반주삼매는 초기 대승불교의 특징적인 요소들이 잘 나타나 있는 불수념의 한 종류다. 반주삼매의 원류은 『숫따니빠따 』 , 『앙굿따라 니까야 』, 『증일아함경 』 과 같은 초기경전들에서 발견되는데, 이것이 『주삼매경 』 에 이르러 더욱 발전된 모습을 보여주고 있다. 『반주삼매경 』 에서 설명하는 반주삼매에서는, 출가주의에 대한 강조와 관상의 대상으로 명시되는 아미타불에 관한 모호한 표현, 그리고 대승화된 공사상이 나타난다. 이와 같은 근거들을 통해 『반주삼매경 』 의 찬술이 기존 불교전통의 연장선상에서 이루어졌을 것으로 추정할 수 있다. 특히, 반주삼매의 과정에서 수행자는 현전한 가상의 붓다를 친견하고, 그것에 대한 실체화를 하는데, 이 과정이 새로운 경전의 생산을 가능케 하는 전제가 되었다고 보았다. 이와 같이 등장한 새로운 경전이법사를 중심으로 진행된 ‘경전 확산 운동(textual movement)’으로 발전하여 훗날 대승불교의 기원으로 이어졌다고 추론해 보았다.

Clarification about the origin of Mahayana is one of the most controversial issues in current Buddhist academia. A number of Buddhist scholars have studied this issue, however, they still can not perfectly explain it even today. Contemporary Buddhist scholars would admit that the early Mahayana is not any of the following: an independent sect, an ordination lineage (nikaya), a monolith, a concession to laity needs, nor does it have an inherent connection between Mahayana and the stupa cults. In this paper, I attempted to demonstrate the relationship between Pratyutpannasamadhi(般舟三昧) and the origin of Mahayana based on the Pratyutpannasamadhi sutra, which was translated into classical Chinese by Lokaksema as early as 179 A.D. Pratyutpannasamadhi is a type of buddhanusmrti, which is a practice of meditation emphasizing visionary experience and has appeared throughout some of the Sravakayana literature, such as the Sutta Nipata, the Anguttara Nikaya, and the Zengyi Ahanjing (增壹阿含經). In this original visualization meditation practice Pratyutpannasamadhi incorporates several characteristics of the early Mahayana including an emphasis on the tradition of asceticism, which was required by the monks in the Sravakayana tradition. The Sravakayana tradition incorporates both the ambiguous expressions of Amitabha, who is a typical Buddha of Mahayana, and the concept of Mahayanized Emptiness. These characteristics show that early Mahayana was at its root an extension of the Sravakayana tradition. According to the teachings of the Pratyutpannasamadhi Sutra, one who practices pratyutpannasamadhi can have a direct encounter with an imaginary Buddha in a meditative state and he/she can substantialize the experience. This process of meditation opens the way to re-turn the Dharma wheel, which was put to a halt after Sakyamuni Buddha`s parinirvana. This new Dharma had exerted an influence on the formation of Mahayana by “textual movement” centered on the composition, use, and circulation of the new dharma sutras, and that of the Dharmabhanaka, or “Dharma preachers,” which were its principle agents. This article hypotheses how the Mahayana Sutras were compiled and how established the Mahayana are in today`s society.