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1. Re: Query about the three wheels of doctrine
2. New Publication. Behold the Buddha: Religious Meanings of Japanese Buddhist Icons

Re: Query about the three wheels of doctrine

by John Newman

Dear colleagues,

I hope I am not beating a dead cakra, but I am still perplexed by the notion that mKhas grub rje (or any dGe lugs pa, for that matter) would categorize the Vajrayāna in the third dharmacakra. I went back to look at Matthew Kapstein's original contribution in this thread that suggest this. He says: "In fact, much the same may be said of the Dge-lugs-pa approach, as set out by Mkhas-grub-rje; see Lessing & Wayman, Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras (Mouton 1968), which also speaks of a 'gsang sngags chos 'khor,' but clearly as part of the third wheel."

I suspect Matthew is mistaken. mKhas grub rje does subdivide (Lessing & Wayman Tib. p. 40) the teaching of the Mahāyāna into a pha rol tu phyin pa'i theg pa'i chos 'khor 'khor tshul and a gsang ngags kyi theg pa'i chos 'khor 'khor tshul (Tib. p. 100 ff.), but I have not found a place where he connects this to the Saṃdhinirmocana 3-dharmacakra scheme. Where mKhas grub rje does­ in fact discuss the Saṃdhinirmocana 3-dharmacakra scheme (Tib. p. 52), he presents the standard dGe lugs interpretation that takes the second dharmacakra as teaching Madhyamaka, which is nītārtha, the other two dharmacakras being neyārtha. To state the obvious, it would be bizarre for mKhas grub rje to hold that the Vajrayāna is neyārtha.

I did not reread the entirety of mKhas grub rje's rGyud sde spyi'i rnam gzhag, so perhaps I am missing something. If so, I would be grateful for any clarification others might offer.

With best wishes,

John

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New Publication. Behold the Buddha: Religious Meanings of Japanese Buddhist Icons

by James Dobbins

Behold the Buddha: Religious Meanings of Japanese Buddhist Icons
James C. Dobbins

Paperback: $30.00

ISBN-13: 9780824879990

Published: March 2020

University of Hawaii Press

288 pages | 90 illustrations, 85 in color

Images of the Buddha are everywhere—not just in temples but also in museums and homes and online—but what these images mean largely depends on the background and circumstance of those viewing them. In Behold the Buddha, James Dobbins invites readers to imagine how premodern Japanese Buddhists understood and experienced icons in temple settings long before the advent of museums and the internet. Although widely portrayed in the last century as visual emblems of great religious truths or as exquisite works of Asian art, Buddhist images were traditionally treated as the very embodiment of the Buddha, his palpable presence among people. Hence, Buddhists approached them as living entities in their own right—that is, as awakened icons with whom they could interact religiously.

Dobbins begins by reflecting on art museums, where many non-Buddhists first encounter images of the Buddha, before outlining the complex Western response to them in previous centuries. He next elucidates images as visual representations of the story of the Buddha’s life followed by an overview of the physical attributes and symbolic gestures found in Buddhist iconography. A variety of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other divinities commonly depicted in Japanese Buddhism is introduced, and their “living” quality discussed in the context of traditional temples and Buddhist rituals. Finally, other religious objects in Japanese Buddhism—relics, scriptures, inscriptions, portraits of masters, and sacred sites—are explained using the Buddhist icon as a model. Dobbins concludes by contemplating art museums further as potential sites for discerning the religious character of Buddhist images.

Those interested in Buddhism generally who would like to learn more about its rich iconography—whether encountered in temples or museums—will find much in this concise, well-illustrated volume to help them “behold the Buddha.”

https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/behold-the-buddha-religious-meanings-of-japanese-buddhist...

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