中邊分別論

Readings

Pinyin: Zhōngbiān fēnbié lùn

Wade-Giles: Chung-pien fen-pieh lun

Hangul: 중변분별론

Korean MC: Jungbyeon bunbyeollon

Korean MR: Chungbyŏn punbyŏllon

Katakana: チュウベンフンベツロン

Hepburn: Chūben funbetsu ron

Analysis of the Middle and the Extremes

• The Madhyânta-vibhāga (MAV). Zhongbian fenbie lun; abbreviated as Zhongbian lun 中邊論. Translated by Paramârtha 眞諦 (T 1599). A seminal Yogâcāra treatise, composed in Sanskrit probably sometime during the fourth century CE. Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan traditions consider the bodhisattva Maitreya 彌勒 to be the true author of the verse-text, and the scholar-monk Asaṅga 無著 to be the person who brought the text into our world, after having received it from Maitreya in a vision. The special focus of this text is on the Yogâcāra articulation of the meaning of mistaken discrimination 虛妄分別 vs. the meaning of emptiness of inherent nature 空性, with the aim of breaking attachment to extreme notions of nonexistence 無 and existence 有. This text belongs to what has been referred to as the second stratum of Yogâcāra literature, along with the Mahāyānasūtrâlaṃkāra. Also translated by Xuanzang with the title Bian zhongbian lun 辯中邊論. The MAV is about the path to the attainment of Buddhahood, and it presents this path in five chapters:
  1. Chapter 1: Definitions of Unreal Imagination (abhūta-parikalpa) and Emptiness (śūnyatā) These are the two most central concepts of the text. While the concept of emptiness plays a significant role in many Mahāyāna Buddhist texts— — e.g., in the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras and Madhyamaka treatises—here the text offers a decidedly Yogâcāra interpretation of the concept, reading it in relation to unreal imagination.
  2. Chapter 2: Obstructions (āvaraṇa). Here the text discusses those mental factors which "obstruct" sentient beings from attaining liberation and seeing the way things really are. While terminology of the standard Yogâcāra two hindrances is invoked at the opening of this chapter, it is difficult to make a correspondence between the discussion offered here and the model found in other major Yogâcāra works, such as the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra, Fodi jing lun, Cheng weishi lun, etc.
  3. Chapter 3: Reality (tattva). This chapter offers an extended analysis of reality in terms of the three natures (trisvabhāva). The three natures are also discussed in relation to various other Buddhist concepts and categories.
  4. Chapter 4: Cultivation of Antidotes (pratipakṣa), States with Respect to the Cultivation of Antidotes, and the Attainment of Results. This chapter addresses three topics: first, the various "antidotes" which work to overcome the obstructions; second, the various states or stages of spiritual development; and third, the various results or fruits accrued through Mahāyāna practice.
  5. Chapter 5: The Unsurpassed Vehicle (yānânuttarya). This chapter aims to establish why the Mahāyāna should be considered to be the "unsurpassed vehicle." It includes a discussion of the various ways in which the Mahāyāna is effective in "distinguishing the middle from the extremes."

  There are two Chinese translations:

  1. Three fascicle translation by Xuanzang, entitled 辯中邊論 (T 1600.31.464–477).
  2. Two fascicle translation by Paramârtha, entitled 中邊分別論 (T 1599.31.451a-463).

  References

  Stcherbatsky, TheodoreMadhyânta-vibhāga, Discourse on the Discrimination Between Middle and ExtremesTokyoMeicho-fukyu-kai 1977

  [resp. Mario D'Amato, Charles Muller; ref. Hirakawa]

Dictionary References:

The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, {digital}

Fo Guang Dictionary, 1036

Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa), 0073

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono), ⑧35d*

Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki), (v.1-6)4538a

Copyright © 2010 -- Charles Muller

generated: 2014-05-16