The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism

Siyam Nikāya. The largest of the monastic orders in Sri Lanka, dating from 1753, so named because it derives from an ordination lineage that came from Thailand (Siam); today approximately half of the monks in Sri Lanka belong to this order. In the preceding five centuries, the tradition of full ordination (UPASAṂPADĀ) of BHIKṢUs had died out in Sri Lanka because there was not the requisite number of five fully ordained monks to ordain new monks. Thus, all Sri Lankan monks remained as novices (ŚRĀMAṆERA). The tradition of full ordination had been reintroduced twice before, but it had died out each time. In 1753, with the support of King Kīrti Śrī Rājasiṃha, the novice SARAṆAṂKARA invited the Thai elder Upāli to come to Sri Lanka to officiate at an ordination ceremony. The Siyam Nikāya is principally based around the city of Kandy and only accepts upper-caste males for full ordination.

skandha. (P. khandha; T. phung po; C. yun; J. un; K. on 蘊). In Sanskrit, lit. “heap,” viz., “aggregate,” or “aggregate of being”; one of the most common categories in Buddhist literature for enumerating the constituents of the person. According to one account, the Buddha used a grain of rice to represent each of the many constituents, resulting in five piles or heaps. The five skandhas are materiality or form (RŪPA), sensations or feeling (VEDANĀ), perception or discrimination (SAṂJÑĀ), conditioning factors (SAṂSKĀRA), and consciousness (VIJÑĀNA). Of these five, only rūpa is material; the remaining four involve mentality and are collectively called “name” (NĀMA), thus the compound “name-and-form” or “mentality-and-materiality” (NĀMARŪPA). However classified, nowhere among the aggregates is there to be found a self (ĀTMAN). Yet, through ignorance (AVIDYĀ or MOHA), the mind habitually identifies one or another in this collection of the five aggregates with a self. This is the principal wrong view (DṚṢṬI), called SATKĀYADṚṢṬI, that gives rise to suffering and continued existence in the cycle of rebirth (SAṂSĀRA).

skandhaka. (T. phung po; P. khandhaka; C. jiandu; J. kendo; K. kŏndo 犍度). In Sanskrit, “chapter,” or “division,” especially referring to a major section of the VINAYA. Whereas the PRĀTIMOKṢA largely deals with the conduct of individual monk or nuns, the skandhaka primarily deals with the conduct of monks and nuns in their capacity as collective members of the SAṂGHA. In the extant Sanskrit vinayas, this section is sometimes called the VINAYAVASTU. The Pāli vinaya has twenty-two sections (khandhaka). Most of the Sanskrit vinayas have twenty skandhaka, as follows. (1) pravrajyāvastu: this section deals with matters related to admission into the order as a novice (pravrajyā; see PRAVRAJITA), ordination as a fully ordained monk (UPASAṂPADĀ), admission of novices (ŚRĀMAṆERA), regulations for the interactions with the preceptor (UPĀDHYĀYA) or teacher (ĀCĀRYA), and circumstances that disqualify one from being admitted to the monastic order; (2) poṣadhavastu: this section deals with the UPOṢADHA, or confession ceremony, including a history of its origin and the rules for its performance. (3) varṣāvastu: this section deals with the annual rains retreat (VARṢĀ) and the rules to be observed during that period, including what kinds of dwelling are permitted. (4) pravāraṇāvastu: this section deals with the ceremony that marks the end of the annual rains retreat (PRAVĀRAṆĀ) and elimination of any disharmony that may have arisen during the retreat. (5) carmavastu: this section deals with leather and especially the usage of shoes. (6) bhaiṣajyavastu: this section deals with both medicine and food, setting forth which medicines are permitted and when they may be used; the rules concerning food set forth which foods may be accepted, how invitations from the laity should be treated; how food is to be prepared, and how the monastery storeroom should be utilized. (7) cīvaravastu: this section deals with robes (CĪVARA), including how may robes a monk may possess, how robes are to be received from the laity, how robes are to worn, and how robes are to sewn; (8) kaṭhinavastu: this section deals specifically with the cloth (KAṬHINA) that monks receive from the laity at the end of the rains retreat; (9) kośambakavastu: this section deals with the dispute that occurred between the Kauśāmbī monks and how it was resolved by the Buddha, who allowed an expelled monk to be reinstated upon confession. (10) karmavastu: this section deals with ecclesiastical acts (SAṂGHAKARMAN) taken by the community in various assemblies. (11) pāṇḍulohitavastu: this section deals with disciplinary measures that are taken when violations of the monastic code occur. (12) pudgalavastu: this section deals with SAṂGHĀVAŚEṢA infractions, the types of probationary periods (e.g., MĀNATVA; PARIVĀSA), and the procedure for reinstatement after probation. (13) pārivāsikavastu: this section describes the proper conduct of a monk during the probationary period. (14) poṣadhasthāpanavastu: this section sets forth the circumstances under which a monk may be excluded from the UPOṢADHA ceremony. (15) śamathavastu: this section deals with legal cases (ADHIKARAṆA) and their resolution. (16) saṃghabhedavastu: this section deals with the schisms in the saṃgha (SAṂGHABHEDA), including the schism caused by DEVADATTA. (17) śayanāsanavastu: this section deals with the various dwelling places of members of the saṃgha. (18) ācāravastu: this section deals with conduct, especially in interactions with others, including laity, visiting monks, and forest-dwelling monks. (19) kṣudrakavastu: this section deals with miscellaneous minor rules. (20) bhikṣuṇīvastu: this section deals with the rules specific to nuns. The skandhaka begins with a biography of the Buddha that includes his genealogy, his birth, and his life up to the conversion of ŚĀRIPUTRA and MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. It concludes with the story of the Buddha’s death and goes on to describe the first Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI, see COUNCIL, FIRST) at RĀJAGṚHA and the second council (COUNCIL, SECOND) at VAIŚĀLĪ. In the Tibetan BKA’ ’GYUR, the vinaya section includes the above materials in the following sections: ’dul ba’i gzhi (vinayavastu), so sor thar pa (prātimokṣa), ’dul ba rnam par ’byed pa (vinayavibhaṅga), dge slong ma’i so sor thar pa’i mdo (bhikṣuṇī prātimokṣasūtra), dge slong ma’i ’dul ba rnam par ’byed pa (bhikṣuṇī vinayavibhaṅga), ’dul ba phran tshegs (vinayakṣudraka), ’dul ba gzhung bla ma/dam pa (vinayottaragrantha).

skandhamāra. (T. phung po’i bdud; C. yunmo; J. unma; K. onma 蘊魔). In Sanskrit, “Māra of the aggregates,” one of the four forms of the demon MĀRA, along with the Māra of the afflictions (kleśamāra), the Māra of death (MṚTYUMĀRA), and the divinity Māra (DEVAPUTRAMĀRA). The deity Māra refers to the demonic entity that attacked the Buddha on the night of his enlightenment; the other three are figurative forms, which are also called Māra to indicate their pernicious nature. Skandhamāra is said to have two forms. The coarse form is the five appropriated aggregates (UPĀDĀNASKANDHA) that arise in dependence on KARMAN. The subtle form is the mental body that arises as a result of the predispositions of ignorance (AVIDYĀ-VĀSANĀ).

Sku ’bum. (Kumbum). In Tibetan, literally “one hundred thousand images,” referring to a general architectural style of elaborate, multistories CAITYAs, including the Rgyal rtse sku ’bum (Gyantse Kumbum), GCUNG RI BO CHE, Jo nang sku ’bum, and Rgyang ’bum mo che (Gyang Bumoche). ¶ Sku ’bum is also the name of a Tibetan monastery founded in 1560 by Rin chen brtson ’grus rgyal mtshan (d.u.) commemorating the birthplace of DGE LUGS founder TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA; it is situated near Lake Kokonor and close to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province (incorporating much of the Tibetan A mdo region) in China. In 1583, the third DALAI LAMA, BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO , expanded the site by adding a temple dedicated to MAITREYA (T. Byams pa), after which the complex became known as Sku ’bum Byams pa gling (Kumbum Jampa Ling). The institution is centered around a miraculous tree marking Tsong kha pa’s actual birthplace. It is also the site where Tsong kha pa’s mother is said to have fashioned a STŪPA in 1379. Unlike other Tibet sites with the name sku ’bum, the name of the monastery does not derive from its architectural style but rather from a white sandalwood tree that grew at the spot where Tsong kha pa’s father planted his placenta (in other versions, it grew from a drop of blood from the umbilical cord). The tree is said to have one hundred thousand leaves, with each leaf bearing an image of the seed syllables (BĪJA) and hand implements of the buddha Siṃhanāda, the buddha whom Tsong kha pa will eventually become. Over the centuries, Sku ’bum developed into an enormous complex, one of the largest in the region, with thirty temples, over a thousand buildings, and some 3,600 monks. It had four colleges, one each for the study of doctrine, tantra, medicine, and the KĀLACAKRATANTRA. The monastery’s hereditary abbot was the A skya Rin po che, considered the incarnation of Tsong kha pa’s father. Sku ’bum is counted among the six great Dge lugs monasteries in Tibet, traditionally drawing large numbers of monks from Mongolia, as well as parts of eastern Tibet. Since 1959, the size of the monastic population has been drastically reduced and, since the 1990s, the monastery has become a popular destination for Han Chinese tourists.

Skyid grong. (Kyirong). A village and surrounding region in southwestern Tibet, on the border with Nepal. Numerous religious centers and pilgrimage sites are located in the area including the ’PHAGS PA WA TI LHA KHANG, RI BO DPAL ’BAR, and the YOGIN MI LA RAS PA’s hermitage BRAG DKAR RTA SO. Skyid grong was an important staging post on the foremost ancient trade route between Tibet and Nepal.

śloka. (P. siloka; T. tshigs bcad; C. ji/song; J. ge/ju; K. ke/song 偈/頌). In Sanskrit, “stanza,” referring to a unit of metrical verse in traditional Sanskrit literature. Although the exact form of the verse may vary, the most common form of ŚLOKA is composed of four “feet” (pāda), each foot consisting of eight syllables, for a total of thirty-two; this form is called the anuṣṭubh. Other forms include the triṣṭubh, which has four feet of eleven syllables each, and the gāyatrī, which has three feet of eight syllables each. The form is widely used in Buddhist and non-Buddhist Indian literature, which is often composed in a mixture of prose and verse. The term is implied in the titles of the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ SŪTRAs: e.g., in the AṢṬASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ, which is often translated as “The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines,” where lines refers to ślokas.

Sman ri. (Menri). One of the largest and most influential BON monasteries, founded in 1405 by SHES RAB RGYAL MTSHAN in central Tibet.

śmaśāna. (P. susāna; T. dur khrod; C. shilin/hanlin; J. shirin/kanrin; K. sirim/hallim 屍林/寒林). In Sanskrit, “charnel ground,” “cemetery”; funerary sites in ancient India where corpses were left to decompose. The charnel ground was recommended as a site for monks to practice meditation in order to overcome attachment to the body. In the MAHĀSATIPAṬṬHĀNASUTTA, the Buddha recommends nine “charnel ground contemplations” (sīvathikā manasikāra). There is a set of “contemplations on the foul” (AŚUBHABHĀVANĀ) described in mainstream Buddhist literature that were to take place in the charnel grounds, where the monks would sit next to the dead and contemplate the nine or ten specific stages in the decomposition of a corpse; this meditation was a powerful antidote to the affliction of lust (RĀGA). The traditional list of thirteen authorized ascetic practices (S. dhūtaguṇa; P. DHUTAṄGA) also includes dwelling in a charnel ground (no. 11) and wearing only discarded cloth (no. 1), which typically meant to use funerary cloth taken from rotting corpses to make monastic raiments (CĪVARA), thus weaning the monk or nun from attachment to material possessions. The ideal charnel ground is described as a place where corpses are cremated daily, where there is the constant smell of decomposing corpses, and where the weeping of the families of the dead can be heard. The practice of meditation there is said to result in an awareness of the inevitability of death, the abandonment of lust, and the overcoming of attachment to the body. In India, the charnel ground was a frightful place not only because of the presence of corpses but also for the creatures, including wild animals and various demons, that frequented it at night. Thus, in tantric Buddhism, the charnel ground was considered to be inhabited by wrathful deities, ḌĀKINĪs, and MAHĀSIDDHAs, making it a potent place for the performance of ritual and meditation. Mahāsiddhas are sometimes depicted in charnel grounds, sitting on corpses and drinking from skull cups. ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA texts also refer to a set of “eight great charnel grounds” (S. AṢṬAMAHĀŚMAŚĀNA), which are also frequently depicted in tantric Buddhist art. While the eight sites are often equated with actual geographic locations in India, they also carry a deeper symbolism, referring to regions of tantric sacred geography, points on a MAṆḌALA or a deity’s body, and elements of tantric physiology such as the channels (NĀḌĪ) in the subtle body of a meditating YOGIN. Their origin myth describes the defeat of the demon Rudra, after which the charnel grounds arose in the eight cardinal and intermediate directions, each from a piece of his dismembered body. They are described as wild and terrifying places, littered with human corpses and wild animals, each with their own trees, protectors, STŪPAs, NĀGAs, jewels, fires, clouds, mountains, and lakes. They are inhabited by a host of spirits and nonhuman beings, as well as meditating yogins and YOGINĪs. In general, charnel grounds and similar frightening locations are said to be efficacious for the practice of tantric meditation. The aṣṭamahāśmaśāna are also usually depicted as forming part of the outer protection wheel in maṇḍalas of anuttarayogatantra. There are varying lists of the eight great charnel grounds, one of which is: caṇḍogrā (most fierce), gahvara (dense thicket), vajrajvala (blazing vajra), endowed with skeletons (karaṅkin), cool grove (śītavana), black darkness (ghorāndhakāra), resonant with “kilikili” (kilikilārava), and cries of “ha ha” (aṭṭahāsa); Tibetan sources give the names of the eight great charnel grounds as gtum drag (caṇḍogra), tshang tshing ’khrigs pa (gahvara), rdo rje bar ba (vajrajvala), keng rus can (karaṅkin), bsil bu tshal (śītavana), mun pa nag po (ghorāndhakāra) ki li ki lir sgra sgrog pa (kilikilārava), and ha ha rgod pa (aṭṭahāsa).

Smin grol gling. (Mindroling). Largest monastery of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism in central Tibet; established in 1670 by GTER BDAG GLING PA, the brother of LO CHEN DHARMA SHRI, and a close associate and supporter of the fifth DALAI LAMA. It was founded on the site of an earlier structure built in the early eleventh century by Klu mes Shes rab tshul khrims (Lume Sherap Tsultrim, b. c. tenth century). Smin grol gling flourished as the center of the Southern Treasure tradition (LHO GTER), which originated with the teachings and revelations of Gter bdag gling pa. The monastic compound was severely damaged by the Dzungar army in the early eighteenth century and again during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, although it has since undergone significant restoration. The abbots of Smin grol gling became known as the Smin gling khri can (Throne Holder of Mindroling), a line of important masters descending in a familial lineage from Gter bdag gling pa. The lineage of Smin grol gling throneholders is

1. Gter bdag gling pa ’Gyur med rdo rje (1646–1714)

2. Padma ’gyur med rgya mtsho (Pema Gyurme Gyatso, 1686–1717)

3. Rin chen rnam rgyal (Rinchen Namgyal, 1694–1758)

4. ’Gyur med padma bstan ’dzin (Gyurme Pema Tendzin, b. eighteenth century.)

5. ’Phrin las rnam rgyal (Trinle Namgyal, 1765–1812)

6. Padma dbyang rgyal (Pema Wangyal, b. eighteenth century)

7. ’Gyur med sangs rgyas kun dga’ (Gyurme Sangye Kunga, born c. late eighteenth/early nineteenth century)

8. Khri can Yid bzhin dbyang rgyal (Trichen Yishin Wangyal, d.u)

9. Bde chen chos grub (Dechen Chödrup, d.u.)

10. Kun dga’ bstan ’dzin (Kunga Tendzin, d.u.)

11. Don grub dbang rgyal (Döndrup Wangyal, d.u.)

12. Kun bzang dbang rgyal (Kunzang Wangyal, b. 1931).

Smon lam chen mo. (Mönlam Chenmo). In Tibetan, “great prayer,” the great prayer festival that took place in the Tibetan capital of LHA SA as part of the celebration of the Tibetan lunar New Year (and thus occurring in February and sometimes March). The festival was established by TSONG KHA PA, the founder of the DGE LUGS sect, in 1409, to commemorate the Buddha’s defeat of the heretical teachers (TĪRTHIKA) at ŚRĀVASTĪ. Lasting until the twenty-fifth day of the first month of the new year, the festival included prayers performed three times each day at the JO KHANG, the chief temple of Lha sa, as well as rituals for the expiation of misdeeds committed during the previous year and a rededication to the principles of Buddhism for the coming year. During the festival, the city would be filled with pilgrims from all over Tibet as well as with monks from the three Dge lugs monasteries in the vicinity of Lha sa. Elaborate butter sculptures (GTOR MA) were made and ’CHAM dances were performed. The examinations for the granting of the DGE BSHES lha ram pa degree took place at this time. For the period of the festival, the lay officials of the city of Lha sa turned over civil authority to the monks of ’BRAS SPUNGS monastery. The festival was suspended after the Tibetan uprising in 1959, but began again in 1986 with the political liberalization that followed the death of Mao Zedong, but was banned again in 1990. In times of conflict it has served as a focus for Tibetan political and cultural identity.

smṛti. (P. sati; T. dran pa; C. nian; J. nen; K. yŏm 念). In Sanskrit, “mindfulness” or “memory” and often seen in Western sources in the Pāli equivalency sati; a polysemous term, but commonly used in meditative contexts to refer to the ability to remain focused on a chosen object without forgetfulness or distraction. The SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of ABHIDHARMA lists smṛti as one of a group of five determinative (VINIYATA) mental concomitants (CAITTA), whose function is to aid the mind in ascertaining or determining its object. The five are: aspiration or desire-to-act (CHANDA), determination or resolve (ADHIMOKṢA), mindfulness or memory (smṛti), concentration (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom or cognition (PRAJÑĀ). According to ASAṄGA, these five determinative factors accompany wholesome (KUŚALA) states of mind, so that if one is present, all are present. Mindfulness is crucial to all types of formal meditative practice because of its role in bringing clarity to the perceptual process; it leaves the mind in a purely receptive state that inhibits the unwholesome responses to sensory stimuli, such as greed, hatred, and delusion. Mindfulness also contributes to control of the mind, by eliminating distraction and helping the meditator gain mastery of his thought processes. Smṛti is also a catalyst of the related term “circumspection” or “introspection” (SAṂPRAJANYA) and ultimately of wisdom (PRAJÑĀ). As the third of the five spiritual faculties (PAÑCENDRIYA), smṛti helps to balance faith (ŚRADDHĀ) and wisdom (prajñā)—which could degenerate into blind faith or skepticism, respectively—as well as vigor (VĪRYA) and concentration (SAMĀDHI)—which could degenerate respectively into restlessness and indolence. Smṛti is thus the keystone that ensures the uniform development of all five faculties; for this reason, unlike the other four factors, there can never be too much mindfulness, because it cannot degenerate into a negative state. The emphasis on mindfulness is one of the most distinctive features of Buddhist meditation theory. Consequently, the term appears in numerous lists of virtuous qualities, especially in those pertaining to meditation. For example, in perhaps its most popular usage, right mindfulness (SAMYAKSMṚTI) is the seventh of the eight aspects of the noble eightfold path (ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA). Generally in this context, the cultivation of the “foundations of mindfulness” (SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA) is understood to serve as a basis for the development of liberating wisdom (prajñā). Thus, meditation exercises involving smṛti are often discussed in connection with those related to VIPAŚYANĀ, or “insight.” In one of the most widely read discourses on mindfulness, the MAHĀSATIPAṬṬHĀNASUTTANTA, the Buddha offers four specific foundations of mindfulness training, namely, on the body (KĀYA), sensations (VEDANĀ), mental states (CITTA), and specific factors (P. dhamma; S. DHARMA). In his Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayanāmaṭīkā, a commentary on the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA (“Heart Sūtra”), KAMALAŚĪLA lists mindfulness as the third of five “powers” (BALA) that are attained on the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA). In another popular schema, smṛti is listed as the first of seven “limbs of awakening” or factors of enlightenment (BODHYAṄGA); these are seven factors that contribute to enlightenment. See also ANUSMṚTI; SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA; SATIPAṬṬHANASUTTA.

smṛtyupasthāna. (P. satipaṭṭhāna; T. dran pa nyer bzhag; C. nianchu; J. nenjo; K. yŏmch’ŏ 念處). In Sanskrit, “foundations of mindfulness,” a meditative training in which one contemplates with mindfulness (SMṚTI): one’s (1) body (KĀYĀNUPAŚYANĀ; P. kāyānupassanā), by mean of mindfulness of breathing, mindfulness of postures, full awareness of bodily actions, contemplation of bodily impurities, contemplation of elements, and nine cemetery meditations; (2) sensations (vedanānupaśyanā; P. vedanānupassanā), viz., pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations (VEDANĀ); (3) mental states (cittānupaśyanā; P. cittānupassanā), such as whether the mind (CITTA) generally is elated or depressed, distracted or concentrated; and (4) factors (dharmānupaśyanā; P. dhammānupassanā), such as the five hindrances (NĪVARAṆA), the five aggregates (SKANDHA), the seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAṄGA); the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, etc. The explanation of smṛtyupasthāna, as the first of the thirty-seven dharmas associated with enlightenment (bodhyaṅga) details the role of mindfulness in the eightfold noble path (ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA). See also SMṚTI; SATIPAṬṬHĀNASUTTA.

Snar thang. (Nartang). A Tibetan monastery famous as the source for an important printed edition of the Buddhist canon, the BKA’ ’GYUR and BSTAN ’GYUR. It was located a short distance west of Gzhis ka rtse (Shigatse). The monastery was founded in 1153 and was originally a BKA’ GDAMS center. The edition of the canon produced there appears to derive from a manuscript edition prepared between 1312 and 1320. The engraving of the woodblocks was completed in 1730. The main buildings of the monastery, the woodblock collection, and many of its art treasures were destroyed in 1966 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

snga dar. (ngadar). In Tibetan, “earlier dissemination” or “first dissemination,” the first of two historical periods when Buddhism was disseminated to Tibet. The beginning of the period is variously indicated, sometimes being traced as far back as the first (and likely legendary) Tibetan king, Gnya’ khri btsan po, sometimes to the king Lha tho tho ri. However, it is agreed that the dissemination became well established during the reign of king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO in the seventh century, with his marriage to a Chinese princess and a Nepalese princess, each a Buddhist and each of whom brought a statue of the Buddha with her to Tibet. It continued through the reign of King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN, during which ŚĀNTARAKṢITA and PADMASAMBHAVA came to Tibet, the first Tibetan monastery at BSAM YAS was founded, and the BSAM YAS DEBATE took place. Traditionally the end of the first dissemination is associated with the murder of the great patron of Buddhism, King RAL PA CAN, by his brother GLANG DAR MA in 838, who then seized the throne and instituted a suppression of Buddhism. The beginning of the second or later dissemination (PHYI DAR) is traditionally dated from the first journey of the translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO to India. Subsequent research has shown that the dissemination of Buddhism in general did not end with the death of Ral pa can, but that there was a decline in particular forms of monasticism that disadvantaged institutional forms of religious expression. See JO KHANG.

Sngags rim chen mo. (Ngak rim chenmo). In Tibetan, “Great Exposition of the Stages of MANTRA,” an extensive theoretical work on the classes and stages of TANTRA, written by the DGE LUGS savant TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA. The work is regarded as the tantric companion to his most famous work, the LAM RIM CHEN MO, or “Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path.” The work begins with an influential discussion of what distinguishes the MAHĀYĀNA from the HĪNAYĀNA, and within Mahāyāna, what distinguishes the perfection vehicle (PĀRAMITĀYĀNA, phar phyin theg pa) from the mantra vehicle (MANTRAYĀNA, sngags kyi theg pa), with Tsong kha pa arguing that the practice of “deity yoga” (DEVATĀYOGA, lha’i rnal ’byor) is the distinguishing feature of tantric practice. The text then goes on to set forth the principal practices of each of the four major divisions of tantras according to Dge lugs: KRIYĀTANTRA, CARYĀTANTRA, YOGATANTRA, and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, with the greater part of the text devoted to the last of these divisions, regarded as essential for the achievement of buddhahood.

Snga ’gyur rnying ma. (Ngagyur nyingma). A Tibetan term referring to the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, lit. “Early Translation Ancient Tradition,” referring to the fact that the Rnying ma sect relies on translations, especially translations of TANTRAs, that were made prior to the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet. In distinction, the other sects of Tibetan Buddhism are called “new” (GSAR MA).

sngon ’gro. (ngöndro). In Tibetan, lit “going before,” viz., “preliminary practices”; referring generally to practices that are performed in order to establish proper motivation, to purify the mind of afflictions, and to remove obstacles before embarking upon tantric practice. Although present in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism, “preliminary practices” are especially associated with the RNYING MA and BKA’ BRGYUD sects. One of the most famous presentations of the preliminary practices is found in the nineteenth-century Rnying ma pa work, the KUN BZANG BLA MA’I ZHAL LUNG (“Words of My Perfect Teacher”) by DPAL SPRUL RIN PO CHE. The text first sets forth the “common preliminaries,” reflections on central points of Buddhist doctrine, intended to turn one’s interests away from SAṂSĀRA and toward the wish for liberation from rebirth. These are: (1) the rarity of human birth, (2) the uncertainty of the time of death, (3) the causes and effect of actions, (4) and the sufferings incumbent in the six rebirth destinies (GATI) of SAṂSĀRA. The “uncommon preliminary practice” entail the accumulation of a specific number (usually one hundred thousand) of specific practices. It is these practices that are intended to purify afflictions and remove obstacles. These are (1) recitation of the refuge formula while performing a hundred thousand prostrations; (2) cultivation of BODHICITTA (often in the form of a hundred thousand repetitions of a prayer); (3) recitation of the hundred-syllable MANTRA of the buddha VAJRASATTVA; (4) a hundred thousand offerings of a MAṆḌALA; (5) the practice of GURU yoga through a hundred thousand repetitions of the name mantra of the guru. In each case, these practices are to be performed with the appropriate visualization. In order to complete the uncommon preliminary practices, disciples would often go on retreat, during which they would devote all their time to the practices.

snyan brgyud. (nyen gyü). In Tibetan, “hearing lineage” or “aural lineage,” a term used to refer to teachings, especially tantric teachings, that are not committed to writing but that are instead transmitted orally from master to disciple from one generation to the next.

snyan brgyud skor gsum. (nyen gyü kor sum). In Tibetan, “the three aural lineage cycles”; a compilation of instructions based on the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA, including liturgies, ritual manuals, and commentarial works, together with their oral commentaries, stemming from MI LA RAS PA’s three principal disciples: RAS CHUNG PA RDO RJE GRAGS, SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, and Ngan rdzongs ras pa Byang chub rgyal po (Ngendzong Repa Jangchup Gyalpo). The three cycles are respectively known as the RAS CHUNG SNYAN BRGYUD, Dwags po snyan brgyud (Dakpo nyengyu), and Ngan rdzongs snyan brgyud (Ngendzong nyengyu). They were later edited and systematized by the adept GTSANG SMYON HERUKA during the fifteenth century. See also SNYAN BRGYUD.

Snyder, Gary. (1930–). American poet and prominent figure in Zen Buddhism in America. Gary Snyder was born in San Francisco and raised on a farm outside Seattle, Washington. He attended Reed College in Oregon, where he studied literature and anthropology. Inspired by DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI’s Essays in Zen Buddhism, he taught himself to meditate, and devoted himself to the practice of Zen meditation while working as a fire lookout in Washington state. In 1952, he enrolled in the Department of Oriental Languages at the University of California, Berkeley, to study Chinese and Japanese. He met ALLEN GINSBERG and JACK KEROUAC in San Francisco and participated in the famous Six Gallery reading in 1955, where Ginsberg first read Howl. Snyder traveled to Japan in 1956, returning again in 1958 to spend seven years practicing Zen meditation at the monastery of DAITOKUJI. He returned to San Francisco in 1966. His work and his poetry have remained committed both to the exploration of Buddhist, especially Zen, practice and to the protection of the environment. Snyder served on the California Arts Council from 1974 to 1980 and taught at the University of California, Davis, where he helped found the Nature and Culture curriculum. He founded the Ring of Bone Zendo at his mountain farm in the northern Sierra Nevada range in California.

snying thig. (nyingtik). In Tibetan, “heart drop” or “heart essence” (an abbreviation of snying gi thig le), a term used to describe an important genre of texts of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The master ŚRĪSIṂHA is said to have divided the “instruction class” (MAN NGAG SDE) of the great completion (RDZOGS CHEN) teachings into four cycles: the outer, inner, secret, and the most secret unexcelled cycle (yang gsang bla na med pa). In Tibet, VIMALAMITRA organized the teachings of this fourth cycle into an explanatory lineage with scriptures and an aural lineage without scriptures and then concealed these teachings, which were later revealed as the BI MA’I SNYING THIG (“Heart Essence of Vimalamitra”). During his stay in Tibet, PADMASAMBHAVA concealed teachings on the most secret unexcelled cycle, called “heart essence of the ḌĀKINĪ” (MKHA’ ’GRO SNYING THIG). In the fourteenth century, these and other teachings were compiled and elaborated upon by KLONG CHEN RAB ’BYAMS into what are known as the “four heart essences” (SNYING THIG YA BZHI): (1) the “heart essence of VIMALAMITRA” (Bi ma’i snying thig), (2) the “ultimate essence of the lama” (bla ma yang thig), (3) the “heart essence of the ḍākinī” (mkha’ ’gro snying thig), and (4) two sections composed by Klong chen pa, the “ultimate essence of the ḍākinī” (mkha’ ’gro yang thig) and the “ultimate essence of the profound” (zab mo yang thig). Although tracing its roots back to Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra in the eighth century, the snying thig texts and their practices likely derive from Tibetan reformulations of great completion teachings beginning in the eleventh century, when new translations of Indian tantras were being made in Tibet. A wide range of new meditative systems were added into the rdzogs chen corpus, which would prove to be essential to Tibetan Buddhist practice, especially in the RNYING MA and BKA’ BRGYUD sects in subsequent centuries.

Śobhita. (P. Sobhita; T. Mdzes pa; C. Guoyi; J. Kae; K. Kwaŭi 菓衣). An eminent ARHAT elder declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples in remembering past births (PŪRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI). He was born the son of a brāhmaṇa family and dwelled in the city of ŚRĀVASTĪ. Hearing the Buddha preach one day, he resolved to renounce the world and enter the order as a monk. After some time he attained arhatship. During the time of Padmottara (P. Padumuttara) Buddha, when he was a householder living in the city of Haṃsavatī, he heard the Buddha praise a monk disciple as foremost in his ability to recall previous lives. It was then that he resolved to earn that same distinction during the dispensation of a future buddha. During the time of Sumedha Buddha, Śobhita was a learned brāhmaṇa who was expert in the Vedas. He renounced the householder’s life to observe piety as a hermit in the environs of the Himālaya mountains. When he heard a Buddha had appeared in the world, he rushed to Bandhumatī to sing the Buddha’s praises.

ṣoḍaśasthavira. (T. gnas brtan bcu drug; C. shiliu zunzhe; J. jūrokusonja; K. simnyuk chonja 十六尊者). In Sanskrit, “the sixteen elders” (most commonly known in the East Asian tradition as the “sixteen ARHATs”); a group of sixteen venerated arhat (C. LUOHAN) disciples of the Buddha whom the Buddha orders to forgo NIRVĀṆA and to continue to dwell in this world in order to preserve the Buddhist teachings until the coming of the future buddha, MAITREYA. Each of these arhats is assigned an (often mythical) residence and a retinue of disciples. With Maitreya’s advent, they will gather the relics of the current buddha ŚĀKYAMUNI and erect one last STŪPA to hold them, after which they will finally pass into PARINIRVĀṆA. The Śāriputraparipṛcchā (“Sūtra on Śāriputra’s Questions”), which was translated at least by the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) but may date closer to the beginning of the millennium, mentions four great monks (mahā-BHIKṢU) to whom the Buddha entrusted the propagation of the teachings after his death: MAHĀKĀŚYAPA, PIṆḌOLA, Kundovahan (C. Juntoupohan, “Holder of the Mongoose,” apparently identical to BAKKULA), and RĀHULA. The MILE XIASHENG JING (“Sūtra on the Advent of Maitreya”), translated in 303 CE by DHARMARAKṢA, states instead that the Buddha instructed these same four monks to wait until after the buddhadharma of the current dispensation was completely extinct before entering PARINIRVĀṆA. The Śāriputraparipṛcchā’s account is also found in the FAHUA WENJU by TIANTAI ZHIYI (538–597) of the Sui dynasty. The Mahāyānāvatāra (C. Ru dasheng lun; “Entry into the Mahāyāna”), a treatise written by Sāramati (C. Jianyi) and translated into Chinese c. 400 CE by Daotai of the Northern Liang dynasty (397–439) first mentions “sixteen” great disciples (mahā-ŚRĀVAKA) who disperse throughout the world to preserve the Buddha’s teachings after his death, but does not name them. Indeed, it is not until the Tang dynasty that the full list of sixteen disciples who preserve the buddhadharma is first introduced into the Chinese tradition. This complete list first appears in the Nandimitrāvadāna (Da aluohan Nantimiduo luo suoshuo fazhu ji, abbr. Fazhu ji, “Record of the Duration of the Dharma Spoken by the Great Arhat NANDIMITRA”), which was translated by XUANZANG in 654 CE. (Nandimitra [C. Qingyou zunzhe] was born in the second century CE in Sri Lanka.) This text tells the story of the Buddha’s special charge to this group of elders and offers each of their names, residences, and numbers of disciples. JINGQI ZHANRAN’s (711–782) Fahua wenju ji, a commentary to TIANTAI ZHIYI’s (538–597) FAHUA WENJU, also cites an account from the apocryphal Ratnameghasūtra (Bao yun jing) that the Buddha charged sixteen “worthy ones” (S. arhat; C. luohan) with preserving the BUDDHADHARMA until the advent of Maitreya, after which they could then enter parinirvāṇa. Zhanran’s citation of this sūtra gives the names of each of the sixteen arhats, along with their residence and the number of their followers; but while Piṇḍola’s and Rāhula’s names are included in the sixteen, Mahākāśyapa is not mentioned. According to the Xuanhe huapu (“The Xuanhe Chronology of Painting”), the earliest Chinese iconography showing a group of sixteen disciples probably dates to the Liang dynasty (502–557), when ZHANG SENGYAO (d.u.; fl c. 502–549) first painted a rendering of the ṣoḍaśasthavira. After the Nandimitrāvadāna was translated into Chinese in the middle of the seventh century, the group of sixteen elders became so universally revered within China that many verses, paintings, and sculptures were dedicated to them. As a group, they appear frequently in East Asian monastic art, each arhat specifically identified by his unique (and often wildly exaggerated) physical characteristics. The most renowned such painting was made at the end of the ninth century by the monk CHANYUE GUANXIU (832–912); his work became the standard presentation of the sixteen. His vivid portrayal of the arhats offers an extreme, stylized rendition of how the Chinese envisioned “Indians” (fan) or “Westerners” (hu). He gives each of his subjects a distinctive bearing and deportment and unique phrenological features and physical characteristics; these features are subsequently repeated routinely in the Chinese artistic tradition. The standard roster of arhats now recognized in the East Asian tradition, in their typical order, are (1) PIṆḌOLA BHĀRADVĀJA; (2) KANAKAVATSA; (3) KANAKA BHĀRADVĀJA; (4) SUBINDA [alt. Suvinda]; (5) BAKKULA [alt. Bākula, Nakula]; (6) BHADRA; (7) KĀLIKA [alt. Karīka]; (8) VAJRAPUTRA; (9) JĪVAKA; (10) PANTHAKA; (11) RĀHULA; (12) NĀGASENA; (13) AṄGAJA; (14) VANAVĀSIN; (15) AJITA; (16) CŪḌAPANTHAKA. Sometime before the Song dynasty, the Chinese occasionally added two extra arhats to the roster, possibly in response to Daoist configurations of teachers, giving a total of eighteen. The most common of these additional members were Nandimitra (the putative subject of the text in which the protectors are first mentioned by name) and Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja (another transcription of the arhat who already appears on the list), although Mahākāśyapa also frequently appears. The Tibetan tradition adds still other figures. In a standard form of the Tibetan ritual, the sixteen elders are listed as Aṅgaja, Ajita, Vanavāsin, Kālika, Vajraputra, Bhadra, Kanakavatsa, Kanaka Bhāradvāja, Bakkula, Rāhula, Cūḍapanthaka, Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja, Panthaka, Nāgasena, GOPAKA (Sbed byed), and Abheda (Mi phyed pa). They are visualized together with Śākyamuni Buddha whose teaching they have been entrusted to protect, their benefactor the layman (UPĀSAKA) Dharmatāla [alt. Dharmatāra, Dharmatrāta], and the four great kings (CATURMAHĀRĀJA) VAIŚRAVAṆA [alt. Kubera], DHṚTARĀṢṬRA, VIRŪḌHAKA, and VIRŪPĀKṢA. Each of the elders is described as having a particular scroll, begging bowl, staff, and so on, and in a particular posture with a set number of arhats. They come miraculously from their different sacred abodes, assemble, are praised, and worshipped with the recitation of the bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA’s ten vows in the BHADRACARĪPRAṆIDHĀNA. Then, with solemn requests to protect the dispensation by watching over the lives of the gurus, they are requested to return to their respective homelands. In other rituals, one finds BUDAI heshang (Cloth-Bag Monk, viz., AṄGAJA), the Buddha’s mother, Queen MĀYĀ, and his successor, Maitreya; or the two ancient Indian Buddhist sages “Subduer of Dragons” (C. Xianglong) and “Subduer of Lions” (C. Fuhu). See also LUOHAN; and individual entries on each of the sixteen arhats/sthaviras.

Soga. (蘇我). A powerful clan (J. uji) in Japan from the sixth through the mid-seventh centuries and early patrons of Buddhism in the Japanese isles. The Soga may have been descendants of immigrants from the Korean peninsula, as suggested in part by their close ties with the Korean Paekche kingdom; Soga no Iname (d. 570) appears to have been one of the first supporters of Buddhism in Japan, learning about the tradition via Paekche. As no textual sources exist from this early period, ascertaining their role in the Yamato court remains a difficult task and a topic much debated among scholars. Not until the Nihon shoki (“Chronicles of Japan”; 720) do we arrive at a historical account of the clan. This text was commissioned by the lineage of Tenmu (r. 672–686), who may have wanted to cast the Soga in negative light. Nevertheless, it offers the following narrative. Beginning with Soga no Iname, four generations of the Soga clan served as chief ministers (J. ōomi) to the Yamato court. Two of Iname’s daughters were married to the emperor Kinmei (r. 531 or 539?–571), and three of his grandchildren are purported in the Nihon shoki to have been monarchs: Yōmei (r. 585–587), Sushun (r. 587–592), and Suiko (r. 593–628). It is also asserted that Soga no Umako (d. 626), son of Iname, commissioned the construction of the monastery of ASUKADERA. Archeological evidence suggests that this monastery was the greatest temple of its time in size and influence, despite the fact that it receives little attention in the Nihon shoki. By the mid-seventh century, the Soga clan heads, notably Umako’s son, Emishi (d. 645), and Emishi’s son, Soga no Iruka (d. 645), appear to have been the most powerful members of the Yamato court. According to the Nihon shoki, in 643, Iruka made a successful attack on SHŌTOKU TAISHI’s surviving son, Yamashiro no Ōe and others. Prince Naka no Ōe, later enthroned as Tenji (r. 661–672), counterattacked in 644, killing Iruka and other Soga family members. Emishi and much of the rest of the Soga clan are said to have been forced to commit suicide the following day. Soga no Akae (623–672?), grandson of Umako, survived the coup, serving as ōomi through the Taika Reform (645). With the massacre of most of the clan, however, its power was substantially diminished.

Sogdiana. A kingdom in Inner Asia (the Greek Transoxiana) centered on the Zeravshan River in modern Uzbekistan. The Sogdians dominated trade between China and India from the second through the tenth centuries CE. Their language, Sogdian (a branch of Indo-Iranian), was used along the SILK ROAD as a mercantile language and Buddhist texts from China were translated into Sogdian and used by Buddhists in this region. (There is no evidence that Buddhist texts in Indian languages were translated into Sogdian.) In East Asia, monks from the kingdom of Sogdiana were designated with the ethnikon KANG, as in the case of the early translator KANG SENGHUI (d. 280).

sōhei. (僧兵). In Japanese, “monks’ militia.” During the mid-Heian period, the major Buddhist monasteries near Nara and Kyōto, such as KŌFUKUJI, ENRYAKUJI, and Onjōji (later called MIIDERA), became large landholders and were deeply immersed in political activities. The monasteries maintained small armies of private warriors to protect their assets and promote their interests. Although these warriors wore Buddhist robes and lived inside the temple complexes, they were not formally ordained; on the battlefield, they also wore full armor, making them virtually indistinguishable from ordinary warriors. During this period, these warriors were called simply “members of the congregation” (shuto; daishu) or pejoratively referred to as “evil monks” (akusō); the term sōhei seems not to have been used until 1715, when it first appeared in the Dainihon shi (“The History of Great Japan”). These monks’ militias were mustered against both rival temples and secular authorities. From the tenth to the twelfth centuries, monks’ militias engaged in pitched battles with their rivals, as in the intrasectarian rivalry between the Tendai monasteries of Enryakuji and Onjōji, and the intersectarian rivalries between Kōfukuji and its two Tendai counterparts. During this same period, monks’ militias also participated in the Genpei War of 1180–1185, which led to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. There were more than two hundred major violent incidents involving monks’ militias between the late-tenth and early-sixteenth centuries. The monks’ militia of Enryakuji also battled the temples established by the new schools of JŌDO SHINSHŪ and NICHIRENSHŪ, which gained popularity among commoners and local warlords during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: for example, Enryakuji sōhei attacked and destroyed the original HONGANJI in Ōtani (east of Kyōto) in 1465 and twenty-one Nichiren temples in Kyōto in 1536. However, the power of monks’ militias diminished significantly after 1571, when the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) massacred the Buddhist clerics and sōhei on HIEIZAN and burned down Enryakuji, which had threatened him with its military power. Monks’ militias are not an exclusively Japanese phenomenon but are found across much of the Buddhist tradition. See also HUGUO FOJIAO.

Sōhō Myōchō. [alt. Shūhō Myōchō] (宗峰妙超) (1282–1337/8). Japanese ZEN master of the RINZAISHŪ; commonly known as DAITŌ KOKUSHI (State Preceptor Great Lamp). Daitō was a native of Harima in present-day Hyōgo prefecture. At the age of ten, he entered the nearby TENDAI monastery of Engyōji on Mt. Shosha and received Tendai training under a VINAYA master Kaishin (d.u.). Later, Daitō visited the Zen master KŌHŌ KENNICHI at the monastery of Manjuji in Kamakura and received the full monastic precepts. In 1304, Daitō began his training under NANPO JŌMYŌ at the temple of Tōkōan in Kyoto. He followed Nanpo to Manjuji in Kyōto and again to KENCHŌJI in Kamakura. At Kenchōji, Daitō had his first awakening. According to legend, Daitō is said to have been instructed by Nanpo to continue his post-SATORI (awakening) cultivation for another twenty years. During this period of training, Daitō is said to have once lived as a beggar underneath the Gojō Bridge in Kyōto. Shortly after his teacher’s death in 1308, Daitō left for Kyōto where he did indeed live for twenty years in a hermitage known as Ungoan. Later, Daitō moved to the Murasakino district in Kyōto and established the monastery of DAITOKUJI. In 1323, he was summoned by retired Emperor Hanazono (r. 1308–1318) and was given the title State Preceptor Master Daitō. Daitō also received the patronage of Emperor Godaigo (r. 1318–1339). They elevated the status of Daitokuji to that of NANZENJI, then the most powerful GOZAN monastery in Kyōto. Daitō and Nanpo’s lineage, now known as the Ōtōkan, came to dominate the Rinzai Zen tradition.

sojae toryang. (消災道場). In Korean, “calamities-solving ritual”; one of the four most important annual rituals performed at court during the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392), second only to the YŎNDŬNGHOE (lantern ritual). The sojae toryang is a representative of the esoteric Buddhist rituals that became popular in Korea during the Koryŏ dynasty. The first record of the ritual’s performance dates from 1046, the last from 1399, a short time after the demise of the dynasty. This ritual to prevent natural calamities probably derives originally not from Buddhist cosmology but from the theory of heavenly retribution that was foundational in traditional East Asian thought. Koryŏ’s ritual system, modeled after that of Tang China, presumed that cosmological influences dominated human life and activities. Since droughts, floods, and epidemics were considered “calamities from Heaven” (Ch’ŏnjae), and indicated Heaven’s dissatisfaction with the quality of terrestrial governance, the sojae toryang sought to draw on various religious and astral powers in order to ward off these threats and to enhance the longevity of its royal sponsors. Koryŏ kings lavished riches on the monasteries whose monks performed these rituals, particularly when Koryŏ was threatened by foreign invasion or occupation. This concern explains why the majority of the recorded performances of the sojae toryang occurred during the reigns of kings Kojong (1231–1259), Wŏnjong (1259–1274), and Ch’ungnyŏl (1274–1308), who all ruled during the period of Mongol domination in Korea. During King Wŏnjong’s thirteen-year reign, for example, the sojae toryang was performed twenty-three times, or about three times every two years. Historical sources provide little information on how the ritual was actually performed, but its conduct can be inferred from esoteric Buddhist sources. These sources require the monks to establish a purified ritual venue, install a buddha image there, and then make offerings of incense, flowers, and lanterns; once the site is prepared, they are then to recite various codes or spells (DHĀRAṆĪ) in order to invoke the power of the BODHISATTVAs, the seven stars of the Big Dipper (see BEIDOU QIXING), the gods of the zodiacal mansions and the constellations, the sun and moon, etc., to overcome calamities and transform disasters into blessings. In the case of the Koryŏ dynasty, the ritual was always held at court, and the king himself was both participant and presider at the ritual, indicating the close association between court and the religion during this period in Korean history.

Sōjiji. (總持寺). In Japanese, “DHĀRAṆĪ Monastery”; one of the two main monasteries of the SŌTŌSHŪ of ZEN Buddhism, located in Tsurumi, Yokohama. This monastery was originally established on the Noto peninsula (present-day Ishikawa prefecture) in 740 as Morookadera by the monk GYŌGI (668–749), who also founded TŌDAIJI. In 1321, KEIZAN JŌKIN (1268–1325), the founding patriarch of the Sōtō Zen institution, came into possession of this local monastery, which he renamed Sōjiji. In 1322, Sōjiji were sanctioned as an official monastery by Emperor Godaigo (r. 1318–1339), an event that is traditionally considered to mark the official establishment of Sōtō as an independent Zen institution in Japan. Keizan later entrusted Sōjiji to his disciple Gasan Jōseki (1276–1366). Sōjiji was an important government-sponsored monastery during the Muromachi and Edo periods and its status rivaled that of the other main Sōtō monastery, EIHEIJI; in its heyday, the monastery is said to have had more than seventy buildings within its precincts. After burning to the ground in 1898, the monastery was rebuilt in Yokohama in 1911, because Sōtō Zen leaders calculated that a location near Tokyo would have strategic value for the growth of the sect. Sōjiji is entered through a gigantic copper-roofed gate (sanmon) that was built in 1969. The butsuden, or main buddha hall, was completed in 1915 and enshrines a statue of ŚĀKYAMUNI with his disciples MAHĀKĀŚYAPA and ĀNANDA. There is a founders’ hall (taisodō) for Keizan Jōkin that displays statues of the major historical figures of the Sōtō Zen tradition and that also doubles as a lecture hall; in addition, there is a large SAṂGHA hall (daisōdō) for ordaining and training monks, which displays a statue of the BODHISATTVA MAÑJUŚRĪ. Other buildings at the monastery include additional living quarters for the monks, a hall for Emperor Godaigo, and a hōmotsukan, or treasure house, full of important cultural properties held at the monastery, including a hanging tapestry from the Edo period that originally served as a cover for the chair of senior monks delivering sermons, and several precious buddha images.

sōjō. (僧正). In Japanese, “SAṂGHA primate”; one of the two earliest ecclesiastical positions created within the Japanese Buddhist church. According to the Nihon shoki (“Chronicles of Japan”), the first person to hold this position was the early-seventh-century Korean monk KWALLŬK (d.u.). Kwallŭk came to Japan in 602 from the southwestern Korean kingdom of Paekche and was appointed as sōjō in 624, when the government, alarmed by a widespread lack of discipline among the monks, established the sōgō (office of monastic affairs) to supervise national ecclesiastical affairs. The sōjō was later divided into three sub-positions, each of which was appointed by the government on the recommendation of the Buddhist order. In the early-Heian period, monks from the Nara Buddhist establishment (see NARA BUDDHISM, SIX SCHOOLS OF) dominated the sōjō positions. By the middle of the ninth century, however, monks from the TENDAISHŪ and SHINGONSHŪ schools held most of the appointments, and during the Kamakura period, Zen and pure land monks also were appointed sōjō. By the time of the Tokugawa regime, almost all Buddhist sects, including Tendai, Shingon, PURE LAND, and NICHIRENSHŪ, had adherents who were appointed to the sōjō positions. Once the Meiji government in 1872 split Buddhist ecclesiastical positions off from official government posts, each sect then established its own sōjō positions, each with slightly different administrative systems.

Sōka Gakkai. (創價學會/創価学会). In Japanese, “Value-Creating Society,” a Japanese Buddhist lay organization associated with the NICHIRENSHŪ, founded by MAKIGUCHI TSUNESABURO (1871–1944) and his disciple Toda Jōsei (1900–1958). Formerly a teacher, Makiguchi became a follower of Nichiren’s teachings, finding that they supported his own ideas about engendering social and religious values, and converted to NICHIREN SHŌSHŪ in 1928. In 1930, he established a lay organization under the umbrella of the Nichiren Shōshū, which initially called itself the Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai (Creating Educational Values Society), and led its first general meeting. After its inauguration, the society began to take on a decidedly religious character, focusing on missionary work for Nichiren Shōshū. As the Pacific War expanded, Makiguchi and his followers refused to cooperate with state-enforced SHINTŌ practices, leading to a rift between them and TAISEKIJI, the head monastery of Nichiren Shōshū. In 1943, the society almost disintegrated with the imprisonment of Makiguchi and Toda, along with twenty other leaders charged with lèse-majesté and violations of the Public Order Act, which required each family to enshrine a Shintō talisman in its home. Makiguchi died in 1944 in prison, but Toda survived and was released on parole in July 1945. After his release, Toda took charge of the organization, renaming it Sōka Gakkai in 1946. He successfully led a massive proselytization campaign that gained Sōka Gakkai and Nichiren Shōshū vast numbers of new converts and by the late 1950s, upwards of 750,000 families had become adherents. After Toda died in 1958, IKEDA DAISAKU (b. 1928) became its third president and the society grew even more rapidly in Japan during the 1960s and the 1970s. In 1975, Ikeda also founded Sōka Gakkai International (SGI), which disseminated the society’s values around the world. Sōka Gakkai publishes numerous books and periodicals, as well as a daily newspaper in Japan. During this period, Sōka Gakkai also became involved in Japanese domestic politics, establishing its own political party, the Kōmeitō (Clean Government Party) in 1964, which became completely separate and independent from the Sōka Gakkai in 1970. The society also supported Taisekiji with massive donations, including raising the funds for a new main shrine hall for the monastery. Sōka Gakkai, like other groups in the Nichiren lineage, focuses on worship of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) and its adherents are expected to chant daily the title (DAIMOKU) of the sūtra, NAM MYŌHŌRENGEKYŌ, as well as recite the most important sections of the sūtra and study Nichiren’s writings. Sōka Gakkai believes that all beings possess the capacity to attain buddhahood and emphasizes the ability of each person’s buddha-nature to overcome obstacles and achieve happiness. Sōka Gakkai followers can accomplish these goals through a “human revolution” (the title of one of Ikeda’s books) that creates a sense of oneness between the individual and the environment, thus demonstrating how each individual can positively affect the surrounding world. As tensions grew between the Nichiren Shōshū and its increasingly powerful lay subsidiary, Nikken (b. 1922), the sixty-seventh chief priest of Nichiren Shōshū, tried to bring its membership directly under his control. His efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and he excommunicated the Sōka Gakkai in 1991, forbidding Sōka Gakkai followers from having access to the holiest shrines associated with Nichiren. Sōkka Gakkai remains at the center of controversy because of its strong emphasis on recruitment and proselytization, its demonization of enemies, and a mentorship structure within the organization that some claim creates a cult of personality centered on Ikeda. Sōka Gakkai remains among the largest Buddhist organizations in the Western world.

Sŏkkuram. (石窟庵). In Korean, “Stone Grotto Hermitage”; a Silla-period, man-made grotto located high on Mt. T’oham behind the monastery of PULGUKSA, which houses what is widely considered to be the most impressive buddha image in Korea. According to the SAMGUK YUSA (“Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms,” written c. 1282–1289), the master builder Kim Taesŏng (d. 774), who also designed Pulguksa, constructed the cave as an expression of filial piety toward his deceased parents. However, because the grotto directly faces the underwater tomb of the Silla king Munmu (r. 661–680) in the East Sea/Sea of Japan, the site may be also have been associated with a funerary cult surrounding the Silla royal family or with state-protection Buddhism (K. hoguk Pulgyo; C. HUGUO FOJIAO). The construction of both monasteries began around 751 CE, during the reign of the Silla king Kyŏngdŏk (r. 742–764), and the grotto temple was completed a few years after Kim Taesŏng’s death in 774 CE. The site was originally named SŎKPULSA, or “Stone Buddha Monastery.” Since the Korean peninsula has no natural stone grottos like those found in India or Central Asia, the cave was excavated out of the mountainside, and some 360 large granite blocks in various shapes were used to create the ceiling of the shrine. In addition, granite carvings were attached to the inner walls. The result was what appears for all intents and purposes to be a natural cave temple. The finished grotto combines two different styles of Buddhist architecture, the domed rotunda design of the CAITYA halls of India and the cave-temple design of Central Asia and China as seen in DUNHUANG and others sites along the SILK ROAD. At the Sŏkkuram grotto, a rectangular antechamber with two guardians carved on either side leads into a short, narrow passageway that opens onto the thirty-foot-(nine m.) high domed rotunda. In the vestibule itself are carvings of the four heavenly kings as guardians of the dharma. The center of the rotunda chamber enshrines the Sŏkkuram stone buddha, a seated-buddha image in the “earth-touching gesture” (BHŪMISPARŚAMUDRĀ). This image is 10 ft. 8 in. (3.26 meters) in height and carved from a single block of granite; it sits atop a lotus-throne base that is 5 ft. 2 in. (1.58 meters) high. The image is generally accepted to be that of ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha, although some scholars instead identify it as an image of VAIROCANA or even AMITĀBHA. In the original layout of the grotto, the morning sunshine would have cascaded through the cave’s entrance and struck the jeweled ŪRṆĀKEŚA in the Buddha’s forehead. On the inner walls surrounding the statue are thirty-nine carvings of Buddhist figures, including the Indian divinities BRAHMĀ and INDRA, the two flanking bodhisattvas SAMANTABHADRA and MAÑJUŚRĪ, and the buddha’s ten principal ARHAT-disciples. On the wall directly behind the main image is a carving of the eleven-headed AVALOKITEŚVARA. The combination of exquisite architectural beauty and sophisticated design is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Silla Buddhist culture. Despite its fame and reputation during the Silla kingdom, Sŏkkuram fell into disrepair during the suppression of Buddhism that occurred during the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). Almost everyone except locals had forgotten the grotto until one rainy day in 1909, when a weary postman traveling over the ridge of Mt. T’oham accidentally rediscovered the grotto as he sought shelter from a sudden thunderstorm. He found a narrow opening to a small cave, and as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he was startled to see the massive stone image of the Buddha along with exquisite stone wall carvings. In 1913, the Japanese colonial government spent two years dismantling and repairing the structure, using cement and iron, which later collected moisture and began to decay, threatening the superstructure of the grotto. In 1920, the earth was removed in order to secure the foundation and tar and asphalt were used to waterproof the roof. No further renovations were made until a UNESCO survey team came to evaluate the cave temple and decided to aid the Korean government in further restoring the site between 1961 and 1964. Nowadays, visitors enter the grotto from the side, rather than its original front entrance, and must view the buddha image from behind a protective glass window. Sŏkkuram is Korean National Treasure No. 24 and was also added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1995.

sokushin jōbutsu. (C. jishen chengfo; K. chŭksin sŏngbul 即身成佛). In Japanese, “attainment of buddhahood in this very body.” This doctrine is generally first attributed to KŪKAI (774–835), the founder of the SHINGONSHŪ, who argued in a work entitled Sokushin jōbutsugi (“The Meaning of Attaining Buddhahood in This Very Body”) that the ultimate goal of practice was to attain awakening in this lifetime. By strictly adhering to Kūkai’s ritualization of the body (through gestures, or MUDRĀ), speech (through spells, or MANTRA) and mind (as a MAṆḌALA), one could therefore align oneself with the cosmic buddha, MAHĀVAIROCANA, and become a buddha in one’s own right. Kūkai’s contemporary, SAICHŌ (767–822) of the TENDAISHŪ, located the notion of sokushin jōbutsu in the exoteric teachings of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”). By following its teachings, he believed that anyone could achieve universal salvation and become a buddha. In contrast to Kūkai’s esoteric interpretation of sokushin jōbutsu, however, Saichō presumed this process of achieving buddhahood would require several lifetimes to complete. Given the two models, it is easy to understand the appeal of Kūkai’s esoteric version, which promised immediate transformation into buddhahood, over the traditional Tendai doctrine cited by Saichō. As the interest in esotericism increased among the aristocracy during the Heian period (794–1185), Tendai Buddhism became more associated with esoteric ritual and less with practice derived from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. This shift toward esoteric Buddhism was completed under the Tendai master ANNEN (841–889?), who asserted not only that sokushin jōbutsu was attainable in a single lifetime, but that it was central to the Tendai ordination procedure. Given that the two dominant institutions of Heian Buddhism relied heavily on the doctrine of sokushin jōbutsu, it is not surprising that SHUGENDŌ, a movement heavily influenced by both of these schools, would also develop its own interpretation of this doctrine. The means Shugendō advocated for attaining buddhahood, however, were quite varied, as most Shugen mountains operated independently up until the Tokugawa period. One common ritual performed in both the Yoshino/KUMANO region and on Mt. Haguro, for instance, was passage through the ten realms of being (J. jikkai, S. DAŚADHĀTU). Physical structures placed along a pilgrimage route, such as torii gates and steps, served as symbolic gateways through the realms. By progressing from the lowest realm of the hells (see S. NĀRAKA) to the highest realm of the buddhas, the pilgrim could ritually enact his journey toward his own attainment of buddhahood. Furthermore, the concept of mountain geography as a maṇḍala in Shugendō created a space through which one entered the sacred realm of buddhahood. By crossing the border separating the mundane from the sacred, the practitioner would undergo a spiritual transformation by directly encountering the Buddha and immediately awakening. In a more severe example, ascetics at Mt. Yudono known as isse gyōnin (lifetime ascetics) practiced sokushin jōbutsu during the Tokugawa period by undergoing strict austerities in the mountains for from one to three thousand days. Once this period ended, a handful of these gyōnin ascetics, following the alleged precedent of Kūkai, entered a nearly air-tight, underground chamber to die. Soon afterward, they were mummified as buddhas “in this very body” and venerated by their followers. During the Kamakura period, NICHIREN (1222–1282), who, like Saichō, emphasized the superiority of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, further claimed that chanting the title (DAIMOKU) of the sūtra could lead to the attainment of buddhahood in this very body. Relying on the FAHUA XUANYI, an important commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra by the Chinese monk TIANTAI ZHIYI (538–597), Nichiren claimed that the essence of the sūtra was distilled in its title and that chanting the title (see NAMU MYŌHŌRENGEKYŌ) could therefore lead to the attainment of sokushin jōbutsu.

Sŏltu Yuhyŏng. (雪竇有炯) (1824–1889). Korean SŎN master of the Chosŏn dynasty, also known as Pongmun and Ponggi. In 1842, Sŏltu entered the monastery under the guidance of Chŏnggwan K’waeil (d.u.) on Mt. Paegyang, and the following year he received the precepts from Ch’immyŏng Hansŏng (1801–1876). Sŏltu studied at various places throughout the country before visiting the Sŏn master PAEKP’A KŬNGSŎN. In 1870, Sŏltu began restoration of the monastery of Pulgapsa on Mt. Moak. In 1889, he taught Sŏn meditation at the monastery of Ponginsa at the request of Hwanong Hwanjin (1824–1904). Sŏltu became ill shortly after his trip to Ponginsa, so he entrusted his robe and bowl to his disciple Sŏryu Ch’ŏmyŏng (1858–1903) and retired to the hermitage of Sorimgul, where he passed away in 1889. Sŏltu was a prolific writer whose works include the Haejŏng nok, T’ongbang chŏngan, Sŏnwŏn soryu, Sŏltu sijip and others. His Sŏnwŏn soryu was written as a response to CH’OŬI ŬISUN (1786–1866) and UDAM HONGGI (1822–1881) who criticized Paekp’a’s influential treatise, Sŏnmun sugyŏng (“Hand Mirror of the Sŏn School”).

Somapura. A large Buddhist monastery in northern Bangladesh, near the modern town of Ompur, probably built in the early-ninth century by the Pāla dynasty ruler Devapāla (r. 810–850 CE), the son of Dharmapāla, who had built VIKRAMAŚĪLA. Somapura was a mahāvihāra, or “great monastery,” under royal supervision and was known as the Dharmapāla Mahāvihara of Somapura. The monastery, which had a unique architectural style, included 177 monks’ cells organized on four floors around a courtyard. It was one of the largest monasteries of its day, probably housing some eight hundred monks at the apex of its influence. The most architecturally significant element of the monastery is the Pāhārpur Temple, which is unlike other Indian temples, Hindu or Buddhist. It has a cruciform base, a terraced structure with inset chambers, and a pyramid form, quite similar to Buddhist temples in Burma, Java, and Cambodia. It remains a matter of controversy whether Somapura monastery might have served as a model for Southeast Asian temple architecture. In the mid-eleventh century, the monastery was burned by a Hindu king, but seems to have been restored. It is said that ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA stopped at Somapura on his way to Tibet, translating there BHĀVAVIVEKA’s MADHYAMAKARATNAPRADĪPA into Tibetan.

Somdej Toh. [alt. Somdet Toh] (1788–1872). The popular name of Phra Buddhacharn Toh Phomarangsi, one of the most famous Thai monks of the nineteenth century. He was born in Kamphaeng Phet province and, according to some accounts, was the son of King Rāma II. After his ordination, he distinguished himself as a scholar of Pāli scriptures and was eventually appointed as preceptor to Prince Mongkut (later King RĀMA IV) when the prince was ordained as a novice. Somdej Toh retired to the forest shortly thereafter, returning to Bangkok when he was summoned by Mongkut after his coronation as king. He remained a mentor to the king throughout his life and many stories are told of their friendship. He served first as abbot of Wat Rakhang, across the river from the Thai royal palace. Somdej Toh was renowned for his eloquent sermons and his skills as a poet, as well as for being a meditation and VINAYA master. He also was famous as a maker of highly prized amulets. After his death, he became the object of a devotional cult, with mediums who claim to speak in his voice.

Sŏn. (禪). In Korean, “Meditation”; the Korean branch of the broader East Asian Chan school, which includes Chinese CHAN, Japanese ZEN, and Vietnamese THIỀN. Sŏn is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese term CHAN, which in turn is a transcription of the Sanskrit term DHYĀNA, or meditative absorption. More specifically, Sŏn denotes the Korean Buddhist traditions that trace their origins back to the Chinese Chan school, or CHAN ZONG. Koreans such as CHŎNGJUNG MUSANG were important participants in the development of the new teachings of the Chan zong on the Chinese mainland; in addition, Korean pilgrims were bringing this tradition home to the peninsula no later than the early-ninth century during the Silla dynasty. At least nine of these pilgrims are known to have established their own Sŏn lineages, which are traditionally referred to as the Nine Mountains School of Sŏn (KUSAN SŎNMUN). Eight of these nine traditions were associated with the lineage of MAZU DAOYI and the HONGZHOU ZONG, which was known for its iconoclastic approach to Chan pedagogy. The Sŏn tradition flourished during the Koryŏ dynasty largely through the efforts of POJO CHINUL and his successor CHIN’GAK HYESIM, and the late-Koryŏ and early-Chosŏn figures T’AEGO POU, MUHAK CHACH’O, and NAONG HYEGŬN. During this period, the teachings of masters associated with the Chinese Imje chong (C. LINJI ZONG) lineage became especially influential in Korea, and Sŏn practice came to focus on the meditative technique of “observing the meditative topic,” or “questioning meditation” (K. kanhwa Sŏn, C. KANHUA CHAN). The Sŏn schools, like all of the religion, suffered under the centuries-long suppression of Buddhism during the Chosŏn dynasty, which reduced all the different strands of Korean Buddhism to the “two traditions of Sŏn (Meditation) and Kyo (Doctrine)” (SŎN KYO YANGJONG). Even during this period of crisis, however, Korean Sŏn produced some of its most eminent teachers, including CH’ŎNGHŎ HYUJŎNG and his student SAMYŎNG YUJŎNG. Sŏn was revitalized during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries thanks to the efforts of such monks as KYŎNGHŎ SŎNGU and MAN’GONG WŎLMYŎN. Two of the dominant schools of contemporary Korean Buddhism, the CHOGYE CHONG and T’AEGO CHONG, both consider themselves predominantly Sŏn traditions.

Soṇā. (C. Shuna; J. Shuna; K. Suna 輸那). The Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of an eminent nun declared by the Buddha to be foremost among nuns in her capacity for effort. According to the Pāli account, she belonged to a clan from Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ) and had ten sons and daughters, whence she acquired the epithet Bahuputtikā, meaning “possessed of many children.” Her husband left home to become a mendicant, after which she distributed her estate among her children. Despite her generosity, her children neglected her in her old age, so she entered the nuns’ order. She devoted herself to serving the other nuns by performing chores and menial tasks for them and in the evening she devoted herself to study. When the Buddha became aware of her efforts, he magically appeared before her to encourage her striving, whereupon she became an ARHAT. Since the other nuns had been in the habit of finding fault with Soṇā despite her services, Soṇā was concerned that they would accrue demerit if they continued to do so now that she had attained arhatship. She devised a display of magical power to demonstrate her superior attainment: in the morning when the nuns arrived at the refectory, she supplied them with water heated not with fire but with the supernatural power (ṚDDHI). Recognizing her attainment, the other nuns begged her forgiveness for their previous wrongdoing.

Soṇa and Uttara. [alt. Soṇuttara] (S. *Śroṇa; C. Xunajia; J. Shunaka; K. Sunaga 須那迦; S. Uttara; C. Yuduoluo; J. Uttara; K. Ultara 欝多羅). According to Pāli sources, two ARHAT elders dispatched as missionaries to SUVAṆṆABHŪMI (S. Suvarṇabhūmi) to convert its inhabitants to Buddhism; one of nine missions commissioned by the elder MOGGALIPUTTATISSA after the conclusion of the third Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, THIRD) to propagate the doctrine. When Soṇa and Uttara arrived in Suvaṇṇabhūmi, they subdued a group of ocean-dwelling ogres who used to devour the newborn sons of the king; in memory of this victory, all the princes of the royal house were thereafter named Soṇuttara. The elders then went on to convert sixty thousand inhabitants of Suvaṇṇabhūmi by preaching the BRAHMAJĀLASUTTA. In addition, five hundred noblemen became monks and fifteen hundred women became nuns. The Mons identify their homeland of Rāmaññadesa in Lower Burma as Suvaṇṇabhūmi and date the second foundation of their religion to the mission of Soṇa and Uttara. They attribute the first foundation of the dharma to the elder Gavaṃpati (S. GAVĀṂPATI), who first invited the Buddha to preach in Suvaṇṇabhūmi and who, after the Buddha’s death, brought thirty-two tooth relics of the Buddha for interment in STŪPAs throughout the country.

Soṇadaṇḍasutta. (S. *Suvarṇadaṇḍasūtra; C. Zhongde jing; J. Shutokugyō; K. Chongdŏk kyŏng 種德經). In Pāli, “Sermon to Soṇadaṇḍa,” the fourth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the twenty-second sūtra in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); a discourse delivered by the Buddha to the learned and wealthy brāhmaṇa Soṇadaṇḍa (S. Suvarṇadaṇḍa) on what makes a person a true brāhmaṇa. Despite the protests of his fellow brāhmaṇas, Soṇadaṇḍa visited the Buddha while the latter sojourned in Campā on the banks of the Gaggarā lake. There, the Buddha convinces Soṇadaṇḍa that family lineage is of no consequence, and that only by virtue and moral action is one rightly called a brāhmaṇa. The Buddha describes how the mendicant refrains from evil deeds through the observance of morality and guards his senses (INDRIYASAṂVARA) with mindfulness (P. sati, S. SMṚTI) whereby he achieves contentment. He goes on to say that being content, the mendicant becomes glad and calm, whereby he can attain the four meditative absorptions (P. JHĀNA, S. DHYĀNA). Further, on the basis of having mastered the four meditative absorptions, the mendicant can develop the six higher knowledges or supranormal powers (P. abhiññā, S. ABHIJÑĀ), which culminate in enlightenment and liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Soṇadaṇḍa was pleased with the discourse and requests that the Buddha, together with a group of his monks, accept a meal from him. At the conclusion of the meal, Soṇadaṇḍa asks the Buddha to pardon him for not showing enough deference to him; the commentary explains that this was because Soṇadaṇḍa had been embarrassed to make obeisance to the Buddha in the presence of his brāhmaṇa colleagues.

Soṇa-Kolivīsa. (S. Śrona-Viṃśatikoṭi/Śrona-Koṭiviṃśa; T. Gro bzhin skyes bye ba nyi shu pa; C. Shoulongna/Ershiyi’er; J. Shurōna/Nijūokuni; K. Surongna/Isibŏgi 守籠那/二十億耳). Pāli name of an ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples in striving energetically. According to the Pāli account, he was born the son of a wealthy man in the country of Campā. Because he had given a precious ring to a PRATYEKABUDDHA (P. paccekabuddha) in a previous life, his body was the color of burnished gold. His hands and feet were delicate, and fine curly hair covered his feet. King BIMBISĀRA of MAGADHA wished to see the unusual markings of the youth and sent for him. While at the Magadha capital of RĀJAGṚHA, Soṇa and eighty thousand companions went to see the Buddha, who was preaching at that time in the city. Impressed by the miraculous powers displayed by Sāgata (S. SVĀGATA), the Buddha’s attendant, Soṇa asked his parents to allow him to enter the order. After his ordination, the Buddha gave Soṇa a subject of meditation (KAMMAṬṬHĀNA), and Soṇa retired to the Śītavana grove to practice. Soṇa strove diligently, taking up walking meditation as his main practice; however, because he was interrupted by frequent visitors, he made little progress and grew despondent. His feet became blistered and bled, so much so that the meditation path (P. caṅkama, S. CAṄKRAMA) upon which he walked was soaked in blood like a slaughter house. Seeing this scene, the Buddha instructed Soṇa on how to temper his energy with tranquility, and in due time he attained arhatship. Because of his delicate feet, the Buddha is said to have given Soṇa dispensation to wear sandals of a single layer, even though monks and nuns were required to go barefoot. Soṇa declined the exemption, however, for he did not wish to be treated more leniently than his fellow monks. In response, the Buddha then gave permission to all his monks to use such sandals.

Soṇa-Koṭikaṇṇa. (S. Śroṇa-Koṭikarṇa; T. Gro bzhin skyes rna ba bye ba; C. Yi’er; J. Okuni; K. Ŏgi 億耳). Pāli name of an ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among monks in eloquence (S. PRATIBHĀNA; P. paṭibhāna). Soṇa’s mother was Kālī Kuraragharikā and his father a wealthy merchant. He received the epithet Koṭikaṇṇa (S. Koṭikarṇa) because he wore an earring (kaṇṇa) worth a crore (KOṬI). Soṇa’s mother had become a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) on the night he was born. The monk MAHĀKĀŚYAPA was a family friend and often visited the family in the town of Kuraraghara. As a young man, Soṇa once traveled with a caravan headed towards Ujjayinī (P. Ujjeni), but along the way got left behind. Continuing the journey alone, he encountered a hungry ghost in the form of a man eating his own flesh. He learned that in an earlier existence the ghost had been a miserly merchant who cheated his customers. He then encountered two ghosts in the form of boys spitting up blood. In a previous life they had criticized their mother for feeding an arhat. Filled with misgiving, he returned to his home and related what he had seen to Mahākāśyapa, after which he requested permission to enter the order. Mahākāśyapa immediately ordained Soṇa as a novice and after three years gave him the UPASAṂPADĀ higher ordination as a monk (P. bhikkhu, S. BHIKṢU). The delay was caused by the fact that in the outlying town of Kuraraghara it was difficult to gather the quorum of ten monks needed to perform the upasaṃpadā ceremony. Soṇa gained preeminence for perfectly reciting the AṬṬHAKAVAGGA for the Buddha, a text he had learned from Mahākāśyapa. To reward his skill, the Buddha granted Soṇa a boon. Soṇa requested to be allowed to ordain new monks using a quorum of only five rather than ten monks to facilitate the performance of the ritual procedure in outlying areas.

Sŏnamsa. (仙巖寺). In Korean, “Monastery of the Peaks of the Perfected,” one of the main mountain monasteries of the T’AEGO CHONG of Korean Buddhism; located on the opposite side of CHOGYE Mountain from SONGGWANGSA, and near the city of Sunch’ŏn, in South Chŏlla province. The monastery claims to have been founded in 529 by the legendary Koguryŏ monk ADO. In 861, the monk TOSŎN (827–898) enlarged the monastery and gave it its current name Sŏnamsa. During the Koryŏ dynasty, the royal monk ŬICH’ŎN (1055–1101) expanded the monastery again, making it a center for ecumenical training in both Doctrine (KYO) and Meditation (SŎN). The monastery was destroyed during the Japanese Hideyoshi invasions of the late-sixteenth century; rebuilt, it burned again in the eighteenth century and was reconstructed by the monks Nuram Sikhwal (1752–1830) and Haebung Chollyŏng (d. 1826) during the reign of the Chosŏn King Sunjo (r. 1800–1834). During the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), Sŏnamsa was one of the thirty-one major district monasteries (ponsan) of the Buddhist ecclesiastical administration. After the purification movement (chŏnghwa undong) that occurred in Korean Buddhism after the end of Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War, Sŏnamsa was the only major mountain monastery to remain under the control of the married monks in the T’aego order. The contemporary CHOGYE CHONG claims legal title to Sŏnamsa and lists it officially as the twentieth of its twenty-five parish monasteries (PONSA), but has ceded control to the T’aego order. In 1985, the T’aego order opened a center at Sŏnamsa to train a new generation of priests in its order. The entrance to Sŏnamsa is graced by two bridges, one of which, the Sŭngsŏn Bridge, is considered one of the most beautiful in Korea, especially when its view is combined with nearby Kangsŏllu Tower and a pond that includes a tree-studded island. Sŏnamsa also preserves one of the largest hanging pictures (see KWAEBUL, T’AENGHWA) in Korea, which depicts in intricate detail all the assemblies of the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA (K. Hwaŏm kyŏng).

Sŏn’ga kwigam. (C. Chanjia guijian; J. Zenke kikan 禪家龜鑑). In Korean, “Mirror of the Sŏn House”; one of the most widely read SŎN texts not only in Korea but also in Japan and China, composed by the Chosŏn-period Sŏn master CH’ŎNGHŎ HYUJŎNG (1520–1604), a.k.a. SŎSAN TAESA, to whom most modern Korean Sŏn teachers trace their lineage. Hyujŏng composed the text around 1564 by adding his own commentary to excerpts he had culled from about fifty different Buddhist scriptures and CHAN and Sŏn texts. The text was originally written in literary Chinese, but was first published in a 1569 Korean vernacular (ŏnhae) edition. The first literary Chinese edition was published in 1579; the Chinese edition was introduced into China and Japan and has been frequently reprinted since in all three countries. The text is also included as the last section of Hyujŏng’s Samga kwigam (“Mirror of the Three Houses” [of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism]), but that version records only the excerpts without Hyujŏng’s commentary. Hyujŏng wrote the Sŏn’ga kwigam as a concise primer of Korean Buddhist doctrines and practices for his students. According to Hyujŏng’s preface and the postface of his disciple SAMYŎNG YUJŎNG (1544–1610), the primary motive for composing the text was to advocate the fundamental harmony between Sŏn and the scriptural teachings of Buddhism (KYO). While supporting the unity between these two major strands of the Buddhist tradition, Hyujŏng’s treatment ultimately subordinates Kyo beliefs to Sŏn practices. This approach is adopted from that of the eminent Koryŏ state preceptor POJO CHINUL (1158–1210). In particular, the text proposes the practical model of “relinquishing Kyo and entering into Sŏn” (sagyo ipsŏn), by integrating doctrinal studies and the technique of “questioning meditation” (K. kanhwa Sŏn; C. KANHUA CHAN) into Chinul’s preferred soteriological schema of sudden awakening/gradual cultivation (K. tono chŏmsu; C. DUNWU JIANXIU). In addition, the Sŏn’ga kwigam also offers the technique of reciting the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA (K. yŏmbul; C. NIANFO) as an alternative practice for those of inferior spiritual capacity who are not yet able to cultivate the kanhwa Sŏn technique. The text also outlines the styles and lineages of the “five houses” (see WU JIA QI ZONG) of the mature Chan school: in particular, the text promotes the LINJI ZONG as the true heir of the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of Chan, HUINENG (638–713), and presents a different lineage from the traditional one by suggesting that the four Chan lineages of Linji zong, GUIYANG ZONG, FAYAN ZONG, and YUNMEN ZONG all originated from MAZU DAOYI (707–788). The text thus provides a basic framework for the doctrines and practices that most of the modern Korean tradition follows, and thus remains widely read and studied in Korea today.

Song gaoseng zhuan. (J. Sō kōsōden; K. Song kosŭng chŏn 宋高僧傳). In Chinese, “Biographies of Eminent Monks [compiled during the] Song dynasty”; a thirty-roll hagiographical collection compiled by the Buddhist historian and VINAYA master ZANNING (919–1001). The compilation of the text began in 980 by Song-dynasty imperial edict and was entered into the official canon (DAZANGJING) in 988. The text records the lives of monks who primarily were active during the period between the early Tang dynasty and the early Song, or some 340 years after the period covered by DAOXUAN’s (596–667) XU GAOSENG ZHUAN (“Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks”). The Song gaoseng zhuan contains 531 major and 124 appended biographies, for a total of 655 biographies. The text offers valuable material on the Buddhist history of the Tang dynasty, including information that is not recorded in the official dynastic history. The collection is organized according to the ten categories of monastic expertise used in Daoxuan’s collection: translators (yijing), exegetes (yijie), practitioners of meditation (xichan), specialists in vinaya (minglü), protectors of the DHARMA (hufa), sympathetic resonance (gantong), self-immolators (YISHEN), chanters (dusong), benefactors (xingfu), and miscellaneous (zake). What is noteworthy in comparison to its immediate predecessor is that the number of the monks categorized as exegetes (yijie) was reduced significantly from 246 in Daoxuan’s collection to ninety-four in Zanning’s. This traditional nonsectarian approach to Buddhist biographical writing was soon supplanted by genealogical collections, such as Daoyuan’s (d.u.) 1004 JINGDE CHUANDENG LU, which organized the biographies of Chan monks according to explicit sectarian lineages, and ZHIPAN’s (1220–1275) FOZU TONGJI, which did the same for the lineage of the TIANTAI ZONG. The Song gaoseng zhuan is not included in the Korean Buddhist canon (KORYŎ TAEJANGGYŎNG), but does appear in Chinese canons compiled during the Song, Yuan, and Ming periods. Unlike its two predecessor collections, the Song gaoseng zhuan is included in the Qing-dynasty imperial archive, the Siku quanshu (“Complete Library of the Four Repositories”), compiled between 1773 and 1782.

songgu. (J. juko; K. songgo 頌古). In Chinese, “[attaching] verses to ancient [cases]”; a “lettered Chan” (WENZI CHAN) literary style, which used verses to comment on the prose narratives of CHAN public cases (GONG’AN). See HUANGLONG PAI.

Songgwangsa. (松廣寺). In Korean, “Piney Expanse Monastery”; the twenty-first district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on Mount Chogye in South Chŏlla province. Along with HAEINSA and T’ONGDOSA, Songgwangsa is one of the “three-jewel monasteries” (SAMBO SACH’AL), which represent one of the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) of Buddhism; Songgwangsa has traditionally been considered the “SAṂGHA-jewel monastery” (sŭngbo sach’al), because of the succession of sixteen state preceptors (K. kuksa; C. GUOSHI) who resided at the monastery during the Koryŏ dynasty. According to legend, Songgwangsa began as a small monastery named Kilsangsa, which was founded by a certain Hyerim (d.u.). In 1197, that monastery was restored and expanded by the eminent Sŏn master POJO CHINUL, who moved his SAMĀDHI and PRAJÑĀ Community (CHŎNGHYE KYŎLSA) to the Kilsangsa site. To commemorate the establishment of the expanded monastery, King Hŭijong (r. 1204–1211) renamed it SUSŎNSA, or Sŏn Cultivation Community, in 1208. (Still today, the meditation hall at the monastery uses the name Susŏnsa.) Chinul’s reliquary STŪPA, the Kamno t’ap (Sweet Dew Reliquary), sits on a hill behind the meditation hall, overlooking the monastery he founded. During the Chosŏn dynasty, Songgwang, the original name of the mountain on which Susŏnsa was built, became the name of the monastery itself, and the mountain came to be known instead as Mt. Chogye. One of the most famous buildings at the monastery is the Kuksa chŏn (State Preceptors Hall), built in 1369 and now listed as Korean National Treasure no. 56, which enshrined early Chosŏn-period portraits (CHINYŎNG) of Chinul and the sixteen state preceptors at Songgwangsa. (The portraits were themselves collectively listed as cultural treasure no. 1043.) The portraits were stolen in 1995 in a brazen late-night heist and only three have been recovered. In 1969, Songgwangsa was elevated to the status of an ecumenical monastery (CH’ONGNIM), and is one of the five such centers in the contemporary Chogye order, which are all expected to provide training in the full range of practices that exemplify the major strands of the Korean Buddhist tradition. Songgwangsa is thus also known as the Chogye Ch’ongnim.

Songshan. (J. Sūzan; K. Sungsan 嵩山). In Chinese, “Lofty Mountain”; sacred mountain located in northern Henan province. Mt. Song, also known as Zhongyue (Middle Marchmount), belongs to what is known as the wuyue, or five marchmounts. Mt. Song is actually a mountain range consisting of two groups of peaks. To the east there are twenty-four peaks known collectively as Taishi, and to the west twenty-six peaks known as Shaoshi. Since ancient times, Mt. Song has been considered sacred. Emperors frequently made visits to the mountain and many who sought physical immortality found it to be an ideal dwelling place. Mt. Song has also been the home of many Buddhist monks. Sometime during the Han dynasty, a monastery known as Fawangsi (Dharma King Monastery) was built on Mt. Song. For centuries, the monastery received the support of many emperors, such as Emperor Wendi of the Sui dynasty, who renamed it Shelisi (ŚARĪRA Monastery), Emperor Taizong (r. 626–649) who renamed it Gongdesi (Merit Monastery), and Emperor Daizong (r. 762–779) who renamed it Wenshushili Guangde Bao’ensi (Mañjuśrī’s Vast Virtue, Requiting Kindness Monastery). During the Song dynasty, the monastery was supported by Emperor Renzong (r. 1022–1063), who once again renamed it Fawangsi. Mt. Song was also the home of the famous monastery of SHAOLINSI, which is claimed to have been built on its Shaoshi peaks by a certain Indian monk named Fotuo (d.u.) in 496. Shaolinsi is perhaps best remembered as the home of the semilegendary Indian monk BODHIDHARMA, who is presumed to have dwelled in a cave nearby for nine years, engaged in BIGUAN (wall contemplation). To the west of Fawangsi, there was also a monastery by the name of Xianjusi (Tranquil Dwelling Monastery), which had once been the private villa of Emperor Xuanwudi (r. 499–515) of the Northern Wei dynasty. Xianjusi was the residence of the meditation master Sengchou (480–560), and also PUJI (651–739), the disciple of CHAN master SHENXIU, and his disciple YIXING. Other monasteries such as Yongtaisi, Fengchansi, and Qingliangsi were also built on Mt. Song.

Sōnirei. (僧尼令). In Japanese, “Regulations for Monks and Nuns”; a decree issued in 701 by the Japanese imperial court to regulate the activities of Buddhist clerics; the extant twenty-seven-article recension of these regulations was codified within the Yōrō ritsurei (“Civil and Penal Codes of the Yōrō Era”), which was compiled in 718 and promulgated in 757. The Sōnirei is believed to be modeled after the Tang-dynasty code regulating the activities of Daoist and Buddhist clerics, the Daoseng ge. The Sōnirei was also based on the traditional Buddhist precepts of the Chinese translation of the DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA (C. SIFEN LÜ): for example, it stipulated that committing a PĀRĀJIKA transgression, the most serious category of monastic offense—viz., sexual intercourse, murder, grand theft, and false claims of spiritual achievement—required punishment in accord with civil law. The code also forbade monks from consuming alcohol, meat, and strong-smelling herbs, and prohibited a monk from entering a nun’s cell, and vice versa. The Sōnirei also reflected the state’s concern about the possible threat to its power from an unregulated Buddhist clergy, as shown in the example of GYŌGI (668–749), a Hossō (FAXIANG ZONG) monk who disseminated Buddhism among the commoners and gained widespread popularity as a charismatic teacher and thaumaturge. Many of the Sōnirei regulations targeted such maverick clerics: to give but a few examples, monks and nuns were prohibited from predicting good and bad fortunes based on heavenly portents; speaking against the state; studying military tactics; living outside the temples or building a Buddhist chapel off temple grounds; giving scriptures or buddha images to a layperson or teaching outside the monastery; or accumulating private property or wealth. The Sōnirei also required all monks and nuns to receive official permission before ordaining. However, violations of the Sōnirei were widespread and the regulations had lost much of their effectiveness by the middle of the Heian period.

Sŏnmun ch’waryo. (禪門撮要). In Korean, “Selected Essentials from the Gate of Sŏn”; a Korean anthology of the essential canon of the Korean SŎN (CHAN) school, in two rolls. Although the Sŏnmun ch’waryo is often attributed to the late-Chosŏn-period Sŏn master KYŎNGHŎ SŎNGU (1849–1912), its authorship remains a matter of debate. The text uses as its primary source material the Pŏphae pobŏl (“Precious Raft on the Ocean of Dharma”), which was compiled in 1883 at Kamnosa. The Sŏnmun ch’waryo contains texts that are foundational to the Korean Sŏn tradition. The first roll consists of the writings of the Chinese Chan patriarchs and teachers: the Xuemo lun (“Treatise of the Blood Lineage”), the Guanxin lun (“Treatise of Contemplating the Mind,” sometimes otherwise attributed to SHENXIU [606?–706]), and the ERRU SIXING LUN (“Treatise on the Two Accesses and Four Practices”), all attributed to the first Chan patriarch, BODHIDHARMA; the Xiuxin yao lun (“Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind”), attributed to the fifth patriarch HONGREN (600–674); the Wanleng lu (“Wanleng Record”) and the CHUANXIN FAYAO (“Essential Teachings on Transmitting the Mind”), attributed to HUANGBO XIYUN (d. 850); the Mengshan fayu (“Mengshan’s Dharma Discourses”) composed of eleven dharma-talks by five masters including Mengshan Deyi (1231–1308) and NAONG HYEGŬN (1320–1376); and an excerpt from the Canchan jingyu (“Words of Admonition on Investigating Chan”) attributed to Boshan Wuyi (1575–1630). The second roll consists of the writings of eminent Korean Sŏn monks from the Koryŏ and Chosŏn periods: POJO CHINUL’s (1158–1210) SUSIM KYŎL (“Secrets on Cultivating the Mind”), Chinsim chiksŏl (“Straight Talk on the True Mind”), Kwŏnsu Chŏnghye kyŏlsa mun (“Encouragement to Practice: The Compact of the Samādhi and Prajñā Community”), and KANHWA KYŎRŬI NON (“Resolving Doubts About Observing the Hwadu”); the SŎNMUN POJANG NOK (“Record of the Treasure Trove of the Sŏn Tradition”) and the Sŏnmun kangyo (“Essentials of the Sŏn Gate”), both attributed to CH’ŎNCH’AEK (b. 1206); and the Sŏn’gyo sŏk (“Explication of Sŏn and Kyo”) attributed to CH’ŎNGHŎ HYUJŎNG (1520–1604). The first roll of the Sŏnmun ch’waryo was published in 1907 at the monastery of Unmunsa and the second in 1908 at PŎMŎSA. Among the 118 total xylographs of the book, the seventy-eighth and 118th xylographs list the names of people involved in the publication of the text, such as proofreaders, transcribers, and engravers, as well the donors, government officials, and landed gentry who contributed to the cost of the publication.

Sŏnmun pojang nok. (禪門寶藏

). In Korean, “Record of the Treasure Trove of the Sŏn Tradition”; an anthology, in three rolls, of stories excerpted from various Chinese CHAN and Korean SŎN texts. Although the preface of the Sŏnmun pojangnok was written in 1293 by the Koryŏ CH’ŎNTAE (Ch. TIANTAI) monk CH’ŎNCH’AEK (1206–?) to whom it is attributed, the exact authorship of the anthology is still a matter of some debate. The epilogue to the text was written in 1294 by the Koryŏ lay Buddhist literatus Yi Hon (1252–1312). The first roll, “The Gate That Compares Sŏn and Kyo” (Sŏn’gyo taebyŏn mun) advocates that Sŏn is distinct from, and surpasses, KYO (Doctrinal Teachings) because, unlike Kyo, Sŏn directly reveals Buddhist truth without relying on verbal explanation. The second roll, “The Gate through which all Kyo Lecturers Return and Yield” (Chegang kwibok mun) illustrates this superiority of Sŏn over Kyo by citing several examples in which Kyo monks were embarrassed, or guided to an authentic awakening, by Chan or Sŏn monks. The third roll, “The Gate Revered and Trusted by Kings and Vassals” (Kunsin sungsin mun) includes stories of kings and government officials respecting and honoring Chan and Sŏn monks. One of the most interesting stories collected in the Sŏnmun pojang nok relates to the otherwise-unknown Patriarch Chin’gwi (Chin’gwi chosa). The story is recited twice in the first roll and once in the third, excerpted respectively from the Talma millok (“Secret Record of Bodhidharma”), the Haedong ch’iltae nok (“Record of the Seven Generations of the Patriarchs of Haedong [Korea]”), and the Wimyŏngje somun chegyŏng p’yŏn (“Section on the Emperor Ming of Wei Inquires about the Sūtras”), none of which are extant. The story is extremely controversial, because it states that because ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha’s awakening under the BODHI TREE was still imperfect, he continued to wander looking for guidance, until he met a Chan patriarch in the Snowy Mountains (Himālaya) who was finally able to lead him to true awakening. Later, the renowned Chosŏn monk SŎNSAN HYUJŎNG also included the same story in his Sŏn’gyo sŏk (“Exposition of Sŏn and Kyo”), but cited it instead from the Pŏmil kuksa chip (“Collected Works of the State Preceptor Pŏmil”), which is also not extant. However, since neither the story itself nor even the titles of any of the three texts cited in the Sŏnmun pojang nok are found in any Chinese Buddhist sources, it is presumed that the story itself was fabricated in Korea sometime between the times of PŎMIL (810–889) and Ch’ŏnch’aek. The Sŏnmun pojang nok is now embedded in the SŎNMUN CH’WARYO and is also published in volume six of the Han’guk Pulgyo chŏnsŏ (“Collected Works of Korean Buddhism”).

Sŏnmun yŏmsong chip. (禪門拈頌集). In Korean, “Collection of Analyses and Verses on [Ancient Precedents] of the Sŏn School,” the first and largest indigenous Korean kongan (C. GONG’AN, J. kōan; public case) anthology, compiled in thirty rolls by CHIN’GAK HYESIM (1178–1234) in 1226. The collection covers 1,463 kongan, along with annotations (yŏm), verses (song), and variant explanations, such as responding on behalf of a figure who does not answer during the kongan exchange (tae, lit. on his behalf), responding in a different way from the response given in the kongan exchange (pyŏl, lit. differently), and inquiring about the exchange (ch’ŏng, lit. soliciting, or verifying). The first xylographic edition of the collection was destroyed in 1232, just six years after its publication, during the Mongol invasions of the Korean peninsula. The second woodblock edition was carved sometime between 1244 and 1248 as a part of the massive project to remake the entire Koryŏ Buddhist canon (KORYŎ TAEJANGGYŎNG). The postface to the second edition notes that 347 more kongan was added to the original for a total of 1,472; the current edition, however, includes only 1,463 kongan, a discrepancy that remains unexplained. The collection shows the influence of the Song gong’an literature, especially the Chanzong songgu lianzhu tongji (“Comprehensive Collection of the Chan School’s Verses on Ancient [Precedents] That Are a String of Jewels”), compiled in 1179. The ancient cases (viz., the kongan) are arranged in the order of the three jewels (RATNATRAYA), i.e., the Buddha, dharma, and saṃgha. The first thirty-seven kongan are attributed to ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha himself. The next set of twenty-four is derived from Buddhist sūtras, including the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA, the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”), the *ŚŪRAṂGAMASŪTRA, and the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (“Diamond Sūtra”). The remaining 1,402 kongan are taken from stories of the Indian and Chinese Sŏn (Chan) patriarchs and teachers, along with a few unknown lay Sŏn masters. The Sŏnmun yŏmsong chip was one of the official textbooks used for the monastic examinations (SŬNGKWA) in the Sŏn school during the early Chosŏn dynasty. There are a few important Korean commentaries to the anthology, including the Sŏnmun yŏmsong sŏrhwa (“Tales about the Sŏn School’s Analyses and Verses”) in thirty rolls, by Hyesim’s disciple Kagun (c. thirteenth century), IRYŎN’s (1206–1289) Sŏnmun yŏmsong sawŏn (“Garden of Affairs on the Sŏn School’s Analyses and Verses”) in thirty rolls, and PAEKP’A KŬNGSŎN’s (1767–1852) Sŏnmun yŏmsong ki (“Record of the Sŏn School’s Analyses and Verses”) in five rolls.

Sŏnunsa. (禪雲寺). In Korean, “Cloud of Meditation Monastery”; the twenty-fourth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on Mount Tosol (TUṢITA) in North Chŏlla province. There are several conflicting narratives concerning its foundation, but the prevailing view is that the monastery was founded by the meditation master Kŏmdan (fl. c. 577) during the reign of the Paekche king Widŏk (r. 554–598). Sŏnunsa has a history of repeated destruction and reconstruction through the Koryŏ and Chosŏn periods. Most of the monastery’s present structures, including its main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHŎN), were built during the reign of the Chosŏn-dynasty King Kwanghae (r. 1608–1623). The monastery is famous for its associations with worship of KṢITIGARBHA (K. Chijang posal) and is well known for its many camellia bushes, one of the few flowers that bloom during the harsh Korean winter.

sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇa. (P. sopādisesanibbāna; T. phung po lhag ma dang bcas pa’i mya ngan las ’das pa/lhag bcas myang ’das; C. youyu niepan; J. uyonehan; K. yuyŏ yŏlban 有餘涅槃). In Sanskrit, “nirvāṇa with remainder”; one of the two kinds of NIRVĀṆA, along with the “nirvāṇa without remainder” (ANUPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA), “with remainder” here meaning the residue of the aggregates (SKANDHA). At the time of his enlightenment under the BODHI TREE, the Buddha achieved the nirvāṇa with remainder, because he had destroyed all causes for future rebirth, but the “remainder” of his mind and body, viz., a substratum (UPADHI) of existence, persisted. At the time of his death, there was nothing more of the skandhas remaining, thus producing the “nirvāṇa without remainder,” a synonym for PARINIRVĀṆA. According to those MAHĀYĀNA schools which assert that there is only one vehicle (EKAYĀNA) and that all sentient beings will achieve buddhahood, ARHATs who appear to enter the nirvāṇa without remainder at death actually do not do so; for if they did, it would be impossible for them to enter the bodhisattva path. Instead, they enter the uncontaminated realm (ANĀSRAVADHĀTU), where they remain in states of deep concentration (inside lotus flowers according to some texts) until they are roused by the buddhas and exhorted to abandon their “unafflicted ignorance” (AKLIṢṬĀJÑĀNA) and proceed on the path to buddhahood. ¶ In a *PRĀSAṄGIKA-MADHYAMAKA interpretation, the vision of reality free from all elaborations (PRAPAÑCA) or dualistic subject-object conceptualization (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA) in a state of absorption or equipoise (samāhitajñāna)—a state that occurs on the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA) and the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA)—is referred to as “nirvāṇa without remainder,” because there is no appearance of any conventional reality (SAṂVṚTI) while the meditator is in that state. In the subsequent state (PṚṢṬHALABDHAJÑĀNA), conventional reality reappears; this state is called nirvāṇa with remainder. In this explanation, upadhi means any appearance of conventional reality.

Sōtōshū. (曺洞宗). One of the three major branches of the Japanese Zen tradition, along with the RINZAISHŪ and ŌBAKUSHŪ. The Sōtō tradition traces its lineage back to DŌGEN KIGEN (1200–1253), who is credited with transmitting to Japan the CAODONG ZONG line of the Chinese CHAN teacher TIANTONG RUJING (1162–1227). After returning from China in 1227, Dōgen settled in Kyōto and sought to create a new Zen community. Because of resistance from the TENDAI and Rinzai traditions that were already firmly entrenched in the capital (see ENNI BEN’EN), Dōgen and his followers eventually left for the rural area of Echizen (in the northern part of present-day Fukui prefecture), and founded EIHEIJI, which came to serve as the center of this new Zen institution. In Echizen, Dōgen devoted his time and energy to securing the doctrinal and institutional bases for his community. Dōgen’s venture was aided by several adherents of the DARUMASHŪ, who joined the community. Among them were Koun Ejō (1198–1280), the editor of the seventy-five-roll version of Dōgen’s magnum opus, the SHŌBŌGENZŌ, and Tettsū Gikai (1219–1309), whose lineage subsequently came to dominate the Sōtō school; these monks later served as the second and the third abbots of Eiheiji. Modern scholars believe that a dispute between Gikai and a fellow disciple of Koun Ejō named Gien (d. 1313) concerning the abbotship of Eiheiji prompted Gikai to move to Daijōji in Ishikawa. Gikai was succeeded by his disciple KEIZAN JŌKIN (1268–1325), who is honored as “the second patriarch” of Sōtō by the school’s modern followers. Keizan revitalized the Sōtō community by synthesizing Zen practice with the worship of local gods (KAMI), thus appealing to the local populace. Keizan also established SŌJIJI, which along with Eiheiji came to serve as the headquarters (honzan) of the Sōtō tradition. Gazan Shōseki (1275–1365), a successor of Keizan, produced several disciples, including Taigen Sōshin (d. c. 1371) and Tsūgen Jakurei (1322–1391), who are credited with the Sōtō school’s rapid expansion throughout Japan during the medieval period. Sōtō monks of this period, especially those belonging to Keizan-Gazan lines, proselytized in the rural areas of Japan, which had been largely neglected by the established Buddhist traditions at court, and attracted a following among commoners and local elites by engaging in such social activities as building bridges and irrigation systems, as well as by performing rituals that met their religious needs, such as funeral services and mass ordinations (jukai e). Each lineage of the Sōtō tradition also developed its own secret kōan manuals (monsan), only available to selected monks, which gave a received set of questions and answers regarding each kōan (C. GONG’AN). During the Tokugawa period, the Sōtō school developed into one of the largest Buddhist sects in Japan, with a stable financial base, thanks to the mandatory parish system (DANKA SEIDO) that the government launched, in which every household was required to register as a member of a local Buddhist temple and was responsible for the financial support for the temple. By the middle of the eighteenth century, there were more than 17,500 Sōtō temples across Japan. Although the religious life of the majority of the Sōtō monks and lay followers during this period was focused on practical religious benefits, such as faith healing and funeral services, a restoration movement eventually developed that sought to return to the putative “original teachings and practices” of the founder Dōgen. MANZAN DŌHAKU (1636–1714) opposed the custom of IN’IN EKISHI, or “changing teachers according to temple,” which was widespread in the Sōtō tradition during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was required in order to inherit the dharma lineage of a temple (GARANBŌ). Instead, Manzan called for a direct, face-to-face transmission (menju shihō) from one master to his disciple (isshi inshō), which he claimed Dōgen had established for the Sōtō tradition. After several failed attempts, he finally succeeded in persuading the bakufu government to ban the in’in ekishi and garanbō practice in 1703. TENKEI DENSON (1648–1735) and MENZAN ZUIHŌ (1683–1769) also composed influential commentaries to Dōgen’s magnum opus, the Shōbōgenzō, which led to a renaissance in Dōgen studies. After the Meiji reforms of 1868, the two head monasteries of Eiheiji and Sōjiji, which had remained rivals through the Tokugawa period, worked together to reform the school, issuing several standardizations of the rules for temple operation, ritual procedures, etc. In 1890, Azegami Baisen (d.1901) from Sōjiji and Takiya Takushū (d. 1897) from Eiheiji edited the layman Ōuchi Seiran’s (1845–1918) introductory work on the Shōbōgenzō and distributed it under the title of the Sōtō kyōkai shushōgi (“Meaning of Practice and Realization in the Sōtō Sect”). This text played a major role in the popularization of the school’s meditative practice of “just sitting” (SHIKAN TAZA), which fosters a psychological state in which “body and mind are sloughed off” (SHINJIN DATSURAKU); sitting practice itself is therefore regarded as the manifestation of the perfect enlightenment of buddhahood. The Sōtō school continues to thrive today, with the great majority of its more than fourteen thousand contemporary temples affiliated with Sōjiji.

sparśa. (P. phassa; T. reg pa; C. chu; J. soku; K. ch’ok 觸). In Sanskrit, “contact,” used technically as the sixth of the twelve links of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), referring to the sensory contact between a sense organ (INDRIYA) and a sense object (ĀLAMBANA), resulting in a corresponding sensory consciousness (VIJÑĀNA), with the function of distinguishing an object as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Based on this contact, sensation or feeling (VEDANĀ), the next link in the chain (NIDĀNA), occurs. Thus, the term sparśa does not refer to the physical contact of the body and a physical object. It is instead the mental factor by which consciousness “touches” the object, setting in motion the process of cognition. The Buddha said that prior to his enlightenment, he sought to understand the nature of sensation, including its origin (SAMUDAYA) and its cessation (NIRODHA). He understood that sensation arose from contact, which in turn arose from the coming together of an object and one of the six sense organs (ṢAḌĀYATANA), such that if the six sense organs ceased, contact would cease, and sensation would cease. The six sense organs are sometimes referred to as the sparśāyatana, the “bases of contact” or “sources of contact.”

Spa tshab lo tsā ba Nyi ma grags. (Patsap Lotsawa Nyima Drak) (1055–1145?). A Tibetan scholar of the eleventh and twelfth centuries who played a major role in establishing MADHYAMAKA in Tibet during the period of the second dissemination (PHYI DAR) of the dharma, through his translation of the two major works of CANDRAKĪRTI, the PRASANNAPADĀ and the MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA, as well as ĀRYADEVA’s CATUḤŚATAKA and Candrakīrti’s commentary on it. At any early age, he made the arduous journey to Kashmir, where he spent the next twenty-three years, the first ten studying Sanskrit and the remaining years translating Madhyamaka works into Tibetan in collaboration with Kashmiri paṇḍitas at the monastery of Ratnaguptavihāra near modern-day Srinagar. His teachers and collaborators included Mahājana and Sūkṣmajana, the sons of the master Sajjana, as well as Mahāsumati, the disciple of Parahita. He eventually returned to Tibet, accompanied by two Kashmiri scholars: Kanakavarman and Tilakakalaśa. Basing himself at the RA MO CHE temple in LHA SA, he taught Madhyamaka and revised earlier translations of Madhyamaka texts. He thus played a major role in introducing what came to be known as *PRĀSAṄGIKA into Tibet and providing the texts upon which the distinction between Prāsaṅgika and *SVĀTANTRIKA could be made. Those terms were not names of branches of Madhyamaka school in India; rather, those designations were coined in Tibet, and Spa tshab may have been the first to use the term *Prāsaṅgika (thal ’gyur pa). He is credited by Tibetan historians as making the *Prāsaṅgika perspective, that is, the perspective of Candrakīrti, the prevailing interpretation of the works of Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva in Tibet.

Sphuṭārthā-Abhidharmakośavyākhyā. [alt. Abhidharmakośaṭīkā] (T. Chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi ’grel bshad). A widely cited exegesis of Vasubandhu’s ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA by YAŚOMITRA (fl. sixth century?). Written in Sanskrit, the title means “Clear Meaning Explanation of [Vasubandhu’s] Abhidharmakośabhāṣya.” Yaśomitra calls his work Sphuṭārthā (“in which the topics burst forth clearly”) at the beginning of his text.

spraṣṭavya. (P. phoṭṭhabba; T. reg bya; C. suochu; J. shosoku; K. soch’ok 所觸). In Sanskrit, lit., “object of touch,” or “tangible object,” the object of tactile consciousness (KĀYAVIJÑĀNA) and one of the five sense objects (ĀLAMBANA), the others being visible form (RŪPA), sounds (ŚABDA), smells (GANDHA), and tastes (RASA). The contact (SPARŚA) between a tangible object and the tactile sense organ (KĀYENDRIYA) produce tactile consciousness (KĀYAVIJÑĀNA). In the ABHIDHARMA, tangible objects are divided into two main categories, the physical elements (BHŪTA; MAHĀBHŪTA) and those derived from the elements (BHAUTIKA). The four elements are earth, water, fire, and wind. The seven tangible objects derived from the elements are smoothness, roughness, heaviness, lightness, cold, hunger, and thirst.

spraṣṭavyāyatana. (P. phoṭṭhabbāyatana; T. reg bya’i skye mched; C. chuchu; J. sokusho; K. ch’okch’ŏ 觸處). In Sanskrit, “tactile sense-field,” that is, tangible objects (SPRAṢṬAVYA) as they occur in the list of twelve sense faculties or “bases of cognition” (ĀYATANA), which serve as the bases for the production of consciousness: viz., the six internal sense bases, or sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) and the six external sense objects (forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and mental phenomena). In the case of tangible objects, the contact (SPARŚA) between the tactile sense base and its corresponding tangible object leads to tactile consciousness (KĀYAVIJÑĀNA).

sprul sku. A Tibetan term often seen transcribed in English as “tulku”; it is the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit term NIRMĀṆAKĀYA, the third of the three bodies of a buddha (TRIKĀYA), the “emanation body” that appears in the world for the benefit of sentient beings. Although the term retains this standard Buddhological meaning in Tibetan, sprul sku is used by extension to refer to an “incarnate lama,” and the term is sometimes translated as such. It is not believed in every case that each incarnate lama is the emanation body of a buddha. However, the implication is that there is a difference in the processes whereby ordinary beings and incarnate lamas take birth in the world. For the former, rebirth is process over which one has no control, with a strong possibility that one’s new life will be in the lower rebirth destinies (DURGATI) as an animal, hungry ghost, or hell denizen. The rebirth of an “emanation body” is instead considered to be a voluntary choice. The sprul sku are said to exercise control over their rebirth; a dying incarnation will often leave instructions for his disciples as to where to find his next rebirth. The practice of identifying children as the incarnations of deceased masters may date from as early as the eleventh or twelfth century. By the fifteenth century, all sects of Tibetan Buddhism had adopted the practice of identifying the successive rebirths of a great teacher, the most famous instance of which are the DALAI LAMAs. There were some three thousand lines of incarnation in Tibet (only several of whom are female). It was also the case that a single lama may have more than one incarnation; there were sometimes three, which were considered individual incarnations of the body, speech, and mind of the deceased master. The institution of the incarnate lama became a central component of Tibetan society, providing the means by which authority and charisma, both symbolic and material, was passed from one generation to another. The spread of Tibetan Buddhism can be traced by the increasingly large geographical areas in which incarnate lamas have been discovered. A variety of types and levels of sprul sku are identified. A mchog gi sprul sku (choki tulku) (UTTAMANIRMĀṆAKĀYA) is a buddha, such as ŚĀKYAMUNI, who appears in the world with a body adorned with the major and minor marks of a MAHĀPURUṢA. A skye ba’i sprul sku (kyewe tulku) (JANMANIRMĀṆAKĀYA) is the appearance of a buddha in the form of an animal, human, or divinity. Tibetan incarnate lamas would fall into this category. Also in this category would be those cases in which a buddha appears as an inanimate object that provides benefit to sentient beings, such as a bridge across a river, a path, a tree, or a cooling breeze. A bzo bo sprul sku (sowo tulku) (ŚILPANIRMĀṆAKĀYA) is an artisan or craftsman or a particular manifestation of artistic beauty that subdues the afflictions (KLEŚA). Within the the large DGE LUGS PA monasteries, a monk with the title of tshogs chen sprul sku (tsokchen tulku, “great assembly tulku”) is excused from performing regular assembly duties. In Tibetan, an incarnate lama is addressed and referred to as RIN PO CHE (precious one), although that term is also used for abbots and other holders of high ecclesiastical office; it may also be used for one’s teacher, even if he or she is not an incarnate lama. The term BLA MA (lama) is typically used to refer to incarnations but is also used widely for a teacher.

śraddhā. (P. saddhā; T. dad pa; C. xin; J. shin; K. sin 信). In Sanskrit, “faith” or “confidence,” a term that encompasses also the sense of “belief.” Faith has a wide range of meanings in Buddhism, ranging from a kind of mental clarity and positive disposition toward the Buddha (which is often attributed to an encounter with a buddha or with the bodhisattva in a former life), to a sense of conviction about the efficacy of the Buddhist path (MĀRGA), to a commitment to follow that path. In addition to its cognitive dimensions, which will be described more fully below, faith also has important conative and affective dimensions that are frequently recounted in Buddhist literature. The conative is suggested in the compulsion towards alms-giving (DĀNA), as described for example in encounters with previous buddhas in the Pāli APADĀNA, or in the pilgrim's encounter with an object of devotion. The affective can be seen, perhaps most famously, in Ānanda’s affection-driven attachment to the Buddha, which is described as a result of his deep devotion to, and faith in, the person of the Buddha. These multiple aspects of faith find arguably their fullest expression in the various accounts of the story of the Buddha’s ARHAT disciple VAKKALI, who is said to have been completely enraptured with the Buddha and is described as foremost among his monk disciples in implicit faith. In the ABHIDHARMA, faith is listed as the first of the ten major omnipresent wholesome factors (KUŚALAMAHĀBHŪMIKA) in the seventy-five dharmas list of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school and as a virtuous (KUŚALA) mental factor (CAITTA) in the hundred-dharmas roster (BAIFA) of the YOGĀCĀRA school and in the Pāli abhidhamma. Faith is one of the foundational prerequisites of attainment, and its cognitive dimensions are described as a clarity of mind required for realization, as conviction that arises from the study of the dharma, and as a source of aspiration that encourages one to continue to develop the qualities of enlightenment. Faith is listed as the first of the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA), together with diligence (VĪRYA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom (PRAJÑĀ). The faculty of faith is usually considered to be the direct counteragent (PRATIPAKṢA) of ill-will (DVEṢA), not of doubt (VICIKITSĀ), demonstrating its affective dimension. Faith generates bliss (PRĪTI), by which brings about serenity of mind and thought; in addition, faith also produces self-confidence, engendering the conative characteristic of diligence (vīrya). Faith and wisdom (prajñā) were to be kept constantly counterpoised by the faculty of mindfulness (smṛti). By being balanced via mindfulness, faith would guard against excessive wisdom, which could lead to skepticism, while wisdom would protect against excessive faith, which could lead to blind, uncritical acceptance. Thus faith, in the context of the spiritual faculties, is a tacit acceptance of the soteriological value of specific beliefs, until such time as those beliefs are verified through practice and understood through one’s own insight. There are four main soteriological objects of faith: (1) the efficacy of moral cause and effect (viz., KARMAN) and the prospect of continued rebirth (PUNARJANMAN) based on one’s actions; (2) the core teachings about the conditioned nature of the world, such as dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA) and the three marks of existence (TRILAKṢAṆA), viz., impermanence (ANIYATA), suffering (DUḤKHA), nonself (ANĀTMAN); (3) the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) of the Buddha, DHARMA, and SAṂGHA; and (4) the general soteriological outline of the path (MĀRGA) and the prospect of release from affliction through the experience of NIRVĀṆA.

śraddhādhimukta. (P. saddhādhimutta; T. dad pas lhag par mos pa; C. xinjie; J. shinge; K. sinhae 信解). In Sanskrit, “one who aspires through faith” or “one inclined to faith”; one of the twenty members of the ĀRYASAṂGHA (see VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA). In Sanskrit sources, the name is given to those with dull faculties (MṚDVINDRIYA) when they reach one of the first three results of the noble path (ĀRYAMĀRGA) or religious life (ŚRĀMAṆYAPHALA). They reach the result when they pass from the path of vision’s (DARŚANAMĀRGA) uninterrupted path (ĀNANTARYAMĀRGA) to its path of freedom (VIMUKTIMĀRGA). While on the uninterrupted path, they are called ŚRADDHĀNUSĀRIN. Contingent on the number of sets of afflictions (KLEŚA) causing rebirth in the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU) that they have already eliminated prior to reaching the uninterrupted path, they become either SROTAĀPANNAPHALASTHA, SAKṚDĀGĀMIPHALASTHA, or ANĀGĀMIPHALASTHA when they reach the path of liberation (VIMUKTIMĀRGA). Both the name śraddhānusārin and the śraddhādhimukta appear to have been borrowed from the list of noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA) found, for example, in the Kīṭāgirisutta of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA. The name ŚRADDHĀVIMUKTA found in the list of seven noble persons is changed to śraddhādhimukta in the expanded list of twenty members of the āryasaṃgha. See ŚRADDHĀVIMUKTA.

śraddhānusārin. (P. saddhānusāri; T. dad pa’i rjes su ’brang ba; C. suixin xing; J. zuishingyō; K. susin haeng 隨信行). In Sanskrit, “follower of faith.” The SARVĀSTIVĀDA (e.g., ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA) and Pāli (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) traditions of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (ĀRYA, P. ariya): (1) follower of faith (S. śraddhānusārin; P. saddhānusāri); (2) follower of the dharma (S. DHARMĀNUSĀRIN, P. dhammānusāri); (3) one liberated through faith (S. ŚRADDHĀVIMUKTA; P. saddhāvimutta); (4) one who has formed right view (S. DṚṢṬIPRĀPTA; P. diṭṭhippatta), by developing both faith and wisdom; (5) the bodily witness (S. KĀYASĀKṢIN; P. kāyasakkhi), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (S. PRAJÑĀVIMUKTA; P. paññāvimutta), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (S. UBHAYATOBHĀGAVIMUKTA; P. ubhatobhāgavimutta), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption and wisdom. A follower of faith is a person who has attained the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) and in whom the faculty (INDRIYA) of faith (ŚRADDHĀ) is predominant. Such a person will eventually become one who is freed through faith (ŚRADDHĀVIMUKTA). In the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, there is a basic division of path types and personality types, where a faith-follower and a dharma-follower eliminate hindrances to goals all at once or in a series, and respectively either pass through the intermediate stages of once-returner and nonreturner, or else skip such stages completely, before finally becoming ARHATs. In general, dharma-followers are those who proceed based on knowledge of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS as it pertains to all three realms of existence; they eliminate hindrances to all goals all at once, while the achievements of faith-followers are more progressive. According to the Sarvāstivāda VAIBHĀṢIKA school of ABHIDHARMA, an ARHAT whose liberation is grounded in faith may be subject to backsliding from that state, whereas those who are dharmānusārin are unshakable (AKOPYA), because they have experienced the knowledge of nonproduction (ANUTPĀDAJÑĀNA), viz., that the afflictions (KLEŚA) can never occur again, the complement of the knowledge of extinction (KṢAYAJÑĀNA). In the MAHĀYĀNA interpretation of the terms, bodhisattvas who are dharma-followers have knowledge of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), i.e., they have gained a knowledge of the way things are (TATTVA) even at early stages of the path and will never revert to the HĪNAYĀNA; the faith-followers are not irreversible (AVAIVARTIKA) in that way until higher levels of the path. The śraddhānusārin is also found in the list of the members of the saṃgha when it is subdivided into twenty (VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA). Among the śraddhānusārin, there are candidates for the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNAPHALAPRATIPANNAKA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA), and nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA). The first has eliminated up to five of the nine sets of afflictions (KLEŚA) that cause rebirth in the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU), the second all but the final set, and the last all of the afflictions. The first takes a number of births (never more than seven) in the sensuous realm before reaching nirvāṇa, the second has only one rebirth in the sensuous realm left, and the nonreturner will never again take rebirth in the sensuous realm prior to reaching nirvāṇa.

śraddhāvimukta. (P. saddhāvimutta; T. dad pas rnam par grol ba; C. xinshengjie; J. shinshōge; K. sinsŭnghae 信勝解). In Sanskrit, “liberated through faith.” In the Kīṭāgirisutta of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA, the Buddha describes seven types of noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA, P. ariyapuggala). They are: (1) the follower of faith (ŚRADDHĀNUSĀRIN, P. saddhānusāri), (2) the one liberated through faith (śraddhāvimukta), (3) the bodily witness (KĀYASĀKṢIN, P. kāyasakkhi), (4) the one liberated both ways (UBHAYATOBHĀGAVIMUKTA, P. ubhatobhāgavimutta), (5) the follower of the dharma (DHARMĀNUSĀRIN, P. dhammānusāri), (6) the one who has attained understanding (DṚṢṬIPRĀPTA, P. diṭṭhippatta), and (7), the one liberated through wisdom (PRAJÑĀVIMUKTA, P. paññāvimutta). A person liberated through faith is a noble person at any stage of the path, from the fruit of stream-enterer to the path of the arhat, who has understood the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS and eliminated some of the defilements, but has not attained any of the DHYĀNA levels of the immaterial realm and who has a predominance of faith. Such a person may or may not have attained the levels of the subtle-materiality realm. The śraddhāvimukta is also found in the list of the members of the saṃgha when it is subdivided into twenty (VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA). There are three śraddhāvimukta: recipients of the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNAPHALASTHA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIPHALASTHA), and nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIPHALASTHA). These parallel the three śraddhānusārin that are candidates for these same first three fruits of the noble path. See ĀRYAPUDGALA; ĀRYAMĀRGAPHALA.

śramaṇa. (P. samaṇa; T. dge sbyong; C. shamen; J. shamon; K. samun 沙門). In Sanskrit “renunciant,” “mendicant,” or “recluse,” a term used in ancient India to refer to male religious of a number of different itinerant sects, including Buddhism, often associated with the warrior (KṢATRIYA) caste, which challenged the hegemony of the brāhmaṇa priests and mainstream Brahmanical religion deriving from the Vedas. Whereas the Brahmanical tradition traces itself back to a body of literature centered on the Vedas, the śramaṇa movements instead derive from historical persons who all flourished around the sixth century BCE. Six different śramaṇa groups are mentioned in the SĀMAÑÑAPHALASUTTANTA of the DĪGHANIKĀYA, each representing different trends in Indian thought, including antinomianism (PŪRAṆA-KĀŚYAPA); fatalism (MASKARIN-GOŚĀLĪPUTRA of the ĀJĪVAKA school); materialism (AJITA-KEŚAKAMBALA of the LOKĀYATA school); atomism (KAKUDA-KĀTYĀYANA); and agnosticism (SAÑJAYA-VAIRĀṬĪPUTRA); the sixth group is the JAINA tradition of NIRGRANTHA JÑĀTĪPUTRA, also known as MAHĀVĪRA, with which Buddhism shares many affinities. These six are typically referred to in Buddhist materials as the six “heterodox teachers” (TĪRTHIKA) and are consistently criticized by the Buddha for fostering wrong views (MITHYĀDṚṢṬI). Some scholars suggest that these groups were loosely associated with a third phase in the development of pan-Indian religion called the āraṇyaka (forest dwellers) movement, where the highly specialized fire rituals (HOMA) set forth in the Brāhmaṇas for the propitiation of Vedic gods gave way to a more internalized form of spiritual praxis. These itinerant asetics or wanders were also called PARIVRĀJAKA (P. paribbājaka; “those who go forth into homelessness”), in direct contrast to the householders (GṚHASTHA) whose behavior was governed by the laws set down in dharmaśāstras. Because so many of the beliefs and practices emblematic of the śramaṇa movement have no direct Vedic antecedents, however, other scholars have proposed that the śramaṇa groups may instead exemplify the resurfacing in Indian religion of aboriginal elements that had long been eclipsed by the imported rituals and beliefs that the Āryans brought with them to India. These doctrines, all of which have their parallels in Buddhism, include rebirth and transmigration (e.g., PUNARJANMAN); notions that actions have effect (e.g., KARMAN); asceticism (TAPAS, DHUTAṄGA) and the search for ways of behavior that would not bind one to the round of SAṂSĀRA; and liberation (MOKṢA, VIMOKṢA) as the goal of religious practice. In Buddhism, śramaṇa is also used generically to refer to all monks, including the Buddha, whose epithets include Śramaṇa Gautama and Mahāśramaṇa, “Great Renunciant.” The term often occurs in the compound śramaṇabrāhmaṇa (P. samaṇabrāhmaṇa), “recluses and brāhmaṇas.” This compound has a range of meanings. In some cases, it refers simply to those who practice and benefit from the Buddha’s teachings. In other cases, it refers to non-Buddhist religious practitioners. In the edicts of AŚOKA, the term is used to refer to those who are worthy of respect and offerings, with śramaṇa taken to mean Buddhist monks (and possibly other ascetics) and brāhmaṇa taken to mean brāhmaṇa priests. The term śramaṇa should be carefully distinguished from ŚRĀMAṆERA (s.v.), a novice monk.

śrāmaṇera. (P. sāmaṇera; T. dge tshul; C. shami; J. shami; K. sami 沙彌). In Sanskrit “[male] novice”; a preliminary stage a man must pass through before he can be ordained as a fully ordained monk (BHIKṢU). The admission into the order (S. pravrajyā, P. pabbajjā; see PARIVRĀJAKA) of a novice is performed with a simple ceremony. The candidate shaves his hair and beard, attires himself in a monk’s robe received from a donor, and presents himself before an assembly of monks, or a single monk of ten years’ standing or more. Squatting on his haunches and folding his hands, he recites the three refuges (TRIŚARAṆA) formula three times, whereupon he is made a novice. According to the Pāli VINAYA, a novice must observe ten precepts (DAŚAŚĪLA) or “rules of training” (ŚIKṢĀPADA), viz., abstaining from: (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) false speech, (5) intoxicants, (6) eating after midday, (7) dancing, singing, music, and other unseemly forms of entertainment, (8), using garlands, perfumes, and cosmetics to adorn the body, (9) using high and luxurious beds and couches, and (10) accepting gold and silver. The MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA expands these ten precepts to thirty-six. After receiving the lower ordination, the novice is required to live under the guidance (NIŚRAYA) of a teacher until he receives higher ordination (UPASAṂPADĀ) as a bhikṣu. The novice may not attend the reading of the PRĀTIMOKṢA during the bimonthly UPOṢADHA (P. uposatha) ceremony, or participate in any formal ecclesiastical acts (SAṂGHAKARMAN) such as giving ordination and so on. There are a variety of lists of persons who are not permitted to be ordained as novices: one list names branded thieves, fugitives from the law, registered thieves, those punished by flogging or branding, patricides, matricides, murderers of ARHATs, those who have shed the blood of a buddha, eunuchs, false monks, seducers of nuns, hermaphrodites, persons who are maimed, disabled, or deformed in various ways, and those afflicted with various communicable diseases.

śrāmaṇerasaṃvara. (P. sāmaṇerasaṃvara; T. dge tshul gyi sdom pa; C. qince lüyi; J. gonsakuritsugi; K. kŭnch’aek yurŭi 勤策律儀). In Sanskrit, “restraints for novices”; the ten precepts (DAŚAŚĪLA) that govern the conduct of a ŚRĀMAṆERA (male novice). The ten are framed in terms of training rules (ŚIKṢĀPADA): viz., “I undertake the training rule to abstain from”: (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual activity, (4) false speech, (5) intoxicants, (6) eating after midday, (7) dancing, singing, music, and other unseemly forms of entertainment, (8) using garlands, perfumes, and cosmetics to adorn the body, (9) using high and luxurious beds and couches, (10) handling gold and silver (viz., money). On full- and new-moon days (UPOṢADHA), the laity had the option of taking all these precepts except no. 10; nos. 7 and 8 were then combined to give a set of eight precepts to be specially followed on these retreat days (see S. AṢṬĀṄGASAMANVĀGATAṂ UPAVĀSAṂ) as a sort of temporary renunciation. In the MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA these ten precepts are expanded to thirty-six.

śrāmaṇerikā. [alt. śrāmaṇerī] (P. sāmaṇerī; T. dge tshul ma; C. shamini; J. shamini; K. samini 沙彌尼). In Sanskrit, [female] “novice”; also spelled śrāmaṇerakā. The rules of admission and observance as a female novice are the same as for the ŚRĀMAṆERA (male novice) with the exception that a female novice is required to practice as a ŚIKṢAMĀṆĀ (“postulant” or “trainee”) for at least two years before being granted permission to receive the UPASAṂPADĀ higher ordination as a BHIKṢUṆĪ, or fully ordained nun. In addition, in the case of a woman, the higher ordination must be conferred twice instead of only once, first by the bhikṣuṇī SAṂGHA (nuns’ order), and a second time by the BHIKṢU saṃgha.

śrāmaṇerikāsaṃvara. (T. dge tshul ma’i sdom pa; C. qince lüyi; J. gonsakuritsugi; K. kŭnch’aek yurŭi 勤策律儀). In Sanskrit, the restraints, or precepts, governing the conduct of a ŚRĀMAṆERIKĀ (female novice); see ŚRĀMAṆERASAṂVARA.

śrāmaṇyaphala. (P. sāmaññaphala; T. dge sbyong gi tshul gyi ’bras bu; C. shamen’guo; J. shamonka; K. samun’gwa 沙門果). In Sanskrit, “the fruit of recluseship,” viz., “the beneficial effects of religious practice.” “Fruit” in this compound refers to the benefits that come to fruition in a recluse’s current or future life. The latter type includes both merit (PUṆYA) and a favorable rebirth. The former benefits are expounded by the Buddha in various versions of the Śrāmaṇyaphalasūtra (see SĀMAÑÑAPHALASUTTANTA). These benefits include respect from members of higher classes, sensory restraint, contentedness, abandonment of the hindrances, attainment of the four meditative absorptions, insight, supranormal powers, clairaudience, recollection of past lives, and so on. In regard to the progressive path to liberation, śrāmaṇyaphala refers to the four stages of sanctity that culminate in the realization of NIRVĀṆA: the fruits of the stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (ARHAT).

Sras mkhar dgu thog. (Sekar Gutok). In Tibetan, “Nine-Storied Son’s Tower”; a tower purportedly constructed in the late eleventh century by the Tibetan saint MI LA RAS PA as part of his training under the master MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS. Located in the LHO BRAG region of southern Tibet, on the bank of the Gsas River, the nine-storied tower was originally constructed as a memorial for Mar pa’s son DAR MA MDO SDE, although because of its location it likely had strategic value as well. The building was renovated in the sixteenth century by DPA’ BO GTSUG LAG PHRENG BA, who fashioned a golden roof and added a large monastic institution at the site. The tower remains an important pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists.

śrāvaka. (P. sāvaka; T. nyan thos; C. shengwen; J. shōmon; K. sŏngmun 聲聞). In Sanskrit, lit. “listener”; viz., a direct “disciple” of the Buddha who “listened” to his teachings (and sometimes seen translated over-literally from the Chinese as “sound-hearer”). In the MAHĀYĀNA, the term was used to describe those who (along with PRATYEKABUDDHAs) sought their own liberation from suffering as an ARHAT by following the HĪNAYĀNA path (see ER SHENG), and was contrasted (negatively) to the BODHISATTVAs who seeks buddhahood for the sake of all beings. There is an issue in the Mahāyāna concerning whether śrāvakas will eventually enter the bodhisattva path and become buddhas, or whether arhatship is a final state where no further progress along the path (MĀRGA) will be possible (see ŚRĀVAKAGOTRA). The SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, for example, declares that they will, and in the sūtra the Buddha makes prophecies about the future buddhahood of several famous śrāvakas. In many Mahāyāna sūtras, śrāvakas are often described as being in the audience of the Buddha’s teaching, and certain śrāvakas, such as ŚĀRIPUTRA, play important roles as interlocutors. In the third chapter of the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEŚA, a series of śrāvakas explain why they are reluctant to visit the bodhisattva VIMALAKĪRTI, because of the insurmountable challenge his profound understanding of the dharma will present to them.

Śrāvakabhūmi. (T. Nyan thos kyi sa; C. Shengwen di; J. Shōmonji; K. Sŏngmun chi 聲聞地). In Sanskrit, the “Stage of the Listener” or “Stage of the Disciple,” a work by ASAṄGA included in the first and main section (Bahubhūmika/Bhūmivastu, “Multiple Stages”) of his massive compendium, the YOGĀCĀRABHŪMI. The work, which also circulated as an independent text, deals with practices associated with the ŚRĀVAKA (disciples) and consists of four major sections (yogasthāna), which treat spiritual lineage (GOTRA), different types of persons (PUDGALA), preparation for practice (PRAYOGA), and the mundane path (LAUKIKAMĀRGA) and supramundane path (LOKATTARAMĀRGA). The first yogasthāna on spiritual lineage is divided into three parts. First, the stage of lineage (gotrabhūmi) discusses the spiritual potentiality or lineage (gotra) of the śrāvaka from four standpoints: its intrinsic nature, its establishment or definition (vyavasthāna), the marks (LIṄGA) characterizing the persons belonging to that lineage, and the classes of people in that lineage. Second, the stage of entrance (avatārabhūmi) discusses the stage where the disciple enters upon the practice; like the previous part, this section treats this issue from these same four standpoints. Third, the stage of deliverance (naiṣkramyabhūmi) explains the stage where the disciple, after severing the bonds of the sensual realm (KĀMADHĀTU), practices to obtain freedom from passion (VAIRĀGYA) by following either the mundane or supramundane path; this section subsequently discusses thirteen collections or equipment (saṃbhāra) necessary to complete both paths, such as sensory restraint, controlling food intake, etc. This stage of deliverance (naiṣkramyabhūmi) continues over the second through fourth yogasthānas to provide an extended treatment of śravāka practice. The second yogasthāna discusses the theoretical basis of śravāka practice in terms of persons (pudgala), divided into nineteen subsections on such subjects as the classes of persons who cultivate the śravāka path, meditative objects, descriptions of various states of concentration (SAMĀDHI), hindrances to meditation, etc. The third yogasthāna concerns the preliminary practices (prayoga) performed by these persons, describing in detail the process of training. This process begins by first visiting a teacher. If that teacher identifies him as belonging to the śrāvaka lineage, the practitioner should then cultivate in five ways: (1) guarding and accumulating the requisites of samādhi (samādhisaṃbhāra-rakṣopacaya), (2) selection (prāvivekya), (3) one-pointedness of mind (CITTAIKĀGRATĀ), (4) elimination of hindrances (ĀVARAṆA-viśuddhi), and (5) cultivation of correct mental orientation (MANASKĀRA-bhāvanā). Among these five, the section on cittaikāgratā contains one of the most detailed discussions in Sanskrit sources of the meditative procedures for the cultivation of ŚAMATHA and VIPAŚYANĀ. In the fourth yogasthāna, the practitioner, who has accomplished the five stages of application (prayoga), proceeds to either the mundane (laukika) or supramundane (lokottara) path. On the mundane path, the practitioner is said to be reborn into the various heavens of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU) or the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU) by cultivating the four subtle-materiality meditative absorptions (RŪPĀVACARADHYĀNA) or the four immaterial meditative absorptions (ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). On the supramundane path, the śravāka practices to attain the stage of worthy one (ARHAT) by relying on the insight of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). See also BODHISATTVABHŪMI.

śrāvakagotra. (T. nyan thos kyi rigs; C. shengwen zhongxing; J. shōmon shushō; K. sŏngmun chongsŏng 聲聞種姓). In Sanskrit, “lineage of the disciples,” a term that is used in the MAHĀYĀNA to describe a person who is predisposed toward the practice of the HĪNAYĀNA. Certain strands of the YOGĀCĀRA school advocated that there were five distinct spiritual lineages or destinies (PAÑCAGOTRA): (1) the TATHĀGATA lineage (GOTRA), for those destined to become buddhas; (2) the PRATYEKABUDDHA lineage, for those destined to become ARHATs via the pratyekabuddha path; (3) the ŚRĀVAKAYĀNA lineage, for those who will become arhats via the ŚRĀVAKA vehicle; (4) those of indefinite (ANIYATA) lineage, who may follow any of three vehicles; and (5) those without lineage (agotra), who are incapable of liberation, or who have lost the potential to achieve enlightenment by becoming incorrigibles (ICCHANTIKA). Persons are predisposed to follow the path of their lineage, with śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas eventually achieving the enlightenment of the arhat and bodhisattvas achieving the enlightenment of a buddha, or tathāgata. A person of indeterminate lineage may become either an arhat or a buddha, and the icchantikas neither of the two.

śrāvakayāna. (T. nyan thos kyi theg pa; C. shengwen sheng; J. shōmonjō; K. sŏngmun sŭng 聲聞乘). In Sanskrit, “vehicle of the disciples,” in MAHĀYĀNA treatments of the path, one of the two constituents (along with PRATYEKABUDDHAYĀNA) of the so-called “lesser vehicle” (HĪNAYĀNA). These two vehicles (C. ER SHENG), together with the third vehicle of the BODHISATTVA, are the “three vehicles” (TRIYĀNA) often mentioned in Mahāyāna sūtras. The proponents of the various Mahāyāna philosophical schools disagree as to whether or not the śrāvakayāna is an expedient stratagem (UPĀYA), with the MADHYAMAKA arguing that it is and that all beings, including ŚRĀVAKAs, will eventually enter the Mahāyāna and achieve buddhahood, and the some YOGĀCĀRA thinkers holding that śrāvakas will only become arhats and cannot go on to become buddhas.

Śrāvastī. (P. Sāvatthi; T. Mnyan yod; C. Shewei guo; J. Shae koku; K. Sawi kuk 舍衛國). Capital city of KOŚALA and one of the major cities of India at the time of the Buddha. The Pāli commentator BUDDHAGHOSA states implausibly that there were 5.7 million families living in Śrāvastī during the Buddha’s lifetime. The Buddha spent many years there after he attained enlightenment, and he is reported to have passed twenty-five rains retreats (VARṢĀ) in the city. Śrāvastī was ruled by the Buddha’s royal patron, King PRASENAJIT, and was home to his wealthiest patron, ANĀTHAPIṆḌADA, who offered to the Buddha the famous JETAVANA grove and its residences. Hundreds of sūtras are set in Śrāvastī. The city is also the site where the Buddha (and, according to some accounts, all previous buddhas) performed two miracles: the “great miracle” (MAHĀPRĀTIHĀRYA), in which the Buddha creates various replicas of himself and appears simultaneously in various terrestrial and celestial abodes; and the “twin miracle” (YAMAKAPRĀTIHĀRYA) in which the Buddha, in response to a challenge from non-Buddhist YOGINs, rose into the air and simultaneously emitted fire and water from his body.

Śreṇika heresy. (C. Xianni waidao, J. Senni gedō, K. Sŏnni oedo 先尼外道). A heresy that originated with Śreṇika VATSAGOTRA, an ascetic wanderer (PARIVRĀJAKA) and contemporary of GAUTAMA Buddha, who claimed that the impermanent physical body was simply a temporary vessel for a permanent self (ĀTMAN); also known as the Senika heresy. In the Aggi-Vacchagottasutta (“Discourse to Vatsagotra on the [Simile of] Fire”), the seventy-second sutta in the Pāli MAJJHIMANIKĀYA, Vacchagotta (the Pāli equivalent of Vatsagotra) has a celebrated exchange with the Buddha concerning ten “indeterminate questions” (AVYĀKṚTA)—i.e., whether the world is eternal or not eternal, infinite or finite, what is the state of the TATHĀGATA after death, etc. The Buddha refuses to respond to any of the questions, since an answer would entangle him in an indefensible philosophical position. Instead, to convey some semblance of the state of the tathāgata after death, the Buddha uses the simile of extinguishing of fire: just as, after a fire has been extinguished, it would be inappropriate to say that it has gone anywhere, so after the tathāgata has extinguished each of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), they cannot be said to have gone anywhere. At the conclusion of the discourse, Vatsagotra accepts the Buddha as his teacher. (The Ānandasutta of the SAṂYUTTANIKĀYA explains that the Buddha kept silent in response to Vatsagotra’s questions about the nature of the self in order to prevent him from falling into the extremes of either ŚĀŚVATAVĀDA, “eternalism,” or UCCHEDAVĀDA, “annihilationism.”) The DAZHIDU LUN (*Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra) identifies the Vacchagotta of the Pāli suttas with Śreṇika Vatsagotra, the namesake of what in MAHĀYĀNA sources is termed the Śreṇika heresy. The locus classicus for this heresy appears in the MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA. There, when Śreṇika raises the question about whether there is a self or not, the Buddha keeps silent, so Śreṇika himself offers a fire simile, but with a radically different interpretation from what is found in the Aggi-Vacchagottasutta. He instead compares the physical body and the self to a house and its owner: even though the house may burn down in a fire, the owner is safe outside the house; thus, the body and its constituents (skandha) may be impermanent and subject to dissolution, but not the eternal self. The Śreṇika heresy is a frequent topic in the CHAN literature of East Asia. NANYANG HUIZHONG (675?–775), a successor of the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) HUINENG (638–713), is said to have criticized the “mind itself is buddha” (zixin shi fo) teaching of MAZU DAOYI (709–788) and other HONGZHOU ZONG teachers as being akin to the Śrenika heresy. The Japanese SŌTŌSHŪ ZEN master DŌGEN KIGEN (1200–1253), in his BENDŌWA and SHŌBŌGENZŌ, criticizes as equivalent to the Śreṇika heresy the view that the mind-nature is eternal (shinshō jōjū) even though the body perishes. There is much scholarly debate about whether Dōgen’s criticism was directed at the “original enlightenment” (HONGAKU; cf. BENJUE) thought of the medieval TENDAISHŪ, or against the teachings of his rival Zen school, the DARUMASHŪ, whose similar declarations that the mind is already enlightened and that practice was not necessary opened it to charges of antinomianism.

Śṛgālakamātṛ. (P. Sigālakamātā; C. Shikeluoge zhangzhe mu; J. Shikaraka chōjamo; K. Silgaraga changja mo 室珂羅哥長者母). In Sanskrit, “Śṛgālaka’s (“Jackal”) Mother”; an eminent ARHAT declared by the buddha to be foremost among his nun disciples who aspire through faith (ŚRADDHĀDHIMUKTA, P. saddhādhimutta). According to the Pāli account, she was born into a wealthy merchant’s family in Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA) and after marriage gave birth to a son named Sigālaka (S. Śṛgālaka), hence her epithet. Once she overheard the Buddha preach to her son concerning the brahmanical practice of worshipping the four directions and, immediately comprehending his words, she instantly became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA, P. sotāpanna). When later she renounced the world and entered the order (P. saṅgha; S. SAṂGHA), she was filled with faith and would gaze at the Buddha during his sermons, infatuated with his beauty. Knowing her nature, the Buddha preached to her in such a way that her infatuation would lead her to enlightenment. Many lifetimes before, during the time of Padmottara Buddha, she is said to have resolved to be foremost among those who aspire through faith. She was at that time the daughter of a minister and once accompanied him to hear the Buddha preach. Inspired by faith, she entered the order and, hearing the Buddha praise someone as foremost in faith, vowed to attain the same distinction in a future life.

Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra. (T. Lha mo dpal phreng gi seng ge’i sgra’i mdo; C. Shengman shizihou yisheng da fangbian fangguang jing; J. Shōman shishiku ichijōdaihōben hōkōgyō; K. Sŭngman sajahu ilsŭng tae pangp’yŏn panggwang kyŏng 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經). In Sanskrit, “Sūtra on the Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā,” one of the earliest TATHĀGATAGARBHA texts, composed about the third century CE, probably by MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA adherents in the ĀNDHRA region of southern India. The original Sanskrit has not survived, except in quotations in such texts as the RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA. The first translation of this sūtra into Chinese was made by the central Indian missionary DHARMAKṢEMA (d. 433) in the 420s, which was no longer extant by the Yuan dynasty. The second and most popular Chinese translation was made in 436 by GUṆABHADRA (394–468), also a native of central India. Although its full title is Shengman shizihu yisheng da fangbian fangguang jing, Guṇabhadra’s title is abbreviated in six different ways in the Chinese commentarial literature, the shortest and the best-known of which is simply as the Shengman jing (Śrīmālā Sūtra). A third translation was made in the early eighth century by BODHIRUCI (672–727), a native of southern India. The sūtra is exceptional in its distinctive stance on laypeople and laywomen. The chief character of the sūtra is Queen Śrīmālā, the daughter of King PRASENAJIT. The sūtra is considered one of the authoritative texts for the doctrine of tathāgatagarbha and buddha-nature (S. BUDDHADHĀTU; C. FOXING), even though the concept of tathāgatagarbha does not receive extensive treatment in the text. In the sūtra, the tathāgatagarbha is the basis of the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA); since all sentient beings share in the same tathāgatagarbha, they will all equally reach NIRVĀṆA. The Śrīmālā Sūtra criticizes rigidly apophatic interpretations of the doctrine of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), maintaining that tathāgatagarbha is both empty (śūnya) and nonempty (aśūnya), because it simultaneously is empty of all afflictions (KLEŚA) but “nonempty” (viz., full) of all the Buddha’s virtues. The sūtra explains the Buddha’s virtues using kataphatic language, such as permanence (nitya) and selfhood (ĀTMAN). The Śrīmālā Sūtra was especially influential in East Asian Buddhism. Over twenty Chinese commentaries were composed, the most influential being those by JINGYING HUIYUAN (523–592), JIZANG (549–623), and KUIJI (632–682).

Śrīsiṃha. (T. Shrī sing ha) (fl. eighth century). Sanskrit proper name of an important figure in the early dissemination (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet, especially in the propagation of the RDZOGS CHEN teachings. According to some Tibetan accounts, he was born in China, although other sources identify his birthplace as Khotan or Kinnaur. At the age of eighteen, he is said to have traveled to Suvarṇadvīpa, often identified as the island of Sumatra. There he has a vision of AVALOKITEŚVARA, who advised him to go to India. Before doing so, he studied at “five-peak mountain,” which some sources assume is WUTAISHAN in China. He next went to the Sosadvīpa charnel ground (ŚMAŚĀNA), where he studied with MAÑJUŚRĪMITRA for twenty-five years. After his teacher’s death, he traveled to BODHGAYĀ, where he unearthed tantric texts hidden there by Mañjuśrīmitra. Śrīsiṃha is especially remembered in Tibet as the teacher of VAIROCANA, one of the most important figures in the earlier dissemination of Buddhism to Tibet. Vairocana was one of the first seven Tibetans (SAD MI BDUN) ordained as Buddhist monks by ŚĀNTARAKṢITA at the monastery of BSAM YAS, and he soon became an illustrious translator. He is said to have been a disciple of PADMASAMBHAVA and a participant on the Indian side in the BSAM YAS DEBATE. After Padmasambhava’s departure from Tibet, the king required a fuller exposition of TANTRA and sent Vairocana to India to obtain further tantric instructions. After many trials, he arrived in India, where he was instructed by Śrīsiṃha. Fearing that other Indian masters would object to his imparting the precious esoteric teachings to a foreigner, Śrīsiṃha insisted that he study sūtras and less esoteric tantric texts with other teachers during the day, conveying the most secret teachings to him under the cover of darkness; these were the rdzogs chen teachings that Vairocana took back to Tibet and taught to king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. Among other esoteric teachings that Vairocana gave to Śrīsiṃha is Śrīsiṃha’s tantric commentary on the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA.

śrīvatsa. (T. dpal be’u; C. jixiang haiyun; J. kichijōkaiun; K. kilsang haeun 吉祥海雲). In Sanskrit, literally, “beloved of Śrī,” an epithet of Viṣṇu but used to describe a triangular pattern on the chest of Viṣṇu. The term is generally translated as “endless knot,” and is considered to be one of the eight auspicious symbols (AṢṬAMAṄGALA) of Buddhism. Usually depicted as a closed design of intertwined lines at right angles, it is said to symbolize the endless wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. It is often listed as the last of the eighty secondary marks (ANUVYAÑJANA) of a superman (MAHĀPURUṢA), and is said to adorn the soles of a buddha’s feet.

Śrīvijaya. (T. Dpal rnam par rgyal ba; C. Shilifoshi; J. Shitsuribussei; K. Sillibulsŏ 室利佛逝). A kingdom located on the island of Sumatra (in modern Indonesia) which was an important center of Buddhism from the seventh through the eleventh centuries. Located along the key maritime routes of Southeast Asia, it was a major political power in the region. The Chinese pilgrim YIJING (635–713 CE) made extended stays in the kingdom on both his trip to India and his return to China, stopping there first for six months to study Sanskrit, and then making a more lengthy stay beginning in 687, where he translated a number of texts, including much of the massive MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA, and wrote an account of his journey, the NANHAI JIGUI NEIFA ZHUAN; because there was no paper and ink in Sumatra, Yijing made a short trip to China to retrieve these items before returning to Śrīvijaya to continue his work. He reported that in the city of Bhoga there were more than a thousand monks, whom he praised for their learning and their adherence to the vinaya, which he said was the same as that practiced in India. He advised Chinese monks to stop in Śrīvijaya for preparatory studies before proceeding to India. In the eleventh century, the Bengali monk ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA may have visited Śrīvijaya to study with DHARMAKĪRTIŚRĪ; the sources say that he visited Suvarṇadvīpa, a term that seemed to encompass a larger region, which included Sumatra.

Śroṇāparānta. (P. Sunāparanta; C. Shuluna; J. Shurona; K. Surona 輸盧那). The region lying along the Narmadā River and traversing the present western Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, most likely identical to Aparanta. The elder PŪRṆA (P. Puṇṇa) hailed from Śroṇāparānta. According to the Pāli legend, the elder Puṇṇa once invited the Buddha to accept the donation of a sandalwood monastery constructed by the inhabitants of Sunāparanta. The Buddha accepted this offer and traveled there by flying, accompanied by a host of 499 arhats. Along the way he descended to Saccabaddha (S. Satyabaddha) mountain and converted the sage dwelling there. The Burmese (Myanmar) identify Sunāparanta as a portion of their homeland named Sunāparanta-Tambdīpa along the northern reaches of the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) river basin in Upper Burma. On the basis of the Puṇṇa legend, Burmese chroniclers also claim that Buddhism was established among the Burmese during the lifetime of the Buddha and therefore is older than the Buddhism of Sri Lanka. Later Burmese chroniclers also identify Sunāparanta with Aparanta, thus allowing them to claim that their homeland received the AŚOKA-era Buddhist mission of the Yavana (Greek) Dharmarakṣita (P. Yonaka Dhammarakkhita).

Srong btsan sgam po. (Songtsen Gampo) (r. c. 605–650). The thirty-third Tibetan religious king (chos kyi rgyal po) who reigned during the period of the Yar klungs dynasty; credited with establishing Buddhism as the predominant religion in Tibet. He is considered the first of three great religious kings, along with KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN and RAL PA CAN. Although the historical facts of his life are somewhat murky, stories of Srong btsan sgam po’s activities pervade Tibetan culture. His rule forged a cohesive national center and brought Tibet to the zenith of it military expansion, shaping an empire that rivaled any in Asia. During Srong btsan sgam po’s reign, Tibet was surrounded by Buddhist currents to the south and west, which appear to have had a particularly profound effect on Tibetan civilization. According to traditional sources, the king and his two wives, the Nepalese BHṚKUTI and the Chinese WENCHENG, were instrumental in the early promulgation of Buddhist practice in his kingdom. An important Tibetan text, the MAṆI BKA’ ’BUM (“One Hundred Thousand Instructions on the Maṇi”), describes the monarch as an earthly manifestation of AVALOKITEŚVARA, the BODHISATTVA of compassion, and his wives as forms of the female bodhisattva TĀRĀ. These accounts are at the heart of Tibet’s Buddhist myth of origin and play a central role in how most Tibetans understand the history of their country and religion. After ascending the throne, Srong btsan sgam po moved his capital from the heartland of the Yar klungs Valley in the south to its modern location in LHA SA. With the support of their monarch, each queen established an important Buddhist temple to house a statue she had carried to Tibet: Bhṛkuti founding the JO KHANG temple for an image of ŚĀKYAMUNI called JO BO MI BSKYOD RDO RJE, Wencheng founding what is now the RA MO CHE temple for her statue of Śākyamuni called JO BO SHĀKYAMUNI or Jo bo rin po che. These images were later switched, and today the Jo bo Śākyamuni statue sits in the Jo khang, where it is venerated as Tibet’s holiest Buddhist relic. According to legend, the Tang princess Wencheng also imported Chinese systems of geomancy and divination through which the Tibetan landscape was viewed as a supine demoness requiring subjugation in order for Buddhism to take root and flourish. Srong btsan sgam po purportedly constructed a series of “taming temples” that acted as nails pinning down the limbs of the demoness (T. srin mo), rendering her powerless. The Jo khang was constructed over the position of the demoness’ heart. In addition to the Jo khang, traditional sources count twelve main taming (T. ’dul) temples spread across the Himalayan landscape, each pinning down a point on the demoness’s body. These structures appear to be in concentric circles radiating out from her heart at Lha sa. Out from the heart are the “edge-pinning temples” (MTHA’ ’DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG) of KHRA ’BRUG, ’GRUM, BKA’ TSHAL, and GRUM PA RGYANG, said to pin down her right and left shoulders and right and left hips, respectively; and beyond that four “extra-pinning temples” (YANG ’DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG) BU CHU, MKHO MTHING, DGE GYES, and PRA DUM RTSE that pin down her right and left elbows and right and left knees, respectively. In 637, Srong btsan sgam po established an eleven-storied palace on the hill of northeast Lha sa called Mar po ri. While this structure was later destroyed by fire, it served as the foundation for the PO TA LA palace constructed in the seventeenth century under the direction of the fifth DALAI LAMA NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO. The king is also said to have commissioned his minister Thon mi Saṃbhota to create a new script (what is now known as Tibetan) in order to translate Buddhist texts from Sanskrit. He also established what is known as the “great legal code” (gtsug lag bka’ khrims chen po). While contemporary scholars now question the portrait of Srong btsan sgam po as a pious convert to Buddhism (it is known, for example, that he maintained close ties to the early BON religion), many of Tibet’s most important Buddhist institutions were established during his time.