Under the reign of the Buddhist King Asoka,
reign c. 268—239 B.C., the first Buddhist missionaries left
I. Two of the ways Buddhism
changed as it expanded out of its homeland in the north of
A. Disputes in the samgha
generated a series of sectarian movements known as nikayas
B. Buddhist artists developed different ways of
representing the concept of the Buddha in visual form
C. Many of the early sectarian movements, like many of the
early Buddhist artistic styles, are now historical artifacts. We can study them
in museums or read about them in texts, but we cannot meet them on the street
D. One of the early sects, however, is still active – the
Theravada tradition
E. Asoka
proclaimed himself a “righteous
king” dhammaraja or protector of the dharma
conquest by dharma – dhammavijaya
Rock Edit XIII
Eight years after his coronation, King Devanampriya Priyadarshi conquered
Kalinga. One hundred and fifty thousand persons were
departed, one hundred thousand were killed, and many times that number
perished. Now that the Kalingas have been taken, Devanampriya is zealous in his study of Dharma. Devanampriya feels sorrow at having conquered the Kalingas …. Indeed, Devanampriya
wishes all beings to be safe, restrained, and even-keeled in the face of
violence. For Devanampriya considers the foremost
form of conquest to be Dharma-conquest
Another rock edict express Asoka’s policy to promote the dharma:
King Devanampriya Priyadarshi says: I have had banyan trees planted along the
roads to provide shade for beasts and people, and I
have had mango groves planted. And I have had wells dug and rest areas built every
mile, and here and there I have had watering holes made for the enjoyment of
beasts and humans. . . Of course, previous kings as well have sought to please
the people with such facilities, but I am doing this so that people may follow
the path of Dharma.
King Asoka sent out missionaries to spread the Buddha’s teaching, and his actions have served as a model for
“righteous kings” throughout the Buddhist world.
A righteous king protects and promulgates the dharma
In return, the king is recognized as “legitimated” by the
religious authority of the monks
In some situations, the king disciplines and reforms the samgha to make sure that it adheres to proper discipline
and does not interfere in the affairs of the state
Asoka himself set an example for
the control and discipline of the samgha when he
said:
Any monk or nun who causes a schism in the Samgha will have to wear the white robes of a layperson and
will no longer e able to dwell in a monastic residence. This order should be
made known to both the community of monks and the community of nuns…and a copy
of this edict shall be given to the laity.
Near the beginning of
the common era, a movement appeared that called itself
the Mahayana, or “Great Vehicle,” in contrast to the Hinayana,
or “Lesser Vehicle.” The word “Hinayana” was used to
refer to previous Buddhist traditions. While Mahayana texts trace their origin
to the Buddha himself, the actual origin of Mahayana remains a mystery. There
is no mystery, however, about the fundamental teaching of the Mahayana.
Mahayana texts promote the ideal of the bodhisattva, or “future Buddha” who
does not attempt to achieve nirvana as an individual goal but vows to return
again and again in the cycle of samsara to seek the
welfare of others.
I. The Mahayana emerged
as a reform movement in the Indian Buddhist community around the beginning of
the common era.
A. Eventually the Mahayana spread to
B. The name “Mahayana” comes from the literature of the
movement itself
1. Mahayana texts refer to themselves as a “Great
Vehicle,” in contrast to the Hinayana, or “lesser
Vehicle,” that preceded them.
2. An important source of this contrast is the
parable of the burning house in the Lotus sutra.
II. Indian legends
trace the origin of the Mahayana to a “Second Turning of the Wheel of the
Dharma” on the
A. claims to be the teaching of the Buddha himself,
delivered to a special assembly of bodhisattvas from which other Buddhist
practitioners were excluded.
B. tradition says that the Mahayana was concealed from
several centuries until the world was ready to receive it, then the sutras of
the Mahayana were brought forth and promulgated across
C. Scholars are uncertain about the actual origin of the
Mahayana
1. There are suggestions in later Mahayana
tradition that practitioners fasted and meditated to receive visions and
revelations from great Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Perhaps some of the early texts of the Mahayana also came in this way, although
this could not be true of some of the more elaborate literary sutras
2. Some scholars have suggested that the Mahayana
arose in circles of lay people who were worshipers of particular stupas. This view has now been discredited. It seems clear
that the Mahayana had a strong monastic component for the very beginning
III. The bodhisattva
ideal is one of the Mahayana tradition’s most important innovations
A. A bodhisattva is a “Buddha-to-be” or “future Buddha” who
does not attempt to go straight to nirvana but returns to this world to help
others along the path
1. The bodhisattva ideal
includes laymen and laywomen, as well as monks and nuns
2. The bodhisattva cultivates two important
virtues: the wisdom (prajna) that leads to nirvana
and the compassion (karuna) that serves the interests
of other sentient beings
3. The bodhisattva path
can be represented as a two-way street or as a circle leading toward nirvana,
then returning to the world of samsara
B. The bodhisattva ideal is contrasted to the arhant ideal in which a man or woman attempts to achieve
nirvana for himself or herself by leaving the world of samsara
behind
C. Some people say that a bodhisattva renounces nirvana in
order to lead all other beings to nirvana
1. this is not strictly
accurate
2. a bodhisattva aspires
to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of all other
beings
3. eventually, even bodhisattvas become Buddhas when their aspirations have reached fruition and
their practice of the path is complete
D. The bodhisattvas described in Mahayana literature are
often human beings life ourselves – people who are
engaged in the world
1. Vimalakirti was a
wise layperson
2. Queen Shrimala
3. Sudhana
E. such worldly figures had a radical effect on the spread
of Buddhism, which was no longer seen as a philosophy based on monasticism but
now had direct appeal for lay people
F. In classical Mahayana
literature, the most important conceptual expression of the bodhisattva path is
the “mind of awakening,” in bodhicitta
1. the “mind of
awakening” is a combination of wisdom and compassion
2. it is expressed in the
form of an aspiration “May I achieve Buddhahood for
the sake of all other beings!”
3. It also can be viewed as the nature of one’s
own mind
G. Formal accounts of the bodhisattva path are divided into
a series of stages
1. one account of the
path divides it into six perfections (paramita);
generosity, moral conduct, patience, courage, mental concentration, and wisdom
2. Another account divides the path into ten
stages (bhumi), but these are not radically different
for the path of six perfections
Celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
Along with the human
beings who aspired to the bodhisattva ideal are an array of heavenly beings
called “celestial” Buddhas and bodhisattvas, who had
accumulated the wisdom and compassion to save living beings who turned to them
for help. Among the many important celestial bodhisattvas is Avalokiteshvara,
the “Lord Who Looks Down” with compassion. In
I. Advanced
practitioners of the bodhisattva path achieve extraordinary, superhuman powers
A. These powers make it possible for them to reside in the
heavens and to function as the Buddhist equivalents of Hindu gods
B. Buddhists insist that the bodhisattvas have gone far
beyond Hindu gods in power and in the understanding of reality
C Celestial bodhisattvas and Buddhas
are the focus of devotion throughout the Mahayana world
II One of the most
important celestial bodhisattvas in
A. Avalokiteshvara is the great bodhisattva of compassion
1. in the Lotus sutra he
is described as a protean deity who takes any form that is appropriate to save
the person who calls his name
2. devotees of
Avalokiteshvara invoke his compassion by chanting the mantra “om mani padme
hum”
3. This mantra is sometimes translated, “Ah, the
jewel in the lotus,” where om is the sacred syllable
of the Vedas and hum a sound that conveys power. As a mantra, however, the power
of this phrase resides in the syllables themselves rather than in their meaning
4. In India and Tibet,
Avalokiteshvara was associated with Tara (“the Protectress”)
who is the female manifestation of his compassion
B. In Tibet, under the name Chenrezig, Avalokiteshvara is thought to be the patron
deity of the Tibetan nation, taking form as the monkey who was the progenitor
of the Tibetan people and also a succession of Dalai Lamas
C. In China, Avalokiteshvara was
known as Kuan-yin (“one who hears sounds”)
III. Maitreya is
venerated widely as the Buddha of the future
A. Maitreya is thought to be present in a Buddhist heaven
know as Tushita (“Pleasurable”).
B. Devotees of Maitreya not only invoke his aid, but, in
some traditions, make a visual ascent to Maitreya’s
heaven to see him face to face
C. Hsuan-tsang visited
D. A popular and well-known image
of Maitreya as Hotei, the fat, laughing Buddha of
Chinese tradition
IV. Manjushri
(“charming splendor”) is the bodhisattva of wisdom and the patron deity of
scholars
A. in his right hand, he carries the sword of wisdom
B. in the left hand he carries a coy of the Mahayana sutra
called the “Perfection of Wisdom”
C. Manjushri is the Buddhist counterpart of the popular
Hindu goddess Sarasvati
V. When he was still a
bodhisattva the Buddha Amitabha vowed that when he became a Buddha, he would
create a
A. Amitabha’s vow stipulated that
anyone who chanted his name with faith, especially at the moment of death,
would be reborn in this land
1. In Sanskrit, the chant
is “Namo Mitabhaya Buddhaya” (Homage to Amitabha Buddha)
2. Like the invocation of
Avalokiteshvara’s name, this practice was a
deliberate attempt to open the possibility of salvation to anyone who
approached the deity with sincere faith
B. Devotion to Amitabha Buddha (often known as
1. The
2. It is represented in
C. The practice of
1. How could a tradition that placed so much
emphasis on self-reliance be transformed into a tradition of reliance on a
celestial or otherworldly savior?
2. It is felt that the tradition is a natural
outgrowth of the bodhisattva’s compassion. In the Mahayana, it is important to
act with compassion and to receive the compassion of others
3. The passage to enlightenment has been stretched
out over many lifetimes as a bodhisattva returns to earthly life many times to
help others
4. The length of the bodhisattva path puts more
emphasis on the virtues that help a person get started on the way to awakening.
It is less important to have perfect wisdom (that can come later), than to
develop the faith that begins the path
5. It is also important to receive gratefully the
compassion of others
6. These changes of emphasis make possible a view
of salvation that is different from anything seen before in Buddhism