The Lokottaravāda (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, लोकोत्तरवाद; ) was one of the
early Buddhist schools
The early Buddhist schools refers to the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist "doctrinal schools" or "schools of thought" (Sanskrit: ''vāda'') which arose out of the early unified Buddhist monasticism, Buddhist monastic community (San ...
according to
Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
doxological sources compiled by
Bhāviveka,
Vinitadeva and others, and was a subgroup which emerged from the
Mahāsāṃghika
The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
.
Etymology
The name ''Lokottaravāda'' means those who follow the supramundane (Skt. ''lokottara''), or transcendent, teachings. Despite bearing this name, all sub-sects of the Mahāsāṃghikas seem to have accepted forms of supramundane or transcendent teachings.
Early history
The ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'' and the ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'' both suggest that the Lokottaravāda had their origins with the
Ekavyāvahārikas and the
Kukkuṭikas. While the Mahāsāṃghikas initially flourished in the region around
Magadha, the Lokottaravādins are known to have flourished in the Northwest.
The 6th century CE Indian monk
Paramārtha wrote that 200 years after the
of the Buddha, much of the school moved north of
Rājagṛha, and were divided over whether the Mahayana teachings should be incorporated formally into their Tripiṭaka. According to this account, they split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of these Mahayana texts. According to Paramārtha, the Lokottaravādins accepted the
Mahāyāna sūtras
The Mahayana sutras are Buddhist texts that are accepted as wikt:canon, canonical and authentic Buddhist texts, ''buddhavacana'' in Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist sanghas. These include three types of sutras: Those spoken by the Buddha; those spoke ...
as the words of the Buddha (''
buddhavacana
Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...
'').
Texts
''Mahāvastu''
Lokottaravādin views are known from the ''
Mahāvastu'', which is a rare surviving Mahāsāṃghika text in Sanskrit. The ''Mahāvastu'' is a biography of the Buddha which attributes itself to the Lokottaravādins, and appears to have been an extended section of their vinaya recension. The Sanskrit text of the ''Mahāvastu'' was preserved in the libraries of the Mahayana
Buddhists of Nepal.
''Sukhāvatīvyūha'' influences
Some scholars believe that the Mahayana ''
Infinite Life Sutra'' was compiled in the era of the
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...
, the first and second centuries CE, by an order of
Mahīśāsaka monastics that flourished in
Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
. However, it is likely that the longer ''Infinite Life Sutra'' owes greatly to the Lokottaravādins as well for its compilation: in this sūtra, there are many elements in common with the ''
Mahāvastu''. The earliest of these translations show traces of having been translated from the
Gandhari Prakrit.
Bamiyan monastery collection
The Chinese Buddhist monk
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
visited a Lokottaravāda
vihara in the 7th century CE at
Bamyan (modern Afghanistan); this monastery site has since been rediscovered by archaeologists.
Birch bark and
palm-leaf manuscripts of texts in this monastery's collection, including Mahayana sutras, have been discovered at the site, and these are now located in the
Schøyen Collection. Some manuscripts are in Gandhari Prakrit and written in
Kharosthi
Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside vari ...
, while others are in Sanskrit written in
Gupta scripts. Manuscripts and fragments that have survived from this monastery's collection include the following source texts:
* ''
Prātimokṣa Vibhaṅga'' of the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda (MS 2382/269)
* ''
Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'', a sūtra from the
Āgamas (MS 2179/44)
* ''Caṃkī Sūtra'', a sūtra from the Āgamas (MS 2376) (The
Caṅkī Sutta is the version in the Pali Canon)
* ''
Diamond Sutra
The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of th ...
'', a Mahayana sutra (MS 2385)
* ''
Bhaiṣajyaguru Sūtra'', a Mahayana sutra (MS 2385)
* ''
Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'', a Mahayana sutra (MS 2378)
* ''Pravāraṇa Sūtra'', a Mahayana sutra (MS 2378)
* ''Sarvadharmapravṛttinirdeśa Sūtra'', a Mahayana sutra (MS 2378)
* ''Ajātaśatrukaukṛtyavinodana Sūtra'', a Mahayana sutra (MS 2378)
* ''
Śāriputrābhidharma Śāstra'' (MS 2375/08)
Doctrines
Overview
It is likely that the Lokottaravādins had no major doctrinal distinctions to distinguish them as different from Mahāsāṃghika, but that the difference was instead a geographic one.
Tāranātha viewed the Ekavyāvahārikas, Lokottaravādins, and Gokulikas as being essentially the same. He even viewed ''Ekavyāvahārika'' as being a general term for the Mahāsaṃghikas. The earlier ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'' of Vasumitra also regards the Ekavyāvahārikas, Gokulikas, and Lokottaravādins as being doctrinally indistinguishable.
Emptiness
The Lokottaravādins asserted that there are no real things in the world except two kinds of emptiness (Skt. ''
śūnyatā''), that is, the emptiness of a self (Skt. ''pudgalaśūnyatā'') and the emptiness of phenomena (Skt. ''dharmaśūnyatā''). This two-fold view of emptiness is also a distinguishing characteristic of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Buddhas and bodhisattvas
According to Vasumitra, 48 theses were held in common by these three Mahāsāṃghika sects. Of the 48 special theses attributed by the ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'' to these sects, 20 points concern the supramundane nature of
buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
s and
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
s. According to the ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'', these four groups held that the Buddha is able to know all ''
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
s'' in a single moment of the mind.
The
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
is viewed as transcendent (Skt. ''lokottara'') and his life and physical manifestation are mere appearance. The Lokottaravāda school upheld the Mahāsāṃghika view of the supramundane nature of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the imperfection and fallibility of
arhats.
Bodhisattva Path
The Lokottaravādin ''Mahāvastu'' speaks of Buddhism as consisting of the ''Three Vehicles'', and includes specific instructions regarding the Bodhisattva Path and the practices of bodhisattvas. From the ''Mahāvastu'', we know that the Lokottaravādins had a conception of a bodhisattva's progress toward enlightenment as consisting of ten grounds, or ''
bhūmi
Bhumi (Sanskrit: भूमि, romanized: Bhūmi), also known as Bhudevi, Dharani, and Vasundhara, is a significant goddess in Hinduism, personifying the Earth. Her earliest form is reflected in the Vedic goddess Prithvi, though their roles and de ...
''s, as required for Mahayana bodhisattvas. These bhūmis described in the ''Mahāvastu'' are similar to those in the Mahāyāna ''
Ten Stages Sutra'', but the names of these stages seem to differ somewhat.
Buddha-fields
From the ''Mahāvastu'', it is evident that the Lokottaravādins also held that there were innumerable
pure land
Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...
s (Skt. ' "buddha-fields"), throughout which there are innumerable buddhas and innumerable tenth-ground bodhisattvas who will become buddhas. Each is said to lead limitless sentient beings to liberation, yet the number of sentient beings remains essentially infinite.
Equality of buddhas
In the ''Mahāvastu'', there are some Lokottaravādin accounts of the nature of buddhas which have strong parallels to those in Mahayana sutras. In one section, a multitude of
deva
Deva may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster
* Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...
s are described as putting up sunshades in honor of the Buddha, who in turn shows himself sitting beneath each and every one. Each deva believes himself to be particularly honored, unaware of the fictitious character of his own buddha, who is no different from the others he sees. This has a parallel with an account in the ''
Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra''. In this text, the Buddha appears simultaneously on a vast number of lion-thrones prepared by various
deva
Deva may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster
* Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...
s, but each deva sees only the buddha that is sitting on his own throne. At the appropriate moment, all the buddhas are revealed to the devas, and one asks which is real – his own buddha, or all the others. In the ''Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra'', the Buddha's answer is ultimately that they are all equal, because the nature of buddhas is not apart from all phenomena.
Future buddhas
In the ''Mahāvastu'', the future buddha
Maitreya
Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...
is mentioned a number of times, and the text states that he will be just one of the one thousand buddhas who are destined to appear in the future following Gautama Buddha. The Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda view is contrasted with that of the
Theravada
''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...
, which holds that five buddhas are destined to follow Gautama.
See also
*
Buddhism in Afghanistan
References
Bibliography
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External links
* J. J. Jones (1949)
The Mahavastu (English translation) including footnotes and glossary
{{Buddhism topics
Nikaya schools
Mahāsāṃghika
Early Buddhist schools