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    Death in A Cave Meditation Deathbed Ritu

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    ERIC M. GREENE DEATH IN A CAVE: MEDITATION, DEATHBED RITUAL, AND SKELETAL IMAGERY AT TAPE SHOTOR INTRODUCTION rthistorians studying Buddhist cave sites have for some time shown an interest in going beyond As examinacion of the thematic, pictorial, or iconographic significance of these caves’ rich visual imagery, to reconscruct the practices once carried out in these spaces. On the one hand, this extension of traditional art-historical concerns reflects a wider reorientation of the discipline towards the study ‘of material culture broadly conceived, such that works of art and other material objects are approached not merely in terms of cheis formal properties, but as windows into the lives and subjective experi ences of those who created, encountered, and used them. For scholars of Buddhism, who have tradi tionally focused on cexts, the use of archeological and art-historical sources to reconseruct living Bud- dhist practice is also an appealing prospect. Indeed, as most would now aver, the Buddhist cextual record is often normative and prescriptive rather than historically descriptive. Material remains, on the other hand, can at least occasionally show if and when given practices were actually, rather than ideally, cartied out, and can further provide evidence for practices chat the textual record overlooks or mentions only in passing, ‘Meditation — in some sense the normative Buddhist practice par excellence — is one element of Buddhist ritual life for which scholars have in recent years looked to material remains for corroborat~ ing or additional daca. In particular, certain Buddhist caves, most notably those along the Silk Roads and within China, have been routinely identified as the sites of various kinds of meditation practice, and the presence of these caves has accordingly been taken to confirm the historical importance of such forms of Buddhist meditation for the local communities in question. Nevertheless, as critics have 1 Most basically scholars have arcempted, using various means, to link certain caves to known meditation texts, argu ing thereby chac che practices described inthe cexts may have taken place within the caves in question. See: Liu Huda, “Bei wei shi ku yu chan,” in Zhongguo shi bu si yan ju, e€. Su Bai (1978; reprinc, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1996), 4331-48; He Shizhe, "Dunhuang Mogeo ku bei chao shi ku yu chan guan,” in Dumbuang yan jiu wen ji(Lanzhou: Ganst. renin chubanshe, 1982), 122-433 Laure Feugére, "A Meditation Cave in Kizl,” in South Asian Archasology 1985, Karen Feifele and Per Sorensen (London: Curzon Press, 1989), 380-86; Stanley K. Abe, “Art and Practice ina Fifth- century Chinese Buddhise Cave Temple,” Ars Oriontalis 20 (1990): 1-17; Lai Wenying, “Liu, qi shi ji Gaochang fo jiao de jing eu chan guan: Yi Tayugou chan guan tu wei lie,” Yuan guang fo ue xue bao 7 (2002): 113-345 Eugene Y. ‘Wang, "Oneiric Horizons and Dissolving Bodies: Buddhist Cave Shrine as Mirror Hall,” Art History 27, 4 (2004) 494-521; Nobuyoshi Yamabe, " An Examination of che Mural Paintings of Visualizing Monks in Toyok Cave 42," in ‘Turf Revisited: The Firat Century of Research into the Arts and Cultures of the Silt Road, ed. Desmond Durkin-Meis- terernst (Berlin: Diettich Reimer Verlag, 2004), 401-7; Eugene Y, Wang, Shaping the Lotas Suira: Buddbist Visual Culture in Msdisval China (Seatele: Univessiy of Washington Press, 2005), 18-25; He Shizhe, Dumbuang tu xiang yan in Lanzhou: Gansu jiaoyu chubanshe, 2005), 8-15; and Ning Qiang, "Visualization Practice and the Function of the ‘Western Paradise Images in Turfan and Dunhuang in the Sixth co Seventh Cencuties,” Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology 2 (2007): 133~42. Other scholars have argued thac “meditation caves” may have been not che decorated chapel caves, but the smaller, unadorned, cell-like caves that are still found at some sites along the Silk Roads. See, 265 poinced out, it is not always clear how these identifications are made. Robert Sharf, for example, has argued that there is often surprisingly liccle evidence chat what scholars have identified as “medita~ tion caves” were actually used for meditation practice.’ More recently, -Yamabe Nobuyoshi has reached similar conclusions through a careful analysis of the architectural features of the Silk Road cave sites.> In this article I focus on several painting subjects ~ skulls, skelecons, corpses ~ often linked by modern scholars to meditation practice and attempt to determine when and co what extent this con~ nection is plausible, Caves featuring such paintings have been found at several sites along the Silk Roads between India and China. At Kizil, for example, we find skeletal imagery in a variety of configu- rations — as isolated images,t incorporated into floral motifs (figs.1,2), and, perhaps most interese~ ingly , as objects of meditacive contemplation (figs. 3-5). Furcher east, in Caves 20 and 42 at the site of “Toyoq near Turfan, we find similar images of monks meditating on skeletons (fig. 6)’ and on corpses in vatious states of decay (figs. 7,8). The most impressive example of this painting theme, and one often mentioned as a prototype for the images of monks meditating on skeletons and corpses from Kizil and Toyoq,? was discovered in a cave at the monastery Tape Shotor near the site of Hadda in eastern Afghanistan (figs. 10—13). Regret- tably, the primary data from this site is limited, both because the final report of the excavations remains unpublished, and because the cave in question, as well as the rest of the site, has sow been destroyed." for example, Angela Howard, “Miracles and Visions among the Monastic Communities of Kucha, Xinjiang,” Jour- ‘nal of ner Asian Art and Archaeology (2007): 77, Who draws fom the work of archeologist Giuseppe Vignato, Chi nese scholars have similarly identified many small unadocned caves in the northern area of Dunhuang as “meditaeion caves” (chan ku). Fora summary, see Wang Shuging and Yang Fuxue, “Dunhuang Mogao ku chan ku delish bian ian,” Zbonggua chan x2e 4 (2006): 310-18, See also Li Yuqun, "Classification, Layout, and Teonography of Buddhist Cave Temples and Monasteries,” in Early Chine Religion, Part Two: The Pevad of Division (220-389 AD), ed Joho Lagerwey and Lil Pengzbi (Leiden: Brill, 20t0).Li classifies as “meditation caves" almost al of che small, cell-like caves occasionally found at Chinese and Central Asian cave sites 2 Robere H. Shar, “Arcin the Dark: The Ritual Context of Buddhist Caves in Westean China,” in Art of Merit: Stas in Buddhist Art and Us Conervation ed. Davi Park, Kuenga Wangmo, and Sharon Cather (London: Archetype Pub: lications, Courtauld Institute of Are, 2015), 38-65, 3 Yamabe Nobuyoshi, “Zai tan shi kus yong," io Tlafon sue yan jis Di vam je Talus jit Ou Ya you mu min 2 de gi yuan yu giana gu jx thn yan ta bu ln wen jé(Sbanghai: Shanghai gujichubsnshe, 2010), 784806. 14. See, for example, the photograph Mission Pellioe AP7474 (Musée Guimet archives), showing a standing skelecon, taken from Kizi “cave delta” (corresponding to Caves 30-35 in the modern Chinese numbering system). 5 Inche image from Toyog (fg, 6), the central gure, interpreted by most scholars as a body, half of which has become a skeleton, appears cobe the object of contemplation of ehe monk on che right, who sts beneath a sree. A similar monk seems to have once been depicted beneath a tree on the lef, but i is no longer visible. Ir may also be possible s sug gested by the anonymous reviewer of this article, thatthe mook on the right is meant to be contemplating the sill fleshy body, while the monk on che left has moved on ro che skelecon, 6 In igure 7, also from Toyoa, we see a monk contemplating what appears to bea female corpse being pecked at by a bird. Figure 8 meanwhile seems to show a monk meditating ona bloated or swollen corps, one ofthe stages of decay listed in traditional meditation texts, 7 Feugere, "A Meditation Cave in Kizil” 38086; Miyaji Akira, Noha so Mivoku no zuzigaku: Indo ara Chit Aja ¢ (okyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1992), 430; Miyaji Akira, “Turufn, Toyoku sekkursu no aenkankutsu hekiga ni ‘suite: Jodoau, Jodo kansénu, jo kans6 2," Bully gest 226 (1996): 533 Yamabe Nobuyoshi, "Zenkan co zenkut- 50," in Bu aka no Ksaten: Cb aja, ed, Nara Yasuaki and Ishii Kes (Tokyo: Kosei shuppansha, 2010), 298, 8 Zémaryla Tazi personal communication, November 2007. Tarai’ final cepor on Hada remains unpublished 266 My principle aim nonetheless is to consider how this cave and its imagery may have been used. Given the limitations of access to the site itself, I cannot hope to reach a definitive conclusion, Nevertheless we can, [ believe, expand the list of possible functions that have been considered to date, THE CAVE ‘The area around Hadda has been recognized as one of the principal sites of Gandharan Buddhism since the early nineceenth century.? In ancient times called Nagarahara, the region was a major stopping point for Buddhise pilgrims en route from China to India. According to the records left by these Chi- nese pilgrims, che main attraction was the famous “Cave of the Buddha’s Image” (Fo ying kx), some- where in the local mountains, where the Buddha supposedly cast his reflection onto the wall of the cave.! Tape Shotor itself was a medium-sized monastery active from the second through the early sev- enth century," and based on inscriptions it appears to have been associated with the Sarvastivadins.® Ie consisted of a large central scupa wich a residential compound to the northeast (fig-9). The cave containing the skeleton painting was carved into the conglomerate rock foundation of the monastery sometime between the fourth and fifth centuries. Lying directly beneath several rooms of the monastery. itself, the cave was sealed with a wooden door and opened onto a large courtyard situated below the central monastic compound. Several smaller, unadorned caves were carved ina similar fashion on the eastern side of the courtyard. ‘The cave itself was approximately cen meters long, three meters wide, and slightly over ewo meters high with a rounded ceiling (fig. 10). Its focal point was the stunning painting of a skeleton on the far wall, on each side of which were depicted orange-robed monks seated on grass mats beneath trees (figs 11-13). On the side walls of the cave, which were comparatively poorly preserved at the time of exca~ 9 Systematic excavation began inthe early ewentieth cencury, See Jules J. Barchoux, Les Fouiller de Hadda (Paris: G. van (est, 1930-33). For reports of ater excavations, see Chaibat Mostamindi, “Nouvelles fouilles a Hadda (1966-1967), Arts Asiatiques 19 (1969): 1536; Zémarylai Tarsi, "Hadda & la lumitee des trois derniéres campagnes de fouilles de ‘Tapa-é-Shotor (1974~1976),” Comptes rendus des sianas, Académie des Inscriptions Belles-Letirs (1976): 81-0. 10. Thenameis known only from Chinese sources. The word ying here is often translated by modern scholars.as “shadow, but I prefer he translation “reflection” of “east image.” 11 Kuwayama Shoshin, Kapish?: Gandara shi kinky (Kyoto: Jinbun kagaku kenkyajo, 1990), 67-90. According to Kuwayama’s esearch, during the fourth and fifth cencuries Nagarahara did not lie directly on the main route from the Tarim Basin into India, but was reached only via a westward side cip. In later times, however, a different route ‘was used that did pass directly through che region 12 Tarai, “Hadlda la lumitre des trois demnires campagnes,” 384, 13 Zémarylai Tarzi, personal communication, March 2012. [am grateful to Professor Tarzi for providing information bout the ruins, and the meditation eave in particular, chat is not found in published sources, and also for generously allowing me to use several of his unpublished phocographs ofthe cave and his plan of the monastery ieself. 14 The centeal seupa is labeled "M” on the plan in figure 9. The area to the north and northeast of che stupa isthe resi- dential compound, which included a typical vara couscyard with small surrounding cells (numbers 1,29, 20, and 21),and additional cells built in an extended area furcher to the northeast 15 The cave labeled as “GA” (grotte A) on Tarzi’s map (fig. 9) opens onco the courtyard (number 64). The other caves, and are labeled GB, GC, and GD. Professor Tari has also pointed out to me that he found skeletons in caves B, 1D, alhough their provenance is uncertain, 267 vation, similar monks, also seated beneath trees, were rendered with flames emerging from their shoul- ders (fig. 14). Inscriptions, dated on paleographic grounds to between the fifth and seventh centuries, identify the monks as the ten major disciples of the Buddha,'6 with Maudgalyayana and Saripucra, respectively, on the left and right of the skeleton. THE USE OF THE CAVE ‘An obvious initial hypothesis, proposed by che archeologist who discovered the cave, is that this rock- ccut space was a site for meditation, in particular for the asubba-bhavand, che contemplation of foulness and impurity. To evaluate chis possibility I will firse consider the details of this practice as it appears North Indian, principally Sarvastivadin, ereatises.”” These texts generally divide the atubha-bhavana 1t0 two types, sometimes called the id the “external.” In the former a meditator con- templates the impurity of his own body using a list of thirty-two or thirty-six impure body parts. In che latter, the meditacor must first find a corpse in one of several possible stages of decomposition, and chen gaze upon it until he “sees” it even with eyes closed. He chen returns to his usual place of medi- tation and focuses his mind on the mental image ofthe corpse until he enters the fist “trance” (dbyiina). In Sarvastivadin sources the asubha-bhdvana was often understood as the most fundamental or at lease the most commonly undertaken initial meditation practice. The various Vibbasd compendia, out main sources for mature Sarvastividin understanding, present the asubha-bhdvand as “the first med iration practice”®° and the most common route to advanced attainment. Moreover, in their presen- 1G Tarai, “Haddad la lumitre des crois dernitres campsgnes,” 407-9, 17 Sacvistividin sources present a slightly different understanding chan the Visuddbinagea, the usual go-to source when scholats discuss this praccice. Bhikkhu Dhammajoci has recently published a very helpful survey ofthe afubbe med- itations in Sarvastividin sources. See K. L. Dhamiajoi, “The aiubb Medication in the Sarvistivida," Jounal ofthe Contre for Buddhist Studies (Sri Lanka) 7 (2009): 248-95. Thave elsewhere discussed many of these same sources; see Erie M. Greene, “Of Bones and Buddhas: Contemplation ofthe Corpse and Its Connection to Medications on Pusity as Evidenced by sth-Century Chinese Meditation Manuals” (MLA. thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). Fora study of how the afubha-bhivand was taken up ia Indian Buddhise narrative litereture, see Liz Wilson, Charm ing Cadavers: Horrific Figurations ofthe Feminine in Indian Buddbiss Hagiographic Literature (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996). 18 This distinction is also standard in the Chinese mediation manuals eranslated from Indian sources in che late fourth an erly ith centuries. Tecan also be seen in the Sravaka-bhim (a source [will discuss in more deal below), which classifies the objecs of the impuricy contemplation into “internal” (adly.tma) and “external” (Azhirdha), aligning these with he body-parcand corpse contemplations, respectively, Se Srivakabhimi Seudy Group, ed, Sanaa hii Revied Sams Text and Japanse Translation (Tokyo: Sankibo, 1998-2007), 2:59-61 19 There are thee extant Vibhisé works, preserved only in Chinese. The ealiest Chinese ranslation, that by Buddhavar- ‘man, is the *Vibhisatatne (Aiden piporha Ins), cranslated in 383 CE, a date which forms che rrminas ad quem for the encie Vibha gente although some version of the text is generally thought to have existed as carly as che second cen ‘tury CE, On the different translations, see Charles Willemen, Bare Dessein, and Collet Cox, Saruindda Buddbit Sicblastvism (Leiden; Brill, 1998), 229-39. Stricely speaking, the the Chinese translations epresene distinct recen- sions of the Vibhisd gente, not thiee translations of the “same” text. For the sake of simplicity, however, I will refer ‘oall three as differenc versions of “the” Vibbasa 20 Taishi 27:1545.205804~25 268 tation of the so-called external atubba-bhavand, Sarvistividin cexts often emphasize the contempla- «ion of the skeleton, nominally only one of nine (or sometimes ten) stages of decay ‘The practitioner first goes toa charnel ground and concemplates the image ofthe bruised corpse ot the others. Hay= ing well grasped the image, he goes back [co his abode] and sits ina single place and again contemplates chat (men: tal] image. IFthe mind is scateered and [che image] docs not appets clearly, he should go beck to the chatnel ground and again contemplateand grasp the image. When (the image] isclear and his mind focused, he should quickly recaen tohis place of dwelling. He washes hs fet, approaches his seat, and then sits with crossed legs, calming his body and ‘mind, separating from all obstacles, and contemplating che previously acquired image. Through the power of his ‘resolve, he then transfers the imaye co his own body. [The procedure isthe same for all nine stages of decay,] from the bruised corpse up co the skeleton.* When concemplating the skeleton, he frst concemplates che foot bone, chen the ankle bone, then ehe calf bone, chen the knee bone, chen the thigh bone, chen the hip bone, then the waist bone, then the spine, then the sibs, chen che shoulder blade, chen the upper aem, chen the lower arm, chen che wrist, chen the hand, then the shoulder, then the neck, chen the jaw, then the teeth, then the skull. [TEXT A] ‘As we see here in Xuanzang's (600-664) translation of the Vibhasa, while ic isacknowledged that one ‘might base one’s medication on any kind of corpse (the formal nine scagesare listed in full ar the begin- ning of this section),* che skeletal stage is singled out for derailed analysis. a1 Ibid. 27:1545.205226-27. Theoretically the atubha-bhivand was paired with breath mediation (Gngpna) as che wo “ gates to the deathless” (amrta-dera), the starting points for meditation practice. However, ies also suid that “those who cultivate the afshhe-bhivand are numerous, while those who practice breath meditation are few" (ibid., 238:1546.154812-15), suggesting that the aubbacbhitand was considered the more usual introductory practice. Noce thae while the Theravada tradition usually presents a‘abhe practice a primarily for chose of lustful cemperament, we occasionally find comments refleccing the opinion chac ic should be undertaken by any and all practitioners, posi- tion quite close co what we find in the Sarvistividin sources. On this poine se Steven Collins, “The Body in Ther- avada Buddhist Monasticism,” in Religion ad she Bady, ed, Saeah Coakley (Cambridge: Cambeidge University Pees, 1997), 192 22 Here "resolve" translates sing je, a word used regulaely by Xuanzang co translate chee che ver ads \V/ane of its noun form, adhimoksa. In contexts such as this, adbimoksa is often translated as “visualization,” but more literally ic means something like a "firm resolution” that something isthe case, 25. The point is that chis same procedure isco be used for whichever ofthe nine stages of decay (up to and including the skeleton) in which one finds the corpse (see n. 25 below). Sources such asthe Vinuddbimagga make clear that che pro- cedure was to find a corpse in one ofthese nine (or, in some sources, cen) seages of decay, and then co use that parcic- ular image a a basis for attaining dian, This is indicated here in the Vibhasd by the instructions that one recurn ¢o ‘one's usual place of meditation, in other words somewhere other than where che corpse is located, after having “grasped” the image. Although it is certainly possible that meditacion practices existed in which one observed the gradual decay of a body over time fom its initial “bruised” (vintlaka) stage until its final dissolucion into bones (an idea chat finds pictorial expression inthe celebrated medieval Japanese paintings that depice che gradual decay ofbeau- ‘iful woman inco bones), this is noc how the alubba-bhivand is generally presenced in Indian ot even Chinese Bud- dlhise meditation eexts 24 Taisbo27:1545.205b14-26. 25. Ibid., 27:1545.20529-10. The nine stages, which though vaguely ordered by increasing levels of dissolution are not intended as the sequence of decay ofa single corpse over time, are: the “bruised,” the “swollen,” the “festering,” the “splicopen,” the blood covered,” the” gnawed on,” the “separated into pieces,” the “scattered bones,” and che "skele- ‘on.” Similar lists are found in other sources such asthe Vituddbinagea. Fora comparison ofthe various different lists, see Shi Huimin, “Hoyigaku kara mita fajokan,” Shitys bony 293 (1992): 91-108, 269 ‘A similar emphasis on the skeleton is seen in the meditation manuals translated into Chinese in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, which represent practices then popular in norchwest India. In these texts the most commonly discussed form of the afubha-bhavana is che “white bone contempla- tion” (bai gu guan),a practice the somewhat later Sarvastivadin author Safighabhadra calls the “inter~ nal corpse contemplation." ‘The white bone contemplation differs from the traditional “external” asubba-bhavand in that it does not requirean actual corpse.27 Rather than going toa charnel ground, the practitioner of the white bone contemplation simply imagines his or her own body transforming into a skeleton, and it is this imagined skeleton, rather than any external object, chat serves as the object of contemplation. By che fourch century CE this appears co have become, in some quarters, the standard version of the afuhha- bhavand. Thus ic is che only one mentioned in the Abbidbarma-kata-bhasyam. Somewhat later Saigha- bhadra even dismisses contemplation of an “external” corpse, that is to say a teal dead body or skele- ton, as suitable only for those “of dull faculties” (dum gen).** This understanding is significant for our appreciation of the Tape Shotor paintings because the white bone contemplation always involves, as its name implies, the contemplation of a skeleton. In short, textual evidence suggests that in north ‘west India beeween the fourth and seventh centuries CE, the contemplation of skeletons was one of the most ~ if not the most — important meditation practice. ‘Nevertheless this does not necessarily mean that caves featuring images of skeletons, let alone the images themselves, were either intended or actually used for meditation practice. Indeed, some sources mention paintings of corpses as a standard feature of most Buddhist temples, one not connected to any particular practice.” For example, a well-known passage from the Mabasdmghika-vinaya reads: ‘When the Buddha was dwelling in Srivasti, the monks said to him: “World-honored One, do you permit us... £0 make the five kinds of paincings?” The Buddha said, “I permit it.” The Buddha then said co the monks, “Ic is just as in the past when there was a king named Auspicious who buile 2 monastery for Kaéyapa Buddha... with all kinds of paincings excepe [of] men and women coupling." " All kinds” means images of elder monks, grape vines, sea monsters, eese, corpses, and landscapes.” (TEXT B] 26 4ADhidbarma-myayannidra Sara (Apidame shun sheng li lan), Taish029 1562,671a20~21. The Chinese reads guan ne sbi 27 This“ internal corpse contemplation” also needs to be distinguished from the “incernal” alubba-bhavand in which the mediator contemplates the impurity of his body viaa list of thirey-cwo or thirty-six body parts. Though there clearly scems to be some relationship beeween these two, the “white bone contemplation” is presented as a replacement for the concemplation of external” corpses, noc asa substitute for che body-pare contemplation, 28. Seen. 26 above. 129 Most ofthe relevant passages have also been discussed by Koshika Rydgen, “Fujokan ni kansura itz ni tsuite," Jide ‘gaku 1t (1937): 63-70. Fora general discussion of vinaya tegulations for paintings, se Sadakane Keiji, “Indo bukky® tokaiga,” in Buby@ no rebicitsi,ciikirebi ronkai (Kyoto: Hozokan, 2003), 33-38. Sec also Alexander C. Soper, “Barly Budlhist Atcitudes Toward che Arc of Painting," The Art Brdlerin 32,2 (1950): 147-51; and Erik Zircher, “Buddhist ‘Are in Medieval China: The Ecclesiastical View,” in Fanction and Meaning in Buddhist Art: Prwedings of « Seminar Held at Leiden University, 21-24 October 1991, ed. K. R. van Kooij and H. van der Veere (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1995) 5-7. 30 Other vinayas also prohibit erotic paintings; Keshika, “Fujokan ni kansuru zuzd ni csuite,” 58-59. 3 Mubesenggd I, Taisbs 22:1425.496c2.4~49722. 270 ‘While the relevance of the Mahasamgbika-vinaya co che interpretation of cave sites in Gandhara or Cen- tral Asia is debacable, chis passage suggests that paintings of corpses may have been quite common in ancient Indian Buddhist temples.” Ie is further interesting that most of the items in the above list of painting subjects are found in the landscape frescoes on the vaulted ceilings of the same early caves from Kizil where we find images of monks meditating on skulls (figs. 4,5) Some scholars have suggested that these paintings indicate special emphasis on meditation prac~ tice among the local monastic community at Kizil.” And indeed, paintings of corpses, of of monks meditating on corpses or skeletons, do clearly invoke che themes of bodily impermanence and impu- rity, and of meditation on such themes as the proper duty of a monk. However, if such imagery was part of a generic repertoire of painting subjects suitable for Buddhist monasteries, as the ‘Mahasamghika-vinaya passage above suggests, then i¢seems difficult to argue that any particular exam- ple was necessarily used in a specific manner, that a space adorned with such imagery served a partic~ ular ritual function, or even that the local community had a special devotion to meditation practice. ‘A passage from the Milasarvaitivada-vinaya gives us another reason to doubt that there was a nec~ essary correlation between images of skeletons or corpses and specific ritual practices. This passage, like Text B above, claims to recount the first time that paintings were made inside a Buddhist monastery. In the Malasarvastiedda-vinaya, however, the Buddha not only lists the appropriate paine- ing styles bu also indicates where each kind of image is to be placed. Paintings of corpses, he says, belong in che toilets (a curious point, to which I will return), while skeletons or skulls are tobe painted in monastic cells. ‘As Gregory Schopen has observed, in the frame story that sets the context for che Buddha's pro- nouncement of these rules, the great donor Anathapindaka tells the Buddha that he wishes to com- ‘mission paintings for the Jetavana Monastery because without them itis “ugly.” This, of course, does ‘not mean that paintings in Buddhist cemples never served or were never intended ¢o serve a more specific ritual purpose ~ clearly this would be false. But the story here does help remind us that such paintings did nor necessarily have a specific purpose other than decoration of adornment. (We should not forgee that donors would also generate meric from commissioning any such painting.) The Milasarvastinida-vinaya passage is also noteworthy because it seems to establish a generic or conventional association between paintings of skulls or skeletons and monastic living quarters. In other words, unless we wanted to argue that all Buddhist monks and nuns practiced meditation in their cells, che presence of paintings of skulls and skeletons would not, at least according to the ‘Malasarvastivada-vinaya, indicate anything more specific chan the bedroom of a monk or nun. ‘On the other hand, we might address the question here not in terms of what actually cranspired in any given location — something quite difficult co ascercain with confidence — but in cerms of what 32 The Mahasamghiba-vinaye was cranslated into Chinese in the early ith cencury 33 Howard, “Miracles and Visions 34 Ganken shuoyigieyoubn pinaiye 2a shi, Taisho 24:1451.283b210. This important passage was firse discussed by Marcelle Lalou, “Notes sur la décoration des monastétes Bouddhiques,” Reswe des arts asiatigues 5,3 (1930): 183-85. See also Gregory Schopen, “Att, Beaury, and the Business of Running a Buddhist Monastery," in Buddhist Monks and Busi- ‘ess Matters (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004), 34-36. 35 Schopen, “Are, Beanty, and the Business of Running a Buddhist Monastery,” 34~35 a the space was intended for ideally, and hence for what purpose the imagery in it may have been intended, even if the given example we have was not so used. In other words, pethaps monastic cells had images of skeletons because monks and nuns were expected to meditate there.56 Indeed, scholars have frequently interpreted so-called vihara-style caves, consisting of a large cen- tral room surrounded by smaller cells, as both living spaces and sites for meditation practice.” How- ever, the actual expected location of meditation practice is less clear than has often been supposed. The various extant vinaya might shed light on this, but co my knowledge there has been no complece study of this question. Bur even a cursory examination reveals that in at least some cases mediation was supposed to take place not in private cells but in a specialized structure, one that the Milasarvastivada- vinaya calls a “hall for exertion” (prabanaéal),” a term translated into Chinese as “ meditation hall” (often chan tang or chan fang) Although in some cases it is implied that monks might sleep in such ighika-vinaya, for exam ple, says chat visiting monks or hired workers may sleep there if the monastery runs short of other structure, this was not the normal state of affairs. A passage from the Mahdi accommodations, thus suggesting that this space was not generally designated for this purpose. Even more co the point, this passage clearly describes the “meditation hall” as a single, large room, not a collection of small cells. The Sarudstivada-vinaya describes the "meditation hall” in similat terms. While there was no doubt much variation, these sources, at least, suggest that monks and nuns were normally expected co meditate together in a large room, ‘This brings us co another interesting point. Inaddition to ies discussion of the connection becween skelecons and sleeping quarters, the Malasarvadstiedda-vinaya indicates chat corpses should be painted in the toilets. In an insightful analysis of this passage, Koshika Rydigen suggested many years ago that we should also consider another room, the bathhouse or steam room, for which the text prescribes scenes of hell as che appropriate decoration. Koshika proposed that these painting themes make sense 36 Monique Maillard seems co imply this identity by incerpreting the caves painced with skeletons from Kizil (such as, figure 3) a times as chambers for meditation, and at times as living quarters. Monique Maillard, Grote et monuments Asie centrale: Esai sur Uarchitectae det monaamants cvs ot religieux dams Asie centrale sidentaive depuis Ure chrtionne jus’ las vongatse musulmane (Pats: J. Maisonneuve, 1983), 91, 109-20. 37 Li Yuqun, “Classification, Layout, and Ieonography of Buddhist Cave Temples and Monasteries,” 576, s80~82, 38 Some vinaya accounts of monastic architecture have been systematically studied. Fora discussion of the toes, see ‘Matsuda Shin'ya, "Shobuha rtsuz no hikalea ni miru shi no ko26," Indgaty dubkydeaks kent 50, x (2001): 166-71 39. Haiyan Hu-von Hinlber, Das Posadhavastu: Vorshrifien ir de buddbittsce Beichafier im Vinaya der Mitlaxarnsivadins (Reinbek: Verlag fir Orientalistische Fachpublikationen, 1994), 266 and passim. 40. The term is atteseed in Pali as pudbinaghars, which in the Chinese cranslation of the Samantapasadita (Shanjian li bipaba) is translated 2s "meditation room” (chan shi), Taisb6 24:1462.737a16-18. The corresponding Pali passage is found in J. Takakusu and M, Nagai, eds,,Simantapaicdiéa (London: Pali Text Society, 1924~47), 2°346. 48 Taishi 2a:1425.34487-23, 42. Forexample, monks bump into each other when standing up, suggesting a crowded room rather ehan a small cham- Der; Taishi a.2:1425.375¢28-29, Fora valuable study of vingya passages discussing the practical arrangements for med- iation practice, see Hirakawa Akira, “Riesu26 ni arawareca zen no jssen,” in Shitan no henky2, ed. Sekiguchi Shindai (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1975), 51=72. 43. It implies, for example, chat while sitcing there one would be able co see all che ocher monks, a comment chat seems toenvision a single room with an open floor plan; Shi song Ii, Taishd 23:1435.28907—bt 44. Genben shuoyigieyoubu pinaiye 2a shi, TaishO 24:1451.28367—8 272 because both the bathhouse and the roilee are “connected to the flesh.” In other words, these are places where monks and nuns would ac least partially disrobe, no doubt a macter of some concern for the guardians of monastic propriety. Although speculative, similar reasoning might also explain the place- ment of images of skeletons in sleeping quarters. In shared accommodations, the potential need to dis- courage thoughts of sexuality through images of bodily impurity would have been similar co the case of the toilets or the bathhouse. In che case of private sleeping quarters, we might imagine such paint ings as incended to discourage the “sin of the hand,” something that, if its extensive discussion by the authors of monastic law books is any guide, was seen as an ever-present danger. Of course the asubha-bhavand was not only a formal method for entering dyna and then proce ing to higher states of medication, but was also prescribed more generally as a practical way of over- coming lust. Ic is indeed easy to imagine a lonely monk in his room at night looking at che skulls on his walls precisely for this reason. But this they speak of “meditation caves.” In any event, that monastic cells would share a painting theme with the toilets should give pause co anyone attempting to infer the intended ritual function ofa given space solely from che imagery chat adorns its walls. not, I think, what scholars usually have in mind when PICTURING IMPURITY [If we want to establish che function of the Tape Shotor cave, we thus need to consider more than the ‘mere presence of the painting of the skeleton. And there is indeed evidence suggesting that, in addi- tion to their function as standard elements of monastic décor, paintings of skeletons were sometimes used in place of actual decaying bodies as a basis for the aubha-bhavana meditation. This possibility is mentioned in at least two places in the Sravaka-bhimi, a compendium of Indian Buddhist medita- tion techniques thought co date from the first few centuries of the Common Era. The general proce~ dre for the asubha-bhavana begins as follows: Having gone toa charnel ground and so forth, grasp the image of [a corpse in any ofthe nine possible stages of decay} ranging from chac of a bruised cogpse to that of bones or ofa skelecon.+ IF not feom a charnel ground, chen grasp the image from one thac has been painted or made from wood, cone, or cay, Having grasped [the image] go ack co the place of esidence [co continue meditation]. Although the basic procedure is the same as in the Visuddhimagga or the Vibhdsa (see above) — one first views a decaying body and chen goes elsewhere to meditate on it ~ here there is the added option of 45. Koshiks, “Fujokan oi kansora 020 ni tsuite,” 57 46 As noted above (n.23),the point is that one may use a corpse in any stage of decay asa bass for che practice, 47. Sn upasarsbramya vnilakid v4 nimiteam udgphina yavad autinam wistitembalibanam 1a | no cc cbmatanad api Iu citrabytid 0a haghaimabcdaid vl nimittam udgphina\ nde layandtanam apasartbrama, K.Shukla,ed. Sritae- shams (Pacna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1973), 416.413, following the emendations proposed by Lambert Schmithausen, “Versenkungsprixis und Erlsende Erfahrung in der Snivabablitni,” in Epiphanie des Hels: ur Heil segomwart in indscor und cbvslchor Religion, e@, Geshacd Obethammer (Leiden: Brill, 1982), 63. The translation is based on chat of Nobuyoshi Yamnabe, “The Sutra on che Ocean-like Samadhi of the Visualization of che Buda: The 273 replacing the corpse witha painting or sculpture. And although ic is not entirely evident from the pas- sage above, aslightly earlier passage in che text implies thac such paintings or sculpeures would be of skelecons specifically: Moreover, acquitng che image ofthe skelecon is of two kinds: that ofa pained, stone, wood, or clay (skeleton), and that ofa crue (bia) skeleton. Ione mentally attends co the image of an unreal skeleton, chen ic isa “skeleton” chat is resolved upon (adbimacyate)# Hone mencally attends co the image ofa true skeleton, then itis a “skeleton of bone’ thac is resolved upon.” In an earlier list of the different kinds of corpses that might serve as an object for che atubha-bhavand, wwe find the basic canonical set of nine possible stages of decay, the last of which is “a skeleton".’* In the above passage the text thus seems Co say that this skeleton is of two possible kinds, co which it gives the names “skeleton” ({ambalika) and “skeleton of bone” (asthi-famkalika), the former being a painting of other representation of a skeleton, the latter a real one. The possibility of using such an “unreal” object for contemplation is, it would thus seem, limited to the case of the skeleton, as no com- parable distinction is introduced between, for example, a real “bruised” (vinzlaka)corpseand asculpted or painted one. Even more interesting is that both the Tibetan and Chinese translations of the Sravaka-bhiimi seem toactually add this distinction back inco the earlier list, giving both “skeleton” and “skeleton of bone” where the Sanskrit reads only “skeleton.”s* We might speculace that, as the use of paintings or sculp- tures of skeletons became more prevalent, Buddhist exegetes attempted to find a place for this new object of meditation in the traditional lists of the suitable kinds of corpses for the afubba-bhavand, first by explaining thar “skeleton” has two possible meanings, and chen later by actually adding this dis- tinction into the formal lists of possible objects of meditation, And although this explanation for the change in the lists is admiteedly speculative, other evidence indeed suggests that by a certain point in time it had become the norm to use painted or sculpted bones for the aiubha-bhavana, at least in some places. Thus Xuanzang, who obtained a copy of the Sratika-bhmi in India and translated it into Chi- nese in the seventh ceneury, writes in a brief commentary to the above passage that "One wishing to perform the contemplation of impurity (atubha-bhavand) should first contemplate fabricated bones." Incerfusion of the Chinese and Indian Cultures in Ceneral Asia as Reflected in a ifeh-Century Apoceyphal Sutra’ (Ph.D. diss, Yale University, 1999), 9, with some modifications. 448. Some might here prefer to render adbinucyate as “wisualize. "Seen, 6 above. 49. apicadvau aikalikaya nimitagrahas \citvaktayah pavdeabasphatadakrtaya nd Bhitabanbalibayas ca yada abbitasaika- Tikiya nimistam manasharotitada Sahealibam evddbinacyate nisthisaaliks | yada pinar Bhitatahkalibiya nimittan sanasi karat tadastilentatikan eadbimacyaite, StivakabhGimi Study Group, ed, “The Sravababbini (part 22):San- skrie Text, Analysis, and Translation of the Treiyam Yogasthioam (1),” Taisho Daigaku Sigo Butky@ Kenkyijo Nenps 30 (2008). 68, I chank Robert Kritzee for alterting me tothe Srivakabhtami Study Group's new and supetior edicion ofthis passage 50. Shukla, Sratababhimi, 203.1, Pollowing “askeleton” we also find a numberof further possible compses such asa “shie- smeared” (nira-brta) corpse or a “spitcle-smeared” (kheta-krta) corpse. st For the Chinese, see Yugashi di lun, Taishi 30:1579.428c28, According to Shi Huimin, the Tibetan translation simi- larly ads “skeleton of bone” (ras pa’ # ol 1s). Shi Huimin, “Sbomoncbi” ni okera shoen no kenkyiz (Tokyo: Sankibo, 1994), 141, 274 ‘Why might Indian Buddhists have developed forms of the afubha-bhdvand not requiring corpses? Many years ago Lambert Schmithausen addressed this question indirectly by noting that the Sravaka~ bhieni says that meditators who lose their mental image of the corpse should attempt to recreate it mentally rather than go back to the original object, the more usual procedure in such cases. This injunction seems to reduce the importance of the actual corpse, and Schmithausen suggested this might reflect a dearth of corpses, perhaps owing to changes in burial practices, such as the increasing popularity of cremation.» Schmithausen’s theory is interesting, speculative as it may be. Bur there are other possible expla~ nations. For example, Schopen has noted thar the Mitlasarvastivada-vinaya places stringent restrictions on cemetery-dwelling monks who visit monasteries, implying a concern with death pollution.*#The Mabitisaka-vinaya expresses similar concerns about monks who had brought dead bodies into the monastery as aids to meditation: There were some bhisus who had caken a dead person's bones and put them in the monks quarters. Others had eaken skulls and pue chem near the place for walking meditation, or under their [medieation] seas. Laymen saw this and reprimanded {che communicy] saying: “{These] bhitses ate impure and disgusting”.... The Buddha said, “You bhiksus| should not do this. You aso should not couch a dead person's bones with your hands." It may be significant that the text specifically mentions bones. Although it is hard to imagine that anyone would have brought a festering corpse into an Indian monastery, the status of dried bones is more ambiguous, and the story here seems plausible. We migh 1agine thar, facing pressure to min- imize contact with the dead, monastery-dwelling monks who wished to practice the afubha-bhavand avoided fresh corpses but occasionally used bones, which they kept within the monastery. Facing pres- sure to eliminate even these, paintings and other surrogates were devised. It is even possible chat the -called “contemplation of the internal corpse” or “white bone contemplation” was yet another step that eliminated even the paintings, and itis interesting to note that this practice is not mentioned in 52 This remarks preserved in che collection of Chinese commentaries tothe Yogddra-bhimi (which contains the Srvaka- ‘hami) edited by the Korean monk Doryun, the Yaga tun i, Taisho 4221808465329 53. Schmithausen,“Versenkungspeaxis und Erldende Eefahrung in der Srduahabbini,”71,n. 66. s Schmithausen notes, certain lacr lists ofthe stages of the decaying corpse include “burnt bones,” something not found ia the eacliest known versions. s4 Gregory Schopen, "Cross-Dressing with the Dead: Ascetcism, Ambivalence, and Institutional Values in an Indian Monastic Code,” in The Buddbist Dead ed. Bryan J. Cuevas and Jacqueline I. Scone (Honolulu: University of Hawai Press, 2007), 60-104. 55. Wofen li, Taisho 2ag21.yqba8-c4 (Text) 56 This question brings up numberos problems concerning the exac nature ofso-called death-pollution and theextent to which ic may have impacted Buddhist monks in relation to cheir lay patrons. In modern Thailand, for example, conpses used forthe practice of afubha-bhiuand are frequently brought into monasteries See, forexammpl, Alan Klima, The Funeral Casine: Meditation, Masacre, and Exchange with the Dead in Thailand (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer- sity Press, 2002). Though we are justified in suspecting thatthe sieuaion may have been diffetent in ancient India, ‘where Brahiminical nations of purity wee likely prevalent, there are also reasons for thinking that,even in an Indian context, contac with the dead is not only permitted for axes but even purifying or empowering. Se, fr example, 275 the Sravuka-bhiimi, the one source that explicitly mentions surrogate skeletons. This might indicate that it was developed only after paintings or ocher materials had already begun to be used in place of corpses, ‘Although the above historical reconstruction is speculative, itis not difficule to imagine chat for either practical or sociological reasons, residents of large Indian Buddhist monasteries would have had some difficulty finding a ready supply of decaying corpses. Ifthe afubha-bhavand was to be, at least in theory, the standard introductory meditation practice, a means of mastering it without access to the full range of dead bodies would have been necessary. Inaddition to images in paint, the Sravaka-bhiimi mentions wood, stone, ot plaster representations of bones, and possible examples of such objects survive, such as che top portion of a plaster skeleton unearthed not far from Tape Shotor (fig. 15). A number of similar skulls have been found acsites around the Taklamakan Desert,” and there is at least one example from epe in modern Tajikistan..* “There is, of course, no way of knowing how these particular objects were used. But they do offer a {glimpse of what sculptures of skeletons used for meditation practice may have looked like. [And while the Sravaka-bhiimi is che only known text that mentions painted skeletons in the con- text ofa formal discussion of the asubha-bhavana, chat such objects were indeed relatively common can be confirmed from the Saddharma-smortyupasthana-sttra, written no later than 500 CE, where we find a passing reference co the blessings that will accrue to those who “for the sake of the dispassion of monks who practice meditation (prahdna) paint various kinds of corpses that inspire dispassion."“® Thus, given the number of references to such paintings, destined for use either as aids to meditacion or as ‘generic monastic décor, it seems likely that such images were once widespread in India, even though surviving examples have been found only in Gandhara and, co greater extent, in Ceneral Asia. Jonathan P. Parry, "Sacrificial Death and the Necrophagous Ascetic,” in Dash and he Regeneration of Life, ed. Maw: tice Bloch and Jonathan P, Parry (Cambridge: Cambridge Univesicy Press, 1983), 74-110 57. Forsome examples see Louis Hambis,ed., Tounchoug: Mission Paul Pella (Pacis: Imprimerie nationale, 1961), volt, figs. 193,196,291 58 Boris A. Lievinskij and Tarama I, Zejmal’, The Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tea, Tajikistan: History and Art of Bud isn in Central Asia (Rome: Isieuto italiano per Africae VOriente, 2004), fs 89. 59. Lickouang Lin, L'Aide-méeie de aera li (Saddharma-smriyipasthana-stra): Recher sr an stra dcop de Petit Vébiole (Pacis: Adtica- Maisonneuve, 1949), 103-36 60. TheSanskeic exe of roughly the rst half ofthe Saddbarma-snrtyupaythina-itra was discovered in Tiber a number of years ago and awaits publication. I thank Dan Seaae for locaring and transcribing this passage from the photographs of che manuscript and discussing i with me. The relevant passage (folio 146 recto line 6, reads: pati rutamayens “jkinena yena prabinaSlanam bbiksinsh niadandrtbah saud tha tha tha tha tha mydnyani lien’ bhavanti nireda nartham sa hayasya bukit sugatan soarggalokedeesipapadyate. There are certain problems here. I presume that sav should be fndni. Seuace suggests that libhietin’ is almost certainly a scribal ersor for lbhitén. Leaving aside these slighe difficulties, che passage corresponds more or less othe Chinese cranslaion, which, however, stipulates chat the ppaincings are co be made in the “Ewellings” (fang she) of the monks, something that seems co have no counterpart in the Sanskre; Zheng niancbu jing, Tasb6 17:721.136b2~3, Ignoring the repeated tha, and emending as suggested above, che whole passage would read: “He sees, using the wisdom born of hearing, that a person who for the ske of the dispusson of monks who practice meditation paint vious kinds of corpses that inspire dspasson is, upon the dissolucion ofthe body, reborn ina happy realm, in heaven, among the Bods.” 61 Cf. Miyaj, "Turufan, Toyoku sekkusu no zenkankursu hekiga ni cuite,” 48, who suggests the cis painting theme -was probably not a common feature of Indian Buds art 276 x Skull image with floral motif. Wall cing from che "Seafarers Cave” (212 in che 1ese numbering system), Kizil. 3975 em. © Albert Gelinwedel, Aliuddbisrsche wdttn in Chinessch-Turkittan: Bericht ter ilogtche Arbeizen von 1906 bis 1007 bei Qarasatr, and in der Oase Turfan (Berlin: emer, 1912), pls. 12-13, fig. 3 2 Skull image with floral motif, Wall cing from the “Seafearer’s Cave" (212 in chinese numbering system), Kizil. After nwedel, Altbuddhistsche Kultsttten pls. 3A monk meditating on a skull, Wall cing from che “Seafearer’s Cave" (212 1 Chinese numbering system), Kizl. 16cm. After Griinwedel, Altbuddbistsche es ake ee Fig. 4 Monk meditating on a skull, set within a mountain scene. Kizil Cave 110. After Xinjiang Weiwu’er Zizhiqu wen ‘wu guan li wei yuan hui, ed., Kez'orsbi be (Beijing: Wenw chubanshe, 1989-97), vol. 2, fig. 118 Fig. 5 Monk (sitting within a small cave?) ‘meditating on a skull. Kizil Cave 77. After ser shit de, wal. 2, fig. 2% 6 Meditaring monk(s) and skeleton, oq Cave 42, side chamber. After Miya ra, "Turufan, Toyoku sekkutsu no cankutsu hekiga ni eusice: Jodozu, Jodo sozu, fa kans6 20," Bubkyo geijuts 226 6) i. 7 Toyog Cave 20. On the right, a monk zemplates what appears to bea female we being pecked at by a bird. After Miyaji ra, “Turufio, Toyoku,” fi 8 8 Toyoq Cave 42, side chamber (ceiling). ronk appears to be gazing ata bloated wollen corpse. After Yamabe Nobuyoshi, irakurddo esucaeta zenjo,” ip NHK supe- st: Shin sbiraburds san, ed, NHK Shin ukusddo purojekkuto (Tokyo: Nihon Sabmueen kote’, 2000, fey. 4 Shoror, Cave A. After Zén Photograph by Takata Osamu and Akiyama kin ni okeru Tap of Zémarylai Ts Fig. 3 Maudgalyayana. Tape Shotor, Cave A. After Tarei, “Hadda ala humiére des eois, dernitees campagnes de fouilles,” fig. 2. Fig. 4 Uplli. Tape Shotor, Cave A, north- ‘west wall, Nore the jagged flames emerging from the shoulders. Photograph courtesy of ‘Zémarylai Tarzi. Fig. 18 The defeat of Mara. Originally found in Kivil Cave 76. After Grtinwedel, Alebuadbistsce Kaltstten, ps. 3,4 Fig. 19 Small stupas containing buddhas or achats with flames emerging from cheit shoulders. Kizil Cave 38. After Kez'er shi ku, vol. 1, fig. 142. THE RITUAL CONTEXT Having thus escablished that paincings of skeletons were at least occasionally used in direct connec- tion with specific meditation practices, we can return to the Tape Shotor cave itself. Is there anything to suggest chat the paincing on the main wall was used, or at least intended co be used, in this man- ner? Indeed, I believe there is. The easiest way to see this is «o consider the painting in comparison with the other known examples of skeletal or corpse-themed imagery from Central Asia. ‘As mentioned above, che main painting in the Tape Shotor cave has been seen as an Indian proto- type for the paintings from Kizil and Toyog of meditating monks and their objects of contemplation or “visualization.” These objects include corpse-related imagery (figs. 3-8), but also, notably at Toyoq, tees, jewels, flaming pavilions, and other objects that have been linked to fifth-century Chinese med- itation texts. There are clearly both thematic and iconographic parallels between these images and the Tape Shoror painting. However, there is one important difference: the two principal monks in the ‘Tape Shoror painting, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, are not actually meditating upon the skeleton. Unlike the examples from Toyog and Kizil, their hands form not che meditation (dhyana) mudra but what appears to be the “preaching” (dharmacakra) mudra (fig. 2).° Although both monks ate indeed Jooking at the skeleton, the skeleton is not the object of their meditation. It is, rather, the subjece of their discourse, ‘This interpretation is at least theoretically compatible with textual sources. The Sravaka-bhimi, for example, suggests that inscead of actually viewing a corpse one could simply hear about it: “Then one meditates upon the bruised corpse, which is either a corpse that has been personally seen, one that has been heard about previously, or one that has been imagined.”** The painting in the Tape Shotor cave thus might be seen as Sariputra and Maudgalyayana explaining the features of the skeleton to the viewer, who receives the discourse, as it were, in visual form. ‘This points co another important difference between this painting and those to which it has been ‘compared. Both as a preaching scene directed at the viewer and through its iconic position within the cave, this image directly engages the viewer in the contemplation of the skeleton. In comparison to the Tape Shotor image, the paintings of meditating monks from Kizil or Toyok seem to be merely about medication. Of the known examples of caves with skeletons or other imagery associated with 62 On the images of meditating monks at Kizil, see Miyaji Akira, Nohaw 10 Mira na zuzigaa, 411~7.4; Sud6 Hiroto- Shi, *Zenjo biku.2uzb to Tonks dai 285 kutsu,” Buy® gefusn 185 (3989): 12-16; and Feugbe, “A Medication Cave in Kizl.” On the Toyog paintings, see Miyaj, "Turf, Toyoku sekkursu no zenkankutsu hekige ni suite,” aswell 2s the many publications of Nobuyoshi Yamabe, including “Practice of Visualization andthe Visualization Stra: An Examination of Mural Paintings at Toyok, Turfan,” Pac World 4 (2002):123-52. 6. The hands of Sariputa (fig 12) seem clearly tobe inthis postion. Those of Maudgalyayana (ig. 13) are less clea. (64, tara vinilakam adbimucyase|yad anena mrsabenapan aya of drt Basa parat a ratam parikalpitan wd; Shukla, Sravababbini,371.16-19, What exactly is meant here by “imagined” (partalpta) is somewhae unclear, but the idea seems tobe a higher vision that can imagine the corpse without needing an actual bedy, pethaps something like the “white bone contemplation, although as mentioned above the Srdvaka-bb des nox explicitly discuss this, 65 Some scholars have interpreted che Toyoq paintings of meditating monks and thet object of concemplation as pro- viding ee images that meditators would then visualize, Se Ning Qiang, “Visualizaion Pracice and the Function ofthe Westeen Paradise Images,” 157. 285 the aiubba-bhavand, the Tape Shotor cave is, I would thus suggest, the most plausibly intended as an aid for some kind of meditation practice. Nevertheless, even if we accept that the Tape Shotor image was clearly intended for some kind of contemplation in the sense of direct, studied viewing, this still does not fully answer our questions. Ide- jon” that may have taken place in this cave. For example, was the cavea site of daily meditation? Did monks practice meditation within ally we would like co know more about the nature of the “medita the cave itself? Or did they go there to see the paintings before departing to meditate elsewhere, as the traditional instructions for the atubba-bhavand would suggest? These questions are difficult eo answer definitively. One potentially importane point is that the cave was not located near the main residential space of the monastery (fig. 9). This might be taken to indicate that whatever transpired within the cave was not a regular or habitual practice. ‘The fundamental problem remains that while we have general references to paintings of skeletons asaids for meditation practice, and the format of the cave and the painting itself suggests that the skele- ton was intended to be viewed or contemplated in some manner, we lack any concrete descriptions of how a cave or other ritual space actually decorated with such images may have been used, ‘There is, however, one source, hitherto unnoticed, that while bearing no direct connection to Tape Shotor itself has the virtue of suggesting a possible function for this kind of space that we might not otherwise have considered. This source is the Chinese monk Daoxuan's (596-667) Map of the Jetavana Monastery (Zhong Tianzhu Sheweiguo Zhibuan si tujing), a creative imagining of the ideal Buddhist monastery compiled by Daoxuan from Indian and Chinese sources. Among the many buildings Daoxuan describes as part of the Jetavana monastery is one named the “Cloister of Impermanence” (wuchang yuan), room to which dyi 1g monks must be brought just prior to their passing ‘On ehe western edge [of the Jeravana monastery] is the Closter of Impermanence, wichin which is found a white-sil- verhall, its fourencieeling corridors filled with white flowers. Everywhere there are paineings of white bones. All chose ‘near deach are Brough here and shown the white bones and various depictions of impermanence. After death, [che

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