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The Development of Prajna in Buddhism from Early Buddhism to the Prajnaparamita System: with Special Reference to the Sarvastivada Tradition

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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2001 The development of Prajna in Buddhism from early Buddhism to the Prajnaparamita system: with special reference to the Sarvastivada tradition Qing, Fa Qing, F. (2001). The development of Prajna in Buddhism from early Buddhism to the Prajnaparamita system: with special reference to the Sarvastivada tradition (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/15801 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/40730 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The Dcvelopmcn~of PrajfiO in Buddhism From Early Buddhism lo the Praj~iBpU'ranmirOSystem: With Special Reference to the Sarv&tivada Tradition Fa Qing A DISSERTATION SUBMIWED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES CALGARY. ALBERTA MARCI-I. 2001 0 Fa Qing 2001 1,+ 1 14~~a",lllbraly Bibliolheque nationale du Canada Ac uisitions and Acquisitions el ~ibqio~raphiiSetvices services bibliogmphiques The author has granted anon- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pernettant a la National Library of Canada to Eiblioth&quenationale du Canada de reproduce, loao, distribute or sell reproduire, priter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/filrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial eximcts from it Ni la thbse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract In the early agmas and nikayas, prajfili is integrated with the practice of iila and sumlidhi. Primarily. it is the true undcrstanding of the Four Noble Truths. In Sanq%tivada. prujtid is explained along with itidnu, dsi and other technical terms related to the mental function of understanding. In panicular, it is defined as the discerment of dharma (dl~arn~u-pra~~icayu).In the context of the spiritual reali7~tionof the Four Noble Truths. it is also defined as likdru (aspect or mode of mental comprehension). Thus, compared to the other Buddhist traditions-preceding. contemporaneous and subsequent-the SarvStivada assigned the widest scope of meaning to prujtiti. Prajtiti comprises all kinds of ifidt~aand clrs~i(excepting the eye). In terms of function and nature, it may be pure or impure. correct or erroneous. However. notably. the Peli abhidhamma tradition is in alignment with the standpoint of the Early Buddhism in confining putitili to the positive aspects alone. Vasubandhu's criticisms concerning the Vibh$a were answered by Sanghabhadra: in many cases these criticisms were rejected on the ground that Vasubandhu did not properly understand the VibhX:a. In the Early Buddhism (at least as evidenced by the egama texts). sunfujtiurli is attributed to the Buddha. For the SarvStivadins, sanujfiarli is the Buddha's knowledge only. It was probably later on, that the Prujtitipdrumitd literature came to speak of three kinds of tinowledge (sun~ujtiurli,n~tirgujtiurti and san~li~rajtiurli).and then attributed san~ujfiardto the ~Wvakasand pratyckabuddhas. In thc Prujtitipliru~t~ilBStirrus, prujtidplironlirli is a designation for the highest purpon. In practicing prajtili. a practitioner concentrates on observing everything as .. 111 SI~IU~U.PrujGIi in the highest sense or prujribpcirunritu' is that which enables one to be not attached to anything. and to accept reality-just-as-it-is without conceptual bifurcation. This is a common theme in all Mahayana Buddhist slltns. Whercas prujGb has various connotations in the Sarvnstivada abhidharma, it is distinguished from pruj~ibpbrun~itIiin the Upadeia: Only buddhas and advanced bodhisattvas possesspruj~bpliranritb:arhats as well as pntyekabuddhas have only prujfifi. The notion of prujGdpbrunritd in the Pruj~ibpbranrirciSIilrus and the Upadcia clearly represents a further stage of development in the notion of the perfect spiritual insight of a buddha. replacing the earlier notion of prujri5 as found in thc early sOtm and in the abhidharma. Acknowledgements The successful completion of this dissertation would not havc been possible without the kind guidance. assistance and criticism of the following individuals and organizations. Vcn. Zhen Dun Mlli of Thailand. Ms. Chen IRiWTi; of Hong Kong, The Yin-shun Foundation. the Department of Religious Studies and Asian Studies Group of the University of Calgary. and the Vedanta Society of Calgary have been supportive financially. In particular. I must herc record my deep gratitude to the following Venerables for their spiritual encouragement and suppon: Chuan Kin {ffPfP, Sheng Yi '\'! -, K. L. Dhammajoti Hong Xun ZIYJJ.Wei Che iilihill. Shin-je i"&. I would like to thank Dr. A. N'. Barber \r*ho in the early stages sewed as my interim supervisor. Dr. Ronald Neufeldt. Dr. Eliezer Segal. and Dr. Wayne McCready in the department helped me through many courses. I thank Dr. X. J. Yang and Ms. Toyo Kawamum. who taught and helped me to read Japanese texts. A special thanks goes to Ven. Dr. K. L. Dhammajoti, Postgraduate Institute for Pnli and Buddhist Studies, the University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka. for guiding me in the reading of abhidharma texts. I am also grateful to him for reading through the whole thesis and offering constructive criticism and suggestions. First and last. all praise and thanks are due to Dr. Leslie Kawamura. my supervisor, for guiding me in my research. His encouragement. suggestions. ideas; his compassion for accepting and understanding others; his warm personality for caring for others: his scrupulous aaitudc for taking things seriously-all continuc to havc impact on me as a student of Buddhist Studies as well as a human being. v Table of Contents Approval Pap ....................................................................................... ...ii Abstmct .............................................................................................................................. 111 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. \- Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... is Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... I 1 . The Centrality of the Concept of Prajfia in Buddhism .......................................... 1 2 . Scope. Methodology and che Sources of the Present Study.................................. 3 Chapter 2: The Deveiopment of Prajaa in Early Buddhism ...........................................10 1. Geneml Comments .............................................................................................. 10 2 . PrajllUparlRa in Early Buddhism ........................................................................ I I 2.1 PrujtZ and *la ........................................................................................... I I 2.2 Pruj~iZis the Fulfillment of one's Pnctice ................................................. 13 2.3 PrujId as the Spiritual Insight into the Four Noble Truths ......................... 14 3 . Prajfi3 in Theravada Abhidhamma ...................................................................... 16 4 . Prajaapararnita .................................................................................................... I8 4.1 PrujIBpdran~irdand Pdrun~itiisin the Early Agamas and Nikaya ............. 20 4.2 Piirurrrirds in the Abhidharma Tradition ..................................................... 23 5 . ~anyat~~uiiiiatain Early Buddhism and Abhidhanna ....................................... 25 5.1 ~~inyariirelates to Meditational Practice ..................................................... 27 5.2 ~1711~ardis Coterminous with Aniryu. Drr!~klru and Andrnlut~...................... 28 5.3 Stiryatii and Nairdtn~yu............................................................................... 29 5. ~tin~ariiExplained as Dependent Co-arising .............................................. 30 5.5 ~ti~~ardand the Three Sunrddlris ................................................................ 31 5.6 ~r711yariiExplained in Ekorrardganra and in the Pruj~idpdrantildSritrus: Their Doctrinal Identity .................................................................................................... 33 5.7 Sli~tyariiin the Sarvbtivadin Abhidhma .................................................. 34 5.8 St~~itiutdin Thcravadin Abhidamma ........................................................... 35 6 . Conclusion .........................................................................................................
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