BUDDHIST STUDIES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF A. K. Narain University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA L. M.Joshi Punjabi University Patiala, India Alexander W. Macdonald Universiti de Paris X Nanterre, France Bardwell Smith Carleton College Northfield, Minnesota, USA EDITORS Ernst Steinkellner University of Vienna Wien, Austria Jikido Takasaki University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan Robert Thurman Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts, USA ASSISTANT EDITOR Roger Jackson Volume 6 1983 Number 1 the watermark THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUDDHIST STUDIES, I,NC. This J oumal is the organ of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Inc., and is governed by the objectives of the Association and accepts scholarly contributions pertaining to Buddhist Studies in all the various disciplines such as philosophy, history, religion, sociology, anthropology, art, archaeology, psychology, textual studies, etc. The JIABS is published twice yearly in the Spring and Fall. Manuscripts for publication and correspondence concerning articles should be submitted to A. K. Narain, Editor-in-Chief,JIABS, Department of South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, U.S.A. The Association and the Editors assume no responsibility for the views expressed by the authors in the Association's Journal and other related publications. Books for review should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editors cannot guarantee to publish reviews of unsolicited books nor to return those books to the senders. EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Andre Bareau (France) Joseph M. Kitagawa (USA) John Brough (U.K.) Jacques May (Switzerland) M.N. Deshpande (India) Ha.lime Nakamura Uapan) R. Card (USA) John Rosenfield (USA) B.G. Gokhale (USA) David Snellgrove (U.K.) P.S.Jaini (USA) E. Zurcher (Netherlands) J.w. de Jong (Australia) Erratum: Vol. 5, no. 2 of the Journal is incorrectly marked on the spine as Vol. 5, no. 1. The Editor-in-Chief wishes to thank Rena Haggarty for assistance in the preparation of this volume. Copyright The International Association of Buddhist Studies 1983 ISSN: 0193-600X Sponsored by Department of South Asian Studies, University of Wis- consin, Madison. CONTENTS I. ARTICLES 1. Enlightenment in Dagen's Zen, by Francis H. Cook 7 2. The Place of the Sudden Teaching within the Hua- Yen Tradition: An Investigation of the Process of Doctrinal Change, by Peter N. Gregory 31 3. Morality in the Visuddhimagga, by Damien Keown 61 4. Contemporary Lay Buddhist Movements in Japan, with Special Reference to the Lotus Sidra, by Tsu- gunari K ubo 76 5. Before the Prajfia Schools: The Earliest Known Chi- nese Commentary on the by Whalen Lai 91 6. The Generalization of an Old Yogic Attainment in Medieval Mahayana Sutra Literature: Some Notes on] atismara, by Gregory Schopen 109 II. BOOK REVIEWS 1. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism, edited and introduced by Leslie S. Kawamura 148 2. Contributo alIo Studio Biografico dei Primi Gter- Ston, by Ramon Pratz 151 3. Gedatsukai: Its Theory and Practice (A Study of a Shinto-Buddhist Syncretic School in Contempo- rary Japan), by Minoru Kiyota 154 4. A Study of the Twenty-two Dialogues on Mahayana Buddhism, by W. Pachow 157 5. Zen and Christian: The Journey between, b)1 John Dyk- stra Busden 159 III. PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 1. Presidential Address Given on the Occasion of the Fifth Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Hertford College, Oxford, England, August 16-21, 1982, by Walpola R a h u ~ 162 IV. NOTES AND NEWS 1. A Report on the 5th Conference of the lABS, Hert- ford College, University of Oxford, Oxford, Eng- land, August 16-21, 1982 167 Contributors 180 Enlightenment in Dagen's Zen by Francis H. Cook Writing and teaching in the thirteenth century, the Japanese Zen master, Dagen Kigen, had the advantage oflooking back at eighteen centuries of the development of Buddhist thought and practice. He was particularly well informed in earlier Chi- nese Zen developments. His writings show that he was on inti- mate terms with the great teachers of the Chinese lineages, with Zen literature, and with the issues that occupied Chinese Bud- dhists. It is therefore particularly worthwhile to read his writ- ings about practice, the nature of enlightenment, and the like, because we can see in them how he appropriated almost the entire tradition and remolded it with his genius. On the one hand, all his writings echo with the words of Hui-neng, Chao- chou, Yiin-men, and other greats; on the other hand, we are struck with the startling depth and subtlety of his own thought as he often goes far beyond his predecessors. To read his works is to understand why he is considered to be Japan's most origi- nal thinker to date. With this in mind, it is surprising that he did not respond directly to the ancient controversy concerning whether enlight- enment is gradual or sudden. As is the case with the question of the importance of faith 1" , for instance, no essay in the Shobo- genzo is devoted to this issue of the suddenness or gradualness of the enlightenment experience, despite the very great impor- tance in his writing of satori 't-el- or sho ~ . However, there is in Shobogenzo abundant material whose cumulative weight can supply an answer to this question, with which Dagen never- directly at least-concerned himself in his extensive writings. The confusion of Western orientalists concerning the issue of gradual versus sudden enlightenment is nowhere more evi- dent than when they write about training and enlightenment in 7 Dagen's Zen. In one recently published book, it is said that "The aristocratic priest Dagen (1200-1253) who left the Ten- dai monastery for China and returned to the medita- tive, gradual school of Sata Zen is generally considered the sec- ond founder of Japanese Zen"l [my emphasis]. In another recent book, which is designed as a college textbook on world religions, we find the statement that "By contrast [to Eisai] Do- gen derived his version of Zen from the Northern school [in China], with its doctrine of gradual enlightenment." The au- thor adds, " ... Dogen was especially opposed to sudden en- lightenment or enlightenment as something apart from medi- tation."2 Another author of a book ori Buddhist philosophy says, "These two sects [Northern and Southern Chinese Zen] were probably the forerunners of the two main streams of Zen that flourished later in both China and Japan. The Tsao-tung sect, which advocated 'silent illumination' and which probably was inspired by the Northern sect and its Yogacara ideas, came to be known as the Sata sect of Japanese Zen."3 These remarks are surprising; since it is generally known that the Northern school, with its so-called teaching of gradual enlightenment, died out after several generations, leaving the field to the Southern school of sudden enlightenment. All of the later lin- eages, such as the Lin-chi and Tsao-tung, are descended from Hui-neng's Southern school, and a number of lineage charts in Japanese and Western sources show clearly that Dagen's line is traced back through Yiieh-shan Wei-yen, Shih-t'ou, and Ch'ing-yiian Hsing-ssu to Hui-neng. 4 Thus, the question is why Western scholars categorize Dagen's Zen as a form of the Chi- nese Northern school and as advocating a form of gradual enlightenment. Part of my purpose is to demonstrate that this categorization is incorrect. It is not hard to see why some writers believe that Dagen was a representative of a lineage that promoted gradual en- lightenment, because at first glance, the SalO style does seem to be a gradualistic approach to enlightenment. Dagen's insistence on a lifetime of zazen practice in contrast to the dramatic Man approach of Rinzai Zen seems to point to a relaxed, leisurely approach, lacking in the strenuousness and intensity of Rinzai practice; but to see this as a gradual approach is to miss the intensity of zazen practice. Connected with this, there is the 8 characterization of SoW Zen as based on "enlightenment from the beginning" in contrast to Rinzai's "enlightenment with a beginning," and the assumption may be that the former stresses a gradual growth in enlightenment while the latter stresses a sudden accession to it. However, this is to overlook what is meant by "enlightenment from the beginning." Other catch- phrases may also give a wrong impression. D.T. Suzuki's char- acterization of Rinzai as "koan introspection Zen" in contrast with Sata "silent illumination" may play some part in the mis- understanding. The characterization of Sata as "farmer Zen" as opposed to Rinzai as "Genralissimo Zen" also seems to connote a leisurely, progressive approach on the part of SoW. All of the above characterizations make some sense and logically lead to the assumption that SoW Zen is a gradual ap- proach to enlightenment, if zazen meditation practice is con- ceived as a means which results in an eventual enlightenment. That is, the notion of meditation, as opposed to Man practice, as well as the various catch-phrases used to characterize SoW Zen, all give the impression of a lengthy, progressive self-puri- fication that will in theory culminate in the self-transformation called enlightenment. That, however, is where part of the prob- lem lies in the usual interpretation of Dagen's tradition, be- cause zazen meditation is not instrumental in nature, and while there are in fact gradualistic elements in his teaching, there also is an important suddenist orientation, which is explained in terms other than the emphasis on a lifetime of meditation. Also, part of the problem is due to thinking of the enlighten- ment experience as a temporal matter; part of my argument is that time is not a consideration as far as enlightenment in Da- gen's Zen is concerned. First, it needs to be noted that despite the eventual Chinese consensus to the effect that enlightenment is sudden, the prin- ciple of gradual enlightenment was held by some Buddhists, primarily in India, but also to some extent in China. The sys- tems of the Abhidharmakosa and Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga are definitely gradualist, laying out a long and strenuous pro- gram of moral development (sIla), meditation practices that in . themselves are gradual in consisting of preliminary tranquillity exercises (Samatha-bhavana) followed by insight practices (vipa- syana-bhavana), and culminating in prajfia, the latter being a 9 moment-by-moment, progressive insight into the validity of the four holy truths and the three marks of conditioned being. The Kosa points to the progressive nature of the whole marga when it says that "La pensee parfume par Ie samatha (calme) peut obtenir par la vipasyana la vimukti . ... "5 This means that insight is preceeded by tranquillity, which is the necessary condition for the former. In the vipasyana practices, the viously anesthetized or tranquilized in samatha are definitively destroyed one by one, as the meditator little by little perceives the reality of the four holy truths and the three (or four) marks of the conditioned. Consequently, the grasp of truth takes place piecemeal and progressively during the insight practices, and this insight gained in the course of insight practice, along with the corollary destruction of defilements (kleSa), is the content of enlightenment. Therefore, enlightenment, defined as insight into the four holy truths and the marks of the conditioned, is gradual. The meditation practices outlined above reflect character- istic Indian attitudes towards ritual defilement. There lurks in the background as a tacit presupposition a gnostic-like view:of man as essentially a pure, luminescent being trapped in the gross material world of embodied form and natural functions. Liberation is usually defined as freedom from the body and its demands, which are conceived as obstacles to liberation from which freedom is demanded. Given the corollary view that these material and psychic obstacles are numerous and tena- cious, much time is required for their removal. Often, many lifetimes are necessary for the complete removal of the obsta- cles. Mahayana Buddhism redefined the nature of the religious goal to a great extent. No longer was visuddhi, purification, the object; rather the goal was prajiia, understood as the percep- tion of universal emptiness. Prajiia-insight is understood as a sudden perception of the nature of existence in its universal emptiness, and this includes the nature of moral and cognitive faults (klesa). In the realization of the emptiness of these faults, the necessity of their gradual, piecemeal removal was eliminat- ed, for they all vanished at one blow with the grasp of empti- ness. Now, although this perception is sudden, the Indian de- bators at the Council of Lhasa argued that progress is gradual, 10 opposing the suddenist position of the Chinese delegate, "Ma- hayana."6 Why? It appears from the documents that come down from the debate that the issue was not whether the trans formative event of enlightenment per se is sudden and total but rather whether it is necessary to undergo a preliminary moral and cognitive purification prior to the sudden ascension to enlightenment. KamalasIla, for instance, argues in opposition to the Chinese suddenist position that one must be thoroughly accomplished in the ten paramitas, which include mastery of moral, ethical, practical, and intellectual qualities, and in this he bases himself on Indian scriptural and exegetical literature. A number of Mahayana texts, such as the Dasabhumika and sutras, dwell at great length on the six or ten stages of Bodhi- sattva practice, each with its corresponding paramita. The lat- ter work, in fact, correlates each of the bhumis with a paramita and with a vipasyana-insight practice, and then discusses how the insight meditation of each stage acts as an antidote to such- and-such a klda, vikalpa (discursive thought), etc.7 Gradualism is evident in this schema. Aside from the question of the nature of the culminating enlightenment, a considerable part of the debates in Tibet -and China seem to focus on the necessity of this preliminary, progressive preparation for the culminating moment. It is entirely possible that the opponents in this debate would have agreed that enlightenment itself is always and nec- essarily sudden, given its nature. T.R.V. Murti makes the point that 11 The Madhyamika conception of Philosophy as the perfec- tion of wisdom (Prajiiaparamitil) (non-dual, contentlessin- tuition) precludes progress and surprise. Progress implies that the goal is reached progressively by a series of steps in order, and that is can be measured in quantitative terms. Prajiia is knowledge of the entire reality once for all, and it does not depend on ... previous knowledge. A progressive realization of the Absolute is thus incompatible .... It is, however, possible to conceive of the progressive falling away of the hindrances that obstruct our vision of the rear. But there is neither order nor addition in the content of our knowledge of the real. 8 Murti's acknowledgement of the possible necessity for apro- gressive remova.l of obstacles to enlightenment reflects the domi- nant Indian conception of the religious path: first purification, then release. It is an essentially conservative position and in stark contrast to the Chinese radicals who, to state it simply, did not believe in the necessity of preliminary purification. Others, including Walter Liebenthal, have argued that "No school called itself 'gradual.",g The reason is that all were well-enough versed in the essentials to know that, by its nature, enlighten- ment had to be a sudden, once-and-for-all matter. Still, the Indians, and some Chinese, held to the necessity of a progres- sive removal of obstacles to the goal. Others, like Tao-sheng (5th century), put forth a novel view based on an entirely dif- ferent set of assumptions. Chinese Buddhism underwent several important develop- ments, which eventually resulted in a distinctive approach to practice and enlightenment. One of the most important was a sort of phenomenological approach to the question of the na- ture of enlightenment and its relationship to those activities usually categorized as practice (as distinct from the objective of the practice), and there emerged a view of enlightenment that deviated from that of Indian Buddhists. According to the Chi- nese view, the meditating mind-body in its serenity, selflessness, and absence of conceptualizing and evaluating, is itself, at that very time, in a state that exhibits the characteristics of enlighten- ment. Consequently, there is no qualitative break between sa- madhi and prajna, which is what the author of the Platform Sutra seems to mean when he says, Good friends, how then are meditation and wisdom alike? They are like the lamp and the light it gives forth. If there is a lamp, there is light; if there is no lamp, there is no light. The lamp is the substance of the light; the light is the function of the lamp. Thus, although they have two names, in substance they are not two. Meditation [ting] and wisdom [hui] are also like this 10 [emphasis mine]. This important passage from the Tan ching says in the most explicit terms that means and end, samadhi and prajna, are in fact the same thing, and in fact not means and ends at all. Rather, with recourse to the common t'i-yung (substance and 12 fmiction) pattern of thinking that pervades so much of Chinese thought, the argument is made that meditation, or samadhi, is not a separate thing, but, rather, the modal expression of the substance that is innate prajna. Shen-hui claims that both medi- tation and wisdom are identical, each being an alternate expres- sion for the crucial state of wu-nien 1l1t ~ .11 Wu-nien, wu- hsin 1l1t ,c" , the mind that does not dwell on dharmas, the mind that does not abide anywhere, is what is meant by Buddha- mind, and such a mind is the distinguishing characteristic of both meditation and wisdom. The same understanding will appear later in tI-te writings of Dagen, albeit in a radicalized and novel form, and the lan- guage of substance and function will appear in similar form. In both the Tan ching and the Shi5bi5genzi5, the basic idea is the same, and is rooted in the impeccable sources of Mahayana: stated one way, it is a denial of plural substances or essences, because to see something as a mode of something else is to deny real, substantial differences between the two and to affirm a single reality that manifests or is expressed in various ways. In both the Tan ching and Shi5bi5genzi5, samadhi-mec).itation is the way or form that prajna takes. Stated another way, all things are empty, absolute nonbeing, and meditation is merely one way in which emptiness negates itself in the form of time-space. A little later than the Platform Sutra, Ch'an master Hui-hai remarked, Should your mind wander away, do not follow it, where- uponJour wandering mind will stop wandering of its own accor . Should your mind desire to linger somewhere, do not follow it and linger there, whereupon your mind's questing for a dwelling place will cease of its own accord. Thereby, you will come to possess a nondwelling mind, a mind which remains in the state of nondwelling. If you are fully aware in yourself of a mind dwelling on nothing, you will discover that there is just the fact of dwelling, with nothing to dwell upon or not to dwell upon. This full awareness in yourself of a mind dwelling upon nothing is known as havmg a clear perception of your own nature. A mind which dwells upon nothmg is Buddha-mind .... 12 In this passage, the author makes a significant series of correla- tions: the meditative state of not dwelling on dharmas is said to 13 be a perception of one's own nature, and that same state of nondwelling is Buddha-mind. This understanding that the mind in samadhi is itself Bud- dha-mind seems to be reflected in the position taken by the monk, "Mahayana," in the Tibet debates, for in defending the idea of sudden enlightenment he rings a series of changes on a common theme. Buddha-nature rests at the bottom of our be- ing and is revealed when false thoughts are no longer enter- tained. 13 It suffices to separate oneself from false notions in order to be integrally furnished with the 37 components of enlightenment (bodhi-pak$a).14 "When a single sense faculty re- turns to its source, the whole six sense faculties are liberated" (a quotation from the Sura'f(lgama Sutra).15 A second Chinese development is a corollary of the point made above, and supports it. If the goal is a certain quality of consciousness characteristic of samadhi and not a separate, transcendent state following samadhi, what counts practically is the ability to achieve significant, rapid results in meditation. In the Chinese way of seeing things, some people seem to have a natural talent for rapid progress; while others lack it. Why this is so was frequently explained by recourse to the handy doc- trine of a stock of merit accumulated in previous lifetimes. The observation that talents differ is reflected in Tao-sheng's ten- dency to speak of sudden enlightenment as great *- and small /J\ .16 It is significant that while enlightenment is always sudden, some people attain sudden enlightenment quickly and others take a much longer time to achieve the same sudden enlightenment. The first type of individual is large, the second is small. The main point is, though, that enlightenment is sud- den for both types; there is no gradual enlightenment. Also, however, while some take much time-even lifetimes-to pre- pare for the sudden enlightenment, others do not need the lengthy preparation. Their abilities being great, they quickly achieve samadhi and, consequently, enlightenment. The scrip- tural source for this understanding of enlightenment is the Vimalakrrti Sutra: "One attains nirval).a without destroying the moral and intellectual faults" (kleSa) and "without destroying the conditioned." In other words, enlightenment is possible without a preliminary program of moral training and rejection of the conditioned world of birth and death. The Indian rejoin- 14 der to the Chinese position at the Lhasa debates indicates what troubled the Indians, with their assumptions about the neces- sary process of becoming purified and enlightened. The Indi- ans insisted o n ~ a n adherence to the teachings of the twelvefold scriptures and on a rigorous training in the paramitas. The Chinese keep insisting that while all that is necessary for those of slight abilities, it is not for those who are talented and capa- ble. This distinction seems to reflect Tao-sheng's categories of great and small abilities. There are other important developments besides the two mentioned above, such as the prominence in Chinese Bud- dhism of the doctrine of Buddha-nature. It is important for the way in which the Chinese translated Indian Buddhism into a native form, but it lies beyond the scope of this paper. With these basic assumptions, the belief in an immediate sudden enlightenment is possible. If Buddha-mind'--the Absolute-is the absolute, it can have no gradations or parts, and must be acquired or actualized totally and at once. "Those who believe in Instantaneous Illumination declare that li is indivisible and that wu '\'B- expresses that experience (in which li appears) in one final vision. As li is indivisible, there cannot be two acts in which it appears."17 Moreover, Buddha mind (or li) is defined as nondelusive, nondiscriminative consciousness. To achieve this state in samadhi in which the mind, like a bright mirror that reflects images clearly and without distortion, does not discriminate or evaluate, is to actualize or "see" one's Buddha- nature. Finally, some may do this very quickly and others may take a very long time, but the resultant enlightenment is always sudden and total. By the end of the eighth century, a number of Buddhist writings reflected the understanding of the nature of enlight- enment described above, and they put forth the idea, in sharp contrast to the orthodox Indian view, that enlightenment is achieved at the very commencement of Buddhist practice. Thus, for instance, Shen-hui says, in the ninth century, 15 If in the first stage of one's spiritual progress which con- sists of the ten assurances { ~ , m one's mitial resolve to seek perfect wisdom, an instant of thought corresponds with the truth, one will immediately achieve Buddhahood .... This clarifies the mystery of sudden enlightenment. ls '\,1 Thus, enlightenment does not occur at the end of the 52 stages (in the system of the Avata'Y{lSaka Sutra). Instead, it is achieved during the stages of assurance, which are the first ten of the 52 stages, when one first resolves to seek enlIghtenment (bodhicit- totpada). Somewhat earlier, Fa-tsang, the third patriarch of the philosophical Hua-yen school, claimed exactly the same, basing his arguments on the Hua-yen doctrine of the identity of cause and effect. Quoting the Avat'Y(lsaka Sutra, he says, "The Bodhi- sattva who arouses the thought of enlightenment for the first time is a Buddha" (TaishO vol. 9, p. 452). Why? Because of the wonderful principle of dependent origina- tion prior and subsequent are all the same. If the pnor is obtained, the subsequent is obtained. When the end is fin- ished, then one penetrates to the bottom of the beginning. Also quoting the sutra, he says, The Bodhisattva who puts forth the thought of enlighten- ment for the first time is identical with the Buddha, equal to all the tathagatas of the three time periods, ... he ac- quires the one body or ten bodies of the tathagatas and the uniform wisdom of the Buddhas of the three time periods. (Taisho 9.425)19 The above remarks concerning the Chinese view of sud- den enlightenment serve only as a preamble to the central con- cern of this paper, which is the nature of enlightenment in the Zen master Dagen's writings. They are necessitated because of the requirement to put his teachings in a proper perspective, since he was not only an innovator but also an inheritor of the continental tradition. His own contributions to teaching con- erning enlightenment, therefore, can only be properly appreci- ated against the background of his predecessors and their re- marks on the subject. The keystone of his teaching on the subject is the doctrine of intrinsic, universal Buddhahood, and with this as a basis, he develops his unique teaching concerning practice and enlightenment. This is expressed in several key terms in his writing: genjo-koan (the presencing of things as they are 115.,lU::: $ ) zenki (total dynamic functioning ~ ~ ), and gu- . jin (total penetration 3i:. ~ ). These are only understandable in 16 the . light of the fundamental concept of intrinsic Buddha- nature. However, the term that best expresses Dagen's approach to the religious life is shushO itto irinlE - , which translates as the "oneness of practice and enlightenment," and which is very similar to the concept of the oneness of ting and hui in the Platform S'Lttra. Its locus classicus is the seventh question-and- answer exchange in the Benedowa. In reply to the question, "As for the practice of zazen, those who have not yet realized the Buddha Dharma achieve it by negotiating it by means of zazen. What is the use of zazen for someone who has already achieved the Buddha Dharma?" Dagen replies, To think that practice and enlightenment are not identical [ :;r:;- ] is a non-Buddhist view. In the Buddha Dharma, practice and realization are one [ - ]. Because your practice right now is practice based on realiza- tion WE 1:. 0) itS , the training of the beginner is the totality of intrinsic realization. Therefore, even though you are instructed to practice, do not think that there is any attain- ment outside of practice itself, because practice must be considered to point directly to intrinsic realization. Be- c.ause is on tIce itS 1:.0) WE , the realIzatIOn IS boundless; If practICe IS pr.actice on has no In thIS way, Sakyamum and Mahakasyapa both practIced the practice of realization daily, and Bodhidharma and Hui- neng were likewise drawn to practice based on enlighten- ment. All the examples of the patriarchs are similar. Since there is no practice apart from attainment, we are fortu- nate in directly transmitting a portion of wonderful prac- tice, and therefore even the beginner's negotiation of the Way is the acquisition of one portion of intnnsic enlighten- ment. 20 The term shushO itto, or shushO ichi-nyo, seems to occur only in Bendowa, but there are many passages throughout ShobO- genzo, addressing the question of the relationship between practice and realization, which reflect the approach of the Bendowa passage and clarify it. In Fukan zazengi, Dagen's first piece of writing, where universal (Jukan) recommendations for practice are presented, the author says, 17 --------- That which we call zazen is not a way of developing con- centration. It is simply the way of peace and wellbemg. It is practice which measures your satori to the fullest and in fact is satori itself. It is the presencing-of things just as they are r.g-enjo-koan] and in it you will no longer be trapped as if} a baSket or cage .... Know that the Dharma is itself present and that co"nfusion and distraction are eliminated right from the beginning. 21 . This passage clearly expresses the relationship between prac- tice and attainment as Dagen understood it: practice is not a means to enlightenment or attainment, but is that which mea- sures, or actualizes, one's already existent enlightenment. In fact, says Dagen, zazen practice is enlightenment. The preceding passage from Bendowa expresses the same relationship, speak- ing in terms of identity, nondualism, etc. In both passages, it is said that practice is an expression of intrinsic realization (again echoing the modal language of the Platform Sidra), and actual realization is an expression of practice. Practice-specifically zazen-is merely the way in which intrinsic realization mani- fests itself in time and space. Realization, on the other hand, takes the form of objectivity, dispassion, clarity, and a sense of being totally "here now" in the activity of zazen. Consequently, .. though a distinction is made between practice and realization, when one is present, the other is also present. In terms of the traditional distinction between intrinsic enlightenment and ac- quired enlightenment, in which the latter has been seen as a means whereby the former is nourished and developed, in Da- gen's view, intrinsic enlightenment is acquired enlightenment, and vice-versa. . A further clarification occurs in an important passage from the Sesshin sessho chapter of ShObogenzo: 18 As for the Buddha Way, when one first arouses the thought [of enlightenment], it is enlightenment; when one achieves perfect enlightenment, it is enlightenment. First, last, and m between are all enlightenment. ... The foolish think that at the time one is studying the Way one does not attain enlightenment, but that only when one has acquired satari is it enlightenment. They do not understand that, when one musters one's entire mind and body and prac- tices the Buddha Way, this is the entirety of the Buddha Way.22 Here, itis expressly denied that enlightenment occurs as a dis- tinct event at the end of the whole eons-long career of the Bodhisattva. Enlightenment is a fact even in the person who first directs his thought to attaining the Way. In fact, it is pres- ent even in the individual who has not started practice. There are numerous passages in ShObOgenzo that equate realization or enlightenment with such events or states of mind as assurance (or "faith" { ~ ), arousing an aspiration for enlightenment (hotsu bodai shin), and home-departure (shukke). All of these are tradi- tionally conceived as being very early stages in the religious career of the aspirant, and it is significant that Dagen claims that all are equivalent to realization and Buddhahood. The reason can be found in his teachings concerning Buddha- nature. All events or states of mind, such as assurance, home- departure, and the like, are concrete manifestations of an utter self-transcendence that Dagen refers to as shinjin datsuraku, "casting off mind and body," and this self-transcendence is the actualization of Buddha-nature or realization. The whole question of practice and realization, and their relationship, is inseparable from the doctrine of Buddha- nature. 23 In various chapters of ShObOgenzo, and particularly in the BusshO chapter, the continental Chinese doctrine that holds that all beings possess Buddha-nature is completely trans- formed and radicalized in conformity with Dagen's attempt absolutely to overcome all dualisms, such as those of acquired and intrinsic enlightenment, Buddha and ordinary beings, practice and enlightenment, and the like. Dagen's point, and it is one of the hallmarks of his brand of Buddhism, is that all beings are Buddha, and by "beings" Dagen means both sentient and insentient-everything without exception. On one level, distinctions remain and are significant; however, on another level, all distinctions are united and resolved, insofar as all things are merely the presencing of things as they are, or the presencing of reality (genjo-koan).24 In Dagen's well-known reading of the passageJrom the Nirvii1J,a Siltra that says that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature, the meaning comes to be "All are sentient beings and the total being is Buddha- nature."25 This means that the total being just as it is is Buddha, and that is the meaning of genjokOan. The duality of Buddhas and other beings is abolished in a refutation of the so-called 19 "Senika heresy," which postulates the existence in beings ot some kind of spiritual principle that is distinguishable from thk body and that, moreover, survives biological death. Dagen t o ~ tally rejects such a dualism, and instead speaks of a single reali- ty, the totality of existence, which manifests dynamically in ex- actly the forms that constitute our experience, whatever those forms may be. In this way, even the traditional distinctions, such as true and false, or real and illusory, are abandoned. In Shobogenzo Gabyo, for instance, the painted picture of rice cakes is claimed to be just as real, just as ultimate, as "real" cakes. True, one cannot eat the painted cakes, but that is beside the point. The point is that each thing-a rice cake, a picture of rice cakes, a thought or feeling, the family dog, delusion-as it dis- closes itself in that particular form is, as genjo-koan, Buddha, and there is no Buddha apart from these things. Therefore the beginner in the Buddha Way is no less Buddha than one at a later stage of training, and realization as Buddha is consequent- ly present at the very inception of religious training. This being the case, zazen-practice for Dagen is no longer thought of as discontinuous with its result or as an activity that nurtures some latent, undeveloped, inner spiritual entity. Our true nature, says Dagen-rejecting earlier Indo-Chinese meta- phors and their implied dualism-is not like a seed. Zazen is, rather, an activity through which we testify to, actualize or real- ize (in the sense of "making real") that which we really are, totally, at all times. Dagen is particularly fond of the term sho mE , which carries with it these meanings, as well as those of "proving" and "authenticating" (and other cognates). To be enlightened, therefore, is not a matter of transforming onself gradually, or even suddenly, into something one was not be- fore, but, rather, a matter of self-authentication. "Self-authenti- cation" means "being the authentic self that is Buddha," and zazen is, in all its dimensions, the way one actualizes the authen- tic self. Whether understood as the formal, cultic activity of the meditation hall or as the more extended zazen that ideally per- vades all activities, it is that activity in which one truly appropri- ates and savors what one actually is. Dagen uses a number of synonyms for zazen, such as kaiin zammai ~ Ep -=:a* and jisho zammai El mE = at , each of which adds another dimension to the basic concept of zazen. An im- 20 portant synonym is jijuyu zammai ~ $E ffl = ~ ,the samadhi that has the function of allowing the individual to enjoy his enlightened nature. 26 The model for this samadhi is the post- enlightenment meditation of the historical Buddha, who, ac- cording to scriptural statements, is said to have continued to sit in samadhi for seven (or, alternately, twenty-one) days after becoming enlightened. At that time, he was not engaged in samadhi in order to attain enlightenment, for the enlighten- ment had already occurred. The meditation was, instead, a free, sportive activity through which the Buddha enjoyed the present fact of his enlightened nature. This is why Dagen, in Fukan zazengi, says, "Do not sit in meditation in order to become a Buddha, for being a Buddha has nothing to do with sitting or lying down." With the basic assumption of an enlightened na- ture that is anterior to practice, Dagen then proceeds to use this model for zazen practice as he understands it; that is, as an activity that actualizes an already-existent enlightenment and applies it to the concrete affairs of everyday life. Consequently, to be in jijuyu zammai is to actualize the Buddha-nature that one IS. If this sounds like some of the statements of the Platform Sutra, it is not surprising, for Dagen had read that work, and was critical of it, but still reflected its fundamental insights in his own writing, despite his own innovations. The following passage from the Chinese work parallels Dagen's thinking in several important ways: Good friends, my teaching of the Dharma takes meditation (ting) and wisdom (hui) as its basis. Never under any cir- cumstances say mistakenly that meditation and wisdom are different. They are a unity, not two things. Meditation itself is the substance of wisdom, wisdom itself is the func- tion of meditation. At the very moment when there is wis- dom, then meditation exists in wisdorri; at the very mo- ment when there is meditation, then wisdom exists in meditation. Good friends, this means that meditation and wisdom are alike. Students, be careful not to say that medi- tation gives rise to wisdom or that wisdom gives rise to meditation, or that meditation and wisdom are different from each other. 27 Like the passage cited earlier, this passage reflects the t'i-yung 21 pattern of thinking about the relationship between practice and!. attainment. It denies any difference in substance or between them, explicitly affirms their idel)tity, and conceives of zazen activities as being the manner in which wisdom (or Bud- dha-mind) is actualized in concrete affairs. Dagen suspected the Platform Sutra of being a forgery,28 and part of the reason for this is that its teaching of kensho '1:1 seemed to be at variance with what Dagen saw as the true situation. The idea of kensho, "seeing one's nature," implies a very fundamental dualism, in that there is a "nature" which is Buddha, and something else that "sees." Consequently, there is a fundamental dualism of Buddha and not-Buddha. However, Dagen's point d'appui for everything he had to say about the Buddha Way was the understanding that there is only Buddha, and therefore the assertion of something or someone seeing Buddha contradicted his understanding. He undoubtedly be- lieved that no one as eminent as the Sixth Patriarch could have used this kind of language. Part of Dagen's radicalization of the continental tradition consisted in the overcoming of any hint of dualism implied in the idea of kensho by taking most seriously the idea that "All are sentient beings and all are Buddha- nature." If this is the case-that there is only Buddha-then what can "seeing" mean? On the one hand, it must mean that it is Buddha who sees, and furthermore, the situation must be one in which Buddha sees Buddha. But even this is too literal an understanding of the nature of the event or process called ken- shiJ, for there is no Buddha that can be seen or even conceptu- aJized. "Seeing," in the final analysis, means "being," and to see one's true nature means to be one's true nature. Zazen, or zammai, is the actualization and concrete application of one's true nature. The teaching of the oneness of practice and realization was for Dagen a logical and religious consequence of his radicaliza- tion of the doctrine of Buddha-nature, and it is an important part of the demystification and demythologization of enlight- enment that characterizes Japanese Buddhism. This process has continued down to the twentieth century in the Sat6 tradi- tion, and it has taken the form of a general reluctance to con- sider enlightenment as in any way divorced from the world of 22 life and death. On the one hand, it is a prime example of the way in which Far Eastern Buddhists applied the seminal teach- ings of Nagarjuna and the s-utras that preach emptiness. On the other hand, it is a noteworthy example of the more general BuddholOgical work of unpacking the primitive symbols of Buddha, enlightenment, and the like, exploring them, and drawing out their potential. I have already discussed Chinese Buddhological thinking with regard to enlightenment, and need not repeat my discussion here. Much more Chinese philo- sophical work played an important part in the process of bring- ing enlightenment and nirvaI).a down to earth. The debates and writings of the Northern Wei, Sui, and early Tang concerning whether the absolute is only pure or a mixture of pure and impure, and the consensus as it is reflected in the Ta-ch'eng ch'i hsin lun, is one part of this work. The work of the Hua-yen thinkers, such as Chih-yen and Fa-tsang, consisted in part in creating a philosophical rationale for the teaching of the identi- ty of absolute and relative (i.e. li :w and shih .. or k'ung and yu 1f). Basing himself on certain well-known scriptural pas- sages such as the one that says that "The tathagata-garbha trans- migrating in the six realms of existence is called 'sentient be- ings,'" was able to demonstrate that the totality of being is the cosmic Dharmakaya. 28 The effect of this kind of work was far-ranging for the Buddhist tradition, but one effect was that of removing the other-worldly, utterly transcendent connotations that had hitherto clung to enlight- enment and nirvana. The Chinese and Japanese Buddhist came increasingly to think of the enlightened individual not as someone who had attained a realm apart from and transcendent to the world, but, rather, as someone who remained completely in the world and totally involved in history. He had not transcended the world, because the world itself is nirvaI).a; he had instead transcended the self, or, in Dagen's words, "dropped off mind and body." Compare Indian artistic representatives of enlightenment with typical Chinese ones. Indian Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are royalty dressed in jewels and crowns; or, sitting in meditation, they exude aloofness and withdrawal. The Chinese figures of Putai, Hanshan, and Shih-te are shown strolling nonchalantly among butchers and wine drinkers, laughing, at ease, their feet 23 ------------------. ------------- covered with the dust of the streets. They exemplify in the most graphic way the Chinese appropriation of the teaching of the identity of nirvaI).a and sarp.sara, for enJightenment has been brought down out of the clouds, demystified, and humanized. As the above remarks have attempted to show, enlightenment is not some ineffable, unimaginable, transhuman event that lies at the culmination of Herculean efforts. It is realized here and now, in the world, in the act of self-forgetting called "medita- tion." Though enlightenment has lost its other-worldly odor, this does not mean that Dagen did not believe that enlightenment is important. However, in his writings it is presented in the terms of everydayness, with no hint of its being a separate order of being, "mysticism," or an "altered state of consciousness." When he returned from China and was asked what he had learned under Ch'an master Ju-ching, he replied, "I learned that my eyes are horizontal and my nose is vertical." He is very fond of speaking of enlightenment in the homeliest of terms: "The everyday life of the [enlightened] patriarchs is nothing but drinking green tea and eating plain, boiled rice."30 To be enlightened means to live a rather ordinary life of such activi- ties as eating and drinking, but such events are lived in total attentiveness, with mind and body cast off, so that the food and the act of eating are totally totally realized or penetrated (gil- jin Ji;a ). Consequently, they are known not as less worthy or holy than some other aspect of life or a more spiritual life beyond the world, nor as defiled, nor as mere "things," but, rather, as complete and perfect just as they are, which is Bud- dha. Enlightenment consequently is stripped of the mystical- transcendental, the supernatural, the extraordinary. However, it is necessary; Dagen's career as a Zen teacher, his journey to China, and the resolution of his own existential dilemma began when he solved the question that plagued him as a young man: If all beings are Buddha from the beginning, then why did all the Buddhas and patriarchs practice so hard all their lives? The answer is that realization or actualization makes all the differ- ence in the way we experience our lives. Enlightenment, as Dagen understood it, is nothing more than a profound at-one-ness with the event at hand, in total openness to its wonder and perfection as manifesting absolute 24 reality, and this at-one-ness in total openness is what is meant by samadhi. This process (for I believe that it is a process and not a one-time spectacular event) is, according to Dagen, time- less. The processive nature of the realization consists in the fact that the at':one-ness or immediate experience must be repeated . over and over as each new event occurs, and consequently there can never be an end to practice as a conscious commitment to realization. In this way, there is something of the gradualistic approach in Dagen's Zen. However, according to him, the actu- al realization is timeless each time it occurs. From the point of view of the realization itself, it has neither antecedent nor con- sequent, for the realized event-sipping the tea, for instance- engulfs all other events and swallows up past and future. Da- gen calls this timelessness of realization nikon fffi 4" , or "Now." "Now" is not an abstract, razor-thin quantum of time forever moving forward and separating past from future. In fact, it does not even exist apart from the concrete realization mo- ment-by-moment of each event, and may be synonymous with the realized event. As an absolute "Now," it therefore crystal- lizes and focuses within itself all time and being, and there is, in that "Now," nothing else. "When one side is realized," says Dagen, "the other side is obscured." (iPpo 0 sho suru toki wa, ippo wa kurashi)31 In Shobi5genzo Gyoji he says, "The time when con- . tinuous practice (gyoji) is manifested is what we call 'Now.'''32 Thus, while there is a gradualistic tinge to realization, the abso- lute nowness of realization seems to preclude categorizing it as either gradual or sudden. How might enlightenment in Dagen's writings be assimilat- ed to the traditional categories of sudden and gradual, with their several variations? If it has to be categorized, it has to be said to be sudden, because it is simultaneous with, and in fact identical with, practice. That is, prior to practice, there is no realization, and one's intrinsic Buddhahood is not actualized. When one begins to practice, even a little, realization becomes j lived fact. One may perform certain activities that enhance the possibility of realization, but these activities are not realization; realization is actualized in the form of practice, which is none other than active Buddha (gyobutsu fr1ijjl ). However, as I have remarked above, realization has to occur over and over, end- lessly, as each event is experienced in selfless openness, and 25 thus there is a gradual element in the practice in the sense that the individual progresses little-by-little in skill in actualizing Buddha-nature. "Intrinsic enlightenment," says Dogen, "is wonderful prac- tice," because intrinsic enlightenment is both the ground-of practice and is expressed in the form of practice. As was re- marked earlier, practice, in its own turn, is always practice of enlightenment mE J:. (J) {i; . The enlightenment or Buddha-na- . ture that is the ground of practice is thus the point d'appui bf the religious life, but, as I have shown elsewhere,33 the overwhelm- ing emphasis in Dogen's teaching is on practice rather than attainment or realization, and, indeed, it is what characterizes his brand of Buddhism. It is expressed throughout his writings in his concern for the smallest details of ritual or liturgical activity, formal zazen, manual labor, eating, bathing, and dress- ing, using the library, and the like. Preeminent, of course, is the constant emphasis on regular, intensive zazen as the heart of the religious life ;md the "way of all the Buddhas and patri- archs." It is this emphasis on zazen-specifically in the form of shikan taza-that gives his Zen its peculiar flavor. Here, zazen is totally stripped of its older, traditional, instrumental function and comes to be elevated to the very essence of the religious life, as the be-all and end-all of the Buddha Way. If realization is identicalwith the samadhi ofjijuyu zammai, then to be enlight- ened means constantly to develop the power of samadhi, and this development has no end as far as Dogen is concerned. It is this emphasis on constantly developing samadhi that may have led various Western commentators to characterize enlighten- ment in this form of Zen as gradual. However, if by "gradual" is meant either that realization is necessarily preceded by prelimi- nary moral purification, scriptural study, and some sort of vipa- syana-like study of certain Buddhist truths, or that enlighten- ment itself may be acquired progressively and piecemeal (which are the two possible meanings of "gradual"), then there is no way that enlightenment can be gradual in Dogen's Zen. For want of a better term, let us call Dogen's view of enlightenment one of "suddenly-suddenly-suddenly," or perhaps "suddenly time after time." It is unique to Dogen. One final point needs clarification, and that is the term "enlightenment" itself. I have used that term throughout this 26 paper, along with alternate expressions that I believe convey better the nature of the experience that has been the subject of the paper. These expressions are "realization" and "actualiza- tion" as related to intrinsic Buddha-nature. Dagen uses the terms shO 'IDE ,satori ffl , and, to give the Sanskrit form, anuttara samyak sambodhi, the "highest, perfect enlightenment." The lat- ter is the final and perfect enlightenment that comes at the culmination of the Bodhisattva's ages-long career, and it is gen- erally felt in Buddhism in general that no one achieves it in the present life-time. It is always in the future, and Dagen, like all Buddhists in the Sino-Japanese tradition, retained the concept out of piety, but was not really concerned about it. However, at times, perhaps in rhetorical imprecision, he speaks of present attainment as anuttara sam yak sambodhi, and, indeed, he may have believed that there is only one enlightenment, by whatever term it was given. However, his favorite term is shO, "realiza- tion," "authentication," "proof," "evidence," etc. He also uses the term satori, and sometimes it seems to refer to a more de- finitive transformation than is denoted by shO. Again, however, he seems to use the two terms interchangeably. It may be possi- ble to see a hierarchy of enlightenment experiences in the use of the three terms, ranging from shO, as the recurrent actualiza- tion of Buddha nature, to satori, which may denote a major, rather dramatic transformation, to the final, complete enlight- enment ages hence, which remains only theoretical and ideal. But, as I have remarked, and as is clear from some of the passages quoted above, Dagen seems to have believed that with either shO or satori the individual attains the only enlightenment there is, and this may be part of his demythologizing work. The point, though, is this: neither satori as separate from shO nor annuttara samyak sambodhi seems to have assumed the impor- tance of sho in the form of Buddhism he taught and wrote about. Perfect, complete enlightenment is almost inconceivable and, what is more, is terribly remote from today's concerns. Satori, in the sense in which it is used in the Rinzai tradition, and as distinct from sho, may be a wonderful experience and may deepen the experience attained in sho, but what is finally important, and that which characterizes Dagen's teaching, is the constant, recurring actualization of Buddha-nature in sa- ., madhi, which is the realization called shoo Hence, the character- 27 ization of this approach to practice as "enlightenment from the beginning," in contrast to the "enlightenment with a begin- ning" of Rinzai Zen. , Finally, it is noteworthy that the venerable teaching of sud- den enlightenment in the form reconceptualized and deepened by Dagen served very well his mission of creating a universal, practicable religion suited to the needs of the masses. His c e n ~ tral teaching of universal Buddhahood, the oneness of practice and realization, and the conduct of the ordinary affairs of life as a means of expressing intrinsic enlightenment accomplished several important things. First, it made enlightenment a real possibility for common people, by eliminating its older associ- ations of remoteness, improbability, and extraordinariness, and showing that, on the contrary, it was available to ordinary folk, that it was related to ordinary problems, and that it could be pursued within the context of ordinary life. The similarity be- tween Dagen's teaching and those of Suzuki Shosan and Ikkyu, for instance, lies in the idea that enlightenment is merely a certain manner of taking care of one's rather ordinary life, not something mysterious and out of reach to plain people. Thus, such a humanization and demystification of enlightenment also tended to eliminate the doubt or anxiety over the ordinary man's ability to achieve the genuine, full goals of the religious life. The ignorant, stupid, and unwashed are no less Buddhas than Monju or Fugen, and have the means of actualizing that Buddhahood while planting rice or cutting wood. Finally, reli- gion becomes possible for the average person in that, ultimate- ly, the only requirement is a steadfast assurance or faith that one is already that than which nothing is more supreme or wonderful, that one has an innate dignity and perfection, and that these can really be actualized through the selfless attention to the mundane structures and demands of daily life. In this way, Dagen's way is strikingly similar to those of Shinran and Nichiren, and constitutes an important part of the religious revolution of the Kamakura period. NOTES 1. Thomas Hoover, Zen Culture (New York: Vintage Books, 1977), p. 53. 28 2. John A. Hutchinson, Paths of Faith (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969), pp. 52 and 254. 3. David Kalupahana, Buddhist Philosophy (Honolulu: University Press of . Hawaii), 1976, p. 174. . ~ 4. For ip.stance, Philip Yam polsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patri- arch, Miura and Saski, Zen Dust, and some ofD. T. Suzuki's writings. Japanese sources, such as the Zen Shil Jiten, also cpntain extensive lineage charts. 5. Louis de LaVallee Poussin, tr., L'Abhidharmakosa de Vasubandhu (Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1923-1931), ch. 6, p. 301. 6. Paul Demieville, Le Concile de Lhasa (Paris, 1952). 7. Etienne Lamotte, ed. and tr., SaT(Ldhinirmocana, L'Explication des mys- teres (Louvain: Bureau du Museon, 1935). Cf., for instance, p. 236 for a correlation of the 10 stages with the four purifications (visuddhi). 8. T.R.V. Murti, The Central Philosophy of Buddhism (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1955), p. 220. 9. Walter Liebenthal, "A Biography of Chu Tao-sheng," Monumenta Nipponica, 11 (October, 1955), p. 90. 10. Yampolsky, Platform Sutra, p. 137. 11. Jacques Gernet, Entretiens du Maitre de Dhyana Chenhouei du Ho-tso (Hanoi, 1949), p. 50. 12. John Blofeld, The Zen Teachings of Hui-hai on Sudden Illumination (London: Rider and Company), 1962, p. 56. 13. Demieville, Concile, p. 95. 14. Ibid., p. 60. 15. Ibid., p. 43. 16. Walter Liebenthal, "The World Conception of Chu Tao-sheng," Monumenta Nipponica, 12-13 (1956-58), pp. 257-258. 17. Ibid., p. 89. 18. Wing-tsit Chan, ed. and comp., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 440 . . 19. Francis H. Cook, "Fa-tsang's Treatise on the Five Doctrines" (unpub- lished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1970), pp. 500, 504. Origi- nal in TaishO no. 1866, p. 505. b-c. 20. My translation, based on that of Norman Waddell and Masao Abe in the Eastern Buddhist. 21. Francis D6jun Cook, How to Raise an Ox (Los Angeles: Center Publi- cations, 1978), p. 97. 22. Shobogenzo sesshin sesshO, in Nakamura S6ichi, Zenyaku ShObogenzo, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Seishin Shobo, 1972), p. 262. 23. D6gen's remarks concerning Buddha-nature and its relationship to phenomenal existence is discussed in many places. See, for instance, Masu- naga Reiho, The Sot{j Approach to Zen, Hee-jin Kim, Dagen Kigen: Mystical Realist, and TakashiJames Kodera, "The Buddha-Nature in Dogen's Sh6b6- genz6," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 4, no. 4 (December, 1977), pp. 267-292. 24. This translation of the term genjo-koan was suggested by T.P. Kasulis, 29 in "The Zen Philosopher: A Review Article on Dagen Scholarship in English," Philosophy East and West, 28, no. 3 Quly, 1978), p. 368. 25. See the translation of Bussha by Norman Waddell and Masao Abe in The Eastern Buddhist, 8, no. 2, pp. 94-112.; 9, no. 1; pp. 87-105; and 9, no. 2, pp.71-87. 26. Dagen refers to this samadhi in Bendawa. See the translation by Wad- dell and Abe in the Eastern Buddhist, 4, no. 1 (May, 1971). 27. Yampolsky, Platform Sutra, p. 135. 28. Hee-jin Kim, Dagen Kigen: Mystical Realist (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1975), p. 68-69. 29. Francis H. Cook, Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra (Pennsylva- nia State University Press, 1977), ch. 7. 30. ShOb8genza genja-kaan. Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, The Way of Everyday Life (Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1978). A recent translation. 31. Cook, How to Raise an Ox, p. 176. 32. Cook, How to Raise an Ox, is a translation of 10 practice-oriented chapters from Shabagenza, with the translator's own interpretive comments added. 30 The Place of the Sudden Teaching within the Hua-yen Tradition: An Investigation of the Process of Doctrinal Change by Peter N. Gregory One of the best ways in which we can assess the process of doctrinal change within Chinese Buddhism is by a comparative analysis of the various schemes of doctrinal classification (p'a,n- chiao ~ I J ~ ) devised within the different scholastic traditions. P'an-chiao served Chinese Buddhists as a convenient herme- neutical device by which the confusing array of teachings be- lieved to have been taught by the Buddha could be systemati- cally organized into a coherent, internally consistent doctrinal whole. At the same time, by classifying the Buddha's teachings within a hierarchically articulated framework, it also func- tioned as one of the primary means by which the different Chinese traditions legitimized their sectarian claims. P'an-chiao thus represents in schematic form what doctrines a particular tradition took to be the most important for defining the main characteristics of its teaching. The investigation of how such formulations change within a tradition should, accordingly, provide us with a useful index for gauging the process of doc- trinal change. The process of doctrinal change, moreover, must be un- derstood from two interrelated points of view. On the one hand, it must be understood within the particular doctrinal context of the tradition in question-a context that has its own tensions and trajectory, which define both the parameters with- in which innovation can take place and the directions in which such innovation is most likely to occur. On the other hand, while we must respect the integrity of a tradition, we must bear in mind that traditions do not develop within a vacuum. The 31 process of doctrinal change must also be understood within the larger historical context that shaped the lives and thoughts of the individual figures who constitute a t:r:adition. The investiga- tion of the different p'an-chiao schemes evolved within a par- ticular tradition should both reveal the underlying problematic of that tradition and reflect broader changes within the Chi- nese Buddhist world. . The Hua-yen tradition, along with Tien-t'ai, is one of the crowning achievements of Chinese Buddhist scholastic thought. It is also worthy of our attention as representing one of the major expressions of what Yuki Reimon has character- ized as the New Buddhism of the Sui / Tang Period-that is, it is a prime example of a form of Buddhism that can be said to be at once authentically Buddhist and uniquely Chinese. The clas- sical formulation of Hua-yen doctrine is often taken as having been best articulated by Fa-tsang (643-712) in his Treatise on the Five Teachings (Wu-chiao chang Ii tll:1if ). A comparison of the doctrinal classification scheme outlined in that work with that elaborated by Tsung-mi *W (780-841), traditionally reck- oned as the fifth Hua-yen "patriarch," in his Inquiry into the Origin of Man (Yuan-jen lun J5{ A ), reveals that there were a number of profound changes that had taken place in the evalu- ation of the basic tenets of Hua-yen doctrine in the almost century and a half that separated the composi.tion of these two works. Fa-tsang divides the Buddha's teachings into five categor- ies. The first and most elementary of these is the Teaching of the Lesser Vehicle (hsiao-sheng chiao /J\ * tll ). The second is the Elementary Teaching of the Great Vehicle (ta-sheng shih- chiao *- * f]:Io tll ), which Fa-tsang subdivides into two catego- ries, corresponding to the particular brand of Yogacara intro- duced to China by Hsuan-tsang and the Madhyamika teaching of emptiness. Fa-tsang refers to the third category in his classifi- cation scheme as the Advanced Teaching of the Great Vehicle (ta-sheng chung-chiao *- tll ), which is exemplified by the Tathagatagarbha doctrine, especially as it was elaborated in the Awakening of Faith (Ta-sheng ch'i-hsin lun The fourth category is the Sudden Teaching (tun-chiao tll ). The fifth and highest category of Buddhist teaching is the Perfect Teach- ing (yuan-chiao [I ), as represented by the totalistic vision of 32 the unobstructed interrelation of all things, taught in the Hua- yen (Avata'Y[lSaka) Sfdra. Tsung-mi also divides the Buddha's teachings into five categories. His first category, the Teaching of Men and Gods (jen-t'ien chiao A 7 C ~ ), is not found in Fa-tsang's classification scheme. His second category, the Teaching of the Lesser Vehi- cle, corresponds to the first category of teaching ih Fa-tsang's scheme. Tsung-mi then makes what were the two subdivisions of Fa-tsang's second category-the Elementary Teaching of the Great Vehicle-into the third and fourth categories in his own scheme, which he refers to as the Teaching of the Phenomenal Appearances of the Dharmas (fa-hsiang chiao t! 113 ~ ) and the Teaching which Negates Phenomenal Appearances (p'o-hsiang chiao 1iW.1 ~ ). The fifth and supreme teaching in Tsung-mi's classification scheme, which he refers to as the Teaching which Reveals the Nature (hsien-hsing chiao ~ J j 1'1 ~ ), corresponds to the third teaching in Fa-tsang's scheme. Tsung-mi does not include either the Sudden or the Perfect teachings, th.e last two categories in Fa-tsang's arrangement, as separate categories in his classification scheme. One of the most significant differences between Fa-tsang's and Tsung-mi's p'an-chiao schemes is that Tsung-mi omits the Sudden Teaching from his fivefold classification of the Bud- dha's teachings. This paper will investigate the changing assess- ment of this teaching withiri the Hua-yen tradition. Such an endeavor should reveal some of the tensions inherent within the tradition, and highlight some of the changes that had taken place within Chinese Buddhism in the eighfh century, the most notable of which, in the present context, are the rise of Ch'an and the revival of T'ien-t'ai, two movements that left an impor- tant mark on Tsung-mi's revision of Hua-yen. 1. The Sudden Teaching According to Fa-tsang Unlike much of the p'an-chiao tradition that preceded him, Fa-tsang does not identify the Sudden Teaching with the Hua- yen Siltra.! Rather, the teaching of the Hua-yen Siitra supersedes the Sudden Teaching, and is accorded supreme pride of place as the Perfect Teaching, the fifth and final teaching in his clas- 33 sification scheme. Fa-tsang associates the Sudden Teaching- insofar as any teaching that transcends all methods of teaching can be linked with a particular scripturq.l teaching-with the VimalakirtinirdeSa Sidra. A good example of what Fa-tsang means by the Sudden Teaching can be found in the first defini- tion of this category of teaching that he the Treatise on the Five Teachings: In the Sudden Teaching all words and explanations are suddenly cut off, the nature of the Truth is suddenly re- vealed, understanding <;tnd are suddenly perfect- ed, and Buddhahood- [IS attamed] upon the non-produc- tion of a single moment of [false] thought. 2 As canonical authority, Fa-tsang then goes on to quote the pas- sage from the Lmikavatara Sidra which says that the purification of beings can be spoken of as sudden 'just as images in a mirror are reflected suddenly, not gradually."3 Moreover, in this defi- nition the Sudden Teaching is explicitly contrasted with the former two teachings in Fa-tsang's p'an-chiao scheme, those of the Elementary and Advanced Mahayana, which are character- ized as gradual because the understanding and practice within them lie within words and explanations, the stages [of the Bodhisattva's path] are sequential, cause and effect follow one another, and one proceeds from the subtle to the manifest. 4 While Fa-tsang discusses the Sudden Teaching in different ways from a variety of perspectives throughout the Treatise on the Five Teachings,5 his overall characterization, as the definition just cited suggests, can be analyzed as having two aspects, the first having to do with its doctrinal content and the second with its practical application. 6 According to the first, the Sudden Teaching is described as abandoning all words and concepts because there can be no dichotomous discrimination in the ap- prehension of the ultimate nature of reality, which ineluctably defies all attempts to verbalize or conceptualize its essence. The canonical paradigm to which Fa-tsang refers most frequently to illustrate this aspect of the Sudden Teaching is Vimalaklrti's resounding silence, which marks the climax of the ninth chap- 34 terof Kumarajlva's translation of the Vimalakfrtinirdefa Sutra. 7 The chapter begins with Vimalaklrti's request that all of the Bodhisattvas present express. their understanding of the Dharma of nonduality. After each of the thirty-two Bodhisatt- vas, culminating with MafijusrI, the very embodiment of wis- dom, has taken his turn, MafijusrI then calls upon Vimalaklrti to express his understanding, whereupon Vimalaklrti remains silent. MafijusrI then exclaims: "Excellent! Excellent! To be without words and speech! That is called the tru'e entrance into the Dharma of non-duality!"8 No matter how profound or eloquent their replies, the answers of all of the Bodhisattvas still fall within the province of either the Elementary or the Advanced Teaching, for they still rely on words to try to express the inexpressible. Only Vima- laklrti succeeds in directly expressing the ineffable nature of ultimate reality by his refusal to enter the realm of dichotomous discourse. Fa-tsang aptly indicates the qualitative difference in their responses by saying that the thirty-two Bodhisattvas mere- ly"spoke about" (shuo ~ ) the Dharma of non-duality, whereas Vimalaklrti "revealed" (hsien ~ . l i : ) it. 9 As this example from the Vimalakfrtinirdefa Sutra also indi- cates, what Vimalaklrti succeeds in revealing through his si- lence and what the other Bodhisattvas try, but ultimately fail, to express in words is the same ineffable reality. The difference between their responses lies in the manner in which they ex- press, or try to express, the true nature of this reality. When MafijusrI says: ' "In my opinion, to be without words, without speech, with- out indication, without knowing, and beyond all questions and answers in regard to all tbings-that is entering the Dharma of non-duality!"IO he merely says what it is. Only Vimalaklrti's silence succeeds in directly manifesting the true import of MafijusrI's words. If Vimalaklrti's silence is taken as the paradigm upon which Fa-tsang establishes the Sudden Teaching, then the Sud- den Teaching does not differ in content from the Advanced Teaching, which Fa-tsang identifies as the Absolute Mind of Suchness (chen-'ju i-hsin !X ~ D - ,t:" ) in another passage in the Treatise of the Five Teachings: 35 According to the Sudden Teaching, all things are nothing but the Absolute Mind of Suchness, wherein all discrimina- tions have utterly ceased. It transcends words and concepts and is ineffable. The Dharma of non-duality as spoken of by the thirty-two Bodhisattvas in the Vimalakirfnirdefasi;itra refers to the harmonious interfusion of the pure and im- pure without duality in the previous teaching of the Ad- vanced [Mahayana], while the non-daulity which tran- scends words that was revealed by Vimalaklrti refers to this [Sudden] Teaching. Because all pure and impure charac- teristics have been utterly brough.t to an end and there are no longer any two things which can be harmonized with one another, the ineffaole is non-duality.ll This passage is of further interest iri that it makes clear that what Fa-tsang has in mind when he discusses the content of these two teachings is the Tathagatagarbha as expounded in the Awakening of Faith. The following passage from the Treatise on the Five Teachings makes this connection with the Awakening of Faith even more explicit. Within the Awakening of Faith, it is in connection with the Sudden Teaching that the Suchness which transcends words is revealed and in conriection with the Gradual Teaching that the Suchness which is predicated in words is expounded, and, within [the Suchness which is] predicated in words, it is in connection with the Elementary and Ad- vanced Teaching that the emrty and non-empty [aspects of] Suchness are expounded. 1 Fa-tsang is here basing himself on a passage in the begin- ning of the Awakening of Faith that distinguishes between Such- ness which transcends words (li-yen , , ~ ~ frl]) and Suchness which is predicated in words (i-yen {1X. ~ iJt frl] ). 36 What is referred to as "the Nature of the Mind" is neither born nor dies. It is only on the basis of false thoughts that all things become differentiated. If one is free from false thoughts, then there are no phenomenal appearances of any objects. Therefore, from the very beginmng all things transcend all forms of verbalization, description, and con- ceptualization and are ultimately undifferentiated, un- changing, and indestructible. Because they are nothing but the Absolute Mind, they are referred to as Suchness. Be- cause all verbal explanations are merely provisional desig- nations without any reality and are merely used in accor- dance with false thoughts and cannot denote [Suchness], the term "Suchness" is without any [determinate] charac- teristics. This means that it is the limit of verbal expression wherein a word is used to put an end to words .... Because all things are ineffable and inconceivable, they are referred to as "Suchness."13 . This passage refers to the Suchness which transcends words, which is Suchness in its true (shih .. ) aspect, as distinguished from the Suchness which is predicated in words, which is only provisional (chia {IR ). The Awakening of Faith then goes on to introduce the Such- ness which is predicated in words, which it says has two aspects. The first is termed "the truly empty [ ~ D 1ft ~ ] because it is ultimately able to reveal what is real" and the second is termed "the truly non-empty [ ~ D Jf:;r; ~ ] because it is in its very essence fully endowed with undefiled excellent qualities."14 As these various passages make clear, the Sudden Teach- . ing is represented for Fa-tsang by Vimalaklrti's s'ilence and is based on the Awakening of Faith's Suchness which transcends words; while the Gradual Teaching-denoting, in this context, both the Elementary and the Advanced Teaching-is repre- sented by the replies of the thirty-two Bodhisattvas, and is based on the Awakening of Faith's Suchness which is predicated in words. Moreover, the Sudden and Gradual Teachings do not differ in content, only in the way in which they express that content. However, as the initial definition of the Sudden Teaching cited above indicates-and as Fa-tsang makes clear in other contexts-there is also another aspect to his characterization of this teaching, one which bears on the nature of religious prac- tice. That is, the Sudden Teaching is the teaching that it is possible to attain Buddhahood suddenly, in a single moment of thought, without having to progress step by step through a long and arduous succession of stages on the Path. As Fa-tsang says in the Treatise on the Five Teachings: 37 According to the Sudden Teaching, all stages of practice are without exception ineffable because they transcend all forms, because Buddhahood [is attained] upon the non- production of a single moment of [false] thought, and be- cause, if one perceIves such as in the stages of practIce, then It IS an erroneous VIeW. b The three scriptural passages that Fa-tsang quotes as ca- nonical authority for this characterization of the Sudden Teaching l6 are: 1. If someone hears of the true nature of all things and dili- gently practices accordingly, then he will not advance stage by stage, and, if he does not advance stage by stage, then he will not abide in either salTlsara or nirvaI).a. 17 2. Lankavatara: The first stage is identical with the eighth .... Since there are no [stages] which exist, how could there be a sequence [of stages]? 18 3. Dasabhumika: The ten stages are like the traces of a bird in the sky. How could there be differences that could be attained?19 The Sudden Teaching for Fa-tsang thus not only indicates a superior way of revealing the true nature of reality, but also contains a specific teaching about the true nature of religious practice. The second aspect of Fa-tsang's characterization of this teaching grows out of the first, both being based on the Awakening of Faith. Just as the true nature of Suchness lacks all determinate characteristics and any attempt to express it in words is therefore merely provisionally true at best, so also the distinctions among the various stages of religious practice are only provisional and do not obtain in the realm of Suchness. It is therefore possible, by realizing their empty nature, to tran- scend them. The second aspect can thus be seen as an extension of the first to the realm of practice, and, as such, it seems to intimate the teaching of sudden enlightenment that was to be- come so important for Ch'an Buddhists, although Fa-tsang does not use the term "sudden enlightenment," nor does he 38 to the Ch'an school. It is only when we come to Ch'eng- kuan *8 (737-838), who took the further step of identifying the Sudden Teaching with Ch'an, that the second aspect of this, teaching assumes primary significance. In the context of the Treatise on the Five Teachings, however, it is the doctrinal aspect of this teaching that is emphasized. II. Hui--yuan and the Problematical Nature of the Sudden Teaching The first to raise the issue of the problematical nature of the Sudden Teaching within Fa-tsang's p'an-chiao scheme was Fa-tsang's own favored disciple, Hui-yuan (ca.673-743). In his discussion of Fa-tsang's system of doctrinal classification in the K'an-ting chi, Hui-yuan delivers the following criticism of the inclusion of the Sudden Teaching in Fa-tsang's fivefold scheme: You should know that this [Sudden Teaching] abandons the use of language [ L ] to reveal the Truth [ W ). How, then, can it De established as [a teaching which] can be expressed in words [ If it is a teaching, then what truth [ W ] does it express? If one were to say that the teaching is .not separate from the Truth because it tran- scends words, then surely it must be true that the Ad- vanced and Perfect teachings [also] transcend words. But, if one admits that [teachings which] transcend words must always be called "sudden," then why are there five teach- ings? If one were to claim that, even though it is [a teaching which] expounds the transcending of w9rds, it still does not exclude the use of words, then the Advanced and Per- fect teachings should also be called "sudden," because they both transcend words while not excluding the use of words. 20 Hui-yuan's criticism is twofold. His first point can be restat- ed in the following terms: In order for something to qualify as a teaching (chiao t\(), there must be a certain content (50- ch'uan J5fi li W) which it is able to express (neng- ch'uan ). However, if the "teaching" in question abandons the use of language (wang-ch'uan ) and thereby has no way in which to express itself, then there can be no content which it 39 expresses, and it consequently cannot be regarded as a real teaching. Since "the Sudden Teaching" is characterized pre- cisely by its rejection of language to the Truth, it is thus a contradiction in terms to establish it as a teaching. On the other hand, if it is admitted that the Sudden Teaching does succeed in expressing the Truth, then it cannot truly abandon all modes of expression, for the Truth (li) cannot be expressed (so-ch'iian) without some form of expression (neng-ch'iian). This brings us to the second point raised by Hui-yuan's criticism: If the content of the Sudden Teaching is the Truth which tran- scends words and which is ultimately inexpressible, then it hardly differs from either the Advanced or Perfect Teaching. There is thus no reason to establish it as a separate teaching. Hui-yuan's criticism points to the question of the taxonomy of Fa-tsang's p'an-chiao scheme. The organizing principle ac- cording to which Fa-tsang seems to be operating in his classifi- cation of Buddhist teachings has to do with distinguishing among teachings according to an analysis of their content. Since the Sudden Teaching has the same content as the Ad- vanced Teaching, it cannot be set up as a separate category of teaching without doing violence to the taxonomical principle according to which the other teachings are classified. The problematical nature of the Sudden Teaching within Fa-tsang's p'an-chiao scheme becomes even more apparent when viewed in terms of the systematic formulation of the T'ien-t'ai p'an-chiao first articulated by Chan-jan i4f (711- 782) in the middle of the eighth century.21 Chan-jan, reckoned as the sixth patriarch in the T'ien-t'ai tradition, was the figure responsible for the revival of the fortunes of the T'ien-t'ai teachings in the later T'ang, after a century or more of almost total eclipse. More important in the present context, Chan-jan also seems to have been the first to make explicit the crucial distinction in the taxonomy of Buddhist teachings between the classification of teachings according to the method of their ex- position (hua-i-chiao it; ) and according to the content of their exposition (hua-fa chiao it; 113; Wz ). According to Chan-jan's creative synthesis of the various forms of doctrinal classifica- tions scattered throughout Chih-i's works, the Sudden Teach- ing falls within the category of teachings that should be classi- fied according to the method of their exposition, whereas all of 40 the" other teachings in Fa-tsang's p'an-chiao scheme would have to be categorized as teachings that should be classified accord- ing to the content of their exposition. The distinction between these two ways of classifying Buddhist teachings introduced by Chan-jan:....---which was adopted by Tsung-mi-makes clear the taxonomical confusion entailed by Fa-tsang's inclusion of the Sudden Teaching within his p'an-chiao scheme. Ill. Ch'eng-kuan's Redefinition of the Sudden Teaching The question of the Sudden Teaching takes on a new and extra-doctrinal dimension when we come to Ch'eng-kuan. One of the main bases for Ch'eng-kuan's attack on Hui-yuan was Hui-yuan's exclusion of the Sudden Teaching from his own fourfold classification scheme and his related criticism of Fa- tsang's scheme for its inclusion of the Sudden Teaching. After quoting Hui-yuan's first point of criticism, Ch'eng-kuan offers his own defense of Fa-tsang's inclusion of the Sudden Teach- ing: "Because it suddenly expresses the Truth, it is called 'the Sudden Teaching'" means that what is expressed is the Truth. How could it be that the sudden preaching of the Truth in this case is not able to express [the Truth]? Now, teachings which are able to express [Truth] are always es- tablished in accordance with [the truth] that they .express. For instance, if it expresses [the truth of] the Three Vehi- cles, then it is a gradual teaching; if it expresses the unob- structed interrelation of each and every tIiing, then it is the Perfect Teaching. How could it be that if that which is expressed is the Truth, [Hui-yuan] could not admit that that which is able to express it IS a teaching? How could he have criticized [this teaching] by saying, "then what Truth [does it express]?" That is the epitome of delusion!22 However, in arguing that the Sudden Teaching must be a teaching because it expresses the Truth, Ch'eng-kuan misses the point of Hui-yuan's criticism that, if the Sudden Teaching by definition discards all means of expressing the Truth, then there is nothing that it can be said to express. In fact, Ch'eng- kuan's attempted rebuttal only raises Hui-yuan's second criti- 41 cism, which Ch'eng-kuan makes no attempt to address. Ch'eng- kuan's lame response suggests that it is not just a question of doctrine that is at stake. of attempting .to show how the Truth expressed in the Sudden Teaching differs from that expressed in the Advanced or Perfect Teachings, Ch'eng-kuan comes to the real substance of his objection when he says: . Because [Hui-yuan] never penetrated Ch'an, he was utter- ly deluded about the true meaning of the Sudden [Teach- ing]. ... The mind-by-mind transmission of Bodhidharma truly refers to this [Sudden] Teaching. If a single word were not used [ ] to express directly tliat this very mind is Buddha, how could the essentials of the Mind be transmit- ted? Therefore, using words which are without words, the Truth which transcends words is directly expressed .... The Northern and Southern lines of Ch'an are [both] com- prised within the Sudden Teaching. 23 What is really at issue for Ch'eng-kuan is the fact that he takes the Sudden Teaching to refer to Ch'an, and it is impor- tant to recall in this regard that, in addition to being honored as the fourth Hua-yen" patriarch by the later tradition, Ch'eng- kuan was also closely associated with various Ch'an lines of his day. The Biographies of Eminent Monks Compiled in the Sung (Sung kao-seng chuan), for instance, credits Ch'eng-kuan with having studied the Ox-head line ofCh'an under Hui-chung (683- 769) and Fa-ch'in t.t (714-792), the Ho-tse line of Southern Ch'an under Wu-ming (722-793), and the Northern line of Ch'an under Hui-yun (dates unknown).24 Even though it is highly unlikely that Fa-tsang could have had Ch'an in mind when he discussed the Sudden Teaching in the Treatise on the Five Teachings,25 Ch'eng-kuan's identification of the Sudden Teaching with Ch'an does, in fact, provide a way in which Fa-tsang's fivefold classification scheme can be sal- vaged from Hui-yuan's criticism. As noted before, Fa-tsang's characterization of the Sudden Teaching can be analyzed as having two aspects. While Hui-yuan'scritique holds against the first aspect, according to which the Sudden Teaching differs from the Advanced Teaching only in its method of exposition and not in its content, it does not hold against the second as- 42 pect, which has to do with religious practice. That is, even though the Sudden Teaching does not reveal any new truth about the ultimate nature of reality, it may still have something unique to say about the nature of practice, and it is in this context that it can still be considered as a bona fide teaching in its own right. 26 Nevertheless, in so identifying the Sudden Teach- ing with Ch'an, Ch'eng-kuan has given to this teaching a totally different valuation from that found in the Treatise on the Five Teachings, where the practical aspect of this teaching is of sec- ondary importance. More important, Ch'eng-kuan's identification of the Sud- den Teaching with Ch'an points to the enormous impact that the rise of Ch'an had on other forms of Chinese Buddhism in the eighth century. That century witnessed the transformation of Ch'an from a little-known and cloistered phenomenon into a large scale movement whose ramifications affected the course of Chinese Buddhism as a whole. It is the presence of Ch'an that gives the Hua-yen writings of Ch'eng-kuan and Tsung-mi an entirely different cast from those of Fa-tsang. IV. The Sudden Teaching in Tsung-mi's Thought Tsung-mi was even more closely identified with Ch'an than was his teacher, Ch'eng-kuan. Nevertheless, Tsung-mi did not identify the Sudden Teaching with Ch'an as Ch'eng-kuan had. Nor, for a number of reasons, did he establish the Sudden Teaching as a separate category in his p'an-chiao scheme. First of all, Tsung-mi could not make the kind of blanket identification that Ch'eng-kuan had made in subsuming differ- ent Ch'an lines together under the Sudden Teaching. When Tsung-mi formulated his p'an-chiao scheme in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man, almost half a century had elapsed since Ch'eng-kuan had written the Yen-i ch'ao, a period of time in which Ch'an had become even more influential and the differ- ences among the various Ch'an lines had become even more apparent, especially the difference between the Northern and Southern lines. As a successor to the Ho-tse line, whose founder, Shen-hui, had championed the cause of Southern Ch'an as teaching sudden enlightenment and had disparaged 43 Northern Ch'an as teaching a gradualistic form of practice, Tsung-mi could not have placed the two lines of Ch'an in the same category. Rather, Tsung-mi makes ,a point of distinguish- ing between the two lines. For instance, in the Ch'an Chart (Chung-hua ch'uan-hsin-ti ch'an men shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi t'u, ),27 a work that seeks to clarify the different historical and doctrinal roots of the major Ch'an lines of his day, Tsung-mi says: The Southern Line is the true line in which the robe and Dharma have been uninterruptedly transmitted over successive generations from the time when the Great Mas- ter Hui-neng of Ts'ao-ch'i received the essence of Bodhid- harma's teaching. Later, because Shen-hsiu widely spread the gradual teaching in the North, it was called the South- ern Line to distingmsh it [from the Northern line of Shen- hsiuJ.28 After the Priest Hui-neng died, the gradual teaching of the Northern line was greatly practiced and thus became an obstacle to the wide-scale transmission of the Sudden Teaching .... In the beginning of the T'ien-pao era [742- 756J Ho-tse [Shen-huiJ entered Loyang and, as soon as he proclaimed this teaching, he made it known that the des- cendents of Shen-hsiu were collateral and that their teach- ing was gradual. Since the two lines were being practiced side by sIde, people of the time wanted to distmguish be- tween them; therefore, the use of the names "Northern" and "Southern" began from that time. 29 Moreover, as Tsung-mi makes clear elsewhere in the Ch'an Chart, the teaching of Ho-tse Shen-hui is referred to as "sud- den" because it advocates sudden enlightenment. In contrast to the Southern line of Ch'an, the Northern line founded by Shen-hsiu is referred to as "gradual" because it merely teaches gradual practice, ignoring sudden enlightenment altogether. 30 Given Tsung-mi's deep personal identification with the Ho-tse line of Southern Ch'an and his characterization of the teaching of that line in terms sharply contrasting with those of the Northern line, it would have been impossible for him to have included both the Southern and Northern lines of Ch'an together in the same category, under the rubric of the Sudden 44 Teaching, as Ch'eng-kuan had done. If, in fact, Ch'eng":kuan was associated with both the Northern and Southern lines, we can assume that he would have wanted to minimize the differ- ences between them. Moreover, if Ch'eng-kuan's Ch'an alle- giance was to the Ox-head lineage, as Kamata has argued, it would only have been natural for him to have minimized the differences between the Northern and Southern lines, especial- ly if the Ox-head line of Ch'an arose as an attempt to bridge the sectarianism that had become rife among Ch'an Buddhists as a result of the rivalry between the Northern and Southern lines in the eighth century.31 Furthermore, it would have disrupted the integrity of his p'an-chiao scheme for Tsung-mi to have established the South- ern line alone as the Sudden Teaching, incorporating the Northern and other lines of Ch'an into categories of gradual teachings. But, more importantly, Tsung-mi did not regard the Ch'an lines as espousing teachings that were separate from the teachings of the more scholastic traditions of Chinese Buddhism. In fact, the efforts of the last years of his career were devoted to overcoming the separation between Ch'an and the more scholas- tic teachings (chiao tlt). Tsung-mi went to great pains in the Ch'an . Preface (Ch'an-yuan chu-ch'uan-chi tu-hsu ~ i!* ~ ~ ~ ~ l ff ) to link the major lines of Ch'an prevalent in his day with the scho- lastic traditions that had preceded them. Thus, he links the teaching of the Northern line of Ch'an with the Fa-hsiangl Yogacara tradition; the teaching of the Ox-head line of Ch'an with the San-IuniMadhyamika tradition; and the teaching of the Southern line of Ch'an with the Hua-yen tradition. It would thus have violated the very intent of this work to have estab- lished Ch'an as a separate teaching. Clearly, as far as Tsung-mi was concerned, the various Ch'an lines did not differ from the major scholastic traditions in terms of the content of their teaching; the innovation and contribution of the Ch'an lines lay in the way in which they applied these teachings in the sphere of religious practice. 32 Tsung-mi's thought in regard to the Sudden Teaching is elaborated most fully in the Ch'an Preface, which, with some slight alteration in terminology, employs the same p'an-chiao scheme that he developed in the Inquiry into the OTigin of Man. The only difference between the two schemes is that whereas 45 Tsung-mi uses a fivefold scheme in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man, he uses a threefold one in the Ch'an Preface. This differ- ence, however, is more apparent than ~ e a l , as Tsung-mi in- cludes the first three teachings of the Inquiry into the Origin of Man in the first <::ategory of teaching in the Ch'an Preface, which thus treats the same five teachings that he deals with in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man. This means that what he refers to as the three categories of teaching in the Ch'an Preface includes the five categories of teachings elaborated in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man, and what he refers to as the third category of teaching in the Ch'an Preface corresponds to the fifth category of teaching in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man. In response to the question: Previously you said that the Buddha expounded the sud- den and gradual teachings and that Ch'an opened up the sudden and gradual gates .[of practice]. It is still not clear what is the sudden Lteaching] and what is the gradual [teaching] within the three categories of teaching. Tsung-mi replies: It is only because the style [ {l:ct ] of the World Honored One's exposition of the Teachings varied that there are sudden expositions in accordance with the Truth and' gradual expositions in accordance with the capacities [of sentient bemgs]. Although they are also referred to as the Sudden Teaching and the Gradual Teaching, this does not mean that there IS a separate sudden and gradual [teach- ing] outside of the three teachings. 33 This passage makes clear that Tsung-mi, like Chan-jan, understands the terms "sudden" and "gradual" to refer to methods by which the Buddha taught, not to separate teach- ings. Since the teachings included within Tsung-mi's p'an-chiao scheme are classified according to their content, it would thus have entailed a confusion of taxonomical principles for Tsung- mi to have established the Sudden Teaching as a separate cate- gory. Tsung-mi goes on to distinguish between two types of sud- den teachings, a distinction that he does not make in the Inquiry 46 into the Origin of Man. Tsung-mi's explanation of the Sudden Teaching in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man corresponds to the account that he gives of the first type of this teaching in the Ch'an Preface, which he refers to as chu-chi-tun-chiao ~ ~ ii\!i. ~ , the sudden teaching which was expounded in response to be- ings of superior capacity, in contrast to what he refers to as hua- i-tun-chaio 1 ~ 1 ~ ii\!i. ~ ,the sudden teaching as a method of ex- position. Tsung-mi illustrates the first type in the Ch'an Preface by saying that "whenever [the Buddha] encountered a person of superior capacity and keen insight, he would directly reveal the True Dharma to him," and that this person, "being instantly enlightened upon hearing [the Buddha's words] would attain Buddhahood at once, just as the Hua-yen Sutra says, 'When one first raises the thought bf enlightenment, he immediately at- tains supreme perfect enlightenment.' "34 Tsung-mi goes on to say that only after such a person has suddenly awakened to his True Nature does he then gradually begin to eliminate the' residual effects of his past conditioning, a process which he compares to the ocean which has been stirred up by the wind: even though the wind ceases suddenly, the movement of the waves only subsides gradually. Tsung-mi then identifies this type of sudden teaching with the teaching of those sutras that expound the Tathagatagarbha, such as Hua-yen, Yilan-chileh, Surar(l,gama, Ghanavyuha, Srimala, and TatMgatagarbha. He con- cludes his discussion by saying that since this type of sudden teaching was expounded in response to beings of superior ca- pacity, it was not taught during a set period in the Buddha's teaching career, adding that it is the same teaching as that found in the third and highest category of Ch'an teaching, that which directly reveals the Nature of the Mind. 35 The first type of sudden teaching is defined in contrast with the gradual teachings-i.e., the first four of Tsung-mi's five teachings-which the Buddha expounded to beings of me- dium and inferior capacity and by means of which he progres- sively deepened their capacity to understand the Truth until they were ready to heat the teaching of ultimate meaning (liao- i T ~ , nttartha), such as that contained in the Lotus and Nirvary,a sutras. 36 As Tsung-mi writes in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man: 47 - ~ - - - - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - In the case of [beings of] medium and inferior capacity, [the. Buddha] proceeded from the superficial to the pro- found, gradually leading them forwara. He would initially expouna the first teaching [i.e., that of Men and Gods], enabling them to be free from evil and to abide in virtue; he woufd then expound the second and third [teachings; i.e., those of the Small Vehicle andthe Phenomenal Ap- pearances of the Dharmas], enabling them to be free from Impurity and to abide in purity; he would finally expound the fourth and fifth [teachings], negating phenomenal ap- pearances and revealing the Nature, subsuming the provi- sional into the True, and, by practicing in relIance upon the Ultimate Teaching, they attained Buddhahood. 37 The second type of sudden teaching that Tsung-midis- ~ cusses in the Ch'an Preface, the sudden teaching as a method of exposition, refers exclusively to the Hua-yen Sidra and the Da- sabhumikasutra-sastra. 38 The basis on which Tsung-mi distin- guishes this type of sudden teaching from the first seems to be chronological. Whereas he says that the first type of sudden teaching was not taught during a set period of the Buddha's teaching career ( ~ f E . W w . ),39 he says that the second was "suddenly" taught by the Buddha "on one occasion" ( -ll1'f ) immediately after he had attained enlightenment. 4o Like the first type, which was expounded in response to beings of supe- rior capacity, this type of sudden teaching was also expounded "for the sake of those followers who possessed superior capaci- ties as a result of the conditioning of past lives."41 After noting that the second type of sudden teaching is also referred to as the Perfect Sudden Teaching (yilan tun chiao Il ~ ~ ), Tsung- mi then goes on to catalogue under this heading such cardinal Hua-yen doctrines as the universe being contained within each speck of dust, the unimpeded interidentification and interpen- etration of each and every thing, the Ten Profundities, etc., all of which fall under the category of what Fa-tsang designated as the Perfect Teaching. 42 When viewed in terms of content, however, Tsung-mi's second type of sudden teaching seems to collapse into the first. Tsung-mi, after all, includes the Hua-yen Sutra in his enumera- tion of siltras that exemplify the first type of sudden teaching. Nor, at first glance, does his distinction between the two seem to add anything to his discussion of the Sudden Teaching. In 48 order to understand why Tsung-mi introduces this second type of sudden teaching into his discussion in the Ch'an Preface, we must digress briefly to consider the impact that the T'ien-t'ai revival of the second half of the eighth century had on Hua-yen thought. . The term that Tsung-mi uses to designate this second type of sudden teaching, hua-i , derives from the terminology used by Chan-jan in his p'an-chiao scheme of Five Periods and Eight Teachings (wu-shihpa-chiao ).43 Chan-jan divid- edthe Eight Teachings into two sets of four, each of the two representing a different perspective according to which the Buddha's teachings could be analyzed: what he referred to as the Four Teachings according to the Method of their Exposi- tion (hua-i-ssu-chiao IZ ) and the Four Teachings accord- ing to the Content of their Exposition (huala-ssu- chiao {t. it IZ ).44 The Sudden Teaching was represented for Chan-jan by the Buddha's preaching of the Hua-yen Sutra im- mediately after his attainment of enlightenment. The Buddha's preaching of this sutra was termed "sudden" because it was a direct and unadulterated exposition of the Truth that made no recourse to a graduated method of teaching more suited to the still immature capacities of the great majority of his audience. Thus, according to Chan-jan's analysis of the different ways in which the Buddha's teaching could be classified, "sudden" re- ferred exclusively to the method the Buddha used when he expounded the Hua-yen Sutra; the Sudden Teaching was ac- cordingly classified as a hua-i type of teaching, that is, a teach- ing to be classified according to the method of its exposition. Tsung-mi's use of the term hua-i-tun-chiao (the Sudden Teaching as a Method of Exposition), as well as his overall explanation of the Sudden Teaching, shows that he is in agree- ment with the taxonomical distinctions introduced by Chan- jan, at least insofar as they apply to the classification of the Sudden Teaching. Moreover, his use of the term "Perfect Sud- den Teaching" to characterize the second type of sudden teach- ing, that which is limited to the Hua-yen Sutra, reflects his awareness of a point of doctrinal contention that became a much bruited issue between T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen scholars in the second half of the eighth century. The debate centered around the classification of the Hua-yen and Lotus sutras vis-a- 49 vis one another and was important because it bore directly on the question of which of the two traditions was superior to the other. The crux of the debate stemmed from a passage in the introductory section of the Profound J'Vteaning of the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua hsuan-i), in which Chih-i cryptically referred to the Lo- tus as being a "Gradual-Perfect Teaching" (chien-yuan chiao fiIiJi [J ~ )45 and, a little further on, as being "Gradual- Sudden" (chien-tun fiIiJi:tii'i: ).46 This passage was later used to demonstrate the superiority of the Hua-yen Sutra, which was accordingly classified as Sudden-Perfect and Sudden-Sudden, over the Lotus. Chih-i's statement became a particularly sensi- tive point for Chan-jan, who went to great pains to try to ex- plain it away.47 In order to appreciate the urgency that this issue had for Chan-jan, we must consider the adverse situation in which the Tien-t'ai tradition found itself in the middle of the eighth cen- tury, recalling that the Tien-t'ai teachings had been almost totally eclipsed during the first half of the Tang dynasty. The reasons for this are not hard to determine: the T'ien-t'ai tradi- tion had become stigmatized in the eyes of the Tang ruling house because of its close association with the ruling house of the preceding Sui dynasty (589-618). The Tang rulers turned elsewhere to bestow their favors, first patronizing the new Y 0- gacara teachings introduced by Hsuan-tsang (600-664), and later patronizing the Hua-yen teachings systematized by Fa- tsang. 48 Moreover, from a doctrinal perspective, the most im- portant event in setting the course for Chinese Buddhist schol- arship after the death of Chih-i in 597 was Hsuan-tsang's return from India in the middle of the seventh century. The greqt number of translations of Buddhist texts produced under his direction in the next two decades, together with the impact of the new form of Y ogacara teachings that he introduced to the Chinese Buddhist world, redefined the central issues which subsequent Chinese Buddhist scholars had to address. 49 A new- ly formed tradition such as Hua-yen, whose teachings were systematized in response to the challenge posed by the new Yogacara teachings, made the earlier Tien-t'ai writings of Chih-i look out of date. Furthermore, the eighth century wit- nessed the rise of Ch'an as a self-conscious movement asserting its own unique and forceful claim to represent the authentic 50 . teaching of the Buddha, an event that heightened the sense of sectarian consciousness among other Chinese Buddhist tradi- tions; such as T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen. 5o For Chan-jan, intent upon reviving the fortunes of the T'ien-t'ai tradition, it was the prominence of Hua-yen as the major form of scholastic Buddhism that presented the most serious obstacle. In order for him to reassert what he believed to be the superiority of the T'ien-t'ai teachings, it was necessary for him to clarify and strengthen the basis for their authority. He thus identified those teachings much more closely than had Chih-i with the Lotus SiUra. The whole thrust of his Five Periods . and Eight Teachings was to assert the paramount su- premacy bf the Lotus above all other teachings of the Buddha, thereby demonstrating the superiority of T'ien-t'ai above all other traditions. Chih-i's remark in the beginning of the Pro- found Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, that the LotUs was a Gradual- Perfect or Gradual-Sudden teaching, accordingly proved to be a particularly irksome" problem for Chan-jan. Without going into the details of his argument, suffice it to point out that Chan-jan's strategy was to declare that the teaching of the Lotus transcended the Eight Teachings ( MU\), thereby lifting it out of the realm of debate entirely by placing it above such categor- ies as sudden and gradual. However, it should be pointed out that Chan-jan clearly departed from the more characteristic position of Chih-i, which classified the Lotus as a Perfect-Sud- den teaching;51 The resurgence of T'ien-t'ai as a self-conscious tradition of Chinese Buddhism asserting its 6wn claim for being recognized as the most exalted expression of the Buddha's teaching shar- pened the need for the other forms of Chinese Buddhism to reassert their identity as distinct and authentic traditions, bear- ing their own claims to superiority. The mounting sectarian consciousness among Chinese Buddhists throughout the eighth century is reflected in the use of the term tsung * , by which particular teaching traditions came to themselves. Tsung can refer to the progenitor of an ancestral lineage and, in the context in which it was adopted during this time, it specifi- cally connoted a teaching lineage. It first seems to have gained widespread use in this sense by Ch'an Buddhists in connection with their claim that Ch'an represented the true teaching of the 51 Buddha, which had been passed down through an unbroken line of patriarchal succession. Chan-jan was Jhe first to apply the designation tsung to the T'ien-t'ai tradition,52 and Ch'eng- kuan, following suit, applied the term to Hua-yen for the first time. 53 Ch'eng-kuan's use of the term tsung to refer to the Hua- yen tradition should thus be seen as reflecting not only his intimate connection with Ch'an, but also the increasing sectar- ian consciousness among Hua-yen scholars occasioned by the newly-formulated doctrinal claims ofT'ien-t'ai to represent the superior tradition. Tsung-mi inherited the debate from Ch'eng-kuan, who was well versed in T'ien-t'ai thought. Ch'eng-kuan had prac- ticed under the Vinaya master, T'an-i ~ - , together with Chan-jan and had studied under Chan-jan between 775 and 776, before leaving for Wu-t'ai-shan, an important center for both Hua-yen and T'ien-t'ai studies at that time. 54 Ch'eng-kuan first took up the debate in the Yen-i-ch'ao, his massive subcom- mentary to his already lengthy commentary on the Hua-yen Siltra, the latter work having been begun in 784, two years after Chan-jan's death. 55 In his discussion of the T'ien-t'ai system of p'an-chiao, Ch'eng-kuan cities Chih-i's authority to reassert within T'ien-t'ai doctrinal categories the superiority of the Hua- yen over the Lotus sutra, claiming that whereas the Hua-yen Siltra could be classified as either a Sudden-Perfect or Sudden-Sud- den teaching, the Lotus merely represented a Gradual-Perfect or Gradual-Sudden teaching. 56 Tsung-mi's introduction of the second type of sudden teaching in the Ch'an Preface, together with his reference to it as the Perfect Sudden Teaching, suggests that the debate was still a live issue in the ninth century. Further traces of the debate can be found in Tsung-mi's remarks on the Lotus and Nirviirw sutras, both of which he regards as teachings of ultimate mean- ing (liao-i, nztiirtha), but still categorizes as gradual, in contrast to other sutras of ultimate meaning-such as Hua-yen, Ghana- vyilha, Yuan-chueh, Silrar[tgama, Srzmiilii, and Tathiigatagarbha- which he categorizes as sudden. 57 Although Tsung-mi distinguishes between these two types of Sudden Teaching in the Ch'an Preface, the distinction is not a substantive one, since there is little difference in content be- tween the two. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that he 52 does not make this distinction in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man. The fact that his description of the Sudden Teaching in the Inquiry into the Origin of Man corresponds to the first type of Sudden Teaching delineated in the Ch'an Preface, moreover, indicates that the second type is clearly subsidiary to the first. Nevertheless, the second type is significant in the present con- text because it shows Tsung-mi's awareness of a much contro- verted point among Hua-yen and T'ien-t'ai scholars. Although Tsung-mi seems to introduce the second type of Sudden Teaching in order to score some doctrinal points against T'ien- t'ai, it should be emphasized that his interpretation of the Sud- den Teaching as referring to a particular way in which the Buddha taught, rather than to a specific teaching per se, is much closer to the T'ien-t'ai than to the Hua-yen use of the term. We can also suppose that Tsung-mi's familiarity with T'ien-t'ai made him more sensitive to the problematical nature of the Sudden Teaching within Fa-tsang's taxonomy of the Buddha's teachings, although he certainly had other more pressing rea- sons for not including it as a separate category in his p'an-chiao scheme. , The Sudden Teaching was, for Tsung-mi, included within the Teaching which Reveals the Nature, a fact that underlines the importance of Ch'an in his reformulation of Hua-yen p'an- chaio. As it was applied to the Buddha's teachings, Tsung-mi understood "sudden" as referring to the method by which the Buddha directly revealed the Truth, without recourse to any expedients. It was thus the teaching that enabled one to gain insight into his True Nature, which was the basis for the Ch'an practice that Tsung-mi identified as the teaching of sudden enlightenment proclaimed by Ho-tse Shen-hui. NOTES l. The identificatiori of the Sudden Teaching with the Huct-yen Sutm goes back to Hui-kuan ~ fi (363-443), who, according to Chi-tsang, divid- ed the Buddha's teachings into two general types in his Preface to the Nirvii'IJct Sutra, composed during the early fifth century. The first was the Sudden Teaching expounded in the Huct-yen Sutm, which fully revealed the Truth and which was taught solely for Bodhisattvas, The second general type of teaching was the gradual, which Hui-kuan subdivided into five categories. 53 The first was the Separate Teaching of the Three Vehicles which was ex- pounded for Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and followers of the Great Vehicle. The second was the Common Teaching of the Three Vehicles, which was expounded in the Prajiiiipiiramitii sutras. The third was the teaching which censured the limited understanding of the Sravakas and praised the under- standing of the Bodhisattvas, and was expounded in the Vimalakfrtinirdefa and ViSe!lacintabrahmapariprccha sutras. The fourth was the Teaching of the Uni- versal Vehicle expounded in the Lotus SiUra. The fifth category of gradual teachings was the Teaching of the Eternality of the Buddha-nature expound- ed in the Nirviil'!a Sidra. (See San-lun hsuan-i, T 45.5b-14.) Liu Ch'iu ~ U l!L (438-495), Master I Ii. gjji , Tsung-ai '* ':iJl:. , Seng- jou fw,*, Hui-kuang ~ 7t (468-537), Paramartha (499-569), Chih- i ~ Iiji (538-597), and Hui-tan ~ ~ (Sui dynasty) all i d e ~ t i f i e d the Sudden Teaching with the Hua-yen Sidra in their respective p'an-chiao schemes (see Kimura Kiyotaka, Shoki chugoku kegon shiso no kenkyu [Tokyo: Shunjusha, 1977], pp. 76-78). In disassociating the Hua-yen Sutra from the Sudden Teaching, Fa-tsang was following the lead of his teacher Chih-yen. In fact, Fa-tsang's entire fivefold classification scheme is merely an elaboration of the fivefold scheme first articulated by Chih-yen in his K'ung-mu chang (see T 45. 537a19-b2 and 542c22-26). As Sakamoto Yukio (Kegon kyogaku no kenkyu [Tokyo: Heirakuji, 1964], pp. 402-409) and Robert M. Gimello ("Chih-yen and the Foundations of Hua-yen Buddhism" [unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia Universi- ty, 1976], pp. 367-392) have shown, Chih-yen's fivefold p'an-chiao scheme was developed ih reaction to the new brand of Yogacara introduced by HSilan-tsang. In both his Shih-hsuan men and Sou-hsuan chi, early works writ- ten before HSilan-tsang's return to China in 645, Chih-yen had employed a threefold classification scheme, which categorized the Buddha's teachings into those of the Universal Vehicle, the Three Vehicles, and the Small Vehi- cle. In the Sou-hsuan chi, moreover, Chih-yen had also made parallel use of the threefold scheme of Hui-kuang, which categorized the teachings as Grad- ual, Sudden, and Perfect. In his Wu-shih-yao wen-ta, written after HSilan-tsang had completed his translation of the Ch'engwei-shih lun in 659, Chih-yen again used the threefold scheme which divided the teachings into those of the Universal Vehicle, the Three Vehicles, and the Small Vehicle, making, how- ever, the crucial distinction between the Elementary and Advanced teachings within the teaching of the Three Vehicles to arrive at a fourfold scheme. Chih-yen introduced this distinction to separate the earlier Yogacara-cum- Tathagatagarbha tradition represented by the translations of Paramartha from the new Yogacara tradition introduced by Hsilan-tsang, and to subordi- nate the latter-identified as the Elementary Teaching of the Great Vehicle- to the former-identified as the Advanced Teaching of the Great Vehicle. In his K'ung-mu chang, Chih-yen adds the Sudden Teaching-which he had used earlier in his adoption of Hui-kuang's threefold scheme in his Sou-hsilan chi- to the fourfold scheme that he had used for the first time in his Wu-shih-yao wen-ta to arrive at the fivefold classification scheme that was taken over by Fa- tsang. 54 2. T 45.481bI6-18; cf. Francis Cook, "Fa-tsang's Treatise on the Five Doctrines: An Annotated Translation" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Uni- versity of Wisconsin, 1970), pp. 174-175. 3. T 45.48IbI8. Fa-tsang is here paraphrasing the sutra. The passage in question caf:! be/ound in T 16.486a8 5.25b2-3 and 596b4-5 cf. D. T. Suzuki s translation, The Lankavatara Sutra (London: Routledge Kegan & Paul, Ltd., 1973), p. 50. 4. T 45.481bI3-15; cf. Cook, p. 174. The Teaching of the Small Vehicle would, of course, also be included within the gradual teachings. 5. Fa-tsang discusses the Sudden Teaching from ten different points of view in the ninth chapter of his Treatise on the Five Teachings; see T 45.482b2- 7 (Cook, p. 223), 487c24-28 (Cook, p. 255), 489b16-23 (Cook, p. 272), 491a5-7 (Cook, 291), 492bl-3 (Cook, p. 308), 495c20-25 (Cook, p. 358), ,496c6-7 (Cook, p. 368), 497b4-8 (Cook, p. 378), 498b8-10 (Cook, p. 393), and 498cl4 (Cook, p. 399). 6. See Ming-wood Liu, "The Teaching of Fa-tsang: An Examination of Buddhist Metaphysics" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles, 1979), pp. 195-196. 7. See T 14.550b-551c; cf. Charles Luk, tr., The VimalakiTtiNiTdesa Sutra (Berkeley and London: Shamabala, 1972), pp. 92-100. The same chapter appears as number eight in the Tibetan translation; cf. etienne Lamotte, tr., L'Enseignement de Vimalak'irti (Vimalak'iTtinirdesa) (Louvain: Publications Uni- versitaires and Leuven: Institut Orientaliste, 1962), pp. 301-318. 8. T 14.551c23-24; cf. Luk, p. 100. 9. See, for example, T 45.485b3-4. 10. T 14.551c23-24. 11. T 45.485b2-7; cf. Cook, p. 223. Cf. also Chih-yen's K'ung-mu chang, T 45.558cl7-559a2. 12. T 45.481c6-8; cf. Cook, pp. 176-177. 13. T 32.576a8-18; the present translation has adapted that of Yoshito S. Hakeda, The Awakening of Faith Attributed to Asvaghosa (New York and Lon- don: Columbia University Press, 1967), pp. 32-33. 14. T 32.576a24-26; cf. Hakeda, p. 34. 15. T 45.489b16-19; cf. Cook, p. 272. Cf. also K'ung-mu chang, T 45.537c9-10. 16. Fa-tsang refers to all three of the following passages in his T'an-hsilan chi, T 35.115cl3-17. He only refers to the first two in his TTeatise on the Five Teachings, T 45.489b16-23. 17. See T 15.36c6-8. Fa-tsang has abridged the passage slightly. 18. T 16.509c22-24; cf. Suzuki, p. 189. 19. Fa-tsang seems to be paraphrasing rather than quoting. See T 9.544b18-19. Sakamoto (p. 260, note 37) locates the passage as coming from T 26.133c. 20. HTC 5.12a; cf. Sakamoto, pp. 248-250. The full title of this work is Hsil Hua-yen lileh-shu k'an-ting chi jt fl& til :IE It was begun by Fa- tsang as his synoptic commentary on new translation of the H ua- yen Siltra. According to Hui-yuan's account of its composition, Fa-tsang wrote 55 the commentary on the first through nineteenth fascicles of the sUtra (occu- pying the second through sixth fascicles of the present Hsii tsang ching version: ofthe K'an-ting chi). Then, perhaps sensing that his death was near, he turned to the Shih-ting p'in + JE , a chapter that did not exist in the earlier translation of the sutra, but only finished his commentary on the first nine concentrations (ting) before he died (which can be found in fascicle twelve of the present text). Except for these sections, the remainder of the text, includ- ing the Introduction, was written.by Hui-yuan. The fact that Fa-tsang entrust- ed the completion of this work to Hui-yuan indicates the esteem with which he regarded him. Unfortunately the Hsu tsang ching text is incomplete. See Sakamoto, pp. 18-19. 21. Sekiguchi Shindai has demonstrated that Chih-i, the systematizer of T'ien-t'ai thought, never formulated the system of the Five Periods and Eight Teachings (wu-shih pa-chiao li ff;f /\ ~ ), which, beginning with the author- ship of the T'ien-t'aissu-chiao-i (T #1931) by the Korean monk Chegwan in the late tenth century, has been attributed to him, and which, since the late seventeenth century, has been generally regarded as representing the essence of T'ien-t'ai thought. It is impossible to do justice to the full scope of Sekiguchi's arguments here. Suffice it to say that he shows that not only does Chih-i never employ the term "Five Periods and Eight Teachings" in any of his writings, but also that he never systematically formulated a p'an-chiao scheme corresponding to that of the Five Periods and Eight Teachings. In place of the Five Periods, for example, Chih-i emphasizes the Five Flavors (wu-wei Ii ~ ), a metaphor of far broader range than the more narrowly chronological framework of the Five Periods. Chih-i only enumerates what were later collectively designated as the Eight Teachings twice within the entirety of his voluminous opera (see T 34.3b3-4 and T 46.97c21). Nor, more significantly in the present context, does Chih-i distinguish between teachings to be classified according to the method of their exposition (hua-i chiao 1 1 : : . 1 ~ ~ ) and according to the con- tent of their exposition (huala chiao 11::. f.t.:. ~ ). Rather, Chih-i separately elaborates in different works the types of teachings which were later catego- rized according to these two types of classification. In his Fa-hua hsilan-i Chih-i discusses the char:acteristics of the teachings according to the threefold typol- ogy-i.e., Sudden (tun ~ ) , Gradual (chien ~ ) , and Variable (pu- ting ~ JE ), which later served as the basis for the so-called "Four Teachings According to the Method of their Exposition" (hua-i ssu-chiao 11::. * 03 ~ ). While Chih-i sometimes also mentions a fourth type of teaching-the Secret (mi-mi ~ M J$' ), corresponding to the fourth type of teaching in the Four Teachings According to the Method oftheir Exposition-his use ofthe three- fold typology-corresponding, as it does, to his three types of meditation (san chih-kuan -=.t1::. U )-is much more representative of his thought. It is only in his commentary on the Vimalakrrinirdefa Sutra and Ssu-chiao-i 03 ~ ~ (T # 1 929) that Chih-i elaborates the four teachings-those of the Tripitaka (san- tsang -= iR), Common (t'ung ~ ) , Distinct (pieh llU), and Perfect (yuan ~ )-which were later designated as the four Teachings According to the Content of their Exposition (huala ssu-chiao 11::. f.t.:. 03 ~ ). 56 While it is true that the various elements that were later brought together to form the Five Periods and Eight Teachings scheme all appear separately in different contexts throughout Chih-i's writings, they were never brought to- gether systematically by Chih-i. This task was first accomplished by Chan-jan, and reached its most thoroughgoing expression in Chegwan's T'ien-t'ai ssu- chiao-i. A good summary of Sekiguchi's views can be found in his "Coji hakkyo no kig en ," TaishO daigaku kenkyft kiyo .61.1-15. This article also lists all of Sekigu- chi's work on this subject written before 1976. An excellent restatement and assessment of Sekiguchi's arguments can be found in David Chappell's "In- troduction to the T'ien-t'ai ssu-chiao-i," Eastern Buddhist, New Series, vol. 9, no. 1, pp.72-86. Sekiguchi's findings are corroborated by the evidence that can be gleaned from writings in the Hua-yen tradition. Neither Fa-tsang nor Hui- yuan make any reference to the Five Periods and Eight Teachings in their discussions of T'ien-t'ai p'an-chiao. Both discuss Chih-i's system under the heading of those former scholars who had classified the Buddha's teachings into four categories. The four categories that both Fa-tsang and Hui-yuan . enumerate are those of the Tripitaka, Common, Distinct, and Perfect; neither mentions the Sudden, Gradual, and Variable. Ch'eng-kuan, who had studied _'under Chan-jan, is the first to mention the distinction between the teachings . to be classified according to the method of their exposition and according to - the content of their exposition. 22. Yen-i ch'ao, T 36.62al0-15; cf. Sakamoto, pp. 50-51. The quote at the beginning of the passage is from Ch'eng-kuan's Hua-yen ching shu, T 35.512c2, to which this passage is a commentary. 23. T 36.62a21-22 and bl-4. 24. T 50.737aI8-20. The most thorough study ofCh'eng-kuan's life has been done by Kamata Shigeo in his Chilgoku kegon shisoshi no kenkyil, (Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku, 1965), pp. 151-191. Kamata argues that the particular form of Ch'an teaching that had the greatest impact on Ch'eng-kuan's thought was ,that of the Ox-head lineage. He also points out that aside from Tsan-ning's assertion in the Sung kao-seng chuan (compiled a century and a half after Ch'eng-kuan's death), there is no other documentary evidence that Ch'eng- kuan studied Northern Ch'an under Hui-yun. He nevertheless concludes that the possibility cannot be ruled out, given the knowledge of Northern Ch'an teachings displayed in Ch'eng-kuan's writings (see pp. 176-181). Later on in 'the same work, Kamata disputes the generally accepted opinion that Ch'eng- kuan received sanction from Wu-ming in the Ho-tse line of Southern Ch'an, aruging that Ch'eng-kuan exhibits a critical attitude toward both the North- ern and Southern lines of Ch'an. Kamata contends, moreover, that the of ten- made claim that Ch'eng-kuan received sanction fom Wu-ming derives from the Ch'an Chart written by his disciple Tsung-mi (himself a successor in the Ho-tse lineage), who, in his desire to unify the teachings and practices of H ua- yen and Ch'an, grafted Ch'eng-kuan onto the Ho-tse lineage (see pp. 475- 484). 25. The Treatise on the Five Teachings was an early work, and seems to 57 have been composed before 684, when Fa-tsang met the Indian monk Diva- kara (se.e Liu; pp. 24-26). The Northern Ch'an masterShen-hsiu did not enter the capital until 701, when he was given a lavish reception by Empress Wu. There is little chance that Fa-tsang would 'have had occasion to become acquainted with the Ch'an teachings before this event. 26. The same point is made by Liu, p. 196. 27. Since the text of the Chung-hua ch'uan-hsin-ti shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi t'u published in the Dai Nippon zokuzokyo (2115/5.433c-438c) is missing soine sixty characters (see Ui Hakuju, Zenshilshi kenkyu, vol. 3 [Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1941], pp. 477-510), all references to this text will be made to the version that has been critically edited by Kamata Shigeo in his Zengen shosenshU tojo (Zen no goroku, vol. 9) (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1971), pp. 260-347. Kamata has supplied the missing sections of the Zokuzokyo text by consulting the Korean commentary, the Popchip pyoryo pyongip sagi, by Chinul (1158-1210). 28. Kamata, p. 277. 29. Ibid., p. 282. 30. Ibid., p. 341. 31. See John McRae, "The Ox-head School of Chinese Ch'an Bud- dhism," Robert M. Gimello and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen Buddhism (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1983). 32. As Jeffrey Broughton has pointed out in a personal communication, this point is reflected in the way that Tsung-mi analyzes the different Ch'an lines in his Ch'an Preface. In discussing the teachings and practices of the various Ch'an lines, Tsung-mi distinguishes between their "idea" (i , sometimes he uses the term chieh or fa-i ff;. ), which corresponds to the teaching of one of the scholastic traditions, and their "practice" (hsing ff ), which is unique. 33. T 48.407b13-17; cf. Jeffrey Broughton, "Kuei-feng Tsung-mi: The Convergence of Ch'an and the Teachings" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1975), p. 238. 34. Tsung-mi is quoting the passage found in T 10. 89al-2. 35. See T 48.407b21-c2; cf. Broughton, pp. 240-241. 36. See T 48.407bI7-20; cf. Broughton, p. 238. 37. T 45.710bl-2. 38. See T 48.407c5-6. The DaSabhumika-sutra was incorporated into the Hua-yen Sutra corpus, forming chapter 26 in the translation. It is baffling that Tsung-mi includes the Dasabhilmikasiltra-sastra as a source of doctrinal authority for this type of sudden teaching, as this type of teaching otherwise seems to be tied exclusively to the Hua-yen Siltra itself. Tsung-mi certainly could not have believed that this text was authored at the same time that the Buddha preached the Hua-yen Sutra. Nor is there "sudden" about the explanation of the ten stages of the Bodhisattva path that comprises the subject of this text. Perhaps Tsung-mi felt compelled to mention this text out of a concern for symmetry, as it is customary for him to list both st1tras and sastras when citing the sources of doctrinal authority for the other teach- ings. 39. See T 48.407cl. 58 40. T 48.407c2-3. 41. Loc. cit. 42. T 48.407c6-12; d. Broughton, pp. 242-243. 43. Chan-jan explicitly uses the term wu-shih pa-chiao in his Fa-hua hsuan- i shih-chien,T 33.816c23-24, Fa-hua wen-chu chi, T 34.171c23-25 and 212a21, and Chih-kuan fu-hsing chuan-hung chiieh, T 46.292a20. Cf. also T 46.349c9. 44. See, for example, Chih-kuan i-li, T 46.448c22-23. See also Tien-t'ai pa-chiao ta-i, T Chan-jan's authorship latter is not certain. The Talsho text mcorrectly attnbutes Its compIlatIon to Chlh-I s dIscI- ple, Kuan-ting 1-1 m (561-632). Chih-p'an attributes the work to Chan-jan in his Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (see T 49.206b3-8). Nakazato Teiryu argues that the work was written by Chan-jan and his disciple Ming-k'uang BJl (See Ono Gemmyo, ed., Bussho kaisetsu daijiten [Tokyo: Daito shuppan, 1968], 8.139). Chappell adduces further evidence indicating that Chan-jan was the author (see "Introduction to the Tien-t'ai Ssu-chiao-i," passim). 45. T 33.683c4-5. 46. 684a7. 47. Chan-jan deals with this issue in numerous places throughout his oeuvre; see, for example, T 33.823b, 887b-c, and 905b, and T 46.292b. His most thoroughgoing treatment can be found in his Chih-kuan i-li, T 46.453b27ff., especially 454a2-b6, where he addresses seven types of misun- derstanding arising from Chih-i's statement that the Lotus Sutra is a Gradual- Perfect Teaching; d. Hibi Sensho, Todai tendaigaku kenkyu (Tokyo: SankibiS busshorin, 1975), pp.80-82. In his Preface to his commentary on the Chih- kuan i-li, Tsung-i (l0;!2-1091) asserts that Chan-jan's reason for composing that work was to refute those who used Chih-i's statement to establish the superiority of the Hua-yen Sutra over the Lotus (see HTC 99.284a). 48. For a discussion of the influence of imperial patronage on the Bud- dhist traditions in the Sui-Tang period see Stanley Weinstein, "Imperial Pa- tronage in the Formation of Tang Buddhism," in Arthur F. Wright a.nd Denis Twitchett, eds., Perspectives on the Tang (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973), pp. 265-306. 49. For a brilliant analysis of the impact of Hsiian-tsang's new brand of Yogacara on the formation of the Hua-yen tradition see Gimello, "Chih-yen," chapter four. 50. See Kamata, Chiigoku kegon shisoshi no kenkyu, p. 423. 5l. See Ikeda Rosan, "Tendaigaku kara enton no kannen ni tsuite," Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyu 22.307-310 and "Tannen ni seiritsu suru goji hakkyo ron," Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyu 24.268-271. 52. See Fa-hua ta-i, HTC 43.94a; see also Sakamoto, p. 4, note 2. 53. See Yen-i ch'ao, T 36.292c7-8. Tsung-mi was the first to list a Hua- yen patriarchate; see his commentary on Tu-shun's Fa-chieh kuan-men, T 45.684c10-13, where he names Tu-shun, Chih-yen, and Fa-tsang as the three patriarchs within the tradition (tsung). Ch'eng-kuan and Tsung-mi were add- ed to the lineage sometime later (see Sakamoto, p. 1). 54. See Kamata, ChUgoku kegon shisoshi no kenkyu, pp. 170-174. 55. Beginning with Tsung-i's commentary on Chan-jan's Chih-kuan i-li 59 (see HTC 99.284a), T'ien-t'ai scholars have claimed that Chan-jan composed that work specifically to refute Ch'eng-kuan's assertion that the Hua-yen Sutra was superior to the Lotus because it represented the Sudden-Perfect Teach- ing, as opposed to the Gradual-Perfect Teaching. Recently, however, Hibi Sensho has pointed out that, in point of fact, the Yen-i ch'ao, the work in which Ch'eng-kuan first makes this assertion, was written after Chan-jan's death, and that the Yen-i ch'ao passage could therefore not have been the target of Chan-jan's criticism. See Ti5dai tendaigaku kenkyu, pp. 79-80; see also the same scholar's companion volume, Ti5dai tendaigaku josetsu (Tokyo: Sankibo bus- shorin, 1975), p. 188. 56. See T 36.50a20-25; see also Ch'eng-kuan's Hua-yen ching shu-ch'ao hsuan-t'an, HTC 8.236a-b. 57. There are three places in the Ch'an Preface where Tsung-mi distin- guishes between the Sudden and Gradual teachings within the ultimate teach- ing: 1) he identifies the Hua-yen, Ghanavyuha, Yuan-cheh, SiZra11}gama, Srimala, Tathagatagarbha, Lotus, and NirvaT}a sutras as belonging to the highest cate- gory of teaching, noting, however, that there is a difference among them in regard to sudden and gradual (see T 48.405a24-27; cfBroughton, pp. 197- 198); 2) after explaining how the Buddha used the gradual teachings to prepare his followers for his ultimate message, expressed in such sutras as the Lotus and NirvaT}a, Tsung-mi adds a note which says: "These [i.e., the Lotus and NirvaT}a sutras], together with the sudden teaching expounded in re- sponse to beings of superior capacity, combine to form the third teaching." (see 407b20; cf. Broughton, p. 238), and 3) in enumerating those sutras which exemplify the sudden teaching expounded in response to beings of superior capacity, Tsung-mi names all of the sutras listed in the first passage referred to above except the Lotus and NirvaT}a (see 407b28-29; cf. Brough- ton, p. 241). 60 Morality in the Visuddhimagga by Damien Keown This paper is intended as an explanatory analysis and summary of Buddhaghosa's discussion of sUa in Part One of the Visuddhi- magga. It was produced originally for my own use but I hope it may be of some benefit to those who, like myself, found Budd- haghosa's layout and discussion of the subject difficult to pene- trate. I have commented only on those points which seemed to me to be of interest, and do not dwell on every section, since there is much that can be passed over without comment. The Visuddhimagga contains the longest sustained analysis of sUa to be found within the Small Vehicle. It is divided into three parts, one .each devoted to morality (sila), meditation (sa- madhi) , and wisdom (Panna), respectively, and the work as a whole takes the form of a commentary on its opening verse, which is as follows: When a wise man, established well in morality Develops consciousness and wisdom, Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious He succeeds in disentangling this tangle. I The first part of the Visuddhimagga, the Silaniddeso, repre- sents in volume approximately only 7% of the whole work,2 the remainder being divided almost equally between the Samadhin- iddeso and the Pannaniddeso. The SUaniddeso itself consists of 161 paragraphs 3 and can be divided into two sections. The first of these extends from vv. 1-15 and is in the nature of a preamble, while the second, running from v.16 to the end, begins the examination of sUa proper. Verse 16 poses seven questions concerning sUa and the remaining verses consist of answers to these questions. This is 61 the standard method of analysis that Buddhaghosa also applies to Part Two of the Visuddhimagga on samadhi, about which he asks eight questions (3.1), and Part Three on panna, about which he asks six questions (14.1). Question Answer in veTSe Surnmary (1) What is sUa? 17-18 cetana, cetasikfi, sar.nvara, flvftikkarna (2) In what sense? 19 Etymology (3) What are its (i) Characteristic 20-22 (i) Composing (ii) Function (ii) Action to stop (iii) Manifestation misconduct (iv) Proximate Cause (iii) Purity of body, The 7 speech, & mind .questions (iv) hiri & ottappa at v.16 (4) Benefits 23-24 (i) non-remorse (ii) as D.ii.86 (iii) as M.i.33 (5) How many kinds? 25-142 19 divisions of 1,2,3,4, and 5 kinds. Total of 56 varieties. (6) What is the defiling tornness, etc. of it? (kharujadibhava) 143-160 (7) What is the cleansing untornness, etc. of it? (akha(!ljadibhava) (see below p. 72 for an explanation of these 2 terms) Verses 1-15 are a preamble and verse 161 is the concluding verse. FIGURE 1 Plan of the discussion of sfla in Chapter 1 of the Visuddhimagga verses 16-161 Figure 1 sets out the structure of the discussion in verses 16-16l. Of the seven questions asked, we will only discuss numbers 1,3, and 5, which deal with definitions and the major classifications. The remaining questions relate to etymology (Q.2), the benefits of mocality (Q.4), and the contrast between the sufferings of the immoral and the perfection of the VIr- tuous monk (Q.6&7). 62 Turning, then, to Q.1, "What is morality?" (ki7(lsflan ti), we find the answer given in the form of a fourfold classification, which also occurs at Patisambhidamagga 1.44. This is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 2. The first two divisions relate to the Ten Good Paths of Action (dasakusalakammapatha), which are: 1. Abstention from taking life (par;,atipata veramar;,f); 2. Abstention from taking what has not been given (adinna- dana veramar;,f); 3. Abstention from sexual misconduct (kamesu micchacara ver- amar;,f); 4. Abstention from lying (musavada veramar;,f); 5. Abstention from abusive speech (pisur;,aya vacaya veramar;,t); 6. Abstention from slanderous speech (pharusaya vacaya vera- mar;,f); 7. Abstention from idle talk (samphappalapa veramar;,f); 8. Non-covetousness 9. Non-malevolence (avyapada); 10. Right views (samma-di{thi).4 Cetana the volition in abstention relating to the first 7 kammapathas Avftikkamo non-transgression - by body and speech SILA Cetasikam observance of the final 3 kammapathas FIGURE 2 Sa7(lvara by (1) patimokkha (2) sati (3) nar;,a (4) khanti (5) vzrzya The divisions of sUa according to Vsm l.17ff 63 The first division, cetana, is defined as the volition present in the abstention from infringements against the first seven of these. The second division, cetasika, is ~ h e abstinence itself, i.e., the condition of one who observes the final three, thereby re- maining in the state of non-covetousness (anabhijjhil) , non-ani- mosity (avyapada) , and having right views (sammadiahi). The significance of the split-up of the ten kammapathas into groups of seven (re:cetana) and three (re:cetasika) lies in the division of the kammapathas into groups of 3 of body, 4 of speech, and 3 of mind. 5 The first seven kammapathas relate to bodily and vocal actions, and an act of volition is necessary to inhibit their per- formance. The final three kammapathas, however, relate to what might be called dispositions or propensities of character, within which the element of volition is inappropriate. Having right views, for example, is not simply a question of volition. By making this distinction, it seems Buddhaghosa wished to high- light the role of cetana among the other 51 cetasikadhammas, to bring out the importance of volition in moral actions. As well as abstention, it should be noted that Buddhaghosa includes the fulfilment of duty (vattapatipattir[!,) as part of sila, under the first aspect of sila, as cetana. 6 The duties he has in mind are referred to later in the Visuddhimagga (6.60). These relate to the responsibilities of a monk for the smooth running of the monastery. We may quote the relevant passage: Also, reception of visitors must be attended to on seeing a visiting bhikkhu, and all the remaining duties in the Khandhakas must be carried out, too, that is, the duties of the shrine terrace, the duties of the Bodhi-tree terrace, the duties of the Uposatha house, the duties of the refectory and the bath house, and those to the teacher, the precep- tor, visitors, departing bhikkhus, and the rest. . We learn from the Sammoha-vinodanz (297) that besides these duties there are 82 minor duties (khuddakavattani) and 14 major duties (mahilvattani). It is not specified what these are, but we may assume they relate to activities of a domestic nature, similar to those mentioned above. The third division of sila is restraint (sar[!,vara) , which has five aspects, as shown in figure 2. This consists of restraint, assisted by the four virtues of mindfulness (sati) , knowledge (iia1J,a) , patience (khanti) , and energy (viriya) , and also by the 64 iIUportant category of the patimokkha. This last item incorpo- rates the 227 rules of monastic discipline into Buddhaghosa's definition of morality, and, in fact, he places it at the top of the list. The fourth and final division, the non-transgression of precepts of morality that have been undertaken, adds little to the other three, since all of the precepts, whether for a monk or for a layman, are undertaken voluntarily. There seems to be no special technical meaning implied. by the compound, sama.din- nas'ila, used here. 7 In the Atthasalznf, Buddhaghosa takes mto account those cases where no particular precept has been taken but where, nevertheless, one refrains from performing a bad action because it is not fitting to one's birth, age, or experience, etc., (jativayabahasaccadi). This is known as restraint in spite of . the opportunity being available (sampattavirati). Leaving question 1, we may now consider question 3. This enquires as to the characteristic (lakkhar;,a), the function (rasa), the manifestation <paccupa((hana), and the proximate cause (pada(thana) of s'ila. These four questions represent the stan- dard Abhidhammic strategy for arriving at a taxonomy of enti- ties (dhammas). As a system of definition, according to Mrs. Rhys Davids,8 they are similar to the post-Aristotelian scheme of genus, species, property, and accident. Each of the four terms is defined briefly by Buddhaghosa in the Atthasalinf (63): Lakkhar;,a means specific characteristic (sabhava) or the general charactenstIc (samaiiiia) of various things (dhamma). Rasa means function (kicca) or achievement (sampatti) . . Manifestation <paccupatthana) means mode of mamfestatIOn (upat(hanakara) or effect <phalam). Proximate cause <padatthana) means the preceding cause (asannakar- ar;,a). They are defined in slightly more detail by S.Z. Aung in his Introduction to the Compendium of Philosophy (p. 13): 65 Now, in Buddhist logic adequate analysis of any datum includes an examination of its (1) characteristic mark (lakk- har;,a) , (2a) function (kicca-rasa) , (2b) property (sampatti- rasa), (3a) reappearance as phenomena (upatthandkara- par:cupatthana), (3b) as effect <phala-paccupat- thana), and (4) prOXImate cause <padat(hana).9 Buddhaghosa applies this fourfold method of analysis to all three parts of the Visuddhimagga, in each case as his third question. The most important of the four defining factors is the characteristic (lakkha1Ja). This is subdivided into the specific characteristic, or "own-being," (sabhava) and the general char- acteristic (samafifia) , a feature which can be shared by many different entities. Svabhava came to be used synonymously with and the two are given as equivalents by Vasu- bandhu. 10 These two terms are then contrasted by the same author with characteristics shared by many different dharmas (samanyalak!ja1Ja), for example, that all conditioned things (sa'Y(lS- krtadharmas) are impermanent (anitya) , without self (anatmaka) and involve suffering (duMha). In short, a sabhiiva may be defined as the unique defining characteristic of a dhamma. Within this general definition, dif- ferent schools formulated their own definitions more precisely as they delineated their philosophical positions. Thus, the con- cept of svabhava was of central importance for the Sarvastivada, playing, as it did, a central role in its thesis of the existence of past and future entities. And, the same notion (svabhava) be- came the focal point of the attack by the Madhyamakaon the realism of the Small Vehicle.1 1 For the Theravada, the recognition of the sabhiiva of a dhamma meant that dhamma had been penetrated intellectually and accurately cognised. By being thoroughly comprehended, it was neutralised as a source of delusion or attachment. Dham- mapala tells us that: When the specific and general characteristics of anything are experienced, then tnat thing is experienced according to reality.12 By recognition of the real constituents of a thing, false concep- tions can be dispelled, just as the analysis of the individual into components (khandhas) dispells the illusion of a self (cf. Visudd- himagga 11.27-119). Applying this fourfold method of analysis to sila, then, Buddhaghosa comes up with the following definitions. The characteristic (lakkha1Ja) is said to be "composing" (silana), which is explained as "the co-ordination of bodily action, etc., and the 66 foundation of good states."13 This characteristic is the identify- ing feature of szla in all its manifestations, regardless of what categories it may be analysed into, just as visibility (sanidassanat- tar(t) is the inseparable characteristic of the rupayatana. The function of szla is twofold: it is action that stops mis- conduct (dusszlya) and also the achievement (sampatti) of the quality of blamelessness (anavajjagu'Y}a). This' distinction amounts to saying only that (1) morality (sila) is opposed to immorality (dusszlya), and (2) that morality includes blameless- ness as one of its features. The proximate cause of szla is also twofold, consisting of remorse (ottappa) and shame (hiri). Hiri is defined as that which shrinks away from something, and is said to be synonymous with another word meaning shame, lajja. Ottapa is defined as "glowing," and is a synonym for agitation at evil. 14 The princi- pal contrasts between the two terms are set out below, accord- ing to the Atthasalinz (trans. pp. 164-7). Biri -Has a subjective origin by the self -Rooted in the intrinsic na- ture of shame -Has the characteristic of re- spectful obedience Ottappa -Has an objective cause fear of criticism -Influenced by the world -Rooted in the intrinsic na- ture of fear -Has the characteristic of viewing a fault with timidity and fear Example Seeing a worthy person when Being observed (in a wrongful obeying the calls of nature (uc- act) by the clairvoyant powers cara-passavadzni karonto) of monks and brahmins. To be avoided out of Consideration of high birth, Self-accusation, accusation by . the dignity of one's teacher others, punishment and evil (satthar), the greatness of one's destiny. inheritance, and the honour of one's fellow brethren (sa- brahmacarz) . 67 Buddhqghosa also uses the image of two iron balls, one hot and burning, representing ottappa, and one covered in faeces (guthamaHhito) , representing hiri. Neither is to be grasped by the wise man (paryjito). The opposites of these two terms are defined in the Abhid- harmakosa (11.32a). Ahri" is disrespect (ahri"r aguruta). The Bha!iya expands: "A lack of veneration (aprati"Sata), lack of fearful sub- mission (abhayavasavartita) with regard to the qualities of one- self and others." According to 32ab, anapatrapya or atrapa is the dharma that causes a man not to see the dangerous conse- quences of sin (avadye 'bhayadarsitvam atrapa). According to an- other opinion, which is similar to that of Buddhaghosa, ahri"kya is said to be absence of shame with regard to oneself in the commission of an evil action, and anapatrapya is the absence of shame with regard to others. I5 The emphasis placed upon hiri and ottappa as the conse- quences of failure in morality and therefore as incentives to moral conduct is a measure of the pressure exerted on a monk to conform to the ideal. That this pressure is mainly social and not spiritual can be seen from the above table, under the exam- ples and the final section, which lists the reasons for avoidance. There has always existed a well-established ideal of how a monk should behave and conduct himself, as described, for Instance, by Buddhaghosa in verse 48: Furthermore, a bhikkhu is respectful; deferential; pos- sessed of conscience and shame; wears his inner robe properly; wears his upper robe properly; his manner in- spires confidence whether in moving forwards or back- wards, looking ahead or aside, bending or stretching; his eyes are downcast; he has (a good) deportment; he guards the doors of his sense faculties; knows the right measure in eating; is devoted to wakefulness; possesses mindfulness and full awareness; wants little; is contented; is strenuous; is a careful observer of good behaviour; and treats the teachers with great respect. In addition, almost one-third of the 227 Patimokkha rules (the 75 sekhiya dhamma) are devoted to matters of dress, deport- ment and general etiquette. In the context of such formalised patterns of behaviour, there always exists the fear of making a 68 faUx pas or failing in some .way to live up to the ideal, with the consequent embarrassment this entails. This fear manifests it- self in various ways: on an unconscious level, loss of face may be symbolised in dreams of appearing undressed or improperly dressed, or being discovered in some other kind of embarrass- ing situation. We have seen that Buddhaghosa mentions catch- ing sight of a worthy person when obeying the calls of nature. In his study of Sinhalese Buddhist monks, Michael Carrithers records a dream by one monk in which he found himself bath- ing in the presence of young women and was overcome with shame (lajjava). 16 We may also note here the connection between moral im- purity and physical impurity, a connection now well established in anthropological literatureYBiological metaphors for intel- lectually based schemata, such as purity versus impurity, are very common, and the association between excrement and sin was made several times by one of Carrithers' informants (a monk).18 We have already noted Buddhaghosa's image of an iron ball smeared with faeces representing hiri. We turn now to the final question that concerns us here, namely question 5, which asks "How many kinds of szla are there?" (katavidhaii c' eta'Y[l szlan ti). The answer is given in 19 paragraphs, consisting of groups of from one to six units fol- lowing the customary Abhidhamma method, giving a total of 56 varieties. We will deal with the points of interest in these in order. The first dyad, "keeping and avoiding," ties in with the twofold division of function (rasa) mentioned above (1.21). "Keeping" (caritta) is accomplished by faith and energy, while "avoiding" (varita) is accomplished by faith and mindfulness (sati). The second dyad brings in the rules of the Patimokkha and Vinaya, and the third harks back to the definition of szla as volition (cetana). The fourth dyad deals with morality that is practised through craving (tar;hii) for rebirth as a god, or that is practised in the mistaken belief that szla produces purification (sZlena suddhZti). The fifth dyad refers to temporary and lifelong mo- rality (kalapariccheda / yavajZva), perhaps referring to the last item in the fourfold division of Figure 1 (avZtikkamo). The sixth dyad introduces the distinction between morality 69 - - - - . - - ~ - - - - - ~ ~ - - ~ - ~ - - -- --~ - - - - - - ~ that is limited by gain and that which is not; that is to say, in the former category a person will transgress a training precept if he stands to gain materially from so doing, whereas in the latter category even the thought of transgressing does not arise. The seventh dyad introduces an important distinction, which is, unfortunately, not pursued very far by Buddhaghosa. He introduces two classifications, namely mundane (lokiya) and supramundane (lokuttara). The former is subject to defects (sa- sava), whereas the latter is not (anasava), and while the former brings about an improvement in future lives (bhavavisesavaha), the latter brings about escape from becoming (bhavanissarar;,a). The lokuttarasila belongs to the plain (bhumi) of "reviewing knowledge" (paccavekkhar;,afiar;,a). We learn from Visuddhimagga 22.21 that there are 19 kinds of paccavekkhar;,afiar;,a, made up of five types possessed by each of the three candidates for enlight- enment (sotapanna, sakadagamin and anagamin) and four pos- sessed by the Arhat. The five things reviewed are the Path, the blessings obtained by it, the defilements abandoned, those still to be abandoned, and nibbana. The Arhat lacks the category of defilements yet to be abandoned, which gives a total of 19. The process of reviewing takes place after passing from one jhana to another. 19 The contrast here is between the four stages of the supra- mundane path (lokuttara-magga) of the sotapanna, etc., and the other three spheres of the kama-, rupa-, and arupavacaras. The four higher types of person (the sotapanna, etc.) have turned their backs on the three lower worlds of sense, form, and the formless, and direct themselves steadfastly toward nibbana. They are engaged upon a higher ideal (lokuttarar{t cittar{t) and, consequently, their morality is of the higher kind (lokuttarar{t silam).20 Passing on to the triads, the first (VSM 1.33) divides sUa into inferior (hina), medium (majjhima) and superior (par;,ita), by reference to four factors: (i) the enthusiasm with which it is undertaken, (ii) the motive for its practice, whether fame, merit or nibbana, (iii) whether defiled by self-praise, and (iv) motive once again, this time for continued existence (bhagabhagatatth- aya) , for one's own deliverance (vimokkhatthaya), or for the de- liverance of all beings (sabbasattavimokkhatthaya). The second tetrad (VSM 1.140) divides sila into the four 70 of precepts, for bhikkhus, bhikkhunzs, novices (samar;tera), and the - The third introduces an interesting fourfold division, which unfortunately is not discussed at length. The first classifi- cation is "natural morality" (pakatisua), which is the non-trans- gression (avZtikkamo) on the part of the people of Uttarakuru. Uttarakuru is the mythical Northern continent, which, with the other three great continents (maha-dzpa), viz., Jambu- dIpa, Apara-Goyana, and Pubba-Videha, and the 4 x 500 small- er dzpas surrounding the great ones, constitute a cakka-va(a, or world system. Uttarakuru is described at length at D.iii.199 as a land of peace and plenty whose rulers honour the Buddha. Thus, pakatiszla must refer to the ideal condition when there is no immorality among the whole of the population, and, conse- quently, no need for moral precepts and instruction. How the inhabitants of Uttarakuru achieve their moral character is not clear, and we are given no clue as to whether it is innate or learned. We learn from the AbhidhfLrmakosabhi4ya IV.3 that there is no undertaking (samadana) of moral rules there, and hence no discipline, but neither is there the intention to commit offences. The Kurus, along with her- maphrodites and eunuchs, form an anomalous group who are insusceptible to indiscipline. Greed, hatred, and illusion exist in Uttarakuru, but are infrequently encountered, since there is no private property, the people are gentle (snighda) because there is no reason for displeasure (aghata) , and there is nothing to give rise to demerit (apapasayatvat) (IV.S2d). Nor is there any occurrence of the ten akuSalakarmapathas (IV.S3a). Despite this, according to Arig. iv.396, the Kurus are inferior to the men of JambudIpa in courage, mindfulness, and in the religious life. On the other hand, however, they excel even the Tavatir[tsa gods in four things: they have no greed (amama); no private property (apariggaha); they have a fixed term oflife (niyatayuka) of one thousand years, after which they are reborn in heaven; and they possess great elegance (visesabhuno). The second classification is "customary morality" (acar- Mila), i.e., the particular rules of conduct of a locality (desa) , a clan (kula), or a sect (pasar;tia). Thirdly there is "necessary mo- rality" (dhammataszla), e.g., when the Bodhisatta's mother feels no sexual desire during pregnancy (D.ii.13). Finally, there is "mo- 71 rality due to previous causes" (pubbahetukas'ila), which is moral- ity acquired by pure beings, such as Mahakassapa and the Bodhisatta in previous births. The fourth tetrad (1.42) deals with sfla as restraint (sar[l- vara) to be practised by the monk in accordance with the Pati- mokkha. It is the lengthiest section devoted to <my single topic, and accounts for 89 of the 161 paragraphs of the sflaniddesa. The four main divisions of s'ila under this section are (i) Pati- mokkha-sar[lvara, (ii) restraint of the senses (indriya-sarr.vara), (iii) livelihood purification (ajfvaparisuddhi) , and (iv) concerning requisites (paccaya-sannissita). There follows a lengthy explana- tion (vinicchayakatha) of these four items, which lists In detail various kinds of conduct to be avoided by the monk, including all those censured in the Brahmajala Sutta (Vsm 1.83). The two remaining questions, 6 and 7 from VSM 1.16, relate to the defiling and purification of sila. The image of a cloth is introduced at 1.143 by way of illustration. The defiling of s'ila is said to be like a tear in a piece of cloth. This relates to the breaking of any of the training precepts (sikkhapada), merit- ing the imposition of any of the seven penalties, from expulsion for life (in the case of parajika offences) downwards. Repeated offences are compared to blotches or stains on the cloth. The motives for committing the offences are gain and fame, etc., (labha-yasadi); or else they are committed under the influence of the seven bonds of sexuality (sattavidhamethunasar[lyoga). The untornness (akharprj,adibhava) of sila is accomplished by the com- plete non-breaking of the training precepts, by making amends for those that have been broken, by the absence of the seven bonds of sexuality, and by the non-arising of vices such as anger (krodha), enmity (upanaha), and contempt (makkha), etc. (1.151). The image of stained or torn cloth provides a contrast with Buddhaghosa's description of the robes of the ideal monk, which are carefully arranged and, one might imagine, clean (above p. 11). Summary Let us attempt to draw some brief conclusions from Budd- 72 haghosa's discussion. His original definition (VSM 1.17f), as illustrated in Figure 2, relates in large part to the non-perfor- mance of certain actions. These actions are classified either as paths of action (kammapatka) or the code of rules 6fthe commu- nity of monks (patimokkka). As well as actions that must not be performed, there are duties to be fulfilled (1.17). What all this boils down to is a list of rules to be followed from motives of remorse (ottappa) and shame (kiri). The various classifications Buddhaghosa introduces relate not so much to szla as to the variety of practitioners and motives, which constitutes the ma- jor part of the answer to question 5, "How many kinds of mo- rality are there?" At the core of Buddhaghosa's conception of szla, therefore, there exists the idea of specific actions; these may be (i) avoided if evil (the first seven kammapatkas), (ii) per- formed if good (the duties), or (iii) become the object of a disposition towards avoidance or performance (the final three kammapatkas). This conception of szla is in line with that found in the Brakmajala Sutta, as particular actions that are (there) to be avoided. We have been able to move at some speed through the Szlaniddeso, since, despite the detail provided by Buddhaghosa, the harvest in terms of a deeper understanding of szla is disap- pointingly sparse. He skimps on what are for us the most prom- ising areas, and goes into great detail, e.g., from verse 42 on- wards, about minute monkish matters of deportment and trivial infringements of the Vinaya, amplified by anecdotes and etymologies. Of other classifications we are given only the bare bones. However, from the dry and disconnected classifications Buddhaghosa gives us we can assert the following facts about szla: 1. It is the volition (cetana) not to perform certain actions, or the abstention from performing them. 2. It involves both restraint (sa'f!lvara) and fulfilment. 3. It is motivated by ottappa and kiri. 4. It is of different kinds according to the motives of its practitioners and their state of development. Reduced to its most basic form, it would appear as in the following diagram: 73 I N P U T h i r i ~ I - _ ~ I-_-i[ful.film. ent volition _ (cetana) ottappa '--___ --' restramt o U T p U T It is clear that Buddhaghosa is concerned almost exclusive- ly with the morality of the monastic life. He makes no specific reference to the paficasfla, which are the standard observances of a lay Buddhist, and the duties he includes as part of sUa . relate only to monastic duties. Furthermore, he brings the 227 rules of the Patimokkha underneath the umbrella of sfla, thereby effectively excluding the lay practitioner. It must be remem- bered, however, that the Visuddhimagga is primarily a medita- tion manual, and is therefore directed at the monastic and not the lay community. Accordingly, Buddhaghosa's analysis must be seen as relating not to the entire category of sfla, which would also include the lay ethics so frequently discussed in the Nikayas, but only to the moral requirements of the monastic life. 1. Srle patitthaya naro sapanno, cittarrt pan:nan ca bhavaya1!l, atapi nipako bhikkhu, so ima1(t vijataye jatan (S.i.13). I have relied on NaI)amoli's translations throughout, sometimes, as here, with slight modifications. 2. I am confining myself here to Chapter 1 of the S'ilaniddesa, i.e., the chapter that deals specifically with srla. Chapter 2 is devoted to a description of the ascetic practices (dhutanga niddesa). 3. In the edition of the Harvard Oriental Series, vol. 41, ed. H.C. War- ren and revised by Dharmanda Kosambi, published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1950. 4. There is another list of ten good deeds (dasa-kusala-kamma) , which, although not of canonical origin, is widely known in SrI Lanka (see R.F. Gombrich, Precept and Practice [Oxford: OUP, 1971] p. 74, p. 251 n. 9). This list begins with the three punnakiriyavatthuni (danarrt srlan ca bhavanfl) and includes the whole of morality under the second item (srla). The final item, right views, is common to both lists. The canonical list of kammapathas can be found at various locations, e.g. D.iii.269, Vin.v.138, S.ii.168, etc. 5. See Nettipakararpa 43 for the division of the kammapathas into two groups of seven and three. 74 6. .., vattapa(ipattin va purentassa cetana. (1.17) 7. The only occurrence of the word samadinna listed by the PTS Dictio- nary is at A.ii.193, where the meaning of "undertaken" is identical. 8. Quoted by S.Z. Aung in the Compendium of Philosophy, p. 213 n. 3. 9. Cf. Part IX.7,3 of the Compendium. 10. Abhidharmakosa VI.l4. 11. For a full discussion of the term svabhava and its relation to cognate terms, such as bhava, abhava and ni/:lsvabhava, see P.M. Williams, Language and Existence in Madhyamika Buddhist Philosophy (unpublished D.Phil. thesis: Bod- leian Library, Oxford, 1978), Chapter 3. 12. Paramattha-manjilsa 276, quoted by NaI).amoli in The Path of Purifica- tion, p. 309 n.62. 13. 1.20. " ... yad etarr; kayakammadinarr; samadhanavasena kusalanan ca dhammanarr; pati((hanavasena ... " 14. Atthasalini 124: "Hiriyati ti hiri, lajjay' etarr; adhivacanarr;. Tehi eva ottap- pati ti ottapparr;, papato ubbegass' etarr; adhivacanarr;." 15. These two terms are included as two of the Seven Noble Treasures (ariya-dhana), the list being: faith (saddha), morality (sila), hiri, ottappa, learning (suta), self-denial (caga) , and wisdom (Panna). They are also said (Atthasalinf 124) to be the last two of seven strengths (bala), the first five being faith, energy (viriya), mindfulness (sati), meditation (samadhi). and wisdom (Panna). 16. M. Carrithers, The Forest-Dwelling monks of Lanka; an historical and anthropological study (unpublished D. Phil. thesis: Bodleian Library, Oxford 1977) pp. 239-243. 17. See Mary Douglas' classic work, Purity and Danger (London: Rout- ledge & Kegan Paul, 1966). 18. P. 198. " ... I grew filthy from the excrement of these transgres- sions." P. 199. " ... I committed innumerable sanghadisesa faults as well as minor ones: like one stuck deep in a pit of excrement." Carrithers writes: " ... the preoccupation with sila has great psychological consequences. The theme of cleanliness and dirt plays a great part in monks' dreams, as it does in their daily lives: village temples, as well as hermitages, are conspicuous by their cleanliness and tidiness. ( ... ) It is not surprising that cleanliness, and fastidi- ous observance of the rules of discipline - metaphorical cleanliness - some- times become ends in themselves." (p. 67) 19. There are several references to paccavekkhar;,ana1.w in the Visuddhi- magga (see NaI).moli's index) and also in the Compendium (see Introduction p. 58 on paccavekkhana-vasita). 20. The states (dhamma) of the sotapanna, etc., are described in the final section of the first part of the Dhammasanganf (trans. pp. 74-89), dealing with states that are good (kusala). 75 Contemporary Lay Buddhist Movements in Japan, with Special R e f e r e ~ c e to the Lotus Siitra* by Tsugunari K ubo The present paper aims at focusing on the basis of one of the characteristic aspects of the contemporary lay Buddhist move- ments in Japan, with special reference to the Lotus Sidra. In spite of the delicate doctrinal differences among the groups of the "new Buddhist movements" in Japan, they are organized on the principles of lay oriented and directed practice. This means that their existence and function are in most cases com- pletely independent of traditional Buddhism, or, at least, of the monastically controlled Buddhist establishments. l. The History and the Current State of Lay Movements This independent stance is, as I hope to show, supported by texts such as the Saddarmapurpjar'ika, or Lotus Sidra. Before turning directly to that text, I would like briefly to describe the historical events that led to the emergence of lay movements in modern Japan. It seems quite apparent that it was Nichiren (1222-1282), in the Kamakura Period, who first succeeded in what he had considered to be essential: making the Lotus Sutra available to all lay people, including the mass of illiterate men and women. According to Nichiren, anyone could expect to receive the merit resulting from chanting "N amu M yoho- Renge-Kyo,"b meaning, "I believe in or devote myself to the teaching of the Lotus Sutra." Or, it can simply be rendered in Sanskrit as "Namah SaddharmapurpJ,ar'ikasutrayal" Chanting this formula as a religious practice had never been done before. 76 - It should be emphasized here that Nichiren taught the masses not just the importance of the contents of the Lotus Sutra, and thus the merit resulting from chanting this most simplified formula, but, more importantly, he in effect suc- ceeded in'introducing the masses to a lay practice, based on the Lotus Sutra, which could be done spontaneously and required neither the ritual implements nor monks of the traditional sects. Earlier, I mentioned "delicate" doctrinal differences. Con- sidering the word "delicate," I would like to repeat here one characteristic difference among the "new Buddhist move- ments" in modern Japan. Before the Meiji Period, most lay Buddhist groups, called "KO"h (originally "a group organized to make a pilgrimage to holy places such as temples or shrines"), had been directed or controlled by the priestly or monastic Buddhist establishments. This tendency still continues in pre- sent-day Japan. l After the Meiji Period, when rapid modernization took place in Japan, the great majority of the Japanese population achieved literacy. This accomplishment owed much to the pro- motion of education under the guidance of the Meiji govern- ment of J apan:2 The illiteracy rate in Japan is practically nil now-. This rapid achievement of literacy is the most important factor that enabled lay Buddhist leaders to study the Buddhist scripture by themselves, independently of the priestly tradi- tion. 3 It also is interesting that many of these same lay Bud- dhists continued to use the Lotus Sutra as their central point of departure. They are completely lay supported and directed. How such lay Buddhists could be independent of the "or- dained" Buddhist organization is another question. N ow I would like to briefly describe the current state of Japanese "new Buddhist movements." No one will nowadays deny that the contemporary lay Buddhist movements are quite influential among the Japanese people, despite the fact that most of them belong to the monastically controlled "priestly" Buddhist establishments. Here one should, of course, not ne- glect the "syncretic" aspect of Japanese religion. According to the statistics in the Almanac of Religions for the Year" 1981,4 the number of people belonging to Buddhist orga- nizations is shown as follows: 77 The Tendai d Sect and its factions: 33,300,344 in 20 organiza- tions (including the Kodo Kyodan e which is one of the "new Buddhist movements" originally springing from the Reiyll- kai f , numbering 417,587); , The Shingon g (Tantric) Sect and its factions: 12,227,267 in 47 organizations; The ]odo h (Pure Land) Sect, the Shin Sects and their factions: 20,274,557 in 24 organizations; The Zen! Sects and factions: 8,818,802 in 22 organizations; The Nichiren j their Sect and its factions: 32,302,819 in 38 orga- nizations (including Sokagakkai k as a KG of the Nichiren Sho- shu,l 16,518,697 and the Reiyukai 2,971,600, and its off- shoots, such as Risshokoseikai ffi 5,308,241, Busshogonenkai ll 1,573,824; and MyochikaiQ 705,426); The Older Nara P Sects: 4,750,374 in 6 organizations; The others in 3 organizations: 13,257. As can easily be seen, the Buddhist population amounts to over one hundred and eleven million, which is more than the entire population of Japan. These are, however, not really ex- aggerated figures, except, perhaps, in a few cases. In any case, religious syncretism should always to be taken into consider- ation. For example, members of the Reiyukai and its offshoots total almost eleven million; nevertheless, most members are also followers, or, so to speak, dana-pati,q of traditional sects. However, there is no doubt that the total of those in "new Buddhist movements" based upon the Lotus SiUra should amount to over fifteen percent of the] apanese population, even if one takes these statistics with reservations. Why has the Lotus Sutra been adopted exclusively by such a great number of people in] apan, particularly in modern times? And, on the other hand, why have organizations of totally dif- ferent character sprung up from the same scripture? For exam- ple, among those organizations called "new Buddhist move- ments" based upon the Lotus Sutra, the Reiyukai and its offshoots and the Sokagakkai are completely different, in terms of both origins and basic character of activities and practices. Historically speaking, there is no doubt that the influence of such predecessors as T'ien-tai and Nichiren should not be under-estimated. The basis of the "lay" Bodhisattva practice and the idea of infinite expansion of teaching through the con- duct of every human being is found in the Lotus Sutra. 78 II. Lay Bodhisattvas Passages in Chapter 10 of the Lotus Sutra, which begins with an exposition on Bodhisattva conduct after the parinirvana of Sakyamuni Buddha, clearly indicate that Bodhisattva prac- tice was equally available to both monks and lay people. 5 There is reference, for example, to "those householders and renun- ciants who recite the Saddharmapur:uJ,arika,"6 and to "the house- holders and renunciants who practice the Bodhisattva way."7 The same sort of reference is found in Chapter 14 (or 13; Skt. 13), where the text refers to "Bodhisattvas who will be 'house- holders' (gahastha) and 'renunciants' (pravrajita) in the 'last time.'''8 A similar, though less directly stated, distinction is found in Chapter 17 (or 16; Skt 16),9 which includes a list of the ideal qualities and characteristics of those who preserve the Lotus Siltra. These people can be described as "patient, disciplined, concentrated, possessed of morality, and meditators who live in seclusion." They are also described in the next verse as those who are "free of anger, not treacherous, respectful towards the caityas, humble to the monks, not proud or lazy." Although the terms grhastha and pravrajita do not actually occur in these two verses, it is nevertheless clear that at least two distinct types of followers are envisioned here. The first type is the renunciant who practices solitary meditation, and the second type is a per- son who refrains from anger and abuse, and who honors the monks and caityas. Both types, it is important to note, are poten- tially preservers and maintainers of the text and teaching of the Lotus Sutra. These specific references to two equal types of practition- ers, the householder and the renunciant, are perhaps of less significance than those many passages that clearly state and restate the idea that the basic teaching of the Lotus Sutra is available to all types, to all beings equally. Perhaps the fullest expression of this idea is to be found in Chapter 5. 10 Here, the , text develops the idea of the universal availability of the teach- { ing and of the fundamental equality of those receiving it, using i' '. the metaphor of the great rain: just as a great rain falls indis- criminately on everything-trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruits- r so the teaching of the siitra is indiscriminately made available to ;t <'79 :X .. all beings-monks, lay men and women, renunciants, and householders. Again, when the great rain falls, some of it is transformed into dew, some into the wa,ter of a river, and some into the waves of the ocean, and in spite of these various trans- formations it still remains a single substance, water. Just in this way, although the teaching of the Buddha is taken up by differ- ent groups and appears in different forms, it still remains a single teaching. The same idea expressed in Chapter 5 is, in fact, expressed elsewhere in another form. We find, thus, a number of pas- sages that refer to the fundamental vow of a Buddha. There is for instance, this example from Kumarajlva's text, which does not necessarily correspond verbatim to the extant Sanskrit ver- SIOn: "I originally made a vow to make all living beings be- come equal to me."ll "The original vow of the Buddhas is to make all living beings attain the same Buddha-path that I also have at- tained."12 In these passages and others like them, the idea of fundamental equality is directly expressed. Note that here, and in passages like these, the key term is "all living beings." In the tenth chap- ter, equality is vividly described in the following way (my sum- mary): After having explained what the, Bodhisattva's con- duct should be after his parinirvary,a, Sakyamuni Buddha first predicts for the sons and daughters of good family their future enlightenment. Then he explains the reason why he has made this prediction. Those householders and renunciants who re- Joice ip the teaching will hold f i r ~ l y to it and practice the BodhIsattva paths. All of them WIll become dharma-bha1!- akas and attam complete enlightenment. The Buddha then teaches towards the end that all of those who approach them will also become Bodhiattvas. 13 It should be emphasized here that the Buddha's teachings can be transmitted and expanded infinitely to "all living beings" only through the conduct of every human being. This charac- 80 teri-stic of the sutra is the fundamental basis of the factions of the "new Buddhist movements" in the so-called Nichiren lin- eage. III. The Very Special Gate and Path Now, I would like to focus on some other aspects of the Lotus Siitra. In this connection I wish to refer to an enlightening article by Dr. Akira Hirakawa, Professor Emeritus of the Uni- versity of Tokyo, entitled "The Meaning of 'eka-yana' in the Lotus Sutra."14 More recently, Professor Hirakawa has fur- thered and clarified his views from a fresh angle in his article ''The Background and Formation of the Doctrine which Re- veals the 'eka-yana' Removing the Prejudice of the 'tri-yana."'15 Herewith, I summarize Dr. Hirakawa's arguments and of- fer some of my own comments. Unlike in earlier Mahayana sutras, a very special gate and path have been prepared in the Lotus Sidra. In this regard, Hirakawa pays special attention to the verses found in the second chapter, "Upaya-kausalya," or "Skilful Means." In several verses, one can find those who at- tain the path to enlightenment: te sarvi bodhaya a b h f t ~ i labhina/:t, "all of them attained enlightenment" or, te sarvi prapta imam agra-bodhim, "all of them attained this highest enlighten- ment."16 What kind of people are they? They are people, for instance, like the following:l7 Those children who make mounds with sand here and there in play and offer them as stlipas for Buddhas (verse 82). Those who unto the stlipa fold their palms in full, or just raise one hand, or bow their heads for a single moment, or just bow their bodies slightly (verse 95). As indicated by Hirakawa, such conduct is very simple, and evidently followed by lay people. In Mahayana sutras com- posed at an earlier stage, it is uncommon to find such off- handed actions described as the way to enlightenment. In those, for example, the six paramitas must be practised for three innumerable kalpas. The Lotus Sutra itself mentions that these practices are contrary to those described in other Ma- 81 hayana sutras. 18 Thus, the followers of the Lotus SiUra were persecuted by followers of the other Mahayana and the Srava- kayana. , It also is noteworthy, as Hirakawa mentions, that in the history of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism simple practices like these have never been accepted as the main Lotus Sidra approach to enlightenment, because the gate and path to Bud- dhahood shown in the second chapter appeared too easy to enter and follow. Before these verses in Chapter Two, one finds only one main teaching of Sakyamuni, namely: "The Buddha appears in the world always for the benefit of the people to attain the wisdom of the Buddha."19 In conclusion, two important matters are disclosed in the verse portion: 20 Numerous Buddhas in the future will preach the same teaching through skilful means (upilya-kaufalya) , and lead countless creatures to the wisdom of the Buddha (verses 98-99). There will be no one who will not become a Buddha after hearing their teaching. It is indeed the vow <prarJidhilna) of the Buadhas who practise for enlightenment and let others practise for it (verse 100). The Buddha also states that Buddhas in the future will mani- fest the "Single Vehicle" (ekayilna).21 Thus, there will be no living being in the future who will not become enlightened. This manifestation of ekayilna is nothing but the thought or doctrine of "Buddhahood," which will later develop as the Tathagatagarbha theory, which holds that every living being possesses the "embryo" of the Tathagata. Now, I would like to attend to the same content with which Professor Hirakawa has dealt. The statement in the Lotus Sutra, "No one will not attain the path to a Buddha," is a very simple sentence, but it is extremely significant. Anyone who recites or reads the Lotus Sutra is made to feel that he or she will be able to , practise without difficulty. Practice, as mentioned above, can be done by any lay person. It is not necessary to enter a monastic life. This is the attraction of the Lotus Sutra for lay people . . Needless to say, practices leading to enlightenment are also taught in other chapters. There, those who practise as Bodhi- sattvas are called the "Heir of the Buddhas" (sugatasya p u t r a ~ , 82 etc.), "Dharma Preacher" (dharma-bhary,aka),22 and of course "Bodhisattva." In the second chapter, they are called "sattva" instead. IV. Heirs of the Buddha Here, I wish to focus upon the term Sugatasya putraly" "heir of a Buddha." In Chapter Three of the Lotus Sutra, Sariputra, rejoicing at having heard the teaching in the second chapter, stands up and speaks to the Buddha with respect: "I have today (at last) come to know that I am the heir of the Buddha, born from the mouth of the Buddha, and transformed by the Dharma, and have accomplished en- lightenment by the Dharma."23 . This recalls the traditional term Sakyaputtiya. 24 The Buddha then predicts to Sariputra,-who has declared himself an heir of the Buddha,-that he will become a Buddha in the future. 25 Sakyamuni's prediction is expanded in Chapter Ten to every living being who hears the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. 26 Let us see how the idea of the "Buddha's heir" is taught in the Lotus Sutra. I believe that the well-known parables in Chap- ters Three and Four are the key to this question. Towards the end of the famous parable of the "Residence on Fire" is the following description: "All living beings are my children. I will bestow the Ma- hayana upon th.em equally. I will make not just a single person attain complete enlightenment through the Tatha- gata's complete enlightenment."27 The expression is slightly different in the Sanskrit version. It reads as follows: 83 "Knowing that all of the living beings are my sons, I lead all those living beings to complete enlightenment through the very Buddha's Vehicle. The Tathagata does not teach. com- plete enlightenment just to a particular living being, but leads all living beings to complete enlightenment through the Tathagata's complete enlightenment, the great com- plete enlightenment."28 To paraphrase this, not only Sariputra' and other disciples, but all living beings are the Buddha's heirs. Attention should be drawn to the fact that this is very different from the idea of "God the Father" in Christianity. In the Mahayana slitras, all the Buddha's heirs are promised Buddhahood-complete equality with the Buddhas, not just with their fellow beings! The Lotus Sidra's compelling illustration of the Buddha as father and all living beings as children begins with the descrip- tion of a residence on fire. The children in the house are too involved in their play to be aware of the fire. The condition of the residence is described in a realistic and detailed manner. I quote part of it from the Chinese version: And this house was very old, right on the verge of collapsing. The halls were extremely dangerous, the pillar bases rotten and disintegrating, the beams and framework dangerously tilted, and the stairways were falling apart. The retaining walls were cracked, the -plaster was peeling off, the thatched roof was falling down, the rafters and eaves were coming disjoined, the partitions were askew everywhere, and the whole place was covered with filth. And moving around helter-skelter were kites, owls, hawks, eagles, crows, magpies, doves, pigeons, lizards, snakes, vipers, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, efts, myriapods, ferrets, badgers, mice, rats, and other harmful creatures. Filled with stench, places overflowed with their excrement, and all kinds of bugs had gathered there. There were foxes, wolves and vermin devouring, trampling, and gnawing on corpses, scattering bones and flesh all about. 29 The description of these filthy conditions continues. The read- 84 er c ~ n n o t help but feel disgust. The parable impresses the read- 'er_emotionally rather than intellectually-that living beings care like children, still ignorantly attached to play, and that the Buddhas -are like adults. Another well-known parable, "The Son of a Wealthy Man" in the fourth chapter provides another perspective on the Bud- 'dha's heirs. It should be noted that this parable is told by the disciples who have become capable of hearing the teaching in the second chapter and are delighted with it. The story summa- rized, is as follows. The main characters of the parable are a wealthy old man and his son. The son is separated from his father during childhood. He becomes an orphan, and is raised in poverty and vagrancy. He has no home. One day he finds -himself in front of the gate of his father's residence without realizing that the house in fact is his father's. Having searched ifor his son for a long, long time, the father recognizes the poor . man as his son from his countenance and behaviour. Since the .son no longer remembers the hou.se, he is awed by the sight of the residence. He runs away, fearing the servants. Immediate- ly, the wealthy old man sends his men to bring his son back to his house. Thinking that his presentiment has come true, the son faints. The wealthy man decides to use an expedient means. He employs the poor man as lavatory cleaner. After twenty years, the son becomes chief retainer, controlling the "whole property of the wealthy man. The old man says to him that he should not worry and that he should think him as his father. He promises him anything he wants since he has worked so hard. The son only thinks of himself as an employee. When the wealthy old man finds himself approaching the time of death, he calls the poor man, together with the king, minis- ters, friends, and so on, and reveals that the employee is his own son, separated from him for fifty years. At this moment the son, for the first time, realizes his actual identity as the heir Of this wealthy man. 3D The disciples say that this wealthy old man is nothing but the Tathagata, and that they are the heirs of the Buddhas. They have not realized it because of their ignorance. They are de- lighted to know it now. 31 _ Sakyamuni indicates in the Lotus Sidra that the relationship between Buddhas and living beings is exactly the same as the {85 actual relationship between the father and son. Incidentally, it is noteworthy that Rahula, who was Sakyamuni's real son, is referred to elsewhere in this sutra. 32 Nevertheless, these par- ables are concerned with all living beings as the heirs of the Buddhas, and Rahula never appears in connection with this simile. Sakyamuni, in fact, tells us to be his sons (and daugh- ters), but not as Rahula is. That is to say, "All living beings should become Buddhas," just as children will become adults. v. Positive and Negative Understandings Throughout the Lotus Sutra, various ideas are impressed upon the readers' emotions. In other words, the teaching takes a course between our emotions and reality - or between ordi- nary people and Buddhas. The Lotus Sutra always teaches that these contrasting factors are in reality inseparable. The afore- mentioned two parables are good examples. I believe that these characteristic aspects of the sutra are acceptable to the people, especially in modern Japan, where people more and more tend to think about the value of individual existence. In the tenth chapter, Sakyamuni states that all living beings should become Buddhas in the future. At the same time, Sakyamuni explains the Bodhisattvas' conduct and explains why he has made his prediction to sons and daughters of good family (kula-putra and kula-duhitr). The renunciants as well as householders who re- joice in the teachings of the Lotus Sutra will fulfill his prediction of their future complete enlightenment and practise the Bodhi- sattva path. All of them will become dharma-bhiiY!akas, and thus attain complete enlightenment. All of those who approach them are also Bodhisattvas. 33 In this way, the Buddha's teach- ings can be transmitted to all living beings through the conduct of every human being. The Lotus Sutra is the basis for the promotion of lay Bud- dhist movements. Unfortunately, I cannot but refer to another facet of these movements: their complacency and exclusive- ness. It may not be right to understand these exclusive and aggressive tendencies only from the Buddhist point of view. They should perhaps be analyzed in the light of other factors- say, for example, from socio-religious angles. Nevertheless, in 86 the Lotus Sutra itself we find admonitions against complacent, exclusive, and aggressive people. The sutra does not assign or "omnipotence" to its "evangelists." It does refer to the dharma-bhar;,aka as "really a great Bodhisattva,"34 "the one who is carried by the Buddha on his back,"35 "the one who does the work that is the Buddha's,"36 etc. Such expres- sions may blind the reader: he may feel as if he is virtually a Buddha, an absolute authority, and that those who do not have hrs to hear him are simple heretics. . There is another critique of arrogance in the sutra, in the dramatic scene where five thousand proud monks leave before the Buddha Sakyamuni starts the real teaching,37 but detailed discussion of this must await some other occasion. Conclusion I have tried to show how the Lotus Sutra succeeded in teaching the masses, and thus was attractive as a basis for the lay 11lovements. The emotional approach I described earlier is unique in Mahayana slitras. In this sense, the Lotus Sutra has proved to be successful. I must add here, at the same time, that it also has a risky, negative aspect, as I have just shown above. fie NOTES * This is a revised version of the paper read on 20 August 1982 at the Fifth Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, held at the University of Oxford, with reference to another paper presented at its Third Conference, held jointly with the International Association for the History of Religions, at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, in August 1980. List of Abbreviations Taisho: Taisho Shinshu daizokyo.r ... KN: Bibliotheca Buddhica X: SaddharmapU?Jljanka, edited by H. Kern and . Bunyiu Nanjio (St. Petersburg 1908-1912). WT: Saddharmaputtq,anka-Sutram, romanized and revised text of the Bib- liotheca Buddhica, publication by U. Wogihara and C. Tsuchida (Tokyo 1934_ 1935). 1. In this sense, the Sokagakkai can be said to belong to tl?-is category, since it has developed and expanded as one of the Ko organizations affiliated with the Temple Daisekiji of the Nichiren Shoshu Sect. Nevertheless, the Sokagakkai has another aspect, of lay oriented organisation. " 2. Needless to say, it is another question as to how much this govern_ ment-directed education system is appreciated in modern Japan. One cannot, however, neglect the fact that education in modern Japan, the nucleus of which, I believe, already existed in the pre-Meiji period, has until now played a great role in various aspects of modernization in Japan, including the rapid achievement of literacy. 3. In this connection, the first stable movement on this pattern was the Reiyukai, founded by Kakutaro Kubo,' a carpenter-architect in Tokyo, in 1919. Over the years, this movment has generated a number of offshoots such as Risshokoseikai, Busshogonenkai, and so forth. 4. Edited by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, an agency affili- ated with the Ministry of Education (Tokyo: Gyosei, 1982). 5. Kakutaro Kubo had already pointed out in the early stages of the movement that the Saddharmapurpjarfka teaches a Bodhisattva practice, bodhi- , sattva-carya, which is fully available to lay people. See Ten-no Ongaku, If (To- . kyo: The Reiyukai, 1983), pp. 148,216,218. . 6. Taisho 262, IX p. 31A. Hereafter, reference to the Saddharmapurpf.ar . fka is made in the first place to KumarajIva's Chinese version, since, needless to say, it has alone played a role in Japanese Buddhist history. The Sanskrit says, tatha-rupa1Ja'f!! dharma-bha1Jakanam asyasutrantasya dharaka1Ja'f!! sthana'f!! va pravrajitana'f!! va . .. (KN 227,5) 7. Taisho IX p. 31C. Here, as well, the Sanskrit corresponds closely to the Chinese text, i.e., grh04thalJ, pravrajitas ca bodhisattva-caryar;rt caranti (KN 232,6). . 8. TaishO IX p. 39A; KN 291,11 (verse 46). 9. TaishO IX p. 46A-B; KN 343, 1-4 (verses 53-54). 10. TaishO IX p. 19A; KN 121. 11. TaishO IX p. 8B; KN 47, 9-10. 12. TaishO IX p. 9B; KN 53, 3-4. 13. Taisho IX p. 30B-32B; KN 224-238. 14. In The Formation and Development of the Lotus Sutra, edited by Yensho Kanakura (l970).u 15. In The Thought and Fundament of the Lotus Sutra, edited by Zuiryu Nakamura (1980): 16. KN 49, 14 (verse 76; for bodhaya see WT p. 46 note 6) and so forth; KN 52, 10 (verse 96) d. TaishO IX p. 8C-9A. 17. Taisho IX p. 8C; 9A. KN 50, 12; 52,8. I quote more or less in free translation. 18. KN 285, 7 (TaishO IX p. 38B). 19. KN 40,3-8 (TaishO IX p. 7A). 88 20. KN 52, 13-53, 4 (TaishO IX p. 9A-B). 21. KN 53, 6 (Taisho IX p. 9B). 22. For example, Taisho IX p. 32A, B. KN 227, 5. Taisho IX p. 46; KN 343,9 (verse 57). Cf. Tsugunari Kubo, "Those who make Caitya in the Field," The Formation. and Development of the Lotus Sutra, edited by Yensho Kanakura ) w (1970 . . 23. Talsho IX p. 10C; cf. KN 61, 2-3: adyaha1}'l bhagavan bhagavatalJ putro jyes.(ha auraso mukhato jato dharma-jo dhanna-nirmito dharma-dayado dharma-nil"Ur- tah (for mukhato see WT p. 60 note 1). . 24. Cf. Jikido Takasaki, The Formation of the Tathagata-garbha Concept (Tokyo: Shunjusha, 1974), p. 438. x 25. TaishO IX p. lIB; KN 65, 5. 26. Taisho IX p. 30C; KN 224, 8-10. 27. Taisho IX p. 13C. 2S. KN Sl, 13-S2, 1 ... sarve caite mama iva putra iti jnatva buddha-yanen- aiva tan sattvan parinirvapayati / na ca kasya-cit sattvasya pratyatmika1}'l alfl vadati / sarva1}'ls ca tan sattva1}'ls tathagatapm-inirvalJena maha-parinirvalJena parinirvapayati. 29. TaishO IX p. 13C-14B; cf. KN S2, 12-S6, 2. 30. TaishO IX p. 16B-17B (l7C-lSB); KN 101, l1-lOS, 15 (111,1-115, 12; verses 3-35). 31. Taisho IX p. 17B-C (lSB-19A); KN lOS, 16-110, 10 (116,1; verses 36- ). 32. Taisho IX p. 30A; KN 220,10. 33. Taisho IX p. 30B-32B; KN 224-23S. 34. Taisho IX p. 30C; cf. KN 226, 6-7 35. Taisho IX p. 31A; but KN 227, S tathagata7[! sa . .. pariharati .. _ . 36. Taisho IX p. 30C; KN 227, 1 tathagata-krtya-karas. 37. Taisho IX p. 7A; 7C, KN 3S, 12-14; 44, 7-10 (verse 3S, 39). 89 List of Chinese and Japanese Characters a. b. c. d. ::R e. f. g. .13 h. i. iifti! j. S ii k. 1. S iilE* m. :sLlE i3C1iIZ n. o. :I&!Wl p. 5?.& q. :tI1iR r. s. !A 15f:1'l *' t. n u. v. c -l"e:l%IiIZJ c :IliilW:J
x. IIf:i Ii J:i r ;W. e:l % IiIZ J 90 Before the Prajna Schools: The Earliest Chinese Commentary on the Astasahasrika by Whalen Lai The earliest Mahayana siitra probably is the Prafiia-paramita (The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines; henceforth The earliest Chinese Buddhist "schools" spec- ulating on the meaning of the emptiness (sunyata) described by the Prajiia-paramita sutras are the so-called "six Prajfta Schools" of the fourth century. They flourished around the time of Shih Tao-ana (312-385). These schools' speculations were informed by concurrent Neo-Taoist elaborations on the significance of nothingness (wu)b. This led to a fusion of native and foreign ideas, known then as ko-{ or concept-matching Buddhism. The shortcomings of that approach became evident when Kuma- rajlva introduced the Madhyamika dialectics of Nagarjuna. Ac- cordingly, Seng-jui,d in his preface to the Vimalakirtinirde.sa translated by his master, noted: The matching of (Buddhist and Taoist) concepts flour- ished, but that also corrupted the meaning (of the scrip- tures); the six (Prajfta) schools were all biased in their read- ing (of the middle path) and they could not realize the true import of identity (chi: e form being identical with empti- ness). The principle of hsing-k'ungf (svabhava-sunya: absence of self-nature) has not been clanfied up to now. 1 . It would be clarified by Seng-chao,g a fellow student judged to be the first to master the Madhyamika critique. Yet, before the development of the six Prajfta schools, there already existed a Chinese commentary on the or, to be exact, a running commentary on the first chapter of the . 91 rendered into Chinese as the Ta-ming-tu-chinf51o (The Great Wis- dom Ferrying-Beyond, henceforth abbreviated as TMTC Or Ming-tu). The commentary predated ka-i Buddhism. The latter was dependent on Neo-Taoism, which took form in the Cheng_ shih l era (240-248) when the youthful Wang Pi J (226-249) discovered the mystique of wu. To Wang Pi, wu (nothingness, non being) was the basis of all realities, the hidden substance behind all active functions. Following in his footsteps half a century later, the first of the six PrajDa schools, that of Chu Ch'ien (Tao-ch'ien,k alias Fa-shen:! 286-374) evolved. The Ming-tu commentary, however, predated even Wang Pi, and, unlike the PrajDa schools, has survived fairly intact. As such, it should be invaluable for understanding the earliest Chinese appreciation of the emptiness philosophy. Although the exis- tence of this piece is well known and its importance well ac- knowledged,2 it has escaped even the most comprehensive cov- erage of the PrajDa tradition to date, Professor Hirai Shun'ei'sm Chugaku hanya shisoshi kenkyu n (1976).3 Though the Ming-tu commentary should best be studied along with a full analysis of this first chapter of the TMTC and both in relation to the var- ious recensions of the A.\'(a, the historic importance of the com- mentary for Chinese Buddhism might justify this preliminary and somewhat delimited examination. Some of the textual problems have been studied by Profes- sor Lewis Lancaster at Berkeley, who drew attention to the TMTC as possibly being the earliest surviving text of the A.\'(a. 4 Traditionally, the TMTC is said to be Chih Ch'ien'so translation of the A.\'(a that had been previously rendered into Chinese by Chih Ch'an'p as the Taa-hsing P'aja ching, q during Later Han .. Chih Ch'ien supposedly worked on this around 222-229 in the South, in the kingdom of Wu,r during the Three Kingdoms period. It has been suggested that this Wu translation deviated somewhat from Chih Ch'ien's usual style because he was adjust- ing himself to his southern audience. Lancaster's investigation has shown, however, that the TMTC is stylistically not homo- geneous. If one puts aside the first chapter, the TMTC style is very different from other of Chih Ch'ien's works. Chih Ch'ien usually preferred to translate technical Sanskrit phonetically, but the main body of the TMTC settled on translating by mean- mg instead. Lancaster discovers that stylistically, the text is 92 dn uch closer to the works of An Hsuan; who was a contempo- iiary of the famous An Shih-kad (fl. AD. 150). This would push it back beyond the Tao-hsing ching, and make it the earliest turviving A ~ t a we have. , Thus; it was not the Tao-hsing-ching but an earlier text that Chih Ch'ien reworked. And, Chih Ch'ien never went beyond iewriting the first, stylistically quite distinct, chapter: Now Chih Ch'ien was the first translator to introduce exclusively Ma- hayana works (excepting his rewording of another extant Chi- nese Dharmapada).5 Unlike earlier translators, Chih Ch'ien was also fully versed in Chinese and was familiar with the philo- sophic concerns of the time. Thus, he was probably trying to standardize and explain the rather terse and unorthodox trans- lation that is now the TMTC proper (minus the reworded chap- ter one). Chapter one now includes a running commentary, explanatory remarks in smaller print between the lines of the text. Chih Ch'ien's personal remarks on the occasion were probably those sections designated as "(My) master says: ... etc." within the running commentary. Previously, some had thought that that refers to K'ang Seng-hui,U 6 but, considering just the fact that the recorder-disciple also referred to three other texts translated/reworded by Chih Ch'ien, the "master" should refer to Chih Ch'ien himself. 7 Assuming that Chih Ch'ien indeed worked on the text in Wu during 222-229 and that the commentary was interpolated during or soon after that project, it would place the latter before the Cheng-shih era, when Wang Pi made a name for himself. In 229, Wang Pi would only have been three years old. There is no possibility for Neo-Taoism to influence this early reading of emptiness. If anything, it would have to be the other way around. This would rekindle the whole debate on whether the concept of sunyata (the Indian zero) did or did not affect the new reading of wu- . to that time never taken absolutely nihilistically, or as nonbe- (or zero)-by Wang Pi. That, however, is not our immediate The intellectual clientele Chih Ch'ien and his disciple (i.e., wrote that commentary) were addressing was not Neo- but the Han Taoist tradition that was interested then in the art of, to cite Tang Yung-t'ung,V yang-sheng nien-shen,w nur- life and refining the spirit: Han Buddhist thought focused on the matter,ofreturnin to the source, kuei-pen;x it locates that source in the min hsin.Y Wei-Chin Buddhists and neo-Taoists speculated i n ~ stead on the principle of original nonbeing, pen-wu, Z as that which preceded all subsequent existents, mo-yu. aa8 Indeed, when we examine the Ming-tucommentary's un- derstanding of emptiness, it seems to steer somewhere in be- tween the old Han psychologism (used since the time of An Shih-kao) and the yet-to-emerge negative ontology (used by the ko-i metaphysicians). The intrusion of the former, Hlnayanist, tradition does not compromise in the end its understanding of Mahayana emptiness. Since the Ming-tu commentary predated the six Prajfla schools, did it in some sense anticipate those future speculative theses? As we will see, the answer is both "yes" and "no": yes, if we stay with the one-dimensional reading of the Prajfla schools that is still current; no, if we understand the actual new depar- ture initiated by the Hsin-wu (Mind-as-Empty) school. To this we will return after a preliminary analysis of the commentary. The following abbreviations, added to the body of the text, will be used: T C (p. x) for the text of the TMTC for the running commentary for any interruption of the text for the page location 'x' in the Taisho ab text (T. 8, no. 225, p. x) The text is sometimes corrupted; the Taisho punctuation is sometimes wanting. The more important emendations are ex- plained in the notes. I am however grateful to Professor Taka- saki (University of Tokyo) for some crucial suggestions and corrections that have been incorporated into this final draft. A Preliminary Analysis of the Ming-Tu Commentary I. The Concept of Mahayana 94 The Perfection of Wisdom, which declares the Bodhisattva career to be the Vehicle and loftiest of all paths was supposedly tau?,ht by Sak<amuni. through t.he medium of his disciple SU,bhutI, a mount am ascetIc, and agamst the less knowl- edgeable Sariputra, who is made to represent the Hlnayana elders' understanding. This legitimation myth was employed by the As(a to ground in the historical Buddha himself what, by objective standards, is a later teaching. The rhetoric here is important, and the point was not lost to the commentary: T: says, "":V'ell said, well said. The Buddha calls you (SubhutI) the VIrtuous One and has noted how the foremost of all paths is laid in mountains and lakes (the homestead of the ascetic). The Bodhisattva so receives this highest of teachings. C: cou1d intuit the subtle versed m the empty and pure path, whIle abldmg m mountains and lakes. It was for that that he was so praised by the Buddha. T: He would never backslide. C: The Bodhisattva, upon receiving the teaching, would never sway the path); he is said to be abiding in the seventh bhiiml. T: He meditates without ever ceasing. The boundless Transcendental Wisdom is just like that. C: Ceaseless meditation refers to the intention of the sutra (teaching); the will (of the true ascetic) never suf- fers fatigue. (p. 479a3-7) This reading of the origin of Mahayana gives due credit to the ascetic and meditative tradition. The master further noted that the teaching was intended for Sariputra, too, but he was not equipped to understand it, as shown now by his "regrettably" dumb questions to Subhuti (p. 481a27-28). The meaning of Mahayana as the Great Vehicle ferrying all is explained by the text, the translator/master and the com- mentator: 95 T: Subhuti asks, "How do we know that the Bodhisattva indeed rides the Great Vehicle?" C: My master says: the Great Vehicle refers to the Great Way. T: "What is Mahayana? What vehicle aspires so go?" (sic) c: It should read: What goal does the vehicle aspire for? T: "As the Vehicle is so established, what is it (built) OUt of?" The Buddha answers, "The vehicle that is the Great Vehicle is the carrier of the infinite. This is because there are infinite sentient beings." C: The Bodhisattvic will is so grand (in design) that it can so ferry infinite beings. T: "As to why, this because there .are infinite beiD:gs. Therefore, the BodhIsattva arouses hIS great compasSIOn for their sake, in so preparing the great carrter. Because the Sage, (having transcended) the Three Realms, can know a1l there is, he can so build the Great Vehicle. The vehicle comes out of nothing (emptiness itself). Why? Be- cause if there is birth and outcome (to its being), t!Jat would constitute (a finite) dharma (liable to similar death and dissolution). If there is neither the arising nor the arriving (to its being), then there is no dharma that can be so at- tained (i.e. so grasped). Therefore, it is said that it is born of nothing and comes out of nothing." (p. 4S1a 11-1S) The Great Way is It is great precisely because it is emp- ty. The superiority of the Bodhisattvayana is explained as follows: T: " ... If one wants to the stage of the dlsClple (Sravaka), he should, upon hearmg the sutra honour and worship it." C: The (Hlnayana) disciple aspires for emptiness, desirelessness, and marklessness (animitta) , 9 but in attain- ing nirval)a, he would strive no further. He has thus failed to forward to the ,:"ay of (upaya) and compasslOn (karu'Y}a) that IS the Buddha s. . T: "If one wants to acquire the status of the solitarily en- lightened (Pratyekabudaha) - C: The solitarily enlightened is one who aspires for Buddhahood without, however, perfecting compassion. or endowing himself with the skilful means. T: - or if one wants to acquire the status of the Buddha, he should, upon hearing thIS sutra - C: The one who walks the Buddha-path should show broad compassion and render universal help to all; he should not seek enlightenment en route. IO T: - choose to honour it." (p. 479a7-10) The Triyana (Three Vehicles) are apparently regarded serially. 96 this is because the commentary earlier (p. 479a6) placed the Bodhisattva at the seventh of the ten bhumis, leaving the Arhant 'below and the Pratyekabuddha and Buddha above the seventh. This classificatory scheme was later employed by Chih Tao-lin (Chih Tun)aC to resolve the tension of the Three Vehicles. II. The Meaning of Pen-Wu ad (Original Nothingness) If one has to categorize the commentary's understanding of emptiness, one would have to recognize the predominance of the theme of pen-wu, a term that characterizes one of the six Prajnii schools to come. Yet, since this text predated Wang Pi's ontological nihilism, this pen-wu should be read in terms of returning to what is temporally prior to being, not in terms of what is ontologically antithetical. The term pen-wu was used by Chih Ch'ien himself to render sunya, but the psychologism of inward withdrawal is the key exegetical theme: T: Subhl1ti knows the Buddha's intention and says, " ... As the Buddha has taught the Dharma, there is the learn- ing of it. So:p.s and daughters of good families, he or she who can understand the meaning of the teaching is veri- fied (in wisdom)." C: Dharma-learning is learning the Dharma. Under- standing the teaching is realizing emptiness, desireless- ness, and marklessness. Cessational trance!! means at- taining the meaning of the Dharma. When the defiled outflows are checkeCl, the bondages untied and the Way is gained, that is verification. By saying verification is completed,!2 then one would duly revert to original nothingness. (p. 478c1-3) , on, the commentator explains, by way of breaking up (for tatha-agata: Thus-come), the meaps to revert to that nothingness: C: By ju (thus) is meant the thus-ness that is the being (basis) of men (ju jen-pen).af By lai (come) is meant whence (all) come. Man is originally empty and is the same as nirviiI).a itself. The Buddha is he who attains the three dharmas (truths): the emptying of the Three Realms, the cessation of desires, and (the cessation) of marks. The Anapana Sutra states, "What is meant by re- turning? It is wnen the five skandhas are reverted, when all (egoistic) views (dn#) are terminated. This is what is meant by the term Tathagata." The Buddha preaches the pure Dharma only in delight of this original nothing_ ness. The quiescent Dharma is the gift of Dharma. (p. 478c6-8) The An-pan shou-i chinrtg cited here is a basic and popular Hlnayana treatise on contemplating breaths. It was easily adapted to the Han Taoist meditation vocabulary, so much so that the text itself aligned an-pan shou-i word-for-word with ching-ching wu-wei ak (pure, quiet, non-action). The introduction of that Hlnayana contemplation here eventually leads to a reduction of emptiness (pen-wu) to a pecu- liar mode of psychic regression. The following at first seems orthodox enough: T: Subhuti. says, " ... By 'bodhi' is m e a n ~ embodying the way, t'i-tao;aJ. it is empty vacuity, k'ung-hsipJ The way tnat is bodhi is likewise empty." C: My master says, "The mind of the Bodhisattva treads the Great Way. If one hopes to embody the way, both mind and way must be formless. Thus, they are said to be empty and vacuous. By way is meant the empty, the desirefess, the markless." T: What are the dharma-characteristics of a Bodhisattva? It is in seeing that the Buddha Dharma is no Dharma. That is the Bodhisattva. C: The Bodhisattva is he who, following the scripture's teaching, no longer sees the five skandhas, the six facul- ties, or the twelve pratrtya-samutpada. (p. 478c9-11) However, in using the twelve nidanas to explicate this art of returning to the origin, the commentator employs a schema popularly used at the time to explain the transmigration of the soul. The immortal soul (shen pu-mieh)ak doctrine had then this rationale, namely that at death the vijiiana would survive as the shih-shen al (conscious spirit; consciousness), which would seek out, by virtue of the leftover karmic impulse (hsinrtm for sar(Ls- kara) , the next body (namarupa) , to resume life (bhava) again. This schema seems to be implied in the following discussion: 98 T: The Bodhisattva, in practicing the boundless perfec- tion of wisdom, does not abide in form. C: He does not rely on the rilpakiiya (form-body) as his basis. T: He does not rely on or abide in consciusness while (be- ing involved) in c.onception, or will C: He takes no pnae III hIS namarilpa (name-body), eI- ther. T: Why? It is because, had he arrested himself in form, he would have generated physical karmic impulses (se-hsing: an a combination of rilpa and sar{lskara), C: At this point, there is the initial germination of life (bhava) , but not yet body-karma as such (hsin-yeh).ao T: If further arrests himself in perception, conception, and will, then he will have generated consciousness. C: He would then further initiate desires and works of evil. Once there is this psychic karmic impulse (shih chih hsing: ap the vijiWna's sarpskara), there is now sentient existence. T: Such would not be the proper perception of phenom- ena. C: This is perception not in accordance with the nature of reality. T: The boundless perfection of wisdom does not so gener- ate karmic impulses that would require the perceptIOn. C: When consciousness does not generate any physical karmic impulse, it will be receptive to the perfection of wisdom. T: If such perception is incomplete with regards to the perfection of wisdom, then one does not gain omniscence. C: If, in the process, there is a hair-breadth of an evil will-to-deed (hsiang-hsing),aq then it is incomplete and one does not attain Buddhahood. (p. 479a23-29) This seems to be saying that a normal person is reliant on and trapped by his namarilpakaya but the contemplative may be able to break the chain of rebirth (i.e., return to original nothing- ness) by severing the karmic will-to-be from the transmigrating consciousness. The doctrine of emptiness in the guise of pen-wu was read primarily in terms of a psychic retrogression. III. The Understanding of Hsin-Wu ar (Mind-as-Empty) Pen-wu in the TMTC was not understood in terms of Wang Pi's ontological nihilism. Similarly, although we find hsin-wu 99 (mind as empty) ideas in the TMTC, they should not be attribut_ . ed to the Hsin-wu branch within the six Prajna schools. Howev_ er, many have taken that Hsin-wu schpol to mean simply "the emptying of the perceiving mind (to effect the emptying of the' object-world)." If we follow that simplification, we will miss the import of this school, its innovation in its time, and its basic difference from the naive "mind as empty" doctrine in the Ming-tu commentary. The essential contribution of the Hsin- wu thesis is this: it was the first major Chinese school to accept Buddhist anatmavada, when all others implicitly or explicitly accepted an entity called mind, soul, or spirit. Tang Yung- t'ung puts it succinctly: (Because of the custom of tracing all to mind,) many Bud- dhists after the Han would discourse on form as empty (se- k'ung) , as few would regard the itself as (k'ung-hszn).at Note: at the tIme, the Chmese translatIon of anatman was by way of Lao-tzu's phrase, fei-shen au ("not of. the body"). This implies that one should disassociate one- self (i.e. one's spirit) from the body. This explains the re- peated attacks on the Hsin-wu school by all major spokes- men of the time. 13 The Hsin-wu school was, to wit, "the self (mind) as nonexistent" school. It was ahead of its contemporaries and was, as I have shown elsewhere, the basic antithesis that, in tension with the basic Pen-wu thesis, touched off a series of redefinitions of the emptiness problematik that resulted in the six-pointed dialectics of the six Prajna schools. 14 Indeed, when we look at the TMTC and the running com- mentary closely, we find that all poetic relapse notwithstanding, neither the master nor the student would dispense with the suggestion of a psychic core in man (however nebulous that ,. core might be). For example, care is taken to disassociate the good and the bad mind, so as not to destroy the notion of there being a mind. Following a tradition long established by the An- pan shou-i ching translation itself, the negative element was as- signed to the i, ar an ambiguous term (covering the Sanskrit i. manas, but possibly here the cetana, or the karmic drive in the mind), in a usage colored very much by a Taoist relegation of i (active intention) to secondary status, below the idle passivity of . 100 mind. One would denounce the i but preserve the mind. Compare, for example, the Ming-tu passage below with the cor- one in the Tao-hsing translation: a) Mzng-tu: Subhilti says, "The Bodhisattva mahasattva courses in this boundless perfection of wisdom and perceives (the Truth) as such. To so perceive it, he would not think that he in- deed so understands the i of the Way. Why? This is be- cause the i is not an i. It is a pure i that is all-illuminating." The elder Sariputra asks, "What is meant by there being a i that is not i?" (p. 478cl9-22) b) Tao-hsing: Subhilti says, "The Bodhisattva practices with the thought in mind; he abides in accordance with that thought. As he practices with that thought, he does not entertain in his mind the idea that he is practicing to be a Bodhisattva. Why? Because as there is mind, there is also no mind." Sariputra asks, "What is meant by having a mind that is also no-mind?" (p. 425c22-25) Ming-tu avoids the suggestion of a no-mind mind. In order to salvage a positive psychic entity, it distinguishes a good i and .. a bad i. At first glance, this is harmless enough. Even the expla- nation immediately following the above passage reads very ac- ceptably: T: Subhilti counters, "If (the i) is not a i, does it fall under being or nonbeing?" . C: My master says, "The student should know that the i is not an i. Knowing that, he would no more entertain abandoning it. Then the i would become pure and all illuminating, there being no more defilements or dark- ness." (p. 478c22-23) .It is not that Chih Ch'ien did not know of the no-mind doc- trine; he probably had the Tao-hsing-ching before him. It is, rather, that Chih Ch'ien, here as well as in another crucial text, proved himself too good an apologist and accomodator to prev- alent Chinese taste.l 5 When the rationale implies the use of a certain matrix of words, then one has to wonder if the psychology is not more Taoist than Buddhist: T: "Can it be attained?" C: The "it" refers to i. That is, can one get at the locus of this i? T: "No, it cannot be." C: That which is spoken of as cannot be (attained) may not be said to be non-existent; but that may not be said to have a set locus, either. T: Subhuti says, "If it is not an i, then one can ascertain neither its being nor nonbeing. It is not to be gained; it cannot be understood. However, for one who is (psychical- ly) corresponding to it, has he not that i, the i that is no-i?" Sariputra asks; "I.f so, w h ~ ~ is this non-i?" . Subhutl says, ' It IS wu-wez.' aw C: By yu-wei ax (activity, sa7[!,skrta) is meant the mind of life and death. The skandhas give rise to nien ay (thought). If a person can abandon that one nien, he will at once abide in (wu-wei that is) wu-pu-wd z (the nonaction that activates all). By the absence of i we mean therefore the abandoning of the thought (hsiang)ba of life and death. Therefore, it is called non-i. T: "Because there is no more extraneous nien."16 C: By extraneous thought is meant allowing thoughts (hsiang) to be arrested at times in the object realm and at times in the (subject) five skandhasP The i that is not fixed on a single point is the "extraneous thought." However, if one were contemplatively fixed on empti- ness as such, no longer letting the fIve skandhas rIse, then there would be no more extraneous thought. (p. 478c23-479a3). The psychology is in part derived from the pre-Buddhist or religious Taoist understanding of shou-i, keeping to the one (related to but not to be confused with the homophonic shou-i, guarding the intent).18 In this Taoist psychology, certain aggregates of terms sug- gestive of deviation from the passivity of the ideal, innermost mind are treated as negative, as yin, bb as activating and bur- dened by the world of yu (existents, beings). We find these terms used: nien, i, hsiang-by themselves, in compounds, or in close juxtaposition. Their negation, i.e. wu-nien, bd fei-i, be WU- hsiang,bf is deemed the preferred state. The fact that they over- 102 lap with possible Sanskrit counterparts in Chinese translation (i.e. or wu-wang-nien, bg or for fei-l, and anlmltta for wu-hszang or wu-hszang) complIcates matters .. However, I believe the sinitic connotations of the terms always managed to surface in the Chinese commentary tradition. 19 Observe, for example, the fluidity in the commentary's use of hsiang (thought, here technically not sarnjiul of the skandhas) and nien (which in Chinese usage also means thought): . T: Sariputra asks, "Thus the Bodhisattva in rracticing the career of a man of the Way would arouse ni with regards to the dharmas of the all-knowing (Buddha) or the com- mon (person). Is it by approximating this unaroused (un- born) Dharma that he so attains the all-knowing (omni- scence) ?" C: By the common dharma is meant that of life and death (sar.nsara). By nonarousal is meant the quietude of thought (hsiang). By approximating is meant to be about to. What gives rise to the born is thought (nien). T: Subhuti answers, "The unborn Dharma is that which has no desire for essence. The unaroused thought (nien) is also not a dharma- C: The unaroused dharma is the thought (hsiang) that desires nothing that it might (normally) hope to gain. T: -that can be preferred either." As the Awakening of Faith would later agree, the nien is what gives birth to the born and the wu-nien (no-thought) what re- covers (sic) the Unborn. IV. The Ming-tu Commentary and Other PrajfiJi Schools If we forget for the moment how the Hsin-wu school broke with tradition in accepting anatman (no-self/mind/psyche), and also forget how the fei-i (no-intent/mentation) doctrine in the TMTC and the Ming-tu commentary here does not as such deny . some subtle self (the pure i), then we may liberally trace the other four Prajiia schools' positions in this commentary. Those . other schools are Huan-hua bi all is illusion 103 Shih-han bj Chi-se bk Yuan-hui b1 all reality is a function of consciousness emptiness in the midst of form reality is just a confluence of conditions The basic idealist position (that would include Hsin-wu, Huan-hua, and Shih-han) is spelled out in this longest of com- ments: 104 T: The Buddha says, " ... (The foolish people) who follow the thinking of dharma have desire or are obsessed with name and form. Because they are so obsessed, they do not know this wisdom teaching that cannot be so used ... " C: "Following the dharma" means following the citta- dharma. By "name" is meant perception, conception, will, and consciousness; by "form" is meant earth, water, fire and wind. Those who follow their desires are obsessed with these five skandhas. Their mind runs about in the Three Realms, forever being reborn and unable to erase the root that is the deviate consciousness (shih: vijfiana). The Fa-chu,-ching bm (Dharmap'ada) says, "The basis is the citta-cl,harma; all good and evIl retributions are due to the mind." The karmic impulse (hsing: sa1'(tskara) being ill- disposed, the retributory consciousness suffers rebIrth. The five skandhas being flawed, the person cannot see the dharma of no.-thougbt (wu-nien). This is the wisdom dharma that is without a source. 20 It may win the sa- madhi of no-thought (wu-hsiang).21 This is not the same as (karmic) good and evil. 22 Then the twelve nidanas themselves would cease; the various faculties would be quieted down. In so abhorring life and death, the spirit to th.e The chun-chen chzng 0 says, The mmd (hszn) enters mrvaI).a, and, fol- lowing its essence, becomes quiescent." However, that (Hlnayana) cessation has not yet realized the (Mahayana) Four Negations. 24 It still keeps to guard- ing the i (intention) and the chih bp (will), thus (foolishly) arousing empty thoughts in the midst of emptiness. For doing tliat it actually only attains rebirth in heaven as a god; the person will still return to life and death and taste endless suffering. Better, the Hui-yin-ching bq says, "If the person still regards the nirvaI).ic reality to be per- manent while regarding the six corruptables 25 and the Four Equanimities of Mmd as mutable, he is said to have failed to enter nirvaI).a (Mahayana style), emptying the empty and abiding in (true) quietude Itself." (p. 480a27- b5.) the mind is emptied, reality is emptied (Hsin-wu); all reali- are results of a deluded consciousness (Shih-han). If the theme of illusion (Huan-hua) is not evident above, it the following: T: (Subhuti answers,) " ... Form is illusion, as are percep- tion, conception, will, and consciousness ... All six facul- ties are alike here. Why? Because the illusion (created by) the i is (none other than) the Three Realms. The Three Realms are (none other than) the six faculties and the five skandhas." C: If consciousness is illusory, the six faculties will be likewise. When the deluded i undergoes change, it allows the Three Realms to come into being. (p. 480b17-22.) "if one cares to distinguish between the two variations of the pen-wu school, crediting the better of the pair to Tao-an, who did not "reduce being to its opposite," as he accepted the "such- :ness or naturalness of things themselves,"26 we also can find more enlightened understanding in the Ming-tu commen- tary. The student reports this: C: My III:aster says, "All men are as such tzu-jan br .and without activity. Even life and death are empty. The path is also empty. Such ness too is empty. There never was a man who attained nirvana from out of samsara. The Buddha, the Dharma too, is empty. No one ever left behind the various dharmas. All beings are originally empty. There never was any activity, any sentient being." (p. 481,9-11.) Pen-wu is not something other than the real: Ifwe read the commentary for shades of the later Prajna schools, we indeed find them there. However, as noted earlier, such a i;>search for origins overlooks actual historic developments. The ;!:Ming-tu commentary came before the realization of the mean- 'k.ing of anatmavada was brought home to the Chinese by the '(Hsin-wu school. It belongs to a different era and contains the from a still earlier tradition. .. Truth, however, is timeless, and despite the shortcomings ; of the medium and the relative depth of sophistication in un- "derstanding, the core message still shines through. We would .' .. ; close therefore with this brisk but unmistakable passage, from rI05 the "master" himself, concerning the import of the Bodhisatt_ va's career: c: (My teacher says,) " ... The mahiisattva courses (in the perfection of wisdom) and sees that as being identical with life- and death. Sar.nsara and the (nirvaQ.ic) Way are the same. All dharmas being empty, all things are equal. This path of equality is one that would not abandon the ill of sentient existence in an aspiration only for the ori- ginally pure. Rather, it is to bear the pain of life and death in order to guide others on to the Great Way so that the path of the Buddha can continue with no end. (p.482aI4-15.) That is neither Hlnayana psychology nor Taoist philosophy, and can never be reduced to them. NOTES 1. TaishO Daizokyo (henceforth, T.) 55, p. 59al-3. 2. For example, by Eric Zurcher in his The Buddhist Conquest of China (Leiden: Brill, 1959), vol. 1, p. 54, where it is listed along with two other "oldest Chinese Buddhist commentaries." 3. Published in Tokyo by Shunjusha. 4. See his "The Earliest Mahayana Sutra: Its Significance to the Study of Buddhist Development," The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 8, no. 1 (1975), pp. 30-4l. 5. This is the Fa-chu-ching; see Charles Willemen, The Chinese Udanavarga (Brussels: 1978). 6. Zurcher, for example, pp. 53-54; he so places this and the other two commentaries as works whose ideas were continuous with "the Northern school of An Shih-kao, An Hsuan and Yen Fou-t'iao."bs The continuity is there. 7. The three are the Hui-yin-ching (Tathiigata-jfiana mudra-samadhi siUra: Taisho no. 632), the Liao-pen sheng-ssu chinl' (Sutra Resolving the Basis of Life and Death: Taisho no. 708) and the already mentioned Fu-chu-ching (Taisho no. 210). So we will follow Ui Hakuju in considering the "master" to be Chih Ch'ien. 8. Tang, Han-Wei liang-Chin Nan-pei-chao Fo-chiao-shih bu (Peking: Chung-hua reissue, 1955), p. 275. 9. Emending wu-hsiang (as in "thought") into wu-hsianl" (as in "form"), an alternative noted in note 33 on p. 478. Both scripts, corrupted or not, have been used for animitta, the absence of "marks," or "figures." 10. Chung-tao bw is "on the way," unless it is interchangeable with chung- t'u bx for "half-way." At any rate, it means that the Buddha should not seek 106 , enlightenment and deliverance prior to the completion of the salvif-
f;iC task. ;'.' 11. Mo-ting: by santi or nirodha samapatti has been suggested. . 12. The meaning is not clear. It may be saying that when verbal verifica- i;tion is exha4sted, then (in ways beyond words) ... 13. Tang, p. 275. This follows the last quote cited. 14. See my forthcoming "The Early Prajiia Schools: Especi,ally Bsin-Wu : Reconsidered," Philosophy East and West, 33, no. I (1983), pp. 61-77. . 15. Chapter 37 of the Fu-chu-ching reworked by him celebrates the im- "mortal soul (see T. 4, p. 564a: titled "On SalJ1sara: on the soul of man or how 'when the body dies, the spirit continues to exist, being reborn according to its ;;deeds or karmic impulse, hsing: saT(lSkara"). This and chapter 36 are the two i.that Willemen (pp. XIV-XV) can find no Sanskrit/Pali source for. , 16.tsa-nien: bz literally, mixed or miscellaneous thought; but since this is , used in opposition to the pure or unadulterated thought, I would render it as !'extraneous," with the understanding that it implies a mind divided and less than single-minded. 17. Text corrupted; emending ch'ieh ... ch'ieh ca ("still ... still") for the tan . .. tan cb ("at times ... at times") and changing chintC (for sutra: which makes little sense here unless it stands for the literal meanings of the i;scripture) into chintd (for "object-realm": paired with subject-skandhas). v' 18. On this Taoist tradition based on the Lao-tzu and developed by the iT'ai-p'ing-ching,ce see Tang Yung-t'ung, pp. 110-112. 19. See a critical example shown in my "A Clue to the Authorship of the ,Awakening of Faith: Redaction of the Word Nien, " ]lABS, vol. 3, no. 1 (1981), pp. 34-52, and the sequel, "Suddenly a Thought Rose: Chinese Understanding of Mind and Consciousness," ]lABS, vol. 3, no. 2 (l98.1),pp. ;42-59. It is in the Ming-tu commentary here (p. 479al) that I find the earliest use of and assumption about "the skandhas by themselves give rise to nien"-a dictum assumed by the Awakening of Faith (Paramartha text) and disallowed by the text, as well as by the Platform Siltra. The latter correctly 'notes that only the mind, not the other skandhas, can give rise to "thought;" 'rilpa should not be involved with nien by strict Buddhist standards. 20. Compare the "beginningless deluded thought" in the Awakening of Faith. 21. Given the context here, this could not mean the trance state corre- sponding to the arilpyadhatu. :' 22. Text unclear; I am taking it to mean that the attainment of no- 'thought (or animitta) rises above karmic retribution still trapped in form or thought. 23. The immortal soul rejoins the cosmic Geist. 24. Shihlei,cf which I take to be the four-cornered dialectical denials. 25. The text gives "great sorrow" but this seems to be a corruption of corruptables," i.e., the six faculties. 26. The distinction is in my opinion made in deference to Tao-an's ",u,uUO-'UJLl'. in the Buddhist community. Tang Yung-t'ung accepts this as valid cites this from Tao-an to show the better of pen-wu understanding: The basis of expedient transformation comes out of tzu-jan (natural, ta,thatii) itself. Nature is simply self-be. It is not that there is a creator. From this we can infer that when Nonbeing is said to be prior to the primal transformation, or, that Emptiness is the beginning of all forms, i.e. pen-wu, we do not mean that the myriad existents were born out of some empty vacuity itself. (Cited by Tang, p.247.) GLOSSARY
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y ,L., z;2j;;:1!\t 108 aa *1'r ab * if. ( * it *3!. ) ae ad ;2j;;:1!\t ae * af J...;;$: ag ah ai aJ ak al amfj ( m ) an eft ao ap aq W-ft ar ,c., 1!\t as at au*,!1} aw 1!\t:m ax 1'r:m ay E: ba W- bb be 1f bd 1!\t E: be bf 1!\t bg 1!\t bh 1!\ttEi bi iJ it; bj bk gpe bi bm it. kiH3!. bn ea R ... fl. eb B''''' ee bo J...;;$: *3!. bp bq br El bs bt 7;2j;;: 1:. *' *3!. bu II l'P.i i.i bv 1!\t 1'J!, -+ 1!\t ;j; bw 9" bx 9" l by alE bz The Generalization of an Old Yogic Attainment in Medieval Mahayana Sutra Literature: Some Notes on J atismara 1 by Gregory Schopen I. Introduction: Ideas Concerning jatismara Found in the Nikaya/ Agamas The obtainment of jatismara, "the ability to recollect or re- member one's former births," is well known in early Buddhist sutra literature. It occurs as the first of three "sciences" (vidya), the fourth of the five or six "superknowledges" (abhijiia), and the eighth of the ten "powers" of a Tathagata (tathagatadasa- bala). Many years ago the late Professor Demieville published a richly detailed study of the references to jatismara in the Nikaya/ Agama literature, which we might quickly summarize. Refer- ring to MaJjhima i 22-23, he says, "Ie Buddha definit les trois vijja telles qu'il les obtint par la discipline spiritulle dans la solitude de la foret, apres avoir atteint les quatre degres de jhana." He notes that Majjhima i 278-80 refers to "un bhikkhu qui, par la meditation solitaire, s'est acquis diverses facultes mentales, dont les dernieres enumerees et definies, apres les quatre degres de jhana, sont: Ie connaissance des existences anterieures, l'oeil divin, la fin des ecoulements," that according to Sa'f!l,yukta Agama TT. XIII, 3, 83 a - b "les trois vidya sont attri- buees a ceux qui n'ont plus a etudier (ar;aik:ia) , c'est-a-dire aux saints du quatrieme 'fruit' ou degre, aux arhats." He notes fur- ther that at Sa'f!l,yutta i 196 "ayant atteint l'arhattvam, Vanglsa declare avoir obtenu les trois v ~ j a , " that at Sa'f!l,yutta ii 210 "Kas- sapa posseda les quatre jhana, et les six abhiiiiia," and that at 109 Sar{tyutta i 191 "sur cinq cents arhats entourant le Buddha, soix- ante possedent les trois vijja, soixante les six abhiniW; soixante sont delivres de deux manieres; les autres sont delivres par la sagesse (panna)." Finally, he notes that at Dfgha i 13 "la memoire des existences anterieures au nombre d'une plusieurs cen- taines de milliers, resultant d'une etat de samadhi obtenu par Ie zele ardent, l'effort, l'application, la vigilance; l'attention sou- tenue ... ," is attributed to non-Buddhist ascetics, and that the independent Chinese translation of the Brahmajala-sutta TT. XII, 10, 91 b says that "s;il y a un religieux heretique qui tranche Ie desir et pratique Ie dhyana, et si son imagination se trouve en samadhi, il peut penser aux choses de vingt kalpa passes."2 On the basis of these and similar passages it is quite clear that in the Nikaya/Agama literature jatismara, "the ability to rec- ollect or remember one's former births," invariabl'y occurs as only one of a list of faculties, never by itself. It is equally clear that it is invariably connected with the higher stages ofmedita- tional technique, that it was, in fact, a concomitant of the most sophisticated forms of yogic attainment. It is also clear that in this literature it is ascribed only to religious virtuosos-notably to Arhats, and, of course, to the Buddha These findings are, of course, of interest in themselves. But they also are of interest because references to jatismara continue to be found in Mahayana Sutra Literature, and a com- parison of the Mahayana references with those found in the Nikaya/Agama texts will allow us to see how that movement we now call the Mahayana handled a specifically "elitist" idea of a particular ascetic or yogic attainment. II. The Continuation of the Ideas Found in the Nikaya/Agamas in Some Mahayana Sutras & A First Indication of Something Different: The UpalipariPrccha. There are a number of references to jatismara in Mahayana sutra literature that remain close in character to the references found in the Nikaya/Agamas. This is the case, for example, in the Pratyutpannabuddhasa7{l-mukhavasthitasamadhi-sutra, where jati- smara is said to be obtained-as one of the ten "powers" of a Tathagata-as the result of abiding in a particular samadhi. 3 It 110 is also the case in the Samadhiraja-sutra. where the chief interloc- utor, Candraprabha, is described as "one who has done his duty under former Jinas, has planted roots of merit, has the recollec- tion of his former births, has inspired speech, etc. (p1.lrvajina- krtadhikaro 'varopitakuSalamulo jatismaro labdhapratibhano ... )," and where the same Candraprabha is explicitly urged to train for "control of the body" (kayasa1'[tvara) and "purity of body and conduct" (pariSuddhakiiyasamudacara), since the Bodhisattva who has kayasa1'[tvara and isparisuddhakayasamudacara is said to ob- tain-again as one of the ten "powers" of a Tathagata-jati- smara, the faculty by which he recollects his former states of existence (purve nivasam anusmarati).4 These passages, and a limited number of similar passages, are not so remarkable in themselves. They do, however, indi- cate that jatismara continued to be connected with the religious . virtuoso; that it continued to be perceived as a concomitant of meditation (samadhi) and yogic discipline at an advanced level; and that it continued to occur primarily in association with the various lists of "powers," "sciences," and" superknowledges." We do not have to read far, however, before we begin to find something quite different, and this difference-as we shall see -tends to occur on something like a massive scale. When we move to other, and perhaps later Mahayana texts, we begin to find jatismara occurring in a rather different context. We might look, for example, at the first "section" of the VinayaviniScaya-upalipariprccha. Python has pointed out that the text as we have it "se divise en deux sections" and that "chaque section se suffit a elle-meme." The first "section" opens with the Buddha looking over the assembly and asking "qui serait capable (utsahate) , dans les temps a venir, pour Ie main- tien de la bonne Loi, de se fixer sur ce parfait et complet Eveil . : . et de veiller a faire murir les etres (sattvaparipaka) par des moyens tres varies (nana-upaya) . ... "5 In response, a long list of Bodhisattvas declare their "capability" to save beings, each specifying his particular means. Among these Bodhisattvas, one, Ma:o.ibhadra, declares: bcom ldan 'das bdag ni sngon gyi skye ba rjes su dran par bgyid pas sems can rnams yongs su smin par bgyid par spro lags so: "0 Blessed One, I shall be willing and able to mature beings by causing them to recollect their former births."6 II In this short passage we begin to sense a fairly fundamen- tal difference. It involves at least two interrelated ideas. First, jatismara is here not the result of meditational development on the part of the individual, but something that is effe.cted by an external agent-a Bodhisattva-for the purpose of furthering the religious . life of "beings." Second, since the text is here concerned with "beings" it is clear that in this passage jatismara is not presented as a faculty attainable only by the religious virtuoso. Instead, it appears as something available in one way or another to all "beings." We find similar indications of this fundamental difference in several passages in the Suvarr;abha- sottama-siltra. III. The Difference Confir:med: Two Cases from the Suvarr;abhiisot- tama and Their Parallels There are four references to jatismara in the Suvarr;abhasot- tama, three of them in Chapter Three. This is of some signifi- cance, since Nobel has argued that this chapter ,"ist der Kern unseres ganzen Goldglanz-Sutra."7 Chapter Three appears, in fact, to have been a kind of "confessional formulary" intended for individual recitation, a formulary by which one ritually ex- pressed the intentions of his act, "confessed" or declared his faults, worshipped the Buddhas, and turned over the resulting merit to specific ends-all according to a specific sequence also found elsewhere, notably in the Bhadracariprar;idhiina (vss. iv ff.) and the Bodhicaryavatara (Chs. II & III). The individual, reciting the words of the formulary, begins by declaring a series of pious wishes which he hopes the formu- lary will effect: "By the excellent drum of golden light [i.e., these desanagathas, "confessional verses," or the "confessional formulary" that constitutes this chapter] let the woes in the triple-thousand world be suppressed, the woes in the evil states, the woes in the world ofYama .... May those beings who dwell in an evil state [apayabhilmau] , their limbs alight with blazing fire, hear the sound of the drum. May they take up the refrain: 'homage to the Buddha.' Mayall beings be mindful of their (former) births during hundreds of births, thousands of mil- lions of births [jatismaral} satva bhavantu sarve / jatiSata jatisahas- 112 rakotyalJ,], etc."8 Further on in the formulary, after the "confes- sion" of faults, the worship of the Buddhas, and the "going for refuge," the individual reciting the formulary is to say: "And by.this good act [kusalena karmarpJ,], may I ere long be- come a Buddha .... And may I be continually mindful of for- mer births for hundreds of births, thousands of millions of. births [jatismaro nitya bhaveya caha1[t I jatiSata -"9 etc. Both these occurrences of jatismara in the Suvarr;abhiisot- tama have fairly close parallels elsewhere. In the Bhadra- cariprar;fdhiina, another "formulary" intended for and used in individual recitation, a formulary by which, again, the individ- ual is to express the intentions of his act, declare his faults, worship the Buddhas, and turn over the resulting merit to specific ends, we find: "Whatever is the merit (subha1[t) accumulated by me from honoring, worshipping, confessing, rejoicing, and beseeching-all that I turn over for enlightenment. 11121/ As numerous as are all the living beings in the ten directions, may they always be at ease and free from illness. May their religious purposes (dhiirmiku artho) be successful and their wishes fuffilled! 11151/ And may I, practicing the practice for enlightenment in all rebirths, be possessed of the memory of my former births (bodhicari1[t ca aha1[t caramar;o I bhavi jatismaru sarvaga- t4u) ... 11161/ 10 Something very like what we see in both the Suvarr;abhiisot- tama and the Bhadracarfprar;idhiina is also found in the tenth chapter of Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara. This chapter is, I think, of particular significance because Santideva appears here to be speaking as an individual religious man, not as a "professional theologian": he is here dedicating his meritorious act-that is to say, the exposition of the Dharma in the form of the Bodhica- ryavatara-in the same way as countless individual donors have done in Buddhist donative inscriptions. He says first in refer- ence to other living beings: "through the power of my meritori- ous act (mama kusalabalena, X. 10)," "through my meritorious acts (matkwalailJ" X. 15)," " ... may they always have memory of 113 their former births! ( ... santu jatismara sada, X. 27)." Later, in regard to himself, he says "through this merit of mine (anena mama pury,yena, X. 31) ... may I always obtain recollection of my former births and the going forth ( .. '. jatismaratva'Y(t pravrajyam aha'Y(t ca prapnuya'Y(t sada, X. 51)."11 In all of these passages, as in the Upalipariprccha, jatismara occurs without the invariable association with lists of other fac- ulties-the ten "powers," the three "sciences," etc.-found in the Nikaya/Agama literature studied by Demieville; in all these passages jatismara occurs without the usually invariable associ- ation with the religious virtuoso; and here, again,jatismara is no longer associated with the higher forms of meditational devel- opment. In both the first occurrence in the Suvar1'}abhasottama and in Santideva's dedication,jatismara is again, as in the Upali- . pariprccha, both something that is available to all living beings- even those in the hells-and something that can be effected by an external agent. In the Suvarry,a, the Bhadracarf and in Santi- deva the obtainment ofjatismara is one of the reasons for which the individual undertakes the act of "confession" and worship, one of the things to which he turns over the resulting merit. It is not through meditational activity, butku.salena karmary,a, "through a meritorious act," and anena mama pury,yena, "through merit," thatjatismara is to be obtained through "whatever is the merit (fubha'Y(t) accumulated through honoring, worshipping, confessing, rejoicing, etc." That this-in part at least-came to be the most common conception of jatismara in Mahayana siitra literature is further confirmed by yet another passage from the Suvarry,abhasottama and its parallels. IV. A Passage from the Suvarry,abhasottama & the Emergence. of a Pattern: The Obtainment of Jatismara through Non-meditational Activity Involving Ritual Acts & Sacred Images. The third and final reference to jatismara in the third chapter of the Suvar1'}abhasottama occurs in the following passage: 114 yo vandate dasabalan sada ca prasannasuddhamalamanasena imaya :t;ariry,aman..a,!ar1'}i(aya_ ca kalpan Jahate apayan / / etebhi slokebhi ca varfJ,itebhilJ, striyo ca yo muni krtMijalibhilJ, sthihitva sarvatm jatismam1Jo jat'i!ju II sarvangasarvendriyasobhita1Jgo vicitmpu1Jyebhi gU1Jair upetalJ, narendrarajaiS ca sa puJitalp sada etadrso tatm tatm 1112 Although Professor Nobel describes his text here as "sehr unsicher," and although Professor Emmerick has understood the text a little differently than I would, still I think the "paral- lel" passages that will be cited below indicate that these verses should be translated as follows: Who always worships and praises the Dasabalas with a devout, pure, and spotless mind by means of this (formu- lary) WhICh is praised as (a way of) turning over merit, he avoids (birth in) the hells for sixty kalpas. II And whoever-men, women, brahmaJ)as, and stood with his hands in the gesture of rever- ence, praises the Muni by means of these celebrated verses, he has everywhere in his rebirths recollection of his former births; II He has all his members, all his faculties, and a beauti- ful body; he is possessed of qualities and manifold merits and is always honored by the kings of men-everywhere he will be such as this. 11 13 This translation, Ihope, makes it clear thatjatismara occurs here, as elsewhere even in the Suvar1Jabhasottama, as a stipulated reward or "blessing" (anuSa'l'{lSa) for a form of non:meditational activity-in this case for "worshipping and praising" Buddhas by means of the ritualized recitation of this specif- . formulary-and that its obtainment is open to all: "men, brahmaI)as and But that this passage is only bne example of a definite pattern is clear from a number of other passages elsewhere, where ritualized acts of worship of degrees of elaboration are said to result in the same thing. We might look first at a few passages where the ritualized . acts of worship are rather simple and uncomplicated. The first occurrence we might note is in a short passage in the A valokana-sutra (,phags pa spyan ras gzigs shes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 34, 234-1-8),14 the Sanskrit text of which is preserved at Mahiivastu ii 366.5-6. Here, although the larger context concerns the ritual presentation of items to, and the worship of, the stiipas of the Tathagata, our passage says simply of the individual that " .. : having done piija to the ' Tathagata, he becomes one who has recollection of his former births, and he is not carried away by passions, etc. ( ... puja'f{/, krtva tathiigate / jatismaras ca so bhoti na so ragena hriyati, etc.)." In a passage from the Sa'Y[tghiifa-sutra founq at Gilgit we also find: "The Blessed One said: 'Listen Bhai(lajyasena! The man who at the moment of death, being deprived of life, after having rendered his mind devoutly inclined towards the Tatha- gata, has spoken thus: "Homage to the Blessed One, the Tatha- gata, the Arhat, the Completely and Perfectly Awakened One" - he, having done so a single time, 0 Bhai(lajyasena, through' that root of merit will experience the ease of the gods of the thirty-three for sixty aeons; he will have recollection of the succession of his former births for eighty aeons (sa tena, kuSalamulena kalpan trayastri'Y[tSata'Y[t devana'f{/, . sukham asitil], kalpa'Y[t jatyajatismaro bhav4yati).'" 15 Elsewhere, the ritual activity is specifically said to involve the use of images and is more elaborately described. In another text from Gilgit, the Tathiigatabimbakarapa1'}a-sutra, iI:l reference to which Professor Mette says "die grammatische Konstruktion ' ist nicht immer durchsichtig," the making, bathing and wor- . shipping of an image of the Buddha is said to result in the obtainment of jatismara. Of the doer of such acts it is said: kascid va va upasako [va] upasika va va . brahma7f,o va vaiSyo va sudro va eva'Y[trupasu jat4u srutidharo bhavati. jatismaro bhavati: "A monk or nun or lay man or WDman, a k(latriya or brahmaJ).a or vaisya or sudra comes to be in all births one who retains what has been heard and remembers his for- mer births."16 In the Gilgit text of the it is said that if "friends, relatives, and kinsmen who will go for refuge to the Buddha Bhai(lajyaguru perform puja in a certain way (idrsena prayogena puja'Y[t kurvanti) for the sake of a man who has just' died," the result will be that either "his consciousness could return again immediately (and) he then becomes aware of him- 116 ;;elf (i.e. of his judgement' before Yama, which has just taken place] as in a dream; or if the seve.nth day' or the twenty- 'first or thirty-fifth or forty-nmth day hIS conSCIOusness would be reborn again, he would obtain recollection. He himself (in either case) is a direct witness to (the effects of) merit, demerit, and the results of his (past) actions ( ... tasya vijfianaT(l, punar eva >pratinivarteta svapnantara ivatmana'T(L sa'T(Ljanati; yadi va saptame divase ... yadi va navacatvari'T(Lsatime divase tasya vijfiana'T(L nivar- teta, smrtim upalabhet; so kufalam akusalaT(l, karmavipakaT(l, svayam eva pratyak!io bhavati)." The puja to be done is then described in " some detail: " ... for seven days and nights the obligation of the possessed of eight parts is to be undertaken, and for 'the community of monks puja and service is to be performed >with food' and drink, with all the requisites, according to one's iabilities; three times in the night, three times in the day worship to be done (namasyitavyaT(l,) to the Blessed One rguruvaic;luryaprabha, the Tathagata; forty-nine times this sutra to be recited ([an]usmarayitavyaT(l,); forty-nine lamps are to be Oighted; seven images are to be made; for each image seven are to be set up; each lamp is to be made the size of the of a cart. If on the forty-ninth day the light is not ex- jhausted, forty-nine five-colored flags are to be (left standing ;?(?). All the Mss. are here faulty)."17 ,. We find a similar and equally detailed passage in the Bud- )dhabaladMnapratiMryavikurvar;anirdesa-sutra ('phags pa sangs Frgyas kyi stobs bskyed pa'i cho 'phrul rnam par 'phrul ba bstan pa zhes .bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 34, 193-2-3ff.).18 Here, it :jis said that if someone, "for the benefit of those beings who .,:ihave gone to the Avlci Hell, or have been born in the three destinies, or for the sake of releasing friends and {,relatives, has painted images or images of clay of those Tatha- ligatas made [the Tathagatas are listed, earlier at 192-5-3, and '{include Amitabha, Sikhin, Kasyapa, etc.]; and had them made also directs the most excellent thought ;,of compassion towards all living beings, and having undertaken eight-limbed worthy path ('phags pa'i lam yan brgyad pa dang gyur nas), from the eighth day of the waxing moon until the three times a day and three times a night, does puja r to those Tathagatas with flowers, perfumes, etc. , . , and (if), for :,the sake of freeing those beings, he turns over (the resulting '117 merit), etc."-if he does all thIs then, the text says, "the names of those Tathagatas would be heard by those then born in the Avlci Hell and the unfortunate destiI)ies, and on account of this, and of copying, reading and worshipping this text," they, "having recollected their good and bad acts (i.e., the fruits thereof), afterwards would not perform an evil _act. From that they would be freed from those sufferings and would go to a fortunate destiny ( ... dge ba dang mi dge ba'i las rjes su dran par gyur nas phyis sdig pa'i las byed par mi 'gyur tel de nas sdug bsngal de dag las yongs su grol bar 'gyur zhing bde 'gror 'gro bar 'gyur ro I)." These and similar passages clearly indicate that ritualized worship of a Buddha or Buddhas, frequenty directed towards sacred images or involving the recitation of a specific text, forms a distinct category of non-meditational activity which can be undertaken by all-monks, nuns, lay men and women-and which is stipulated to result in the obtainment of jatismara. Two further points, however, are worth noting here. Hsuan-tsang, in the record of his travels in India, confirms the fact that we have to do here with an element of actual . . . practice, or, rather, that ritual activity in regard to specific Buddha images was in practice actually connected with the po- tential obtainment of jatismara. He says in his account of Bodh- Gaya: "To the north-west of the Bodhi-tree in a vihara is the image of Kasyapa Buddha. It is noted for its miraculous and sacred qualities. From time to time it emits a glorious light. The old records say, that if a man actuated by sincere faith walks around it seven times, he obtains the power of knowing the place and condition of his (former) births."19 The second point to be noted is that the obtainment of jatismara is of particular importance for both the B,uddhabala- dhanapratiharyavikurva1Janirdesa and, especially, the guru-sutra. It is, as a matter of fact, clear from both texts that in both cases the one essential reason for undertaking the ritual is to assure that the individual on whose behalf it is undertaken will obtain jatismara and-as we shall see-undergo the behav- ioral transformation that is held to be its inevitable conse- quence. This, in fact, is specifically stated in the Bha4ajyaguru- sutra. But since, in regard to the Bha4ajyaguru-sutra, the passage under discussion constitutes the central piece of the text and, by extension, of the cult of based on it, it would 118 appear that the primary function of this figure, and the prima- ry purpose of the c:xlt devoted. him was assure a given individual the obtamment of Jatzsmara and Its concomItant be- havioral change. This view is of course not in entire agreement with at least one recent view, which wants to be seen as a "Buddha of Healing."20 . V. A Final Passage from the Suvar1fabhiisottama & the Obtainment of Jiitismara Through a Second Kind of Non-meditational Activity: Acts Connected with Sacred Names If the ritualized worship of Buddhas or Buddha images forms a distinct category of non-meditational acts that are stip- ulated to result in the obtainment ofjatismara, it is by no means . the only category of such acts. This is obvious, for example, from the fourth and final reference to jatismara in the Suvar1fa- bhiisottama. This reference occurs in the last sentence of what is noW the ninth chapter of the text, "The Chapter on the Preser- vation of the Names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas." This short chapter is, apart from the last line, entirely made up of a series of invocations to a series of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in the form namo bhagavato ratnasikhinas tathagatasya, or some slight variation thereof. After this series of invocations, the chapter concludes with the stipulation that "who [that is to say 'anyone who'] preserves, recites, or attends to these names of the Tathagatas and names of the Bodhisattvas from the SuvaTlfa- bhiisottama, the King of the Best Sutras, he will always have recollection of his former births (sa nityar(!, jatismaro bha- vi)yati). "2 I Similar occurrences where the obtainment of jatismara is contingent on some activity connected with a Buddha's name can be seen in the Kusumasar(!,caya-sidra (,phags pa me tog gi tshogs shes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 37, 78-5-7ff) where it is said that "if a son or daughter of good family hears the name (mtshan thos na) of the Tathagata Pad mo la bzhud pa"-one of the numerous Buddhas mentioned in the text-he, "having passed away, will come to have a beautiful and hands0me form, and beings will delight in seeing him ... and recalling to mind incalculable kalpas, as they really were, so he will fully know 119 them (tshe 'phos nas gzugs bzang zhing mdzes pa dangj sems can rnams mthong na dga' ba dang / ... bskal pa grangs med pa rjes Su dran zhing yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin d}l rab tu shes so /)." In yet another passage from the it is said of those people who refuse to give gifts even when the occasion arises-:-clearly not religious virtuosos-that they, "having passed away from here, will be reborn in the world of the pretas or among animals. (But) by which of them, when. formerly they were men, the name of that Blessed One Bhai-' the Tathagata, will hav_e been heard, to them now dwelling in the world of Yama, or dwelling among animals, the name of that Tathagata will (again) come to be present. Immediately, through (that name) being merely re- called, having passed away from there, they will once again be reborn among men, and they will have recollection of their former births ( ... tatra yamaloke sthitanarrt va tiryagyonau sthitanarrt va tasya tathiigatasya nama amukhfbhav4yati saha smarita- matre1'}a tataS cyutva punar api upapatsyanti jatismaras . ca bhav4yanti). "22 In the closely related Saptatathiigatapurvapra1'}idhiinaviSe!ia- vistarasutra ('phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa bdun gyi sngon gyi smon lam gyi khyad par rgyas pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 6, . 126-2-5ff.) there are, in addition to the two references to jati- smara also found in the independent version of the Bha4ajya- guru-sutra, two further references. The first concerns the name of the Buddha Mya ngan med mchog dpal: "Mafljusr( who, hearing the name of the Blessed One Mya ngan med mchog dpal, recites it three times a day and three times a night, dwells in friendliness towards all beings, and worships that Tathagata, of them all the obstructions due to past acts would be purified, they would be freed from all sorrow and suffering and arixiety and trouble; they would always be free of disease; living a long time, they would be free from all sickness; until the time that they attained awakening they would not undergo any downfall; they would recollect their former births, etc. ( ... byang chub kyi mthar thug gi bar du log par lhung bar 'gro bar mi 'gyur / skye ba dran bar 'gyur / etc., 129-5-5ff.)." A very similar passage, in which jatismara-among other things-results from "hearing, pre- serving, and having faith in" the name of the Buddha Chos 120 IDsgrags rgya mtsho'i dbyangs, occurs later in the same text at CI30-3- 6 . " In the Ratnajalipariprccha-sutra (,phags pa rin chen dra ba can ;gyis zhus pa zhes ba the/S. pa chen po'i mdo, Pek .. 01. as a part of the openmg questIOn of the RatnaJah speClfically asks who the Buddhas are through heanng the names of which :a "son or daughter of good family" would-again, among other ;things-come to be possessed of the recollection of his former biiths (tshe rabs dran pa dang yang ldan par 'gyur, 240-2-7f.). 'Then, at 241-4-3, as one of the results which follow from "hearing" (thos pa) and "preserving" (,dzin pa) the name of one of the several Buddhas mentioned in the text we find: "Having seen the Illuminator of the World, he obtains immeasurable joy; while practicing the Bodhisattva-practice he will recollect his former existences ( ... byang chub spyad pa spy ad pa na / tshe rabs dag ni dran par 'gyur)." Similar passages in which the obtainment of jatismara is said to result from "hearing, preserving, and having faith in" the names of one or another Buddha are found once in the Dvadaiabuddhaka-siltra (,phags pa sangs rgyas bcu gnyis pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 37, 96-1-5); twice in the Dasabuddhaka-siltra (sangs rgyas bcu pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 37, 94-5-4, 5-5); and twelve times in the Bud- dhamakuta-siltra (,phags pa sangs rgyas kyi dbu rgyan zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 37, 96-5-7; 97-1-5,2-6,3-3,4-6, 5-2; 98-1-6, 2-1, 3-1, 3-7,4-6, and 5-4). VI. The Obtainment of Jatismara Through a Third Kind of Non- c:meditational Activity: Acts Connected with Sacred Texts. .... It is clear from these Mahayana texts that for them, unlike /for the Nikaya/Agama texts, jatismara was to be obtained not through meditational or yogic attainments, but through merit and merit-making activity, through at least two distinct categor- ies of such activity-the ritualized worship of Buddhas, often directed towards images, and the hearing and preserving of the .. narp.e of any of a long list of Buddhas-and that it could be .. obtained by anyone. It is equally clear from other passages that ,.121 there were at least two other categories of non-meditational religious activity that could produce the same result for the same category of individuals: acts connected with sacred texts and acts connected with dharal).ls. In regard to the first of t h e s ~ additional categories, it can be noted that the activity concerned is occasionallydirected towards the Dharma as a general cate- gory rather than to a specific text. This is the case, for example, in a verse from the Subhii/iitaratnakarar;,r;lakakathii which Profes- sor Zimmermann translates as: Wer in diesem Leben beharrlich das Juwel des Dharma niederschreibt, hort, (oder) unablassig daruber nach denkt-oder auch wenn ihm einer hohe Verehrung erweist,-der erlangt stets die Fahigkeit, sich (seiner frii- heren) Geburten zu erinnern [ ... jatismaratvar(l labhate sa nityam /]. "23 More typically, however, jatismara is said to result from "Copying, preserving or worshipping" a specific text. At Bud- dhabaladhiinapratihiiryavikurvar;,anirde.sa (Pek. Vol. 34) 193-5- 4f., for example, it is said that "if someone worships or copies or has copied this discourse on Dharma they will obtain eight great benefits (yon tan chen po)," the last of which is "they are reborn in a place in accordance with their desire and they will recollect their former births (ji ltar 'dod pa'i gnas su skye zhing tshe rabs dran par 'gyur ba ste)." At Aparimitayur-jfiana-sutra 23.8 we find it said that he "who will copy or will have copied this AparimitayulJ,-sutra . .. is'l1ever reborn in the hells, will never be reborn among animals nor in the world of Yama; in whatsoever state he is reborn, he in every single birth has recollection of his former births (yatra yatra janmany utpadyate sarvato jatau jatau jatismaro bhavati)."24 Virtual- ly the same thing is said at Karar;,q,avyuha-sutra 278.32 25 of those who have the Karar;,q,avyuha copied. In fact, earlier in the Karar;,- q,avyuha we find that in regard to those who "hear, and having heard, copy, preserve and worship the text," "for them the five acts with immediate retribution will be exhausted; after having exhausted (these), they will come to be purified in body and have recollection of their former births (te/iar(l ca paficanantar- yar;,i karmar;,i k!iapayanti k!iapayitva pariSuddhakiiya bhavi/iyanti jati- smaras ca, 269.19)." 122 "In the it is said first that he who will whole- honor (adhyasayena namaskari-?yati) the '''will in births for ninty-five aeons have recollection of his for- 'mer births <par{tcanavatikalpar{t jatau jatismaro bhav4yati)," and later that he who will hear the "will have recol- lection of his >former births for eighty aeons (yar{t [but Tib: gang 'gil dharmaparyayalJ, agami-?yati'so 'itilJ, kal- pa:r[tJatzsmaro [so no. 36] bhavZ-?yatz). 26 In the Cphags pa de bzhin gshegs pa rnams kyi sangs rgyas kyi zhing gi yon tan brjod pa'i chos kyi rnam grangs, Pek. Vol. 28, 262-5-6), as a part of the concluding section of this short text it is said of those who "preserve, retain, read, study, and teach this text to others" that at the moment of their death innumerable Buddhas will appear before them, and that "until they fully awaken to ut- most, right, and perfect awakening, they will recollect their former births (bla ma med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa'i byang chub mngon par rdzogs par sangs rgyas kyi bar du skye [so Lhasa, Vol. 50, 255-1-1; Pek.: sde] ba dran par 'gyur ro I)." In addition to the texts already cited, at least three of the "shorter" Prajnaparamita texts also contain references to jati- smara. In the Prajnaparamita-Vajrapar;i-sutra Cphags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa lag na rdo rje'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 21, 259-2-4) it is said that one who preserves this Perfection of Wisdom (su zhig shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa 'di 'dzin par byed na), will remember his former births (de skye ba dran par 'gyur ro). In the rAdhyardhasatika Prajnaparamita we find it said that "he who car- >ries this discourse on Dharma within himself, or (by whom), :aftet being written in a book, it is circulated, that man becomes ,an object to be honored. He for many millions of aeons will !remember his births (chos kyi rnams grangs 'di gang gi lus la thogs sam Iglegs bam la bris te spyod pa'i gang zag de phyag bya ba'i gnas su 'gyur ro I de bskal pa bye ba mang por skye ba dran par 'gyur ro).27 Finally, there are two references to jatismara in the somewhat "redundant concluding paragraph of the Aryaprajnaparamita " nama both of which appear to have been misunder- stood by its translator. The paragraph should probably be translated as follows: "If this Perfection of Wisdom is pre- served, the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand . Lines will be preserved. Through reciting it continually (Ttag tu 123 bzlas brjod bas na), all the obstructions due to one's actions would be purified. After having passed away from here, he would also come to be possessed of the recollection of his former births, attentiveness, and matchless wisdom Cdi' nas shi 'phos nas kyang skye ba dran pa / yid gzhungs shing shes rab mtshungs pa med par 'gyur /). He would prese-rve without exception the Dharma of all the Tathagatas of the three periods of time. He would also pre- serve all the mantras and vidyas. Having passed away from here, he would also come to be possessed of the recollection of his former births, attentiveness and great wisdom Cdinas shi phos nas kyang / skye ba dran pa dang / yid bzhungs shing shes rab chen por 'gyur ro).28 One further point in reference to passages of this kind might also be noted. If these passages make it clear that for the authors or compliers of a considerable number of Mahayana sutras the obtainment of jatismara was for some reason held to be of considerable religious significance, and that merit-making activity in regard to the Dharma or one or another specific dharmaparyaya-copying, retaining, reciting, etc.-was an im" portant means for its obtainment, it is equally true that the same can be said for some of the most prominent "Doctors of the Church." This at least can be demonstrated for Asanga or Maitreyanatha, whichever was the author of the Mahayana-Su- tralarrtkara, and for Nagarjuna, or whoever was the author of the Ratnavali. In the Mahayana-Sutralarrtkara it is said: "Who would undertake the preservation of only two verses (of the Dharma), whether in regard to the words or their meaning, he indeed obtains ten kinds of blessings (yo granthato 'rthato va gatha- dvayadharar}-e prayujyeta / sa hi dafavidham anu.sar(tSarrt . .. )"; he will have-among other things-"the most elevated joy at the mo- ment of death; a state of rebirth in accordance with his desire; and everywhere the recollection of his former births ( ... pramo- dyarrt cottamarrt marar}-akale / janma ca yathabhikamarrt jatismarata1[t ca sarvatra)."29 A passage of similar purport is found in the Ratnavali (rgyal po la gtam bya ba rin po che'i phreng ba, Pek. Vol. 129, 179-3-3 = Ch. III, vs. 296) which, at least from the time of Candraklrti, has been ascribed to Nagarjuna. That such pas- sages continued to be relevant to the scholastic tradition can also be surmised from the fact that many centuries later Bu- ston cites both passages with approvapo 124 VII. The Obtainment of Jiitismara Through a Fourth Kind of Non- meditational Activity: Acts Connected with Dhiirary,'is. A fourth and final distinct category of non-meditational activity held to result in the obtainment of jiitismara consists of acts connected with dharaI)ls, acts which, to a large degree, are the same as those to be undertaken in regard to the Dharma, or to one or another specific text: reciting, copying, etc. Typical of the passages of this kind is the Sitiitapatra-dhiirary,'i where it is said that "he who, after copying this dharaI)l, will preserve it, will-for as long as he lives-not be threatened by poison, the sword, floods, etc. .. and he will have recollection of his former births for eighty-four thousand great aeons ( ... caturasztfniir(i mahiikalpasahasriiry,i jiitismarau "31 Likewise, in the Niiriiyary,apariprcchii, it is said that "by whom-so-ever this dharaI)l would be recited three times every day, whether it be by one who is purified or not purified ... , he, indeed, having exhausted his accumulation of evil, even the five acts with immediate retribution, obtains an accumulation of merit and will be possessed of the recollection of his former births. Everywhere among beings he enjoys extensive wealth, delights in good practices, and is not one of those who falls into error and bad practices ( ... bsod nams kyi phung po thob cing skye ba drang par 'gyur ro / sems can thams cad kun tu khyab pa'i nor la nge bar longs spyod cing dge ba'i chos rnams la mngon par dga' ste mi dge ba log par ltung ba rnams la ni ma yin no /)."32 In the Saptabuddhaka-sutra Cphags pa sangs rgyasbdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo, Pek. Vol. 37, 90-1-1), a short text in which each of the six Buddhas, through Sakyamuni's power, appears in the sky and gives a vidyii (rig sngags) or man- . trapada (gsang sngags kyi gzhi) for the "benefit" of all beings, we read in reference to the mantra given by the Buddha Krakuc- chanda: "If, taking up and preserving (this mantra), one fixes it well in mind, and if in the last period a monk or nun or lay man or woman, having then obtained faith in the three jewels, and bathing, having worshipped the Blessed One with flowers and incense and perfume, would recite this mantra one hundred and eight times, he (or she) would obtain the recollection of his former births for seven births; among devas he (or she) would obtain the exhalted state ofa deva, etc. ( ... / tshe rabs bdun du 125 tshe rabs dran par 'gyur ro / lha rnams kyi nang du lha'i che ba nyid thob par 'gyur ro /)." In addition to dhara:Q.I-texts of this kind, an identifiable sub-group of dhara:Q.I-sutras, which I have superficially treated elsewhere,33 makes frequent reference to the obtainment of jatismara. Thetextsbelonging to this sub-group all deal primar- ily-,-and with greater or lesser degrees of elaboration-with the practice of copying dhara:Q.fs and depositing them in stllpas, frequently in "miniature" stupas. The Mchod rten gcig btab na bye ba btabpar 'gyur pa'i gzungs (Pek. Vol. 11, 168-5-7), the Sanskrit title of which appears not to have survived, is characteristic of these texts and their view regarding the obtainment of jatismara when it says: "If one would follow thus the method [just de- scribed], by making [perhaps better: 'by casting,' as in clay] a (single) caitya, he would make ten million. Everywhere he would obtain recollection of his former births (cho ga de ltar byas na tsai tya btab pas bye ba btab par 'gyur ro / thams cad du skye ba dran par 'gyur/). A very similar passage also occurs in the concluding verses of the Sarvaprafiiantaparamitasiddhicaitya-dharar;/i (shes pas thams cad mthar phyin par grub pa'i mchod rten zhes bya ba'i gzungs, Pek. Vol. 11, 117-3--':'6). Equally characteristic is a passage from the Bodhima1J- (byang chub snying po'i rgyan" 'bum zhes bya ba'i gzungs, Lhasa, rgyud Ta 495a), where the Blessed One says "this dhara:Q.I causes all acts to succeed ... causes all evil and obstructions to be exhausted. . .. If someone, after having bathed and put on new, clean garments, were to recite it a hundred and eight times each day, he would see the face of all Tathagatas; he would live a hundred years; for a long time all sickness would be avoided ... in all births he would have recol- lection of his former births (skye ba thams cad du tshe rabs dran par 'gyur ro). Likewise, in the prabhasasarvatathagatahrdayasamayavilokate-dharar;,z (kun nas sgor J"ug pa'i 'od zer gtsug tor dri ma med par snang ba de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi snying po dang dam tshig la rnam par lta ba zhes bya ba'i gzungs, Pek. Vol. 11, 228-1-7) we find: "thus, in the last time, in the last period, a son or daughter of good family, or a monk or nun, or lay man or woman should call to mind this vidya of the mantra once (rig sngags kyi rgyal mo 'di dus gcig tu dran par 126 bya'o). A stllpa having a relic chamber or a Tathagata relic chamber is to be circumambulated. Both the wish-fulfilling gems [i.e. the two dharaQ.fs given previously] are also to be called to" mind once. Through that he would produce roots of merit under Tathagatasas numerous as the sands of hundreds of millions of Ganges Rivers; he would be possessed of great merit; the obstructions due to past acts having imm"ediate retri- bution would also be purified; he would be freed from the unfortunate destinies, from the hells, birth among animals, and the world of Yama ... in all his births he would have recollec- tion of his former births (tshe rabs thams cad du tshe rabs dran par 'gyur ro)." Similar passages are also found on two other occasions in the Samantamukhapravesarasmivimalo,rr;4aprabhasa (Pek. Vol. 11, 2 2 7 - 5 ~ 4 ; 228-3-7), and three times in the similar Rasmivima- lavi-suddhaprabhadhararJ/i (,phags pa 'ad zer dri ma med pa rnam par dag pa'i 'ad ces bya ba'i gzungs, Pek. Vol. 7, 189-5-1; 190-5-1; 192-4-5). VIII. The Obtainment of] atismara as an Element of Sutra Narratives. One further kind of passage connected with the obtain- ment of jatismara deserves some mention. In passages of this kind the obtainment of jatismara occurs as a narrative element, as an element of various "frame-stories" that enclose the body of a given text, or as a part of an illustrative "story of a past time." Frequently, then, it will occur as a part of the introduc- tion or conclusion of a text. Typical of this kind of passage is the conclusion to the Ratnajalipariprccha. There, when the Bud- dha finishes delivering the "slltra," the earth-in typical narra- tive fashion-quakes and, the text says, hundreds of millions of devas, having saluted with their heads the feet of the Blessed One, "recollected many hundreds of millions of their former states (gnas bye ba khrag khrig 'bum phrag du ma dag rjes su dran no, Pek. Vol. 33, 244-4-1)"; and, a little later: "a full hundred thousand ten millions of men worshipped the incomparable, excellent Jina; recollecting hundreds of their former states, they saluted with their heads the utmost excellent Muni (mi ni , bye ba 'bum tham pa / rgyal mchog zla med pa la mchod sngon gyi gnas 127 brgya rjes dran zhing / thub mchog bla med mgos phyag 'tshal, 244-4_ 5)." Equally typical is a passage found at the beginning of the Ratnaketuparivarta, yet another text found at Gilgit. Here, it is said that as a result of the light (prabha) shot forth from the Buddha's body, "many billions of millions of hundreds of thou- sands of those born in the hells, or among animals, or in the world of Yama obtained recollection. After having recollectd the roots of merit they had formerly planted, having made the 'namo buddhaya,' having passed away from those unfortunate states, they were reborn among devas (bahilni ca nairayikatairyag- smrt;ir[1, pratilabhire pilrva- varopitakuSala(millam) anusmrtya namo buddha yeti krt;va tebhyo 'payeb- hyaf cavitva 34 A similar passage also occurs in the long and elaborate nidana of the Pancavir(l.atisahasrika-prajnaparamita. Here, when the Buddha enters into a samadhi called "The Lions Play," the earth quakes in six ways and, the text says, "thereupon, at that moment, minute, and second, in this great trichiliocosm the hells, and the animal world, and the world of Yama, all were abolished and became empty, and all the places of untoward rebirth disappeared. And the beings who had deceased in these destinies ... all, through their joy and rejoicing, were reborn among men, and also among the six kinds of gods (of the realm of sense desire). Thereupon, these men and/gods, through the very might of the Lord, recalled their former lives. In their great joy and rejoicing they then approached the Lord, saluted his feet with their heads, raised their folded hands to the Lord and paid homage to him, etc."35 Of a somewhat different kind is the reference to jatismara that occurs as a part of a "narrative of the past" in the Samanta- Here, the Buddha, in re- counting the past lives of a particular deva, says that the deva, as a wealthy householder, had had murderous thoughts in re- gard to a brahmin who recited and taught this dharaQ.l. As soon as these thoughts arose, he became ill, and suffered greatly until he died. He then underwent a long series of rebirths in the hells and among animals, finally being reborn as a blind man. As that blind man he encountered a monk, and that monk "having seen him, being filled with compassion, gave him food. 128 He- also recited this dhara1].l for him. The blind man heard this dhara1].l, and having become (as a result) possessed of the recol- lection of his former lives, remembered the brahmin (rig sngags kyi rgyal mo 'di yang bsgrags so / dmus longs des gzungs sngags 'di thos pa dang tshe rabs dran par gyur nas bram ze de yangdran te, Pek. Vol. 11, 227-5-4)." Note that the Chinese text corresponding to the last sentence of this passage has been translated by Cha- vannes as "lorsque (l'aveugle) eut pu l'entendre, il y fit grande attention et y appliqua sa pensee. Alors dans cette naissance il obtint la comprehension de ses anciennes destinees et il put reflechir a ce qui etait leur origine."36 These and similar passages are of interest because they indicate that a number of the ideas concerning the obtainment of jatismara that we have seen previously only as doctrinal asser- tions were-sufficiently well-established so that on occasion they could be, and were, used simply as narrative elements. The conclusion of the Ratnajalipariprccha, for example, no longer asserts that hearing a particular text results in the obtainment of jatismara; instead, this idea is narratively expressed as a fact: the obtainment of jatismara occurs as an accepted and unques- tioned part of the series of events that follow after the "congre- gation" has .heard a particular text, just delivered by the Bud- dha. IX. The Historical Context of Our Texts and the Ideas They Express: Medieval Mahayana Siltra Literature. We have looked now at a considerable number of Ma- hayana siltras, but before we try to summarize what they tell us about ideas concerning the obtainment of jatismara, and before we attempt to formulate any conclusions, it might be well to try to place our texts in something like a historical context. We need not, I think, be concerned here with absolute chronology, nor the date of composition. The latter, in fact, is rarely the real question. The important point is not when a text was com- posed, but when it was read or used or circulated, and the two are not necessarily, or even frequently, the same. What we want to do, then, is attempt to establish the period during which the ideas concerning the obtainment of jatismara found in our texts 129 were actually available, widely circulated, and an established part of the Indian Buddhist context-when, in short, the ideas and the texts that express them had some chance of influencing actual behavior. In this regard, of course, the references to the obtainment of jatismara in specifically "authored" works are of some impori:ance: they indicate when some of our ideas had penetrated at least one segment of the Indian Buddhist com- munity. We may note, th(,:n, that if Nagarjuna was the author of the Ratnavalz, and if he lived in the second half of the second cen- tury A.D., then the idea that jatismara could be obtained through non-meditational acts directed toward the Dharma- hearing, preserving, etc.-was already accepted at this time, at least among Buddhist scholastics.37 Again, if the Mahayana-Sil- trala'f(tkiira is the work of Asa:riga or Maitreyanatha, and if these authors actually lived during the 3rdl4th Century A.D., then we can say that this same idea continued to be current among scholastics for another two centuries. 38 In regard to the sutra literature, it should be noted that apart from the Samadhiraja, the Pratyutpanna, and perhaps the Upalipariprccha, probably none of the texts we have cited is so early. Note, too, that the Samadhiraja and the Pratyutpanna are notable for their continu- ation of the old ideas concerning the obtainment of jatismara, and are therefore quite distinct from the majority of our texts. The bulk of our evidence, in fact, would seem to indicate that the period of widest currency for both our ideas, and the texts expressing them was somewhat later. The passage quoted above from Hsuan-tsang establishes the fact that the idea that jatismara could be obtained as a result of activity undertaken in regard to sacred images was current in the 7th century at one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in India. The passages from Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara would seem to indicate that related ideas were firmly established and actually acted on by at least one prominent scholastic at roughly . the same time. 39 We also know that at least eight of our texts- from which a considerable number of our passages were tak- en-were all available in the 6th/7th century at Gilgit: the Bha4ajyaguru, Buddhabaladhiina, Karar;,. davyilha, TatOO- . gatabimbakarapar;,a, Ratnaketuparivarta, P aficavi'Y(lfatisahasrikii, and the Samadhiraja, and some of these were available there in 130 i:several different manuscripts. 40 We also know that all three of 'ithe "shorter" Prajnaparamitti texts that we have cited have been ,:assigned by Professor Conze to a period falling between the 6th and 12th centuries 41 ; that two of our texts, the Aparimitayur- jfulna Sitatapatra were-to by the of extant ;manuscnpts-extremely popular III Central ASIa, Khotan, and Tun-huang from the 8th century on 42 ; that the Suvarr;,abhilsot- . lama too was well known in Central Asia in Sanskrit, Khotanese, and Uigur versions at roughly the same time 43 ; and that the though ascribed to Aryasura, 'probably came into existence "between Santideva and the elev- enth century."44 Finally, we can note that Indian inscriptions testify to the presence of at least two of our texts in several ,places beginning from the 1 Oth century and probably some- what earlier: an extract from the :;dhilrar],i occurs-as I will show in some detail in a future pa- : per-in the Cuttack Museum Stone Inscription and on at least two of the hundreds of terracotta tablets found at Nalanda; and :. one of the dharal)ls from the 'r;,4aprabhilsa-again as I will show in the future-is found on ,"seals" or terracotta tablets or strips of birchbark, at Paharpur, ;;Bodh-Gaya, Nalanda, Gilgit, and Tikse in western Tibet; the .... Samantamukhapravesa is also "Ie sutra de la paroi occidentale de l'inscription de Kiu-yong koan."45 It would appear, then, that we are dealing with both ideas . and texts that were current and were being used or acted upon during a period extending from the 5th/6th century to the 12th century and even later, even though there are indications that some forms of the ideas may have been older-for example . those expressed by Nagarjuna and AsangaiMaitreyanatha. It is in this sense that I would characterize our texts as a whole as typical of "current" medieval Mahayana sutra literature. Incidentally, it might also be noted that the dates of the Chinese translations of our texts support what we can know from other sources. The DvadaSabuddhaka, for example, was translated first in the 6th17th century (TI348), and again in the 8th (TI349); the was translated in the 11th cen-' tury (TA38), the Saptabuddhaka twice in the 6th (TI333, 1334) and once in the 10th century; the RasmivimalaviSuddhaprabhil was translated in the 7th century (TI024); etc. 46 131 x. A Summary of the Shifts in Ideas Concerning the Obtainment of ] atismara. Having established the approximate period during which our texts appear to have circulated, we might summarize what they can teUus. If we move from the passages studied earlier by Demieville to those we have looked at in what we have called medieval Mahayana sutra literature, we can, I think-putting aside the passages from the Pratyutpanna and the Samadhiriija sutras-see that a distinct and fundamental shift has taken place in the latter in regard to jiitismara and its obtainment. This shift, in fact, involves a number of specific factors. In the Nikiiya/Agama literature studied by Demieville, jiiti- smara usually occurs as only one item in at least three stereo- typed lists-the vidyiis, abh&iiiis, balas, or, at least, in associ- ation with one or more of the other items in these lists. More- over, it was attributed almost exclusively to the religious virtuoso, and it appears to have been thought to have been attainable only by means of sophisticated forms of meditational or yogic practice. In the Mahayana sutra literature we have examined, the situation is different on all three counts. Here, jiitismara has become completely disassociated from the tradi- tionallists of abhijiiiis, balas, etc., and occurs almost always as an independent item, without reference to its earlier associates. 47 Moreover, these texts make it abundantly clear that, far from being restricted to the religious virtuoso, it is here within the reach of virtually everyone: monks, nuns, lay men and wom- en-or simply men or women-brahmaIJ.as, vaisyas, sudras, and those reborn in the hells or other unfortunate des- tinies. Perhaps the most significant shift, however, concerns the means by whichjiitismara was thought to be obtainable. First of all, it is clear from a number of texts that the authors or compil- ers of some Mahayana sutras held that the obtainment of jiiti- smara by the individual could be effected by agents external to him-by a Bodhisattva working for the sake of "maturing" be- ings (Upiilipariprcchii), by other individuals undertaking specific ritual or merit-making activity on his behalf, etc. (III & IV). This, of course, marks a major transformation of the "original" concept. But this is not all. Even in regard to the means by which the individual can obtain jiitismara for himself there has 132 a clearly observable shift. Rather than by sophisticated :fueditational the province fact of ascetic ;;in Mahayana sutra literature current m the medIeval penod, &atismara was available by means of a variety of non-medita- ;tional activities: ritualized acts of worship, often directed to- i'Wards sacred images (IV); activity connected with sacred reciting, etc. (V); activity connected with sa- icred texts-reciting, copying, preserving, worshipping, etc. {(VI); and activity connected with dharaIJ.ls-reciting, copying, and .depositing in stl1pas, etc. (VII). . ..... It IS mterestmg to note that what we see here happemng to the idea of the obtainment of jatismara is almost exactly the Sarne sort of thing that happened to the idea of rebirth in lsukhavatI in virtually the same literature: a specialized attain- ffinent associated with a specific group and attainable through ;;)irnited and specialized means has been transformed into a gen- "benefit" open to all and available through a broad ;c;range of basic religious activities. 48 This process-which I '.would call generalization-appears in fact to be one of the most }c:haracteristic elements of that "movement" we now call "the 0'iMahayana." It is not only the idea of jatismara and the idea of in SukhavatI that have been reshaped by this character- ,'istic process; but a whole series of basic religious concepts have .. ;.been transformed in exactly the same way: the idea of avaivarti- (,.katd and the idea of the attainment of Buddhahood itself are ')just two notable examples that have yet to be systematically I,studied from this point of view. When applied to ascetic ideas '/or practices of the religious virtuoso, this process effects what 3 might be described as the "domestication" of radical asceticism or the "democratization" of "elitist" attainments-these are in <fact only two aspects of a single phenomenon. In any case, this : process always involves the movement away from specialization of ideals and group-specific attainments. It is particularly worth : noting that this includes, of course, the movement away from "specifically associating ideals or practices with either the monas- tic community or the lay community. Although the current . tendency is to take the kind of texts we have cited as "popular," .,if we limit ourselves to the material we have collected here we [would, for example, have to conclude that the generalization of appeared first among learned monks-Nagarjuna, It133 Asariga, or Maitreyanatha. Moreover, the passages from Santi. deva dearly indicate that the obtainment of jatismara through merit-making activity continued to a "monastic" ideal, held to and acted upon by learned monks. It should be clear, then, that we are not dealing with a "lay" or "popular" phenom. enon-if by "lay" or "popular" we intend something distinct from "monastic." These and other considerations confirm from yet another point of view that the distinction between "lay" and "monastic" is simply not a useful one-and almost certainly not a real one-in most of Indian Buddhism. 49 There is one further consideration here. The process of the generalization of group-specific ideals and attainments was undoubtedly related to other changes that occurred in the on- going process of the development of Indian Buddhism and, I think, our passages can tell us a little more in regard to some of these other changes, as well. First, we should note that the obtainment of jatismara-like rebirth in SukhavatY-occurs over and over again in more or less standardized lists of "blessings" or "benefits" stipulated to follow from a wide variety of merit-making activity. In addition to the obtainment of jatismara and rebirth in SukhavatI, such lists also promise freedom from sickness (Suvarr;,abhasottama, Saptatathagatapurvaprar;,idhana, B avoidance of rebirth in the hells or other unfortunate destinies (Suvarr;,ab- hasottama, S aptatathagatapurvaprar;,idhana, Aparimitayur-j'fiana, Karar;,rJ,avyuha, Samantamukhapravesa), a favorable rebirth (Sa7[tgha- (a, Buddhabaladhana, Saptabuddhaka), an auspicious death (Tath- Mahayana-Sutrala7[tkara), the "pu- rification" or "exhaustion" of the obstructions due to past kar- ma (Saptatathagatapurvaprar;,idhana, Karar;,rj,avyuha, Narayar;,apa- riprccha, Samantamukhapravesa, Praffiapara- mitanama a!f(asataka), etc., and these lists occur almost every- where, not just in medieval, but in early Mahayana siitra litera- ture as well. The sheer bulk of the references, the fact that these lists occur everywhere and in all periods, suggests that we are dealing with real and active concerns of both those who wrote these texts-whatever else they might say-and those who listened to them. The connection of the obtainment of jatismara with these other concerns-the concern for a favor- able rebirth, the concern with the avoidance of rebirth in the 134 'beIis, etc.-may not at first sight be self-evident, but a doser [look at some of our passages will, I think, indicate that it is intimately related to the basic problem that appears to lie be- ihind all these lists. Xl. The Significance of the Obtainment of J atismara for the Religious Life of the Individual in Medieval Mahayana Sutra Literature. Professor Demieville has already shown that in the litera- ture he surveyed the "value" of jatismara was not constant. "Chez les religieux non bouddhistes," for example, it could and did-according to the Brahmajala-sutta-serve as the funda- mental basis for the affirmation of "l'eternite du moi et du monde." In the on the other hand, " ... se trouve specifie," according to Demieville, "ce que les bouddhistes retir- ent de la contemplation de leurs existences anterieures: c'est Ie degout de l'impermanence." A little further on, however, he notes that "d'apres Ie Mahaprajiiaparamita-r;astra de Nagarjuna ... la notion abstraite degagee par les bouddhistes de la me- .moire des existences anterieures est celle de la causalite; Ie Ma- en fait aussi une des consequences de cette me- :moire .... "50 Putting aside the conflicting character of the conclusions drawn, it still is clear that all these passages want above all to extract from jatismara a "notion abstraite," and that its primary significance here lies in the fact that it functions to confirm and legitimate a given doctrinal position. But, as we shall see, the significance attached to jatismara in the Mahayana sutra litera- ture we have examined appears to be of a fundamentally dif- ferent sort. There are in our sample several passages in which the . effects of jatismara are specifically stated. As we have seen, the Bhai.<;ajyagurusutra says of the individual on whose behalf the puja to has been undertaken that as a result, in . the final instance, he would be reborn and-significantly-"he .. would obtain recollection; he himself is then a direct witness to (the effects of) merit, demerit, and the results of his (past) . actions." But the text then immediately adds: "(As a conse- quence,) even for the sake of his life he does not do an evil 135 deed. For that reason, by a believing son or daughter of good family puja is to be performed to that Tathagata ( ... smrtim upalabhet; so kusalam akusalar[i karmavipakaTl.l svayam eva pratyaks o bhavati. fivitahetor api papar[i karma na karoti. tasmac c h r a d d h e ~ a kulaputrery,a va kuladuhitra va tasya tathagatasya puJa kartavyah).51 Note here that for this text, at least, the significance of the obtainment of Jatismara is, apparently, behavioral: Jatismara ef- fects a restructuring of the individual's behavior. Having be- come "a direct witness to the effects of his acts," he will behave in a certain way: "he will not do evil even for the sake of his life." Note too that the behavioral transformation that takes place appears to be the sole reason for which the puja is under- taken. This is at least the case if we take-as it appears we must-the final statement (tasmac, "for that reason") as refer- ring to that which immediately precedes it: papar[i karma na karoti. Elsewhere, the Bhai!iaJyaguru-sutra says that those reborn in the hells through greed and stinginess will-through the agency of the Buddha's name-once again be reborn among men, and "they will have recollection of their former births." But here too the text immediately adds: "Terrified by the fear of an unfortunate destiny, no longer seeking for the objects of desire, delighted in the act of giving ... renouncing all their property, in due order they will present to beggars their head or hands or feet or eyes ... how much more other accumula- tions of material goods (punar api manu!iyaloke upapatsyanti, Jatis- maras ca bhavi!iyanti. durgatibhayabhZta na bhuyah kamagury,air arth- ikii, etc. .. )."52 Note here that once again the obtainment of Jatismara effects above all else a radical restructuring of behav- ior. Note too that the behavioral change effected by Jatismara is particularly clear in this passage. Buddhabaladhanapratiharya (Pek. Vol. 34, 193-2-3) says of the individuals reborn in the hells on whose behalf a puja di- rected towards any of several Buddhas is undertaken that, as a result, "having recollected their good and bad acts (i.e., the fruits thereof), they afterwards (phyis) would not perform an evil act. From that they would be freed from those sufferings and would go to a fortunate destiny. Until they fully and com- pletely awaken to utmost, right, and perfect awakening they would conform to this practice ( ... sangs ma rgyas kyi bar du spyod 136 .pa 'thun par 'gyur ro)." A little later, the same text repeats the ;sarn e thing in verse: ... dge ba'i gnas su skye ba 'dzin par gyur / ;sngon gyi las rnams rjes su dran 'gyur zhing / dran nas mkhas pa sdig fpa byed mi 'gyur / (194-2-2): "They would take rebirth in an 'auspicious place, and they would recollect their past Hav- ling remembered that, the wise would not do evil." : In the Ratnaketuparivarta, as we have seen, through the emitted by the Buddha countless beings born in the hells fand among animals obtained recollection and "after having re- [collected the roots of merit which they had formerly planted, :having made the 'nama buddhiiya,' having passed away from :those unfortunate states, they were reborn among devas." In Paiicavi'r(t.5atisahasrika, in a similar passage, the recollection rof their past lives on the part of those who had formerly been reborn in the hells and other unfortunate destinies had a simi- ,Jar effect: "Thereupon, these men and gods ... recalled their former lives. In their great joy and rejoicing they then ap- 'proached the Lord, saluted his feet with their heads, raised .their folded hands to the Lord and paid homage to him, etc. "53 .. Finally, in the as we have seen, a man who had had murderous ;thoughts in regard to a brahmin who taught this dharal)I sick- .ened and died and had to undergo a long series of rebirths in the hells and among animals. Finally reborn as a blind man, he a monk who out of compassion recited the dha- f,:.'ral)i for him. "The blind man"-the text says-"heard this dha- a,nd having become possessed of the recollection of his lives, remembered the brahmin." But then it immedi- 'P;ately adds: rjes su sems shing kye ma'o mi bzad pa'i las byas so snyam tr'nas ngo tsha dang / khrel yod par gyur te / 'chi ba'i dus byas pa dang iilf'gzungs sngags 'di'i mthus sum bcu rtsa gsum pa'i lha'i nang du skyes te, (Pek. Vol. 11, 227-5-5): "Reflecting on that, having 'Ahl I have done a dreadful thing,' he was ashamed remorseful, and passing away then, through the power of ,{;this dharal)I (i.e., what it effected) he was reborn among the of the thirty-three, etc." We can note two things about all these passages. First,jati- ;::smara is specifically stated to effect in every case a radical alter- ;U,;ation in behavior, attitude, or both: having recollected his for- births, the individual would not perform an evil deed even 1 137 for the sake of his life (Bha4ajyaguru, Buddhabaladhana), or else he would undertake religious activity: he would give gifts (Bhai$ajyaguru) , perform homage to the Buddha (Ratnaketu Paficavi'Y(tfati) or acknowledge his wrong doing and feel and remorse (Samantamukhapravesa). In every case, the ior or state of mind that follows the recollection of former births is either implicitly or explicitly stated' to be in sharp Con- trast with the behavior that preceded it. Secondly, the obtain_ ment of jatismara in all these texts takes place either in or in reference to a rebirth in the hells or one of the other unfortu_ nate destinies and-importantly-the behavioral or attitudinal alteration effected by jatismara effects in turn a change in the individual's position in regard either to his present or his po- tential future rebirth in such a state. In the Ratnaketu, the ob- tainment of jatismara takes place in the hells and its associated behavioral change effects the individual's release and his pro- gression to a more favorable state. Much the same holds for the SamantamukhapraveSa, except that there the attitudinal change effected by jatismara effects the individual's release from an unfortunate human rebirth. In the Buddhabaladhana, the ob- tainment of jatismara again takes place in the hells, but here concomitant behavioral change effects, first, the individual's release from the hells and his movement to a better state, and, secondly, a restructuring of his behavior in such a way that he avoids a repetition of his former fate. In both passages from the Bha4ajyaguru and in the Paficavir{Lsati, finally, the obtainment of jatismara and the consequent behavioral change take place after .' the individual has undergone his 'judgement" or unfortunate rebirth, but in specific reference to it. They here function, then, primarily as a solution to the problem of the future avoid- ance of an unfortunate rebirth-direct knowledge of his for- mer unpleasant fate effects a restructuring of the individual's behavior in such a way that he would avoid a repetition of that fate. It should be clear from all of this that in our texts the significance of the obtainment of jatismara appears to have been conceived of primarily in terms of the fact that it could or did effect not-as in the texts studied by Demieville-the confirma- tion of a given doctrinal position, but a radical restructuring of behavior and attitude in the individual concerned, and-im- 138 pi'ortantly-the release from, or avoidance of, rebirth in the ;1ell s and other unfortunate destinies. is, the {function, above all else, that appears to he behmd and explam 'the fact that the obtainment ofjatismara had come to be offered J asa generalized reward for religious activity in Mahayana sutra literature. " I , The Obtainment of] atismara in a Larger Context: A Suggestion Concerning the Dysfunctionality of the Doctrine of Karma. " We might finish here with one further and final observa- 'Kon of a more general kind. All the passages we have just Hamined begin with individuals either actually reborn in the :hells or other unfortunate destinies, or with individuals who ate about to be reborn there. This would seem to indicate that If or these texts, at least, the primary concern was the individual reborn in the hells or other unfortunate destinies, and how his :e1ease from, or future avoidance of, such a state could be Although the fact has not yet been fully realized, this to have been a fundamental problem in much of Ma- hayana sutra literature. Unless I am very much mistaken, all "Q1e "benefits" or "blessings" said to follow from merit-making ,activity are offered as "solutions" to this same problem: the promise of the avoidance of an unfortunate rebirth certainly, also the promise of a good rebirth, or rebirth in SukhavatI, of the removal of the "obstructions due to karma," of an auspi- Cious death, etc. Lists of these and other related "benefits" oc- 'i1' cur, as I have already said, almost everywhere and in all periods Mahayana sutra literature. But the emergence of rebirth in hells as a serious religious problem and major preoccupa- is, in turn, almost certainly connected with yet another not yet sufficiently acknowledged. ;;. Manyscholars, beginning with Max Weber, have said that theoretically the doctrine of karma as it is presented in early literature is one of the most complete and satisfying in the history of religions. And this may be-theoreti- What Weber and others after him have not noted, is that the doctrine of .karma appears-in fact-to created as many problems as it solved. Its acceptance at a llt1139
---.---------- formative stage appears to have laid the foundations for SOIne l fundamental and far-reaching problems that only became apparent. 54 If, for example, "logic" of karma satisfying answer for the visible disparities among men, if it provided a complete solution for the problem of suffering, the very "completeness" of the solution became in its turn a problem. That same "solution" in fact inadvertently gave an almost equally complete assurance that the average man, the non-virtuoso, whether layman or monk, could, by virtue of his necessarily imperfect daily life, look forward to rebirth in the hells or other unfortunate destinies: every act must be paid for and "ni dans Ie royaume de l'air, ni dans Ie milieu de la mer, ni si tu t'enfonces dans Ie creux des montagnes, nulle part tu ne trouves sur la terre un lieu ou tu puisses echapper au fruit de tes mauvaises actions .. "55 This, of course, is bad enough, but once an individual was born into an unfortunate rebirth, that same "logic" made it very difficult to explain how he could ever escape from it, since such unfortunate rebirthS' placed the in- divdual in situations that appeared to allow no opportunity making merit and every opportunity to accumulate further de- merit. La Vallee Poussin, referring to Bodhicaryiivatara IV. 17- 20 "et surtout 22," has noted that "les damnes, par example, sont incapables d'une bonne pensee, et leur peche ne fait que s'accroitre par ses propres forces."56 The basic idea here had already been much more fully expressed in passages like Maj- jhima-nikiiya iii 169.9, where the Buddha, using a simile found throughout Buddhist literature, is made to say: 140 "Suppose, Monks, that a man were to throw a yoke with one nole into the ocean and it would be blown around in all directions by the wind. Suppose, too, there were a blind turtle who came to the surface once every hundred years. What do you think, Monks? Would that blind turtle ever manage to stick his neck' through the hole in that yoke?" "If at all, 0 Blessed One, it could happen only once in an extremely long while." "Sooner or later, Monks, that blind turtle might man- age to push his neck through that hole. But, Monks, I say tliat it IS even more difficult than that for a fool who has fallen into an unfortunate birth again to obtain rebirth as a. human ( ... ato dullabhatariihar[l bhikkhave manussattar[l va- dami saki'f[t vinipatagatena balena). And why is that? Because there (in those unfortunate rebirths) there is no practice of the Dhamma, no right practice, there is no doing of good or making of merit; there, Monks, there is only mutual devouring and preying on the weak (na h'ettha bhikkhave atthi dhammacariya samacariya kusalakiriya punnakiriya, anna- mafinakhadika ettha bhikkhave vattati dubbalamarika). Even if, Monks, that fool once in an extremely long time might obtain a human rebirth, he would be born into infenor families, outcaste families, families of hunters ... in such a ,family that is poverty stricken, without food or drink .... Moreover, he would be ill-favored, ugly, dwarfish, sickly, blind ... and he would be unable to obtain food, or drink, or Clothes ... (as a consequence) he would act wrongly in body, speech, and mind, and having acted wrongly in body, speech, and mind he would be reborn in a bad state, a bad destiny, an unfortunate destiny, a hell ( ... apaya'f[t duggati'f[t vinipata'f[t niraya'f[t uppajjati)."57 a piece of homiletics this, of course, would have been !:f6rceful and perhaps effective. But as an established "theologi- position, it became a doctrinal assertion of the fate inadver- assured for all believers-whether layman or monk- :'who were less than perfect. Such considerations appear gradu- i#ly to have become apparent, and eventually required solu- ,'tions. The presence of our passages, the modification and ad- of the concept of jatismara, and much else in Mahayana .,sutra literature, begins to make sense when they are seen as ,"solutions" to the problems created by the doctrine of karma- ,as correctives to a "solution" that became in its turn a problem. tNOTES
1. The initial research for this paper and a first draft were both complet- ed during the year I spent as a Visiting Research Fellow at The International >institute for Buddhist Studies (formerly The Reiyukai Library) in Tokyo, and ,:J will always owe a tremendous debt of gratitude, for things both large and j:'small, to the staff of the Institute and especially to its enlightened Director, Akira Yuyama. Further research and a second draft were made possible ;bya grant from The Translations Program of the National Endowment for '\the Humanities, for which I am also very grateful. " 2. P. Demieville, "Sur la memo ire des existences anterieures," Bulletin de +'l'ecole franr;aise d'extreme-onent 27 (1927) 283-98; esp. 283-90. For some inter- ;"141 esting remarks from a slightly different perspective see L. de La Vallee Pous_ sin, "Le bouddha et les abhijiias," Le museon 44 (1931) and for the abhijnas as a whole see the rich documentation assembled in Et. Lamotte, Le traite de la grande vertu de la sagesse, t.IV (Louvain: 1976) 1809-1816. 3. P. Maxwell Harrison, The Tibetan Text of the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-S am _ mukhtivasthita-Samadhi-Sutra, Studia Philogica Buddhica, Monograph Series' I (Tokyo: 1978) 20k, vs.l; see also lk; 20k, vs.13; and20h. 4. N. Dutt, GilgitManuscripts, Vo!' II, Part I (Srinagar: 1941) 10.11; Vol. II, Part III (Calcutta: 1954) 608. 14ff.; see also Vol. II, Part 1,16.11 and 151.3. 5. P. Python, Vinaya- ViniScaya-Upfili-Pariprcchti, Enquete d'Upali pour une exegese de la discipline (Paris: 1973) 5; 8"3-84. 6. The Tibetan text is cited from Python, 26.5, but I have altered his transcription so that it conforms to the system proposed in T. Wylie, "A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription," Harvard J oumal of Asiatic Studies 22 (1959) 261-67. All my citations from Tibetan will be transliterated accord_ ing to this system. 7. J. Nobel, Suvarr;abhtisottamasutra, Das Goldglanz-Sutra, ein Sanskrittext des Mahtiyana-Buddhismus (Leipzig: 1937) xxxivff. 8. R.E. Emmerick, The Sutra of Golden Light, Being a Translation of the Suvarr;abhtisottamasutra, Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Vol. 27 (London 1970) 9-10. I have supplied the material in brackets. The SkI. text is found at Nobel, 22.3. 9. Emmerick, 14; Nobel, 37.5. 10. For the Bhadracarzprar;idhtina, I have used the text edited in K. Wa- tanabe, Die Bhadracarz, Eine Probe buddhistisch-religioser Lyrik, Untersucht und herausgegeben (Leipzig: 1912). 11. All references are to the edition in V. Bhattacharya, Bodhicaryavatara (Calcutta: 1960). 12. Nobel, 44.3f. 13. This is a translation that might also be suggested by Tibetan I (J. Nobel, Suvarr;aprabhtisottamasutra, Das Goldglanz-Sutra, ein Sanskrittext des Ma- htiyana-Buddhismus, die tibetischen Ubersetzungen mit einem Worterbuch, Erster Band (Leiden/Stuttgart: 1944) 34.1), and more definitely by Tibetan III (J. Nobel, Suvarr;aprabhtisottamasutra, Das Goldglanz-Sutra, ein Sanskrittext des Ma- htiyana-Buddhismus. I-Tsing's chinesischen Version und ihre tibetische Ubersetzung (Leiden: 1958) 72.17f.). 14. Apart from a few exceptions, which will be noted, all my Tibetan material will be cited from The Tibetan Tripi(aka (Peking Edition), edited by D.T. Suzuki; references will give volume number, then page-"folio"-and line number. 15. R. Vira & L. Chandra, Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts (Facsimile Edition), Part 8 (New Delhi: 1974) No. 37, fo!' 2254.3. 16. A. Mette, "Zwei kleine Fragmente aus Gilgit," Studien zur Indologie und lranistik 7 (1981) 134; 136.29. 17. For the I quote the text established in G. Scho- pen, A Sanskrit Text of the from Gilgit: An Annotated Tran- scription of Manuscript No.1 Db, to be published in Studia Philologica Buddhica, 142 Series, by The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, To- in Although text I established differs the passages III Dutt's edmon are found at N. Dutt, GIlg>t Manu- VoL I (Srinagar: 1939) 24.12 = my 17 and 26.1 = my 18. Z,,> 18. Although I quote the Tibetan here, the Buddhabaladhana-or at least :tbIIle important fragments of it-was also found at Gilgit. See most recently ':G. Schopen, "The Five Leaves of the Buddhabaladhanapratiharyavikurvav- :inirdeSa-sutra Found at Gilgit," Journal of Indian Philosophy 5 (1978) 319-36. L 19. S. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World (London: 1884; repro ii, 124; T. Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India (London: 1904- '05; repro 1973) ii, 124; cf. ].Ph. Vogel, "The Past Buddhas and Kasyapa in 'indian Art and Epigraphy," Asiatica, Festschrift Friedrich Weller (Leipzig: 1954) 815,816. ' r 20. cf. R. Birnbaum, The Healing Buddha (Boulder: 1979). 21. Nobel, 120.8. 22. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts, Vol. I, 8.10, but cf., n. 17. Dutt 8.10 = my 7. 23. H. Zimmermann, Die SubhaJita-ratna-kararpJaka-katha (dem AryaSura und ihre tibetische Ubersetzung, Freiburger Beitrage zur Indologie, fBd.8 (Wiesbaden: 1975) 163. "c' 24. M. Walleser, Aparimitilyur-jfiana-nama-mahayana-sutram, nach einer ne- Sanskrit-Handschrift mit der tibetischen und chinesischen Version (Hei- iilelberg: 1916). 25. For the Karar;uJavyuha I have used the text in P.L. Vaidya, Mahayana- Siltra-Sa7(!graha, Part I (Darbhanga: 1961), although a fragmentary manu- script of it too was found at Gilgit (cf. O. von Hiniiber, Die Erforschung der Gilgit-Handschriften (Funde buddhistischer Sanskrit-Handschriften, I) (Nachrich- ten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gottingen. 1: Philo-Hist. Kl. Jg. ;1979, Nr. 12) 343. ;'., 26. Vira & Chandra, Part 8, foI.2122.1; and fo1.2158.7, no.36 fo1.1991.5. 27. Text cited from Toganoo's edition reprinted in Y. Hatta, Index to the 7:;}lrya-Prajfiaparamita-Naya-Sata-Paficasatika (Kyoto: 1971) 225.10. 28. The Tibetan text is cited from E. Conze, "Tantric Prajnaparamita "'i(Texts," Sino-Indian Studies 5, II (1956) 122; for his translation, see E. Conze, Shorter Prajfiaparamita Texts (London: 1973) 198. ,', 29. S. Levi, Mahayana-Sutrala7(!kara, Expose de la doctrine du grand vehicule ,;selon le systeme Yogacara, t.I (Paris: 1907) XII.21-23. l' 30. E. Obermiller, History of Buddhism (Cho.s-hbyung) by Bu-ston, Part I ;:;(Heidelberg: 1931) 12.' . " 31. Text from H.W. Bailey, Indo-Scythian Studies, Being Khotanese Texts \ Yolume V (Cambridge: 1963) 375.166; see also 366.132 for the same passage a second manuscript of the same text. . 32. Text from A.C. Banerjee, NarayaTfapariprccM, SanskTit and Tibetan Texts (Calcutta: 1941) 15.4 (the Skt. for this passage is missing from Banerjee's Ms.). . This 'passage from the Naraya1J.apariprccha is followed immediately by i., another passage that also refers to jatismara. Although the Skt. text for this second is it in. part to be corrUpt,) and aanerJee's handlmg of the Ms. matenal makes It dIfficult to suggest'! satisfying emendation. He gives the passage in the following form (I hav aU inserted in brackets the material I have taken from his riotes): e .. yas ca punar naraya1'}a ima'I]'L [yogyaT[!] [reconstructed from Tib. rung] dha_,: ra1'}z T[! dharayama1'}aJ;. kulaputro va kuladuhita va bhiks.ur va bhiks.u 1'}z va uPiisako': va upasika va raja va rajaputro va brahma1].o va mrtaJ;. kalagataJ;. bha 1].ako va dagdho bhasmzbhilto [Ms. 'smi ca] va punaf ca purus.o va strz va kacit " [Ms. cchara (?), Banerjee emends on the basis of Tib. la la zhig] sprset sa eva niyato [Ms. niyato(?)]jatismaro (4.1S-5.2) The Tibetan translation has: sred med kyi bu / yang gang zhigrigs kyi bu 'am rigs kyi bu mo 'am dge slongngam dge slang ma 'am dge bsnyen nam dge bsnyen ma 'am rgyal po 'am rgyal po'i bu' 'am bram ze 'ang rung gzungs 'di 'dzin par byed pa 'chi ba'i dus la bab pa na dam'; pa'i chos kyi snang ba can du 'gyur zhing tshig pa 'am thal bar gyur pa la 'ang skyes pa 'am bud med gang la la zhig gis reg par bgyid pa de nyed nges p(Jr skyes ba" dran par 'gyur ro / Although this Tib. translation seems to imply a Skt. text somewhat different from that found in Banerjee's Ms. and is therefore not altogether helpful for solving the problems in the latter, still it supports a certain interpretation of at. least a part of the Skt. text. If we tentatively accept Banerjee's bhasmzbhuto but reject the va following it; ifin addition we reject the kacit which Banerjee read on the basis of Tib. and take cchara(?) as possibly standing for sara in the sense of "core," that which remains after cremation, or as a mistake for sarfra, then we can tentatively translate the Skt. as: "And if again, NarayaQa, a son or daughter of good family, or a monk or. nun, or a lay man or woman, or a king or a prince or a brahmin wearing' this dharaQI were dead, deceased; or if a reciter of the Good Law had been cremated, reduced to ashes; and if again a man or woman were to touch the remains, he or she assuredly will come to/be possessed of the recollection of his former births." Lest the idea here seem altogether strange, we might cite another instance of the transmission of the benefits of a dharaQI through contact with remains of the dead. In this instance, however, which comes from the Samantamukha- . pravesarasmivimalos.1'}i:j"aprabhasasarvatathagatahrdayasamayavilokatedhara1'}z (Pe. Vol. 11, 22S-1), the transmission is in the opposite direction: bye ma la lan nyi shu rtsa gcig bzlas brjod byas te dur khrod du gtor na / gang gi rus pa la bog pa de dag sems can dmyal ba gang dang gang du skyes ba de dang de nas yongs su thar te mtho ris su skye bar 'gyur ro / gang dag mtho ris su skyes ba de dag gi lus la me tog gi char 'bab par 'gyur ro /: "If, reciting [this dharaQI] twenty-one times over some sand, he throws it into the burning grounds, on whom-so-ever's bones it would fall, they, in whatever hell they had been reborn, being released from that, would be reborn in heaven. Those who had (already) been reborn in heaven, on their bodies a rain of flowers would fall." 33. G. Schopen, "The Text on the 'DharaQI Stones from Abhayagiriya': A Minor Contribution to the Study of Mahayana Literature in Ceylon," The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5,1 (19S2) 100-lOS. 144 34. Y. Kurumiya, Ratnaketuparivarta, Sanskrit Text (Kyoto: 1978)18.14. 35. E. Conze, The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom with the Divisions oj the 'Ubhisamayillankara (Berkeley: 1975) 40. 36. E. Chavannes, "Le sutra de laparoi occidentale de l'inscription de koan," Melanges Charles de Harlez (Leyde: 1896) 74. 37. On the authorship of the Ratnaval'i see ].W. de jong, Indo-Iranian 20 (1978) 136-37. 38. On the question of the authorship of the Mahayana-Siltiala11Jkam see "La philosophie bouddhiqueidealiste," Asiatische StudienlEtudes asia- 25 (1971) " . 39. For a dlscusslOnof the dates of Sanudeva see ].W. de jong, "La de Santideva," Indo-Iranian journal 16 (1975) 161-82, esp. 179ff. in j. W. de j ong, Buddhist Studies, ed. G. Schopen (Berkeley: 1979)
40. On the Gilgit collection as a whole see the work by O. von Hinuber fdted above in n.25 and, by the same author, "Die Erforschung der Gilgit- :VIIandschriften. Nachtrag," ZeitschriJt der Deutschen Morgenliindischen Gesell- 130.2 (1980) *25-26* (Wissenschaftliche Nachrichten). Although most today probably accept a 6th17th Century date for the collection, at one has argued that at least a part of the collection-on paleographical be dated earlier, perhaps as early as the beginning of the !1pth Century A.D. (see N.P. Chakravarti, "The Gilgit Text of the Vajracche- ::dika", in G. Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, Part I(Roma: 1956) 177ff.) ,i; 41. Conze, "Tantric Prajfiaparamita Texts," 100ff.
;{ 42. For the Aparimitayur-jiiana see R.E. Emmerick, A Guide to the Litera- it/ure oj Khotan (Tokyo':1979) 17, no. 3; D. Sinor, "A Kozepazsiai tOrok bud- :;{dhizmusr61," Korosi Csoma-Archivum 1.5 (1939) 372, no. 9; A. Fujieda, "The :)unhuang Manuscripts, A General Description (Part I)," Zinbun 9 (1966) ;:1),7,13,31,32; (Part II), Zinbun 10 (1969) 36,38,39; ]. Ishihama & S. Yoshi- i'irimra, "Various Manuscripts of the Aparimitayul;t-Sutra," Monumenta SeTin- 'aica, Vol. I (Kyoto: 1958) the Sitatapatm see S. Sengupta, "A : Note on Usnisa-sitatapatra-pratyamgira ... Dharani," Buddhist Studies,journal i,ofthe Department oj Buddhist Studies, University oJDelhi, March 1974, pp. 68-75. 43. Emmerick, A Guide to the Literature oj Khotan, , 44. ].W. de jong, review of Zimmerman, Indo-Iranianjournal 18 () 976) ,318 (repr. in Buddhist Studies, 321). 45. On both these texts in inscriptions see the paper cited above in n.33, 'and G. Schopen, "The and DharaJ;lls in Indian Inscriptions: Two Sources for the Practice of Buddhism in Medieval India," in preparation. In regard to Gilgit it might be noted that if my identi- '" fication of the "Schutzformel" written on birchbark strips and published by von Hinuber is correct, if it is in fact the 2nd dharaJ;l1 from the iSamantamukhapravesa, then it would seem that this text too-although it has .... hot yet been found among the known Mss.-was also known at Gilgit. This ;"identification might also suggest some minor corrections to Professor von {Hiniiber's reading of the "formula" (see O. von Hinuber, "Namen in Schutz- }'zaubern aus Gilgit," Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 7 (1981) 166-67. :;145 [:; 46. I have taken all these dates from P. Demieville, H. Durt et A. Seidel Repertoire du canon bouddhique sino-japonais, edition de Taisho, Fascicule annexe d ~ Hob6girin, deuxieme edition revisee et augmentee (Tokyo: 1978) 47. There are two possible exceptions to this. In the Da.sabuddhakasutra (Pek. Vol. 37, 94-5-1) it is said ... de'i mtshan bzung na ... tshe rabs dran par 'gyur ro / mngon par shes pa lnga dang sangs rgyas kyi chos ma 'dres pa bco brgyad 'thob par 'gyurro /: " ... if one would preserve his name [i.e. that of the 9th Buddha mentioned in the text] ... he would recolled his former births. Be would obtain the five superknowledges and the eighteen characteristics pecu- liar to a Buddha." In the Ra.smivimalaviSuddhaprabha (Pek. Vol. 7, 190-5-1), as a part of a list of "benefits" following from making a stupa in conjunction with reciting a dharaJ;lI, it is said that the individual will be reborn in his next life in a pure Buddha field and that ... der yang tshe lo bye ba khrag khrig brgya stong thub par 'gyur te sngon gyi gnas ryes su dran pa dang / lha'i mig dang lha'i rna ba roam par dag pa thob cing pha rol gyi sems shes pa dang 'chi ba 'pho ba dang skye ba shes 'thob bo / lus las tsan dan gyi dr 'i ngad 'byung zhing, etc. In the first of these two passages, note that while it is true that jatismara occurs in a list the next item of which is the five abhijiiiis, the way in which the list is drawn up appears to indicate that whoever compiled it had completely forgotten that jatismara was supposed to be the fourth of the five abhijiiiis. It appears that for him jatismara and the five abhijiiiis were two completely independent things. In the second passage, in addition to the somewhat unusual order, note that jatis- mara is obtained in association with the other four abhijiias not in this world but in a "pure Buddha field," and that this reference is therefore closest to the reference to jatismara already pointed out by Demieville in the Sukhavativyuha (Demieville, "Sur la memoire des existences anterieures," 296n.3). 48. See G. Schopen, "SukhavatI as a Generalized Religious Goal in San- skrit Mahayana Sutra Literature," Indo-IranianJournal19 (1977) 177-210. Of the texts I have cited in the present paper which offer the obtainment of jatismara as a generalized "benefit" following from merit-qlaking activity, note that the following also offer rebirth in Sukhavati on the same terms: the Bhadracanpra1Jidhana, BhaiJajyaguru, Aparimitayur-jiiana, and the KaraT}- 4avyuha, all of which are discussed in Indo-Iranian Journal 19 (1977), plus the following texts in which rebirth in SukhavatI is offered as a generalized "bell.e- fit" but which are not mentioned there: Da.sabuddhaka (Pek. Vol. 37, 94-3-6); Saptabuddhaka (Pek. Vol. 37, 90-4-4); Sitatapatra (Bailey) 367.141, 375.177; Bodhima1J4alalakJa (Lhasa, rgyud Ta)495a; Ra.smivimalaviSuddhaprabha (Pek. Vol. 7,192-2-4); Samantamukhapravesa (Pek. Vol. 11,227-2-7; 228-3-6,4- 4,5-7). 49. For a discussion of the layman/monk distinction based on epigraphi- cal sources see G. Schopen, "Two Problems in the History of Indian Bud- dhism: The Layman/Monk Distinction and the Doctrines of the Transference of Merit," Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 10 (1983) in the press. 50. Demieville, "Sur la memoire des existences anterieures," 287; 294, 295. 51. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts, Vol. I, 25.2 = my 17. 52. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts, Vol. I, 9.8 = my 7. 146 53. See VII above. 54. I am here not talking about the well known problems of harmonizing fth e doctrine of and of aniitman. :-vere essentially of BuddhIst scholastICs, WhICh probably had lIttle If any effect on actual "world" of the average practicing Buddhist (cf. L. de La Vallee "Dogmatique bouddhique. La negation de l'ime et la doctrine de !!'acte," Journal asiatique (1902) 237-3Q6). The problem or problems I am ;:concerned with here are of a fundamentally diFferent sort. i" 55. Dhammapada vs. 127 as translated in Et. Lamotte, Histoire du boud- i/Jhisme indien (Louvain: 1958) 37. i)' 56. L. de La Vallee Poussin, "Dogmatique bouddhique II. Nouvelles sur la doctrine de l'acte," Journal asiatique (1903) 371n. :;, 57. I give here in part a free and somewhat condensed version of this translated passage; cf. LB. Horner, The Middle Length Sayings I(Majjhima-Nikiiya) Vol. III (London: 1959) 214-15. For the simile of the yoke 'and the turtle see the references in de J ong, Buddhist Studies, 316; 320). BOOK REVIEWS The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism, edited and introduced by Leslie S. Kawamura. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press; published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion; SR Supplements: 10, 1981. Pp. xxi + 272. $6.00 (paperback). This book owes it origin to a remarkable international con- ference on the Bodhisattva doctrine, held under the auspices of the Department of Religious Studies of the University of Cal- gary, at Calgary, Canada, from 18 to 21 September 1978. The conference seems to have been remarkable for the singularly significant theme it had for discussion, and also for the partici- pation in its deliberations of several senior and distinguished Buddhist scholars. This volume contains eleven papers, an in- troduction by the editor, and a detailed index. These papers reveal to a significant degree the depth, majesty,. and cultural creativity of the the()ry and practice of the Bodhisattva ideal in Asia. Every paper is based on careful study and research by its author and is accompanied by impressive documentation of sources. The editor has earned the reader's grateful admiration by excellently executing the publication of these learned contri- butions. Leslie Kawamura, the editor of the volume, has contributed an introduction (pp. xi-xxi) in which he points out some salient features of each contribution, and also a paper, entitled "The Myokonin: japan's Representation of the Bodhisattva" (pp. 223-237). His essay discusses the historical problems relating to the origin of the Japanese Myokoninden, a bibliographical ac- count of the devout practitioners of nembutsu belonging to the tradition of the SukhavatI. It also shows that an outstanding nembutsu practioner called myokonin, though he relied chiefly on the saving grace of Amitabha Buddha, revealed several virtuous qualities associated with the Bodhisattva's career. A myokonin is compared to a white lotus flower, called pu,[ujarzka in Sanskrit. Just as a pu,[ujarzka grows in muddy water but is not defiled by it, a Bodhisattva (and also perhaps a myokonin), lives in the world but is not defiled by the evils of worldly existence. In his very illuminating inaugural address on "The Relevance of the Bodhi- sattva Concept for Today" (pp. 1-17) Peter Slater stresses the 148 "truly universal character of the Buddha's community, and ob- serves that "the Buddhist vision of ultimate truth and joy in all creatures" exemplified by the concept of the Bodhisattva has stood the test of time and change. He draws our attention to the great &oteriological and ethical significance of the stories of the deeds of Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas like ManjusrI and Avalo- kitdvara, he reminds the reader, "are not remote figures in some exotic heaven...... They are named forces active now ...... They are positive grounds for hope in this changing world" (pp. 2-3, 8-9). The quotation on pp. 5-6 taken from Bar Dayal's work (p. 58) is from Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara, III. 17-19, and not from B odhicaryavatara, III. 6-19, as is print- ed. The very insightful and tightly historical paper on "The Evolution of the Concept of the Bodhisattva" (pp. 19-59) by Professor Arthur L. Basham reveals some hitherto neglected aspects of the history of the idea of the Bodhisattva. The use of epigraphic materials and literary sources bearing on the growth of the Mahayana soteriology is here made the basis of a number of valuable opinions that should be taken seriously by all schol- ars of Buddhism. Some of his opinions however, seem debat- able. For example, his preference for Pali authorities over early Buddhist Sanskrit authorities in search of the earliest Buddhist teaching, his sharp distinction and difference between nirva1'}a and sa'T{tbodhi, his view that the formula Buddha'T{t sara1'}a'T{t gac- chiimi in the context of Theravada Buddhology is "logically not intelligible" (p. 57 note 53), his reference to the epithets of the Buddha in an inscription on a Buddha image set up at Mathura by Sanghila as "completely theistic Mahayana" (p. 36), and his silence on the evidence of the relating" to the southeastern or Andhran origin of the earliest scriptures of the Bodhisattvayana, are some of the controversial points. The alleged Zoroastrain influence on certain features of the Mahayana slltras, though possible, remains unproven. Professor Gadjin M. Nagao, in his learned paper, called "The Bodhisattva Returns to This World," (pp. 61-79) focuses attention on theoretical and practical implications of two techni- cal terms, and sa'T{tcintyabhavotpatti. He shows that these concepts are complementary: the former implies nei- ther dwelling in nor clinging to the latter implies that a Bodhisattva willingly takes a walk in saIJ1sara as though it were a joyful garden. In his paper on "Influence of the Bodhisattva Doctrine on Tibetan Political History," (pp. 81-94) Turrell Wylie elucidates how the Bodhisattva doctrine unified church and state in the hands of successive Dalai Lamas, promoted the concept of the "reincarnation" of lamas, and transformed the religious culture of Tibet from shamanism to Buddhism. Lobsang Dargyay's pa- per discusses the views of a few Tibetan Buddhist scholars con- cerning theory and practice of bodhicitta (pp. 95-107). H.V. Guenther's paper, "Bodhisattva-The Ethical Phase in Evolu- tion," (pp. 111-124) is based on rare Tibetan sources, and throws much useful light on the meaning of byang-chub sems-dpa'. As is well known, Professor Guenther wants to read Tibetan texts "with eyes that have not been blinded by the 'Sanskrit-only' glaucoma" (p. 115). He thinks that "byang-chub sems-dpa' is, pri- marily, a descriptive term for a qualitative (or, if you so prefer, a mental-spiritual) process, not a designatory term for a static or quantifiable entity, a 'concrete' person" (p. 117). To the mind of this reviewer, there is no doubt that the term byang-chub sems-dpa' refers to both a concrete person who has taken the vow to be- come a Buddha, and the state of his moral-spiritual growth. Its meaning can hardly be reduced to a mere descriptive process. There are two learned contributions to our knowledge of the conception of the Bodhisattva based on Chinese materials. Yun-hua Jan's paper "The Bodhisattva Idea in Chinese Litera- ture: Typology and Significance" (pp. 125-152) distinguishes and analyses three typologies of the Great Being in the Chinese Literature. He points out that the Bodhisattva literature in Chi- na "introduced a new image of the religious founder through the past lives of the Buddha; it provided a spiritual map to a man, and indicated that the religious goal war,attainable through cultivation; it brought to the Chinese masses a w ~ r m , compassionate and powerful personal deity" (p. 148). In his con- tribution entitled "The Bodhisattva Concept: A Study of Chi- nese Buddhist Canon" (pp. 153-163), Lewis Lancaster has brought to light four classes of Bodhisattvas who played a part in the religious life of Chinese Buddhists. His illuminating discus- siori reveals the character of these four classes in their following names: "Jataka Bodhisattvas," "Phantasma Bodhisattvas," "Meditation Bodhisattvas," and "Living Bodhisattvas." In his paper, "The Bodhisattva Doctrine as Conceived and Developed by the Founders of the New Sects in the Heian and Kamakura Periods" (pp. 165-191), Hisao Inagaki gives a clear account of the role of the ideas of mappo, ekayana and hongaku in the development of the doctrine of the Bodhisattva and the 150 151 formation of the Buddhist sects founded by great Japanese Acaryas like Eisai, Dagen, Hanen, Shinren, and Nichiren. He has elucidated some general tendencies of the periods, as well as the authoritative opinions of individual masters studied by him. One of the most interesting papers in the volume is by Minoru Kiyota, entitled ''japan's New Religions (1945-1965): Secular- ization or Spiritualization?" (pp. 193-222). The author's analysis of the factors leading to the rise of these new religions and of their nature and function in contemporary Japanese society is indeed masterly and thought-provoking. Among other things, he points out that the new religions, like Saka Gakkai, pose a challenge to the established schools of Buddhism, and that the tension between the old and new religions is based on the tradi- tional Bodhisattva doctrine. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism will be found useful by all students of Buddhist religiousness. L. M. Joshi Contributo aUo Studio Biografico dei Primi Gter-Ston, by Ramon Pratz. Napoli: Instituto Universitario Orientale, Seminario di Studii Asiatici, Series Minor XVII, 1982, pp. 133.20,000 Lire. Eva Dargyay's The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet (New Delhi, 1977)-hereafter DARGYAY-was the first major publi- cation in a Western language devoted to the study of the hagio- graphies of the so-called "teachers of treasures" (gter-ston). These "treasures" (gter-ma) are basically of two kinds: redisco- veries from the eleventh century onwards of texts previously hidden, mainly by Padmasambhava (sa-gter) , or revelations called dgongs-gter, in which a "pure vision" (dag-snang) of a su- per-human source communicates a doctrinal entity to the gter- ston. The three principal doctrinal entities of the Rnying-ma-pa school are then the gter-ma, the dgongs-gter, and the so-called bka'-ma precepts, which also have their origin in Padmasamb- hava. Eva Neumaier-Dargyay has made a first attempt at coming to grips with the phenomenology of the gter-ma as such in her "Einige Aspekte der gTer-ma Literatur der rNying-ma-pa Schule," Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Supplementa I, 3 (1969) pp. 849-862. Among the main schools of Tibetan religion, the Rnying- ma-pa and the Bon-po have the greatest number of gter-ston-s. In the course of time, however, the Bka'-brgyud-pa and even the Dge-Idan-pa, or Dge-Iugs-pa, also began tb accomodate this phe- nomenon within their fold. Pratz's work is a revision of his tesi di laurea, written under Nam-mkha' nor-bu Rin-po-che, Professor at Naples University, and an unusually gifted linguist and scholar. Whereas PRA TZ is more limited in scope than DARGYAY, it is a carefully docu- mented and annotated study of the hagiographies of ten of the earliest gter-ston-s. PRA TZ, and to some extent DARGYAY, is based on Kong-sprul BIo-gros mtha: -yas' (1813-1899) Zab-mo'i- gter dang gter-ston grub-thob ji-ltar byon-pa'i lo-rgyus mdor-bsdus bkod- pa rin-chen bai-d;ur-ya'i phreng-ba-hereafter GTER-RNAM- which, having been completed in 1886, was included as the first volume of the Rin-chen gter-mdzod, Mtshur-phu edition. The lat- ter is a compilation of what its editors, Mchog-gyur gling-pa (1829-1870), 'Jam-dbyangs mkhyen-brtse'i dbang-po (1820- 1892)-see DARGYAY, pp. 190-209: Mchog-gyur gling-pa is a contraction of Mchog-gyur bde-chen zhig-po gling-pa-and Kong-sprul himself, thought to represent that which is the most authoritative of the gter-ma traditions. In a lengthy footnote, PRATZ (pp. 73-74) has pointed out that this compilation was not to everyone's satisfaction. A fully annotated catalogue of the entire Rin-chen gter-mdzod will appear shortly in the prestigious Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland (Wiesba- den: Franz Steiner Verlag series). PRATZ consists of an introduction (pp. 9-21); an anno- ,tated translation of ten hagiographies, of Rgya Zhang-khrom Rdo-rje 'od-'bar, Grub-thob Dngos-grub, Ku-sa Sman-pa, Khyung-po Dpal-dge, Ldang-ma Lhun-rgyal, Ra-mo Shel-sman, Gu-ru J o-tshe, Do-ban Rgya-mtsho, Gra-sgom Chos-kyi rdo-rje, and Khams-pa Nyi-ma grags-pa, (pp. 25-74); a glossary of the technical terms contained in these hagiographies (pp. 77-84); and an appendix that consists of the transliterated texts of the . Tibetan original (pp. 82-105). It concludes with the bibliogra- phies, the abbreviations used, and indices (pp. 107-133). PRA TZ (pp. 10-14) deals with the different editions of the . GTER-RNAM, as well as the sources on which it is based. It is convincingly shown that the so-called Padma-bkod text of the GTER-RNAM is undoubtedly dependent on the Mtshur-phu blockprint. Kong-sprul's sources are, in contrast to the incom- 152 153 -plete and ambiguous listing of DARGYAY, p. 73, cogently set forth. Unfortunately, however, PRA TZ does not dwell on the history of its composition, that is to say, on what mQtivated Kong-sprul to write the STER-RNAM, and why he embarked on its composition so many years after the compilation of the Rin- chen gter-mdzod (1862-?), in which, for perhaps obvious reasons, it was later to be included. These questions should be pursued in a future study of this text. PRA TZ (pp. 14-16) gives a bio- graphical overview of Kong-sprul's life, which is largely founded on the well-known writings of E. Gene Smith and Dieter Schuh. PRA TZ (pp. 16-18) then focusses in on the stylistic and lexical peculiarities of the GTER-RNAM. In particular, it dis- cusses some of the more frequently occurring expressions found in the GTER-RNAM that evidently belong to khams-skad, the relatively little investigated dialect of eastern Tibet. This brief lexicographical survey is grounded in the information provided by Nam-mkha' nor-bu Rin-po-che, himself a native of Sde-dge, Kong-sprul's place of birth. This section should, of course, be read in conjunction with PRATZ's glossary. It thus becomes quite clear that Kong-sprul did not merely compile the biogra- phies from his source material. Rather, he rewrote these in his own idiom. Such rewriting undoubtedly is a fairly hazardous procedure, and raises the question of the extent to which the GTER-RNAM represents an accurate expression ofthe contents of the sources on which it is based. The absence of the majority of its fundamental sources, however, makes it virtually impossi- ble to answer this question. Nonetheless, such issues have to be raised with texts of this nature, despite the fact that the textual criticism of Tibetan texts in general has been a neglected area of concern. PRA TZ (pp. 18-21) discusses the stereotypical structure of these hagiographies, their historical value, and the prophecies of the various gter-ston-s found in the Padma-bka'-thang, which is freely cited in the GTER-RNAM, although PRA TZ (p. 20) states that: "Nel gTer-rnam non viene specificato da quale edizione siano state copiate Ie profezie." There also is a set of method- ological guidelines for the study of the gter-ma traditions. The translations of the Tibetan hagiographies are of outstanding quality, and can be easily checked against their Tibetan origi- nals. The only regrettable thing about PRA TZ is that, being written in Italian, it may not reach the wide public it assuredly deserves. The overall approach to its subject-matter, however, should ensure that PRA TZ will serve as a model for any future study ofthis literary genre. The production of PRA TZ is equally excellent. Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp Gedatsukai: Its Theory and Practice (A Study of a Shinto-Buddhist Syncretic School in Contemporary japan), by Minoru Kiyota. Los Angeles-Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1982. xii + 132 pp. One of the most dynamic expressions of Buddhism in con- temporary Japan is the phenomenon of numerous new religions that have arisen in the past hundred years, and have attracted millions of followers, especially after the opening of complete religious freedom in 1945 at the end of World War II. Because of the character of the new religions-primarily lay movements based on popular beliefs and practices-all of the new religions contain some Buddhist elements. A number of the new religions are more explicitly based on Buddhist themes, particularly those of the Nichiren tradition focusing on faith in the Lotus Sutra and renewed practice of ancestral rites. However, Buddhist scholars in Western countries have not been in the forefront of the study of new religions. During the past twenty-five years many Western scholars have focused their attention on new religions, examining them mainly as examples of social and religious change. In fact, most of the Western scholars studying new religions have been social scientists attempting to assess the extent of postwar social dis- ruption and the way in which new religions constitute one form . of response to social disruption. (There have also been histori- ans of religion studying new religions to interpret how Japanese religion has changed with the emergence of new religions.) However, this reviewer is not aware of a major Western-lan- guage treatment of the new religions generally, or one particu- lar new religion, by a Buddhologist. The major significance of Kiyota's book on Gedatsukai is that it is the first attempt of a Buddhologist to write a Western-language monograph on a new religion, and treating it not just as an example of social and religious change, but viewing it as an expression of mainline 154 .155 Buddhist doctrine and practice. This pioneer treatment breaks new ground, raising as many questions as it answers. The new religion studied by Kiyota is Gedatsukai, which "is a classic example of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism and derives much of its thought from Shingon Mikkyo Buddhism" (p. 3). The book consists of three chapters planned to view Gedatsukai as an expression of Shingon Mikkyo: the first chapter traces Japanese Buddhism from its introduction through the develop- ment of Shingon Mikkyo by Kukai; the second chapter treats Shinto-Buddhist syncretism as the interaction of Shinto and Shingon Mikkyo; the third chapter analyzes "Gedatsu Theory and Practice" by interpreting the life and teachings of Gedatsu- kai's founder as well as the continuing practices of Gedatsukai members through the central notions of Shingon Mikkyo. According to Kiyota, "Shingon Mikkyo is the Japanese ver- sion of Tantric Buddhism," and "Tantric Buddhism, which in- corporates both Madhyamika and Yogacara thought, represents the culmination of Mahayana thought" (p. 18). Among the var- ious Mikkyo notions interpreted by Kiyota is the "concept of the integration of man and Buddha, sokushin-jobutsu." This concept helps us understand that "The Gedatsukai's theory and practice represent a contemporary version of the Buddhist attempt to communicate the Dharma through skill-in-means. The Gedatsu- kai's goal is the deification of man himself based on the principle that all sentient beings are endowed with buddha-nature .... " (p. 40). Kiyota readily admits that Gedatsukai uses folk religious models to convey its message to lay people, but he prefers to interpret Gedatsukai "from the perspective of Shingon Bud- dhist thought ... in order to present Gedatsukai's theory and practice in a doctrinally structured manner" (p. 40). Although Kiyota is concerned with Gedatsukai as an expres- sion of Shingon Buddhism, he does provide a brief description of the historical development and present situation of the new religion. It was founded in the late 1920s by a businessman, Okano Seiken, who in his mid-forties turned to the practice of religion and experienced a number of remarkable revelations. These revelations, combined with the practices and insights of his traditional upbringing, were the basis for his establishment of a lay religious movement. Okano was a "self-taught man" raised in a farm family devoted to the local Shinto shrine and the family's parish Buddhist temple, which was Shingon. In found- . ing his movement, Okano attempted to renew traditional values such as filial piety and sincerity through respect for Shinto kami (deities or spirits) and Buddhist divinities. Two of his major innovations were instituting ancestral rites in the home (by pour- ing sweet tea over ancestral tablets while reciting the Heart Su- tra), and developing a rite of meditatiori and mediation with ancestral and other spirits (by meditating and holding between the outstretched palms an amulet containing the Sanskrit letter A). After Okano's death in 1948 the practices and teachings became more systematic. To this day the center of worship in Gedatsukai headquarters as well as homes is a triad of Tenjin- chigi (Shinto kami), Gochinyorai ("the five Buddhas of the Shin- gon pantheon"), and Gedatsu Kongo (the posthumous title of Okano). To interpret the significance of Gedatsukai, Kiyota makes a lengthy analysis of Mahavairocana ("truth per se") and the gorin hOti5 (five level stllpa). This analysis leads him to an interpreta- tion of Okano's major innovations at the heart of Gedatsukai: the distinctive ancestral rite is "designed to purify the mind" and is preparatory to the meditation practice "designed to communi- cate with the world of truth (dharmadhatu) , the world of Maha- vairocana" (p. 68). Throughout his interpretation of Gedatsu- kai, Kiyota claims that Okano's teaching and Gedatsukai's practices are the same as or identical to formal Shingon Mikkyo doctrine. For example, when interpreting the ancestral rite and rei (usually translated as spirit or soul), he says that "When the word rei appears in Gedatsukai literature, it refers to what is called citta (mind) in Buddhist Sanskrit literature," and he equates rei and similar terms (seishin or spirit; kokoro or heart) with "the vital forces of Mahavairocana" (p. 69). This manner of equating Gedatsu theory and practice with Shingon doctrine raises a number of crucial questions, all of which revolve around the nature of interpretation itself. When equating Gedatsu practice and Shingon doctrine, what is meant by the phrases "refers to," "represents," "symbolizes"? Does it mean that this is an analogy drawn by the author between Ge- datsukai teaching and Shingon Mikkyo? Does it mean that this was the original motivation or intention of the founder Okano? Does it mean that this is the intent or ethos of a movement as evidenced in a pattern of belief and practice? Clarification of these questions is important, because those who are not Bud- dhologists (such as the reviewer) need the help of Buddhologists in unraveling the nature and significance of the new religions. Social scientists tend to slight or disregard the significance of Buddhist doctrine in the new religions, seeing them as responses 156 -to social disruption. By clarifying the nature of the Buddhist content in new religions such as Gedatsukai, Buddhologists can help social scientists and historians of religion broaden and deepen their interpretation of Japanese new religions. The questions raised by Kiyota's study will help stimulate the dia- logue among scholars of various disciplines about the signifi- cance of Japanese new religions, and new Buddhist movements in other countries. We are indebted to Kiyota for opening this dialogue, and would hope that other Buddhologists will follow his lead of working with Japanese new religions. H. Byron Earhart A Study of the Twenty-two Dialogues on Mahayana Buddhism, by W. Pachow. Taipei, 1979. Pp. 126. $15.00 (paperback). This is a significant and valuable publication, for which all students of the history and philosophy of Buddhism will be grateful to Dr. Pachow. It contains a critically edited Chinese text, in Chinese characters, of a short but remarkable work called Ta-ch'eng-erh-shih-erh-wen, written by T'an-K'uang, a learned Chi:t:J.ese Buddhist monk of the eighth century; an Eng- lish translation of the text; and an introduction dealing with various aspects of the historical context and doctrinal contents of the work. The format of this publication is not very inviting. It seems to have been put together from two issues of a magazine, The Chinese Culture: A Quarterly Review, vol. XX, No.1 pp. 15-64; and voL XX, No.2, pp. 35-131 published in 1979. The format, however, does not minimize its significance and value. The work is based on three manuscripts, two belonging to Pelliot's collection (P. 2960 and P.2287) and one belonging to Stein's collection (S.2074) kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Pachow informs us that each of these manuscripts is in- complete and imperfect in many ways. He has fixed the edited version of the text after careful collation and comparison of all three manuscripts. The newly edited and published text con- tains "roughly 13000 Chinese characters with nearly 400 entries of footnotes and comments" (p. 32) . . In his introduction, Pachow discusses several topics relating to possible circumstances leading to composition of Ta-ch'eng- erh-shih-erh-wen, translated as The Twenty-two Dialogues on Ma- hayana Buddhism. This work turns out to be a joint creation of T'an-K'uang of China and King Khri-srong-lde-tsan of Tibet. This sounds strange, but Pachow has shown that the twenty-two questions answered and explained in this book were formulated and dispatched by the Tibetan monarch to the Chi- nese master of the Dharma while the latter was living in a mon- astery in Tun-huang. Although the name of the Tibetan mon- arch is not mentioned in the text, in his preface to the work T'an-K'uang refers to a certain king as "Your Majesty." Pachow's suggestion that this does not refer to the_ Chinese emperor Teh- tsung (780-804), who is not known to have been interested in Buddhism, is speculative but acceptable. On the other hand, in 781 the Tibetan army had invaded China and conquered Sha- chou and its adjoining areas, including Tun-huang. The author of the text was living in Tun-huang during the Tibetan occupa- tion. Moreover, the contents of the treatise reveal a remarkable correspondence to the doctrinal issues that became the central concern of an international Buddhist conference held in Tibet, in which eminent Buddhist masters and philosophers of India, Tibet, and China took an active part. This conference, or doctri- nal debate, was held at bSam-Yas in Tibet, in 781 A.D. according to Pachow, between 792 and 794 A.D. according to Demieville and Tucci (Paul Demieville, Le Concile de Lhasa, 1952; Giuseppe Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, part II, Rome, 1958). In this debate, the issue of the differences between the followers of the "Sud- den Path" propagated by the Ch'an masters headed by Ma- hayana Ho-shang of China, and those of the "Gradual Path" propagated by the Indian Buddhist Acaryas of the Bodhisatt- vayana, headed first by and then by KamalasIla, was discussed and decided under the chairmanship of the Tibetan King Khri-srong-lde-tsan. The Chinese party was defeated and the classical Buddhist doctrine of the Bodhisattvayana, based on the twin principles of wisdom (prajna) and compassion (karu'TJa), was officially accepted as established. The devoutly Buddhist Khri-srong-lde-tsan, whom D. L. Snellgrove assigns to 740-792 A.D., may then have sent a list of twenty-two questions to the Chinese Buddhist master T'an-K'uang, seeking their clarifica- tion, as it were, from a third and impartial authority on Bud- dhist doctrines and practices. T'an-K'uang's learned answers re- sulted in the production of The Twenty-two Dialogues on Mahayana Buddhism. The tradition of dialogue literature in Buddhism is very ancient indeed. The nearest parallel to the work of T'an- K'uang is the Milindapanha. 158 159 The dialogues were completed between 781 and 787. They are a valuable source of authentic information on points of con- troversy among Buddhists belonging. to different schools of practice and interpretation. The author, in the course of his detailed answers, quotes several siitras and sastras including the following: Vimalakfrtinirdesa, Ak!sayamatinirdesa, Saddharmapur;a- rfka, Lankavatara, M ahilyanaSraddhotpadasastra, V ijiiaptimatrata- siddhi, and Mahilyanasar{tgraha. The questions and answers relate to several important Buddhological ideas such as bhutatathata, Tathagatagarbha, dharmakaya, salJlsara, nirva:o.a, and some soteriological and ethical practices associated with sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas. The last and twenty-second question is of histori- cal significance, and concerns the differences between the "original" Dharma taught by the Buddha and the doctrines and practices associated with different sects that emerged in the course of different councils held -in India. T'an-Kuang's answer to this question is the longest (pp. 72-85). In his answer, he tells the Tibetan king that the first Buddhist Council was held in the twelfth year after the mahilparinirvarJ,a, which is not true. He gives interesting details of the origin of controversies concerning "five heretical theses" propounded by the notorious monk, Ma- hadeva. The author gives some fanciful etymologies of proper names, such as that of the Vatsiputrlya, Kaukkutika, and Kasya- prya. On the whole, this is a very interesting and illuminating document, discovered in the ruins of Buddhist monasteries in Tun-huang. Its contents can be profitably studied in the light of the three Bhavanakramas of Kamalasrla, composed soon after the debate of bSam Yas. They also are relevant to a fresh study of the relation between Sravakayana and Bodhisattvayana. The book can be recommended to both the specialist and the general reader. L. M. Joshi Zen & Christian: The Journey Between, by John Dykstra Eusden. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1981. 184 p. index. $10.95. In a continuing succession of books appearing in the field of Buddhist-Christian dialogue, this is one of the more r e c e ~ t . The dialogue here takes place within one person, who is both a Con- gregational minister and a member of a Zen Buddhist temple. This book speaks of Eusden's 'Journey between," a term not too far from John Dunne's "passing over." Dunne is concerned with learning of another tradition by active participation in it. He implies a type of transformation, or new way of seeing. Eusden, then, has become a Zen-Christian. The book is primarily ad- dressed to the Christian who wonders about other religious paths, but it serves as a short introduction to Zen as well. There are five major sections in this book: 1. More than one thing, 2. What is Zen?, 3. The journey to Zen, 4. Christianity and Zen- Alike and Unlike, and 5. Two ways together. Eusden states that both traditions have a "claim" on him. He sought out Zen because he found Christianity often lacking in "a dimension of depth" (Paul TiIIich's phrase). In his experience of Zen, Eusden finds more to add to Paul's fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. He adds "simplicity, beauty, wonder, and the body." Eusden also states: "The crossing over to Zen is not done to gain some new base of certainty, but rather in the hope of 'attaining insight and understanding,' as the Roman Catholic writer John Dunne says, and thereby gaining a sense of personal integration and function." He is aware, however, that he carries over western baggage into the Zen experience. The author defines Zen on page 34, following D. T. Suzuki, as an art of seeing into the nature of one's being and the pointer of the way from bondage to freedom. He claims that before this seeing is accomplished, one will experience questioning, doubt, and anguish. In other words, the whole being is involved, not only the mind. Eusden does not come across only as a mental gymnast. Rather, his search seems to come from the roots of his being. There is a sense of apology in this book: he points out that Zen is not especially Buddhist; it is simply "nothing special, nothing special." Eusden attempts to convince the reader of "overlooked si- milarities which occur in the Puritan tradition" with Zen (p. 141). He goes on to speak of William Ames, John Cotton, John Winthrop, Jonathan Edwards, and others. Even though I realize that this is his Christian heritage, I find no such similarities. There is a failure to convince here, but one sees an attempt on his part to make peace with his own Congregationalist heritage. He says at one point, on page 143: "As the Puritan considers his major task to be that of living out his thankfulness for being in the covenant of grace, so the Zen person lives out in meditation 160 and compassion his thanksgiving for the teaching and direction of Buddha and the patriarchs." This does not sound like Zen the way I understand it, where Buddha is also "nothing special" for the. Zenist. Indeed, he finally admits (p. 150): "So parallels be- tween Zen and Christianity are present, but they do not run deep." With this, most of us concur. There is little, or no, inter- est from the side of the Zen adherent in coming to grips with Christianity experientially; the street seems one-way. Eusden demonstrates his dependence upon both Edwards and Hakuin, and states that no one way is sufficient for under- standing the mystery of existence. He admits that both expres- sions, Christian and Zen, have a claim on him. He concludes, "I am teaching Christian ethics and ministering to a Congregation- al church, but I am also teaching and practicing Zen Buddhism." 1 do not have a problem with this, do you? G. W. Houston III. PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS Presidential Address Given on the. Occasion of the Fifth Conference of The International Association of Buddhist Studies, Hertford College, Oxford, England, August 16-21, 1982 by Walpola Rahula Let me express my deep gratitude to the International Associ- ation of Buddhist Studies and to the organizer of this confer- ence, Professor Richard Gombrich, for the honour they have done me by inviting me to preside at this august assembly of eminent scholars. It gives me great pleasure to greet all of you assembled here from the four quarters of the world, and with a sense of humility I look back on the work done in our field by our illustrious predecessors, knowing that their example will further what we propose to do here. The early nineteenth century may be regarded as the be- ginning of one of the most important eras in Buddhist history since Asoka's time in the 3rd century B.C. Never before in the history of Buddhism was Buddhist literature so widely dissemi- nated throughout the world in so many different languages. This may be considered or interpreted as a new form of Dhar- macakrapravartana, particularly in the Western world. This "Setting in motion the Wheel of Truth" in the Occi- . dent began in earnest with the publication in 1826 of the Essai 162 ';ur"Ze Pali by the French Orientalist Eugene Burnouf (1801- ii852) in co.llaboration the German scholar Las.sen. may nghtly be consIdered the father of BuddhIst studIes iin the West. Among his eminent pupils was the well-known ('German Indologist Max Muller. I;;, Interest in Buddhist studies gradually spread from Paris to t13elgium, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Russia, England, i'and the United States. Buddhologists in these countries during last one-hundred-and-fifty years have contributed enor- to the spread of Buddhist thought in many different languages. In Denmark, Victor Fausboll brought out in 1855 edition of the Dhammapada, the best known Buddhist text, accompanied by a translation and notes in Latin. This was the Jirst Pali text to be published in full in Europe in Roman char- :acters. England, though, has rendered the greatest service to .Buddhism in the West. T. W. Rhys Davids, after eight years as a .civil servant in Sri Lanka, where he studied Pali, returned to England in 1872, and began to work with other Orientalists in The greatest of his many and varied contributions to ,Pali Buddhist studies was the foundation of the Pali Text Soci- 'Hy in 1881, in order "to render accessible to students the rich stores of the earliest Buddhist literature." He directed the ac- tivities of the Society, harnessing and co-o!"dinating talents scat- ltered in many countries, both East and West. The Pali Text Society in its early period lacked funds and was supported by Buddhist countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. Today, however, it is self-supporting and flourish- ing. In this connection, with a sense of profound gratitude, we should remember the Society's late President, Miss 1. B. Horner, not only for devoting all her energy to its welfare as her life work, but also for placing it on a sound financial basis by establishing a generous fund in her name for the perpetua- tion of the Society. Now, the PTS is progressing quite satisfacto- rily and smoothly under the direction of its new President, Mr. K. R. Norman of Cambridge, and its Secretary, Professor Rich- ard Gombrich of Oxford; Thanks to the Pali Text" Society, we have now in Roman characters all the Pali Canon of the Tipitaka, though some of the 163 Abhidhamma texts need editing more fully. In addition, it has also edited, in some sixty volumes, the Pali commentaries of the Tipitaka, besides a good number of other post-canonical works. There are the English translations, in some fifty-eight volumes of practically the whole Tipitaka. To these should be added t h ~ Pali-English Dictionary, English-Pali Dictionary, The Dictionary of Pali Proper Names and The Pali Tipitaka Concordance. It is interesting to observe that while countries on the Eu- ropean continent like France and Belgium specialized in Ma- hayana, England specialized in Theravada. One has only to look into the Bibliographie Bouddhique of thirty-odd volumes, published in Paris under the editorship of the late Mademoiselle Marcelle Lalou, to realize the tremen- dous amount of work produced in the field of Buddhist studies in different languages in the West during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the level of practice and observance, today in the West- ern world, including the United States, there are hundreds of Buddhist temples, viharas and meditation centres, both of Theravada and Mahayana, and two Buddhist universities in the U.S.A. Meanwhile, in the East, the "Setting in motion the Wheel of Truth" in recent years assumed multifarious forms at differ- ent levels of activity. The World Fellowship of Buddhists was inaugurated in 1950 in Colombo under the leadership of the late Professor G. P. Malalasekera, my teacher in the University of Ceylon. Lead- ing representatives of Theravada and of different sects of Ma- hayana from twenty-nine countries, in both East and West, par- ticipated in this assembly. This was, perhaps, the first time in the history of Buddhism that delegates of almost all schools of Buddhism assembled on the same platform to deliberate the interest and welfare of their religion. This congress brought all Buddhist countries, communities, and groups throughout the world closer together. At this assembly, it was resolved not to use any longer the old-fashioned term Hlnayana, Small Vehi- cle, with reference to Buddhism prevalent in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and some other parts of the world; but, rather, Theravada, because Theravada is not Hlnayana, and there is no Hlnayana sect extant today as a 164 r2brnrounity anywhere in the It is strange that there are some out-moded scholars who use the term Hlnayana with 1ieference to Theravada. The headquarters of the World Fel- of Buddhists is at present in Bangkok, Thailand. eOj In 1956, the celebration on a grand international scale of Jayanti, 2500th anniversary of the Parinirvarpa of the :'Buddha, created a new interest in Buddhism. To mark this 'historic event, various important activities were undertaken in 'different countries. Special mention should be made of the /Chattha Sangayana, the Sixth Synod or Council, in Rangoon, lBurma, which, with the collaboration of learned Maha Theras from all Theravada countries, collated and brought out a new edition of the Pali Tipitaka. The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, under 'the editorship of the late Professor Malalasekera, was started in .Sri Lanka. Also, the publication of a new edition of the Pali iTipitaka, with a Sinhala translation, was initiated in Sri Lanka ;under the patronage of the government. In India, a complete edition of the Pali Tip#aka in Devanagari script was produced :for the first time under the editorship of the late Venerable Jagadlsha Kasyapa Maha Thera, the uncle of Professor A. K. Narain and my revered sabrahmacari (co-celibate) from the Vi- dyaiankara Pirivena, Sri Lanka. Many other literary works, both big and small, were published' in both the East and West. Meriting special mention in this connection is the remarkable work of the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, Sri Lanka, under the editorship of the German-born Buddhist monk, Venerable Nyanaponika Maha Thera, to popularize the teach- ing of the Buddha in a large number of countries among read- ers of different levels. In 1966, the World Buddhist Sangha Council was inaugu- in Sri Lanka, bringing closer together the members of the r Sangha of the Theravada and the Mahayana. At the request of ;r; the founding Secretary-General of this organization, the late Venerable Pandit Pimbure Sorata Thera, I had the honour of a formula for the unification of the Theravada and Mahayana. This formula, which was unanimously accepted (:f by the Council, is now published as Appendix IV of my Heritage So! the Bhikkhu (Grove Press, New York). The last Congress of World Buddhist Sangha Council was held in Taiwan on a scale during the first week of December, 1981. 1 165 The only international Buddhist and Pali University in the world was opened in Colombo on the 22nd of April this year. I had the privilege of planning and organizing this institution at the request of the President and the Prime Minister of the. Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Buddhism and Pali are compulsOry subjects. In addition, as optional subjects, there are in the curriculum various other languages, both Eastern and Western, religions, philosophies, histories, cultures, etc. No vocational subjects, such as agriculture, engineering, or medi- cine will be taught. Although intended primarily for the educa- tion and training of Buddhist monks, this university is open to all, Buddhists and on-Buddhists, laymen and women. Students in foreign countries can take the examinations of this university as external students, without even going to Sri Lanka. Its affili- ated colleges may be established not only in Sri Lanka, but also in foreign countries. The motto of the university is a saying of the Buddha's taken from the original Pali Canon, dearly indi- cating the aim of the institute: Dhammacakkar(l pavattetur(l "To set in motion the Wheel of Truth." To turn to our organization, the International Association of Buddhist Studies: this, as we hope, is a new, additional push to the Wheel of Truth on an international scale,.since this asso- ciation brings together learned Buddhologists from many parts of the world for discussion and exchange of views at an intellec- tuallevel, and creates new interests and promotes further stud- ies. We owe our gratitude for its founding General-Secretary, Professor A. K. Narain, who inaugurated it at the University of Wisconsin. At the same time, our sincere thanks are due to Professor Richard Gombrich, local secretary and coordinator of this Fifth Conference, for organizing it so magnificently here at this seat of learning at Oxford. I give you my best wishes and blessings for the complete success of this conference in all your deliberations, and hope that this Congress will produce far-reaching results in mould- ing Buddhist studies in the future. 166 167 IV. NOTES AND NEWS A Report on the 5th Conference of the lABS Hertford College, University of Oxford, Oxford England August 16-21, 1982 The 5th Conference of the International Association of Bud- dhist Studies opened with registration and a reception on the Hertford College lawn, August 16, 1982. An All-Conference Dinner was held that same evening, after which Dr. the Ven. Walpola Rahula, President of the 5th Conference, was intro- duced to the conference participants by Professor Richard Gom- brich, Local Secretary and organizer of the conference. Dr. Ra- hula gave his opening address, which is printed in this issue of the] Dumal. The conference was organized by Professor Gombrich so that when reading of papers began the next morning, Tuesday, August 17, there were two sessions running simultaneously: a Special Session arranged by organizers far in advance of the conference on very specific subjects, on which papers had been written and circulated in advance to the participants, and a Gen- eral Session, arranged closer to the conference dates to accomo- date all other papers. The Special Sessions included three ses- sions on Buddhist Logic and Epistemology, organized by Bimal Krishna Matilal of Oxford University; two sessions on Art and Iconography organized by T. S. Maxwell of SARAS; a session on Anthropology organized by Michael Carrither.s and Nicholas Al- len, both of Oxford University; a session on Tibetan Religious and Philosophical Thought organized by Paul Williams of the University of Bristol; and a session on Contemporary Japanese Buddhism organized by Pichael Pye of the University of Leeds. Dr. Richard A. Gard, Director of the Institute for the Advanced Study of World Religions (IASWR), organized a Plenary Session entitled "The Progress of Academic Projects Concerning Bud- dhism," which may be the first in an on-going lABS tradition of holding a session on such a topic at 'every International Conference. Professor Gombtich also arranged sight-seeing tours of his- toric Oxford and the vicinity, as well as two guided coach tours to near-by areas of historical interest: Blenheim Palace, the an- cestral home of the Churchill family, and Stratford-on-Avon, home of Shakespeare. Time was left in the program for partici- pants to see a Shakespeare play, Othello, or to do as they pleased. One evening was devoted to films and slides by lABS members: Dr. Edward Bastian showed a film entitled "Tibetan Buddhism: Preservirig the Monastic Tradition," Dr. Anne Vergati showed slides on the marriage rituals of Newari Buddhists; and the Ven. Hiu Wan showed slides of Buddhist paintings entitled "Cool Purity." Because of the variety of participants in the conference, this year Professor Gombrich arranged an entirely vegetarian fare for the guests. Everyone seemed pleased and surprised at the quality and quantity of the food, served by the normally tradi- tional "meat and potatoes" cooks, and the conference ended on Saturday, August 21, with a delightful conference luncheon. As in past conferenceS", it was agreed by all that the papers were excellent, stimulating, and well presented, and that Oxford was indeed a wonderful site for a conference. Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the lABS, 5th Conference, Oxford, England, August 18, 1982 Present: A. L. Basham, Chairperson; Richard A. Gard; Richard Gombrich, Regional Secretary for Europe and Local Secretary, 5th Conference; L. M. Joshi, Editor, JIABS; Leslie Kawamura; Beatrice D. Miller, Treasurer; A. K. Narain, General Secretary and Editor-in-Chief,JIABS; D. Seyfort Ruegg; Jikido Takasaki, Editor,JIABS; Robert Thurman, editor,JIABS; Alex Wayman; and Akira Yuyama, Regional Secretary for Asia. Also invited was Amalia Pezzali. Professor Basham opened the meeting with greetings, and asked the General Secretary to give his report. 168 Report of the General Secretary, Professor A. K. Narain Professor N arain reported that since the last international conference in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, the main concerns of the lABS have been financial and membership numbers. He noted that the lABS still needs to increase its membership, not only in economically developed countries that are lar.gely repre- sented already, but in countries such as India, Nepal, Bangla- desh, Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Malaysia,. Singapore, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Pakistan, etc. Membership statistics as of July 28, 1982, were given as follows: TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP NUMBER Full Member in good standing (dues paid up to and including 1981) 298 Subsidized Members in good standing 25 Student Members in good standing 2 Institutional Members in good standing 93 Honorary Fellows 15 Members not in good standing but still on the mailing list for one year 60 TOTAL 493 The regional distribution of the total membership, representing 29 countries, is: WORLD AREA Asia and Australia Europe North and South America NUMBER 159 78 256 Professor Narain pointed out that even though many from eco- nomically-developing countries are eligible for subsidized rates, only 25 individuals from those countries have applied for mem- bership in the lABS. In addition to the 93 Institutional Members, The j oumal of the lABS has an exchange relationship with 3 institutions: The Oriental Institute in Baroda, India (for the j oumal of the Oriental Institute); Punjabi University in Patiala, India (for thejoumal of Religious Studies); The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India (for the Tibet journal); and an exchange rela- tionship with The Pali Buddhist Review, published in London, England. In discussing ways to increase the membership in the lABS, Professor N arain noted that although affiliation with the North American Buddhist Society (NABS) was discounted at the last conference, due to the by-laws of the lABS, the possibility of their dissolution brings on the prospect of inviting the NABS members into the lABS in the form of a national (North Ameri- can) chapter of the lABS. Other countries could increase lABS membership in a similar manner, that is, by instituting local chapters. As can be expected, the main activity and lifeblood of the lABS is the production of the journal. There are problems that are hard to avoid, such as uneven representation of the various disciplines in Buddhist Studies. Most of the papers received by the editors are in Buddhist doctrine, philosophy and textual studies, with little representation in areas such as Theravada Buddhism, etc. Professor Takasaki is getting so many papers in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism that ~ e could use another edi- tor to assist him. . As far as the Bibliographie Bouddhique is concerned, there was no progress to report. A lot of suggestions have been made, but no one is willing or able to finance the ideas. Professor Narain was pleased to announce that after a long process of detailed correspondence, The journal of the lABS is officially copyrighted from all of its back issues through the present, and will continue to be protected by the copyright laws in the future. There has been a lot of discussion among the members as to whether or not the lABS should continue to hold annual inter- national conferences. Although some say that conferences should be held every 2 years because they can't attend an inter- national conference every year, yearly conferences boost lABS membership greatly, and since the Association is still fairly young, this is needed. Professor Narain noted that in other soci- eties, not all of the members and Directors attend every confer- ence, and that the lABS is getting invitations every year, and wanted to record his inclination to accept yearly conferences as long as these circumstances prevail. 170 :171 Report of the Treasurer, Dr. Beatrice D. Miller Dr. Miller announced that, the lABS has finally fully com- plied with the regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Revenue, to qualify as a tax exempt organization. The Treasurer's report for the period from 8/6/81 to 8/1/82 is as follows: CURRENT ASSETS Checking Acct. Savings Acct. I-Year Passbook Checks TOTAL INCOME Dues, subscriptions, etc. l 4th Conference 5th Conference 2 Donations, ]JABS3 $577.23 $3,553.44 $2,558.01 $1,068.00 $7,756.68 $7,442.00 $1,310.50 $1,068.00 2nd Conference 4 Payments from Japan 5 Interest on passbook, $200.00 $425.00 $650.00 savings TOTAL BALANCE FROM 1981 TOTAL LESS EXPENSES TOTAL $339.03 $11,494.53 $8,945.00 $20,439.53 $12,682.85 $7,756.68 CURRENT LIABILITIES Thomson-Shore (Printer, Volume V #1, ]JABS.) Estimates: Thomson-Shore $1,860.00 (V #2) $1,700.00 Ries Graphics (Typesetter, Volume V, #2, ]JABS.) 5th Conference: Land transport (3) 1 night hotel (3) Registration (3) TOTAL EXPENSES $2,500.00 $120.00 $75.00 $534.00 $6,789.00 Coda Press (Typesetter, IV #2,]JABS.) $1,960.60 Ries Graphics (V #1) $2,547.06 Thomson-Shore (IV #1,2) $3,012.26 5th Conference: airfare (2) $1,374.00 airfare (1) $638.00 IUOAS dues ('80-'82) $150.00 Copyright registrations (jIABS I#2-IV#2) $70.00 4th Conference 6 $2,162.16 Dept. of South Asian Studies (xerox, postage, telephone, etc.) $522.80 Miscellaneous (petty cash, bank charges, postage, telephone, etc.) $245.97 TQTAL $12,682.85 1. This figure excludes the payments made in Yen to Dr. Akira Yuyama, and not yet forwarded to the Treasurer. 2. Subvention paid in through Pounds Sterling through Professor Gombrich of $534.00 (.300) to General Secretary and Assistant, to- ward travel/registration expenses. 3. Contribution to ]lABS, by Professor, the Rev. Chang Sheng-Yen. 4. As the new Director of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Professor Gustav Roth was able to arrange to "unfreeze" the Rupees due since the 2nd Conference. 5. Payments made in Yen that were transferred to the lABS Treasurer in August, 1981. 6. The actual expenses incurred for the 4th Conference came to $3,019.21. Thanks to the generous support of the South Asian Studies Department of the University of Wisconsin, the lABS was responsible only for $2,162.16. The balance of $857.05 was provided by the De- partment. In addition, the South Asian Studies Department has met: Salary for Ms. Rena Haggarty, Assistant Secretary, (8/31/81-8/31/82) $2,600.00 Mailing costs $201.94 Correspondence costs, etc. $312.00 Duplicating services $150.00 Xerox $30.00 Telephone $52.98 Stationary $171.97 TOTAL . $3,518.89 minus amount repaid by lABS BALANCE $522.80 $2,996.09 Dr. Miller pointed out that with the current economic con- ditions it is highly questionable that the lABS can continue to receive such life-saving assistance. We must face the prospect that the lABS will need to meet most of these expenses from its own funds in future years. She added that there is only about a $1,000 difference between assets and liabilities, partially because the cost of the Journal exceeded expectations, due to inflation and a larger volume. Report on developing plans for the 6th Conference, to be held in Japan Professor Takaski Jikido, Editor for ]lABS and Secretary General for the 31st International Congress of Human Sciences 172 173 in Asia and North Africa (CISHAAN), announced that plans are progressing well for the 6th Conference of the lABS, to be held in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, August 31 - September 7, 1983, in conjunction with the 31st CISHAAN. This year, in response to an idea from Professor Yamamoto Tatsuro, President of the 31st CISHAAN, CISHAAN is organizing its conference around themes rather than fields of study. As an autonomous lABS section was logistically impossible to arrange, the CISHAAN Secretariat has planned special sessions for the lABS. In most cases, any paper proposed by lABS members will be allotted to Sectional Meeting 3: "Spread of Buddhism and Hindu Culture . in Asia." The following sub-sections have been set up within Sectional Meeting 3: A.I. Buddhism and Hinduism in Ancient Central Asia; II. Buddhism and Hindu Culture in East Asia; III. Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia; IV. Hinduism in South and Southeast Asia; V. Buddhism in Inner Asia (Tibet, Mongo- lia, etc.); VI. Buddhism and Hinduism in the Modern World; and B. Transmission of Buddhist Texts: I. lndic Tradition (in- cluding Southeast Asia); II. Chinese Translation; III. Tibetan Translation (including Inner Asia); IV. Translation into Mod- ern Languages. Special sessions or seminars may be arranged for groups of papers, if there are enough good papers to warrant them. It is planned thata special session on "Current States, Trends and Methods of Buddhist Studies" will be organized within Sectional Meeting 3. There was some discussion and questions about the roles of the two organizations in the joint conference. In particular, there was concern that the high registration fee ($150.00 U.S.) would keep away most lABS members. Professor Leslie Kawa- mura moved a resolution that: Whereas CISHAAN has graciously accomodated the lABS by providing several sub-sections within its Sectional Meet- ing 3, "Spread of Buddhism and Hindu Culture in Asia," and whereas the lABS Secretariat has been in correspon- dence with CISHAAN, we resolve that the 6th Conference of the lABS will be held in conjunction with the 31st CISHAAN provided that the lABS members approve the motion at the General Meeting." This resolution was seconded and passed. Report on an Invitation by Dr. Amalia Pezzali for a future lABS Conference in Italy Professor Pezzali reported that she has asked the University of Bologna, who has agreed, to host a conference of the lABS in a future year, as yet to be decided, and that a cultural center will help provide accommodations. Discussion on the Topic of Yearly Conferences The possibility of an invitation from the International Asso- ciation for the History of Religions (IAHR) for a joint confer- ence in Australia, in 1985, was brought up by Professor Leslie Kawamura. Discussion revolved around Dr. Pezzali's invitation and the implications involved in accepting a conference in 1985 in Aus- tralia, should such an invitation arrive, which led to the question of even holding annual international conferences at all, instead of moving to a bi-annual schedule. Professor Richard Gombrich moved that: After 1983 our lABS conferences shall be held every two years. This resolution was seconded an:d passed. (This resolution was later ammended at the General Meeting to read "after 1985.") Financial Problems of the lABS Professor Narain reported thatjoumal costs keep going up, and that the j oumal is the main activity and life blood of the lABS. He also noted that the lABS could lose the support of the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Wise on- sin, due to their loss in support from the State Government. There were three suggestions for ways to increase income: 1. Request donations specifically for j oumal publication. 2. Sell more ads to other publications and institutions, to be run in the j oumal. 3. Increase lABS membership numbers by opening region- al branches of the lABS. 174 -Minutes of the Meeting of the General Membership fo the lABS, 5th Conference Oxford, England, August 20, 1982 Professor A. L Basham, Chairperson of the lABS, opened and chaired the meeting, which was attended by virtually all 5th Conference participants. The first item on the agenda was thanks given to the many and various people who helped make the conference a success: 1. Professor Richard Gombrich, Local Secretary and orga- nizer of the 5th Conference and Regional Secretary for Europe for the lABS. 2. The Director and staff of the Oriental Institute, Oxford University. 3. The Chairperson of the Department of South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Dr. Narayana Rao, and staff, Madison, WI USA. 4. The organizers of special seminars held during the 5th Conference: Bimal Krishna Matilal, T. S. Maxwell, Michael Car- rithers, Nicholas Allen, Paul Williams, Michael Pye, and Richard A. Gard. 5. The members of the Board of Directors of the lABS and the Secretarial and Editorial Assistants. 6. The following conference assIstants: Louisa Watkins, Leonie Gombrich, Carl Gombrich, Paul Griffiths, Dheeresh Turnbull, Julia Leslie, Dominik Wujastyk, Dr. Sanjukta Gupta, Dr. Berti, Mr. Cook, Richard Holder, Mrs. Slopes, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Godfrey, and Mr. Munro. 7. All those who attended the 5th Conference of the lABS and contributed to the many discusssions. As at the meeting of the Board of Directors, the General Secretary's report was again given at the General Business Meet- ing, with the additional note that changes in the Constitution and By-laws of the lABS approved at the 4th Conference in Wisconsin, are presently printed in Volume V #1, 1982 of the Journal, lABS. Separately bound and printed copies of the new Constitution and By-laws are available upon request from the Madison, Wisconsin office of the lABS. Professor Narain also prefaced a coming discussion on continuing yearly international conferences by pointing out that he has been exploring possibili- ties for conferences right from the founding of the lABS, and had informed the last meeting of a possibility of an invitation from Peking, but that it had to be postponed. In the meanwhile, the lABS has explored invitations from scholars in Japan, Italy, and Paris, and Professor Narain has asked Dr. Walpola Rahula to look into the possibility of a conference "in Sri Lanka. Profes- sor N arain stressed the importance of making a careful decision on whether or not to hold yearly conferences. The Treasurer's report as given at the meeting of the Board of Directors was reiterated at the General Business Meeting, with the added emphasis on the position the lABS holds within the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Wis- consin, and the possibility of losing their support due to budget cut-backs taking effect throughout the entire University of Wis- consin system. Specifically, they contributed almost $3,000 last year to meet secretarial expenses as well as close to $1,000 to- wards hosting the 4th Conference, in Madison. In addition, they provide office space and equipment, very expensive items that are often taken for granted. The Chairperson of the Depart- ment, Professor Narayana Rao, has assured the lABS that he will do his best for the rest of the 82-83 academic year, but as Professor Miller pointed out, the approximately $1,000 differ- ence between assets and liabilites the lABS now enjoys would become a deficit of over $4,000 should we lose that support, not to mention the office and equipment. Professor Basham moved a resolution that The General Business Meeting of the lABS expresses its deep gratitude to the Department of South Asian Stud- ies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI USA, for its continued support ofthe lABS, its Journal, and its activities, since its inception in 1976. This resolution was passed by unanimous acclaim. Before reading the resolutions passed at the meeting of the Board of Directors and inviting discussion and approval, Profes- sor Basham read a letter of resignation from Professor A. K. Narain, General Secretary. Professor Robert]. Miller's name was proposed as successor to Professor Narain, and was unanimously approved by accla- mation. A vote of thanks to Professor A. K. N arain for his devo- tion to the lABS was passed by acclamat.ion as welL The first resolution passed at the meeting of the Board of Directors was discussed. Professor Takasaki made a special invi- tation to the members of the lABS to participate in a concurrent 176 conference with the 31st CISHAAN, and added that the follow- ing conditions obtained: 1. The CISHAAN registration fee will include the registra- tion fee for attendees of the 6th Conference of the lABS, and payment of this fee will enable lABS members to attend and participate in all CIAHAAN activities. 2. At the 6th Conference, lABS attendees will be issued special identification tags and a special schedule of lABS papers, in addition to the more extensive CISHAAN program. 3. Special rooms will be provided for regular lABS confer- ence activities, such as the Opening Session and Presidential Address, the General Business Meeting, and the meeting of the Board of Directors, and will be indicated on the special lABS program. 4. In most cases, papers proposed by lABS members will be read in Sectional Meeting 1.3, Spread of Buddhism and Hindu Culture in Asia. He also announced the special sub-sections set up within Sectional Meeting 1.3 (see report of the Board of Director's Meeting for details). In other cases, papers will be assigned to other sections if appropriate, and special seminars may be arranged for groups of papers that do not fit any of CISHAAN's existing categories. He also agreed to the plan of the lABS to continue holding a session on the current state of Buddhist Studies. 5. lABS members may obtain a registration fee receipt spe- cifically mentioning the 6th Conference of the lABS by request- ing this at the time of payment of fees. The CISHAAN registra- tion fees, which include the 6th Conference of the lABS registration fees, do not include the annual membership dues of the lABS, which are required for participation in any lABS conference. Professor Takasaki added that the CISHAAN invitation to the lABS members to participate in their 31st Congress held whether or not the membership decided to hold the conferences concurrently. The resolution passed by the Board of Directors was unani- mously approved by the General Business Meeting. The next item was to propose the name of the President of the 6th Conference. Dr. Akira Yuyama proposed that Professor Gadjin Najao, Honorary Fellow and Founding Chairperson, lABS, be the President of the 6th Conference of the lABS in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, August 31 to September 7, 1983. This resolution was passed unanimously. The next item of discussion concerned to so-far annual in- ternational conferences held by the lABS, and whether to con- tinue the yearly schedule. This topic required a lot of thought and discussion, but because of a time shortage, had to be carried on over dinner-and picked up again formally later in the eve- ning. After a long and colorful discussion, an amendment to the second resolution passed by the Board of Directors was pro- posed by Dr. K. K. Mittal, seconded, and passed, that After the year 1985 the international lABS confer- ences shall be held every two years, and not annually. A final resolution was passed thanking Professor Pezzali for her invitation for an international conference of the lABS to be held in Italy in a future year, with the endorsement to take the matter up with the University of Bologna as soon as possible. Discussion and suggestions from the General Membership A resolution was proposed by Dr. Beatrice Miller com- mending Dr. Edward Bastian for the film he produced and showed at the conference, and encouraging further films in the same direction: This meeting, being most impressed by the splendid work of Dr. Edward Bastian in producing films on Bud- dhism, strongly supports his work and urges all authorities and educational television stations and institutions to give him whatever support possible. The resolution was seconded and passed unanimously. Professor Robert Miller, on behalf of graduate students in Japan, invited all interested in work with micro-computers in Buddhist Studies to contact him. . When asked if any proceedings would be published from this conference, Professor Basham said that probably it would be too expensive, but that it would be up to Professor Gombrich. However, he pointed out that the best papers read at the confer- ence would stand a chance of publication in a future issue of 178 ,179 jiABS, if presented to the editor in proper form, described on the inside back cover of every issue of the] oumal. Since there were no further points from the floor, Professor Basham closed the meeting with a final comment on the pro- nunciation of Buddhist Sanskrit terms correctly by scholars in the .field, something often glaringly overlooked. Rena Haggarty Prof. Francis H. Cook Program in Religious Studies University of California Riverside, CA 92521 Prof. H. Byron Earhart Dept. of Religion Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008 Prof. Peter N. Gregory Dept. of Religious Studies Building 70 Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305 Ms. Rena Haggarty Dept. of South Asian Studies University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706 Rev. G. W. Houston 500 Wheatland Avenue Logansport, IN 46947 Prof. L. M. Joshi Margaret Guest Center for the Cross-Cultural Study of Religion Haverford College Haverford, P A 19041 Prof. Damien Keown Dept. of Religion Goldsmith's ColJege University of London New Cross London SE14 6NW England 180 CONTRIBUTORS Prof. Tsug1;lnari Kubo The Reiyukai 1-7-8 Azabudai Minato-ku Tokyo 106 Japan Prof. Whalen Lai Religious Studies University of California Davis, CA 95616 Ven. Walpola Rahula Flat 4 Gilling Court 35 DelSize Court London NW3 4UY England Prof. Gregory Schopen Dept. of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures The University of Michigan 3070 Frieze Building Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Dr. L. W. J. van der Kuijp Nepal Research Centre Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project New Baneshwar P.O.B.180 Kathmandu Nepal Editor: Chung-ying Cheng, University of Hawaii "Indispensable to specialists and laymen alike who want to understand the ideological tendencies in Mainland China and the development of recent Chinese thought. ... the ideas are dynamic and the writing lively. The journal is highly recommended. "-Wing-tsit Chan, Dartmouth Col/ege ", .. probably the best English source for a good understanding of sub- jects discussed by Chinese Marxist philosophers today." -Charles Wei-hsun Fu, Temple University Sample Issue Contents Reevaluating "One Divides into Two" and "Two Combine into One" On the Difference between "One Divides into Two" and "Two Com- bine into One" "One Divides into Two" Reveals Struggle; "Two Combine into One" Reveals Unity "One Divides into Two" Cannot Fully Describe the Theory of the Unity of Opposites On the Problem of the Debate over "One Divides into Two" and "Two Combine into One" How to Interpret Correctly "One Divides into Two" The Place and Function of the Identity of Contradiction in the Development of Things-A Draft Discussion Quarterly First Issue: Fall 1969 Institutions: $144 Individuals: $37 c../V1. E Sharpe Inc. 80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, New York 10504 "Significant progress in Buddhist studies ... " --;-History of Religions Religion and Legitimation of POlcer i11 Sri Lanka Religion and Legitimatio11 of P01cer i11 Tbaila11d. Laos and Burma Edited by Bardwell Smith By understanding the history and politics of Sinhalese Buddhism one better understands its canonical and folk/anthropological dimensions. This collection of twenty-seven essays by well- known experts includes seminal work by Heinz Bechert, notably "The Beginnings of Buddhist Historiography: Mahavamsa and Political Thinking." "The two volumes ... are signs of a sophistication of approach that is now beginning to be seen in the study of Sinhalese Buddhism." -History of Religions, 1981 "The high scholarship ... and basic character of the questions make important reading for South Asia specialists ... 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