Summary and Comments on "Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka: Clarification through Buddhism, Inscriptions, and Art" by Sodo Mori - Mahayana took root in Sri Lanka, a country famous for Theravada Buddhism! And the transition of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
This issue features "Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka: Elucidation through Buddhism, Inscriptions, and Art" by Sodo Mori, published by Daizo Publishing in 2015.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Mahayana Buddhism once flourished in Sri Lanka, a Theravada Buddhist country! This groundbreaking comprehensive study painstakingly brings into relief the entire picture of the forgotten footprints of Mahayana Buddhism and esoteric Buddhism in Sri Lanka, using not only Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhala texts, but also archaeological materials such as inscriptions, inscriptions, and art sculptures.
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Sri Lanka may be associated with Theravada Buddhism, which is completely different from Mahayana Buddhism, but in fact Mahayana Buddhism once took root in Sri Lanka.
This book examines such Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka from Buddhist statues, inscriptions, and literature.
The author describes Sri Lankan Mahayana Buddhism and this book as follows It is a bit long, but I will read it carefully because it is an easy to understand section on the flow of Sri Lankan Buddhism.
This book is the first attempt at a comprehensive and serious study of Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka, a field that remains unexplored, at least in Japan.
According to the historical records of Sri Lanka, Mahayana Buddhism was introduced from mainland India around the beginning of the third century A.D., and then came to Sri Lanka in waves, projecting the development and trends of Mahayana Buddhism in India at each period. It is possible to estimate that the esoteric Buddhism, including the later esoteric Buddhism that eventually arrived in India, maintained and developed a substantial teaching force for a period of time. However, in the latter half of the 12th century, when the Sri Lankan Theravada Sangha itself was purged and reunified, the Theravada sect that had accepted Mahayana disappeared, and Mahayana itself, which had fused with it, spontaneously disappeared, at least on the national stage, closing its history. The latter half of the 12th century coincided with the end of Indian Buddhism. In any case, Mahayana Buddhism, including esoteric Buddhism, had formed and developed its precious history in Sri Lanka during the long period of about 1,000 years leading up to the end of the 12th century.
Needless to say, however, throughout the entire history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, it was not the Mahayana Buddhists above who played the leading role, but the Theravada Buddhists of that time and their descendants, a sect of Indian Mahayana Buddhism that was introduced in the late 3rd century BC. In other words, from the late 3rd century B.C. to the present day, the Theravada sect in Sri Lanka has had a long history of rise and fall over a period of more than 2,200 years. This history is longer than the history of Buddhism in any other country, region, or ethnic group in existence today.
The Theravada sect initially developed in the country in a united and chaotic manner, but eventually split into two schools around the beginning of the first century B.C. The traditional school was called the Mahā-vihāra, and the new school was called the Abhayagiri-vihāra. At the end of the third century A.D., the Gītārinji School (Jetavana-vihāra) was established from the Mūsan-ji School, thus establishing the three schools of Theravada Buddhism. While the Dajyārāya school was a traditional conservative school, the other two schools were more liberal and open-minded, actively communicating with Buddhist schools on the Indian mainland. The Mahayana Buddhism was accepted by the Mūsan and Gīdharinsa schools and spread its own doctrinal beliefs, scriptural statues, and so on. The Sri Lankan Mahayana also disappeared from the historical stage. Thus, until today, the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka is once again limited to the Daiji School, and all existing Theravada literature today is the work of this school.
The above is a very brief description of the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, but it is clear that the history of Buddhism in this country is not a history of Theravada Buddhism (the Mahayana school) only, and about half of its long history of over 2,200 years was in fact a period of fusion of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. However, this important point of view has been completely neglected in the past, and as a result, the equation that the history of Sri Lankan Buddhism = the history of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and the history of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka = the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka has become a matter of course, and there is hardly anyone who doubts this.
This book is the first to present the results of a comprehensive study of Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which has been largely ignored in the past, and to attempt to position the history of Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka as an important chapter in the history of Sri Lankan Lankan Buddhism. The first and foremost purpose of this book is to make it widely recognized that the study of Sri Lankan Mahayana Buddhist history is not complete without an understanding of Sri Lankan Mahayana Buddhist history.
Daizo Shuppan, "Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka: Clarification through Buddhism, Inscriptions, and Art," by Sodo Mori, p. 6-7.
As will be discussed here, Theravada Buddhism was taken for granted in Sri Lanka, and the existence of Mahayana Buddhism was rarely acknowledged.
The Mahayana Buddhist tradition itself actually ceased to exist in the latter half of the 12th century, but culture is an interesting thing, and it is possible for a culture to "officially cease to exist, but to continue to exist in a different form.
As I mentioned in the title of this article, this phenomenon of the transition of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has been integrated into Sri Lanka.
Avalokitesvara is a Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva to begin with. After the disappearance of Mahayana Buddhism, he was identified with the indigenous Sri Lankan deity Natha, and it was very interesting to see how he was transformed into one of the four major deities of Sri Lanka.
This book is a research book, which makes it quite demanding as an introductory book. However, if you hold on until the last part of the book, where the transition of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is explained, you will have a very exciting moment. I thought it would be very interesting to see a new book on the Sri Lankan Mahayana tradition that would be easy to understand for beginners.
Sri Lanka's Mahayana was previously mentioned in this blog by Baba NoritoshiBuddhist Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Establishment of the Pali Cosmopolis."But since it is explained in detail in the book, it is recommended to read this book first and then go into this book, "Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka".
No - Sri Lanka is interesting! This book was also very inspiring. You should definitely pick up a copy.
The above is "Mori Sodo's "Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka" - Mahayana took root in Sri Lanka, a country famous for Theravada Buddhism! Also, the transition of the statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva".
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