|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.g., Amitayus that was to develop inEast Asian Buddhism.If so, this earlier pattern would correspond more closely to thatof, e.g., Nepal and Tibet.29.For Chinese sources on colossal Maitreya statues in north-west India/Afghanistan,see Soper 1959: 268 70.Note also the account of a Sri Lankan king who, without anyparticular meditative cultivation on his part, is said to have received a vision of Tuwitaon his deathbed (Demiéville 1954: 383; see also Nattier, in Sponberg and Hardacre1988: 40).30.For further stories of Maitreya visions, in which Kashmir regularly plays a significantrole, see Soper 1959: 218.31.Basham 1981: 43; cf.Soper 1959: 212 ff., and Nattier, in Sponberg and Hardacre 1988:34 5, 46 7.32.For early artistic representations of Maitreya, see Soper 1959: 216 19.Soper suggeststhat this represents the posture of a Persian king at the time of the earliest Maitreyanuse of the motif in Afghanistan.Other more recent scholars connect this sitting pos-ture with the style of portrayal of Kuwaua royalty.Maitreya, or a Buddha, portrayedthis way may hence double up as a representation of the local emperor and his pro-tecting (or indeed threatening) power (see Cohen 1998: 397).33.For illustrations, see Gaulier et al.1976: picture 46; cf.pictures 55 7, 58 (all wall paint-ings), and the embroidery from ninth/tenth centuries.See also Soper 1959: 219. 9780203428474_5_end01.qxd 16/6/08 12:00 PM Page 366366 Notes34.For discussion of a Japanese example, see Brock, in Sponberg and Hardacre 1988:Ch.10.This apparently portrays Maitreya receiving the robe of ]akyamuni fromMahakazyapa, and thus represents the handing-over, the transmission, of the TrueDharma from ]akyamuni Buddha the Buddha of the Present to his FutureBuddha successor (ibid.: 222 ff.).Possibly other gigantic statues of Maitreya were alsointended to remind passers-by of the same theme.In the EkottarAgama of MainstreamBuddhism the Buddha is supposed to have asked four of his disciples to remain in theworld until the coming of Maitreya (Xing 2005: 169).According to setra sources wellknown in China, the Buddha s successor Mahakazyapa remains in meditation inside acave from the time of ]akyamuni until the advent of Maitreya Buddha precisely forthis purpose of Dharma transmission (Soper 1959: 214).There is no doubt here a modelfor the story of Kekai mentioned above and hence also the self-mummifiers.35.See Suzuki 1935: 328 ff.; Ch en 1964: 405 8.36.See van Oort 1986: I, plates 5ab, 6, 15, and 18.37.For an illustration, see Zwalf 1985: 216.38.He is well known not just in cultural contexts that nowadays we would think of asspecifically Mahayana.Avalokitezvara (as Guanyin) is a popular figure of devotion incontemporary Thailand, perhaps due to increasing Chinese influence.Because of thepresence of Mahayana in the past, historically Avalokitezvara (with the closely linkedTara) has been an important figure too in Sri Lankan Buddhism (see Holt 1991, Mori1997, 1999), and also in the Buddhism of eighth- to thirteenth-century Cambodia, aswell as Indonesia.It seems that the earliest artistic representations of Avalokitezvaramay have been in Gandharan Indian art of the second/third centuries CE, simply as anattendant of the Buddha.39.Schopen 2005: Ch.8.On the use of the word cult here, see Campany 1993: 262 ff.40.There is reason to think that these dimensions of Avalokitezvara were particularlyappealing to merchants, who often faced many of these dangers.Sculptures depictingAvalokitezvara as saviour from such dangers were often placed on trade routes (Lewis2000: 52).Merchants were significant supporters of Buddhism.For the enthusiasmof Newar merchants in Nepal for Avalokitezvara, who is particularly important inNepalese Buddhism, see, e.g., Lewis 2000: Ch.3.Locke 1980 is a comprehensive studyof the Avalokitezvara cult in the Kathmandu valley.On the importance of calling tomind Avalokitezvara in these early Mahayana sources as a means of obtaining the benefits,and its possible connections with buddhAnusmVti, see Harrison 1992a: 224 5.41.A claim also made in Japan for prince Shdtoku Taishi.For some critical consid-eration of the exact relationship Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama to have withAvalokitezvara, see Williams 2004: 18 20.42.For this reason, perhaps, in the KAraURavyEha SEtra he appears to be lauded as higherthan the Buddha himself.43.All of this is, of course, perfectly understandable in terms of the development of MahayanaBuddhism.As a doctrinal development in Buddhism it does not require in itself 9780203428474_5_end01.qxd 16/6/08 12:00 PM Page 367Notes 367reference to external influences.See also, in the Amitabha context, Nattier 2003b:193.44.For example: Bechert and Gombrich 1984: 210; Zwalf 1985: 234; van Oort 1986: II,plate 34b.For some early Chinese tales of the salvific activities of Avalokitezvara, seeLopez 1996: Ch.5.See also Campany 1993 for a detailed study of the presence of Guanyinin Chinese hagiographies and miracle stories, and Kieschnick 1997: 103 5.SomeJapanese tales can be found in Tanabe 1999: Ch.10.For some modern tales, see Blofeld1977.As Kieschnick points out (1997: 108 9), one of the purposes of such miracu-lous tales is to convince potential local patrons of the superior power of Buddhist deitiesto alternative local deities, or the superiority of one particular monastery to anothermonastery.Another purpose, as Huijiao (Hui-chiao) says in a treatise, is the spread-ing of Buddhism (ibid.: 68).Cf.though the Chinese tale of the emperor who soughtto test the spiritual powers of the monk Falin (Fa-lin).If Avalokitezvara (Guanyin)did not save Falin after seven days, the monk would be executed.The sensible Falinreplied that in such a case it would make more sense to pray to the emperor than toAvalokitezvara (ibid.: 101).45.Early Chinese translations of the SukhAvatCvyEha SEtra have Avalokitezvara succeedingAmitabha as the Buddha of Sukhavatc (Nattier, Buddha(s) , in Buswell 2004).He thusplays the same role in relation to Amitabha as does Maitreya to ]akyamuni.46.See the translation in Thomas 1952: 73.See also Thomas 1951: 190; Mallmann 1948:39 40.Studholme 2002: 121 54 gives a complete summary of the setra.For aNewar Nepalese popular retelling in the vernacular of stories related to those in theKAraURavyEha, and Newar devotional rituals centred on Avalokitezvara, see Lewis2000: 54 ff.(see also the same source in Lopez 1995b: Ch.11).For more on theworship of Avalokitezvara in the Kathmandu valley, see the article by Lewis, in Payneand Tanaka 2004: 242 ff.47.See Mallmann 1948: 111 ff.; she also speaks (controversially) of possible Iranianinfluences.See also Gellner 1992: 95.48.Zwalf 1985: 80, 103; cf.Läänemets 2006: 308 10 (drawing on a work by HikosakaShu on Buddhism in Tamilnadu) on how the association of Avalokitezvara with ]ivamay have come about.49.Which, incidentally, assuming it is in correct grammatical form, cannot possibly mean Oh, the jewel in the lotus, hET as it is frequently translated.See Thomas 1951: 187 8.If it is not in correct grammatical form, then it could mean almost anything.For astudy of the early history in India of this mantra and its relationship with the figureof Avalokitezvara, see Studholme 2002.The history of attempts to try and understandwhat the mantra means has been entertainingly treated in Lopez 1998: Ch.4.50.Potalaka was hence thought to be a holy place one could visit with one s physical body.Yet as Avalokitezvara s abode it is also itself related to a Pure Land.This had somereligious significance, particularly in Japan.For a study of those Japanese monks andascetics who set off from Japan in boats that were frequently not seaworthy in order 9780203428474_5_end01.qxd 16/6/08 12:00 PM Page 368368 Notesto find Potalaka, or swimming sometimes with stones attached to them, hence effec-tively ensuring their deaths, see Moerman 2007 [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |
Archiwum
|