西元二世紀前後，大乘佛教隨著外交使節、商旅及傳教士來到中國。早期中國佛教徒不但透過協助譯經來開始展開與佛典之對話，早期佛教徒除與來華印度僧眾之互動之外，並將這些宗教活動的信仰體系與儀節，保存於中國佛教徒之僧傳、感應錄、大師論著等史料中。這批史料在二十一世紀之今日，隨著文本流傳空間及譯出語範圍的再擴大，而有了另一層新的重要性。Paul Harrison認定支婁迦讖於西元179年所譯出之漢譯《般舟三昧經》是現存最早的大乘經典文本，並依其藏譯本完成此經之英譯。 筆者在處理漢魏兩晉佛教史料時，注意到散見於眾多僧傳及感應傳中的一個重要主題為許多高僧有關「見佛」的記載，且若將這些記載與天台懺法相互對照，更可瞭解這些「見佛」論述之義涵。 本文之第一節將先列舉一些魏晉南北朝時其關於「見佛」之記載。並考察智顗《法華三昧懺儀》中「見佛」、禪修、及般若空觀三者間的關係。 Mahāyāna Buddhism arrived in China with the foreign missionaries and merchants approximately around 2nd Century A.D. Early Chinese Buddhists not only assists in the translation of Mahāyāna Sūtras but also recorded their interactions and practice of these Mahāyāna Sūtras under the guidance of monks from India and Central China in texts such as the biographies of eminent monks, responsive records, and ritual manuals. The importance of these texts, along with early Chinese translation of Mahāyāna Sūtras, are being reassessed with the formation of the origin of Mahāyāna Buddhism proposed by various scholars including Paul Harrison. Paul Harrison held that the extant earliest Mahāyāna Sūtras are those translated by Lokaksema and should be studied carefully if we were to unlock the mystery of the origin of Mahāyāna Buddhism. In this paper, I would like to respond to this theory by analyzing one recurring theme in these early biographies of eminent monks and responsive records—the records about “seeing the Buddhas.” Two texts that I choose to analyze side by side for cross reference is the Biographies of Eminent Monks and Zhiyi’s Lotus Samādhi Repentance Ritual as while the former can provide a context for our understanding the later, the later can provide us in-depth understanding of these brief accounts of “seeing the Buddha.”
