Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 941,039 words

This is the English translation of the Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra (“the treatise on the great virtue of wisdom”) by Nagarjuna (c. 2nd century A.D.). The book, in the form of an encyclopedia on Buddhism, is a commentary on the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita (“the perfection of wisdom in five thousand lines”). Volume I describes the conditions...

Chapter XXXV - The Nine Horrible Notions

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- Sub-Contents: (+ / -)

+ Preliminary note on the nine horrible notions (navāśubhasaṃjñā)

. I. Aśubhā in the canonical texts

. II. The ten Asubhasaññā in the pāli Abhidhamma

. III. The nine Aśubhasaṃjñās in the sanskrit Abhidharma

+ Part 1 - The nine notions according to the Abhidharma

. I. The position of the nine notions (navasaṃjñā)

. II. How to meditate on the nine notions (navasaṃjñā)

. III. Connection between the Nine and the Ten Notions

. IV. Results of the Nine Notions

. V. Nature, object and distribution of the Nine Notions

. VI. The place of the nine notions in the dharmas of the path

Part 2 - The nine notions according to the Mahāyana

Sūtra (cf. Pañcaviṃśatī, p. 19, l. 18–20, l. 2; Śatasāhasrikā, p. 59, l. 2–18). – The [bodhisattva-mahāsattva must cultivate] the nine notions (navasaṃjñā)^[1] of the horrible:

that of the bloated corpse (vyādhmātakasaṃjñā),
that of the torn-up corpse (vidhūtakasaṃjñā),
that of the bloody corpse (vilohitakasaṃjñā),
that of the rotting corpse (vipūyakasaṃjñā).
that of the corpse turning bluish (vinīlakasaṃjñā),
that of the devoured corpse (vikhāditakasaṃjñā),
that of the scattered corpse (vikṣiptakasaṃjñā),
that of the corpse reduced to bones (asthisaṃjñā),
that of the burned corpse (vidagdhakasaṃjñā).

Śāstra. –

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Here and in the following pages, the variant kieou siang will be adopted by preference.

Last Updated: 28 September, 2019