Center of Buddhist Studies

Divided into three sections, Luminous Bliss shows that Tibetan Pure Land literature exemplifies a synthesis of Mahāyāna sutra-based conceptions with a Vajrayana world-view that fits progressive and sudden approaches to the realization of Pure Land teachings. Part I covers the origins and development of Pure Land in India and the historical circumstances of its adaptation in Tibet and Central Asia. Part II offers an English translation of the short Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra (imported from India during the Tibetan Empire) and contains a survey of original Tibetan Pure Land scriptures and meditative techniques from the dGe-lugs-pa, bKa’-brgyud, rNying-ma, and Sa-skya schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Part III introduces some of the most innovative and popular mortuary cycles and practices related to the Tantric cult of Buddha Amitābha and his Pure Land from the Treasure traditions in the bKa’-brgyud and rNying-ma schools.

Luminous Bliss locates Pure Land Buddhism at the core of Tibet’s religious heritage and demonstrates how this tradition constitutes an integral part of both Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism.

There are two texts with the theme on the profundity of parents' filial love to their children found in the Taisho Tripiṭ aka: the Fumuen Nanbao Jing attributed to An Shigao's translation and the Fumuenzhong Jing collected from Dunhuang caves. The latter version is considered nearly by all scholars as apocryphal while the former is virtuously left without scholarly studies. After a study, I consider the Fumuen Nanbao Jing as translated by An Shigao the authentic text from India but it is forgotten by people in the long history. But on the other hand, the apocryphal text Fumuenzhong Jing became quite popular amongst the ordinary Chinese people. Then many questions arise: How can there be an apocryphal text even though there is an authentic one? Why the authentic version is forgotten while the apocryphal version became popular? What is the relationship between the two versions? How the apocryphal text came into being? In my opinion, the appearance of the apocryphal version is due to the fact that in the authentic version, there is a paragraph on how to repay parents' debts in five ways, particularly the way Thanks to The Li Chong Yuet Ming Buddhist Studies Fund which has financed this research. Guang Xing is a Professor 106 to establish immoral parents in morality, which is not in conformity with the Confucian concept of filial piety. According to Confucianism, in filial piety children's respect and reverence to parents are essential; otherwise it is not different from dogs and horses if parents are only provided with material and service. So as a result, the authentic version could not be preached and taught in Chinese society in order to show the Confucian critics that Buddhism also teaches filial piety. Therefore, the Chinese Buddhists created another version by collecting ideas and paragraphs from other Mahāyāna sūtras translated earlier such as the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, and the Ullambana on how to repay parents' kindness. Thus, the filial ideas in the apocryphal text are in consistency with the Chinese culture that is centered on Confucian ideology. This explains all the questions mentioned above.

Chinese religions or Chinese traditional religions include Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and popular beliefs derived from and related to these three. Liu Mi, a Chinese elite of the late Song and early Yuan dynasty, said in his essay Sanjiao Pingxin Lun "Buddhism is for the cultivation of mind, Daoism is for the training of the physical body and Confucianism is for the governance of the world." This reflects the roles and functions of the three religions in China in the last two thousand years with Confucianism at the center supported by Buddhism and Daoism. Although there were conflicts and persecutions in Chinese history but harmony and integration were the mainstream as both Buddhism and Chinese thought uphold the open and tolerate attitude of mind. Thus, Ma Xisa, a specialist in Chinese popular religions said that Buddhism heavily influenced Chinese popular religions in their formations and developments.