ME06

Origins of Mahāyāna and the Earliest Mahāyāna Sūtras

ME06 21-03-2011      (2:00 to 3:00)

(Class Notes Only)

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In the Buddhist Social Philosophy and Ethics book, now we will study Chapter 7, “The Buddhisattva Ideal” and chapter 8, “Ethics Related to Bodhisattva’s Career”. In their chapter 7, we can understand how the later Buddhist schools have attempted to develop the concepts of Buddha and Bodhisattva in different aspects, from the beginning with proud to the Pāli canon early Mahāyāna sutra develop, It includes developments of both the concepts Buddha and Bodhisattva in the Mahāsangika school, the fore-runners of later Mahāyāna tradition. We try to present all details of the development of the concepts of Buddha and Bodhisattva. Our main purpose is to evaluate the ethical system related to Bodhisattvas, and development of the concept of Bodhisattva as a basis for the evaluation of the ethics related to Bodhisattva’s career.

The Buddha is an embodiment of great compassion and great wisdom, the celebrated Pāli commentator in Sri Lanka, puts the idea into a verse. So, the concepts of Bodhisattva and his specific career can be considered as the highest ethical system in Buddhism. It is very important as far as Buddhist social ethics are concerned. Further, the Buddha and Bodhisattva concepts have been developed for the first time by the early Buddhists or Theravadins. We fine the historical and human nature of the Buddha, in some discourses of the Pāli canon, some references are given develop way. The Buddha was a historical personality who lived in India in the sixth century B.C. The human features of his early life are recorded in the Pāli canon discourses which represent an earlier period than the other Buddhist sources.

The Buddha was born as a human being, their best to construct a full biography of the Buddha with ethical and doctrinal aspects related to Bodhisattva and the Buddha. So, within the Pāli canon itself we find some facts which seem sometimes contradictory with the details given above. His personality has been developed in several aspects, Physical body, lineage, former births, and knowledge. In the Mahāparinibbāna sutta, Buddha lived a simple life, faced with troubles and illnesses, passed away at Kusināra, his body was cremated and the remains were distributed among the Kings and leaders. The Lakkhana sutta of Diganikāya mentions thirty two
special marks on the Buddha’s body. Mahāpadāna sutta presents the time, clan, Family, etc, and birth place of seven Buddha’s namely Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhū, Kakusandha, Konāgamana, Kassapa and Gotama. The Jātaka Pāli, one of the fifteen texts of the Khuddakanikāya explains the former livers or births of the Gotama Buddha.

Although there are many sources which explain the Buddha’s knowledge in various ways, In the Tevijja sutta, the Buddha in an exact way he should say that The Buddha is a possessor of three kinds of higher knowledge. They are Pubbenivāsanussatiñāna, Dibbacakkuñāna and Ᾱsavakkayañāna. We quote only one category of knowledge called ten powers of the Buddha.

     They are as follows:
          i. Knowledge of instance and no instance.
         ii. Knowledge of ripening of action,
        iii. Knowledge of the way that leads people of the world,
        iv. Knowledge of many and different elements,
         v. Knowledge of different dispositions by beings,
        vi. Knowledge of the state of the faculties of beings,
       vii. Knowledge of defilements, cleansing and emergence
             in the field of spiritual progress,
       viii. Knowledge of the remembrance of former existence,
        ix. Knowledge of decease and rebirth of beings, and
        x. Knowledge of the exhaustion of mental intoxicants.
In the Lakkhana sutta, “Yo Dhammam passati, so paticcasamuppādam passati”, ‘one who see the Dhamma, sees paticcasamuppāda.’ 

          1. Enijangham (Eni + jangham)
          2. Appāhāram alolupan
          3. Manimvovasmium
          4. Ehipassama Gotama (kisam viram apāharam)
The Hemāvata sutta is from the Sutta Nipāta verses 153, 180. This sutta belongs between the Dhammacakka and Anattalakkana suttas, in chronological order; it is as the former two discourses. Hemāvata and Sātāgiri describing the admirable attributes of the Buddha, Sātāgiri who was name after the Sāta mountain which was his residence, giris is a little mountains, in India, ‘Lalidagiri, Kadhagiri and Udayagiri.’ “Pura to pabbhārakāyo Manda, Khidda, Varna, balā, paññā, hāyana, vaȕka, pabbhāra, vauka, and pabbha. Pura to pabbhāra si so” As we saw, there is no complete biography of the Buddha in early sources. 

In the fifth century A.D. Buddhaghosa has presented the Theravada Biography in his commentary on Jātaka Pāli. In the first century A.D., Lalitavistara, one of the early sūtras of Buddhist biography Sarakrit describes the Buddha’s character in detail. In the Mahāsangika School, includes developments of the concepts Buddha and Bodhisattva, the fore-runners of later Mahāyāna tradition. The Bodhisattva with the arising of Bodhicitta wishes for his supreme enlightenment and the service to promote good of all beings, So, Bodhi is enlightenment and satta is beings.

When we come to the later history of Buddhism, we can notice further developments of these concepts. It is recorded that after the second Buddhist Council which was held one hundred years after the Buddha’s passing away in India, a group of monks vajjiputtaka formed a separate sect called Mahāsangika, not only the Mahāsangika. The Kathāvatthupakārana, one of the Ᾱbhidhamma Pitaka, also mentions some opinions of the nature of the Buddha held by various Buddhist schools. Some of them are given below; Andakas, Uttarā, pathakas, Vetullakas, Uttarapatakas, Theravaāda, Andakas and others, actually thousand of Buddhist schools. The Bodhisattva’s career under seven main topics. In the seven one of the gotra, the term “gotra” refers to family or clan. Gotarabhū, it is knowledge (Sawtāpatti). Gotraham, it is original development.

By Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)