112-702: Sambodhi Chaithya (also sometimes called Buddha Jayanthi Chaithya ) is a stupa , a Buddhist shrine , built with reinforced concrete . The stupa is located in Colombo Harbour , Sri Lanka . It was designed by renowned Sri Lankan engineer A. N. S. Kulasinghe and construction began in 1956 to commemorate the Sambuddhatva jayanthi by the Colombo Port Commission and completed by the Colombo Port Authority. Built on
224-521: A coping —became a feature of safety surrounding a stupa. The Buddha had left instructions about how to pay homage to the stupas: "And whoever lays wreaths or puts sweet perfumes and colours there with a devout heart, will reap benefits for a long time". This practice would lead to the decoration of the stupas with stone sculptures of flower garlands in the Classical period. According to Buddhist tradition, Emperor Ashoka (rule: 273–232 BCE) recovered
336-410: A pradakhshina path around them. The original South Asian form is a large solid dome above a tholobate , or drum, with vertical sides, which usually sits on a square base. There is no access to the inside of the structure. In large stupas, there may be walkways for circumambulation on top of the base as well as on the ground below it. Large stupas have, or had, vedikā railings outside the path around
448-479: A stupa ( Sanskrit : स्तूप , lit. 'heap', IAST : stūpa ) is a mound -like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as śarīra – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns ) that is used as a place of meditation . Circumambulation , or pradakhshina , has been an important ritual and devotional practice in Buddhism since the earliest times, and stupas always have
560-408: A Buddha (tathāgata): the space at the center of a stūpa, where lies hidden that which is essential to a Buddha and most precious to the world after his (apparent) departure from it." The term “chamber for a relic” (dhātugarbha) is attested in many Buddhist texts. Due to this, Radich argues that the term tathāgatagarbha also developed as an internalized buddha relic which came to refer to the presence of
672-507: A billion worlds, and yet, ultimately, I do not take parinirvāṇa.” According to Radich, the tathāgatagarbha idea in the Nirvana sutra is closely related to the positive elements of this docetic Buddhology, which refers to the idea that since the Buddha did not have a normal human body (nor did he gestate in a normal womb), he must have had some other transcendent type of body (which requires
784-405: A buddha's qualities, mode of being or body which was not located in a stupa but in sentient beings. Another key aspect of the buddha-nature as taught in the Nirvana sutra is that it can only be directly perceived by a fully awakened Buddha, though the sutra says that a bodhisattva at the tenth stage (bhūmi) can also perceive buddha-nature in an imperfect and indistinct manner. Since according to
896-535: A certain area is decided together with the teacher assisting in the construction. Sometimes the type chosen is directly connected with events that have taken place in the area. All stupas contain a treasury filled with various objects. Small clay votive offerings called tsatsa s in Tibetan fill most of the treasury. The creation of the tsatsa s is itself a ceremony. Mantras written on paper are made into thin rolls and put into small clay stupas. One layer of tsatsa s
1008-488: A compilation period between 100 CE and 220 CE for the core sutra. The Indian version of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra underwent a number of stages in its composition. Masahiro Shimoda discerns several main stages: The Nirvana sutra is an extremely influential work for East-Asian Buddhism . It was translated various times and two major Chinese translations are extant. The translation by Dharmakṣema (c. 385–433)
1120-697: A deep and wide rock-cut chamber, surrounded on the ground by a massive circular mud-brick structure made in two tiers, and filled in and topped with earth to form a domical shape. There is also evidence of plastering on the exterior of Tumulus-1, bearing a 10- mm-thick plaster of pinkish-white clay over brick masonry. These forms of hemispherical monuments or tumulus of brick-masonry with similar layouts may have been inspirations for later stupas. Some stupas not believed to have been looted have been found empty when excavated, as have some pre-historic cairn sites, and animal bones are suspected to have occasionally been deposited at both types of sites. Religious buildings in
1232-420: A feature of buddha-nature is also found in the Śrīmālādevī sūtra . Paul Williams also notes that while we can speak of the tathāgatagarbha as a Self, this is a much more complex issue since the sutra also speaks of the importance of the not-self teaching, saying that those who have notions of a self cannot perceive buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra is aware that there are numerous non-buddhist accounts of
SECTION 10
#17327805040031344-515: A number of early Buddhist stupas or burials are found in the vicinity of much older, pre-historic burials, including megalithic burial sites. This includes sites associated with the Indus Valley Civilization , where broken Indus-era pottery was incorporated into later Buddhist burials. Scholars have noted structural and functional features of the stupa (including its general mound shape and the practice of surrounding stupas with
1456-557: A platform supported by two interlocking arches, the stupa is place above the Marine Drive at the entrance of the Colombo Harbour. This main road leading to the harbour has since been renamed Chaithya Road after the stupa . The walkway has 123 steps. [REDACTED] Sri Lanka portal This article about a Buddhist place of worship is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Stupa In Buddhism,
1568-521: A region in southern India during the time of the Śātavāhana dynasty , likely the 2nd century CE. The Śātavāhana rulers gave rich patronage to Buddhism, and were involved with the development of the cave temples at Karla and Ajaṇṭā , and also with the Great Amarāvati Stupa . During this time, the Śātavāhana dynasty also maintained extensive links with the Kuṣāṇa Empire . Hodge argues that it
1680-467: A rich family, having a beautiful body, a nice voice, bringing joy to others, and having a long and happy life in which one's wishes are quickly fulfilled. On the absolute level, one will also be able to quickly reach enlightenment , the goal of Buddhism. Destroying a stupa, on the other hand, is considered an extremely negative deed, similar to murder. Such an action is said to create massive negative karmic imprints, leading to serious future problems. It
1792-460: A seated position, called caitya . In early Buddhist inscriptions in India, stupa and caitya appear to be almost interchangeable, though caitya has a broader meaning, and unlike stupa does not define an architectural form . In pre-Buddhist India, caitya was a term for a shrine, sanctuary, or holy place in the landscape, generally outdoors, inhabited by, or sacred to, a particular deity. In
1904-472: A self are rejected in the Nirvana sutra (including some of the theories taught in the Upanishads ), in which the self is "some kernel of identity hidden within the body" which is a "person" (pudgala), a jīva , a "doer" (kartṛ) or a "master" (zhu 主). According to Williams, the "Self" taught in the Nirvana sutra "is not a Self in the worldly sense taught by non-Buddhist thinkers, or maintained to exist by
2016-409: A self which might sound similar to its own self theory and it argues that if they seem similar, this is due to two reasons. The first is that non-buddhist ātmavāda theories are often misinterpretations or misrememberings of what was taught by a bodhisattva and the second is that they may be skillful means taught to non-buddhists by Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Furthermore, numerous non-buddhist doctrines of
2128-408: A self! I constantly teach that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature; is Buddha-nature not the self? Hence, I have not taught an annihilationist view." The Buddha then states the reason he teaches not-self (and impermanence, suffering, and impurity) is because sentient beings do not see the buddha-nature. Later on in the sutra, the Buddha also states: Good son, this Buddha-nature is in truth not
2240-578: A set, placed in a row. The Tibetan set differs slightly (by two events) from the Indian set of Eight Great Events in the Life of Buddha . Also known as "Stupa of Heaped Lotuses", or "Birth of the Sugata Stupa", this stupa refers to the birth of Gautama Buddha. "At birth Buddha took seven steps in each of the four directions" (east, south, west, and north). In each direction, lotuses sprang up, symbolizing
2352-561: A stone, relic chamber, or wooden railing) with both pre- Mauryan-era cairn and pre-historic megalithic "round mound" burials with chambers found in India, which likely represent a "proto-stupa". In Dholavira , an archeological site associated with the Indus Valley Civilization, there are several large and high "hemispherical monuments" of tumulus with brick-masonry found with burial chambers inside. Among them, Tumulus-1 and Tumulus-2 mounds were excavated. They consist of
SECTION 20
#17327805040032464-604: A stupa was, had demonstrated the basic design: he folded his robe on the ground, placed his begging bowl upside down on it, with his staff above that. The relics of the Buddha were spread between eight stupas, in Rajagriha , Vaishali , Kapilavastu , Allakappa , Ramagrama , Pava , Kushinagar , and Vethapida . Lars Fogelin has stated that the Relic Stupa of Vaishali is likely the earliest archaeologically known stupa. Guard rails —consisting of posts, crossbars, and
2576-437: A transcendent womb, the tathāgata-garbha, "buddha womb"). The doctrine of the "buddha-dhātu" (buddha-nature, buddha-element, Chinese: 佛性 foxing , Tibetan: sangs rgyas gyi khams ), which refers to the fundamental nature of the Buddha, is a central teaching of the Nirvana sutra . According to the Nirvana sutra , "all sentient beings possess buddha-nature without distinction" (Chinese:一切眾生皆有佛性而無差別) . According to Sally King,
2688-489: A true self ( ātman ), a “supreme essence” (Tibetan: snying po’i mchog) and as a "great self" ( mahātman, 大我) that is eternal, pure and blissful, and is also separate from the five aggregates and beyond samsaric phenomena. For example, the sutra states: The real self is the nature of the Tathāgata ( 如來性). Know that all sentient beings have this, but as those sentient beings are enshrouded by immeasurable afflictions, it
2800-590: A well-preserved stupa at Shingardar near Ghalegay ; another stupa is located near Barikot and Dharmarajika-Taxila in Pakistan. In Sri Lanka, the ancient city of Anuradhapura includes some of the tallest, most ancient, and best-preserved stupas in the world, such as Ruwanwelisaya . The most elaborate stupa is the 8th-century Borobudur monument in Java, Indonesia. The upper rounded terrace, with rows of bell-shaped stupas, contain Buddha images symbolizing Arūpajhāna ,
2912-455: A whole range of sizes, which typically had much taller drums, relative to the height of the dome. Small votive stupas paid for by pilgrims might be less than a metre high, and laid out in rows by the hundred, as at Ratnagiri, Odisha , India. The principal design of the stupa may have been influenced by the shikharas seen on Hindu temples . As Buddhism spread across Asia , stupas were stylistically altered into other structural forms used for
3024-714: A wider cultural tradition from the Mediterranean to the Ganges Valley and can be related to the conical mounds on circular bases from the 8th century BCE that are found in Phrygia (tomb of Midas , 8th c. BCE), Lydia (tomb of Alyattes , 6th c. BCE), or in Phoenicia (tombs of Amrit , 5th c. BCE). Some authors suggest stupas emerged from megalithic mound burials with chambers, which likely represent proto-stupas. Archaeologists in India have observed that
3136-484: Is also depicted much more positively in the longer versions of the sutra). As such, the icchantika doctrine has caused much controversy and debate in East Asian Buddhism. According to Karashima, the word icchantika derives from the verb icchati (to claim, to hold, to maintain) and the term is thus best understood as "someone who [makes] claims; an opinionated [person]." Specifically, the icchantika
3248-589: Is an influential Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture of the Buddha-nature class. The original title of the sutra was Mahāparinirvāṇamahāsūtra ( Great Scripture of the Great Perfect Nirvāṇa ) and the earliest version of the text was associated with the Mahāsāṃghika - Lokottaravāda school. The sutra was particularly important for the development of East Asian Buddhism . The Nirvana sutra uses
3360-399: Is cited widely by numerous East Asian Buddhist authors. The sutra was a key scriptural source for the idea that all sentient beings have buddha-nature, which was seen as an active force in the world. It was also influential due to its teachings promoting vegetarianism and its teachings on the eternal nature of the Buddha. All these doctrines became central teachings of Chinese Buddhism. In
3472-679: Is crowned by the shape of a hemispherical stupa topped by finials , forming a logical elongation of the stepped Gandharan stupas such as those seen in Jaulian . Although the current structure of the Mahabdhodi Temple dates to the Gupta period (5th century CE), the "Plaque of Mahabhodi Temple", discovered in Kumrahar and dated to 150–200 CE, based on its dated Kharoshthi inscriptions and combined finds of Huvishka coins, suggests that
Sambodhi Chaithya - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-445: Is endowed with the powers and qualities of a buddha is free of any karma or affliction ( klesha ), transcending the five skandhas and the twelve links of dependent arising . However, in order to become true Buddhas, sentient beings need to practice the six pāramitās which actualize their buddha potential into full Buddhahood. This is compared to how milk is made into cream or butter through additional conditions . As such,
3696-400: Is impermanent as permanent (nitya), they see what is not-self as a self (ātman), they see what is impure as pure (śubha/śuci) and they see what is suffering as being pleasant or blissful (sukha). The Nirvana sutra claims that while these four do apply to samsaric phenomena, when it comes to the "supreme dharma(s)" ( zhenshifa 真實法, *paramadharma, like Buddha and buddha-nature), the opposite is
3808-609: Is likely that the text was composed "in a Mahāsāṃghika environment" like Karli or Amaravatī - Dhanyakaṭaka . Hiromi Habata likewise associated the sutra with the Mahāsāṃghika - Lokottaravāda school. According to Stephen Hodge, internal textual evidence in the Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra , Mahābheri Sūtra , and the Nirvāṇa indicates that these texts initially circulated in South India, but then gradually began to be propagated in
3920-485: Is mysteriously hidden from the view of ordinary people. Blum notes that the two major Chinese versions of the sutra don't use the literal Chinese term for embryo or womb, but speak of the "wondrous interior treasure-house of the Buddha" which is always present within all beings. This inner treasure, a pure "buddha-relic" within, is obscured by the negative mental afflictions of each sentient being. Once these negative mental states have been eliminated, however, buddha-nature
4032-406: Is not manifested. The Indic term "ātman" generally referred to "the permanent and indestructible essence, or an unchanging central element, of any human or other sentient being", and the idea that such a thing existed was widely rejected by mainstream Indian Buddhism . In teaching the existence of a permanent element (Tibetan: yang dag khams ) in sentient beings that allows them to become Buddhas,
4144-401: Is not the self). This is part of his skillful means (upaya) to guide beings to liberation. The Nirvana sutra states that those who see everything as empty and fail to see what is not empty do not know the true middle way . Likewise, those who see everything as not-self but fail to see what is Self also fail to see the true middle way, which is the buddha nature . According to Mark Blum,
4256-544: Is placed in the treasury, and the empty space between them is filled with dry sand. On the thus-created new surface, another layer of tsatsa s is made, and so on, until the entire space of the treasury is full. The number of tsatsa s required to completely fill the treasury depends on its size and the size of the tsats a. For example, the Kalachakra stupa in southern Spain contains approximately 14,000 tsatsa s. Jewellery and other "precious" objects are also placed in
4368-590: Is positioned during a ceremony or initiation, where the participants hold colorful ribbons connected to the Tree of Life. Together, the participants make their most positive and powerful wishes, which are stored in the Tree of Life. In this way, the stupa is charged and starts to function. Building a stupa is considered extremely beneficial, leaving very positive karmic imprints in the mind. Future benefits from this action are said to result in fortunate rebirths. Fortunate worldly benefits also result, such as being born into
4480-727: Is said this action leaves the mind in a state of paranoia after death has occurred, leading to unfortunate rebirths. Stupas in Tibet and Tibetan-influenced regions of the Himalayas , such as Bhutan , are usually called "chorten" in English, reflecting the term in the Tibetan language . There are eight different shapes of chortens in Tibetan Buddhism , each referring to a major event in the Buddha's life. Chortens are often made as
4592-580: Is said to shine forth unimpededly. The Nirvana sutra's explanation of buddha-nature is multifaceted and complex. Karl Brunnholzl argues that there three main meanings of buddha-nature in the Nirvana sutra: (1) an intrinsic pure nature that merely has to be revealed, (2) a seed or potential that can grow into Buddhahood with the right conditions, (3) the idea that the Mahayana path is open to all . The Nirvana sutra states that buddha-nature as buddhahood
Sambodhi Chaithya - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-497: Is significantly longer and this has led some scholars to argue that the latter portions of this edition were composed in China. This longer edition was also the most important and popular one in China, Japan and Korea, since it promoted the universality of Buddha nature and Buddhahood. The six fascicle version on the other hand was mostly ignored according to Blum. Dharmakṣema's Nirvana sutra inspired numerous sutra commentaries and
4816-462: Is the teaching of "the nature of the Tathāgata, which is the supermundane, supreme self" (離世真實之我, possibly * lokottaraparamātman ). Another important element of the relationship between not-self and true self in the Nirvana sutra is that they are seen as non-dual (advaya), as two sides of the same coin so to speak. Thus, according to the Nirvana : "the wise know that the existence of the self and absence of self are non-dual." In making this claim,
4928-481: Is uncertain, but its early form may have developed in or by the second century CE. The original Sanskrit text is not extant except for a small number of fragments, but it survives in Chinese and Tibetan translation. The Nirvana sutra was translated into Chinese various times. The most important editions are the 416 CE "six fascicle text" and the 421 CE translation of Dharmakṣema , which is about four times longer than
5040-573: The Aṅgulimāla and the Lotus sutra (he is also called Sarvalokapriyadarśana in the Mahāmegha and Mahābherīhāraka ). This figure is connected with the teaching of the eternity of the Buddha and is said to have been born during the a Śātavāhana king (a prophesy placed in the mouth of the Buddha himself in some sources). According to Hodge, Sarvasattvapriyadarśana may have been a historical figure connected to
5152-581: The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra , near the end of his life, the Buddha remarks to Ananda how beautiful are the various caitya around Vaishali . In later times and in other countries, cetiya /caitya implies the presence of important relics. Both words have forms prefixed by maha for "great", "large", or "important", but scholars find the difference between a mahastupa and a stupa , or mahacetiya and cetiya , hard to pin down. Some authors have suggested that stupas were derived from
5264-481: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra , which is cited by name in the Nirvana sutra ). These similes suggest a more immanent understanding of buddha-nature in which the buddha element is merely something to be revealed . Furthermore, other similes reject the idea that buddha-nature abides in sentient beings at all, stating that buddha-nature abides nowhere, like how the sound made by a lute is not located in any part of
5376-442: The sangha . A stupa in this design was built in the kingdom of Magadha , where the reconciliation occurred. It has four octagonal steps with equal sides. This stupa commemorates Buddha's successful prolonging of his life by three months. It has only three steps, which are circular and unadorned. This stupa refers to the parinirvana , or death of the Buddha, when he was 80 years old. It symbolizes his complete absorption into
5488-489: The Lotus Sutra . Due to its status in these doctrinal traditions, it also became important for numerous Japanese Buddhist schools like Zen , Nichiren and Shin Buddhism . The work is cited by key Japanese Buddhist figures like Dōgen , Nichiren and Shinran . The Nirvana Sutra is among the most important sources and influences on Shinran 's magnum opus, Kyogyoshinsho . Shinran relies on crucial passages from
5600-509: The Nirvana Sutra for the more theoretical elaboration of the meaning of shinjin . Similarly, the Nirvana is a key source for Dōgen's view of buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra 's setting is the final hours of the Buddha's life. Unlike the early Buddhist Mahaparanibbana sutta , Ananda , the Buddha's attendant, is mostly absent from the Nirvana sutra (instead, the main interlocutor is Mañjuśrī ). The Nirvana sutra also ends with
5712-412: The Nirvana sutra criticizes those who think that buddha-nature means that all beings are already full Buddhas and do not need to practice the bodhisattva path . However, other similes in the Nirvana sutra contain slightly different characterizations of buddha-nature. For example, one simile compares the buddha nature to a treasure buried under the earth, or a to a gold mine (both which are found in
SECTION 50
#17327805040035824-417: The Nirvana sutra discusses the idea of the icchantikas , a class of sentient beings who "have little or no chance of liberation." The icchantika idea is discussed in various ways throughout the different versions of the sutra, and the issue is complex, though as Blum writes the Nirvana sutra seems "ambivalent on whether or not icchantikas can attain buddhahood". The Nirvana sutra 's precise date of origin
5936-481: The Nirvana sutra sees the Buddhist doctrine of not-self as "a very important doctrine to be expounded when the listener is attached to his or her notion of selfhood or personality, because it deconstructs that object of attachment, revealing its nature as a fantasy." However, the sutra understands both the not-self and emptiness teachings as being skillful means , not ultimate truths. The Nirvana sutra also affirms
6048-469: The Nirvana sutra , "the nature of the Tathāgata is difficult to see", the sutra emphasizes the importance of faith ( śraddhā ) in both the Nirvana sutra itself and in the buddha-nature, saying that "only one who follows the teachings of the Tathāgata, faithfully committing oneself to them, after that sees their equality [to the Buddha]." The Nirvana sutra describes Buddhahood and buddha-nature as
6160-564: The Pali word for stupa, thupa , with the Sanskrit pronunciation being stupa . In particular the type of the tower-like stupa, the last stage of Gandharan stupa development, visible in the second Kanishka Stupa (4th century), is thought to be the precursor of the tower stupas in Turkestan and the Chinese pagodas such as Songyue Pagoda (523 CE). The earliest archaeological evidence for
6272-695: The Southern Dynasties (420-589) period, there was a Chinese Buddhist school devoted to the Dharmakṣema Nirvana sutra , which was simply called the "Nirvana School" ( nièpán-zong ) and was also influenced by the works of Daosheng . This school taught the universality of Buddha nature and the capacity for even icchantikas to attain Buddhahood. The school thrived in the Liang dynasty (502-557) and many of its teachings were incorporated into
6384-655: The Tiantai school. During the Liang, the school's teachings were supplemented by the teachings of the Tattvasiddhi-Śāstra by scholars like Pao-liang (d. 509). The Nirvana sutra was also seen as a key sutra for both the Tiantai and the Huayan schools, the main doctrinal schools of Chinese Buddhism . The key Tiantai exegete Zhiyi even saw the sutra as a final teaching of the Buddha and as being of equal status to
6496-587: The Twelve Nidānas . At 42 years of age, Buddha spent a summer retreat in the Tuṣita Heaven , where his mother had taken rebirth. In order to repay her kindness, he taught the dharma to her rebirth. Local inhabitants built a stupa in Sankassa in order to commemorate this event. This type of stupa is characterized by having a central projection at each side, containing a triple ladder, or steps. Also known as
6608-461: The brahmaviharas : love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. The base of this stupa is circular and has four steps, and it is decorated with lotus-petal designs. Occasionally, seven heaped lotus steps are constructed. These refer to the seven first steps of the Buddha. Also known as the "Stupa of the Conquest of Mara ", this stupa symbolizes the 35-year-old Buddha's attainment of enlightenment under
6720-515: The "Stupa of Conquest of the Tirthikas ", this stupa refers to various miracles performed by the Buddha when he was 50 years old. Legend claims that he overpowered maras and heretics by engaging them in intellectual arguments and also by performing miracles. This stupa was raised by the Lichavi kingdom to commemorate the event. This stupa commemorates the Buddha's resolution of a dispute among
6832-405: The "womb of the tathāgata". The Chinese typically translated the term as 如來藏 rúlái zàng ("tathāgata storehouse," "tathāgata matrix", or "tathāgata chamber"). However, according to Mark Blum, Dharmaksema translates tathāgatagārbha as Chinese : 如來密藏 ; pinyin : rúlái mìzàng or simply mìzàng, "tathagata's hidden treasury". This treasury is seen as a wondrous liberating truth that
SECTION 60
#17327805040036944-437: The Buddha lying down, but it does not depict his actual parinirvāṇa , nor does it depict the cremation , and other episodes after his death, like the division of relics and Mahakasyapa paying respect to his body etc. According to Sallie B. King, the Nirvana sutra is somewhat unsystematic and this made it a fruitful sutra for later commentators who drew on it for various doctrinal and exegetical purposes. King notes that
7056-455: The Buddha merely appears to be born, practice the path, achieve nirvana and die in order to be "in accordance with the world" (lokānuvartanā, Ch. suishun shijian , 隨順世間) so that people would trust him as a human sage. However, in reality, his nature is eternal and unchanging. As the Buddha says in the Nirvana sutra, "at times, I show [myself entering into] parinirvāṇa in the Jambudvīpas of
7168-483: The Dharmakāya with the buddha-nature and states that it has four perfections ( pāramitās ): permanence, bliss, purity, and selfhood. According to Shimoda and Radich, this theme is the central theme of what is perhaps the earliest textual layer of the Nirvana sutra. Radich also notes that the Nirvana sutra refers to itself by alternative titles, including Tathāgataśāśvata-sūtra/Tathāgatanityatva-sūtra, which indicate
7280-519: The Nirvana sutra lineage (even its founder) in south India. After the situation in the south became unfavorable for this tradition, it was taken to Kashmir, where later parts of the text were written, reflecting the decline narrative of some parts of the text. Shimoda Masahiro proposes that the earliest part of the Nirvana sutra is related to the views and practices of itinerant dharma preachers called dharmakathikas or dharmabhānakas (說法者 or 法師). These figures frequently went on pilgrimage to stūpa sites in
7392-402: The Tathāgata is soft, can easily be broken, and is the same as that of common mortals. O good man! Know now that for countless billions of kalpas, the body of the Tathāgata has been strong, firm, and indestructible. The Nirvana sutra thus presents the Buddha as an eternal and transcendent being ( lokottara ) who is beyond being and non-being and is Thusness ( tathata ), the ultimate reality,
7504-468: The apparent death of his body), he is in fact eternal and immortal, since he was never born, and had no beginning or end. The sutra states: The body of the Tathāgata is an eternal body (*nityakāya), an indestructible body (*abhedakāya), an adamant body (*vajrakāya); it is not a body sustained by various kinds of food. That is to say, it is the Dharma Body (*dharmakāya). Do not say now that the body of
7616-497: The area of Gandhara. Since Buddhism spread to Central Asia , China, and ultimately Korea and Japan through Gandhara, the stylistic evolution of the Gandharan stupa was very influential in the later development of the stupa (and related artistic or architectural forms ) in these areas. The Gandhara stupa followed several steps, generally moving towards more and more elevation and addition of decorative elements, leading eventually to
7728-481: The backdrop of the Buddha's final nirvana to discuss the nature of the Buddha , who is described in this sutra as undying and eternal, without beginning or end. The text also discusses the associated doctrine of buddha-nature ( tathāgatagarbha ) which is said to be a "hidden treasury" within all living beings that is eternal (nitya), blissful, Self ( atman ), and pure (shudda). Due to this buddha nature, all beings have
7840-520: The base, often highly decorated with sculpture, especially at the torana gateways, of which there are usually four. At the top of the dome is a thin vertical element, with one or more horizontal discs spreading from it. These were chatra s , symbolic umbrellas, and have not survived, if not restored. The Great Stupa at Sanchi , Madhya Pradesh, is the most famous and best-preserved early stupa in India. Apart from very large stupas, designed to attract pilgrims, there were large numbers of smaller stupas in
7952-447: The bell-shaped stupas at Borobudur is located at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery , near Hemel Hempstead , in the UK. Built for a variety of reasons, Buddhist stupas are classified, based on form and function, into five types: "The shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. His crown is the top of the spire; his head is the square at
8064-677: The bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya , where he conquered worldly temptations and attacks, manifesting in the form of Mara. This stupa is also known as the "Stupa of Many Gates". After reaching enlightenment, the Buddha taught his first students in a deer park near Sarnath . The series of doors on each side of the steps represents the first teachings: the Four Noble Truths , the Six Pāramitās , the Noble Eightfold Path , and
8176-416: The capacity to reach Buddhahood . Some scholars like Michael Radich and Shimoda Masahiro think that the Nirvana sutra might be the earliest source for the idea of buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra also discusses the teachings of not-self and emptiness , and how they are incomplete unless they are complemented by the teaching of "non-emptiness" and the true self, which is buddha-nature. Furthermore,
8288-599: The case. As the sutra states: Monks, whatever you mentally cultivate, repeatedly and increasingly and with full acceptance, to be in all instances impermanent, unsatisfactory, without self, and impure, amid these there is that which exhibits permanence, bliss, purity and selfhood... As such, the Nirvana sutra claims that buddha-nature (and the Buddha's body, his Dharmakaya) is characterized by four perfections (pāramitās) or qualities (which are denied in classic Buddhist doctrine): permanence ( nitya ), bliss ( sukha ), self ( ātman ), and purity ( śuddha). The four perfections as
8400-419: The company of laypeople who were allowed to protect them with swords and staves. They may have also believed in the eternal nature of the Buddha and his vajra body. According to Shimoda, the authors of the Nirvana sutra, as advocates of stupa worship, would have known how the term buddhadhātu originally referred to śarīra or physical relics of the Buddha. According to Shimoda's theory, these figures used
8512-404: The correct teaching about the self (i.e. the buddha-nature) could be given. This is why according to the Nirvana sutra, "the Buddha teaches that the nature of the Tathāgata (如來性) is the real self (真實我), but if with respect to this tenet one mentally cultivates [the thought] that it is not the self, this is called the third distortion." Using another medicinal simile, the Nirvana sutra compares
8624-533: The development of the pagoda tower. The main stupa types are, in chronological order: It is thought that the temple in the shape of a truncated pyramid may have derived from the design of the stepped stupas that developed in Gandhara. The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is one such example, formed of a succession of steps with niches containing Buddha images, alternating with Greco-Roman pillars. The structure
8736-582: The earlier one. This sutra should not be confused with the early Buddhist Mahāparinibbāna Sutta which is not a Mahayana sutra . The history of the text is extremely complex, but the consensus view is that the core portion of this sutra was compiled in South India ( dakṣiṇāpatha ), possibly in Andhra or some part of the Deccan . The language used in the sūtra and related texts seems to indicate
8848-561: The elevation of the toranas (1st century BCE/CE), and then Amaravati (1st–2nd century CE). The decorative embellishment of stupas also underwent considerable development in the northwest, in the area of Gandhara , with instances such as the Butkara Stupa ("monumentalized" with Hellenistic decorative elements from the 2nd century BCE) or the Loriyan Tangai stupas (2nd century CE). The stupa underwent major evolutions in
8960-427: The eternal Dharmakāya or "dharma body" (which is equivalent to the buddha-body). The sutra also states that the Buddha's body (buddhakaya) is an eternal, unchanging, unimpeded, and indivisible adamantine body ( abhedavajrakāya). As such, while he appears to die, his "transcendent, indestructible mode of being" is something that never truly dies, being uncompounded (asaṃskṛta). The Nirvana sutra further equates
9072-467: The eternity of the Tathāgata. A key element of the doctrine of the eternal buddha-body is a kind of Mahayana docetism , the idea that the Buddha's physical birth and death on earth was a mere appearance, a conventional show for the sake of helping sentient beings (a doctrine which was already found in the Mahāsāṃghika school). According to the Nirvana sutra, the Buddha entered nirvāṇa aeons ago (and yet remains actively benefiting beings). As such,
9184-435: The exact status and nature of the icchantika in the Nirvana sutra is difficult to ascertain, as the topic is discussed in different ways throughout the sutra. In some parts, icchantikas are said to be like scorched seeds who can never sprout and thus of being incurable and incapable of Buddhahood. In other passages, they are said to also possess buddha-nature and to be able to attain buddhahood (their potential for buddhahood
9296-445: The form of the Buddhist stupa, a dome-shaped structure, started to be used in India as commemorative monuments associated with storing sacred relics of the Buddha. After his parinirvana , Buddha's remains were cremated and the ashes divided and buried under eight mounds, with two further mounds encasing the urn and the embers. According to some early Buddhist sources, the Buddha himself had suggested this treatment, and when asked what
9408-421: The highest state of mind. It is bell-shaped and usually unornamented. Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a S%C5%ABtra The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra ( Sanskrit ; traditional Chinese : 大般涅槃經 ; pinyin : Dàbānnièpán-jīng ; Japanese : Daihatsunehan-gyō , Tibetan : མྱ ངནལས་དསཀྱི མྡོ ; Vietnamese: Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn ) or Nirvana Sutra for short,
9520-514: The largest Buddhist monument in the world. It is also the world's largest Buddhist temple as well as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. A Jain stupa was excavated at Mathura in the 19th century. The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar, is one of the largest stupas in the world. The Benalmádena Stupa is the tallest stupa in Europe. It is 33 m (108 ft) high and
9632-412: The lute . The Indic term dhātu was used in early Buddhism to refer to the relics of a Buddha as well as to basic constituents of reality or "raw material" (like the eighteen "dhātus" that make up any personality). The Nirvana sutra draws on this term and applies it to the true nature of a Buddha, which is permanent (nitya), pure, blissful and resides within all sentient beings (analogous to how
9744-408: The most important innovation of the Nirvana is the linking of the term buddhadhātu ( buddha-nature ) with tathagatagarbha ( tathagata womb/chamber). The buddha-dhātu (buddha-nature, buddha-element) is presented as a timeless, eternal (nitya) and pure "Self" ( ātman ). This notion of a buddhist theory of a true self (i.e. a Buddhist ātma-vada ) is a radical one which caused much controversy and
9856-479: The much-maligned ‘man in the street’", since these are considered to lead to egoistic grasping. Thus, the Nirvana sutra often portrays the teaching of the tathāgatagarbha as a Self as being a skillful means, a useful strategy to convert non-buddhists and to combat annihilationist interpretations of the Dharma. For example, in Nirvana sutra , the Buddha proclaims "I do not teach that all sentient beings are without
9968-461: The northwest (especially in Kashmir ). Hodge notes that the Nirvana sutra contains prophesies of its own emergence during a period of Dharma decline (which can be calculated to be in around 220 CE) along with prophesies that the text will be taken to Kashmir (罽賓). Hodge also discusses an important person named Sarvasattvapriyadarśana who appears in a group of texts related to the Nirvana sutra like
10080-528: The pagoda in East Asia. The pagoda has varied forms that also include bell-shaped and pyramidal styles. In the Western context, there is no clear distinction between a stupa and a pagoda. In general, however, "stupa" is the term used for a Buddhist structure in India or Southeast Asia, while "pagoda" refers to a building in East Asia that can be entered and that may be used for secular purposes. However, use of
10192-519: The presence of Buddhist stupas dates to the late 4th century BCE. Some of the oldest known examples of stupas are found in Vaishali, Kushinagar, Piprahwa, Ramgram, Sanchi, Sarnath , Amaravati, and Bharhut. With the top of its spire reaching 120.45 m (395.2 ft) in height, Phra Pathommachedi in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand is the tallest extant stupa in the world. The Swat Valley hosts
10304-403: The promotion of vegetarianism , and a teaching on the decline of the Buddha's Dharma. A key teaching found in the Nirvana sutra is the eternal nature of the Buddha. Blum notes that the sutra makes it clear that the Buddha is not subject to the processes of birth and death, but abides forever in an undying state. While the Buddha will appear to die (and manifest parinirvāṇa , his final nirvana,
10416-416: The pure buddha relics were housed inside a stupa ) . Some scholars like Shimoda and Radich have seen the buddha-nature idea as arising from an internalization of stupa and relic worship. Instead of worshiping relics externally, the buddha-nature teaching turns inward, to the inner buddha relic in all of us. According to Jones, the term tathāgatagarbha could also have referred to "the chamber (garbha) for
10528-415: The pyramidal structure already existed in the 2nd century CE. This is confirmed by archaeological excavations in Bodh Gaya. This truncated pyramid design also marked the evolution from the aniconic stupa dedicated to the cult of relics, to the iconic temple with multiple images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. This design was influential in the development of later Hindu temples . Stupa architecture
10640-618: The relics of the Buddha from the earlier stupas (except from the Ramagrama stupa ), and erected 84,000 stupas to distribute the relics across India. In effect, many stupas are thought to date originally from the time of Ashoka, such as Sanchi or Kesariya , where he also erected pillars with his inscriptions, and possibly Bharhut , Amaravati , or Dharmarajika . Ashoka also established the Pillars of Ashoka throughout his realm, generally next to Buddhist stupas. The first known appearance of
10752-399: The same purposes, like the pagodas of East Asian Buddhism or the chortens of Tibetan Buddhism . In Southeast Asia , various different elongated shapes of dome evolved, leading to high, thin spires . A related architectural term is a chaitya , which is a prayer hall or temple containing a stupa. Stupas may have originated as pre-Buddhist tumuli in which śramaṇas were buried in
10864-532: The self; for the benefit of sentient beings is it called the self.… Buddha-nature is absence of self, [but] the Tathāgata teaches the self [for the sake of some audiences]: because of his permanence, the Tathāgata is the self, but he teaches absence of self, because he has achieved sovereignty [zizai 自在, possibly Skt. aiśvarya]. Thus, according to the Nirvana sutra , the Buddha uses the term self when needed (to overcome nihilistic interpretations of not-self) and teaching not-self when needed (to overcome grasping at what
10976-415: The sphere of formlessness. The main stupa itself is empty, symbolizing complete perfection of enlightenment. The main stupa is the crown part of the monument, while the base is a pyramidal structure elaborated with galleries adorned with bas-relief scenes derived from Buddhist texts and depicting the life of Gautama Buddha . Borobudur's unique and significant architecture has been acknowledged by UNESCO as
11088-408: The spire's base; his body is the vase shape; his legs are the four steps of the lower terrace; and the base is his throne." Although not described in any Tibetan text on stupa symbolism, the stupa may represent the five purified elements, according to Buddhism: To build a stupa, Dharma transmission and ceremonies known to a Buddhist teacher are necessary. The type of stupa to be constructed in
11200-750: The sutra also cites two sutras, the Sarvapuṇyasamuccayasūtra (possibly Taisho no. 381–382) and a Prajñāpāramitā sutra (the most likely candidate being the Suvikrāntavikrāmiparipṛcchā ). Despite the fact that the Buddha-nature is innate in all sentient beings, there is a class of people who called icchantikas ("extremists" or "dogmatists") which are either excluded from Buddhahood or will find it very difficult to ever reach it. The Nirvana sutra discusses this class of people often. According to scholars like Blum and Brunnholzl,
11312-488: The sutra is self consciously adopting a Buddhist version of ātmavāda (“discourse about the self”) which was popular in Indian thought, while also modifying the Buddhist doctrine of not-self ( anātman ) that completely rejected any notion of a self. The teaching that the buddha-nature is a self is one of the "four inversions" (viparyāsas), a key theme in the Nirvana sutra . Early Buddhism held that living beings have four distortions in how they perceive reality: they see what
11424-471: The sutra speaks about Buddha-nature in many different ways. This led Chinese scholars to create a list of types of buddha-nature that could be found in the text. The Nirvana sutra also equates buddha-nature with the term tathāgatagarbha (which is also done by other texts like the Aṅgulimālīya , Mahābherī , and Uttaratantra ). According to King, this can be understood as an "embryonic tathāgata" or as
11536-500: The tathāgatagarbha doctrine. Scholars believe that the compilation of the core portion (corresponding to the six fascicle Chinese translation and the shorter Tibetan translation) must have occurred at an early date, during or prior to the 2nd century CE, based internal evidence and on Chinese canonical catalogs. Using textual evidence in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra and related texts, Stephen Hodge estimates
11648-402: The teaching of not-self to a medicine which requires a mother to stop breast feeding her infant. The mother thus smears her breast with a pungent ointment and tells her child that it is poison. When the medicine is fully ingested, the mother removes the ointment and invites the child to nurse at her breast again. In this simile, the medicine is the skillful notion of not-self, and the mother's milk
11760-526: The teachings of the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra to reshape the worship of the śarīra into worship of the inner Buddha as a principle of salvation: the Buddha-nature . Sasaki states that a key premise of Shimoda's work is that the origins of Mahayana and the Mahāparinirvāṇa are entwined. Scholars like Shimoda as well as Michael Radich argue that the Nirvana sutra might be the earliest source for
11872-918: The term varies by region. For example, stupas in Burma tend to be referred to as "pagodas". Stupas were built in Sri Lanka soon after Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura converted to Buddhism. The first was the Thuparamaya . Later, many more were built over the years, including the Jetavanaramaya in Anuradhapura. The Asian words for pagoda ( tā in Chinese, t'ap in Korean, tháp in Vietnamese, tō in Japanese) are all thought to derive from
11984-401: The treasury. It is not necessary that they be expensive, since it is the symbolic value that is important, not the market price. It is believed that the more objects are placed in the stupa, the stronger its energy. An important element in every stupa is the " Tree of Life ". This is a wooden pole covered with gems and thousands of mantras; it is placed in the central channel of the stupa. It
12096-437: The truth of "non-emptiness", which is a real genuine self, the buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra compares the not-self teaching to a milk-based medicine which is useful for certain ailments, but not for all. Because of this, a physician who only prescribed this single medicine would be an unskillful one. The Buddha in the Nirvana sutra says he taught not-self in order to get rid of certain mistaken views of self in order that
12208-576: The word "stupa" is from an inscribed dedication by Ashoka on the Nigali Sagar pillar (spelled in Pali in the Brahmi script as 𑀣𑀼𑀩𑁂 thube ). Stupas were soon to be richly decorated with sculptural reliefs, following the first attempts at Sanchi Stupa No.2 (125 BCE). Full-fledged sculptural decorations and scenes of the life of the Buddha would soon follow at Bharhut (115 BCE), Bodh Gaya (60 BCE), Mathura (125–60 BCE), again at Sanchi for
12320-456: Was adopted in Southeast and East Asia , where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics. The Indian gateway arches, torana , reached East Asia with the spread of Buddhism. Some scholars hold that torii derives from the torana gates at the Buddhist historic site of Sanchi (3rd century BCE–11th century CE). In Tibet , the stupa became the chorten, and
12432-503: Was inaugurated on 5 October 2003, the final project of Buddhist master Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche . Lopon Tsechu built his first stupa at Karma Guen near Málaga, in 1994, a symbol of peace and prosperity for Spain. He went on to build 16 more stupas in Europe before his death in 2003. A stupa was built on the ground of the Kalachakra Kalapa Centre in southwest Styria , Austria, between 2000 and 2002. A stupa based on
12544-406: Was interpreted in many different ways. Other important doctrinal themes in the Nirvana sutra include re-interpretations of not-self ( anātman ) and emptiness (Śūnyatā) as a skillful means that paves the way for the ultimate buddha-nature teachings, the doctrine of the icchantika , the eternal and docetic ( lokottara ) nature of Shakyamuni Buddha and his adamantine body ( vajra -kaya),
#2997