AVADANAS ́ATAKA
The Avadanas ́ataka(A Hundred Glorious Deeds) is an
anthology of one hundred biographical stories in San-
skrit from the first to second centuries C.E. The stories
are thematically organized into ten “books” that por-
tray the truth of the doctrine of KARMA(ACTION) and
the power of religious DANA(GIVING), FAITH, and de-
votion. An earlier version is preserved in Chinese
(Taishono. 200).
See also:Avadana; Divyavadana; Jataka
Bibliography
Bagchi, P. C. “A Note on the Avadanas ́ataka and Its Chinese
Translation.” Visvabharati Annals1 (1945): 56–61.
Fa Chow, trans. “Chuan Tsi Pai Yuan King and the Ava-
danas ́ataka.” Visvabharati Annals1 (1945): 35–55.
Feer, Léon, trans. Avadana-çataka: Cent légendes bouddhiques.
Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1891. Reprint, Amsterdam: APA-
Oriental Press, 1979.
Strong, John S. “The Transforming Gift: An Analysis of Devo-
tional Acts of Offering in Buddhist Avadana Literature.” His-
tory of Religions18 (1979): 221–237.
JOELTATELMANAVALOKITES ́VARA. SeeBodhisattva(s)
AVATAMSAKA-SUTRA. SeeHuayan Jing
AWAKENING OF FAITH (DASHENG
QIXIN LUN)
The Dasheng qixin lun(Treatise on the Awakening of
Faith According to the Mahayana) is a Chinese apoc-
ryphal composition believed to have been written dur-
ing the sixth century. The text is important for its
appropriation of the TATHAGATAGARBHA, the doctrine
of Buddha-nature, into the central teaching of Chinese
Buddhist schools such as Huayan and Chan. The
Dasheng qixin lunexplains how ordinary, deluded be-
ings can attain enlightenment without renouncing this
worldly life. The text was reputed to have been writ-
ten in Sanskrit by AS ́VAGHOSA(Chinese, Maming; first
century C.E.) and then translated into Chinese in 550
by the Indian dharma master PARAMARTHA(Chinese,
Zhendi; 499–569). However, no Sanskrit version of this
text exists, and most scholars accept its indigenous
Chinese provenance.The Dasheng qixin lunis divided into five parts. In
part one, the author explains his motives for writing
the treatise. In part two, he outlines the significance of
his discussion. In part three, he focuses on two aspects
of mind to explicate the relationship between enlight-
enment and ignorance, nirvana and samsara, or the
absolute and the phenomenal. In part four, he enu-
merates five practices that aid the believer in the awak-
ening and growth of faith, with an emphasis on
calmness and insight meditation. In part five, he de-
scribes the benefits that result from cultivating the five
practices. The content of the Dasheng qixin lunis of-
ten summarized as “One Mind, Two Aspects, Three
Greatnesses, Four Faiths, and Five Practices.”The composition of the Dasheng qixin lunrepre-
sents a process of Sinicization of Indian Buddhism.
The text seeks to synthesize tathagatagarbha and yo-
gacaraphilosophies of mind by positing that one mind
has two aspects: the absolute aspect, which is the equiv-
alent of the tathagatagarbha, and the phenomenal as-
pect, which refers to the ALAYAVIJN
ANA(storehouse
consciousness). Since the tathagatagarbha is the un-
derlying ontological matrix upon which the phenom-
enal aspect of mind is grounded, the latter always has
the potential to be transformed into the absolute mind.
Ignorance is simply the manifestation of one’s defiled
modes of consciousness, which do not have distinct
characteristics of their own and are not separate from
the mind’s true essence. To attain enlightenment, one
needs only to free oneself from deluded thoughts and
cultivate faith in one’s inherently pure mind. Enlight-
enment is accordingly conceptualized as a process in
which one fully actualizes one’s initial awakening into
one’s true nature through religious cultivation and
meditative practice.The Dasheng qixin lunhas exerted a profound im-
pact on the development of East Asian Buddhism; nu-
merous Buddhist exegetes in China, Korea, and Japan
have written commentaries on it and have incorpo-
rated its thesis into their systems of thought. The ter-
minology and hermeneutic of the Dasheng qixin lun
represent a Chinese shift away from the apophasis of
the Madhyamaka teaching of S ́UNYATA(EMPTINESS)to
the kataphasis of the doctrine of immanent Buddha-
nature. Its use of the paradigm of ti(essence) and yongAVADANAS ́ATAKA