This is a dissertation from 2003, not a published book
(UMI number AAT 3089732 available from UMI Dissertation Services, 300 North Zeeb Road, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1346, USA.)

Summary by the author:

Abhayakaragupta was one of the key religious figures who lived in India in the period from the latter half of the eleventh century to the first half of the twelfth century C. E. Among his many works is the Vajravali in which he made a grand synthesis of tantric liturgies, and indeed the Vajravali is his magnum opus. Abhayakaragupta clearly aspired in the Vajravali to create a liturgical system that could be applied to all mandalas known in Buddhist tantra at his time. As a systematizer, Abhayakaragupta needed to harmonize the various systems available to him. He aspired to sketch out, theoretically, a sequence of rituals that could be used with any number of different mandalas. The primacy of mandala rituals for Abhayakaragupta stemmed from their centrality in tantric practices. The aim of this study is to analyze Abhayakaragupta's liturgical system by exploring the way in which, with attempting to standardize practices, he brought together and synthesized the diverse ritual heritage to which he was heir. This thesis explores two important aspects of the Vajravali: First, it attempts an objective description of Abhayakaragupta's synthesis of mandala rituals in the Vajravali; second, it offers a contextual analysis of this creative synthesis.

The Kalacakra challenges the methods of synthesis, distinction, and classification in conventional Vajrayana. One of the Kalacakra's fundamental challenge lies in the method of synthesizing non-tantric Mahayana Buddhism and the Vajrayana, which was advocated by exegetes of late Buddhist tantra. The Kalacakra criticizes the standard method of synthesis which link the Vajrayana to non-tantric Mahayana Buddhsim. Instead, the Kalacakra's method of synthesis is to assimilate non-tantric Mahayana into the Vajrayana in order to emphasize the unity of the Buddhist heritage. Thus the Kalacakra calls the Vajrayana the Samyaksambuddhayana, the Vehicle of the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, instead of the Bodhisattvayana, the soteriological characterization of the Vajrayana advocated by exegetes of late Buddhist tantra.
The Kalacakra also challenges the distinction between yogatantra (father tantra) and yoginitantra (mother tantra), the generally accepted two great traditions in the Vajrayana. The Kalacakra's challenge is particularlly focused on the criteria for these two divisions, upaya or prajna, which is, in turn, considered to be the essence of yogatantra and yoginitantra. For instance, the Vimalaprabha Commentary on the Kalacakratantra claims that the Hevajratantra, which consists of prajna (wisdom) and upaya (method), is eventually a yogatantra, diametrically opposing the general classification of the Hevajratantra as a yoginitantra. This claim implies that the Kalacakratantra is also a yogatantra because it has the indivisible nature of prajna and upaya or of emptiness and compassion. The Kalacakramandala also obscures the classification of the Kalacakratantra as a yogatantra or a yoginitantra, because neither the male nor the female predominates in this grand mandala. Abhayakaragupta had to deal with this unique mandala in synthesizing a liturgical heritage, but he succeeded in harmonizing it with other Buddhist mandalas. There is a slight evidence that Abhayakaragupta considered the Kalacakramandala to be the pinnacle of all Buddhist mandalas.

My thesis (Synthesizing a Liturgical Heritage: Abhayakaragupta's Vajravali and the Kalacakramandala) consists of five chapters:

• Introduction
• Chapter One: Abhayakaragupta's Life and Works
• Chapter Two: Contextualizing Abhayakaragupta
• Chapter Three: The Mandala according to Abhayakaragupta
• Chapter Four: The Kalacakramandala according to Abhayakaragupta
• Chapter Five: The Vajravali System
• Conclusion

 

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