On the Formation of the Guan-wu-liang-shou-jing

There has been considrable argument as to where the Guan-wu-liang-shoujing (abbreviated hereafter as GJ) was compiled. Generally stated, there are three positions concerning this question: (1) the position that this sutra was created in India, (2) that it was compiled in Central Asia, and (3) that it was compiled in China. The aim of this paper is to consider these theories. A group of sutras incorporating the term "visualization (guan)" In their titles appeared in China in the first half of the fifth century. The GJ is one such "visualization sutra." At the same time, a group of sutra known as the "meditation-vizualization (chan-guan) sutras" also appeared in China. Many sutras of both of these two groups are said to have been translated by missionaries from Central Asia. These two groups of sutras share other characteristics in common, for example, their emphasis on visualizing the Buddha. They also share a number of terms in common. There is no doubt that the GJ was compiled by a devotee of Amida Buddha. However, other visualization sutras which preach Buddha visualization are unrelated to Amida worship. The meditation-visualization sutras are similar to the GJ in that they also preach Buddha visualization. However, only the Ssu-wei-yao-lian jing mentions the Buddha of Eternal Life. The meditation-visualization sutras place much emphasis on evil karma, but the notion of "transgressions leading to birth and death" do not appear in the visualization sutras. The term "transgressions leading to birth and death" does appear in the Avalokitesvarabodhisattvavyttkara1Ja- sutra, but by comparing it with the Tibetan translation, it apears that it is a translation of the phrase, "escape from the suffering of transmigration." The same phrase appears in the Suvarnaprabhasa-sutra. Kumarajiva is given as the translator of several of the meditationvisualization sl1tras. However, none of them were translated from a single fixed original text. Apparently they are a mixture of various types of meditation that were current in Kuccha, Dun-huang, Hexihuilang and, especially, Liang-zhou. They were translated into Chinese by Dharmamitra and Jugu-jing-sheng who moved to Jian-kang after the fall of the Northern Liang Dynasty. Thus Kumarajiva is not the translator of the present meditation-visualization sl1tras. These sl1tras appeared in China at about the same time as the Buddha visualizations sl1tras. There is ample possibility that the Buddha visualization sl1tras, which describe Buddha visualization in the same way as the meditation-visualization sl1tras, came into being under circumstances similar to the meditationvisualization sl1tras. We can find Indian, Central Asian and Chinese elements in the GJ