Current Journal Abstracts

Anālayo

Teaching the Abhidharma in the Heaven of the Thirty-three: The Buddha and his Mother:

In what follows I investigate the tale of the Buddhaʼs sojourn in the Heaven of the Thirty-three to teach his mother, based on a translation of a version of this episode in the Saṃyukta-āgama preserved in Chinese, with a view to discerning the gradual development and significance of this tale.

Linda Blanchard

Burning Yourself: Paṭicca Samuppāda as a Description of the Arising of a False Sense of Self Modeled on Vedic Rituals.

The teaching known as Dependent Arising is central to understanding what the Buddha taught. Current theories about its structure revolve around rebirth, or moment to moment experience in this life. This paper presents an entirely new theory for the structure underlying the lesson. This structure supports the deepest teachings on the causes of our suffering -- that whatever we relate to self is suffering -- and its cure -- that when we recognize this truth, and understand that what gets built as a result is impermanent, it is then within our control to change the conditions. Recognizing the structure also improves understanding of the finer points made within the suttas about Dependent Arising.

Mun Choong

A comparison of the Chinese and Pāli versions of the Bala Saṃyukta, a collection of early Buddhist discourses on “Powers” (Bala).

This article first briefly examines the textual structure of the Bala Saṃyukta(LiXiangying) of the Chinese Saṃyuktāgama (Taishō vol. 2, no. 99) in conjunction with its Pāli parallel. Then it compares the main teachings contained in the two versions. These two versions of a collection on the subject of ‘powers’ (bala) represent two different early Buddhist schools within the Sthavira branch. This comparative study of them focuses on the composition of the usual set of five powers, on various other sets of powers, and on disagreements in some teachings about powers presented in the two versions. It reveals similarities but also significant differences in both structure and doctrinal content, thus advancing the historical/critical study of early Buddhist doctrine in this area.

Chuan Cheng

Designations of Ancient Sri Lankan Buddhism in the Chinese Tripiṭaka.

According to the Chinese literary sources, both Buddhist and secular,a formal diplomatic relationship between China and Sri Lanka started as early as the first part of the fourth century CE. References to the Buddhist tradition existing on this island were made slightly earlier. This article examines all the Chinese referencesto it found in the Chinese Buddhist canon; they are mainly Chinese translations and transliterations of tāmraparṇīyaandsthavira. It argues that the Buddhist tradition of ancient Sri Lankais referred to in the Chinese Buddhist literature by terms such astāmraparṇīya and in some cases as sthavira or *sthaviriya. It also supports the view that it is Tāmraparṇīya (P.Tambapaṇṇī[ya]) rather thanTāmraśāṭīyathat is used in Vasubandhu’s and Bhavya’s works in referring to the ancient Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition.

Kate Crosby

Scribal and Authorial Openings in Theravāda Manuscripts:Evidence from the Nevill Collection.

Complete manuscripts of Theravāda Buddhist texts almost always open with an auspicious formula in homage to the Buddha. In manuscripts from Sri Lanka, the two most common opening formulae are the expressions of homage to the Buddha so widespread in other contexts. These are usually the opening formulae of the scribe or copyist, and separate from the authorial opening of the text contained in the manuscript. The latter often has its own auspicious or formulaic opening, which is more elaborate than the scribal opening. Although scribal formulae can usually be distinguished from the beginning of the text proper, i.e. the text as created by the author or redactor, the distinction between the two is not always recognised in printed editions of Pali texts and may be unclear or blurred in the manuscripts themselves. Below I examine the evidence of Sri Lankan manuscripts, especially those of the Nevill collection of the British Library, to see what they add to our current understanding of scribal and authorial openings.

Florin Deleanu

Tempering Belles Infidèles and Promoting JoliesLaides:Idle Thoughts on the Ideal Rendering of Buddhist Texts and Terminology.

The paper argues for the suitability, or at least acceptability, of a translation style which I call jolielaide, i.e. a rendering which is not necessarily exquisite in its aesthetic quality but is as faithful as possible to the original and perfectly intelligible in the target language. This is not a mechanical process, and in order to meet these standards, the translator should allow for flexibility and make full use of the critical apparatus. I do not rule out, however, other rendering strategies, and the last part of my contribution illustrates the possibility of having jolieslaides side by side with free translations. The article also contains an appendix on Dao’an’s‘five [points of permissible] deviation from the original and three [points which should remain] unchanged’ and Xuanzang’s‘five types [of Indic words which should] not be translated’.

Tse-fu Kuan

A Geographical Perspective on Sectarian Affiliations of the EkottarikaĀgama in Chinese Translation (T 125).

The EkottarikaĀgama (Zengyiahanjing, T 125) extant in Chinese translation is a collection of texts which are organized by numbers mentioned in the texts. It corresponds roughly to the AṅguttaraNikāya in the Theravāda tradition still flourishing today.The sectarian affiliation of the EkottarikaĀgama is controversial. This research is an attempt to explore this issue in a more comprehensive way. A comparison between the texts in this collection and their parallels reveals its geographical preference for Magadha. This finding, along with some textual indications, suggests that the EkottarikaĀgama could be affiliated to the Mahāsāṃghikasor Mūlasarvāstivādins.

Paisarn Likhitpreechakul

Decoding Two “Miracles” of the Buddha.

Although the Buddha forbade his disciples to display supernatural acts, the Tipiṭaka in several places shows the teacher himself performing miracles. Some Buddhists may take these literally, while others ignore or dismiss them as fanciful hagiography. This article proposes to “decode” two such miracles – namely, the twin miracle and the miracle to convert Aṅgulimāla – as coded repudiation of rival karma theories, and to examine their relevance to the modern world.

Peter Alan Roberts

Translating Translation: An Encounter with the Ninth-Century Tibetan Version of the Kāraṇḍavyūha-sūtra.

The Kāraṇḍavyūha-sūtra is the source for Avalokiteśvara’s mantra: Oṃ˛maṇi padme hūm, the most popular mantra in Tibet. This article examines why the sūtra itself is little known, the history of its translation, the challenges that faces the translators, and evidence of corruption in the Sanskrit manuscript that was the basis for their translation. Finally there are thoughts on the meaning of Avalokiteśvara’s name, the sutra’s title, and the mantra itself.