Responsibility
(author): Takasaki, Jikido
Title
(eng): An Introduction to Buddhism
Details
(place)Tokyo: (publisher)Tōhō Gakkai, 1987
Identifier
TAKASAKI 1987
Comments
This is a translation of Takasaki 1983. The book is a good introduction to Buddhist doctrines, concentrating on the historical develpments in Chinese Buddhism. The main concerns of the author are without doubt the development of the Tathagatagarbha/ Buddha-nature theorires and the understanding of consciousness/mind in Chinese Buddist schools.
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ACT: 業 (p.137-141)ACT: 梵行 (p.176)AWARE: 阿賴邪識 (p.206-207)[ation in the doctrines of the Abhidharma of vijNNaana, citta, and manas with the one one and the same 'mind' had been accepted without any modification. But in the case of the doctrine of cognition-only [we2ishi2 唯識, vijNNapti-maatrataa] it was held that a number of functional aspects could be differentiated in this single 'mind', and these functionally different aspects were termed citta, manas, and vijNNaana. What we refer to as the 'mind' may first of all be divided into that aspect of it functioning in the present moment, that of the past, and that of the future. Strictly speaking, the aspects of the future and the past represent those aspects of which the appearance in the present will occur in the future or has already been concluded at some point in the past. As had already been elucidated by the theories of the Abhidharma, our existence is nothing other than a stream of consciousness ('the continuance of mind') extending from the past into the future, in which elements of the future are continuously appearing in the present and disappearing into the past. But this stream of consciousness contains another latent stream which does not appear on the surface, and this too exerts influence on the stream of consciousness appearing on the surface. If this were not the case, it would be impossible to explain the workings of karma. The karma-creating faculty was sought in the functions of the 'mind', and likening the mind to a storehouse of latent formative forces (biija, zho3ngzi3 種子: seeds; = saMmskaara = karma), it was called the 'storehouse-consciousness' (aalayavijNNaana, ca2ngshi2 藏識, also transliterated as a1la4iye2shi2 阿賴耶識，a1li2ye2shi2 阿黎耶識).
The mind which is functioning in the present leaves behind an impression. This impression influences the mind of the following moment, but at the same time part of this impression may be stored as it is in the mind and manifest itself after a certain period of time. These impressions include not only those of the mind itself but also impressions of the objects of the mind's activity. The impressions of both subject and object are impressed upon the store-consciousness and determine the characteristics and workings of the mind thereafter. When considered in regard to its aspect as impression, this function is called 'perfuming (or infusing) of habit' (xu1nxi2 熏習) and the impression itself 'habitual energy' (xi2qi4 習氣; both these terms represent Chinese renderings of the SANSKRIT vaasanaa, which is usually derived from the verb 'to perfume' [vaasayati] and used in the sense of residual mental impressions which are compared to the scent which lingers on indefinitely in clothing after it has been perfumed with incense). Since this same impression determines the ensuing state of mind, it is in this sense also called a 'seed' (biija, zho3ngzi3 種子; needless to say, this appellation derives from the fact that insofar as the impression produces a result, it resembles the seeds of plants which, falling to the ground, later put forth shoots). It was held that the stream of consciousness's condition of being burdened down by past karma could be explained by such a mechanism. Consequently, the store-consciousness constitutes the stream of consciousness of individual beings, each of whom is burdened with past karma, and the mode of being which this store-consciousness assumes varies from one individual to another....]BASIC NATURE: 如來藏 (p.219-224)BODHISATTVAS: 文殊師利 (p.237-239)BUDDHAS: 三身 (p.68-69)[o the above Dharma-body. those who have personally realized the Dharma, namely, the Tathaagatas (=those who have arrived at thusness), correspond to the Buddhas mentioned previously who have their individual pure lands. Theirs is known as the 'enjoyment-body' (saMmbhoga-kaaya) since they enjoy the fruits of enlightenment, although in Chinese this term was also rendered as 'recompense-body' (報身, 應身), implying that they have now received the fruits of the their past practices. In this respect, they are self-benefitting and theirs in the standpoint of 'self-enjoyment' (自受用). However, since the very existence of a pure land presupposes the altruistic aim of receiving sentient beings there and having them enjoy the same enlightenment, these Buddhas are in this respect homogeneous (niSsyanda) with the Dharma-body (等流身: homogeneous body), and they are Buddhas who have appeared in other worlds for the weal of sentient beings. In this sense, the enjoyment-body is 'body for causing others to enjoy the realization of the Dharma' or 'other-enjoyment body' (他受用身). Although these Buddhas of the pure lands are endowed with material bodies, they cannot be seen by ordinary beings in this defiled world of ours, and are said to be visible to bodhisattvas only. SSaakyamuni, on the other hand, not only possesses a material body for altruistic purposes but is also visible to ordinary beings; this is the 'transformation-body' (nirmaaNna-kaaya, 化身, 應身), expressly manifested by the Dharma-body for our sakes. This transformation-body is a Tathaagata in the sense that he is 'one who has come from thusness'.
Thus was established the theory of the three bodies of the Buddha (with the Dharma-body sometimes referred to as 'own-nature body' (svabhaava-kaaya, 自性身). and this became the basis of all further Mahaayaana speculation on the nature of the Buddha's body. In later times this theory of three bodies underwent further developments: these include the theory of four bodies, which arose from the division of enjoyment-body into the 'self-enjoyment body' (自受用身) and 'other-enjoyment body' (他受用身); [...]."...]BUDDHAS: 緣覺 (p.240-241)BUDDHIST CLERGY: 四眾 (p.250)CAUTIOUS: 戒 (p.175)CONCENTRATE: 非想非非想天 (p.183)DECIDE: 發心 (p.171)DEITIES: 天帝釋 (p.133)DISTINGUISH: 分別 (p.155)ELEMENT: 法 (p.70-76, 107)[ and mental, and concepts, i.e. objects of consciousness in general)."...]EMPTY: 空 (p.102-103)[he principle of dependent co-arising. But in the context of Buddhist doctrinal theory, 'impermanence' (anityataa) and 'selflessness' (nairaatmya < niraataman=anaatan) are also equally 'Dharma-nature'. And in Mahaayaana Buddhism this same priniciple of dependant co-arising or the condition of no-self was renamed 'emptiness' (sSuunyataa, ko1ngxi4ng 空性). 'Emptiness' is expressed by the proposition that 'all is empty' (sarvaMm sSuunyam, yi1qie4jie1ko1ng 一切皆空) and is held to signify the absence of any own-nature in all constituent elements. 'Own-nature' (svabhaava, zi4xi4ng 自性) here means any autonomous entity which preserves a uniform quality and is independent of other, and corresponds to the aatman postulated by non-Buddhists. Therefore no-self in equivalent to the absence of own-nature, and both describe the state of dependent co-arising."...]EXIST: 生死 (p.128ff.)FEATURE: 無垢真如 (p.219)FORBID: 十戒 (p.177-178)[f life,
(2) abstention from theft (literally, 'from taking what is not given'),
(3) abstention from adultery,
(4) abstention from medacity,
(5) abstention from slander,
(6) abstention from harsh speech,
(7) abstention from frivolous talk,
(8) abstention from covetousness,
(9) abstention from malice, and
(10) abstentiiion form erroneous views."...]FORBID: 五戒 (p.176)FORBID: 三聚淨戒 (p.178)[sSiilaani, 攝律儀戒),
(2) morality as the accumulation of good (kusSala-dharma-saMmgraahaahaka-sSiila, 攝善法戒), and
(3) morality as the rendering of service to sentient beings (sattva-artha-kriyaa-sSiila, 攝眾生戒)
(cf. Bodhisattvabhuumi [...] in the Yogaacaarabhuumi [...]. Practice may be said to have been here embraced within the moral code."...]GHOST: 阿修羅 (p.132)GHOST: 餓鬼 (p.132)METHOD: 八正道 (p.172-173)[ga-maarga, P. ariya-aTtTthanNgika-magga, 八聖道, 八正道) means a path embracing eight items which is to be walked by 'noble' holy ones. 'Noble' (aarya, P. ariya) may be regarded here as an honorific term referring to the members of the community consisting of SSaakyamuni and his disciples [...]. The eight items comprising the path have already been mentioned in the passage from the Vinaya-piTtaka quoted in chapter 3; according to the commentarial literature, their contents are as follows:
(1) Right views (samyag-dRrSsTti, P. sammaa-diTtTthi, 正見): contemplation of the Four Noble Truths.
(2) Rights intentions (samyak-saMmkalpa, P. sammaa-saMmkappa, 正思惟): desiring renunciation and being free of malice, hatred, and greed.
(3) Right speech (samyag-vaac, P. sammaa-vaacaa, 正語): avoidance of mendacity, slander, harsh speech, and frivolous talk.
(4) Right conduct (samyak-karmaanta, P. sammaa-kammanta, 正業): avoidance of killing, theft, and unchastity.
(5) Right livelihood (samyag-aajiiva, P. sammaa-aajiiva, 正命): avoidance of unwholesome means of livelihood (a life regulated by the commuinity rules).
(6) Right efforts (samyag-vyaayaama, P. sammaa-vaayaama, 正精進): striving to abandon evil already arisen and to prevent the inception of such evil as has not yet arisen, and striving to produce to produce future good and to increase such good as has already arisen (= 'four right exertions'; see p. 187).
(7) Right mindfulness (samyak-smRrti, P. sammaa-sati, 正念): contemplation of the body as impure, of the perceptions as unsatisfactory, of the mind as transient, and of all phenomena as without self (= 'four fields of mindfulness'; see p. 187), whereby the 'four errors' (catvaaro viparyaasaaHh, P. cattaaro vipariyesaa, 四顛倒) that the body be pure, life pleasurable, the mind unchanging, and the self existent are eliminated.
(8) Right concentration (samyak-samaadhi, P. sammaa-samaadhi, 正定): the four initial stages of meditation (see pp. 182-83)....]METHOD: 方便 (p.197)[tion' after the six perfections....]MONK: 僧伽 (p.246-262)SALVATION: 涅盤 (p.163ff)[oble Truths, the truth of cessation, meant the cessation of suffering or the cessation of the origination of suffering, and that it was identical with NirvaaNna. This term nirvaaNna (PALI nibbaana, 涅槃) refers to that state of peace which accompanies tranquillity, as was reflected in the statements that 'NirvaaNna is tranquillity' and 'cessation is happiness.' That this state is the ultimate goal or ideal state after which Buddhism aspires was the import of the third Noble Truth, the truth of the cessation of suffering. The Buddha SSaakyamuni was in fact one who had attained such a state.
However, the appellation 'Buddha' itself is not a term which directly denotes this state. NirvaaNna may be said to be alluded to be the epithets such a tathaagat (thus-come/-gone one) and sugata (one who has reached happiness), implying the attainment of the ideal state, but even these are not directly related to the term nirvaaNna itself. The one exception is jina (victor) which, meaning here one who has overcome suffering, exhibits an affinity in its connotations with the cessation of suffering of NirvaaNna. All the other appellations of the Buddha either inidicate, as in the term buddha (awakened one) itself, a state of intellectual perfection, or, as with puruSsa-damya-saarathi (one who controls men to be tamed) and sSaastaa deva-manuSsyaaNnaam (teacher of gods and men), hint at this role as spiritual guide or saviour. In the other words, the aspect of wisdom and compassion are emphasized at the expense of allusion to the state of NirvaaNna, which would appear to have been pushed in the background.
This state of affairs derives from the fact that Buddhism would seek its point of origin in the very fact of the Buddha's enlightenment, as is indeed reflected in the designation 'Buddhism' itself. The experience of enlightenment or bodhi (菩提) represents nothing other than the 'Buddha's essence' (buddhatva, 佛體) and is that which makes a Buddha what he is. It is therefore only to be expected that the attainment of enlightenment should have been regarded as the supreme goal of the Buddhist path of spiritual cultivation.
This being so, what then is the relationship between this enlightenment and nirvaaNna, the latter as being defined as the cessation of suffering? When considered in the context of the life of SSaakyamuni, bodhi corresponds to his attainment of enlightenment and nirvaaNna to this death. This would give the impression that Buddha did not experience NirvaaNna while alive. The identification of NirvaaNna with SSaakyamuni's death is probably related to the fact that the word nirvaaNna signified death in the sense of the extinction of the flame of life. But on the other hand, the terms used to denote the ideal state also included the word 'immortality' (amRrta, PALI amata 不死), and this was employed as synonym of NrivaaNna. On the occasion of his enlightenment, SSaakyamuni declared that he had realized that he had overcome suffering, had been liberated from defilement, and would undergo no further rebirth, and he also stated that, although possessed by a physical body characterized by birth, old age, sickness and death, through having awoken to the misfortune attendant thereon, he had obtained NirvaaNna, the unsurpassed state of peace free old age, sickness and death. This state is known as 'NirvaaNn in the visible world (=present life)' (dRrSsTta-dharma-nirvaaNna, PALI diTtTtha-dhamma-nibbaana, 現法涅槃).
If this be the case, it would suggest then that SSaakyamuni's initial goal had not been enlightenment but the state of immortality or NirvaaNna. Contemporary ascetics and other religious practicioners were seeking liberation from the cycle of transmigratory existence and were all groping for methods to that end. Through proper observation, knowledge, and realization of the truth of the human condition, transient and without self, and by producing within himself a state of mind free of any attachment to life, SSaakyamuni succeeded in achieving that goal. It was probably because SSaakyamuni's distinctive characteristic was to be found in this method which he had discovered that he came to be known in particular by the name of 'Buddha' in order to distinguish him from other religious leaders. This being so, enlightenment must be regarded as having been a means in relation to the attainment of nirvaaNna. But as the distinguishing feature of Buddhism came to be sought in enlightenment, this latter would have come to be considered the ultimate goal. In particular, the emphasis on the enlightenment would appear to be due in large part to the universalization of enlightenment in Mahaayaana Buddhism....]SALVATION: 無住處涅盤 (p.168)STUDENT: 聲聞 (p.241)[only to become himself a saint, giving no thought to the salvation of others (namely, the laity), and the self-enlightened one too treads only his own path. Accordingly, these two modes of being, both considered to represent the pursuit of personal welfare only, were referred to collectively as the Hiinayaana or known alternatively as the 'two vehicles' (yaana-dvaya. e4rshe4ng 二乘)....]UNDERSTAND: 證 (p.167)UNDERSTAND: 現等覺 (p.167)WORLD: 三界 (p.133-136)WORRY: 煩惱 (p.141-142)