Item Details

An Ekottarika-āgama Discourse Without Parallels: From Perception of Impermanence to the Pure Land

Issue: Vol 35 No. 1-2 (2018) Special Issue: Buddhist Path, Buddhist Teachings: Studies in Memory of L.S. Cousins

Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies

Abstract:

With the present paper I study and translate a discourse in the Ekottarika-āgama preserved in Chinese of which no parallel in other discourse collections is known. This situation relates to the wider issue of what significance to accord to the absence of parallels from the viewpoint of the early Buddhist oral transmission. The main topic of the discourse itself is perception of impermanence, which is of central importance in the early Buddhist scheme of the path for cultivating liberating insight. A description of the results of such practice in this Ekottarika-āgama discourse has a somewhat ambivalent formulation that suggests a possible relation to the notion of rebirth in the Pure Abodes, suddhāvāsa. This notion, attested in a Pāli discourse, in turn might have provided a precedent for the aspiration, prominent in later Buddhist traditions, to be reborn in the Pure Land.

Author: Anālayo Bhikkhu

View Original Web Page

References :

Abeynayake, Oliver. 1984. A Textual and Historical Analysis of the Khuddaka Nikāya. Colombo: Tisara.

Allon, Mark. 2001. Three Gāndhārī Ekottarikāgama-Type Sūtras, British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragments 12 and 14. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Anālayo. 2011. A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikāya. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

———. 2012. Madhyama-āgama Studies. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

———. 2013a. ‘Mahāyāna in the Ekottarika-āgama’. Singaporean Journal of Buddhist Studies 1: 5–43.

———. 2013b. ‘Two Versions of the Mahādeva Tale in the Ekottarika-āgama, A Study in the Development of Taishō No. 125’. In Research on the Ekottarika-āgama (Taishō 125), edited by Dhammadinnā, 1–70. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

———. 2014. ‘Three Chinese Dīrgha-āgama Discourses Without Parallels’. In Research on the Dīrgha-āgama, edited by Dhammadinnā, 1–55. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

———. 2014/2015. ‘Discourse Merger in the Ekottarika-āgama (2), The Parallels to the Kakacūpama-sutta and the Alagaddūpama-sutta’. Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka 12: 63–90.

———. 2015. ‘Discourse Merger in the Ekottarika-āgama (1), The Parallel to the Bhaddāli-sutta and the Latukikopama-sutta, Together with Notes on the Chinese Translation of the Collection’. Singaporean Journal of Buddhist Studies 2: 5–35.

———. 2016a. ‘Āgama and aṅga in the Early Buddhist Oral Tradition’. Singaporean Journal of Buddhist Studies 3: 9–37.

———. 2016b. Ekottarika-āgama Studies. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

———. 2017a. Buddhapada and the Bodhisattva Path. Bochum: Projektverlag.

———. 2017b. ‘The “School Affiliation” of the Madhyama-āgama’. In Research on the Madhyama-āgama, edited by Dhammadinnā, 55–76. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

Bareau, André. 1955. Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule. Paris: École Française d’Extrême-Orient.

Chung Jin-il. 2014. ‘Puṇya-sūtra of the Ekottarikāgama in Comparison with the Fu-jing of the Chinese Madhyamāgama’. Critical Review for Buddhist Studies 16: 9–33.

———. 2017. ‘Śrutānṛśamsa-sūtra of the Dīrghāgama in Comparison with the Wende-jing 聞德經 of the Madhyama-āgama’. In Research on the Madhyama-āgama, edited by Dhammadinnā, 113–146. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

Chung Jin-il and Fukita T. 2011. A Survey of the Sanskrit Fragments Corresponding to the Chinese Madhyama-āgama, Including References to Sanskrit Parallels, Citations, Numerical Categories of Doctrinal Concepts and Stock Phrases. Tokyo: Sankibo Press.

Collett, Alice and Anālayo. 2014. ‘Bhikkhave and Bhikkhu as Gender-inclusive Terminology in Early Buddhist Texts’. Journal of Buddhist Ethics 21: 760–797.

Collins, Steven. 1990. ‘On the Very Idea of the Pali Canon’. Journal of the Pali Text Society 15: 89–126.

Cousins, L. S. 1991. ‘The “Five Points” and the Origins of the Buddhist Schools’. In The Buddhist Forum Vol. II, edited by T. Skorupski, 27–60. London: University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.

———. 2013. ‘The Early Development of Buddhist Literature and Language in India’. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 5: 89–135.

Cruise, Henry. 1983. ‘Early Buddhism: Some Recent Misconceptions’. Philosophy East and West 33(2): 149–166. https://doi.org/10.2307/1399099

de La Vallée Poussin, Louis. 1927/2001. La Morale Bouddhique. Saint Michel: Éditions Dharma.

Deshung Rinpoche, Kunga Tenpay Nyima. 1995. The Three Levels of Spiritual Perfection, An Oral Commentary on the Three Visions (Nang Sum) of Ngorchen Könchog Lhündrub, translated by J. Rhoton. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.

Eckel, David. 2003. ‘Defining a Usable Past: Indian Sources for Shin Buddhist Theology’. Pacific World, Third Series 5: 55–83.

Freiberger, Oliver. 2011. ‘Was ist das Kanonische am Pāli-Kanon?’. In Kanonisierung und Kanonbildung in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte, eds Max Deeg, Oliver Frieberger and Christoph Kleine, 209–232. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Gombrich, Richard F. 1990. ‘How the Mahāyāna Began’. The Buddhist Forum 1: 21–30.

Harrison, Paul. 2002. ‘Another Addition to the An Shigao Corpus? Preliminary Notes on an Early Chinese Saṃyuktāgama Translation’. In Early Buddhism and Abhidharma Thought, In Honor of Doctor Hajime Sakurabe on His Seventy-seventh Birthday, edited by Sakurabe Ronshu Committee, 1–32. Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten.

Hartmann, Jens-Uwe and K. Wille. 2014. ‘The Manuscript of the Dīrghāgama and the Private Collection in Virginia’. In From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research, edited by P. Harrison and J.-U. Hartmann, 137–155. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vw0q4q.9

Hiraoka Satoshi. 2013. ‘The School Affiliation of the Ekottarika-āgama’. In Research on the Ekottarika-āgama (Taishō 125), edited by Dhammadinnā, 71–105. Taipei: Dharma Drum.

Kuan, Tse-Fu. 2012. ‘A Geographical Perspective on Sectarian Affiliations of the Ekottarika Āgama in Chinese Translation (T 125)’. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 2: 179–208.

———. 2013a. ‘Legends and Transcendence: Sectarian Affiliations of the Ekottarika Āgama in Chinese Translation’. Journal of the American Oriental Society 133(4): 607–634. https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.133.4.0607

———. 2013b. ‘Mahāyāna Elements and Mahāsāṃghika Traces in the Ekottarika-āgama’. In Research on the Ekottarika-āgama (Taishō 125), edited by Dhammadinnā, 133–194. Taipei: Dharma Drum.

———. 2013c. ‘The Pavāraṇā sutta and “Liberation in Both Ways” as against “Liberation by Wisdom”’. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 76(1): 49–73. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X12001437

———. 2017: [Review of Palumbo 2013], Journal of the American Oriental Society 137(2): 444–448. https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.2.0444

Ludowyk-Gyomroi, Edith. 1947. ‘The Valuation of saddhā in Early Buddhist Texts’. University of Ceylon Review 5(2): 32–49.

Mayeda, Egaku. 1985. ‘Japanese Studies on the Schools of the Chinese Āgamas’. In Zur Schulzugehörigkeit von Werken der Hīnayāna-Literatur, Erster Teil, edited by H. Bechert, 1: 94–103. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.

Minh Chau, Thich. 1964/1991. The Chinese Madhyama Āgama and the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Nattier, Jan. 2003. ‘The Indian Roots of Pure Land Buddhism: Insights from the Oldest Chinese Version of the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha’. Pacific World, Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 5: 179–201.

Norman, K. R. 1991/1993. ‘The Role of the Layman According to the Jaina Canon’. In Collected Papers, edited by K. R. Norman, 4: 175–185. Oxford: Pali Text Society.

Palumbo, Antonello. 2013. An Early Chinese Commentary on the Ekottarika-āgama, The Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 and the History of the Translation of the Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation.

Pāsādika, Bhikkhu. 2010. ‘Gleanings from the Chinese Ekottarāgama Regarding School Affiliation and Other Topics’. In Translating Buddhist Chinese, Problems and Prospects, edited by K. Meisig, 87–96. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Skilling, Peter. 2009. ‘Redaction, Recitation, and Writing, Transmission of the Buddha’s Teaching in India in the Early Period’. In Buddhist Manuscript Cultures, Knowledge, Ritual, and Art, edited by Stephen C. Berkwitz, Juliane Schober and Claudia Brown, 53–75. London: Routledge.

Strauch, Ingo. 2010. ‘More Missing Pieces of Early Pure Land Buddhism: New Evidence for Akṣobhya and Abhirati in an Early Mahāyāna sūtra from Gandhāra’. The Eastern Buddhist 41(1): 23–66.

Tilakaratne, Asaṅga. 2000. ‘Saṅgīti and sāmaggī: Communal Recitation and the Unity of the Saṅgha’. Buddhist Studies Review 17(2): 175–197.

Upadhyaya, K. N. 1980. ‘The Impact of the Bhakti Movement on the Development of Mahāyāna Buddhism’. In Studies in the History of Buddhism, Papers presented at the International Conference on the History of Buddhism at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WIS, USA, August 19–21, 1976, edited by A. K. Narain, 349–357. Delhi: B. R. Publishing Corporation.

von Hinüber, Oskar. 1996/1997. A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110814989