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Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Adhigato kho me ayaṃ dhammo gambhīro duddaso duranubodho santo paṇīto atakkāvacaro nipuṇo paṇḍitavedanīyo. … Ahañ c'eva kho pana dhammaṃ deseyyaṃ pare ca me na ājāneyyuṃ. Vin.I.4-5, M.I.167-168, S.I.136. This dhamma 1 attained by me is deep, hard to see, hard to comprehend, serene, subtle, beyond the dominion of reasoning, recondite, apprehensible only to the wise. … Would I preach the dhamma , others will not understand. 2 From the very beginning of Buddhist recorded history, two particular meanings of the term dhamma , ‘reality realised’ and ‘teaching taught’ by the Buddha, have been closely related. In the above passage, which is generally regarded as a revelation of the Buddha’s thought after his perfect enlightenment and prior to his first teaching; 3 the word dhamma is used in these two distinct contexts. Its first appearance in the phrase ‘ dhamma attained by me’ ( adhigato… dhammo ) represents the ‘reality realised’ or spiritually experienced by the Buddha. Its occurrence in the second phrase ‘would I preach the dhamma ’ (dhamma deseyya ) stands for the ‘teaching taught’ by the Buddha which can be regarded as the ‘verbal expression’ of the reality he has realised. In this latter sense, the term dhamma equals the English word ‘truth,’ being a true 1 This study uses Pali diacritics for technical terms throughout, except in the discussion related to Buddhist traditions in which the Sanskrit usage is more appropriate. In the latter case, the Sanskrit form will be used instead. Both the Pali and Sanskrit diacritics are italicised. Exceptions are made for proper or specific names, unless they are being referred to in Pali phrases. This is done in accordance with the standard practice employed in the field of Buddhist studies. In quotations from secondary sources, this work keeps all original formats used in the references being cited. In this work, the word dhamma is not capitalised, in order to allow readers to perceive the term’s wide range of usage. As the study of Indian philosophy develops in the west, some Pali or Sanskrit words become well-known to English users and find their way into English dictionaries. Then, they become accepted by English users as common English words, and appear without their Pali or Sanskrit diacritical signs. For example, English users are more familiar with the words ‘Pali’ and ‘Sanskrit’ than with their Indian forms ‘ Pāli’ and ‘ Sāskta .’ In such case, this work employs their English forms, and the words are not italicised. However, the names of Buddhist schools are presented in their original Indian form, with diacritical signs, even though some of them are well known to English users by their English names. For example, this work writes ‘Theravāda’ and ‘Mahāyāna,’ even though their English forms ‘Theravada’ and ‘Mahayana’ are well known. This is done in order to retain the consistency in regard to the presentation of names of Buddhist schools. Similar exceptions are made for some words that have assumed a broader or different context in English usage and may convey different meanings from their original Indian Buddhist meanings. In the latter case, this present study uses instead their original Indian forms, and they are italicised. Thus, Buddhism’s highest goal of practice is expressed in this work as ‘ Nibbāna ,’ rather than ‘Nirvana.’ 2 Throughout this thesis, all English translations are mine, unless indicated otherwise. 3 This passage usually appears in a narration of events related to the Buddha’s enlightenment. 2 statement referring to the reality. Thus, the Pali term ‘ dhamma ’ subsumes the meanings of both the ‘reality realised’ by the Buddha and the ‘teaching taught’ by him. As a result, the ‘reality’ is sometimes confused with ‘its verbal expression.’ Harrison considers this to be an ambiguity ‘built into’ the term dhamma which constitutes part of the compound word dhamma-kāya . 4 Therefore, such an interrelatedness of these two aspects of the term dhamma and the profound nature of the dhamma itself have obscured the import of the early Buddhist dhammakāya up to the present day. Overview The term ‘ dhammakāya ’ (Skt. ‘ dharmakāya ’), usually translated as ‘dhamma - body,’ is well-known among Buddhists of all traditions. It appears in both early Buddhist texts 5 and Mahāyāna treatises. 6 Morever, the term appears also in other Buddhist traditional writings such as the post-canonical Pali literature of the Theravādins and the Sanskrit literature of the Sarvāstivādins. However, its meanings and usages vary in different Buddhist schools. In Mahāyāna philosophy, 7 dharmakāya 8 plays an important role in people’s thought and practice, but its conception is complex and very diverse. 9 4 Paul Harrison, "Is the Dharma-Kāya the Real "Phantom Body" Of the Buddha?," The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 15, no. 1 (1992): 44-76, 56. 5 The phrases ‘early Buddhism,’ ‘early Buddhist,’ and ‘early Buddhist schools’ in this work refer to what is generally regarded as prior to Mahāyāna thought. It is perhaps similar to what scholars call ‘Hīnayāna Buddhism’ [Nalinaksha Dutt, "The Doctrine of Kāya in Hīnayana and Mahāyāna," The Indian Historical Quarterly 5, no. 3 (1929): 518-546.], or ‘Mainstream Buddhism’ [Harrison, op. cit., p. 77, note 8; Paul Williams and Anthony Tribe, Buddhist Thought : A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (London: Routledge, 2000), pp. 112-130.], although these two titles seem to be a little broader as they cover also traditional or post-canonical thought. In the present study, ‘early Buddhism’ refers exclusively to the canonical period, while post-canonical writings are differentitated as ‘traditional literature.’ While Buddhists may belong to different schools either by their different disciplines ( vinaya ) or philosophy ( dhamma ), the term ‘school’ in this work concerns only their philosophical differences. 6 Scholarly works that mention the appearance of this term in both the early Buddhist texts and Mahāyāna treatises are such as Ruben L. F. Habito, "The Notion of Dharmakāya: A Study in the Buddhist Absolute," Journal of Dharma 11 (1986): 348- 378; Barbara E. Reed, "The Problem of the Dharmakāya as Seen by Hui-Yüan and Kumārajīva" (Ph.D., The University of Iowa, 1982); Guang Xing, The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikāya Theory , RoutledgeCurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005). 7 In this work, the phrase ‘Mahāyāna philosophy’ subsumes also the teaching claimed to be of Vajrayāna Buddhism, as both titles generally share the same philosophy, while being distinctive with respect to their methods and goals of practice. For an example of a statement regarding their similarities and differences, see Reginald A. Ray, In the Presence of Masters: Wisdom from 30 Contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Teachers (Boston, Mass.: Shambhala, 2004), p. 14. 8 As this paragraph concerns the context of Mahāyāna Buddhism, it employs the Sanskrit form of diacritics, which is more commonly used, rather than Pali. 3 Generally, it is regarded as the only real body among the three bodies of the Buddha, 10 being an expression of his ‘enlightened awareness.’ 11 Some Mahāyāna texts describe it as the cosmic body that is all-pervading, being the self that is pure, blissful, and eternal, 12 and equate it with other terms such as tathāgatagarbha , tathatā , śūnyatā, dharmadhātu , and Buddhadhātu . 13 A Mahāyāna movement founded by Shinran identifies the Amida Buddha, who is described in Mahāyāna sūtra s14 as the Buddha of the west, with dharmakāya which is formless and ultimate. 15 In one Mahāyāna practice, the dharmakāya is identified with ‘the Buddha’s textual body’ and is worshipped by means of recitation, inscription, and/or veneration of sūtra s, especially the prajñāpāramitā .16 Some Mahāyāna Buddhists identify the dharmakāya with everything in the phenomenal world. 17 Possibly due to such a wide range and complexity of conception, previous scholars have conducted a large number of 9 For example, see Paul Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism , Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices. (London; New York: Routledge, 1989) pp. 167-170; Harrison, op. cit., p. 44; John J. Makransky, Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997), p. xiii. 10 Yajneshwar S. Shastri, Mahāyānasūtrālakara of Asanga: A Study in Vijñānavāda Buddhism , 1st ed., Bibliotheca Indo- Buddhica; 65 (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1989), p. 65. According to Mahāyāna Trikāya theory, a Buddha possesses three bodies. These are dharmakāya (the dharma -body or the body of truth), Sambhogakāya (the enjoyment-body or celestial body), and the Nirmāakāya (the emanation-body or visionary body). Among the three, only the dharmakāya ultimately exists. It is the ground from which the other two bodies originate. Further information regarding the Trikāya theory may be found in Encyclopedias or Dictionaries of Buddhism or religion, including the following works: John J. Makransky, "Buddhahood and Buddha Bodies," in Encyclopedia of Buddhism , ed. Robert E. Buswell (New York: Macmillan Reference, USA, 2004); Geoffrey Parrinder, "Triads," in Encyclopedia of Religion , ed. Lindsay Jones, Gale Virtual Reference Library. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005); Frank Reynolds and Charles Hallisey, "Buddha," in Encyclopedia of Religion , ed. Lindsay Jones, Gale Virtual Reference Library (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005). 11 Makransky, Buddhahood Embodied , op. cit., p. 5. 12 William H. Grosnick, "Tathāgatagarbha," in Encyclopedia of Buddhism , ed. Robert E. Buswell (New York: Macmillan Reference, USA, 2003), p. 827. Herein, the article refers to the Śrīmālādevī-sūtra . 13 Habito, “The Notion of Dharmakāya,” op. cit., p. 5, Xing, op. cit., p. 75. 14 In pluralising a Pali or Sanskrit term, this work conforms to the presently popular usage in the field, adding the suffix ‘s’ to the singular Pali or Sanskrit word. This is done for the sake of readability for readers who are not familiar with the complex grammatical rules of Indian languages.
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