In the autumn of the year 1 906,when I w as leaving the shores of

Japan, as a Post-Graduate Research Scholar of the Sétfi-shiu Daigakof

w ith the object of studying Sanskrit and Pal i in the land of

Buddha’s birth, I came across a fellow-passenger, a kind-hearted American

gentleman, who, on learning that I w as a Buddhist priest,enquired of

me in a half-curious, half-condescending manner,what Buddhism really

meant . I fully understood the import of the question, and

,though

my heart w as over-flo w ing w ith eagerness to explain to my interlocutor the

doctrines of the religion in which I had been brought up,I discovered

,

to my very great regret, that my defective knowledge of the English

lang uage proved an unsurmountable barrier to the accomplishment of mypious purpose . A few words of broken English came to my lips and melted

there . But my fellow-passenger w as inexorable ; he w as determined to

have an answ er . Being at a loss to satisfy his laudable curiosity,I went

down to my cabin and brought up Hepburn’s English-Japanese Dictionary

and a brand-new copy of Dr. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,the parting gift of a benevolent friend and fellow-countryman . The Eng

ish-Japanese Dictionary w as unfortunately of little or no use ; but Brewer’s

vork appeared for the time being to relieve me of my helplessness .

Without hesitating for a single moment, I turned over the leaves of

Bre w er’s book until I came to the article on Buddhism,and showed

it to my trans-Atlantic companion who read it with apparent pleasure,thanked me for the information thus supplied, and departed in good

humour. When he had gone out of sight, I retired to my cabin and

attempted the then somewhat heroic feat of interpreting to myself,withthe help of Hepburn’s Dictonary, the account given of Buddhism by the

venerable Brewer and distressing indeed w as my surprise when I had made

the passage intelligible to myself. M ost of you, who are no doubt more

famil iar with Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable than I can claim

to be,will recollect how even in the revised, corrected and enlarged edition

iv PREFACE .

of that work published in 1 900, the article on Buddhism reads . “Buddhism,

says Brewer on p . 1844 of that book,

“is a system of religion established

in India in the M ini (l) century . The general outline of the system is that

the world is a transient reflex of deity (l) , that the soul is a ‘vital spark’

(l) of deity, and that after death it will be bound to matter again till

the ‘w earer’ has, by divine contemplation, been so purged and purified

that it is fit to be absoréezl into tire divine essence“Surely

,

” said I to

myself after perusing Brewer’s statements, “there must be some error

somewhere ; for the Buddhism which I have practised and studied from

my earliest youth believes in neither deity/4 1m its and i s something

quite different” . And the necessity of exposing the erroneous notions

prevalent in occidental countries about Buddhism—the enormity of

which might be measured by the fact of their having misled even the

octogenarian encyclopaedic Bre w er—urged itself upon me more strong ly

than ever . At that very time I made a solemn resolve that, should

I be spared to acquire a sufficient command over English and Sanskrit,(

it would be my first care to explain to the inhabitants of the country

which gave us our religion, what Buddhism really is and what it

is not . Such an opportunity,however

,seemed never to be coming, until,

to my great surprise, I w as informed one day that the large-hearted and

erudite Vice-Chancellor* and the learned Syndicate had appointed me

Reader on Buddhism to the University of Calcutta . And great indeed i s

the thankfulness and delight with which I embrace this Opportun ity which

promises an early fulfilment of my long—cherished hope of expounding tothe countrymen of Buddha the real essence of the faith which he preached,recovered from the numerous, though fragmentary, accounts

-

enshrined in

the Sanskrit canon, which, though lost in the original, is still accessible to

scholars in Chinese and Tibetan versions,faithfully executed through

centuries of indefatigable labour,by generations of learned and pious

scholars who consecrated their l ives and energies to the dissemination of

Buddha’s teachings beyond the confines of Jamb fidv ipa.

The gentleman*now at the helm of this University, and to whom I take

this opportunity of offering my humble tribute of thanks, is a man of many

The Hon . Justice Sir Asuto sh M ook erj e e , Kt ,D .L .,

D.SO ., Saras w at i, &c. &c. &c .

PREFACE .

sided abilities as is . conspicuously shown by his discharging,in various

capacities, a number of the highest public duties . I should like to mention

here the supreme courtesy and sympathy that I always received from him .

In the eleven months and a year which have passed since I first began

lecturing , I have had occasion to become acquainted with many other Indian

gentlemen . To them I owe a debt of obligation for the various ways in

which they rendered me help and assistance . In view of my insufficient

knowledge of English which has ever been a great obstacle in my path,I cannot but express my sincerest grat itude for the benevolent aid which I

have received from them,and w ithout which I could not possibly have

accomplished this work .

First and foremost I should ment ion the late M r. Harinath De, a greater

scholar than whom it has seldom been my fortune to come across . He w as

an honour to his country,

and his great linguistic gifts would have proved

of invaluable service in what I consider to be the most important task which

lies before Indian scholars hip,namely, the rediscovery of ancient Buddhistic

Works,lost in the original Sanskrit and now to be found only in Chinese

and Tib etian versions . To him—alas ! now passed away—I must recordmydeep debt of gratitude for help and counsel in my present task .

I must also express my obligation specially to M r. M . Ghosh, Professor

of English L ite rature in the Presidency College, and to the Hon . Dr .

Suhraw ardy, M .A.,Ph.D .

,Bar-at-Law ,

M r. Kasiprasad Jayasw al, Bar-at

Law ,and M r. R . Jagannathacarya for their kind revision of portions of this

book . And last , but not the least, I should mention Babu Bidhubhushan

Dutta,M A . of this University, and now working on educational lines in

Calcutta .In him I found a fine scholar and a sincere worker to whom

I am also indebted for assistance in revision and the looking over of proofs .

In conclusion,I desire to express my thanks to all who have helped me

in the preparation of this work and to whom is chiefly due the rapid

progress in its publication . I am more sensible of its deficiencie s than any

one else can be . Yet I do not hesitate to commend it to the public, if for

no other reasons, at least for the comprehensive characte r of the philosophical

system expounded therein- a philosophy, which, though arising from the

vi PREFACE .

soil ’ of Indian speculation, has been totally ignored and condemned here

for ‘ centuries togethe r . It is my devout hope that Indian scholars of

Sanskrit and Pa’li may not neglect the Chinese and Tib etian versions of

the Canons —of Buddhism . It - is they who have to take up the mission of

unveiling the true relation between the religious and philosophical ideas

that lie concealed in the numberless, though fragmentry works of ancient

India and Tibet,and solve the problem of the bond of union amongst the

great religions of the Eas t . I believe or rather am convinced that these

religions, though modified greatly in the course of long ages and their

passage through varying climes, all have their beginnings in the soil of

India : and hence,a future religious union of the East may not be altogether

a dream .

I ought perhaps to add a few words as regards the scope and nature of

the present little work . M y main object has been to present in a short

and comprehensive form a complete view of Buddhistic philosophy, both of

M ahayana and H inayana Schools, in order to stimulate my fellow scholars in

the same field to independent research . Obviously, the attempt to confine

so vast a subject within narrow limits must lead to unavoidable obscurity . I

hOpe in the n ear future to issue a series of books, each treating of a

separate portion of this great subject in a clearer and more detai l ed manner .

CALCUTTAS . YAM AKAM I .

Sep tember, 1 912.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

CHAPTER I .

INTRODUCTION .

Classification of BuddhismThe Easy Path and Difficult PathTheoretical and practical divisions of BuddhismClassification based on the TripitakaControversiali sm in Buddhism'The Dhyana SchoolPsycholog ical Classification of Buddhism

THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHIST

PHILOSOPHY.

The three-fold corner-stone ofBuddhismThe law of Universal impermanenceIts causeImpermanence of Life-periodM omentary ImpermanenceThe Impermanence of the Self-nature of Conditional things .In what sen se is the Law of Impermanence universalThe doctrine of AmitmanThree classes of “atman-theoriesThe empirical Ego in BuddhismBuddhist rejection of the individual soulDenial of a Universal Creato rDogen Zenj i on the SoulM afidhnan is identical with the P aramd’tmanThe idea of the Universal WombThe' doctrine of Nirva’naNz

'

rmina is really indescribable

viii TABLE OF CONTENTS .

Etymology of Nz

'

rvd'

na

The two aspets of NirvdnaNa sena

’

s beautiful illustrationsArtificial distinction between the two sorts of NirvanaHinayanistic misconception of NieNirvana as understo od in CeylonThe nihilistic View of Nirvcina is not orthodoxWhat Nirvdnn really meansTechnical definition of Nirvdn a

CHAPTER I I .

KARM A-PHENOM ENOLOGY.

The two sides of Buddhist PhilosophyThe fundamental principle Of RealityHow do phenomena arise from noumenon ?The Onto logical and Phenomenological principles in Buddhist

Philosophy”

The diiference between Bud hist phenomenology and that of EuropeanPhilosophy

Real ity can not be explained unless it is Objectiviz edIntuition or Self-experience is the only w ay to see the real aspects of

Nz'

rvcfna

Its exampleSome important directions for the student Of the Buddhist CanonThe un iversal lawSamsami s the effect of our Karma

The fundamental principle of Buddhist EthicsA Japanese proverb and the doctrine of Ke nnaThe meaning of Ken na i n Buddhist philosophy

KARM A AS A PRINCIPLE IN THE M ORAL WORLD .

The law of the immortal ity Of~deeds

Bishop Coplesto n’s criticism on Buddhist moral ity

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

Buddhist moral ity far less egoistic than ChristianityThe recognition of duty and obligation in BuddhismThe doctrine of the ten perfectionsThe sentiment of duty not a monopoly of ChristianityThe sentiment of love in the teachings OfBuddhaThe Buddhist view of human hope and possibilitiesArya Deva’s saying on universal loveThe doctrine of the immortality Of an individual soul and modern

scienceOur hope for true religion in the futureDifficulty of its realiz ationThe Sanskrit version of Buddha’s Hymn of VictoryThe Four Noble TruthsTwofold division of the four noble truthsThe Buddhist conception of Sumeru

KARM A AS THE ACTIVE PRINCIPLE IN THE

WORLD OF PARTICULARS .

The original source of the builder Of human bodySamskd

’

m and Karma . The nature of IgnoranceThe only answer to the question what is the Path that will lead to the

highest bliss ?”

The first and second question of Prince Siddhartha about human lifeThe twelve NidfinasThe twelve Nidfinas and the three divisions of timeThe classification of the twelve Nidfinas in the Pfili Abhidhamma

The relation between the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Nidz’inas

KARM A AS AN ACTIVE PRINCIPLE IN THE

PHYSICAL WORLD .

The law of Karma and the principle of heredity and evolutionThe power of Karma

Zeitgeist and human KarmaThe classification of t leéaeExample Of emotional lcleéasSpe edy messenger and Tardy messengerEnumeration of Need s in the PAH Abhidhamma

Sravaka, Pratyeka-buddha and BodhisattvaB

IX

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

Sro tapanna

Sakridfigémin, Anfigfimin and ArhatVery hard to be born as human beingDo not slip the right momentThe explanation of right momentSimile of the diffi culty of Obtaining human birthA paramount importance for met s/t e

CHAPTER III.

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS .

An i ntroduction to the Sarvfistitvavfidins scho olIs Hiouen Tsang

’

s statement absolute ly correct ?

The Conservative and Progressive parties among Indian BuddhistsThe Sthav iravfida and Ceylonese BuddhismThe schisms of M ahfisanghikas

The schisms of Sthav iravfidaHow these subdivisions arose from the two main schools ?The Buddhist schools mentioned in H induand Jaina worksThe historical order of the rise of these several schoolsSankara’s statement on the Buddhist schoolThe first authoritative work of the Sarvfistitvavédins schoolKanishka

’s council in Gandhz’ira

Our hope for the future discoveries in the Ar chaeological DepartmentOf India

THE TENTS OF THE SARVASTITVAVADINS .

The explanation of the name,Sarvdstitvavdrlin

The Abhidharmak osa Sastra and its place in the Buddhist literatureThe contents of the Ab hidharmak osa SastraClassification of thingsNature and enumeration of things compositeThe signification of the word

, Dlzarma

The sense of Sanst r z'

m-d/mrma

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

A single cause cannot produce any effectRelation between the subjective and the objective classification of the

dharmas

EXPLANATION OF THE SENVENTY-FIVE DHARM AS .

The stepping stone from the Hinayana to the M ahayana

d a-Dlearmas

P aramcinn

The order of the atoms constituting the universeSankara’s ErrorThe four M ediate/ante s

The meaning of the word, M antic/17?tax

The two sorts of energy

Sankara’s criticism of tire Sarcd

’

stitm cddins .

The atom is not the cause of elements

..The so -called defect of the Sarvfistit vavfidinsThe atoms can enter into combination without intelligenceCombination of atom s and causes and conditionsBuddhistic sens e of M one/in

filaya-viy’

fidna i s not known to the Sarvastit vavadinsCriticism on the Twelve NidcinasThe real meaning of AvidyaCriticism on the doctrine of atomsWho desire M china, .

7

Criticism on the doctrine of Universal momentarinessCriticism of the Buddhistic law of causes and effectsSankara’s illusory conception of the relationship Of cause and effectSankara loses sight Of the Sarvéstitvavfidin’s theoryThe difference between the Vedantic and the Buddhistic conception of

cause and effectThe Sarvéstit vfidin’s view of causalityRefutation of Sank ara’s criticism on the SarvfistitvavfidinsThe term “perceiver” explained .

T/le Sense-ocj ecte .

The object of sightThe object of hearingThe Object of smelling

X1

xii TABLE OF CONTENTS .

The Object of tasteThe Object of touch

T/ie Sense-omans .

The five kinds of sense-organsThe essence of the sen se-organs is purely mate rialSub -divisions of each Ind/ 'iyaThe form and manner of atomic combinations of the five sense-organsThe special capacity of the respective IndriyaExplanation OfAriifi ap ti-R iip a

Division of Karma

Cittanz or M intt

The mind is the King of the menta l realmVasub andhu

’s definition of the m ind

The respective seat of the six kinds of '

vi/ncinas

An interesting discussion as to whether the subs tance of the sixv ijfi finas i s one or more

Explanation of the three kinds of discrimination

Caitta-(t/zarmas or M ental p rop erties .

The f unction of the mental propertiesfll a/zcibkzimika-zt/iarma

Knéala-mat afb/zfimika-a’llarma

Kteéa-rna/zdbnii77zit ’

a a

A/cnéala-mabdb/zzimi/ca- (t/iarma

Up a/eleéa t /i zi 7nit'

a-d/7ar7na

Aniyata-Hi iimit‘a-(t/iarma

Citta- rip raynt ta-sams/rcira-d/zarma

Aeamskr ita-(Marnra .

The meaning of Asamst 'r itaWhy fi i tisa is AsamskritaSankara’s criticl sm of A/rciéaBuddhist objection and answerSankarasm istakeThe definition OfAp ratisam/cfiya-nirod/ia

The definition of P ratisamt /rya-nirod/la

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii

Sankaras objection to both these Nirod/i asSankarasm istakeFurther objection by SankaraSankara’s misconceptionThe eight-fold Noble Path

CHAPTER IV.

THE SATYASIDDHI SCHOOL .

The Sarvfistitvavfidins school and its antagonistsThe founder of the Satyasiddhi SchoolaThe Satyasiddhi

-Sestra in ChinaThe message of Harivarman

Distinction between the Sfinyatfivfida of the Hinayana and thatof the M ahayana

The vie w of the Sarv fistitvavfidins attacked by Harivarman

The doctrine Of the naircitmyaztvayam is not a monopoly ofM ahayanismConflicting statements about what school Harivarman belonged toSanyin

’s statement about Harivarman

Kitsan’s statement about Harivarman

Our discussion of his dateHe went hardly beyond the idea of Conservatism of Sthav iravfida

THE ESSENTIAL PARTS IN THE DOCTRINE OF

THIS SCHOOL .

The two principles : Sameritit a and P aramctrtika

Harivarman’s view of human life agrees with that of Katyfiniputra

and his followersAntagonistic point of view of the two schools, the Sarvfistitvava

dins and SarvaéfinyatfivfidinsThe three principles applied to objective division of all thingsThe three principles applied to subjective division

xiv TABLE or CONTENTS.

PAGE .

Ti e v iew ofBriddna-Ka’

ya in tfiis ect ool.

The characte ristics of the BuddhaThe fiv e attributes of the Dharma-kayaThe ten inte llectual powers of the BuddhaThe four convictions of the BuddhaThe three kinds of meditationHarivarman

’s doctrine is profounder than and superior

the Sarvfistitv avfidinsOur conclusion

CHAPTER V.

THE M ADHYAM IKA SCHOOL .

The founder of this schoolThe most difficult subject to the scholar of the history of IndianBuddhism

Where is the native place of Arya Deva?The date of Bodhisattv a DevaResearch from Sinhalese sourceSome interesting story and fact about Arya Deva

THE FUNDAM ENTAL DOCTRINE OF THIS SCHOOL.

The fundamental doctrine of this school misunderstoodA favourite Simile for the reality of the universe and the nature of

enl ightened mind .

Snnyatafas a principle in the noumenal worldSi nyatci as a principle in the phenomenal worldNothing possesses a Scab/ideaThe term Sans/lr ita and Asanslcr ita are relativeThe real state of dharma is absolute but not relativeThe two truths of the four-foldThe negative explanation w as fashionable in India

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

Vimfilak irti’s thunderous silence

E ight Noes lead us to the M iddle PathLook to this world for Nirvana and not to heaven or to any distant

undiscovered landSanzecira and Nirvan a are oneNfigarjuna and Arya Deva on the two principles

T/ie concep tion ofBuddlia-laiya in t/i is Sc/iool .

Negative statements and the middle courseTathi

‘

rgata is beyond the reach Of conventional expressionGyOnen

’S view of Buddha-kaya

Wedding of Religion and PoetryPantheism and LamartineExtraction from the Lotus of the good law

CHAPTER Vl .

ALAYA-PHENOM ENOLOGY.

Difference between the Sarvfistitvavfidin’s and Vijfi finavfidin’s stand

pointTwo different laws Of causation applicable to Samsara and NirvanaThe sole substratum of transmigrationThe Vijfi finavfidin

’s theory is a development of the Sarvfistitvavfidin’s

SchoolThe founder and the great teachers of this schoolAlaya and Oittani , their synonymous usageThe two-fold reflect ion of CittamClassification Of the potential seedsA weak point of the Sarvéstitvavfidins improved upon by the

Vijfi finavfidins .

The flower of psychology first produced in Indian gardensThe relation between Alaya-oij fidna and the other Vi/fia

‘

nae

v i TABLE o r CONTENTS .

PAGE .

The Yogficfiras added two Viy'

ncinas to the six a cizias of the Sarvastitvavadins

A Simile for the relation of the seven Vi/M nas to the Alaya—oi/M na

THE CLASSIFICATION OF THINGS .

Division and sub-d ivision Of thingsTwo aspects of mindExplanation Of Cittain, M anas and Vij ri cina .

M ental properties w hich are common to every act of consciousnessThe particular mental propertieThe moral mental propertiesT he immoral mental propertiesThe derivative k leSasThe explanation of Ri a-(l/lamna

The meaning of Vip rayn/t ta-Sam/cctra-aliar7naThe explanation of Asans/er itaThe definition of the '

five St and/M s

The twelve AyatanasThe eighteen D/ia'tas

T/zefonr stages of t/ie cognitive op eration of consciousness .

The first stage Of consciousnessThe second stage Of consciousnessThe third stage Of consciousnessThe fourth stag e of consciousnessThe three kinds of p ramcinas orP ratya/rs/ia or perceptionAnmncina or inferenceAs a or fallacy

FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE EIGHT VIJNANAS .

The sense of AlayaThe characteristics of the Alaya Vij ncinaThe Lei /Ramad a of the Alaya-Vij ffictnaThe Dr is/ztr itvam of the Ala31aWj fi ctnaM ental properties concomitant w ith the E ighth Vij na‘naThe mood Of theAlaya Viyfi cfnaThe Stages in the development Of the Alaya Vij ncinaThe seventh ‘M ano Vy

'

fi cina’

and its four Stages

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

xviii TA o r CONT ENTS .

PAGE .

The division of ‘Ignorance,

’ ‘Subjectivity,’ and of the ‘External worldof Subjectivity’

The most profound and mystical part of Asvaghosha’s philosophy

CHAPTER Vlll.

THE TIEN-TAI SCHOOL .

The fundamental idea of the Buddhist OntologyThe classification of the Buddha’s teachingsThe periodical classificationThe theoretical classificationThe practical classification

THE THREE PRINCIPLES .

The principle of ‘Emptiness ’

The prlnc1ple of‘Conventionality ’

The principle of ‘M iddle path ’

In what sense the three principles are concordantExplanation Of the three thousand w orldsThe whole universe is identical with one thoughtExplanation of the three k inds of Heéas

The three contemplationsIgnorance and Inte lligence are oneNirvana and Samsaira are oneThe conception of Badd/m-lrciya in this school

TABLE OF CONTENTS . xix

CHAPTER IX.

THE AVATAM SAKA SCHOOL .

The special feature of the Av atamsaka schoolThe origin of this schoolThe position of the Avatamsaka-sutra among the Buddhist canonsThe classification Of the canonsSub -division of the Buddhist doctrines

THE THEORY OF THE DHARM A LOKA PHENOM ENOLOGY.

The universe is included in One M ind 290

The Dharma-loka considered from the phenomenal standpoint 29 1

The Dharma-loka considered from the noumenal standpoint 291

The Dharma-loka considered from the standpoint of identity between.t noumenon and phenomenonThe Dharma-loka considered from the standpoint of identity of one

phenomenon and anotherThe law of correlativity of all”

The law of “oneness Of all”

Saying of Yoka-daishiThe six kinds Of charac teri stics of the SattvasThe conception of Bzalzl/ia-kciya in this school

CHAPTER X.

CONCLUSION .

God in us and we in GodThe Buddhist idea of faithThe indispensable tripod for the realisation of the Buddhist l ife

XX TABLE OF CONTENTS

A story of Hak -Rak -TenThe nagativ e side of the Buddhist EthicsThe positive side '

of the Buddhist EthicsA ltruistic Side of the Buddhist Ethics

APPENDIX.

The six kinds of Causes and the fiv e kinds of Effects

I N T RODU C T I ON .

Buddhism,as i s well-known to you i s divided into two great schools,

ria ,that of the C reator i Vehicle or M ahay

C lassificat ion ofBud

dhism . and that of the lesser or Hinayanism. M ahayanismThe t w o

‘Vehicle s .

’0

again, as 1s not genera lly known, i s sub divrded Into

two groups,

r ia,the P artially develop ed M aldya

‘

nism and the Fully

‘

elo ed M et/id dnisnz. This sub -division is notSub d iv ision s of the

d“ 1’ y

t heater v ehid e '

arbitrary, but is based on the histo rical development

of w hat constitute s the essential theo ry Of Buddhism . Thus the M adhya

mikas and the Vijnanavadins fall into the category of P artially dereZOp ed

M at dya'

nism, whi le the Avatamsaka Schoo l, the Dfiydna School, the

M antra School as w ell as the great Chinese School of Buddhism know n as

the Tien Tai School are included in Fully develop ed M o t dya’

nism. The

grounds on which this classification is based I shall attempt to set forth

later on .

There is a second method of classification, which is based on a prat tic-21

point of view . According t o this method, Buddhist

pfififi‘

i‘

i’

i

d

T otem"? SCho ols are divided into two great groups. W e (1 )

c lassificat ion b ased on’b ’ l ’t f ticnbe 11 the ossi r l o emanc1 ) a

one’

s concept ion of thethose whi ch ,

heve 1 p y 1

lil

sit

irumen t Of salv a '

through one’s o w n intellectual powers, and (2) those

which consider salvation t o be dependent on the pow er

ofanother

.

In other w ords, the former of these t w o groups maintains

that,for the attainment Of Buddhahood, we must rely on our

o w n powers

advocates dependence on a

and on our own powers alone while the latterof obtaining rebirth inlike Tathagata-Amitabha for the purpo se

The reaso ns given for their theory by the latter school are that

1

2 SYSTE M S OF B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

.

man’s inte l lectual powers are too limit ed to enable him to attain Nirvana

unaided and unassisted, and that the world is t oo full of Sin and suffering to

permit him to reach Buddhahood through his own independent exertions .

This is exactly w hat is taught in the Lotus of the Goo dLaw ,an autho rita

tive work of the M ahayana, of w hich the Sanskrit text i s being published

in St .Petersburg .

“There is no rest,

” says that Si‘

rtra,

“in any of the

three worlds,rim,

the w orld of desire, the world of form and the world of

formlessness, for they are l ike a house on fire and teem with all manner of

confus ion, pain and suffering . Life and o ld age, sickness and death, are

ever present in t hem,and they burn like a fi re which nothing can quench .

’The Tathagata, having left the conflagration of the three w orlds,lis dwelling

in peace in the tranquillity of his forest-abode, saying to himself ‘All three

worlds are my possession, all l iving beings are my children, the world rs

full of intense tribulation, but I myself will work out their

Picturesque but perhaps more familiar names w hich are respectively

given to these two groups are (l ) l e Gate of tire Noll?The Easy Path, and

the D iffi cult Path . P at/i ,1

and (2) Tim Gate of Me Land'

of Bliss ?

The ir re spect iv e ad

Egggge s and disadvan which in Sanskrit would be called (1 ) Aiya-mdrya

dvdra and (2) Sale/leitiqyzlfia-dvdra . The former of

these is usually styled “The Difficult Path” 3 while the latte r is generally

termed “The Easy . Path.

” 4 How these two names sprang up is not

v ery difficult to dete rmine . Suppo se there are two men who intend to

travel from Bombay to Calcutta,one of whom makes up his mind to

journey on foot, while the other decides to travel by rail . Both, unless

they perish in the w ay or change their minds,

are bound to reach their

destination sometime or other . The t raveller on foot will naturally require

a herculean effort to accomplish his j ourney,while his companion the rail

w ay pas senger w ill reach Calcutta without hardly any effort on his part.

It would be difficult to say which of these two trav ellors has travelle d

bette r, for the labours and hardships of the traveller on foot find their

compensation in the enjoyment of the beauty and magnificence of the sur

rounding sights and sounds of nature,w hile the rapidity w ith which the

Japan e s e : I-gio-dfi ,

INTRODUCTIO N . 3

rail w ay passenger must hurry to his destination is calculated to destroy all °

charm of travelling . The Simile of the Difficult and Easy paths is “

asold

as Nagarjuna, who, in his greatest work “The Commentary on the Pra jnapar‘amita-Sfi tra

” 1 says z—“Various are the gate s in the Law of Buddha,

l ike unto the diffi cult paths and easy paths in this world Of ours, where

hard is the journey of a traveller who walketh on foot and easy the v oyage

of him who travelleth in a boat . But the choice betw een the difficult a nd

the easy paths must be left to the taste of him who w isheth to travel

In short, according to its theoretical and practical aspects,Buddhism

admits of t w o different modes of classification .

From the theoretical point of view Buddhism is divisible into Hinayanaand M aha ’ana. The Hina dna consistsTheore t ical division ‘l y Of twenty

o f Buddhism—the schools with the addition of the little known SatyaHinaydna and the

M ahdydnq - The 8ch0 0 18 sidd/zi School . JlIa/ldya'

na is sub-divided into theIncluded In each.

“Partially developed M ahayana” and the “Fully

developed M ahayana . The “Partially developed M ahayana” consist s of

the M adhyamika and the Vijnanavadin Schools;while the “Fully developedM ahayana” embraces a large number of schools, the best known of w hich

are the Avatamsaka, M antra, Dhyana, Sukhavat i-vyiiha, the Chinese TienTai and the Japanese Nicliiren Schools .

From the prac tical point of view, two broad classifications of Buddhismpossible, rim, the “Self-reliant group” 2 and the

P lfl ctical D§Vi550 11 Of “Dependent group .

” 3 The former w ill embrace allBuddhi sm in t o the

Se lf-re lian t and the

Dthe schools of the Hinavana, and most of the M aha

ependen t groups .v

yaua schools such as the Avatamsaka,the M adhya

mika,the Vrj nauavadin, the Tien-Tai, the M antra, the Vinaya and the

Dhyana schools . The “Dependent group” on the other hand will contains

all the Paradise- seeking school s of the Snl 'lidvati -oyzi/la.

A third and pe rhaps a more important mode of classification is based

C lassificat ion b ased upon the divisions of the Tripitaka. All the schoolson the Tripitaka—fi rs tmade b y Japan e se of Buddhi sm mentioned above, with the sole exceptionscho lars

, b ut unkno w n

in India . of the Dhyana School, depend prrncrpally upon some

Nane s Cat . No . 1 169 .

2 Japanese : Ji-riki-k io. 3 Japanese : Ta

4 SYSTE M S or Bunb ni sric THOUGHT.

o SzZtm or some boo k of the Vinaya or some Si erra constituting the sacred

text'

upo n which they base their theo ries . Thus the Av atamsaka

school depends on the Buddhavatamsaka-mahavaipulya-satra, ” the

Tien-Tai school on the “ Lotus of the Good Law,

” the M antra school

on the “M aha-vairochana-abhisamb odhi- sutra,”the Sukhavat i school on the

“Sukhavat i -vyfiha-satra .

”

Others again depend on Scistms . Thus the Sarvast it vavadins depend on

the “Abhidharma-sastra” the Satya- siddhi school on the “Satya-siddhi

sastra” the Vijnanavadin school mainly on the “Vijnana-matra-sastra,”

the Madhyamika on the “M adhyamika-sast ia ,

”the “Dvadaéa-nikaya

sastra” and the “Sata-sastra.

The V inaya school again depends on the Vinaya P z'

taka .

From this po int of view all Buddhist school s are classified into four

groups the Satra school, the Vinaya school, the Sastra school and the

Dhyana or the Budrl/la-citta school . This divi sion i s unknow n in India

and w as first made in Japan .

But such a classification, wha tever its merits may b e, ought not to mak e

us loo se sight of the significant fact that even theThe several division s

°v erlap 0 “ “ 0 th“ Sastra school s sought to support and corrobo rate

the views which they held respecting the highest truth,by adducing in

every instance proofs from one or more of the SzZ'tms accepted by them as

the direct teaching ofLord Buddha. M oreover,every school indulged in

criticisms of an adverse characte r against all others for the purpose of scour

ing for itself the highest place among all the schoo ls of Buddhism. This

Con troversialism inspirit of hostile controversy amongst the professed

Buddhism followers ofa religion of peace w as not unknown in

India but it is in China that it acquired important dimensions . It w il l

be no exaggeration to state that controversiali sm, and that of a most

active character, i s perhaps the most salient chara cte ristic of Chinese

Buddhism. Unfortunately the records dealing w ith the histo ry of

controversialism in Indian Buddhism are not to b e found,save and except

in the form of a small treatise preserved in the Chinese Tripitaka.

This is the celebrated work of Vasumitra entitled “A Treatise

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6 SYSTEM S o r B UDDH ISTIC '

rno rcnr.

sacred books as thei r final authority, but nevertheless they r'

éspect‘

the

canon, regarding it as an efficient instrument conducing to the attainment

of enlightenment . The well-known simil itude which they employ in this

connection is that of the finger pointing out the moon,the sacred books

being compared to the former and the highest truth to the latter. It

becomes needless to po int the moo n out with the finger, once we are in a

position to see the moon herself in all her brightness .

Last comes the psychological classification of Buddhism, which cor

responds to the psychological division of all mentalPsycho logical clas sifica t ion o fBuddhism .

cording to this mode of clas sification, all the so-called

Self-reliant schools—W ith the sole exception of the Dhyana school,—are

functions into intellect, emotion and volition . Ac

to b e classed as the inte llectual schools , the Dependent school as emotional,and the Dhyana school must be regarded as the sole representative of a

volitional schoo l in Buddhism . But this method of classification is by no

means absolute . It is merely relative, for there are to be found traces Of

emotional and volitional teachings in the so -cal led intellectual schoo ls and.

vice versa. In Buddhism there is no purely in te llectual, o r purely emo

tional or purely volitional school .

To the scholarw ho i s i nterested mainly in the philosophical aspect of

Buddhism, the intellectual schools are by far the mostThe re lat iv e import .

an

]? Ifthe severa l import ant, and it i s to an account of these that the

8 0 0 0

greate r portion of my lectures will b e devoted . At

the same time, no student of Buddhism ought to forget that the chief end

of the preachings of Buddha i s the attainment of Nirvana or M oksha,

which i s the outcome,not of philo sol)hical speculation, b ut of religious

and moral practice . Thus the emotional and the volitional schoo lsof Buddhism are supe rior from a practical point of view '

to the

intellectual ones and, as such, more potent in religious influence in

China and Japan . But why ' do I limit myself to these two countries ?

They would be more powerful as religions in any part of the w orld, seeing

that the inte llectual schools lack the essential quality . indi spensable to every

religion, v ia, the quality of po pularity. This is the reason why the

Sukhavati-vyfiha Schoo l and the Dhyana School are constantly gain ing in

INTRODUCTION. 7

po w er in Japan, while their rival schools are fast declining year after year.Of course, I do not mean to say that there are no intellectual schools which

possess an intensely practical characte r and exercise a powerful sway over

the minds of men in Japan . To ignore thi s fact would b e tantamount to

wilfully blinding oneself to the great influence wielded by the M antraschoo l and the Nichiren school, both of which fall under the category of

the so -calle d inte llectual schools . But enough of dry classifications . I

shal l proceed to the essential principles of Buddhism in my next lecture .

THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.

0 o o a

m iner, s imilar,

All is impermanence, there is no Ego, and Nirvara is the only calm.

Such is the three -fold corner-stone upo n w hich rests thethree -fo ld

of entire fabric of Buddhi sm,be rt Hiflaycim

'

sm or Bud

dhism of the lesser Vehicle or be it fil afididflism,that

of the G reater. The Buddhists of the Greater Vehicle, as they call them

selves,claim,

in contradistinction to those of the Lesse r the credit of

establishing a further principle peculiar to themselves, which they _

formulate

in the words Sari am tat/za‘ tvam—“All is such as it i s.” But this principle

is not entitled to any claim of novelty, inasmuch as it is merely a phase, or,more properly speaking, a l eg itimate outcome of the third of the above

named principles, viz ., that'

Nirvana is the only calm. The sacred canon

of the Buddhists often alludes to what is cal led the fourth sign of the

Dharma,viz .

,that “

all i s snfi ering”

. But thi s too cannot be called a new

principle,for it is nothing more than a corollary of the first great principle

which formulates the truth of universal impermanence . “All is imper

manent” argues the Buddhists, “whatever impermanent is fraught w ith

suffering,ergo all t hat is is full of snfi ering .

”

“T

e shal l not therefore err,if we were to lay down that the above three

principles are the fundamental tenets which distingui sh Buddhism from all

other religious systems in the histo ry of the w orld . Nor will it be hazardous

fo'

afii rm that,should there b e found any other . system of thought which

8 SYSTEMS o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

accepts all the fundamental principles mentioned above,that svstcm can

lay full claim to identity with Buddhi sm .

Let us now proceed to exam ine the three principles in detail

First comes All is imp erman ence .

This i s w hat has been cal led the fin al/ (Z i.c., the stamp or sea] of the

fundamenta l principles of Buddhism. L ike the kindred(i) The Law of Un i

versal Impe rmanenceprinciple of Heraclitus IIANTA PE I (La ,

‘All i s in a

state of this statement means that all i s subject

to change, that all is in a state of b e coming . The t ruth of this statement,so

far as the phenomenal world is concerned, receives ample corroboration from

the researches ofmode rn science . A lucid exposition of thi s tenet i s givn

by Professor Rhys Davids in one of his recent publication s .“According

to the Buddhist, says that veteran scholar,

“there i s no being,there i s

only abecoming, the state of every individual being unstable, tempora ry ,

sure to pass away . Even among things we find in each individual forma nd material qual ities and l iving organisms to o po ssess a continually

.

ascending series Ofmental qualities, the union of which makes up the

individual . Everything, be it a person,a thing or a god, i s, therefore,

merely a putting together of component elements . Further, in each indiv i

dual without exception the relation of its component part s is eternally

changing and never the same for even two consecutive moments . Putting

together implies becoming, becoming means becom ing different, and b ecom

ing different cannot arise without a dissolution, a pas sing away, which must

inev itably at some time or other be complete .

’

But why is it, we may ask,that all things are impermanent “’

hy

i s it that they are subject to an invariable law ofIts caus e .

change and are condemne d to a state of b ecom

ing ? Let us see w hat answer Buddhism has to give to this question of

paramount importance . The Buddhist w ho knows Buddhism w ill reply

that this law of universal impe rmanence which has been preached by the

founder of his relig ion, i s inseparab ly connected with the law of cause and

efi ect , for nothing in this phenomenal world can exist without some causes

‘

Early Buddhism ,

’

P P . 56 —57.

I NTRODUCTION . 9

while the very name p l w nomenon presupposes Origination, which again

implies destruction, exactly in the same w ay as destruction invariably impliesorigination .

Shortly before he departed this life, Buddha himself, as the Great Si'

rtra

of the Decease (M ahaparinirvanasfi tra) relate s, said to ,his disciples

“Know that whatever exists arises from causes and conditions and is in every

respect impermanent .” 1

It s three _fold aspect The prrncrple of Universal impermanence, admits of

e x amined .

being consrdered In a three-fold aspect,namely as

,

(a) The Impermanence of Life-period

(6) M omentary Impermanence ;

(c) The Impermanence of the Self-nature of Conditional Things .

Now what i s meant by the “Impermanence of Life-period” ? In modern

times no scientific man doubts the laws of the indes(a) Impermancc of

Life -pe rio d .

tructib ility of matter and of the conservation Of energy

in the physical world . Buddhism acknowledges the

working Of both these laws in the noumenal world,for it maintains

, as the

texts of the Sarvastitvavadins te ll us, the eternal ity of the noumenal state

of the dizarmas throughout the three divisions of time, the past, the present

and the future . The well-known M ahayana satra called The “Lotus of the

Good Law” says that “Everything is what it is” . In fact, according to

the Buddhist,the universe has neither beginning nor end, and it is inconcei

vahle that something should spring out of nothing or that nothing should

spring out of something . It is impossible also that there should exist a.

thing which does not change . In the “Stanz as of the Law ”

(Di armap ada)

the following sayings of Buddha are recorded

THAT W H I CH SEE M S EVERLASTING, W ILL PERISH,

THAT W H ICH IS H IGH, W ILL BE LA ID LOW ,

W HERE M EETING Is,PaItTING W ILL BE,

W HERE B IRTH Is, DEATH W ILL come .”

1 Nan jio’

s Cat . NO . 552 .

0 SYSTE M S OF B UDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

The a bove stanz a i s to be found in the Chinese and the Tibetan versions

only,but the following stanz a occurs also in the Pah

NA ANTALIKKHE NA SAM UDDAMAJJHE,NA PARBATIANAM VIVARAM PAVISSA

,

NA VIJJATI so JAGATIPPADESO,

YATHATTHITAM NA-P PASAHETHA M AOOU .

i .e .

“No t. in the sky nor in the depths of the ocean,nor having entered

the caverns of the mountain, nay, such a place i s not to be found in the w orld

where a man might dwell without being overpowered by Death .

”

Birth and death indeed are the great antipodes in the career Ofa l iving

being ; and death, ‘the Great M igration’, as the Tibetans call it, i s indeed a

change that has struck and even confused the minds of the high and low

from the dawn of time to the present day . This change,along w ith birth

and'

Old age, constitutes, according to Buddhism,one Of the prime mi series

of life,and we are over and over again reminded in the Sacred Canon of

the sorrowful fact that death is the end of life— mm'

aw finfam lzi j iril‘

am. In

the technical language Of Buddhist Philosophy the change involved in death

implies the impermanence Of life-appearance . In other w ords,the tenet

of the impermanence Of l ife-period denotes among living beings the

difference between the birth -state and the death-state, and among inanimate

things the difference between the state of being produced and the state of

peri shing . The great Asanga, who founded theVijnanavada or the Ideal istic

school of Buddhist philosophy, says in his well-known treatise 0 11“The

M adhyantanugama-sastra” All things are produced by the combination

Of causes and conditions and have no independent noumenon Of their own .

When the combination is dissolved, their destruction ensues . The body

of a l iving being consists of the combination of the four great elements, v ia ,

earth, wate r, fire and air ; and when this combination is resolved into the

four component elements, dissolution ensues . This is what is called the

impermanence Of a composite entity .

” 1

1 Nan j io’

s Cat . NO . 124 6 . This Séast ra w as compo sed b y the gr eat Nagarjuna an d Asanga,

the lat t er e x plain ing the t e x t Of the fo rmer . The Chin e se t ran slat ion Of this w o rk is made

b y an In dian scholar, Gautama Prajfiaruci, in AD . 54 3 , of the Eastern Wéi dynasty ,

“A.D.

534

l l

SO much for the impermanence of life-period.This impermencnce

presupposes impermanence of moments A

pégznal

ggségtary in" logical transition of thought makes it fully intelligible

how any great chauga in a human being or in anyother thing, which takes place within a certain space of time

,is nothing

else but the aggregate Ofminute changes which occur therein every moment .Thus, every man

, every thing, is ever changing and can never be the same

for even two consecutive moments . This is w hat is known in Buddhist philo

sophy as“momentary impermanence a principle

,which

, as I shall latter

on point out, has been entirely misunderstood and grossly misrepresented bythe Vedant in Sankaracarya . It is with the support of this principle

that the Buddhist seeks to explain any change, however minute, in the

phenomenal world . The great philosophical encyclopaedia of the LesserVehicle entitled “Abhidharma-mahav ibhasha-sastra” or the “Treatise Of

the Great Exposition Of Philosophy” 1 —the Sanskrit original of which

has been lost, but which survives in Hiouen Tsang’s laborious Chinese

.

translation —says, that a day of twenty four hours has six thousand four

hundred mill ions, ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty fella/n ae or

moments, and that the five glean/lit tle or aggregates Of being, are

repeatedly produced and destroyed in every lug/1m m. Buddhaghosha, the

famous exponent Of Ceylonese Buddhism,who flourished at the commence

ment Ofthe fifth century Of the Christian era, says in his “Path Of Purity”

(Visuzltl/iimayga) —“Strictly speaking, the life-duration of a living being

is exceedingly brief,being commensurate with the period during which a

thought lasts . And just as a chariot-wheel in rolling rolls merely at one

point of the tire and in resting rests only at one point, even so the life Of

a l iving being endures only for the brief period Of one thought and as soon

as that thought has ceased, the being too is said to have ceased . Thus the

being Of a past moment li d s lived, but does not live nor w ill it l ive the

being of a future moment w ill live but li d s tro t l ived 720 7‘ does it live the

being of the present moment does live but l ets no t lived and w ill not

l ive .” 2

1 Nanjio’

s Cat . NO . 1263 .This Sastra is said t o have b e en the w o rk of the fiv e

hundred Arhat s of Kan ishk a’

s coun cil w ith Vasnm itra at the ir head .

2 Warre n’

s“Buddhism in Trans lation , P . 150 .

12 SYSTE M S or BUDDHISTIC THOUGHT .

Is there then a motive power whereby things are changed Every

carriage, we see, has the capacity to move, but it does not move unless set

in motion by some outside power. Similarly the water-m ill i s turned by

the power Ofwater and the wind-mill depends on the propulsion of the

wind to be able to revolve . The earth too requires the gravitation of the

sun in order to turn round its axis . In fact, all things need some sort of

motive power to be changed from one state to another . The sword,we

know,cannot cut itself and the finger cannot itself point out its own self .

What then, we may ask , i s the power which makes all things change

Buddha, when he wanted to answer this question,spoke Of origination,

staying, growth and decay, and destruction- ur‘

grdrla, at/iiti, j avc

’

i,

w ired/la .

These,he said, are the four characteristics of eve ry composite thing and he

added that it is owing to their possession of these four characteristics, that

all things undergo modification and are subjected to repetition of themselves

in endless revolution .

The Sarvastitvavadins, or the realistic school of Buddhism,who

,by the

Fw ay, belong to the Lesser Vehicle, regard these four characteristics, v ia

,

0 origination, staying, growth and decay, and destruction, as the only appear

ance or existence Ofa thing throughout the three divi sions of time, the past,

Uthe present and the future . According to this theory of the four characteri

stics, technically called C/mlur-laksfiana in Buddhist philosophy, (i) there

exists origination by which everything is brought to a state of existence from

t he future to the present (ii) there also exists siagivg which tries to make

everything stay in its actual or identical state as soon as a thing emerges

from the future into the present by the force of origination (iii) there i s

thirdly, grow tli and decay whereby everything is dragged into the pale Of

Old age and (iv) fourthly and lastly, there comes destruction which destroys

everything by carrying it to the past . Such’

is the reason which explains

why nothing can continue in the same state for even two consecutive moment

in this phenomenal world . In short, all things are being incessantly changed

by the Operation of the four characteristics .

Tradition relates how before a few centuries had elapsed afte r the death

of Buddha, a great discussion arose between his followers as to whether the

four characteristics exist simultaneously or successively . One school, UZZ.

,

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14 srsrhrrs o r ntrb unrs'

rrc'

rllo u iri'

r.

b y them as out-and-out nihilists . But to the Buddhist sanga ta conveys a

far different sense . He understands the word to mean “the perpetual

changes occurring at every step in this phenomenal world . The great

Nagarjuna says in the M adhyam ika Sastra1(ch . xxiv)

a? a {ra id Fest Hiramm gem?

aga gw fi m aiai w a gw fi u

which means according to the interpretation of Kumaraj iv a —“It i s on

account of sang/rift” that everything becomes possible ; without it nothing

in the world would be possible .” In other words,it is on the truth of the

impermanence of the nature of all things that the possibility of all things

depends . If things were not subject to continual change but were permanent

and unchangeable, forthwith the evolution of the human race and the

development of living things would come to a dead sto p . If human beings

had never died or changed b ut had continued always in the same state,what would the result have been ? The progress of the human race would

stop for ever . In his epoch-making treatise entitled “Outl ines of M ahayana

Buddhism,

” which ought to be in the hands Of every student of philo sophy,

mylearned countryman Prof . D . Suz uki, expounds the idea of Sanyata

in the following masterly fashion —“Szingatci simply means conditionality

or transitc riness Ofall phenomenal existence . It is . a synonym for aiiilga

orpm tiiga . Therefore, ‘emptiness,

’according to the Buddhists

,signifies

negatively the absence of particularity, the non-existence Of individual s

as such, and positively the ever-changing state of the phenomenal world, a

constant flux of becoming, an eternal series of causes and effects . It must

never be understood in the sense of annihilation or absolute nothingness

for nihilism is as much condemned by Buddhism as naive reali sm .

’’2

In fact the principle of universal Impermanence touches not the subs

tant ial world at all, but is concerned only with theIn w hat sense is the

Law of Imperman ence phenomenal world . And the explanations given of It,un iv ersal

whi ch are crted above,Incline more towards a negative

1 Nanj io’

scat . No . 1 179 . The t ex t of this Sas trs is compo sed b y the Bo dhisat tvaNagarjuna and is e x plain ed b y his great e st disciple , Arya De v a. The Chin e se translat ionof this ' w ork w as made b y Kumaraj iv a , ab out A . D . 40 5, of the Lat t er T shin dynasty.

See P . 173 of“Outline ofM ahayana Buddhism .

I NTRODUCTION : 15

or destructive in terpretation than towards a positive or constructive one .

This is an important point and one which ought not to be lost sight of by

students of the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists . But why,it might be

asked, did Buddha confine himself to a negative and destructive definition

of the phenomenal world ? The answer becomes easy when we come to

reflect that Buddha’s object w as not to found a school of philosophy but to

point out to all his fellow creatures the path of enlightenment and the road

to salvation . And hard indeed w as the condition Of Buddha’s fellow

creatures in his time . The phenomenal world weighed upon them with the

Oppression of a terrible nightmare, and arduous w as their struggle for life

in the flames of the scorching world . Therefore, in giving a negative or

destructive explanation of the phenomenal world, Buddha’s real object

seems to have been to lead his fellow creatures from the storms and raging

billows of the ocean Of phenomena, safe to the shores of the world Of

noumena,to Nirvana, to

-everlasting peace . But though such may have

béen the purpose Of Buddha, a negative exposition of the principle Of im

permanence is not without its own advantages . “What is not so” leads to

an understanding of “what is so,” and the negative serves as a guide to the

positive.Thus

,from the principle of impermanence can be evolved the

principle of permanence, v iz .,Nirvana, w hen once the opposite of Nirvana

,

namely, the phenomenal world, i s refuted and rejected . M oreover,by

applying the three principles, which we have described as the corner-stone

of Buddhism,to the phenomenal and the noumenal worlds respectively, we

shal l find (a) that the principle of universal impermanence ‘ concern s ex

elusively the phenomenal world (6) that the principle Of non-ego 2 touches

both the worlds ; (0 ) and, that the principle of Nirvana being the only

calm,

3 belongs only to the noumenal w orld .

SO much for the principle of Universal Impermanence . In my next

lecture I shall treat of the remaining doctrines .

9t

Survamanit v am .Sarvamauatmam .

3 Nirvanam santan .

16 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

ALL THAT IS, IS WITHOUT SELF .

(edem a

We pass on now to the second great corner-stone of Buddhism, namely

,

Scream. ancitmam which literally menns“All that is

,i s without atman or

self.” The understanding Of this doctrine has remained, and will probably

long remain, a stumbling-block to occidental students and critics of

Buddhism,some of whom it has m isled into characterising the teachings

(ii) The doctrine ofof Buddha as a soulless form Of pessimism

, W hile othersAmman : it has induced to give Gautama Buddha credit for

what they imagine to be an unm istakeable anticipation of their favourite

mate rialistic schemes from which the soul and the supernatural are sum

marily ejected . Even in metaphysical India, the true meaning of sarvam

ancitmam came to be forgotten with the disappearance . Of Buddhism . NO

wonder,therefore, thatSankaracarya, with all his acuteness and erudition

,

1

failed to comprehend its real import, and so underto ok to mal ign it in the

loudest terms of condemnation .

M ost of the authoritative works contained in the Sacred Canon of the

Buddhists were, in all probabil ity, inaccessible to him in their original

completeness,for there is no reason to doubt that the Sanskrit Tripitaka

met, at the hands of the Brahmin persecutors Of Buddhism, a treatment

not dissimilar to that which the Indian Buddhists themselves received .

TOO well known to need mention here is the royal mandate of Sasanka,King of Karnasuvarna commanding the utter extermination of Buddhists

from the face of India with the unwholesome alternative of the

penalty Of death to be infl icted on the executioners themselves in case

they neglected to carry out the inhuman order of their king and maste r.

We must not therefore be hard on the Vedantin Sankara, if he shows

ignorance Of the w aim tmgatlvagam of the Buddhists .Its t w o fo ld aspect .

In fact,Buddhism acknowledges two sorts Of m ailman

or Non-Ego . The first is the denial Ofa subjective elm/cmor a personalEgo ,

o INTR 1 7

and the second that of the Objective (l tmmz or the Ego of the (Marv/as or the

phenomenal world . Generally speaking, when citmrw z is criticised andrefuted m ,I ‘m m —u—fi-n

l

combination with anything else .

i

This is just what. i s stated by Dharmapala

carya in the opening chapter Ofhis commentary on the Vij iianamatra-sastra .

Thl S great dialectician , w ho,b y the w ay, must not be confounded with

hrs lrv rng Singhalcse namesake, the energetic founder Of the M ahab odhi

Society,

w as a native of Kanchipura in SouthernThre e classe s Of

India . He w as the teacher of Silabhadra,the learned

Professor of the University of Nalanda, at w hose feet Hiouen Tsang sat as

a pupil . As the original Sanskrit of Dharmapala’

s commentary is lost,I

shall content myself w ith translating from Hiouen Tsang’s Chinese vers ion

of the same .

“The term says Dharmapala,“is said to mean

supreme autho rity and is identical with freedom , eternality and absolute

unity The views held concerning it by the Tirthakaras fall into three

groups . First comes the v iew which regards til/ca,” as an organism in itself

made up of the five s/rmu/lms or constituents of being . Next comes the

view which considers til/mm to be an absolute existence segregated from the

five Swami/ms .Third and last comes the view of those w ho maintain that

the til/mm is neither the same as, nor different from, the five sla t ed/ms”

.

In modern phraseology, the three views represented above would perhaps

be described as fol lows

(a) The fi rst is the common view respecting the personal Eff/o, such

asis accepted by the vulgar mind which regards it to be a

composite Of the m ind and the body.

(b)The second is the idea of an Ego such as is held by the Naiyayikas

who consider it to be the supreme and eternal governor of man

essentially independent of the mind and the body .

(c) The third is the well-known view of the H inayana School called

the Vat sib nt riyaS,W hose belief 111 the ex rste nce of (t ffllflfl forms

the subject of the Opening discussion Of the Kathav atthu .

Now Buddhism refuses to admit the possibility of any individual or

independent existence like the (717mm represented by any of the three

18 s vsTEM s o r Bi‘

nnnrsTrc W O UGHT .

classes of views mentioned above . Its strenuous denial of (if/nan,which

constitutes the second or seal Of Buddhism,i s but a legitimate

inference from the first final/Ti w hich formulates the law of universal

impermanence . Once the doctrine of so rro w , (mil l/mu, i s definitely accepted

as true,one has to concede that no conditional existence can ever imply

eternality,

absolute unity or supreme authority in any sen se . In other

words consist entl ith the doctrine of universal ernra‘rrenceg LBuddhism

r un

po ssibly be identical with absolute freedom,for the very simple reason that

- fl I” 0 m m ‘n ” u)

it is conditioned by another existence . Therefore,such an existence can

not be said to have an Ego . In fact,a thing which is subject

to causes and conditions, cannot, liable as it i s to perish sometime or other,be maintained to possess authoritative command over itself

,much less over

any thing el se . Hence it can not be said to have an rim/rm or Lgo .

But while emphatically maintaining the doctrine of omit/11a”,Buddha and

1

his disciples never attempted in their teachings and

The emp irica l Ego inBuddhism

preachings to deny the provisional existence of w hat

is call ed the empirical E o . This fact has been brought

out very clearly by Nagarjuna in his commentary on the Prajfiaparamita

sr’

rtra, where he says“The Tathagata sometimes taught that the (it/van exists and at. other

times he taught that the ti l/mm does not exist . “Then he preached that the

divid e exists and is to be the receiver of misery or happiness in the successive

life as the reward of its own Karma,his Objec t w as to save men from falling

into the heresy of Nihilism (Ucc/zeflavcitlu) . When he taught that there i s

no til/mm in the sense of a creato r or pe rceiver or an absolutely free agent,

apart from the conventional name given to the aggregate of the five

st and/tax, his Object w as to save men from falling into the Opposite heresy of

Eternalism No w which of these two views represents the

truth It is doubtless the doctrine of the denial of (ll/mm . This doctrine,

which is so difficult to understand, w as not intended b y Buddha for the ears

Of those whose intellect is dull and in whom the ro o tipfgoodness has not

thriven . And w hy ? Because such men by hearing the doctrine Of (w ait/v an

w ould have been sure to fall into the heresy OfNihilism . The two doctrines

lN'

I‘iiODrcTJoN. 19

were preached by Buddha for two very difl'

erent Objects . He taught the

existence Of (limo /t when he w anted to impart to his hearers the conventional

doctrine he taught the doctrine of (w ri t/mm when he w anted to impart to

them the transcendental doctrine” 1

Similarly, Dharmapalacarya says in his commentary on the Vijfianamatra-sastra

“The existence of the a l l/um and of the fi ll e r/mos of the Ego and

Of the phenomenal world) i s affirmed in the Sacred Canon only provisionally

and hypothetically and never in the sense of their possessing a real and4)

pernranent nature”

.

Also,in the Samyutta Nikaya of the Bali Canon it is related that when

a Iron-Buddhist teacher enquired of Buddha whether the soul gmi'

v sa

exists or does not exist,Buddha gave no reply to him . The reason given

by Buddha for his silence on this Occasion is, that an affi rmative answer

w ould have been tantamount to a direct contradiction of the truth that “the

phenomenal world is without an Ego” while a negative one would have

added to the be w ilderment of the enquirer’s understanding by leading himto imagine that the Ego had existed once upon a time but did not do so anylonger

,-a delusion which Buddha considered to be far more dangerous than

a belief in the existence of the soul . The same idea is graphically expressed

in Vasub andhu’s own commentry on his Abhidharmak o sha-sastra, a work,

‘the original Sanskrit of w hich is lost, and which must not be confounded

with the existing Sanskrit commentarv of that name, which is really a late

sub-commentary compiled by writer named Yasomitra .

“Buddha’s preaching of the Good Law ” says Vasubandhu, “resembles a

tigress’s bringing up Of her cub . Buddha Observes how some of his fellow

creatures receive hurt from the heresy of Ete rnalism,while others allow their

good Karma to be eaten up by the heresy of Nihilism . Thus, whoever

believes in the existence of city/l aw in its transcendental sense, exposes him

self to the tiger’s tooth Of the heresy of Eternalism,and whoever does not

believe in the existence of tit/mac in its conventional sense, runs the risk of

destroying the seeds Ofhi s own good

Nan j io’

s Cat . No . 1 169 . fasciculi. XXV I .” 2 Nan j io’

s Cat . NO 1 197 . fasciculi I .

Nan j io’

s Cat . No . 1267 .

“fasciculi XXX .

20 SYSTE M S O F

Aryadeva, too, the most prominent of Nagarjuna’

s disciples,says in his

commentary on the M adhyamika Sastra“The Buddhas

,in their omniscie rrce

,watch the natures of all living

beings and preach to them the Good Law in different ways, sometimes affirm

ing the existence of the tiff/tau and at other times denying it . Without an

adequate development of one s inte llectual powers no one can attain Nirvana

nor can one know w hy evil should be eschewed . It i s for people who have

no t reached this stage that the Buddhas preach the existence of filo/an” .

1

We see, then, how in teaching his fellow-creatures to steer a mi

course between the Scylla and Charybdis of Eternal ism and Nihilism,

Buddha sometimes maintained the existence of the (if/no n and other times

denied it. Such an attitude Ofm ind in the founder of a great rel igion may

appear to smack Of self-con tradict icm but is ito

really open to that charge ?

We shall be in a better position to ans w er this question ,Kw a ngj u-under;

stand what Buddhisw cm u”

M flhgk uw i u ,dmy I

l

l-5 i ggpfit

a

The conception O

the M o tif/mm,or the ind regarded as a

Buddhist re'

ect io n Of

the indiv idual]sou l concrete agent enshrined 1 (1 ever acting,

thinking and feel ing ; in the conception Of an

independent entity w hich the vulgar”IninQLendo w s w ith the power of ex isting

M” O

apart from the body and of directing all its activities . To the Buddhist,the idea Of a soul existing in pg_ manent i solat ion from the body seems“ on-A w n m —p “ rum—m .

m ~ fi m fl w

nothing h e tt eu hamaM ixm hnge , and the bel ief In the existence of an

all-creating (lens ex tra momlom i s regarded by them as a crude rel ic Ofa

superstitious past, calculated to retard the march of progress and enlighten

ment . To combat and successfully counteract the baneful influence of so

wide-spread a Ill illzgtitljristi, Buddhism formulates the great principle of

SCH’

UCU IZ amitmom— i . e .,All that Is

,i s without an Ego . Those who have

read Buddhagho sa’s commentary on any of the works

Den ial Of a U n iv ersalCreat or .

included in the Abhidharma Pitaka of the Pali Canon,

will recollect how he frequently goes out of his w aymerely to find a pretext for refuting the theory of a Universal Creator

Nanj io’

s Cat . NO . 1 1 19 . Chap . XV I I I .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

22, sysrrns o r nenb uis '

rlc'

rno i GH'

r.

founders of the Dhyana School of Japan . It is in the form of question and

answer .“Q w estz

'

ou— ‘Grieve not over the cycle of birth and death,for there is

a short cut to escape from them . This short cut is the real isation of the

truth that the soul is en ternal, that i s to say, that although the body is

subject to birth and death, the soul is exempt from them and will never

(lie, being an eternal existence enshrined in the body . The body is a

Qe‘l

transitory form w hich may be born at one place and die at another,while

the soul is ever-lasting andM g lg eable throughout the past, the present

and the future . A real i sation of this truth is the only means of escape from

the cycle of bi rth and death, and he w ho has real i sed it will be exempt from

both . He will be able to dive into the ocean of truth and thence obtain for

himself the gem of perfection and excellence such as belonged to all the

Tathagatas . As long as we are clogged by this body of ours,

w hich owes

its prbduction to Karma moulde d by ignorance in an anteri or birth,we can

never reach that stage of perfection which the sages have attained . Whoeverdoes not realise this truth, i s doomed to tedious tran smigration through

birth and death . Therefore it behoves us to learn and understand this truth

as early as possible’.—Now is the view expressed in these words in

conformity with B uddha’s doctrine or not ?”

“Answ er — The view you have just stated does not at all agree with the

doctrine of Buddha . It is rather the doctrine of non-Buddhist heretics w ho

say that there exists a supernatural soul capable of distinguishing between

good and b ad,right and wrong

, and of feel ing pleasure and pain, joy and

sorrow,whenever any object comes in contact with it . They add that it i s

really indestructible, though it may seem to peri sh at the dissolution of the

body,—that it has the power of being reborn in another body as soon as it

leaves the body of one who is dead . Such is the opinion of the heretics

and whoever thinks it to be identical with the doctrine of Buddha, i s more

foolish than him who exchanges a lamp of gold for a handful of clay . It,is the height of foolishnes

s?! Soul in Buddhism i s identical w ith the body

and noumena and phenomena are inseparable from each other . We must

no t misunderstand this fundamental principle of Buddhism which

has been handed down from the W' est (India) to the East (China and

INTRODUCTION. 23

Japan) . When Buddhists speak of the permanence of - the noumenalw orld, they regard as permanent everything included in it

, and the

body itself considered as a noumenal entity can not be treated apart fromthe so -called soul . So al so, when Buddhists speak of Nirvana

,they con

sider everything included in it to be Nirvana . Thus noumena can not be

separate d from phenomena . It should al so be understood clearly that

Nirvana and Samsara are one and the same,—%I: fli nt : afflfl’l‘m I In fact

,

Buddhism never teaches that Nirvana exists apart from Samssra and the

doctrine that the body and the son] are one i s the common property of all

Buddhis t schools . So says the venerable Degen Zenj i.

H is opinion is supported by Nagarjuna, who maintains the identity of

Nirvana and Samsara in the w ell-known lines of the M adhvamika

Karika

a start e rfflflllfiffi fmfs zfza faim q n

a fi sh erstut terffi fi zfa fafium u

h ailing: a anafifiz : fi fz : simmers l

a azfim i fa ts q em fi fem? n'

That is to say —“Samsara and Nirvana are in no w ay to be dist in

guished from each other. Their spheres are the same and no t the slightest

distinction exists between them .

”

But while condemnin r as rankW W W

Creator and of an individual soul Buddhism not only acknowledges” them m flm i m w g n w I“ s -m I“: As i 1»

of the noumenal eye, but actuallyfi ijo ins its adherents to n train“ I 'M “ s w w

themselves in such,a;manne

_

r as to‘

be[

ab le ‘ tom attainh pnjpip w ithw the a Great s

M the Unme rsq t li e tec'hnical villa/247191160 7 . The

G M " v A» ! M W

locus classiczrs for this injunction is a well known passage in Asanga’s

M ahayana- sut ralankara-sastra where it is recommended to the aspirant to

Buddhahood to look upon the Universe as a mere conglomeration of con

formations devoid of an ego and fraught with suffering, and

to take refuge from the bane of individualism in the might ilv advantageous

doctrine of J/

1 The M adhyarnik a-Qas tra Chap . 25, Karik a 19— 20 .

deal-mustW e :m fimafi i gzisrafifz ufi q l

Faw n: matinamefiz :m ace w as s emis u

'

The M e rit/nan as“fraught with bane resem

M *I MM ‘ d

bles in many respectsfl the oL egpi isgn o

Egotism,in any form,

i s in jurious to man,for it constitutes an unsur

mountable barrier to his practising true moral ity citherl‘in domestic or in

And the reason i s not far to seek, seeing that v irtugk co vetouscum- w "

r

ardh must needs b e anuinferion ..incen t ive m t o noble action as compared

yum

to virtuefi tfhat seeks no reward,” .ofa JLZM Lmafl , “

Wo M “

thJ atte r, that of amflmmu r ”la/16311146171, according as w e lookg ipon itm from

the negatiyew

o r‘

the positive point ofv ie w .

“The stage of fife /14 1mm,

” says

the M aha-vairocana-abhisamb odhi-sutra, “can be attained only by the practice

of the highest motiv e Again,

“llIa/c zfmzm is only another

name for Buddhahood .

” 3 It is explained as P arac tnw n by Asanga in his

commentary on the w ell-kno w n lines of the M ahayana-sutralankara

sa‘ stra

W mi fim i finmmmiema:

est: um rfm vim 31:3 1:13m n

The commentary observes

fi mfii tifsmm um ? w e’

d « man mamma l

Asanga s M ahayan a-s fi tra-alankare -sas tra

, Chap . 1 4 th,Ka

’

i rik a 37 of t he San skritTe x t . And Chine se vers io n . C hap . 1 5th v. 24 .

2 The t erm here giv e n as the syn onym an d de fi n it io n o f‘Ego ism ’

,is a bhimdua

, tran s

lat ed ‘con sciousness . The o rdinary sen se o f the w o rd is p ride , and the t e chn ical impo rt is

‘the pride o r co nce it o f indiv iduality ‘

se lf -suffi e iency the mo t io n that I do,I fee l

,I thin k

,

I am ,

’as e x plained b y VacaSPat i —aa

\G ivinfifa fi ana s w im : 91a : Ga ss er m i

w arm? teem: w e? W a nt-

am: afaz sasmaiéisfaw a: é‘

isew m sfi suaw s’

auz’

[12 e .

‘I alone pre side an d hav e po w er over all t hat is perce iv ed an d kn o w n

,and all the se

o b j ects of sen se are fo r my use . There is no o the r suprem e e x cept I ; I am .This pride

,

from it s e x clusive (se lfi sh) appl icat ion , is

Nanj io’

s Cat . No . 53 4

“The M ahayan a

-sfi tra-alai‘

ik ara-sas tra,

Chap . 9 th, Karika 23 (San skrit Te x t ) .

And s e e Chap . 10 th v. 19 of Chin e se Translat ion ,

M m o

IN'

rno nucrio x . 25

A fulle r explanation of di al/ (imam is given in a M ahaparinirvana-sfi tra 1

of the Sanskrit Canon, where it is stated that “by citmcm M a/ciman) ismeant the Tathagatagarbha, a term which implies that all living beings

are endowed with the essential nature of the Tat/Myriam,

M ahiitman is iden t i

cal w ith the Paramat

man and the Tathii

gat agarb a .

shrouded by the New s or pass1ons, j ust as no man can

of which, however, they are not aware as long as it i s

discover a treasure in a poor woman’s dwelling,although

ages ago there may have been buried in it a basketful of the purest gold .

The same Sutra points out the identity of M fr/tritium; with the indestructible

Ta t/Leifqafayaréa which, though imperceptible to ordinary men,is realisable

by one who has attained supreme and perfect enlightenment (azzut tamSct iizyak

Now what is meant b V the term full/dga tayarU/a ? Litera lly it sigui

fies “the womb of the Tall uZya/a . that is to say, the treasure or store in

which the essence of Buddhahood remains concealed under the veil of avirlyci

or ignorance, j ust as gemsand metals lie hidden in the bowels of M other

Bearth under the covering of filth and impurities . In other words,

Tat/rd'

yatagarb/m i s another name for the ‘Womb of the Universe’ from

which issue forth the myriad multitudes of things mental and material .This idea of a un iversal w omb is not peculiar to

The idea Of the Un i‘ Buddhism,for it occurs also in the 1 4 th Discourse of'versal W omb .

the Bhagavadgita, Kri shna is resprcsented as saying to

Arj una

finalise as: afar-1 in?m ule s,I

Q Q

smith s animalm a: lanai-«a at :

“To me the great Bra hma is a womb wherein I cast the see

Thence comes the birth of all beings . In whatsoever womb mortals areborn

,their main womb is Brahma and I am the seed-giv mg

Psychologically speaking, the l tl cyatayarN/a may be defined as “the” W M

transcendental soul of man , just commingW a —X-“ w m "M

Nan j io’

s Cat . No . 1 12.

srs'

rmi s o r BUDDl l l S'

l‘

lC THOUGHT.

causation .

’And in certain sense the Ta l/uigatagarb/za corresponds to the

P ammcitman or the Un iversal Soul of the Vedantists,from which they

suppose the world of phenomena to emanate . The term p aramdiman, as has

already been noticed above, w as not unknown to the Buddhists . But

between the Buddhist and the Vedantic conceptions of p aramdtman there

is a wide gulf which no exertion of ingenuity can bridge over . The

Buddhists themselves to ok very great care to lay stress on this fact, as will

be seen from the following extract from the Lankavatara Sutra

Then the great M ahamat i Bodhisattva said to the Blessed One ‘The

Ta tficitagaré/za, O Lord,has been described by thee as brill iant by nature

and absolutely pure from beginning, as possessed of 32 characteristics, as

abiding in the body of every living creature,

as enveloped by the st and/ms,(Wait ers and dyatanas l ike a costly gem covered by dross, as sullied by the

defilements of erroneous imaginings and s w ayed by passion, mal ice and

folly . It has also been described by thee as permanent, stable, blissful and

everlasting . Is not this thy doctrine of the t lzcigatagarb/za similar to the

soul-theory of the Tirthakaras (heretics) who maintain that the soul is an

agent, everlasting, all pervading, undecaying and exempt from attributes ?”

“Thereupon the Blessed One made answer thus to M ahamati z—‘M y

doctrine of the Tatfizi'gatagarb/ra, O M ahamat i, differs widely from the

soul-theo ry of the Tirthak aras . Verily the Tat/zdyatas by preaching the

doctrine of the Tat/icigatagarb/za as being constituted of the sphere of

si ng/am,Nirvana, cessation of birth, and exemption from thoughts and

imaginations, impart to the vulgar, for their easy comprehensmn the doctrine

of the Tatfidgatagarb/Ea which transcends the range of thought and imagina

tion,so that the vulgar may thereby get over the te rrors

’

of the doctrine of

ancitman . Now, 0 M ahamati, the soul-theory deserves rejection at the

hands of the Bodhisattvas of the present as well as of the future time . And

just as a potter with his manual skill and by the employment of rod,water

,

and string, makes pots of various sorts out of a single heap of earth-particles,

even so do the Tat/zdgatas preach the madman (non-ego) of the phenomenal

world by a variety of skilful and intelligent methods,sometimes teaching

the doctrine of the Thtfidyatagarb/ca, at others that of A’azc z‘myam, and their

I NTRODUCTION . 27

having recorse to a variety of expressions and locutions reminds one of the pot

ter’s skill . For this reason it is,O M ahamat i

,that I say that the doctrine of

the Ta t/icigatagaré/ia is entirely different from the soul-theory of the

Tirthakaras . Again the Tat/nigatas preach the doctrine of the Tat/icigatagarbfia,for the purpose of converting the '

I‘irthak aras who cling to the

soul-theory . O ther w ise ho w would the transcendentally perfect en

light enment become intelligible to those whose m inds are confined within the

narro w limits of the threefold emancipation and who have fallen into the

heresy of believing in the existence of an airman,which, in real ity, does not

exist . Therefore it is that the fl i t/icigatas preach the doctrine of the Tat/ici

gai‘ayarblmwhich is quite different from the soul-theory of the Tirthakaras f

Accordingly,thou

,O M ahamat i, shouldst follow the doctrines of and tman

and Ta t/uZyatayarb/ia which have been preached by the Tatficigatas, so that

thou mayst be able to explode the heret ical notions of the T '

i rthakaras .

” 1

The only European critic of Buddhism who has correctly stated the

Biiddhist point with respect to the soul is, as far as I know,Dr . M ax

W alleser and I gladly avail my self of this opportunity to recommend, for

the perusal of such of you as may not have already read it, that erudite

scholar’s accurate exposition of early Buddhism as given in his excellent

monograph entitled “Die p /iilosop /i ise/ie Grundlage des-aelteren Budding

mm .

” It is highly desirable that this maste rly treatise should be translated

Se e Sik shananda’

s Chin e se Versio n of the Lankavatara sutra, (fasc. II) . And the

San skrit passage run s as fo l lo w s

an (in m in? fi fties? w efi ims’

aq la w w h e n mummi: gar 1mm

same w asfifmz u a a W ant mfirmne rfim fi: fi es ta mi? are"

m m :

w an der?! a usifin autism ‘Hfiifm iss :mui fifgisi’

r fim sfii W 1I

sierra u w ar ens. a Fe Hem? mis managed as w arm ; fat g um

m m: unmaafi fzfaaimam FaFafimFmFsmmai new ? W W H umani st am0 a 0 Q 0 x.

s erum 3 1W : s w ag gerane w s omemm fi fi ma fi fm fi nm ffi

'

fl summera 3 0 a Q

0

W“

amen a a are Hem-

Ft m : i tfimam m firfifia. m u

5mm w as new ? m amas flam ed fi ffim m fi fiaff fi ffi : vi tamfi ‘

e

‘m fifl 3"iffl afitfi fifi an w m w fi: mW’

fim n W it m q

28 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

into Engl i sh for the benefit of students of Buddhism in India, Burma and

the Far East . Nor will it be found altogether uninstructive in the island of

Ceylon,for in that reputed stronghold of Buddhism there prevail at the

presant day such misconceptions concerning the fundamental principles of

Buddhism as w ould have brought a blush even to the cheeks of a declared

enemy of Buddhism l ike Sank aracarya . To quote a single instance, in an

English Catechism of Buddhism published at Colombo in 188 ] and bearing,

as the learned M etropolitan of India informs us (Burl/M ime , 2nd Edition

p . the impriinat ur of the time-honoured H . Sumangala, i t is distinctly

taught that “t/ie soul is a w orrl used by M e ignora /i t to exp res s afalse idea .

If this is a serious specimen of the sort of religious instruction imparted to

boys and girl s in the Buddhist schools of Cevlo n

as a « s inus na'

aq

a i rs emit: amuse um

NIRVANA IS THE ONLY CALM .

(W W I)

A correct idea of the principle of universal impermanence and of the

absence of an Ego is absolutely indispensab le to a right

understanding of third mud/vi or seal of Buddhism,

which is formulated in the words ‘Nirvcinam Scintam’

(i. e .,Nirvana is the only calm Thi s doctrine which is but a logical

ne w ? sm e gm a a uafin q é' fis new ? mummif

qaaii'

new ? 3 2mm serif-u:’

w ag‘

gs ie'

ammnfivéai fiia’

fifl l are m s afe

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

30 SYSTE M S OF BI'

DDIIISTIC THOUGHT .

many are the creatures that dwell therein .

” That would be impossible

said the king, “for the answer to such a question is beyond human power .“Equally impossible O King ,

” said Nagasena, “is it to tell the measure,form

,figure or duration of Nirvana, although Nirvana is a condition that

afte r all does exist . And even if one endowed with magicial powers may

succeed in measuring the wate r and counting the creatures in the ocean , he

w ould never be able to te ll the form,figure

,duration or measure of

Nirvana .

” 1

Such then being the case,there is no other w ay for us to realise

Nirvana save by experiencing it in our own selves by an earnest cul tivation

of it acccording to the methods prescribed in the Sacred Canon . This

is why Buddhism lays so much stress upon selfFfeafisat io“ Of introspection in the case of aspirants to Buddhahood .

Nirvana.

This explains also w hy all attempts to explain the real

nature of Nirvana have invariably been attended with failure or, at best,with very scant success ; while details with respect to the training which

has to be undergone by one who longs for its attainment, are given in the

Sacred Canon with a fulness which would prove tedious even to the most

patient of human beings . It is , a significant fact al so that Nagarjuna

himself has recourse to negatives when he comes to describe the character

istics of Nirvana

am en—airs fas imeszfi n

“

“That is called ‘Nirvana’ which i s not acquired,no t reached,not

extirpated, not eternal , not suppressed, not

From pre-Buddhistic times the word Nirvana came to signify,in the

Sanskrit language, the summzim 60mm of man . In this sense it i s of fre

quent occurrence in the M ahabharata,as has been shown by Father Dahlman

in his monE tymo logy of eograph on Ni rvana The original and radi

WN Wcal meaning of the word seems to have been a nagativ e

one, that i s to say, the ‘cessation’ or ‘absence’ of something

,though in course

1 “The q uest ion ofKing M ilinda

,Part I I

,P P . 186 -187 . (S . B. E . Vo l . x x x vi. )

‘z “The M adhyamik a Sastra ,

” Chap . x x vfx srik n 3,

i x rno nrcrio x . 3 1

of time it came, like the English word‘imi oeeuc-e

’

(flfém) to acquire a, positive

signification . Sanskrit grammarians derive the word from the root ed in

the sence of ‘blowing,’ with the addition of the prefix ‘nir

’ which denotes

absence or privation . By the well-known rule of Panini fas i'fii 3 13i: the past

part icipial suffi x ‘Tw’ i s replaced by ‘Na

’ when the word is applied to the

wind . Thus the root meaning of Nirvana, according to the Sanskrit Gram

marians,seems to have been ‘cessation ofa gust of w ind’ and, by a slight

stretch of meaning, the word came to be applied the extinction of a lamp.

Pal i scholars will here recollect the well-known lines illustrating this idea“Dip ass

’

iva ”MM /mm v imo/ckfio a/iu ce taso”

(i.e .

“The emancipation of mymind w as like the blowing out of a lamp”) “Nibéanti d/iic yatlw iyam p adip o

“The wise attain Nirva ia like this lamp attaining But

though such is its original and etymological signification,the Buddhists

,

from c omparatively early times, availing themselves of the enormous flex ib i

lity of the Sanskrit language in matters of derivation, undertook to inte rpret

the word Nirvajia in a variety of ways agreeing with their conception of its

different aspects . Thus in that great philosophical encyclopaedia of the

H inayana, entitled A bhidharma-mahav ibhasha-sastra, which is extant only

in Hiouen Tasang’

s Chinese translation, the following derivations of the

word Nirvana are given

(a)‘Vcina.

’means ‘the path of transmigration’ und ‘Nir’ means ‘leaving

off’

or‘being away from .

’ Therefore ‘Nirvana’ means ‘the leaving off perma

nently all the paths of transmigration .

’

(6) And again : means ‘stench’ and ‘Nir’ means ‘not’, and these

two combined Nirvana) , mean‘a state altogether free from the stench

of vexatious Karmas’.

(0) And again : ‘W ua’means ‘a dens e forest’ and ‘Nir’ means ‘to get

rid pe rmanently of,’ so that ‘Nirvana’ means ‘a state which has got rid

permanently of the dense forest of the st and/ms, the three fires (of lust, malic

and folly,) and the three attributes of things (0 22 : origination, stay, and

l “The Ab hidharma-mahav ib hasha-Sas tra,

” fasc . 32a

srsrmrs o l‘BL

‘

DDnrsTrc'rHo r

'

o rrT.

(fl) And again : ‘Vcina’means ‘weaving’ and ‘Nir’ means ‘not’ so that

‘Nirvana’ means ‘a state in which there is the entire absence of the thread

of vexatious Karmas and in which the texture of birth and death i s not to

be woven .

’ 1

So varied and so deep were the meanings with w hich the Buddhist m ind

loved to impregnate the word Nirvana . And it is this circumstance which

probably accounts for the well-known fact that the Chinese translators of

the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists, after having tried to render the word

by something like forty unsatisfacto ry equivalents, indicative of the idea of

emancipation, absolute calm,

’

and supreme bliss,were

,at last, forced to

transplant that word bodily into the Chinese language in the form of

Nie P a ll . But the tendency for fanciful derivations in matters religions,of

which we have had a number of examples above,is not confined to the East

alone . It used to predominate a few centuries ago even in Christian

Europe . Thus, in a se rmon preached by Bishop An/

drewes before King

James I . of English on Christmas-day, 1 6 14 the learned divine,shows a superlative example of etymological temerity in his deriva

tion of the name Immanuel which,according to the Gospel of M atthew

(I . 23 ) means ‘God with us .’ But Bishop Andrewes improves on the

Apostle’s derivation and goes on to say—“Without Him in this

world ” saith the Apostle ; and if w ithout Him in this ; without Him in

the next ; and, if w ithout Him there—if it be not Inm annel, it will be

Immamc-lrell and, that no other place will fall , I fear me, to our share .

Without Him,this we are . W hat

,with Him ? Why

,if w ehave him,

and

God by him,we need no more ; [acume n-d and Immanu-ail .

To return to our main po int,I have already said in a previous lecture

that the principal of Universal impermanence and of non-Ego are concerned

with the phenomenal world, while the principle of ‘Nirvana being the only

calm’has to do with the noumenal world . In other

The_

t w o aspe ct s of

Nlrv aga words,the reali sation of the first t w o principles leads

to the eradication of the manifold causes of self/M aire

,such as illusions, evil

pasions, etc . while a correct understanding of the third principle helps in

laying the foundation of the fabric of true.enl ightenment and supreme bliss .

lNTRODUC'l‘ION. 3 3

In its negative aspect, Nirvana is the extinction of the threefold fires of lust,

malice and folly ; that is to say, it conduces to the utter annihilation of allthoughts of selfishness, to the complete removal of snfi ering, and to absolute

liberation from the round of birth and death .

In its positive aspect, Nirvana consists in the practice of the three

cardinal virtues of generosity, love and wisdom ; that i s to say, in the practice of altruism, of purity and peacefulness of heart

,and in shaking off all

fette rs such as ignorance t q

'

Nagasena’

s b eaut iful be C The P0 ~ 1t lv e aspect Of

il lustrat i on s Nirvana has been excellently desc ribed in the Q uestions

Qf from which I beg leave to quote the following extract

“Venera ble Nagasena,” said M il inda, “I grant that Nirvana is bliss

unalloyed, and yet that is impossible to make clear,either by simile or

explanation, by reason or by argument, its form or its figure or its duration

or its siz e . But is there no quality of Nirvana which is inherent also in

other things that it can be made evident by metaphor ?”

Though there is nothing as to its form which canb e so explained,

there is something” replied Nagasena, “as to its qual ity which can .

” “0

happy word,Nagasena ! Speak then,” said the King, “that I may have an

explanation of even one point in the characteristics of Nirvana . Appease

the fever of my heart b v the cool breez e of your words l” “There is

,

” said’

the sag e,“one quality of the lo tu s, O King, inherent in Nirvana, and two

qualities of w at er, and three of m ed icine and four of the o cean ,fiv e of

fo o d ,and ten of sp ace , and three of the w ish -conferring gem and

thre e of. red sandal-w o o d and three of the froth of ghe e , and five of a

moun tain-p eak .

” “As the lo tus, O King, is unternished by the

water, so is Nirvana unternished by any evil dispositions . This is

the one quality of the lotus inherent in Nirvana. As w at er , 0 King, is

cool and assuages heat, so also is Nirvana cool and assuages the fever arising

from all evil dispositio ns . This i s the first quality of wate r inherent in

Nirvana . And again,O King

,as water allays the thirst of men and beasts

when they are exhausted and anxious, craving for drink, and to rmented by

thirst,so does g rvana‘

allav the thirst of the craviM iti fillfi ié the eKa‘Linm —w a-M s m u fi w -o w u nfl “ fl “ 1

3 4‘ SYSTE M S OF B UDDH ISTIC THO I’

GHT .

qual ity of water inherent in Nirvana—As m edicin e , O K ing,is the

refuge of beings to rmented by poison,so is Nirva'

ra the refuge of beings

tormented with the poison of evil dispositions . This is the first qual ity of

medicine inherent in Nirvana . And again,O K ing

,as medicine puts an

end to diseases,so does Nirvana put. an end to griefs . This is the second

qual ity of medicine inherent in Nirvana . And again, O King, as medicine

is ambrosia,so also is Nirvana ambrosia . This is the third qual ity of

medicine inherent in Nirvana—As the o cean ,0 king, i s empty

of corpses,so also i s Nirvana empty of the dead bodies of all evil disposition s .

This,O King

,is the first qual ity of the ocean inherent in Nirvana . And

again, 0 K ing, as the ocean is mighty and boundless and fills not with

all rivers that flow into it,so is Nirvana m ighty and boundless and fills not

with all beings who ente r into it. This is the second qual ity of the ocean

inherent in Nirvana . And again, 0 King

,as the ocean is the abode of

mighty creatures, so is Nirvana the abode of great men,Arhats in whom

the great evils and all stains have been destroyed,endowed w ith power,

master of themselves . This is the third qual ity of the ocean inherent in

Nirvana . And again, O King, as the ocean is all in blossom,as it were,

w ith the innum era ble and various and fine flowers of the riple of its waves, so

is Nirvana all in blossom,as it were

,with the innumerable and various and

fine flowers of purity, of knowledge and of emancipation . This i s the fourth

quality of the ocean inherent in Nir'vana .—As fo o d , O King, is the support

of the life of all beings, so is Nirvana, when it has been realised, the support

of life,for it puts an end to old age and death . This is the first quality of

food inherent in Nirvana . And again,0 King

, as food increases the

strength of all beings, so does Nirvana, when it has been real ised, increase

the power of Iddhi of all beings . This is the second quality of food inherent

in Nirvana. And again, O King, as food is the source of the beauty of

all beings, so i s Nirvana, when it has been realised, the source to all beings

of the beauty of holiness . This is the third qual ity of food inherent in

Nirvana. And again, 0 King, as food puts a stop to suffering, in .all beings,

so does Nirvana, when it has been realised, put a step in all beings to the

suffering arising from every evil disposition . This is the fourth quality

of food inherent in Nirvana. And again,

_

0 King, as fo od overcomes, in all

rx rno rw c rro x . 35

beings,the weakness of hunger, so does Nirvana, when it has been real ised,

overcome,in all beings, the weakness w hich arises from hunger and every

sort of pain . This is the fifth qual ity of food inherent in Nirvana—Assp ace , O King, neither is born no r grows old, neither dies nor passes away

nor has a future life to spring up into , as it i s imcompressib le, cannot be

carried off by thieves, rests o n nothing, is the sphere in which birds fly, is

unobstructed,and is infinite ; so, O King, Nirvana is not born, neither does

it grow old,it dies not

,it passes not away, it has no rebirth, it is unconquer

able,thieves carry it no t off, it is not attached to anything

,it is the sphere

in which Arhats move, nothing can obstruct it,and it is infinite . These

are the ten qual ities of space inherent in Nirvana—As the w ishing-gem ,

O King , satisfies ev ery desire, so also does Nirvana . This is the first quality

of the wishing-g em inherent in Nirvana: And again, 0 King

,as the

wishing-

gem causes delight, so also does Nirvana . This is the socond

qual ity of the wishing-

gem inherent in Nirvana . And again,O King

,as

the wishing-gem i s full of lustre,so also in Nirvana. This is the third

qual ity of the wishing-

gem inherent in Nirvana—As red sandal-w o od ,

O King,is hard to get

,so is Nirvana hard to attain to . This is the first

quality of red sandal-wood inherent in Nirvana . As it is unequalled in the

beauty of its perfume,so i s Nirvana . This is the second qual ity of red

sandal-wood inherent in Nirvana . And again,O King

,as red sandal-wood

is praised by all good people,so is Nirvana praised by all the Noble ones .

This is the third quality of red sandal-wood inherent in Nirvana .—As ghee

i s beautiful in colour,O King

,so also is Nirvana beautiful in righteousness .

This is the first qual ity of ghee inherent in Nirvana . As ghee has a pleasant

perfume,so also has Nirvana the pleasant perfume of righteousness . This

is the second quality of ghee inherent in Nirvana. And again, 0 King,

as ghee has a pleasant taste, so also has Nirvana . This is the third quality

of ghee inherent in Nirvana—As a moun tain -p eak is very lofty, so

also is Nirvana very exalted . This is the first quality of a mountain-peak

inherent in Nirvana . And again,O King

,as a mountain-peak is immov e

able,so also is Nirvana . This is the second quality of a moun tain-peak

inheaent in Nirvana .

'

And again,0 King

,as a morni tain -peak is inacces

sible,so also is Nirvana inaccessible to all evil dispositions . This i s the

36 svsm rrs o r Bunnnrsrrc THOUGHT .

third quality of a mountain-peak inherent in Nirvana . And again,0 King

,as

a mountain-peak is a place where no plants can gro w,so also is Nirvana a

condition in which no evil dispositions can grow . This is the fourth quality

of a mountain-peak inherren t in Nirvana . And again,O King

,as a

mountain-peak is free alike from desire to please and from resentment,so

also is Nirvana . This is the fifth quality of a mountain-peak inherent in

Nirvana .

” “Very good,Nagasena . That is so

,and I accept it as you say

”

replied the king .

1

This somewhat lengthy quotation might appear tedious to some of

you,but perhaps it has a justification in the fact that it is probably the

best known illustra tion of the qualities OfNirvana and contradicts the so

called distinction drawn b y some scholars of BuddhismAr t ifi cal dist in ction

b e t w e en the t w o 8 0 between the Nirvana of the M ahayana and tha t of thecal led sort s ofNirv ana .

Hinayana . The former is supposed b v them to possess,in contradistinction to the latter, four qual ities, r ia ,

permanence,blissful

ness,freedom and purity . But surely these qual ities are no t omitted from

the list of the properties of Nirvana as given in the extract quoted above

from the s esfz'

ons of JlI iZi/zda, a Pal i work which belongs to the Lesser

Vehicle . Of course,I do not mean to deny that, considering the fact that

Buddhism i s still a l iving religion, the Buddhist idea of Nirvana has passed

through a long process of evolution, or that it has been subjected to

numerous different interpretations, ever since the day w hen it w as

preached for the first time, years ago , b v the princely ascetic of

the Sakya race in the Deer-park at Isipatana near Benares . But a

treatment of this important subj ect, which is so valuable to those

who wish to study the histo ry of human thought in the East, does

not,I regret t o say come within the scope of my lectures . Ne verthe

less,it i s impossible to overlook the fact that the priestly adherents of the

Lesser Vehicle have been led, by their m isconception of the true sense of

the Nirvana which w as preached by Buddha,to devote

conifiifir

iit

fiirvi’

iii themselves to a l ife of fruitless inactivity ; whereas

quite the contrary is the case with the followers of the

M ahayana . The H inayanists of the present day, claim ing, as they do, that

1 s . B . E . Vor, x x v i . pp . 1 88—195.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

3 8 SYSTE M S O I“ THO UGHT .

But with all their fondness for following,to the very letter

, w hat they

have been taught to regard as Burl/Mnm ean/m,the Buddhist monks in

Ceylon,Burma and Siam lose sight of the glaring fact that a life of inacti

v ity, mi scal led meditation, has been condemned by Buddha in the most

emphatic terms . And instead of following the philanthropic example of

their great Teacher and raising the moral level of those in the midst of

whom they l ive , the monks practise many an art and craft such as sorcery,

al chemy, fortune tel ling, etc . which are expressly proNirvana as unde r

4

st o od ini

Ceylon . It s ln b i ted in the s ofas . Thus,

as B i shop Coplesto n tellsdem o ralismg influence .

us Build/1.11905 2ud . Edition,page and as I

'

myself have seen with my o w n eyes,the Bhikshus of Ceylon

,while rejecting

,

as forbidden by Buddha, all approved means of honest livelihood,repeat

charm s of protection at the opening of a new house or on the

occasion of a child’s first eating rice, perform the part of astrologers

and make horoscopes for new-born children,

officiate when water 1 i s

poured for the benefit of the spiri t after a corpse has been laid in the

grave etc .,etc . And in doing such things they become conveniently oblivious

of the fact that Buddha himself, accord ing to the testimony of their own

Sacred Canon, never approved of them . These doubtful practices may

perhaps be said to constitute the dark side of Sinhalese monastic

life ; but what does its bright side consist in ? The pious S inhalese

Buddhists will probably men tion,to the credit of the monks of their country

,

that the Sangha take part in the Bana-j n'

nlvmms or the meritorious act of

reciting the Sacred Books for the benefit of the laity . These p inkamas

form the great delight and entertainment of the Sinhalese people and are

preceded by long and elaborate preparations . The theory is that,in return

for gifts and good which they receive from the laity , the monks ought to

give to them the opportunity of acquiring the merit of hearing or,at least,

seeing the Sacred Books read . Accordingly,on such p inl’ama days, the

monks take it by turn s to read, w i th their Sinhalese comments or

explanations, the Bali Sfitras or, what i s far more popular,the Jat-ak a

stories . But,as Bishop Copleston rightly observes, the acquaintance of

the common people with the classical Sinhalese, in which the commentarie s

are mostly w ritten , and that of t he monks w ith the Bali original, i s far too

im‘

no nucr lo x . 3 9 '

small for any meaning to be conveyed, in the majority of cases,by the

reading and interpretation of the Sacred Books . Ne w,in these days of

scientific progress, might not the clergy of Ce vlon, I beg leave to ask , be

spared the labour of exerting thei r vocal organ s caused by the rapid inter

change of each word of the Bali tex t with its corresponding Sinhalese equi

valent, as has to b e done by pairs of them during those which are

called ‘merit-acts of recitation .

’

Surely the pious laity maybe enjoined,

with advantage , by the Sinhalese clergy to employ gramophones on such

occasions . And a procedure of this sort would not only no t constitute aviolation of the rules of the Vinaye seeing that nowhere has Buddhaproscribed the use of a gramophone

,but would actually be consistent with

the Sinhalese conception of Ni rvana as a complete cessation of all activity,

not to mention the merit accruing from gifts given to the Sangha .

Ye puggalu, al/ha satam pasattlm,

cat tari etani yugnni honti,te dak khineyya Sugataesa

'

snv aka,

cte su rlinnani mat apphaluni.

idam pi Samghe ratanam pan/tam,

etena saccena suv at t i ho tu

which means according to the orthodox S inhalese interpretation as given

in Sir M . Kumarasw ami’

s version —“If there b e one hundred 1 and

eight (l) priests prai sed (by the saints) , they are the four pai rs . They are

disciples of Buddha,worthy of offerings . Things given to them become

fruitful,and this excellent jewel (i s found) in the Association (of priests

M ay there be happiness from this truth l” ?

I am sure that in return for such gifts the Sinhalese clergy will bless

the donors with all their heart,wishing (Beware of applying the word

‘praying’ to the orthodox adherents of “primitive” Buddhism ! ) that the

gramophones thus presented to the Sangha, may facilitate the attainment

of Nirvana to the givers of theni— (Zay/a lt anam niH/anap aceaya Iron/w .

1 The real me an ing is e ight pe rsons praised b y the go od” as the C ommentary e x plainsit . Gm here .

Se e Sir Knmarasw ami’

s English v ersion ofSut ta Nipata, p. 62.

l

s vsrsns o r Bunon is'

ric T i lo UGn'

r.

But such though may be the modern monastic conception of Nirvana

in the lands of the Lesser Vehicle,that i s to say, in Ceylon, Burma and

S iam, it must be urged in their favour that they themselves are not

responsible for this erroneous view of Nirvana, which is older than

the Lankavatara Satra where it is condemned as an unsound and unorthodox

opinion . In the third chapter of this Satra thereThe n ihilis t ic v ie w of

0

(Nirvana is on o rtho occurs the famous criti ci sm of the twenty heretical0 X .

views concerning Nirvana,the importance of which

w as first pointed out b y the il lustrious Burnouf in his Hz

'

eloire (in BnrM /n'

sme

Indz'

en. The first of these views, w hich is that of the Hinayana, i s des

crib ed as fellows

F-mi W ard-in w ard: a mania, afim muq mafi amfi

m am mfimw zu‘

gfi fém fi fi”

axi

afim ara

érai fi aingfisfiv filfi a w smfi fimms w r firw ifi u‘

“ There are some who maintain that by the extermination of the

St and/ms,Dfiatus and the Ayamnas, by an aversion to the objects of the

senses consequent thereon, and by fixing one’s attention always on the

difi erence of attributes among things, there arises a cessation of thought

and of what appert ains to thought, and that the cessation of imagination in

consequence of a non-remembrance of the past, the future and the present,resembles the extinction of light

,the destruction of seed and the quenching

of fi re for want of al iment . Such is their conception of Nirvana. But

Nirvana, O M ahamat i, cannot be atta ine d by a view of annihilation .

”

The correct view offNirvana has been given by Nagarjuna who identifies

it with Samsara, as I have already po inted out in a previous lecture .

What Nirvana manyIn fact the relation which Samsara bears to Nirvana

mean

is the same as that which a wave bears to water . This

i s exactly what Nagarjuna means w hen he says that“That which under

Nan j l o’

s Cat . No . 175, 176 and.

177 . There is on e Sanskrit t ex t of this Satra in theLib rary of the Asiat ic Society ofBenga l . Sik shananda

’s Chin ese v ersion agre es w ith the

Sanskrit t ex t .

INTRODUCTION . 4 1

the influence of causes and condition is Samsara,is, w hen

'

ex emptfrom the

influence of causes and conditions,to be taken as Nirvana .

”

tiW eigh ts smart : w as : an n

fi w fiimfim firfi w gfi mfi u‘

In the technical language of Buddhist philosophy,Nirvana has been

described as follows in the Lankavatara Satra

an?! gazism'

fi artis te-

fl «sm e armam a

m m a w mw afiafim W W : mnsfi afim e r W W W magmas traum

umfi w fi mén am mfi m wmm fi nmfi fi a w fi fi n nfirfi ammfi fiififi n

This extremely diffi cult passage which puz z led even Burnouf w ho

Te chn ical defini t ion called it nu veritable gal/ inches,” becomes fortunately

of N irvana . intelligible to us through the help of the extant Tibetan

and Chinese versions . It may be paraphrased as follows

“Nirvana is attainable by a cessation of cognition when the mind has

been fixed on all the rainfall/es from the rtl riynsamrid/éi up w ards, which

grad ually lead up to the stage of the Tathagata, after the following ante

cedent conditions have been fulfilled

(i) realisation of the non-exi stence of external things by knowing them

to be the creations of one’s own fancy .

(n ) realisation Of the position of Suchness as being free from the

fourfold limitations [or (i) existence, (11) non-existence, (iii )existence p lus non -existence and (iv) neither existence nor non

existence ]

(iii) rejection of the subject and object of perception by rej ecting the

two extremes of imagination Me ,

‘is’ and ‘i s not’] concerning

the creations of one’s own mind .

1 The M adhv am ik a Sas tra .Chap . x x v , Karika 9 .

4 2 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(iv) realisation of the impossibility of accep t ing any evidence as

conclusive .

(v) non-adherence even to Truth by regarding it as illusory .

(vi) comprehension of the Noble Dharma as being the embodiment

of all evidence .

(v ii) comprehension of the two sorts of Naiiatmya, and

(vii i) removal of the two forms of Klesns, (viz ., intellectual and

habitual ) and of the two sorts of veil ( v iz . passion and

conventionalism.)

This description of Nirvana is, I acknowledge,perhaps almost as

difficult to understand as Nirvana itself i s to reali se, but were I to attempt

to elucidate it at this stage,I would have to include in the elucidation the

main substance of what is going to form the subject of my succeeding

lectures, so that my not explain ing it no w merely means that the passage

will become perfectly intelligible to you afte r you have gone through .the

few lectures which I have yet to deliver . M y remarks, it i s needless to say,

do not apply to such of you as already know the meaning of the passage .

CHAPTER I I .

KARM A-PHENOM ENOLOGY.

1

Tae Tw o sides of Budd/ net Pnilosop /zy .

Before I proceed to treat of the main subject of my present lecture, viz .,

Karma-phenomenology, I must explain to you,by w ay of introduction,

what are known as the two sides of Buddhist Philosophy . Students of

The t w o cen tra l pro European philo sopy w ill recollect the two centralhlems of Europeanphilo sophy .

problems w 1th which it is mainly concerned,em.

1 . The dete rmination of the relation betw een reality and cognition ;

2. The determination of what constitutes the substance of reality.

In Buddhist philosophy,the school w hich treats of the first of these two

prdb lems,is that of the Vrj

'

fi‘

icinavddz'

ns and that w hich treats of the second,is that of the 211

The problem of the determination of what constitutes the substance of

real ity,resolves itself

,as is probably well known to

The principa l o pi

n ion ab out the sub you,

into two pr1nc1pal head s of opinion called (a)stance of reality .

singularism (b) plurali sm that 18 to say, whether

the substance of reality is (a) one or (b ) more than one . The Singularists

attempt to explain the problem of the Universe with the help of a single

fundamental principle, while the Pluralists have recourse to more than one .

In modern European philos ophy the Singularists are represented by Lotz e

and Hartmann,Fichte and Schelling . In ancient Greek philosophy,

Singularism had its adherents in the E leatics who maintained the unity of

being,be it a formal or essential unity as formulate d by Parmenides and

Xenophanes,or be it a mere unity of matter as laid down by M elissus.

"Plato also regarded unity to be the essential cause of his “Ideas,” which

again were, according to him,the essential causes of everythi ng else .

1 Japanese : Gékan -yengi-ro n.

4 4 SYSTE M S O F Bl’

DDlIlS'

l‘

l C THO l'

GHT .

In Buddhist philosophy,the appellat ion of Singularists w ould l ie appli

cable,ou the one hand, t o Nagarjuna and his disciple

The Singularist s and

P luralis t s among Bud Aryadev a who accept é'zfnyafri'

as the sole fundamentaldhis t philo sophers .

principle,

and,on the other, to Asvagho sha who

considers “Suchness"

to be the underly ing substance of the universe ;

while the Pluralists would be represented.

by the Sarc siitm z'

rfrlfins l w ho

include the mines/rim ?and Santz'rfnt z

'

h w .

3

The fundamental principle of Reality, as you all know,sulzdiv ides itself

into t w o heads, v iz ., (I) the M etaphysical or OntoloThe fundamen talPr‘nmple OfReah ty '

gical princi ple w hich indicates the final essence of

reality,

and (2) the Phenomenological or Cosmological principle w hich

deals with the variety of changeable phenomena . To the metaphysical

principle belong,in European philosophy

,Idealism

,M aterial ism,

Doctrine

of Identity Agnosticism,M onism and Dual ism and, in

Buddhist philosophy, Sarvas tit vavada

,Bhatatathatavada and the

M adhyamika doctrine . To the phenomenological principle belong,“

in

European philosophy, Mechanism,Teleology (including Rational Telco

logy) , and, in Buddhist phio s0 phy, Bhfitatathatavada, Vijfianavada and in

a w ay also Sarvast-it vavada .

4

In fact, with the complex ity of it s divi sions and sub -divisions,Buddhi st

The comple x ity o fphilosophy may be aptly compared to a gigantic

Buddhist philo sophycompared w ith a gigant ic b anyan t re e .

banyan tree w hich has b een steadily growing up for

nearly twen ty fiv e cen turies,in such a manner that

its original trunk now defies the search of an investigator who approaches

it for the first time . He w ho desires t o find for himself an entrance

into the stupendous structure of thi s l hilrsol hy, w ithout adequat e

guidance, i s sure t o b e bew ildered and disheartened by the sight of it s

labyrinthine complications . Accordingly,I may say without ex aggerat ion

that I shall consider myself amply repaid fe r my lat ours ifmy humble

Jap : Issa z-nb u-shzd or Ub w 2 Jap : Funb etsu- i o nshi.

3 Jap : Kiéryo -b n o r Kiob u .

The the o ry of Karma of the Sarv fist it v avadin srhco l is t o Le inch 6rd l l ] I t ddhisiic

Phen omen o lo gy .

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16 SYSTE M S 0 1“

BUDDH IST“)

thought,

w hich,at first sight

,appear to be inextricably blended together in

a hopelessly confused mass,it will be extremely convenient to take up

each of them by itself .

The Ontological principle,in early Buddhism, i s represented by the

The Onto logical prin three great w in/has or seal s wh ich I have explained at

C‘ple ° considerable length in my earlier lectures . I have

also pointed out there that the Universe is divisible into noumena and

phenomena, the latter being finite and the former infin ite . The principle

of Nirvana being the only calm appertains,

as I have already said, to

noumena,while

,if we subdivide phenomena into temporal and spacial,

to the former of these sub-divisions will be applicable the law of universal

impermanence and to the latter the principle of non-ego .

In early Buddhism the Phenomenological principle i s represented by

the doctrine of the Four Nob le Truths and that of theThe Phen omeno logi 0

r

cal prin ciple in Bud Twelve-lrnked Charn of Causatro r. Befc ze proceedrrrgdhist philo sophy .

further, let us take a brief surv ey of Buddhist

philosophy from the aspects, respectively,of Phenomenology and

Ontology . Phenomenology is represented therein by the doctrines of

Karma, Alnya, Bnfitafat/aam

”

and four of the most abstruse

te rm s in Buddhist philosophy, which may be here tentatively rendered by

Rep ository}‘Oneness

’ of the total ity of things or the

great Soul . Ontology in Buddhist philosophy is represented by the

real istic theory of the Sarvastitvavadins,the Satyasiddhi school which

adheres to absolute SzZnyat and the M adhyam ika schoo l whose idea of

Snnyata” i s somewhat different . If we go beyond the l imits of India, we

shall have to include among the Ontological schools the Tien-Tai school of

China and Japan .

W hat I have just no w stated is nothing new for nearly ten centuries

ago , a learned scholar of the Ten-Dai school of Japan,named Genshin, wrote

in his Chinese commentary on the Lotus of the Good Law —“The

apparently complicated teachings of Buddha adm it of numerous divi sion s

and sub-divisions, w hich, however, fal l into two main heads, when we have

got at their essential out lines . These heads are (a) the Ontological system

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 4 7

and (b) the Phenomenological system . The former explains the nature of

noumenon w ithout losing sight of phenomenon, while the latter explains

phenomenon without losing sight of the noumenon .

”

But, while applying the te rm Phenomenology to Buddhist philosophy,

we must not forget that between Buddhist phenoThe diffe rence b e

t w e en Buddhist phe menology and the phenomenology of European philonomen o logy and that

giylflum pean phiIOSO sophy

, there is a great difference in the method of

treatment . European philosophy treats of the pheno

mena of the universe objectively, while Buddhism treats of all things

subjectively . One of the distinctive features of Buddhism is that its

phenomenology regards all that i s in the un iverse as the subjective product

of the l iving m ind,since the starting point of Buddhism is the question

“Whence came the various phenomena of human life and not an

investigation rnto the origin of the universe . In other words,it i s the

view of human life which forms the central problem in Buddhist pheno

menology,

and,it i s on the conclusions arrriv ed at aft er an enquiry into

human life,that its view of the universe i s base d. The solution

,accor

dingly,of this great problem is attempte d by Buddhism no t objectively

.

but subjectively . It follows,therefore

,that the doctrine of the Four

Noble Truths,the Tw elve - linked Chain of Causation, Alaya and Bhfi

tatathataare, as their very names indicate, of the nature of subjective

propositions . The Buddhists regard this as the inevitable outcome of the

fundamental theory of autonomic moral ity as taught by the Blessed One .

Buddhist phenomenology can,therefore

,we may affi rm

,lay a just claim

to the title of Subjectivism .

Compared w ith its wealth of phenomenology,the subjective aspect of

Buddhism,large though it is, dwindles into irr

Reality canno t b e

e x plain e d un le ss it is Significance . In general phi losophy, as you all know,

O b j ect iv iz edfor facility of inte rpretation, reality is Objectiviz ed

or,to be more t echnical

,noumena are phenomeniz ed . And the reason

of this is no t far to seek, seeing that w hatever is t o be explained with

human speech must be treated as an objective thing, whereas realityo r

ify ou prefer Kant’s phrase, the “Thing -in-itself (‘Das

l

4 8 srsrs rrs o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

'Ding an i s,do what v ou will, unknowable and indescribable after

all. Not being an object of cognition,real ity can never be re duced to

logical explanation by our convent ional know ledge . The noumenal world

with its intangible panorama i s v isible only to the gaz e of intuition or self

ex perience acquired through a long process of mentalIn tuit ion o r sel f

0

e x pe rien ce is the on ly and b od ily training . The etymological ingenuityw ay t o s e e the re alaspe ct s of the no ume of Indian Buddhi sts di scovered

,curiously enough,

nal w o rld .

0

a proof of thi s truth rn the word Scfnlam w hi ch o ccurs

in the third great seal of Buddhism, Nired’

nam Scln lani’ Nirvar a

i s the only calm .)‘Sa

’

ntmn’ is the perfect participle passive of the

Sanskrit verbal root ‘Sdin’ which means, according to the grammarian s,

Availing‘to desist’ generally and rn particular ‘to desist from speaking .

themselves of this latter meaning of the verbal root, Indian Buddhists

made out that the words Nirvclnmn Sclnta in signify not only that‘Nz

'

f

rvafna is tlze only calm but that “Narrative (lelonyz'

ng as {l (loco

to ilze noumenal w orld) is trow el/zany nrlzz

'

c/l canno t be sp ol'

en of or

described.

” This sort of deep and double interpretation seems to have

had a great fascination for religious minds of antiquity and reminds

us of the famous anecdote about a mediaeval Italian divine who,in

his ignorance of the Greek language and out of hatred for the Greek

church,refused to believe that the fish- symbol of the early Christian s re

presented the words ] (cans) C71 TH (con) I’

S (clef) [ie (in

Greek) “Jesus Christ, Son of God but faithful to his devotion

to the Vulgate and his love of the Latin tongue,discovered

,to his own

satisfaction at least, that the symbol represented the word ‘Piscis’ w hich

mean s ‘fi sh’ in Latin and that it w as merely a monogram in which the

name of God the Son w as lovingly put twice between those of God the

Father and God the Holy Ghost,that is to say, that the letter s

P . C . were put for P (ate r) C(reator) God the Creator and Father] S .

S . for S(anctus) , S(piritus) , the Holy Ghost,] and that the I put t w ice

b etween P and S and C and S respectively,w as merely the name of God

theSon Jesus (in Latin, Iesus) . So the Italian priest saw in the fish

symbol all the three persons of the Christian Trinity,while his Greek

knowing predecessors saw only one . But greal 81

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 449

Buddhist commentators . They are perhaps better at practical illus trations .

One of them, while treating of the indescribability of noumena, eloquently

Observes —“Take, for in stance, a bird’s-eye View in early morning of the

Its e x ample .

Vulture Peak (mari a) and all its surrounding scenery .

You will exclaim ‘How beautiful ! HOW sub limel’

But to estimate its real beauty and sublimity, you must yourself ascend

the hill and gaz e on what you have around you with your own eyes .

And even then,though you may have fully felt its beauty and sublimity

,

you cannot convey an exact impression of it to any one who has not

seen it, as you have yourself seen,so that he who wishes to enjoy the

beauties of the scenery must ascend the hill and see for himself . Even

so i s the case with Nirvana or the noumenal world .

”

The illustration cited above serves also to explain why Buddhist O n

to logy abounds more in negative explanations than in positive . The positive

explanation of Nirvar a or the noumenal world is, of course, left to our inner

intuition or subjective realisation . I have already pointed out that, in Bud

dhist philosophy,Phenomenology stands to Ontology exactly in the same

relation as warp does to woof in cloth-weaving . And it i s al so to be noted

that when Buddhists speak of the former they never forget the latter and

vice v ersa . Accordingly,he who wishes to understand the philosophy of

the Sacred Cannon of the Buddhists,will do well to Observe the following

direction s from the very outset of his study : (1 )Some impo rt an tdire ct ion s fo r the s tu

den t of the BuddhistCanon .

Find out t he nature of the main subject-matter of

the work you wish to study, that is to say, whether

it i s Onto logical or whether it is Phenomenological . (2) Never let the

mere title of a work m islead you as regards its subject-matter,which

you will discover only afte r carefully going through the work in question,at least

,more than once . (3 ) Carefully bear in mind that in one and the

same work very often Onto logy and Pnenomenology are blended together,

sometimes every skilfully,sometimes not .

With these general hints, I pass on to the main subject of my present

lecture which will treat ofKarma-phenomenology .

f)“ SYSTEMS OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

KARMA-PHENOM ENOLOGY.

All i s impermanent, so that there is no ete rnal entity passing over to

Nirvana across the ocean of Somali /m . All i s without an Ego, so that

there is no imperishable soul surviving the shocks ofThe U n iv ersal law .

death and dissolution . Boundless i s the ocean of

Safiw d’

m and countless are the waves that ruffle its expanse in the shape

of individuals and phenomena. But the wave which precedes i s neither

q uite the same as,nor entirely different from the wave which follows, for

the two are inseparably linked together by the Universal Law of Cause

and Effect—a law which constitutes the “Adamantine Chain of the

Phenomenal World,” yielding, as it does, the only possible rationale of its

ever-changing features . This is why Buddha gave to the Doctrine of

Universal Impermanence the foremost place in his teachings .

Sani sclm,then, is existence subject to the control of cause and effect .

Samsara is the effectBut what is it which sets revolving the “wheel of

f k0 our arma’ becoming —“ton tree/i on tee eneseos”— as the A o stle

t , 9

James has it (Ep istle III . 6 .— a characteristically Buddhist expression

which is rendered in the Vulgat e by “ro ta na tivilnlis

,

” but misunderstood

by the English translators of the Authorised Version who interpret .it

to mean “course of nature .” Buddhism says that it is our Kari na,

the abiding result of our actions,which subjects us to a repetition of

births and deaths . Thus, although from the theoretical standpoint

Buddhism denies the existence of an imperishable individual soul, it

accepts from the ethical standpoint the unbroken continuity of Karma

or action . In other words,while rejecting from the philosophical point

of view the doctrine of the soul’s immortality,Buddhism does not

deny the continuity of personality . In thi s respect,

among the great

occidental thinkers, Immanuel Kant is the intellectual successor of Gautama

Buddha, for, he to o in a w ay denied the eternal existence of the personal

soul in his Critique of P ure Reason,but accepted it in his Ci 'iligne of

P ractical Reason . According to Buddhism,our present happiness or m isery

is not the award of a power existing outside ourselves,but is rather the

KARM A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 51

fruit of what we ourselves have done in the past, either in this life or in an

anterior birth .

“Q uisque saos p atimnr inanes

”as the Great Latin poet

Virgil, (Aenierl Be ni . ) tersely, and

,perhaps not unconsciously, expresses

the idea of Karma . Nothing,according to Buddhism,

is exempt from the

operation of Karma,which

,l ike Fate in Greek M ythology standing even

above Jupiter, exercises a paramount sway over every thing human or

divine . The Gods become Gods by the force of Karma ; the Gods loose

their godhead by the force of Karina . Whatever happens is the effect

of an anterior cause, and what one reaps is nothing but the harvest of what

one has previously sown . This is the main principle of Buddhist Ethics

which is rightly characterised as an autonomic systemThe fundam en talprin ciple o f Buddhist of morality m w hlch man has not to stand 111 anyE thics .

relation of dependence to any being save himself .

Buddha himself seems to have taught no other sort of dependence,for

one ’of his last injunct ions to his disciples w as

“Be ye your own light,your

own refuge ; have no other refuge .

” This belief in the ethical autonomy

of man,rendering him absolutely independent of the inscrutable will of any

Being outside himself,cannot but shock Christian and M onotheistic

prejudices ; but the influence it has exercised over the minds of people in

lands w here Buddhism does or did flourish,has undeniably been potent for

much good . It has strengthened the idea of moral responsibility in the

mind of man by bringing home to him the truth that his happiness

or m isery,instead of being the award of an iron-willed or capricious

Deity,or the decree of an inflexible Fate , or the out-come of Blind

Chance, is entirely the result of whatever he has formerly done himself .

It has encouraged him to virtuous action, dissuaded him from vice,and

helped him,more than any other system of Ethics

,to real ise that

M an is man and master of his fate . Buddha himself recognised the

superiority of his autonom ic system of ethics over those of his predecessors

or rivals , who attributed the supreme power over man’s destinies to God

Fate,or Chance . Thus

,in a well known section of the Angut tara Nikaya,

to which I have already referred in a previous lecture,he is represented as

discoursing with his disciples in the following manner“There are

,0 Bhikshus

,three views held by the Heretics

,which

,when

52 S YSTE M S o r Brno sr le'

ruo us ur .

Ex emplifi ed b y Budfollowed by the learned

,are calculated to land them

dha S t eaChmg ' into moral i rresponsibility in spite of the perfection

which they may have attained . What are those three views ?

Some srai nanas and Brahmins there are who maintain that, whatever a

human being has in this life of pleasure or pain,or of neither

,is entirely due to

Predestination,others say that it is due to God’s will

,others again attribute

it to blind Chance . Now,0 Bhikshus

,when I find era/nanas and Brah

mins holding or preaching such views, I ask them whether they really b e

l ieve in them . When they reply in the affirmative,I say to them,

‘So

then, you must acknowledge that men become murderers,thieves

,adulte rers,

l iars, slanderers, calumniators, light of speech, jealous, malevolent, bereti

cal, on account of Predestination or God’s will or Chance . Accordingly, all

attempts at moral improvement or discrimination between right and wrong

are of no avail ; and such being the ease,the moral regeneration of the

fallen b ecomes an impossibility’. This sort of reasoning must needs silence

those who held any of the three views ment ioned above . But the doctrine

taught by me, O Bhikshus

,is incapable of refutation, flawless, and can

successfully withstand the criticisms of eramanas and Brahm ins . And w hat

is it ? It is what I have taught concerning the six rl/za’

tizs,the six ayatanas,

the e ighteen mental impressions and the Four Not /e So said

Buddha to his disciples .

The doctrine of Karma is only a phase of the second of these Four Noble

Truths,of which I shal l presently have occasion to

A Japane se pro v e rbi

l

i

z

nd the do ctrine of speak . In countries which are, or were once,arma .

Buddhistic,this doctrine is so deeply ingrained into

the human mind that every m ishap is attributed to Karma . Thus where

the English say“What cannot be cured must be endured”, we in Japan

admonish saying “Resign thyself to it regarding it as the result of thy own

Karma”

. (‘fi

’

go z itol'

a to al 'irame

The Indian Vernaculars abound in proverbs of like import, and, if I

mistake not, the word Karina has been corrupted inThe do ct rin e of

Karma and the In dian many an Aryan dialect of this vast continent, intoVe rnaculars .

the form Ko ran; w hich is used in the sense of

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54 SYSTEM S o r BUDDHIS'

I‘

IC THO UGHT .

So the Buddhist, while he does not bel ieve that “the iniquity of the

fathers will b e visited upon the children unto the third and fourth genera

tions” , has to realise with respect to him self the inevitability of moral liab i

lity, or Karma, from which nothing can ever exempt him . In fact,if we

look at it from its fields of operation,the doctrine of Karma adm its of

being treated of from three different points of view v iz

(i) From the point of View of the moral world .

(ii) From the point of view of particulars or individual s .

(iii) From the point of view of the physical world .

KARM A AS A PRINCIPLE IN THE M ORAL WORLD .

Viewed as a principle in the moral world,the doctrine of Karma becomes

the law of the immortality of deeds . A deed done i sKarmaas the law ofthe

’mm o rtah ty d deeds “as imperishable in the M oral VVO I’ld as i t i s in the

physical ; and its fruits are bound to be reaped by the de er, when all the

necessary conditions for it are ripe . The only thing which follows a man

after death, according to Buddhism,i s his Karma

,and accordingly it has

been said in the Samyut ta Nikaya

Nor grain,no r wealth

,nor gold

,no r silver

,nor wife

,nor child, no r

slave,nor servant

,nor dependent

,can accompany a dying man

,but must

remain behind him ; while, whatever a man doth through his body, speech ,or thought, are to be called his own by him for they follow him .when he

departeth this life l ike a shadow that leaveth not . Therefore all men should

do nobledeeds considering them to be a stored treasure forfuture weal, and

a crop of merit sown in this life w ill yield, in a future birth,a rich harvest

of bliss .” 1

Buddhist Ethics, therefore, i s absolute ly autonomic from the beginning

Buddhist E thics isto the end. M an s moral respons1b 1hty IS regarded

ab somt ely auton om laas something due to himself and must be discharged

by himself . “That which cometh out of thee returneth unto thee” i s

1 Nan j io’

s Cat . No . 544 ( iii 2 . 10 )

KAR M A -PHENO M ENOLOGY . 55

0

the categorical imperative in Buddhist Ethics . This unique element of

superiority in the moral system of Buddhism appears to have shaken the

professed impartiality of many an otherw ise fair-minded Christian critic .

One of these,

and by far the most learned of them,who frankly admits

to have started with what he calls “immoveable convictions about the main

principles of truth and goodness,says in the latest edition of his interesting

work on Buddhism

The motive which Buddhist morality recognises,if it can be said to

recognise any, i s wholly selfish and individual . It isB ishop Cople ston

’s

cri t icism o n Buddhis t not for the love of truth or goodness,nor for the

m o ral i ty .

benefit of others,it is solely for the individual’s own

advantage that he is incited to cultivate virtue And the idea of

duty i s utterly absent . From first to last, the sacred books are terribly

consistent in failing to recognise any sort of obligation M uch as we read

of effort, it is always effort for self, effo rt to attain independence and quiet ;

n ever work for the sake of work, or work for the sake of others, or work for

the sake of duty . Such a system i s unsocial . If it recognises the propriety

of mutual kindness,it recognises— except in certain family relationships

no duty of mutual service or action In the contemplation of an

endless series of lives,the paramount importance of this present life is over

looked To make the most of one’s opportunity while one lives to have

done something before one dies,whether for oneself or for others —no such

ambition is set before the Buddhist . He has no aim in a life except to

escape from it On the whole,the Buddhist view of human hopes and‘

possibilities is pale and cold . I will not contrast it with Christian hope

for with all its proud claims and assertions of attainment,Buddhism does

,

in effect,deny the high capacities of man The Buddhist theory makes

the fatal m istake of supposing that it is grand to have nothing and no one

to look up to Buddhism degrades man by denying that there is anybeing above him .

’ 1

Here w e have a long list of arraignments against Buddhism and before

w e proceed further, it w ill be worth while examining them in detail .

1 Se e B ishop C ople st en ’

s“Buddhism

,PP . 150— 152 ,

1

56 SYSTEM S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Is Buddhist morality,then

,selfish andindividual ? We emphatically an

swer,

“No .

” It is far less so than Christianity,the

Biiddhist mo rality far 0

le ss ego ist ic than founder of which i s represented by one of his disciplesChris t ian ity .

(M atthew XVI . 26) as saying

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the w hole world, and lose

his own soul ? O r what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul ?”

Such an apprehension for the salvation of one’s own soul i s condemned

by Buddhism in the strongest terms as the “bal eful heresy of individuality”

(anartt amaya'

a’

trnazlrs ti) . The duty of self-preservation is enjoined in

Buddhism because it i s the only mean s whereby one can save others . In

the Bozl/lisattra-

p ra timoksfia, a M ahdyz’

ina treatise on the Duties of the

Aspirant to Buddhahood, it is distinctly laid down that self-preservation

through the avoidance of evil must be efi ected, even at the cost of one’s own

life,for the sake of the preservation of other living beings

rfiamfiimm tfi im s tza'

m fsfifi amm

m m e fi m m fi am mAs regards self-abnegation, Buddhism enjoins the duty of abandoning

,

for the good of others, not only mate rial things, but also one’s present

,past

and future merits, kaéalamztlctni or “roots of goodness”

as thev are techni

cally called . This injunction is contained in the memorable lines

W m m zm a l

Nor is it correct to affirm that, in Buddhism,it is not for the benefit

of others but solely for the individual’s own advantage that he is incited to

cultivate virtue . The motive recognised for meritorious action is not

the good of self but the good of others, as can be gathered from the following,

among other passages of the Sacred Canon

It is not for the sake of se lf, nor of heaven, nor for supremacy among

the Gods, or enjoyment or prosperity of beauty, or noble birth or fame, nor

for fear of hell or birth among the brute creation that virt ue is to be practised,

but it is for the purpose of the acquirement of the means leading t o

KARMA-PuENOM ENOLOGY. 57

Buddhahood, to Nirvz’

ina, whereby all sentient beings may be made happy

and may be b enefi tted .

”

amen : dist W fii a w fifi mam fir

a fi tmmfilua a fi iétfi fiimfi az l

Thus, in the Parable of the Rich M an and Laz arus (Luke XVI ) , when

the rich sinner in Hell cries to Father Abraham to have mercy on him and

to send Laz arus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in wate r and cool the

sufferer’s tongue, and Abraham refuses to grant the prayer,the Jew i sh

Patriarch behaves in a manner unworthy even of an ordinary human being

if his action is to be judged according to the canons of Buddhist ethics

which distinctly says “Take others’ sufferings on thy own self, asif they

were thine own .

m m: fi ni a mi gfi a a fimqW I afrfi fififi art t w in flare n

’

Nor is the idea of duty and obligation,in the very highst sense, absent

from Buddhist ethics . In the 1 0th Chapter of theThe reco gnition of

duty and ob ligat ion Boclnisattva-lirirlaya a lost Sanskrit M ahayfimain Buddhism .

A Mwork which survives in Kumaraj i va’

s Chinese vers1on,

the following injunctions to duty are contained

“All living beings pass through the six paths of existence (i. e .,birth in

hell,

among brute s,among p retas, among asnras

, among human beings,

among gods) , like unto a wheel revolving without beginning andwithout end .

And they become by turns fathers and mothers; males and females,and

through generations and generations one is in debt to others . Therefore,it

is proper to regard all beings as our fathers and mothers, although the

myste ry of this truth can be realised only by one who has mastered the

Good Law . All men are our fathers ; all women are our mothers . Instead

of discharging towards them the debt of love contracted by us in our

1 Bodhicaryavatfira, P . 3 3 1 . Narijio’s Cat . N0 . 1087»

58 SYSTEMS or Bunnnrsrie THOUGHT.

previous births,is it right to harbour

,w ith a heart averse

,feelings of

enmity towards them ? Le t our thoughts be riveted on love ; let us strive

our utmost to do good to one another ; stir not enmity up through quarrels

and evil words If this is not a proof of the recognition of duty, what is ?

Again Buddhism does not deserve to be branded as“an unsocial system

in which effort always means effort for self and never for others or for the

sake of duty .

”

The very obligation to accomplish the Ten Perfections (Petraznitct) v iz

(1) Charity (11am) ; (2) Purit v of Conduct (Sat ) ;t i

l

; tiiie

pefififfdl

: mil (3 ) Patience (t ) Strenuousness (Virga)8 0 0 18 1 ?

(5) M editation (6) Intelligence

(7) Employment of right means (Upa’

ya) (8 ) Resoluteness

(9 ) Strength (Bale ) (10 ) Know ledge (mam without which the attain

ment of salvation is considered impossible by Buddhism— is an instance

of effort for the sake of duty, the motive of which is to practice virtue

for the sake of v irtuei

and not for the sake of saving one’s own soul or

of keeping on good terms with a Supreme Being whose pleasure admits souls

into Paradise, whose anger hurls them down to Hell .

The essence of the Christian conception of duty is summed up by the

Apo stle Paul (Romans XIII, 8-10) in the following words

Owe no man anything but to love one another ; for he that loveth

The Christ ian con .

another hath fulfilled the law . For this,Thou shalt

capt ion Of duty” not comm it adultery. Thou shalt not kill,Thou shalt

not bear false witness,Thou shalt not covet ; and if there be any other

’

commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely: Thou

shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . Love w orketh no ill to his neighbour ;therefore love is the fulfill ing of the law ”. The Apostle John (I . Epistle

1 6) goes a step further when he says “Hereby perceive we the love'

(of

Christ) , because he laid down his life for us ; and we ought to lay down

our lives for the brethren” .

But neither of these sentiments is the monopoly of Christianity, seeing

that they formed part and parcel of Buddhism,centuries before the advent

KAR M A-PHENO M ENO LO GY . 59

of Jesus Christ . Thus, in the Avatamsaka Sittra 1 the aspirant to Buddha

hood is taught to think in the following manner, after he has practised all

the virtues of perfection and done other merito rious acts

“All the good deeds practised by me are for the benefit of all sentient

beings,for their ultimate purification from sin . By

The sen t imen t ofdutyno t a mo nopo ly of the merit Of these good deeds may all sentient beingsChrist ianity .

Obtain release from the countless sufferings under

gone by them ia their various abodes of existence All sentient

beings are creating evil Karma in countless way s, by reason of which they

underg o innumerable sufferings . For their sake, I will in the midst of the

three evil existe nces (brid es , pre tax, (w arms) , sufferi ng all their sufferings,

deliver every one of them. Painful as these sufferings are, I will not retreat,nor be frightened

,nor be negligent

,nor forsake my fellow beings because it

is the law that all sentient beings should be universally emancipated . Even

as the all-illumining sun seeketh no reward,nor grudgeth to shed his light

on the wicked, I too shall not abandon the salvation of all beings because

of the unrighteous, and through the dedication Of all the merits acquired by

me, I would inak e e v erv one of my fellow creatures happy and joyous” .

Can Christianity boast of a nobler ideal of duty than this

Nor is the propriety of mutual kindness in a practical shape an exclusive

heritage of Christianity . Christian ethics,

as is well known,reaches its

highest pinnacle in the famous utte rance of Christ (M atthe w 5. 4 4 )“Love

your enemies,

” —a sentiment which Buddhism hadThe sen timen t o f

0

lo v e in t he t eaching of long before Chri st’s birth given ex pressron to in textsBuddha .

l ike the fo llo ing

Na lzi verena vent /i i san/ znanti la’lza lea/M omma;

Averena b i sani inanti eso {ll/ammo ear/antano .

i . e .,

“Not by hatred hatred ceasing on this earth men ever saw’T is by love that hatred ceaseth this is an ete rnal law .

”

But the motive recognised in the Christian G ospels for repaying evil w ith

good appears rather selfish to the Buddhist mind . St . Paul says (Romans

XII . 1 7 “Recompense to no man evil for evil . Provide things honest

1 Nanj io’

s Cat . No . 87.

60 srsrnrrs o r B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

in the sight of all men . If it be possible, as much as lieth in you,l ive

peaceably with all men . Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but rather

give place unto wrath : for it i s written, Veng eance is mine I w ill rep ay,

sail/i t/ie Lord . Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst,give him drink for in so doing t/ion st alt lieap coals offi re on liis nearl. Be

not overcome of evil,but overcome evil with good .

”

Doing good to an enemy is then,according to St . Paul’s precept, to be

undertaken, not for its own sake, but because it might disarm an enemy’s ra ge

by bringing him to contrition, or because “Vengeance belongs to the Lord .

”

But the Buddhistic or rather the pre-Buddhistic Indian adage is actuated

by a much nobler motive

3 :mg:mgfi amanan

in:mg: a erg: infirm ?! n1

“W hat is the merit of him who does good to his benefactors ? The

wise cal l him good who does good to his harm

Surely here is no want of recognition of mutual service or action .

Christianity, believing as it does that a human being has but one l ife

on earth which will lead, after death, to an eternal existence in Heaven or

Hell, according to the goodness or badness of his deeds, naturally encourages

man to make the most of his Opportunities here . An appeal to the

mercifulness of a just and almighty God is the hope of him who has failed

to do something on earth for the salvation of his own soul . This form of

faith may have its advantages,but it has also great disadvantages . Some

it tends to make devout even to weakness,like the famous French lady

who prayed to God,saying

,

“Forgive me my sins, O Lord, if it is Thy will,but, if it is not, let my sins not be forgiven .

” Others,on the contrary,

it makes somewhat bold and reckless,l ike the poet Henri Heine, who, be ing

asked whether he believed in Divine Grace,said “Dieu me pardonnera car

c’est son métier ” (“God will forgive me,for that is his This

is especially the case w ith Islam where one is often and often reminded that“He who does not sin

,cannot hope for mercy ;

M ercy w as made for sinners be not sad .

”

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srsrnrrs o r B UDDH ISTIC THO I’

GHT .

the free gift should come upon all men unto justification of life It fail s

to realise how “by one man’s disobedience many were made sinn ers and

ho w “b v the obedience of one many shal l be made righteous .” M an,

according to Christianity, i s .born imperfect and i s expected to return his

soul perfect to his Creator on pain of eternal damnation . The first

temptation into which man fell did not attract the pro tecting attention of

the Almighty Being whose creature he w as,

and for this fall, of which his

omniscient maker must have surely had a fo reknowledg e, all the human

race were punished for milleniums . A non-Christian feels tempted with

the Persian astronomer-po et,or rather his English paraplrrast , to exclaim

against this deplorable lack of fair plav in a Being whom men have been

taught to call “Their Heavcnlv Father”

“That l from his helpless Creature be repaid

Pure gold for what he lent‘

him dross-allay"d

Sue for a Debt he never did contract,

And cannot answer l—Oh the sorry trade

O Thou,who M an of baser Earth didst make,

And ev’n with Paradise devise the Snake ;

For all the Sin where w i th the Face of M an

Is b lack en’d—M an’s forg iveness give— and take .

The last l ine,scholars need hardlv be to ld, rs inspired by a most forta

nate misunderstanding of the tame o riginal which merely means“0 Lord,

let me repent (lit : ‘give me repentance’) and accept my excuse .

”

(Ya'

rabb

tn maraftar/M (tell. e a ‘ner p izir. )

Let us contrast Buddhist expectation w ith Christian hope . Hope,as

understood in Christianity,has thus been described by St . Paul (Romans

VII . 26 )

For we are saved by hope but hepe that is seen is not hope, for what

a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? But if we hope for that we see

not, then do w e with patience wait for it .”

The highest hope of a Christain has been formulated by St . John

(1 Ep . 2-3 ) in the oft-quoted words

KAR M A-PHENOM ENOLOGY . 63

0

Beloved,no w are we the sons of Go d ; and it doth not yet appear what

we shall be : but we ‘ know that'

w hen He shal l appear,w e shall be like

Him for we shall see Him as He is .”

This half-mystical passage contains the germs of what, later on,de

v elOped into“Im ita tion of Christ .” Buddhism , fortunately, offers to man

no such faint foreshadowings of a remote hOpe . It is much more positive

in its view of the high destiny of sentient creatures . The doctrine of the

fat/za'

gatayartfia, to which I have already alluded in an earl ier lecture,

teaches, in no hesitating fashion , that every sentient creature has in it the

latent germs of Buddhahood, of which it be comes conscious, as the ve il s of

passion gradually disappear through adequate cultivation of the m ind and

the body .

According to a M ahfryz’

ina Sfrtra of the Decease (P arinirca'

mt Silt i 'a) ,

Buddha said to his disciples shortly before his death “Every living being

possesses the essential germs of Buddhahood .

” 1 These germs have only to

be developed by proper training for a sentient creature to become a Buddha .

Christianity, so far as I am aware, makes no offer to man of a destiny

higher than this .

The highest ideal of M alrfiyfina Buddhism is, not to escape from the ills

of life,but universal love . Nirv z

’

ina .ih the sense of extinction,as I have

g

already show n, i s never regarded as man’s final aim . Even attempts for the

salvation of one’s own self, irrespective of that of others, are deprecated .

As a proof of this, let me tran slate an extract fromAryadeva’s M a/ atp nras/ia

saisira which illus trates the cardinal principle of M ahayanistic perfection,

viz .,that thoughts for the good of others should always precede those for

the good of self0 Q 0

manaw n w as as Ham and

Those who are afraid of sariw a'

ra and seek their own advantage and

Aryade v a’

s saying. on

happiness in salvation are inferior to those aspi rantsQ

un iv e rsal lo v e '

to Buddhahood, who rejoice at their rebirth,for it

gives them an opportunity to do good to others . Those who feel only .for

1 Nanjio’

s Cat . No . 1 1 3 .

64 SYSTE M S O i"BUDDHISTIC THO UGHT .

themselves may enter Nirvana, brit the aspirant to Buddhahood who feels

for the sufi erings of his fellow-creatures as though they were his own,

how can lie bear the thought of leaving his fellow-creatures behind,while

he himself is making for salvation and reposing in the calm of Nirvana ?

Nirvana, in truth, consists in rejoicing in others being made happy, and

Samsara means not feeling happy. Whosoever feels a universal love for his

fellow-creatures will rejoice in conferring bliss on them and by so doing

attain Nirvana.

” 1

A further charge laid at the door of Buddhism i s the denial of God and

of an individual soul . God, in the sense of an extramundane creator of the

universe w ho caused the downfall of the human race in a fit of anger and

subsequently, touched by remorse, sent down from heaven his only son

through whose crucifixion mankind w as saved,is a conception absolute ly

revolting to the Buddhist mind .

On the other hand, Buddhism loves to acknowledges the presence in this

world of a reality which transcends the bounds of phenomena, which is

immanent everywhere, and in which we live and move and have our being .

Of this I shall have occasion to speak at some length when I treat of the

D/zar/nal‘ctya offthe Religious Object of Buddhism . The Buddhist denial

of the immortality of an individual soul turns out, after all, to be a tr uth

supported by the researches of modern science . Let me quote to you r

E rnst Hae ckel’s summing up of this question in his “Last Words on

Evolution”.

The very interesting and important phenomena of impregnation” says

The doctrine of the that eminent biologist,

“have only been known toimmortalit of an in

dividua l and mo d us rn detai l for thi rty years . It has been conclusrvelyern science .

shown, after a number of delicate investigations,

that the individual development of the embryo from the stem-cell

or fert ilised ovum is controlled by the same laws in all cases One

1 Nan jio ’s Cat . No . 124 2. This sastra w as t ranslated b y a Chine se Buddhist scho larTfio -thai, of the Northern

.

Lian dyn osty . He w en t t o the w est of the Himalaya moun tain

and ob tain ed the te x t of the Vib hz'

i sha, and some Sutras and Sastras. Having re turned

e ast w ard to China,he t ran slated the Vib hashfi. w ith Buddhavarman . And aft e rw ards he

alone made the translat ion of the Mahapurusha-Sastra.

”

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 65

important result of these modern discoveries w as the prominence given to

one fact that the personal soul has a '

b eginning of existence and that we can

determine the precise moment in which this takes place ; it i s when the

parent cells,the ovum and the spermatoz oon coalesce . Hence what we

call the soul of the man or the animal has not pre-existed,but begins its

career at the moment of impregnation ; it is bound up with the chemical

constitution of the plasm,which is the mate rial vehicle of heredity in the

nucleus of the maternal ovum and the paternal spermatoz oon . One cannot

see now a being t/iat t/ins lias a begining of ex istence can afterw ards p rone to be

immortal .

Such is the real truth about the soul which Christianity is so anxiously

A concerned about saving even at the cost of the wholeAnatman and pre j u

b

d lce ' world . In DAnapfila’

s Chinese version of Kcislg ap aa

p arivarta there occurs a beautiful parable,of which I shall c ite a

met rical translation from the pen of one of my Indian friends

There lived of old a simple man

He w as so frightened of the sky

H ither and thither oft he ran,

Lest o’er him i t should drop from high .

But heaven’s high dome,no limit has

And none can hurt below,

Through ignorance indeed it w as

The poor man trembled so .

So i s it,

as you may discern,With teachers by weak judgment led

,

‘The world is void’ when this they learn,Their hearts are full of dread .

They wrongly think ‘If that be true

Void too, it follows, is the soul,So whatsoever on earth we do,

Still nothingness must be its goal .’ ” 1

No nj io’

s Cat . No . 805 The me t rical t ran slat io n is made b y Pro f . M . Gho sh .

9

66 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

In short,the treatment meted out to Buddhist Ethics by Christian

critics,in spite of prefatory profe ssions of justice, generosity or candour,

reminds us of the Fable of the Lion and the Painting . Buddhist critic s

to o have hardly been more generous towards Christianity, some of whom,

l ike the Pali teacher of Professor T . W . t s Davids,identify it with the

fetter (samgoj ana) of ritualism (s/iilavrata-

p arctmarsna ) others again ,

borrowing the language of Pfili Abhidhamma,label it ‘

somanassa sat ay/a tom

(litt/iigatasamp agnttam sasan/rlzztril‘am latma'

oacaram alsnsalam cittam’

(i .e .

“ Evil consciousness belonging to the realm of sensual pleasure, coupled

th gladness, conjoined with heresy, and instigated .

”

With the advance of culture and progress,let us hepe

,sectarian biases

will disappear and it will come to be universally

ligir

n

’

ifrpfhi

o

futirfgfe .

admitted that there is but one true religion , namely

that of universal love which mav assume a variety of

forms according to circumstances .

To quote a stanz a from a popular Japanese Buddhist poem,

M any are the paths that rise

To the hill-top,but when we

Reach the hiil- tOp, then our eyes

Universal moonlight see .

’

In religious matters,alas ! points of view have al w ays been a fertile

source of discord . What appears good to the followers of one rel igion,often disgusts the adherents of another .

And Christian criticisms of Buddhism are mos tly,in spirit at least

,if

not in actual phraseology,but an echo of what the

D iffi cult of it s realiz at ion ,

y Roman hi storian said in hrs critici sm of the cult of

the Chosen People of God :“ They regard as unho lv

what we regard as holy, while they allow things to be done which

are perfectly revolting to us .”

Thus as Prof . Rhys Davids tells us, the belief in self or soul,which is

the foundation- stone of Christianity, i s regarded by Buddhists so distinctly

as a heresy that two well known words in Buddhist terminology have been

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLO GY . 67

coined on purpose to stigmatise it . The first of these is Sat/rctga-dr islzti

or the heresy of individuality,which constitutes one Of the three primary

delusions,or Samgoj anas, which must be abandoned at the very first stage

of the Buddhi st path of freedom while the other term is “ ct tmavrlrla”

,or

the doctrine of soul or self, which is regarded as forming part Of the chain

Of the causes which laid to the origin Of evil,bringing about the

great miseries of birth, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and

despair .

On the other hand,the doctrine of Nirvana, as conceived by the

Hinavanists appears revolting to Christian critics,one of the most learned ‘

of whom expresses his Opinion about it in the following manner

A similar complaint may justly be made against that which

Buddhism does prepose as man’s final goal and arm extinction or Nirvéina .

NO JIanguage could be tOO strong to express the indignation with which a

true sense of human dignity rouses us to protest against this dreary

calumny .

”

And calumny certainly it is for a view Of annihilation or extinction

is not the right conception of Nirvfrna, a 3 faw n-

em fi s h? as Buddha i s

represented to say in the Lank fivatara Sfitra . But a spirit of controversy

does not lead to an unclouded view of truth, and I gladly turn away from

the dreary task of odious comparisons to resume the main subject

Ofmy lecture . The lengthiness of my criticism has for its justification

the existing misconceptions concerning the essential doctrines of Buddhism,

which prejudices of birth and early training, and not unfrequently also a

desire of proselytism,have given rise to even in these SO—called enlightened

times .

To return then to the doctrine Of Karma, the ecstatic utterance of

Buddha when he reached enlightenment under the Bodhi tree near Gaya,

and,we may say, the primal w ords of the Buddhist Holy Writ, i s the

well known Hymn of Victory, the poetical grandeur of which i s surpassed

on ly by its inten se Spiritual fervour . The P i’ili original of these lines is

t o o we ll known (Dlram . 153 , 154 ) to require a reference here . Sir Edwin

68 srsrnrrs o r B UDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

Arnold cites them in his Light of Asia . But,

a few years ago , a

Sanskrit version Of them w as discovered in the sands of Turfan in Central

Asia, thanks to the industry Of that indefatigableThe San skrit v ersion

of Buddha’

s Hymn of explorer,Von Lecoq , w hose noble and unselfish work

Vict ory .

has placed the Buddhist world under a deep debt

of gratitude to him. These verses, written on birch barks in the Kashgar

Brahmi character,were deciphered and published by the late lamented

Prof.Richard Pischel not long before his tragic death in the General

Hospital,M adras, when he w as on his w ay to Calcutta to deliver his

lectures on the Prakrit Languages as Reader on that subject to

this University . According to Prof . Pischel’

s decipherment,the

Sanskrit version Of Buddha’s Hymn of V ictory reads as follows

fi aifausfi fimfaa i gn z ga

W W W Z Eé fgtfi T arfi-i gaz gau

m fi sfi sfe a fi is’

aifi w fi

fi fi mfim m usaé fi ss ion

The variations from the Pali text are interesting . In the first line,the

w hich, by the w ay, means IPal i has Sandlzctcissam anit t isan/E’

incessantly ran through (‘anibbisam

’ i s an adverb and not a participle

meaning not finding as may be seen' from the line of M ahdpajapati

Gotami Tathfibhfitam ajanan t i samsari aham anib b isam which last

word,if it w as a partic iple

,should have been in the fem inine form ) . The

“team” in the second

'

line does not occur in the Pfili, and in the last l ine

the cessation is ascribed to the tent-builder himself (note the second person

singular act/igaga'

li ) and not to desires as the Pfili original has it (“Tan/iat

l 'liagam id/ia agg'

nagct’fl)

Of these lines, a friend has favoured me with a metrical version which

adheres much more closely to the text than the paraphrases of Sir Edwin

Arnold, A . J . Edmunds, Prof . Rhys Davids, Prof . Lanman and even the

rendering Of Henry Clarke Warren

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70 e'

rnrrs o r Bunnlu srrc'

rno eGrrr.

As the M edical Science has four departments, v iz .

,Disease

,Cause of Disease

,

Removal of Disease and Remedy,even so this branch of knowledge has

four division s, ria ,Sanrsfira

,Cause of Samsz

'

ira,Emancipation and M ean s

conducing to That the BuddhistsOfthemselves were no t ignorant of this fact is clear from

their calling Buddha the Grea t Healer . The

examples quoted to illustrate this epithet are generally taken from

the extant M ahyana w orks such as Lalita Vistara (Ed . M itra p . 4 4 8

Vaizlgarctj a/i etc .) and Buddhacarita (XIII . 6 1 . but

the Pfili Canorr also contain s sim ilar passage s . For instance in the

Songs of the Elders,

w e find Buddha called the “ Healer

of the Entire Universe” by Adhimut to There

and The Great Healer” by the retired actor Tfilaputo .

It is a significant fact al so that Vfigbhata, the famous Indian w riter on

M edical Science,salutes Buddha as the Primaeval Doctor in the open ing

stanz a Of his Ashtfingahridava

azgaifl'

aw

'

flfiisq mi? I

So rrruclr for the origin Of the Four Noble Truths . According to Vasu

bandhu,they adm it Of a twofold division

,whether we

Tw fo ld div isio n of

theFour n o b le truths .

look upon them, on the one hand, from the pornt of4.

view Of cause and effect, or, on the other, we

consider them w ith reference to their bearing upon Samsara or Nirvan a .

Thus the First and the Second Noble Truths, v iz ., the -salga

(the Truth concerning Suffering) and the Samnflaga-salga (the Truth

concern ing the Origin of Suffering) represent respectively the effect and

the cause Of Samsfira . The third and the fourth Truths viz .

,the

Nirml/za-satga (the Truth concerning the Cessation Of Suffering) and the

rMarga-satga (the Truth concerning the Path leading to the Cessation of

Suffering) represent respectively the effect and the cause of Nirvana . The

first two Truths are characterised as Saérava or “fraught with defilement,

”

and the last two as Anz‘

rérana or “free from defilement .

” In short, the

Four Noble Truths an swer the following q uestions respectively

(I) W hat is the cause of tra nsmigra tion

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 7 1

(2) What is the effect of transmigration

(3 ) What is the cause of Nirvé‘

rna

(4 ) What is the effect of Nirv z’

ina

The answers are respectively

(I) Passions (KleSas) , (2) Suffering , (3 ) Cultivat ion of the Right

Path, (4 ) Cessation of Passion .

In this connection,it is important to note that Vasub andhu takes the

word “Samarlaga” in both of its senses

,viz .

, (a) orrgin of Sufi ering )and (b) collection of the KleSas, Karma and various evils) . Note

that, in the enumeration Of the Four Noble Truths, efi ects are put before

the causes . This fact,as I have already pointed out, is due to the nature

of the origin itself of the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths which, I need

hardly repeat, are merely the cardinal principles Of Indian M edical Science

appl ied to spiritual healing . Vasub andhu himself recognises this fact

when he says in Chapter VII Of his commentary on the Abhidharma-kosha

Stistra :“Having discovered the malady

,seek for its cause ; having

resolved upon cure,seek for good medicine .

” We shal l see presently that

the second Noble Truth,which iSconcerning the Origin Of Suffering, is

identical with f Avirlga (Ignorance) , Samslca’

rct (Conformation) , Tr isli na

(Desire) , Up drlctna (Clinging) , Eliaca (Existence) , —terms which will be

explained in their proper places .

The Third Noble Truth,which is concerning the Cessation of Suffering,

indicates the ideal State of freedom,perfection

,independence and permanence

,

v iz .

,the state OfNirvana, when the adamantine fetters Of Karma are struck

Off for ever by a sentient creature which then becomes like a lotus that can

not be touched or tainted by the foul water in the m idst of which it grows .

O ne who reaches this stage can no more be tormented by the evils of

Birth,Death

,Old-Age and S ickness . But how can this state of bliss be

attained This enquiry brings us to the Fourth Noble Truth which is

concerning the Path that leads to the Cessation of Suffering or the E ight

fold Noble Path,of which I shall have occasion to speak later on .

72 SYSTE M S O I"BUDDHISTIC THOUGHT .

As regards the Buddhist theory of the omnipresence of Suffering in

the phenomenal world,it must be borne in mind

,that

,

tfiffifififfnfffi? according to Buddhism,suffering is not l imite d merely

to the human world b u t spreads over all the six abodes

of existence or “gati as they are technically called, v iz ., hell (niraga) ,

the goblin world (p re ta-lot a ) , l ife among brute beasts (tizga/c-goni) ,the human world (mannsliga the world ,

Of demons (asnra

loka) and the world Of gods (de va- loka) . These six existences are

classified into three realms 1 (fl/atta) viz ., the Realm of Desire

the Realm Of Form and the Realm OfFormlessness Arap a

The Realm of Desire (Kclmarllat tn) embraces the fi rst fiv e gatis

and six out of the 28 subdivisions Of the (le va-lo/ra or the world of gods .

The Realm of Form consists of 18 out of the 28 subdivisions

which make up the world Ofgods ; the Realm of Formlessness

consists Of the four remaining subdivis ions of the world of gods . Before

proceeding to a detailed examination of the three realms, I must give yo u

a brief account of the Buddhist conception of Snmern fi

Sumeru, the “mountain of wonderful height or excellent brilliance

rs said to rise out of the ocean to a height of 84

The Buddhist concept ion of Samer n .

thousand goj anas, W hile its to tal attitude is

computed to be yoj anas . This mountain is

supposed to be made up Of gold, sil ver, malachite and crystal and to be

surrounded by seven concentric circles of rocks which are known as the“Seven Golden M ountains .” These seven circles of rocks are separated

from one another by seven “Fragrant Seas,” and the seventh mountain is

surrounded by a great Salt Ocean . Outside this ocean, is a circling

mountain named “Cakra .

” 6 All these together are kno w n as the Nine

M ountains and the E ight Seas . On the four sides OfM t . Sumeru and the

Seven Golden M ountains,Buddhist cosmology places four continents viz .

,

P itrravinle/za 7 to the East,J ambzlrlo ipa

s to the South, Avaragorlanig i

9 to the

1 Jap : San -ga i.2 Jap : Yok-kai . Jap : Shiki-lra i .

Jap : M a -shiki-ka i . 5 Jap : Shu -mi-sen . Jap : Tecchi-sen .

7 Jap : Hob b oda i -shid .

3 Jap : Yenb adai-shii‘

t ._

9 Jap : Gayca t-shid .

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 73

West and to the North. All human beings have their habita

tion in one or other of these four continents . H igher than the w orld of

men,

are located the six heavens of the Realm of Desire the

18 heavens of the Realm of Form and the 4 heavens of the

Realm of Formlessness But the lengthy names and the

tedious gradations of these gods n eed not detain us here . The most

enlightened Buddhists have never accepted them as objective existences

apart from mankind . Thev have regarded them merely as the indications

of the various stages of mental and moral development acquired by human

beings through the practice of divi ne or ecstatic meditation . Accordingly,

i t has been said in that ency clopaedia of H inayana philosophy, the Abhi

dharma-mahavib hasha-sastra :“The word ‘De rn

’

means ‘shining,

’ that is,

resplendent. with the light of knowledge, for the light of the knowledge

possessed by the gods i s more brilliant than that possessed by human beings .

In fact every religious system in India in the davs of Buddha laid particular

stress upon medita tion and pointed out to its adherents as their final goal

the attainment of a l ife in a celestial region . But the gods did not enjoy

the same order of precedence in every system . Thus the Great Brahma,

though accepted as the highest being and styled as“Great Father of All”

in H induism,has been degraded b v Buddhism t o the lowest region in the

Realm of Form . Again,the “Abode of Neither-Consciousness-nor

Unconsciousness (Ak it a-9a77714 and the “Abode of No

w hat-ness” which are considered to be the ideal state

in the Samkhya system,are considered to be merely the loftiest region of

the Realm of Formlessness where the gods are still exposed to some sort

of suffering . The highest aim of Buddhism is to be delivered from Birth

and Death,and this goal man cannot attain as long as he continues to

w ander in any of these three Realms (dhatus) or in any of the six yata’

s .

This i s what i s stated in the Lotus of the Good Law in a passag e to which

I have al ready referred,where Buddha i s represented as saying to Sariputra

I, O Sariputra, am the Great S eer, the protector and father of all beings

and creatures,

w ho childlike are captivated by the pleasures of the three

realms,are my sons . These three Realms of Desire, Form and Form lessness

Jap : Utfan -o ts u-Jm t . Jap Il iso-ht -hi-sO-j ao -ten .

3 Jap M usha-u-te n .

10

74 SYSTEM S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

are as dreadful as a house set on fire,overwhelmed with manifold evil s

,

inflamed on every side by hundred different sorts of Birth,Old Age and

Disease .

’ The three worlds, accordingly,

are full of suffering w hich

Buddhism divides into four heads,

M en, (a) the suffering of birth, (b) the

suffering of o ld age, (c) the suffering Of sickness,

and (d) the suffering

of death .

So much for the Operation of the Law of Karma in the moral world . I

proceed now to consider the Operation of Karma, in the w orld of particulars .

KARM A AS THE ACTIVE PRINCIPLE IN THE WORLD OF

PARTICULARS .

I have alreadv stated,a little W hile ago , that in his Hymn of Vi ctory

Buddha recogniz ed desire or tr ig/ma to be the builderThe o rig in al so urce

“f the 1m m?"Of lm ’ of this human body . Tracing,then

,desire back to its

man b o d v .

original source,he discovered what came to be sub se

quently known as the Twelve-linked Chain of Causation in Buddhist

philO SOphv . The links of this mighty chain , of which I shall have to give

a detailed account presently, are as follows

(1 ) From ignorance 1 proceed the‘conformations .’

(2) From‘eonformat ions

,

"2 consciousness .

(3 ) From consciousness, 3 name-and—form .

(4 ) From name-and-form,

4 the six organs of sense .

(5) From the six organs of sense, 5 contact .

(6 ) From contact, 6 sensation .

(7) From sensation, 7 desire .

I Jap M u 3 Jap Sh iki. Jap M yO-shiki5 Jap . Re l -71 110 . Jap So la r,

KAR M A - PHENO M ENO LOG Y . 75

(8) From desire, 1 grasping .

(9 ) From existence .

(1 0) From existence, 3 birth .

(l l ) From birth, 4 old age .

(12) From Old age proceed deathfi lamentation, grief and despai r .

These are also known as the Twelve Nil/duct s . In Buddhist Philosophy,

Samskara and Lam a .

conformations or 8a-1118 l‘cZ7'as (carefully distinguish

this term from the are syn onymous

with ’

arma,both words going back to the Sanskrit root few : w hich

means ‘fo (70

’ or ‘l‘o ej ect .

’ In its most abstract sense,the word 155mm

,

as used by Buddhists, has the same meaning as amt/ya or ignorance,w hile, in its concrete sense , [tam/m, means the principle of activity in

the world of particulars or the “\V0 1'1d of Name-and-Form”as it i s

technical ly called in Buddhist philosophy . In other words,it i s

the law of [far/11a which alone yields a satisfactory explanation of the

phtinomenon of Sam-94m . Since Ignorance is the prime cause of all our

sufferings,to be free from it

,or

,in other words, to

.

attain enlightenment,

ought to be the highest goal of man . Now what is the nature Of Ignorance ?

It is the m istaking of the tru e for the fal se and ofThe nature of igno

rance .o

the fal se for the true, —a delusion which can be (ll S

pe lled only by enlightenment, which may, in lts turn , be described as

the taking of the true for the true,

and of the false for the false .

The vulgar m ind labours from this sort of ‘vip aryrflm

’

,or contrariety

,

as it is technically called,because it loves to confound permanence

with impermanence, freedom with subjection,purity with impurity ,

and pleasure w ith pain? This species of delusion, as Buddha realised only

to o well,i s p roductive of infinite pain and sufi ering ; and in tracing it back to

its fountairhead, he discovered that all our existing sufferings are but the fru it

Of our actions or karma in the past, w hile far/ma itself,the prime cause Of

all our sufferings,is a direct outcome of avidya or ignorance .

‘Avidya,

’

therefore, must be completely eradicated, before we can hope to destory evil

Jap Shu . Jap : U.

4 Jap :5 Jap R6 and Shi.

76 srsrnus O F B l'

h DH ls'

rie T110 1 GHT .

[urn/a and the mi sery consequent thereon . And as long as evil 171mm

continues, we must continue to suffer pain or m i sery which is its fruit .Thus , living beings are ever whirled round and round in the wheel Of birthand death, w hich is a state of suffering begotten of thei r evil AWN/ILL whichagain is begotten of (t ruly/a or ignorance . Now ho w shall w e be able to

The o n ly ans w er t o get permanently rid of this pain of repeated e x isthe q ue st ion w hat is

t he path that W 111 lead tence ? And what i s the path that will lead to delit o the highe s t b liss .

9v e rance from .w uuc /

‘

a How shall w e extirpate

the Hes/w IVhat condition must w e fulfi l for the atta inment of

or emancipation ? TO all such question s Buddhism gives but one answer“It i s by the practice Of a. life of righteousness and by w alking in the Path

of Truth” . As soon as the darkness of ignorance and delusion is dispelled,

the light of truth blaz es forth in all its brightness,just as Buddha’s routing

the hosts of fl’ldm resulted in his attainment of perfect spiritual

enlightenment . This attainment Of enlightenment w as,in its positive

aspect,the attainment of Buddhahood while

,in its negative aspect,

it w as the ex t ripation of the New s and the dispersion of the

clouds Of ignorance . When Buddha left home,family

, and kingdom,

he did so for the purpose of finding an answer to the questions which had

The fi rst and se con dbeen troubling 111m n lght and day ever smee he had

q ue st ion Of Prin ce Siddhz

'

irtha ab out humanbecome conscious of the miseries of existence . The first

li te . 7question w as :“W hat i s i t wh ich brings about

birth,

Old age , sickness, and death?”and e second : “Ho w can we

effect our release from them ?” Renunciation of the world, constant com

panionship and discussion with the reputed sages div

ide time, six yea1 s’

eu( t

L'

X

du1 ance of the terrible ha1dships of an ascetic’s life—all these did not help

him to find out the proper answer to the questions that has been troubling

his mind,so that he had at last to turn his thoughts away from them, to

look into himself and he then discovered the true solution of th’

e prob lems .

To the first question,viz .

,the cause Of birth

,old age,

The an s w er fo und b yhim t o the ab o v e q ue s sickness

,and death, Buddha found an answer in the

t ion .

ever-revolving cycle of M esa, (314/117 c

which being about endl ess transmigration . The cause of it he

explained sometimes in as fmm of the Four Noble Truths and somet imes

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78 srs'

rmls o r eunlnusr ic'

rno uo n'

r.

eoa/ b rmaiio as . In Buddhist philosophy,it is capable of meaning

ideas,

flee /ions,

coacep tiem,ej ect of w orl'

,merit qf

'

aefz'

orz,

e/e . e /c .

, but, considered as a member of’

the Twelve-linked Chain

of Causation, it must be explained as karma, good or had, done in the

past and produced by Ariflye . M rs . Rhys Davids translates it as

“action s of the m ind .

” The first two links,it must be noted

,are the

cause of life in the present,induced by karma in the past .

(3 ) The third link is 795mm or Consciousness . It generally mean s

knowledge or understanding,but in the case of the

Co n sc io usn e ss o r I tJ

'

fiam’, Twelve Nidfinas, it i s to be interpret ed as a prim itive

mental operation taking place at the v erv time w hen a living being enters

the maternal womb . This state is induced by Samsl'ci'

m and Aw ay/a . At

this stage the m ind’s Operation in a human being is stronger than that of

the body .

(1) e Z/rarzip a is the fourth link . L itera lly translated it means i ’

am’

e

mu 8 and fo rm 0 ,

and ' FO Pm ‘Name’ implies what is mental, -‘Form’

A'

t l.

Ndmampa denotes what i s material,so that

,roughly speaking,

the words may be tran slated, as M rs . Rhys Davids has done, by ‘M ind

and Body .

’M ore exactly speaking

,Name denote s

,inthe case of the Twelve

Nidfinas, an inferior stage of mental Operation which belongs to a being still.’

in the maternal womb in an incomplete stage of corporeal formation . Buddhist

philosophers consider Name-and-Form to mean a mental and bodily state of

an embryo which has passed about four weeks in the maternal womb after its

conception . The five stages through which a baby passes, according to

Buddhism,in the maternal womb are called in Sanskrit (i) t alala, (i i)

arbarla (iii) p eér’

f (iv) ( flame (v) p raédklzci. A baby in the stage Of

Name-and—Form is said to have passed through the first four of the stages

named above and also through a part of the fifth .

(5) The fifth link i s known as S/radciyataaa or the Six O rgan s of Sense .

At this stage,a baby in the maternal womb is regarded

The six organ s of

sen se o r Shaddyatana .

to have complete d the stage of p re set /id , or, in other

Words,its eyes

,its ears, its nose, its tongue, its body and its mind—the mind,

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 79

as in all Indian philosophy, being regarded by Buddhism to be one of the

sense organs— are fully formed .

(6 ) The sixth link is Sp arse or Contact . This is the stage of a child

in the second or the third year after its birth,during

C on tact o r Spa r-3 a .

which its consciousness is very dim,

and it does not

notice the subjective world . It is that stag e which the English poet

mean s w hen he says

The child new-born to earth and sky,

Wh en first its tender palm is pressed

Against the circle of his breast

Ilas never said that “This is I”

(7) The seventh link is Ir

e /laud or Sensation . Sensations are divisible

into pleasant,unpleasant and indifferent . These sensa

Sen sat ion o r T’

edand . tions are possessed by children,savs Buddhism

,w hen

they reach their fourth vear. Till its tenth year, the child ’s mental and

b o dilv functions gra dually develop w ithout its coming to feel desires of the

flesh

(8 ) Trix/ma or Thirst is Often translated by Desire or Craving . It

represents,according to Buddhism

,the stage of boyhoo d

Tl “st o r T {sh imm T or girlhood from the age of eleven to that Of fifteen,

when they begin to covet consciously, without striv ing to Obtain them,things

for the b o dv and to feel desires of the flesh without coveting their f ulfilment .

(9 ) The n inth link is L'T

c cZ/za or attachment, Oft en translated by‘grasping . It represents the stage of youth inman and

At tachmen t o r Up ri

dd'

w a woman when not only are various desires produced in

their minds,but they seek also for their fulfilment inspite of dangers and

difficulties— a stage when longing for objects Of the senses become ordinarily

strong in the mind .

Note that the seven links from fey/mine to Ufi cidufiza refer to the effects

0

of present existence .

80 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(10 ) The tenth l ink is B/ia’ ra which is t ran slated by ‘existence’ or‘becoming’. It presents a stage w hich collects good or

EX iS ton ce o r BM W

b ad Ka rma capable Of inducing future existence . It is

produced by attachment and corresponds to the San/shire ? w hich,as I have

CGnfi e h’

énS

alread v stated, give ri se to present ex istence .

(l l ) Ja‘

l/ i s the eleventh link . It is tran slated b y and refers t o

the very first stage of birth in a future existence w hichBirth o r M ” i s induced b v desire , attachment and existence

Lip/idzfua, B/ra‘

ea) in the presen t life . It corresponds to which

represents a sim ilar stage in the present life .

(12) J arrf-marana/r/ (Old age and Death) constitute the last Of the

twelve links Of causation . It. represents the w hole ofO ld age an d death o r

the future existence induced by Jet/1° as mentione d above .

It holds in the future existence the same position as Name and Form the

Six Organs Of Sense, Contact, and Sensation do in the present life .

TO sum up,out of the twelve linked Chain of Causation

,Ignorance

,

and. Samskara represent the Has/rs and ['armaThe t w e l v e n idfinas

and the thre e div i sion s w h1ch belong to an anterior ex i ste nce and wh ich bearOf t ’m i i

fruit in the present existence . 1) (imamZp a,

8/1 11 t r/a/aua, Spars/1 and I'

eam / are the effects,in the present existence, Of

'

Samskaras in the anterior existence . Up afdd'

aa and Bar/71:51 repre

sent Karma in the present existence capable of producing effects in the sub

sequen t existence . Birth, Old age and Death are to be born in the sub se

quen t existence,as effects prrx luced b v causes, (i . e . M esa ? and Z'

a'

rmas ) inm

the present existence .

This is known in Buddhist philosophy as the “Tine/hm ('

aa se aizzZImpactin til e T/xree flfz' zfsz

'

eas Time”

(v iz the present,the past and the future . )

This subdivi sion is admitte d b v the Buddhists Of the Greater as w ell as of

the Lesser Vehicle . Thus in M ahz’

imat i’

s commentary 0 11 Nitgfirjuna’

s

‘Suhrillekha’ or ‘Friendly Epis tle

’m w hich exists only in Tibetan and

Chinese x'

e i'

si0 11 s,—\v’e are told that “the whole series of the Twelve Nidfinas

is divided into three parts Ignorance and Conformations refer to past bi rth

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SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Pitaka, although the Ceylonese commentator Buddhaghosha develops it in

the earlier part of his commentary on the “Great Sut tanta on the Law of

Causation . I ought not to omit to mention here that another name of thi s

chain is P re litya-samutp d’

da —(Pfili P aiieea-samnpp d/lo ) or ‘Dependent

Origination . I proceed now to speak so of

T/ze Relalz'

ea fire fear nob/e fra t/1 .x Io f/re la'

elre Nirlduas .

It is related in the Great Sutra of the Decease that w hen Buddha,

accompanied by Ananda, w as sojourning at a village called Ko tigrfima

shortly before his death, he said to those of his followers w ho were there

Catunnam ariya-saccfinam yathabhi‘

i tam adassana

Samsitam digbam addhfinam tfisu tfis’

eva jfit isu .

Tan’et t

‘

ini dilt/zfini, bhava-netti samuhata

Ucchinnam miilam dukkhassa, n’

atthi dani punab b havo .

’

[i. e .

“Not to real ise properly the Four Noble Truths brings about a

long wandering in various births . When these Tr uths are realiz ed that

which brings about existence is removed,suffering is uprooted and there is

no liability to future birth .

”J

Such then being the efi ect of the real isation of the Four Noble

Truths,it i s evident that the Tw elve Ni/Zanas, detailing, as they

do,suffering and the causes of suffering

,fall within the area

of the first and the second Noble Truths . Dividing the Twelve

Nidanas into two groups, v iz . of (a) Past Cause and Present Efi ect , and (b)Present Cause and Future Effect, we find that Ae z

’

rlya and Samsi fira (the

former being identical with Klesa and the latter with Karma) represent the

second Noble Truth, v iz ., the Semzuleyasar

‘

ya or, the Noble Truth concering

the Cause of Snfi ering, in the present life . These two links constitute the

two causes which exist in the Past and w hich give birth to five effects in

the Present, eaeh and all of which represent the First Noble Truth,v iz .

, the

Truth concerning Suffering, in the present life . The fiv e efi ects are 1 )

Vq’

j q’uina or Consciousness (2) Ndmarep a or Name and Form (3 ) the Size /idy

alarm or the Six -fold Organs of Sense, (4 ) Sp arse or Contact, and (3)

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 83

Vedami or Sensation . Each of these five is fraught with pain . The

seven links from Ari/{ya to Vedanci, it is needless to repeat, represent the

Two Causes in the Past and the Five Effects produced by them in the

Present . The remaining five links (from Tr is/ma downwards) represent

the Three Causes in the Present and their Two Efi ect s in the Future . The

three causes are (l ) Tr is/ma (Desire) (2) Uc /iciaa, (Attachment) and (3 )

Bla me (Existence) . Tris/ma and Up a‘

dcina are Klesas,while B/zcw a

is Karma and the three together represent the Semadayasatye , or the

Noble Truth concerning the Cause of Suffering, in the future . These

three causes existing in the present produce two effects in the future,both

of which are fraught with suffering and repesent therefore the

or the Noble Truth concerning Suffering, in the future life . These

two effects constitute the last t w o links of the Chain of Causation,v iz .

,Jcitz

'

(Birth) and Jemima/mm (Old Ag e and Death) which is really an

abbreviation of the full name of the Twelfth Nidana which in its uncurtailed

form is Jarcimaraaa-saelee -

p arz’

zlevarat -dalzM a-(Zaurmanasyop dydc /z or“Old

age and death, sorro w ,lamentaion

,pain

,grief

,despair.” I pass on now to

KARM A AS AN ACTIVE PRINCIPLE IN THE

PHYSICAL WORLD .

The Doctrine of Karma which,in the domain of Ethics, teaches the

immortality Of deeds and the inevitability Ofmoral responsibility in the case

of an individual , family or nation, becomes, in the Physical W orld, the

principle of conservation of energy and of evolution and heredity .

When Baddhists speak Of Karma they mean,it is true, not what an

individula inherits from his ancestors but what heThe law ofkarma. and

the Principle of here inherits from himself in some previous state ofd ity and e v o lut ion .

existence.Nevertheless

,when we consider the doctrine

of Karma from the point of view of Anatmaa or M o/zcitman, of which I

have al ready spoken in one of my earlier lectures, that law becomes

84~ SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

almost identical w ith the modern scient ific principles of heridity and

evolut ion . In other w ords, the combined doct rines of Karma and

M afidtman establish that an individual has been born here through

i nnumerable generations in the past and that he shall b e born through

innumerable generations in the future, so that he has had innumerable

ancestors and shall have innumei ab le descendent s . Such w ould be

the idea which the M ahatman doct rine w ill I rcdizce, if con sidered from

the temporal point Of view . On the other hand,if considered from the

spacial standpoint, the M ahatman doctrine w ill make an individual real ise

that,if he bears in mind the fact of his having parents

,grandparent s

,chil

dren,brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts

,and others that are near and

dear to him,and if he should stretch all his ties Of relationship and affec

tion to the farthest end, all men will turn out to be his kinsmen,his bro

thers, nay, the very same as his own self . He will accordingly realise that

the effects of his own actions in the uninterrupted chain of karma are l iable

to dete rmine not only his own future but also, to some extent, the future of

others,even as a small stone thrown into the mighty ocean creates an al

most inte rminable series Of ripples, whether perceptible or not, which do

not ceas e till they have reached the furthest shore . Such i s the Burdhist

conception of the un iversal influence of Karma .

Again, as I have already stated, Buddhist Phenom enology subjectiviz es

the Objective . Vl'

hatev er happens around us is reThe po w er Of karma .

garde d by Buddhism merely as the manifestation

of our own thoughts . In fact, intricate machines, gigantic instuments,

n ightless cities, terib le warships, cloud-l ike aeroplanes —are not all such

things merely a display of the strength of the human will ? And

what is will after all,if it is not another name for character,

which again, according to Buddhism,is but an aggregation Of Karmas ?

To the Buddhist m ind it appears impossible to give an adequate explana

tion for the manifestation of such giant-willed personalities as Confucius,

Socrates (“the Jesus Christ of Greece”

as Shelley calls him ) , Christ,

and M ahomet, unless the Law of Karma be accepted as an enternal

and Un iversal Truth . Personalities l ike these are not the pro

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86 SYSTEM S o r BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

continue to be remembered with a sort of affectionate regret, not unmingled

with a faint echo of reverence, such as w e find in Jayadev a’s melodious l ines

on Buddha,composed at an age when the Great Teacher w as all but shorn

of his glory in the land of his birth, hav ing been degraded there to the posi

tion of a late incarnation of Vi shnu

firfi firHat-”

fi les v

gfifi flfi m eat ! zfifrm ama I

Etnam eat are smart s ? u

[“M erciful -hearted when thou comest as Buddh

Albeit ’twas w ritten in the Scriptures so

Thou had ’st our altars be no more imbrued

With blood of victims ; Keshav l bending low .

To return then t o Karma,this doctrine unquestionably furnishes to the

Buddhist mind a key to every manifestation of phenomenal greatness in

humanity . Accordingly,when one of the latest German biographer

‘s of

Napoleon Bonaparte,in his apparent helplessness to account for the almost

superhuman m il ita ry greatne ss of his hero,finds himself constrained to siim

up his estimate of the Emperor’s character in the memorable words of

Huetfer : “We can do nothing more than t o express our thankfulness to

God for having gifted a member of our human race w ith t rait s of such

incomparable superiority over his fellow -creatures,the Buddhist reader

feels all the more convinced that it i s the Doctrine of Karma alone which

can give a satisfactory explanat ion of all that appears mysterious or super

human in human destiny and human career . Has not the Blessed one

himself said : “All beings have karma as their po rt ion ; they are heirs of

their karma ; their karma i s thei r kinsman ; their karma i s their refuge ;their karma allots them to lowliness and greatness ?”

The Doctrine of Karma brings us to

THE CLASSIFICATION o r THE KLESAS .

Kleéa, in its general sense means fatigue or pain in San skrit, but In

Buddhist philosophy it bears another sense, namely,The sen se of k leéa in

Buddhist philo sophy . that of delusion . Budt st phi losophy recogni ses

two sorts of kleSas,namely

x x 1:nA- I’Hnx onnx o w s v . 87

(l ) Intellectual k leéas and (2) Emotional k leéas .

The former are due to errors of judgment or want of discrimination ;the latter are produced by the habits of our emotional nature and are more

difficult to eradicate than the former . Thus, for example, it w as an intellec

tual delusion on the part of our remote ancestors to take this round earth

E x ample of emo t ional for a flat expanse . We, their wiser sons, have,k leéa ' thank s to the progress of science, come t o learn

that the earth is round and no t flat . But although w e know intellectually

that the idea of the flatn ess of the earth which our ancestors had w as errone

ous,yet we

,somehow or other, still feel that the earth is not round but fiat .

This sort of delusion,on our part, is an instance of what the Buddhists call

an emotional delusion . The stock ex ample of such a delusion is that of a

man walking about at the dead of night in a lonelv graveyard and feeling

somewhat uneasy in m ind in spite of his realising intellectually that ghosts

do no t exist and that therefore one ought not to be frightened of them .

Intellectual delusion s are easy to remove . They arise through ignorance

of reason and di sappear as soon as the reason is known . But it is by no

means easy to remove emotional delusions,a typical example of which I

remember to have heard of, during the late Russo-Japanese w ar, in the case

of a Russian prisoner w ho frankly admitted his inability to act the nocturnal

spy on the ground of that though he did no t and could no t really believe inghosts, he w as nevertheless frightened of them in dark nights and lonely

places . The only remedy for such delusion s,according to Buddhism

,is an

adequate training of the m ind and the body . This is the reason w hy

emotional delusion s are called in Buddhism,

Bhavanaheya-k lesa

’

, i . e .

‘delusions era dicable through proper meditation or training", whereas intellectual delusion s are te rmed ‘Daréanaheya

-k leSa’i . e .

‘delusion s removable

through reali sation of the truth .

’ But although intellectual delusions are

more easily eradicable than emot ional delusions, yet they are more violent

than the latter . The more violent delusion s, namely those of the intellect,are kno w n in M ahayana philosophy as “Speedy M essen

Spe edy m e ssenge r

“ml mo ssonge" gers,

”w hile the emotional delusions are called “Tardy

88 SYSTEM S o r BUDDH ISTI C THO UGHT .

M essengers . Each of these groups consists of five members . The “Speedy

M essengers or intellectual delusions are as follows

Kaya-dri sh t i i . e .

, belief that the fiv e skandhas const itute the Ego .

2. Anugraha-drishti i . e .

,leaning towards Eternalism or Nihilism .

3 . M ithyfidrishti i . e .

,erroneous views in general .

4 . Drishtiparamars'

a i .e .

,attachment to all the three delusion mentioned

above .

Fo . Silav rataparamfirs‘a i . e .

,attachment to extreme mort ifications or

to supu stitious rites .

The five “Tardy M essengers or emotional delusion s, are as follow s

l Lohba Greed .

2. Dv esha M alice .

3 . M oha Folly .

4 . M ari a Conceit .

5. Vicikit sa Doubt .

In this connection it must b e noted that the Pali Abhidhamma (see

Section 1239 of the Dhammasangani) gives a differentEnum e rat ion of k le

eas in the Pfili Ab hi enumeration of the k leSas, or as they are called in Bali,dhamrr a:

‘Kiles. a,

’a term translated by Pal l scholars as

‘torments ’ or ‘bases of corruption .

’

The Pal i enumeration is as follow s

l Lobbo

2 Doso

3 . M oho“L. Mana

5 Dit thi

6 . Vick icchz’

l

7 Thinam

8 . Uddhaecam

9 . Ahirikam

10 . Ano t tappam

Greed or lust .

Hate .

Dullness .

Conceit .

Error,or speculative opinion .

Perplexity .

Stolidity .

Distraction,or excitement .

Impudence, or uncon scientiousness .

Fearlessness of consequence,or disregard

of blame .

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90 SYSTE M S o r BUDDII ISTIC THOUGHT .

of individuality, vici/citscl’ or scepticism and ai lavratap ammdrSa or ob ser

vance of ascetic or superstitious rite s . The doors of the gates of punishment

are shut for him . Buddhism recognises several classes of srotci

paanas, the lowest of which is called Sap tak iv'

db/lavap amma‘or one who will

be re-born Seven times at the most’ and the highest of which is styled

Kalamu/cla, or one who will be reborn only twice or thrice . The second

stage is that of the Sakridagz’

t min 1 or one who will b e(ii) sak t

ridagdmm'

reborn but once in the world of men . He is also called“Ekab

'

i jin . He has eradicated every intellectual k leéa and also a part of

the emotional delusions in the Realm of Desire . He has not only freed him

self from the first three fetters mentioned above but has in addition erad icated

Raga (passion) , Dvesha (hate) and M oha (folly) . The third Stage is that of

the Anfigfimin 2 or one who will not be re-born in the world of living men or

the Realm of Desire . Such a one is expected to have(iii) Anfigamin '

extirpated all k leSas intellectual and emotional .“ He

has freed himself from all the Samoyjanas . He may be born in the w orld

of the gods once more, after which he will forthwith ente r the

stage of Arhat. 3 An Arhat is, it is needless to say, no longer subject to

rebirth . He is the Arya, or the Noble one,p ar ex cellence,(iv ) Arha t

although all others who are progressing towards eman

cipation are entitled to that name . In later times the -M ahayanists came‘to

apply the term Sravaka to denote their opponents, the H inayanists .

Whoever wishes to attain to the highest stage of saintship which will

render him immune from rebirth in any of the threeVery hard t o b e b ornas a human b e ing Realm s, v iz .

, the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form

and the Realm of Formlessness, must make the most of his present lif e on

earth, for without being born, at least, as a human being there is no possib i

lity for him to ente r into the path of salvation . And the chance of

being reborn as a human being in a subsequent existence i s indeed ex

tremely remote . Therefore a man must make the most of the ‘golden gift

of life’ otherwise he is undone . Accordingly,it has been said by Santi

deva in one of the opening stanz as of the Bodhicaryavatara

1 Jap : Shzdugon or Iehira i . Jap° Anago n o r Fugen .

3 Jap' Arali an .

KAR M A -PH ENO M ENOLOGY. 1

W fim’

agsim ste w w ris ts-«ii

at?ma firfiarcafi firfi w as! w e : gm: u

“Very hard indeed it is to obtain the blessing of the (right) moment

(for birth as a human being) which, when obtained, is conducive to the

attainment of the summum bonum . If, in this life, no thought Is

bestowed upon future welfare, whence again can such a combination (of

favourable circumstances) arise ?”

The importance of ice/lane , or the right moment, is laid stress on times

w ithout number in the Sacred Books of the Buddhists .Do no t slip the rightmomen t The well known passage of the Dhammapada (v . 3 15)

needs only a passing reference here . Readers of the Bali Canon will recollect

a couplet in the Therigathfi, attributed to a nun called Tissa which runs as

follows

Tisse yunjassu dhammehi khano tam maupaccaga

khanatitahi socanti nirayamhi samappita.

”

[“O Tissa ! apply thyself to virtues and do thou not let slip the right

moment, for those who let the right moment slip, are doomed to sorrow,being consigned to

Now what is this right moment ? In the te chnical language of Buddhist

philosophy it is called “the Ninth moment” or theThe e x planat io n of

right momen t . moment which excludes the eight evil moments detailed

in the following versus ilzemm'ialis

W fisfirfisfi si s-

6 1 W W : I

151m m W m : n

or as the Bali religious compendium entitled “Saddhammopayana” puts

it

Tayo apayaaruppasannam paccant iman pi ca

pancindriyfiuam v ekallam micchaditthi ca daruna

Apatubhav o Buddhassa saddhammamatadfiyino

ail/zak khanaasamaya iti ete pakasita.

”

9 32. s r'

sTErIs o r Bunnnrs'

rre Tl

The locus classicus for this is the 29 th section of the 8th Nipt‘

rta of theAngut tara Nikaya where Buddha points out to his disciples the eight

moments or opportunities which are unfavourable for the practice of a

pure life (‘akkhan z‘

i asamaya These are respectively,

(1) birth in hell ; (2) birth among brute beasts ; (3 ) birth among the p re tax,(4 ) birth among the long-lived gods of the Realm of Formlessness from

which they are bound to transmigrate .else w lrere and where there is no chance

for them to hear the Good Law

“Aruppt‘

rsafi fialok e pi so vanopr’

iyavajjito Saddlrammasavanfihino katham

puniram karissati (5) birth in the country of remote barbarians where

there is no one to . speak of Buddha’s laws ; (6 ) adherence to wrong views

and false beliefs (micchadit thik a v ip rrit adassano ) (7) bir th with impaired

mental faculties and, conseq uent lv without the power of discriminating bet

ween right and wrong, (8 ) birth at a time when the Good Law does not

preached anywhere .

0

Such are the ‘eight ak slranas’ or wrong moments . The ninth moment

is the right moment when all the above mentioned possibilities are excluded,and one is born with un impaired faculties as a human being , at a period

and in a place, which affords every facility or hearing and. acting according

to the Good Law .

The extreme difficulty of obtaining birth as a human being is illustrated

Simile for the difii by the well known Simile of the One-eyed Tortoise :

gl

igy

b

c

iitift aining 1m

M aharnava yuga-cchidra k firmag rivarpanopama

This sim ile which frequently occurs in Buddhist works of both the Vehicles,such as the Lotus (if the Good Law (Ch . xxv) , Nagarjuna

’

s Friendly

lpistle (Stanz a 59 of the Tibetan version) , Bodhicaryavatfira (iv

Ther'

igatha (Gathas of Sumedha,

v 500) At thasalini (P . T . S . p . 60, sec .

19 1) and Saddhammopayana~l< J . P . T . S . for l 887) w as long mis

understood by European scholars, including Burnouf and Kern, the

latter of whom regarded it as an allusion to the mythological

to rtoise which supports the earth in H indu cosmogony. It w as for

the first time properly explained by my friend, the late M r. Harinath De who,

in a valuable contribution to Prof . t s Davids’ Pali Text Society’s Journal

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9 st SYSTE M S 0 1“ BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

which has to be tied up with the rope of mindfulness (w h o ) . Thus

Nagarjuna says‘

to King Sadvahana in his Friendly Epistle,

“It is not

necessary to tell you in many words that you need not fear,seeing that

there is a useful counsel to this effect : ‘Subdue your m ind for the Blessed

One has declared that the m ind is the root of all our

nag-aim aw l

as one of the fragments of the Sanskrit Dharmapada unearthed at Turfan

has it .

Ill uct Men a man emémce Build/[ism in order to at tain deliverance .

7

Buddhism replies : “No .

” It is enough that a man should know what is

right and what is wrong, and when a man knows really and truly what is

right and real ises also the penalty to be paid for not doing it at the proper

t ime, he assuredly will not swerve from the path of rectitude . M an ,

whatever his faith may be, will always reap the fruits of his Karma, or,

as the great Athenian poet has said, “He who does must bear the couse

q uences of his deed—this is an old-world law”

(Aeschylus Choephori . 1.

The Good Law ,says Buddha in the Angut tara Nihaya, knows no

limitat ion of time or place, and holds good “whether B uddhas arise, or

And as true it is that every cause must bewhether they do not arise .’

followed by its effect, so true it is that whatever good or evil a man does

here follows him when he departs thi s l ife

aneafs Hafi z 1 mman: m : n

In this respect Buddhism i s perhaps much more cathol ic than Christianity

theoretical or practical. The prospect held out by Christianity to the virtuous

heathen after death is certainly not very hopeful . I do not know what a

Christian M i ssionary would reply to you, were you to ask him w hat

destiny or abode awaited Vasishtlra or Kanva or Yudhishthira or Bhishma

or any such good and great men who flourished in India ages before the advent

of Jesus Christ on this earth. But the case of such men and of many others

w ho flouri shed in thi s country after the cr ucifixion of Christ but whose lot it

w as not tO - read or hear of him,—I mean men l ike Sankara, Rfima nuja,

KAR M A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 95

Chaitanya or’

Nanak—w as first taken up by the great Italian poet,Dante

Alighieri who in the nineteenth canto of the P am /liso describes ho w in the

Heaven of Justice there arose in his m ind a hope that he may find at last

the solution of the problem which had so long tor tured him, v iz .

,the reason

of the exclusion of the virtuous heathen from heaven,a decision so contrary

in seeming to God’s justice, and how he then addressed the just kings

who composed the Divine Eagle, in the following words

A man is born upon the bank of the Indus and there is none there to

speak or read or write of Christ and all his desire s and actions are good so

far as human reason sees . He is sinless in life and in speech . He dies

unbaptised and w ithout faith . Where is the justice in his being damned

Where is his fault if he ’does not belief ?”

For thi s harmless and unimpertinent query .Dante first receives an nu

celestial objurgation but is subsequently to ld

“To this realm of heaven never rose one w ho bel ieved not in ‘Christ,

’

neither before nor after he w as crucified . But see many cry ‘Christ,

Christ,’ who on the day of judgment shall be far less near to him than

such as know not Christ .”

Buddhism does not limit its blessings to any particular division of timenor place, for it beli eves in Buddhas that preceded Gautama Buddha

,the

son of King Suddhodana, as well as in Buddhas to come,seeing tha t

every living being has in it the latent germs of Buddhahood . Buddhismdeprecates all ambition for the attainment of an existence in heaven

,for

“as the pleasure to be enjoyed in heaven is great

,the pain of dying there

is proportionately greater,” and it regards as the highest among all blisses

the bliss of the cessation of desire . Buddhism in its universal applicabilityis summed up in the well known verse of the Dhammapada

Sab b apapass’akaranam kusalass

’

upasampada

saccitaparyodapanam etam Buddhana Sasanam .

Not to comm it sin, to practice virtue, to purify one’s heart—these

three precepts represent the essence of the teachings of the Buddhas of all

ages .

9 6 SYSTE M S O l“ BUDDHl S'

l‘

l C THO UGHT .

He w ho carries out in his life these three precepts of purity will attain

to that stage of supreme perfection w hich Buddhism call s Tathagatahood,Christianity “godliness” and w hich Aristotle

,breaking through his habi

tual reserve,enthusiastically extols as the development of the principle of

immortality w ithin us (Eth. N . 10 .

“ep li

’

osoo enn’ec/lefai

w afi nfimrfiam uélrar firsravfamm

ufi uw afi uamfimzuse us e é’rfsfam q u

“What a marvel ! This human frame, the v erv emblem of impurity,

becomes,through the alchemy of En lightenment, the priceless image of

Buddhahood . Firmly lay hold, therefore, of this sovereign elixir . O ye

w ho wander about from birth t o birth, like traffickers from market to

market, seiz e this priceless pearl of enlightenm ent, the excellence of w hich

has been real ised b y Sages w ho alone are the leaders of this caravan,of

ex istence .

”

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98 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Pipraw a Tope is actually called the Tomb of Buddha . But oriental

scholars in general,

and we Buddhists in particular, are deeply grateful

to Dr. Fleet’s learning and ingenuity which has at last proved,beyond the

shado w of a doubt, that the only possible meaning, which can be extracted

from the correct order of the words of the inscription, is that the bones belong

to the Sakyas, the clansmen of Gautama Buddha . With the progress of

Archaeological discovery, Buddha’s bones will probably become as numerous

in the centuries to come as fragments of the True Cross on which Jesus Christ

w as crucified were in the middle ages . And even if the bones discovered in

Kanishka’

s Stt‘

rpa turn out to be those of a less em inent personage than

Buddha,the z eal and the industry of the learned explorers deserves no detrae

tion from the praises which have al ready been bestow ed on it, for did not the

great German explorer Dr . Schliemann himself arrive at a similar conclusion

when,after one of his interesting excavations

,he telegraphed to the King of

Greece that he had at last lighted upon the corpse of the mighty Agarne

mnon

Hiouen Tsang, as Thomas VVat ters,his latest translator, points out,

records chiefly what he had learnt from hearsay or oral tradition prevalent

Is Hio uen Tsang’

s in the local ities which he visited . Even the predictionab solut ely

about the building of Kanishka’s Tope to which he re

fers in his travels is said in the Sacred Canon to have be en made by Buddha

not to Amanda, as Hiouen Tsang seems to think,but to the Boddhisattva

Vajrapani in a hamlet named Kharjura where Buddha pointed to a smal l b o y

making a mud Tope at a little distance and told Vajrapani that on the ident i

cal spot, four centuries later a King named Kanishka would erect a stupa

which would be known to posterity as Kanishka’

s Stupa . It is al so worth

noting as I once mentioned to that amiable scholar and archaeologist, the late

Dr. Ernst Theodor Bloch, that in a Chinese work preserv ed in the Imperial

Library at Tokyo, which treats of Buddhist places of pilgrimage in India and

out of India and i s the composition of a Chinese pilgrim who visited Kani

shka’S Stupa in question at least two centuries earl ier than Hiouen Tsang,there occurs absolute ly no mention of Buddha’s relics having been deposited

their either by Kanishka or by any of his successors . Dr. Theodor Bloch too

had his doubts about the genuineness of these supposed relics of Buddha and

THE SARVASTITVAVAD INS . 99

expressed a desire to me to have the extract I had referred to transcribed

and translated ; but alas ! it w as not given to me to satisfy the curiosity of

that ardent and unselfish scholar so early lost to us .

Dr. Theodor Bloch agreed with me in thinking that the teachings of

Buddha are infinitely ni ore important to humanity than Buddha’s body

relics,so that the question of the genuineness of the bones found in

Kanishka’s Tope matters but little to us . On the other hand

,the Kharo

shthi inscription which the casket bears is much more to our purpose . The

exact words I do not recollect, but the inscription contains a respectful

mention of the Teachers of the Sarvas tit vavadins (‘cierlzyc’

lmlm sarvdslitvacci

(limim Now who were these teachers of the Sarvast itvavadins,and why should they of all persons have found preference in an inscription

of this nature ? These two questions will have to be answered,before we

enter upon a detailed examination of the philosophical tenets of the SarO O

vastrtvavfidrns .

0

As is well.

known to most of you, in Buddha’s life-time his disciples

were saved from the curse of a schism,thanks to the magnetic personality

The conservat iv e of their teacher . But tradition relates that when 1 16

party and the progre s years had elapsed afte r the death of the Great Teacher,

s iv e se ct ion amongBuadhmts ’ there arose amongst his followers a violent controversy

regarding the theory and practice of the Vinaya, or rules for the order, which

divided them,at last

,into two bitte rly antagonistic camps . The conservative

party came to be designated as the Slfiavims or ‘the Elders’ while

their opponents,who constituted the liberal or, more properly speaking,

the progressive section,styled themselves M alnlsanyliil

'

a or M embers

of the Great Congregation . The details of this memorable contro

v ersy have not come down to us in all their fullness, but this much

we know for cert ain that one of the fundamental points of difference related

to the question of the attainment of Buddhahood by a sentient creature .

The Sthav iras maintained that Buddhahood w as a quality that had to be

acquired and accordingly laid great Stress on the observ ance of the rules of

the Vinaya and the practice of the injunctions to moral ity, which in their

opinion w as the sole means w hereby Buddhahood could be attained . The

100 SYSTE M S o r BUDDHlSTIC THOUGHT.

M ahasanghikas, on the other hand, declared, on the strength of certain

passages of the Sacred Canon, that Buddhahood w as a qual ity inborn in

every human being, and that by adequate development it w as capable of

raising It s possessor to the rank of a Tathfigatha . The v iews of the

Sthav iras found adherents in Northern India, and their centre w as Kashmirs .

This Sthav iravfida or the Orthodox View of the Elders is said to be the

Alineal an cesto r of Ceylonese Buddhism w hich lo ves to

The Sthav irav ada and

C eylon e se Bllddhfsm style itself Theravada (Slat ‘Sthav ira’= P ali

But the alleged ancestry is unfortunately based on such evidence as appears to

my limited intellect to border well-n igh on fiction and mythology .

The M ahasanghik as—whose leaders curiously enough are identified w ith

the Vat siputriyas by the half-fabulous chronicles of Ceylon,

although

Vasumitra expressly includes the latter among the Sthav iravadins

flourished chiefly in Eastern and Western India . Its main centre w as

the Kingdom of M agadlra which welcomed with open arms these

precursors of the M ahayana (for the M ahasanghikas really weresuch ) , just.

as

in the days of king Bimbisara it had hailed with enthusiasm the teachings

of the royal ascetic of the Sakya race . By the commencement of the

third century after Buddha’s death,the M ahasanghikas

were split up into nine different schools,

v iz . the

The schisms of the

M ahasanghik a.

(1 ) M r'

ilamahasanghikas,1 (2) Ekavyav ahftrikas,

2(3 ) Lok o ttaravadins,

3

(4 ) Kaurukullakfii,4 (5) Bahrrs

’rut iya,

5(6 ) Prajfiapt ivadins, 6 (7) CaityaSailas,

7

(8 ) Avaras’

sailas,

8 (9 ) U t taraSailas .

9

An account of the views held by these short-l ived schools falls beyond

the scope of my lectures, as my subject i s‘Systems of Buddhistic thought ’

,

but those of you w ho are curious to know their tenets will find sufficient

mate rials to satisfy your curiosity, in the three Chinese versions of

Vasumitra’s

“Treatise on the Points of Contention betw een the Different

Schools of Buddhism .

”

The Sthav iravadins to o had also by this time Split up into two schools ,

1 Jap : Konp on-daishu -b u 2 Jap : Issetsu -bu . Jap : Setsu -shusse-bu .

Jap : Kei-ia -bu .

5 Jap : Tamon -bu . Jap : Setsu -ke -bu .

Jay : Se i-ta -saa -ba . Jap : Se i-zan -j tl-bu.

9 Jap : Holru -san -j rt abu.

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SYSTEMS o r BUDDHISTIO THOUGHT .

schools of the S thav iravada whom they designated under the common title

of Vaib hz‘

rshikas or ‘Adherents of the Vibhasha (or Commentary on the

Abhidharma)’attached themselves exclusively to the Ab hidharmapitaka

and, generally speaking, refused to accept the authority of the Sfitrapitaka

and the Vinayapitaka . In later times,the so -called Vaibhashikas

came to be identified with the SarvaSt-itvavadins ; and the two names

became mutually interchangeable although,properly speaking

,the

Sarvastitvavadins originally fo rmed a section of the Vaibhfishikas . A

few of the schools of the Sthav iravfida owed their origin to the peculia

rities of the customs and habits of the places where they flourished,

a fact which can be gathered from their very names such as Haima

vaii la,Caityaéaila, Avaraéaila and Uttaraéaila .

In Hindfi and Jairra accounts of Buddhist philosophy,we find mention

Thu ddhist 8 050 0 18 of only four schools, v iz . (1) the M adhyamikas,or

men t ioned In Hindu

and Jaime W O I'k S rrihilists, (2) the Yogacaras, or subjective idealists,

(3 ) the Sautrantikas, or representationists and (l ) Vaibhfishikas, or presen

tationists . The chief tenets of each of these schools fare supposed to be

summed up in the well-known stanz a

afim afi w fim émfiamw fiW a fe m fir‘emfimfiufit fi az r

mm? anmam: safes : amt artHfireq u

These four probably represented the principal classes of Buddhists who

flourished in India at a time when militant Vedantism w as hurling its

missiles against the moribund faith of Sugata. The works of the Buddhists

so far as I am aw are , know of no such fourfold classification, so that, if I

depart from it,I shall at least have the satisfaction of erring in good

company, if at all it be an error to analyse Buddhism from the Buddhist

point of view . The explanations given of the origin of the names of the

four classes of Buddhist philosophers in H induworks,such as the Sarvarla

réanasamgralza and the Bra/unavirlyab/iaraaa, are fanciful and incorrect,ignoring as they do the historical sequence of the development of thought .

The passages cited by them in support of their view as to the four classes

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS.

i103

of opinions being merely an expression of the points of vie w from which

one and the same thing is considered, are in reality i rrelevant, for when

reffered back to their context the , passages do not at all admit of the inter

pretation which is forced upon them by Hindfi critics of Buddhism . Take

for insistance, the well known stanz a of Nagarjuna cited by M fidhavacarya

fimfi ' imam W W I u‘

[“The teachings of the Buddhas take their character from the under

standings of beings (who hear them) . Verily they owe their diversity in

this world to the fact of (the Buddhas having employed) a diversity of

methods (in their teachings) . Sometimes they are deep,sometimes they

are superficial, at other times they are both superficial and deep . Yes, their

teachings are diverse, but the doctrine of Sfinyata, the characteristic ofI )

which is non-duality , Is not drv erse”]

I need hardly point out that the Prof . Gough mistranslat es the last

line as “diverse is the doctrine of a universal void which is a negation of

dualit v . The Tibetan version of the lines (Tarrjur, n ud xxxiii

fol . 4 5 b) proves Prof. Gough’s error.

But when we come to the real meaning of these lines we find that they

refer not to the four different schools of Buddhism,as Madhavacarya makes

out,but to the two sorts of doctrines taught by Buddha v iz .

,the convem

tional (camcr ili) and the transcendental (p aranc rllza) of which we have

already spoken in an earlier lecture . The locus elascicas for this idea is the

5th chapter of the Lotus of the Good Law where Buddha is represented as

say ing

mit ts“W e"shit w e: “at ria: I

sitmarfi: s ammfirgfst fi arfimn

t w'

arfi sfi fin a a umf‘

fi rmfiuwm1 “Sarva-darSana-sangrab a ,

P . 19 '

lOl SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

W afi nq arfi s smw

ga mfimr

answ ers: sgfimafi r w ufig fi n

[“Lord of Righteousness am I

,born in this world to eradicate existence .

I preach the Law to li v ing beings, having known what salvation is . M ighty

men of firm understanding al w ays observe my preachings . They even keep

it a mys tery and revea l it not to l iving beings . That knowledge is hard

to understand, and the Ignorant, should they come to hear it before being

prepared for it,would foolishly arouse esires in themselves and deviating,

from the right part would wander about (in samsara) . I preach in

accordance with the nature of the subject and the capacity of the hearer,

and by div ersit v of meaning I cause right views to arise in the minds

of different

The allusion in such passages is obviously to the conventional and . the

transcendental doctrines taught by Buddha . The hisThe histo rical o rde r

o f the rise of t he se 8 9 t orical order of the rise of these four schools, as I havev eral scho o ls .

said before, disproves M fidhavacarya’

s account of their

origin . Thus the Vaibhashik as arose in the third century after Buddha’s death;the Sautrfrntikas came in the fourth the M adhyamika school

,as Aryadeva

states, came into existence five hundred vears afte r the Nirvana of

Buddha, 1 and Asanga,the founder of the Yogacaras or the Vijfiana

vadins is, at least

,as late as the third century of the Christian era.

Although Hindt‘i critics of Buddhism are,in a sense

,right in including

the Vaibhashikas and the Sautrantikas in the category of the

Sarvastitvavadins on the ground that both schools believe in the

real ity of the eighteen dhatus, yet it must be borne in m ind that the

Sautrantikas never called themselves Sarvastit vavadins because the author

itativ e works of the latter school were not the same as others . The

difference between the philosophical tenets of the Vaibhashikas and the

Sautrantikas are numerous, but, as the l imited time at my disposal prevents

1 See Aryadcv aé commentary on the ope ning s tan z a of the“Madhyam ika-Sri stra,

(Kumalayiv aé Chin e se v ersio n . )

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106 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

next century King Kanishka is said to have commanded 500 Sthav iras

or Elders to collect together all the works which constituted the authorita

tive canon of the Sarvastit vavadins . This important collection w as made

under the superintendence of an E lder or Sthav ira named Parsva who is

said to have been the teacher of the poet-philosopher ASvagho sha. But

by far the greatest philosophical compilation of that age, or, for the matter

of that, of any period of Buddhism,is that monumental encyclopaedia of

H inayana philosophy called the AM irl/mrmn-malzdvibndsnn-snstm , which

is a luminous as well as a voluminous commentary on Katyayaniputra’s

-écfstm . The Sanskrit original of this work

is lost, b ut Hiouen Tsang’s Chinese translation of it exist s, consisting of

200 fasciculi which contain 4 384 4 9 Chinese characters . In the introduction

of this great work, which is in the form of dialogues, the original authorship

of Abhidharma i s attributed to Buddha himself who is there said to have

expounded it in order to satisfy the curiosity of his dis ciple Sfiriput ra or of

an assembly of 500 Arhats or of the Gods themselves or of a number of

laymen who had put on the garb of Bhikshus, according as one or the

other of these traditions is credited . The propagator of this Sastra w as

Katyayaniput ra and hence,says the introduction, its authorship is ordinarily

ascribed to that Sthav ira . We are also told that “the self-nature (scabndva)

of Abhidharma is wisdom undefiled (antisrava-pmj nn) . Another interesting

fact al so is given there,

v iz .,the derivation of the word Ab/ziflfiarma .

H itherto the only derivation known of that word w as that given in the

Abhidharma-koéa which is the same as that given by Buddhaghosha in

the opening chapter of the Atthasalini where it is said that the word

Abhidharma means Dharma p ar ex cellence” Ken

’attnena Ab/n

'

dfiarmo .

7

Db aminn‘

tirekadlmmmnvz’

sesattnena . Atirelravicesattfiadip ako l n'

et tfia abili

But this explanation is not quite satisfactory and convincing . The

M aha-v ibhasha-Sastra settles our doubts by telling us thatAbhidharma is called

by that name “b ecausse it examines all dharmas” , the prefix Abb i being

used in the sense of about or concerning] . Of the es teem in which Kanishka

held the commentaries which he caused to be compiled an idea may be formed

from the tradition prevalent in Hiouen Tsang’

s days about the Great

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS . 107

Council which Kanishka held for the purpose of reviving the Buddhist

scriptures .

“Kanishka, King of Gandhara, says iouen Tsang, w as a great and

Kan ishk a’

s council in pow erful monarch rul ing over many nat lons . HeGandhfim ‘ devoted his leisure hours to the Study of the Bud

dhist scriptures receiving instruction daily in his palace from som Bud

dhist monks . As the monks taught him different and contradicto ry

interpretations of the doctrines owing to their conflicting sectarian

views,the king became greatly perplexed . Thereupon, the venerable

Parsva told the king that during the many centuries that had elapsed

since Buddha’s death, v erious conflicting theories had arisen amongst

teachers and disciples all of W hom differed from one another and

adhered to their particular views . Hearing this “

Kanishka w as greatly

moved and said to Parsva, ‘I desire to restore Buddhism to its eminence

and to have the Sacred Canon (Tripi taka) explained according to the res

pect iire opinions of the different schools . Parsva heartily approved of the

idea and the King held a Council . This Council composed one Ink/L of stanz as

explaining the Sutra, another [canexplaining the Vinaya, and a third Zak/E of

stanz as of Abb idfinrmn-vz

’

bfidsfid’

édstm s explaining the Abhidharma . For this

exposition of the Sacred Canon all learning from the remotest antiquity

w as thoroughly examined,the general purport and terseness of the text were

elucidated, and this learning w as Spread far and wide for the guidance of

disciples . When the commentaries were finished,Kanishka had them en

graved on copper plates which he enclosed in boxes of stone and deposited in

a stupa made for the purpose . He then ordered Yak shas (Q uery -Afghans

to guard the plate s so that heretics might not take them out of the country

while those who wished to study them could do so in the country .

”

The religious z eal of Kanishka finds an exact paral lel in our own days

in the case of the father of. ex-king Thibaw,King M indo M in of Burma

w hose piety induced him to have the whole of the Path Tripitaka engraved on

marble slabs fixed to the ground over which he erected several hundreds of

temples in order to protect them from the ravages of man and nature .

What a wonderful find would it be,if excavators and explorers

,in their

108 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT

endeavour to search for the bones of Gautama BuddhaO ur hope for the fu

ture disco v erie s in the hsArchae o lo gical D epart ould, m the years to come

,light .upon the

m en t Of India“ stone boxes which contain the copper plates deposited

by Kanishka ! An equal ly important discovery a w aits him who should be able

to locate the Black-bee M ountain or Bhramara-giri in Southern Ko sala

where King Sadvaha (this is the right name and not Samoa/annex, for the

Chinese translate it always by “Leading rig/rt”

) built a wonderful five

storied vihara for Nfigfirjuna quarried ou t in the mountain itself, in the

topmost hall of which a copy of the Sacred Canon w as deposited . When

excavations w ill bring to light a priceless treasure of this description,India

will be able to explain to herself, without seeking the help of foreign

scholarship,the complicated philosophy of Buddhism . But

,until such a

day comes, the assistance afi orded by the Chinese translator of the Sacred

Canon cannot be overrated, since their work is far more valuable than the

versions of the Kanjur and the Tanjur, seeing that, while the Tibetan transla

tors spent their energies on the lette r of the text,the Chinese translators

sought to interpret its spirit in language generally plain and straightforw ard .

So let us now tern our attention to what we can gather from the Chinese

Tripitaka about the philosophy of the Sarvfistitvavfidins .

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1 10 SYSTEM S o r BUDDHIS'

I‘

IC THOUGHT .

The con t en t of thewhich there are t armac or aphorlst ic verses, which

Ab h'

dharmak oéa -sast ra.

are commented upon at‘ cons iderable length in prose .

The Ninth Chapter has no can als, being entirely in prose . The Sans

krit vyakhya by YaSomit ra contains only the first eight chapters .

It does not give the [t i ff/tag. The Tibetan version contained in the

Tangyur (Vols . 64a. 65) contains the ‘karikas’as well as all the nine

chaptets of Vasub andhu’s work . In the Chinese Tripitaka there are

two complete translations of it, an earlier one by the Indian priest

Paramartha,and a later and, on the whole, better one, by the travellers,

Hiouen Tsang .

The subjects treated of in its nine chapters are as follows

Chapter I .

—contains a treatment of the (Unitas showing the nature of

the substance of all things . It consists of forty-four Icri/cas.

Chapter II .—contains a treatment of the I ndm'

yas and of the function

of things It consists of seventy-four l crikas .

(N . B.

—These two chapters contain a general treatment of the ‘sfiérava

’

and the ‘anfiérava

’

,that i s to say, the ‘Defiled

’and the ‘Undefile d

’

, the

former being Samsara and the latte r Nirvana) .

Chapter III . —contains a treatment of the world considered as

the outcome of ‘saSrava

’

(or the Defiled e . Samsara) . It contains ninety

nine ka'rikas .

Chapter IV .

—contains a treatment of karma,considered as the causes

of the Sfiérava or Samsara . It contains one hundre d and thirty-one kfi/l 'z.

k0 8

Chapter V .—contains a treatment of the anaéa

‘yas or‘latent evils’

considered as a condition (p raiyaya) of the Sfiérava or Samsara. It

contain s sixty-nine lcrz'

aas .

(N . B.-These three chapters explain in detail the causes and effects

of Samsara .)

Chapter VI .-contains a treatment of Arhatship considered as an effect

of ‘anas

'

rava’ or Nirvana. It contains eighty-three

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS. 1 11

Chapte r VII .—contains a treatment of knowledge p raj na

” considered

as the cause (l eta) of anclémva or Nirvana. It contains sixty-one lcalril'as

Chapte r VIII .—contains a treatment of Dhyana or meditation considered

as a. condition of ana’

Srava or Nirvana . It contains thirty

nine lra‘rlaas .

(N . B.

—These three chapte rs above explain the causes and effects 0 6

Nirvana .)

Chapter IX .—contains a refutation of Atnzan-theories of the Sankhya,

Vaisheshika and the Vat siputriya schools . It is in prose .

An account of the contents of the Sanskrit work entitled Ab hidharma

kosa-vyakhya by YaSomitra is to be found in Burnouf’

s Hz

'

stoz'

re (la

Bcnrlrl/n'

cme Inflien and, to some extent, in Rajendralala M itra’s

Nep alese Barltll n'

sl Sanskri t Late i ata re . The Bengal Asiatic Society’s

copyof it has been for years with Dr . Leumann in Germany . Copies

of it are still available in Nepal,

and a transcript of it w as lately

obtained from that country by Dr. Ross at a very moderate expense .

The importance of YaSomit ra’s Vyalk/tyci for us consi sts in the fact

that it gives us the Sanskrit technical terms of the Ab hidharma. It can

also help us in the restoration of the original Sanskrit karikas the (lie/ecla

memcm of which are scatte red about in it .

CLASSIFICATION OF THINGS.

The Sarvastitvavadins adopt two methods in their classification of things,

v iz ., (a) the subjective ; (b) the objective .

Sub j ect iv e Classifi cat ion .

According to the subjective method, all things are div ided into three

departments, v iz .

(a) the five st and/ms or ‘constituents of being’

1 12 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(b) the twelve ciyalanas or‘locations’

(c) the eighteen (Mall ing or ‘bases’.

O b j e ct iv e C lassifi cat ion .

According to the Objective method all things are classified into

(a) things incomposit (‘asamsk rita-dharma’

) ;1

(b) things composite (‘samask rita

A sam sk rita-dharma.

‘Asamslsrila-(lfiarma’ or ‘things incomposite’ are those w hich are no t pro

duced by other things . They are self-existent and ex pempt from change .

Being free from production,they are not liable to destruction ; and being

indesruct ib le,they are permanent or eternal . They are three in number,

v iz .

(a) 3

(b )‘Ap i

'

alisan/c/iya-nirorl/za

’ 4

(C)

These terms, I shall ex plain’

later on . Suffice it to say here that ‘prati

sankhya-nirodha’ i s another name for Nirvana ,

and ‘akasa’ means ‘

Space’.

That things eternal are incomposite is a truth recognised al so by Aristotle

in bk . xiii Of his M etaphysics .

Samsk rita-dharma.

Samskr ila-zlnarmas or “Things Composite are divided into four, v iz .

(1 ) 13271961 (W ) Or‘M atter’ ;6

(2) Cilia (fan) or ‘M ind’ ;7

(3 ) Cailta (%fi ) or'‘M ental’ ;8

(4 ) Citlavinrayat la or the ‘Nou-mental’ 9

These four classes of comp osite tlzingc together with the incomp osites

constitute the fiv e-fold Objective divi sions Of things, a knowledge Ofwhich

1 Jap : M a i 2 Jap : Ui 3 Jap : Chaku-metsa .

Jap : Hi-chaka -metsa .

5 Jap : Ko -kd . Jap : Shiki7 Jap : Shin 3 Jap : Shiw j io

9 Jap : Fusd-ii

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114 SYSTEM S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

‘Dbarma’ means, in Buddhist Sanskrit, law ,

rule, faitb , religion, w orld,

p b enomena, til ing, state, etc . In the phrase ‘Samsk rita-dharma

’

,or

‘Asamsk rita dharma,

’ the English w ord ‘tb ing

’ would best represent it . Dr

Karl Eugen Neumann al so translates it by the corresponding German word‘Ding’

,even in passages where this rendering does not suit the context.

Thus for example when he renders the Opening line of the Dhammapada

by “M anopub b angama dhamma, mano settba, manomaya

VomHerz en gel/n (lie Binge ans,

Sin/l lierzgeboren, b e i'

zgqfiigt”

and cite s in support of his interpretation the’

well known passage Of the

Angut tara Nikaya Ye b eci (lb ainmct ab asalot ye l'

eci rl/zanzma‘

la sala’

sabbe

temanop nbbanyamct,” he reminds one of the H induconvert to Christianity who

based his refusal to eat ham on a passage he had read in a Hebrew text of

the Book OfGenesis which said, “Carse be ap onHam”

. Dr. Neumann’s know

ledge Of the Pal i canon and the H induconvert’s acquaintance with the Heb rew

Bible (for in the passage referred to‘Ham

’ i s a variant for ‘Canaan’, and

Hebrew is the mother of all languages as the convert thought) practical ly

come to the same result . The quotation from the Anguttara Nikaya is

irrelevant, for the word is used there in a quite different sense to

that which it bears in the Opening line Of the Dhammapada . The correct

interpretation Of the line is, “Our states Of existence (i .e . the gati and the

condition of life in which we are born) are the consequences Of our character

(i.e . our good life or b ad life) in a previous state Of existence” .

‘M ano’

here is synonymous with ‘cit tam

’

and the explanation I have given is borne

out by a passage from Nagarjuna’

s Sab rilleis/1a or ‘Fricnrllg Ep istle’ which I

have already quoted in aprevious lecture (Stanz a 1 1 7 of tb e Tibetan rersion) .

Subdue your mind for the Blessed one has declared that {b e minrl is tb c

7'

0 0 b of our conditions The commentator Ofthe Friendly Epistle,

M ahamat i, says in his explanation, “If your m ind is pure,you will be very

happy, but if it is not so, you w ill be quite unhappy .

”

This explanation is borne out by a passage in the Lamen of tb e EéU-ACtOT

Trilap nta in the Tb eraycitbci where it is said that our codition in the present

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS . 1 15

it on earth or in the other gatis, depends entirely on our ‘cittam

’ or

t vafi neva no citta karo si brahmano,

t vam khat tiya rajadisi karo si,

ves sa ca sudda ca bhavama ekada,

devat tanam vapi tav’eva vahasa,

tav’

eva hetu asura bhavamase,

tvammfi lakam nerayika bhavamasc,

atho t iracchangatapi ekada,

petat tanam vapi tav’eva vahasa.

Prof. Rhys Davids has pronounced Dr . Neumann’s translation of the

Pali Dhammapada to be the best European version in existence ; but in

real ity, it contains many errors which can be detected by a comparison Ofhis

version with those of the Chinese translators Of the Dhammapada,in the

case bf the stanz as which are common to the Pali recension and the Chinese

translations . The same remark may be made as regards Dr . Neumann’s

versions of the poetical works of the Pah'

Canon . For instance he makes

himself quite merry over what he considers to be an error in the versions

of M ax M iiller and Faus ll, when they take the word ‘

(lip am’ in verse 236

of the Dhammapada, in the sense of ‘island .

’ He thinks it must mean ‘light’

on the strength of a similar phrase in the Great Sutra Of the Decease, where

Buddha te lls his disciples to be their own light “attarllp a In

utter ignorance of the fact that even in a Chinese translation Of the Dhamma

pada the word is taken in the sense of an island (Sk r'

. do lp a), Dr. Neumann

remarks with characteristic self-complacence

“Encheiresin des Pali, ub st du auch sic,

Spottest deiner selbst und W eisst nicht wie .

The passage in question is

SO karohi dipam attano ,

Khippam vayama, panflit o bhava.

1 16 SYSTEMS O I“ BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

That the word ‘(lip am

’must mean island here, is further corroborated

by an exactly parallel passage in the Dhammapada (Stanz a 25)

“U ttbanen’

appamadena safi fi amena damena ca

dipam kayratha medhavi yam ogho nfibhikirati.

—where the floods referred to are the flood Of sensual desire

desire for existence wrong vie w (clit tlzi) and ignorance (avijyaf) .

But,as Dr . Johnson once remarked

,in his “L ives Of the Poets

,about

M ilton’s finding fault with the Latin Of his rival Salmasius without remem

bering that he himself had comm itted equally gross blunders,Nemesis is

always on the watch in such cases . So we ought not to be surprised to

find Dr . Neumann make nonsense of the followingg ,

among other passages

of the Theragatha. Here the word ‘disa’ means ‘enemies,

’as the context

shows and the commentator tells us, and not ‘quarters Of the sky’ as Dr .

Neumann will have it

cakkhum sariram upahanti ronnam

nihiyati v annab alam mati ca

amandino tassa disa bhav anti

hite sino nfissa sukhi b havant i.

The passage simply means that when a man dies his enemies become

glad and his friends become sorry . But Dr . Neumann disdaining common

sense renders—“The free breez es are our dearest friends and he who wishes

to console uS and mitigate our pain is sad and cheerless .”

Die freien Lufte sind uns liebste Freunde,

Wer trosten, lindern will ist triib e, l'

aistig .

”

Apologising for this digression, which has its justification in the fact

that the state Of Buddhist learning in the Western World has not yet

reached the degree of prefection which it sometimes loves to claim,I pass

on to ex plain the word

The w ord “Samsk t ita” in Buddhism bears only its etymological meaning,namely that of “put together” Lat . confectusThe sen se of Sans

k i ' i ta edharma . ‘Samskrita-dharmas’ or ‘composite things’ are, according

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1 18 SYSTEMS o r BUDDHISTIC THOUGHT .

ultimate deliverance . Lastly, it is cal led ‘Savastuk a’ or ‘having a cause .’

‘Vastu’ here means ‘cause .’ ” 1

The doctrine Of no-cfi ect being produced by a single cause,excludes from

the pale of Buddhism, monotheism and the theory Of the creation of the

world out Of nothing . In an earlier lecture,I have pointed out that the

Ceylonese commentator,Buddhaghosha, bases his denial Of the existence Of

an extra-mundane universe-creating deity on this very doctrine . ‘Composite

things’ or ‘Samsk rita-dharmas’ are divided into 72, if we analyse them in

detail, v iz .,eleven ‘Rfipa dharmas’ one ‘Cit tadharma

’ forty-six ‘Caitta

dharmas’, and fourteen ‘Cit tav iprayuk ta-samskara-dharmas’ or "Unmental

These seventy-two composite ‘dharmas’, together withCamposite Things .

the three incomposite ‘dharmas’ (viz .

‘

prat isankhya nirodha’

and

‘aprastisankhya

-nirodha’

,make up the complete tale of the Seventy-five

Dharmas .

The Ab hidharma-kosa-éastra, Chap . I .

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS. 1 1 9

RELATION BETWEEN THE SUBJECTIVE AND THE OBJEC

TIVE CLASSIFICATION OF THE DHARM AS .

In the accompanying diagram,given for convenience of reference

,the

relation betw een the subjective and the Objective classification Ofall the

Dharmas, is clearly brought out .

The fi v e divisionsof the 75dharmas .

The five Skandhas . The t w e lv e ayatanas . The e ight een dhatus .

sw at (l l )

fimmii ; (1 )

5M : (4-6 )

“Ifa’

11mm;den

-(Hui

W M : (3 )

SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

EXPLANATION OF THE SEVENTY FIVE DHARMAS .

The shortness Of time which is at my disposal, prevents me from entering

The st epp ingmon eupon a detailed exposition of the seventyfive Dharmas

from the H inayana t o

the M ahayana philosophy .

which represent the Objective classification of the world

Ofmind and matter according to the Sarvastitvavfidins .

Some day when Vasub handhu’s Ab hidharma-kosa-Sastra i s restored or

translated accurately by competent scholars, from its Chinese and Tibetan

versions,Indian and European students of philOSOphy w ill find no difficulty

in familiarising themselves with the Abhidharma Of the Sarvfistitvav fidins,which forms the stepping- stone from the Hinayana to the M ahayana philo

Sophy . In this connection, a word of[

warning to the unsuspecting Student

will not be out Of place . Beware Of confounding the Sanskrit Abhidharma

kosa with Abhidharma treatises Ofmediaeval Pal i w riters . The two have

very l ittle in common beyond the name . A glance at the contents Of the

Abhidhammat thasangaha1 which has recently been tran slated into Eng lish

and annotated by an industrious Burmese scholar, and revised by the learned

M rs . Rhys Davids, will clearly Show that ' the much-vaunted Ab hidhamma

Of Pali'

‘ l iterature is the production of a doubtful ancestry,and represents a

system Of unauthentic philosophy w hich '

gre w up in absoluteisolation in the

middle ages in Southern India Kanchipura Ceylon and Burma. To

return to the sev entyfive Dharmas, I shall first take what are kno w n as

d a Db arnzasfi

Rfipa ( lit . form ) when used as a techn ical te rm in Buddhist philosophy,

The sense of Rflpmsignifies that which has resistiveness or capacity to

dharm“ obstruc t the sense organs,

as the Abhidharma-kosa

defines it . Rfipa-dharmas are eleven in number, namely, the five sense organs,the five sense Objects and Av ijfiapti,

3 that is to say, unmanifested R ilp a,

a difficult philosophical term Ofwhich, I shall give an explanation later on .

1 Compendium Of philo sophy . ( Pub lished fo r the ‘Pz

'

ili Te x t Socie ty ’

b y Henry Fro w de ,

O x fo rd U n iv ersity Pre ss . )2 Japan e se : Shiki-hb .

3 Japan e se : M uhyG-Shiki.

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122 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

7 -P arama'

nas—1 Ann

7 Anns —1 Gold dust 1 4 9 P aramcinns.

~ 7 Gold dusts —1 Water dust 2 3 4 3 P aramctnns.

7 W ater’

dusts “ I Rabbit hairdust 3 24 01 P aramcinas.

' 7 Rabbit hair dusts Sheep hair dust 4 P aranzcinus .

7 Sheep hair dusts 1 Cow hair dust5 P aramctnns.

7 Cow hai r dusts —1 W indo w hole dust 6 P aramcinns .

7 Window hole dusts = 1 Louse 7 P aramcinns .

7 Lice 1 bug 8 P aramotnas .

7 Bugs 1 Barley grain 9 P aramctnns .

7 Barley grains 1 Finger tip 1 0 1 97522674 3 P aramolnns .

In the above manner all the largest material things in the universe, such

as mountains and seas are made up of the corresponding number Of

P aramatnns .

The atoms are living tb ings and possess all the four qualities of the four

great elements,v iz earth

,air

,fire

,and water. In thi s matter I beg leave

to point out what I consider to be an error on the part of Sank aracarya.

S(a ar'

a’

s Error.

In his account of the Sarva' stitvavadins Sankaracarya observes

use? Hm mfi t fié

’rfi w ufi ifi w fz

Hifia sisal-«Fis ts W 3 1

”

Before discussing the passage,let me point out to you that there i s every

reason to believe that the w hole sentence, fromEach at om po ssessesthe four q ualit ie s ‘

catnsb tage’ to ‘samb angante

’

,reads l ike a quotation from

a Buddhist work . Its meaning is perfectly clear . It signifies that the

atoms of earth and the other elements are possessed,

all of them,of the

qualities of roughness, viscousness, heat and moveableness, and that it is their

1 six t ee n 2 “5151312 !8 m ain

4Errat a” 5

1111 511 16W fi rfi fi t

'

fl i l

’ fs fi i iS ig n

”Eran

1 °s i tar -

fi n

Brahma-SfitraSank ara-13113shy am,TI . 2 . 4 . Sut ra 18 .

Ti i E S i iivx STITVAVADINS . 123

combination which produces earth etc This is the legitimate interpretation

of the passage for, according to the Buddhists, the atoms are the same in all

the elements, and each atom possesses the four qualities, v iz : those Of earth,

air, fire and water . Now as it appears from the commentators of Sankara,

who, in all probability, repre sent the traditional interpretation handed down

by him, Sankara misunderstood the meaning of the Sanskrit compound‘Qfasiii

‘

m ma: s t éfi fi tmsm é Efaa ifiz Hfi ’i’ in the context . He thought that

the four qualities mentioned there belonged -respectively to the four elements .

Accordingly the Ratnaprab ha, the Bhamati and Anandagiri make out that,

according to the Buddhists, the atoms of Earth are hard,those of water are

viscous, those of fire are hot,those of air are mobile . Dr. Thibaut’s version

follows the interpretation Of the commentators,while Prof . Deussen

’s

German version retains the ambiguity of the original Sanskrit . 1

That the compound in question does not bear the mean ing given to it

by Sank aracarya and his commentators,i s clear from the following extract

from the Abb irl/iarma-vib/aisb cléclstra which exists in the Chinese version of

Hiouen Tsang : 2

How do you know that the qualities Of all the

Q ue stion . four M alaib/nt tas (viz earth, air, fi re and water) are

inherent in the p ara/minus”

We know this,because

,the possession by the atoms of the distinctive

characteristics and special functions of the four

Answ er elements can be inferred in the case of all mate rial

things from the following fact,v iz

The characteristics of 'the earth can be perceived by the sense-organs in

solids . But the characteristic of water also is discernible in solids, b ecauSe

if it did not exist in it,gold

,silver or copper and tin could not be reduced

to a melting form .

”

“Again if the characteristic of water did not inhere in the atoms, they

could not have coherence . And if the characteristic of fire did not inhere

1 Se e Deussen’

s“Die Sutras de s Vedan ta

,pp . 3 4 5-6 .

2 The Ab hidharma -maha-v ib hdsha-é5stra, fascicul i 1 3 1 .

124 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

in them,fire could not be produced by striking a fit with a piece of iron .

Preservation being the characteristic quality of fire (that is, heat) , accord

ing to Buddhism,if the atoms had not the characteristic qual ity of fi re

inherent in them,material things w ould be incapabl e of

.preservation .

Lastly, if movement, the characteri stic qual ity Ofwind,were absent in the

atom, things would no t move, or grow, or perform any other function im

plying movement .

SO,it is clear that Sankaracaf‘ya made a m istake about the meaning

of the passage . I now pass on to the Four JlIalcb/zi’ltam.

If all mate rial things are but collections of atoms,how is it that

,the

characteristics of the atoms being the same, theyThe four mahfib hfi '

differ according to theiro

nature, ’

some of them being

solid, others being liquid and the other again being

gaseous ? In order to answer this question, Buddhist philosophy has re

course to the theory of the four great elements or bl ab ciblza'

tam v iz

earth ( stash ) or solidness, water ( W ) or moisture,

fire ( SET or

heat, and air m ) or motion: Buddhism maintains that the mutual

resistance Ofmaterial things i s due to the qual ity of earth, or, the solidness

inherent in them the mutual attraction Of things is due to moisture,or

the quality of wate r ; their capacity for ripening and being free from

decay is due to their possession of heat or the nature of fire,and lastly,

their power of gro w mg is due to their being endowed with the quality Of

the air, v iz movability . According to Vasub andhu the four great

elements are to be observed from three aspects, v iz (a) as things, (b) from

their natures, (c) from their functions . 1

JVatare Faaction .

Earth Effi e? Solidity (ENE ) Holding togethe r EFF!

Water “41W M oisture fifi g fil Cohesion 3171?

Fire 3 31 Heat W Ripening t nfih‘

Air 3 123 M otion W Growing slit?

Se e the“Ab hidharma-k oéa-éfisra

,Chap . 1 .

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126 SYSTE M S OF BUDDHISTIC THOUGHT .

in his cammentary on the Vedanta Sfitra (II, i i—xviii); the original

passage is well known to you, and it would be needless to attempt a trans

lation of it seeing that Dr . Thibaut has already admirably rendered the

passage in the light of the explanations given of it by the different com

mentators of Sankara . I shall, however, attempt to deduce the criticism

to a set of questions and answers according to the well-known catechistical

method of Buddhist philosophers .

What are the t w o sets of aggregates maintainedQ ue st ion by the Sarvfistit vavadins, and what are their respec

tive causes

They are : i . The aggregate of Bhfitas (elements) and Bhautikas

(elementals) . i i . The aggregate of five skandhas .

The cause of (i) is atoms,and of (11) the skandhas .

An sw er.

Note here that the Sarvastitvavadins do not recognise any sets of aggre

gates like those mentioned here by Sankara. It is,most probably

,his own

invention based on a misapprehension of the subjective (antaram ) and

objective (bahyam) classifications of the world of m ind and matter of which

I have already spoken . Again the atoms are not the causes of the ‘M zZtas’

The at om is no t theor elements as gankara maintains ; but the

cause Of e lemen t sas we have already shown

,are the causes of the atoms .

The again,are the same as atoms and not the efi ect of atoms

as Sankaracarya maintains . The aggregate of the five Skandhas (Panca

skandhi-rupa) is not a Buddhist techn ical term . In Buddhist philosophy

the aggregate of the five Skandhas is any sentient being inclusive of its

body and mind . Probably,sankara imagines that

,according to the

Buddhists,the mind is the aggregate of the five Skandhas nay, this becomes

a certainty,if we look carefully at the context . This is an error, for the

manas or cittam is one of the five Skandhas,v iz —the vij fi ci

'

m st and/m.

Accordingly, Sankara is wrong in identifying the mental

with the aggregate of the five skandhas . After making these m istakes

in his thesis,he proceeds to criticise the doctrine of the Sarvfistit vavadin s

{in the following manner

“’hat is the defect in this doctrineQ ue st ion .

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS .

The defect is that you cannot satisfactorily explain what made the

elements of these aggregates combine together . InAn sw er .

the first place, how can the atoms themselves combineThe so called de fectof the Sarvést it va~ Into material thmgs, Since the atoms are ‘

acetmm orvadin s .

devoid of intelligence . In the case of the aggregate

of five skandhas, you cannot say that it is Cittam which causes the skandhas

to combine,because, according to your Buddhist theory, the combination

of the skandhas must precede the coming into existence of citiam,i.e . the

mind arises afte r the body is formed from its constituents . So you must

acknowledge an external cause or author who causes the combination,

such as a permanent intelligent being who is sentient and supreme as we

Vedan t ins do .

”

The difficulty raised by Sankara is rather irrelevant . The Sarvastit va

vadins maintain that the atoms though devoid ofThe

’

at om s can en t er0

in t o comb inat io n Intelligence ente r 1nto combination W Ith one anotherW ithout int e l ligence .

owing to causes and condition s, the former of which,technically called 56m

,are of six sorts and the latter known as pm tg/aya,

are of four sorts . As I have already pointed out,nothing

, according to

Buddhism, can be produced by a single cause .

1 There must be,as Vasu

bandhu points out in the Abhidharma-kosa, at least, two causes to produce

an effect . Thus a paramanu becomes an anu by combining with six other

paramanus through the influence of at least two causes (hetu) . This is the

real truth ; but Sankara ignores the fundamental principles of Buddhism

and goes on to make further mistakes . Cittam,

according to Buddhism,

is identical with one of the five Skandhas, v iz : the s fi dna st and/m

and no Buddhist,who knows Buddhism

,would maintain that Cit tam

would bring about the combination of the five skandhas . It would be

monstrous,on the part of one

,who knows anything about Buddhism

,to

affirm that “the combination of the skandhas must precede the coming into

existence of Cittam because Cit tam is one of the five skandhas,v iz the

Vijfiana sk andha . But Sankara ignores this elementary fact and yet

ventures to criticise Buddhism . Thus he starts w ith an absolute miscon

1 Se e the Ab hidharma-ko sa -sast ra,Chap . 1 . fasc . ,

1 .

1 28 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

ception of the nature of the skandhas, though he glibly enumerates the fiveskandhas ’

a few lines before . Such.

being his errors,we see that the

Buddhist can support his philosophy,or more properly speaking

,his atomic

theory without accepting a sentient supreme and permanent Brahma like

that of the Vedant ins . The rest of the criticism i s a mere fighting with

shadows, based upon improbable objections which are answered by equally

improbable and erroneous statements .

At this point Sankara anticipates an objection from the Buddhists,

which we will call I sf obj ection“M ay it not be that the elements, which make upComb inat ion ofat om s

and cause s and con . the aggregates,themselves undertake for their own

dit ion s .

sake the activity of combining together

Such an objection, as we have already seen,could not be raised by the

Buddhists who are taught by their philosophy that the combination of

atoms is due to causes and conditions . But let us go on and see how

Sankara answers the objection .

Answ er to l et obj ection.

If you speak of the elements combining Into the aggregates by them

selves and for their own sake,then there would be no cessation of their

activity and consequently there would be no moksha or liberation .

”

The Buddhists m ight ask here, “M oksha of what” ? Is it that of the

Buddhist ic sense of soul ? If so, you forget that we do not believe in a

mo k sha 'soul . M oksha means, according to the Buddhists

,

nothing but a condition of perfect freedom from passion . That

heart reached the final goal of all which, upon the ground of a perception

of the tr ue nat ure of things,through the know ledge of amitman

,has so

completely loosed itself from everything that it no longer has any passion .

Therefore,the Buddhists never allow their mental activities to absolutely

cease to work,but always try to use these activities to turning the immoral

ity to morality,hate to love, etc . etc . If moksha means absolute cessation

of all mental activities, then it w ill b e annihilation .

Afte r answering, in the fashion mentioned above, the first supposed

objection of the Buddhist-s , Sankara imagines that there might be the

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1 3 0 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTI C THO UGHT .

it is impermanent or momentary,then you cannot maintain it to be the

cause of the combination of the elements into any of the two aggregate s

mental and material, since a momentary thing cannot have such an efficacy .

Accordingly,you fail to give a satisfactory explanation of your theory of

aggregation upon which you base your explanation of mundane existence ;

and therefore your explanation necessarily falls to pieces because you cannot,by any means, establish its basis, namely, the combination of elements into

) J

aggregates .

This is how Sankara tri es to refute the Sarvastitvavadins and invites

them to accept his Vedanta . Sankara’s actual reasoning is based on

unt enable hypotheses the reasonings are just, but the premises are false .

In the case of Sankara, there w as present not only a defective knowledge

of Buddhism,as I have already sho w n

,but also the delusion concerning the

infallibility of the Vedanta which he w as incapable of resisting . Afiaj /a

m'

j ffi cina is not quite different from the five skandhas,

and it bears‘some

affinity to the Vedantic Brahma,b ut it does not lea d the believer to the

heresy cf Eternal ism . I shall endeavour to show it w hen I treat of the

Vijfianavadin school of Buddhist Philosophy .

But let me go on with Sankara’s imaginary objections and equally

imaginary refutations . Afte r thinking that he has demolished the two

supposed Buddhist objections given above,Sankara anticipates a third

object ion from the “Vainasikas” which clearly proves his ignorance of the

real signification of the “twelve linked Chain of Causation,

”a doctrine

which every elementary student of Buddhist is expected to ”know

T/ze'

rd Szzj w oseel Obj eclien of Me Buried/1 2318 .

-You want us Buddhists to assign a cause to the aggregation of the

elements which form the M ental and the M aterial .Sankara’

s crit icism7

on the T w e lve -linke d W e say i t IS the Chain of Dependent O nginat ionChain of Causat ion .

or the Twelve Nidanas, beginning

with Avidya or Ignorance which produces the aggregation .

”

Before proceeding further,I need hardly repeat that the aggregation

produced by “causes and conditions,

”and that the Twelve-linked Chain of

THE sx nvx srrrvx v x nms . 13 1

Causation explains the cause and effect of transmigration throughout the

three divisions of time,viz : the past, the present and the future . But

let us see how Sankara fights with the phantoms of his own creation . In

answer to the supposed Buddhist objection he says

“Now avidya or ignorance is a mental function of a sentient being . It

is the fi rst link in the T w elve-l inked Chain of Causation,which

,consequently

,

must be regarded to take for granted the aggregates of the mind and the

body,without

,however, showing how they came together . The series of

the t w elve nida‘

nm does not, therefore, give an efficient cause of the aggre

gates .

It is sure that the twelve nirla’

nas give us the efficient cause of th

The real mean ing o faggregates referred to, as we have already pointed out ;

av idya Sankara, however, m i stakes the real meaning of

Avidya , which, if regarded as a l ink in the Ch ina of Dep endant Origina

tion’

(tpm t it

dnasamntp ctda) or

‘C’

ausation’

Is not the ignorance of any parti

cutar individual, but is rather indent ical with "mo/ia’ or ‘delusion’ ; and ' re

presents the noumenal state of immaterial (Marinas . Again the “avidya”

which,through “samskara” etc .

, produces “namarfipa

” in the case of a

particular individual is not his “avidya

” in the present existence but the

avidya” of his past existence bearing fruit in the present life, as I have

explained to you in my lectures on“Karnm

This is not all. sankara brings forwar d a second refutation of the '

supposed B iddhis t obj ection .

“There is”, says he “a further difficulty . Your atoms

, 0 Buddhists,Sank am ’

s crit icism are momentary and have no abode in the shape ofo n the do ct rin e o f

at oms .souls nor do they con taln Ill them any latent abiding

principle,to guide them

,corresponding to the Adr ia/ital of the Vaiseshikas .

How can you then maintain Aoidyn to be the cause of the mind, since

without m ind av izlya itself cannot exist ? Where then does your Avidya

come from ? ”

Sankara here ignores one of the fundamental principles of the

school he is attacking, v iz that the atoms are permanent and cannot exist

save in combination in the present . M oreo ver, according to the Sarvas

1352 SYS TEM S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

tvadins,“M ind” (cit tam) which is identical with one of the five skandha s

,

v iz o zj fi cina is perman ent in its noumenal state , being one of the seventy

fiv e (M arinas which are all permanent in the noumenal state . Sankara,as we have shown a l ittle above, misunderstands the real import of o vidyn.

‘Avidya’ representing as it does the noumena-l state of immate rial

(Marina is permanent and b eginningles

Sankara here faintly anticipates this objection and says“Samsara is beginn ingless, you Buddhists maintain . You al so say

that the aggreg ates succeed one another in an unbroken chain and there

fore also Nescience etc . because these abide in the aggregates” .

The last part of the supposed Buddhist objection is a distorted representa

tion of the Buddhist theory of. the tran sm ission of the st and/ms .

“Avidya”

is included in “cait tam” which is represented by the two of fiv e skandlias, v iz

oeclanct and sanj fi a . Now Sankara here tries to throw the Buddhist opponent,his imaginary adversary, w ithin the horns of a Dilemma.

“If what you say i s right”,he exclaims

,

“then you must admi t one of

the two alternatives, v iz (1 ) either that the aggregates produce aggregate s

of the same kind, or (2) that they produce aggregates of a different kind .

If the first alte rnative is true, a man can never be reborn as a god, a brute,or a being in hell, in the course of transmigration in the latter he might,in an instant, turn into an elephant

,god or a man either of which

consequences would be contrary to your system .

”

Sankara here i s strain ing at a gnat . H e overlooks the Buddhist theory

that when one set of st anzlfias are succeeded by another, the succeeding

set is always somewhat different to the preceding owing to the difference

in the manner of combining . M oreover,there is nothing in a man’s

turning a god or a brute or even another human being, as soon as the

combination of the skandhas which constitute his being is resolved by some

cause or other, when this resolution is immed iate or long after his birth .

Lastly Sankara m issing his favourite “citn m” goes on to remark“Again, for whose sake is the aggregation of elements formed ? Your

0 0

v

. 0 0 thatW ho desires moksha not admi tting a permanent enj oying soul 1mphes

90 T dehvemnce ' the enj oyment of the formation of the aggregates 1 8

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1 34 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

t o be when the ' succeeding moment arrives ; that is to say, the former b ecomes non-existent when the thing of the succeeding moment comes into

being,and therefore can not be regarded as producing the latter

,Since non

existence can not be the cause of existence” .

Sankara here shows his complete ignorance of the Buddhist Doctrine ’ of

Universal Impermanence . The substratum of everything is eternal and

permanent . What changes every moment is merely the phase of a thing,

so that it i s erroneous to affirm that,ac cording to Buddhism

,the thing of

the first moment ceases to exist when the se cond moment arrives .

In conscious or unconscious ignorance of thi s fundamental tenet of Bud

dhism,Sankara anticipate s what he thinks a possible Buddhist objection

“M ay it not be that the former momentary existence on reaching its

full development becomes the cause of the latter momentary existence .”

No Buddhist would have ever dreamt of rai sing such an essential ly im

Buddhistic objection . Let us see how Sankara contradicts it.

“This is not right” he says . “To say that a fully developed existence

has greater power or energy than a not fully developed existence,i s only

a round about w ay of saying that the full development of the thing in

question passes into the second moment and this runs counter to your doc

trine of Universal Impermanence” .

Sankara anticipates another ob jection—an obviously fallacious . one

as comin op from the Bhuddist side .Sankar a’

s cmt sm t ’

of the Buddhist ic law

of cause and effe ct .

M ay it no t be (the Buddhist may object) that antecedence implies

causality”

He proceeds to refute this in the following manner

“No,that cannot he , says b e .

“In every effect there is inherent

the nature of the“ cause . But you Buddhists have no right to say that the

nature of the cause i s inherent in the effect ; because that would be tanta

mount to maintaining that the cause is permanent—which is against yourtheory of universal impermanence” .

a}

THE SARVKSTITVAVRDINS .13 0

Sankara overlooks the plain fact that causal ity is not a permanent but

merely a relat ive quality .Thus A may b e the cause of B, B the cause of

C and C the cause of . D,without the causality in the three cases being

ident ical, just as William may b e the father of Ed w ard, Edward that of

Charles, and Charles that of James, without the fatherhood in the three

cases being identical . In any case, no Buddhist would ever have rai sed

such an objection as Sankara anticipates ; and if he could rai se it, no answer

would have been less adeq uate than that given by him .

We proceed to a third imaginary objec tion which Sankara puts into

the mouth of his Buddhist adversary

But relation of cause and effect” (the Buddhist might say) may

continue to exist without, however, the cause givingSan kara ’

s illusoryconcept ion of the re la its colouring to the effect” .

t ion ship of cause and

effe ct .

No Buddhist would say this . No Buddhi st would dream of denying that

causes always produce their effects .

Sankara is here putting a very weak and entirely imaginary argument

in the mouth of his Buddhist Opponent. He now proceeds to demolishthis argument with needless elaboration

This cannot be admissible,because in that case all sorts of confusions

would arise, such as between mere efficient cause (such as the potte r’s

staff) and mate rial cause (such as clay in the pro duction of an earthen pot) .

Now when you speak Of the origination and the cessation of a thing,you

must mean one of the three following alte rnatives .

(i) That the thing in question retains its formduring the two stages ,or (11) that the te rms, origination and cessation

,refer to the different

stages of one and the same thing,

or (iii) that the thing becomes entirely different by cessation .

Let us now examine the al te rnatives one by one

(i) The first is impossible,

.because it makes no difference between

13 6 SYSTEM o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(n ) In the second, origination and cessation would denote the initial

and final stages of that of which the intermediate stage is the

thing itself, and such being the case,the thing would be

connected with the three stages or moments viz the initial,

the intermediate, and the final, according to which your doctrine

of universal momentariness has to be given up .

(iii) In the thir d case, origination and cessation will be quite different

from the thing itself ; in fact quite as difi erent as a buffalo

would be from a horse . Thi s is admissible,because the thing

being absolutely disconnected with origination and cessation,

would be without beginning and without end,that i s to say,

everlasting .

”

The first and third alte rnatives are not to the point. The second agrees

with the tenets of the Sarvastitvavadins w ho believe that the substratumof

everything is permanent though its phases are constantly changing . Thus

the “aqueous substratum, if I may be permitted to use the expression, inheres

permanently through the phases of water, ice and Steam . But we are for

getting that all this elaborate refutation is directed by Sankara against an

imaginary Buddhist objection which no Buddhist would ever have thought

of ra ising, viz : that cause and effect may continue without the former

giving its colouring to the effect .

Sankara proceeds to refute yet another series of objections which he

1 imao 'ines to be raised . He loses Sight of the Sarvasb ankara lo se s eight 5

fifnéh

fheiggfifi iw m a'

titvavadin’

s theory and starts an Objection such as

only a Bhuddist , who had misunderstood Vijfi finav fida,could b ring forward

What if the origination and cessation of a thing mean its perception

and non-perception

To this imaginary Buddhist objection Sankara thus repl ies

That is not the case, says he . Perception and non-perception have

reference to the percipient mind,and have ab so lute lv nothing to do with

the thing to be perceived, so that, in this case, you are driven to admit

the non-momen tariness or the permanence of things

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13 8 s vs'

rEus o r Bunnii i s ric THOUGHT .

vmc/mngcat lc. Sankara answers this Objection, if it can be called one, in

the following manner

If you adm it this,you must admit the siinultaneo usne ss of cause and

efi ect , and if you admit this simultaneousness, you contra dict your Buddhist

theory of momentariness .”

The refutation is as uncalled for as the objection w hich it seeks to

demolish . In this connection it will not be out ofThe d iffe ren ce b e

t w e en the Ve dan t ic place to say something on the Vedantic and theand t he B uddhis t icconcept ion of cause Buddhist conceptions of the relation between causeand effe ct .

and effect . The Vedant ins do no t accept any other

cause save material cause . According to them , effects have no

independent existence . They are,in essence

,identical with the

cause (i.e .the mat erial cause) for without the latter they do not exist, so

that they must be considered to be identical with them;In other w ords,

two different things cannot have invariable concom itance, while cause and

effect have it and therefore cause and effect are identical . The’

stock

example of the cause residing in the effect is that of clay being found in

an earthen pot . Of course we must not forget that the only cause accepted

by the Vedantins is the material cause . It is needless to remind the scholar

of the two readings (in?) and (W and ) on the Brahmasfitra mam ,

(“we get the effect w hen there is the cause” ) or W anna : (

“we see

the cause in the Again Sankara proceeds to point out that the

effect too must be in the cause like oil in a sesamum seed,otherwise we

should not be able t o get the former from the latter just as we cannot get

oil from sand .

Sankara apparently overlooks the fact that the cause i s often wider

than the effect just as in that well known instance in the Bhagavadg'i ta,

Ha éa‘id flfit (i .e .

“I am not in the world but the world is in me”

)

which means that God (the cause) is something more than the world (‘the

effect i) . According to the Vedant ins, then, ta/lrttznyn or indentity i s the

relation between ‘cause’ and ‘effect’; w hile ac cording to the Naiyayikas

imam or permanent inherence is the relation between them . The

Vedantins do not accept (inane .

“ M oreover ”, says Sankara, “ to be

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS . 139

produced implies an action which again implies an agent . If, at the time

of production,there is no effect

,then what is it which is produced ? In

other words,

according to Sankara, the subject must exist before the predi

cate . But this v ie w is not sound, as both may be simultaneous . Sankara

goes on to say that Causality is a relation and that a relation presupposes

more than one thing, so that the effect must be regarded to exist with the

causality .

Sankara, at this point, anticipates an objection .

“If the effect already

exists,why then the effort to produce it to which he replies as follows

“The effort in question is merely for the purpose of bringing the effect

into a desired form and no t for that of bringing it into existence .

”

In fact nothing new can be brought into existence, but only changes

of form can be effected and a change of form is not an indication of some

thing .new. For example a tortoise contracted is not really different from

itself with its head and legs extended . S imilarly cause is like a contracted

torto isej

and the efi ect is merely its expansion . Those who do not accept

existence of the efi cct before its production,may be asked

,why if the

effect does not already exist, effort is made to make it appear ? The Sankhyas

admit that both cause and effect are real— that the efi ect i s but the transfor

mation of the cause . But the Vedant ins maintain that the cause is the

only real ity and the effects are mere appearances . The difference betw een

the two views appears to me to be immaterial from the practical po int of

view, for both accept the existence of the efi ect in some form in the cause

(i .e . material cause) .

Here w e must note the Sarvas tit vavadin’

s v iew of causalit for it has

been maintained in India, times out of number, b vThe Sarv ast i t vav a v

din’

S VieW Ofca‘mali”anti-Buddhists that the Buddhists do not accept

causality .

In Aryade va’

s Commentary on the M adhyam ika Sastra (Chp : xx,

Karika which has come down to us in Kumz’

irajiva’

s Chinese

version,

a portion of which the late M r. Harinath De and myself have

translated and published in the Herald,the Sarvastit vavadin’s view of

) ausality is stated in the following objection

HO SYSTEMS o r Bl’

DDHlS'

l‘

lC THOUGHT .

The cause never perishes but only changes its name,when it becomes

an effect, having changed its State . For example,clay becomes jar having

changed its state ; and in this case the name clay is lost and the name jararises .” 1

I do not think Sankara knew or admitted that his own view

of Causality w as anticipated by or borrowed from that of the Sarvast i

t vavadins . It is worth w hile noting that the Sarvfist itv avadins allowed

the simultaneousness betw een cau se and effect only in one instance, v iz when

two things were mutually the cause and effect of each other,that is to say, in

their technical language,in the case of mental things only

and in the case of both mental and material things so b abb zib etn,

”The

effect in both cases is called

This is detailed in full in the Second Chapter of the AbhidharmakoSa.

In other cases the cause and effect are not regarded as Simultaneous by the

Sarvastitivavadins .

Q

It is interesting to note that the metaphysical M adhyamikas disbelieved

causality as they disbelieved many other things . Their v iew is given by

Aryadeva in his answer to the Sarvastitv avadin’

s objection cited above

“ Jars and tiles and water-pots come out of clay . If clay is merely a

provisional existence,it cannot become jar etc . after changing its state . We

may apply the expression “mere change of name” to the case of milk and

curd . There it would not be right to affi rm that the cause becomes effect

by undergoing a change merely by the loss of its name” .

But let us return to Sankara’s critici sms of the Sarvastitvavadins .

Refutat ion of San . Taking his stand on his m isconception of the doctrine

Sfifigsfi’

fivt

rfivifir

dl

irf:the

of “Universal Impermanence” —w hich he interprets to

mean tha t the thing of the preceding moment is absolutely different from

that of the succeeding,whereas

,in reality, the Snrvcistitvavcidin

understands by it that the j ib nse ofa tiri ng or j aerson c/zangcs every moment

1 The San skr it v ersion is as b e lo w

fi rs? saw s fin’

i %rfi : Haw aii useQ 9

gam e: ear: strain 11

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H 2 SYSTEM S or BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

2m] Baflfl/zz‘

st Obj ection

M ay not the cognition‘this is similar to that’ be a different new

cognition independent of the apperception of the earlier and later momentary

existences” .

This objection is quite imaginary . Bhuddhist philosophy alw av s

recognises “similarity” to be something relative .

sankara goes on to refute this objection unnecessarily

“The terms ‘this’ and ‘that’ point to the existence of different things

which the mind grasps in a judgment of similarity . If the mental act

having sim ilarity for its object were an act altogether new,

and not

concerned with the t w o separate entities that are similar, the expression‘this is similar to that’ would have no meaning at all

,since in that case

we would have used ‘similarit-y’in an absolute and not in a relative

sense .”

Sankara’s argument here is self-evident and never denied by the

Buddhist .

Now what is the Sarvas titv avadin’

s View of the “ap alabd/ia or the

perceiver

That great Vasub andhu’

s View i s that it is ‘v ijfiana’ or ‘consciousness’

the substratum of which,

‘mind’ or is perma

The t erm perce i

V9 ?”e x plaln ed nent . Vasumi tra

,however

,maintained that the

perceiver” w as the aggregate of the five .[mlrz'

yas which, being mate rial,had a permanent substratum .

M oreover, according to the Sarvastitvavadins,

“M emory (Smriti)i s one of the forty-six eaz

’

tta-zlb armas and therefore permanent . It belongs

to the M ahabhi'

imik a section which includes f e lla /”a”

(sensation) , sag/fut

(conception) , cetaw a (thought) , S/Jarsa (touch ) , eb b amla (desire) , mati

(intelligence) , smr iti (memory) , mazzasl'

cZ/‘a (attention ) , rulb z'

uzob sb a (de t ermi

nation) , and samdrlb z'

(meditation) .

Before proceeding to examine the remaining criticisms of Sankara.

carya, it would be preferable for us to attempt to form an idea of the

o i'

l‘

llE SAav _ i STITVAm oms M 0

other doctrines of the Sarvas titvavadms . Accordingly I pass on to thel rconception of sense-object .

THE SENSF-OBJECTS .

Sense-objects, according to the Sarvastitv avadins, are of five kinds

,

namely

(1 )‘Rfipa

’ or colour and form .

(2)‘Sabda’ or sound .

(3 )‘Gandha’ or smell .

(4 )‘Rasa’ or taste .

(5)‘Sparsa’ or touch .

“R z'

fpf

l'

a Fla/t oya’ 1

Or “the department of colour-and-form is a mate rial thing to be perce l v ed by sight From one point ofThe o b j e c t of sight .

view , i t is divisib le into two classes, namely, (1)

colours and (2) form or figure from another pointof view it is of twenty kinds . Accordingly it i s said in the Abhidharma

kosa z— “Rfipam dv iv idham v a v imsatidha”

. According to the latter subdivision colour admits of 12 di v isions

, and figure (samsthana )admits of 8 sub-divisions . As regards colour Vasub andhu observes

“Colour is of four kinds,namely

, (1 ) Blue (2) yellow(3 ) Red (lo/Etta) and (4 ) white

colours . Safe st/[amt

(form or figure) is of eight kinds, namely, (1 ) long, (2) short, (3 )(l ) square, (5) high, (6) lo w , (7) straight and (8 ) crooked . Vtproceed to

round,

r

e next

1 Japane se : Shit e-I.aG.

s i’

s'

i‘sns OF Bunnnls rlc THO UGHT.

Sabela Vie/t ayo,” 1

Or,

“the department of sound which means a material thing that can

The o b j ect ofhearing .

be perceived by the sense of hearing (Sro tremlrlya) .

It is divided into eight kinds . Sound or ‘S'abzla

’ is

divided into two principal heads,namely, (1 ) or the sound

of the ‘

grcat element which possesses the power of perception’

and (2)‘amgaclltama/nlbb zlta

’ or the ‘great element which does not possess the power

of perception’. An example of the former would be the lecture of a

professor and the latter the fall of a torrent . Again each of these is sub

divided into two heads, namely, (a) ‘satlm -saa/cbyclta

’ or ‘articulate’ and (b)

‘asattva-saab byelta

’ or ‘inarticulate’. An example of an articulate sound

produced by a body that has no perception would he, say, a song reproduce d

by the gramophone .

The example given by the Sarvas tit vvafidins is what is known, in the

Indian lite rature, as‘a voice from the cloud’ or (Zl 'a

‘

éa-vaw l. Each Of

these sub-divisions, again 1s sub-divided into ‘sab’lza

’ or pleasant and

or unpleasant. Next comes,

G'

a/al/ta Vie/tayo,

Or,

“The department of smell” which means a mate rial thing w hich is

to be perceived by the sense of smelling Gb l 'cirzemtfiya)The O b je c t of sm e l

l ing. Vasub andhu says z— “Smell is of four kinds . First

sagamlb a or ‘good smell’

,second (largamlb a or ‘b ad smell’

,either of which

is again subdivided into two (a) Samagaarllza ?’ or small which become

nourishment for the body,and (b) vz

'

samayaarl/tat its contrary . Next we

pass on to

lfasa fi ts/l aya

Or a material thing serviceable, by the j l/w e /ulrlya or the sense of

taste . It is of six kinds,namely

, (1 ) sweet,

(2) sour (amla) , (3 ) sal t (laran a) , (L) acrid

(5) bitter (til'ta) and (6) astringent (M alaya) . Then comes

The O b je ct of tas te .

1 Japan e se : Shb Jap T64 4 3

4 Jap : FutG 5 Jap : Sok -kéb .

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14 6 s i'

sTEns o r BLDDHISTIU Tno uo n'

r.

Indriya means supreme (parama)“Lord” (tévara) and ruler

after grasping external objects the Indriyas are capable of arousing thought

(eittotp clda) or of exciting‘v ijfiana

’ or consciousness . Accordingly the

term Indriya is to be explained as the act of arousing consciousness and as

the grasping of the sense-objects or ‘Vl sb aya’. In other words, each of the

five Imlm'

yas is an agent without which none of the five vzj fi aaas would

become capable of perceiving an external obj ect .

The derivation of Indriya adopted by the Sarvfistitvavadins is as

follows

m arzi sffi l sk ufi fi'

fi xfii ufi i as s umififi fwzmiifi l s vi mm are sic

—on fi fe; samba

-

cam

W m W M (am sa fes” w ar

What then is the meaning of the word ‘I /ulnfya’

.

7 The word i s de

rived from the root ‘I tll’

(1st conj . par. ) indicating absolate sup remacy .

Taking this root, we get the form ‘Imlautl’ gives the form

‘imlrani’. (Vide P . Sutr .a [ml/vialr-ap ra/yaya aancb lll '

a z) meaning those

which exercise supremacy . The next stage lmlrany-e oa or

imlaatl iti z’

aelriyam.

”

(Vide P . Sutra, Soartb egb as tazltl/u'

ta Vasub andhu

says -“Vijfiana is of five kinds

,namely

,those con

The e ssence o f the

$21;ifixe‘

fi‘

gn s 1 3 n ect ed with (1) eye, (2) car, (3 ) nose, (4 ) tongue and

(5) body . Dependent on these five Vijfianas are

what are known as the fiv e kinds of pure material s (Prasada rfipani) .

These ‘pure materials’ are called the eye-sense-organ (Cak shv indriya) ear

sense-organ (sro trendriya) e tc .

” These show clearly that, according to the

Sarvastitvavadins, the essense of the five indriyas or sense-organs i s

entirely material . As I have pointed out,

according to the Sarvastit

v avadins, it i s z'

zulrz'

g/a which perceives an object5—a fact,the knowledge of

Yasomitra ’

s Ab hidharma -kos'

a Sas tra vyakya , Chap . 1 1 .

TlIE sanvasrrrvavanms . 14 7

which would have saved Sankara from the errors he has fallen into in his

attempts to refute Buddhist philosophy . He displays almost at everyturn his ignorance of the fundamental principle of Sarvastit vavada, namely,that the substratum of all things including the sense-organs is permanent

and unchangeable .

Each indriya has t w o sub -divisions namely,principal indriya 1 and

2auxiliary indriya. In modern scientific t ermlnology

in

s

d

l

ifjizi’

s

r

ismn s Of each

the former corresponds to the nerve and the latter to

the organ for that nerve thus in the case of the eyes,

optic nerve would be the principal indriya while the eyeball w ould be its

auxiliary . According to the Sarvastitvavadins,the substratum of the

principal indriya consists of a combination of p umm el/27mwhich are extremely

pure and m inute, while the substratum of the latter is the flesh made of

gro ssei;materials . The principal indriya i s invisible and intang ible owing

to its extreme minuteness . Accordin gly the Abhidharma-Kosa saysI

“The indriyas of kaya (body) etc ., cannot be called divisible because

they cannot, by any means, be broken into two or more parts . They can

not be divided b ecause in that case their function would cease,the limbs of

the body being parted asunder . The Kayendriya etc . are further indiv i

sible on account of their extreme purity and excellence resembling the light

Ofgems .” 3

The five supreme indrivas difi er from one another with respect to the

manner and form of their respective atomic combinaThe fo rm an d mann e r

of at omic comb in a

t ion s of the fi v e se nse

o rgan s .

t ions . Thus the illustration employed to explain the

formation of the organ of vision is that of flour being

poured into a vessel filled with water . Just as in such a case the particles

of flour would scatter themsel ves o v er;the surface of the water, even so do

the minute atoms (paramanu) which compose what i s known as the organ

of vision spread themselves over the pupils of the eye .

1 Jap an e se : Shégz-kon .

2 Japan e se : Buj in -lcon .

3 The Ab hidharmak osa-Sastra,Chap .

'

I .

1 4 8 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

The minute atoms which go to make up the ‘organ of hearing’ are re

presented as being subjected to an unintermittent act of screwing up resem

bling the spontaneous rolling up of the bark of a cherry tree as soon as it i s

detached from the trunk .

The minute atoms constituting the ‘organ of smell’ are represented as

being situated inside the nostrils in either of which they are said to be

placed side by side symmetricallv .

The minute atoms of ‘taste’ are described as being situated in the form

of a half moon on the surface of the tongue itself .

Lastly the m inute atoms which build up the ‘organ of touch’ are

represented as spreading over the entire corporeal frame, their number

being supposed to be exactly equal to that of the atoms of which the body

consists .

Tb e sp ecial cap acity (f tb e Reap ectz'

re b almy/as .

Each of the five indriyas has a special capacity of its own and is able to

give rise to the pert icular of

t/flaw which corresponds to it . What the

special capacity of each indriya i s will be seen from what follows

1 . The indriyas of vision and hearing can grasp their object remotely

as well as c lose at hand . The keenest {ml/171W is thatThe special capacity

of the cak shu and of the eye,possessing as it has not only the power of

sro trendriya .

grasping the colour at a distance but also that of

arousing C’alrsba zv'

j naaa as soon as it grasps its object. The indriya of the

hearing has also the power of perceiving its object at a distance but it i s not

so keen as that eye-organ .

2. The indriyas of smell l ana taste (fl/ton) and touch (Katya )have not the power to apprehend remote objects but

The specia l capacityof Gh ana, Jihva and only to grasp proximate ones . That is to say, theyKayendriya.

0

are unable to give ri se to the o zyfi aaa corresponding to

them unless they come in immediate contact with their respective objects .

The degree of contiguity to their respective objects required by each of them,

i s said to vary for the purpose of giving rise to thei r respective 777756 710 3 .

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150 svsrmrs o r BUDDH I STIC THOUGHT .

dingly the term Amj fi ap ti’

arma etymologically means action no t made

It signifies a karmic energy which is not perceived by the fiveknown

senses or made known to another . The vehicles for expressing and commu

nicating our thoughts and ideas are our limbs and,voice or as the

Sank rit language has it “body and w ords” . The Sarv fistitvavfidins lay

stress on the fact that as soon as we perform an act or express an idea

good,or b ad

,w hich, in their techn ical language, is called under the com

prehen sive name of Vq'

j ffi ap tz'

-rz7p a or “action made known ”

, (rfipa being

synonymous with Karma here) a latent energy is impressed on our

person,which is designated as Ari/fi np ti- filp o or “

action not made known”

because it does no t manifest itself to others but remain hidden in the person

of the door .

It is quite unconscious or, more accurat elv speaking, subconscious . Ao

cording to the Sarvastitva fadins, the -Tflj /fl, being a latent eneruy,

is bound sooner or later to blossom forth into Karmaz'

c effect,and is the only

bridge which connects the cause and the effect of Karma,good or had

done by bOdy or speach. It is one of the seventy—fiv e enternal clb armas

being included in rz7j Ja But does it no t look like a contradiction to

include it in that category seeing that the definit ion of rfipa, according to

the Sarvfist itv av fidins, i s ‘

yi i‘

a/ryb zlt p a,” that is to sav , rfipa has for its

characteristic resistiveness ? The apparent contradict ion disappears when

we come to consider that Any?) ftp /i-Karma i s a resultant of tw at/fi tt’

a i'ma

w hich is produced by body or speech both of which come under the category

of rfipa- t .arma thus the effect Arij fiap tl pertakes of the nature of its cause

s fficp ti which comes under 7'

27p a- (lb ar7/za and i s,therefore

,classed among

the latter .

Thus according to the Sarvastitvavfidins, Karma is divided into two great

heads thought or Octane -Karma which is SynonyD iv is ion Of Karma '

mous with flfanml 'cf'ra and (2) motion or Cattasz’

b al 'arnza

which is subdivided into (a) bodily act’

clyll'

a’

arma) and (b) vocal act

(s cil‘a Karma) . Now each of these subdivisions of motion is divided into

two sections, namely,W7’

fi ap ti- lx’

arma and Ari/oi amt-Karma of the body and

'

rnn sx nvAST ITVAVADIXs . 151

speech respectively . The divisions and subdivisions are given in the follow

ing diagram

3afsm°3

(Cetana-karma) (Caitasika-karma)

(Kayika-karma )

sum fi afaaw i‘

(Kayika-v ijfi apt i-karma) (Kt’

iyikav ijnap t i-karma)

mfi mfiafii an?

!

(Vz'

icik a-v ijfi ap ti-karma) (vacik i‘

iv ijnap ti karma. )

CITTAM OR “M IND

The author and the commentators of the Abhidharma-Kos' a take pains

The m ind is the king to point out that “M ind” is the k in‘g Jof the

o f the men tal realme . mental realm (‘Calt ta “The Cittam, or

“M ind”, continue the commentators, “governs all things mental and

recognises their respec tive characteristics, as soon as it perceives them,

exactly in the same manner as a king governs his ministers and subjects andgenerally administers his state affairs .” This explanation

,however

,luminous

it may appear to the old-world student of Buddhism,fails

’

to leav e any

1 Jap G6.

2 Jap Shi-gO o r I

Jap : Shin -go .

5 Jap : Go -gO.

7 Jap : Shin-mahyG-yé.

8 Jap : Go-k gb -go.

3 Jap : Shi-i-gd.

Jap : Shln

9 Go-muhyé-gri.

152 s ys'

rnns o r BUDDHisTi c THOUGHT .

lasting impression on modern minds like ours,so that I gladly pass on

to Vasub andhu’s definition of it by means of terms almost equipollent

,

to use John Stuart M ill’s well-known phrase .

“The m ind”, says Vasub andhu, “is called ‘Cittam’ because it observes

‘M anas’ because it considers

Vasub andhu s defi n l

“on Of the mmdand because it descriminates 1

So the words ‘cit tam,

’ ‘mauas’

and are, in a certain sense,

synonymous,in the Buddhist psychology .

We proceed now to the subdivisions of the mind (Cittam,manas or

o iiffia'

ua) made by the Sarvastitvav fidins,which are technically called ‘the

six kinds of v ij ff'

uinas’.

Tb c sir l imbs of'mj ffi cinas .

The substance of m ind in the Philosophy of the Sarvastit vavadins i s

divided into six,w e

(1 ) the cal sar- w j ffui /za g (‘eye-discrim ination’)

(2) the Sl‘o ti 'a (‘ear-discrimination’)

(3 ) the g/i ra'

p a-vi/M aa"(‘smell-discrimination’)

(4 ) the j ib (‘taste-discrimination’)

(5) the b eiya (‘touch-discrimination’)

(6) the 7aauo-ci/fi fina 7 (‘thought-discrimination’

)

These respectively depend upon their respective sense-organs (indriya) ,

The re spect iv e seat such as the ‘co braba -iadriya

’

(eye-sense-organ) ,Of the

v ijg‘

en’éfnds O i

éi 'o ti ‘a-imh'iya’

(ear-sense-organ ) , etc . The ‘calrsb ar

oy'

fficina, discriminates color and form (oarua and soviet/cane ) the

sratra ‘sound’ (sabtla) , the ‘

g/mtaa‘smell’

the fj ili i'cZ-vij fid na’ ‘taste ’ (raw ) the ‘l'a

'

ya‘touch’ (ap aisa)

lastly the ‘ij iaao-v ij fi cia discriminates the or the ‘

tb iwgw ess’ of a

thing, if I may be permitted to coin the uncouth abstract noun, since the

English language has no word to represent exactly the idea of ‘(lb arma

’ in this

1 The Ab hidharmak osa-Sas t ra Chap . 1 1 . (fasc. IV. )Jap : Gen -

sheki. Jap : Ni-shik i . Jap

: B i -shq l c.

5 Jap: Zes -shik z. Jap : Shi n o sli ik i. Jap : I -shiki

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T/l i 'ee limbs of b iscrhaiw atiou .p

ro

‘ o o s oA o o g al he d i scriminative function of m ind i s clssifi ed into three

0

( . q 1 . ’ 10

‘

0 a 0

Ex planation o f theVIZ (i ) s l ab/La w mu lesa natural di scrimination

t li re e Nirdeéas(11)

‘

j zn'

ayoga-am lesa

’2(‘actual d iscrimination’) and (i i i )

‘aaaw ar iti-ain leéa

’ 3(reminiscent The first means an intui

tive function operating at the present time the second indicates no t only an

intuitive function but also an inferential one operating throughout the three

div isions of time,the present etc .

,and the third signifies a re tro spec

tive or a reminiscent function . In other words, the fi rst deal s only with the

present while the second is concerned with the present, the past and the

future in a very comprehensive manner, and the third has to’

do exclusively

with the past . Among the six kinds of Vijfianas, the first five (cab s/m,Sw ot/ a, glad /ea, j ib vci , and hiya) possess only the intuitive function (s cab/Lava

ii i/ 'ilesa)’

while the six th (‘1/iaao possesses all the three func

tions . This is the reason why the first five i 'l lias are call ed ‘aaiw leéa

’

(‘lacking discrimination’

) while the‘uum o-vi/itciaa

’ i s called

(possessing The Abb ifl/zarma Ir’osa says

There are , in brief, three kinds of discrim ination, v iz ‘intuitive ’

‘ inferen tial’ (yi rayoga and rem iniscent

(‘anusmr iti The intuitive discrimination only is possessed by the

first five L' ij i

’

ubaa-b'ciyas, and not the other two,for which reason they are

called ‘anirdesa

’ or (‘lacking Thus,for instance

,we call

a horse ‘foot-l ess’ when it has 0 111 one foot” 4.Y

1 Jap : J ishO-fun b cts u.

2 Jap : Ke taku-j im b e ts a . .Iap Zume n-fcm b e tsu’

The Ab hidharni ak osa -sus t i 'a . Chap . I (fuse . II . )

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS. 155

CAITTA-DHARM AS (‘M ENTAL PROPERTIES) .

‘Cait ta-dharmas’ signify ‘mental prope rties’ which follow the action of

the ‘cit tam

’ like courtiers who follow theirThe fun ct ion of the

M en tal Pro pe rt ies .

king . The function of the ‘Caitta i s to seiz e

the special characteristics of an object, while the ‘eittam

’

perceives it s general characteristics . Thus ‘cit tam

’ is concerned with

generalities while the ‘caitta-(lbarmas

’ deal with particularities . For

example, when w e see a human form at . a distance, it is ‘cit tam

’ which

enables us to find out whether it is that of a man or a woman whereas

the caitta-db armas help us to make out whether the person is one-eyed or

two-eyed,tal l o r short fai r or dark, etc . Accordingly perhaps the best

equivalent for ‘cittam in the language of mo dern European psychology

would be ‘conception .

’

The Sai'vast it vavadins recognise forty-six kinds of caitta-fl/zarmas,the

Vijfianavadins, who classify them also differently, give a list of fifty-one .

The Sarvastit vavadins divide the “cait ta-dharmas” into six classes

, v iz

(a) M ahabhr'

imika-dharma.

l(10 )

(b) ,Kusala -(lharma .

2(10 )

(c) Klesa-mahabhr’

imikail-dharma .

3

(d) Akusala-mahabhfimika-dharma .

4(2)

(e) Upaklesa-bhi‘

imika-dharma .

5(10 )

(f) An iyatabhr'

imika

Let us enumerate these one by one

I. iVa/zLib/1 amil‘ci-Db armas .

These are mental operations which, as' thei r name indicate s

signifying ‘general’ or ‘common’ in this connection) ,The spe cia l fun ct ion are common universally to all man’s mental functions

o f the M ahdbhilm ikd

In the ‘moral and immoral realms’. These functions

further classified into (a) good, (b) b ad, and (c)

1 Jap : Da ichi-ho.

2 Jap : Dazz enchi-ho.

f Jap ; Dazb onnbchi-ho‘

. Jap : Daij’

az enchi-ho.

Jap Shfi b o nt i -hfi. Jap : Fuj obchi-ho.c-n

156 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTI C THAUGHT .

neutral . In other wor ds, whenever any mental function ari ses,there

arise wi th it Simultaneously a number of (lb armas,

and these are called‘mahabhi

‘

imikadharma’ or “mental operat ion common to the three ‘grounds’

good,b ad

,neutral) , into all mental f unctions are divisible .”

They are ten in number, v iz

I . Vedana' l

2. Same ct

Smr iti 7

M am e/aim 8

Aalb imolrsb a 9 fixing .

’

10 . Scliiia'

rlb i l 0

The next heading is

3 .

4 .

5.

6 . Jlfati 6

7 .

8 .

9 .

U . Kaéala-M ab ctbb i

'

l'a-Db arw a .

These are, as the name indicates, “mental operaThe special Operat i on

of the Kuéala -M ahé tions common to all good thoughts” and are ten inM ilind a-dharma .

number

i . Sm ite/re l 1

’

2. I7i 9

Up ebsb a1 3

Hm” 1 4

03

4

5 Ap atrapd1 5

6 . Alobb a 1 6

7 Azte cs/M I 7

8 A/i imoi 1 R

9 . Pmérabrl/i i 1 9

10 . Ap raanirlai’ ‘1

1 Jap : Ja .

4 Jap : 1sok .

5 Jap : Yoku .

3 Jap : Baku -i .9 Jap : Sh6~ge .

1 2 Jap : Gen .

1 3 Jap : Sha .

1 ° Jap M uton .

1 7 Jap M uslim.

9"Jap : Fu-hb -itsu.

Faith .

Diligence .

Indifference .

Shame for one’s self .

Shame for another.

Freedom from covetousness .

Freedom from hatred .

Harmlessness .

Peacefulness of mind .

Carefulness .'

1 Jap : Sk i.7 Jap : New .

1 1 Jap Shin .

“5 Jap Gi.1 ” Jap Ke i-a fn .

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158 SYSTE M S o r Bunnn i sri c TIIAUGHT.

p

o P aritcipa

6 7"lb i 3

7 Upand/m4

8 .Mciyrii’

9 . Scitj/a11

l 0 JV/arla 7

come the

T7 . Anii/a ta-B/Jzlmib’

ci-Dlzai ’ma .

These literally mean menta l operations which do no t fall within a

Charact erist ic of the definite or particular divi sion Under thisAn iya tn-b hilm zka -dhar

W 1 heading, therefore, are included those “caitta-zlb armae”

which cannot be brought under one of the five headings given above . .They

are eight in number

1 .

’

aab'grityas Repentance

2. JI/[ill/lbra 9 Torpor .

3 . Titarl‘a 1 0 Discussion .

4 . Fiat/7 1, 1 1 Judgement .

5. Raga1 2 Affection .

6 . P rofig/la1 11 Anger.

7 . 111 09 111 1‘1 Pride .

8 . Vicib itsci 1 5 Doubt .

We have already Stated that the objective classification of the universe

divides it into 75 dharmas,the substratum of which is permanent

,according

to the Sarvast itva‘

vadins . Now these dharmas fall into two main heads

“samsk rita

”and “

asamskrita” The

latte r which will be fully treated presently are three in number v iz

(i) Alvisa (i i ) P ratisanit/c iiiii'

oflb a ; and (iii) Ap ratismzl bya’

airorlb a . The

72 “Samsk rita-dharmas” fall into four main groups

(i) Rfipas -which are eleven in number, v iz : ‘av ijfrapti-rfipa

’ which

w e have already described, the fiv e ‘indriyas’ or faculties (v iz

2 Jap : N6 .

3 Jap : Ga l .

Jap : Ki b .

7 Jap : Ki é. Jap : Kw ai .1 ° Jap : Zm .

1 1 Jap : Sk i. Jap : To 'n .

1"Jap : M a w .

1"Jap (h .

'

1‘H E SARVAST ITVAVAni x s .

'

1at)

sigli t ,.

hearing, smell, tongue, touch) , and the objects of‘ them

(‘imlriya v iz form,

sound,odour, taste, contact .

(i i ) Cit tam (mind ) , which constitutes a by itself .

(iii) Caitta- (l/iarmav which, as we have just no w seen, arefo rty-size in

number . They are also called “Cit/a-samp rayab ta

which literally means “composite energy conjoined with the

m ind”, as opposed to,

(iv) ‘Citta-vip rayal.t a-sauzskcira

’ which are fourteen in number and

thus complete the tale of seventy-fiv e .

Now let us see what are the cilla -samsb'a'

ra (Marl/ms .

CITTA-VIPRAYUKTA-SAM SKARA.

The full name is “Rap a-citta -samMara-(Marina which means

composite energies apart from the matter and m ind” . These energies

are no t always actual but potential and it must be noted that they cannot

become active unless they are joine d to a m ental o r material basis, though

they are quite independent of both m ind and matter . They are, of course,different from the a s

'

az/isl'r ita-fl/zarmas,

as the very name “samskara”

indicates . The number of these is fourteen

1 . Pra'

p ti1 Attainment .

Non-attainment .

3 . Sabb ayata"1 Common characteristics .

4 . Asaug’

fi ila" Absence of perception .

5. Asaugj i’

i i-sauuip attif’ Stage ofmeditation producing cessa

tion of pe rception .

Jap : D6-b an .

Jap : M ei o sO-k w a .

5 Jap : M to-sO-j id.

160 SYSTE M S 0 1“ BUDDH ISTIC

6 . Nii 'ocl/ia-sizzlzctlicit ti1 Stage of meditation producing ces

sation of mental

Life .

Origination .

Co tinuance .

Decay .

Impermanence .

Words .

Sentence .

Letters (whether they compose a

word or not) .

The point to be borne in mind in this connection is that it is not the

fourteen ‘dharmas’ mentioned above that constitute Ri a-citla- rip rayalcla

cal/islara” but it is the energy which produces them which is to be calle d

by that name, such as the energy which produces letters of the alphabet,

groups them into words and puts words together into a sentence,etc .

Such are the Samsk rita-dharmas, according to the Sarvastitva

vadins . The Vijnanavadins have an enumeration and a classification

of their own . They enumerated as many as one hundred (lb armas,

out of which there are fifty-one cait tadharmas

, but, unlike the

Sarvast it vavadins, they regard them all as impermanent excepting cij fiaim.

We shall treat of the views of this school after we have completed our

account of the Sarvast it vavadins, the Satyasiddhi school and the

M adhyamikavadins .

I shall pass on now to

1gap :

gfq tsa -j m -j it

‘

i .

ap : m .

l Jap : Nié-shm .

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162 SYSTE M S o r B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

The second epithet means ‘capable of being defined by negatives’,

if,at all

,it is a te rm used in any Buddhist work to characterise the

Asamsk rita-dharmas . In all probability, it i s a characterisation Sankara’s

own and means,as he intends it to mean

,a negation . The third epithet does

not mean ‘unreal’ or as Dr . Thibaut translates it, ‘devoid of all positive

characte ristics’. It should, if sense is expected from it, rather mean, as

the Ratnaprabha gives it,‘Nissvarzlp ain

’ or ‘devoid of form’

. It is,as we

shall Show later on, in all probability,a mutilated form of a Buddhist term

which Sankara misspelt and did not properly understand . Let us now

analyse Sankara’s criticism of the views of the Sarvastitvavadins concern

ing Ab‘dSa or space, as distinguished from the ordinary use of that word

0 oin the sense of ‘sky’ and as such synonymous W ith ‘

gaganain‘kham’

.

Sankara’s arguments are as follows

(i) “You cannot call Akasa, Nirapa'

lcbya, because it is a Vastn, a fact

which is corroborated by

(a) Scriptural passages like : “From Atman arose Akasa” (Tait t iriya

Upanishad, II, I ) .

(b) The fact that the existence of sp ace may be infered from the qual ity

of sound just as the qual ities of smell etc .

,indicate the

real ity of their abodes such as the earth etc .

(11) To say that fil déa is nothing but the general absence of Avarana

would hardly meet your case . Suppose one bird is flying . It would

thereby create an Avarana or covering or occupation of space with the

result that if a second bird wants to fly at the same time, there would

be no room for it to do so .

”

Budelb ist obj ection.

But the second bird may fly where there is no Av arana or a covering

Answ er.

Your objection means that Akasa, then, i s a real Vasla or entity,since it is that by which the absence of covering bodies is distinguished . In

other words, it is Space in the ordinary sense, and no t, in your Buddhist

THE SARVASTITVAVADINS. 163

sense, mere “non-existence of covering bodies If you ask yourself

what enables you to declare that there is absence of covering in one place

and not in another, the answer will be ‘space’,which

,therefore

,must be

“Som ething real .

(iii) “With regard to his views respecting space,the Buddhist

contradicts himself. For instance, in a Buddhist sfitra,Buddha is

represented as saying “Air has for its basis Aké‘réa” in answer to the

question “What is the basis of air”? This saying of Buddha clearly

admits that Alaiéa i s a positive entity and not a mere negation as the

Sarvastitv avadins maintain

(iv )“ M oreover, the Buddhist statement concerning the three Asafms

b r itazlbarmas is self-contradictory . They say they are Nimc /rbya, (i . e .

non-definab le) and in spite of their being so, they characterise them as

eternal . Now when a thing is not a Vasta or a real ity, you cannot predi

cate its being eternal or non-eternal,because predication of attributes

entirely depends on a thing being real . A thing of which the predication

of an attribute is possible, must be concluded to be a Vasta or reality instead

of being Nirnjntb'bya or‘an undefinab le negation .

”

We shall now proceed to point out

Sanbara’s mistake . Let us examine Sankara’s arguments one by one.

(i) Nimjni/r/iya, if it is a Buddhist characterisation of Asamslrr ita-(lb arma,

does not mean ‘undefinab le

’as Sankara seems to think . It means rather

(if it is, at all,a Buddhist term) , devoid of form or

‘nissvarfipam,

’as the

Ratnaprabha explains it . M oreover, Buddhi sm or rather the Sarvastitva

vadins regard Abatsa as a positive entity, all pervading and eternal,just

as the Naiyayikas did . It is a Vasta if the word be taken to mean an

entity,it is not a Vasta if the word be taken in its Buddhist sense

,ciz

that of material thing . Akasa is immate rial according to the Buddhists.

It is certain that Sankara’s Nirap afitbya is a mistake for the Buddhist

techn ical term Nii ' ilp cilcbjj a (lit : ‘to be called non-rupa’) or immaterial

thing .

(ii) ‘Avarana’,in its Buddhist philosophical sense

,means obstruction

and absence of Av arana means freedom from obstruction . Sankara borrows

1641 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

the Buddhist te rm but gives it _a wrong sense viz : that of ‘occupation

of space’ in order to provehis point that Akasa i s a positive entity,being

under the erroneous impression that the Buddhists did not consider Akasa

to be a negati ve entity . Accordingly, this part of his argument is labour

lost,being based on an erroneous supposition and assuming an unreal

objection,such as no Buddhist would ever have made .

(iii) In the passage of a sfi tra which Sank aracarya cites, the word

Area i s used in the common sense of ‘sky’ and not in the philosophical

sense of ‘space .’

(iv ) The imagined self-contradiction of the Buddhists is based on

Sankara’s e rroneous r eading nirap dbbya instead of Nirztp a'

b bya as pointed

out above .

Let us pass on t o the other t w o Asamsbgritadb armas.

Ap ratisamlcbycigNiroel/za .

Vasub andhu briefly defines Ap ratisamb byctnirodb a as follows‘Ap ratisainbbya

finirozlb a’means the non-perception (nirodha) of dharmas

The defin it ion of caused by the absence of ‘P ratyayas’ or conditions

Ap r a t i s amkhyo -n iro

aha ,and no t produced by knowledge .

” Let us now try to

understand what it means . The Abhidharma M ahavibhasha Sastra gives

us the following illustration Suppose your attention is fixed on one

particular colour so deeply that not only can you no t see a ny other colour,but also you cannot hear any sound, smell any odour, tas te, . or touch

anything . No w ,why cannot any other colour, any sound, odour etc . ,

come within the range of your perception? Simply because the conditions

(pratyayas) thereof are absent . And the non-perception of other colours,

all sounds, all odours, all objects of taste or touch which were present at that

time and w ould, under other conditions, have come W ithin the range of our

consciousness but actually did not come and passed away without entering

it—such an unrealised possibility of the perception of the dharmas, (s is :

of the colours,sounds

,referred to above, passing from the future stage

of “w ill be perceived” into the past stage of were not perceived with

out touching the present stage of being perceived by him whose attent ion is

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1 66 SYSTEM S o r B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

describing Prat isankhya-nirodha as conceived by the Sarvastitvavadins,we can say what M ahomet said of his Parad i se (AZ-j annat) that “it is what

the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor what has ever flashed across themind of man

”. O ne of the Buddhist elders called Sugho shacfirya (quoted

in the Ab hidharma-M ahavibhasha-éaétra) says

“Prat isamkhya-nirodha i s the (Manna par excellence among all (M arinas,

the supreme goal among goals,the highest of all things

,the noblest of all

reasons,the greatest of all achievment s . And therefore is the title anuttamm

or supreme . But what is the abode of this supreme rZ/larma,Nirvana or

pratisamkhya-nirodha ? Is it within or outside the Universe ?”

The answer to this question is given in the Abhidharma-M ahav ibhasha

sastra :“Pratisamkhya

-nirodha i s neither quite the same as the Skandhas

nor quite different from them, but its nature is difi erent from the defiled

skandhas (sfisrav a

This statement is tantamount to saying that Nirvana does not exist

apart from the St and/lax, nor is it quite identical with the Universe . It also

leads to the inference that Nirvana is something eternal . The great conflict

between the Sarvfistitvavadins and the Satyasiddhi school hinged on this

point . But, of this, I shall speak later on . Let me first examine the

accuracy of Sankara’s critici sms of the Sarv fistitvavadins .

San/rara’s obj ection to bomtfiese Nirod/zas .

Both these forms of Nirodfia are impossible according to the Buddhist

doctrine it self which maintains that the series of momentary existence can

never admit of any interruption . Now these Nz’

rod/las must have reference

to one of the follo w ing

(i) E ither to the series of momentary existence, or (11) to single member

of that series .

In the case of (i) the entire cessation of the series ofmomentary existences

becomes an impossibility from the Buddhist point of view, constituting, as

it does,a chain of causes and efi ects . The last link of this chain must either

produce an effect or not produce an effect . If it produces an effect,the

series of momentary existence must b e continued . If it does not produce

THE sanm srrrm VADINS.167

an effect, then the difficulties are still greate r. In the first place, according

to Buddhism,nothing can exist without possessing a causal efficiency, so

that, if the last link of the chain of momentary existences, just referred to ,

does not produce an effect, you Buddhist must admit that it does not exist.

M oreover, if the last link of the chain of cause and effect does not exist, the

whole series, {p 3 0 facto, would become non-existent . Again, it would b e

impossible to maintain that an existence,though momentary, should be

utterly annihilated in such an unaccountable and di sconnected manner, for it

is contrary to practical experience . However various be the stages through

which a thing may pass, still it continues to be recognised through all of

them,clearly or dimly and so has a connected existence . Thus, clay is

recognisable in jars, potsherds and even in the powder produced by grinding

the potsherd .

”

I

San/tara’

s mistake .

Here,we have another startling instance of Sankara’s laboriously correct

deductions from prem ises absolutely false . He must have been utterly

ignorant of the real signification of either of these or else,he would

not have said that Ap ratz’

sam/c/zc -Nz'

rozZ/ra is the contrary of P rata’

sam/c/tyci

Nirod/za and that the latter means an annihilation of existences, preceded

or accompanied by intelligence,as we have seen already that two Nirodhas

refer to two entirely different sets of dharmas . P ratisamM yci-Nirod/za i s the

cessation of the Kleéas by means of knowledge,while Aprat isamkhya

Nirodha means the non-consciousness of Dharmas or things which would

have forced our w ay into our consciousness but for the engrossment of our

attent ion by something else . Apratisamkhya-Nirodha, accordingly, i s a

thing of daily occurrence in every body’s life . On the other hand,Prat isamkhya

-Nirodha among the Sarvastit vavadins, is only another name

for Nirt afila, its real meaning being the extirpation of the Kleéas by means of

knowledge . But how is this extirpation effected ? Not by annihilation, for,as sankara points out, a thing may pass through various stages, but it

cannot be annihilated . M oreover,the Sarvastitvavadins themselves

maintain that substrata are indestructible . The answer is that the ex tir

patiou of the Kleéas is effected by their transmutation into Bod/15or en

168 SYSTE M S o r B UDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

lightenment , for, according to Buddhism, KleSa and Bodhi ' are but the

faces of one and the same thing like carbon and diamond . We have already

referred to the well-known dictum mi n: Hfi fi , W'

HR’

afifa‘im‘

q , but Sankara i s

not content w ith this . He hurl s forth a further objection .

Farmer obj ection by Sec/Mara .

The cessation of ignorance must be included w ithin ApratisamkhyaNirodha and Pratisamkhyfi

-Nirodha . Its eradicat ion must be efi ected by

one of the two : (1 ) either by perfect enlightenment and its adjuncts, or

(2) by itself . In the case of it contradicts the Buddhist doctrine that

everything destroys itself without needing a cause . In the case of what

is the necessity of the noble eight-fold path which leads to Niroa‘na by

eradicating ignorance .

Sankara? misconcep tion .

The eradicat ion of ignorance means only it s tran sformat ion into pcrfect

enlightenment and not its ann ihilation, for nothing, according to the

Sarvastitvavadins, can be annihilated, and ignorance and perfect enlighten

ment are merely the phases of one and the same thing . The eradication

of ignorance comes within Pratisa-mkhy z’i-Nirodha or Nirvana, and no t under

Apratisamkhya-Nirodha which is a quite different thing, as we have already

shown . M oreover, the doctrine of Az

’

r-fie tuka-zrirzdéa (causeless destruction)is absolute ly unknown in Buddhism which maintain s that nothing can

happen without causes and condition s . Sankara i s here guilty of a grave

misrepresentation . The same might be said of the doctrine of self

destructiveness . The necessity of the eight-fold Path consists in the fact

that it is the path to be followed, at least according to the Buddhists, for the

attainment of Nirvana or the extirpation of ignorance .

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170 SYSTE M S or BUDDHISTI C THOUGHT .

(0 ) Now, what is Right Livelihood (Pan :(gamma czfi m

’l—Shr

Now,a well born layman renounces b ad l ivelihood and adopts a

good one . This is what is called Right L ivelihood .

(oi) Now, what is Right Effort (Pali ‘sammcioa

'

ycima’—Skr

‘samyag

No w ,a Bhikshu makes a strong

'

and manly endeavour by pre

paring his m ind thereto

(a) for putting a stop to the rise of evil and Sinful states

(of mind) which have not arisen .

for renouncing the evil and sinful states of mind which

have already arisen .

(c) for giving rise to good states of mind which have not

arisen .

for the continuance,realisation

,repetition

, t ex tension,

meditation and fulfilment of good states of mind that

have already arisen .

This is what is called Right Effort.

Now,what is Right M indfulness (Pali : ‘

sammcfsati’ —Skr

.

7

Now,

a Bhikshu lives z ealously,consciously, mindfully, sub

duing covetousness and despondency in thi s world and regard

ing (1 ) the body as body ; (2) the sensations as sensations ;

(3 ) the mind as mind, (4 ) the (mental) States as (mental)

state s . This is what is called Right M indfulness .

(Vin) Now, what is Right Rapture (Pali : ‘sammcisac d/zi

’ —Skr7

It is the attainment of the four stages of intent meditation

(Fi'

tli —Sk r. one after the other ; to

the l at Im‘eat rflerlz

'

tafz'

on which arises on one’s separating one

self from passions and evil States (of m ind) , which is conjoint

THE 171

w ith application initial (Pali ‘oita/cka

’-Skr.

‘ritarka

’

) and

sustained, which arises from seclusion and is coupled

with pleasure and joy .

(6) the 2nd Intent M editation which arises on the cessation of ap

plication initial and sustained, is conducive to inward peace,is characterised by concentration of mind, dissociated from

application initial and sustained, originating from Rapture,coupled with pleasure and j oy .

(c) the 3 ra In tent M editation which involves indifi erence to

pleasure,i s associated with mindfulness and knowledge

and connected with the bodily feeling of joy .

and (d) the 4 M Intent M edita tion which involves the purification of

mindfulness coupled with indifference,freedom from sorrow

and joy consequent on the renunciation of either and the

previous cessation of joy and sorrow .

‘

D

This is what is called “Right Rapture .”

Such is the Eight-fold Noble Path which leads to the cessation of

suffering . Here, we have Buddhist Ethics in a nut-Shell . Whether the

march of centuries has succeeded in making improvements on it,it is not

for me to judge, but there it stands in its unembe‘llished form

, a Signpost

which has guided the footsteps of g enerations which have preceded us and

which is destined to guide the footsteps of generations which are yet to

follow even though its name and that of its original preacher come to be

forgotten in the midst of ages to come .

CHAPTER IV.

THE SATYASIDDHI SCHOOL .

‘

T/ze t/zeory of tile Sarna-értnj/atat-natal,a .

2

As promised in my preceding lecture, I proceed now to examine the

view of the Saroaéztnyatctvctdins All-i s-void ’maintainers ” ) who are the

The Sarv asfinyatfi direct antagonists of the Sarra'stitnarctdins . Thevadin Scho o l and it s

an tagon ist .former take up a negative standpomt w i th regard to

everything, strenuously denying the absolute existence of anything in the

transcendental sense, asc ribing to it a provisional existence in the conv en

t ional sense ; while the latter, as their name indicates, emphatically lay down

that everything exists in the noumenal state , th ough it does not in the

The founder of this phenomenal . The founder of the Saroaénnyatctva'

din

scho o l is forgo t ten in

India.school w as a native of central India

,named Harivarman,

who formulated his views in a work of his,entitled Satyasidd/zi sa

'

stra” 3 or

Treatise on the Demonstration of the Truth It is remarkable that,no t

to speak of the author and of his work, the very name of the school has been

forgotten in India, so that it will not be out of place to say something about

Harivarman and his game before proceeding to examine his philosophy .

T/ie Satyasidd/zi Sasha , the Sanskrit original of which is irrecoverablyA ' A y

The Satyasiddhilost, has come down to us in the great Kumaraj i va s

Sastra in China masterly Chinese version . There w as also a Tibetan

translation of the work . It consists of just 202 Chapters . The work

became so popular with the Buddhists of China that, under the Liandynasty, 4

a philosophical school actually came to be established in that country w hich

took its name after the Satyasiddhi Sastra .

1 Jap : J io-j i tsu -shiat .

2 Jap : Sho-hé-kai-kd -ron .

3 Nan j io’

s Cat . No . 1274 .

That is t o say ,the Lian dy n ast y of the Siao fam ily w hich flourished b e t w e en 502 and

557 A . D .

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174 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

The substratum of each of the five st and/Ea? appears eternal when

considered as factors making up the a'tnza which isThe v ie w of

.

the

Sarv a s t l t v a v a d m s but the combination of the five st and/Jae . But,in

at tacked b y Hariv ar .

man reality,the substratum of each st and/ta must be

regarded as sitnya, because, it admits of the possibility of further analysis,so that the so -called ottnza as well as the substratum of the st and/ms (i . e .

the noumenal state of the (Marinas) must be void or sitizg/atct .”

The philosophical significance of this statement is of great importance to

the student of the H isto ry of Buddhism, furnishing, as it does, a clue to

the transition of Hinayanism into M ahayanism .

The Sar tra'stitoavctrlins maintained only the personal “non-ego as did

also the other schools of the H inayana . But the“nairdtnzyarhw yam

” or “the two sorts of non-ego

”

The doctrine of the

nairatmyadv ayam is

n o t a monopo ly of

M ghayam sm ‘

s is : of persons and of things which forms a chara c

t eristic doctrine of M ahayanism w as accepted among the Hinayan i sts

also by the school of Harivarman, as i s indicated by the extract cited

above . This i s w hy the Satyasiddhi School has sometimes been included

among the Schools of the M ahfiyfinal

. But it would be interesting to find

out to what school Harivarman really belonged .

The Statements made by the Chinese historian s of Buddhism are

conflicting . Some 2 say, he belonged to the BahusConfi ict ing stat e

men t s ab out.

W hat rutiya others, 3 that he w as a member of the Soutranscho o l Hariv arman

b elonged t o ‘ tika school, others 4 again maintain that he w as an

adherent of the Dharmagupta School . There are some 5 who go so far as

to affirm that he interpreted the tenets Of the H inayana with the help

Of the M ahayana . In the m idst Of this conflict of Opinions it would be

difficult to come to any definite conclusion . “I hat appears to be almost

certain (and this we are able to gather from reliable sources) is that Hari

varman began his career as an eminent scholar of the Sankhya Philosophy

1 Acfirya HO-un of KOtak uj i , Acfirya Chi-zO of Kaiz enji and Acfirya 8 6min of ShOgo nj i.

(Se e the Out lin e of e ight scho o ls of Buddhism b y Gyon en of Japan . )Se e the C omm en t ary on the B o dhisat tv a Vasum itra

’s the Sastra on the W he e l Of

the Principle s of D iffe ren t Scho o ls .

”

Se e the San -ron -ge n-g i,

”the Go -k io -Sho

,

”and the

“H okke -gen -san .

”

Se e the Dai-z iO-gi -shO and thc San -ron -gen -g i

Se e the Sau -rom gen -

gi .”

'

l‘

llE sxTras n i SCHOOL . 1 75

and that he subsequently became an adherent of the Saz'vctstitvai'riztins and

joined the Buddhist order .

In the preface which he prefixed to Kumaraj iva’s

Sanyin’

s s tatemen t

ab out Hariv arman Chinese version of the Satyasidzt/i i Saisira, Sanyin l ,a Chinese priest

,says

The Satyasidd/ii east/a w as composed by Harivarman about 890 years

after Buddha’s death . He w as the chief disciple of Kumé‘

ua lab dha (lit

“Received from the a leader of the H inayanists in Kashmir .”

Kumaralab dha appears to have been the head of the Sarzntetitvavctzlin

school in his days,as the following extract from a

Ki t san’

s statem en t

Hafi v armam commentary on the “Three Sastras” of the M art/iyanzit a2

by Kitsan,the greatest teacher among Chinese Buddhists, seems to

indicate

“ The Satyasidzl/i i Satetra w as composed by Hariv arman about 9 00

years after Buddha’s death . He w as a disciple of Kumaralab dha who

belonged to the Sarncfstitva raiding .

”

In fixing the age of Harivarman,if we adhere to the European compu

tation of the date of Buddha’s Nirvfinaf” we shallO ur discussion of his

dat e he b ound tO fall into an error,for it will bring us

down to the 5th Century of the Christian era . NOW Kumarj iva who

translated Harivarman’s work into Chinese, died, according to historical

records,during the ‘Hunsh’ period which extended from A . D . 3 99

to

This w as indeed a glorious period of intellectual blossoming fort-h in

India ; for it saw a Kalidasa5 in the north of India at the Court of1 He w as the chie f disciple of Kumarajiv a . It n the t ran slat ion of this sastra w as

comple t ed , Knmarajiv a o rdered Sanyin t o de liv er a le cture on it ; and all his disciple s,thre e thousand in numb e r

, studied and e x pounded it .

2 i . e . The M adhyamika-Sash a,”the Dvfidaéanik fiya-sastra an d the

“Sata-Sastra.

(Nangia’

s Cat . No . 1 179 , 1 186 an d

3 There are many d ifferen t o pin ion s (mo re than fourty) regarding the actual date ofthe Buddha’

s death.

4 The e x act date o f Kumarajiva’

s death is un ce rtain,though the San-t an ”

(fasc.

2 fo l . 1 16 ) giv e s a v e ry minut e date as the t w en t ie th day of the s e ighth mon th in thee le v en th ye ar of the

‘H ufi -sh’ perio d (A . D .

5 Se e Pro f. Ramav atara Sarma’

s lear ne d and in t ere s t ing art icle o n Kalidfisa : A s t udyw hich appeared in the

“Hindustan i Rev ie w”

. (Vo l. XX I I I ., No . 1 32 and Vo l. XX IV.

,NO .

1 76 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Chandragupta II Vikramaditya and a Buddhaghosa in Ceylon . It w as

al so the time when Dignfiga flourished in the m iddle country and

Kumarajiva carried the to rch of Indian Learning far into the heart of

China.

Accordingly,Harivarman must be at least a century earlier than

Kumarajiva and I think we may safely say that he w as not later than

A. D . 250 . He w as very impartial in his views and composed his

éctstras on the essence Of the different doctrines of Buddhist schools with

a View to awaken his contempo raries from their nightHe w en t hard ly b e

yond the idea Of 0 0 1“ mare of bi ctr and art ialit Hserv at ism of the Stha

g y P y e vas; hOW BVeI

‘

,

Vimvada : too deeply imbued w ith the conservatism Of Sarcas ti

tvavctzta (which is a branch of the School of E lders, St/iavira oatda) to

adopt the progressive vie w s of the iMa/ntsany/i ikas. H is [work is full of the

idea Of conservatism as regards the Budd/ia-Kctya-view, (adhering, as he

did, to the historical Batman, and not going as far as Ideal Budd/1a) , in

spite of his strong opposition to the Nirvana-view of the Sarvci'stitoavctzlins .

It would be inte resting to know something of his views on human l ife,

and Nirvana, w hich are

THE ESSENTIAL PARTS IN THE DOCTRINE OF

THIS SCHOOL .

Harivarman based his explanations of the phenomena and noumena of

The t w o prin ciple s the universe on two principles,the conventional ‘ and

r

s

n

a

fir

i'l

tili

igik a, and Pam .

the transcendental . 2 H is view Of human life or the

world coincides with that of the Sai 'octstitoaoa'

rlins, although he w as

diametrically opposed to them on the question of Nirvana . In other

words,he regarded the universe from two standpoints viz . sanw r iti/ca and

p aranni’

rtil '

a. While he emphatically insisted on the non-existence or

emptiness of all things” when regarding the universe from the p aranc /itit a

San skrit : Samvrita -Sa tyam. Jap : Zokuta i.

Sanskrit : Paramdrta-Satyam. Jap : Shinta'i.

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178 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Hari varman, as we have said above,based his view of human life and of

Hariv arman’

s v ie w o f the universe, on his conventional doctrine and it is forhuman life a re e s w ith

that of fiatyfiyanp thi s reason that he agrees,

1 11 thi s respect,w ith the

putm and his fo l lo w ers . views of Kittyctyanip ntra, the founder of Sarncistitvavctdin

school,and the chief author Of Alz/i irl/iarma-nzanci-nib/ieis/zd-Scistm . He also

accepted, in every detail, the theory of the fiv e .svtano’t as

,

1 the twelve

(tyatanas,2 the eighteen (Mattias,

3 the twelve linked chains of causation,the three worlds (Kcinza, 4 RzZp a,

5and Aritp a dficitn 6 ) , the four classes of

birth (ac

acia/23,7 sanzavettaj ct,

8j arriyzg

’

eifl and np ap ctrtnkctl 0) and the four cycles

(antara it alp a,1 1

ina/ia'

lcalp a,1 2

a tra/calp a1 8

and as explained

by Kd’tydyanip ntra himself . In Short, Harii’arnza’s view of human life and

the universe may be learned from some of my former lectures o iz : those

on Karina-pnenomenoloyy and Reali sm .

The two Schools differ, however, in the extent of their doctrine of “Non

An tagon ist ic po in t s of ego” or “Anatman” . The sarcdstitnaocfdins taughtv ie w ofthe t w o scho o ls , mthe Sarvfist it v av fidin s ‘

anatman of a person,

’ 1 5 the doctrine of non-ego, butand Sarv aéfinyatava

din s . not ‘that of things .’ 1 6 As explained in one of myformer lectures, they maintained the doctrine of the eternal existence of the

noumenal State of (Marina throughout the three divisions of time .

1 7 In

other words,they insisted that the substance

,as such

,of things can neither

be produced nor destroyed ; while Harivarman,like his contemporary

Ill a/idyanists, maintained the two kinds of anatman o iz . non-ego of persons

and things . That is to say, while the Sarndstitnaoctdins believed that the

combination of the five strand/Lac comprising the so -called atman is merely

temporary and, on no account, permanent, but that, at the same time, each

of them,o iz : rzZp a, cedanct

,sanj na

'

, same/retra and oi/na'

na exist eternally,

Harivarman insisted that the fiv e s/candnas themselves,even when taken

separately, are of provisional existence, and being the product s of causes and

conditions,must be empty in their essence .

Jap : 0 0mm2 Jap : J iaw -sho 3 Jap : Jinhachi-ka i.

Jap : Yok-kai .

5 Jap : Shiki-kai . Jap : M ashiki-ka i. 7 Jap : Ran -she.

3 Jap : Shus-sho.

9 Jap : Ta i-sshé.

1 ° Jap : Xc-sho.

1 Jap Jo.

‘2 Jap : J ia.

‘ 3 Jap : Ye . Jap : Kit . Jap : Nin -muga .

1 6 Jap , HO-omlga ..Iap San z e-j itsu-n , Hoffm

'

-

yé-u .

THE SATYASIDDHI SCHO OL . 1 79

In order to explain the ab solute non-existence of the noumenal State Of

The three Principles ‘ the (Marinas,he looked at the question from three

applied t o“o b j e ct ive

div ision”of all things . SldeS .

(a) The provi sional and nominal existence,1

(b) the existence of the Dharmas in the substantial state, 2 and

(c) the absolute emptiness of the Dharmas in the real state . 3

We may designate these as“objective divisions” of all things in the

universe .

Under the first point,he includes the phenomenal existence of all things

with the empirical ego, and under (b) the noumenal or material real ity of

the existences as they appear to our senses . These two principles have been

accepted by the Sarndstitvai ‘cttlins, but Harivarman regarded them only as

conventional, and not transcendental truths . The next development in the

consideration of the substantial state of the Dharmas w as the idea of

itself . For instance, each of the fiv e st and/Lac“emptiness of substance’

which c’onstitute a man,seem like the real existence but, at least

,the four

elements,earth

,water

,fire

,and wind, which constitute rztp a (l/iarma among

the five skantlfias, are merely of provisional and nominal existence, as they

are combined only through the medium of colour,smell

,taste and contact,

and must consequently be in the noumena l state of d/i arnias . And in the

case of mind,W hile the m ind (cit tam) i s only an existence in the noumenal

state,the mental properties (caitta (”LCMWHLS) exist in the provisional and

nominal world . Not only this when we analyse the p arama’

nns (atom)and mind

,—Harivarman declared that even they were capable of analysis

w e cannot but reach the conception of emptiness and this is'

the absolute

void,the transcendental truth of Harivarman .

According to his sa'stra,our mind, as far as its existence is concerned

,

The thre e principle sapplied t o sub j e ctiv ed iv ision .

”

is capable of. subdivision into three parts v i z

(a) M ind in the provisional and nominal state}

(6) M ind in the noumenal or actual state, 5 and

(0 ) M ind in the absolute or real emptiness . 6

3 Jap : Shin -kit .

Jap : Ke -shin.

5 Jap : J i tsu-shm . Jap Kao s in n.

180 SXSTEMS OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

These three may be called“subjective divisions . The combination of

the fiv e st and/tag is considered an eternal cit /nan by most vulgar minds,

and the provisional and nominal existence is mi staken for actual existence .

This erroneous conception of the state of the mind is included under the first

part (a) . To remove this erroneous conception or cognition, we must

practise,what is termed, “the meditation on the ana

'

tnian of a person .

” 1

Although, by this process, we come to realise the non-existence Of the

empirical ego,we still cl ing to the idea of the ete rnal existence of atman of

things . This stage in our conception is called ‘mind in the noumenal or

actual existence .’ In other words, this i s the mental stage in which we

cling to the idea of the permanency of the noumena, just as the

Sarndstitvai 'cictins did . The next Step will be to remove this idea Of the

eternal citi nan of things to effect this removal, we must now practise the2meditation of the anatman of things .” The mental Stage in which

we come to realise the truth of the two kinds of anatman, is called the‘mind in the noumenal state ’ And further we

must endeavour to banish even the last l ingering idea of absolute non

existence, which may otherwise engender the view of another extremism.

The mental stage at which we arrive when we real ise the removal of

this—sitnya Cittam or the ‘m ind in the state of absolute emptiness’

is called ‘Annp azZ/i z'

seslia nirva'

na .

’ 4 The following diagram may help to

elucidate the above statements

Phenomena (citni a e tc.)

Noumena (p aramct/zn e tc.

am i s s .

Nirvana etc.)

1 Jap : Nm -k it -gi can . Jap : Hakka-groan .

9 Jap : U~yo-no-han . Jap :

Dharma in the provisional state .

M ind in the provisional state .

Dharma in the substantial state .

M ind in the noumenal state .

Dharma in the absolute emptiness .

M ind in the absolute emptiness .

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SYSTE MS OF BUDDHJSTIC THOUGHT .

(3 ) P v'

oy'

i‘

W-flna l’izza-kciya1—Implies the attribute of knowledge, free

from the trammels of ignorance, with the light of knowledge and truth

always before his gaz e .

(4 ) Viznnkta-(l/iarma-lca

'

yaQ— Implies the virtue resulting from the

extirpation of thekleéas (passions) ; as soon as one realises perfectly the first

three merits, and prajna) , he will be free from the bondage of

the kleéas, and will real ise the fourth virtue as well .

(5)'

int at ti-j na'

na-rlaréana-(l/zarina-ka'

ya3—Implies the virtue of self

understanding . Any one w ho has attained the first four (Marinas can

know,not only his own nicks/La, but also that of others .

These five attributes of the dharma-kaya are not the attributes of the

Buddha alone they can also be attained by the SraThe pan cha-dharma

k fiya is no t the at tri' vakas . 4 SO that, Harivarman further added the tenb ut e of the Buddhaalon e powers

,the four convictions

,and the three kinds of

meditation which together are the Special attributes of the Buddha and

which the Sravakas do not and cannot possess .

B. T/ie ten intellectual p ow ers ofBuddlia .

m w w fi u

(l ) -lalain5,

-the intellectual power which can dis

t inguish between right and wrong .

(2) Karmao ipctkay'

nctiia-balaizi 6 —The intellectual power which lays

bare the result of one’s action either in this or in another birth .

(3 ) Dliycina-vinzM alia-eametrl/zi-sama'

p attiyfi a’

na-balam7 '—The power Of

knowing the difi erent states of meditation, liberation and tranquilisation .

(4 ) Indriya -oalaiiz8—The power which enlightens as

regards the lower and higher mental powers .

(5) -j fi ctna-balani"- The intellectual power which lays

care the different kinds of arl/iiznol sli ae (understanding) .

1 Jap : Ye -hosshin . Jap : Geda tsn -ho sshin .

Jap : Gedatsn-ck t-‘

ken -hosshin . Jap : Shé'mon.

5 Jap : Sho -hisho -chiriki. 6 Jap : C d-ij uk-chzr i li i.7 Jap : Jc

‘iryo -geda ts zL-tOj i-toshi-chirik i .

3 Jap : Kon -j d-ge w himlrc.

Jap : Shuj a -sho-ge-chi riki.

THE SATYASIDDHI SCHOOL . 183

(6) Nana’

clna’

tny’

nctna-balain 1—The power through w hich the difi erent

dispositions of sentient beings can be understood .

(7) Saroatraya'

mini-j n'

atifatti-j fi ctna-balamQ—The power by which the

result of all deeds or actions (Samskara) can be known .

(8) P ili'

na-nicdsainnemr iti-j nofna-balam3—The pO“er of remembering

former abodes (existences) .

(9 ) Cyntyntp attiy'

fid’

na-balam4—The power by which the knowledge of

the death of living beings in this life, and‘their birth in the next can be

derived .

(10) Axi'

aoalcsnayay'

na'

na-talam5—The power of attaining the Nirrrtna

(p ratisaznknyd-ni'

rozt/iae by the complete subjection of one’s desires .

C. T/Eefonr convictions of Me Bartel/ta .

Tani iiHITW TfiH

(1) Abnisaml/ odlii-caiéa'

razlyani7—That he has attained the highest

enl ightenment (Sammyak samb odhi) . And he is perfectly conscious of it,

whatever othersmay say to the contrary .

(2) floravansnayaj nctna-caiéctradyam8—That he has rooted out all his

pas sions (kleSas) , destroyed all his evil desires . And he has no fear on this

point,but carefully admonishes others to do the same .

(3 ) Antarclyika -vaiéctradyam.-9 That

the defiled Dharmas (the evil thoughts are the obstacles on the w ay to

Nirvana . And he is certain that he has rightly described the hindrances

that lie inthe w ay to a l ife of righteousness,and he earnestly instructs

others to eradicate their irregularities .

(4 ) Nairi’

ctn ilra-mairgctcataran a-oaiéciradyanz .- 1 0 That, by the practice of

morality, one is able to get rid of every pain . And he is confident that he

1 Jap : Shuj u -ka i-chir iki. 2 Jap : Hen -shugyo-chir iki.5 Jap : Shika -j a-z u, i-n en-chir iki. Jap : Shi-shO-chiri lzi.

5 Jap : Boj in -chir iki. Jap : Chaku-me tsu .

7 Jap : Shé-to-gak-mu i.5 Jap ; Ro

-yei-j in -mu i.

9 Jap : Se t sm shti -ho -mui .

1 ° Jap Seten-shn tsu-dé-mu z .

184 SYSTE M S o r BUDDIIIS'

I‘

IC THOUGHT .

has truthfully taught the w ay to salvation, and instructs disbelievers

accordingly .

D . Tl e th ee Ki nds ofmeditation .

em gm mfir

(l ) The Buddha never becomes exuberant when circumstances are

favourable, for his m ind is well-balanced and in a state of tranquilisation .

(2) The Buddha i s never dejected when circumstances are adverse,for

his m ind is tranquil .

(3 ) The Buddha never becomes glad or sorry (i s not influenced by any

feeling) when he is praised or abused . For his mind is in the t ra nscen

dental condition apart from conventional affairs .

The seventeen Dharmas indicated above,added to the attribute of bound

less mercy, form ast tddaédoenilcd-buddlia-dfiarma or the eighteen unique

characteristics or independent conditions 1 of the Buddha in the Aoliid/larma

malzd-riblh tvlia-Sdstm and the AM idlinrma-ko’

sa-oyalcya-éa

'

stra . Harivarman

accepts them as such in his Satyasiddni édstra, in order to indicate that

Sa'kyamuni or the sage of the Sakya race, is superior to all sages . He has

thus not advanced beyond the Sarodstitvavddins as regards Buddli a-Ka'

ya,

although he very emphatically criticised the Nirvdna view of Kdtna'

yanip n tra

and his followers .

Generally speaking, the theory of the Harivarman’s school is

,as a

B a r i v a r m a n’3 whole

,higher and deeper than that of the Saroctsti

d o ctrin e is pro foun de r4 4

than and superior to t vavadins, who did not recogni se the ana tman of

iiiiadiii sihe sari/fig“.

things . But,l ike them

,he could not discover activity

in W hat they took for rest . Nay, some of them mistook res t for absolute

quietism,forgetting that true rest does not constitute absolute quietism but

implies an evenly balanced activity or tranquilisation . Harivarman,further

,

cannot escape the censure that he adopted extreme views as regards

acosmism,and could not discover the active aspect of the Nirva’na . He

taught w itat is not, and not 70/Iat is . For instance, he maintained that we

1 Jap : Jitt -hachi -fu-gfi -hd.

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CHAPTE R V.

THE M ADHYAM IKA SCHOOL .

1

l e tneorg/ of tb c middle course .

is well-known that the founder of the .Madliyamilt a School is the

The founder of thisgreat Nana/Winn

,the most bri lliant ph ilosopher of

8 0 11 0 0 1 India. He w as a Southern-India Brahmin by caste,

and flourished about the second century A . D .

M ost of the Japanese and Chinese scholars Of Buddhism deal with the

Yoydcdra school before the M ad/tyamika school , as a more convenient and

more systemat ic exposition of Buddhist philosophy . I do not find,however

,

any reasons, in my present lectures, to depart from the chronological order .

I shal l therefore treat of the M ad/iyamika before I take up the Yoydcdra

school .

To the scholar of Buddhism,no part of the subj ect is more difficult and

The mo st difficult more interesting than to fix the date of the foundersub j ect t o the scho larof the history of

Buddhism .

of M ahayanism. In general,Nagarjuna i s said to be

the founder of it but if M ahayana-Sradho tpada Sastrais a work of Bodhisattva, ASvago sha who is well known as the author of

Buddhacarita, we must acknowledge the latter to be the greatest pioneer of

M ahayana Buddhism,being the predecessor of Nagarjuna and Asamga.

The Opinions about his date , among Buddhist scholars, are conflicting ; this

will be perhaps an undecided question for the future . At any rate , we

cannot be far wrong in deciding the probable date of Nagarjuna and Deva

from the data furn ished by Eu-ft‘

i tst‘

in-yin-yuen-k w han, 2 the life of

Nagarjuna,3 the life Of Kanadeva 4 and Hiuen Tsiang

’

s Ta-tan -si-yu-ki

etc .

Jap : Chmgw an (or E w an ) shift .

2 Nan j io’

s Cat . No . 1 34 0 .

Nanjio’

s Cat . NO . 14 61 . Nan j io’

s Cat . NO . 1 4 62.

THE M ADHYA M IKA SCHOOL . 187

According to the Opinion accepted by the Buddhist scholars in general,ASvago sha is the twelfth patriarch w hile Nagarjuna, who is said to have

been born in Southern India, 700 years afte r Buddha’s death (i . e . between

the later half of the 2nd century A. D . and the first half of the 3rd

century A. is the fourteenth patriarch . Deva, a native of Southern

India or Ceylon, who is the greate st of the disciples of Nfigfirjuna is the

fifteenth patriarch . Let us discuss about his native place before we discuss

his probable date . The author of “Eu-fa-tsan-yin-yuen-k w han” and the“Life of Kanadeva says

Bodhisattva Kfinadeva, a son of a Brahman in Southern India w as the

greatest disciple Of Nagarjuna. He w as an extenW here i s the nat i v e

P13 0 e OfArya Dev a ? Siv ely learned scholar, and matchlessly eloquent . In

his time,there w as a large golden image of M ahesvara, whose statue w as

about 22 to 3 6 feet high . People believed that if they made vows to this

image,they could obtain any desire of their heart because of the

miraculous powers it w as supposed to possess . One day Deva also went to

worship,

and requested permission to enter th e shrine . Thereupon the

master of the shrine replied, It cannot be seen by human eyes,for the

image of M ahesvara possesses such a supernatural and mi raculous power

that whoever catches a glimpse of it, falls into a swoon which lasts for one

hundred days . SO,you had better worship and offer your vows from this

gate .” Thereupon Deva said : A divinity ought to possess supernatural

and miraculous power, and it is for this reason that I want to see him. If

he were otherwise,why should I long to see him ?” So he entered into the

shrine himself. When he looked at the golden image,it seemed as if the

image had got angry for something and w as moving its eyes . But Deva

fearlessly said : “ If this be God, it must exercise the influence of divine

power upon human beings and must overpower all beings with its divine

knowledge and virtue . Here indeed is a trickery devised for the purpo se of

deluding with the gorgeousness of gold and glitter of glas s ! ” With these

words, he mounted on this image by a ladder and plucked out its left eye.

Some of the by-standers at once began to doubt the supernatural powers of

this image,whil e others were furious at the sacrilege . SO Deva addressed

188 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

them thus Deity is boundless . I have full faith in H is spirit. But

mate rial has no connection with Him . 1, therefore, plucked out this eye

which consists of glass,after mounting on that golden mountain-like image .

I am not a proud man and should be the last person to offer insult to the

Deity.

” The narrative may appear tedious but no one would deny the great

interest which attaches to the conduct of the great man as the destroyer

of idol-worship which w as the root of the numerous superst itions in India

at his time . Be it as it may, the authors of these two works mentioned

above, describe Deva as a native of Southern India . Dr . B . NanjiO says

that Deva w as a native of South India, not of Ceylon . But Hieuen Tsang

differs . Says that illustrious pilgrim : At that time Deva Bodhisattva

coming from the country of Chi-see-t sen (the island catching a lion) or

Ceylon,sought to hold a discussion with him (Nagarjuna) . Addressing the

gate-keeper, he said Be good enough to announce me .

” Accordingly the

gate-keeper entered and to ld Nagarjuna. He,recognising his reputation

,

filled up a pdtra with water and commanded his disciple to hold thet

water

before the Deva. Deva, seeing the water , w as silent, and dropped a needle

into it . The disciple held the patra, and with some anxiety and doubt

returned to Nfigarjuna. What did he say, he asked . The disciple

replied, He w as silent and said nothing ; he only dropped a needle into the

wate r .”

Nagarjuna said, He is a wise man To know the springs of action,

this is the privilege of a God ; to penetrate subtle principles is the privilege

of an inferior saint . Such full wisdom as this entitles him to be allowed

to ente r forthwith He (the disciple) replied , “What a saying is this ?

Is this then the sublime eloquence of Silence

This water Nagarjuna went on to say, i s shaped according to the

character Of things (in it) it fills up every interest in point of clearness and

comprehensiveness he, on beholding the wate r, compared it to the wisdom

which I have acquired by study. Dropping into it a needle,he pierced it

,

as it were, to the bottom. Show this extraordinary man here at once,

[and let him be presented . (Si-yu-ki . Book X p . 21 0 inBeal’s transla

tion) .

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190 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Chinese Buddhist scholars in general (i . e . from the latter half of the 2ndcentury A. D . to the first half of the 3rd century A . Deva

,therefore

,

must be one Of his younger contemporaries . If we could find the date of

C nataka Raja (Sadvahana family ?) for whom Nagarjuna compo sed

Gathas on the importance Of the law ,we would be able to fix Nagarjuna

’s date

with greater precision but,unfortunately

,we have not any record about this

raja. Let us now examine the date about Deva as given in the history of

Ceylon . The author of M ahav ansa says“On the demise of Srinaga, his son Vohara Tissa, who w as thoroughly

Re search from Sinhaconversant W i th the prineiples of j ustice and equity

,

lese source . ruled for twenty-two years . He abolished the (v ohara)practice of inflicting torture which prevailed up to that period in this land

and thus acquired the appellation of Voharak a Tissa raja .

Having listened to the discourses of Thera Deva , resident .at Kambugama,

he repaired five edifices . Delighted al so with the M ahatissa then resident

at the Anura Vihara, he kept up daily alms for him at M ilcilapattana.

”

(M ahavamsa p . 1 4 4 Chap .

The author of Dipavamsa says “(Abhaya King) , having heard the Gilana

discourse (of Buddha) which w as preached by Thera Deva, he gave medicines

for the sick and (constructed) fiv e most excellent residences (for the

Samgha Again says : “(The king called Asangatissa or Samghatissa),

having heard the Andhakav inda Sut tanta which w as preached by Thera

Deva,the victorious king, ordered rice andmilk continuedly to be distributed

at the four gates (of the town)”

According to the table of approximate date of the kings of ancient

Ceylon,these three kings’ reigns are as follow

Reign.

Vohara Tissa 22 years

Abhaya Tissa 8

Siri Naga II 2

Vijaya II or Vij ayindu 1 year

Sangha Tissa I 4 years

Siri Sanghab odhi I or Dham 2[Siri Saligab o .

THE M ADHYAM IKA SCHOO L . 19 1

I cannot give any proof that Thera Deva in Ceylon is the same man as

Bodhisattva Deva in Southern India. But, if T/i era Deva, w /i o w as so eminent

tli at b e p reacb ed to tbc Sb iiibalese king; lived in Ceylon till li e died, lie mic/i t

li ave been sp oken of more times by Sli in/ialese b istorians . [Way I not snpp ose

t/i at tb is b app ened because b e came and died in India .

7 At any rate , we have

no more exact data and proof about his approximate date than to as sume

that Thera Deva in Ceylon w as the same as the person known as Bodhi

sattva Deva in India. If our assumption is correct,he w as a learned man

who lived in Ceylon at the beginning of the 3 rd century (the reign of King

Vohara Tissa A. D . 215 or Abhaya Tissa A. D . 23 7 or Sangha Tissa A . D .

and after that he came and died in India. And it agrees w ith the date

of NAgarjuna, who lived from the latter half of the 2nd century A . D . to the

3rd century A. D., as accepted by the M ahayanists in general .

To close this essay, I shall add some interesting story and facts about him,

Some in t ere st ing st ory having translated some parts from the life of Bodhiand fact ab out Arya

A M

Deva. sattva Kanadev a translated into Chinese by Kumaraj i va

and the Book VI in Eu-fa-tsang-yin-yuen-k w han translated into Chinese byKi-kia-ya.

The morning after he plucked out M ahesvara’s left eye

,he visited the

shrine of M ahesvara, taking, as an Offering,some sweetmeats . This w as

mentioned by the writers of the above two books as a conversation between

Deva and M ahesvara, which w as as follows

M ahesvara showing a body with his left eye plucked out,sat down in a

quiet corner. And looking at the sweetmeats,said to Deva : Very well

gentleman, you obtained my mind while the multitude were satisfied

with my form . You offered me your heart while the people Offered

me only mate rial things . You respect me heartily while the people

fear and accuse me . These sweet meats ‘which you Ofi er me, are the

most beautiful and delicious,but I want to receive one thing as the bes t

alms . Will you give me ?” Deva replied “Deity know s my mind . I

shall obey his will .” M ahesvara said :“What I want is the left eye .

Art thou able to give me thy left eye Deva replied “Certainly sir.” He

bored it out and Odered it of his own will . M ahesvara said :“Well

SYSTE M S 0 1"BL

'

DDHISTIC THOUGHT .

done . This is the true and the best of alms . I Shall give you

whatever you ask for.

This is the reason why Deva i s nicknamed Kanadeva . (kana z one-eyed) .Some say, however, he is called Kfinadeva because he plucked out M ahesv ar

’

s

eye . At any rate, his nick-name is “Kanadeva in the above Chinese

translations .

In his days, many Rajas OfSouth India were the followers of the non

Buddhistic sect . He, therefore, intended to convert them . Some time after,

he saw a Raja collecting sentinels to guard his palace . As soon as he

became aware of the fact, he offered himself as one of the candidates for the

post and w as adopted by the Raja . He did his duty to the best of his

power and he, after a little while, became a leader Of the Raja’s favourite

and faithful troops . Then he asked the Raja pe rmi ssion to discuss with

heretics in the Raja’s presence on the following subjects .

1 . Buddha is the greate st of all sages .

2. Buddhism is the best of all religions .

3 . The Buddhist Samgha is the best of all religious communities .

The Raja allowed him to collect all heretical teachers . Heretics came

in crowds from all quarters to discuss or to witness the discussion . But no

one could refute his argument, SO that, all of them became his disciples, sbav

ing their hair, according to the condition laid down for the defeated party .

Unfortunate ly, this v icto ry w as the cause of his death . A young heretical

disciple became enraged at his teacher’s defeat and said to himself : “Though

you have conquered with your mouth, I shall be victor by my sword .

And he waited for a fit opportunity to carry out his murderous intention .

One day, Deva w as teaching, as usual, the doctrine of Sfinyata(all things

are empty) , and w as refuting heretical views before his disciples in a lonely

forest. And when he w as taking a walk at the resting time, having arisen

from the Dhyana seat, while his disciples were wandering about or meditating

under the trees here and there, suddenly the enemy emerged from his covert

and stabbed at Deva’s belly with the sword shouting out, “You have con

quered my teacher withyour knowledge and I now conquer you with my

sword .

”

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194 SYSTE M S o r BllDl‘

i Hl ST lc THOUGHT .

and w ho is an enemy ? Who is the murderer ? Who is the'

victim You

are crying on account of your delusion through erroneous views . You

ought to reflect upon this carefully . You should never do such a foolish

act drive out madness by madness and sorrow by sadness .”

THE FUNDAM ENTAL DOCTRINE OF THIS SCHOOL .

The fundamental doctrine Of the M ad/iyamil'

a school has been imperfectly

understo od and grossly misrepresented by the so -calledThe fundamental do ctrin e of this scho o l scholars of Buddhism in Europe

,and latte r-day Ivndia .

misun derst o od .

M ost of them give the appellation of ‘Nihilism’to this

school, Simply because Ndydrj nna applied the term ‘Silnyatd’ or em

i

ptiness

to express his conception of human life and truth . Sfinyatfi, however,as I have pointed out in my first lecture

,

1 does not imply ‘nothing

ness’ ; it simply expresses “the everchanging state of the phenomenal

world,” or “absolute unrestrictedness of the noumenal side of the

universe .’ To borrow a very favourite sim ile,the real ity of the universe

is like a faultless m irror which reflects everything as it really is . Han

A fav our it e simile lai han hsien ; Hu lai hu hsien ” 2 is one of the mostfor the reality of the

universe and the popular phrases among the Chinese Buddhists . Itnature of en light enedmind. implies “ that [a spotless m irror ] renders a true

reflection Of civiliz ed people as well as of barbarians As a mirror does

not adhere to the Objects which it reflects, so an enlightened m ind does not

attach any feeling to what it perceives . Beauty is valued as beauty, and

ugliness is considered ugly, but no feelings of lust or hate are attached to

these sentiments,for the m ind, in this State, is entirely free from passions or

b leé'as, that is, in a state of atyantaSzZnyatd or absolute unrestrictedness .

v ide P . 1 4 .

2 Jap Kan K l

'

ta l 'e-ba Kan genj i , Ko K i tare s ba KO ganj a.

VTHE M ADHYA M IKA SCHOOL . 1 9 0

We Shall now study , in detail , the conception of Sfinyata from the

following standpoints

(I) Asans ibcr'ita-snnyata

”1 or as the principle to be appl ied iii the

noumenal world .

(2) Sansb fr'ita-Snlnyatd

‘2 or as the principle to be applied in the

phenomenal world .

1 .On considering the noumenal State of the universe from the stand

Sfinyata as a prin point of Ontology, n drj nna and his followers in

the n oum enalIndia

,China

,and Japan, could not but reach the

conception OfAtyanta-S ztnyatd3 or absolute unrestrictedness as the conclusion

of their investigations . For that which can be restricted cannot be accepted

as the basis for the transformation, evolution or mutability of all things in

the universe i . e . as the basis of all phenomena. Hence n diy'

nna says

fi fl gw fi m w mm a w fi n“

which is interpreted by the great Knmdraj ica as follows It is,on

account of unrestrictedness or SzZnyatd, that everything becomes possible,without it

,nothing in the world is possible firyadeva comments on the

above Katrina as follows It is due to absolute unrestrictedness that the

activity, in regular order (following the law Of regularity,and of cause and

effect) Of allmundane and supermundame things (dharmas) , is possible . If

it (noumenon) is otherwise, then such activity would become impossible

2. The te rm Sn'

nyatd as the principle iii Sansb r ita-db amna or the

Sfinye te as e prin phenomenal world implies the absence of particularity,

ciple in the phen om e0

rial w o rld .or the non-exi stence of inl iduals in i ts negative

aspect . Hence Nagarjuna says

mmh e em m ei uaifi '

l

2 Jap : U-i Kn.

Nagarjuna’

s M adhyamika sastra, Chap . XX IV, Karika 14 .

5 Nagarjuna’

s M adhyamika sas tra, Chap . XX IV ,Karika 18

196 SYSTE M S O F Bl'

DDHISTl C THOUGHT .

That which has been produced through causes and conditions,we say to be

ever-changing ’ it is a conventional name, and may also be called ‘the

middle

auras : seer-“

Enmi: w hen fi nfi

m afi fi sfi : 3793 ? fire]? n2

There is no db arma which is not produced by causes and conditions .

Therefore no db ar/na exists which can be called not ever-changing or

aézlnya .

”

d ryadera explains as follows I say that whatever is produced by

cause and condition is Sztnya td or ever-changing, because, whatever is the

outcome of the union of various causes and conditions,is limited by the law

of causation . Hence those that are devoid of any particularit y or scabbdi‘a

are sunyata.

” Regarding it from the positive aspect,such a state ..repre

sents the ever-changing state of the phenomenal things or sansbr ita-db arma,

a constant flux of becoming or a continuous series Of causes and efi ect s .

Hence Nfigfirjuna says

Hsrarmrzmarmi e el-emana te l

E'

s-

cinema:W i c‘

étfié e fi lmate u

“If thou thinkest that things exist on account of their self-essence or

O 74 e A

I

4

No thing po ssesse s aH a j /lam

, (but not on account of sunyata ), then, thouq b ha v‘" seest that they come out of causelessness .” And

d ryadeva comments as follows —“Thou sayest all things possess their

self-essence or svabbdva . If it were so,thou then perceivest that they

come out without cause and condition . Because if any phenomenon pos

sesses its o w n self-essence, it can neither be produced nor destroyed such

a thing is independent of cause and condition .

” If all things were the

outcome of causes and conditions, they cannot possess self-essence . Hence

E dkins imperfect ly t ran slated this Karika from Kum i’

i rjiv a’

s C hin e se ve rsion as

fo llo w s —“ The m ethods and do ct rine s sprin g ing from v ario u s casucs,I say t o b e all

‘empt in e ss ’

. They may also b e called inv e n t ed’

n am e s . Further,they may ‘

b e said to

con tain the meaning of the m edial ’ path.

”

(E dkin s Chin ese Buddism ,P .

2 The M adhyamika Sfist ra, Chap. XX IV. ,Karika 1 9 .

3 The M adhyamika sastra, Chap. XX IV , Karika 16 .

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198 SYSTEMS o r BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

maerfirnatm mfiw n’

uéfitra: l

gvaifma simian artsfi w ffi are“"I

It w as taught by Buddha that there is ego, as well as non-ego but

there is neither dlman nor afizatman in the real state of d/larmas .

” Thingscomposite or incomposite, m ine or yours, Sunyata or aéfinyata, good or

b ad &c ., belong to the sphere of conventional truth ; such relative ideas cannot

be allowed in the transcendental sphere . We,therefore

,ought no t to rest

even in the conception of absolute unrestrictedness or atyania-éfinyaz‘

ci,

as such a conception is one of the extreme v iews .

W Edema?nmfazm '

i

alsoa imam ?! anrfisfi:"2

For the sake of removing every kind of erroneous views,the Buddhas

teach ‘ézZnyatci.” Those, however, who cling obstinately to this conception

cannot be converted from their error .”

A

A ryadeva comments on the above kfirika as follows —‘If one obstinately

adheres to this view, Sting/(l td, his case i s hopeless . For instance, one who

is “ il l can recover if he takes medicine, but if the medicine itself becomes

another illness, we can hardly consider him curable .’ The doctrine of ézZnyat

has been formulated to rid us of certain m i sconception s ; when its work is

accomplished, it becomes incumbent on us to rid oui selv es of the con

cept ion of gfiflyatd as well, which, of itself, i s an error, in the light of

higher reasoning .

1 DO . Kfirik a 6 .

The M adhyamika § 33 tra, Chap . 1 3 . Kfirika 8 .

201THE MADHYA M lKA SCHOOL .

THE TW O TRUTHS OF THE FOUR FOLDS .

t"have

mousIn order to make people grasp the true meaning of sunyata, the follo e r

four folds with two truths in each have been formulated

Existence is the conventional truth .

1 t fold .S

Sunyata. i s the transcendental truth .

The 1 st fold of the 2 truths is the conventional truth .

2ud fold . A ANeither exi stence nor Sunyata i s the transcendental truth .

The 2nd fold of the 2 truths is the conventional truth .

3rd fold . (6) Neither non-existence nor non-sunyata is the trans

cendental truth .

The 3rd fold of the two truths is conventional truth .

4 th fold . (6) Neither not non-existence nor not non-Sunyata is thetranscendenta l truth .

These negative explanations,though certainly bewildering, are considered

The négat iv e e x planecessary to lead us to the ideal state of absolute

il

lit

igiiiaiias fashionab le

freedom or Nirvana . For, as long as we adhere to

any idea of existence, or even of non-existence, we may not real ise thqtranscendental truth and attain absolute freedom . The negative ex

planation of the transcendental truth,the M ahatman, Brahman &c.,

w as a ve ry fashionable method among the Indian philosophers . We

read in the Br z'

lzaddranyaka Up anisfiad—“Next follows the teaching

(of Brahman) with No, No for there is nothing else higher than this .”(if

one says) ‘It is not so’ That self (atman) i s to be described by No, No ,

(III . 9 . 26) and it (Atman in that state) can only be described by No, No,

(IV. 2. 4 ) It, the self, i s to be described by No, No,” (IV. 4 . O r

more properly speaking, silence would be the best answer to the question‘What is the transcendental truth’. In this connection, let us quote a

sto ry well known as the “thunderous silence” of Vimalak’

i ti from the great

Kumaraj iva’s maste rly Chinese version of the “Vimalak irti Sfi tra .

”

Bodhisattva Vimalak irti once asked a host of Bodhisattvas led by

M afi0

1

0 O 0 O O

Vimalak irt i s thm idr .

J ISI‘

I,

w ho came to Visit him,to express thei r

0 “ El lence ‘ views as to how to ente r into the Dharma of Non

198SYSTEM S OF BUDDHISTIL‘ THO UGHT .

.Some replied,

“Birth and Death are two',but the Dharma itself

er born and will never die . Those who understand this, are said

Some said, ‘I’ and ‘mine’.It .nter into the Dharma of Non-duality .

’

t‘"two . Because I think ‘I am’

,there are things called ‘mine .

’ By

thus reflecting,we enter into the Dharma of Non -dual ity .

”Some

replied,

“Samsara and Nirvana are t w o . But when w e understand

the ultimate nature of Samsara, Samsara vanishes from our Consciousness,and there is neither bondage nor release

,neither birth nor deaith

’

. By thus

reflecting, we en ter into the Dharma of Non-dual ity .

” Others said,

“Ignorance and Enlightenment are t w o . No ignorance, no enlightenment,and there is no dualism. W hy ? Because those who have entered a

med itation in which there is no sense impression,no cogitation

,are free

from ignorance as well as from enlightenment .'

This holds true with all

the other dualistic categories . Those who enter into the thought of sameness,

are sa id to enter into the Dharma of Non -duality .

”Still others answered,

“To long for Nirvana and to shun worldliness are of dualism. Long not

for Nirvana, shun not worldliness and we are free from dualism . Why

Because bondage and release are relative terms,and when there is no bondage

from the beginning,who wishes to be released ? No bondage, no release,

and therefore no longing,no shunning this is called the entering into the

Dharma of Non-duality .

”

M any more ans w ers of similar nature came forth from all the Bodhi

sat tvas in the assembly except the leader M anjusri . Vimalak irti now

requested him to give his own view,and to this M anjusri responded, “W hat

I think may be stated thus That which is in all beings world less, speech

less,sho w s no signs, is not possible of cognisance, and is above all question

ings and answ erings,—to know this is said to ente r into the Dharma of

Non-duality .

”

Finally, the ho st Vimalak irti' himself w as demanded by M anjusri to

express his idea of Non-dual ity, but he kept completely silent and uttered

not a word . Thereupon, M anjusri aclmiringly exclaim ed , Well done,well

’ done ! The Dharma of Non -dual ity is truly above letters and w ords !”

(Suz uki’s Outl ines of M ahay ana Buddhism, pp . 106

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SYSTEM S o r BUDDHi S'

i‘

i o THOUGHT .

am w s fifi zfmfim i

Samsara is in no w ay to be distinguished from Nirvana, Nirvana is in

Samsara and Nirvanano w ay to be distinguished from Samsara .

” Aryadeva

are 0 11 9 comments as follows —“Appearance and disappearance

of the five St and/ms in continuous succession is named Samsdi 'a ; but we have

already stated that the essential nature of the five St and/ms is absolute

unrestrictedness, and that they are imperceptible . Thus there is no

distinction between Samsdm and Nirvdna,as all things are neither produced

nor annihilated .

” But,we may ask

, how is it possible to find or rea liz e the

ideal state of absolute unrestrictedness in this world, where all i s misery and

pain It is indeed very difficult to realise Nirvana, but it is not impossible .

For happiness and misery, pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy are merely our

own subjective production . The world of Nirvana, according to M ahayanism,

never exists objectively . Thus, if we find that the world is ful l of defi lement ,sorrow and misery, we have only to thank our own life or lemmas for it .

p—uo

,It is our m ind that is the source of all trouble and all happiness . We must

not,therefore

,neglect our social and individual duty, which can only be accom

plished by the training of our m ind, if we are desirous of enjoying a happy

Nagarjuna and Arya . life . Buddha taught both the conventional and thedeva on the t w o principle s .

transcendental truths by which we may perform our

duty and realise Nirvana . n dvj una says

O x 0 Q “

m signifies : 33 13 1 W I

firms-stand a s e t a cumin:"2

“The teachings of Buddha are based on the twofold truths,the conv en

t ional and the transcendental .”

fim‘

a fi afi fa ufi t’

w fi u"

1 The M adhyamika sastra,Chap . 25

,K i

'

irik a,19 .

2 The M adhyam ika sastra, Chap . 24 . Kar ika,8 .

The M adhyamika sastra , Chap . 2 1, Karika, 9 .

THE M ADHYA M IKA SCHOOL. 203

“Those who do not understand the division bet w een the two cannot

know the real depth of Buddha’s teaching”.

We must not,however

,think that there is no relation between the two

truths : the conventional tr uth is essential for the attainment Of Nirvana.

Nagarjuna says

The transcendental truth cannot be taught without the assistance of

the conventional,and Nirvana cannot be attained without understanding

the transcendental truth”. Aryadeva comments on the above Karika as

follows —“The transcendental truth is explained by speech,and speech is

conventional . If we do not depend on the conventional,the transcendental

cannot be explained ; if we do not understa nd the transcendental, Nirvana

cannot be attained”. Gyonen says —“It i s owing to the conventional truth

that we tan ac cept the establishment of all things without moving out Of the

bounds Of truth . Similarly, it is due to the transcendental truth that we can

explain the true sphere Of things without rej ecting their provisional appel

lations”

THE CONCEPTION OF BUDDHA-KAYA IN THIS SCHOOL

As will be apparent from what I have said above, the statements Of the

M adhyamika philosophers are formulated from negaNegat iv e stat em en t s

and the m’ddle co ur se ' tive and intuitive standpoints . The conception Of

Buddha-Katya by Nagarjuna and his followers is no exception to this rule .

As an instance, I maycite some verses from the 16 stanz as in Chap . xxii

of the ‘M adhyamika sastra’ that deal s with the real nature OfTathagata.

The M adhyamika sastra ,Chap . 24 , Kfirik a , 10 .

204 sYSTEM S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

In the first place Nagarjuna sought to refute all ideas as t o the existence

OfTathagata,in order to purify the mind from extreme views . He says

m am z s fifi w fi mfinq w a fiw z l

m u slin-

« st amina Frame : u‘

Tat/iciyata is neither identical w ith SM W ZM S,nor i s he different from

them ; slranrlfias do no t exist in him,nor does he exist in the st and/ms .

fi zm afi m w aflz l

W fii fi msn z e utmafi :"2

If Buddha exists on account Of st and/ms,he can have no individual ity

(w e b/him ) of hi s own . How can , then, the existence Of Buddha be at tri

buted to the other cause (p ain t/Him ) when there is no self-cause recognised

in him when he is found no t to exi st on account Of

But the other cause (para-bhava) has no self-cause of its tiwu, or

any reason for existing by itself ; and again self-cause (svab hav a) and the

other cause (parab liava) are relative and no t absolute terms . Hence Nagar

juna says

at? a t? M am ie : and 3137 1 I

a nim al-

armie s a : H Hams :"3

Again if Tat/55mmhas individuality, or self-cause, he cannot be said

to owe his existence to the other cause . In absence,thus

,of either Of the

two causes as a factor in his existence, the question resolves itself into “How

is he called Tathagata .

”

The above discussion may lead us to the erroneous supposition that

Tathagata, is b eyon dTathagata is Of the nature Of Sunyata or aSfinyata.

the reach of conv en

t ional e x pre ssion 'SlICh an idea

,however

,would be an extreme View

,and

The M adhyamika sastra ,Chap . XX I I , Kfi rik a 1 .

The M adhyamika sast ra, Chap . XX I I,Karika 2.

3 The M adhyamika sast ra, Chap . XX I I , Kfirik a 4 .

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206 SYSTE M S OF B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

to Nirvana. There is nei ther delusion nor enlightenment, when we come

to look upon the universe from the standpoint Ofavoidance Of extremes or

Of the M iddle path . HOW and where is there room for discussion about

becoming or not becoming Buddha ? Delusion and enlightenment have no

absolute existence but merely a relative existence . Therefore, we ought to

know that discussion about delusion and enlightenment of about becoming

or not becoming Buddha i s possible,when we take our stand on the ground

Of conventional truth . AS regards the question Of becoming Buddha, viewed

from the standpoint Of conventional truth, there is a difference between res

pectiv e intellectual powers of individuals that is to say, the one who is en

dowed with superior inte llectual powers, attains enlightenment more quickly

than the one w ho is his inferior in this respect”. Such is the doctrine Of

the identity Of Tathagata and the universe . TO the enlightened mind,therefore, nature is Tathagata’s speech ; every little flower peeping from

the ground is a silent emblem ; cfiamp alr and the malW edd ing of Re ligionand P oem“ fi lm

,the cherry-blossoms and the chrysanthemumg are

all manifestions Of Tat/acigafa . It is a beautiful conception that nature

blooms from God or Buddha ; and here are Religion and Poetry wedded

together, where both are permeated by the presence Of the True, the Divine .

Where the poetical sprit is absent, nature appears but a dead mass,desti

tute Of divinity, and deserted by God . Where the religious sentiment is

absent or deficient, Buddha or God is lost in nature,and rude nature ‘

alone

remains . Tathagata and nature, religion and poetry, are so Often coupled

together, that it need not occasion us any surprise to occasionally find

Pantheism in our poets . Lamartine savs

Salvation, principle and end OfThyself and of the world !Thou

,who

,with a glance

,renderest immensity fruitful

,

Soul of the universe, God, Father, Creator,Under all these different names I believe in Thee

,Lord

.

And without having need to hear Thy word,

I read in the face of the heavens my glorious symbol .Extension reveals to my eye Thy greatness,The earth, Thy goodness, the stars, Thy splendour.

THE M ADH YA M IKA SCHOOL . 20 7

Thou Thyself art produced in Thy shining work ?

All the entire un iverse reflects Thy image,

And my soul in its turn reflects the universe .

M y thought embracing Thy diverse attributes,Everywhere around Thee discovers Thee and

'

adores Thee ;Contemplates itse lf, and discovers Thee there

Thus the day star shines in the heavens,Is reflected in the wave, and is painted on my eye .

It is little to believe in Thee, goodness, supreme beauty ;

I seek Thee everywhere,I aspire to Thee, I love Thee ?

M y soul is a ray of light and Of love,Which is detached from the Divine centre for a day,Consumed with devouring desires far from Thee,Burns to re-ascend to its burning source .

I breathe, I feel, I think, I live in Thee

That world which conceals Thee is transparent for me .

It is Thou whom I discover at the foundation Of nature,It is Thou whom I bless in every creature .

TO approach Thee, I have fled into the deserts ;There when the day-break, waving its veil in the air,Half Opens the horiz on which colours a rising day,And sows upon the mountains, the pearls of the dawn,For me it is Thy glance which, from the Divine dwelling,Opens upon the world and sheds over it the day.

Nfigarjuna says in his commentary Of the Prajna-pfiramitasutraDharma-Kaya-Buddha (or Tathagata) is always shining and is always

preaching his doctrine . But living beings do not see the brightness and

do not hear the preaching, on account Of their sin, as the blind cannot

see the sun-shine, and the deaf cannot hear the tremendous thunder

The same idea is~ t‘o b e found in a passage of the Lotus Of the good

law” which runs as follows

Hts-finerm m mum

‘

a w aferfears I

mmmu 1115! 3 31 W a i iiw s fi lm in

3208 SYSTE M S o r Buomu sri c THO UGHT .

An inconceivable number of thousands OfKotis Of o ns,never to be

measured,is it since I reached superior (or first) enlightenment and never

ceased to teach law .

”

e w rzfifi) W W W mafia w fifix 3 3

I mused many Bodhisattvas and established them in Buddha

knowledge . I brought myriads of Kotis Of beings,endless

,to full ripeness

in many Kotis OfE ons .”

I Show the place of extinction,I reveal to (all) beings advice to

educate them,albeit I do not become extinct at the time, and in this very

place continue preaching the Dharma .

”

aarfi: W W W fi le w e : afi‘

a sue s

w aa an fi q a zafia fi sfi a trfiegm n

There I rule myself as well as all beings, I . But men Of perverted

minds, in their delusion, do not see me standing there .”

trfifi'éfi gs Humans?Haggai firfirai affrfia l

0' N 0 Q 0 a

m am m fiflm m mfi n nfi fm q u

In the Opinion that my body is completely extinct, they pay worship,in many ways, to the relics, but me they se e not . They feel (however) a

certain aspiration by which their mind becomes right .

a i m fi fi m m ufism i

afi fi m ém m m m n

When such upright (or pious), mild, and gentle creatures leave Ofi

their bodies,then

,I assemble the crowd of disciples and show myself here

on the Gridhrakfita .

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CHAPTER .Vl.

ALAYA PHENOM ENOLOGY.

‘

Tfie Timmy of tfie

A cursory comparison Of the realistic theory Of the Sarvfist itvavadin

school w ith the idealistic theory Of the Vijfi finavfidin

school or the Yogz’

icaras, as they are sometimes called,D ifference b e t w e en

the Sarvas titv avadin’

s

and Vijfianavadin’

s

S tandpom t ’ would give an impression that they are diametrically

Opposed to each other . The former would appear dual istic, while the latter

singularist ic. The Sarvastitvavadin insists on the eternal existence Of the

noumenal state Of mental and material (Marmara while,the Yogficaras

maintain that all Objects in the universe are merely the manifestation s Of

our Vijfianas or human consciousness . In other words,the Sarv fistitva

vfidin’s i s an Objective system, and the Vijfianavadin

’s, a subjective one .

Now, the question being what is samsafm and what is Nz'

rvcip a,the

Sarvéstitvav é‘

idin school seeks to solve it by establishTw o differen t law s

f ti

1°

b l

20 gig}? 11133

1

1

c11”?

ing i ts theory of two different laws Of causation .

Avana. The first part Of it i s that a group Of Samudayasatya

and .Du/z/clmsatya represents the law Of cause and effect in the world Of

samedm . Samudayasatya is, according to them,the cause Of gamedm,

while Duk/cfiasatya is its efi ect . Likewise,the second part of the theory

establishes that a group Of Nz

’

rodfiasatg/a and M dryasatya represents the

law Of cause and effect in the realm Of Nz'

rvci’na, M ei

'

rgasatya being the

cause OfNz

'

rvcina,and Nirozl/zasatya, the effect thereof .

The Vijfi finav z’i

dins, on the other hand, would solve the question by

enunciating their theory Of the Alaya-vy'

fimina, which runs as follows

The fi laya-m’

j ffidna i s a series Of continuous consciousness . It is, to

The so le sub stratumuse the modern psychological term,

a stream of conf s

'

O'rat'

0 “an m’o

seiousness . It IS always running and changing . It

is the sole substratum Of the transmigration in mmsd’m . The Alaya s fi cfna

1 Jap Raya or Araya-yengi

-ron .

3 Chine se : Wéi-shz-fsufi , Jap Yu i-shiki-shfi or Hossd-shiit .

1 r..v PHENO M ENOLOGY . 21 1

Of the Buddhist has its counterpart in the fit /nan Of the orthodox H indu

system of philosophy,with this difference that the démon is immutable

w hile the Alaya-Vijfiana is continuously changing . The Alaya-vijfi fina

involves all the various potential seeds Of both delusion and enl ightenment,

pain and pleasure and so forth . Thus,the theory is singularistic as Op

posed to the dualistic basis Of mental and material dharmas Of the

Sarvastitvavadins . The one teaches how to practice morality and how to

realise truth from the empirical and materialistic standpoints,while

,the

other deals with it from a purely ideal istic or speculative point Of View .

But let us look beneath the surface . The Alaya phenomenology is

The Vijfianavadin’

sreally a development Of

, and supplementary to,the

the o ry is a dev e lop A

men t of the Su fi sm“ theory Of the Sarvé‘

i stit vav adin school . The reahst ic

v avadin’

s scho o l . theo ry of the Sarvfistitvavfidins could go up to Karma,

and no further, in search Of the mystery Of the phenomenon of this universe .

The Ii arma phenomenology w as the explanation they Offered . But what

is the ) source Of Karma This, they could not solve or rather did not

undertake to solve . Then, the Yog i’

icaras stepped in and tried to fi ll up

the vacuum by their theory of the eighth Vijfi fina, viz the Alaya v ijfiana.

The theory Of the Alaya phenomenology w as developed and completed by

Asanga and Vasubhandhu Nanda, Dignaga, Dharma

The founder and theA A

great t eachers of this pala and S i labhadra were the great teachers Of thi sschoo l .

school . In later days in Jamb udv ipa, Silabhadra

w as the reputed venerable professor at Nalanda, at whose feet Hiouen

Tsang acquired his knowledge Of Buddhist philosophy .

It has already been pointed out that the cornerstone OfBuddhist pheno

menology is represented by the ‘Four Noble Truths’ which Occupied a very

prominent plac e amongst the direct teachings Of Buddha. In fact,

Buddhism,either as a religion or as a philosophy

,would lose its identity

,if

the doctrine Of the ‘Four Noble Truths’ with the three mudms w as

excluded . Let us now see how the Vijfianavadins treated the doctrine Ofthe ‘Four Noble Truths .’

The Lankfivatara-sfitra is one of the canonical texts Of the

Ale ya and Cit tam ; Vijfi finavadin School . There , it is written,the ir s y n o n ym o u s

usage .

212 SYSTEMS o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

3 93°

a fan? fart fan semi w e re I

m m mat i ne w ? am "1

For the real import of the SIC /ta one should refer to the interpretation

found in the literal translation into Chinese by Sik shfinanda .

“Cittam ex ists not the Objects perceptible to the visual cognition .

Through Objects visually cogniz ed Cittam manifests itself in body, in one’s

Objects Of (daily) enjoyment, in residence It is cal led the film/ a Of

men .

Here we see that Alaya i s used for Cittam and Cittam has been defined

as the source Of the Objects we perceive . Such a cit tam,the author of the

Sutra calls , the Alaya . The theory has still to be developed,and we find

the development in the following verse OfAsanga

fan 3 2mm?W W W-

FTm l

w ere a ea chmi: fw smhsfie it

Again following the Chinese translation, we would render the Cbuple t

as follows“Cit tam has twofold reflection . It is fond Ofgreed and the like which

are the one set of reflections ; l ikew ise, it is fond OfThe t w o -fo ld refle c

“on Of 0 1mm“ faith and the like hich are the other set Of reflections .

The moral and immoral ( Marina, does not exist apart from it (i .e .

The meaning is that whether good or b ad, a (Marina, is the manifesta

tion OfCit tam, that is, OfAlaya. Pain or pleasure,our good conduct or

b ad behav iour, darkness or enlightenment is merely the out w ard develop

ment Ofp o tential seeds which are stored in the Slore-i w use-consoleusuess,the Alaya-Vijfiana .

These potential seeds are roughly classified into two divisions First,the seed which is full Of defilement or Sz‘israv a-bija, 3C lassificat ion Of the

pO t en t’al seeds ' and Second, the seed wh ich is free from defilement , or

Anfiérav a-bija “ The former comprises the first two principles Of the ‘Four

1 The Lankav atara -Sutra . fasc . II .

9 The M ahayana-Sutra-alankare -Sastra ,Chap . XI . ,

stan z a 34 (San skrit t e x t . P .

Chin e se tran slat ion ,fasc. V . v erse 1 .

3 Jap : U-ro Shaj i Jap : M u-ro Shitj i.

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3214 SYSTE M S OF BUDDHIS'

I‘

IC THOUGHT .

for perfection one day or another in this very land w hich w as the first garden

where the tree Ofpsychological science blossomed forth and bore the ' two

noble fruits Of the orthOd cinema and the Buddhist Alaya-Vijfi fina.

M odern researches have come to the conclusion that there are sub cons

cious phenomena. The Buddhist also knows that there is,within man

,a

great tank Of consciousness, Of the contents of which,the average man is

but feebly conscious . Only a small portion Of the sum total Of the

conscious states within us forms personal consciousness . In the psycho

logical world, the Alaya-Vijfiana is the name the sum total of

the normal consciousness and subconsciousness .

ALAYA PHENO M ENOLOGY. 215

The re lat ion b e t w een Alaya-Vij fiana and the o ther ViJfianas.

By the preceding remarks you may have gathered that, acc ording

to this idealistic school Of Buddhist philosophy, theThe sence of the

Alaya-Vijfi fina.

Alaya denotes the ‘depository of all germs ’,Of which

the germ ’ implies the potential power which issues

forth from the Alaya-Vijfia in the form Of various ‘present ac tions’.

Vasub andhu,in the Vijfi fina-matra-sastra, says that the “ present

Samskfiras or experiences are capabl e Of afi ecting and creating germs, and

the germs which are already deposited in the Alaya-v ijfiana manifest

themselves as present samskara or experience Of the first seven Vijnfinas

the present experiences give impressions Of some new germs on the

Alaya-v ijfiana. And thus is created the Objective world . They are termed

the p rior and the p osterior germs .

GERM S (Azure -ve ri fie d ) . w as emf HONEIIHEMXEI

SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT.

The theory is that these potential germs are evolved as the effects or

The Yogacfiras addedoperations of the seven Vij

'

o‘

icinas. We have alreadyt w o m

'

j fidna s t o the six

v ij fidnas of the Sarvfist

' “d

'

01mm m s

the Sarvfist i tvaVAdin School, v i z . z—Cakeliu, Srotm

,

seen that there are six kinds of Vijfifinas , as known to

Gfirana’

i,Jifivci

,Kciya, and M anus . TO these, the Yogacaras added two others,

the seventh M ano-vijfiana and the eighth Alaya-v ijfi zina . It may be noticed

that the sixth Vijfifina Of the Real istic School is mind or M ano-v ijfiana and

the first Of the two, which forms the seventh Vijfi 'fma introduced by the

Yogfiw z‘

i ras is also M anov ijfiana . What, then, is the difi erence between these

two ? The one implies normal consciousness . It sometimes comes to a stop

in its function,it does not ac t continuously. For instance

,it ceases to act

in the state which we call in popular language, sound sleep . The seventh

M ano-v ijfiana Of the Yogé‘

icaras, on the other hand, is active and conti

nuously active . It implies subconsciousness, which is never at rest duringQ 0 0 4sleep or during the possession Of full normal consciousness

, it acts unceas mglyand continuously .

TO explain the relationship of the seven Vijfizinas to the Alaya-Vij fif‘

ina,

A simile for theI would here give you a simile

,slightly changed

,

31

22321

8 2251

1

1

8

6

48

13? used frequently by the philosophers of India . The

first six Vijfi finas, which perform the sensory functions,

maybe compared to so many gatekeepers posted on the physical cak shu,

etc.,that transmit their experiences to the secretary, the seventh mano

v ijhAna, who, in his turn, conveys them to the lord, the Alaya-v ijfi fina. The

secretary receives orders, SO to say, from the lord, to transmit them to the

six v ijfi z’

inas .

THE CLASSIFICATION OF THINGS .

According to the Vijfi finavfidin school, all things in the Universe,similar to the classification adopted by the Sarvasti

Div ision and sub

dm sw n of thmgs t vavddins, are dev 1ded into two groups, viz Sanskr zta ‘

Jap : U-i-ho.

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‘

218 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

CITTAM'

In' the Buddhist psychology

,the same word is variously termed as

Cittam,

”Vij fi cfna

”. The three are the

E x planat ion of‘cittam

’

‘ma’mw

’

and same In thei r origin,but are used differently to denote

the three diiferent aspects of Cit tam . We read in the Lankavatfira-sutra

fafi a site? an?! mun=afraud

fimfia féfi lfi tfii and 61mm“

? w fix’

u‘

Cit tam, according to the Vijfianavadins, has two meanings, “attending”

and “collecting”. By “attending”, we mean the consideration of objects to

which our attention has been attracted,while

,by collecting

,we mean the

sto ring of germs or impressions about the objects,various phenomena

having impressed themselves on our mind .

M anas has also two signification s—“the basis or “what is depended

upon” and‘ “thinking

” or “considering” By “depended upon”,i s meant the

ground or the sphere on or within which mental operations take place,

and

due to which they are rendered possible ; while, by ‘thinknig’

,we mean the

continuous consideration of the inte rnal world,a kind of sub-consiousness

which has,for the object of its contemplation

,Egoism .

Vijfiana has also two meanings -“discriminating” and ‘perceiving

By “discriminating”, we mean the differentiation between the outward

man ifestations (lak shana) of the objects which form the subjects of contem

plat ion ,while by “perceiving”

,we mean the perception of the objects in

the external world, which cause us to experience sensation (sense-objects) .

According to the Yogficfira school, Cittam,in the sense of “collecting

germs”,is applicable only to the eighth Vii/mind or fling/a Vg

’

jfld’

na . M amas,

in the sense of “thinking of”,

can be applied only to the seventh M ano

mj fr’

w fna . Vij fficffla, in the sen se of “perceiving”, is particular to the first six

7i7°

a for,their sense of perceiving the general form of external objects

is stronger than that possessed by the other two . We must, however, bear

in mind that 05mm , in its general sense, is the common nomenclature for

the eight kinds of s ffici'

nas .

The Lank fivatfira-fiStra ,fasc . II.

ALAm PHENOM ENO LOGY. 219

According to the Vijfifinamatra Sastra, the eighth Wj fidna i .e . Alaya

is called the “first M odification”; -the seventh M ano-mfj fidna, the“second

M odification” and the first six viifi dna s, the“third M odification”

. But,sometimes

,the first seven ‘

Wj fi av as are called pm vm’

tti vzj fi cZ/za (wanderingconsciousness) , while, the eighth s fi cina i s calledAlaya-Vijfiana (Repository

consciousness); for the former maymistake pain for pleasure, pure for impure,ego for non-ego

,or permanent for impermanent .

So much for the explanation of Cit tam . We shall now proceed to

Cait tamdharma which means mental attributes or properties of Cit tam.

These two are very ‘ often compared,in Buddhist philosophy

,to a king and

his m inisters . For,just as ministers follow the king whenever or wherever

he -goes, in the same w ay, whenever Cit tam acts, Caittam necessarily suc

coe ds . In -my explanat ions, I om it the difi erence between the operations of

these two, as I have already dealt with it in my lecture about the doctrine

of theSarvastitvavadin School .

CAITTAM .

The Vl j fianavadins classify the caitta (Mary/ms under six heads viz

the universal ‘dharmas,’ the particular ‘dharmas,

’ goodness,the fundamental

‘kleSa,’ the sectional ‘kleSa,’ and the indefinite ‘dharmas .’ These sects are

again subdivided into fifty-one .

(I) The universal caz

’

tta (Marv/a is of 5 kinds . These dharmas follow

M en t al prope rt ie s every kind of mental operation when the m ind is in

w hich are common'

t o

every act ofcon scious action ,

n e ss ,

(a) The first of them is called Ill anaskdm which sets in motion all other

mental properties,and causes them to act each in its own sphere .

(6) The second is Sp arsa which operate s when in contact w ith the objects

of consciousness;

220 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(c) Verlami comes third and discriminates every object of consciousness

whether it is pleasant,painful or neutral .

(d) The fourth is Sanj ad. Its function is to perceive the physical figure

of object and the tone of voices over and above this,it also mak es other pro

perties move simultaneously with it, perceive their respective Objects, and

realise their respective functions .

(6 ) Then comes Cetami, the fifth in order. This may b e rendered by

the modern scientific term,

‘motive’. Thi s i s capable of giving rise to every

kind of conduct, good, b ad or neutral . If the motive be good, the

concomitant mental operation would lead to a good piece of conduct ; the

reverse w ill be the case if the motive is evil . It has been compared by

the Indian-Buddhists to the relation existing between a driver and his

horses . If the driver is well-inclined,the horses will be on the right track,

ifhe is ill-disposed, the horses will go astray . The cetaiza i s the driver and

its concomitant operations are the horses it controls . The above fiv e kinds

of mental Operations are termed Sarvaga” or ‘penetrating every wher’e’, that

is,universal, for they are common to every act of the mind, thought, or

consciousness .

The part icular men .

(II) The particular mental property which is not“11 Property invariably present in consciousness, is al so of five kinds .

(a) C/Eanda is the volition or rather desire to do an act, it forms the

basis of the progress of morality .

(b) Afl/vimolcS/ta is something like what is popularly called ‘consmence .

’

It examines everything good or b ad, right or wrong, and examines just for

the sake of the exam ination itself . It i s in no w ay affected by the

results of such a procedure .

(0) Smriti means memory . It remembers a fact which it has Once

experienced . It becomes the basis of the operation

(xi) Samcifl/zi is concentration of thought upon one Object . This

mental property co ncentrates our thought absolutely ‘

On one object, .and

thus leads to true knowledge .

(6 ) -M ati judges whether the object is good or b ad, right or wrong and

so forth . It may be rendered by the term ‘judgment’ or ‘understanding .

’

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1

SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

body under control so as to be able to overcome immoral . sent iments (and to

Observemorality .

(z) Apm ziza’

da means carefulness . This enables us to be watchful,and

destroy every kind Of evil passion s “

and prepar e the w ay to'

the nob le path .

(7) [jocks/1c? or indifference, i s the mental equilibrium which is not

polluted by idleness or frivolity . Lye/Mm”

and Apmmafda are not independent

mental properties ; they are the results of the combined efforts of virya

( dob/mand o nlv/m.

(k) Al nfn su‘

meaning harmlessness is also no t an independent mental

property,but is only a part of adves/ta .

(IV) The fundamental Neéa i s that property of the mind which is

The imm oral men tal ak’n to lmmorahty

property.

The Yogacaras divide Need s, the immoral attributes Of themind, into thefundamental and derivative . The fundamental Hesalis of six k inds .

(a) Loo/ w . means covetousness . It directs us to sensual ity .

(b) fi ves/mmeans hatre dwhich is the mOt ive for hostile conduct, called‘the worst conduct’.

(a) M oll/a means stupidity which“ is one Of the basis Of all Need s. It

makes us dull in exercising reason mati

(d) M i na means pride . This causes us to feel fal se supe riority Over

others,and gives rise to contempt .

(e) Vicikitsci is hesitation, such as,according to the Buddhist psycho

logists, the unwillingness in accepting the “adamantine” law of cause and

effect .

(f) Asamgayrlris/zti or fl urdg' is/zfi means an erroneous view. It has

been subdivided under five heads : (I)'

cZyadr z’

s/zti is that erroneous physical

view which makes one regald the combination of the five ‘skandhas’ as an

eternal and indestructible aéman . (2) Anug1 almdmslvlz 1s that view w hich

is the origin of views like Sasva/az cizla and Uc/len’avazlfl about one’s “soul” .

(3) M itfiycidrzslzti i s a view , such as that which denies the law of cause

£1 1..i PHENO M ENOLOGY . 2223

and cfi ect as an universal truth taught by the Buddha.

p arafmaréa, lead s one to. adhere to the above three erroneous views as true

and excellent . (5) Silavm ta-

p ardmaréa causes one to attach oneself to

asceticism as the means of attaining enlightenment—a useless procedure .

(V) The Sectional KleSas . These are so many branches,says the

Buddhist philosopher,of the fundamental ‘kleéasf

Th (1 t' kle em a w e esas

from which they are der1v ed . They are of 20 k1uds .

(a) Krod/zai s anger, which man ifests itself as violent disposition .

(L) (ff/amide»which literally means “tying up” denotes resentment,

from the diffi culty with which it is shaken off afte r having once attached

itself to a person .

(0 ) Santafp a means vexation . This causes us agony as a result of the

anger experienced . The above three are, as a matter of fact,only

.

different

att itudes of dv esha or hatred they are not independent properties .

(of) M m ksfia. means hypocrisy, a mental Operation which causes us to

cover our own w ickedness from society .

(6 ) Sdtfiya is perfidy. In response to this mental operation,we act

perfidiously towards others for the sake of our own gain .

(f ) M cZya means deceit. This is akin to édtfiya with this distinction

that M dya denote s an Operation which causes deceit by speech,while the

former produces the same result through action . The last three also arenot independent mental properties but are only different aspects of lob/1aand mafia .

(9 ) M aria means arrogance . Its effect i s to make us feel our own

importance and give us a proud exterior .

(ft ) Vi/ivnsa means harmfulness . Its result is aggression on our part

against our neighbours .

(i) frag/ct"or jealousy produces a . feeling of mort ificat ion at the

prosperity Of others . The .above two k leSas are different moods of fires/la .

(j ) Kdrp anya means miserl iness . Its Operation‘

is not,

confined to

material wealth only, but may extend to moral wealth'

as well .One could,

for instance, b e miserly in respect of one’s learning .

24 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(fi) flfirifiya is an Operation of the mind quite opposite to that Offifr i

—what is called braz en-facedness in po pular parlance .

(Z) Aaap atrapya is the opposite of apatrapa Operation. It corresponds

to what is understood by the word Shamelessness in society .

(m) Kauaidfiya which literally means “badly-executed,” is the contrfidic

to ry of vim/a. The English word “laz iness” i s the nearest approach to

the meaning Of the term .

(71) Aéraddfia'

means ‘without faith’ or ‘unbelief’ which is diametrically

Opposed to Sraddfia'.

(a) Styciaa means sloth, which manifests itself as lassitude,both

mental and physical, and leads to inaction .

(j ?) Aada’fiatya i s boldness in the b ad sense . Th1s produces rough

and unfeeling thoughts and actions .

(a) fil asfiz’

tasmr itita literally means the “Stealing away of memory ”

,

on Operation opposite to that of smgm'

tz'

. It is the effect of the combined

action Ofmafia and smgriti.

(r) Asamp raj fiameans wrong judgment . This produces misunders

tanding or misapprehension about the objects affected by our consciousness .

(8) Vifisfiep a means eccentricity . This property makes the mind

Operate in a changing, unsettled or fickle manner,l ike a monkey

,as the

Buddhist philosophers say .

(I) P ramdda means carelessness ; it is a result of the combined action

of fiav sidya, Zafifia, firadfia and mafia .

(VI) The indefinite mental property which is common to good, b ad and

The indefinite W itt“indifferent, is termed ‘Aazzyata-caz

'

lta This i sdharmas of four kinds .

(a) Kan/cr iiya, though it literally means an evil deed, has a particular

technical sense attached toit by convent ion . It signifies ‘ the mental

property which causes regret to pass in our mind at some improper thing

done by us .

(fi) JUZ

’

fldfitt is '

absent-inindedness, by means of which we sometimes do

not perceive the objects affected by our consciousness . It comes into action

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226 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

It is Of the following twenty-four kinds

(a) P i‘

cip ti literally means acquisition ; but, technical ly speaking,it implies the power of producing animate and inanimate objects. .

The

Vijfianavfidins maintain that from this energy, animate and inanimate

objects are produced and difi erentiat ed. The Sarvast itv av fidins hold that

it is an eternal noumenon but the Yogacara theory is that it is merely a

temporary . manifestation Of the energy which . radiate s from the germs

deposited in the Alaya-v ijfiana .

(fi) Jiviteadriya is the life organ . The Vi j fiana-matra—sastra describes

that its function is to enable us to exist in our physical state (live)for a

' period, and that the seeds of it are al so s tored in the Alaya

v‘

ijfiana.

(a) NifiayalSafifiaga means a heap of the same class . We find a certain

similarity between the man A, and the man B,in physical structure or 'men

tal functions . To explain this phenomenon, both the Sarvastitvavadins and

Vijfianavadins maintained that it is owing to the existence of the I) harma

called Nikaya-sabhaga, that similarity in mate rial forms and mental opera

tions is rendered possible .‘ The difi erence between the views Of the two

schools consists in the Realistic school believing in the independent and

eternal existence of the'

aifiayaasabfiaga, while the YogAcaras insist that it is

merely a temporary manifestation of the Alaya-v ijfiana.

(d) P r itfiagj ati denote s a particular Stage in the development Ofman,

when the intellectual fileéa has not been totally extirpated,nor the path

leading to Arhatship yet arr1ved at .

By “inte llectual KleSa” are meant the germs of filcéa in the Alaya

Vi j fi fina.

(a) Asmg’

M -samap atti is a stage in which through meditation one

tries to suspend all mental operations—the ‘wanderings’ of the m ind .

Some Tirthak aras mistake this stage Of suspension Of thought for Nirvana,but according to the Vijfianavadins, this also is a temporary stage, and is a

mere manifestation Of the germ Of pesssimism impressed on the

Alaya-v ijfi fina.

ALAYA PHENO M ENOLOGY. ‘227

(f) Niradfia-samcip ati i s a stage which,

may b e real ised by one who

has al ready attained Anagaminship. This also 1s a product of the germ of

pessimismdeposited in the Alaya-vufi fina .

g) Asa/aj fiifiam is a state which results from the practice Of

Asailg'

aw -Samcip atti . It is a stage higher than the latter, and its reali sation

brings about the capacity to hold down the sixth M ano-Vijfiana.

(fi) Vyazy’

aaa-Kd’

ya denotes an articulate sound, which‘

does"notconvey any sense, e . g .

, A, I or U . This also is evolved out of the germs

of the Alaya-v ijfiana .

(i) Nc a-Ka’

ya denotes an articulate sound which expresses the

nature of things words, e . g .,mount ain, river, etc .

(j ) P afla-Kafya denote s the sense conveyed by a sentence or phrase

expressing a complete thought .

(fi) Ja’

ti denotes the state of origination Of the mental and material

things .)

(Z) Jam” is the existence of mental and mate rial Objects in the senile

state .

(m) Stfiiti indicates the state of the momentary existence of mental

and material things in the present time .

(a) Aaityatd means the state of the passing away of things mental

and material .

(a) P ravr ilti denotes a state in which an uninterrupted series of things,mental and material occur in Obedience to the law of cause and effect.

E vamfifia’

giya means the distinct regularity of all things,mental

and material based on the law of causation, as the occurrence of a good

effect from a good -cause .

(g) P ratyafiaadfia i s the inseparable connection between cause and

(7) Ja’

vaayam means the constant changeableness of things, mental

and material .

(a) Aaafirama means the Order of effects,e . g.

,birth

,

before death.

SYSTEM S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

(t) Deéa means the ground, or to use -the term of mesmeris’m,the

medium necessary for the W O i k ing out of the law‘

Of causation .

(a) Kala means the time necessary for the play Of the law of causa

t ion .

(v ) Saafifidva l iterally means number . It denote s .an artificial system

of measuring things, mental and material .

(w ) Scimagi'i is the state of harmony existing intheuniverse

(a) Bfieda l iterally means distinction“

. This denotes the State of the

things existing in the universe taken separate ly .

According to the Vijfianavadin school the 24 dfiarmas enumerated above

are cognisable only through the agency of the sixth M anO-v ijfiana, as they

are not eternally existent, but are only provisional effects,due to' the com

b ined action Of the mental and material dfiarmas .

ASAM SKRITA DHARM A.

Asamskrita Dharma denote s the state in which birth and death cannot

exist ; it is the aaameaaa of the universe, and has sixThe e x planat i on Of

Asanskr ita dharma .

aspects .

(1 ) AficiécZ-asazw fir ita : Aka’

éa means limitless,incorporeal or non

Obstructed . Aficiéa-asaafirita indicates, therefore, an aspect of the noumenon

of the universe which is unchangeable, limitless and incorporeal it ' is Ofcourse

,free from the Law of Birth and Death . In other words

,it expresses

a‘state of Suchness’ ama and will be clearly expressed by the formula

,

“All is impermanent and non-ego” .

(2) The second aspect is P ra tisamfifiya-airaflfia-asamsfir ita . P rati

samfifij/a-niradfia means the ‘cessation Of all kinds ‘

Of KleSas’

acquired by

the power of perfect kno w le 'lge . This is the purest state of Suchness,which

is attained by the extirpation of the KleSas through the agency of Afiasravajnana or perfect knowledge .

(3 ) Apratisamfifig/a-7i i7°

a/Zfia-a8amsfir ita . This literally means the

cessation.

acquired without the aid of' perfect know ledge .

“ It indicate s that

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230 SYSTEMS OF BUDDH ISTIC ‘

THOUGHT .

the error of mi staking it for nothingness, i ts predicate fificiva (existence) is

adopted ; it may be called‘Sunyata ’

or unrestrictedness . At the sametime, since it is neither illusory nor v isionary, it i s termed reality It isl

therefore called .

‘Suchn ess ’ it i s absolute ly free from illusion or. error .

Asanga says

a ua w m a mw am fi efifim w fi afi

a unfi t fi s w fi N as hualamtmfim in

It can'

neither be called existence nor non-exi stence ; It is neither‘ such ’ nor ‘Otherwise . ’ It is neither born nor destroyed ; ' It neither

increases nor decreases ; It is neither purity nor filth .

"Such is the real

lafisfiana Of the Transcendental Truth (Suchness)

This is another illustration of a situation to describe wh ich the Indian

Buddhists found language inadequate, something which they could experience

but could not describe . They found words lacking in the scientific precision

w hich definition must convey . Hence, like the ancient ‘Neti ’,

‘Neti ’or

‘. not such,’ not Such, they had once min e to adopt a negative description

instead.of a positive definition, and then even they were not satisfied with

the negative . ~ The transcendental truth or Suchness w as to them beyond

the domain of demonstrative know ledge, - ~b eyond'

the grasp Of intellect.

It could only be felt and experienced by an earnest training of our mind .

Tfiefi ve aggregations or P aaca Sfiaadfias.

Aggregation of Dharmas.

which belong to the same clas s is t ermed

The difin it ion of thesfiaaa’fia

’. Thus the firs t sfiaarlfia called the R zZp a

fi v e aggregat ion ssfi'aadfia

’

, consists of the eleven k inds of ‘Rzip a-dfiarmas

the second, the Vedana-sfiamlfia’ comprises the different kinds of ‘feeling’;

the third, the Saig'

fi CZ-Sfiamlfia’ is the collectivity Of f conceptions the

fourth, the Samsfia'

ra-sfianflfia

’

includes forty-n ine of the mental properties

and t w enty four of the v iprayuk ta-dharmas and the fifth,the Vij fidna

sfiaarlfia, the eight kinds of consciousness . The Sfiandfias, w hen te chnically

spoken’

of,

'

play a great part in Buddhist p hilosophy. For ins tance

the Vijfianavadins say that the vulgar mind isf apt to adhere to the con

ception that the body and the mind has an ete rnal or real existence, while,

ALAYA-PHENOMNOLOGY. 23 1“

in fact, they are only temporary results of the combination,’

and a mere

manifestation, of . these five Skandhas ’. The illusion, they say, i s the

cause which makes people transmigrate in the three worlds or through the

six k inds of e xistences . Buddha preached, “the five sfiamlfias have no

real or eternal existence

Tfie tw elve Agatanas.

figalana ordinarily means a place a‘resting place but in Buddhist“

The m eaning ofphilosophy it is used

,in the technical sense

,for

i

‘ the‘Aya tau

’

ground wherein the mental properties develop .

’For

example,we see a deer ; the Cak shu-vijfiana Operate s through the organic

eye-ball and terminates at the.

door . The eyelb all’

and the door form the‘place or the figataaa Of the Cafisfiv -vi/M aa

, in this particular instance .

There are six sense-organs and six sen se-objects the combination of the two

causes the mental properties to act . Twelve dgatanaa have been assigned

as the field for Ope ration . O ut of them, the M ana-dgatana is the arena for

the act ion of the eight kinds of con sciousness . To the Dharma-ayatana

the Vijfianavadins assign the fifty-one properties Of the mind,

five Rip a

(lfiarmas,the twenty four kinds Of Vip ragafita-samsfiam -rZfia7'mas and the

six kinds of Asamsfi'

i'ita-(lfiarmas .

This is thus another psychological division—that of the universalphenomena into twelve cigataaas . It is to be noted that the ‘

aaamsfigrita

dfiarmas’

are not included in the division of ‘sfiamlfias

’

,because they do not

form any aggregation of ‘dharmas’. But they are comprised in the twelve‘ayatans

’ for they become Objects of the mind,in as much as they become

Objects of mental speculation .

Tfie Eigfifeen Dfirflics.

“

Up to this time we have discussed the Objects Of the cognition of

consciousness and the grounds and aspects Ofmental operation . We shal l

now p roceed to discuss ‘the bases of consciousness’

There are eighteen agencies through which consciousness acts. . These

are te rmed ‘dfia‘

tas’ ‘the root ‘dfia’ in Sanskrit meanmo '

The m ean ing O f o

it tu ‘to hold’ or ‘to bear’. meaning.

‘holder’ or ‘bearer’

‘Dfiatas’

, therefo re, are the bases and include the active agencies Of the

232 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

different kinds Of consciousness . They denote collectively both the passive

and active agencies . The passive agencies are the six s ense-organs and the

six sense-Objects . But as these instruments require some active agents,

the want is supplied by the first six kinds of consciousness . Let us take .

an example : The sense-organ of the eye i s an agency Of consciousness ;it perceives an object, for instance, a chair ; the chair and the eye are two

passive agencies of our consciousness but the consciousness itself,the

Cakshu-v ijfiana, i s the active agent of our mental Operation in this

particular instance . Therefore the Buddhist psychologist avers that the .

six Vijfianas are the‘dfidtas

’ or ‘bearers’ of their own characteristics . Thus,

the six sense-organs,the six sense-objects and the six Vijfianasmake up

the eighte en (Zfici‘

tas .

THE FOUR S TAGES OF THE COGNITIVE OPERATION OFCONSCIOUSNESS .

The Yogacara school assigns four stages to the cognitive Operation Of

the eight consciousnesses .

The first is called Lafiafianatvam,

1 which implies ‘Objectiveness’, an .

Operation which is brought into action when consciousThe fi rst stage of

0 0 1 18 0 10 0 8 11 6 8 9 ness comes into contact W ith a particular object hence

this name for the first stage .

The second is Djriafitjritvam2 which means ‘perception’. ‘Perceptibn’ i s

the process by which Lafisfianatvam is connected withThe second stage Of

conscl oum e ss ~ the stage of the subjective realisation of the object.

While Objectiveness is a passive operation ; perception is believed to be active,and subjective .

l Japane se SO-b ui i . ’Japan e se Ken-b un .

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23 4 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

Tfie tfiree fiinds (y‘

p ramazias or conclusions arrived at fig consciousness.

It is evident that only three stages out of the four viz : Dr isfitr itvam,

The e x planat ion of Svasafisfiitvam and Sclfisfiisvascffisfiitvam come to their

zhhcliihi’

diis .

kinds Ofrespective conclusions . Lafisfianatvam being merely

a passive operation terminating w ith the Object of cognition

have no conclusion of its o w n . Now, the conclusions may be either

perceived, inferred, or fallaciously conceived . These are the three divisions

of the conclusions or Pramanas of the three operations . P ratgofisfia1

meaning present, that is, present before the Vijf’

iana,is the term for the

perceived conclusion . Annmana 2 or inference is the term for drawn up

conclusions. zlfificlsa 3 or fallacy is the term for those conclusions that are

fallacious .

Let us first t ake P ratgafisfia-P ramclna or the perceived conclusions

Pratyak sha or per.

results of the second stage of the operation of consci

Cept ion ousness called Drishtritvam. This is fairly clear . The

Operation called perception directly takes up Objects, and forms its Ow n con

elusions on them. But the Operation or Drishtritvam of the 7thM ano-vijffi clna

has no perceived conclusion or P ralgafisfia-P ramclna of its own for, it

always mistakes the perceived conclusions (pratyak sha-pramana) of fllaga

Vijf‘

aclna as those of ego or alman, as we have already seen in our former

lectures . The t w o subjective stages of the operation Of consciousness, viz

Svasak shitvam and Sak shisv asak shitvam have also their perceived conclusion-pramana) . This is said in the sense, I think, that the

ension of Drishtritvam is immediately handled by the loss in

Annmana-P raman as or infered conclusions are made only by the 6th

M anO

Anuma'

i na or infer.

j Tl ”a In Its Dm‘d’tmt’am Stage Of cognitiveence. operation . The firSt fiveVijfianas, being the conscious

ness confined to the agency of the five sense-organs,have got no means of

ex ercisnig or executing any Annma’

na . There are only three Vijfianas

w hich are capable of producing inferential conclusions but one of them, the

Alaya-Vijfiana, does not do it for if it formed a conclusion, that must be a

1 Jap : Gen-ryd.

3 Jap : R i

ALAYA 235.

perfect truth ; hence there is no room for any Anumana left. The other, v iz

the seventh M ano-v ij fiana, is blind, so to say it only takes the perception

of Alaya-Vijfiana as that of Atman . This being its initial and universal

defect,if it made any annma

'

na,that would be no Annmana. Hence

Annmalna’ is only attributed to the sixth M ano-vijf

’

iana . As the last two

subjective stages of the Operation of consciousness can never be erroneous,

while the inferential conclusions may be so, it i s only to perceptual Stage

of the sixth M ano-vijfiana that inferential conclusions are to be attributed .

The third kind of conclusion is flfifialsa or a fallacy . This could only

Ab hasa. or fallacy.be drawn by a second stage of the operation ; as the last

two stages cannot be fallacious . But then it is the second stage of the opera

tion of the only two consciousnesses which come to this class of conclusion ;they are the sixth and the seventh M anov ijfianas . The seventh is always

blind, as we have seen, this to be always fallacious ; fallacy being its original

mclga . The sixth may be at times liable to fallacy . The eighth is never so,

as we have already seen and so are the first five,on account of their being

confined to the agency of sense-organs .

The following diagram will go to help you in understanding the Chapte r

more clealy

Pratyaksha Drishtritvam .

‘—The 8th and

first five Vijfianas .

Drisht ritvam .—The 6t h M ano

Vijfiana .

AnumanaDrishtritvanr—The 7th M anoVijfiana .

Svasak shitvam .

2

Abhésa,Saksbi-svasak shitvam .

3

1 Jap : Ken -b a n .

2 Jap : J i-sh6aba zt . 3 Jap i Shd-j i-shO-b un .

236 SYSTE M S OF B UDDHISTIC THOUGHT .

FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE E IGHT VIJNANAS .

(I) On tfie zilaga’

i/fi clna .

There are three senses in which fellaga is used

(a) that which deposits,

that which is deposited,

(c) that which is regarded as Ego

(a) w e have already considered ‘afilaga Vij fiolna

’ in its first sense,

that is,as the ‘v ijfiana depositing all the potential germs of the pheno

menal world .

(6)‘That which is deposited ’

means the Alaya-Vijfi ana which is

deposited with the germs Of the phenomena by the‘Seven Vijfianas

’

M ore properly speaking, the ‘alaya ’ i s passive,while the first seven

vijfianas are active in the case of (b) .

(c) The third is a special aspect of the Alaya-Vij iiana considere

’

d from

the point of view of the relation existing between the seventh M ano

Vijfiana’and the Alaya-Vij f

’

iana The alaya"is said to be the alaya ’

of the seventh M ano in the sense,that the former is regarded by

the latter as its Treasure or Repository the seventh acts as a constant

attendant to the eighth—it is said to be attached to the eighth . Or more

accurate ly speaking, the seventh M ano-Vijfiana fondly,but fallaciously

,

regards the eighth Vijfiana’

as ego or the Eternal Individuality

Tfie Cfiaraieterislics of lfie filaga

We have noticed that Alaya-Vijfiana’ is something like the atman ’ of

ighe

e

thre

gfChaim; the orthodox H indu philosophy but we shall now see

Vijfigma,how it differs from that

,and what are its main charac

teristics . There are three characteristics given to it by Buddhist philosophy

which explains its real nature . The first is that the Alaya-Vijfiana’is

the ‘Karmic effect that is, the Alaya-Vijfiana,’ in each individual, must be

neutral (i . e . neither b ad nor good) it being a‘substratum ’ produced

by the assi stance of Karma, good or bad .

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238 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

of our rebirth and ‘Nirvana.

’ But my time being limited, the discussion

of the theory in detail must be left for another occasion ; and I may

hope, one Ofyou should choose to perform it; for it w as, after all, the produc

tion Of the brains Ofyour own forefathers

Tfiefoar stages of tfie cognitive op eration of tfie ‘Alaga Vignana’

The ‘d laga Vfifi cina,’ like the other Vij fianas, has got four stages in its

cognitive Operation . Let us first take its ‘Lafisfian alvam’.

The Lakshana tvam of

the Alaya-Viifidna The ‘Lafisfianatvam’ of the first fiv e Vijfianas constitutes

the respective Objects of their sense-organs,e . g . the ‘Lafisfianalvam

’ of the‘Cafisfin Vij r

’

iclna’ is a name for the Objects which can be perceived by the eye .

But the Lafisfianalvam of the filaga Vij fi cina’ includes the principal

five inclrigas (i .a. sense-organs) and the five kinds Of aux iliary inelrigas.

But that is not all. The ‘Lafisfianatvam’Of the E ighth Vijfiana also

includes the materials of the Kama and Rupa clfia’

tns’

. And thirdly, it

includes the potential germs which are deposited in the ‘Alaga Vignana’.

It is the germs,to speak psychologically

,which produce the Objective world

through the interaction Of the seven ‘Vijfianas’

; therefore the germs them

selves are said to be the subject of Lafisfianatvam for the cognitive

operation of the Eighth Vijfiana.

The Drisfitr itvam of the d laga Vijnclna, like that Ofothers, are subjective .

The,Drzsmfitmm of

There i s nothing spe0 1al about the Operations of Svasathe AlayCL' V‘Jndm fisfiitvam and Sdfisfii-svasdfisfiitvam of this Vijfiana.

; They were just like those Of the other consciousnesses that is, the result Of

Dr isfitr ilvam i s analysed by Svascl’

fisfiitvam, Svasclfisfiilvam by Safisfii-svasci

fisfiilvam, and the last t w o, in turn, analysing each other’s results .

M ental p rop erties concomitant w ilfi tfie‘Eigfilfi Wanna.

When the Cittam or mind is active,it is followed by some ‘Cait tam’

The sen se of‘Oon.

or mental properties . They are called ‘concomitantcom’mn t"

mental properties’ in the Vijfianavadin school . And the

term ‘concomitant’ is used by the Yogacaras in four senses as follows

(l ) The concomitant caittam is ‘simultaneous’ with the activity of the

mind .

ALAYA-pHENOM ENOLOGY. 239

(2) It has the ‘same basis’ as the mind, that is, they both act through

the same sense-organ .

(3 ) Both of them take the same Lafisfianalvam or ‘Objectiveness’.

(4 ) Both of them have the same and only one substance at a time .

The above four conditions must exist as between the ‘Cit tam’

and the‘Caittam

’

.

The Alaga s aalan has got its o w n concomitant Caitla-(lfiarmas, and they

are the fiv e kinds of universal mental properties,v iz : M anasfialra l (atte ntion) ,

Sp arsa2(contact) , Vedana 3 (sensation) , Samj fid"(conception) and Cetana 5

(motive) . The above four conditions apply in the case Of fllaga Va’

nana

and its Caittam also .

Tfie M ood of tfie fllag Vij fiana.

Generally speaking, the mood Ofmind is said to be of three or four kinds .t

Gen eral dispo sitionsThey ai e Knsala or good or moral

, Afinsala which is

Of“ find“ the contrary OfKnsala,and Up efisfiaf or ‘neutral’ ; and

again, Upek sha is divided into two kinds, namely, avgrila or ‘covered

Up efisfia’6

and anclvgrita or ‘uncovered’ or ‘unfettered Up efisfia” .

Knsala is the moral mood which is conducive to things moral and bene

ficial. Afinsala is the cause of immoral conducts.

‘Indilference’ or

Up efisfia means neither moral nor immoral . But when it is covered or

not cleared,it is supposed to be an Obstacle to the realisation

Of the highest bliss, that is, Nirvana . The pure light is there ‘covered’.

But when it is not so or is cleared,it is called anavr ita or ‘uncovered ’;

it then leads to Nirvana . The ‘covered’ or ‘Obscured indifference’ is

sometimes called ‘defiled’

The native mood Of the Alaga Vignana is ‘unobscured indifference’

or ancivr ita-np efisfia. This is the basis or asritam of all ‘dharmas’. If it

were either moral,immoral or obscured

,it could not be the basis for every

kind of dfiarma. The concomitant ‘cait ta—dharmas’ of the rfilaga Vij n

’

dna

are, thus, necessarily np efisfia-dfiarmas .

1 Jap : Saka i .

2 Jap : Soku. Jap : 8 6.

Jap : Shi. Jap : U-fuku-muki. 7 Jap : M a -faku-muki.

24 0 SYSTE M S or B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Tfie stages in lfie development of tfie‘i fllaga Vijndna

’

The [llaga Vi/ifidna developes into ‘Buddhahood’ or ‘Nirvana’;

The differen t stage sbut there are several intermediate stages . The

Of”16 Alaya‘ w j fidna ' realisation of the normal stage of the Alaga Vij ffulna

is hampered by the Operation Of the ‘

Seventh ‘M ama Viifi a’

na’ it i s

overpowered by its egoistic character, w hich is dominant not only among

the common people,but even among those who have reached the Stage of

the seventh Bfin'mi or realm of Bodfiisatlva . The stage is technically

called the ‘Domain Of the Egoistic Character’. But the Alaya-Vijfiana of

Bodhisattva in the eighth Bfizlmi is said to be free from this taint . And

the very term, .éllaga is not, in the Vijfianavadin school, applied to the

Vijfiana in this stage where the Egoistic trait becomes absolute ly powerless ;it is rather assigned another name

,the Vipdfia-Vij ndna, in the case of the

stages from that of ordinary people up to the tenth Bfin’mi Of Bodfiisattva.

The last stage is that of ‘Buddhahood’ or ‘pe rfect enlightenment’. The

consciousness of this Stage is called fldfiana Vij ndna . This is the next

development after the attainment of the ‘Vipaka-Vijfiana’. It is called

fidfiana Vij i'

idna, as it ‘holds’ all kinds Of the germs of experience and

consciousness in it .

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24 2 SYSTE M S o r BUDDHIS’

I‘IC THOUGHT .

3m Of the Seventh V1

The Lak shanatvam of the Seventh

Vijfiana

T/ie direct ooj ect of cognition offile Seventn Vi/ilcina .U

nsnbstantial

or

Imaginarg.

The Drishtritvam of the

E ighth Vijfiana

Tne indirect ooj ect of cognition

of tfie‘

Sevent/t Vij i’

icina.

The other stages in the cognitive operation of this ‘Vijfifina’are just

like those of the filaga Vij n'

rina.

T/i e mental p rop erties concomitant caitntne SeventnM ano s m’

na

They are eighteen in number, and consist of the five universal mental

properties, p raj ffi

a'

(knowledge) among the five particular ‘caitta dharmas,’

lobka (covetousness) , molza (folly) , mctna (pride) and asamgagdr isfiti (wrong

view) of the fundamental Kleéas, and stga’

na (sloth) , aa/Zdnatga (boldness) ,

kansidliga (laz iness) , mne/zitasmgrititci (forgetfulness) , asamp raj nci (wrong

know ledge) and o i/cs/lepa (confusion) of the twenty derivative Kleéas .

ALAYA-PHENO M ENOLOGY .

Themood of M e Seventti Vi‘

j aa'

aa;

The mood of this Vijfiana is dom’

ta-np eksna or

That is to say, the seventh Vij n'

ctna becomes aA hindran ce t o the

a t tainm en t OfNm a?“ hindrance to the real isation of the ‘Holy Path’ and

the attaintment of Nirvana . It darkens the pure light in ’

our mind,as it is a purely egoistic principle .

This ego or individual ity,is an illusion. Forthwith you tell a man he is

not an individual, he is so much afraid that his individual ity W iu' be lost.

But the Buddhists aver that individuality cannot exist, as we are changing

every moment of our life . A man has to pass through several stages from

childhood to old age, and senility,each with his own w ay of thinking,

his own aspirations, his own ideals . Every one changes at every instant

indiv idual ity is only a my th , an illusion, termed the ‘Seventh fil ano Vifiza'

na’

in the Yogacara school .

(IIIJ T/ie six t/i M ano-vi/M na and Me otner Vig'

fi ci'

nas.

The first six ‘Vijfianas’

are named after their respective bases or

The differen ce b eAsritas (i .e . that is to say, the nomencla

t w e en the 6 th and

the 7th M an o -v ijture Cansnn-Vi/nana is adopted because i t depends

on the Cake/ioindriga Srotra Vijnctna,I

b ecause its

basis is the Srotrendriga, and so forth. The sixth Vijfiana aifect s all d/iarmas

and is connected with, or rather, dependent upon, the seventh rWanolVi/nctna.

This dependence of the sixth Vijfi fina upon the seventh is pointed out by

the Indian Buddhi sts as the reason w hy the sixth has the same nomenclaa

ture as the seventh . They say that the sixth M ano Vi/ficina is used in the"

sense of the “Tatp nrnsna compound”,meaning ‘consciousness belonging to

manas (the seventh and they regard the seventh as afl

24 4 sYe Ms o r BUDDH ISTIC, T HOUGHT .

Karmad/zciraga compound which would mean the ‘mind which is itself

consciousness’

There are t w o operations of the sixth Vijfiana (l ) The consciousness

The t w o operat ionswhich arises along with the first five o i/fia

’nas at once

o f ’ the six th Viifidm o and the same time,or the ‘clear consciousness’ ; for it

gives rise to a clearer faculty of discrimination than that developed by the

perceptive operation of the first five ‘vijfi finas

’

. And (2) the consciousness

which arises independently from the first fiv e Vij fianas . This is either (a)‘consciousness in d/igctna or meditation

’ which means an intuitive operation

of the mind and it arises in ‘dhyana’ of the ‘rfipa

’and ‘

arfipa-dhatus

’

; or (b)the consciousness which arises solitarily, —a term giv en to the operation

wherein the mind imagines, compares or recollects unaided by the first

five Vijfianas or (c) the consciousness in dreaming . This is the mental

state when we dream in our visions .

So much as regards the further discussion of the eight kinds of con

sciousnesses . I shall now proceed to the division of human kndw ledge

according to this school

THE RELATION BETWEEN NOUM ENON AND

PHENOM ENON .

We are now famil iar with the classification of phenomena or Samskrita

dharmas . One may ask what is the relation between the camsnr ita

clnarma or phenomenon and the asams/cr ita-(Marma or noumenon ? This

problem i s explained in the filaga p lienomenologg by the'

Yogacaras from

the epistemological standpoint . To follow their explanation, we must first

understand their standpoints .

-To take a v ery familiar illustration,we have all come across the

Vijfi finav fidins and Vedantic phrase,‘mi staking the rope for a serpent’.

(3 1652313 {i iiM mm im fi q : i .e .

“Illusory attribution is the at tri

buting to the real of that w hich ' is unreal,as a snake is imagined in a

rope which is not a snake f’ —Vedantasara) . T his error is an example ;

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24 6 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

am mrzimis rma zm mma m l

i.e . The name and meaning or the conception of the name or meaning

(of a certain thing) which is caused by illus ion, is known as p arit alp ita

lat 'slianam or illusory attribution of knowledge .”

i.e .

“ It is called p aratantra-laks/ianam, (on account of the fact that)

the three characteristics of gringa (i nc that which is recognised) and

gi'a'

lia/ra (i .e . that which recognises) are based on the law of relativity .

”

m ma m m n

m a rm ra ufi fi w a am n?’

i.e .

“ It i s called p arinist/p anna-la/cslzanam,because it is beyond the

range of research regarding existence or non-existence or both, and (beyond

the range of) pain or pleasure .”

That absolute is nothing else than Tathataor Suchness with which we

are already familiar . Thus Tathata i s the highest truth in the realm of

philosophy as Tathagata or one who has reached Suchness is the highest

being in the religious world . In this system Tathata i s the noumenon of

the universe . The relation between the Parinishpanna or Noumenon and

Paratantra or Phenomenon is such that we cannot separate them one

from the other. The phenomena are manifestations of the noumenon they

are, therefore, dependent or P aratantra upon P arinistp anna or the Complete .

This is the real relation of the two .

1gm mean s ab sence of kn o w ledge o r n o t ion

,and fafirfi mean s cause . Hence

the e x pre ssion as a w ho le mean s that w hich is caused b y ab sence of kn o w ledge or n o t ion

o r b y il lusion .

2

(a ) Paddb hdsa, (W o rd) (b ) arthdbhdsa (m ean ing ) and (c) dehab hdsa (b o dy) .The se are the thre e kinds of charact erist ics ofgrdhya o r gi

'

c‘

ihaka .

3 The M ahfiyfina -Sfitra-Alank fira, Chap . XI , Karika , 3 9 , 40 and 4 1 . Chine se ve rsion ,Chap . XII, Karika, 36 , 37 and 38 .

ALM A-PHENO M ENOLOGY . 24 7

THE BUDDHA-KAYA—VIEW OF THIS SCHOOL;

I shal l cite the~

nineteen t a’rit as of the great Asanga from.

the last

chapter of his well know n work, “M ahayana-Sfitra-Alankara’ in which we

can learn the Buddha-Kaya-view of this school .

sm sfig s’

fi flfi im'

rm l

I salute thee, O Buddha, who art compassionate towards living beings,whose mind is bent upon bestowing happiness on them and relieving them

from m isery, and who art always rejoicing and art free from lrleéas .

”

3 137 ! as amt‘ci ss fas afi ss fi n

I salute the e, O Buddha, w ho art free from all delusions, who hast con

q uered the whole world, who art all pervading—this being known by means

of knowledge, -and whose m ind is,therefore

,l iberated .

”

O '\ 0 Q 0 Qmm s as

‘ens seam s

amass ? fliemm s tars? 11

I salute thee, 0 Buddha, w ho art the annihilator of all the causes of

misery, who has t destroyed every kind of lt leéas and ‘

w ho art compassionate

towards all afflicte d fellow creatures without any exception .

”

THRIFTfarms W Tss rfss I

s ss saw mi tas s a sw ims u

I salute thee,O Buddha

,who art freefrom enjoyment, attachment

and obstruction, whose mind is well balanced and free from all doubts .”

m as s fi rst séfmfi aims? uI salute thee, 0 Buddha, who art the good preacher and whose wisdom

is always irrefutable in expounding of law (cisi 'nga) and its meaning, in

speech,knowledge and teaching .

”

saw 33 36 s s it s W EBas?

fi zsfi .

“its s w at W mitts? u'

248 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH IST IC THAUGHT.

I salute thee, 0 Buddha, who art most efficient in teaching all living

beings through the divine power of the will to assume different forms (np etga) ,the divine hearing the divine knowledge of reading other’s

thought (camj na) , the divine knowledge of the past birth of others (cigati) ,the knowledge of their future (gati) , and through the divine power by

which those mayst enable men to find release form Samsara

s si'rs s i Ed a t s aiifsfl: l

m flaw s sffissfi u

All liv ing beings attain greatness on seeing thee I salute thee who

art the creator of faith (in the mind of all living beings) at the mere sight

(of thee)

se as r-w sfsamsum arms-1'

s u

I salute thee, 0 Buddha,who hast attained freedom in meditation

and knowledge as well as in receiving (cida'

na) hospital ity, staying

at and departing from Viharas (samtgctga) and the transformation of objects

of sense .”

The four kinds of purity Buddha possesses are pointed out in this

kciri/ca . They are (i) fiéraga-p ariénddni or ‘purity of body’

, (ii) filamtana

p ariéndrl/ii or ‘purity of observation as regards objects of sense,’

(iii) Citta

p ariéa tlrl/ii or ‘purity of mind’, and (iv) P raj fict—p ariénrldni or ‘purity of

knowledge’. In the above Karika Buddha’s démga-p arién/ldni i s signified

by ctdctna,stt a

'

na and samtga'

ga ; his Alamlana-

p am’

éad/lni by nirmcina ;

his Citta-

p ariénrlelni by samatzlli i, and his p rag’

ficZ-p ariéntldni by j a'

zina .

s emis s fsaiifrmis s mis s ? u

I salute thee, 0 Buddha, who, in leading living beings to the right

path, destroyest M ara as regards expediency (np ctga) , refuge (éarana),purity (Snzlflni) and emancipation (nirgctna) ?

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250 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT.

m m w stmimn

s aism ufi s gsis s sfi ss fi

I salute thee, O Buddha, who art the supreme of all éi 'a'va/cas and

p ratge/ca-tnrldnas by virtue of thy conduct (citt a) , acquisition

knowledge (j natna) and action (lemma) ?

This Karika explains the eighteen unique characteristics of Buddha.

The first six out of eighteen are, in the above Karika,signified by ca

'

m

the next six by art/Eigama the next three by j ncina, and the last three bylrarma .

I salute thee, 0 Buddha, who art clearer of doubts Of all l iving beings

at every place, and who hast acquired the great enl ightenment and, every

kind of knowledge through the three-fold body or krtgas .

The three-fold kayas are

i m m (The body of self existent nature ) 1 ,11 q hfifim (The body of enjoyment or compensation) 2, and

ii i ?m’ffi sram (The body capable of transformation) 3

W arsagsa

’

g Forums s sh-

sii u

I salute thee, 0 Buddha, who, in all cases saroa-rl/iamna art

‘devoid of attachment’ ( niranagrana) , ‘free from faults’ ( niw los/i a j , free

from stain’ ( nisli t ctl itstga) ,‘devoid of sedentariness’ ( anaoastt ita j

‘devoid of agitation’ and ‘devoid of idle discourse s

nistp rap anca

fi w s w s rfi sfiasaiwrfizfi fiizss z

s eism ims : s aisxsfi firsaf: u

Jap : I ishd-shin.

2 Jap : L oyd-shin .

3 Jap : Xc-shi'ne

dLI YA-I’HENOM ENOLOGY. 251

fi 3A Q a

s aut ss g sh amass a ssQ 0 x

m am m al s aw w a s

Thou hast accomplished the transcendental aim thou art beyond

the region of all Wat/mi or places of Boddhisattvas Thou art the highest

in the universe and art the emancipator of all fellow creatures .

Thou art possessed of indestructible and unequalled virtues thou art

seen in the world and society thou art also to tally unseen by human and

divine being s .”

CHAPTER VII.

BHUTATATHATA PHENOM ENOLOGY.

1

In the Yogdcdra and the Zlfad/igamil'a schools of Buddhist Philosophy,

The reason for‘

thethe relation betw een Truth or noumenon and the thing

d’St t lon b e t w e e naround us or p /zenomenon is not sufficiently explained .

‘Gon -dai-jio

’

and‘Jit su

For this reason the Buddist philosophers of China cal l

themp artiallg develop ed Jlfa/zdganists .

2 In other words, although these two

schools maintain that noumenon and phenomenon are inseparable, they do

not proceed to develop it further as the fallg develop ed M alta'

ganists .

3

The B/idtatat/iatd-pnenomenologg w as founded by the great Aévagli oslza 4

w ho flourished in the reign of King Kanisti l'a . B/idtatattiatd literally

signifies “ suchness of existence”,which is synonymous with p arami

i'

rt/ia

satga or‘transcendental truth’ from the ontological point of view . In this

school of Buddhist philosophy, noumenon and phenomenon are considered

closely related and inseparable, caring the same relation to each other as

w ater and waves .

As I have already pointed out in one of my earlier lectures, the

Tien-Tai, Avatamsaka, D/igdna and Salt /identiogzi/ia

Aévaghosha’

s place inthe history of M aha schools are included in the so -called fallg develop ed

yana Buddhism.

ani sm. The fundamental doctrine of these

schools is the same as that of the great Aéoagli os/i a’s

‘Suchness philosophy’,which is explicitly explained in his well-know n systematical work the“Awakening of Faith” . The Sanskrit text of this book is irrecoverably lost ;but we have two Chinese versions of it by P aramdrtlia and Sil'st dnanda.

We have also two English translations of this important work, one by an

eminent Japanese-Buddhist philosopher, Prof. T . Suz uki,and the other by

1 Jap : Shin -nyO -yeng i-ron . Jap : Gon -da i-J io.

3 Jap : J itsu -dm’

-j i6 .

The dat e ofASvagho sha is discussed in de tail in M r. T . Suzuki’s English version of the

Aw akening OfFaith. Se e pp . 2—17 .

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254 SYSTE M S o r Bt nnii isr ic THOUGHT .

dual existence ; it is the B/i iita-Koti l or the essence of Being, when its onto

logical aspect is taken into account ; it i s the Tatt dgata-gart/ia

2 or the

Womb of Tat/zdgata w hen the analogy from M other Earth (where all the

germs of life are stored, and all precious sto nes and metal s are

concealed under the cover of filth) i s drawn ; and it i s M andgdna or the

great' Vehicle when it embraces the soul of all living beings . I shall

treat this last aspect of Suchness more fully . ASvagho sha says

What is the rlfa/idgdna (the Great Vehicle) ? It is the soul of all sentient

The m eaning of beings The soul embraces everything in‘M aha ana.

’

y thi s world, phenomenal and superphenomenal, through

which w e can disclose the true meaning of ZVI a/idgdna .

The soul i s not considered here, according to the doctrine of the

M ahayana Buddhists , in its dualistic and relative sense, but in its monistic

and absolute sen se . It i s regarded,rather

,as the

The sen se of soulin M ahayana. philo so soul Ofthe universe—the formative principle which gavephy .

and still gives shape to the world . The M ahayanists

however,consider the soul from two standpoints

,v iz : (a) The soul as the

highest reality, and (6) the soul as the principle of birth and death or

samsdra . The latter aspect of the soul i s again considered from three

s tandpoints, viz : (1) its quintessence, (2) its attribute s, and (3) its activity .

ASvagho sha says

“The soul in it se lf, involving, as it does, the quintessence of the

M ahayana, is . Suchness but it becomes (in its relative or

transitory aspect, through the law of causation) birth and death (samsdra)in which are revealed the quintessence, the attributes, and activi ty of the

M ahayana.

” 3

These are called the three magnitudes of the soul . And these are

“ possessed by every thing that has its foundation inThe thre e magn i t ude sOf

“so ul ,“ caus es and effects . Taking for example, the case Ofa

jar : its quintessence is the earth ; its attribute, the form of a jar; and its

Jap : Shi n-n yO-Jie sa i. 2 Jap Ngou '

n i-ad.

3 Suz uki s t ran slat ion , p. 5i3 i

i

BHUTATATHATA PHENO M ENOLOGY . 25a

activity (utility) i s to keep water . A jar, a flower-pot and a tea-cup, are

the same as regards their quintessence—the earth ; but they differ in attribute

andactivity, for they have been manufactured under different conditions .‘ Their attributes and activity are subject to the law of birth and death

or samsdi 'a,while their quintessence is indestructible . The tea-cup or

flower-pot is perishable,but the earth of which it is made cannot be destroyed .

The waves Of the ocean are sometimes high and sometimes low,but the

wate r itself of which they are composed neither increases nor decreases . For

this reason,the universe is viewe d. from two standpoints in this school :

its unchangeable and indestructible state, and (l ) its changeable'

and

perishable state . O r using philosophical terms, (a) from the ontological

standpoint and (6) from the phenomenological aspect . The“Awakening of

Faith” of the great ASvaghosha strives rather to solve the question What

i s the source and manner of the origin of the phenomenal world than to f

explain the real nature of the substratum of the un iverse . It is for this

reason that this school is called “Bhi‘i tatathataphenomenology rather than

Bhutatathata ontology I do not mean,however

,to assert that

ASv agho sha did not touch upon the problem of ontology, viz : the noumenon

of the universe ; for his philosophy is not so narrow or limited but he did

not dilate on this problem to any very great extent . We shall now proceed

to examine his doctrine about

Tii e Real Natare of Sac/mess .

We can scarcely realise the real nature of Suchness, for our knowledge

The n ature of Bhdtai s based upon the relative and conditional state of

t athata things . It is something too vast for our finite

comprehension—absolute,infinite

,imperishable and immutable throughout

all space and time ; nay, even including time and space themselves within

its sphere . ASv agho sha says

B/idtatatt atd implies oneness Of the totality Of things or d/iarma

d/tcttnfl the great all-including whole, the quin tessence of the doctrine . For

the essential nature of the soul is uncreate i and eternal

1 Suzuki’s Engl ish trans lat io n ,pp . 55—56 .

256 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

Where,then shall we find this soul We must not search for it in

heaven , nor in far-away places, for it is within us . For the essential nature

of our mind is the soul as such (M ittatatiiatd) , though it appears to have a

separate individuality on account of our confused mental ity . It is,there

fore said in the Sdstmt of the Awakening of Faith ’

All things appear to have individual existences simply on account of

o ur confused mentality. If we could overcome our confused subjectivity,all

Signs of individuality would disappear, and there would be no trace of a

world consisting of (individual and isolated) objects . 1

As soon as we remove the veil of ignorance that clouds the brightness

of our mind,we shall be able to realise Suchness in all its universality. We

Should have done away with relativity and the conditional tnis or tt at,

I or lie, enemg or friend which are merely the natural effects of the con

fused state of our m ind and the conception of individuality. We can only

comprehend the true state of Suchness through earnest practice and intuition

born of experience . Hence ASvagho sha says

All things in their fundamental nature cannot be named or explained .

‘Su chn e s s b eyondThey cannot adequate ly be expressed in any form of

language } language . They are beyond the range Of perception,

and have no disinct iv e features . They possess absolute sameness ; and are

sub jeet neither to transformation nor to destruction . They are nothing

else but one soul,for which Suchness i s another designation (appe llation) .

“AS soon as you grasp that, when totality (universality) of existence is

spoken of or thought of,there is neither that which speaks

,no r that which

is spoken of neither that which thinks, nor that which is thought of then

you conform to Suchness and when your subjectivity is thus completely

obliterated,it is then that you may be said to have insight .

” 2

Thus the very state of the absolute world or the realm of the soul is

indescribable just as the sight of a terrible battlefield or a beautiful

landscape . This is technically termed Suchness beyond language .

But there would never come a time, nor will an Opportunity ever

present itself,for the people to

,

enjoy this State of absolute Suchness,if,

Suzuki’s Eng lish t ranslat io n , p . 56 .

2 Suzuki’

s Eng l ish v e rsion , pp. 56—58 .

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SYSTE M S o r BUDDH I STIC THOUGHT .

give detailed explanation as regards “trueness as affi rmation” of Suchness .

We can ,however

,prove that they give a hint as to the latter point from

the follow ing Karikas

W is ts~

staffs s s s rs rflt as

s sfis’

an ariamas-me ns es:

amamam: s ass fiifi i s tem?!s sfi sfs

’

ai as fiim l’fi ffi ? FRI !“

Their explanation of this idea, however, is neither so clear nor sufficient

as ASvagho sha’s . This i s one of the reasons why they are regarded by

the Chinese Buddhi st scholars as “partially developod M ahayanists”

So much for the meaning of Suchness . I shal l now pass on to

THE RELATION OF SUCHNESS TO ALL THINGSL

(Tne doctrine of Alaga Vj aa'

aa) .

The relation of Suchness to all things, or that of noumenon to phenome

non is expressed by ‘Alaga This word mustD ifferen ce b e t w een

Ala) “ and M aya : be carefully differentiated from the word ‘d laga-og'

ffidna’

which I us ed in relation to the Vig'

n'

dnavadin sc/i ool . Because Paramartha and

Sik shananda translated Alaga-vijn

‘

dna in Chinese by Wa-mo “never

disappearing mind”, “never lost mind” ; while d laga, on the other hand as

translated by Hio uen Tsang, means ‘Sto re house’ or ‘Repository’ . Alaga

o i/r’

idna has a t w ofold significance,riz : (l ) enlight

The t w o fo ld sign ifi

cance OfAlaya-r igndna . enment 3 and (2) DOD -enlightenment 4 , One Side of

it is pure,bright or true

,while the other side is dirty

,dark or false .

But we,on this subject

,must take care that Alaga

-oijndna of

ASvaghosha’

s school includes the two kinds of knowledge,

v iz : relative1 “

M ahayanaS utra-alankara San skrit Tex t,Chap . 9 th . Karika 55. And Chine se

Tran slat ion ,Chap . 10 th . Karika 4 9 .

0

M r . Richard tran slat ed the w ord‘Alaya-v z

'

j fidna’

b y the‘natural state of man

’

.

This Sho w s apparent ly that he and even his Chin e se assistan t w ere q uite igno ran t ofBuddhist philo sophy .

3 San skrit ; Buddhi. Japan ese : Kaku. San skrit : Nz'

rbnddhi. Japan ese : P tt -Kal a .

PHENUM ENOLOGr. 259

(paratantra) and absolute (p arinis/tp anna) while Alaya-v rj fiana of the

Yogacara school simply indicates relative knowledge (p aratantra) .

Thus that which leads us to the realm of enlightenment or Nirvdna is

Alaga-viy

'

fiid na,and that which makes us wander about and lose

O’urselves in the illusory world or Samsdra is also Alaga-vi/fidna .

Enlightenment is divided into two parts ‘a p riori

’ 1and ‘

a p osteriori

The ‘a p osteriori

’ enlightenment is further sub-divided into two,

‘not

D iv ision and sub div i perfect’ and ‘perfect’, of which the ‘not-perfect’

frightOf E n light en .

enlightenment has three branches,v iz : the ‘enlighten

ment of the ordinary (average) man’

,

‘approximate enlightenment’ and

‘apparent enlightenment’. The ‘

a p riori enlightenment is sub-divided into

two,viz : ‘enlightenment a p riori implicated in the domain of defilement or

relativity’ and ‘pure enlightenment a p riori’

. Of these the former has two

bra nches, v iz : ‘pure wisdom’

and ‘incomprehensible activity’ ; and the latter

four,viz : bright mirrors (1 ) of trueness as nagation , (2) perfumed by the

causes, (3 ) free from hindrance and (4 ) perfumed by condition s: 3

By ‘a p osteriori

’ enlightenment is meant our empirical knowledge . That

is to say, we can recognise a light in the dark and i llusory world through

experience and practice, and can increase the light gradually till the dark

world is full of brightness . For instance, when we are walking on a

lonely road,in a dark night, with an undefined fear pervad ing us, we may

take a stake for a spectre . We imagine that the stake is possessed of eyes

and a nose, and that it is moving . However

,when we regard it carefully

we find that it is not moving . This State of our m ind may be compared to

the enlightenment Of the ordinary man . Next we find that it has neither

eyes or nose ; then we reach a stage which corresponds to ‘approximate

enlightenment’. Lastly we come to find that it is not a spectre, but only a

stake, —a state of mind parallel to ‘enlightenment in appearance’. The

men tal state consequent on the removal of all feelings Of fear which is

the ‘root of illusion’ i s called “perfect enlightenment” . And when the

1 Jap : Hon -Lakn .

9 Jap : Sim’

-kaku.

3 Jap : (1 ) N'

yo -j ztsu-la-k id ; (2) In s k im -j id-k id; (3 ) HO-shu tsn-r i-Ix i d ; (4 ) Yen -7am .

gi ft-kid.

260 SYSTE M S o r BuDDHiSTIc THO UGHT .

darkness of our mind is dispersed by the l ight of knowledge, the m ind

will be full of brightness . ‘A p osteriori’ enlightenment merges into ‘

a

p riori’—the former becomes the latter—and we reach a State called ‘oneness

of ap osteriori and Of a p riori .’

By ‘enlightenment a p riori’ implicated in the domain of defilement or

relativity we represent the illusory side of a p riori whileby pure enlight

enment we indicate a mental state free from ignorance, when KleSa, darkness

or illusion has been rooted out by the internal power of Suchness and the

external powers of the doctri ne .

When there is wind, there are waves and when the wind ceases to blow

the waves gradually subside . Our m ind is agitated by the wind of ignorance

and loses its balance ; it becomes peaceful and calm when ignorance is

rooted out . This peaceful state of our m ind is technically termed “pure

wisdom” . The next stage is, when the peaceful m ind acts and perceives

everything rightly, “incomprehensible activity” . So much for our explanation

of the ‘enlightenment side’ of Alaga-vijn’

dna . We shal l now pass on to the‘non-enlightenment asp ect’ of Alaga-vi/zidna .

As I have already pointed out, Alaga-vij ridna has two different aspects,

The non -en lighten ‘enlightenment,

’and ‘

non Truth ism en t aspect of Alaya

only one and universal,as the wate r Of the great

ocean has but one taste . But if we lack the knowledge of the oneness of

the totality of things,we are afflicted with ‘non-enlightenment’ or ignorance .

Thus ASvaghosha says :“When the oneness of the total ity of things (the

v ersality of the universe) i s not recognised, then ignorance and partien

larities ensue, and thus all phases Of the defiled mind are developed .

Non-enlightenment has two aspects,

‘Root’ 1 and ‘Branch .

’2 The former

implies ignorance about enlightenment itself. Onewho strays on does not

know which is east or which is west . And w ith this defective knowledge,or rather ignorance of the true direction, he continues to regard as the east

what,in reality

,i s not the ‘east

,

’and pursues his w ay with this misconcep

tion ; he shall be involving himself in what is termed ‘Branch non-enlighten

Jap Konp omfri l ak it .

2 Jap : Shimo tsu-fukaku.

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262 SYSTE M S o r BuDDHiSTic THOUGHT .

Wrong notion, equivalent to which is fal se apprehension, is incorrect

conviction .

’ The Vedant ins hold ignorance to have a verity for its object ;but this is not a characteristic of mistake : for mistake is cognition whose

Object is a falsity ; as,for instance

,the cognition of nacrine Silver. But

ignorance, they teach, has verity i .e . pure Brahma,for its object . The

Samk shepa-Sariraka says

“sus as ifi saamfiifii fi fi smf

‘

sfi iis ass t

The impartite inte llect alone is subject and Object of ignorance . They

declare that ignorance of which the Object is Brahma,is the cause of this

world,a false thing ; and so, that ignorance whose Object is nacre

,i s the

cause of false silver . It appears,then

,that ignorance

,since verity is its

object,is the absence of apprehension of the veritable . This absence of

apprehension is the power of concealment which the Vedantins ascribe to

ignorance, that is to say, its faculty Ofhinding verity . The Veddnta-sdra

says

“

W ficmmamfsi sfs s ss l W im

«are fi m m m fi fi m s w fi sm am

W m W W W Smfi s fl sfis

imfi fi sm mmmfiia Fuss snails ] agent !

“This Ignorance has two powers,namely

,that of (a ) concealment

(dvarana) , and of projection AS even a small cloud,by

obstructing the path Of the eye Of the spectator, hides the sun’s disc which

extends over many leagues,such also is the concealing power Of Ignorance

which,though finite, by obstructing the mind of the observer, hides as it

were the soul which is infinite and not subject to worldly vicissitude . Thus

it is said

“8m m mu w as firms arises i

am asasifii a sage: s fi a’

iss fi s s firssmfifin

AS the very stupid man,whose eye i s covered by cloud , thinks that

the sun is covered by a cloud and void of radiance, so that (soul) which, in

BHUTATA’

I‘

HATA PHENO M ENOLOGY . 203

the sight Of the stupid, is, as it were bound, that, in the shape of the

eternal understanding, am I myself .

W am w m s w s fifim

The power of projection is such that just as ignorance regarding a

rope produces,by its own power on the rope enveloped by it, (the appear

ance of) a snake or the like, so (this projective) ignorance, by its own power,raises up on the soul envelope d by it (the appearance of) a world, ether,etc .

, (and thus the thinker mistakes himself for a mere mortal, as he

mistook the rOpe for a snake . Thus it is said

Q o R“faaw fi n

’

s s’rfs W m ess fizfi i

The projective power can create the'

w orld,beginning with the subtil e

body,and ending with the w hole external universe .”

By ignorance, Buddhism understands the asserti on of self, which is‘

the

Ego ism and Ign0_

root of all evils and miseries . Self or self-w ill ismn oe tantamount to ignorance

,because it is blind to the

truth that the world has only a relative existence,that self separated from

other similar selves is non-existent non-reality,and that individual s acquire

their real ity in proportion as they penetrate into the foundation of existence .

A man who is self-assertive pushes himself forw ard,without any considera

tion for the welfare Ofhis brother creatures ; he congratulates himself when

he reaches the pinnacle of self aggrandisement,but unfortunately fail s to

perceive that his success is the sure road to final destruction . For self

assertion really means self-annihilation according,no t only to Buddhistic

doctrine, but also to European ethics and the modern medical science .

The study of insanity in lunatic asylums has shown that most forms of

madness involve, and in fact proceed from,an exaggerated idea of self

megalomania—the patient brooding over' the idea that he is some greatpersonage, Napoleon or “ Jesus Christ ” or God Almighty ” (in the

worst cases of religious mania) .

264 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

When the ignorance of self-assertion is eradicated, the enlightenment

of universal love and kindness takes its place arrogance, pigheadedness or

obstinacy, and relentlessness which characterise egoisticIgno rance and Eu

light enmen t are °ne ~ tendencies are all transformed into desi rable virtues

and are made subservient to the general welfare of humanity . We must

not,therefore

,conclude that ignorance departs when enlightenment is

ushered in ; for, as we have shown above, ignorance itself is turned into

enlightenment . In other words, self-will is not annihilated to make room

for divine will,but self-will itself assumes divin ity, just as old paper or

rags and waste product themselves are changed into pure and white paper .

This ignorance and enlightenment are not fundamentally different or

diametrically opposed, though they are regarded as two entirely different

things accor ding to popular conception . They are one in their essence .

We shall be better able to understand this doctrine if we refer to

the following extract from the “ Sfitra on the doctrine of neither increas

ing nor decreasing” translated into Chinese by Bodhiruei who w as one

Of the most learned monks among.

the Indian Buddhists of the 7th cen

tury A. D .

The realm of Buddha (the divine world, Nirvana-world full of en

lightenment ) never increases, and the w orld of all living beings (igno

rance, Samsara) never decreases, though all the living beings may attain

to Buddhahood at the same time .” 1 YOka-Daishi, the most famous

Buddhist poet in China says,in his beautiful work entitled The song of

realising the Holy Path or Buddhahood” 2

“ The essential nature of ignorance is identical with that of Buddha.

The transito ry and changeable body ( of ours ) isSaying ofYoka -dai shi.

not separated from (the ete rnal and unchangeable)Dt arma-Kdga .

A fire has the capacity for both good’

and evil it may destroy build

iiigs, or it may cook our food . A knife in the hands of a villain can

destroy life,but in the hands of a physician it serves as a saviour . Ignorance

becomes enlightenment,and self-will divine will, when one attains Nirvana,

Nanjio’

s cat . No . 524 . Japane se : “Sho-dc

’

i

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266 SYSTE M S OF B UDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

We shall no w learn how defiled things (not of one nature but adultera

ted) are constantly being produced (how things are constantly getting

defiled with different attributes) by perfuming . At first ignorance

perfumes Suchness and gives rise to subjectivity. I mean by this that

ignorance impresses Suchness, sets its stamp on it, adulterates it, and causes

its defilement ignorance imparts some of its nature to Suchness that

imparts some attributes due to its own nature to Suchness, and it affects with

its own characteristics the purity of it . Subjectivity,in its turn

,

perfumes ignorance, and produces an exte rnal world of subjectivity . By

reflex action, this external world created by subjecti vity perfumes subject

ivity itself, and gives rise to attachment . The following diagram may help

us to make this clear .

Impression of Ignorance .

1

Impression of Subjectivity —E leSa-Karma-Dn/i trt a .

Impression Ofexternal worldof subjectivity .

3J

The impressing or perfuming powers of ignorance, subjectivity, and the

exte rnal world Of subjec tivi ty are divided int o two,

The division of‘Ign o

rance’

,

‘Sub ject ivity’ Root and (2) B ranch . Of the first the root

and of the‘e x t ernal

W 0 1’1d Of sub Je Ct 1V1tY° i s te chnically termed the “f undamental impression” or

and the branch is called the “impression of inte llect and

affection” .

5 Of the second,the one is the ‘power which strengthens the

1 Jap : M amyo-kanj ia.

3 Jap : M ékyOgG i-kunj ut . Jap

: Konp on -lianj ia.

5 Jap : Ken-a i-hmj iii .

BHU'

BATATHATA PHENO M ENOLO GY . 267

fundamental consciousness Of activity’,

1and the other

,the “power which

strengthens the consciousness which particularises .” 2 Of the third, one“strengthens particularisation” 3 and the other, “attachment

”.

4 In this

manner w e are constantly producing (evolving) the illusory world and are

fated to wander about in the Samsara . So much for the “gate of wandering

about” ( pravr itti) in birth and death . I shall now pass on to the “gate of

returning to” out‘fiofliery

’ ’

and primary abode .

We have already mentioned that ignorance perfumes Suchness and that

The mo st pro fo und Suchness,in its turn

,impresses ignorance . It is due

an d m st ical art of

Aév aghiisha’spPhi10 _

to thi s attribute of Suchness that we have the powerhSOP y to attain

” enlightenment, and di sperse the clouds of

ignoran ce .

Again while Suchness impresses some of its purity o n subjectivity,ilt is imp ressed sntj ectivitg gives its impression to Suchness . By belief in

and practice of this doctrine,we may attain Nirvana. This is the most

profouiid and mystical part of ASvagho sha’S philosophy .

The process by which subjectivity impresses Suchness is termed ‘internal

perfuming’,or Suchness-perfuming, and the reverse Operation (the impression

Of this purified subjectivity on Suchness) i s termed‘external’ or ‘sub

ject iv ity-perfuming’. The following diagram will help to make it clear

Sac/mess .

Internal perfuming .

k Attainment of Nirvana.

External perfuming . JSncnness .

“External perfuming is divided into the “perfuming of I) particularising

consciousness 5 and (2) ego or M anas-consciousness” .

6 It is due to the

first that w e are unable to comprehend the idealistic doctrine, and that

we comprehend the external world as a real existence . It perfumes Suchness

1 Jap”: Gosshik i-konp on -k a nj id.

11 Jap : c hé-fanb etsu-j ishik i-kunj u‘

t .

3 Jap: c hd-ne n-ka nj ia. Jap : c hé-Shu -k w nj id .

5 Jap . Fanb e tsnj ishzk i-kanj ia. Jap : I -kunj id .

268 srsrmrs o r BUDDHIS'

I‘

IC m o w e r .

and gradually developes itself, and finally attains Nirvana . M anas

consciousness similarly advances towards Nirvana, b ut does not give any

impression to Suchness .

Internal perfuming is also divided into (1 ) “essence-perfuming” 1

and

(2)“act ivity-perfum ing .

” 2 Now every one in this world shares a part of the

essential nature of Suchness with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas . The impre ss

ion of this essential nature on subjectivity induces a desire for Nirvana

and an aversion for Samsara. If, therefore, we consider essence-perfuming

only,we are led to the conclusion that all l iving beings can attain enlighten

ment at the same time . Every body,wise or ignorant, would enter Nir

vana simultaneously, and would have equal powers of internal perfuming

and Suchness-impression . But such is not the case in this empirical world

of ours . For the degree of each one’s delusion varies w ith the person, in spite.

of the power, possessed by each one in essence, of internal perfuming, just

as the defects of each mirror are of different degrees, although all of them

possess the power of reflection .

We have, therefore, in order to attain Nirvana, to borrow assistance

from our spiritual teacher,the Buddha or Bodhisattva . The power of

internal perfuming is the cause, but the practice of the doctrines of Buddha

and Bodhisatva i s the condition of attaining Nirvana . This condition is

termed “activity-perfuming” in ‘The Awakening of Faith ’

,and is considered

from two aspects, universal 3 and individual . 4 The latter one is further

subdivided into proximate and ulteri or .

By the ‘proximate condition’5 i s meant the cause which takes effect

immediately, and by the‘ulterior condition’6 the cause whose effect is

gradual . Each of these, again,is subdivided into the condition which

increases the root of our merits, and the condition which induces us to enter

in to the holy path .

I shall now explain these technical terms . Essence-p ezj’

zum’

w y 1 .is an

Operation of Suchness itself which is included in our essence and acts

spontaneously.

Jap : J t ta iso-kunj t d . Jap : Yé-k unj zd .

3 Jap : Ryodo-ye'n . Jap : Shub e ts u-ye

rn

Jap : K i n-

yen . Jap : Yen-

yen .

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CHAPTER Vll l.

THE TIEN-TAI SCHOOL I.

The fundamental thoughts of the M aliayana School consist of the / idea

of identity between the real and unreal . To speak inThe fundamen tal ide a

l

of the Buddhist On t o more philosophical terms,it professes to maintain

ogy .

that the phenomenal and noumenal are the same and

identical . Asvagho sha, in his“Awakening of Faith”, illustrates the idea

with an example of the water and waves the w ater is real and the waves

unreal . But as the water does not exist separately from the waves,and the

wav es do not exist apart from the water, so the noumenon does not exist

separate ly from the phenomena and the phenomena do not exist apart from

the noumenon . This doctrine is explained more clearly by Chi-che-ta-shih 2,

the founder of the Tien-ti’ti school .

The Tien-tai school has, for its basis, the canons of the “Saddharma

Pundarika” or the “Lotus of the Good law”3

. Chi-che-ta-shih studied

carefully the M adhyam ika-Sasha of Nagarjuna whence, as is clear from the

following Karika, he got some hints to found his own doctrine .

Emp tiness may also be given the name of Conventionality . Further

they may be said to contain the import of the middle p ain.

”

But it should be carefully observed in what light Chi-che-ta-shih to ok

The thre e prin ciplesthe three principles involved in the pas

sage . He

Of this SchOO l found these three principles— emp tiness (Szinyaidfl,

conventionality (P raj fi ap tfi ) and middle p o t/i (M o d/iyamd as the real

means for the observation of Truth . These principles, according to this

school,have an inseparable connection w ith each other and are not isolated .

This is the reason why Chi-che-ta-shih called his own principle the “Con

2 Japane se Chisha Daishi.3 Jap Hokke -ky6. O r mo re fully M y6~h6~ i e n Chin e se Kung. Jap Kd .

Chin e se Kai. Jap Xc or Ge .

6 Chine se : Chung Jap : Chit .

THE TE iN-TAI SCHOOL . 271

cordant tri w hile he rejected that of the Yogacara school as the“Discordant tri-satyas

” 2

But,before we treat of these three principles, we have to learn what

The classificat io n of i s known as the classification Of the Buddha’s

ffigimddha

’

s mad“ teachings in this school Chi-che-ta- shih dealt with

the question from three points of View, v iz

(l ) The Periodical

(2) The Theoretical ;3 and

(3 ) The Practical . 4

By the periodical classification, we are to mean the series of preachings

of the Blessed One in order of the periods of theirThe pe ri odical class»fi cat ion delivery . Chi-che-ta-shih divided them into five,

(i) The Avatamsaka5 (Sfi tra) .

(i i) The Agama6(Sutra) .

(iii) The Vaipulya7

(iv ) The Prajfiaparamitaf’ (Sfitra) and

(v) The Sadharmapundarika and Nirvana 9 (Sfitra) .

In the first period of his life, the Buddha preached the Avatamsaka

Si‘

i tra which contains the most profound doctrine of M ahayanism . Accord

ing to a tradition, this Sfitra w as preached by the Lord Buddha for three

weeks soon after he had attained enlightenment . In the second period,as

'Chi-che-ta-shih says, the Buddhapreached the Agama Sfi tra for twelve years,at Saranat near Benares City . In the third period

,the Tathagata preached

both the Hinayana and M ahayana Sfitras for eight years . Accor'ding to

the orthodox Opinion of the Tendai school,some canons of M ahayanism,

namely,the Vimalak irti Si‘i tra, 1 0 the Sv arnaprabhasa Sfitra 1 1 and the

Lankavatara Sfitra, etc ., were preached by the Blessed One in this period .

In the fourth period, according to Chi-che-ta- shih, the Tathagata preached

Jap : Yen -yd -n o -san ta i. 2 Jap : Kakureki-no -san ta i. 3 Jap : Xc-hO.

Jap : Xc-gi .5 Jap : Kegon . Jap : Agon .

7 Jap : Hodo.

8 Jap : Hannga .

9 Jap : Hokke Nehan .

1 ° Jap Yn i-ma -l 'yo. Jpa : Ko n -kO-p ig é -k yfi,

272 SYSTEMS or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

for twenty-two years the Prajfi fipfiramita Si’

itras which be long to the so

called “partially developed M ahayanism”. Lastly, the Lord Buddha

preached the Sa ddharma-Pundarika Sfitra and the M ahd-Nirvana Sfitra

for eight years . According to the Tendai School, the highest and the

most developed doctrines were preached by the Tathagata in this period of

his life .

The Theoretical clas sification indicates an order from shallowness

to dee ness or from im erfect ion to fThe The o re tical class

p P 1 8 fi ction He i e”cat ion Chi-che-ta-shih made four divisions of the Tathagata’s

Teachings, m’

z

(1 ) Collection 1 (or the Tripitakas of Hinayanism) ,

(2) Common2 (or ordinary doctrines found both in the Hinayana

and a part of the M ahayana) ,

(3 ) Distinction" (or extraordinary doctrines for the Bodhisattvas

only) , and

(4 ) P erfection4(or the doctrines of identity between Buddha

and all l iving beings) which contains the main doctrine of the

Tendai school .

The Practical classification has reference to the teachings Of Buddha

The Pract ical classiaccording to the methods which he employ ed for teach

flcat l on ing different classes of people with different in t ellec

tual pow ers . Chi-che-ta-shih made them four-fold

(1 ) The Sudden, 5

(2) The Gradual,6

(3 ) The Secret 7 , and

(4 ) The Indeterminate .

“

By the Sudden is to be meant an instructive method by which the

Blessed One led people to the world of enlightenment suddenly,that is

,

without imparting any preparatory instr uction . The Avatamsaka Sfitra

is said to fall under this category .

Jap : ZO-kyo.

9 Jap : Tea-9 316.

3 Jap : Bekkyo. Jap : Yen -gyo.

Jap : Tone e . Jap : Zen -kyfi

. Jap : Him itsu-kyf) . Jap : Fit -j iO-kyd.

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274: SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

as the subject and the object, ‘I’ and “He”, mind and matter, this and that,one and many

,and the like . “It is not so”, therefore, is the only w ay in

which our inperfect human tongue can express the

gipfi

lefi pffimp tiness

” is established in order to dispelm the imagination s Of

gui lds and to our defective views about the universe and human life .

their delusions .

(2) Tile P rincip le of Conveniiono lilyl The mountains soar high up in

E x planat ion of the the air,the water flows in the river

,stars adorn the

ifdggiii;Of Conv en

sky,the flowers beautify the earth all these have

distinctive existences . These existences, however, are not real, but are only

conventional . In other words, they are all subject to the law of causation ;

they could not have their respective existences w ithout causes and conditions .

This law of causation is technically called “the principle Of conventionality”

in the Tendai school . And the ‘law of causation’, according to this school,

is nothing but an active principle of the Truth or Reality ; hence individual

existences in the universe are not independent manifestations apart from the

Reality .

(3 ) T/ieZP i'ineiple ofM iddle P aid

? This is established in order to explain

E x planat ion of the the relation between the above two principles . TruthPrinciple of M iddlepath.

seems like a white paper when we look upon i t from

the stand point of the first principle, ‘emptiness’,while it seems like a colour

ed paper when we look upon it from the stand point Of the second, ‘conv en

t ionality’

. Under these circumstances, Truth is threatened to be div isible .

As it has already“ been pointed out, all things have existence on account

of cause and condition, and their existence is impossible without the law of

causation . Therefore they may be called “either existence or édnyo td,”

and

“neither existence nor ézinyatd.

” This is the middle path which forms the

fundamental w orld-view of the Tondai school . When we look upon pheno

mena from the stand-point of the principle of the middle path,all of them

are manifestat ion of the Truth . In other words, we must discover the truth

even in the insignificant blade Of grass or the minute dust,as their existence

Japanese : Xc-taa. 2 Jap : Chai m,

THE TiEN-TAI scnoo t . 275

is not meaningless . We must not, therefore, forget that in every phenomenon

or individual we may recogniz e the light of Truth . Or more Buddhistically

speaking, we should comprehend that the mountains which sour high up in

the air, the water which flows in the stream,the stars that adorn the sky

_

or

the flowers which decorate the earth, are all manifestations of the supreme

reality ; therefore, we may enjoy the enchanting views of the realm of Truth

through their manifestation . Nay, the phenomena themselves are reveal ing

to us the teachings of Tathagata, as the great German poet, Goethe, said“The highest would be to understand that all facts are themselves theory.

The az ure colour of the sky recalls to us the fundamental law of chromatics .

We must not seek anyt hing behind phenomena ; for they themselves are our

lessons .” 1

Truth is thus considered in this school from three points of view : nega

1h w hat sen se the tive (édnyatnfi, positive (conventional) and the inte rmedithre e prin ciple s are

concordan t ? ate, (llfiddle P ain) . These three prin0 1ples are not, how

ever, isolated from one another but are inseparable ; or more properly speak

ing, they are perfectly concordant ; because when we think of the negative

principle, the posit iv e,"

as also the middle, are considered therewith, and v ice

verso . It is not allowable,therefore

,to make any distinct demarcation with

regard to these three principles .

So much for the outline of the doctrine of Three Principles in the Tendai

School . We must now proceed to the theory

THAT THREE THOUSAND DHATUS ARE INCLUDED IN OR

IDENTICAL WITH ONE THOUGHT .

But,before entering into the import of the theory, I must stop for a

Ex plan at ion of the while to explain what are the ten ‘Dhatus’

and thethree thousand w orlds .

ten characteri stics of things . The ten Dhatus are the

six k inds of.existence namely, Hell, Pretas, Beasts, Demons, M an

, and

Heaven,and the four kinds of sages namely, the Sravaka, Paatyrka-Buddha

,

1 Dr . Paul Cars,

Buddhism and it s Christ ian Crit ics, P . 99 .

276 SYSTE M S or BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Bodhisattva andBuddha . Each of these ten Dhatus, according to this school,possesses ten characte ristics which are Ynt-lnlzelmna ‘ (form) (2)Yal-svabfidvnm?

(essential nature) (3) Yal-l/idvaid 3 (substance) (4 ) Yat

5ala7n 4 (power or force) ; (5) Yat-kriyd5 (action) ; (6) Yal-l’dmna in

6 (cause)

(7) Yal-pm tynya"(condition) (8) Ye t-kdiynin

s(effect) (9 ) Yat

p linlain9(retribution) and (10 ) Ynt-ntlnmsnmatn ‘0 (the final indentity) .

Each of the ten Dhatus again possesses the nature of all the ten Dhatus .

This is the reason why a man is capable of becoming a Buddha, as also the

beings of hell or of the animal world are capable of becoming Buddhas .

Hence it is expressed in the M ahayana-Chik w an that “the essential nature

of all living beings is pure ; all are manifestations but of one Single thought

which is identical with all living beings,Buddhas and Bodhisattvas . We

wander in the samsdm owing to the activity of that thought and attain

Nirvana through operation of the same thought .” Again,it i s said in the

same book—“There is no single thought that does not possess the ten

Dhatus, each ‘dhatu’ possesses the nature of the ten ‘dhatus’. Hence

ultimately there become one hundred ‘dhatus,’ each of these 100 ‘dhatus

’

possesses,as shown above

,ten kinds of characteristics ; so that finally there

are one thousand characteristics . These again are possessed by each of the

three worlds,viz : Bhajana-loka or M other Earth, Paanca-Skandha-loka and

Sattva-loka or the world of animate things . Thus there are ultimately three

thousand worlds . One thought= 10 dhatus ; i o dhatus x 10 dhstus’

: 1 00

dhatus 100 dhatus x 10 characteristics= 1000 dhatus ; 1000 dhfitus x 3

kinds of worlds : 3000 dhatus .

Now to return to the main theory,the three thousand dhatus are included

The w ho le un iv erse in one thought . By the three kinds of worlds are tois iden t ical w ith one

thought . be meant (I) the five skandhas, (2) the living beings

and (3 ) mother earth . The first is individual,the second social and the

1 Jap : Nyo -Ze-so .

2 Jap : Nyo z o3 Jap : Nyo -z e -ta i. Jap : Ngo ~ z e-r iki.

5 Jap : Nyo -se -sa . Jap : Nyo -z e ‘ in .

7 Jap : Nye -se-yen . Jap : Nyo -Ze s k w a .

Jap : Nymz e-hO‘

.1 ° Jap : Nye -z e-hon -matsu -kyuJq /d-to

'

.

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78 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

(3 ) Intellectual and emotional k leSa : Two kinds of kleSas are treated

under this name as one in this school they are treated as two in the

Sarvastitvavadin and other schools . But, as the explanation is the same

in all the schools,I hope you will see them in detail s in an earlier lecture

“Karma-phenomenology” . This may be called“Individual kleSa” .

The question that naturally next demands Solution is, how to dispel9

The thre e con t e inplathese three kinds of k lesas . And the solution i s met

t ions are the w ay ho w

t o dispe l the three

klei d s .

with in the conception of the three-fold contempla

tions -The contemplation of “Emptiness the contem

plat ion of “Conv eii tionality and the contemplation of the “M iddle Path” .

(1 ) The contemplation of ‘emptiness’ removes the intellectual and emotional

delusions which make us blind about the universal truth, and confine us

to the unreal w orld . The most successful method is to view all things as

produced by causes and conditions so as to result in ‘Sfinyata

’

. By this

contemplation, we may realise the knowledge of the equality of all things

(‘samata-jfiana

’

) and attain the virtue of ‘prajna’ or wisdom . (2) The

contemplat ion of ‘conventionality’ solves the question that, if all i s one

(Sai'

l’afll el em) and if there is no difference between the vulgar and the

Buddhas in their real nature, w hy is it that we sufi er from pains while the

Buddhas are absolutely in peace ? and why is our dai ly life so defiled that

we cannot enjoy happiness, while the lives of the Buddhas are so happy that

they never experience any pains or sufferings ? By this contemplation we

may realise ‘M argajfiana’ or the knowledge of the holy path, and attain the

virtue Of ‘M oksha’,deliverance . (3 ) The contemplation of M iddle Path

dispels the extreme views,namely

,those of existence or non-existence,

sameness or difi erence and the l ike . That is to say,

when they hear the doctrine which teaches the sameness of the Buddhas and

the vulgar in their essence,they cling to the idea that there is not any

distinction between the enlightened and common people, the elderly and

the young, the rulers and the ruled, and so on . While otherwise, they would

fall into the error that there is a wide gap between the Buddhas and the

vulgar, the rulers and t he ruled—and others, and thus give up their prO

gressiv e spirit and aspiration after Buddhahood . The contemplation estab

THE TIEN-Tfi i SCHOOL . 279

l ishes the adamantine law of Buddhism that sameness without difference

is sameness wrongly conceived, and difference without sameness is difi erence

wrongly conceived Thus we are neither entirely identical with,nor

absolutely different from,the Buddhas

,and the universal truth lies always

in the middle path and not in the extreme . We must recognise that there

is a road to lea d us to Buddhahood and should not give up our progressive

spiirit or aspiration . The baneful effect of extreme methods,to take a

l iving example, is vividly manifest in the Obstacle to a healthy progress of

the Indian people by their extreme views of the caste system . The middle

w ay, be it theoretical or practical, is to be reali sed by the contemplation of

the middle path ; by this contemplation we may turn the fundamental l leso ,ignorance

,into universal knowledge and through their

knowledge is to be realised the virtue of Dno rmal‘dya .

But how is it that ignorance may be turned into knowledge?

It is a remarkable feature of M ahayana Buddhism to maintain the view

that 8 : am: 61 fits : or “what is sin or delusion, that i sIgnorafice and in t elli

gence are one intelligence In fact,three kinds of k leéas which I

have mentioned above are merely the darkness produced by our own confused

subjectivity ; the three kinds of knowledge, on the other hand, are merely

the brightness produced by the training of our o w n intellectual power. As

a physician saves the l ife of a sick man with application of morphia, while a

robber kills others with it, so also the wise aspirant for Buddhahood enjoys a

peaceful life through thecultivation of his mind or will,while the fool falls

into hell and suffers a painful life through the dissoluteness of his mind or

will . It is on this that Asanga says

W inifa'

nm isfi t a firm?! i

ammis’

fiw fifi'

fi a am ine : n

i . e . As there is no phenomenon separated from reality,so when

describing som/cleéa or ignorance, wise people are of Opinion that it is intellect

itself.” (avidyd ca bodfiié ca, e/eam.)

From this stand point, the M ahayana Buddhists go to the conclusion

that Nirvdnn and Samsdm are one .

“Yas SamsarasNirvana and Samsara“ are one" tat Nirvanam or w hat is birth and death that is

280 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

Nirvanam. This conclusion may seem to be rather a bold and revolution

ary proposition in the dogmatic history of Buddhism. But it is nothing more

than a natural development of the spirit that w as breathed in the original

views of its founder . We must not, therefore, be surprised when we find

the following passages in the Viée sha-cinta-brahma-

paripricha Sfitra

The essence of things lies in their freedom from,attachment

, attribute

and desires, that is in truth . In essence they are pure, and, as they are

pure,we know that what is the essence of birth and death

,that is

the essence of Nirvana that what is the essence of Nirvana that

i s the essence of birth and death . In other words Nirvana is not

to be sought outside of this world, which, though transient, is, in

reality, nothing more than Nirvana itself . Because it is contrary to

reason to imagine that there is Nirvana and that there is som-sdm,and that

the one lies outside the pale of the other and therefore, that we can attain

Nirvana only after we have annihilated or escaped the world of birth and

death .If w e are not hampered by our confused subjectivity

,this our

w ordly life, is an activity of Nirvana itself .” 1 Vasub andhu expresses the

same views in his work entitled The Discourse on Buddha-essence

All sins transformed into the constituents of enlightement !

The vicissitudes of Samsara transformed into the b eautitude of Nirvana !

All these came from the exercise of the great religious discipline ;Beyond our understanding, indeed, is the mystery of all Buddhas

Goethe has made the Earth-Spirit sing

In the floods of life, in the storm of deeds,

I move up and down,

I go to and fro,Birth and the grave,An eternal sea

A changing strife,A glowing life .

Thus I create the roaring loom of time

And weave the living garment of the Deity .

1 Nanj i o’

s Cat .No . 1 89 (Bodhiruei) , No . 190 (Kumarajiv a ) , an d No . 197 (Dharmarak sha) .2 Nanj t o

’

s Ca t , NO ,1220 .

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282 SYSTE M S or BUDDHIS'

I‘IC THOUGHT .

lcotis of [Boris ago, I have arrived at supreme and pe rfect enlightenment. By

w ay of example, young men of good fam ily, let there be the atoms of earth

of fifty hundred thousand myriads of Irotie of world let there exi st some

man who takes one of those atoms of dust and then goes in an eastern

direction fifty hundred thousand myriads of leotis of worlds further on,

there to deposit that atom of dust in this manner let the man carry away

from all those worlds the whole mass of earth, and in the same manner,

and,by the same act as supposed, deposit all those atoms in an eastern

direction . Now would you think,young men of good family

,that any one

should be able to imagine, Weigh, count, or determine (the number of) those

worlds The Tathagata having thus spoken, the Bodhisattva M ahfisat t va

M aitreya and the entire host of Budhisat tv as replied They are incalcul

able, 0 Tathagata, those worlds, countless beyond the range of thought .

Not even all the Sravakas and Pratyekab uddhas, o Tathagata, with their

noble knowledge,will be able to imagine

,weigh

,count

,or “ determine them .

For us also, 0 Tathagata, who are Bodhisattvas Standing on the place

whence there is no turning back, this point lies beyond the sphere of

comprehension ; so innumerable, O Tathagata, are those worlds .”

“This said,the Blessed one spoke to those Bodhisattva M ahasattvas

as follows I announce to you, young men of good family, I declare to you :

However numerous those worlds where that man deposits those atoms

of dust'

and where he does not, t here are not, young men of good family,

in all those hundred thousands of myriads of kotis of worlds, so many dust

atoms as there are hundred thousands of myriad leotis of [Eons since I

have arrived at supreme and perfect enlightenment .”

The real qualities of Tathagata are so innumerable and so incalculable

that the end of it would be difficult to reach, though we continue to enu

merate them for immeasurable E ons . He is the maste r of the law,the

king of truth and the lord of all beings . Thus we read in the “Si’

itra of

the Lotus of the Good laws” the following grit/ids

M m lfimm agaun

1 Co rrect grammat ica l fo rm mu st b e mm ,b ut I think the author has used the form ,

aim ,for the sake of the me tre .

THE TIEN-TAI SCHOOL . 283

It is,O Kasyapa, as if a cloud rising above the horiz en. shrouds all

spaces and covers the earth .

”

mam fi lrfii fi gmfiim z l

fi atam ui a sfi'

fimfi fsmn

“That great cloud, full with water, is wreathed with flashes of l ightning

and delights, by its thundering noise, all creatures .”

By obstructing the sunbeams, it makes the region cool and gradu

ally lowering So as to come in reach of the hands, it sprinkles water all

around .

”

a 33 an He‘

s m mm :mafi a 85334 n

D

And so,flashing on every side

,it pours out an abundant mas s of

water equally, and refreshes this earth .

su rfi fafi afi a asrfu sfi aufiq l

viii am? 33 W e a train"

afani Hufffi a fi fifi faM : E

“And all herbs which have sprung up on the face of the earth ; all

grasses, shrubs, forest trees, other trees smal l and great ; the various crops,and

, whatever is green in hills ; caves and thickets all those grasses, shrubs,and trees are refreshed by the cloud which

.

refreshes the thirsty eart h and

waters the medicinal plants .”

284 SYSTE M S 0 1“ BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

Grasses and shrubs drink the water of one essence which issues fromthe cloud according a their faculty and reach .

”

m fi afi fl m gm m aHM |

And all the trees great, small and mean”

drink that water according

to their growth and faculty, and grow lustily .

W aréa am afiam aw afia ufiz I

afifmgfiifizmfifi i’ia fiarfiisfiaW e : in

“The great plants whose trunk, stalk, bark, twigs, pith, and leaves are

moistened by the water from the cloud develop their blossoms and fruits .”

Em s?atW w e and a ne w a an

s uufi zafiflmfi a fi q

They yield their products,each according to its own faculty

,and reach

the particular nature of the germ ; still the water em itte d is of but one

essence .”

w a gfi sfix s é’rfii w w afi arfiafi amfin

m a umfii é’

tm agaiafi a iafi am u

In the same w ay, Kasyapa, the Buddha comes into the world like a

rain-cloud, and, once born, he the world’s Lord, speaks and shows the real

course of life .”

ufi a ém fi w sfii:m fi fi fa fi am l

m mfi'flanfi fafi m i m flfi fi a fia: u

And the great Seer, honoured in the world, including the gods, speaks

thus I am the Tathagata, the highest of men,the Jina I have appeared

in this world like a cloud .

”

Halifauiw g W anam i fe m’é‘

rFi anna0 0 Q

'

sgm'

a as ? ! as warm alums a larms flats i n

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286 ~ SYSTE M S or BUDDHiSTiC THO UGHT .

W mfimai fiéi a arfi w w z i

fi g fi’rfig am zm draw "

Fam rfia ada fi m arfia—W rw fam i

m aam m fi aam z n

I recreate the whole world like a cloud shedding its wate r without

distinction ; I have the same feeling for respectable people as for the low ;for moral persons as for the immoral ; for the depraved as for those

who observe the rule of good conduct ; for those w ho hold sectarian views

are sound and correct.”

eff-

fig iiiW 5 an?!m m rfii min

fm fimi ad fim—ifizaim m minds u

I preach the law to the inferior as well as to persons of superior under

standing and extraordinary facult ies ; inaccessible to weariness, I spread

in season the rain of the law .

w as a a

gar-ma 113 i fafim infraufifssfin

335 fi g ir-ht fig ad' s ai m 3 553 510

3 “

“Afte r hearing me, each according to his faculty, the several beings

find their dete rmined place in various situation s, amongst gods, men,

beautiful be ings, amongst Indras, Brahmas, the monarchs or rulers of the

universe .”

W W W Q’

Q l

“As the rays of the sun and the moon descend al ike on all men, good or

b ad, without deficiency in one case or surplus in the other ; so the wisdom

of the Tathagata shines like the sun and the moon,leading all beings w i thout

partiality .

Such is the View of Buddha kaya in this school ; I shall now proceed

to examine the theory of the Av atamsaka school .

CHAPTER Ix .

THE AVATAM SAKA SCHOOL .

1

Tke Diiarmalo/ca-P fienomenology .

2

The M adhyamika, Yogficdra and other M ahayana schools do not go

The sp ecial feature of beyond the explanation of the relation between phethe Av atansak a schoo l .

nomena and the noumenon, and consequently do not

undertake to discuss the relation bet w een one p lienomenon and anot/zer. The

Avatamsaka school deals with this latter subject . This school marks the

final development of the Buddhist philosophy . The Tien Tai and the

Av atamsaka schools are regarded as the two most beautiful flowers

in the garden of the Buddhistic thought . One is called the orchid in the

spring and the other the Chrysanthemum in the autumn that is to say, they

are thelast and also the best products of Buddhist thought . It is the

doctrines of these two systems, that the Chinese schools, VIZ : the M antra,

the D/iycina and the Sakfidvativj zi/za, as well as the Japanese Nic/liren school

sought to real iz e by experiment and practice .

Both the Tien Tai and the Avatamsaka schools arose and developed in

China where Buddhism found the most congenial soil next to that in the

land of its origin, as China w as already of a rationalistic temperament .

The Tien Tai school, as I have already said, developed from the doctrine of

M adflyamikavdda, the development taking place in Southern China. The

Avatamsaka sprang up in the North of China as a descendant of the

Yogacara school ; it claims to have been founded by the great ASvaghosha

himself ; and they call him its first patriarch and Nfigarjuna the second the

third patriarch, according to it, i s Tu-Fa-shun ;3 as a matte r of fact, he is

the real founder of this school . H e w as born in the reign of

the Choan dynasty which ruled over China between 557 and 589

A. D .,and w as a contemporary of Chih-che-ta-shih who founded the

1 Chin e se : Hw a-yen -isa i'

l . Japane se : Xc-gon -shifi .

2 Japanese : Hokka i-yengi-ron .

3 Japane se E li-j inn .

288 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

Tendai school . He wrote two famous treatises embodying his theory,

namely the “Go-laid-ski-kw an” or “The Theoretical and Practical Sides of

the Five Doctrines,

”and

,

“The Theory of the Dharma-loka” (Hokkai

kwan-mon) . 1 The theory of this school w as perfected by Fii -tsan 2 who

w as given the posthumous title of Hhien-Sheu-ta-shih .

3

This school derives its name from‘ the “Baddfia'

vatamsaka-mabdvaip alyd

The origin of this szZtra,” 4 which is the canon of this school . This

“hm“saitra is ascribed to the Buddha himself ; tradition

says ' that it w as preached by the Tathagata as soon as he obtained Budda

hood at Gaya, and that the Buddha expressed thereby the highest truth

realiz ed by him . The Tathagata is said to have declared :“Alas ! Alas !

All living beings do not know or see, on account of their ignorance,

the fact’

that they possess the same wisdom and virtues as the Tathagatas .

I will Show them the ‘Holy Path’ which shall enable them to become

entirely free from fal se notions and attachment, and shal l make them

realise that they possess in themselves the boundless wisdom which is, by

no means, different from that of the Buddhas .”

It i s also said that most of the audienc e found it too diflicult to follow

him at the time ; and, therefore, they behaved like theThe po sit ion of this

sfi tra am ong the Bud deaf and dumb . Thi s period i s called the ‘Dawn’ indhist canons .

Buddhi sm .

The Av atamsaka school, calls this sfit ra as the ‘M ziladnarma-calfra’ or

the “Root Doctri ne of Buddhi sm,and the other S iltras

,with the exception

of the Saddliarinap andari/ca, as the “Branch Doctrines” (Selma-dharma

cakra) . Suddnarmap andari/ca, according to thi s school,is one “from

the branches to the root” . The three are called the Tri-d/iarmaoakra .

Ffi-tsan divided the Buddhist canons into five classes,

viz : (l ) the

The classifi cat ion of the p rimary doctrine of the M afidydna,ihe can on s

(3 ) the later doctrine of the M al dydna, (4 ) the doctrine

of the Dfiydna or Contemplative School and (5) the p erfected M at dydna,

that is the doctrine of his o w n school .

Nan j i’s Cat . No . 1596 .

2 Japan e se : H6-z é.

a Japan e se : Ken i m’

shi. Nanj io’

s Cat . No , 87.

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290 SYSTE M S o r B UDDH IST IC THOUGHT .

are two kinds Of dharmas, cOnv ent ioii al and transcendental, out of“

which the

real dharmas alone exist in the present and in the present only .

i

The ad

vocates of this theory are the Prajfia'

iptivf‘

idins .

1(5) The fifth theory insists

upon the real existence of dharmas in the transcendental state only, while, it

denies'

all existence of things in the conventional state . The Lok ot tarava

dins support this theory ?(6) Th

’e Sixth denies all real existence of

dharmas bOth in'

the conventional and transcendental states . According to

it,things are only words and names . The Susukli avadivyav aharika

school believes in this speculation .

3 The above six theories belong to the

Hinayana, the next four to the M ahayana. (7) The theory of the M adhya

mika'

vadins or the Si‘inyav fida which I have already explained is the first of

them .

4(8 ) The next one accepts reality or Suchness but denies the

permanen t existence of phenomenal 'things . This is the doctrine

of the Lankavatara-Sfitra and the Awakening of Faith .

5(9 ) The Ninth

theory is one which declares that Suchness is beyond description and'

per

ception . This is the doctrine .of the Vimalak'

irti-si‘

i tra .

6(10) The

"last i s

the theory of the Avatamsaka School itself which w e shal l now discuss in

detail . 7

THE THEORY OF THE DHARM A-LOKA PHENOM ENOLOGY.

According to this school, the universe is the manifestation of the One- Great Spirit, the corresponding sanskrit expression

The un iverse i s in

cluded in on e m ind ' being edaeit tdntar-yata-d/iarma which l iterally

means the On’

e M ind in which is included the whole of the universe” .

This One M ind is not finite or relative, it is, on the contrary, infinite and

absolute . The relation between the One M ind and the universe is described

as the reflection of the moon and Stars in the ocean ; we see the.

objective

DeJapan ese The gen

-tsa-l e -j i tsu-shd .

l

2 Japan e se : The z oku -m6-shin -j itsu-shd .

.a,

3 Japane se : The sho -ho -tan -myd-sha.

4 Japan e se : The sho -hé-ka i-kd -shd .

5 Japan e se : The shin -toku-fa-shin -sha.

Japane se : The sé-sé-gu-z e ts a-shd .

Japane se : The yen -myo -gn-toku -shn,

THE AVATAM SAKA SCHOOL. 29 1

universe as a reflection of that infinite and absolute M ind . The One M ind

i s also called the Dharma-kaya,which, philosophically Speaking

,implies

Reality . V iew ed in the religious aspect of Buddhism, it is the object of

belief but here,we are only concerned with its philosophical aspect .

The activity of this great M i nd has four aspects ( Catur-dharma

lokas) .

(l ) T/ie D/iarma-lol'a considered from five p lienomenal stand p oint—1

The phenomenal D/iarrna-lot a means the ObjectiveE x planat i on of the

Staff gio

gheffi world . The theory of this school on this subjectmena" promulgates that all things that exist are separate and

distinct, they are subject to the law of individuation and,therefore

,to that

of limitation . They exi st in time and Space and move accord ing to the

law of causation, both physically and morally . Thus there is a dist inction

between the m ineral kingdom and the vegetable kingdom,bet w een man

and any other animal ; and every distinct individual, in his distinct capacity,has to perform his moral as well as his physical duty . Thus, there are

marked distinctions between the ruler and the ruled,the parent and the

child, man and woman,old and young etc .

,etc . and each one must perform

his own respective duties . By a recognition of this distinction,we shal l

be able to observe the true social order .

(2) fi ve fi liarina-lolea consideredfrom tlie noumenal stand p oint—2 This

E x planation of theis the analytical view of the activity of the Dharma

dharma-loka from the

standpo in t of noume

non .

oka which regards all things in the objective world

as one . The Nyagrodha tree and the Bodhi tree areone as belonging to the vegetable kingdom ; again the tree, the dog and

the man are one as belonging to the kingdom of living beings . In this w ay,we ultimat ely arrive at the one and same thing which comprises all things

,

apparently diverse . This ultimate being,by the w ay, is considered all

powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving as a matter of fact,it is the life

spirit, the noumenon . This idea i s expressed by the Buddhist maximl

0

Heaven and earth have the same source and all i s one

2 Jap ; R i-hok -lai .

292 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT.

(3) Tbc Db amna-loba Consideredfromtb e stand p oint of-

identity betw een

law

fgfgl

a

gn

gt i

gzs;$1

3noumenon and p li enomenon

1 -There is again anothermany is On e aspect of Dharma-loka according to which noumenon

and phenomenon are found to be in absolute harmony with each other. A

thorough knowledge of the principle of the ‘oneness of all things’ naturally

leads us to the idea or the law of “one i s many and many is one”. In other

words,things (phenomena) of the universe do not ex i st apart from their

reality (noumenon) and vice-versa . For instance,the idea of waves in the

ocean cannot be produced without the idea of wate r in it, nor can the idea

Of water be formed without an idea of the waves . The harmony between

noumenon and phenomenon is so strong that it is impossible to separate the

one from the other . Or technically speak ing,noumenon is the substratum

of phenomenon, while the latter is the attribute of the former .

Here,Buddhism recognises the existence and ident ity of the two prin

ciples, sameness (samata) and difference (nan-aw e) . Things are many and

yet one ; they are one and yet many. I am not ‘thou’ and thou art not ‘I’ ;

and yet we are all one in essence . Whi le, therefore, we have to acknowledge a

world of particulars in which individuality predominates,'

w e must not forget

that, looking through the gates of sameness, all distinctions and contradic

tions vanish in a higher principle of unity .

A Japanese poet sings

Rain and hail and ice and snow ,

Neither like the other 10 !

When they melt,however

,10 !

See one stream of wate r flow !

(4 ) TIM Dbarw a-loba considered from tb c stand p oint of identity,

The q uestion of re la ofonep b enomenon and anotb er2 —W e come now tot

gfigzghferz

e

h

w e

ffid the fourth aspect of the world or Db arma-lo/ca where theO ther So lved ' concord or harmony between all phenomena is

found .The discussion of this subject belongs entirely to the Av atamsaka

School . For, the Tien Tai and other schools could notgo beyond the doctrineof the concord between noumenon (reality) and phenomenon . When the law ,

2 Japan ese J b j E-inuge-hokkai.

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29 4 s‘

rs'

rni is o r BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

for this, being that they are manifestations of the same Truth .

This Oneness in nature i s expressed by Yoka~ daishi

Sa in ofYok adaishi.y gin these lines

The nature of the One is common to that of all things,In one (lizav'ma are included all the (M ari/lag w ithout exception .

“The one moon is reflected universally on all waters,“All the water-moons are included in the one moon .

The D/iai 'ma-keiya of Tai/iciyalas is enveloped in our nature,

Our nature is identical w ith that of Tathagata .

”

These “laws of correlativity and oneness” are said to be true of the w orld

The six charaterist ics . of Satt vas which includes not only the living beings

but also the inanimate things . The Sat t vas have six kinds of characte ristics .

They are

(1 ) General characteristic or the characte ristic of unity .

(2) Special characteristic .

(3 ) Similar characteristic or the characteristic of harmony .

(4 ) Different characte ri stic .

(5) Formative characteristic .

and (6) Self-preserving characteri stic .

(1 ) C/iaraeleristie of Unity means that many are in one . For

instance, the house is made up of the union of the constituent materials,

e . g. w alls, pillars etc .

(2) Sp ecial cl araelerislie means that many things have not the

same qual ities . In the case of a house, for instance, the quality of the wall

i s different from that of the pillar or of the beam.

(3 ) T/ze c/i aracleristie of liar/aony gives symmetry to the functions of

the different members of unity,e . the pillars

,walls etc ., perform0

their functions harmoniously in a building .

(4 ) Yet they have their different functions-

which are called difiereatial

c/zaraeterielies, e . g. erect-ion,covering etc .

(5) Tileformative elmraeteristic mean s a power which is able to combine

many conditions . As for instance,the formation ofa house which depends

THE AVATAM SAKA SCHOOL . 295

on many conditions e . g . wall,pillar and beam etc ., is due to the power

of formative characteristics of them .

(6 ) Self p reserving e/iaraeterislie means that the things do not

trespass into one another’s function, but keep to their own respective duties .

Wal ls,pillars and beam, etc . each performs its own Special task, though

they form a house in common .

Among these six characteristics, the first and the second, the third and

the fourth,the fifth and the sixth are counterpart s of each

.

other . The

first one of each group belongs to the gate of Sameness or Samata',and the

last ones to the gate of difference or Na’

mltva . These two gates occupy a

paramount place in M ahayana Buddhism . Therefore,the Buddhists

declare that no philosophy or religion is sat isfactory which does not recogn ise

these'

two gates .

(1 ) Characteristic OfUnity .

fFirst Counterparts(2) Characteristic of diversity .

Th f ta(3 ) Harmonious Characteristic .

6 8 293 0

Charact er istics SecondofBe ing . (4 ) Differential Characte ristic .

(5) Formative Characteristic .Third Counterparts

(6 ) Self-preserving Characteristic .

We must not forget, as I have already pointed out, that these two

gate s are inseparably connected, and not isolated . W e' find

,therefore

,

very freq uently a favourite saying in Buddhist works which declares that

sameness without difference is sameness wrongly conceived, while difi erence

without sameness is an equally erroneous conception . The view Of Buddhakaya and Nirvana and Of human life, in this school, is established on the

basis of the above dogma .

0

From the religious point of view,the gate Of sameness may be considered

to correspond to Dharma-kaya or God, and the gate of difference to theworld of individual existence . In accordance w ith Christian terminology

,

it becomes, ‘God not in the world is afalse God and the world no t in God isunreality

’. All things return to One, and the One Operates in all things ;

296 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

many in One and One in many thiS ' is the “Fully Developed

M ahayanistic” conception of Buddha-kaya or' GOd and the world or Loka.

'

THE CONCEPTION OF BUDDHA-KAYA IN THIS SCHOOL.

According to the Avatamsaka school, “Buddha is truth and truth is

Truth is BuddhaBuddha there i s no truth, therefore, separated from

and Eu‘laha is truth‘ Buddha and also no Buddha apart from truth .

“Truth

is uncreated,

” says St . Augustine, “it is f

immutab le, eternal, above all things,it i s true by itself. It makes creatures more perfect ; and all spirits

naturally endeavour to know it . Nothing but to have God can have the

perfection of truth ; therefore, truth is God .

”

This truth, according to M ahayana Buddhism, i s the Spirit of Infin

ite

Nature l s preaching Life which animates all ; it v ivifies all ; it manifestsgospel Of

itself in and through all. Every flower that blooms

by the wayside,springs up

,grows, fades according to the unchangeable

law OfTruth . Every star that twinkles above our heads,

Shines,falls

,

decays, according to the immutable law OfTruth . The universe, therefore,

is the purple temple OfBuddha, and nature is his great gospel . Thus we

read in a szZtra of the M ahé‘

iyana text

In all beings there abideth the Dharma-kaya ;With all virtuesdissolved in it

,it l iveth in ete rnal calmness .

It knoweth not birth nor death, coming nor going

Not one, not two, not being, not becoming

Yet present everyw here in worlds of beings ;This is what is perceived by all Tathagatas .All virtues, material and immaterial

,

Dependent on the Dharma-kf‘iya, are eternally pure in it .

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298 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT .

x musical in struments consisting Of a hundred thousand lcotis of sounds, when

played by Aryas, a i swe et and enrapturing sound proceeds , in the same' manner, a sweet and enrapturing sound proceeds from tho se rows of'

palmtrees and Str ings of bells moved by the wind . An i when the .men

hear that sound, reflection on Buddha . ari ses in them,reflection on the

law ,reflection on the Church . With such arrays of excellences etc .

But,we may ask

,where is the Buddha Country situated ? Doe s it mean

the heaven or the pure western land . According to this school,it means

not only the heaven or the pure western land, but there is hardly any place

in the universe w hich is not know n as the Buddha Country in other “words

all'places in the East, West, South ? and . North

,

‘go by the name of the

Buddha-k shetra,because Buddha i s to be found everywhere .

Thi s view is fully explained in the“M aha-Vaipalya

-Buddha-Avatamsaka

Sfitra”

. w hich is the authoritative canon of this school .

a. It is, however, not easy for the student to go through this voluminous

work consisting, »as it is, .of Sixty (Old t ranslation) or eighty .(ne w translation)fasciculi . It has, therefore, been the practice to explain the Sfitra itself

viz , M ahavaipulya-Buddhavatamsaka-Sfitra so that its ay be

understood by . . all. I shall also adopt this method of explanation Of the

view of Buddha-kaya in this school .

M alia means “great” philosophically speaking,it means

,infinite

,

boundless, all-pervading, spreading its force everywhe re .

Vaip alya means etymologically “spaciousness .” Spaciousness means0 o 0 o o o 0

“l imitless extension ; i t Signifies again that everything 18 included in I t .

That is to say, man lives and moves and has his being in it, Sun and'M oon

shine, stars glitter, birds sing, flowers blossom, and waters run in It .

Baddfia means “the enlightened one,

”and via/lei and vaip aly z are

epithets used to describe his qualities 25nd virtues . In other words , He

(Buddha) is infinite, all-peb

:H e is the

Spirit Of Infi nite L ife, He fills all

is from Him and in Him, and the Ve

have received, we are receiving, 9eternally pure in it .

NTHE AVATAM SAKA SCHOOL.

”99

We partake of the life of Buddha and in essence the ' life OfBuddha and

that Of ours are identically the same and so are one,'though

' w e differ from

Him in that we are individualiz ed spirits, while He is the Infinite Spirit

including as well as all else beside .‘Avalavzsaka’ means “ornament .” This is used to bring out the innumer

able qual ities and virtues which adore Buddha as ornaments .

The following few verses contain a beautiful description Of the

Characteristics of Buddha which have been stated above

In all the worlds over the ten quarters,O ye

,sentient creatures living there

,

Behold the most venerable of men and gods .

Whose Spiritual Dharmab ody i s immaculate and pure .

As through the power of one m ind .

A host of thought is evolved

So from one Dharmab ody OfTathz'

igata,

Are produced all the Buddhab odies .

In Bodhi nothing dual there existed,

Nor is any thoug ht of self present

The Dharmab ody, undefiled and nondual,

In its full splendor manifesteth itself everywhere .

I is ultimate reality i s like unto the vastness of space

I is manifested forms are like unto magic shows

I ts virtues excellent are inexhaustible,This, indeed, the spiritual state OfBuddhas only .

All the Buddhas of the present,past and future

,

Each one Of them is an issue of the Dharmab ody immaculate

"Q dm %’

”

ET-Tm ure

S Q

S0

tra w hei'he needs of sentient creatures,

0’

amp“’7

Ith emselv es everywhere

,assuming corporeality

ount l'

y ,a

i s beautiful .

'

e the premeditation,

i manifest in such and such forms.

Separated are they from all desire and anxiety,

And free and self-acting are their responses .

They do not negate the phenomenality of (M arinas,

Nor do they affirm the world of individuals”

;

But manifesting themselves in all forms,

They teach and convert all sentient creatures .

The Dharmab ody i s not changeable,Neither is it unchangeable

All Dharmas (in essence) are without change,But manifestations are changeable .

The Samb odhi knoweth no bounds,Extending as far as the limits Of the Dharma-loka itself 5I ts depths are bottomless, and its extent lim itless

Words and speeches are powerless to describe it .

Of all the ways that lead to enlightenment

The Tathagata knoweth the true significance

Wandering freely all over the worlds,Obstacles he encountereth nowhere . 1

1 The Av atamsak a-sna il,fas . XIV. (M r. Suzuki’s “Out line s o fM ahayana Buddhi '

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302 SYSTE M S o r BuDDHi STi c THOUGHT .

By faith is generally meant trust—trust is something external to our self .

When religion is defined as a faith, it is considered toThe Buddhist idea of

fai th . imply t rust or belief in the existence of a Being or

Power which has created this world and presides over it, directs its course

and shapes its destiny . For this reason, religion has come to be identified

with a belief in some external or extramundane Object, particularly by some

occidental scholars . But the Buddhist faith does no t identify itself with

this conception of religion,for it rejects the existence of a personal God

,

as He is ordinarily understood by other religionists . What, then, i s the idea

of faith ente rtained by Buddhism

Asanga says in one Of his illustrious works

Hami sfna w na afia amim w m iQ 0 a o x Q

i .e .

“As ether is all-pervading, so also is Buddha all-pervad ing as ether is

all-pervading in the material world, so also is Buddha all-pervad ing in the

world Of living beings .”

i . e .

“The reflection (or image) Of the moon cannot be seen in a broken

wate r-vessel so also the reflection (or image) of Buddha cannot be seen

in spoiled mind .

”

But the following Chinese gatha may se rve better to il lustrate the

Buddhist conception Of faith than , the above karik as

“The Buddha-Body fills the world,

Being immanent universally in all things

It will make itselfmanifest wherever and

w henever, conditions are matured,Though it never leaves this Seat of Bodhi .

The Buddha-Body or in Sanskrit t fld/za-It ciya is the reason, life; and

nO i‘

rn-vofall particular existences . It is also very Often termed Db arw a-kafva

1 “M ahayana sfi t ralankara”,Chap . ix . ve rse 15 and 16 (Sylv ain Le v i’s San skrit Te x t .)

Chinese version,Chap . x . Karikn and .1 4 . a.

CONCLUSION .

“ 803

in Buddhist philosophy, the d evelopment -Of~ whose -most ~ concrete concep

tion culminate s in -the Buddlia, Tatfictgata Vairoefiaaa; or Amitciblia .*Buddha

means “enlightened,”

and t his may be understo od -to c orrespond-to “God is

Wisdom” . Vairochana is “coming from the sun” , and -Amitabha, “infinite

light” which reminds us of the Christian conception, “God is Light”

.

In the first line of the above Chinese gatha, the principle Of “All is

one or “Unity in variety”, i s declared ; the secondi

line expresses the

principle of “diversity” or “variety in unity” the third and fourth teach

the doctrine “All things move and work ”. These three principles constitute

the fundamental faith Of Buddhism The same sentiments are manifested

in the “M ahayana-mfilajata-hr'idaya

-bhfimi-dhyana

“In all b eings'

there abideth the Dfiarmallcctya

With all virtues dissolved in it, it liveth in ete rnal calmness .

It knoweth not birth, nor.

death, coming nor going

Not one,not two not being, not becoming ;

Yet present everywhere in worlds of beings ;This i s what is perceived by all Tatfidgatas .

A ll virtues; mate rial and immate rial,

Dependent on the D/larma-lvctya -are ete rnally pure in it .

But how . can we, it may be asked, perceive the -Buddha-body or D/larma

The indispen sab le t ri hiya in its manifold act iv it ies and '

recognise it in the

Efidgr

liiiifdhl

igil

iifii ion

div eristy Of desires, feelings, passions, instincts; motives

and sentiments ? M ere inte llect cannot give -us t he necessary power ; we

must have recourse to the practice”of Dfiyclna and -morality ; for Sila Or

moral precepts, Dliycina or contemplation and P raj fi tl or wisdom are regarded

as the indispensable tripod for the realisation Of the Buddhist life be they

Hinayanists, the follo w ers Of the Lesser Vehicle,or M at ctyanists, the

followers of the Greater .

Briefly speaking, to be a good Buddhist,—a man—must be ethical, and

must regulate his life by moral precepts . Nex t f-he must be his own master.

He ought to be able to examine the inner state of his own life and direct his

thoughts and desires in order to fulfil -a rational existence . D/iyctaa or

Q1 Nanjio

’

s Cat . No . 955.

304 SYSTE M S OF ~BUDDH ISTIC THOUGHT.

Oneself, an insight capable Of~'discerning

~ the ’ indwelling ‘ reason Ofv things .

This insight is technically‘called P izaj fiaf; or ‘w isdom’

. We shall no w proceed

to explain the moral precepts Of Buddhism.

Hak -Rak -Ten,

1a famous Chinese poet

,author and statesman

,who lived .

in the thirteenth century of the " Christian era, onceA story of

.

Hak -Bak .

Ten . went to see an eminent Buddhist priest whose saintly

life w as known far and wide, and asked him if he would instruct ‘ him in

the essentials of ‘the Buddhist doctrine . The saint assented and recited

the following gatha

“Commit no wrong,but good deeds do ,

And l et,thy

,heart be pure,

All Buddhas teach this truth,Which will for aye endure .

” 2

The poet-statesman w as n ot at all satisfied w ith this simplemoral

teaching,for he expected to -have something ab strus

fej recondite , and highly

philosophical from the mouth Of such an eminent and virtuous personality.

SO said the poe t “Every child Ofthree summers is' familiar with' this Buddhist

injunction . What I w ish to learn from you is t he highe st and most

fundamental teaching Of your faith .

”. But the -monk retorted

,'“Every

child Of three summers may.k now of this gatha, but even a silvery haired

man of eighty years Old fails ; tO put it into practice .” “

Thereuponf it is

said, the poet bowed reverentially, and went home med itatively 3 .

”

rNO doubt, the gatha recited by the saint i s the most important factor

in Buddhist ethics, for Buddhism i s, from beginning to end, a religion

,

Chin ese Pai Ila -Tien .

The Pali ve rse run s as fo l lo w s

Sabhapapas sa ak aranam ,

Kusalassa upasampada

Sacit tapariyodapanam e tam

.Buddhz’

i na sfisanam ll

Sermons of a Buddhist Ab b o t (Soy en Shak n) pp . 69-70 .

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306 SYSTE M S OF .BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

The first two, comparatively speaking, show the w ay of serving oneself,while the last is exclusively intended to serve others .

Altrui st ic Sl de of the

Buddhist Ethio" We Shal l now’

_ learn how we shall be able to serve

others . Dogen-z enJi says

There are four ways of serving others : (I ) Charity ; (2) Loving

words ; (3) Beneficial deeds ; (4 ) Sharing with others .

Cast no t

); a glance at the

smallness Of your gift—a verse, even a phrase extracted from the Buddha’s

By Cfiarity is meant“not coveting .

’

teachings, may be the planting of a seed of goodness not only ‘in this life

but in the next . Only let there be no thought of reward in helping

others.Not only is the building Of a bridge or the provision of a ferry

boat a work of charity, but all methods of benefiting life or mank ind are

classed as such .

(2) By Loving w ords we mean kind speech to all sentient beings,who

should universally be regarded with loving kindness, praise for those who

are virtuous and pity for those who are deficient in virtue. Lo v ing words

gain the hearts of enemies and keep the virtubus peacefully t o gether . Let

us learn that ‘loving words’ have the power to make the heavens revolve .

(3 ) By Beneficial deeds we mean actions contrived to benefit others,

be the recipients noble or humble—a helpless torto ise, a sick sparrow

without any thought of reward for such actions . The ignorant may say,

‘Others may be benefited by a man’s action, but what benefit does he

himself derive from it .’ They are wrong . Beneficial deeds benefit equally

and impartially the giver and the recipient .

(4 ) St aring w itt ot/iers implies non ~ contradiction . The human Tatha

gata appeared among human beings, and shared his fate with men . There

is this spiritual law , that “when otherness is identified with selfness,

selfness in turn becomes identified with otherness” .

Refrain from doing wrong, which is against the reason of things ; do

whatever is good, which advances the course of reason in this life : and

help.

those who are backward and weary in realising enl ightenment : Here

is Buddhism in a nutshell ; it has nothing to do with prayer and

CONCLUSION . 307

worship and singing or anyt hing of the kind . Our simple everyday life of

love and sympathy is all that i s needed to be a good Buddhist . There is

nothing myste rious, nothing superstitious, nothing supernatural .

M ali-

5mm :

as ? m afia

THE END.

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3 10 SYSTE M S o r BUDDH ISTI C THOUGHT .

causation which indicate the spacial relations of all ‘dharmas’ mental and

material ; the relations between Sallzciga/ie ta and Nis/zyanrla-

p /ialam and

Sarvatragalvetn and Nis/iyanda-

p /zalain indicate a temporal connection ; the

pair of P'

ipctka-liet ii and P'

ipct/ca-p lialain represents a relation of succession

by intervals while the remain ing one OfKa’ranafieta and Ail/i ip ati-p lialam

comprises this as well as that of immediate succession .

I . Kcirana/t etn aacl Ail/i ij /ati-p /ialaiii

The Acirana/Eetn i s an auxiliary condition which does not directly make

any disturbance in the causal nexus [it is something like the ‘colligation’

dealt with in J . S . M ill’s System of Logic the effect considered in its

relation isc

called ‘Atlnip atip lmlam’. The scope of this cause i s very vast

,

since all ‘Sansk rita’and ‘Asansk rita

’(Marinas may become

This cause is of two classes : “positive” or “forceful” and “negative” or“forceless by the former is meant a condition that lends a positive

,

though indirect,influence for the becoming of the (Mari na

,while the latte r

is a circumstance which, by the absence of a (l/i arma,does not afi ect the

becoming of the effect . To take an il lustration,the mount H imalaya seems

to be Ofno inte rest to us for the general occurrences of the world ; but its

existence or non-existence brings about a great change in the climatic condi

tion Of the World, and thereby exerts some indirect influence on our life .

M ount H imalaya is here a positive Kcirana/zetn for us, and the change in

our life is an Atl/iip ati-p /iala in in relation to that . Again,in the case Of

a running ship, the absence of a sunken rock in her course is a‘negative’

Kcii 'ana/ietn ; , for, by its very absence, it does not create any disturbance

for the safe voyage whichi s the ‘Afl/i ip ati

I] . Sa/iul/uilzeta antl -

p /zalam

When two dharmas exi st simultaneously as the cause and the effect

in their spacial relation, that which plays the part of the cause is called

while the other is named the 1’aras/za-lea'

m -

p /zalam. The

APPENDIX . 3 1 1 ‘

term P aras/ialntra means ‘working of a man’ here the term “P araskakctra

p lzalam” i s taken in analogy to the working Of a man that brings about

the cfi ect simultaneously with it .

III . Sabnctgali etn and Nisfiyanela-p lzalani .

This refers to the law of causation which is to be applied for explaining

the temporal relation of all‘rlliarmas

’ which are of the same kind or order .

The two te rm s ‘Sat/ictga’

and ‘Nistyan/la’ go to imply that the cause and

the effect are of the same class or order . To take an illustration, the human

body,in spite Of its change from day to day, and even from moment to

moment, which it must undergo owing to the changes in the physical

condition Of the world, seems to remain the same we do not perceive that

there is a difference between our body of the morning and that of the ‘

evening. This is so because our body changes keeping its physical state s

all along in the same class or order . The changes are very minute and

are Ofk insfolk relation with one another so that we, by ordinary under

standing, are not conscious of them . Thus the relation of all things that

are never at rest, but are in a state Of continuous change,i s to be

explained by this law Of causation, namely Sat/leiga/ietn and Nisfiyanzla

p lialam. To Speak in Buddhist technical terms, mind, mental prope rties

and matte r at a certain moment, are while those at the

subsequent moment are the Nisnj/ anfla pnalams.

IV. Samp raynkta/vetn and P nrasfial'elra-

p l alam.

This is the law of causation that explains the relation betw een mental

Operations only at a given moment . The term ‘Sampmynlfta’ bears the

sense of harmony here it means a harmonious state of the mental proper

ties tending to Operate for a common object ; there are five conditions for

this state of harmony

(a) The mental Operations should depend on the same Indriya .

(6) They should perceive the same Object .

(c) They should arise simultaneously .

(rt) They should adopt the same process .

3 12 SYSTE M S or BUDDHIS'

I‘IC THOUGHT .

(e) Their respective substance must be one and not more

than one .

The harmonious operation of the mind and mental properties that satisfy

these conditions perfectly well,is called the Samp raynkta/ietn, and the

perception that is presented as the result of this harmonious action is the

P ni 'ztsli akctf

ra-p lialam.A troop is formed with different kinds of forces,

viz : infantry, artillery, engineers, transport soldiers, etc ; all these are under

the control of the same order : they associate w ith‘

\

one another in their

advance or retreat they work with the same Object in view they eat the

same food ; and there is a certain limit in their respective number. With this

order,they can attack and fight their enemy . The harmonious act ion Of the

different kinds of soldiers may be compared to the Samp rayn/rtal etn’

,and

their victory to P arnsfiakd’

ra-p l alam

V. Sarvatraga/letn and Nisnyamla-p lialam.

This is the law of causation that explains the relation between different

kinds Of l leéas The t leéas’

,as .herebefore shown, are many in

number ; the fundamental ones are the fOllOw ing ten

(l ) Lobha Greed .

(2) Dv esha Hatred .

(3 ) M Oha Ignorance or folly .

(4 ) M ana Self-conceit .

(5) Vicikit sfi Doubt.

(6) Kayadrisht i Belief that the physical body is Ego .

(7) Anugrahadrisht i Learning about Ete rnalism or Nihilism

Of soul .

(8) M ithtyadrishi Erroneous view of the law Of causation .

(9 ) Drishtiparamarsha Adhering to one’s own erroneous view .

(10 ) Silav rataparamarsha Attachment to extreme mortification or

superstit ious rites as means to the

realisation of Nirvana.

These ten Nesas’are the hindrances for the real Observation Of the

Dafilrlzasafya’

; and seven of these—with the exception of Ii’

ciyarh'islzti

,

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3 14 SYSTE M S OF BUDDH ISTIC THO UGHT .

purest knowledge . The term Visanzybga’ signifies freedom from bondage .

Here,it must be borne in m ind that Nirvana or in the Sarvastitv avadin’S

technology,

‘P ratisanzl'lyct is an eternal and independent existence,and is not yroduced by any cause . It is like Brahmahood

,in Sankara

Vedantin’

s conception, that is only a recovery and no acquisition—an

attainment of a state that is already there in its pure and eternal existence,thoug h under the bondage ofillusion .

SO much w ith regard to the law of causat ion in / aCCordance with the

doctrine of the Sarvastit vavadins . Let us now take a different sort of

classification of Causes in the Buddhistic philosophy. These are w hat

are known as the four conditions or Chatushpratyayas v iz

(l ) Adhipatiprat yaya Additional cause .

(2) Alamb anapratyaya Objective cause Ofmental process .

(3 ) Samanantarapratyaya Immediate cause .

(4 ) Hetupratyaya Direct cause .

Of these four conditions, Hetup ratyaya corresponds to fiv e of the above

mentioned six causes, namely, Sat ab/la/ietn, Sainp rayn lt talieta Sal/zctga/zetn,

Sarvatraga/ietn and s i ctkali etn ; w hile(the ,

’

Other three are the same as the

Kciranalietn, both positive and negative, as explained above . fill/zip a tip rat

yaya or additional cause i s a cause which is invariably antecedent to the effect

(and is not otherwise constituted) . Alainbanap ratyaya i s an Object of

perception but for which no Operation of the mind is possible . This object

is an invariable condition of the mental process,though it is not the direct

cause of it hence it is taken up as a cause in the Buddhist epistemology .

Samanantarap ratyaya or immediate cause explains the relation between the

state of mind and mental functions at a certain moment and that at a

subsequent one . Psychologically speaking,our consciousness is a continuous

stream flowing like the water of a river ; when we consider a certain flow

of consciousness as the cause of one of those in the subsequent moment,we

call the former the Samanantarap ratyag/a or immediate cause . Tt e Samanan

tarap ratyaya and the Alain/Jana correspond exclusively to the positive‘Karanahetu

’ while Adfiipatip ratyaya corresponds to both the Keirana

fietv s’

, po sitive and negative . Let us draw a diagram to indicate,

‘

a little

APPENDIX . 3 15

more clearly,‘

tlie relation ofthe six causes, four conditions and the five efi ects

hitherto dealt w ith

s fimfii w as

s tasis w as

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xxii iNDEx

Ak incanfiyatana

Akuéala

Akusala-mahfibhfimika-dharmaAlayaAlaya-v ijfianaAlaya

,Enlightenment Side of,Non-enlightenment aspect of,

AllahAlobha

Amara-kos' aAmericaAmla (sour)AmobaAnapatrapa

Anfigamam

Anagamin

Ananfirtham

Anfisrav a (M it ’l'

o) free from defilement

Anasrav a-bija (M ni‘

o-S/i iitj i)Anasrava-jnanaAnasrava-prajnaAnatman (M ag/a) 1 6

,1 8, 26 , 83 , 128,

Anav asthita

Anavr itaAnavrita-upek sha

Andaja

Andhakav inda Sut tanta

Andrews,Bishop

Anekartham

Angut tara-nikaya

Anguliparva, fingertipAnink sha

Anvirdeéa (M nfan-t etsu) , lucking discremination .

Anirgamam

An irodham

Anityam (1M Ifz io)Anityata

Aniryata-bhfimika-dharma

Aniyata—citta-dharma (Fig

'

id-S/linj o )Ano ttappam

PAGE .

73

23 9

258

260

260

301

261

21 3

1 4 4

20 1

90, (ship) 22720 1

228

106

250

289

1 3 9

1 78

1 90

32

20 1

122

250

154

20 1

20 1

29

1 60

224

88

I NDEX xxiii

PAGE .

An tarakalpa 1 78

Antarayika-dharma-nfinyathat va

-niscit-a-vyAkarana-vaisaradyam 183

Anu 121,125

,127

Anucchedam 20 1

Anugraha-dri sh t i (Hen-Ken) 88

,222

,3 12

Anuk rama 227

Anumfina 23 4,235

Anumfina-

pramanas (Hi-73570 ) 234

Anupadhi-sesha-nirvana 180

Anupfit ta-mahfibhi

‘

i ta

Anurav ihara 1 90

Anurudha 109

AnuSaya (Zai-miu) 1 10

Anusmrit i-n irdeéa 154

Anutpadam 20 1

Anut taram (ilInz id, supreme) 1 66

Ap (wate r) 124, 1 4 5

Apatrapa 156, 221

Apostle 32

Apramada 156,222

Aprapt i 159

Aprat isankhya-nirodha 1 12

, 1 18, 158 , 1 6 1, 1 64 , 1 65, 1 6 7, 1 68

Aprat isankhya-nirodha-asamsk rita 228

A p osteriori Enlightenment 259,260

Ap riori 259, 260

Arb uda 78

Archeological Department 9 7 108

Arhat (Ara/t an or Ita li an) 89 90,1 10

Arhatship 226

Aristotle 9 6

Arnold, Sir Edwin 68

Arthabhfisa,meaning 24 6

Arfipadhatu (Ill ns/viki-kai, Realm of formlessness) 72, 73 , 1 78, 23 7, 24 4

o Asanga (M a-

yak) 10, 23 , 104 , 21 1, 212, 23 0, 24 5, 24 7, 257, 279, 302

Asanga Tissa 1 90

Asanjfiika 159) 226, 227

Asanjfi i-samapat t i 159) 226, 227

Asamprajha 224,

Asamsk rita or 1 12, 1 14 , 1 19, 153, 158, 159, 16 1, 1 62,

Asamskrita-dharma 1 63, 1 64 , 1 9 7, 21 7, 228, 23 1, 24 4, 3 10

xxiv I NDEX

Asamsk rita-siinyatfi

ASfiSvatam

Asat t va-sankhyfita

Asamyak-drishti (Ja-leen)

Asiatic Society Of Ben galASraddhfi 157, 224

Assassin of Self 263

AshtadaSa-v enikar-Buddha-dharmas,E ighteen unique or independent characteristics of Buddha} 1 84”

Ashtfinga-hridaya 70

ASfinyata 1 98 , 257

Asura-loka (Sl arfirld, World Of demons) 72

Aévagho sha 4 4 , 106, 186, 255,256, 257, 258, 265, 267, 270 , 287

289

Attachment 266, 267

At tasfilini 21

Atyanta-Sfinyatfi. (absolute unrestrictedness) 1 94

,1 95, 1 98

Auddhatya 1 57, 24 2

Augustine,St . 296

Auxiliary Indriya 1 4 7

Av adfita (white 1 4 3

Av aragadoniya 72

Av arasaila 1 00, 10 2

Av astu 1 6 1

Av atamsaka (Keyon) 29 9

Avatamsak a School (Keven-slut ) 1,3,4,

28 6, 287, 292, 293 , 296

Avatamsak a Sfitra (Keyon-kyo”

) 59,271 , 272, 288 , 289

Avidya (M amyo‘

, Ignorance) 25, 71 , 75, 76, 77, 78, 8 1 , 82, 83, 1 3 0 , 1 3 1 ,

1 65, 26 1

Av ijfi apti

Karma

- Riipa

Av irajah, Sheephairdust ,Awakening Of faith (Kis/i in-ron)AbbasaAdhii na

Adhfina-v ijfi fina (S/i a-j i-s/iiki)Agama Sfitra (Avon-Keri)Ak fiéa

Ak z’

iSa-asamsk rita

24 8

24 0

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xxvi I NDEX

PAGE .

Bhéi vana-heya-ikleSa (Slinzva/r)Bheda

Bhishma

Bhfita (Nd-2 0”

Bhi’

ita-kotiBhfita-sparsa-v ishayaBhi

’

ita-tathatfi

Bhfita-tathata-ontologyBhfita-tathata-phenomenologyBhi‘rta-tathata-vada (slvin-nyo

-

yengi-ron)

Bimb isfira

Blind ChanceBloch

,Dr. Ernst Theodore

BodhiBodhi-caryfivatfiraBodhicit tam

Bodhi-ruciBodhisattva-b ridaya

-b fimi

Bodhisattva prati-mokshaBodhisattva-

yfina (Bosatsn-z io)Bodhi-TreeBombayBrahma (Bonden)Brahma-giri or Black-bee M ountainBrahma-sfitra

Brahma-v idyabharanaBranch non-EnlightenmentBright M irrors

, Of trueness as negationperfumed by the causesfree from hindranceperfumed by conditions

Brihadfiranyaka-Upanishada

Buddhfirtha

Buddhfivatamsaka-mahfi-v aipulya-sfitra (Dai

°

-/lo”-/co

”-ta tsu-Ilegon

lcio”

)Buddha-carita (Bassfio-gi o -san)Buddha -citta-school (Bassnin-j izi )Buddha-

gho sha (Batsn-on)Buddha-kfiya, View of

228

9 4

126

254

1 4 5

255

4 4

100

52

253

264

57

56

28 1

2

1 08

1 38

102

261

259

259

259

259

24 9

4

I NDEX

Buddha-ytina (Batsa-z io )BuddhiBuddhism and its Christian CriticismBuddhism in M agadha and CeylonBuddhism in Translation

‘

Burden Bearer, Siitra ofBarmaBurnouf

Caitasika-karmaCalcuttaCaittadharma 1 18

,1 1 9

,1 3 7,

Cait tam

CaityaSailas

Cakra (Teceni-sen)Cak shnCak shv indriya

Cak shv indriy'fiyatana

Cak shu-v ijfi ana

Cak shvindriya-(lhatfi

Cak shur-v ijfifina-kfiya'

GéraCalana (motion)Carijna

Cars,Dr. Paul

Catur-dharma-lokas (S/ii-liol 'kai)Caturvidha-vaisz

’

iradya (Four kinds of convictions)Catus-pratyaya (Four conditions)Central AsiaCentral ProvinceCetanfi

Cetanfi karmaCeylon 28, 3 7, 38 , 3 9 ,

Ceylonese BuddhismChandaChandra Gupta II

,Vik ramfiditya

Chaitanya

151

239

72

21 6

1 19

1 1 9

153

250

124

275

29 1

3 1 4

68'

53

1 76

95

xxviii INDEX

Characteristic OfharmonyUnity

CharityChi-che-Tfi -chihChinaChinese BuddhismChiz o OfKaiz en ji

Choan dynastyChristianityChristian Literature SocietyChurch (sangha)Cit tam

Citta-dharma

Citta-pariSuddli iCit tOtpfida

Citta-v iprayuk ta-samskfira-dharma

CollectionColligationColomboCommonCompendium of PhilosophyConcealment

’

(3varana)Concordant TrisatyasConfuciusConventional

ConventionalismConventionality

Principle OfContemplation Of

Coomara-sw fimi

Copleston , BishopCritique of Practical ReasonCritique OfPure ReasonCyutyutpatti

-jfifina-balam

PAGE .

29 4

294

306

1 74

287

3 0 1

253

24 8

1 4 6

272

3 10

28

272

120

262

271

4 2

270

278

38(

50

50

183

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XXX INDEX

—Doctrine ofDhyfina

-v imok slia-samfidhi-samfipat ti-

j n z’

ina-balamDifferential CharacteristicDifficult PathDignfiga

Discordant Trisat yasDiscourse Of Buddha E ssenceDistinctionDit thi

Divine EagleDivine WillD ipa-Vansa

DOgen-Zenj i

DOSODrishti-parfimarsa (l 'e zis/i zt -l 'en)Drisht rit w am

DvadaSa-Nikfiya-Sfistra

D vesliaDualismDuhkham

Duhkha-Nirodha 69

Duhkhanirodliagfimini-pratipad 69

Duhkha-Samudaya 69

Duhkha-Satya 70, 83 , 210, 212, 21 3

Durgandha 144

Earth-SpiritEasy PathEdkinsEdmunds

,A . J .

Eightfold Noble PathEight NoesEighteen dhfitusEkab

'

ij in

Ekavyav alifirika

EleaticEmotional kleSas

10

1

r N!

0,Emptiness,Principle of

INDEX xxxi

Contemplat ion ofEnlightenment

,World of

M oon ofOfuniversal love and kindness

Essence-perfuming or impressionEternalism (Zid-L'en)Eternal Individual ityEuropeEvambhfigiya

Experience Of the first seven Vi j fi finas

External-perfuming or ImpressionExternal power of the doctrine of SuchnessExternal world of subjectivity

Faus ll

FichteFive IndriyasFive kinds of Buddhist doctrineFive kinds of effectsFive skandhas

Fleet, Dr.Formative CharacteristicFour ConditionsFour mahfibhi

‘

i tz‘

ini (Sl i-clai)Four Noble Tr uths (Catv firi-firya-sat ) fini)

Fully c eloped M ahfiyanism (Jitsu-(lai-z i o )Fundamental ImpressionFundamental Kleéa

GandhaI

ndhadhfitu

lhz’

ira

1ha-v ishaya

dhfiyatanam

1 15

4 3

289

98

29 4

3 1 5

1 24

266

xxxii

Gangraha (cohes ion)GangesGatisGautama Prajfiaruci

Gautama Sanghadeva

GayaGe

'

njiGermanGhanaGhosh , Prof . M .

Ghrana-v ijfi fina

Ghrfina-v ijfi fina-dhfitu

Ghré‘

inendriyaDhfitu

-Ayatana

God’s willGoetheGO -k iO-shi-kwanGo -k iO-ShO

Goldstuck er, Prof . Theodor

Gorajah (COW hair (lust)Gough, Prof .GradualGreat HealerGreat Sfitra Of the deceaseGreat Sut tan ta on the law of causation

Gridhrakfita (Hedda-sen), Vulture Peak

Gurutv am (heaviness)Gv6nen

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Indian Vernaculars, about Karma

I ndividual conditionIndrasIndriya

Indriya-para-apara-j nana-balamInte llectual KleSasInternal perfuming of SuchnessInternal power of SuchnessIsipatana

Islami smIrsliya

Iévara

“Jani b hi‘

idv ipa 97, 21 1

James 1 . KingJapanJapanese BuddhistsJapanese proverb aboutJarfi

Jara-maranam

Jarfiyuga

JasJfivanyam (sci-sol

"

)Jayadeva

Jesus Christ,Jighat sfi (hunger)Jihv a-v ijfi fina-dhfi tu

Jihv endriyaJihv endriya-dhz

’

itu

Jihv endriyfiyatanaJinaJiriki K16Jit su-shinJitsu-u

J‘

iv ita 160

Jiv itendriya (111yo”-l:on)

5

52

1 78

\ 3 8

227

8 6

14 5

1 19

1 4 4

1 1 9

1 1 9

INDEX

John,Apostl e

Johnson,Dr

JosephJupiter

78

1 90

1 1,9 7

,1 06

,1 07, 252

107

9 7, 98

Kanjur 108

Kant 4 7, 50

Kanva 94

Karkaéatvam (roughness) 14 5

Karma 1 8,1 9 , 21 , 3 1 , 32, 4 4 , 4 6 , 50, 51 , 52, 53 , 54 , 59 ,

67, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 83 , 84 , 86, 9 3 , 94 , 133 , 1 4 9,

150, 151 , 1 77, 1 93, 202, 21 1 , 21 3 , 236, 237,

250 , 266 .

Karma-Phenomenology 4 3,4 9

,50

,1 3 1

,1 78

,21 1 , 278

Karma-v ipfika-jfi fina-balam 182

Kfila 228

Kz’

ilidasa 1 75

Kama dhfitu (Yo/c-l'

ai) 72, 73 , 178 , 23 7, 23 8

Kfinadev a (see) Arya deva 1 86, 187, 1 9 1 , 192

Kfirana -sa-in) 309 , 3 10 ,

positive or forceful 3 10, 3 14 , 3 15

3 1 0,3 1 4

,3 15

Kfirpanya 223

Kashaya (astringent) 1 4 4

Kashgar Brahmi character 68

Kashmire 100 , 175

Kasyapa 282, 283 , 284

KESyapa-

parivarta 65

KfiSyapiyas 10 1

Kathfi v astu 17, 1 1 7

Katuka (acid) 1 4 4

1 05,i06

,1 78

,1 84

Kank ritya

Kaurukullaka

Kausidya

Kfiya-drishti (slain-ken)

Kfiya-v ijfifina

Kfiya-v ijnfinadhfitu

Kayendriya

Kfiyendriya dht‘

i tu

Ayatana

Kfiyika-avq fiapt i

-karmaKfiyika

-karma

Kfiyika-vijnapti-karma

KernKe- shinKe-u

KharjuraKharoshthiKleSa

ThreeIntellectualEmotional

KleSa-mahfi-bhfimika—dharma

Krodha

Kshana

Kulamuk la

Kumfira-j ivaKumz

’

i ralab dha

Kumfira-sw fimi, Sir. M .

KuSala

M ahfi-bhfimika-dharma

KuSala-mfilfini (Zengon)

Laghutv am (lightness)

158,

100

152

1 1 9

1 1 9

1 19

151

151

92

1 79

179

98

99

277

278

278

278

9 1

23 9

90

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xxxviii

PAGE .

M adhy‘

amika-Sfistra (Clflcw an-ron) 4,14

,20, 23 , 30 , 4 1 , 10 4 , 1 3 9 , 175,

M adhyfintfinugama-Sfistra (J zrin-cniZ-ron) 10

M adras 68

M agadha 1 00

hi ahfi 29 8

M ahfib odhi Society 1 7

M ali fibhi‘imika 1 4 2

M ahfib hfimika-dharma 155,156

M ahfib hi‘

i tas 123,124

,125

M ahfidev a (Dai-ten) 5

M ahfik alpa 1 78

M ahfi-mati Bodhisattva (Dai-ve Bosatsa) 26,4 0

M ahfimati (Commentator of the ‘Friendly Epistle’) 80,1 1 4

M ahfiparinirv fina-Sfitra (Dai-liatsn-nenan-

gio”

) 9, 25

M ahfiprajfipat i Go tami 68

M ahfipurusha-Sastra (Daij id-bn-i'

on) 63,6 4

hi ahfisanghikas 99,1 00, 101 , 1 76 289

M ahfi. Tissa 1 90

M ahfitman (Daiga) 23 , 25, 83 , 84 , 1 99

M ahfi-vairochana-abhisamb odhi-sfitra (Dainicli i-lcio) 4,24

M ahfivan sa 1 90

M ahayana chik w an 276

M ahayana-mula jata-hridaya-bhumi dhyfina-sutra 3 03

M ahayana Sradhotpfida Sastra (Daieio ki-sl in-ron) 1 8 6

M ahfiyz'

ina-sfitra-alankfira-éz’

istra (Dais/i o'

gon-lcid-ron) 23, 24 , 212, 24 5, 24 6,

24 7, 257, 280 , 302

M ahfiyanism (Dai-z i o-kid) 1, 7, 89 , 1 73 , 1 74 , 1 86, 202

M ahayanist 1 73, 1 9 1

M ahiSfisakas 10 1

M aitreya (M irolrn) 282

M ajjima-Nikfiya 9 3,1 69

M an 275

M anas 152, 24 1

Consciousness 267, 268

M ana—fiyatana 23 1

M ana-Indriyadhfitu

M ana-Indriyayatana

M anaskfira

3 12

INDEX xxxix

M onjuéri (Ill onj n)M ano-v ijfifina 152 153, 21 6, 2 18,

DhatuKfiya

M antra School (S/Iin-

gon

M anushya-loka (Ningen-lcai)

M fira (Al a-ma)M z

’

irga

Jfi fina

M artin Elginb rod

M aterialismM athew,

Go spal ofM atiM itt sarya

M fiyfi.

-Sam€1dhi7 0

M echani smM elissus

M enander

M iddhz’

i

M iddle Path—Principle ofContemplation of

M indo M inM ithyfidrisli ti (Ja-leen)M ohaM oheSvara

M ohoM ohomet

M oksha (Geelatsa, deliverance)M onismM onotheism

M ucilapat tana

PAGE .

1 1 9

72

76

89

278

6 1

85

1 4 2

157

4 1

4 4

4 3

29

3 10

1 1 6

1 07

4 4

1 18

1 90

xl INDEx

M fila-dharma-chakra (Komp onJ / ofin, Root doctrine , of Buddhism)M fila-mahfisamghik as

M iiller,M ax

M ushti-smritita (Saitsa-nen

Nfigfirjuna (RinT-j n)

NagasenaNairfitmya

Dvayam

Nairmfinika-kfiya

Nairvfinika-mfirgz’

ivatarana-v aisfiradyam

Naiv asayna-nfi sajfiayatana

Naiyz’

iyikas

Nélandfi.

N5mak 3.ya

rfipa

Nfinfi-adhimuk ti-jfifin-balamNfinfi-dhfitu-jfi fina-balamNfinak a

Nfinatv a (St at/ elm)NandaNanjio , Dr . B .

Napoleon BonoparteNaz arethNemesisNepalNepalese-Buddhist-Sanskrit Lite ratureNeti NetiNeumann, Dr . Karl Eug enNichiren SchoolNiepan

NihilismNihsfira

Nik z’

iya-sabhfiga (Dd- ban)

Nila (blue)

9 4 ,

250

1 83

73

182

1 83

95

21 1

1 88

85

1 16

1 1 1

1 1 1

230

32

24 8

226

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x lii iNDEx

Objective classificationdivision

One Great Spi ritOne hundred dharmas

Dhfitus

OnenessOne ThoughtOutlines of Eight School s of Buddhism

M ahayana Buddism

Padfibhfisa (word)Pada-kfiya

Pai-Lu-TienPak t i (ripening)PalestinePali Abhidhamma

Sfitra

Text SocietyPancadharma-Kfiya

Pancatantra

Paneendriya

Pfinini

PantheismParabhfiva (Tris/15)ParadiseParamfinu

Paramfirtha (Indian priest)Paramfirtha

SatyaParamfitman

Vedfintin’s Universal soul

Pfiramita (Hdrd'mitsn)

Paratantram

Lak shanam

Parikalpitam

Lak shanam

60

1 4 5

3 1

206

204

1 10,

24

26

58

24 5

24 5

24 6

iNnEx xliii

Parinirvfiua-Si’

i tra (Dai

'

liatsa-ne/zanyio )Parinishpannam

Lak shanam

Parit z’

ipa

ParmenidesPfiréva

Partially developed M ahayanist (Gon-tlai-z i o )

Particulariz ing ConsciousnessPatanjali

Paul (Apostle)Perfect EnlightenmentPerfectionPerfect M ahayanaPeriodicalPesiPinkama

P ipfyséi (Thirst)Pipraw a TopeFischel, Prof . RichardPita (yellow)PlatoPluralismPluralistsPosterior germ sPotential seedsPractical

ClassificationPrajfi fi 56

,1 1 1 ,

Prajfifidharma-kéya

Prajfi z’

i-pfiramita Sfitra (IIaanya-karainitsa-lcio'

Prajfi fi-parisuddhi (C/ii-sfiG-z i o )Prajfiapt i

—Vfi,dinsPrahfina

Pramfida

Pranidhfina (Gw ando)P rfipti

Praéfikhfi

PAGE.

63

158

4 8

26 7

69

58

259

272

271

78

88

1 4 5

1 4 8

4 8

4 8

212

271

272

182

24 8

270

24 9

58

x liv INDEX

Praérab dhi

Prat ighfi

Prat isamkhya-nirodha

AsamskritaPratitya

-Samutpfida Yen-y i)Pratyak sha

—Pramfina

Pratyeka BuddhaPratyuloandha

Prav ritti

—Dharma

—Vijfiana

Prayoga-nirdeéaPredestinationPreta-loka (Ga/cz

'

-fl0”

Primary doctrine of M ahayanaPrinciple IndriyaPrior germsPrithak -jatiPrithiviProjection (Vik shepa)

power of,Proximate conditionPsychological classificationPndgala

AtmanPure W isdomPurnshakaraphalam (Ski-yd-k w a)Pfirvav ideha

Pfirva-nivfisa-anusmriti-Jnana-balam

Q uestion of King M elinda 30, 32, 3 6

228

82

284

227

218

219

154

52

(14 7

226

262

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xlvi INDEX

Saddammopayana

Saddharma-pundarika-ren -1u0 )

Sad vahana or SavfihaSahabhfi-hetu Ku-u

Sakha-dharma-cakra (S/t ifi zatsu-ltdrin)Sak ridagamin

sak shisvasfik shit vam

sakya-muniSakya raceSalmasius

SamadhiSamadhi-dharma-kayaSamagandha

Sfimagri

Samananantara-pratyaya (To‘

mu/ceu-yeu)SamataSamata-jnanaSambhodhi 300

Sambhogika-kaya 3250

Samgha 3 7, 38, 3 9

Samjfia 1 1 9,1 32, 14 2, 156, 178, 220, 227

Skandha 230, 23 7

Sammit iyas .101

Sampindati (moistures) 1 24

Samplayuk ta-hetu (1967054 77) 1 4 0

,309 , 3 1 1, 3 12, 3 1

41,3 15

Samsara 23,32

, 50, 68, 70 , 75, 76, 77, 1 10, 1 82, 210 ,

Samskara 23, 75, 77, 78, 80, 8 1 , 82, 13 1, 159, 1 78, 1 83 , 215

— Skandha 230

Samsthfina 1 4 3,152

Samsv edaya 1 78

Samudaya-Satya 70, 82, 210, 21 3, 3 12, 3 13

Samvrit ti (conventional ) 103 , 1 76 , 1 77 180

Samyagaj iva (Pal i : Samma-ajiva) 1 70

Samyak -drishti (Pali : Samma-dithi) 1 69

Samyak-Karmantah (Pal i : Samma-Kanmanta) 1 69

Samyak-samadhi (Pali : Samma-samadhi) 170

Samyak -samb odhi 183

Samyak-sankalpa (Pal i . Sammfi-sankappa)

PAGE .

9

288

90

1 16

1 8 1

1

INDEX xlvii

PAG E.

Samyak -smriti (Pali z Samma-sati ) 1 70

Samyagv fic (Pfili : Sammavficfi) 1 69

Samyagvyayfimah (Pal i Sammavéyama) 1 70

Samyojana 66,67, 89, 90

Samyutta Nikfiya 1 9 54

San-t an . 1 75

Sangha Tissa I 1 90, 1 9 1

Sanirdesa (possessing discrimination) 154

Sanjfi fi-vedana-nirodha-asamskrita 229

Sankaracfirya 1 1,1 6

,28, 94 , 105, 123 , 1 24 , 125, 126, 129 , 1 30, 18 1 ,

Samkhya 1 3 9, 1 74 , 228, 24 1

Samkhya-pravacana-hhfishva 261

Sank shepa-sariraka 262

San-ron-gen-gi 1 74

Sansk rita 3 10

Dharmas 1 12, 1 14 , 1 1 6, 1 1 7, 1 18, 158, 1 9 7, 21 6, 229, 24 4

Sanski'ita-sfinyata 195

Santana 129

Santapa 223

santi Deva 90

Santyfiga 24 8

Saptakritbhavaparama 90

Sarana 24 8

Sarnath 271

éfiripntra 106, 297

Sarva-daiéana-sangrah 102, 1 03

Sarva-dharma 250

Sarvaga (Hengz’

fl) 220

Sarvakara-jfianam 279

Sarvam anfitmam (S/zofié-muga) 7, 15, 1 6

Sarv am anityam (Sfiogid-muz io”

) 7, 8, 15

Sarvasat t va (Ami 254

garvfistitvavfidins School 4, 5, 9 , 12, 1 3 , 4 4 , 97, 9 9, 102, 104 , 105, 106,

1 87, 1 89, LHL 14 4 , 1 4 2,1 4 8

,

11mg 16 1, 162, 1 68,1 65

,166

,

210,21 1

,21 8

, 21 6 , 21 7, 219 , 225, 226, 24 1 , 278

289 , 8 14

xlviii INDEX

Sarva-sfinyatfi-vfidinsSarvatraga-hetu (fl eugM -in)Sarvatragaminirpratipatti-jnana-balamSasanka

,King of Kam asvarna

Sasarajah (rabbit hai r dust )Sfis

’

rava (Um)Sfiéia

’

va-bijaSaérava-dharma

Sastra School (RonSfisvatavada (Zz

'

fi-l'en)Sata-sastraS atkfiya

-dirsht i (SI:

Sat-vasankhyfito

SatyaSatya- siddhi-sastraSatyasiddhi School,Sautrfintikas

Savastuka

Sav imuk t i

SchellingSchliemeamen, DeSecretSectional k lesasSelf-aggrandiz ementSelf-annihilationSelf-preserving CharacteristicSelf-willSeventy-five dharmasShadayatana

Shannagarikas

Sharing with others (DOT/i)ShelleyShin-kfiShintaiSiamSidhfirtha, PrinceSik shfinanda

SilaSilab hadra

Siladharma-kfiya

PAGE .

1 72

188

1 6

122

1 66

4

14 4

1 18

1 17

4 3

98

N

29 4,

1 0 1

806

85

1 79

176

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INDEX

PAGE .

Sthfina-asthana-jnana-balam 1 82

Sthav iras 9 9, 100, 10 1 , 102, 1 0 6

Sthav irav fida 5, 1 76

S t . Paul 59, 60

St . Petersburg 1

Styana 157, 224 , 24 2, 24 8

Subjective 6155316556 6 6 1 1 1 , 1 19 , 126

division 1 79, 1 80

Subjectivism 4 7

Subjectivity 266, 267

perfuming 267

Suchness 4 1,4 6

,228 , 229

,230, 24 6

,255

,256

,257

261 , 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 289, 290,

293 .

perfummg or Impression 267, 268, 269

philosophy 252

Sudden 272

suddhi 24 8

8 114 611 6 656 5‘

85, 95

Sugandha 1 4 4

Sughoshacarya (M id-0 774 0 773177) 1 66

Suhrillekha 80, 92, 1 1 4

Sukha 1 4 4

Sukhav ativyuha 20 1

Sukhavati-vyfiha-dvfira 2

Sukhavati-vyfiha School (Zid-7l0 3,4 , 6, 252, 287, 297

Sukhavat ivyfiha-sfitra 4

Sumangala 28

Sumera (8777777778 0 77) 72

Sfinyakalpa 1 78

86 6 324 79 18 , 26,4 4

,4 6, 108, 1 74 , 1 77, 1 93 , 1 94 , 1 95,

1 96, 1 97, 1 99

,204 , 205,

Sfinyatavfidins 13,1 05

ofH inayana and M ahayanaSuskav fidi-vyavahalik a 290

Sutra on the cause and cfi ec t of the present and the past 77

on the .doctrine of neither increasing nor decreasing 264

Sutra School (mo-85772) 4

sumNipata .

INDEX H

Suz uki, D . T . 253, .254 ,

Svabhav a-nirdesa

Svabhfivika-kayaSvarna-

prabhfisa-sutraSvfirtha

Svasak shitvam 233 , 234 ,

System of Logic

Tfilaputo 70

Tangur 103 , 108, 1 1 0

Tfio -thai 64

Tardy M essenger 87

Tathagata—vairocana 303

Tathagata 2, 18, 25,97, ”

100 204 , 205,206, 209,

272, 275, 28 1, 282, 284,

Amitabha (Amida-Nyow i) 1

Garbha (NW 25, 26, 63 , 254

Tathata 21 7, 24 6

Asamskrita 229

Teleology 4 4

Temporal succession 309

Ten Intellectual powers (Dasab ala) 18 1 , 182

Tendai school 4 6, 271 , 272, 273 , 274 , 277, 281 , 287 288, 292

Ten dhatus 276

Teja 1 24 , 1 25

Theoretical classification 270, 272

Thera Deva (see) Arya Deva 1 90, 1 9 1

Theragatha 92,1 13

,1 14

,1 1 6

Thibaut, Dr . 1 23,126, 129, 165

Thibaw 1 07

Thinam 88

Three kinds of meditation (Trini smrityupasthanam) 1 8 1,184

Three thousand dhatus 275

Tibetan version 80, 1 10

Tien-Tai or Tendai School 1,3,4,252

, 270

T ika nipata 21

Iii INDEX

PAGE .

Tikta

Tirthakfirfis (Gedo ) 1 7, 26, 27, 226

Tiryak-yoni 72

Tissé 9 1

To-Ffi-Shum 287

Tomb of Buddha 98

Transcendental 1 1 3, 1 72, 176, 1 77, 1 79 , 1 84 , 1 97, 1 98 1 99, 202, 203 , 230

Truth 270, 290

Treatise on the point of contention between the difi erentschools of Buddhism 1 00

Trinity,Christian 4 8

Tripitaka (San 3 , 4 , 5, 4 5, 1 07

Tridharma-cakra 288

Trishna 69, 71 , 74 , 79, 80, 8 1 , 83

Trueness as negation 257

—affirmation 257, 258

68

Twelve Ayatanas 23 1

Twelve linked chain of causation or Nidana 74 , 75, 77, 81 ,

82, 83, 1 30, 1 31 , 1 33, 3 1 3 .

Ucchedavfida (Danken)Uddhae cam

U lterior conditionUniversal condition

—Kleéa

Upadana

Upadhisesha-nirvana

Upaklesa

-Bhfimik a-dharmaUpalab dha

Upanaha

Upapfiduka

Upfit ta-mahabhfita

Upaya (11568 77

-DharmaUpetya

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

iv INDEX

PAGE .

Vihfira

Vihimsa

Vijaya II or Vaja Yindu 1 90

Vijfian2 78, 79 , 82, 1 1 7, 1 19

1 77, 1 78, 210, 8 1 1 , 215,

Bik shu 26 1

Kfiya

Sk andha 153,230

Vijfi fina-mfitra Sastra (E d-8272274 0 77) 4,1 7, 1 9,

-213,215, 219 , 226, 229

Vijfi fina-v fidins 1,2,4,1 0, 4 3 , 4 4 , 104 , 105, 129 130, 13 6, 1 60, 1 61 1 65,

209 , 210; 21 1 , 218, 21 9, 221 , 225, 226, 228, 229, 230,

238, 24 0, 24 4 , 24 5, 258, 281 , 289

Vijfi aptik 1 4 9, 150

Rfipa 150

Viékiccha 88

Vikshepa (577777 7777)Vimalak irti

Vimuk ta-dharmakfiya

Jfi fina-daréana-dharma—kfiyaVlnfiyaka, a deified Buddhist teacherVinaya-Pitaka (R7ts77

School (18788777s )

Hetu '

(17772774 77)Phalam (Ij u/cu-kw a)Vijfiana

sa

Viprayuk tasanskaradharma

Virgil,Latin 'Poet

Virya 58,’

156,

Visamagandha

VisamyogaPhalam

Visesha-chinta-brahma-pariprichi-Sfitra“

8 18

75

280

14 6

Yisuddhimagga

Vohara TissuVon Lecoq

Vyanjana-kfiya

Vyfisa

Vyfihana (growing)

W alleser, De M ax

WarrenVV

at ters, Thomas

Xenophanes

tarasamatfi

INDEX lv

276

107

276

276

276

276

276

276

276

276

276

109

1 04 , 210, 216, 218, 225, 226,