A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path According To The Inquiry Of Ugra (Ugrapariprcchā)

Description

A Few Good Men is a study and translationn of The Inquiry of Ugra (Ugrapariprccha), one of 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 Preface Abbreviations Part One: Analysis 1 Introduction 2 The Formation of The Inquiry of Ugra The Ugra as a Literary Document Versions of the Sütra The Name "Ugradatta" The Epithet Grhapati Ugra as Literary Character: Precedents in Earlier Texts The Title of the Sütra The Ugra as a Ratnakûta Text The Evolution of the Text over Time Structure and Genre Date and Provenance 3 The Ugra as a Historical Source: Methodological Considerations The Problem of Textual Stratification Types of Interpolations in the Ugra The Possibility of Omissions and Abbreviations Moving Pieces: Alterations in the Sequence of the Text Extracting Historical Data from a Normative Source Ex Silentio: The Interpretation of Absence A Distant Mirror: Studying Indian Buddhism through Chinese and Tibetan Texts 4 The Institutional Setting Defining Categories: Household vs. Renunciant Life Lay Bodhisattvas Monastic Bodhisattvas Bodhisattvas and Érâvakas in the Buddhist Community The Vihära and the Wilderness Gender Issues Conclusions: Bodhisattvas in Their Nikäya Contexts 5 Bodhisattva Practices: Guidelines for the Path THE LAY BODHISATTVA Taking Refuge The Eleven Precepts The Practice of Giving The Transformation of Merit Detachment from People and Things The Triskandhaka Ritual The Necessity of Becoming a Monk THE MONASTIC BODHISATTVA The Four Noble Traditions Wilderness-Dwelling Avoiding Contact with Others Maintaining Humility 6 The Structure of the Bodhisattva Career: Implicit Assumptions The Three Vehicles: Separate Paths to Separate Goals The Impossibility of Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime Motivations for the Bodhisattva Path Bodhisattva Vows Stages of the Path The Six Paramitas Tactical Skill The Buddha and the Practitioner Conclusions: Imitative vs. Relational Cultivation 7 Telling Absences: What Is Not in the Ugra The Term "Hinayana" Bodhisattva Universalism The Supermundane Buddha The Rhetoric of Emptiness The Cult of the Stüpa The Cult of the Book Devotion to Celestial Buddhas Devotion to Celestial Bodhisattvas Conclusions: The Significance of Absence 8 The Mahayana in the Mirror of the Ugra Part Two: Translation Translation Techniques and Conventions Which Text? Which Reading? Symbols and Conventions Appendices Appendix 1: Synoptic Tables of Versions of the Ugrapariprcchä Part A: Tibetan Texts Part B: Chinese Texts and Citations in Other Sources Appendix 2: Bodhisattva Names in the Ugrapariprcchä Appendix 3: Monastic Specialties Recorded in the Ugrapariprccha Bibliography Index About the Author