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An Introduction to Buddhism (Takasaki)

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This book is based upon notes prepared by the author for general lectures on Buddhism which he has been giving to students at a number of universities in Tokyo since around 1960. The initial version of the present work first saw the light of day as part of a textbook for university students entitled Bukkyo ippan 仏教一般 (Buddhism in General) which was compiled in concert with professors specializing in Chi­nese and Japanese Buddhism and published by the Depart­ment of Buddhist Studies at Komazawa University in Tokyo. Then, at a later date, the author was approached by the To­kyo Daigaku Shuppankai (University of Tokyo Press) to write an introductory work on Buddhism for the edification of the general reading public. By permission of the Department of Buddhist Studies at Komazawa University, he accordingly extracted those sections of the above textbook which he had himself written ("Outline of Buddhism" and "Indian Bud­dhism"), to which he then made some additions and correc­tions and also appended a brief history of Buddhism covering not only India but also China and Japan. This was then published in 1983 under the title of Bukkyo nyümon 仏教入門 (An Introduction to Buddhism), of which the present work is an English translation. (Takasaki, preface to the English version, iii)

Citation	Takasaki, Jikidō. An Introduction to Buddhism. Translated by Rolf W. Giebel. Tokyo: Tōhō Gakkai, 1987.

Contents

• Preface to the English Versioniii
• A Note on Foreign Wordsviii
• Introduction: What is Buddhism?1
  • Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha: The Three Constituents of Buddhism3
  • Taking Refuge in the Three Treasures5
  • The Absolute Nature of the Dharma8
  • Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna: The "Greater" and "Lesser" Vehicles11
  • The Buddhist Canon (tri-piṭaka)16

• I. The Life of Śākyamuni23
  • The Buddha Śākyamuni23
  • Biographies of the Buddha25
  • Birth and Renunciation28
  • Austerities and Enlightenment31
  • The Beginnings of Śākyamuni's Teaching Ministry: His First Sermon34
  • Dissemination of the Teaching and the Growth of the Community38
  • The Great Decease42
  • Erection of Stūpas and the First Council45

• II. The True Nature of the Buddha49
  • Designations of the Buddha50
  • Buddha and Tathāgata53
  • The Former Lives of the Buddha55
  • The Buddhas of the Three Ages59
  • The Buddhas of the Ten Directions61
  • Material Body and Dharma-Body64
  • The Theory of Three Bodies68

• III. Dharma: The Buddhist Conception of Truth70
  • The Meanings of Dharma70
  • The Basis of the Teaching: Dependent Co-arising and the Four Noble
       Truths76
  • Śākyamuni's: Philosophical Position: The Ten or Fourteen Unanswerables85
  • "Dharma-seals": The Watchwords of Buddhism89
  • Saṃskāra and Dharma: The Dependently Co-arisen96
  • Dharmatā: The Principle of Dependent Co-arising100
  • The Conception· of Truth in Mahāyāna Buddhism104
  • Supreme Truth and Conventional Truth105

• IV. Sarva-dharmāh: The Constituent Elements of Existence107
  • The Classification of the Constituent Elements of Existence in the Early
       Canon: The Five Ag­gregates, Twelve Sense-Fields, and Eighteen Realms107
  • The Sarvāstivādin Classification of the Constituent Elements of Existence:
       The Five Categories and Seventy-five Elements114
  • The Sarvāstivādin Theory of the Elements: The Elements Exist Eternally120
  • The Mahāyānist Conception of the Elements: All is Empty126

• V. Transmigration, Karma, and Mental Defilements128
  • Transmigratory Existence: The Three Realms and Six Paths128
  • Karma137
  • Mental Defilements141
  • The Twelvefold Chain of Dependent Co-arising149

• VI. The Path to Enlightenment163
  • Nirvāṇa and Enlightenment163
  • The Mahāyānist Conception of Nirvāṇa168
  • The Path to Enlightenment170
  • The Noble Eightfold Path172
  • The Three Disciplines: Morality, Meditation, and Wisdom174
  • Faith and Practice188
  • Practices for· the Welfare of Others191
  • The Practices of the Bodhisattva: The Six Perfections193

• VII. Mind: The Agency of Practice198
  • No-self and Subjective Agency198
  • Mind (citta, manas, and vijñāna)200
  • Mind-only and Cognition-only205
  • The Innately Pure Mind and the Embryo of the Tathāgata215
  • Enlightenment and Salvation223

• VIII. The Ideal Practitioner227
  • The Concept "Man"227
  • Ordinary Man and Holy Man228
  • The Stages of the Bodhisattva233
  • "One Vehide" and "Three Vehicles"240

• IX. The Precepts and the Organization of the Community246
  • The Meaning of Saṃgha246
  • The Organization of the Community250
  • Community Regulations255

• X. The History of Buddhism263
  • 1. Buddhism in India and the Surrounding Lands264
    • The Basic Schism264
    • The Mauryan Dynasty and Dissemination to Sri Lanka266
    • The Kushan Dynasty and the Northern Tradition of Buddhism267
    • The Characteristics of Schismatic Buddhism268
    • The Birth of Mahāyāna Buddhism269
    • The Mādhyamika and Yogācāra Schools270
    • The Age of Esoteric Buddhism272
    • Tibetan Buddhism275
    • The Southern Tradition of Buddhism277
    • The Revival of Buddhism in India278
  • 2. Chinese Buddhism279
    • The Introduction of Buddhism279
    • Buddhism Takes Root: The Period of the Northern and Southern
         Dynasties280
    • The Establishment of Chinese Buddhism: The Sui and T'ang
         Dynasties283
    • Subsequent Developments290
  • 3. Korean Buddhism290
  • 4. Japanese Buddhism293
    • The Introduction of Buddhism and Prince Shōtoku293
    • The Sects of the Nara Period294
    • The Tendai and Shingon Sects297
    • The Rise of the Pure Land Teachings300
    • The Introduction of the Zen Sects301
    • The Nichiren and Ji Sects303
    • Buddhism since the Muromachi Period305
• Sources309
• Select Bibliography315
• General Index325
• Character Index352
• The Author; the Translator375

Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

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Hīnayāna - The mainstream teachings and the early schools of Buddhism which primarily taught individual liberation through practice-focused renunciation and monasticism, considered lesser than the later movement of the Greater Vehicle (Mahāyāna), which professed enlightenment for all sentient beings and promoted compassion. Skt. हीनयान Tib. ཐེག་དམན། Ch. 小乘

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dharmatā - The true nature of phenomenal existence. Skt. धर्मता Tib. ཆོས་ཉིད་ Ch. 法性

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

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Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt. योगाचार Tib. རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་ Ch. 瑜伽行派

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