Nicholas Weeks
Bodhicitta
Hakeda on his translation of this early Mahayana text, which BDK has in a free PDF format:
Translator’s Note: It should be noted that the term “Mahayana” here is not used in the usual sense of the word, that is, Mahayana versus Hinayana. Mahayana designates suchness or the absolute. The title of the text, the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, should therefore be understood as the “Awakening of Faith in the Absolute,” not in Mahayana Buddhism as distinguished from Hinayana Buddhism.
The text known as the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Da -
cheng qi xin lun) is a short treatise occupying only nine pages in the
Taishø edition of the Chinese Tripi†aka. The reconstructed Sanskrit
title of the work is Mahåyånasraddhotpåda-såstra; it is said to have
been written in Sanskrit by Asvaghosa and translated into Chinese
in 550 C.E. by the famous Indian translator of Buddhist texts, Paramårtha.
The work is a comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahayana
Buddhism, the product of a mind extraordinarily apt at synthesis.
It begins with an examination of the nature of the absolute or enlightenment
and of the phenomenal world or nonenlightenment, and discusses
the relationships that exist between them; from there it passes
on to the question of how human beings may transcend their finite
state and participate in the life of the infinite while still remaining in
the midst of the phenomenal order; it concludes with a discussion of
particular practices and techniques that will aid the believer in the
awakening and growth of his faith. In spite of its deep concern with
philosophical concepts and definitions, therefore, it is essentially a
religious work, a map drawn by a man of unshakable faith that will
guide the believer to the peak of understanding. But the map and the
peak are only provisional symbols, skillful and expedient ways
employed to bring people to enlightenment. The text and all the arguments
in it exist not for their own sake, but for the sake of this objective
alone. The treatise is, indeed, a true classic of Mahayana Buddhism.
Translator’s Note: It should be noted that the term “Mahayana” here is not used in the usual sense of the word, that is, Mahayana versus Hinayana. Mahayana designates suchness or the absolute. The title of the text, the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, should therefore be understood as the “Awakening of Faith in the Absolute,” not in Mahayana Buddhism as distinguished from Hinayana Buddhism.
The text known as the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Da -
cheng qi xin lun) is a short treatise occupying only nine pages in the
Taishø edition of the Chinese Tripi†aka. The reconstructed Sanskrit
title of the work is Mahåyånasraddhotpåda-såstra; it is said to have
been written in Sanskrit by Asvaghosa and translated into Chinese
in 550 C.E. by the famous Indian translator of Buddhist texts, Paramårtha.
The work is a comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahayana
Buddhism, the product of a mind extraordinarily apt at synthesis.
It begins with an examination of the nature of the absolute or enlightenment
and of the phenomenal world or nonenlightenment, and discusses
the relationships that exist between them; from there it passes
on to the question of how human beings may transcend their finite
state and participate in the life of the infinite while still remaining in
the midst of the phenomenal order; it concludes with a discussion of
particular practices and techniques that will aid the believer in the
awakening and growth of his faith. In spite of its deep concern with
philosophical concepts and definitions, therefore, it is essentially a
religious work, a map drawn by a man of unshakable faith that will
guide the believer to the peak of understanding. But the map and the
peak are only provisional symbols, skillful and expedient ways
employed to bring people to enlightenment. The text and all the arguments
in it exist not for their own sake, but for the sake of this objective
alone. The treatise is, indeed, a true classic of Mahayana Buddhism.
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