TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)the Mahayanic ideal of life, which is completely antithetical to the Tantric ideal
of the quick attainment of enlightenment. The Mahayanic ideal regards human
life as the entire process of the current flowing from the circumference to the
centre of the world of Vairocana. The image of a human being in the
Vairocaniibhisambodhi-siitra is that of a pilgrim who continues walking this
nearly endless course of life steadily und untiringly.
In Mahayana Buddhism, in order to fulfil the entire process of attaining
enlightenment, the unimaginably long period of the three great uncountable
aeons ( ;:::7;: Jlii] ffit1ll;t':J) is thought to be needed. On the other hand, Tantrism
advocated a revolutionally new ideal of attaining enlightenment quickly on the
basis of the logic of yoga. In the Vairocaniibhisambodhi-siitra, however, which
has been taken as one of the two Fundamental scriptures of Tantric Buddhism,
the ideal of quick attainment of enlightenment is denied for the very reason that
the structure of the world and human existence require a gradual process of
attainment.
In the latter portion of the first chapter, the chapter of the progressing stages
of mind ( f±:{i~) of the Chinese translation of the text, a section called the
process of promoting the grades of mind (,C..,~~ff-?Xm-) describes the state of
mind which has already been completely purified through the effort over the
unimaginably long period as follows:
"Within the bodhisattvas who practise the practice of bodhisattvas
through the way of secret mantras C*MW.ll{iiHm) and who have already
accumulated infinite materials of both meritorious deeds (w?i\~) and
knowledge (!gr.) for an unimaginably long period of hundreds of thou-
sands of millions of innumerable aeons, occurs the completely charac-
terless mind (:fi41\U31i'C..'), which is accompanied by infinite wisdom
(prajiiii) and means (upiiya) ....... 0 the chief of guhyakas, this is
nothing but the mind of enlightenment of the first stage (of
bodhisattvas) (iW:t!lf~HIHi )".Here, it is clearly advocated that, in order to reach to the inner circle of the
mar;{iala of the Vairocaniibhisambodhi-siitra, along with the improvement of
wisdom, the accumulation of the material of meritorious deeds (pur;yasambhiira
ii!l~~tl) '~ indispensable. Pur;yasambhiira is the result of all the direct exer-
tions for the benefit of others performed because of compassion (~~). These
exertions are impressed and stored in one's mind, just like a kind of energy, con-
stituting the necessary materials for the attainment of enlightenment. As long as
one needs this pur;yasambhiira, which is produced through one's actions
(harman ~) for the benefit of others, he can not jump over the stages of the
improvement of mind as is done in Tantrism.
The word "lives of deeds" (~") refers to the chain of action (karman ~)
formerly done and its fruit, that is, afflictive existence ( $) in the world.
In Hinayana Buddhism, bringing oneself to the absolute nothingness of