Review of Anālayo, The Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal

The Middle Way. Journal of the Buddhist Society. August 2000. Vol. 75, No.2, 95-106.

The major stages in the development of the Bodhisattva concept from the time of its appearance in early Buddhism to the time of becoming a universal ideal in Mahåyåna Buddhism can be demarcated with some certainty provided one is aware of certain lacunae in our knowledge of three crucial factors. First, the precise historical chronology of specific ideas advanced in different sources is somewhat complex because of difficulties involved in dating Buddhist texts and historical events. Second, certain ideas formulated about the Bodhisattva in later texts were imputed retrospectively and superimposed on the more primitive form of the Bodhisattva concept. Third, the vital factors, both historical and doctrinal, which induced the emergence of Mahåyåna as such and its formulation of the Bodhisattva ideal remain unknown or obscured. Thus, for instance, we cannot locate the precise origin of the Bodhisattva concept and we do not possess the vital information on the intellectual and social milieu in which the Bodhisattva ideal of Mahåyåna was formulated. In addition to that, it is also important to remember that the various ideas and formulations about the Bodhisattva do not readily mould together into one historically and conceptually coherent image. As we shall see, the content and structure of the Bodhisattva ideal and career did not evolve in neatly cut monolithic blocks that were eventually fitted together into a well designed edifice. On the contrary as Buddhist history progressed the doctrinal speculations about the Bodhisattva's identity and career developed in different directions to the extent that the Bodhisattva's identity and role, even in its mature Mahåyåna version, contains certain conflicting elements.

Early Buddhism, 2021

Summary of Early Buddhism (2021) In this version of a paper I published in 2019 on this site, some redactional errors have been corrected. I used the following criteria for the search after early Buddhist doctrines. 1) Autobiographical discourses of the Buddha; 2) Discourses in the Saṃyutta-Nikāya which also figure in the Pāli Vinaya; 3) and in all cases provided that any doctrine finds support in parallel or similar discourse(s) of other schools, and preferably not only in a Vinaya. These doctrines may be divided into four groups, according to traditional stages of the life of the Buddha. a) Doctrines related to the time before the Awakening of the Buddha The reasons for the search for Nirvāņa. Dividing thoughts in wholesome and unwholesome reflections. b) The process of Awakening The Bodhisatva rediscovered the first meditation. Developing the four meditations, and the final abandoning of the taints, led to his attainment of Nirvāņa. The knowledge that freedom of the cycle of birth and death has been reached. c) Doctrines attributed to the first phase after Awakening The Buddha taught the four Truths, and the doctrine of not-Self. d) Ideas told to be important just before the death of the Buddha

2014

This sūtra is a superb example of Mahāyāna literature with a finely crafted, coherent, and self-conscious narrative structure, which includes the extraordinary characterization of its main protagonist as a non-Buddhist nirgrantha. It has been the center of a number of recent studies that focus on its instructions for the compassionate conduct of warfare, corporal punishment, and torture. However, this should not distract us from the general literary quality of the text and its bearing on a wider range of interests, such as the ekayāna doctrine, the perfections, pure lands, skillful means, the perception of heterodox traditions, and the cult of the book. Since this is a review for the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, I will focus on the ethical content of the translation. A great deal is at stake in the interpretation of the Buddhist ethics of violence, both for historical interpretation and current Buddhist communities engulfed in conflict. In

Siddhārtha Gautama attained Buddhahood by ‘awakening’ or ‘enlightenment’. Having spent many years in the struggle to find the truth about suffering, he was finally enlightened after spending days in meditation under a tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Later he started on a journey to spread his teachings, what is currently known as Buddhism with about 360 million practitioners worldwide. This paper examines the teachings of Buddhism in a bioethical perspective to hypothesize on what awakening or enlightenment meant to the Buddha. The paper argues that the concept of reincarnation, cycle of suffering, and compassion are closely knitted in Buddha’s realization of enlightenment; suffering follows a cyclic pattern through life and unless the cycle is broken, it is inclined to repetition. This cycle starts with birth which is then afflicted with illness, aging and death. However, all living things are connected through the unity of life, like a river that flows. The ‘truth’ is that we are all but one living organism. Compassion can reduce suffering, though suffering can only be stopped when one is so overwhelmed with pure compassion that ‘oneness’ with all life is realized. This allows one to lose the illusion of self so that the cycle of suffering may be brought to an end. Therefore, compassion, altruism, giving and receiving are only ‘natural’. Those who do not realize the truth, stay within the cyclic pattern of suffering that only changes form along the time. Purity and perfection of compassion is the key to end suffering. It can be concluded that the concept of enlightenment is based on Buddha’s philosophical comprehension of the unity and connectedness of life as understood in biology today.

JOURNAL OF INDIAN AND BUDDHIST STUDIES (INDOGAKU BUKKYOGAKU KENKYU), 1985

2014

Buddhakṣetrapariśodhana: A Festschrift for Paul Harrison, 2024

This paper studies the set of bodhisattva precepts that appears in the Bodhisattvabhūmi and is commonly known in East Asia as the “bodhisattva prātimokṣa.” After investigating the history of the independent circulation of these precepts in India, China, Tibet, and Central Asia, I highlight their pedestrian and practical focus that would have contributed to their wide popularity in the Buddhist world. Building on this, I use these precepts to study the social and institutional actualities of bodhisattvas the authors of these precepts in Middle Period India presupposed. This examination will corroborate many elements of the forest hypothesis regarding the origin of Mahāyāna Buddhism and also raise new questions, helping us flesh out the profile of the bodhisattva practitioner on the ground in greater detail.