Jingang pi
(Redirected from The Adamantine Scalpel)
Jingang pi (J. Kongōbei; K. Kŭmgang pi 金剛錍) (“Adamantine Scalpel”) is a treatise composed by the Tiantai scholar Jingxi Zhanran.[1] The title of the text is a reference to an adamantine (S. vajra) scalpel that was an ancient Indian tool used in cataract surgery.[1] In a similar manner, the text is intended as a tool to remove the ignorance of sentient beings.[1]
The Princeton Dictionary states:
- The Jingang pi is a narrative conveyed in the form of a dream, which is structured around a dialogue with an unidentified stranger. The Jingang pi is largely concerned with the issue of buddha-nature (foxing), and particularly with the controversy over whether insentient beings possess the buddha-nature. Zhanran seems to be the first Tiantai exegete to advance the argument that the buddha-nature was inherent in even insentient things, such as grass, trees, tiles, and rocks, thus corroborating a statement that appears in the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra . This argument was later adopted by Tiantai scholars of the Song dynasty and by Tendai and Zen exegetes in Japan.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Jingang Pi.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
