ABSTRACT
In the foregoing pages, I have tried to present the gist of the Hwa Yen philosophy by introducing the three essential elements of that systemnamely, the Philosophy of Emptiness, the Philosophy of Totality, and the Doctrine of Mind-Only-for the absence of any one would render the Hwa Yen thought incomplete and even misleading. The prologue and the first part of this book, The Realm of Totality, were given to provide a necessary background for the comprehension of such a philosophical system. Also, they may serve to present the basic Mahayana view on the cosmos, life, the various stages of Enlightenment, and the inconceivable realm of Buddhahood as it appears in the Hwa Yen Sutra. The Chinese Buddhists are fond of calling the Hwa Yen Sutra "the King of All Siitras." This acclamation is quite understandable to those who have read this remarkable work, for they cannot help but catch a glimpse of an awe-inspiring panorama of totality in which the vastness and depth of Buddha's insight, His perspective, and His love and acts are revealed in lively freshness. To one who is interested in Zen Buddhism, the Ten Stages of a Bodhisattva's Enlightenment may be extremely useful, for he can now gauge his Zen experience against those described in the Siitra and see how far or how little he has progressed in the Path.
