Buddhisms

John S. Strong is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religion, Bates College, in Maine, USA. Specializing in history of religions, Asian religions, and Buddhist Studies, with a focus on Buddhist legendary and cultic traditions in India and South Asia. He is the author of numerous books and articles including The Buddha: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneworld).

Preface



Schemes and Themes



Technicalities



Note on abbreviations



 



Chapter 1      Introduction: Lumbinī, a Buddhist World Exposition



1.1 Theravāda and Mahāyāna



1.2 Lumbinī’s Eastern Monastic Zone: South and Southeast Asian Traditions



1.2.1 The Mahā Bodhi Society



1.2.2 The Sri Lanka Monastery



1.2.3 The Gautamī Center for Nuns



1.2.4 Myanmar (Burma)



1.2.5 Meditation Centers



1.3 Lumbinī’s Western Monastic Zone: East Asian Traditions



1.3.1 China



1.3.2 Korea



1.3.3 Japan



1.3.4 Vietnam



1.4 Lumbinī’s Western Monastic Zone: Tibetan Vajrayāna Traditions



1.4.1 The Great Lotus Stūpa



1.4.2 The Lumbinī Udyana Mahachaitya



  



Part I: Foundations of the Triple Gem: Buddha/s, Dharma/s, and Saṃgha/s



Chapter 2      Śākyamuni, Lives and Legends



2.1 The Historical Buddha



2.2 The Buddha’s World



2.3 The Buddha of Story



2.4 Past Buddhas and the Biographical Blueprint



2.5 The Start of Śākyamuni’s Career



2.6 Previous Lives (Jātakas)



2.6.1 The Donkey in the Lion’s Skin



2.6.2 Vessantara Jātaka



2.6.3 The Tigress Jātaka



2.7 A Lifestory of Śākyamuni



2.7.1 Birth and Childhood



2.7.2 Life in the Palace



2.7.3 The Beginnings of Discontent



2.7.4 The Great Departure



2.7.5 Paths Not Taken



2.7.6 Awakening



2.7.7 After Enlightenment



2.7.8 The First Sermon



2.7.9 Various Conversions and Miracles



2.7.10 Death and Parinirvāṇa



 



Chapter 3      Overcoming the Buddha’s Absence



3.1 Seeing the Buddha in the Dharma



3.1.1 Excursus on the Buddhist Canon/s



3.2 Places of Pilgrimage



3.3 Relics



3.4 Buddha Images



3.5 The Masters of the Dharma



3.6 The Arhat Dharma-Protectors



3.7 Meeting Maitreya



 



Chapter 4      Some Permutations of the Middle Way



4.1 The Middle Way



4.2 Karma and Saṃsāra



4.2.1 Why Do Good Deeds?



4.2.2 Contexts of Karma I: Neither Free Will nor Determinism



4.2.3 Contexts of Karma II: Both Jain and Upaniṣadic Views



4.3 The Doctrine of Non-Self (Anātman)



4.3.1 Breaking Down the False Sense of Self: the Five Aggregates and Impermanence



4.3.2 The Elements (Dharmas)



4.3.3 Countering the Breakdown of Self: Personal Continuity



4.3.4 Explications of Continuity: Pseudo-Selves and Ersatz Ātmans



4.4 Summary



 



Chapter 5      The Four Truths



5.1 The First Truth: Stress



5.2 The Second Truth: the Continual Arising of Stress and Interdependent Origination



5.2.1 The Double Bind of Saṃsāra



5.3 The Third Truth: the Cessation of Stress – Nirvāṇa



5.4 The Fourth Truth: the Path to the Cessation of Stress



5.4.1 Moral Discipline



5.4.2 Meditation



5.4.3 Wisdom



5.5 Other Systematizations of the Path



5.5.1 The Seven Factors Conducive to Enlightenment



5.5.2 The Graduated Training



5.5.3 The Four Divine Abidings



5.5.4 The Four Fruits of the Path



5.6 Summary



 



Chapter 6      The Establishment and Character of the Early Buddhist Community



6.1 Monastic–Lay Interactions



6.1.1 Dāna (Giving) and Other Forms of Making Merit



6.1.2 Lay Ethics



6.1.3 Magical Protection



6.1.4 Laypersons and the Monastic Rules



6.1.5 Royal Supporters



6.1.6 King Aśoka



6.2 The Monastics: Wandering and Settling



6.2.1 Monastic Lifestyles



6.2.2 Monasteries



6.3 Mahāprajāpatī and the Establishment of the Order of Nuns



6.4 Common Moral Commitments



6.5 Initiation Rituals: Wandering Forth and Ordination



6.6 Monastic Rules



6.6.1 The Elaboration of the Disciplinary Code



6.6.2 Enforcement of the Rules: Prātimokṣa Recitation and Pravāraṇa



6.7 Some Exemplary Disciples of the Buddha



6.7.1 Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana



6.7.2 Paṭācārā



6.7.3 The Laypersons Nakulapitṛ and Nakulamātṛ



6.7.4 Viśākhā, Preeminent Laywoman



6.8 Summary



 



Chapter 7      Visions and Divisions of the Saṃgha



7.1 Council Stories



7.1.1 The Council at Rājagṛha



7.1.2 Vinaya Disputes: the Council of Vaiśālī



7.1.3 The Councils of Pāṭaliputra



7.1.4 Other Council Traditions



7.2 The Flowering of Mainstream Factionalism



7.3 Other Divisional Issues



7.3.1 Practice vs. Study



7.3.2 Meditators and Merit Makers



7.3.3 Forest Monks and Town Monks



7.3.4 The Question of Asceticism



7.3.5 The Question of Bon-Vivant Monks



7.3.6 Sect vs. Sect



7.4 The Origins of the Mahāyāna



7.5 Proliferation of Mahāyāna Schools



7.5.1 Mahāyāna Schools in India



7.5.2 Mahāyāna Schools in China



7.5.3 Mahāyāna Schools in Japan



7.5.4 Mahāyāna Schools in Tibet



7.6 Summary



 



Part II: Further Elaborations of the Triple Gem



Chapter 8      Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Ways of Meeting the Buddha/s



8.1 Changes in the View of the Buddha: the Lotus Sūtra and Śākyamuni’s Lifespan



8.2 Three Bodies of the Buddha/s



8.3 Meeting the Buddha/s in Their Pure Lands



8.3.1 Akṣobhya



8.3.2 Bhaiṣajyaguru



8.4 Amitābha



8.4.1 Meeting Amitābha through Visualization



8.4.2 Rebirth in the Pure Land



8.5 Meeting the Buddha in the Great Bodhisattvas



8.5.1 Avalokiteśvara



8.5.2 Other Great Bodhisattvas



8.6 Meeting the Buddha/s in the Vajrayāna



8.6.1 Maṇḍalas and the Five Tathāgatas



8.6.2 Ritual Consecration (Abhiṣeka)



8.6.3 Merging with the Buddha



8.6.4 Visions: Meeting the Buddha/s in Bardo



8.6.5 Buddha Embodiments in This World: Gurus and Tülkus



8.7 Summary



 



Chapter 9      Māhāyana Doctrinal Developments



9.1 Emptiness: the Selflessness of Dharmas



9.2 Nāgārjuna and the Madhyamaka



9.3 The Expansion of Provisional Truth: Expedient Means (Upāya)



9.4 Tiantai Doctrines



9.5 The Ongoing Dialectic: the Yogācāra School



9.5.1 Asanga and Vasubandhu and the Development of the School



9.5.2 Yogācāra Doctrines



9.6 Avataṃsaka Doctrines



9.6.1 Applications of Interpenetration



9.7 The Buddha Womb/Embryo (Tathāgatagarbha) Teachings



9.7.1 Resurgence of the True Self



9.8 Buddha-Nature Controversies



9.8.1 Limitations to the Buddha-Nature: the Icchantika Debate



9.8.2 The End of the Dharma



9.8.3 Expansions of the Buddha-Nature Doctrine



9.9 Summary



 



Chapter 10      The Bodhisattva Path, Tantra, and Zen



10.1 The Bodhisattva Path



10.2 Sudden and Gradual



10.2.1 Disagreements over the Nature of the Path: the Debate at Samyé



10.2.2 Disagreements over the Nature of Enlightenment



10.3 Graduated Paths



10.3.1 Compassion and Bodhicitta



10.3.2 The Stages of the Path, the Perfections, the Five Paths



10.3.3 Routinization and Ritualization



10.4 Path Shortcuts



10.5 Tantra



10.5.1 Uniting the Poles



10.5.2 Tantric Physiology



10.5.3 Mahāmūdra and Dzokchen (Rdzogs chen)



10.6 Direct Experiences: Chan/Zen



10.6.1 Kōans



10.6.2 Critical Phrases (Huatou)



10.7 Summary



 



Chapter 11      Saṃgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Thai Buddhism/s



11.1 Buddhism in Thailand



11.2 Thai Monastic Life: Temporary Ordination



11.2.1 Life as a Novice



11.2.2 Experiences as a Monk



11.3 The Lives of Two Charismatic Thai Monks



11.3.1 Acharn Mun



11.3.2 Khruba Siwichai



11.4 The End of the Rains-Retreat in a Northern Thai Village



11.5 A Thai Temple in Wimbledon, England



 



Chapter 12      Saṃgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Japanese Buddhism/s



12.1 The Hexagonal Hall (Rokkakudō)



12.1.1 Prince Shōtoku



12.1.2 Shinran



12.1.3 Kannon, Jizō, and Fudō



12.2 The Ritual Year at Shinnyodō



12.2.1 New Year’s



12.2.2 Ḍākinī and the Recitation of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra



12.2.3 Main Hall Rituals



12.2.4 Goma



12.2.5 The Killing Stone



12.3 The Ryōanji Rock Garden



12.4 The Buddha’s Birthday at the Morgan Bay Zendō



12.5 The Japan Temple in Lumbinī



12.6 Conclusion



 



Chapter 13      Saṃgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Tibetan Buddhism/s



13.1 Lhasa Jokhang



13.1.1 Pinning Down the Demoness



13.1.2 Flood Control



13.1.3 Grand Prostrations



10.1.4 The Great Prayer Festival



13.2 The Potala and the Dalai Lamas



13.2.1 Finding a New Dalai Lama



13.3 Scholars and Mad Saints



13.3.1 Drepung Monastery and Monastic Studies



13.3.2 Mad Monks: the Case of Tangtong Gyalpo



13.4 Samding: Female Incarnations and a Contemporary Buddhist



13.5 A Tibetan Dharma Center in Vermont, U.S.A.



13.6 Conclusion



 



Appendices



Appendix A: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in India



Appendix B: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Sri Lanka



Appendix C: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Myanmar (Burma)



Appendix D: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Cambodia



Appendix E: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Thailand



Appendix F: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in China



Appendix G: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Japan



Appendix H: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Vietnam



Appendix I: A Short Chronology of Buddhism in Tibet



 



Bibliography of Works Cited



Index