Prajñāpāramitā

To appear in the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions, ed. by Arvind Sharma (Spring, 2015). Prajñ!p!ramit! James B. Apple University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta [email protected] Definition: The perfection of wisdom or insight in Mah!y!na forms of Buddhism who is worshipped as a feminine deity and embodied in a vast corpus of Buddhist scriptures. The Prajñ!p!ramit! (“Perfection of Insight” or “Perfection of Discernment,” commonly known as the “Perfection of Wisdom”) is a vast and complex corpus of literature that initially developed in South Asian forms of Buddhism. As a genre of literature, the Prajñ!p!ramit! is comprised of subtle teachings, techniques, and practices, which eventually come to be affiliated with invocation rituals and visualizations. In its earliest formulations, Prajñ!p!ramit! was concomitant with a boundless and luminous nonconceptual state of awareness. Prajñ!p!ramit! was also construed as a feminine force, the “mother of the Buddhas,”(Skt. sarvabuddham!t!) and became a hypostasized deity with attributes. The communities that were devoted to Prajñ!p!ramit! were comprised of diverse interrelated groups within Indian Buddhist traditions that cultivated this literature for over the course of a thousand years in South Asia. These traditions later spread into Central, East, and Southeast Asia. Contemporary indigenous Buddhist traditions that preserve and cultivate the literature and practices related to Prajñ!p!ramit! are primarily found in Nepal, Tibet, and Japan. The beginnings of Prajñ!p!ramit! discourses in South Asia emerge out of mainstream forms of early Buddhism. Within early discourses among the various Indian Buddhist ordination lineages (nik!ya), the Indic term prajñ! (Pali, paññ!; Tib. shes rab; Jap. hannya), signified a 1 higher type of knowledge based on analysis. The word prajñ! is made up of the nominalized verbal root “jña,” which signifies “knowing, knowledge, perception,” and the nominal prefix “pra,” which signifies “superior” [1, 209] Hence the word prajñ! may literally be rendered as “insight” or “discernment.” The concept of prajñ!, and its related cognitive states, was central to all the various early Buddhist groups. Within such groups, prajñ! was primarily understood as a complete comprehension (abhisamaya) of the nature and aspects of conditioned existence (sa"s!ra), the forces that govern the conditioned (karma), the method of becoming liberated from the contaminated and conditioned (m!rga), and the means form actualizing the reality of the unconditioned (nirv!#a). The Beginnings and Development of Prajñ!p!ramit! At some time in early Buddhist history, possibly around the time of King A"oka’s reign (268-233 B.C.E), ordination lineages (nik!ya) with a particular preoccupation with prajñ! most likely composed mnemonic lists of categories (m!t$k!) for memorization and analysis of the Buddha’s teachings (dharma)[2, 511-514]. Discourses that focused on categorical lists of topics subject to analytical discernment (prajñ!) developed into the Abhidharma literature as well as the Prajñ!p!ramit!. Early Prajñ!p!ramit! discourses asserted the excellence or perfection (p!ramit!) of prajñ! in relation to a luminous non-conceptual mind that attains an omniscient cognition synonomous with Buddhahood. The early discourses also assert that one courses in the Prajñ!p!ramit! while practicing a concentration (sam!dhi) that does not grasp at anything at all (sarvadharm!parig$h%ta) [3, 80-81]. This may signify that the discourses on Prajñ!p!ramit! may go back to practices among bhi#sus who dwell without strife (ara#avih!rin) and who avoid conceptional determinations, as embodied in the figure of the Buddha’s disciple Subh$ti [4, 72]. The exact geographical region for the beginnings of the Prajñ!p!ramit! literature and its 2 practices in India is unknown. Edward Conze (1904-1979), the foremost modern scholar on Prajñ!p!ramit!, advocated for the origins of the Prajñ!p!ramit! among early monastic lineages of the Mah!sa%ghikas in Southern India, in the Andhra country on the K&'(! river [5, 10-11]. Étienne Lamotte (1903-1983), an eminent Belgian Indologist, argued for the origins of the Prajñ!p!ramit! in northwest South Asia and Central Asian [5, 386]. The idea of the Prajñ!p!ramit! having its beginnings in the south is indicated in several Mah!y!na Buddist scriptures. The A&'asah!srik! (8,000 verse) Prajñ!p!ramit! ( p.225) states that “after the passing away of the Tath!gata” the perfection of wisdom will “proceed to the South.” Also the Mañju(r%m)latantra specifies four regions for the recitation of various Mah!y!na S$tras with the Prajñ!p!ramit! to be recited in the South [7, 11]. This theory of the southern origin of the Prajñ!p!ramit! is complementary to the traditional Mah!y!na Buddhist historical accounts followed by indigenous Buddhist scholars. They trace the origins of the Prajñ!p!ramit! scriptures to the second major cycle of teachings taught by the Buddha himself in the fifth or sixth century B.C.E. These scriptures are said to have been lost in India until they were rediscovered by the legendary mystic sage N!g!rjuna in about the first century C.E. in southern India [8]. The Prajñ!p!ramit! Literature Edward Conze distinguished four phases in the historical development of the Prajñ!p!ramit! literature, stretching over more than a thousand years [9, 1-25]. The first phase lasted from about 100 B.C.E. to 100 C.E. with the elaboration of a basic root text. The earliest text of the Prajñ!p!ramit! has been theorized to be the Prajñ!p!ramit! [10]. A&'as!hasrik! (8,000 verse) The earliest extant edition of the A&'as!hasrik! is preserved in the Chinese translation of the Indo-scythian translator Lokak'ema, the Daoxing Banruo Jing 道行般 3 若經 in 179 c.e. [11] A significant development in modern Buddhist Studies is a recently discovered G!ndh!r) manuscript dating to the first century which appears to be a G!ndh!r) Prajñ!p!ramit! (G. prañaparamida) that compares in form and content with Lokak'ema’s translation [12; 13]. Fragments of the A&'as!hasrik! have also been recovered from B!miy!n which date back to the Ku'!(a period. Initial study of these manuscripts indicate that the A&'as!hasrik! existed in multiple recensions at an early stage in its history [14]. During the following two hundred years after the initial development of the Prajñ!p!ramit!, the basic text of the A&'as!hasrik! was expanded in varying lengths comprising a textual family that scholars call the “Larger Prajñ!p!ramit!” consisting of redactions of size ranging from the A&'!da(as!hasrik! (18,000 verse) and Pañcavi"(atis!hasrika (25,000 verse) up to the *atas!hasrik! (100,000 verse) Prajñ!p!ramit! [15]. The subsequent two hundred years of Prajñ!p!ramit! development, lasting until about 500 C.E., consisted of a period of contraction in which the basic ideas of Prajñ!p!ramit! were distilled into shorter s$tras on the one hand, and versified summaries on the other. The best known among such smaller s$tras are the Vajracchedik! (commonly “Diamond s$tra”) and the Prajñ!p!ramit!h$daya (commonly “Heart s$tra”). The Vajracchedik!, perhaps dating from the early third century, has been translated and studied in nine published editions. The earliest preserved Indic manuscripts date from the 6th-7th centuries and come from B!miy!n and Northern Pakistan. The Vajracchedik! was translated into Chinese, Khotanese, Sogdian, and Tibetan. Kum!raj)va’s Jingang boruo bolumi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經 (translated 402 c.e.) is the earliest among the six extant Chinese translations [16]. The Prajñ!p!ramit!h$daya is one of the most cherished of Buddhist scriptures and is recited daily among Mah!y!na Buddhists in China, Tibet, and Japan. The “Heart s$tra” exists in a long and short version with Sanskrit 4 manuscripts preserved from Japan, Tibet, and Nepal [17]. The text was also translated numerous times into Chinese, Khotanese, Sogdian, Uighur, and Tibetan. The smallest of contracted Prajñ!p!ramit! scriptures is the Ek!k&ar!m!t!n!ma-sarvatath!gata whose doctrinal content consists of just one letter “A.” Technical digests ((!stra) on Prajñ!p!ramit! were also composed during this time period. Two of the more well known among such commentaries are the Mah!prajñ!p!ramit!(!stra and Abhisamay!la"k!ra. The Mah!prajñ!p!ramit!(!stra, attributed to N!g!rjuna and preserved in Kum!raj)va’s Chinese translation, the Dazhidulun 大智 度論, is an enormous commentary on the “Larger Prajñ!p!ramit!” [18]. The most famous versified summary is the Abhisamay!la"k!ra, the “Ornament for Clear Realization”, which is attributed to the bodhisattva Maitreya [19]. The final period of Prajñ!p!ramit! development, from 600-1200 C.E., coincided with the emergence of Tantric forms of Buddhism that emphasized the ritual use of Prajñ!p!ramit! texts and cultivated visualizations of Prajñ!p!ramit! as a hypostasized deity with attributes. In this period of literature, texts such as the Prajñ!p!ramit!nayasatapañca(atik! (“The 150 methods”) begin to contain Tantric terms like vajra, guhya, and siddhi. The literature at this time also shows signs of hypostatizing the qualities of Prajñ!p!ramit! into a wisdom goddess (prajñ!). This is evident in the Prajñ!p!ramit!n!m!&'a(ataka (“The 108 qualities”) and the Prajñ!p!ramit!strotra (“Hymn to the Goddess”) [20]. Texts for constructing ma#+alas, like the Prajñ!p!ramit!ma#+alavidhi, are also prevalent. But in terms of the anthropomorphic characteristics of the goddess Prajñ!p!ramit!, the s!dhanas preserved in the S!dhanam!l! and the Tibetan Buddhist canon are most important. These are invocation texts which describe the proper methods for visualizing the goddess and experiencing direct communion with her. After this third period, around 1200 C.E., the presence of Prajñ!p!ramit! as scripture or religious 5 praxis dissipates due to the institutional disappearance of Buddhism from the land of India. The huge corpus of literature on Prajñ!p!ramit!, ranging from dialectical discourses on nonconceptual discernment to the invocation of her in the form of a goddess, represents a complex religious and philosophic ideology that forms the basis of a great amount of Mah!y!na Buddhist literature. Prajñ!p!ramit! Doctrine Prajñ!p!ramit! was the insight or wisdom that constituted Omniscient cognition (sarvajñat!) and was identified with the end itself, perfect awakening (sa"bodhi). Prajñ!p!ramit! was considered to be non-dual (advaya) awareness that was beyond all thought constructions (vikalpa) permeated with insight that was absolutely pure (atyantavi(uddhi), neither born nor extinguished (anutp!d!nirodha), and imperishable (ak&aya). Prajñ!p!ramit! was nirv!#a, tathat! (‘suchness’), luminous citta (‘mind’), and buddhat! (‘buddhahood’). It was unattainable (anupalabdha), unthinkable (acintya), and beyond grasp (apar!m$i&'!), yet it was seeing things just as they are, in their suchness (yath!bh)tat!) [21, pp.159-160]. In this sense, Prajñ!p!ramit! was generally regarded as exclusively teaching the realization of emptiness (()nyat!), the reality of the essencelessness of things (dharmanairatyma) and of people (pudgalanairatyma). The teaching of the Prajñ!p!ramit! consisted in defining the essence of Bodhisattva-hood through the practices of the six virtues of perfection (p!ramit!). These six are 1) d!nap!ramit! (generosity), 2) (%lap!ramit! (discipline), 3) k&!ntip!ramit! (patience), 4) v%ryap!ramit! (effort), 5) dhy!nap!ramit! , and the most important, 6) Prajñ!p!ramit! (wisdom). The s$tras of the Prajñ!p!ramit! regarded prajñ! as the directing principle of the other five virtues. For without prajñ!, the other five perfections are like a group of lost blind people. In this practice 6 and philosophy, Prajñ! was singled out and given the highest prominence. The denotation of the word p!ramit! as applied to Prajñ! is that “She is called p!ramit!, because she arrives at the other shore (p!ra) of the ocean of insight, because she arrives at the extremity (anta) of all the insights and attains the summit (ni&'h!gata)” [22, 1066]. Alternatively, the Tibetan translation of Prajñ!p!ramit! is shes-rab-kyi pha-rol-tu-phyin pa. Scholars interpret it to mean wisdom (prajñ!, ses-rab) which has gone ( skt. ita, tib. phying pa) to the other (skt. p!ram, tib. pha-rol) shore; that is, gone away from suffering and imperfection to the other shore of perfectly blissful and awakened liberation [23,166]. The late Indian Mah!y!na Buddhist scholastic tradition admitted only two kinds of fundamental interpretations of the Prajñ!p!ramit!, the M!dhyamika treatises of N!g!rjuna that elucidated the direct subject matter of the Prajñ!p!ramit! S)tras, the teaching of the emptiness (()nyat!) of all the elements of existence, and the interpretation of the Abhisamay!la"k!ra and its commentators, who found a hidden or implicit meaning (tib. sbas-don) in the Prajñ!p!ramit! indicating the cognitions and realizations (abhisamaya) of ultimate reality and the stages of the path (m!rga) leading to the attainment of Buddhahood and final Nirv!#a [24]. Along with these two main doctrinal interpretations, the Mah!y!na scholastic tradition used the term prajñ!p!ramita in reference to several different meanings. These different usages of prajñ!p!ramit! are stated in Dign!ga’s Prajñ!p!ramit!rthasa"graha: a) the highest wisdom personified as the Buddha in his dharmak!ya aspect, and free from the differentiation of subject and object (gr!hya-gr!haka), b) the Path leading to the attainment of this wisdom, and c) the s$tras, or scriptures, containing the teaching which is conducive to the former two. Sometimes a fourth aspect is added, as essence (svabh!va, rang bzhin). In this case, the “essential” Prajñ!p!ramit! is emptiness, the essence, or final nature of all phenomena. Of the three, the first 7 meaning of Prajñ!p!ramit! is the direct sense of the word, whereas the Path and the text are likewise designated by the name Prajñ!p!ramit!, as being the factors bringing about the attainment of the highest knowledge [25, p.7]. This attainment of the highest knowledge as Prajñ!p!ramit! was considered by the Abhisamay!la"k!ra and its commentators to consist of three kinds of omniscience. These three are the omniscient knowledge of all the objects of the empirical world (sarvajñat!), the omniscience in regard to knowing all the paths of salvation for the benefit of sentient beings (m!rgajñat!), and the special omniscience of a Buddha, which is the knowledge of all the aspects of existence as being devoid of an independent separate reality (sarv!k!rajñat!) [26, p.58]. The Prajñ!p!ramit!, as manifesting itself in these three forms of omniscience was glorified as the “mother”(mat$/ yum)” of the (r!vakas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. The name of “mother” is given to the three kinds of wisdom, because each of them is like a mother that aids her child (the (r!vaka or Bodhisattva) in the realization of the desired aim, and a mother that fosters the virtuous elements in the spiritual streams of the practitioners. Prajñ!p!ramit! was also considered the mother of the different spiritual types of practictioners because she is their cause. Just as the mother is one of the two principal causes of a child, so too is wisdom (prajñ!) one of the two chief causes of awakening. The other cause was skillful means (up!ya). Just as a mother must bear the child in her womb for ten (lunar) months, the traditional gestation period, so too does wisdom nurture the adept along the way through the ten bh)mis, the stages of the bodhisattva path. Here, in this case, it was the gestation in the mother wisdom’s womb that brings about the birth of awakened beings. Therefore, whether viewed as a scripture, spiritual state of mind, the goal of enlightenment, or emptiness, Prajñ!p!ramit! in the Mah!y!na 8 Buddhist scholastic tradition was identified not only as a feminine force but as a mother, a source that produced Buddhahod [27, p. 185]. Worship of Prajñ!p!ramit! The expansion of the Prajñ!p!ramit! literature into texts containing thousands of verses was the result of the veneration of Prajñ!p!ramit! as a progenitor for the omniscience qualifying Buddhahood. The merits of worshipping Prajñ!p!ramit! were thought to excede the veneration of a Buddha, Buddha relics, or a reliquary monument (st)pa), as she was the real source of a Buddhas’ omniscience. Quite early in the development of this set of discourses, Prajñ!p!ramit! was not only venerated as subtle Buddhist teachings, but the Prajñ!p!ramit! manuscripts themselves, in the form of books (pustaka), were to be worshipped as material objects that conferred sanctity [28]. The 8,000 verse Prajñ!p!ramit! in many places recommends the writing, reading, reciting, contemplating, copying, and distributing of the text as a powerful source of religious merit [29, pp. 107-108, 116-117, 266-267]. Here, the “sons or daughters of good family” are enjoined to put up a copy of the Prajñ!p!ramit! on an altar , and to pay respect to it, to revere, worship and adore it, pay regard and reverence to it with flowers, incense, powders, umbrellas, banners, bells, and rows of burning lamps [30, 299]. In this way, practitioners “study it prayerfully and venerate its visible symbol, the scriptural text, through traditional modes of worship, thereby absorbing its subtle energy more fully and directly, as nourishment is absorbed into the bloodstream”[31, p.22]. With the beginnings of the devotion to and worship of the Prajñ!p!ramit! texts themselves, the hypostasis of Prajñ!p!ramit! as a feminine deity with attributes developed as well. Her characterization as the “Mother of the Buddhas” in the scholastic sense of all-knowledge which produces Buddhahood carried meaning in the devotional aspect of her worship. The 9 Prajñ!p!ramit!strotra (‘Hymn to the Goddess’) described her as having a faultless body that is unclothed like space and that she was like meeting the light of the moon. In this praise, Prajñ!p!ramit! was called the sole mother, herself being the single path of liberation [32, pp. 147-149]. Personification, together with the worship of the texts themselves prepared the foundation for Prajñ!p!ramit! to become a female deity with attributes. Tantric developments Although Prajñ!p!ramit! was personified as a mother, teacher, and guide for giving rise to Buddhahood, her iconographic forms did not develop, as based on written and archeological evidence, until the seventh century during the socio-cultural era of the P!la dynastic period. Previous doctrines and qualities of personification were encorporated into the ethos of the Buddhist tantric developments. As previously mentioned, Prajñ!p!ramit! was a feminine power and archetype that arose in relation to the Buddha’s doctrine of emptiness (()nyat!) and dependent co-arising (prat%tyasa"utp!d!) that presented a non-substantial (ni,svabh!vat!) and non-dichotomous (advaya) view of reality. This view cognized reality as coemergent and codependent with mind, allowing for no polarization of consciousness and nature or other dichotomies. Faith and insight in Prajñ!p!ramit! meant letting of conceptual thinking and attachment and gaining meditative cognition of luminous space-like awareness, which was construed as possessing omnscient knowledge and was imperishable. These cultural understandings of Prajñ!p!ramit! were carried over into the socio-cultural developments of Buddhist Tantra. In Buddhist Tantrism, Prajñ!p!ramit! represented the prototype and essence of all the female figures in Tantric interplay [33]. In Tantric meditations prajñ! was explicitly identified with nirv!#a and up!ya (means) with sa"s!ra. Ultimate reality was described in the Tantras as 10 the union (yuganaddha) of wisdom and means. The conjunction of means and wisdom was held to be indispensable for obtaining the state of Buddhahood. In ritual and meditational practices, prajñ! was symbolized by a bell (ghanta), a lotus (padma), or a sun (s)rya), as well as by the vowels of the Sanskrit alphabet (!li). Up!ya was symbolized by a vajra, moon (candra), or Sanskrit consonants (k!li). In yogic ritual practices involving a female partner, prajñ! was identified with a yogin% (female yogin). In the union of prajñ! and up!ya, it was prajñ! which played a dominant role, for even though the state of Buddhahood was unattainable without means, it was prajñ! that embraced the highest reality of emptiness (()nyat!)[34]. In the Tantric texts a synonym of female prajñ! was Nair!tmy! (“selflessness”), and it was with a female prajñ! that a Tantric practitioner, as up!ya, united. In Buddhist tantric meditational practices, deities such as Prajñ!p!ramit! were evoked from seed-mantras (b%ja) and were mentally cultivated in visible form. Incorporating the philosophy of ()nyat! from the Prajñ!p!ramit! literature, Tantrists held that one could dissolve one’s individuality into essencelessness and reconstitute one’s identity as a visualized Buddhist deity empowered with awakened qualities and characteristics. The idea was that if a practitioner could identify themselves with a tantric deity, they could absorb the empowered forces and characteristics of the deity and come closer to awakening. The Tantric meditational liturgies used to perform these practices were known as s!dhanas (Tib. sgrub thabs, literally “means of achievement”) [35]. The Tantric practitioner who performed these rites were called a s!dhaka or siddha, “one who has power.” S!dhanas guided a Tantric practitioner’s efforts to imagine magnificient panoramas, to visualize superhuman beings, and to perform correct ritual utterances (mantra), gestures (mudr!) and other ritual activities with aim of achieving Buddhahood. The complex mental, verbal, and physical practices prescribed constituted a 11 practice known as “deity yoga” (devat! yoga). The deity yoga practices of Prajñ!p!ramit! are mainly preserved in the S!dhanam!l!. The S!dhanam!l! (before C.E. 1100) has preserved nine s!dhanas for the invocation of the goddess Prajñ!p!ramit! and an additional one attributed to Kamala")la is contained in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Prajñ!p!ramit! as envisioned in these instruction manuals was most often golden in color, although she appeared in white as well. She appeared with either two or four arms. She was imagined as having one face and all the ornamental characteristics of a goddess ( Tib. lha mo'i mtsan nyid thams cad yongs su rdzogs pa), including a jeweled diadem, bracelets, and earrings. Prajñ!p!ramit! was visualized seating in the diamond posture (vajraparya-kasth!,), a posture that represented a level of concentration (sam!dhi), which, like a diamond that cut thorugh all substances, cuts through all delusions of dualistic thinking. The symbolism employed in these s!dhana visualizations involved ritual gestures (mudr!), attributes, and implements that correlated with awakened qualities. Prajñ!p!ramit! was often depicted in the ritual gesture of teaching (dharmacakramudr!, vy!khy!namudr!), which symbolized the “turning of the wheel of Dharma,” and expressed the fact that Prajñ!p!ramit! had the central function of giving exposition to the Buddha’s doctrine. The gesture of argument (vitarkamudr!), with the hand raised and the ring finger touching the tip of the thumb, was a symbol of the dialectic method of the Prajñ!p!ramit! S)tras to shake the hearer of all logical preconceptions and dualistic thinking, allowing insight into non-conceptual (nirvikalpa) and non-dual awareness (advayajñ!na). The gesture of fearlessness (abhayamudr!), with the arm raised and the palm turned outward, correlated to two aspects of Prajñ!p!ramit!. First, Prajñ!p!ramit! was known as the supreme source of protection and, secondly, the absence of all fear was thought be a sign that the teachings of Prajñ!p!ramit! had been understood and cognized. Prajñ!p!ramit! was 12 visualized and depicted with numerous attributes and implements. Foremost was the panBuddhist symbol of the lotus, either in blue (utpala flower) or red (padma) color, that signified purity. Next, Prajñ!p!ramit! often appeared holding a book (pustaka) of the Prajñ!p!ramit! scripture itself. Usually held in the left hand (vamahaste), the book symbolised the teachings of the Prajñ!p!ramit! s)tras [36]. Besides cultivating the presence of Prajñ!p!ramit! by the means of s!dhanas, the ethos of the Tantric literature represents Prajñ!p!ramit! with an uncomprising attitude of respect and veneration of the feminine in human form. In this practice all women were considered embodiments of Prajñ!p!ramit!, being emanations of her divine qualities. This form of reverence is found in statement by the Tantric siddha Lak&m%-kar! in her Adhvayasiddhi that: “One must not denigrate women, In whatever social class they are born, For they are Lady Perfection of Wisdom (!"#$%&'&"#()*&), embodied in the phenomenal realm.” [37,p.39] Prajñ!p!ramit! outside of South Asia Prajñ!p!ramit! was cultivated and worshipped in India until the close of Buddhism in the late twelfth century. By that time, the literature and practices associated with Prajñ!p!ramit! had spread into Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, and East Asia. Prajñ!p!ramit! had a profound effect on the development of Buddhist thought in Chinese forms of Buddhism. Throughout pre-modern Japanese history, Prajñ!p!ramit! texts were ceremoniously recited under royal sponsorship to avert calamities. Ritual and meditation practices that focus on Prajñ!p!ramit! are current in both Tibetan and Nepalese forms of Buddhism. In Tibetan forms of Buddhism, Prajñ!p!ramit! is known as “wisdom mother” (sher-phyin-ma) or “the Great Mother” (yum chen mo)[38]. All Tibetan schools and orders study the Prajñ!p!ramit! and cultivate here visualization practices in some form. Machig Labdron (1055-1153 c.e.) was thought to be a living embodiment of 13 Prajñ!p!ramit! and developed a distinctive lineage of practice “cutting off” (gcod) that cultivated a nondual and selfless realization of Prajñ!p!ramit! utilizing rituals containing Tantric factors fused with exorcistic elements [39]. In Nepal, the veneration of Prajñ!p!ramit! takes place through the ritual recitation and worship of Prajñ!p!ramit! manuscripts in which the goddess is able to channel blessings that produce religious merit, cure illnesses, and gain success in worldly affairs [40]. In sum, Prajñ!p!ramit! was a distinctive feminine force throughout the history of Buddhism that produced an astonishing amount of literature, ritual practices, and distinct cultural religious formations. Cross-references: Abhidharma, A'*asah!srik!prajñ!p!ramit!, bodhisattva, Buddhist scriptures, Mah!y!na, up!ya, Vajracchedik!, Vajray!na References [1] Waymen, Alex. 1984 “Nescience and Insight According to Asa+ga’s Yog!c!rabh$mi,” in George Elder, editor, Buddhist Insight, pp. 193-214. [2] Migot, André. 1954. “Un grand disciple du Buddha: Sâriputra. Son rôle dans l’histoire du bouddhisme et dans le développement de l’Abhidharma.” In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 46, pp. 405-554. [3] Verboom, A. 1998. 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