that's when was studies the major of Buddhism and Mhayana subject which i collected to summit for some assignment. who want to need it any buddy can copy it .
1.
Discuss the Origin of Mahayana Sutras
Answer :
Mahayana sutras were mainly composed in the
south of India, and that later the activity of writing additional scriptures
was continued in the east and north of India. Generally, scholars conclude that
the Mahayana scriptures were composed from the first century CE onwards. And it
is believed that the most of the
Mahayana Sutras kept developing over the course of many centuries, from the 2nd
century up until the 11th century AD . In these 10 centuries additional
information was added, new Mahayana Sutras were written as the need for them
was felt. As a result of this, many different versions exist of the same
Mahayana Sutras. So these different versions of the same sutras display a large
variety in content and length.
The earliest Mahayana scriptures and their important
concepts may be divided into five groups.
The first
group is based on the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra. Its central concept is svabhāvatā—every phenomenon has no essence of its own and is
empty of a permanent self. All things are empty of self-nature.
The second
group of sutras are the Ratnakara, 宝积 ,
and Avatamsaka, 华严 , or Garland scriptures, with “the middle
way” concept of the mind-only doctrine.
The third group was that of the Lotus,
or the Dharma-flower Sutra, 法华 , and the
Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra,
维摩经.
The fourth group is Pure Land Sutras.
The fifth
group combined Mahayana concepts with traditional teachings.
The
important sutras including their concepts in
The Prajñā group
The terms prajñā and prajñāpāramitā alone never refer to a single specific text, but a
class of literature. Prajñāpāramitā
deals
with the subject of the perfection of wisdom. The main concept of Prajnaparamita sutra is non-grasping
of all dharmas and that no dharma has its own intrinsic
nature; that is, the concept of the emptiness or unreality of things.
This was a development, particularly in opposition to
the Sarvāstivāda sect that held the opposite extreme, that every dharma
has its own intrinsic nature.
There
are 2 kinds of realities—the conventional (sammuti) and the ultimate
(paramattha). Conventional realities are products of mental construction, not realities
existing by reason of their own nature. In contrast, Ultimate realities are
things that exist by reason of their own intrinsic nature (sabhava). These are
the dhammas: the final, irreducible components of existence, the ultimate
entities which result from a correctly performed analysis of experience.
Later,
the concept of self-existence or essence (svabhaava) was a development of
Abhidharma schools. In the Abhidharma only dharmas, or ‘ultimate existents’,
have essences. It opposes to ‘conventional existents’ which do not. We all know
well that Early Buddhism was divided into many schools. They classified the dharmas
differently.
According
to the Sarvastivada, they held that each dharma was a real existent (dravya),
had its own svabhava, and was impermanent (anitya). Moreover, Sarvastivada held the existence of all dharmas in the past, present and future, the 'three times', that
is the teaching of “all exists”.
With the emergence of the Mahayana, the concept of svabhāvatā was developed. The Perfection of Wisdom sutras taught that all
entities, including dharmas, are only conceptual existents or constructs. For
the Perfection of Wisdom there can be no essences at all. The phenomena have no
essence of their own. They are empty of permanent self, and that nature is
void, emerged in opposition to the intrinsic nature concept. It is because they are simply mental
constructs out of dharmas. They therefore lack their own specific and unique
existence.
2. Discuss the significant of Lotus Sutra
Answer : The lotus sutra is well-known for its
extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means (Sanskrit: upāya), mostly in the form of
parables. It is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahayana, or
"Great Vehicle" Buddhism.
Like nearly all sutras. The Lotus Sutra
begins with the Buddha’s close disciple Ananda speaking the words, “Thus what I
heard”.
The first important point the Buddha wishes to
convey is that there is only one vehicle or one path to salvation, which leads to the goal of Buddhahood. The
Buddha’s earlier preaching on three paths for believers (three vehicles). They
are; one was that of the sravaka or voice-hearer; second was that of the
pratyekabuddha; and the third was that of the bodhisattva.
But
now, the Buddha tell us, these lesser [aths or] goals are to be aside and all
beings are to aim for the single goal of Buddhahood, the one and only vehicle
to true enlightenment or perfect understanding, a state designated in the Lotus
Sutra by the Sanskrit term ‘anuttara-samyak-sambodhi’.
It
is explained that The Buddha has earlier taught his followers the doctrine of
the 3 vehicles, because at that time they were not yet ready to comprehend or
accept the highest truth. Therefore he had to employ [what he terms] an
expedient means or skillful means (upaaya) in order to lead followers [them]
gradually along the road to greater understanding. He then illustrates his
point through the famous parable of the burning house. The doctrine of the Three Vehicles, then, was a
conceptualization of the difference between Mahayana and Śrāvakayāna
Buddhism.
The
Chapter 12
of the lotus sutra relates the affair of equally astounding import. In it, the
bodhisatva Manjusri describes how he has been preaching the Lotus sutra at the
palace of the dragon king at the bottom of the sea. Among his listeners [who],
Manjusri mentions the daughter of the dragon king Sagara, a girl just turned 8,
who was able to master all the teachings, succeeded in gaining
enlightenment.
The girl herself appears before the astonished
assembly performs various acts that demonstrate she has in fact achieved the
highest level of undersanding and can “in an instant” attain Buddhahood. Early
Buddhism had asserted that women are
hampered in their religious endeavors by “five obstacles”, one of which
is the fact that they can never hope to attain Buddhahhood. But all such
assertions are here in the Lotus sura unequivocally thrust aside.
The child is dragon, a nonhuman being, she is of the
female sex, and she has barely turned 8, yet she reaches the highest goal in
the space of a moment. the lotus sutra
reveals that its revolutionary doctrine operate in a realm transcending all
petty distinctions of sex, or species, instant or eon. The revelations
concerning the universal accessibility of Buddhahood,
Most
famous and influential of the devotional chapters of the lotus sutra are those
with which portray various bodhisatvas who can render particular aid
and
protection to the believer. For example,
In chapter 25, centers on a bodhisattva Avalokitesavara, known in China as Guan
Yin. The chapter relates in very concrete terms the wonderful types of
assistance that he bodhisattva can render to persons of all different social
levels and walks of life. In order to make his teaching and aid most readily
acceptable to all kinds of beings, the bodhisattva is able to transform to 33
different forms, matching his form to that of the being be man or woman,
exalted or humble, human or nonhuma in nature.
The ultimate "teaching" of the sutra, however,
is implied to the reader that "full Buddhahood" is only arrived at by
exposure to the truths expressed implicitly in the Lotus Sutra via its many
parables. Skillful means of most enlightened Buddhas is itself the highest
teaching That is the "Lotus Sutra" itself.
Another concept
introduced by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is an eternal entity,
who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of
rebirth to teach beings the Dharma time and again.
3. Discuss the doctrine of “nonduality” in the
lotus sutra
Answer : The concept, often described in English as
“nondualism”, is extremely hard for the mind to grasp or visulize, since the
mind engages constantly in the making of distinctions and nondualism represents
the rejection or transcendence of all distinction. The world percieved through
the senses, the phenomenal world as we know it, was described in early Buddhism as “empty” because it was taught
that all such phenomena arise from causes and conditions, are in constant state
of flux, and are destined to change and pass away in time.
They are also held
to be “empty” in the sense that they have no inherent or permanent characteristics
by which they can be described, changing as they do from instant to instant.
But in Mahayana thought it became customary to emphasize not to negative but
rather the positive aspects or import of the doctrine of Emptiness. If All
phenomena are characterized by the quality of ‘emptiness’, then emptiness must
constitute the unchanging and abiding nature of existence,
and therefore the absolute or unchanging world must be synonymous with the
phenomenal one. Hence all mental and physical distinctions that we perceive or
conceive of with our minds must be part of a single underlying unity.
It
is this concept of Emptiness or nonduality that leads the Mahayana texts to
assert that samsara, the ordinary world of suffering and cyclical birth and
death, is in the end identical with the world of nirvana, and that earthly
desires are enlightenment.
Sum
up, the Lotus Sutra
indicates that emptiness (śūnyatā) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the
aspirant Bodhisattva,
but the attainment of
Buddha Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure which transcends
seeing all as merely empty. Nondualism
represents the rejection or transcendence of all distinctions."
Translation and composition
Though we do not
know what language the Lotus Sutra was first composed in, it was very probably
not Sanskrit, and therefore the Sanskrit versions of the text are already one
step removed from the original. However it is conventionally thought that this
sutra is translated from Sanskrit. Its first translation was done by Dharmarakṣa around 209 CE. Later, this early translation by Dharmarakṣa was superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE. And it
is known that Kumārajīva made extensive use of the earlier version to the
extent of borrowing readings directly from Dharmarakṣa's version.
Kumarajiva
translation of the Lotus sutra as it exists at present ids made up of 28
chapters. Nearly all the chapers consist of a combination of prose and verse
passages. Verse form was used to make it easier for the followers of the
religion to memorize. Kumara’s Chinese
translation is the version in which the Lotus sutra has been known and read
over the centuries throughout the countries of East Asia.
The Lotus Sutra is one of the most popular and
influential Mahayana sutras in Asia and the basis on which the Tien Tai in China (Tendai in Japan) school and the Nichiren schools in Japan were established. The full text of
lotus sutra usually includes the lotus sutra, the Sutra of Innumrable Meanings
Wu liang yi jing), and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal
Worthy (Pu Xian Jing). These other sutras that are usually included with the
lotus sutra, were probably composed later than it was,
The Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sutra is also classified in the same genre of the
Lotus Sutra. Its famous teaching is nondualism.
The Vimalakīrti
Sūtra
The sutra expounds the
profound principle of Mahāyāna as opposed to Theravada teachings,
focusing on the explication of the meaning of nonduality. A significant
aspect of the scripture is the fact that it is a teaching addressed to
high-ranking Buddhist disciples through the mouth of the layman bodhisattva Vimalakīrti,
who expounds the doctrine of emptiness in depth,
eventually resorting to silence. This is said
to be in keeping with the general Mahāyāna Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be
expressed in words. This particular teaching by Vimalakirti is used to portray
the most accomplished disciples of the Buddha as deficient in understanding, in
order to be able to present the ideal of Bodhisattvaship as higher than
Arahantship
The
Vimalakirti-sutra. is a masterpiece, and it is read more
generally than other Buddhist sutras by the laity. There are 2 signification of
this sutra. The first one is that its chief figure of interest is not the
Buddha but a wealthy layman called Vimalakirti. Another one lies in setting the
pace for the layman who strives for annutara-samyak-sambodhi, or supreme
perfect enlightenment.
What
we have to notice especially in this text is that Mahyana Buddhism does not
require us to lead a homeless life as a Bhikshu in order to attain
enlightenment, that is, the householder's life is as good and pure as the
mendicant's. The sutra is seen
by some as a strong assertion of the value of lay practice
that to be a perfect Buddhist one need not renounce family life and join the
order of monks and nuns,
where it was seen as being compatible with Confucian values. This sutra was influential on Pure Land schools,
and very popular in China and Japan .
The doctrine of
non-duality in Vimalakirti Sutra
The doctrine of
non-duality is essentially a re-statement of the Buddha’s teaching of the
middle way between the existence and non-existence. It is beyond the realm of
good and bad, nirvana and samsara, virtue and evil, self and liberation. They
are both void because wherein ultimately, there is neither existence nor
non-existence.
This is the part of
English translation done by Burton Watson as below.
The bodhisattva Candrottara declared,
"'Darkness' and 'light' are dualistic, but the absence of both darkness
and light is nonduality. Why? At the time of absorption in cessation, there is
neither darkness nor light, and likewise with the natures of all things. The
entrance into this equanimity is the entrance into nonduality."
The bodhisattva Ratnamudrahasta
declared, "It is dualistic to detest the world and to rejoice in
liberation, and neither detesting the world nor rejoicing in liberation is
nonduality. Why? Liberation can be found where there is bondage, but where
there is ultimately no bondage where is there need for liberation? The mendicant
who is neither bound nor liberated does not experience any like or any dislike
and thus he enters nonduality."
The bodhisattva Manikutaraja declared,
"It is dualistic to speak of good paths and bad paths. One who is on the
path is not concerned with good or bad paths. Living in such unconcern, he
entertains no concepts of 'path' or 'nonpath.' Understanding the nature of
concepts, his mind does not engage in duality. Such is the entrance into
nonduality."
The bodhisattva Satyarata declared,
"It is dualistic to speak of 'true' and 'false.' When one sees truly, one
does not ever see any truth, so how could one see falsehood? Why? One does not
see with the physical eye, one sees with the eye of wisdom. And with the
wisdom-eye one sees only insofar as there is neither sight nor nonsight. There,
where there is neither sight nor nonsight, is the entrance into
nonduality."
There are three classical Chinese translations extant:
- the 維摩詰所說經 Wéimójié suǒshuō jīng
(trans. by Kumārajīva ; T 475.14.537a-557b).
- the 說無垢稱經 Shuō wúgòuchēng jīng (6
fasc. trans. Xuanzang . T 476.14.557-587)
- the 佛說維摩詰經 Fóshuō wéimójié jīng (2
fasc. trans. Zhi Qian . T 474.14.519-536).
Of the three extant
renditions, Kumārajīva's has traditionally been the most popular. There are
also two translations from the original Sanskrit into Tibetan.
5. Discuss the Nirvana Sutra
Answer
: The
Nirvana Sutra, or Mahāparinirvāṇa
Sūtra is a major Mahayana
sutra, as 'one of the three great masterpieces of Mahayana Buddhism.
The
scripture presents itself as providing the re-correct understanding of earlier
Buddhist teachings, such as those on non-Self and Emptiness:
"non-Self" in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra refers to the impermanent,
mundane, skandha-constructed
ego, while "Emptiness" (shunyata) is
explicated as meaning empty of that which is compounded, painful, and
impermanent.
However, The nirvana sutra implies the ‘self’ (atta-personality
view-egoistic view) of ‘non-self’
(anatta) in the sense of mundane which is impermanent, and the ‘Self”
(atman) of ‘true Self’ in the sense of supramundane, ultimate reality, that is Selfhood of Buddha , which is emptiness
(empty of that which is compounded, painful, and impermanent). This Self of
the Buddha is the source of ever-enduring life.
The Nirvana Sutra is striving
for its teachings on the eternal, unchanging, blissful, pure, inviolate and
deathless "Self" (ātman) of the Buddha in the interiority of Nirvana:
"
Here the sutra controverts the
familiar Buddhist teaching that "all dharmas [phenomena] are
non-Self", and in the Dharmakshema version the Buddha even declares that
"in truth there is Self (Atman) in all dharmas".
Much of the central focus of
the Nirvana Sutra falls on the existence of the Buddha-dhatu (Buddha-nature,
Buddha element, or Buddha principle), also called the Tathagatagarbha
("Buddha-matrix" or "Buddha embryo"), in every sentient
being which includes animals.
Mahaparinirvana is characterized as being
that which is "Eternal (nitya), Blissful (sukha), the Self (atman) and
Pure (subha)”
"The Tathagata's Body is not causally conditioned. Because it is
not causally conditioned, it is said to have the Self.
6. Discuss The Tathagatagarbha doctrine
Answer : The Tathagatagarbha doctrines
clarify the true nature and meaning of "Emptiness" (shunyata) by delimiting its
range of application and revealing that a full understanding of Emptiness needs
to be balanced by knowledge of the indestructible and omni-present Buddha-dhatu, and that this
mysterious Dhatu (Principle,
Element or Factor) is only empty of impermanence, impurity and suffering,
not of its own immeasurable virtues and blissful eternity.
So when some commentators on Buddhism, eager to
minimise or de-essentialise the Buddha Nature, seek to claim that
the Buddha-dhatu is
simply another word for Emptiness, they should in all conscience explain to the
student that 'Emptiness' has different ranges of meaning and connotation, and
that when applied to the Tathagatagarbha,
it means empty of imperfection and physical / ideational
graspability. That is not
to say that the Tathagatagarbha
/ Buddha-dhatu is not real and true. It is, in fact, the most real
entity (although not, of course, a tangible or material 'thing') that can
ever be seen or known. It is nothing less than the heart of the Buddha
himself.
7. Discuss the Srimaladevi – sungabada Sutra
Answer : The Śrīmālādevī-simhanāda-sūtra
literature also emerged in the same period as the Nirvāṇa-sūtra
literature. Śrīmālādevī is the
name of the person who was in the discourse. The sutra is short, filling only one
volume. There are two versions in Chinese translation. One, translated by
Bodhiruci is called Simhanāda, 師子吼 , and is combined with the 48th
discourse of the Mahāratnakūta-sūtra, 大宝积经 , Great
Gem-heap Sutra. This sutra deals with Buddha-nature, particularly using
the Tathāgata-garbha concept. It consists of 14 divisions. The fundamental
teaching is similar to that of the latter part of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, but gives more explanation of the nature of mind and of the mind of
absolute purity.
In
the sutra of queen srimala, where we find the main character, srimala, is an
astute teacher of the tathagatagarbha. Srimala is praised for her intelligence
and compassion, not for her beauty or wealth, which are implicit. She is
eloquent in expounding the Dharma and is charismatic, as are all Bsvs. srimala is an 8th stage female BS, an irreversible BS. Srimala
receives the prediction of future Bhood,
and then begins her long discourse on the ultimate and most difficult teaching
in Bsm. She epitomized the Mahayana ideal , that of a sentient being who,
regardless of sex or status, stives to realize his or her spiritual potential
orn Bhood.
性空幻有See Lv Cheng, op. cit.,
p. 2032.
法无自性: See Lv
Cheng, op. cit., p. 2036.
See: Etienne Lamotte, History of Indian Buddhism from the Origins to
the Shaka Era, translated from the French by Sara Webb-Boin, Louvain-la-Neuve:
Institut Orientaliste de l'Universite Catholique de Louvain, 1988, p. 600.
