Avatamsaka Sutra:
The Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Chinese: 華嚴經; pinyin: Huáyán Jīng; Japanese: Kegon Kyō) is one of the most influential Mahayana Sūtras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sūtra, Flower Adornment Sūtra, or Flowers Ornament Scripture.
This text describes a cosmos of infinite realms upon realms, mutually containing each other. The vision expressed in this work was the foundation for the creation of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which was characterized by a philosophy of interpenetration. Hua-yen is known as Kegon in Japan.
The sūtra is also well known for its detailed description of the course of the bodhisattva's practice through ten stages.
[edit] History
The sutra was written in stages, beginning from at least 500 years after the death of the Buddha. Two full Chinese translations of the Avatamsaka Sūtra were made. Fragmentary translation probably began in the second century CE, and the famous Ten Stages Sūtra (十地經), often treated as an individual scripture, was first translated in the third century. The first complete Chinese version was completed by Buddhabhadra around 420, and the second by Śikṣānanda around 699. There is also a translation of the Gandavyuha by Prajñā around 798. The second translation includes more sutras than the first, and the Tibetan translation, which is still later, includes even more. Scholars conclude that sūtras were being added to the collection.
[edit] Format
The sutra, among the largest in the Buddhist canon, contains 40 chapters of somewhat disparate topics, though with some overarching themes:
- The interdependency of all phenomena (dharmas).
- The progression of the Buddhist path to full Enlightenment, or Buddhahood.
Two of the chapters serve as sutras in their own right, and have been cited in the writings of many Buddhists in East Asia.
[edit] The Twenty-Sixth Chapter: Ten Stages Sutra
Chapter 26, the Dasabhumika Sūtra or Sūtra of the Ten Stages details the ten stages, or bhūmi, of development a bodhisattva must undergo to attain supreme enlightenment. The ten stages are also depicted in the Lankavatara Sūtra. The sūtra also touches on the subject of the development of the aspiration for Enlightenment.
[edit] The Final Chapter: The Gandavyuha Sūtra
The last chapter of the Avatamsaka also circulates as a separate text known as the Gandavyuha Sūtra. The Gandavyuha Sūtra details the journey of the youth Sudhana, who undertakes a pilgrimage at the behest of the bodhisattva Manjushri. Sudhana will converse with 52 masters in his quest for enlightenment. The ante-penultimate master of Sudhana's pilgrimage is Maitreya. It is here that Sudhana encounters "The Tower of Maitreya," which along with "Indra's net" is one of the most startling metaphors of the infinite to emerge in the history of literature across cultures.
- "In the middle of the great tower... he saw the billion-world universe... and everywhere there was Sudhana at his feet... Thus Sudhana saw Maitreya's practices of... transcendence over countless eons, from each of the squares of the check board wall... In the same way Sudhana... saw the whole supernal manifestation, was perfectly aware it, understood it, contemplated it, used it as a means, beheld it, and saw himself there."[1]
The penultimate master that Sudhana visits is the bodhisattva Manjushri. Thus, one of the grandest, and most fully loaded with perennial symbolism, of pilgrimages comes to its conclusion by first revisiting where it began. The Gandavyhua suggests that with a subtle shift of perspective we may come to see that the enlightenment that the pilgrim so fervently sought was not only with him at every stage of his journey, but as well before it kick off; that enlightenment is not 'something to be gained' since, to begin with, the pilgrim (aka all of us) never departed from 'it'.
The final master that Sudhana visits is the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, who teaches him that wisdom is only for the sake of putting it into practice, that is, in benefiting all living beings all over the universe according to conditions.
- "When this done, the world of the Gandavyuha (ceases) to be a mystery, a realm devoid of form and corporeality, for now it overlaps this earthly world; no, it becomes that 'Thou art it' and there is a perfect fusion of the two... Samantabhadra's arms raised to save sentient beings become our own, which are now engaged in passing salt to a friend at the table and Maitreya's opening the Vairocana Tower for Sudhana is our ushering a caller into the parlor for a friendly chat."[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
[edit] References
- ^ Thomas Cleary's translation of the Gandavyuha Sūtra, Entry Into the Realm of Realty
- ^ D.T. Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism, Series 3
[edit] External links
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