Sudhana’s Quest:
Learning and Buddhism
by Alfred Bloom,
Emeritus Professor, University of Hawaii
Exhortations to study are an important facet of Buddhist teaching. In the
Pure Land tradition, there is a phrase “Study the Buddha’s Great
Compassion.” There are three divisions in Buddhist learning, referring to
the spiritual training in Precepts, Meditation and Wisdom. Over the course
of Buddhist history each denomination or major stream of tradition developed
its own scholarly traditions to explore the multitude of sacred texts and
clarify significant Buddhist principles. They also established institutions
to train monks and teachers. Among the earliest public schools in Japan is
the Shugei Shuchiin (a School of Arts and Science) established by Kobo
Daishi (Kukai, 774-835) in 828. Through the centuries, hosts of scholarly
monks produced great commentarial texts, with commentaries on commentaries.
The detailed discussions rival the reputation of European scholastics who
focused on how many angels could stand on the head of a pin. For modern
people, these efforts seem quite irrelevant to the important issues of the
day. However, these studies and texts have supplied the insights and
perspectives that nourished the spiritual meaning of Buddhism and the
culture it inspired. Their insights are communicated through rituals and
have permeated the general understanding of Buddhism. While such scholarly
studies may seem far removed from the concerns of people’s daily lives,
Buddhism also developed means for communicating its fundamental principles,
values and ideals through parables, stories, metaphors, similes and a wide
variety of poetic and prose literatures. The path for becoming a Buddha not
only included mystical or spiritual practice, but worldly knowledge as a
means to benefit the masses of suffering people and making Buddhist
compassion real. Buddhism brought uplifting culture to the life of Asian
countries wherever it took root. Gautama Buddha is portrayed as a physician
because his approach to suffering in diagnosing the cause and prescribing a
cure to human problems parallels that of a physician.
To
illustrate the Buddhist view of learning, in this essay we will look into
the revered "Flower Ornament Sutra" (skt. Avatamsaka, ch. Hua-yan,
jp. Kegon Sutra; sometimes known as "Garland Sutra" or "Wreath
Sutra"). It is a massive religious text and largely unknown to rank and file
members though it has had great influence in Mahayana Buddhism in all
schools. In China there are several versions which vary in size. However, in
English the Sutra has been translated by Thomas Cleary, reaching 1,600 pages
in 39 chapters.
In Mahayana
Buddhism this Sutra purportedly records the teaching of Buddha Sakyamuni
given immediately following his enlightenment. (In Theravada tradition there
is the first sermon of the Buddha given at Benares which summarizes the
basic principles of early Buddhism.) In the Mahayana T’ian-t’ai (jpn.
Tendai) teaching in China and Japan there is said to be five stages in
Buddha’s teaching career. The spiritual principles and philosophy expressed
in Buddha’s enlightenment, presumably recorded in this Sutra, were too
difficult for ordinary people to comprehend immediately. Consequently, the
initial teaching, represented by this Sutra was set aside and Buddha
commenced teaching more elementary principles and concepts of Buddhism such
as the four noble truths and eightfold noble path. The Buddha gradually led
his disciples to ever more profound teachings until the meaning of his
original teaching could be shared. Essentially the T’ian-t’ai teaching
offers an educational theory of graded or gradual learning which provides
teachings according to the spiritual capacity of the hearer, guiding them to
ever deeper understanding. This is the basis for the practice of Upaya
(jpn. Houben) or teaching by compassionate means.
Essential
to understanding this text is the transformation of the concept of Buddha
within Mahayana Buddhism from a discrete historical person to Buddha as
inconceivable cosmic reality, which manifests in all forms of being in
nature and the universe. Buddha’s enlightenment is discernible in the drive
within sentient beings for deeper and deeper spiritual growth and
fulfillment, that is, the drive to become one with reality. An aspect of the
teaching in the Sutra is that the search for enlightenment is itself the
indication that enlightenment is already actively present within us. What we
seem to be striving for on our own is already given in our striving. In
effect we do not gain enlightenment which we could not know even if we
gained it. Rather, it is because of enlightenment that we are striving. This
understanding is what other traditions, such as the Pure Land, and teachers,
particularly Shinran, call Other Power. In other words, what we aspire to as
our goal is itself the motivating or operating source in our spiritual
engagement. Enlightenment realizes itself. In Dogen, the practice of Zazen
is within the enlightenment of the Buddha and is itself an expression of
enlightenment. As we all live within the cosmic reality of the Buddha’s
enlightenment, everything we contact or experience becomes an avenue to
realize enlightenment in one’s own life.
This perspective
inspired
the understanding and pervasive awareness in Asian religion and philosophy
that “the one is all and the all is one.” It grounds its grand vision of the
oneness, mutual inclusiveness or complementarity of all things. Perhaps one
of the most outstanding expressions of this in art is the portrayal of
Sudhana’s Quest in the carvings at the great temple of Borobudur in Java in
Indonesia, as well as the image of the Great Buddha of the Todaiji Nara,
Japan in the 8th century. Here the Buddha Vairocana, the Great
Sun Buddha, backed by the myriad manifestations of buddhas, is the primary
Buddha in the Sutra, symbolizing the entire universe as the Reality-body of
the Buddha. This vision of oneness is exhibited in the cosmic diagrams (mandalas)
of the esoteric tradition. The image of the Great Sun Buddha (skt.
Mahavairocana, jpn. Dainichi) in the Todaiji in Nara was also
politically significant in Japan. It furnished the symbolism of the unity of
the people beyond the tribalism of the earlier religion, when it was
dedicated by Emperor Shomu in 740.
As we have
indicated, Buddhism attempted to convey its vision of oneness and
interdependence through many types of stories and symbols. Among the stories
recounted in the "Flower Adornment Sutra" is that of Sudhana (Good Wealth),
the son of a merchant, whose spiritual search for Enlightenment offers an
example of the serious pursuit of truth that should motivate everyone’s
quest. Sudhana sets out on his journey alone, suggesting the personal and
sometimes lonely nature of the search for truth. The story appears in
chapter 39 in the text: "Entry into the Realm of Reality" (skt.
Gandhavyuha). This section takes up 400 pages in translation. It shows
that all our experiences are opportunities for learning about ourselves or
about the world we live in. Through such a quest we can fulfill our personal
and spiritual potential. Along this same line the text describes Indra’s
(king of the gods in Indian mythology) Net where at each node there is a
diamond reflecting all other diamonds, expressing the interconnectedness,
interdependence of all things, and mutual interpenetration of all things
(Oneness). Another important chapter of the Sutra is the "Ten Stages Sutra"
in chapter 31 which outlines the stages in the formation of a bodhisattva
(Buddha-to be). Also chapter 38 contains a summary of Mahayana Buddhist
teaching.
Sudhana was
motivated to seek enlightenment by Bodhisattva Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of
Wisdom. He asks Manjusri how he can attain wisdom and help enlighten others.
Manjusri tells him to seek out good friends and that he must not become lax
or weary in seeking good teachers. Even when encountering a good teaching
and being satisfied, he must not stop. Rather, he must practice the master’s
instruction. Sudhana makes vows to become an enlightened and enlightening
person. Impressed by his sincerity, Manjusri sends him to another teacher.
The next teacher is the monk Cloud of Virtue who relates to him all he knows
concerning the conduct of a Bodhisattva and then, reaching the limit of his
knowledge, sends Sudhana to the next teacher. Thereupon Sudhana sets out on
the path, encountering altogether fifty two teachers, including many types
of people without consideration of class or status:
women and men, laypeople and priests, beggars and kings and queens. For
example, Sudhana learned about the sea from a fisherman; from a doctor he
learned compassion for the ill. A wealthy man taught him frugality, while a
monk taught him how to attain peace through meditation. A disabled person
taught him patience and he learned simple happiness from children at play or
from plain, humble people. He learned harmony from burning incense or seeing
flower arrangements. From nature he observed a plant growing from a decaying
tree, revealing the uncertainty of life. He gained spiritual renewal from
sunlight by day and the stars by night. Near the end of his pilgrimage,
Sudhana meets Maitreya Bodhisattva who is considered in Buddhist mythology
to be the next Buddha. In the course of his encounter with Maitreya, Sudhana
sees Indra’s Net with it totalistic, holistic grasp of universal reality.
His final encounter is with the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue (skt.
Samantbhadra, jpn. Fugen). This bodhisattva instructs Sudhana
that the only purpose of wisdom is that it should be practiced and shared
for the benefit of all sentient beings. In accordance with this principle
Samantabhadra makes ten vows leading to Buddhahood. These include: worship
and dedication to the Buddha; repentance for one’s evil and rejoicing in the
virtue of others; to follow the Buddha, remaining in the world to teach
others; bringing benefit to all other beings, turning one’s merit over to
them.
The ultimate meaning of religious faith is how it benefits others. As a
friend related to me recently, the issue of Buddhism or religious faith is
not to discover the meaning of my life, which is essentially impossible, but
how can I make other people’s lives more meaningful? This is what
Bodhisattvas discover as they begin to seek enlightenment first for
themselves, but in the course of practice find that it cannot be attained
without sharing it with others. It is interdependence at work.
Sudhana’s
quest is the quest of every person seeking the fulfillment of his or her
life. It is very common that people describe their faith as a Way or Path.
While we are all attracted to the goal, it is really the journey on the path
that really counts. Accordingly it is said: “All of life is a journey which
paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to
us. We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get
there, and how happy we are when we get there.” Sudhana’s pilgrimage or
quest instructs us that in the final analysis the quest is personal and
undergone by oneself. It cannot be someone else’s. It teaches that we must
be open to insight from all sources and not be guided by preferences or
prejudices. At the same time, we realize that no one person embodies the
whole truth itself. The quest is not merely for specific information but for
the realization of the truth that transforms our life and enables us to see
beyond the limitations and concerns of the moment, a truth that both engages
and embraces our whole being and the world live in.
