A few good men : the Bodhisattva path according to the Inquiry of Ugra (Ugraparipṛcchā) : a study and translation / by Jan Nattier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nattier, Jan, 1949-

Series:

Studies in the Buddhist traditions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tripiṭaka. Sūtrapiṭaka. Ugrapariprcchā--Commentaries.

Tripiṭaka.

Tripiṭaka. Sūtrapiṭaka. Ugrapariprcchā.

Tripiṭaka. Sūtrapiṭaka.

Physical Description:

xvi, 383 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaiʾi Press, [2003]

Summary:

A Few Good Men is a study and translation of The Inquiry of Ugra (Ugrapariprccha), one of the most influential Mahayana sutras on the bodhisattva path, but also one of the most neglected texts in Western treatments of Buddhism. To achieve a better understanding of the universe of ideas, activities, and institutional structures within which early self-proclaimed bodhisattvas lived, the author first considers the Ugra as a literary document, employing new methodological tools to examine the genre to which it belongs, the age of its extant versions, and their relationships to one another. She goes on to challenge the dominant notions that the Mahayana emerged as a "reform" of earlier Buddhism and offered lay people an "easier option."

A Few Good Men will be compelling reading for scholars and practitioners alike and others interested in the history of Indian Buddhism and the formation of Mahayana.

Contents:

Part 1 Analysis

2. The Formation of the Inquiry of Ugra 10

The Ugra as a Literary Document 11

Versions of the Sutra 16

The Name "Ugradatta" 21

The Epithet Grhapati 22

Ugra as Literary Character: Precedents in Earlier Texts 25

The Title of the Sutra 26

The Ugra as a Ratnakuta Text 31

The Evolution of the Text over Time 36

Structure and Genre 38

Date and Provenance 41

3. The Ugra as a Historical Source: Methodological Considerations 48

The Problem of Textual Stratification 49

Types of Interpolations in the Ugra 51

Multiplication of epithets 53

Completion of a standard list 53

Recall of a passage from elsewhere 54

Filling in the blanks 55

Reiteration with additional examples 56

Addition of genuinely new material 57

The Possibility of Omissions and Abbreviations 59

Moving Pieces: Alterations in the Sequence of the Text 61

Extracting Historical Data from a Normative Source 63

The principle of 65

The principle of irrelevance 66

The principle of counterargument 67

The principle of corroborating evidence 68

Ex Silentio: The Interpretation of Absence 69

A Distant Mirror: Studying Indian Buddhism through Chinese and Tibetan Texts 70

4. The Institutional Setting 73

Defining Categories: Household vs. Renunciant Life 74

Lay Bodhisattvas 75

Monastic Bodhisattvas 79

Bodhisattvas and Sravakas in the Buddhist Sangha 84

The Vihara and the Wilderness 89

Hirakawa's theory of the lay origins of the Mahayana 89

Ray's theory of the forest origins of the Mahayana 93

Gender Issues 96

Conclusions: Bodhisattvas in Their Nikaya Contexts 100

5. Bodhisattva Practices: Guidelines for the Path 103

The Lay Bodhisattva 106

Taking Refuge 106

The Eleven Precepts 107

The Practice of Giving 111

The Transformation of Merit 114

Detachment from People and Things 115

The Triskandhaka Ritual 117

The Necessity of Becoming a Monk 121

The Monastic Bodhisattva 127

The Four Noble Traditions 127

Wilderness-Dwelling 130

Avoiding Contact with Others 132

Maintaining Humility 135

6. The Structure of the Bodhisattva Career: Implicit Assumptions 137

The Three Vehicles: Separate Paths to Separate Goals 138

The Impossibility of Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime 142

Motivations for the Bodhisattva Path 144

Bodhisattva Vows 147

Stages of the Path 151

The Six Paramitas 153

Tactical Skill 154

The Buddha and the Practitioner 156

Paying homage 162

Making offerings 163

Service 166

Meditative remembrance 167

Conclusions: Imitative vs. Relational Cultivation 168

7. Telling Absences: What is not in the Ugra 171

The Term "Hinayana" 172

Bodhisattva Universalism 174

The Supermundane Buddha 176

The Rhetoric of Emptiness 179

The Cult of the Stupa 182

The Cult of the Book 184

Devotion to Celestial Buddhas 187

Devotion to Celestial Bodhisattvas 188

Conclusions: The Significance of Absence 190

8. The Mahayana in the Mirror of the Ugra 193

Part 2 Translation

Translation Techniques and Conventions 201

Which Text? 202

Which Reading? 204

Practices of the Lay Bodhisattva

0. Opening Salutation 207

1. The Setting 207

2. Ugra's Inquiry 210

3. Going for Refuge 216

4. The Refuges, Repeated 219

5. Good Deeds 223

6. The Bodhisattva's Perspective 226

7. The Eleven Precepts 229

8. The Bodhisattva in Society 233

9. The Faults of the Household Life 237

10. The Benefits of Giving 240

11. Thoughts When Encountering Beggars 241

12. Detachment from People and Things 246

13. Cultivating Aversion for One's Wife 247

14. Cultivating Detachment from One's Son 255

15. How to Interact with Beggars 257

16. The Triskandhaka Ritual 259

17. When Monks Violate the Precepts 261

18. When Visiting a Monastery 264

19. Contrasts between Household and Renunciant Life 266

20. When Visiting a Monastery, Cont'd 272

21. The Ordination of Ugra and His Friends (version 1) 278

Practices of the Monastic Bodhisattva

22. The Renunciant Bodhisattva's Practices 280

23. The Four Noble Traditions 282

24. The Noble Traditions and Other Ascetic Practices 284

25. The Virtues of Wilderness-Dwelling 291

26. Interacting with Other Monks and Teachers 307

27. The Pure Morality of the Renunciant Bodhisattva 310

28. The Pure Meditation of the Renunciant Bodhisattva 312

29. The Pure Insight of the Renunciant Bodhisattva 313

30. The Ordination of Ugra and His Friends (version 2) 314

31. How the Householder Can Live as a Renunciant 314

32. Dialogue with Ananda 316

33. The Title of the Text 318

34. The Final Reaction of the Audience 320

35. Title and Colophon 320

1. Synoptic Tables of Versions of the Ugrapariprccha 325

Part A Tibetan Texts 326

Part B Chinese Texts and Citations in Other Sources 333

2. Bodhisattva Names in the Ugrapariprccha 341

3. Monastic Specialties Recorded in the Ugrapariprccha 347.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [352]-368) and index.

ISBN:

0824826078

OCLC:

50731288