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Abstract

This dissertation critically examines and demonstrates how Jingyuan (1011-1088), a Song Dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk, transformed the Avataṁsaka Sūtra into a liturgy that conveyed the Sūtra's vision of the Mahāyāna Bodhisattva ideal. In keeping with the earlier interpreters, Chengguan (738-839) and Zongmi (780-841), Jingyuan understood the Avataṁsaka Sūtra, long considered the pinnacle of Buddhist philosophy and cosmology, as a handbook of Bodhisattva practices. For them the Bhadracarīpranidhāna Chapter, the source of the Avataṁsaka Liturgy, held the key to cultivating the Bodhisattva Path articulated by the Sūtra. Jingyuan distilled the essential elements of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's Practices and Vows that comprise the Bhadracarīpranidhāna into existing liturgical formats. The result was three recensions, collectively referred to as the Avataṁsaka Liturgy - - the Expanded, the Condensed, and the Popular Versions - - in varying degrees of complexity, suited to the different needs of his Buddhist community.

To transform Mahāyāna ideals into liturgy, Jingyuan drew upon visualizations from the Bhadracarīpranidhāna, which when performed with ritual prostrations, constituted the heart of the liturgical practice. He further integrated two distinctly Avataṁsaka visualizations: the Infinite Contemplation of Indra's Net and the Unobstructed Contemplation of the Dharma Realm, into the sitting meditation section of his Expanded Liturgy. Thus, Jingyuan combined the movement of bowing with the stillness of meditation to produce a single method for cultivating the samādhi states articulated by the Avataṁsaka Sūtra. Jingyuan's efforts revitalized the Avataṁsaka tradition in twelfth century Hangzhou and earned him recognition as an Avataṁsaka patriarch.

The dissertation concludes with reflections on the continuity of the Avataṁsaka Liturgy among contemporary Buddhists and suggests that contemplative-devotional liturgies can be a useful, even necessary aspect of Buddhist practice as it emerges in the West. The appendices include translations of the three recensions of the Avataṁsaka Liturgy, the Bhadracarī Chapter of the Avataṁsaka Sūtra, and the Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Practice Dharmas of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.