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132-706: The AA is never mentioned by Xuanzang , who spent several years at Nalanda in India during the early 7th century, and became a savant in the Maitreya-Asaṅga tradition. One possible explanation is that the text is late and attributed to Maitreya-Asaṅga for purposes of legitimacy. The question then hinges on the dating of the earliest extant AA commentaries, those of Arya Vimuktisena (usually given as 6th century, following possibly unreliable information from Taranatha ) and Haribhadra (late 8th century). The AA contains eight chapters and 273 verses. Its pithy contents summarize—in

264-502: A Buddha's tooth relic and Buddha's broom made of "kasa grass". Outside is a vihara built ages ago, and many stupas to honor the arhats (Buddhist saints). South of Bactra is the country of Kacik, then the Great Snow Mountains with valleys "infested with gangs of brigands" (Li Rongxi translation). Crossing this pass, thereafter is the country of Bamiyana (a part of modern Afghanistan ). There, state his travelogue

396-543: A Buddhist stupa, such as raging flames bursting out of them leaving behind stream of pearls. The citizens here, states Xuanzang, worship pieces of Buddha's remains that were brought here in more ancient times. He mentions four stupas built in this area by king Ashoka . To Xuanzang, he entered India as he crossed the Black range and entered the country of Lampa. His travelogue presents India in fascicles separate from those for Central Asia. He, however, does not call it India, but

528-524: A boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. Xuanzang was ordained as a śrāmaṇera (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty , he went to Chengdu in Sichuan , where he was ordained as a bhikṣu (full monk) at

660-536: A dark cave here where dangerous beings lived, recited Srimaladevi Simhanadasutra , and they became Buddhists. Thereafter they all burnt incense and worshipped the Buddha with flowers. Some five hundred li (~200 kilometer in 7th-century) to the southeast is the country of Gandhara – which some historic Chinese texts phonetically transcribed as Qiantuowei . On its east, it is bordered by the Indus river, and its capital

792-575: A desert, icy valleys and the Pamir range (which link Tian Shan , Karakoram , Kunlun , Uparisyena and the Himalaya mountain ranges). Here, observed Xuanzang, the wind is cold and "blows with a piercing vehemence" (Li Rongxi translation). Ferocious dragons live here and trouble the travellers particularly those who wear "reddish brown" color clothes. Thereafter, he crossed past a salty sea, one narrow from north to south and long from east to west, he calls

924-410: A disturbance they notice it and allow it to drop away; this leads to deeper states of calmness. Emptiness is also seen as a way to look at sense-experience that does not identify with the "I-making" and "my-making" process of the mind. As a form of meditation, this is developed by perceiving the six sense-spheres and their objects as empty of any self, this leads to a formless jhana of nothingness and

1056-569: A month, and studied the Madhyamika sastra with him. To the northeast of Varsha country, states Xuanzang, there is a lofty mountain with a bluish stone image of Bhimadevi . She is the wife of Mahesvara . It is a great site of pilgrimage, where Indians from very far come with prayers. At the foot of this mountain is another temple for Mahesvara where ceremonies are performed by naked heretics who smear ash on their body. About 30 li (about 12 kilometers in 7th-century) southeast from these temples

1188-699: A newly built great stupa. The Kashmira region has numerous monks well versed with the Tripitaka , states Xuanzang. He stays in Kashmira for two years and studies the treatises with them. Xuanzang describes many events where he is helped by both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. For example, he describes leaving the city of Sakala and Narasimha, then passing with his companions through the Great Palasha forest. They get robbed and are walked towards some dry pond to be killed. A monk and he slip away. They hurry towards

1320-513: A rival tradition follows Haribhadra in identifying four such bodies, with the fourth, disputed kāya being the Svabhāvikakāya (Tib. ngo bo nyid kyi sku) or "Nature / Essence Body". (Other writers interpret this last term as a synonym for Dharmakaya, or else as symbolizing the unity of the three.) Makransky, whose Buddhism Embodied focuses on this eighth chapter of the AA, writes that For Makransky,

1452-925: A river with "poisonous dragons and evil animals". There, he visited a major Buddhist monastery of the Sautrantika school. From there, after covering some 2200 li, he passed through the country of Simhapura ( Kalabagh ), of Urasa (now Hazara ), and then into Kashmira. He was received by the king, and numerous monks from the Jayendra monastery. Kashmira is land with a very cold climate and is often calm without any wind. The region has lakes, grows plenty of flowers and fruit, saffron and medicinal herbs. Kashmira has over 100 monasteries and more than 5000 monks. The residents revere four large stupas that were built in ancient times by Ashoka. Emperor Kanishika too built many Buddhist monasteries here. He also had treatises with 960,000 words written on copper plates and had them stored in

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1584-706: A state of equanimity. Mathew Kosuta sees the Abhidhamma teachings of the modern Thai teacher Ajaan Sujin Boriharnwanaket as being very similar to the Mahayana emptiness view. There are two main sources of Indian Buddhist discussions of emptiness: the Mahayana sutra literature , which is traditionally believed to be the word of the Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism, and the shastra literature, which

1716-474: A sub-commentary to Haribhadra's Short Commentary ). Well known Nyingma commentaries on the AA include the sher phyin mngon rtogs rgyan gyi spyi don by Dza Patrul Rinpoche, Orgyen Jikmé Chökyi Wangpo which forms the whole of the sixth volume of his Collected Works ; and The Words of the Invincible Maitreya , ( ma pham zhal lung ) by Pöpa Tulku Dongak Tenpé Nyima. Sakya commentators on

1848-412: A summary of Haribhadra's commentary for each section. Xuanzang Xuanzang ( Chinese : 玄奘 ; Wade–Giles : Hsüen Tsang ; [ɕɥɛ̌n.tsâŋ] ; 6 April 602 – 5 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi ( 陳褘  / 陳禕 ), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva , was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk , scholar, traveler, and translator. He

1980-686: A translation entitled 現觀莊嚴論, for use by the Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Institute (漢藏教理院) in Sichuan . The institute's leaders sought to harmonize the Buddhisms of China and Tibet, and improve relations between the Khampas and Han Chinese immigrants to Eastern Tibet. Fazun had studied in the geshe program of the Drepung ('Bras spungs) college ( grwa tshang ) of Loseling (Blo gsal gling), near Lhasa , and possibly even obtained

2112-511: A vassal of the Buddhist Kingdom of Kapisa found near Bamiyana . The monasteries in these kingdoms are splendid, with four corner towers and halls with three tiers. They have strange looking figures at the joints, rafters, eaves and roof beams. The Indians paint the walls, doors and windows with colors and pictures. People prefer to have home that look simple from outside, but is much decorated inside. They construct their homes such

2244-448: A village. Near it, they meet a Brahmana who is tilling his land. They tell him that robbers attacked them and their companions. The Brahmin goes to the village and beats a drum and blows a conch. About 80 men gather, and together they proceed to rescue the companions of Xuanzang. While other rescued companions of his wail about the loss of all their property, Xuanzang reminds them that they should all be happy to be alive and not worry about

2376-406: A way that they open towards the east. Xuanzang also describes implausible events such as glowing rock footprints of Buddha, dragons, tales of Naga, a stupa in which is preserved the Buddha's eyeball as "large as a crabapple" and that is "brilliant and transparent" throughout, a white stone Buddha idol that worked miracles and "frequently emitted light". The travelogue states that Xuanzang went into

2508-542: Is dharma -śūnyatā , the emptiness of phenomena. Theravāda Buddhists generally take the view that emptiness is merely the not-self nature of the five aggregates . Emptiness is an important door to liberation in the Theravāda tradition just as it is in Mahayana, according to Insight meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal . The classic Theravāda text known as the Patisambhidamagga (c. 3rd century BCE) describes

2640-474: Is Purusapura . This is the land of ancient sages and authors of Indic sastras , and they include Narayanadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dharmatrata, Monaratha and Parshva. To the southeast of Purusapura city is a 400-foot-high stupa built by Emperor Kanishka , one with nearly 2000 feet in diameter and a 25 layer wheel on the top. There is a large monastery near it. Gandhara has numerous holy Buddhist sites, and Xuanzang visited and worshipped all of them. He calls

2772-442: Is Salatura , which says Xuanzang was the birthplace of Rishi Pāṇini and the author of "Sabda-vidya-sastra". Inspired by Mahesvara , this Rishi set out to "make inquiries into the way of learning" (Li Rongxi translation). He thoroughly studied all written and spoken language, words in ancient and his times, then created a treatise of one thousand stanzas. The heretics (Hindus) transmit this text orally from teacher to pupil, and it

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2904-579: Is Sanzang Fashi ( simplified Chinese : 三藏法师 ; traditional Chinese : 三藏法師 ; pinyin : Sānzàngfǎshī ; lit. 'Sanzang Dharma (or Law) Teacher'): 法 being a Chinese translation for Sanskrit " Dharma " or Pali / Prakrit Dhamma , the implied meaning being "Buddhism". "Sanzang" is the Chinese term for the Buddhist canon, or Tripiṭaka ("Three Baskets"), and in some English-language fiction and English translations of Journey to

3036-495: Is a colossal statue of standing Buddha, carved from a rock in the mountains, some one hundred and forty feet tall and decorated with gems. This valley has Buddhist monasteries, and also a colossal copper statue of the Buddha, that is over a hundred foot tall. He was told that it was cast in separate parts and then joined up together. To the east of a monastery in the Bamiyana valley was a Reclining Buddha entering Parinirvana that

3168-953: Is a mix of the implausible, the hearsay and a firsthand account. Selections from it are used, and disputed, as a terminus ante quem of 645 for events, names and texts he mentions. His text in turn provided the inspiration for the novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty , around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death. Less common romanizations of "Xuanzang" include Hyun Tsan, Hhuen Kwan, Hiuan Tsang, Hiouen Thsang, Hiuen Tsang, Hiuen Tsiang, Hsien-tsang, Hsyan-tsang, Hsuan Chwang, Huan Chwang, Hsuan Tsiang, Hwen Thsang, Hsüan Chwang, Hhüen Kwān, Xuan Cang, Xuan Zang, Shuen Shang, Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. Hsüan, Hüan, Huan and Chuang are also found. The sound written x in pinyin and hs in Wade–Giles , which represents

3300-443: Is a mode of perception, a way of looking at experience. It adds nothing to and takes nothing away from the raw data of physical and mental events. You look at events in the mind and the senses with no thought of whether there's anything lying behind them. This mode is called emptiness because it's empty of the presuppositions we usually add to experience to make sense of it: the stories and world-views we fashion to explain who we are and

3432-543: Is achieved through a process of intense concentration, coupled with the insight that notes more and more subtle levels of the presence and absence of disturbance (see MN 121). Emptiness as a meditative state is said to be reached when "not attending to any themes, he [the bhikkhu] enters & remains in internal emptiness" (MN 122). This meditative dwelling is developed through the "four formless states" of meditation or Arūpajhānas and then through "themeless concentration of awareness." The Cūlasuññata-sutta (MN III 104) and

3564-439: Is an Indian philosophical concept. In Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and other Indian philosophical traditions , the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience. In Theravāda Buddhism , Pali : suññatā often refers to the non-self (Pāli: anattā , Sanskrit: anātman ) nature of

3696-502: Is explained at M I.297 and S IV.296-97 as the "emancipation of the mind by emptiness" ( suññatā cetovimutti ) being consequent upon the realization that "this world is empty of self or anything pertaining to self" ( suññam ida ṃ attena vā attaniyena vā ). The term "emptiness" ( suññatā ) is also used in two suttas in the Majjhima Nikāya , in the context of a progression of mental states. The texts refer to each state's emptiness of

3828-696: Is form is emptiness, whatever is emptiness is form. In the Prajñāpāramitā sutras the knowledge of emptiness, i.e. prajñāpāramitā is said to be the fundamental virtue of the bodhisattva, who is said to stand on emptiness by not standing (-stha) on any other dharma (phenomena). Bodhisattvas who practice this perfection of wisdom are said to have several qualities such as the "not taking up" ( aparigṛhīta ) and non-apprehension ( anupalabdhi ) of anything, non-attainment ( aprapti ), not-settling down ( anabhinivesa ) and not relying on any signs ( nimitta, mental impressions). Bodhisattvas are also said to be free of fear in

3960-1106: Is found in Guang hongming ji from Daoxun and is also in Japanese and Korean texts. The 629 CE is found in Chinese and western versions. This confusion, though merely of two years, is of significance to western history. The date when Xuanzang's pilgrimage started is not resolved in any of the texts that Xuanzang himself wrote. Further, he did not write his own biography or travelogue, rather he recited it to his fellow monks after his return from India. Three of his immediate collaborators wrote his biography, and thus leaving three versions and with variant details. All three of these versions begin his pilgrimage in 629 CE. Yet, one version by Huili, states that Xuanzang met Yabghu Qaghan, someone who died in 628 CE according to Persian and Turkish records. If this detail in Xuanzang's biography and Persian-Turkish records are true, then Xuanzang must have left before Qaghan's death, or in 627 CE. In other words, some of

4092-456: Is four: three months each of spring, summer, monsoon, and autumn. The kingdoms of India have numerous villages and cities. Their towns and cities have square walls, streets are winding and narrow, with shops lined along these roads. Wine is sold in shops on the side streets. Those whose profession is butchering, fishing, executioners, scavengers (people that kill living beings and deal with products derived from them) are not allowed to live inside

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4224-587: Is in the Pheṇapiṇḍūpama Sutta ( SN 22:95), which states that on close inspection, each of the five aggregates are seen as being void ( rittaka ), hollow ( tucchaka ), coreless ( asāraka ). In the text a series of contemplations is given for each aggregate: form is like "a lump of foam" ( pheṇapiṇḍa ); sensation like "a water bubble" ( bubbuḷa ); perception like "a mirage" ( marici ); formations like "a plantain tree" ( kadalik-khandha ); and cognition like "a magical illusion" ( māyā ). According to Shi Huifeng,

4356-597: Is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism , the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645, his efforts to bring at least 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures. Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, near present-day Luoyang , in Henan province of China. As

4488-425: Is not one of essences, but merely descriptive characteristics and hence is not the subject of Madhyamaka critique developed by Nagarjuna (see below). In Theravāda, emptiness as an approach to meditation is also seen as a state in which one is "empty of disturbance." This form of meditation is one in which meditators become concentrated and focus on the absence or presence of disturbances in their minds; if they find

4620-494: Is not to obtain personal offerings. It is because I regretted, in my country, the Buddhist doctrine was imperfect and the scriptures were incomplete. Having many doubts, I wish to go and find out the truth, and so I decided to travel to the West at the risk of my life in order to seek for the teachings of which I have not yet heard, so that the Dew of the Mahayana sutras would have not only been sprinkled at Kapilavastu, but

4752-480: Is rich and moist, cultivation productive, vegetation luxuriant. He adds that it has its own ancient customs, such as measuring its distance as " yojana ", equal to forty li, but varying between thirty and sixteen depending on the source. They divide day and night into kala, and substances into various divisions, all the way to a fineness that they call indivisible and emptiness. The country has three seasons: hot, cold, rainy according to some Buddhists; while others say it

4884-467: Is said to be empty and like a dream or magical illusion. In a famous passage, the Heart sutra , a later but influential Prajñāpāramitā text, directly states that the five skandhas (along with the five senses, the mind, and the four noble truths) are said to be "empty" ( sunya ): Form is emptiness, emptiness is form Emptiness is not separate from form, form is not separate from emptiness Whatever

5016-628: Is that of Ārya Vimuktisena (Grol sde), called Illuminating the Twenty Thousand: A Commentary on the Ornament ( Pañcavimsatisāhasrikāprajñāparamitopadesasāstrabhisamāyala ṅ kāravrtti, nyi khri snang ba ). Written in a different style from its successors, it makes frequent reference to Vasubandhu 's Abhidharmakośaśāstra . Even more influential have been the commentaries of Haribadra (Seng ge Bzang Po), especially his Blossomed Meaning ( Sphuṭārthā, 'grel pa don gsal) and Light for

5148-667: Is the "knowledge of paths" of chapter two. According to the Mahayana understanding, only a fully enlightened Buddha has eliminated obstacles to omniscience ( jneyavaranaheya ) as well as obstacles to liberation ( kleshavaranaheya ). "Knowledge of all aspects" in the first chapter refers to this ultimate state. The AA begins with this as the most impressive of the three, and the ultimate goal of the Mahayana practitioner. Categories four through seven (in this order) represent progressive stages of spiritual practice en route to enlightenment. Conze calls them four "understandings"; Obermiller, "practical methods"; Toh, "applications"; and Berzin (who notes

5280-552: Is the country of (modern Nangarhar ), with many Buddhist monasteries and five Deva temples. The number of monks here, however, are few. The stupa are deserted and in a dilapidated condition. The local Buddhists believe that the Buddha taught here while flying in the air, because were he to walk here, it caused many earthquakes. Nagarahara has a 300 feet high stupa built by Ashoka , with marvellous sculptures. Xuanzang paid homage by circling it. Both Lampaka and Nagarahara countries were independent with their own kings, but they have become

5412-516: Is the latter sense of "Sangha" which constitutes the object of Buddhist Refuge , and in an especially cryptic verse, offers the following subdivision into twenty types: What does this mean? " Akanistha " is the name of the highest Buddha-field in the Form Realm , inhabited by pious gods and tenth-ground bodhisattvas. The solitary nature of the rhinoceros made that animal a traditional symbol for pratyekabuddhas ("solitary Buddhas"). Beyond that,

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5544-420: Is therefore perhaps understandable that the AA, as Sparham writes, "straddles the ground between Indian Middle Way and Mind Only..." Conze concurs, ascribing to the AA "an intermediate position between Mādhyamikas and Yogācārins..." Conze discovers in the AA "some affinities with other Yogācārin works" and suggests a number of precise correspondences. At the same time, he notes, "Two of the specific doctrines of

5676-533: Is this that makes the Brahmanas of this city "great scholars of high talent with knowledge of wide scope". They have an image of Pāṇini installed in reverence of him in this city of Salatura . Sunyata [REDACTED] Religion portal Śūnyatā ( / ʃ uː n j ə ˈ t ɑː / shoon-yə- TAH ; Sanskrit : शून्यता ; Pali : suññatā ), translated most often as " emptiness ", " vacuity ", and sometimes "voidness", or "nothingness"

5808-461: Is usually translated as "devoidness", "emptiness", "hollow", "hollowness", "voidness". It is the noun form of the adjective śūnya , plus -tā : The concept of śūnyatā as "emptiness" is related to the concept of anatta in early Buddhism . Over time, many different philosophical schools or tenet-systems (Sanskrit: siddhānta ) have developed within Buddhism in an effort to explain

5940-632: The Mahāsuññata-sutta (MN III 109) outline how a monk can "dwell in emptiness" through a gradual step-by-step mental cultivation process, they both stress the importance of the impermanence of mental states and the absence of a self. In the Kāmabhu Sutta S IV.293, it is explained that a bhikkhu can experience a trancelike contemplation in which perception and feeling cease. When he emerges from this state, he recounts three types of "contact" ( phasso ): The meaning of emptiness as contemplated here

6072-735: The Pali Canon . In his analysis of the Mulamadhyamikakarika , Kalupahana sees Nagarjuna's argument as rooted in the Kaccānagotta Sutta (which Nagarjuna cites by name). Kalupahana states that Nagarjuna's major goal was to discredit heterodox views of Svabhava (own-nature) held by the Sarvastivadins and establish the non-substantiality of all dharmas. According to Peter Harvey, the Theravāda view of dhammas and sabhava

6204-499: The five aggregates as being empty ( suññam ) of essence or intrinsic nature ( sabhava ). The Patisambhidamagga also equates not-self with the emptiness liberation in a passage also cited by Buddhaghosa in the Visuddhimagga (Vism XXI 70): "When one who has great wisdom brings [volitional formations] to mind as not-self, he acquires the emptiness liberation" -Patis. II 58. The Visuddhimagga (c. 5th century CE) ,

6336-571: The five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres . Pali : Suññatā is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience . In Mahāyāna Buddhism , śūnyatā refers to the tenet that "all things are empty of intrinsic existence and nature ( svabhava )", but may also refer to the Buddha-nature teachings and primordial or empty awareness, as in Dzogchen , Shentong , or Chan . " Śūnyatā " ( Sanskrit )

6468-523: The "Short and Clear" commentary mngon rtogs rgyan gyi ‘grel pa nyung ngu rnam gsal by Shamar Konchok Yenlag; "Introducing the Lamp of the Three Worlds: A commentary on the Ornament of Realization" ( mngon rtogs rgyan rtsa ‘grel gyi sbyor tika ‘jig rten gsum sgron la ‘jugs pa) by Karma Thinleypa Tsongkhapa 's teacher Don grub Rin chen encouraged him to study the five texts of Maitreya, especially

6600-406: The "highest" teachings. However, Tibetan tradition generally sides with Madhyamaka, and therefore must read the sutra in this light. The issue becomes more pressing since Tibetan Buddhist doctrine in fact combines elements from all three cycles, and is therefore faced with the task of defending its authorities while simultaneously minimizing contradictions between them. The oldest extant commentary

6732-456: The 100,000-line, 25,000-line, and 8,000-line versions), and this interpretation has generally prevailed within the commentarial tradition. Several scholars liken the AA to a "table of contents" for the PP. Edward Conze admits that the correspondence between these numbered topics, and the contents of the PP is "not always easy to see..."; and that the fit is accomplished "not without some violence" to

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6864-462: The 173 aspects (of the 3 forms of Omniscience)." The last Category concerns the result of spiritual practice: By this is meant the Dharmakāya , one of several glorified spiritual bodies (Makransky prefers "embodiments") which a Buddha is said to possess. A commentarial tradition beginning with Arya Vimuktisena interprets the AA as teaching the existence of three such bodies (the trikaya doctrine);

6996-564: The AA as the product of interaction between Mahāyāna Buddhism and the Hindu Vedānta philosophy. Gelugpa writers, following Bu ston , affirm Maitreya's text to represent the Prāsaṅgika viewpoint, but consider Haribhadra and later commentators to have taught something called "Yogācāra Svātantrika Madhyamaka." The category is often criticized as artificial, even by the standards of Tibetan doxography . Nyingma and Sakya writers agree that

7128-479: The AA contains Madhyamaka teachings, without necessarily endorsing the subdivisions proposed by Gelugpas. In an aside, Ian Charles Harris finds it "curious" that Harris goes on to note the "strange fact" that Tsongkhapa would be a self-avowed Prasangika, despite his system's assignment of "all the great Madhyamaka authorities on the Prajñāpāramitā " to Yogācāra Svātantrika Madhyamaka. According to Makransky,

7260-428: The AA include 'Go rams pa bsod nams seng ge (four commentaries), Sakya Chokden , Shes ba Kun rig (seven commentaries and treatises), and G.Yag ston ( Sangs gyas dpal, g.yag phrug pa , 1350–1414). The latter's work is King of Wish-Fulfilling Jewels ( Mngon rtogs rgyan 'grel pa rin chen bsam 'phel dbang rgyal ), in eight volumes. Kagyu commentaries on the AA include Padma Karpo's "The Words of Jetsun Maitreya";

7392-435: The AA was designed to impose a Yogācāra framework and vocabulary onto the PP. AA commentator Arya Vimuktisena preserves this Yogācāra reading; however, Makransky sees Haribhadra's reading as an attempt to "Mādhyamika-ize" the AA. Later Tibetan commentators broadly follow Haribhadra. The AA is divided into eight categories, which correspond to the eight chapters of the work, and (with one technical exception in chapter eight) to

7524-535: The AA), and "joyful ornament" (the joy of the beholder or AA devotee). The PP Sūtras form the basis for the Mādhyamika ("Middle Way") school of Indian Buddhist philosophy , which Tibetan consensus acknowledges as the "highest" (truest, best) tenet system. Other writings by Maitreya and Asa ṅ ga, however, form the basis for the rival Yogācāra ("Yoga Adepts") or Cittamātra ("Mind Only" or "Consciousness Only") school. It

7656-503: The AA. One of Tsongkhapa's major works, Golden Garland (gSer-phreng), is an AA commentary. His disciple Gyaltsab ( rGyal tshab Dar ma Rin chen ) also wrote an AA subcommentary, called Ornament of the Essence ( mngon rtongs rgyan gyi grel pa dor gsal rnam bshad snying po'i rgyan ). The AA seems not to have been translated into Chinese until the 1930s. At this time the Chinese monk Fazun (法尊), an associate of Taixu (太虛), produced

7788-474: The American monastic Thanissaro Bhikku : Emptiness as a quality of dharmas , in the early canons, means simply that one cannot identify them as one's own self or having anything pertaining to one's own self ... Emptiness as a mental state, in the early canons, means a mode of perception in which one neither adds anything to nor takes anything away from what is present, noting simply, "There is this." This mode

7920-572: The Avalokitesvara Bodhusattva image, one is noted for "its miraculous manifestations". Crossing another 1000 li, he reached Darada valley – the old capital of Udayana, with a 100 feet golden wood statue of Maitreya Boddhisattva. This statue, states his travelogue, was built by an artist who went three times into heaven to see how he looks and then carve the realistic image of him on earth. Xuanzang arrived in Taxila, after crossing

8052-410: The Buddhist teachings and the cure for the disease of suffering. He stated that emptiness, as it relates to the practice of Dhamma, can be seen both "as the absence of Dukkha and the defilements that are the cause of Dukkha and as the absence of the feeling that there is a self or that there are things which are the possessions of a self." He also equated nibbana with emptiness, writing that "Nibbana,

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8184-739: The Eastern Cakuri monastery and Ascarya monastery, with Buddha's footprints and Buddha idols. According to Xuanzang's accounts, mystical light emanated from Buddha's footprints on "fast days". In the country of Baluka, the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism was in vogue. He crossed the countries of Samarkand, Mimohe, Kaputana, Kusanika, Bukhara, Betik, Horismika and Tukhara. These had cities near rivers or lakes, then vast regions with no inhabitants, little water or grass. He describes warring factions of Turk chieftains in control, with "illness and pestilence" rampant. From here, he crossed

8316-532: The Great Pure Lake. He describes supernatural monsters, fishes and dragons living in this lake. The Xuanzang travelogues then rush through the names of many countries, stating that more details are provided in the return part of his journey, as he crosses into country of Bactra (modern Balkh ). He adds that the Hinayana Buddhist schools were followed in all these regions. In the capital of

8448-527: The Hindu Nyaya school. His best-known work is the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK), in which he used reductio arguments ( Skt : prasanga ) to show the non-substantiality of everything. Nāgārjuna equated the emptiness of dharmas with their dependent origination , and thus with their being devoid any permanent substance or primary, substantial existence ( svabhava ). Nāgārjuna writes in

8580-422: The Ornament . ( Abhisamāyala ṅ kāralokāprajñāpāramitāvyākhyā , rgyan snang ). Haribhadra also edited an abridgment of this work, called the "Short Commentary" ( Sphuṭārtha , 'grel pa don gsal/'grel chung). Altogether, 21 ancient Indian AA commentaries are said to have been translated into Tibetan, although it is possible to doubt the existence of some of the titles listed. For example, an ambiguous reference at

8712-474: The PP, associated with Mādhyamaka tenets, in the direction of Yogacara . The AA is studied by all lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, and is one of five principal works studied in the geshe curriculum of the major Gelug monasteries. Alexander Berzin has suggested that the text's prominence in the Tibetan tradition, but not elsewhere, may be due to the existence of the aforementioned commentary by Haribhadra, who

8844-570: The Sui Dynasty collapsed and Xuanzang and his brother fled to Chang'an , which had been proclaimed as the capital of the Tang dynasty , and thence southward to Chengdu , Sichuan . Here the two brothers spent two or three years in further study in the monastery of Kong Hui, including the Abhidharma-kośa Śāstra . The abbot Zheng Shanguo allowed Xuanzang to study these advanced subjects though he

8976-540: The Twenty Thousand ( Abhisamayālaṅkāra-vārttika , tshig le'ur byas pa'i rnam par 'drel pa ). However, the commentaries by Ārya Vimuktisena and Haribhadra are most fundamental to the subsequent commentarial tradition. Sparham writes that Makransky, on the other hand, feels that Arya Vimuktasena's commentary better captures the AA's Yogācāra assumptions. The AA was extremely influential in Tibet, resulting in

9108-567: The West , Xuanzang is addressed as "Tripitaka." Xuanzang was born Chen Hui (or Chen Yi) on 6 April 602 CE in Chenhe Village, Goushi Town ( Chinese : 緱氏鎮 ), Luozhou (near present-day Luoyang , Henan ). His family was noted for its erudition for generations, and Xuanzang was the youngest of four children. His ancestor was Chen Shi (104–186), a minister of the Eastern Han dynasty . His great-grandfather Chen Qin (陳欽) served as

9240-646: The Yogācārins, i.e. the 'storeconsciousness' and the three kinds of own-being ( svabhāva ) are quite ignored." Eugène Obermiller on the other hand writes that "The main philosophical view expressed in the Abhisamayalaṅkāra is that of strictest Monism and of the Non-substantiality and Relativity ( śūnyatā ) of all separate elements of existence, i.e. the standpoint of the Mādhyamikas." Obermiller sees

9372-399: The actual number of types of Sangha (including combinations and subdivisions) to approach the tens of thousands. Such difficulties seem to account for much of the subject's popularity in debate.(See Apple's monograph on the subject.) Tibetan tradition accepts the common Mahayana view that Sakyamuni Buddha (the historical Buddha) taught various kinds of teachings that do not seem to agree—hence

9504-463: The age of twenty. He later travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang'an , then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang , where Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian 's visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist texts that had reached China. He

9636-677: The authors of manuals [monastic textbooks]. Sometimes these commentaries spin out elaborate digressions from a single word of the Ornament. " Dreyfus adds that non-Gelug schools give less emphasis to the AA, but study a somewhat larger number of works (including the other texts of the Maitreya-Asanga corpus) in correspondingly less detail. The text's full title is: Which means: Thus, a "Treatise [of] Instructions [on the] Perfection of Wisdom, called [the] Ornament [of / for] Realization[s]." Sparham explains: Conze adds some details about

9768-521: The beginning of Haribhadra's prefatory homage is sometimes interpreted to mean that Asanga wrote an AA commentary. If so, the work is no longer extant. Haribhadra also mentions an AA commentary by Vasubandhu entitled Padhati ("The Well-Trodden Path"), and one by Bhadanta Vimuktisena ("the Intelligent" Vimuktisena—not to be confused with Ārya, "the Noble" Vimuktisena) called Excellent Explanation of

9900-419: The cities. The cities are built from bricks, while homes are either made mostly from bricks or from "wattled bamboo or wood". Cottages are thatched with straw and grass. The residents of India clean their floor and then smear it with a preparation of cow dung, followed by decorating it with flowers, unlike Chinese homes. Their children go to school at age seven, where they begin learning a number of treatises of

10032-546: The close connection to "yoga," ngal sbyor), "applied realizations." Referring to the above, Dreyfus explains that Tibetan tradition lays special emphasis on chapter four, perhaps because it is the longest and most complex, and therefore best suited to commentary and debate. This fourth chapter enumerates, and extensively describes, (in Obermiller's words) "173 forms of the Bodhisattva's yoga as realizing respectively

10164-547: The controversy reflects a fundamental tension between immanent and transcendent aspects of Buddhism, which is also reflected in debate over the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma , or gradual vs. sudden enlightenment (as at Samye ). In his view, all these controversies stem from a fundamental difficulty in reconciling the transcendent nature of Buddhahood with the immanent nature of bodhicitta . Obermiller, describing

10296-577: The country of Agni had more than ten monasteries following the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism, with two thousand monks who ate " three kinds of pure meat " with other foods, rather than vegetarian food only that would be consistent with Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Therefore, the Buddhists in this country had stagnated in their Buddhist teachings. Moving further westward, Xuanzang met about two thousand Turkic robbers on horses. The robbers began fighting with each other on how to fairly divide

10428-480: The country of Bactra, states Xuanzang, is a monastery with a Buddha's idol decorated with jewels and its halls studded with rare precious substances. The Buddhist monastery also has an image of Vaishravana deity as its guardian. The monastery and the capital attracts repeated raids from the Turk chieftains who seek to loot these precious jewels. This monastery has a large bathing pot that looks dazzlingly brilliant and has

10560-428: The curriculum of Drepung 's (’Bras spungs) Go mang college, reports that the monks studied the AA in a four-year sequence (after certain preliminary subjects); and that each class also studied a prescribed "secondary subject" (zur-bkol) for that year: Obermiller adds that "All these studies are conducted in the form of lectures which are accompanied by controversies between the different groups of students according to

10692-580: The degree. The institute failed to survive the Chinese Civil War . The AA seems not to have attracted the attention of Western scholars until the 1930s, when Eugène Obermiller and Theodore Stcherbatsky produced an edition of the Sanskrit / Tibetan text. Obermiller, a specialist in Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha literature, also wrote a lengthy article on the AA ("The Doctrine of PP...") and

10824-524: The details in the surviving versions of Xuanzang biography were invented or a paleographic confusion introduced an error, or the Persian-Turkish records are unreliable. The Japanese version is based on 8th to 10th-century translations of texts that ultimately came from Xuanzang's monastery, which unfortunately has added to the confusion. Most sources state that Xuanzang started his pilgrimage in 629 CE. Purpose of journey The purpose of my journey

10956-490: The diversity of languages spoken, how harmonious and elegant they sound when they speak their languages, Xuanzang presents the various kingdoms of India. Xuanzang includes a section on the differences between the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhist communities. There are eighteen sects in Buddhism, according to Xuanzang. They stand against each other, debate "various viewpoints, as vehemently as crashing waves". Though they share

11088-523: The dragon-horses. These were men who will have massacred an entire city, leaving the place deserted.". Further west he passed Aksu before turning northwest to cross the Tian Shan and then Tokmak on its northwest. He met the great Khagan of the Göktürks . After a feast, Xuanzang continued west then southwest to Tashkent , capital of modern Uzbekistan . Xuanzang describes more monasteries, such as

11220-454: The eight "realizations" said to be necessary for full enlightenment. (Conze remarks that these eight are "not attested elsewhere.") This division into eight appears thus at the beginning of the AA itself: These eight categories naturally fall into three groups, as shown below. The seventy topics (here enumerated but not shown) are their subdivisions. Obermiller traces this list to a manual attributed to 'Jam dbyangs Bzhad pa , who also created

11352-451: The emptiness of the five aggregates and of svabhava as being "empty of essential nature". The Theravada Kathavatthu also argues against the idea that emptiness is unconditioned. The Mahāvastu , an influential Mahāsāṃghika work, states that the Buddha "has shown that the aggregates are like a lightning flash, as a bubble, or as the white foam on a wave." One of the main themes of Harivarman's Tattvasiddhi -Śāstra (3rd-4th century)

11484-525: The exact philosophical meaning of emptiness. After the Buddha, emptiness was further developed by the Abhidharma schools, Nāgārjuna and the Mādhyamaka school, an early Mahāyāna school. Emptiness ("positively" interpreted) is also an important element of the Buddha-nature literature, which played a formative role in the evolution of subsequent Mahāyāna doctrine and practice. The Pāli Canon uses

11616-504: The face of the ontological groundlessness of the emptiness doctrine which can easily shock others. Mādhyamaka is a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of philosophy which focuses on the analysis of emptiness, and was thus also known as śūnyatavāda . The school is traditionally seen as being founded by the Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna . Nāgārjuna 's goal was to refute the essentialism of certain Abhidharma schools and

11748-648: The famed Nalanda University in modern day Bihar , India where he studied with the monk, Śīlabhadra . He departed from India with numerous Sanskrit texts on a caravan of twenty packhorses. His return was welcomed by Emperor Taizong in China, who encouraged him to write a travelogue. This Chinese travelogue, titled the Records of the Western Regions , is a notable source about Xuanzang, and also for scholarship on 7th-century India and Central Asia. His travelogue

11880-478: The few monks who can expound all four are provided with lay servants. Expounders of five texts have elephants for travel, while six texts entitles them to security retinue. Xuanzang describes Lampaka (modern Laghman , near the source of Kabul river) as the territory of north India, one whose circuit is more than 1000 li and where all monasteries studied Mahayana Buddhism. They have tens of Deva temples (Hindu) which heretics (non-Buddhists) frequent. To its southeast

12012-703: The five knowledges – first grammar, second technical skills which he states includes arts, mechanics, yin-yang and the calendar, third medicine, fourth being logic, and fifth field of knowledge taught is inner knowledge along with theory of cause and effect. After further similar introduction covering the diverse aspects of the Indian culture he observed, including fashion, hair styles, preference for being barefoot, ritual washing their hands after releasing bodily waste, cleaning teeth by chewing special tree twigs, taking baths before going to their temples, worshipping in their temples, their alphabet that contains forty seven letters,

12144-493: The form of eight categories and seventy topics—the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras which the Madhyamaka philosophical school regards as presenting the ultimate truth. Gareth Sparham and John Makransky believe the text to be commenting on the version in 25,000 lines, although it does not explicitly say so. Haribhadra, whose commentary is based on the 8,000-line PP Sūtra, held that the AA is commenting on all PP versions at once (i.e.

12276-466: The highest perfection. Perceiving dharmas and beings like an illusion ( māyādharmatām ) is termed the "great armor" ( mahāsaṃnaha ) of the Bodhisattva , who is also termed the 'illusory man' ( māyāpuruṣa ). The Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra adds the following similes to describe how all conditioned things are to be contemplated: like a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning. In

12408-648: The later Mahāvibhāṣa , also take up the theme of emptiness vis-a-vis dependent origination as found in the Agamas. Schools such as the Mahāsāṃghika Prajñaptivādins as well as many of the Sthavira schools (except the Pudgalavada ) held that all dharmas were empty ( dharma śūnyatā ). This can be seen in the early Theravada Abhidhamma texts such as the Patisambhidamagga , which also speak of

12540-408: The later form of Mahayana prospered. According to Xuanzang, these monasteries of early Buddhist schools are desolate and attract few monks. He then reached the city of Hi-lo and Manglaur . In all these places, he mentions how the Buddha lived here in one of his previous lives (Jataka legends) and illustrated compassion-strength through his actions. There is a Buddhist temple northeast of Manglaur with

12672-447: The list is quite difficult to decipher. The basic project seems to have been inspired by an earlier typology of four ( Stream-Enterer , Once-Returner , Non-Returner , Arhat ), which may be expanded to eight by distinguishing between approachers to (zhugs pa), or abiders at ('bras gnas), each level. Unfortunately the list of twenty does not correspond very well with this earlier one. Furthermore, Tibetan exegetical tradition estimates

12804-594: The loot. After the loot had thus been lost, they dispersed. Xuanzang thereafter reached the country of Kuchi . This country of 1000 li by 600 li, had over one hundred monasteries with five thousand monks following the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism, and studying its texts in "original Indian language". Xuanzang writes of a dragon race and a region where water dragons metamorphose into horses to mate and create dragon-horses, also into men and mating with women nearby, creating dragon-men who could run as fast as

12936-619: The loss of property. The villagers help his companions and him by hosting them before the resume their journey. Yet, elsewhere, Xuanzang also recites the implausible tale of meeting a Brahmana who was 700 years old and had two associates, each over 100 years old, who had mastered all of the Vedas and the Buddhist Madhyamika sastra . He calls them heretics (non-Buddhists). These heretics help him and his companions get new garments and food. He stayed with this implausibly old Brahmana for

13068-433: The method of 'sequence and reason' ( thal-phyir )." The subject of "Twenty Sangha" ( vimsatiprabhedasamgha, dge 'dun nyi shu) aims at schematizing the various spiritual levels through which one might pass on the way to enlightenment. Here "Sangha" refers not so much to actual monks and nuns (the term's most common meaning), but to an idealized, gradated schema of all the types of accomplished Buddhist. The AA explains that it

13200-596: The most influential classical Theravāda treatise, states that not-self does not become apparent because it is concealed by "compactness" when one does not give attention to the various elements which make up the person. The Paramatthamañjusa Visuddhimaggatika of Acariya Dhammapala , a 5th-century Theravāda commentary on the Visuddhimagga , comments on this passage by referring to the fact that we often assume unity and compactness regarding phenomena or functions which are instead made up of various elements, but when one sees that these are merely empty dhammas, one can understand

13332-417: The nature of things as emptiness, stating that things are like "illusions" ( māyā ) and "dreams" ( svapna ). The Astasahasrika Prajñaparamita , possibly the earliest of these sutras , states: If he knows the five aggregates as like an illusion, But makes not illusion one thing, and the aggregates another; If, freed from the notion of multiple things, he courses in peace— Then that is his practice of wisdom,

13464-405: The not-self characteristic: "when they are seen after resolving them by means of knowledge into these elements, they disintegrate like froth subjected to compression by the hand. They are mere states ( dhamma ) occurring due to conditions and void. In this way the characteristic of not-self becomes more evident." The modern Thai teacher Buddhadasa referred to emptiness as the "innermost heart" of

13596-534: The one below. The Chinese Āgamas contain various parallels to the Pheṇapiṇḍūpama Sutta . One partial parallel from the Ekottara Āgama describes the body with different metaphors: "a ball of snow", "a heap of dirt", "a mirage", "an illusion" ( māyā ), or "an empty fist used to fool a child". In a similar vein, the Mūla-Sarvāstivādin Māyājāla Sūtra , gives two sets of metaphors for each of

13728-409: The phonetic equivalent of what previously has been variously interpreted as "Tianzhu" or "Shengdu" or "Xiandou". More recent scholarship suggests the closest pronunciation of the 7th-century term in his travelogues would be "Indu". Xuanzang states that India is a vast country over ninety thousand li in circuit, with seventy kingdoms, sea on three sides and snow mountains to its north. It is a land that

13860-455: The prattle of fools." The Suñña Sutta , part of the Pāli Canon , relates that the monk Ānanda , Buddha's attendant asked, It is said that the world is empty, the world is empty, lord. In what respect is it said that the world is empty?" The Buddha replied, "In so far as it is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self: Thus it is said, Ānanda, that the world is empty. According to

13992-705: The prefect of Shangdang (上黨; present-day Changzhi , Shanxi ) during the Eastern Wei ; his grandfather Chen Kang (陳康) was a professor in the Taixue (Imperial Academy) during the Northern Qi . His father Chen Hui (陳惠) served as the magistrate of Jiangling County during the Sui dynasty . According to traditional biographies, Xuanzang displayed a superb intelligence and earnestness, studied with his father, and amazed him by his careful observance of filial piety after one such study about that topic. His elder brother

14124-479: The production of numerous commentaries. The first were those of "Ngok Lotsawa" or "Ngok the Translator" (Rngog Lo tsa ba Bal ldan Shes rab, 1059–1109): Mngon rtogs rgyan gyi don bsdus pa (a summary), Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i man ngag mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan gi tik chung (a "small" commentary), and an 8000-line Prajnaparamita summary called Yum brgyad stong pa'i 'grel pa'i don bsdus (possibly

14256-433: The remainderless extinction of Dukkha, means the same as supreme emptiness." Emptiness is also seen as a mode of perception which lacks all the usual conceptual elaborations we usually add on top of our experiences, such as the sense of "I" and "Mine". According to Thanissaro Bhikku , emptiness is not so much a metaphysical view, as it is a strategic mode of acting and of seeing the world which leads to liberation: Emptiness

14388-429: The s- or sh-like [ɕ] in today's Mandarin, was previously pronounced as the h-like [x] in early Mandarin, which accounts for the archaic transliterations with h . Another form of his official style was "Yuanzang", written 元奘. It is this form that accounts for such variants as Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. Tang Monk (Tang Seng) is also transliterated /Thang Seng/. Another of Xuanzang's standard aliases

14520-504: The same capital region, there is a Hinayana monastery with 300 monks at the northern foothills. The citizens of this country, adds Xuanzang, fondly recall "King Kanishka of Gandhara " (2nd-century CE, Kushan empire ). To its east are the "City of Svetavat temple" and the Aruna Mountain known for its frequent avalanches. His travelogue then describes several popular legends about a Naga king. He also describes miraculous events from

14652-480: The same goal, they study different subjects and use sharp words to argue. Each Buddhist sect has different set of rules and regulations for their monks. The monks who cannot expound a single text must do the routine monastic duties (cleaning monastery and such). Those who can expound one Buddhist text flawlessly is exempt from such duties. Those who can recite two texts, get better quality rooms. Monks who can expound three Buddhist texts get attendants to serve them, while

14784-538: The sensory consciousnesses to illustrate their vain, illusory character. Other Sarvāstivādin Āgama sutras (extant in Chinese) which have emptiness as a theme include Samyukta Āgama 335 - Paramārtha-śunyatā-sūtra ("Sutra on ultimate emptiness") and Samyukta Āgama 297 - Mahā-śunyatā-dharma-paryāya ("Greater discourse on emptiness"). These sutras have no parallel Pāli suttas. These sutras associate emptiness with dependent origination , which shows that this relation of

14916-635: The stupas and the Buddha images in this region as "magnificent" and made with "perfect craftmanship". Heading north towards Kashmir , he arrived in the city of Pushkalavati , with many holy Buddhist sites. Xuanzang worshipped at these "great stupas and big monasteries". Thereafter he reached the country of Udayana, through which flowed the Subhavastu river (now called Swat river). It had 1400 monasteries of five early Buddhist schools (of 18 sub-traditions) – Sarvastivada , Mahāsāṃghika , Kasyapiya, Mahisasaka and Dharmagupta. These schools became unpopular, as

15048-508: The sublime truth may also be known in the eastern country. — Xuanzang (Translator: Li Yung-hsi) In 630 CE, he arrived in the kingdom of Agni (Yanqi, in a place called Turpan ). Here he met the king, a Buddhist along with his uncle Jnanachandra and precept Mokshagupta, who tried to persuade him to quit his journey and teach them Buddhist knowledge. He declined and they equipped him further for his travels with letters of introduction and valuables to serve as funds. Xuanzang observed that

15180-422: The term śūnyatā ("emptiness") in three ways: "(1) as a meditative dwelling, (2) as an attribute of objects, and (3) as a type of awareness-release." According to Bhikkhu Analayo , in the Pāli Canon "the adjective suñña occurs with a much higher frequency than the corresponding noun suññatā" and emphasizes seeing phenomena as 'being empty' instead of an abstract idea of "emptiness." One example of this usage

15312-506: The term's origins: As to whether we are speaking of one realization, or of eight, Sparham offers the following explanation by rGyal tshab rJe , a 14th-15th century Tibetan commentator: Elaborating on the metaphor, Geshe Jampa Gyatso distinguishes between a "natural ornament" (the beautiful woman, the Perfection of Wisdom), "beautifying ornament" (her jewelry, the eight categories and seventy topics), "clarifying ornament" (the mirror,

15444-412: The terms "void" ( rittaka ), "hollow" ( tucchaka ), and "coreless" ( asāraka ) are also used in the early texts to refer to words and things which are deceptive, false, vain, and worthless. This sense of worthlessness and vacuousness is also found in other uses of the term māyā , such as the following: "Monks, sensual pleasures are impermanent, hollow, false, deceptive; they are illusory ( māyākatame ),

15576-405: The text. The AA is widely held to reflect the hidden meaning ( sbas don ) of the PP, with the implication being that its details are not found there explicitly. (Sparham traces this tradition to Haribhadra's student Dharmamitra.) One noteworthy effect is to recast PP texts as path literature. Philosophical differences may also be identified. Conze and Makransky see the AA as an attempt to reinterpret

15708-569: The truths of anitya (impermanence), anatman (selflessness), and dukha (suffering), must acquire knowledge of the fundamental constituents of reality ( vastu )--namely the skandhas , ayatanas , and dhatus which are the subjects of Abhidharma . This is the "all-knowledge" of chapter three. A bodhisattva, in order to benefit all sentient beings, must additionally cognize the various possible paths by which others may progress, so that he may, for example, teach in different ways in accordance with their various situations and capacities. This

15840-651: The two terms was already established in pre- Nagarjuna sources. The sutra on great emptiness states: "What is the Dharma Discourse on Great Emptiness? It is this—'When this exists, that exists; when this arises, that arises.'" The phrase "when this exists ..." is a common gloss on dependent origination . Sarvāstivādin Āgamas also speak of a certain "emptiness samadhi " ( śūnyatāsamādhi ) as well as stating that all dharmas are "classified as conventional". Mun-Keat Choong and Yin Shun have both published studies on

15972-828: The various definitions and category-boundaries familiar to Tibetan debaters. The text may be subdivided further still, into 1,200 items. Unless otherwise indicated, the English terms below follow Sparham's translation (which revises Conze's). The first three categories represent the objects or goals of practice, whose attainment leads to peace for the four classes of Buddhist practitioner. Obermiller calls them "the 3 Kinds of Omniscience," while Toh prefers "the Three Exalted Knowers" and Berzin, "the Three Sets of Realized Awareness." Berzin explains these categories as Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas , in order to discern

16104-492: The various discrepancies between nikaya Buddhism and the Mahayana scriptures—and following the Sandhinirmocana Sutra , hold that the Buddha taught three grand cycles called " Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma ." According to the sutra, the first of these consists of Hinayana teachings; the second, of Mahdyamaka teachings; and the third, of Yogacara teachings. The sutra seems to assume the third cycle to consist of

16236-526: The various uses of emptiness in the Early Buddhist texts ( Pāli Canon and Chinese Āgamas ). Choong has also published a collection of translations of Āgama sutras from the Chinese on the topic of emptiness. Many of the early Buddhist schools featured śūnyatā as an important part of their teachings. The Sarvastivadin school's Abhidharma texts like the Dharmaskandhapāda Śāstra , and

16368-498: The world we live in. Although these stories and views have their uses, the Buddha found that some of the more abstract questions they raise — of our true identity and the reality of the world outside — pull attention away from a direct experience of how events influence one another in the immediate present. Thus they get in the way when we try to understand and solve the problem of suffering. Some Theravādins, such as David Kalupahana , see Nagarjuna 's view of emptiness as compatible with

16500-478: The worldview of these sutras, though we perceive a world of concrete and discrete objects, these objects are "empty" of the identity imputed by their designated labels. In that sense, they are deceptive and like an illusion. The Perfection of Wisdom texts constantly repeat that nothing can be found to ultimately exist in some fundamental way. This applies even to the highest Buddhist concepts ( bodhisattvas , bodhicitta , and even prajña itself). Even nirvana itself

16632-591: Was already a monk in a Buddhist monastery. Inspired, at a young age, Xuanzang expressed interest in becoming a Buddhist monk like his brother. After the death of his father in 611, he lived with his older brother Chen Su ( Chinese : 陳素 ), later known as Zhangjie ( Chinese : 長捷 ), for five years at Jingtu Monastery ( Chinese : 淨土寺 ) in Luoyang , supported by the Sui state. During this time he studied Mahayana as well as various early Buddhist schools . In 618,

16764-402: Was also concerned about the competing Buddhist theories in variant Chinese translations. He sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues. At age 27, he began his seventeen-year overland journey to India. He defied his nation's ban on travel abroad, making his way through central Asian cities such as Khotan to India. He visited, among other places,

16896-458: Was composed by Buddhist scholars and philosophers. The Prajñāpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras taught that all entities, including dharmas , are empty of self, essential core, or intrinsic nature ( svabhava ), being only conceptual existents or constructs. The notion of prajña (wisdom, knowledge) presented in these sutras is a deep non-conceptual understanding of emptiness. The Prajñāpāramitā sutras also use various metaphors to explain

17028-479: Was in the process of composing Analysis of the AA when he died. While Obermiller approached the AA from the perspective of "Monism," which he associated with Vedanta, his studies in the Buryat Mongolian monastery of Dgah ldan dar rgyas gling (Chilutai) exposed him to a more traditional hermeneutic framework. Along with a translation of the AA (or the three-fifths of it which he finished), he also provided

17160-583: Was over one thousand foot long. The people and the king of this valley serve the Buddhist monks, records Xuanzang. Heading east and crossing the Black range, Xuanzang describes the country of Kapishi , where the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism had come in vogue. It had over 100 monasteries with stupas. More than 6000 monks, mostly Mahayana, studied here. Along with these Buddhist monasteries, states his travelogue, there were over ten Deva temples (Hindu) with "heretical believers who go about naked and smear dust over their bodies", translates Li Rongxi. Furthermore, in

17292-441: Was the disciple of Śāntarakṣita , an influential early Indian missionary to Tibet. Je Tsongkhapa 's writings name the AA as the root text of the lamrim tradition founded by Atiśa . Georges Dreyfus reports that "Gelug monastic universities... take the Ornament as the central text for the study of the path; they treat it as a kind of Buddhist encyclopedia, read in the light of commentaries by Je Dzong-ka-ba, Gyel-tsap Je , and

17424-550: Was young. Taking the monastic name Xuanzang, he was fully ordained as a monk in 622, at the age of twenty. The myriad contradictions and discrepancies in the Chinese translations at that time prompted Xuanzang to decide to go to India and study in the cradle of Buddhism. He knew about Faxian 's visit to India and, like him, sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues. Xuanzang started his pilgrimage to India in either 627 or 629 CE, according to two East Asian versions. The 627 CE version

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