Bodhiruci
Bodhiruci (菩提留支, 5th–6th centuries) means Bodhi splendor. A Buddhist master from northern India, he was versed in Mantra practices and the Tripiṭaka. Aspiring to propagate the Dharma, in 502, the first year of the Yongping (永平) years of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534), he arrived in Luoyang (洛陽), China’s capital. Emperor Xuanwu (魏宣武帝) valued him highly and commanded him to stay in the Yongning Temple (永寧寺) to translate Sanskrit texts into Chinese.
Bodhiruci was a Buddhist monk and esoteric master from North India (6th century CE). He became very active as a teacher following his arrival in Loyang, China in 508 (during the Northern Wei).
He produced translations of 39 works in 127 fascicles, including the Sutra on the Ten Grounds (Chi. 十地経論) and commentary, and the Shorter Sukhāvati Sutra with commentary. The former text became the chief object of study for the Ti-lun (地論) School, of which Bodhiruci is regarded as the patriarch.
A north Indian monk and esoteric master who came to China in 508 and became very active as a teacher and translator, producing translations of 39 works in 127 fascicles. Among these, the most important were the Sūtra on the Ten Grounds and commentary (Sanskrit, Daśabhūmika Sūtra; Chin., Shih ti ching lun), and the Shorter Sukhāvatī-vyūha Sūtra and commentary. The former text became the object of study by the Ti-lun school, of which Bodhiruci is regarded as the patriarch. This school was the forerunner of the Hua-yen school. The latter text commented on one of the three foundational scriptures of the Pure Land school.
Bodhiruci figures prominently in the story of Pure Land master T'an-luan's conversion to this form of Buddhism around 530. According to the story, T'an-luan, disturbed by an illness that presented him with the spectre of his own mortality, had travelled to south China to get a Taoist work on immortality practice. Upon returning north, he encountered Bodhiruci. The latter expressed disdain for Taoist teachings and recommended that T'an-luan concentrate his efforts on attaining the Pure Land instead, handing him copies of Pure Land scriptures. T'an-luan accepted this advice, threw away his Taoist works, and spent the rest of his life in the exclusive practice of Pure Land.
He translated thirty-nine texts in 127 fascicles, including the Diamond Sūtra (T08n0236), The Buddha Name Sūtra (T14n0440), the 10-fascicle version of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (T16n0671), the Sūtra of the Profound Secret Liberation (T16n0675), the Sūtra of Neither Increase Nor Decrease (T16n0668), and the Dharma Collection Sūtra (T17n0761), as well as treatises, such as the Treatise on the Ten grounds Sūtra (T26n1522), the Treatise on the Great Treasure Pile Sūtra (T26n1523), and the Upadeśa on the Sūtra of Amitāyus Buddha (T26n1524). After 537, Bodhiruci was not seen again.
Bodhiruci expressed his unique view on The Buddha’s teachings. Based on the Mahā Parinirvāṇa Sūtra (T12n0374), he said that, for the first twelve years, The Buddha gave only half-worded teachings, followed afterward by fully-worded teachings. Bodhiruci also proposed the one tone theory, saying that The Buddha pronounces teachings in one tone, and Sentient beings come to a variety of understandings according to their capacities. Furthermore, based on the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, he proposed the distinction between immediate and gradual Enlightenment.
Bodhiruci was a Buddhist monk and esoteric master from North India (6th century CE). He became very active as a teacher following his arrival in Loyang, China in 508 (during the Northern Wei).
He produced translations of 39 works in 127 fascicles, including the Sutra on the Ten grounds (Chi. 十地経論) and commentary, and the Shorter Sukhāvati Sutra with commentary. The former text became the chief object of study for the Ti-lun (地論) School, of which Bodhiruci is regarded as the Patriarch.
