A research written by Jan Nattier.
I’ve finally made all effort to look into the emergence of the Mahayana tradition. I’ve been googling a lot not only looking at the emergence of the Pureland teachings but also the arrival of of the core teachings of the Mahayana tradition, the Bodhisattva path.
While I was googling on the web, the information provided were bits of here and there. It’s hard to grasp a full picture of it. Jan Nattier’s theories caught my eyes. She explained her findings on YouTube. This is the link to her talk. Stages of the Path: The Origins of the Bodhisattva Bhumis. https://youtube.com/watch?v=DbFCXBcGdGE&feature=shares
The talk provided wasn’t enough for me, so I decided to buy her book.
In the early part of the book, Jan Nattier extracted the importance of how monks were practising the Bodhisattva path in the time of Ugra. And also advice from the Buddha on how lay Bodhisattva should practise. Like Jan Nattier, I’ve listed the points below.
1. The monks who walked the Bodhisattva path were forest dwellers.
2. They respected the Sravakas and lived in harmony with them.
3. They used materials from the Sravakas for their practice.
4. One should attain Buddhahood through one’s own effort.
5. There were no Buddhas’ name or Buddhas’ lands to call out to.
6. There were no mention of the 10 bhumis or the 10 stages of the Bodhisattva Path.
7. The male lay Boddhisattva were taught to see their wives as an evilish person.
8. No female practitioners were mentioned.
After Nattier has explained everything and here comes the sutta!
I thought to myself: Was that Buddha who was teaching the Bodhisattva path to Ugra, the lay follower? The wives of the lay male followers have to be seen as an obstruction to their practice. You’ll not find loving-kindness and compassion towards their wives in the discourse. Serious? Buddha was teaching us to see woman as evil? If you have been reading the nikayas, you’d probably know that’s not the Buddha. Buddha had always been seeking protection for the nuns during his time. He had so much compassion towards women and taught men to respect women.
When I was practising the Bodhisattva path, I often refer to the 10 bhumis. Very often, it doesn’t fit into my practice. The sequence doesn’t seem right for me. I strongly believe, and finally convinced, such sequences are meant for monks and nuns. They practise with their mind, just like Shantideva. I would suggest those who believe in the Bodhisattva path practise the way how Shantideva or the monastics practise and you probably won’t hurt yourself and it’s easy if you call that a Bodhisattva path! Most importantly, the fact is there is no 10 bhumis. It was a later creation not from the fully enlightened Buddha.
In the book reviews, some commented that with just one sutta, we cannot arrive at a conclusion. To me, with one sutta, it already told me so much! Ok, let’s say it’s not enough. I’ve got another book on the Gandhara finding. I would post it soon!
There was a comment on Jan Nattier’s video. Please refer to the link. https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=4182
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