Subhuti
(c. 500 b.c.e.) one of the 10 major disciples of the Buddha
Subhuti is mentioned in many Mahayana Buddhism sutras, including the Lotus Sutra. But he is most well known for his role as the Buddha’s discussant in the Diamond Sutra. He was prophesied to become the Buddha of Wonderful Form.
Suddodhana
Buddha’s father and king of the Sakya nation
Suddodhana acted to shield his son and heir from taking up the life of spiritual advancement that was foretold by a fortune teller. The king wanted his son to become a powerful monarch and arranged for Siddhartha to have every creature comfort and to be prevented from learning of suffering. Yet after being inadvertently exposed to the Four Omens (people with old age, sickness, death, and ascetic wandering), Siddhartha opposed his father’s wishes anyway. The father was full of wrath, but helpless.
Suika Shinto
Suika Shinto was a creative mix of Shinto and Neo-Confucian thought. Suika Shinto focuses on study of the virtues of Amaterasu Omi-Kami, the creator God. Worship of the emperor was also a form of worshipping Amaterasu. At the same time Suika teachings emphasized the divine nature of the emperor. Suika Shinto arose in the early Tokugawa Shogunate period (1600-1867), when the government adopted Neo-Confucianism as the official ideology. The word Suika refers to two of the words (sui and ka, "blessings" and "protection") used in the title of one of the five books of Shinto, the Shinto Gobusho.
The movement was established by Yamazaki Anzai (1618-82), who believed one had to maintain a childlike innocence when discussing the divine. He tried in such ways to merge Neo-Confucianist ideas such as the five elements with Japanese ideas of the kami.
Sukhavati (heaven)
Sukhavati (realm of bliss) is the Pure Land in the west described in detail in Pure Land Buddhism teachings. It is the western paradise, belief in which may have been common among many peoples in the regions of early Buddhist activity. individuals reborn into sukhavati find themselves gaining consciousness in lotus flowers. They awaken to unimaginable bliss, surrounded by light beams emitted by Amitabha. The surroundings are also filled with wonderful fragrances, flowers,trees with jewels, and rivers whose very sounds are music. And of course there are no negative entities such as evil or sadness. The individual remains in sukhavati until he (all individuals are reborn as men) is ready to enter nirvana.
The way to enter into sukhavati varied over time. in the beginning the key element stressed was faith in the teachings, but in East Asia the emphasis became faith as a devotional practice. in the early period, in india, it was assumed that meditation on Amitabha Buddha would cause the development of "good roots," or wholesome faculties developed through individual efforts at cultivation, which would in turn lead to rebirth in sukhavati. But in China the translator Shan Dao taught that invoking the name of Amitabha was in itself sufficient to ensure rebirth in sukhavati. in other words, a transition developed as Pure Land teachings entered China and, later, Japan.
Sumedho, Ajahn
(1934- ) monk who introduced the Thai Forest Meditation Tradition to the West
The American-born Ajahn Sumedho, a follower of Ajahn Chah, was largely responsible for taking the Thai Forest Meditation Tradition to the West. Ajahn Sumedho was born Robert Jackman in Seattle, Washington. He originally discovered Buddhism while in the United States Navy and stationed in Japan. He returned to the States, finished college, and then left for Thailand. There he received ordination as a bhiksu (monk) at a monastery near the Laotian border. Then in 1967 he moved to Wat Pah Pong in northeast Thailand to study and practice with the Venerable Ajahn Chah (1918-81) and became his first Western student.
In 1975, with other Western students who had subsequently arrived at Wat Pah Pong, Sumedho started Wat Pa Nanachat (International Forest Monastery) at the nearby village of Bung Wai. It was to be a monastic training center led by Westerners for Westerners. It would become the parent of additional similar monasteries in Thailand.
In 1976, Sumedho accompanied Ajahn Chah on a trip to England at the invitation of the English Sangha Trust. While there, he was requested to start a Thai Forest monastic community in Great Britain, and when Chah returned to Thailand, Sumedho remained behind. Two years later he and several fellow monks founded Wat Pah Cit-tavieka, better known as the Chithurst Forest Monastery, in Sussex, England. This institution would become the mother of like communities in France, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, and the United States.
Sumeru, Mt. (Mt. Meru)
In traditional Buddhist and Hindu thought Mt. Sumeru stands at the center of the world. It is said to rise 84,000 yojana (about 8,500 miles) high. The Hindu deity Indra resides on top, and the Four Heavenly Kings live on the sides. Sumeru is in turn surrounded by seven rings of mountains separated by seven perfumed seas. Around the final ring of mountains is a salt sea containing the four continents to the east, west, north, and south. Around the salt ocean is a ring of iron mountains that stand at the edge of the world. The doctrine of the Buddha is found only on the southern continent, Jambudvipa.
Mt. Kailas, one of Asia’s most sacred mountains, is located in a high and isolated enclave of west Tibet. To the Buddhist believers, it is the abode of Demchok, the wrathful manifestation of Buddha. For Hindus, Kailash is the dwelling of Shiva the destroyer, and according to Sanskrit tradition of Vishnu Puran (The Hindu pilgrimage books, 200 b.c.e.), it is a representation of Mt. Sumeru, the cosmic mountain at the center of the universe.
Sundo
(fourth century c.e.) Chinese monk who introduced Buddhism to Korea
Little is known of Sundo, the monk who in 372 occasioned the effective transmission of Buddhism into what is now Korea. A Chinese monk, Sundo was sent by the emperor Fujian (r. 357-384) to assist King Sosurim of Yoguryo, the northernmost kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. Buddhism had spread to Korea earlier but had had little success. Sundo introduced a form of Buddhism that attracted Sosurim as it appeared to support the reforming and centralizing of the government that he had already initiated.
Sundo was able to attract many of the people at Sosurim’s court to Buddhism and took the lead in the establishment of the first Buddhist temple in Korea. However, his aristocratic form of the faith had little appeal beyond the country’s elite, and only in the next century would Buddhism spread as a popular faith.
Sunyata
Sunyata, generally translated as "emptiness," is the central concept of the Madhyamika school of Buddhism, which in turn is based on the indian philosopher Nagaruna’s teachings. Mahayana Buddhism taught that there is in addition to the emptiness of the self an additional emptiness of all dharmas. The noneternal existence of all dharmas was probably emphasized to counter the Sarvastivada (Sarvastivadin) school focus on the eternal existence of dharmas.
Emptiness was a concept fully developed by the Mahayana thinkers. However, its source no doubt lies in the earlier teachings on non-self, or anatman. Both these terms are in turn related to the Zen Buddhism concept of wu (in Japanese, mu), or nonbeing.
Sunyata does not simply involve a denial of existence or nihilism. Sunyata means that the phenomena of existence, all dharmas, have no intrinsic identities. Every aspect of reality is, according to the principles of pratitya-samutpada, conditioned in some way. And sunyata is ultimately equal to another Buddhist concept, tathata, "suchness."
Susano-o no Mikoto
One of the major Shinto deities (kami), Susano-o no Mikoto is variously described as the sea deity or storm deity, the ruler of the oceans, which completely surround the island nation of Japan. Susano-o emerges from the ancient Shinto creation myths. For example, in the eighth-century text, the Kojiki, the process of forming Japan and populating it with kami is described. That process hinges on a couple, izanagi no Mikoto and izanami no Mikoto. Their creative acts are interrupted by the death of izanami, the female. The grieving izanagi travels through the underworld in search of her, but his goal of resurrecting her fails. After he returns, he engages in a purification ritual in which he first cleans his eyes and nose. From his right eye arises Amaterasu no Mikoto, the sun goddess, and from his left eye Tsukiyomi no Mikoto. Susano-o no Mikoto, the third god to appear (from the nose cleaning), is assigned hegemony over the sea. (There are alternate versions of this story that offer different details of how Izanagi created the three deities.)
Susano-o is particularly related to two important Shinto shrines. First, izumo Taisha is dedicated to Susano-o’s son, okuninushi-no-Mikoto. As the story goes, at one point Susano-o had a conflict with the sun deity, Amaterasu, who expelled him from the heavenly realm. He took up residence at izumo, where he earned the gratitude of the humans by killing a giant serpent. He subsequently married a princess. Okuninushi was the product of their love and he became the kami overseeing the benefits of marriage. At this shrine, one also finds the road to the underworld, also under the domain of Susano-o, as the god of the dead. Second, Susano-o is honored at itsuku-shima, a seaside shrine on Miyajima Island a short distance from Hiroshima. The main shrine at ituku-shima is dedicated to Susano-o’s three daughters, Ichikishima, Tagori, and Tagitsu, the beloved of sailors. Susano-o is also enshrined at the Kumano Shrine in Hongu, along with Amaterasu.
Sutra (Pali, sutta)
Sutras are the texts that record the teachings of the Buddha between the time he gained enlightenment and his mahaparinirvana (death). Perhaps unfortunately, these teachings were not written down at the time they were delivered. According to the story, Buddha’s primary disciple, Ananda, during the meeting of the First Buddhist Council is said to have repeated the discourses for those followers of the Buddha so gathered. Subsequently, the teachings were committed to the memory of the 500 arhats (a number of respected practitioners) and for several centuries the teachings were passed from generation to generation orally. In the process of the growth of the Buddhist community, and in spite of the high accuracy of memory in nonliterary communities, some variations in the discourses did occur.
It was not until the first century b.c.e. that the sutras began to be written down. The language chosen for these early texts was Pali. The early texts of the Buddha’s teachings were compiled into five collections (agamas), the Long Sutras (Digha-nikaya), the Medium-length Sutras (Majjhima-nikaya), Sutras on Related Topics (Samyutta-nikaya), Sutras of Numerical Doctrines (Anguttara-nikaya), and the Minor Sutras (Khuddaka-nikaya). These five agamas now constitute one of the three sections of the Tripitaka, the canon of Buddhist scripture recognized by Theravada Buddhism.
NEW SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM
During the period in which the sutras were being written down, approximately 100 b.c.e. to 100 c.e. , not only had the Indian Buddhists divided into a number of sects (some 18 were noted by observers), but a new form, Mahayana Buddhism, had begun to emerge. Proponents of Mahayana ideas began to produce new sutras, occasionally claiming that the texts were newly discovered lost texts that had been hidden since the Buddha’s lifetime. The texts laid out the Mahayana teachings on such subjects as emptiness, the role of bodhisattvas, and the multiple bodies of the Buddha. Possibly the most noticeable characteristic of the new sutras was their being written in Sanskrit rather than Pali. It was also the case that they were originally composed as a written document rather than an oral text later committed to writing. They tended to be longer and make use of more luxuriant language.
Among the earliest of the Mahayana sutras are the several Prajnaparamita (Perfection of wisdom) Sutras (c. 100 c.e.), the Lotus Sutra (c. 200 c.e.), and the Nirvana Sutra (c. 200-400 c.e.). Nagarjuna, the great third-century Mahayana scholar, is known for compiling and writing a systematic presentation on the Wisdom sutra teachings, the Treatise on the Middle Way. The special devotion to Amitabha (or Amida) Buddha also emerged in the second century c.e. and found literary expression in the Amida Sutra, the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra, and the Meditation on the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra.
In the fourth century c.e., a new set of sutras were written, most significantly, the Flower ornament Sutra (Avatamsaka Sutra), the Descent into Lanka Sutra (Lankavatara Sutra), and the Resolution of Enigmas Sutra (Sandhinirmocana Sutra). on the basis of these sutras, several teachers such as Asanga and Vasubandhu formed the Yogacara (or Consciousness only) school.
BUDDHISM AND SUTRAS IN CHINA
The centuries of the rise and development of Mahayana Buddhism were also the time of the transmission of Buddhism to China, generally dated from the reign of the Emperor Ming Ti (r. 58-75 C.E.). The move to China was characterized by two important factors, namely, the use of Daoism to interpret Buddhism and the periodic and unsystematic injection of Buddhist sutras (both Theravada and Mahayana) into China. The first sutra translated into Chinese (some suggest it was originally written in Chinese) was the Sutra of Forty-two Sections, which presented an introduction to basic Buddhist doctrines.
The first documented translations of indian texts into Chinese began in 148 c.e. at Luoyang, the capital of the Chinese Han dynasty, where An Shigao established a center for translation that continued to produce Chinese copies of Sanskrit (that is, Mahayana) texts into the next century. In the third century, Dharmaraksa (1) (230 c.e.) translated the Lotus Sutra and Large Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, both of which were to have a significant role in Chinese (and later Japanese) Buddhism. The work of translation, including the retranslation of the early poorly translated texts, was given a boost at the beginning of the fifth century by more capable scholars, such as Kuma-rajiva (344-413) and Hui Yuan (1) (344-416). Kumarajiva translated the Amida Sutra so central to Pure Land Buddhism, and most of the Wisdom Sutras including the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, and his version of the Lotus Sutra became an especially popular text chanted in Buddhist temples.
Eventually, the first four nikayas (collections) of the Pali canon Sutras would be translated into Chinese, but the many Mahayana sutras would find the most response and Mahayana Buddhism would become dominant throughout China. The often chaotic and unsystematic manner in which texts were taken to China, translated, and then disseminated for study would have a marked effect on the development of uniquely Chinese schools of Buddhism. (And at the same time sutras were also finding their way to Tibet and being translated in a similar disjunct manner.)
In the period from the fifth to the ninth century, Chinese Buddhist scholars began the process of examining the various schools of Buddhist thought to be encountered in the sutras and as more and more texts appeared tried to develop comprehensive views of Buddhism. This problem led to several types of solution. Zhi Yi (538-597), for example, the leading light of the Tian Tai school, offered one explanation. He attempted to develop a typology of Buddhist sutras, which ranked them according to their ability to express truth most clearly. He concluded that the Lotus, Nirvana, and Flower Ornament Sutras were closest to stating the truth, which was itself beyond words, though the Lotus Sutra was slightly the superior of the three. Chan Buddhism took a quite different approach, distancing itself from most Buddhist texts and centering its life on the practice of meditation. As the tradition developed, the discourse of its "sixth patriarch," Hui Neng (638-713), would be collected and published as the Platform Sutra of the sixth patriarch, though unlike other sutras, the Platform Sutra made no claim to be the words of the Buddha.
SUTRAS IN JAPAN
Over the next centuries, different sects of Chinese Buddhists would identify with and favor different sutras that provided the foundation for their particular approach to Buddhist belief and practice. Chinese teachers would also host individuals from Korea and Japan who wished to absorb the teachings of the sutras and would gather copies to take back to their homeland. At the same time, Chinese teachers would take sutras to Korea and Japan, where they would undergo another translation into the new language.
Of particular importance to the larger world of Buddhism, in the eighth century, six schools of Buddhism were set in place in the new imperial capital of Nara in Japan. Five of these six schools were, in fact, six centers for the study of the particular sutras and/or sastras (commentaries on the sutras). The sixth school concentrated on the Vinaya, another part of the Buddhist sacred literature, dealing with the discipline to be followed by monks and nuns. The Kegon school built its teachings, for example, on the Flower ornament (Avatamsaka) Sutra. The Hosso school based its teachings on six sutras, especially the Profound Secrets Sutra (Samdhinir-mochana-sutra) and the Flower Ornament Sutra, and 11 sastra texts.
As Japanese Buddhism developed, Nichiren Shoshu and those groups derived from it would become well known for their championing of the Lotus Sutra as the only Buddhist text of any great importance. Beginning with Tendai Buddhism, in which the Lotus Sutra was well honored, Nichiren concluded that it was the best of the Buddhist sacred texts and then the exclusive text that embodied the truth of the Buddha within it.
THE SUTRAS IN THE WEST
One result of Western attempts to dominate traditionally Buddhist lands, both economically and politically, in the 19th century was the emergence of interest in Buddhism and Buddhist writings among Westerners. That interest led to both the translation of the sutras into Western languages and their publication and broad dissemination using modern printing advances. Through the 20th century, copies of the Buddhist sutras became available to almost anyone in his or her native language at little to no cost, a fact that is in itself having a long-term transforming effect on the Buddhist community.
Beginning with the emergence of Mahay-ana Buddhism, commentaries on the sutras, sastras, began to appear and multiplied over the centuries.
Suzuki, Daisetsu Teitaro
(1870-1966) Zen teacher influential in introducing Zen Buddhism to the West
Daisetsu Teitaro "D. T." Suzuki, a major force in bringing Zen Buddhism to the West in the 20th century, was born in Kanazawa, a rural village in the north of Japan. Though his family was of modest means, they were of a dignified samurai lineage. As a young man, Suzuki stayed in his small town as a teacher for the local children. Then, after his mother’s death, he moved to Tokyo, where he would have more opportunities for advancement.
He studied at Imperial University while studying Zen. He was a precocious student of Mahayana Buddhism and successfully integrated its variant teachings. His excellence in Zen coupled with his formal education propelled him onward. In 1897, he was chosen by Soyen Shaku (1859-1919), a pioneer in the introduction of Zen to Western countries, to go to America and serve as a consultant and translator for Paul Carus (1852-1919), owner of open Court Press, who was publishing a number of Buddhist texts. Carus appointed him editor when he arrived in America in 1897.
Suzuki was responsible for the translations of books that reflected the heart of Buddhism and related Eastern volumes such as Asvaghosa’s The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana and the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching). When that mission had been accomplished, Soyen Shakyu asked him to accompany him on his promotional Western tour in 1905-06.
When young Suzuki returned to Japan from the speaking tour he settled in as a lay disciple. In 1911, he married Beatrice Erskine Lane (18781938) and they relocated to Tokyo so that he could accept a teaching position at otani university, the foremost school of the Higashi Hongwanji Buddhists. He together with his wife started the publication of a seminal academic periodical, The Eastern Buddhist. He began to turn out a number of important texts in Buddhist studies including Essays in Zen Buddhism, Zen and the Japanese Culture, On Indian Mahayana Buddhism, concentrating on Jodo Shinshu and Zen Buddhism. This creative period was a watershed moment in his career.
Partially because of his prolific writing, in 1949, Suzuki was invited to teach as a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii. He was already 78 years old. The following year he journeyed to California and taught at the Claremont Graduate School. He then went to Columbia University for a period of six years. While living in New York and lecturing at Columbia he attracted the so-called Beatniks, whose acceptance and propagation of his writing propelled him forward as a public figure of popular culture. His presence in New York fueled the development of the Zen Studies Society.
He relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the mid-1950s and while lecturing at Harvard also helped inspire the founding of the Cambridge Buddhist Association. He finally returned home to Japan in 1958. He died in Kamakura, Japan, in 1966. He was nearly 96 years old when he died, a hero of Zen missionary activity.
Suzuki, Shunryu
(1904-1971) Japanese American Zen leader
Shunryu Suzuki, a teacher of Soto Zen in San Francisco, California, had as a young man followed in his father, Butsumon Sogaku Suzuki’s, footsteps by becoming a Zen Buddhism priest in Japan. He deviated from the traditional path of discipleship, however, as he chose to study with a colleague of his father instead of his father. Suzuki later attended Komazawa Buddhist University. He continued in his practice of Zen while nurturing a desire to go to America. Instead he remained in Japan and became a priest of Zoun-ji temple and then later of Rinso-in.
Suzuki did not support World War II and spoke against it. After the armistice, he led in the creation of social services sponsored by Rinso-in Temple, including two kindergartens, one of which was taught by his second wife, Mitsu Matsuna.
Then, during the 1950s, Suzuki’s interest in visiting the United States was revived by an invitation to become the interim director of Soko-ji, the Soto Zen temple in San Francisco. He moved to California in 1959. The temple at that time was home to a number of ethnic Japanese, though a few non-Japanese converts had also found their way to its doors.
Through the 1960s, Suzuki became increasingly popular as the "hippie" generation responded to the call from the East. It was the era of thinkers such as Alan Wilson Watts, who wished to build a bridge between cultures and religions. It was not long before Suzuki was teaching the path of Soto and the practice of zazen (sitting meditation) to cadres of young people. By the autumn of 1966 his work had grown enormously and was being transmitted by disciples all over America. The Zen Center of San Francisco, formed out of Soko-ji, became the hub of growth from which centers emerged in Berkeley, Mill Valley, and Los Altos, California. In 1967 Roshi Suzuki and his followers purchased a vacant hot springs site that became a rural retreat—the Zenshin-ji Monastery located at Tassajara Springs, California. Suzuki Roshi continued to teach zazen until his death in 1971. The leadership of the temple and retreat passed to his American disciple, Richard Baker Roshi, and continues today under a collective leadership.
Suzuki Shosan
(1579-1655) medieval samurai who became a well-known Zen monk
Suzuki Shosan was born into a samurai family in Misawa (current Aichi Prefecture). He was a member of Tokugawa ieyasu’s army during Japan’s civil war period and fought in the important Battle of Sekigahara. But at the age of 41 he became a devoted monk. He studied with several Zen Buddhism masters and wrote a well-received manual of Zen in 1636, Fumoto no Kusawake (Parting the Grasses at the Foot of the Mountain). Suzuki emphasized the warrior metaphor and its application to Buddhism. The Zen monk needed the same kind of courage and ability to confront death as the warrior. He also saw the value of everyday acts such as farming. Enlightenment, however incomplete, can occur in the midst of everyday work, he taught.
Suzuki eventually returned to live in a small town near his hometown of Misawa, where he became known as a healer. He eventually began to teach from town to town about "True Buddhism," what he saw as the Buddha’s teachings in practice. He spoke against becoming a priest or worshipping images of the Buddha. He eventually enlisted his brother, Shigenari’s, help, and they worked to establish 32 temples throughout Japan.
Suzuki was also anti-Christian at a time when Christian missionaries were increasingly visible. His Ha Kirishitan (Christianity Refuted) was an anti-Christian text. Suzuki moved to Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1648 and published the Banmin Tokuyu (The Meritorious Practice for All).
