Indian Society for Buddhist Studies

Author(s): Prachya Vidyapeeth
Publisher: Prachya Vidyapeeth

Page 68

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Chinese Turkestan and principally in Dunhuang constitute by virtue of their precision and authenticity a source of exceptional value that has hardly begun to be exploited as a whole. They comprise accountancy records, management reports, lists of offerings, loan and rental contracts as well as various official documents: contracts, as passports for monks, certificates, census fragments etc."
How deeply entrenched was the Buddhist ethos within Chinese society? This question can throw light on the present situation in China and perhaps throw up some questions and
answers.
Of the two groups of people who followed Buddhism, the first was sophisticated and dwelled on the philosophical aspects of the religion. The other group consisted of the rural population who followed their own simple form of Buddhism, thus lending to it a unique character. Many scholars who came in from the East helped spread Buddhism even further and establish it firmly among the people. These were people like Dharmaraksha (3rd Century CE) and Kumarajihva (4th Century CE) who translated a number of Buddhist texts into Chinese. There were also indigenous Chinese Buddhist scholars like Seng-Chao, Tao Sheng, and Fa-hsien who played an important role in furthering the spread of Buddhism by translating work into Chinese.
My paper will attempt to bring out the importance of Buddhism and how it joined all classes of Chinese society in ancient times and its relevance in contemporary China today.
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The Process of Tranquilizing the Consciousness
R. K. Rana, Delhi
Consciousness, termed as 'citta' in Pali and 'cit' in Sanskrit is a constituent of human personality. It is by its nature pure, but, incoming pollutants, like greed (lobha), hatred (dosa/