TERMS STARTING WITH
exegesis: An analysis or explanation, particularly of a portion of the Bible.
exegesis ::: n. --> Exposition; explanation; especially, a critical explanation of a text or portion of Scripture.
The process of finding the roots of an equation.
TERMS ANYWHERE
3. basket of abhidharma/scholastic exegesis (S. abhidharmapitaka/*sāstrapitaka; T. chos mngon pa'i sde snod; C. lunzang 論藏)
Abhidhammatthasangaha. In PAli, "Summary of the Meaning of Abhidharma"; a synoptic manual of PAli ABHIDHARMA written by the Sri Lankan monk ANURUDDHA (d.u.), abbot of the Mulasoma VihAra in Polonnaruwa, sometime between the eighth and twelfth centuries CE, but most probably around the turn of the eleventh century. (Burmese tradition instead dates the text to the first century BCE.) The terse Abhidhammatthasangaha Has been used for centuries as an introductory primer for the study of abhidharma in the monasteries of Sri Lanka and the THERAVADA countries of Southeast Asia; indeed, no other abhidharma text has received more scholarly attention within the tradition, especially in Burma, where this primer has been the object of multiple commentaries and vernacular translations. The Abhidhammatthasangaha includes nine major sections, which provide a systematic overview of PAli Buddhist doctrine. Anuruddha summarizes the exegeses appearing in BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA, though the two works could hardly be more different: where the Visuddhimagga offers an exhaustive exegesis of THERAVADA abhidharma accompanied by a plethora of historical and mythical detail, the Abhidhammatthasangaha is little more than a list of topics, like a bare table of contents. Especially noteworthy in the Abhidhammatthasangaha is its analysis of fifty-two mental concomitants (CETASIKA), in distinction to the forty-six listed in SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA. There is one major PAli commentary to the Abhidhammatthasangaha still extant, the PorAnatīkA, which is attributed to Vimalabuddhi (d.u.). The Abhidhammatthasangaha appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as Compendium of Philosophy.
Abhidharmadīpa. In Sanskrit, "Lamp of ABHIDHARMA"; an Indian scholastic treatise probably composed between 450 and 550 CE. Only fragments of the treatise (sixty-two of 150 folios) are extant; these were discovered in Tibet in 1937. The treatise is composed of two parts-the Abhidharmadīpa, written in verse (kArikA), and a prose autocommentary, the VibhAsAprabhAvṛtti-both of which were probably composed by the same anonymous author. The author, who refers to himself merely as the "DīpakAra" ("author of the Dīpa") may be Vimalamitra (d.u.), an otherwise-unknown disciple of SAMGHABHADRA. The structure of the text is modeled on that of the influential ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, and almost half of the kArikA verses included in the Abhidharmadīpa are virtually identical to those found in the Abhidharmakosa. Although borrowing freely from the Kosa, the DīpakAra launches a harsh critique of VASUBANDHU's (whom he calls the "KosakAra," or "author of the Kosa") AbhidharmakosabhAsya, from the standpoint of SARVASTIVADA abhidharma. Vasubandhu is criticized for the SAUTRANTIKA tendencies betrayed in his doctrinal analyses and also for being a MahAyAnist adherent of the teachings of the "three natures" (TRISVABHAVA). As such, the Abhidharmadīpa's author seems to have been a follower of SAMGHABHADRA's *NYAYANUSARA, and the text helps to clarify the positions of SaMghabhadra and the orthodox VAIBHAsIKAs. The DīpakAra shares the latter's concern with providing both a systematic exegesis of abhidharma theory and a vigorous polemical defense of SarvAstivAda doctrinal positions. Since it presents theories of other thinkers not covered in the AbhidharmakosabhAsya, the Abhidharmadīpa serves as an important source for studying the history of Indian abhidharma. For example, in his discussion of the eponymous SarvAstivAda position that "everything exists" throughout all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, the DīpakAra also critiques three rival positions: the VIBHAJYAVADA and DArstAntikas, who maintain that only "part" exists (viz., the present); the Vaitulika and AyogasunyatAvAda, who say that nothing exists; and the PUDGALAVADA, who presume that existence is indeterminate (AVYAKṚTA).
AbhidharmamahAvibhAsA. (T. Chos mngon pa bye brag bshad pa chen po; C. Apidamo dapiposha lun; J. Abidatsuma daibibasharon; K. Abidalma taebibasa non 阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論). In Sanskrit, "Great Exegesis of ABHIDHARMA," also commonly known as MahAvibhAsA; a massive VAIBHAsIKA treatise on SARVASTIVADA abhidharma translated into Chinese by the scholar-pilgrim XUANZANG and his translation bureau between 656 and 659 at XIMINGSI in the Tang capital of Chang'an. Although no Sanskrit version of this text is extant, earlier Chinese translations by Buddhavarman and others survive, albeit only in (equally massive) fragments. The complete Sanskrit text of the recension that Xuanzang used was in 100,000 slokas; his translation was in 200 rolls, making it one of the largest single works in the Buddhist canon. According to the account in Xuanzang's DA TANG XIYU JI, four hundred years after the Buddha's PARINIRVAnA, King KANIsKA gathered five hundred ARHATs to recite the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA). The ABHIDHARMAPItAKA of this canon, which is associated with the SarvAstivAda school, is said to have been redacted during this council (see COUNCIL, FOURTH). The central abhidharma treatise of the SarvAstivAda school is KATYAYANĪPUTRA's JNANAPRASTHANA, and the AbhidharmamahAvibhAsA purports to offer a comprehensive overview of varying views on the meaning of that seminal text by the five hundred arhats who were in attendance at the convocation. The comments of four major ABHIDHARMIKAs (Ghosa, DHARMATRATA, VASUMITRA, and Buddhadeva) are interwoven into the MahAvibhAsA's contextual analysis of KAtyAyanīputra's material from the JNAnaprasthAna, making the text a veritable encyclopedia of contemporary Buddhist scholasticism. Since the MahAvibhAsA also purports to be a commentary on the central text of the SarvAstivAda school, it therefore offers a comprehensive picture of the development of SarvAstivAda thought after the compilation of the JNAnaprasthAna. The MahAvibhAsA is divided into eight sections (grantha) and several chapters (varga), which systematically follow the eight sections and forty-three chapters of the JNAnaprasthAna in presenting its explication. Coverage of each topic begins with an overview of varying interpretations found in different Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, detailed coverage of the positions of the four major SarvAstivAda Abhidharmikas, and finally the definitive judgment of the compilers, the KAsmīri followers of KAtyAyanĪputra, who call themselves the VibhAsAsAstrins. The MahAvibhAsA was the major influence on the systematic scholastic elaboration of SarvAstivAda doctrine that appears (though with occasional intrusions from the positions of the SarvAstivAda's more-progressive SAUTRANTIKA offshoot) in VASUBANDHU's influential ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, which itself elicited a spirited response from later SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika scholars, such as SAMGHABHADRA in his *NYAYANUSARA. The MahAvibhAsa was not translated into Tibetan until the twentieth century, when a translation entitled Bye brag bshad mdzod chen mo was made at the Sino-Tibetan Institute by the Chinese monk FAZUN between 1946 and 1949. He presented a copy of the manuscript to the young fourteenth DALAI LAMA on the Dalai Lama's visit to Beijing in 1954, but it is not known whether it is still extant.
abhidharma. (P. abhidhamma; T. chos mngon pa; C. apidamo/duifa; J. abidatsuma/taiho; K. abidalma/taebop 阿毘達磨/對法). In Sanskrit, abhidharma is a prepositional compound composed of abhi- + dharma. The compound is typically glossed with abhi being interpreted as equivalent to uttama and meaning "highest" or "advanced" DHARMA (viz., doctrines or teachings), or abhi meaning "pertaining to" the dharma. The SARVASTIVADA Sanskrit tradition typically follows the latter etymology, while the THERAVADA PAli tradition prefers the former, as in BUDDHAGHOSA's gloss of the term meaning either "special dharma" or "supplementary dharma." These definitions suggest that abhidharma was conceived as a precise (P. nippariyAya), definitive (PARAMARTHA) assessment of the dharma that was presented in its discursive (P. sappariyAya), conventional (SAMVṚTI) form in the SuTRAS. Where the sutras offered more subjective presentations of the dharma, drawing on worldly parlance, simile, metaphor, and personal anecdote in order to appeal to their specific audiences, the abhidharma provided an objective, impersonal, and highly technical description of the specific characteristics of reality and the causal processes governing production and cessation. There are two divergent theories for the emergence of the abhidharma as a separate genre of Buddhist literature. In one theory, accepted by most Western scholars, the abhidharma is thought to have evolved out of the "matrices" (S. MATṚKA; P. mAtikA), or numerical lists of dharmas, that were used as mnemonic devices for organizing the teachings of the Buddha systematically. Such treatments of dharma are found even in the sutra literature and are probably an inevitable by-product of the oral quality of early Buddhist textual transmission. A second theory, favored by Japanese scholars, is that abhidharma evolved from catechistic discussions (abhidharmakathA) in which a dialogic format was used to clarify problematic issues in doctrine. The dialogic style also appears prominently in the sutras where, for example, the Buddha might give a brief statement of doctrine (uddesa; P. uddesa) whose meaning had to be drawn out through exegesis (NIRDEsA; P. niddesa); indeed, MAHAKATYAYANA, one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha, was noted for his skill in such explications. This same style was prominent enough in the sutras even to be listed as one of the nine or twelve genres of Buddhist literature (specifically, VYAKARAnA; P. veyyAkarana). According to tradition, the Buddha first taught the abhidharma to his mother MAHAMAYA, who had died shortly after his birth and been reborn as a god in TUsITA heaven. He met her in the heaven of the thirty-three (TRAYASTRIMsA), where he expounded the abhidharma to her and the other divinities there, repeating those teachings to sARIPUTRA when he descended each day to go on his alms-round. sAriputra was renowned as a master of the abhidharma. Abhidharma primarily sets forth the training in higher wisdom (ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA) and involves both analytical and synthetic modes of doctrinal exegesis. The body of scholastic literature that developed from this exegetical style was compiled into the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, one of the three principal sections of the Buddhist canon, or TRIPItAKA, along with sutra and VINAYA, and is concerned primarily with scholastic discussions on epistemology, cosmology, psychology, KARMAN, rebirth, and the constituents of the process of enlightenment and the path (MARGA) to salvation. (In the MAHAYANA tradition, this abhidharmapitaka is sometimes redefined as a broader "treatise basket," or *sASTRAPItAKA.)
abhidharmapitaka. (P. abhidhammapitaka; T. chos mngon pa'i sde snod; C. lunzang; J. ronzo; K. nonjang 論藏). The third of the three "baskets" (PItAKA) of the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA). The abhidharmapitaka derives from attempts in the early Buddhist community to elucidate the definitive significance of the teachings of the Buddha, as compiled in the SuTRAs. Since the Buddha was well known to have adapted his message to fit the predilections and needs of his audience (cf. UPAYAKAUsALYA), there inevitably appeared inconsistencies in his teachings that needed to be resolved. The attempts to ferret out the definitive meaning of the BUDDHADHARMA through scholastic interpretation and exegesis eventually led to a new body of texts that ultimately were granted canonical status in their own right. These are the texts of the abhidharmapitaka. The earliest of these texts, such as the PAli VIBHAnGA and PUGGALAPANNATTI and the SARVASTIVADA SAMGĪTIPARYAYA and DHARMASKANDHA, are structured as commentaries to specific sutras or portions of sutras. These materials typically organized the teachings around elaborate doctrinal taxonomies, which were used as mnemonic devices or catechisms. Later texts move beyond individual sutras to systematize a wide range of doctrinal material, offering ever more complex analytical categorizations and discursive elaborations of the DHARMA. Ultimately, abhidharma texts emerge as a new genre of Buddhist literature in their own right, employing sophisticated philosophical speculation and sometimes even involving polemical attacks on the positions of rival factions within the SAMGHA. ¶ At least seven schools of Indian Buddhism transmitted their own recensions of abhidharma texts, but only two of these canons are extant in their entirety. The PAli abhidhammapitaka of the THERAVADA school, the only recension that survives in an Indian language, includes seven texts (the order of which often differs): (1) DHAMMASAnGAnI ("Enumeration of Dharmas") examines factors of mentality and materiality (NAMARuPA), arranged according to ethical quality; (2) VIBHAnGA ("Analysis") analyzes the aggregates (SKANDHA), conditioned origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), and meditative development, each treatment culminating in a catechistic series of inquiries; (3) DHATUKATHA ("Discourse on Elements") categorizes all dharmas in terms of the skandhas and sense-fields (AYATANA); (4) PUGGALAPANNATTI ("Description of Human Types") analyzes different character types in terms of the three afflictions of greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA) and various related subcategories; (5) KATHAVATTHU ("Points of Controversy") scrutinizes the views of rival schools of mainstream Buddhism and how they differ from the TheravAda; (6) YAMAKA ("Pairs") provides specific denotations of problematic terms through paired comparisons; (7) PAttHANA ("Conditions") treats extensively the full implications of conditioned origination. ¶ The abhidharmapitaka of the SARVASTIVADA school is extant only in Chinese translation, the definitive versions of which were prepared by XUANZANG's translation team in the seventh century. It also includes seven texts: (1) SAMGĪTIPARYAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Discourse on Pronouncements") attributed to either MAHAKAUstHILA or sARIPUTRA, a commentary on the SaMgītisutra (see SAnGĪTISUTTA), where sAriputra sets out a series of dharma lists (MATṚKA), ordered from ones to elevens, to organize the Buddha's teachings systematically; (2) DHARMASKANDHA[PADAsASTRA] ("Aggregation of Dharmas"), attributed to sAriputra or MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA, discusses Buddhist soteriological practices, as well as the afflictions that hinder spiritual progress, drawn primarily from the AGAMAs; (3) PRAJNAPTIBHAsYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Treatise on Designations"), attributed to MaudgalyAyana, treats Buddhist cosmology (lokaprajNapti), causes (kArana), and action (KARMAN); (4) DHATUKAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Collection on the Elements"), attributed to either PuRnA or VASUMITRA, discusses the mental concomitants (the meaning of DHATU in this treatise) and sets out specific sets of mental factors that are present in all moments of consciousness (viz., the ten MAHABHuMIKA) or all defiled states of mind (viz., the ten KLEsAMAHABHuMIKA); (5) VIJNANAKAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Collection on Consciousness"), attributed to Devasarman, seeks to prove the veracity of the eponymous SarvAstivAda position that dharmas exist in all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, and the falsity of notions of the person (PUDGALA); it also provides the first listing of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA); (6) PRAKARAnA[PADAsASTRA] ("Exposition"), attributed to VASUMITRA, first introduces the categorization of dharmas according to the more developed SarvAstivAda rubric of RuPA, CITTA, CAITTA, CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA, and ASAMSKṚTA dharmas; it also adds a new listing of KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA, or factors always associated with wholesome states of mind; (7) JNANAPRASTHANA ("Foundations of Knowledge"), attributed to KATYAYANĪPUTRA, an exhaustive survey of SarvAstivAda dharma theory and the school's exposition of psychological states, which forms the basis of the massive encyclopedia of SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika abhidharma, the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA. In the traditional organization of the seven canonical books of the SarvAstivAda abhidharmapitaka, the JNANAPRASTHANA is treated as the "body" (sARĪRA), or central treatise of the canon, with its six "feet" (pAda), or ancillary treatises (pAdasAstra), listed in the following order: (1) PrakaranapAda, (2) VijNAnakAya, (3) Dharmaskandha, (4) PrajNaptibhAsya, (5) DhAtukAya, and (6) SaMgītiparyAya. Abhidharma exegetes later turned their attention to these canonical abhidharma materials and subjected them to the kind of rigorous scholarly analysis previously directed to the sutras. These led to the writing of innovative syntheses and synopses of abhidharma doctrine, in such texts as BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA and ANURUDDHA's ABHIDHAMMATTHASAnGAHA, VASUBANDHU's ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, and SAMGHABHADRA's *NYAYANUSARA. In East Asia, this third "basket" was eventually expanded to include the burgeoning scholastic literature of the MAHAYANA, transforming it from a strictly abhidharmapitaka into a broader "treatise basket" or *sASTRAPItAKA (C. lunzang).
abhiprAya. (T. dgongs pa; C. yiqu; J. ishu; K. ŭich'wi 意趣). In Sanskrit, "hidden intention" or "purpose"; a term used in hermeneutics to refer to the concealed intent the Buddha had in mind when he made a statement that was not literally true (see also ABHISAMDHI). In the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA, there are four abhiprAyas. (1) The Buddha may say that two things are the same when in fact they are similar in only one, albeit important, feature. Thus, sAKYAMUNI Buddha says that he is the past buddha VIPAsYIN, thinking of the fact that there is not the slightest difference in their DHARMAKAYAs. This is called the intention of sameness (samatAbhiprAya). (2) The Buddha may say one thing while intending something else (arthAntarAbhiprAya). This category is often invoked in YOGACARA exegesis to explain why the Buddha proclaimed the nonexistence of all phenomena in the PRAJNAPARAMITA sutras when he in fact did not intend this statement to be taken literally, thinking instead of the three natures (TRILAKsAnA) of all phenomena propounded by the YogAcAra. (3) The buddha may make a statement intending another time (kAlAntarAbhiprAya) than that suggested by his words. For example, he may assure lazy persons who are incapable of any virtuous practice whatsoever that they will be reborn in SUKHAVATĪ, the paradise of AMITABHA, if they will simply call on that buddha. He does this in order to encourage them to accumulate a modest amount of merit, although he knows that they will not be reborn there immediately or even in their next lifetime, but at some other time in the future. (4) The Buddha adjusts his teaching to the capacities of his students based on their dispositions (pudgalAntarAbhiprAya). For example, the Buddha will extol the benefits of the practice of charity (DANA) to a person who is disposed toward the accumulation of merit (PUnYA) but will underplay the importance of charity to a person who becomes complacently attached to that practice. See ABHISAMDHI; SANDHYABHAsA.
An Shigao. (J. An Seiko; K. An Sego 安世高) (fl. c. 148-180 CE). An early Buddhist missionary in China and first major translator of Indian Buddhist materials into Chinese; he hailed from Arsakes (C. ANXI GUO), the Arsacid kingdom (c. 250 BCE-224 CE) of PARTHIA. (His ethnikon AN is the Chinese transcription of the first syllable of Arsakes.) Legend says that he was a crown prince of Parthia who abandoned his right to the throne in favor of a religious life, though it is not clear whether he was a monk or a layperson, or a follower of MAHAYANA or SARVASTIVADA, though all of the translations authentically ascribed to him are of mainstream Buddhist materials. An moved eastward and arrived in 148 at the Chinese capital of Luoyang, where he spent the next twenty years of his life. Many of the earliest translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese are attributed to An Shigao, but few can be determined with certainty to be his work. His most famous translations are the Ren benyu sheng jing (MAHANIDANASUTTANTA), ANBAN SHOUYI JING (ANAPANASATISUTTA), Yinchiru jing, and Daodi jing. Although his Anban shouyi jing is called a SuTRA, it is in fact made up of both short translations and his own exegesis on these translations, making it all but impossible to separate the original text from his exegesis. An Shigao seems to have been primarily concerned with meditative techniques such as ANAPANASMṚTI and the study of numerical categories such as the five SKANDHAs and twelve AYATANAs. Much of An's pioneering translation terminology was eventually superseded as the Chinese translation effort matured, but his use of transcription, rather than translation, in rendering seminal Buddhist concepts survived, as in the standard Chinese transcriptions he helped popularize for buddha (C. FO) and BODHISATTVA (C. pusa). Because of his renown as an early translator, later Buddhist scriptural catalogues (JINGLU) in China ascribed to An Shigao many works that did not carry translator attributions; hence, there are many indigenous Chinese Buddhist scriptures (see APOCRYPHA) that are falsely attributed to him.
atthakathA. In PAli, lit. "recital of meaning" or "exegesis"; referring specifically to the "commentaries" to the first four NIKAYAs, or scriptural collections, that comprise the PAli Buddhist canon (tipitaka; S. TRIPItAKA). According to THERAVADA tradition, MAHINDA brought the PAli tipitaka and atthakathAs to Sri Lanka from the Indian mainland during the third century CE, during the time of King AsOKA. The language of those Indian commentaries is unknown, but they were initially written down in Sri Lanka in some sort of Sinhalese PRAKRIT. That first Sinhalese recension of the four atthakathAs was superseded when, two centuries later, the renowned TheravAda scholiast, BUDDHAGHOSA, rewrote them in PAli and wrote a lengthy prolegomenon to this massive body of commentarial literature, which he titled the VISUDDHIMAGGA ("Path of Purification"). In conjunction with the systematic overview provided in the Visuddhimagga, the atthakathAs thus claim to offer a comprehensive account of the full panoply of Buddhist doctrine. The atthakathA to the last, and latest, of the nikAyas, the KHUDDAKANIKAYA ("Miscellaneous Discourses"), was composed separately, probably sometime between 450 and 600 CE, by the prolific PAli commentator DHAMMAPALA, and seems to draw on a separate textual recension from that used by Buddhaghosa.
AvataMsakasutra. (T. Mdo phal po che; C. Huayan jing; J. Kegongyo; K. Hwaom kyong 華嚴經). In Sanskrit, "Garland Scripture"; also known as the BUDDHAVATAMSAKASuTRA ("Scripture of the Garland of Buddhas"), or *BuddhAvataMsakanAmamahAvaipulyasutra, the Sanskrit reconstruction of the title of the Chinese translation Dafangguang fo huayan jing, which is usually abbreviated in Chinese simply as the HUAYAN JING ("Flower Garland Scripture"). The sutra is one of the most influential Buddhist scriptures in East Asia and the foundational text of the indigenous East Asian HUAYAN ZONG. The first major edition of the AvataMsakasutra was said to have been brought from KHOTAN and was translated into Chinese by BUDDHABHADRA in 421; this recension consisted of sixty rolls and thirty-four chapters. A second, longer recension, in eighty rolls and thirty-nine chapters, was translated into Chinese by sIKsANANDA in 699; this is sometimes referred to within the Huayan tradition as the "New [translation of the] AvataMsakasutra" (Xin Huayan jing). A Tibetan translation similar to the eighty-roll recension also exists. The AvataMsakasutra is traditionally classified as a VAIPULYASuTRA; it is an encyclopedic work that brings together a number of heterogeneous texts, such as the GAndAVYuHA and DAsABHuMIKASuTRA, which circulated independently before being compiled together in this scripture. No Sanskrit recension of the AvataMsakasutra has been discovered; even the title is not known from Sanskrit sources, but is a reconstruction of the Chinese. (Recent research in fact suggests that the correct Sanskrit title might actually be BuddhAvataMsakasutra, or "Scripture of the Garland of Buddhas," rather than AvataMsakasutra.) There are, however, extant Sanskrit recensions of two of its major constituents, the Dasabhumikasutra and Gandavyuha. Given the dearth of evidence of a Sanskrit recension of the complete AvataMsakasutra, and since the scripture was first introduced to China from Khotan, some scholars have argued that the scripture may actually be of Central Asian provenance (or at very least was heavily revised in Central Asia). There also exists in Chinese translation a forty-roll recension of the AvataMsakasutra, translated by PRAJNA in 798, which roughly corresponds to the Gandavyuha, otherwise known in Chinese as the Ru fajie pin or "Chapter on the Entry into the DHARMADHATU." Little attempt is made to synthesize these disparate materials into an overarching narrative, but there is a tenuous organizational schema involving a series of different "assemblies" to which the different discourses are addressed. The Chinese tradition presumed that the AvataMsakasutra was the first sermon of the Buddha (see HUAYAN ZHAO), and the sutra's first assembly takes place at the BODHI TREE two weeks after he had attained enlightenment while he was still immersed in the samAdhi of oceanic reflection (SAGARAMUDRASAMADHI). The AvataMsaka is therefore believed to provide a comprehensive and definitive description of the Buddha's enlightenment experience from within this profound state of samAdhi. The older sixty-roll recension includes a total of eight assemblies held at seven different locations: three in the human realm and the rest in the heavens. The later eighty-roll recension, however, includes a total of nine assemblies at seven locations, a discrepancy that led to much ink in Huayan exegesis. In terms of its content, the sutra offers exuberant descriptions of myriads of world systems populated by buddhas and bodhisattvas, along with elaborate imagery focusing especially on radiant light and boundless space. The scripture is also the inspiration for the famous metaphor of INDRAJALA (Indra's Net), a canopy made of transparent jewels in which each jewel is reflected in all the others, suggesting the multivalent levels of interaction between all phenomena in the universe. The text focuses on the unitary and all-pervasive nature of enlightenment, which belongs to the realm of the Buddha of Pervasive Light, VAIROCANA, the central buddha in the AvataMsaka, who embodies the DHARMAKAYA. The sutra emphasizes the knowledge and enlightenment of the buddhas as being something that is present in all sentient beings (see TATHAGATAGARBHA and BUDDHADHATU), just as the entire universe, or trichiliocosm (S. TRISAHASRAMAHASAHASRALOKADHATU) is contained in a minute mote of dust. This notion of interpenetration or interfusion (YUANRONG) is stressed in the thirty-second chapter of Buddhabhadra's translation, whose title bears the influential term "nature origination" (XINGQI). The sutra, especially in FAZANG's authoritative exegesis, is presumed to set forth a distinctive presentation of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA) in terms of the dependence of the whole on its parts, stressing the unity of the universe and its emptiness (suNYATA) of inherent nature; dependent origination here emerges as a profound ecological vision in which the existence of any one thing is completely dependent on the existence of all other things and all things on any one thing. Various chapters of the sutra were also interpreted as providing the locus classicus for the exhaustive fifty-two stage MahAyAna path (MARGA) to buddhahood, which included the ten faiths (only implied in the scripture), the ten abodes, ten practices, ten dedications, and ten stages (DAsABHuMI), plus the two stages of awakening itself: virtual enlightenment (dengjue) and sublime enlightenment (miaojue). This soteriological process was then illustrated through the peregrinations of the lad SUDHANA to visit his religious mentors, each of whom is identified with one of these specific stages; Sudhana's lengthy pilgrimage is described in great detail in the massive final chapter (a third of the entire scripture), the Gandavyuha, titled in the AvataMsakasutra the "Entry into the DharmadhAtu" chapter (Ru fajie pin). The evocative and widely quoted statement in the "Brahmacarya" chapter that "at the time of the initial arousal of the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPADA), complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) is already achieved" was also influential in the development of the East Asian notion of sudden enlightenment (DUNWU), since it implied that awakening could be achieved in an instant of sincere aspiration, without requiring three infinite eons (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) of religious training. Chinese exegetes who promoted this sutra reserved the highest place for it in their scriptural taxonomies (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) and designated it the "perfect" or "consummate" teaching (YUANJIAO) of Buddhism. Many commentaries on and exegeses of the sutra are extant, among which the most influential are those written by FAZANG, ZHIYAN, CHENGGUAN, LI TONGXUAN, GUIFENG ZONGMI, WoNHYO, ŬISANG, and MYoE KoBEN.
exegesis: An analysis or explanation, particularly of a portion of the Bible.
exegesis ::: n. --> Exposition; explanation; especially, a critical explanation of a text or portion of Scripture.
The process of finding the roots of an equation.
bhas.ya (bhashya) ::: commentary; scriptural interpretation; the capacbhasya ity of exegesis "in faithful subordination to the strict purport & connotation of the text".
bhAsya. (T. bshad pa; C. lun; J. ron; K. non 論). In Sanskrit, "commentary," or "exposition"; especially an exegesis on a set of aphoristic statements (SuTRAS) or kArikAs (the same in verse form): e.g., ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA. In East Asia, the term lun was reserved for the commentaries of the eminent bodhisattva-exegetes of Indian MAHAYANA Buddhism, such as VASUBANDHU, ASAnGA, and MAITREYA/MAITREYANATHA; commentaries by indigenous East Asian exegetes are usually termed shu. One of the very few exceptions is the "Exposition of the *VajrasamAdhisutra (KŬMGANG SAMMAE KYoNG)" (KŬMGANG SAMMAEGYoNG NON), by the Korean exegete WoNHYO, which was so highly regarded that it was given this special designation.
Bi ma snying thig. (Bime Nyingtik) In Tibetan, "Heart Essence of VIMALAMITRA"; associated with KLONG CHEN RAB 'BYAMS whose collection of RDZOGS CHEN teaching of the "instruction class" (MAN NGAG SDE) are loosely referred to by this name. The Bi ma snying thig itself is a collection of five texts attributed to Vimalamitra, rediscovered as treasure texts (GTER MA) by Lce btsun Seng ge dbang phyug in CHIMS PHU near BSAM YAS, and passed down through Zhang ston Bkra shis rdo rje (1097-1167) to Klong chen pa who established the SNYING THIG ("heart essence") as the central element in the rdzogs chen tradition. He gave an exegesis on the theory and practice of rdzogs chen in his MDZOD BDUN ("seven great treasuries") and NGAL GSO SKOR GSUM ("Trilogy on Rest"), and in his Bla ma yang thig, revealed the contents of the Bi ma snying thig itself.
bodhicittotpAda. (T. byang chub kyi sems bskyed pa; C. fa puti xin; J. hotsubodaishin; K. pal pori sim 發菩提心). In Sanskrit, "generating the aspiration for enlightenment," "creating (utpAda) the thought (CITTA) of enlightenment (BODHI)"; a term used to describe both the process of developing BODHICITTA, the aspiration to achieve buddhahood, as well as the state achieved through such development. The MAHAYANA tradition treats this aspiration as having great significance in one's spiritual career, since it marks the entry into the MahAyAna and the beginning of the BODHISATTVA path. The process by which this "thought of enlightenment" (bodhicitta) is developed and sustained is bodhicittotpAda. Various types of techniques or conditional environments conducive to bodhicittotpAda are described in numerous MahAyAna texts and treatises. The BODHISATTVABHuMI says that there are four predominant conditions (ADHIPATIPRATYAYA) for generating bodhicitta: (1) witnessing an inconceivable miracle (ṛddhiprAtihArya) performed by a buddha or a bodhisattva, (2) listening to a teaching regarding enlightenment (BODHI) or to the doctrine directed at bodhisattvas (BODHISATTVAPItAKA), (3) recognizing the dharma's potential to be extinguished and seeking therefore to protect the true dharma (SADDHARMA), (4) seeing that sentient beings are troubled by afflictions (KLEsA) and empathizing with them. The Fa putixinjing lun introduces another set of four conditions for generating bodhicitta: (1) reflecting on the buddhas; (2) contemplating the dangers (ADĪNAVA) inherent in the body; (3) developing compassion (KARUnA) toward sentient beings; (4) seeking the supreme result (PHALA). The Chinese apocryphal treatise DASHENG QIXIN LUN ("Awakening of Faith According to the MahAyAna") refers to three types of bodhicittotpAda: that which derives from the accomplishment of faith, from understanding and practice, and from realization. JINGYING HUIYUAN (523-592) in his DASHENG YIZHANG ("Compendium on the Purport of MahAyAna") classifies bodhicittotpAda into three groups: (1) the generation of the mind based on characteristics, in which the bodhisattva, perceiving the characteristics of SAMSARA and NIRVAnA, abhors saMsAra and aspires to seek nirvAna; (2) the generation of the mind separate from characteristics, in which the bodhisattva, recognizing that the nature of saMsAra is not different from nirvAna, leaves behind any perception of their distinctive characteristics and generates an awareness of their equivalency; (3) the generation of the mind based on truth, in which the bodhisattva, recognizing that the original nature of bodhi is identical to his own mind, returns to his own original state of mind. The Korean scholiast WoNHYO (617-686), in his Muryangsugyong chongyo ("Doctrinal Essentials of the 'Sutra of Immeasurable Life'"), considers the four great vows of the bodhisattva (see C. SI HONGSHIYUAN) to be bodhicitta and divides its generation into two categories: viz., the aspiration that accords with phenomena (susa palsim) and the aspiration that conforms with principle (suri palsim). The topic of bodhicittotpAda is the subject of extensive discussion and exegesis in Tibetan Buddhism. For example, in his LAM RIM CHEN MO, TSONG KHA PA sets forth two techniques for developing this aspiration. The first, called the "seven cause and effect precepts" (rgyu 'bras man ngag bdun) is said to derive from ATIsA DIPAMKARAsRĪJNANA. The seven are (1) recognition of all sentient beings as having been one's mother in a past life, (2) recognition of their kindness, (3) the wish to repay their kindness, (4) love, (5) compassion, (6) the wish to liberate them from suffering, and (7) bodhicitta. The second, called the equalizing and exchange of self and other (bdag gzhan mnyam brje) is derived from the eighth chapter of sANTIDEVA's BODHICARYAVATARA. It begins with the recognition that oneself and others equally want happiness and do not want suffering. It goes on to recognize that by cherishing others more than oneself, one ensures the welfare of both oneself (by becoming a buddha) and others (by teaching them the dharma). MahAyAna sutra literature typically assumes that, after generating the bodhicitta, the bodhisattva will require not one, but three "incalculable eons" (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) of time in order to complete all the stages (BHuMI) of the bodhisattva path (MARGA) and achieve buddhahood. The Chinese HUAYAN ZONG noted, however, that the bodhisattva had no compunction about practicing for such an infinity of time, because he realized at the very inception of the path that he was already a fully enlightened buddha. They cite in support of this claim the statement in the "BrahmacaryA" chapter of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA that "at the time of the initial generation of the aspiration for enlightenment (bodhicittotpAda), complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) is already achieved."
bodhisattvabhumi. (T. byang chub sems dpa'i sa; C. pusa di; J. bosatsuji; K. posal chi 菩薩地). In Sanskrit, lit. "ground" or "stage" (BHuMI) of a BODHISATTVA, referring to the systematic stages along the path (MARGA) of a bodhisattva's maturation into a buddha. A normative list of ten bhumis, which becomes standard in many MAHAYANA accounts of the bodhisattva path, appears in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA, a sutra that was later incorporated into the AVATAMSAKASuTRA compilation. These ten stages (DAsABHuMI) of the Dasabhumikasutra correspond to the forty-first to fiftieth stages among the fifty-two bodhisattva stages, the comprehensive outline of the entire bodhisattva path taught in such scriptures as the AvataMsakasutra, the PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING, and the RENWANG JING. The first bhumi begins on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), and the other nine bhumis occur on the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). (For detailed explication of each stage, see DAsABHuMI s.v.) The PRAJNAPARAMITA SuTRAs, and the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA and ABHISAMAYALAMKARA in their exegesis of these stages, explain that bodhisattvas reach each higher level along the path after completing the preparations (parikarman) for it; they set forth the same ten levels as the Dasabhumikasutra with the same names. Arya VIMUKTISENA, in his exegesis of the AbhisamayAlaMkAra, says bodhisattvas on the tenth bhumi are like TATHAGATAs who have passed beyond all stages, and lists eight other stages corresponding roughly to the stages of the eight noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA), with the first through ninth bodhisattva bhumis described as a transcendent ninth level. In contrast to the normative ten bhumis described in the Dasabhumikasutra, MAITREYANATHA/ASAnGA in the BODHISATTVABHuMI instead outlines a system of seven stages (bhumi), which are then correlated with the thirteen abodes (VIHARA). (See the following entry on the treatise for further explication.) The seven-bhumi schema of the Bodhisattvabhumi and the ten-bhumi schema of the Dasabhumikasutra are independent systematizations.
Chengshi lun. (S. *Tattvasiddhi; J. Jojitsuron; K. Songsil non 成實論). In Chinese, "Treatise on Establishing Reality"; a summary written c. 253 CE by the third century CE author HARIVARMAN of the lost ABHIDHARMA of the BAHUsRUTĪYA school, a branch of the MAHASAMGHIKA. (The Sanskrit reconstruction *Tattvasiddhi is now generally preferred over the outmoded *SatyasiddhisAstra). The Tattvasiddhi is extant only in KUMARAJĪVA's Chinese translation, made in 411-412, in sixteen rolls (juan) and 202 chapters (pin). The treatise is especially valuable for its detailed refutations of the positions held by other early MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS; the introduction, for example, surveys ten different grounds of controversy separating the different early schools. The treatise is structured in the form of an exposition of the traditional theory of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, but does not include listings for different factors (DHARMA) that typify many works in the abhidharma genre. The positions advocated in the text are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKAYA and SAUTRANTIKA schools, although, unlike the SthaviranikAya, the treatise accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike SautrAntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARABHAVA) between existences. Harivarman opposes the SARVASTIVADA position that dharmas exist in past, present, and future, the MahAsAMghika view that thought is inherently pure, and the VATSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists. The Chengshi lun thus hones to a "middle way" between the extremes of "everything exists" and "everything does not exist," both of which it views as expediencies that do not represent ultimate reality. The text advocates, instead, the "voidness of everything" (sarvasunya) and is therefore sometimes viewed within the East Asian traditions as representing a transitional stage between the mainstream Buddhist schools and MahAyAna philosophical doctrine. The text was so widely studied in East Asia, especially during the fifth and sixth centuries, that reference is made to a *Tattvasiddhi school of exegesis (C. Chengshi zong; J. Jojitsushu; K. Songsilchong); indeed, the Jojitsu school is considered one of the six major schools of Japanese Buddhist scholasticism during the Nara period.
Chengshi zong. (J. Jojitsushu; K. Songsil chong 成實宗). In Chinese, "*Tattvasiddhi school" of scholastic exegesis. See CHENGSHI LUN.
Cheng weishi lun. (S. *VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi; J. Joyui-shikiron; K. Song yusik non 成唯識論). In Chinese, "Demonstration of Consciousness-Only"; a magnum opus of Sino-Indian YOGACARA Buddhism and the foundational text of the Chinese WEISHI, or FAXIANG, school. The text is often cited by its reconstructed Sanskrit title *VIJNAPTIMATRATASIDDHI, and its authorship attributed to DHARMAPALA (530-561), but the text as we have it in Chinese translation has no precise analogue in Sanskrit and was never used within the Indian or Tibetan traditions. Its Chinese translator XUANZANG (600/602-664), one of the most important figures in the history of Chinese Buddhist scholasticism, traveled to India in the seventh century, where he specialized in YogAcAra doctrine at NALANDA monastic university under one of DharmapAla's disciples, sĪLABHADRA (529-645). At NAlandA, Xuanzang studied VASUBANDHU's TRIMsIKA (TriMsikAvijNaptimAtratA[siddhi]kArikA), the famous "Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only," along with ten prose commentaries on the verses by the prominent YogAcAra scholiasts DharmapAla, STHIRAMATI, Nanda, CitrabhAnu, Gunamati, Jinamitra, JNAnamitra, JNAnacandra, Bandhusrī, suddhacandra, and Jinaputra. After his return to China in 645, Xuanzang set to work translating this massive amount of new material into Chinese. Rather than translate in their entirety all ten commentaries, however, on the advice of his translation team Xuanzang chose to focus on DharmapAla's exegesis, which he considered orthodox, rather than muddy the waters in China with the divergent interpretations of the other teachers. As a foil for DharmapAla's interpretation, Xuanzang uses the commentaries by Sthiramati, Nanda, and occasionally CitrabhAnu, but he typically concludes any discussion with DharmapAla's definitive view. This decision to rely heavily on DharmapAla's interpretation probably comes from the fact that Xuanzang's own Indian teacher, sīlabhadra, was himself a pupil of DharmapAla. ¶ The Cheng weishi lun is principally concerned with the origination and removal of ignorance (AVIDYA), by clarifying the processes by which erroneous perception arises and enlightened understanding is produced. Unlike the writings of STHIRAMATI, which understood the bifurcation of consciousness into subject and object to be wholly imaginary, the Cheng weishi lun proposed instead that consciousness in fact always appears in both subjective and objective aspects, viz., a "seeing part" (darsanabhAga) and a "seen part" (nimittabhAga). The apparent dichotomy between inner self and external images is a supposition of mentality (MANAS), which in turn leads to the various afflictions (KLEsA), as the mind clings to those images it likes and rejects those it dislikes; thus, suffering (DUḤKHA) is created and the cycle of rebirth (SAMSARA) sustained. Both the perceiving self and the perceived images are therefore both simply projections of the mind and thus mere-representation (VIJNAPTIMATRA) or, as Xuanzang translated the term, consciousness-only (WEISHI). This clarification of the perceptual process produces an enlightened understanding that catalyzes a transmutation of the basis (AsRAYAPARAVṚTTI), so that the root consciousness (MuLAVIJNANA), or ALAYAVIJNANA, no longer serves as the storehouse of either wholesome or unwholesome seeds (BĪJA), thus bringing an end to the subject-object bifurcation. In the course of its discussion, the Cheng weishi lun offers an extensive treatment of the YogAcAra theory of the eight consciousnesses (VIJNANA) and especially the storehouse consciousness (AlayavijNAna) that stores the seeds, or potentialities, of these representational images. The text also offers an overview of the three-nature (TRISVABHAVA) theory of vijNaptimAtra as imaginary (PARIKALPITA), dependent (PARATANTRA), and perfected (PARINIsPANNA). Finally, the Cheng weishi lun provides such exhaustive detail on the hundred dharmas (BAIFA) taxonomical system of the YogAcAra that it has been used within the tradition as a primer of YogAcAra dharma theory.
Chos grub. (Cho drup) (C. Facheng 法成) (c. 755-849). Tibetan translator of Chinese Buddhist texts into Tibetan during the early ninth century; he worked at the Chinese outpost of DUNHUANG along the SILK ROAD. At the command of King RAL PA CAN, Chos grub translated what the Tibetans know as the "Great Chinese Commentary" on the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA, a massive exegesis to this important YOGACARA text that was composed by the Korean commentator WoNCH'ŬK; Chos grub's rendering was an important source for TSONG KHA PA's Drang nges LEGS BSHAD SNYING PO ("Essence of Eloquence on the Definitive and Provisional"). Chos grub was also the translator of the Chinese apocryphon YULANBEN JING ("Book of the Yulan Vessel"), an influential text on the "Ghost Festival" (YULANBEN).
Culaniddesa. In PAli, "Shorter Exposition," second part of the Niddesa ("Exposition"), an early commentarial work on the SUTTANIPATA included in the PAli SUTTAPItAKA as the eleventh book of the KHUDDAKANIKAYA; also written as Cullaniddesa. Attributed by tradition to the Buddha's chief disciple, SAriputta (S. sARIPUTRA), the Niddesa is divided into two sections: the MAHANIDDESA ("Longer Exposition"), and Culaniddesa. The MahAniddesa comments on the sixteen suttas (S. SuTRA) of the AttHAKAVAGGA chapter of the SuttanipAta, while the Culaniddesa comments on the sixteen suttas of the ParAyanavagga chapter and on the KhaggavisAnasutta (see KHAdGAVIsAnA). The MahAniddesa and Culaniddesa do not comment on any of the remaining contents of the SuttanipAta, a feature that has suggested to historians that at the time of their composition the Atthakavagga and ParAyanavagga were autonomous anthologies not yet incorporated into the SuttanipAta, and that the KhaggavisAnasutta likewise circulated independently. The exegesis given to the SuttanipAta by the MahA- and Culaniddesa displays the influence of the PAli ABHIDHAMMA (S. ABHIDHARMA) and passages from it are frequently quoted in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. Both parts of the Niddesa are formulaic in structure, a feature that appears to have been designed as a pedagogical aid to facilitate memorization. In Western scholarship, there has long been a debate regarding the dates of these two compositions, with some scholars dating them as early as the third century BCE, others to as late as the second century CE. The MahA- and Culaniddesa are the only commentarial texts besides the SUTTAVIBHAnGA of the VINAYAPItAKA to be included in the Sri Lankan and Thai recensions of the PAli canon. In contrast, the Burmese canon includes two additional early commentaries, the NETTIPAKARAnA and PEtAKOPADESA, as books sixteen and seventeen in its version of the KhuddakanikAya.
Dao'an. (J. Doan; K. Toan 道安) (312-385). In Chinese, "Peace of the Way"; monk-exegete and pioneer of Buddhism during the Eastern Jin dynasty. A native of Fuliu in present-day Hebei province, at the age of eleven he became a student of the famous Kuchean monk and thaumaturge FOTUDENG. Fleeing from the invasions of the so-called northern barbarians, Dao'an and his teacher relocated frequently, with Dao'an finally settling down in the prosperous city of Xiangyang in Hubei province, where he taught for fifteen years. Learning of Dao'an's great reputation, the Former Qin ruler Fu Jian (338-385) amassed an army and captured Xiangyang. After the fall of Xiangyang, Fu Jian invited Dao'an to the capital of Chang'an and honored him as his personal teacher. Dao'an later urged Fu Jian to invite the eminent Central Asian monk KUMARAJĪVA to China. In order to determine the authenticity and provenance of the various scriptural translations then being made in China, Dao'an compiled an influential catalogue of scriptures known as the ZONGLI ZHONGJING MULU, which was partially preserved in the CHU SANZANG JIJI. He also composed various prefaces and commentaries, and his exegetical technique of dividing a scripture into three sections (SANFEN KEJING)-"preface" (xufen), "text proper" (zhengzongfen), and "dissemination section" (liutongfen)-is still widely used even today in East Asian scriptural exegesis. In Dao'an's day, the Indian VINAYA recensions had not yet been translated into Chinese, so Dao'an took it upon himself to codify an early set of indigenous monastic regulations known as the Sengni guifan fofa xianzhang (no longer extant) as a guide for Chinese monastic practice. Also traced to Dao'an is the custom of monks and nuns abandoning their secular surnames for the surname SHI (a transcription of the Buddha's clan name sAKYA; J. Shaku; K. Sok; V. Thích), as a mark of their religious ties to the Buddha's lineage. Among his many disciples, LUSHAN HUIYUAN is most famous.
Dasheng wusheng fangbian men. (J. Daijo musho hobenmon; K. Taesŭng musaeng pangp'yon mun 大乗無生方便門). In Chinese, "Expedient Means of [Attaining] Nonproduction according to the MAHĀYĀNA"; a summary of the teachings of the Northern School (BEI ZONG) of CHAN. Several different recensions of this treatise were discovered at DUNHUANG; the text is also known as the Dasheng wufangbian Beizong ("Five Expedient Means of the Mahāyāna: the Northern School"). These different editions speak of five expedient means (UPĀYA): (1) a comprehensive explanation of the essence of buddhahood (corresponding to the DASHENG QIXIN LUN), (2) opening the gates of wisdom and sagacity (viz., the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA), (3) manifesting the inconceivable dharma (the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA), (4) elucidating the true nature of dharmas (Sutra of [the god] Siyi), and (5) the naturally unobstructed path to liberation (the AVATAMSAKASuTRA). Although this arrangement of scriptures bears a superficial resemblance to a taxonomy of texts (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI), a common feature of Chinese Buddhist polemics and exegesis, this listing was not intended to be hierarchical. The explanation of the five expedient means occurs largely in dialogic format. Unlike the Dasheng wufangbian Beizong, the Dasheng wusheng fangbian men also provides a description of the method of conferring the BODHISATTVA precepts (PUSA JIE). In its discussions of both the five expedient means and the bodhisattva precepts, great emphasis is placed on the need for purity of mind.
Dasuttarasutta. (S. Dasottarasutra; C. Shishang jing; J. Jujokyo; K. Sipsang kyong 十上經). In Pāli, "Discourse on Expanding Decades," or "Tenfold Series"; the thirty-fourth, and last, sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA. Several fragments of the Sanskrit recension of the text, the Dasottarasutra, were discovered in TURFAN and these appear to represent the same SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension that was translated in Chinese by AN SHIGAO (Chang ahan shibaofa jing) sometime between 148 and 170 CE; this was one of the earliest Chinese renderings of a Buddhist scripture. A DHARMAGUPTAKA recension also appears as the tenth sutra in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA. According to this Pāli version, this scripture was preached by Sāriputta (sĀRIPUTRA) in Campā to a congregation of five hundred monks. For the edification of his listeners, and so that they might more easily be liberated and attain nibbāna (NIRVĀnA), Sāriputta presents a systematic outline of the dhamma (DHARMA), using a schema of numerical classification that organizes the doctrine into groups ranging from a single factor (e.g., "the one thing to be developed," viz., mindfulness of the body) up to groups of ten (e.g., the ten wholesome ways of action). This sutta thus provides one of the first canonical recensions of the "matrices" (P. mātikā; S. MĀTṚKĀ) that are thought to mark the incipiency of abhidhamma (S. ABHIDHARMA) exegesis, and its exegetical style is closely connected to that used in the SAnGĪTISUTTA (S. SaMgītisutra); several of its exegetical categories are also reproduced in the SAMGĪTIPARYĀYA of the Sarvāstivāda abhidharma.
Dhammasangani. [alt. Dhammasanganī]. In Pāli, lit. "Enumeration (sanganī) of Factors (dhamma)"; the first of the seven books of the THERAVĀDA ABHIDHAMMAPItAKA. The text undertakes a systematic analysis of all the elements of reality, or factors (dhamma; S. DHARMA), discussed in the suttapitaka, organizing them into definitive rosters. The elaborate analysis of each and every element of existence provided by the Dhammasangani is considered to be foundational to the full account of the conditional relations pertaining between all those dharmas found in the PAttHĀNA, the last book of the Pāli abhidhamma. ¶ The Dhammasangani consists of an initial "matrix" (mātikā; S. MĀTṚKĀ), followed by four main divisions: (1) mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CETASIKA), (2) materiality (RuPA), (3) analytical summaries (nikkhepa; S. NIKsEPA), and (4) exegesis (AttHAKATHĀ). In the opening matrix, the complete list of subjects to be treated in both the Dhammasangani, as well as the entire abhidhammapitaka, is divided into three groups. (1) The triad matrix (tikamātikā) consists of twenty-two categories of factors (dhamma; S. DHARMA), each of which is treated as triads. For example, in the case of the matrix on wholesomeness (kusala; S. KUsALA), the relevant factors are divided into wholesome factors (kusaladhamma; S. kusaladharma), unwholesome factors (akusaladhamma; S. akusaladharma), and neither wholesome nor unwholesome factors (avyākatadhamma; S. AVYĀKṚTA-DHARMA). (2) The dyad matrix (dukamātikā) consists of one hundred categories of factors, treated as dyads. For example, in the matrix on cause (HETU), factors are divided between factors that are root causes (hetudhamma) and factors that are not root causes (na hetudhamma). (3) The dyad matrix from the sutras (suttantikadukamātikā) consists of forty-six categories of factors found in the suttapitaka that are treated as dyads. According to the AttHASĀLINĪ, the commentary to the Dhammasangani, this section was added by Sāriputta (S. sĀRIPUTRA), one of the two main disciples of the Buddha, to facilitate understanding of the suttapitaka. Of the four main divisions of the Dhammasangani that follow this initial matrix, the first two, the division on mind and mental concomitants (cittuppādakanda) and the division on materiality (rupakanda), expound upon the first category in the triad matrix, the matrix on wholesomeness, so as to provide a basis for the analysis of other categories of dharmas. The division on mind and mental concomitants contains the analysis of wholesome factors, unwholesome factors, and the first two of the four categories of factors that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome (avyākata; S. AVYĀKṚTA), namely, resultant (VIPĀKA) and noncausative action (kiriya); the division on materiality (rupakanda) treats the remaining two categories of abyākatadhammas, namely, materiality (rupa) and nibbāna (S. NIRVĀnA), although nibbāna does not receive a detailed explanation. In the first division on wholesomeness in the triad category, each aspect is analyzed in relation to the various realms of existence: wholesome states of mind and mental concomitants: (1) pertaining to the sensuous realm (KĀMĀVACARA) (P. kāmāvacara-atthamahācitta), (2) pertaining to the realm of subtle materiality (rupāvacara) (P. rupāvacarakusala), (3) pertaining to the immaterial realm (arupāvacara) (P. arupāvacarakusala), (4) leading to different levels of existence within the three realms, and (5) leading to liberation from the three realms (lokuttaracitta). The third division, the division on analytical summaries (nikkhepakanda), provides a synopsis of the classifications found in all the triads and dyads, organized in eight categories: roots (mula), aggregates (khandha; S. SKANDHA), doors (dvāra), field of occurrence (BHuMI), meaning (attha; S. ARTHA), doctrinal interpretation (dhamma), nomenclature (nāma), and grammatical gender (linga). The final division on exegesis (atthakathākanda) offers additional detailed enumeration of other triads and dyads.
epexegesis ::: n. --> A full or additional explanation; exegesis.
epexegetical ::: a. --> Relating to epexegesis; explanatory; exegetical.
Eusebius of Caesarea: (265-340) Is one of the first great historians of the Christian Church. He was born at Caesarea, in Palestine, studied at the school of Pamphilus, became Bishop of Caesarea in 313. His works are in Greek and include a Chronicle, Ecclesiastical History, and a treatise On Theophanies (PG 19-24). His philosophical views are those of a Christian Platonist and he contributed to the development of the allegorical method of Scriptural exegesis. -- V.J. B.
exegeses ::: pl. --> of Exegesis
exegetical ::: a. --> Pertaining to exegesis; tending to unfold or illustrate; explanatory; expository.
exegetics ::: n. --> The science of interpretation or exegesis.
exegetist ::: n. --> One versed in the science of exegesis or interpretation; -- also called exegete.
Fahua anle xingyi. (J. Hokke anrakugyogi; K. Pophwa allak haengŭi 法華安樂行義). In Chinese, "Exegesis on the 'Blissful Practice' Section of the 'Lotus Sutra,'" treatise composed by NANYUE HUISI and one of the earliest texts of the nascent TIANTAI ZONG. The text situated the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA at the locus of Tiantai teachings and outlined the archetypal contemplative techniques that were subsequently developed by TIANTAI ZHIYI. It contained both the incipient Tiantai understanding of the notion of "emptiness according to the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ" (bore kongxing) and the ritualistic elements of visualization and chanting that became central in subsequent iterations of Tiantai practice.
Fahua wenju. (J. Hokke mongu; K. Pophwa mun'gu 法華文句). In Chinese, "Words and Phrases of the 'Lotus Sutra'"; a major commentary on the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, taught by TIANTAI ZHIYI and put into writing by his disciple Guanding (561-632), in alt. ten or twenty rolls. Along with the MOHE ZHIGUAN and the FAHUA XUANYI, the Fahua wenju is considered one of Zhiyi's three great commentaries. The lectures that formed the basis of the Fahua wenju were delivered by Zhiyi in 587 at the monastery of Jinzhaisi in Jinling (present-day Jiangsu province), and they offered a thorough exegetical analysis of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra. The Fahua wenju was incorporated in the Song-dynasty Buddhist canon at the recommendation of the Tiantai monk Ciyun Zunshi (964-1032) in 1024. The treatise employs a fourfold exegetical technique (sishi) unique to Zhiyi and his TIANTAI ZONG, viz., exegesis via: (1) causes and conditions, (2) classification of the teachings (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI), (3) fundamentals and traces, and (4) contemplation on the mind. Throughout the Fahua wenju, the interpretations of other teachers, such as DAOSHENG, are critiqued. An influential commentary on the Fahua wenju known as the Fahua wenju ji was prepared by JINGXI ZHANRAN.
Fahua wuchong xuanyi. (J. Hokke gojugengi; K. Pophwa ojung hyonŭi 法華五重玄義). In Chinese, "The Five Layers of Profound Meaning according to the Fahua (TIANTAI) [school]," a standardized set of interpretive tools devised by TIANTAI ZHIYI to be used in composing Buddhist scriptural commentaries. The five topics of exegesis that Zhiyi states should be covered in any comprehensive sutra commentary are: (1) "explanation of the title [of the sutra]" (shiming); (2) "discernment of its main theme" (bianti); (3) "elucidation of its cardinal doctrine or main tenet" (mingzong); (4) "discussion of the sutra's intent or purpose" (lunyong); (5) "adjudication of its position in a hermeneutical taxonomy of the scriptures" (panjiao; see JIAOXIANG PANSHI). These five topics are covered in most East Asian sutra commentaries written after Zhiyi's time.
Faxiang zong. (J. Hossoshu; K. Popsang chong 法相宗). In Chinese, "Dharma Characteristics School," the third and most important of three strands of YOGĀCĀRA-oriented MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism to emerge in China, along with the DI LUN ZONG and SHE LUN ZONG. The name Faxiang (originally coined by its opponents and having pejorative connotations) comes from its detailed analysis of factors (DHARMA) on the basis of the Yogācāra doctrine that all phenomena are transformations of consciousness, or "mere-representation" (VIJNAPTIMĀTRATĀ). The school's own preferred name for itself was the WEISHI ZONG (Consciousness/Representation-Only School). Interest in the theories of the SHIDIJING LUN (viz., Di lun) and the MAHĀLĀNASAMGRAHA (viz., She lun) largely waned as new YOGĀLĀRA texts from India were introduced to China by the pilgrim and translator XUANZANG (600/602-664) and the work of HUAYAN scholars such as FAZANG (643-712) on the AVATAMSAKASuTRA (within which the Dasabhumikasutra is incorporated) began to gain prominence. One of the reasons motivating Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India, in fact, was to procure definitive Indian materials that would help to resolve the discrepancies in interpretation of Yogācāra found in these different traditions. Because of the imperial patronage he received upon his return, Xuanzang became one of the most prominent monks in Chinese Buddhist history and attracted students from all over East Asia. The Faxiang school was established mainly on the basis of the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimātratāsiddhi; "The Treatise on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only"), a text edited and translated into Chinese by Xuanzang, based on material that he brought back with him from India. Xuanzang studied under sĪLABHADRA (529-645), a principal disciple of DHARMAPĀLA (530-561), during his stay in India, and brought Dharmapāla's scholastic lineage back with him to China. Xuanzang translated portions of Dharmapāla's *VijNaptimātratāsiddhi, an extended commentary on VASUBANDHU's TRIMsILĀ ("Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only"). Dharmapāla's original exegesis cited the different interpretations of Vasubandhu's treatise offered by himself and nine other major scholiasts within the Yogācāra tradition; Xuanzang, however, created a précis of the text and translated only the "orthodox" interpretation of Dharmapāla. Xuanzang's disciple KUIJI (632-682) further systematized Xuanzang's materials by compiling the CHENG WEISHI LUN SHUJI ("Commentarial Notes on the *VijNaptimātratāsiddhi") and the Cheng weishi lun shuyao ("Essentials of the *VijNaptimātratāsiddhi"); for his efforts to build the school, Kuiji is traditionally regarded as the first Faxiang patriarch. The Faxiang school further developed under Huizhao (650-714), its second patriarch, and Zhizhou (668-723), its third patriarch, but thereafter declined in China. ¶ The teachings of the Faxiang school were transmitted to Korea (where it is called the Popsang chong) and were classified as one of the five major doctrinal traditions (see KYO) of the Unified Silla (668-935) and Koryo (935-1392) dynasties. The Korean expatriate monk WoNCH'ŬK (613-696) was one of the two major disciples of Xuanzang, along with Kuiji, and there are reports of intense controversies between Kuiji's Ci'en scholastic line (CI'EN XUEPAI) and Wonch'uk's Ximing scholastic line (XIMING XUEPAI) due to their differing interpretations of Yogācāra doctrine. Wonch'ŭk's commentary to the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA, the Jieshenmi jing shu (K. Haesimmil kyong so), was transmitted to the DUNHUANG region and translated into Tibetan by CHOS GRUB (C. Facheng, c. 755-849) at the behest of the Tibetan king RAL PA CAN (806-838), probably sometime between 815 and 824. Wonch'ŭk's exegesis of the scripture proved to be extremely influential in the writings of TSONG KHA PA (1357-1419), and especially on his LEGS BSHAD SNYING PO, where Wonch'ŭk's work is called the "Great Chinese Commentary." ¶ The Japanese Hossoshu developed during the Nara period (710-784) after being transmitted from China and Korea, but declined during the Heian (794-1185) due to persistent attacks from the larger TENDAI (C. TIANTAI) and SHINGON (C. Zhenyan) schools. Although the Hossoshu survived, it did not have the wide influence over the Japanese tradition as did its major rivals. ¶ Faxiang is known for its comprehensive list of one hundred DHARMAs, or "factors" (BAIFA), in which all dharmas-whether "compounded" or "uncompounded," mundane or supramundane-are subsumed; this list accounts in large measure for its designation as the "dharma characteristics" school. These factors are classified into five major categories:
four noble truths. (S. catvāry āryasatyāni; P. cattāri ariyasaccāni; T. 'phags pa'i bden pa bzhi; C. si shengdi; J. shishodai; K. sa songje 四聖諦). Although the term "four noble truths" is well established in English-language works on Buddhism, it is a misleading translation of the original Sanskrit and Pāli terms. The term translated as "noble" (ĀRYA) refers not to the truths themselves, but to those who understand them; thus, the compound may more accurately, if less euphoniously, be rendered as "four truths [known by the spiritually] noble"; they are four facts known to be true by those "noble ones" with insight into the nature of reality, but not known by ordinary beings (PṚTHAGJANA). The four truths are: suffering (DUḤKHA), origination (SAMUDAYA), cessation (NIRODHA), and path (MĀRGA). The four noble truths are the subject of extensive exegesis in the tradition, but the four terms and the relationships among them may be summarized as follows. Existence in the realms that are subject to rebirth, called SAMSĀRA, is qualified by suffering (duḥkha), the first truth (the Sanskrit term may also be rendered as "sorrow," "pain," or more generally "unsatisfactoriness"). The types of sufferings that beings undergo in the various destinations of rebirth are enumerated at great length in Buddhist texts. In his first sermon delivered after his enlightenment (see DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA), the Buddha identifies the following as forms of suffering: birth, aging, sickness, death, encountering what is unpleasant, separation from what is pleasant, not gaining what one desires, and the five SKANDHAs. The second truth is the origination (samudaya), or cause, of suffering. In his first sermon, the Buddha identifies the cause of suffering as craving (TṚsnĀ) or attachment; in his second sermon, the ANATTALAKKHAnASUTTA, said to have been delivered five days later, he suggests that the belief is self (ĀTMAN) is the cause of suffering. In other works, he lists two causes of suffering: unwholesome or unsalutary (AKUsALA) actions (KARMAN) such as killing, stealing, and lying, and the unwholesome mental states (see CAITTA) that motivate unwholesome actions. These unwholesome mental states include greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and ignorance (MOHA), with ignorance referring here to an active misperception of the nature of the person and the world or, more technically, to an unsystematic attention (AYONIsOMANASKĀRA) to the true nature of things, leading to the following "inverted views" (VIPARYĀSA): seeing pleasure where there is actually pain, purity where there is impurity, permanence where there is impermanence, and self where there is no self. The third truth is the cessation (nirodha) of suffering, which refers to NIRLĀnA, the "deathless" (AMṚTA) state that transcends all suffering. The fourth and final truth is that of the path (mārga) to the cessation of suffering. The path is delineated in exhaustive detail in Buddhist texts; in his first sermon, the Buddha describes an eightfold path (ĀRLĀstĀnGAMĀRGA). The four truths therefore posit the unsatisfactory nature of existence, identify its causes, hold out the prospect of a state in which suffering and its causes are absent, and set forth a path to that state. Suffering is to be identified, its origin destroyed, its cessation realized, and the path to its cessation followed. The four truths demonstrate the importance of causality (see HETUPRATYAYA) in Buddhist thought and practice. Suffering is the effect of the cause, or origin, viz., "craving." Cessation is the absence of suffering, which results from the destruction of suffering's origin, craving. The path is the means by which one attains that cessation. The Buddha states in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth. The four truths are also often described in terms of their sixteen aspects (sodasākāra), which counteract four inverted views (viparyāsa) for each truth. For the truth of suffering, the four aspects are knowledge that the aggregates (SKANDHA) are impermanent, suffering, empty, and selfless; these counteract seeing permanence, pleasure, mine (MAMAKĀRA), and I (AHAMKĀRA), respectively. For the truth of origination, the four aspects are knowledge that KLEsA(affliction) and action (karman) are cause (HETU), origination (samudaya), producer (saMbhava), and condition (PRATYAYA); they counteract the view that there is no cause, that there is a single cause, that the cause is transformation of a fundamental nature, and that the cause is a prior act of divine will, respectively. For the truth of cessation, the four aspects are knowledge that nirvāna is cessation (NIRODHA), peace (sānta), sublime (pranīta), and a definite escape (niryāna); these counteract the view that there is no liberation, that liberation is suffering, that the pleasure of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) is unmitigated, and that NIRLĀnA is not firmly irreversible. And for the truth of the path, the four aspects are knowledge that the eightfold noble path is a path (mārga), correct method (UPĀYA), practice (PRATIPATTI), and brings a definite escape (nairyānika); these counteract the view that there is no path, that this eightfold noble path is vile, that something else is also a path, and that this path is reversible. Some Mahāyāna sutras say that those who are attached to (ABHINIVEsA) the four noble truths as being essentially true do not understand the purport of the Buddha's doctrine; only the teaching of the third noble truth, NIRLĀnA, is definitive (NĪTĀRTHA), the statements about the other truths require interpretation (NEYĀRTHA). See also DARsANAMĀRGA.
Gandhāra. (T. Sa 'dzin; C. Jiantuoluo; J. Kendara; K. Kondara 健馱羅). An ancient center of Indic Buddhism, located in the northwest of the subcontinent in the region of present-day northern Pakistan and southeastern Afghanistan. The Gandhāra region included the entire Peshawar valley up to its border along the Indus River to the east and also extended to include the Swat valley and the region around Gandhāra's central city of TAKsAsILA (Taxila), located near what is today Peshawar, Pakistan. For the five centuries bracketing the beginning of the Common Era, Gandhāra was a cosmopolitan cultural center and a crossroads of the major trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, China, and the Indian subcontinent (see SILK ROAD). As traders from these various areas moved through Gandhāra, the region became a place of cultural exchange. Four major empires were centered in Gandhāra: the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, Indo-Parthian, and KUSHAN. Tradition claims that AsOKA supported Buddhism in the Gandhāra region during the third century BCE, although the first physical evidence of Buddhism in the region dates from the second and first centuries CE. Gandhāra was conquered by Demetrius I of Bactria around 185 BCE and, although Greek rule in the region was brief, Greek art and culture had an enduring effect on the Gandhāran community. Some of the oldest known Buddhist art comes from this region, more specifically the "Greco-Buddhist" style of sculpture that was a product of this period. The earliest iconographic representations of the Buddha, in fact, are thought by some art historians to come from second century BCE Gandhāra. During the first and second centuries CE, Gandhāra became the principal gateway through which Buddhism traveled to Persia, China, and the rest of Asia. Between the years 50 and 320 CE, the KUSHANs were pushed south out of Central Asia and occupied Gandhāra. Gandhāra, along with KASHMIR, supported and housed a large SARVĀSTIVĀDA community, and Gandhāra was long recognized as a principal bastion of this important MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOL. Around the first or second century CE, when the Sarvāstivāda school was at its peak, the fourth Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) is said to have taken place in Gandhāra, sponsored by KANIsKA I, the third king of the Kushan dynasty. According to traditional accounts, there were 499 monks in attendance, although that large number is probably intended to represent the importance of the convention rather than a literal count of the number of people present. VASUMITRA presided over the fourth council, with the noted poet and scholarly exegete AsVAGHOsA assisting him. In addition to recording a new VINAYA, the council also resulted in the compilation of a massive collection of Sarvāstivāda ABHIDHARMA philosophy, known as the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀsĀ, or "Great Exegesis of Abhidharma," which functions as a virtual encyclopedia of different scholastic perspectives on Buddhism of the time. The VAIBHĀsIKA school of Sarvāstivāda abhidharma exegesis, which based itself on this compilation, was centered in the regions of Gandhāra and Kashmir. The KĀsYAPĪYA and BAHUsRUTĪYA schools added to the significant presence of Buddhism in the region.
geyi. (J. kakugi; K. kyogŭi 格義). In Chinese, "matching concepts," or "categorized concepts"; geyi has typically been explained as a method of translation and exegesis that was supposedly popular during the incipiency of Buddhism in China. It has been presumed that Buddhist translators of the Wei and Jin dynasties borrowed terms and concepts drawn from indigenous Chinese philosophy (viz., "Daoism") to "match" (ge) the "meaning" (yi) of complicated and poorly understood Sanskrit Buddhist terminology. For instance, translators borrowed the term wuwei, used in both Chinese Daoist and Confucian writings to refer to "nonaction" or "nondeliberative activity," to render the seminal Buddhist concept of NIRVĀnA. Misunderstandings were rife, however, since the matches would as often distort the Buddhist denotations of terms as clarify them. The technique of geyi has often been assumed by scholars to demonstrate that early Buddhism in China drew from the indigenous Daoist tradition in its initial attempts to make its message intelligible to its new Chinese audience. This view would correspondingly suggest that Daoism provided the inspiration for much of early Buddhist writing in China. This practice of drawing parallels to native Chinese concepts was criticized as early as the fourth century by the translator and cataloguer DAO'AN (312-385), who lobbied for the creation of a distinctive Chinese Buddhist vocabulary. Eventually Chinese Buddhists created their own neologisms for Buddhist technical terms, or resorted to transcription (viz., using Sinographs phonetically to transcribe the sound of the Sanskrit words) in order to render particularly significant, or polysemous, terms: e.g., using the transcription niepan, rather than the translation wuwei, as the standard rendering for nirvāna. In fact, however, the term geyi is quite rare in Chinese Buddhist literature from this incipient period. In the few instances where the term is attested, geyi seems instead to refer to Chinese attempts to cope with the use of lengthy numerical lists of seminal factors found in Indian Buddhist doctrinal formulations. This Indian proclivity for categorization is seldom evident in traditional Chinese philosophy and it would have been an extraordinary challenge for Chinese Buddhists to learn how to employ such lists skillfully. Against the received understanding of geyi as "matching concepts," then, the term may instead mean something more akin to "categorized concepts," referring to this Buddhist proclivity for producing extensive numerical lists of dharmas. See also FASHU.
Gnosis: (Gr. knowledge) Originally a generic term for knowledge, in the first and second centuries A.D. it came to mean an esoteric knowledge of higher religious and philosophic truths to be acquired by an elite group of intellectually developed believers. Philo Judaeus (30 B.C. to 50 A.D.) is a fore-runner of Jewish Gnosticism; the allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament, use of Greek philosophical concepts, particularly the Logos doctrine, in Biblical exegesis, and a semi-mystical number theory characterize his form of gnosis. Christian gnostics (Cerinthus, Menander, Saturninus, Valentine, Basilides, Ptolemaeus, and possibly Marcion) maintained that only those men who cultivated their spiritual powers were truly immortal, and they adopted the complicated teaching of a sphere of psychic intermediaries (aeons) between God and earthly things. There was also a pagan gnosis begun before Christ as a reformation of Greek and Roman religion. Philosophically, the only thing common to all types of gnosis is the effort to transcend rational, logical thought processes by means of intuition.
Gunaprabha. (T. Yon tan 'od; C. Deguang/Junabolapo; J. Tokko/Kunaharaba; K. Tokkwang/Kunaballaba 德光/瞿拏鉢剌婆) (d.u.; c. seventh century). Indian YOGĀCĀRA scholar and VINAYA specialist. In the Tibetan tradition, he is considered one of the most important of the Indian scholars because of his exposition of the vinaya. In the list of the "six ornaments and two supreme ones of JAMBUDVĪPA," the six ornaments are NĀGĀRJUNA and ĀRYADEVA, ASAnGA and VASUBANDHU, and DIGNĀGA and DHARMAKĪRTI; the two supreme ones are Gunaprabha and sĀKYAPRABHA. Gunaprabha is said to have been an adviser to King Harsa, who unified most of northern India following the demise of the Gupta empire. Born into a brāhmana family in MATHURĀ during the seventh century, Gunaprabha is said to have first studied the MAHĀYĀNA teachings and wrote several treatises on YOGĀCĀRA. He is known as the author of the Bodhisattvabhumivṛtti, a commentary on the BODHISATTVABHuMI, the Bodhisattvasīlaparivartabhāsya, an expansion of that commentary, and the PaNcaskandhavivarana, an exegesis of VASUBANDHU's work. Subsequently, this same Gunaprabha seems to have abandoned Yogācāra for sRĀVAKAYĀNA teachings and thereafter devoted several of his works to critiquing various aspects of the Mahāyāna. (There is some controversy as to whether Gunaprabha the Yogācāra teacher is the same as Gunaprabha the vinaya specialist, but prevailing scholarly opinion now accepts that they are identical.) Taking up residence at a monastery in Mathurā, he became a master of the vinaya, with a specialty in the monastic code of the MuLASARVĀSTIVĀDA school (see MuLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA). His most influential work is the VINAYASuTRA. Despite its title, the work is not a sutra (in the sense of a work ascribed to the Buddha) but is instead an authored work composed of individual aphoristic statements (sutra). The text offers a summary or condensation of the massive Mulasarvāstivāda vinaya. At approximately one quarter the length of this larger vinaya, Gunaprabha's abridgment seems to have functioned as a kind of primer on the monastic code, omitting lengthy passages of scripture and providing the code of conduct that monks were expected to follow. In this sense, the text is an important work for determining what lived monastic practice may actually have been like in medieval India. The Vinayasutra became the most important vinaya text for Tibetan Buddhism, being studied in all of the major sects; in the DGE LUGS, it is one of the five books (GZHUNG LNGA) that served as the basis of the monastic curriculum. According to legend, Gunaprabha traveled to the TUŞITA heaven in order to discuss with MAITREYA his remaining doubts regarding ten points of doctrine. The accounts of this trip say that Gunaprabha did not learn anything, either because Maitreya was not an ordained monk and hence was unable to teach him anything or because Maitreya saw that Gunaprabha did not require any additional teaching. XUANZANG writes about Gunaprabha in his DA TANG XIYU JI ("Great Tang Dynasty Record of [Travels to] the Western Regions").
Gyonen. (凝然) (1240-1321). Japanese monk associated with the Kegonshu doctrinal school (HUAYAN ZONG). Gyonen was a scion of the Fujiwara clan, one of the most influential aristocratic families in Japan, who ordained at sixteen and subsequently moved to ToDAIJI, where he eventually became abbot. At Todaiji, he lectured frequently on the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, the central text of the Kegonshu, and was also invited to lecture on FAZANG's WUJIAO CHANG at the imperial court, which awarded him the honorary title of state preceptor (J. kokushi; C. GUOSHI). Gyonen wrote over 125 works, all in literary Chinese, which ran the gamut from SuTRA exegesis, to biography, to ritual music. Gyonen's interest in Buddhist doctrine was not limited to the Kegon school. His most famous work is his HASSHu KoYo ("Essentials of the Eight Traditions"), which provides a systematic overview of the history and doctrines of the eight major schools that were dominant in Japanese Buddhism during the Nara and Heian periods. Gyonen's portrayal of Japanese Buddhism as a collection of independent schools identified by discrete doctrines and independent lines of transmission had a profound impact on Japanese Buddhist studies into the modern period.
Hereditary property: See Recursion, proof by. Hermeneutics: The art and science of interpreting especially authoritative writings, mainly in application to sacred scripture, and equivalent to exegesis. -- K.F.L.
Hermeneutics ::: (Gre. Interpretations) Principles of interpretation, typically used in reference to biblical exegesis.
hermeneutics ::: n. --> The science of interpretation and explanation; exegesis; esp., that branch of theology which defines the laws whereby the meaning of the Scriptures is to be ascertained.
Huayan jing souxuan ji. (J. Kegongyo sogenki; K. Hwaom kyong suhyon ki 華嚴經搜玄). In Chinese, "Notes on Fathoming the Profundities of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA," a ten-roll exegesis of the AvataMsakasutra, written by the HUAYAN patriarch ZHIYAN. Using the Huayan school's idiosyncratic "Ten Profound Categories [of Dependent Origination]" (see SHI XUANMEN) to explain the intent of the sutra, this work became the blueprint that FAZANG would later follow in writing his influential HUAYAN JING TANXUAN JI.
Huayan jing suishu yanyi chao. (J. Kegongyo zuisho engisho; K. Hwaom kyong suso yonŭi ch'o 華嚴經随疏演義鈔). In Chinese, "Autocommentary to the Exegesis of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA," a ninety-roll autocommentary by the Huayan patriarch CHENGGUAN to his own sixty-roll exegesis of the AvataMsakasutra, the HUAYAN JING SHU; this massive work provides the most exhaustive presentation of Chengguan's thought in his oeuvre. In the autocommentary, Chengguan provides a general overview of the history and thought of the HUAYAN tradition, along with a painstaking line-by-line commentary to the text of the AvataMsakasutra. Chengguan explains the rise of the Huayan teachings and offers a classification of teachings (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI). These sections are followed by an explanation of such seminal Huayan doctrines as the dependent origination of the DHARMADHĀTU (FAJIE YUANQI). Chengguan also outlines the different capacities of sentient beings and provides a summary of the teachings of the different exegetical traditions in China. A comparative study of the various Chinese translations of the AvataMsakasutra follows, culminating in an analysis of the title of the sutra. The autocommentary then follows with a detailed treatment of specific passages in the sutra. Chengguan's attempt to define clearly the boundaries between the different traditions of Buddhism, as well as his emphasis on a distinctively Huayan style of meditation, are noteworthy aspects of his commentary.
Huayan zong. (J. Kegonshu; K. Hwaom chong 華嚴宗). In Chinese, "Flower Garland School," an important exegetical tradition in East Asian Buddhism. Huayan takes its name from the Chinese translation of the title of its central scripture, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA (or perhaps BUDDHĀVATAMSAKASuTRA). The Huayan tradition is also sometimes referred to the Xianshou zong, after the sobriquet, Xianshou, of one of its greatest exegetes, FAZANG. A lineage of patriarchs, largely consisting of the tradition's great scholiasts, was retrospectively created by later followers. The putative first patriarch of the Huayan school is DUSHUN, who is followed by ZHIYAN, Fazang, CHENGGUAN, and GUIFENG ZONGMI. The work of these exegetes exerted much influence in Korea largely through the writings of ŬISANG (whose exegetical tradition is sometimes known as the Pusok chong) and WoNHYO. Hwaom teachings remained the foundation of Korean doctrinal exegesis from the Silla period onward, and continued to be influential in the synthesis that POJO CHINUL in the Koryo dynasty created between SoN (CHAN) and KYO (the teachings, viz., Hwaom). The Korean monk SIMSANG (J. Shinjo; d. 742), a disciple of Fazang, who transmitted the Huayan teachings to Japan in 740 at the instigation of RYoBEN (689-773), was instrumental in establishing the Kegon school in Japan. Subsequently, such teachers as MYoE KoBEN (1173-1232) and GYoNEN (1240-1321) continued Kegon exegesis into the Kamakura period. In China, other exegetical traditions such as the DI LUN ZONG, which focused on only one part of the AvataMsakasutra, were eventually absorbed into the Huayan tradition. The Huayan tradition was severely weakened in China after the depredations of the HUICHANG FANAN, and because of shifting interests within Chinese Buddhism away from sutra exegesis and toward Chan meditative practice and literature, and invoking the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA (see NIANFO). ¶ The Huayan school's worldview is derived from the central tenets of the imported Indian Buddhist tradition, but reworked in a distinctively East Asian fashion. Huayan is a systematization of the teachings of the AvataMsakasutra, which offered a vision of an infinite number of interconnected world systems, interfused in an all-encompassing realm of reality (DHARMADHĀTU). This profound interdependent and ecological vision of the universe led Huayan exegetes to engage in a creative reconsideration of the central Buddhist doctrine of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), which in their interpretation meant that all phenomena in the universe are mutually creating, and in turn are being mutually created by, all other phenomena. Precisely because in the traditional Buddhist view any individual phenomenon was devoid of a perduring self-nature of its own (ANĀTMAN), existence in the Huayan interpretation therefore meant to be in a constant state of multivalent interaction with all other things in the universe. The boundless interconnectedness that pertains between all things was termed "dependent origination of the dharmadhātu" (FAJIE YUANQI). Huayan also carefully examines the causal relationships between individual phenomena or events (SHI) and the fundamental principle or patterns (LI) that govern reality. These various relationships are systematized in Chengguan's teaching of the four realms of reality (dharmadhātu): the realm of principle (LI FAJIE), the realm of individual phenomena (SHI FAJIE), the realm of the unimpeded interpenetration between principle and phenomena (LISHI WU'AI FAJIE), and the realm of the unimpeded interpenetration between phenomenon and phenomena (SHISHI WU'AI FAJIE). Even after Huayan's decline as an independent school, it continued to exert profound influence on both traditional East Asian philosophy and modern social movements, including engaged Buddhism and Buddhist environmentalism.
hwajaeng. (C. hezheng; J. wajo 和諍). In Korean, lit. "resolving disputes," "reconciling doctrinal controversies"; a hermeneutical technique associated with the Silla scholiast WoNHYO (617-686), which seeks to demonstrate that various Buddhist doctrines, despite their apparent differences and inconsistencies, can be integrated into a single coherent whole. This "ecumenical" approach is pervasive throughout Wonhyo's works, though its basic principle is explained chiefly in his Simmun hwajaeng non ("Ten Approaches to the Reconciliation of Doctrinal Controversy"; only fragments are extant), TAESŬNG KISILLON SO ("Commentary to the 'Awakening of Faith according to the Mahāyāna'"), and KŬMGANG SAMMAEGYoNG NON ("Exposition of the *VAJRASAMĀDHISuTRA"). Wonhyo was versed in the full range of Buddhist philosophical doctrines then accessible to him in Korea, including MADHYAMAKA, YOGĀCĀRA, HWAoM, and TATHĀGATAGARBHA thought, and hwajaeng was his attempt to demonstrate how all of these various teachings of the Buddha were part of a coherent heuristic plan within the religion. All the Buddha's teachings were in fact representations of the one mind (K. ilsim; C. YIXIN); whatever doctrinal differences seem to exist between them result merely from the limitations inherent in conventional language to express the truth, not from substantive differences in the teachings themselves. One of the means through which Wonhyo seeks to demonstrate the truth of hwajaeng is to deploy the dichotomy of "analysis and synthesis" (kaehap)-lit. to "open up" all the various teachings for analysis and to "fold them together" into an overarching synthesis. This process of exegesis was then applied to the hermeneutical schema of "doctrines and essential" (chongyo)-i.e., the various doctrines of Buddhism and their essential truth. Buddhism's essential truth (yo) is "opened up" (kae) for analysis into all its various doctrines, and those doctrines (chong) are then returned to the one mind when they are "folded together" (hap) into a synthesis. Many of Wonhyo's scriptural commentaries use this hermeneutical technique in their exegeses, especially his seventeen exegetical commentaries (five of which are extant) that are titled chongyo, e.g., his Yolban kyong chongyo ("Doctrines and Essentials of the MAHĀPARINIRVĀnASuTRA"). As one specific example, Wonhyo's analysis of the DASHENG QIXIN LUN ("Awakening of Faith according to the Mahāyāna") attempts to demonstrate how the emptiness (suNYATĀ) doctrine of the Madhyamaka-which Wonhyo characterizes as apophasis or lit. "destruction" (K. p'a, C. po)-may been reconciled with the representation-only (VIJNAPTIMĀTRATĀ) teachings of the Yogācāra-which he characterizes as a kataphasis, or lit. "establishment" (K. ip, C. li)-by reducing them both to the single principle of the "one mind." The Koryo monk ŬICH'oN (1055-1101) first posited that the notion of hwajaeng was emblematic of Wonhyo's philosophical approach and petitioned his brother, King Sukchong (r. 1095-1105), to grant Wonhyo the posthumous title of Hwajaeng KUKSA (the state preceptor Resolving Controversy) in 1101. Since that time, Wonhyo has been viewed as the embodiment of hwajaeng thought in Korea and hwajaeng has often been portrayed as characteristic of a distinctively Korean approach to Buddhist thought.
(in Christian exegesis) An appellation of Jesus Christ as the suffering Saviour. Isa. 53.3.
inconscient ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The Inconscient and the Ignorance may be mere empty abstractions and can be dismissed as irrelevant jargon if one has not come in collision with them or plunged into their dark and bottomless reality. But to me they are realities, concrete powers whose resistance is present everywhere and at all times in its tremendous and boundless mass.” *Letters on Savitri
". . . in its actual cosmic manifestation the Supreme, being the Infinite and not bound by any limitation, can manifest in Itself, in its consciousness of innumerable possibilities, something that seems to be the opposite of itself, something in which there can be Darkness, Inconscience, Inertia, Insensibility, Disharmony and Disintegration. It is this that we see at the basis of the material world and speak of nowadays as the Inconscient — the Inconscient Ocean of the Rigveda in which the One was hidden and arose in the form of this universe — or, as it is sometimes called, the non-being, Asat.” Letters on Yoga
"The Inconscient itself is only an involved state of consciousness which like the Tao or Shunya, though in a different way, contains all things suppressed within it so that under a pressure from above or within all can evolve out of it — ‘an inert Soul with a somnambulist Force".” Letters on Yoga
"The Inconscient is the last resort of the Ignorance.” Letters on Yoga
"The body, we have said, is a creation of the Inconscient and itself inconscient or at least subconscient in parts of itself and much of its hidden action; but what we call the Inconscient is an appearance, a dwelling place, an instrument of a secret Consciousness or a Superconscient which has created the miracle we call the universe.” Essays in Philosophy and Yoga :::
"The Inconscient is a sleep or a prison, the conscient a round of strivings without ultimate issue or the wanderings of a dream: we must wake into the superconscious where all darkness of night and half-lights cease in the self-luminous bliss of the Eternal.” The Life Divine
"Men have not learnt yet to recognise the Inconscient on which the whole material world they see is built, or the Ignorance of which their whole nature including their knowledge is built; they think that these words are only abstract metaphysical jargon flung about by the philosophers in their clouds or laboured out in long and wearisome books like The Life Divine. Letters on Savitri :::
"Is it really a fact that even the ordinary reader would not be able to see any difference between the Inconscient and Ignorance unless the difference is expressly explained to him? This is not a matter of philosophical terminology but of common sense and the understood meaning of English words. One would say ‘even the inconscient stone" but one would not say, as one might of a child, ‘the ignorant stone". One must first be conscious before one can be ignorant. What is true is that the ordinary reader might not be familiar with the philosophical content of the word Inconscient and might not be familiar with the Vedantic idea of the Ignorance as the power behind the manifested world. But I don"t see how I can acquaint him with these things in a single line, even with the most. illuminating image or symbol. He might wonder, if he were Johnsonianly minded, how an Inconscient could be teased or how it could wake Ignorance. I am afraid, in the absence of a miracle of inspired poetical exegesis flashing through my mind, he will have to be left wondering.” Letters on Savitri
**inconscient, Inconscient"s.**
isagogics ::: n. --> That part of theological science directly preliminary to actual exegesis, or interpretation of the Scriptures.
“Is it really a fact that even the ordinary reader would not be able to see any difference between the Inconscient and Ignorance unless the difference is expressly explained to him? This is not a matter of philosophical terminology but of common sense and the understood meaning of English words. One would say ‘even the inconscient stone’ but one would not say, as one might of a child, ‘the ignorant stone’. One must first be conscious before one can be ignorant. What is true is that the ordinary reader might not be familiar with the philosophical content of the word Inconscient and might not be familiar with the Vedantic idea of the Ignorance as the power behind the manifested world. But I don’t see how I can acquaint him with these things in a single line, even with the most. illuminating image or symbol. He might wonder, if he were Johnsonianly minded, how an Inconscient could be teased or how it could wake Ignorance. I am afraid, in the absence of a miracle of inspired poetical exegesis flashing through my mind, he will have to be left wondering.” Letters on Savitri
James' definition of pragmatism, written for Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy, is simply a restatement, or "exegesis", of Peirce's definition (see first definition listed above) appearing in the same place. The resemblance between their positions is illustrated by their common insistence upon the feasibility and desirability of resolving metaphysical problems by practical distinctions, unprejudiced by dogmatic presuppositions, their willingness to put every question to the test. "The pragmatic method", says James, "tries to interpret each notion by tracing its respective practical consequences. . . . If no practical difference whatever can be traced", between two alternatives, they "mean practically the same thing, and all dispute is idle". (Pragmatism, p. 45. See also Chapters III and IV.)
Jātakatthakathā. [alt. Jātakatthavannanā]. In Pāli, "Commentary on the JĀTAKA," is a prose exegesis of the verses included in the Jātaka collection. Authorship is traditionally attributed to BUDDHAGHOSA, although the prose is a Pāli translation of a commentary written originally in Sinhalese. The commentary on each jātaka tale includes an introduction relating how the story came to be told and an epilogue correlating the major characters in the tale with the Buddha's current contemporaries. The commentary is preceded by a lengthy introduction, the NIDĀNAKATHĀ, which recounts the buddha's previous birth as SUMEDHA and his last life as Siddhattha (S. SIDDHĀRTHA) from the time of his birth, through his enlightenment and early teaching, ending with the donation of JETAVANA by Anāthapindika (S. ANĀTHAPIndADA). The Jātakatthakathā appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as Stories of the Buddha's Former Births; the Nidānakathā appears separately as The Story of Gotama Buddha.
Jingtu lun. (J. Jodoron; K. Chongt'o non 浄土論). In Chinese, "Treatise on the PURE LAND," composed by the Chinese monk Jiacai (fl. c. 627). In the nine chapters of this treatise, Jiacai attempts to reorganize systematically the arguments of DAOZHUO's ANLE JI. Jiacai's own interests in the MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA and the teachings of VIJNAPTIMĀTRATĀ and TATHĀGATAGARBHA are also reflected in his treatise. The treatise is largely concerned with the issues of the multiple buddha bodies (BUDDHAKĀYA), types of rebirth in the pure land, and the means of taking rebirth there. In the first chapter, Jiacai contends that there are three types of lands that correspond to the three buddha bodies: DHARMAKĀYA, SAMBHOGAKĀYA, and NIRMĀnAKĀYA. The second chapter is concerned with the rebirth of ordinary beings (PṚTHAGJANA). The third chapter discusses the different methods of attaining rebirth in the pure land: the general cause (e.g., arousing the BODHICITTA) vs. the special cause (e.g., NIANFO). The fourth chapter details the practice of mindfully invoking the buddha AMITĀBHA's name ten times (shinian) before death and the practice of invoking his name for seven days. In chapter 5, Jiacai provides scriptural evidence that it is ordinary beings who are reborn in the pure land, not solely advanced bodhisattvas. Chapter 6 contains the biographies of twenty people who attained rebirth in the pure land; this chapter is the oldest extant collection of rebirth testimonials in East Asia (see JINGTU RUIYING ZHUAN). In chapter 7, Jiacai compares rebirth in a pure land with rebirth in TUsITA heaven. Chapter 8 discusses the benefits of repentance and chapter 9 underscores the importance of practicing the ten repetitions of Amitābha's name (shinian). Jiacai's text should be distinguished from the *Aparimitāyussutropadesa ("Exegesis of the Wuliangshou jing"), commonly known to the pure land tradition as the Jingtu lun (J. Jodoron) and attributed to VASUBANDHU (see WULIANGSHOU JING YOUPOTISHE YUANSHENG JI).
Jingtu qunyi lun. (J. Jodo gungiron; K. Chongt'o kunŭi non 浄土群疑論). In Chinese, "Treatise on Myriad Doubts concerning the PURE LAND," composed by the monk Huaigan (fl. c. seventh century CE). In this treatise, written largely in dialogic format, Huaigan attempts to address systematically various questions concerning the notion of rebirth in AMITĀBHA Buddha's pure land. The seven-roll treatise is divided into twelve sections in a total of 116 chapters, which cover a wide range of subjects concerning pure land doctrine. These include, as but a few representative examples, the location of the pure land within the three realms of existence (TRILOKA[DHĀTU]), the destiny (GATI) to which beings reborn there belong, where pure land rebirth belongs on MĀRGA schemata, and Huaigan's attempts to reconcile inconsistencies in different scriptures' accounts of the pure land. The Jingtu qunyi lun has therefore functioned almost as an encyclopedia for adherents of pure land teachings. The questions raised anticipate the criticisms of Huaigan's contemporaries, who specialized in the exegesis of the MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA and the new YOGĀCĀRA translations of XUANZANG; Huaigan's answers also reflect his own training in Yogācāra doctrine and his extensive command of Buddhist scriptural and commentarial literature.
Jingxi Zhanran. (J. Keikei Tannen; K. Hyonggye Tamyon 荊溪湛然) (711-782). Chinese monk who is the putative ninth patriarch of the TIANTAI ZONG; also known as Great Master Miaole (Sublime Bliss) and Dharma Master Jizhu (Lord of Exegesis). Zhanran was a native of Jingqi in present-day Jiangsu province. At age nineteen, Zhanran became a student of the monk Xuanlang (673-754), who had revitalized the community on Mt. Tiantai. After Xuanlang's death, Zhanran continued his efforts to unify the disparate regional centers of Tiantai learning under the school's banner; for his efforts, Zhanran is remembered as one of the great revitalizers of the Tiantai tradition. A gifted exegete who composed numerous commentaries on the treatises of TIANTAI ZHIYI, Zhanran established Zhiyi's MOHE ZHIGUAN, FAHUA XUANYI, and FAHUA WENJU as the three central texts of the Tiantai exegetical tradition. His commentary on the Mohe zhiguan, the MOHE ZHIGUAN FUXING ZHUANHONG JUE, is the first work to correlate ZHIGUAN (calmness and insight) practice as outlined by Zhiyi with the teachings of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), the central scripture of the Tiantai tradition. In his JINGANG PI ("Adamantine Scalpel"), Zhanran argued in favor of the controversial proposition that insentient beings also possess the buddha-nature (FOXING). Zhanran's interpretation of Tiantai doctrine and the distinction he drew between his own tradition and the rival schools of the HUAYAN ZONG and CHAN ZONG set the stage for the internal Tiantai debates during the Song dynasty between its on-mountain (shanjia) and off-mountain (shanwai) branches (see SHANJIA SHANWAI). Zhanran lectured at various monasteries throughout the country and was later invited by emperors Xuanzong (r. 712-756), Suzong (r. 756-762), and Daizong (r. 762-779) to lecture at court, before retiring to the monastery Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai.
Jodoshu. (浄土宗). In Japanese, the "PURE LAND school"; referring to the followers of HoNEN (1133-1212), who formed the first indigenous school of Japanese Buddhism outside the aegis of the imperial court. The central scriptures of the school are the so-called three pure land SuTRAs (jodo sanbukyo; see JINGTU SANBUJING): the longer SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, the shorter Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra (also known as the AMITĀBHASuTRA), and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING; as well as the *Aparimitāyussutropadesa ("Exegesis of the Wuliangshou jing"), commonly known as the Jingtu lun (J. Jodoron) ("Treatise on the Pure Land") and attributed by tradition to VASUBANDHU (see WULIANGSHOU JING YOUPOTISHE YUANSHENG JI). Honen's teachings focused on the "easy path" to NIRVĀnA and the prospect of achieving enlightenment exclusively through recitation of the nenbutsu (C. NIANFO), which would lead to rebirth in the buddha AMITĀBHA's pure land. Honen's teachings quickly spread throughout Japan largely through the efforts of his disciples SHINRAN (1173-1262), Ryukan (1148-1228), Shokobo Bencho (1162-1238), Zen'ebo Shoku (1177-1247), Jokakubo Kosai (1163-1247), and Kakumyobo Chosai (1184-1366). While his disciples all agreed on the efficacy of the recitation of the nenbutsu as advocated by Honen, they developed different interpretations of this practice. These divisions eventually led to the formation of disparate factions within the school. Those who followed Bencho came to be known as the Chinzei branch; their spirit of tolerance for other practices allowed the Chinzei branch to thrive. Shoku's followers, now known as the Seizan branch, held the position that rebirth in the pure land is possible only through continuous repetition of the nenbutsu (TANENGI); indeed, Shoku himself was said to recite the nenbutsu as many as sixty thousand times a day. Kosai, and to a lesser extent Shinran, held the more radical position that a single invocation of the name of Amitābha (ICHINENGI) would suffice. In 1207, in an effort to suppress the spread of Honen's teaching of exclusive nenbutsu, Honen, Kosai, and Shinran, were exiled to different regions of the country. In 1227, the Jodo movement was further suppressed when Honen's grave was desecrated by HIEIZAN monks and Kosai was again sent into exile. In 1450, the Chinzei branch came to dominate the other branches when the Chinzei adherent Keijiku (1403-1459) assumed the position of abbot of the monastery CHION'IN (built at Honen's grave site) in Kyoto. The Chinzei branch firmly established itself as the leading branch with the support of the Tokugawa bakufu. The teachings of Bencho's disciple Ryochu (1199-1287), who advocated the active use of the nenbutsu for purifying bad KARMAN in order to attain rebirth in pure land, came to be the official position of the Chinzei branch and thus of the wider Jodoshu tradition. See also JoDO SHINSHu.
Kaniska. (T. Ka ni ska; C. Jianisejia wang; J. Kanishika o; K. Kanisaekka wang 迦膩色迦王) (c. 127-151 CE). Third king of the KUSHAN kingdom in the northwest of India and legendary patron of Buddhism, rivaled, according to the tradition, only by AsOKA, some four centuries later. The story of his conversion to Buddhism is widely found in the literature, but it seems to belong to the realm of legend, not history. Kaniska is said to have convened the fourth Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FOURTH), which led to the compilation of the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀsĀ ("Great Exegesis of Abhidharma").Thanks to Kaniska's putative support, the Kushan kingdom has traditionally been assumed to have been an important conduit for the introduction of Buddhist materials into China via the SILK ROAD of Central Asia. Recent evidence of the decline in western Central Asian trade during the Kushan period, however, may suggest instead that the Kushans were more of an obstacle than a help to this dissemination. Hence, it may not have been the Kushans who facilitated the transmission of Buddhism but their Indo-Scythian predecessors in the region, the Saka (S. saka) tribe. The emerging scholarly consensus is that Kaniska's reign began in 127 CE; if accepted, this date will allow much more precise dating of the cultural products of the KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA region.
Klong chen rab 'byams. (Longchen Rabjam) (1308-1364). Also known as Klong chen pa (Longchenpa). An esteemed master and scholar of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism known especially for his promulgation of RDZOGS CHEN. Klong chen pa is believed to be the direct reincarnation of PADMA LAS 'BREL RTSAL, who revealed the Rdzogs chen snying thig, and also of PADMA GSAL, who first received those teachings from the Indian master PADMASAMBHAVA. Born in the central Tibetan region of G.yo ru (Yoru), he received ordination at the age of twelve. At nineteen, he entered GSANG PHU NE'U THOG monastery where he engaged in a wide range of studies, including philosophy, numerous systems of SuTRA and TANTRA, and the traditional Buddhist sciences, including grammar and poetics. Having trained under masters as diverse as the abbots of Gsang phu ne'u thog and the third KARMA PA, RANG 'BYUNG RDO RJE, he achieved great scholarly mastery of numerous traditions, including the Rnying ma, SA SKYA, and BKA' BRGYUD sects. However, Klong chen pa quickly became disillusioned at the arrogance and pretension of many scholars of his day, and in his mid-twenties gave up the monastery to pursue the life of a wandering ascetic. At twenty-nine, he met the great yogin Kumārarāja at BSAM YAS monastery, who accepted him as a disciple and transmitted the three classes of rdzogs chen (rdzogs chen sde gsum), a corpus of materials that would become a fundamental part of Klong chen pa's later writings and teaching career. Klong chen pa lived during a period of great political change in Tibet, as the center of political authority and power shifted from Sa skya to the Phag mo gru pa hierarchs. Having fallen out of favor with the new potentate, TAI SI TU Byang chub rgyal mtshan (Jangchub Gyaltsen, 1302-1364), he was forced to spend some ten years as a political exile in the Bum thang region of Bhutan, where he founded eight monasteries including Thar pa gling (Tarpa ling). Among the most important and well-known works in Klong chen pa's extensive literary corpus are his redaction of the meditation and ritual manuals of the heart essence (SNYING THIG), composed mainly in the hermitage of GANGS RI THOD DKAR. Other important works include his exegesis on the theory and practice of rdzogs chen, such as the MDZOD BDUN ("seven treasuries") and the NGAL GSO SKOR GSUM ("Trilogy on Rest"). Klong chen pa's writings are renowned for their poetic style and refinement. They formed the basis for a revitalization of Rnying ma doctrine led by the eighteenth-century visionary and treasure revealer (GTER STON) 'JIGS MED GLING PA.
Kyunyo. (均如) (923-973). Korean monk, exegete, poet, and thaumaturge during the Koryo dynasty, also known as Wont'ong. According to legend, Kyunyo is said to have been so ugly that his parents briefly abandoned him at a young age. His parents died shortly thereafter, and Kyunyo sought refuge at the monastery of Puhŭngsa in 937. Kyunyo later continued his studies under the monk Ǔisun (d.u.) at the powerful monastery of Yongt'ongsa near the Koryo-dynasty capital of Kaesong. There, Kyunyo seems to have gained the support of King Kwangjong (r. 950-975), who summoned him to preach at the palace in 954. Kyunyo's successful performance of miracles for the king won him the title of great worthy (taedok) and wealth for his clan. Kyunyo became famous as an exegete of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. His approach to this scripture was purportedly catalyzed by the deep split between the exegetical traditions associated with the Korean exegete WoNHYO (617-686) and the Chinese-Sogdian exegete FAZANG (643-712). Kyunyo sought to bridge these two traditions of Hwaom (C. HUAYAN) exegesis in his numerous writings, which came to serve as the orthodox doctrinal standpoint for the clerical examinations (SŬNGKWA) in the Koryo-period KYO school, held at the royal monastery of WANGNYUNSA. In 963, Kyunyo was appointed the abbot of the new monastery of Kwibopsa, which the king established near the capital. Kyunyo's life and some examples of his poetry are recorded in the Kyunyo chon; the collection includes eleven "native songs," or hyangga, one of the largest surviving corpora of Silla-period vernacular poems, which used Sinographs to transcribe Korean. His Buddhist writings include the Sok Hwaom kyobun'gi wont'ong ch'o, Sok Hwaom chigwijang, Sipkujang wont'ong ki, and others.
Li Tongxuan. (J. Ri Tsugen; K. Yi T'onghyon 李通玄) (635-730; alt. 646-740). Tang-dynasty lay exegete of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA (Huayan jing) and renowned thaumaturge. Li's life is the stuff of legend. He is claimed to have been related to the Tang imperial house but is known only as an elusive and eccentric lay scholar of Buddhism, who hid away in hermits' cells and mountain grottoes so as to devote himself entirely to his writing. Li's hagiographer says that he was able to work late into the night just from the radiance that issued forth from his mouth; his scholarship and health were sustained by two mysterious maidens who brought him paper, brushes, and daily provisions. The magnum opus of this life of scholarship is a forty-roll commentary to sIKsĀNANDA's "new" 699 translation of the AvataMsakasutra; his commentary is entitled the Xin Huayan jing lun and was published posthumously in 774. In the mid-ninth century, Li's commentary was published together with the sutra as the HUAYAN JING HELUN, and this compilation is the recension of Li's exegesis that is most widely used. Li also wrote a shorter one-roll treatise known usually by its abbreviated title of Shiming lun ("The Ten Illuminations"; the full title is Shi Huayan jing shi'er yuansheng jiemi xianzhi chengbei shiming lun), which discusses the Huayan jing from ten different perspectives on the doctrine of conditioned origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), and two other shorter works. Because Li Tongxuan was not associated with the mainstream of the Huayan lineage (HUAYAN ZONG), he was able to develop his own distinctive vision of the insights found in the AvataMsakasutra, a vision that often offered an explicit challenge to the interpretations of FAZANG and the mainstream tradition. Li stands outside the orthodox patriarchal lineage of the Huayan school by being a layperson, not a monk, and by being someone interested not just in the profound philosophical implications of the scripture but also its concrete, practical dimensions. In his commentary, Li focuses not on the description of the dimensions of the realm of reality (dharmadhātu; see SI FAJIE) as had Fazang, but instead on SUDHANA's personal quest for enlightenment in the final, and massive, GAndAVYuHA chapter of the sutra. Li moved forward the crucial point of soteriological progress from the activation of the thought of enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA), which he places at the first stage of the ten abidings (shizhu), up to the first level of the ten faiths (shixin), what had previously been considered a preliminary stage of the Huayan path (MĀRGA). Since faith alone was sufficient to generate the understanding that one's own body and mind are identical to the dharmadhātu and are fundamentally equivalent to buddhahood, buddhahood could therefore be experienced in this very life, rather than after three infinite eons (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) of training. ¶ Although Li's writings seem to have been forgotten soon after his death, there was an efflorescence of interest in Li Tongxuan during the Song dynasty, when specialists in the Linji school of Chinese CHAN Buddhism (LINJI ZONG), such as JUEFAN HUIHONG (1071-1128) and DAHUI ZONGGAO (1089-1163), and their acquaintance, the scholar-official ZHANG SHANGYING (1043-1121), began to draw on Li's practical orientation toward the Huayan jing in order to clarify aspects of Chan practice. In particular, Li's advocacy of "nature origination" (XINGQI) in the Huayan jing (rather than conditioned origination of the dharmadhātu [FAJIE YUANQI]) seemed to offer an intriguing sutra parallel to Chan's emphasis on "seeing the nature" in order to "achieve buddhahood" (JIANXING CHENGFO). In Korea, POJO CHINUL (1158-1210) was strongly influenced by Li Tongxuan's portrayal of Huayan thought, using it to demonstrate his claim that the words of the Buddha in the scriptural teachings of KYO and the mind of the Buddha transmitted by SoN (C. Chan) were identical. Through Li, Chinul was able to justify his claim of an intrinsic harmony between Son and Kyo. Chinul also wrote two treatises on Li's Huayan thought, including a three-roll abridgement of Li's Xin Huayan jing lun, entitled the Hwaom non choryo. In Japan, MYoE KoBEN (1173-1232) drew on Li's accounts of the radiance emanating from the Buddha himself, in conjunction with his readings of esoteric Buddhism (MIKKYo) and his own prophetic dreams and visionary experiences, to create a distinctive meditative technique called the SAMĀDHI of the Buddha's radiance (Bukko zanmai). Thus, despite being outside the mainstream of the Huayan tradition, in many ways, Li Tongxuan proved to be its longest lasting, and most influential, exponent. PENG SHAOSHENG (1740-1796), in his JUSHI ZHUAN ("Biographies of [Eminent Laymen"), lists Li Tongxuan as one of the three great lay masters (SANGONG) of Chinese Buddhism, along with PANG YUN (740-803) and LIU CHENGZHI (354-410), praising Li for his mastery of scholastic doctrine (jiao).
Madhupindikasutta. (C. Miwanyu jing; J. Mitsugan'yukyo; K. Mirhwanyu kyong 蜜丸喩經). In Pāli, "Discourse on the Honey Ball," the eighteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 115th SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA, along with an untitled recension of unidentified affiliation in the EKOTTARĀGAMA). The Buddha addresses a prince named Dandapāni, describing his teachings as avoiding discord with beings in this world, as indifference to perceptions, as abandoning doubts, and as not craving for existence. The disciple Mahākaccāna (S. MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA) then further explicates the sermon's meaning and the Buddha praises his erudition. The AttHASĀLINĪ cites the Madhupindikasutta as an example of a scripture that, although preached by a disciple, still qualifies as the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA) because Mahākaccāna's exegesis is based on a synopsis given first by the Buddha. The Madhupindikasutta is best known for its discussion of how the process of sensory perception culminates in conceptual proliferation (P. papaNca; S. PRAPANCA). Any sentient being will be subject to an impersonal causal process of perception in which consciousness (P. viNNāna; S. VIJNĀNA) occurs conditioned by a sense base and a sense object; the contact between these three brings about sensory impingement (P. phassa; S. SPARsA), which in turn leads to sensation (VEDANĀ). At that point, however, the sense of ego intrudes and this process then becomes an intentional one, whereby what one feels, one perceives (P. saNNā; S. SAMJNĀ); what one perceives, one thinks about (P. vitakka; S. VITARKA); and what one thinks about, one conceptualizes (papaNca). However, by allowing oneself to experience sensory objects not as things-in-themselves but as concepts invariably tied to one's own point of view, the perceiving subject now becomes the hapless object of an inexorable process of conceptual subjugation: viz., what one conceptualizes becomes proliferated conceptually (P. papaNcasaNNāsankhā; a term apparently unattested in Sanskrit) throughout all of one's sensory experience in the past, present, and future. The consciousness thus ties together everything that can be experienced in this world into a labyrinthine network of concepts, all tied to oneself and projected into the external world as craving (TṚsnĀ), conceit (MĀNA), and wrong views (DṚstI), thus creating bondage to SAMSĀRA. The goal of training is a state of mind in which this tendency toward conceptual proliferation is brought to an end (P. nippapaNca; S. NIsPRAPANCA).
Ma gcig lab sgron. (Machik Labdron) (c. 1055-1149). Female Tibetan Buddhist master who codified the important meditation tradition called "severance" (GCOD), classified as one of the so-called eight great conveyances that are lineages of achievement (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD). Born in the southern Tibetan region of LA PHYI, Ma gcig lab sgron was recognized at a young age to be a prodigy. According to her traditional biographies, she had a natural propensity for the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, spending much of her youth reading and studying its root texts and commentaries. She continued her religious education under the monk known as Grwa pa mngon shes (Drapa Ngonshe) and Skyo ston Bsod nams bla ma (Kyoton Sonam Lama) in a monastic setting where she was eventually employed to use her skills in ritual recitation and exegesis. She then took up the lifestyle of a tantric YOGINĪ, living as the consort of the Indian adept Thod pa Bhadra and giving birth to perhaps five children. Reviled in one source as "a nun who had repudiated her religious vows," Ma gcig lab sgron left her family and eventually met the figure who would become her root guru, the famed Indian yogin PHA DAM PA SANGS RGYAS who transmitted to her the instructions of "pacification" (ZHI BYED) and MAHĀMUDRĀ. She combined these with her training in prajNāpāramitā and other indigenous practices, passing them on as the practice of severance, principally to the Nepalese yogin Pham thing pa and her own son Thod smyon bsam grub (Tonyon Samdrup). Ma gcig lab sgron is revered as a dĀKINĪ, an emanation of the Great Mother (Yum chen mo, as the goddess PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ is known in Tibetan), and the female bodhisattva TĀRĀ. Her reincarnations have also been recognized in contemporary individuals, including the former abbess of the important SHUG GSEB nunnery, Rje btsun Rig 'dzin chos nyid zang mo (Jetsun Rikdzin Chonyi Sangmo). Ma gcig lab sgron remains a source of visionary inspiration for new ritual cycles, as well as a primary Tibetan example of the ideal female practitioner. Her tradition of severance continues to be widely practiced by Tibetan Buddhists of all sectarian affiliations.
Mahākātyāyana. (P. Mahākaccāna; T. Ka tya'i bu chen po; C. Mohejiazhanyan; J. Makakasen'en; K. Mahagajonyon 摩訶迦旃延). Also known as Kātyāyana (P. Kaccāna, Kaccāyana); Sanskrit name of one of the Buddha's chief disciples and an eminent ARHAT deemed foremost among the Buddha's disciples in his ability to elaborate on the Buddha's brief discourses. According to the Pāli accounts, where he is known as Mahākaccāna, he was the son of a brāhmana priest who served King Candappajjota of AVANTI. He was learned in the Vedas and assumed his father's position upon his death. He was called Kaccāna because of the golden hue of his body and because it was the name of his clan. Once, he and seven companions were sent by the king to invite the Buddha to Avanti, the capital city of Ujjenī (S. Ujjayinī). The Buddha preached a sermon to them, whereupon they all attained arhatship and entered the order. Mahākaccāna took up residence in a royal park in Ujjenī, where he was treated with great honor by the king. He was such an able preacher and explicator of doctrine that many persons joined the order, until, it is said, the entire kingdom of Avanti sparkled with yellow robes. He became most renowned for his discourses in the MADHUPIndIKASUTTA, Kaccāyanasutta, and Parāyanasutta. In a previous life, Mahākaccāna was a thaumaturge (vijjādhara; S. VIDHYĀDHARA) during the time of the buddha Padumuttara. It was then that he first made the vow to win the eminence he eventually did under Gotama (S. Gautama) Buddha. Although living far away in Avanti, Mahākaccāna often went to hear the Buddha preach, and the assembled elders always left a place for him. He is said to have requested the Buddha to allow for special dispensation to ordain new monks in outlying regions without the requisite number of monastic witnesses. Mahākaccāna was noted for his ability to provide detailed exegeses of the Buddha's sometimes laconic instructions and brief verses, and several suttas in the Pāli canon are ascribed to him. According to tradition, he is the author of the NETTIPPAKARAnA and the PEtAKOPADESA, which seek to provide the foundational principles that unify the sometimes variant teachings found in the suttas; these texts are some of the earliest antecedents of commentarial exegesis in the Pāli tradition and are the only commentaries included in the suttapitaka proper. He is also said to be the author of the Pāli grammar, the Kaccāyanavyākarana. According to the Sanskrit tradition, Mahākātyāyana was the initiator of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA branch of the mainstream Buddhist schools and traditional compiler of the ABHIDHARMA. The JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMAPItAKA is attributed to him, but it was certainly composed several hundred years later by an author of the same name. He is often depicted holding an alm's bowl (PĀTRA) or with his fingers interlaced at his chest. Like many of the great arhats, Mahākātyāyana appears frequently in the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, sometimes merely as a member of the audience, sometimes playing a more significant role. In the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA, he is one of the sRĀVAKA disciples who is reluctant to visit the lay BODHISATTVA VIMALAKĪRTI. In the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, he is one of four arhats who understand the parable of the burning house and who rejoices in the teaching of the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA); later in the sutra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood.
Mahāniddesa. In Pāli, "Longer Exposition," first part of the Niddesa ("Exposition"), an early commentarial work on the SUTTANIPĀTA included in the Pāli SUTTAPItAKA as the eleventh book of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. The Niddesa is attributed by tradition to the Buddha's chief disciple, Sāriputta (S. sĀRIPUTRA), and is divided into two sections: the Mahāniddesa and the CulANIDDESA ("Shorter Exposition"). The Mahāniddesa comments on the sixteen suttas (S. SuTRA) of the AttHAKAVAGGA chapter of the Suttanipāta; the Culaniddesa comments on the sixteen suttas of the Parāyanavagga chapter and on the Khaggavisānasutta (see KHAdGAVIsĀnA). The Mahāniddesa and Culaniddesa do not comment on any of the remaining contents of the Suttanipāta, a feature that has suggested to historians that at the time of their composition the Atthakavagga and Parāyanavagga were autonomous anthologies not yet incorporated into the Suttanipāta, and that the Khaggavisānasutta likewise circulated independently. The exegesis of the Suttanipāta by the Mahā- and Culaniddesa displays the influence of the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA (S. ABHIDHARMA) and passages from it are frequently quoted in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. Both parts of the Niddesa are formulaic in structure, a feature that appears to have been designed as a pedagogical aid to facilitate memorization. In Western scholarship, there has long been a debate regarding their dates of composition, with some scholars dating them as early as the third century BCE, others to as late as the second century CE. The Mahā- and Culaniddesa are the only commentarial texts besides the SUTTAVIBHAnGA of the VINAYAPItAKA to be included in the Sri Lankan and Thai recensions of the Pāli canon. In contrast, the Burmese canon includes two additional early commentaries, the NETTIPAKARAnA and PEtAKOPADESA, as books sixteen and seventeen in its recension of the Khuddakanikāya.
Mi pham 'Jam dbyangs rnam rgyal rgya mtsho. (Mipam Jamyang Namgyal Gyatso) (1846-1912). A prominent Tibetan Buddhist scholar of the RNYING MA sect and a leading figure in the RIS MED or so-called nonsectarian movement of eastern Tibet. He is often known as Mi pham rgya mtsho or 'Ju Mi pham in reference to his clan name. As a young child he excelled at study-it is said that he composed his first text at age seven-and quickly mastered a broad range of traditional Buddhist learning, from MAHĀYĀNA sutras to tantric rituals, as well as subjects such as logic, astrology, grammar, medicine, and the arts. His ease in learning a vast body of scriptures was ascribed to his devotion to the BODHISATTVA of wisdom MANJUsRĪ. He is said to have read the entire BKA' 'GYUR seven times. He studied with and received transmission from many of the leading scholars of the day, including DPAL SPRUL RIN PO CHE and 'JAM MGON KONG SPRUL. His principal guru was the luminary 'JAM DBYANGS MKHYEN BRTSE DBANG PO. Unlike many other prominent Rnying ma lamas of his time, he was not actively involved in the discovery and revelation of treasure (GTER MA). He is especially renowned for his strikingly original, and often controversial, commentaries on important Indian treatises-scriptural exegesis of Indian works being relatively rare among his contemporary Rnying ma scholars. These works include his commentary on the ninth chapter of sĀNTIDEVA's BODHICARYĀVATĀRA and his commentary on sĀNTARAKsITA's MADHYAMAKĀLAMKĀRA. In other works, he sought to reveal the philosophical profundity of the RDZOGS CHEN teachings.
namu Myohorengekyo. (C. namo Miaofa lianhua jing; K. namu Myobop yonhwa kyong 南無妙法蓮華經). In Japanese, lit. "Homage to the Lotus Flower of the Sublime Dharma Scripture," the phrase chanted as the primary practice of the various subtraditions of the NICHIRENSHu, including NICHIREN SHOSHu and SOKKA GAKKAI. The first syllable of the phrase, "namu," is a transcription of the Sanskrit term "namas," meaning "homage"; "Myohorengekyo" is the Japanese pronunciation of the title of KUMĀRAJĪVA's (344-413) Chinese translation of the influential SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"). The phrase is also known in the Nichiren tradition as the DAIMOKU (lit. "title"). Chanting or meditating on the title of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra seems to have had a long history in the TENDAISHu (TIANTAI ZONG) in Japan. The practice was further developed and popularized by the Tendai monk NICHIREN, who placed this practice above all others. Relying on the FAHUA XUANYI, an important commentary on the Saddharmapundarīkasutra by the Chinese monk TIANTAI ZHIYI (538-597), Nichiren claimed that the essence of the scripture is distilled in its title, or daimoku, and that chanting the title can therefore lead to the attainment of buddhahood in this very body (SOKUSHIN JoBUTSU). He also drew on the notion that the dharma was then in decline (J. mappo; see C. MOFA) to promote the chanting of namu Myohorengekyo as the optimal approach to enlightenment in this degenerate age. The ONGI DUDEN ("Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings"), the transcription of Nichiren's lectures on the sutra compiled by his disciple Nichiko (1246-1332), gives a detailed exegesis of the meaning of the phrase. In the Nichiren interpretation, namu represents the dedication of one's whole life to the essential truth of Buddhism, which is the daimoku Myohorengekyo. Myoho refers to the "sublime dharma" of the nonduality of enlightenment and ignorance. Renge is the "lotus flower" (PUndARĪKA), which, because it is able to bear seeds and yet bloom at the same time, symbolizes the simultaneity of cause and effect. Finally, kyo represents the voices and sounds of all sentient beings, which affirm the universal presence of the buddha-nature (C. FOXING). The chanting of the phrase is therefore considered to be the ultimate means to attain buddhahood, regardless of whether or not one knows its meaning. In addition to its soteriological dimension, the chanting of the phrase is believed by some to convey such practical benefits as good health and financial well-being.
Nanshan lü zong. (J. Nanzan risshu; K. Namsan yulchong 南山律宗). In Chinese, the "South Mountain School of Discipline," the name for a loose affiliation of Chinese exegetes who traced their lineage back to the Chinese VINAYA master DAOXUAN (596-667). (The name Nanshan, or South Mountain, refers to Daoxuan's residence at ZHONGNANSHAN in present-day Shanxi province.) This tradition is largely concerned with the exegesis of the SIFEN LÜ ("Four-Part Vinaya") of the DHARMAGUPTAKA school. This VINAYA text, which came to be adopted widely throughout East Asia, was translated into Chinese in 405 by the Kashmīri monk BUDDHAYAsAS (c. early fifth century CE) and is still followed today in the East Asian Buddhist traditions. It taught a code of discipline that involved 250 principal monastic precepts for monks, 348 for nuns. The central scripture of the Nanshan lü zong is Daoxuan's influential commentary on the Sifen lü, the Sifen lü shanfan buque xingshi chao, which was composed in 626. Although the Nanshan lü zong remained the dominant tradition of vinaya exegesis in China, other groups such as the DONGTA LÜ ZONG (East Pagoda) and Xiangbu (Xiang Region) vinaya schools also flourished. The interpretations of the Nanshan lü zong were introduced into Japan by the Chinese monk GANJIN (C. Jianzhen; 687-763), who helped established the School of Discipline (J. RISSHu), one of the six schools of the Nara tradition of early Japanese Buddhism (see NARA BUDDHISM, SIX SCHOOLS OF).
Nara Buddhism, Six Schools of. A traditional grouping of six major scholastic schools of Japanese Buddhism active during the Nara period (710-794 CE): (1) Sanronshu (see SAN LUN ZONG), an East Asian counterpart of the MADHYAMAKA school; (2) Kegonshu (see HUAYAN ZONG), an East Asian exegetical tradition focused on the AVATAMSAKASuTRA; (3) RISSHu, or VINAYA exegesis; (4) Jojitsushu (see CHENGSHI LUN) the TATTVASIDDHI exegetical tradition; (5) Hossoshu (see FAXIANG ZONG), an East Asian strand of YOGĀCĀRA; and (6) Kushashu, focused on ABHIDHARMA exegesis using the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA. These six schools are presumed to have been founded during the initial phase of Buddhism's introduction into Japan, between c. 552 and the end of the Nara period in 794. These learned schools were eventually supplanted by the practice and meditative schools of TENDAISHu and SHINGONSHu, which were introduced during the succeeding Heian period (794-1185), and the later schools of the ZENSHu, the pure land schools of JoDOSHu and JoDO SHINSHu, and NICHIRENSHu of the Kamakura period (1185-1333).
Nettippakarana. In Pāli, "The Guide," a paracanonical Pāli text dedicated to the exegesis of scripture, which is included in the longer Burmese (Myanmar) edition of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. The Netti (as it is often called) is traditionally ascribed to the Buddha's disciple Kaccāna (see KĀTYĀYANA; MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA), but was likely composed in India sometime around the beginning of the Common Era. Some scholars presume that the work is a revision of the closely related PEtAKOPADESA, which it ultimately superseded. Both the Netti and the Petakopadesa develop an elaborate hermeneutical theory based on the broad rubrics of "interpretation" or "guidance" (netti; cf. Skt. netri) as to "sense" (byaNjana; Skt. vyaNjana) and interpretation as to "meaning" (attha; Skt. ARTHA). The Netti is divided into two major sections: an outline of the contents, and a longer systematic set of rubrics that describe specific techniques of interpretation, in three subsections. See also VYĀKHYĀYUKTI; SANFEN KEJING.
Niepan zong. (J. Nehanshu; K. Yolban chong 涅槃宗). In Chinese, "Nirvāna tradition," an eclectic Chinese lineage of scholiasts who dedicated themselves to exegesis and dissemination of the MAHĀYĀNA recension of the MAHĀPARNIRVĀnASuTRA ("Nirvāna Sutra"). The Niepan zong did not exist in any formal sense; the term is instead used to designate a group of exegetes with analogous intellectual interests. Foremost among these exegetes is DAOSHENG (355-434), a member of KUMĀRAJĪVA's (343-413) translation team in Chang'an, whose views are emblematic of teachers in this lineage. Daosheng was strongly critical of statements appearing in the first Chinese translation of the Mahāparnirvānasutra, made in 418 by FAXIAN and BUDDHABHADRA, which asserted that all sentient beings except the incorrigibles (ICCHANTIKA) are endowed with the buddha-nature (FOXING). Daosheng opposed this view, which at the time had the authority of received scripture; instead, he made the radical claim that even icchantikas must also retain the capacity eventually to attain enlightenment, thus calling into question the accuracy of these two eminent monks' scriptural edition. DHARMAKsEMA's new translation of the text four years later did not include the controversial statement and thus vindicated Daosheng's position. Daosheng also explored the soteriological implications of the buddha-nature doctrine in the Mahāparnirvānasutra. If the buddha-nature were inherent in all sentient beings, as the scripture claimed, then enlightenment was not something that would unfold through the mastery of a gradual series of steps, but would instead be experienced in a sudden moment of insight-a "re-cognition" of the enlightenment that has always been present. Hence, Daosheng claimed, buddhahood is in fact attained instantaneously (see DUNWU), not progessively. This position initiated an extended examination within East Asian Buddhism of sudden versus gradual theories of enlightenment that played out in many of the mature traditions, including the TIANTAI ZONG, HUAYAN ZONG, and CHAN ZONG. The teachings of the Niepan zong were also influential in promoting Chinese Buddhism's turn away from "apophatic" forms of discourse emblematic of MADHYAMAKA styles of argumentation, to the more "kataphatic" or positive forms of discourse that are typical of the later indigenous schools, including Tiantai, Huayan, and Chan. Following Daosheng, his disciple Daolang (d.u.) in his Niepan jing yishu ("Commentary to the 'Nirvāna Sutra'") postulated congruencies between the buddha-nature and emptiness (suNYATĀ), which suggested how the seemingly "apophatic" notion of emptiness found in Indian materials could actually serve as a dynamic force revealing the truth that underlies all conventional existence in the world. Still other Niepan zong exegetes devoted themselves to the text of the Mahāparnirvānasutra itself, producing a new edition of the scripture known as the Southern Edition (Nanben), which collated the two earlier renderings and restructured the chapter headings. By the beginning of the Tang dynasty, the tradition of Mahāparnirvānasutra exegesis had become moribund, and its intellectual concerns were subsumed into the Tiantai zong, which derived much of its teachings from the "Nirvāna Sutra" and the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra").
nityadharma. (P. niccadhamma; T. rtag pa'i chos; C. changfa; J. joho; K. sangpop 常法). In Sanskrit, "permanent factors," one of two basic categories of phenomena in certain strands of ABHIDHARMA exegesis. Despite the centrality of the doctrine of impermanence in Buddhism, it is not the case that all phenomena are impermanent: conditioned factors (SAMSKṚTADHARMA) are impermanent, but unconditioned factors (ASAMSKṚTADHARMA) may instead be viewed as permanent. Permanent factors are typically enumerated as three: analytical cessation (PRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA, which would include NIRVĀnA); nonanalytical cessation (APRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA); and space (ĀKĀsA). Since each of these types of factors is uncompounded, and thus not subject to the forces of impermanence that govern the conditioned realm of existence, they may be viewed as "permanent factors."
nitya. (P. nicca; T. rtag pa; C. chang; J. jo; K. sang 常). In Sanskrit, "permanent"; technically defined in some schools as the quality of being capable of lasting more than a single instant (KsAnA). According to the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of ABHIDHARMA exegesis, all conditioned factors (SAMSKṚTADHARMA) are impermanent (ANITYA); there are only three unconditioned factors (ASAMSKṚTADHARMA) that may be viewed as permanent, because they are not subject to the forces of impermanence that govern the conditioned realm of existence. These are the analytical cessation (PRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA, which would include NIRVĀnA); nonanalytical cessation (APRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA); and space (ĀKĀsA). To perceive as permanent conditioned factors that are actually impermanent is a fundamental misconception and a primary cause of suffering (DUḤKHA). This mistaken view of permanence thus figures among the four "inverted views" (VIPARYĀSA): to see the painful as pleasurable, the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, and that which is without self as having a self.
Paramatthadīpanī. In Pāli, "Lamp on the Ultimate Truth" (S. PARAMĀRTHA), a commentary on the UDĀNA, ITIVUTTAKA, VIMĀNAVATTHU, PETAVATTHU, THERAGĀTHĀ and THERĪGĀTHĀ of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA by the post-fifth-century CE exegete DHAMMAPĀLA; this exegesis is also called the Vimalavilāsinī. ¶ The Paramatthadīpanī is also the name of a modern critique of the Porānatīkā written in Pāli by LEDI SAYADAW.
Petakopadesa. In Pāli, "Pitaka-Disclosure"; a paracanonical Pāli text dedicated to the interpretation of canonical texts, which is included in the longer Burmese edition of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. The work is traditionally ascribed to the Buddha's disciple Kaccāna (S. KĀTYĀYANA; MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA), but was likely composed in India as early as the second century BCE. A work in eight chapters, it is meant to assist those who are already versed in the dharma in the proper exegesis and explanation of specific passages, allowing them to rephrase a passage in such a way that it remains consistent in meaning with the teaching as a whole. In this way it offers an early guide to authors of commentaries. In the Pāli tradition, it was superseded by a somewhat later and similar text, the NETTIPPAKARAnA. Both the Netti and the Petakopadesa develop an elaborate hermeneutical theory based on the broad rubrics of "interpretation" or "guidance" (P. netti; cf. S. netri) regarding "sense" (vyaNjana) and interpretation regarding "meaning" (P. attha; S. ARTHA). See also SANFEN KEJING; VYĀKHYĀYUKTI.
pure land. (C. jingtu; J. jodo; K. chongt'o 浄土). An English term with no direct equivalent in Sanskrit that is used to translate the Chinese JINGTU (more literally, "purified ground"); the Chinese term may be related to the term PARIsUDDHABUDDHAKsETRA (although this latter term does not appear in the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, the text most closely aligned with pure land thought). The term "pure land" has several denotations in English, which have led to some confusion in its use. These include (1) a buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) purified of transgressions and suffering by a buddha and thus deemed an auspicious place in which to take rebirth; (2) the specific (and most famous) of these purified fields, that of the buddha AMITĀBHA, named SUKHĀVATĪ; (3) the tradition of texts and practices in MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism dedicated to the description of a number of buddha-fields, including that of Amitābha, and the practices to ensure rebirth there; (4) a tradition of texts and practice in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, associated specifically with the goal of rebirth in the purified buddha-field of Amitābha; (5) the JoDOSHu and JoDO SHINSHu schools of Japanese Buddhism, deriving from the teachings of HoNEN and SHINRAN, which set forth a "single practice" for rebirth in sukhāvatī. It is important to note that, although the Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra (and other sutras describing other buddha-fields) originated in India, there was no "pure land school" in Indian Buddhism; rebirth in a buddha-field, and especially that of sukhāvatī, was one of the many generalized goals of Mahāyāna practice. Although there was an extensive tradition in China of scriptural exegesis of the major pure land sutras, this was not enough in itself to constitute a self-consciously "pure land school"; indeed, techniques for rebirth in sukhāvatī became popular in many strands of Chinese Buddhism (see NIANFO), especially in light of theories of the disappearance of the dharma (see MOFA). Finally, it is important to note that the goal of rebirth in sukhāvatī was an important practice in Japan prior to the advent of Honen, and remained so in schools other than Jodoshu and Jodo Shinshu.
purvapranidhāna. (T. sngon gyi smon lam; C. benyuan; J. hongan; K. ponwon 本願). In Sanskrit, "prior vow," a vow made in the past that has either been fulfilled in the present or will be fulfilled in the future, typically in conjunction with the attainment of buddhahood. The term purvapranidhāna is used specifically in the MAHĀYĀNA to denote the vow made in the past by a BODHISATTVA to become a buddha himself, often specifying the place, the time, and the retinue that will be associated with that achievement. Since the buddhas have perforce succeeded in achieving their goal of buddhahood, their prior vows are therefore all considered to have been fulfilled. The most famous of all prior vows are the forty-eight vows described in the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, in which the bodhisattva DHARMĀKARA makes a series of forty-eight vows to create the PURE LAND of SUKHĀVATĪ. These vows are narrated by the Buddha, who explains that the bodhisattva fulfilled all the vows and became the buddha AMITĀBHA. The exegesis of the vows of Dharmākara was an important element of JoDOSHu and JoDO SHINSHu buddhology in Japan. (The Chinese translation of this term literally means "original vow," and this English rendering is commonly seen in Western translations of PURE LAND works.) The compound *pubbepanidhāna is unattested in Pāli sources, but the term panidhāna is used to refer to this aspiration made in a previous life.
Risshu. [alt. Ritsushu] (律宗). In Japanese, "School of Discipline," one of the so-called six schools of the Nara tradition of early Japanese Buddhism (see NARA BUDDHISM, SIX SCHOOLS OF); the term is also sometimes seen transcribed as RITSUSHu. Although its origins are uncertain, a decree by the Grand Council of State (J. Daijokan) in 718 acknowledged Risshu as one of major schools of Buddhism in the Japanese capital of Nara. The school is dedicated to the exegesis and dissemination of the rules of Buddhist VINAYA, especially those associated with the SIFEN LÜ ("Four-Part Vinaya") of the DHARMAGUPTAKA school. Rather than an established religious institution, the Risshu, like the other contemporaneous schools of the Nara period (710-974), should instead be considered more of an intellectual tradition or school of thought. Risshu arose as an attempt to systematize monastic rules and practices on the basis of Chinese translations of Indian vinaya texts. Throughout the first half of the eighth century, Japanese monks relied on the Taiho Law Code (701), a set of government-mandated monastic regulations, to guide both their ordination ceremonies (J. jukai) and their conduct. Realizing that Japan lacked proper observance of the vinaya, Nara scholars who had studied monastic discipline in China sought the aid of GANJIN (C. Jianzhen; 687-763), a well-known Chinese master of the NANSHAN LÜ ZONG (South Mountain School of Discipline), the largest of the three vinaya traditions of China. Their attempts to use Ganjin to establish an orthodox ordination ceremony in Japan met with considerable resistance, first from the Chinese court, which did not want to part with Ganjin, and second with entrenched interests in Nara, which had grown accustomed to the Taiho regulations. After five failed attempts to travel to Japan at these monks' invitation, Ganjin finally arrived in Japan in 754. Then sixty-six and blind, Ganjin finally established an ordination platform that summer at the great Nara monastery of ToDAIJI. Soon thereafter, two more ordination platforms were erected under the jurisdiction of Risshu: one at Yakushiji in Shimotsuke province (in present-day Tochigi prefecture), and one at Kanzeonji in Chikuzen province (in present-day Fukuoka prefecture). In his later years, Ganjin also founded the monastery of ToSHoDAIJI in Nara, where he trained monks according to his own codification of the rules. Risshu and the other Nara schools fell into a period of decline over the course of the Heian period (794-1185), which ultimately set the stage for a restoration of Risshu in the early Kamakura period (1185-1333). Under the leadership of the Tendai priest Shunjo (1166-1227), who had studied in China, a group of monks with interests in vinaya assembled at Sennyuji in Kyoto. They would later become identified as the Hokkyo, or "northern capital," branch of the Risshu school, in contrast to the Nankyo (southern capital) branch in Nara. Monks in Nara also attempted to restore Risshu, as exemplified by Kakujo's (1194-1249) move to Toshodaiji and the efforts of Eizon (1201-1290), who incorporated esoteric practice (see MIKKYo) in his restoration of Risshu at Saidaiji in Nara. Today, Risshu survives in the two monasteries of Toshodaiji and Saidaiji, although the latter was officially joined with the SHINGONSHu during the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912).
Saadia, ben Joseph: (Arabic Sa'id Al-Fayyumi) (892-942) Born and educated in Egypt, he left his native country in 915 and settled in Babylonia where he was appointed in 928 Gaon of the Academy of Sura. He translated the Bible into Arabic and wrote numerous works, both in Hebrew and Arabic, in the fields of philology, exegesis, Talmudics, polemics, Jewish history, and philosophy. His chief philosophical work is the Kitab Al-Amanat wa'l-Itikadat, better known by its Hebrew title, Emunot we-Deott, i.e., Doctrines and Religious Beliefs. Its purpose is to prove the compatibility of the principles of Judaism with reason and to interpret them in such a way that their rationality be evident The first nine sections establish philosophically the ten fundamental articles of faith, and the tenth deals with ethics. Philosophically, Saadia was influenced by the teachings of the Mutazilia. See Jewish Philosophy. -- Q.V.
Saddharmapundarīkasutra. (T. Dam pa'i chos padma dkar po'i mdo; C. Miaofa lianhua jing/Fahua jing; J. Myohorengekyo/Hokekyo; K. Myobop yonhwa kyong/Pophwa kyong 妙法蓮華經/法華經). In Sanskrit, "Sutra of the White Lotus of the True Dharma," and known in English simply as the "Lotus Sutra"; perhaps the most influential of all MAHĀYĀNA sutras. The earliest portions of the text were probably composed as early as the first or second centuries of the Common Era; the text gained sufficient renown in India that a number of chapters were later interpolated into it. The sutra was translated into Chinese six times and three of those translations are extant. The earliest of those is that made by DHARMARAKsA, completed in 286. The most popular is that of KUMĀRAJĪVA in twenty-eight chapters, completed in 406. The sutra was translated into Tibetan in the early ninth century. Its first translation into a European language was that of EUGÈNE BURNOUF into French in 1852. The Saddharmapundarīkasutra is perhaps most famous for its parables, which present, in various versions, two of the sutra's most significant doctrines: skill-in-means (UPĀYA) and the immortality of the Buddha. In the parable of the burning house, a father lures his children from a conflagration by promising them three different carts, but when they emerge they find instead a single, magnificent cart. The three carts symbolize the sRĀVAKA vehicle, the PRATYEKABUDDHA vehicle, and the BODHISATTVA vehicle, while the one cart is the "one vehicle" (EKAYĀNA), the buddha vehicle (BUDDHAYĀNA). This parable indicates that the Buddha's previous teaching of three vehicles (TRIYĀNA) was a case of upāya, an "expedient device" or "skillful method" designed to attract persons of differing capacities to the dharma. In fact, there is only one vehicle, the vehicle whereby all beings proceed to buddhahood. In the parable of the conjured city, a group of weary travelers take rest in a magnificent city, only to be told later that it is a magical creation. This conjured city symbolizes the NIRVĀnA of the ARHAT; there is in fact no such nirvāna as a final goal in Buddhism, since all will eventually follow the bodhisattva's path to buddhahood. The apparently universalistic doctrine articulated by the sutra must be understood within the context of the sectarian polemics in which the sutra seems to have been written. The doctrine of upāya is intended in part to explain the apparent contradiction between the teachings that appear in earlier sutras and those of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra. The former are relegated to the category of mere expedients, with those who fail to accept the consummate teaching of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra as the authentic word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA) repeatedly excoriated by the text itself. In a device common in Mahāyāna sutras, the sutra itself describes both the myriad benefits that accrue to those who recite, copy, and revere the sutra, as well as the misfortune that will befall those who fail to do so. The immortality of the Buddha is portrayed in the parable of the physician, in which a father feigns death in order to induce his sons to commit to memory an antidote to poison. The apparent death of the father is compared to the Buddha's entry into nirvāna, something which he only pretended to do in order to inspire his followers. Elsewhere in the sutra, the Buddha reveals that he did not achieve enlightenment as the prince Siddhārtha who left his palace, but in fact had achieved enlightenment eons before; the well-known version of his departure from the palace and successful quest for enlightenment were merely a display meant to inspire the world. The immortality of the Buddha (and other buddhas) is also demonstrated when a great STuPA emerges from the earth. When the door to the funerary reliquary is opened, ashes and bones are not found, as would be expected, but instead the living buddha PRABHuTARATNA, who appears in his stupa whenever the Saddharmapundarīkasutra is taught. sĀKYAMUNI joins him on his seat, demonstrating another central Mahāyāna doctrine, the simultaneous existence of multiple buddhas. Other famous events described in the sutra include the miraculous transformation of a NĀGA princess into a buddha after she presents a gem to sākyamuni and the tale of a bodhisattva who immolates himself in tribute to a previous buddha. The sutra contains several chapters that function as self-contained texts; the most popular of these is the chapter devoted to the bodhisattva AVALOKITEsVARA, which details his ability to rescue the faithful from various dangers. The Saddharmapundarīkasutra was highly influential in East Asia, inspiring both a range of devotional practices as well as the creation of new Buddhist schools that had no Indian analogues. The devotional practices include those extolled by the sutra itself: receiving and keeping the sutra, reading it, memorizing and reciting it, copying it, and explicating it. In East Asia, there are numerous tales of the miraculous benefits of each of these practices. The practice of copying the sutra (or having it copied) was a particularly popular form of merit-making either for oneself or for departed family members. Also important, especially in China, was the practice of burning either a finger or one's entire body as an offering to the Buddha, emulating the self-immolation of the bodhisattva BHAIsAJYARĀJA in the twenty-third chapter (see SHESHEN). In the domain of doctrinal developments, the Saddharmapundarīkasutra was highly influential across East Asia, its doctrine of upāya providing the rationale for the systems of doctrinal taxonomies (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) that are pervasive in East Asian Buddhist schools. In China, the sutra was the central text of the TIANTAI ZONG, where it received detailed exegesis by a number of important figures. The school's founder, TIANTAI ZHIYI, divided the sutra into two equal parts. In the first fourteen chapters, which he called the "trace teaching" (C. jimen, J. SHAKUMON), sākyamuni appears as the historical buddha. In the remaining fourteen chapters, which Zhiyi called the "origin teaching" (C. benmen, J. HONMON), sākyamuni reveals his true nature as the primordial buddha who achieved enlightenment many eons ago. Zhiyi also drew on the Saddharmapundarīkasutra in elucidating two of his most famous doctrines: the three truths (SANDI, viz., emptiness, the provisional, and the mean) and the notion of YINIAN SANQIAN, or "the trichiliocosm in an instant of thought." In the TENDAISHu, the Japanese form of Tiantai, the sutra remained supremely important, providing the scriptural basis for the central doctrine of original enlightenment (HONGAKU) and the doctrine of "achieving buddhahood in this very body" (SOKUSHIN JoBUTSU); in TAIMITSU, the tantric form of Tendai, sākyamuni Buddha was identified with MAHĀVAIROCANA. For the NICHIREN schools (and their offshoots, including SoKA GAKKAI), the Saddharmapundarīkasutra is not only its central text but is also considered to be the only valid Buddhist sutra for the degenerate age (J. mappo; see C. MOFA); the recitation of the sutra's title is the central practice in Nichiren (see NAMU MYoHoRENGEKYo). See also SADĀPARIBHuTA.
said to derive from a rabbinic exegesis of the
Sammohavinodanī. In Pāli, "The Dispeller of Delusion," a commentary by the influential Pāli scholar BUDDHAGHOSA on the VIBHAnGA, the second book of the Pāli ABHIDHAMMAPItAKA. This work covers much of the same material found in Buddhaghosa's VISUDDHIMAGGA, which is thought to be the earlier of the two works. In his introduction to Sammohavinodanī, Buddhaghosa claims to have drawn his analysis from more ancient commentaries. The work is divided into eighteen sections, beginning with an exposition on the five aggregates (P. khandha, S. SKANDHA). Each subsequent section covers a different element of the Vibhanga's content, including analyses of the sense spheres (ĀYATANA), elements (DHĀTU), stages of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA, S. DHYĀNA), the path (P. magga, S. MĀRGA), rules of training (P. sikkhāpada, S. sIKsĀPADA), and so on. This commentary is particularly well known for its analysis of conditioned origination (P. paticcasamuppāda, S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), which offers perhaps the most detailed examination of this doctrine found in the Pāli abhidhamma; there, Buddhaghosa represents the entire chain of causes and effects as occurring in both an entire lifetime as well as in single moment of consciousness. The Sammohavinodanī itself became the subject of extensive exegesis in the Pāli tradition.
sandi. (J. santai; K. samje 三諦). In Chinese, "three truths," "threefold truth," or "three judgments"; a tripartite exegetical description of reality as being empty, provisional, and their mean, used in both the SAN LUN ZONG and TIANTAI ZONG of Chinese Buddhist philosophy. The three truths are said to have been first taught by SŬNGNANG (c. 450-c. 520), whom tradition considers an important vaunt courier in the development of the Chinese San lun school, the Chinese counterpart of the MADHYAMAKA branch of Indian philosophical exegesis, and then developed by later thinkers in both the San lun and Tiantai traditions. This Chinese notion of three truths is said to derive from a verse appearing in the Chinese translation of NĀGĀRJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ (C. Zhong lun): "All phenomena that are produced from causes and conditions,/These in fact are empty. /They are also provisional names. /This as well is the meaning of the middle way." This account is then systematized by Chinese exegetes into: (1) the authentic truth of emptiness (kongdi), viz., all things are devoid of inherent existence and are empty in their essential nature: (2) the conventional truth of being provisionally real (jiadi), viz., all things are products of a causal process that gives them a derived reality; and (3) the ultimate truth of the mean (zhongdi), viz., all things, in their absolute reality, are neither real nor unreal, but simply thus. This three-truth schema may have been influenced by indigenous Chinese scriptures (see APOCRYPHA) such as the RENWANG JING and the PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING. The Renwang jing, for example, discusses a three-truth SAMĀDHI (sandi sanmei), in which these three types of concentrations are named worldly truth (shidi), authentic truth (zhendi), and supreme-meaning truth (diyiyidi). In this treatment, worldly truth is the affirmation of the dualistic phenomena of ordinary existence, while authentic truth is presumed to be the denial of the reality of those phenomena; both are therefore aspects of what is typically called conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA) in the two-truth schema (see SATYADVAYA). The supreme-meaning truth transcends all dichotomies, including affirmation and negation, to provide an all-embracing perspective and corresponds to ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA). This schema is peculiar, and betrays its Chinese origins, because "authentic truth" and "supreme-meaning truth" are actually just different Chinese renderings of the same Sanskrit term, paramāthasatya. Zhiyi also interprets the statement "neither the same nor different" in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") as referring implicitly to the three-truth schema: "different" is the conventional truth of provisional reality, "same" is the authentic truth of emptiness, and the whole phrase is the ultimate truth of the mean. These presentations demonstrate that the Chinese were grappling with what they considered to be an unresolved internal tension in Indian presentations of conventional and ultimate truth and were exploring a three-truth schema as one means of resolving that tension.
sanfen kejing. (J. sanbunkakyo; K. sambun kwagyong 三分科經). In Chinese, "threefold division of a scripture," an exegetical technique developed by the pioneering scholiast and cataloguer DAO'AN (312-385) to analyze a specific SuTRA's narrative structure. Dao'an's scriptural commentaries posited the following three major sections that were common to all sutras: (1) the prefatory setting (C. xufen; S. nidāna), which specifies the time and place where the sutra was delivered; (2) the "text proper" (zhengzongfen), viz., the main body of the sutra, which relates the doctrines and practices that were the subject of the discourse; and (3) the "dissemination section" (liutongfen; S. parīndanā), which describes the confidence and insight the scripture inspired in its audience. This schema was frequently employed in subsequent scriptural exegesis of most of the major scholastic schools of East Asian Buddhism and is still widely used even today. See also NETTIPPAKARAnA; PEtAKOPADESA; VYĀKHYĀYUKTI; WUZHONG XUANYI.
Shandao. (J. Zendo; K. Sondo 善導) (613-681). In Chinese, "Guide to Virtue"; putative third patriarch of the Chinese PURE LAND tradition; also known as Great Master Zhongnan. At an early age, Shandao became a monk under a certain DHARMA master Mingsheng (d.u.), with whom he studied the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA and the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA; he later devoted himself to the study of the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING, which became one of his major inspirations. In 641, Shandao visited the monk DAOCHUO (562-645) at the monastery of Xuanzhongsi, where he is said to have cultivated vaipulya repentance (fangdeng canfa). Shandao also continued to train himself there in the visualization practices prescribed in the Guan Wuliangshou jing, which led to a profound vision of the buddha AMITĀBHA's PURE LAND (JINGTU) of SUKHĀVATĪ. Shandao subsequently eschewed philosophical exegesis and instead devoted himself to continued recitation of the Buddha's name (NIANFO) and visualization of the pure land as detailed in the Guan jing. After Daochuo's death, he remained in the Zongnan mountains before eventually moving to the Chinese capital of Chang'an, where he had great success in propagating the pure land teachings at the monastery of Guangmingsi. Shandao is also known to have painted numerous images of the pure land that appeared in his vision and presented them to his devotees. He was also famous for his continuous chanting of the AMITĀBHASuTRA. Shandao's influential commentary on the Guan Wuliangshou jing was favored by the Japanese monk HoNEN, whose teachings were the basis of the Japanese pure land tradition of JoDOSHu.
Shanjia Shanwai. (J. Sange Sangai; K. San'ga Sanoe 山家山外). In Chinese, "On-Mountain, Off-Mountain"; two factions in a debate that engulfed the TIANTAI ZONG during the eleventh century over issues of the school's orthodoxy and orthopraxy. The Shanjia (On-Mountain) faction was led by the monk SIMING ZHILI (960-1028) and his disciples; they pejoratively referred to their opponents within the Tiantai school, such as Ciguang Wu'en (912-988), Yuanqing (d. 997), Qingzhao (963-1017), Zhiyuan (976-1022) and their disciples, as Shanwai (Off-Mountain), for drawing on non-Tiantai elements in their exegeses. The debate began over an issue of textual authenticity, but soon came to cover almost all major facets of Tiantai doctrine and practice. The On-Mountain faction criticized their rivals for attempting to interpret Tiantai doctrine using concepts borrowed from texts such as the DASHENG QIXIN LUN, which had not previously been an integral text in Tiantai exegesis, and from rival exegetical traditions, such as the HUAYAN ZONG. These Shanwai monks argued that the doctrine of the "TRICHILIOCOSM in an single instant of thought" (YINIAN SANQIAN) should be understood in the Huayan framework of the suchness that is in accord with conditions (zhenru suiyuan): in this understanding, an instant of thought is identified with the true mind that in its essence is pure, unchanging, and inherently enlightened; subsequently, by remaining in accord with conditions, that suchness in turn produces the trichiliocosm in all its diversity. From this perspective, they argued that the true mind should be the focus of contemplative practice in Tiantai. Shanjia masters feared such interpretations were a threat to the autonomy of the Tiantai tradition and sought to remove these Huayan elements so that the orthodox teachings of Tiantai would be preserved. Zhili, the major proponent of the Shanjia faction, argued that the Shanwai concept of suchness involved the principle of separation (bieli), since it excluded the afflicted and the ignorant, and only encompassed the pure and the enlightened. According to Zhili, suchness does not produce the trichiliocosm only when it is in accord with conditions, as the Huayan-influenced Shanwai exegetes asserted, because suchness is in fact identical to the trichiliocosm; therefore the instant of thought that encompasses all the trichiliocosm, including both its pure and impure aspects, should be the true focus of contemplative practice in Tiantai. Zhili's disciple Renyue (992-1064) and his fourth-generation successor Congyi (1042-1091) were subsequently branded the "Later Off-Mountain Faction," because they accepted some of the Shanwai arguments and openly rejected parts of Zhili's argument. Nevertheless, the Shanjia faction eventually prevailed, overshadowing their Shanwai rivals and institutionalizing Zhili's interpretations as the authentic teachings of the Tiantai tradition. Two Tiantai genealogical histories from the Southern Song dynasty, the Shimen zhengtong ("Orthodox Transmission of Buddhism") and the FOZU TONGJI ("Chronicle of the Buddhas and Patriarchs"), list Zhili as the last patriarch in the dharma transmission going back to the Buddha, thus legitimating the orthodoxy of the Shanjia faction from that point forward.
Sphutārthā-Abhidharmakosavyākhyā. [alt. Abhidharmakosatīkā] (T. Chos mngon pa'i mdzod kyi 'grel bshad). A widely cited exegesis of Vasubandhu's ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA by YAsOMITRA (fl. sixth century?). Written in Sanskrit, the title means "Clear Meaning Explanation of [Vasubandhu's] Abhidharmakosabhāsya." Yasomitra calls his work Sphutārthā ("in which the topics burst forth clearly") at the beginning of his text.
Sŭngnang. (C. Senglang; J. Soro 僧朗) (c. 450-c. 520). A monk putatively from the early Korean kingdom of Koguryo, whom JIZANG (549-623) credits with being an important vaunt courier in the development of the Chinese SAN LUN ZONG (K. Sam non chong), the Chinese counterpart of the MADHYAMAKA branch of Indian philosophical exegesis. Sŭngnang is claimed to have taught the notion of "three truths" or "three judgments" (SANDI)-the truths of emptiness, provisional reality, and their mean-an exegetical schema that was influential in the subsequent development of both the San lun and TIANTAI schools. It is uncertain whether Sŭngnang actually hailed from Koguryo, or was instead either a Koguryo hostage of the Northern Wei dynasty or a person of Chinese ancestry from the Liaodong region (which had been captured in 397 CE by the Koguryo king Kwanggaet'o).
Taesŭng kisin non so. (C. Dasheng qixin lun shu; J. Daijo kishinron sho 大乘起信論疏). In Korean, "Commentary on the 'Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna'"; an influential commentary on the DASHENG QIXIN LUN composed by the eminent Korean monk WoNHYO (617-686); also known as the Haedong so (lit. the "Korean commentary"). Wonhyo's commentary is traditionally regarded as one of the three great commentaries on the "Awakening of Faith," along with FAZANG's (643-712) DASHENG QIXIN LUN YI JI and JINGYING HUIYUAN's (523-592) Dasheng qixin lun yishu. Wonhyo's exegesis was especially influential in Fazang's (643-712) understanding of the text. The Taesŭng kisin non so builds upon the ideas developed in Wonhyo's earlier work, the Taesŭng kisin non pyolgi, but provides an exhaustive line-by-line exegesis of the entire text. In this commentary, Wonhyo attempts to combine MADHYAMAKA and YOGĀCĀRA thought by demonstrating that the "one mind" (K. ilsim; see YIXIN) or TATHĀGATAGARBHA is the ground of all existence. He explains "mind as suchness" (K. sim chinyo; C. xin zhenru) and "mind that is subject to production-and-cessation" (K. sim saengmyol; C. xin shengmie) as being two aspects of the "one mind." Although Yogācāra and tathāgatagarbha materials formed the basis of his analysis of the Dasheng qixin lun, Wonhyo introduces Madhyamaka method as well into this commentary; for example, he uses the Madhyamaka tetralemma to explicate ineffable suchness. In distinction to Huiyuan, Wonhyo explains the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA as consisting of "three subtle characteristics," namely, the characteristic of KARMAN (K. opsang; C. yexing), perceiving subject (K. nŭnggyon sang; C. nengjian xiang), and perceived objects (K. kyonggye sang; C. jingjie xing), which was adopted later by the Chinese Huayan master Fazang in his own commentary on the Dasheng qixin lun.
The scientific study of primitive leligions, with such well known names as E. B. Tylor, F. B. Jevons, W. H. R. Rivers, J. G. Frazer, R. H. Codrington, Spencer and Gillen, E. Westermarck, E. Durkheim, L. Levy-Bruhl; the numerous outlines of the development of religion since Hume's Natural History of Religion and E. Caird's Evolution of Religion; the prolific literature dealing with individual religions of a higher type, the science of comparative religion with such namea as that of L. H. Jordan, the many excellent treitises on the psychology of religion including Wm. James' Varieties of Religious Experience; the sacred literature of all peoples in various editions together with a voluminous theological exegesis, Church history and, finally, the history of dogma, especially the monumental work of von Harnack, -- all are contributing illustrative material to the Philosophy of Religion which became stimulated to scientific efforts through the positivism of Spencer, Huxley, Lewes, Tyndall, and others, and is still largely oriented by the progress in science, as may be seen, e.g., by the work of Emile Boutroux, S. Alexander (Space, Time and Deity), and A. N. Whitehead.
Tshar pa. An offshoot of the NGOR subsect of the SA SKYA sect, established by Tshar chen Blo gsal rgya mtsho (Tsarchen Losal Gyatso, 1502-1567), founder of 'Dar Grang mo che (Dar Drangmoche) monastery. It represents a distinctive tradition of the LAM 'BRAS (path and result) teaching, including the distinction between the "assembly exegesis" (tshogs bshad) and "student exegesis" (slob bshad). It is said that the Ngor tradition became influential in the dissemination of the Sa skya tantric teachings, and the Tshar tradition in the esoteric transmission known as the slob bshad. Bco brgyad khri chen rin po che (Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, 1920-2007), a recent influential scholar of the Sa skya tradition, was head of the Tshar pa sect until his death.
Vasubandhu. (T. Dbyig gnyen; C. Shiqin; J. Seshin; K. Sech'in 世親) (fl. c. fourth or fifth centuries CE). One of the most influential authors in the history of Buddhism, and the only major figure to make significant contributions to both the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS and MAHĀYĀNA. In Tibetan Buddhism, Vasubandhu is counted as one of the "six ornaments" (T. rgyan drug), along with NĀGĀRJUNA, ĀRYADEVA, ASAnGA, DIGNĀGA, and DHARMAKĪRTI. There has been considerable speculation about his dates, so much so that ERICH FRAUWALLNER proposed that there were two different Vasubandhus. This theory has been rejected, but there is still no consensus on his dates, with most scholars placing him in the fourth or fifth century CE. Vasubandhu is said to have been born in Purusapura in GANDHĀRA (identified with Peshawar in modern Pakistan), as the brother or half brother (with the same mother) of Asanga. He was ordained as a monk in a SARVĀSTIVĀDA school and studied VAIBHĀsIKA ABHIDHARMA philosophy in KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA, as well as the tenets of the rival SAUTRĀNTIKA school. At the conclusion of his studies, he composed his first and what would be his most famous work, the Abhidharmakosa, or "Treasury of the Abhidharma." In over six hundred stanzas in nine chapters, he set forth the major points of the Vaibhāsika system. He then composed a prose autocommentary, the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, in which he critiqued from a Sautrāntika perspective some of the Vaibhāsika positions that he had outlined in the verses. These two texts would become two of the most influential texts on the abhidharma in the later history of Buddhism on the subcontinent and beyond, serving, for example, as the root texts for abhidharma studies in Tibet and as the foundational text for the Kusha (Kosa) school of early Japanese Buddhism. At some point after his composition of the Kosa, he encountered his half brother Asanga, author of at least some of the texts collected in the YOGĀCĀRABHuMI, who "converted" him to the Mahāyāna. After his conversion, Vasubandhu became a prolific author on Mahāyāna materials, helping especially to frame the philosophy of the Yogācāra school. Major works attributed to him include the VIMsATIKĀ, or "Twenty [Stanzas]" and the TRIMsIKĀ, or "Thirty [Stanzas]," two works that set forth succinctly the basic philosophical positions of the Yogācāra. The TriMsikā was, together with DHARMAPĀLA's commentary to the text, the basis of XUANZANG's massive commentary, the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimātratāsiddhi), which was the foundational text for the FAXIANG ZONG of East Asian Yogācāra. In his TRISVABHĀVANIRDEsA, Vasubandhu also set forth the central doctrine of the Yogācāra, the "three natures" (TRISVABHĀVA), of imaginary (PARIKALPITA), dependent (PARATANTRA), and consummate (PARINIsPANNA). His VYĀKHYĀYUKTI set forth principles for the exegesis of passages from the sutras. He is also credited with commentaries on a number of Mahāyāna sutras, including the AKsAYAMATINIRDEsA, the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, and the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA (with his commentary serving as the basis of the DI LUN ZONG in China), as well as commentaries on three of the five treatises of MAITREYA, the MAHĀYĀNASuTRĀLAMKĀRA, the MADHYĀNTAVIBHĀGA, and the DHARMADHARMATĀVIBHĀGA. He also wrote a commentary on Asanga's MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA. His KARMASIDDHIPRAKARAnA, or "Investigation Establishing [the Correct Understanding] of KARMAN," examines the theory of action in light of the Yogācāra doctrine of the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA. The PANCASKANDHAPRAKARAnA, or "Explanation of the Five Aggregates," presents a somewhat different view of the five aggregates (SKANDHA) than that found in his Abhidharmakosabhāsya and thus probably dates from his Mahāyāna period; it is a reworking of the presentation of the five aggregates found in Asanga's ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA. In addition to the Abhidharmakosabhāsya and the ViMsatikā, a third text of his was highly influential in East Asia. It is a commentary on the larger SUKHĀVATĪVYuHA, whose Sanskrit title might be reconstructed as the *Sukhāvatīvyuhopadesa. However, the work is known only in Chinese, as the JINGTU LUN, and its attribution to Vasubandhu has been called into question. Nonetheless, based on this traditional attribution, Vasubandhu is counted as an Indian patriarch of the PURE LAND schools of East Asia. ¶ In Tibet, a bṛhattīkā commentary on the sATASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ and a paddhati on three PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras (T. Yum gsum gnod 'joms) are attributed to Vasubandhu, although his authorship is disputed.
Vasumitra. (T. Dbyig bshes; C. Shiyou; J. Seu; K. Seu 世友) (d.u.). A prominent scholar of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school in KASHMIR, possibly during the second century CE. His SAMAYABHEDOPARACANACAKRA is an important source of information on the various schools and subschools of mainstream Nikāya Buddhism in India. He is also credited with composing the PRAKARAnAPĀDA, one of the "six feet" of the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA, which first introduces the categorization of dharmas according to the more developed Sarvāstivāda lists of RuPA, CITTA, CAITTA, CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKĀRA, and ASAMSKṚTA dharmas; it also adds a new listing of KUsALAMAHĀBHuMIKA, or factors always associated with wholesome states of mind. Vasumitra is frequently cited in the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀsĀ, the massive abhidharma exegesis of the VAIBHĀsIKA school of the Sarvāstivāda, but it is unclear whether the scholar mentioned in the Abhidharmamahāvibhāsā and the author of the texts mentioned earlier are the same figure. Vasumitra is also credited with composing a (now-lost) commentary to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, which, if true, would move his dates forward into the fourth century.
Vyākhyāyukti. (T. Rnam par bshad pa'i rigs pa). In Sanskrit, "Principles of Exegesis," a treatise by VASUBANDHU preserved only in Tibetan translation. In the broadest sense, the text deals with scriptural interpretation, touching on a wide range of related issues, including the authenticity of the MAHĀYĀNA sutras as the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA), which Vasubandhu upholds. The work is a companion to another work by Vasubandhu, the Vyākhyāyuktisutrakhandasata ("One Hundred Extracts from the Sutras for the Principles of Exegesis"), a collection of 109 passages presented without identification and without comment, all of which derive from "mainstream" (that is, non-Mahāyāna) sources, in most cases from the canon of the MuLASARVĀSTIVĀDA. These passages serve as the basis for the discussion in the Vyākhyāyukti, which states that sutras are to be explained according to (1) their purpose, (2) their summarized meaning, (3) their sense, (4) their sequence, and (5) objections and responses. In discussing the sense or meaning of a sutra passage, he considers thirteen terms that have multiple meanings, including DHARMA, RuPA, and SKANDHA. In his explication of technical terminology, Vasubandhu explains four distinct aspects of "the meaning of the words" (padārtha): synonyms (paryāya), definition (laksana), etymology (nirukti), and their subdivisions (prabheda; perhaps implying subsidiary meanings, or "connotations," in this context). In the course of the discussion, several Mahāyāna sutras are quoted. The work was influential in late Indian scholastic circles, eliciting a commentary by Gunamati; it was also cited by such scholars as HARIBHADRA. It was highly praised by such luminaries as SA SKYA PAndITA and BU STON in Tibet, where it was used to establish principles for the translation of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan. See also NETTIPPAKARAnA; PEtAKOPADESA; SANFEN KEJING.
wenzi Chan. (J. monjizen; K. muncha Son 文字禪). In Chinese, "lettered Chan"; a designation coined by JUEFAN HUIHONG (1071-1128) during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) to refer to a literati style of Chan exegesis that valorized belle lettres, and especially poetry, in the practice of CHAN. Huihong himself traces the origins of "lettered Chan" to the "five ranks" (WUWEI) of CAOSHAN BENJI (840-901), although Caoshan himself attributes the five ranks to his teacher DONGSHAN LIANGJIE (807-869); in these ranks, Huihong finds the first evidence within the Chan tradition that the manipulation of language in the analysis of the sayings attributed to the ancient Chan masters can bring about awakening. This style of Chan is especially emblematic of monks in the HUANGLONG PAI collateral lineage of the LINJI ZONG.
Wonhyo. (C. Yuanxiao; J. Gangyo 元曉) (617-686). In Korean, "Break of Dawn"; famous monk of the Silla dynasty and probably one of the two most important monks in all of Korean Buddhist history, who was renowned for both his scholastic achievements and his efforts to propagate Buddhism among the common people. He is reputed to have written over one hundred commentaries, of which some twenty are extant. According to the hagiographical accounts of Wonhyo in the SONG GAOSENG ZHUAN and the SAMGUK YUSA, Wonhyo tried, but failed, to travel to China with his friend ŬISANG in order to study with the Chinese translator and YOGĀCĀRA exegete XUANZANG. While on the road, Wonhyo is said to have attained enlightenment after a traumatic experience in which he discovered that the earthen sanctuary in which the two travelers had taken refuge one stormy night was in fact a tomb. This experience prompted his awakening that all things are created by mind, which led Wonhyo to realize that he did not need to continue on to China in order to understand Buddhism. (Ŭisang did travel to the mainland, where he studied with the early HUAYAN exegete ZHIYAN.) As the legends about Wonhyo's enlightenment experience evolve, this story becomes even more horrific: Wonhyo is said to have discovered that the sweet water he drank in the tomb to slake his thirst was actually offal rotting in a skull, a traumatic experience that immediately prompted his realization that the mind creates all things. Wonhyo spent much of his life writing commentaries to the many new translations of Buddhist scriptures then being introduced into the Korean peninsula. A brief affair with the widowed princess of Yosok palace led to the birth of a son, who would grow up to become the famous literatus, Sol Ch'ong (c. 660-730), the creator of Idu ("clerical writing"), the earliest Korean vernacular writing system. After the affair, Wonhyo changed into lay clothes and traveled among the peasantry, singing and dancing with a gourd he named Unhindered (Muae) and practicing "unconstrained conduct" (K. muae haeng; C. WU'AI XING). ¶ In Wonhyo's many treatises, he pioneered a hermeneutical technique he called "reconciling doctrinal controversies" (HWAJAENG), which seeks to demonstrate that various Buddhist doctrines, despite their apparent differences and inconsistencies, could be integrated into a single coherent whole. This "ecumenical" approach is pervasive throughout Wonhyo's works, although its basic principle is explained chiefly in his Simmun hwajaeng non ("Ten Approaches to the Reconciliation of Doctrinal Controversy," only fragments are extant), TAESŬNG KISILLON SO ("Commentary to the 'Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna'"), and KŬMGANG SAMMAEGYoNG NON ("Exposition of the VAJRASAMĀDHISuTRA"). Wonhyo was versed in the full range of Buddhist philosophical doctrines then accessible to him in Korea, including MADHYAMAKA, YOGĀCĀRA, Hwaom, and TATHĀGATAGARBHA thought, and hwajaeng was his attempt to demonstrate how all of these various teachings of the Buddha were part of a coherent heuristic plan within the religion. Since at least the twelfth century, Wonhyo's hwajaeng exegesis has come to be portrayed as characteristic of a distinctively Korean approach to Buddhist thought.
wuzhong xuanyi. (J. goshu no gengi; K. ojong hyonŭi 五種玄義). In Chinese, "five categories of profound meaning"; a list of five general hermeneutical issues that should be addressed prior to undertaking an in-depth exegesis of any SuTRA, attributed to TIANTAI ZHIYI (538-597) and emblematic of scriptural exegesis in the TIANTAI SCHOOL. These five are (1) explicating the meaning of the text's title (shiming), (2) analyzing the fundamental intent of the sutra (bianben), (3) clarifying its principal themes or doctrines (mingzong), (4) expounding the sutra's "function" or impact on its audience (lunyong), and (5) classifying the sutra (PANJIAO), viz., delineating its place within the entire corpus of sutras expounded by the Buddha. These five issues typically would be addressed by the commentator prior to beginning the exegesis of the sutra proper. See also SANFEN KEJING; JIAOXIANG PANSHI.
Xuanxue. (J. Gengaku; K. Hyonhak 玄學). In Chinese, "Dark Learning," or "Profound Learning"; a Chinese philosophical movement of the third through sixth centuries CE, which provided a fertile intellectual ground for the emergence of early Chinese forms of Buddhism. It is sometimes known as "Neo-Daoism," although the target audience of Xuanxue literati was fellow elite rather than adherents of the new schools of religious Daoism that were then developing in China. The social and political upheaval that accompanied the fall of the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) prompted many Chinese intellectuals to question the traditional foundations of Chinese thought and society and opened them to alternative worldviews. Buddhism, which was just then beginning to filter into Chinese territories, found a receptive audience among these groups of thinkers. Xuanxue scholars critiqued and reinterpreted the normative Chinese teachings of Confucianism by drawing on the so-called "three dark [treatises]" (sanxuan), i.e., the Yijing ("Book of Changes"), Daode jing ("The Way and Its Power"), and the Zhuangzi. Xuanxue designates a broad intellectual trend that sought a new way of understanding the "way" (DAO). Xuanxue philosophers explored the ontological grounding of the changing and diverse world of "being" (C. you) on a permanent and indivisible substratum called "nothingness" or "non-being" (C. WU). Xuanxue thinkers such as Wang Bi (226-249), who is regarded as the founder of the movement, and Guo Xiang (d. 312), who is often considered to represent its apex, explored how this ontological stratum of nothingness still was able to produce the world of being in all its diversity. This process was clarified by adopting the mainstream Chinese philosophical bifurcations between (1) the ineffable "substance" or "essence" (TI) of things and the ways in which that substance "functions" (YONG) in the phenomenal world; and (2) the "patterns" or "principles" (LI) that underlie all things and their phenomenal manifestations (SHI). These distinctions between ti/yong and li/shi proved to be extremely influential in subsequent Chinese Buddhist exegesis. Also according to Xuanxue interpretation, the sage (shengren) is one who understands this association between being and nothingness but realizes that their relationship is fundamentally inexpressible; nevertheless, in order to make it intelligible to others, he feels "compelled" to describe it verbally. This emphasis on the inadequacy of language resonated with Buddhist treatments of the ineffability of spiritual experience and the necessity to deploy verbal stratagems (UPĀYA) in order to make that experience intelligible to others. The sage was able to manifest his understanding in the phenomenal world not by conscious intent but as an automatic "response" (ying) to "stimuli" (gan); early Chinese Buddhist thinkers deploy the compound "stimulus and response" (GANYING) to explain the Buddhist concepts of action (KARMAN) and of grace (i.e., the "response" of a buddha or BODHISATTVA to a supplicant's invocation, or "stimulus"). Xuanxue thinkers also began to explore parallels between their ideas of "nonbeing" (wu) and the notion of emptiness (suNYATĀ) in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ corpus, which was just then being translated into Chinese. Xuanxue exegesis has often been described in the scholarly literature as a "matching concepts" (GEYI) style of interpretation, where Buddhist concepts were elucidated by drawing on indigenous Chinese philosophical terminology, though this interpretation of geyi has recently been called into question. Although Xuanxue vanished as a philosophical movement by the early sixth century, its influence was profound on several pioneering Chinese Buddhist thinkers, including ZHI DUN (314-366) and SENGZHAO (374-414), and on such early philosophical schools of Chinese Buddhism as the SAN LUN ZONG and DI LUN ZONG, and eventually on the TIANTAI ZONG and HUAYAN ZONG of the mature Chinese tradition.
Yulanben jing. (T. 'Phags pa yongs su skyobs pa'i snod ces bya ba'i mdo; J. Urabongyo; K. Uranbun kyong 盂蘭盆經). In Chinese, "Book of the Yulan Vessel"; an influential indigenous Chinese Buddhist scripture (see APOCRYPHA), often known in English as the Ullambana Sutra or simply the Yulanben Sutra. Along with the BAO'EN FENGBEN JING ("Scripture for Offering Bowls to Repay Kindness"), the Yulanben jing details the practice of the ghost festival (YULANBEN) and its origin myth. Little is known about the provenance of either text. Both are now generally presumed to be indigenous Chinese works, although some scholars continue to maintain that they are of Indian or Central Asian origin. They are thought to have been composed sometime between the fourth and fifth centuries and were included in the Chinese Buddhist canon as early as the sixth century. The origin myth recounted in the scripture describes the pious efforts of Mulian (S. MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA), one of the two main disciples of the Buddha, to save his mother from the tortures of her rebirth as a hungry ghost (PRETA). The Buddha explains to Mulian that it is impossible for an individual on his own to save his ancestors from their suffering; instead, one should place offerings in a bowl for the entire SAMGHA of the ten directions, and these offerings will be sufficient to liberate up to seven generations of one's parents and ancestors from their unfortunate rebirths. At least six commentaries were written on the Yulanben jing, although only two survive, including an influential exegesis by GUIFENG ZONGMI. The Tibetan translation of the scripture, made in the Chinese outpost of DUNHUANG sometime in the early ninth century by 'GOS CHOS GRUB (C. Facheng; c. 755-849), is rendered directly from the Chinese recension and is extant in only three manuscript editions of the Tibetan canon (BKA' 'GYUR). See also YULANBEN.
zong. (J. shu; K. chong 宗). A polysemous term in Chinese, which can refer to the "core teaching," "cardinal doctrine," or central "axiom" of a text or scholastic philosophy, or to a "school," "tradition," or even "lineage." Because of the denotation of zong as a cardinal doctrine, the term is used to translate the Sanskrit SIDDHĀNTA, an "axiom" or principal "tenet" of the various schools of Indian philosophy (both Buddhist and non-Buddhist). Although commonly translated as "school" ("sect" is incorrect in a Chinese Buddhist context), this rendering is only appropriate for those scholastic and practice traditions that trace themselves back through an unbroken lineage of ancestors to a specific founding "patriarch" (ZUSHI), such as the TIANTAI ZONG, HUAYAN ZONG, and CHAN ZONG. Commentarial traditions focused upon the exegesis of a specific text, such as the DI LUN (DAsABHuMIKASuTRA), SHE LUN (MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA), or CHENGSHI LUN (*TATTVASIDDHI), do not qualify as true schools of Chinese Buddhism, since they neither claim to derive from a single founder nor posit an exclusive lineage of successors; they might more correctly be termed "scholastic traditions."
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1 Robert Anton Wilson
1 Philip K Dick
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5 Philip K Dick
5 Karl Barth
4 D A Carson
3 Hans Urs von Balthasar
3 Anonymous
2 Philip Schaff
2 Jen Hatmaker
2 G K Beale
2 Benedict XVI
1:[4:131] A human being is a material system which time, a form of energy, enters. Probably time enters him also as noos-Mind. Time, the future, contains in it all the events which are going to occur. Therefore when time enters a person as energy, and acting as noos to him, it brings with it in potentium all that will happen to him, like a window shade unrolling to display an unfolding pattern. Events in the future pop into being, into actualization, the present, but until they do, they are not truly real-not yet actualized-but there in an encoded form, like the grooves of an LP before the needle reaches it; the only "music" is where the needle touches-ahead lies only an encoded wiggle along a helical spiral. Thus, dreams deal with the future lying direct ahead, as during the night, the next series of encoded future events begin to move toward actualization: i.e., the present. What is hard to realize is that in a certain very real way these events are inside the person, within his head, so to speak; but only in their potential, encoded form; the arena in which they are actualized is that of space; time, in the present, flows out to fill space-i.e., the spatial universe. This is why we experience déjà vu. We have somehow caught a glimpse now and then of the script unrolling in our head-caught a glimpse in advance, so we feel "I know exactly what I'm going to say next, and what gestures he'll make," etc. Sure; they're encoded-encased, waiting-in time, and time, being energy, has entered you; is burning bright inside, like Blake's tyger. Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night. . . . Who framed thy awful symmetry?
~ Philip K Dick, Exegesis Of Philip K Dick,#KEYS
2:For instance, a popular game with California occultists-I do not know its inventor-involves a Magic Room, much like the Pleasure Dome discussed earlier except that this Magic Room contains an Omniscient Computer.
To play this game, you simply "astrally project" into the Magic Room. Do not ask what "astral projection" means, and do not assume it is metaphysical (and therefore either impossible, if you are a materialist, or very difficult, if you are a mystic). Just assume this is a gedankenexperiment, a "mind game." Project yourself, in imagination, into this Magic Room and visualize vividly the Omniscient Computer, using the details you need to make such a super-information-processor real to your fantasy. You do not need any knowledge of programming to handle this astral computer. It exists early in the next century; you are getting to use it by a species of time-travel, if that metaphor is amusing and helpful to you. It is so built that it responds immediately to human brain-waves, "reading" them and decoding their meaning. (Crude prototypes of such computers already exist.) So, when you are in this magic room, you can ask this Computer anything, just by thinking of what you want to know. It will read your thought, and project into your brain, by a laser ray, the correct answer.
There is one slight problem. The computer is very sensitive to all brain-waves. If you have any doubts, it registers them as negative commands, meaning "Do not answer my question." So, the way to use it is to start simply, with "easy" questions. Ask it to dig out of the archives the name of your second-grade teacher. (Almost everybody remembers the name of their first grade teacher-imprint vulnerability again-but that of the second grade teacher tends to get lost.)
When the computer has dug out the name of your second grade teacher, try it on a harder question, but not one that is too hard. It is very easy to sabotage this machine, but you don't want to sabotage it during these experiments. You want to see how well it can be made to perform.
It is wise to ask only one question at a time, since it requires concentration to keep this magic computer real on the field of your perception. Do not exhaust your capacities for imagination and visualization on your first trial runs.
After a few trivial experiments of the second-grade-teacher variety, you can try more interesting programs. Take a person toward whom you have negative feelings, such as anger, disappointment, feeling-of-betrayal, jealousy or whatever interferes with the smooth, tranquil operation of your own bio-computer. Ask the Magic Computer to explain that other person to you; to translate you into their reality-tunnel long enough for you to understand how events seem to them. Especially, ask how you seem to them.
This computer will do that job for you; but be prepared for some shocks which might be disagreeable at first. This super-brain can also perform exegesis on ideas that seem obscure, paradoxical or enigmatic to us. For instance, early experiments with this computer can very profitably turn on asking it to explain some of the propositions in this book which may seem inexplicable or perversely wrong-headed to you, such as "We are all greater artists than we realize" or "What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves" or "mind and its contents are functionally identical."
This computer is much more powerful and scientifically advanced than the rapture-machine in the neurosomatic circuit. It has total access to all the earlier, primitive circuits, and overrules any of them. That is, if you put a meta-programming instruction into this computer; it will relay it downward to the old circuits and cancel contradictory programs left over from the past. For instance, try feeding it on such meta-programming instructions as: 1. I am at cause over my body. 2. I am at cause over my imagination. 3.1 am at cause over my future. 4. My mind abounds with beauty and power. 5.1 like people, and people like me.
Remember that this computer is only a few decades ahead of present technology, so it cannot "understand" your commands if you harbor any doubts about them. Doubts tell it not to perform. Work always from what you can believe in, extending the area of belief only as results encourage you to try for more dramatic transformations of your past reality-tunnels.
This represents cybernetic consciousness; the programmer becoming self-programmer, self-metaprogrammer, meta-metaprogrammer, etc. Just as the emotional compulsions of the second circuit seem primitive, mechanical and, ultimately, silly to the neurosomatic consciousness, so, too, the reality maps of the third circuit become comic, relativistic, game-like to the metaprogrammer. "Whatever you say it is, it isn't, " Korzybski, the semanticist, repeated endlessly in his seminars, trying to make clear that third-circuit semantic maps are not the territories they represent; that we can always make maps of our maps, revisions of our revisions, meta-selves of our selves. "Neti, neti" (not that, not that), Hindu teachers traditionally say when asked what "God" is or what "Reality" is. Yogis, mathematicians and musicians seem more inclined to develop meta-programming consciousness than most of humanity. Korzybski even claimed that the use of mathematical scripts is an aid to developing this circuit, for as soon as you think of your mind as mind 1 , and the mind which contemplates that mind as mind2 and the mind which contemplates mind2 contemplating mind 1 as mind3, you are well on your way to meta-programming awareness. Alice in Wonderland is a masterful guide to the metaprogramming circuit (written by one of the founders of mathematical logic) and Aleister Crowley soberly urged its study upon all students of yoga. ~ Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising,#KEYS
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1:exegesis. ~ Omraam Mikha l A vanhov, #NFDB
2:Exegesis, exegesis, and yet more exegesis! ~ Karl Barth, #NFDB
3:Exactly halfway between exegesis and practical theology stands dogmatics, ~ Karl Barth, #NFDB
4:Exactly halfway between exegesis and practical theology stands dogmatics. ~ Karl Barth, #NFDB
5:Longing for something fresh, for something no one else has said often leads to bad exegesis. ~ Matt Chandler, #NFDB
6:Sound exegesis is the only way of making sure we are allowing God to speak rather than our speaking for God. ~ James R White, #NFDB
7:Oh for God’s sake,” he said. The men and women stared. He could see them attempting exegesis on his outburst. ~ China Mi ville, #NFDB
8:I am sorry, as well, to present such a sketchy and disappointing exegesis of what is in fact the central part of my story. ~ Donna Tartt, #NFDB
9:[The sensate body possesses] an art of interrogating the sensible according to its own wishes, an inspired exegesis. ~ Maurice Merleau Ponty, #NFDB
10:Exegesis says, “Before you can hear it with your ears, hear it with theirs. Before you can understand it today, understand it back then. ~ Jen Wilkin, #NFDB
11:Tertullian closely in his exegesis. Indeed, it has been suggested that the Psalms were as important as the 19Gospels in forming his Christology. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
12:...when the exhaustive exegesis of God's Word doesn't create people transformed into the image of Jesus, we have missed the forest for the trees. ~ Jen Hatmaker, #NFDB
13:I state that exegesis is concerned with actually interpreting the text, whereas hermeneutics is concerned with the nature of the interpretative process. ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
14:Historical exegesis is only the preliminary part of interpretation; application is its essence. Exegesis without application should not be called interpretation at all. ~ J I Packer, #NFDB
15:There is a simplicity that exists on the far side of complexity, and there is a communication of sentiment and attitude not to be discovered by careful exegesis of a text. ~ Pat Buchanan, #NFDB
16:It is perhaps just dawning on five or six minds that physics, too, is only an interpretation and exegesis of the world (to suit us, if I may say so!) and not a world-explanation. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
17:The body of the ponderous scholarly exegesis that began to bather around Busch in his lifetime and picked up speed after his death is witness to the humorlessness of much writing about humor. ~ Peter Gay, #NFDB
18:To define the limits of the Kenosis, and to adjust it to the immutability of the Godhead and the intertrinitarian process, lies beyond the sphere of exegesis and belongs to speculative dogmatics. ~ Philip Schaff, #NFDB
19:we should be a trifle suspicious when any piece of exegesis tries to establish the meaning of a word by appealing first of all to its usage in classical Greek rather than to its usage in Hellenistic Greek. ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
20:I understand fine," Kevin said bitterly. "I just think it's fucked. God is either powerless, or stupid or he doesn't give a shit. Or all three. He's evil, dumb and weak. I think I'll start my own Exegesis. ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
21:In this regard, typology can be called contextual exegesis within the framework of the canon since it primarily involves the interpretation and elucidation of the meaning of earlier parts of Scripture by later parts. ~ G K Beale, #NFDB
22:What on earth is modern exegesis up to? Oh, little lazy one! Some red wine and up! Off you go, brandishing your fork, stripped of Ophelia's useless ornaments, fire in your large nostrils, out to rake the muck of metaphors. ~ Louis Aragon, #NFDB
23:Ubik is clearly an allegory for the Christian concept of “grace”; author Michael Bishop has written that Ubik is “whatever gets you through the dark night of the soul.” In the Exegesis, Ubik becomes shorthand for redemption ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
24:The Alexandrian School In opposition to the previously named Church Fathers, the Alexandrians openly embraced Greek philosophy, thought of it as being of divine origin, and brought its allegorizing technique into their exegesis. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
25:Thorough exegesis and clear organization are crucial to an effective message. But a good sermon poorly preached is no better than a poor sermon properly preached. One has light but no heat; the other heat with no light. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
26:As One and Unique, and yet as one who is to be understood only in the context of mankind's entire history and in the context of the whole created cosmos, Jesus is the Word, the Image, the Expression and the Exegesis of God. ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar, #NFDB
27:As One and Unique, and yet as one who is to be understood only in the context of mankind's entire history and in the context of the whole created cosmos, Jesus it the Word, the Image, the Expression and the Exegesis of God. ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar, #NFDB
28:A theologian’s epistemology controls his interpretation of the Bible. If his epistemology is not Christian, his exegesis will be systematically distorted. If he has no epistemology at all, his exegesis will be unsystematically distorted. ~ Gordon H Clark, #NFDB
29:They do not discover anything new after that, they only learn how to understand better and better the secret entrusted to them at the outset; their creative effort goes into an unending exegesis, a commentary on that one couplet of poetry assigned to them. ~ Bruno Schulz, #NFDB
30:An aphorism, honestly stamped and molded, has not yet been “deciphered” once we have read it over; rather, its exegesis—for which an art of exegesis is needed—has only just begun. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher. On the Genealogy of Morals, 'Preface', Section 8 (1887), #NFDB
31:It is the Jews who originated biblical exegesis (a critical analysis of the Bible), just as they were the first to criticize the forms and doctrines of Christianity...Truly has Darmesteter written: 'The Jew was the apostle of unbelief, and every revolt of mind originated with him.' ~ Bernard Lazare, #NFDB
32:The proper mode of discussing any single theological topic is exegetical and rational. The first step to be taken is to deduce the doctrine itself from Scripture by careful exegesis; and the second step is to justify and defend this exegetical result upon grounds of reason. ~ William Greenough Thayer Shedd, #NFDB
33:His novel, a work he had wrestled with, on and off, for almost three years, he had finally abandoned after one page. The novel was derivative of a poem Gold had written seven years before that was itself derived from a brilliant exegesis by a young Englishman of the works of Samuel Beckett that Gold wished he'd written himself. ~ Joseph Heller, #NFDB
34:Indeed, I believe that in our own day, after all the efforts of critical exegesis, we can share anew this sense of astonishment at the fact that a saying from the year 733 B.C., incomprehensible for so long, came true at the moment of the conception of Jesus Christ—that God did indeed give us a great sign intended for the whole world. ~ Benedict XVI, #NFDB
35:There is a notion that complete impartiality is the most fitting and indeed the normal disposition for true exegesis, because it guarantees a complete absence of prejudice. For a short time, around 1910, this idea threatened to achieve almost canonical status in Protestant theology. But now we can quite calmly describe it as merely comical. ~ Karl Barth, #NFDB
36:One of the things I really respect about Doug Moo is that he is constantly grappling with the text. Where he hears the text saying something which is not what his tradition would have said, he will go with the text. I won't always agree with his exegesis, but there is a relentless scholarly honesty about him which I really tip my hat off to. ~ N T Wright, #NFDB
37:There is a notion that complete impartiality is the most fitting and indeed the normal disposition for true exegesis , because it guarantees complete absence of prejudice. For a short time, around 1910, this idea threatened to achieve almost a canonical status in Protestant theology. But now, we can quite calmly describe it as merely comical. ~ Karl Barth, #NFDB
38:La interpretación de la Biblia puede convertirse, de hecho, en un instrumento del Anticristo. No lo dice solamente Soloviev, es lo que afirma implícitamente el relato mismo de la tentación. A partir de resultados aparentes de la exegesis científica se han escrito los peores y más destructivos libros de la figura de Jesús, que desmantelan la fe. ~ Benedict XVI, #NFDB
39:It strikes me as an interesting paradox that a Buddha-an enlightened one-would be unable to figure it out, even after four-and-a-half years, that he had become enlightened. Fat had become totally bogged down in his enormous exegesis, trying futilely to determine what had happened to him. He resembled more a hit-and-run accident victim than a Buddha. ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
40:preserved in the T`UNG TIEN, and another in Ho Shin's commentary. It is suggested that before his interview with Ho Lu, Sun Tzu had only written the 13 chapters, but afterwards composed a sort of exegesis in the form of question and answer between himself and the King. Pi I-hsun, the author of the SUN TZU HSU LU, backs this up with a quotation from the WU YUEH CH`UN CH`IU: "The King ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
41:when the exhaustive exegesis of God’s Word doesn’t create people transformed into the image of Jesus, we have missed the forest for the trees. Or perhaps Jesus explained it better: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39–40). ~ Jen Hatmaker, #NFDB
42:Beginning with the Psalms and continuing with Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, Luther dug into Scripture, and it was these years of study, exegesis, writing, teaching, and preaching that formed the foundation of his theology—a theology that not only informed the Ninety-five Theses and his belief in salvation through grace alone, but also saved Luther from his own spiritual despair. ~ Michelle DeRusha, #NFDB
43:In one day I had altered my life; my life, therefore, was alterable. This simple axiom did not call out for exegesis; no, it entered my bloodstream directly, as powerful as heroin. I could feel it pump and surge, the way it brightened my veins to a kind of glass. I had wakened that morning to narrowness and predestination and now I was falling asleep in the storm of my own free will. ~ Carol Shields, #NFDB
44:the Church and her exegesis of revelation progress through the ever-changing periods of world history. New aspects emerge, while others wane; efforts are made to compensate for one-sided emphases, but not rarely they are simply replaced with the opposite extremes. Today too, then, it is a duty to restate the principles in a new and timely way—while being as measured as possible—and in so doing to retrieve what is of permanent value. ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar, #NFDB
45:Philo of Alexandria introduced in the first century what has been described as the 'Hellenizing of the Old Testament,' or the allegorical method of exegesis. By this, as Erdmann observes, the Bible narrative was found to contain a deeper, and particularly an allegorical interpretation, in addition to its literal interpretation; this was not conscious disingenuousness but a natural mode of amalgamating the Greek philosophic with the Hebraic doctrines. ~ Philo, #NFDB
46:Opponents of this view often point out that it is not rooted in an exegesis of Genesis 1:26–28, the central biblical text that discusses the imago Dei. Indeed, it is frequently argued that the view that the imago Dei refers to the soul is more influenced by Greek philosophy than by Scripture. More specifically, it is argued that the traditional emphasis on reason as one of the hallmarks of the imago Dei is a distinctly Hellenistic, not Hebraic, notion. ~ Gregory A Boyd, #NFDB
47:the toledoth or genealogy, ‘These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. The sons of Ham were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.’ Now by careful exegesis of the tablet text, I noticed that there was an unusual repetitive reference to ‘Ham, the father of Canaan.’ Hermeneutics, or the art of textual interpretation, would tell us that such repetition points toward an unusual identity of the object. ~ Brian Godawa, #NFDB
48:In biblical studies, as noted above, “intertextuality” is sometimes used merely to refer to the procedure by which a later biblical text refers to an earlier text, how that earlier text enhances the meaning of the later one, and how the later one creatively develops the earlier meaning.[32] In this respect, “intertextuality” may be seen as a procedure of inner-biblical or intrabiblical exegesis, which is crucial to doing biblical theology[33] and for understanding the relation of the OT to the NT. ~ G K Beale, #NFDB
49:Archaeology in general is the recovery and study of the material culture of past civilizations. Biblical archaeology is as an application of the science of archaeology to the field of biblical studies. Through the comparison and integration of Scripture with the evidence of history and culture derived from archaeology, new insights into the biblical context of people and events, and sometimes the interpretation of the text itself, are possible. In this way archaeology serves as a necessary tool for biblical exegesis and for apologetic concerns. ~ Randall Price, #NFDB
50:Calvin is the founder of modern grammatico-historical exegesis. He affirmed and carried out the sound and fundamental hermeneutical principle that the biblical authors, like all sensible writers, wished to convey to their readers one definite thought in words which they could understand. A passage may have a literal or a figurative sense, but cannot have two senses at once. The word of God is inexhaustible and applicable to all times; but there is a difference between explanation and application, and application must be consistent with explanation. ~ Philip Schaff, #NFDB
51:In fact, contemporary systematic theology frequently generates dissertations on, say, John Owen’s view of the atonement (which properly belongs to historical theology) or perichoresis and personhood in the Trinity (which largely turns on philosophical theology), with relatively little work devoted to the kind of constructive, normative theology that builds a case, starting from the Bible, of what Christians ought to believe. Moreover, systematicians are sometimes at least as disdainful of rigorous exegesis as biblical scholars are of systematic theology. ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
52:But unlike Paul, his alternatives present him with a "double avoidance conflict"-neither is acceptable, for to hear the plain sense of both texts means to cancel the basis for heeding either, since scripture is seen not to be free of contradiction. On the other hand, to harmonize them is to admit that one employs some type of "canon-within-the-canon" since one must choose which text's plain sense is to prevail as authoritative. The other text will be harmonized into it, as if some "less obvious" sense, unavailable by exegesis of the text itself, would give a more agreeable reading. ~ Robert M Price, #NFDB
53:The latter interpretation is obviously more tenuous, but only if one believes in the doctrine of abrogation. Surah 2:116 and 16:101 of the Quran both apparently teach that Allah can cancel older sections of the Quran with newer ones. Traditionally, Muslims developed a field of Quranic exegesis called “the abrogator and the abrogated” in which they strove to determine the criteria and history of Quranic abrogation. Some Muslim scholars taught that up to five hundred verses of the Quran no longer apply because later verses abrogated them. Other Muslim scholars taught that as few as five verses were abrogated. ~ Nabeel Qureshi, #NFDB
54:Every Christian school must adopt an implicit, absolute, childlike wonder at the glory of the Scriptures. We must be people of the Book, knowing it top to bottom, front to back. And we must resolve, before the fact, to have absolutely no problem with any passage of Scripture once the meaning of that passage has been ascertained through honest exegesis. This means, among other things, that Christians must be prepared to condemn sodomy, embrace the doctrine of creation, say that husbands are the heads of their wives, believe in giants and dragons, and believe in Noah’s ark right down to, if necessary, the giraffe’s head sticking out the window. ~ Douglas Wilson, #NFDB
55:One final term nevertheless demands exegesis: the idea of 'conquest' itself. In what sense does the notion of 'conquest' have the slightest meaning in relation to man's place in nature? What bearing does this have on the cooperative transactions and interactions of species, or to man's own attempt to transcend his own biological limitations by super-organic modes of life? The very term 'conquest' is an obsolete military term, however re-enforced by our whole power system: actually it is an ideological fossil left over from the traumatic original episodes in civilization which brought forth war, slavery, organized destruction, and genocide. 'Conquest' and 'cultivation' are historic enemies: they stand at opposite poles. ~ Lewis Mumford, #NFDB
56:Clearly, it is not simply exegesis that determines how we read the Bible; rather, it is our vested interests, our hopes, and our fears that largely determine our reading. And because the reach of the gracious God of the Bible is toward the other, we ought rightly to be skeptical and suspicious of any reading of the Bible that excludes the other, because it is likely to be informed by vested interest, fears, and hopes that serve self-protection and end in self-destruction. Palestinians’ and Israelis’ fear of the other, said to be grounded in the Bible, has been transposed into a military apparatus that is aimed at the elimination of the other. It is wholly illusionary to imagine that such an agenda is congruent with the God of the Bible who is commonly confessed by Jews and Christians. ~ Walter Brueggemann, #NFDB
57:The Bremen German literature conference was highly eventful. Pelletier, backed by Morini and Espinoza, went on the attack like Napoleon at Jena, assaulting the unsuspecting German Archimboldi scholars, and the downed flags of Pohl, Schwarz, and Borchmeyer were soon routed to the cafés and taverns of Bremen. The young German professors participating in the event were bewildered at first and then took the side of Pelletier and his friends, albeit cautiously. The audience, consisting mostly of university students who had traveled from Göttingen by train or in vans, was also won over by Pelletier’s fiery and uncompromising interpretations, throwing caution to the winds and enthusiastically yielding to the festive, Dionysian vision of ultimate carnival (or penultimate carnival) exegesis upheld by Pelletier and Espinoza. ~ Roberto Bola o, #NFDB
58:I know now what was happening to me, what was overwhelming me, what was about to consume and almost destroy me. Didier had even given me a name for it - assassin grief, he'd once called it: the kind of grief that lies in wait and attacks you from ambush, with no warning and no mercy. I know now that assassin grief can hide for years and then strike suddenly on the happiest day, without discernible reason or exegesis. But on that day, ... almost a year after Khader's death, I couldn't understand the dark and trembling mood that was moving in me, swelling to the sorrow I'd too long denied. I couldn't understand it, so i tried to fight it as a man fights pain or despair. But you can't bite down on assassin grief and will it away. The enemy stalks you, step for step, and knows your every move before you make it. The enemy is your own grieving heart and, when it strikes, it can't miss. ~ Gregory David Roberts, #NFDB
59:Let me be straight with you: I’m not really qualified to write this book. I don’t have a Bible or seminary degree. I’m not a pastor or a counselor. I don’t know biblical languages and don’t know how to do exegesis—whatever that even is. Again, I’m just a messed-up twenty-three-year-old guy. But I know that God has quite the sense of humor. It only takes a quick peek into Christian history to realize I’m almost the exact type of person he is looking for. A wise man two thousand years ago put it this way: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”1 Paul tells us that God loves using people who are useless by worldly standards—because then he gets all the credit. A crooked stick can still draw a straight line, and a messed-up dude like me can still write about an awesome God. I’ve tasted grace and can’t help but tell others about it. ~ Jefferson Bethke, #NFDB
60:The exegesis Fat labored on month after month struck me as a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one -- in this case an attempt by a beleaguered mind to make sense out of the inscrutable. Perhaps this is the bottom line to mental illness: incomprehensible events occur; your life becomes a bin for hoax-like fluctuations of what used to be reality. And not only that -- as if that weren't enough -- but you, like Fat, ponder forever over these fluctuations in an effort to order them into a coherency, when in fact the only sense they make is the sense you impose on them, out of necessity to restore everything into shapes and processes you can recognize. The first thing to depart in mental illness is the familiar. And what takes its place is bad news because not only can you not understand it, you also cannot communicate it to other people. The madman experiences something, but what it is or where it comes from he does not know. ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
61:Islamism offers an easy answer, a ready exegesis far more comforting than the difficult-to-stomach but accurate assessment that the West embraces consensual government, free-market economics, capitalism, property rights, meritocracy, equality between the sexes, inclusiveness for minorities, and religious tolerance — and that such values in the end result in greater material wealth, more innovation, better technology, and in general more personal freedom. The Islamist objects that the poverty and general wretchedness of the Middle East do not derive from self-inflicted pathologies like autocracy, statism, fundamentalism, collectivism, endemic tribalism, misogyny, or intolerance; rather, they are caused by aggressive foreign enemies, Americans and Jews in particular. At home, traitors, heretics, apostates, and atheists have weakened Islamic spiritual life, in pursuit of a tawdry covetousness of Western trinkets and shibboleths. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
62:Despite the verve and wit of his writing, Fox is simply wrong on so many points it is hard to know where to begin. To argue that there is no “mystical” tradition within the heritage of orthodox Christianity is simply astonishing. His exegesis of biblical texts exhibits the kind and range of errors that a first-year seminarian would be worked over for—either that, or, more likely perhaps, his exegesis betrays a thorough commitment to the canons of postmodernity (but in that case, why is he so passionate about trying to convince the rest of us what ought to be?). There is no attempt to wrestle with the rising literature that places “green” concerns within the framework of the Bible’s story-line and the matrix of Christian theology;56 rather, there is an eclectic and emotional takeover of Christian terms, history, heritage, and language in order to serve an agenda fundamentally extra-biblical and finally anti-biblical. The real tragedy is that Fox’s analysis of the human dilemma is unutterably shallow. Even when he makes telling points about the earth, the best of them can easily be brought under the framework of responsible Christian living in God’s universe. But his thought, characterized by a kind of new paganism, does not deal with most of the human ills and sins that generate the very evils he is concerned about—and a lot of others to which he is curiously indifferent. ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
63:MSB: The triumph of Christ marks the culmination of your work from a thematic point of view. But in the world itself, it also marks the culmination of the long journey of human violence. RG: I think that Saint Paul's letters, particularly Romans and Corinthians, have the form of a mimetic spiral. Everything we've been talking about constitutes a sort of exegesis of what Paul had to say about the centrality of the Cross. The Cross is not only knowledge of God, but first and foremost an understanding of mankind. Paul was perfectly aware of this. It seems to me essential that the notion of the crucified Christ as “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23) be examined more closely. I had thought that Jacob Taubes, in his book on Paul's political theology, would develop this idea, but he never really gets around to it.6 MSB: Your acquaintance with Paul seems to have deepened over the years. RG: I hope it has. In a way it is rather recent. I have come to better understand Paul through reading and talking with Protestants. Most Catholics speak mainly of the Gospels. Protestants, on the other hand, speak mainly of Saint Paul; they consider Saint Paul's letters to be the primary Christian documents. I would find nothing more interesting than to write on the relationship between Protestantism and Catholicism. True ecumenicism would be exactly this, understanding what the Gospels and Saint Paul fundamentally have in common. The anthropological interpretation of Satan offers an opportunity for going further in this direction, it seems to me. MSB ~ Ren Girard, #NFDB
64:[4:131] A human being is a material system which time, a form of energy, enters. Probably time enters him also as noos-Mind. Time, the future, contains in it all the events which are going to occur. Therefore when time enters a person as energy, and acting as noos to him, it brings with it in potentium all that will happen to him, like a window shade unrolling to display an unfolding pattern. Events in the future pop into being, into actualization, the present, but until they do, they are not truly real-not yet actualized-but there in an encoded form, like the grooves of an LP before the needle reaches it; the only "music" is where the needle touches-ahead lies only an encoded wiggle along a helical spiral. Thus, dreams deal with the future lying direct ahead, as during the night, the next series of encoded future events begin to move toward actualization: i.e., the present. What is hard to realize is that in a certain very real way these events are inside the person, within his head, so to speak; but only in their potential, encoded form; the arena in which they are actualized is that of space; time, in the present, flows out to fill space-i.e., the spatial universe. This is why we experience déjà vu. We have somehow caught a glimpse now and then of the script unrolling in our head-caught a glimpse in advance, so we feel "I know exactly what I'm going to say next, and what gestures he'll make," etc. Sure; they're encoded-encased, waiting-in time, and time, being energy, has entered you; is burning bright inside, like Blake's tyger. Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night. . . . Who framed thy awful symmetry?
~ Philip K Dick, Exegesis Of Philip K Dick,#NFDB
65:For a start, most books like this, rich in such expensive pigments, had been made for palaces or cathedrals. But a haggadah is used only at home. The word is from the Hebrew root ngd, “to tell,” and it comes from the biblical command that instructs parents to tell their children the story of the Exodus. This “telling” varies widely, and over the centuries each Jewish community has developed its own variations on this home-based celebration. But no one knew why this haggadah was illustrated with numerous miniature paintings, at a time when most Jews considered figurative art a violation of the commandments. It was unlikely that a Jew would have been in a position to learn the skilled painting techniques evinced here. The style was not unlike the work of Christian illuminators. And yet, most of the miniatures illustrated biblical scenes as interpreted in the Midrash, or Jewish biblical exegesis. I turned the parchment and suddenly found myself gazing at the illustration that had provoked more scholarly speculation than all the others. It was a domestic scene. A family of Jews—Spanish, by their dress—sits at a Passover meal. We see the ritual foods, the matzoh to commemorate the unleavened bread that the Hebrews baked in haste on the night before they fled Egypt, a shank bone to remember the lamb’s blood on the doorposts that had caused the angel of death to “pass over” Jewish homes. The father, reclining as per custom, to show that he is a free man and not a slave, sips wine from a golden goblet as his small son, beside him, raises a cup. The mother sits serenely in the fine gown and jeweled headdress of the day. Probably the scene is a portrait of the family who commissioned this particular haggadah. But there is another woman at the table, ebony-skinned and saffron-robed, holding a piece of matzoh. Too finely dressed to be a servant, and fully participating in the Jewish rite, the identity of that African woman in saffron has perplexed the book’s scholars for a century. Slowly, deliberately, I examined and made notes on the condition of each page. Each time I turned a parchment, I checked and adjusted the position of the supporting forms. Never stress the book—the conservator’s chief commandment. But the people who had owned this book had known unbearable stress: pogrom, Inquisition, exile, genocide, war. ~ Geraldine Brooks, #NFDB
66:For instance, a popular game with California occultists-I do not know its inventor-involves a Magic Room, much like the Pleasure Dome discussed earlier except that this Magic Room contains an Omniscient Computer.
To play this game, you simply "astrally project" into the Magic Room. Do not ask what "astral projection" means, and do not assume it is metaphysical (and therefore either impossible, if you are a materialist, or very difficult, if you are a mystic). Just assume this is a gedankenexperiment, a "mind game." Project yourself, in imagination, into this Magic Room and visualize vividly the Omniscient Computer, using the details you need to make such a super-information-processor real to your fantasy. You do not need any knowledge of programming to handle this astral computer. It exists early in the next century; you are getting to use it by a species of time-travel, if that metaphor is amusing and helpful to you. It is so built that it responds immediately to human brain-waves, "reading" them and decoding their meaning. (Crude prototypes of such computers already exist.) So, when you are in this magic room, you can ask this Computer anything, just by thinking of what you want to know. It will read your thought, and project into your brain, by a laser ray, the correct answer.
There is one slight problem. The computer is very sensitive to all brain-waves. If you have any doubts, it registers them as negative commands, meaning "Do not answer my question." So, the way to use it is to start simply, with "easy" questions. Ask it to dig out of the archives the name of your second-grade teacher. (Almost everybody remembers the name of their first grade teacher-imprint vulnerability again-but that of the second grade teacher tends to get lost.)
When the computer has dug out the name of your second grade teacher, try it on a harder question, but not one that is too hard. It is very easy to sabotage this machine, but you don't want to sabotage it during these experiments. You want to see how well it can be made to perform.
It is wise to ask only one question at a time, since it requires concentration to keep this magic computer real on the field of your perception. Do not exhaust your capacities for imagination and visualization on your first trial runs.
After a few trivial experiments of the second-grade-teacher variety, you can try more interesting programs. Take a person toward whom you have negative feelings, such as anger, disappointment, feeling-of-betrayal, jealousy or whatever interferes with the smooth, tranquil operation of your own bio-computer. Ask the Magic Computer to explain that other person to you; to translate you into their reality-tunnel long enough for you to understand how events seem to them. Especially, ask how you seem to them.
This computer will do that job for you; but be prepared for some shocks which might be disagreeable at first. This super-brain can also perform exegesis on ideas that seem obscure, paradoxical or enigmatic to us. For instance, early experiments with this computer can very profitably turn on asking it to explain some of the propositions in this book which may seem inexplicable or perversely wrong-headed to you, such as "We are all greater artists than we realize" or "What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves" or "mind and its contents are functionally identical."
This computer is much more powerful and scientifically advanced than the rapture-machine in the neurosomatic circuit. It has total access to all the earlier, primitive circuits, and overrules any of them. That is, if you put a meta-programming instruction into this computer; it will relay it downward to the old circuits and cancel contradictory programs left over from the past. For instance, try feeding it on such meta-programming instructions as: 1. I am at cause over my body. 2. I am at cause over my imagination. 3.1 am at cause over my future. 4. My mind abounds with beauty and power. 5.1 like people, and people like me.
Remember that this computer is only a few decades ahead of present technology, so it cannot "understand" your commands if you harbor any doubts about them. Doubts tell it not to perform. Work always from what you can believe in, extending the area of belief only as results encourage you to try for more dramatic transformations of your past reality-tunnels.
This represents cybernetic consciousness; the programmer becoming self-programmer, self-metaprogrammer, meta-metaprogrammer, etc. Just as the emotional compulsions of the second circuit seem primitive, mechanical and, ultimately, silly to the neurosomatic consciousness, so, too, the reality maps of the third circuit become comic, relativistic, game-like to the metaprogrammer. "Whatever you say it is, it isn't, " Korzybski, the semanticist, repeated endlessly in his seminars, trying to make clear that third-circuit semantic maps are not the territories they represent; that we can always make maps of our maps, revisions of our revisions, meta-selves of our selves. "Neti, neti" (not that, not that), Hindu teachers traditionally say when asked what "God" is or what "Reality" is. Yogis, mathematicians and musicians seem more inclined to develop meta-programming consciousness than most of humanity. Korzybski even claimed that the use of mathematical scripts is an aid to developing this circuit, for as soon as you think of your mind as mind 1 , and the mind which contemplates that mind as mind2 and the mind which contemplates mind2 contemplating mind 1 as mind3, you are well on your way to meta-programming awareness. Alice in Wonderland is a masterful guide to the metaprogramming circuit (written by one of the founders of mathematical logic) and Aleister Crowley soberly urged its study upon all students of yoga. ~ Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising,#NFDB
5 Occultism
1 Psychology
1 Integral Yoga
1 Alchemy
4 Aleister Crowley
4 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
3 Liber ABA
1.01 - Historical Survey, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
Later, he hailed himself in a most enthusiastic way as the long-expected Messiah and prophesied the millenium - which failed to occur. His influence, on the whole, has been a deleterious one. A disciple of his, Joseph Gikatilla, wrote in the interests and defence of his teacher a number of treatises dealing with the several aspects of exegesis established by him.
The Zohar is the next major development. This book combining, absorbing, and synthesizing the different features and doctrines of the previous schools, made its dd but, creating a profound sensation in theological and philosophical circles by reason of its speculations concerning
1.03 - The Sephiros, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
One other preliminary matter must be touched upon before actually attempting an exegesis of the Sephiros.
Many Qabalists have referred to the Tree of Life the seventy-eight Tarot cards, which are a series of pictorial representations of the universe. Eliphaz Levi writes in
--
Let us now approach the exegesis of the Philosophy of the
Qabalah in its various aspects. First we shall deal more fully with the ten Sephirothal ideas, giving the student in a later chapter examples of the mode of treatment which he himself will then be able to follow in studying the attribu- tions of all the Paths.
1.06 - The Literal Qabalah, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
The second method of exegesis employed by the Qabalah is Notariqon, which is a derivative from the Latin notarius, meaning a shorth and writer. By this method, one con-
110
1.08a - The Ladder, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
I ignore completely, at this stage of exegesis, the charms and amulets which comprise a greater part of such Qabal- istic works as Sepher Ratsiel haMaloch and The Greater Key of King Solomon. My references are in the main directed towards the spiritual thaumaturgy manifested in, for example, The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage and such invocations as " The Bornless One ", " Liber Israfel " ; the latter being an adaptation from the Book of the Dead ; and the powerful fragments of lyrical ritual found in the Dee manuscripts. When a man endeavours to perfect his meditation, the rebellion of the human will and the Ruach is violent, and only by experience can one discover the almost diabolical ingenuity of the mind in attempting to escape from control. There are methods of training that will, by which it is more or less easy to check one's progress. Magical ritual is a mnemonic process devoted to this end. I say mnemonic advisedly, to answer objections to " apparatus " employed by the Practical Qabalist.
By each act, word, and thought, the one object of the ceremony - the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel- is being constantly indicated. Every fumigation, invocation, banishing and circumambulation is simply a reminder of the single purpose until - after symbol upon symbol, emotion after emotion having been added - the supreme moment arrives, and every nerve of the body, every force-channel of the Nephesch and Ruach is strained in one overwhelming orgasm, one ecstatic rush of the Will and Soul in the pre- determined direction.
1.25 - Fascinations, Invisibility, Levitation, Transmutations, Kinks in Time, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
This discourse has been thus left unfinished: but it is only necessary to add that the capacity to extract such spiritual honey from these unpromising flowers is the mark of an adept who has perfected his Magick Cup. This method of Qabalistic exegesis is one of he best ways of exalting the reason to the higher consciousness. Evidently it started Fra. P. so that in a moment he become completely concentrated and entranced.[45]
Note that this has nothing at all to do with any Pranayama. It seems a matter of ecstatic concentration, which chose this mode of expression instead of bringing on Samadhi though that, too, occurred in some of the cases.
1.3 - Mundaka Upanishads, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
3. This Self is not won by exegesis, nor by brain-power, nor by
much learning of Scripture. Only by him whom It chooses
2.03 - THE ENIGMA OF BOLOGNA, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[90] Another parallel, but dating from late antiquity, is mentioned by Maier. It is one of the Platonic Riddles and runs: A man that was not a man, seeing yet not seeing, in a tree that was not a tree, smote but did not smite with a stone that was not a stone a bird that was not a bird, sitting yet not sitting.237 The solution is: A one-eyed eunuch grazed with a pumice-stone a bat hanging from a bush.238 This joke was, of course, too obvious to lend itself to alchemical evaluation. Similarly, the Epigram of the Hermaphrodite was not, so far as I know, taken up by the alchemists, though it might have been a more suitable subject for exegesis. This kind of jest probably underlies the Aelia inscription. The seriousness with which the alchemists took it, however, is justified not only because there is something serious in every joke, but because paradox is the natural medium for expressing transconscious facts. Hindu philosophy, which likewise struggled to formulate transcendental concepts, often comes very near to the paradoxes so beloved of the alchemists, as the following example shows: I am not a man, neither am I a god, a goblin, a Brahmin, a warrior, a merchant, a shudra, nor disciple of a Brahmin, nor householder, nor hermit of the forest, nor yet mendicant pilgrim: Awakener to Myself is my name.239
[91] Another source that needs seriously considering is mentioned by Richard White of Basingstoke.240 He maintains that Aelia Laelia is Niobe transformed, and he supports this interpretation by referring to an epigram attri buted to Agathias Scholasticus, a Byzantine historian:241
3.04 - The Formula of ALHIM, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
The preceding is not intended as even the beginnings of an exegesis of this
difficult paragraph, simply as a few pieces of information which may be of use to
3.07 - The Formula of the Holy Grail, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
3. A method of exegesis in which 1 = 10 = 100, 2 = 20 = 200, etc.
4. 102 = 100.
3.18 - Of Clairvoyance and the Body of Light, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
2. It is easy to teach the General Principles of exegesis, and the main doctrines.
There is a vast body of knowledge common to all cases; but this is no more than the
5.2.01 - Word-Formation, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The backbone of the skeleton is composed of the roots of the original language that survive; the rest is the various principles of word-formation. Accordingly in the languages of the world which are nearest to the old sacred language, the ancient Aryan languages, there is one common element,the roots, the elemental word-formations from the roots and so much of the original significance as survives variety of mental development playing on different lines and to different purposes. The object of this treatise is to provide a reasoned basis, built up on the facts of the old languages, Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, Tamil, Persian, Arabic, for a partial reconstruction, not of the original devabhasha, but of the latest forms commonly original to the variations in these languages. I shall take the four languages, Sanscrit, Greek, Latin and Tamil first, to build up my scheme and then support it by the four other tongues. I omit all argument and handling of possible objections, because the object of this work is suggestive and constructive only, not apologetic. When the whole scheme is stated and has been worked out on a more comprehensive scale than is possible in the limits I have here set myself, the time will come for debate. Over an uncompleted exegesis, it would be premature.
I shall first indicate the principle on which the roots of the devabhasha were formed. All shabda (vak) as it manifests out of the akasha by the force of Matariswan, the great active and creative energy, and is put in its place in the flux of formed things (apas) carries with it certain definite significances (artha). These are determined by the elements through which it has passed. Shabda appears in the akasha, travels through vayu, the second element in which sparsha is the vibration; by the vibrations of sparsha, it creates in tejas, the third element, certain forms, and so arrives into being with these three characteristics, first, certain contactual vibrations, secondly, a particular kind of tejas or force, thirdly, a particular form. These determine the bhava or general sensation it creates in the mind and from that sensation develop its various precise meanings according to the form which it is used to create.
BOOK II. -- PART III. ADDENDA. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
histories of deities and men. The modern exegesis, that makes these giants to be the brethren of the
dwarfs, and reduces the combats of the gods to the history of the development of the Aryan race, will
Liber 71 - The Voice of the Silence - The Two Paths - The Seven Portals, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
method of exegesis, in the absence of original information, was to take
existing commentators and disagree with them, her standard being what
The Dwellings of the Philosophers, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
word cocaf, star". This exegesis does not satisfy us. A film, whatever color it might be, does
not in any way resemble a starred radiation and our own works answer for an effective
The Logomachy of Zos, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
substantive exegesis.
The giver who gives desiring no requital is without fault: the receiver has
--- Overview of noun exegesis
The noun exegesis has 1 sense (no senses from tagged texts)
1. exegesis ::: (an explanation or critical interpretation (especially of the Bible))
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun exegesis
1 sense of exegesis
Sense 1
exegesis
=> interpretation
=> explanation, account
=> statement
=> message, content, subject matter, substance
=> communication
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
--- Hyponyms of noun exegesis
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun exegesis
1 sense of exegesis
Sense 1
exegesis
=> interpretation
--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun exegesis
1 sense of exegesis
Sense 1
exegesis
-> interpretation
=> exposition, expounding
=> construal
=> clarification, elucidation, illumination
=> eisegesis
=> exegesis
=> ijtihad
=> literal interpretation
=> version
=> reading
=> construction, twist
=> reconstruction
=> popularization, popularisation
=> misinterpretation, misunderstanding, mistaking
--- Grep of noun exegesis
exegesis
Wikipedia - Biblical exegesis
Wikipedia - Category:Biblical exegesis
Wikipedia - Category:Exegesis
Wikipedia - Exegesis (book)
Wikipedia - Exegesis (disambiguation)
Wikipedia - Exegesis (group) -- Group of individuals that delivered the Exegesis Programme
Wikipedia - Exegesis in Zoroastrianism
Wikipedia - Exegesis -- Critical explanation or interpretation of a text
Wikipedia - Hypostasis of the Archons -- Gnostic exegesis on the Book of Genesis 1-6
Wikipedia - Jewish mystical exegesis
Wikipedia - Midrash -- Genre of rabbinic literature which contains Jewish Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, and compilations of homilies
Wikipedia - Naskh (tafsir) -- Theory in Islamic legal exegesis
Wikipedia - Pardes (Jewish exegesis)
Wikipedia - Peshat -- One of four classical methods of Jewish biblical exegesis
Wikipedia - Scriptural exegesis
Wikipedia - Sifre -- Either of two works of classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis.
Wikipedia - Tafsir -- Exegesis of the Qur'an
Wikipedia - The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10887550-the-exegesis-of-philip-k-dick
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127408.New_Testament_Exegesis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18861849-gender-and-power-in-medieval-exegesis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2413097.Medieval_Exegesis_Vol_1
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30809336-ibn-juzay-s-sufic-exegesis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/637651.Medieval_Exegesis_Vol_2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6583819-deep-exegesis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8910004-a-handbook-of-new-testament-exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bardo#Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Biblical_Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Book_of_Job#Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Brahmavihara#Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Catholic_Exegesis_of_John_6,_"Bread_of_Life_Discourse"
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Five_Strengths#Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mindstream#Detailed_Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pardes_(Jewish_exegesis)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Catholic_Exegesis_of_John_6,_"Bread_of_Life_Discourse"
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Two_truths_doctrine#Exegesis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Zhitro#Exegesis
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Exegesis_of_Merid-Nunda
Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture
Exegesis
Exegesis (group)
Exegesis in Zoroastrianism
Exegesis on the Soul
Jewish mystical exegesis
Medieval Exegesis
Pardes (Jewish exegesis)
Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis
The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick
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