Chinese Understanding of the Practice of the Pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi: The Influence of Kumārajīva’s Translations of Indian Commentaries

Abstract

This paper examines the development of Chinese understanding of the practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi, particularly focusing on its relation to the interpretation of Buddha’s working (foli 仏力) in China. In the history of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi was practiced by Lushan Huiyuan and was considered an important practice within the early Chinese Pure Land tradition. It is also known that the term pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi (banzhou sanmei 般舟三昧) frequently appears in Kumārajīva’s Chinese translations of Indian commentaries, such as the Shizhu piposha lun 十住毘婆沙論 and the Da zhidu lun 大智度論. In this paper, I will focus on the Chinese translations of these two commentaries to understand how the concept of Buddha’s working is discussed in relationship to the practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi.

Comparing the practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi discussed in the Banzhou sanmei jing 般舟三昧経 and the usages of the term in these commentaries, the following three distintions are apparent:

・The practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi is identified differently in the stage of non-retrogression in the Shizhu piposha lun and the Da zhidu lun depending on the interpretation of the sutras of these commentaries.

・Both in the Shizhu piposha lun and the Da zhidu lun, practitioners who have yet to achive supernatural powers can see buddhas through the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi.

・In the Shizhu piposha lun, the necessity of self-effort by practitioners is emphasized in the practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi. In the Da zhidu lun, however, practitioners are able to see buddhas by the working of the buddhas’ light which enhances their samādhi practice, as discussed in the Dapin banruo jing 大品般若経.

The practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi is discussed as an important practice to reach the stage of non-retrogression in other sutras and commentaries. However, different interpretations of the teaching of the Banzhou sanmei jing developed based on the doctrinal background of each text which introduced the practice of the pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi. The differences of the interpretation of the samādhi practice in the Shizhu piposha lun and Da zhidu lun might have arisen the difference of interpretation of the ten stages (daśabhūmi) in each commentary.