Amoghavajra

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Amoghavajra(705 - 774)

Buddhist émigré ācarya who played a major role in the introduction and translation of seminal Buddhist texts belonging to the esoteric tradition or mijiao. His birthplace is uncertain, but many sources allude to his ties to Central Asia. Accompanying his teacher Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang'an in 720–1 and spent most of his career in that cosmopolitan city. In 741, following the death of his mentor, Amoghavajra made an excursion to India and Sri Lanka with the permission of the Tang-dynasty emperor and returned in 746 with new Buddhist texts, many of them esoteric scriptures. Amoghavajra's influence on the Tang court reached its peak when he was summoned by the emperor to construct an abhiṣeka, or consecration, altar on his behalf. Amoghavajra's activities in Chang'an were interrupted by the An Lushan rebellion (655–763), but after the rebellion was quelled, he returned to his work at the capital and established an inner chapel for homa rituals and abhiṣeka in the imperial palace. He was later honored by the emperor with the purple robe, the highest honor for a Buddhist monk and the rank of third degree. Along with Xuanzang, Amoghavajra was one of the most prolific translators and writers in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Among the many texts he translated into Chinese, especially important are the Sarvatathāgatasaṃgraha and the Bhadracarīpraṇidhāna. (Source: "Amoghavajra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 36. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

Library Items

Text
Ghanavyūhasūtra
Only extant in Chinese and Tibetan translations, this sūtra, which is centered around Buddha Śākyamuni's visit to the pure land of the Buddha Vairocana, is an important source for the Yogācāra notions of the three natures, tathāgatagarbha, and the ālayavijñāna. These latter two terms are often treated as synonyms in the text, especially in their pure form, while in its impure form the ālayavijñāna is designated as the source from which all ordinary phenomena emerge.
Text
Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (TGS) is a relatively short text that represents the starting point of a number of works in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism centering around the idea that all living beings have the buddha-nature. The genesis of the term tathāgatagarbha (in Tibetan de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po, in Chinese rulai zang 如來藏, the key term of this strand of Buddhism and the title of the sūtra), can be observed in the textual history of the TGS. (Zimmermann, A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, p. 7)
Text
Gaganagañjaparipṛcchāsūtra
The Sūtra of the Questions of Gaganagañja (Gaganagañjaparipṛcchāsūtra, Toh 148) is an important canonical work centering on the bodhisattva Gaganagañja’s inquiries to the Buddha, his display of seven miracles, and dialogue between various figures about core Mahāyāna principles. The sūtra covers topics such as the bodhisattva path, bodhicitta, concentration, buddha activity, wisdom (jñāna), as well as predictions about the future enlightenment of disciples. Throughout the discourse, the sky (gagana) is used as the central metaphor for emptiness (śūnyatā) and nonduality (advaya) to describe the nature of reality. (Source: 84000)

Mentioned in

Article
A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions
A lengthy historical survey of buddha-nature theory through the literature and traditions, based on academic scholarship.
Gardner, Alex. "A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions." Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative, October 9, 2019. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/A_History_of_Buddha-Nature_Theory:_The_Literature_and_Traditions.


Affiliations & relations

  • Vajrabodhi · teacher
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