Fazang’s Perspective on the Arousal of the Thought of Enlightenment 發心: An Examination Through the Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna 大乘起信論 as Cited in the Huayanjing Tanxuanji 華嚴經探玄記

This study examines the parts of the Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna (AFM) quoted in the Huayanjing tanxuanji (Tanxuanji) and sheds light on how Fazang, as a Huayan master, understood and utilized the AFM in the Tanxuanji. In the Tanxuanji, the AFM is quoted 36 times, and the arousal of the thought of enlightenment is most frequently mentioned. Therefore, this study focuses on the arousal of the thought of enlightenment and reveals Fazang’s unique understanding of this concept within Huayan thought. First, Fazang understood the stage of the aspiration to awakening through the perfection of faith as corresponding to the first abode. Second, Fazang explains several chapters of the Avataṃsaka-sūtra beyond the first stage of abode in the Tanxuanji by quoting the aspiration to awakening through the perfection of faith, which stems from his theory of becoming buddha by the completion of faith. Third, while Fazang categorized the AFM within the final teaching in terms of its concept of arousal of the thought of enlightenment, he may have recognized the AFM as aligning with either the same teaching of the one vehicle or the distinct teaching of the one vehicle. Fourth, Fazang’s view on the arousal of the thought of enlightenment in the Tanxuanji reflects his distinctive perspective evident in the Fazangshu. This understanding of Fazang explains why the arousal of the thought of enlightenment was quoted most frequently in the Tanxuanji.