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背面相翻

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: relationship between front and back by turning over

Senses:

  • The third of three distinct senses of 'identity'  卽 according to Tiantai 天台宗 exegetes, who liken this to the relationship of inseparability between the palm and the back of the hand, which are distinct faces of what is originally one thing (FGD 3758). 'Exterior'  表 and 'interior'  裏 are correlative. That is, 'exterior' is only defined in distinction to 'interior' , and vice versa. Nakamura (1099b) explains that this sense of identity indicates the fundamental non-duality of goodness and badness 善惡不二; although goodness and badness may appear distinctly separate and opposed to one another, in reality, goodness and badness exist on a continuum such that, goodness merely refers to the relative lack of badness, while badness merely refers to the relative lack of goodness. The two are fundamentally inseparable from one another, like two sides of the same coin which are only designated as 'front' or 'back' in relation to one another. This sense of identity is included in the separate teaching 別教. It does not disclose the deeper sense of 'complete identity in essence'  當體全是 found in the perfectly integrated teaching 圓教. [Billy Brewster; source(s): Nakamura]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bulgyo sajeon 253a

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 1099b

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    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: 2020-12-06