Encyclopedia of Buddhism

(Elle) #1

considered an invented tradition, and it is this tradi-
tion that has permeated much of the Western under-
standing of the relationship between Buddhism and
the martial arts.


The contemporary practice of the martial arts has
clearly adapted some ideas and practices from the rich
Buddhist heritage of Asia. But this does not make the
objectives or the rationale of the martial arts Buddhist.
In fact, much more of both the practice and rationale
of contemporary martial arts are rooted in Chinese
Daoism and Confucianism, as well as in modern
notions of secular religion, sport, performance, and
competition.


See also:Confucianism and Buddhism; Daoism and
Buddhism; Zen, Popular Conceptions of


Bibliography


Bodiford, William M. “Religion and Spiritual Development:
Japan.” In Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia,Vol.
2, ed. Thomas A. Green. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2001.


Draeger, Donn F., and Smith, Robert W. Asian Fighting Arts.
Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1969.


Grapard, Allan G. “Japan’s Ignored Cultural Revolution: The
Separation of Shintoand Buddhist Divinities in Meiji (Shim-
butsu Bunri) and a Case Study (Tonomine).” History of Re-
ligions23, no. 3 (1984): 240–265.


Inoue, Shun. “Budo: Invented Tradition in the Martial Arts.”
In The Culture of Japan as Seen through Its Leisure,ed. Sepp
Linhart and Sabine Frühstück. Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1998.


Shahar, Meir. “Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Pro-
cedure.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies(December 2001):
359–413.


Sharf, Robert H. “The Zen of Nationalism” (1993). In Curators
of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism,ed.
Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1995.


Suzuki, D. T. Zen and Japanese Culture(revised edition of Zen
Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese Culture,1938).
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959.


WILLIAMPOWELL

MATRCETA


Matrceta (second century C.E.) was a Sanskrit poet. A
S ́aivite convert to Buddhism, he is the author of: (1)
Varnarhavarnastotra (Hymn in Praise of the Praise-
worthy), a poem in 386 stanzas (hence the subtitle


Catuhs ́ataka)in praise of the Buddha, which survives
in Sanskrit (incomplete) and Tibetan; (2) Prasada-
pratibhodbhava(Inspired by Faith), a poem in 153
stanzas (hence the subtitle S ́atapañcas ́atka) also in
praise of the Buddha, which survives in Sanskrit, Ti-
betan, and Chinese; and (3) Maharajakaniskalekha
(Letter to the Great King Kaniska), a poem in 85 stan-
zas, surviving only in Tibetan translation, in which the
aged Matrceta offers advice to the young Kaniska. A
number of other works in the Tibetan Tanjur are at-
tributed to Matrceta, but only a few further fragments
remain of the original Sanskrit. Matrceta’s poetry is
notable for its terse, clear style, which heightens the
intensity of his thought and feeling.

See also:Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in

Bibliography
Bailey, D. R. Shackleton, ed. and trans. The S ́atapañcas ́atka of
Matrceta.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
1951.
Hahn, Michael, ed. and trans. Invitation to Enlightenment: Let-
ter to the Great King Kaniska and Letter to a Disciple by Can-
dragomin.Berkeley, CA: Dharma, 1999.
Hartmann, Jens-Uwe, ed. and trans. Das Varnarhavarnastotra
des Matrceta.Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ru-
precht, 1987.

PETERKHOROCHE

MEDICINE

Medicine has always been part of Buddhism. The cen-
tral Buddhist teaching of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHSis
often described in terms of a medical paradigm by
which suffering is the disease, desire its cause, cessa-
tion of desire its cure, and the Eightfold Path the
method of its treatment. Although there is no evidence
that medicine lay behind the formulation of the four
noble truths, examples of the Buddha’s role as healer,
medical similes, and references to medical terminol-
ogy occur throughout Buddhist literature.
Evidence suggests that the orthodox Hindu medical
tradition of Ayurveda (the knowledge of longevity)
owed its origins to a certain extent to the heterodox
religions, which included Buddhism. Certain wander-
ing ascetics collected useful medical information for
the purpose of self-healing. Gradually, part of this
medical knowledge was brought together and, eventu-
ally, became the beginning section of the chapter of

MATTRCETA

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