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an introduction to mahAyana buddhism
With especial Reference to
Chinese and Japanese
Phases
BY
WILLIAM MONTGOMERY McGOVERN, Ph. D.
Lecturer on Japanese and Chinese at the School of Oriental Studies {University of London) ; Priest of the Nishi Honganji, Kyoto, Japan Author of Modern Japan, Colloquial Japanese, Elements of Japanese Writing, etc., etc.
LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 1922
6^
/ ^2:2
DEDICATION
TO MRS. C. A. F. RHYS-DAVIDS, M.A., D.LITT.
Dear Mrs. Rhys-Davids,
In dedicating to you this exposition of the bare essentials of the Mahayana philosophy, I feel that I must explain something of its scope and aim.
In its original form the present work was part of a thesis which, when presented to the Japanese cathedral, the Nishi Honganji, secured me my Buddhist degree, and an honorary ordination as a Buddhist priest. In consequence I hope that it may be considered to represent, as far as it goes, what the Japanese Buddhists believe to be true, and what they consider accurate.
In presenting the book in a new dress before the Western public, a good deal of revision has taken place, but this has been chiefly a matter of omission and simplification. All technical details have been deleted, and any unusual idea or term has had placed after it a few words of elementary elucidation.
^^
iv DEDICATION
I have called it an " introduction " for three reasons. First, because it is intended for a guide to the general reader of average education, who does not care to go into details ; second, because it is intended also to point out the chief sign- posts to those who desire to take up the subject somewhat more seriously ; and third, because it serves as a preface to my longer, more serious, and more ambitious book on Buddhism, which is now in preparation.
Finally, may I add that though working at Buddhism through Chinese rather than Pali sources, and from the Mahayana rather than the HJnayana point of view, with the consequence that I am afraid that you will not always agree with my presentation, yet I wish to thank you most heartily for your encouragement, discussion, and occasional advice.
Yours sincerely,
WILLIAM MONTGOMERY MCGOVERN. Christ Church, Oxford.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
INTEODUCTION ; the doctrinal
EVOLUTION OF BUDDHISM . . I
I. EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC . . . . 32
II. THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE AND
ITS RELATION TO THE UNIVERSE 48
III. THE TRIKA"yA — THE BUDDHIST
DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY . . J^
IV. THE NATURE AND POWERS OF
BUDDHAHOOD . . . . • • 99
V. PSYCHOLOGY — ELEMENTS OF EXIST- ENCE 132
VI. THE WHEEL OF LIFE AND THE ROAD
TO NIRVANA 1 53
CONCLUSION: A short history
OF BUDDHISM AND THE PRINCIPAL BUDDHIST SECTS .. .. .. 180
APPENDIX : the sacred litera-
TL^RE OF THE BUDDHISTS .. 2! 5
INTEODUCTION
THE DOCTRINAL EVOLUTION OF BUDDHISM
Buddhism is divided into two great schools, Mahayana and Hinayana. Both systems origi- nated in India, but since the former predomi- nates in China, Japan, Nepal, and, in a modified form, in Tibet and Mongolia, while the latter is confined almost exclusively to Ceylon, Burma, and Siam, they are often, and rather incorrectly, known as Northern and Southern Buddhism.
Mahayana is again divided into unreformed and reformed branches, the unreformed branch being found all over Eastern Asia, while there- formed branch has its centre in Japan. Eoughly, we may compare these divisions of Buddhism to those of the principal Occidental faiths. Hina- yana, or the earlier and more primitive form of Buddhism, corresponds to Judaism ; Unreformed Mahayana to Catholicism, and Reformed Maha- yana to Protestantism.
Of recent years, owing to the labours of such scholars as Spence Hardy, Gogerly, Prof, and Mrs.
2 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Khys-Davids, etc., Hinayana has become more or less known to the Western world, but Maha- yana still awaits adequate treatment. Different scholars in dealing with Mahayana have spoken of it as a ritualistic and animistic degeneration of Hinayana ; as sophistic nihilism, as mystic pantheism. They have claimed it to be now monotheistic, now polytheistic, now atheistic ; or finally, they have contented themselves with stating that it is a vast mass of contradictory ideas, unassimilated and undefined.
It is obvious that all of these descriptions can not be true, while the historical importance of the Mahayana philosophy renders it imperative to attempt some more concise interpretation of its essential elements, for as Christians far out- number Jews, so do Mahayanists far outnumber Hinayanists ; as Christianity has had far more important cultural connections than Judaism, so has Mahayana, at the expense of Hinayana, ineffaceably linked itself with the civilizations of vast parts of Asia ; and as the early fathers of the Christian Church and the schoolmen of the Middle Ages built up a religious and philosophic system far more important than the ideas ex- pressed in Eabbinic schools, so is Mahayana the outcome of centuries of speculative development,
INTRODUCTION 3
enriched by materials from all sources, and ex- pounded by the great bulk of the ancient meta- physicians of India and China, while Hina- yana has remained far more narrow and confined in its philosophic evolution.
Indian TJiought at the Time of the Buddha.
Any adequate understanding of Mahayana must be based upon a comprehension of the stages of its development, of the processes by which it differentiated itself from the more primi- tive Hinayana, of the relation of the latter to pristine Buddhism, and of the place of this pristine Buddhism in Indian thought.
The period in which Gautama or ^akyamuni, the historical founder of Buddhism, lived (some five and a half centuries B.C.) was in many ways an interesting one. The earlier child-like beliefs of the Vedas had dwindled, and the implicit acceptance of the primeval_deities had given way, at least among the educated classes, to a keen discussion, from a mystico-rationalist point of view of the essential problems of existence. It was the age of the formulation of metaphysical systems. Bands of mendicant teachers went forth proclaiming new syntheses of knowledge, new outlooks on life.
4 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
These Indian philosophers, like their contem- porary Occidental brethren, were primarily con- cerned with problems relating to (I) the nature of ultimate reality, and (II) methods of ascertain- ing truth.
I. — Just as the early Greek philosophers were divided into (a) a School of Naive Eealists, (6) a School of Being, and (c) a School of Becoming, so did the Indians divide themselves into (1) those who followed the Vedic hymns and accepted the universe at its face value, (2) those who taught that the ultimate nature of things is quiescent and changeless, that beyond the realm of fluctuating phenomena is the realm of the absolute, in which there is no space and time, but only an eternal present, and (3) those who taught that change, flux, becoming, integration and disintegration, are inherent in the nature of things ; that no thing ever remains the same for two consecutive moments ; that even the Absolute is ever evolv- ing and becoming.
II. — Consequent upon these differences of out- look upon the nature of reality, there arose widely divergent theories concerning the basis of truth :
(1) Truth through sense impression. In early days man instinctively believed in the validity
INTRODUCTION 5
of his sense impressions. All things were sup- posed to be exactly as we see them, and absolute truth was to be gained by experience.
(2) Truth through reason. Gradually, however, as the limitations of the senses come to be felt, it is recognized that the ceaseless change of the phenomenal world prevents our obtaining an insight into its nature by means of the senses. But the school of Being represented by the Upanishads taught that man's soul is not of the phenomenal but of the noumenal world, that he might, through the exercise of his mental powers, gain a direct insight into the ultimate nature of reality. This Vedanta doc- trine corresponds very closely to certain phases of Plato's theory of knowledge.
(3) Truth through psychological analysis. — While the Vedantins and Plato were content to accept the validity of reason, supported, no doubt, by the seeming absolutivity of mathematics, the Indian school of Becoming came to regard the mind, not as an independent, unconditioned, and eternal entity having a direct insight into truth, but as a limited, caused, confined, and con- ditioned organism whose data are of purely rela- tive value. Acute analysis of the functions of consciousness no doubt aided this conception,
6 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
and the conflicting nature of all reasoning seemed to support it. In spite of age-long disputes, no two systems of philosophy agreed, and no single rational doctrine could claim universal accept- ance.
Consequently, only the immediate data of consciousness could claim assured validity. We have no means of ascertaining whether or not these data correspond to ultimate reality, or are logically consistent, but of the reality of feelings qua feelings, there can be no doubt.
Primitive Buddhism.
Primitive Buddhism, so far as we can judge its doctrines by means of higher criticism of the various recensions of the Siitra Pitaka, was the supreme example of the Indian Becoming philo- soi)hy. Change was the foundation stone on which its metaphysic rested. The body was considered a living complex organism, possessing no self -nature. The nature of the mind was sup- posed to be analogous. The percipient conscious- ness had no direct insight into truth through a stable and transcendent reason, but was a com- pound effected by the chain of causality, and conditioned by its environment.
Consequently at the outset Buddhism assumed an agnostic position concerning transcendental
INTRODUCTION 7
problems. " These problems the Blessed One has left unelucidated, has set aside, has rejected — that the world is eternal, that the world is not eternal, that the world is finite, that the world is infinite, etc."
In a word. Buddhism insisted that we can only- deal with facts and data of which we are imme- diately conscious ; with states of consciousness ; with an analysis of the emotions ; with the universe as perceived as opposed to the universe as it is.
The doctrines of primitive Buddhism are all in accordance with this psychological basis, as may be seen by examining its theory of the Three Marks and the Four Noble Truths.
The Three Marks are not doctrines which are to be accepted on faith, or as the result of logical reasoning, but are considered the essential charac- teristics of life as recognized by every day perceptual and emotional experience.
They are : " (1) All is impermanent. (2) All is sorrowful. (3) All is lacking a self." This last phrase refers not only to the soul, but to the universe as a whole. It consists not of simple or self-existing things, but of complex, caused, conditioned things. The fourth mark, Nirvana, is no less psychological. By means of
8 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
contemplation certain forms of Samadhi, trance, or ecstasy were experienced. Magnify the ex- perience, consider it permanent, associate with it the abolition of sorrow, sin, and ignorance, and the theory of Nirvana is formulated, for it must be remembered that originally Nirvana is purely a state of mind.
The so-called four Noble Truths are derived from the same basic ideas. Transformed from an ancient Indian medical rune, they are: — (L) Suffering exists. (2) The cause of suffering is desire (and ignorance). (3) There is a possible end of suffering — Nirvana. (4) This end may be achieved by following the Noble Eight-fold Path, which consists of (a) right knowledge, (b) right aspiration, (c) right speech, (d) right conduct, (e) right means of livelihood, (f ) right endeavour, (g) right mindfulness, and (h) right meditation.
The first and third " truths " (suffering and Nirvana) are the same as the second and fourth " marks." The fourth (the path to Nirvana) is purely a point of ethics, and does not at present concern us. The second (the cause of suffering) is the most important, and contains the seed of a very complete phenomenology, for at a very early stage " suffering " became, in this instance, synonymous with life, and this " truth " was
JNTR09UCTI9N 9
supposed to explain the origin of the experienced world — the experienced universe, let it be noted, for early Buddhism had no interest in the origin of the external universe.
Primitive Buddhism though agnostic was probably realistically inclined. It believed that there is an external universe closely corresponding to our sense-data, but it realized that in its present form the world as we see it is subjective, the result of the percipient consciousness (vijndna) acted upon by external stimuli.
The theory of the origin, awakening, and development of the Vijhana is explained in the obscure Pratitya Samutpdda, or the twelve-linked chain of causation. This, though differently ex- plained by the various schools of Buddhism, always consists of : —
(1) Ignorance.
(2) Action.
(3) Consciousness.
(4) Name and Form.
(5) The Senses.
(6) Contact.
(7) Sensation.
(8) Craving.
(9) Attachment.
(10) Becoming.
(11) Birth.
(12) Old age, disease, and death.
10 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
The origin of the percipient consciousness is ignorance and desire. Without these the indi- vidual consciousness would disintegrate, and though the experienced universe cannot exist without object, it equally cannot exist without subject. Consequently when an Arhat (one who has attained Mrvana) dies, the experienced world for that person comes to an end.
It will be seen from this that there is a close connection between cause and effect. This law Buddhism calls Karma, and is one of the funda- mental features of the Buddhist faith. Among the innumerable divisions of Karma we find the following : —
Des/'re
Ac//o/j ^ — ^ ffeju/f
^-
Another such threefold classification is : —
1. The Seed. {Retu).
2. Environment or attendant circumstances.
(Pratyaya).
3. The result or fruit. (PJiala).
The doctrine of Andtman prevents the belief in the persistence of the undying personality, while the doctrine of Karma, on the other hand, demands that there be something that can reap the result of a man's good or bad deeds. Accord-
INTRODUCTION II
ingly the early Buddhists taught that the fruit of a man's deeds will cause the birth of a new personality after the dissolution of the old. This birth may be in one of the numerous heavens or hells, or it may be on the earth again. Hlnaydna Buddhism.
The philosophy of primitive or pristine Budd- hism became crystallized in Hinayana Buddhism, the Orthodox branch of the faith which was matured during the period from the death of the Buddha down to about the time of the beginning of the Christian era, after which it had to compete with the newly-developed Mahayana. Hinayana itself was by no means unified, for shortly after the death of Gautama it broke up into a number of sects, with widely varying interpretations of the earlier philosophy. Out of the eighteen or twenty such Hinayana sects, two only require especial attention at the present time. These are, first, the Sthaviravadins (Pali Thervadins), and, second, the Sarvastivadins.
The former is probably the school which keeps nearest to the tenets of early Buddhism, but soon lost its hold over India proper, though it has always maintained itself in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam. The Sarvastivadins were of a more scholastic nature. They transformed
12 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Buddhism into a complete and consistent philosophy, and wrote in or translated their works into classical Sanskrit, while the more simple Sthaviravadins retained the more collo- quial, popular, and vulgar Pali. The Sarvas- tivadins seem to have gained the upper hand in India some time before the birth of Christ, and long remained the most important school of Indian Hinayana. Most of the Hinayana works translated into foreign tongues, such as Chinese or Tibetan, belonged to this school, and though as a separate school it almost expired with the extinction of Buddhism in India, it had an enormous influence on the philosophic develop- ment of the later sects which survived. In fact, the Sarvastivadins may be called the Hinayana school par excellence.
Even the more primitive Sthaviravadin school, which prides itself upon its maintenance of the letter of the law as preached by Qakyamuni, has added several important features. The most essential point is that in practice it has abandoned the agnosticism of the earlier faith, and depending upon the fidelity of sense impressions proceeded to systematize objective phenomena. Thus, for example, it accepted, in a somewhat modified form, the ancient cosmography of India, with its
INTRODUCTION 13
geography, astronomy, and account of the in- tegration and disintegration of the material {i.e., external) universe. Where primitive Buddhism had ignored, the Sthaviravadins denied, the existence of an Absolute. Those problems which the early Buddhists has rejected as being irrele- vant were answered by the Sthaviravadins, even though the answers were relegated to the body of relative, as opposed to absolute, truth. The latter consisted only of such doctrines as the three marks and the four noble truths.
One of the most important steps to be taken was the analysis of the parts of being, approached in the first place from the psychological point of view. Early Buddhism had taught that instead of an ego entity, the personality consisted of five constituent parts (skandha), viz. : — Rupa (Form, i.e., the body) ; Vedand (sensation or feeling) ; Samjnd (conception) ; SamsMra (here meaning various mental qualities) ; and Vijndna (con- sciousness). The Sthaviravadins divided Form, the material world, into 27 or 28 parts ; Sensa- tion into 3 or 5 ; Conception into 6 ; Mental Qualities into 52 ; and Consciousness into 89 parts.
These divisions were the result of introspective analysis, but they were considered absolute and
14 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
final. These several divisions constituted the unchanging elements of existence from which all phenomena are compounded. Buddhism was thus transformed from an agnostic and positivist system, concerned only with suffering and the alleviation of suffering, into a realistic and materialistic philosophy, though the transforma- tion was gradual and could hardly have been recognized at the time, for early Buddhism per- mitted the analysis of subjective states, and the elements of existence of the Sthaviravadins were enunciated by merely subdividing the divisions of early Buddhism, while maintaining the sub- jective or psychological point of view.
The Sarvastivadins are to the Sthaviravadins what the Sthaviravadins were to primitive Budd- hism. The materialism and realism of the Stha- viravadins was made more explicit and categori- cal ; the agnostic and psychological aspect was largely lost sight of. Buddhism thus became a definite and rigid philosophic system, instead of remaining a body of truths which were effective irrespective of metaphysics. A most important step was made when the elements of existence were classified from an external or objective as well as from a subjective point of view. The older or subjective classification was retained (though
INTRODUCTION 15
the subdivisions of each skandha were somewhat different from those of the Sthaviravadins), but the subdivisions were re-arranged in such a way as to constitute a complete analysis of the external universe.
According to the Abhidharma Ko§a these elements (or dharma) are 75 in number, classified in the following way : —
1. Unconditioned Elements {AsamsJcrita Dhar- ma) or simple elements, so called because they do not enter into combinations with other elements. They are three in number, of which Space or Ether, and Nirvana are two.
2. Conditioned Elements {Samskrita Dharma)^ or complex elements, so called because they enter into combinations, though themselves sim- ple and permanent. Their compounds constitute the phenomena of the universe. These elements are 72 in number, divided into : —
1. Material elements, 11 in number.
2. Mind, 1 in number.
3. Mental Qualities, such as love, hate, etc.,
46 in number.
4. Miscellaneous elements, such as life, decay,
etc., 14 in number. These elements were considered permanent and unchanging, as were the eighty odd physical
16 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
elements of the scientists of a generation ago. In their present state all phenomena were sup- posed to be impermanent and unstable, but consisted of stable and unchanging rudiments.
TJie Transition from Hinaydna to Mahdydna.
In its finished form Hinayana laid great em- phasis upon two doctrines. These were : — (1) It is necessary for all men to strive after Arhat- ship, or salvation from the wheel of life and death. This was the religious phase. (2) All phenomena are unstable compounds of a certain fixed number of stable elements. This was the philosophic phase.
Neither one of these doctrines can be said to be in strict conformity with the principles of early Buddhism. As regards the first, in Hina- yana a distinction in hind was made between the Arhat, he who has merely attained Nirvana or salvation, and the Buddha who had also attained supreme enlightenment, or, more correctly, three stages were enunciated : — (1) Arhatship, or mere salvation ; (2) PratyeJca Buddahood, or private Buddhahood, supreme enlightenment for oneself alone ; and (3) Buddahood proper, supreme en- lightenment gained in order to teach the world. According to Hinayana not only is there an
INTRODUCTION 17
immense difierence between each stage, but for the average man the only possible goal is Arhat- ship ; only one out of many millions may aspire to Pratyeka Buddhahood, and only one in many cycles may attain Buddhahood. In primitive Buddhism, on the other hand, little distinction, save one of degree, is made between the Buddha and his illuminated disciples, and the highest goal is open to all.
As regards the second point, the thorough- going anitya or impermanency doctrine of primi- tive Buddhism is presumed to apply to all parts of the universe. Every thing, even the com- ponent parts of being, are in a perpetual flux or becoming, so that the doctrine of a number of fixed and changeless elements, constituting an eternal being, seems a departure from the original outlook on life. To be consistent even the dharmas or elements should be considered com- plex, caused, conditioned, subject to change.
On both these points Mahayana rose in revolt against Hinayana, and attempted to revert to the spirit of the original teachings. They claimed that their own teachings more perfectly expressed the meaning of the Buddha's teach- ing, just as the Protestants wished to revert to the ideas of Primitive Christianity. It must be
18 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAyANA BUDDHISM
confessed, however, that this desire for reform resulted only in the formation of a new system of religion and philosophy, which retained something of the spirit but little of the letter of the earlier faith. Let us take for example the question of the universality of the Buddha goal, whereby the distinction in kind between the Buddha and his disciples was obliterated.
Mahayana, appealing as it does to the emo- tional and devotional elements, regarded the Arhat ideal as selfish. It was enamoured of the idea of self-sacrifice and proclaimed that those who were content with self-salvation or self-enlighten- ment might aim only at Arhatship or Pratyeka Buddhahood, but insisted that its own followers preferred to abandon these lower aspirations in order that they might become all-saving Buddhas. Once this doctrine had been formulated great emphasis was laid upon it, and we find many passages breathing the noblest altruism.
Accordingly in early Mahayana all its own followers were called Bodhisattvas, Buddhas-to- be, as opposed to the adherents of Hinayana, who were termed (Jrdvalcas, or aspirants only after Arhatship.
Later Mahayana, the so-called true Mahayana, carried this idea still further, and taught that
INTRODUCTION 19
supreme and perfect enlightenment (Buddha- hood) was the final goal of all. The first half of the famous Mahayana scripture, the Lotus of the Good Law (Saddharma Pundarika Sutra), is given up to shewing that in reality there is but one road, that the other goals are but updya — devices — on the parts of the Buddhas for the purpose of leading the world away from sensu- ality and materialism.
Strangely enough, however, though throwing the gates of Buddhahood open to all, Mahayana took great pains to exalt the dignity and powers of the Buddhas. In Hinayana the Buddhas are men pure and simple, while in Mahayana they are looked upon as divine incarnations, or as material expressions of the Universal Buddha, whose existence Mahayana gradually came to teach.
In Hinayana Sutras sermons are delivered by ^akyamuni, generally speaking in simple and unaffected phrases so as to make the auditor feel the presence of a fatherly and serene old philosopher, advising those in the battle of life as one who has just emerged victorious himself. In Mahayana SUtras, on the other hand, we find a mysterious and transcendent person far re- moved from the levels of ordinary humanity,
20 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
who is listened to and worshipped by countless hordes of beings, celestial, human, and demoniac, who shower flowers upon the sage while he per- forms his stupendous supernatural deeds. In the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, for example, Qakyamuni sits for long ages in meditation. He is the Supreme Euler who has himself led count- less thousands to Enlightenment during countless ages, and who never really dies and who is never really born. The only explanation of this is that ^akyamuni and all the other Buddhas, as well as the Universal Buddha, are one.
The Mahdydna Buddhism of India.
The religious aspect of Mahayana developed some time immediately prior to the Christian era, but its philosophical aspect was formulated during the period extending from the first to the fifth centuries A.D. Two main schools came to be differentiated. One was the Madhya- mika school, founded by Nagarjuna and Arya Deva in the first and second centuries A.D. The other was the Yogacarya school, founded by Asanga and Vasubandhu in the fourth century A.D.
The Madhyamika school, which was thus some centuries earlier, largely devoted itself to the
INTRODUCTION 21
consideration of the second point on which Mahayana claimed that Hinayana had departed from the original teaching — the question of the existence of certain permanent stable elements which composed the universe. In accepting this doctrine, Hinayana, as we have said, almost abandoned its spirit of insistence upon change and becoming, and approached the standpoint of Western philosophy. The root instinct of the religion was too strong, however, and in the Madhyamika philosophy a return was made, to the principle of eternal transience and im- permanence.
The basis of this undeveloped or early Maha- yana is (Junya (literally emptiness or the Void). This doctrine has been frequently totally mis- understood in the West and taken to mean the theory of the non-existence of the universe or purely Nihilistic Idealism. In reality Qunya is simply an insistence that all things have no self- essence ; that they are compounds, unstable organisms even in their elemental stage. The science of the present generation believes that the supposedly rigid physical elements are not necessarily permanent ; that they may be broken down ; that the elements may themselves prove to be compounds possessing the essential quali-
22 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
ties of transformation and decay. In like manner the Qtinya school supposed that the Dharmas (elements) are impern^anent and have no existence-unto-themselves ; that they may be broken down into parts, parts into sub-parts, and so on eternally. Accordingly all phenomena have a relative as opposed to an absolute existence. All of life was once more reduced to a single underlying flux, a stream of existence with an everlasting becoming.
In a word, then, the Madhyamika doctrine of ^unya is that there is no thing-unto-itself, nothing with a self essence, nothing that cannot be broken up until we reach the great transcendent reality which is so absolute that it is wrong to say that it is or that it is not. This underlying reality — the principle of eternal re- lativity, non-infinity — permeates all phenomena, allowing expansion, growth, and evolution, which would otherwise be impossible.
It is easy to see that this early and undeveloped Mahayana idea of the Eternal Flux was the germ of the later doctrine of the Absolute. The doctrine of the Madhyamika school, however, was largely a negative one. It reduced all phenomena to a constantly changing stream of
INTRODUCTION 23
life, but concerning the nature of this stream of life it tells us little or nothing.
The next stage of doctrinal development, as found in the Yogacarya school, was a very important one, and resulted in the formulation of a remarkably complete system of idealism. The stream of life was supposed to be the Essence of mind, a fundamental Mind substance that was permanent and yet ever changing like the ocean. From this all the elements (and the 75 elements of the earlier school became 100 in the Yogacarya doctrine) and therefore all phenomena are de- rived. It was called the Alaya Vijndna, re- pository consciousness, yet it was considered to be neither matter nor mind, but the basic energy that was at the root of both.
It is the imperceptible and unknowable noumenon behind all phenomena. To quote Kuroda : "In contradistinction to the fallacious phenomena of existence there is the true Essence of Mind. The Essence of Mind is the entity without ideas and without phenomena and is always the same. It pervades all things, and is pure and unchanging . . . so it is called Bh utatatJidta — permanent reality . ' '
It would be easy to exaggerate the importance of this doctrine and falsely to identify it with
24 INTRODUCTION TO M AH AY AN A BUDDHISM
more developed systems, but undoubtedly it lia8 many points of contact with certain phases of modern Occidental philosophy. The Alaya Vijnana is like the Elan de Vie of Bergson, the Energy of Leibnitz, or the Unconscious of Von Hartmann. Like the last, though it is the essence of consciousness, it is not itself conscious in its earlier stages. It is mental, and yet there is a certain objective reality about it. Each unit of life may be regarded as a vortex in the sea of life. The action and interaction of these units one with another and with the common stream brings about the phenomenal appearance of the Universe.
Accordingly the Alaya Vijnana is regarded in three aspects, viz: — (1) as active, or the seed of percipient consciousness ; (2) as passive, as the sensibilia of consciousness ; (3) as the object of false belief, inasmuch as being the root of self- consciousness, each person comes to regard him- self as an eternal ego unity.
The Early 3Iahdydna Buddhism of China and Japan.
Buddhism was introduced into China in the first century A.D., and was firmly established by the fourth century. It was introduced into
INTRODUCTION 25
Japan in the sixth century, and was firmly established there in the seventh. The important sects of Indian Buddhism were introduced into those two countries, and we find a Bidon or Kusha sect corresponding to. the Sarvastivadin school, a Sanron sect corresponding to the Madhyamika school, and a Hosso sect correspond- ing to the Yogacarya school. These were all eclipsed, however, by a number of schools which developed in China and Japan itself. In these schools we may distinguish two phases, an earlier and theoretical or philosophical phase, and a later or practical and religious phase.
The early or philosophic phase is best repre- sented by the two schools of Tendai and Kegon. The Tendai school is in some ways a further development of the Madhyamika school, the Kegon of the Yogacarya, but both are synthetic philosophies, and have borrowed largely from all available sources. The doctrines of the two schools closely resemble each other, differing chiefly on points of emphasis, so that for the time being they may be considered together.
Their most valuable contribution to Buddhist philosophy was the development of the idea of the Absolute, which was latent in both the Madhyamika and Yogacarya schools. The
26 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Essence of Mind, or the Sea of Life is regarded as the one fundamental reality. It alone can be said to have a permanent existence, all phenom- ena being merely ephemeral manifestations there- of. It is very frequently called the Middle Principle (Chu), since it transcends both Being (Ke) and Becoming (Kii). Chinese Mahay anists answer the question of Being and Becoming by the simile of the ocean. The ocean is the Ab- solute, the waves are life's phenomena. The ocean is always changing. Waves are constantly arising, and no two waves are ever alike. So does the stream of life ever go surging past, never remaining the same. Yet there is a certain stability, a certain being, a fixity, a changeless- ness in this very changeability.
The doctrine of the Absolute of most Western philosophies is based upon the idea of pure Being. The Mahayana doctrine of the Absolute (Bhutatathata) evolved from the idea of be- coming, yet the two doctrines are strangely v/ similar. In both the Absolute is the sufficient reason of the universe ; it is the principle of existence which transcends but includes matter and mind, life and death, sameness and difference, Samsara (the phenomenal world) and Nirvana (the noumenal world). The Bhutatathata of
INTRODUCTION 27
Mahayana is the norm of life, the acme of being, the warp and the woof of the universe. It comes near to Hegel's conception of the Absolute, inasmuch as it is not only the force behind evolution, but also the very process of evolution itself.
Eetaining, as Chinese Mahayana does, the conception that all existence is derived from the Alaya Vijnana, which, in turn, has its essence and supporting principle in the Bhutathata, it declares that the Absolute is both identical and non-identical with the material universe. It is, to quote the ocean simile again, as if the water were stirred up by the winds of ignorance where- by the waves are produced. The water there- fore is both identical and not identical with the waves. To quote scholastic verbiage, the Uni- verse is but a mode of the Universal.
Preceding systems had formulated, as we shall presently see, the doctrine that every Buddha has three bodies, the DharmaMya, the Body of the Law, the Sambhogalcdya, the body of Com- pensation, and the Nirmanakdya, or the body of Transformation. In developed Buddhism the Bhiitatathata is regarded as a sort of Universal Buddha- Accordingly it was likewise considered to be possessed of the three bodies, so that we
28 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
find in the later stages an almost Christian idea of the Trinity. The Dharmakaya corresponds to an impersonalized God the Father, the Abstract order of the universe, or better, Mr. Well's Unmanifested Deity, the Sambhogakaya a more personalized ideation of the Absolute the symbol of moral perfection and the object of devotion — Mr. Well's God the Invisible King, and the Nirmanakaya is equivalent to the Christian God the Son, or the Absolute as manifested in the world in the guise of a human Buddha.
The Later Mdhdydna Buddhism of China and
Japan.
The later schools of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism are not so much doctrinal develop- ments as various adaptations of the foregoing philosophical foundation. The most important sects were the Shingon or Mantra sect, the Zen or Dhyana sect, and the Jodo or Sukhavati sect. All of them agreed in accepting the older philo- sophical foundations but gave them a religious, and to a large extent mystical bias.
The Shingon school claims to be the hidden or esoteric doctrine of which all outward or exoteric doctrines are but symbols. The full
INTRODUCTION 29
truth, or the inner mysteries are revealed only to those who have been initiated into the order. For the uninitiate the Shingon speaks only in terms ol parable and symbol. The Absolute and the various aspects of the Absolute are represented as celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattyas, each one with a mystic name, form, colour, and sign — each represented by a certain sound. The Bhiitatathata itself, as a whole, is generally represented as Vairocana or the Sun Buddha. The noumenal aspect of the universe is called the Diamond World ; the phenomenal aspect the Womb World, and sacred charts (mandala) are drawn illustrating the nature, attributes, and relations of each. The Shingon sect corresponds very closely to the Lamaism of Tibet and Mongolia. Both are derived from the later phases of the Yogacarya sect in India, about the sixth century A.D,, when esotericism became rampant in both Hindu and Buddhist circles.
The Zen Dhyana school represents a different type of esotericism or mysticism. The basic idea of Zen is that all formulated doctrines, whether exoteric or esoteric ; all books ; all speech ; and even all thought are inadequate to express the full nature of absolute truth. Consequently Zen refuses to place complete credence in any
30 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
one book, or collection of books, Buddhist or otherwise. It refuses to tie itself to any doctrine or creed. It accepts the philosophy of the Tendai and Kegon schools from a relative point of view, but insists that absolute truth must be found by each man for himself by means of intuitional realization to be gained through meditation. The only definite teaching to be found in the Zen sect is that every man is possessed of the Bodhicitta (the heart of wisdom) or the seed of Buddhahood. Every man is a sleeping Buddha. Consequently a man has but to awaken his Bodhicitta by meditation for him to gain a direct insight into the nature of reality. The Zen sect was introduced into China by Bodhid- harma in the sixth century, and into Japan by Eisai in 1191.
The Sukhavati doctrine, more particularly as represented by the Shin sect, the reformed branch of Mahayana Buddhism may be called the mysticism of exclusive adoration. In this school the Absolute or Universal Buddha is symbolized as Amitabha the Buddha of Infinite light, or Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Time, and as such is the object of fervent devotion. Enlightenment, or Nirvana, or Buddhahood is symbolized by the Paradise, SukhSvatl, or JMo
INTRODUCTION 31
of Amitabha. Eebirth in this paradise is to be gained by self-forgetting adoration of the supreme. In early days Amitabha may have been regarded as an historical Buddha, and his paradise a place to be gained by death, but, in the developed doctrine of Chinese and more especially Japanese Buddhism, we are told that Amitabha is without beginning and without end, that he is but a symbol for an inexpressible reality, that rebirth into his paradise is nothing more than the awakening of the Bodhicitta here on earth, and that this Bodhicitta is to be awakened by love and by faith. At the present time both Chinese and Japanese Buddhism is dominated by the Zen and Jodo ideas — Zen being an embodiment of absolute truth for the educated, and Jodo its relative symbol for the mass of the people.
f
CHAPTER 1
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC
All understanding of Buddhist metaphysics must be based upon a comprehension of its theory of knowledge. This theory we had best consider under three aspects : — (1) The nature of truth, (2) The methods of ascertaining truth, and (3) The methods of demonstrating truth.
1. The Nature of Truth. In Buddhism we find great emphasis laid upon the two-fold and the three-fold aspects of truth. In a primitive form the two-fold division is to be found in Hinayana Buddhism, and probably dates back to the time of Qakyamuni himself, but was first emphasized by the Madhyamika school of Mahayana.
According to this there are two forms of truth, Relative Truth (Samvritti-satya or Zokutai) and Absolute Truth (Paramartha-satya or Shintai). In earlier days this distinction was applied to differentiate those doctrines which were an essential and fundamental part of
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 33
Buddhism (such as the Four Noble Truths,) which were absolutely true and changeless, and those doctrines which were merely adopted by Buddhist metaphysicians to fill out a philosophic conception of the universe, and which would necessarily be modified as new information came to light. To this category belong the various theories of cosmography, etc.
Later Buddhism slightly modified this con- ception. Absolute Truth was equivalent to complete and perfect enlightenment. Words being but symbols are incapable of describing adequately or defining it. Thought consists of a number of concepts, and any concept being equally a symbol and therefore inadequate, it follows that a knowledge of Absolute Truth cannot be gained merely by a process of ratiocina- tion. While, however. Absolute Truth is in- conceivable it is not unrealizable for through spiritual development we may gain direct illumination, more or less adequate, according to our nature and the stage of our development.
Once we have thus acquired a direct insight into truth we may inadequately attempt to clothe it in words and concepts, and crystallize it into dogmas, as a guide to the later seekers after truth. It is, however, like trying to describe
34 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
the colours of the rainbow to a man blind from birth.
This crystallization of truth by formulation of doctrine is what the Mahayanists call relative truth. Absolute Truth is ever the same, while relative truth is ever advancing, coming nearer and nearer to an approximation of Absolute Truth, as each generation taking the doctrine of its predecessors is able more succinctly to interpret it and compare it with new realizations of Absolute Truth. While, however, the smaller circle of relative truth is constantly expanding and thereby approaching in size the greater circle of Absolute Truth, the two can never coincide, since the latter is infinite, and the former must ever deal with finite instruments, such as the brain or speech.
Mahay ana declares that all theories, hypo- theses, doctrines, whether verbal or incorporated in scriptures, whether scientific, philosophical or religious, and including its own doctrines of Nirvana, the Universal Buddha, etc., belong to the body of relative truth, and must, therefore, be modified with the course of time. This conception of the nature of truth greatly facili- tates the doctrinal development of later Budd- hism, allowing for the evolution of new theories
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 35
and interpretations, while the simpler theory of truth maintained by the Southern Buddhists caused them to stick fast to the letter of the law as taught by ^akyamuni.
The three-fold division of truth is nothing more than a restatement of this in other terms. The three classes are (1) illusion (parikalpita), (2) relative knowledge (paratantra), (3) absolute knowledge (parini§panna). The first is abso- lutely false, as when a rope lying in the road is mistaken for a snake. The second is a pragmatic comprehension of the nature of things sufficient for ordinarj^ purposes, as when the rope is seen to be a rope. The third deals with the real and ultimate nature of things, when the rope is analysed and its true nature understood. The only real difference between the two -fold and the three-fold divisions of truth is that finite knowledge is separated into falsehood and that which is relatively true, and the latter exalted to its proper position, since otherwise, by neglect of this important phase, intellectual progress would be barred.
2. Methods of Ascertaining Truth.
Early Buddhism had no elaborate epistemology or logic, but in the period of the full development
36 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
of Mahayana Buddhism we find the following classification of the means of evaluating know- ledge : —
7. INDIRECT. 1. Tradition.
a. Exoteric.
b. Esoteric. II. DIRECT.
1. Experience.
a. Empirical.
b. Intuitional.
2. Reason.
a. Pure reason.
b. Practical reason.
A word must be said concerning each of these points.
Buddhism has both an external and an internal standard of truth. The saints and sages of the past have had a direct insight into the nature of reality, and in consequence the truth which they expounded must be accepted by all. On the other hand such sages have only achieved en- lightenment through means which are open to us all. By process of experience, both material and spiritual, and by reason, both pure and practical, we may test the validity of each of their positions and reinterpret their meanings
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 37
into closer accordance with the knowledge of the time.
Tradition is of two kinds, exoteric and esoteric. The first is embodied in the external dogmas of Buddhism as expounded in the Sutras, Vinayas, and the Abhidharmas, which are open so that all the world may read, while many branches of Mahayana insist that beyond this there is a secret tradition which may never be written down, which requires proper training and initiation before it can be understood.
Experience was likewise divided into two phases. The first is merely the ascertainment of truth through ordinary physical sense organs and sense objects. Provided the sense organs and the sense perceiving aspects of consciousness are normally constituted the data which they furnish may be taken as valid, at least for the establishment of relative as opposed to Absolute Truth. Owing to the limitations of the physical senses and the brain machine, Absolute Truth can only be glimpsed by transcending them and gaining knowledge through intuition or direct realization. For such purposes all doctrines, theories, and scriptures are but fingers pointing to the moon, and have no inherent validity. This doctrine is called the doctrine of Ton or
38 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
suddenness, i.e., the means whereby knowledge may be gained at one stroke through transcen- dental apperception without waiting to piece together, one by one, the data of empirical knowledge.
Reason is the means whereby we piece to- gether the separate and unconnected sense data, whether empirical or transcendental, and thereby make a system or a new co-ordination of facts, enabling us to lay down generalizations and broad formulae. Owing to the whole trend of its philosophy Buddhism could not place such great stress upon the importance of abstract or pure reason as could Plato and Aristotle. Never- theless even the Hinayana sutras proclaim that nothing is to be accepted that is not in accordance with reason, and in the metaphysical systems of Mahayana the process of abstract reason was the method most frequently employed, more particularly in such schools as the Tendai and the Avatamsaka or Kegon.
Yet, inasmuch as Buddhism taught that the ephemeral nature of external reality and of consciousness was an obstacle to the ascertain- ment of Absolute Truth by sophism or bare deductive reasoning, we early find a tendency towards pragmatism, or a substitution of practic-
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 39
al for pure reasoning, or a tendency to judge of the validity of a doctrine by its effect upon human life. Thus for example in the Hinayana sutras, in discussing what we might call the freedom of the will, we find the Buddha saying " Some Qramanas and Brahmins there are who maintain that whatever a man has in this life ... is purely due to predestination. Others say that it is due to the will of Igvara (God), others again that it is due to blind chance. Now, O monks, when I find Qramanas and Brahmins holding or preaching such views I . . . say to them, ' So then, you must acknowledge that men become murderers, thieves, etc. . . on account of Fate, Igvara's will, or blind chance. Accord- ingly all attempts at improvement or distinction between right and wrong, become of no avail. Such being the case the moral regeneration of the fallen becomes impossible.' This sort of reasoning must silence those who hold any of the three views mentioned above ." The pragmatic nature of this argument is obvious.
In Mahayana we find the doctrine carried somewhat further, and associated with what we might call the symbolic theory of truth, i.e., that the nature of absolute truth is so great and so infinite that it can never be completelj' and
40 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
adequately grasped by finite logic, yet neverthe- less it may be expressed or indicated by a symbol which teaches us something of its essence without limiting it by definition.
Thus the nature of the Absolute (Bhfttata- thata) can never be properly formulated, yet by symbolizing it as the universal Buddha, as Amitabha, Infinite Light, or Amitayut^, Infinite Time, we may have a focus for devotion which may remain as a living and vital stimulus towards the spiritual life even when increasing knowledge may cause us to reinterpret our sym- bols. This is the doctrine of upaya or hoben, means or devices, or accommodations of truth to the minds of the hearers, which is really the basis of the Sukhavati or Paradise doctrine.
3. Methods of Demonstrating Truth. Buddhist logic which is comprised in a sort of inverted syllogism passed through a very inter- esting evolution. From the first it was obviously a logic of demonstration of ideas already enter- tained, rather than a pretence of deduction of previously unknown facts, as was claimed, and now considered falsely claimed, by Aristotelian logic, with which it baa otherwise much in common.
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 41
Again the frankly Becoming and consequently anti-rational position of Buddhism hindered the evolution of its logic. Hinayana Buddhism, in fact, never produced any logical system, and even the reasoning of the early Madhyamika and Yogacarya scholars with their five-fold syllogism is largely based on analogical reasoning, the citing of individual homogeneous and hetero- geneous examples rather than the proof of a fact by citing a universal and invariable law.
Dignaga or Mahadignaga was the first to devote himself almost exclusively to logic, and with him Buddhist logic, properly so called, begins. His syllogism is as follows : —
Thesis, e.g. — Socrates is mortal.
Reason, e.g. — Because Socrates is a man.
Example, e.g. — And all men are mortal. With this may be compared the Occidental formula : —
Major Premise. — All men are mortal.
Minor Premise. — Socrates is a man.
Conclusion. — Therefore Socrates is mortal. Let us examine each of these features some- what more in detail : —
1. The thesis is divided into the subject or minor term (pakga) e.g., " Socrates," and pre- dicate or major term (sadhya) e.g., " mortal."
42 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Neither subject nor predicate is itself to be disputed, but only the thesis or proposition concerning their relationship.
2. The reason or premise must be a known truth, or a truth accepted by all. Consequently, Dign^ga wiU place here only those facts known directly, i.e., through reason or experience, and not those facts which are known indirectly, e.g., by tradition, exoteric, or esoteric.
3. The same thing must hold true of the Example, which is of a more abstract nature. The word example (drstanta) is singularly un- fitted to denote the idea of the major premise, and is derived from the period when the universal law of necessary concomitance was unknown, and in its place there was cited one or two analogous examples. Thus the old syllogism would have run : —
Thesis. Sound is non-eternal.
Reason. Because it is produced.
Example. Like a pot, and not like space, while with Dignaga it is of course : —
Thesis. Sound is non-eternal.
Reason. Because it is produced.
Example. All produced things are non-eternal, to which might bo added, purely for purposes of elucidation, and not for proof, the homo-
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 43
geneous example " like a pot," and the hetero- geneous example " not like space."
Dignaga's rule for the formation of his new example was to " take the reason for the subject, and the major term for the predicate." Thus for example : —
Thesis. AU A is B.
Reason. All A is C.
Example. All C is B, or, in other words, to cite another syllogism :—
Thesis. All diamonds are combustible.
Reason. Because all diamonds are carbon. .
Example. And all carbon is combustible.
This brings us to a discussion of the famous doctrine of the 3 phases of the reason or middle term (hetu).
1. The first deals with the relation between the middle term (C) and the minor term or subject (A). 2. The second deals with the relation between the middle term (C) and the major term or predicate (B). 3. The third deals with the relation between the middle term (C) and the heterogeneous example (which we will call D).
For a syllogism to be valid : — 1. 0 must include the whole of A, e.g.^ the word carbon must include all and not merely some of diamonds.
44 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
2. All C must invariably apply to B, but it need not include all B, e.g., all carbon must be com- bustible, though combustible things may include other things than carbon. 3. C must include no D or Non-B, e.g., carbon must possess no non-combustible qualities.
Finally we come to the fallacies, the presence of which in either the thesis, the reason, or the example would make the syllogism invalid. We are told that there are 9 fallacies of the thesis, 14 fallacies of the reason, and 10 fallacies of the example, but these as lying within the realm of pure technicality, are outside the scope of our present undertaking.
4. Absolute Truth, and Buddhist Doctrines.
Such then is the Buddhist theory of the nature of truth, and the means of ascertaining and demonstrating it. The question then arises, does Buddhism claim a unique possession of truth, does it state that its own doctrines are the sole, final, and absolute embodiments of reality ?
Such is far from the case. Its doctrine of the distinction between Absolute Truth and relative truth, caused it to state that all of its own doc- trines, and theories, as well as the sacred works containing them, belong exclusively to the
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 45
realm of relative truth, and are, therefore, liable to error, and capable of constant improvement, that other systems of thought no less than its own are equally but the imperfect embodiments of inadequate glimpses of absolute reality. This idea, more or less common to all forms of Maha- yana Buddhism, is emphasized by the Dhyana sect.
The mode of expression adopted by a modern leader of the school, Kaiten Nukariya in his " Religion of the Samurai " is very interesting : —
" The scripture is no more nor less than the finger pointing to the moon of Buddhahood. When we recognize the moon and enjoy its benign beauty, the finger is of no use. As the finger has no brightness whatever so the scripture has no holiness whatever. The scripture is religious currency representing spiritual wealth. It does not matter whether the money be gold or sea-shells or cows. It is a mere substitute. What it stands for is of paramount importance.
" Away with your stone knife. Do not watch the stake against which a running hare once struck its head and died. Do not wait for another hare. Another may not come forever. Do not cut out the side of the boat from which you dropped your sword to mark where it sunk.
46 INTRO DUCT IO\ TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
The boat is ever moving on. The canon is the window out of which we observe the grand spiritual scenery of spiritual nature. To hold communion directly with it we must get out of the window. It is a mere stray fly that is always buzzing within it struggling to get out. Those who spend most of their lives in the study of the scriptures are religious flies, good for nothing but their buzzing about nonsensical technicalities. It is on this account that Einzai declared ' The twelve divisions of the Buddhist canon are nothing better than waste paper.' "
After outlining the " Relative Truth " re- garding the Absolute Nukariya goes on to say : —
" Has then the divine nature of the Universal Spirit been completely and exhaustively re- vealed to our Enlightened Consciousness 1 To this question we would answer in the negative, for so far as our limited experience is concerned Universal Spirit reveals itself as a being with profound wisdom and boundless mercy ; this nevertheless does not imply that this conception is the only possible and complete one. It goes on to disclose a new phase, to add a new truth. The subtlest logic of old is a mere quibble of now- a-days. . . . New theories are formed, new discoveries are made only to jfive way to newer
EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC 47
theories and newer discoveries. New ideale realized or new desires satisfied are sure to awaken new and stronger desires. Not an instant life remains the same, but it rushes on amplify- ing and enriching itself from the dawn of time to the end of eternity."
CHAPTEE II
THE NATUEE OF THE ABSOLUTE A^'D ITS EELATION TO THE UNIVEESE
1. The Outlook on Life
Questions concerning the outlook on life have always played an integral part in Buddhist philosophy. In fact, in its essence, Buddhism is not an analysis of the ultimate nature of existence or an explanation of the noumenon which lies behind phenomena, but it is an interpretation of the good and bad of life, taken as a whole and unanalysed.
Like all other phases of Buddhist thought its theory of the proper evaluation of life has undergone great evolution and modification. Its various ramifications may best be considered under three stages, which, for want of better terms, we may call, (1) absolute pessimism, (2) absolute optimism, and (3) relative pessimism. The first is associated with primitive and Hina- yana Buddhism ; the second with the doctrines of the various schools of unreformed Mahay^ua ;
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 49
the third with the reformed branch of MahSyana.
[a). Absolute Pessimum.
Primitive Buddhism began by saying, as we know, (1) all is impermanent, (2) all is lacking a self, (3) all is sorrowful. The very nature of phenomenal life is transient, and consequently all joys are transient. Where there is birth there is necessarily old age, disease, and death. Those whom we love are estranged, or are taken from us. Achievement is disillusionment. The few benefit at the expense of the many, and even the few find no real enjoyment in life.
This state of affairs holds true not merely for the present earthly existence, but for all possible forms of life, whether in heaven or hell, whether in the past, present, or future. Consequently for primitive Buddhism, and for Hinayana Buddhism life, qua life, has no fascination. It can find peace and satisfaction only in emancipa- tion from all known forms of existence, in com- plete escape from the phenomenal world, in the annihilation of bodily and mental existence, namely Mrvana.
Nirvana, to be sure, is purely a state of mind obtainable anywhere and at any time, and is to
50 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
be achieved while still in the flesh, but as life or the corporate personality is only formed as the result of ignorance and desire in the past, when the Arhat, he who has attained Nirvana, dies no new personality can be formed, and certainly, from our material point of view, the personality is wiped out of existence.
This is what is known as the 8hd1cyoku-teki no Nehan or the negative view of Nirvana, where life is compared to the waning of the moon. Here the moon is compared to the sins and sorrows of life. Gradually it wanes until finally there is nothing left.
(&). Absolute Optimism. All this was changed by the formulation of the doctrine of the Absolute, the Universal Buddha, or the Essence of Mind, the supreme ideal which is behind all life and from which all things draw their sustenance.
Every sentient being is possessed of the Bodhicitta (the wisdom heart) or the seed or kernel of enlightenment. This is the spark of Buddhahood which has only to be awakened to spring into the flame of perfection or Buddhahood. Consequently all forms of life spring from the noumenon which is itself good, which is possessed
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 51
of the four-fold qualities of Jo purity, raku pleasure, ga self essence, and jO permanence. All phenomenal life is bad only because it is relative, incomplete, imperfect, because it in- adequately expresses the absolute, because it is bounded and conditioned, for latent within each phenomenon is supreme bliss.
Nirvana consists not in escape from the world, but in the unlocking of the hidden nature, the development of the sleeping Buddha, the un- folding of potentialities. It is the fruition of life rather than its denial. Sin and sorrow are not so much exterminated as transmuted into holiness and joy.
This is known as the Shakkyoku-teki no Nehan or the positive Nirvana, in which Nirvana is compared to the waxing of the moon. The moon is the Bodhicitta, which steadily grows in intensity until the full moon of Buddhahood be reached.
(<j). Relative Pessimism.
Later followed the inevitable reaction. When the world is considered all perfect, men cease to strive for the cessation of the imperfect. Sin, sorrow, and misfortune are brushed aside as
52 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
aspects of the whole by which its absolutivity may be more adequately judged.
Shinran, the founder of the Shin school of Buddhism (13th century A.D.), accepted the philosophy of unreformed Mahayana Buddhism, but gave it a practical turn. Though the world be potentially good and all men possessed of the Bodhicitta, yet do grief and doubt assail us. Meditation upon the Absolute may suffice the metaphysician, but the man in the street is left disconsolate. Weak mortality is unable to awaken the Bodhicitta, and for such the older philosophies give no help.
Though acting on these ideas Shinran did not deny the validity of the older doctrines, but he devoted his life to formulating them in such a way that they might serve as a comfort and a stimulus. Looked at from the relative point of L/view, so long as our hearts are bent upon external pleasures, or are in dependence upon material things, there is no true happiness or peace of mind. Anguish seizes upon us, and we find ourselves forlorn and hopeless. I .Salvation, however, may be found in under- standing the true meaning behind the words Amida, Tariki, and Ojo. Amida, (Sanskrit Amitabha) is a symbol of the Infinite, the sum
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 53
total of our highest aspirations. Tariki (liter- ally other power) is a complete setting aside of personal motives, of self- aspiration in a complete adoration of the supreme. It is, as we have said, a mysticism of exclusive adoration. This awakens the Busshin or Buddha heart (Bodhi- citta) which results in Ojo, rebirth in Paradise, a rebirth which takes place not merely at death, but at the moment in life of complete self- abnegation, thereby differing from the older Sukhavati doctrine, which gave a purely material and post-mortem position to Paradise.
Life then is relatively evil, that is, evil so long as we place our trust in anything save Amida, but becomes a resting place, a temporary abode of the Bodhicitta, when once the latter has been awakened by unselfish adoration. As Amida is eternal, so is the Bodhicitta eternal, but whether after death it retains its discreteness, or is lost in the sea of perfection, only the awakened one can know.
2. The Nature of Reality.
On no point is the diversity of Buddhist philosophy so exemplified as on that of its various theories of the nature of ultimate reality. There is, of course, the marked line of cleavage
54 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
between the Hinayana and Mahay ana philoso- phies, but, in addition, each of these schools is several times subdivided. The principal stages may be summarized as follows : —
1. Primitive Buddhism^ or psychological agnosticism, in which no attempt is made to explore the recesses of the noumenal world, and no theories concerning ultimate reality are postulated.
2. Hinaydna Buddhism teaches a material- istic realism, that the universe consists of a certain small number of elements, uncreated, which enter into combination in accordance with causal law, unconnected with any super- natural law giver.
3. The Mddhyamika School of Mahaydna broke up these elements into component parts, and stated that there is only a fluid, fluctuat- ing stream of life, and that therefore all seemingly unchanging phenomena have only a conceptual existence.
4. The Yogdcdrya School of Mahdydna called this stream of life the Essence of Mind or the Alaya Vijnana, which is no less fluid or devoid of eternal particularity. The evolution of this Essence of Mind brings about the formation of the phenomenal universe.
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 55
6. Chinese and Japanese Mahdyana (especi- ally the Tendai and Kegon sects) has developed the theory of the Absolute latent in the fore- going conceptions, and states that the Bhtita- tathata is both the Norm or Pure Form, or Supreme Idea, and also the fundamental essence of all life.
This theory of the Absolute or Bhtitatathata is so important that a few words of elucidation are necessary. It is the doctrine which most sharply distinguishes Mahayana from Hinayana, and, on the other hand, the peculiar line of development which the theory underwent causes it to be essentially different from most other doctrines of the Absolute as found in either Europe or Asia.
Classification of Theories Concerning the
Absolute.
It is important to understand quite clearly just what relationship exists between the Mahayana and other theories concerning the nature of the Absolute. In attempting to explain their own position, modern Mahayana scholars have classified the various forms of monotheism In the following way : —
1. Tran$oendental Monotheism, under which
56 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Orthodox Christianity and Islam are included. In this the Deity and the world are entirely separate and distinct. Spirit and matter were created by God out of nothing and henceforwards exercise their functions in accordance with His Laws. This school has three divisions, (a) anthropomorphic in which a definite form is assigned to the Deity, (b) anthropopathic in which the Deity is without body or parts, yet has semi-human emotions, and (c) the school in which the Deity though more or less personal yet is " without body parts, or passions."
2. Emanational Monotheism is a modified form of pantheism which teaches that God and the World are not the same, yet the world is of a similar nature and is an emanation from the Deity. In this school the Divine is the parent as well as the ruler of the Universe. This theory which found much favour with the Hindus and the Sufis, and which has had a revival amongst many members of modern Liberal Christianity is usually associated with the idea that the world when first emanated was pure, but that it has become corrupted, though finally the universe and the human soul will once more be purified, whereupon it will be reabsorbed into the Divine Essence.
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 57
3. JDevolutional Monotheism. With the third form of monotheism we definitely enter the limits of pantheism strictly so-called. In this system God and the world are absolutely synony- mous, one word being used for the other. There are two forms of this idea, one is that the Divine is simply the sum total of the atoms which com- pose the universe, the other which has been termed panentheism, is that God while the sum- total is yet something more, a something in itself.
In either case this school teaches that in the manifestation of the universe the Divine has changed His essence — that the nature of the Absolute was at first pure and undefiled like clear water, but that subsequently it became polluted as if some mud were mingled with it but that at some future time it is to be hoped that this mud will be strained off and the water will once more resume its clarity.
4. The Mahay ana Conception stands in con- tradistinction to all the other teachings. To be sure Mahayana is, philosophically at least, monotheistic, and at the same time it is Pantheis- tic in teaching that the divine and the universe are indivisible, though with the Panentheista Mahayana asserts that the Universal Buddha is
58 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
far more than the sum-total of existence. The fundamental difference is that according to Mahayana the essence of the Divine remains un- changed throughout all eternity, and the basic nature of one phenomenon is exactly the same as another, though the mode of expression or manifestation may be widely different.
We are given two illustrations of this idea. The first is that of pots of clay. There are, we know, pots of many shapes and sizes, some used for good purposes and some for bad, though they may all be of the same underlying substance. The other illustration is that of the ocean which we have already pointed out. The pots and the waves are the different phenomena of the universe, while the clay and the ocean are the Absolute. While, to use the simile of the ocean, no two waves are alike, they are all of the same essence, the water, and that essence remains unchanged, though it is constantly assuming new and different shapes and transformations.
In like manner, says Mahayana, does the Absolute express itself in the Universe without in the least affecting its own essence. The Bhfltatathata therefore is the Eternal Being and yet th« Eternal Becoming. Furthermore ai tbare can be an ocean without waves but no
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 59
waves without ocean, so, Mahayana declares, that no life would be possible without having for its essence the Bhutatathata.
The Mahayana Theory of the Nature of the
Absolute.
A careful examination of the Mahayana theory of the Bhutatathata or Absolute shews that it combines two widely different concepts. These are (1) the norm of life, and (2) the essence of life.
(1) On the one hand it is not the Universe, but the sufficient reason of the Universe, the abstract idea of law and causality, the such- as-it-is-ness of life. It thus combines something of the Aristotelian conception of the Pure Form of the Universe as opposed to its content, with the Platonic theory of ideas. In this aspect it is the symbol of intellectual and moral per- fection. It is for this reason that we find the Absolute described as Bharma (Law), or Bhar- makdya (The Body of the Law), as the Essence of Buddha, since it constitutes the reasons of Buddhahood, Bodhi (Wisdom) or the source of intelligence, Prajna (Enlightenment), Baramarthd (Absolute Truth), etc.
(2) On the other hand,\in addition to being
60 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
the Norm or the Pure Form of the Universe, it is also its ultimate essence. The Bhiitatathata is identical with the Essence of Mind, and so it is called the seed of life, or the TathdgatagarbJia (the womb of the Tathagata) when it is thought of in analogy to Mother Earth where all the germs of life are stored. The Alaya Vijhana is but a development of this aspect of the Bhiita- tathata. In the early days the word MahayS.na was used in a similar connection.
In the famous Mahayana ^raddhotpada ^astra, which is accepted as Orthodox by all branches of Mahayana, we find the following general and
detailed explanation of the Buddhist theory of the Absolute : —
(a). General Explanation. The Absolute can be considered in two ways, (1) Its Substance, and (2) Its Attributes. (1) Its Substance. The author of the Qraddhotpada ^astra, who is usually supposed to be A5vagho§a, declares the Absolute to be " the soul (or heart) of all sentient beings and constitutes all things in the universe, phenomenal and supra-phenome- nal." (2) Its Attributes. The Absolute has a triple significance, (i) greatness of quintessence or essential nature — an essence which " knows no diminution or addition, but remains the same
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 61
iu ordinary people, ^ravakas, Pratyeka Buddha>s, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. It was not created in the past, nor is it to be annihilated in the future ; it is eternal, permanent, absolute ; and from all eternity it sufRcingly embraces in its essence all possible merits." (ii) greatness of manifestations, " that is to say (the Absolute) has such characteristics as . . : — the effulgence of great wisdom ; the universal illumination of the dharmadhatu ; the true and adequate knowledge ; the mind pure and clean in its self nature ; the eternal, the blessed, the self-regulat- ing, and the pure." (iii) greatness of activity, because as a result of its activity all the innumer- able phenomena of the universe came into exist- ence, and also because through its influence aspiring mankind feels a deep compassion for all beings, " Bodhisattvas treat others as their own self ; wish to work out a universal salvation of mankind in ages to come . . . and do not cling to the individual existence of a sentient being."
(h). Detailed Explanation.
The Absolute has two phases or aspects : — (1) the Unmanifest or Transcendental phase (literally the soul as Pure Form) or the Absolute
62 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
proper, and (2) The Manifest or Immanent phase (hterally the soul as birth and death) or the Absolute become limited.
(1) The Unvianifested Phase, is the Ideal World the underlying unity, the quintessence of all being. It is the eternal sameness under all apparent difference. Owing to our subjective activity (nen) we build up a vision of a discrete, particularized universe, but in reality the essence of things ever remains one, void of particularity. Being absolute " it is not nameable or explicable. It can not be rendered in any form of language. It is without the range of perception." It may be termed ^iinya or the Void, because it is not a fixed or limited entity but a perpetual becoming, void of self-existing component parts. It may likewise be termed A^iinya, the Full or the Existent because when confused subjectivity has been destroyed " we perceive the pure soul manifest- ing itself as eternal, permanent, immutable, and completely comprising all things that are pure."
(2) The Manifested Phase is the Womb World where are stored all the potentialities of every form of life. It is identical with the Alaya Vijnana, the repository consciousness, or the Essence of Mind. This Essence of Mind has
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 63
likewise two aspects, (a) that of Enlightenment in which it is regarded as the focus of purity in the phenomenal world, (b) Non -enlightenment in which the Alaya Vijnana becomes entangled by ignorance, and as the result of consequent confused subjectivity gives rise to the formation of the phenomenal world, which is, of course, at bottom subjective.
(a) Enlightenment consists of supreme wisdom and purity. In one sense it is latent in all sentient beings however low their state. This is known as Potential Enlightenment, or enlightenment a priori. The majority of man- kind, however, have still to develop this seed of Buddhahood until this enlightenment be made manifest and conscious. Enlightenment is then known as Active Enlightenment or enlighten- ment a posteriori. The various ranks such as Common People, Qravakas, Pratyeka Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are but stages leading to Active Enlightenment.
(b) N on- enlightenment consists of the fecunda- tion of the Essence of Mind by Ignorance which results in blind activity and the subsequent evolution of units of consciousness, which, interacting with one another create for themselves the image of the phenomenal world. " There-
64 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
fore the three worlds are nothing but the mani- festation of the Alaya Vijnana — separated from the mind there would be no such things as the six objects of sense." In order to explain the evolution of the phenomenal world the Mahayan- ists have brought in the Pratitya Samutpada or the twelve Nidanas, which in Hinayana refer almost exclusively to personal origination, to explain the evolution of the external world. First comes ignorance, which, acting upon the Absolute, brings about action, which results in the formation of consciousness — and so on through the list.
An examination of the details of this theory lies outside the scope of our present undertaking, but the following points should be of interest. The Bhutatathata quickened by ignorance and ready to be realized in the world of the particu- lars is known as Tathagatagarbha, literally the Tathagata's womb, or store house. It may rightly be called the womb of the universe which gives birth to the stream of consciousness.
The stream of life being set flowing, from the action arising therefrom we find the beginning of the individualization of the particular units of latent consciousness. Thus is the Alaya Vijnana which as Suzuki says, " is a particularized ex-
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 65
pression in the human mind of the Tathagata- garbha. It is an individual, ideal reflex of the cosmic garbha. It is this psychic germ, as the Alaya is often designated, that stores all the mental possibilities which are set in motion by the impetus of the external world."
The Alaya Vijnana ( Vijndna means conscious- ness, and Alaya repository) is not waking or normal consciousness. In itself it is more like the unconsciousness which is behind matter and spirit, thought and extension. Although it is individualistic, or the centre of blind activity, it has not yet reached the stage of self-consciousness, or distinguished itself from other such centres. It is but the seed from which the flower of consciousness will blossom, or the material out of which the world of subject and object wUl be constructed.
Gradually, just as the Unconsciousness of Von Hartmann evolves into the Conscious in mankind, so does the Alaya Vijndna evolve into the Kligtomano-vijnana. Kligto-mano -vijndna is literally " Soiled Mind Consciousness " and means the state in which the unit of life begins to be aware of itself, to distinguish itself from other such units, to become a co-ordinated organism.
As this organism comes more and more into
66 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
contact with the stream of life around it, it begins to react to its external environment, to distinguish sensations, to group them together, to abstract them into ideas and to associate ideas into memory and reason. Instinctively, follow- ing the line of self-preservation, it likes certain sensations and dislikes others, to crave for the pleasant and to avoid the unpleasant. In this way the Mano-vijnana (Mind consciousness) comes into being.
The external world has, in its essence, a real existence. It is a part of the stream of life based in the Essence of Mind. The world as it appears, to us, however, is the result of action of the Alaya, Kli^to-mano, and Mano-vijndna, stimulated by contact with the real external world, which in turn is but a phase of the uni- versal Alaya.
Sectarian Views on the Relation between the Absolute and the World of Phenomena.
The foregoing may be said to represent the views of all branches of Mahayana irrespective of sect. Most of the schools, however, were very fond of metaphysical hair splitting, and it may be of interest to see something of the manner in which they carried on their discussions. As
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 67
an instance let us examine, for a moment, the manner in which some of the sects have vied with one another in formulating examples of the unity of life, and the identity in essence of all phenomena.
The argument employed is somewhat compli- cated, and to understand it at all it is necessary to bear in mind two things, one, the old distinction between the noumenon and phenomena (the Samskrita and Asamskrita Dharmas of the older Buddhist phraseology), the other, the three states of being, or the three philosophies of life, Ke, Kii, and Chu.
A. In China and Japan the noumenon or the Essence of Mind is sometimes called Ri or Eeason or Principle, as opposed to phenomena, Ji or Thing. These terms should be remembered as discussions concerning the nature of the Ab- solute, the relationship between the Absolute and the material world, and the relation of one thing to another, were carried on solely in these terms.
B. The three states of being, it will be re- membered, referred to the metaphysical stand- point of different stages of Buddhist develop- ment.
1. Ke, stands for Eealism, where the various
68 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
phenomena of the universe are disintegrated into a number of real and self-existing permanent elements.
2. Ku, or Qunya, has no direct European equivalent. It is usually expressed by Nihil- istic Idealism, but in reality it is neither nihilistic nor idealistic. The ^iinya doctrine simply asserts that there is nothing-unto-itself, that there is nothing changeless and eternal, but that every thing is in a state of flux, that there is never a Being but only a Becoming. Modern European science is nihilistic in asserting that there is no changeless and self-existing table, as every table is a changing concatenation of elements. The Qtinya doctrine, as we have already observed, goes on to say that these elements are in turn composite, and continues its process of desintegration until we reach the ceaselessly flowing stream of life.
3. C?iu, or Madhya is the ontological de- velopment of this stream of life. Madhya in its metaphysical aspect is equivalent to the Absolute or the Essence of Mind, the Bhutatathat§«. It is the norm of existence which is ever the same and yet ever changing. It is thus the union of opposites. In the light of the Madhya doctrine we are able to say that the Universe
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 69
both exists and non-exists. The universe has no final existence per se, i.e., it may be broken up into component parts, so that to regard it as a fixed reality is an illusion. On the other hand it has a relative existence. As a complex it does exist and being derived from the Essence of Mind its existence is based upon ultimate reality. The Universe is but a passing phase of the Universal Life Essence.
So much by way of introduction. Now for the discussion itself. In Chinese or developed Mahayana we find two main systems of thought, one that of the Avatamsaka or Kegon school, which was adopted by the Mantra school, the other that of the Tendai school which was taken over by the Dhyana School.
According to the Avatamsaka School the teachings of its rival consists of the Ri-ji-muge doctrine and its own the Ji-ji-muge doctrine. Let us see exactly what this means.
Ri-ji-muge Ji-ji-muge.
_/f/
Ri it will be remembered stands for reason, Principle, the Noumenon, or the Absolute j
70 INTRODUCTION 10 MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Ji for the particular, phenomena, the various objects of the universe. Muge means undivided.
Now in Mahayana, as we know, the Absolute or the Noumenon and the World of Life and Death or the realm of phenomena are identical. Accordingly, to use the technical phrase, the Ri and the Ji are undivided, the greater including the less. The followers of this school try, by means of meditation, to unlock the secrets of all phenomena (Ji) by fathoming the real nature of the one noumenon (Ri).
We know moreover, that it is not the case only for one phenomenon, but that all things are one in essence with the essence of mind. In consequence, following out the idea on logical lines, we have.
If A =x and B =i then A =B. Substituting for x the Ri, and for A any pheno- menon (Ji No. 1), and for B any other phenomenon, (Ji No. 2), we have
Ji No. 1 -Ji No. 2. or in other words, the fundamental essence of any phenomenon is the same as all other such objects. In this school of thought (the Ri- ji-muge), however, one thing equals another
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 71
thing only indirectly, i.e., only because the two things are both identical with the one transcend- ing Ri and not because of their own essence.
The Kegon School declares that this doctrine is not that of the true immanence of the Uni- versal Buddha, which is only to be found in the theory of the Ji-ji-muge. Literally, of course, Ji-ji-muge means " Phenomena-phenomena- undivided " or more freely, the direct identity (in essence) of all phenomena. This doctrine insists upon what we may call the a priori unity of all the material objects of the universe.
The line of argument employed in working out this system is the very opposite of the preced- ing :—
By investigating their basic nature we discover that one object is of the same substance with all the others, or let us say,
If Ji No. 1 =Ji No. 2 And Ji No. 2 =Ji No. 3, etc., then we must postulate a universal noumenon which is at the back of them all.
In this system phenomena are emphasized at the expense of the noumenon, or let us say that instead of trying to understand the nature of the particular by comprehending the universal, as is done in the Tendai School, we must attempt to
72 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
understand tlic universal by studying the par- ticular.
It can readily be understood from this that while the Ei-ji-muge idea tends to make one seek (he Buddha in the mind, the Ji-ji-muge concep- tion causes us to look for the Universal Buddha in the body. Following out the former idea the flesh is regarded as a shackle imprisoning the enquiring spirit, so that by retiring from the world one should reduce it to proper submission and thereby obtain enlightenment, while with the Ji-ji-muge School illumination can only be found through perfecting the flesh by bringing out its latent potentialities, and thereby un- covering the Buddha hidden in the human heart.
As a matter of fact, however, the Tendai and the Kegon school have much the same idea on the subject, since not only are the two doctrines not fundamentally different, but, in addition, the Tendai school really teaches the Kegon conception of the Ji-ji-muge under another name, which it calls Enyu or the doctrine of complete identity.
This introduces the question of the three states of being, Ku, Ze, and Chii^ and also the fact that later metaphysicians like to distinguish between the shallow Tendai and the profound
THE NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE 73
Tendai doctrine. From the fact that the pro- found doctrines developed in the home of the school (Mt. Tendai, or T'ient'ai) it is called the Sange (mt. home) doctrine. The shallow doctrine developed in various temples away from the centre, so it is called Sangai (outside the mountain) doctrine. These names, sange and sangaif should be noted for future reference.
Mahayana scholars like to codify the two doctrines regarding the nature of identity in the following way : —
I. The Shallow (Sangai) Doctrine of Identity.
Abso/ufe Trufh / J1_ \ A/oa/ryenon
/fe/crffoe Traf/i „ /^ „ P/?e/7ome/7ff ^ TAeJOOO l^cr/c/j
II. The Profound Doctrine (Sange) of Identity.
!/<cy ■ . /fi} >
/(e .^^--^^/fe J Another way of presenting the^same idea is : — I. The Shallow Doctrine.
f A/ourr/enon j
"6"
/ie f/^enon7e/y<rJ
74 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
II. The Profound Doctrine.
Those who have followed the line of thought hitherto presented will not find these graphs difficult to understand. In the Sangai school Absolute Truth is associated with the principles of Qiinya (Ku) and Madhya (Chu), which in turn represent the nomenal side of the universe as opposed to the phenomena as represented by Relative Truth and Illusory existence (Ke). In the Sange system all of these various sets of opposites are found to be separate aspects of the same thing.
CHAPTER III
THE TEIKlYA— THE BUDDHIST DOC- TRINE OF THE TEINITY
I. TTie Evolution of the Trilcdya Doctrine.
The doctrine of the Trikaya, the three bodies, or the three aspects of the Buddha, is one of the most fascinating features of Mahayana, and the relationship that exists between it and the Trimurti of Hinduism, and the Trinity of Christianity, etc., is of especial interest to students of comparative religion.
Certain scholars have supposed that the triune doctrine, certainly as found in the West, is the result of the idealization of the human family of Father {e.g., the Egyptian Osiris), Mother {e.g., Isis), and Son {e.g., Horus). Certainly as far as Buddhism is concerned, this supposition proves fallacious, for the present doctrine of the Trikaya is the result of a long and intricate line of doctrinal evolution.
Needless to say, in Hinayana the doctrine is entirely extraneous, though, as with other points, careful study shews that it contains the rudi-
F
/.Z'
76 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
ments of eacli of the Kaya or bodies individually, though naturally in an entirely undeveloped form.
The Trikaya are : —
1. DharmaJcdya, or the Body of the Law,
practically synonymous with the Bhutatathata.
2. SambhogaMya, or Body of Compensation.
The symbol of the Buddha ideal.
3. NirmUnakdya, or Body of Transformation,
the Universal Manifested in the World. 1. Nirmdnakdya.
The Nirmanakaya is of course, ^akyamuni, and the other human Buddhas, having aU the qualities of mortals, subject to disease, old age, and death. (Hence the name Transformation). Being, however, the voice of the Universal Buddha they are one with it. The Mrmanakaya might be more freely rendered as the Body of Incarnation.
Gradually, if we trace the history of the evolution of the Buddha legend, the human Buddhas came to be glorified and elevated far beyond the possibilities of corporal persons. They are possessed of the thirty-two major and
THE TRIKAYA 77
eighty minor physical marks of excellence. They are endowed with the supermundane powers of clairvoyance, clairaudience, increase and de- crease of stature, etc. They have power over the whole universe, and over all sentient beings. They are the quintessence of holiness, wisdom, purity, mercy, and all other ideal qualities.
This process is visible in Hinayana, as well as in Mahayana, but it is not carried to the same extreme. Furthermore, the Hinayanists have tried to keep more or less within the bounds of possibility, and all the marvels recorded refer to the human Buddha. In Mahayana, however, the limits of a single personality were trans- cended, and believers soon began to expend lavish poetical adornment upon the ideal of the Buddha. He is attended by myriads of Devas and Bodhisattvas. He sits for long kalpas in meditation. His death is only an illusion, an wpdya, and in reality he is ever alive helping on the progress of the world.
2. Sambhogakdya.
The Buddha of the Mahayana Siitras, then, is an idealized Buddha, and has the same relation to the historical Buddha as the Christ, or the Logos to the historical Jesus, or perhaps to the glorified Christ of the resurrection. It is this
78 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
aspect of the Buddha which is known as the Sambhogakaya.
Strangely enough, the Occidental idea which comes nearest to the Buddhist doctrine of the Sambhogakaya, is Mr. Well's theory of God the Invisible King. Wells contrasts the God behind the Veil, the God of Abstract Justice, with the conception of God as the Ideal, as the object of devotion, as the symbol of the Christ spirit. The God behind the Veil is the Bhtitatathata, or the Dharmakaya, and the Invisible King is the Sambhogakaya, the Body of Glory, the Buddha Spirit behind all human Buddhas. i The Buddha of most of the Mahayana Siitras is this Sambhogakaya, who merely uses the Nirmanakaya as his mouth -piece, and though he is one with all the Buddhas, and not merely Qakyamuni, he is often called by this name. Thus for exami)le, the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra speaks of the Buddha as being the loving father who rescues his children (all sentient beings) from the burning house of the three worlds. For this reason do the innumerable Bodhisattvas appear to testify to the fact that all through eternity the Buddhas have at various times appeared to teach all mankind the Law.
" Every drop of water in the vast ocean can
THE TBI KAY A 79
be counted, but the age of ^akyamuni iioue can measure : crush Mt. Sumeru into particles as fine as mustard seed and we can count them, but the age of ^akyamuni none can measure . . . the Buddha never entered into Parinirvana, the Good Law will never perish. He shewed an earthly death merely for the benefit of sentient beings."
The meaning of all this is obvious. Mahayana does not deny the earthly career of Qakyamuni lasting for some eighty odd years, and subject to the usual frailties of human existence, but teaches that the latter was only the Nirmanakaya, the Body of Transformation, behind which was the eternal Sambhogakaya, or the Body of Glory.
3. Dharmakdya.
While then the Nirmanakaya is the human Buddha, and the Sambhogakaya the glorified Buddha ideal, the Dharmakaya is the essence of Buddhahood, the norm of existence, and ig therefore synonymous with the Bhtitatathata of which it is but a devotional symbol.
The idea of the Dharmakaya probably origin- ated in the fact that shortly before his death ^akyamuni is supposed to have told his disciples
80 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
that though after his decease no longer person- ally would he be with them, yet (metaphorically speaking) he, like all other Buddhas, would continue to exist in the Law of Dharma. Now in the first place, by " existing in the Law " he may have meant merely existing in the doctrine Avhich he taught, but to quote Suzuki, " Dharma is a very pregnant word, and covers a wide range of meaning. It comes from the root dhr, which means to hold, to carry, to bear, and the primitive sense of dharma is that which carries, supports, or bears. Then it came to signify that which forms the norm or regulates the course of things, i.e. the Law, institution, rule, doctrine . . . essential quality, substance, that which exists in reality, being."
Accordingly, though originally the spirit of the Buddha may have been synonymous with the doctrines of the Buddha it was not long before it became synonymous with the root of life, the essence of being, the norm of the universe. In a word, then, comparing the Trikaya with Western ideas we may say that Bhiitatathata stands for the Essence of Godhood, the ultimate and unmanifested Deity, the Dharmakaya to the norm of the manifest world, the Christian God the Father, the Sambhogakaya to a com-
THE TRIKAYA 81
pound of the Logos, the Resurrected Christ, and Well's Invisible King, and the Mrmanakaya to the incarnation of the divine.
II. The Three Bodies in Detail.
Later Mahayana scholars considerably amplified these ideas and subdivided each kaya. In the Orthodox Tendai system the arrange- ment of the Trikaya is as follows : —
1. Dharmakdya Eeason
2. SamhhogaMya . . .... Wisdom
a. Body of self enjoyment
b. Body for the enjoyment
of others.
3. NirmdnaMya Love
a. Ojin — complete incarnation
i. superior sho-ojin ii. inferior reff ojin
b. Keshin — ^incomplete incarnation
1. The Dharmakdya. In this arrangement the Dharmakaya is the Heart of Life devotionally considered. It is the co-ordinating principle of existence, the acme of perfection, the fountain head of intelligence. All the other aspects or kaya are included in it, but in itself it is primarily the personification of
82 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Reason or Intelligence. It is, par excellence, the Universal Buddha symbolized in various ways and under diverse names, and as such is the background of all the Buddhas, and even of the glorified Buddha-ideal, the Sambhogakaya. All sentient beings find their raison d^etre in the Dharmakaya and are based on the fundamental nature of its essence. It has been the object of adoration, and in the religious literature of Mahayana we find numberless passages devoted to its praise.
According to certain schools the Dharmakaya is divided into two aspects. One is the Hosshd HossMn (The Dharma nature Dharma body ) which is the Dharmakaya in its normative and abstract sense. This is, to quote Lloyd, " the spiritual Body of the Buddha as he is which is still con- sidered as an integral part of the Shinnyo Hosshd (Bhtitatathata). This is formless and incapable of description, and answers more or less exactly to God as he is hinted at rather than described in certain passages in the Old Testament. But it is impossible for men with their finite thoughts and still more finite language to speak of God except under some form with which they are themselves familiar. Hence we get in the Old Testament the anthropomorphic language about
THE TRIM AY A 83
God, His holy arm, His feet, etc. Such language the Japanese would call hdben (upaya) an accommodation of the truth to the capacity of the hearer and Buddhist Theology speaks not only of Hossho Hosshin which it is beyond the power of man to describe but also of Edben Hosshin a spiritual body of God accomodated to the capacity of man, and spoken of under a human shape." **
This Hoben Hosshin or second aspect of the Dharmakaya is nothing but the personification or symbolization of the idea of the supreme ideal inherent in the Shinnyo Hossho (Bhiitatathata) and the Hossho Hosshin. But it has an objective as well as a subjective existence. Just as the waking consciousness, the Mano-Vijndna gradually evolves from the KUgto-mano and the Alaya Vijndna so does the essence of Buddha- hood gradually manifest or crystallize itself from the Hossho Hosshin and the Shinnyo Hossho. The latter two are essentially self existing principles, the former an active ideal revealing itself to the world in many guises suitable to the needs of the times.
A passage from the Suvarna Prabhasa on the nature of the Trikaya gives some idea of the relationship between the Dharmakaya, and the
♦•A. Lloyd. Shinran and His Work.
84 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
other two Kaya or Bodies : —
" The Tathagata when he was yet at the stage of discipline practised divers deeds of morality for the sake of sentient beings. (Through this practice) he finally attained perfection, reached maturity and by virtue of its merits he acquired a wonderful spiritual power. He revealed him- self in the right place assuming various bodily forms. These bodily forms are called the Nirmanakaya of the Tathagata.
" But when the Tathagatas, in order to make the Bodhisattvas thoroughly conversant with the Dharma . . . manifest themselves to the Bodhisattvas in a form which is perfect with the thirty-two major and eighty minor features of excellence and shining with the halo around the head and back, the Tathagatas are said to have assumed the Body of Bliss or Sambhogakaya.
" When all possible obstacles arising from sins are perfectly removed, and when all possible good dharmas are preserved there would remain nothing but Suchness (the Bhutatathata) — this is the Dharmakaya. The first two forms of the Tathagatas are provisional (and ephemeral exist- ences) but the last one is a reality, wherein the former two find the reason of their existence." **
*♦ Trans, by Suzuki, Outlinesjp. 256,
THE TRIKA YA 85
2. The Sambhogakdya.
There is little distinction between the Hobcn Hosshin or the personalized Dharmakaya and the Hoshin or the Sambhogakaya. At the most the Sambhogakaya is a still further personaliza- tion, an attempt to make the Universal more vivid and intimate.
We see from this that the Sambhogakaya is an embodiment of the Buddha ideal, a permanent ideal which is not affected by the passing away of any human Buddhas which are but fleshly counterparts of the quintessence of perfection. It is in this sense that we have compared it to Well's Invisible King. The relationship between the two may be seen from the following passages : —
" The writer believes that the centuries of fluid religious thought that preceded the violent ultimate crystallization of Nicea was essentially a struggle . . to reconcile . . two separ- ate main series of God-ideas . . . These two antagonistic typical conceptions of God may be best contrasted by speaking of them as God- as-nature or the Creator, and of the other as God-as-Christ or the Eedeemer. One is the Outward God ; the other is the Inmost God* The writer's position . . is, firstly, complete ganosticism in the matter of God the Creator, and
86 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
entire faith in God the Redeemer . . . God presents Himself as finite, as struggling against and taking a part against evil. . . . He will assert that his God is a god of salvation, that he is a spirit and a person, a strongly marked and knowable personality, knowing, loving, inspir- ing, and lovable, who exists or strives to exist in every human soul."
In Wells we find a strong antagonism between the Infinite God and the Redeemer God. Mahay- ana recognizes the difference, but asserts that their counterparts, the Dharmakaya and the Sambhogakaya are but different aspects of the same reality.
Nor must the other aspect of Sambhogakaya be forgotten — ^it corresponds to the Christian conception of the resurrected Christ. This view has been voiced by Arthur Lloyd in the following words : —
" The Body of compensation is the body in which Amida Butsu (the universal Buddha) the glorified Saviour who has worked out man's salvation is now set forth as the personal object of worship for the believer. It is, as it were, the counterpart of that glorified humanity in which we believe that our Risen Saviour Jesus Christ, having passed into the Heavens, is sitting in his
THE TRIKAYA 87
meditorial kingdom ' at the right hand of God.' " This perhaps helps us to understand two points, first the name of the Body, for it is the Body of Compensation or the glorious reward of the long ages of self-sacrifice for the benefit of sentient beings, and second the two-fold division of the Sarabhogakaya. These are : —
1. The Ji-jiyu-hoshin, or the body of self-
enjoyment.
2. The Ta-jiyu-hoshin, or Body for the En-
joyment of Others. The first is the Body of Compensation proper, that which each Buddha has gained by dint of his religious discipline through the long ages of the past. It is the recipient of ceaseless devotion which is constantly being offered by worshippers. It may therefore be called the immediate object of worship, for when one wishes to worship the divine in any aspect, the devotion is received by the Body of Bliss.
The second, or Ta-jiyti-hoshin, on the other hand, is supposed to be that aspect of divinity which is constantly shedding its illumination over all the world. These spiritual rays are thought to be for the benefit of all men imparti- ally, the sinner as well as the saint, the ignorant as well as the wise. It is obvious, however,
88 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
that it is the spiiitually minded who benefit the most by them, since it is the latter who are the most conscious of them and are the most willing to profit thereby.
This Ta-jiyu-hoshin has many ways of re- vealing itself to man, but one especially in which it assumes an apparitional body in the various Sukhavatis or Paradises for the instruction of the Bodhisattvas. Descriptions of this body are to be found in many devotional scriptures, e.g., the Amitayus-Sutropadesa.
One point deserves especial attention. Every Buddha is supposed to possess this Sambhogakaya and yet each Sambhogakaya is considered infinite in space and time, co-extensive with the universe. It is obvious that in order to prevent the theory of innumerable eternals and omni- presents, Mahayana was forced to state that in reality there was but one great Sambhogakaya of which those of individual Buddhas are but different aspects. The same thing, of course, holds true with regard to the Sukhavatis. The view held by most philosophic Mahayanists is expressed by Suzuki when he says : —
" The reader must not think that there is but one Pure land which is elaborately described in the Sukhavati-Vytiha Siitra as the abode of the
THE TRIKAYA 89
Amitabha, situated innumerable leagues away in the West. On the contrary, the Mahayana texts admit the existence of as innumerable Pure Lands as there are Tathagatas and Bodhisattvas, and every single one of these holy regions has no boundary and is co -existent with the universe . . . It would look to every intelligent mind that those innumerable Buddha countries exist- ing in such a mysterious and incomprehensible manner cannot be anything else than our own subjective creation." **
3. The NirmdnaJcdya. Though the Sambhogakaya provides for the enlightenment of Bodhisattvas and earnest as- pirants after Truth, a still more concrete and material expression of the Absolute is required for the masses who still slumber in ignorance. This the Mahayanists find in the Nirmanakaya or the physical bodies of the human Buddhas, who by their example and instruction lead men to the Path of Light.
Mahayana looks upon the Buddhas as both divine and human. They are human in that they are persons who have gained their positions as the result of a long period of spiritual develop- ment. Potentially they are of the same nature
** Suz. Outlines p. 269.
90 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
as ourselves, since we too have the Buddha nature within us and every one of us shall at some future time attain to the supreme goal. They are divine, however, in as much as in them the Buddha seed has come to fruition. They are not only potentially but actually one with the Dharmakaya and Sambhogakaya. Their advent to earth is merely to make manifest the wisdom and perfection of the absolute.
Later Mahay ana goes more into detail. The Nirmanakaya is of two classes, which are called (in Japanese) the Ojin and Keshin, which may somewhat inadequately be called the Complete and Incomplete Incarnations. The Ojin is divine a priori, the Keshin is divine a posteriori. The Ojin is identical in essence with the Samb- hogakaya, no distinction can be made between the two ; the Keshin is merely a man in whom the spirit of the universal Buddha dwells, in- spiring his teaching and elevating his personality. The latter is frequent and universal, whereas the only two examples of the Ojin in recent times are Qakyamuni, and the Buddhist Messiah, Maitreya (Miroku) whose advent Cakyamuni prophesied.
The Ojin has again two bodies or aspects, the superior or Sho-djin and the inferior or Rettdjin. The Bodhisattvas are suflQciently enlightened
THE TRIKAYA 91
to be able to receive their instruction directly from the Sambhogakaya, while the Sho-ojin is for Pratyeka Buddhas, those who aim at en- lightenment for themselves alone, selfish yet capable of deep theoretical understanding, while the Eettojin or Inferior Body is for the purpose of instructing the Qravakas, those who merely aim at freedom from the wheel of life and death.
According to Mahayana the doctrines of Hinayana were revealed by the Eettojin (the inferior aspect) while its own system was taught by the Sho-ojin, though many schools of Mahay- ana prefer to state that the deeper aspects were taught by the Universal Buddha directly, which, however, we know was the same as Qakyamuni in his highest Samadhi.
III. Sectarian Views on the TriTcaya. So far the theory of Trikaya has been in accord with the teachings of all the various schools of Mahayana. As on other points, however, later discussion gave rise to certain points of doctrinal differentiation, chiefly concerning the mutual relationship of the Three Bodies and their connection with the world as a whole. These we may classify under the teachings of the
92 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Kegon school, and the Tendai school, the last being again divided into the shallow (sangai) and the profound (sang^) doctrine.
1. The Kegon and Teyidai Doctrines. The difference between the Kegon and Tendai schools of Mahayana is usually expressed in the following manner : —
The Kegon Doctrine.
/%e,
'nomena
The Tendai Doctrine.
A/a/jmenar? / Dharma/fai/a
\ A//r/77ana /fat/a
In the Kegon school the Dharmakaya alone is the Noumenon {Ri) and the other two bodies belong to the Ji or world of phenomena, though, since the noumenon and phenomena are united, the three Bodies are likewise indirectly united. In the Tendai school, on the other hand, they are directly identical.
THE TRIKAYA
93
As a matter of fact, since the Kegon school teaches the doctrine of the Jijimuge (vide page 69 supra), the doctrines of the two sects are not very different.
2. The Sangai and Sange Doctrines. Coming now to the two schools of the Tendai order, the Sange and the Sangai, we find that their relationship has been expressed thus : —
The Sangai Doctrine.
So^^/^oc^a/fai/a
A//r/r?a/7a/rc/i/a
The Sange Doctrine.
Sa/T?b/?o^a/rai/a
/\/jr/rfa/7a/f6/,
'C/£T
The Sangai or less developed doctrine teaches the separation and independence of the Trikaya.
94 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Since all things are ultimately derived from the Dharmakaya, both the Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya are in reality one in essence with it, and hence indirectly united one with another, but from the phenomenal point of view their functions and attributes are different. They are in a word separate entities with a common basis rather than one entity with three phases. The Sangai doctrine is perhaps comparable to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity " three persons but one God."
The Sang6 doctrine teaches that in reality the three Kayas are absolutely identical, aie but three ways in which the Absolute reveals itself to the world, or even but three ways of regarding the Absolute. In certain respects the Sang6 doctrine approximates the Sabellian heresy in Christianity, which of course held that there is but one god with three aspects rather than one God with three persons.
3. The Shodomon and Jodomon Doctrines.
The slight distinction which exists between the Shodomon (Arya-marga-dvara) and Jodomon (Sukhavati-dvara) concerning the Trikaya should also be noticed. Roughly speaking the Shodomon consists of the older and philosophic
THE TRIKAYA 95
sects, and is the unreformed section of Mahayana. The Jodomon consists of those who seek enligh- tenment through the grace of Amitabha, and since the most powerful branch of this school, the Shin sect, has considerably modified the older rules of organisation, the Jodomon is usually known as the reformed branch of Mahayana. The Shodomon includes the Kegon (Avatarasaka), the Tendai, the Mantra (Shingon), the Dhyana (Zen), and the Nichiren sects, with other similar schools in China. The Jodomon is divided into the Jodo or Sukhavati sect proper, and the Shin or True Sect, The Shodomon seeks Buddhahood by being reborn upon earth until perfection be gained, the Jodomon hopes to attain the supreme goal by means of being re- born into the Sukhavati or Land of Bliss, through the great love of the Universal Buddha. The Shodomon is based upon reason, the Jodomon upon wisdom, faith, and mercy.
It is but natural therefore, that the Shodomon should lay especial emphasis upon the reason side of the Absolute, which is, as we know, the Dharmakaya, while the Jodomon gives especial deference to the Sambhogakaya which is the wisdom or mercy aspect. While theoretically the two schools do not differ in their interpreta-
95 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
tion of the two bodies, the fact that the object of especial worship in one is the Dharmakaya, in the other the Sambhogakaya has necessarily resulted in somewhat different theological attitudes, so much so in fact that in Shodomon, the Dharmakaya almost corresponds to the Christian God the Father, and the Sambhogakaya to the Holy Ghost, while in the Jodomon the roles are exactly opposite.
One last word about the Trikaya must be added. In the earlier sects of Mahayana, such as the Avatamsaka and the Tendai schools, the Trikaya was a purely philosophic conception unconcerned with the devotional life. In the slightly later Mantra sect, however, the three bodies were personified or symbolized and given the names of ideal Buddhas. The Dhar- makaya was known as Vairocana (Dainichi Nyorai) the Sambhogakaya as Amitabha (Amida) while the Nirmanakaya was personified by Qakyamuni. The Mantra (Shingon) sect be- longs to the Shodomon, so that Vairocana is the chief object of worship, but in the Sukhavati or Jodo school where the Sambhogakaya is the object of worship it is Amitabha who is exclusively adored. In this school, however, Amitabha is not merely the Sambhogakaya but the other
THE TRIM AY A 97
two bodies as well, so that except for Amit- abha's two manifestations Avalokitegvara (Kannon) and Mahasamprapta (Daiseishi), the symbols of Love and Wisdom respectively, the worship of other beings is either prohibited or deprecated.
This may be said to represent the final stage in the development of the Trikaya doctrine proper, but this in turn led to still further doctrinal formulation. The three bodies of the Universal Buddha were regarded as Upaya (hoben) accommodation of truth, three ways of regarding an indivisible unity. Such being the case, it is obvious that there is no inherent reason why this three-fold division of the functions of the Absolute should be the only one. Should circumstances render it advisable the Absolute could be symbolized in fifty, a hundred, or a thousand ways.
Under these circumstances the multiplicity of the representatives of the Universal Buddha should cause no surprise. On the contrary it is remarkable that they are not more numerous, and more inconsistent, for in Chinese and Japan- ese Buddhism practically all the important symbolizations of the Absolute may be classified under the ten bodies of the Avatamsaka sect,
98 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the two mandalas of the Mantra sect. Into these, however, the limits of time and space prevent our going.
CHAPTEE IV
THE NATUEE AND POWEES OF BUDDHAHOOD
I. The Roads to Buddhahood ^akyamuni is supposed to have said, " Only- one doctrine do I preach : — suffering and the cessation of suffering." Certainly the whole essence of Buddhism is bound up in those words. AU sentient beings led astray by ignorance and desire undergo perpetual birth and rebirth in one or another of the six realms of,
1. The ISTarakas or Hells.
2. The Preta Eealm.
3. The Animal Eealm.
4. The Asura Eealm.
5. The Human Eealm.
6. The Heavens.
In all of these worlds there is more or less pleasure or pain, but in none of them is there supreme bliss or perfect enlightenment. Dura- tion of bliss in these worlds varies, but in none of them are the inhabitants free from decay, change, and death.
100 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
The total cessation of sorrow and change is to be obtained by the complete suppression of ignorance and desire, the attainment of Nirvana. Transcending the six realms is the Path of Holi- ness, marked by the following stages : —
1. The (JrdvaJca Stage. This is divided into
four sub-stages : —
i. ^rotdpanna, he who has entered the Path, or a beginner in the way of enlightenment.
ii. SaJcridagdmln, he who has progressed sufficiently to enable him to gain Nirvana in the next rebirth. Ac- cordingly he is known as one who returns but once to the three worlds (of Kama, Eupa, Arupa).
iii. Andgdmin, he who returns no more to the three worlds, acquiring Nir- vana in the next life (i.e. in heaven).
iv. Arhat, he who has freed himself com- pletely from the wheel of life, and who is to reincarnate no more.
2. The Pratyeka Buddha Stage. One who has understood the chain of causality (the 12 Nidanas). This state is one of enlighten- ment as contrasted with the mere salvation of the Arhat, but enlightenment for one-
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 101
self alone, no attempt being made to influence or assist mankind.
3. The Bodhisattva Stage, The Bodhisattva is he who renounces the attainment of of Arhatship and Pratyeka Buddhahood, and having become a candidate for com- plete Buddhahood strives for the welfare of all sentient beings, making the four great vows, and practising the six trans- cendent virtues (paramitas). a. The four vows are : — (1) to save all beings, (2) to destroy all passions, (3) to know and teach others the truth, (4) to lead others to the path of Buddhahood. b. The six paramitas are : — (l)almsgiving and teaching the ignorant, (2) keeping the Qilas or moral Laws, (3) patience and long suffering, (4) diligence in keeping the vows, (5) meditation or contemplation, (6) wisdom.
4. The Buddha Stage. He who has attained the goal, achieving supreme and final enlightenment and emancipation, possess- ing the three bodies of Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Dharmakaya.
To each of these stages are assigned certain spiritual prerogatives, the possession of certain
102 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
transcendent virtues, and the ability to perform certain supernatural acts. With these we are not concerned for they play a comparatively small part in philosophic Buddhism.
What is of more importance is the question of the limitation of the attainment of the supreme goal. Hinayana asserts that for the majority, the vast majority of people, the attainment of the higher stages is out of the question, and the ordinary person must content himself with arhatship. Undeveloped Mahay ana declares that all who desire to take the vows of the Bodhisattva and continue therein will sooner or later attain to Buddhahood, yet that many do not do so, and aim merely after Arhatship or Pratyeka Buddhahood, so that for them the supreme goal is forever closed. It is possible, however, for the aspirants after the lower stages whose course has not yet been definitely fixed to modify their goal, and to enter the path of the Bodhisattva.
Developed Mahayana, such as the Kegon and the Tendai and later schools declared that in reality there are not three goals but only one goal — the highest, Buddhahood, which sooner or later everyone must attain. The other seeming goals are but upaya (devices) which the Tatha-
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 103
gata has used for the purpose of bringing his children (all sentient beings) from the burning house of the three worlds.
On this point all schools of true Mahayana are essentially agreed, though the Tendai and Kegon sects choose to emphasize different aspects of the same idea. The Tendai Doctrine is known as the Dokyo or doctrine of Sameness, the Kegon as the BeTcTcyo or the doctrine of Difference. The former insists upon the unity of the goal, the fact that all paths lead to the same gateway. The latter declares that though the goal is one, the paths are many, and that there is a different path for every type of mind, that each school of thought, in fact each religion, is but a different path, and that accordingly we are to seek for the underlying unity in aspiration of all.
The different branches of Buddhism differ even more decisively upon the means of attain- ing Buddhahood.
Three principal methods are inculcated : —
1. Salvation by Works,
2. Salvation by Knowledge,
3. Salvation by Faith or Devotion.
1. Salvation by Works. Hinayana with its insistence upon the doctrine of Karma declared with St. Paul, " as ye sow so
104 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
shall ye reap " — that by the performance of good deeds a man reaps his rewards and gradu- ally attains a higher and higher state until the '^supreme goal is reached. Do so many good acts, and in your next life you will be a king. Acquire so much more merit (though of a somewhat more transcendental type) and Buddhahood will be achieved. This is the message of Hinayana. This idea has its benefits in encouraging charity and discouraging evil living, but, on the other hand, it leads to hypocrisy and " dead letterisnh" The bestowment of alms will com- pensate for a neglect of the development of the spiritual faculties.
2. Salvation by Knowledge. Mahayana, keeping in mind the fact that Buddhahood is a state of mind and not a place of existence, has insisted that much depends upon the condition of the mind and soul, and that consequently more importance is to be placed on their development than upon the acquirement of merit through any external means. Though there is no sharp distinction to be made, in Hinayana in calculating the reward of an act of charity, the amount given is largely taken into consideration, in Mahayana emphasis is laid
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 105
upon the spirit in which the alms are bestowed/-"^ As an example of this we find the Japanese (Mahayanist) Emperor Seimu had engraved upon a bronze pillar the sentence " a light bestowed by a poor man will be of much more worth than a million lights offered by a rich man," and " If a man approves a good thing in another man it will have the same effect as if he had done it himself." Accordingly, like the Vedanta school of Hinduism, the Shodomon school of Mahayana teach that Enlightenment is to be gained chiefly through philosophic insight, and realization.
3. Salvation by Faith. The later Shin sect declares that the chief fault with this idea is that if people are persuaded that they will be " saved " by knowledge they will indulge in logical hair-splitting and useless metaphysics rather than engage in the cultivation of spirituality. Accordingly the Jodomon and more especially the progressive Shin sect teaches that the only means of acquiring the Buddha state is through devotion or faith in the Universal Buddha typified by Amitabha. This " faith " might be better expressed by the words " de- votional realization," or self -surrender. As in Protestant Christianity, which holds a similar
106 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
conception, faith will always be followed by good works.
The real meaning of this, of course, is that man catches a glimpse of the true Buddha nature, which results in the awakening of faith in his own heart. This results, first, in the increase in the knowledge of Amitabha and further increase of faith, etc., and second, in the Jio-on or the performance of good works out of thanksgiving.
Faith and works are therefore identical, as are also faith and the object of faith (this is a typic- ally Mahayana conception) since in Mahayana the subject and object, the Universal Buddha and sentient beings are one.
Each of the two great schools of Mahayana, the Shodomon and the Jodomon, is again divided into two, Zen, the gradual and Ton, the sudden schools, i.e.,
Hinaydna (Indirect) 1. Qrdvalcas (aspirants
after Arhatship). 2. Pratyeka Buddhas. Mahdydna (Direct) 3. Bodhisattvas.
j. Gradual.
a. Shodomon, Shilshutsu.
b. Jodomon, Oshutsu. ii. Abrupt.
a. ShodOmon, ShUchO.
b. Jodomon, Ocho.
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 107
The gradual schools of Shodomon, consisting chiefly of the Madhyamika and Yogacarya schools of Indian Mahayana, teach that a man continues to be reborn on earth until he gradually passes one by one through the various stages of discipleship and Bodhisattvahood, of which the last ten and most important stages are : —
1. Pramudita.
2. Vimila.
3. Prabhakarl.
4. Argismati.
5. Sudurjana.
6. Abhimukti.
7. Diirangama.
8. Acala.
9. Sadhumati. 10. Dharmamegha.
The abrupt school of the Shodomon, consisting chiefly of the Avatamsaka, Tendai, and more especially the Shingon (Mantra) and Zen (Dhy- ana) school teaches that it is not necessary to pass through each one of these stages successively, for proper realization may enable one to jump over or leave out several stages or even to pass at one step from the lowest to the highest degree.
H
108 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
The Jodomon teaches that salvation by one's personal effort is difficult and useless, since we have at our command the omnipotent and all embracing Tariki (other power) of Amitabha, the Universal Buddha who is, however, the true self of each one of us. Accordingly, if we practise the Tariki and have a deep devotion to the one Buddha we shall enter at death into the Pure Land of Amitabha, which is the surest and quickest way to gain Buddhahood. Consequently in the view of the Gradual school of the Jodomon » to which belong the Jodo sect proper, the Pure Land is but a stepping stone to Buddhahood, while the Abrupt school, to which belongs the Shin sect, teaches that entering Jddomon is equivalent to becoming Buddha.
II. The Attributes of the Buddhas.
The path to Buddhahood having been dis- cussed we are now free to consider the nature and the powers of the Buddhas. In HInayana the Buddhas, though the highest of all beings were yet men pure and simple. Gradually an interest- ing development took place. Even in Hinayana the Buddhas are regarded as embodiments of the Dharma or Law. As the conception of the Dharma body or kaya evolved, so did the idea that the Buddha is an embodiment of the
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 109
noumenal world amplify. Even in the un- developed Mahayana systems where we find the theory of the Absolute in its first form, the view that the human Buddhas are one in essence with it, and consequently its material representatives, is strongly brought out.
In developed Mahayana the doctrine of the unity of the Absolute and the human Buddhas has been given added emphasis. The Buddhas are supposed to so perfectly manifest the divine essence that their appearance on earth is equiva- lent to an appearance of divinity. The origin of the Buddhas is indeed human. They have only gained their high station through a long process of evolution, yet once they have brushed away the mists of ignorance the Buddha seed within the heart of each becomes apparent — " the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as the only begotten Son of the Father full of life and truth." (i.e. all Buddhas are forms of one Nirmanakaya, or are one aspect of the divine.)
On the nature of the unity of the human Buddhas with the Universal Buddha the Tendai school again distinguishes between the Sangai and Sang4 conceptions. The Sangai doctrine, as in other cases, has a slight tendency towards
110 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
separateness in contradistinction to the doctrine of the absolute unity as we find it in the Sang^ system.
1. The Sangai Conception. The doctrine of the Shugensoku or " assuming the appearance of the Noble Form."
5 A//r/r7an<y/f3e/a
In this arrangement the Nirmanakaya, ^akyamuni or the human Buddha, is equal to the Sambhogakaya, Amitabha the glorified Buddha only indirectly, i.e. through the Dhar- makaya which unites all things. Qakyamuni, however, the preacher of the Saddharma Pund- arika Siitra, while he is not really identical with the Glorified Buddha assumes his appearance or claim to be equal and undivided for the sake of instructing the ignorant, just as public officials
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 111
in reading the proclamations of sovereigns assume the place of or represent for the time being the sovereign.
The chart representing the Sange doctrine has already been given in another place (page 93) but it will be perhaps as well to repeat it here.
II. The Sange Conception.
The doctrine of the FusJmgensolcu or " IS'on- assumption of the appearance of the Noble Form."
l^/iar/na/rai/o
Sa/776/?og£rA£/i/a A//r/r7a/7a/rac/(Sr
In this arrangement the Nirmanakaya, ^akyamuni, and other physical Buddhas are absolutely and directly equal, so that the human Buddhas are as perfectly and absolutely divine as the Christian of the most orthodox section would make the Christ, the only difference being that the Buddhas according to Mahayana have attained their position by gradual development.
112 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
and also that such incarnations are not unique but comparatively frequent in their occurrence.
Moreover, in the Sange doctrine the Nirman- akaya is both the Dharmakaya and the Samb- hogakaya ; The Sambhogakaya is both the Nirmanakaya and the Dharmakaya ; and the Dharmakaya is both the Nirmanakaya and the Sambhogakaya, so complete is their identity.
This is as far as the idea evolved in China, but in Japan where Buddhism has reached the highest form the logical corroUary has been brought out, viz., that in every phenomenon of the Universe each of the three Kayas is to be found immanent, so that in a flower there is dormant the three persons of the Buddhist trinity.
While the human Buddhas were being thus deified it was but natural that the conception of their power became amplified. A century or so after the death of Qakyamuni, before Mahayana proper came into existence Hinayana Buddhism was divided into eighteen schools, grouped together in two main sections the Sthaviravdda (literally " the Way of the Elders,") and the MaJidsdnghilca (literally the " Great Council School "). The first was that which retained the true Buddhist orthodoxy. Its descendant (in Pali, Theravada) is the oflBcial
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 113
Hinayana of to-day. Tlie second was the more heretical, bolder in speculation, and more com- prehensive in aim. It was from this that the later Mahayana probably arose. Especially in matters concerning Buddhology do we find the Mahayana views foreshadowed, e.g. : —
1. The Mahasanghika school taught that the body of the Buddha is transcendent and free from " original sin " to use a Christian term for the Sanskrit Bhava§rava while the Sthavirav- adins said that though the Buddha is " enlight- ened " he is not free from " concupiscence " or taint of bodily existence.
2. The Mahasanghika taught that every- thing the Tathagata said was full of spiritual meaning, while the opposite school declared that though the words of the Blessed One were never false yet that he said many things in the course of ordinary social life which had no interior or metaphysical significance.
3. According to the Mahasanghika school the Buddha needed no rest or sleep. His life is as long as he desires it, while the Sthaviravadins admitted that the body of the Holy One was subject to the usual frailties of the flesh.
It should be remembered, however, that after glorification of the Buddha had reached a certain
114 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
point the mystic powers of the Buddhas were relegated to the Sambhogakaya, the symbolic Buddha, and in later Mahayana the physical body of the Buddhas were regarded in a more normal light.
The great question which all Occidental students of Mahayana propound is whether or not Buddhahood means personal annihilation, or the extinction of the individuality. In Hinayana, except for certain rudiments of the idea of continued existence in the Law, extinction of personality is necessarily absolute, since owing to the distinction between Asamskrita and Sam- skrita Dharmas already observed (vide page 15) continued existence is an evil which must be eliminated. In Mahayana, however, with its doctrine of the Absolute and the Trikaya, since the Nirmanakaya (the human Buddha) is com- pletely equal to the Dharmakaya and the Sambhogakaya which are eternal, it follows that the Nirmanakaya is also eternal, but whether or not this means that the separate individual- ities of the Buddhas persist apart from the whole, Mahayana is not emphatic on either side. In a general way it may be said that true Maha- yana with the possible exception of the Dhyana or Zen school favours the idea of the persistence
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 115
of the individuality. In the Saddharma Punda- rika Sutra and many others we read of the " totally extinct " Buddhas who re-appear before ^akyamuni in their perfect form. The Sambhogakaya is the ideal form of all the Budd- has, yet while it comprehends them all, the individual facet exists and can not be annihilated. One other feature which has received a great deal of attention in Mahayana is the doctrine of the turning over of merits. The idea is not peculiar to Northern Buddhism. It is found in Hinayana and is discussed at length in " The Questions of King Milinda." While a man may not transfer bad karma to others he may refuse to accept the fruit of his good karma, which is then inherited by the world at large. In Mahayana this point has been especially empha- sized. Bodhisattvas are supposed to perform innumerable good deeds and to turn this karma over to all sentient beings. (Compare in this connection the Eoman Catholic doctrine of superogatory acts). This is an act which is strongly encouraged and many Mahayana treatises end with the phrase " May the merit gained by the composition of this work be taken by all sentient beings, and aid in the awakening of their Buddha Heart." Its equivalence to the
116 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Christian doctrine of atonement is, of course, marked.
III. The Life of the Buddha.
Finally a few words must be added concerning the Buddhist doctrines relating to ^akyamuni himself, the historical founder of Buddhism.
In the early stages of the development of the Mahayana faith a great deal of attention was paid to the incidents of the Buddha's life. Details were embellished, legends were invented, and all the lavish adornments of a poetic imagination were called in to aid in glorifying the founder's name.
Once the conception of a Universal Buddha had been attained, however, less emphasis came to be laid on the historical Buddha, so that the study of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism throws little fresh light on biographical points.
An excellent epitome of the main features of Qakyamuni's life as systematized by later Maha- yana is to be found in Nanj5's " Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects ". The es- sential points there brought out are as follows : —
Birth. Cakyamuni was born in the Kingdom of Kapilavastu in Central India, 1027 B.C. His father was the Maharaja Quddhodhana and his mother the Devi Maya. Many miraculous
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 117
incidents are related of his early life. A story frequently represented is that at the moment of birth he arose and taking seven steps in each direction and pointing one hand to the heavens above and the other to the earth below, he pro- claimed in a loud voice " I alone of all beings in heaven or below am worthy of honour."
Early Life. At the age of seven he was master of Astronomy, Geography, Arithmetic, and Military Science, the four branches of ancient education. At ten he had surpassed all other princes in shooting through seven iron targets. At fifteen he was formally recognized as the heir apparent. At seventeen he was betrothed to Yagodhara.
All measures were taken to prevent him from coming into contact with sorrow and misery, but at the age of eighteen he began to think of leaving home realizing how inherent in mundane existence were the pains of birth, old age, and death. On the seventh day of the second month of his nineteenth year he forsook the world and entered the jungle in order to attain enlighten- ment.
EnligJitenment — Preaching the Law. More than ten years were spent in fruitless search, but exactly eleven years afterwards he awoke to
118 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
perfect knowledge under the Bodhi tree. After his enlightenment the Buddha sat for seven days absorbed in meditation wrapped in the beatitude of the Law. He then set about proclaiming his gospel. Needless to say, at the time of his enlightenment the Buddha comprehended the profound truths of Mahayana as well as the doctrines of the simpler Hinayana. At first he attempted to expound the whole body of truth in the Avatamsaka Sutra preached in the second week after the attainment of Buddhahood. Finding, however, that his auditors were unable to comprehend him he decided, for the time being, to confine himself to the Hinayana system and gradually to lead his followers into the more complete comprehension of the law. According- ly after the second week of his enlightenment for twelve years he taught only the pure Hinayana Sutras. After that, for another eight years he taught the Vaipulya or developed Sutras which revealed the first stages of Mahayana. Subsequently for another twenty years he taught a still further stage of wisdom emphasiz- ing the ^unya doctrine in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, and others of the same type. Finally, for the last eight years of his life he returned to the complete position of truth in the Saddharma
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 119
Pundarika, the Nirvana, and the Sukhavati Sutras.
Conversion to the Faith. In the mean time the even tenor of Qakyamuni's life was disturbed by few incidents of striking importance. The years were spent as an itinerant mendicant teacher, and time was marked chiefly by the retreats of the rainy season, and the conversion to the new faith of various notable people. In the fourth week of his enlightenment he con- verted the Nagaraja Macilinda On the seventh day of the third month he won over Devapala. On the following day we journeyed to Varanasi where Kaundinya and others were converted. At the age of thirty-one he converted the Qre§- thin or wealthy merchant Ya^as. Then he went to the powerful Kingdom of Magadha, then the home of Indian Culture, and converted Uruvilva Kagyapa and others. Then proceeding to Eajagriha, the capital, he converted the king Bimbisara and his retainers. From this period dates the recognition and popularity of Buddhism as a religion. In the same year the wealthy merchant Kalya presented to the Buddha and his order of monks the famous monastery of Venuvana, or the Bamboo Grove. At the age of thirty -two he converted the nagas
120 INTRODUCTION TO MAN AY AN A BUDDHISM
and yaksas at Mt. Gajagir^a. The next year Qariputra and Mahamaudgalyayana, later his foremost apostles, became his disciples. At this period those of his disciples who had attained to Nirvana numbered twelve hundred and fifty. In the same year Mahakagapa, the sage of the order, later revered as the chief apostle of Mahayana, became a disciple of the Buddha, presenting to the Lord a robe of incalculable value.
At thirty-four the members of his monastic order having increased in number it became necessary to formulate rules for their organiza- tion. Accordingly in this year, while at Vaisali, ^akyamuni established the Vinaya or the Laws of Discipline, and year by year, in accordance with the growing needs of the order, the rules were amended and amplified. At thirty five the Qresthin Sudatta of Qravasti together with Prince Jeta presented to the Holy One the Jetavana Anathapindada arama where many of the most important discourses of the Buddha were delivered.
In this year the Lord returned to his native Kapilavastu, not having visited it since his flight from the palace many years previously. His father, King t^uddhodana sent his retainers
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 121
and subject people to meet him at a distance of forty miles. Great was his reception as befitted a Prince of the Law, and upon his entrance into the city he discoursed upon the chain of causa- tion.
At thirty-seven Ananda his cousin and later his beloved disciple, the Buddhist St. John, entered the Order when only eight years old. At thirty-eight Eahula, his son by Yagodhara, became his disciple, when only nine years of age. At thirty-nine the Buddha once more visited Magadha and converted King Pusya (?). In this year a votive altar, the first of many, was erected in Jetavana grove.
At forty Qakyamuni discoursed to Maitreya, he who is to be the next Buddha, upon the deep meaning of the Law. At forty-one he returned to Kapilavastu a second time whereupon his father and his father's court advanced in the comprehension of the truth. In this year his aunt Mahaprajapati left the world and became a Bik§uni or Buddhist nun.
Later Life. The next few years are chiefly noted for the famous sermons which were delivered during this period. At forty-four he preached on Mt. Lanka in the Southern Seas. From forty-five to forty-nine he discoursed at
122 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
intervals to Buddlias and Bodhisvattvas assemb- led in the ten quarters of the Universe upon a miraculous staircase made between the world of desire, (the kamadhatu) and world of form (rupadhatu). Thereafter the Buddha gradually led his followers into the path of Mahayana. At the age of seventy-five, his father died. At the age of seventy-nine which was in 949 B.C. the Buddha ascended to the Trayatimsa Heaven and discoursed to his mother Queen Maya. Eeturning to earth he gave his last sermon. At midnight of the fifteenth day of the second month of the same year the Buddha entered Parinirvana, lying down in an avenue of Qala trees near the city of Ku^inaga. He was mourned by all the sentient beings of the Universe.
These may be said to represent the main points in the popular Mahayana legends of the Buddha. A comparison of it with the Southern accounts is full of interest, but lies outside the scope of our present undertaking.
What is of especial importance is the way in which an attempt has been made to insert the preaching of the various Mahayana Siitras into the different periods of the Buddha's life. Ma- haynna, at least as a definite system, was un-
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 123
doubtedly the result of several centuries of philosophic development probably in contact with alien influences. The language and style of the Mahayana stitras differs greatly from those of Hlnayana. Its doctrines present even greater divergence.
Since, however, Qakyamuni was retained as the historical founder and as the ultimate source of all the ahaylater Mana doctrine, it became necessary to evolve some explanation of how such different views originated in one person, for it must be remembered that while Hinayana re- gards Mahayana as a corruption of the original Buddhism, or at best as a false and decadent branch, Mahayana regards Hinayana not as false or contrary to true Buddhism, but simply as incomplete or the superficial doctrine which Qakyamuni taught to those who were incapable of comprehending the more profound truths of Mahayana.
In the early days several different and mutu- ally contradictory syntheses of the Buddha's life were formulated which would allow room for all aspects of Buddhism. The most plausible and the one which eventually came to be con- sidered the Orthodox explanation was that expounded by the Chinese Chiki, the founder
124 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
of the Tendai school of Mahayana. This con- sisted of the theory of the five periods of Qaky- amuni's life, the four classes of doctrine which he delivered, and of the four styles of teaching.
Their mutual relationship is shewn in the following chart : —
t-JuMen
£..CnTtfua/
Ji.Secrrf ^..i/hdfftrfminnf
/.. ^uala/njaAa
2.^^ama J_ l&i/Ju/^i
/.. Atafra
2 .Me/me,//a/e J U>///e/-enfiafei^ 4./iffeef
This graph appears far more complicated than in reality it is. The three categories when taken separately are simplicity itself.
{a.) The Five Periods.
The five periods have already been examined in our brief review of the Buddha's life. They are named after the principal stitras which were preached in their respective periods.
The first period beginning in the second week of the Holy One's enlightenment was that in which he delivered the Avatamsaka Sutra containing the Mahayana philosophy in all of its profundity. This work is one of the most im- portant in the whole Mahayana canon. Upon
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 125
it was founded one of the two great Mahay - ana metaphysical schools of China. Textual criticism shews it to be undoubtedly of late composition, but it is an invaluable storehouse of information concerning the development of the Buddhist philosophy. It is a great pity that up to the present time no attempt has been made to translate it into English.
The Buddha, finding this incomprehensible to the masses, next preached the Agama Sutras, containing the fundamental principles of Hina- yana. There are four Agamas which are practically identical with the four Nikayas of Southern Buddhism, which (sometimes with the addition of an added fifth) compose the Sutta (Sutra) Pitaka or division of the Pali Canon. Much of the Pali version has been rendered into English, so that an important task for future scholars is to compare it with the Chinese translation of the Agamas.
The majority of his pupils having at length passed beyond this stage the Master then de- livered the Vaipulya Sutras. Literally these mean the Expanded Discourses and betray an afflorescence both as regards style and doctrine. Practically none of these are to be found in the Southern canon, but in most of the Vaipulya
126 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
sutras the Mahay an a teachings presented are in a decidedly rudimentary state.
They are chiefly marked by the growth of the Buddha legend, and the introduction of many supernatural elements, though the later theories of the Bodhisattva ideal and of the Universal Buddha are set forth in a more or less undevelop- ed state. To this period belong the important Sutras the Vimalaklrtti Nirde§a Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, and the Maha vaipulya Sannipata Sutra. These sutras are frequently cited even by the developed Mahayana schools-
The next or fourth period was occupied in delivering the Maha-prajiia-paramita SUtra and others of a like nature. In these the doctrine of Qtinya was fully developed, and by negating negation the idea of the transcending Middle Principle (Madhya) above existence and non- existence was formulated.
The fifth and final period was once more de- voted to the pure and undiluted Mahayana doctrine. To this belong the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, perhaps the most important of the Mahayana Sutras, and the Nirvana Stitra which is much studied in China and is not to be confused with a Hinayana Stitra with a similar name. Finally there was also the two most
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 2
famous Sukhavati Sutras, tlie Amitayur Dhyana Stitra and the Sukhavativyuha Sutra, on which are based the Paradise seeking sects which play such an important part in later Mahayana. (6,) The Four Classes of Doctrine
The synthesis expounded by Tendai Daishi (as Chikti was later called) goes on to state that all the teachings of Buddhism may be classified into four groups, different aspects of which were revealed during the above men- tioned five periods of Qakyamuni's life.
The first of these is the Zo or Tripitaka doctrine, meaning in this instance by the Trip- itaka only the orthodox Hinayana system expounded in the Abhidharma Ko§a, and also the primitive ^unya school founded on the Satya Siddhi ^astra. This class corresponds exactly to the Agama period of the Buddha's life though occasionally touched upon by the Vaipulya Siitras.
The next in the order of development is the Tsu, or intermediate school, so-called because it is the system which is intermediate between the Tripitaka doctrines and the later and more perfect doctrines of true Mahayana. To this class belong the Dharamalaksana or Yogacarya and the Trigastra or the Madhyamika school.
128 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
The Tsu or intermediate doctrine was taught both in the Vaipulya and the Prajna-paramita periods.
With the third class, the Betsu or Differ- entiated doctrine, we at length reach real Maha- yana. In this school, which is perhaps most characteristic of the Avatamsaka sect the Trans- cending Middle Principle (Madhya) is formulated ; but in this case it is the transcendality which is insisted upon. It is above all things and can be attained only by going through ten stages of 1. The Naraka or Hells ; 2. The realm of the Pretas, or Goblins ; 3. Animals ; 4. The realm of the Asuras ; 5. Mankind ; 6. The Devas ; 7. The stage of the Qravaka ; or hearers (as- pirants after Arhatship) ; 8. Pratyeka Buddhas ; and 9. Bodhisattvas leading up to the tenth and last stage of true Buddhahood, which is synony- mous with the Middle Principle. This root of existence though above the Universe or rather though far more than the universe yet ever aids at making all sentient beings attain emancipation and so instead of revealing only the one road {dohyd) it uses many updya (means) and teaches in many different manners, (Betsu-kyo or Bekkyo) to suit the exigencies of the times. Ac- cordingly it is called the Differentiated school.
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 129
This was inculcated in the Vaipulya, Prajiia paramita and Avatamsaka periods, but most purely in the last.
The fourth and highest doctrine is that of En or Completeness. This is the teaching which emphasises the immanence as well as the transcendence of the Absolute and seeks to find the Universal Buddha in the lowest inhabitant of hell as well as in the supremely illuminated sage. The doctrines of Completeness as taught in the Avatamsaka Sutra (the shaJcu-en or old complete- ness as it is called) is merely the highest of the four classes of doctrine, while the En of the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra (the Icon-en or the new completeness) is the only doctrine in which all the others are included.
(c.) The Four Styles of Teaching.
The four modes of Qakyamuni's instruction require but little attention. The first or Ton means suddenness and is the method whereby the learner is told directly and immediately the whole truth. The second, the Zen or the Gradual method, was to lead the student step by step through all the stages on the path. The first belongs exclusively to the Avatamsaka period, and the second to the Vaipulya, Agama, and Prajna paramita periods.
130 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
The third method is that of Himitsu or Secrecy, and may be said to be the esoteric transmission of truth. In this the aspirant is initiated into the inner mysteries which cannot be adequately expounded in exoteric doctrines.
The fourth and highest is the Fujo or Undeter- mined. In this the Law is expounded in such a way that every person may understand it according to his capacity. The same sutramay be used for persons of different profundity, the less intelligent receiving therefrom the same stimulus as the most enlightened though the actual substance extracted therefrom will differ with each individual.
Both the third and the fourth styles of teach- ing belong to the first four periods, while the fifth period is in reality beyond all manners and styles, though more particularly connected with the Fuj5 or Undetermined Style.
The doctrine of the five periods, four classes of doctrine, and four styles of teaching is the most important synthesis of Qakyamuni's life, but it is by no means the only one. The only other two which require attention are the three doctrine, and five doctrine classification of the Buddhas' life.
THE NATURE AND POWERS OF BUDDHAHOOD 131
According to the three doctrine theory which is taught by the Dharmalak^ana, or Yogacarya school, Qakyamuni taught, first, the doctrine of the existence of all phenomena, or the doctrine of Being {Jce), second, the doctrine that all such existence is purely relative or the doctrine of Becoming (lit., Tcu or non-existence) and third, the doctrine of the Middle Principle (chu) which transcends both existence and non- existence.
The five-fold division of Gautama's life is made by the Avatamsaka (Kegon) school and consists of (1) Sho or the doctrine of smallness, in which the primitive EQnayana doctrines are inculcated, (2) Shi the doctrine of beginning, in which the undeveloped Mahayana doctrines are unfolded, (3) Ju or the end in which the purely metaphysical aspect of Mahayana reached its final development, (4) Ton or sudden- ness, the doctrine of the immediate intuition of Truth without words or symbols associated with the teachings of the Dhyana school, and finally (5) En or the doctrine of Completion, associated with the Avatamsaka Sect in which the perfection fruition of all the other schools is to be found.
CHAPTEE V
PSYCHOLOGT-^ELEMENTS OF EXISTENCE
I. The Analysis of the Personality
One of the most difficult points for Western students of all forms of Buddhism to understand is the doctrine of Anatman, which is unusually- translated " soullessness." Buddhism insists that the soul is not a rigid unchanging, self-constituted entity, but a living, complex, changing, evolving organism. Non-Buddhistic philosophers have usually supposed that the soul is a simple substance which inhabits the body and which after death is rendered free from the shackles of corporeality. This is the core of the Hindu theory of the atman.
In Buddhism the theory of anitya or im- permanency is applied even to the psychic life, largely on the analogy of the human body. The body exists but it has no self essence, i.e. it is made up of component parts which, in many
PSYCHOLOGY 133
cases, are constantly replaced. There is no one centre of the body which is its ultimate essence, for neither the heart nor the brain, etc., could function without the other organs. Since the material parts of which it is composed are continually changing, in one sense it may be said that our bodies of to-day are not identical with our bodies of yesterday, yet it is obvious that they are not different since they have a sequential, or causal, or what the Buddhists would call a karmaic connection.
All this, says Buddhism, applies equally to the soul. There is no atman for the personality consists of five skandhas or aggregates, or faculties, viz. : — (1) Rupay body or form, in other words the physical body, (2) Vedana sen- sation or perception, (3) Samjna conception or ratiocination, (4) SamsMra mental qualities, such as love, hate, etc., and (5) Vijnana con- sciousness, more especially in this connection, self-consciousness. None of these can claim pre-eminence. One is not the basis around which the others are grouped. They are all co-ordinated parts, constantly changing, so that at no two moments can the personality claim to be identical, yet at the same tune there is a constant Karmaic persistence.
134 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
This division of the personality into five skandhas (Pali Khandhas) is undoubtedly very ancient, and probably goes back to the time of Qakyamuni himself. The keen pleasure which the Indian mind takes in metaphysical analysis and dissection, however, would not allow this simple formula to stand alone and later systems divided each skandha into a number of fundamen- tal elements. In the Sthaviravada or Theravada school of Hinayana represented by the Order in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam, we find the following classification of each of the skandhas : — The Five 8kandhas and their Divisions.
1. Bupa, or material qualities, 27 (or 28) in number. Four elements, earth, water, fire, and air. Five sense organs, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body. Four sense objects, form sound, smell, taste. Two distinctions of sex, male and female. Three essential conditions, mental action, vital spirits, food. Two means of communication, gesture and speech. Seven qualities of material bodies, buoyancy, pliancy, adaptability, integra- tion, continuance of integration, decay and impermanency.
2. Vedand or sensation, 3 or 5 in number. Three, pleasurable, painful, neutral. Two or more are sometimes added, mental and physical sensation.
PSYCHOLOGY ISS
3. SamjM {Sanna) or Conception, 6 in number. One for eacli of the senses, and one mental. " The Perception of * bine ' for instance is classed under sight, or ' sweet ' nnder taste
75
4. SamsMra (SanJcJidra) Mental Qualities. 52 in number. Seven mental properties which are common to every act of consciousness, viz : — (1) contact (phassa), (2) sensation (vedana), (4) conception (sanna), (5) volition, (cetana) (6) in- dividualization of object (ekaggata), (7) mental alertness (Jivitindriya), (8) attention (manasi- kara).
Six mental properties which sometimes are and sometimes are not present in consciousness, \iz : — (1) initial application (vitakka), (2) sus- tained application (vicara), (3) deciding as to object (adhimokkha), (4) effort (viriya), (5) pleasurable interest (piti), (6) impulse (chanda).
Fourteen evil mental qualities, viz : — (1) dull- ness (moha), (2) impudence (ahirika), (3) reckless- ness (anotappa), (4) distraction (uddhacca), (5) greed (lobha), (6) error (dhittha), (7) conceit, (mana), (8) hate (dosa), (9) envy (issa), (10) selfishness (macchariya), (11) worry (kukkucca), (12) sloth (thina), (13) torpor (middha), (14) perplexity (vicikiccha).
136 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Nineteen virtuous mental qualities, viz : — (1) faith (saddha), (2) mindfullness (sati), (3) pru- dence (hiri), (4) discretion (otappa), (5) dis- interestedness (alobha), (6) amity (adosa), (7) Balance of mind (tatramajjattata), (8) composure (passaddhi) of body^ or (9) of mind, (10) buoy- ancy (lahuta), of body or (11) of mind, (12) pliancy (muduta) of body or (13) of mind, (14) adaptability (kammaiiiiata) of body or (15) of mind, (16) proficiency (Paguiinata) of body or (17) of mind, (18) rectitude (ujukata) of body or (19) of mind.
Three forms of propriety, viz : — (1) right speech, (2) right action, and (3) right livelihood. Two illimitables, (1) pity, and (2) appreciation. One supreme possession, reason (paiina).
5. Vijndna {Vinndna) or Consciousness. In the South it is usual to divide consciousness into 89 classes from the point of view of the merit or demerit resulting from different forms of consciousness. These do not especially con- cern us. The six-fold division of consciousness is also found, these six forms are, one for each of the senses, and one purely " mental conscious- ness."
* Some would translate Kaya here by " Mental properties'* rather than " Body " and so below.
PSYCHOLOGY 137
In the Sarvastivadin school of Hinayana, an attempt was made to give a more comprehensive view of the universe, and, as we have seen, all phenomena were reduced to a certain number of fixed dharmas or elements of existence. In the Abhidharma Koga they are enumerated as seventy-five in number. These are in reality nothing more than the objectification of the divisions of the skandhas, arising from the examination of the parts of the universe rather than merely from the human mind. The Sarvastivadins admit, however, that this com" prehensive analysis may also be approached from the subjective as well as the objective point of view, so that they present us with the following two-fold classification : —
I. Subjective Classification of Phenomena.
A. The 5 Skandhas or the aggregates of being which compose the " soul." As in the Southern account they consist of Eupa or form, Vedana or sensation, Samjna or conception, Samskara or mental qualities, and Vijnana or consciousness. These five Skandhas may be broken down into seventy-five dharmas, of which in fact they may be considered compounds.
B. The 12 Ayatanas or, the bases from which mental action arises, Buddhists argue that before
lie INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
consciousness can function there must be present twelve things, namely the five sense organs, the five sense objects, manas or the percipient mind, and dharma or things in general or ab- Btract ideas.
C. The 18 Dhatus or Factors of Conscious- ness, consist of the 12 Ayatanas plus the six Vijnana or aspects of consciousness.
II. Objective Classification of Phenomena.
A. AsamsJcrita Dharmas, simple or uncon- ditioned elements of existence. These are three in number, namely (1) Space or Ether (aka§a), (2) The unconscious cessation of existence (apratisankya-nirodha) a form of deep trance, and (3) conscious cessation of existence, {prati- samkya nirodha) which is equivalent to Nirvana.
B. Samskrita Dharmas or conditioned ele- ments of existence, so-called, it will be remember- ed, because though themselves simple and primal they enter into combinations one with another. They are 72 in number, divided in the follow- ing w^ay : —
1. Rupa Dharmas or material elements, 11 in number, consisting of the five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body), the five sense
PSYCHOLOGY 139
objects (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch), and avijnapti-rupa, or latent or unmanifest matter.
2. Citta Dharma or mental element, only- one in number, consisting of mind itself, though the one mind is divided into six vijnana and the three modes.
3. Caitta Dharmas, or mental qualities, corresponding to the Samskara Skandha of the South. This has 46 divisions, classified in the following way : — 10 Mahabhumika Dharmas^ or neutral elements which are always present in consciousness, (1) Vedana or Sensation, (2) Samjiia or Conception, (3) Cetana or motive, (4) Sparca or contact, (5) Chanda or Conation, (6) Mati or intellect, (7) Smriti or memory, (8) Manaskara or attention, (9) Adhimok^a or determination, and (10) Samadhi or contempla- tion. Next follow the 10 Eugala mahdb- humilcd dharmas or good elements which are always present, (1) ^raddha or faith, (2) Virya or diligence, (3) Upek§a or indifference, (4) Hri or shame, (5) Apatrapa or modesty, (6) Alobha or noncovetousness, (7) Adve§a or non- hatred, (8) Ahimsa or harmlessness, (9) Pra. gabdhi or serenity and (10) Apramada, tem- perance or non-slackness. Next come the 6
K
140 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Klega maliabliumika dJiarmas, or great evil elements, (1) Moha or nescience, (2) Pramada intemperateness or carelessness, (3) Kausidya or indolence, (4) Agraddha or disbelief, (5) Styana or idleness, and (6) Andhatya or rash- ness, Next come the 2 ATcugala mahabhumikd dharmas or non- virtuous great elements, (1) Ahrikya shamelessness, and (2) Anapatrapa or immodesty. Next come the 10 UpaTcle- gabJiumika dharmas or the lesser evil elements so called because they are not present in all forms of sentiency, but only in those forms of life which are possessed of self-consciousness. These are (1) Krodha, or wrath, (2) Mrak§a or hypocrisy, (3) Matsarya or envy, (4) Ir§ya or jealousy, (5) Paritapa or anguish, (6) Vihimsa or injury, (7) Upanaha or rancour, (8) Maya or deceit, (9) Qathya or trickery, and (10) Mada or arrogance. Finally there are the 8 Aniya- tabhumika dharmas or the miscellaneous minor mental qualities, which are (1) Kaukritya or repentance, (2) Middha or torpor, (3) Vitarka or judgment, (4) Vicara or investigation, (5) Raga or cupidity, (6) Pratigha or anger, (7) Mana or pride, and (8) Vicikitsa or doubt.
4. Citta ViprayuTcta Dharmas or miscell- aneous elements, 14 in number, viz : — (1) Prapti
PSYCHOLOGY 141
or attainment, (2) Aprapti or non-attainment, (3) Sabhagata or general characteristics, (4) Asamjiiika or unconsciousness, (5) Asamjni- samapatti or ecstacy with the loss of conscious- ness, (6) Nirodha-samapatti or a continuation of the above equivalent to the cessation of existence, (7) Jivita or life, (8) Jati birth or origin, (9) Sthiti or continuance, (10) Jara or decay, (11) Anityata or impermanency, (12) Namakaya or words, (13) Padakaya or sentence, (14) Vyanjanakaya or letters.
The subjective and objective classifications are supposed to be equivalent one to another, to be but different ways of enumerating the same phenomena.
In the later schools, such as the Satyasiddhi sect with its 84 Dharmas, and the Yogacarya sect with its 100 Dharmas, the essential relation- ship between the subjective and objective classifications is not changed though the onto- logical background was radically modified. In the Satyasiddhi and Madhyamika schools the dharmas, the skandhas, and the component parts of the skandhas are themselves all im- permanent, complex and reducible to finer sub-divisions ad infinitum. In the YogacSrya school the whole of life was reduced to the
142 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
stream of life, and all the dharmas are but vortices or centres in this universal substance. All the phenomena of life including the Dharmas are but mental ejects or objectivizations of various aspects of the essence of mind. This point brings up the question of the nature of Vijnana or consciousness and the part which it plays in the appearance of the external universe. The Abhidharma Ko^a knows nothing of the 89 divisions of Vijnana taught in the Pali tradi- tion, but only the six-fold aspects of conscious- ness. The first five of these, it will be remem- bered, correspond to the five sense organs and sense objects. The last or Mano vijnana may be called the faculty of ratiocination which produces thought and reason from the data received from the purely passive five vijnana.
II. The Nature of Perceptio n. The Abhidharma Koga is realistic. It believes that there is an external universe closely corres- ponding to the sense data which we experience, but it realises that in its present form the world as we see it is subjective, the result of the action of the percipient consciousness (vijnana) acted upon by external stimuli.
Accordingly, from the individual point of view, the origin of the experienced universe, as opposed
PSYCHOLOGY 143
to the Universe in itself — to use Kantain phrase- ology is as follows : —
The Five Sense Objects. The Five Sense Organs. Vedana (sensation or perception.) Vijnana (self consciousness.) Samjna (consciousness of the external
universe.) Samskara (the fully developed world of subject and object, life and death.)
We see from this that the Sarvastivadin school of Hinayana teaches a philosophic as opposed to a crude realism. Necessarily, the world as we see it is subjective, even though it is based on an external reality. Being Hinayana, and therefore more in accordance with the primitive Buddhism, no attempt is made to elucidate the real nature of the external universe or to premise its origin or end, but with the uni- verse as perceived it is closely concerned. We are told how it came into existence and how it will come to an end when Parinirvana, final emancipation, is achieved.
The epistemology, ontology, and phenomen- ology latent in this system should be carefully thought out before we pass to the Yogacarya system, since the latter, though antithetical, is yet derived from the earlier teaching. In the
144 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Yogacarya school there are eight forms of consciousness or Vijnana postulated. The first six are more or less in accord with the six vijnana of the Hlnayana doctrine, save that the Mano-vijnana or the Abhidharma Ko^a is divided into two, Mano-vijhana proper or normal waking consciousness, and Kligto-mano- vijnana which is more subjective, and corresponds to self-awareness. The eighth Vijiiana, Alaya Vijiiana, or receptacle consciousness, so called because it contains the seed of all things, is, as we have said, like the Unconscious of Von- Hartmann, the sea of life from which both subject and object are derived, for it is at once that which sees and that which is seen.
The Alaya Vijiiana has four aspects or faculties viz : —
|
I. |
Form |
Outer or Objective. |
|
2. |
Perception |
|
|
3. |
Batiocination |
Inner or Subjective |
|
4. |
Eeflection. |
In Hinayana the external world is taken for granted and we start with the percipient con- sciousness fully developed. In the Yogacarya school, we are told that both the external world and consciousness are ultimately reducible to the Alaya Vijnana. The Alaya Vijnana
PSYCHOLOGY 145
in its as yet non-dividuated phase is the energy behind inanimate life, the world of minerals, etc. It is also the life force behind life in the vegetable world. As such it is the Form or the essence of the objective world.
Eventually this life force attains the power of sensation and percipiency It is latent in the vegetable world and is fully developed in the animal world. It becomes aware of the other currents in the stream of life, or, if you prefer, the other phases of the Alaya Vijnana, from which we understand why it is said that it is both subject and object.
As this sensatory or perceptive faculty de- velops, there arises the ability to retain impress- ions, to compare and associate them, and so the third faculty, thought or normal consciousness comes into being. This is to be found only in the higher animals and in man, etc. This in turn develops into self-consciousness or re- flection, the fourth faculty only to be found in the highest order of sentient beings.
This may be called the cosmic evolution of the Alaya Vijnana, or the evolution of the Universe in itself, or the universe as it really is, as compared with the experienced universe, which each person creates for himself.
146 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
As regards the latter we are told that the stages in the formation of the microcosm are as follows : —
1. The Alaya Vijhana gives rise to the Seed Alaya proper — the basis of consciousness — and to the sense organs, and the sense objects or the external world. The actual world has thus already been created, but its replica has not yet been created by the mind. This is the stage at which Hinayana begins. From the inter- action of these three there comes into being the essence of the world as perceived, the basis of the empirical world.
In the meanwhile the seventh Vijnana, the Kli^to-mano-Vijiiana, or self-consciousness, that which firmly distinguishes between subject and object, having developed, it is fecundated by the Seed Alaya, and becoming aware of the external universe, proceeds to take it into its comprehension and so gives to it form and shape, which are, needless to say, secondary or sub- jective qualities, and not inherent in the real external world.
2. The sixth Vijnana, Mano- vijnana, I^ormal Consciousness, or the faculty which discriminates between the various phenomena of the universe is then developed and, fecundated by the Seed
PSYCHOLOGY 147
Alaya, adds to the gradually evolving germ the concept of like and dislike associating with it other objects in terms of cause and effect, etc.
3. There then develop the remaining five forms of consciousness corresponding to the five sense organs. These are : —
1. Calcsu Vijndna, visual consciousness,
mental action depend- ent on the eye, etc.
2. (Jrotra Vijndna, oral consciousness.
3. Ghrdna Vijndna, nasal consciousness.
4. Jihvd Vijnand, cognition of objects
of taste.
5. Kay a Vijndna, cognition of the objects
of touch.
When these are developed and impregnated by the Seed Alaya which may be called the seed of personality, they give, on coming into contact with the germ of objectivity the final touches of the experienced world. Thus, for example, the first vijnana or Visual Consciousness, gives the sense of colour, and presents the phenomenon in question in the form which our ordinary sense impressions make familiar to us.
By means of the interaction of these various Vijnana, a man builds up for himself the external world which he experiences. The absence of any of them would destroy the completeness.
148 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Without the first Vijnana he could not see, without the sixth he could not understand the relative value of the various phenomena presented to him. Without the seventh he could not formulate a conception of shape or size, while without the eighth neither he nor the external object could exist.
One last word concerning certain details. The eighth Vijfiana is the root or essence of all things 80 that all other seven Vijnanas are derived from it. The Seventh and Eighth Vijnana are closely associated and so maintain a direct and immediate relationship. The sixth Vijnana serves to co-ordinate the remaining five. Among the ignorant and the unenlightened the sixth Vijnana or normal consciousness is aware of the existence of only the seventh Vijnana. This they suppose to be their real selves and to be an eternal and unchanging reality. Bodhisattvas are able to see the true state of affairs. They are able to penetrate to the core of the seventh Vijnana, and thus come into contact with the eighth or Alaya Vijnana the ever fluid medium which is the true cause of all existence.
'-' 7 ^h 1a \ ^^ ( Cone/' f/ on)
ne£xferna/(<i .UL /f^ #:^~^/7^ J -
PSYCHOLOGY 149
Buddhism distinguishes two elements in causality, the In (hetu) the seed or cause proper, the En (pratyaya) environment or attendant circumstances, and the Ka (phala) or the result or fruit. Thus for instance a mango seed is planted, the sun, rain, and the earth act upon it, and a mango tree springs up, the mango seed is the In, the sun, rain, and earth are the JE7w, and the mango fruit the Ka.
From the epistemological point of view, says the Togacarya school, in the origin of the experienced world, the sixth Vijnana is the seed, the seventh and eighth Vijnana the condition, and the experienced world the fruit. This, of course, is obvious. That which really formu- lates the eject of externality is the normal waking consciousness, though this is based upon the discriminating faculty of the seventh Vij- nana, and the essence of mind as expressed in the Alaya Vijnana.
III. Immortality.
Finally the question of the survival of the personality must be examined. Having no fixed unchanging atman, Buddhist immortality is somewhat different from that taught in other religions, yet actually the difference in outlook is less than might be supposed. The personality
150 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
as a complex and changing organism persists from year to year. The component parts vary in each incarnation, there is no underlying substance which is retained throughout, yet there is a Karmaic connection which allows us to say that it is the same personality.
If the deeds in this life have been evil, at the the moment of death a new personality (which is yet the same) will be formed in one of the hells; if a man has been virtuous he will be reborn in one of the heavens, or, according to his Karma in one of the other realms, possibly as a man again.
This idea, common to all forms of Buddhism, the Yogacarya school expresses in the following way :—
/^reje^/^ Pas/
C
r^
8:1///.
'nana
f 7 . l//J/7ana V
( 6 ^ yiynancf \
( /_ l^///73na ( 6 - I////? 3 /7 a
Wor/c//e/ Ojffa/rj
PSYCHOLOGY 151
The state of the sixth Vijnana at the moment of death, moulds from the plastic mind substance a new sixth Vijnana, and the same is true of the seventh and eighth Vijnanas. The con- dition or stage of development of the new eighth Vijiiana is supposed to be greatly affected by the activity of the sixth Vijnana during the previous existence, which in turn is strongly influenced by the external conditions and previous observance of the various moral com- mandments.
The new Vijiianas having thus come into existence, the creation of the new experienced universe goes on as before. In this way the wheel of life and death continues for ever, or until Nirvana be gained.
It should be observed that in both the heavens and the hells, man does not exist as a dis- embodied spirit as is presumably taught in Christianity, but that he has a body with the usual sense objects and sense organs, etc. (the only exception to this are the Artipa Heavens, where there is, of course, no form) correlated to the eighth Vijnana, so that the chart for the method of re-birth and the method of the creation of the experienced universe applies to the super- natural as well as to the physical worlds.
152 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Finally, it should be added, that just as the later Mahayanist philosophers considered these supernatural worlds to be purely subjective, /so did they come to think that reincarnation was ' general rather than particular, that there was no specific survival of each personality, but that the stream of life seen in the development of the human race alone survived, that each person added his quota to the general stream, and that the individual Karma was added to the Universal Karma which conditions the life of future generations. This idea has been especially emphasized by the Dhyana sect.
CHAPTEE VI
THE WHEEL OF LIFE AND THE BOAD TO NIRVANA
Whether taken as objective realities or symbols of subjective states, great emphasis has been laid upon the various gati or realms of existence in which men are for ever being born and die. The gati are frequently symbolized by a wheel of life, a symbol which is common to all forms of Buddhism. A few words of explanation con- cerning a typical chart, such a chart as the Lama elucidated to Kim, will perhaps be found useful.
(a.) At the centre are the three animals symbolic of the three fundamental sins which result in the formation of the phenomenal world. These are the serpent (anger), the boar (ignorance), and the dove (lust). They are catching one another by the tail and so typify the train of sins which produces the wheel of life. In most Chinese and Japanese representa- tions of the wheel the Buddha is placed in the
154 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
middle to show that in spite of the evil of existence the Universal Buddha is latent in all. In the Tibetan chart the Buddhas and Bodhisavattas are placed outside showing that the phenomenal world is regulated by and contained in the noumenal world.
(b.) In the next circle are placed the symbols of the twelve Nidanas, or the twelve links in the chain of universal causality whereby all things are evolved. The twelve, it will be remembered are : —
1. Ignorance represented by a blind woman.
2. Action represented by a potter at work
or a man gathering fruit.
3. Consciousness represented by a restless
monkey.
4. Name and Form represented by a boat.
5. Sense Organs represented by a house.
6. Contact represented by a man and woman
sitting together.
7. Sensation represented by a man pierced
with an arrow.
8. Desire represented by a man drinking
wine.
9. Craving represented by a couple in union. 10. Birth represented by child birth.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 155
11. Life represented by a man carrying a
a corpse.
12. Disease, old age, and death, represented
by an old woman leaning on a
stick. These twelve nidanas have played an im- portant part in Buddhist phenomenology and have been carefully explained in various works on all forms of Buddhism.
(c.) The next circle typifies the whole body of sentient beings including the inhabitants of all the six realms though here represented in human form. This is divided into two parts, Sugati (on the left) the state of happiness, and Durgati (on the right) the state of misery.
Sentient beings however, never exist in a pure or unembodied form but are inhabitants of one of the six realms shewn in the six sections of the outer circle, or for a short time in Bardo or intermediate state between death and rebirth.
In this arrangement, the first gati is the realm of human beings, for though in pleasure and duration of life it is far inferior to the Devalokas or Abodes of the Gods or the Etipa or Arupa Heavens, it is here alone that progress in the path of the Bodhisattva may be made. For this reason rebirth as a human being is highly
L
156 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
prized and is considered difificult to achieve. In the Tibetan chart we see a woman on account of merit in a past life being reborn as a monk who will in due course attain Nirvana. Im- mediately above him are two Lamas or monks of the exoteric school. The four armed deity- is Avalokite9vara the symbol of Universal Love or Mercy, leading men to emancipation. On either side are two Bodhisattvas who by following the esoteric school are soon to attain Buddhahood. The other figures represent various aspects of human life.
The second gati is the realm of the devas or Gods in which are also included the inhabitants of the eighteen heavens of the World of Form and the four heavens of the World of Formlessness. Here the meritorious are born to enjoy the fruits of their good Karma. It is a place of enjoyment but not of culture and progress in the way of Bodhisattva perfection.
The third gati portrays the realm of the Aeuras the Demons or Genii the ancient enemies of the Devas. The fourth is the realm of the animals, the fifth is the realm of the Pretas, the hungry ghosts or the ghouls, the sixth is the underworld, where are situate the Narakas or HeUs.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE
157
The other kinds of supernatural beings of which Buddhism speaks have no separate realm of their own but are distributed among the six gati, while in some accounts there are only five, the Asuras being grouped with the Devas. It should also be noted that no account is taken of the vegetable world. Contrary to the teach- ing of certain Hindu schools Buddhism does not consider that vegetables belong to the world of sentient beings, so that it is impossible to be reborn in that state.
These realms are sufficiently important to require slightly more detailed consideration, (a.) The World of the Gods.
This includes the four Arupa or formless heavens, the eighteen, (or 16) Heavens of Form or Eupa or Brahma Heavens, as well as the six Deva heavens of the World of Desire. The duration of life as well as the average stature, etc., of the inhabitants of these heavens is as follows :
Average
Name of Heaven. Duration of life.
Ist Devaloka 2nd Devaloka 3rd Devaloka 4th Devaloka
9 million years. 36 144 576
5th Devaloka 2,304 6th Devaloka 9,216
Stature. ^ Kro§a
f
u „
>>
)>
158 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Name of Heaven. Duration of life. gtature. 1st Kupaloka I mahakalpa \ yojana.
2nd Etipaloka \ „ 1 j>
3rd Eupalaka 1 „ li m
4th Rupaloka 2 „ 2 ,,
5th Rnpaloka 4 ,, 4 ,,
6th Rupaloka 8 ,, 8 ,,
7th Eupaloka 16 ,, 16 ,,
8th Rupaloka 32 „ 32 ,,
9th Rupaloka 64 „ 64 „
10th Rupaloka 125 „ 125 „
11th Rupaloka 250 „ 250 „
12th Rupaloka 500 „ 500 „
13th Rupaloka 500 „ 500 „
14th Rupaloka 1,000 „ 1,000 „
15th Rupaloka 2,000 „ 2,000 „
16th Rupaloka 4,000 „ 4,000 „
17th Rupaloka 8,000 „ 8,000 „
18th Rupaloka 16,000 „ 16,000 „ 1st Arupaloka 20,000 mahakalpas. \ 2nd Arupaloka 40,000 „ 3rd Arupaloka 60,000 „ 4th Ariipaloka 80,000 „
(b.) The World of Men.
Men are to be found in all the innumerable
Cakravala (worlds) scattered throughout the
The inhabitants of the Arupa- lokas have no bodies.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 159
universe. In each Cakravala there are four continents one lying on each side (North, South, East, and West) of the great central mountain and the seven rocky circles.
1. In the Northern continent called Uttara- kuru the inhabitants live for a thousand years, none die young and there is no pain, yet owing to the difficulty of treading the Holy Path there it is called one of the evil places.
2. In the Western continent called Apara- godaniya the inhabitants live for five hundred years, but some die younger, and anxiety is sometimes experienced.
3. In the Eastern continent called Pur- vavideha the inhabitants live for two hundred and fifty years or less. Here also is there sorrow and anxiety.
4. In the Southern continent which includes all the known worlds and is called Jambudvipa, the age of the inhabitants, varies from ten years to an asamkeya. From the purely hedonistic point of view it is inferior to the other continents; but it is the best place to train for Bodhisattva- hood.
" Among the beings of the three worlds (Kama, Eupa, and Ariipa Eealms) men are more
160 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
full of thought than the others. Therefore is human existence to be sought."
(c.) The World of Asuras.
The Asuras are semi-divine demons who are usually credited with the power of transformation. We find it frequently stated that though the Asuras have much in common with the Devas occasionally there is conflict between the two classes in which the Asuras are always eventually beaten. The story of this conflict is very ancient and can be traced to pre-vedic days when the Aryans had not yet reached India. In Persia the Ahuras (Asuras) are the conquerors and the Devas are the evil beings, in direct contrast to the Indian conception. Many Chinese Buddhists divide the Asuras into four classes, viz., 1. Animal Asuras, whose abode is in the depth of the ocean and deep sea caverns. 2. Preta Asuras, who are very much like the ordinary Pretas or Ghouls but are of a somewhat higher order and are endowed with certain fundamental virtues and powers. 3. Human Asuras, who have fallen from virtue in Heaven and reside near the sun and moon. 4. Deva Asuras, the divine asuras who resemble and are but little below the dignity of the Gods (Devas) them- selves.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 161
(d.) The World of Animals. In Nan jo we have the following description of the animal kingdom :** — " There are insects whether flying quickly or moving slowly, such as wasps and caterpillars, there are animals of the scaly tribe, and those covered with shells or crusts. There are some animals which are covered with hair or naked. Some are one horned and others are two horned. Some are two- footed and some are many footed. Some have wings with which they fly and others have talons with which they seize their prey. There are large animals called whales ; the ferocious are tigers and wolves ; the poisonous are vipers and water bugs ; and the cunning are foxes and badgers ; there are horned owls which eat their mothers. There are some animals called owl cats which eat their fathers. There are several different kinds of animals of which the weaker is always injured by the stronger. Such is the state of beings who have entered into the nature of animals." (Page VIII).
(e.) The World of Pretas.
Those who are born as Pretas or hungry ghosts
undergo great suffering. Some have " bellies
as large as a hill while their mouths are as small
as the eye of a needle, so that they can neither
** 12 Sects of Japanese Buddhism.
162 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
eat nor drink. There are Pretas for whom water is always changed into fire as soon as they desire to drink, so that they can never satisfy their thirst. There are Pretas who eat nothing but excrement and decaying matter. There are Pretas whose bodies are pierced with their own hairs, the points of which are as sharp as swords. Again there are Pretas who eat their own children. This state is not seen by human eyes but among mankind there is often seen something like the above." (Nanjo).
(f.) The Ndrakas or Hells.
In contradistinction to the one hell of Chris- tianity, Buddhism postulates the existence of innumerable places of torment though all of a temporary nature. The most important are the eight hot hells and the eight cold hells. These are : —
A. Hot Hells. (1) Samjiva, (2) Kalasutra, (3) Samghata, (4) Kaurava, (5) Maharaurava, (5) Tapana, (7) Mahatapana, (8) Avici.
B. Cold Hells. (1) Arbuda, (2) Nirarbuda, (3) Atata, (4) Hahava, (5) Huhuva, (6) Utpala, (7) Padma, (8) Mahapadma.
Owing to the action of Karma man continues to be reborn in these realms until at length he succeeds in destroying ignorance, anger, and lust,
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 163
after which there is no cause for the creation of the perceptual or experienced world and thus Nirvana is attained.
All schools of Buddhism have placed much emphasis upon the Eoads to Buddhahood and the necessary stages which must be passed. In the Chinese work entitled Esuan Fo P^u (Senbtippu) translated by Timothy Richards as " A Guide to Buddhahood " we find a very systematic presentation of the usual ideas on the subject, more particularly from the point of view of the T' ien t 'ai or Tendai school.
In this work the stages to be passed are arranged in three classes. The first is pre- liminary, and is subdivided : —
1. Steps in the departure from evil.
2. Steps in the imperfect religious life.
3. Steps in doing good and suppressing evil. When this stage has been reached the disciple
definitely enters upon the path which leads to Buddhahood. This involves training in the three practises common to all forms of Buddhism. These are : —
1. Steps in the growth of (Jila (Kal) dis- cipline, or moral law which is summed up in the various commandments and rules and regu- lations of the Buddhist order.
164 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
2. Steps in the growth of Samddhi (JO) contemplation, meditation, or ecstacy.
3. Steps in the growth of Prajnd (E) or wisdom.
Up to this point the path has been the same for all disciples. But from hereon the aspirant chooses one of the four paths or schools into which the Tendai sect divides all aspects of Buddhism. These are : —
1. Steps in the Pitaka or Z6 school, the original Hinayana doctrine.
2. Steps in the Intermediate or Tsu school, the undeveloped Mahayana doctrine.
3. Steps in the Differentiated or Betsu school, represented by the Avatamsaka or Kegon sect.
4. Steps in the Perfect or En school re- presented by the Tendai sect itself.
All these four schools belong to the Shodomon or Aryamarga school of Buddhism. In addition there are the stages in the Jodomon or Suk- havati school whereby one attains to Nirvana by entering into the land of Bliss of Amitabha.
Though seemingly of little other than purely technical importance the great emphasis laid upon these matters necessitates our examining the details of each one of the foregoing steps.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 165
I. Preliminary Stages.
A. Steps in the Departure of Evil. These consist of twenty-one steps which may be classified into seven groups, viz : —
I. 1. The Ten worst crimes ; 2, the Ten intermediary crimes ; 3, the Ten lighter crimes. These three stages all consist of breaking to a greater or lesser degree the ten Buddhist com- mandments which are : 1, not to kill ; 2, not to steal ; 3, not to commit adultery ; 4, not to lie ;
5, not to slander ; 6, not to indulge in vain conversation ; 7, not to covet ; 9, not to bear malice ; and 10, not to hold wrong views.
II. 4, Self-will ; 5, charity without love ;
6, convential virtue ; 7, formalism.
III. 8, The ten lower worldly virtues ; 9, the ten intermediary virtues ; 10, the ten higher virtues : These three consist in obeying the above ten commandments to a greater or less degree.
IV. 11. Indulging in superstition or false views ; 12, dabbling in contemplation.
V. 13. Practice of the four Dhyanas or the four stages of ecstacy ; 14, meditation on the four infinite virtues, viz., love, pity, joy, and self-
166 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
sacrifice ; 15, meditation on the aspects of immateriality, corresponding to the four realms of the Artipadhatu.
VI. 16. Contemplation of human opinion ; 17, practice of religion for name and gain.
VII. 18. Transcendental happiness ; 19, the transcendental moral commandments (Q)ila). These are the precepts of the Buddhist order.
20, Transcendental contemplation (Samadhi) ;
21, Transcendental wisdom (Prajna).
B. Steps in the Imperfect Religious Life. He who understood the foregoing steps has under- stood the essence of Buddhism. In attempting to follow them however, he must pass through the following stages.
1. Breaking of the commandments ; 2, breaking of the eight special commandments (see below) ; 3, bringing the truth into disrepute ; 4, despising learning ; 5, Increasing in conceit.
C. Steps in Doing Good and Suppressing Evil. Meanwhile the disciple must guard him- self against relapse into evil ways and seek to establish himself in the Holy Path by : —
1. Causing all sentient beings to hear the doctrine of the Buddhas ; 2, by protecting the Dharma ; 3, seeking instruction in the Dharma ;
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 167
4, mutual confession of sin ; 6, confession of sin to all the Buddhas ; 6, stamping out the need for confession.
II. Practice in the Three Sciences. A. Steps in the increase of Discipline ( ^ila).
1. The Five Commandments of the Layman. These are 1, not to destroy life ; 2, not to steal ; 3, not to commit adultery ; 4, not to lie ; 5, not to take intoxicating liquors : These are binding at all times on Buddhists.
2. The Eight Special Commandments for Laymen. These are the preceding five plus : —
1, not to eat food at forbidden times ; 2, not to use garlands or use perfumes ; 3, not to sleep on high or broad beds (chastity). These three are not obligatory on laymen but are undertaken at various times to acquire merit.
3. The Ten Commandments of the Monlc. These are the preceding eight plus : — 1, to abstain from music, singing and stage plays ;
2, to abstain from the use of gold and silver (money).
4. The Two Hundred and Fifty Rules for Monies. These rules are an epitome of the whole vinaya.
168 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
5. The Secondary Course of Rules Jor Monks. Those who have successfully practised the two hundred and fifty rules proceed to follow these higher and more difficult precepts.
6. The Complete Observance of all the Rules of the Vinaya. The foregoing constitute the letter of the Law, the remainder constitute its spirit.
7. Abiders in the Law. 8. Peacemakers. 9. Those who practise Purity. 10. Those who practise superior Purity. 11. The rule of con- scious Purity. 12. The rule of unconscious Purity. 13. The unsurpassed Law or the peerless wisdom which pervades all the lesser commandments.
B. Steps in the Growth of Ecstacy {Samddhi). These consist in a number of rules whereby a peculiar form of ecstatic meditation may be induced in many cases resembling a state of trance or auto-hypnosis. Lack of space prevents our more than enumerating the principal stages :
1. Six transcendental gates of meditation.
2. The sixteen victories : These consist for the most part of various breathing exercises, correlated to various mental stages.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE I69
3. Comprehensive reflection. Reflection on breathing, on matter, on mind, and on causation.
4. The ninefold mental perceptions. These consist of thought on the various evils of cor- poreal existence as compared with the purity of the noumenal world.
5. The eight-fold mental perceptions : These are called mental perceptions because one is supposed to hold the mental image vividly before one. They are 1, The Buddha ; 2, The Dharma ; 3, The Order of the Monks ; 4, The Vinaya ; 5, Sacrifices ; 6, The various Heavens ; 7, Sentient beings ; 8, Death.
6. The ten-fold mental perceptions. 7. The eight-fold reflection on mortification. 8. Re- flection on the eight victorious battles. 9. Reflection on the ten Universal Ideas : These consist of various subjects for meditation while the aspirant is engaged in attaining Samadhi.
10. Contemplation on the nine preceeding stages : As a result of this severe mental train- ing, ecstacy ensues, of which we are given three stages : —
11. The master's ecstatic contemplation. This consists in eliminating desire and trans- cending the four Arupa states.
12. Surpassing ecstacy.
170 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
13. Eoyal Ecstacy in which innumerable, indescribable joys are experienced, more especi- ally joy in transcending all twenty-five stages of existence.
C. Stages in the Growth of Wisdom (Prajna). By means of samadhi and ordinary forms of reflection and contemplation, wisdom is at length achieved. This also consists of several stages : —
1. Inauguration of the Cravaka heart, where- by one understands the four Noble Truths and is able to attain Arhatship.
2. Inauguration of the Pratyeka Buddha heart, whereby one understands the twelve Nidanas, the chain of causation, and so attains to complete wisdom.
3. Inauguration of the Bodhisattva heart, whereby one makes the four vows and practises the six paramitas.
4. Eeflection on ^unyata. Eecognition that all phenomena are impermanent and have no self-essence.
5. Eeflection on the three-fold nature of phenomena, Kti, Ke, and Chu.
6. Transcending reflection on the Essence of Mind, which is perfect and complete (En) and immediate (Ton). The older forms of
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 171
Mahayana would have us stop here, but the later branches add two more : —
7. Desire to be re-born in the inner mansion of Maitreya. The Bodhisattva who is to be the next Buddha to appear in this world at present resides in the Tusita Heaven. Those who have high aims are re-born there to garner wisdom of him.
8. Desire to be re-born in the Sukhavati of Amitabha Buddha.
III. Stages in the Four Schools.
The disciple is now able to enter definitely some particular path which leads to Nirvana. The Tendai school thinks that there are four paths identified with the four principal phases of Buddhism.
A. Steps in the PitaJca or Zo School.
1. The five heart rests consisting of med- itation on 1, the evils of existence ; 2, compassion and transcendality ; 3, causality ; 4, the elements of existence ; 5, the methods of samadhi.
2. Thought on differentiation, or analysis.
3. Thought on Totality or Synthesis.
In practice these consist in the application of the three or four marks to the body and mind.
172 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
4. The Hot Zeal Stage. 5. The Mountain top stage. 6. The stage of perseverance : When this stage has been attained, there is no return, no " falling from grace."
7. The highest stage in the phenomenal world.
8. The Qrotapanna stage : he has entered upon the stream, the lowest of the four supreme stages of the Pitaka school.
9. The Sakridagamin stage : he who will be reborn but once before attaining Nirvana.
10. The Anagamin stage, he who returns no more to the world but being reborn in the Arupa worlds there attains to Nirvana.
11. The stage of Arhatship : he who has attained to the state of bliss and emanci- pation from the phenomenal world. This is the highest stage to which, according to the Pitaka school, most men can attain.
12. The stage of Pratyeka Buddha : he who forsaking mere emancipation aims at complete enlightenment but for himself alone.
13-14-15. Various degrees in the Bodhisattva stage : who have undertaken the four vowa
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 173
and practice the six paramitas, working through innumerable kalpas for the salva- tion of all mankind.
16. Buddhahood.
B. Steps in the Intermediate or Tsu School.
These consist of the attainment of the follow- ing : — 1, wisdom ; 2, spiritual nature ; 3, eight forms of patience ; 4, spiritual per- ception ; 5, indifference to pleasure and pain, wealth and poverty ; 6, freedom from desire ; 7, finished work : This is equi- valent to Arhatship which is the highest goal of Hinayana but which is itself but a stage in the later schools ; 8, Pratyeka Buddhahood. In undeveloped Mahayana including the Intermediate school this is the highest stage to which ordinary humanity may aspire ; 9, Bodhisattva- hood ; 10, Buddhahood.
C. Steps in the Differentiated or Betsu School of Mahayana — 52 in number : —
1-10. The ten aims (literally the ten hearts). These are 1, faith ; 2, thoughtfulness > 3, progress ; 4, wisdom ; 5, contem- plation ; 6, perseverance ; 7, protec- tion of the Dharraa ; 8, returning to the
174 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
source of things ; 9, Qila, morality ; 10, the determination or vow to save others. 11-20. The ten grades.
1. The increase of spirituality. This is equivalent to the stage of ^rotapanna.
2. Submission to rule. Equivalent to
preparation for the Sakridagamin stage.
3. Cultivation of Virtue. Equivalent to the attainment for the Sakridagamin Stage.
4. Noble birth = preparation for the Anagamin stage.
5. Perfect means = attainment of Ana-
gamin stage.
6. Eight mind = Preparation for Arhat- ship.
7. The grade of no-retrogration = the attainment of Arhatship.
8. Immortal youth = Pratyeka Buddha- hood.
9. Sons of the King of the Law = the Intermediate conception of Bodhi- sattvahood.
10. The summit of attainment =the Intermediate conception of Buddha- hood.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 175
21-30. The ten characteristics (literally actions). Each stage is associated with one of the ten paramitas (4 vows plus 6 paramitas), viz : — 1, joy ; 2, mercy ; 3, absence of hatred ; 4, irresistible ; 5, absence of fanaticism ; 6, power of mani- festation ; 7, absence of self will ; 8, reverence ; 9, the virtuous law ; 10, the absolute truth.
31-40. The ten returns, so called because in this stage man returns to his original nature which is latent behind all evil : — 1, Eeturn from the absolute world to the world of phenomena to save all sentient being. 2. Eeturn to the indestructible. 3. Eeturn to equality with all the Budd- has. 4. Eeturn to omnipresence, and 5, to inexhaustible treasures. 6. Eeturn to the source of absolute virtue, and 7, to primal equality. 8. Eeturn to the Buddha nature, and 9. to deliverance from bondage. 10. Eeturn to the infinite es- sence of things.
41-50. The ten attainments. These are the same as the ten stages of Bodhisattva- hood, already explained (page 107). They are : — 1, joy ; 2, purity ; 3,
176 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
brightness of intellect ; 4, brightness of wisdom ; 5, difficult to surpass ; 6, everpresent manifestations ; 7, far dis- tant attainment ; 8, attainment of the immovable state ; 9, holy wisdom ; 10, the cloud of the Dharma.
51. Attainment of the Final stage of Bodhi- sattvahood.
52. Attainment of the Buddhahood of transcendent wisdom with the develop- ment of the three bodies (Trikaya).
D. Steps in the Perfect or En School of Mahayana. This is the highest of the four schools and corresponds as we have seen to the doctrine of the Tendai school itself. The names of the stages is much the same as in the Differ- entiated school, but the arrangement is slightly different, and the Tendai sect clainas that the full meaning of each stage is more profound, so that the two sets do not correspond as closely as would appear at first sight. The usual classi- fication is as follows : —
(Outer Division).
1. The stage of reason and speculation.
2. The stage of names and letters or formal learning.
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 177
3. The stage of contemplation. The five
arts.
(Inner Division).
4. The stage of the imperfect conception of
truth.
a. The ten aims.
5. The stage of the partial comprehension of truth.
a. The ten grades.
b. The ten characteristics.
c. The ten returns.
d. The ten attainments.
e. Universal enlightenment.
6. The complete comprehension of truth. Finally there is the Sukhavati school which
eliminates all the preceding stages and seeks to attain Nirvana by entering directly into the Pure Land of the Universal Buddha. With some this pure land is taken literally, as a material heaven to be attained by faith in Amitabha. Among all philosophic Buddhists, however, the Pure Land is a symbol, a state of mind, an awakening of the Buddha seed, the bursting into flame of the spark of spiritual life to be obtained by means of mystic adoration and devotional realization of the true nature of reality. This rebirth into Paradise is to be
178 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
attained here and now, at the moment when the Boul throws off the trammels of the lesser self, and realizes its fundamental and ^ priori union with the Greater Self.
Whether taken literally of metaphorically, the Sukhavati Buddhists divide the Pure Land into two sections, Hodo or the True Land for the completely awakened, and Kedo, Apparent Land, for those whose faith is tinctured with selfish- ness and doubt.
One very important feature of the Jo do theology which has often been overlooked by Western students of the subject, is that it teaches that even after being reborn in Jodo a man must come back repeatedly to earth for the sake of saving all creatures (This is called the doctrine of genso eJco). Accordingly there is but little real difference between the salvation by works school and that by means of the Pure Land, for, to quote a booklet by S. Kuroda : " Though there are the two different passages of Shodomon and Jodomon, mok§a (emancipation, here equivalent to Nirvana) can be obtained equally through both . . . Those who follow the former division, though they obtain Buddhahood in this world must still accomplish the excellent deeds and vows of Bodhisattvas in the Pure
THE WHEEL OF LIFE 179
Land while the followers of the latter, though they be born in the Pure Land must likewise cultivate and practise them, being reborn in the Impure Land (This world)."
CONCLUSION
A SHOET HISTOEY OF BUDDHISM AND THE PEINCIPAL BUDDHIST SECT
I. India.
(a.) The Rise and Spread of Buddhism.
Most scholars have now agreed that Qakya- muni must be assigned to the latter half of the sixth century B.C. Then, as for a long time thereafter, the civilization of India was confined to the Ganges basin and the surrounding country. Caste rules as regards marriage and possibly as regards food already set in, but were not so rigid and inviolable as in later times. There seems to have been little over population, and the people must have led an easy and fairly comfortable existence. The country was broken up into a number of small principalities, each ruled over by an hereditary prince or king, though democratic states such as that of the Licchavi's, who elected their ruler were by no means unknown. It is quite possible that Prof. Ehys-Davids is right in asserting that Quddhodana was not the king, but only a chiet
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 181
or senator in a democratic ^akya state. The most powerful countries were Kogala and Magadha. The rulers of both countries seem to have been on favourable terms with the Buddha, terms, however, which did not prevent them from supporting other teachers, and seeking truth in other religions.
Then, as in later times, it was the custom to support various religious bodies ; to bestow alma upon mendicant monks of various creeds, and at no time did Buddhism possess exclusive jurisdiction over the religious mind of India. ^^At certain times owing to especial patronage in royal circles, its influence was predominant, but a new ruler might shed his favour in other quarters without a serious hitch in the religious world. The Brahmins seem to have gone on with their daily rites unimpeded.
Although the orthodox accounts of the success of the Buddha's ministry are probably greatly exaggerated, Buddhism certainly met with popular recognition during the life time of its founder, though it is doubtful if it would have become the great religion of India had it not been for the impetus given it by A§oka, the Buddhist Constantine, who lived some two centuries and a half after Qakyamuni. A§oka was the son of
182 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Bindusara and the grandson of Candragupta, who was the founder of the famous Maurya dynasty, and the first Indian Empire of any importance, though, of course, even this was confined to Northern India. Candragupta began his reign sometime between 320 B.C. and 315 B.C. and Agoka waded to his throne through the blood of his relatives about 256 B.C.
The early Mauryas were certainly not Budd- hists, and probably favoured Jainism. Agoka, however, in repentance for his former misdeeds, turned his mind to religion, and, though from his edicts we know that he favoured the Ajivakas and Nirgranthas as well as the Buddhists, Buddhism claimed his chief sympathy, and he despatched a number of Buddhist missionaries to other kingdoms, so that Buddhism from being confined to Madhyadeca, and Pragdega spread to Mysore, Kagmira, Gandhara, etc. The most famous mission was that of Mahendra, the son or nephew of Agoka to Ceylon, which was quickly converted to the faith, and has ever since been a stronghold of Buddhism, even when it died out in its native land. Buddhism reached Burma, Siam, etc., from Ceylon, and consequently remained faithful to Hinayana, for though during the middle ages Ceylon seems to have
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 183
dallied with Mahayana for the most part it was the headquarters of the more primitive faith, i.e, Sthaviravadin Buddhism.
Agoka's descendants were weaklings and the Maurya dynasty was overthrown by Pusyamitra, a zealous Hindu, and for some generations Buddhism suffered an eclipse in India, though it maintained its activity in Central Asia, Bactria, Persia, etc.
The next important stage in Indian Buddhism began with Kani§ka, who founded a Sythian dynasty, and, being converted to Buddhism, re-established its prestige and importance. Kani§ka's date has been the subject of much dispute, but probably he must be referred to the first century A.D. It was in his reign that we first hear of Mahayana activities, though Kaniska himself chiefly patronized the Sarvastivadins. Mahayana, however, was soon to become powerful, and owing to its devotional aspect, and to the greater scope of its philosophic activity, as well perhaps to the fact that it incorporated many Hindu and possibly Persian ideas, succeeded in greatly overshadowing its rival, though Hinayana con- tinued to exist as long as Buddhism remained in India.
184 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
The next few centuries constituted the flower of Indian Buddhism. Nagarjuna was born about the end of Kaniska's reign, and was quickly followed by a long line of eminent speculators, including Arya Deva, Asanga, Vasu- bandhu, Dignaga, Candragomin, Candrakirti, Dharmakirti, etc. Soon after Nagarjuna's time the famous Buddhist University of Nalanda was founded and continued until the 9th century to be the seat of great learning. Almost all the great dynasties of India, with one or two outstanding exceptions, either favoured Budd- hism or permitted it to grow unchecked.
The decline of Buddhism in India dates from the middle of the eighth century. Its downfall was aided by the attacks of the great Indian philosophers such as Qankara, but the more important reason was the adoption by Buddhism of Mantric, Tantric, and Esoteric forms and beliefs. Hindu Tantrism developed at the same time and along similar lines. In many cases it became impossible to distinguish between them. Hindu Tantrism absorbed many Buddhist elements, as in fact did all forms of Hinduism so much so that modern Hinduism might be called a combination of ancient Brahmanism and Buddhism. All this tended to decrease
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 185
the independent power of Buddhism, though the Pala kings who ruled over Gauda and the surrounding regions from A.D. 800-1050 were Buddhists, during which time the Buddhist University of Vikramagila was a renowned centre of Tantric learning, replacing the ancient Nalanda.
The Mohammedan conquests profoundly dis- turbed all native Indian religions. Temples were burnt, monks and priests massacred, and " heathen " practises put down. At his time Buddhism did not possess the recuperative power of Hinduism, and the torch of the Dharma became extinct in its native land. In Bengal alone. Buddhism lingered until the sixteenth century, when it became absorbed by Hinduism, not without leaving strong traces of the original tradition.
(6.) Councils and Canons.
The development of the different sects or schools of Buddhism was strongly affected by the Buddhist theory of the great councils. Two great councils are acknowledged by all forms of Buddhism. The first was supposed to have been held immediately after the Buddha's death, to recite the scriptures preached by him, namely the Sutra and Vinaya pitakas,
186 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
to which some would add the Abhidharma pitaka. Some northern accounts would hold that there were two such councils held contemporaneously, one for the Sthaviravadins, and one for the Mahasanghikas. Others would say that there were three, adding one in which the Mahayana siitras were recited. For the most part. Western scholars have rejected the story of the first council as a myth. Certainly the scriptures in their present form cannot have been recited then, but it seems quite likely that an informal meeting to discuss matters of policy took place. This is known as the council of Eajagriha.
The second council or the council of Vai§ali, took place some 110 years after the death of the Buddha, in order to condemn certain practises on the part of those monks who had broken away from the ancient precepts. The Sthaviravadins claim that the monks thus condemned were the Mahasanghikas, but this seems improbable.
Eegarding the next two councils the Buddhist records disagree. The Sthaviravadins or the Theravadins, maintain that a thii'd council took place during the reign of Agoka. Of this we find no record in orthodox Northern accounts, and probably it consisted only of a meeting of the Theravadin worthies, who were already but
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 187
one among many conflicting sects. The Tliera- vadins equally ignore the Northern account of a council supposed to have been held in the reign of Kani§ka, which composed Sanskrit com- mentaries on the three pitakas, and was probably under the control of the Sarvastivadins. There- after Buddhism knows of no great councils. Even the Mahayanists failed to convoke one.
The Hinayana stitra and vinaya pitakas were probably composed from previously existing materials, shortly before the time of A^oka. Most likely each sect made its own redaction which differed considerably in arrangement among themselves, and also as regards the language employed. The claim of the Pali canon to be the original and only genuine version, is almost certainly false, though it was undoubtedly one of the first to be compiled. The Chinese translations of the Nikayas or Agamas seems to have been from an independent but almost equally early source.
Each sect evolved its own commentary, and exposition of the early writings, and these were later crystallized into the third or Abhidharma Pitaka. As far as we can judge from the two which have come down to us, the Sthaviravadin works in Pali, and the Sarvastivadin works
N
188 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, they were entirely independent creations, except for the misleading similarity of certain titles. As re- gards their age we can only say that the bulk of the Pali or Sthaviravadin Abhidharma works must have been in existence at the time of or shortly after Agoka, while the seven main works of the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma, were com- posed some time before the time of Kaniska's council.
Later and non-canonical commentaries and expositions followed in great profusion until we have the vast mass of Hinayana literature which meets our eyes to-day.
The Mahayana sutras are unquestionably much later than the main portion of the Hinay- ana canon, and is evidenced by the language and style employed. Many of them, however, must have been composed at the time of Kani§ka (1st century A.D.) as they are frequently cited by Nagarjuna as authoritative, though there were probably many later additions, inter- polations, and emendations. The majority of Mahayana sutras probably reached their settled form between Nagarjuna (2nd cent.) and Asanga (5th cent.) The very few Mahayana works dealing with the Vinaya must have been com- posed more or less at the same time.
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 189
Mahayana has no fixed or well defined canon of Abhidharma works, such as we find with either the Sthaviravadins or Sarvastivadins, but the various works of the Mahayana Patriarchs were accepted as the standard expositions of truth, and as such were incorporated in the Chinese Canon of the Mahayana Abhidharma. These works sprang up in the first century A.D. As far as China is concerned few were translated after the seventh century (Hsuan Chuang was the last of the great translators) and Dignaga was the last author of any importance to be incorporated in the Chinese Canon. Tibet, on the other hand, though starting in the field much later than China carried out the work of translation for some time further, and for the Indian Buddhist works from the seventh century down to the extinction of Buddhism in India we have only the Tibetan Tanjur to guide us, because with the exception of a few works kept in Nepal, almost the whole of the extensive Buddhist Sanskrit literature has perished.
(c.) The Establishment of the Sects.
All accounts agree that Buddhism early
broke up into a number of different schools. In
Hinayana alone, before the time of Agoka we hear
of the eighteen (or twenty) sects of Hinayana.
190 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
The study of their differences is most interesting and instructive, but unfortunately we can secure no uniform or coherent account of them. This is, no doubt, largely accounted for by the fact that the sects were not what we mean by the term, but correspond in their early stages to the distinctions between High, Low, and Broad Churches in the Church cf England.
We have only three principal sources to guide us, and none of these agree. The first of these is the Southern account found in the Pali work, Kattha Vatthu, one of the seven Pali Abhid- harma works, a large portion of which was probably composed about the time of Agoka. The famous Mahavansa account of the schools is based upon this. The second is Vasumitra's account of the eighteen sects, three translations of which were made into Chinese, and one into Tibetan. This may be called the principal Northern account. The third is Bhavya's work on the subject, and exists only in a Tibetan translation. It differs considerably from Vasu- mitra's on several details, but is obviously in accordance with the same general tradition as contrasted with the quite different KatthS Vatthu.
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 191
On one point, however, all traditions agree. Hinayana was early divided into two great schools, the Sthaviravadin, or the school of the Elders, and the Mahasanghika, or the school of the Great Council. These two schools were chiefly divided on questions touching Buddhology rather than on metaphysical grounds, the former regarding the Buddha as essentially human, and subject to the fraUties of the flesh, while the latter considered the Buddha as transcendental, as immune from human limitations, and even approached the attitude of Christian Docetism in teaching that the Buddha never really appeared on the earth, but only created an appartional form for the salvation of the world. The Mahasanghikas were obviously the forerunners of Mahayana.
According to Northern accounts the Mahasang- hikas were divided into nine (or eight) divisions, namely, (1) Mula-mahasanghika, (2) Ekavy- avaharikas, (3) Lokottaravadins, (4) Kauru- kuUaka, (5) Bahugrutiya, (6) Prajnaptivadins, (7) Caityagailas, (8) Avara^ailas, (9) Uttara- gailas. Of these the only one that is definitely known to us is the Lokottaravadins whose Mahavastu has been so ably edited by Senart. To what branch of the Mahasanghikas the
192 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
Chinese Mahasanghika Vinaya, and the Sam- yukta Agama belong, we do not as yet know.
The Northern accounts further state that the Sthaviravadins were divided into eleven (or ten) schools, namely (1) Haimavantas, or Sthavirav- adins proper, (2) Sarvastivadins, (3) Vatsi- putriyas, (4) Dharmottaras, (5) Bhadrayanikas, (6) Sammitiyas, (7) Sannagarikas, (8) Mahi- gasakas, (9) Dharmaguptas, (10) Kagyapiyas, (11) Sautrantikas. Of these the most important were the Sthaviravadins proper, who clung the nearest to the psychological agnosticism of early Buddhism, second the Sarvastivadins, later known as the Vaiba§ikas from their Vib- ha§as or great commentaries, closely related with which were the Dharmaguptas, Kagyapiyas, and Mahigasakas who formulated a completely realistic philosophy from the analytical data of earlier Buddhism ; finally the Sautrantikas so called from their insistence upon the Sutras themselves, as opposed to the Abhidharma works. Though realistically inclined the Sautrantikas taught that we have only an in- direct (as opposed to direct of the Sarvastivadins) perception of the external universe, and in certain cases seem to have taught a pure con- ceptualism, i.e. that aJl external objects are
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 193
merely conceptions in so far as they appear to have an absolute self -existence. To some branch of the Sautrantikas probably belongs the Satya Siddhi ^astra which expounds an undeveloped form of the Qunya doctrine, or the theory of the purely relative existence of all phenomena.
Mahayana Buddhism probably arose from the combination of the Buddhological ideas of the Mahasanghikas, and the metaphysical theories of the Sautrantikas, suitably modified in both cases. There can be no doubt that the first systematic presentation of the Mahayana philosophy was in the Madhyamika school founded by Nagarjuna. Its doctrine of ^tinyata and the Middle Principle including and trans- cending both existence and non-existence we have already examined. The Madhyamikaa were soon divided into several sub-sects, of which the most important were the Svatantrikas, and the Prasanghas of which the Prasanghas were destined to become triumphant.
The influence of the Madhyamika sect was enormous. Many of its doctrines were in- corporated in the Yogacarya sect, and its teachings form the basis of most of Tibetan Buddhism, and the Sanron and Tendai sect of China and Japan as well as the later schools
194 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
founded thereon. Even the later, more complete, more elaborate, and more consistent Yogacarya sect was unable to supplant it. The later Madhyamika philosophers waged war on the innovations of the Yogacaryas, claiming that they were but ephemeral additions to relative truth, and therefore already potentially included in the absolute truth of their own teaching. For this reason most Tibetan and Chinese histories of Buddhism give the Yogacarya system as the stepping stone from Hinayana to the perfect Mahay ana represented by the Madhyamikas.
As far as China is concerned this slight to the Yogacarya school is due to the fact that the Madhyamikas, or their dependents had already triumphed before the Yogacarya doctrines were introduced, and, thus entrenched, lost no oppor- tunity of belittling any possible usurper. What influence the Yogacaryas did possess was chiefly through the earlier and incomplete translations of certain individual works such as the Mahayana ^raddhotpada ^astra, and the DaQabhiimika ^astra, etc., and even the schools based on these works united with the Madhyamikas in con- demning the full exposition of the Yogacarya doctrine as contained in the translations of Genjo (Hsuan Chuang).
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 195
Notwithstanding this fact the Yogacarya school must be considered the full blossom of Mahayana philosophy, the high water mark of metaphysical Buddhism. Not content with accepting the vague ^unya doctrines of the Madhyamika school it formulated a remarkably lucid and consistent doctrine of idealism, ex- plaining how the universe was the product of mind, and yet at the same time guarded itself from the dangers of solipsism. As yet too little is known of the Yogacarya metaphysics, but when translations are made from their philo- sophical works we shall be able to appreciate, for the first time, to what a high level Indian and Buddhist speculation had reached.
In its later and more degenerated stages the Yogacarya school took up several forms of mysticism and esotericism. Its several stages on this path may be marked off in the following way : — First came what we may call Man- trayana, or the doctrine of salvation by spells, exorcisms, and incantations. This includes the use of dharanis and mantras. With the theory of the mystic value of sound, there also arose the idea of the value of certain colours, and the symbolic meaning of certain positions of the hands (mudra). With this evolved the whole
196 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
doctrine of an esoteric as opposed to an exoteric tradition. The next stage, which is usually- called Tantrayana, is marked by still further symbolism and esotericism. The Absolute is symbolized under various aspects, and in addi- tion to the celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of earlier times, the feminine or Great Mother cult was introduced. To each Buddha and Bod- hisattva was added a feminine counterpart. In certain cases Nirvana was mystically pictured as Niratma Devi. She is to all intents and purposes a metaphor for the infinite void. From the highest stage in the material world the aspirant leaps into the embraces of Niratma Devi and enjoys something like the pleasures of the senses, and disappears in her as salt disappears in water. The final stage is marked by the downfall of the older systems and the triumph of demonology, in which a man seeks for success, and pleasure through the worship of the terrible furies of nature.
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 197
II. China and Japan
(a). The Introduction of Buddhism
Buddhism reached China in the first century A.D. during the reign of the Emperor Ming Ti. We are told that in the year A.D. 64 the emperor had a dream which caused him to send a com- mission to the West to seek for a new religion. In 67 the commission returned bringing back with them two Buddhist monks, Kagyapa Matanga and Dharmarak§a, both of whom died three years later, not, however, without leaving traces of their influence. One of their trans- lations into Chinese, the Sutra of the Forty Two Sections, which has come down to us presents little metaphysics, but expounds the ethical import of Buddhism, whether Hlnayana and Mahay ana, in short pithy sentences. It has several times been translated into English.
Buddhism, however, was by no means firmly established. From time to time further mission- aries and translators arrived in China, and were established in monasteries, and carried on their work, but how little influence it can have obtained
198 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
is seen by the fact that it was only in the begin- ning of the 4th century that native Chinese were officially allowed to become Buddhist monks. From the fourth century onwards, however, Buddhist influence was constantly on the in- crease in spite of occasional persecution, until the summit was reached in the T'ang dynasty (618-907). The Sung dynasty (908-1280) saw the revival of Confucian philosophy, which, however, in its new form borrowed a very great deal from the doctrines of Buddhism, and generally speaking from that time on Confucian- ism has been the state code, though Buddhism has always retained its hold over the broad masses of the people. The favour shown by the literati to Confucianism did not help the philosophical or educational standard of the Buddhist priesthood, who were content to pander to the superstition of the masses. Of recent, years, however, a great many reforms have taken place. There is a genuine revival of interest in the philosophic side of Buddhism among th« cultured, and consequently the intellectual standard of the monkhood has been considerably elevated.
China once converted to the Buddhist faith turned missionary herself, and most of the
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 199
surrounding countries received their Buddhism through Chinese influences. Tibet first came into contact with Buddhism in the seventh century through the marriage of the Tibetan King, Srong Tsan Gampo, with the Buddhist daughter of the Chinese Emperor. Subse- quently a number of translations of Buddhist works were made from Chinese into Tibetan, but, as was only natural, once Buddhism was really established Tibet looked to India for her Buddhist guides, and became permeated with the Mantrayana and Tantrayana of later Indian Buddhism even more than Chinese Buddhism, which had received its Buddhism in the first place in the more virile days of the pure Mad- hyamika and earlier Yogacarya philosophy. The Tibetan form of Buddhism, known popu- larly as Lamaism was destined to triumph in Mongolia, and the Himalayan States.
Buddhism reached Korea in A.D. 372, and quickly over-ran the whole of the peninsula. Its Golden Age was from the tenth to the four- teenth century. At that time a change in dynasty unseated the paramount position of Buddhism, and as in China Buddhism remained the devotional home of the peasantry and the broad mass of the people, being rejected by the
200 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
aristocracy as a whole. Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the revival spoken of in China has been even more noticeable in Korea. The astonishing reorganization of Korean Buddhism, and its effect upon the people has been well described by Starr in his Buddhism in Korea.
Japan first came into contact with Buddhism through an embassy sent from Korea in the year A.D. 552, and, after a prolonged conflict with Shint5, Buddhism universally triumphed, aided largely by the genius of the Prince Im- perial Shotoku Taishi, the Japanese Agoka or Constantine. Though Shinto never entirely died out, from the end of the sixth century until the beginning of the seventeenth. Buddhism was the premier philosophy and religion of all sections of the nation. During the Tokugawa Shogunate (1608-1867) the rehabilitated Confucianism of the Sung period came into favour in state and edu- cated circles, though Buddhism was never sup- planted. Finally the early stages of the restoration government (from 1867 onwards) was marked by an attempt to secure supremacy to Shinto as opposed to both Confucianism and Buddhism, but this movement was largely a failure. Con- fucianism failed to survive, but Buddhism has
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 201
never been on a stronger or more secure founda- tion, although it plays no official part in the machinery of government.
More particularly do the Zen and the Shin schools prosper at the present moment. In both a high standard of education is required for ordination, and the various Buddhist colleges, universities, and seminaries scattered throughout Japan, are now the leading centres of Buddhist learning throughout the whole world. Here the sacred works of Buddhism, whether Pali, Sans- krit, Tibetan or Chinese, are studied in the original, and all the machinery of higher criticism evoked in their consideration. Here also not only are all the various systems of Buddhist metaphysics taught, but at the same time Occidental science, philosophy and religion are brought before the eyes of all persons training for the priesthood.
In recent years Japan has once more turned missionary. Japanese Buddhist temples have been established in Formosa, Korea, Manchuria, and China, and have largely assisted in the revival of Buddhism going on in those countries. Similar institutions have also been established in Hawaii, America and Canada, etc., chiefly for the benefit of Japanese living abroad.
202 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
(b). The Compilation oj the Canon.
The Pali Canon is concerned with only on© out of many Hinayana sects, and ignores th© later developments of Buddhist philosophy which largely centred itself in Mahayana schools. Sanskrit literature on Buddhism has largely disappeared, except for a few works in Nepal, so that the Chinese and Tibetan collections of th© Buddhist scriptures remain our principal, and in many cases our only, means of studying th© evolution of Buddhism, and the civilization of the countries with which it came into contact. Both collections contain works of widely different ages and countries, and have at least one or two works from practically all the important sects, both Hinayana and Mahayana.
Of the two, the Chinese is the better for th© study of the earlier phases of Buddhism, th© Tibetan the later ; but though the Tibetan trans- lations are usually more literal, the Chines© canon is much more complete and comprehensive, frequently giving two or more translations of the same work at different dates, which is in- teresting from the point of view of higher criticism, and finally, whereas the Tibetan added but little to the philosophic development of Buddhism, in China and Japan many more
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 203
important works were composed, and Buddhist philosophy underwent considerable and very- valuable evolution in those two countries.
The works contained in the Chinese canon are of a very varying character. It consists of works of very uneven merit, translated and composed at widely separated periods, by writers of very unequal ability, but of its value as a store-house of Buddhist knowledge, there can be no doubt.
In the early days no attempt seems to have been made to fix a definite canon, but indivi- dual translations or original works were accepted on their merits. From time to time, usually at the Imperial command, catalogues were made of the existing Buddhist books. There are thirteen such catalogues which are still extant, the earliest of which dates back to A.D. 520. Occasionally a collected edition of such works was printed, though it is remarkable that the whole collection of the Buddhist Canon which became larger and larger in the course of time, was preserved in MS. only, from A.D. 67 (the intro- duction of Buddhism into China), until A.D. 972. Thereafter such a collection was frequently printed from wooden blocks specially carved. It should be noted, however, that no two such
o
204 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
catalogues or editions agreed for the frequent destruction of libraries by fire and civil war in China caused many books to disappear, whose places were taken by newer works.
The most famous and what proved to be the final or definitive catalogue of Buddhist works in China, which unconsciously became elevated into a Canon, was the Ming catalogue, so called from the fact that it was compiled during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). This consisted of 1662 works, including many duplicate trans- lations and incidently contained the twelve older catalogues. Later catalogues of the Chinese Buddhist scriptures have practically all confined themselves to a rearrangement of the works in the Ming list, and subsequent editions have all been based upon it, so that it may be justly called a Canon in the strict sense of the word, like the Pali Canon, though of a strangely miscellaneous character. In the last generation three new editions of this Canon have been printed — one in China and two in Japan. These are known respectively as the Nanking, Tokyo and Kyoto editions.
The present generation has also seen the formation of several new and subsidiary canons. The most famous of these is the Chinese Supple-
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 205
mentary canon (Zoku-zo-kyo) which consists of a few translations from Sanskrit, and a large number of original works by Chinese monks, which for some reason or other were not included in the older Canon. This was compiled in Japan and printed in Kyoto, and is now everywhere recognised as authoritative, chiefly no doubt because most of the works contained therein were individually very well known before.
AQiong the other canons thus formed and printed, we find a collection of canonical works by various Japanese worthies, irrespective of sects, and various sectarian canons, such as the definitive editions of the sacred works of such sects as the Zen, Shin, Jodo, Nichiren, etc. Finally a Japanese translation of the whole of the Chinese Canon is now being issued in Tokyo.
(c.) The Establishment of the Sects.
The establishment of sects in the early days of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism was accomplished in a very peculiar manner, and was largely based upon the translation of certain books or groups of books. The early Chinese sects may be arranged in the following manner : —
1. The Sanron or Three Qastra Sect, was so called because it based itself upon the following
206 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
three Qastras or metaphysical works : — (a.) The Madhyamika ^astra by Nagarjuna, (b.) Qata ^astra by Arya Deva, and (c.) Dvada^a-nikaya Qastra by Nagarjuna. To these three there is sometimes added a fourth, the Prajiia Paramita Sutra Qastra by Nagarjuna. This sect dates back to the translation of the three castras by Kumara- jiva in 409. This school is the Chinese counter- part of the Indian Madhyamika or ^unya school.
2. The Jojitsu or Satyasiddhi Sect, so called from the Satyasiddhi Qastra likewise translated by Kumarajiva. There was no sect corres- ponding to it in India, but it was probably the work of some branch of the Sautrantika school. In both China and Japan this school has never had a separate existence, but was incorporated in the Sanron sect, as its teachings were nothing more than a Hinayana variation of the ^unya doctrine.
3. The Nehan or Nirvana sect was so called from its dependence upon the Mahayana Maha- parinirvana Sutra (translated by Dharmarak^a 423). This sect had much in common with and was later incorporated in the Tendai sect. It claimed to be the last and most perfect teaching
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 207
of the Buddha, and emphasized the doctrine of the permanent reality or the Universal Buddha or the Absolute.
4. The J iron or Dagabhiimika Qastra Sect based on Vasubandhu's work on the ten stages of the Bodhisattva's path to Buddhahood. In reality this is one of the works of the Indian Yogacarya school which reached China in A.D. 608 when Bodhiruci first published his transla- tion. This sect was later absorbed by the Kegon or Avatamsaka school.
6. The Jodo or Sukhavati sect, also founded by Bodhiruci, and including Donran, Doshaku, and Zendo among its patriarchs, taught the doctrine of salvation through faith in Amitabha and rebirth in his Western Paradise. By the seventh century this school was very firmly established, and has ever since exercised great influence over Chinese and Japanese Buddhism.
6. The Zen or Dhyana school, the school of contemplation, was established in China by Bodhidharma who came from India about A.D. 527. This school emphasized the value of intuition as opposed to scriptural authority, and deprecated the acceptance of any doctrine as ultimate or final. This also has come to have enormous influence over the Far Bo&t,
208 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
7. The Ritsu or Vinaya sect was founded to encourage the study of the Vinaya or Buddhist ecclesiastical discipline or Canon Law. The Chinese have accepted several versions of the Vinaya, but pay especial reverence to the Dharmagupta Vinaya or the Vinaya of the Four Divisions, translated by Buddhaya?as about A.D. 410. It produced a number of famous writers during the T'ang dynasty (618-907).
8. The Shoron or Mahayana-samparigraha ^astra Sect was based on the work of that name by Aganga and translated by Paramartha io A.D. 563. This work was also one of the principal works of the Yogacarya sect of India, and like the Jiron sect was subsequently absorbed by the Kegon sect.
9. The Tendai sect which developed into one of the most important of all the schools was founded in the sixth century, and had for its basic scripture the Saddharma Pundarika Sfltra or the Lotus of the Good Law. In reality this sect is the consummation of the Madhyamika tradition, and represents the stronghold of the transcendental philosophy. After its establish- ment the Sanron sect which clung more literally to the teachings of the Madhyamika sect sank
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 209
into disfavour. The Tendai sect has added many original elements to Buddhist philosophy, and is not merely a presentation of Indian thought.
10. The Eegon or Avatamsaka sect, so called because of the Buddhavatamsaka Sutra or Gandha-vyiiha (translated in A.D. 418), became firmly established in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. This sect plays the same relation to the Yogacarya sect as Tendai does to the Madhyamika. It represents the immanent aspect of Chinese Buddhist philosophy. In gome ways it marks the high water mark of Far Eastern Buddhism.
11. The HossG or Dharma-laksana sect came into being on the return of Genjo (Hsuan Chuang) from India, when he set about translating all of the important Yogacarya works. This plays the same relation to the Yogacarya school as the Sanron sect does to the Madhyamikas, and just as the Tendai sect flourished at the expense of the Sanron, so did the Kegon school flourish at the expense of the Hosso school in spite of the great prestige and influence of Genjo who left his mark on the teachings of the other schools.
12. The Bidon or Abhidharma sect represents the philosophy of orthodox Hinayana, more particularly of the Sarvastivadin school. This
212 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AS A BUDDHHiM
tho capital of Japan was situate in Nara, in th© South, so that the six Buddhist sects which were imported at that time arc often called the Nanto sects. In the earliest days there seems to hare been no emphasis on any particular sect, as was the case in the early days in China, but in A.D. 652 the (^Qnya doctrine in both its Sanron (Mad- hyamika) and JSjitsu (Sautrantika) forms were introduced into Japan. Shortl}^ after GenjO (Elsuan Chuan^) having; returned to China from India and his fame bein^j noised abroad, various Japanese monks went to China to study under him, and subsequently broufjht back the Hosso (Yorrflcarya) and Kusha (Sarvastivadin) doctrines to Japan. This took place on four occasions between A.D. 058 and 710. In 730 a Chinese monk brought over the Kefjon or Avatamsaka doctrine to Japan. In 754 another Chinese priest established the Ritsu or Vinaya sect. As the result of all this ecclesiastical activity the Buddhist priests amassed a great deal of power, both spiritual and temporal, so much so in fact that the Emperor Kammu decided to change his capital to Ileian or Kyoto lest his court be too much dominated by the temples of Nara.
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2. The Medieval Sects. At the beginning of the ninth c-entury not only was the capital
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A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
213
changed, but two young Japanese monks were despatched to China to bring back some other forms of Buddhism which might supplant the over powerful Nara sects. As the result of this Dengyo Daishi brought back the Tendai sect, and Kobo Daishi the newly imported Shingon or Mantra sect. These two schools waxed very powerful, and long retained the allegiance of the Emperor and his court, though they were of too complex and metaphysical a nature to be readily understood by the people.
3. The Modern Sects are only comparatively speaking modern as the last was founded in A.D. 1253. These sects are four in number, and are all simplifications of Buddhist metaphysics. In 1174 Honen Shonin founded the Jodo or Sukhavati sect, in 1191 Eisai establised the Zen sect as an independent organization (It had previously been taught by the Japanese Tendai school, which was eclectic). In 1224 Shinran Shonin founded the Shin sect or re- formed Buddhism, which was a still further development of the Sukhavati doctrine, and in 1253 Nichiren founded the Nichiren sect, which is largely a popularization of the Tendai sect. The Zen sect had the general adherence of the Japanese Samurai or military class, and the Shin
210 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Beet first arose on the translation of the Abhid- harma Hridaya ^astra in A.D. 391 but received its chief impetus from Genjo, who translated the bulk of the Sarvastivadin scriptures in addition to those of the Yogacarya school. The most important work was Vasubandhu's Abhid- harma Koga from which fact the school is often called the Kusha Sect. Just as the Jojitsu sect remained subsidiary to the Sanron sect, so did the Bidon or Kusha sect remain subsidiary to the Hosso sect.
13. The Shingon or Mantra sect was the last importation from India, being promulgated about A.D. 716. This represents the Mantrayana stage of Buddhism mentioned above, when the Yogacarya school in India had developed into esotericism, but before Tantrayana or sexual mysticism had made much way.
The above thirteen schools represent the various phases of Chinese Buddhism proper. In later days Lamaism with its Tantrayana gained a certain hold in isolated parts of China but never secured general recognition.
Apart from Lamaism the Chinese Buddhist sects never possessed any elaborate ecclesiastical hierarchy. They, like the early Hinayana sects, were more like the parties in the Church of
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 211
England than independent organizations. As time went on this fusion became more marked, and at the present time, speaking generally, all Chinese Buddhist temples belong more or less to one sect, accepting for its discipline the Dhar- magupta Vinaya, for its relative truth or doctrine either the Tendai or Kegon systems, and for its principle or absolute truth the doctrine of Zen. In addition all of them preach the Sukhavati or Jodo doctrine in some form or other, usually as a symbolic veiling of truth.
The Japanese sects correspond very closely to those of China, but the chronological order is somewhat different. For historical reasons they may best be classified into three groups, (1) The ancient or pre-Heian sects, (2) The medieval sects, and (3) The modern sects, as each group marked a distinct phase in Japanese history.
1. The Ancient Sects. From A.D. 552 to A.D. 800 Japan was busily engaged in importing Chinese culture, in remodelling her institutions on Chinese lines, and in attempting to form a civilization of her own. In this scheme Buddhism played a very important part, and in Japan as elsewhere proved a veritable medium or harbinger of general learning, with which it inculcated all its believers. During the latter part of this period
212 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
the capital of Japan was situate in Nara, in the South, so that the six Buddhist sects which were imported at that time are often called the Nanto sects. In the earliest days there seems to hay© been no emphasis on any particular sect, as was the case in the early days in China, but in A.D. 652 the Qtlnya doctrine in both its Sanron (Mad- hyamika) and Jojitsu (Sautrantika) forms were introduced into Japan. Shortly after Genjo (Hsuan Chuang) having returned to China from India and his fame being noised abroad, various Japanese monks went to China to study under him, and subsequently brought back the Hosso (YogScarya) and Kusha (Sarvastivadin) doctrines to Japan. This took place on four occasions between A.D. 658 and 716. In 736 a Chinese monk brought over the Kegon or Avatamsaka doctrine to Japan. In 754 another Chinese priest established the Bitsu or Vinaya sect. As the result of all this ecclesiastical activity the Buddhist priests amassed a great deal of power, both spiritual and temporal, so much so in fact that the Emperor Kammu decided to change his capital to Heian or Kyoto lest his court be too much dominated by the temples of Nara.
2. The Medieval Sects. At the beginning of the ninth century not only was the capital
A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM 213
changed, but two young Japanese monks were despatched to China to bring back some other forms of Buddhism which might supplant the over powerful Nara sects. As the result of this Dengyo Daishi brought back the Tendai sect, and Kobo Daishi the newly imported Shingon or Mantra sect. These two schools waxed very powerful, and long retained the allegiance of the Emperor and his court, though they were of too complex and metaphysical a nature to be readily understood by the people.
3. The Modern Sects are only comparatively speaking modern as the last was founded in A.D. 1253. These sects are four in number, and are all simplifications of Buddhist metaphysics. In 1174 Honen Shonin founded the Jodo or Sukhavati sect, in 1191 Eisai establised the Zen sect as an independent organization (It had previously been taught by the Japanese Tendai school, which was eclectic). In 1224 Shinran Shonin founded the Shin sect or re- formed Buddhism, which was a still further development of the Sukhavati doctrine, and in 1253 Nichiren founded the Nichiren sect, which is largely a popularization of the Tendai sect. The Zen sect had the general adherence of the Japanese Samurai or military class, and the Shin
214 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
sect the adherence of the people at large. The Shin is famous for its reorganization of the priesthood somewhat along the lines of the Church of England, whereby the priests are allowed to marry, to eat meat, etc. The Shin and Zen sects are now by far the most powerful sects in Japan. The Zen school has probably the most educated laity, and the Shin the most educated clergy. Both of them are at present manifesting considerable practical activity.
Lamaism is divided between the old or un- reformed order, the JSTingma-pa, whose aherents wear red hats and red clothing, the new or re- formed order, the Gelug-pa which is now the more powerful and has secured temporal control of Tibet, and whose adherents wear yellow hats and robes. There are also several sub-divisions of each, and several semi-reformed sects such as the Kargyu-pa and Sakya-pa which range be- tween the old and the new orders. There is little doctrinal difference.
APPENDIX
THE SACEED LITEEATUKE OF THE
BUDDHISTS
Our work would not be complete without a brief survey of the principal types of Buddhist scriptures. At present Buddhism may be said to be possessed of six canonical languages. These are Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Mongolian, and Manchurian. The last two may safely be neglected as they are but translations of extant Chinese and Tibetan works, but a word or two must be said concerning each of the others. I. Pali Literature.
The oldest body of Buddhist literature is to be found in the Pali canon, which constitutes the sacred works of the Sthaviravadins, or Thera- vadins. Though Pali was not the original language of Buddhism, the other or earlier redactions of the scriptures of primitive Buddhism have disappeared. In common with other forms of Buddhism there are three great divisions of the Canon, viz : —
1. TJte Vinaya Pitalca or rules for the dis- cipline and organization of the monkhood.
216 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
2. The Sutra (Sutta) Pitaka or the discourses of the Buddha, expounding the general principles of the Buddhist religious and philosophical system.
3. The Ahhidharma Pitaka, consisting of various works on the intricate points of Buddhist metaphysics, or systematic theology.
The folloY-ing details concerning each of the three Pitakas may be of interest : —
1. The Vinaya Pitaka comprises three books : (a.) The Sutta-vibhanga, a full exposition of the pratimok§a or patimokkha, the 227 rules for the conduct of the monks, and a somewhat larger number of rules for the nuns, and of the penances whereby transgressions of these rules may be purged. The Sutta Vibhanga is divided into two books, the Bhikkhu-vibhanga dealing with the rules for the monks, and the Bhikkhuni- vibhanga dealing with the rules for the nuns, (b.) The Khandhakas which contain rules for the organization of the order, what clothes are to be worn, how temples and monasteries are to be erected, how admission may be had to the order, etc. The Khandhakas are likewise divided into two books, the Mahavagga or larger diAisions, and the Culla Vagga or smaller division, (c.)
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 217
Parivdra or appendix, a short manual of later addition, probably composed in Ceylon and not in India, and comprising a sort of catechism, or examination paper on the whole Vinaya, arranged for purposes of instruction.
2. The Sutra (Sutta) Pitaka consists of four or five Nikayas or books, viz : — (a) the Digha- nikaya or collection of longer discourses on various points of the Buddhist faith, such as rejection of caste, the four noble truths, etc. The Pali version consists of 34 long dialogues, (b) The Majjhima-nikaya or collection of dis- courses or dialogues of medium length, containing 152 dialogues, (c) Anguttara-nikaya or collec- tion of suttas or dialogues arranged according to numbers. This is a favourite Indian method of composition. Things of a single category come first, two-fold categories second, and so on. In this way the three marks (lak§ana) come in the third division, the four noble truths in the fourth division, the five skandhas in the fifth division, etc. This nikaya contains 2,399 short Buttas. (d) The Samyutta-nikaya or collection of suttas arranged according to subjects, or systematically classified. This nikaya contains 2,889 short suttas. In addition to these four principal nikayas, the Southern accounts gener-
218 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
ally agree in enumerating a fifth, the Khuddaka- nikaya, or smaller nikaya, a collection of mis- cellaneous works, many of which are among the most famous books in the Buddhist canon. They are 15 in number.
3. The Abhidharma (Abhidhamma) PitaTca consists of seven works, which are systematic expositions, with enumeration and classification of details, of the various works of the Sutta Pitaka. They are especially concerned with the psychological analysis of phenomenal existence. These works are : — (a) The Dhammasangani or compendium of dhamma or factors of existence, (b) The Vibhanga a continuation of the fore- going, (c) Katha-vatthu or discussion of the points of controversy between the eighteen early sects of Hinayana Buddhism with the defense of the Sthaviravadin attitude towards each problem, (d) The Puggala-paniiatti on the nature of the personality, (e) Dhatu-katha, and (f) Yamaka, smaller treatises on psychological subjects, and (g) Patthana or discussion of the Southern view of causation and mutual relation- ship of phenomena.
In addition to the foregoing canonical works we have a large number of commentaries, many written by Buddhaghosa, and a number of highly
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 219
respected independent works, such as the Milinda-panha or Questions of King Milinda, the Vissuddhi-Magga or Path of Purity by Buddha- ghosa the standard exposition of orthodox Ther- avada philosophy, and the Abhidhammattha- sangaha or compendium of the meaning of the Abhidhamma, a more concise work on the same subject, etc.
II. Sanslcrit Literature. 1. Hinaydna Worlcs. The Pali works of the Sthaviravadins have been preserved to us almost intact. The other great school of ancient Hinayana, the Sarvas- tivadin sect, wrote in, or translated their works into Sanskrit. As a whole this literature has perished, though a certain amount has been preserved to us in Chinese and Tibetan trans- lations. Eecent discoveries in Central Asia have restored to us certain framents of the original. This sect has also its Vinaya, its Sutra, and its Abhidharma Pitakas, the first two corresponding very closely to the Pali version, the last con- sisting likewise of seven works but written independently, and having no connection with the Pali Abhidharma, showing that the whole Abhidharma literature was the creation of later times, at a period subsequent to the introduction
of sectarian differences.
p
220 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
The scriptures of the other Hinayana sects seem to have perished completely save for th© Mahavastu which in its original form was prob- ably the introduction to the Lokuttara version of the Mahasanghika Vinaya. The Chinese have also a translation of the Mahasanghika Vinaya, and the Chinese Samyukta Agama (Sanyutta- nikaya) was also probably made from a Mahasan- ghika original. The little known Satyasiddhi Qastra, known only in a Chinese translation, incorporates many of the ideas of the Sautranti- kas.
2. Mahdydna Works.
These must be considered slightly more in detail : —
1. Vinaya. For the most part the Mahay- anists were content to accept, in theory at least, the Vinaya works of Hinayana, so that little contribution was made to this branch of Budd- hist literature by the more developed school, save by certain works which emphasized the Bodhisattva as opposed to the Arhat ideal, and laid down certain additional rules in consequence. Even the Hinayana Vinaya contained many episodes relating to the biography of ^akyamuni, many tales of his former rebirths (Jatakas) and many tales of the retribution of merit and the
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 221
piimsliment of sin in the past and present births (avadanas), etc. These portions were greatly amplified by the Mahayanists, and though these amplifications of the Vinaya were almost always classed as Sutras, and not as Vinaya works, we may say that with Mahayana Buddha bio- graphies, jatakas, and avadanas took the place of the Vinaya pitaka proper : —
(a) Buddha Biographies. In this section, in addition to the Mahavastu which belongs more properly to the Hinayana school, we find the Lalita Vistara and the Buddha-carita of A§vagho§a. The Lalita Vistara has been trans- lated many times into European languages, and has become doubly famous through the fact that Sir Edwin Arnold's " Light of Asia " was largely based upon it. In its original form, the book belonged to the Sarvastivadins, but it was later remodelled by the Mahayanists after which it assumed an important place in their canon. The Buddha Carita is a magnificent epic life of Qakyamuni by Agvagho^a, and is interesting both from the doctrinal and the literary point of view.
(b) JdtaJca and Avaddna Works. To the former belongs the Jataka-mala or the Garland of birth stories, a series of thirty-four or five
222 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
previous lives of the Buddha, and to the latter 8uch well-known works as the Avadana-gataka (The 100 Avadanas), the Agokavadana, etc. Many of these have been translated in whole or in part from Sanskrit into English or French.
2. Sutras. Amongst the vast mass of sutras we may select the Avatamsaka (or Gandha- vyuha), the Saddharma Pundarika, and the Sukhavati-vyiiha as the most important.
The Avatamsaka or Gandha-vyuha claims, as we have seen, to be the first stitra preached by ^akyamuni after his enlightenment. Part of it was delivered on earth and part in the various heavens. It is full of mysticism, and preaches the doctrine of the Absolute or Universal Buddha, the Trikaya, or three bodies as well as the ten bodies of the Buddha, the Dharmadhatu or eternal ideal world as opposed to the phenomenal world, and the glory of the path of the Bodhi- sattvas and the stages in that path.
The Saddharma Pundarika claims to be one of the last sutras proclaimed by the Buddha and to contain the essence of his doctrine. It is probably earlier than the Avatamsaka. It is less metaphysical, and mystical, but even more devotional. Qakyamuni is said to be the eternal father who seeks to save his children
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 223
(all sentient being) who suffer in the burning house of the three worlds. In reality he is never born, and never dies, but only appears to do so in order the better to save mankind.
In the Sukhavati-vyiiha (there are two, one long, and one short) the Universal Buddha is called Amitabha, and all men are taught to seek salvation through being reborn in his Western paradise.
Other highly important works are the various versions of the Prajna Paramita Sutra, which teaches the Madhyamika doctrine of ^unya or the unsubstantiality of all things ; the Surangama Sutra ; and the Vimala-Kirti-nirde§a Siitra which teach a later form of the Madhyamika doctrine verging on the theory of the Absolute ; and the Lankavatara Sandhinirmocana and Suvarna Pravha§a, which belong to the Yogacarya school with its explicit idealism.
3. Abhidharma. The Sanskrit Mahay ana literature may be divided into two classes, (1) those works which belong to the Madhyamika school, and (2) those which belong to the Yog- acarya school.
(a.) The Madhyamika works composed by Nararjuna, Arya Deva or their disciples em-
224 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
phasize the doctrine of ^unya. To this class belong : —
1. The Prajna Paramita Sutra ^astra, bj
Nagarjuna.
2. The Dvada^a-nikaya ^astra, by Nagarjuna
3. The Madhyamika Qastra, by Nagarjuna.
4. The ^ata ^astra, by Arya Deva.
5. The Bodhicaryavatara, by Qanti Deva. (b.) The Yogacarya works are chiefly the
writings of Asanga and Vasubandhu, two brothers. The Bodhisattva Maitreya is also frequently mentioned as the founder of the school. The nature of his personality remains in doubt. He is supposed to be the future Buddha residing in the Tu§ita heaven, who came down to India to proclaim the true doctrine, as in the Yoga- caryabhumi Qastra. Some suppose him to be a fictions person evoked by Asanga to suit his own purpose ; others suppose him to be an historical person, later identified with the mythical Bodhisattva. Asanga must be con- sidered the chief Patriarch of the school. His younger brother Vasubandhu was first an adherent of the Sarvastivadin school, during which time he composed the famous Abhidharma Ko§a, and was later converted by Asanga to Mahayana, and subsequently composed many metaphysical works on the later doctrine.
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 225
The most important works of this class are : —
1. The Yogacarya-bhiimi Qastra by Maitreya.
2. The Prakaranaryavaca Qastra by Asanga.
3. Sutralankara-tika by Asanga.
4. Mahayana-samparigraha Qastra by Asanga
5. Da§abhumika ^astra by Vasubandhu.
6. Alambana-pratyaya-dhyana ^astra by Jina.
7. Vidyamatra-siddhi ^astra by Vasubandhu.
8. Mahayana-abhidharma-sangiti-Qastra by Asanga.
At a slightly subsequent period arose a long line of Buddhist logicians, beginning with Dignaga, and including Dharmakirti. These works have been lost in the original Sanskrit, but the Chinese canon contains two such works, and the Tibetan a much larger quantity.
III. Tibetan Literature.
The Tibetan version of the Buddhist literature is divided into two classes. —
1. The Kanjur consisting of the Vinaya and Sutras (100 or 108 volumes in all), and
2. The Tanjur consisting of various Abhid- harma works, commentaries and doctrinal ex- positions, etc., (225 volumes in all).
226 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
1. The Kanjur —
The Kanjur consists of the following seven great divisions : —
1. Vinaya, consisting of a translation of one variation of the Sarvastivadin Vinaya. (13 vols.)
2. Prajnd-Pdramitd, the sutras preaching the
Qiinya doctrines or the theory of un- substantiality. (21 vols.)
3. Avatamsaka, consisting of the Buddha-
vatamsaka Sutra or Gandha-vytiha, the mystico-metaphysical siitra supposedly first delivered by the Buddha. (6 vols.)
4. RatnaJmta, a collection of various Buddho- logical sutras, including the Sukhavati- vytiha. (6 vols.)
5. Sutra, all sutras not otherwise classified, and including the Saddharma Pundarika, Lankavatara Sutras, etc., and various Hinayana sutras. (30. vols)
6. Nirvana, consisting of the Maha-pari-
nirvana Siitra (Mahayana version) con- taining an account of the last acts and teachings of the Buddha. (2 vols.)
7. T antra, containing the works of the later esoteric doctrine in the earlier (Mantra) and later (Tantra) phases. (22 vols.)
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 227
2. The Tanjur,
This is divided as follows : —
1. Tantra, various works dealing with the esoteric doctrines, chiefly from an ex- pository point of view.
2. Sutra, various works dealing with the exoteric doctrines, including translations of the works of Nagarjuna, Arya Deva, Maitreya, Asanga, etc.
One separate volume contains hymns of praises of several Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and another volume fulfils the functions of an index. Incidentally it may be remarked that while the Kanjur is more or less known to us, much spade work remains to be done before it can be said that we have mastered the contents of the Tanjur, which from many points of view is the more interesting of the two, as well as containing much information which is otherwise inaccessible.
IV. The Chinese Canon.
The most complete and comprehensive collec- tions of Buddhist books is to be found in the Chinese Canon, which preserves in translation many works of the various schools which would otherwise be lost. Including duplicate trans- lations of the same work, which are many, it
228 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAY AN A BUDDHISM
contains 1662 separate works, which may b© arranged in the following way : — **
I. Indian WorTcs. (books written in India and translated into Chinese).
1. The Sutra Pitaka.
A. Mahaydna Sutras. These are divided into five classes, corresponding to the Mahayana theory of the periods of the Buddha's life. These classes are: — (1). Avatamsaka class; (2). Vaipnlya class ; (3). Prajna Paramita class ; (4). Saddharma Pundarika class ; (5). Maha- parinirvana class. The last two are frequently counted together.
B. Hinayana Sutras, These consist of the works supposed to have been preached by the Buddha during his second or Hinayana period. These are divided into two classes : — (1). Agama class consisting of translations of the four Agamas corresponding to the four Nikayas of the Pali canon, together with translations of many separate stitras contained therein ; (2) Sutras teaching Hinayana doctrines but not classed under the agamas.
2. The Vinaya Pitaka.
A. Mahayana Vinaya. consisting of the Mahayana Brahmajala siitra, and other similar
** The arrangement here given is that of the Tokyo edition.
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 229
works, giving the Mahayana or Bodhisattva Pratimok§a, or precepts for those striving after Buddhahood, in place of the Hinayana Prati- mok§a, or precepts for those striving after Arhatship.
B. Hinayana Vinaya. Consisting of various versions of the Hinayana disciplinary rules. The most important schools represented are (l) The Dharmagupta, (2) Mula-sarvastivadin, (3) Sarvastivadin, (4) Mahi§asaka, (5) Kagy- apija, (6) Mahasanghika, etc.
3. The Abhidharma Pitalca.
A. MaTidymia AbhidJiarma. These may be divided into (1) Works dealing with Mahayana in general irrespective of sects, (2) Works belonging to the Madhyamika school, (3) Works belonging to the Yogacarya school.
B. Hinayana Abhidharma. These may be divided into (1) Works dealing with Hinayana in general irrespective of sects, (2) Works belonging to the Sarvastivadin sect, (3) Works of other sects, such as the Satyasiddhi ^astra of the Sautrantikas, etc.
4. The Kalpa Pitalca. A. Mantras and Dhardnls. These represent the early stages of Mahayana esotericism, with their various magical formulae, and invocation ©f celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, etc.
230 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
B. Tantras and Later Esoteric Works. Thes«
consist of the few works of the later Tantrayana
of India which were translated into Chinese,
in which mysticism and occultism were curiouslj
mixed. The whole of the Kalpa, or Mystery
Eitual, Pitaka belongs exclusively to Mahayana.
II. CHINESE WORKS.
(Original works composed in China.)
1. Commentaries.
A. Commentaries on the Sutra PitaJca, divided into Mahayana and Hinayana works, though som© of the commentaries on Hinayana works were composed by Mahayanists.
B. Commentaries on the Vinaya Pitaka^ like- wise divided into Mahayana and Hinayana works, though the Hinayana Vinaya was for the most part accepted by all Mahayanists.
C. Commentaries on the Abhidharma Pitaka, Mahayana and Hinayana, giving the Chinese interpretation of Indian Buddhist philosophy, though presenting many original ideas.
2. Sectarian Works. These consist of expositions of the systems of the various schools of Chinese Buddhism, and are divided into works on : —
A. The Kegon or Avatamsaka school.
B. The Tendai school.
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 231
C. The Shingon or Mantra school.
D. The Eitsu or Vinaya school.
E. The Jodo or Sukhavati school.
F. The Zen or Dhyana school.
3. Miscellaneous WorTcs. These consist of various types of works, which may be divided into : —
A. Eituals and Confessions.
B. Histories and Biographies.
C. Anthologies and Compilations.
D. Dictionaries and Catalogues, etc.
V. The Chinese Supplementary Canon.
Using the Chinese Canon as a base there gradually arose a vast mass of literature of a commentarial, critical, and expository nature, which came to be considered the standard inter- pretations of Chinese Buddhist philosophy. These together with a few miscellaneous trans- lations from Sanskrit, which had not been included in the former collection, were grouped together to form the Chinese Supplementary Canon. Their arrangement corresponds very closely to that of the original canon, and is as follows : —
I. Indian Worlcs. A. Translations from the Sutra Pitaka of the six classes.
232 INTRODUCTION TO MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
B. Translations from the Vinaya Pitaka especially the Miila-Sarvastivadin.
C. Translations from the Abhidharma Pitaka, Hinayana, and Mahayana.
D. Translations from the Kalpa Pitaka, or esoteric works.
II. Chinese Works. 1. Commentaries.
A. Commentaries on the Sutra Pitaka (1) Hinayana and (2) Mahayana.
B. Commentaries on the Vinaya Pitaka (1) Hinayana and (2) Mahayana.
C. Commentaries on the Abhidharma Pitaka (1) Hinayana and (2) Mahayana.
2. Sectarian Works. Works expounding the principles of : —
A. The Sanron or Madhyamika school.
B. The Hosso or Yogacarya school.
C. The Tendai school.
D. The Kegon or Avatamsaka school.
E. The Shingon or Mantra school.
F. The Zen or Dhyana school.
G. The Jodo or Sukhavati school.
3. Miscellaneous Works.
A. Histories and Biographies.
B. Compilations and Anthologies.
SACRED LITERATURE OF THE BUDDHISTS 233
Finally we may add that many Japanese sages wrote commentaries which have come to be eonsidered standard expositions of the doctrines «f their own sects.
FINAL NOTE
1. Technical terms. For the most part, wherever practical technical terms have been reduced to their Sanskrit form. Through lack of type, no distinction has been made between cerebral and dental t., etc., or between the various classes of nasals. Where no Sanskrit form exists the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese ideographs has been employed.
2. Authorities. Owing to the popular nature of the present work, I have felt it unnecessary to cite authorities, which are dealt with at length in my larger work, now in preparation. This omission is largely due to the fact that the authorities are, for the most part, in languages not accessible to the general student.
CHELTENHAM PRESS LTD. SWINDON RD., CHELTENHAM
Date Due
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BL 1451 . M3 1922
McGovern, William Montgomery, 1897-
An introduction to Mahayana Buddhism
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