Buddhist Eschatology=末法思想; Decline of Dharma=末法; Dreams=夢; Prophecies=預言; Humanistic Buddhism=人間佛教; Solutions to Decline of Dharma=末法的解決方案
摘要
The Sūtra of Ānanda's Seven Dreams is an ancient little-known text which Ānanda experienced a series of seven symbolic dreams. Of the seven, six dreams are so-called the symbols of the Buddhist eschatology, which illustrate the fall of Buddhism. Are those dreams really the symbols of Buddhist eschatology? Alternatively, is there something more to them? Indeed, from one look, the sūtra seems depressing. However, everything that the Buddha taught was out of perfect compassion and wisdom. Buddha did not teach about the Buddhist eschatology as a negative prophecy for us to self-fulfill, but as a reminder to be diligent. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed analytical study of this sūtra. In addition, as there is no complete English translation available, this paper presents an English translation and an associated contemporary interpretation based on my hermeneutics.
目次
TABLE OF CONTENTS IV TABLE OF FIGURES VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VI CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND 1 1.2 MOTIVATIONS 2 1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT 3 1.4 PURPOSE 3 1.5 CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS 3 1.6 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1.7 METHODOLOGY 6 1.8 STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER 6 CHAPTER 2 - DEFINITIONS, CONCEPTS AND ORIGINS OF BUDDHIST ESCHATOLOGY 8 2.1 BUDDHIST ESCHATOLOGY 8 2.1.1 Destruction of Universe 9 2.1.2 Demise of Buddhism 11 2.2 DURATION OF DHARMA 12 2.2.1 500 years 12 2.2.2 500 after-years 12 2.2.3 700 years 13 2.2.4 1000 years 13 2.2.5 1500 years 14 2.2.6 2000 years 14 2.2.7 2500 years 15 2.2.8 5000 years 15 2.2.9 5104 years 16 2.2.10 10000 years and beyond 16 2.3 THREE-STAGE THEORY OF DECLINE 17 2.3.1 Saddharma – True/Real Dharma 17 2.3.2 Dharma-pratirūpaka/ pratirūpakadharma/ saddharma pratirūpaka – Counterfeit/ Semblance Dharma 18 2.3.3 Pascimadharma/ saddharma-vipralopa/ paścimakāle/ carima-kāla / carimaka – End of the Dharma/final Dharma/Decline of the Dharma/Latter Dharma 18 2.4 EVOLUTION OF EAST ASIAN TERMS 22 2.4.1 末世 (Moshi) 23 2.4.2 末法 (Mofa) 25 2.4.3 滅法 (Miefa) 27 2.4.4 法滅 (Famie) 28 2.4.5 法沒 (Famo) 29 2.4.6 末劫 (Mojie) 30 2.4.7 末代 (Modai) 31 2.4.8 Mappō 31 CHAPTER 3 – ANALYSIS OF THE SŪTRA OF SEVEN DREAMS 33 3.1 AUTHENTICITY OF THE TEXT 33 3.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE TEXT 36 3.3 TEXTS REFERRING TO THIS SŪTRA 37 3.4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CHINESE TRANSLATION 38 3.5 TRANSLATOR 47 3.6 STRUCTURE OF THE TEXT 48 3.7 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PARTIAL ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS 49 3.7.1 Title 49 3.7.2 Overall Structure 49 3.7.3 Descriptions 51 3.7.4 Interpretations 54 CHAPTER 4 – DETAILED ANALYSIS, COMMENTARY AND TRANSLATION OF THE SŪTRA 58 4.1 DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE DREAMS 59 4.1.1 First Dream and Interpretation 60 4.1.2 Second Dream and Interpretation 63 4.1.3 Third Dream and Interpretation 66 4.1.4 Fourth Dream and Interpretation 68 4.1.5 Fifth Dream and Interpretation 70 4.1.6 Sixth Dream and Interpretation 72 4.1.7 Seventh Dream and Interpretation 77 4.2 CONTEMPORARY EXEGESIS OF THE DREAMS 80 4.2.1 Setting 81 4.2.2 First Dream and Interpretation 81 4.2.3 Second Dream and Interpretation 82 4.2.4 Third Dream and Interpretation 83 4.2.5 Fourth Dream and Interpretation 84 4.2.6 Fifth Dream and Interpretation 85 4.2.7 Sixth Dream and Interpretation 85 4.2.8 Seventh Dream and Interpretation 86 4.2.9 Compendium 87 4.3 MY TRANSLATION 88 CHAPTER 5 – DEVELOPMENT OF RELATED BUDDHIST SCHOOLS AND GENERAL APPROACHES TOWARDS THE PROPHECIES 92 1.1 DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST ASIAN BUDDHIST DOCTRINES, SECTS AND MOVEMENTS 92 5.1.1 Pure Land School and Sect 93 5.1.2 Three Stages School 94 5.1.5 Nichiren Buddhism 95 5.1.6 Humanistic Buddhism 96 5.2 OVERVIEW OF THE PERTINENT MEASURES WITH A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE 98 5.2.1 Greed 99 5.2.2 Hatred and Anger 100 5.2.3 Ignorance 101 5.2.4 Pride 102 5.2.5 Distrust 104 5.2.6 Lack of Knowledge Transference 104 5.2.7 Interference of laities on monastic matters 106 CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSIONS 111 6.1 SUMMARY 111 6.2 RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS AND FINDINGS 111 6.2.1 Chapter 2 112 6.2.2 Chapter 3 112 6.2.3 Chapter 4 113 6.2.4 Chapter 5 115 6.3 SUGGESTED FUTURE RESEARCH 116 6.3.1 Comparative Studies 116 6.3.2 Detailed Analysis 116 BIBLIOGRAPHY 118 A. PRIMARY SOURCES 118 A.1 English 118 A.2 Chinese 118 B. SECONDARY SOURCES 123 B.1 Books 123 B.2 Journal Articles 127 B.3 English Conference Papers 128 B.4 Encyclopedia and Dictionaries 129 B.5 Websites 130 APPENDIX A – DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE EAST ASIAN TERMS’ OCCURRENCES IN SŪTRAS IN TAISHO AND卍TRIPIṭAKĀS 131 A.1 MOSHI - 末世 131 A.2 MOFA - 末法 134 A.3 MIEFA - 滅法 135 A.4 FAMIE - 法滅 140 A.5 FAMO - 法沒 141 A.6 MOJIE - 末劫 142 A.7 MODAI - 末代
