canonical texts explain, he lacks the compassion of a
fully enlightened buddha. Even so, he is considered a
teacher, albeit a silent one, teaching by the example of
his life and actions.
The figure of the pratyekabuddha may have been
the result of integration in early Buddhist history of
pre-Buddhist ascetics, who had been revered by the
people as saints and sages. By incorporating them into
Buddhist history, early Buddhist communities were
able to establish a kind of continuity with the pre-
Buddhist period. At the same time, they were able to
acknowledge the possibility of enlightened persons in
other eras and cultures.
Pratyekabuddhas therefore have a special, but lim-
ited, place in Buddhist ideology. A fully enlightened
person, a buddha, finds the eternal truths of the Bud-
dhist message by himself and starts a period of Bud-
dhism. A pratyekabuddha, on the other hand, will not
preach and will have no followers. Like a pratyek-
abuddha, an ARHATis a person who attains the high-
est state of enlightenment. However, according to
Buddhist tradition, the arhat did not reach this stage
by his or her own efforts, but rather came to under-
stood the four noble truths and traveled the PATHas
taught by the Buddhist tradition. In the MAHAYANA
tradition, the paths of arhat, pratyekabuddha, and
buddha are initially all considered as leading to NIR-
VANA, but the path of a buddha is believed to be the
only worthy goal, the One Vehicle of Supreme Bud-
dhahood, which will eventually be attained by all.
See also:Ascetic Practices; Buddhahood and Buddha
Bodies
Bibliography
Kloppenborg, Ria. The Paccekabuddha: A Buddhist Ascetic.Lei-
den, Netherlands: Brill, 1974.
Wiltshire, Martin G. Ascetic Figures before and in Early Bud-
dhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha.Berlin and
New York: de Gruyter, 1990.
RIAKLOPPENBORGPRATYUTPANNASAMADHI-SUTRA
Pratyutpannasamadhi-sutra,an early MAHAYANAmed-
itation text, was first translated into Chinese by
Lokaksema in 179 C.E. The full Sanskrit title is Pratyut-
panna-buddha-sammukha-avasthita-samadhi-sutra,
which translates as “the scripture of the meditation in
which one comes face-to-face with the buddhas of the
present,” that is, buddhas now inhabiting other worlds.
The principal objectives of this encounter are to hear
the dharma from the buddha of one’s choice and to be
reborn with him in his world after death. The text’s
use of AMITABHAin Sukhavatas a paradigm case sug-
gests links with PURELANDBUDDHISM, but practi-
tioners may seek to encounter and be taught by any
buddha of the present. The sutra thus provides a means
and a rationale for continuing scriptural revelation.
After purifying themselves, practitioners meditate on
the buddha’s virtues and visualize his physical person
(using the standard list of thirty-two marks and eighty
features), while seated facing the appropriate direction
(e.g., west for Amitabha). Doing this continuously for
up to seven days and nights, they eventually see the de-
sired vision, either in the waking state or in dreams.
Interestingly, the sutra itself undercuts an excessively
literal understanding of the process or undue emo-
tional attachment to its results by deconstructing them
in terms of the doctrine of S ́UNYATA(EMPTINESS), thus
representing a merging of various currents of Ma-
hayana Buddhist thought and practice.
Evidence for the practice in India is slim, although
many sources extol the salvific value of such visions of
the buddhas. In East Asia, however, the pratyutpan-
nasamadhiand its derivatives are well attested elements
in the meditative and ritual repertoire of Buddhism.Bibliography
Harrison, Paul. “Buddhanusmrti in the Pratyutpanna-buddha-
sammukhavasthita-samadhi-sutra.” Journal of Indian Phi-
losophy6 (1978): 35–57.
Harrison, Paul. The Samadhi of Direct Encounter with the Buddhas
of the Present: An Annotated English Translation of the Tibetan
Version of the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Sammukhavasthita-
Samadhi-Sutra with Several Appendices Relating to the His-
tory of the Text.Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist
Studies, 1990.
PAULHARRISONPRAYERBuddhists, like many other religious people, usually
pray tosomeone or something, and they pray forthe
realization of certain goals. Sometimes Buddhists pray
using their body alone (a simple bow in front of an
altar); sometimes they use words (the recitation of a
verse of homage or devotion, a verbal petition or aPRAYER