大乘起源與開展之心理動力 -- 永恆懷念是大乘起源與開展的動力嗎? =The Psychological Force Behind the Origin and Development of the Mahayana: Is "Remembering Forever" the Original Force through which the Great Vehicle Came into Being and Grew?
大乘起源=origin of the Mahayana; 集體潛意識=collective unconsciousness; 發菩提心=the development of bodhicitta; 十方佛=the buddhas of the ten directions; 念佛法門=the practice of being mindful of the Buddha; 神話心理=mythological psychology
In two of his major works, The Origin and Development of Early Mahayana Buddhism and An Intellectual History of Indian Buddhist Thought，the elder master Yin-shun regarded "the fact that the Buddha's disciples remembered him forever after his death" as the original force through which the Great Vehicle arose and developed. Though the proofs he adduced do not seem sufficient to establish his theory，it became widely accepted by the scholarly community in Taiwan. Thus the present writer tries to introduce a new approach by looking into the deep levels of the human collective subconsciousness to find the psychological factor behind the rise of the Mahayana. The present writer first formulates the hypothesis that the ideological format of the early Mahayana scriptures corresponded to the psychological needs of the Buddhist practitioners, i.e. it was a reflection of spiritual requirements when the texts of a certain ideological persuasion increased in number and gained in importance until they constituted the mainstream. It is well possible that these psychological needs were the driving force behind the origin and development of the Great Vehicle. Next，the present writer identifies the common thought patterns in early Mahayana texts：the development of bodhicitta, the practice of the bodhisattva path, and the accomplishment of buddhahood. In later Mahayana scriptures -- the Srimalasutra, the Ratnagotravibhaga, and the Ta-sheng ch'i-hsin lun -- ideas like "the buddha nature which is the pure cause" or "transforming influence of suchness" are found which served as the metaphysical basis for the development of a Mahayana frame of mind. Looked at from the angles of psychology，religious studies, and mythology，this archetypal Mahayana motivation reflects the deep human spiritual need of "boundless hope"，"striving for transcendence" and "yearning for perfection." These most exalted psychological needs, the sublimation of the life instinct which strives to avoid suffering and attain happiness, were the causes that lead Sakyamuni to the realization of perfect awakening. They are also the main inner force behind the development of the major world religions. Thus it seems to be most appropriate to regard the collective subconscious desires of Buddhist practitioners, i.e. the wish to emulate the buddha, to strive for transcendence and to yearn for perfection，as the main factor originally leading to the arising and development of the Greater Vehicle. As soon as we begin to analyze the question from this point of view，many phenomena related to the beginnings and the subsequent development of the Mahayana, like "the fact that the Buddha's disciples remembered him forever after his death, the construction and veneration of stupas as well as the spread of scriptures which deal with life stories of the Buddha and of disciples or introduce the pure realms or the buddhas and bodhisattvas in the ten directions, " even "the theistic trend within the Mahayana, " "the idea of a tathagatagarbha" and "the practice of being mindful of the Buddha"，acquire a new，more basic，more profound，more positive meaning.
