Ekottara Agama

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The Ekottara Āgama (

Chinese Buddhist Canon
.

Origins and history

According to Tse Fu Kuan, "in 385 AD Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) completed a Chinese translation of the Ekottarika-āgama recited by Dharmanandin (曇摩難提), a monk from Tukhāra. This first translation, in forty-one fascicles, was later revised and expanded by Zhu Fonian into the Ekottarika-āgama in fifty-one fascicles that has since come down to us. Zhu Fonian probably added new material to his first translation and even replaced some passages of his first translation with new material."[2]

Scholars such as Yin Shun, Zhihua Yao and Tse Fu Kuan consider the Ekottara Āgama to belong to the Mahāsāṃghika school.[3][4][5]

According to

Prātimokṣa rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, which is also located in the Chinese Buddhist canon. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the Mahāsāṃghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant Ekottara Āgama is that of the Dharmaguptaka school.[6]

According to

Sheng Yen, the Ekottara Āgama includes teachings of the Six Pāramitās, a central concept in the bodhisattva path, and in the Mahāyāna teachings.[9]

The Ekottara Āgama generally corresponds to the

Aṅguttara Nikāya, but of the four Āgamas of the Sanskritic Sūtra Piṭaka in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, it is the one which differs most from the Theravādin version. The Ekottara Āgama even contains variants on such standard teachings as the Noble Eightfold Path.[1] According to Keown, "there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the [Chinese] versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."[10]

Mindfulness of Breathing

A notable inclusion in the Ekottara Āgama is a discourse that includes meditative instructions on

Majjhima Nikaya
(MN 62).

Influence on East Asia

In lectures, renowned Buddhist master

Daoist meditative practices.[11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sujato, Bhikkhu. "About the EA". ekottara.googlepages.com. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  2. ^ Tse-fu Kuan 關則富, 'Mahāyāna Elements and Mahāsāṃghika Traces in the Ekottarika-āgama', Religions of South Asia 13.1 (2019) 24–50 https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.19247, ISSN (online) 1751-2697.
  3. ^ Zhihua Yao (2012) The Buddhist Theory of Self-Cognition, pp. 8-10. Routledge.
  4. ^ Tse-fu Kuan. (2013). Legends and Transcendence: Sectarian Affiliations of the Ekottarika Āgama in Chinese Translation. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 133(4), 607-634. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.133.4.0607
  5. ^ Yin Shun (1971). The Formation of Early Buddhist Texts [ 原始佛教聖典之集成 ], pp. 755-787.
  6. ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 6
  7. ^ Hwang, Soon-il. Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The Doctrinal History of Nirvana. 2006. p. 31
  8. ^ Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. pp. 52-53
  9. ^ Sheng Yen. Orthodox Chinese Buddhism. 2007. p. 98
  10. ^ Keown, Damien. A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
  11. ^ Nan, Huai-Chin. Working Toward Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1993.
  12. ^ Nan, Huai-Chin. To Realize Enlightenment: Practice of the Cultivation Path. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1994.
  13. ^ Shi, Hong. "The Conversations of Nan Huai-chin and Peter Senge" Archived 2009-02-17 at the Wayback Machine. William Bodri.

External links

Translations of Ekottara Agama 17.1

Translations of MN62, which parallels Ekottara Agama 17.1