The Jataka Tradition, The Stupa Cult, and Intro to Mahayana

Question 1

What is Avalokitesvara [/ Guanyin / Kannon]?

Answer 1

lit. means the bodhisattva who listens to the sounds of the world, sound hearer

Question 2

What is Kshitigarbha [/ Dizang /Jizo]?

Answer 2

is a transcendent bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism. …
- a bodhisattva who saves beings in this world or in
hell
-a bodhisattva of small children

Question 3

Describe the parable of the burning house

Answer 3

a terrible house, poisonous snakes in the rafters, basement full of pottery shards the floors of the main level could break and you could fall onto the shards at any moment, A father and his three children live there. He goes to the store to buy soy milk and on the way back he sees smoke and knows his children are inside. His door is too narrow to go in and carry his children out, so he attempts to lure them out but they want to stay inside and play. He tells them they are deer, goat and ox carts and manages to get them outside. And it was true, he had actually bought a beautiful ox cart (the deer cart and goat cart are crappier carts representing the lesser vehicle)

• Terrible house = samsara
• ignorant children= are us, representation of the fact that we will all die
• Ox cart= Mahayana means vehicle, so he offers them a vehicle

Question 4

Who is Amitabha?

Answer 4

(CH: Emituo, JP: Amida) in Mahayana Buddhism, and particularly in the so-called Pure Land sects, the great saviour buddha. … As a bestower of longevity, Amitabha is called Amitayus, or “Infinite Life.”

Question 5

What is the pure land?

Answer 5

A pure land is the celestial realm or pure abode of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. Characteristics of the pure land (no food, no drink, no sex) + connection to this worldly practice (this sutra acknowledges that its hard to live a Buddhist life so the chant alone is enough to get you into the pure land)

• Characteristics of a pure land birth (saying a chant)
• Born in a lotus flower (only males)
• Amitabha’s forty eight vows (these vows allow him to create the pure land)

Question 6

What Is mofa/Mappo?

Answer 6

the decline of dharma and the degeneration of Buddha’s law

Question 7

What is the ghost festival?

Answer 7

The ghost Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. the idea of the ghost festival is that at this time the ghosts of the dead can wander the earth and it is the responsibility of the living to take care of the dead. During the ghost festival you support all of the dead, not just your ancestors. Make offerings to the unnamed and the wandering dead)

Question 8

What is the scripture on the ten kings?

Answer 8

An east asian apocryphal

Question 9

Discuss the redefinition of “bodhisattva” and “buddha” in the Mahayana context (and the effect of these redefinitions on Buddhist cosmology and soteriology)

Answer 9

Soteriology and universal salvation –> the bodhisattva ideal (an individual who wants to save all individuals, any being who vows to save all toher beings)

• Redefinition of the Buddha –> the 3 bodies doctrine (it was possible to become a buddha through practice)
• –Earthly body (nirmana-kaya). Was a projection/ reflection of a heavenly Buddha
• –Heavenly body (sambogha- kaya). In turn, are projections of all powerful, omnipresent buddha
• –Transcendent body (dharma kaya). Universal, all around us

Question 10

Discuss the Madhyamaka perspective on samsar

Answer 10

• Madhyamaka (the school of the middle way)–>emptiness.
• Realizing there is nothing in the world that has independent self existence, everything is causally related to something else and is contingent and made up of pieces. E.g., a chair is a chair, but can also be broken down into contingent parts like cushions, wood, screws and this is connected to a causal chain of events, so essentially it is empty or nothing.
• If everything in the universe is empty for this reason then their cant be a distinction between samsara and nirvana (samsara=nirvana). Combatting this ignorance allows us to be liberated, all of these things of the world are all empty (none have permanent meaning or significance) you are already liberated. This is the mode of thinking in Zen traditions

Question 11

Consider the role of the “cult of the book” in the Mahayana approach to death and rebirth

Answer 11

• The “Cult of the Book” refers to the Mahayana Buddhist belief that certain texts (such as the Lotus Sutra) could be worshiped in the same way that the bodily relics of the Buddha were worshiped in early Buddhism. Likewise, the belief that reading, reciting, copying, and transmitting these texts could generate merit was another facet of the Cult of the Book
• You should recite copy and preserve the Lotus sutra, those who hold grudges will go immediately to avicii hell (the worst hell, and be there for innumerable kelpas). You should also respect those who are devoted to the lotus sutra, they should be revered as the same way as the buddha