Saicho

The Stūpadarśana chapter (Chapter 11) of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra recounts the story of Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata’s appearance within a jeweled stupa. As indicated by the title "Stūpadarśana," it describes how the stupa emerged from the ground and levitated in the space, after which Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata inside the stupa manifested his form to the assembly. The climax of the narrative lies in the description of Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata's appearance. In the original Sanskrit text, two opposing interpretations of his form can be found: "withered" (pariśuṣka) and " unwithered" (apariśuṣka).
This paper aims to examine the variant readings of "withered" and "unwithered" in the Sanskrit original of the Stūpadarśana chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, considering the different interpretations from Tibetan translations, Chinese traditional translations and previous research, and to clarify the true nature and significance of the appearance of Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata as presented in the text.

In Buddhist philosophy, avijjā is stated as the root cause of all suffering. However, in accordance with the Correspondence Principle, the concept of avijjā in Pali Buddhist scriptures is not regarded within the category of realism (Kumoi, 1975). Furthermore, this term it is not exclusive to Buddhism, since in the early Upanisads, avidyā was also a subject of discussion contrasting with Brahmavidyā: the most holy wisdom which brings gnosis, according to Brahmins thinkers, of Brahman. This study argues that the foundation of avijjā in Buddhism, which is deeply connected in the Pāli Canon with the Four Noble Truths and the teachings of the Five Aggregates, is the result of the adaptation of the Brahminical gnostic thought to legitimate these Buddhist doctrines as the knowledge that entails the realization of the ultimate truth.

法華経安楽行品に見る不親近という法師の戒
『法華経』「安楽行品（第十四）」においては、『法華経』の流通者（法師）に関する四つの戒が述べられている。そのうち、「行動と交際」（ācāragocara）という第一の戒は、法師が交際してはいけない（すなわち不親近の）者達、すなわち1.国王、大臣、2.他宗派の弟子達、3.旃陀羅、4.声聞乗の四衆、5.婦人、不男、6.沙弥、沙弥尼などを提示している。先行研究（上田1958、紀野1964、久保1968、苅谷1972など）は、「安楽行品」による不親近の戒は大乗仏教興起の精神に背いており、小乗（声聞乗）の比丘戒の香を帯びるものであると消極的に評価している。しかしながら、拙稿（白2020）が指摘したように、『法華経』に見る法師は、一切衆生を救済しようという誓願によって世間に生まれる、三乗の教え及び『法華経』を衆生達に流通させる者である。このような大乗の利他行を徹底的に行う法師は、小乗の比丘戒に酷似する「不親近」の戒を守るとは考えられない。したがって、本稿は「安楽行品」による「不親近」という法師の戒と小大乗の戒との異同を分析した上で、その戒を守るべき法師の「利他行」の内実を明らかにする。
　結論として、『法華経』の教示を使命とする法師は、『法華経』の聴聞不聴聞、法師への親近不親近によって、教化されるべき衆生達を三類に分けて彼らに応える。『法華経』の法師は、『法華経』を聴聞すべきではない者に対して、「不親近」の戒によって、原則的に説法を避けることとなる。説法しないことも彼らに利益をもたらすことに注意せねばならない。この「不親近」の戒は、まさしく『法華経』以前に成立した小大乗の比丘戒の形式及び「自分に対する軽侮や名誉毀損を回避しよう」という自利の動機と共通していると否認できないが、それには「利他行」の性格も備わっている。このような利他の要素があってこそ、「不親近」という法師の戒が大乗の戒として見なされるべきである。

In Chapter 14 (Peaceful Practices) of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra (SP), four disciplines concerning the Dharmabhāṇaka (preacher) of the SP are stated. Of these, the first discipline “action and association,” refers to persons with whom the Dharmabhāṇaka should not associate (that is, estrange) persons, namely 1. kings, ministers, 2. disciples of Tirthikas, and 3. Chandala, 4. Four groups of Śrāvakayāna, 5. woman, eunuch, 6. female and male Samaneras, etc.
Previous researches (Ueda 1958, Kino 1964, Kubo 1968, Kariya 1972, etc.) have shown that the Dharmabhāṇaka’s disciplines “estrangement” runs counter to the spirit of the Mahāyāna Buddhism. However, as I pointed out in my paper (Bai 2020), the Dharmabhāṇaka seen in the SP is a person who disseminates the doctrine of the three vehicles and the SP to all sentient beings, born into the world through a great vow to save all sentient beings. It is inconceivable that the Dharmabhāṇaka who thoroughly engages in Mahāyāna altruism like this would obey the disciplines which closely resembles the Hinayana Buddhism. Therefore, this paper analyzes the difference between the Dharmabhāṇaka’s disciplines and the disciplines of Hinayāna and Mahāyāna Buddhism and clarifies the actual situation of “altruistic practice” of the Dharmabhāṇaka who should keep the disciplines.

The Longshu pusa zhuan (龍樹菩薩伝, the Biography of Nāgārjuna, T. no. 2047) translated by Kumārajīva (350-409 or 344-413) is known as the oldest biography of the great Mādhyamika philosopher. Although the authenticity of Kumārajīvaʼs translation is now questioned, it is held to be translated or written in the period around Kumārajīvaʼs activity. However, Stuart H. Young recently proposed the hypothesis that the biography was fabricated based on the Fufazang yinyuan zhuan (付法蔵因縁伝, the Dharma-treasury transmission, T. no. 2058) dating the late 5th century. The Longshu pusa zhuan (龍樹菩薩伝) is almost same in content as a biography of Nāgārjuna appeared in the Fufazang yinyuan zhuan (付法蔵因縁伝) and we can find many parallel phrases between them. As to the anteroposterior relationship between the two texts, Henri Maspero mentioned that the Fufazang yinyuan zhuan (付法蔵因縁伝) was fabricated around the 6th century based on the earlier buddhist texts including the Longshu pusa zhuan (龍樹菩薩伝). His opinion ...

Saichō最澄 is one of Japan's leading Buddhists and is renowned as the founder of the Tendai sect天台宗 of Buddhism. He is also an indispensable figure in the history of Buddhism in Japan, having founded the parent body of the Tendai sect, from which Buddhist patriarchs of the Kamakura period鎌倉時代 (1185-1333) often emerged.
　However, although there is a vast accumulation of research on  Saichō, these studies are not necessarily based on  Saichō's life, but rather on images of  Saichō that have been cut out according to the interests of individual researchers.
　In light of this, the author has set the concept of "national defense,"護国 which is assumed to have been an underlying theme in  Saichō's life, as a key word in order to reconstruct  Saichō's life as a history of ideology.
　In the consultation for the doctoral dissertation, it was pointed out that there is a lack of explanation of  Saichō's definition of "national defense," and that the author was critical of the methodology used to understand  Saichō from the perspective of the purpose of "national defense. We have received comments from the audience. I will leave these issues for the future, but for now, I would like to present the author's results here.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Saichō 最澄　is renowned as the founder of the Japanese Tendai sect. Conventionally, it has been said that Saicho's thought was influenced by Tendai  天台　in China. However, some researchers have pointed out that Saicho adopted the ideas of Kegon 華厳 in addition to Tendai. This paper takes this into account and strives to understand the position of Qingliang Chengguan 澄観,the fourth founder of the Kegon school,in Saicho. As a result, it has been pointed out that various similarities can be found in Saicho's understanding of Shinnyo 真如, such as the fact that there are traces of his adoption of Chengguan 's view of Shinnyo.