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140-462: This sūtra was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese four times, the most complete and reliable of which is typically considered to be that of Xuanzang . It also was translated into Tibetan. The original Sanskrit text has not survived to the present day. The Ārya-saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra ( traditional Chinese : 解深密經 ; ; pinyin : Jiě Shēnmì Jīng ; Tibetan : དགོངས་པ་ངེས་འགྲེལ༏ , Wylie : dgongs pa nges 'grel Gongpa Ngédrel )

280-493: A Buddha's tooth relic and Buddha's broom made of "kasa grass". Outside is a vihara built ages ago, and many stupas to honor the arhats (Buddhist saints). South of Bactra is the country of Kacik, then the Great Snow Mountains with valleys "infested with gangs of brigands" (Li Rongxi translation). Crossing this pass, thereafter is the country of Bamiyana (a part of modern Afghanistan ). There, state his travelogue

420-539: A Buddhist stupa, such as raging flames bursting out of them leaving behind stream of pearls. The citizens here, states Xuanzang, worship pieces of Buddha's remains that were brought here in more ancient times. He mentions four stupas built in this area by king Ashoka . To Xuanzang, he entered India as he crossed the Black range and entered the country of Lampa. His travelogue presents India in fascicles separate from those for Central Asia. He, however, does not call it India, but

560-409: A chain, conditioning and depending on each other. When certain conditions are present, they give rise to subsequent conditions, which in turn give rise to other conditions. Phenomena are sustained only so long as their sustaining factors remain. The most common one is a list of twelve causes ( Pali : dvādasanidānāni, Sanskrit: dvādaśanidānāni ). Bucknell refers to it as the "standard list". It

700-528: A dark cave here where dangerous beings lived, recited Srimaladevi Simhanadasutra , and they became Buddhists. Thereafter they all burnt incense and worshipped the Buddha with flowers. Some five hundred li (~200 kilometer in 7th-century) to the southeast is the country of Gandhara – which some historic Chinese texts phonetically transcribed as Qiantuowei . On its east, it is bordered by the Indus river, and its capital

840-566: A desert, icy valleys and the Pamir range (which link Tian Shan , Karakoram , Kunlun , Uparisyena and the Himalaya mountain ranges). Here, observed Xuanzang, the wind is cold and "blows with a piercing vehemence" (Li Rongxi translation). Ferocious dragons live here and trouble the travellers particularly those who wear "reddish brown" color clothes. Thereafter, he crossed past a salty sea, one narrow from north to south and long from east to west, he calls

980-402: A great unified doctrine." This meditation refers to how bodhisattvas take as the object of their understanding all the doctrines of the sutras as "one accumulation, one whole, one gathering up, all in harmony with suchness, turning toward suchness, approaching suchness." The Buddha then explains the different ways that bodhisattvas know the doctrine and the meaning of the doctrine. He also explains

1120-563: A month, and studied the Madhyamika sastra with him. To the northeast of Varsha country, states Xuanzang, there is a lofty mountain with a bluish stone image of Bhimadevi . She is the wife of Mahesvara . It is a great site of pilgrimage, where Indians from very far come with prayers. At the foot of this mountain is another temple for Mahesvara where ceremonies are performed by naked heretics who smear ash on their body. About 30 li (about 12 kilometers in 7th-century) southeast from these temples

1260-401: A nature to cease." SA 296 describes them simply as "arising thus according to causal condition, these are called dharmas arisen by causal condition." Regarding the arising of suffering, SN 12.10 discusses how before the Buddha's awakening, he searched for the escape from suffering as follows: "when what exists is there old age and death? What is a condition for old age and death?", discovering

1400-682: A newly built great stupa. The Kashmira region has numerous monks well versed with the Tripitaka , states Xuanzang. He stays in Kashmira for two years and studies the treatises with them. Xuanzang describes many events where he is helped by both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. For example, he describes leaving the city of Sakala and Narasimha, then passing with his companions through the Great Palasha forest. They get robbed and are walked towards some dry pond to be killed. A monk and he slip away. They hurry towards

1540-914: A river with "poisonous dragons and evil animals". There, he visited a major Buddhist monastery of the Sautrantika school. From there, after covering some 2200 li, he passed through the country of Simhapura ( Kalabagh ), of Urasa (now Hazara ), and then into Kashmira. He was received by the king, and numerous monks from the Jayendra monastery. Kashmira is land with a very cold climate and is often calm without any wind. The region has lakes, grows plenty of flowers and fruit, saffron and medicinal herbs. Kashmira has over 100 monasteries and more than 5000 monks. The residents revere four large stupas that were built in ancient times by Ashoka. Emperor Kanishika too built many Buddhist monasteries here. He also had treatises with 960,000 words written on copper plates and had them stored in

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1680-503: A vassal of the Buddhist Kingdom of Kapisa found near Bamiyana . The monasteries in these kingdoms are splendid, with four corner towers and halls with three tiers. They have strange looking figures at the joints, rafters, eaves and roof beams. The Indians paint the walls, doors and windows with colors and pictures. People prefer to have home that look simple from outside, but is much decorated inside. They construct their homes such

1820-448: A village. Near it, they meet a Brahmana who is tilling his land. They tell him that robbers attacked them and their companions. The Brahmin goes to the village and beats a drum and blows a conch. About 80 men gather, and together they proceed to rescue the companions of Xuanzang. While other rescued companions of his wail about the loss of all their property, Xuanzang reminds them that they should all be happy to be alive and not worry about

1960-406: A way that they open towards the east. Xuanzang also describes implausible events such as glowing rock footprints of Buddha, dragons, tales of Naga, a stupa in which is preserved the Buddha's eyeball as "large as a crabapple" and that is "brilliant and transparent" throughout, a white stone Buddha idol that worked miracles and "frequently emitted light". The travelogue states that Xuanzang went into

2100-554: Is Dolpopa's Ocean of Definitive Meaning ( ri chos nges don rgya mtsho ) There is also the Legs-bshad-snying-po by Tsongkhapa, which focuses on the seventh chapter, and its commentary by dPal-'byor-lhun-grub. Xuanzang Xuanzang ( Chinese : 玄奘 ; Wade–Giles : Hsüen Tsang ; [ɕɥɛ̌n.tsâŋ] ; 6 April 602 – 5 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi ( 陳褘  / 陳禕 ), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva ,

2240-474: Is Purusapura . This is the land of ancient sages and authors of Indic sastras , and they include Narayanadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dharmatrata, Monaratha and Parshva. To the southeast of Purusapura city is a 400-foot-high stupa built by Emperor Kanishka , one with nearly 2000 feet in diameter and a 25 layer wheel on the top. There is a large monastery near it. Gandhara has numerous holy Buddhist sites, and Xuanzang visited and worshipped all of them. He calls

2380-442: Is Salatura , which says Xuanzang was the birthplace of Rishi Pāṇini and the author of "Sabda-vidya-sastra". Inspired by Mahesvara , this Rishi set out to "make inquiries into the way of learning" (Li Rongxi translation). He thoroughly studied all written and spoken language, words in ancient and his times, then created a treatise of one thousand stanzas. The heretics (Hindus) transmit this text orally from teacher to pupil, and it

2520-399: Is "a principle of causal regularity, a Basic Pattern (Dhamma) of things" which can be discovered, understood and then transcended. The principle of conditionality, which is real and stable, is contrasted with the "dependently arisen processes", which are described as "impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, of a nature to be destroyed, of a nature to vanish, of a nature to fade away, of

2660-569: Is Sanzang Fashi ( simplified Chinese : 三藏法师 ; traditional Chinese : 三藏法師 ; pinyin : Sānzàngfǎshī ; lit. 'Sanzang Dharma (or Law) Teacher'): 法 being a Chinese translation for Sanskrit " Dharma " or Pali / Prakrit Dhamma , the implied meaning being "Buddhism". "Sanzang" is the Chinese term for the Buddhist canon, or Tripiṭaka ("Three Baskets"), and in some English-language fiction and English translations of Journey to

2800-490: Is a colossal statue of standing Buddha, carved from a rock in the mountains, some one hundred and forty feet tall and decorated with gems. This valley has Buddhist monasteries, and also a colossal copper statue of the Buddha, that is over a hundred foot tall. He was told that it was cast in separate parts and then joined up together. To the east of a monastery in the Bamiyana valley was a Reclining Buddha entering Parinirvana that

2940-489: Is a condition for craving. This is the origin of suffering … [the same formula is repeated with the other six sense bases and six consciousnesses, that is, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind] Other depictions of the chain at SN 12.52 and its parallel at SA 286, begin with seeing the assada (taste; enjoyment; satisfaction) which leads to craving and the rest of the list of nidanas. Meanwhile, in SN 12.62 and SA 290, dependent origination

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3080-493: Is a key doctrine in Buddhism shared by all schools of Buddhism . It states that all dharmas (phenomena) arise in dependence upon other dharmas: "if this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist". The basic principle is that all things (dharmas, phenomena, principles) arise in dependence upon other things. The doctrine includes depictions of the arising of suffering ( anuloma-paṭiccasamuppāda , "with

3220-945: Is a mix of the implausible, the hearsay and a firsthand account. Selections from it are used, and disputed, as a terminus ante quem of 645 for events, names and texts he mentions. His text in turn provided the inspiration for the novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty , around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death. Less common romanizations of "Xuanzang" include Hyun Tsan, Hhuen Kwan, Hiuan Tsang, Hiouen Thsang, Hiuen Tsang, Hiuen Tsiang, Hsien-tsang, Hsyan-tsang, Hsuan Chwang, Huan Chwang, Hsuan Tsiang, Hwen Thsang, Hsüan Chwang, Hhüen Kwān, Xuan Cang, Xuan Zang, Shuen Shang, Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. Hsüan, Hüan, Huan and Chuang are also found. The sound written x in pinyin and hs in Wade–Giles , which represents

3360-447: Is action ( karma ) and result ( vipāka )" there is "no actor agent" ( kāraka ). It also states that dharmas of dependent origination are classified as conventional. The Kaccānagottasutta and its parallel also associates understanding dependent origination with avoiding views of a self (atman). This text states that if "you don't get attracted, grasp, and commit to the notion 'my self', you'll have no doubt or uncertainty that what arises

3500-502: Is also a large Chinese commentary by Woncheuk , a Korean student of Xuanzang which cites many sources with differing opinions. Large sections of the original Chinese have been lost, and the only complete edition that survives is in the Tibetan canon. According to Powers, "The text is a masterpiece of traditional Buddhist scholarship that draws upon a vast range of Buddhist literature, cites many different opinions, raises important points about

3640-481: Is an introduction and sets the setting, which is a immeasurable and brilliant celestial palace filled with innumerable beings and bodhisattvas. The second chapter focuses on the nature of the "ultimate meaning" ( paramārtha ) and how it is said to be "ineffable" and non-dual. This ultimate meaning cannot be seen through concepts and language, since all things are empty of any inherent essence ( svabhāva ) and words and ideas are provisional. Thus, while ultimate reality

3780-403: Is because bodhisattvas do not see any of these consciousnesses as real that they are said to be skilled in the ultimate meaning. Thus, the Buddha states: The appropriating consciousness is profound and subtle indeed; all its seeds are like a rushing torrent. Fearing that they would imagine and cling to it as to a self, I have not revealed it to the foolish. Chapter four explains the schema of

3920-417: Is beyond language, "apart from all names and words", noble awakened beings "provisionally invent" linguistic conventions such as "conditioned" and "unconditioned" in order to lead sentient beings to the truth. However these inventions have no absolute existence, they are like the creations of a magician, which only appear to be dualistic, but actually lead to a non-dual transcendent reality. This ultimate meaning

4060-399: Is described by the Buddha as follows: The sphere that is internally realized without descriptions cannot be spoken and severs expressions. Ultimate meaning, laying to rest all disputes, transcends all the descriptive marks of reasoning. Furthermore, the Buddha states in this chapter that "it is not reasonable to say that the descriptive marks of the truth of ultimate meaning are identical with

4200-415: Is explained as evolving toward illusory verbal imagining ( parikalpita ), but yet capable of being converted ( āśraya-parivṛtti ) to the full perfection of awakening ( pariniṣpanna )." Chapter Five begins with the bodhisattva Paramārthasamudgata, who asks what the Buddha's "implicit intent" is when he taught two kinds of doctrine: doctrines which explain reality by describing it analytically (such as through

4340-1092: Is found in Guang hongming ji from Daoxun and is also in Japanese and Korean texts. The 629 CE is found in Chinese and western versions. This confusion, though merely of two years, is of significance to western history. The date when Xuanzang's pilgrimage started is not resolved in any of the texts that Xuanzang himself wrote. Further, he did not write his own biography or travelogue, rather he recited it to his fellow monks after his return from India. Three of his immediate collaborators wrote his biography, and thus leaving three versions and with variant details. All three of these versions begin his pilgrimage in 629 CE. Yet, one version by Huili, states that Xuanzang met Yabghu Qaghan, someone who died in 628 CE according to Persian and Turkish records. If this detail in Xuanzang's biography and Persian-Turkish records are true, then Xuanzang must have left before Qaghan's death, or in 627 CE. In other words, some of

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4480-584: Is found in section 12 of the Samyutta Nikaya and its parallels, as well as in other suttas belonging to other Nikayas and Agamas. This list also appears in Mahasamghika texts like the Salistamba Sutra and in (later) works like Abhidharma texts and Mahayana sutras . According to Eviatar Shulman, "the 12 links are paticcasamuppada, " which is a process of mental conditioning. Cox notes that even though

4620-456: Is four: three months each of spring, summer, monsoon, and autumn. The kingdoms of India have numerous villages and cities. Their towns and cities have square walls, streets are winding and narrow, with shops lined along these roads. Wine is sold in shops on the side streets. Those whose profession is butchering, fishing, executioners, scavengers (people that kill living beings and deal with products derived from them) are not allowed to live inside

4760-440: Is important because "sentient beings superimpose the pattern of imaginative clinging over that of other-dependency and full perfection", and this leads to rebirth and wandering in saṃsāra. However, by attending to this teaching and giving rise to "a wisdom not permeated by language," sentient beings are able to destroy this pattern of imaginative clinging. Those beings that do not understand this teaching however might instead cling to

4900-617: Is just suffering arising, and what ceases is just suffering ceasing." Similarly, the Mahānidānasutta (DN 15) associates understanding dependent origination with abandoning various wrongs views about a self, while failing to understand it is associated becoming entangled in these views. Another sutra, SĀ 297, states that dependent origination is "the Dharma Discourse on Great Emptiness", and then proceeds to refute numerous forms of "self-view" ( ātmadṛṣṭi ). SN 12:12 (parallel at SĀ 372)

5040-542: Is not to obtain personal offerings. It is because I regretted, in my country, the Buddhist doctrine was imperfect and the scriptures were incomplete. Having many doubts, I wish to go and find out the truth, and so I decided to travel to the West at the risk of my life in order to seek for the teachings of which I have not yet heard, so that the Dew of the Mahayana sutras would have not only been sprinkled at Kapilavastu, but

5180-452: Is one of the most important texts of the Yogācāra tradition, and one of the earliest texts to expound the philosophy of Consciousness-only. The sūtra presents itself as a series of dialogues between Gautama Buddha and various bodhisattvas . During these dialogues, the Buddha attempts to clarify disputed meanings present in scriptures of the early Mahāyāna and the early Buddhist schools ; thus,

5320-480: Is rich and moist, cultivation productive, vegetation luxuriant. He adds that it has its own ancient customs, such as measuring its distance as " yojana ", equal to forty li, but varying between thirty and sixteen depending on the source. They divide day and night into kala, and substances into various divisions, all the way to a fineness that they call indivisible and emptiness. The country has three seasons: hot, cold, rainy according to some Buddhists; while others say it

5460-576: Is said to be Nirvana , "the stopping, or transcending, of conditioned co-arising" (Harvey). In the Mahānidānasutta (DN 15) the Buddha states that dependent origination is "deep and appears deep", and that it is "because of not understanding and not penetrating this teaching" that people become "tangled like a ball of string" in views ( diṭṭhis ), samsara, rebirth and suffering. SN 12.70 and its counterpart SA 347 state that "knowledge of Dhamma-stability" ( dhamma-tthiti-ñānam ) comes first, then comes knowledge of nirvana ( nibbane-ñānam ). However, while

5600-485: Is said to be "purified discipline and true insight accomplished through purified hearing and reflection." Chapter Seven describes the progressive "bodhisattva stages"( bhūmis) and the perfections or transcendent practices ( pāramitās ). The path stages and the pāramitās are presented as progressive steps on the path to awakening, each one being a key advance in wisdom and spiritual attainment. The six pāramitās for example as described as follows: Good son, [the former] are

5740-513: Is so because it is names and symbols that establish those marks, and there is no inherent characteristic in things. This then is what I call the no-essence of marks. The arising of things has no-essence, for all things arise in dependence upon others. This is so because they depend upon the causal power of others and do not arise from themselves. Therefore this is what I call the no-essence of arising. The ultimate truth of all things has no-essence, for, from their arising, all things have no-essence. This

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5880-430: Is something which is to be realized in meditation. Once one reaches oneness of mind ( cittaikāgratā ), one is able to see that reflected images only appear to be outside the mind, but like images in a mirror, are actually conscious constructions. This chapter also explains how the meditation of a bodhisattva is different from that of śrāvakas because bodhisattvas practice "the quietude and vision that take as their object

6020-431: Is that they describe the process of a sentient being's rebirth in saṃsāra , and the resultant duḥkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness), and they provide an analysis of rebirth and suffering that avoids positing an atman (unchanging self or eternal soul). The reversal of the causal chain is explained as leading to the cessation of rebirth (and thus, the cessation of suffering). Another interpretation regards

6160-467: Is the "best of all conditioned states" (AN.II.34). Therefore, according to Harvey, the four noble truths "can be seen as an application of the principle of conditioned co-arising focused particularly on dukkha." In the early Buddhist texts , dependent origination is analyzed and expressed in various lists of dependently originated phenomena (dhammas) or causes (nidānas) . Nidānas are co-dependent principles, processes or events, which act as links on

6300-552: Is the country of (modern Nangarhar ), with many Buddhist monasteries and five Deva temples. The number of monks here, however, are few. The stupa are deserted and in a dilapidated condition. The local Buddhists believe that the Buddha taught here while flying in the air, because were he to walk here, it caused many earthquakes. Nagarahara has a 300 feet high stupa built by Ashoka , with marvellous sculptures. Xuanzang paid homage by circling it. Both Lampaka and Nagarahara countries were independent with their own kings, but they have become

6440-407: Is the reason for the sequence of the six perfections in my preaching. The six pāramitās are explained as each having three components : The three subdivisions of giving are the giving of doctrine, the giving of material goods, and the giving of fearlessness. The three subdivisions of discipline are the discipline to turn away from what is not good, the discipline to turn toward what is good, and

6580-400: Is the suchness of what is given, that is, the truth about suffering that I have preached. The fifth is the suchness of false conduct, that is, the truth about the origin [of suffering] that I have preached. The sixth is the suchness of purification, that is, the truth of the destruction [of suffering] that I have preached. And the seventh is the suchness of correct practice, that is, the truth of

6720-555: Is the three natures and the three no-essences. This explicit meaning is said to "pervade all scriptures of implicit meaning with its identical, single hue, and thus demonstrates the implicit meaning of those scriptures." Thus while the teachings of the other two turnings require interpretation, the third turning "was the most marvelous and wonderful that had ever occurred in the world. It had no superior nor did it contain any implicit meaning nor occasion any controversy." Chapter Six explains yoga and śamatha - vipaśyanā meditations from

6860-469: Is this grand mass of suffering,' [the last of the twelve conditions]. The pattern of full perfection refers to the universally equal suchness of all things. Bodhisattvas penetrate to this suchness because of their resolute zeal, intelligent focusing, and true reflection. By gradually cultivating this penetration, they reach unsurpassed true awakening and actually realize perfection. As Keenan notes, "the basic interdependent ( paratantra ) nature of consciousness

7000-749: Is this that makes the Brahmanas of this city "great scholars of high talent with knowledge of wide scope". They have an image of Pāṇini installed in reverence of him in this city of Salatura . The country of Takka is south of Kashmira , extending from the Indus river to its west and Vipasha river to its east. They produce abundant quantities of non-sticky rice and wheat, also gold, brass, iron and other metals. They do not believe in Buddhism, and pray in several hundred deva temples. This country has ten Buddhist monasteries left. There were many more before, states Xuanzang. These were destroyed few hundred years ago, during

7140-490: Is variously romanized as Sandhinirmocana Sutra and Samdhinirmocana Sutra . The full Sanskrit title includes "Ārya" which means noble or excellent. The title has been variously translated as: Like many early Mahāyāna sūtras , precise dating for the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra is difficult to achieve. Étienne Lamotte believed that the text was assembled from earlier, independent fragments. Other scholars believe that

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7280-426: Is what I call the no-essence that is identical with the conditioned arising of things. I also call it the no-essence of ultimate meaning because I preach that among all things, that realm of the purified content of understanding is to be regarded as the no-essence of ultimate meaning. Thus, these "three no-essences" are said to correspond to the three natures: The Buddha then explains that understanding this teaching

7420-491: The Kaccānagottasutta (SN 12.15, parallel at SA 301), the Buddha states that "this world mostly relies on the dual notions of existence and non-existence" and then explains the right view as follows: But when you truly see the origin of the world with right understanding, you won't have the notion of non-existence regarding the world. And when you truly see the cessation of the world with right understanding, you won't have

7560-624: The Paccaya sutta (SN 12.20 and its parallel in SA 296) , dependent origination is the basic principle of conditionality which is at play in all conditioned phenomena. This principle is invariable and stable, while the "dependently arisen processes" ( paṭiccasamuppannā dhammā ) are variable and impermanent. Peter Harvey argues that there is an "overall Basic Pattern that is Dhamma" within which "specific basic patterns (dhammas) flow into and nurture each other in complex, but set, regular patterns.". According to

7700-518: The Paccaya sutta (SN 12.20) and its parallel, this natural law of this/that conditionality is independent of being discovered by a Buddha (a " Tathāgata "), just like the laws of physics . The Paccaya sutta states that whether or not there are Buddhas who see it "this elemental fact ( dhātu , or "principle") just stands ( thitā ), this basic-pattern-stability ( dhamma-tthitatā ), this basic-pattern-regularity ( dhamma-niyāmatā ): specific conditionality ( idappaccayatā )." Bhikkhu Sujato translates

7840-503: The dharma : "One who sees dependent origination sees the Dharma. One who sees the Dharma sees dependent origination." And these five grasping aggregates are indeed dependently originated. The desire, adherence, attraction, and attachment for these five grasping aggregates is the origin of suffering. Giving up and getting rid of desire and greed for these five grasping aggregates is the cessation of suffering. A well-known early exposition of

7980-715: The early Buddhist texts . It is the main topic of the Nidana Samyutta of the Theravada school's Saṃyuttanikāya (henceforth SN). A parallel collection of discourses also exists in the Chinese Saṁyuktāgama (henceforth SA). Dependent origination is a philosophically complex concept, subject to a large variety of explanations and interpretations. As the interpretations often involve specific aspects of dependent origination, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive to each other. Dependent origination can be contrasted with

8120-740: The nidānas can be found in the Pali SN 12.2 ( Vibhaṅga "Analysis" sutta ) and in its parallel at SA 298. Further parallels to SN 12.2 can be found at EA 49.5, some Sanskrit parallels such as the Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśanāmasūtra (The Discourse giving the Explanation and Analysis of Conditional Origination from the Beginning) and a Tibetan translation of this Sanskrit text at Toh 211. A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms : "Becoming. States of being that develop first in

8260-660: The "three natures" ( trisvabhāva ): the imagined, the other-dependent and the fully perfected. These are described as follows: The pattern of clinging to what is entirely imagined refers to the establishing of names and symbols for all things and the distinguishing of their essences, whereby they come to be expressed in language. The pattern of other-dependency refers to the pattern whereby all things arise co-dependently: for if this exists, then that exists, and if this arises, then that arises. This refers to [the twelvefold conditions , starting with] 'conditioned by ignorance are karmic formations,' [and ending with] 'conditioned by origination

8400-531: The "view of nihilism and the nonexistence of all marks," and so they "negate all three characteristic patterns." This chapter also provides the hermeneutical schema of the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma . This is intended to clarify confusing or contradictory elements of earlier teachings by presenting a new teaching that resolves earlier inconsistencies by uniting all previous doctrines. The Sūtra affirms that

8540-557: The Avalokitesvara Bodhusattva image, one is noted for "its miraculous manifestations". Crossing another 1000 li, he reached Darada valley – the old capital of Udayana, with a 100 feet golden wood statue of Maitreya Boddhisattva. This statue, states his travelogue, was built by an artist who went three times into heaven to see how he looks and then carve the realistic image of him on earth. Xuanzang arrived in Taxila, after crossing

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8680-450: The Buddha is asked a series of questions about the self (who feels? who craves? etc.), the Buddha states that these questions are invalid, and instead teaches dependent origination. SĀ 80 also discuss an important meditative attainment called the emptiness concentration ( śūnyatā­samādhi ) which in this text is associated contemplating how phenomena arise due to conditions and are subject to cessation. According to early suttas like AN 3.61,

8820-440: The Buddha understood experiences as "processes subject to causation". Bhikkhu Bodhi writes that specific conditionality "is a relationship of indispensability and dependency: the indispensability of the condition (e.g. birth) to the arisen state (e.g. aging and death), the dependency of the arisen state upon its condition." Peter Harvey states this means that "nothing (except nirvāna) is independent. The doctrine thus complements

8960-726: The Eastern Cakuri monastery and Ascarya monastery, with Buddha's footprints and Buddha idols. According to Xuanzang's accounts, mystical light emanated from Buddha's footprints on "fast days". In the country of Baluka, the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism was in vogue. He crossed the countries of Samarkand, Mimohe, Kaputana, Kusanika, Bukhara, Betik, Horismika and Tukhara. These had cities near rivers or lakes, then vast regions with no inhabitants, little water or grass. He describes warring factions of Turk chieftains in control, with "illness and pestilence" rampant. From here, he crossed

9100-517: The Great Pure Lake. He describes supernatural monsters, fishes and dragons living in this lake. The Xuanzang travelogues then rush through the names of many countries, stating that more details are provided in the return part of his journey, as he crosses into country of Bactra (modern Balkh ). He adds that the Hinayana Buddhist schools were followed in all these regions. In the capital of

9240-560: The Sui Dynasty collapsed and Xuanzang and his brother fled to Chang'an , which had been proclaimed as the capital of the Tang dynasty , and thence southward to Chengdu , Sichuan . Here the two brothers spent two or three years in further study in the monastery of Kong Hui, including the Abhidharma-kośa Śāstra . The abbot Zheng Shanguo allowed Xuanzang to study these advanced subjects though he

9380-554: The West , Xuanzang is addressed as "Tripitaka." Xuanzang was born Chen Hui (or Chen Yi) on 6 April 602 CE in Chenhe Village, Goushi Town ( Chinese : 緱氏鎮 ), Luozhou (near present-day Luoyang , Henan ). His family was noted for its erudition for generations, and Xuanzang was the youngest of four children. His ancestor was Chen Shi (104–186), a minister of the Eastern Han dynasty . His great-grandfather Chen Qin (陳欽) served as

9520-436: The Yogācāra perspective. In this chapter, the Buddha teaches Maitreya that a bodhisattva's support for meditation is "the conventional exposition of the doctrine and the commitment not to cast off full, supreme awakening." Śamatha according to this sutra is the continuous focusing of the mind, while vipaśyanā is the understanding of the true nature of things, which refers to the suchness ( tathatā ) and emptiness explained in

9660-498: The apparently fragmentary nature of the early versions of the scripture may represent piecemeal attempts at translation, rather than a composite origin for the text itself. The earliest forms of the text may date from as early as the 1st or 2nd Century CE. The final form of the text was probably assembled no earlier than the 3rd Century CE, and by the 4th Century significant commentaries on the text began to be composed by Buddhist scholars, most notably Asaṅga . The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra

9800-458: The appearance of name and form. The standard listing then follows. SN 12.38 (and the parallel at SA 359) contain a much shorter sequence, it begins with willing as above which leads to consciousness, then following after consciousness it states: "there is in the future the becoming of rebirth ( punabbhavabhinibbatti )", which leads to "coming-and-going ( agatigati )", followed by "decease-and-rebirth ( cutupapato )" and following that "there arise in

9940-505: The appropriating consciousness ( ādānavijñāna ), or receptacle consciousness, and how it is related to perception and thought. The ālayavijñāna is the "support and ground" for the existence of sentient beings in the various realms. It appropriates the body, images and words, and out of it evolve the various sense consciousnesses (including the mind consciousness, manas ). The Buddha emphasizes however that these processes are dependent on conditions and are thus not ultimately real. Indeed, it

10080-472: The arising (uppada) of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be. With the cessation (nirodha) of this, that ceases. According to Paul Williams "this is what causation is for early Buddhist thought. It is a relationship between events, and is what we call it when if X occurs Y follows, and when X does not occur Y does not follow." Richard Gombrich writes that this basic principle that "things happen under certain conditions" means that

10220-442: The basic description of the stability of dependent origination as "the fact that this is real, not unreal, not otherwise". The Chinese parallel at SA 296 similarly states that dependent origination is "the constancy of dharmas, the certainty of dharmas, suchness of dharmas, no departure from the true, no difference from the true, actuality, truth, reality, non-confusion". According to Harvey, these passages indicate that conditionality

10360-502: The basic principle of causality is said to have led to the stream entry of Sariputta and Moggallāna . This ye dharmā hetu phrase, which appears in the Vinaya (Vin.I.40) and other sources, states: Of those dharmas which arise from a cause, the Tathagata has stated the cause, and also their cessation. A similar phrase is uttered by Kondañña , the first convert to realize awakening at

10500-422: The bodhisattvas do not discard, this is: "the final separation of those images clung to by imagination, with all their varieties of defilement and purity, from both the pattern of other-dependency and the pattern of full perfection: [i.e.,] the complete nonattainment [of such imagined things] in those [patterns of consciousness]." The Buddha also notes that the cause of the practice of calm and insight meditation

10640-420: The chain of conditions as expressed in the twelve nidanas and other lists. MN 26 also reports that after the Buddha's awakening, he considered that dependent origination was one of the two principles which were "profound ( gambhira ), difficult to see, difficult to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the scope of mere reasoning ( atakkāvacara ), subtle." The other principle which is profound and difficult to see

10780-529: The chain with both consciousness and name and form conditioning each other in a cyclical relationship. It also states that "consciousness turns back, it goes no further than name and form." SN 12.67 also contains a chain with consciousness and name and form being in a reciprocal relationship. In this sutta, Sariputta states that this relationship is like two sheaves of reeds leaning on each other for support (the parallel at SA 288 has three sheaves instead). There are also several passages with chains that begin with

10920-419: The cities. The cities are built from bricks, while homes are either made mostly from bricks or from "wattled bamboo or wood". Cottages are thatched with straw and grass. The residents of India clean their floor and then smear it with a preparation of cow dung, followed by decorating it with flowers, unlike Chinese homes. Their children go to school at age seven, where they begin learning a number of treatises of

11060-688: The classic Western concept of causation in which an action by one thing is said to cause a change in another thing. Dependent origination instead views the change as being caused by many factors, not just one or even a few. The principle of dependent origination has a variety of philosophical implications. Pratītyasamutpāda consists of two terms: Pratītyasamutpāda has been translated into English as dependent origination , dependent arising , interdependent co-arising , conditioned arising , and conditioned genesis . Jeffrey Hopkins notes that terms synonymous to pratītyasamutpāda are apekṣasamutpāda and prāpyasamutpāda . The term may also refer to

11200-572: The country of Agni had more than ten monasteries following the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism, with two thousand monks who ate " three kinds of pure meat " with other foods, rather than vegetarian food only that would be consistent with Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Therefore, the Buddhists in this country had stagnated in their Buddhist teachings. Moving further westward, Xuanzang met about two thousand Turkic robbers on horses. The robbers began fighting with each other on how to fairly divide

11340-476: The country of Bactra, states Xuanzang, is a monastery with a Buddha's idol decorated with jewels and its halls studded with rare precious substances. The Buddhist monastery also has an image of Vaishravana deity as its guardian. The monastery and the capital attracts repeated raids from the Turk chieftains who seek to loot these precious jewels. This monastery has a large bathing pot that looks dazzlingly brilliant and has

11480-445: The descriptive marks of conditioned states of being, nor that they are entirely different one from the other." Rather, ultimate meaning transcends both of these characterizations. The Buddha also states that "only it is eternal and permanent," and also this ultimate meaning "is of one universal taste," is undifferentiated and is present in all compounded things. Chapter three discusses the ālayavijñāna (store consciousness), also called

11620-517: The details in the surviving versions of Xuanzang biography were invented or a paleographic confusion introduced an error, or the Persian-Turkish records are unreliable. The Japanese version is based on 8th to 10th-century translations of texts that ultimately came from Xuanzang's monastery, which unfortunately has added to the confusion. Most sources state that Xuanzang started his pilgrimage in 629 CE. Purpose of journey The purpose of my journey

11760-436: The development of compassion and wisdom. It also explains the meaning of the sutras, vinaya and matṛkas . In this chapter, the Buddha explains to Mañjuśrī that a Buddha's limitless compassionate actions are done without any manifest activity. It is thus said that "the Dharma body of all Tathāgatas is apart from all effort." The chapter also explains the doctrine of the three bodies of the Buddha ( Trikāya ). It also explains

11900-410: The discernment that has as its object the truth of ultimate meaning; and the discernment that has as its object the benefiting of sentient beings. This chapter also affirms the doctrine of "one vehicle" ( ekayāna ) which holds that "the vehicle of the śrāvakas and Mahāyāna vehicle are but a single vehicle." The final chapter explains the wisdom and activity of Buddhahood , which is the culmination of

12040-449: The discipline to turn toward benefiting sentient beings. The three subdivisions of patience are the patience to endure insult and injury, the patience to abide peacefully in suffering, and the patience to investigate doctrine. The three subdivisions of zeal are the zeal which protects one like armor, the zeal to exert effort in engendering good, and the zeal to exert effort in benefiting sentient beings. The three subdivisions of meditation are

12180-485: The diversity of languages spoken, how harmonious and elegant they sound when they speak their languages, Xuanzang presents the various kingdoms of India. Xuanzang includes a section on the differences between the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhist communities. There are eighteen sects in Buddhism, according to Xuanzang. They stand against each other, debate "various viewpoints, as vehemently as crashing waves". Though they share

12320-513: The dragon-horses. These were men who will have massacred an entire city, leaving the place deserted.". Further west he passed Aksu before turning northwest to cross the Tian Shan and then Tokmak on its northwest. He met the great Khagan of the Göktürks . After a feast, Xuanzang continued west then southwest to Tashkent , capital of modern Uzbekistan . Xuanzang describes more monasteries, such as

12460-542: The earlier "turnings of the wheel of Dharma"—the teachings of the Śrāvaka Vehicle ( Śrāvakayāna ) and the emptiness ( śūnyatā ) doctrine found in the Prajñaparamita sutras—are authentic, but require interpretation if they are not to contradict each other. Thus, the Buddha states that there is an "underlying intent" to these two teachings, which is only explicitly revealed in the Saṃdhinirmocana. That underlying intent

12600-457: The early scriptures contain numerous variations of lists, the 12 factor list became the standard list in the later Abhidharma and Mahayana treatises. The most common interpretation of the twelve cause list in the traditional exegetical literature is that the list is describing the conditional arising of rebirth in saṃsāra , and the resultant duḥkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness). An alternative Theravada interpretation regards

12740-499: The end of the first sermon given by the Buddha : "whatever has the nature to arise ( samudaya dhamma ) also has the nature to pass away ( nirodha dhamma )." The early Buddhist texts also associate dependent arising with emptiness and not-self. The early Buddhist texts outline different ways in which dependent origination is a middle way between different sets of "extreme" views (such as " monist " and " pluralist " ontologies or materialist and dualist views of mind-body relation). In

12880-632: The famed Nalanda University in modern day Bihar , India where he studied with the monk, Śīlabhadra . He departed from India with numerous Sanskrit texts on a caravan of twenty packhorses. His return was welcomed by Emperor Taizong in China, who encouraged him to write a travelogue. This Chinese travelogue, titled the Records of the Western Regions , is a notable source about Xuanzang, and also for scholarship on 7th-century India and Central Asia. His travelogue

13020-478: The few monks who can expound all four are provided with lay servants. Expounders of five texts have elephants for travel, while six texts entitles them to security retinue. Xuanzang describes Lampaka (modern Laghman , near the source of Kabul river) as the territory of north India, one whose circuit is more than 1000 li and where all monasteries studied Mahayana Buddhism. They have tens of Deva temples (Hindu) which heretics (non-Buddhists) frequent. To its southeast

13160-699: The five knowledges – first grammar, second technical skills which he states includes arts, mechanics, yin-yang and the calendar, third medicine, fourth being logic, and fifth field of knowledge taught is inner knowledge along with theory of cause and effect. After further similar introduction covering the diverse aspects of the Indian culture he observed, including fashion, hair styles, preference for being barefoot, ritual washing their hands after releasing bodily waste, cleaning teeth by chewing special tree twigs, taking baths before going to their temples, worshipping in their temples, their alphabet that contains forty seven letters,

13300-406: The flavour in enfettering dharmas ( saññojaniyesu dhammesu ), there comes the appearance ( avakkanti ) of consciousness." There then follows the standard list. Then it states that if someone abides by seeing the danger ( adinavanupassino ) in the dharmas (the Chinese has seeing impermanence ), there is no appearance of consciousness (Chinese has mind ). SN 12.65 and 67 (and SA 287 and 288) begin

13440-530: The four categories of self, other, both or neither (non-causality)." A related statement can be found in the Paramārtha­śūnyatāsūtra (Dharma Discourse on Ultimate Emptiness, SĀ 335, parallel at EĀ 37:7), which states that when a sense organ arises "it does not come from any location...it does not go to any location", as such it is said to be "unreal, yet arises; and on having arisen, it ends and ceases." Furthermore this sutra states that even though "there

13580-463: The future birth, ageing-and-death, grief, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair." Another short sequence is found at SN 12. 66 and SA 291 which contain an analysis of dependent origination with just three factors: craving ( tanha ), basis ( upadhi , possibly related to upadana), and suffering ( dukkha ). In SN 12.59 and its counterpart SA 284, there is a chain that starts by saying that for someone who "abides in seeing [the Chinese has grasping at ]

13720-411: The grain", forward conditionality) and depictions of how the chain can be reversed ( paṭiloma-paṭiccasamuppāda , "against the grain", reverse conditionality). These processes are expressed in various lists of dependently originated phenomena, the most well-known of which is the twelve links or nidānas (Pāli: dvādasanidānāni, Sanskrit: dvādaśanidānāni ). The traditional interpretation of these lists

13860-588: The king of Kashmira and Gandhara. Xuanzang recites the hearsay stories he heard about Mahirakula's continued cruelty and destruction of 1600 stupas and monasteries. Xuanzang then describes the surviving monasteries in Sagala with hundreds of Buddhist monks, along with its three colossal stupas, each over 200 feet tall, two built by Ashoka. Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da Pratītyasamutpāda ( Sanskrit : प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद, Pāli : paṭiccasamuppāda ), commonly translated as dependent origination , or dependent arising ,

14000-408: The later form of Mahayana prospered. According to Xuanzang, these monasteries of early Buddhist schools are desolate and attract few monks. He then reached the city of Hi-lo and Manglaur . In all these places, he mentions how the Buddha lived here in one of his previous lives (Jataka legends) and illustrated compassion-strength through his actions. There is a Buddhist temple northeast of Manglaur with

14140-400: The letting go of ten progressively subtler "difficult to abandon" images ( nimittas ) which are abandoned through different meditations on emptiness: The Buddha also states that in the practice of meditation, bodhisattvas "gradually refine their thoughts as one refines gold until they realize supreme awakening." The Buddha further explains that there is an "overall image of emptiness" which

14280-511: The list as describing the arising of mental formations and the resultant notion of "I" and "mine," which are the source of suffering. Understanding the relationships between these phenomena is said to lead to nibbana , complete freedom from the cyclical rebirth cycles of samsara . Traditionally, the reversal of the causal chain is explained as leading to the cessation of mental formations and rebirth. Alex Wayman notes that "according to Buddhist tradition, Gautama discovered this formula during

14420-468: The lists as describing the arising of mental processes and the resultant notion of "I" and "mine" that leads to grasping and suffering. Several modern western scholars argue that there are inconsistencies in the list of twelve links, and regard it to be a later synthesis of several older lists and elements, some of which can be traced to the Vedas . The doctrine of dependent origination appears throughout

14560-588: The loot. After the loot had thus been lost, they dispersed. Xuanzang thereafter reached the country of Kuchi . This country of 1000 li by 600 li, had over one hundred monasteries with five thousand monks following the Sarvastivada school of Hinayana Buddhism, and studying its texts in "original Indian language". Xuanzang writes of a dragon race and a region where water dragons metamorphose into horses to mate and create dragon-horses, also into men and mating with women nearby, creating dragon-men who could run as fast as

14700-558: The loss of property. The villagers help his companions and him by hosting them before the resume their journey. Yet, elsewhere, Xuanzang also recites the implausible tale of meeting a Brahmana who was 700 years old and had two associates, each over 100 years old, who had mastered all of the Vedas and the Buddhist Madhyamika sastra . He calls them heretics (non-Buddhists). These heretics help him and his companions get new garments and food. He stayed with this implausibly old Brahmana for

14840-404: The meditation of abiding in happiness, which counteracts all the suffering of passion because it is non-discriminative, tranquil, very tranquil, and irreproachable; the meditation that engenders the good quality [of concentration]; and the meditation that produces benefit for sentient beings. The three subdivisions of discernment are the discernment that has as its object worldly, conventional truth;

14980-424: The mind and can then be experienced as internal worlds and/or as worlds on an external level." There are various interpretations of what this term means. The twelve branched list, though popular, is just one of the many lists of dependently originated dharmas which appear in the early sources. According to Analayo, the alternative lists of dependently arisen phenomena are equally valid "alternative expressions of

15120-509: The most important Mahayana scriptures. Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, near present-day Luoyang , in Henan province of China. As a boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. Xuanzang was ordained as a śrāmaṇera (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to

15260-476: The nature of relative and ultimate truth as well as the various ways of reasoning. The nature of a Buddha's omniscience is also explained. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra was adopted by the Yogācāra as one of its primary scriptures. In addition, it inspired a great deal of additional writing, including discussions by Asaṅga, Vasubandhu , Xuanzang, Woncheuk (Traditional Chinese: 圓測), and a large body of Tibetan literature founded on Je Tsongkhapa 's writings concerning

15400-426: The night of Enlightenment and by working backward from "old age and death" in the reverse of the arising order." Wayman also writes that "in time, the twelve members were depicted on the rim of a wheel representing samsara." The popular listing of twelve nidānas is found in numerous sources. In some of the early texts, the nidānas themselves are defined and subjected to analysis ( vibhaṅga ). The explanations of

15540-512: The notion of existence regarding the world. The Kaccānagottasutta then places the teaching of dependent origination (listing the twelve nidanas in forward and reverse order) as a middle way which rejects these two "extreme" metaphysical views which can be seen as two mistaken conceptions of the self. According to Hùifēng, a recurring theme throughout the Nidānasamyutta (SN 12) is the Buddha's "rejection of arising from any one or other of

15680-454: The path that I have preached. The Buddha is then asked by Maitreya how one cultivates meditation by abandoning various mental images (or 'signs'). The Buddha explains that when one reflects on "true suchness", one abandons "images of doctrine and images of meaning," since true suchness has no image. He also states that if one has an uncultivated mind "one will not sustain a true understanding of suchness." Furthermore, mental cultivation entails

15820-409: The phonetic equivalent of what previously has been variously interpreted as "Tianzhu" or "Shengdu" or "Xiandou". More recent scholarship suggests the closest pronunciation of the 7th-century term in his travelogues would be "Indu". Xuanzang states that India is a vast country over ninety thousand li in circuit, with seventy kingdoms, sea on three sides and snow mountains to its north. It is a land that

15960-551: The political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty , he went to Chengdu in Sichuan , where he was ordained as a bhikṣu (full monk) at the age of twenty. He later travelled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang'an , then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang , where Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian 's visit to India and, like him,

16100-689: The prefect of Shangdang (上黨; present-day Changzhi , Shanxi ) during the Eastern Wei ; his grandfather Chen Kang (陳康) was a professor in the Taixue (Imperial Academy) during the Northern Qi . His father Chen Hui (陳惠) served as the magistrate of Jiangling County during the Sui dynasty . According to traditional biographies, Xuanzang displayed a superb intelligence and earnestness, studied with his father, and amazed him by his careful observance of filial piety after one such study about that topic. His elder brother

16240-444: The previous chapters. Through meditation, one is able to eradicate the mental afflictions and gain insight into ultimate reality. In śamatha-vipaśyanā meditation, bodhisattvas focus on four kinds of support ( ālambana ): This chapter also contains the teaching that all things are vijñaptimātra. The Buddha states that "I have taught that the object of consciousness is nothing but a manifestation of conscious construction only." This

16380-481: The process which leads to nirvāna is conditioned, nirvāna itself is called "unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconstructed" ( Ud . 80–1). The Milinda Panha compares to how a mountain is not dependent on the path that leads to it (Miln. 269)". According to Harvey, since it is "not co-arisen ( asamuppana ) ( It . 37–8), nirvāna is not something that is conditionally arisen, but is the stopping of all such processes." MN 28 associates knowing dependent origination with knowing

16520-399: The rule of a king named Mahirakula ( Mihirakula ). The king did this in anger because when he asked the monasteries in his domain for a Buddhist teacher to teach him Buddhism, the Buddhists did not send to him any learned scholar. Mahirakula cruel deed against the Buddhists triggered the king of Magadha to go to war with him. Mahirakula is defeated, forgiven but returns to power by assassinating

16660-429: The s- or sh-like [ɕ] in today's Mandarin, was previously pronounced as the h-like [x] in early Mandarin, which accounts for the archaic transliterations with h . Another form of his official style was "Yuanzang", written 元奘. It is this form that accounts for such variants as Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. Tang Monk (Tang Seng) is also transliterated /Thang Seng/. Another of Xuanzang's standard aliases

16800-497: The same capital region, there is a Hinayana monastery with 300 monks at the northern foothills. The citizens of this country, adds Xuanzang, fondly recall "King Kanishka of Gandhara " (2nd-century CE, Kushan empire ). To its east are the "City of Svetavat temple" and the Aruna Mountain known for its frequent avalanches. His travelogue then describes several popular legends about a Naga king. He also describes miraculous events from

16940-480: The same goal, they study different subjects and use sharp words to argue. Each Buddhist sect has different set of rules and regulations for their monks. The monks who cannot expound a single text must do the routine monastic duties (cleaning monastery and such). Those who can expound one Buddhist text flawlessly is exempt from such duties. Those who can recite two texts, get better quality rooms. Monks who can expound three Buddhist texts get attendants to serve them, while

17080-422: The same principle." Choong notes that some discourses (SN 12.38-40 and SA 359-361) contain only 11 elements, omitting ignorance and starting out from willing ( ceteti ). SN 12.39 begins with three synonyms for saṅkhāra, willing, intending ( pakappeti ) and carrying out ( anuseti ). It then states that "this becomes an object ( arammanam ) for the persistence of consciousness ( viññanassa-thitiya )" which leads to

17220-733: The schemas of dependent origination, the four noble truths, and the realms of existence), and also those doctrines which state that "all things have no-essence, no arising, no passing away, are originally quiescent, and are essentially in cessation." In answering this question, the Buddha applies his schema of the three natures to understand the nature of absence of essence. The Buddha states there are three ways in which things are said to have no essence: I have explained that all things whatsoever have no-essence, for descriptive marks have no-essence, arising has no-essence, and ultimate meaning has no-essence. Good son, descriptive marks have no-essence, for all things are characterized by imaginative clinging. This

17360-600: The scripture. There are two commentaries on this sutra attributed to Asaṅga, the Compendium of Ascertainments ( Viniscaya-samgrahani ) and the Commentary on the Āryasaṃdhinirmocana ( Āryasaṃdhinirmocana-bhasya ). There is another extant commentary, attributed to Jñānagarbha which is only on the eighth chapter of the sutra, the Maitreya chapter, titled the " Āryasaṃdhinirmocana-sutre-arya-maitreya-kevala-parivarta-bhasya ". There

17500-435: The second and third noble truths of the four noble truths are directly correlated to the principle of dependent origination. The second truth applies dependent origination in a direct order, while the third truth applies it in inverse order. Furthermore, according to SN 12.28, the noble eight-fold path (the fourth noble truth) is the path which leads to the cessation of the twelve links of dependent origination and as such

17640-426: The seven types of suchness that bodhisattvas reflect on: The first is the suchness of the transmigratory flow, for all conditioned states of being have neither beginning nor end. The second is the suchness of descriptive marks, for in all things both persons and things have no-self. The third is the suchness of conscious construction, for all conditioned states of being are nothing but conscious construction. The fourth

17780-414: The six sense spheres ( ayatana ). They can be found in SN 12. 24, SA 343, SA 352-354, SN 12. 13-14 and SN 12. 71-81. Another one of these is found in SN 35.106, which is termed the "branched version" by Bucknell because it branches off into six classes of consciousness: Eye consciousness arises dependent on the eye and sights. The meeting of the three is contact. Contact is a condition for feeling. Feeling

17920-629: The stupas and the Buddha images in this region as "magnificent" and made with "perfect craftmanship". Heading north towards Kashmir , he arrived in the city of Pushkalavati , with many holy Buddhist sites. Xuanzang worshipped at these "great stupas and big monasteries". Thereafter he reached the country of Udayana, through which flowed the Subhavastu river (now called Swat river). It had 1400 monasteries of five early Buddhist schools (of 18 sub-traditions) – Sarvastivada , Mahāsāṃghika , Kasyapiya, Mahisasaka and Dharmagupta. These schools became unpopular, as

18060-463: The sublime truth may also be known in the eastern country. In 630 CE, he arrived in the kingdom of Agni (Yanqi, in a place called Turpan ). Here he met the king, a Buddhist along with his uncle Jnanachandra and precept Mokshagupta, who tried to persuade him to quit his journey and teach them Buddhist knowledge. He declined and they equipped him further for his travels with letters of introduction and valuables to serve as funds. Xuanzang observed that

18200-468: The support that enables one to produce the latter. This means that bodhisattvas are able to acquire purified discipline through being generous with their physical possessions [through giving]. They practice patience because they guard discipline. By practicing patience, they become capable of producing zeal. By producing zeal, they become capable of accomplishing meditation. Endowed with meditation, they become able to obtain transcendent discernment. This, then,

18340-416: The teaching that no permanent, independent self can be found." Ajahn Brahm argues that the grammar of the above passage indicates that one feature of the Buddhist principle of causality is that "there can be a substantial time interval between a cause and its effect. It is a mistake to assume that the effect follows one moment after its cause, or that it appears simultaneously with its cause." According to

18480-460: The thought of the Sūtra, and provides explanations of virtually every technical term and phrase." In the Tibetan tradition, there is a Tibetan commentary attributed to Byang chub rdzu 'phrul , most Tibetan scholars hold that this refers to Cog-ro Klu'i-rgyal-mtshan (Chokro Lüi Gyaltsen, 8th century). Another influential commentary which mentions this sutra (and others considered part of the third turning)

18620-473: The title of the sūtra, which promises to expound a teaching that is "completely explicit" and requires no interpretation in order to be understood. The sūtra is divided into various chapters or sections which vary depending on the translation, the Tibetan version translated by Powers has ten, Xuanzang's Chinese version (trans. Keenan) has eight chapters. The analysis below is based on Xuanzang's version ( Taisho Tripitaka Volume 16, Number 676). The first chapter

18760-399: The twelve nidānas , Pali : dvādasanidānāni, Sanskrit: dvādaśanidānāni, from dvādaśa ("twelve") + nidānāni (plural of " nidāna ", "cause, motivation, link"). Generally speaking, in the Mahayana tradition, pratityasamutpada (Sanskrit) is used to refer to the general principle of interdependent causation, whereas in the Theravada tradition, paticcasamuppāda (Pali) is used to refer to

18900-465: The twelve nidānas. In the early Buddhist texts , the basic principle of conditionality is called by different names such as "the certainty (or law) of dhamma" ( dhammaniyāmatā ), "suchness of dharma" (法如; * dharmatathatā ), the "enduring principle" ( ṭhitā dhātu ), "specific conditionality" ( idappaccayatā ) and "dhammic nature" (法爾; dhammatā ). This principle is expressed in its most general form as follows: When this exists, that comes to be. With

19040-421: Was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk , scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism , the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645, his efforts to bring at least 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, but his translations included some of

19180-583: Was already a monk in a Buddhist monastery. Inspired, at a young age, Xuanzang expressed interest in becoming a Buddhist monk like his brother. After the death of his father in 611, he lived with his older brother Chen Su ( Chinese : 陳素 ), later known as Zhangjie ( Chinese : 長捷 ), for five years at Jingtu Monastery ( Chinese : 淨土寺 ) in Luoyang , supported by the Sui state. During this time he studied Mahayana as well as various early Buddhist schools . In 618,

19320-564: Was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist texts that had reached China. He was also concerned about the competing Buddhist theories in variant Chinese translations. He sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues. At age 27, he began his seventeen-year overland journey to India. He defied his nation's ban on travel abroad, making his way through central Asian cities such as Khotan to India. He visited, among other places,

19460-583: Was over one thousand foot long. The people and the king of this valley serve the Buddhist monks, records Xuanzang. Heading east and crossing the Black range, Xuanzang describes the country of Kapishi , where the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism had come in vogue. It had over 100 monasteries with stupas. More than 6000 monks, mostly Mahayana, studied here. Along with these Buddhist monasteries, states his travelogue, there were over ten Deva temples (Hindu) with "heretical believers who go about naked and smear dust over their bodies", translates Li Rongxi. Furthermore, in

19600-550: Was young. Taking the monastic name Xuanzang, he was fully ordained as a monk in 622, at the age of twenty. The myriad contradictions and discrepancies in the Chinese translations at that time prompted Xuanzang to decide to go to India and study in the cradle of Buddhism. He knew about Faxian 's visit to India and, like him, sought original untranslated Sanskrit texts from India to help resolve some of these issues. Xuanzang started his pilgrimage to India in either 627 or 629 CE, according to two East Asian versions. The 627 CE version

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