Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 454 pages of information about Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2.

Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 454 pages of information about Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2.

[Footnote 49:  See I-tsing, trans.  Takakusu, 1896, p. 136.  For some further remarks on the possible foreign origin of Manjusri see below, chapter on Central Asia.  The verses attributed to King Harsha (Nanjio, 1071) praise the reliquaries of China but without details.]

[Footnote 50:  Some of the Tantras, e.g. the Mahacinakramacara, though they do not connect Manjusri with China, represent some of their most surprising novelties as having been brought thence by ancient sages like Vasishtha.]

[Footnote 51:  J.R.A.S. new series, XII. 522 and J.A.S.B. 1882, p. 41.  The name Manchu perhaps contributed to this belief.]

[Footnote 52:  It is described as a Svayambhu or spontaneous manifestation of the Adi-Buddha.]

[Footnote 53:  Sanskrit, Maitreya; Pali, Metteyya; Chinese, Mi-li; Japanese, Miroku; Mongol, Maidari; Tibetan, Byams-pa (pronounced Jampa).  For the history of the Maitreya idea see especially Peri, B.E.F.E.O. 1911, pp. 439-457.]

[Footnote 54:  But a Siamese inscription of about 1361, possibly influenced by Chinese Mahayanism, speaks of the ten Bodhisattvas headed by Metteyya.  See B.E.F.E.O. 1917, No. 2, pp. 30, 31.]

[Footnote 55:  E.g. in the Mahaparinibbana Sutra.]

[Footnote 56:  Dig.  Nik.  XXVI. 25 and Buddhavamsa, XXVII. 19, and even this last verse is said to be an addition.]

[Footnote 57:  See e.g. Watters, Yuean Chwang, I. 239.]

[Footnote 58:  See Watters and Peri in B.E.F.E.O. 1911, 439.  A temple of Maitreya has been found at Turfan in Central Asia with a Chinese inscription which speaks of him as an active and benevolent deity manifesting himself in many forms.]

[Footnote 59:  He has not fared well in Chinese iconography which represents him as an enormously fat smiling monk.  In the Liang dynasty there was a monk called Pu-tai (Jap.  Hotei) who was regarded as an incarnation of Maitreya and became a popular subject for caricature.  It would appear that the Bodhisattva himself has become superseded by this cheerful but undignified incarnation.]

[Footnote 60:  The stupa was apparently at Benares but Hsuean Chuang’s narrative is not clear and other versions make Rajagriha or Sravasti the scene of the prediction.]

[Footnote 61:  Campa.  This is his bodhi tree under which he will obtain enlightenment as Sakyamuni under the Ficus religiosa.  Each Buddha has his own special kind of bodhi tree.]

[Footnote 62:  Record of the Buddhist religion, Trans.  Takakusu, p. 213.  See too Watters, Yuean Chwang, II. 57, 144, 210, 215.]

[Footnote 63:  Chinese P’u-hsien.  See Johnston, From Peking to Mandalay, for an interesting account of Mt.  Omei.]

[Footnote 64:  Or Mahasthana.  Chinese, Tai-shih-chih.  He appears to be the Arhat Maudgalyayana deified.  In China and Japan there is a marked tendency to regard all Bodhisattvas as ancient worthies who by their vows and virtues have risen to their present high position.  But these euhemeristic explanations are common in the Far East and the real origin of the Bodhisattvas may be quite different.]

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