Study On The Absorptions Of Abhidharmako(?)ak?rik?

Abhidharmakosakarika,or Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma,was created by Vasubandhu,an influential Buddhist monk of ancient India.It discusses the essentials of Buddhism during the transition period from Sectarian Buddhism to Mahayana Buddhism.The eighth area of Abhidharmakosakarika,"Teachings on the Absorptions",is a dedicated interpretation of absorption as a secondary method to obtain Arhat.It can be used to check the basic features and theoretical results of Buddhist practice in this period.The content of this thesis is based on the system of absorptions in Buddhism,which is shown in "Teachings on the Absorptions" of Abhidharmakosakarika.The first part of the thesis is an introduction,which introduces Abhidharmakosakarika and Vasubandhu,and makes a literature review on the current research on absorptions in Abhidharmakosakarika.The first chapter talks about the yoga traditions of Sarvastivada,a Buddhist sect that Vasubandhu initially studied,and explores the relationship between Buddhist yoga and mainstream Indian yoga.Buddhist yoga is often referred to as "Dhyana",which inherits the relevant content of the mainstream Indian yoga and at the same time has its own distinctive features.Sarvastivada carries forward its doctrines with Kashmira in northern India as a centre.Because of the mild climate and superior living conditions than other parts of India,Kashmira is particularly suitable for Dhyana practice.This has made it possible to say that the practice and theory of Sarvastivada plays a dominant role in Buddhism.Vasubandhu initially studied Sarvastivada,then absorbed some viewpoints of Sautrantika,and converted to Yogacara of Mahayana Buddhism in his later years.His academic background is profound and complex,and there has been much debate about the sect that Abhidharmakosakarika belongs to.The second section of Chapter One lists some opinions about the sect of Abhidharmakosakarika,and summarily adopts the opinion of Master Yinshun that believes that the doctrines of Abhidharmakosakarika"inherits Sautrantika,but not limited to it".However,as to the relevant content of the practice of absorptions,the thesis makes some further analysis,and holds that Vasubandhu is mostly influenced by Sarvastivada and somewhat by some other sectarian Buddhist doctrines.Chapter Two makes a general review of "Teachings on the Absorptions".It firstly clarifies the status and function of "Teachings on the Absorptions" in the whole system,then analyses and divides this area into three parts,among which virtues of absorptions is the main body of this area,which consists of two parts.The first part consists of four stages of absorptions,formless meditative absorptions,eight serial absorptions,and samadhi,while the second part consists of eight emancipations,eight overpowering sense bases,ten all-encompassing sense bases,internal conditions to obtain absorptions,and external conditions to obtain absorptions.Chapter Three begins to specifically explore the relationship between absorption and emancipation.The first section discusses the situation of practicing absorptions without emancipation in two parts.The first part introduces the sentimental realms in the Buddhist world view,namely realm of sensuous desire,realm of form,and realm of formlessness.Among them,the realm of sensuous desire is divided into five paths-hell,animal,ghost,human existence,and heavenly existence.The realm of form is divided into seventeen heavens.The first stage of Dhyana meditation consists of great Brahma,priests of Brahma,and great Brahma.The second stage of Dhyana meditation consists of clear radiance,immeasurable radiance,and lesser radiance.The third Dhyana consists of most extensive virtue,immeasurable virtue,and lesser virtue.The fourth stage of Dhyana meditation consists of sphere of great fruition,sphere of increasing merit,and sphere of non-cloudiness.The five pure heavens,only accessible to the sages,consists of heaven of no greatness,heaven without pain,heaven of excellent appearance,heaven of excellent perception and heaven of no lowness.The realm of formlessness is divided into four bases-infinite space,infinite consciousness,nothingness,and sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.These different rebirth dwellings constitute the vast and rigorous world view of Buddhism.The second part talks about the issues of rebirth and absorption,as well as the mechanism of up-to-higher-levels and down-to-lower-levels.There is a certain causal relationship between rebirth and absorption,as rebirth is the result and absorption is the cause.Practicing different absorptions will lead to different places of rebirth within a very complicated system.The second section is about two types of absorptions,namely absorption of lacking discrimination and absorption of cessation,which has been discussed in "Teachings on the Faculties" of Abhidharmakosakarika and was categorized into cittaviprayuktasamskara.Absorption of lacking discrimination is the ultimate goal of non-Buddhists,and is avoided by Buddhist practitioners.The practice of absorption of cessation is similar to Nirvana,which is practiced by Buddhist sages.Both of the two kinds of absorptions require to cease all psychological activities.But they still have many differences,as compared in this thesis.In the next part,absorption of cessation is further explained,including the issues related to obtaining Arhat either by wisdom or absorptions or by both of them in Sravaka Buddhism.The third section discusses Vajropama Samadhi.In the practice of Buddhism,Vajropama Samadhi can help eliminate the affliction of the ninth stage of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception,which is the last affliction that the practitioners need to eliminate before they obtain Arhat.After the affliction of the ninth stage of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception is eliminated,the practitioners can obtain Ksaya-jnana and Arhat,which also means that they have obtained Buddhist emancipation and will be free from the suffering of Samsara within the three realms.However,even after they obtain Arhat,the practitioners still have their five aggregates,and their present life activities are continuing,so there is still a possibility of retribution.Therefore,the fourth section discusses the fourth stage of Dhyana meditation that guides the practitioners to Nirvana without remainder.This theoretically answers the question of how to completely eliminate the cause of retribution.In the view of emancipation in Buddhism,when the practitioners obtain Nirvana with remainder,he will not be reincarnated within the three realms.After the end of his present life,he will enter the realm of Nirvana without remainder,which means his life will not exist in any form in the three realms,and he can achieve the complete peace,coolness and emancipation.In Buddhist classics,Buddhas and their disciples get to the realm of Nirvana without remainder through the fourth stage of Dhyana meditation.The fifth section explores the relationship between absorption and Mahayana Buddhism.Abhidharmakosakarika acknowledges that there is a difference in the degree of independence but no difference in the result of emancipation between Arhat and Buddha in their practice of absorption,which paved the way for Mahayana Buddhism to further elucidate the superiority of Buddha over Arhat.As can be seen from this chapter,absorption and emancipation come with each other in Buddhism,and their relationship is what researches on absorptions aim to explore.