[Buddha-l] The mess at Bodh Gaya

[Dan Lusthaus]

"Corruption" at holy sites is not a new phenomenon, as has been mentioned.
Charging hefty "admission" fees has been going on for a long time in
Buddhism -- and is particularly rampant in places like Japan where you not
only pay for general admission to a temple, but additional admission fees
for each compound within the complex.

Here is a story from the 7th century -- Kuiji (Xuanzang's successor)
invented this story to explain how Xuanzang received a secret transmission
of Dharmapala's commentary on Vasubandhu's Trimsika (Thirty Verses).
Xuanzang is obviously outraged at the touristy commercialism, but it's all
for a good cause with a happy ending (as made-up stories usually go!).
However the underlying idea -- viz. that such activities were to be found in
the ancient world -- is obviously NOT a proposition that the contemporary
audience would have found surprising. This translation is from Chapter
Fifteen of my _Buddhist Phenomenology_. You can read the rest of the
story -- and the reasons why the entire transmission story is a
fabrication -- there. (Don't blame me for Kuiji's purple prose -- it was a
common style at that time in China.)

At that time, there was a layperson, Hsüan-chien 玄鑑 (lit.
“profound/mysterious mirror”!?) who could recognize the difference between
phoenix and pheasant feathers, and could easily track the footprints of a
unicorn [on land] or a dragon hidden on the sea bottom (i.e., he could see
that Dharmapāla was special, though ordinary to look at). He put whatever he
had of value at [Dharmapāla’s] disposal. His sincerity and honesty grew
ever deeper through the years. Bodhisattva [Dharmapāla] guided him through
the many doctrines and answered [all his questions] with this commentary.
Then he commanded him, saying:

      “After I die, from whomever comes to observe [me], take one tael of
gold. Use your ability for discerning spiritual talents to recognize that
special one who will be able to teach and understand [this commentary]”.

      The final end of that Profound Guide (i.e., Dharmapāla) gradually drew
near. The Bodhisattva’s fame rose in India, and one heard about his
treatises and interpretations in other lands as well. Who, with any sort of
spiritual sensitivity, could fail to cherish his magnificence?  [Since] if
one hears it in the morning, one can die in the evening [fulfilled], who
would be too stingy [to offer] gold and jewels [to behold him]?

      [After he died, the place] was bustling with the thoroughfare of
hordes coming to see the Worthy, and soon valuables were piled as high as
the Five Sacred Mountains. A steady line of spectators streamed in from the
five regions of India [in such mass] as had never before been seen.



      The Great Master [Hsüan-tsang] visited all the sacred places, and he
had the natural gift for knowing the genuine from the false. [When he
arrived at Dharmapāla’s shrine, he said,] “This lacks even a trace of
spirituality and is utterly sacrilegious. How could you leave [Buddhist]
teachings so open to ridicule?”

      Upon hearing such marvelous reasoning [the layman] humbly approached
and listened further [to Hsüan-tsang]. The layman, recalling the previous
sage’s [i.e., Dharmapāla’s] last words, [thought] “Now this Worthy must
be the right one!” So he gave [Hsüan-tsang] this ‘humble’ text along with
[a copy of] Dharmapāla’s Commentary to the Pañcaskandha-prakāraṇa.

      The Great Master read it carefully, and it was as if he were gazing at
[Dharmapāla’s] sagely appearance [or “face” itself]. He knew that what he
held in his hands was the true explanation.

      Just as the moon in the west traverses to its home in the East
[unseen], so once again this expansive, far-reaching subtle ‘fish trap’
was passed on in secret. Its message is so “potent” [lit. appreciated] it
transports your spirit to other [i.e., heavenly] mansions; its brilliance
eclipses the sun; it purifies the ears and eyes in order to think most
deeply; it can shake up your mental spiritual-potency and offers a clue to
the wondrous.


Dan Lusthaus