Volume 1

Encyclopædia of religion and ethics / edited by James Hastings ; with the assistance of John A. Selbie ... and other scholars.

Date:
1908-1926
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Encyclopædia of religion and ethics / edited by James Hastings ; with the assistance of John A. Selbie ... and other scholars. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    stage of its development. It differs from it suffi- ciently clearly, however, to justify Burnouf in recognizing in the system of the Adihuddha a new kind of Buddhism — a third (or a fourth) Bud- dhism *; and, in order to give the reader a just appreciation of the significance of this new inter- pretation of Buddhism, before unheard of, it wUl suffice to stq,te that the old formula, ‘ Of aU that proceeds from causes the Tathagata has explained the cause,’ was transformed into, ‘ Of all that pro- ceeds from causes the Tathagata is the cause.’ f A further characteristic of the AiSvarikas of Hodgson, in which they stand apart from Hindu or Nepalese thought, is the absence from their theology of every feminine, tantric, and magical element. It is well known that Hodgson had re- course for his information to native scholars, whom he ceremoniously styles ‘ living oracles,’ and who, in support of their statements, supplied him with fragments of texts, which were not all authentic. These mutilated testimonies, this tradition arranged with a view to meet questions conceived in an alto- gether European spirit, are, as far as the absence of the above-mentioned element is concerned, con- firmed by the Svayambhupurana, which is not very tantric. We do not, however, believe that, even apart from the wide and comprehensive nature of its mythology, Nepalese theism has in reality ever been quite free from intermixture of Saivite thought. Plan and division.—As the problem has not been examined in its entirety for a long time, and as much light has been thrown upon it by recent research, we propose to state it here, as completely as possible, from the doctrinal point of view, of course ; for we shall willingly dispense with legend- ary, iconographic, and ritual details.! The interest of Adihuddha systems (for there are at least two of them) lies chiefly in their relation to genuine Buddhism and to Hinduism. It will be most convenient (I.) to give a brief account of those Adihuddha systems which are more or less well known, and (II.) to inquire into their antecedents, often obscure and problematic, beginning with the sources, so that we may be able in this way (III.) to ‘locate’ the systems in question, doctrinally and historically, and to present a more accurate appre- ciation of them. As most of these antecedents will demand separate treatment (see AvalokiteSvara, Lotus OF THE True Law, Mahayana, MaSju^rI), a brief reference will here suffice. We shall confine ourselves to Buddhist ground, for, although this long elaboration of the elements of the Buddhist systems of Adihuddha may be inexplicable without Hinduism, it will be sufficient to note, in passing, the points of contact. I. Adibuddha systems.—I. Aikvarika system (Hodgson’s sources). — There is an Adihuddha or Paramadihuddha (Tib. dan-poi sahs-rgyas, mchog- gi dan-poi . . ., § thog-mai . . . ||), i.e. first Buddha, primary Buddha, Buddha from the be- ginning, Buddha unoriginated. IT He exists by himself, and in fact is called Svayamhhu,** like * Introduction, p. 581. t For the ancient formula see Kern, Manual, pp. Hodgson, Essays, p. JSeeNEPlL, Lama. § Csoma’sandGriinwedel’s i II Waddell’s sources. ' iUrbuddha (Lassen, Ind. Aff.^ii. 1103), Buddha of the Buddhas (Wass. p. 134); adibuddha = adau huddha (Namasahgiti, 100), or = anadibuddha. He ^pears at the beginning of time (at the commencement of the Kalpa), the crystal jewel in the lotus (mani . . . padme). Adinatha=Adibuddha; it is also the name of a more or less historical (?) personage (WUson, i. 214; see Avalokite^vara, note ad fin.). ** Svayamhhulokanatha,/self-existing protector of the world,’ alB0Sambhu(a name of Siva), and Adinatha, ‘first protector.’ See a beautiful hymn addressed to him, Svayambhupurapa, p. 66. The term Svayamhhu has been from ancient times an epithet of Buddhas, because Buddhas have obtained Buddhahood with- out any external help, and also because Buddhahood is Brahma, and is worshipped under this name in his great temple at Kathmandu.* He has never been seen ; t he is in nirvarm. Nevertheless, he is ‘ pure light’; he issues from the ‘void’ {iunyata); and his names are innumerable. It is said that prayers are not addressed to him; yet he is worshipped in his temple. He dwells in the Akanisthabhavana, that is, in the upper region of the world of forms,! symbolized by the apex of the chaitya, as if it h^ been forgotten that in the Buddhist cosmology there are numerous formless heavens. § He has, besides, like every divinity, a mandala, || or mystic circle, for con juratory or mystical purposes. By five acts of his contemplative power (dhyana), the Adibuddha or Mahabuddha creates five Buddhas called Buddhas of contemplation or Dhydnibud- dhas.^ They are Vairochana, Aksobhya, Ratna- sambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddha.** These are in the world of becoming (pravxtti). Prayers are not addressed to them (so Hodgson); but they have temples called chaityas, like those of Adi- buddha. By the twofold power of knowledge and contemplation, to which they owe their existence, they give birth to ‘ Bodhisattvas of contemplation,’ dhyanibodhisattvas,\\ viz., Samantabhadra, Vajra- pani, Ratnapani, Avalokita or Padmapani, and Visvapani respectively. These are the actual creators of the physical universe, but the worlds which they produce are perishable, and three of these creations have already ceased to exist. That of which we form apart is the fourth, i.e. it is the work of Avalokitesvara, the fourth Bodhisattva, the ‘ Providence ’ of the present; and has as its special Buddha, ‘protector’ and ‘ conqueror’ {natha, jina) Amitabha, who is enthroned in the midst of his elect. For its instructor it has had 6akyamuni, the fourth human Buddlia. There are five human Buddhas {manusihuddhas),X% who correspond to the Even in late texts we find Svayamhhu explained as follows: svayambkavati svayambhur bhdvanabalad bhavafUy arthah (Namasaugiti, 10); svayambhuli sarvavikaXparahitatoat (ib. 60). See Astaikhasrika prajnaparamita, 2 ff., 10; taXhagatatvam buddhatvaifi svayambhutvaih sarvajflatvam. * The temple is described in Fergusson, Hist, of Ind. Arch. fig. 170; Wright, Hist, of Nepal-, BendaU and S. L6vi, Kipal. It is represented in the miniatures of MSS of the 11th cent. (Foucher, Icon. BouddJiigue, i.). Koppen (u. p. 367) recalls the fact that, according to Kirkpatrick (An Account, p. 148), the Great Lama for a long time maintained relations with the temple. t The Adibuddha is sometimes called ViSvarupa, ‘ who takes every form,’ and is so represented (Hodgson, Essays, 83; Foucher, Catalogue, pp. 12,13). t The world to which those saints ascend, who, being com- paratively little advanced, must wait many centuries before attaining to nii-vdna, although they are not on that account condemned to a new earthly existence; they are the fifth class of the Andgdmins, according to the Little Vehicle. § It is not clear that the Adibuddha of the Nepalese extends his reign beyond the present Kalpa (Age of the World). He is father of five Buddhas only. It seems to be forgotten that there are millions of Kalpas and millions of Buddhas. II That is a naksatramandala, a ‘ constellation circle.’ Recall- ing the triad, Buddha, Dharma, Sanghamandala (Svayam- bhupurdxta), Adibuddha is triratnamurti, ‘the three gems embodied.’ H The present writer has never, in any Sanskrit or Tibetan text, met with the expression ‘ dhyanibuddha.’ 'The five Buddhas are called the ‘ five Jinas’ or the ‘five Buddhas’ in the Sanskrit texts as weU as in Tibet, in Cambodia, and in Java. He is inclined to believe that we have to do here either with an invention due to Hodgson’s pandits or with a very late source. As the St. Petersburg Dictionary observes, Dhydnibuddha, if rightly contrasted with Mdnusibuddha (human Buddha, cf. nmnuHkanyd) ought to mean ‘ Buddha bom of meditation [of Adibuddha]’ and not ‘meditating Buddha’=Dhyanin-buddha= dhyanibuddha. We know of Jnanabuddhas, Jnanabodhisattvas (ye-§es sahs-rgyas, ye-Ses byah-chub-sems-dpa), who cannot be distinguished from the Vajrabuddhas. They correspond to the five jnanas or mystic sciences. These are the five so-called Dhyanibuddhas, regarded from the tantric point of view (jhdnam bhagam iti smrtam). Sometimes a sixth, Vajrasattva, who creates (or causes to be created) immaterial substances, while the five others create corporeal forms. tt The same may be said of them as of the ‘ Dhyanibuddhas ’; since the Bodhisattvas are not in Dhydna, the word can only mean ‘born of dhyana.’ tt There is a list in the Little Vehicle of seven human Buddhas who are also worshipped in Nepal (Wilson ii., Bauddha tracts).