Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies (Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu)
Online ISSN : 1884-0051
Print ISSN : 0019-4344
ISSN-L : 0019-4344
On the Sila of Monastic Bodhisattvas in Early Mahayana Sutras
Shinji KAGAWA
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2007 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 528-533,1235

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Abstract
In earlier Mahayana texts, two types of bodhisattvas are described: firstly, the lay bodhisattva (_??__??__??__??_) and, secondly, the monastic bodhisattva (_??__??__??__??_). Modern scholarship, however, has not paid as much attention to the latter as to the former. In this article, we will attempt to show what kind of person the monastic bodhisattva was seen to be. This will be done through a comparison with monks (bhiksu) in Buddhist schools using two Mahayana texts that detail the monastic bodhisattva. In the Jingxing ping (_??__??__??_) of the Huayan jing (_??__??__??_), the manner of ordination (upasampada) for monastic bodhisattvas is the same as that for monks in Buddhist schools; moral conduct (sila) too is considered in the same way for both. Thus, it becomes clear that the monastic bodhisattva is differentiated from the layperson. However, in the Ugrapariprccha (_??__??__??__??__??__??__??_), it is notable that the sila for the monastic bodhisattva includes the fourfold attitudes (_??__??__??_: caturaryavamsa) and the virtues of the purified person (_??__??__??_: dhutaguna), both of which are stricter requirements than the usual Sila required by monks. It will be argued, therefore, that the Ugrapariprccha and Jingxing ping of the Huayan jing attempt to define the monastic bodhisattva as a sterner, more disciplined monk.
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