Mílè shàngshēng jīng zōngyào 彌勒上生經宗要
Essential Points of the Maitreya Ascent Sūtra by 元曉 Wŏnhyo (撰)
About the work
The Mílè shàngshēng jīng zōngyào is a single-fascicle “essential points” commentary (zōngyào 宗要) on the Guān Mílè shàngshēng jīng (KR6i0031, T452) by the Silla Korean monk 元曉 (Wŏnhyo; 617–686 CE). The commentary is organized in ten analytical sections: (1) general purport and doctrinal significance; (2) classification within the three baskets; (3) comparison of the three Maitreya sūtras (T452, T453/454, T456); (4) the location of Maitreya’s birth-body; (5) the time of his coming; (6) whether he exists in both present and future; (7) the three assembly numbers; (8) how long it took him to generate the aspiration; (9) the sequence of his realization; (10) miscellaneous textual questions. The commentary employs his characteristic hwajaeng 和諍 (“harmonization of disputes”) method to reconcile competing doctrinal positions.
Prefaces
No separate preface; the body opens with section headings and begins: 如是我聞… (internal citation of T452).
Abstract
元曉 (617–686 CE) is the most eminent scholar of Silla Korean Buddhism, known for his synthetic and irenic philosophical method and his enormous output (over 80 works, c. 20 extant). His Mílè shàngshēng jīng zōngyào is one of his shorter exegetical works, demonstrating his ability to synthesize the Yogācāra (Fǎxiàng) and Tiāntái positions on Maitreya without subordinating either. Unlike 窺基 Kuījī’s strongly Yogācāra commentary (KR6i0038), his zōngyào draws on a broader range of doctrinal resources and explicitly compares the three key Maitreya sūtras, making it a valuable introduction to the entire Maitreya canonical cluster.
Alan Sponberg, “Wŏnhyo on Maitreya Visualization,” in Maitreya, the Future Buddha (CUP, 1988), is the dedicated English-language study.
Translations and research
- Sponberg, Alan. “Wŏnhyo on Maitreya Visualization.” In Sponberg and Hardacre (eds.), Maitreya, the Future Buddha. CUP, 1988, pp. 94–ff.
- Buswell, Robert E. Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul’s Korean Way of Zen. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1991. — Background on Korean Buddhist scholarship.