Buddhism: One Is All

In this lecture, Professor Van Norden explains the Chinese Buddhist teaching that one is all and all is one, focusing on the "Rafter Dialogue" of Fazang. Zoom lecture recorded on 22 March 2021.

Previous Lecture: Buddhism: Buddhism Comes to China,    • Buddhism Comes to China  
Following Lecture: All Is One,    • From Huayan to Zen Buddhism  

Part 1: From Nāgasena’s Chariot to Huayan’s “All Is One”
1:36 Nāgasena: Composite Entities Are Empty of a Self
4:51 Nāgārjuna: Everything Is Empty of a Self
9:02 Huayan: “All is one, and one is all.”
15:14 Indra’s Net
18:31 Science and Indra’s Net
22:26 Overview: Nāgasena to Nāgārjuna to Fazang

Part 2: Fazang’s “Rafter Dialogue”
27:19 Overview of the Rafter/Building Metaphor
30:53 The Rafter Dialogue: The Rafter Is the Building
34:18 The Rafter Dialogue: It Is Not a Rafter without the Building
36:45 Some Other Examples
39:20 The Rafter Dialogue: Annihilationism and Eternalism
43:45 The Rafter Dialogue: Without the Rafter the Building is Different
46:02 The Rafter Dialogue: The Shingles Are the Rafter