Mílè jīng yóuyì 彌勒經遊意
Roaming Contemplation on the Maitreya Sūtra by 吉藏 Jízàng (撰)
About the work
The Mílè jīng yóuyì is a single-fascicle essay in the yóuyì 遊意 (“roaming contemplation”) format by the Sānlùn school patriarch 吉藏 (549–623 CE), treating the doctrinal and exegetical questions raised by the Maitreya sūtras, principally T452 (KR6i0031). In ten sections, the text examines: (1) background and occasion; (2) analysis of the title; (3) doctrinal essence; (4) causes and effects; (5) the long duration before Maitreya’s coming; (6) whether Maitreya is a “nominal” or “real” Buddha; (7) the numbers at the three assemblies; (8) whether Maitreya and Śākyamuni share the same nirvāṇa; (9) Mahāyāna vs. Hīnayāna scope; (10) miscellaneous problems. This is a characteristic yóuyì composition — a free essay form exploring key issues rather than a systematic line-by-line commentary.
Prefaces
No separate preface; the text opens directly with the first topic.
Abstract
吉藏 (549–623 CE) was the founder of the Sānlùn 三論 (Three Treatises) school in Suí-Táng China, based at Qīxiá-sì 棲霞寺 (Nánjīng) and later at Rìyán-sì 日嚴寺 and Shèngguāng-sì 勝光寺 in Cháng’ān. He is the most prolific commentator of the Suí period, with surviving works including commentaries on the Lotus Sūtra, the three principal Mādhyamaka treatises (Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā → Sēnglǎng’s Sānlùn), and various sūtra-level yóuyì. His Mílè jīng yóuyì treats the Maitreya sūtra complex from a characteristic Mādhyamaka perspective, emphasizing the Madhyamaka critique of both the Sarvāstivāda (Hīnayāna) and Yogācāra positions on the nature of the future Buddha’s attainment and the ontology of the three times.
The yóuyì format was pioneered in the sūtra-commentary tradition as a preliminary to a full commentary (or as a standalone exegetical essay for scholars who did not need verse-by-verse explication). His Maitreya yóuyì complements the more systematic commentary works by 窺基 Kuījī (KR6i0038) and 元曉 Wŏnhyo (KR6i0039).
Translations and research
- Bocking, Brian. Nāgārjuna in China: A Translation of the Middle Treatise. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1995. — Background on the Sānlùn school.
- Kanno Hiroshi 菅野博史. Jikizō kenkyū 吉藏研究. Tokyo: Daizō Shuppan, 1989. — The standard monograph on his life and works.