can perform the same deed can indeed follow him. In his late years, while translating Buddhist literature in changing, he is said to had been attempted by swarms of a beautiful female attendance presented to him by the emperor, who did not hinder in any way his working vigor, which is indeed prodigious. Kumārajīva is known in Chinese history especially as the translator of Mahāyāna sūtras, of which his translations of the Lotus Sūtra (T.262), the Sūtra of the Teaching of Vimalakīrti (T.475), the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra (T.642), the Daśabhūmikā Sūtra, and the corpus of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (T.223, 227, 235, 245) remain some of the most commented works. His translations of philosophical treaties like Nāgārjuna’s Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra (T.1509), Mūlamādhjamika Śāstra with Piṅgalacakṣu‘s commentary (T.1564), Dvādaśamukha Śāstra (K.1668), Daśabhūmivibhāsa Śāstra (K.584), Āryadeva’s Śataka Śāstra (T.1569) and Harivarman’s Tattvasiddhi Śāstra (T.1646) led to a foundation of different philosophical schools. His translation of the Amitābha Sūtra (K.192) and some other works related to the visualization of the Buddha of Infinite Light (T.382, etc.), and his personal engagement in the Pure Land practice, contributed to the foundation of the Pure Land school, the most popular cult in the Far East to the present day. His translation of theMaitreyavyākaraṇa Sūtra (K.198) and other works related to the cult of the Maitreya (K.195, etc.) also exercised a profound influence on many Buddhist thinkers and yogis. His translation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya in ten recitations (K.810), the Sarvāstivādaprātimokṣa Sūtra (T.1436), theMahāyānavinayabrahmasāla Sūtra (T.1484), and many other works on Vinaya (K.527, 539), some of which, like Buddha’sDispensation Legacy Sūtra (K.453), are still regularly recited in Chinese monasteries, greatly contributed to study of Vinaya in China and to establishment of a separate Vinaya school. These great contributions of Kumārajīva to Chinese Buddhism are well known to all students of Buddhism in the Far East. In order to understand how Kumārajīva managed to combine many aspects of the Buddhist learning into a harmonious whole for achieving the aim of Buddhist study, namely to benefit oneself and others, it is worthwhile to study one of the least known part of his work, his translation of the meditation treatises. Most of them are grouped together in theChinese Tripitaka under the numbers T.613–616, and we shall devote this study to descriptive analysis of them. They show clearly how the Vaibhāsika Sautrāntika meditation methods coexisted from an early stage with a new Mahāyāna Mādhyamika ideological outlook forming a convergent whole. The Mahāyāna teachings were at first addressed to Śrāvakas well versed in the traditional Buddhist lore with the aim to enlarge the horizons of their understanding of already well-known practices. The success of Mahāyāna in China in the period when the so calledHīnayāna Canonwas already known is practically due to the skill with which the traditional stuff was presented in the new 46 (2) Bhante Dhammadipa
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