観仏三昧=The Samādhi of the Visualization of the Buddha; 白毫相=The White Tuft between the Eyebrows; 六観経=The Six Visualization Sutras; 華厳経類=The Avataṃsaka Sūtras
摘要
The Sutra on the Ocean-Like Samadhi of the Visualization of the Buddha『観佛 三昧海経』 (Guanfo sanmei hei jing) is one of the six visualization sutras, and it has been included in the Chinese Buddhist canon and accepted as truth for a long time. However, it is regarded as an apocryphal text by some studies that consider it to have some philological and linguistic errors.
Nevertheless, this text, affected several Buddhist texts, especially Pure land Buddhist texts,『観念阿弥陀仏相海三昧功徳法門』(Guannian Amituofo xianghai sanmei gongde famen) and『往生要集』(Ōjōyōshū). These texts referenced the “white tuft between the eyebrows” (ūrṇa) and the light it emitted as visualization object. Furthermore, some studies have examined the virtue of visualization centered on the white tuft in accordance with the texts.
Thus, this article describes the function of the white tuft and the light it emitted. The white tuft and the light in this text together constitute, represent, not only one of the thirty-two marks, but also the manifestation of the miraculous power that the Buddha preached about in texts such as the Avataṃsaka Sūtras and the Daśa-Bhūmika Sūtra.
Some studies have observed and proved that this text is closely related to the Samadhi texts and that it is in accordance with some Mahāyāna Buddhist texts and commentary texts, including『禅秘要法経』(Chan miyaofa jing), the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra『大般涅槃経』(Daban niepan jing),『大智度 論』(Da zhidu lun), and others. However, the Avataṃsaka Sūtras have, not been studied despite their importance in relation to this text; the role played by the white tuft and the light it emitted are their representatives.
In this text, the light emitted by the white tuft is a miracle that only the Buddha knows about; neither we nor the tenth-stage bodhisattva can understand it. Therefore, the light of the white tuft is usually hidden inside the white tuft itself. However, despite hiding it, the Buddha showed a little of this light to all living beings because of his deep mercy. In addition, according to this text, one of the concrete merits is the remission of sins for us in this text.
Thus, it is advisable to concentrate on observing each of the Buddha as described in this text; particularly, the white tuft is the most valuable origin of the light, which includes the virtue of the Buddha’s power.
