The thought that the bodhisattvas postpone their realization for the sake of sentient beings is widely accepted in Mahāyāna Buddhism. We thus see teachings such as “Practice śūnyatā but do not realize it” (學空不證 Xué Kōng Bú Zhèng) and “Retain affliction for rebirth” (留惑潤生 Liú Huò Rèn Shēng) that exhort the bodhisattvas not to extinguish their defilements and not to enter nirvāṇa in order to stay in the triple realm for delivering other sentient beings. These two deeds are acknowledged as two prominent features of the bodhisattva path as well as the embodiments of the bodhisattva’s compassion in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Interestingly, together with these two bodhisattva deeds, we also see the teaching of nonduality as the supreme, perfect awakening is expounded in Prajñāpāramitāsūtra, and, moreover, contemplation on nonduality is deemed essential meditation technique for the fifth-bhūmi bodhisattvas and onwards in Daśabhūmikasūtra. This apparent contradiction is quite puzzling, for if the ultimate reality of all dharma-s as equality/nonduality is what these two sūtra-s propagate, why then do they still talk about “not to realize bhūtakoṭi” and “not to realize the elimination of āsrava”? What kind of logic is it that on the one hand the bodhisattva is contemplating on nonduality, but on the other hand he is practicing not to realize emptiness and not to extirpate his āsrava in case that he is not able to come back to the triple realm? Seen from the dualistic viewpoint of the Sarvāstivāda, which regards saṃsāra/the conditioned and nirvāṇa/the unconditioned as two separate entities, it goes without saying that the bodhisattvas’ not extinguishing their āsrava is a necessary action to take if they wish to stay in the triple realm, but when viewed side by side with the theory of nonduality upheld in the two Mahāyāna sūtra-s, the bodhisattva’s deliberate retention of some of his defilements appears rather incongruous and suspicious. To find a plausible answer to this apparent paradox, this thesis re-examines the passages in question and find that the conventional reading of the bodhisattvas’ “Practice śūnyatā but do not realize it” and “Do not realize the exhaust of āsrava” as necessary means for them to stay in the conditioned world may need to be reappraised. This thesis also examines how Mahāyāna Buddhism reinterprets some of the traditional elements of practice and redesigns its soteriological path by drawing on the concept of nondualtiy.
目次
ABSTRACT i DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv CONTENTS vi ABBREVIATIONS viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Two Paradoxes in the Buddhist Soteriology 1 1.1.1. The First Paradox: From the Conditioned / Conceptual Mārga to the Unconditioned / Non-conceptual Nirvāṇa? 1 1.1.2. The Second Paradox: Play in the Conditioned While in the State of the Unconditioned? 5 1.1.3. Aim of the Study and the Approach Taken 9 1.2. The Intellectual Milieu within the Buddhist Order when Daśabhūmikasūtra and Prajñāpāramitāsūtra appeared 11 CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTS AT ISSUE: “NO FURTHER REBIRTH”, “PRACTICE ŚŪNYATĀ BUT DO NOT REALIZE IT” AND “RETAIN DEFILEMENTS FOR REBIRTH” 16 CHAPTER 3: PARADOX OF THE PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA: WHEN THE THEORY OF NONDUALITY MEETS THE TEACHING OF NO REALIZATION 23 3.1. The meaning of “Do not realize śūnyatā” in Prajñāpāramitā Literature 23 3.2. Extinction of āsrava = Attain Arhatship? 24 3.3. Why don’t the bodhisattvas empty āsrava and realize bhūtakoṭi in Prajñāpāramitā Literature and Daśabhūmikasūtra? 30 CHAPTER 4: NO FURTHER REBIRTH: NATURAL OR OPTIONAL? 46 4.1. When a fire was extinguished, to which direction did it go?—“No further rebirth” in the Nikāya 47 4.2. The Spell of “No Further Rebirth” Unbound—the Dharmadhātujakāya Bodhisattva as Water moon and Mirror reflection 51 4.2.1. How does a kleśa-free bodhisattva return? 55 4.2.2. How does a dharmadhātujakāya appear in the triple realm? 59 CHAPTER 5: THE UNIQUE MEDITATION TECHNIQUE OF THE BODHISATTVA PATH: THE CONTEMPLATION ON NONDUALITY 73 5.1. Introduction 73 5.2. The Contemplation on Nonduality: A Textual Study of Daśabhūmikasūtra 83 5.2.1. The Four Noble Truths Redefined in the text of the Fifth-Bhūmi 83 5.2.2. The First of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination Redefined in the text of the Sixth-Bhūmi 86 5.2.3. Nonduality in Praxis: The Ten Marvelous Acts of the Sixth- and the Seventh-Bhūmi-s and the Anābhoga of the Eighth Bhūmi 88 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 105 BIBLIOGRAPHY 109 Primary Sources 109 Secondary Sources 110
