Praise for Buddhists: Understanding Through the Lives of Practitioners

“This volume invites readers to understand what it can mean to be Buddhist in manifold ways. Rather than approaching Buddhism as an abstract entity by means of investigating ideas and practices that form a coherent and fixed system, these humanistic accounts enable one to situate and to comprehend variouswaysinwhichpeoplehaveactuallylived and thereby impacted Buddhist tradition. One comes away from reading this book with a knowledge of how Buddhism is a force that is fluid, diverse, and distinctive in its countless iterations.” John Holt, Bowdoin College

“In the past there has been a tendency in Western books to approach Buddhism through its doctrines, in particular some of its more intellectually elite and perhaps more controversial philosophical doc- trines. On the other hand, in the Western ‘popular’ press and culture Buddhism is sometimes seen as a fairly loose collection of ‘new-agey’ ideas and attitudes about compassion and reincarnation often pre- sented with little potential for radical transformative impact on lives. Todd Lewis has for many years been in the forefront of a contemporary approach to Buddhism among scholars that seeks to reori- ent our understanding of Buddhism around what Buddhists do: the way in which Buddhist doctrines and experiences themselves interact with Buddhist lives and actual living Buddhism. The present com- prehensive collection looks at the interface between what Buddhists do and Buddhist biographies, the specific way of living Buddhism expressed in the lives of a wide range of ‘eminent’ and also (until now) perhaps less well-known Buddhists, past and present. I know of no other book in Buddhists Studies quite like this, and it should make fascinating reading for those who really want to understand what makes Buddhists and Buddhism ‘tick,’ not as a collection of abstract ideas but as an actual lived way of being in the world and looking forward to the world(s) to come. Great stuff – this book is highly recommended!” Paul Williams, University of Bristol, author of Mahay¯ ana¯ Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations

Buddhists Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners

Edited by

Todd Lewis This edition first published 2014 ©2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Fordetailsofourglobaleditorialoffices,forcustomerservices,andforinformationabouthowtoapplyfor permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Todd Lewis to be identified as the author of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LimitofLiability/DisclaimerofWarranty:Whilethepublisherandeditorhaveusedtheirbesteffortsin preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness fora particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for Hardback ISBN: 978-0-470-65817-8 Paperback ISBN: 978-0-470-65818-5 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover image: Ts’ampa Nawang. Photograph by Nicolas Sihlé. Reprinted with permission. Asian woman praying with incense sticks © szefei/iStock, Little Tibetan monks © beemore/iStock Set in 9.5/11.5pt Minion by Laserwords Private Limited, Chennai,

1 2014 Contents

Notes on Contributors ix Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 Todd Lewis

Part I Buddhists in the Earliest and Medieval Eras 11 1 The Female Mallika 13 Kristin Scheible 2 Bhadda Kundalakesa: The Ex-Jain 21 Alice Collett 3 TwoNotedHouseholdersoftheBuddha’sTime:Upasika Vishakha and Upasaka 29 Todd Lewis 4Nagarjuna:TheGreatPhilosopher 39 Joseph Walser 5WhoIsUncleDonpa? 52 David J. Cooper 6 Ma-chig Lab-dron: Mother of Tibetan Buddhist Chod 62 Michelle J. Sorensen

Part II Buddhist Lives in the West 71 7 I.B. Horner and the Twentieth-Century Development of 73 Grace G. Burford 8 Takyu: A Young Buddhist Nun at a Ch’an Temple in the English Midlands 80 George D. Chryssides 9 and Reconnection: One Lao Woman’s Story 87 Stewart Jobrack vi Contents

10 Conversion, Devotion, and (Trans-)Mission: Understanding Ole Nydahl 96 Burkhard Scherer 11 Noah Levine: Punk Rocker and Teacher 107 Brooke Schedneck 12 Legendary Beat Poet: Allen Ginsberg 115 Tony Trigilio 13 Dr. Stephen John Fulder: Founder of Vipassana in Israel 124 Joseph Loss 14 Amala Sensei: Priest 133 Sally McAra

Part III Buddhist Lives in South and Southeast Asia 145 15 Pawinee Bunkhun: The Life of a Thai Buddhist Upasika 147 Rachelle M. Scott 16 Mahasi of Burma 157 Bradley S. Clough 17 Corporal Monk: Venerable Sudinna’s Journey from the Sri Lankan Army to the Buddhist 165 Daniel W. Kent 18 The Lure of Renunciation and the Ways of the World: Maechii Wabi of Thailand 172 Sid Brown 19 Becoming a Modernist Buddhist in Contemporary Nepal 179 Lauren Leve

Part IV Buddhist Lives in the Himalayan Region 191 20 Tenpe Gyaltsen: The Fifth Jamyang Zhepa 193 Paul K. Nietupski 21 A Female Tibetan Buddhist Diviner in Darjeeling 201 Tanya M. Zivkovic 22 Tsultrim Zangmo: A Twenty-First-Century Tibetan Buddhist Woman in South Asia 209 Tsultrim Zangmo and Michelle J. Sorensen 23 Bakula ’s Journeys to the North: The Life and Work of the 19th Kushok Bakula in Russia and Mongolia 218 Vesna A. Wallace 24 Hunger, Hard Work, and Uncertainty: Tashi Dondrup Reminisces on Life and Death in a Tibetan Village 228 Geoff Childs 25 Benefiting the Doctrine and Sentient Beings: The Life of a Tibetan Master and the Ethos of Altruistic Action 236 Nicolas Sihlé 26 Living Practical : Chomo Khandru and the Himalayan Bon Tradition 246 Sara Shneiderman Contents vii

27 Excavating the Stories of Border-Crossing Women Masters in Modern Buddhism: The Oral Biography of Pelling Ani Wangdzin and Her Family 257 Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa Part V Buddhist Lives in East Asia 265 28 The Life of a Contemporary Japanese Buddhist Priest: Protecting the Dharma and EnsuringItsFlowwithAllofOne’sStrength 267 Naoyuki Ogi 29 Toshihide Numata: Igniting the Flame of the Dharma 274 Naoyuki Ogi 30 Seno’o Giro: The Life and Thought of a Radical Buddhist 280 James Mark Shields 31 Building a Culture of Social Engagement: Buddhism and Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Japan 289 Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen 32 Blood and Teardrops: The Life and Travels of Venerable Fazun 296 Brenton Sullivan 33 A Modern Chinese Laywoman: Dumplings, Dharani, and Dedication–Honest Auntie Li Tries to Be a Good Buddhist 305 Alison Denton Jones Index 317

For an alternative table of contents that, for the purposes of teaching, arranges the biographies into the various , please go to www.wiley.com/go/lewisbuddhism.

Notes on Contributors

George D. Chryssides is Honorary Research Geoff Childs holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Fellow in Contemporary Religion at the Univer- Tibetan Studies from Indiana University and is sity of Birmingham, UK, and was formerly Head an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Wash- of Religious Studies at the University of Wolver- ington University in St. Louis who specializes in hampton, UK. He has published extensively on studying the interconnections between demo- new religious movements and has a particular graphic processes, economic changes, and family interest in new expressions of Christianity and transformations in the highlands of Nepal and Buddhism. the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. His recent Sid Brown,ProfessoratSewanee,theUniversity collaborations with physical anthropologists of the South in Tennessee, focuses on the lived aim to document out-migration and population experience of Buddhism. Her first book, The decline in Himalayan communities of Nepal, Journey of One Buddhist Nun (2001), is a biog- investigate the links between genetic adaptation raphy of a modern Thai female renunciant, and to high altitude and reproductive outcomes, and her second, A Buddhist in the Classroom (2009), examine the association between adaptation to views classroom teaching through a Buddhist high altitude, mother’s milk, and infant growth. lens, exploring the ethical quandaries, lived expe- Bradley S. Clough teaches about Asian religions riences, and intimacy of teaching. Brown has (with a focus on Buddhism) at the University of been studying Buddhism since being introduced Montana, USA. He has written many articles on to it by the Antioch Program different facets of Buddhism and has a forthcom- in 1982. During her years earning her B.A. from ing book from Cambria Press titled Noble Persons’ Emory, her M.A. from Florida State University, Paths: Diversity and Controversy in Theravada¯ and her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, she Buddhism. researched and lived in India, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Thailand. More recently her work has turned Alice Collett isaSeniorLectureratYorkSt. toBuddhistviewsandritualsassociatedwith John University. She received her M.A. from the environmental concerns and animals. University of Bristol in 1999 and her Ph.D. from Grace G. Burford, Ph.D., is Professor of Religious Cardiff University in 2004. Since then she has StudiesatPrescottCollege,USA,andtheauthor worked in various universities in North America of Desire, Death, and Goodness: The Conflict of and the United Kingdom. She has published sev- Ultimate Values in Theravada Buddhism (1991) eral articles on women in early Indian Buddhism and numerous articles on Buddhist-Christian and a recent edited volume titled Women in Early studies.Sheiscurrentlywritingabiographyof Indian Buddhism: Comparative Textual Studies twentieth-century British scholar of Buddhism (2013). She has just completed work on a mono- I. B. Horner. graph entitled ¯ Biographies of Buddhist Nuns, x Notes on Contributors which was supported by an Arts and Humanities research interests include Buddhism and war, Research Council fellowship award. , and Buddhist nationalism. David J. Cooper is a doctoral student focusing Lauren Leve is Associate Professor in the Depart- onTibetanBuddhismintheDepartmentof ment of Religious Studies at the University of Religious Studies at the University of Califor- North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. An anthro- nia, Santa Barbara, USA. His research interests pologist by training, she has been conducting include humor, religious literature and folklore, ethnographic research on Theravada Buddhism and monastic life. in Nepal since 1990. Her research is driven by Anne M. Fisker-Nielsen is a social anthropolo- concerns with the cultural dynamics of globaliza- gist with reference to Japan. She is particularly tion, particularly the relations between political interested in Buddhist theory, civil society, politi- and economic liberalization, ethical personhood, cal participation, and the issue of religion and the and religious change. She is also interested in the secular in the modern nation state. She teaches globalization of vipassana meditation, human at the School of Oriental and African Studies, rights and democracy, gender, Buddhist moder- University of London. Fisker-Nielsen has under- nity, and nongovernmental organizations and the taken long-term and firsthand research in Japan, developmental state. in particular with the Buddhist organization Todd Lewis is Professor of World Religions Soka Gakkai and the Clean Government Party at the College of the Holy Cross. His primary (Komeito). Her recent book, Religion and Politics research since 1979 has been on Newar Bud- in Contemporary Japan: Soka Gakkai Youth and dhismintheKathmanduValley,Nepal.Heis Komeito (2012), is a study of grassroots-level theauthorofmanyarticlesonthistradition, political engagement in a group whose value and is the coauthor of World Religions Today orientation is derived from . (fourth edition 2011). His most recent transla- Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa is an Assistant tion, Sugata Saurabha: A Poem on the Life of the Professor in the Department of History at the Buddha by Chittadhar Hridaya of Nepal (2010), University of Alabama, USA. She is the author received awards from the Khyentse Foundation of The Social Life of Tibetan Biography: Textual- and the Numata Foundation as the best book on ity, Community and Authority in the Lineage of Buddhism published in 2010. Tokden Shakya Shri (forthcoming) and essays Joseph Loss teaches in the Sociology and Anthro- on Tibetan, Chinese, and Himalayan social and pology Department at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. cultural history. He has published on the history of Israeli anthro- Stewart Jobrack teaches anthropology at the pology (Anthropological Quarterly)andonIsraeli OhioStateUniversity-Marion,USA.Heis Buddha-dhamma (Nova Religio). His most recent writing a Ph.D. dissertation on the practice of article addresses the issue of a converted Buddhist Theravada Buddhism among Lao refugees and identity.ItappearedinthecollectionKabbalah immigrants in the United States. and Contemporary Spiritual Revival (2011). Alison Denton Jones is a lecturer on Social Sally McAra is an adjunct research associate in Studies at Harvard University, USA, specializing the School of Art History, Classics and Religious in cultural and institutional developments in studies at Victoria University, New Zealand. She contemporary Buddhism in Chinese societies. has researched and written several works about Her dissertation, “A modern religion? The state, BuddhismintheWest.SheisSecretaryoftheNew the people, and the remaking of Buddhism in Zealand Buddhist Council and is a member of the urban China today,” examines lay Buddhism in a Auckland Zen Centre. single Chinese city. Paul K. Nietupski is a professor of Asian religions Daniel W. Kent is a visiting Assistant Professor at John Carroll University, USA. His recent pub- of Asian religions at Whitman College in Walla lications include Labrang Monastery: A Tibetan Walla, USA. Dr. Kent has lived and researched Buddhist Community on the Inner Asian Border- in Sri Lanka for over four years. His primary lands 1709–1958 (2011) and contributions to a Notes on Contributors xi coedited volume titled Reading Asian Art and and Childhoods in and Traditions Artifacts: Windows to Asia on American College (2012). Campuses (2011). Burkhard Scherer is Chair in Comparative Naoyuki Ogi has written many articles for Religion,GenderandSexualityatCanterbury various periodical publications on Buddhism. Christ Church University, UK, and specializes He is a 14th-generation Buddhist priest of the in , queer theory, and the Choshoji Temple (Pure Land School) in Japan globalization of Buddhism(s). Among Profes- and is connected with the International Affairs sor Scherer’s books are Buddhismus (2005) and Section of Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the Queering Paradigms (2010). Promotion of Buddhism) in Tokyo. He graduated Rachelle Scott is an Associate Professor of Reli- from Ryukoku University and the Theological gious Studies at the University of Tennessee. She Union/Institute of Buddhist Studies located in received her Ph.D. in Religion from Northwest- Berkeley, California, USA. He also completed a ern University in 2002. Her first book, 2010–11 residential fellow program at Harvard for Sale? Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dham- Divinity School, USA. makaya¯ Temple in Contemporary Thailand (2009), Brooke Schedneck is Lecturer in Buddhist Stud- examines the relationships between wealth and iesattheInstituteofSoutheastAsianAffairs Buddhist piety in Theravada Buddhism and in at Chiangmai University, Thailand. She holds contemporary Thailand. Dr. Scott is currently a Ph.D. in Asian Religions from Arizona State working on her second book project, Gifts of University. Her main scholarly interests include Beauty and Blessings of Wealth: The New Prosper- theintersectionofBuddhismandmodernityas ity Goddesses of Thailand,whichfocusesonthe well as the emerging global Buddhist landscape. emergence of new narratives about female spirits Her most recent project explores the history within contemporary Thai religious practice. Her of modern vipassana meditation, specifically research examines how these cults are linked in investigating Thailand’s international meditation complex ways to representations of Thailand’s centers. The title of her monograph through past, present, and future, as well as to issues Routledge’s series Contemporary Asian Religions of religious authority, economic development, is Thailand’s International Meditation Centers: cultural globalization, and sexuality. Tourism and the Global Commodification of Reli- James Mark Shields is Associate Professor of gious Practices (2014). She has been published in Comparative Humanities and Asian Thought at The Buddhist Studies Review, The Pacific World Bucknell University, USA, and Japan Foundation Journal, The Journal of Contemporary Religion, Visiting Research Fellow at the International and Contemporary Buddhism and maintains a Research Center for Japanese Studies, Japan research website called Wandering Dhamma (2013–14). He was educated at McGill Uni- (www.wanderingdhamma.org). versity, Canada; the University of Cambridge, UK; and Kyoto University, Japan. He conducts Kristin Scheible earned a Ph.D. from Harvard research on modern Buddhist thought, Japanese University, USA, in 2006 and is Assistant Pro- philosophy,comparativeethics,andthephiloso- fessor of Religion at Bard College, USA. Her phy of religion. He is author of Critical Buddhism: area of expertise is Theravada Buddhist litera- Engaging with Modern Japanese Buddhist Thought ture; her research revolves around the work of (Ashgate, 2011) and coeditor of Teaching Bud- narratives in the genre of historical literature dhism in the West: From the Wheel to the Web (vamsa) in the Pali language, and her current (2003), and is currently completing a book on book project is on the Pali Mahavamsa.Hermost progressive and radical . recent publications include “Priming the lamp of dhamma:theBuddha’smiraclesinthePali¯ Sara Shneiderman is Assistant Professor of Mahavamsa¯ ”intheJournal of the International Anthropology and South Asian Studies at Yale Association of Buddhist Studies (2011) and “‘Give University, USA. Her research explores the me my inheritance’: Western Buddhists raising relationships between political discourse, ritual Buddhist children” in Little Buddhas: Children action, and crossborder mobility in producing xii Notes on Contributors identities and shaping social transformation is focused on the growth of the Geluk school of in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, India, and TibetanBuddhisminAmdo(NortheasternTibet) China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region. Her forth- and, in particular, on the history of the influential coming book is titled Rituals of Ethnicity: Thangmi Monguor monastery known as Gonlung Jampa Identities across Himalayan Borders,andshehas Ling (Ch. Youning si). published several articles on the themes of Nepal’s Tony Trigilio is a Professor of English at Maoist movement and ongoing political transfor- Columbia College Chicago. His books include mation; ethnic classification, affirmative action, the critical monograph Allen Ginsberg’s Bud- and the politics of recognition in South Asia; and dhist Poetics (2012) and the anthology Visions borders and citizenship in the Himalaya. and Divisions: American Immigration Literature, Nicolas Sihlé is an anthropologist specializing 1870–1930 (coedited with Tim Prchal, 2008). He in the Tibetan cultural area and in the com- is the author of five volumes of poetry, the most parative anthropology of Buddhist societies. He recent of which is White Noise (2013). He coedits hastaughtanthropologyattheUniversityof the poetry journal Court Green and is a former Virginia, USA, and is now a full-time researcher editor for the academic book-review journal The at the Centre for Himalayan Studies at the CNRS Beat Review. (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) Vesna A. Wallace is a Professor of Buddhist in France. He has carried out fieldwork over a StudiesintheDepartmentofReligiousStudies totalofmorethanthreeyearsinTibetancom- munities, and is the author of a forthcoming at the University of California, Santa Barbara, book on Tibetan tantrists: Rituels bouddhiques USA. The areas of her specialization are Indian de pouvoir et de violence: La figure du tantriste and Mongolian Buddhist traditions. She received tibétain (Buddhist rituals of power and violence: her M.A. in Asian Languages and Literature the figure of the Tibetan tantrist). His current from the University of Washington, USA, and work focuses on communities of tantrists in her Ph.D. in South Asian Studies from the Uni- post-Mao, northeast Tibet (among which he has versityofCalifornia,Berkeley,USA.Inaddition been carrying out fieldwork since 2003) and on tothelanguagesofIndia,shestudiedclassical the larger, collective project of an anthropology and modern Mongolian and classical Tibetan. of Buddhism. He is also the editor of a collective She has authored and translated four books on research blog, The Himalayas and Beyond (http:// Indian Buddhism and published many articles himalayas.hypotheses.org). on Indian and Mongolian Buddhism. She is a recipient of many grants and awards, including Michelle J. Sorensen recently completed her the Silver Medal bestowed by Mr. Elbegdorj, the Ph.D. at Columbia University, USA. Her disser- President of Mongolia, for her contribution to the tation is titled “Making the old new again and friendship of peoples. again: legitimation and innovation in the Tibetan Buddhist Chöd tradition.” Her publications Joseph Walser is Associate Professor of Reli- include “The body extraordinary: embodied gion at Tufts University, USA. His first book, praxis,Vajrayogini,andBuddhistGcod”in in Context (2005), examines what TibetanStudies:AnAnthology(2006); “Cutting to Nagarjuna’s writings would have meant in their thechase:theproblemof‘mind’inthecontext immediate social contexts. He is currently of gCod” in Buddhism: History and investigating the intersections of Buddhism Culture (2008); “Mahamudr¯ a¯ Chöd? Rangjung and Brahmanism in ancient India, and the ori- Dorjé’s commentary on The Great Speech Chapter gins of Mahayana Buddhism among of Machik Labdron” in Wading into the Stream of Buddhists. Wisdom (2012); and “Translation and vestige” in Tanya M. Zivkovic is a social anthropologist Sagar (2013). She is currently a Visiting Assistant whose research explores notions of body and life Professor at the University of Mississippi, USA. coursethroughdeath,relics,reincarnation,and Brenton Sullivan is a Ph.D. candidate in the biographical representations. She is a Research Department of Religious Studies at the Univer- Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, sityofVirginia,USA.Hisdissertationresearch University of Adelaide, Australia. Preface

Thegenesisofthisbookgoesbacktomyinterdis- typical Buddhists? To this end, I put out a call on ciplinary graduate training, and especially the last various academic list-servs for scholars (scholars classofferedinfieldworkmethodsatColumbia of Buddhism, anthropologists, historians) to University by Margaret Mead. In her inimitable compose short life histories of Buddhists, from way, she forced her students to consider a vari- antiquity until the present day. I also solicited ety of research methods, including taking life leading scholars for contributions to achieve both histories. When I did so as part of my own first historical and geographical balance. The present fieldwork in Nepal from 1979 to 1982, I collected volume puts specific human faces to who is, and information on a large sample of Buddhist mer- what it means to be, a Buddhist. chants, and found these biographies to be rich In addition, on the book’s web site (www.wiley and illuminating on a variety of topics. .com/go/lewisbuddhism) there is a listing of A further push toward proposing this volume sources containing longer, book-length Bud- came through inspiration from subsequent pub- dhist biographies: the narrative of the Buddha’s lications on the anthropology of life histories, life found in traditional and modern writings; such as Lives: An Anthropological Approach to accounts of the hundreds of former lives he lived Biography (1991) by L.L. Langness and Gelya F. before his last life, when he reached enlighten- Franks. After reading Reinhold Loeffler’s Islam ment; and the longer accounts of the lives of in Practice: Religious Beliefs in a Persian Village various saints and scholars that have been trans- (1986) and seeing how the religious beliefs and lated from the vast archive of traditional Buddhist practices of Muslims vary widely in rural Iran, I texts into English. wondered about a similar project for Buddhists. This volume was also inspired by StoryCorps, Justastheselifehistoriesmakeitimpossibleto an oral-history initiative begun a decade ago imagine any monolithic construction of Islam in the United States. Across the country, this and Muslims, this volume was conceived as project has at various sites offered a studio and a providing similar insights about Buddhism and technician for individuals who want to interview Buddhists. another person for an hour; the result is that the To balance the textual resources available in individualsgetaCDcopyoftheconversation, coursesthattraditionallyfocusprimarilyonthe with the recording archived in perpetuity in the doctrines and practices of Buddhist philosophers Library of Congress. Culling cases from among and saints, I wondered whether students could the tens of thousands of interviews, a series of benefit from biographies sampling a broader books has been published from this program, community of adherents. Could a book of biogra- revealing the brilliance of its design as well as a phies of Buddhists provide instructors with a magnificent diversity of lives of ordinary people resource that would allow greater attention to being lived today. In one such volume, Listening xiv Preface

Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life Thisvolumefallsintothistradition.Itsambitionis from the StoryCorps Project,theeditor,DaveIsay, to give insight into what it means to be a Buddhist, summarizes the foundational ideas on which this imagining how this tradition has attracted human biography project was built: devotion for over 2500 years.

That our stories – the stories of everyday people – Todd Lewis are as interesting and important as the celebrity Holden, Massachusetts stories we’re bombarded with by the media every February 2014 minute of the day … Thatifwetakethetimetolis- ten, we’ll find wisdom, wonder and poetry in the lives and stories of the people all around us.1

Note

1 Isay, D. (2007) Listening Is an Act of Love: A Cele- bration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project, Penguin, London: 1. Acknowledgments

I would like to express my thanks to all the to complete the research on this project, and to the contributors who responded to the call for College of the Holy Cross for granting a sabbatical biographies, and who carried on in an extended leavetocompletetheediting. process of writing and revising their narratives. I am indebted to Rebecca Harkin, commis- I must express my gratitude to the teachers sioningeditoratWileyBlackwell,whosawthe who shaped my own development as a scholar originality and promise in this volume and who interlinking religious studies and anthropology, supported it through the chaotic process of including Robert Murphy, Marvin Harris, Gerald assembling so many parts by so many contrib- Berreman, Stanley Tambiah, Ainslie Embree, utors. The exacting copyediting of Hazel Harris Gregory Schopen, and Theodore Riccardi Jr. made this book clearer and better in every way. IamespeciallygratefultotheSimonGuggen- heim Foundation for a fellowship that enabled me

Introduction

Todd Lewis

“Buddhism” is a single word, a noun that refers Buddhist monuments, and ethnographic records tooneoftheworld’sgreatreligioustraditions. of Buddhist societies.1 Central to most courses It is an English term that implies a singularity. are texts rendered into English, and these should But no religions are monolithic. This pluralism be read critically, informed with historical and is especially true in the case of Buddhism, as sociological imagination. Why? Because Bud- there never was any institution, single figure, or dhist texts were written down by the literate group of spiritual leaders that could prescribe elite in societies in which literacy was rare. Their conformity, or enforce it, across Asia or beyond. authorswerenottypicalBuddhists,butmembers Monks, kings, and patrons adapted Buddhist of the sangha, the monastic order. And these tradition to their localities, transplanting it into monk-authors tended to be most interested in many social and cultural environments, from the the rules of the order, doctrinal exposition, and tropical regions of South and Southeast Asia to often the fine points of meditative technique or the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau; from the trade philosophical argument. routes of India to the Confucian societies of East Remarkably few Buddhist texts, in fact, address Asia; and then, in recent centuries, from Asia into the religious interests or practices of the house- Europe and the Americas. holders, the men and women who constituted This diversity presents a challenge for the stu- 95percentormoreofalmosteveryknownBud- dent of this important tradition, the world’s first dhist community.2 Their lifeworlds were only missionary religion. Its spread on both the silk rarely a celibate monk-writer’s focus.3 So, when and sea routes of antiquity was at the center of we read the texts in translation, we are almost one of the most important crosscultural con- always sampling topics that were of prime interest nections in world history, linking South Asia to to only a minority of Buddhists. EastAsia.ImagininghowBuddhismwas,andis, Thisdividewascommontoallworldreligions, lived byactualBuddhistsacrossthisvastreligious especially before the modern era. There was the geography is indeed quite daunting. elite: the saints, the great thinkers, a small group All that we have now to inform us about of what the sociologist Max Weber called the “reli- Buddhist tradition are four sources: texts in gious virtuosi.” They naturally draw our attention. translation, the cumulative record of art and And, as intellectual readers, we are drawn to the architecture, thousands of inscriptions from beliefs and spiritual practices of these Buddhists,

Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners, First Edition. Edited by Todd Lewis. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2 Todd Lewis some of whom are among the greatest figures in those 95 percent of every society who were not the history of religion. The records of the Bud- monks, not philosophers or saints, but who fol- dhist elite’s teachings, the philosophers’ systems lowed the “Triple Jewels,” taking refuge in the of doctrinal thought, the saints’ mind-boggling Buddha, dharma, and sangha. How did kings , and the wealth of spiritual practices and queens, farmers, workers, merchants, house- designed to guide persons to reach complete wives, husbands, and patrons live Buddhist lives? enlightenment (samyak sambodhi)–allarewor- Only by having some idea about these “typical thy of study. These remarkable realms of Buddhist Buddhists” can we adequately comprehend what tradition – with their insights into mind and con- Buddhism contributed to Asian societies and sciousness, their formulations of the existential what it now contributes across the globalized challengeshumanbeingsface,theirvisionofsoci- world and in the West. ety centered on compassion, and so on – stand So,togobeyondthevirtuosotraditions,stu- among the most sublime accomplishments in the dents need to study Buddhism not as a vague, record of humanity’s religious history. disembodied abstraction but as a vibrant, multi- faceted phenomenon embraced by a broad sam- ple of adherents. Humans are so different, born Most students who take Buddhism courses wish withdiversetalentsandshapedbyvaryingexpe- to acquire deeper understanding of Buddhist riences; they are diverse by gender and in their philosophies, philosophers, and forms of medita- economic class, factors affecting how they have tion, and it is important to broaden and deepen engaged with their social surroundings and reli- their spiritual imaginations. This book is based gions. The template of the bell curve (Figure I.1) on the assumption that there are also other goals is useful to display the universal pattern of the to realize in the study of Buddhism. The first is to range of beliefs that humans adopt in adhering understand typical Buddhists, past and present. to any world religion. Although it is impossible It is easy for elite text-based representations to tographthisspectrumwithprecision,paying reduce Buddhism to philosophy and reduce the attention to how religion exists for the elite, the humanity of Buddhist devotees to intellect. This average believer, and the hardly observant is a is a naïve, ivory-tower misconception. To use an valuable exercise. In our diagram, the vertical ivory-toweranalogy:justasthecourses,scholarly axis plots the percentage of believers and the interests, and activities of the philosophy faculty horizontal axis is a measure of belief vitality in a college or university might be of special and ritual attendance. On the left side are the interest to some, no one would conclude that elite, whose lifestyle embodies complete com- the history of an academic institution should be mitment to the highest religious ideals. They determined by what this department wrote in are “all in.” Examples include the Tibetan Bud- journals or taught in its classrooms. dhist nun doing a three-year cave meditation Ourgoalinthistextbookistofostercurios- retreat; the Zen monk who undergoes sesshin, ityabouthowthehistoryofBuddhistsocieties a period of ultra-intense (sitting medi- unfolded, recognizing that there were always tation), treating ten days as a single day, not individuals involved in the economic, politi- sleeping, to achieve satori (enlightenment); or cal, and institutional realms of tradition. To the -philosopher-monk who devotes approach these central historical phenomena his life to categorizing all the ways that the Bud- means looking to the lives of typical Buddhists, dha’s analysis can be applied to the processes

Total commitment/ Committed, Professes belief; Vague on doctrines; Indifferent to teachings; ultra-elite observant believer usual attendance occasional attendance very rare attendance

Figure I.1 A bell curve showing the universal pattern of the range of beliefs that humans adopt in adhering to any world religion. Introduction 3 of consciousness. On the far right are those only two doctrinal topics shall be discussed here Buddhistswhoareindifferenttodoctrineor as they provide a foundation for the content of who disbelieve all or large parts of the dharma. this volume: the canonical teachings that define (Yes, their presence is also universal; a record the natural diversity of individuals and their ofskepticsanddisbelieversisfoundintheearly practicesinBuddhistcommunities;andthedual Buddhist canonical texts.) In between is a broad fields of legitimate religious practice in them, the spectrum of individuals whose lives are led to transcendental and the pragmatic. greaterorlesserdegreesbyBuddhistthought, ethical norms, and ritual practices. This bell curve of diverse human beings who The Eightfold Path and the Gradual vary in their spiritual maturity is also a central Path Buddhist view of the world. The Buddha did not imagine or treat his disciples as the same, but The tradition itself clearly acknowledges the assumed they possessed a wide range of aptitudes. need to address the inherent diversity within a Being attentive to the natural existence of human Buddhist society. (370–450), the variance caused by karma can provide insight into great Buddhist monk and scholar, who resided how Buddhism became a great world religion, in Sri Lanka, set forth an influential overview one that captured the imagination and elicited of Buddhist tradition called the Eightfold Path. the loyalty of the full spectrum of believers in Thiscoresynopsisofthefaithisbasedonhow every society. Attending to the complexity of any he organized a Buddhist’s necessary progression Buddhist community can also provide clues about through stages: how and why the tradition declined or changed over its history in given times and places. • Morality: right speech, right action, right For the college student and the growing audi- livelihood. ence of westerners interested in Buddhism, it • Meditation:rightmindfulness,rightconcen- is easy to construct a historical vision of this tration, right effort. tradition from the perspective of the spiritual • Prajna: right views, right inventions. andphilosophicalelitealone.Eventhougha • Nirvana. historian can rightly point out that monks, nuns, philosophers, and virtuoso spiritual seekers have Every student of Buddhism must grasp this orga- constituted only a small minority of Buddhists nization of the tradition. Buddhaghosa’s schema past and present, it has been on them that most teaches us that a Buddhist life is founded on textbooks place major focus. Taking only a small (1) the development of moral character. One portion of the “bell curve” of all Buddhists as speaks truthfully, acts morally, and makes a living representing the whole tradition is neither his- without harming other beings. Right action also toricallyaptnoradequatetoconveythefullness includes ritual actions and meritorious dona- of what Buddhist tradition has been or is today. tions. Thus, moral living defines being a Buddhist Thus, one purpose of this book is to provide a for most adherents. Further, we can see that a series of representative life histories that broaden disciplined moral life is the necessary founda- the student’s awareness of the diversity among tion for successfully undertaking meditation. BuddhistsandformsofBuddhism. Knowing that traditionally this defined being “a good Buddhist” for 95 percent of a population makes understanding Buddhism in practice, and This book of Buddhist biographies provides a “a typical Buddhist,” quite straightforward. series of new sources for students of Buddhism; it Untilthemodernera,itwasonlyselectmonks assumestheywillalsobereadingatextbookand andnunswhomovedontothenextstage(2), texts in translation that introduce the doctrinal the practice of meditation. Here Buddhism foundations,fromthetimeofBuddhism’sorigins offerstwomodesofmindcultivation.Thefirst through the luxuriant varieties of interpretations is trance or practices that lead to calming states and related spiritual practices that evolved over of consciousness. The second is , the subsequent 2500 years.4 With this in mind, the intense focus on discerning what is truly 4 Todd Lewis real in individual experience: seeing reality as moving along the Gradual Path. In his teachings, impermanent, seeing embodied life as inevitably the Buddha was a “communalist” in cultivating immersed in suffering, and viewing there to be both monastics and householders; Buddhist com- no soul within to anchor human experience. munities succeeded when the latter supported the To the extent that meditation is successful, the former, who in return guided them by preaching individual develops (3) prajna,acapacitytodis- the dharma. This fundamental exchange is cen- cerntherealfromthemanydelusionsthatwesuc- tral to the sociological imagination of Buddhism. cumb to due to desire and anger. Here we see that The biographies depict both householders and one has to make a huge effort, and keep to one’s monastics conscientiously attending to their intention to reach enlightenment. When prajna is respective roles. perfected, the one who has fully “calmed the mind This book has been assembled to provide case and discerned the real” experiences (4) nirvana. studies that cover the entire spectrum of the Buddhist bell curve. It will also reveal the great diversity of monastic careers and the common The early texts also recommend how teachers pattern of individuals moving along the Grad- should progress in introducing doctrinal teach- ual Path – sometimes from householder to the ings and spiritual practices to their disciples. The sangha and back. We can follow notable and ancient tradition specified what was called the obscure nonmonastics who try to find meaning “Gradual Path” (anupurvikatha), which lays out and wellbeing in their lives by “taking refuge.” the specific progress a typical Buddhist should Through the genre of the biography, we can make as a “good Buddhist”: followindividualsthroughthelogicoftheir lives as they negotiate the choices, tensions, and 1 making donations (dana)forearningmerit rewardsoflivingasBuddhists.Itisherewhere (punya); this textbook’s thick description of Buddhist lives 2 moral instruction (shila); can also go beyond the particularities of learning 3 the value of reaching heaven (svarga); about this tradition, and open up deeper levels of 4 the evil that comes from demerit (pap)andlife crosscultural understanding. As anthropologists devoted only to pleasure; L.L. Langness and Gelya Frank have written, 5 the value of renunciation; 6 study of the .5 The acts of empathy that arise in attempting to understand the reality of people sometimes very This paradigm directs all varieties of persons different from ourselves can be a real transfor- to work through stages and pursue a gradual, mative process. Such acts of empathy, whether systematic advancement toward enlightenment, fully successful or not in actually simulating the apaththatassumesaseriesoflifetimes.Inthe other person’s experience, help us break down Pali Canon, manuals for instructors take care to thebarriersofegoandidentitythatgiveuseach define some texts as pertaining to “mundane” the illusion of somehow standing separate and issues and others to the “supramundane”; some apart from the flow of human consciousness 6 teachings apply to “ordinary persons” and others through the millennia. to “adepts”; but, significantly, the teaching guides do not regard these as separate religious paths but as one path with many levels and applications. Pragmatic and Transcendental This Gradual Path framework envisions society Buddhism as a multipoint hierarchy of individuals, who vary according to their karma and spiritual capacities, The dharma includes the teachings that lead elites and teachers, who try to match each individual to realize nirvana; it also includes the means of with the best practice for them. Working within -making to advance in samsara.Thetra- the logic of the Gradual Path, too, we find the dition’s canonical narratives – found in jatakas, central ideal that Buddhists are interdependent avadanas,andstoriesinritualtexts–alsoconvey and linked through ritual and patronage, which the pragmatic role of the dharma in Buddhist connects advanced practitioners with others communities. The Buddha’s words convey the Introduction 5 ultimate truth in expositions, but some words [1] [He] makes himself happy and cheerful, he specificallyrevealedbytheBuddhacanalso is a contriver of perfect material happiness [of change the world: repel evil and create good, others]: his mother and father, his children and protecting those who take refuge in it. Curing wife, his servants and workmen, his friends illness, repelling demons, attracting luck and aus- and comrades. This … is the first opportunity piciousness, and protecting kings and kingdoms seized by him, turned to merit and fittingly arethepragmaticeffectsoftakingrefugeinthe made use of. … … Buddha, his dharma, and the sangha. As an early [2] Then again, the disciple with that wealth finds security for himself from all Mahayana text, the Mahavastu,states,“Forverily misfortunes whatsoever, such as may happen Dharma protects the one who lives by dharma, as 7 by way of fire, water, the king, a robber, an a large umbrella protects us in time of rain.” ill-disposed person … [3] Then again … the disciple … is a maker of five ritual offerings (bali): to relatives, guests, Thestoriesinthisvolumeillustratehowthe hungry ghosts, to the king, and to the gods dominant religious orientation in Buddhist com- (devata) … munities has been the accumulation of merit. The [4] Then again, the … disciple … offers gifts to logic of Buddhist institutional history in every allsuchreclusesandbrahminswho abstain from locality has been shaped by those householders sloth and negligence, who are bent on kindness and monastics seeking to make merit the hope for and forbearance, who tame the one self, calm current happiness and better either as a the one self … which has the highest results, a gift heavenly, resulting in happiness and leading humanbeingoragod.Studentsshouldreadthese to heaven.9 texts dealing with merit and the practical ethos of proper human striving, as there are important The actions and ideals in life articulated here can passages that cover the details and ethos of prag- be seen in the biographies of this volume and are matically living a Buddhist life as a householder. evident in Buddhist householders concerned with Oneexampleisfoundinthefourthbookofthe family, wealth, rituals, and protection. Many seek Pali Canon’s Anguttara-nikaya. It explicitly treats to turn wealth into merit. Buddhist merit-making theissueofmeritandthehouseholder’slife,as can “cheat death” by in future lifetime(s) reunit- the Buddha instructs the good Buddhist to seek ing couples after death and reuniting individuals the “Four Conditions”: with their former wealth. Merit-making is also not strictly individualistic, as actions by kin, patrons, There are these four conditions which are desir- shipmates, monks, and kings can affect the des- able, dear, delightful, hard to win in the world. tinies of others. It is noteworthy how important Which four? … the act of transferring merit is – to the recently dead, distant kin, or to benefit all beings – in the [1] Wealth beinggottenbylawfulmeans… lives of devout Buddhist householders. [2] Good reputation among kinsmen and Finally and emphatically, the Buddha here and teachers in many sermons recognized rebirth in a heaven [3] Long life and attain a great age … [4] When the body breaks up, on the other side as a legitimate and exalted religious goal to strive of death may I attain a happy birth in a heaven!8 for as well. This aspiration was historically nei- ther rare nor even confined to householders. The best example of this aspiration to be reborn The text then proceeds to specify how the moral in heaven is found in the life of the previously and wealthy Buddhist householder should do the mentioned monk-scholar Buddhaghosa, one of “Four Good Deeds”: the greatest and most exceptional intellectuals in the tradition’s history. He commentated on most Now, … with the wealth acquired by energetic of the Pali Canon, and his long composition, striving, amassed by strength of arm, won by hard the Visuddhimagga (“The Path to Purification”), work, honestly and lawfully earned, is the doer of provides a detailed, step-by-step guide to the four deeds. What are the four? stages to enlightenment and is one of the greatest 6 Todd Lewis

Buddhist treatises. In the postscript to this work, to their popularity and use. In each, the actions of Buddhaghosa states that he hopes that the merit the future Buddha Shakyamuni – who is reborn he has earned by writing the Visuddhimagga will as an animal, spirit, or human – convey the reali- allow him to be reborn in heaven and to abide tiesofkarmiccauseandeffect,theroleofrituals, there until the next Buddha Metteyya () how beings reappear in each others’ lives, and appears, so he can hear his teaching and then how to pursue the ideal of experiencing nirvana attain enlightenment. Even such a virtuoso felt he in the future. These stories were used in sermons, could not attain nirvana in his lifetime, but only depicted on monastery walls, and acted out in afterward. For him, heaven was a sufficient goal, festivals that conveyed the dharma as truth and and all he could imagine attaining. power to householders and monks from antiquity For many monastics and most householders onward.10 across the Buddhist world, “doing Buddhism” is centered on merit-making (often collective in practice and effect) and on showing respect for Students should be aware of a common, and local deities, and is focused on earning rebirth in false,WesternstereotypethatBuddhismisonlya heaven. philosophy and not a religion. Its corollary is to A historically and sociologically informed dismiss rituals as contradicting the pure teaching overview of how Buddhism is lived in individ- of the Buddha, seeing them as concessions to ual lives falls into four interlocking tracks of the ignorant masses. In the texts quoted above, legitimate Buddhist striving: of course, the Buddha belies this modern mis- conception, specifically recommending ritual 1 pragmatic wellbeing, via rituals and merit- offerings to gods and hungry ghosts as good, making; compassionate deeds for householders. In these 2 moral cultivation, via donations, pure con- biographiesaswell,whatisobviousisthatrituals duct, and compassionate acts; are integral to the central practice of making 3 better rebirth (human or in a heaven), via merit and taking part in the living tradition. merit-making and merit transfer; Moreover, precisely defined rituals characterize 4 seeking nirvana, via meditation. the ordination of monastics and the regular activities in their communal lives. The donations In the biographies in this volume, the reader that provide the material necessities that allow should be alert to how, through merit rituals, monks and nuns to live in the sangha are made in Buddhism fosters family ties, encourages an ritual ceremonies. The Buddha himself identifies “energetic striving” after economic success, pro- specific recitations of his words that monastics motes the worship of hungry ghosts and local must recite in rituals (called in the Ther- gods, justifies the rightful seeking after worldly avada world, raksha in the Mahayana) to create happiness and security, applauds the religious worldly, pragmatic protection from a host of virtues of faith and heaven-seeking, and under- dangers to people and communities. Death rites lines the virtue of being a donor and patron. All are especially elaborate, as are the procedures for are sound Buddhist ideals. This pragmatic con- introducing many forms of meditation. Anyone ception of the dharma, however defined by local who lives in an Asian community where the tradition, shaped the successful domestication of tradition is found quickly and decisively comes to Buddhism from Sri Lanka to the Himalayas, from know that it is through ritual that adherents live central Asia to Japan, and from Beijing to Ohio. their Buddhist lives. Analyzing the Four Good Deeds alongside the That the monastic elite do not segregate FourNobleTruthsastextualdistillationsofnor- themselves from pragmatic concerns of their mative Buddhism is essential for understanding communities is illustrated by a tradition in Thai- Buddhism with historical imagination. land. There, the Abhidharma, the third division Toseetherelevanceofbothofthesecentral of the Pali Canon, is a focus of both transcen- doctrines, students should read the popular dental analysis and pragmatic concerns. While canonical (or postcanonical) narratives called these texts provide detailed distillations of the jatakas. There are over six hundred, which attests Buddha’s teachings, and so serve as guidelines for Introduction 7 erudite scholarly analysis or meditative practice, soliciting short biographies of Buddhists from in Thailand there is also another use for these any era. Some are based on textual studies, others “workingtexts.”Thesesametextsarecentralto on historical or anthropological research.12 In commonrituals:monksrecitetheAbhidharma at this book’s sample can be seen a cross-section of funerals and these texts are donated to temples where research on Buddhism has been concen- as an act of merit-making; further, the sacred trated in recent decades. Despite efforts to seek syllables from parts of these texts are used in out scholars who could write about those skepti- chants to generate protective powers. Here we see cal or half-hearted adherents on the right-hand the literal confluence of the transcendental and sideofthebellcurve,fewbiographieswereforth- the pragmatic in living Buddhism. coming in this area, while there was a plethora of submissions tipping toward the left-hand side. Thisisunderstandable:traditionalBuddhist writers of every age had virtually no interest in In summary, taking refuge in Buddha, the writing up accounts for posterity of the hardly dharma, and the sangha meant following a tra- devout, and modern academic scholars work- dition that offered various means by which the ing with texts thereby have no sources to draw Buddha’s words and Buddhism’s saints’ ritual upon. A few historians familiar with documented actions could exert control over the powers of communities have provided such examples, and the universe. In this way the dharma was a force the reader will meet the legendary Tibetan rogue for good that could both resist troubles (disease, Uncle Donpa in Chapter 5. misfortunes) and promote worldly prosper- Preceding each biography is a brief introduction ity. As the Chinese scholar Yun-hua Jan noted bytheeditorthatalertsthereadertotheperson’s about Buddhism in practice, “From an insider’s historical context or how the biography connects viewpoint, … recitation [of ] is extremely with the important themes discussed above, and powerful, and in certain cases, it is claimed to be also introduces any special issues that are found even more powerful and preferable than either in the chapter. For each life history, the authors a philosophical understanding or the excellence were asked to include three sections: background 11 in moral disciplines.” On the ground and in on the individual and any interpretive themes individual lives, Buddhist traditions offered both to be developed; a biography conveyed in a inspiration and worldly benefits. vivid, creative manner; and a short conclusion Thus, Buddhists are rightly concerned with highlighting how this individual’s life relates to experiencing the transcendental goal of nirvana, understanding the Buddhist tradition generally. most thinking it far off in distant life; most also attend to the natural spiritual law of karma, and also central to Buddhist identity is faith In surveying the belief patterns of the world’s in the pragmatic powers of the Buddhas and Buddhist communities, and in reading about enlisted through ritual. Lofty moral thelivesofBuddhistsinthisvolume,thestu- values and blissful fruits of meditation certainly dent is challenged both by the sheer diversity must have impressed and converted some; but of doctrinal expression and by the complexity the dharma’s control over the powers that ensure of Buddhism’s systematic thought. Such an out- health, wealth, progeny, and peace had a powerful pouring of writing from a tradition that held the appeal in securing the faith’s success in contexts ultimate reality to be beyond words! Buddhism’s as different as nomadic pasturelands, urban great migration across Asia, and beyond, has enclaves, and subsistence-farming villages. This entailed the translation of texts, ideas, ethical conjunction of the transcendental and pragmatic norms, and rituals into non-Indic societies, com- hasalwaysbeenafeatureofBuddhismwherever munities with divergent languages and cultures. it has thrived in history. In becoming a world religion that adapted to all these contexts, Buddhism in practice promoted compassionate, medically advanced, disciplined, The content of this book was contributed by the mercantile, and literate societies. Like other great scholars who responded to various internet calls world religions, Buddhism has shown that its 8 Todd Lewis understanding of human suffering and its causes, terms through an exceptionally diverse collection itstransformativemeditationtraditions,and of Buddhists’ lives. Composed by noted scholars, its vision of a compassion-centered civilization these biographies have been compiled to provide have enduring relevance, especially in the midst the student with what traditional stories told in of changes that have shaken the modern and Buddhist communities for millennia have also postcolonial world. This book’s biographies serve sought: to ground the teachings in the struggles of life in order to promote understanding. to make this tradition understandable in human

References

Covil, L., Roesler, U., and Shaw, S. (eds) (2010) Lives A Handbook (ed. S. Glazier), Greenwood Press, Lived, Lives Imagined: Biography in Buddhist Tradi- Westport, CT, pp. 319–67. tions,Wisdom,Boston,MA. Sassoon, V. (ed.) (2012) Little Buddhas: Children Jan, Y.-H. (1977) The power of recitation: an unstudied in Buddhist Societies,OxfordUniversityPress, aspect of . Studi Storico Religiosi, New York. 1, 299. Schober, J. (ed.) (1997) Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Jones, J.J. (1952) The Mahavastu,vol.2,LuzacandCo., Traditions of South and Southeast Asia,Universityof London. Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Langness, L.L. and Frank, G. (1981) Lives: An Anthropo- Schopen, G. (1991) Archaeology and Protestant presup- logical Approach to Biography, Chandler and Sharp, positions in the study of Indian Buddhism. History of Novato, CA. Religions 31 (1), 1–23. Lewis, T.T. (1997) The anthropological study of Bud- Woodward, F.L. (trans.) (1992) The Book of Gradual dhist communities: historical precedents and ethno- Sayings,vol.2,PaliTextSociety,Oxford. graphic paradigms, in Anthropology of Religion:

Further Reading

Isay, D. (ed.) (2007) Listening is an Act of Love: A Cele- Isay, D. (ed.) (2013) Ties that Bind: Stories of Love and bration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project, Gratitude from the First Ten Years of StoryCorps,Pen- Penguin, New York. guin, New York. Isay, D. (ed.) (2012) All There Is: Love Stories from Sto- Loeffler, R. (1988) Islam in Practice: Religious Beliefs in ryCorps,Penguin,NewYork. a Persian Village,SUNYPress,Albany. Isay, D. (ed.) (2012) Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from Loy, D.R. (2010) The World is Made of Stories,Wisdom, StoryCorps,Penguin,NewYork. Boston, MA.

Notes

1 The “first draft” of the has attending to the enculturation of children. Not so been almost exclusively informed by the content in the case of Buddhism. In fact there is almost no of texts, as archaeology and art history remain mention of children. Recent attention to the place marginal in academic Buddhist studies. The prob- of children in the tradition is found in a collection lems with this textual bias have been discussed of essays (Sassoon 2012). by Gregory Schopen (1991). A few preliminary 4 A collection of essays in Schober (1997) is devoted efforts have been made to marshal the transcul- totheroleofbiographyinthelivesofBuddhists tural record of ethnographic studies (e.g., Lewis in South and Southeast Asian history. A treatment 1997). oftheroleofnarrativesinBuddhisttradition 2 Tibet is the exception; there, in recent centuries appeared in Lives Lived, Lives Imagined: Biography before 1949, up to 25 percent of the population in Buddhist Traditions,avolumeeditedbyCovil, were members of the sangha. Roesler, and Shaw (2010). 3 One would expect that the literature of any 5 Note here how the ancient teachers do not rec- world religion would address the central need of ommendwhatamodernstudentinaBuddhism Introduction 9

course often begins with, the doctrines contained his way up in samsara, making mistakes but ulti- in the Four Noble Truths. mately finding rebirth as a prince in his last life, 6 Langness and Frank 1981: 154. when he finally realized the ultimate truth. 7 Jones 1952: 77. 11 Jan 1977: 299. 8 Woodward 1992: 74, numbering and emphasis 12 The student is also urged to sample book-length added. Buddhist biographies, almost all on saints, that 9 Woodward 1992: 75–6, numbering and emphasis providearicherandmorenuancedlevelofdetail, added. beginning with the central narrative of Shakya- 10 In the website associated with this book, a bibli- muni, the Buddha. In the website for this textbook, ography of jatakas in English translation is com- thereisalistingofrecommendedbiographiesfor piled. In a sense, each jataka is a biography of the this purpose. future Buddha in a separate lifetime, as he worked

Part I Buddhists in the Earliest and Medieval Eras

1 The Female Householder Mallika

Kristin Scheible

Editor’s Introduction

Therearequiteafewnotablewomenwhoselivesarerecountedintheearliesttexts. Some were most intimately connected to the Buddha’s life story, such as Queen Maya, who gave birth to him; her sister, the Queen Mahapajapati, who nursed and cared for him and later pestered him for acceptance into his order; his wife Yasod- hara, who loved him; and Sujata, who provided the nourishment that enabled him to press forward to his final realization of nirvana. There was also the merchant wife Vishakha (see Chapter 3), who was first and foremost among women patrons and builder of the Purva Vihara in . And then there were the eminent theris, women whose influential poetic, personal accounts of their lives have been preserved in the canonical Therigatha (“Verses of Female Saints”). This chapter’s subject is a devout follower of the Buddha, and her unusual life moves from low-caste street vendor to becoming favorite queen of Pasenadi, the king of Kosala. As skillfully constructed here from scattered canonical references and commentaries, Mallika’s actions and her destiny in past and future rebirths become subjects that elicit many important discourses by the Buddha. These incidents center on karma, the effects of merit and demerit, the reality of spouses being united repeatedly over lifetimes, and the ways that character traits, too, carry overtofuturelifetimes.OnesurprisingpeculiarityintheBuddhistreckoning of merit-making is that the holier the recipient (needy or not), the greater the quantity of merit earned. Knowing this helps to explain how Mallika’s gift to the Buddha, the highest of all spiritual beings, could have led to such an extraordinary and rapid rags-to-riches transformation in her life.

Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners, First Edition. Edited by Todd Lewis. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 14 Kristin Scheible

What this biography also highlights is how much the tradition preserves, and highlights, the Buddha’s preaching to kings and courtiers. He was a skillful and determined leader of a missionary movement built on moral foundations, and so it should not be surprising that his encounters with political leaders, and their wives, find a common place in the Buddhist canon. It might also surprise the student that such an exemplary person as Queen Mallika, immediately after her charmed and virtuous life, was reborn in a horrible Buddhist hell (if only for a short time), due to an incident with a dog. But such is the logic of karma and its ripening (vikalpa) in the world of samsara.

Introduction: Mallika’s Historical, in Mallika’s life, we can see how taking refuge Geographical, and Cultural Context in the Buddha, dharma, and sangha would have beenunderstoodinquitealiteralway;morethan India, the birthplace of Buddhism, looked far dif- once during a time of crisis, Mallika would seek ferent at the time of the Buddha from how it does out the Buddha for support. While she may have today. It would have been much less populated, been typical in her faith, Mallika was not at all and 16 mahajanapada (independent republics typical for a laywoman of her time, as she had and kingdoms) dotted the landscape.1 It was access to the Buddha himself. The name Mallika is atimeofsocialchange,upheavaleven.Atthis embedded in a canonical list of the most notable time, as historian Romila Thapar has suggested, female householders (upasika).4 Mallika also republics were “parting company with Vedic appears in a list of seven people, “famous even to orthodoxy,”2 which set the stage for new voices, the gods,” who performed extraordinary acts of such as those of women and non-, to devotion that bore fruit in their lifetimes.5 make an impact.3 The Buddha was one of a num- Mallika was just a wife and layperson, albeit berofitinerantteacherswhosoughtrefugeinthe aqueenanddevotedsupporteroftheBud- jungle forests but whose teaching was centered dha. According to canonical and commentarial in cities. The early community surrounding the accounts, her life story was interwoven with Buddha drew from various sectors of society, dis- the Buddha’s, and such proximity to the central rupting the traditional caste-based transmission biographyofBuddhismwarrantsourattention. of religiosity in favor of a different authority, that She was a queen, but not a singular one – she of the Tri Ratna: the Buddha as its teacher, the was one of a few queens of Pasenadi, although Dharma that was his teaching, and the sangha, shewaslowborn.Shehadsexwithadog(and his community of monks. This social shift may enjoyed it). She argued with her husband, taunted not seem radical to a reader today, but it was him,andupstagedhim.Shewasnot,ostensibly,a radical for the period under consideration, when Buddhist moral exemplar, and yet the most often women’srolesandcasteroleshadbeenclearly pronounced expression of the Buddhist version defined and were rigid. of the Golden Rule comes embedded in her story. SupportingtheBuddhaandhissanghafinan- Unfortunately, Mallika’s biography is not present cially were his benefactors: merchants with their in a coherent, chronologically sound, narratively fortunes from trade and the kings who exchanged coherent way. Instead, Mallika’s story is revealed their patronage for dharma teaching. The Bud- in bits and pieces, each a fragment with edges to dha frequently stayed in Sravasti, the capital of explore, each a new surface to reflect some light the mahajanapada Kosala.KingPasenadi(Skt. on the morally didactic material conveyed within. Prasenajit) was the king of Kosala, and the focus ofourchapterhere,Mallika,wasoneofPase- nadi’s queens and herself a devout patron of the Mallika’s Biography Buddha.TheTriRatnawerealreadyestablished by the time Mallika convinced her husband to Over a half-century ago, with an eye toward convert to Buddhism. Through various episodes discerning social history, the scholar I.B. Horner The Female Householder Mallika 15

(whose biography is included in this textbook; chief queen of the King of Kosala.” Later that day, see Chapter 7) called for a careful examination when the King Pasenadi of Kosala was riding by, of laywomen’s lives as represented in the earliest exhausted after a battle with rival king Ajatasattu Buddhist texts. She cast about and discovered a of , he was diverted by the singing of a trove of information, albeit in scraps scattered charming young woman. throughout the canonical materials: Remarkably, her rapidly ripened merit was such that, rather than run away, Mallika approached Then, too, there was Queen Mallika,¯ chief consort thekingandheldhisattentionbyphysically of King Pasenadi of Kosala, with whom the Bud- holding his horse’s nose steady. They had a brief dha converses now and again; and Nakulamat¯ a,¯ courtship; the king ascertained that she was the pious and devoted wife of Nakulapita. And this unmarried and paused to rest while she held his is typical: such records exist but they are scattered head on her lap. He unhesitatingly brought her in through the and the Nikayas.¯ These, then, a procession with his army back to her home in have to be searched and carefully sifted in order to Savatthi, but it didn’t end there. That evening, a build up any reliable picture of the position held chariotwassentforher,andMallikawasbrought bylay-womenatthetimeandtheplacetowhich to the palace, presented with jewels, anointed, and this literature purports to refer.6 made the chief queen. “From that day forward she was the dear, pleasing, and dutiful wife of the To find Mallika, let alone cobble together her King … and beloved of the Buddhas.” Her good biography, requires the “sifting” I.B. Horner called fortune became the talk of the town, and even for, and some text-to-text jumping – premodern sparked conversation within the early sangha Buddhist “biographies” jump genres and become about the “virtue of the Buddhas” that made her attached to, and assumed into, new works. meteoric social rise possible. Mallika is a character caught in the Buddha’s What catches our own notice about Mallika, owncommunity,akarmicnetthatiscastand thepersonimaginedintheliterature,isthatshe recast with characters shuffling between roles and caught the Buddha’s attention, then the king’s recurringly related in birth after birth. Sometimes attention, and then the people’s (and sangha’s) Mallika’s present-day experiences are explained attention. At first glance, the fetching story of through a story of a past life of the Buddha, and a low-born woman rising when she attracts the sometimes they are explained by the Buddha, king appears to be typical, a commonly employed peering into her past lives. References to Mallika narrative hook. But her allure is not ultimately weave in and out of early stories, and that is how attributable to her singing, good looks, or charm- Mallika’s story begins: she makes an appearance ing personality; what is decisive is the force of in the frame story of the Kummasapinda Jataka merit that is earned by a donation to the Buddha. (415), where the Buddha himself provides details Fittingly, the jataka tale that is introduced by of her previous life. thisframestoryrevealsthatgiftsofbasic(even Mallika was the beautiful and good daughter unsalted) gruel to earlier Buddhas also resulted in of the chief garland maker in Savatthi. As a better births for the givers. The other effect of this 16-year-old, she once made her way to a gar- storyistointroducethequeenashavingaspecial denwithsomeofherfriends.Shecarriedthree placeintheBuddha’sowncircleofdevotees. portions of gruel in her basket, a biographical Her privileged position, even as a laywoman, is element that connects this story with others.7 aneffectoftheBuddha’sownposition,andthis Leaving town, she passed the Buddha on his way bond sets up more didactic encounters where her into town; he caught her eye, and she was moti- righteousness and loyalty to the Buddha are high- vated to offer him her gruel, which he accepted. lighted. To upasikas like Mallika, the profound, This pleased Mallika, who then dropped at his important truths are revealed about how future feet to pay respect, “rapt in joy” (pitim gahetva). destiny in samsara is connected to an individual’s This act prompted a smile from the Buddha; action in the here and now. asked about this marked reaction, he explained, Mallika was inspired to take refuge after she “Ananda, the fruit from this of gruel will directly asked the Buddha about the cause of be that this girl will on this very day become the differences she perceived in those around her: 16 Kristin Scheible how can one woman have it all, being beauti- lies, which will cause her rebirth in the Avici hell, ful, wealthy, and skillful, while another can be amongtheworstintheBuddhistcosmos. beautiful but poor and not skillful, and another Her attempt to assuage her husband aside, unattractive, wealthy, and skillful, and another Mallika was not always a complacent wife. At unattractive, poor, and not skillful? The Buddha least three heated arguments with her husband explained that traits perceived in this life are the provided opportunities for the Buddha to teach. result of actions in past lives; physical attributes In each, the Buddha intervenes as an effective are reflections of one’s moral cultivation through peacemaker. The frame story for the Sujata Jataka time. Beauty, wealth, and skillfulness are caused explains that, once, King Pasenadi was extraor- by lack of anger, generosity, and lack of envy in dinarily angry with Mallika, and completely past lives, whereas unattractiveness, poverty, and ignoredher.TheBuddhacametoknowofit,and unskillfulness are the result of past experiences of went to the palace on his alms rounds. Instead anger, stinginess, and envy. Mallika then deter- of accepting the alms from the king, he covered mined she would strive to be good to her subjects; his bowl and asked after Mallika. The king com- generous to the sangha, Brahmins, and poor; and plainedthatshewasspoiledbythenewprivileges not envious of others.8 She showed her great sheenjoyed.TheBuddhasimplyremindedhim generosity not only by giving regular alms but that it had been the king himself who had raised also by building a large, ebony-lined hall for the her to such a position, and that he should put sangha, which was used for religious discussions. up with the offense. He advised that they live in Although she may have strived for excellent peace together. When the sangha asked about behavior, there were a few instances when her it, the Buddha explained that this was not the behavior was less than exemplary. A story of firsttimehehadintercededintheirmarital an unintentional indiscretion, followed by a lie disputes – in a past life, when the future Mallika to cover it up from the scrutiny of the king, had been a fruit-seller’s daughter and had caught adds texture to her biography while it stands that king’s eye, the king had similarly raised her out as one of the strangest incidents in early upaschiefqueen.Onedaybackthensheupset Buddhist literature. The setting is the Queen in this king because she didn’t recognize the fruit in her bath, then: hisbowlasbeingthetypeshehadhawkedbefore becoming queen. That king – who would become [a dog] … sawthequeenbenddownand[it] Pasenadi in a future birth – also took offense at started to perform an indecent act with her. how prideful she had become and ordered her Though she took no active part, it was not a away from him. The then future Buddha had fitting thing. However, since there are none who intervened at that point, too, explaining the king’s reject such gratification, the queen endured the complicity in her change of status, thus enabling pleasure.9 the king to forgive her haughtiness as he had a hand in its creation.10 When the king confronted her about this “inde- Another time, the king was angry with Mallika; cent act,” she actively denied it. Even when the again he blamed her overweening pride, but this king pushed her to confess, after her misbehavior time the root of the argument was said to be in with her body and then in her speaking, she an offense of “conjugal rights,” where she felt refused and instead concocted a story about how ignored. The frame story is much like that in the images double themselves in the bath house and Sujata Jataka: Mallika does not appear for the deceive the viewer. She reported that the king almsgiving, the king complains about her, and himself had appeared in a compromising position the Buddha tells him to get over it, explaining when she looked upon him from the same van- through a previous life story. In this case, in tage point, and convinced him he had simply seen their past lives, the Buddha had been king Bhal- something that didn’t occur. Privately, of course, latiya, who had come upon two heavenly spirits sheknewshehadlied,andthroughofferings called kinnaras (the future Pasenadi and Mallika) to the Buddha she hoped to mitigate the conse- embracing emotionally. The kinnaras explained quences of her vile actions. The story concludes that, 697 years before, a storm-flooded river had with her thoughts on her indecent act and her separatedthemforjustonemiserablenight,and