| Summary: | The concept of “<i>adbhuta-dharma</i>” (Ch. <i>weicengyou fa</i> 未曾有法) has developed and changed throughout Buddhism’s history. Indeed, the subject and the content of <i>adbhuta</i> texts as well as the meaning of the term “<i>adbhuta</i>” (marvelous phenomenon) varies across the scriptures. Looking through the scriptures, it would seem that they originated as narrative elaborations on various aspects of the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha. Then gradually, “<i>adbhuta-dharma</i>” came to encapsulate those narrative elements in the scriptures related to the miraculous in the life of the Buddha as well as the careers of his disciples. As one of the twelve divisions of the Buddhist canon, the literary form of the <i>adbhutas</i> overlaps with other canonical genres, namely the <i>nidānas</i>, the <i>avadānas</i>, and the <i>jātakas</i> tales. This article will provide a careful analysis of <i>adbhuta-dharma</i> narratives in important Sarvāstivād in <i>Sūtras</i>, Vinayas, Abhidharmas, and other texts such as the <i>Chuyao jing</i> 出曜經 and the <i>Buddhacarita</i> (Ch. <i>Fo suoxing zan</i> 佛所行贊). These narratives are important because, while many monks and laypeople might have been left uninspired by the complexities of Buddhist thought and doctrine, miracle narratives were more accessible, playing an important role in popularizing Sarvāstivāda ideas and doctrines. These miracle stories reached audiences that other Sūtra narratives and exegetical works could not, helping in the dissemination of Buddhist thought and practice, as well as the later development and spread of Mahāyāna works in India and beyond.
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