buddhist soteriology

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THE JOURNAL

OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

E D I T O R I N C H I E F

Roger Jackson

Depl.

of Religion

Carleton College

Northfield,MN 55057

E D I T O R S

Peter N.

(Gregory

University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

Alexander W. Macdonald

Universile de Paris X

Nanterre, France

Steven Collins

Concordia University

Montreal,

Canada

Ernst Steinkellner

University of Vienna

Wien, Austria

Jikido Takasaki

University ofTokyo

Tokyo, Japan

Robert Thurman

Columbia University

New

York,

New

York,

USA

Volume 13

1990

Number 1


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C O N T E N T S

I . A R T I C L E S

1.

T ib e ta n M ate r ia l s in the Asia Rare Book Col lec t ion of

the L ib ra ry of Co ngress

by John B. Buescher

1

2.

T he Re l ig ious S tan d ing o f Burm ese Bud dh i s t N uns

(thild-shin): The Ten Precepts and Rel ig ious

Respec t W ords byHiroko Kawanam i 17

3 . A Poss ib le Ci ta t ion of C an dr ag om in ' s L ost

*

Kayatrayavatara by Peter

Shilling

41

4.

M edi ta t ion and Co sm ology : T h e Physica l Bas is of

the Concen t ra t ions and Formless Absorp t ions

Ac cord ing to dG e- lugs T ib e tan Presen ta t ions

by

Leah Zahler

53

I I .

C O N F E R E N C E R E P O R T

1.

"Bu ddh i s t So te rio logy : T he

Marga

a n d O t h e r

A ppro ach es to L ib e ra t io n" : A Confe rence Repor t

by Robert E. Buswell, Jr. andRobertM. Gimello 79

I I I . R E V I E W S

1. Maham udra: The Qu

intessence

of Mind and Meditation,

by Tash i N am gya l [ tr . Lo bsan g Lh a lu ng pa ]

(M at th ew K aps te in) 101

2 . Les

Tamang

du Nepal:

Usages

et religion,

religion

de I'usage,

by Brig i t te Ste inmann

(Dav id H olm be rg ) 114


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IV . NOTES AND NEWS

1. Notice

of Studies inCentraland East Asian Religions

(Per K va erne ) 117

LIST O F CO N T RIB U TO RS 119


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I I .

CONFERENCE REPORT

Buddh i s t So t e r io logy : The Marga a n d O t h e r A p p r o a c h e s t o

L i b e r a t i o n "

A Confe rence Re por t ,by Robert E. Buswell,Jr. and

Robert

M. Gimello

Religious Studies, particularly the cross-cultural version thereof

w

hich is often known as Comparative Religion, has long promised

to liberate scho lars from culture-b oun d categories, perspectives, and

m

ethods. This promise has regularly taken the form of an exhorta

tion combined with an invitationan exhortation to cease relying

exclusively on Western (viz., Ju de o-C hris tian ) tradition s in estab

lishing the major features of religious experience or in determining

the general terms in which religion can or should be studied, and an

ln

vit atio n to draw freely upo n othe r tradition s for themes, and

approaches that may be usefully employed in the study of religions

generally. This promise, unfortunately, has seldom been fulfilled. It

js still all too common to find non-Western religious traditions like

Maoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism treated only in terms drawn from

the European heritage, such as prayer, theodicy, transcendence,

m

yth, ritual, eschatology, deity, and so forth. Some such concepts

a r

e useful in the study of traditions other than those in which they

were generated; others prove often to be quite inappropriate if not

utterly untransferable. But this examination has typically been one

sided: where are the Hindu categories used to illumine Christianity,

the Taoist concepts employed in analyzing Ju da ism , the sh am anic

themes applied to Islam? No doubt such truly cross-cultural studies

f religions have been occasionally essayed, but only rarely in a sys

tematic fashion.

This conference on "Buddhist Soteriology" was, among other

things an effort, albeit an admittedly modest and limited one, to

D e

gin to rectify this situa tion . T he conference was held at the U niver-

S1

ty of Californ ia, Los Angeles between the 25th and 30th of

Jun e ,

1988, under the sponsorship of the Join t C om m ittee on Chinese

Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social

Science Research C oun cil, and the University of California System-

wide Grant Program in Pacific Rim Studies. An international group

f twenty scholars, who together covered the entire span of Budd

hism's history and geographical extension, gathered for a wide-rang-

l n

g series of discussions on the problem of soteriology in many of its

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JIABS VOL. 13 NO . 1

most important dimensions. The participants sought to util ize both

Buddhism's emphasis on soteriology as the bedrock of its own iden

tity and the potential use of the con ceptofmdrga, or "path," as a fun

damental category in the field of Religious Studies. All presented

original research on the theories and methods of liberation in Budd

hism and the general question of the role of soteriology in the array

of things that comprise Buddhism; abstracts of the papers presented

at the conference follow in this report. Clarification of the nature of

the relationship between doctrine and religious experiencein

Buddhism and in religions generallywas among the dominant

theoretical goals of the conference. Th e pa rticip an ts w ere joined by

several discussants versed in other religious traditions, including

Bernard Faure (Stanford University), Karl Potter (University of

W ash ing ton ), Lee Yearley (Stanford U niversity), and Yoshihide

Yoshizu (Kom azaw a U niversity), wh o provided a valuable co m para

tive perspective and deepened our appreciation of the potential

implications of this topic.

Hoping to address an audience especially of scholars in Reli

gious Studies, the conference sough t to un de rtake a manifold investi

gation of the primary Buddhist concept or category of

mdrga

the

path"in order both to clarify the range of that category's meaning

in the B uddhist trad ition and to suggest its utility in the cross-cultural

study of religion. It was our co ntention not only th atmdrgais a them e

central to the whole of Buddhism, but also that it has range and

theoretical potential sufficient to allow our speaking usefully of a

Chris t ian mdrga, Jewish

mdrga,

Islamic

mdrga,

etc. T he focus on

Bud dhism made sense, we felt, because, as a potentially cross-cultural

category for the study of religions,

mdrga

has been given its most sus

tained, com prehensive, and subtle explication in Bu ddhism .

Th e Western concept to which the B uddhist category ofmdrgais

most close related is "soteriology." The equivalence, to be sure, is

hardly exact, given, for example, the English term's etymological

implication of "savior," but no other more fitting term has sug

gested itself to us. W ha t we m ean by mdrga or "soteriology " is, gen

erally speaking, the transformative dimension of religion, which is

often manifest as an explicit pattern of religious behavior leading

necessarily to a specific religious goal. While it is certainly true that

transformative powerthe capacity to alter character, values, and

world-viewsis implicit in all religions, nowhere is this more clearly

the case than in Buddhism. That tradition, throughout the two-and-

a-half m illenia of its pan-A siatic career, h as been relentlessly explicit

in declaring itself to be a soteriology above all else. Its unflagging

concentration on "the path" has led not only to the careful and


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CONFERENCE REPORT

81

detailed delineation of numerous curricula of religious practice and

to the precedence of such delineation among the various modes of

Buddhist discourse, but also to the adop tion of ju st those principles

of thought and discourse that would best secure the primacy of

soteriology. Thus we have the recurrent motif of the Buddhist as

therapist rather than theorist, the repeated assertion of the superior

ity of analytical and critical thought over synthetic and constructive

speculation, the characteristic invocation of pragmatic criteria for

the evaluation of doctrines and practices, the pervasive influence of

the meta-theory

oiupqya

(e xpe dienc e), the tendency to choose discip

lined experience (e.g., meditation) over reason as the final arbiter of

truth or efficacy, and so on.

The centrality within Buddhism

of

mdrga, and of systematic dis

course on "the path," suggests to us the possibility of approaches to

the study of both Buddhism and other religions that may be truly

novel. It has long been a dominant convention of Religious Studies

t 0

focus principally on certain cardinal concepts or archetypal

experiences in its efforts to understand particular religious tradi

tions. This approach has had its uses, but it is fraught with perils.

All too easily can it lead to purely abstract, reified, and fragmented

conceptions of religion in which excessive emphasis is given to the

e

hte and disembodied religion of the scholaras though the identity

of any religion can be reduced solely to its cardinal tenets. As much

as being systems of doctrine, however, religions are also axiologies

a

nd ways of life, and those facets are more immediately familiar and

com pelling to the ord ina ry adh eren ts of a religion tha n w ould be any

f the scho lastic discussions of the elite the oretician s. T his is because

the truths of a religion are revealed to most adherents not as much

through its doctrines as by the structured lifestyle of the monastery

0 r

lay community. In the case of Buddhism, for example, even the

m

ost unsophisticated of monks unable to list the twelve links of the

chain of dependent originationor any of the other interminable

numerical lists of tenets in which Buddhist texts aboundwould still

know the monastic regimen he follows each day, and it would be that

re

gimen which most directly informs his religious understanding.

While the experiences fostered by the monastic discipline and life

style may be only implicit in the doctrines of the religion, they are

explicit in the

mdrga

itself As the living context within w hich all that

l s

Buddhist is defined, the

mdrga

creates a commonality of concern

that reticulates all the various strands of its religious endeavor

m

oral values, ritual observances, doctrinal teachings, and contemp

lative exercisesinto a unified network of practices focused on liber

ation. Th e

mdrga

thus incorporates everything from the simplest act


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JIABS VOL. 13 NO. 1

of charity

to

the most refined meditative experience; it concentrates

attention not on the isolated effects of specific religious practices but

on the whole pattern of discipline that encompasses the life of the

individual adherent.

A specific exam ple oimdrgaas the ordering m echanism or "d eep

structure" of religion might well be in order at this point. Consider

one of the earliest and simplest statements of the Buddhist path, the

so-called "three trainings" (tris'iksd). In this scheme, the practitioner

is instructed to begin his pursuit of liberation by cultivating obedi

ence to basic moral rules (non-violence, avoidan ce of false speech,

etc.) so as to delimit strictly the range of appropriate human action

in the physical, verbal, and mental spheres. The rationale provided

for such ethical discipline

{sila)

at the outset of the path is tha t m ora l

ity minimizes present mental anguish, guilt, and uncertainty, lead

ing in turn to more rudimentary forms of tranquility and peace that

result from control of the mind. But rather than tranquility being an

abstract ideal divorced from the preceding practice of morality, it is

actually embodied in the ethical observances of the student. The

control over his response to external stimuli that the student thus

gains through moral observance and tranquility leads to the develop

ment of an introspective focus, which allows him to begin to wield

control over the impulses that initiate action in the first place. This

internal control regulates in turn the processes of the mind, permit

ting the student to become still more concentrated and focused. T h at

concentration

{samddhi)

can then be put to use in investigating the

student's world with insight. The wisdom {prajnd) achieved through

such investigation finally reveals the nature of the world as being

impermanent

(anitya),

unsatisfactory

{duhkha),

and impersonal

(andt-

man)~-the

fundamental Buddhist dogma of the "three marks of exis

tence"

{trilaksana)

. This insight ultimately brings a permanent end

to the impulses that sustain one's ties with the phenomenal world of

suffering, engendering the radical renunciation that is nirvana. We

thus see that the program of practice outlined in the three modes of

train ing finally corroborates the most ba sic doc trinal teachings of

Buddhism by bringing them into the whole pattern of discipline that

defines the spiritual career of the individual. The path thus weaves

all these different facets and stages of Buddhist spiritual endeavor

into an o rganic whole, in which each p ar t in corpo rates ^all other

par ts :

morality is the premonition

of

both concentration and wis

do m , conce ntration the resona nce of m orality and the anticipation of

wisdom, and wisdom the consumation of both morality and concen

tration and the initiation into liberation.


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CONFERENCE REPORT

83

The value of this approach is especially evident when one con

siders the goal of the Buddhist path, nirvana, and the notorious diffi

culty of characterizing, let alone defining, that goal. How better to

understand it than by appreciating the sense in which nirvana is

lrr

plicit and shape d in the very p ath leading to it? Ninian Sm art has

offered the useful analogy of the relationship between the goal of a

game and the rules of that game. Any effort to define a "home run"

w

ould inevitably lead to a systematic statement of the rules of the

game ofbaseball. Similarly, virtually the only feasible description of

a

n ineffable religious goal like nirvanais an outline of the pa th leading

t o

it. In both cases, the goal is implicit in, and accessible only

t r o u g h , the rules of behavior leading to its attainme nt. Conversely,

^e meaning of any one element in the path consists principally in

the contribution it makes to the achievement of that goal.

T he

mdrga

proves therefore to be that factor which insinuates

l t s

elf into everything that is Buddhist, uniting not only its various

practices and strata of adherents, but also the disparate branches of

*ts diffuse tradition. This is by no means to advocate that there was

D u

t a single soteriology accepted by all the schools of Buddhism.

While soteriology may be what brings continuity to the Buddhist

re

l igion, many permutations occurred as that concept was dissemi

nated and inter pre ted in different regions of Asia. T hus

mdrga

may

also provide a key that will help unlock the distinctive contributions

tnade to Buddhism by its various indigenous traditions.

But we also believe that the potential "revisioning" of religion

Su

ggested by Buddhism's emphasis on the path offers the possibility

f a more holistic assessment not only of Buddhism, but indeed of

a n

y given religious tradition.

Mdrga

provides a m ore integrative way

f interpreting religion, in which all elements of a religious tradition

can be seen to collaborate in the service of the common goal of liber

ation. Thus a religion's doctrines can be seen to correspond to its

concrete practices and to flow from them; its worldviews and

axiologies can be seen as implicit in its regimens of practice; the

Popular piety of its common adherents can be seen to resonate

deeply with the insights that inform the conceptual systems of its

e

Hte philosophers. More than cardinal doctrines, then, we believe it

to be the

mdrga

that creates within a religion a sense of communal

l y - t h e Buddhist ideal of

samgha-among

the various strata of

adhe

rents with all their variant concerns and needs. It is this emphasis

n mdrga that serves to keep religion accessible to all, not simply a

small elite. The emphasis on a practical spirituality brings even the

highest reaches of religious achievement within the purview of the

most humble of adherents. It also demands that even the more basic


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J IA BS V OL . 13 NO . 1

of p rac t ices b e d i rec t ly p r ep ar a t o r y to , if no t ac tua l ly re f lec ted

wi th in , t h e m o s t ad v an ced . By m ak in g re l i g io u s ach i ev em en t q u an

tifiable in terms relevant to daily l ife, al l the activit ies of ordinary

ad he ren ts a re ma de to se rve the so te r io log ica l p rocess . T h e s ta te

m e n t o f t h e lay C h ' an p rac t i t i o n e r , P ' an g Yi in , m ay b e ap ro p o s :

" M y s t i ca l ex p e r i en ce an d ac t i v e s e rv i ce a re ca r ry in g wa te r an d

g a th e r in g k in d l in g . "

The Meaning of

Slla

in the

M a g g a

of the Theravdda Tradition,

Geo rg e D . Bo n d , No r th wes t e rn Un iv e r s i t y

T h e T h e ra v a d a t r ad i t i o n s ince a t l ea s t t h e tim e o f B u d d h ag h o sa

h as r eg a rd ed

sila

as an in tegra l com po ne n t o f the pa th to l ibe ra t ion .

I t has a l luded to the s ignif icance of

slla

by referring to i t as "a stair

tha t l eads to heaven" and a "door tha t l eads to

nibbana.

T h i s p a p e r

ex am in es t h e m ean in g an d fu n c t io n o f

slla

in re la t ion to the pat h an d

the goals of the t radi t ion .

Slla

means behav io r o r charac te r , and more spec i f ica l ly , good

ch a rac t e r o r v i r t u e . T h e ra v a d a d e f in ed th e co n ten t of

slla

t h r o u g h a

n u m b e r o f fo rm u la t io n s o f p rec ep t s . T h e e s sen ti a l fo rm u la t io n wa s

that ofdasa

slla,

a l th ou gh the t rad i t io n ac tu a l ly ha d two l is t s o f t en

p recep t s : t h e

sikkhdpadas,

o r t ra in ing p recep ts fo r the monks ; and

ano ther l i s t t e rmed the

dasa kusala kammapathd.

This second l is t

an a ly zes

slla

in to th ree ca tegor ies : body , speech , an d m ind . I t

appears tha t over t ime the t rad i t ion op ted fo r the

sikkhdpadas

as the

pr imary def in i t ion fo r

dasa slla.

A n o th e r fo rm u la t io n o f t h e p rec ep t s

co n s t i t u t i n g

slla

d iv id ed

slla

in to the th ree d iv i s ions

ofculla, majjhima

a n d

mahd.

T h i s fo rm ula t ion com bin ed bo th of the l is ts

of dasa slla

a n d

included o ther v i r tues to indic ate the e th ical perfect ion of the

arahant.

T o u n d e r s t an d th e m ean in g o f

slla

for the pa th an d i ts goa l we

m u s t r eco g n ize t h a t T h e ra v a d a a ff irm s a g ra d u a l p a th t h a t r ep re

sents a ser ies of so ter io log ical s t ra teg ies a da p te d to pe rso ns of d iffer

ing leve ls o f w isdom an d sp i r i tu a l per fec t ion . Th is pa th h as

lokiya

a n d

lokuttara

levels tha t fit the th ree ge ner al typ es of pe rs on s:

puthui-

janas, sekhas,

a n d

asekhas.

For the

puthujjanas,

t h e re a re m u n d an e fo r

m u l a t i o n s

{abhisamdcdrika slla)

and for the

sekhas,

s u p r a m u n d a n e

(ddibrahmacariyaka).

Lay perso ns on th e m un da ne level fol low the

refuges and the f ive precepts , except on

uposatha

day s , w he n they a re

expe c ted to observ e e igh t of the

sikkhdpadas

out of ve ne ra t io n for , an d

in imitation of, the

arahants.

Before be ing fu lly a dm it t ed to the o rd er

nov ice monks on the mundane leve l observe the ten

sikkhdpadas-

after

ordination they follow a fourfold

slla.

T h e t rad i t ion a l so speci fied the


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CONFERENCE REPORT

85

kinds ofsilato be followed by those on the lokuttara orariya maggas.

This formulation of sila involves the com prehen sive formulation

described asculla,majjhima, andm ahdsila.

Just as the meaning ofsilaas a com pone nt of the path varies

acco rding to the level of the pe rson , so also does the relation ofsilato

the goal

of

the path. For those

on the mundane level, the

abhisamdcdrika

silaleads to attainme nts w ithin the round of

sam sara,

such as faith, learning, generosity and a heavenly rebirth. On the

lokuttara path, however,sila is integral to the process of mental purifi

cation, restraining theakusala impulses and eradicating the unw hole

some roots and volitions.

No-Mind and SuddenAwakening:

Thoughts on the Soteriologyofa KamakuraZenText

Carl Bielefeldt, Stanford University

Zen Buddhism is often depicted as a religion that seeks to bring

about direct, intuitive experience of ultimate reality through the

psychological technique of meditation. This paper questions the

adequacy of such a soteriological model when applied across the

range of historical forms of Zen ; it does so by exa m ining the e xam ple

of a thirteenth-century Jap an ese text, popularly known as the Zazen

ron, that appears to favor a rather different religious style.

The paper begins with distinctions between explicit and

implicit systems of Buddhist soteriology and between ultimate and

proxim ate soteriological goals. Th e argum ent then attem pts to show

tha t the religion of theZazen

ron

seeks to med iate betw een the explicit

norm s and ultimate ends of the M aha ya na theology and the implicit

values and proximate goals of its Jap an ese audience; thus the

Mahayana goal of liberation from the world through the attainment

of buddhahood is redefined as consolation in the world through

belief in the immanence of the Buddha mind. Under this reading,

the key salvific experience is identified not with the mystical awaken

ing of the Zen m edita tor but with the leap of faith of the Zen conv ert;

similarly, the soteriological role of meditation is less that of causeof

awakening tha n of expression of faith. T h e pa per end s with the sug

gestion that such a "soteriology of conversion" may be seen as a

reflexofthe apologetic purp oses of theZazenronitself


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J I A B S V O L . 13 NO . 1

TheravadaBuddhist Soteriologyand theParadoxof Desire

G rac e G. Bur ford , G eorge to wn Un iver s i ty

Desp i te i t s own c la ims to the con t r a ry , Theravada Buddhism

deve loped the t each ings and prac t ices i t now cons ide r s o r thodox

over a co ns id erab le per iod of t im e. I ts l i te ra tu re reflects both the

ear ly beginnings of th is t radi t ion and i ts la ter formula t ions . This

s tudy examines the nature of the ideal goal and the path to i t accord

ing to theA tthakavagga of the Suttanipata and in both a la te canonica l

a nd pos t - c a non ic a l c om m e n ta r y on i t .

Careful analys is of the Atthakavagga ind ica tes th a t it represe nts

two different ap pro ac he s to the highe s t go al . O n e of the two

soter iologies in the text descr ibes a pa th tha t involves developing

var iou s speci fic e th ica l hab i t s an d v i r tues . T h e pr im ary v i r tue

wi th in th i s pa th schem e is des i r e le s sness . T hr ou g h see ing and know

ing things as they rea l ly are , one eradica tes des i re , se l f ishness , and

a t t a c hm e n t . T he o the r pa th t he

Atthakavagga

r e c o m m e nd s t a ke s t h is

not io n of des i re lessness to i ts logica l con clus io n, de ny ing the value of

pre fe r r ing any pa r t i cu la r v iew {ditlhi) over any other , eventual ly

exp ress in g disap pro va l of any preferences for a pa r t i cu la r teacher ,

pa th or even go al . T hi s la t te r soter iologica l v iew chal len ges the

forme r w i th the par ad ox of des i re : how ca n preference ( i . e . , des i re)

for a par t icular teaching, teacher , pa th , or goal he lp one to cul t iva te

des i re lessness?

S ince these two approaches a r e in p rac t ica l t e rms incompat ib le

(should one cul t iva te specif ic v i r tues , in accordance with a specif ic

teacher ' s v iew, or not?) , the Atthakavagga poses a so te r io log ica l p rob

lem for the T he ra va da t r ad i t io n . T h e second pa r t o f th i s s tudy

examines the two major Pa l i commenta r ie s on the Atthakavagga, in

ord e r to see how the T he ra va da t r ad i t ion ha s in te rp re ted th i s po te n

t ia l ly problemat ic text .

Th ese com m en ta r ie s c lea rly r ef lect the T he ra va da t r ad i t ion ' s

decis ion to op t for the pa th th a t follows a pa r t i cu la r teach er ' s teach

ing . Th ey in te rp re t theA tthakavagga verses tha t present the znu-ditthi

view as refer r ing only to views and teachers

other

t ha n t he B u dd ha

and his v iew ( the r ight ditthi), ef fec t ive ly undermining the

Atthakavagga^ ditthi po l e m ic w i th a " p r e s e n t c om pa ny e xc e p t e d"

in te rpre ta t ion . In the p rocess , the commenta r ie s a l so r eso lved the

inheren t cha l lenge of the Atthakavaggds ra is in g of the pa ra do x of

des i r e : i t may be pa radoxica l , o r pe rhaps more accura te ly i ron ic , bu t

i t is in practical fact necessary to desire the ideal in order f inally to

a t ta in i t. T h e des i re to be des i re less is w ha t d is t ing uish es the Bud

dhis t adherents f rom those re l ig ious who do not s t r ive to be t ter them

selves at all.


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87

The

Wholesome

Roots and their Eradication:

A Descent tothe Bedrockof Budd histSoteriology

R ob ert E. Busw el l , Jr . , Un ivers i ty of C al i forn ia , Los Angeles

Buddhism has genera l ly conce ived tha t the " t a s te o f l ibe ra t ion"

that pervades i t s scr iptures was something that was accessible to a l l

be ings, provided they ful f i l led the necessary precondi t ions to i t s

a c h i e ve me n t . Th i s un i ve r sa l i s t i c t e nde nc y i n Buddh i sm i s pe rha ps

best exem plified in the fam ou s refrain of the Nirvana Sutra that all

be ings a re endowed wi th the capac i ty to ach ieve buddahood. Whi le

esp ou sing th is ul t im ate goal of en l igh ten m en t for a l l , howev er , some

Buddhis t sc r ip tures made the apparen t ly conf l i c t ing c la im tha t ce r

t a in pe rsons could be forever ba r red f rom sa lva t iona c la im some

t imes found even in the same text , as in our example of the Nirvana

Sutra. Such ind iv idua l s , w ho ha d en gag ed in the m ost he inou s of evil

ac t ions , were ca l l ed " those whose wholesome roo t s a re e rad ic ted"

{samucchinnakusalamula), an d in the vast ma jor i ty of case s , were con

de m ne d to sub sequ ent re b i r th in he l l . T h i s pap er uses the no t ion of

samucchinnakusalamula

to explore two re la ted qu es t ion s in Bu ddh is t

soter iolog y: 1) w ha t could caus e sa lvat ion to bec om e forever out of

reac h? ; an d 2) w h at factor is abs olute ly essen tial if peo ple are to

re ta in the i r capaci t ies for re l igious cul t iva t ion?

U s i ng sou rc e s r a ng i ng f rom t he Ch i ne se Agamas an d Pali

Nikayas, to the Abhidharmamahdvibhasaof the V aibh asik as (now avai l

ab le on ly in C hin ese t ra ns la t io n) , and even to C hin ese San-c h ieh

chiao and Ch 'an mate r i a l s , th i s paper seeks to prove tha t n iggard

l iness is the qua l i ty t ha t leads to the era dic a t io n of the wh oles om e

root s whi le g iv ing sus ta in s and , if need be , regen era tes , them . O u r

examinat ion of the wholesome roots wi l l reveal the i r associa t ion wi th

t he c onc e p t o f me r i t -ma k i ng , o r putrya,and t ake us dow n to the b ed

rock of Buddhist soter iology. With the ple thora of qual i t ies tha t

B ud dh ists em ph as ize in the i r w ri t in gs , it i s d if ficul t to de ter m in e

wh ich is mo st fun dam enta l wh ich is the " lowes t com m on

de no m ina tor , " a s it were , of the Bu ddh is t sp i r i tua l equ a t ion . We will

f ind in this m ate ria l tha t the essentia l cataly st to cu lt iva t ion wil l

p rove to be no t one of the severa l impor tan t ph i losophica l concept s

for w hic h B ud dh ism is of ten r en ow ne d; inste ad i t wi l l be the s imp le

prac t i ce of g iv ing {ddna).


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JIABS V OL. 13 NO . 1

Attainment through

Abandonment:

The Sarvdstivdda PathofRemoving Defilements

Collett Cox, U niversity of W ashington

According to the earliest accounts, the Buddha's enlightenment

experience culminates in the knowledge of the destruction of the

fluxes(dsravaksayajndna), resulting in an end to rebirth, an end to

suf-

fering. The Sarvastivada, a northern Indian school of Abhidharma,

developed a complex and intricate path of religious praxis also

directed exclusively toward this ultimate goal: the complete cessa

tion of defilement. Theirs is a path of attainment through abandon

ment, in which freedom from suffering is reached in progressive

stages through the removal of defilements. Though knowledge and

insight are integral to this religious process, they do not, in them

selves, cons titute the final goa l; inste ad, they serve as tools to be used

in effecting the abandonment of specific defilements.

T he s ingular im po rtan ce of the ab an do nm en t of defilements in

the Sarvastivada Abhidharma path structure is indicated first by the

detail with which the defilements afflicting unenlightened beings are

enumerated (e.g., the six or ten basic defilements associated with

various states of mind in various meditative and rebirth states,

resulting in a total of 98). Further, religious aspirants are differen

tiated according to their level of attainment, that is, by the number of

defilements abandoned and the degree of completeness of this aban

donment. The complete abandonment of a particular defilement is

designated cessation through application {pratisamkhydnirodha)\ that

is,religious asp irants require disconnection

(visamyoga)

from particu

lar defilements thro ug h th e application of vision

(darsana)

or cultiva

tion

(bhdvand).

The Sarvastivada equate this complete cessation of

each defilement with nirvana.Th is cessation, disconnection, or

nirvana

is then acquired repeatedly in progressing along the path; and once

all defilements are ab and on ed, the final goal is a ttaine d.

This paper examines the Sarvastivada Abhidharma path struc

ture using both early Sarvastivada texts (e.g., the

Prakaranapdda,

Dharmaskandha, and Samgitiparydya), and texts represen ting the

developed Sarvastivada-Vaibhasika perspective (e.g., the Vibhasa

literature, Abhidharmakosabhdsya, and Nydydnusdra). I seek to clarify

the following q ues tions:

1) What is the nature of defilements (i.e., anusaya;klesa), and

what is the mechanism by which they affect unenlightened sentient

beings (e.g.,bija,

prdpti)?

2) What is the specific method by which defilements are to be

abandoned (e.g.,aprdpti, visamyogaprdpti, and

mdrga)?


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CONFERENCE REPORT

89

3) What are the relations between this interpretation of defile

ments and other doctrinal positions accepted by the Sarvastivada

school? How did differing assumptions held by other sects alter their

descriptions of the pa th?

W e n - t z u Ch'an: Learning, Letters, and Meditation

Robert M. Gimello,

University

of Arizona

In terms of rhetoric, Ch'an Buddhism eschews verbal formula

tions or expressions of truth in favor of direct, unmediated experi

ence.

Despite this, there have been periods throughout its history

w hen , recoiling from spasm s of an tinom ianis m , Ch 'a n proved itself

to be rather more hospitable to textual study and more appreciative

of literary expression than its typical rhetoric would have led one

to expect.

One such period was that of the Northern Sung dynasty, when

the predominant strains of Ch'an advocated the systematic integra

tion of learning and meditation practice. This advocacy not only

included a repetition of older calls to "unify C h 'a n and the scrip tural

teachings," but also the novel contention that the Buddhist contemp

lative career could even be combined with secular learning and the

practice of humane letters. Under the banner of "lettered Ch'an,"

many Ch'an figures sought to incorporate Ch'an into the literary

and academic culture of the intelligentsia. This effort to harmonize

Ch'an with learning and literature was not simply a device for reli

gious propagation, but was seen also as having intrinsic religious

m erit in the m inds of those w ho fostered it. It w as viewed as a way of

protecting the tradition from antinomian corruption and as a means

of enriching Ch'an spirituality by putting the resources of the liter

ary and learned traditions at Ch'an's disposal.

T he topic of "lettered (wen-tzu) C h 'a n " may also serve as a "case

study" of the broader issue of the relationship between intellectual

disciplines like study and literary com position, on the one han d, and

the meditative disciplines of the interior or contemplative life, on the

otheri.e., to wh at Je an Leclercq has called in Christia n term s

"The love of learning and the desire for God." It may be especially

profitable to raise such qu estions in respect to C hi na , for there we see

Bu ddhism developing within a cultural context in which literary sen

sitivity and accomplishment, together with scholarship, were pri

mary measures of pietyitself It is not surprising, therefore, that the

question of the soteriological value of learning and letters should

have been pu t especially acutely by Chinese Bu ddh ists.


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90

JIA BS VO L. 13 NO . I

My discussion of this topic is based especia l ly on the wri t ings of

three majo r f igures of the Lin -chi l ineage of N or th e rn Su ng C h 'a n .

Th e y a r e C h ue h - f a n H u i -h un g (1071-1128) o f the H ua ng - lu ng

br a n c h o f L in -c h i , a nd Yi i a n -w u K b -c h ' in ( 1063 -113 5) a nd Ta -hu i

Tsu ng-ka o (1091-1157 ) , bo th of the Yan g-ch ' i b ra nc h . T h e w r i t ings

of these men abound in both explic i t and implic i t references to the

top ic o f the r e l a t ionsh ip a m on g l e a rn ing , l it e r a tu r e , a nd m e d i t a t ion -

an d the ir views of thos e re la t ion shi ps great ly inf luenced la ter Ea st

Asian re l ig ious thought and prac t ice .

The

Cosmogonic

B asis of Tsung-mi's

Theory

of the Path

P e te r N . Gre gory , Un ive r s i ty o f I l li no i s , U rb a n a - C ha m p a i gn

Th i s pa pe r e xa m ine s how Tsung -m i de r ive s a c osm ogon y f rom

th eA wakening of Faithto se rve as a m a p for Bu ddh is t p rac t ice . Ju s t a s

un de rs ta nd ing of the twe lve-l inked cha in of de pe nd en t or ig in a t ion

provided a m ap for ea r l ie r Budd his ts , so Tsun g-m i ' s un de rs t an di ng of

the process of phenomena l evolu t ion accord ing to h is in te rpre ta t ion

of theA wakening of Faithprovided a s t ruc tu red pa t te rn f rom w hich h e

der ived his ten-s tage d proces s of re l igious pra ct ic e an d rea l iza t ion

T h e pa pe r explores Tsu ng-m i ' s accoun t of the s tages of prac t ice an d

realization in his Ch'an-yuan chu-ch'uan-chi tu-hsii, w here his th eor y is

expressed in i ts most developed form. I t also traces the evolution of his

ten-s taged theory by looking a t i t s "pr imi t ive" express ion in ea r l ie r

works , such as h is commenta ry and subcommenta ry to the Yuan-chueh

ching a nd h i s c o m m e n ta ry to the Awakening of Faith. T he se ea r l ie r

works c lar i fy the centra l i ty of the Awakening of

Faith

in Tsung mi ' s

un de r s t a n d in g o f the B udd h i s t pa t h . T h e pa p e r u se s i ts d i sc uss ion o f

Tsu ng-m i ' s thou gh t as a way of exp lor ing the la rge r co m pa ra t ive

issues of the re la t io ns hip of cosm ogo ny to e thic s and of on tolo ev to

soter iology.

5 y

The

Development

of Early Japanese

Tendai Views on

the

Rapid Realization ofBuddhahood

Paul G roner , U nivers i ty of V irg in ia , Ch ar lo t te sv i l le

T h e de fin it ion o f bu dd ha ho od , the a m o un t of t im e r e qu i r e d to

rea l ize i t, an d the n u m b er of peop le w ho can hop e to a t ta rn have

of ten been top ics of b i t te r cont roversy am on g Bu dd his t schoo l At

c er ta in p oin ts in B u dd his t h is to ry , th ese i s su e h a v e T e n s t * ^


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91

mtense scrut iny, resul t ing in substant ia l revis ions in the defini t ion of

buddhahood and the pa th to i t . At the beginning of the n in th century

m

o s t J a p an es e mon ks wou ld have accep ted the pos i t ion tha t b ud dh a

hood was the resul t of eons of pract ice that few could a t ta in. By the

e

nd of the n in th century , th i s s i tua t ion had radica l ly changed due to

the es tab l i shm ent of two new schoo ls , Ten da i and Sh ing on. La rge

gro ups of m onk s and lay be l ievers had com e to be lieve tha t b ud d ha -

hood could be a t ta ined by everyone in a s ingle l i fe t ime.

This paper focuses on the emergence and ea r ly deve lopment of

one of the key concepts employed in the redefini t ion of these issues

D

y Ja pa ne se Tenda i m onk s : name ly , t he t e ach ing con ce rn ing " the

rea li z a tion o f bu dd ha ho od in t h is ex i s t ence"

(sokushin

jobutsu). The

study wil l be divided into two parts . In the f i rs t , the Chinese origins

ar

*d the f i rs t Japanese usages of the concept wil l be considered,

^a i ch o , t he Tenda i m onk w ho in t roduced the concep t t o J a p an , d i ed

before he could define i t exact ly. The second part of the s tudy wil l

locus on the efforts of his disc iples to do so. T h ei r co nc ern s wil l be

e

*a rn in ed th ro ug h a series of le t ters on do ctr in al issues tha t they

^ c h a n g e d w i t h C h i n e s e m o n k s . E v e n t u a ll y , t h e J a p a n e s e m o n k s fo r

mula ted the i r own innova t ive pos i t ions ra the r than adopt the more

conse rva t ive pos i t i ons o f t he i r Ch inese coun te rpa r t s . The ques t ions

ra ised by T en dai m on ks reveal the key issues an d co nc ern s tha t led

them to formula te the i r v iews on enl ightenment in new and d is t inc

tive ways.

Ja pa ne se Tenda i vi ews on the rea l iz a t ion o f bu dd ha ho od in t h i s

e x

i s t e nc e p ro found ly a ffec ted su bsequ en t J a pa ne se Buddh i s t h i s to ry

|

n

both pos i t ive and nega t ive ways . On the nega t ive s ide , the teach

ing even tua l ly led to a dec l ine in se r ious prac t ice w i th in the Ja p an es e

Jendai school because the f inal goal was sa id to be so easy to rea l ize .

O n the pos i ti ve s ide , Ten da i a rg um en t s t ha t bud dh ah oo d w as poss i

b le for everyone cont r ibuted to the spread of Buddhism to a l l seg

m ents of soc ie ty . A l tho ug h la te r Ja p an es e schools eventua l ly re jected

mu ch o f t he Ten da i t e ach in g on the rap id rea l i z a t ion of bu dd ha ho od ,

a ll nev erthele ss ha d to co m pe te w ith i t an d to form ulate their respe c

t ive do c t r in es an d p rac t ice s in respon se to i t. T hi s pape r , w hich

t r

a ce s th e early h is tory of the T end ai view on the rap id r ea l iza t ion of

e n

l i g h t en m en t , t hus he lps t o c la rify m any a spec t s o f l a t e r J a pa ne se

Buddhis t h i s tory .


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92

JIA BS V OL . 13 NO . 1

The Concept of Sudden Awakening in Bodhidharma's

Teaching

of

the

Mind

Ground

K i D o o H a n , W o n ' g w a n g U n i v e rs it y

To p r o p ag a t e t h e f u n d am en t a l s o f su d d en aw ak en i n g , su ch emi

n e n t C h ' a n t e a c h e r s a s H u i - n e n g , M a - t s u , P o - c h a n g , H u a n g - p o ,

and Lin -ch i a ll u sed B od h id ha rm a ' s t ea ch in g o f t he m ind g rou nd

(hsin-ti).

T h e Platform Sutra oftheSixth Patriarchprovid es a d iscip l i

nary p l a t fo rm fo r t r ansmi t t i ng the mind g round , t h rough the no t ion

of the nonab id ing mind . Th i s t each ing , however , was no t exc lus ive

to the Ch 'an schools , and th is paper seeks to t race the pedigree of

th i s t e rm in bo th Ch 'an and doc t r ina l l i t e ra tu re .

T h e chara c t e r i s t i cs of t he t eac h ing of t he m ind g rou nd in C h 'a n

were clar i f ied by Shen-hui as fol lows:

1) B o d h i d h a r m a ' s t each i n g of t h e m i n d g r o u n d w as t r an s m i t t ed

to successive C h 'a n t ea che rs f rom H ui -n en g to Lin -ch i .

2 ) T h e N o r t h e r n s ch oo l o f C h ' a n B u d d h i sm p u r su ed a co n ce p

tua l form of C h 'a n , as i s exp resse d in such co nc ep ts as so l id i fy ing

mind , ab id ing mind , and co l l ec t ing the mind , whi l e the Sou thern

sch o o l of C h ' an p u r su ed a n o n co n cep t u a l f o rm t h r o u g h i ts t e ach i n g

o f ' n o - t h o u g h t . "

3 ) N o r t h e r n C h ' an B u d d h i sm ad v o ca t ed measu r e s t o co u n t eK ac t

d e f i l emen t s , w h i l e So u t h e r n C h ' an B u d d h i sm p r o mo t ed i n s t ead a

na tu ra l knowledge and an awaken ing to one ' s own mind .

4 ) N o r t h e r n C h ' a n B u d d h i sm so u g h t t o d ev e l o p

prajnd

t h r o u g h

samddhiw h i le S o u t h e r n C h ' a n B u d d h i s m s o u g h t samadhifromprajnd.

She n-hu i bel ieved tha t B od h id ha rm a ' s t eac h ing o f t he mind

ground cou ld be ob ta ined th rough knowledge , and a l so a rgued fo r a

so t er io l o g ica l p r o g r a m o f su d d en aw ak en i n g / g r ad u a l cu l t iv a t i o n .

Because of th i s , he was cr i t ic ized as a master of in te l lectual knowl

ed g e . T h e N a t i o n a l M as t e r N an - y an g H u i - ch ' u n g c r it ic i zed S h en -

hui for h is opin ion that "only sent ient beings can become a buddha,

and c l a im ed tha t i n sen t i en t be ings cou ld a l so rea l i ze b ud dh ah oo d .

T h is not ion w as the sou rce of the sh if t from the mo de ra te s ubi t i sm

of sudd en aw ak en in g / g r ad ua l cu l t iva t ion to the r ad ica l sub i t i sm of

su d d en aw ak en i n g / su d d en cu l t iv a t i o n . T h e ev i d en ce ma r sh a l l ed in

th i s paper , however , sugges t s t ha t t he mind g round requ i res a p ro

cess of gr ad ua l cul t ivat ion in ord er for the sprou t of enl ig hte nm en t

to grow, b lossom, and bear f ru i t . The d i f fer ing t reatments of th i s

semina l concep t p rov ide impor t an t i n fo rmat ion fo r exp la in ing the

t rans fo rm at ion f rom ear ly to l a t e r C h 'a n tho ug h t .


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93

A Tibetan

Perspective on the

Nature of Spiritual Experience

Jef frey H op kin s , Un ive r s i ty o fV i rg in ia , Ch ar lo t te sv i l l e

In th is paper I u t i l ize wr i t ten and ora l Tibetan sources f rom a

ge n r e c a l l e d " g r ounds a nd pa th s "

(sa lam, bhumi-mdrga)

in con s ider -

'ng 1) At isa 's threefold typolog y of pra c t i t io ne rs and p ath s , 2) the

profoun d exp er ienc e of the min d of c lear light in Hig hes t Yoga

Tant r a , and 3 ) the meaning of "pa th , " o r sp i r i tua l exper ience in the

mo re genera l s ense . I mak e use o f T ib e ta n d Ge - lugs -p a l i t e r a tu re o n

the Bud dh is t p a th to prov ide a view of w ha t cons t i tu tes re l ig ious

exper ience in th is t radi t ion as wel l as to sugges t a bas is for compar i

son and con tras t wi th non trad i t ion al form ula t ion s of aspe cts of the

sac red by Ru do lph O t to , Ca r l Ju n g , and Wi lf red C antwe l l S mi th .

D ue to i ts exc lus ionary ag end a , th is th r eefo ld Ind o-T ibe tan

typology is c lear ly inadequate for ca tegor iz ing a l l re l ig ious persons

and re l ig ious exper ience; never theless , i t provides an avenue for

explor ing forms of Buddhis t re l ig ious exper ience in genera l , f rom

which hints about re l ig ious exper ience in genera l may be gleaned. A

cen tra l the m e of the pap er is tha t three ph ase s of exp er ien ce of the

sac redinsp i r ing dread , overcoming obs tac les , and be ing to ta l ly "a t

hom e" need to be em pha s ized in o rde r to convey even a m in im al ly

rou nd ed p ic tu re of the pa th . T hr ou gh th i s , the eno rm i ty a nd

rnom entousn ess o f the r e lig ious en te rpr i se can be app rec ia t ed .

On

the Ignorance

of

theAr h a t

Pa dm an ab h S . J a in i , Unive r s i ty o f Ca l i fo rn ia , Berkeley

Vasubandhu, whi le commenting in the f i r s t verse of h isAbhidhar-

rnakosa on the words

sarvathd sarvahatdndha kdrah,

spea ks of two kin ds

o f i gno r a n c e

{ajndna).

The first one is called

klista-sammoha,

o r im pa s

s ioned ignorance , which seems to be the ignorance of the Four Noble

Truths . The second var ie ty is ca l led

aklista-ajndna,

the ignorance , no t

of the Truths, but of things, such as of the inf inite var iety of objects

d i s tan t in space an d t ime . T he Va ibhas ik as ma in ta in tha t wh ereas

the Bu dd ha des t roys bo th k inds o f ign oran ce , the

arhats,

even w hen

they destroy the

klesas,

are not f ree from the second v ar iety, the

aklista-ajndna.

Yasomitra , in his

Sphutdrtha-vydkha,

i l lustrates this

po in t by the exam ples o f such em ine n t

sravakas

a s Sa r ip u t r a and

M a ud ga ly a ya na , a n d s ee ks t o e xp l a in the a pp a r e n t c on t r a d i c t i on

be tween the

arhaCs

f reedom from all form s of

duhkha

and the p res

ence of th i s " ignorance . " The paper a ims to examine the na ture o f


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94

JIAB S VO L. 13 N O . 1

th e Bu d d h i s t arhafs a l leged ign ora nc e in the contex t of the Yoga and

Ja in a m ater ia l s on the com ple t ion o f the pa th to nirvana.

Parallels to this s i tuation of the arhatsca n b e found in the cas e of

th e y o g in s ap p ro ach in g

kaivalya

as de scr ibe d by Patan jali in his

Yogasutra. I t s co m m en ta ry , t h e Vydsa-bhdsya, states that the so-called

"om nisc ienc e ," an d par t ic u la r ly the knowledge o f ob jec t s d i s ta n t in

place an d t im e, are results of yogic pra ct ice s (not d iss im ilar to the

p rac t i ce oCsamdpattisin B ud dh ism ), and are not a pre req uis i te for th e

y o g in 's a t t a in m en t of kaivalya.

T h e Ja in a posi t ion on th is issue d iffers con sidera bly , ap pa re nt l y

d em an d in g th a t p e r so n s wh o o v e rco m e th e Mesas(as the Bu ddh is t

arhat

does) m ust proc eed further in h igh er t ran ce s (cal led

s'uk-

ladhyanas) to remove the ignorance of objects {jndnavarana-karma) as

wel l . Only then may they become an omnisc ien t (kevala-jndnin) an d ,

as in the case of the Buddha, a t ta in nirvana.

Beyond Cultural Construction?:

Concentration

and Indo-Tibetan Claims for

Unmediated Cognition

Anne C. Kle in , Rice Univers i ty

Buddhis t and con temporary Wes tern in te l lec tua l t rad i t ions

share a genera l em ph as i s on the con s t ruc ted na tu re o f hu m an exper i

e n c e .

Never the less , they reach d iamet r ica l ly oppos i te conc lus ions

re ga rd ing the poss ib il i ty of c i ther an unm ed iat ed cogn i t ion or a cog

nized object tha t lies outs ide cul tur al part ic ula r i ty . T hi s pa pe r looks

a t Indo-Tibe tan , and espec ia l ly dGe- lugs -pa , p remises by which

such c la im s a re supp or te d . I focus on the ro le o f me nta l con cen t ra

t ion in the purpor ted ly unmedia ted cogn i t ions o f uncons t ruc ted

emptiness on the first and sixth bodhisattva g ro u n d s . T h ese a re

junc tu res where t rad i t iona l t ex t s examine the in te rp lay be tween con

cen t ra t ion a nd wisd om , tha t i s , be tw een w i thd raw ing the m ind in

one sense and expand ing i t s hor izons in ano ther .

Sin ce the init ia l dire ct co gnit ion of em pti ne ss occu rs on the first

g round , i t migh t seem tha t whatever reconci l i a t ion be tween ca lming

and ins ight might be required should take p lace there . However, the

rela t ion ship of these funct ions aga in be com es an issue on the s ix th

gro und wi th the deve lopm ent o f a new fo rm of con cen t ra t ion , know n

as the un co m m on a bsor p t ion of cessa t ion (*asddhdrana-nirodha-

samdpatti, thung

mong

mayin paHgogsnyoms). This is a category unique to

Prasarig ika an d in Tibet is d iscussed m ainly in dGe-lug s-pa com m en

tar ies on Candraklr t i ' sEntrance to theMiddleWay

(Madhyamakdvatdra,

dblJ

ma la 'jug pa), espec ia l ly Tsong-kha-pa ' s Clarification of (Candraklrti's)


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Thought (dbU ma dgongs pa rah gsal) a nd i n wor ks by P a n - c he n

S o - n a m - d r a k - b a , J e t s u n C h o s - k y i -g y a l -t s en , a n d J a m - y a n g - s h a y - b a .

Th is unc om m on abs orp t ion i s desc r ibed as qu i te d i s t inc t f rom the

"un kn ow ing " ces sa t ion d i scussed by Va suba ndh u and Bu ddh agh osa .

Un l ike those , th is is a w isdo m c onsc iousn ess reg ard ed as crucia l to

qual i t ies tha t charac ter ize the higher grounds ; i t i s a major ca ta lys t

of the seventh gro un d 's specia l m en ta l agi l ity an d f reedom f rom con

ceptual l imi ta t ions , as wel l as a contr ibut ing fac tor to the abi l i ty to

combine un ive r sa l ins igh t wi th pa r t i cu la r r e sponse (wisdom and

m eth od ) tha t is a s soc ia ted wi th the e igh th g roun d and above .

T h e pa pe r a rgues tha t the ro le o f ca lm ing an d co ncen t r a t ion is

c r uci a l t o un de r s t a n d in g t he un de r p inn in gs of I ndo - T ibe t a n B ud

dhis t c la ims about un m ed ia te d cogn i t ion . I a l so sugges t tha t the

m e d ia t e d /u nm e d ia t e d d i c ho tom y , im p or t a n t a s it i s, is no t t he m os t

use fu l pa rad ig m by w hich to eng age th i s Bu ddh is t ma te r ia l , and tha t

the role of concentra t ion, which has no c lear analogue in most West

ern thought , i s par t of the chal lenge to th is model .

PathsTerminableand Interminable

Do na ld S . Lop ez , J r . , Unive r s i ty o f M ich iga n , Ann A rbo r

T h e second of the e igh t top ics covered in M ai t r e ya na tha ' s com

m e n ta r y on t he

prajndpdramitd,

the

Abhisamaydlamkdra,

is the knowl

edge of the pa ths (mdrgajhatd), the bodhisattva'sun de r s t a n d in g o f the

minute s t ruc ture o f the pa ths o f sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and

bodhisattvas, conjoined with th e rea l iza t ion tha t a ll these path s a re

em pty . Th is pa pe r uses Tson g-kha-p a ' s (1357-1419) co m m en ta ry on

the topics of the knowledge of the paths in his Legs bshad

gser phreng

to

c ons ide r t h r e e p r ob l e m s a r i s i ng f r om the I nd i a n M a ha ya na a nd

Ti be tan expos i t ions o f the pa th s to en l ig h ten m ent . Th e firs t is the

pers is ten ce of the comp lex of def i lemen ts , der ived by the

A bh id ha rm a , a f te r the an t id o te to those de f i lements (knowledg e of

the s ixtee n asp ec ts of the four tru th s) ha d be en effectively rep lace d

by the pa na cea of em pt in ess . T h e pap er cons ide r s severa l a rg um en ts

that m igh t acco un t for the con t inu at io n of a h igh ly s t ru c tu red sys tem

of def i lements , inc lu din g the poss ibi l i ty tha t they repre sen t B ud dh is t

ca tego r ies of pol lu t ion, ana log ou s to those in the cas te sys te m .

The second topic deal t wi th in the paper is the controversy

wi th in t he M a h a y a n a ove r t he nu m be r of ve h i cl e s. T he a r gu m e n t s

for three vehicles and for one vehicle are presented at some length,

focuss ing especia l ly on how the pr op on en ts of on e pos i t ion sou gh t to

account for s ta tements in the sutrastha t s eemed to sup po r t the o the r


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pos i t i on . Th i s l eads i n to a cons ide ra t ion o f t he s t r a t egy o f commen

tary in the Mahayana, especia l ly as i t sought to account both for the

pr ior t radi t ion, l abel led the Hinayana , and for those who had fol

lowed i t s pa th , the arhats.T h e ea r ly t r ad i t i on had to be su bo rd in a t ed

in order to es tabl i sh and mainta in the super ior pos i t ion of the

Mahayana , bu t t he Hinayana cou ld no t be r e j ec t ed comple t e ly .

The f inal quest ion taken up in the paper is one that fol lows

natural ly from the asser t ion that there is but one f inal vehicle that al l

sent ient be ings wi l l r ide to buddhahood: the ques t ion of whether

samsdra

wil l ever en d. Posi t ions on bo th s ides of the issue are d is

cussed a t some l eng th , and the doc t r ina l agendas t ha t under l i e t hose

pos i t ions are analyzed. Tsong-kha-pa f inds a reason to argue tha t

samsdra is endless in the do ct r in e of em pt in ess , a pos i t ion t ha t h i s

mos t impor t an t commenta to r s v igorous ly r e j ec t . The paper con

c ludes by con s ide r ing severa l m ode ls by m ea ns of wh ich the e xt ra or

d ina r i l y l ong bodhisattvapa th migh t be un der s tood , i nc lud ing the

mo de l o f na r r a t ive .

The

Encounter

andM a r g a Paradigms in Classical Ch'an:

Analysis and Implications

J o h n M c R a e , C a s e W e s t e r n R e s e r v e / C o r n e l l U n i v e r si ty

T h is pa pe r s ta tes a se t of hyp othes es and ten ta t ive con clus ions

reg ard ing the crea t ion of a new pa ra di gm for re l ig ious pra c t ice in the

H u n g - c h o u s c h o o l o f c la s si ca l C h ' a n B u d d h i s m .

O n e imp or tan t aspe ct of recent research on ear ly an d c lass ica l

C h ' a n is t he d e v a lu a ti o n of t he s u d d e n / g r a d u a l a n d N o r t h e r n /

Sou the rn d i cho to m ies as p r im ary ind ica to r s o f t he deve lo pm ent an d

t ran sfor m at ion of the school . T h e f ir st sec t ion of the pres enta t ion

wi l l r econs ide r apparen t d i scon t inu i ty be tween ea r ly Ch ' an and the

c l as si ca l C h ' a n o f M a- t su Tao-i (70 9-8 8) an d the H un g-c ho u

school . Af t er desc r ib ing the un iqu e cha rac t e r i s t i c s o f t he H un g-c ho u

school o f C h ' a n , in pa r t i cu l a r i ts app aren t ly s ing le -m inded devo t ion

to "encounte r d i a logue , " o r spon taneous r e l i g ious r epa r t ee , t he

paper g ives b r i e f de t a i l s r ega rd ing the b iograph ica l , doc t r ina l , and

prac t i ca l con t inu i t i e s be tween ea r ly and c l a s s i ca l Ch ' an .

The nex t sec t ion ana lyzes t he "encounte r pa rad igm" fo r r e l i

g ious pra c t ice im pl ied in c lass ica l C h 'a n in te rm s of i ts ext rem ely

pers ona l i s t and an t i - r i tua l i s t in tern al iza t ion of the no rm s of spi r i tu a l

teaching. This i s fo l lowed by a descr ip t ion of the h ighly ra t ional ized

( i .e. ,

h i e ra rch ica l and p rogress ive ) marga p a r a d i g m " a tt r i b u t e d t o

t r ad i t i on a l Ch inese Bud dh i sm an d re j ect ed by c l a s si ca l Ch ' a n .


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The conc lus ion of fe rs a hypothes i s regard ing the impl ica t ions of

the em ergen ce of the en co un te r pa r ad igm wi th in th e contex t of

Chinese socia l and inte l lec tual his tory. Speci f ica l ly , the paper argues

tha t the theor ies o f the an th rop olog i s t M ar y Do ug las (as a rgue d

especial ly in Natural Symbols) reg ard ing re l ig ious cosmo logy an d

soc ia l s t ruc ture provide an exce l l en t s t a r t ing po in t fo r unders tanding

t h e r ol e o f C h ' a n B u d d h i s m in t h e T ' a n g / S u n g t r a n s i ti o n .

The Sudden and CompletePath ofT ien-t ai Chih-i

Da nie l B. S tevenso n , But le r Un ivers i ty

T h e s ix th and seventh cen tu ry in C hi na have t rad i t iona l ly been

reg ard ed as a wa te rshed in the h i s tory of Eas t As ian B ud dh ism , a

per iod of g rea t sys tem at ic chan ge ou t o f w hich em erged the bas ic

pa t t e rn s of tho ug ht an d pra c t i ce tha t have s tood as a ha l lm ark of

Eas t Asian Bu dd hism do wn to the presen t day . O n e of the mo st s ig

ni f icant t rends to take shape dur ing this era was a shi f t towards a

" s p e e d y " (chi) o r " s u d d e n " (tun) model of the bodhisattvacourse . Fa r

from be ing sole ly a m at te r of do ct r ina l in terest , of co nc ern on ly to

the scholas t i c e l it e , the v i s ion of a "s ud de n" en l igh te nm en t was

above a l l a vis ion of a re l igious path. As such, i t in i t ia ted responses

t h ro ugh ou t a ll a spe c t s of t he Bu ddh i s t t r a d i t i on pra c t i c a l a nd

ins t i tu t iona l , a s we l l a s in te l l ec tua land became a p ivo ta l s t ruc ture

a ro un d w hich en t i re p ro gr am s of re l ig ious cu l tu re were forged . T hi s

paper wi l l d i scuss one such programtha t desc r ibed in the wr i t ings

o f Ch i h - i ( 5 3 8 - 59 7) , t he g re a t a r c h i te c t o f T ' i e n - t ' a i Bu ddh i s t

t hough t a nd p ra c t i c e .

C hih - i i s the au th or of one of the most com preh ens ive and

w i de ly r e a d s t a te m e n t s of t he " su dd e n " a pp roa c h t o Bud dh i s t p r a c

t i ce ever p roduced in Asiathe Mo-ho chih-kuan

([Treatise

on]

the great

calming and discerning).

T h is w ork delves in to al l ar ea s of rel igio us l ife,

and thus offers pr ice less insights into both the conceptual models

tha t in formed T ' i en - t ' a i p ra c t i ce and the ne tw ork of sp i r i tua l d isc i

p l ines th r ou gh w hich these m ode l s were ac tua l i zed in the T ' i en -

t ' a i c ommuni t y .

Re l y i ng p r i ma r i l y upon t he Mo-ho chih-kuan, the paper ske tches

a ho l i s ti c p i c t u re o f Ch i h - i ' s " s ud de n" p ro g ra m o f sp i r i t ua l de ve l op

ment , which above a l l s t r ives to convey the ways in which this model

resona ted wi th , and he lped to in tegra te , a l l d imens ions of T ' i en- t ' a i

religious life.

T h e pa pe r beg ins wi th a d i scuss ion of Ch ih- i ' s v iews reg ard ing

the en l igh ten ed m ind a nd it s re la t ion to the or d in a ry h u m an con di -


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t ion. Having e l ic i ted the bas ic f ramework upon which his v is ion of

the sud de n ap pr oa ch is s t ru c tu red , it then takes up his subi t is t pa th

itself

T h e va r ious s tages o f sp i r i tua l deve lopm ent on tha t pa th a r e

ou t l ined and ju nc tu res co ns ide red to be c ruc ia l a r e p in po in ted . By

working into the discuss ion such bas ic formula as the Twenty- f ive

Pre l im inary Ex ped ien ts and the Ten M odes o f M edi ta t iv e D isce rn

m e n t {shih kuan-fa), the pa pe r t rea t s in de ta i l the in tegra ted pro gra m

of spir i tua l d isc ipl ine s des ig ned to affect th ese t ran sfo rm at io ns . T h e

paper conc ludes wi th obse rva t ions on the va r ious ways in which

these mo dels of re l ig ious prac t ice w ere ref lec ted in the in s t i tu t io nal

s t ru c tu re an d pa t te rn s of re l ig ious life seen in the ear ly T ' ie n- t ' a i

c o m m u n i t y .

Visionand Cultivation on the Path to Liberation in Early Buddhism

Alan Sponberg , S tanford Univer s i ty

One of the mos t innova t ive con t r ibu t ions to sys temat iza t ion of

Bu ddh is t so te rio logy was the in t rodu c t ion of the d i s t inc t ion be tw een

a p ath of v is ion

(dars anamfga)

and, following i t , a path of cult ivation

(bhdvandmdrga). T h is b ip ar t i te m odel of the pa th to l ibera t io n or igi

na t e d w i th t he Va ibha s ika - S a r va s t i va d a s c hoo l a nd w a s s ub

sequent ly ex pa nd ed by the Yog acar ins to beco m e the core o f the

m atu re five-stage pa th theory of M ah ay an a B ud dh ism . Louis de l a

Val lee Pouss in was perhaps the ear l ies t Western scholar to note the

pecul iar i ty of th is development , d iscuss ing i t in the context of a

bro ad er survey of do cu m en ts r e flec ting the t ens ion be tween wh a t he

in te rpre ted as a " r a t iona l i s t " f ac t ion and a "mys t ica l " f ac t ion among

ear l ier Buddhis t soter iologis ts . Fol lowing Pouss in ' s lead, Er ich

Frauwal lner , for example , took a much s t ronger pos i t ion on the ques

t ion , a s se r t ing tha t the d iv i s ion represen ts the V a ibha s ika com m it

m ent to a r a t iona l i s t so te r io logy in jux tap os i t ion to the " m ys t ic a l "

tendency he sees to p reva i l in the Pa l i Abhidhamma.

In exa m in in g the Va ibhas ik a theory , th i s pa pe r sugges t s tha t the

inclus ion of the pat h of cul t iva t ion is m ore signif icant a nd inno vat ive

th an the not ion of a specif ic m om en t of cogn i t ive ins ight (ndna-das-

sana), the l a t t e r hav ing c lea r p receden t in impor tan t canonica l ve r

s ions not cons idered by Frauwal lner . This , in turn , sugges ts tha t the

rea l qu es t ion to be ra ised here is w ha t led the la ter A bh id ha rm ik as

to insis t on a path of cult ivation

subsequent

to the moment o f ins igh t

in to the Four Noble Tru th s tha t ha d been the cu lm ina t io n of the s tan

da rd ea r ly acco unts o f the pa th , a ques t ion a l l the m ore in t r igu ing


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given the fac t tha t the Va ibhas ikas do indeed de m on st ra te a mark ed

te nde nc y towa rds r a t iona l i sm in m a ny o the r r e spe c t s .

T h is issue be co m es less pro ble m atic i f seen not in term s of

" r a t iona l i sm " ve r sus "m ys t i c i sm , " bu t a s a B uddh i s t a t t e m pt to

m e d ia te a long- s t a nd ing d i spu te be twe e n those S ou th As ia n wa nde r

ers (parivrdjakas) who sought de l ive rance in a moment of l ibe ra t ing

cogni t ive ins ight and those wh o pursu ed ins tead a process of re

demptive pur if ica t ion. Histor ica l ly , i t is this divis ion between vis ion

and pur i f ica t ion tha t reemcrges throughout ea r ly Buddhis t so te r io l -

ogy , a process inde pen de nt of mo vem ent tow ards ra t ion a l i sm . In th is

con text , the Va ibha s ika inn ova t ion of cu l t iva t ion after l ibe ra t ing

ins ight ind ica tes the s t ren gth of the pur i f ica t ion the m e in B ud dh ism ,

despi te in junc t ions aga ins t ex t reme psychologica l a sce t ic i sm. I t a l so

ref lec ts the increasingly psychological turn in which the l ibera t ing

valu e of insigh t requ ired a pe r iod of de ep er cul t iv a t ion to ful ly ext i r

pa te greed , ha t red , and de lus ion . Even more s t r ik ing then than the

app rec ia t ion of ra t ion a l i sm evident in th is ph ase of Bu ddh is t so te r io l -

ogy is the app rec ia t ion of the un co ns cio us levels of af fl ic t ion not

immediate ly accessible by even the most direc t insight into rea l i ty .

buddhist soteriology

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