Removing The Sheen From Buddhism

[Husky]

Post 5/?



2. Hsuan-Tsang assumed that the spiritual place described in the primary Buddhist sources for Potalaka must be a physical place.

It is his descriptions that further place it in India somewhere. But scholars conclude his descriptions are hearsay, not of his own attestation.

That's not to say he's not passing on physical descriptions of a place he's been told of, but there is absolutely no reason to assume they were Potalaka, not to mention that the actual Potalaka (of the Avatamsaka Sutra) is clearly a spiritual place and does not actually fit Hsuan-Tsang's 2nd hand descriptions in important details (more of which are seen in later posts).



Further, the only substantive elements that Hsuan-Tsang mentions of what he alleges/assumes is the abode of a Tathaagatha ("coming and going", Buddhist character) is actually recognisably the Hindu God Shiva, with moreover no description that actually proves the deity in the temple as Buddhist or even to indicate that the presence of Shiva that HT did mention as existing here* got syncretised=encroached on by Buddhism, and which rather lead one to seriously suspect that Hsuan-Tsang merely assumed that the descriptions of an (obviously Shaiva site) he heard about "must have been" about Avalokiteshwara, probably on account of the popularity of the deity and the magnificence of the sacred site, which he clearly had gathered from the hearsay.



* Hsuan Tsang's 2nd hand descriptions say that whoever the God was in the temple at the top of the hill appeared [only] in the form of "Ishwara" and a "pAshupata Yogin" to devotees at the bottom of the hill - note that these are the only forms HT could record. It is obvious who is and who isn't the God of the temple. And no amount of alleged or even attempted syncretism with Buddhism can change that. See also end of post.





Supporting data follows for

- Hsuan-Tsang's description of a place - which he alleged as "Potalaka" - being likely obtained by him from hearsay, not from own experience; and

- how all the sighted manifestations of the deity that he can document from said hearsay are of a Hindu God onlee (no Buddhist syncretism in the sightings implies no Buddhism at the top of the hill, notwithstanding modern Buddhist-leaning authors trying to impute at least a Buddhist-syncretism - via references to Buddhist encroachment "syncretism" on the Hindu God Shiva in the general case - in order to keep HT's desciptions relevant to Buddhism at all. I mean, it can't be claimed as Potalaka if the God of the place is obviously unclouded/unsyncretised Shiva, right?)



www.chibs.edu.tw/ch_html/chbs/10/chbs1011.htm#nt27

[27] Watters (1996: 229), for example, is of the opinion that Xuanzang did not personally visit the countries western of Andhra including Malakuta and, of course, mount Potalaka. He also mentions that Xuanzang may have been inspired directly by the Gaṇḍavyūha in his search and description of the mount Potalaka. Lee (1994) even elaborates the theory that the Chinese pilgrim may have tried to follow the route of Sudhana in his travelling in India. He does, however, in his intriguing comparative work not discuss the problem of the location of mount Potalaka.

There are also Sudhana trails in Japan, BTW. Meaning: Buddhists can follow the route of Sudhana anywhere, especially in their own home, meditating. Since it is not meant literally. And even many pseudo-histories (gospel stories notable) set their fictions against a more realistic backdrop. For christianism this makes it more historical, for Buddhism -say- this makes it more vivid and as a stepping stone to more fantastical spiritual visions to get Buddhist points across easier.





Still from:



www.chibs.edu.tw/ch_html/chbs/10/chbs1011.htm

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra[*]



Märt Läänemets

Research Fellow, Centre for Oriental Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia)



[...]



Ancient and modern authors have made attempts to localize mount Potalaka in the real geographical space of India. The most famous passage in this regard, cited and examined again and again by scholars is, that of the Xuanzang’s (玄奘) (Hsuan-Tsang) description of mount Potalaka (Budaluojia shan 布呾洛迦山)[24]　in his Records on the Western World (Datang xiyu ji 大唐西域記):



“To the east of the Malaya mountains [Molaye shan秣剌耶山][25]　is Mount　Po-ta-lo-kia [Budaluojia shan布呾洛迦山] (Pôtalaka). The passes of this mountain are very dangerous; its sides are precipitous, and its valleys rugged. On the top of the mountain is a lake; its waters are clear as a mirror. From a hollow proceeds a great river which encircles the mountain as it flows down twenty times and then enters the southern sea. By the side of the lake is a rock-palace of the Dêvas. Here Avalôkitêśvara [Guanzizai pusa觀自在菩薩] in coming and going takes his abode. Those who strongly desire to see this Bôdhisattva do not regard their lives, but, crossing the water (fording the streams), climb the mountain forgetful of its difficulties and dangers; of those who make the attempt there are very few who reach the summit. But even of those who dwell below the mountain, if they earnestly pray and beg to behold the god, sometimes he appears as Tsz’-tsaï-t’ien [Zizaitian自在天] (Îśvâra-dêva), sometimes under the form of a yôgi [tuhui waidao塗灰外道] (a Pâṁśupata); he addresses them with benevolent words and then they obtain their wishes according to their desires.[/color]

“Going north-east from this mountain, on the border of the sea, is a town; this is a place from which they start for the southern sea and the country of Săng-kia-lo [Sengjialuo guo僧迦羅國] (Ceilon). It is said commonly by the people that embarking from this port and going south-east about 3000 li we come to the country of Siṁhala.”[26]



(The "PaaMshupata" reference is expanded to "Shiva PAMshupata" in one of the footnotes. Further, Lokesh Chandra provides 2 translations of Hsuan Tsang - one by Beal and one by Watters - both of which refer to the same as a PAshupata yogin. I.e. Shiva himself, or a Shaivite Yogi of PAshupata type. Also, "Ishwara" and the suffix "-Ishwara", when not qualified by context such as indicate other Hindu Gods, is primarily a reference to Shiva.)



We do not know whether Xuanzang really visited this place or whether his record is based only on what he heard from the locals.[27]　Still, in his record the mount Potalaka is described as a real place in South India and we are informed that the　approximate location of the Potalaka is “to the east of the Malaya mountains” not far from the sea. That must be somewhere in modern Tamilnadu in South-West India, not far to the north from the southern tip of India.



(So the Estonian *doesn't* place it in Kerala - smack on top of Shabarimalai - but instead speculates that the place that Hsuan-Tsang (but not Buddhist scriptures) is describing "must be somewhere in modern Tamilnadu ... ". Then why has Rajeev been peddling with certainty - basing Lokesh Chandra as his source - what the equally-irresponsible Lokesh Chandra had only ever speculated: "... Lord Ayyappa of Shabarimala, who could have been the Potala Lokeshwara of Buddhist literature".)



We also learn from Xuanzang’s Records that in the first half of the seventh century a kind of mixed Avalokiteśvara-Īśvaradeva (Śiva – ?) cult was practised at this mountain. However, we do not know whether this was in harmony with mainstream Mahāyāna practice at that time or whether we deal with a more or less independent rudimentary local cult. Still, what Xuanzang says seems to support the theory of Avalokiteśvara-Śiva connections.[28]　The Gaṇḍavyūha itself also gives some indirect hints in favour of this theory as the next kalyāṇamitra Sudhana was guided to from mount Potalaka by another bodhisattva accompanying　Avalokiteśvara, Ananyagāmin, was the god Mahādeva (Datian大天) who resided in the great temple in the city of Dvāravatī.[29]



(Buddhist texts and encroachment - dubbed "syncretism" - always involved Hindu Gods in Hindu localities, including local manifestations of Gods at temples. Like Buddhism involved Taoist Gods in Taoist localities. And Shinto Gods in Shinto localities. And Olympic Gods in Hellenized Afghanistan. I don't know why Bauddhicised should betray surprise. It's a missionising religion that uses inculturation. Especially Mahayana, which was practically invented for this purpose, with the hope of making Buddhism appeal to populations who were attached to Gods.)





[27] Watters (1996: 229), for example, is of the opinion that Xuanzang did not personally visit the countries western of Andhra including Malakuta and, of course, mount Potalaka. He also mentions that Xuanzang may have been inspired directly by the Gaṇḍavyūha in his search and description of the mount Potalaka. Lee (1994) even elaborates the theory that the Chinese pilgrim may have tried to follow the route of Sudhana in his travelling in India. He does, however, in his intriguing comparative work not discuss the problem of the location of mount Potalaka.



[28] There are many modern works discussing this issue. The two following passages represent the current understanding of Avalokiteśvara-Śiva relations in cult and iconography. Niyogi (2001: 58) says: “Avalokiteśvara has been identified with some Hindu gods. He attributes may be compared with Brahmā, his functions as preserver and defender as Viṣṇu, his colour, symbols, etc., with that of Śiva. From this it appears that his origin cannot be traced from any cult or religion, but is the idea of divine compassion represented with such materials as the art and mythology of the day offered. Not only is Avalokiteśvara identified with some Hindu gods but there are supreme forces of Hinduism embodied within the deity.” Williams (1991: 233), citing a number of related works, summarizes the topic as follows: “There is undoubtedly an iconographical connection of Avalokiteśvara with the Hindu god Śiva. We have seen already that Avalokiteśvara bestows upon Śiva his place in the Hindu pantheon. Nevertheless, Avalokiteśvara himself is also called Maheśvara in the Karaṇḍavyūha─Great Lord, a standard epithet of Śiva. He is described as ‘a beautiful man…wearing a diadem on his matted hair, his mind filled with the highest friendliness, and looking like a disc of gold.’ This could be a description of Śiva, for whom the mated hair is a symbol as Lord of the Yogins. In a lovely Kashmiri brass sculpture from c. 1000 CE, Avalokiteśvara is shown seated on Potalaka, his mountain home, with matted hair and deer. Behind is what initially looks very much like Śiva 's trident. Śiva too dwells in the mountains as a yogin, and is associated with animals in his role of Lord of the animals. Elsewhere Avalokiteśvara is described as ‘blue-throated’, a term for Śiva embedded in Śaivite mythology.” See also Holt 1991: 41-42.



(The reference is to the Buddhist encroachment on Shiva's highly-and-exclusively personal name NeelakaNTha. Will bring it up again in a later post.)



[29] The city’s name is rendered differently in the various Chinese versions: Poluoboti婆羅波提in the Luomo and Sixty-Huayan, Duoluobodi墮羅缽底in the Eighty-Huayan, and Menzhu門主in the Fourty-Huayan. We are not able to identify it with any historical site. The Mahādeva chapter is found in: Gv: 367-368; T 278: 9, 719a-719c; T 279: 10, 368a-368b; T 293: 10; 736a-737c; T 294: 10, 861b-862b.). The figure of Ananyagāmin is discussed at the end of this paper.

Footnote 28 is relevant in demonstrating that Avalokiteshwara was particularly a spin-off of Shiva, and admitted even as such by eastern and western (Buddhist) historians, and that Lokesh was unnecessarily referring to instances of Buddhist encroachments on Vishnu-Shiva for his hypothesis that Hariharaputra Ayyappa at Shabarimalai "could have been" Avalokiteshwara at Potalaka.





Appearances of "Ishwara", "pAshupata Yogin" - the last could refer to a Shaiva [though Shiva himself is known to appear incognito in the form of a Shaiva Yogi too, as part of his leela. E.g. as seen in Nazhanmar literature or in the Kumara-sambhavam account, when Shiva is finally wooing Parvati.] In any case, we know the place Hsuan-Tsang recorded from hearsay is definitely Shaiva: his transmissions concerning the site make that much tangibly clear. What we don't know - and there's certainly no need for anyone to take Hsuan-Tsang at his word - is that there was actually *anything* Buddhist (including syncretistic Buddhist) about the site he described. Theoretically there could have been, but there needn't actually be. ***

Of course, later Buddhist writers quoting him - even in modern scholarly articles (like the Estonian, like the Japanese Shu, or like the Indian Lokesh) - choose to conclude that Hsuan-Tsang's eager interpretion of the hearsay as implying the presence of some syncretist Buddhism at the site magically "makes it so".



*** Even modern Bauddhified western travellers have wrongly invaded Taoist temples thinking these to be Buddhist, taken pictures of the vigrahas there which they assumed were "Buddhist" characters, and then blogged about it. <- Such blog entries were discussed by Taoists as examples of alien attempts at Bauddhifying Taoist places.



And it's not just Taoists that get short-changed: western Buddhist converts have visited the Angkor Wat Hindu temple complex and declared it all an ode to "Buddhism's great history and beautiful temples", and posted pictures of all the Hindoo parts on their website. As embarrassing as that is, people in Hsuan Tsang's era were not a different species, and no less... shall we say enthusiastic about their conversion to Buddhism... and also no less prone to identifying popular sacred sites of other religions as something to do with their adoptive one instead. One rumour or one misinterpretation is all that it takes in cases like these to start another avalanche of Buddhist encroachment and history re-writes of native heathenisms.



Again: Hsuan-Tsang's description - relayed from hearsay he obtained - of an existing Indian site (which he *chose* to interpret as Potalaka) only admits to Hindu religion there. The rest seems very much like it could be his choice to conflate it all with Buddhism. (Besides, he was expecting Potalaka etc to exist in the physical world.)





ADDED: many more comments.

But some of the stuff in the quoteblocks are the relevant bits.