The Study Of Pratyutpa(?)(?)a-Buddha-Sa(?)mukh(?)vasthita-Sam(?)dhi-s(?)tra

The practice of meditative contemplation of Buddhawas originated in the Original and Sectarian Buddhism periods.At the time of establishment of the Early Mahayana Buddhism in India,elaboration in themeaning and substances of the practice emerged.The practice of Mahayana meditative contemplation of Buddhasas transmitted from India to China,and its later developments in China had rich expressions in history.The Pratyutpanna Buddha Sammukhavasthita Samadhi Sutra(PraS Sutra)was composed into text form around 1st Century C.E.The Sutra was transmitted to China and translated into Chinese by Kusanian MonkLokaksema in the Second Year of Guanghe Period of Empire Ling of the Late Han Dynasty(CE 179).The Sutra was one of the earliest Mahayanic Sutras on meditative contemplation of Buddhas.It has since been adopted by Chinese Buddhist Masters as the main source for promoting the Pratyutpanna Buddha Sammukhavasthita Samadhi(the concentration of being in the presence of Buddhas).The concept of Meditative contemplation of Buddhasas presented in the PraS Sutra stresses the prerequisite for the attainment of the wisdom of the Buddha,which is the prior perfection of the merits of a bodhisattva,who then is able to visualize the Buddha insamadhi meditation.The Prassutraarticulates that the practitioner shall undergo various austerities as prior trainings,practice meditation with the Buddha as the object of contemplation,from which the supreme wisdom of prajna arises that enables the practitioner to contemplate the True Nature of Buddhas.Thus the Pratyutpanna Buddha Sanunmukhavasthita Samadhi is attained.The practice unifies those of the three schools of Chan Meditation,PureLand and Prajna Wisdom.Although there is no description of the grandeur of the PureLand of the Amitabha Buddha in the PraS Sutra,its thought is similar to those contained in the Mahayana Pure Land Sutras such as the Longer and Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutras and the Amitayur-Dhyana-Sutra.The PraS Sutra was highly regarded during the early period of dissimilation of Mahayana Buddhism in India.In Mahaprajnaparamita-sastra and Dasabhumika-vibhasa-sastra,Bodhisattva Nagarjuna provided detailed and penetrative views and explanations of the doctrine and practices expounded in PraS Sutra.During theDynasty of East Jin,Master Hui-yuan of Lushanand a group of practitioners formed the"White Lotus Abode" to practice samadhi of contemplation of the Amitabha Buddhainline with the teaching of PraS Sutra.The group aimed to achieve the presence of Amitabha Buddha andto reborn in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha which are the mainstream goals of the PureLandSchool in China.The dialogue of Master Kumarajiva and Master Hui-yuan,as recorded in the Chapter of Mahayanic Essentials,pronouncesthe practices and realization of the True Body(Dharmakaya),samadhi of contemplation ofthe Buddha,and the Thirty-two physical characteristics of the Buddha.The dialogue is a comprehensive elaboration of the PraS Sutra.Later,Masters Tan-luan,Dao-chuo,Shan-dao,Hui-ri,Cheng-yuan,Fa-zhao,etc.Composed theses and established abodes for preaching the practice.Master Zhi-yi of the Tian-taiSchool,elaborated the teaching in PraS Sutra and developed "Samadhi of Walking" in his Larger Thesis on Meditative Tranquility and Insight(Maha-samatha-vipasyana).He also related the meditative tranquility and insight and the contemplation of buddhas and put forward the way of contemplation and visualization of the Buddha by the harmonizing the Threefold Truths(of void,unreal,and middle-way).His works sparked the interests of later practitioners of Tian-taiSchool in practices aiming to reborn in the PureLand.The Tian-tai practice had been a source in the flourishing of JapanesePureLand schools.Moreover,the ParS Sutra thoughtalso influenced deeply on the thinking and life style of Chinese intellectuals.The teaching and the aspiration of PureLand were expressed in the writings of poets Xie-lingyun and Li-bai.The above survey showed how the distinctive and highly valued thought of ParS Sutra made great contributions on the thought and practice of Buddhism of China.