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A Few Good Men

The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra

A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of UgraAfter reading Jan Nattier’s deconstruction of  the predictions of the extinction of Buddhism in Once Upon A Future Time, I remembered that I had a copy of Nattier’s “A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra.” In this 2003 book Nattier deconstructs the meaning of the early Mahāyāna. Was it a new doctrinal school, a reformist sect, or simply a “movement”?

She concludes:

If the Mahāyāna as reflected in the Ugra thus fails to conform to any of the three major categories–a new doctrinal school, a reformist sect, or simply a “movement”–to which it has been assigned in buddhological literature to date, how then was this term used by the Ugra’s authors? Somewhat surprisingly, perhaps–given the volume of ink that has been spilled in an attempt to define the “Mahāyāna” in recent years–the Ugra offers us a very simple and straightforward answer. For the authors of this sūtra, the Mahāyāna is nothing more, and nothing less, than a synonym of the “bodhisattva path.” For the Ugra, in other words, the Mahāyāna is not a school, a sect, or a movement, but a particular spiritual vocation, to be pursued within the existing Buddhist community. To be a “Mahāyānist”–that is, to be a bodhisattva–thus does not mean to adhere to some new kind of “Buddhism,” but simply to practice Buddhism in its most rigorous and demanding form.

A Few Good Men, p195

This conclusion originally surprised me, but upon reflection I realized that this accords well with the Lotus Sutra, which promises at the conclusion of the first chapter:

The Buddha will remove
Any doubt of those who seek
The teaching of the Three Vehicles.
No question will be left unresolved.

While the Lotus Sutra goes on to declare that there is only One Vehicle, the lesser path of the Bodhisattva vehicle is clearly a part of the Buddha’s provisional teachings. As Nattier notes:

If the Ugra cannot offer us a glimpse into the very dawn of the bodhisattva enterprise, it nonetheless remains a valuable witness to one of the earliest stages in the development of that path. It portrays a Buddhist community in which the path of the bodhisattva was viewed as an optional vocation suited only for the few; where tensions between bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas were evident, but had not yet led to institutional fission generating a separate Mahāyāna community; and where texts containing instructions for bodhisattva practice were known and transmitted by specialists within the larger monastic saṃgha. It emphatically does not convey a picture of the Mahāyāna as a “greater vehicle” in the sense of a more inclusive option, for the bodhisattva vehicle is portrayed as a supremely difficult enterprise, suited only (to borrow the recruiting slogan of the U.S. Marine Corps) for “a few good men.” And while the Ugra reflects an environment in which lay men were beginning to participate in such practices, there is no evidence that its authors even considered the possibility that women (whether lay or monastic) might do so as well.

A Few Good Men, p196
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Higan: The Wisdom in Perfection

Today is the final day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Today we consider the Perfection of Wisdom. To that end I’m returning to Jan Nattier’s translation of The Inquiry of Ugra.

“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, when the householder bodhisattva sees a beggar, he will fulfill the cultivation of the six perfections.

  1. “O Eminent Householder, if as soon as the householder bodhisattva is asked for any object whatsoever, his mind no longer grasps at that object, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of giving will be fulfilled.
  2. “If he gives while relying upon the spirit of enlightenment, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of morality will be fulfilled.
  3. “If he gives while bringing to mind loving-kindness toward those beggars and not producing anger or hostility toward them, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of endurance will be fulfilled.
  4. “If he is not depressed due to a wavering mind that thinks ‘If I give this away, what will become of me?’ in that way his perfection of exertion will be fulfilled.
  5. If one gives to a beggar and, after having given, is free Of sorrow and regret, and moreover he gives [these things] up from the standpoint of the spirit of enlightenment and is delighted and joyful, happy, and pleased, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of meditation will be fulfilled.
  6. And if, when he has given, he does not imagine the dharmas [produced by his giving] and does not hope for their maturation, and just as the wise do not settle down in [their belief in] any dharmas, just so he does not settle down [in them], and so he transforms them into Supreme Perfect Enlightenment—in that way his cultivation of the perfection of insight will be fulfilled.

“O Eminent Householder, in that way when the householder bodhisattva sees a beggar he will fulfill the cultivation of the six perfections.”

A Few Good Men, p244-255
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Higan: What Is Really Mine

Today is the Spring Equinox, the middle of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Below is a quote from Jan Nattier’s translation of The Inquiry of Ugra.

“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, the householder bodhisattva who lives at home, by being free of attachment and aversion, should attain equanimity with respect to the eight worldly things. If he succeeds in obtaining wealth, or a wife, or children, or valuables, or produce, he should not become proud or overjoyed. And if he fails to obtain all these things, he should not be downcast or distressed. Rather, he should reflect as follows: ‘All conditioned things are illusory and are marked by involvement in fabrication. Thus my father and mother, children, wife, male and female slaves, hired hands, wage earners, friends, companions, kinsfolk, and relatives—all are the result of the ripening of actions. Thus they are not “mine,” and I am not “theirs.”

” ‘And why? Because my father, mother, and so on are not my protector, refuge, resort, place of rest, island, self, or what belongs to the self. If even my own perishable skandhas, sense fields, and sense organs and their objects are not “me” or “mine,” how much less are my father, mother, and so on “me” or “mine,” or I “theirs”? And why? Because I am subject to my actions and heir to my actions, I will inherit [the results of] whatever I have done, whether good deeds or bad. I will taste the fruit of every one of them and will experience the ripening of every one. And because these people are also subject to their actions and heir to their actions, they too will inherit [the results of] whatever they have done, whether good deeds or bad. They will experience the ripening of every one of them and will taste the fruit of every one.

” ‘It is not my business to accumulate unvirtuous deeds for their sake. All of them are a source of pleasure now, but they will not be a source of pleasure later on. Instead, I should devote myself to what is really mine: that is, to the virtues of giving, discipline, self-restraint, endurance, good character, exertion, vigilance, and the accumulation and production of the factors of enlightenment. That is what is actually mine. Wherever I may go, these qualities will go with me.’ Thinking in this way, he does not accumulate offenses, even for the sake of his own life or for the sake of his wife and son.”

A Few Good Men, p246-247
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Higan: The Art of Giving

Today is the first day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

The today we consider the Perfection of Generosity. For this I want to return to Jan Nattier’s translation of the “The Inquiry of Ugra,” an early Mahayana sutra that discusses the householder’s Bodhisattva practices and the practices of the renunciant Bodhisattva.

“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, by living at home, the householder bodhisattva should accomplish a great deal of giving, discipline, self-restraint, and gentleness of character. He should reflect as follows: ‘What I give away is mine; what I keep at home is not mine. What I give away has substance; what I keep at home has no substance. What I give away will bring pleasure at another [i.e., future] time; what I keep at home will [only] bring pleasure right now. What I give away does not need to be protected; what I keep at home must be protected. [My] desire for what I give away will [eventually] be exhausted; [my] desire for what I keep at home increases. What I give away I do not think of as “mine”; what I keep at home I think of as “mine.” What I give away is no longer an object of grasping; what I keep at home is an object of grasping. What I give away is not a source of fear; what I keep at home causes fear. What I give away supports the path to bodhi; what I keep at home supports the party of Māra.

“What I give away knows no exhaustion; what I keep at home is exhausted. What I give away is pleasurable; what I keep at home is painful, because it must be protected. What I give away leads to the abandoning of the corruptions; what I keep at home will cause the corruptions to increase. What I give away will yield great enjoyment; what I keep at home will not yield great enjoyment. Giving things away is the deed of a good man; keeping things at home is the deed of a lowly man. What I give away is praised by all the Buddhas; what I keep at home is praised by foolish people.’ Thus he should reflect. O Eminent Householder, in that way the bodhisattva should ‘extract the substance’ [from the insubstantial].

A Few Good Men, p240-241
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A Few Good Men Living in the Wilderness

The bodhisattvas of The Inquiry of Ugra are uniformly wilderness dwellers, only occasionally visiting the greater sangha in order to hear the Dharma.

In discussing the virtues of dwelling in the wilderness, The Inquiry of Ugra offers this:

“O Eminent Householder, if one asks what is the renunciant bodhisattva’s śramaṇa-aim, it is the following: it is mindfulness and clear consciousness, being undistracted, attaining the dhārāṇis, not being satisfied with what he has learned, having attained eloquence in speech, relying on loving-kindness and compassion, having mastery of the paranormal powers, fulfilling the cultivation of the six perfections, not abandoning the spirit of Omniscience, cultivating the knowledge of skillful means, maturing sentient beings, not abandoning the four means of attraction, being mindful of the six kinds of remembrance, not discarding learning and exertion, properly analyzing the dharmas, exerting oneself in order to attain right liberation, knowing the attainments of the fruit, dwelling in the state of having entered into a fixed course, and protecting the True Dharma.

“It is having right view, by having confidence in the maturing of deeds; having right intention, which consists in the cutting off of all discursive and divisive thought; having right speech, which consists of teaching the Dharma in accordance with the receptivity [of others]; having right action, by completely annihilating action; having right livelihood, by overcoming the residue of attachments; having right effort, by awakening to sambodhi; having right mindfulness, by constant non-forgetfulness; and having right absorption, by fully attaining the knowledge of Omniscience.

“It is not being frightened by emptiness, not being intimidated by the signless, and not being overpowered by the wishless, and being able through one’s knowledge to be reborn at will. It is relying on the meaning, not on the letter; relying on knowledge, not on discursive consciousness; relying on the Dharma, not on the person; and relying on the definitive sūtras, not on the sūtras that must be interpreted. In accord with the primordially non-arising and non-ceasing nature of things, it is not mentally constructing an essence of things—that, O Eminent Householder, is what is called the śramaṇa-aim of the renunciant bodhisattva.

A Few Good Men, p291-294

Note the admonition about “relying on the meaning, not on the letter; relying on knowledge, not on discursive consciousness; relying on the Dharma, not on the person; and relying on the definitive sūtras, not on the sūtras that must be interpreted.”

These instructions are also found in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, where Nichiren read them as validating the Lotus Sutra as the highest teaching of the Buddha.

The Nirvana Sūtra declares, “Rely on the dharma, not on the man; rely on the wisdom, not on the knowledge.” “Rely on the dharma” in this passage means to rely on the eternal dharma preached in the Lotus-Nirvana sūtras. “Rely not on the man” means not to rely on those who do not believe in the Lotus-Nirvana sūtras. Those who do not have faith in the Lotus Sūtra, even Buddhas and bodhisattvas, are not “good friends” (reliable teachers) for us in the Latter Age, not to mention commentators, translators and teachers after the extinction of the Buddha who do not believe in the Lotus-Nirvana Sūtras. “Rely on the wisdom” means to rely on the wisdom of the Buddha. “Rely not on the knowledge” means not to rely on the opinions of bodhisattvas in the highest stage and below.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 59-60

The Inquiry of Ugra also offers an alternate set of bodhisattva vows. Compares these with the Four Great Vows promulgated by the founder of the Tiantai school and adopted by Nichiren:

“Who, in order to take care of, comfort, and protect all beings, seek the armor [of the bodhisattva]; who for the benefit of all beings take on the great burden, vowing:

The unrescued I will rescue.
The unliberated I will liberate.
The uncomforted I will comfort.
Those who have not yet reached parinirvāṇa, I will cause to attain parinirvāṇa

Finally, The Inquiry of Ugra includes this tip for the bodhisattva that I hope to keep in mind:

Without deception or artifice, he never tires of searching for what is lovable and virtuous in all beings. He is never satisfied with how much he has learned.

A Few Good Men, p226
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A Few Good Men and Some Śrāvakas

In the past I’ve expressed puzzlement at the prediction that future Buddhas will divide the One Vehicle into three in order to save sentient beings.

Why bother? Because even though “the world in which he appears will not be an evil one” the causes and conditions that prompted the Buddha’s provisional teachings will still be present. This significantly alters the meaning of the Mahāyāna.

This is reflected in Jan Nattier’s discussion of The Inquiry of Ugra. As Nattier explains:

Far from describing the Mahāyāna as a form of protest against those pursuing the traditional path to Arhatship, the Ugra urges its audience to maintain harmony within the Buddhist community by honoring one’s Śrāvaka coreligionists. There is, in sum, not a shred of evidence that the Ugra’s authors considered the Śrāvaka path illegitimate–far from it, for they remind the bodhisattva that when he becomes a Buddha, he will lead a community of Śrāvakas himself.

A Few Good Men, p194

In The Inquiry of Ugra, the Buddha says:

“O Eminent Householder, how should the householder bodhisattva go to the Sangha for refuge? O Eminent Householder, as to the householder bodhisattva going to the Sangha for refuge, if he sees monks who are stream-enterers, or once-returners, or non-returners, or Arhats, or ordinary persons (pṛthagjana), who are members of the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, or the Great Vehicle, with reverence and respect toward them he exerts himself to stand up, speaks to them pleasantly, and treats them with propriety. Showing reverence toward those he meets with and encounters, he bears in mind the thought ‘When I have awakened to Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, I will teach the Dharma which brings about [in others] the qualities of a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha in just this way.’ Thus having reverence and respect for them, he does not cause them any trouble. That is how a householder bodhisattva goes to the Sangha for refuge.

A Few Good Men, p218-219

I agree with Nattier’s declaration that the Mahāyāna can be seen as a synonym of the “bodhisattva path,” but she misses how The Inquiry of Ugra sets up the Bodhisattva and the Mahāyāna as a distinct and superior path. Consider this description of the Three Refuges for Bodhisattvas:

“And again, O Eminent Householder, if a householder bodhisattva has four things, he is one who ‘goes to the Buddha for refuge.’ What are the four? (l) he does not abandon the spirit of enlightenment; (2) he does not break his promise; (3) he does not forsake great compassion; and (4) he does not concern himself with the other vehicles. O Eminent Householder, if a householder bodhisattva has these four things, he is one who ‘goes to the Buddha for refuge.’

“And again, O Eminent Householder, if a householder bodhisattva has four things, he is one who ‘goes to the Dharma for refuge.’ What are the four? (l) he relies on and associates with those people who are preachers of the Dharma, and having revered and done homage to them, he listens to the Dharma; (2) having heard the Dharma, he thoroughly reflects upon it; (3) just as he has heard and absorbed it himself, he teaches and explains those Dharmas to others; and (4) he transforms that root-of-goodness which has sprung from his gift of the Dharma into Supreme Perfect Enlightenment. O Eminent Householder, the householder bodhisattva who has these four things may be said to be ‘going to the Dharma for refuge.’

“And again, O Eminent Householder, if a householder bodhisattva has four things, he may be said to be one who ‘goes to the Sangha for refuge.’ What are the four? (l) those who have [not yet] definitively entered into the Śrāvaka Vehicle he should lead to the spirit of Omniscience; (2) those who are drawn to material things he causes to be drawn to the Dharma; (3) he relies on the irreversible bodhisattva Sangha, not on the Sangha of the Śrāvakas; and (4) he strives for the good qualities of the Śrāvakas, but does not delight in their form of liberation. O Eminent Householder, if a householder bodhisattva has these four things, he may be said to be ‘going to the Sangha for refuge.’

A Few Good Men, p219-222