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THE POLITICS OF PURE LAND BUDDHISM IN INDIA
GALEN AMSTUTZ
Summary
Pure Land Buddhism achieved its primary influence in East Asia because it sup-
plied a nonmonastic, autonomous source of religious authority and practice to middle
elites in those cultural regions. In contrast Pure Land failed to achieve any success
in India. The explanation for the marginalization of Indian Pure Land is proba-
bly sociopolitical: Pure Land teachings tended to bypass not only the authority of
the Hindu brahmins, but even the authority of Buddhist renunciate orders. Indian
social history did not produce any significant middle elites concerned with such
non-gurucentric religious authority. As a result, Buddhist India did not produce any
innovations in the upaya of religious institutionalization in Buddhism.
As written artifacts, the two principal Indian Pure Land stitras pre-
senting this story appear to be part of the Ratnakilta collection, the
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70 Galen Amstutz
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 71
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 73
nal" to the starting status of the devotee. In the earliest stages Bud-
dhism posed the experience of &ikyamuni as a mythic ideal external
to the individual followers. The actual ongoing physical presence
of the Buddha was presupposed in the sacred installations of me-
dieval Indian monasteries.13 In the Mahayana movement depictions
of the ideal merely became multiplied, broadened and abstracted. The
movement may even have grown out of the visionary experiences of
small scattered groups which were afterwards perpetuated by initia-
tory lineages.14 Mahayana devotionalism involved elements of the
tantric, the shamanic quest and the arts of clairvoyance; it may have
shared with other Indian traditions a historical wave of "visionary
theism" which affected religious imagination in all of north India.'5
Presupposing multiple aspects of "Buddha," later Mahayana in In-
dia integrated philosophy, meditation, a hierarchical ritual monastic
system, and personal contact with concrete deities who provided ac-
cess to supernormal powers and effects along with prajfia.16 The texts
of Bhavaviveka, a sixth century Madhyamaka thinker, show that the
concept of emptiness and the concept of the Buddha were insepa-
rable, and to "see" the philosophical idea was the same as seeing
"the Buddha." Emptiness was associated with a specific form of
sensory perception, and visual power yielded concrete visions of the
Buddha's physical form merged with intellectual understanding in a
single philosophical and devotional event.17 Bhavaviveka described
phases of his Buddhist practice quasi-physically as "palaces," just as
pilgrims such as Hsiian-tsang encountered the Indian Buddhist reality
of emptiness in the physical form of landscape, sacred sites, stupas,
relics, monastic persons, supernormal events, superknowledges (ab-
hijfia), concrete manifestations of the Buddha, and visions. Out of
this combination of self-reliance and dependence on Buddhas and
bodhisattvas arises the special "irony" characteristic of the more so-
phisticated Mahayana literature, in that to be truly independent is to
realize one's dependence on others, especially spiritual beings mani-
festing emptiness.'"
Such a merger among visionary experience, the monastic experi-
ence, Mahayina philosophy, the Amitabha Buddha, and the variety
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74 Galen Amstutz
lineage
of requirements),25
good deeds,26 Themention
but they also relevant sfitrasvisions
deathbed mentionand the cultivation
dream
visions.27 This socially open, but still vision-oriented, experience is
what Pure Land entailed up until approximately the early T'ang pe-
riod in Chin China. Only at that point did the nonvisionary practice of
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 75
Despite the textual evidence from the sfitras, the practical strength
of Pure Land as a working tradition in India at any time is doubtful.31
Some stone foundations for an AmitAbha image dated 104 CE from
Mathura are the only archaeological record of an exclusivistic Amita-
bha Pure Land practice. Epigraphical evidence from Safichi from
the seventh century mentions Amitibha, but only in connection with
verses praising Avalokitesvara. Archaeologically speaking the orig-
inal, non-tantric AmitAbha practice in India appears to have been
narrowly confined to the Kusana period (ca. 50-200 CE) in northwest
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76 Galen Amstutz
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 77
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78 Galen Amstutz
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 79
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 81
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82 Galen Amstutz
This is not to argue that bhakti and Pure Land shared anything
more than these loose similarities. The underlying experiential, tonal,
emotional and philosophical dimensions remained sharply different.
Even where Pure Land practices superficially resembled tantric ones,
involving shamanic techniques of visualization, still
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 83
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 85
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 87
stories, which were taken to be the sine qua non of Buddhism in most
of its history.
But no Indian Buddhist equivalent of Pillai Lokichfirya ever ap-
peared. Despite the gradual decline of monasticism, somehow the
Buddhist tradition's devotionalism remained allied with semi-monastic
orientations or tantric lineage orientations. Somehow its practices of
contact with spiritual beings allowed Indian Buddhism to ignore com-
mentary on a variety of authority problems of the kind that preoccu-
pied the prapatti teachers. What is certain in any case is that while in-
tensive technical discursive attention in Indian Buddhist thought was
turned to abstruse problems of perception and language, practically
no theory was devoted to the "political" practices of the "upaya of
institutions," in which Buddhists were actually immersed up to their
necks. Somehow Indian Buddhism engaged in little or no systematic
theoretical discussion of the prapatti problem or the problem of the
"leap," and the conventions of monasticism or lineage in Buddhism
were rarely if ever systematically questioned in the traditional Asian
context of Buddhism outside of China or Japan. In short, the Indian
experience left significant gaps in the Buddhist theory of upaya.
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 89
Side," T'oung Pao, vol. 66, pp. 110-126 (1980) or John Strong, "Filial Piety and
Buddhism: The Indian Antecedents to a Chinese' Problem," in: Peter Slater and
Donald Wiebe, eds. Traditions in Contact and Change (Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred
Laurier University Press, 1983) pp. 171-186.
17 Malcolm David Eckel, To See the Buddha: a Philosopher's Quest for the
Meaning of Emptiness (San Francisco: Harper, 1991), pp. 3-4.
18 Bhavaviveka's rhetoric also expressed "previous vows" (pranidhana) by which
the Buddha expressed his activity to rescue humankind. See Eckel, pp. 17-18,
51-61, 68-83, 147-148. Gratitude to an "empty" deity, the symbolized "otherness"
of perfect emptiness, saturates Mahayana literature. Cf. George R. Elder, "'Grace'
in Martin Luther and Tantric Buddhism," in: Houston, G.W., ed. The Cross and the
Lotus: Christianity and Buddhism in Dialogue (Dehli: Motilal, 1985), pp. 39-49
(tantric Buddhism also can externalize the Buddha's action as "grace"). These ideas,
which originate quite separately from the Pure Land mythos per se, parallel the later
assumptions of JMdoshinshO Buddhism in Japan.
19 Paul M. Harrison, "Buddhinusmrti in the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Sammukhavas-
thita-samadhi-sftra," Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 6, pp. 41-42 (1978).
20 Although for heuristic purposes the bipolar structure of Pure Land can be called
"bhaktic," the term is not used at all in the Sanskrit of the Indian Pure Land texts.
See Fujita, pp. 545-549.
21 See William Cantwell Smith, Faith and Belief (Princeton: Princeton University
Press), pp. 59-68.
22 B.M. Barua, "Faith in Buddhism," in: Law, B.C., ed. Buddhistic Studies (Cal-
cutta, 1931, 1983), pp. 329-349. Saddha serves as part of various compound words
which point to various levels of attainment, including the highest ones. Standing
by itself without specific context saddha or graddha is ambiguous. See also Ni-
hon bukky6 gakkai, ed. Bukky6 ni okeru shin no mondai (Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten,
1963) and Sung Bae Park, Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1983) and Wonhyo's Commentaries on the Awak-
ening of Faith in Mahiaydna (University of California, Berkeley PhD dissertation,
1979). Nevertheless representatives of Pali Buddhism have tried to insist that al-
though devotional and faith elements were unquestionably part of early Buddhism,
Mahayana diverged in non-Buddhist directions. (For example, K.N. Upadhyaya,
"The Impact of the Bhakti Movement on the Development of Mahayana Buddhism,"
in: Narain, A.K., ed. Studies in the History of Buddhism (papers at International
Conference on History of Buddhism at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1980),
pp. 349-357.)
23 David Seyfort Ruegg, Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in
Comparative Perspective: on the Transmission and Reception of Buddhism in India
and Tibet (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,
1989), pp. 46-48.
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90 Galen Amstutz
29 Monks and nuns, along with lay people, were heavily involved in the donative,
merit-making activities at stfipa sites; cult activities were probably led by monastics.
This is exactly the pattern which prevailed in early Chinese Buddhism. Gregory
Schopen, '"Two Problems in the History of Indian Buddhism: The Layman/Monk
Distinction and the Doctrines of the Transference of Merit," Studien zur Indologie
und Iranistik, vol. 10, pp. 9-47 (1985).
30 E.g., the Pure Land literature may even have been written by a different com-
munity than the one which compiled the Perfection of Wisdom literature (Hirakawa,
History of Indian Buddhism, p. 290). It is reasonable to assume, based on under-
standings of Pure Land later in other parts of Asia together with bits of evidence
above, that the idea of the Pure Land was from the beginning multivocal. An un-
educated peasant might have taken the imagery literally, but it is a modern artifact
to suppose that religiously educated Indians would have taken Pure Land imagery
"literally," rather than metaphorically, allusively, poetically, or visionarily.
31 The lack of contextual knowledge about ancient Indian Buddhism makes it
extremely difficult to reconstruct. See Harrison, pp. 35-36.
32 Gregory Schopen, "The Inscription on the Kusan Image of Amitdbha and the
Character of the Early Mahayana in India," Journal of the International Association
of Buddhist Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 99-134 (1987).
33 Tanaka, p. 3.
34 Parts of Indian Buddhism both early and late may have accommodated a weak
distinction between monk and lay statuses, but there was no long-term relaxation
of quasi-monastic expectations. It has been argued that the lay-monk category may
not be useful in classic Indian Buddhism, since the trend was to generalize to more
followers the possibility of achieving yogic goals, such as the attainment of rebirth
in SukhAvatf, that were formerly the province of ascetics. (Gregory Schopen, "The
Generalization of an Old Yogic Attainment in Medieval Mahayana Suitra Literature:
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 91
36 While the vision that led to the Sukhavativyfiha Pure Land may have been
differently oriented than the Pratyutpanna---the former was after all meant to create
wide access to the Buddha--it is illegitimate to sharply oppose the texts, because
the difference is one of degree, not of kind. (Cf. Harrison, esp. pp. 51-52.) Harrison
argues that the Sukhavativyfiha is less sophisticated because its AmitAbha is said to
be not nirmita ("apparitional"). However, the term nirmita in Sanskrit actually has no
philosophical content but was a descriptive term associated with the idea of "earthly"
manifestations of the Buddha, i.e., nirmanakaya, as contrasted with sambhogakaya.
The Sukhavativyfiha merely indicates that Amitabha is a sambhogakaya entity. See
Nakamura Hajime, ed. Bukkyogo daijiten (Tokyo: TOkyo shoseki, 1981), pp. 131,
291, 293.
37 By the merit I have acquired through this,
May all living beings come to perceive
The Lord Amitayus endowed with infinite light,
And, having seen him, may they, owing to the arising
Of the immaculate vision of the Doctrine in them
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 93
a Civilization (Dehli: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 84-121. On bhakti groups
in general, see Jan Gonda, Die Religionen Indiens, vol. II (Stuttgart, 1963), pp. 229-
252, 125-150 and many other sources such as R.G. Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Saivism
and Minor Religious Systems (Poona, 1982) and Mariasusai Dhavamony, Love of
God According to ?aiva Siddh/nta (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).
45 On Ramanuja's Vedantic technical thought see sources such as Anima Sen
Gupta, A Critical Study of the Philosophy of Ramanuja (Varanasi: Chowhamba San-
skrit Series Office, 1967) or P.N. Srinivasachari, The Philosophy of ViSistavaita, 2nd
ed. (Adyar, 1946). ?aiva Siddhinta analytical developments were equally complex,
e.g., M.M. Arulchelvam, in: John Ross Carter, ed. Of Human Bondage and Divine
Grace (La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1992), pp. 1-55.
46 See John Carman, The Theology of Ramanuja: an Essay in Interreligious
Understanding (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974).
47 Patricia Y. Mumme, The ?rfvaisnava Theological Dispute: Manavalamamuni
and Vedtdnta Desika (Madras: New Era Publications, 1988), p. 74, and Vasudha
Narayanan, "Karma, Bhaktiyoga, and Grace in the Srivaisnava tradition: Ramanuja
and Karattalvin," and "Bondage and Grace in the ?rivaisnava Tradition: Pillai
Lokacarya and Vedanta Degika," in: Carter, John Ross, ed. Of Human Bondage
and Divine Grace, pp. 57-73 and pp. 75-94.
48 The more conservative Vadgalai school was associated with the teachings of
Vedfinta Degika (1268-1369), who followed the tendency of the great majority of
bhakti schools in maintaining that a mixed pattern of religious activity would be
required for liberation, combining ritual, conscious devotion, and caste observance.
49 Vadgalai was called the "monkey school" because in the same way that an
infant monkey must hold onto its mother's fur in order to be carried, it taught that
some voluntary effort by the devotee of God/Sri/Narayaina was required in order to
combine with the activity of God and result in liberation. Tengalai, on the other
hand, was called the "cat school," because in the same way that a kitten is picked
up by its mother by the back of the neck, with no effort or intention on its part, it
taught that ultimately no voluntary effort on the part of the devotee was needed in
order for the devotee to be taken to liberation.
50 Mumme, pp. 75-95. Tengalai teaching has a logical structure practically identi-
cal to that of Shin Buddhism (interestingly enough, Pillai was Shinran's near contem-
porary). Tengalai prapatti was supposed to modify the relationship with a variety of
formal religious behaviors. Ritual acts (karmas, which included the study of scrip-
ture, offerings of flowers, prayers, and expiations) were not supposed to be done
as matter of detached obligation, but out of the free and spontaneous expression
of devotion. For example, prayers should be ardent, but brief; they served only to
appeal for bhakti and jfiana. In addition, proper family life and sexuality were sanc-
tioned, astrology and magic were criticized, extremes of asceticism were avoided,
right livelihood was practiced, overanxiety about life and death was avoided, animal
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58 Interest in Buddhism was fading even before the Islamic invasions physically
destroyed monastic centers in northern India. Perhaps the brahminical system was
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The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India 95
better able to meet the lay people's need for ordinary ritual services (life cycle and
crisis rites) whereas in Buddhism the emphasis of the lay role was on donation to
institutions. Another argument holds that Buddhist identity tended to become fuzzy,
for lay involvement in Buddhism blurred monasticism (especially as compared to
the Jaina tradition) and Buddhist doctrines such as those about bodhisattvas were so
flexible that they were vulnerable to assimilation by bhakti. (Padmanabh S. Jaini,
"The Disappearance of Buddhism and The Survival of Jainism: A Study in Contrast,"
in: Narain, A.K., ed. Studies in the History of Buddhism (papers at International
Conference on History of Buddhism at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1980),
pp. 81-91.)
59 Strangely, ancient Buddhism probably began with an urban base and even made
its initial appeal to merchant classes. See A.L. Basham, "The Background to the
Rise of Buddhism," in: Narain, A.K., ed. Studies in the History of Buddhism (papers
at International Conference on History of Buddhism at U of Wisconsin, Madison,
1980), p. 17; Narain, A.K. "Toward a New History of Buddhism," in: Narain, A.K.,
ed. Studies in the History of Buddhism (papers at International Conference on History
of Buddhism at U of Wisconsin, Madison), pp. xv-xxxi; see also Trevor Ling, The
Buddha: Buddhist Civilization in India and Ceylon (Baltimore: Penguin Books,
1973).
60 grivaisnavism was saturated with normal brahminical authority elements. The
teachings were mediated by guru-based teacher-disciple networks. The achaya
and the initiation he provided remained crucial and lineage organization essential.
Women were still discriminated against. Even for Tengalai brahmins, ritual ob-
servance was exactly like that for other Hindu brahmins, although in principle the
acharya could come from any caste. See K. Gnanambal, "?riaisnavas and Their
Religious Institutions," Bulletin Anthropological Survey of India, vol. 20, pp. 97-187
(July-Dec 1971); Kadambi Rangachariyar, The Sri Vaishnava Brahmans (Madras,
1931); Patricia Y. Mumme, "Rules and Rhetoric: Caste Observance in drivaisnava
Doctrine and Practice," Journal of Vaisnava Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 113-133 (Win-
ter 1993) and "The Evolution of the Tenkalai Understanding of the Acdrya: Teacher,
Mediator and Savior" (Unpublished paper from the International drivaisnava Con-
ference, Bombay, December 1988-January 1989). On Lingayat assimilation into
brahmanical patterns see William McCormack, "On Lingayat Culture," in: Ramanu-
jan, Speaking of Siva, pp. 175-187.
61 The Kabir panth ("sect") should in theory have been the most socially reformist
because of the relationship to Kabir, but see David N. Lorenzen, "The Kabir Panth:
Heretics to Hindus," in: David N. Lorenzen, ed. Religious Change and Cultural
Domination (Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico, 1981), pp. 151-171; Lorenzen,
"The Social Ideologies of Hagiography: 9aftkara, Tukarim and Kabir," in: Milton
Israel and N.K. Wagle, eds. Religion and Society in Maharashtra (Toronto: Univer-
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