Buddhist Cosmology (Set of 2 Books)

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Buddhist Cosmology (Set of Two Books)
Lokaprajnapti: A Critical Exposition of Buddhist Cosmology	Buddhist Cosmology: Science and Theology in the Images of Motion and Light

From the Jacket :

Buddhism believes that inward extinction of the self and the senses culminates in a state of illumination beyond suffering and existence which seem to be inseparable. While leading the common people to achieve the state of illumination, the Great Master also touched upon cosmology or the study of the Universe. For almost two thousand years, his words on cosmology, better known as Lokaprajnapti of Prajnapti Sastra, were available only in Chinese and Tibetan languages until it was discovered a few years ago that the palm leaf manuscripts preserved in a few Buddhist temples in Japan are Sanskrit Fragments which are identified as the Lokaprajnapti of Prajnapti Sastra of the Sarvastivada.

Lokaprajnapti: A Critical Exposition of Buddhist Cosmology covers salient features of Cosmology as reflected in the Sanskrit Fragments. It examines the concepts tracing their origin from the pre-Buddhist Indian thought. While discussing the central theme, the influence of various Buddhist schools of thought on Cosmology has also been assessed.

About the Author :

Dr. (Mrs.) Kalpakam Sankarnarayan is the Director, K.J. Somaiya Centre of Buddhist Studies, Mumbai, India. Recepient of Japan Foundation Fellowship for Researchers and Scholars, and later Visiting Professor at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan, her research papers have been published in journals in India and abroad.

Prof. Kazunobu Matsuda who completed his graduate and post-graduate studies from Otani University, Japan, is now Professor at Bukkyo University. He has identified several rare Buddhist manuscripts found in Central Asia and published them. He is a Visiting Professor at Oslo University, Norway.

Dr. Motohiro Yoritomi is Professor of Buddhist Studies, International Research Centre for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan. Author of many books and several research papers in Japanese which have been acclaimed in academic circles, he is also the President of the Buddhist Cultural Assets Studies Society and President, Shuchin University, Kyoto, Japan.

The authors of the present book have critically analysed the words of two thousand years ago, as preserved in palm leaves in the Buddhist temples in Japan. This work is based on 'Sanskrit Fragments' identified as Lokaprajnapti of Prajpapti Sastra, which till now was available either in Chinese or Tibetan version. Based on the contents of these Sanskrit fragments, a critical and analytical approach to the Buddhist cosmology, tracing the concept from the earliest Indian thought, the Vedas (Sruti), the authors have revived a seemingly defunct Buddhist cosmology by viewing ancient themes from modern perspective. It should be noted that the combined efforts of the authors have brought this work a significant cross-cultural and comparative persepective. Such publications are surprisingly rare.

The teachings of Buddhism aim to lead people from the realm of ignorance to the realm of enlightenment. To penetrate the realm of enlightenment, it is necessary to understand the realm of ignorance. Likewise, explanation of the realm of delusion requires reference to the realm of enlightenment, and Buddhist Cosmological ideas are revealed in the process. I congratulate the authors for their specific focus on concerete descriptions of cosmology rather than on abstract doctrines. They have opened the door to Buddhist Cosmology in attempt to reinstill faith in the idea that somewhere, something of higher value exists; an end to rebirth which can be achieved through meditation. Emphasis has been given to the importance of Buddhist Cosmology hopefully making it easily accessible and thus interesting to lay people.

We have put in our assimilated critical analysis on the available Sanskrit fragments in Sarada Script preserved in Buddhist Temples in Kansai District, Japan.

Prof. Matsuda Kazunobou has identified the folios as part of 'Lokprajnapti' and published the findings in the Bukkyo Gaku. Dr. Motohiro Y oritomi contributed to the theme from the view point of Japanese Buddhism. Dr. Mrs. K. Sankaranarayan contributed to the scheme by tracing the concept from the angle of Indian tradition. She has taken an overall approach and assimilated thoughts of the other two possible as a critical exposition on Buddhist Cosmology.

In Part I we have given the contents of the Sanskrit folios kept in different temples. The text is transliterated into Devanagari script from the Sarada script, followed by the comments on the manuscript and the translation in English. In the Sanskrit text we have retained the danda (/) in bracket. The end of each folio is marked as 'a' and number of lines in each folio is mentioned as 'a-4' etc.

In Part II of this book we have taken the critical exposition based on the content of these folios, from the earliest Indian Thought on cosmology to that of the later Mahayana School of thought as in the far East Asia, that is, Japan. It suggests that Buddhist Cosmology has been a worldwide concern. The evolution of thought shows how the Buddhist conception of the Universe underwent numerous changes over time. If we view these shifts as changing responses to the problem of human suffering, we can see a steady progress in one direction. Buddhism gradually ceased to regard life as mere suffering. Inevitably the Buddhist world view, originally based on the idea that suffering was inevitable increasingly changed; the shift being initially from pessimism to nihilism and later from nihilism to optimism.

In our critical study we have classed early Indian thought from the Vedas to the Upanisads as Pre-Buddhist; Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism as early Buddhist view; the view of Vasubandhu as of Pre- Mahayana Buddhism; the views of Madhyamika philosophy including Nagarjuna's voidness as provisional Mahayana Buddhism; and later school of thought, as in far East Asian countries as True Mahayana Buddhism. It shows that as knowledge is disseminated in ever greater amount, people sought out the rational and overturned old dogmas, with its practical philosophy and training of meditation.

Buddhist Cosmology showed the quickest way to understand the Buddhist view that human life as delusion is to recognise it in one's own inner life. Thus its vast cosmological system and its detailed explanations are unique. This book speaks of the past spiritual legacy of the Buddhist Cosmology as the present inspiring force, capable of stiring the imagination to achieve the inner peace here and now. The intricate philosophy of the earlier Indian tradition and the Japanese Buddhist tradition as supplementary to it have not distracted in any way from the profoundity of the theological foundations of Buddhism.

From the Jacket

Disagreements concerning the nature and extent of the universe constitute a focus of theological debate which permeates Buddhism at every level. While there have been numerous attempts to catalogue the details of the Buddhist cosmologies, none has attempted a general interpretation of their underlying intention. This work attempts to begin the process of interpreting the major phases of Buddhist Cosmological speculation by seeing in them various dramas of salvation tailored to the philosophical and theological predilections of their respective traditions. To a large extent, this interpretation relies on an examination of continuities between the Buddhist cosmologies and those of the Hellenistic world as a whole. In the course of this study, two major cosmological traditions emerge; those which rely on metaphors of time and those which rely on metaphors of space. The former are associated with the Hinayana and the latter with the Mahayana forms of Buddhism. Each draws on images of motion and light to articulate its vision of the drama of salvation.

W. Randolph Kloetzli has a Ph.D. in the History of Religions. He has taught courses in Hinduism, Buddhism and Comparative Religious Cosmologies at The American University, The George Washington University and Dartmouth College.

Preface

The following pages grow out of an interest I developed in the cosmologies of Buddhism when I first read the popular Buddhist text known as The Lotus of the True Law (Saddharma-pundarika). The boldness of imagery, the certainty of statement and the fantastic scenarios which accompany the sermons of the cosmic Buddha in this text were startling and incomprehensible and required an explanation. None was to be found. Because of the central place which these speculations occupy, I imagined-correctly-that this was a topic worthy of future research and-incorrectly-that such research could be accomplished expeditiously. Bright hopes dimmed.

After many years of trying to unravel these mysteries, three facts became apparent:

(1) There were actually two discrete strands within these cosmological materials; those emphasizing time or motion as the basic cosmological metaphor and those emphasizing images of space and light.

(2) All phases of Buddhist cosmological speculation were closely related and each could not be understood apart from the others.

(3) The cosmologies of Buddhism did not exist in isolation, but were closely related to the broader scientific and theological speculations which captured the imagination of the entire Classical world-particularly the ancient sciences of mathematics and astronomy.

As a result of bringing these various perspectives to bear on the problem of Buddhist cosmology, a coherent and convincing picture began to emerge. In the pages that follow, Buddhist cosmological speculation is presented in terms of four major moments: (1) the single world system, (2) the "cosmology of thousands," (3) the "cosmology of innumerables," and (4) the cosmologies of the Pure Land sects. The "cosmology of thousands" and the "cosmology of innumerables" are the two major strands of what I have termed the mathematical cosmologies. They are the primary focus of this work for two reasons. First, they have provided the key with which to understand the intention behind the other Buddhist cosmologies. Second, it is the mathematical cosmologies which present the scientific basis of all Buddhist cosmological speculation in sharpest relief.

This work, then, is divided as follows. Chapter I presents the major moments of cosmological speculation in the history of Buddhist philosophy, their perception in modern scholarship and the major problems with these perceptions. Chapter II presents the outlines of the single world system with some general insights into the intention behind this perception of the universe. While the single world system is not the primary concern of this work, it is presented here in some detail in order to serve as a convenient reference and to show its relationship to other phases of Buddhist cosmological speculation. Chapters III-IV present the outlines of the "cosmology of thousands," provide the first effort at interpreting the central concept of this cosmology and analyze the key moments in the drama of salvation which are central to this cosmology. Chapters V-VI present the structures of the "cosmology in innumerables" together with the radically changed drama of salvation to be found here. It is these chapters which constitute the core of this study and establish a clear distinction between the cosmologies of the Hinayana and those of the Mahayana as well as the scientific basis underlying each. Chapter VII summarizes the key differences between the drama implicit in the two mathematical cosmologies, presents additional suggestions which cannot be fully developed in this work and attempts to expose the most basis issues which confront us in the study of the Buddhist cosmologies. Finally, Chapter VIII presents a discussion of available bibliography both as a summary of materials reviewed in this study and as a resource for future research.

As a result of the publication of this work, I am able to formally acknowledge the debts I owe to those who have provided encouragement and shaped my interests along the way. My debts are indeed great. My parents to whom this work is dedicated provided a home in which religion was a focus of personal concerns. At Wittenberg University, I was exposed to a healthy theological and philosophical reexamination of Western religiosity and introduced to the study of "comparative religions." I continue to feel a great debt of gratitude for my teachers during those years, especially to the memories of Milton Kleintop and Margaret Ermarth. In 1964, I entered the University of Chicago to study the History of Religions. Among the persons I recall with gratitude and affection from this period are Joseph Haroutunian, Joseph Sittler, Frank Reynolds and J.A.B. van Buitenen. In addition it was an undeniable privilege to have been exposed to two of the great minds of the twentieth century-Paul Tillich and Mircea Eliade.

Following my years in the university, I became a civil servant, a position I have found more challenging than I had imagined. It is no small debt that I acknowledge to the U.S. Department of Labor for providingme with a livelihood as well as with an period of ten years. During these years, my interest in scholarship has been kept alive in large part as a result of the encouragement of Alf Hiltebeitel. As a result, I am unable to fully acknowledge the debt which I owe to Alf both as a friend and as a teacher. It is almost certain that had it not been for his steady encouragement, this study would never have been completed. The catholicity of his interests, his grasp of detail which is so important in coming to terms with the Indian materials, and his aggressive pursuit of bibliography have opened many avenues for me. Without his encouragement and example, this research would have foundered at many more points than it did.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude for everyone who have been my friend over the years of this research despite obstacles I placed in the way. In particular, I would like to acknowledge a special debt to Catherine Romano who listened at length to the tangled details of this project and who despite prudent doubts, had the sensitivity to celebrate with me when the threads finally became apparent.

Reviews: Excerpts from

This study of Buddhist cosmology is valuable for the Buddhist students?.it is one of the easiest sources to use as a reference book; a kind of cosmology, particularly its definition as a pre-scientific speculation on the mysteries of time, space and the world totality as it influences man's spiritual behavior should he decide to embark on the universal spiritual trek of ultimate freedom.

?.Those students, whatever Buddhist orientation they have received and who have previously regarded the cosmologies as mythic problems of the past and represented primitive speculations, will benefit immensely by reading this interesting book. It also suggests untangling a lot of misconceptions of the Pure Land tradition-at least as far as the meaning and significance of the Buddha's power and creative and spiritual presence are concerned.

  The Pacific World, Journal of the            Elson Snow

Institute of Buddhist studies
Vol. 1 No.3. Spring 1984

One is grateful to the author for finally presenting a discussion on available bibliography both as a summary of materials reviewed in his comprehensive study and also as resource material for future research.

  May' 83               K.M. Talgeri

Randy Kloetzli has provided a considerable service for students of Buddhism recalling attention to the importance of cosmology in the teaching of the path toward enlightenment and by noting three kinds of cosmologies representing two alternate traditions in the development of Buddhist thought.

  The Journal of Religion             Frederick J. Streng

Vol. 64, No. 1, Jan 86