從《小品般若》到《法華經》的思想轉變 -- 以「佛命聲聞說大乘」及「佛塔與經卷供養」為中心=The Changes of Thought from the Astasahasrika Prajbaparamita to the Lotus Sutra: Focus on " the Buddha Demended the Wravakas to Teach the Mahayana Dharma" and "The Worship of the Stupa and the Worship of the Text"
小品般若經=the Astasahasrika Prajbaparamita; 法華經=the Lotus Sutra; 佛命聲聞說大乘= the Buddha demended the wravakas to teach the Mahayana dharma; 佛塔=stupa; 經卷供養=the worship of the text
This article examines some similar events in the Astasahasrika Prajbaparamita and the Lotus Sutra to explore which one is the earlier form. We focus on two issues: "the Buddha demended the wravakas to teach the Mahayana dharma" and "the worship of the stupa and the worship of the text." As for the former issue, in the Astasahasrika, the whole story is told from beginning to end to show the Perfection of Wisdom, and the relationship between wravaka dharma and the Mahayana dharma can be directly linked. In the Lotus Sutra, however, the story is briefly mentioned as if it has happened long before, and the main point is to show Arhats' regret at not learning the Mahayana dharma. The event mentioned in the Astasahasrika seems to be an earlier form than the one in the Lotus Sutra. As for the second issue, in the Stupa Chapter of the Astasahasrika, the merit gained from the worship of the text is reviewed much more than that from the worship of the stupa, but the meaning of the latter is not totally negated. In the Dharma-speaker Chapter of the Lotus Sutra , the worship of the text gains an absolute position, and the worship of the stupa is no longer necessary, because there is already a whole body of the Buddha in the text. The form in the Dharma-speaker Chapter seems to be more developed than that in the Stupa Chapter. As far as these two events are concerned, it is possible that the Lotus Sutra is influenced by the Astasahasrika.
