THE TRIKAYA: A STUDY OF THE BUDDHOLOGY OF THE EARLY VIJNANAVADA SCHOOL OF INDIAN BUDDHISM by MERVIN VIGGO HANSON M.A., University of Saskatchewan, 1970 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Religious Studies We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA August 1980 (5)Mervin Viggo Hanson, 1980 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of RELIGIOUS STUDIES The University of British Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 Date August 1980 ABSTRACT This is a study of the trikaya (the so-called "three bodies of the Buddha") doctrine whereby the early Indian Vijnanavada Buddhists harmonized various beliefs about the Buddha. The most important twentieth-century studies are reviewed, but are found to contain no reliable interpretation of the early doctrine. Therefore, I have undertaken this study to clarify and interpret the trikaya. The main textual source is Asanga's Mahayanasamgraha, which contains the earliest systematic outline of the Vijfia.nava.da system. The Buddhological passages have first been translated (from Tibetan and Chinese) in light of the commentaries by Vasubandhu and Asvabhava. They have then been compared and arranged to expose the general structure of Asanga's trikaya. Why did Asanga introduce the trikaya when other integrative Buddhologies (especially the rupakaya/dharmakaya of the prajnaparamita) were already at hand? A comparison of his application.of the trikaya with the prajnaparamita treatment of similar concerns reveals that the former integrates one idea that the latter does not—that of the Buddhafield. The necessity to include this nascent doctrine appears to have been the main reason for the introduction of the trikaya. In the conclusion, the trikaya has been analyzed further to obtain an abstract Structuralist model exhibiting Asanga's Buddhology in terms accept• able to the non-believer. It is a useful framework within which to study the concept of Buddhahood itself, and its relation to other Vijnanavada dogma. It is also a convenient way to compare the results of modern "".investigations. This model, derived by an extension of Asanga's own search for the implicit pattern behind diverse scriptural statements about Buddhahood, is similar to those used by the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss. Therefore, various hypotheses were suggested by his writings. The model is a two-dimensional diagram which represents the encounter between Buddha (Svabhavikakaya—at the top) and Man (Prthagjana—at the bottom). They are, simultaneously, poles of a dialectical tension and uninhabited existential categories. The inhabited region in-.the middle of the diagram is composed of a continuum of three situations along the horizontal axis. Each contains three elements: Buddha, Aspirant and Environment. The actual encounters between Buddha and Aspirant occur in these situations. "They include that of the Neophyte in the world, for whom the Buddha is merely a message; the Sravaka who is approached by a Nirmanakaya ("historical Buddha") who teaches him by pain, and the Bodhisattva who approaches the Sambhogakaya (the god-like fi gure in a Buddhafield) who matures him through pleasure. In the course of these three, the aspirant undergoes "reorientation," i.e., moves up the vertical axis to become a Buddha who, in turn, reaches out to another aspirant. The remainder "of the Buddhological ideas from the text are placed within this diagram. Finally, the applicability of this model to other Buddhological questions is examined. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix LIST OF FIGURES x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi INTRODUCTION 1 •'!• NOTES k CHAPTER I. REVIEW OF SCHOLARSHIP 5 1. W. W. Rockhill, The Life of the Buddha (1907)- .... 5 2. H. Kern, "Sur 1'invocation d'une inscription bouddhique" (.1906) 6 3. L. de La Vallee Poussin, "The Three Bodies of a Buddha" (.1906) 8 k. D. T. Suzuki, Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism (1907) • • 10 5. M. P. Masson-Oursel, "Les trois corps du bouddha" (1913) 13 6. L. de La Vallee Poussin, "Note sur les corps du Bouddha" (.1913) 19 J. A. Coomaraswamy, Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism (1916) 2k 8. C. Akanuma, "Triple Body of the Buddha" (.1922) .... 25 9. L. de La Vallee Poussin, Vijnaptimatratasiddhi (1928-29) ..... 28 V CHAPTER PAGE 10. D. T. Suzuki, Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra (1932) . 32 11. Hobogirin 3^+ 12. A. K. Chatterjee, The Yogacara Idealism-(.19.62) ... 36 13. A. Matsunaga, The Buddhist Philosophy of Assimilation (1969) 38 1^. G. Parrinder, Avatar and Incarnation (1970) .... ^1 15. G. Nagao, "On the Theory of Buddha-Body" (.1973) ... ^3 SUMMARY OF SCHOLARSHIP k6 CONCLUSION 60 1. MAITREYA 62 2. ASANGA 63 3. VASUBANDHU 6k NOTES 67 II. THE TRIKAYA DOCTRINE IN THE MAHAYANASAMGRAHA 70 A. SOURCES 71 B. WHAT IS THE VIJNANAVADA? 73 C. VIJNANAVADA OF THE MAHAYANASAMGRAHA 80 D. A STUDY OF VIJNANAVADA BUDDHOLOGY IN THE MAHAYANASAMGRAHA 85 1. 11:33: THE TWENTY-ONE GUNAS OF THE BUDDHA . 87 a. The Noetic Abilities 92 b. The Effective Abilities 92 i. The Domain of the Buddha .... 93 ii. The Buddha-body 95 iii. The Buddha-mind 96 vi CHAPTER PAGE 2. THE DHARMAKAYA 98 a. Obtaining the Dharmakaya 98 i. Reorientation of the Alayavijnana . 98 ii. Obtaining the Dharmakaya: The Epistemic Explanation .... 100 — By Non-conceptual and Subsequent Awareness .... 101 — By the Five-Fold Practice . 105 — By Amassing the Accumulation of Equipment on All Bhumis . 107 — By the Vajropamasamadhi . 107 iii. The Dharmakaya as Reorientation of the Skandhas 108 b. The Dharmakaya — What Is It? .... 113 i. Characteristics Claksanas) of the Dharmakaya Ilk ii. X:7: The Buddhadharmas .... 125 iii. X:9-27: Gunas Associated with the Dharmakaya 128 c. The Dharmakaya as Seen by the Bodhisattva . 130 d. The Dharmakaya — A Summary 133 3. THE TRIKAYA llll a. A Unified Trikaya or Three Kayas? . iki b. Which Three Kayas? lk3 vii CHAPTER PAGE c. The Mrmanakaya: Buddha in the World . ihQ i. The Mrmanakaya: A Summary ... 156 d. The Sambhogakaya — Buddha in the Buddhafield 159 i. The Sambhogakaya — General . 159 ii. The Buddhafield l6k iii. Bodhisattvas — Residents of the Buddhafield 168 — Pleasure 171 — Reorientation 172 — Sovereignty 172 — Awareness (j nana or nirvikalpaj nana 175 — Pleasure and the Other .... 177 — Pleasure and the Bodhisattva's Maturation 178 e. The Three Kayas: Interrelationships . 180 i . Mrmanakaya and Sambhogakaya Compared 185 ii. The Trikaya and Classical Problems . 187 — One Buddha, or Many Buddhas? . 188 — Is the Buddha Mortal, or Immortal? 192 — Does the Buddha Remain in Nirvana, or Not? 196 viii CHAPTER PAGE — Conclusion 198 f. Why Three Kayas? 198 NOTES 200 III. CONCLUSION 216 A. CRITERIA FOR A MODEL 220 B. ELEMENTS OF THE MODEL 221 C. STRUCTURALISM 22*1 D. DEVELOPING THE MODEL 227 1. THE PRTHAGJANA 231 2. THE NEOPHYTE 232 3. THE SRAVAKA-NIRMANAKAYA ENCOUNTER .... 232 k. REORIENTATION 23k 5. THE SAMBHOGAKAYA-BODHISATTVA ENCOUNTER . 23h 6. THE SVABHAVIKAKAYA 235 7. THE FULL MODEL 236 8. THE MODEL APPLIED 2h0 a. Reorientation and Soteriological Progress 2^1 b. Svabhavikakaya, Dharmakaya, and Support for the Rupakayas 2^3 E. FINAL COMMENTS 2^7 NOTES 252 APPENDIX A: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SECONDARY SOURCES 25^ APPENDIX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SELECTED PRIMARY SOURCES ... 262 ix ABBREVIATIONS BEFEO Bulletin de l'Ecole Frangaise d'Extreme-Orient. Dk Dharmakaya JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society LC Lokesh Chandra, Tibetan Sanskrit Dictionary (New Delhi: International Academy for Indian Culture, i960) Mvy Mahavyutpatti and Index to Mahavyutpatti. Collegiate Series, no. 3, 3rd printing (Kichudo: Kyoto University, Dept. of Literature, 1965) Nk Nirmanakaya Sbk Sambhogakaya Svk Svabhavikakaya X LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1 223 2 229 3 231 h 238 5 2kh 6 2U8 xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank those who have helped prepare this dissertation, especially L. Hurvitz, my advisor, who has read it scrupulously at the last minute. His detailed suggestions have greatly eased the final writing. Many faculty and graduate students have contributed ideas and comments. Special thanks are due to Professor G. Nagao (Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University) and Alan Sponberg (Princeton). Professor Nagao's encouragement and advice has helped me to find, and keep to, a productive line of enquiry. Dr. Sponberg has patiently shared his knowledge of textual sources, and given valuable criticism. Professors Nicholls, Clifford, Kassis and Mosca have struggled mightily to administer the doctoral program and myself. As administrators can expect little appreciation short of the eschaton, may they all be granted that special corner office reserved for those who arrive with their files In Order. Mrs. Ruby Toren has displayed remarkable patience and co-operation through this difficult typing job. The quality of her work speaks for itself. I would also like to thank those whose extraordinary assistance has made my studies at UBC possible. First mention must go to Dr. S. Iida, whose many kindnesses in the first years, including his willingness to vouch for an inexperienced lecturer, opened the program to: me. All of us in the Buddhist program owe Dr. Iida an acknowledgement for his personal sponsorship of Professor'Nagao's 1976,visit. If Dr. K. Cissell had not spent a tremendous amount of her own time teaching me to read Buddhist Chinese, the Chinese texts would still be closed. Thank you, Kathy.