Abstract

During the era of the Republic of China, a number of Buddhists rediscovered early meditation techniques. These practices were mainly revived from canonical scriptures, following a modern text-based approach to Buddhism. Within this framework, specific attention was devoted to the ‘visualization of the impure’ (bujing guan 不淨觀, Sk. aśubhabhāvanā), particularly in the form of the visualization of one’s own body transforming into a putrefying corpse and skeleton. Masters with various backgrounds (Modernist Buddhists, Yogācāra scholars, Tiantai 天台 and tantric masters) wrote articles and guides on this practice, which had the advantage of being common to both Hīnayāna/Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna. This study considers a selection of modern texts on bujing guan in an attempt to uncover why the meditation on impurity was favored and how it was revived.

Highlights

  • In the first half of the twentieth century, following the spread of modernist ideas,1 a rediscovery and reassessment of ‘neglected’ texts in the Chinese Buddhist canon took place in China.2 As part of a tendency of reevaluating the Buddha’s ‘original’ teachings, forms of meditation found in the early Chinese scriptures were rediscovered and implemented, the general idea being that of reintegrating them within Chinese Mahāyāna.3These ‘forgotten’ early meditation practices were conceived as fundamental meditative techniques that had the advantage of encompassing both the Hınayāna/Śrāvakayāna4 and the Mahāyāna traditions

  • 含經) and other scriptures belonging to the ‘Hınayāna,’5 and in relevant Mahāyāna texts, such as the Yogācārabhūmi (Yuqie shidi lun 瑜伽師地論, T no. 1579) and the fourth chapter on ‘Foundation on Meditative Absorption’ (Samāhitā bhūmi)6 as well as the Dazhidu lun 大智度論 (Treatise on the Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, T no. 1509) and in meditation manuals and essays on meditation techniques composed by pre-Chan 禪

  • Modernism by analyzing its occurrence and significance in Taixu’s works. It will address the growing interest in visualization practices of impurity in the 1930s through a selection of texts penned by modern Chinese Buddhists of different inclinations (Yogācāra, Tiantai 天台, and tantric). It will provide a close reading of a long essay on the topic by Taixu’s disciple Tanxuan 談玄 (d.u.), which offers a detailed overview of the canonical literature on aśubha meditation available at the time and proves telling with regard to the variety of the forms of the practice and of the different Buddhist groups involved in its implementation

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Summary

Introduction

In the first half of the twentieth century, following the spread of modernist ideas, a rediscovery and reassessment of ‘neglected’ texts in the Chinese Buddhist canon took place in China. As part of a tendency of reevaluating the Buddha’s ‘original’ teachings, forms of meditation found in the early Chinese scriptures were rediscovered and implemented, the general idea being that of reintegrating them within Chinese Mahāyāna.. Modernism by analyzing its occurrence and significance in Taixu’s works It will address the growing interest in visualization practices of impurity in the 1930s through a selection of texts penned by modern Chinese Buddhists of different inclinations (Yogācāra, Tiantai 天台, and tantric). It will provide a close reading of a long essay on the topic by Taixu’s disciple Tanxuan 談玄 (d.u.), which offers a detailed overview of the canonical literature on aśubha meditation available at the time and proves telling with regard to the variety of the forms of the practice and of the different Buddhist groups involved in its implementation

Paving the Path
The Visualization of the Impure in Modern China
Practicing Bujing Guan in the 1930s
Tanxuan 談玄’s Essay on the Visualization of the Impure
Final Remarks
Mahāyāna Sūtras
Śāstras
Full Text
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