Barabudur: Tracing Back to Conditioned Genesis

最近一个月真是过得平淡，读书，做设计，窝在学校方圆500m的地方生活，囧。

读完数本古老的文献之后， 终于动笔写Independent Studies的论文，头一个研究对象是爪哇岛的婆罗浮屠（Barabudur），想好了用缘起论来下笔，在这里先把已经写好的贴上来，争取在复活节结束 前搞定他，然后就可以去面见Dr Wong了，hiahia。希望xz的人们克制一点，不要丢掉了佛陀伟大的教导。
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I.                    The Title Barabudur: Tracing Back to Conditioned Genesis II.                  The Author’s Homage Namo Buddhaya, Namo Dharmaya, Namo SanghayaHere I prostrate to Guru Manjughoshaya, and all the masters of Madhayamika & Yogacara lineagesAs I undertake the work of researchMay renunciation - the root of all Dharma practice, arise naturally in the readers’ mindstream III.               The Core Ryhmes All phenomena arising from a cause,of these Enlightened One has told the cause and their cession;This is the “doctrine” of the Great Recluse. IV.               The Actual Main Part 

When Barabudur was rediscovered in central Java under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth, nobody can recognize its identity, history and religious belongings. Though Buddhism has faded away centuries ago, it never been totally erased by time stream. As the Earth Goddess being witness of Prince Siddhartha’s way of Bodhisattva, Barabudur evidentially becomes a magnificent monument of the golden age of Buddhism. After a chronical archeology research, several basic architectural and historical evidences emerged from plies of sketches and Javanese literatures. There is no unambiguous written record of its intended purpose. However, according to two inscriptions of the time and found locally, one which seems to be intentionally divided into ten paragraphs, mentioned about the King Samaratungga decided to construct a religious architecture. Scholars figure out it has something related with ten stages of Bodhisattva. And the other one states that Queen Sri Kahulunan distributed the tax revenue to a shrine named Bhumisambhara, which means “Mountain of the accumulation of virtue in passing through stages.” Barabudur is built on a bedrock hill, and when viewed from above takes the form of a giant Buddhist mandala. The foundation is a square, approximately 118 meters on each side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six are square and the upper three are circular. The upper platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large central stupa. Each stupa is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Statues of the Buddha sit inside the pierced enclosures.

The main vertical structure can be divided into three groups: base, body, and top. The base is a 123x123 m² square in size and 4 meters high of walls. The body is composed of five square-platforms each with diminishing heights. The first terrace is set back 7 meters from the edge of the base. The other terraces are set back by 2 meters, leaving a narrow corridor at each stage. The top consists of 3 circular platforms, with each stage supporting a row of perforated stupas, arranged in concentric circles. There is one main dome at the center; the top of which is the highest point of the monument. Access to the upper part is through stairways at the centre of each side with a number of gates, watched by a total of 32 lion statues. The main entrance is at the eastern side, the location of the first narrative reliefs. In Barabubur the narrative panels of bas relief are markedly significant, which covers the façades and balustrades. Reliefs and Textual SourcesHidden base                                 Mahakarmavibhanga(分別善惡業報經)First gallery Main wall   Upper register             Lalitavistara(釋迦如來成道經)   Lower register             jatakas and avadanas Balustrade                  jatakas and avadanasSecond gallery Main wall                  Gandavyuha(華嚴經·入法界品) Balusrade                  jatakas and avadanasThird gallery Main wall                  Gandavyuha Balusrade                  GandavyuhaFourth gallery Main wall                  Gandavyuha: the Bhadracari(華嚴經·入法界品·普賢行願王偈) Balusrade                  Gandavyuha The hidden foot relief depicts the workings of karmic law. The wall of the first gallery has two superimposed series of reliefs. The upper part depicts the biography of the Buddha(Lalitavistara), while the lower part of the wall and also balustrades in the first and the second galleries tell the story of the Buddha's former lives(jatakas and avadanas). The only basic difference between the two is that the Mahakarmavibhanga states crime and punishment, the bad results of bad deeds, as well as virtue and its rewards, the beneficial result of good deeds. The Lalitavistara describes Bodhisattva passed through countless rebirths in preparation for that final climax after acquiring and practicing all the admirable qualities. The remaining panels are devoted to Sudhana's further wandering about his search, terminated by his attainment of the perfect enlightenment (Gandavyuha). Apart from stupas and bas reliefs carved in stone, Barabudur has 505 statues of various Buddhas. In the six lower level, Buddha statues are arranged in row on the outer side of balustrades, the number of statues decreasing as platforms progressively diminish to the upper level. The first balustrades have 104 niches, the second 104, the third 88, the fourth 72 and the fifth 64. At the three circular platforms, Buddha statues are placed inside latticed stupas. The first circular platform has 32 stupas, the second 24 and the third 16, that add up to 72 stupas. And in the centre of the circular platforms, an unfinished Buddha statue is in the stupa. 

The discrepancies between the statues are in mudras. On the four lower walls the mudras of the statues on each face differ: on the east, bhumisparsa-mudra(觸地印); south, varada-mudra(與願印); west, dhyana-mudra(禪定印); and on the north, abhaya-mudra(施無畏印). The sixty-four Buddhas of the fifth wall, above the fourth gallery, are all in vitarka-mudra(覺觀印). In the latticed stupas of the circular platforms, the seventy-two Buddhas are all in dharmcakra-mudra(轉法輪印). The unfinished Buddha found in the central stupa, finally, is in bhumisparsa -mudra(觸地印).

I.                    ConclusionII.                  Referencea Barabubur: history and significance of a Buddhist monument /Luis Gomez & Hiram Woodwardb 華嚴專宗學院佛學研究所論文集：羅婆浮屠與華嚴思想 /曹德啟c華嚴專宗學院佛學研究所論文集：華嚴經十地品研究 / 釋觀慧d Abhidharmakosa-sastra(阿毗達磨俱舍論·賢聖品) / Shakya Tswpa Patene What the Buddha Taught / Walpola Rahulaf Teachings from Tibet: Guidance from Great Lamas / Nicholas Ribush