze-like line with 51 angles (vaguely like
a swastika). In his original document, Uisang included a brief commentary on the text.
This work focuses on practical theory on the whole, illuminating on how to be awakened by means of diverse
practices of establishing oneself and helping others, within the context of Hwaeom doctrines. Uisang, as a deep
and sincere practitioner who was always austere in keeping Buddhist precepts, focused his practice not on his
individual dimension but on active salvation of sentient beings in the world, while dealing positively with any
contemporaneous situations. In this context, his active practice was based upon faith in Gwanse-eum-bosal
[Avalokiteśvara the Bodhisattva of Compassion] and in Amitābha Buddha as a general and popular faith.
Ten great disciples of Uisang carried his school forward, resulting in the establishment of the ten great monasteries
devoted to propagation of Hwaeom philosophy and practices, the Hwaeom-shipchal.
In the early Goryeo Dynasty, great scholastic Master Gyunyeo (均如, 923-973), serving as the head of the Hwaeom
School in that period, wrote a great commentary explaining Uisang's Ilseung-beopgye-do / Haein-do, referencing and
incorporating the works of Uisang's disciples and their disciples, in order to re-unify and establish a strong foundation
for the Goryeo Hwaeom School -- it is this scholarship that best informs us of the meaning of the Haein-do today, as
it remains a key scripture of Korean Buddhism, studied by all its monks (Hwaeom having been blended in with Seon
[Zen] to form the Jogye system).
philosophy that started and flourished in China during the Tang Dynasty. It is based on the Sanskrit Avataṃsaka
Sūtra [Ch: Huayan Jing; Flower Garland Sutra] and on a lengthy Chinese interpretation of it, the Huayan Lun.
The name "Flower Garland" is meant to suggest the crowning glory of profound understanding, the realization that
universal reality is an inter-woven mutual-connection of enlightened beings, symbolized by a wreath of lotus flowers
with their stems intertwined.
Another key metaphor for this philosophy is Indra's Net -- which hangs over the palace of Indra [top manager of the
heavenly deities in Hinduism / Buddhism; Jeseok in Korean, often depicted as a Buddha (Jeseok-bul) in the folk-
daoist-buddhist Chilseong (Seven Stars) paintings and like a Bodhisattva in many older Shinjung (Assembly of the
Guardian Spirits) paintings], on Mount Meru (the axis-mundi of Hindu & Buddhist cosmology), with a multifaceted
jewel at each vertex, so that each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels -- meaning that infinitely repeated mutual
relations exist among all the seemingly-distinct members of the universe.
This school was transmitted to Korea by Great Master Uisang, close friend of Great Master Wonhyo, and it is known
as the Hwa-eom-jong [-jong = Buddhist School]. Therefore, he is entitled Uisang-josa [-josa = Founding Master].
The most fundamental text of Korea's Hwa-eom school of Buddhism remains the Ilseung-beopgye-do [一乘法界圖,
Chart of the Dharma-world of the Single Vehicle] by Master Uisang [義湘, 625-702]. It is commonly called the
Haein-do [Ocean-Seal diagram], and Gaya-san Haein-sa Temple, one of Korea's largest, most important and most
famous monasteries, is named after it. It is also called the One-Vehicle Dharmadhatu [Buddha-Realm] diagram,
and simply the "Song of the Dharma Nature by the Venerable Uisang".
In the Ilseung-beopgye-do, the ontological doctrine of "dependent co-arising of the dharma-world", central to the
Hwaeom School, is depicted as if engraved on a rectangular seal (ink-stamp), in the form of a poem in 30 lines with
seven characters on each line (210 characters in sum), in an unbroken maze-like line with 51 angles (vaguely like
a swastika). In his original document, Uisang included a brief commentary on the text.
This work focuses on practical theory on the whole, illuminating on how to be awakened by means of diverse
practices of establishing oneself and helping others, within the context of Hwaeom doctrines. Uisang, as a deep
and sincere practitioner who was always austere in keeping Buddhist precepts, focused his practice not on his
individual dimension but on active salvation of sentient beings in the world, while dealing positively with any
contemporaneous situations. In this context, his active practice was based upon faith in Gwanse-eum-bosal
[Avalokiteśvara the Bodhisattva of Compassion] and in Amitābha Buddha as a general and popular faith.
Ten great disciples of Uisang carried his school forward, resulting in the establishment of the ten great monasteries
devoted to propagation of Hwaeom philosophy and practices, the Hwaeom-shipchal.
In the early Goryeo Dynasty, great scholastic Master Gyunyeo (均如, 923-973), serving as the head of the Hwaeom
School in that period, wrote a great commentary explaining Uisang's Ilseung-beopgye-do / Haein-do, referencing and
incorporating the works of Uisang's disciples and their disciples, in order to re-unify and establish a strong foundation
for the Goryeo Hwaeom School -- it is this scholarship that best informs us of the meaning of the Haein-do today, as
it remains a key scripture of Korean Buddhism, studied by all its monks (Hwaeom having been blended in with Seon
[Zen] to form the Jogye system).
| the first book in English on Uisang's Ilseung-beopgye-do / Haein-do -- but nearly impossible to find a copy. |
