Mahīśāsaka
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Mahīśāsaka (
History
There are two general accounts of the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Mahīśāsakas. The
The Mahīśāsaka sect is thought to have first originated in the
From the writings of
[It is] sufficiently obvious that Asaṅga had been a Mahīśāsaka 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 Mahāyāna, when he made up what can be considered as a new and Mahāyānist Abhidharma-piṭaka.[5]
The Mahīśāsaka are believed to have spread from the Northwest down to Southern India including Nāgārjunakoṇḍā, and even as far as the island of Sri Lanka.[6] According to A. K. Warder, the Indian Mahīśāsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Theravāda, into which they were later absorbed.[7]
In the 7th century CE,
Appearance
Between 148 and 170 CE, the
Doctrines
According to the Mahīśāsakas, the Four Noble Truths were to be meditated upon simultaneously.[11]
The Mahīśāsaka sect held that everything exists, but only in the present. They also regarded a gift to the
The earlier Mahīśāsakas appear to have not held the doctrine of an intermediate state between death and rebirth, but later Mahīśāsakas accepted this doctrine.[11]
Works
Mahīśāsaka Vinaya
The Indian Mahīśāsaka sect also established itself in
Mahāyāna works
It is believed that the Mahāyāna
Views on women
The Mahīśāsaka sect believed that it was not possible for women to become buddhas.[20] In the Nāgadatta Sūtra, the Mahīśāsaka view is criticized in a narrative about a bhikṣuṇī named Nāgadatta. Here, the demon Māra 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 (samyaksaṃbuddha):[20]
Māra therefore took the disguise of Nāgadatta's father and said thus to Nāgadatta: "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 nirvāṇa; moreover, it is easy to attain Arhatship."
In her reply, Nāgadatta 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.[20]
The Mahīśāsaka sect held that there were five obstacles that were laid before women. These are that they may not become a
Māra 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 nirvāṇa soon?" Nāgadatta replied, "I also have heard that a woman cannot be reborn as a cakravartin, a Sakra, a Brahma, and a Buddha, and yet I shall 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
kalpasdiligently attain Buddhahood."
The Mahīśāsakas believed that women essentially could not change the nature of their minds or physical bodies, and would cause the teachings of Buddhism to decline. Of this, David Kalupahana writes,
The Mahīśāsaka 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.[21]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-8176251525., p. 50
- ^ Buswell & Lopez 2013, p. 516.
- ^ Buswell & Lopez 2013, p. 859.
- ^ Anacker, Stefan. Seven Works Of Vasubandhu: The Buddhist Psychological Doctor. 1984. p. 58
- ISBN 978-8120809949., p. 5
- ^ Dutt, Nalinaksha. Buddhist Sects in India. 1998. pp. 122–123
- ISBN 978-8120817418., p. 280
- ISBN 978-1-886439-09-2., p. 19
- ^ a b c Hino & Wada 2004, p. 55.
- ^ Bhikkhu Sujato. Sects & Sectarianism (The Origins of Buddhist Schools). Santi Forest Monastery. p. i.
- ^ a b Potter, Karl. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Vol. IX: Buddhist philosophy from 350 to 600 AD. 2004. p. 106
- ^ a b Willemen, Charles. The Essence of Scholasticism. 2006. p. 17
- ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 280
- ISBN 978-1932293333., p. 163
- ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 1421)
- ISBN 978-8120802728., p. 205
- ISBN 978-0415356534., p. 239
- ^ a b Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes. 1999. p. 205
- ^ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (1996). India in Early Central Asia: a Survey of Indian Scripts, Languages and Literatures in Central Asia of the First Millennium A.D., p. 15
- ^ a b c d Kalupahana 2001, p. 109.
- ^ Kalupahana 2001, p. 113.
Sources
- Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2013), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University Press
- Hino, Shoun; Wada, Toshihiro, eds. (2004), Three Mountains and Seven Rivers: Prof. Musashi Tachikawa's felicitation volume, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120824683
- Kalupahana, David (2001), Buddhist Thought and Ritual, New York: Paragon House, ISBN 978-0892260898