Abstract

The Buddha famously asserts that Buddhist practice leads to the elimination of suffering. However, Tiantai Buddhism views suffering and evil as precious and indispensable. It asserts that Buddha-nature contains evil. After providing a short introduction to the most relevant aspects of the doctrine of Tiantai school, I provide an in-depth discussion of the theoretical and practical importance of evil and suffering in early Tiantai Buddhism as proposed by Zhiyi (智顗) and Zhanran (湛然). The question of evil is an unprecedented contribution of this school to the explication of the Bodhisattva path for at least three reasons. First, the evil tendency within Buddha-nature allows Buddhas to return to saṃsāra (rebirth), for example, to be reincarnated as a ghost or an animal to help sentient beings. Second, suffering is essential because it is needed for enlightenment. Third, Tiantai Buddhism has a special treatment of evil and suffering in its tripartite contemplation.