THE CONCEPT OF THE BUDDHA This book presents an analysis of one of the fundamental Mahayana Buddhist teachings, namely the three bodies of the Buddha (the trikAya theory), which is considered the foundation of Mahayana philosophy. The author traces the development of the concept of the Buddha from the historical human teacher in early Buddhism to the philosophical concept of three bodies, par- ticularly the saNbhogakAya, which is the Buddha endowed with supernatural attributes and qualities. The author’s translations from early and middle Mahayana sEtras and XAstras make newly accessible a wealth of material. This work is an outstanding research text for students and scholars of Mahayana Buddhism and anyone interested in Buddhist philosophy. Guang Xing obtained his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London, in 2003. He is a research assistant professor at the Centre of Buddhist Studies, the University of Hong Kong. His research interests are Chinese and Mahayana Buddhist studies, particularly the origin of Mahayana. i ROUTLEDGECURZON CRITICAL STUDIES IN BUDDHISM General Editors: Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown RoutledgeCurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism is a comprehensive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety of perspectives, using a range of different methodologies. The series is diverse in its focus, including historical studies, textual translations and commentaries, sociological investigations, bibliographic studies, and considerations of religious practice as an expression of Buddhism’s integral religiosity. It also presents materials on modern intellectual his- torical studies, including the role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research works that inform and advance our knowledge and understanding of the Buddhist tradition. THE REFLEXIVE NATURE OF TEACHING BUDDHISM IN THE WEST AWARENESS Edited by V. S. Hori, R. P. Hayes Paul Williams and J. M. Shields ALTRUISM AND REALITY EMPTY VISION Paul Williams David L. McMahan BUDDHISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS SELF, REALITY AND REASON IN Edited by Damien Keown, Charles TIBETAN PHILOSOPHY Prebish and Wayne Husted Thupten Jinpa WOMEN IN THE FOOTSTEPS IN DEFENSE OF DHARMA OF THE BUDDHA Tessa J. Bartholomeusz Kathryn R. Blackstone BUDDHIST PHENOMENOLOGY THE RESONANCE OF EMPTINESS Dan Lusthaus Gay Watson RELIGIOUS MOTIVATION AND THE AMERICAN BUDDHISM ORIGINS OF BUDDHISM Edited by Duncan Ryuken Williams and Torkel Brekke Christopher Queen DEVELOPMENTS IN AUSTRALIAN IMAGING WISDOM BUDDHISM Jacob N. Kinnard Michelle Spuler PAIN AND ITS ENDING ZEN WAR STORIES Carol S. Anderson Brian Victoria EMPTINESS APPRAISED THE BUDDHIST UNCONSCIOUS David F. Burton William S. Waldron THE SOUND OF LIBERATING TRUTH INDIAN BUDDHIST THEORIES OF Edited by Sallie B. King and Paul O. Ingram PERSONS BUDDHIST THEOLOGY James Duerlinger Edited by Roger R. Jackson and ACTION DHARMA John J. Makransky Edited by Christopher Queen, Charles THE GLORIOUS DEEDS OF PURNA Prebish and Damien Keown Joel Tatelman TIBETAN AND ZEN BUDDHISM IN EARLY BUDDHISM – A NEW APPROACH BRITAIN Sue Hamilton David N. Kay CONTEMPORARY BUDDHIST ETHICS THE CONCEPT OF THE BUDDHA Edited by Damien Keown Guang Xing INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST WOMEN Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo ii THE CONCEPT OF THE BUDDHA Its evolution from early Buddhism to the trikAya theory Guang Xing iii First published 2005 by RoutledgeCurzon 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeCurzon 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “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.” RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2005 Guang Xing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized 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 A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-41310-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-67153-8 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–33344–X (Print Edition) iv This book is dedicated to all the teachers who have helped and guided me, and to Po Lin Monastery, which has generously supported me in my studies v vi CONTENTS Acknowledgements x Abbreviations xi Glossary xiii Introduction 1 The purpose of the research 1 The method of the research 3 1 The concept of the Buddha in early Buddhism 7 The human Buddha 7 The superhuman Buddha 13 2 The concept of the Buddha in the early Indian Buddhist Schools (I) The Sarv¡stiv¡da 19 The two-body theory 19 The repakaya 23 The dharmakaya 35 Other attributes of the Buddha 44 The time needed to become a Buddha 45 Universal virtues common to all Buddhas and differences between them 48 Taking refuge in the Buddha 49 The differences between Buddhas, pratyekabuddhas and xravakas 50 3 The concept of the Buddha in the early Indian Buddhist schools (II) The Mah¡s¡§ghika and other schools 53 The MahAsANghikas 53 Other early Buddhist schools 66 vii CONTENTS 4 The origin and development of the dharmak1ya 69 The origin of the dharmakaya 69 The MahAyAna development of the dharmakaya concept 75 The identification of the Tathagata with tathatA 75 The dharmakAya as the cosmic body 80 The development of the dharmakAya in the Avatansaka 82 The dharmakAya bodhisattvas 86 The dharmakAya as tathAgatagarbha 87 The dharmakAya as mahAparinirvAOa88 The dharmakAya as non-duality 94 The dharmakAya as the transformation of support 96 5 The origin and development of the Sa4bhogak1ya 101 Introduction 101 The debate between the SarvAstivAda and MahAsANghika schools on the physical body of the Buddha 104 The Buddha’s bad karma 106 The problem of the Buddha’s short life-span 119 The concept of the Buddha in the MPPW 124 A solution to the complex problem of the physical body of the Buddha 129 The development of the sanbhogakaya 133 6 The origin and development of the nirm15ak1ya 136 The origin of the nirmaoakaya 136 The development of the nirmaoakaya 139 7 The attributes of the Buddha and other Buddhas in early and middle Mah¡y¡na s2tras 147 The light of the Buddha 147 The retinue of the Buddha 154 The twenty-one qualities of the Buddha 156 The ten Buddhas and ten Buddha bodies 159 A model for the trikaya theory 163 Other Buddhas and their lands 165 The classification of Buddha lands 171 AmitAbha and AkQobhya as nirmaoakayas 174 viii CONTENTS Conclusion: The five basic stages in the development of the concept of the Buddha 179 Appendix: Chronology of Chinese translation of Mahayana sEtras and XAstras 182 Notes 187 Select bibliography 233 Index 247 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is a revised version of my Ph.D. dissertation. I am most deeply indebted to many people who have advised, assisted and supported me in the process of writing and revising it. First and foremost, I am very grateful to Professor Tadeusz Skorupski and Professor Timothy Barrett, for their guidance and the numerous improvements they made to my work. I am also indebted to Professor Brian Bocking, Professor Paul Harrison and Dr K. Anuruddha, my friends Dr Jing Yin, Dr Simu W. D. Kim and Dr Yao Zhihua, for their valuable suggestions and critical analysis which helped me to formulate my ideas for this book. My special thanks also go to Professor Damien Keown, Dr Andrew Skilton and Professor John Makransky for their critical suggestions and responses when I revised it. I must express my special gratitude to Mr Zhao Puchu for his continuous support and encour- agement which have sustained me through my years of study at SOAS. Dr Toshiichi Endo and Mr Pathompong Bodhiprasiddhinand kindly furnished me with many useful books and articles for my references and Ms Francesca Tarocco helped me with some French passages. The free CDs of the Taisho Tripiraka provided by the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association in Taiwan were very useful in my research. To all of them I am most thankful. My thanks also go to Ms Ho Wai Yee and Ms Jan Nicol for their tireless efforts in reading all my draft chapters, Mr Gianpaolo Vetturini, Ven. Weizhong and Dr Sun Shuyun for proofreading the final work and Ms Wu Xiujne for preparing the index. Thanks are also due to Mr and Mrs Wong Guotian, Mr and Mrs Li Guocheng, Mr and Mrs Hongyun Mok, Ken and Anita Hudson, Tu Jian and Li Yiren, to mention but a few, who have helped me in various ways. Thanks also go to the Buddhist Studies Review and the World Hongming Philosophical Quarterly for their permission to reprint papers published in their journals. My studies at SOAS were made possible by the scholarship generously offered by Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong, which also agreed to support me financially so that I could complete my thesis after my three-year scholar- ship. In the final year of my study, I also received a Sutasoma scholarship to revise my thesis. x ABBREVIATIONS * Indication of a reconstructed Sanskrit title from an ancient Chinese translation of Buddhist text whenever the original Sanskrit is lost. A AVguttaranikAya AQRaAQRasAhasrikA PrajñApAramitAsEtra attrib. attributed to AvataNsaka BuddhAvataNsaka-mahAvaipulya-sEtra Before Common Era Common Era D DCghanikAya Dhp.