Mahāyāna Buddhist Meditation

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    THE JOURNAL OF THEINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFBUDDHIST STUDIES

    E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F

    A . K. NarainUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

    E D I T O R SHeinz Bechert Leon Hurvitz

    Universitat Gottingen FRG University of British ColumbiaVancouver, Canada

    Lewis Lancaster A . W . MacDonaldUniversity of California, Berkeley, USA Universiti de Paris X, Nanterre, France

    B. J. Stavisky Alex WaymanWCNILKR, Moscow, USSR Columbia University, New York, USA

    A S S O C I A T E E D I T O R

    Stephen BeyerUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

    Volume 2 1979 Number 1

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    T A BL E O F C O N T E N T S

    I . A R T I C L E S1 . The Mongo l Khans and Ch inese Buddh i sm and Tao i sm, bySechin Jagchid2. From Madhyamika to Yogacara, an Analysis of MMK,XX IV. 18 an d MV, 1.1-2, by Gadjin m. Nagao3 . Dynamic Libera t ion in Yogacara Buddhism, by AlanSponberg4 . Yogacara and the Buddhis t Logic ians , by A lex Wayman

    I I . S H O R T P A P E R S1. Sambodhi in ASoka's 8th Rock Edict , by A . L. Basham2 . Can Medi ta t ional Prac t ice be Measured? A Report on aQuant i ta t ive Survey , by Jacques Maquet3 . Nirvana and Metaphysica l Exper ience , by Ismael Qu iles

    I I I . B O O K R E V IE W S A N D N O T I C E SReviews:

    1 . Wo r l d C o n q u e ro r a n d Wo r l d R e n o u n c e r , by S.J. Tambiah2 . Compara t ive E th ic s in Hindu and Buddh i s t Trad i t ions , byRoderick Hindery.3 . Mahayana Buddh i s t Med i t a t ion : Theory and Prac t i ce , byMinoru Kiyota, assisted by Elvin W. Jones4. C h a n d i B o r o b u d u r : A M o n u m e n t o f M a n k i n d , by Dr.

    SoekmonoObituary:

    1. Paul Demieville, by A lexander W. Macdonald

    818491

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    held by scholars f rom d ifferent d isc ipl ines . H e avoids dra w ing paral le ls tooquick ly be tween Ind ian and non-Ind ian e th ica l concep ts . Also , he has p re sen ted a va luab le d iscuss ion on the incorpora t ion o f ea r ly Ind ian thoughtinto con te m po ra ry e thical systems. This edi t ion is a useful s tudy if used incon cert w ith oth er tex ts . T h o u g h it is too diff icult lor the novice , ComparativeEthics should prove a valuable reference for those in terested in the socia l andpolitical sciences.

    Michae l B . Bemem

    Ma hayana Buddhist M editation: Theory and Practice, edited by Minoru Kiyota ,ass is ted by Elvin W .Jo ne s. H on olu lu: The Univers i ty Press of Hawaii , 1978.P p . 3 1 3 .

    Th is vo lum e is ded ic a ted to the me m ory of R ichard H . Robinson (1926-70) , who was ins t rumenta l in es tab l i sh ing a Buddhis t S tud ies p rogram a t theUnivers i ty o f W iscons in -Madison , w here he taugh t Ind ian ph i losophy , In d iancivi l izat ion and Buddhism. I t was his l i fe- long convict ion that the t ruths ofBu dd hism "were no t p rem ises fo r a deduc t ive sys tem bu t enunc ia t ion s o fgnosis ( ' saving knowledge ' ) to be medita ted upon unti l the hearer ' ca tches on 'a n d b re a k s th ro u g h to a n o th e r p l a n e o f b e in g . " {The Buddhist Religion: AHistorical Introduction, 1970, p . 29. ) I t is most appropria te , therefore , that th isc o mme mo ra t iv e v o lu me d e a l s w i th Ma h a y a n a B u d d h i s t me d i t a t io n .

    In h is in t roduc t ion the ed i to r de fends the vo lume ' s emphas is on the " theor ies" o f M ahayan a on the g ro un d tha t in Budd his t t rad i t ion the ac tua l na ture of the object to be medita ted upon is f i rs t noet ic , regarding a correctana lys is o f the ph en om en al th ing . Th e n th is noe t ic ob jec t is b ro ug ht w i th inthe limi ts o f d i rec t pe rc ep t io n th r ou gh the powe r o f repe a ted me di ta t ivepract ic e . Basically, " th e cor e of Bud dh is t tea ching is s imply the de m on str ation of andtma, and of the paths and f inal resul ts which ar ise from medita t ingupon that v iew" (p . xv) . Fol lowing this premise , n ine scholars contr ibutedar t ic les dea l ing wi th ph i losophica l and doc t r ina l theor ies tha t under l ie med-i ta t ional pract ices in var ious schools of Mayayana Buddhism. Inasmuch asspace does not permit any e laborate review, le t me present the main motifsof each ar t ic le .

    In the f irst ar t ic le , "B ud dhi s t The ories of Exis tents : T h e Systems of T w oT ru th s , " Edwin W. Jo ne s d iscusses d i f fe ren t theor ies o f the ph eno m eno log -ical and ul t imate t ru ths by examining how two Hinayana ( the Vaibhasika andSaut ran t ika ) and two Mahayana ( the Yogacara and Madhyamika) schoolsdeve loped the i r respec t ive ph i losophica l s t ruc tu res in exp l ica t ing the meaning of the andtma doc t r ine . In the second a r t ic le , Geshe Sopa dea ls moredirect ly with medita t ion as such by analyzing the two principles involved,n a me ly samatha (mental s tabi l izat ion) and vipasyand (hig her vis ion) , an d exp l i c a t e s h o w t h e p e r f e c t u n i o n o f t h e s e t w o p r i n c i p l e s106

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    (samathavipasyandyuganaddha) is seen as the im m ed iate aim of al l Bud dh istt radi t io ns, i.e ., Hina yan a, Mahay ana an d Vajrayana (" the ad am an t vehic le") .I ho pe Pro fessor S opa will ex pa nd his refer enc e to the Vajrayana m eth od ofm ed itat i on (p. 64) m or e fully in the nea r futu re.

    In the th i rd ar t ic le , Gadj in M. Nagao pursues the meaning of sunyatd, o rempt iness , not merely as an ontological or metaphysical concept but as themost impor tan t ob jec t o f med i t a t ion fo r Mahayana Buddhi sm, under the in t r igu ing t i t le , " 'W hat Rem ains ' in Sunyata : A Yogacara In te rpre ta t io n ofEm ptin ess ." Profes sor N ag ao deals with this diff icult subject with adm irab leclar ity. T he fou rth ar t icle, by Stefan A nac ker , is pr im ari ly the translat io n ofV a su b a n d h u ' s Madhyantavibhagabhasya ( "Commenta ry on the Separa t ion o fthe M iddle f rom Extrem es") , C ha pte rs 2 , 4 , and par t of 5 , wi th Dr . An acke r 'sown br ief but very helpful in t roduct ion and commentary . In the f i f th ar t ic le ,"Later Madhyamikas on Epis temology and Medi ta t ion," Yuichi Kaj iyamadeals with the syncret ist ic system of later Indian Madhyamika, the Yogacara-m adhy am ika schoo l , which advoca ted g radu a l en l igh te nm ent . P ro fessor Kaj iyama deft ly delineates the main features of this school, as exemplif ied bythe writ ings of two of i ts leaders, Santaraksi ta and Kamalasl la, within thecontext of the development of Buddhism in India . In the s ix th ar t ic le , Char-lene M cD erm ot t exa min es Dharm aklr t i ' s proposi t ion that yogic d i rect aw areness (yogipratyaksa) is a mean s of valid cogn i t ion, which was co m m ent ed up onby the Tibetan Buddhis t phi losopher Rgyal- t shab. In deal ing wi th th is e lusivetheory, Professor McDermott astutely recognizes the necessi ty of both a thoro ug hg oin g logical invest igation on the one h an d, and a cons iderat ion of itspractical (viz. , ascetico-contemplative mm moral-spir i tual) implicat ion for theindividual ' s sp i r i tual progress , on the o ther .

    The las t three ar t ic les are addressed to Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia .In the seventh ar t icle, Francis H. Cook contr ibutes his t ranslat ion of A BriefComm entary on the Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra (Heart Sutra) by Fa-tsang (643-712 A.D.) , the systemat izer of archi techtonic Hua-yen phi losophy, togetherwi th h is own assessment of Fa- tsang 's understanding of the Indian Buddhis tdoct r ine of empt iness and the impl icat ion of the Heart Sutra for medi ta t ion.The e ighth ar t ic le , "Fa-sheng 's Observat ions on the Four Sta t ions of Mindfulness," by Leon Hu rvitz, is a case study of the imp act of the historic Bu ddhis t not ion of sa lvat ion on Chinese Buddhism. Professor Hurvi tz 's master fultre atm en t of the subject , as exem plif ied in the work of the l i t t le-know n Fa-sh en g, is an im po rta nt co ntr ib utio n to this fascinating subject . In the lastcha pter , M inoru Kiyota prese nts a careful s tudy of the SukhavativyuhopadeSa,o r Upadeia, with i ts cen tral the m e of universal salvation. T hi s scr iptu re pr ovided the doct r inal basis for T 'an- luan 's Lun-chu in China and Shinran 's Kyo-gyo-shin-sho in Ja p an , and as such left a last ing impact on Pu re Lan d d evo t ional meditat ion in East Asia.

    Th is volum e is defini tely not for gen era l rea de rs but will be welcomed byser ious s tudents of Buddhism, comparat ive phi losophy and his tory of re l i g ions. T hr o ug h ou t the book, footnotes are as imp or tan t as the text . Th isreview er 's mi no r com plaint is the lack of an ind ex , which would have en hanced greatly the value and usefulness of this volume. Be that as i t may, weare a l l gra teful to those who planned and executed the publ icat ion of th is107

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    volume, a worthy tribute to the memory of Richard H. Robinson, whose untimely death deprived us of his further contribution to the advancement ofBuddhist studies.Joseph M. KitagawaUniversity of Chicago

    Chandi Borobudur: A Monument of Mankind by Dr. Soekmono. Assen-Amsterdam-Paris: T he UNESCO Press, 1976. Pp. Preface + 5 3 .This short monograph could have been a major contribution to the studyof Buddhism and Buddhist archeology, as the author is an eminent Indonesian archeologist who has de dicated a large pa rt of his life to the study andreclamation of Chandi Borobudur. Unfortunately, the book fails to meet itspotential. The initial problem is one of scope. The work discusses too specifica topic for the general public, yet it lacks the substance needed by the scholar,either Buddhologist or archeologist. One gets the feeling that this is a progress report, published to placate a bureaucracy by proving that money expended on the restoration project was well spent.Dr. Soekmono's book fails in three major areas: technical quality, style,and content. While paper quality, type style, and binding are all very good,typographical errors are frequent enough to be a minor irritant. The blackand white plates are too small and a re un dere xpose d. Illustrations lack claritybecause the subject field was too broad. O the r p hotog raphs are superfluous,i.e., draftsmen at work, chemists in the lab, etc. They add little to our understanding of the process of restoration. The color plates are better, butagain there is often a lack of definition. Those plates which show the stateof deterioration, both current and by comparison with 1910, are extremely

    valuable, however, and more should have been included. Line drawings ofthe ground plan and cross section of the monument also are excellent. However, the inclusion of an add itional map situating Chand i B orob udu r on Javawith the map showing the monument and its environs would have been useful.T h e auth or's prose flows well, but his failure to footnote governm ent docum ents a nd to cite full names frustrates the serious researche r. For a scholarly work these are serious omissions. In addition, a work of so few pagesshould not suffer from redundancy, yet the reader constantly experiencesdeja vu because the book lacks thematic organization. The reliefs carved onthe base of the monument are described in detail on page 18, and again afew pages later. In Chapter II, the author twice mentions J. G, De Casparis'theo ry th a t the nam e B or ob ud ur i s a s impl i fi ca tion of"Bhumisambharabhudhara," denoting a sanctuary for ancestor worship, andthat while many scholars disagree with this interp retati on , it is the m ost plausible theory yet to be advanced. Finally, the p arag raphs entitled "Rediscoveryand Rescue," and "Past Efforts" impart the same information.

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