Mahisasaka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Mahisasaka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mahsaka (Sanskrit; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Hud B) is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist Council. The Dharmaguptaka sect is thought to have branched out from Mahsaka sect toward the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 1st century BCE.

Contents
1 History 2 Appearance 3 Doctrines 4 Works 4.1 Mahsaka Vinaya 4.2 Mahyna works 5 Views on women 6 References 7 See also

Gandhran Mahsakas are associated with the Pure Land teachings of Amitbha

History
There are two general accounts of the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Mahsakas. The Theravdin Dipavamsa asserts that the Mahsaka sect gave rise to the Sarvstivda sect.[1] However, both the riputraparipccha and the Samayabhedoparacanacakra record that the Sarvstivdins were the older sect out of which the Mahsakas emerged.[2] The Mahsaka sect is thought to have first originated in the Avanti region of India. Their founder was a monk named Pura, who is venerated at length in the Mahsaka vinaya, which is preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon. From the writings of Xuanzang, the Mahsaka are known to have been active in Kashmir in the 4th century CE. Xuanzang records that Asaga, an important Yogcra master and the elder brother of Vasubandhu, received ordination into the Mahsaka sect. Asaga's frameworks for abhidharma writings retained many underlying Mahsaka traits.[3] Andr Bareau writes:[4] [It is] sufficiently obvious that Asaga had been a Mahsaka when he was a young monk, and that he incorporated a large part of the doctrinal opinions proper to this school within his own work after he became a great master of the Mahyna, when he made up what can be considered as a new and Mahynist Abhidharma-piaka.
First Sangha Mahsghika Ekavyvahrika Lokottaravda Bahurutya Prajaptivda Caitika Sthaviravda Mahsaka Dharmaguptaka Kyapya Sarvstivda Vibhajyavda Theravda

Early Buddhism
Scriptures
Gandhran texts gamas Pali Canon

Councils
1st Council 2nd Council 3rd Council 4th Council

Schools

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The Mahsaka are believed to have spread from the Northwest down to Southern India including Ngrjunako , and even as far as the island of Sri Lanka.[5] According to A.K. Warder, the Indian Mahsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Theravda , into which they were later absorbed.[6] In the 7th century CE, Yijing grouped the Mahsaka, Dharmaguptaka, and Kyapya together as sub-sects of the Sarvstivda, and stated that these three were not prevalent in the "five parts of India," but were located in the some parts of Oiyna, Khotan, and Kucha.[7]

Appearance
Between 148 and 170 CE, the Parthian monk An Shigao came to China and translated a work which describes the color of monastic

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robes (Skt. kya) utitized in five major Indian Buddhist sects, called Da Biqiu Sanqian Weiyi (Ch. ).[8] Another text translated at a later date, the ariputraparipcch, contains a very similar passage corroborating this information.[9] In both sources, members of the Mahsaka sect are described as wearing blue robes.[10] The relevant portion of the Mahsghika ariputraparipcch reads, "The Mahsaka school practice dhyna, and penetrate deeply. They wear blue robes."[11]

Doctrines
According to the Mahsakas, the Four Noble Truths were to be meditated upon simultaneously.[12] The earlier Mahsakas appear to have not held the doctrine of an intermediate state between death and rebirth, but later Mahsakas accepted this doctrine.[13]

Works
Mahsaka Vinaya
According to A.K. Warder, the Indian Mahsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Theravda, into which these members were later absorbed.[14] It is known that Faxian obtained a Sanskrit copy of the Mahsaka Vinaya at the Abhayagiri Vihara in Sri Lanka, c. 406 CE. The Mahsaka Vinaya was then translated into Chinese in 434 CE by Buddhajiva and Zhu Daosheng.[15] This translation of the Mahsaka Vinaya remains extant in the Chinese Buddhist canon as Taish Tripiaka 1421.[16]

Mahyna works
It is believed that the Mahyna Longer Sukhvatvyha Stra was compiled in the age of the Kua Dynasty, in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, by an order of Mahsaka bhikus, which flourished in the Gandhra region.[17][18] It is likely that the longer Sukhvatvyha owed greatly to the Lokottaravda sect as well for its compilation, and in this stra there are many elements in common with the Mahvastu.[19] The earliest of these translations show traces of having been translated from the Gndhr language, a prakrit used in the Northwest.[20] It is also known that manuscripts in the Kharoh script existed in China during this period.[21]

Views on women
The Mahsaka sect believed that it was not possible for women to become buddhas.[22] In the Ngadatta Stra, the Mahsaka view is criticized in a narrative about a bhiku named Ngadatta. Here, the demon Mra takes the form of her father, and tries to convince her to work toward the lower stage of an arhat, rather than that of a fully enlightened buddha (Skt. samyaksabuddha).[23] Mra therefore took the disguise of Ngadatta's father and said thus to Ngadatta: "Your thought is too serious. Buddhahood is too difficult to attain. It takes a hundred thousand nayutas of kotis of kalpas to become a Buddha. Since few people attain Buddhahood in this world, why don't you attain Arhatship? For the experience of Arhatship is the same as that of nirva; moreover, it is easy to attain Arhatship...." In her reply, Ngadatta rejects arhatship as a lower path, saying, "A Buddha's wisdom is like empty space of the ten quarters, which can enlighten innumerable people. But an Arhat's wisdom is inferior."[24] The Mahsaka sect held that there were five obstacles that were laid before women. These are that they may not become a cakravartin king, mara king, sakra king, brahma king, or a buddha. This Mahsaka view is ascribed to Mra in the Ngadatta Stra of the Sarvstivdins:[25] Mra said, "I have not even heard that a woman can be reborn as a cakravartin; how can you be reborn as a Buddha? It takes too long to attain Buddhahood, why not seek for Arhatship and attain nirva soon?" Ngadatta replied, "I also have heard that a woman cannot be reborn as a cakravartin, a Sakra, a Brahma, and a Buddha, and yet I shell make the right effort to transform a woman's body into a man's. For I have heard that those Noble Ones, by the practice of bodhisattvacarya for a hundred thousand nayutas of kotis of kalpas diligently attain Buddhahood." The Mahsakas believed that women essentially could not change the nature of their minds or physical bodies, and would cause the teachings of Buddhism to decline.[26] Of this, David Kalupahana writes, "The Mahsaka prejudice against women is based upon the traditional view of women. Like some of the other early Buddhist practitioners, they did not trust women, even nuns. This explains why they restricted nuns' social and religious activities in the sangha. Sometimes they liken the nuns' existence to hail which damages a good harvest."[27]

References
1. ^ Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 50

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2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

^ Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 50 ^ Anacker, Stefan. Seven Works Of Vasubandhu: The Buddhist Psychological Doctor. 1984. p. 58 ^ Rama Karana Sarma. Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy: Essays in Honour of Alex Wayman. 1993. p. 5 ^ Dutt, Nalinaksha. Buddhist Sects in India. 1998. pp. 122-123 ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 280 ^ Yijing. Li Rongxi (translator). Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia. 2000. p. 19 ^ Hino, Shoun. Three Mountains and Seven Rivers. 2004. p. 55 ^ Hino, Shoun. Three Mountains and Seven Rivers. 2004. p. 55 ^ Hino, Shoun. Three Mountains and Seven Rivers. 2004. p. 55 ^ Bhikku Sujato. Sects & Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools. Santi Forest Monastery, 2006. p. i ^ Potter, Karl. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Vol. IX: Buddhist philosophy from 350 to 600 AD. 2004. p. 106 ^ Potter, Karl. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Vol. IX: Buddhist philosophy from 350 to 600 AD. 2004. p. 106 ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 280 ^ Hsing Yun. Humanistic Buddhism. 2005. p. 163 ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 1421) (http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0895.html) , http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0895.html ^ Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes. 1999. p. 205 ^ Williams, Paul. Mahyna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. 2008. p. 239 ^ Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes. 1999. p. 205 ^ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath. India in Early Central Asia. 1996. p. 15 ^ Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes. 1999. p. 205 ^ Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 109 ^ Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 109 ^ Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 109 ^ Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 109 ^ Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 113 ^ Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 113

See also
Early Buddhist Schools Schools of Buddhism Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahisasaka&oldid=531462693" Categories: Nikaya schools Early Buddhist schools

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