← Volver a la ficha del textoENCYCLOPEDIA OF
BUDDHISM
Editorial Board
ill
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Robert E. Buswell, Jr.
Professor of Buddhist Studies and Chair, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
Director, Center for Buddhist Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
BOARD MEMBERS
William M. Bodiford
Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
Carl W. Belser Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies
University of Michigan
John S. Strong
Professor of Religion and Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religion
Bates College
Eugene Y. Wang
Gardner Cowles Associate Professor of History of Art and Architecture
Harvard University
Mi
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
BUDDHISM
Volume One
A-L
Robert E. Buswell, Jr., Editor in Chief
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Robert E. Buswell, Jr.f Editor in Chief
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Encyclopedia of Buddhism / edited by Robert E. Buswell, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-02-86571 8-7(set hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-02-865719-5
(Volume 1) — ISBN 0-02-865720-9 (Volume 2)
1. Buddhism — Encyclopedias. I. Buswell, Robert E.
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Contents
$88
Preface vii
List of Articles xi
List of Contributors xix
Synoptic Outline of Entries xxvii
Maps: The Diffusion of Buddhism xxxv
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUDDHISM
Appendix: Timelines of Buddhist History
Index
931
945
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VI
Preface
Buddhism is one of the three major world religions, along with Christianity and Is-
lam, and has a history that is several centuries longer than either of its counterparts.
Starting in India some twenty-five hundred years ago, Buddhist monks and nuns al-
most immediately from the inception of the dispensation began to “to wander forth
for the welfare and weal of the many, out of compassion for the world,” commenc-
ing one of the greatest missionary movements in world religious history. Over the next
millennium, Buddhism spread from India throughout the Asian continent, from the
shores of the Caspian Sea in the west, to the Inner Asian steppes in the north, the
Japanese isles in the east, and the Indonesian archipelago in the south. In the mod-
ern era, Buddhism has even begun to build a significant presence in the Americas and
Europe among both immigrant and local populations, transforming it into a religion
with truly global reach. Buddhist terms such as karma, nirvana, samsara, and koan
have entered common parlance and Buddhist ideas have begun to seep deeply into
both Western thought and popular culture.
The Encyclopedia of Buddhism is one of the first major reference tools to appear in
any Western language that seeks to document the range and depth of the Buddhist
tradition in its many manifestations. In addition to feature entries on the history and
impact of Buddhism in different cultural regions and national traditions, the work
also covers major doctrines, texts, people, and schools of the religion, as well as prac-
tical aspects of Buddhist meditation, liturgy, and lay training. Although the target au-
dience is the nonspecialist reader, even serious students of the tradition should find
much of benefit in the more than four hundred entries.
Even with over 500,000 words at our disposal, the editorial board realized early on
that we had nowhere nearly enough space to do justice to the full panoply of Buddhist
thought, practice, and culture within each major Asian tradition. In order to accom-
modate as broad a range of research as possible, we decided at the beginning of the
project to abandon our attempt at a comprehensive survey of major topics in each
principal Asian tradition and instead build our coverage around broader thematic en-
tries that would cut across cultural boundaries. Thus, rather than separate entries on
the Eluichang persecution of Buddhism in China or the Chosdn suppression in Ko-
rea, for example, we have instead a single thematic entry on persecutions; we follow a
similar approach with such entries as conversion, festivals and calendrical rituals, mil-
lenarianism and millenarian movements, languages, and stupas. We make no pretense
to comprehensiveness in every one of these entries; when there are only a handful of
VII
Preface
entries in the Encyclopedia longer than four thousand words, this would have been a
pipe dream, at best. Instead, we encouraged our contributors to examine their topics
comparatively, presenting representative case studies on the topic, with examples
drawn from two or more traditions of Buddhism.
The Encyclopedia also aspires to represent the emphasis in the contemporary field
of Buddhist studies on the broader cultural, social, institutional, and political contexts
of Buddhist thought and practice. There are substantial entries on topics as diverse as
economics, education, the family, law, literature, kingship, and politics, to name but
a few, all of which trace the role Buddhism has played as one of Asia’s most impor-
tant cultural influences. Buddhist folk religion, in particular, receives among the most
extensive coverage of any topic in the encyclopedia. Many entries also explore the con-
tinuing relevance of Buddhism in contemporary life in Asia and, indeed, throughout
the world.
Moreover, we have sought to cross the intellectual divide that separates texts and
images by offering extensive coverage of Buddhist art history and material culture. Al-
though we had no intention of creating an encyclopedia of Buddhist art, we felt it was
important to offer our readers some insight into the major artistic traditions of Bud-
dhism. We also include brief entries on a couple of representative sites in each tradi-
tion; space did not allow us even to make a pretense of being comprehensive, so we
focused on places or images that a student might be most likely to come across in
reading about a specific tradition. We have also sought to provide some coverage of
Buddhist material culture in such entries as amulets and talismans, medicine, monas-
tic architecture, printing technologies, ritual objects, and robes and clothing.
One of the major goals of the Encyclopedia is to better integrate Buddhist studies
into research on religion and culture more broadly. When the editorial board was
planning the entries, we sought to provide readers with Buddhist viewpoints on such
defining issues in religious studies as conversion, evil, hermeneutics, pilgrimage, rit-
ual, sacred space, and worship. We also explore Buddhist perspectives on topics of
great currency in the contemporary humanities, such as the body, colonialism, gen-
der, modernity, nationalism, and so on. These entries are intended to help ensure that
Buddhist perspectives become mainstreamed in Western humanistic research.
We obviously could not hope to cover the entirety of Buddhism in a two-volume
reference. The editorial board selected a few representative monks, texts, and sites for
each of the major cultural traditions of the religion, but there are inevitably many
desultory lacunae. Much of the specific coverage of people, texts, places, and practices
is embedded in the larger survey pieces on Buddhism in India, China, Tibet, and so
forth, as well as in relevant thematic articles, and those entries should be the first place
a reader looks for information. We also use a comprehensive set of internal cross-ref-
erences, which are typeset as small caps, to help guide the reader to other relevant en-
tries in the Encyclopedia. Listings for monks proved unexpectedly complicated. Monks,
especially in East Asia, often have a variety of different names by which they are known
to the tradition (ordained name, toponym, cognomen, style, honorific, funerary name,
etc.) and Chinese monks, for example, may often be better known in Western litera-
ture by the Japanese pronunciation of their names. As a general, but by no means in-
violate, rule, we refer to monks by the language of their national origin and their name
at ordination. So the entry on the Chinese Chan (Zen) monk often known in West-
ern writings as Rinzai, using the Japanese pronunciation of his Chinese toponym Linji,
will be listed here by his ordained name of Yixuan. Some widely known alternate
names will be given as blind entries, but please consult the index if someone is diffi-
cult to locate. We also follow the transliteration systems most widely employed today
viii
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Preface
for rendering Asian languages: for example, pinyin for Chinese, Wylie for Tibetan, Re-
vised Hepburn for Japanese, McCune-Reischauer for Korean.
For the many buddhas, bodhisattvas, and divinities known to the Buddhist tradi-
tion, the reader once again should first consult the major thematic entry on buddhas,
etc., for a survey of important figures within each category. We will also have a few
independent entries for some, but by no means all, of the most important individual
figures. We will typically refer to a buddha like Amitabha, who is known across tra-
ditions, according to the Buddhist lingua franca of Sanskrit, not by the Chinese pro-
nunciation Amito or Japanese Amida; similarly, we have a brief entry on the
bodhisattva Maitreya, which we use instead of the Korean Miruk or Japanese Miroku.
For pan-Buddhist terms common to most Buddhist traditions, we again use the
Sanskrit as a lingua franca: thus, dhyana (trance state), duhkha (suffering), skandha
(aggregate), and sunyata (emptiness). But again, many terms are treated primarily in
relevant thematic entries, such as samadhi in the entry on meditation. Buddhist ter-
minology that appears in Webster’s Third International Dictionary we regard as Eng-
lish and leave unitalicized: this includes such technical terms as dharanl, koan, and
tathagatagarbha. For a convenient listing of a hundred such terms, see Roger Jackson,
“Terms of Sanskrit and Pali Origin Acceptable as English Words,” Journal of the In-
ternational Association of Buddhist Studies 5 (1982), pp. 141-142.
Buddhist texts are typically cited by their language of provenance, so the reader will
find texts of Indian provenance listed via their Sanskrit titles (e.g., Sukhavatlvyuha-
sutra, Samdhinirmocana-sutra), indigenous Chinese sutras by their Chinese titles (e.g.,
Fanwang jing, Renwang jing), and so forth. Certain scriptures that have widely recog-
nized English titles are however listed under that title, as with Awakening of Faith, Lo-
tus Sutra, Nirvana Sutra, and Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Major Buddhist schools, similarly, are listed according to the language of their ori-
gin. In East Asia, for example, different pronunciations of the same Sinitic logograph
obscure the fact that Chan, Son, Zen, and Thien are transliterations of respectively the
Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese pronunciations for the school we gener-
ally know in the West as Zen. We have therefore given our contributors the daunting
task of cutting across national boundaries and treating in single, comprehensive en-
tries such pan-Asian traditions as Madhyamaka, Tantra, and Yogacara, or such pan-
East Asian schools as Huayan, Tiantai, and Chan. These entries are among the most
complex in the encyclopedia, since they must not only touch upon the major high-
lights of different national traditions, but also lay out in broad swathe an overarching
account of a school’s distinctive approach and contribution to Buddhist thought and
practice.
Compiling an Encyclopedia of Buddhism may seem a quixotic quest, given the past
track records of similar Western-language projects. I was fortunate to have had the
help of an outstanding editorial board, which was determined to ensure that this en-
cyclopedia would stand as a definitive reference tool on Buddhism for the next gen-
eration— and that it would be finished in our lifetimes. Don Lopez and John Strong
both brought their own substantial expertise with editing multi-author references to
the project, which proved immensely valuable in planning this encyclopedia and keep-
ing the project moving along according to schedule. My UCLA colleague William Bod-
iford surveyed Japanese-language Buddhist encyclopedias for the board and constantly
pushed us to consider how we could convey in our entries the ways in which Bud-
dhist beliefs were lived out in practice. The board benefited immensely in the initial
planning stages from the guidance art historian Maribeth Graybill offered in trying to
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
IX
Preface
conceive how to provide a significant place in our coverage for Buddhist art. Eugene
Wang did yeoman’s service in stepping in later as our art-history specialist on the
board. Words cannot do justice to the gratitude I feel for the trenchant advice, ready
good humor, and consistently hard work offered by all the board members.
I also benefited immensely from the generous assistance, advice, and support of the
faculty, staff, and graduate students affiliated with UCLA’s Center for Buddhist Stud-
ies, which has spearheaded this project since its inception. I am especially grateful to
my faculty colleagues in Buddhist Studies at UCLA, whose presence here gave me both
the courage even to consider undertaking such a daunting task and the manpower to
finish it: Gregory Schopen, William Bodiford, Jonathan Silk, Robert Brown, and Don
McCallum.
The Encyclopedia was fortunate to have behind it the support of the capable staff
at Macmillan. Publisher Elly Dickason and our first editor Judy Culligan helped guide
the editorial board through our initial framing of the encyclopedia and structuring of
the entries; we were fortunate to have Judy return as our copyeditor later in the pro-
ject. Oona Schmid, who joined the project just as we were finalizing our list of entries
and sending out invitations to contributors, was an absolutely superlative editor, cheer-
leader, and colleague. Her implacable enthusiasm for the project was infectious and
helped keep both the board and our contributors moving forward even during the
most difficult stages of the project. Our next publisher, Helene Potter, was a stabiliz-
ing force during the most severe moments of impermanence. Our last editor, Drew
Silver, joined us later in the project, but his assistance was indispensable in taking care
of the myriad details involved in bringing the project to completion. Jan Klisz was ab-
solutely superb at moving the volumes through production. All of us on the board
looked askance when Macmillan assured us at our first editorial meeting that we would
finish this project in three years, but the professionalism of its staff made it happen.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest thanks to the more than 250 colleagues
around the world who willingly gave of their time, energy, and knowledge in order to
bring the Encyclopedia of Buddhism to fruition. I am certain that current and future
generations of students will benefit from our contributors’ insightful treatments of
various aspects of the Buddhist religious tradition. As important as encyclopedia ar-
ticles are for building a field, they inevitably take a back seat to one’s “real” research
and writing, and rarely receive the recognition they deserve for tenure or promotion.
At very least, our many contributors can be sure that they have accrued much merit —
at least in my eyes — through their selfless acts of disseminating the dharma.
Robert E. Buswell, Jr.
X
Encyclopedia
of Buddhism
List of Articles
$88
Abhidharma
Collett Cox
Abhidharmakosabhasya
Collett Cox
Abhijna (Higher Knowledges)
Patrick A. Pranke
Abortion
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
Agama/Nikaya
Jens-Uwe Hartmann
Ajanta
Leela Aditi Wood
Aksobhya
Jan Nattier
Alayavijhdna
John S. Strong
Alchi
Roger Goepper
Ambedkar, B. R.
Christopher S. Queen
Amitabha
Lins 0. Gomez
Amulets and Talismans
Michael R. Rhum
Anagarika Dharmapala
George D. Bond
Ananda
Bhikkhu Pasadika
Ananda Temple
Paul Strachan
Anathapindada
Joel Tatelman
Anatman/Atman (No-self/Self)
K. T. S. Sarao
Ancestors
Mariko Namba Walter
Anitya (Impermanence)
Carol S. Anderson
An Shigao
Paul Harrison
An u tta ra sa mya ksa m bod h i
(Complete, Perfect Awakening)
William M. Bodiford
Apocrypha
Kyoko Tokuno
Arhat
George D. Bond
Arhat Images
Richard K. Kent
Aryadeva
Karen Lang
Aryasura
Peter Khoroche
Asaiiga
John P. Keenan
Ascetic Practices
Liz Wilson
As'oka
John S. Strong
As'vaghosa
Peter Khoroche
Atisha
Gareth Sparham
Avadana
Joel Tatelman
Avadanasataka
Joel Tatelman
Awakening of Faith (Dasheng
qixin lun)
Ding-hwa Hsieh
Ayutthaya
Pattaratorn Chirapravati
Bamiyan
Karil J. Kucera
Bayon
Eleanor Mannikka
Bhavaviveka
Paul Williams
Bianwen
Victor H. Mair
Bianxiang (Transformation
Tableaux)
Victor H. Mair
Biographies of Eminent Monks
(Gaoseng zhuan)
John Kieschnick
Biography
Juliane Schober
Bka' brgyud (Kagyu)
Andrew Quintman
Bodh Gaya
Leela Aditi Wood
XI
List of Articles
Bodhi (Awakening)
Robert M. Gimello
Bodhicaryavatara
Paul Williams
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
Luis 0. Gomez
Bodhidharma
Jeffrey Broughton
Bodhisattva(s)
Leslie S. Kawamura
Bodhisattva Images
Charles Lachman
Body, Perspectives on the
Liz Wilson
Bon
Christian K. Wedemeyer
Borobudur
John N. Miksic
Bsam yas (Samye)
Jacob P. Dalton
Bsam yas Debate
Jacob P. Dalton
Buddha(s)
Jan Nattier
Buddhacarita
John S. Strong
Buddhadasa
Christopher S. Queen
Buddhaghosa
John S. Strong
Buddhahood and Buddha Bodies
John J. Makransky
Buddha Images
Robert L. Brown
Buddha, Life of the
Heinz Bechert
Buddha, Life of the, in Art
Gail Maxwell
Buddhanusmrti (Recollection of the
Buddha)
Paul Harrison
Buddhavacana (Word of the
Buddha)
George D. Bond
Buddhist Studies
Jonathan A. Silk
xii
Burmese, Buddhist Literature in
Jason A. Carbine
Bu ston (Bu ton)
Gareth Sparham
Cambodia
Anne Hansen
Candraklrti
Roger R. Jackson
Canon
Paul Harrison
Catalogues of Scriptures
Kyoko Tokuno
Cave Sanctuaries
Denise Patry Leidy
Central Asia
Jan Nattier
Central Asia, Buddhist Art in
Roderick Whitfield
Chan Art
Charles Lachman
Chan School
John Jorgensen
Chanting and Liturgy
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
Chengguan
Mario Poceski
China
Mario Poceski
China, Buddhist Art in
Marylin Martin Rhie
Chinese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Victor H. Mair
Chinul
Sung Bae Park
Chogye School
Jongmyung Kim
Christianity and Buddhism
Janies W. Heisig
Clerical Marriage in Japan
Richard M. Jaffe
Colonialism and Buddhism
Richard King
Commentarial Literature
Alexander L. Mayer
Communism and Buddhism
Jin Y. Park
Confucianism and Buddhism
George A. Keyworth
Consciousness, Theories of
Nobuyoshi Yamabe
Consecration
Donald K. Swearer
Conversion
Jan Nattier
Cosmology
Rupert Gethin
Councils, Buddhist
Charles S. Prebish
Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyo)
Jamie Hubbard
Daimoku
Jacqueline I. Stone
Daitokuji
Karen L. Brock
Dakin!
Jacob P. Dalton
Dalai Lama
Gareth Sparham
Dana (Giving)
Maria Heim
Dao'an
Tanya Storch
Daoism and Buddhism
Stephen R. Bokenkamp
Daosheng
Mark L. Blum
Daoxuan
John Kieschnick
Daoyi (Mazu)
Mario Poceski
Death
Mark L. Blum
Decline of the Dharma
Jan Nattier
Deqing
William Chu
Desire
Luis 0. Gomez
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Articles
Devadatta
Max Deeg
Dge lugs (Geluk)
Georges B. J. Dreyfus
Dhammapada
Oskar von Hinuber
Dharam
Richard D. McBride II
Dharma and Dharmas
Charles Willemen
Dharmadhatu
Chi-chiang Huang
Dharmaguptaka
Collett Cox
Dharmaklrti
John Dunne
Dharmaraksa
Daniel Boucher
Dhyana (Trance State)
Karen Derris
Diamond Sotra
Gregory Schopen
Diet
James A. Benn
Dignaga
John Dunne
Dlpamkara
Jan Nattier
Disciples of the Buddha
Andrew Skilton
Divinities
Jacob N. Kinnard
Divyavadana
Joel Tatelman
Dogen
Carl Bielefeldt
Dokyo
Allan G. Grapard
Doubt
Robert E. Buswell, Jr.
Dreams
Alexander L. Mayer
Duhkha (Suffering)
Carol S. Anderson
Dunhuang
Roderick Whitfield
Economics
Gustavo Benavides
Education
Mahinda Deegalle
Engaged Buddhism
Christopher S. Queen
Ennin
David L. Gardiner
Entertainment and Performance
Victor H. Mair
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Cynthea J. Bogel
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast
Asia
Gail Maxwell
Ethics
Barbara E. Reed
Etiquette
Eric Reinders
Europe
Martin Baumann
Evil
Maria Heim
Exoteric-Esoteric (Kenmitsu)
Buddhism in Japan
Janies C. Dobbins
Faith
Luis O. Gomez
Famensi
Roderick Whitfield
Family, Buddhism and the
Alan Cole
Fanwang jing (Brahma's Net Sutra)
Eunsu Cho
Faxian
Alexander L. Mayer
Faxiang School
Dan Lusthaus
Fazang
Jeffrey Broughton
Festivals and Calendrical Rituals
Jonathan S. Walters
Folk Religion: An Overview
Stephen F. Teiser
Folk Religion, China
Philip Clart
Folk Religion, Japan
Ian Reader
Folk Religion, Southeast Asia
Michael R. Rhum
Four Noble Truths
Carol S. Anderson
GandharT, Buddhist Literature in
Richard Salomon
Ganjin
William M. Bodiford
Gavampati
Francois Lagirarde
Gender
Reiko Ohnuma
Genshin
James C. Dobbins
Ghost Festival
Stephen F. Teiser
Ghosts and Spirits
Peter Masefield
Gyonen
Mark L. Blum
Hachiman
Fabio Rambelli
Hair
Patrick Olivette
Hakuin Ekaku
John Jorgensen
Han Yongun
Pori Park
Heart Sotra
John R. McRae
Heavens
Rupert Gethin
Hells
Stephen F. Teiser
Hells, Images of
Karil J. Kucera
Hermeneutics
John Powers
Himalayas, Buddhist Art in
Roger Goepper
xiii
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Articles
Hinayana
John S. Strong
Hinduism and Buddhism
Johannes Bronkhorst
History
John C. Maraldo
Honen
James C. Dobbins
Honji Suijaku
Fabio Rambelli
Horyuji and Todaiji
Karen L. Brock
Huayan Art
Henrik H. Sorensen
Huayan jing
Mario Poceski
Huayan School
Mario Poceski
Huineng
John R. McRae
Huiyuan
Mark L. Blum
Hyesim
A. Charles Muller
Hyujong
Sungtaek Cho
Icchantika
Robert E. Buswell, Jr.
Ikkyu
Sarah Fremerman
India
Richard S. Cohen
India, Buddhist Art in
Gail Maxwell
India, Northwest
Jason Neelis
India, South
Anne E. Monius
Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula
Robert L. Brown
Indonesia, Buddhist Art in
John N. Miksic
Indra
Jacob N. Kinnard
Ingen Ryuki
A. W. Barber
Initiation
Ronald M. Davidson
Inoue Enryo
Richard M. Jaffe
Intermediate States
Bryan J. Cuevas
Ippen Chishin
William M. Bodiford
Islam and Buddhism
Johan Elverskog
Jainism and Buddhism
Paul Dundas
Japan
Carl Bielefeldt
Japan, Buddhist Art in
Karen L. Brock
Japanese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Robert E. Morrell
Japanese Royal Family and
Buddhism
Brian O. Ruppert
Jataka
Reiko Ohnuma
Jataka, Illustrations of
Leela Aditi Wood
Jatakamala
Peter Khoroche
Jewels
Brian O. Ruppert
Jiun Onko
Paul B. Watt
Jo khang
Andrew Quintman
Juefan (Huihong)
George A. Keyworth
Kailas'a (Kailash)
Andrew Quintman
Kalacakra
John Newman
Kamakura Buddhism, Japan
James C. Dobbins
Karma (Action)
Johannes Bronkhorst
Karma pa
Andrew Quintman
Karuna (Compassion)
Roger R. Jackson
Khmer, Buddhist Literature in
Anne Hansen
Kihwa
A. Charles Muller
Kingship
Pankaj N. Mohan
Klong chen pa (Longchenpa)
Jacob P. Dalton
Koan
Morten Schlutter
Koben
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
Konjaku Monogatari
William M. Bodiford
Korea
Hee-Sung Keel
Korea, Buddhist Art in
Youngsook Pak
Korean, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Jongmyung Kim
Kuiji
Alan Sponberg
Kukai
Ryuichi Abe
Kumarajlva
John R. McRae
Kyongho
Henrik H. Sorensen
Laity
Helen Hardacre
Lalitavistara
John S. Strong
Lama
Alexander Gardner
Language, Buddhist Philosophy of
Richard P. Hayes
Languages
Jens-Uwe Hartmann
Lankavatara-sutra
John Powers
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Articles
Laos
Justin McDaniel
Law and Buddhism
Rebecca French
Lineage
Albert Welter
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Fabio Rambelli
Logic
John Dunne
Longmen
Dorothy Wong
Lotus Sotra (Saddharmapundarlka-
sutra)
Jacqueline I. Stone
Madhyamaka School
Karen Lang
hAa gcig lab sgron (Machig
Lapdon)
Andrew Quintman
Mahabodhi Temple
Leela Aditi Wood
Mahakasyapa
Max Deeg
Mahamaudgalyayana
Susanne Mrozik
Mahamudra
Andrew Quintman
Mahaparinirvana-sOtra
John S. Strong
MahaprajapatT GautamI
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Mahasamghika School
Paul Flarrison
Mahasiddha
Andrew Quintman
Mahavastu
John S. Strong
Mahayana
Gregory Schopen
Mahayana Precepts in Japan
Paul Groner
Mahls'asaka
Collett Cox
Mainstream Buddhist Schools
Collett Cox
Maitreya
Alan Sponberg
Mandala
Denise Patry Leidy
Mantra
Richard D. McBride II
Mara
Jacob N. Kinnard
Mar pa (Marpa)
Andrew Quintman
Martial Arts
William Powell
Matrceta
Peter Khoroche
Medicine
Kenneth G. Zysk
Meditation
Luis O. Gomez
Meiji Buddhist Reform
Richard M. Jaffe
Merit and Merit-Making
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
Mijiao (Esoteric) School
Henrik H. Sorensen
Mi la ras pa (Milarepa)
Andrew Quintman
Milindapanha
Peter Masefield
Millenarianism and Millenarian
Movements
Thomas DuBois
Mindfulness
Johannes Bronkhorst
Miracles
John Kieschnick
Mizuko Kuyo
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
Modernity and Buddhism
Gustavo Benavides
Mohe Zhiguan
Brook Ziporyn
Monastic Architecture
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt
Monasticism
Jeffrey Samuels
Monastic Militias
William M. Bodiford
Mongolia
Patricia Berger
Monks
John Kieschnick
Mozhao Chan (Silent Illumination
Chan)
Morten Schlatter
Mudra and Visual Imagery
Denise Patry Leidy
Molasarvastivada-vinaya
Gregory Schopen
Murakami Sensho
Richard M. Jaffe
Myanmar
Patrick A. Pranke
Myanmar, Buddhist Art in
Paul Strachan
Nagarjuna
Paul Williams
Nara Buddhism
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
Naropa
Andrew Quintman
Nationalism and Buddhism
Pori Park
Nenbutsu (Chinese, Nianfo;
Korean, Yombul)
James C. Dobbins
Nepal
Todd T. Lewis
Newari, Buddhist Literature in
Todd T. Lewis
Nichiren
Jacqueline I. Stone
Nichiren School
Jacqueline I. Stone
Nine Mountains School of Son
Sungtaek Cho
Nirvana
Luis 0. Gomez
Nirvana Sutra
Mark L. Blum
Nuns
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
xv
List of Articles
Om mani padme hum
Alexander Gardner
Ordination
John R. McRae
Original Enlightenment (Hongaku)
Jacqueline I. Stone
Oxherding Pictures
Steven Heine
Padmasambhava
Jacob P. Dalton
Pali, Buddhist Literature in
Oskar von Hinuber
Panchen Lama
Gareth Sparham
Paramartha
Daniel Boucher
Paramita (Perfection)
Leslie S. Kawamura
Parish (Danka, Terauke) System in
Japan
Duncan Williams
Paritta and Raksa Texts
Justin McDaniel
Path
William Chu
Persecutions
Kate Crosby
Philosophy
Dale S. Wright
Phoenix Hall (at the Byodoin)
Karen L. Brock
Pilgrimage
Kevin Trainor
Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
(Liuzu tan jing)
John R. McRae
Poetry and Buddhism
George A. Keyworth
Politics and Buddhism
Eric Reinders
Portraiture
Karen L. Brock
Potala
Andrew Quintman
Prajna (Wisdom)
Roger R. Jackson
Prajnaparamita Literature
Lewis Lancaster
Pratimoksa
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
PratTtyasamutpada (Dependent
Origination)
Mathieu Boisvert
Pratyekabuddha
Ria Kloppenborg
Pratyutpannasamadhi-sutra
Paul Harrison
Prayer
Jose Ignacio Cabezon
Precepts
Daniel A. Getz
Printing Technologies
Richard D. McBride II
Provincial Temple System
(Kokubunji, Rishoto)
Suzanne Gay
Psychology
Luis O. Gomez
Pudgalavada
Leonard C. D. C. Priestley
Pure Land Art
Eugene Y. Wang
Pure Land Buddhism
Daniel A. Getz
Pure Lands
Luis O. Gomez
Pure Land Schools
A. W. Barber
Rahula
Bhikkhu Pasadika
Realms of Existence
Rupert Gethin
Rebirth
Bryan J. Cuevas
Refuges
John Clifford Holt
Relics And Relics Cults
Brian O. Ruppert
Reliquary
Roderick Whitfield
Rennyo
Janies C. Dobbins
Renwang jing (Humane Kings
Sotra)
A. Charles Muller
Repentance and Confession
David W. Chappell
Ritual
Richard K. Payne
Ritual Objects
Anne Nishimura Morse
Rnying ma (Nyingma)
Jacob P. Dalton
Robes and Clothing
Willa Jane Tanabe
Ryokan
David E. Riggs
Saicho
David L. Gardiner
Samdhinirmocana-sutra
John Powers
Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the
Three Kingdoms)
Richard D. McBride II
Samsara
Bryan J. Cuevas
Sand
Leela Aditi Wood
Sangha
Gareth Sparham
Sanjie Jiao (Three Stages School)
Jamie Hubbard
Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Andrew Skilton
Santideva
Paul Williams
Sariputra
Susanne Mrozik
Sarvastivada and Mulasarvastivada
Collett Cox
Sa skya (Sakya)
Cyrus Stearns
Sa skya Pandita (Sakya Pandita)
Ronald M. Davidson
Satipatthana-sutta
Patrick A. Pranke
Satori (Awakening)
Robert M. Gimello
XVI
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Articles
Sautrantika
Space, Sacred
Theravada
Collett Cox
Allan G. Grapard
Kate Crosby
Scripture
Sri Lanka
Theravada Art and Architecture
Jose Ignacio Cabezon
John Clifford Holt
Bonnie Brereton
Self-Immolation
Sri Lanka, Buddhist Art in
Thich Nhat Hanh
James A. Benn
Benille Priyanka
Christopher S. Queen
Sengzhao
StOpa
Tiantai School
Tanya Storch
A. L. Dallapiccola
Brook Ziporyn
Sentient Beings
SukhavatTvyoha-sutra
Tibet
Daniel A. Getz
Mark L. Blum
Ronald M. Davidson
Sexuality
Sukhothai
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Hank Glassman
Pattaratorn Chirapravati
Bryan J. Cuevas
Shingon Buddhism, Japan
Sonyata (Emptiness)
Tominaga Nakamoto
Ryuichi Abe
Roger R. Jackson
Paul B. Watt
Shinran
Sotra
Tsong kha pa
James C. Dobbins
John S. Strong
Georges B. J. Dreyfus
Shinto (Hon ji Suijaku) and
Sotra Illustrations
Uich'on
Buddhism
Willa Jane Tanabe
Chi-chiang Huang
Fahin Ramhe.lli . .
Suvarnaprabhasottama-sutra
Uisang
Shobogenzo
Natalie D. Glimmer
Patrick R. Uhlmann
Carl Bielefeldt
Suzuki, D. T.
United States
Shotoku, Prince (Taishi)
Richard M. Jaffe
Thomas A. Tweed
William M. Bodiford
Syncretic Sects: Three Teachings
Upagupta
Shugendo
Philip Clart
John S. Strong
Paid L. Swanson . .
Tachikawaryu
Upali
Shwedagon
Nobumi Iyanaga
Susanne Mrozik
Paul Strachan
Siksananda
Taiwan
Upaya
Charles B. Jones
Roger R. Jackson
Chi-chiang Huang
Taixu
Usury
Silk Road
Ding-hwa Hsieh
Jamie Hubbard
Jason Neelis
Takuan Soho
Vajrayana
Sinhala, Buddhist Literature in
William M. Bodiford
Ronald M. Davidson
Ranjini Obeyesekere
Tantra
Vamsa
Skandha (Aggregate)
Ronald M. Davidson
Stephen C. Berkwitz
Mathieu Boisvert
Charles D. Orzech
Vasubandhu
Slavery
Tathagata
Dan Lusthaus
Jonathan A. Silk
John S. Strong
Vidyadhara
Soka Gakkai
Tathagatagarbha
Patrick A. Pranke
Jacqueline I. Stone
William H. Grosnick
Vietnam
Sokkuram
Temple System in Japan
Cuong Tu Nguyen
Junghee Lee
Duncan Williams
Vietnamese, Buddhist Influences
Soteriology
Thai, Buddhist Literature in
Literature in
Dan Cozort
Grant A. Olson
Cuong Tu Nguyen
Southeast Asia, Buddhist Art in
Thailand
Vijnanavada
Robert L. Brown
Donald K. Swearer
Dan Lusthaus
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
XVII
List of Articles
Vimalakirti
Andrew Skilton
Wonhyo
Eunsu Cho
Zanning
Albert Welter
Vinaya
Gregory Schopen
Worship
Jacob N. Kinnard
Zen, Popular Conceptions of
Juhn Ahn
Vipassana (Sanskrit, Vipas'yana)
Patrick A. Pranke
Vipas'yin
Jan Nattier
Visnu
Jacob N. Kinnard
Visvantara
Reiko Ohnuma
War
Michael Zimmermann
Wilderness Monks
Thanissaro Bhikkhu ( Geoffrey
DeGraff)
Women
Natalie D. Glimmer
Xuanzang
Alexander L. Mayer
Yaksa
Jacob N. Kinnard
Yanshou
Albert Welter
Yijing
Alexander L. Mayer
Yinshun
William Chu
Yixuan
Urs App
Yogacara School
Dan Lusthaus
Wonbulgyo
Bongkil Chung
Wonch'Ok
Eunsu Cho
Yujong
Sungtaek Cho
Yun'gang
Dorothy Wong
Zhanran
Linda Penkower
Zhao lun
Tanya Storch
Zhili
Brook Ziporyn
Zhiyi
Brook Ziporyn
Zhuhong
William Chu
Zonggao
Ding-hwa Hsieh
Zongmi
Jeffrey Broughton
xviii
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Contributors
$88
Ryuichi Abe
Columbia University
Kukai
Shingon Buddhism, Japan
Juhn Ahn
University of Michigan
Zen, Popular Conceptions of
Carol S. Anderson
Kalamazoo College
Anitya (Impermanence)
Duhkha (Suffering)
Four Noble Truths
Urs App
University Media Research, Kyoto,
Japan
Yixuan
A. W. Barber
University of Calgary
Ingen Ryuki
Pure Land Schools
Martin Baumann
University of Lucerne, Switzerland
Europe
Heinz Bechert
University of Gottingen
Buddha, Life of the
Gustavo Benavides
Villanova University
Economics
Modernity and Buddhism
James A. Benn
Arizona State University
Diet
Self-Immolation
Patricia Berger
University of California, Berkeley
Mongolia
Stephen C. Berkwitz
Southwest Missouri State University
Vamsa
Carl Bielefeldt
Stanford University
Dogen
Japan
Shobogenzo
Mark L. Blum
State University of New York, Albany
Daosheng
Death
Gyonen
Huiyuan
Nirvana Sutra
SukhavatTvyilha-sfitra
William M. Bodiford
University of California, Los Angeles
Anuttarasamyaksambodhi
( Complete, Perfect Awakening)
Ganjin
Ippen Chishin
Konjaku monogatari
Monastic Militias
Shotoku, Prince (Taishi)
Takuan Soho
Cynthea J. Bogel
University of Washington
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Mathieu Boisvert
University of Quebec at Montreal
Pratltyasamutpada (Dependent
Origination)
Skandha (Aggregate)
Stephen R. Bokenkamp
Indiana University
Daoism and Buddhism
George D. Bond
Northwestern University
Anagarika Dharmapala
Arhat
Buddhavacana (Word of the
Buddha)
Daniel Boucher
Cornell University
Dharmaraksa
Paramartha
Bonnie Brereton
University of Michigan
Theravada Art and Architecture
Karen L. Brock
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Daitokuji
Horytlji and Todaiji
Japan, Buddhist Art in
Phoenix Hall (at the Byodoin)
Portraiture
Johannes Bronkhorst
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Hinduism and Buddhism
Karma (Action)
Mindfulness
Jeffrey Broughton
California State University, Long
Beach
Bodhidharma
Fazang
Zongmi
XIX
List of Contributors
Robert L. Brown
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Buddha Images
Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula
Southeast Asia, Buddhist Art in
Robert E. Buswell, Jr.
University of California, Los Angeles
Doubt
Icchantika
Jose Ignacio Cabezon
University of California, Santa
Barbara
Prayer
Scripture
Jason A. Carbine
University of Chicago
Burmese, Buddhist Literature in
David W. Chappell
Soka University of America
Repentance and Confession
Pattaratorn Chirapravati
California State University,
Sacramento
Ayutthaya
Sukhothai
Eunsu Cho
University of Michigan
Fanwang jing (Brahma’s Net
Siitra)
Wonch’uk
Wonhyo
Sungtaek Cho
Korea University
Hyujong
Nine Mountains School of Son
Yujong
William Chu
University of California, Los Angeles
Deqing
Path
Yinslmn
Zhuhong
Bongkil Chung
Florida International University
Wonbulgyo
Philip Clart
University of Missouri-Columbia
Folk Religion, China
Syncretic Sects: Three Teachings
Richard S. Cohen
University of California, San Diego
India
Alan Cole
Lewis and Clark College
Family, Buddhism and the
Collett Cox
University of Washington
Abhidharma
Abhidharmakosabhasya
Dharmaguptaka
Mahlsasaka
Mainstream Buddhist Schools
Sarvastivada and
Mulasarvastivada
Sautrdntika
Dan Cozort
Dickinson College
Soteriology
Kate Crosby
University of London, United
Kingdom
Persecutions
Theravada
Bryan J. Cuevas
Florida State University
Intermediate States
Rebirth
Samsara
Tibetan Book of the Dead
A. L. Dallapiccola
University of Edinburgh, United
Kingdom
Sttlpa
Jacob P. Dalton
International Dunhuang Project,
British Library
Bsam yas (Samye)
Bsam yas Debate
Dakini
Klong chen pa (Longchenpa)
Padmasambhava
Rnying ma (Nyingma)
Ronald M. Davidson
Fairfield University
Initiation
Sa skya Pandita (Sakya Pandita)
Tantra
Tibet
Vajrayana
Max Deeg
University of Vienna, Austria
Devadatta
Mahakasyapa
Mahinda Deegalle
Bath Spa University College, United
Kingdom
Education
Karen Derris
Harvard University
Dhydna (Trance State)
James C. Dobbins
Oberlin College
Exoteric-Esoteric (Kenmitsu)
Buddhism in Japan
Genshin
Honen
Kamakura Buddhism, Japan
Nenbutsu (Chinese, Nianfo;
Korean, Yombul)
Rennyo
Shinran
Georges B. J. Dreyfus
Williams College
Dge lugs (Geluk)
Tsong kha pa
Thomas DuBois
National University of Singapore
Millenarianism and Millenarian
Movements
Paul Dundas
University of Edinburgh, United
Kingdom
Jainism and Buddhism
John Dunne
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dharmaklrti
Dignaga
Logic
Johan Elverskog
Southern Methodist University
Islam and Buddhism
Sarah Fremerman
Stanford University
Ikkyii
Rebecca French
State University of New York, Buffalo
Law and Buddhism
David L. Gardiner
Colorado College
Ennin
Saicho
xx
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Contributors
Alexander Gardner
University of Michigan
Lama
Otn mani padme hum
Suzanne Gay
Oberlin College
Provincial Temple System
(Kokubunji, Rishoto)
Rupert Gethin
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Cosmology
Heavens
Realms of Existence
Daniel A. Getz
Bradley University
Precepts
Pure Land Buddhism
Sentient Beings
Robert M. Gimello
Harvard University
Bodhi (Awakening)
Satori (Awakening)
Hank Glassman
Haverford College
Sexuality
Roger Goepper
Cologne Museum, Germany
Alchi
Himalayas, Buddhist Art in
Luis O. Gomez
University of Michigan
Amitabha
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
Desire
Faith
Meditation
Nirvana
Psychology
Pure Lands
Allan G. Grapard
University of California, Santa
Barbara
Dokyo
Space, Sacred
Paul Groner
University of Virginia
Mahayana Precepts in Japan
William H. Grosnick
La Salle University
Tathagatagarbha
Natalie D. Gummer
Beloit College
Suvarnaprabhasottama-sutra
Women
Anne Hansen
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Cambodia
Khmer, Buddhist Literature in
Helen Hardacre
Harvard University
Laity
Paul Harrison
University of Canterbury, New
Zealand
An Shigao
Buddhanusmrti (Recollection of
the Buddha)
Canon
Mahasamghika School
Pratyutpannasamadhi-sutra
Jens-Uwe Hartmann
University of Munich, Germany
Agama/Nikaya
Languages
Richard P. Hayes
University of New Mexico
Language, Buddhist Philosophy of
Maria Heim
California State University, Long
Beach
Dana (Giving)
Evil
Steven Heine
Florida International University
Oxherding Pictures
James W. Heisig
Nanzan Institute for Religion and
Culture, Nanzan University, Japan
Christianity and Buddhism
John Clifford Holt
Bowdoin College
Refuges
Sri Lanka
Ding-hwa Hsieh
Truman State University
Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin
lun)
Taixu
Zonggao
Chi-chiang Huang
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Dharmadhatu
Siksananda
Uich’dn
Jamie Hubbard
Smith College
Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyo)
Sanjie Jiao (Three Stages School)
Usury
Nobumi lyanaga
Tokyo, Japan
Tachikawaryu
Roger R. Jackson
Carleton College
Candrakirti
Karuna (Compassion)
Prajna (Wisdom)
Sunyata (Emptiness)
Upaya
Richard M. Jaffe
Duke University
Clerical Marriage in Japan
Inoue Enryo
Meiji Buddhist Reform
Murakami Sensho
Suzuki, D. T.
Charles B. Jones
The Catholic University of America
Taiwan
John Jorgensen
Griffith University, Australia
Chan School
Hakuin Ekaku
Leslie S. Kawamura
University of Calgary
Bodhisattva(s)
Paramita (Perfection)
Hee-Sung Keel
Sogang University, South Korea
Korea
John P. Keenan
Middlebury College
Asahga
Richard K. Kent
Franklin and Marshall College
Arhat Images
George A. Keyworth
University of Colorado
Confucianism and Buddhism
Juefan (Huihong)
Poetry and Buddhism
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
xxi
List of Contributors
Peter Khoroche
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Aryasura
Asvaghosa
Jatakamala
Matrceta
John Kieschnick
Institute of History and Philology,
Academia Sinica, Taiwan
Biographies of Eminent Monks
( Gaoseng zhuan )
Daoxuan
Miracles
Monks
Jongmyung Kim
Youngsan University, South Korea
Chogye School
Korean, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Richard King
Liverpool Hope University College,
United Kingdom
Colonialism and Buddhism
Jacob N. Kinnard
College of William and Mary
Divinities
Indra
Mara
Visnu
Worship
Yaksa
Ria Kloppenborg
Utrecht University, Netherlands
Pratyekabuddha
Karil J. Kucera
St. Olaf College
Bamiyan
Hells, Images of
Charles Lachman
University of Oregon
Bodhisattva Images
Chan Art
Francois Lagirarde
Ecole Framjaise d’Extreme-Orient,
Bangkok, Thailand
Gavampati
Lewis Lancaster
University of California, Berkeley
Prajhaparamita Literature
Karen Lang
University of Virginia
xxii
Aryadeva
Madhyamaka School
Junghee Lee
Portland State University
Sokkuram
Denise Patry Leidy
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York
Cave Sanctuaries
Mandala
Mudra and Visual Imagery
Todd T. Lewis
College of the Holy Cross
Nepal
Newari, Buddhist Literature in
Dan Lusthaus
University of Missouri-Columbia
Faxiang School
Vasubandhu
Vijhanavada
Yogacara School
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Bianwen
Bianxiang (Transformation
Tableaux)
Chinese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacidar Literature in
Entertainment and Performance
John J. Makransky
Boston College
Buddhahood and Buddha Bodies
Eleanor Mannikka
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Bayon
John C. Maraldo
University of North Florida
History
Peter Masefield
University of Sydney, Australia
Ghosts and Spirits
Milindapanha
Gail Maxwell
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Buddha, Life of the, in Art
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast
Asia
India, Buddhist Art in
Alexander L. Mayer
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign
Commentarial Literature
Dreams
Faxian
Xuanzang
Yijing
Richard D. McBride II
The University of Iowa
Dharanl
Mantra
Printing Technologies
Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the
Three Kingdoms)
Justin McDaniel
Harvard University
Laos
Paritta and Raksa Texts
John R. McRae
Indiana University
Heart Sutra
Huineng
Kumarajlva
Ordination
Platform Sutra of the Sixth
Patriarch (Liuzu tan jing)
John N. Miksic
National University of Singapore
Borobudur
Indonesia, Buddhist Art in
Pankaj N. Mohan
University of Sydney, Australia
Kingship
Anne E. Monius
Harvard University
India, South
Robert E. Morrell
Washington University in St. Louis
Japanese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Anne Nishimura Morse
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Ritual Objects
Susanne Mrozik
Western Michigan University
Mahamaudgalyayana
Sariputra
Upali
A. Charles Muller
Toyo Gakuen University, Japan
Hyesim
Kihwa
Renwang jing (Humane Kings
Sutra)
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Contributors
Jan Nattier
Indiana University
Aksobhya
Buddha(s)
Central Asia
Conversion
Decline of the Dharrna
Dlpamkara
Vipasyin
Jason Neelis
University of Washington
India, Northwest
Silk Road
John Newman
New College of Florida
Kalacakra
Cuong Tu Nguyen
George Mason University
Vietnam
Vietnamese, Buddhist Influences on
Literature in
Ran j i n i Obeyesekere
Princeton University
Sinhala, Buddhist Literature in
Reiko Ohnuma
Dartmouth College
Gender
Jataka
Visvantara
Patrick Olivelle
University of Texas at Austin
Hair
Grant A. Olson
Northern Illinois University
Thai, Buddhist Literature in
Charles D. Orzech
University of North Carolina,
Greensboro
Tantra
Youngsook Pak
University of London, United
Kingdom
Korea, Buddhist Art in
Jin Y. Park
American University
Communism and Buddhism
Pori Park
Arizona State University
Han Yongun
Nationalism and Buddhism
Sung Bae Park
State University of New York at
Stony Brook
Chinul
Bhikkhu Pasadika
Philipps University, Marburg,
Germany
Ananda
Rahula
Richard K. Payne
Institute of Buddhist Studies,
Graduate Theological Union,
Berkeley, California
Ritual
Linda Penkower
University of Pittsburgh
Zhanran
Mario Poceski
University of Florida
Chengguan
China
Daoyi (Mazu)
Huayan jing
Huayan School
William Powell
University of California, Santa
Barbara
Martial Arts
John Powers
Australian National University,
Australia
Hermeneutics
Lahkavatara-sutra
Samdhinirmocana-sutra
Patrick A. Pranke
University of Michigan
Abhijna (Higher Knowledges)
Myanmar
Satipatthana-sutta
Vidyadhara
Vipassana (Sanskrit, Vipasyana)
Charles S. Prebish
The Pennsylvania State University
Councils, Buddhist
Leonard C. D. C. Priestley
University of Toronto
Pudgalavada
Benille Priyanka
University of California, Los Angeles
Sri Lanka, Buddhist Art in
Christopher S. Queen
Harvard University
Ambedkar, B. R.
Buddhadasa
Engaged Buddhism
Thick Nhat Hank
Andrew Quintman
University of Michigan
Bka’ brgyud (Kagyu)
Jo khang
Kailasa (Kailash)
Karma pa
Ma gcig lab sgron (Machig Lapdon)
Mahamudra
Mahasiddha
Mar pa (Marpa)
Mi la ras pa (Milarepa )
Naropa
Potala
Fabio Rambelli
Sapporo University, Japan
Hachiman
Honji Suijaku
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Shinto (Honji Suijaku) and
Buddhism
Ian Reader
Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Folk Religion, Japan
Barbara E. Reed
St. Olaf College
Ethics
Eric Reinders
Emory University
Etiquette
Politics and Buddhism
Marylin Martin Rhie
Smith College
China, Buddhist Art in
Michael R. Rhum
Chicago, Illinois
Amulets and Talismans
Folk Religion, Southeast Asia
David E. Riggs
University of California, Los Angeles
RyOkan
Brian O. Ruppert
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign
Japanese Royal Family and
Buddhism
xxiii
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Contributors
Jewels
Relics And Relics Cults
Richard Salomon
University of Washington
GandharT, Buddhist Literature in
Jeffrey Samuels
Western Kentucky University
Monasticism
K. T. S. Sarao
Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist
Studies, Taiwan
Anatman/Atman (No-Self/Self)
Morten Schlutter
Yale University
Koan
Mozhao Chan (Silent Illumination
Chan)
Juliane Schober
Arizona State University
Biography
Gregory Schopen
University of California, Los Angeles
Diamond Sutra
Mahayana
M u lasarvastivada - vi nay a
Vinaya
Jonathan A. Silk
University of California, Los Angeles
Buddhist Studies
Slavery
Andrew Skilton
Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Disciples of the Buddha
Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Vimalaklrti
Henrik H. Sorensen
Seminar for Buddhist Studies,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Huayan Art
Kyongho
Mijiao (Esoteric) School
Gareth Sparham
University of Michigan
Atisha
Bu ston (Bu ton)
Dalai Lama
Panchen Lama
Sahgha
Alan Sponberg
University of Montana
Kuiji
Maitreya
Cyrus Stearns
Clinton, Washington
Sa sky a (Sakya)
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt
University of Pennsylvania
Monastic Architecture
Jacqueline I. Stone
Princeton University
Daimoku
Lotus Sutra
(Saddharmapundarika-sutra)
Nichiren
Nichiren School
Original Enlightenment (Hongaku)
Soka Gakkai
Tanya Storch
University of the Pacific
Dao’an
Sengzhao
Zhao lun
Paul Strachan
Gerona, Spain
Ananda Temple
Myanmar, Buddhist Art in
Shwedagon
John S. Strong
Bates College
Alayavijnana
As'oka
Buddhacarita
Buddhaghosa
HInayana
Lalitavistara
Mahaparinirvana-sutra
Mahavastu
Sutra
Tathagata
Upagupta
Paul L. Swanson
Nanzan Institute for Religion and
Culture, Nanzan University, Japan
Shugendo
Donald K. Swearer
Swarthmore College
Consecration
Thailand
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
University of Hawaii
Abortion
Chanting and Liturgy
Koben
Merit and Merit-Making
Mizuko Kuyo
Nara Buddhism
Willa Jane Tanabe
University of Hawaii
Robes and Clothing
Sutra Illustrations
Joel Tatelman
Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada
Anathapindada
Avadana
Avadanasataka
Divyavadana
Stephen F. Teiser
Princeton University
Folk Religion: An Overview
Ghost Festival
Hells
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey
DeGraff)
Metta Forest Monastery, Valley
Center, California
Wilderness Monks
Kyoko Tokuno
University of Washington
Apocrypha
Catalogues of Scriptures
Kevin Trainor
University of Vermont
Pilgrimage
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
University of San Diego
Mahaprajapatl Gautaml
Nuns
Pratimoksa
Thomas A. Tweed
University of North Carolina
United States
Patrick R. Uhlmann
University of California,
Los Angeles
Uisang
Oskar von Hiniiber
University of Freiburg,
Germany
Dhammapada
Pali, Buddhist Literature in
Mariko Namba Walter
Harvard University
Ancestors
XXIV
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
List of Contributors
Jonathan S. Walters
Whitman College
Festivals and Calendrical Rituals
Eugene Y. Wang
Harvard University
Pure Land Art
Paul B. Watt
DePauw University
Jiun Onko
Tominaga Nakamoto
Christian K. Wedemeyer
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Bon
Albert Welter
University of Winnipeg
Lineage
Yanshou
Zanning
Roderick Whitfield
University of London, United
Kingdom
Central Asia, Buddhist Art in
Dunhuang
Famensi
Reliquary
Charles Willemen
Academy of Sciences, Belgium
Dharma and Dharmas
Duncan Williams
University of California, Irvine
Parish (Danka, Terauke) System in
Japan
Temple System in Japan
Paul Williams
University of Bristol, United
Kingdom
Bhavaviveka
Bodhicaryavatara
Nagarjuna
Santideva
Liz Wilson
Miami University of Ohio
Ascetic Practices
Body, Perspectives on the
Dorothy Wong
University of Virginia
Longmen
Yungang
Leela Aditi Wood
University of Michigan
Ajanta
Bodh Gaya
Jataka, Illustrations of
Mahabodhi Temple
Sahel
Dale S. Wright
Occidental College
Philosophy
Nobuyoshi Yamabe
Kyushu Ryukoku Junior College,
Japan
Consciousness, Theories of
Michael Zimmermann
University of Hamburg, Germany
War
Brook Ziporyn
Northwestern University
Mohe Zhiguan
Tiantai School
Zhili
Zhiyi
Kenneth G. Zysk
University of Copenhagen,
Denmark
Medicine
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
xxv
This page intentionally left blank
Synoptic Outline of Entries
$88
This outline provides a general overview of the conceptual structure of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism. The outline is organized
under twenty-four major categories, a few of which are subcategorized. The entries are listed alphabetically within each category
or subcategory. For ease of reference, one entry may be listed under several categories.
Art History
Myanmar, Buddhist Art in
Buddha, Life of the
Ajanta
Oxherding Pictures
Bu ston (Bu ton)
Arhat Images
Phoenix Hall (at the Byodoin)
Candraklrti
Bamiyan
Portraiture
Chengguan
Bayon
Potala
Chinul
Bianxiang (Transformation Tableaux)
Pure Land Art
Dalai Lama
Bodh Gaya
Reliquary
Dao’an
Bodhisattva Images
SancI
Daosheng
Borobudur
Shwedagon
Daoxuan
Buddha Images
Sokkuram
Daoyi (Mazu)
Buddha, Life of the, in Art
Southeast Asia, Buddhist Art in
Deqing
Cave Sanctuaries
Sri Lanka, Buddhist Art in
Devadatta
Central Asia, Buddhist Art in
Stupa
Dharmaklrti
Chan Art
Sutra Illustrations
Dharmaraksa
China, Buddhist Art in
Theravada Art and Architecture
Dignaga
Daitokuji
Yun’gang
Disciples of the Buddha
Dunhuang
Dogen
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Biographies
Dokyo
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast Asia
Ambedkar, B. R.
Ennin
Famensi
Anagarika Dharmapala
Faxian
Hells, Images of
Ananda
Fazang
Himalayas, Buddhist Art in
Anathapindada
Ganjin
Horyuji and Todaiji
An Shigao
Gavampati
Huayan Art
Arhat
Genshin
India, Buddhist Art in
Aryadeva
Gyonen
Indonesia, Buddhist Art in
Aryasura
Hakuin Ekaku
Japan, Buddhist Art in
Asanga
Han Yongun
Jataka, Illustrations of
Asoka
Honen
Jewels
Asvaghosa
Huineng
Jo khang
Atisha
Huiyuan
Kailasa (Kailash)
Bhavaviveka
Hyesim
Korea, Buddhist Art in
Biographies of Eminent Monks
Hyujong
Longmen
(Gaoseng zhuan)
Ikkyu
Mahabodhi Temple
Biography
Ingen Ryuki
Mandala
Bodhidharma
Inoue Enryo
Monastic Architecture
Buddhadasa
Ippen Chishin
Mudra and Visual Imagery
Buddhaghosa
Jiun Onko
XXVII
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Juefan (Huihong)
Karma pa
Kihwa
Klong chen pa (Longchenpa)
Koben
Kuiji
Kukai
Kumarajlva
KySngho
Ma gcig lab sgron (Machig Labdron)
Mahakasyapa
Mahamaudgalyayana
Mahaprajapatl GautamI
Mar pa (Marpa)
Matrceta
Mi la ras pa (Milarepa)
Murakami Sensho
Nagarjuna
Naropa
Nichiren
Padmasambhava
Panchen Lama
Paramartha
Rahula
Rennyo
Ryokan
Saicho
Santideva
Sariputra
Sa skya Pandita (Sakya Pandita)
Sengzhao
Shinran
Shotoku, Prince (Taishi)
Siksananda
Suzuki, D. T.
Taixu
Takuan Soho
Tominaga Nakamoto
Tsong kha pa
Uich’on
Uisang
Upagupta
Upali
Vasubandhu
Vimalaklrti
Wonch’uk
Wonhyo
Xuanzang
Yanshou
Yijing
Yinshun
Yixuan
Yujong
Zanning
Zhanran
Zhili
Zhiyi
Zhuhong
Zonggao
Zongmi
xxviii
Bodhisattvas
Bodhicaryavatara
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
Bodhisattva(s)
Bodhisattva Images
Karuna (Compassion)
Maitreya
Paramita (Perfection)
Prajna (Wisdom)
Upaya
Vimalaklrti
Visvantara
Buddhas and Buddhology
Aksobhya
Amitabha
Anuttarasamyaksambodhi (Complete,
Perfect Awakening)
Biography
Bodh Gaya
Bodhi (Awakening)
Bodhicaryavatara
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
Buddha(s)
Buddhacarita
Buddhahood and Buddha Bodies
Buddha Images
Buddha, Life of the
Buddha, Life of the, in Art
Buddha-nature
Buddhanusmrti (Recollection of the
Buddha)
Buddhavacana (Word of the Buddha)
DIpamkara
Divyavadana
Mahaparinirvana-sutra
Mara
Nirvana
Paramita (Perfection)
Prajna (Wisdom)
Pratltyasamutpada (Dependent
Origination)
Pratyekabuddha
Tathagata
T athagatagarbha
Vipasyin
Cosmology
Buddha(s)
Cosmology
Death
Heavens
Hells
Hells, Images of
Indra
Intermediate States
Pratltyasamutpada (Dependent
Origination)
Pratyekabuddha
Pure Lands
Realms of Existence
Rebirth
Samsara
Sentient Beings
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Countries and Regions
Central Asia
An Shigao
Bamiyan
Central Asia
Central Asia, Buddhist Art in
Dunhuang
Gandharl, Buddhist Literature in
Huayan jing
India, Northwest
Islam and Buddhism
Kumarajlva
Silk Road
China
Ancestors
An Shigao
Apocrypha
Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin lun)
Bianwen
Bianxiang (Transformation Tableaux)
Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng
zhuan)
Bodhidharma
Bsam yas Debate
Catalogues of Scriptures
Cave Sanctuaries
Chan Art
Chan School
Chengguan
China
China, Buddhist Art in
Communism and Buddhism
Confucianism and Buddhism
Dao’an
Daoism and Buddhism
Daosheng
Daoxuan
Daoyi (Mazu)
Deqing
Dharmaraksa
Dunhuang
Ennin
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Famensi
Fanwang jing (Brahma’s Net Sutra)
Faxian
Fazang
Folk Religion, China
Ganjin
Heart Sutra
Huayan Art
Huayan jing
Huayan School
Huineng
Huiyuan
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Juefan (Huihong)
Koan
Kuiji
Kumarajlva
Lineage
Longmen
Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarlka-sutra)
Maitreya
Martial Arts
Mijiao (Esoteric) School
Mohe Zhiguan
Mozhao Chan (Silent Illumination Chan)
Nirvana Sutra
Oxherding Pictures
Paramartha
Persecutions
Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
(Liuzu tan jing)
Poetry and Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Schools
Renwang jing (Humane Kings Sutra)
Sanjie Jiao (Three Stages School)
Sengzhao
Siksananda
Silk Road
Syncretic Sects: Three Teachings
Taiwan
Taixu
Tiantai School
Xuanzang
Yanshou
Yijing
Yinshun
Yixuan
Yun’gang
Zanning
Zhanran
Zhao lun
Zhili
Zhiyi
Zhuhong
Zonggao
Zongmi
Europe and the United States
Buddhist Studies
Christianity and Buddhism
Dalai Lama
Engaged Buddhism
Europe
Suzuki, D. T.
Thich Nhat Hanh
United States
Zen, Popular Conceptions of
India, the Himalayas, and Nepal
Ajanta
Alchi
Ambedkar, B. R.
Anagarika Dharmapala
Aryadeva
Aryasura
Asanga
Asoka
Asvaghosa
Atisha
Bhavaviveka
Bodh Gaya
Buddhacarita
Candraklrti
Cave Sanctuaries
Councils, Buddhist
Devadatta
Dhammapada
Dharmaguptaka
Dharmaklrti
Diamond Sutra
Dignaga
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast Asia
Faxian
Gandharl, Buddhist Literature in
Gavampati
Heart Sutra
Himalayas, Buddhist Art in
HInayana
Hinduism and Buddhism
India
India, Buddhist Art in
India, Northwest
India, South
Islam and Buddhism
Jainism and Buddhism
Jataka
Jataka, Illustrations of
Jatakamala
Kailasa (Kailash)
Kalacakra
Kingship
Lalitavistara
Language, Buddhist Philosophy of
Languages
Lankavatara-sutra
Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarlka-sutra)
Madhyamaka School
Mahakasyapa
Mahamaudgalyayana
Mahamudra
Mahaprajapatl GautamI
Mahasamghika School
Mahasiddha
Mahavastu
Mahayana
Mahlsasaka
Mainstream Buddhist Schools
Matrceta
Milindapanha
Mulasarvastivada-vinaya
Nagarjuna
Naropa
Newari, Buddhist Literature in
Nirvana Sutra
Padmasambhava
Pali, Buddhist Literature in
Paritta and Raksa Texts
Persecutions
Prajnaparamita Literature
Pratimoksa
Pratyutpannasamadhi-sutra
Pudgalavada
Samdhinirmocana-sutra
Sanci
Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Santideva
Sariputra
Sarvastivada and Mulasarvastivada
Satipatthana-sutta
Sautrantika
Sukhavatlvyuha- sutra
Suvarnaprabhasottama-sutra
Tantra
Upagupta
Upali
Vajrayana
Vamsa
Vasubandhu
Vidyadhara
Vijnanavada
Vimalaklrti
Vinaya
Visnu
Yijing
Yogacara School
Japan
Buddhist Studies
Chan Art
Chan School
Clerical Marriage in Japan
Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyo)
Daimoku
Daitokuji
Dogen
Dokyo
Ennin
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Exoteric-Esoteric (Kenmitsu) Buddhism
in Japan
Folk Religion, Japan
Ganjin
Genshin
Gyonen
Hachiman
Hakuin Ekaku
Honen
Honji Suijaku
Horyuji and Todaiji
Huayan Art
Huayan School
Ikkyu
Ingen Ryuki
Inoue Enryo
Ippen Chishin
Japan
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
xxix
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Japan, Buddhist Art in
Japanese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Japanese Royal Family and Buddhism
Jiun Onko
Kamakura Buddhism, Japan
Koan
Koben
Konjaku Monogatari
Kukai
Laity
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarlka-sutra)
Mahayana Precepts in Japan
Meiji Buddhist Reform
Mizuko Kuyo
Murakami Sensho
Nara Buddhism
Nichiren
Nichiren School
Original Enlightenment (Hongaku)
Parish (Danka, Terauke) System in Japan
Phoenix Hall (at the Byodoin)
Provincial Temple System (Kokubunji,
Rishoto)
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Schools
Rennyo
Ryokan
Saicho
Satori (Awakening)
Shingon Buddhism, Japan
Shinran
Shinto (Honji Suijaku) and Buddhism
Shobogenzo
Shotoku, Prince (Taishi)
Shugendo
Soka Gakkai
Suzuki, D. T.
Tachikawaryu
Takuan Soho
Tantra
Tiantai School
Tominaga Nakamoto
Vajrayana
Zen, Popular Conceptions of
Korea
Chan Art
Chan School
Chinul
Chogye School
Confucianism and Buddhism
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Han Yongun
Huayan Art
Huayan School
Hyesim
Hyujong
Kihwa
Koan
Korea
Korea, Buddhist Art in
Korean, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Kyongho
Nine Mountains School of Son
Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three
Kingdoms)
Sokkuram
Tiantai School
Uich’on
Uisang
Wonbulgyo
Wonch’uk
Wonhyo
Yujong
Southeast Asia
Amulets and Talismans
Ananda Temple
Ancestors
Ayutthaya
Bayon
Borobudur
Buddhadasa
Burmese, Buddhist Literature in
Cambodia
Communism and Buddhism
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast Asia
Folk Religion, Southeast Asia
Hinduism and Buddhism
Indonesia and the Malay peninsula
Islam and Buddhism
Khmer, Buddhist Literature in
Laos
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Myanmar
Myanmar, Buddhist Art in
Pali, Buddhist Literature in
Paritta and Raksa Texts
Shwedagon
Southeast Asia, Buddhist Art in
Sukhothai
Thai, Buddhist Literature in
Thailand
Theravada
Theravada Art and Architecture
Thich Nhat Hanh
Upagupta
Vietnam
Vietnamese, Buddhist Influences on
Literature in
Sri Lanka
Anagarika Dharmapala
Buddhaghosa
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast Asia
Hinduism and Buddhism
Pali, Buddhist Literature in
Paritta and Raksa Texts
Sinhala, Buddhist Literature in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, Buddhist Art in
Theravada
Theravada Art and Architecture
Vamsa
Tibet and Mongolia
Atisha
Bka’ brgyud (Kagyu)
Bon
Bsam yas (Samye)
Bsam yas Debate
Bu ston (Bu ton)
Communism and Buddhism
Dakinl
Dalai Lama
Dge lugs (Geluk)
Engaged Buddhism
Islam and Buddhism
Jo khang
Kailasa (Kailash)
Karma pa
Klong chen pa (Longchenpa)
Lama
Ma gcig lab sgron (Machig Labdron)
Mahamudra
Mahasiddha
Mandala
Mar pa (Marpa)
Mi la ras pa (Milarepa)
Mongolia
Naropa
Om Mani Padme Hum
Padmasambhava
Panchen Lama
Potala
Rnying ma (Nyingma)
Sa skya (Sakya)
Sa skya Pandita (Sakya Pandita)
Tantra
Tibet
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Tsong kha pa
Vajrayana
Vidyadhara
Disciples of the Buddha
Ananda
Anathapindada
Arhat
Disciples of the Buddha
Gavampati
Mahakasyapa
Mahamaudgalyayana
Mahaprajapatl GautamI
Ordination
Rahula
Sangha
Sariputra
Upagupta
Upali
xxx
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Divinities, Ghosts, and Spirits
Ancestors
Dakinl
Death
Divinities
Ghost Festival
Ghosts and Spirits
Hachiman
Heavens
Hells
Hells, Images of
Honji Suijaku
Indra
Intermediate States
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Mara
Visnu
Yaksa
Doctrines and Doctrinal Study
Abhidharma
Alayavijnana
Anatman/Atman (No-Self/Self)
Anitya (Impermanence)
Anuttarasamyaksambodhi (Complete,
Perfect Awakening)
Ascetic Practices
Bodhi (Awakening)
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
Body, Perspectives on the
Bsam yas Debate
Buddha-nature
Buddhavacana (Word of the Buddha)
Buddhist Studies
Consciousness, Theories of
Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyo)
Dana (Giving)
Death
Decline of the Dharma
Desire
DharanI
Dharma and Dharmas
Dharmadhatu
Dhyana (Trance State)
Doubt
Duhkha (Suffering)
Ethics
Evil
Faith
Four Noble Truths
Hermeneutics
HInayana
Icchantika
Initiation
Intermediate States
Karma (Action)
Karuna (Compassion)
Language, Buddhist Philosophy of
Logic
Mindfulness
Nirvana
Original Enlightenment (Hongaku)
Paramita (Perfection)
Path
Philosophy
Prajna (Wisdom)
Pratltyasamutpada (Dependent
Origination)
Psychology
Rebirth
Samsara
Skandha (Aggregate)
Sunyata (Emptiness)
T athagatagarbha
Upaya
Vipassana (Sanskrit, Vipasyana)
Folk Religions and Popular
Practices
Amulets and Talismans
Ancestors
Arhat
Arhat Images
Ascetic Practices
Bianwen
Bianxiang (Transformation Tableaux)
Chanting and Liturgy
Cosmology
Dakinl
Daoism and Buddhism
Dana (Giving)
Death
DharanI
Diet
Entertainment and Performance
Evil
Faith
Family, Buddhism and the
Festivals and Calendrical Rituals
Folk Religion: An Overview
Folk Religion, China
Folk Religion, Japan
Folk Religion, Southeast Asia
Gavampati
Ghost Festival
Ghosts and Spirits
Hachiman
Heart Sutra
Heavens
Hells
Hells, Images of
Hinduism and Buddhism
Honji Suijaku
Indra
Initiation
Intermediate States
Karma (Action)
Laity
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Martial Arts
Merit and Merit-Making
Pilgrimage
Rebirth
Self-Immolation
Sentient Beings
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Upagupta
Vimalaklrti
Visnu
Visvantara
Humanities, Thematic Entries
Abortion
Body, Perspectives on the
Colonialism and Buddhism
Death
Desire
Education
Entertainment and Performance
Ethics
Evil
Family, Buddhism and the
Gender
Hermeneutics
Languages
Lineage
Mizuko Kuyo
Modernity and Buddhism
Nationalism and Buddhism
Persecutions
Philosophy
Psychology
Ritual
Sexuality
Slavery
Space, Sacred
War
Women
Literary Genres and Collections
Abhidharma
Agama/Nikaya
Apocrypha
Avadana
Bianwen
Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng
zhuan)
Biography
Canon
Catalogues of Scriptures
Commentarial Literature
Hermeneutics
Konjaku Monogatari
Languages
Poetry and Buddhism
Prajnaparamita Literature
Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three
Kingdoms)
Scripture
Literature, Indigenous; Buddhist
Influences on
Bianwen
Burmese, Buddhist Literature in
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
XXXI
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Chinese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Gandharl, Buddhist Literature in
Japanese, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Khmer, Buddhist Literature in
Korean, Buddhist Influences on
Vernacular Literature in
Languages
Newari, Buddhist Literature in
Pali, Buddhist Literature in
Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Sinhala, Buddhist Literature in
Thai, Buddhist Literature in
Vietnamese, Buddhist Influences on
Literature in
Material Culture
Printing Technologies
Ritual Objects
Robes and Clothing
Silk Road
Meditation and Practice
Abhijna (Higher Knowledges)
Alayavijnana
Ascetic Practices
Bodhi (Awakening)
Bodhicaryavatara
Buddhanusmrti (Recollection of the
Buddha)
Chan School
Consciousness, Theories of
Cosmology
Daimoku
Dana (Giving)
Death
Dhyana (Trance State)
Doubt
Duhkha (Suffering)
Ethics
Faith
Four Noble Truths
Icchantika
Intermediate States
Koan
Lineage
Logic
Mahamudra
Mandala
Mantra
Martial Arts
Meditation
Mindfulness
Miracles
Mudra and Visual Imagery
Nirvana
Om Mani Padme Hum
Paramita (Perfection)
Path
Pilgrimage
Poetry and Buddhism
Prajna (Wisdom)
Psychology
Samsara
Satipatthana-sutta
Satori (Awakening)
Self-Immolation
Soteriology
Sunyata (Emptiness)
Tantra
Vipassana (Sanskrit, Vipasyana)
Yogacara School
Religious Encounters with
Buddhism
Christianity and Buddhism
Communism and Buddhism
Confucianism and Buddhism
Daoism and Buddhism
Folk Religion: An Overview
Folk Religion, China
Folk Religion, Japan
Folk Religion, Southeast Asia
Hinduism and Buddhism
Islam and Buddhism
Jainism and Buddhism
Local Divinities and Buddhism
Shinto (Honji Suijaku) and Buddhism
Syncretic Sects: Three Teachings
Religious Studies, Thematic
Entries
Body, Perspectives on the
Commentarial Literature
Conversion
Cosmology
Dana (Giving)
Death
Decline of the Dharma
Diet
Doubt
Dreams
Duhkha (Suffering)
Education
Ethics
Evil
Faith
Gender
Heavens
Hells
Hermeneutics
History
Icchantika
Initiation
Intermediate States
Karma (Action)
Laity
Lineage
Millenarianism and Millenarian
Movements
Miracles
Monastic Architecture
Monasticism
Monks
Nirvana
Nuns
Ordination
Path
Persecutions
Pilgrimage
Prayer
Precepts
Rebirth
Refuges
Relics and Relics Cults
Repentance and Confession
Ritual
Sangha
Scripture
Self-Immolation
Soteriology
Space, Sacred
Syncretic Sects: Three Teachings
Wilderness Monks
Worship
Ritual Practices
Consecration
Conversion
DharanI
Diet
Etiquette
Initiation
Intermediate States
Kalacakra
Lineage
Mandala
Mantra
Mizuko Kuyo
Mudra and Visual Imagery
Om Mani Padme Hum
Ordination
Portraiture
Pratimoksa
Precepts
Refuges
Relics and Relics Cults
Repentance and Confession
Ritual
Ritual Objects
Self-Immolation
Stupa
Tantra
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Sacred Sites
Ajanta
Bamiyan
Bayon
Bodh Gaya
Borobudur
Cave Sanctuaries
XXXII
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Central Asia, Buddhist Art in
China, Buddhist Art in
Daitokuji
Dunhuang
Esoteric Art, East Asia
Esoteric Art, South and Southeast Asia
Famensi
Himalayas, Buddhist Art in
Horyuji and Todaiji
India, Buddhist Art in
Indonesia, Buddhist Art in
Japan, Buddhist Art in
Jo khang
Kailasa (Kailash)
Korea, Buddhist Art in
Longmen
Mahabodhi Temple
Mandala
Myanmar, Buddhist Art in
Phoenix Hall (at the Byodoin)
Pilgrimage
Potala
Pure Land Art
Relics and Relics Cults
Reliquary
Space, Sacred
SancI
Shwedagon
SOkkuram
Southeast Asia, Buddhist Art in
Sri Lanka, Buddhist Art in
Stupa
Theravada Art and Architecture
Yun’gang
Saiiga, General Themes
Abhijna (Higher Knowledges)
Chanting and Liturgy
Clerical Marriage in Japan
Consecration
Conversion
Councils, Buddhist
Dana (Giving)
Death
Decline of the Dharma
Devadatta
Economics
Education
Entertainment and Performance
Etiquette
Faith
Festivals and Calendrical Rituals
Hair
Initiation
Jewels
Karma (Action)
Laity
Lama
Law and Buddhism
Lineage
Mahasiddha
Mahayana Precepts in Japan
Martial Arts
Medicine
Meiji Buddhist Reform
Merit and Merit-Making
Mindfulness
Monastic Architecture
Monasticism
Monastic Militias
Monks
Nuns
Ordination
Parish (Danka, Terauke) System in Japan
Persecutions
Pilgrimage
Poetry and Buddhism
Politics and Buddhism
Pratimoksa
Prayer
Precepts
Refuges
Repentance and Confession
Ritual Objects
Robes and Clothing
Sangha
Self-Immolation
Sexuality
Slavery
Usury
Vamsa
Vidyadhara
Vinaya
Wilderness Monks
Women
Worship
Schools and Traditions
Bka’ brgyud (Kagyu)
Bon
Bsam yas (Samye)
Chan School
Chogye School
Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyo)
Dge lugs (Geluk)
Dharmaguptaka
Exoteric-Esoteric (Kenmitsu) Buddhism
in Japan
Faxiang School
HInayana
Huayan School
Kamakura Buddhism, Japan
Madhyamaka School
Mahasamghika School
Mahayana
Mahlsasaka
Mainstream Buddhist Schools
Mijiao (Esoteric) School
Mozhao Chan (Silent Illumination Chan)
Nara Buddhism
Nichiren School
Nine Mountains School of Son
Pudgalavada
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Schools
Rnying ma (Nyingma)
Sanjie Jiao (Three Stages School)
Sarvastivada and Mulasarvastivada
Sa skya (Sakya)
Sautrantika
Shingon Buddhism, Japan
Shugendo
Soka Gakkai
Tachikawaryu
Tantra
T athagatagarbha
Theravada
Tiantai School
Vajrayana
Vijnanavada
Vinaya
Wonbulgyo
Yogacara School
Zen, Popular Conceptions of
Scriptures and Texts
Abhidharma
Abhidharma
Abhidharmakosabhasya
Apocrypha
Apocrypha
Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin lun)
Fanwang jing (Brahma’s Net Sutra)
Heart Sutra
Renwang jing (Humane Kings Sutra)
Commentaries and Treatises
Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin lun)
Commentarial Literature
Dhammapada
Milindapanha
Mohe Zhiguan
Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
(Liuzu tan jing)
Shobogenzo
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Zhao lun
Genres
Agama/Nikaya
Abhidharma
Apocrypha
Avadana
Canon
Catalogues of Scriptures
Commentarial Literature
Hermeneutics
Jataka
Mahayana
Paritta and Raksa Texts
Prajnaparamita Literature
Scripture
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
xxxiii
Synoptic Outline of Entries
Sutra
Tantra
Vinaya
Vamsa
Jataka , Avadana and Story
Literature
Avadana
Avadanasataka
Bodhicaryavatara
Buddhacarita
Divyavadana
Lalitavistara
Jataka
Jatakamala
Konjaku Monogatari
Mahavastu
Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three
Kingdoms)
Vamsa
Sutra
Agama/Nikaya
Diamond Sutra
Fanwang jing (Brahma’s Net Sutra)
Heart Sutra
Huayan jing
Lanka vatara- sutra
Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarlka-sutra)
Mahaparinirvana-sutra
Nirvana Sutra
Prajnaparamita Literature
Pratyutpannasamadhi-sutra
Renwang jing (Humane Kings Sutra)
Samdhinirmocana-sutra
Satipatthana-sutta
Scripture
Sukhavatlvyuha-sutra
Sutra
Sutra Illustrations
Suvarnaprabhasottama-sutra
Tantra
Kalacakra
Tantra
Vinaya
Law and Buddhism
Mulasarvastivada-vinaya
Pratimoksa
Vinaya
Sexuality and Gender Issues
Abortion
Dakinl
Gender
Hair
Laity
Mizuko Kuyo
Monks
Nuns
Sangha
Sexuality
Women
Social, Economic, and Political
Issues
Colonialism and Buddhism
Communism and Buddhism
Conversion
Councils, Buddhist
Dalai Lama
Death
Decline of the Dharma
Diet
Economics
Education
Engaged Buddhism
Entertainment and Performance
Ethics
Etiquette
Family, Buddhism and the
Festivals and Calendrical Rituals
Folk Religion: An Overview
Folk Religion, China
Folk Religion, Japan
Folk Religion, Southeast Asia
Gender
Ghost Festival
Ghosts and Spirits
Hair
History
Honji Suijaku
Japanese Royal Family and Buddhism
Jewels
Kingship
Laity
Law and Buddhism
Martial Arts
Medicine
Merit and Merit-Making
Millenarianism and Millenarian
Movements
Mizuko Kuyo
Modernity and Buddhism
Monastic Militias
Nationalism and Buddhism
Persecutions
Politics and Buddhism
Provincial Temple System (Kokubunji,
Rishoto)
Self-Immolation
Shinto (Honji Suijaku) and Buddhism
Silk Road
Slavery
Usury
Vinaya
War
xxxiv
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Maps
THE DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM
Major Buddhist Sites in Asia
The Spread of Buddhism in the Indian Subcontinent
Routes of Trade and Religious Dissemination in Asia
xxxv
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Map of the Indian subcontinent and East and Southeast Asia, with major Buddhist sites identified. XNR Productions, Inc. Reproduced
by permission of the Gale Group.
The Spread of Buddhism in the Indian Subcontinent
The Spread of Buddhism
in the Indian Subcontinent
Cradle of Buddhism
Spread of Buddhism
Main center of early Buddhist school
Asokan epigraph or pillar
Rock-cut cave
City
Map of the Indian subcontinent, with arrows showing the spread of Buddhism. XNR Productions, Inc. Reproduced by permission of the
Gale Group.
xxxviii
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
of trade routes and religious dissemination of Buddhism in Asia. XNR Productions, Inc. Reproduced by permission of the Gale
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ABHIDHARMA
In the centuries after the death of the Buddha, with
the advent of settled monastic communities, there
emerged new forms of religious praxis and modes of
transmitting and interpreting the teaching. In this
more organized setting, Buddhist practitioners began
to reexamine received traditions and to develop new
methods of organization that would make explicit their
underlying significance and facilitate their faithful
transmission. Although begun as a pragmatic method
of elaborating the received teachings, this scholastic
enterprise soon led to new doctrinal and textual de-
velopments and became the focus of a new form of
scholarly monastic life. The products of this scholar-
ship became revered tradition in their own right, even-
tually eclipsing the dialogues of the Buddha and of his
disciples as the arbiter of the true teaching and deter-
mining both the exegetical method and the salient is-
sues that became the focus of later Indian Buddhist
doctrinal investigations.
Abhidharma, its meaning and origins
This scholastic enterprise was called abhidharma (Pali:
abhidhamma ), a multivalent term used to refer to the
new techniques of doctrinal interpretation, to the body
of texts that this interpretation yielded, and finally to
the crucial discriminating insight that was honed
through doctrinal interpretation and employed in re-
ligious praxis. Traditional sources offer two explana-
tions for the term abhidharma : “with regard to ( abhi )
the teaching (dharma)” or the “highest or further
(abhi) teaching (dharma).” The subject of abhidharma
analysis was, of course, the teaching (dharma) as em-
bodied in the dialogues of the Buddha and his disci-
ples. However, abhidharma did not merely restate or
recapitulate the teaching of the sutras, but reorganized
their content and explicated their implicit meaning
through commentary. In abhidharma, the specific con-
tent of the various individual sutras was abstracted and
reconstituted in accordance with new analytical crite-
ria, thereby allowing one to discern their true message.
This true message, as set down in abhidharma texts,
consists of the discrimination of the various events and
components (dharma) that combine to form all of ex-
perience. This discrimination in turn enables one to
distinguish those defiling factors that ensnare one in
the process of rebirth from those liberating factors
that lead to enlightenment. And finally, when the de-
filing and liberating factors are clearly distinguished,
the proper path of practice becomes clear. Hence, ab-
hidharma was no mere scholastic commentary, but
rather soteriological exegesis that was essential for the
effective practice of the path.
Traditional sources do not offer a uniform account
of the origins of the abhidharma method or of the ab-
hidharma corpus of texts. Several traditional accounts
attribute the composition of abhidharma texts to a first
council supposedly held immediately after the death of
the Buddha, at which his teachings were arranged and
orally recited in three sections: the dialogues (sutra);
the disciplinary monastic codes (vinaya); and the tax-
onomic lists of factors (matrkd or abhidharma). Im-
plicitly, therefore, these traditional sources attribute
authorship of the abhidharma to the Buddha himself.
This question of the authorship and, by implication,
the authenticity and authority of the abhidharma
continued to be a controversial issue within subse-
quent, independent abhidharma treatises. Although
many mainstream Buddhist schools accepted the
I
Abhidharma
authority of abhidharma texts and included them
within their canons as the word of the Buddha, several
schools rejected the authority of abhidharma and
claimed that abhidharma treatises were composed by
fallible, human teachers.
Independent abhidharma treatises were composed
over a period of at least seven hundred years (ca. third
or second centuries b.C.e. to fifth century C.E.). The ap-
pearance and eventual proliferation of these indepen-
dent abhidharma treatises coincides with the emergence
of separate schools within the early Buddhist commu-
nity. Doctrinal differences among various groups,
which were, in part, the natural result of differing lin-
eages of textual transmission, were refined in scholas-
tic debates and amplified by the composition of
independent abhidharma exegetical works. Scholarly
opinion on the sources for the genre of independent
abhidharma treatises is divided between two hypothe-
ses, each of which finds support in structural charac-
teristics of abhidharma texts. The first hypothesis
emphasizes the practice of formulating matrices or tax-
onomic lists ( matrka ) of all topics found in the tradi-
tional teaching, which are then arranged according to
both numeric and qualitative criteria. The second hy-
pothesis stresses the doctrinal discussions ( dhar -
makatha ) in catechetical style that attempt to clarify
complex or obscure points of doctrine. These two
structural characteristics suggest a typical process by
which independent abhidharma treatises were com-
posed: A matrix outline served to record or possibly
direct discussions in which points of doctrine were
then elaborated through a pedagogical question and
answer technique.
Regardless of which hypothesis more accurately
represents the origin of independent abhidharma trea-
tises, this dual exegetical method reflects a persistent
tendency in the Buddhist tradition, from the earliest
period onward, toward analytical presentation through
taxonomic categories and toward discursive elabora-
tion through catechesis. The need to memorize the
teaching obviously promoted the use of categorizing
lists as a mnemonic device, and certain sutras describe
this taxonomic method as a way of encapsulating the
essentials of the teaching and averting dissension.
Other sutras proceed much like oral commentaries, in
which a brief doctrinal statement by the Buddha is an-
alyzed in full through a process of interrogation and
exposition. Both of these methods, amply attested in
the sutra collection, were successively expanded in sub-
sequent independent scholastic treatises, some of
which were not included within the sectarian, canon-
ical abhidharma collections. For example, the collec-
tion of miscellaneous texts ( khuddakapitaka ) of the
canon of the Theravada school includes two texts uti-
lizing these methods that were not recognized to be
canonical “abhidharma” texts. The Patisambhidamagga
( Path of Discrimination) contains brief discussions of
doctrinal points structured according to a topical list
( matika ), and the Niddesa ( Exposition ) consists of com-
mentary on the early verse collection, the Suttanipata.
In fact, a clear-cut point of origin for the abhidharma
as an independent section of the textual canon only re-
flects the perspective of the later tradition that desig-
nates, after a long forgotten evolution, certain texts as
“ abhidharma ” in contrast to sutras or other possibly ear-
lier expository works that share similar characteristics.
Abhidharma texts
Traditional accounts of early Indian Buddhist schools
suggest that while certain schools may have shared
some textual collections, many transmitted their own
independent abhidharma treatises. Xuanzang (ca.
600-664 c.e.), the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who vis-
ited India in the seventh century c.e., is reported to
have collected numerous texts of as many as seven
mainstream Buddhist schools. These almost certainly
included canonical abhidharma texts representing var-
ious schools. However, only two complete canonical
collections, representing the Theravada and Sarvasti-
vada schools, and several texts of undetermined sec-
tarian affiliation are preserved. Even though each of
the Theravada and Sarvastivada abhidharma collec-
tions contains seven texts, the individual texts of the
two collections cannot be neatly identified with one
another. However, a close examination of certain texts
from each collection and a comparison with other ex-
tant abhidharma materials reveals similarities in the
underlying taxonomic lists, in exegetical structure, and
in the topics discussed. These similarities suggest ei-
ther contact among the groups who composed and
transmitted these texts, or a common ground of doc-
trinal exegesis and even textual material predating the
emergence of the separate schools.
The Theravada canonical abhidharma collection,
the only one extant in an Indian language (Pali), con-
tains seven texts:
1. Vibhahga (Analysis);
2. Puggalapahhatti ( Designation of Persons);
3. Dhatukatha ( Discussion of Elements);
4. Dhammasahgani ( Enumeration of Factors);
2
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Abhidharma
5. Yamaka {Pairs);
6. Patthana {Foundational Conditions ); and
7. Kathdvatthu {Points of Discussion) .
The Sarvastivada canonical abhidharma collection,
also including seven texts, is extant only in Chinese
translation:
1. Sahgttiparyaya {Discourse on the SahgTti);
2. Dharmaskandha {Aggregation of Factors);
3. Prajhaptisastra {Treatise on Designations);
4. Dhatukaya {Collection on the Elements);
5. Vijhanakaya ( Collection on Perceptual Conscious-
ness);
6. Prakaranapada {Exposition); and
7. Jhanaprasthana ( Foundations of Knowledge) .
Certain other early abhidharma texts extant in Chi-
nese translation probably represent the abhidharma
canonical texts of yet other schools: for example, the
*Sdriputrabhidharmasastra (T. 1548), which may
have been affiliated with a Vibhajyavada school, or
the *SammatIyasastra (T. 1649) affiliated by its title
with the Sammatlya school, associated with the Vat-
slputrlyas.
In the absence of historical evidence for the accurate
dating of the extant abhidharma treatises, scholars have
tentatively proposed relative chronologies based pri-
marily upon internal formal criteria that presuppose a
growing complexity of structural organization and of
exegetical method. It is assumed that abhidharma texts
of the earliest period bear the closest similarities to the
sutras, and are often structured as commentaries on en-
tire sutras or on sutra sections arranged according to
taxonomic lists. The Vibhahga and Puggalapahhatti of
the Theravadins and the Sahgttiparyaya and Dhar-
maskandha of the Sarvastivadins exemplify these char-
acteristics. The next set of abhidharma texts exhibits
emancipation from the confines of commentary upon
individual sutras, by adopting a more abstract stance
that subsumes doctrinal material from a variety of
sources under an abstract analytical framework of of-
ten newly created categories. This middle period would
include the five remaining canonical texts within the
Theravada and the Sarvastivada abhidharma canonical
collections. The catechetical style of commentarial ex-
egesis, evident even in the earliest abhidharma texts, be-
comes more structured and formulaic in texts of the
middle period. The final products in this process of ab-
straction are the truly independent treatises that display
marked creativity in technical terminology and doctri-
nal elaboration. Some of the texts, in particular the
Kathavatthu of the Theravadins and the Vijhanakaya of
the Sarvastivadins, display an awareness of differences
in doctrinal interpretation and factional alignments, al-
though they do not adopt the developed polemical
stance typical of many subsequent abhidharma works.
The composition of abhidharma treatises did not
end with the canonical collections, but continued with
commentaries on previous abhidharma works and with
independent summary digests or exegetical manuals.
Within the Theravada tradition, several fifth-century
C.E. commentators compiled new works based upon
earlier commentaries dating from the first several
centuries C.E. They also composed independent sum-
maries of abhidhamma analysis, prominent among
which are the Visuddhimagga {Path of Purification) by
Buddhaghosa and the Abhidhammavatara {Intro-
duction to Abhidhamma) by Buddhadatta. The Ab-
hidhammatthasahgaha {Collection of Abhidhamma
Matters) composed by Anuruddha in the twelfth cen-
tury c.E. became thereafter the most frequently used
summary of abhidhamma teaching within the Ther-
avada tradition.
The first five centuries c.E. were also a creative pe-
riod of efflorescence for the abhidharma of the Sar-
vastivadins. In texts of this period, summary exposition
combines with exhaustive doctrinal analysis and
polemical debate. The teaching is reorganized in ac-
cordance with an abstract and more logical structure,
which is then interwoven with the earlier taxonomic
lists. Preeminent among these texts for both their
breadth and their influence upon later scholastic com-
positions are the voluminous, doctrinal compendia,
called vibhasa, which are represented by three different
recensions extant in Chinese translation, the last and
best known of which is called the Mahavibhasa {Great
Exegesis). Composed over several centuries from the
second century c.E. onward, these ostensibly simple
commentaries on an earlier canonical abhidharma text,
the Jhanaprasthana, exhaustively enumerate the posi-
tions of contending groups on each doctrinal point,
often explicitly attributing these views to specific
schools or masters. Instead of arguing for a single, or-
thodox viewpoint, the vibhasa compendia display an
encyclopedic intention that is often content with com-
prehensiveness in cataloguing the full spectrum of dif-
fering sectarian positions. The vibhasa compendia are
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
3
Abhidharma
repositories of several centuries of scholastic activity
representing multiple branches of the Sarvastivada
school, which was spread throughout greater north-
western India. However, they came to be particu-
larly associated by tradition with the Sarvastivadins
of Kashmir who, thereby, acquired the appellation,
Sarvastivada-Vaibhasika.
Three other texts composed during the same period
that are associated with the northwestern region of Gand-
hara display a markedly different structure and purpose:
the *Abhidharmahrdayasastra ( Heart of Abhidharma) by
Dharmasresthin; the *Abhidharmahrdayasastra ( Heart
of Abhidharma) by Upasanta; and the *Misrakabhid-
harmahrdayasastra ( Heart of Abhidharma with Miscel-
laneous Additions) by Dharmatrata. Composed in verse
with an accompanying prose auto-commentary, these
texts function as summary digests of all aspects of the
teaching presented according to a logical and non-
repetitive structure. In contrast to the earlier numeri-
cally guided taxonomic lists well-suited as mnemonic
aids, these texts adopt a new method of organization,
attempting to subsume the prior taxonomic lists and
all discussion of specific doctrinal points under gen-
eral topical sections. This new organizational structure
was to become paradigmatic for the texts of the final
period of Sarvastivada abhidharma.
This final period in the development of Sarvastivada
abhidharma treatises includes texts that are the prod-
ucts of single authors and that adopt a polemical style
of exposition displaying a fully developed sectarian
self-consciousness. They also employ increasingly so-
phisticated methods of argumentation in order to es-
tablish the position of their own school and to refute
at length the views of others. Despite this polemical
approach, they nonetheless purport to serve as well-
organized expository treatises or pedagogical digests
for the entirety of Buddhist teaching. The Abhidhar-
makosa ( Treasury of Abhidharma), including both
verses ( karika ) and an auto -commentary fbhdsya), by
Vasubandhu became the most important text from
this period, central to the subsequent traditions of ab-
hidharma studies in Tibet and East Asia. Adopting both
the verse-commentary structure and the topical orga-
nization of the *Abhidharmahrdaya, the Abhidhar-
makosa presents a detailed account of Sarvastivada
abhidharma teaching with frequent criticism of Sar-
vastivada positions in its auto-commentary. The Ab-
hidharmakosa provoked a response from certain
Kashmiri Sarvastivada masters who attempted to refute
non-Sarvastivada views presented in Vasubandhu’s
work and to reestablish their own interpretation of or-
thodox Kashmiri Sarvastivada positions. These works,
the *Nyayanusarasastra ( Conformance to Correct Prin-
ciple) and *Abhidharmasamayapradlpika ( Illumination
of the Collection of Abhidharma) by Sanghabhadra and
the Abhidharmadlpa ( Illumination of Abhidharma) by
an unknown author who refers to himself as the Dlpa-
kara (author of the DTpa) were the final works of the
Sarvastivada abhidharma tradition that have survived.
Abhidharma exegesis
Abhidharma exegesis evolved over a long period as both
the agent and the product of a nascent and then increas-
ingly disparate Buddhist sectarian self-consciousness.
Given the voluminous nature of even the surviving lit-
erature that provides a record of this long doctrinal
history, any outline of abhidharma method must be
content with sketching the most general contours and
touching on a few representative examples. Nonethe-
less, scanning the history of abhidharma, one discerns
a general course of development that in the end re-
sulted in a complex interpretative edifice radically dif-
ferent from the sutras upon which it was believed to
be based.
In its earliest stage, that is, as elaborative commen-
tary, abhidharma was guided by the intention simply
to clarify the content of the sutras. Taxonomic lists
were used as a mnemonic device facilitating oral
preservation and transmission; catechetical investiga-
tion was employed in a teaching environment of oral
commentary guided by the pedagogical technique of
question and answer. Over time, the taxonomic lists
grew in complexity as the simpler lists presented in the
sutra teachings were combined in new ways, and ad-
ditional categories of qualitative analysis were created
to specify modes of interaction among discrete aspects
of the sutra teaching. The initially terse catechetical in-
vestigation was expanded with discursive exposition
and new methods of interpretation and argumenta-
tion, which were demanded by an increasingly polem-
ical environment. These developments coincided with
a move from oral to written methods of textual trans-
mission and with the challenge presented by other
Buddhist and non-Buddhist groups. In its final stage,
abhidharma texts became complex philosophical trea-
tises employing sophisticated methods of argumenta-
tion, whose purpose was the analysis and elaboration
of doctrinal issues for their own sake. The very sutras
from which abhidharma arose were now subordinated
as mere statements in need of analysis that only the ab-
hidharma could provide. No longer serving as the start-
ing point for abhidharma exegesis, the sutras were
4
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Abhidharma
invoked only as a supplemental authority to buttress
independent reasoned investigations or to corroborate
doctrinal points actually far removed from their scrip-
tural antecedents.
Abstract analysis, which is the guiding principle of
abhidharma exegesis, also became the salient charac-
teristic of its doctrinal interpretation. The analytical
tendency, evident in lists present even in the sutras, ex-
panded in abhidharma to encompass all of experience.
In very simple terms, abhidharma attempts an ex-
haustive and systematic accounting of every possible
type of experience in terms of its ultimate constituents.
Abhidharma views experience with a critical analytical
eye, breaking down the gross objects of ordinary per-
ception into their constituent factors or dharmas and
clarifying the causal interaction among these discrete
factors. This analysis was not, however, motivated by
simple abstract interest, but rather by a soteriological
purpose at the very core of Buddhist religious praxis.
Analysis determines the requisite factors of which each
event consists, distinguishing those factors that lead to
suffering and rebirth from those that contribute to
their termination. This very process of analysis was
identified with the insight that functions in religious
praxis to cut off ensnaring factors and to cultivate those
leading to liberation.
Abhidharma analysis focused on refining these lists
of factors and on investigating the problems that arise
in using them to explain experience. Simple enumer-
ations of factors found in the earlier sutras include the
lists of five aggregates (skandha), twelve sense-spheres
( dyatana ), and eighteen elements ( dhatu ) that were
used to describe animate beings, or the lists of prac-
tices and qualities that were to be incorporated into
the set of thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment, whose
cultivation results in the attainment of enlightenment.
These earlier analytical lists were preserved in abhid-
harma treatises and integrated into comprehensive and
complex intersecting classifications that aimed to clar-
ify both the unique identity of each factor and all pos-
sible modes of conditioning interaction among them.
The abhidharma treatises of various schools proposed
differing lists of factors containing as many as seventy-
five, eighty-one, or one hundred discrete categories.
For example, the Sarvastivadins adopted a system of
seventy-five basic categories of factors distinguished
according to their intrinsic nature ( svabhava ), which
were then grouped in five distinct classes. The first four
classes (material form [ rupa ] — eleven; mind [citta] —
one; mental factors [caitta] — forty-six; and factors
dissociated from material form and mind [cit-
taviprayuktasamskara\ — fourteen) comprise all con-
ditioned factors ( samskrta ), that is, factors that par-
ticipate in causal interaction and are subject to arising
and passing away. The fifth class comprises three un-
conditioned factors ( asamskrta ), which neither arise
nor pass away.
Through abhidharma analysis, all experiential
events were explained as arising from the interaction
of a certain number of these factors. Particular occur-
rences of individual factors were further characterized
in accordance with additional specific criteria or sets
of qualities including their moral quality as virtuous,
unvirtuous, or indeterminate, their locus of occur-
rence as connected to the realm of desire, the realm of
form, the formless realm, or not connected to any
realm, their connection to animate experience as char-
acteristic of sentient beings or not, and their condi-
tioning efficacy as resulting from certain types of
causes or leading to certain types of effects. To give an
example, a particular instance of a mental factor, such
as conception ( samjnd ), can be virtuous in moral qual-
ity, characteristic of sentient beings, connected to the
realm of desire, and so on. In other circumstance, an-
other occurrence of the same factor of conception,
while still characteristic of sentient beings, can be un-
virtuous and connected to the realm of form. Although
the specific character of each instance of conception
differs as virtuous, or unvirtuous, and so on, all such
instances, regardless of their particular qualities, share
the same intrinsic nature as conception and can, there-
fore, be placed within the same fundamental category.
Thus, the taxonomic schema of seventy-five factors
represents seventy-five categories of intrinsic nature,
each of which occurs phenomenally or experientially
in innumerable instances. Through this disciplined ex-
ercise of exhaustive analysis in terms of constituent
factors, experience can be seen as it actually is, the fac-
tors causing further suffering can be discarded, and
those contributing toward liberation can be isolated
and cultivated.
This exhaustive abhidharma analysis of experience
occasioned a number of doctrinal controversies that
served to demarcate different schools. Many of these
controversies were directed by fundamental disagree-
ments that could be termed ontological, specifically
concerning the way in which the different factors con-
stituting experience exist and the dynamics of their in-
teraction or conditioning. Such ontological concerns
motivated the early lists of factors in the sutras, which
were used to support the fundamental Buddhist teach-
ing of no-self (anatman) by demonstrating that no
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
5
Abhidharma
perduring, unchanging, independent self (atman)
could be found. In abhidharma treatises the focus of
ontological concern shifted from gross objects, such as
the self, to the factors or dharmas of which these ob-
jects were understood to consist.
Perhaps the most distinctive ontology was proposed
by the Sarvastivadins, “those who claim sarvam asti,”
or “everything exists.” Beginning from the fundamen-
tal Buddhist teaching of anitya (impermanence), they
suggested that the constituent factors of experience ex-
ist as discrete and real entities, arising and passing away
within the span of a single moment. But such a view
of experience as an array of strictly momentary factors
would seem to make continuity and indeed any con-
ditioning interaction among the discrete factors im-
possible. Factors of one moment, whose existence is
limited to that moment, could never condition the
arising of subsequent factors that do not yet exist; and
factors of the subsequent moment must then arise
without a cause since their prior causes no longer ex-
ist. To safeguard both the Buddhist teaching of im-
permanence and the conditioning process that is
essential to account for ordinary experience, the Sar-
vastivadins suggested a novel reinterpretation of exis-
tence. Each factor, they claimed, is characterized by
both an intrinsic nature, which exists unchanged in the
past, present, and future, and an activity or causal ef-
ficacy, which arises and passes away due to the influ-
ence of conditions within the span of the present
moment. Only those factors that are defined by both
intrinsic nature and the possibility of activity exist as
real entities ( dravya ); the composite objects of ordi-
nary experience that lack intrinsic nature exist only as
mental constructs or provisional designations ( praj -
hapti). This model, the Sarvastivadins claimed, pre-
serves the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence, since
each factor’s activity arises and passes away, and yet
also explains continuity and the process of condition-
ing, since factors exist as intrinsic nature in the past,
present, and future. Such past (or future) existent fac-
tors can then, through various special types of causal
efficacy, serve as conditions in the arising of subse-
quent factors. The Sarvastivada ontological model be-
came the subject of heated debate and was rejected by
other schools (e.g., the Theravada and the Darstantika)
who claimed that factors exist only in the present, and
not in the past and future. According to the Darstan-
tikas, intrinsic nature cannot be distinguished from a
factor’s activity. Instead, a factor’s very existence is its
activity, and experience is nothing other than an un-
interrupted conditioning process. The fragmentation
of this conditioning process into discrete factors pos-
sessed of individual intrinsic nature and unique effi-
cacy is nothing but a mental fabrication.
These ontological investigations generated complex
theories of conditioning and intricate typologies of
causes and conditions. There is evidence for several ri-
val classifications of individual causes and conditions,
each of which accounts for a specific mode of condi-
tioning interaction among specific categories of fac-
tors: For example, the Theravadins proposed a set of
twenty-four conditions; the Sarvastivadins, two sepa-
rate sets of four conditions and six causes. Besides es-
tablishing different typologies of causes and conditions,
the schools also disagreed on the causal modality ex-
ercised by these specific types. The Sarvastivadins ac-
knowledged that certain of these causes and conditions
arise prior to their effects, while others, which exert a
supportive conditioning efficacy, arise simultaneously
with their effects. The Darstantikas, however, allowed
only successive causation; a cause must always precede
its effect. In these debates about causality, the nature of
animate or personal conditioning — that is, efficacious
action, or karma — and the theory of dependent origi-
nation intended to account for animate conditioning
were, naturally, central issues because of their funda-
mental role in all Buddhist teaching and practice.
The investigation of these doctrinal controversies,
which came to occupy an ever greater position in later
abhidharma treatises, required the development of
more formal methods of argumentation that employed
both supporting scriptural citations and reasoned in-
vestigations. In the earliest examples of such argu-
ments, reasoned investigations did not yet possess the
power of independent proof and were considered valid
only in conjunction with supportive scriptural cita-
tions. This reliance upon scriptural citations spurred
the development of a systematic hermeneutics that
would mediate conflicting positions by judging the au-
thenticity and authority of corroborating scriptural
passages and determining the correct mode of their in-
terpretation. In general, the interpretative principles
applied were inclusive and harmonizing; any statement
deemed in conformity with the teaching of the Bud-
dha or with his enlightenment experience was accepted
as genuine. Hierarchies were created that incorporated
divergent scriptural passages by valuing them differ-
ently. And finally, contradictory passages in the sutras
or within abhidharma texts were said to represent the
variant perspectives from which the Buddhist teaching
could be presented. Notable for its parallel with later
Buddhist ontology and epistemology was the hermeneu-
6
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Abhidharmakos'abhasya
tic technique whereby certain passages or texts were
judged to have explicit meaning ( nltartha ) expressing
absolute truth or reality, while others were judged to
have implicit meaning ( neyartha ) expressing mere
conventional truth. And for the abhidharma texts, the
sutras were merely implicit and in need of further in-
terpretation that could be provided only by the explicit
abhidharma treatises. In abhidharma texts of the later
period, reasoned investigations were deemed suffi-
cient, and the supporting scriptural references became
decontextualized commonplaces, cited simply to vali-
date the use of key terms in an abhidharma context.
Reasoned investigations began to be appraised by in-
dependent non-scriptural criteria, such as internal
consistency, and the absence of logical faults, such as
fallacious causal justification. The doctrinal analysis
and methods of argumentation developed within ab-
hidharma treatises defined the course for later Indian
Buddhist scholasticism, which refined and expanded
its abhidharma heritage through the addition of new
doctrinal perspectives, increasingly sophisticated tech-
niques of argument, and a wider context of both intra-
and extra-Buddhist debate.
See also: Abhidharmakosabhasya; Anatman/Atman
(No-Self/Self); Canon; Commentarial Literature;
Councils, Buddhist; Dharma and Dharmas; Psychol-
ogy; Sarvastivada and Mulasarvastivada
Bibliography
Bareau, Andre. “Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Vehicule et leurs
Abhidharmapitaka.” Bulletin de VEcole Fran^aise d’Extreme-
Orient 50 (1952): 1-11.
Cox, Collett. “The Unbroken Treatise: Scripture and Argument
in Early Buddhist Scholasticism.” In Innovation in Religious
Traditions: Essays in the Interpretation of Religious Change,
ed. Michael A. Williams, Collett Cox, and Martin S. Jaffee.
Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 1992.
Cox, Collett. Disputed Dharmas: Early Buddhist Theories on Ex-
istence. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies,
1995.
Cox, Collett. “Kasmlra: Vaibhasika Orthodoxy (Chapter 3).” In
Sarvastivada Buddhist Scholasticism, by Charles Willemen,
Bart Dessein, and Collett Cox. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
1997.
Frauwallner, Erich. Studies in Abhidharma Literature and the
Origins of Buddhist Philosophical Systems, tr. Sophie Francis
Kidd. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.
Gethin, Rupert. “The Matikas: Memorization, Mindfulness, and
the List.” In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mind-
fulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism,
ed. Janet Gyatso. Albany: State University of New York Press,
1992.
Hirakawa Akira. A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni
to Early Mahayana, tr. Paul Groner. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1990.
Nyanatiloka Mahathera. Guide through the Abhidhamma Pitaka
(1938). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society,
1971.
Potter, Karl; with Buswell, Robert E.; Jaini, Padmanabh S.; and
Reat, Noble Ross; eds. Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D.,
Vol. 7: Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1996.
Watanabe Fumimaro. Philosophy and Its Development in the
Nikayas and Abhidhamma. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983.
Collett Cox
ABHIDHARMAKOSABHASYA
The Abhidharmakosa ( Treasury of Abhidharma) was
composed by the fourth- or fifth-century Indian Bud-
dhist master, Vasubandhu. No scholarly consensus
exists concerning whether or not Vasubandhu, the au-
thor of the Abhidharmakosa, should be identified with
Vasubandhu, the author of numerous Mahayana and
Yogacara school treatises. According to traditional
biographical accounts, Vasubandhu composed the
verses of the Abhidharmakosa, or karika, as a digest of
orthodox Kashmiri Sarvastivada-Vaibhasika abhidharma
doctrine. However, in his prose auto-commentary, the
bhdsya, Vasubandhu frequently criticized Sarvastivada
doctrinal positions and presented his own divergent
interpretations.
Typical of the later abhidharma genre of polemical,
summary digests, the Abhidharmakosa attempts to pre-
sent the entirety of abhidharma doctrinal teaching ac-
cording to a logical format, while also recording
variant, sectarian interpretations and often lengthy
arguments on specific points. For his organizational
structure and much of his content, Vasubandhu relied
upon earlier abhidharma treatises: notably, for content,
upon the massive scholastic compendia ( vibhasa ) of
Kashmir, and for structure and tenor of interpretation,
upon the Abhidharmahrdaya ( Heart of Abhidharma)
texts of Gandhara. The Abhidharmakosa is divided into
nine chapters ( nirdesa ):
1. Elements ( dhatu )
2. Faculties ( indriya )
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
7
Abhijna (Higher Knowledges)
3. Worlds ( loka )
4. Action (karma)
5. Contaminants ( anusaya )
6. Path of Religious Praxis and Religious Persons
( margapudgala )
7. Knowledge (jnana)
8. Meditative States ( samdpatti )
9. Person ( pudgala )
The ninth chapter contains a refutation of the theory
of the existence of the person and may represent a sep-
arate treatise by Vasubandhu, appended to the re-
mainder of the Abhidharmakosa. The Abhidharmakosa
became the most influential early Indian Buddhist Ab-
hidharma text within the later scholastic traditions of
Tibet and East Asia, where it served as a textbook
within monastic curricula and generated numerous
commentaries.
See also: Abhidharma; Dharma and Dharmas; Sar-
vastivada and Mulasarvastivada
Bibliography
La Vallee Poussin, Louis de, trans. V Abhidharmakosa de Va-
subandhu, 6 vols. Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1923-1931. English
trans. Leo M. Pruden, Abhidharmakosabhasyam, Vols. 1-4.
Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1988-1990.
Collett Cox
ABHIJNA (HIGHER KNOWLEDGES)
Abhijna (Pali, abhinhcr, higher knowledge) refers to a
stereotyped set of typically six spiritual powers ascribed
to buddhas and their chief disciples. The first five are
mundane and attainable through the perfection of
concentration (samadhi) in meditative trance (dhyana;
Pali, jhana). As earthly attainments, they are deemed
available to non-Buddhist sages. In contrast, the sixth
higher knowledge is supramundane and exclusively
Buddhist, and attainable only through insight
( vipasyana ; Pali, vipassana) into the Buddhist truths.
The five mundane abhijhas include:
• The divine eye ( divyacaksus ; Pali, dibbacakkhu), or
the ability to see the demise and rebirth of beings
according to their good and evil deeds;
• The divine ear ( divyasrota ; Pali, dibbasota), the
ability to hear heavenly and earthly sounds far and
near;
• Knowledge of other minds ( cetahparyayajhana ;
Pali, cetopariyahana), the ability to know the
thoughts and mental states of others;
• Recollection of previous habitations ( purvani -
vasdnusmrtr, Pali pubbenivdsanusati), the ability to
remember one’s former existences from one to
thousands of rebirths, through the evolution and
destruction of many world systems;
• Various supernatural powers ( rddhi ; Pali, iddhi),
such as the ability to create mind-made bodies,
project replicas of oneself, become invisible, pass
through solid objects, move through the earth,
walk on water, fly through the air, touch the sun
and moon, and ascend to the highest heaven.
In the Mahaparinirvana-sutra (Pali, Mahaparinib-
bdna-sutta ; Great Discourse on the Parinirvana), the
Buddha tells his disciple Ananda that one who per-
fects the four bases of supernatural power ( rddhipada ;
Pali, iddhipada) can live for an entire eon, or for the
remaining portion of an eon should he so desire.
The sixth and only supramundane abhijna is the
most important. Called “knowledge of the extinction
of the passions” ( asravaksaya ; Pali, dsavakkhaya), it is
equivalent to arhatship. The passions extinguished
through this knowledge are sensuality (kama), be-
coming ( bhava ), ignorance (avidya; Pali, avijja), and
views ( drsti ; Pali, ditthi).
Historically, the six abhijhas can be seen as an elab-
oration of an earlier Buddhist paradigm of human per-
fection called the “three knowledges” ( traividya ; Pali,
tevijja). Comprised of the recollection of former habi-
tations, the divine eye, and knowledge of the extinc-
tion of the passions, the three knowledges form the
content of the Buddha’s awakening in early canonical
depictions of his enlightenment experience.
Although mastery of the six abhijhas is an attribute
of all perfect buddhas, the early Buddhist tradition was
ambivalent toward the display of supernatural powers
by members of the monastic order. In the Kevaddha-
sutta ( Discourse to Kevaddha), the Buddha disparages
as vulgar those monks who would reveal such powers
to the laity, and in the vinaya or monastic code, he
makes it an offense for them to do so. Despite these
strictures, wonder-working saints were lionized in the
literatures of all Buddhist schools, and they became
8
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Abortion
the focus of numerous arhat cults, such as those de-
voted to the worship of the disciples Upagupta and
Mahakasyapa. The Mahayana tradition elaborated
upon the abhijnds and rddhis of early Buddhism in its
depictions of the attainments of celestial bodhisattvas
and cosmic buddhas. In Buddhist tantra, these same
powers became the model for a host of magical abili-
ties called siddhis possessed by tantric masters and dis-
played as signs of their spiritual perfection.
See also: Dhyana (Trance State); Meditation; Vipas-
sana (Sanskrit, Vipasyana)
Bibliography
Buddhaghosa. The Path of Purification ( Visuddhimagga ), tr.
Bhikkhu Nyanamoli. Berkeley, CA: Shambhala, 1964.
Katz, Nathan. Buddhist Images of Human Perfection: The Ara-
hant of the Sutta Pitaka Compared with the Bodhisattva and
the Mahasiddha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982.
Ray, Reginald A. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist
Values and Orientations. New York: Oxford University Press,
1994.
Patrick A. Pranke
ABORTION
Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy by
mechanical or pharmaceutical means that result in the
death of an unborn fetus. Since the death of the fetus
is willfully caused, abortion is the subject of heated
controversy. Just as Christians are divided in their
opinions about abortion, Buddhists likewise present a
range of views from unequivocal condemnation to
active support. Between the extremes are various at-
tempts to justify abortion without completely affirm-
ing it, or to question it without totally rejecting it.
There are also those who remain silent on the issue.
Early Buddhist teachings and practices
Early Buddhist texts describe the formation of the fe-
tus in great detail. At conception the fetus is in a liq-
uid state and takes on flesh at the end of two weeks.
Hands, feet, and a head appear by the fifth week, and
the embryo is mature after three months. In physical
terms, life begins with conception, but since the new
fetus takes shape around a state of being that has al-
ready had previous lives, it represents a continuation
of life and not just the beginning of new life. Most texts
deny that the transmigrating state of being is a per-
manent soul, but they also define different kinds of in-
termediate states that provides the karmic transition
from one bodily life to the next. The exact nature of
this intermediate state is the subject of debate, but the
belief that there is some kind of vital continuity be-
tween one incarnation and the next means that the be-
ginning of life does not take place at conception but
precedes it. Each conception, however, is not taken
lightly and the termination of bodily life at any stage
is generally regarded as killing.
Abortion is therefore not supported in early Bud-
dhist teachings. It violates the first precept against the
taking of life and goes against other teachings that con-
demn acts causing harm to others. Rituals performed
for the fetus affirm its life and request protection for
it and its mother. Monks who performed an abortion
or helped a woman obtain abortion drugs were sub-
ject to punishment, including expulsion from the or-
der. A monk could also be punished for reciting
magical spells to prevent birth, or even for advising a
woman to get an abortion.
Traditional methods of performing abortions were
crude and often not very effective. Medicines were
used, but they could harm the mother or fail to pro-
duce the desired result. Abortionists used heating and
scorching, as well as heavy manipulation, including
trampling, of the womb, to terminate a pregnancy.
Since intention is an important consideration in de-
termining the seriousness of an offense, early texts dis-
cuss the different levels of infraction involved in cases
in which death occurs to the mother or the fetus or
both. The most serious crime is committed when the
fetus alone dies as the intended victim.
Modem views and practices
With the development of safer and more effective
means of abortion through modern medical practices,
the abortion rate in Buddhist countries has risen. Ac-
cording to a survey done in 1981, it was estimated that
there were thirty-seven abortions for every one thou-
sand women of childbearing age in Thailand, a coun-
try in which over 90 percent of the population is
Buddhist. The same survey estimated that there were
sixty-five to ninety abortions among Japanese women
of childbearing age. The United States rate was 22.6,
according to this survey.
These statistics show that early Buddhist proscrip-
tions against abortion have not prevented its practice.
Aware of Buddhist teachings against abortion, modern
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
9
Agama/Nikaya
Buddhists have adopted a variety of strategies for re-
lating theory with practice. In Thailand, for example,
one approach makes the distinction between the or-
dained clergy, who are forbidden to be involved with
abortion, and lay followers, who are allowed to have
abortions without any religious or moral sanction.
Some monks argue that while abortion is morally
wrong in terms of Buddhist teachings, the decision for
or against it is a matter of individual judgment. Other
Thai Buddhists invoke the teaching on UPAYA (skill-
ful means) by which an act can be justified if the in-
tent behind it is pure. If pregnancy threatens the health
or life of the mother, then its termination through
abortion can be justified because the intention is to
save the mother.
Modern Japanese Buddhists likewise have devel-
oped means for dealing with the problem of carrying
out abortions in the face of the precept against killing.
Using the modern term mizuko, literally “water child,”
for the fetus, William R. LaFleur in his influential book,
Liquid Life (1992), explains the strategy of obscuring
the point at which life begins and seeing fetal devel-
opment as a continuum of liquid slowing becoming
solid. This watery ambiguity disallows a fixed defini-
tion of the precise point at which life begins, and ter-
mination of the process through abortion likewise
obscures any judgment that killing has taken place.
LaFleur argues that fetal life is not so much terminated
as returned to its origins, where it is put on hold and
can await another occasion for its birth. While there is
as yet little evidence to indicate the extent to which or-
dinary Japanese share this liquid life theory, it is not
without its influence.
Another modern development among Japanese
Buddhists for dealing with abortion is mizuko kuyo,
or rite for aborted fetuses. Popular in the 1970s and
1980s, the rite has been criticized by Jodo Shinshu
(True Pure Land School) and other Buddhists as be-
ing a moneymaking scheme that takes advantage of
people’s superstitious fears that the souls of the aborted
fetuses will curse them. Others defend mizuko kuyo as
a legitimate Buddhist ritual that can help people deal
with their feelings of sadness and guilt. That some peo-
ple feel guilt over abortion indicates that they feel that
in some way a wrong has been committed.
Abortion is widely practiced in Buddhist countries,
and the Buddhist responses vary from condemnation
to justification. As indicated by studies showing that
the majority of Japanese women having abortions do
not feel guilt, the most popular response is toleration
and acceptance of the act despite teachings that reject
it, and many Buddhists remain silent, voicing no moral
judgment one way or the other.
See also: Precepts
Bibliography
Hardacre, Helen. Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan. Berke-
ley: University of California Press, 1997.
Keown, Damien, ed. Buddhism and Abortion. Honolulu: Uni-
versity of Hawaii Press, 1999.
LaFleur, William R. Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in
Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.
George J. Tanabe, Jr.
AGAMA/NIKAYA
The terms Agama and Nikaya denote the subdivi-
sions of the Sutrapitaka (Pali, Suttapitaka; Basket of
Discourses) within the canon. Agama has the basic
meaning of (received) tradition, canonical text, and
(scriptural) authority, while Nikaya means both col-
lection and group. Nikaya also denotes an ordination
lineage that allows the joint performance of legal acts
of the Buddhist order (sangha), a meaning that will
not be explored in this entry.
It is not known when monks started to gather in-
dividual discourses of the Buddha into structured
collections. According to tradition, the Buddha’s dis-
courses were already collected by the time of the first
council, held shortly after the Buddha’s death in order
to establish and confirm the discourses as “authentic”
words of the Buddha ( buddhavacana ). Scholars, how-
ever, see the texts as continuously growing in number
and size from an unknown nucleus, thereby under-
going various changes in language and content. For at
least the first century, and probably for two or three
centuries, after the Buddha’s death, the texts were
passed down solely by word of mouth, and the preser-
vation and intact transmission of steadily growing col-
lections necessitated the introduction of ordering
principles. The preserved collections reveal traces of an
earlier structure that classified the texts into three, four,
nine, or even twelve sections ( anga ), but this organiz-
ing structure was superseded by the Tripitaka scheme
of arranging texts into the three ( tri ) baskets ( pitaka )
of discipline (vinaya), discourses (sutras), and sys-
tematized teachings (abhidharma). All Buddhist
10
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Agama/Nikaya
schools whose literature has been preserved divided
the Sutrapitaka further into sections called Agama or
Nikaya. Neither term is school-specific; the notion that
the Theravada school used the term Nikaya while
other schools used Agama is justified neither by Pali
nor by Sanskrit sources.
There are either four or five Agamas and Nikayas
considered canonical by the various mainstream Bud-
dhist SCHOOLS: the DIrghagama (Pali, DIghanikaya;
Collection of Long Discourses); the Madhyamagama
(Pali, Majjhimanikaya; Collection of Discourses of
Middle Length); the Samyuktagama (Pali, Samyuttanik-
aya; Connected Discourses); the Ekottar(ik)agama
(Pali, Anguttaranikaya; Discourses Increasing by One);
and the Ksudrakagama (Pali, Khuddhakanikaya; Col-
lection of Small Texts). Some schools do not accept a
Ksudraka section as part of the Sutrapitaka; others
classify it as a separate pitaka. The sequence of the five
(or four) sections varies, but if included, the Ksudraka
always comes last. The names refer to the ordering
principle of each section: the DIrgha (long) contains
the longest discourses; the Madhyama (middle) con-
tains those of medium-length; and the Samyukta (con-
nected) contains shorter sutras connected by their
themes. The Ekottarika (Growing by one) or Angut-
tara (Increasing number of items) comprise discourses
arranged in ascending order according to numbered
sets of terms, from sutras treating one term up to those
dealing with groups of ten or more. The contents of
the Ksudraka (small texts) vary significantly from ver-
sion to version: Most of the works that seem to form
its nucleus are composed in verse and apparently be-
long to the oldest strata of the canon. Some of them,
such as the Dhammapada, rank among the best known
Buddhist texts.
It is not known how many versions of the Sutra-
pitaka were once transmitted by the various schools in
India. Equally unknown is the number of languages
and dialects used for this purpose. At present, only the
Pali Suttapitaka of the Theravada school is completely
preserved. Four Agamas are available in Chinese trans-
lation: the DIrgha, the Madhyama, the Samyukta, with
three translations, two of them incomplete, and the
Ekottarika. These were translated from the collections
of different schools: The DIrghagama probably belongs
to the Dharmaguptaka, the Madhyamagama and
Samyuktagama to the (Mula)Sarvastivadins, and the
Ekottarikagama to the Mahasamghika school.
In the early twentieth century, numerous fragments
of Sanskrit sutra manuscripts were found in Central
Asia, enabling scholars to recover at least a small part
of the Sutrapitaka of the (Mula)Sarvastivadins. Later,
fragments of the Ekottarikagama of the same school
came to light among the Gilgit finds. Recent manu-
script finds from Afghanistan and Pakistan also con-
tain many sutra fragments from the scriptures of at
least two schools, the (Mula)Sarvastivadins and prob-
ably the Mahasamghikas. Most notable among them is
a manuscript of the DIrghagama of the (Mula)Sar-
vastivadins. Unlike colophons of vinaya texts, those of
single sutras or sutra collections never mention schools,
and this often renders a definite school ascription dif-
ficult. School affiliation of Agama texts may have been
less important than modern scholars tend to believe.
The different versions of the Sutrapitaka are by no
means unanimous with regard to the number and type
of sutras included in each section. To give one exam-
ple: The DIghanikaya of the Theravada school contains
thirty-four texts, while the DIrghagama in Chinese
translation contains only thirty. In the incompletely
preserved DIrghagama of the (Mula)Sarvastivadins,
however, forty-seven texts are so far attested. Only
twenty of them have a corresponding text in the Chi-
nese DIrghagama, and only twenty-four correspond to
texts in the Pali version. For eight of them, a parallel
text is found in the Majjhimanikaya of the Pali; at least
four have no parallel at all. The agreement between the
different versions of a sutra varies significantly. Ver-
sions may be close in some passages and loose in oth-
ers. Often a considerable part of a sutra consists of
formulaic passages, and the wording of these formu-
las is version specific. Further differences maybe found
in the sequence of passages, in the names of places and
persons, and also in doctrine. All this indicates a com-
mon origin, followed by a long period of separate
transmissions with independent redactional changes.
There are many examples of text duplicates in two
sections of the same Sutrapitaka. For example, the Sati-
patthana-sutta ( Foundation of Mindfulness ) of the Pali
canon is contained in both the DIgha- and the Maj-
jhimanikaya. This may be an indication of a separate
transmission for each Agama/Nikaya in earlier times,
another indication being terms like DIghabhanaka (re-
citer of the DIgha section) to refer to the respective spe-
cialist during the phase of oral transmission in the Pali
tradition. At least in the case of the Mulasarvastivadins,
many sutras are also duplicated in their Vinaya.
When growth and redactional changes of the various
collections came to an end, they began to form what can
best be described as part of a canon of the respective
1 1
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Ajanta
schools. However, very little is known about the use or
ritual and educational functions of the collections dur-
ing early times. Because of their status as scriptural
authority, quotations from the sutras are numerous in
the commentarial literature of the various schools.
Certain sutras also continued to be transmitted indi-
vidually or in fixed selections designed for specific re-
ligious purposes, and it appears that such texts played
a much more important role in the life of Buddhists
than the complete collections. Not all the sutras were
collected as Agamas/Nikayas; the Mahayana sutras,
for instance, never came to be included in such a clas-
sification scheme.
See also: Buddhavacana (Word of the Buddha); Pali,
Buddhist Literature in; Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature
in; Scripture
Bibliography
Hiniiber, Oskar von. A Handbook of Pali Literature. Berlin and
New York: de Gruyter, 1996.
Lamotte, Etienne. History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins
to the Saka Era (1958), tr. Sara Webb-Boin. Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium: Universite catholique de Louvain, Institut orien-
taliste, 1988.
Mayeda, Egaku. “Japanese Studies on the School of the Chinese
Agamas.” In Zur Schulzugehorigkeit von Werken der
Hlnayana-Literatur, 2 vols., ed. Heinz Bechert. Gottingen,
Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1985-1987.
Mizuno, Kogen. Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Trans-
mission. Tokyo: Kosei, 1982.
Jens-Uwe Hartmann
AJANJA
Carved into a precipitous gorge in northern Maha-
rashtra, Ajanta’s thirty Buddhist cave monasteries
were excavated in two phases. The three finished
Satavahana caves (ca. first century c.E.) typify con-
temporaneous and earlier Western Indie cave monas-
teries. Ajanta’s other caves all date to the Vakataka
emperor Harisena’s reign (ca. 460-480 c.E.). The
Satavahana and Vakataka excavations reveal differ-
ences in donorship, layout, and design.
Containing numerous and generally terse Prakrit
inscriptions, the earlier caves evidence a collective and
socially eclectic pattern of patronage. Most of the San-
skrit Vakataka donative inscriptions are later intru-
sions into abandoned caves. Of the four programmatic
inscriptions, three are lengthy eulogies in verse. They
record that individual members of the ruling elites do-
nated one or more caves in their entirety, giving them
to the Buddha as his residence rather than to the three
jewels or the SANGHA as theretofore.
Differences in site layout and cave design reflect
these changes. Both phases manifest two architectural
types based on structural wooden prototypes. Ajanta’s
worship halls share apsidal plans, caitya windows,
barrel-vaulted roofs, and monumental stupas, while
differing in the nature and amount of their painting
and sculpture. Repeated buddha figures and joyous
worshipers throng the Vakataka stupa halls. Most sig-
nificant is the hieratically scaled buddha who, as it
were, emerges from each central stupa. Framed within
an architectural structure, these active buddhas trans-
form the later stupa halls into gandhakutls, the Bud-
dha’s personal residences.
Early viharas (residential caves) typically take the
form of large flat-roofed quadrangular rooms without
pillars. Doorways leading to cells punctuate their
sparsely decorated interior walls. The Vakataka donors
added internal pillars, a colonnaded porch, and rich
decorations in relief and paint onto this basic plan. A
rear cell located immediately opposite the main door-
way was expanded into an ornate pillared antecham-
ber with a large internal cell. Tenanted by a monolithic
statue of the Buddha preaching from a cosmic throne,
this cell is (1) the gandhakutl where the Buddha resides
as the spiritual and administrative head of his monks,
and (2) the shrine where he is worshiped.
These innovations speak to differences in Buddhist
practice and belief. Viharas with shrines signal a de-
parture from the earlier centralization of public wor-
ship, when the only shrines were stupa halls. In the
early phase, the most potent manifestation of the Bud-
dha’s living presence was the central stupa that em-
bodied his body relics ( sarlra ); at Vakataka Ajanta, the
most potent manifestation was the monumental Bud-
dha image dwelling in his gandhakutl. Profuse orna-
mentation transformed relatively austere monasteries
into richly jeweled cave palaces atop a cosmic moun-
tain, appropriate residences for the Vakataka Buddha,
who, as the Emperor of Ascetics, was the prime cos-
mic being. The belief in and practice of the bodhisattva
path evidenced in caves 17 and 26 simultaneously re-
veal his imitable and human aspects. Vakataka Ajanta’s
fabled narratives participated in these changes. Char-
acterized by an idealized naturalism that represents
12
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Alchi
beings in action, the Ajanta style “cosmologizes” land-
scapes and beings. It thus expresses the simultaneously
transcendental and imitable nature of the Buddha per-
forming his wondrous deeds.
See also: Jataka, Illustrations of; Relics and Relics Cults
Bibliography
Dehejia, Vidya. Discourse in Early Buddhist Art: Visual Narra-
tives of India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1997.
Kramrisch, Stella. “Ajanta.” In Exploring India’s Sacred Art: Se-
lected Writings of Stella Kramrisch, ed. Barbara Stoler Miller.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983.
Parimoo, Ratan, et al., eds. The Art of Ajanta: New Perspectives.
New Delhi: Books and Books, 1991.
Schlingloff, Dieter. Studies in the Ajanta Paintings: Identifica-
tions and Interpretations. Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1987.
Schlingloff, Dieter. Guide to the Ajanta Paintings: Narrative Wall
Paintings. New Delhi: Munsiram Manoharlal, 1999.
Spink, Walter. “Ajanta’s Chronology: Cave l’s Patronage.” In
Chhavi II: Rai Krishnadasa Felicitation Volume. Benares, In-
dia: Bharat Kala Bhavan, 1981.
Spink, Walter. “The Achievement of Ajanta.” In The Age of the
Vakatakas, ed. A. M. Shastri. New Delhi: Harman, 1992.
Spink, Walter. “The Archaeology of Ajanta.” Ars Orientalis 21
(1992): 67-94.
Spink, Walter. “Before the Fall: Pride and Piety at Ajanta.” In
The Powers of Art: Patronage in Indian Culture, ed. Barbara
Stoler Miller. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Yazdani, Ghulam. Ajanta: The Color and Monochrome Repro-
ductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography, 4 vols.
London: Oxford University Press, 1930.
I.ff.t.a Aditi Wood
AKSOBHYA
One of a large number of so-called celestial buddhas
known to Mahayana Buddhists in India during the
first millennium, Aksobhya was believed to inhabit a
paradise-like world system far to the east, known as
Abhirati (extreme delight). Bodhisattvas reborn there
could make rapid progress toward buddhahood, while
sravakas could achieve arhatship within a single life.
Belief in Aksobhya appears to have emerged in India
around the beginning of the first millennium c.e. and
spread widely in Buddhist communities before being
eclipsed by the growing popularity of Amitabha. To-
day Aksobhya is known mainly as one of the five di-
rectional buddhas who appear in tantric ritual texts.
Bibliography
Chang, Garma C. C., ed. The Dharma-Door of Praising
Tathdgata Aksobhya’s Merits (partial translation of the
Aksobhyavyuha). In A Treasury of Mahayana Sutras: Selec-
tions from the Mahdratnakuta Sutra, tr. Buddhist Associa-
tion of the United States. University Park and London:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1983.
Dantinne, Jean, trans. La splendeur de Tinebranlable (Aksob-
hyavyuha). Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Institut Oriental-
iste, 1983.
Nattier, Jan. “The Realm of Aksobhya: A Missing Piece in the
History of Pure Land Buddhism.” Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies 23, no. 1 (2000): 71-102.
Jan Nattier
ALAYAVUNANA
The dlayavijhdna (storehouse consciousness) is the
most fundamental of the eight consciousnesses rec-
ognized in the Viinanavada school of thought. It is
said to contain all the “seeds” for the “consciousness-
moments” or “consciousness-events” that people gen-
erally call reality.
See also: Consciousness, Theories of; Psychology
John S. Strong
ALCHI
The small village of Alchi (A lei), located about sev-
enty kilometers west of Leh in Ladakh on an alluvial
terrace on the left bank of the river Indus, has as its
center an ancient religious area ( chos ’khor). Alchi’s re-
ligious area is composed of a large stupa, a three-
storied temple ( Gsum brtsegs) , a congregation hall ( ’dus
khang), two small chapels, and a later building, the so-
called New Temple ( Lha khang gsar ma). The site’s
thick white-washed walls of mud and stone follow the
Tibetan tradition of architecture; the wooden facades
and the beams and pillars of the interior structures are
clearly Kashmiri in style.
The congregation hall, which dates to the late
eleventh or early twelfth century, is the oldest building
in the complex; the hall includes a Sarvavid-Vairocana
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
13
Ambedkar, B. R.
sculpture at its back end and rich wall paintings
that are mainly variants of the Vajradhatu-mandala
based on the Tibetan translation of the Sarvatathagata-
Tattvasamgraha ( Symposium of Truth of All Buddhas).
The three-storied temple, with three colossal clay sculp-
tures of bodhisattvas in the niches, has similar mandalas
in its murals. The temple also houses representations
of Tara and Avalokitesvara, along with many tathagatas
and secular figures. A series of images of priests in the
second upper story ends with ’Bri-gung-pa (1143-
1217), which leads to a date of around 1200 C.E. The
stylistic elegance and sophistication of the murals has
its roots in Kashmir. The so-called Great Stupa is in
fact a chapel in pahcayatana form housing a stupa and
decorated with “thousands” of buddhas and a group
of priests. Tibetan inscriptions in all three buildings
give the names, though no dates, of the founders, who
apparently belonged to the ruling families of the
Ladakhi kingdom. The murals in the smaller New Tem-
ple show a different iconographic tradition and clearly
belong to a slightly later Tibetan style.
See also: Cave Sanctuaries; Himalayas, Buddhist Art
in; India, Buddhist Art in; Monastic Architecture
Bibliography
Goepper, Roger. Alchi: Ladakh’s Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary:
The Sumtsek. London: Serindia, 1996.
Pal, Pratapaditya (text), and Fournier, Lionel (photographs). A
Buddhist Paradise: The Murals of Alchi, Western Himalayas.
Vaduz, Liechtenstein: Ravi Kumar, 1982.
Roger Goepper
AMBEDKAR, B. R.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956), leader of In-
dia’s Dalits (untouchables) and principal draftsman
of India’s constitution, led millions of his followers
to Buddhist conversion. After earning doctoral de-
grees from Columbia University in New York and the
London School of Economics, Ambedkar passed the
English bar and launched a campaign of legal and
moral challenges to the Hindu caste system. In The
Buddha and His Dhamma (1957) and other writings,
Ambedkar combined elements of Buddhist ethics,
American pragmatism, and Protestant “social gospel”
theology to formulate a socially and politically engaged
Buddhism that he called “New Vehicle” ( Navaydna )
Buddhism.
See also: Engaged Buddhism
Bibliography
Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji. The Buddha and His Dhamma.
Bombay: R. R. Bhole, 1957.
Queen, Christopher S. “Dr. Ambedkar and the Hermeneutics
of Buddhist Liberation.” In Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Lib-
eration Movements in Asia, ed. Christopher S. Queen and
Sallie B. King. Albany: State University of New York Press,
1996.
Sangharakshita. Ambedkar and Buddhism. Glasgow, UK: Wind-
horse, 1986.
Christopher S. Queen
AMITABHA
Amitabha (Sanskrit, limitless light) is one of the so-
called celestial or mythic buddhas who inhabit their
own buddha-field and intervene as a saving force in
our world. According to the Larger SukhavatIvyuha-
SUTRA, in a previous life Amitabha was the monk Dhar-
makara, who vowed that as part of his mission as a
bodhisattva he would purify and adorn a world,
transforming it into the most pure and beautiful
buddha-field. Once he attained full awakening and ac-
complished the goals of his vows, Dharmakara became
the Buddha Amitabha. He now resides in the world he
purified, known as Sukhavatl (blissful). From this
world he will come to ours, surrounded by many bod-
hisattvas, to welcome the dead and to lead them to
rebirth in his pure buddha-field.
The figure of Amitabha is not known in the earli-
est strata of Indian Buddhist literature, but around the
beginning of the common era he appears as the Bud-
dha of the West in descriptions of the buddhas of the
five directions. The cult of Amitabha most likely de-
veloped as part of the early Mahayana practice of
invoking and worshiping “all the buddhas” and imag-
ining some of these as inhabiting distant, “purified”
worlds, usually associated with one of the cardinal di-
rections. The myth of his vows and pure land may have
developed in close proximity to, or in competition
with, similar beliefs associated with other buddhas like
Aksobhya (another one of the early buddhas of the
five directions, whose eastern pure land is known as
Abhirati).
Although Amitabha shares many of the qualities as-
sociated with other buddhas of the Mahayana, he is
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Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Amulets and Talismans
generally linked to the soft radiance of the setting sun,
which suffuses, without burning or blinding, all cor-
ners of the universe (in East Asia he is also linked to
moonlight). The emphasis on his luminous qualities
(or those of his halo), which occupies an important
role in East Asian iconography, does not displace or
contradict the association of Amitabha with a religion
of voice and sound; his grace is secured or confirmed
by calling out his name, or, rather, invoking his name
with the ritual expression of surrender: “I pay homage
to Amitabha Buddha.” Even in texts that emphasize
imagery of light, such as the Dazhidu lun ( Treatise on
the Great Perfection of Wisdom), he is still the epitome
of the power of the vow and the holy name.
Amitabha is represented in dhyanamudra, perhaps
suggesting the five hundred kalpas of meditation that
led Dharmakara to his own enlightenment. An equally
characteristic posture is abhayamudra (mudra of pro-
tection from fear and danger), which normally shows
the buddha standing.
In its more generalized forms, however, faith in
Amitabha continues to this day to include a variety of
practices and objects of devotion. A common belief,
for instance, is the belief that his pure land, Sukhavatl,
is blessed by the presence of the two bodhisattvas
Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta. Faith in the
saving power of these bodhisattvas, especially
Avalokitesvara, was often linked with the invocation
of the sacred name of Amitabha, the recitation of
which could bring the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara to
the believer’s rescue. The overlapping of various be-
liefs and practices, like the crisscrossing of saviors and
sacred images, is perhaps the most common context
for the appearance of Amitabha — it is the case in
China, Korea, and Vietnam, and in Japanese Bud-
dhism outside the exclusive Buddhism of the Ka-
makura reformers.
The perception of Amitabha as one among many
saviors, or the association between faith in him and
the wonder-working powers of Avalokitesvara, are
common themes throughout Buddhist Asia. It is no
accident that the Panchen Lama of Tibet is seen as
an incarnation of Amitabha, whereas his more pow-
erful counterpart in Lhasa, the Dalai Lama, is re-
garded as the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara.
See also: Nenbutsu (Chinese, Nianfo; Korean, Yom-
bul); Pure Lands
Bibliography
Foard, James; Michael Solomon; and Richard K. Payne, eds. The
Pure Land Tradition: History and Development. Berkeley: Re-
gents of the University of California, 1996.
Gomez, Luis O. “Buddhism as a Religion of Hope: Observations
on the ‘Logic’ of a Doctrine and Its Foundational Myth.”
Eastern Buddhist New Series 32, no. 1 (Spring 1999/2000):
1-21.
Gomez, Luis O., trans. and ed. The Land of Bliss: The Paradise
of the Buddha of Measureless Light: Sanskrit and Chinese Ver-
sions of the Sukhavativyuha Sutras (1996), 3rd printing, cor-
rected edition. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Tsukinowa, Kenryu; Ikemoto, Jushin; and Tsumoto, Ryogaku.
“Amita.” In Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Vol. 1, Fasc. 3., ed.
G. P. Malalasekera. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Government Press
of Ceylon, 1964.
Ziircher, E. “Amitabha.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol.
1., ed. Mircea Eliade. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
Luis O. Gomez
AMULETS AND TALISMANS
Amulets are small, mystically charged objects carried
upon the person that provide the bearer with good for-
tune or protection from harm. Amulets are carried by
members of many Buddhist cultures, most prominently
in the Thera vAda countries of mainland Southeast
Asia (Burma [Myanmar], Thailand, Laos, and Cambo-
dia). These amulets are almost always explicitly Bud-
dhist in form. They often take the form of small Buddha
images or representations of holy people. They can also
be representations of sacred objects, such as cetiyas.
Cetiyas (Sanskrit, caitya ) are reliquary monuments,
such as stupas. The sale of Buddhist amulets can be an
effective means of raising funds.
Amulets are usually either stamped medallions or
molded clay statuettes — similar to votive tablets — that
are small enough to be worn on a chain around the
neck. Stamped medallions, usually of bronze, are a rel-
atively modern but very popular type. They are often
issued in honor of a particularly holy monk and bear
the monk’s portrait on the obverse. The reverse can
bear representations of renowned stupas or apotropaic
texts and designs, such as magical number squares.
Amulets can also be short sacred passages (usually
gatha) written on paper, cloth, or metal. In Southeast
Asia, texts on base or precious metal are wound into
tight little tubes. Texts on paper are similarly rolled up
and put into a small container. Texts on cloth can be
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
15
Anagarika Dharmapala
carried folded up and put into a breast pocket; it would
be sacrilegious to carry them in a lower pocket. These
amulets are especially popular in Cambodia. Texts or
magical diagrams can also be written on larger pieces
of cloth or paper and carried folded up in other types
of containers, such as cloth pouches or lockets made
of wood, brass, or silver. This type of amulet is used
in Tibet and China.
Amulets derive their power from the blessings of
monks with reputations for being exceptionally holy
and mystically powerful. The amulets can be seen as
small objects in which the power of the sacred is crys-
tallized, as with holy relics. Once crystallized, this
power can be used by ordinary people who are not
themselves holy or powerful. This power comes from
both the words — Pali or Sanskrit blessings — and the
personal power of the monks who chant them. The
right words must be spoken by the right person for the
transfer of power to be effective. Individual monks ac-
quire this power after years of meditation; it is demon-
strated by their ability to perform miracles. The ideal
monk is an ascetic hermit who spends his days in med-
itation and who has been ordained since he was a boy.
While amulets are most commonly worn for gen-
eralized protection, they often have very specific pro-
tective properties. A given amulet, for instance, may
protect against puncture wounds (such as those from
bullets or knives), but not against crushing wounds
(such as those from truncheons). It is not unusual to
see men, and to a lesser extent women, wearing sev-
eral amulets. Special metal neck chains are made for
this purpose. Thriving amulet markets can be found
near some large urban Buddhist monasteries. The
value of an amulet is a function of the power of its ini-
tial blessing (which derives from the holiness of the
monk who blessed it), its age and rarity, and any his-
tory of demonstrated efficacy that is attached to it. An
amulet is more valuable if it is known, for example, to
have saved someone from a terrible car wreck.
See also: Merit and Merit-Making; Relics and Relic
Cults
Bibliography
Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and
the Cult ofAmidets: A Study in Charisma, Hagiography, Sec-
tarianism, and Millennial Buddhism. Cambridge, UK: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1984.
Michael R. Rhum
ANAGARIKA DHARMAPALA
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864—1933) was the leading fig-
ure in the Sri Lankan Buddhist renaissance that sought
to restore Buddhism during the late colonial period.
Born Don David Hevavitarana into an elite Sinhala Bud-
dhist family, he met Colonel Henry Olcott and Madame
Elena Petrovna Blavatsky and joined their newly formed
Buddhist Theosophical Society in 1884 in Sri Lanka
(then Ceylon). Seeing the depressed condition of Bud-
dhism in both Sri Lanka and India, Dharmapala took it
as his mission to revive Buddhism. In his work he sought
to enable Buddhists to address the twofold task of re-
covering their identity and finding ways to respond to
modernity. Creating a new role for himself in Bud-
dhism, he became an anagarika (homeless one), who
was neither a monk nor a layperson, and he took the
name Dharmapala (protector of the dharma).
A tireless activist, Dharmapala worked in India, where
he founded the Maha Bodhi Society and sought to restore
the Buddhist shrine of the sacred bodhi tree at the site of
the Buddha’s enlightenment in Bodh Gaya. Through his
writings and his brilliant oratory, he critiqued the colo-
nial and Christian suppression of Buddhism and Bud-
dhists. Relying on Buddhist texts such as the Mahavamsa,
he linked Buddhism and Sinhala nationalism and chal-
lenged Sinhala Buddhists to reclaim their true identity
and abandon their attachment to colonial values.
Dharmapala popularized a reformed Buddhism that was
characterized by a lay orientation, a this-worldly as-
ceticism, an activist and moralist focus, and a strong
social consciousness. Dharmapala traveled widely in
Asia preaching these ideas, and he introduced the West
to his reformist vision when he represented Buddhism
at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.
Bibliography
Bond, George D. The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka: Religious
Tradition, Reinterpretation, and Response. Columbia: Uni-
versity of South Carolina Press, 1988.
Gombrich, Richard, and Obeysekere, Gananath. Buddhism
Transformed: Religious Change in Sri Lanka. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1988.
George D. Bond
Ananda
Ananda was a close relative of the Buddha. The Bud-
dha ordained Ananda, and as the Buddha grew old, he
16
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Ananda Temple
chose Ananda to serve as his attendant. Thus, Ananda
became the Buddha’s constant companion for the
twenty-five years preceding the Buddha’s death. The
canonical texts are replete with examples of Ananda’s
dedicated care for the Buddha’s comfort, health, and
safety. In an extreme situation, Ananda was even pre-
pared to risk his life to save that of his master. Ananda
is depicted in the scriptures as extremely amicable to-
ward both ordained or laypersons. He was known as a
brilliant organizer who essentially served as the Bud-
dha’s personal secretary, as he would be called in pre-
sent terms. Ananda was instrumental in the creation
of the Buddhist order of nuns, a move that the Bud-
dha did not initially favor. Ananda, however, asked the
Buddha if women were capable of realizing supreme
enlightenment like men, whereupon the Buddha an-
swered in the affirmative.
Ananda was the key figure in the transmission of the
buddhavacana (Word of the Buddha). He served
as an indispensable authority at the First Council, which
was held to codify the Buddha’s legacy soon after his
death. Ananda is reported to have recited the texts of
the discourses (sutras); in the line that opens all sutras —
“Thus have I heard” — the I refers to Ananda. The Bud-
dha’s declaration that Ananda was foremost among the
erudite and upright is a monument to his talents, moral
strength, and determination. Ananda was said to have
lived an extraordinarily long life. He later came to be
revered as the second Indian patriarch of the Chan
SCHOOL.
See also: Councils, Buddhist; Disciples of the Buddha
Bibliography
Malalasekera, G. P. “1. Ananda.” Dictionary of Pali Proper
Names, Vol. 1. London: Indian Text Series, 1937-1938.
Wang, Bangwei. “The Indian Origin of the Chinese Chan
School’s Patriarch Tradition.” In Dharmaduta: Melanges of-
ferts au Venerable Thick Huyen-Vi, ed. Bhikkhu Tam-
palawela Dhammaratana and Bhikkhu Pasadika. Paris:
Editions You-Feng, 1997.
Bhikkhu Pasadika
ANANDA TEMPLE
The most uplifting of Pagan temples, the Ananda was
built by King Kyanzittha in the mid-eleventh century.
The Ananda Temple represents the maturity of the early
period style at Pagan. Based on a single story
elevation, it is a balanced and harmonious design with
its central spire rising from a square base and terraces.
The true effect is best seen from the west side, where
nineteenth-century donors did not add covered walk-
ways. The plan is a Greek cross: a two hundred-foot cen-
tral square with four prayer halls that project out at the
cardinal points. Facing these prayer halls, the four car-
dinal shrines are set in giant arched niches cut into the
block. These contain colossal standing buddhas. Only
the south image is original early period; the others are
Konbaung replacements from the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, as are the splendid carved
wood doors at the entrance to the outer ambulatory.
These images are dramatically lit by concealed shafts that
connect to skylights contained in the external pedi-
ments. Fragments of the original paintings have been re-
covered in the halls; the remainder, which would have
covered all the walls and vaults, were whitewashed by
misguided do-gooders during an earlier period. There
is a double ambulatory running around the main block
over which the exterior terraces climb. These terraces
contain glazed plaque scenes of the iatakas. Around the
base are more glazed plaques depicting the attack and
defeat of the army of Mara (the personification of evil
who tried to tempt the Buddha just before his enlight-
enment). Inside, the outer ambulatory contains ninety
relief scenes from the life of the Buddha. This was a time
when people were converting to the new faith and these
scenes were intended to teach the story of the Buddha’s
life. The stone carving is vigorous and at times dynamic.
As with the entire building there is an energy and ex-
citement to these scenes. The Ananda is a monument
to the establishment of Thera vada as the state religion
of Myanmar (Burma). There is none of the grand com-
placency of the colossal late temples; the place vibrates
with the force of a newfound faith.
See also: Monastic Architecture; Myanmar; Myanmar,
Buddhist Art in; Southeast Asia, Buddhist Art in
Bibliography
Duroiselle, Charles. The Ananda Temple at Pagan. Delhi: Man-
ager of Publications, Archaeological Survey of India, 1937.
Luce, G. H. Old Burma — Early Pagan. 3 vols. Locust Valley, NY:
J. J. Augustin, 1969-1970.
Strachan, Paul. Pagan: Art and Architecture of Old Burma. Whit-
ing Bay, Arran, Scotland: Kiscadale Publications, 1989.
Paul Strachan
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
17
Anathapindada
ANATHAPINDADA
Sudatta, usually called Anathapindada (Pali, Anath-
apindika; Giver of Alms to the Destitute), the wealthy
merchant of SravastI and donor of the famous Jetavana
Monastery in India, was perhaps the Buddhist order’s
most important patron. An ardent and learned lay dis-
ciple ( upasaka ), he was particularly devoted to the
Buddha and to his disciple Sariputra. Anathapindada
died listening to the dharma.
See also: Disciples of the Buddha
Bibliography
Dennis, Mark, and Dennis, Joseph, trans. “Anathapindada,
Purna, and Kotikarna in the Mahasamghika Vinaya.” In The
Glorious Deeds of Puma, ed. Joel Tatelman. Richmond, UK:
Curzon, 2000.
Johnston, E. H., trans. The Buddhacarita, or. Acts of the Buddha.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1935-1937.
Malalasekera, G. P. “Anathapindika.” In Dictionary of Pali
Proper Names. London: J. Murray, 1937-1938. Reprint, Lon-
don: Pali Text Society, 1974.
Nyanaponika, Thera, and Hecker, Hellmuth. Great Disciples of
the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy, ed.
Bhikkhu Bodhi. Boston: Wisdom, 1997.
Joel Tatelman
ANATMAN/ATMAN (NO-SELF/SELF)
The Vedic Sanskrit term atman (Pali, atta), literally
meaning breath or spirit, is often translated into Eng-
lish as self, soul, or ego. Etymologically, anatman (Pali,
anatta) consists of the negative prefix an plus atman
(i.e., without atman) and is translated as no-self, no-
soul, or no-ego. These two terms have been employed
in the religious and philosophical writing of India to
refer to an essential substratum within human beings.
The idea of atman was fully developed by the Upa-
nisadic and Vedantic thinkers who suggested that there
does exist in one’s personality, a permanent, un-
changing, immutable, omnipotent, and intelligent at-
man, which is free from sorrow and leaves the body
at death. The Chandogya Upanisad, for instance, states
that the atman is “without decay, death, grief.” Sim-
ilarly, the BhagavadgTta calls the atman “eternal . . .
unborn . . . undying . . . immutable, primordial . . .
all-pervading.” Some Upanisads hold that the atman
can be separated from the body like the sword from
its scabbard and can travel at will away from the body,
especially in sleep. But Buddhism maintains that since
everything is conditioned, and thus subject to anitya
(impermanence), the question of atman as a self-sub-
sisting entity does not arise. The religion points out
that anything that is impermanent is inevitably
duhkha (suffering) and out of our control (anat-
man), and thus cannot constitute an ultimate self.
According to Buddhism, beings and inanimate ob-
jects of the world are constructed ( samskrta ), as dis-
tinguished from nirvana, which is unconstituted
(asamskrta) . The constituted elements are made up of
the five skandha (aggregate) or building blocks of
existence: the physical body ( rupa ), physical sensation
( vedana ), sensory perception ( samjha , sahha), habitual
tendencies (samskara, samkhara), and consciousness
( vi]hana , vinnana). The last four of these skandhas are
also collectively known as nama (name), which de-
notes the nonmaterial or mental constituents of a be-
ing. Rupa represents materiality alone, and inanimate
objects therefore are included in the term rupa. A liv-
ing being composed of five skandhas is in a continu-
ous state of flux, each preceding group of skandhas
giving rise to a subsequent group of skandhas. This
process is going on momentarily and unceasingly in
the present existence as it will go on also in the future
until the eradication of avidya (ignorance) and the at-
tainment of nirvana. Thus, Buddhist analysis of the
nature of the person centers on the realization that
what appears to be an individual is, in fact, an ever-
changing combination of the five skandhas. These ag-
gregates combine in various configurations to form
what is experienced as a person, just as a chariot is
built of various parts. But just as the chariot as an en-
tity disappears when its constituent elements are
pulled apart, so does the person disappear with the
dissolution of the skandhas. Thus, what we experience
to be a person is not a thing but a process; there is no
human being, there is only becoming. When asked
who it is, in the absence of a self, that has feeling or
other sensations, the Buddha’s answer was that this
question is wrongly framed: The question is not “who
feels,” but “with what as condition does feeling oc-
cur?” The answer is contact, demonstrating again the
conditioned nature of all experience and the absence
of any permanent substratum of being.
Just as the human being is analyzed into its com-
ponent parts, so too is the external world with which
one interacts. This interaction is one of conscious-
ness ( vijndna ) established through cognitive faculties
( indriya ) and their objects. These faculties and their
18
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Anatm an/Atman (No-Self/Self)
objects, called spheres ( ayatana ), include both sense
and sense-object, the meeting of which two is neces-
sary for consciousness. These three factors that to-
gether comprise cognition — the sense-faculty, the
sense-object, and the resultant consciousness — are
classified under the name dhatu (element). The human
personality, including the external world with which it
interacts, is thus divided into skandha, ayatana, and
dhatu. The generic name for all three of them is
dharma, which in this context is translated as “ele-
ments of existence.” The universe is made up of a bun-
dle of elements or forces (samskaras) and is in a
continuous flux or flow ( santana ). Every dharma,
though appearing only for a single instant ( ksana ), is a
“dependently originating element,” that is, it depends
for its origin on what had gone before it. Thus, exis-
tence becomes “dependent existence,” where there is
no destruction of one thing and no creation of another.
Falling within this scheme, the individual is entirely
phenomenal, governed by the laws of causality and
lacking any extraphenomenal self within him or her.
In the absence of an atman, one may ask how Bud-
dhism accounts for the existence of human beings,
their identity, continuity, and ultimately their religious
goals. At the level of “conventional truth” ( samvrti -
satya), Buddhism accepts that in the daily transactional
world, humans can be named and recognized as more
or less stable persons. However, at the level of the “ul-
timate truth” ( paramarthasatya ), this unity and stabil-
ity of personhood is only a sense-based construction
of our productive imagination. What the Buddha en-
couraged is not the annihilation of the feeling of self,
but the elimination of the belief in a permanent and
eternal “ghost in the machine.” Thus, the human be-
ing in Buddhism is a concrete, living, striving creature,
and his or her personality is something that changes,
evolves, and grows. It is the concrete human, not the
transcendental self, that ultimately achieves perfection
by constant effort and creative will.
The Buddhist doctrine of rebirth is different from
the theory of reincarnation, which implies the trans-
migration of an atman and its invariable material re-
birth. As the process of one life span is possible without
a permanent entity passing from one thought-moment
to another, so too is a series of life-processes possible
without anything transmigrating from one existence to
another. An individual during the course of his or her
existence is always accumulating fresh karma (action)
affecting every moment of the individual’s life. At
DEATH, the change is only comparatively deeper. The
corporeal bond, which held the individual together,
falls away and his or her new body, determined by
karma, becomes one fitted to that new sphere in which
the individual is reborn. The last thought-moment of
this life perishes, conditioning another thought-
moment in a subsequent life. The new being is neither
absolutely the same, since it has changed, nor totally
different, being the same stream ( santana ) of karmic
energy. There is merely a continuity of a particular life-
flux; just that and nothing more. Buddhists employ
various similes to explain this idea that nothing trans-
migrates from one life to another. For example, rebirth
is said to be like the transmission of a flame from one
thing to another: The first flame is not identical to the
last flame, but they are clearly related. The flame of life
is continuous, although there is an apparent break at
so-called death. As pointed out in the Milindapanha
( Milinda’s Questions), “It is not the same mind and
body that is born into the next existence, but with this
mind and body . . . one does a deed . . . and by reason
of this deed another mind and body is born into the
next existence.” The first moment of the new life is
called consciousness ( vijhana ); its antecedents are the
samskaras, the prenatal forces. There is a “descent” of
the consciousness into the womb of the mother
preparatory to rebirth, but this descent is only an ex-
pression to denote the simultaneity of death and re-
birth. In this way, the elements that constitute the
empirical individual are constantly changing but they
will never totally disappear till the causes and condi-
tions that hold them together and impel them to
rebirth, the craving ( trsna ; Pali, tanha), strong attach-
ment ( upadana ) and the desire for reexistence ( bhava ),
are finally extinguished.
See also: Consciousness, Theories of; Dharma and
Dharmas; Intermediate States
Bibliography
Collins, Steven. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Thera-
vada Buddhism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 1982.
Conze, Edward. Buddhist Thought in India: Three Phases of Bud-
dhist Philosophy. London: Allen and Unwin, 1962.
de Silva, Lynn A. The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Chris-
tianity. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Study Centre for Religion and
Society, 1975.
Hick, John. Death and Eternal Life. London: Macmillan,
1976.
Kalupahana, D. J. The Principles of Buddhist Psychology. Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1987.
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
19
Ancestors
Murti, T. R. V. The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of
the Madhyamika System, 2nd edition. London: Allen and
Unwin, 1960.
Perez-Remon, Joaquin. Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism.
The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton, 1980.
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught, revised edition.
Bedford, UK: Fraser Gallery, 1967.
K. T. S. Sarao
ANCESTORS
The meaning of ancestor differs among different cul-
tures, depending on their kinship system and their be-
liefs regarding the deceased. Ancestor could refer to the
originator of an ancestral lineage or the soul of a dead
person who is memorialized in a family shrine. The
Sanskrit word for ancestor, preta, is related to the Vedic
term pitarah (fathers). According to an abhidharma
commentary, Mahavibhasa (Chinese, Dapiposha lun;
Great Exegesis), Yama, the first mortal who died and
became the king of the netherworld, is called preta-rdja
(king of the dead) or pitr-raja (king of fathers). Thus,
in ancient India, the words preta and pitarah were al-
most interchangeable in their use. This reflects the pa-
trilineal kinship system of ancient India and the
ancestral rites that were performed and maintained
through the male line.
In Asia, various forms of ancestor worship were in-
corporated into Buddhist rites. Ancestral rites and cer-
emonies are particularly prominent in East Asia, where
Mahayana Buddhism and Confucianism predomi-
nated and interacted. Southeast Asian societies, where
Thera vada Buddhism flourished, observe similar
Buddhist rites for ancestors, but the continuity of a
family lineage is not the main motive of their rites. In
general, ancestor worship entails belief in the protec-
tive power of the deceased members of a particular
family, lineage, or a tribal group. It is also based on the
desire to overcome fear of the corpse and elevate the
newly deceased to the level of respected ancestors,
which continue to interact with the living.
Buddhist ideas of soul and afterlife
According to Buddhist scriptures, questions regarding
existence in the afterlife constitute one of the fourteen
issues on which the Buddha did not elaborate because
such matters cannot be proven by experience or logic.
Buddhist teachings denied any unchangeable or per-
manent entity, such as a soul, since all phenomena are
seen as subject to anitya (impermanence). The Bud-
dha is said to have instructed his disciples not to deal
with funerals, unless they were for family members.
The Buddha’s funeral is said to have been performed
according to the ancient Indian customs for the fu-
neral of a cakravartin (wheel-turning emperor or king,
who rules the world), and no Buddhist funerals for the
dead were established at that time. Buddhist ideas of
no-self (anatman) were the opposite of Brahmanical
beliefs concerning the continuity of the self. Later,
however, some Buddhist schools modified the idea of
no-self by, for example, positing the alayavijnana
(storehouse consciousness) as that which undergoes
rebirth. One widely accepted theory is the Sarvastivada
school’s stance on karma (action) as the continuing
force that sets in motion a new existence after death.
Whatever philosophical terms the Buddhist scholars
used, continuity of the individual after death was more
or less assumed. These ideas, such as karma, provided
the theoretical background for ancestral rites for the
Buddhists.
Buddhist ancestral rites developed and incorporated
non-Buddhist beliefs and practices from Hinduism,
Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto, as well as from the
popular folk beliefs of the people in Asia. In almost all
Asian cultures, indigenous spirit cults play a major role
in ancestor worship and veneration: for example, the
phi spirit of Thai people, the nat of the Burmese, the
tama of the Japanese, and the po and gui of the Chi-
nese. These potentially dangerous spirits can become
ancestors through Buddhist pacification rituals and
memorial rites.
The Ghost Festival and merit transfer
The most widespread Buddhist ancestral festival is the
Ghost Festival, or yulanpen (Japanese, Obon), which
was recorded in Chinese Buddhist sources as early as
the fifth century. During the Ghost Festival, ancestors
are invited back to this world for a feast, which is pre-
pared by the family members. This festival is based on
the Buddhist legend of Mahamaudgalyayana, one of
the ten leading disciples of the Buddha. Mahamaud-
galyayana is well known for liberating his mother from
hell. His mother was unable to eat since all the food
she tried to eat changed into fire before she put it into
her mouth. Mahamaudgalyayana’s offerings to the
community of monks saved her from hell, and she was
reborn in an upper heaven. This yulanpen festival
unites the Buddhist components of hungry ghosts and
salvation with Chinese indigenous belief in pacifying
dead spirits. In China, imitation paper money and
20
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Ancestors
miniature furniture and houses are burned to enrich
the dead in the netherworld. With proper family of-
ferings, these spirits can be transformed into protec-
tive ancestors.
This legend of yulanpen is based on Chinese Bud-
dhist scriptures, but the idea of food offerings for an-
cestors also existed in pre-Buddhist India. An example
of this is the main feature of the sraddha feast, where
sacred rice balls, or pinda, were offered to ancestors.
In these Indian rites, a feast is provided for the Brah-
mans, and the merit of this act is transferred to the an-
cestors. This kind of direct and indirect ritual feeding
of ancestors has been incorporated into Buddhist an-
cestral rites such as yulanpen and other rites to feed
hungry ghosts.
In yulanpen and related rites, an altar outside the
main chapel was set up with food for the hungry ghosts,
and various sutras were recited in order to feed them
and provide prayers for the pretas’ possible future en-
lightenment. This kind of ritual act of pujana or, as
Lynn deSilva calls it, “spiritual nourishment” (p. 155)
was made for various revered objects such as the “three
jewels” of the Buddha, dharma, and sangha, as well as
for parents, teachers, elders, and the souls of the dead.
The objects of offering were primarily food but also
included incense (fragrance), clothes, bedding for
monks, flowers, lights (candles and other bright lights),
music, and right actions. In these offering ceremonies,
the Buddha is symbolically invited into the ceremonial
place and given praise and offerings. Confessional
prayers are recited and certain mantra (e.g., nenbutsu,
dharanI, or daimoku, depending on which Buddhist
school one belongs to) are chanted in front of the Bud-
dha. The merit accrued from these offerings and sutra
recitations is transferred to the dead.
In Sri Lanka, the deceased who did not reach the
proper afterworld are feared by the living. Various sick-
nesses and disasters are alleged to be caused by these
floating spirits of the dead. In order to pacify such
ghosts, Buddhist monks are called upon to perform the
pint rites and to distribute magic threads and water to
those afflicted. These floating spirits are eventually
transformed into benevolent ancestors by the power of
the pint rites. Thai and Burmese Buddhists observe the
same rite, but it is called the paritta ritual (Spiro, pp.
247-250). In Thailand, bun khaw saak (merit-making
with puffed rice) and orgphansa (end of Lent) are held
annually in wats (monasteries), and offerings are made
to the ancestors collectively (Tambiah, p. 190). The
merit of such acts is transferred to the deceased, yet
Stanley Tambiah is reluctant to call these ceremonies
ancestral worship since they do not involve system-
atized or formalized interaction between the deceased
and the living. Nevertheless, he notes that the Buddhist
monks act as mediators between death and rebirth, and
they eliminate the dangers and pollution of death. In
Korea, Buddhist monks do not widely deal with death
rituals or rites of feeding deceased spirits and ances-
tors, unlike Thai or Japanese monks, even though Ko-
reans have similar beliefs in spirits as those of other
East Asian people. Shamans (Korean, mudang) largely
deal with these ancestral rites.
Intermediate states and memorial rites
The timing interval of memorial rites for the dead
varies. In Sri Lanka, the rites ( pujands ) are to be held
on the seventh day, three months, and one year after
the death day. These memorial rites are called mataka
dunes, and monks are invited for the memorial feasts.
The Abhidharmakosabhasya and other Buddhist
texts describe the judgments said to be undergone by
the dead in the intermediate states (Sanskrit, an-
tarabhava; Chinese, zhongyou ) every seven days after
death, up to the forty-ninth day. The forty-ninth day
is the final date when the realm of rebirth — whether
in the hells, the heavens, or other realms — will be de-
cided. Thus it marks the end of first mourning pe-
riod for the living. In China, memorial rites for the
deceased assume the form of Ten Buddha Rites (Chi-
nese, shifoshi), which include seven weekly rites held
every seven days up to the forty-ninth day, and on
the hundredth day, one year, and the third year
anniversaries — in total, ten memorial rites.
In Japan, three to five more rites were added, in-
cluding rites held on the seventh, thirteenth, and
thirty-third anniversaries. Observing ancestral rites is
a major part of Japanese Buddhist practice, and death
related rituals and services, such as funerals and
memorial rites, have become the major source of
monastic financing. According to folklorist Yanagida
Kunio, the deceased souls, which are called hotoke
(buddha) or spirits (Japanese, shorei) are purified
through these memorial rites. Once pacified, they be-
come kami (deities) after the thirty-third anniversary
memorial rite. These deified ancestors eventually lose
their individual personalities as time passes and con-
verge into the collective group of divine ancestors,
which resides in the ancestral tablets (Japanese, ihai)
and in ancestral family tombs. In Japan, ihai tablets are
the most significant object in a Buddhist altar. They
are enshrined in Japanese homes, with the exception
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
21
Ancestors
A Zen (Chan school) priest paying respect at his parents' gravesite
in the cemetery of the Kotokoji in Tokyo, 1992. © Don Farber
2003. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.
of those of Jodo Shinshu, one of the major lineages of
Pure Land adherents. The ancestral tablet is Chinese
Confucian in origin but was popularized by Buddhist
monks during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
(Fujii, 1988, p. 20).
Family tombs are also important objects of ances-
tral worship in Japan. Early tombs are modeled on the
STUPAS in India, where relics of the Buddha are en-
shrined. Japanese ancestral tombs are visited by family
members to commemorate their ancestors during the
Obon ancestral festival. Unlike the Chinese and Japan-
ese, Thai and Burmese Buddhists do not show much
interest in building and maintaining elaborate graves
because tombs are not regarded as ancestral residences.
Founder worship in Japan
Another characteristic of Japanese Buddhism in rela-
tion to ancestor worship is worship of the founders of
various Buddhist schools and sects, many of which
were established during the Kamakura period (1185—
1333). Those most frequently worshipped include
Kukai (774-835) of the Shingon Tantric school; Eisai
(1141-1215) of Rinzai Zen; Dogen (1200-1253) of
Soto Zen; Honen (1133-1212) of the Pure Land sect
or Jodoshu; Shinran (1173-1263) of Jodo Shinshu;
and Nichiren (1222-1282) of the Nichiren school.
These founders are worshipped and revered as divine
“fathers” of their respective lineages. The followers of
these founders are considered the “children” of the
father-founders, using a family analogy. The blood lin-
eage (Japanese, kechimyaku) is interpreted in a spiri-
tual sense as the bond connecting the founder and the
followers through various rites. This founder worship
is the basis of salvific and devotional Japanese Bud-
dhism, since schools and lineages were formed and de-
veloped upon the basis of the revelatory experience of
these founders. Several annual rites are performed to
commemorate the birth, death, and other major life
events of the founders or prominent monks who con-
tributed to the different schools of Buddhism in Japan.
The stupas, which contain the remains of founders and
prominent monks, are usually constructed within a
monastery complex of the headquarters of a particu-
lar lineage or sect. Furthermore, statues of the founders
and prominent monks are made and placed near the
central objects of worship, usually Buddha figures or
MANDALAS.
Conclusion
Although Sakyamuni Buddha did not affirm the exis-
tence of an unchanging soul, Buddhism, in its devel-
opment over many centuries in different parts of Asia,
provides a rich theoretical and ritual basis for ances-
tral rites. One aspect of this basis is the idea of repeated
birth in the lower six realms of existence: the realms
of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demigods
(asura), or heavenly deities, depending upon one’s
karma from past lives. This idea of karma, of ancient
Indian origin, was inherited by Buddhists and is un-
derstood as the continuing individual process that
undergoes the cycle of rebirth. The concept of pra-
TITYASAMUTPADA (DEPENDENT ORIGINATION) also con-
tributed to ancestor worship, as the theory was
understood, especially by the laypeople, to mean that
past, present, and future lives are connected. More-
over, the idea of nirvana, which is often explained
with the analogy of extinguishing a candle, evolved
into the idea of dharmakaya or dharma body, which is
not affected by the death of the physical body of the
Buddha (Sanskrit, nirmanakaya). The Buddha’s fu-
neral and the subsequent development of relic worship
gave further impetus to the worship of ancestors.
The main concept underlying Buddhist ancestral
rituals is the transfer of merit, which is practiced in al-
most all Buddhist countries. In the rituals of merit
22
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Anitya (impermanence)
transfer, giving offerings to the Buddha is regarded as
the same thing as offering to ancestors. The unity of the
living and the dead or the bond between descendants
and ancestors is assured and affirmed by participating
in and observing the Buddhist ancestral rites. In South-
east Asia, ancestor worship is not as evident as in East
Asia, but the continual transfer of merit though offer-
ings to monks and the sangha provides the opportu-
nity to commemorate and nourish ancestral spirits.
See also: Cosmology; Death; Lineage; Merit and Merit-
Making
Bibliography
Ahern, Emily M. The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village. Stan-
ford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1973.
deSilva, Lynn A. Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices in Sri Lanka.
Colombo, Sri Lanka: de Silva, 1974.
Freedman, Maurice. Lineage Organization in Southeastern
China. London: University of London, Athlone Press, 1958.
Fujii Masao. “Soshi shinko no keisei to tenkai” (The formation
and development of founder worship in Japan). Taisho
daigaku daigaku-in kenkyu ronshu 6 (1982): 23-39.
Fujii Masao. Sosen saiki (Ancestral rites). Bukkyo minzogu-gaku
taikei, Vol. 4. Tokyo: Meicho shuppan, 1988.
Gombrich, Richard Francis, and Obeyesekere, Gananath. Bud-
dhism Transformed: Religious Change in Sri Lanka. Prince-
ton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.
Holt, John C. “Assisting the Dead by Venerating the Living:
Merit Transfer in the Early Buddhist Tradition.” Numen 28,
no. 1 (1981): 1-28.
Jordan, David K. Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors: The Folk Religion
of a Taiwanese Village. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1972.
Lee, Kwang Kyu. “The Concept of Ancestors and Ancestor Wor-
ship in Korea.” Asian Folklore Studies 43 (1984): 199-214.
Smith, Robert J. Ancestor Worship in Contemporary Japan. Stan-
ford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1974.
Spiro, Melford E. Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and
Its Burmese Vicissitudes. New York: Harper, 1970.
Takeda Choshu. Sosen suhai (Ancestor worship). Kyoto:
Heirakuji Shoten, 1971.
Tamamura Taijo. Soshiki Bukkyo (Funeral Buddhism). Tokyo:
Daihorinkaku, 1964.
Tambiah, Stanley J. Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-East
Thailand. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
1970.
Teiser, Stephen. The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Prince-
ton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.
Yanagida Kunio. Senzo no hanashi. Tokyo: Tsukuma shobo,
1946. English translation by Fanny Hagin Mayer and Ishi-
wara Yasuyo. About Our Ancestors: The Japanese Family Sys-
tem. Tokyo: Bunshodo, 1970.
Mariko Namba Walter
ANITYA (IMPERMANENCE)
Impermanence, as the Sanskrit word anitya or Pali
word anicca are generally translated, is one of the three
characteristics of the phenomenal world, or the world
in which human beings live. The other two character-
istics are duhkha (suffering) and no-self (anatman).
The concept of impermanence is fundamental to all
Buddhist schools: Everything that exists in this world
is impermanent. No element of physical matter or any
concept remains unchanged, including the skandha
(aggregate) that make up individual persons. Things
in the world change in two ways. First, they change
throughout time. Second, everything in this world is
influenced by other elements of the world, and thus all
existence is contingent upon something else. Because
of this state of interdependence, everything that exists
in this world is subject to change and is thus imper-
manent. Impermanence is the cause of suffering, be-
cause humans attempt to hold on to things that are
constantly changing, on the mistaken assumption that
those things are permanent.
Nirvana is the only thing that lies beyond the reach
of change, because it exists beyond the conceptual
dualism of existence or nonexistence. Traditionally,
Buddhist texts explain that because nirvana is not de-
pendent upon other elements in the world, it is de-
scribed as “uncreated” and “transcendent.” In short,
nirvana is not subject to change and is therefore not
impermanent. For one who pursues the path toward
enlightenment, the goal is to recognize the truth of im-
permanence by learning how not to depend upon the
notion that things exist permanently in the world. Ac-
cording to the Thera vada school of Buddhism, the
first step in knowing the nature of reality is recogniz-
ing that neither the self nor the world exist perma-
nently. Impermanence is woven throughout all of
Buddhism, from its texts to artistic representations of
Buddhist concepts.
See also: Anatman/Atman (No-Self/Self); Bodhi
(Awakening); Four Noble Truths; Path; Pratltyasa-
mutpada (Dependent Origination)
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
23
An Shigao
Bibliography
Conze, Edward. Buddhist Thought in India: Three Phases of Bud-
dhist Philosophy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
1962.
Karunadasa, Y. “The Buddhist Critique of Sassatavada and
Ucchedavada: The Key to a Proper Understanding of the
Origin and Doctrines of Early Buddhism.” Middle Way 74,
no. 2 (1999): 69-79.
Carol S. Anderson
AN SHIGAO
An Shigao is the Chinese name of a Parthian Buddhist
translator active in the Chinese capital Luoyang circa
148 to 180 c.e. Tradition represents him as a prince who
renounced his throne to propagate the dharma in dis-
tant lands, becoming a hostage at the Han court, but
little is known about his life. Scholars disagree over
whether he was a layman or a monk, a follower of the
Mahayana or not. What is certain is that he was the
first significant translator of Buddhist texts into Chinese.
Fewer than twenty genuine works of his are thought to
have survived. They include sutras on such important
topics as the four noble truths, pratityasamutpada
(dependent origination), the skandha (aggregate),
and mindfulness of breathing and other techniques of
self-cultivation, as well as several treatises on similar
subjects (one of them an early version of Sangharaksa’s
Yogdcdrabhumi). Two works are in fact anthologies of
short sutras, while two other longer sutras ( Dasottara ,
Arthavistara ) are compendia of terms, thus providing
Chinese Buddhists with a comprehensive treatment of
their new religion’s ideas and vocabulary. All the trans-
lations are of mainstream (Sravakayana) literature, most
apparently affiliated with the Sarvastivada school. The
first propagator of abhidharma and meditation texts in
China, An Shigao also pioneered the field of Chinese
Buddhist translations, and may have established the
translation committee as the standard approach. While
his archaic renditions were soon superseded by his suc-
cessors, some of the terms he used (like the transcrip-
tions fo for Buddha or pusa for bodhisattva) have stood
the test of time and are still current in East Asia today.
See also: Mainstream Buddhist Schools
Bibliography
Forte, Antonino. The Hostage An Shigao and His Offspring.
Kyoto, Japan: Italian School of East Asian Studies, 1995.
Ziircher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and
Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China. Leiden,
Netherlands: Brill, 1959.
Ziircher, Erik. “A New Look at the Earliest Chinese Buddhist
Texts.” In From Benares to Beijing: Essays on Buddhism and
Chinese Religion in Honour of Prof. Jan Yun-hua, ed. Koichi
Shinohara and Gregory Schopen. Oakville, ON: Mosaic,
1991.
Paul Harrison
ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI
(COMPLETE, PERFECT AWAKENING)
Anuttarasamyaksambodhi is a Sanskrit term for un-
surpassed ( anuttara ), complete and perfect ( samyak )
awakening ( sambodhi ). Buddhist texts frequently use
this term to describe the awakened wisdom acquired
by buddhas and tathagatas and to indicate that the con-
tent of that awakening transcends all conceptions and
cannot be compared to the knowledge or wisdom of
any other being, whether human or divine.
See also: Bodhi (Awakening)
William M. Bodiford
APOCRYPHA
The term apocrypha has been used in Western schol-
arship to refer to Buddhist literature that developed
in various parts of Asia in imitation of received texts
from the Buddhist homeland of India. Texts included
under the rubric of apocrypha share some common
characteristics, but they are by no means uniform in
their literary style or content. Apocrypha may be char-
acterized collectively as a genre of indigenous religious
literature that claimed to be of Indian Buddhist pedi-
gree or affiliation and that came to acquire varying
degrees of legitimacy and credence with reference to
the corpus of shared scripture. Some apocrypha, es-
pecially in East Asian Buddhism, purported to be the
buddhavacana (word of the Buddha) (that is,
sutra) or the word of other notable and anonymous
exegetes of Indian Buddhism (sastra). Others claimed
to convey the insights of enlightened beings from In-
dia or of those who received such insights through a
proper line of transmission, as in the case of Tibetan
“treasure texts” ( gter ma) that were hidden and dis-
covered by qualified persons. Still others were mod-
24
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Apocrypha
eled after canonical narrative literature, as in the case
of apocryphal JATAKA (birth stories of the Buddha)
from Southeast Asia. Thus, what separates apocrypha
from other types of indigenous Buddhist literature
was their claimed or implied Indian attribution and
authorship. The production of apocryphal texts is re-
lated to the nature of the Buddhist canon within each
tradition. The Chinese and Tibetan canons remained
open in order to allow the introduction of new scrip-
tures that continued to be brought from India over
several centuries, a circumstance that no doubt in-
spired religious innovation and encouraged the cre-
ation of new religious texts, such as apocrypha. The
Pali canon of South and Southeast Asia, on the other
hand, was fixed at a relatively early stage in its history,
making it more difficult to add new materials.
The above general characterization offers a clue
as to the function and purpose of apocrypha: They
adapted Indian material to the existing local
contexts — be they religious, sociocultural, or even
political — thereby bridging the conceptual gulf that
otherwise might have rendered the assimilation of
Buddhism more difficult, if not impossible. The per-
ceived authority inherent in the received texts of the
tradition was tacitly recognized and adopted to make
the foreign religion more comprehensible to contem-
porary people in the new lands into which Buddhism
was being introduced. Indeed history shows that some
apocryphal texts played seminal roles in the develop-
ment of local Buddhist cultures as they became an in-
tegral part of the textual tradition both inside and
outside the normative canon. But not all apocrypha
were purely or even primarily aimed at promoting
Buddhist causes. Some Chinese apocrypha, for exam-
ple, were all about legitimating local religious customs
and practices by presenting them in the guise of the
teaching of the Buddha. These examples illustrate that
the authority of SCRIPTURE spurred literary production
beyond the confines of Buddhism proper and provided
a form in which a region’s popular religious dimen-
sions could be expressed in texts.
Of the known corpus of apocrypha, the most “egre-
gious” case may be East Asian Buddhist apocrypha
that assumed the highest order of Indian pedigree, by
claiming to be the genuine word of the Buddha him-
self. Naturally their claims to authenticity did not go
unnoticed among either conservative or liberal fac-
tions within the Buddhist community. During the me-
dieval period these texts became objects of contempt
as well as, contrarily, materials of significant utility
and force in the ongoing sinification of Buddhism.
Thus Chinese Buddhist apocrypha epitomize the com-
plexity of issues surrounding the history, identity, and
function of Buddhist apocrypha as a broader genre of
Buddhist literature.
Chinese Buddhist apocrypha
Chinese Buddhist apocrypha began to be written al-
most contemporaneously with the inception of Bud-
dhist translation activities in the mid-second century
C.E. According to records in Buddhist catalogues of
scriptures, the number of apocrypha grew steadily
every generation, through at least the eighth century.
Most cataloguers were vehement critics of apocrypha,
as can be gauged from their description of them as ei-
ther “spurious” or “suspected” scriptures, or from
statements that condemned these scriptures as erod-
ing the integrity of the Buddhist textual transmission
in China. Despite the concerted, collective efforts of
the cataloguers and, at times, the imperial court to root
out these indigenous scriptures, it was not until the
compilation of the first printed Buddhist canon, the
Northern Song edition (971-983), that new textual
creation waned and eventually all but ceased. The pro-
duction of apocrypha in China was thus a phenome-
non of the manuscript period, when handwritten texts
of local origin could gain acceptance as scripture and
even be included in the canon, the result being an enig-
matic category of scripture that is at once inauthentic
and yet canonical.
Modern scholarship’s discovery of such “canonical
apocrypha” testifies to the complexity and difficulty
of textual adjudication as well as to the authors’ so-
phisticated level of comprehension and assimilation
of Buddhist materials. It was never easy for traditional
bibliographical cataloguers to determine scriptural
authenticity. Success in ferreting out apocryphal
texts — especially when the texts in question were com-
posed by authors with extensive knowledge of Bud-
dhist doctrines and practice and with substantial
literary skill — required extensive exposure to a wide
range of Buddhist literature. In addition, the task was
at times deliberately compromised — as in the case of
the Lidai sanbaoji ( Record of the Three Treasures
throughout Successive Dynasties; 597) — for no other
reason than the polemical need to purge from the
canon any elements that might subject Buddhism to
criticism from religious and ideological rivals, such as
Daoists and Confucians. The Lidai sanbaoji added
many false author and translator attributions to apoc-
rypha in order to authenticate those texts as genuine
scripture; and once its arbitrary attributions were
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
25
Apocrypha
accepted in a state-commissioned catalogue, the Da-
Zhou kanding zhongjing mulu ( Catalogue of Scriptures,
Authorized by the Great Zhou Dynasty, 695), the Chi-
nese tradition accepted the vast majority of those texts
as canonical. The Kaiyuan shijiao lu ( Record of Sakya-
muni’s Teachings, Compiled during the Kaiyuan Era-,
730) — recognized as the best of all traditional
catalogues — was critical of both these predecessors,
but even it was unable to eliminate all these past in-
accuracies due in part to the weight of tradition.
Canonical apocrypha are therefore ideal examples of
the clash of motivations and compromises reached in
the process of creating a religious tradition. These
apocrypha thus added new dimensions to the evolv-
ing Buddhist religion in China due in part to their
privileged canonical status, but also, more impor-
tantly, because of their responsiveness to Chinese re-
ligious and cultural needs.
There are some 450 titles of Chinese apocryphal
texts listed in the traditional bibliographical catalogues.
In actuality, however, the cumulative number of apoc-
rypha composed in China is closer to 550 when we take
into account both other literary evidence, as well as
texts not listed in the catalogues but subsequently dis-
covered among Buddhist text and manuscript collec-
tions in China and Japan. Approximately one-third of
this total output is extant today — a figure that is sur-
prisingly large, given the persistent censorship to which
apocrypha were subjected throughout the medieval pe-
riod. This survival rate is testimony to their effective-
ness as indigenous Buddhist scripture and attests to the
continued reception given to these texts by the Chi-
nese, even such knowledgeable exegetes as Zhiyi
(538-597), the systematizer of the Tiantai school of
Chinese Buddhism. The vitality of the phenomenon of
apocrypha in China also catalyzed the creation of new
scriptures in other parts of East Asia, though to
nowhere near the same extent as in China proper.
The extant corpus of apocrypha includes both
canonical apocrypha as well as texts preserved as cita-
tions in Chinese exegetical works. Apocrypha were also
found in the two substantial medieval manuscript col-
lections discovered in modern times. The first is the
Dunhuang cache of Central Asia discovered at the
turn of the twentieth century, which included manu-
scripts dating from the fifth to eleventh centuries. The
second is the Nanatsu-dera manuscript canon in
Nagoya, Japan, which was compiled during the twelfth
century based on earlier manuscript editions of the
Buddhist canon. It was discovered in 1990 to have in-
cluded apocrypha of both Chinese and Japanese ori-
gin. The most astonishing historical finding in this
canon was the Piluo sanmei jing ( The Scripture on the
Absorption of Piluo), an apocryphon attested in the bib-
liographical catalogue compiled by the renowned
monk-scholar Dao’an (312-385), but previously un-
known. The Japanese manuscript is the only extant
copy of this extremely early Chinese apocryphon.
Other findings are no less valuable in ascertaining the
overall history of apocrypha: Both the Dunhuang and
Nanatsu-dera manuscripts included many titles with
no known record in the catalogues, evidence indicat-
ing that indigenous scriptural creation was even more
prolific than had previously been recognized. More-
over, scholars have suggested or identified convinc-
ingly some of the Nanatsu-dera apocrypha as Japanese
compilations based on Indian texts or Chinese apoc-
ryphal materials. Thus the apocrypha extant in Japan
serve as witness to the currency and impact of this con-
tested, but obviously useful, material.
Texts and contents
The extant corpus of apocryphal literature defies sim-
ple description, as each text has its own unique doc-
trinal or practical orientation, motive, and literary style
and technique. Some of the canonical apocrypha skill-
fully synthesized orthodox Buddhist material from In-
dia without any apparent indication of their native
pedigree; others, however, propagated popular beliefs
and practices typical of local culture while including
negligible Buddhist elements, save for the inclusion of
the word sutra (jing) in the title. The majority falls
somewhere between the two extremes, by promoting
Buddhist beliefs and practices as the means of accru-
ing worldly and spiritual merit. A few scholars have
attempted to make typological classifications of all ex-
tant apocrypha, but these remain problematic until the
corpus is thoroughly studied and understood in its
religious and sociocultural contexts. What follows
therefore is a selected review of some of the raison
d’etre of apocrypha, which are reflected in the ways in
which Buddhist teachings are framed and presented.
We will begin with two examples of apocrypha that
assembled Mahayana doctrine in ways that would
support a theory or practice that had no exact coun-
terpart in Indian Buddhism. First, the Awakening of
Faith (Dasheng qixin lun) reconstructed Buddhist
orthodoxy by synthesizing three major strands of In-
dian doctrine — sunyata (emptiness), alayavijnana
(storehouse consciousness), and tathagatagarbha
(womb/embryo of buddhas) — in order to posit an on-
tology of mind in which the mind could simultane-
26
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Apocrypha
ously be inherently enlightened and yet subject to ig-
norance. After its appearance in the sixth century, the
Awakening of Faith became perhaps the most promi-
nent example of the impact apocrypha had on the de-
velopment of Chinese Buddhist ideology, as it became
the catalyst for the development of the sectarian doc-
trines of such indigenous schools as Tiantai, Huayan,
and Chan. The text is also a prime example of the ways
in which an indigenous author selectively appropriated
and ingeniously synthesized Indian materials in order
better to suit a Chinese religious context. Second, the
Jin’gang sanmei jing ( The Scripture of Adamantine Ab-
sorption, or Vajrasamadhi-sutra) is an eclectic amal-
gam of a wide range of Mahayana doctrine, which
sought to provide a foundation for a comprehensive
system of meditative practice and to assert the soteri-
ological efficacy of that system. The scripture is also
one of the oldest works associated with the Chan
school in China and Korea, and is thus historically
significant. Unlike other apocrypha discussed else-
where in this entry, one study suggests that this
sutra is actually a Korean composition from the sev-
enth century (Buswell 1989). This scripture, along with
Japanese apocrypha mentioned earlier, is thus a
barometer of the organic relationship that pertained
between Buddhism in China and the rest of East Asia
and demonstrates the pervasive impetus for indige-
nous scriptural creation throughout the region.
Other apocrypha incorporated local references and
inferences in order to better relate certain Buddhist
values and stances to the surrounding milieu. Pre-
cepts are the bedrock of Buddhist soteriology and fig-
ure prominently as a theme among apocrypha, as, for
example, in the Fanwang jing (Brahma’s Net Su-
tra). This scripture reformulated the Mahayana bo-
dhisattva precepts in part by correlating them with the
Confucian notion of filial piety ( xiao ), a conspicuous
maneuver that betrays both the Chinese pedigree of
the text as well as its motive to reconcile two vastly dif-
ferent value systems. It also addressed problems aris-
ing from secular control over Buddhist institutions and
membership — a blending of religious instruction and
secular concerns that was not atypical of apocrypha, as
we will see again below.
Other apocrypha that have precepts as a prominent
theme specifically targeted the laity; such texts include
the Piluo sanmei jing ( The Scripture of the Absorption
of Piluo), Tiwei jing ( The Scripture of Tiwei), and
Chingjing faxing jing ( The Scripture of Pure Religious
Cultivation). These apocrypha taught basic lay moral
guidelines, such as the five precepts, the ten wholesome
actions, and the importance of dana (giving), all set
within a doctrinal framework of karma (action) and
rebirth. These lay precepts are at times presented as
the sufficient cause for attaining buddhahood, a radi-
cally simplified path that is no doubt intended to en-
courage the participation of the laity in Buddhist
practice. These precepts are also often presented as be-
ing superior to the five constant virtues ( wuchang ) of
Confucianism, or to any of the tangible and invisible
elements of the ancient Chinese worldview, including
the cosmological network of yin and yang, the five ma-
terial elements, and the five viscera of Daoist internal
medicine. The idea of filial piety is most conspicuous
in the Fumu enzhong jing ( The Scripture on Profound
Gratitude toward Parents), which is based on the Con-
fucian teaching of “twenty-four [exemplary types of]
filial piety” ( ershihsi xiao). The text highlights the deeds
of an unfilial son and exhorts him to requite his par-
ents’ love and sacrifice by making offerings to the three
jewels (the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha).
The scripture has been one of the most popular apoc-
rypha since the medieval period.
The law of karma and rebirth mentioned above is a
ubiquitous theme or backdrop of apocrypha. The text
commonly known as the Shiwang jing ( The Scripture
on the Ten Kings) illustrated the alien Buddhist law to
a Chinese audience by depicting the afterlife in purga-
tory. After death, a person must pass sequentially
through ten hell halls, each presided over by a judge;
the individual’s postmortem fate depended on the
judges’ review of his or her deeds while on earth. This
bureaucratization of hell was an innovation that mir-
rored the Chinese sociopolitical structure. This scrip-
ture’s pervasive influence can be gauged from the many
paintings, stone carvings, and sculptures of the ten
kings — typically garbed in the traditional attire and
headgear of Chinese officials — that were found in me-
dieval East Asian Buddhist sites.
Given that apocryphal scriptures were products of
specific times and places, it is no surprise that they also
criticized not only the contemporary state of religion
but also society as a whole, and even the state and its
policies toward Buddhism. Such criticisms were often
framed within the eschatological notion of the decline
of the dharma, which was adapted from Indian
sources. The Renwang jing (Humane Kings Sutra)
described corruption in all segments of society, natural
calamities and epidemics, state control and persecu-
tion of Buddhism, and the neglect of precepts by Bud-
dhist adherents. The suggested solution to this crisis
was the perfection of wisdom ( prajhaparamita ), whose
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
27
Arhat
efficacy would restore order in religion and society and
even protect the state from extinction. The scripture
was popular in medieval East Asia, especially among
the ruling class, not least because of its assertion of state
protection. The Shouluo biqiu png ( The Scripture of
Bhiksu Shouluo ) offered a different solution to escha-
tological crisis: It prophesized the advent of a savior,
Lunar-Radiant Youth, during a time of utter disorder
and corruption. Such a messianic message is of course
not without precedent in Indian Buddhism — the cult
of the future buddha Maitreya is the ubiquitous
example — but the suggestion of a savior in the present
world might easily be construed as politically subver-
sive, and as a direct challenge to the authority of the
secular regime. This scripture is one of those lost apoc-
rypha that was discovered among the Dunhuang man-
uscript cache some fourteen hundred years after the
first recorded evidence of its composition.
The preceding coverage has touched upon only a
small part of the story of Buddhist apocrypha. Even
this brief treatment should make clear, however, that
apocrypha occupy a crucial place in the history of
Buddhism as a vehicle of innovation and adaptation,
which bridged the differences between the imported
texts of the received Buddhist tradition and indige-
nous religion, society and culture. As such, they also
offer substantial material for cross-cultural and com-
parative studies of scripture and canon in different re-
ligious traditions.
See also: Daoism and Buddhism; Millenarianism and
Millenarian Movements
Bibliography
Buswell, Robert E., ]r. The Formation ofCh’an Ideology in China
and Korea: The Vajrasamadhi-Sutra, a Buddhist Apocryphon.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Buswell, Robert E., Jr., ed. Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha. Hon-
olulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990.
Jaini, Padmanabh S., and Horner, I. B. Apocryphal Birth Stories
(Pahnasa-Jataka), 2 vols. London: Pali Text Society, 1985.
Kapstein, Matthew T. The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism:
Conversion, Contestation, and Memory. Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2000.
Makita, Tairyo. Gikyo kenkyu (Studies on Suspect Scriptures).
Kyoto: Kyoto Daigaku Jinmon Kagaku Kenkyusho, 1976.
Makita, Tairyo, and Ochiai, Toshinori, eds. Chugoku senjutsu
kyoten (Scriptures Composed in China); Chugoku Nihon sen-
jutsu kyoten: kanyaku kyoten (Scriptures Composed in China
and Japan, Scriptures Translated into Chinese [Extrac-
tions]); and Chugoku Nihon senjutsu kyoten: senjutsusho
(Scriptures and Commentaries Composed in China and
Japan). Nanatsu-dera koitsu kyoten kenkyu sosho (The Long
Hidden Scriptures of Nanatsu-dera, Research Series), Vols.
1-5. Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha, 1994-2000.
Mochizuki, Shinko. Bukkyo kyoten seiritsushi ron (Study on the
Development of Buddhist Scriptures). Kyoto: Hozo-kan,
1946.
Orzech, Charles D. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The Scrip-
ture for Humane Kings in the Creation of Chinese Buddhism.
University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
Teiser, Stephen F. The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Mak-
ing of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
Tsukamoto, Zenryu. Tsukamoto Zenryu chosakushu, Vol. 2:
Hokucho bukkyoshi kenkyu (Collected Works of Tsukamoto
Zenryu, Vol. 2: Studies on the Buddhist History of North-
ern Dynasties). Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha, 1974.
Yabuki, Keiki. Meisha yoin: kaisetsu (Echoes of the Singing
Sands: Explanations). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1933.
Ziircher, Erik. “Prince Moonlight: Messianism and Eschatology
in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhism.” T’oung-pao 68
(1982), 1-59.
Kyoko Tokuno
ARHAT
The arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) is a being who
has attained the state of enlightenment that is the goal
of Theravada and other mainstream Buddhist
schools. The arhat is fully human yet has reached a
transcendent state of wisdom and liberation that the
texts describe as being almost identical with that of the
Buddha. In this way, the arhat fulfills a dual role as both
an ideal for imitation and an object of veneration.
As an ideal of imitation, the arhat represents the
completion of the gradual path that leads from the
stage of an ordinary person, characterized by igno-
rance, to that of an enlightened person endowed with
wisdom. Theravada texts describe this path as having
two levels: the mundane or worldly, and the supra-
mundane. Theravada held that the path was open to
all beings who could master the attainments required,
and it subdivided the path into four stages that must
be completed over many lifetimes. These four stages
are termed the four paths ( marga) or the four noble
persons ( arya-pudgala ), and comprise (1) the path of
stream-attainment ( srotdpanna marga), (2) the path
of once-returning ( sakrddgami marga), (3) the path of
28
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Arhat
nonreturning ( anagami marga), and (4) the path
of the arhat. The division of the path into these stages
extending over many lifetimes served to make the ideal
of arhatship more viable for ordinary people.
The Buddhist CANON contains many sutras that spell
out in detail the nature of the perfections that must be
accomplished at each of the stages of the path in order
to progress toward arhatship. The perfection of moral
conduct ( slla ) constitutes the first requirement of the
path. In the Visuddhimagga ( Path to Purification ), Bud-
dhaghosa (fifth century c.E.) explains that a person
on the path must fulfill the precepts, living by com-
passion and nonviolence, living without stealing and
depending on the charity of others, practicing chastity,
speaking truth, and following all of the major and mi-
nor precepts. Having made progress in sila, the aspir-
ing arhat moves to perfect the restraint of sense
faculties. Controlling the senses rather than allowing
the senses to control him or her, the aspirant experi-
ences a state of peace. The next stage involves the de-
velopment of samadhi, or concentration, and here the
chief obstacles to be overcome are the five hindrances
( mvarana ), which include sensual desire, ill will, sloth
and torpor, excitement and flurry, and doubt.
Closely related to this formulation of the states to
be conquered is the list of mental fetters ( samyojana )
that must be abandoned in order to progress from the
stage of stream-enterer to that of arhat. A person at-
tains the fruit of stream-entry by eliminating the first
three fetters: mistaken belief in a self, doubt, and trust
in mere rites and rituals. To progress to the stage of
the once-returner, a person must reduce lust, ill will,
and delusion. The third noble person, the non-
returner, completes the destruction of the first five
fetters by completely destroying sensual desire and ill
will. To become an arhat one must proceed to elim-
inate the five remaining fetters, called higher fetters:
desire for material existence, desire for immaterial ex-
istence, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance.
Having eliminated these negative states, the arhat-
to-be enters the successive jhanas (Sanskrit, dhyana)
or trance states of samadhi, and attains the mental fac-
tors ending in pure MINDFULNESS and equanimity. The
Dighanikaya contrasts persons who have reached this
stage with ordinary persons by stating that those who
attain this level are as happy as prisoners who have
been set free or as people who have found their way
out of the wilderness to safety (D.1.72f.). To move be-
yond this stage, the potential arhat perfects the six
abhijna (higher knowledges). The first three of
these comprise what can be called miraculous powers:
the ability to do the miraculous deeds traditionally at-
tributed to Indian holy persons, such as becoming in-
visible, flying through the air, walking on water, and
other physical and psychic powers. The three remain-
ing abhijna comprise the three knowledges: knowledge
of one’s previous lives, the “divine eye” ( divyacaksu )
that allows one to see others’ past lives, and knowledge
of the destruction of the cankers. Having reached this
stage, the arhat is described throughout the Pali canon
as “one who has destroyed the cankers, who has done
what was to be done, who has laid down the burden
. . . and is liberated.”
The detailed and somewhat formulaic canonical de-
scriptions of the arhat’s path serve both to present the
path as an imitable goal and to emphasize how distant
this goal is from the ordinary person. Theravada sup-
plemented these normative descriptions of the path to
arhatship with hagiographical accounts of the great
arhats who had completed this path. The difficulty of
the path implied that the figures who had completed it
were greatly to be venerated. The canonical and com-
mentarial stories of the great arhats describe them as
performing meritorious deeds in their previous lives,
which led to their having opportunities to hear and fol-
low the dharma. Through hearing the dharma and
practicing the path, these arhats reached the perfection
of wisdom and compassion. Theravadin accounts
praise these arhats for attaining various forms of per-
fection in relation to the world. Free from the snares of
desire, the arhats were not attached to the material
world. For example, the female arhat, Subha, who had
overcome all attachments and was living as a nun in
the forest, plucked out her eye and gave it to a pursuer
who said that he was attracted to her because of her
deerlike eyes. The stories of other arhats stress their per-
fection of qualities such as equanimity, nonattachment,
and peace. Great arhats like Mahakassapa (Sanskrit,
Mahakasyapa) and Anna-Kondonna were revered for
their ability to teach the dharma, and other arhats were
remembered for serving as advisers and counselors to
the people. Veneration of these great arhats by ordinary
persons at the lower levels of the path both leads to and
is in itself imitation of the arhats’ path to development.
Although the arhat plays a primary role in Thera-
vada Buddhism, the ideal is also found in some Ma-
hayana texts that mention a group of sixteen (or
sometimes eighteen) great arhats. Mahayana sutras
teach that the Buddha requested these sixteen arhats
to remain in the world to teach the dharma until the
next Buddha, Maitreya, appears.
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
29
Arhat Images
See also: Arhat Images; Bodhi (Awakening); Disciples
of the Buddha
Bibliography
Bond, George D. “The Arahant: Sainthood in Theravada Bud-
dhism.” In Sainthood: Its Manifestations in World Religions,
ed. Richard Kieckhefer and George D. Bond. Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 1988.
Horner, I. B. The Early Buddhist Theory of Man Perfected. Lon-
don: Williams and Norgate, 1936.
Tambiah, S. J. “The Buddhist Arahant: Classical Paradigm and
Modern Thai Manifestations.” In Saints and Virtues, ed.
John S. Hawley. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1987.
George D. Bond
ARHAT IMAGES
The depiction of arhats (Chinese, luohan; Japanese,
rakarv, Korean, nahan) in painting and sculpture is a
time-honored one in East Asian Buddhist art. Literally
meaning “one worthy of honor,” arhats are senior dis-
ciples of the Buddha who attained awakening through
his teaching. After the sutra about sixteen “great”
arhats, Da aluohan Nandimiduoluo suo shuo fazhuji
( Record of the Abiding Law as Spoken by the Great Arhat
Nandimitra, T.2030), was translated into Chinese in
the mid-seventh century, worship centered on this se-
lect group, which eventually expanded from sixteen to
eighteen and then to five hundred in number. These
select arhats, said to reside in remote mountain fast-
nesses and believed to possess miraculous powers, had
been given the charge to protect the buddhadharma
until the buddha of the future, Maitreya, makes his
appearance, and this kalpa (or cycle) of existence
comes to an end. From the late ninth century onward,
arhats inspired a fervent cultic worship in Central Asia
and throughout East Asia.
One clue that suggests why such worship was so
enduring may be found in the Record of the Abiding
Law. There the believer is instructed to show devo-
tion to the arhats by supporting the monastic order.
The sutra states that such devotional actions call forth
the arhats, although they disguise their “transcendent
natures,” to mingle amidst human beings, bestowing
upon pious donors “the reward of that fruit that
surpasses all others” (i.e., the attainment of buddha-
hood). Another factor that contributed to the flour-
ishing of arhat worship in China was the probable
An arhat, or enlightened disciple, with a fly whisk. (Chinese paint-
ing by Guanxiu, 832-912.) The Art Archive/Private Collection
Paris/Dagli Orti. Reproduced by permission.
association of the miracle-working arhats named in
the sutra and subsequently depicted in paintings and
sculpture with the fabled but indigenous Daoist im-
mortals, who were also thought to reside in remote
realms and possess supernatural powers; indeed, the
Sanskrit term arhat was first translated into Chinese
by borrowing terms from the Daoist lexicon that re-
fer to such immortals.
The beginnings of the depiction of the sixteen arhats
named in the Record of the Abiding Law are obscure;
the available visual evidence consists of mere fragments
or later copies of paintings. Textual sources, however,
indicate that by the latter half of the ninth century, as
the arhats’ cultic worship became well-established,
painters of note, such as Guanxiu (832-912) and
Zhang Xuan (tenth century), depicted the theme, ap-
parently in the form of iconic portraits. By this time
there appear to have been two approaches to depict-
ing arhats: either as monks with Chinese facial features
30
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Aryadeva
or as distinctly exotic, even grotesque beings. Guanxiu,
a Chan priest and accomplished poet who was said to
have derived inspiration for his painting from prayer-
induced visions, was heralded by later historians as
having been the first to portray the arhats, in the words
of Huang Xiufu (late tenth/early eleventh century), as
foreign in appearance, “having bushy eyebrows and
huge eyes, slack-jawed and big-nosed,” and in a land-
scape setting, “leaning against a pine or a boulder.”
Such characteristics can be seen in a set of sixteen hang-
ing scrolls in the Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo,
that is generally thought to best preserve Guanxiu’s
powerful conception. Guanxiu’s radical vision was per-
petuated in sets of arhat paintings produced through-
out the medieval period in China and Japan.
By the latter half of the twelfth century the mode
of representing arhats in the guise of more familiar,
sinicized monks, albeit sometimes performing mirac-
ulous feats, included their placement in much more
elaborate landscape settings and the suggestion of nar-
rative implications far beyond the content of the
Record of the Abiding Law. Skilled at conjuring up such
dramatic renditions in ink and color on silk, profes-
sional Buddhist painters in cities like Ningbo in Zhe-
jiang province created large sets of hanging scrolls that
depicted what had now become the five hundred
arhats. One of the most significant sets to survive from
a Ningbo workshop is that produced in 1178 by Lin
Tinggui and Zhou Jichang.
Arhats, because of their ascetic devotion to the
dharma, became a favored subject of adherents to the
Chan school. Whereas resplendent sets of paintings,
like the one mentioned above, were hung in temple
halls for public worship, renderings in ink mono-
chrome and often with exceptionally delicate lineation,
known as baimiao or plain line drawing, were enjoyed
by monks and lay worshippers in more intimate and
scholarly exchanges. From the twelfth century onward
in China, but especially at times when the Chan school
was revitalized by the presence and activity of promi-
nent clerics, depictions of arhats in this more scholarly
mode of painting reappeared with new vigor and sub-
tle invention.
As a complement to painted images, sculpted rep-
resentations of arhats occupied temple halls as well.
Few early examples survive, however. Offering a
glimpse of what must have been a vibrant tradition are
five magnificent ceramic sculptures of arhats, slightly
larger than lifesize and featuring a three-color glaze,
that were found in a cave in Hebei province early in
the twentieth century. From a presumed set of sixteen,
they are thought to date to the late eleventh or early
twelfth century. Sinicized portrayals, they reflect the
characterization of the arhats as familiar monks; never-
theless, because of the talent of the nameless artisans
who created them, they are imbued with a meditative
authority befitting the arhats’ mission to remain ever
steadfast in protecting the dharma.
See also: Arhat; Chan Art; Daoism and Buddhism
Bibliography
De Visser, Marinus W. The Arhats in China and Japan. Berlin:
Oesterheld, 1923.
Fong, Wen. The Lohans and a Bridge to Heaven. Washington,
DC: Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, 1958.
Kent, Richard K. “Depictions of the Guardians of the Law: Lo-
han Painting in China.” In Latter Days of the Law: Images of
Chinese Buddhism 850-1850, ed. Marsha Weidner. Law-
rence: Spenser Museum of Art, University of Kansas; Hon-
olulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
Smithies, Richard, “The Search for the Lohans of I-chou
(Yixian).” Oriental Art 30, no. 3 (1984): 260-274.
Watanabe, Masako. “Guanxiu and Exotic Imagery in Rakan
Paintings.” Orientations 31, no. 4 (2000): 34-42.
Richard K. Kent
ARYADEVA
Aryadeva (ca. 170-270 C.E.) in his major work,
Catuhsataka (Four Hundred Verses), defends the Mad-
hyamaka SCHOOL against Buddhist and Brahmanical
opponents. The commentary of CandrakIrti (ca.
600-650 C.E.) on this text identifies Aryadeva as a Sin-
hala king’s son who renounced the throne, traveled to
South India, and became Nagarjuna’s main disciple.
Bibliography
Lang, Karen. Aryadeva’s Catuhsataka: On the Bodhisattva’s Cul-
tivation of Merit and Knowledge. Copenhagen, Denmark:
Akademisk Forlag, 1986.
Sonam, Ruth. Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas: Gyel-tsap on
Aryadeva’s Four Hundred. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1994.
Tillemans, Tom J. F. Materials for the Study of Aryadeva, Dhar-
mapala, and CandrakIrti, 2 vols. Vienna: Arbeitskreis fur Ti-
betische und Buddhistische Studien Universitat Wien, 1990.
Karen Lang
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
31
Aryas'ura
ARYASURA
Aryasura was a fourth-century c.E. Sanskrit poet. His
famous work, the Jatakamala ( Garland of Jatakas),
contains thirty-four stories about the noble deeds of
the Buddha in previous incarnations, exemplifying in
particular the Paramita (perfection) of generosity,
morality, and patience. Written in prose interspersed
with verse, it is one of the Buddhist masterpieces of
classical Sanskrit literature.
See also: Jataka; Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Bibliography
Khoroche, Peter, trans. Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Arya
Sura’s Jatakamala. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1989.
Peter Khoroche
ASANGA
Asanga (ca. 320-ca. 390) is regarded as the founder of
the Yogacara tradition of Mahayana philosophy. His
biography reports that he was born in Purusapura, In-
dia, and converted to Mahayana from the Hinayana,
later convincing his brother Vasubandhu to make the
same move. Together they systematized the teachings
of Yogacara, authoring the main Yogacara commen-
taries and treatises. Asanga’s many works include
Abhidharmasamuccaya (A Compendium of Abhi-
dharma ), which presents and defines technical terms
and usages, and the Xlanyang shengjiao lun, extant only
in Chinese translation, a text that summarizes the truly
compendious Yogacarabhumi ( Stages of Yogic Practice),
with which he is also connected as author/editor. Other
commentaries are attributed to him on important Yo-
gacara and some Prajnaparamita and Madhyamaka
works as well. By far his principal work is the Ma-
hdyanasamgraha ( Summary of the Great Vehicle), in
which he presents the tenets of Yogacara in clear and
systematic fashion, moving step by step, first explain-
ing the basic notion of the storehouse consciousness
and its functional relationship to the mental activities
of sensing, perceiving, and thinking, then outlining the
structure of consciousness in its three patterns of the
other-dependent (dependent arising applied to the
very structure of consciousness), the imagined, and the
perfected, which is the other-dependent emptied of
clinging to the imagined. He then sketches how the
mind constructs its world; he develops a critical phi-
losophy of mind that, in place of abhidharma’s naive
realism, can understand understanding, reject its imag-
ined pattern, and — having attained the perfected state
of sunyata (emptiness) — engage in other-dependent
thinking and action. Asanga thereby reaffirms the con-
ventional value of theory, which had appeared to be
disallowed by earlier Madhyamaka dialectic. He treats
the practices conducive to awakening (perfections,
stages, discipline, concentration, and nonimaginative
wisdom) and finally turns to the abandonment of delu-
sion and the realization of buddhahood as the three
bodies of awakening. Asanga’ s work is a compendium
of critical Yogacara understanding of the mind.
See also: Consciousness, Theories of; Madhyamaka
School; Yogacara School
Bibliography
Keenan, John P., trans. The Summary of the Great Vehicle by
Bodhisattva Asanga (Translated from the Chinese of Para-
martha). Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Trans-
lation and Research, 1992.
Lamotte, Etienne, ed. and trans. La Somme du Grand Vehicule
d’Asahga (Mahay anasamgraha), Vol. 1: Version tibetaine et
chinoise (Hiuan-tsang)-, Vol. 2: Traduction et commentaire.
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 1938-39. Reprint, 1973.
Rahula, Walpola, ed. and trans. Le compendium de la super-
doctrine ( Abhidharmasamuccaya ) d’Asahga. Paris: Ecole
Frar^aise d’Extreme-Orient, 1971. Reprint, 1980.
John P. Keenan
ASCETIC PRACTICES
Buddhism arose in India at a time when a number of
non-Vedic ascetic movements were gaining adherents.
These Sramanic traditions offered a variety of psycho-
somatic disciplines by which practitioners could expe-
rience states transcending those of conditioned
existence. Accounts of the Buddha’s quest for awak-
ening depict the bodhisattva engaging in ascetic dis-
ciplines common to many Sramanic groups of his time.
The bodhisattva reportedly lived in the wilderness,
practiced breath-control, gave little care to his manner
of dress, and fasted for long periods, strictly control-
ling his intake of food. But these accounts are not en-
tirely consistent. Most indicate that the bodhisattva
practiced asceticism for a period of six years; others
(namely the Sutta Nipata 446, and the Ahguttara Nik-
32
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Ascetic Practices
aya 4:88) state that the period of ascetic practice was
seven years in duration. All accounts depict the bod-
hisattva practicing a regimen characterized by ab-
stemious self-control, but details differ. Some say that
he went unclothed in the manner of some Sramanic
groups, that he wore only animal skins or bark cloth-
ing, and that he subsisted on fruits and roots. Some
indicate that his meals consisted only of a single grain
of rice, or a single jujube fruit.
The most critical discrepancy in these accounts of
the bodhisattva’s experiments in asceticism is the fact
that where early sources such as the Sutta Nipata
praise asceticism, later accounts describe the bod-
hisattva reaching a point where he rejects asceticism
and discovers the Middle Way. Later accounts link this
discovery of a path between the extremes of self-
indulgence and self-mortification to the achievement
of bodhi (awakening). The bodhisattva, according to
these accounts, had reached such a point of emacia-
tion that he could feel his spinal cord by touching his
abdomen (e.g., Majjhima Nikdya 1:80, 1: 246). Faint-
ing from hunger and near to death, the bodhisattva
had to rethink his methodology. A critical juncture in
his ascetic regimen occurred when he accepted an of-
fering of rice boiled in milk and was rejected by his
ascetic companions as a hedonist.
To understand why later accounts repudiate asceti-
cism as a path to awakening and link the practice of
the Middle Way to the achievement of awakening, it
is necessary to consider the history of Buddhist en-
gagement with rival religious groups and how polemics
shaped the development of Buddhism in India. As
Buddhism spread from its initial heartland, it became
important that Buddhists take a stand on asceticism so
as to clearly differentiate themselves from other non-
Vedic Sramanic groups. Rivalry with fains was partic-
ularly intense, as Buddhists competed for support from
more or less the same segment of the lay population
that Jain monastics relied upon for their financial sup-
port. Hajime Nakamura ( Gotama Buddha, pp. 63ff.)
suggests that antiascetic sentiments began to be ex-
pressed as Buddhists responded to critical remarks
made by Jains to the effect that Buddhist monastics
were lazy and self-indulgent. Nakamura argues that the
biographical tradition of the Buddha’s discovery of the
Middle Way after practicing extreme asceticism was
developed in this polemical context. Other scholars
have focused on internal developments within Bud-
dhism and seen evidence of a historical shift away from
early asceticism. Reginald Ray, for example, argues in
Buddhist Saints in India (pp. 295-317) that ascetic
practices were the central focus of Buddhism in early
days, but later were marginalized with the growth of
settled MONASTICISM.
Historical issues aside, there are other reasons for
ambivalence within Buddhist traditions with regard to
asceticism. On the one hand, ascetic practices are cen-
tral to developing an attitude of being content with lit-
tle, an important aspect of the salutary detachment that
Buddhists seek to inculcate. But on the other hand, as-
ceticism can be practiced for a variety of unwholesome,
self-aggrandizing reasons. Because of concerns about
possible misuse, ascetic practices have been regarded
as optional rather than mandatory aspects of the path.
Lists of ascetic practices differ. In Theravada con-
texts, the classical list of ascetic practices ( dhutanga )
includes thirteen items: wearing patchwork robes re-
cycled from cast-off cloth, wearing no more than three
robes, going for alms, not omitting any house while
going for alms, eating at one sitting, eating only from
the alms bowl, refusing all further food, living in the
forest, living under a tree, living in the open air, living
in a cemetery, being satisfied with any humble
dwelling, and sleeping in the sitting position (without
ever lying down). Mahayana texts mention twelve as-
cetic practices (called dhutaguna). They are the same
as the Theravada list except they omit two rules about
eating and add a rule about wearing garments of felt
or wool.
Several of the thirteen dhutanga are virtual emblems
of the sangha in Theravada countries. For example,
at the end of Theravada ordination ceremonies, mem-
bers of the sangha are instructed in the four ascetic cus-
toms known as the four resorts (Pali, nissaya ): begging
for alms, wearing robes made from cast-off rags,
dwelling at the foot of a tree, and using fermented cow
urine as medicine (as opposed to more palatable med-
icines like molasses and honey). These four practices,
often mentioned in canonical texts, undoubtedly go
back to the beginnings of Buddhism in India.
Studies of contemporary saints in Buddhist Asia
(such as those by Carrithers, Tambiah, and Tiyavanich)
suggest that those who follow ascetic practices enjoy
tremendous prestige. Bank presidents residing in
Bangkok travel hundreds of miles and endure all kinds
of hardships to visit and make offerings to wilderness
MONKS of the Thai forest traditions. There is no deny-
ing that the Buddhist emphasis on moderation mili-
tates against extreme asceticism. But it is equally clear
from ethnographic and textual studies that ascetic
practices are deeply woven into the fabric of Buddhism.
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
33
As'oka
See also: Diet; Robes and Clothing; Self-Immolation
Bibliography
Cakraborti, Haripada. Asceticism in Ancient India. Calcutta:
Punthi Pustak, 1973.
Carrithers, Michael. The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka: An Anthro-
pological and Historical Study. Delhi: Oxford Press, 1983.
Dantinne, Jean. Les qualities de Vascete ( Dhutaguna ). Brussels:
Thanh-Long, 1991.
Gombrich, Richard. Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from
Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. New York: Routledge,
1988.
Nakamura, Hajime. Gotama Buddha. Tokyo: Buddhist Books
International, 1977.
Ray, Reginald. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Val-
ues and Orientations. New York: Oxford University Press,
1994.
Tambiah, Stanley. The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult
of Amulets: A Study in Charisma, Hagiography, Sectarianism,
and Millennial Buddhism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1984.
Tiyavanich, Kamala. Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in
Twentieth-Century Thailand. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1997.
Liz Wilson
ASOKA
Asoka (ca. 300-232 B.C.E.; r. 268-232 B.C.E.), the third
ruler of the Indian Mauryan empire, became a model
of kingship for Buddhists everywhere. He is known to-
day for the edicts he had inscribed on pillars and rock
faces throughout his kingdom, and through the leg-
ends told about him in various Buddhist sources.
In one of his edicts, Asoka expresses regret for the
suffering that was inflicted on the people of Kalinga
(present-day Orissa) during his conquest of that terri-
tory. Henceforth, he proclaims, he will renounce war
and dedicate himself to the propagation of dharma.
Just what he meant by this statement has been a sub-
ject of debate. Some have understood the word dharma
here to mean the Buddha’s teaching, and so have read
Asoka’s change of heart in Kalinga as a conversion ex-
perience. In a few subsequent inscriptions, it is true,
Asoka does refer specifically to Buddhist sites (such as
the Buddha’s birthplace, which he visited in person)
and to Buddhist texts, but, in general, for him, the
propagation of dharma seems to have implied an ac-
tive moral polity of social concern, religious tolerance,
and the observance of common ethical precepts. In
one edict, for instance, he orders fruit and shade trees
to be planted and wells to be dug along the roads for
the benefit of travelers. In others, he establishes med-
ical facilities for humans and animals; he commissions
officers to help the poor and the elderly; and he en-
joins obedience to parents, respect for elders, and gen-
erosity toward and tolerance of priests and ascetics of
all sects.
Throughout the ages, however, Asoka was best
known to Buddhists not through his edicts but through
the legends that were told about him. These give no
doubt about his conversion to Buddhism and his spe-
cific support of the monastic community. In Sanskrit
and Pali sources, Asoka’s kingship is said to be the
karmic result of an offering he made to the Buddha in
a past life. In this life, it is his encounter with an en-
lightened Buddhist novice that changes him from be-
ing a cruel and ruthless monarch into an exemplary
righteous king ( dharmaraja ), a universal monarch
(. cakravartin ). As such, he undertakes a series of great
acts of merit: He redistributes the relics of the Buddha
into eighty-four thousand stupas built all over his king-
dom; he establishes various Buddhist sites of pilgrim-
age; he becomes a supporter of charismatic saints such
as Upagupta and Pindola; he fervently worships the
bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya; and he gives away (and then
redeems) his kingship and all of his possessions to the
sangha. In addition, in the Sri Lankan vamsas (chron-
icles), he is said to purify the teaching by convening
the Third Buddhist Council, following which he sends
missionary-monks, including his own son Mahinda, to
various lands within his empire and beyond (e.g., Sri
Lanka).
These stories helped define notions of Buddhist
kingship throughout Asia, and gave specificity to
the mythic model of the wheel-turning, dharma-
upholding cakravartin. From Sri Lanka to Japan,
monarchs were inspired by the image of Asoka as a
propagator of the religion, distributor of wealth,
sponsor of great festivals, builder of monasteries, and
guarantor of peace and prosperity. In particular, the
legend of his construction of eighty-four thousand
stupas motivated several Chinese and Japanese em-
perors to imitate it with their own schemes of relic
and wealth distribution, which served to unify their
countries and ritually reassert their sovereignty.
See also: Councils, Buddhist; India; Sri Lanka
34
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Atisha
Bibliography
Barua, B. M. Asoka and His Inscriptions, 2 vols. Calcutta: New
Age, 1946.
Li Rongxi, trans. The Biographical Scripture of King Asoka.
Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and
Research, 1993.
Nikam, N. A., and McKeon, Richard, eds. and trans. The Edicts
of Asoka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
Strong, John S. The Legend of King Asoka. Princeton, NJ: Prince-
ton University Press, 1983.
Thapar, Romila. Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1961.
John S. Strong
ASVAGHOSA
Asvaghosa (ca. 100 c.e.) was a Sanskrit poet and
dramatist. As is the case with nearly all the writers of
ancient India, legend and fictional anecdote take the
place of biographical fact, but the association of
Asvaghosa with the Kushan king Kaniska is at least
chronologically possible.
Asvaghosa is the author of two long poems, among
the earliest extant in Sanskrit: Buddhacarita ( Acts of
the Buddha) and Saundarananda, about the conver-
sion of the Buddha’s half-brother Nanda. Fewer than
half of the twenty-eight cantos of the Buddhacarita sur-
vive complete in the original Sanskrit, bringing the
story only as far as the Buddha’s enlightenment, but
Tibetan and Chinese translations preserve the entire
work. Only fragments survive of Asvaghosa’s nine-act
play, Sariputraprakarana ( The Matter [or Drama] of
Sariputra), about the conversion of Sariputra and
Mahamaudgalyayana, later to become two of the
Buddha’s main disciples. Of the other works attributed
to Asvaghosa, only the fragments of another drama are
likely to be his.
The profound knowledge of brahmanical lore dis-
played in his writing supports the Chinese tradition
that he was born a brahman and only later converted
to Buddhism. Conversion is the main theme of two of
his works and also figures prominently in the third.
His avowed purpose in writing was to win converts to
the Buddha’s teaching by the charm of his art and the
intensity of his conviction. Asvaghosa’s fame as a
writer and the legend of his life contributed to his
renown in East Asia and resulted in a number of works,
such as the Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin
lun), being falsely attributed to him.
See also: Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Bibliography
Johnston, E. H., ed. and trans. The Saundarananda of Asvaghosa,
2 vols. London: Oxford University Press, 1928 and 1932.
Johnston, E. H., ed. and trans. The Buddhacarita or, Acts of the
Buddha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993.
Liiders, Heinrich. “Das Sariputraprakarana, ein Drama des
Asvaghosa.” In Philologica Indica. Gottingen, Germany:
Vandenhoeck 8c Ruprecht, 1940.
Peter Khoroche
ATISHA
Atisha (982-1054) was born to the ruler of a minor
kingdom in Northeast India. He studied under the best
Buddhist teachers of his time, including Jetari (whose
name is also written Jitari) and Bodhibhadra. After
some years of married life he entered the Buddhist or-
der, where he was given the name Dipamkarasrijnana
(Light of Wisdom). Atisha, the name by which he is
better known, is an apabhramsa (proto-Bengali) form
of the common Buddhist Sanskrit term atisaya, which
means “surpassing intention or kindness.” In Tibet,
Atisha is more commonly known as Jo bo rje (pro-
nounced Jowojay), which conveys the idea of holiness
and leadership.
According to later hagiographical accounts, after
becoming a monk, Atisha studied in the four great
monastic universities of the Pala dynasty (eighth to
twelfth centuries): Nalanda, Otantapuri, Vikramaslla,
and Somapuri. He then traveled to Suvarnadvlpa (per-
haps Sumatra in present-day Indonesia), where he met
his most important teacher, Dharmaklrtisrl, a Citta-
matra (Mind Only) philosopher who taught Atisha
Mahay ana altruism ( bodhicitta ). Atisha returned to
India when he was middle-aged, and the Pala king
Nayapala appointed him abbot of Vikramaslla, where
he launched a program of monastic renewal.
At the end of the tenth century, the king of Mnga’
ris (Ngari) in far western Tibet, Ye shes ’od (Yeshay 6),
sent a group of twenty-one Tibetans to India, among
them the great translator Rin chen bzang po (958-
1055). Ye shes ’od was a descendant of the original Ti-
betan royal line that had ended in central Tibet in
about 840, a date that marks the end of the first spread
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
35
Avadana
of Buddhism ( snga dar) in Tibet. Rin chen bzang po’s
return to Mnga’ ris after his travels in India is the tra-
ditional date for the beginning of the second spread
( sphyi dar) of Buddhism.
According to hagiographical accounts, late in his life
Ye shes ’od told his son Byang chub ’od (Changchub 6,
984-1078) to invite Atisha, then the foremost Indian
Buddhist scholar, to help further the spread of Bud-
dhism in Tibet. Atisha accepted the invitation and ar-
rived in Mnga’ ris in 1042. He never returned to India,
traveling and teaching extensively before his death in
central Tibet in 1054.
In western Tibet Atisha collaborated with Rin chen
bzang po on Tibetan translations of prajnaparamita
literature. Atisha later collaborated in central Tibet
with Nag mtsho tshul khrims rgyal ba (Nagtso
Tsultrim gyalwa) on Tibetan translations of many fun-
damental texts of the Madhayamaka (Middle Way). Of
his many Tibetan disciples the most important is
’Brom ston rgyal ba’i byung gnas (Dromton Chokyi
jungnay, 1008-1064), who founded Rva sgreng (Ret-
ing), the first monastery of the Bka’ gdams (Kadam)
sect. The Bka’ gdams, which evolved into the Dge lug
(Geluk) or Yellow Hat sect, is the Tibetan sect with
which the name of Atisha is most closely associated.
Among Atisha’s best known works is his Byang chub
sgron me {Lamp for the Path), taught soon after arriv-
ing in Tibet. In it he classifies practitioners of Bud-
dhism into three types (those of lesser, middling, and
superior capacities), and he stresses the importance of
a qualified guru, the need for a solid foundation of
morality, the central place of Mahayana altruism, and
an understanding of ultimate reality. He also sets forth
the practice of TANTRA as a powerful technique for
quickly reaching enlightenment. Atisha’s works influ-
enced all the later Tibetan Buddhist sects (Bka’ brgyud,
Sa skya, and Dge lugs). Some later Dge lugs writers, in-
fluenced by Tsong kha pa’s Lam rim chen mo {Stages
of the Path to Enlightenment, written in 1403) projected
onto the historical Atisha a mythical perfect guru who
became for them the symbol of their exclusive form of
monasticism and scholastic learning.
See also: Tibet
Bibliography
Chattopadhyaya, Alaka. Atisa and Tibet. Calcutta: Indian Stud-
ies Past and Present, 1967.
Eimer, Helmut. Rnam thar rgyas pa: Materialien zu eine Bi-
ographie der Atisa {Dlpamkarasnjhana). Wiesbaden, Ger-
many: Harrassowitz, 1979.
Sherburne, Richard, trans. The Complete Works of Atisa
Sri DIpamkara Jnana. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2000.
Gareth Sparham
AVADANA
As a genre of Buddhist literature, the Sanskrit term
avadana (Pali, apadana; Chinese, piyu; Tibetan, rtogs
par brjod pa’s sde) denotes a narrative of an individ-
ual’s religiously significant deeds. Often these narra-
tives constitute full-fledged religious biographies,
sometimes of eminent monastics, sometimes of ordi-
nary lay disciples. The avadanas portray, frequently
with thematic and narrative complexity, concrete hu-
man actions that embody the truths propounded in
the doctrine (dharma) and the discipline (vinaya).
Avadanas range from formulaic tales that simply
dramatize the workings of karma (action) and the ef-
ficacy of faith and devotion, to fantastical adventure
stories, to the sophisticated art of virtuosi poets. Like
modern novels and short stories, avadanas offer some-
thing for every taste. The avadana literature draws on
diverse sources: actual lives, the biography of the Bud-
dha and tales of his former births (jataka), biograph-
ical accounts in the canonical literature, and the vast,
pan-Indian store of secular story-literature. Indian
Buddhists composed avadanas from about the second
century b.c.e. to the thirteenth century c.E. Thereafter,
Buddhists elsewhere in Asia continued the tradition.
In India and beyond, avadana stories also inspired nar-
rative painting.
Structurally, avadanas, like jatakas (which came to
be considered a subcategory of avadana), consist of a
story of the present {pratyutpannavastu), a story of the
past {atltavastu), and a juncture {samavadhana) in
which the narrator, always the Buddha or another en-
lightened saint, identifies characters in the past as for-
mer births of characters in the present. For the story
of the past, some avadanas substitute a prediction
{vydkarana) of the protagonist’s spiritual destiny.
The earliest avadanas, like the Apadana and the
Sthavlravadana (ca. second century b.c.e.), are autobi-
ographical narratives in verse attributed to the Bud-
dha’s immediate disciples. In contrast, biographical
anthologies from the first to the fourth centuries C.E.,
such as the Avadanasataka (A Hundred Glorious
Deeds), Karmasataka {A Hundred Karma Tales), and
Divyavadana {Heavenly Exploits), are in mixed prose
and verse and feature a much wider range of charac-
36
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Avadan a
ters. The Avadanasataka stories are brief and formu-
laic, those of the Karmasataka less so, and those of the
Divyavadana the most complex and diverse. The sixth-
to eighth-century Pali commentaries ( atthakatha ) and
several collections preserved only in Chinese contain
many avadana and avadana- type stories.
Just as Hindu poets retold stories of heroes from the
epics and Puranas, Buddhist poets retold the lives of
their own heroes. The second- century Kumaralata, in
his Kalpanamanditika Drstantapankti ( A Collection
of Parables Ornamented by the Imagination), first
adapted the prose-and-verse format to the demands
of belles lettres. His successors from the fourth to the
eighth centuries, Aryasura, Haribhatta, and Gopa-
datta, composed ornate poetry ( kavya ) in the form
of bodhisattvavadanamalas (garlands of avadanas
concerning the Buddha’s previous births). Similarly,
the eleventh-century Hindu poet Ksemendra drew
on the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya to compose the
Bodhisattvavadana-kalpalata, which became impor-
tant in Nepal and Tibet.
The mostly unpublished verse avadanamalas (gar-
lands of avadanas), which constitute a later subgenre,
are anonymous works, composed in the style of Hindu
Puranas, that display Mahayana influences. Several of
these retell stories from earlier sources, some in a dis-
tinctively Nepalese idiom.
As scholars increasingly recognize narrative as a
mode of knowing distinct from, but in no way inferior
to, philosophical discourse, they can look forward to
learning much from a literary genre that has played an
essential role in Buddhist self-understanding for more
than two thousand years.
See also: Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Bibliography
Burlingame, Eugene Watson, trans. Buddhist Legends, 3 vols.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921; London:
Pali Text Society, 1979.
Chavannes, Edouard, trans. Cinq cents contes et apologues ex-
traits du Tripitaka chinois, 4 vols. Paris: Ernest Leroux,
1910-1935.
Cutler, Sally Mellick. “The Pali Apadana Collection.” Journal of
the Pali Text Society 20 (1994): 1-42.
Feer, Leon, trans. Avadana-fataka: Cent legendes bouddhiques.
Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1891.
Handurukande, Ratna, ed. and trans. Five Buddhist Legends in
the Campu Style. Bonn, Germany: Indica et Tibetica Verlag,
1984.
Hofinger, Marcel, ed. and trans. Le Congres du Lac Anavatapta:
Vies de Saints Bouddhiques, Extrait du Vinaya des Mulasar-
vastivadin Bhaisajyavastu. Vol. 1: Legendes desAnciens ( Stha -
viravadana). Vol. 2: Legendes du Bouddha ( Buddhavadana ).
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Institut Orientaliste and Peeters
Press, 1982-1990.
Iwamoto, Yutaka. Bukkyo setsuwa kenkyu josetsu (An Introduc-
tion to the Study of Buddhist Legends). Tokyo: Kaimei
Shoin, 1978.
Jones, J. J., trans. The Mahavastu, 3 vols. London: Pali Text So-
ciety, 1949-1956.
Jones, John Garrett. Tales and Teachings of the Buddha: The
Jataka Stories in Relation to the Pali Canon. London: Allen
and Unwin, 1979.
Lamotte, Etienne. History of Indian Buddhism, tr. Sara Webb-
Boin. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Institut Orientaliste and
Peeters Press, 1988.
Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Biblio-
graphical Notes. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987.
Pruitt, William, trans. The Commentary on the Verses of the
Therls. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1998.
Ray, Reginald A. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist
Values and Orientations. New York: Oxford University Press,
1994.
Strong, John S. “The Buddhist Avadanists and the Elder
Upagupta.” Melanges chinois et bouddhiques 22 (1985):
862-881.
Strong, John S. The Legend and Cult of Upagupta: Sanskrit Bud-
dhism in North India and Southeast Asia. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1992.
Takahata, Kanga, ed. Ratnamalavadana: A Garland of Precious
Gems or, a Collection of Edifying Tales, Belonging to the Ma-
hayana. Tokyo: Toyo Bunko Oriental Library, 1954.
Tatelman, Joel. “The Trials of Yasodhara and the Birth of
Rahula: A Synopsis of Bhadrakalpavadana II-IX.” Buddhist
Studies Review 15, no. 2 (1998): 1-42.
Tatelman, Joel, trans. “The Trials of Yasodhara: The Legend of
the Buddha’s Wife in the Bhadrakalpavadana.” Buddhist Lit-
erature 1 (1999): 176-261.
Tatelman, Joel, trans. The Glorious Deeds of Purna. Richmond,
UK: Curzon, 2000.
Willemen, Charles, trans. The Storehouse of Sundry Valuables.
Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and
Research, 1994.
Winternitz, Maurice. A History of Indian Literature, 2 vols., tr.
S. Ketkar and H. Kohn. Calcutta: University of Calcutta
Press, 1927; New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corpora-
tion, 1977.
Joel Tatelman
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
37
Avadanas'ataka
AVADANASATAKA
The Avadanasataka (A Hundred Glorious Deeds ) is an
anthology of one hundred biographical stories in San-
skrit from the first to second centuries C.E. The stories
are thematically organized into ten “books” that por-
tray the truth of the doctrine of karma (action) and
the power of religious dana (giving), faith, and de-
votion. An earlier version is preserved in Chinese
( Taisho no. 200).
See also: Avadana; Divyavadana; Jataka
Bibliography
Bagchi, P. C. “A Note on the Avadanasataka and Its Chinese
Translation.” Visvabharati Annals 1 (1945): 56-61.
Fa Chow, trans. “Chuan Tsi Pai Yuan King and the Ava-
danasataka.” Visvabharati Annals 1 (1945): 35-55.
Feer, Leon, trans. Avadana- pataka: Cent legendes bouddhiques.
Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1891. Reprint, Amsterdam: APA-
Oriental Press, 1979.
Strong, John S. “The Transforming Gift: An Analysis of Devo-
tional Acts of Offering in Buddhist Avadana Literature.” His-
tory of Religions 18 (1979): 221-237.
Joel Tatelman
AVALOKITESVARA. See Bodhisattva(s)
AVATAMSAKA-SUTRA. See Huayan Jing
AWAKENING OF FAITH (DASHENG
QIXIN LUN)
The Dasheng qixin lun ( Treatise on the Awakening of
Faith According to the Mahayana) is a Chinese apoc-
ryphal composition believed to have been written dur-
ing the sixth century. The text is important for its
appropriation of the tathagatagarbha, the doctrine
of Buddha-nature, into the central teaching of Chinese
Buddhist schools such as Huayan and Chan. The
Dasheng qixin lun explains how ordinary, deluded be-
ings can attain enlightenment without renouncing this
worldly life. The text was reputed to have been writ-
ten in Sanskrit by Asvaghosa (Chinese, Maming; first
century c.E.) and then translated into Chinese in 550
by the Indian dharma master Paramartha (Chinese,
Zhendi; 499-569). However, no Sanskrit version of this
text exists, and most scholars accept its indigenous
Chinese provenance.
The Dasheng qixin lun is divided into five parts. In
part one, the author explains his motives for writing
the treatise. In part two, he outlines the significance of
his discussion. In part three, he focuses on two aspects
of mind to explicate the relationship between enlight-
enment and ignorance, nirvana and samsara, or the
absolute and the phenomenal. In part four, he enu-
merates five practices that aid the believer in the awak-
ening and growth of faith, with an emphasis on
calmness and insight meditation. In part five, he de-
scribes the benefits that result from cultivating the five
practices. The content of the Dasheng qixin lun is of-
ten summarized as “One Mind, Two Aspects, Three
Greatnesses, Four Faiths, and Five Practices.”
The composition of the Dasheng qixin lun repre-
sents a process of Sinicization of Indian Buddhism.
The text seeks to synthesize tathagatagarbha and yo-
gacara philosophies of mind by positing that one mind
has two aspects: the absolute aspect, which is the equiv-
alent of the tathagatagarbha, and the phenomenal as-
pect, which refers to the alayavijnana (storehouse
consciousness). Since the tathagatagarbha is the un-
derlying ontological matrix upon which the phenom-
enal aspect of mind is grounded, the latter always has
the potential to be transformed into the absolute mind.
Ignorance is simply the manifestation of one’s defiled
modes of consciousness, which do not have distinct
characteristics of their own and are not separate from
the mind’s true essence. To attain enlightenment, one
needs only to free oneself from deluded thoughts and
cultivate faith in one’s inherently pure mind. Enlight-
enment is accordingly conceptualized as a process in
which one fully actualizes one’s initial awakening into
one’s true nature through religious cultivation and
meditative practice.
The Dasheng qixin lun has exerted a profound im-
pact on the development of East Asian Buddhism; nu-
merous Buddhist exegetes in China, Korea, and Japan
have written commentaries on it and have incorpo-
rated its thesis into their systems of thought. The ter-
minology and hermeneutic of the Dasheng qixin lun
represent a Chinese shift away from the apophasis of
the Madhyamaka teaching of sunyata (emptiness) to
the kataphasis of the doctrine of immanent Buddha-
nature. Its use of the paradigm of ti (essence) and yong
38
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Ayutthaya
(function) in analyzing the relationship between the
abstract and the phenomenal realms also plays an in-
fluential role in the Huayan teachings of lishi wuai
(unimpeded interpenetration between principle and
phenomena) and shishi wuai (unimpeded interpene-
tration of all phenomena). Most importantly, through
its explicit linkage of tathagatagarbha and alayavi-
jnana, the Dasheng qixin lun succeeds in adapting the
tathagatagarbha doctrine to the indigenous Chinese
milieu. It assures the Mahayana ideal of universal sal-
vation and affirms the sanctity of life in this world.
Its assumption of the inherent purity and enlighten-
ment in the minds of all sentient beings also provides
an ontological basis for the Chan school’s doctrine of
“seeing one’s nature and attaining Buddhahood”
( jianxing chengfo).
See also: Apocrypha; Chan School; China; Huayan
School
Bibliography
Buswell, Robert E., Jr. The Formation ofCh’an Ideology in China
and Korea: The Vajrasamadhi-sutra, a Buddhist Apocryphon.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Buswell, Robert E., Jr., ed. Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha. Hon-
olulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990.
Gregory, Peter N. Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Hakeda, Yoshito S., trans. and ed. The Awakening of Faith, At-
tributed to Asvaghosa. New York: Columbia University Press,
1967.
Ding-hwa Hsieh
AYUTTHAYA
Ayutthaya was a kingdom in what is now Thailand. It
was ruled by thirty-six kings between 1350 and 1767.
The art of Ayutthaya is typically divided into four
phases associated with its major political eras: 1350 to
1488, 1488 to 1628, 1629 to 1733, and 1733 to 1767.
The city was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767.
The two most important monasteries of the early
periods were Mahathat (erected in 1384 by King Boro-
maraja I) and Ratchaburana (erected in 1424 by Boro-
maraja II). Like monasteries in the earlier kingdom of
Sukhothai, the alignment of the wihan (assembly
hall), prang (tower shaped in Khmer fashion), and
ubosot or bot (congregation and ordination hall) fol-
lowed a single east-west axis. Smaller prangs and wi-
hans were enclosed around the central tower within a
rectangular gallery, where a row of buddha images was
placed. The main prangs were generally marked
halfway up by niches facing each cardinal direction,
in each of which was placed a buddha image; each
prang was crowned by a metal finial in the shape of a
vajra (pronged ritual instrument). Relics, buddha im-
ages, and votive tablets were deposited in the prangs’
relic chambers. For instance, exquisite gold royal re-
galia and vessels were found in the deposit of Wat
Ratchaburana. Wat Chai Wattabaram, built by King
Prasat Thong in 1630, is an example of the later phase
of prang structure.
The Sri Lankan bell-shaped chedi popular in
Sukhothai was used extensively in Ayutthaya. Notable
Ayutthayan features are a higher base, rows of small
columns around the railing on the top, and an elon-
gated finial. A good example of this type is Wat Phra
Sisanphet, erected in 1491 by King Ramathibodi II.
The only surviving complete late Ayutthayan
monastery is Wat Naphramen, built in the middle of
the sixteenth century. Its ubosot is rectangular, with
thick walls, slit windows, and tall octagonal pillars
crowned by lotus capitals. The ceiling is decorated with
gold star clusters. The main image placed at the end of
the hall is the only remaining large-scale seated and be-
jeweled bronze Buddha. The base of the ubosot, curved
into a boat shape in early Ayutthaya, became straighter
in the later phases.
See also: Monastic Architecture; Southeast Asia, Bud-
dhist Art in; Thailand
Bibliography
Boisselier, Jean, and Beurdeley, Jean-Michel. The Heritage of
Thai Sculpture. Bangkok, Thailand: Asia Books, 1987.
Woodward, Hiram W., Jr. The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The
Alexander B. Griswold Collection, The Walters Art Gallery.
Bangkok, Thailand: River Books, 1997.
Pattaratorn Chirapravati
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39
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BAMIYAN
Located 240 miles northwest of Kabul in present-day
Afghanistan, Bamiyan was a point of intersection on
the major thoroughfares of antiquity. References to
Bamiyan as a religious center can be found in the writ-
ings of the Chinese pilgrim to India Xuanzang (ca.
600-664 c.E.). The site ultimately fell into disuse after
its annihilation by Genghis Khan in 1222, an act of re-
venge for his son’s death during the siege of the citadel
Shahr-i-Zohak, which sits high above the Bamiyan
valley. In the eighteenth century, Buddhist images at
the site were used for artillery practice by the Mogul
emperor Aurangzeb, and in the nineteenth century
Bamiyan was explored by British archaeologists. The
most extensive research done at Bamiyan was under
the auspices of the French.
The trading post of Bamiyan sits in a lush valley be-
neath the mountains of the Hindu Kush, with a pre-
cipitous mountain at its back and an escarpment
suitable for carving at its face. This escarpment came
to be covered with innumerable grottos carved from
the living rock, comprising Buddhist assembly halls,
meditation caves, and icon niches. All told they cover
at least one mile. Until 2001, there stood within carved
niches a monumental fifty-three-meter buddha image
at the western end, and a smaller thirty-five-meter
buddha at the eastern end. Originally covered with
brilliant pigments and gold, these buddha figures left
a lasting impression on Xuanzang, as well as on the
thirteenth-century Arab geographer Yakut. Both re-
marked upon the great buddha images of Bamiyan as
being without compare elsewhere in the world.
There is debate as to the iconographic identity of
the two images. It is generally argued that the smaller
buddha figure represented the historical Buddha,
Sakyamuni, largely because that is how the image is
referenced in most of the chronicles of the times. The
larger buddha is thought to have represented the uni-
versal buddha Vairocana. Written accounts of this
statue as wearing a crown support this possible icono-
graphic identification. This statue, like its smaller
counterpart, displayed the drapery patterning that
originated in Gandhara. Constructed no later than the
sixth century c.E., both images were first carved out
of the living rock, then completed using an additive
technique employing wooden dowels to attach addi-
tional pieces, covered by clay and stucco, and lastly
painted. The interior of the image niches were also
covered with painted depictions reflecting the syn-
cretic beliefs of the rulers of Bamiyan at the time. Both
statues were missing their faces as early as the eigh-
teenth century, with at least one scholar arguing that
the faces were once covered by metal plates, which
were easily removed.
The colossal buddhas of Bamiyan survived the vi-
cissitudes of the various political changes in the region
until March 2001. After issuing an edict against images
and idolatry, the reigning Islamic fundamentalist Tal-
iban regime in Afghanistan — after spurning attempts
by international organizations to buy or preserve the
statues — proceeded to destroy them. Two days of ar-
tillery barrages were required to successfully destroy
what Aurangzeb had left behind. The niches that pro-
tected the buddha images still remain, their outlines
forever an echo of what were once the most awe-
inspiring Buddha images in all of Asia.
See also: Huayan Art; Persecutions
41
Bayon
Bibliography
Baker, P. H. B., and Allchin, F. R. Shahr-i Zohak and the His-
tory of the Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan. Oxford: B.A.R., 1991.
Beal, Samuel, trans. Si-yu-ki: Buddhist Records of the Western
World, Chinese Accounts of India, Vol. 1. Calcutta: Susil
Gupta, 1957.
Flood, Finbarr Barry. “Between Cult and Culture: Bamiyan, Is-
lamic Iconoclasm, and the Museum.” Art Bulletin 84, no. 4
(2002): 641-659.
Godard, Andre, et al. Les antiquites bouddhiques de Bamiyan:
Memoires de la delegation archeologique Frangaise en Afghan-
istan, Vol. 2. Paris: Editions Van Oest, 1928.
Klimburg-Salter, Deborah E. The Kingdom of Bamiyan: Buddhist
Art and Culture of the Hindu Kush. Naples and Rome: Isti-
tuto universitario orientale, Dipartimento di studi asiatici,
1989.
Rowland, Benjamin. The Art of Central Asia. New York: Crown,
1974.
Karil J. Kucera
BAYON
The Bayon is a twelfth-century royal Khmer (Cambo-
dian) temple. One of Southeast Asia’s most famous
monuments, the Bayon is a densely crowded sandstone
temple constructed under King Jayavarman VII (r.
1181-ca. 1220) at Angkor Thom in northwest Cam-
bodia. This pyramid temple, a MahAyAna site, marked
the end of an ancient royal Khmer tradition dominated
by Hindu gods.
Axial entrances on all four sides cross through a rec-
tangular outer and inner gallery carved with bas-reliefs
that glorify the king’s history. On the upper elevation
a series of connected structures leads to the massive,
round central tower. Its dark interior once housed a
large, naga-protected buddha. At its consecration,
Jayavarman was symbolically joined to this buddha
and imbued with a divine cast in the process. And at
his death, the king’s ashes would have been placed
underneath this image, creating a certain conceptual
kinship between the Bayon and a stupa with its in-
ternal relics.
The well-known guardian faces on the Bayon’s fifty-
two towers wear characteristic choker necklaces and
originally stared straight ahead. But when many had
their eyes recut to gaze downward, Avalokitesvara be-
came their most likely new identity. These recut eyes
were one of several changes during construction that
drastically altered the temple’s configuration and
meaning.
Although Buddhist, the Bayon followed tradition in
its merging of regional or ancestral gods with Buddhist
and Hindu deities. Visnu is found almost exclusively
on the western side of the temple, Siva more often on
the south, and Buddhist imagery on the north and east.
The Bayon was the last major Khmer monument to
embrace the tradition that gave it birth, destined to
wither and die in less than one hundred years.
See also: Cambodia; Hinduism and Buddhism; Local
Divinities and Buddhism; Southeast Asia, Buddhist
Art in
Bibliography
Dufour, Henri. Le Bayon dAngkor Thom, 2 vols. Paris: Com-
mission archeologique de l’lndochine, 1910-1914.
Dumarijay, Jacques, and Groslier, Bernard-Philippe. Le Bayon.
Paris: Ecole Fran9aise d’Extreme-Orient, 1967 and 1973.
Eleanor Mannikka
BHAVAVIVEKA
Bhavaviveka was a Madhyamaka school philoso-
pher who lived from perhaps 500 to 570 c.e. His name
may have been Bhavya or Bhaviveka, and he may have
come from South India. Bhavaviveka’s attack on the
interpretation of Madhyamaka by Buddhapalita (c.
500 c.e.) led later Tibetans to refer to him as the
founder of the Svatantrika-Madhyamaka. Bhava-
viveka’s works include the PrajhapradTpa ( Lamp of
Wisdom ) on NAgArjuna, and the Madhyamakahrda-
yakarika ( Verses on the essence of Madhyamaka) with
Tarkajvdla ( Blaze of Reasoning, an autocommentary),
an early encyclopedia of Indian philosophy.
Bibliography
Eckel, Malcolm D. To See the Buddha: A Philosopher’s Quest for
the Meaning of Emptiness. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 1992.
Iida, S. Reason and Emptiness: A Study of Logic and Mysticism.
Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1980.
Lopez, Donald S., Jr. A Study of Svatantrika. Ithaca, NY: Snow
Lion, 1987.
Ruegg, David S. The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of
Philosophy in India. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz,
1981.
Paul Williams
42
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bianxiang (Transformation Tableaux)
BIANWEN
Until the early twentieth century, with the discovery
of a cache of important manuscripts at Dunhuang,
Gansu Province, in the far northwest of China, bian-
wen (transformation texts) were completely un-
known to scholars. Once literary historians became
aware of them, however, they soon realized that these
texts, which date to the Tang (618-907) and Five Dy-
nasties (907-960) periods, filled a crucial gap in
scholarly understanding of the development of Chi-
nese popular literature. They are the earliest sub-
stantial specimens of vernacular writing in China, and
they represent the earliest examples of prosimetric
narratives in Chinese. That is to say, they are the first
Chinese texts that alternate sung, declaimed, or in-
toned verse and spoken prose to advance a narrative.
As such, they had an enormous impact upon virtu-
ally all later performing arts (including full-scale op-
eratic drama) and vernacular fiction in China. They
also provide vital evidence for the sources of many
popular tales of later times, and they embody first-
hand data about storytelling in medieval China. Al-
though the bianwen are not, as was once thought,
promptbooks used in performance, they bear the
marks of derivation from oral literature.
The wen in bianwen means text; the bian compo-
nent, however, caused tremendous confusion during
the first half-century of research on the genre. After
intensive investigation involving comparisons with
texts written in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and other lan-
guages, it has become clear that bian in bianwen refers
to transformational manifestations evoked by spiri-
tually powerful individuals (comparable to the San-
skrit terms nirmana and rddhi .) The oral precedents
of bianwen utilized picture scrolls as illustrative de-
vices to enhance the performance, and bianwen are
closely connected to the artistic genre known as
bianxiang (transformation tableaux). The earli-
est bianwen describe Buddhist subjects, but wholly
secular themes, both historical and contemporary in
nature, were soon added.
See also: Chinese, Buddhist Influences on Vernacular
Literature in; Entertainment and Performance
Bibliography
Mair, Victor H. T’ang Transformation Texts: A Study of the Bud-
dhist Contribution to the Rise of Vernacular Fiction and
Drama in China. Cambridge, MA: Council of East Asian
Studies, Harvard University, 1989.
Pai, Hua-wen. “What Is ‘pien-wenV’ tr. Victor H. Mair. Har-
vard Journal of Asiatic Studies 44, no. 2 (1984): 493-514.
Victor H. Mair
BIANXIANG (TRANSFORMATION
TABLEAUX)
It is commonly assumed that bianxiang (transforma-
tion tableaux) are the matching illustrations for bian-
wen (transformation texts), a genre of popular
Buddhist narratives that was discovered at Dun-
huang. There are, indeed, many similarities. For ex-
ample, bianxiang are also associated with the cave
temples of Dunhuang, both genres flourished during
the medieval period, both were intended for the por-
trayal of Buddhist themes, and, above all, the bian of
both genre names means “transformation” or “trans-
formational manifestation.” There are, however, sig-
nificant differences. Whereas bianwen sometimes dealt
with secular subjects, bianxiang are exclusively reli-
gious in nature. Furthermore, while bianwen are folk-
ish in nature, bianxiang are often the products of high
culture. Finally, whereas evidence for bianwen is re-
stricted almost exclusively to the manuscripts from
Dunhuang, evidence (largely textual) for bianxiang is
related to localities spread over the length and breadth
of China.
Bianxiang are also frequently confused with man-
dala. Here, too, there are similarities and differences,
but the situation is more complex than with bianwen,
despite the fact that bianxiang and mandala are both
artistic genres, since bianxiang may share features of
mandala and vice versa. Basically, whereas bianxiang
connotes a narrative moment, event, place, or se-
quence of moments, events, or places pictorially or
sculpturally represented, a mandala is an object or
icon, usually having a circular arrangement, intended
to serve as the focus of worship or meditation.
The chief subjects of bianxiang are paradise scenes
(especially the Western Pure Land), depictions of the
contents of famous sutras (particularly the Lotus Su-
tra), incidents from the life of the Buddha (especially
his nirvana), deeds of various bodhisattvas (partic-
ularly Avalokitesvara) and arhats (e.g., Sariputra),
and so forth. Bianxiang were favored by the adherents
of the Chan school, and the tradition of painting
bianxiang was transmitted to Japan, where it became
an integral part of Buddhist popular culture. Vivid
records of the commissioning and actual painting of
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
43
Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng Zhuan)
bianxiang have been preserved, and they afford valu-
able insights into the motivation and organization of
Buddhist devotees in medieval China.
See also: Hells, Images of; Pure Land Art; Sutra Illus-
trations
Bibliography
Mair, Victor H. “Records of Transformation Tableaux ( pien -
hsiang).” T’oung Pao 72, no. 3 (1986): 3-43.
Wu Hung. “What Is Bianxiang ? — On the Relationship between
Dunhuang Art and Dunhuang Literature.” Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies 52, no. 1 (1992): 111-192.
Victor H. Mair
BIOGRAPHIES OF EMINENT MONKS
(GAOSENG ZHUAN)
“Biographies of Eminent Monks” is a genre of Chinese
Buddhist writing consisting primarily of four biograph-
ical collections, all compiled by monks: (1) Biographies
of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng zhuan), completed around
530 by Huijiao (497-554); (2) Further Biographies of Em-
inent Monks (Xu gaoseng zhuan), first draft completed
in approximately 650 by Daoxuan (596-667 ) with later
additions in the 660s; (3) Biographies of Eminent Monks
[Compiled] during the Song Dynasty (Song gaoseng
zhuan), completed in 982 by Zanning (919-1001); and
(4) Biographies of Eminent Monks [Compiled] during the
Ming Dynasty (Ming gaoseng zhuan), completed in 1617
by Ruxing (d.u.). Although there is some overlap in
time between collections, in general each picks up
where the last left off. Daoxuan, for example, wrote
mostly on monks who lived after Huijiao’s collection
was completed.
Of the four books, Huijiao’s has been the most in-
fluential and the most admired for its style. It has been
one of the most widely read historical works by any
Chinese monk.
Huijiao’s Biographies of Eminent Monks established
the format for the later versions. He divided the 275
biographies contained in his collection into ten cate-
gories: (1) “Translators”; (2) “Exegetes”; (3) “Divine
Wonders,” devoted to wonder-workers; (4) “Practi-
tioners of Meditation”; (5) “Elucidators of the Regu-
lations,” devoted to scholars of the VINAYA or
monastic rules; (6) “Those who Sacrificed Them-
selves,” for monks who sacrificed their bodies in acts
of charity or devotion; (7) “Chanters of Scriptures”;
(8) “Benefactors,” for monks who solicited funds for
Buddhist construction and other enterprises; (9)
“Hymnodists,” devoted to monks skilled in intoning
liturgy; and (10) “Proselytizers.” At the end of each
section, Huijiao appended a treatise in which he dis-
cusses the theme of the section. In his treatise on
translators, Huijiao gives a brief history of the trans-
mission of Buddhist scriptures and discusses the dif-
ficulties of translating Indian texts into Chinese. An
introduction to the book lists previous collections of
monastic biographies, and explains how Huijiao dis-
tinguished his work from them.
Subsequent works followed Huijiao’s format with
some changes. Most notably, Daoxuan combined the
sections for hymnodists and proselytizers, and then
added a section for “Protectors of the Dharma,” de-
voted to monks who defended Buddhism from its en-
emies at court and elsewhere.
The compilers of the collections followed Chinese
historiographical custom in the composition of their
biographies. In general, they relied on previous
sources, directly quoting them without attribution.
Major sources included the texts of stele inscriptions,
usually composed soon after a monk’s death by a lo-
cal literatus at the request of the monk’s followers.
The compilers also drew on other literary accounts,
including prefaces to works written by the monk in
question, and collections of miracle stories; they oc-
casionally based biographies on oral traditions con-
cerning particular monks. In most cases, the original
sources for the biographies are lost, but occasionally
it is possible to reconstruct the sources for biogra-
phies in the later collections. As the title suggests,
criterion for inclusion was based on a monk’s “emi-
nence,” or rank. With a few exceptions, only monks
regarded by the compilers as admirable are accorded
biographies.
See also: Biography; History
Bibliography
Kieschnick, John. The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Me-
dieval Chinese Hagiography. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1997.
Wright, Arthur F. “Biography and Hagiography: Hui-chiao’s
Lives of Eminent Monks.” In Studies in Chinese Buddhism, ed.
Robert M. Somers. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,
1990.
John Kieschnick
44
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Many religious traditions develop elaborate narratives
about the life of the founding figure. Such sacred bi-
ographies often include accounts of mythic events and
miracles that underscore the virtues and attainments
of the founder. These narratives give shape to the his-
tory and legitimate the social institutions of emergent
religious traditions. Buddhism has elaborated and em-
bellished its biographical emphasis to create a sacred
biography not only of the Buddha’s final life but also
of his earlier lives, the lives of his disciples, the lives of
other enlightened beings, and ultimately the lives of all
sentient BEINGS who witness the Buddha’s teaching.
Biography may be understood as a core concept of the
Buddhist tradition; it is a cultural idiom that contin-
ues to engender religious meaning in practice, doc-
trine, and belief. The importance of the Buddha’s
biography lies in the ways in which it has shaped the
tradition in the centuries following his death (Rey-
nolds). Indeed, Buddhist concern with life stories has
generated biographical genres and modes of religious
behavior that are articulated in oral narratives, classi-
cal and vernacular texts, visual art, and ritual, as well
as in the cultural histories of Buddhist polities in much
of Asia. The remainder of this entry describes some of
the ways in which sacred biography has shaped the de-
velopment of Buddhism in diverse cultural contexts.
Each of the major branches of Buddhism offers a
different version of the life of the Buddha; these bi-
ographies are informed by doctrines specific to each
school or lineage. Themes in the biographies of Gau-
tama may illustrate not only his unique spiritual
achievements, but also characteristics attributed to
buddhas in general. In addition, biographical themes
in the life or lives of the Buddha are often incorpo-
rated into the biographical narratives of other re-
markable individuals, such as arhats, bodhisattvas,
or eminent monks.
There are differing versions of the Buddha’s biog-
raphy, and scholars cannot identify a single or “origi-
nal” source in Buddhist literature. After his death,
accounts of the Buddha’s life and teaching were trans-
mitted orally for several centuries. Gradually, the Bud-
dha’s message became codified and committed to
written texts that eventually came to be known as the
Buddhist canon. Numerous passages in the Buddhist
sutras and vinaya refer to events and episodes of the
Buddha’s life, and there are many texts throughout the
Buddhist tradition that describe mythic events and sa-
cred qualities of the Buddha. The biographies that
eventually emerged were initially not systematized or
even organized in temporal sequence. It took some five
centuries for the Buddha’s biographical accounts to be-
come standardized and formalized.
The Buddha's final life
Certain mythic episodes are salient in many accounts
of the Buddha’s life, despite the diversity in the stories
that make up the Buddha’s biography. According to
these accounts, Siddhartha’s conception was immacu-
late, as a white elephant entered his mother’s womb.
His birth was painless, and, taking his first strides, he
announced that this was his final and culminating life.
Brahmin astrologers whom his father had consulted
prophesied that the child would become either a world
conqueror (cakravartin) who rules over a social and
political universe, or a buddha who transcends ordi-
nary reality through spiritual enlightenment. Raised in
luxury and tutored in the seclusion of the palace, Sid-
dhartha eventually married Yasodhara and fathered a
son, Rahula. Curious about life outside the palace,
Siddhartha encountered the inescapable human con-
dition of old age, sickness, and death. This insight led
him to discover that human existence is conditioned
by suffering. Having fulfilled his obligations as a house-
holder, he resolved to leave his indulgent life and re-
nounce society. He became a wandering mendicant
and apprenticed himself to several gurus. Eventually,
he realized that extreme asceticism does not lead to en-
lightenment, and he determined to follow a middle
path between indulgence and asceticism. Like other
buddhas before him, he resolved to meditate under a
bodhi tree until he achieved nirvana. While he was
seated in meditation, Mara, the Evil One, challenged
him in vain with the promise of unlimited power, with
attacks by his mighty army, and, finally, with his sen-
suous daughters. Rebuffing each offer, Gautama
gained three knowledges ( traividya ; Pali, tevijja) on his
path to enlightenment: He remembered all his past
lives, he came to understand that the nature of one’s
existence is the result of past action, and finally, he
gained complete knowledge of his liberation. The Bud-
dha hesitated to preach, however, until the interven-
tion of a god (deva) persuaded him to teach the
dharma and to reveal his model for practice and the
path to nirvana for others to follow.
In the course of a ministry that lasted more than
forty years, the Buddha established the monastic order
(sangha) and preached to a growing early Buddhist
community. A prominent lay supporter, King Bimbi-
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
45
Biography
sara, donated land to establish the first permanent res-
idence for monks. When the Buddha passed away and
left the cycle of rebirth (samsara), he was given the
funerary rites of a world conqueror, and his relics were
enshrined throughout the Buddhist world. His disci-
ples convened the first Buddhist Council shortly after
his death to compile his teachings, and the Buddhist
tradition began to take shape in the transition from the
founder’s charismatic life to the emerging institutional
history and doctrinal developments. For instance,
Asoka’s cult of relics helped promote the institution-
alization of the Theravada monastic lineage. Doctrinal
interpretations of the bodies of the Buddha that are
specific to the major branches of the tradition also cor-
respond to their respective interpretations of the Bud-
dha’s sacred biography.
The story of the Buddha’s culminating life in
samsara illustrates central beliefs and doctrines of Bud-
dhism, including Gautama’s model for and path to en-
lightenment, his message, and the establishment of
Buddhist institutions. The story also legitimates the
veneration of the Buddha’s relics and the stupas that
enshrine them, as well as the veneration of icons and
images that embody his biography. These sacred ob-
jects are closely associated with the Buddha’s biogra-
phy and establish his presence in rituals. They remind
Buddhists of the Buddha’s enlightenment and of his
absence from the cycle of rebirth.
The jataka tradition
Central motifs of the sacred biography, especially the
Buddha’s remembrance of past lives in visions that cul-
minated in his enlightenment, eventually developed
into an elaborate genre of tales called jataka, which
are stories of the Buddha’s former lives. In the Pali tra-
dition, jataka attained semicanonical status in compi-
lations containing up to 550 such stories that recount
the perfection of virtues by the buddha-to-be. These
tales about the Buddha’s past lives as a king, ascetic,
monkey, or elephant do not follow a systematized se-
quence, but they do share a similar narrative structure.
Generally, each story opens with a frame in the narra-
tive present, namely the final life of Gautama Buddha,
and identifies the place and occasion for the story
about a past rebirth about to be recounted. The ac-
count then unfolds events in a former rebirth of the
Buddha and concludes by explaining the outcome ac-
cording to universal laws of Buddhist causality. The
story of the former life becomes the dramatic stage
upon which the consequences of moral action are il-
lustrated. Jataka stories generally conclude by return-
ing to the time of the Buddha’s final life and identify-
ing companions of the Buddha with dramatis personae
in the story just recounted.
Perhaps the best-known jataka in the Theravada
world is the Vessantara Jataka, in which the buddha-
to-be, in his life as Prince Vessantara (Sanskrit,
Visvantara), perfects the virtue of generosity jdana).
Vessantara gives away everything a king or house-
holder might value: his prosperity, power, home, and
even his family, only to have it all restored at the con-
clusion of the tale.
Jataka tales figure prominently in a variety of ways
in Buddhist cultures; they appear in temple paintings,
children’s stories, movie billboards and, most recently,
comic books. They offer abundant material for reli-
gious education. Central motifs in the biographies of
the Buddha elucidate moral principles, values, and
ethics, and certain well-known jataka tales serve a di-
dactic purpose in teaching younger generations about
the tradition. Jdtakas are salient across Buddhist com-
munities and the themes they recount readily resonate
with other aspects of religious knowledge and practice.
As such, recounting certain jataka stories in public ser-
mons or even representing them in paintings can serve
as commentary on current social and political issues.
Stories about the Buddha’s former lives are also a form
of entertainment. In Burma, for example, these stories
have traditionally been the subject of popular theatri-
cal performances that continue through the night.
Cultural contexts of the biographical genre
In visual art, biographical references can be found in
Buddhist architecture, in sculptures and icons of the
Buddha, and in the visual narratives of paintings and
stone carvings. Paintings of jataka stories can be seen
along walkways in monastery grounds and along the
staircases leading to pilgrimage sites. Jataka paintings
also often decorate the inner spaces of Buddhist tem-
ples. Certain hand gestures (mudra) or poses displayed
in Buddha images refer to particular moments in his
life, such as when he touched the earth as witness to
his meritorious deeds at the time of his enlightenment
or when he reclined at the moment of his departure
from the cycle of rebirth. At Borobudur in Java, a
magnificent Mahayana Buddhist stupa from the sev-
enth to the ninth century C.E., carved stone plates along
the meditation path depict jataka scenes that have been
“read” by scholars in much the same way one would
read a textual narrative. Whatever the initial motiva-
tion for the creation of visual portrayals of events from
46
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bka' brgyud (Kagyu)
the Buddha’s biographies, such images serve as objects
of meditation, contemplation, and ritual reminders of
the Buddha.
Many Buddhist rituals invoke salient idioms from
the Buddha’s biography. For example, Burmese Bud-
dhists, especially the Shan people, celebrate a boy’s
temporary initiation as a novice with a ritual reenact-
ment of Siddhartha’s splendorous life and departure
from the palace. In Thailand, stories of the Buddha’s
life as Vessantara are chanted on ritual occasions and
at the behest of devout lay patrons. Images of the Bud-
dha are consecrated through an eye-opening cere-
mony, and a deferential protocol of behavior is
required in front of consecrated images; one behaves
as if one were in the Buddha’s presence. Lastly, pil-
grimages are undertaken to sites that commemorate
episodes of the Buddha’s life, as well as places that con-
tain relics of the Buddha, such as Bodh Gaya in north-
east India, the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Biographies of the Buddha also give voice to local
interpretations, and the Buddhist biographical genre
includes numerous apocryphal jataka stories. Count-
less stories about the Buddha’s many lives enrich the
biographical idiom in local Buddhist traditions, chron-
icles, myths, and religious sites, thereby linking persons
and places with the Buddha’s pristine early commu-
nity. One way this occurs is through relating universal
biographical themes to particular local features. For ex-
ample, the colossal Burmese Mahamuni was con-
structed, according to local myth, in the Buddha’s
likeness, and it is said to have been enlivened by him
during a visit to the region now known as Arakan. Sto-
ries like this serve to legitimate not only the particular
image, but, more significantly, all of its royal patrons
and protectors through Burmese dynastic history. The
Mahamuni complex further links the geographical and
cultural periphery of lower Burma to central Buddhist
concepts in the Buddha’s biography (Schober). In the
Theravada tradition, apocryphal stories, local tradi-
tions, and peripheral locations are thus brought to-
gether to construct and perpetuate biographical
extensions of the Buddha’s lives.
In the traditions of Mahayana and Vajrayana Bud-
dhism, we find many life stories of other buddhas, bod-
hisattvas, and embodiments of enlightenment from the
past, present, and even future. Such an expansion of
the biographical genre made it possible to integrate
preexisting religious and cultural values into Buddhist
belief systems. In China, for example, Buddhist Bi-
ographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng zhuan) are
informed by biographical conventions borrowed from
the indigenous Confucian tradition. Like their coun-
terparts in other branches of Buddhism, biographies
of eminent Chinese monks take up familiar themes
(Kieschnick). Asceticism, miracle working, healing,
and scholarship commonly figure in biographies of
eminent monks to underscore how their lives emulate
and perpetuate extraordinary events in the biography
of the Buddha. Such stories emphasize links between
teachers and their disciples in order to construct a lin-
eage that, at least in principle, is believed to establish
a historical connection to the idealized time of the
Buddha. Biographies of famous monks also commonly
recount miracles associated with relics or they describe
extraordinary practices with which charismatic monks
have been credited.
In this way, Buddhist sacred biography is a genre
that seeks to demonstrate that the accomplishments
that eminent monks achieve in later periods share fea-
tures in common with the words and acts of the
founder of Buddhism. Buddhist sacred biography thus
locates the Buddha’s life story with specific Buddhist
communities. By linking the universal with geographic
peripheries and particular cultures, Buddhist biogra-
phy engages the religious imagination of Buddhists and
contributes to the continuing vitality of the tradition.
See also: Buddha, Life of the, in Art; Jataka, Illustra-
tions of
Bibliography
Kieschnick, John. The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Me-
dieval Chinese Hagiography. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1997.
Reynolds, Frank E. “The Many Lives of the Buddha.” In The Bi-
ographical Process: Studies in the History and Psychology of
Religion, ed. Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps. The
Hague, Netherlands: Mouton, 1976.
Schober, Juliane, ed. Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions
of South and Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1997.
Juliane Schober
BKA' BRGYUD (KAGYU)
Bka’ brgyud (pronounced Kagyu) may be translated as
“oral lineage” or “lineage of the Buddha’s word.” Many
traditions of Tibetan Buddhism use the term bka’
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
47
Bka' brgyud (Kagyu)
brgyud to describe the successive oral transmission,
and therefore authenticity, of their teachings. The
name Bka’ brgyud, however, most commonly refers to
the Mar pa Bka’ brgyud (the oral lineage of Mar pa),
a stream of tantric Buddhist instructions and medita-
tion practices initially brought to Tibet from India by
the Tibetan translator Mar pa (Marpa) in the eleventh
century. Although the Bka’ brgyud subsequently de-
veloped into a complex structure of autonomous sub-
sects and branch schools, later Western writings tended
to describe it as one of four sects of Tibetan Buddhism,
to be distinguished from the Rnying ma (Nyingma),
Sa skya (Sakya), and Dge lugs (Geluk). Another Ti-
betan typology of tantric traditions enumerates the
Mar pa Bka’ brgyud as one of eight streams of tantric
instruction, the so-called sgrub brgyud shing rta chen
po brgyad (eight great chariot-like lineages of achieve-
ment), which includes traditions such as the Rnying
ma, the Bka’ gdams of Atisha, and the Gcod instruc-
tions of Ma gcig lab sgron (Macig Lapdon). Some
Tibetan historians have referred to the lineage stem-
ming from Mar pa with the near homonym Dkar
brgyud (pronounced Kargyu), which means “white
lineage,” describing the white cotton robes worn by
mendicant yogins of this tradition, and stressing their
commitment to intensive meditation practice.
Each of the various Bka’ brgyud subsects trace their
lineage back to the primordial tantric buddha Vajra-
dhara, who is considered an incontrovertible source of
authentic Buddhist instruction. According to tradi-
tional accounts, the Indian mahasiddha (great adept)
Tilopa (988-1069) received visionary instructions
from Vajradhara, later passing them on to his princi-
pal disciple, the Bengali scholar and adept Naropa
(1016-1100). The latter transmitted his chief instruc-
tions (codified as the Na ro chos drug, or the Six Doc-
trines of Naropa) to Mar pa. Mar pa returned to Tibet,
where he translated, arranged, and disseminated these
practices, together with those of the meditational sys-
tem of mahamudra, most famously to his yogin dis-
ciple Mi laras pa (Milarepa; 1028/40-1111/23). These
early figures — the buddha Vajradhara, the Indians
Tilopa and Naropa, and their Tibetan successors Mar
pa and Mi la ras pa — form the earliest common seg-
ment of the Bka’ brgyud lineage, a line of individuals
largely removed from an institutionalized monastic
setting. One of Mi la ras pa’s foremost disciples, the
physician-monk Sgam po pa Bsod nams rin chen
(1079-1153), merged the instructions he received from
this lineage with the monasticism and systematic ex-
egetical approach he learned during his earlier train-
ing under masters of the Bka’ gdams sect. Sgam po pa,
therefore, appears to have spearheaded the true insti-
tutionalization of the Bka’ brgyud, founding an
important monastery and retreat center near his
homeland in the southern Tibetan region of Dwags po.
For this reason, the many subsequent branches of the
Bka’ brgyud are also collectively known as the Dwags
po Bka’ brgyud.
The Bka’ brgyud later split into numerous divisions,
known in Tibetan as the four major and eight minor
Bka’ brgyud subsects (Bka’ brgyud che bzhi chung
brgyad), where the terms major and minor carry nei-
ther quantitative nor qualitative overtones, but rather
indicate a relative proximity to the master Sgam po pa
and his nephew Dwags po Sgom tshul (1116-1169).
The four major Bka’ brgyud subsects follow from the
direct disciples of these two masters. These include:
1. The Karma Bka’ brgyud, also known as the
Karma Kam tshang, which is directed by the
Karma pa hierarchs and originated with the first
Karma pa Dus gsum mkhyen pa (1110-1193).
This sect held great political power in Tibet from
the late fifteenth to early seventeenth centuries
and continues to be one of the most active among
the four, especially in Eastern Tibet and in exile.
2. The Tshal pa Bka’ brgyud, which originated with
Zhang tshal pa Brtson grus grags pa ( 1123-1193).
3. The ’Ba’ rom Bka’ brgyud, which originated with
’Ba’ rom Dar ma dbang phyug (1127-1199) and
forged early ties with the Tangut and Mongol
Courts.
4. The Phag gru Bka’ brgyud, which originated with
the great master Phag mo gru pa Rdo rje rgyal po
(1110-1170), who established a seat at Gdan sa
thil Monastery in Central Tibet. This monastery,
together with an ancestral home in nearby Rtses
thang, became the center of the powerful ruling
Phag mo gru family during the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries.
The incipience of the eight lesser Bka’ brgyud sub-
sects is traced back to the disciples of Phag mo gru pa
Rdo rje rgyal po. These include:
1. The ’Bri gung Bka’ brgyud, which originated
with ’Bri gung ’Jigs rten mgon po (1143-1217)
and held great political influence during the thir-
teenth century.
48
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bodh Gava
2. The Stag lung Bka’ brgyud, which originated
with Stag lung thang pa Bkra shis dpal
(1142-1210).
3. The Gling ras Bka’ brgyud, which originated with
Gling rje ras pa Padma rdo rje (1128-1288) and
later became the ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud under his
disciple Gtsang pa rgya ras Ye shes rdo rje
(1161-1211). The latter subsect rose to promi-
nence under royal patronage in Bhutan.
4. The G.ya’ bzang Bka’ brgyud, which originated
with Zwa ra ba Skal ldan ye shes seng ge (d.
1207).
5. The Khro phu Bka’ brgyud, which originated
with Rgya tsha (1118-1195), Kun ldan ras pa
(1148-1217), and their nephew Khro phu lotsava
Byams pa dpal (1173-1228).
6. The Shug gseb Bka’ brgyud, which originated with
Gyer sgom Tshul khrims seng ge (1144-1204).
7. The Yel pa Bka’ brgyud, which originated with
Ye shes brtsegs pa (d.u.).
8. The Smar tshang Bka’ brgyud, which originated
with Smar pa grub thob Shes rab seng ge (d.u.).
Many of these subsects have since died out as inde-
pendent institutional systems. A few, such as the
Karma Bka’ brgyud, ’Bri gung Bka’ brgyud, and ’Brug
pa Bka’ brgyud, continue to play an important role in
the religious lives of Tibetan Buddhists inside Tibet,
across the Himalayan regions, and in Europe and the
Americas since the Tibetan exile during the latter half
of the twentieth century.
See also: Tibet
Bibliography
Guenther, Herbert V., trans. The Life and Teaching ofNaropa.
Boston and London: Shambhala, 1986.
Gyaltsen, Khenpo Konchok, trans. The Great Kagyu Masters:
The Golden Lineage Treasury. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1990.
Lhalungpa, Lobsang P., trans. The Life of Milarepa. New York:
Dutton, 1977. Reprint, Boston: Shambhala, 1984.
Richardson, Hugh. “The Karma-pa Sect: A Historical Note.”
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1958): 139-164 and
(1959): 1-18. Reprinted in High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected
Writings on Tibetan History and Culture, ed. Michael Aris.
London: Serindia, 1998.
Smith, E. Gene. “Golden Rosaries of the Bka’ brgyud Schools.”
In Dkar brgyud gser 'phreng: A Golden Rosary of Lives of Em-
inent Gurus, compiled by Mon-rtse-pa Kun-dga’-dpal-ldan
and ed. Kun-dga’-brug-dpal. Leh, India: Sonam W.
Tashigang, 1970. Reprinted in Among Tibetan Texts, ed. Kur-
ds R. Schaefer. Boston: Wisdom, 2001.
Torricelli, Fabrizio, and, Naga, Sangye T., trans. The Life of the
Mahasiddha Tilopa. Dharamsala, India: Library of Tibetan
Works and Archives, 1995.
Trungpa, Chogyam, and the Nalanda Translation Committee,
trans. The Rain of Wisdom. Boston: Shambhala, 1980.
Trungpa, Chogyam, and the Nalanda Translation Committee,
trans. The Life ofMarpa the Translator. Boston: Shambhala,
1986.
Andrew Quintman
BODH GAYA
The Buddha attained complete and perfect enlighten-
ment while seated on the diamond throne ( vajrasana )
under the bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. Also called the
seat of enlightenment ( bodhimanda ), this throne is
said to be located at the earth’s navel, the only place
on earth that rests directly on the primordial layer of
golden earth supporting the cosmos. Only there can
the earth support a buddha undergoing full enlight-
enment without breaking apart. The bodhimanda
numbers among the numerous invariables in all bud-
dhas’ biographies, which have only three distinguish-
ing features. These are the genus of their bodhi trees,
and the places of their births and deaths. Hence, in-
dividual buddhas are identified with and by their par-
ticular bodhi trees, Sakyamuni’s being the pipal tree
(ficus religiosa ).
The enlightenment is further ritualized and sol-
emnized by its being embedded in an elaborate se-
quence of actions, beginning with Siddhartha’s
decision to abandon physical austerities and to follow
the middle way. Despite the site’s extent, the ground
is thick with sacred traces of the Buddha performing
these actions. According to the Chinese pilgrims
Faxian (ca. 337-418 c.e.) and Xuanzang (ca.
600-664 C.E.), individuals hailing from different
places and eras erected stupas, pillars, railings, tem-
ples, and monasteries to memorialize deeds and
places. An example is the jewel-walk, one of the seven
spots where the Buddha spent one week of his seven-
week experience of enlightenment.
Though the emperor Asoka probably established
Bodh Gaya and the bodhi tree as Buddhism’s most sa-
cred Buddhist pilgrimage site and object, the earliest
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
49
Bodhi (Awakening)
extant remains and inscriptions are Surigan (second to
first century b.c.e.). Recording three Sungan noble-
women’s donations to the King’s Temple, its railing
and the jewel-walk posts, these inscriptions inaugurate
an ongoing domestic and foreign tradition of dona-
tions and repairs. Early inscriptions also record Sri
Lankan, Burmese, and Chinese pilgrimage. For exam-
ple, Sri Lankan donative activity began with King
Meghavarman’s building of the Mahabodhi Monastery
(ca. fourth century c.E.) to house Sinhalese monks. Be-
ginning in the eleventh century, the kings of Burma
sent several expeditions to repair the temple.
Muslim invaders vandalized Bodh Gaya, probably
before the last Burmese repair in 1295. The site re-
mained desolate until the seventeenth century, when
a Mahant settled there. Gaining ownership of the site,
he salvaged its archaeological remains to build a Sai-
vate monastery near the MahAbodhi temple. The
nineteenth century saw the resurgence of foreign Bud-
dhist pilgrimage and Burmese reparative expeditions.
The latter inspired British interest, resulting in colo-
nial excavation and rebuilding in the 1880s. In 1891
Anagarika Dharmapala founded the Mahabodhi
Society in Sri Lanka to reestablish Buddhist owner-
ship of the site. A lengthy legal battle ended victori-
ously in 1949. Today, Bodh Gaya is a thriving center
of international Buddhism, attracting millions of Bud-
dhist pilgrims every year from all over the world. Con-
tinuing a long-standing tradition, Buddhist sects
throughout Asia (Sri Lanka, Burma [Myanmar], Thai-
land, Vietnam, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, and
Bhutan) have established flourishing missions and
built and repaired monasteries and temples there.
See also: Bodhi (Awakening)
Bibliography
Ahir, D. C. Buddha Gaya through the Ages. Delhi: Sri Satguru,
1994.
Barua, Benimadhab. Gaya and Buddha-Gaya, Vol. 1: Early His-
tory of the Holy Land (1931). Varanasi, India: Bhartiya, 1975.
Barua, Dipak Kumar. Buddha Gaya Temple: Its History. Buddha
Gaya, India: Buddha Gaya Temple Management Commit-
tee, 1975. Second revised edition, 1981.
Beal, Samuel, trans. Si-yu-ki: Buddhist Records of the Western
World, Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (a.d.
629). London: Trubner, 1884. Reprint, Delhi: Oriental Books
Reprint Corp., 1969.
Bhattacharyya, Tarapada. The Bodhgaya Temple. Calcutta:
Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyah, 1966.
Legge, James, trans. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Being an
Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hsien of His Travels in In-
dia and Ceylon (a.d. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books
of Discipline. Oxford: Clarendon, 1886. Reprint, New York:
Paragon, 1965.
Leoshko, Janice, ed. Bodhgaya: The Site of Enlightenment. Bom-
bay: Marg, 1988.
Leela Aditi Wood
BODHI (AWAKENING)
The Sanskrit and Pali word bodhi derives from the In-
die root V budh (to awaken, to know). It was rendered
into Chinese either by way of transliteration, as puti
(Japanese, bodai; Korean, pori), or by way of transla-
tion. The most common among the many Chinese
translations are jue (Japanese, kaku; Korean, kak; “to
be aware”) and dao (Japanese, do; Korean, to; “the
way”). The standard Tibetan translation is byang chub
(purified and perfected). Those who are attentive to
the more literal meaning of the Indie original tend to
translate bodhi into English as “awakening,” and this
is to be recommended. However, it has long been con-
ventional to translate it as “enlightenment,” despite the
risks of multiple misrepresentation attendant upon the
use of so heavily freighted an English word.
General characterizations of bodhi
In the most general terms, bodhi designates the attain-
ment of that ultimate knowledge by virtue of which a
being achieves full liberation ( vimoksa , vimukti) or nir-
vana. Sometimes the term is understood to refer to the
manifold process of awakening by which one comes
variously and eventually to know the truth of things
“as they truly are” (yathabhutam) , thereby enabling lib-
eration from duhkha (suffering) and rebirth for
both self and others. At other times bodhi is taken to
refer to the all-at-once culmination of that process. In
the latter sense, the term bodhi may be said to belong
to the large category of names for things or events so
ultimate as to be essentially ineffable, even inconceiv-
able. However, in the former more processive sense, ei-
ther as a single term standing alone or as an element
in any number of compounds ( bodhicitta , bodhisattva,
abhisambodhi, bodhicarya, etc.), bodhi is a subject of ex-
tensive exposition throughout which it is made clear
that the term belongs more to the traditional categories
of path (marga), practice ( carya , pratipatti), or cause
( hetu) than to the category of fruition or transcendent
effect ( phala ). Thus, despite a common tendency in
50
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bodhi (Awakening)
scholarship to regard bodhi as a synonym for nirvana,
vimoksa, and so on, it is best to treat bodhi as analyti-
cally distinct in meaning from the various terms for the
result or consequence of practice.
Although the term bodhi often refers to the liberat-
ing knowledge specifically of buddhas (awakened
ones), it is not reserved for that use alone; bodhi is also
ascribed to other and lesser kinds of liberated beings,
like the arhat. When the full awakening of a buddha
is particularly or exclusively intended, it is common to
use the superlative form, anuttarasamyaksambodhi
(complete, perfect awakening). In East Asian Bud-
dhist discourse, particularly in the Chan school
(Japanese, Zen), one encounters other terms (e.g., Chi-
nese, wu; Japanese, satori ) that are also translated as
“awakening” or "enlightenment.” These other terms
are perhaps related in meaning to bodhi, but they were
very seldom used actually to translate the Indie word,
are not admitted to be precisely synonymous with it,
and in their common usages notably lack its sense of
ultimacy or finality. They refer rather to certain mo-
ments or transient phases of the processes of realiza-
tion arising in the course of contemplative practice. As
such they are the focus of much dispute over their pur-
portedly “sudden” or “gradual” occurrence.
Traditional accounts of bodhi found in or derived
from South Asian sources are often connected to ac-
counts of Sakyamuni’s own liberating knowledge, at-
tained in his thirty- fifth year, in the final watch of his
first night “beneath the bodhi tree.” He is said then
to have achieved, in a climax to eons of cultivation
extending through innumerable past lives, the ulti-
mate knowledge ( vidya ) or abhijna (higher knowl-
edges)— that is, knowledge of the extinction of the
residual impurities ( asravaksayajhana ; literally, “ooz-
ings” or “cankers”) of sensual desire (kama), becom-
ing ( bhava ), views ( drsti ), and ignorance (avidya).
This extinguishing or purgative knowledge arises pre-
cisely in the immediate verification of the four no-
ble TRUTHS — that is, in the intuitive confirmation
( abhisamaya ) of the truth of duhkha (suffering), the
truth of the origin ( samudaya ) of suffering in craving
( trsna ) and ignorance (avidya), the truth of the ces-
sation ( nirodha ) of suffering, and the truth of the path
(marga) leading to the cessation of suffering. To the
limited and questionable extent that one can conceive
of bodhi as an experience, these knowings or extinc-
tions are, so to speak, the content or object of Sakya-
muni’s experience of awakening, and the four noble
truths are what it was that he awakened to. We may
note in this classical account of bodhi the convergence
of two modes of soteriological discourse — a discourse
of purgation or purification signaled by the use of
terms like eradication ( ksaya ) and canker ( asrava ),
and a discourse of veridical cognition, exemplified by
such terms as knowledge (vidya) and abhijna. Bodhi
is thus shown to be, at once, a cleansing and a gno-
sis, an understanding that purifies and a purification
that illuminates.
The more systematic or scholastic traditions of Bud-
dhism commonly expound bodhi in terms of its con-
stituent factors ( bodhipaksa , bodhipaksikadharma).
These, of course, are components of awakening in the
sense of an extended process or path rather than in the
sense of a single, unitary culmination of a path. There
are thirty-seven such factors, grouped in seven some-
what overlapping categories. The four “foundations
of mindfulness” (smrtyupasthana) are mindfulness
or analytical meditative awareness of the body ( kaya ),
of feelings ( vedana ), of consciousness ( vijhdna ), and
of mind-objects (dharma). The four “correct elimi-
nations” ( samyakprahana ) or “correct exertions”
(. samyakpradhana ) are the striving to eliminate evil that
has already arisen, to prevent future evil, to produce
future good, and to increase good that has already
arisen. The four “bases of meditative power” ( rddhi -
pada) are aspiration (chanda), strength ( vlrya ), com-
posure of mind ( citta ), and scrutiny ( mimdmsa ). The
five “faculties” ( indriya ) are faith (sraddha), energy
(vlrya), mindfulness (smrti), concentration (samadhi),
and prajna (wisdom). The five “powers” (bala) are
five different degrees of the five faculties ranging from
the lowest degree sufficient to be simply a follower
of the Buddha, through the higher degrees necessary
to achieve the higher degrees of sainthood: status as
a stream winner (srotdpanna), a once-returner
(sakrdagamin), a nonreturner (andgamin), and an
arhat. The seven “limbs of awakening” (bodhyahga)
are memory (smrti), investigation of teaching
(dharmapravicaya), energy (vlrya), rapture (prTti),
serenity (prasrabdhi), concentration (samadhi), and
equanimity (upeksd). The final eight factors are the
components of the noble eightfold path.
So manifold and complex a characterization of
bodhi, as a process comprising multiple parts, serves
to underscore the fact that awakening is clearly not an
end divorced from its means, nor a realization separate
from practice; rather it is the sum and the perfection
of practice. This fact is often explicitly acknowledged
in Buddhism — in assertions of the unity of realization
and practice or in the variously formulated insistence
that practice is essential to realization. Such claims
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
51
Bodhi (Awakening)
must be kept in mind as cautions against the tempta-
tion to conceive of bodhi as a wholly autonomous, self-
generated, and entirely transcendent “experience.”
Indeed, it could serve even as warrant for banning the
very use of modern, largely Western notions of “expe-
rience” (pure experience, religious experience, mysti-
cal experience, etc.) from all discussions of bodhi or
analogous terms. To speak of “the experience of awak-
ening,” rather than of, say, the performance or the cul-
tivation of awakening, is to risk reifying the process
and, worse still, isolating it from the rest of Buddhism.
Bodhi in the Mahayana
The characterizations of awakening sketched above are
common to the whole of Buddhism. Among notions
of bodhi that are especially emphasized in Mahayana
one must note its conception as an object of noble as-
piration. The ideal Mahayana practitioner, the bo-
dhisattva, is essentially defined as one who aspires to
bodhi, one who dedicates himself to the enactment of
bodhi for himself but also and especially for all beings.
This is the sense of the word operative in the term bo-
dhicittotpada, the arousal of bodhicitta (thought of
awakening), a locution rich in conative significance
that conveys the affective dimension, the emotive
power, of liberating knowledge, as well as its necessary
association with the virtue of karuna (compassion).
Also characteristic of Mahayana is a recurrent con-
cern with identifying the source of the capacity for
awakening. Is it natural or inculcated? In sixth- century
China there appeared a text entitled the Awakening
of Faith (Dasheng qixin lun) that was attributed to
Asvaghosa but was probably a Chinese contribution
to the evolving tradition of tathagatagarbha (ma-
trix or embryo of buddhahood) thought. This text
coined the term “original awakening” ( benjue ), con-
trasting that with “incipient awakening” ( shijue ). The
former refers to an innate potential awakening, a nat-
ural purity of mind ( cittaprakrtivisuddhi ) or underly-
ing radiance of mind ( prabhasvaratvam cittasya),
which enables practice and so engenders the actual-
ization of awakening. The latter refers to the process
of actualization itself, by which one advances from the
nonawakened state, through seeming and partial awak-
ening, to final awakening. Drawing upon a usage of
linguistics, we might speak of the pair as awakening in
the mode of competence and awakening in the mode
of performance. The notion of a natural enlightenment
that abides as a potency in the very sentience of sen-
tient beings (later called buddha-nature) and issues
in the gradual enactment of actual awakening stood in
contrast to alternative views found in certain traditions
of the Yogacara school of Buddhism, according to
which awakening is the outcome of the radical trans-
formation of a mind ( asrayapardvrtti ) that is naturally
or inveterately defiled. This notion proved very fruit-
ful throughout East Asian Buddhism but fostered in
the Japanese Tendai (Chinese, Tiantai) school an es-
pecially powerful and enduring doctrine of original
enlightenment (hongaku) that left its mark on
nearly all of medieval and early modern Japanese Bud-
dhism. It also had profound ethical implications inso-
far as the notion of original or natural awakening was
commonly invoked, or was said to be invoked, for an-
tinomian or laxist purposes on the grounds that one’s
originally awakened condition rendered effortful prac-
tice otiose.
Comparable to the idea of original awakening, but
even stronger and bolder, is the startling claim reso-
nant in much of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Bud-
dhism that awakening is not merely potentially present
in the mundane sentient condition but actually iden-
tical with the worst of that condition. This seemingly
paradoxical assertion is classically conveyed in the
aphorism, “the afflictions ( klesa ) are identical with
awakening.” In conventional theory, bodhi is the erad-
ication of the klesa (affective hindrances like anger,
lust, greed, etc.); the assertion that the klesa and bodhi
are one and the same would therefore seem, at least at
first glance, to be not only heterodox but also perverse
and self-contradictory. It appears to stand the con-
ventional view of awakening on its head. However, jus-
tification for so seemingly outrageous a claim is to be
found in the doctrine of sunyata (emptiness), ac-
cording to which any sentient event or condition, be-
ing necessarily empty ( sunya ) of self-nature or own
being ( svabhdva ), mysteriously incorporates all other
sentient events or conditions. Hell entails buddha-
hood; evil entails good; and vice versa. Thus, even an
impulse of lust or hatred harbors the aspiration for
awakening, and awakening is not a condition or
process that depends upon or consists in the complete
extinction of imperfection.
The sudden/gradual issue
The concept of original awakening was also central to
Chan discourse about “sudden” (Chinese, dim-, Japan-
ese, ton) and “gradual” (Chinese, jian; Japanese, zen )
awakening. Here the term for awakening is the Chi-
nese word wu (read in Japanese as satori or go), and,
as noted above, wu is to be distinguished from bodhi,
although it is not wholly unrelated. The terms sudden
52
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bodhicaryavatara
awakening ( dunwu ) and gradual awakening ( jianwu )
were, of course, instruments of polemic. Certain Chan
traditions criticized others for being gradualist in their
understanding and practice of awakening while claim-
ing themselves to be subitist. The former, of course, is
a term of disparagement, the latter a term of strong
approbation. No school ever itself claimed to be grad-
ualist; all laid claim to sudden awakening. In the eighth
century the so-called Southern Chan school, derived
from the teachings of the sixth patriarch Huineng (ca.
638-713), claimed to offer sudden or all-at-once awak-
ening while alleging that the so-called Northern
School, derived from the teachings of Shenxiu (ca.
606-706), espoused a gradual or step-by-step, and
thus ultimately bogus, awakening. The Northern
School, which was actually as subitist as any, died out
as a distinct Chan lineage, whereas the Southern
School flourished to the point that all post-eighth-
century Chan derives from the Southern School and
so adheres de rigueur to the position that true awak-
ening comes suddenly or all at once. In effect this is
simply a variation on the theme of original awaken-
ing, for the asserted suddenness or all-at-once charac-
ter of awakening is really just a function of its being,
as it were, always and already present in one’s very na-
ture as a sentient being. It need not be formed but only
acknowledged, and acknowledgement is always all at
once. It must be noted, however, that only in the most
extreme and eccentric traditions of Chan did the claim
of “sudden awakening” ever imply the actual rejection
of effortful practice. Instead, such gradual practice was
typically held to be necessary, but necessary chiefly as
the sequel to a quickening moment of sudden awak-
ening, functioning to extend what was glimpsed in
sudden awakening so as to make it permanent, habit-
ual, and mature.
Bodhi as "enlightenment"
It was noted above that the most common English ren-
dering of bodhi (or wu or satori) is “enlightenment.”
There are grounds for such a translation. Some of the
earliest usages of the word enlightenment show it to
have meant something like spiritual illumination, and
spiritual illumination is not so far from “awakening.”
However, the term enlightenment is also commonly
employed in the West to designate an age in European
intellectual and cultural history, roughly the eigh-
teenth century, the dominant voices of which were
those of philosophers like Voltaire, Condorcet, and
Diderot, who all declared the supremacy of reason
over faith, and the triumph of science and rational
ethics over religion. Such thinkers were harshly dis-
missive of the kinds of piety, faith, asceticism, and
mystical insight that we saw above to be among the
components or factors of bodhi. To be sure, the awak-
ening of the Buddha was not a suspension or an ab-
rogation of reason, but neither was it simply an
exercise of what Voltaire would have meant by reason.
Better then to use the more literal rendering of “awak-
ening,” which also has the advantage of conveying the
concrete imagery of calm alertness and clear vision
that the Buddhist traditions have always had in mind
when speaking of bodhi.
Bibliography
Gethin, Rupert M. L. The Buddhist Path to Awakening: A Study
of the Bodhi-Pakkhiya Dhamma, 2nd edition. Oxford:
Oneworld, 2001.
Gregory, Peter N., ed. Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to En-
lightenment in Chinese Thought. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1987.
Ruegg, David S. Buddha-nature, Mind, and the Problem of Grad-
ualism in Comparative Perspective: On the Transmission and
Reception of Buddhism in India and Tibet. London: School
of Oriental and African Studies, 1989.
Stone, Jacqueline I. Original Enlightenment and the Transfor-
mation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism. Honolulu: Univer-
sity of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Robert M. Gimello
BODHICARYAVATARA
Bodhicaryavatara ( Introduction to the Conduct That
Leads to Enlightenment, Byangchub sems dpa’i spyodpa
la ’jug pa) is, with CandrakIrti’s seventh-century
Madhyamakavatara ( Introduction to Madhyamaka),
the most important text integrating Madhyamaka phi-
losophy into the bodhisattva path. The text is struc-
tured around meditation on the altruistic “awakening
mind” or bodhicitta (thought of awakening) and
its development through paramita (perfection). The
longest chapter is on prajna (wisdom) and treats
philosophical analysis. Written by Santideva (ca.
685-763), the poem was popular in late Indian Bud-
dhism and has been enormously important in Tibet.
See also: Bodhisattva(s); Madhyamaka School
Bibliography
Brassard, Francis. The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva’s Bodh-
icaryavatara. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000.
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
53
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
Crosby, Kate, and Skilton, Andrew, trans. Santideva: The Bod-
hicaryavatara. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Meaningful to Behold, tr. Tenzin Norbu.
London: Wisdom, 1986.
Wallace, Visna A., and Wallace, B. Allan, trans. A Guide to the
Bodhisattva Way of Life {Bodhicaryavatara). New York: Snow
Lion, 1997.
Williams, Paul. Altruism and Reality: Studies in the Philosophy
of the Bodhicaryavatara. Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1998.
Paul Williams
BODHICITTA (THOUGHT
OF AWAKENING)
The English phrase “thought of awakening” is a me-
chanical rendering of the Indie term bodhicitta. The
original term is a compound noun signifying “thought
directed at or focused on awakening,” “a resolution to
seek and/or attain awakening,” or “the mind that is
(virtually or intrinsically) awakening (itself).” The
concept is known in non-Mahayana sources (e.g.,
Abhidharmadipa, pp. 185—186, 192) and occurs in
transitional texts such as the Mahavastu, but gains
its doctrinal and ritual importance in Mahayana and
tantric traditions.
Technical definitions
In its most common denotation the term bodhicitta
refers to the resolution to attain bodhi (awakening)
in order to liberate all living beings, which defines and
motivates the bodhisattva’s vow. However, even this
simple definition entails several layers of meaning and
practice. The resolution to attain awakening can be
seen as a state of mind or a mental process, but it is
also the solemn promise (the vow as verbal act) em-
bodied or expressed in particular ritual utterances,
acts, and gestures (recitation of the vows, dedication
of merit, etc.). Bodhicitta is also the motivating thought
and sentiment behind the spiritual practice or career
( carya ) of the bodhisattva; as such, it is the defining
moment and the moving force behind the course of
action that follows and enacts the initial resolution (the
first appearance of the thought, known as bodhicittot-
pada). As moving force and motivation it is also the
mental representation of the goal (awakening) and the
essential spirit of the practice (a usage sometimes ren-
dered in English as “an awakened attitude”). Finally,
the culmination of the intention of the vow and of the
subsequent effort in the path — that is, awakening
itself — may also be regarded as technically bodhicitta.
As a further extension of this usage, the term bodhicitta
may also refer to the fundamental source or ground
for the resolution, namely, innate enlightenment.
In a narrow psychological sense, bodhicitta is the
first conscious formulation of an aspiration: to seek
full awakening (buddhahood) in order to lead all sen-
tient beings to liberation from duhkha (suffering).
Conceived as a wish, as an intention that arises or oc-
curs in the mind, the bodhicitta is a sort of decision;
but in the traditional Buddhist view of mental culture,
feelings and wishes can be fostered or cultivated. Ac-
cordingly, the bodhicitta is generally believed to require
mental culture and self-cultivation, perhaps as an in-
tegral part of the purpose it embodies. The continued
cultivation of the intention, the practice or exercise of
the thought of awakening, helps develop a series of
mental states and behavioral changes that gradually ap-
proximate the object of the wish: full awakening as a
compassionate buddha or bodhisattva.
Ritual uses and meanings
This practice of the thought of awakening begins with
a ritual enactment, usually as part of the so-called
sevenfold supreme worship ( saptavidha-anuttarapuja ),
which includes, among other things, the rituals of tak-
ing the bodhisattva vows and the dedication of merit.
Some Indian authors (e.g., Aryasura and Can-
dragomin) composed their own ritual for the produc-
tion and adoption of the bodhicitta. In these liturgical
settings the bodhicitta appears prominently as the fo-
cus of the ritual of the bodhisattva vow, which in many
Mahayana liturgies replaced or incorporated earlier
rituals for the adoption of the precepts or rituals
preparatory for meditation sessions. Such rituals pro-
liferated in East Asia and Tibet.
Although the model for many Tibetan liturgies was
arguably a reworking of ritual elements in the
Siksdsamuccaya and the Bodhicaryavatara of Santi-
deva (ca. seventh century c.e.), the tradition com-
bined a variety of sources in developing a theology and
a liturgy of the thought of awakening. The Thar pa rin
po che’i rgyan of Sgam po pa (1079-1153 C.E.) distin-
guishes the ritual based on Santideva’s teachings from
the rituals from the lineage of Dharmaklrti Suvarna-
dvlpin of Vijayanagara (fl. ca. 1000 C.E.) — presumably
received through Atisha (982-1054 c.e.).
Most Mahayana traditions consecrate the initial
thought as the impetus and hence the most important
moment in the bodhisattva’s career: the breaking forth
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Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
of an idea, the aspiration to the good, and a rare and
valuable event. This event, in both its internal, psy-
chological form and its ritual, public form is called
“giving rise to the thought of awakening,” or, “caus-
ing the (first) appearance of a thought directed at
awakening” {[prathama\-bodhicittotpada) . In its most
literal and concrete sense, this is the moment when a
bodhisattva encounters, or creates the conditions for,
the appearance of the earnest wish to attain awaken-
ing for the benefit of all sentient beings. In Santideva’s
explanation, the vow as expression of bodhicitta is
closely associated with the adoption of the precepts of
the bodhisattva ( bodhisattvasamvara ), which are seen
as the means for preserving and cultivating the initial
resolution. This close link is recognized in many other
ritual plans; for instance, the repentance rites ( wuhui ,
“five ways to repent”) of the Tiantai school follow
an ascending hierarchy that is somehow parallel to the
sevenfold act of worship but begins with confession
( canhui ) and culminates with the resolution ( fayuan )
to seek awakening for the sake of all living beings.
Indian Mahayana scholastic accounts assume for
the most part that a concerted and conscious effort to
cultivate the bodhicitta by setting out on the path
(called prasthdnacitta ) is necessary for awakening.
Nonetheless, the ritual expression of the vow (called
“the thought of the vow,” pranidhicitta), and the adop-
tion of the bodhisattva precepts ( samvara ) in the pres-
ence of a spiritual mentor ( kalydnamitra ), or before all
the buddhas of the universe, is sometimes seen as a
guarantee of eventual awakening. Some authors (no-
tably Santideva in his Bodhicaryavatara) conceive of
bodhicitta as a force so potent that it appears to be ex-
ternal to the person’s own will, effort, or attention. In
this conception, once a person has given rise to the res-
olution, the bodhicitta is, as it were, awakening itself,
present, in manifest or latent form, in that person’s
mental processes.
Thought of awakening as awakened thought
We may speak of a historical process whereby the ab-
stract notion or the psychological reality of a resolu-
tion became an autonomous spiritual force. The
process is already suggested in Mahayana sutras that
glorify the bodhicitta as both the sine qua non of
Mahayana practice and the essence or substance of
awakening: It is a hidden treasure, like a panacea or
powerful medicinal herb (see, for example, the
“Maitreyavimoksa” chapter of the Gandavyuha-sutra).
What may have been a hyperbolic celebration of the
bodhicitta, however, soon took the form of a reifica-
tion or deification of this mental state or sequence of
mental states. The thought of awakening is present
even if one lacks all virtue, like a jewel hidden in a dung
heap; one who gives rise to the thought will be vener-
ated by gods and humans ( Bodhicaryavatara ). And, in
a metaphor chosen as the title for one of the fourteenth
Dalai Lama’s commentaries, the thought of awakening
is like a flash of lightning in the dark night of human
delusion. What is more, sutras and sastras alike agree
that the thought of awakening protects from all dan-
gers the person who conceives of it.
Insofar as the bodhicitta is also the starting point for
Mahayana practice proper, it is a precondition and a
basis for the virtues of a buddha (the buddhadharmas) ,
and hence, impels, as it were, all the positive faculties
and states generated in the path. The thought of awak-
ening hence manifests itself throughout the path, in all
stages of the bodhisattva’s development ( Mahayana -
sutralamkara, chap. 4, following the Aksayamatinir-
desa). The First Bhdvandkrama of Kamalaslla states
that the foundation ( miila ) for these virtues, and for
the omniscience of a full buddha, is karuna (com-
passion), but, referring to the Vairocanabhisambodhi,
adds that bodhicitta is the generating and impelling
cause ( hetu ) of buddhahood.
Furthermore, insofar as bodhicitta is the mind of
awakening, it is a beginning that is an end in itself. To
paraphrase Kamalasila’s Second Bhdvandkrama, there
are two types of bodhicitta, the conventional one of rit-
ual and process, and the absolute one that is both the
innate potency to become awakened and the mind that
has attained the ultimate goal, awakening itself. The
distinction between these two aspects or levels of bo-
dhicitta is perhaps an attempt to account for the dif-
ference between the ritual and conventional enactment
of a resolution, the spirit of commitment, the magnetic
force of an ideal representation, and a sacred presence
(awakening itself). Psychologically the idea may reflect
a desire to understand how conviction and good in-
tent can exist next to lack of conviction and a desire
for what is not virtuous — in short how an ideal can be
both a clear and heartfelt conviction and a distant goal.
The distinction between a provisional or conven-
tional thought of awakening ( samvrtibodhicitta ) and
one that is or embodies the ultimate goal ( para -
marthabodhicitta ) plays a central role in tantric con-
ceptions of the “physiology” and “psychology” of ritual
and meditation, in India and beyond. For it serves as
a link between ritual convention and timeless truth,
and between disparate branches of the tradition —
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
55
Bodhicitta (Thought of Awakening)
linking, for instance, the sutra or paramita aspects of
the path with the tantric stages, on the ground that all
stages manifest some aspect of bodhicitta. This is ar-
guably the most important function of bodhicitta as an
explanatory or apologetic category in path theory and
is highlighted in classic lam rim literature (for a con-
temporary presentation, see Gyatso).
The thought as icon
The thought of awakening is also a pivotal concept in
Mahayana ethical speculation: In some ways bodhicitta
is shorthand for the instinct of empathy and the cul-
tivation of compassion as foundations for Buddhist
involvement with samsara. It epitomizes important
dimensions of intentionality, as attitude toward others
and attitudes toward self, as well as intention as the di-
rection in which transformative behavior moves.
A term so laden with meanings almost fits naturally
as the core around which one could build further rit-
ual tropes, as one can see in relatively early tantras like
the Mahavairocana-sutra. The Guhyasamaja-tantra
devotes its second chapter to bodhicitta, describing it
as the solid core (sara, vajra ) of the body, speech, and
mind of all the buddhas. Since this ultimate reality is,
not surprisingly, the emptiness of all things, the text
implicitly builds a bridge between the ethical and rit-
ual life of the practitioner’s body, speech, and mind,
and both the reality and its sacred embodiment in all
buddhas.
Bodhicitta is also a force that empowers the practi-
tioner, and therefore plays an important role in some
tantric rites of initiation or CONSECRATION (abhiseka).
A common homology imagines bodhicitta as mascu-
line potency — upaya and the seed of awakening — and
prajna as the feminine “lotus-vessel” that receives the
bodhicitta. Thus, bodhicitta becomes bindu (the “drop-
lets” of awakening) and hence the semen that stands
for the generative power of awakening. Because bo-
dhicitta as bindu or semen represents the male potency
of awakened saints, it is not uncommon for a female
participant (a yogmf present symbolically or in person)
to be seen as vidya or prajna, whereas bodhicitta stands
for upaya. Classical Indian physiology assumed that fe-
males also have semen, hence the disciple receiving ini-
tiation ingested, symbolically or literally, the sexual
fluids of both the guru (male) and the yoginT (female)
as a way to give rise to the thought of awakening —
thus generated, as it were, from the union of mother
and father.
Summary interpretations
The above tapestry shows how the concept of bodhicitta
ties together liturgy, systematic theories of awakening
and the path, and the foundations of Buddhist ethics.
It is a concept as important for the history of Mahayana
ritual as those of the vow ( pranidhana ) and the dedi-
cation of merit ( punyaparinamand ). A social history of
the concept would include its function as a secure solid
ground outside social and sectarian differences: It is, as
it were, a thin, but steely thread that links the specifics
of ritual and theology with the idea of a timeless and
ineffable liberating reality. As a source of authority,
bodhicitta is both an inner drive and an untainted re-
ality beyond individual differences.
Theologically, bodhicitta is, in part, a functional
equivalent to the family of concepts encompassed by
Hindu notions of prasada and Western concepts of
grace: Bodhicitta stands for the mystery of the presence
of the holy in an imperfect human being who is in need
of liberation and imagines it, despite the unlikelihood
of the presence of even the mere idea of perfection in
such an imperfect being.
See also: Original Enlightenment (Hongaku)
Bibliography
Brassard, Francis. The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva’s Bo-
dhicaryavatara. Albany: State University of New York Press,
2000.
Bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho (Tenzin Gyatso, Dalai Lama XIV). A
Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: A Guide to the Bo-
dhisattva’s Way of Life, tr. the Padmakara Translation Group.
Boston and London: Shambhala, 1994.
Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Essence of Vajrayana: The Highest Yoga
Tantra Practice of Heruka Body Mandala. London: Tharpa,
1997.
Khunu Rinpoche. Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea: Verses
in Praise of Bodhicitta, tr. G. Sparham. Somerville, MA: Wis-
dom, 1999.
Kong sprul Bio gros mtha’ yas (Lodro Thaye Kongtrul, Jamgon
Kongtrul). The Light of Wisdom: The Root Text, Lamrimyeshe
nyingpo by Padmasambhava . . . Commentary on the Light of
Wisdom by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. Boston: Shambhala,
1999.
Nanayakkara, S. K. “Bodhicitta.” In Encyclopaedia of Buddhism,
Vol. 3, Fasc. 2, ed. G. P. Malalasekera, 1972.
Luis O. Gomez
56
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bodhidharma
BODHIDHARMA
Within the Chan school or tradition, Bodhidharma
(ca. early fifth century) is considered the first patriarch
of China, who brought Chan teachings from India to
China, and the twenty-eighth patriarch in the trans-
mission of the torch of enlightenment down from
Sakyamuni Buddha. Bodhidharma is the subject of
countless portraits, where he is represented as an In-
dian wearing a full beard with rings in his ears and a
monk’s robe, frequently engaged in the nine years of
cross-legged sitting which he was loath to interrupt,
even when a prospective disciple cut off his own arm
to prove his sincerity. Modern scholars have come to
doubt many of the elements in this legendary picture.
Of the ten texts attributed to Bodhidharma, the most
authentic is probably an unnamed compilation one can
provisionally call the Bodhidharma Anthology. This an-
thology opens with a biography and an exposition of
his teaching, both composed by Tanlin, a sixth-century
specialist in the Srimaladevisimhanada-sutra (Chinese,
Shengman shizi hou jing; Sutra of Queen Srlmala ). Tan-
lin’s biography presents Bodhidharma as the third son
of a South Indian king. Of Bodhidharma’s route to
China, Tanlin says, “He subsequently crossed distant
mountains and seas, traveling about propagating the
teaching in North China.” This more historically feasi-
ble Bodhidharma came to North China via Central Asia.
Tanlin explains Bodhidharma’s teaching as “en-
trance by principle and entrance by practice” ( liru and
xingru). “Entrance by principle” involves awakening to
the realization that all sentient beings are identical to
the true nature ( dharmata ) — if one abides in “wall ex-
amining” ( biguan ) without dabbling in the scriptures,
one will “tally with principle.” “Wall examining” has
been the subject of countless exegeses, from the most
imaginative and metaphorical (be like a wall painting
of a bodhisattva gazing down upon the suffering of
samsara) to the suggestion that it refers to the physi-
cal posture of cross-legged sitting in front of a wall.
Later Tibetan translations gloss it as “abiding in bright-
ness” ( lham mergnas), a tantric interpretation that also
invites scrutiny.
“Entrance by practice” is fourfold: having patience
in the face of suffering; being aware that the conditions
for good things will eventually run out; seeking for
nothing; and being in accord with intrinsic purity. The
anthology also includes three Records (again the title is
provisional) consisting of lecture materials, dialogues,
Bodhidharma (ca. early fifth century), the first Chan patriarch of
China. (Japanese wood sculpture, Edo period, 1600-1868). ©
Reunion des Musees Nationaux/Art Resource, NY. Reproduced
by permission.
and sayings. Record I has a saying attributed to Bod-
hidharma: “When one does not understand, the per-
son pursues dharmas; when one understands, dharmas
pursue the person.” Later Chan did not appropriate
this saying for its Bodhidharma story.
Two other early sources of information on Bodhi-
dharma deserve mention. The first is a sixth-century
non-Buddhist source, the Luoyang qielan ji ( Record of
the Buddhist Edifices of Luoyang), which twice men-
tions an Iranian-speaking Bodhidharma from Central
Asia. The second is the seventh-century Xu gaoseng
zhuan {Further Biographies of Eminent Monks) by Dao-
xuan (596-667). It contains a Bodhidharma entry (a
slightly reworked version of Tanlin’s piece), an entry
on Bodhidharma’s successor, Huike, and a critique of
Bodhidharma’s style of meditation. Here, Bodhi-
dharma is said to have (1) come to China by the south-
ern sea route, and (2) handed down a powerful mystery
text, the Lankavatara-sutra ( Discourse of the Descent
into Lanka), to Huike. Holders of this sutra were
thought to be capable of uncanny feats, such as sitting
cross-legged all night in a snowbank. The later Chan
picture of Bodhidharma incorporates both Daoxuan’s
southern sea route and his sacramental transmission
of the Lahkavatara. By the early eighth century, the
first Chan histories had assembled these key elements
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
57
Bodhisattva(s)
as the Bodhidharma story, drawing principally upon
Daoxuan’s work.
See also: China
Bibliography
Broughton, Jeffrey L. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest
Records of Zen. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Faure, Bernard. “Bodhidharma as Textual and Religious Para-
digm.” History of Religions 25, no. 3 (1986): 187-198.
Faure, Bernard. Le traite de Bodhidharma: Premiere anthologie
du bouddhisme Chan. Paris: Le Mail, 1986.
Yanagida Seizan, ed. and trans. Daruma no goroku. Zen no
goroku 1. Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1969.
Jeffrey Broughton
BODHISATTVA(S)
The term bodhisattva (Pali, bodhisatta; Tibetan,
byang chub sems pa-, Chinese, pusa; Korean, posal,
Japanese, bosatsu) refers to a sattva (person) on a
Buddhist marga (path) in pursuit of bodhi (awak-
ening) or one whose nature is awakening. In the
Mahayana tradition, a bodhisattva is a practitioner
who, by habituating himself in the practice of the
paramitA (perfection), aspires to become a buddha
in the future by seeking anuttarasamyaksambodhi
(complete, perfect awakening) through prajna
(wisdom) and by benefiting all sentient beings
through karuna (compassion). A bodhisattva is one
who courageously seeks enlightenment through to-
tally and fully benefiting others ( parartha ), as well as
himself ( svdrtha ). A bodhisattva is also termed a ma-
hasattva or “Great Being” because he is a Mahayana
practitioner who seeks anuttarasamyaksambodhi and
who is equipped with the necessities for enlighten-
ment— punyasambhara (accumulation of merits) and
jhanasambhdra (accumulation of wisdom) — and the
quality of upaya-kausalya (skillful means); that is, he
knows how to act appropriately in any situation.
According to the Bodhisattvabhumi, the bodhisatt-
vayana (spiritual path of a bodhisattva) is considered
to be superior to both the sravakayana (spiritual path
of the disciples) and the pratyekabuddhayana (spiritual
path of a self-awakened buddha) because a bodhisattva
is destined to attain enlightenment by removing the
klesajheydvarana (emotional and intellectual afflic-
tions), whereas those on the other two spiritual paths
aspire for nirvana, that is, extinction of emotional af-
flictions only.
The bodhisattva is known by different appellations;
for example, in Mahaydna-sutralamkara XIX: 73-74,
the following fifteen names are given as synonyms for
bodhisattva:
1. mahasattva (great being)
2. dhimat (wise)
3. uttamadyuti (most splendid)
4. jinaputra (Buddha’s son)
5. jinadhara (holding to the Buddha)
6. vijetr (conqueror)
7. jinankura (Buddha’s offspring)
8. vikranta (bold)
9. paramascarya (most marvelous)
10. sarthavaha (caravan leader)
11. mahayasas (of great glory)
12. krpalu (compassionate)
13. mahapunya (greatly meritorious)
14. Tsvara (lord)
15. dharmika (righteous).
Bodhisattvas are of ten classes:
1. gotrastha (one who has not reached purity yet)
2. avatlrna (one who investigates the arising of the
enlightenment mind)
3. asuddhasaya (one who has not reached a pure in-
tention)
4. suddhasaya (one who has reached a pure inten-
tion)
5. aparipakva (one who has not matured in the
highest state)
6. paripakva (one who has matured in the highest
state)
7. aniyatipatita (one who although matured has not
yet entered contemplation)
8. niyatipatita (one who has entered contempla-
tion)
9. ekajatipratibaddha (one who is about to enter the
supreme enlightenment)
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Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Bodhisattva(s)
10. caramabhavika (one who has entered supreme
enlightenment in this life).
Regarding the bodhisattva’s practice, different
texts use different categories to discuss the process.
For example, the Dasabhumika-sutra refers to the
dasabhumi (ten spiritual stages) of a bodhisattva,
while the Bodhisattvabhumi makes reference to twelve
vihara (abodes), adding two vihara to the list of ten
bhiimis: gotravihara (abode of the bodhisattva fam-
ily) and adhimukticaryavihara (abode of firm resolu-
tion), the latter of which continues throughout the
next ten abodes. The last ten of the viharas essentially
correspond to the ten bodhisattva stages of the
Dasabhumika-sutra, although each has a name differ-
ent from the names of the stages. In each of the ten
stages of the Dasabhumika-sutra, a distinct paramita
is practiced so that the bodhisattva gradually elevates
himself to the final goal of enlightenment. The stages
of practice according to the Dasabhumika-sutra, with
their corresponding paramitas, are as follows:
1. pramudita-bhumi (joyful stage): danaparamita
(perfection of charity)
2. vimala-bhumi (free of defilements stage): sTla-
paramita (perfection of ethical behavior)
3. prabhakarl-bhumi (light-giving stage): dhyana-
pdramita (perfection of contemplation)
4. arcTsmati-bhumi (glowing wisdom stage):
ksdntipdramitd (perfection of patience)
5. sudurjaya-bhumi (mastery of utmost difficulty
stage): vlryapdramita (perfection of energy)
6. abhimukhl-bhumi (wisdom beyond definition of
impure or pure stage): prajnapdramitd (perfec-
tion of wisdom)
7. durahgama-bhumi (proceeding afar stage [in
which a bodhisattva gets beyond self to help oth-
ers]): updyakausalyapdramitd (perfection of uti-
lizing one’s expertise)
8. acala-bhumi (calm and unperturbed stage):
pranidhanaparamita (perfection of making vows
to save all sentient beings)
9. sadhumati-bhumi (good thought stage): bala-
paramitd (perfection of power to guide sentient
beings)
10. dharmamagha-bhiimi (rain cloud of dharma
stage): jndnaparamitd (perfection of all-inclusive
wisdom)
However, the numbers of stages of a bodhisattva are
inconsistent from sutra to sutra and from commen-
tary to commentary. One finds fifty-two stages in the
Pusa yingluo benyejing (Taisho no. 1485), fifty-one in
the Renwang jing (Humane Kings Sutra, Taisho
no. 245), forty in both the Fanwang jing (Brahma’s
Net Sutra, Taisho no. 1484) and the Avatamsaka-
sutra (Huayan jing, Taisho no. 278), fifty-seven in
the Surangama[samadhi] -sutra (Taisho no. 642), fifty-
four in the Cheng weishi lun (Taisho no. 1591), four
in the Mahayanasamgraha ( She dasheng lun, Taisho
no. 1594), and both thirteen and seven stages in the
Bodhisattvabhumi ( Pusa dichi jing, Taisho no. 1581).
There are other classifications of bodhisattvas, such
as those who enter enlightenment quickly and those
who enter gradually; those who are householders and
those who are not, each divided into nine classes;
those who are extremely compassionate, such as
Avalokitesvara; and those who are extremely wise, such
as ManjusrI. Maitreya bodhisattva is considered to be
the future buddha who is prophesized to appear in this
world. Sakyamuni himself is understood to have been
a bodhisattva in his past lives and is so called in the ac-
counts of his previous births (jataka).
In order to distinguish him from the sravakas and
pratyekabuddhas, who benefit only themselves, a
Mahayana bodhisattva is characterized as one who
makes vows to benefit all sentient beings, as well as
himself. In the Pure Land tradition, for example, ac-
cording to the Larger SukhavatIvyuha-sutra, the
Bodhisattva Mahasattva Dharmakara makes forty-
eight vows and becomes the Buddha of Infinite Light
and Life (Amitabha or Amitayus), who resides in the
Western Quarter and functions as a salvific buddha.
Among the well-known bodhisattvas, Avaloki-
tesvara and Maitreya are probably the most popular
in East Asia. In the East Asian Buddhist tradition,
Avalokitesvara, better known by the Chinese name
Guanyin (Korean, Kwanseum; Japanese, Kannon), is
worshiped by both clergy and laity as a mother figure,
a savior, and a mentor, who responds to the pain and
suffering of sentient beings. In Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso,
the fourteenth Dalai Lama, is considered to be a rein-
carnation of Avalokitesvara.
Maitreya (Pali, Metteyya) bodhisattva, who is said
to dwell in
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