The Image of the Body in Ancient India: the Buddhist Meditation on the Impure

2015 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370064
• Research Institution: Kyoto Notre Dame University
• Principal Investigator: Robert Kritzer 京都ノートルダム女子大学, 人間文化学部, 教授 (70288611)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: Indian Buddhism / asubhabhavana / meditation on the impure / Sravakabhumi / Yogacarabhumi / Vibhasa

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

In FY 2015, I completed translations of the passages on the meditation on the impure in Vibhasa. I had originally identified 27 passages, of which I had translated 18 at the end of FY 2014. In 2015, I identified 25 additional passages, and I have now completed the translation of all 52 passages. In addition, for the longest passage, I translated the version in an older Chinese translation of Vibhasa and made a table comparing the two versions, which contain a large number of differences. In September 2015, I chaired a panel on The Dreadful Fetus in Buddhist Doctrine and Practice at the the 5th Congress of Asian and Pacific Studies in Paris, and I presented a paper on the connection between a Buddhist Embryological Sutra and the meditation on the impure, entitled Ghastly Life in the Womb. In January 2016, I visited the Wellcome Library and the British Library in London, searching for visual anatomical representations and representations of corpses in Indian medical and religious manuscripts. Although I was unsuccessful, I did find useful secondary material on the history of anatomical illustration

Current Status of Research Progress

3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.

Reason

According to my revised plan from last year, I expected to begin writing a monograph. However, since I discovered so many additional passages to translate, and because I decided that it was necessary to translate the versions of the longest passage found in both the older and newer Chinese translations, I was unable to begin the monograph.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

In FY 2016, I will begin writing my monograph on the Buddhist meditation on the impure centering around Vibhasa and Sravakabhumi. On May 28th, I will give a paper comparing the meditation in the two texts at the 2nd Geumgang-Taisho Joint Seminar on the Sravakabhumi and Buddhist Manuscripts at Taisho University in Tokyo.

Causes of Carryover

Because I could not finish the translations of passages from Vibhasa last year, I was not able to begin writing the monograph. This year, as part of the project of writing the monograph, I plan to present some of the results of my study at two venues: 1) a symposium at Taisho University in Tokyo; a conference presentation or invited lecture in Europe, venue undecided.

Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget

Transportation and daily expenses for my trip to give a presentation at Taisho University in Tokyo.

Transportation to present some of the results of my project in Europe, the venue not yet decided.

Research Products

• [Presentation] Ghastly Life in the Womb (2015)
  • Author(s): Robert Kritzer
  • Organizer: The 5th Congress of Asian and the Pacific Studies
  • Place of Presentation: Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris, France
  • Year and Date: 2015-09-11 – 2015-09-11