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*This list is a simplification. It is likely that the development of Buddhist schools was not linear. |
TheLokottaravāda (Sanskrit:लोकोत्तरवाद;traditional Chinese:說出世部; ; pinyin:Shuō Chūshì Bù; Vietnamese:Xuất thế thuyết bộ) was one of theearly Buddhist schools according toMahāyāna doxological sources compiled byBhāviveka,Vinitadeva and others, and was a subgroup which emerged from theMahāsāṃghika.
The nameLokottaravāda means those who follow the supramundane (Skt.lokottara), or transcendent, teachings. Despite bearing this name, all sub-sects of the Mahāsāṃghikas seem to have accepted forms of supramundane or transcendent teachings.[1]
TheŚāriputraparipṛcchā and theSamayabhedoparacanaćakra both suggest that the Lokottaravāda had their origins with theEkavyāvahārikas and theKukkuṭikas. While the Mahāsāṃghikas initially flourished in the region aroundMagadha, the Lokottaravādins are known to have flourished in theNorthwest India.[2]
The 6th century CE Indian monkParamārtha wrote that 200 years after theparinirvāṇa of the Buddha, much of theMahāsāṃghika school moved north ofRājagṛha, and were divided over whether the Mahāyāna teachings should be incorporated formally into their Tripiṭaka.[3] According to this account, they split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of these Mahāyāna texts.[4] According to Paramārtha, the Lokottaravādins accepted theMahāyāna sūtras as the words of the Buddha (buddhavacana).[5]
Lokottaravādin views are known from theMahāvastu, which is a rare surviving Mahāsāṃghika text in Sanskrit. TheMahāvastu is a biography of the Buddha which attributes itself to the Lokottaravādins, and appears to have been an extended section of their Vinaya recension. The Sanskrit text of theMahāvastu was preserved in the libraries of the MahāyānaBuddhists of Nepal.[6]
Some scholars believe that the MahāyānaInfinite Life Sūtra was compiled in the era of theKushan Empire, the first and second centuries CE, by an order ofMahīśāsaka monastics that flourished inGandhāra.[7][8] However, it is likely that the longerInfinite Life Sūtra owes greatly to the Lokottaravādins as well for its compilation: in this sūtra, there are many elements in common with theMahāvastu.[7] The earliest of these translations show traces of having been translated from theGāndhārī.[9]
The Chinese Buddhist monkXuanzang visited a Lokottaravādavihara in the 7th century atBamyan (modern Afghanistan); this monastery site has since been rediscovered by archaeologists.[10]Birch bark andpalm-leaf manuscripts of texts in this monastery's collection, including Mahāyāna sūtras, have been discovered at the site, and these are now located in theSchøyen Collection. Some manuscripts are in Gāndhārī and written inKharosthi, while others are in Sanskrit written inGupta scripts. Manuscripts and fragments that have survived from this monastery's collection include the following source texts:[10]
It is likely that the Lokottaravādins had no major doctrinal distinctions to distinguish them as different from Mahāsāṃghika, but that the difference was instead a geographic one.[2]Tāranātha viewed the Ekavyāvahārikas, Lokottaravādins, and Gokulikas as being essentially the same.[11] He even viewed Ekavyāvahārika as being a general term for the Mahāsaṃghikas.[12] The earlierSamayabhedoparacanaćakra of Vasumitra also regards the Ekavyāvahārikas, Gokulikas, and Lokottaravādins as being doctrinally indistinguishable.[13]
The Lokottaravādins asserted that there are no real things in the world except two kinds of emptiness (Skt.śūnyatā), that is, the emptiness of a self (Skt.pudgalaśūnyatā) and the emptiness of phenomena (Skt.dharmaśūnyatā). This two-fold view of emptiness is also a distinguishing characteristic of Mahāyāna.[14]
According to Vasumitra, 48 theses were held in common by these three Mahāsāṃghika sects.[13] Of the 48 special theses attributed by theSamayabhedoparacanaćakra to these sects, 20 points concern the supramundane nature ofbuddhas andbodhisattvas.[15] According to theSamayabhedoparacanaćakra, these four groups held that the Buddha is able to know alldharmas in a single moment of the mind.
In their view, the Buddha is equipped with the following supernatural qualities: transcendence (lokottara), lack of defilements, all of his utterancespreaching his teaching, expounding all his teachings in a single utterance, all of his sayings being true, his physical body being limitless, his power (prabhāva) being limitless, the length of his life being limitless, never tiring of enlightening sentient beings and awakening pure faith in them, having no sleep or dreams, no pause in answering a question, and always in meditation (samādhi).[16]
TheBuddha is viewed as transcendent (Skt.lokottara) and his life and physical manifestation are mere appearance.[17] The Lokottaravāda school upheld the Mahāsāṃghika view of the supramundane nature of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the imperfection and fallibility ofarhats.[17]
The LokottaravādinMahāvastu speaks of Buddhism as consisting of theThree Vehicles, and includes specific instructions regarding the Bodhisattva Path and the practices of bodhisattvas.[18] From theMahāvastu, we know that the Lokottaravādins had a conception of a bodhisattva's progress toward enlightenment as consisting of ten grounds, orbhūmis, as required for Mahāyāna bodhisattvas.[19] These bhūmis described in theMahāvastu are similar to those in the MahāyānaTen Stages Sūtra, but the names of these stages seem to differ somewhat.[20][21]
From theMahāvastu, it is evident that the Lokottaravādins also held that there were innumerablePure Lands (Skt.buddhakṣetra "buddha-fields"), throughout which there are innumerable buddhas and innumerable tenth-ground bodhisattvas who will become buddhas. Each is said to lead limitless sentient beings to liberation, yet the number of sentient beings remains essentially infinite.[22]
In theMahāvastu, there are some Lokottaravādin accounts of the nature of buddhas which have strong parallels to those in Mahāyāna sūtras. In one section, a multitude ofdevas are described as putting up sunshades in honor of the Buddha, who in turn shows himself sitting beneath each and every one. Each deva believes himself to be particularly honored, unaware of the fictitious character of his own buddha, who is no different from the others he sees.[23] This has a parallel with an account in theŚūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra.[23] In this text, the Buddha appears simultaneously on a vast number of lion-thrones prepared by variousdevas, but each deva sees only the Buddha that is sitting on his own throne. At the appropriate moment, all the buddhas are revealed to the devas, and one asks which is real – his own Buddha, or all the others. In theŚūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra, the Buddha's answer is ultimately that they are all equal, because the nature of buddhas is not apart from all phenomena.[23]
In theMahāvastu, the future buddhaMaitreya is mentioned a number of times, and the text states that he will be just one of the one thousand buddhas who are destined to appear in the future following Gautama Buddha. The Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda view is contrasted with that of theTheravāda, which holds that five buddhas are destined to follow Gautama.[24]
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