Part I Foundations of the Triple Gem: Buddha/S, Dharma/S, And
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2 A Oneworld Book First published by Oneworld Publications, 2015 This eBook edition published 2015 Copyright © John S. Strong 2015 The moral right of John S. Strong to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved Copyright under Berne Convention A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78074-505-3 ISBN 978-1-78074-506-0 (eBook) Typesetting and eBook by Tetragon, London Oneworld Publications 10 Bloomsbury Street London WC1B 3SR England 3 Contents List of Tables List of Figures Preface Schemes and Themes Technicalities Note on abbreviations Chapter 1 Introduction: Lumbinī, a Buddhist World Exposition 1.1 Theravāda and Mahāyāna 1.2 Lumbinī’s Eastern Monastic Zone: South and Southeast Asian Traditions 1.2.1 The Mahā Bodhi Society 1.2.2 The Sri Lanka Monastery 1.2.3 The Gautamī Center for Nuns 1.2.4 Myanmar (Burma) 1.2.5 Meditation Centers 1.3 Lumbinī’s Western Monastic Zone: East Asian Traditions 1.3.1 China 1.3.2 Korea 1.3.3 Japan 1.3.4 Vietnam 4 1.4 Lumbinī’s Western Monastic Zone: Tibetan Vajrayāna Traditions 1.4.1 The Great Lotus Stūpa 1.4.2 The Lumbinī Udyana Mahachaitya Part I: Foundations of the Triple Gem: Buddha/s, Dharma/s, and Saṃgha/s Chapter 2 Śākyamuni, Lives and Legends 2.1 The Historical Buddha 2.2 The Buddha’s World 2.3 The Buddha of Story 2.4 Past Buddhas and the Biographical Blueprint 2.5 The Start of Śākyamuni’s Career 2.6 Previous Lives (Jātakas) 2.6.1 The Donkey in the Lion’s Skin 2.6.2 Vessantara Jātaka 2.6.3 The Tigress Jātaka 2.7 A Lifestory of Śākyamuni 2.7.1 Birth and Childhood 2.7.2 Life in the Palace 2.7.3 The Beginnings of Discontent 2.7.4 The Great Departure 2.7.5 Paths Not Taken 2.7.6 Awakening 2.7.7 After Enlightenment 2.7.8 The First Sermon 5 2.7.9 Various Conversions and Miracles 2.7.10 Death and Parinirvāṇa Chapter 3 Overcoming the Buddha’s Absence 3.1 Seeing the Buddha in the Dharma 3.1.1 Excursus on the Buddhist Canon/s 3.2 Places of Pilgrimage 3.3 Relics 3.4 Buddha Images 3.5 The Masters of the Dharma 3.6 The Arhat Dharma-Protectors 3.7 Meeting Maitreya Chapter 4 Some Permutations of the Middle Way 4.1 The Middle Way 4.2 Karma and Saṃsāra 4.2.1 Why Do Good Deeds? 4.2.2 Contexts of Karma I: Neither Free Will nor Determinism 4.2.3 Contexts of Karma II: Both Jain and Upaniṣadic Views 4.3 The Doctrine of Non-Self (Anātman) 4.3.1 Breaking Down the False Sense of Self: the Five Aggregates and Impermanence 4.3.2 The Elements (Dharmas) 4.3.3 Countering the Breakdown of Self: Personal Continuity 4.3.4 Explications of Continuity: Pseudo-Selves and Ersatz Ātmans 6 4.4 Summary Chapter 5 The Four Truths 5.1 The First Truth: Stress 5.2 The Second Truth: the Continual Arising of Stress and Interdependent Origination 5.2.1 The Double Bind of Saṃsāra 5.3 The Third Truth: the Cessation of Stress – Nirvāṇa 5.4 The Fourth Truth: the Path to the Cessation of Stress 5.4.1 Moral Discipline 5.4.2 Meditation 5.4.3 Wisdom 5.5 Other Systematizations of the Path 5.5.1 The Seven Factors Conducive to Enlightenment 5.5.2 The Graduated Training 5.5.3 The Four Divine Abidings 5.5.4 The Four Fruits of the Path 5.6 Summary Chapter 6 The Establishment and Character of the Early Buddhist Community 6.1 Monastic–Lay Interactions 6.1.1 Dāna (Giving) and Other Forms of Making Merit 6.1.2 Lay Ethics 6.1.3 Magical Protection 6.1.4 Laypersons and the Monastic Rules 7 6.1.5 Royal Supporters 6.1.6 King Aśoka 6.2 The Monastics: Wandering and Settling 6.2.1 Monastic Lifestyles 6.2.2 Monasteries 6.3 Mahāprajāpatī and the Establishment of the Order of Nuns 6.4 Common Moral Commitments 6.5 Initiation Rituals: Wandering Forth and Ordination 6.6 Monastic Rules 6.6.1 The Elaboration of the Disciplinary Code 6.6.2 Enforcement of the Rules: Prātimokṣa Recitation and Pravāraṇa 6.7 Some Exemplary Disciples of the Buddha 6.7.1 Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana 6.7.2 Paṭācārā 6.7.3 The Laypersons Nakulapitṛ and Nakulamātṛ 6.7.4 Viśākhā, Preeminent Laywoman 6.8 Summary Chapter 7 Visions and Divisions of the Saṃgha 7.1 Council Stories 7.1.1 The Council at Rājagṛha 7.1.2 Vinaya Disputes: the Council of Vaiśālī 7.1.3 The Councils of Pāṭaliputra 7.1.4 Other Council Traditions 8 7.2 The Flowering of Mainstream Factionalism 7.3 Other Divisional Issues 7.3.1 Practice vs. Study 7.3.2 Meditators and Merit Makers 7.3.3 Forest Monks and Town Monks 7.3.4 The Question of Asceticism 7.3.5 The Question of Bon-Vivant Monks 7.3.6 Sect vs. Sect 7.4 The Origins of the Mahāyāna 7.5 Proliferation of Mahāyāna Schools 7.5.1 Mahāyāna Schools in India 7.5.2 Mahāyāna Schools in China 7.5.3 Mahāyāna Schools in Japan 7.5.4 Mahāyāna Schools in Tibet 7.6 Summary Part II: Further Elaborations of the Triple Gem Chapter 8 Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Ways of Meeting the Buddha/s 8.1 Changes in the View of the Buddha: the Lotus Sūtra and Śākyamuni’s Lifespan 8.2 Three Bodies of the Buddha/s 8.3 Meeting the Buddha/s in Their Pure Lands 8.3.1 Akṣobhya 8.3.2 Bhaiṣajyaguru 8.4 Amitābha 8.4.1 Meeting Amitābha through Visualization 9 8.4.2 Rebirth in the Pure Land 8.5 Meeting the Buddha in the Great Bodhisattvas 8.5.1 Avalokiteśvara 8.5.2 Other Great Bodhisattvas 8.6 Meeting the Buddha/s in the Vajrayāna 8.6.1 Maṇḍalas and the Five Tathāgatas 8.6.2 Ritual Consecration (Abhiṣeka) 8.6.3 Merging with the Buddha 8.6.4 Visions: Meeting the Buddha/s in Bardo 8.6.5 Buddha Embodiments in This World: Gurus and Tülkus 8.7 Summary Chapter 9 Māhāyana Doctrinal Developments 9.1 Emptiness: the Selflessness of Dharmas 9.2 Nāgārjuna and the Madhyamaka 9.3 The Expansion of Provisional Truth: Expedient Means (Upāya) 9.4 Tiantai Doctrines 9.5 The Ongoing Dialectic: the Yogācāra School 9.5.1 Asanga and Vasubandhu and the Development of the School 9.5.2 Yogācāra Doctrines 9.6 Avataṃsaka Doctrines 9.6.1 Applications of Interpenetration 9.7 The Buddha Womb/Embryo (Tathāgatagarbha) Teachings 10 9.7.1 Resurgence of the True Self 9.8 Buddha-Nature Controversies 9.8.1 Limitations to the Buddha-Nature: the Icchantika Debate 9.8.2 The End of the Dharma 9.8.3 Expansions of the Buddha-Nature Doctrine 9.9 Summary Chapter 10 The Bodhisattva Path, Tantra, and Zen 10.1 The Bodhisattva Path 10.2 Sudden and Gradual 10.2.1 Disagreements over the Nature of the Path: the Debate at Samyé 10.2.2 Disagreements over the Nature of Enlightenment 10.3 Graduated Paths 10.3.1 Compassion and Bodhicitta 10.3.2 The Stages of the Path, the Perfections, the Five Paths 10.3.3 Routinization and Ritualization 10.4 Path Shortcuts 10.5 Tantra 10.5.1 Uniting the Poles 10.5.2 Tantric Physiology 10.5.3 Mahāmūdra and Dzokchen (Rdzogs chen) 10.6 Direct Experiences: Chan/Zen 10.6.1 Kōans 10.6.2 Critical Phrases (Huatou) 11 10.7 Summary Chapter 11 Saṃgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Thai Buddhism/s 11.1 Buddhism in Thailand 11.2 Thai Monastic Life: Temporary Ordination 11.2.1 Life as a Novice 11.2.2 Experiences as a Monk 11.3 The Lives of Two Charismatic Thai Monks 11.3.1 Acharn Mun 11.3.2 Khruba Siwichai 11.4 The End of the Rains-Retreat in a Northern Thai Village 11.5 A Thai Temple in Wimbledon, England Chapter 12 Saṃgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Japanese Buddhism/s 12.1 The Hexagonal Hall (Rokkakudō) 12.1.1 Prince Shōtoku 12.1.2 Shinran 12.1.3 Kannon, Jizō, and Fudō 12.2 The Ritual Year at Shinnyodō 12.2.1 New Year’s 12.2.2 Ḍākinī and the Recitation of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra 12.2.3 Main Hall Rituals 12.2.4 Goma 12 12.2.5 The Killing Stone 12.3 The Ryōanji Rock Garden 12.4 The Buddha’s Birthday at the Morgan Bay Zendō 12.5 The Japan Temple in Lumbinī 12.6 Conclusion Chapter 13 Saṃgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Tibetan Buddhism/s 13.1 Lhasa Jokhang 13.1.1 Pinning Down the Demoness 13.1.2 Flood Control 13.1.3 Grand Prostrations 10.1.4 The Great Prayer Festival 13.2 The Potala and the Dalai Lamas 13.2.1 Finding a New Dalai Lama 13.3 Scholars and Mad Saints 13.3.1 Drepung Monastery and Monastic Studies 13.3.2 Mad Monks: the Case of Tangtong Gyalpo 13.4 Samding: Female Incarnations and a Contemporary Buddhist 13.5 A Tibetan Dharma Center in Vermont, U.S.A.