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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0307

Lamrim Volume 1:  P40-L21 ~ P41-L14

Date: 10 Apr 2022

Topic: Master Atisha defeated the heretics three times in the Mahabodhi Monastery

[Today, we will continue our discussion on] Master Atisha’s contribution to the immaculate teachings after he possessed sublime good qualities. Everyone please turn to the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, Chinese text, page 130, “Having gained those good qualities, what Atisha did to further the teachings is divided into two subtopics.” Let’s read the text on Rinpoche’s Introduction. [00:23]

C. Having gained those good qualities, what Atisha did to further the teachings

1. What he did in India 2. What he did in Tibet [V.1, P.40~41]

1. What he did in India

In the palace of the great enlightenment at the glorious [Vajrasana] Bodh-gaya, he upheld the Buddhist teaching three times by using the teachings to vanquish the poor instruction of non-Buddhist philosophers. With regard to the higher schools of Madhyamaka and Yogacara and the lower systems of Vaibashika and Sautrantika of our own Buddhist schools, he furthered the teachings through clearing away the corruptions of ignorance, wrong ideas, and doubts. So it is that all the schools without partisanship, consider him a crown jewel. Eighty Verses of Praise:

 In the palace of the great enlightenment

When all were assembled together,

With speech like a lion’s roar

You confounded the minds of all

Who argued for the poor tenets

Of our own and others’ schools.

Also:

At Otanatpuri there were

Two hundred fifty monks,

At Vikramalasila

There were almost a hundred.

All four root schools were present.

You did not take up the boasts of the various schools

But became the crown jewel of all

Four followers, monks, nuns, male and female lay practitioners of the Teacher

Venerable Atisha followed his teacher Buddha-jnanapada

Of the Lokottaravada branch of the Mahasamghika school;

He was not biased, and could clearly make distinction among different schools

In all of the areas

Of the land of Magadha

Because you stayed with the general teachings

Of all eighteen sects [and thus were nonpartisan],

Everyone received teachings from you. [02:16]

Let’s look at Rinpoche’s Introduction, page 131 of the Chinese text. We have finished discussing the third point of the outline, “How upon that basis he gained good qualities;” now we are going to discuss after having gained those good qualities, “what Atisha did to further the teachings,” which is about preserving and promulgating the teachings that Master Atisha contributed to, it can be divided into two sections: first, “what he did in India”, and the 2nd is “what he did in Tibet”. The division is based on the geographic area he promulgated the teachings, as indicated in the outline – in India and in Tibet. So what he did in India [in terms of preserving and promulgating the teachings]? It says in the Praise, “In the palace of the great enlightenment at the glorious [Vajrasana] Bodh-gaya”; “the great enlightenment” is the name of a statue, which is the Statue of Great Enlightenment at the Vajrasana [or Diamond Throne] at Bodh-gaya; and it is a statue of Buddha. This monastery is referred to as the Mahabodhi [the Great Enlightenment] Monastery. The record shows: “he upheld the Buddha teaching three times by using the teachings to vanquish the poor instruction of non-Buddhist philosophers”. In the past, the non-Buddhists philosophers in India caused many disturbances to Buddhists. If the Buddhist philosophers could not defeat the non-Buddhist philosophers in debate, the entire monastery along with the monastics would be converted to the non-Buddhist group; this was very serious. Master Atisha at Bodh-gaya defeated the leaders of the non-Buddhist philosophers in three major debates and thus preserved the Buddha’s teachings. These were his feats of taming the non-Buddhist philosophers. [03:50]

The Biography of Passing On Teaching’s Succession keeps the following account: which was translated by layperson,  Guo-ho-chin, where Venerable Xing-jing and Venerable Xing-hua proofread it. The account documents that Master Atisha tried hard to intercede the warfare between two kingdoms. He tried hard to reconcile peace talks as well as saved many stranded beings  in the war. Then after that comes this  section. [04:21]

It says while Master Atisha was circumambulating the Diamond Throne in the Bodhi-gaya, meditating on kindness, compassion, and Bodhicitta, there came a non-Buddhist Pandita from the south, holding 13 propped parasols – the special parasol symbolizing great honor. After winning each debate over a significant opponent, the winner earns one more of such parasol. So, this non-Buddhist philosopher, particularly with 13 propped up parasols, came to Master Atisha and said,  “You are the leading upholder of Buddhist philosophy, while I represent the non-Buddhist philosophers. Let us debate with each other. Whoever wins, the defeated will have to convert to follow the other party.” The disciples and the leader of the defeated party would all be succumbed to the winner group, this was very serious! Thus, they invited the king to preside the event and then both sides began to debate. [05:25]

As a result, Master Atisha defeated the opponent without any difficulty, and all the ownership of the 13 parasols were transferred and offered to Master Atisha. This non-Buddhist bowed at the feet of Master Atisha and became the disciple of Master Atisha. Also all his non-Buddhist disciples were converted to Buddhists as well. As you can imagine, how vital this debate was to Buddha Dharma. If Master Atisha had not won, then the entire Sangha community would have to learn the heretic teachings. [05:58]

And in the following year, came another non-Buddhist philosopher who owned 8 parasols. Same outcome as before, he debated with Master Atisha, and was also defeated by Master Atisha. Another year later, there came a non-Buddhist philosopher who owned 5 parasols; he was very skilled in the Science of language and logic. Like the other adepts, he also requested to have a debate with Master Atisha, and both signed a similar agreement as the previous two. Master Atisha also accepted the challenge as requested. At the debating session, the seats of the challenger and the defender were properly set. Such event drew many Panditas and crowds. It was quite a grand event, and the debate began. [06:47]

In the beginning, 30 Panditas could follow along quite well with the propositions put forth in the debate. However, as the debate got more and more profound, there were only 15 of them who could grasp the meaning. And the debate went further along, the profundity and intensity of the debate could only be comprehended by about 10 Panditas. As the debate continued, only 5 Panditas could understand. Gradually when the debate proceeded into the subtlest aspect, only two of them could comprehend – the defender and the challenger. Others had absolutely no idea the esoteric part of the debate as it was so difficult beyond their comprehensive capacity. [07:29]

At this time, the non-Buddhist philosopher brought up a 4-line verse from  the science of language [note: this is not science of logic, which Master Atisha was very proficient at] to challenge Master Atisha for the meaning of these 4 lines. At that instant, Master Atisha could not decipher this four-line verse, nor was he able to convey it promptly. Then, he told the non-Buddhist philosopher, “Please sit here for a while, excuse me for a moment.” And Master Atisha went into the room, and there he offered mandala and prayed to Tara for blessing. Then, his mind suddenly became lucid; he went back to his debating seat. He put forth his answer and defeated the non-Buddhist Pandita. The non-Buddhist Pandita had no choice but to concede to the deal, converting to Buddhist and became a disciple of Master Atisha. [08:18]

Thus, as shown in the third debate Master Atisha engaged in, it was the inconceivable blessing power from Tara [that assisted him to win the debate]. We can also learn from this during our debate. When we encounter difficult topics, we should pray to Tara for guidance. Many of our classmates prefer to ask monastics for guidance, and the parents of the monastics also came to ask them for advice. Besides, classmates would ask questions among themselves, or ask the more senior classmates, right? Or we can emulate Master Atisha and cultivate the habit of praying to Tara for guidance. [08:47]

The “Vajrasana” [or the “Diamond Throne”] is one of the Buddhist sacred places, it was  in the central part of India – Bodh-gaya. Legend has it that Bodhgaya is the navel of the great earth and will disappear last at the end of the world; it is the center point of the universe. Within one hundred steps radius, all the way down to the golden disc [the center of the earth], and up to the surface of the earth, it is all made up of vajra. The  thousand Buddhas of the fortunate eons achieved their Vajrasana meditation at this location and obtain their Buddhahood. Thus, it is known as Vajrasana [or Diamond Throne]. [09:14]

So, this “palace of the great enlightenment” was the name of the monastery to the north of the Bodhi tree under which Buddha gained his ultimate enlightenment. It was also known as the Mahabodhi Monastery. How was this monastery established? There is a saying that King Srimeghavarna of Siṃhala Kingdom [the current Sri Lanka] built it. Another legend says that while Venerable Upagupta was promulgating Buddha Dharma in India - remember who Venerable Upagupta was [teaching #201]? He was the enlightened one who gave Mara an ornament and it turned out to be carcass of a dog on the Mara’s neck. While he was giving teaching in India, there was a mother and son in the Magadha kingdom. They had met Buddha in person, [and this monastery was built] by this Brahman mother and her son. [10:05]

After the main construction of the monastery was done, the deities manifested themselves as the artisans, applying for the jobs of sculpting the Buddha statue. Because once the construction of the monastery was completed, Buddha statue should be enshrined, but who would come to carry out the task? That was the deity who manifested as the artisan. Later, the mother examined the statue carefully, since she had met with Buddha in person before. After her inspection, she found out this statue was delicately made, very lifelike and exquisite, almost the exact likeness of the real Buddha, especially the eyeballs of the statue and the precious jewel embedded on the white hair between the eyebrows; it was very miraculous; it glowed in the night; this was very inconceivable. And the construction work of the monastery was made with excellent craftsmanship with delicate artistic paintings. Enshrined in the monastery are the flesh and bone relics of Buddha. There were once over a thousand monastics studying Mahayana and Theravada teachings inside here. The rules of the monastery were specifically stipulated, and the precepts were upheld solemnly. It was a very prominent monastery. [11:17]

讲次 | 0307 (2021-03-08 ~ 2021-03-10)

标题 | 尊者于大菩提寺三次辩胜外道

《广论》段落 | P6-L1 ~ P6-L6 于圣教所作事中分二……一切皆受教。”

入门段落 | 第1册 P130-L6 ~ P131-L10 于圣教所作事中分二......这是击败外道的事迹。

备注 | 四家合注《白话校注集》第1册 P134-L8注释① ~ P134-LL1注释②完 金刚座 佛教圣地之一......寺规严明，戒行端肃。

(更新日期: 2022年4月10日)

00:00

在阿底峡尊者获得了殊胜的功德之后，于圣教所作的事业。请大家翻到《入门》的 130 页，“于圣教所作事中分二”，我们可以看一下原文。00:23

我们看 131 页仁波切的讲记，第三个科判前面“其身获得功德事理”已经结束了，这里是“于圣教所作事业”。“于圣教所作事中分二”，就是阿底峡尊者于圣教所作的事业有两个科判，第一个就是“于印度所作事理”，第二是“藏中所作事理。今初”。对圣教所作的事业是以弘化区的地域，比如说印度、西藏这样来做了科判。那么在印度对圣教做了什么事业呢？“于胜金刚座大菩提寺”，“大菩提”是圣像的名字，指的是金刚座里边的大菩提圣像，就是一尊世尊的圣像。这座寺院因此被称为大菩提寺。这里边记载说：“曾经三次以法战败外道恶论，住持佛教。”之前外道在印度制造了许多令佛教困扰的事情，如果不能够辩论胜出外道的话，连同寺院里的弟子，一切都必须归入外道的教法，这是非常危险的。尊者在金刚座，三次战胜很厉害的外道导师而住持佛教，这是击败外道的事迹。03:50

在《师师相承传》里边有这样一个记载——这个记载是郭和卿居士翻译的，然后性景法师和性华法师又重新校对了一下——讲了阿底峡尊者在发生战争的两个王国中间，阿底峡尊者一直要为对方讲和，还去解救很多困于战乱中的有情。然后再之后就是这一段了。04:21

说阿底峡尊者在金刚座正在绕行、修慈心、悲心、菩提心的时候，从南方来了一个外道的班智达，高撑着十三顶的胜伞——这个胜伞是名誉的一种标志，每辩论胜，而且是非常大的辩论对手，就是每辩论胜大敌一次，就能够在头上再增胜这个伞一顶。所以，他居然高撑着十三顶的胜伞，来到了阿底峡尊者面前，然后就对阿底峡尊者说道：“你是佛教的教主，我是外道的教主，我们两个人互相辩论，谁胜了，负者当入其教下。”要是辩败了的话，弟子和他都归那方了，很严重啊！于是就请国王为证明，然后双方辩论。05:25

结果阿底峡尊者毫不困难就破倒了对方而获得了胜利，将十三顶胜伞转供于阿底峡尊者。这个外道顶戴尊者的双足，而成了阿底峡尊者的弟子，还有他一切外道的徒众也都归入了佛门下。大家可以想像这个辩论对佛教是至关重要的，如果没有取胜的话，那整个寺院的僧众都要去学外道。05:58

接着又在第二年来了一位外道师，这位外道师他拥有八顶胜伞，也如前一样的结果，就是又跟尊者辩论，又被尊者打败了。然后又在后年来了一个外道师，拥有五顶胜伞，极善巧精通声明和因明学处，他也像以前一样请求辩论，而且立上合约，这个合约大概跟上面是一样的。阿底峡尊者也答应了，就像他请求的那样应战。到了辩论的时候，陈设好问难者与答辩者的座位，聚集了许多班智达还有群众，声势很浩大，然后双方就辩论起来了。06:47

辩论的那个题，开始的时候有三十位的班智达还能听得懂；然后辩着、辩着，渐次只有十五位能听懂；然后又辩着、辩着，深入细微的、精辟的辩论之处就只有十位能懂；再辩下去，仅有五位能懂；渐次、渐次入于最极细微处，也只有他们二人知道——就是辩论的双方，其他人完全无法知道微细的地方是到一个什么样的难度。07:29

在这时候，这个外道师就提出声明中的一首四句偈的意义来问难，阿底峡尊者一时不知道这四句偈的意义，一时不达其意，这个偈子的意思是什么？就跟外道师说：“你暂时在这里坐一下。”于是就进入了室内，然后向度母供曼达而祈求加持，结果心中豁然开朗，又回来坐。他这一回答，外道的班智达就被驳倒而失败了，失败了就是又得承认在尊者的座下为徒，然后归入了佛教的门下。08:18

所以阿底峡尊者第三次的辩论中，就是度母不可思议的加持力，我们在辩论中也可以学习，当我们遇到难题的时候去请问度母。很多同学比较喜欢问法师，法师的父母在恳亲的时候也都来问法师，同学们之间有问题的时候就互相问、问高班的，对吧？还是像阿底峡尊者一样，可以养成一个向度母祈求的习惯。08:47

“金刚座”就是佛教的圣地之一，位于中印度的菩提伽耶，相传与大地同生同灭，是三千大千世界的中心点。方圆一百多步，下至金轮、上达地面都是金刚构成的，贤劫千佛都在此入金刚喻定成就佛果，所以称为金刚座。09:14

那么这个“大菩提寺”，就是佛初成道的时候菩提树北方的一个寺院的名字，又名摩诃菩提寺。这个寺是怎么来的呢？有一种说法是认为僧伽罗国王尸迷佉拔摩这个国王所建的。还有一种说法是优波毱多尊者弘化印度的时候——记得优波毱多尊者是谁吧？就是把魔王的脖子上套了一个狗尸的那位成就者——他弘化印度的时候，在摩羯陀的境内有一对母子，他们亲见了佛陀的圣颜，由这个母亲瞻萨婆罗门女和他的儿子妙善婆罗门所建。10:05

寺院的主体竣工之后，结果天人化现为工匠，应征前来塑造佛像。因为寺院建完了之后得在里边供上佛像，佛像谁来造的？是天人化现的工匠。然后这个母亲就仔细地检视佛像，因为她亲见过佛陀。这样检查之后发现这个像刻画入微，惟妙惟肖，与真的佛陀几乎是相同的。尤其是佛像的眼珠，还有眉间的白毫所嵌的这个宝珠，它非常地神奇，在晚上会发光，就是非常非常地不可思议。然后寺院建筑工艺超绝、彩绘非常非常地精妙。这个寺中供奉着如来的肉舍利与骨舍利，里边曾有一千多名的僧众学习大乘和小乘上座部的教法，寺规严明、戒行端肃，是非常有名的一个寺院。11:17