The
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (or
Awakening of Mahayana Faith, , 大乘起信論) is a text of the
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
branch of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
While the text is attributed by the faithful to Ashvaghosha, no Sanskrit version of the text is extant. The earliest known versions are written in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
.
ParamarthaIn Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality. Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the illusory , considered false compared to the empirical In Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as...
(
499-Asia:*Kavadh I of Persia deposes his brother Djamasp and restores himself as king of Persia.-Religion:*March 1—During a synod in Rome, Pope Symmachus makes Antipope Laurentius bishop of Nocera in Campania.-Deaths:*Empress Feng Run...
-
569-Byzantine Empire:* The King of the Garamantes signs a peace treaty with Byzantium.* Invasion by the Lombards of northern Italy under Alboin.-Religion:* The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity, according to John of Ephesus....
) translated or authored the first known version, which dates to
553-Europe:*The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.-Deaths:* Gelimer, last King of the Vandals and Alans* Hou Jing* Xiao Ji
...
.
The
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (or
Awakening of Mahayana Faith, {{lang-sa|Mahayana-sraddhotpada-sastra}}, 大乘起信論) is a text of the
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
branch of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
{{buddhism}}
While the text is attributed by the faithful to Ashvaghosha, no Sanskrit version of the text is extant.
The
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (or
Awakening of Mahayana Faith, , 大乘起信論) is a text of the
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
branch of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
Origin and History
While the text is attributed by the faithful to Ashvaghosha, no Sanskrit version of the text is extant. The earliest known versions are written in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
.
ParamarthaIn Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality. Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the illusory , considered false compared to the empirical In Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as...
(
499-Asia:*Kavadh I of Persia deposes his brother Djamasp and restores himself as king of Persia.-Religion:*March 1—During a synod in Rome, Pope Symmachus makes Antipope Laurentius bishop of Nocera in Campania.-Deaths:*Empress Feng Run...
-
569-Byzantine Empire:* The King of the Garamantes signs a peace treaty with Byzantium.* Invasion by the Lombards of northern Italy under Alboin.-Religion:* The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity, according to John of Ephesus....
) translated or authored the first known version, which dates to
553-Europe:*The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.-Deaths:* Gelimer, last King of the Vandals and Alans* Hou Jing* Xiao Ji
...
.
The
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (or
Awakening of Mahayana Faith, {{lang-sa|Mahayana-sraddhotpada-sastra}}, 大乘起信論) is a text of the
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
branch of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
{{buddhism}}
Origin and History
While the text is attributed by the faithful to Ashvaghosha, no Sanskrit version of the text is extant. The earliest known versions are written in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
.
ParamarthaIn Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality. Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the illusory , considered false compared to the empirical In Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as...
(
499-Asia:*Kavadh I of Persia deposes his brother Djamasp and restores himself as king of Persia.-Religion:*March 1—During a synod in Rome, Pope Symmachus makes Antipope Laurentius bishop of Nocera in Campania.-Deaths:*Empress Feng Run...
-
569-Byzantine Empire:* The King of the Garamantes signs a peace treaty with Byzantium.* Invasion by the Lombards of northern Italy under Alboin.-Religion:* The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity, according to John of Ephesus....
) translated or authored the first known version, which dates to
553-Europe:*The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.-Deaths:* Gelimer, last King of the Vandals and Alans* Hou Jing* Xiao Ji
...
.
The
Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (or
Awakening of Mahayana Faith, {{lang-sa|Mahayana-sraddhotpada-sastra}}, 大乘起信論) is a text of the
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
branch of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
{{buddhism}}
Origin and History
While the text is attributed by the faithful to Ashvaghosha, no Sanskrit version of the text is extant. The earliest known versions are written in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
.
ParamarthaIn Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality. Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the illusory , considered false compared to the empirical In Buddhist context, paramartha refers to the absolute, as...
(
499-Asia:*Kavadh I of Persia deposes his brother Djamasp and restores himself as king of Persia.-Religion:*March 1—During a synod in Rome, Pope Symmachus makes Antipope Laurentius bishop of Nocera in Campania.-Deaths:*Empress Feng Run...
-
569-Byzantine Empire:* The King of the Garamantes signs a peace treaty with Byzantium.* Invasion by the Lombards of northern Italy under Alboin.-Religion:* The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity, according to John of Ephesus....
) translated or authored the first known version, which dates to
553-Europe:*The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.-Deaths:* Gelimer, last King of the Vandals and Alans* Hou Jing* Xiao Ji
...
. {{IAST translated or re-edited another version, perhaps during
695- Byzantine Empire :* The people of Byzantium revolt against Justinian II. Leontius is made emperor, and Justinian II is banished.- Europe :* Childebert III succeeds Clovis III as king of the Franks.* Sigeheard and Swafred succeed Sebbi as kings of Essex....
-
700-North America:* The Mount Edziza volcanic complex erupts in northern British Columbia, Canada.-Asia:* Musa bin Nusair defeats the Berber army in Algeria, ending resistance against the Arabs there....
. Contemporary scholars believe that the text is a Chinese composition.
Content
Written from the perspective of
Essence-FunctionEssence-Function is a key concept is Southeast Asian Buddhism and particularly that of Korean Buddhism. Awakening of Mahayana Faith, attributed to Aśvaghoṣa , employs Essence-Function. Essence-Function forms a fundamental syncretic and ecumenical application in the philosophy of Wonhyo...
(
tiyong) 體用, this text sought to harmonize the two
soteriologicalChristian Soteriology is the branch of Christian theology that deals with salvation. It is derived from the Greek sōtērion + English -logy...
philosophiesPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
of the tathāgatagarbha (or Buddha nature) and
ālayavijñānaThe Eight Consciousnesses are concepts developed in the tradition of the Yogacara school of Buddhism...
(or
yogacaraYogācāra Yogācāra Yogācāra (Sanskrit: "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga" is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and (some argue) ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It developed within Indian Mahāyāna...
) into a synthetic vision based on the
One Mind in Two Aspects.
Influence
Although often omitted from lists of
canonicalCanonical is an adjective derived from canon. Canon comes from the Greek word kanon, "rule" , and is used in various meanings....
Buddhist textsBuddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized...
, the
Awakening of Faith strongly influenced subsequent Mahayana
doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachings" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
. It was studied and commented on repeatedly by many East Asian scholars, including Weonhyo 元曉,
FazangFazang was the third of the five patriarchs of the Huayan school. He is said to have authored over a hundred volumes of essays and commentaries. He is famed for his empirical demonstrations in the court of Empress Wu Zetian. His essays "On a Golden Lion" and "On a Mote of Dust" are among the most...
法藏 and
Zongmi Guifeng Zongmi , was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar-monk, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze lineage of Southern Chan.He wrote a number of vitally important essays on the contemporary situation of Buddhism in Tang China, and is one of the...
宗密.
In great part due to the commentaries by Weonhyo, the
Awakening of Faith ended up having an unusually powerful influence in Korea, where it may be the most oft-cited text in the entire tradition. It also provided much of the doctrinal basis for the original enlightenment thought found in the
Sutra of Perfect EnlightenmentThe Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment Buddhist Sūtra, original Chinese title is Yuanjue jing, Japanese Engaku-kyo; 1 fasc. . Full title Dafangguang yuanjue xiuduluo liaoyi jing. A Chinese Mahāyāna sutra which was probably written in the early eighth century C.E...
.
English Translations
- Hakeda, Yoshito S., trans. Awakening of Faith Attributed to {{IAST|Aśvaghoṣa}}, New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1967.
- Richard, Timothy, The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna Doctrine—the New Buddhism, Shanghai: Christian Literature Society, 1907.
- Suzuki, Daisetsu Teitaro
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a famous Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature...
, {{IAST|Aśvaghoṣa}}'s Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana., Chicago, Ill.: Open Court Publishing CompanyThe Open Court Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago and La Salle, Illinois. It is part of the Carus Publishing Company of Peru, Illinois....
, 1900.
- Vorenkamp, Dirck, trans. An English Translation of Fa-Tsang
Fazang was the third of the five patriarchs of the Huayan school. He is said to have authored over a hundred volumes of essays and commentaries. He is famed for his empirical demonstrations in the court of Empress Wu Zetian. His essays "On a Golden Lion" and "On a Mote of Dust" are among the most...
’s Commentary on the Awakening of Faith, Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2004.
Other References
- Entry in the Dictionary of East Asian Buddhist Terms
- Entry in Soothill and Hodous Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms
- The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna Doctrine—the New Buddhism Timothy Richard, 1907 (html-ized full text at link)
- {{IAST|Aśvaghoṣa}}'s Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, Open Court Publishing Co, Chicago, 1900 (html-ized full text at link)
- Buddha Nature, Sallie B. King, 1991, State University of New York Press; see p22 for remarks to the effect that, although Paramartha undoubtedly was among the most prolific translators of Sanskrit texts into Chinese, he may have originated, not translated, the Buddha Nature Treatise as well as the Awakening of Faith. On these points, King cites Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Paramartha's 'Evolution of Consciousness' , Diana Y. Paul, 1984, Stanford University Press.
- Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")
- Chinese text of the Awakening of Faith (大乘起信論) provided by Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association