9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page v To all my dear colleagues past and present at the University of Bristol’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 18/6/08 3:04 PM Page i MahÖyÖna Buddhism ‘The publication of Paul Williams’ MahAyAna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations in 1989 was a milestone in the development of Buddhist Studies, being the first truly comprehen- sive and authoritative attempt to chart the doctrinal landscape of Mahayana Buddhism in its entirety. Previous scholars like Edward Conze and Etienne Lamotte had set themselves this daunting task, but it had proved beyond them. Williams not only succeeded in finish- ing the job, but did it so well that his book has remained the primary work on the subject, and the textbook of choice for teachers of university courses on Buddhism, for 20 years. It is still unrivalled. This makes a second edition all the more welcome. Williams has extens- ively revised and updated the book in the light of the considerable scholarship published in this area since 1989, at the same time enlarging many of his thoughtful discussions of Mahayana Buddhist philosophical issues. The result is a tour de force of breadth and depth combined. I confidently expect that Williams’ richly detailed map of this field will remain for decades to come an indispensable guide to all those who venture into it.’ Paul Harrison, George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen. Paul Williams’ MahAyAna Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research, and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion’s diversity and richness. It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive notes and cross-referencing. Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams’ book the ideal companion to their studies. Paul Williams is Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy and Co-director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. The author of six books and an editor of a further eight, he is a former President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies. Among his other books for Routledge is Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (2000). 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page iii MahÄyÄna Buddhism The doctrinal foundations Second edition Paul Williams First published 1989 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Second edition published 2009 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 1989 and 2009 Paul Williams All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Williams, Paul Mahayana Buddhism : the doctrinal foundations / Paul Williams. — 2nd ed. p. cm. — (The library of religious beliefs and practices) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mahayana Buddhism—Doctrines. I. Title. BQ7405.W55 2008 294.3′92—dc22 2008002619 ISBN 0-203-42847-1 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0-415-35652-0 (hbk) ISBN10: 0-415-35653-9 (pbk) ISBN10: 0-203-42847-1 (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-35652-7 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-35653-4 (pbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-42847-4 (ebk) 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page v To all my dear colleagues past and present at the University of Bristol’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page vi 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page vii Contents Preface and acknowledgements x 1 Introduction 1 Buddhism: doctrinal diversity and (relative) moral unity 1 The Indian background 7 Factors that may have contributed to change 12 Abhidharma 15 MahAsATghikas and the LokottaravAda 18 The origins of the MahAyAna, and the laity 21 MahAyAna before ‘MahAyAna’ – the Ajitasenavyakarauanirdeza Setra 27 On the origins of the MahAyAna – some more sEtras 30 The justification of the MahAyAna sEtras 38 2 The Perfection of Wisdom (PrajñÖpÖramitÖ) Sâtras 45 On the MahAyAna sEtras 45 The origins and development of the PrajñApAramitA literature 47 Wisdom (prajña) and its perfection 49 Absence of Self – the extensive perspective 51 The Bodhisattva 55 3MÄdhyamika 63 NAgArjuna and Fryadeva 63 The development of the MAdhyamika tradition in India 65 Emptiness and intrinsic existence – the incompatible rivals 68 A brief note on MAdhyamika method 71 Three MAdhyamika critiques 72 On causation 73 On the Self 74 On nirvAUa75 The two truths 76 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page viii viii Contents Meditation and emptiness – an impressionistic outline 79 A final note – MAdhyamika in China and East Asia 81 4 YogÄcÄra 84 Background 84 The YogAcAra tradition – scholars and texts 86 The three natures (trisvabhava) 88 Mind 92 Substratum consciousness, consciousness and immaculate consciousness 97 Yet more disputes within the YogAcAra tradition 100 5 The TathÄgatagarbha 103 Some TathAgatagarbha SEtras 104 The Tathagatagarbha in the Ratnagotravibhaga 109 Tibet – the gzhan stong and rang stong dispute 112 The Dasheng qixinlun (Ta-sheng ch’i-hsin lun) and the Tathagatagarbha in East Asia 115 DDgen on the Buddha-nature 119 A note on some contemporary issues: Critical Buddhism and a debate on not-Self in Thai Buddhism 122 Critical Buddhism 122 Not-Self in contemporary Thai Buddhism 125 6 Huayan – the Flower Garland tradition 129 Buddhism in China 129 The Avatatsaka Setra 132 The Huayan tradition in China 138 Huayan thought – Fazang’s ‘Treatise on the Golden Lion’ 141 A note on some aspects of Huayan practice 144 The Avatatsaka Setra and Vairocana in Buddhist art 146 7 The Saddharmapuéäaráka (Lotus) Sâtra and its influences 149 A note on Tiantai (Tendai) 161 Nichiren ShDnin and his tradition 165 8 On the bodies of the Buddha 172 Prolegomenon to the MahAyAna 172 The bodies of the Buddha and the philosophy of emptiness 176 YogAcAra – the system develops 179 A note on the dGe lugs schema of the Buddha’s bodies 182 A final note: the ‘nonabiding nirvAUa’ and the lifespan of the Buddha 185 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 18/6/08 3:04 PM Page ix Contents ix 9 The path of the Bodhisattva 187 Buddhism reaches Tibet 187 The eighth-century debates 191 Compassion and the Bodhicitta 194 Bodhisattva stages, paths and perfections 200 10 Trust, self-abandonment and devotion: the cults of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas 209 Buddhanusmvti – recollection of the Buddha 209 The pratyutpanna samadhi and Huiyuan 212 The notion of a Buddha Field (buddhakwetra) 214 Some Bodhisattvas 218 Maitreya 218 AvalokiteZvara 221 TArA 225 MañjuZrC 226 KWitigarbha 229 Some Buddhas 231 AkWobhya 231 BhaiWajyaguru 234 AmitAbha/AmitAyus 238 The AmitAbha sEtras 238 AmitAbha’s Pure Land in China 243 HDnen ShDnin (1133–1212) 254 Shinran ShDnin (1173–1262) 259 Notes 267 References 389 Index of names 422 Index of subjects 430 9780203428474_1_pre.qxd 16/6/08 11:54 AM Page x Preface and acknowledgements This book is intended as an introduction to the ideas of Mahayana Buddhism, and also to some of the recent scholarly work in the field. It is not an elementary academic intro- duction to Buddhism as a whole or to Buddhist thought. For Buddhism in general I recommend my colleague Rupert Gethin’s The Foundations of Buddhism (OUP, 1998). For Buddhist thought I recommend my other book (written with Anthony Tribe), Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (Routledge, 2000). Although the present volume gives the necessary background to Mahayana Buddhism, it presupposes that the reader already has an idea who the Buddha was, and what his basic teachings were. The first edition of this book appeared in 1989. It was completed, of course, earlier. Reviewers were kind to the book. It has been widely used as the standard single volume on its sub- ject, and translated into several languages. Since 1989, however, there has been a great deal of further research and although the book has been reprinted just about every year since its publication its original purpose as an introduction to recent scholarly work has become a little difficult to defend. Although it is recognizably the same book, organized according to the same structure as originally, in this second edition every sentence has been considered anew and rephrased or replaced where it was felt necessary. There are several new sections, and the book is significantly longer than its earlier incarnation. Compared with the first edition readers will notice there is much more consideration of East Asian Buddhism, and the practice of Mahayana.