In his paper on the origins of the Mahāyāna, Paul Harrison points out that what counted was not so much the philosophical cogency of one’s ideas, or even the purity of one’s moral observances, but the power perceived to have been generated by one’s ascetic practices, especially one’s meditation. His assertion is well attested in the Buddhist narratives. There are many miraculous stories performed by the Buddha and his eminent disciples. Their biographies are enlarged with the quantitative development of those stories. This is well illustrated in the Avadāna literature. This paper specifies how Buddhism gained popularity in Indian society where competition between religious groups was extreme. The stories of the Divyāvadāna reflect the religious situation of that time. Through an analysis of the Pūrṇāvadāna(PA), 2nd story from the Divyāvadāna, this paper shows how meditation was used as a miraculous tool to gain the hearts and minds of the Indian audience. In the Avadānas including the Pūrṇāvadāna, the role of meditation is not vividly present. In the Avadānas, as a tool for miraculous power, meditation is used to transform the audience. Since the intention of this kind of Avadāna is to inspire the audience through the religious deeds by the Buddha and his disciples, meditation is mainly used to illustrate their powers. Therefore, the Buddhist monks could establish their competitive status using the power of meditation to gain popularity in Indian society. This power becomes apparent whenever it is needed by the audience. In the Pūrṇāvadāna, there appear various terms and expressions related to meditation. Here it is not appropriate to discuss their doctrinal or technical aspects since they are used as a skill-in-means to consolidate the authority or miraculous power of the Buddha and his disciples. Being endowed with the power of meditation, they could become the refuge for lay people. Thus, meditation played an important role in establishing the saint image of the Buddhist monks. They were supposed to come and help whenever lay people needed them. This idea was developed into the arhat cult that appealed widely to audiences in East Asia afterwards.
In his paper on the origins of the Mahāyāna, Paul Harrison points out that what counted was not so much the philosophical cogency of one’s ideas, or even the purity of one’s moral observances, but the power perceived to have been generated by one’s ascetic practices, especially one’s meditation. His assertion is well attested in the Buddhist narratives. There are many miraculous stories performed by the Buddha and his eminent disciples. Their biographies are enlarged with the quantitative development of those stories. This is well illustrated in the Avadāna literature. This paper specifies how Buddhism gained popularity in Indian society where competition between religious groups was extreme. The stories of the Divyāvadāna reflect the religious situation of that time. Through an analysis of the Pūrṇāvadāna(PA), 2nd story from the Divyāvadāna, this paper shows how meditation was used as a miraculous tool to gain the hearts and minds of the Indian audience. In the Avadānas including the Pūrṇāvadāna, the role of meditation is not vividly present. In the Avadānas, as a tool for miraculous power, meditation is used to transform the audience. Since the intention of this kind of Avadāna is to inspire the audience through the religious deeds by the Buddha and his disciples, meditation is mainly used to illustrate their powers. Therefore, the Buddhist monks could establish their competitive status using the power of meditation to gain popularity in Indian society. This power becomes apparent whenever it is needed by the audience. In the Pūrṇāvadāna, there appear various terms and expressions related to meditation. Here it is not appropriate to discuss their doctrinal or technical aspects since they are used as a skill-in-means to consolidate the authority or miraculous power of the Buddha and his disciples. Being endowed with the power of meditation, they could become the refuge for lay people. Thus, meditation played an important role in establishing the saint image of the Buddhist monks. They were supposed to come and help whenever lay people needed them. This idea was developed into the arhat cult that appealed widely to audiences in East Asia afterwards.
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