Zhiyi Quotes
Zhiyi was a Chinese Buddhist philosopher, monk, and the principal founder of the Tiantai school of Mahayana Buddhism, whose lectures at Mount Tiantai in southeastern China set out the most ambitious systematic synthesis of Buddhist thought attempted in East Asia. The Great Calming and Contemplation provided the foundational handbook of Tiantai meditation, while the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra and the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra established the canonical exegetical method by which all the various Buddhist teachings could be ordered as the deliberate sequence of a single pedagogy of the Buddha. The quotes below are attributed to Zhiyi, organized by topic.
Zhiyi on Knowledge
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Attributed to Zhiyi:
“All Buddhist teachings are the deliberate sequence of a single pedagogy.”
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“If one is able to become deeply aware of the negative consequences of desires, one will not become involved in them. This is what is meant by renouncing desire.”
p. 53
Zhiyi on Mind
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Attributed to Zhiyi:
“Three thousand realms are present in a single thought.”
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Attributed to Zhiyi:
“Cessation and contemplation are the two wings of the same flight.”
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Attributed to Zhiyi:
“Each instant of mind contains all the worlds; recognize this, and the path opens.”
Zhiyi on Truth
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Attributed to Zhiyi:
“The truth is threefold: emptiness, conventional designation, and the middle way.”