#Mahayana buddhism

[niteshade925]

April 12, Xi'an, China, Daci'en Temple/大慈恩寺 and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda/大雁塔 (Part 1 - Temple and Architecture):

Daci'en Temple is famous in popular culture mainly for one reason: the monk Xuanzang/玄奘, or the real person who inspired the character of Tang Sanzang/唐三藏 (sometimes translated as "Tripitaka") in the novel Journey to the West/西游记. Xuanzang was in charge of Daci'en Temple after he returned to China in 645 AD from his journey throughout Central Asia and India. More on him later.

The temple is also known for two more things, first is its importance to Chinese Buddhism, as the temple is considered the cradle of the Consciousness-Only School (weishizong/唯识宗) and the Dharma Characteristics School (faxiangzong/法相宗)(both are part of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism), and second is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (built in 652 AD while Xuanzang was in charge of the temple).

The temple has been rebuilt over the years, and the current temple (excluding the pagoda) was mainly built in 1466, during Ming dynasty, thus the current temple consists of Ming-era architecture:

Drum and bell towers within the temple

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in the distance

More pictures of the architecture. I have to say it's better preserved here than in other places so far...

Coming up to the Mahavira Hall/大雄宝殿 of the temple

As mentioned in the previous posts on Qinglong Temple, I avoided taking pictures of the Buddha statues as this is considered disrespectful. But because it's just hard to avoid including them in pictures of the architecture, the statues may be partially visible sometimes.

Approaching the Tushita Hall/兜率

More pics of the architecture, note the pattern on the windows, called chuangling/窗棂. This particular one is a "three-crossing"/三交 pattern, the highest grade of chuangling.

There were two visiting monks taking pictures of this relief behind Mahavira Hall, so it's probably okay to snap a picture of it. The interesting thing is the bian'e/匾额 above it, which says 人天欢喜 (right to left: "human and heaven rejoice together"). Usually it's "heaven" before "human" (天人), but here it's clearly "human" before "heaven".

The Guanyin Hall/观音殿. Guanyin is the Chinese name for Avalokitesvara. The smaller red lanterns are where visiters hang their wishes from:

And finally the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, one of the landmarks of Xi'an. This pagoda was originally built to house all of the Buddhist texts and relics Xuanzang had brought back from India, and is the largest Tang-era brick pagoda remaining today. In Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD), people who passed the imperial exams to become jinshi/进士 would tour around Chang'an on horseback with flowers in their hair and write poems before this pagoda, called "雁塔题名".

Before we entered the temple, I could hear a weird jingle-jangle from across the street, but it was only when we came up to the pagoda that I realized where the sound was coming from. There were bells hanging from every corner of every level of the pagoda, and they were pretty loud for their size.

Since it was pretty hot outside that day, to avoid possible heat stroke we didn't attempt to climb the pagoda (I don't think there's air conditioning inside considering that this pagoda is 1300+ years old.....). I think there were several important artifacts/relics inside? But I can find some pictures from online for part 3.

[proudhamarsing]

This is a void state post. It's important to note that this void state post of mine Is reflecting a bit of my nondualist persepective on the void state.

If you ever feel drained or overwhelmed throughout your so-called void state journey due to anything that goes under the label of "unwanted", REALIZE/KNOW that "draining" "overwhelming" "anything unwanted" are all empty appearances/illusions. Observe and realize that YOU/GOD are always detached from them, or in truth, there is nothing to detach from at all. Surround your character with love and faith, two of the most powerful forces. Without love and faith, what would genuinely have guided your character to connect with YOU (Pure Consciousness/IAMness (the only reality)? Encourage your character to observe the things they love and is on this so-called journey for, as they Is one with these things, and have unwavering faith in that fact. BE LOVE AND HAVE FAITH, the very forces that have led your character to your essence (IAMNESS). Remember, in every movement/action you do or take, you are actually what we refer to as the void state at all times. BE THE VOID STATE that you truly are.

It Is genuinely OKAY❤️ All Is well❤️ You have already succeeded being a void state master, and you IS success and the void state Itself. Keep In "mind" that love and faith has led the one you're playing as to "get to know about the void state", and "connect with It".

Be at ease knowing that YOU are the void state and power Itself and align with peace, with unwavering love and faith for yourself❤️ It Is so sweet to know that you are here for the best for yourself❤️ (What is best for you aka your hearts' desires are genuinely yours, you, and that Is the only reality, as awareness Is what makes expriences/life exist so be aware of that❤️) There Is comfort In knowing this.❤️

You are strong and keep being strong❤️

[system-of-a-feather]

For all yall interested in Buddhism and one of my favorite western missunderstandings about Buddhism which is the INSANELY incorrect assumptions about what meditation is, I really suggest listening to Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talk about meditation. He's a lot of fun and just a cool guy who (obviously, not a surprise) really gets it and I like how he talks about it. Like I could hear him talk about meditation for hours, just a fun guy who gets it.

TLDR - and I could go on this for hours - Meditation is really something you can do every day in basically every action you do in life with practice and one of the large goals in a lot of Mahayana branches of Buddhism is just to obtain that near constant state of meditation through all actions of life, but I DIGRESS I will prevent myself from going off when yall can just listen to this guy

[teenageascetic]

“When the holy Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara had truly grasped the transcendent wisdom, he realized that visible form is only illusion. The same applies to its perception, to its names and categories, to discriminative intellect and finally even to our consciousness. They are all illusion. With this realizaton he was beyond all sorrow and bitterness.

Disciple Sariputra! The material is not different from the immaterial. The immaterial and the material are in fact one and the same thing. The same applies to perception, concepts, discriminative thinking and consciousness. They are neither existing nor not existing.

Sariputra! All things therefore they are in themselves not good and not bad, they are not increasing and not decreasing.

Therefore one may say there are no such things as form, perception, concepts, thinking process, and consciousness. Our senses such as eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind are misleading us to illusion; thus one may also say there is no reality in visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mindknowledge. There are also no such things as the realms of sense from sight up to mind, and no such things as the links of existence from ignorance and its end to old age and death and their end. Also the caturāryasatyāni are nonexistent, just as there is no such thing as wisdom and also no gain.

Because the holy Bodhisattva who relies on transcendent wisdom knows that there is no gain, he has no worries and also no fear. Beyond all illusion he has reached the space of highest Nirvana.

All Buddhas of the past, present and future, found highest perfect knowedge because they relied on transcendental wisdom.

Therefore we ought to know that the great verse of the transcendent wisdom is unsurpassed in its splendor, and that it appeases truly all pain. It reads:

GATE, GATE, PARAGATE, PARASAMGATE BODHISVAHA!”

-The Heart Sutra.

[alephskoteinos]

It's very interesting that both Gregory Shaw and Jeffrey Kupperman reference the Mahayana Buddhist concept of the Bodhisattva as a comparison to the enlightened, noetic, divine individual who returns to Plato's cave in order to liberate other souls still stuck in the cave. There is a part of me that thinks somebody's already described this as the role of Lucifer and/or those striving after his example. Actually, I hope so.

[crazycatsiren]

For my followers who are curious:

I'm a Mahāyāna Buddhist. I practice mainly Pure Land Buddhism. My Buddha is Amitābha and my Bodhisattva is Guanyin.

Of course, being native Chinese, every now and then, here and there, a little bit of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, which can be considered as a type and regional version of Vajrayāna (tantric/esoteric Buddhism) does come scattering in, though tantra has never really been a focus in my personal spiritual path.

[falseandrealultravival]

The evilest religion in Japan's Buddhism: Nichiren Sect (Essay)

Nichiren

Soka Gakkai, the parent body of Komei Pary, a partner of the Liberal Democratic Party that dominates Japan's current politics, was a group of believers of the Nichiren Shoshu sect but was excommunicated by the Nichiren Shoshu sect. I once befriended a Soka Gakkai member and received an introductory book on the doctrine. However, there was one point that was difficult to understand.

As well known, Nichiren said the Buddhist scripture ``Lotus Sutra'' is superior to any other sutra, and the Nichiren sect views it as absolute. Especially, ``Buddha's real desire for born into this world.'' I heard that the true reason why Buddha appeared in this world is explained in detail in the Lotus Sutra. As I read excitedly, it wrote, ``We don't understand.'' This kind of expression is called fraud. They kept pulling for this answer. Well, anyone not a Buddha cannot understand the Buddha's mind. In that case, it would be far more suitable to say that when the Zen Dharma Master was asked, ``Why did you come from India?'' he answered with only two letters, ``不識：I don't know.'' It's not unnecessarily long.

Furthermore, Nichiren was the one who took this ambiguous Lotus Sutra as absolute and rejected other sutras and the various schools of Buddhism that took them as their fundamental sutras. To begin with, the Lotus Sutra is a forgery created several centuries after the death of Buddha. There is nothing different from other sutras that Nichiren criticizes. This is Mahayana Buddhism’s junk that has nothing to do with Buddha. In later generations, Nichiren's successors devoted themselves to slandering and slandering other sects, calling it ``shakubuku (conversion by force)'' and committing violence. The Nichiren sect is the evilest sect of Buddhism in Japan.

Rei Morishita

日本の仏教髄一の邪教：日蓮宗（エッセイ）

日本の現在の政治を支配する自民党のパートナー：公明党の母体である創価学会は、日蓮宗の一派：日蓮正宗の信徒集団だったが、日蓮正宗に破門された。私は以前、その創価学会員と仲良くなり、教理の入門書をもらった。だが、そこには、理解に苦しむ一点があった。

仏典「法華経」が他のどんな経典よりも優越していて、それを絶対視する日蓮宗が挙げる根拠についてだ。「仏陀の出世の本懐」。仏陀がこの世に現れた真の理由が「法華経」で詳述されていると言う。���くわくしながら読んでいくと、「解らない」の一言で終わっていた。こういう表現を詐欺と言う。延々と引っ張ってきて、この答え。仏陀でない人には、仏陀の心は解るまい。それなら禅のダルマ大師が「インドから来た理由は？」と問われ「不識：知らぬ」と２文字だけ答えたというほうがずっと気が利いている。

さらにこのようなあやふやな「法華経」を絶対のものとして、他の経典と、それらを根本経典とする仏教諸派を排斥したのが日蓮だった。そもそも「法華経」は、仏陀の死後数世紀経って作られた偽作だ。日蓮が批判する他の経典と、何ら変わるところはない。仏陀とは無関係な大乗仏教のガラクタだ。後世、日蓮の後継者たちは他の宗派の誹謗・中傷に明け暮れ、「折伏」と称して暴力を振るった。日蓮宗は、日本の仏教随一の邪教だ。

[shakir2]

A Critical Analysis of Buddhism  

About two and a half thousand years ago, a Hindu prince named Siddhartha Gautama [AKA–Buddha Shakyamuni, 589 BC, the founder of Buddhism] was born in the north of India, leading a happy and indulgent childhood, protected from the harsh realities of life. At age 29, he walked out of his comfort zone and witnessed the harsh realities of life. Moved by all the suffering he saw, he vowed to search…

[whencyclopedia]

MAHAYANA Buddhism is the largest Buddhist sect in the world, and its beliefs and practices are what most non-adherents recognize as "Buddhism" in the modern era. It developed as a school of thought sometime after 383 BCE, possibly from the earlier school known as Mahasanghika, though that claim has been challenged.

Mahasanghika ("Great Congregation") was an early Buddhist school that developed after the Second Buddhist Council of 383 BCE when the Sthaviravada school ("Sect of the Elders" or "Teaching of the Elders") broke away from the Buddhist community over doctrinal differences. This early schism led to others and the development of many different Buddhist schools of which Mahasanghika was only one.

Read More Here

[buddhismnow]

The 'Heart of Perfect Wisdom', Short Form

A Buddhist Text: The 'Heart of Perfect Wisdom', Short Form, translated by Edward Conze. One of the great Prajnaparamita Texts on Emptiness. #DeepBuddhism #Sunyata.

Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom, the Lovely, the Holy! Avalokiteshvara, © The Metropolitan Museum of Art Avalokita, the Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the wisdom which has gone beyond. He looked down from on high, he beheld but five heaps, and he saw that in their own-being they were empty. Here, O Sariputra, form is emptiness, and the very emptiness is form,…

[supreme-taiyi]

Eliminating all limitations with the help of the passage "not this, not this," one should realize the identity of the individual soul and the supreme self by means of the principal scriptural passages.

AdiShankaracharya

Going Beyond the Beyond

..."This" is "not this"...

The limitations are mere words of this.

From the Prajna Paramita ; As the mantra goes too, from "this", it goes the beyond of going from itself and goes it's beyond state & not beyond state, to "not this".

Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā

“ Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment, hail !”

[niteshade925]

April 12, Xi'an, China, Daci'en Temple/大慈恩寺 and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda/大雁塔 (Part 3 - History):

The entrance to the Xuanzang Memorial Hall:

Xuanzang/玄奘 (602 - 664 AD; birthname Chen Yi/陈祎) was a famous Chinese monk, scholar, and translator who journeyed throughout Central Asia and India to bring Buddhist sutras from India and translate them into Chinese. He was also the founder of the Consciousness-Only School/唯识宗 of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism.

A statue of Xuanzang in the memorial hall:

Xuanzang's 17-year journey from Chang'an (Xi'an) to India and back drawn out on a map. The route he took to India is in red, and the return route he took back to Chang'an is in green. On his way he traveled through many kingdoms in Central Asia and India, and he would later compile his experiences into the work known as Records of the Western Regions/《大唐西域记》. This work is still very important for historians and archaeologists studying Central Asian and Indian history, because it gives locations of important sites, such as the ruins of Nalanda monastery (phonetically translated as 那烂陀寺 in Chinese) in modern day Bihar. The Ming-era novel Journey to the West/《西游记》 was also very loosely based on this work; more specifically, the novel was based on folk tales about Xuanzang's travels, which was in turn loosely and partially based on Xuanzang's experiences recorded in this book.

(Metal?) wall murals and a giant wood relief depicting Xuanzang's early life and his journey to India and back (generally viewed in order from left to right since it's a continuous narrative):

Biography of the Tang Dynasty Buddhist Tripitaka Master Xuanzang of the Great Ci'en Temple/《大慈恩寺三藏法师传》 (alternatively translated simply as "The Life of Xuanzang"), written by Xuanzang's disciple Huili/慧立 in 688 AD.

An artifact not strictly related to Xuanzang: Ritual Confession of Mercy Temple/《慈悲道场忏法》, a Buddhist repentance work/忏文 written for Emperor Wu of Liang (464 - 549 AD) for the purpose of conducting a "ritual of transcendence" (called 超度; I could not find an English translation for this so this is my own translation) for the emperor's deceased wife. This particular version was printed in Ming dynasty in 1608.

Ceiling of the memorial hall, decorated with Sanskrit characters:

The second exhibition hall also has wall murals and a giant wood relief, this time depicting Xuanzang's life after returning to China:

Xuanzang has stated that the purpose of his journey was to bring back Buddhist sutras in their original Sanskrit, so that the integrity of the original texts may be better preserved in future translations and a more faithful interpretation of the sutras may be achieved. When he returned from India in 645 AD, he brought back with him 657 Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, and with support from Emperor Taizong of Tang, he proceeded to translate these texts into Chinese with his team of translators.

Daci'en Temple still preserves less than 20 leaves of the original palm leaf manuscript/贝叶经 brought to China by Xuanzang. I didn't get to see these artifacts myself, but just for reference, here are some potato quality pictures I've found online:

Below is a part of a (Ming-era? Not sure) printed copy of the Mahā-prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (《大般若经》 or 《大般若波罗蜜多经》 in Chinese), which was translated into the Chinese text seen here by Xuanzang and his team:

Part of Complete Translations by Master Xuanzang/《玄奘法师译撰全集》:

A view of the exhibited part of the collection of works that were either by Xuanzang or written about Xuanzang. Being an aspiring translator myself and knowing that these were works connected to a great translator who lived 1300+ years ago, there is just a feeling of awe here that can't be described properly in words...

There's also the twin steles associated with Xuanzang at the foot of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The stele on the west (below left) was written from right to left, composed by Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin/唐太宗 李世民, while the stele on the east (below right) was written from left to right, and was composed by Emperor Gaozong of Tang Li Zhi/唐高宗 李治 (the two emperors are father and son). The calligraphy for both steles was provided by Chancellor Chu Suiliang/中书令 褚遂良. Both steles gave an account of Xuanzang's life and praised him for his achievements, and both were erected in 653 AD. Since I didn't go into the pagoda, I didn't see these two steles (I believe one of them isn't at the pagoda anymore? It might be at Beilin Museum now), so here are pictures of the ink rubbings from Open Museum (open in new tab to view the full image):

And finally, some fun souvenirs from the gift shop! These are tiny incense pellet holders topped with the twelve zodiac animals

A funny greeting card that translates to "And We miss you too" (朕 is a first person pronoun used exclusively by emperors to refer to themselves; today many people use 朕 to jokingly refer to themselves)

[proudhamarsing]

[P.S Sunyata is the sanskrit (buddhist sanskrit word) for the void state/I am state! ❤️]

1. Sunyata (Emptiness) is the profound meaning of the Mahayana Teaching.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, the Buddha was able to realise "emptiness" (s. sunyata). By doing so he freed himself from unsatisfactoriness (s. dukkha). From the standpoint of enlightenment, sunyata is the reality of all worldly existences (s. dharma). It is the realisation of Bodhi — Prajna. From the standpoint of liberation, sunyata is the skilful means that disentangle oneself from defilement and unsatisfactoriness. The realisation of sunyata leads one to no attachment and clinging. It is the skilful means towards enlightenment and also the fruit of enlightenment.

There are two ways for us to understand this concept of sunyata in the Mahayana context. One way is to try to understand the explanation about its true nature. The other way is the realisation through practice. What we are going to discuss now is about its true nature.

Mahayana teachings have always considered that the understanding of sunyata is an attainment which is extremely difficult and extraordinarily profound.

For example, in the Prajna Sutra it says "That which is profound, has sunyata and non-attachment as its significance. No form nor deeds, no rising nor falling, are its implications."

Again in the Dvadasanikaya Sastra (composed by Nagarjuna, translated to Chinese by Kumarajiva A.D. 408) it says: "The greatest wisdom is the so-called sunyata."

This sunyata, no creation, calmness and extinction (s. nirvana) is of a profound significance in the Mahayana teachings. Why do we see it as the most profound teaching? This is because there is no worldly knowledge, be it general studies, science or philosophy, that can lead to the attainment of the state of sunyata. The only path to its realisation is via the supreme wisdom of an impassionate and discriminating mind. It is beyond the common worldly understanding.

🧡🧡🧡

[tellingittash]

Religious Studies Term Of The Day: Bodhisattva

Hey everyone. So today I wanted to talk about Bodhisattvas. To do that, I need to talk about arhatship again. In Theravada Buddhism, the goal of the Buddha’s teachings are to get people to become enlightened, to become arhats, where they no longer feel desire, aversion, or ignorance. However, eventually a tradition comes along in Buddhism claiming to be better than Theravada, the Mahayana Buddhists. These new thinkers thought that individual enlightenment is great and all, but they had a problem with what they saw as the core philosophy. A great illustration I heard in college is that of an apartment building on fire.

Now, imagine that you live in an apartment building and it’s suddenly caught on fire. Most people would want to get out of it. That’s natural. That’s why so many people have religions at all, to escape the suffering of life. The Mahayana Buddhist might go as far as to say that the Theravada Buddhist would try to tell everyone, or at least everyone on the way out, about the fire and make sure they knew to escape but then let them save themselves as they escape as soon as possible. The Mahayana Buddhist would then suggest that a better man would be the person who, after figuring out how to escape, doesn’t do it, but stays inside to ensure that every person can escape, to quite literally save everyone. Heck, with the ideas of samsara in mind, they might actually stick around to save every dog, cat, fish, cockroach, and rat too while they’re at it.

Thus, the idea of the Bodhisattva was born. Sure, find enlightenment, but what you should do is swear to not find nirvana until every living soul finds nirvana first. That’s pretty incredible, not unlike the idea of martyrdom that’s glorified in faiths like Christianity. Thus, Buddhism changed drastically in this denomination. No longer did monks and nuns see themselves as people who sit under trees and meditate, but now they were active in communities, seeing the purpose of their lives as requiring two extra steps on top of the Eightfold Path, trying to do whatever they could for the betterment of all.

Even the idea of reincarnation changed. Now it was not just a system of wanting to go up and not down, or getting it just right at the human level, but an acknowledgment that every reincarnation could land the Bodhisattva anywhere. They could be a monk who has to save a tiger cub from its hungry mother, a wealthy prince who has the power to give anything to anyone, a quail with malformed wings, a warthog who has to deal with the abuse of a monkey, or a monkey who has to deal with the sexual advances of a rock demon, and all are aware of their vows and their purpose. All beings need enlightenment, and so the Bodhisattva goes wherever he is needed. There are so many stories about these figures and I highly recommend finding them out because they are quite cool tales to read and reflect upon.

Anyway, I’d love to learn more about the Bodhisattvas if anyone has more information. I hope that you all are having a good day and staying safe out there.

[soniyatv]

Yogācāra

is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation, as well as philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā).