The ''Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra'' (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
; ;
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
: Kinh Bát Chu Tam Muội) is an early
Mahayana Buddhist
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BC ...
scripture, which probably originated between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE in the
Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
area of northwestern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The full title for this text is ''Pratyutpannabuddha Saṃmukhāvasthita Samādhi Sūtra'', which translates to, "Sūtra on the Samādhi for Encountering Face-to-Face the Buddhas of the Present".
History
The ''Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra'' was first translated into Chinese by the
Kushan
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
Buddhist monk
Lokaksema in 179 CE, at the
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
capital of
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
. This translation is, together with the ''
Prajnaparamita Sutra
A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala
Prajñāpāramitā ( sa, प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda B ...
'', one of the earliest historically datable texts of the
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
tradition.
In 2018, the discovery of fragments of a birch bark manuscript in the
Gāndhārī language
Gāndhārī is the modern name, coined by scholar Harold Walter Bailey (in 1946), for a Prakrit language found mainly in texts dated between the 3rd century BCE and 4th century CE in the region of Gandhāra, located in the northwestern Indian su ...
and written in
Kharoṣṭhī
The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and e ...
script was announced by scholars Paul Harrison, Timothy Lenz, and Richard Salomon, who wrote regarding the dating of the manuscript:
The post-script of the same paper notes that as the article went to press, scholar Mark Allon brought to the authors' attention "another set of birch-bark fragments, possibly from the same scroll or set of scrolls, containing a large section of Chapter 9 of the PRaS,", which the authors state will be included in a follow-up article in the future.
Contents
The ''Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra'' contains the first known mentions of the Buddha
Amitābha
Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...
and his
pure land
A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...
, said to be at the origin of
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
:
Pratyutpanna samadhi
The full practice developed by
Zhiyi
Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also Chen De'an (陳德安), is the fourth patriarch of the Tiantai tradition of Buddhism in China. His standard title was Śramaṇa Zhiyi (沙門智顗), linking him to the broad tradition of Indian asceticism. Zhiyi i ...
is 90 days long. Lay practitioners often take a much shorter time. Any practice that exceeds one day requires a bystander called a dharma protector (護法) to look after the practitioner. The exercise includes constant walking or praying to Amitabha, sometimes accompanying or helped by the bystander. The practitioner should avoid sitting, laying, resting or sleeping during the period of practice. The bystander would warn the practitioner if he or she engages in prolonged resting. Very few Buddhists practice this. Yinguang (印光) suggested that people should practice the much easier recitation of name of the Buddha
nianfo
Nianfo (, Japanese: , , vi, niệm Phật) is a term commonly seen in Pure Land Buddhism. In the context of Pure Land practice, it generally refers to the repetition of the name of Amitābha. It is a translation of Sanskrit '' '' (or, "recolle ...
instead. But some buddhists have said that they feel healthier after the practice.
般舟三昧及现代行法系列资料--向往、爱乐般舟行法的同修,一起来学习、实践和守护这个法门
See also
* The Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life
* The Contemplation Sutra
The ''Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ''Guan-wuliangshou-jing;'' Vietnamese: Phật Thuyết Kinh Quán Vô Lượng Thọ Phật; English: ''Sutra on the Visualization of he BuddhaImmeasurable Life'') is a Mahayana sutra in Pure Land Bu ...
* Buddhist texts
Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
References
Bibliography
* Harrison, Paul; McRae, John, trans. (1998)
The Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sutra and the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sutra
, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.
* Harrison, PM (1979)
The Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukhavasthita-samadhi-sutra
an annotated English translation of the Tibetan version with several appendices, thesis, Australian National University
* Harrison, Paul (1978)
Buddhanusmriti in the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Sammukhavasthita-Samadhi-Sutra
Journal of Indian Philosophy 6 (1), 35-57
* Harrison, Paul (1990). ''The Samādhi of Direct Encounter with the Buddhas of the Present: An Annotated English Translation of the Tibetan Version of the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Saṃmukhāvasthita-Samādhi-Sūtra with Several Appendices Relating to the History of the Text'', Studia Philologica Buddhica 5. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies
External links
{{wikiquote
– Translation by Rev. Hisao Inagaki
– English Translation from the Chinese Canon
Mahayana texts
Yogacara