Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Legitimation of Mahyna
Alberto Todeschini
University of California Berkeley
170
Abstract
Buddhism is a religion in which references to meditation are
extremely common; they can be found in countless works of art
and iconography, biographies past and present, Dharma-talks, texts
canonical and otherwise, etc. Going by certain strands of Western-
inf luenced popular culture, Buddhism consists of an array of
meditative practices accompanied by some philosophy and ethical
teachings for good measure. Yet, numerically speaking, no more than
a small minority of Buddhists practice meditation.
This paper focuses on appeals to meditation as part of a legitimation
strategy. What needed legitimation were certain innovations in
doctrine and practice that appeared long after the time of the Buddha.
Such legitimation was required because, at least superficially, South
Asian Buddhism was largely conservative. I qualify my claim with
superficially because, much as we have substantial evidence
demonstrating that many authors went to great lengths to show that
what they were doing or saying was not innovative, considerable
change and innovation did undeniably take place. It is in this context
that a number of strategies were employed to justify the introduction
of and give legitimacy to innovative ideas and practices.
My main point of focus is a text titled Summary of the Great Vehicle
(Mahynasagraha), traditionally attributed to Asaga, a monk
who lived perhaps in the 4th century CE. The Summary was a very
influential text in the history of Mahyna and it is relevant here
because of its frequent appeals to meditation in order to show the
validity of Yogcra.
Keywords
meditation; Asaga; Mahyna; legitimation; Mahynasagraha
The Role of Meditation in Asagas Legitimation of Mahyna 171
.
As just about anyone who has cast more than a superficial glance at
Buddhism knows, this is a religion in which references to meditation
are extremely common; they can be found in countless works of art
and iconography, biographies past and present, Dharma-talks, texts
canonical and otherwise, etc. And if one were to go by certain strands
of Western-influenced popular culture, Buddhism would consist of an
array of meditative practices accompanied by some philosophy and
ethical teachings for good measure. In the eyes of many, meditation
is so central to what Buddhists do as to overshadow or downright
exclude well-nigh everything else. As noted by Carl Bielefeldt, the
question, do you practice? is very often almost synonymous with do
you meditate?1 Looking at it this way, Bielefeldt adds, the great
majority of Buddhists throughout history have never practiced their
religion.2 This religion is not Buddhism, however. It is Trunkism
or Tailism.3 That is to say, this is at best a partial description, just
as partial is the description of an elephant provided by the blind
* I wish to express my gratitude to Venerable Huimin, the faculty, staff and volunteers
at Dharma Drum Buddhist College for their kindness, hospitality and good humor
during my stay. As always, I have been the fortunate beneficiary of assistance
scholarly and otherwise from a number of people, in alphabetical order, Achim
Bayer, Venerable Dhammadinn, Tru Funayama, Eric Greene, Robert Sharf,
Alexander von Rospatt and Stefano Zacchetti.
1 Carl Bielefeldt, Practice, in Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, ed. Donald S.
Lopez (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), 230.
2 Bielefeldt (ibidem, 230-231): Put this way, the great majority of Buddhists
throughout history have never practiced their religion. They have been the patrons
of, the audience for, at best the auxiliaries to, the relatively small troupe of
professionalsthose who have gone forth (pravrajita) from the homefor whom
the contemplative life is a vocation. And even among the professionals, much of
what they do in the service of their faiththe prayers for their patrons, the ritual
performances for their audiences, the writing of their books, the administration
of their institutions, and the likewill not, properly speaking, count as practice.
Parentheses in the original.
3 These terms have been used by Timothy Barrett while discussing Buddhism and
historical research. I am adapting the imagery and terminology. See Timothy H.
Barrett, History, in Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, ed. Donald S. Lopez
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), 139.
172
men who touch the elephants trunk, tail or tusk in the well-known
story told in the Pli canon and elsewhere.4 Being partial, it is likely
to be misleading; and at worst, if the part is taken to be the whole,
the description is simply mistaken. Nevertheless, it is true that
numerically speaking, no more than a small minority of Buddhists
practice meditation. In fact, meditation plays no direct, immediate
role in the life of the majority of Buddhists, and this is the case even
including monastics.5
Early European views of meditation and its function in Buddhism
were rather varied.6 Scholarly views are still varied, and it is fair to
say that, for all the high-quality work that has been produced, there
are still important misunderstandings and unanswered questions
including fundamental ones even among specialists. Addressing
these issues is as pressing a task as ever in view of the fact that
millions of people, many of whom do not see themselves as being
Buddhist, have taken up or at least dabbled in meditation, including
in clinical settings.7 I said that only a small minority of Buddhists
practice meditation and I also said that millions of people practice
meditation. These statements are both true. This is because with
4 See for instance the Inspired Utterances (Udna) in Paul Steinthal, Udna (London:
Pali Text Society, 1885), 66. A similar story also appears in Jaina literature.
5 Reference to several sources supporting my last claim can be found in Robert H.
Sharf, Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience, Numen
42, no. 3 (1995): 228283, especially 241ff. See however also the remarks in Daniel
Boucher, Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahyna: A Study
and Translation of the Rraplaparipcch-stra (Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 2008), 195, note 2.
6 For early views, compare for instance that of the Italian Jesuit missionary to Tibet
Ippolito Desideri (20 December 1684 14 April 1733) and that of another Jesuit, the
French Jean Baptiste Du Halde (1 February 1674 18 August 1743). See Michael
J. Sweet (translator), Mission to Tibet: The Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century
Account of Father Ippolito Desideri, S.J., ed. Leonard Zwilling (Boston: Wisdom
Publications, 2010), especially 388-391; Jrgen Offermanns, Debates on Atheism,
Quietism, and Sodomy: The Initial Reception of Buddhism in Europe, Journal of
Global Buddhism 6 (2005).
7 A great deal of relevant information focusing especially on mindfulness can be
found in Fabrizio Didonna, ed., Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness (New York:
Springer, 2009).
The Role of Meditation in Asagas Legitimation of Mahyna 173
8 Reliable statistics are hard to come by but see ibidem, 10: There are an estimated
10 million practitioners of meditation in the United States and hundreds of
millions worldwide.
9 As demonstrated by Ui, even only taking into consideration early sources, tradition
has transmitted several different explanations of the Buddhas awakening. By
Uis reckoning, there are fifteen different explanations. As a consequence, it is
extraordinarily difficult or perhaps impossible for historians to settle the matter
of what the Buddhas awakening consisted of. See Ui Hakuju ,
, in 3 (Tokyo: Kshisha, 1929), 394ff. Relevant
material can also be found in Anlayos discussion of the Mahsaccaka Sutta
(Majjhima Nikya 36) in A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikya (Taipei:
Dharma Drum Publishing, 2011), 232246.
10 This episode, though very well-known and widely depicted, does not appear in the
earliest sources as far as I have been able to ascertain. For more information see
Ananda W. P. Guruge, The Buddhas Encounters with Mara [sic] the Tempter:
Their Representation in Literature and Art, Sri Lanka Journal of Buddhist Studies 2
(1988), http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/guruge/wheel419.html; Claudine
Bautze-Picron, Lumire et Obscurit: lveil de kyamuni et la Victoire sur
Mra des Dbuts lpoque Gupta, Annali dellUniversit degli Studi di Napoli
LOrientale 58, no. 12 (1998): 149.
174
.
Henceforth, I will focus on what I call appeals to meditation. This is
not to be confused with appeals to do or practice meditation.11 Simply
put, this does not imply someone asking or exhorting someone else to
meditate. Rather, these appeals to meditation are part of a legitimation
strategy. What needed legitimation were certain innovations in
doctrine and practice that appeared long after the time of the Buddha.
Such legitimation was required because, at least superficially, South
Asian Buddhism was largely conservative. Superficially because,
much as we have substantial evidence demonstrating that many
authors went to great lengths to show that what they were doing or
saying was not innovative, considerable change and innovation did
undeniably take place. It is in this context that a number of strategies
were employed to justify the introduction of and give legitimacy to
innovative ideas and practices. One strategy can be termed appeal to
intention. One version is as follows: an author states that a previous
12 For a discussion of several related issues see John Powers, Hermeneutics and
Tradition in the Sadhinirmocana-stra (Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1993).
See also the following two articles by David Seyfort Ruegg, Purport, Implicature
and Presupposition: Sanskrit abhiprya and Tibetan dgos pa/dgos gi as
Hermeneutical Concepts, Journal of Indian Philosophy 13, no. 4 (1985): 309325;
Some Reflections on the Place of Philosophy in the Study of Buddhism, Journal
of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 18, no. 2 (1995): 173174;
and Donald S. Lopez, On the Interpretation of the Mahyna Stras, in Buddhist
Hermeneutics, ed. Donald S. Lopez (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993), 4767, and
the same authors Authority and Orality in the Mahyna, Numen 42, no. 1 (1995):
2147.
176
13 Jonathan A. Silk, Dressed for Success: The Monk Kyapa and Strategies of
Legitimation in Earlier Mahyna Buddhist Scriptures, Journal Asiatique 291, no.
12 (2003): 173174.
14 James R. Lewis, Legitimating New Religions (New Brunswick: Rutgers University
Press, 2003), 14.
15 Nobuyoshi Yamabe, The Stra on the Ocean-like Samdhi of the Visualization of
the Buddha: The Interfusion of the Chinese and Indian Cultures in Central Asia as
Reflected in a Fifth Century Apocryphal Stra. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University,
1999, 48-49.
16 Silk, Dressed for Success: The Monk Kyapa and Strategies of Legitimation in
Earlier Mahyna Buddhist Scriptures, 176, footnote 6. I agree with Silk that,
literally, this can be described as an appeal to authority. It is however different from
the common understanding of such appeal in argumentation theory and informal
The Role of Meditation in Asagas Legitimation of Mahyna 177
.
My main point of focus is a text titled Summary of the Great
Vehicle (Mahynasagraha, henceforth Summary), traditionally
attributed to Asaga, a monk who lived perhaps in the 4th century
CE. I provisionally accept this attribution even though problems of
authorship, including on the very idea of authorship, abound. Asaga
is frequently given the status of founder of a tradition or school
called Yogcra.23 He was steeped in Abhidharma and wrote
competently on epistemology and argumentation in the important
but understudied period before Dignga.24 The exact details of his
...
The Dharma master Asaga cultivated the sunlight samdhi.
He trained as he had been taught and immediately attained
this concentration. As a result of obtaining this concentration,
he was able to completely comprehend everything that he had
previously not understood.30
30 T2049.50.188c21-22:
.
31 Da tang xiyu ji , T2087. 51.896c8.
32 For the History of the Dharma (chos byung) see Eugen Obermiller, History of
Buddhism (Chos-byung [sic]) by Bu-ston: II. Part: The History of Buddhism
in India and Tibet, Materialien zur Kunde des Buddhismus, 19 (Heidelberg:
Harrassowitz, 1932), 137ff; for the History of the Dharma in India (rgya gar
chos byung) see Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, Alaka Chattopadhyaya, and Lama
Chimpa, Tranthas History of Buddhism in India (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers,
1990), 154ff.
33 More bibliographical information on these four texts can be found in Robert
Kritzer, Rebirth and Causation in Yogcra Abhidharma (Vienna: Arbeitskreis fr
tibetische und buddhistische Studien Universitt Wien, 1999), 6. Schmithausen
offers important methodological comments on the value of traditional accounts in
layavijna: On the Origin and the Early Development of a Central Concept of
Yogcra Philosophy (Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 1987),
183193.
34 See the hagiography as presented in the two works referenced in footnote 32.
182
39 Hence, the Sanskrit sagraha in the Summarys title could be rendered with the
Latin summa, reflecting the latter words usage by medieval authors for works
that covered or attempted to cover a subject systematically, such as William of
Ockhams (or Occam) Summa Logicae. On the origin of the Sanskrit title of the
Mahynasagraha see Suguro Shinj and Shimokawabe Kiyoshi
, : , (Tokyo: Daiz Shuppan, 2007), 49. On
the summa genre see Eileen Sweeney, Literary Forms of Medieval Philosophy,
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/
medieval-literary/#Sum. Accessed 8-13-2012.
40 Erich Frauwallner, Die Philosophie des Buddhismus (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag,
1956), 326: Die bedeutendste Persnlichkeit der Yogcra-Schule ist der groe
Schler Maitreyanthas Asaga.
41 Ibidem, 328: Das philosophisch bedeutendste Werk, der Mahynasagra
(Zusammenfassung des Mahyna), in dem er eine systematische Darstellung der
Grundlehren seines System gibt. Parentheses in the original. The emphasis is mine.
On Asagas position in the history of Buddhism, Frauwallner also states: Asaga
hat trotz seiner Schlerschaft bei Maitreyantha und trotz dessen starkem Einflu
auf ihn bedeutendes Eigenes geleistet, und zwar vor allem zweierlei. Er hat durch
bernahme und Einarbeitung der Hnayna-Dogmatik das Yogcra-System so
ausgestaltet, da es sich in jeder Hinsicht ebenbrtig neben die groen Hnayna-
Schulen der damaligen Zeit stellen konnte. Ferner hat her, was Maitreyantha noch
nicht gelungen war, die Massen der alten Erlsungsscholastik mit fester Hand in
sein System eingefgt und so ein einheitliches Lehrgebude errichtet, das in seinen
Grundzgen dauernd in Geltung geblieben ist. Note that according to Frauwallner
(297) it is Maitreyantha who first developed a Yogcra philosophical system.
42 Nagao Gajin , , vol. 1 (Tokyo: Kdansha, 1982),
5. The whole sentence reads:
(Mahyna-sagraha)
. Parentheses in the original.
184
.
The Summary consists of a short introduction followed by ten chapters
of very unequal length. The introduction (henceforth, Introduction)
begins with an appeal to authority. In this case the authority consists
in the bodhisattva Mahynasupravia, who, we are told, spoke
in front of the Bhagavat and whose words are transmitted in the
Abhidharma (mahyna) Stra.46
The legitimization of the Mahyna by means of appealing to
authority continues in Introduction 2,47 where Asaga is keen to
point out that the reference he has just made to the stra indicates that
indeed the Mahyna is buddhavacana.48 In Introduction 2 is also
found the first reference to meditation. Here the Summary introduces
higher mind (adhicitta),49 which is dealt with extensively in chapter
50 Mahynasagrahabhya (sde dge bstan gyur 4050, 124b): ting nge dzin;
T1597.31.322c18: . Asagas Abhidharmasamuccaya has the following
definition: What is samdhi? It is the focusing of the mind on the object to be
examined. The definition continues by stating that samdhi has the function of
providing a support or basis for knowledge: samdhi katama / upaparikye
vastuni cittasyaikgrat / jnasannirayadnakarmaka. Sanskrit from V. V.
Gokhale, Fragments from the Abhidharmasamuccaya of Asaga. Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society: Bombay Branch 23 (1947): 16. The first half of the definition
is also given verbatim in Vasubandhus Pacaskandhaka. See Xuezhu Li and Ernst
Steinkellner, Vasubandhus Pacaskandhaka (Beijing; Vienna: China Tibetology
Publishing House; Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2008), 6.
51 Heroic march = ragama, on which see tienne Lamotte,
ragamasamdhistra: The Concentration of Heroic Progress: An Early
Mahyna Buddhist Scripture, trans. Sara Boin-Webb (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
2003), xiixiv. Sky treasury = gaganagaja. Nagao, , 5: dpa bar gro
ba dang nam mkha mdzod la sogs pai ting nge dzin dag ni der lhag pai sems su
bstan to. T1594.31.133a11-12:
. Here Lamotte, La Somme du Grand Vhicule dAsaga, 8, translates nam
mkha mdzod pa = = gaganagaja with matrice despace (gaganagarbha)
(parentheses in the original). This is unlikely to be correct. On gaganagaja see
Franklin Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary: Volume II
Dictionary (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1977), 207.
The Role of Meditation in Asagas Legitimation of Mahyna 187
title for the whole chapter.52 William Waldron has characterized the
chapter thus:
The Mahyna-sagraha (MSg) presents the most extended
formal treatment of the laya-vijna of any of the early
Yogcra texts. Indeed, its entire first chapter (MSg I) is
devoted to describing the multiple characteristics of the
laya-vijna and presenting various exegetical and doctrinal
arguments in support of this distinctive genre of mental
process. [] Throughout most of its first chapter, the MSg
is concerned to authenticate and establish the concept of the
laya-vijna in terms of its earlier canonical background
and its contemporaneous Abhidharma context. [ The]
main thrust of MSg I is apologetic seeking to connect
its innovative theories with the authoritative discourses
of the Buddha or to reach out to its contemporaries with
Abhidharmic arguments.53
52 Nagao, , 9: de la re zhig thog ma kho nar kun gzhi rnam par shes pa ni
shes byai gnas so zhes brjod pa. T1594.31.133b12:
.
53 William Waldron, The Buddhist Unconscious: The laya-vjna in the Context of
Indian Buddhist Thought (London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), 128129.
Parentheses in the original.
54 Nagao, , 9; T1594.31.133b12. As is well known, gama is frequently
paired with yukti and this pairing is evident in the Summary too. Richard Nance has
written an article that refers to the Summary and, while focusing on yukti, also sheds
light on gama: On What Do We Rely When We Rely on Reasoning? Journal of
Indian Philosophy 35 (2007): 149167. The fact that I am using scriptural (from
the Latin scriptura = writing) does not imply that the sources understood to be
gama were written compositions.
188
legitimization ex post facto and will not be concerned with why the
introduction of such type of consciousness was deemed necessary
or with proofs given for its existence.55 In any event, the appeal to
scriptural authority continues in 1.2, and the Summary explicitly
mentions the word gama.56 Though the stra is different, scriptural
authority is summoned in 1.4 too. Here Asaga states that the store
consciousness is also called appropriating consciousness, the
former being his preferred terminological choice in the Summary, the
latter being found in the Sadhinirmocana Stra.57 This allows him
to appeal to a second scriptural authority in addition to the already-
mentioned Abhidharma (mahyna) Stra. Asaga describes the
appropriating consciousness by quoting a well-known passage from
the Sadhinirmocana Stra:
The appropriating consciousness, deep, subtle, like a stream,
proceeds with all seeds. I did not reveal it to ignorants, lest
they should imagine that it is the self.58
passage, states that it was not taught to rvakas.59 On the other hand,
Asaga in 1.11 is keen to point out that indeed the store consciousness
has already been explained by the Buddha to rvakas, and that it
is mentioned in the gama of Mahsghikas, Mahsakas and
Sthaviras, though using other expressions rather than layavijna.60
The case given by Asaga regarding rvakas is different, but in the
latter three cases the strategy can be termed synonymization, namely,
Asaga homogenizes differences between his position and that of
others to the extent of effectively nullifying them by claiming that
various lexical items are synonymous.61
Asaga gives, in 1.5, an explanation as to why the appropriating
consciousness is so called, and then, at 1.6, introduces the defiled
mind (kliamanas). After briefly characterizing it, in 1.7 Asaga
justifies its existence by means of a series of arguments. The fourth is
relevant for my discussion:
[If the defiled mind did not exist,] there would be the fault
of there not being difference between the absorption into
the state of an unconscious being and the absorption of
cessation.62
59 Upanibandhana, sde dge bstan gyur 4050, 196a: phra ba ni nyan thos rnams kyis
kyang shes par dka bai phyir ro / / dei phyir de dag shes bya phra ba thams cad
shes pai skabs ma yin pas nyan thos rnams la ma bshad do. T1598.31.383b18-19:
.
60 Nagao, , 17-18. T1594.31.134a11ff. Xuanzangs and Paramrthas
translations (T1593.31.114b26ff) omit the portion on Sthaviras, which Lamotte does
not translate, but it is found in the Tibetan, and accordingly is translated in Nagao,
ibidem, 122. See also Summary 2.12-14.
61 Lamotte, La Somme du Grand Vhicule, 26-31, translates what most likely is
paryya with synonyme(s). This is a common but problematic translation, as
pointed out by Nagao, , 118-119, note 1. In the present case synonym
does not cover all the uses that Asaga makes of paryya. On paryya see Richard
F. Nance, Speaking for Buddhas: Scriptural Commentary in Indian Buddhism
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2011), 108. My notion of synonymization
is borrowed and modified from Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies
of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2004),
164165.
62 Nagao, , 13: du shes med pa dang / gog pai snyoms par jug pa bye
brag med pai skyon du yang gyur te. T1594.31.133c15-16:
190
(vipayan) of the Dharma;77 third and last, 2.14 lists those who have
attained non-conceptual knowledge (nirvikalpajna).78
The Summarys first two chapters are the ones that contain the most
argumentation and the greater emphasis on legitimation, both in
terms of frequency of appearance and in absolute terms. Also, it is
in them that most references to meditation are found and they are
taken with the Introduction roughly as long as all the other chapters
put together. From chapter 3 onwards, Asaga provides something
akin to a map of a bodhisattvas career with the theory of the three
bodies of the Buddha as culmination in the Summarys tenth and last
chapter.79 Some references to meditation do appear, but they are not
as prevalent. Furthermore, the tone is somewhat different, there is less
argumentation, and mentions of rvaka(yna) are rare.
As I have already mentioned, chapter 6, 7 and 8 are dedicated to the
so-called three trainings and it is specifically with their distinguishing
characteristics and superiority that Asaga deals. The second one
higher mind (adhicitta), treated in chapter 7 is relevant here. Higher
mind corresponds to samdhi, as pointed out by Vasubandhu in
his commentary referred to above when I discussed Introduction
2. The chapter does not deal with the definition of samdhi or how
to attain it. Rather, the topic expounded is closer to what I would
term mental development or mental training. The overarching
concern is to show that the mental development in the Mahyna
is superior to that practiced in other vehicles viz., rvakayna
and Pratyekabuddhayna and Asvabhva in his commentary is
77 Nagao, , 70: zhi gnas thob pai rnal byor pa chos la lhag mthong la
brtson pa. T1594.31.139a21-22: .
78 Nagao, , 70-71: rnam par mi rtog pai ye shes thob pa.
T1594.31.139a22-23: . Roughly the second half of 2.14b
reiterates, in verse form and with some differences, several points made in 2.14.
See Nagao, , 72. It is missing in Xuanzangs translation.
79 The trikya theory in the Summarys tenth chapter is dealt with extensively in Paul
J. Griffiths et al., The Realm of Awakening: A Translation and Study of the Tenth
Chapter of Asagas Mahynasagraha (New York: Oxford University Press,
1989), passim.
194
85 Paul M. Harrison, Searching for the Origins of the Mahyna: What Are We
Looking For? The Eastern Buddhist XXVIII, no. 1 (1995): 6566. Parentheses in
the original.
196
.
We are now in the position to draw some final considerations. First,
even though limited in scope, the present article does confirm that
meditation plays a central role in Yogcra, at least as far as one of its
most influential texts and authors are concerned. What is interesting
is the nature of the role meditation plays in the Summary. It is not
the subject being explained, as would be the case for a meditation
manual. In fact, in spite of the numerous references contained therein,
one only learns little about meditation itself from the Summary, or
about how to meditate.
Second, it is indeed noteworthy that meditation has such a significant
spot in Asagas endeavor to legitimize a number of fundamental
Yogcra doctrines, including the store consciousness, the defiled
mind, the notion of only representation and the three natures/
characteristics. The appeals to meditation are so numerous and
central in the Summary that without them Asagas effort would
require very substantial adjustments. This can be contrasted with
Vasubandhus Viatik (with the authors own vtti), Triik and
Trisvabhvanirdea, where appeals to meditation do not play such a
significant role. To find interesting similarities one can look at the
Cheng weishi lun, in which Xuanzang does appeal to meditation
frequently as part of his argumentation strategy, with references to
samdhi being particularly numerous, and, to a much lesser extent, to
the Mahynastrlakra.
Third, as to Asagas audience, the fact that he is so heavily reliant on
references to Buddhist meditation, cosmology, gama, and so forth,
strongly suggests that the Summary is a treatise written specifically
for a Buddhist audience. The concerns are clear: to show that the
Mahyna is buddhavacana, that it is superior to the rvakayna,
that gama supports notions such as the store consciousness, etc.
The discussion is clearly intrasystemic as these concerns would
make little sense and Asagas arguments would carry little weight
The Role of Meditation in Asagas Legitimation of Mahyna 197
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