UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The Dcvelopmcni of PrajG in Buddhism From Early Buddhism Io the Praj~iüpüran~irSystem: With Spccial Referencc to the SarvWivada Tradition Fa Qing A DISSERTATION SUBMIWED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES CALGARY. ALBERTA MARCI-I. 2001 O Fa Qing 2001 1,+ 1 ;~C~",d;brary Bibliolhéque nationale du Canada Ac uisitions and Acquisitions el ~ibqio~raphiiSetvices services bibliographiques The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Eibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loao, distribute or seii reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/füm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownershi~of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. ~eiiherthe droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial eximcts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract In the carly agamas and nikayas, projfiü is integrated with thc practice of iilo and sarnüdhi. Primarily. it is the tme undcrstanding of thc Four Noble Tmths. In Sanq%tivada. prujti<i is explained dong with itiüna. miand othcr tcchnical ternis rclated to the mental function of undcrstanding. In panicular, it is defincd as the discernent of dharma (dhornla-prai~icaya).In the contcxt of the spiritual reali7~tionof the Four Noble Tmths. it is also dcfincd as üküra (aspect or mode of mental comprehcnsion). Thus, compared IO the other Buddhist traditions-prcceding. contcmporaneous and subsequent-thc SarvStivada assigned the widest scope of meaning IO prajNü. Praj~iücomprises al1 kinds of ifiüna and dm~i(cxcepting the eye). In ternis of function and nature. it may bc pure or impure. correct or erroneous. Howcver. notably. the Peli abhidhamma tradition is in alignmcnt with the standpoini of the Early Buddhism in confining puritiü IO the positive aspects alone. Vasubandhu's criticisms conccming the Vibhqa werc answered by Sanghabhadra: in many cases these criticisms wcrc rejccted on the ground that Vasubandhu did not propcrly understand the Vibh.3. In the Early Buddhism (ai least as cvidenced by the agama lcxts). sanujtiorü is attributed IO the Buddha. For the SarvStivadins. sanujfkrü is thc Buddha's knowlcdge only. It was probably later on, that the Praj~,iopürun~itülitenturc came IO speak of three kinds of tinowledge (san~aj~iurü,n~ürgajdarü and san~ü~raj~iurü).and thcn attributed san~ujfiarüIO the ~Wvakasand pratyckabuddhas. In thc Praj~iüpüra~tiirüSürras, pruj~iüpüraniirüis a designaiion for the highcst purpon. In pncticing prajtiü. a practitioncr concentrates on obscrving everything as .. 111 SÜI~~U.Prujfiü in the highest sense or prujiiüpüruniifü is that which enables one to be not attached to anything. and to acccpt reality-just-as-it-is without conceptual bifurcation. This is a common theme in al1 Mahayana Buddhist siitns. Whercas pruj>i<i has various connotations in the Sarvastivada abhidharma. it is distinguished from prujCÜpürunlir8 in the Upadeia: Only buddhas and advanccd bodhisattvas possesspruj~üpüru»~ifü:arhats as well as pntyekabuddhas have only prujz. The notion of prujfiüpüruniirü in the Pruj17üpüraniirü Süirus and the Upadcia clearly rcpresents a furthcr stage ofdcvelopment in the notion of the perfect spiritual insight of a buddha. replacing the carlier notion of prujiiü as found in thc early sOtm and in the abhidharma. Acknowledgements The successful completion of this dissenation would no1 have bcen possible withoui the kind guidance. assistance and criticism of the following individuals and organizations. Vcn. Zhen Dun Mlli of Thailand. Ms. Chen lRii3h of Hong Kong, The Yin-shun Foundation. the Depanment of Religious Studies and Asian Studies Group of the University of Calgary. and the Vedanta Society of Calgary have been supponive financially. In panicular. 1 must herc record iny deep gniitiidc to the following Venerables for thcir spiritual encoungemeni and suppon: Chuan Yin {ffPfP, Sheng Yi 'Y! -, K. L. Dhammajoti .&fi. Hong Xun ZWJ.Wei Che 'iilihill. Shin-je i"&. 1 would like to thank Dr. A. W. Barber who in the early stages sewed as my interim supervisor. Dr. Ronald Neufeldt. Dr. Eliezcr Segal. and Dr. Wayne McCready in the department helped me through man. courses. 1 thank Dr. X. J. Yang and Ms. Toyo Kawamura. who taught and helped me to read Japanese texts. A special thanks goes to Ven. Dr. K. L. Dhammajoti, Postgnduate Institute for Pnli and Buddhist Studies. the University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka. for guiding me in ihe reading of abhidharma iexts. 1 am also gnteful to him for reading through the wholc thesis and offcring constructive criticism and suggestions. First and lasi. al1 praise and thanks are due to Dr. Leslie Kawamura. my supervisor, for guiding me in my research. His encoungemeni. suggestions. ideas; his compassion for accepting and understanding others; his warm personaliiy for caring for others: his scrupulous attitude for taking things scriously-al1 continuc ro have impact on me as a student of Buddhist Studies as well as a human bcing. v Table of Contents Approval Page ....................................................................................... ...ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 111 Acknowledgemcnts ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contenu ............................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... is Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... I 1. The Centrality of the Concept of Pnjiia in Buddhism .......................................... 1 2 . Scope. Mcihodology and che Sources of the Present Study.................................. 3 Chapter 2: The Deveiopment of Prajaa in Early Buddhism ...........................................10 1. Gcneral Comments .............................................................................................. 10 2 . PnjfiUpaiifia in Early Buddhism ........................................................................ II 2.1 Prujtü and Si!B ........................................................................................... II 2.2 Pruj~ïZis the Fulfillment of one's Pnctice ................................................. 13 13 PrujIü as the Spiritual Insight into the Four Noble Tniths ......................... 14 3 . Pnjfi3 in Theravada Abhidhamma ...................................................................... 16 4 . PrajiiZpararnitii.................................................................................................... 18 4.1 PrujIüpüraniirü and Püruniirüs in the Early Agamas and Nikaya ............. 20 4.2 Pürunrirüs in the Abhidharma Tradition ..................................................... 23 5 . ~anyat~~uiiiiaiain Early Buddhism and Abhidhanna ....................................... 15 5.1 ~iinyarürelates to Meditational Pnctice ..................................................... 27 5.2 ~i711~arüis Coterminous with Anirya .Dir!iklio and Anüfniu~i...................... 28 5.3 SN~iyatüand Nairüin?i.a ............................................................................... 29 5 .4 ~~tt~arüExplained as Dcpcndent Co-arising .............................................. 30 5.5 ~tï~iyarüand the Three Suniüdliis ................................................................ 31 5.6 ~i71iyarüExplained in Ekorrarügania and in the Pruj~iüpürantifüSiilras: Their Doctrin?l Identity .................................................................................................... 33 5.7 Sii~iyarüin the Sarvktivadin Abhidharma .................................................. 34 5.8 Sir~i,iut5 in Thcravadin Abhidamma ........................................................... 35 6 . Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 3: The Definition and Funciion of PrajMü ......................................................... 39 1. Descriptive Delinitions of Pnjil2 ........................................................................ 39 2 . The Functions of Pnjila ...................................................................................... 41 2.1 PrajMü as One of the Ten Universal Mental Concomitants (niahübhPmiku mirru) 4 1 2.2 PrujMü as the Means for Librntion ............................................................ 42 2.3 PrajMü as Abhidharma ................................................................................ 44 2 .4 Praj~iüin the Thiny-srven Factors of A\v&cning (bud1iipuksi.üdliornrü!1)47 2.5 PrujMü related to the Four Noble Tniths ..................................................... 49 2.6 Defiled PrujCÜ (kligo-praj~iü).................................................................... 50