Indian Buddhism

Stand-alone self-compassion or mindful self-compassion, presented independently from the cultivation of other-oriented compassion, has recently emerged as a specific field of secular training and research. Its purported Buddhist background has so far received limited attention in academic scholarship. This article surveys Buddhist precedents—or lack thereof—to the contemporary emergence of this notion. In view of the yet to be established presence of an altruistic component as a psychological corollary of self-compassion, an analysis of the Buddhist sources may offer insights relevant for facilitating future research on the self-other relationship in self-kindness (or self-benevolence) and self-compassion constructs and on altruistic aspects as correlates of self-compassion.

This spreadsheet compares the three teachings, in the way I believe the Buddha instructed monks to do in Council in DN 29, for the purpose of keeping the teaching pure. 

Link to the document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tDOczWwmLYPmhJPYK2HL8lIojaN4CQDrDYQEoD4M904/edit?usp=sharing

This essay examines how nikāya traditions and early Mahāyānists understood the bodhisattva path. It makes the point that these traditions shared the understanding that it is only possible to enter the path in the presence of a living Buddha and that it is thus impossible for any person now living to do so. It argues that while Buddhists following nikāya traditions found a few ways to work around this problem, the authors of early Mahāyāna sūtras established a coherent bodhisattva tradition by using a bold approach to attribute bodhisattva status to their followers.

Because it is very helpful for the journal that published this paper to get "clicks", please click the following link: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/716425.

INTRODUCTION: GANDHĀRA AND MAHAYANA BUDDHISM 2 For an evaluation of the inscriptional material, see Schopen 1979 (reprinted in Schopen 2005 [pp. 223-44]). See also Schopen's response to the recent discussion in Schopen 2005, pp. 244-46. 3 Only in very rare cases is it possible to get access to a text in the form of a contemporary manuscript, e.g., in the case of the recently published Kuṣāṇa-period manuscript of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā from the Schøyen Collection (Sander 2000). 4 For the history and criticism of this so-called "Gāndhārī hypothesis,"

This dissertation deals with the Buddhist dhāraṇī, mainly understood as the term selected by Indian Buddhism to assimilate the non-Buddhist notion of mantra. In the Introduction the two major categories of dhāraṇīs are defined, i.e., the ‘formulaic’
and ‘syllabic’ dhāraṇīs. In Chapter 1 the two sources for the emergence of dhāraṇīs are studied: the non-Buddhist source being focused on the non-Vedic, Vedic and Śaiva Tantric factors, and the Buddhist one being focused on several mainstream Buddhist and Mahāyāna factors. It continues with a study on the Dhāraṇī Scriptures’ emergence and their inclusion within Vajrayāna Tantras. Chapter 2 provides a detailed summary
on the traditional definitions of the dhāraṇī term, its synonyms, compound terms, and its pairing with other Dharma qualities. It is followed by a survey on how the dhāraṇī term is defined and classified according to key Indian Mahāyāna Sūtras and Śāstras,
and the Indo-Tibetan and East Asian Vajrayāna traditions. Chapter 3 is focused on the dhāraṇī practice, first dealing with its ethical basis, its non-ritual and ritual approaches, and its mundane and supramundane accomplishments, and then the main dhāraṇī practices are analysed intended for worldly and soteriological purposes. The dissertation closes with five Appendices including a study on a set of early Vedic mantras appearing within the Buddhist dhāraṇīs, an analysis of the ‘formulaic’ and ‘syllabic’ dhāraṇīs, a survey on mantras/dhāraṇīs accepted by several mainstream Buddhist schools, and another one on mantras/dhāraṇīs within Mahāyāna Scriptures,
and finally, a ‘References’ list providing a comprehensive and updated bibliography in several Western languages mainly focused on Buddhist mantras/dhāraṇīs.

The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and doctrinal differences in style, changes in form from harsh treatment and altered mountings all complicate the issue. 2008

This study explores self-referential passages in Mahāyāna sutra literature. It argues that these passages serve to mediate a reader or listener's approach to a text in much the same manner as paratexts mediate one's approach to a text through external or adjacent devices such as commentaries; these passages, rather than being paratextual and outside of a text, are rather within the body of the text itself. This study explicates the types of self-referential passages in Mahāyāna literature, including encouragement to practice and propagate the text; turning it into a book; preserving the text; statements regarding the text's benefits; identification of the text with other qualities or principles; the qualifications required for obtaining the text; and passages for the entrustment of the text. After noting the relative absence of such passages outside of Mahāyāna literature, it is argued that such passages reveal that for some of the adherents of the disparate early Mahāyāna, textuality was a medium of unprecedented value and utility in promoting novel texts and doctrines.

Mahāyāna  streams of Buddhism have had a profound impact on the shape of Buddhist formations in India, throughout Asia, and beyond. This course will examine, in a selected survey format, the classification, cultural formations, literature, and systematic thought of Mahāyāna doctrines and practices utilizing a range of interdisciplinary methods and
approaches. The course focuses on the problems of classification and definition; the “new metaphysics” of emptiness; controversies in the conception of Buddhahood; the centrality of compassion; visualization and other meditation techniques; the role of faith and the practices of lay people; and the development of the bodhisattva ideal.

The nature of the Vedic gandharvas, and their female counterparts, the apsarases, has been the subject of much controversy. The present study explores the gandharva’s nature not only as a genius of fertility and procreation, but also as a lusty, potentially harmful spirit with a taste for mortal women – even married ones. The gandharva’s (in post-RV texts usually in plural) desire for women sometimes expresses itself in his taking possession of mortal females; thus explaining text-passages where gandharvas are said to cause mental illness. This possession could however have positive aspects, as the gandharva could speak through the possessed woman and leave oracular answers on questions of esoteric and ritualistic matters. This belief, it will be argued, shows affinities to possession cults around the world, where the role as possessed oracle is often played by girls or women.  In mythology, the gandharvas and apsarases are frequently depicted as youthful, good-looking, and fond of games and sports, music and dancing, and erotic activities. A case will be made for a connection between these beings and the adolescent period of life in Vedic society. In the domestic ritual, offerings are made to “the gandharva” by girls about to get married, thus asking for his permission; while young men who have completed their studies and are about to settle down and marry, are given a staff representing the gandharva, to “guard” them in their new life. All this suggests that the single gandharva of older Vedic times was thought of as a tutelary deity of unmarried adolescents, male as well as female (the latter being “married” to him).

Atiśa Dīpaṃkara: Illuminator of the Awakened Mind
with James B. Apple

Friday, August 28, 2020  from 6pm to 8pm US PDT Time

This course will be presented via Facebook LIVE on our Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/events/269820591020572/

Few figures in the history of Buddhism in Tibet have had as far-reaching and profound an influence as the Indian scholar and adept Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (982–1054). Atiśa is best known for introducing many of the core Mahāyāna teachings that are widely practiced throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world, including the Stages of the Path to Awakening and Mind Training (lojong), as well as having contributed to highly influential commentaries on Madhyamaka that synthesize various schools of thought. In addition, Atiśa was an influential practitioner of Tantra.

“…Atiśa has always been dear to the hearts of Tibetans, and by bringing his words and deeds to life, Apple shows us precisely why this is so—and why we ourselves should look to Atiśa for guidance.” —Roger R. Jackson, Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies and Religion, Carleton College

About the speaker:
James B. Apple is Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on the critical analysis of the Mahāyāna sūtras and topics within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. His books include Jewels of the Middle Way: The Madhyamaka Legacy of Atiśa and His Early Tibetan Followers, A Stairway taken by the Lucid: Tsong kha pa's Study of Noble Beings, and Stairway to Nirvāṇa.

This event will largely focus on James B. Apple’s acclaimed book, Atiśa Dīpaṃkara: Illuminator of the Awakened Mind (Shambhala, 2018). We encourage you purchase this amazing work which is composed for a general audience.

Order direct from Shambhala here:
https://www.shambhala.com/authors/a-f/james-b-apple/atisa-dipamkara.html


To delve deeper into the thought of Atiśa, we encourage you to also seek out Professor Apple’s other recent publication Jewels of the Middle Way: The Madhyamaka Legacy of Atisa and His Early Tibetan Followers (Wisdom, 2018).

Order direct from Wisdom Publications here:
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/jewels-middle-way/

This paper examines the use of nirvacana  (‘semantic elucidation’) in selected examples from self-proclaimed Mahāyāna Buddhist texts to theorize, as well as illustrate, one among several rhetorical techniques utilized by early to middle period Indian Buddhist authorial communities in the social formation of what comes to be known as “Mahāyāna.” Numerous Mahāyāna sūtras as well as technical digests such as the Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkara and Bodhisattva-bhūmi note that for bodhisattvas to be successful in propagating dharma they must acquire four types of ‘special knowledge’ (pratisaṃvid). The knowledge of languages (nirukti-pratisaṃvid), which includes regional languages (vākya) as well as semantic elucidation (nirvacana), is listed among these four. This paper suggests that knowledge of semantic elucidation serves as a powerful ideological tool for authorial communities in the propagation of Mahāyāna texts. The paper argues, drawing examples from sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, Saddharma-puṇḍarīka, and Avaivartikadharmacakra, that the ‘method of nairukta’ (nairukta-vidhānena), through processes of transvaluation and substitution, hollows out mainstream Buddhist understandings of concepts and principles and reformulates the conceptual framework found in mainstream Buddhist formations toward visions of the bodhisattva way found in nascent Mahāyāna communities.

Carol Salomon dedicated over thirty years of her life to researching, translating, and annotating this compilation of songs by the Bengali poet and mystical philosopher Lālan Sāi (popularly transliterated Lalon) who lived in the village of Cheuriya in Bengal in the latter half of the nineteenth century. One major objective of his lyrical riddles was to challenge the restrictions of cultural, political, and sexual identity, and his songs accordingly express a longing to understand humanity, its duties, and its ultimate destiny. His songs also contain thinly veiled references to esoteric yogic practices (sādhana), including body-centered Haṭhayogic techniques that are related to those found in Buddhist, Kaula, Nātha, and Sufi medieval tantric literature.

Dr. Salomon's translation of the work is the first dedicated English translation of Lālan's songs to closely follow the Bangla text, with all of its dialectical variations, and is here produced alongside the original text. Although her untimely death left her work unpublished, the editors have worked diligently to reconstruct her translations from her surviving printed and handwritten manuscripts. The result is a finished product that can finally share her groundbreaking scholarship on Bāul traditions with the world.

The aim of this paper is to continue my last paper, "On the Acceptance of the Doctrine of Pāramitā in Yogācāra School: Focusing on the Number of Ten-Pāramitā (Daśa-pāramitā)" that was published in Bulletin of Buddhist studies of the Ryukoku University No. 18 on March 2014. In that paper, I clarified how, in which case and what period of time these ten Pāramitā were used in the yogācāra schools. And to continue, this paper is intended to investigate the origin of those ten Pāramitā.
Documents used for this study are the texts of the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra group, which attach great importance to the concept of Pāramitā, and the texts of Daśabhūmi-sūtra group, which presume to having close relationship with the number ten. Before now, there have been many researches conducted on these two texts; we will survey this topic based on the results of those previous researches. And the summary gathered for this paper is as follows.
For the ten Pāramitā that were mentioned in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra group, except in the translation of Xuanzang and the sanskrit version of Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, we can not identify them anywhere in the system of the old translation (i.e. the translation of Kumālajīva...), therefore, it can be surely assumed that the ten Pāramitā in no way could have origins from these texts.
For the ten Pāramitā that were mentioned in the Daśabhūmisūtra, especially the definition of means (upāya), prayer (praṇidhāna), power (bāla), wisdom (jñāna) pāramitā, which comprises the latter part of the 10 pāramitā, we found a parallel text, which interpreted it like the explanation in the Caryā-paṭala of Bodhisattvabhūmi, a literature of the yogācāra school. So it can be safely concluded that ten pāramitā of the Yogācāra school have their origins in Daśabhūmisūtra.

This table presents a theory on the development of Buddhism in four areas: organisation, texts (included memorised), schools and doctrines. The link is to a google document, so you will see the most up-to-date version. This is the link to the updated document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13CWyeacqUbunFBMLq1zWNM45IFXGgNSJxtoyLMF8zdU/edit?usp=sharing.

Here I try to show, following the Buddha's instructions for study, how the 5 Hindrances match with the 10 Fetters, the 3 Trainings, the 4 Jhāna (which, the Buddha has said in the EBTs IS the Way/Path) and so the Four Stages of Progress on the Path, SE - Stream Enterer, OR - Once Returner, NR - Non-Returner and AO - Accomplished One.

It has been claimed that Indian Buddhism, as opposed to East Asian Chan/Zen traditions, was somehow against humour. In this paper I contend that humour is discernible in canonical Indian Buddhist texts, particularly in Indian Buddhist monastic law codes (Vinaya). I will attempt to establish that what we find in these texts sometimes is not only humorous but that it is intentionally so. I approach this topic by comparing different versions of the same narratives preserved in Indian Buddhist monastic law codes.

Last revised on 15 December 2018. This is an unpublished work.
從這本書的背書中可以看出，一位傑出佛教學者改信基督教博得了熱烈歡呼。有些基督教評論家對保羅·威廉斯的個人記述心存感激。他的著作《始料未及的道路：從佛教改信到天主教》，The Unexpected Way: On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism，被形容為 「非常引人入勝」，並被視為「對神學辯論的重要貢獻」。一位印度教作家甚至將這本拒絕業力理論的書稱為「对佛教極有挑戰性的難題」。但是沒有任何佛教學者的背書這事實是值得引起關注。在本書的開頭，威廉斯恳求他的佛教朋友們的諒解，他并不打算攻击佛教（第 xvi頁）。然而，在附錄中，他承認他「正在攻擊佛教的中央預設所朝的方向」（第203頁）。在這文章中，我會說明威廉斯是基於先驗法錯誤地呈現了佛教的中央教義。

關鍵詞
佛教，轉生，業力，解脫， 無我， 基督徒，先驗假設，上帝，靈魂

In Gender and the Path to Awakening, Martin Seeger lays out the nuances and varying conceptions of female renunciation in modern Thai Buddhism. Centered on long-term textual and ethnographic research on six remarkable female practitioners, Seeger considers trends and changes over the last 140 years in the practices of female renunciants and their devotees. He also investigates understandings of female sainthood in Thai Buddhism, its expressions in material culture, and the importance of orality and memory in Thai Buddhist epistemology. Supported by interviews and careful study of sermons, hagiographies, and hitherto untranslated and rare Thai sources, this book examines the social backgrounds, modes of expression, veneration, and historical contexts of Thai women pursuing the Buddhist ideal. Rich in ethnographic detail and with additional grounding in foundational Indian Buddhist texts, this book off ers new insights into the complexities of female renunciation and gender relations in modern Thai Buddhism.

The first-ever biography with selected writings of one of the greatest Indian Buddhist masters in history.

Few figures in the history of Buddhism in Tibet have had as far-reaching and profound an influence as the Indian scholar and adept Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (982–1054). Originally from Bengal, Atiśa was a tantric Buddhist master during Vajrayana Buddhism’s flowering in India and traveled extensively, eventually spending the remaining twelve years of his life revitalizing Buddhism in Tibet. Revered by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Atiśa and his students founded what came to be known as the Kadam school, whose teachings have influenced countless Buddhist masters. These teachings, cherished by all major traditions, are preserved by the Geluk in particular, the school of the Dalai Lamas.
     
Although Atiśa was an influential practitioner and scholar of Tantra, he is best known for introducing many of the core Mahayana teachings that are widely practiced throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world, including the Stages of the Path to Awakening and Mind Training (lojong), as well as having contributed to highly influential commentaries on Madhyamaka that synthesize various schools of thought. This succinct biography of Atiśa’s life, together with a collection of translations, represents for the first time the full range of Atiśa’s contribution to Buddhism. As the most comprehensive work available on this essential Buddhist figure, this book is an indispensable resource for scholars and Buddhist practitioners alike.

This paper, concluded on Aug. 11, 2020, is a summary of my work with Professor Gift Siromoney on the invention of the Brāhmī script, up till the time of his death in 1988, as well as my independent discovery, decades later, of where and when the invention took place. In my paper, I challenge those scholars who argue that the origin of the Brāhmī script pre-dates the Mauryan dynasty!

In his quest for awakening, according to the traditional account the Buddha tried and discarded various ancient Indian practices as being not in themselves conducive to awakening. Nevertheless, closer inspection shows that key elements of these practices became part of the Buddhist path, a transformation that involves mindfulness in one way or another. In this way, fasting transforms into mindful eating, breath control into mindfulness of breathing, and a reformulation of an aspiration for annihilation of the self, apparently held by ancient Indian cultivators of the meditative sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, comes to be conjoined to the cultivation of mindfulness of the body. These transformations shed light on the importance and adaptability of mindfulness in early Buddhist soteriology.

Kanheri known as "Krishnagiri" or "Krishnasaila" in ancient inscriptions is located (19° 13` N. and 72° 59` E) 10 Km to south east of Borivali, a suburb of metropolitan Mumbai. It is a rock cut cave complex comprising of more than 110 Buddhist caves including chaityas, Viharas, Stupas, cells etc. This site culturally dates back from 2 nd century C.E to late 11 th Century C.E. Kanheri is distinctively known for its sustainability as well as certain peculiar features like site's multi-storied settlement pattern, satellite settlements, developed water conservation system, brick memorial gallery, connectivity through rock cut steps etc. Apart from this, Kanheri stands out to be unique due to its well-developed hydro resource system which was operational for more than a millennium. The water must have been an important commodity for the ancient monks so as today. Thus a system that regulates the resourceful conservation of water during scarcity periods can be noticed at site. The prominent elements comprising of this hydro resource system are cisterns, large tanks, a dam/ reservoir, water channels and its connectivity. There are some inscriptions found associated to donations of these cisterns and tanks suggests us a methodology for dating numerous caves and its cisterns respectively. A study of water management at the site considering the epigraphical, social and religious aspects has been attempted by various scholars till now. But this paper exclusively aims at investigating the significance of ancient hydraulic mechanisms that are evident at site, intends to prove the ancient administrative structure of monastery which regulated the advancement of engineering to sustain their livelihood. Thus an attempt will be made to study the mechanism behind this system considering the scientific and mechanical perspectives with the use of engineering principles.

Artworks stand at the center of the great Buddhist religious tradition that swept across Asia during the first millennia. How to Read Buddhist Art assembles fifty-four masterpieces from the Met’s collection to explore how Buddhist imagery crossed linguistic and cultural barriers, taking on different characteristics in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Himalayas, China, Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. The book offers the essential iconographic framework needed to understand Buddhist art and practice, helping the reader to appreciate how artists gave form to subtle aspects of the teachings, especially the sublime expression of the Buddha himself.

This paper establishes the epoch (dhruva/dhruvaka) of the Kālacakra laghukaraṇa, the handbook on astronomy contained in the Śrī Kālacakra—the Kālacakra laghutantra—and its commentary, the Vimalaprabhā. It also demonstrates that these foundational texts of the Kālacakra tantra tradition reached completion between 1025 and ca. 1040 CE (pp. 342-43). In addition, evidence is provided supporting Turrell V. Wylie's dating of Nāropāda's death to ca. 1040 CE (p. 347, n. 10).

A good deal of important scholarship on early Indian Mah ay ana Buddhism has been done in recent years. Well established theories, such as the theory that the Mah ay ana arose as a lay reaction to the arhat ideal and the theory that it arose from the Mah as a _ mghika monastic lineage, have been rejected, and a number of new theories, perhaps most notably theories linking Mah ay ana to forest ascetics and to a 'cult of the book,' have been put forward. Part 1 of this article surveys and evaluates these recent developments. Part 2 will present a number of new perspectives for future scholarship.

[From the Preface:] This Reader has three related goals. First, it aims to encourage the study of Buddhist canonical literature in Pali (pāḷi). While there are, of course, several canonical languages – Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, and Sanskrit–the Pali canon is exceptional. It is the repository of what I would like to call Classical Buddhism: the basic teachings, as far as we can determine, of Siddhattha Gotama (c. 480–400 BCE), the man we call the Buddha.

This course will introduce students to the diverse beliefs, ideas, and practices of one of the world's oldest and most widespread religious traditions, Buddhism. As religious identity in Asia is often fluid and non-sectarian in nature, Buddhism will not be investigated in isolation. Instead, the course will adopt a chronological and geographical approach, examining the spread of Buddhist ideas and practices across Asia and the ensuing results of these encounters. We will begin by discussing the life story of the historical Buddha, the doctrinal foundations of his groundbreaking religious and social movement, and daily life in early monastic communities. We will then proceed to examine Buddhism's spread to East Asia, its encounter with the philosophical and religious traditions of Daoism and Confucianism, and the new Buddhist schools that emerged in China and Japan, such as Pure Land and Chan (Zen). The second half of the semester will be dedicated to exploring themes in Buddhist ethics, such as the relationship between humans and the natural world, the tension between Buddhism and violence, and the history of meditative practices. We will conclude the course by discussing the role of Buddhism in the modern world, its growing popularity around the globe, and its enduring relevance East Asia. All readings will be available in English on the Canvas website in PDF form.