The Abhisamaya-alaṅkāra ("Ornament of/for Clear Realization[s]"), abbreviated AA, is one of five Sanskrit-language Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures which Maitreya--a Buddha or bodhisattva (the point is somewhat controversial)--is said to have revealed to Asaṅga (northwest India, 4th century AD). Some scholars (Erich Frauwallner, Giuseppe Tucci, Hakiju Ui) refer to the text's author as Maitreyanātha ("Lord Maitreya") in order to avoid either affirming...
more
The Abhisamaya-alaṅkāra ("Ornament of/for Clear Realization[s]"), abbreviated AA, is one of five Sanskrit-language Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures which Maitreya--a Buddha or bodhisattva (the point is somewhat controversial)--is said to have revealed to Asaṅga (northwest India, 4th century AD). Some scholars (Erich Frauwallner, Giuseppe Tucci, Hakiju Ui) refer to the text's author as Maitreyanātha ("Lord Maitreya") in order to avoid either affirming the claim of supernatural revelation, or identifying the author as Asaṅga himself. (Perhaps "Maitreya" was the name of Asaṅga's human teacher.)
The AA is never mentioned by the translator Xuanzang, who spent several years at Nalanda in India during the early 7th century, and became a savant in the Maitreya-Asaṅga tradition. One possible explanation is that the text is in fact later, and was attributed to Maitreya-Asaṅga for purposes of legitimacy.
The AA contains nine chapters and 273 verses. Its pithy contents summarize—in the form of eight...
less
