Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

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教院

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: doctrinal temple

Senses:

  • Also written 教寺; distinguished from temples that specialize in meditation 禪院 or that specialize in teaching the Vinaya 律院. In East Asia, these are most commonly found in the Tiantai or Esoteric traditions. 〔正法眼藏; 塩山和泥合水集〕 [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Yokoi, Nakamura]
  • In early Song China, proponents of the Chan school created this tripartite categorization, which eventually was adopted by the imperial court despite opposition from non-Chan (mainly Tiantai) factions. It did not apply to all Chinese Buddhist monasteries, just to elite public monasteries where the abbacies were reserved for either 禪, 教, or 律 lineage holders. In this context, 禪院 does not mean 'monasteries that specialize in meditation,' but rather means monasteries where the abbacy is reserved for eminent monks in the Chan lineage, i.e., the 'buddha mind lineage'  佛心宗. The monasteries that specialized in meditation were, in fact, the 教院: Tiantai school monasteries that had dedicated facilities for a variety of specialized meditation practices (the 四種三昧) and that emphasized study of the Mohe zhiguan 摩訶止觀, the most comprehensive and authoritative meditation manual in China. [Griffith Foulk]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 180

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 214d

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 433

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 230b

    Fo Guang Dictionary 4606

    Ding Fubao {Digital Version}

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)561c,1712a

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 2007-12-06

    Updated: 2022-01-31