Summary and Comments on "Series on Mahayana Buddhism, Volume III: The Practice of Mahayana Buddhism" - A book to learn about the origins of Buddhist practice and the development of stupas, Buddhist statues, and the worship of remains!
The book introduced here is "Series Mahayana Buddhism, Volume 3: Practice of Mahayana Buddhism," published by Shunju-sha in 2011.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
The essence of Mahayana Buddhism as a practical philosophy is approached from the perspective of how practical doctrines such as precepts and zenjutsu have been believed and practiced in actual historical settings.
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As the title suggests, this work looks at the practical aspects of Mahayana Buddhism. The practical aspects of early Mahayana Buddhism remain a mystery. In the "Preface" to the book, it is stated as follows
This volume deals with Mahayana Buddhist practice. It corresponds to the precepts and definitions of the three schools. This volume was not included in the previous editions of "Lectures on Mahayana Buddhism" because, in the past, Buddhism was basically discussed in terms of doctrines, and the issue of practice was not necessarily a central theme. In recent years, reflecting on the traditional doctrine-centered approach to Buddhist studies, interest in the practical aspects of Buddhism has deepened, and research results have been accumulated. This volume is a collection of such results. (omitted)
As already mentioned, several articles have shown in various ways that the Mahayana is not necessarily clearly disconnected from the divisional school of Buddhism, but that there are commonalities between the two and that they should be viewed as continuous. This in turn raises the new question of where the disconnected and dichotomous view of the Mahayana and the Mahayana-Minayana came from and how it came to take root. My guess is that pure Mahayanaism, as opposed to the Lesser Mahayana, was probably established in Japan by Saicho, but that is a question for another time.
Shunju-sha, Series Mahayana Buddhism, Vol. 3: Practice of Mahayana Buddhism, p. ii-ⅴ.
It will be discussed in this collection of essays that there is a connection between the practical aspects of the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle, and that they were not distinctly different entities, as discussed in this brief note.
I've introduced you to them so far.A History of Buddhism in New Asia 02 India II: The Formation and Development of Buddhism.In this work, you will learn that there are many similarities in the practice of Mahayana Buddhism, as was discussed in "The Birth of Mahayana Buddhism, Volume II of the Series: Mahayana Buddhism" and "The Birth of Mahayana Buddhism, Volume II".
One of the most memorable parts of this collection of essays was discussed in Chapter 4, "The Zen Practice of Mahayana Buddhism."
It would seem that the seemingly very Mahayana-like practice of Kambuddhism was an extension of the practice of the view of impurity that has existed since the primitive Buddhist scriptures.
Shunju-sha, Series Mahayana Buddhism, Vol. 3: Practice of Mahayana Buddhism, p. 104.
and the words "from stupas to statues" in Chapter 5, "From Stupas to Statues,
The above examples of the sanctification of Buddhist statues have been discussed with specific examples. What can be seen from these examples is that the connection with traditional objects of worship, such as the remains of Buddha, played an important role in the treatment of Buddha images as Buddha himself, rather than mere figurative images. In other words, the belief in Buddha images did not develop in a way that excluded the belief in the Buddha's relics, which had existed since the Buddha's nirvana. Rather, it was based on the belief in traditional relics and relics of the Buddha, and it became established by regarding Buddhist statues as objects of worship synonymous with these relics.
Shunju-sha, Series Mahayana Buddhism, Vol. 3: Practice of Mahayana Buddhism, p. 144.
This is the word.
The Mahayana Buddhist tradition is well known for its meditation techniques such as Mādhājātma and Pure Land Buddhist samādhi, but these Mahayana-like practices of contemplating Buddha actually have their roots in the primitive Buddhist scriptures and were not practices that were completely different from those of the traditional schools.
And as for the worship of Buddha images, the belief in Buddha's remains, the shari, had a great influence. This also cannot be overlooked. It is often said that primitive Buddhism did not make tombs or worship the dead, but in fact, this book explains that there was worship of Buddha's relics and the remains of his disciples. It is very interesting to note that this led to the belief in stupas and statues of Buddha.
Moreover, it also offers the following surprising commentary.
The establishment of various Buddhist images, including statues of Buddha, as objects of worship brought about a major change in the form of belief of Buddhists, which until then had centered on stupas, and gave rise to the development of various rituals using images of Buddha. The typical example of such rituals is the Gyozo, which Hoken and Xuanzang saw in Kohtan, Pataliputra, and Kanausi. The images that Hoken saw in Pataliputra are said to have been of a Buddha [=Buddha image] that traveled around the city with about 20 floats modeled after stupas, and people dedicated music and dance to the beautifully decorated stupas and Buddha images, and offered incense and flowers. The Gyosei that King Harshavardhana (King Kaihi) held in Kanausi, which Xuanzang saw, was even larger in scale. After a life-size golden Buddha image was built on the west bank of the Ganga River, a palace was built 14 to 15 li away from the temple. After performing the rituals for 21 days, he performed the Gyozu. （After 21 days of performing the rituals, he performed the Gyozu.)
In this lineage, the Buddha image is treated as the Buddha himself, riding on an elephant, accompanied by a king, bathing in perfume, and receiving offerings. As Nara Yasuaki has pointed out, the ritual of treating the Buddha image as the Buddha himself is also described in Sanskrit Buddhist texts such as the Bodhicarya Avatara and the Avadhana Shataka, where the Buddha image is bathed, perfumed, wiped, clothed, fed, and offered food and drink, in essentially the same way as in Hindu puja. In this way, offerings to Buddha images are performed in basically the same way as in Hindu pujas. Similar descriptions can also be found in the Mahayana Sutra on the Merits and Demerits of Image Creation, the Sutra on the Merits and Demerits of Washing Buddha Images, and the Sutra on the Merits and Demerits of Bathing Images, which were translated into Chinese between the 4th and 8th centuries AD, and which teach the virtues of offerings of Buddhist images. As seen from the stupa offerings described in the Nirvana Sutra, similar rituals must have been performed using stupas and various relics before the advent of Buddha images. However, it is easy to imagine that the bhakti and individualized forms of worship developed further after the Gupta period, when the concrete and familiar object of worship, the Buddha image, took root in the area.
Shunju-sha, Series Mahayana Buddhism, Vol. 3: The Practice of Mahayana Buddhism, p. 146-147.
There, offerings are made to Buddha images in essentially the same way as in Hindu pujas: by washing them, burning incense, wiping their bodies, changing their clothing, and giving them food and drink."
This shows that Buddhism was also practiced at the level of people's daily lives, mixed with Hindu rituals.
Literature and profound philosophical systems are not the only religions. There are also the religious practices and life practices of the people who live there. This book is also a reflection on the study of Buddhism, which is based only on the study of Western literature.
I can't go any further into the technicalities, but if you are interested, I encourage you to read this book. I encourage you to pick up a copy.
This is "Series of Mahayana Buddhism, Volume 3: Practice of Mahayana Buddhism" - A book to learn the origin of Buddhist practice and the development of stupas, statues, and the worship of remains! The above is "Series of Mahayana Buddhism, Volume III: Practice of Mahayana Buddhism".
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