A Study of the Ego in Zhang Taiyan's Thought on Buddhism

Zhang Tai-yan classified ego into two types,namely,ego arising from dependence on karma and ego arising from dependence on self-consciousness.He held that the eradication of the two forms of ego was the way to reach Tathata.Only when one had abandoned the small self could he have been able to devote himself undauntedly to the revolution and the saving of the Chinese nation from crisis and subjugation.Though his Buddhist thinking has various defects,his sense of crisis,sense of responsibility and his compassion were admirable and his proposition of depending on self rather than others was of great eternal value.