The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction

104 CHAPTER FIVE Mahayana texts state that, in ultimate terms, femaleness and maleness are both empty, thus providing an opening ...

SOTERIOLOGY AND PANTHEON OF THE MAHAYANA 105 bodhisattvas until the following century, when images of Maitreya (see Sec- tion 5. ...

106 CHAPTER FIVE is attended by a company of hundreds. At present, this bodhisattva is residing in the Tu~ita heaven (where futu ...

SOTERIOLOGY AND PANTHEON OF THE MAHAYANA 107 ening. Many smaller Siitras are devoted to his legend, attributes, and teach- ings. ...

108 CHAPTER FIVE The Avalokite§vara Sfitra was incorporated into the Lotus Sutra as late as the third century C.E. To this day, ...

SOTERIOLOGY AND PANTHEON OF THE MAHAYANA 109 for 21 days, Samantabhadra will show his body on the 21st, inspiring the devo- tees ...

110 CHAPTER FIVE Dharma." When the early sects agreed that the Buddha embodied the Dharma, it was not that they were personifyin ...

SOTERIOLOGY AND PANTHEON OF THE MAHAYANA 111 The Buddha-k$etra (Buddha-lands, also Buddha-fields) differ from the heav- ens of t ...

112 CHAPTER FIVE The Buddha then tells Sariputra that only a Tathagata knows all the dhar- mas as they really are. As the Dharma ...

SOTERIOLOGY AND PANTHEON OF THE MAHAYANA 113 simply a show; any comprehensible expression of the Dharma inherently in- adequate; ...

114 CHAPTER FIVE more Amitabha is glorified over Sakyamuni, and the fewer the restrictions on his power. The spiritual developme ...

SOTERIOLOGY AND PANTHEON OF THE MAHAYANA 115 Amitabha, presiding over the world-realm Sukhavati a trillion Buddha-fields away to ...

116 CHAPTER FIVE When represented in art, Bhai~ajyaguru sits in the lotus position; his body is either gold or the blue color of ...

6 Vajrayana and Later Indian Buddhism 6.1 SYNCRETISM AND SURVIVAL T hroughout its history in India, Buddhism interacted with the ...

118 CHAPTER SIX Madhyamika school, which refused to defend any position, maintained that the practical expression of the Buddhis ...

VAJRAYANAAND LATER INDIAN BUDDHISM 119 were performed utilizing all the arts-music, poetry, theater, the erotic arts, and dance ...

120 CHAPTER SIX that the yoga should be visualized rather than physically practiced, and identi- fying the more scandalous parts ...

VAJRAYANAAND LATER INDIAN BUDDHISM 121 alectics (the science oflogical argument). The institution of the public debate continued ...

122 CHAPTER SIX Sirp.khya system of philosophy. Scholars produced new texts as well as intro- ductions, critiques, and commentar ...

VAJRAYANA AND LATER INDIAN BUDDHISM 123 Tantric adepts, who had resisted social conventions from the start, denounced the influe ...