Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India

In the citing paper

“For instance, an early inscription found in Ceylon and dated between 210 and 200 BCE explains why a cave was given to the religious community: 'The cave of princess (Abi) Tissā, daughter of the great king Gāmaṇī-Uttiya, is given to the Saṅgha of the ten directions, for the benefit of (her) mother and father' (Schopen 1997: 58).”

In the citing paper

“The most surprising feature of these inscriptions is not only that their stated purpose was the worship of the donors' parents and their well-being, but also that 'this concern for the well-being of deceased and living parents was an active concern and major preoccupation of Indian Buddhist monks in particular' (Schopen 1997: 64).”

In the citing paper

“On the other hand, thanks to the work of Gregory Schopen on epigraphic sources, we know that filial devotion was not a uniquely Chinese phenomenon.”

In the citing paper

“However, Schopen's study of ancient inscriptions has famously proven that the concept of filial piety had existed in Buddhist culture long before Buddhism gained momentum in China (1997, 56-71), and his work also refutes Xiao's claim that early Buddhism was individualistic and rejected the idea that personal salvation could be achieved through merit transmitted from another person (1995, 251-57).”

In the citing paper

“It appeared around the time when scholars of Buddhism began paying more attention to material culture, following the programmatic essays of Gregory Schopen and others who called for reorienting research in Buddhist Studies away from an almost exclusive focus on textual sources (Schopen 1997, 9).”