Tanluan (, 476–554) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who wrote on Pure Land Buddhism.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), p. 151
Tanluan was the first East Asian Buddhist to stress the importance of the Buddha's Other Power as a liberating force. He held that through the practice of nianfo (buddha recollection), the Buddha's power would take them to the pure land after death. This doctrine would become very important in later Pure Land Buddhism.
Tanluan's main work is his Jingtu lun zhu (浄土論註; T. 1819), a Commentary to Vasubandhu's Discourse on the Pure Land.Corless, Roger; Kameyama, Takahiko; "A Commentary on The Upadeśa on the Sutras of Limitless Life with Gāthās on the Resolution to Be Born Composed by the Bodhisattva Vasubandhu: Expository Commentary by the Monk Tanluan", Pacific World: Third Series Number 17 (2015).
Tanluan is considered to be the Third Patriarch of Pure land Buddhism by the Japanese Pure Land sects like Jōdo-shu and Jōdo Shinshū. He was a significant influence on later Pure Land masters like Shandao and Shinran.Corless, Roger. "The Enduring Significance of T’an-luan", Pacific World Journal, Third Series Number 2 Fall 2000
Life
Tanluan was born in Shanxi, in an area near Wu-t’ai shan. As a young boy he climbed the mountain and visited its holy sites.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), p. 150. He joined the Buddhist monastic community early on and became a scholar, studying the Sanlun (Madhyamaka) and Yogacara schools. After becoming ill, he also studied Taoism and the Taoist canon under Taoist master Tao Hongjing (456–536) in order to seek the Pill of Immortality and prolong his life.
One day, while passing through the city of Loyang, Tanluan had a striking encounter with Bodhiruci, a Buddhist monk from India who had come to China to translate and transmit the Mahayana sutras. When Tanluan asked him about finding immortality, Bodhiruci told him he would not find it in this world, and gave him a copy of the Amitayus Sutra, which discusses the Pure Land of the Buddha "Measureless Life" (Amitayus, Amitabha). Tánluán then became a devotee of Pure Land Buddhism and burnt his Taoist texts.T'an-luan, Pruden, Leo (1975). A Short Essay on the Pure Land, The Eastern Buddhist, New Series 8 (1), 74-95
Shinkō Mochizuki argues that this story is unlikely to be accurate however, as Tanluan actually criticizes a Bodhiruci's translation in one of his writings in a way that a student would not do. Mochizuki instead posits Tao-ch’ang as a likely teacher of Tanluan, since Daochuo lists him as a previous master of the Pure Land lineage.
Whatever the case, Tanluan soon returned to his home, where he practiced and taught Pure Land Buddhism to monks and laity alike.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), p. 151. Tanluan's reputation grew, eventually drawing the attention of the Emperor of the Wei Dynasty, who honored him with the title “Shen-Luan” (Divine Bird). In recognition of his achievements, the Emperor entrusted him with the Ta-yen Ssu Monastery in Ping-chou.
Later, he relocated to Hsüan-chung Ssu Monastery, situated at the base of the Pei-shan cliffs in Chiao-ch’eng Hsien, Shanxi. There, he gathered a community of disciples, with whom he diligently practiced nianfo. According to historical accounts, Tanluan passed away in the year 542 at the age of sixty-six, in a secluded mountain monastery in Ping-yao.
Works Tanluan's magnum opus is the influential Commentary on [Vasubandhu's] Treatise on the Pure Land (Wúliángshòujīng yōupótíshè yuànshēngjié zhù, 無量壽經優婆提舍願生偈註, T. 1819, also known as Jingtu wangsheng lun zhujie 淨土往生論註解). According to Roger Corless, Tanluan's commentary is the "first systematic treatise on Chinese Pure Land Buddhism which has come down to us".
This commentary focuses on how all beings can swiftly attain the bodhisattva stage of non-retrogression by attaining birth in Sukhavati, the pure land of the Buddha Amitābha, through the sincere practice of nianfo (buddha recollection, or mindfulness of the buddha).
Tanluan also wrote Verses in Praise of Buddha Amitabha (讃阿弥陀仏偈, Zan Omituofoji, T. 1978) and a Condensed Commentary on the Significance of the Pure Land of Peace and Bliss (Lüelun anyuele jingtu yi, 略論安楽浄土義 T. 1957).
However some scholars have questioned the authenticity of the Condensed Commentary.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), p. 152.
Teaching Tanluan’s central teachings are found in his Commentary on the Rebirth Treatise (Jingtu lun zu). He often relies on Madhyamaka philosophy, and cites the Dazhidulun widely.
At the outset of his Commentary, Tanluan cites the "Chapter on Easy Practice" (from the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā), traditionally attributed to Nāgārjuna to establish the two paths a bodhisattva can embark on: the difficult path (nanxing dao 難行道; i.e. the path of the perfections) and the path of easy practice (yixing dao 易行道,), i.e. attaining birth in the pure land, where one is empowered by the Buddha and is assured of progress.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), pp. 153-154Gira, Dennis. Review: Tanluan: “Commentaire au Traité de la Naissance dans la Terre Pure” de Vasubandhu. Chinese text compiled, translated, and annotated by Jérôme Ducor. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2021. cii + 474 pages. Paperback. .
In this world, where the Buddha’s presence is absent, the presence of deluded people, evil people, non-Buddhists, and non-Mahayana teachings lead bodhisattvas away from their practice, confusing and obstructing them. Since the Buddha is not present here now, we cannot learn the teaching directly from him, and have no guarantee of finding an awakened teacher. We must therefore rely on our own deluded opinions when practicing the path and this hinders our practice. Thus, the path of the perfections is very difficult, like taking a long journey overland.
However, if one relies on the power of the Buddha's power to carry one to the Pure Land after death, one will attain the stage of non-retrogression (avaivartika), from which there is no falling back into lower states of rebirth. In the pure land we can hear the Dharma from the Buddha and can attain awakening rapidly. Since this path depends on an external power rather than one's own effort, it is likened to sailing across water in a boat rather than walking on land and so it is "the path of easy practice."
Buddha's other power Tanluan argues that the pure land path is easy because it relies on the Buddha's power, not on one's own efforts. He is the first figure to use the term "other power" (Chinese: tālì, 他力) in a Pure Land context, a term that would become central for later Pure Land Buddhism. In his Commentary, Tanluan emphasizes the immense power of Amitābha’s Fundamental Vows. He explains that practicing the five forms of nianfo (remembering the Buddha), benefiting both oneself and others, and enlightenment itself all depend on Amitābha. Thus, he writes:On the path of easy practice, one simple aspires to the born in the Pure Land with faith in the Buddha as the cause. Carried by the power of the Buddha's Vow, one quickly attains birth in that Buddha's pure land. Sustained by the Buddha's power, one immediately enters the stage of the rightly settled of the Mahayana. Tanluan is also the first thinker in East Asian Buddhism to argue that other-power is "the dominant causal condition" (Ch: zēngshàng yuán 增上緣; Sanskrit: adhipatipratyaya) for the attainment of complete Buddhahood:Due to the power of this Vow of the Buddha, the bodhisattva surpasses the practices of the usual stages and actually practices the virtues of Samantabhadra....When we thus consider Other Power, we find that it is the dominant condition for swiftly realizing anuttara-samyak sambodhi. Tanluan uses various similes to illustrate the Buddha's vow power. He compares the “power of the original vow” (běn yuànlì 本願力) of Amitabha Buddha which can eliminate eons of bad karma in a single moment of nianfo to how "a pile of firewood accumulated by a hundred men for a hundred years that can be burned in half a day by a bean-sized spark."Jones (2019), p. 67. He also compares the Buddha's name to a light which can illuminate a dark room, even if that room has been dark for eons. This is why Tanluan thinks that through pure land practice, even someone who has committed the “Five Heinous Deeds” (including killing one's parents, harming a saint, etc) and the “ten evils” can attain birth in the pure land.Jones (2019), p. 17. Tanluan also compares relying on other power to following in the procession of a Cakravartin king, which allows one to travel to any continent with ease. Tanluan states "I urge students in the future to listen to the teaching that you should ride upon Other Power and awaken faith. Do not restrict yourself to your own powers."
Buddha's vows Tanluan also discusses the forty-eight vows which Amitabha Buddha made in the past (as taught in the Amitayus Sutra). These vows are closely connected with Buddha's power and his salvific activity, since he practiced for eons as a bodhisattva to fulfill them. Indeed, Tanluan writes that "His power and his resolution go together, in the final analysis they are not different." Furthermore, Amitābha’s Fundamental Vow does not only facilitate rebirth in the Pure Land for all kinds of people, but also supports the virtuous actions of bodhisattvas and humans. For Tanluan, the power of the Buddha's vow is not just the main cause for birth in the pure land, it is the main support for practice in the pure land. He writes:Birth in the pure land, as well as the practices performed by the bodhisattvas, human beings, and devas there, are all due to the power of Amida Tathagata's Primal Vow. Why is this? It is because, were it not for the Buddha's power, the Forty-eight Vows would have been made in vain. Among the forty-eight vows, Tanluan highlights the eleventh, eighteenth, and twenty-second as particularly significant. These vows ensure that anyone can achieve rebirth in the Pure Land, attainment of non-regression, and rapid progress toward Buddhahood.Shinkō Mochizuki (2000), p. 156 His account of these key vows become a major source for this topic later Pure Land authors like Shinran. According to Tanluan's account:
The Eleventh Vow guarantees that those reborn in the Pure Land will join the assembly of those definitively assured of Buddhahood. Through this vow, Buddha ensures that beings remain in this assembly and achieve the state of non-regression. The Eighteenth Vow is the essential vow of rebirth in the Pure Land. According to Tanluan, this vow enables all sentient beings from all ten directions to attain rebirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land. The Twenty-Second Vow ensures that those reborn in the Pure Land will advance rapidly toward Buddhahood. Instead of progressing step by step through the various bodhisattva stages (bhūmis), the devotee bypasses these stages, reaching the stage of “only one more rebirth” [until Buddhahood], bringing them to the threshold of ultimate awakening.
The transformative power of the pure land Drawing on the Mahayana teaching of emptiness, Tanluan further argues that, Amitābha, in his past life as bodhisattva Dharmākara, made his forty eight vows when he entered the eighth bodhisattva stage. This is the level at which a bodhisattva attains the wisdom of the non-arising of all phenomena (which sees that all things do not ultimately come to being, or cease to be, since they are empty and illusory). For Tanluan, it was at the very moment of his realization of non-arising that Amitabha also resolved to give rise to the pure land. This means that the pure land is the "Realm of Non-Arising" (ch: wúshēng jiè 無生界), a subtle realm beyond the triple-world (trailokadhātu) that is not separate from the Buddha's pure mind. Furthermore, it means that all the decorations of the pure land have their source in the purity of the Buddha's mind.