Buddhist Insight

BTJDDHISTINSIGHT

Essays byAlex Wayman

EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

George Elder

M O T I L A L B A N A R S I D A S SDelhi Yaranasi Patnq Madras

i-.i{

1

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction, by George R. Elder

Part I. Buddhist Practicel. Buddha as Savior2. Ancient Buddhist Monasticism3. Aspects of Meditation in the Theravd,da and MahiSdsaka4. The Bodhisattva Practice according to the Lam Rim

Chen Mo

Part II. Buddhist Doctrine

5. The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths andTheir Opposites

6. The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-SimileJ. The Buddhist Theory of Vision

8. Dependent Origination-the Indo-Tibetan Tradition9- Nescience and Insight according to Asanga's

Yogdcdrabhumi10. The Twenty Reifying Views (Sakkdyadillhi)I l. Who Understands the Four Alternatives of the

Buddhist texts ?12. The Intermediate-state Dispute in Buddhism

Part III. Interpretative Studies of Buddhism

13. No Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhism14. The Role of Art among the Buddhist Religieux15. Secret of the Heart Sutra

Part IV. Texts of the Asanga school

16. The Sacittikd and Acittikd Bhumi, Text andTranslation

17. Asanga's Treatise, the Paramdrtha-gdthd18. Asanga's Treatise on the Three Instructions of

Buddhism

1 l2969

r17r29153r63

193215

22525t

269287307

327333

353

( v i )

Part V. Hindu and Buddhist Studies19. Two Traditions of India-:Truth and Silence20. The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-an Interpretation21. Significance of Dreams in India and Tibet22. The Significance of Mantras, from the Veda down

to Buddhist Tantric Practice23. The Goddess Sarasvati-from India to Tibet24. The Twenty-one Praises of Tird, a Syncretism of

Saivism and BuddhismAcknowledgmentsIndex

36939r399

AAI453457

4r343r

TNTRODUCTION

Alex Wayman-Professor of Sanskrit in the Department ofMiddle East Languages and Cultures and Professor in the Depart-ment of Religion at Columbia University-enjoys a world-widereputation as a truly outstanding scholar in the field of BuddhistStudies. This reputation is founded upon two decades of teach-ing and writing, with his recent full-length publication entitledCalming the Mind and Discerning the Real, a translation from theTibetan of a portion of Tson-kha-pa's expansive Lam rim chercmo, published in 1978. While Wayman's half a dozen otherbooks have become a standard of quality in this field, it is still asurprise for colleagues to learn that this scholar has also publishedmore than ninety essays to date. These essays have appeared inwhat are now generally accessible anthologies of other scholarsand in the premier journals of the United States. Many have alsobeen written at the request of editors in Europe, India, and Japan"Indexes being what they are, and libraries and one's capacity tokeep track being limited, a number of these fine short treatmentshave not yet been sufficiently known.

Professor Wayman has already attempted to bridge the gapby publishing sixteen of his essays in the collection , The BuddhistTantras: Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism, 1973. While thatvolume focuses upon contributions to tantric Buddhism, thepresent volume makes more readily available to scholars and theintelligent reader wayman's contributions to our understandingof non-tantric Buddhism. The twenty-four essays collected herefocus almost entirely upon Early Buddhism (what the Mahd-ydnists refer to as Hinaydna) and upon Mahdydna Buddhism inIndia. Except one, each of these essays has already been pub-lished. Their appearance together here has been advised byAlex Wayman himself; and this has allowed the author of theessays the opportunity to make corrections and to provide addi-tional materials. My own emendations have been in terms of

2 Buddhist Insight

regularizing punctuation and diacriticals as much as feasible and

seeing to it that the work reads more or less as a coherent state-

ment rather than as so many separate papers. But it is also

true that the general consistency of Wayman's translations and

his reliance in one article upon positions established in another

lend a natural coherence-and, I think, strength-to the book.

The method of scholarship found in this volume has been

explained by the author in the preface to his The B.uddhist Tantras'

There, he states: "Al1 those works, whether published or in

press or preparation, have a common method which is the sub-

ordination of personai opinion about the Tantra to authoritative

explanations by the proficients of this cult." Accordingly, the

reader will find here some of Wayman's views on the nature of

non-tantric Indian Buddhism. But mainly he or she will discover

the Buddhists' own Yiews on the nature of their religion-and

this by way of translations of scripture (fairly literally rendered)

illuminated by authoritative commentary. The commentators

in this instance are most often Asanga (375-430, A.D.),

especially his Yogacdrabhilmi in Sanskrit, and Tson-kha-pa (1357-

titg, A.D.), especially his Lam 6m chen mo in Tibetan. The

felicity of this combination is attested by the fact that the Tibetan

reformer often quotes from Asanga. While both of these

ancient scholars are known to be Mahiydnists by religious per-

suasion, their works mentioned are encyclopedic in scope and

provide a high standard of commentary on virtually all phases of

Buddhism. It follows that the essays collected here are also of

a high standard with a minimum of mere speculation and with a

ceftain fidelity to the complexity of the materials concerned.

Since Buddhism is a rich religion and at times an obscure one'

the reader will come upon passages , and perhaps articles, in this

work that will seem opaque except to those trained in the issues;

but the attentive reader will also find much to inform the intellect

and delight the soul. In any case, in the essays assembled here

an extraordinary wealth of information, some of it entirely un-

expected, is presented in a manner that should give it an enduring

uuio.. It might be mentioned also that there is actually a variety

,of styles in the collection. Most of the articles appeared in the

seventies but one as early as 1959 and some as recent as 1980;

furthermore, Professor Wayman was writing at different times

for different publishers who have had their own purposes.

trntroduction 3

This brings us to the question of the sort 6f reader for whomthis volume is intended. wayman, the ..schorar,s scholar,,,wrote the essays originally for coileagues in the field; and they,of course, remain the primary audience. Graduate students inBuddhist Studies or Indian religions in general will also find thiswork invaluable. But I would like to suggest strongly that these€ssays be considered as a secondary source-alongsidlr.ripru..r_within the undergraduate curriculum. From -y o*n experiencewith college students, I know that the surveys or guoonism nowavailable are useful; but I also know that they provide informationof a kind that the professor himserf or herslican only too easilyprovide in lecture. The undergraduate student is left without abridge between introductory statements and the foreign com-plexities of Buddhist scripture. with this in mind, these essays havebeen arranged as a sort ofsurvey of non-tantric Indian Buddhism-by way of in-depth discussion of its most important issues.

Part one' "Buddhist practice," opens ,itt a treatment of"Buddha as savior." It is not immediately apparent that thisessay has to do with the path; but it p.ouio., an initial focusupon the Indian man who fou'ded Buddhism at the end of thesixth century, B.c. while "Buddha,'-.6Jfus Awakened Qng,,_can be said to be the chief epithet of siddhdrtha Gau tama, welearn here of the many names given this figure in scripture andcommentary; and Wayman shows how the various names pointto a variety of views of Buddha's activity within the rerigion.was Gautama Buddha a "savior" simpry because he revearedthe truth about reality? or did he ..save,, also in the sense ofsomehow providing others with the power to perceive this truth?In the first instance, disciples would need to^..work,, out theirsalvation with diligence; and in the second, they couldrery moreupon the "grace" of the Lord. Thus, the proflem of Buddhistpractice is engaged. .And wayman discusses the discipre,s ..con-version" from an ordinary person to special person-one who hasdeveloped his native "insight" and beco*, u ..son,, in the f;itof the Buddha. The article that follows, ..Ancient BuddhistMonasticism," provides at some length a description of themonastic context in which the process of conversion took jprace:the kinds of ordination, the rures, the confessions-and stagesof progress. Scholars in particular will be pleased to flnd here ate chnical discussion of the translation of p ia t fuo k sa as..Liberation-

4 Buddhist Insight

onset.,' But there are in BuddhiSm "Three Trainings" or

instructions; and the "morality" emphasized in the essay on

monastic life is only one of them. The practice of "meditation

is yet another-indeed, it is a mental training which follows upon

the right establishment of moral behaviour. And so there follows

the informative essay, "Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda

and Mahisasaka." Since the Theravdda and Mahisd'saka are

sects of Early Buddhism, the final essay in this section-"The'

Bodhisattva Practice According to the Lant Rim chen i'[s"-

turns our attention to the stage of discipleship called the bodhi'

sattva within the MahdYana.Part two can be looked upon as a presentation of the third

training-training in f insighf"-5inss it takes up the "Doctrine"'

which must be "discerned" once the mind has been "calmed" by

meditatron. This is by far the longest section of the book, and

it opens with a discussion of "The sixteen Aspects of the Four.

Noble Truths and their opposites." The Four Noble Truths

are said to have been taught by Gautama Buddha at his first

sermon; and it is interesting to see how the basic doctrine grows

with the tradition to encompass eventually four times the..truth,, complete with opposites or o'coverings" which obscure

these truths for ordinary persons. Buddhists ares aying that

ordinary rcality, called salnsdra, is generally misperceived ; and

unless one sees saqnsdra correctly, one will not perceive the extra-

ordinary reality called nirvdrya. Having been introduced to the

religious use of the symbol of the 'owheel" with sixteen aspects

or spokes, we encounter the symbol of the "mirror" in the essay'..The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-simile." The

materials presented are particularly rich, capturing the imagi-

nation u, t.ligiorrs symbols are intended to do; and the data move

through the varied traditions of Buddhism, including the tantric

formr. This is all by way of prepatation, I think, for the short

but important statement, "The Buddhist Theory of vision'"

Professor wayman begins to justify his translation of prajfia asooinsight" (rather than as "wisdom," a translation preferred by

,o*.-; toward the close of the essay on "Meditation;" but it is

really here that we sense the significance of a translation that

preserves a nuance Of 'oseeing." FOr it is "seeing"-4nd having^the

"eye" for it-which serves as the primary symbol of under-

standing throughout the history of Buddhism'

Introduction 5

While the succe ssful yogin must "see" the Four Noble Truths

in their multiple aspects, he must also see Dependent Origination.

There follows, then, the long and complex discussion, "Depen-

dent Origination-the Indo-Tibetan Tradition." Published only

recently, this essay is a culmination of the author's previously

published research on the subject; and the extensive notes provide

a sort of sub-text for the body of this essay. Avidya is the first

member of this twelve-member formula for conditioned reality,

and Frofessor Wayman focuses upon it in his article, "Nescience,and Insight According to Asanga's Yogdcdrabhumi." Actually,

we learn that "nescience" is a general translation of avidyd

since it might better be rendered "ignorance" as the first

member of Dependent Origination so as to preserve an unex-

pected meaning as a kind of "waywardness'o in association with

"feelings," the seventh member of the formula. "fnsight"

opposes "nescienceo' in any form, and Asanga's long list of meta-phors for prajfid-including the most telling ones that have to do

with "light" -can be found here. But the problem of "ne-

science" for the ordinary person is a persistent one; and so we read

next of "The Twenty Reifying Views''. These must yield place

in favour of the Buddhist view called "non-self" which is, inthis instance, the view of the five skandhas, each denied in four

ways as being "self." As the section comes to a close, we aretreated once again to the Buddhist penchant for a four-fold

analysis in the essay, "Who Understands the Four Alternatives

of the Buddhist Texts?" This is the most philosophical, in some

ways the most technical, essay in the volume; it goes directly toproblems of logic-and Wayman takes on a number of his col-leagues in debate. The subject matter itself includes such ancientproblems as this: Does the Tathdgata exist after death? And sothe section closes with the topic, "The Intermediate-State Disputein Buddhism." Here, the debate is among Buddhists alone.And the question is whether a person who is not yet Enlightenedgoes directly to his or her next life upon death, or goes to an"intermediate state," some state in between. I think it is im-portant to see in this essay and elsewhere within the volume thata dispute among Buddhists may exhibit the difference betweenthe Hinayana and Mahayana forms but may just as readily cutacross sectarian lines.

Part three is entitled "Interpretative Studies of Buddhism"

6 nuddhist Insight

since the author brings to bear upon Buddhist materials in theseessavs points of view which are not in themselves necessarilyBuddhist. The first, "No Time, Great Time, and profane Timein Buddhism," allows categories more usually associated with the"history of religions" school to inform our understanding of theBuddhist religion; the second, "The Role of Art Among theBuddhist Religieux" blends art history with a fair amount ofmodern aesthetic theory while relying upon positions alreadyestablished in the essay on "Dependent origination." Thethird, "secret of the Heart.Siltra," is unique. Wayman calls itan "Asian-type commentary composed by a westernsl"-s1d fusis the Westerner. Here, this scholar brings to bear upon afamous Mahdydna scripture a more or less yogdcdra point ofview in opposition to the usual Buddhist commentary from thepoint of view of the Madhyamika school. It is a style of scholar-ship which wayman also employs in his work, yoga of the Guhya-samdjatantra, published in 1977.

Part four, "Texts of the Asanga School," provides a change ofpace. It contains edited sanskrit and translated excerpts fromthe Yogacarabhumi of Asanga whose commentary, as alreadynoted, has informed many of the preceding essays. Readerswill gain from this section a clear idea of the kinds of materialsinvolved in Buddhist scholarship, and scholars in particular willgain edited materials for their own work along with a clear senseof wayman's style of translation. The best introduction to theseexcerpts is actually found in the opening paragraphs of the secondessay' "Asanga's Treatise on the Paramdrtha Gatha"-4nd, also,in the opening of the essay entitled, "Nescience and InsightAccording to Asanga's Yogdcdrabhilmi " introd,uced above. Thisis because of the preference shown to a presentation in the orderof its appearance within the yogdcdrahbilmi itself. The shorttext, "The Sacittikd and Acittika Bhfrmi" was previously pub-lished only as edited; and wayman has taken the opportunityto provide the translation here as well. It contains Nos. g and9 of the seventeen bhumis or "stages." The "paramdrtha Gatha"text already mentioned is a set of verses with commentary byAsanga which form a portion of "stage" No. I l; this material,by the way, was previously published as part of wayman's fuil-length Analysis of the Srdvakabhilmi Manuscript,l96l. It appearsagain here with corrections. And, finally, the text "Asafiga's

Introduction

Treatise on the Three Instructions of Buddhism" takes up the setof verses and commentary that follow the "Paramdrtha Githi"within "stage" No. 11. This material in the book has not beenpublished in some form earlier.

Part five extends our appreciation for the range of ProfessorWayman's work. It is entitled," Hindu and Buddhist Studies;"and its comparative approach should give a certain feeling for thecharacter of Buddhism in India which was always surrounded,we might say, by Hinduism. The essays can be looked upon aspairs. The first pair is made of : "Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence" and 'The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-an Interpretation." They move through the Vedas, Upanisads,and Buddhism; and they articulate the tradition of the munior "silent sage" as distinct from the tradition of the sage whoverbalizes his truth, especially by way of mantra. And the 'orite

of truth" is shown to be a particular instance of the power oftruth spoken. The second pair of esSays-"Significance ofDreams in India and Tibet" along with "Significance of Mantras,From the Veda Down to Buddhist Tantric Practice"-are lessunited in theme. Both, however, focus upon important featuresof Indian religious life and provide valuable detailed classifica-tions. Finally, it is appropriate that a volume entitled BuddhistInsigltt should end with its attention upon the Feminine since, inBuddhism, "Insight" is sometimes a "Woman." Wayman'streatment, "The Goddess Sarasvati-from India to Tibet,"traces the history of a deity from her form as a river to her manyforms within Buddhist meditation; and the translation essay,"The Twenty-One Praises of Tdrd, a Syncretism of Saivism andBuddhism, " brings the volume to a close with a beautiful hymn.Since the last two essays touch upon materials that are ambi-guously related to both the non-tantric and tantric forms ofMahdydna Buddhism, they may serve as an encouragement tocontinue this "survey" of Buddhism by consulting Alex Way-man's other collection of essays, The Buddhist Tantras: Lighton Indo-Tibetan Esot ericism.

George R. Elder

Hunter College, New York City

PART ONE

BUDDHIST PRACTICE

BUDDHA AS SAVIOR

The Buddhist teachings about Buddha as a savior go deep intothe meaning of Buddhism, and also involve deep-seated difference$in the persons who might be subject to this salvific activity. ourinvestigation shows one situation during the time of the histori-.cal Buddha, another coming to the fore after his passing as thedisciples yearned for and received a new dispensation. Fortunate-.ly, it is all at hand-the old Buddhist scriptures, the later Mah6-ydna developments; and so it is possible to discern some changes.in viewpoint as time went on.

A problem in one extensive corpus of Buddhist literature is.whether the Buddha's salvific operation is consistent withBuddhist emphasis on individual responsibility and enterprise.But in another branch of Buddhist literature this does not appearto be a problem at all. There are also some highly disputedmatters, as to whether such an activity as "grace" is accepted_The old teaching of the Buddha resisted this, and one must pass.to Mahdydna developments to find convincing examples.

RrrnvaNr EprrlIETs oF THE BuooHa

The celebrated Buddhist dictionary Mahdvyutpatti devotes itsfirst section to epithets of the Buddha, and a later section to termsabout the greatness of the Tathagata (a title of the Buddha).rFrom these two sections I have selected certain names that canbe arranged in sets as follows:

I Mahavyutpatti, edited by Rv6zanun6 sar.crr, 2nd edn., Toky o, 1962,2 vols.

12 Buddhist Insight

a. Names indicating the Buddha as refuge and savior: worthyof refuge (iarapya), the refuge (iarattd, protector (Sopti;savior (trdyin, tdraka), rescuer of all (viivamtara).b. Buddha's double nature: perfect in clear vision and walk-ing Q i dy ac ar a Uas ar.npanna).c. Names of Buddha as guide and teacher : teacher (of gods andmen) (iastr-devamanwydndm), guide (ndyaka, parindyaka,netr); charioteer of persons to be tamed (purusa-damya-saratlil); caravan leader for the beginners (sdrthavaha-adikarmikdndm).

Some of those titles are in a scriptural passage of the Pdlicanonical collection called Anguttara-nikaya (Book of Threes):2

Here aTathdgata arises in the world, an Arahantwho is rightlycompletely enlightened, perfect in clear vision and walking,Sugata, World-knower, incomparable charioteer of persons tobe tamed, teacher of gods and men, a Buddha Bhagavat.He proclaims thus: "Come ! This is the Path. This is thecourse I announce: I so mastered it that myself realizeddirectly rvith supernormal faculty the incomparable yoga-wayof brahma-conduct (bralmmcaril'ogadha). Come you also!I\{ay you so course that having mastered it you too yourselvesmay directly realize rvith supernormal faculty the incompar-able yoga-way of brahma-conduct, and having acquired itmay abide (therein) !" It is in this way that the Teacher

. teaches the Dhamma, and others course for the thusness goal.You should know, moreover, that these amount to manyhundreds, many thousands, many hundred thousands.

My rendition "perfect in clear vision and walking" for thewell-known epithet vidydcaranasaivpanna is in part verified in theMahaprajfiaparamitaiastra, which explains the term vidya as pos-sibly the three kinds of visions which the future Buddha hadunder the tree of enlightenment, namely, the memory of previouslives, the divine eye, and the ending of the fluxes. These are botho'clear visions" and supernormal faculties (abhijfifl, while theremaining three supernormal faculties of the standard Buddhist

zThe passage was called to my attention in A.K. Coouluswauv andI. B. HonNnn, Gotama the Buddha (London, 1948), p. 43, but the translationis my own.

Buddha as Savior 13

list are merely supernormal faculties and not clear visions.sHowever, the Chinese idstra takes the carana part as practices,while I render it more literally as "walkingo' to indicate thewanderings during which the Buddha taught his Doctrine thatwas established in the clear visions.

The Mahaprajfiapdramitaidstra, when explaining the epithet"teacher of gods and men," raises the question of why the titleis restricted to two of the five (or six) destinies that also countthe animals, hungry ghosts (preta), and hell beings. It repliesthat the Buddha frequently saves beings included among menand gods and rarely saves beings of the "bad destinies," animals,etc. It adds that men have weak bonds and can easily gaindetachment, while the gods have sharp insight (prajfia), and soboth these can easily attain the Path.a

The Chinese idstra fortunately also has an entry for thecharioteer of persons to be tamed, which partially overlaps thecaravan-leader epithet, which, however, it does not explain. TheBuddha with his great benevolence (mahamaitrl), great compas-sion(mahakarurld),and great wisdom (mahajfiana), employs a voicesometimes sweet, sometimes harsh, sometimes of mixed quality,so that the caravan (sartha) does not lose the Path. Verses setforth that the Buddha's Dharma is the chariot, the disciples arethe horses, the true dharmas are the merchandise, the Buddha isthe charioteer. The usual theory of the epithet is that the term"person" (puru;a) refers to males, whether human or animal.The question of why women are not included, although womenare also installed in the Path, is answered with the usual Indianremarks that women have detractions-here, that they cannotbecome a Cakravartin king, or Sakra (: Indra) , a Mara king,or have the rank of Brahma, and so were not intended in the title.s

The "caravan-leader" epithet occurs in the early teaching thatthe Buddha's becoming completely enlightened did not necessitatea proclamation of the Path. Thus the Majjhima-nikdya has acelebrated passage that the Buddha at first was not inclined toteach his Doctrine, deeming it too profound for persons imbued

3Cf. ftInNNr LauotrE, Mahaprajfiapdramitdidsta, Tome I (Louvain,1944), pp. 1,28-129; and A. Wewev, Calming the Mind and Discerning theReal (Delhi, 1979), pp. 42-43.

4LAMorrE, tr. Tome I, pp. 135-137.5l.a.uorrr, tr. Tome I, pp. 133-135.

t4 Buddhist Insight

with lust, hatred, and delusion. And then.Brahmd sahampatiexhorted him to teach, saying among other things:

Arise, O hero who defeated the troop [of Mara] !Caravan-leader without a debt, walk in the world !May the Bhagavat teach the Doctrine.(Some) will be those who understand (it).

The scripture continued with the Buddha's surveying the worldwith his Buddha-eye and noticing that persons were of all sorts,of little or much impurity, of keen or dull faculty, like lotuses ofdifferent colors and in different stages of development. Hedecided it would be helpful to preach his excellent Doctrineamong men so that the "doors of the Immortal would be openedfor them."s

The verse shows the early occurrence of the epithet "caravan-Ieader," which was to be widely used in stories and with varyingtranscriptions and translation in Central Asia and various AsianIanguages.T The term sdrthavdhin also means a "merchant," andit is of interest that the early transmissal of Buddhism to Chinawas by merchants and in merchant communities.8 This meaningseems to agree with the qualification ,'without a debt," but thismay also imply that the Buddha has no debt to requiteby walkingin the world (cf. the previous epithet, "perfect in clear vision andwalking"), i.e. would do it by virtue of his benevolence and com-passion. The expression "for the beginners" evidently intendsthe "novices,o' in short that they are being brought to a new,country (: new sets of doctrines ) by the caravan leader whoknows the Buddhist route and can avoid the pitfalls and wrong;side-paths.

CHeNcr FRoM OnorNnRy pnnsoN ro Anye

The preceding section has shown that the Buddha's role assavior amounts to revealing the Path. This in effect separatedpersons into two groups-the ordinary persons who paid no heedto the Buddha's message, and those who hearkened. The

0 This directly precedes the Dhammacakkapavattana episode of theMajjhimanikaya, Vol. I, pp.218-219, in the Bihar, 1958, edition.

7 See Arssnr E. DrcN, "Thesa-paoproblemRe-examined," JournaloftheAmerican oriental society,82:3, July-sept., 1962, pp. 335-346, for the details.

8cf. E. Ztinonn, The Buddhist conquest of china (Leiden, 1959), p. 59.

Buddha as Savior

ordinary person is called the prthagjana, wrile the one who be-came a disciple is called the arya. The Pali scripture sarpyutta-nikdya describes the ordinary person (p. puthujjana) as the onewho has not heard the Doctrine or been disciplined in it, who hasnot come in contact with the noble ones (ariya) or illustriouspersons; and this ordinary person identifies his self with the fivepersonal aggregates of form and so on.e According to the teacherAsanga, the arya person, the Buddha's disciple, views illustriouspersons, is skilled in the noble doctrines i he knows, as it trulyis, suffering as suffering, the source as the source, cessation ascessation, the path as the path.ro rhus the disciple knows thefour Noble Truths, or Truths of the Nobles, proclaimed by theBuddha in the first sermon, Setting into Motion of the wheelof Dharma.

while the dryais the one who "enters the stream," and proceedson the Buddhist path, this does not mean that the "ordinaryperson" was neglected. According to a Mah6y6na scripturecalled Kulagdra-siltra, ordinary persons were called "fish."ll

Ananda, "fish" is a term for ordinary perso ns (prthagjana).The "fishing hook" is a term for the Tathdgata's generating(in them) the root of virtue (kuiata-muta).The "line" is a term for the "means of conversion.,,"Fish(erman)" is a term for the Tathdgata."Fish rescuen' is a term for installing sentient beings in theNirvdqa-fruit.

Thus, much emphasis was put on the change from being an"'ordinary person" to being an "drya," installed in the Buddha,sfamily. The Pali author Buddhaghosa uses a mixed sanskrit-Pdli term gotrabhilfidqa (knowledge of gotrabhrT) as the basis of thepath aiming at Nibbdna. A recent article about the term gotrabhuhas decided that it signifies "(one) having the state of the line-e.ge,"'z while the translator of the pali Abhidhamma work

e Sarpyutta-nikdya, iii (Khandha-yagga, 42).10A. wevuaN, Analysis of the sravakabhumi Manus*ipt (Berkeley, 1961),

p . 6 7 .rr rhis scripture, found in both ribetan and chinese, was cited in a

native Tibetan work by Tsor.i-xna-ra, his sansrgyas so lrta,imnon rtogs dart |lha ska'i phyag tshad, Tashilunpo collected works, Vol. Da.12D. SeyFonr Runcc, "pali GottafGotra and the term Gotrabhfrin

1 5

16 Buddhist Insight

Puggala-pafifiati under the title Human Types takes the term tosignify "one become of the Ariya family."rs A special kind ofdrya became the "ascetic son of the Buddha,o' and I will showelservhere in this volume that this birth in the Buddhist familyas a monk coincided with oneos taking of the vow called "Pati-mokkhasa\nvara."74

The Pali Saryyutta-nikaya hints at the nature of this change toan drya rvhen it points out that the ordinary person does not hearthe Doctrine. This is because in Asanga's Yogdcdrabbumi it istaught that persons have a native "insight" (prajfid) attainedthrough birth, and which he refers to as "eye of insight." Thisnative insight contrasts with the promoted insight called "eye ofinsight belonging to the Aryas,o' which is presumably the threelevels of prajfia, consisting of hearing, pondering, and cultiva-tion. Hence, the change to being an arya is when this nativefaculty is promoted to hearing scriptures and so on with faith,whereupon it is called "insight consisting of hearing" (irutamayiprajfia).15

The "ordinary persons" also constitute the field for what arecalled the "four means of conversion" (samgralnvastu), that areenumerated in the Pd,li canon and undergo a development inSanskrit Buddhist literature. The first one, giving (ddna), coin-

cides with the first of the six Mahiydna perfections (pdramitd).

Following the description of a Mahayana scripture, the Aksaya'

matinirdeia-sfitra, this "giving" means giving any material thing

and also giving the Dharma. The second, pleasant speech(priya-vadita) means sweet and attractive words to persons mak-

ing requests and listening to the Dharma. The third one, promot-

ing aims (artha-caryd) means fulfilling the aims of oneself and

others in strict accordance with hopes. The fourth one, consis-

tency in advice (samdndrthafi) means, for example, that what-

ever the vehicle of teaching that oneself adheres to with the

Pali and Buddhist Sanskrit,'o Buddhist Studies in Honour of I. B. Horner(Dordrecht, Holland, 1974), pp. 206-207.

13B.C. LAw, tr., Designation of Human Types (London, 1922), p. 19.14 A. WlvlraN, "Ancient Buddhist Monasticism," Studia Missionalia28, 1979, p. 197. This essay appears in this volume.15 All the citations from Asanga's Yogacarabhumi are in my essay,

"Nescience and Insight according to Asanga's Yogacarabhfimi," appearing in

this volume.

Bucldha as Savior n

attitude that it is meritorious, one installs in that very vehiclepersons who accept the material things and'Dharma of the firstmeans (dana).rE

A problem of this theory that one has become stationed in aspecies (s. gorra) with the inherent nature of parinirvdlta, iswhether those who are not stationed in the species are incapableof it; and another problem is why those stationed in the speciesseem still so far away from parinirvana. Asanga, in commonrvith early Buddhism as indicated in the preceding section, d,oesnot appear concerned with the problem of whether some personsare incapable of the change into an drya, thus resident in thespecies of the Buddhist religious goal, although some Mahdydnacurrents felt obliged to treat this problem; and the Lankavatdra-.rutra like some other sources employs the term icchantika forpersons who lack the requisite "root of virtue" (kuiata-mula)(cf. the previous'ofish" passage from the Katragara-sutra) suscepti-ble of forming the basis for entrance into the "species."r? Asangadoes concern himself rvith why persons with the nature of parinir-t'apahave "moved it sarytsdra far so long in former times and stillhave not attained parinir.vdqte," a.nd he sets forth four reasons:l) they were born ir1 unfavorable circumstances; 2) they hadthe fault of heedlessness; 3) they entered upon a wrong or perversecorxse ; 4) they \,vere hindered; and he proceeds to explain eachof the four.l8 Thus Asanga's extensive writings were aimed atthe persons who were converts to the Buddhist position or hadentered the religious life.

Bupnnn as Snvron nNl SnIr-RELTANCE

It has been usual in western expositions of Buddhism to bringup the Buddhist stress on "self-reliance." one such passageappealed to is in the Buddhist classic Dhammapada (no. 276), inRadhakrishnan's translation: "You yourself must strive. The

r6This material comes from the Ak;ayamatinirdeSasiitra itself, of whichI have been preparing a translation. one may consult HaR Dayar. TheBodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist sanskrit Literature (Delhi, 1975), pp.251-259, for more material on the four vastus.

17For the icchantika, cf. D. s. Runcc, La theorie du Tathagatagarbhaet du gotra (Paris, 7969), pp. 75, ff.

r8Cf. Arsx WAvuaN, Analysis, pp. 59-60.

l.i :l 1l it!i

18 Buddhist Insight

Blessed Ones are (only) preachers. Those who enter the pathand practise meditation are released from ihe bondage of Mdra(death, sin)."re Along these lines there is a verse of unknownsource which I cited elsewhere with annotational expansion:20

The Munis do not wash away the defilements (of the streamsof consciousness of the sentient beings) with water (as thoughit were a matter of washing away dirt). And they do notremove the suffering of beings with a hand (as though it werea matter of pulling out a thorn). They do not shift to anotherthe (features of) comprehension of reality (as though it werea matter of shifting a tool from the right to the left hand).(But rather) they liberate (the beings from the cyclical flow)by the Teaching (provided the beings meditate on its meaning)of the truth of real nature (or absolute truth).

It is possible to overly stress this self-reliance, as though theBuddhas are only preachers. This is because all the scripturesbegin with "Thus by me it was heard" (evam mayd Srutam),admitting that the disciple did not derive the scripture from him-self but from another. In Tibet, the author Tson-kha-pa citedthe Tathagata, "The one rvho has heard (it) from another, isliberated from old age and death." And the Tibetan authoradded:21

In that passage, the Teacher clearly explains by personallydrawing from his own memory. The words "The one whohas heard (it) from another" means that he heard the exposi-tion of nonself from another. Hence he listened previouslyto illustrious friendly guides for the meaning of nonself; andhaving done the hearing and pondering, in order to reject theadherence to the notion "It came from within" he states"heard it from 2ne[fus1"-of this there is no doubt.

Thus. the cardinal Buddhist doctrine of "non-self" had to belearned from another, since o'self" cannot originate the teachingofnon-self. But then the important issue is what part of the corpus

1eS. Rlon,rKRrsHNAN, The Dhammapada (London, 1950), p. 146.20A.WavrvrAN,"Purification of Sin in Buddhism by Vision and Confes-

sion," in GruruN H. Sasarr, ed.,A Study of Kleia (Tokyo, 1975) pp. 73-74,The passage is drawn from the annotational edition of Tson-kha-pa's Lamrim chen mo.

21A. WayrratN, Calming the Mind, p. 175.

I

;tI

tBuddha as Savior 19

must come from others and what part is to be added by oneself.It is not necessary to cite a multitude of passages, since it is easy toget the answer that "right views" (samyagdysli), first member ofthe eightfold noble path, is what one.must receive from others.This part from others is referred to metaphorically as a "lamp"in the Northern Buddhist expansion of the Dhammapada called,Uddnavarga (XXII, 3-6). Here there is first mention of theperson who entering a house enwrapped in darkness does notsee objects in it even though he has eyes. when he listens heunderstands the natures that are virtuous or sinful: this is his"lamp", so he is a man who both has eyes and bears a lamp.Having hearkened, he understands the dharmas. Finally, havinghearkened, he reaches Nirvana.2z This implication of the bor-rowed lamp is also in the canonical passages, saqnyutta-nikayaand elsewhere, saying, "he who sees the Dhamma sees me, andhe who sees me sees the Dhamma."23

Therefore, the Buddha as savior is the one who shows or pointsout the Path, affords a glimpse (5. dariana). When one entersthe path, he cannot do it just with a glimpse, but must enter withhis body and all its faculties. The trouble is that this self-relianceis premature if it is not preceded by a glimpse of the right hallto enter.

As to the "right viewso'-in Pdli, sammd ditthi, Nyanatiloka,rendering it "right understanding," has as full a list as could bbexpected: the four noble truths; merit and demerit in terms ofbody, speech, and mind; the three characteristics (imperma-nence, suffering, and non-self); unprofitable questions; five bonds(saryyojana); unwise considerations (e. g. "Have I been in thepast?" and other egoistic questions) ; wise considerations (throughhearkening); theory of the "Stream-enterer" and stages of thePath; supramundane "right understanding" when conjoinedwith the Path; the middle doctrine of Dependent Originationavoiding the extremes of nihilism and eternalism; doctrine ofkarma and fruit.z4 This, then, usuallv called the Buddha'sTeaching, is also the dariana.

22F. BpnNsARD, ed., Udanavarga,Bandl (Gclttingen, 1965), Sanskrittexteaus den Turfanfunden.

2sCooM,qnaswAMy and HonNsR, Gotama, p. 23.z4NvaNarrLoKA, The Word of the Buddha ('Island Hermitage,' Ceylon,

1952), pp. 29-47.

20 Buddhist Insight

As long as \\ 'e restrict ourselves to the,ancient position ofBuddhisrn, such as f ound in the early scriptures, and avoid certainnovel directions of Mahd,ydna Buddhism, we cannot ascribe tothe Buddha's role more than this. still, this role of teaching the"right viervs" is by no means negligible if we are to understandthis situation of ancient Buddhisrn. Later, such considerationsrvere to be reevaluated as we shall see in the next section.

Even here more could be said. For instance, passing to Arya-deva's Catultiataka, we notice that he devotes Chap. XII torefutation of wrong views. Verse I refers to the o'hearer."

The hearer who is upright (like a post) has discrimination(buddlimat : the native insight) and strives, is called theo'vessel."

Otherwise, there would be no merit cf the speaker,nor any in the listener.

Now the hearer comes in for some inspection. We should notforget that there is no point to teaching the "right views" unlessthere is an appropriate audience. And in the Jatakamdld,XVII (The Story of the Jar): "But the speaker of the beneficialwords is to be honoured by accepting his words and by puttingthem into practice (: taking them to heart)." This is advicefor the -qrateful disciple. Finally, the Mahaydna-Sutrdlarykara(i. 16) summarizes his sequence of attainment: "Having basedhimself first on hearing, there arises here the 'mental orientation'(manaskdra); from the 'mental orientation' there arises theknowledge (jfiAna) whose field is the meaning of reality."zr

Buroua AND ADHI;1HANI

In the Mahdydna period, the Buddha had become equipped withmultiple bodies; in particular the body with which he appeared onearth was not an ordinary human body but one called a Nirmd4a-kdya. This body was credited with various supernormal powers,e.g. adhi;lhdna, with a frequent verbal form adhitistrhali. Theappendix to Viifiaptimdtratdsiddhi summarizes what is attributedto the Buddha by this term, starting with the Abhidharmakoia;and La Vallde Poussin here finds Burnouf's rendition "benedic-tion" excellent in many passages. In these passages, there was

rsThe Catuhflataka, Jatakamala, and Mahayana-Stitralarytkara passages

are selected from among quotations in Tson-kha-pa's Lam rim chen mo, in

my quotation notebooks.

Buddha as Savior 2l

especially an ability to conserve the body, mtrke it rast for aeons.26suzuki, sturJies in the Lankdvardra-sutra, exprains it as thesustaining power of the original vows.2z This rendition is closeto the usage as an architectur.al term for the Indian temple, whereit is the foundation of the superstructure.2s Thus, the termsuggests the sustaining or support for the spiritual component,the part in the ..intermediate space,, (antarik.ra).

It is somewhat of a jump to pass to the usage by way of theTibetan translation of the norn as ,,byin rlabs.,l We read in thebook, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Docltrines, ..O

Thou, in theAkanistha Hea'en, the emanation of the pure Realm of theDharmakdya, vouchsafe me Thy ,gift-waves, (so) that Setf_Knowledge, the Immutabre state of the Dharma-k aya, may beattained'"2e Here, the rendition "gift-waves,, is after the fornlof the Tibetan words, which, howwer, thernselves render thesanskrit word adhi;{hana. rt shourd be rnentioned that the root_guru in the Akanistha Heaven is u'derstood i' Mahaydnatheology as the sar'bhog a-kitya of the Buddha. The contextof the passage, furthermorr, ug.r* with a rendition .,spiritual

support."It is clear that^th.e deveropment.ca'ed Mahdyana Buddhism,.with its theory of the multipie bodies of the Buddhu, had madepossible a contributio'presurnabry by the Buddha to the disciprethat extended beyond the old "showing of ilr" Futi .', The termin its Tibetan fgrm was frequent in a work wtrictr F. D. Lessingand I translated into Engrish under the titre utrt,o, grub r.ie,sFundamentals of the nuicthfst Tantras (Mouton, The Hague,1968), now feprinted with a new introduction a, Intrortuction tothe Buddhist Tantric systems (Mot'al Banarsidass, Delhi, Ig7g.).Here we rendered it usually as ..blessing,,,

anJ ih. u.rbal formas 'oenergizer', ,rempowerr', and ihe like.

,rfil;. "irlirl.^r-Lre PoussrN, viifiaptirnatratasidcthi, Tome rr (paris,

,r;iTil" rliIii." suzuxt, studies in the Lankavatdra siltra (London,

z8cf' pnasaNN.q, K_u^{aR Acuan"o, l Dictionary of Hindu Architecture(London' 1927)' pp' l7-1g, saying,". -ii d"not", un ouj."t onwrrrct something-'tends'... i t impries the base orlne corumn, being the member between the:haft and the pedestal, if there be any.,,

zvKe.zt Dawa-sauDup, tr., W. y. EvaNs_WrNTz, ed., Tibetan yogadtid Secret Doctrines (London, tgZSl, p. 264.

22 Buddhist Insight

Now, the developed theory that the Buddhas or celestial

Bodhisattvas like Avalokitesvara could extend a power to chosen

disciples to fortify the latters' limited resources, caused some

change in the literature and encouraged the kind of praises and

evocation rituals in which the deity is implored to extend this

kind of blessing or empowerment (adhislhana). The theory

undoubtedly helped to make the Bodhisattva practice flourish,

to extol the possession of compassion (karulta), and to attribute

the intense form of this, "great cotnpassion" (mahakaru7A),

to the supramundane Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. So the scrip-

ture Aryagayaitrpa is cited: "Maflju5ri, the practice of the

Bodhisattvas has what inception, has what spiritual foundation?

MafljuSri replied: Son-of-the-gods, the practice of the Bodhi-

sattvas has great compassion as its inception, and has the sentient

beings as its spiritual foundation (adhislhdnn)."

A N{ahdy arra sutacalled Akaiagarbhasays: o'By the cognition of

insight (prajnA) all defilement is cast out of doors. By the cognition

of means (upaya) all the living beings are given hospitality."

Candragomin's Si;1'alekha (v. 101) cornpares this nature of the

great beings to the sun's impartial radiation and illumination of

the worlds; the second half of the verse says: "Such is this nature

of the great ones -to have no aim of their own-who delight

in the single taste of benefit and happiness for the worldlings."

Such passages are very numerous in the Mahdyd:na literature, and

this sample mereiy suggests how the Mahd:ydna authors were

inspired to stress these points with all the beauty of expression

they could muster.so

I should give still another citation with the word adhislharn

in the sense of a "spiritual foundation," since the Jlkpas amuccaya

cites the Sanskrit of this passage from the Arya-Ratnacu(apari-

pyccha: "Thus, girding himself with the armor of benevolence(maiti) and having based himself on the spiritual foundation ofgreat compassion (mahakarupadhi;lhana), he works at the medi-tation (dhyAna) which realizes the voidness possessed of all the

soThe Aryagayaiir;a, Akaiagarbha-sutra, and the Si;yalekha passages are

selected from among quotations in Tson-kha-pa's Lam rim chen mo, in my

quotation notebooks. The line translated from the s;i;yalekha (1.P. Minaeff's

edition) is: I na sa svarthalt kaicit prakytir iyam iva mahatarp yadete lokanarTt

hitasukharasaikantarasikAh l.

Buddha as Savior 23

best aspects. What is the voidness possewed of all the bestaspects? The one that does not lack giving, does not lackmorality, does not lack forbearance, does not lack striving, doesnot lack meditation, does not lack insight, and d.oes not lackmgans."31

The foregoing and much more that could be cited in amplifi-cation should serve to show that in the Mahdydna period thenew role attributed to the Buddha by virtue of his various bodiescould easily have produced teachings that the Buddha exercises a"graee"-1o use the Western religious term. And yet, just whenthe stage is set for such a magnanimous activity by the Buddha,so that such an enlightened being could be regarded as a ..savior"

in terms comprehensible to westerners, a reaction that alsobelongs to the Mahiydna was to set in. This other development,also a consequence of the theory of multiple bodies, will beclarified in the next section.

Dm rnn Bunone sAvE ANy sprNcs ?

Early Buddhism was realistic and so took the position thatbeings were either "rescued" or "not rescued." But a scripturecalled A;lasahasrika Prajfiaparamita that was translated byEdward conze, -and which was probably the earliest of all thl

@res, takes the'i i l lusionist" position:32

The Lord.' Here the Bodhisattva, the great being, thinks thus:countless beings I should lead to Nirvana and yet there arenone who lead to Nirvana, or who should be led to it. How_ever many beings he may lead to Nirvana, yet there is not anybeing that has been led to Nirvana, nor that has led othersto it. For such is the true nature of dharmas, seeing that theirnature is illusorv.

Again:

subhuti: The form of any illusory man is neither bound norfreed. The suchness of the form of, an illusory man is neither

slSdntideva's siksasamLtccaya, ed. by p. L. varova (Darbhanga, 196l),text, p. l45.ll-13, within the longer passage of similar sentiments. The paitI have translated is the Lam rim chen tno quotation.

s2EowaRn coNzr, tr., The perfection of laisdom in Eight thousand slokas(Calcutta, 1958), Chap. l , pp. g-9, 11.

l'1 Buddhist Insight

bound nor freed. Because in reality i{ is not there aI all,

because it is isolated, because it is unproduced.

In this first chapter of the celebrated work, the Buddha's early

disciple S6:riputra, said to have been the best in "insight" (praifia)

of those disciples, put a hard question to Subhuti, saying:

As I understaud the teaching of the Venerable Subhuti, a

Bodhisattva also is a non-production. But if a Bodhisattva

is a non-production, how thei'r does he go on the difffrcultpilgrimage, and how can he possibly endure the experience

of those sufferings (which he is said to undergo) for the sake

of beings?

Subhuti responded:

I do not look for a Bodhisattva who goes on the difficultpilgrimage. Irr any cASe, one who courses in the perception ofdifficulties is not a Bodhisattva. Because one who hasgenerated a perception of difficulties is unable to work the

rveal of count less beings.. . .

We see that there is sorne attractiveness in this position (or

non-position) of i l lusion: it gets rid of the diff iculties, because

difficulties are a feature of the real n'orld. Even the unknowncomposer of the Ag{asdhasrika had to work at it.

A Japanese Buddhologist Susumu Yamaguchi (then President

of Otani University, Kyoto) wrestled r,vith this problem after heread Santideva's Bodhicarydvatdra and concluded that the Buddha

was always absorbed in contemplation r,vithout doing anything forthe salvation of the human beings during the half century from hisattainment of enlightenment at the tirirty-fifth year of age till hisentering into Nirvala when he was eighty years old. He further

noted: "The Buddha is commonly said to have been preaching tosave mankind during that period, but in reality he said no wordthrough these decades." He also noted that the Indian Buddhist

scholar Bodhiruci, coming to China in the sixth century A.D.,claimed that the Buddha preached using one word only. SoYamaguchi gave lectures about it in Japanese to show the posi-

tion of his Shin Sect of Japanese Buddhism;and his lectures weretranslated into English by Shoko Watanabe, a professor at ToyoUniversity, in a book published in 1958. Yamaguchi kindly

IJ

Buddha as Savior 25

presented to the piesent writer on the occa$ion of an early 1960'svisit to Kyoto this book entitled Dynamic Buddha and staticBuddlta. Professor Yamaguchi noticed that these tlo forms ofBuddha were represented in sculpture. one was the meditatingBuddha, contemplating prajfiaparamita, making no audiblewords; the other was the preaching Buddha, sometimes showingelongated tongue-what he calls the "dynamic Buddha."

These two kinds of Buddha reflect the Mahdyana teaching ofBuddha bodies: the Dharma-kaya is the "static Buddha", and theSapbhoga-kaya and NirrnA4a-kdya the "dynamic Buddha." Inthe Tibetan tracirtion, the Dharma-kdya does not teach; only the"bodies of form" (sarpbhoga and Nirmd4a) teach.B' This,however, is a theory that goes back to the early parinirvdpa-stttra. Thus, in the Mahaparinibbdna-suttdnta of the p1tli Dtgha-nikdya, the Buddha, giving final instructions, told the gatheringthat after his passing. the Dharma and vinaya which he hadtaught would be their Teacher.Ba rhus this corpus, the Dharma-vinaya, would be the 'oteacher" only metaphorically, because itwas understood to be the topic of study. However, the Dharma-vinaya (although composed of words) was silent: it never saida word, never explained itself. This rvas eventually personifiedas the "static Buddha" in Yamaguchi's book.Bb However,Mahdydna Buddhism arose to explain it and thus devised twobodies, the Sarybhoga-kaya and the Nirmala-kaya, the so-called"dynamic Buddha."

of course, the Buddha did preach in words. In fact, he taughtcontinuously; and much of what he taught is preserved in the oldBuddhist canon, the four Pali Nikayas, and the four chineseAgamas. The Buddha, while a Bodhisattva, had engaged inmany difficult practices and later uttered difficult doctrines-butthis happened in the real world, amidst the beings whc live and die.

some western expounders of Mahayina Buddhism speakabout Prajffaparamita Buddhism as though it were the voidness(iunyata) -which they render as "emptiness"-dsyeid of all thebest aspects. After all, it is this very author Santideva-the one

33For the Sambhoga-kdya and Nirmdna-kdya as teachers, cf. Mkhasgrub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tatttras, Chapter One.

saThe Dighanikaya (2. Mahd vagga) (Bihar, l95g), p. l lg.l5_16.sssusurr,ru YaNrlcucHr, Dl,namic Buddha and static Buddha(Tokyo, l95g).

26 Buddhist rnsight

who composed the Bodhicarydvatdra tlnt inppired Yamaguchi'ssomewhat sensational book-who also composed the Siksasa-muccara citing the Arya-Ratnacu{apariprcchd about the voidnesspossessed of all the best aspects. So Santideva, if one will readhim further, provided the solution to the problem.

The Prajfraparamitd scripture As[asdhasrikd is a profoundwork; and it does not help to understand it to translate the term"prajfiaparamita" as the "perfection of wisdom." Accordingto the teacher Asanga, man has a native uncultured form ofprajiid, which certainly is not "wisdom," otherwise why needculture it through the three forms called in Sanskrit irutamayiprajfid, cintdmayt prajiia, and bhavanamayi prajiid, or try to getit to the perfection (paramita) ! So also the future Buddha Gautamais held to have said according to the Mahdydna biographyLalitcn,istara: "Alas, O charicteer, for the unawaking discrimina-tiorr of the childish person" (dhik sarathe abuclha bdlajanasyabuddhtt,S.za

Thus the problem of whether the Buddha "saved" any beingsbecame more confused rvhen persons writing on the topic did noteven knorv the meaning of the main terms.

TnersrrR oF THE sALVrFrc ACTIVITy

As though to underline a conclusion that the Buddha's teach-ing of the Path-valuable as this is-did not constitute "saving"as later followers of this religion would prefer it, there arose otherdeities to do this job. Thus, there was the Buddha Amitabha orAmitiyus whose o'heaven" is called sukhdvati, along with scrip-tures followed by the chinese and Japanese Buddhists for manycenturies. Then in Northern India there arose the cult of thegoddess Tarn (the Savioress), popular in Nepal, Tibet, andMongolia. Twenty-one forms of this deity are presentedat the close of this volume. There were other deities too.

In Japan the name Amitdbha occurred as Amita or Amida.In the classic of shin Buddhism, the Kyogyoshinsho, we read:Bz

Now the Buddha Meditation Samadhi is the truly superb and

soFnaNrrru EncERroN, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Reader (Delhi,1978) p .14 .

sTKosuo Yauauoro, tr., The Kyogyishinsho (Tokyo, l95g), p. 41.

Buddha as Savior 27

wonderful gate. with His name as vowed in the forty-eightvows, Amita Buddha, with the vow's power, saves all beings,...oh how great! The Law of rhusness that is one withreason is one. It saves and benefits men. This is so becausethe vows are different. our Sakyamuni answered the calland took birth in this defiled world and Amita Buddhaappeared in the Pure Land. Places differ like as the defiledworld and the Pure Land, but salvation is one. It is easy topractice and easy to attain, for truly this is the way of thePure Land School.

So the historical Buddha Sakyamuni took birth in this defiledworld and announced the difficult practice, because such was hisvow; while the Buddha Amitdbha stayed in the pure Land, thewestern paradise, and announced the easy practice, because suchwas his vow. But salvation is one.

Turning to the Goddess Tara, there are the praises of the whiteTara by Dge-'dun-grub (posthumously the First Dalai Lama),including this:

I bow to Thee the virtuous Mother of Buddhasof the three ages, who protects against all dangerssuch as lion, elephant, fire, poison, snakes; with yourleft hand holding a blue lotus (utpala) and making thegesture of the "giving of protection."I bow to Thee, the locus of all protection, she who guidesall beings to the great-ecstasy city of liberation by means ofeyes borne on the palms of hands and soles of feet that are thefour gates of liberation of voidness and so on.I worship Thee who is adorned on the head with Amitayus,the Lord who mindfully confers long life and knowledge,and who holds the vessel full of immortality nectar.I bow to Thee who confers occult powers as desired likeimrnortal life, knowledge, and merit, simply by (our) recitingsuch incantations as "Tdre."

Those are verses from Dge-'dun-grub's lovely work.s8 By the"Tare" incantation he means or.n tdre tuttdre ture svdhd, theten-syllabled evocation of the goddess Taru. Ratnakarasdntiexplains the formula as or.n, the seed knowledge made clear at the

38I translated this work in 1970 while staying in Dharmsala, H. p. India.

28 Buddhist rnsight

end with svdha. Then "Tare" (o Tdrd, who rescues by bringingto the other side-the paramitd); 'oTuttare" (O rescuer fromsuffering); "Ture" (o Tur6, the fast one, who rescues speedily.)Be

Amitdbha and rdrd were not the only deities appealed to.There were the Medicine Buddha (Bhaisajya-guru) and the greatBodhisattvas like Avalokitesvara and Mafljusri. It is not neces-sary to cite more verses, which so often were fashioned withbeautiful phraseology. The situation is clear enough. Thedevotees expected these deities to supply very human wants andfulfil aspirations. In return the devotees supplied all the financesand wherewithal for splendid temples and art in Asia. Thisdoes not mean that Sakyamuni was forgotrcn in the shuffie.He is always there or far off, sometimes shadowv or comins backinto focus.

asSee Chapter 22.

2

ANCIENT BUDDHIST MONASTICISM-

IxrRooucrroN

There have been many studies of Buddhist monasticism, orientedboth to the ancient forms and to modern features in certainBuddhist countries of Asia and south-east Asia. Many of thesestudies have been prepared by fine scholars. It is impossible todeal with the manifold aspects in one paper. So the presentwriter restricts the topic, first of all, to the ancient period, whilestressing those particular aspects as appear to be of vital concernin all periods. It is well to admit that there are a number ofdisputed points in regard to the ancient form of Buddhismportrayed in this paper, and to mention that this writer will notshirk the responsibility when such points deserve fair appraisaland conclusions. In the first part, emphasizing the pratimokqa,vinitadeva's commentary on the vinaya is employed to suggesta new rendition for the term; the theory of two oral traditions-vinaya and Dharma-is combined with a division into twoPrdtimoksa-s to advance a position that various vinaya lineageswere in Buddhism from the beginning and that the separation intoBuddhist sects was due to doctrinal and not vinaya disagree-ments. In the second part, emphasizing the monastery inhabi-tants, there is exposition of well-established facts of monasterylife with a comparison to the Brahmanical "stages of life." Inthe third part, emphasizing the offences, only some of the pre-

+Abbreviations: P. for Pdli language; s. for sanskrit language; JBRSfor The Journal of the Bihar Research society; pTT for peking Tibetan Tripi-taka, the Japanese photographic reproduction of the peking Tibetan canon.

30 Buddhist Insight

vious scholarly' findings can be presentecl. There are a numberof selections from Asanga's Yogdcarabhumi) which appears notto have been utilized by other western specialists in the topicsof this paper.

I. Solre EARLv Rrucrous oF INorA, THE TERM pRArruorqe,

Vrulya BEGTNNINGS

At the time of the Buddha (6th - 5th centuries, B.c.) there werevarious religious orders, with names that were sometimes obscurein later times. The main classification seems to be into brdh-malta atd iramaqta, with both including the wanderers (parivra-jaka).L While these words were not always used with the samemeaning, it appears that the term brdhmarya stood, for personsadhering to the Vedic religion, and who sooner or later wouldfollow four stages of life; and that the iramaryas were asceticorders. Asanga provides a more detailed breakdown: "Thereare six kinds of persons, as follows: (l) the ascetic (iramaqta),(2) the braltmona, (3) the chaste person (brahmacdrin), (4) themonk (bhik-ru), (5) the restrainer (.vati), (6) the one gone forth(to the religious life) (prat'rdjita)." In further detailing, Asangagives four kinds of ascetics: a. the one victorious over the path(ntargajina), u'ho is the Sugata, having achieved, without remain-der, the extirpation of lust, hatred, and delusion; b. the teacherof the path (margadeiika); c. the one who lives by the path, whohas entered the stream, etc. (margajivin); d. the one who insultsthe path (margadusin).,

Since in the Buddhist religious way, the one gone forth to thereligious life (pravrajita) and the one called "monk" (bhiksu)had to sever previous social relations and enter into a monasterialsitua.tion living with other novices and monks, rules had to bedevised both for their daily conduct within the monastery and fortheir encounters with the lay community, as when seeking alms.The various prohibitions and other rules are in the code calledP. Pdtimokklta-or S. Prqtimoksa-sutra. This contains some onehundred fifty rules called 'opoints of instruction" (P. sikhapada,

1Cf. B. C. Llw, "A Short Account of the Wandering Ascetics (Parivra-jakas) in India in the sixth Century, B.C." JBRS, LIII , i - iv, 1967,pp. 17-26.

zArpx WAyuaN, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manuscript (Universityof California Press, Berkeley, 196l), p. 103.

Ancient Buddhist Monasticism 31

s. iiksapada) emphasizing prohibitions, which are roughly thesame in various forms of this vinaya (discipiine) work (some onlyextant in chinese translation) that have been handed down;along with extra rules called P. selihiya dhamrna, s. iaik;a-dharma,emphasizing pcsitive rules of deportment, which differ consider-ably in number and kind in the various Vinayas.

Since in the Buddha's lifetime a nun order was started, it wasnecessary at that early date to make up a separate pdtirnoklchafor the nun, dropping some of the monk rules and adding afurther set, especia.lly to define the nun's conduct toward a monkand her attire.

The Patimokkha was rehearsed along with scriptures at thebimonthly meetings of the ordained monks in a meeting calledin P. Uposatha ("well-beirg"), narnely on full moon and newmoon days, which are traditional days in h-rdia picked for festivals.These are the two days, P. cdtuddasi, the l4th day in a lunarfortnight of decreasing phase (: first day of disappearance

, of the moon), and P. Palnarasi, full moon day. The way itworks out according to one explanation is that in the four monthsof a season, the 3rd and 7th meetings are cdtuddasi, and theothers, lst , 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and gth are panlarasi. Hence,most of the Uposatha meetings were on a full-moon day.t

The term "Patiinokkha" has been much discussed., and itsmeaning disputed. of course, the observance of the prohibitionsand precepts of the Patimokkha is independent of knowing thederivation of the term. when the Buddhist vinayas were trans-lated into chinese principally in the 5th century, A.D. , there wasa difficulty in interpreting the s. "pratimok$a." The translatorseither transcribed the term phonetically or else translated it asthough it read Pratimoksa, with prati-understood in the distri-butive sense ("each one") and mok;a of course rendered as"liberation."a This rendition appears to agree with avoiding theprohibited elements of the list, confessing each one as was com-

3c. s. IJTASAK, Dictionary of Earty Buddhist Monastic Terms (BharatiPrakashan, Varanasi, 1975), pp. 52-53.

aMy wife (who is Japanese) has read for me the entries on the term in theBuddhist dictionaries by ono, Hakuju ui, and Hajime Nakamura; and allsources agree that when the lerm was translated into Chinese it was alwayswith this distributive meaning of pratt, although there are differing interpre-tations of this distributive meaning ..each

one."

32 Buddhist Insight

mitted, and, when indicated, rnaking amends by penance. Whenthe Vinaya was translated into Tibetan starting in the early 9thcentury, A.D., the term was uniformly rendered as so sor tharpa, which understands the distributive sense of prati- in agree-ment with the Chinese translations. When in the l gth centurythe Pali scriptures began to be translated into English, an inter-pretation was rnade that the term Patimokkha should be under-stood with the short a, arrd that P. pati (: S. prati) should betaken in the "against" sense; and since "against liberation"entails a bond, the translators with this persuasion decided onthe rendition "obligation" and have been using this regularly.sThis rendition appears to agree with the obligation of the monksto recite the list at the Uposatha and to abide by the pronounce-ments within the text. Of course, these translators knew cf thegloss (to be explained below) on the term found ia the Vinayaexegesis called Maltdvagga: patimokkham ti adiry eto/.n, mukhar.netaUt, pamuklnryx etary kusalanaryt dhammanam, tena vuccati p.6

. It is easy to misunderstand this and think it is a false etymology?and so should be disregarded.s The reason I am led away fromthe false-etymology theory is my having found in Vinitadeva'scommentary on the Mulasarydstivdda Vinayavibltanga the saying,so sor thar pa |es bya bs ni dafi por thar pa'o.e This comment,taking pratirnoksa as equivalent to adimoksa ("libei-ation at thebeginrring, aditas"), is grammatically justified by understandingprdtimoksa : pra I atimolc5a. See Speijer: "The upAsara 'pra'

has sometimes the power of denoting the beginning of theaction," citing Kai on P. l, 2, 2l for the terrn pradyotitalt ("Hecommenced to shine").to Now atimoksa is a pre-Buddhist termfound in the Satapatha-Bralmraqta, 14, 6, l, 8, with identical

5Cf. The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary, ed. by T. W. RnysDavros and Wu-rtav Srror (The Pali Text Society, London,7952 reprint),Par t V (P-Ph. ) , p .73.

sMahavagga (Oldenberg edition), ll, 3, 4.TMore recently, J. W. oe JoNG, review, Cnant,es S. Pnrsrsu, Buddhist

Monastic Discipline, in Indo-Iranian Journal, 19 (1977), p. 127.8But this is no excuse for Nathmal Tatia to omit the line from his edition

of the Mahavagga in Samkhitta-pi1akam, Vol. I (Nava Nalandd Mahivihdra,1975), p. 71, circa l ine 11.

gPTT, Vol. 122, p. 304-1-1.10J. S. SrrtJrn, Sanskrit Syntax (Reprint, Kyoto, 1968), Para.309, p. 232;

herc pra- is prefixed to the verb.


passage in Brhaddraqtyaka-(tpqnisad,3.l, 6,tt and which waspresumably replaced in later Sanskrit wiih the term rnoksa.Hence, vinitadeva's comment-possibly repeated in his vinayalineage for a thousand yearslz-understands the termpratimok;ato mean 'ocommencement

of liberation," which can be renderedmore neatly, "liberation-onset." Nor,v we can return tc theMahavagga gioss (above cited) to render it with fidelity: .,As

to the 'Pdtimokkha,'ra it is the beginning (adD, to wit, it is the

orifice {mukha) and it is the commencement (s. pramukha)of the virtuous natures (s. dharma); therefore, one says, .Libera-

tion-Onset.'"r4Furthermore, there is a canonical passage suppcrting the above

conclusion. This is in the Anguttara-nikaya (Book of Fives),Rajava.gga, the Yassamdisam-sutta. Here a Ksatriya king issaid to have five salient points wherever he abides: (1) being well-born through his father and mother; (2) having bountiful trea-suries; (3) mighty through his army; (4) having a wise minister;(5) abiding where he has conquered. The monk also is said tohave five comparable salient points wherever he abides. As tothe first point, "in that a monk has morality, dwells restrained bythe Pdtimokkhasamvara,...[and so oo, much like a Digha-nikaya passage cited belowl-he has the perfection of birth likethe consecrated Ksatriya king." Since the taking of the pati-mokkhasar.nvara (see below) is likened to an illustrious birth. this

llReference from BonrrrNcr and Rorn Sanskrit-Wdrterbuch(reprint ofMeicho-Fukyti-Kai, Tokyo, 1976).

lzRaNrsno GNoLr, The Gilgit Manuscript of the saighabhedavastu, part I(Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo oriente, Roma, lg77), GeneralIntroduction, p. xix, decides that the compilation of rhe Mulasarvdstivadavinaya dates back to the times of Kani;ka, of course, the content wouldfrequently go back to much earlier times.

I3Arn,q HrRarawa, A Study of the Vinaya-pitaka (Sankibo_Busshorin,.Tokyo, 1970) [in Japanese with a summary including table of contents inEnglishl, p. 419, points out that Buddhaghosa in his vinaya commentaryKankhavitarani analyzed "Pdtimokkha" into pa+ ita mokkha, understoodas "especially excellent liberation." Thus, p. pa-S. pra was understood onlyby i ts classicaI meaning.

larhere still remains the problem of why the words mukha, pamukha werechosen for the gloss. The author of the Mahavagga may have intended, whilethe words can signify in the manner of my rendition, to have also suggestedthe "facing" or confrontation as happens in the confessional part of thePatimokkha, as will be pointed out later in this essay.

34 Buddhist Insight

supports the rendition "Liberation-onset.": this onset is a birth

in the inner precincts of Buddhism, so the monastic followers

were called samaryd Sakyaputtiyd, "ascetics who are sons of the

Ruddha."16

TheDigha-nikayapassage(I ,62)thatshouldnowbement ionedis from the well-known scripture samafifia-phala-sutta:

when the ascetic (s. iramalta) has thus gone forth (s. pravra'

jita) he dwells restrained by the Pdtimokkhasa{nvara (s'

prd,timoksa-sar.nvara). He has the perfection of good be-

havior and of lawful resort (dcdragocarasar.npanna), views

fear fu l l yeventheminor t } r ings tobeavo ided.Her igh t fu l l ytakes and learns the "points of instruction" (s. iiksapada),

w h i l e a c c o m p a n i e d b y v i r t u o u s a c t s o f b o d y a n d v i r t u o u sacts of speech. With pure livelihood and equipped with

mora l i t y ,heguards theSensedoors ,accompan iedbymind-fulness and awareness. He is happy'

This brings up the important expression "Patimokkhasamvafa'"

Here sarytvara means a "vow," the solemn promise.lG As used

here, it does not mean "restraint," but ccnveys the sense of

..holding together," i.e. adhering inthe stream of consciousuess;

because u vow is not to be forgotten. The phrase "while accom-

panied by virtuous acts of body and virtuous acts of speech" raises

it . q,r.riion: why not by virtuous acts of mind, since Buddhism

,p.ui, of ten paths of karma, three of body' four of speech' and

tirree of mind? This makes up ten, a typical number of the

Buddh is tV inayacode.However ,mora l i t y ( i i |a )perseamountsto the seven abstinences, i.e. from the three bad acts of body

and four bad acts of speechilT so the number seven also is im-

portu"t for Vinaya theoiy, but detailed variously, as in the citation

below. The Aiguttara-'nikq'a (Book of Sevens' Vinayavagga)

states that when a monk is possessed of seven natures (dhamma),

he is a vinayadhlra (holder, or retainer of the Buddhist discipline,

Vinaya), as follows:

15Cf. I. B. HonNBn, tr. The Book of Discipline Yo]l. l (Suttavibhanga)

(London, 1g4g), translator's introduction' p' lii'

16The term sar.nvara is translated into Tibetan by sdom pa; and in this

languagetherearesdomgsumbooksonthe 'o threevows,"namely , thePrat i -mokga, the Bodhisattva, and the Mantra vows'

l?Cf. DpaKKUMAR Blnu.r., An analytical Study of the four Nikayas

(Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta, 1'97t)' pp' 128'129'


Hc knows what is a transgression (apatti) and knows what isnot. He knows what is a light (lahukfi transgression; heknows what is a grave (garuka) one. you shourd know (kho)'that when both Patimokkhas are well-handed to him in'extenso, well-analyzed (suvibhatta), well set-in-motion (suppa-vatti), well-determined (suvinicchita) according to scriptureand according to anuvyafijana (? commentary)-havingtrained, then at will, easily, without trouble, he attains anddwells in the four Jhdnas (the four s. dhyanas of the Realm ofForm), derived from mentals, a comfortable state in thepresent life; and having extinguished the fluxes, (he attainsand dwells) in the liberation of mind (cetas) and liberation ofinsight (pafifia) which are nonfluxional; and in this life realizesfor himself.

while it is not clear how one divides up this passage to get thenumber seven, the important thing is that the commentary-presumably Buddhaghosa's-cited in Hare's translation (theabove is my own), The Book of sevens, says that the expression'"both

Fatimokkhas" means "of monk and nun.o' previously,we observed that the monk and nun have each a patimokkhalist.le However, this interpretation does not appear to fit inthe context referring to a monk, not a particular nun (althougha nun can also be a vinayadhara). Therefore, we may wellpresume that "both Pdtimokkhas" refer to an alternate classifi-cation, namely, two kinds of recitation of pd:timokkha: by ex-hortation (ovada) and by cornmand (a4q1.rn A certain Chinesevinaya commentary has considerable information about thesetwo Patimokkhas.2' we learn that the former Buddhas and thenSakyamuni himself recited only the patimokkha of exhortation,such as the lines, "abstain from all kinds of evil; accumulate allthat is good;" while the monks (and nuns) only recited the pati-mokkha of command, which is the code recited during the upo-satha. The Buddha announced: "The Tathagata cannot recitethe Pdtimokkha at the time of the uposatha in a congregation

18E. M. HARE, tr., The Book of the Gradual sayings (Ariguttara-Nikaya)Vol. IV (London, 1955 reprint), p. 95, n.

1sCf. Upasl', Dictionary, p. 152.20P. V. Bap.qr and A. Hnarawa, trs., Shan-Chien-p,i-p'o-Sha; a Chinese

version by Saighabhadra of Samantapasadika (Bhandarkar Oriental ResearchInstitute, Poona, 1970), pp. 134-136.

36 Buddhist Insight

which is not pure." For the Buddhas "know with their own

minds the minds of their followers and then instructed them.'o

That is to say, the Buddha knew with superhuman vision the

minds of the persons assembled for the Pdtimokkha-recitation;but the monks themselves are not able to assess their fellows by

this supernormal faculty: they have to rely upon the more obvious

acts of body and speech which define "morality" for them. Hencethe distinction: the monks will concern themselves in the Pati-

mokkha of the Uposatha with "moraliry" in the meaning of theseven abstinences, among others;zl while the Buddha will do the

exhortation which requires knowing the minds of others.Let us try out the new rendition of the term "Patimokkha"

in two important passages of the scripture "Upili and the Pati-

mokkha" (from the Anguttara-nikdya, Book of Tens):

In consideration of what purpose were the "points of instruc-tion" prescribed for the disciples (5. iravaka) by the Tathd-gata and the Ltberation-Onset recited? (Upali is told, inconsideration of ten purposes, to wit:) For the excellence ofthe Congregation (Sar.n-uha); for the well-being of the Congre-gation; for chastising errant persons; for the comfort of thevirtuous monks; to restrain the (defiled) fluxes (asrava) ofthe present life; to prevent the (defiled) fluxes in the futurelife; to instill faith in those of scarce faith; to promote evenmore those with faith; to establish the illustrious Dharma;to assist the Vinaya.

Then UpAli asked in what circumstances the Liberation-Onset issuspended, i.e. recitation of it postponed; and was told there areten such, to wit:

When a "defeated" person is seated in that assembly; whentalk of whether one is "defeated" is not finished; when anunordained person is seated in that assembly; when talk ofwhether one is unordained is not finished; when a person whohas repudiated the instruction is seated in that assembly;when talk of whether one has repudiated is not finished;when a eunuch is seated in that assembly; when talk ofwhether one is a eunuch is not finished; when a seducer of a

2lThree offences of body and four of speech (as the ten paths of karrna

has it) is not the only classification; cf. Bnpar and Hrnartwa, Shan-Chien*

P'i-P'o-Sha, pp. 535-536, for allusion to the Vinaya breakdown of the numbers*


nun is seated in that company; when talk of whether one is anun-seducer is not finished.

The meaning of "defeated" will be explained later. Meanwhilewe observe that the circumstances for suspension of the recitationare in terms of acts of body and speech, as was mentionedpreviously.

There is little doubt that both kinds of Pdtimokkha, i.e. ofexhortation and of command, were in existence at the time of theBuddha; although the now extant forms of the Pdtimokkha (the"command" kind) in the sense of a text may not be exactly theoriginal one that the monks recited in the Buddha's time, evenleaving out the set of Saiksa (precept) rules. It has been noticedby scholars that each of the main Vinayas of Buddhist sects hadits own Prdtimoksa-sutra.2z This need not be attributed to asingle reason. The fact of different Vinayas has in the past beendeemed intimately bound up with the division of the Buddhistsinto different sects, involving difficult historical matters of whatare called the Buddhist Councils. According to Buddhist tradi-tions, the First Council at Rajagaha (S. Rajagpha), held in theyear after the Buddha's passing, rehearsed the Stlra divisionaccording to Ananda's mernory and the Vinaya division accord-ing to Updli's memory. Later, a third divisicn called Abhi-dharma was added-the three called tripi{aka, often renderedthe "Three Baskets." The Second Council, held under thesponsorship of king KalaSoka about 110 years after the Buddha,concerned the errant Vajjian monks at VaiSali who were commit-ting some or all of ten prohibited things, including No. 10,the receiving of gold and silver. It is generally conceded now

22As E. Fn.a.uwarrNrn, The Earliest Vinaya and the Beginnings of BuddhistLiterature (Is. M.E.O., Roma, 1956), pp. I-2, points out, Vinayas of theseschools are preserved: Sarvdstivddin, Dharmaguptaka, Mahisdsaka, andMahasdmghika in Chinese translation; Pali school in original Pali; MUla-sarvdstivddin in Chinese and Tibetan translations. Cf. ErrcNuB LAuorrr,Histoire du bouddhisme indien (Louvain, 1958), pp. 181-193, for structure andanalysis of the Vinayapitaka. Cf. W. Pncnow and RnulKANrA MmuRA,The Pratimoksa-sfitra of the Mahasanghikas (Ganganatha Jha Research Insti.tute, Allahabad,1956), pp. 15-22, for concordance tables of several Pratimo-k5a-siltra, showing their almost complete agreement, except for the Saikla-dharmas. Cf. Hm.artwa,, A Study (n. 13, above), English summary, pp.15-18, for his conclusions about various Pratimok;a-sfrtra-s.

38 Buddhist Insight

that while earlier (or at this time or later)'the Buddhist Sdr.ngha(congregation of monks) divided into the Mahdsdryghika andSthavira, the Mahisar.nghika group of monks were not them-selves guilty of the ten prohibited things. But that the divisionwas over the errant monks and so is placeable at this time is notnecessarily the implication of the Pdli Vinaya text called Culla-vaggq in its Chap. XII (Oldenberg edition) devoted to this Councilof Vai6dli. While discussing individually the commission ofthe ten prohibited things, the authors included in the list twoitems suggesting a rival Uposatha.2s This appears to have beena defiant act on the part of the errant monks, rather than theindependent Uposatha by a separate well-established Buddhistsect. The Cullavagga accovnt stops with saying the ten dis-puted points were brought up at a duly organized Sdr.ngha meet-ing and does not rnention the outcome. However, the Milasar-vdstivdda Vinaya account, as we know from the Tibetan tradi-tion which has only this Vinaya, holds that the errant monkswere ejected from the Sdr.ngha.za The "five theses of Mah6deya"26downgrading the "Arhat," about 137 years after the Buddha,could well be the cause of doctrinal splits in Buddhism but hardlycapable of generating another Vinaya. Hence, the existence ofmultiple Vinayas in connection with sectarian splits has been amystery that attracted various scholarly researches and specula-tions. our previous findings suggest that Demi6ville has beenon the right track in stressing two oral traditions, that of theVinaya-dharas and the Dharma-dharas, where Dharma reallymeans the stttra class, first gathered by Ananda.26 Combining

23For the first item, cf. Cullavagga, tr. by Ruys Davros and OronNnrRG,Sacred Books of the East, Y ol. 20, p. 410 (for XII, 2, 8) : "'Is it allowable, Lord,for a number of Bhikkhus who dwell within the same circuit, within the sameboundary, to hold separate Uposatha?' 'No, Sir, it is not allowable."'

24As one Tibetan source, cf. Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of theBuddhist Tantras, tr. by FrnorNaNo D. LEsslNc and Arpx WayuaN(Mouton,The Hague, 1968), pp.63-67.

25For a comparison of different textual traditions of the five theses, cf.J.qNtcs J. Narrtrn and Cnanus S. PnrersH, "MahdsSryghika Origins: TheBeginnings of Buddhist Sectarianism," History of Religions t6:3,Feb. 1977,pp. 250-257. But the exposition of the present paper does not allow me toaccept the conclusions of these writers in their attempt (cf. their p. 238) tofix the schism at year 116 after Buddha and due to a Vinaya quarrel.

z6Cf. Paul Drrrarsirlr,B, "A propos du Concile de Vai6ali," T'oung Pao,

Ancient Buddhist Monasticism

this with the thesis of two Pd:timokkhas, one the Buddha's

exhortations and the other the instruction of morality preserved

in the Vinaya recited in the Uposatha, a distinct possibility of

some of the divergent Vinaya traditions having been in Buddh-

ism from the beginning emerges. Such is the implication of an

alternate tradition that not much credence was perhaps hithertogiven by reason of obviously faulty features, namely, that the

Scripture was recited in four different languages, Sanskrit,

Apabhrar.nSa, Prakrit, and PaiSdcika, accounting for four basic

divisions-Mfllasarvastivddin, using Sanskrit, descended from

the son Rdrhula; the Mahisdmghika, using Apabhrar.n6a, des-

cended from Mahdki6yapa; the Sar.nmatiya, using PaiSici,

descended from Upali; and the Sthavira, using Prakrit, descendedfrom Katyayana.z1 Of course, the sectarian divisions cannot

be properly attributed to these dialect differences. Even son

the seemingly arbitrary associations of this tradition are sug-gestive.2s

According to Edgerton,2e the Buddha had allowed and perhaps

urged the monk-teachers to preach the scriptures in their own

dialects so as to bring the Buddhist teachings to the widest

audience. Later King ASoka sponsored a council in which the

scriptures were collected and an attempt made to homogerrzethem, with perhaps the Magadha type taken as the basis; and

from the homogenization resulted the sacerdotal language ofPali. This is what the above-mentioned tradition calls Prakrit,

claimed to descend from Katyayana. At about this time, or

Vol. 40, 1951, p. 254, n., mentioning that the compounds dharma-vinayaand siltra-vinaya (of course, meaning the same: dharma:siltra, and vinaya)are frequent in the accounts of the Council of VaiSali; and pp. 260-261,agreeing with N. Durrn Early Monastic Buddhism, on the important distinc-tion dhammadhara and vinayadhara, retainers of the dhomma (5. dharma),and retainers of the vinaya.

27As one Tibetan source, cf. Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals (n. 24,above), pp.67-69.

zaCf. LtN Lt-KouaNo, L'Aide-Mdmoire de la Vraie Loi (Adrien-Maison-neuve, Paris, 1949), pp. 194-228, for a lengthy discussion of these matters;but his sources make somewhat different correlations between schools andlanguages. As we shall see, this difference, per se, does not matter much:the main thing is that such correlations are made at all.

zeFnaurr,INEoceRtoN, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary :Vol. I: Grammar (Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1978), pp.t-2.

39

40 Buddhist Insight

perhaps later, the canon was also rendered into Sanskrit, and thisis the language of both the Sarvdstivddin and Milasarvasti-vddin, supposedly descended from the son Rdhula. But it appearsnow that the attempt to create a Middle Indic canon in a Prakritform or the Sanskrit canon of the scriptures was done eitherwith an exemption or a compromise that it would not extend tothe Vinaya, the disciplinary code. Hence, the various forms ofthe Pratimoksa-siltra. For the other two, first take the Mah6-sdr.nghika, said to have used Apabhrarysa and to have descendedfrom MahakaSyapa. It is of interest that the Vinaya of theLokcttaravadin sect of the Mahdsdryghika, preserved under thetitle Mahdvastu, uses a kind of language that Edgerton calls"Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit" and includes in the earliest form ofthis mixed language. Th.is is not how the word ApabhrarySa("fallen-off language") is used nowadays, but conceivably itapplies to the language of the Mahdvastu. Tltelast one mentioned,the Sammatiya, is attributed a dialect called PaiSdciso and saidto descend from Upali. This suggests a confused associationof names and is hardly identifiable l,vith the remaining extantVinayr,s, those of the Dharmaguptaka and the Mahi(asaka;and it is dubious that Updli, the great Vinaya-dhara of earlyBuddhism, rvould be more associated with a tradition leadingto these vinayas than to the others. This alternate traciition isobviously too neat, with its fourfold description, to suit what isprobably a complicated situation. In any case, the partial truthof this tradition cannot account for the doctrinal divisions amongthe Buddhists: it rather points, albeit confusedly, to a diversityof Vinaya lineages.

It appears then that the division into Buddhist sects, said insome accounts to have amoun.ted to eighteen, is an independentmatter from muitiple Vinayas; and this lends credence to theposition Bareau has argued at length, attributing the initial splitto Mahadeya's five theses, which were of doctrinal nature.sl The

30Fcr locales of this dialect. cf. MauRrce WlNrrRNrrz, A History ofIndian Literature, Vol. II: Buddhist Literature and Jaina Literature (Englishtranslat ion) (MLBD Delhi, 1980), p.604.

arANoni BAnE.nu, Les premiers conciles bouclclhiclues (Presses Universisi-taires Ce France, Paris, 1955), p. 89, by deciding in favor of the datecircal3Tafter Buddha for the schism, efrectively separates the consideration from theCouncil of VaiSali. After careful consideration of the various factors, he

Ancient Buddhist Monasticism 4l

fact of having a slightly different vinaya-different not by reasonof the basic monk and nun prohibitions, but by extra preceptsand varying amplitude of associated legends and later of Jdtakas(previous-birth stories of the Buddha)-cannot be judged thesource of sectarian splits along doctrinal lines unless these doctrin-al divisions had somehow invaded one or more of the vinayas.For the early period there is no evidence of this at all. whenwe come to the Mahdvastu (as a sub-sect vinaya of the Mahd-siryghika), we do see some doctrinal intrusion, for example, theearly Mahdydna Buddhist theory of ten Bodhisattva stages;but this text Mahdvastu is assembled perhaps five hundred y.urcafter Buddha, long after all the old Buddhist councils. Frau-wallner's conclusion about the old Skandhaka text (which besidesthe details of monastic life contains all the legends, includingbiography of the Buddha) that "rt must have been composedshortly before or after the second councilo', i.e. in the first halfof tlre 4th cent., B.c.,t, should be accepted. This is because theobviously great challenge to the sdr.ngha by the errant monksof vai6ili forced a stock-taking of legends; therefore, the organ-izers of the second Council would be responsible for settling theform of the Skandhaka. However, if it is true that some othervinaya lineages were present in Buddhism from the beginning,these lineages could continue, if not at vaisdli, then at Rajagpha,and so on. That is why legen,Js contained. in vinayas other thanthe Theravada (cescended from the Sthavira) might conceivablybe different for having been accepted from Buddhist beginnings,or for having been added centuries later.

In the light of the preceding-in order to rationalize the Bud-dhist vinaya history about the eighteen schools, especially theinitial break that was between the groups called the Mahds6r.n-ghika and the Sthavira-we have simply to assume that themonks at vaisali in a legal Uposatha rehearsed the vinayalegends. And when the news reached Rdjagpha, this promptldsimilar rehearsals of legends, not in the spirit of rivalry withvaisali but because it seemed a good thing to do. If some years

concludes (p. 109), among other things, that the schism between the Maha-sdmghika and the Sthavira rook prace at pdtaliputr a, capitalof Magadha, overthe five theses about the Arhat, that the King of Magadha vainly atlempied toarbitrate the dispute.

s2FRauwar,LNER, The Earliest Vinaya(n.22, above), p. 67.

42 Buddhist Insight

later there should be a divisive quarrel over the status of the'Arhat (per the five points of Mahddeva), and the monks whoaccepted the five points could claim that there were more monksof this persuasion than on the other side, they could then beginto call themselves the Mahisiryghika (the great clergy). Butthis rvas not because their Vinaya was different in the essentialsfrom the Vinaya of the Sthavira; nor did they differ in themain points of Buddhist doctrine, non-self, impermanence, suffer-ing, dependent origination, and so on, from the other sect.However, the quarrel about the Arhat had profound implica-tions for the theory of the Buddhist path and was later to in-augurate the great movement called Mahdyina Buddhism.Such sectarian differences would eventually bring some differencesin the associated legends of the school, simply because it was adifferent sect and therefore had differing ability to draw upon theold legends. In this light, while some doctrines-namely, thosefound in the Pali canon of the four Nikdyas-are clearly earlierthan others, say some of those found in Mahdydna siltra,r, it is

uncertain to state such "earlier" or "later" in terms of Vinayalegends. As an indication of this, even for the meaning,of theterm Pitimokkha, I resorted to the Vinaya tradition of the M[la-sarvastivada, i.e. Vinitadeva's commentary on its Vinayavibhanga-which some scholars think arose many centuries after the

Theravdda-while specialists in the Vinaya preserved in the Palilanguage were unable to come up with such an explanation.

II. Tsn MoNAsTERY eNn PsnsoNs IN IT

Since the monk and nun had to leave home and to give up lay-

man's money transactions, from the beginning there had to bedwellings set aside for such persons, either supported by the com-munity of lay followers or else self-supporting.ss In India theBuddhist monastery was usually called a vihdra,sa which can also

33In the case of Indian and Chinese Buddhist institutions, one may refer to'ANoni BAnEAu, "Indian and Ancient Chinese Buddhisme: InstitutionsAnalogous to Jisa," Comparative Studies in Society and Hfstory, III: 4,.July 1961, pp. 443-451; and in the case of Himalayan area and Mongolianinstitutions, to Rosrnr J. Mrusn, 'oBuddhist Monastic Economy: the Jisa

Mechanism," in ibId.,III: 4, July 1961, pp. 427'438.BaSee Drpar Kuuan BlnUA, Viharas in Ancient India (Indian Publicationsn

Calcutta, 1969).

44 Buddhist Insight

outer respect to secular authority.al But by the seventh century,admission to the priesthood was by public registration.az

For some generalities about the tay follower and the one in

the monastic life, we turn to the teacher Asanga, referring to the

teacher converting people to the Buddhist position and what the

lay follower does in return:ag

What is dissemination of the preserved doctrines? That very

person who has fully comprehended the Illustrious Doctrine

informs people that there is good fortune and power in the

direct perception of the Illustrious Doctrine. With precepts

only a.s he has fully comprehended it and which are in con-

formity with it, he follows it in teaching and follows it in

introducing (people). What is corresponding sympathy from

others? "Others" means donors and patrons. They bring

the conditions of things useful for living, as follows: religiousgarb, alms, bedding, seats, medicaments, and whatever utensilsrnay be in point. One is shown sympathy by them.

Just as rnonks gain rnerit (pu4t1,a) by their practices, so do thelaity by their contributions of living materials for the monks,their adornments to tire Buddhist structures called stupa, and thelike; they gain trusting faith (5. prasada) in the three Jewels(Buddha, Dharma, San-eha) and plant the virtuous roots (kuiala'mula) for appropriate results in future lives.aa

Asanga tells how to differentiate the layman and the onegone into the religious life in terms of prevalent defilement:a5

Reflections (vikalpa), elaboration (prapafica), attachment(sanga), and (mundane) ideas (sarr.jfia) are four kinds of

a1Cf. LsoN HunvITz, oo'Render Unto Caesar' in Eariy Chinese Buddhism:Hui Yiian's Treatise on the Exemption of the Buddhist Clergy from theRequirements of Civil Etiquette," Liebenthal Festschrift (Santiniketan,India,1957), pp. l-36.

a2J. Taxarusu, tr. A Record of the Buddhist Religiort by l-Tsing (Munshi'ram Manoharlal, Delhi, 7966), p. 98.

a3ArEx WAymAN, Calning the Mind and Discerning the Real; BuddhistMeditation and the Middle View, from the Lam rim chen mo of Tson-kha-pa(Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1979), p. 34, from Asanga's Sravaka-bhumi.

al-ours RrNou, et al., L'Inde Classique,Tome II (Ecole Francaise d'Extr€me.Orient, Hanoi, 7953), p. 597.

45PTT, Vol. 111, p.238-5-7,8, in the Parydya-sarygrahagi.


defilements. The former two are on the side of the one in thereligious life (pravrajita); the other two are on the side of thehouseholder (grltastha). Those gone-forth have reflectionsfrom recalling experience of (mundane) sensory objects; andelaboration from that swaying addiction. The householdershave attachment from living amidst (mundane) sensoryobjects; and (mundane) ideas resulting from adherence toattachment's sign-sources.

Asanga reveals the mind of the rnonk, his fixed ideas in fivesituations:a6

(1) the idea when entering a city that one is enteringa prison;(2) when in the monastery, continually having the idea of themonk, e.g. "f have abandoned the home attire and adoptedone of bad color, so am not 'good-looking,"' and so on.Twenty-two points were stated in the sutra;a7(3) the idea of antidote to the sickness that is continually infood;(4) the idea when in seclusion, that in regard to forms to beperceived by the eye, the sounds to be perceived by the ear,one is blind and deaf and dumb;(5) the idea when lying down, that one has stretched out hishands and feet like the deer of the hermitage.

Asanga may perhaps speak more for himself than for thegenerality of monk and nun. There are of course a wide diversityof such persons, who ordinarily started out as a Buddhist layman-male, the updsaka, or female, the upasika.

In the beginning the Buddha conferred the "going forth" (p.pabbajjQ ordination of the male novice (Srama4era), perhaps thefirst female novice (iramaperika), and postulants (iikgamdnd);and he conferred the "full ordination" (P. upasampada) of themonks (bhik;u) and perhaps the first of the nuns (bhiksuni). Butas Buddhism spread to other parts of India, it became necessaryfor qualified monks to be permitted to conduct these two kinds

e6PTT, Vol. 111, p. 225-1-2, f., in the Vinaya-sarytgraha4i.4?Asanga's list is somervhat larger (his source unknown) than that oi the

Pali Vinaya; cf. HonNax,tr. The Book of Discipline, Vol. I, p. 42, for theeighteen identifications of "monk." For extended explanations of the eighteen.cf. Bapar and Hrnarawn, Shan Chien-P'i-P'o-Sha, pp. 178-183.

-46 Buddhist Insight

of ordination.4s Perhaps this shift coincided with the eventmentioned in this paper above when the Buddha stopped parti-cipating in the Uposatha, and there arose the distinction of twokinds of Pdtimokkha. Since this might have led to a largenumber of unwarranted ordinations by a person seeking to buildup a power center, it was prescribed that only a bhiksu of tenyears standing and of proven learning couid confer the fullordination.ae These wise rules helped to ensure the integrityof the Sdr.ngha; and so, by and large, the main disputes betweenBuddhist sects in later times were over doctrinal rather thanVinaya matters.

Accordingly, there were different forms of ordination, mainlyin terms of complexity. The ones conferred by the Buddhahimself were the most simple.0o The first, later called the Pafrca-vargenaganena upasampadd, was the ordination of the 'ofor-

tunate band of five" in the episode of Sarnath; when seeing theBuddha coming from afar their own resolution was broken, andthe monk marks-namely, the shaven head, begging bowl, andyellow monk garb-appeared upon them in a miraculous manner,and they became the first disciples.sl The next one, apparently,is the Ehi Bliksukaya upasampada, the "Come, O bhikgu!" for-mula, addressed to the candidate for ordination. A third forrn isthe Saraqtdgamana upasampadd, what is called the Svam upasam-padd, done by the candidate himself, who first adopted the marksof a monk, shaven head, etc., and appearing before the Buddhathrice uttered, "I take my refuge in the Buddha, I take my refugein the Dhamma, I take my refuge in the Sangha." But once theordination process was turned over to the senior monks, a moreelaborate procedure was required, involving a formal act of theSd:mgha.52 This formal ordination is called, P. Natti catuttha-kamma upasampadd and S. Jfiapticaturthakarma upasampadd.

asMnoaN MonaN STNGH, "Life in the Buddhist Monastery during the 6thCentury B.C.," JBRS, XL, Pt. 2, June 1954, pp. 134-135.

4eMaoaN MonaN STNGH, ibid., p. 135.50For the following names of various upasampadd, cf. B. JrNaNaNoa, ed.,

Upasampadajfiaptih, Tlbetan Sanskrit Works Series, Vol. VI (K. P. JayaswalResearch Institute, Patna, l96t), Introduction, p. 2.

srThis story is part of the introduction to "The First Sermon" in both theMahdvastu and Lalitavistara; cf. FnaNxrn EocsntoN, Buddhist HybridSanskrit Reader (MLBD Delhi, 1978), pp.17,20.

SrMap.eN MonaN SrNcH, op. cit., pp. 136-137.


As the nun order started later in the Buddha's pilgrimage, itappears that all nun ordinations-with the'possible exception ofthe Buddha's aunt, the first Buddhist nun-took place througha formal Sdr.ngha act; but because of certain differences from themonk ordination, it was given a different name, P. Atrlhavdcikauposampada.ss There was much emphasis on seniority of "bhiksu-becoming,o' with respectful devotion extended to the seniormonks.

The age of entering the religious life in different countries,where Buddhism established itself with the sdrygha, has a rowerlimit at l55a and cases where a boyss was ordained. when ordina-tion becarne formalized, this increased the period between p.Pabbajja and P. upasampadd, i.e. the novice and the fully ordain-ed. A period of five years has been mentioned,s6 but this hasperhaps not been standard during the many centuries and variouscountries.

There are various well acknowledged reasons for entering theBuddhist order. In Buddhist countries orphans frequentlyentered the Sdr.ngha, as did widows the nun order. There arestories about devout parents urging their sons to enter this re-ligious life, even with the background of auspicious dreams.s?The ancient story "conversion of Sdriputra and Maud, galyayana,'concerns the "seeker" of the truth, the way, who finally decidesto enter the Brotherhood.bs

while in the beginning the Buddha admitted virtually every-body into the order, soon exclusions of certain types-criminalelement, etc.-had to be enforced. It appears that the more the

53Cf. Up,qsl.r, Dictionary, p. 50.54MADAN MonLN Srucn, op. cit., p. 135.55For example, LAuorrr, Histoire du bouddhisme indien, p. r85, mentions

that Kumarajiva (350-409) was ordained at the age of six (356). This isknown as the Kdkuttepaka pravrajyd. (the ordination of those who scare awaycrows), cf. Anukul c. Banerjeg, sarvdstivdda Literature (calcutta, r9s7),pp. 179-180.

s6MaoaN MonaN SrNcn, op. cit., p. 137.5zcf. the rather primitive article, Arsx wavMAN, "The parents of Buddhist

Monks," Bharati (Banaras Hindu University),1966-68, No. X & XI (..CentralAsia Number," ed. by A. K. Nanan), pp. 25-29.

58cf. EocsRroN, Buddhist Hybrid sanskrit Reader pp.26-33, for hiseditedtext from the Mahavastu, with introductory notes about the versions of thestory.

48 Buddhist Insight

imperial patfonage enjoyed by Buddhism, the more it excluded

persons-such as deserters from the army, sons lacking the per-

mission of their parents-so as not to offend the civil and military

authority. This process appears to have been completed during

the patronage of the celebrated King A5oka.5e For obvious

reasons, persons with contagious diseases were excluded, as were

persons with severe sensory affiictions, such as deafness (not

allowing the person to hear the precepts).60

It seems useful to compare the two ordinations of the Buddhist

system with the Brahmanic "stages of life." As well known this

is a sequence of the celibate student, followed by the householder,

for the first two stages. There followed two stages of homeless-

ness, the Vdnaprastha and the Sannyasa. It has been proposed

that the P. Pabbajja (the "going-forth") or the ordination as a

novice somewhat resembles theVanaprastha stage; while the full-

ordination (P. Upasampadd) is equivalent to attaining the San-

nyasa, which is sometimes called the Bhiksu A$rama.01 However,

in consideration that the ascetic orders did not recognize the re-

quirement to be a householder, i.e. to repay a debt to the fore-

fathers by procreating progeny, which is essential to the theory

of the four stages, the comparison must be done in a different

way. Indeed, also in the Brahmanic system, the lad left home to

take up the Vedic study with a preceptor who would give him a

second birth (make him dviia). Hence, the nearest equivalent is

to take the Buddhist novice as equivalent to the brahmacdrin

student in the first stage; and to take the fully-ordained monk

and nun, because they have loosened their soctal duties, to be

roughly equivalent to the Vinaprastha (forest-hermit) in the third

stage. The equivalent to the sannydsa stage can be noticed in

the description of this stage in the New Upaniqads: he only needs

strip of, cloth, water pot of wood or earth, and staff: sleeps on

the ground, with the sky for roof; stays at one place during the

rains, rest of the year travels continuously; avoids theatre,

families, feasts.62 This bears some resemblance to the Buddhist

5eCf. RaogAKRISHNA CsoUogl,RY, o'Some Aspects of Buddhism as Gleaned

through ASokan Inscriptions," ,IBR,S (Buddha Jayanti special Issue, vol.

Two), 1956, p. 426.60For a longer list, cf. (JrAsa'r, Dictionary, p. 138.

olMaoaN MonaN StNcn, op. cit., pp. 135-136.62Cf. K. V. G.q,Jnl.toRAGADKAR, Neo-Upanishadic Philosophy (Bharatiya

Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1959), pp. 109-113.


ascetic practices called the dhutagupa (qualities of a purifiedman), thirteen in number (infra), and the ti,vo-week retreats bythe monks (iryfra). However, in the Brahmanic theory, th;sannyasa stage was in the declining period of life, after completedisengagement from social duties; whereas in the Buddhist casethe ascetic practices and retreats could take place when the personwas relatively young and in full possession of his strength andsensory faculties.' An important difference to add to the above is that in the caseof the sannydsin there was an automatic extinction of his property-rights. But the Buddhist monk or nun did not undergo a .,civildeath" at ordination. This is because trre Buddhist monk couldreturn to the social group if he found the monastic life too hard,or if he experienced a change of heart about this kind of life;and there was no extinction of his property rights in the mean-time.63

Turning to ordination practices themserves, we note agreementbetween the Theravd.da and the Mfllasarvdstivdda use of theltl- P' upajjhdy4, s. updcthydya. In both cases, the Buddha,sinjunction that a person should seek out a ..competent,,

monkto act as his upajjhaya refers both to a person ordaining a noviceand to a person looking after a disciple (p. saddhiviharika, s.sardhavihdrin), serving this master who will eventuaily introducehim to an appropriate meeting of the sar.ngha r* ,n. purpose ofordination as a bhiksu.'t tn the Mfilasarvdstivdda practice, forexample, the continuance of this Vinaya tradition in Tibet whereit.was the only Yinaya,the usage of the term can be seen in thebiography of rson-kha-pa ltisl-t+t9), founder of rhe Gerugpasect.65 "In his seventh year, he .went forth, to the religious life.The lama Don-grub Rin-chen became his 'princ ipar, (upacrrrydya),charged with admitting the candidate to the religiou, ori.r.Glon-nu Byan-chub became his 'instructor'

(acdrya). He tookthe vow of novice (iramanera), and" was given the name Blo-bzanGrags-pa'i-dpal." Notice that a superior called upddhydyaand an underling called dcdrya both playeo a paft in-fulfiilingthe candidate's "going forth" as a novice. Latir the biographt

63Dr' DBv Rar cuawaNA, "The vinaya pitaka and Ancie't Indian Juris-prudence," "rBR^t, Vol. XLIV, pts. i & ii, March-June, tgSg, pp. 22_23.6cCf. Upasltx, Dictionar!, pp. 44-45.65Wayuau, Calnting the Mind, pp. 16, 19.

50 Buddhist Insight

mentions the persons who directed Tson-kha-pa's full ordination

as a bhik5u: 1) one who was his "principal" @pAdhyAya, Tib'

mkhan po), a monastery abbot in spiritual descent from Sakya-

dribhadra (1127-1225), who introduced the third Milasarvdsti-

vida ordination lineage to Tibet; 2) one, happening to be the

abbct of another monastery, who was his "counselor" (Tib. Ias

kyi slob dpon; s. karma-acdrya);3) a third one, a kind of reli-

gious head, who was his "confidant" (Tib. gsan ste ston pa; s.

ialtonuiasaka). Thus, the term upddhydyc was used for the

principal at the novice vow and at the monk vow and could be

iwo different persons. The Tibetal equivalent to upadhydya,

namely mkhan po, was regularly used ior the head of a monastery.

For the vow of the novice, the followilg comes from the M[la-

sarvastivida practice:66 After the applicant (already a tay Bud-

dhist) before the assembled Sd:mgha has expressed a desire to

obtain the "going forth" ordination from an upadhydya, a pte-

arranged monk asks on his behalf if he can be gralted the

ordination, whereupon the sd,r.ngha responds-he can be, if he

is pure. After that, the applicant seeks out an upadhydya, who

arranges for the Derson to get his hair and beard shaved; and after

bathing, he is furnished by the upadhl'aya with bowl and yellow

robes. Then in front of the upddhy'dya the applicant takes his

refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sdr.ngha, announces

that he is giving up his marks of a householder and accepting

those of one "gone forth"-and this is said three times. The

upddhydyc says something like, 'oFine!" The applicant is then

turned over to another monk who inquires of the upadhydya if

he has ascertained the applicant's purity; a1d with assent, the

applicant again goes through the set formulas as above of refuge

anO ttooice's vow. Some monks require the applicant to be

able to tell from a shadow the time of the day. Now the "in-

structor" (acarya) makes the novice state in his presence the ten

points of instruction (.frk,r dpada) which are the ten things he will

ior.go or give up. Of these, he had previously agreed to desist

from five during the Buddhist layman's vow, natnely, from killing

living beings, stealing, unlawful sexual activity, lying, and intoxi-

cants. He now adds desisting from witnessing pleasurable

entertainments, from use of beautifying things like unguents,

66B.q,NsRlsB, Sarvdstivada Literature, pp' 109-113'


using high and big beds, taking meals at wrong times, andaccepting gold and silver. The dcdrya says something like,"Fine!"

For the vow of the monk, the following also comes fromMfrlasarvdstivdd,a practice0z: The novice having attained anage, of which the minimum is stated as "twenty" (as before,presumably l5+5; and with inevitable exceptions), asks theupddhyaya for an alms-bowl and religious robes. He also asksthe karmakdraka bhik;u (previously called the karmq-dcarya)and the rahonusdka to conduct their proper rcles in the ceremonyand asks some other monks to participate. The information isgiven tbat at least five vinayadharas (retainers of the vinayacode) had to participate in the upasanpadd ardination. Thecandidate makes his salutations, then squatting in front of theupadhydya, three times implores him to act as the upddhydyafcr his full-ordination. Assenting, the upadhyay,a provides thecandidate with three robes either already made up, or with clothfor the same; and the two go through a robe conflerment cere-mony with formulas repeated thrice. Then comes exhibition ofthe bcwl, and afterwards the upadhydya confers the bowl. Threetimes the candidate states the proper use of the bowl. Thecandidate is moved to the side, standing wirh folded hands, butin view of the assembled Sar.ngha.

The karmakdraka bhikpu now asks the rahonusdsaka bhiksuif he is willing to make the confidential inquiries to the candidatewith the named upadhyaya. upon getting the assent of the ral.io-nuiasaka bhik;u the karmakaraka bhiksu makes a muktika-jfiapti-apparently meaning his motion to the assembled Sdr.ngha,upon his sitting down-that the rahonuiasaka bhik;u be permit-ted to make his confidential inquiries to the candidate. Therefoliows the jfrapti-kq,rmq of the rahonuiasaka bhiksu apparerftlymeaning his questions to the candidate, out of ear-shct of theSdingha (hence as the "confidant") on various private matters,starting with "Are you a man?" "Do you possess the maleorgan?" "Are you at least 20 years of age?" "Are your threerobes and bowl complete ?" and going down to questionsof whether he is a thief, a king's soldier, nun-seducer, indebtedto someone, aflicted with various illnesses, and so on (in fact,

oTBeNBnlrs, Sarvdstivdda Literature, pp. 114-141.

52 Buddhist Insight

the entire list, which if in any case is not answered properly

would drop him from consideration as a monk); and he

informs the candidate to stay there until called and not to be shy

about revealing to the assembled Sdr.ngha his answer to any of the

questions. The rahonuidsaka bhiksu moving within ear-shot

of the assembled monks declares that the candidate, aftet being

questioned, speaks of himself as free from all restrictions (to

his full ordination). The assembled monks say, "If he is per-

fectly pure, then let him come." The candidate is now brought

before the monks and salutes them. The karmakardka bhiksu(in his role of "counselor") then directs the novice on what he

should say, namely, the formula of asking for the upasampadd

ordination with the named upddhydya, andthat he is willing to

answer any question. The kqrmakaraka bhiksu, after being

saluted by the candrdate who sits down in front of him, tells the

candidate to give answers to the questions without shyness-

and then goes through the same list that the rahonuidsaka bhikgu

had asked in confidence. After this, the karmakdraka bldk;u

does his karnn of three times declaring that the candidate is a

man rvith male organ, has completed 20 years of age, has all the

robes and begging borvl, and is pure concerning the restrictions;.

and that if it be the Sdmgha's convenience and approval, then

let the Sdr.ngha confer the upasompada ordination on the given

candidate rvith the named upadhyaya; andthat all in favor should

remain silent, and those against speak up. After the third time,

he declares that since the Sapgha has remained silent (if that was

the case), it must be concluded that the Sdr.ngha has granted

the upasampada ordination on the candidate with such and such

name, who has the named upadhyaya. This completes the ful[-

ordination of the candidate as a monk (bhiksu). The newly

ordained bhikgu is made to measure the shadow and then is in-

formed about the parts of the day and night and about the seasons.

This ends the formal cererirony of ordination. He is then told

about monastery life, about robes, food, etc., and asked if he is

willing to live this way. He is told about the four gross falls, for

which he would be ousted from the Sd:rygha. He is told about

the four rules about ascetics, i.e. their brotherly conduct, of not

reviling others even when reviled, etc. He is told about the moral

rules of the Prdtimoksa and his expected service from this day

onward to the upadhyaya, who is as a father to a son. He is


told to study the Buddhist doctrines of the personal aggregates,dependent origination, etc.

The above rituals of "going forth" (pravrajya) and "fullordination" (upasampad6) are called p. kammavdcd, s. karma-vd.kya.as According to the Tibetan history text The BIue Annals,both Nagdrjuna, founder of the Madhyamika sect of Buddhism,and Asanga, founder of the yogdcara sect, received their ..full

ordination" in the Milasarvastivdda vinaya.Ge Hence, ordina-tion as a monk was independent of doctrinal affiliations, as thispaper has already set forth.

As to the newly-ordained monk's learning about parts of theday and the seasons, this is apparently a brief reference to in.forming him of daily and seasonal observances. There havebeen doubtless many differences in daily observances in Buddhistmonasteries in different countries and centuries. For example,there is description about the daily life of the monks in ancientceylon that they arose before sunrise and contemplated theBuddha, loving kindness, impurity of the body, and death;then proceeded to their ablutions, sweeping, dressing accordingto the rules, meeting with other monks to recite the ..Loving-kindness scripture" (Metta-sutta);then to the hall for their break-fast.?' There is a modern publication on the morning andevening chanting in Thai Buddhism.?1

The vinayas set forth extensively the main observances in topicsfrequently called vastu. Hence, the Mllasarvastivdda vinayais called vinayavastu.zz In this vinaya, the first book is the pra-vrajyavastu, from which previous material on the ordinationof novices and monks was drawn. This book goes also into the

.sBaNpnJBr, sarvdstivdda Literature, p. 142. For more information, cf.Hsnnnnr HAnm, Karmavdcanri (sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden; Aka-demie-Verlag, Berlin, 1956). For ordination ceremonies of countries otherthan India, cf. J. P. MrNavBnr, Recherches sur Ie Bouddhisme (pais,1g94),"La communaut6 des moines bouddhistes," pp. 296-315.

eeGsoncn N. RorRlcH, The Brue Annars,part one (Delhi, r97g), pp.34-3s .

T'warpora RAHuLA, History of Buddhism in ceylon (M.D. Gunasena &Co., Colombo, 1956), pp. 173-174.

Trrhe Pali chanting scripture with rhai & English Translation, T962.72The following material on the vinayavastu is summarized fromBanerjee, sarvdstivdda Literature, pp. 10l-246. FnauwaLLNER, The Earliestl/inaya, pp.70-129, compares all the vastu-s of the various vinayas.

54 Buddhist Insight

qua.lifications of the monks chiefly engaged in the ordination rites

and the reasons for asking the various questions of the candidatefor bhik;u. The second book, the Popdhavastu concerns thePrdtimoksa recitation which has been already mentioned bythe name P. Uposatha (S. Upavasatha). More details willfollow in this paper. This Vinaya then reverses the proper orderof two books, the Varqdvastu, concerning the conduct of monksduring the rains-their restriction to one residence, etc.-andthe Pravdranavastu, to confess any offences committed duringthe three-month retreat of the rains in a l-day ceremony conclud-ing this retreat.Ts The fifth one, the Carmavastu, on footwear;the sixth, Bhaipajyavastu, on food and medicaments; the seventh,Civaravastu, on the materials and preparation of monk robes;and the eighth, Kafhinavastu, on distribution of robes at the end

of the rainy season and laymen's gifts-are mainly on the foodand clothing needs and the rules for special cases. The ninth,KoSdmbakavastu, on suspension (utksepaniya) of a monk, in-

augurates chapters showing the internal ecclesiastical law codeof the Buddhist monasteries. Then, the tenth, Karmavastu,concerns limitations of monks to perform suspension; theeleventh, Pap{ulohitakavastu, gives the disciplinary actions forvarious serious offences; the twelfth, Pudgalavastu, goes intoparticular cases of punishment for specific offences; the thirteenth,Pdrivisikavastu, the duties of monks undergoing light punish-

ment (parivdsa); the fourteenth, Posadhasthdpanavastu, estab-lishing the impurity that would exclude a monk from participa-tion in the Upavasatha (P. Uposatha). The concluding partsin this Vinaya are the fifteenth, Sayanisanavastu, on constructionof monastery buildings and furnishing them; the sixteenth,Adhikara4avastu, formation of the nun order and settlement ofdisputes among the monks; and finally Sar.nghabhedakavastu,which should be concerned with splits in the monk communitybut in fact in this Vinaya goes in to the legendary origin of theSakya race and the life of Gautama, who became the Buddha,from birth to leaving home for the religious life.

As to the thirteen "qualities of a purified man" (dhutagu4a),or else to be rendered oostrands that were shaken off," they consti-

73That is, in this Vinaya the Pravdra4dvastu is the third vastu, thoughlogically it should be the fourth one.


tute a movement to adopt more ascetic practices than monasterylife was prone to, in consideration that the Middle Path of the

Buddha avoided the extremes of mortification of flesh and indul-gence in desires but also that the Buddha was called "great

ascetic" (mahalrama7a).74 In the Visuddhimagga the thirteen(called here dlrutanga) are: l. to wear robes made of refuse rags(parysukulikafigam); 2. to have not more than three robes (teci-

varikangam); 3. to eat only food collected by begging (pirtda-pdtikangam);4. to not miss any house in the regular rounds whenbegging (sapaddnacdrikangam); 5. to sit down for eating onlyonce a day no matter what (eka,sanikangam); 6. to be satisfiedwith whatever is received in one's single bowl (pattapiryQilcangam);7. to refuse any food after finishing one's meal (khalupacchabhatti'kangam); B. to dwell in a forest, away from the city (arafifii'

kangam); 9. to dwell at the base of a tree (that is not prohibitedfor the purpose) (rukkamulikangam); 10.to live in an open space(except when raining) (abbhokasikangant); 11. to live in a cemetery(sosanikangam);12. to use whatever bed or seat is offered, withoutadverse comment (yathasanthatikangam);13. to take rest at nightonly by sitting (nesajjikangam). Needless to say, a practitionerwould adopt a certain one of these ascetic practices, which nor-mally meant a renunciation of certain privileges accorded to themonks in monastery life. Asanga explains that these practicesare meant to purify the mind and make it fit fordwelling in chastity(brahmacarya).75

Besides, it appears that the monks dwelling in the usual mon-astery setting had an opporfunity to practice more towardsantddhi during the three-month retreat of the rains when theydid not go begging. There are indications that they may havehad to get along with less food than at other times.?6 Indeed,it is said:1l "If during the three months of summer-retreat, a

?aCf. NITINAKsHA Durr, Early Monastic Buddhism (Calcutta, 1960), pp.155, f., from which the following thirteen dhutariga are summaized, for thetheory that Devadatta's attempt to force certain rigorous practices on theSlmgha as a whole-an attempt opposed by the Buddha-attained somemeasure of success in time in terms of adoption by various monks, althoughthe list was not itself ever incorporated in the Vinaya.

75Wa,vvnN, Analysis of the Srdvakabhumi, p. 82.76Cf. HonNan, The Book of Discipline, Vol. f, on the Fourth Defeat,

pp. 153-154.TTBapat and Hmartwa,, Shan-Chien-Pi'-P'o-Sha, p. 142.

56 Buddhist Insight

Iarge number of monks who had started practising samadhi havenot finished their job, the Tathdgata cioes not observe the GreatPavarand.." By "Pavarani" is meant the one-day ceremony,as alluded to above, for concluding the retreat during the rainyseason. The Buddha was also mentioned as going into retreatsfor specified purposes: once in a solitary place for a half-month,except for one bringing food-to enter a samddhi for examiningthe past on a certain matter;?8 at another time for a retreat ofthree months-apparently to set an example.ze It appears thatthe two-week retreat was a favorite of rnonks, as the writer hasobserved some Tibetan monks doing the same in present times,for coming to a conclusior on some troublesome point ofdoctrine, etc.

we should nct leave this topic of Buddhist monasterial lifervith the impression ihat it just amounted to a big problem ofpersons adjusting to this sort of life, some obeying injunctions,others committing offences to be censured or deserving ejectionfrom the Sarygha. This may be clarified by a cursory compari-son of the Brahmin with the Bhiksu and by an ancient quarrel.

It is rvell knorvn that rvhen Gautama left home to seek thereligious l ife he undertook an ascetic discipline especially by theRiver Nairaiijand for six years, perhaps for some time with nomore food intake than some ascetics were reported to have takenin those days-a handful of beans every third day.ao At the endof that time he decided that this course did not lead to the highestgoal (the Dharma transcending man's) and he undertook a middlepath between mortification of the flesh and indulgence in sensorydesires, taking a modest nourishment while meditating at thebase of the Bodhi Tree. So also the Hindu Laws of Manu (lI,100) state: "Keeping the village of the senses in subjection andcontrolling the mind, he would accomplish all (human) aimsrvithout reducing his body through t-oge." This indicates thatrvhen the Buddha decided on the middle path he accepted a certainpcrtion of the Brahmanical "stages of life," and while continuingto uphold the ascetic ideal renounced its more extreme form.

T8Bapar and Hnlrtw4 Shan-Chien-P'i-P'o-Sha, p. 290.?eB.qpar and Hmarawt, Shan-Chien-P'i-P'o-Sha, p. 434.80cfl. A. L. Basnau, History and Doctrines of the Aitvikas (Luzac &

Company, London, 1951), 50, for this practice.


what he accepted in common with the Brahmanical course be-came called in Buddhist terminology "instruction of morality"(adhisila-iiksd), amounting, in monasterial language, to adherenceto the Patimokkha (s. Pratimoksa). Then a Brahmin lad, start-ing at eight years and taking the vedic course.for twelve years,would become a Brahmin priest in his village at the same age(twenty) that the Buddhist vinaya gives for "fulr ordination"as a monk (bhiksu). This Brahmin lad for the normal periodof twelve years had been adhering to a standard of continencecalled braltmacarya, which was precisely enjoined upon the en-trants to Buddhist monasterial life. However, while the Brahminproceeded to the next stage of life, the householder who raisesa family, the Buddhist monk continued his celibate ways, attempt-ing, as the first part of this article has cited from the Anguttara-nikaya (Book of Sevens), to surmount the Realm of Desire,dwell in the forn Dhyanas of the Realm of Form and then in theliberation of mind and of insight, and have the full realizationin this life. And so the quarrel is over how to attain all (human)aims.

It is easier to compare the two systems in terms of a sequencefrom Asangaos Sravakabhutni: going forth, restraint of morality,restraint of sense organs, moderation in food, practice of stayingawake (in the former and latter part of night), conduct withawareness, solitude, elimination of hindrances, right dwelling insamddhi.sl Thus, in the Brahmanical system, the lad went forthto the preceptor, became twice-born; and the Buddhist monasticfollowers became "ascetics who are sons of the Buddha." TheBrahmanical youth restrained his morality in the code called'brahmacarya and was supposed to restrain his sense organs in themanner set forth in the Laws of Manu, Chap. 2; while the Buddhistmonasterial novice was supposed also to restrain his moralityand then his sense organs, as set forth at length in Asanga,sSrdvakabhumi. But then the Buddhist system went on to claimsomething over and beyond the Brahmanical procedure forattaining the (human) aims. It was claimed that the ascetic inthe Buddhist order would proceed to oomoderation in food,"o'practice of staying awake," and so on. In the description of"practice of staying awake" Asanga states that when one has

81Cf. WayuaN, Calming the Mind, pp. 31-38.

58 Buddhist Insight:

moderation in food in the manner set forth, he goes on to purify

his mind from obscuring natures by walking and sitting duringthe day and during the first watch of the night; and also duringthe last rvatch of the night after resting in the middle watch of thenight. Notice that Asanga claims something for this phase that

was not claimed for the restraint of morality or for the restraintof sense organs, namely, a purification of the mind from obscur-'ing natures, as a preparation for entering into samadhi. Thatis not to denigrate those previous observances and behaviorrestrictions as trivial; indeed, Buddhism puts great stock on thisprior base of morality for proceeding to meditation. In shortthe Buddha's rejection of the extreme of mortiflcation of the flesh

should be viewed as a rejection of ascetic practices that are notpreceded by a previous moral training involving a continuousdiscrimination of things to be rejected and things to be accepted(especially by the senses). And the Buddhist rejection of theBrahmanical "stages of life" is an attitude that if one waits untilthe last period of life before one is an ascetic, there is not muchthat this ascetictsm would accomplish in the sense claimed for theasceticism that follows directly upon the restraint of sense organs.It is not the business of the present writer to take sides on thisgreat cleavage between the two systems, except to observe the

foregoing as essential for understanding the great movement of

Buddhist monasticism. Of couise, the training of the Brahminyouth for a number of years with the brahmacarya code, followed

by the stage of householder, doubtless helped to preserve Hindu-ism through the many centuries. The non-return to society of

the Buddhist monk in the sense of raising a family (except for

the person leaving the monkhood) meant a more fragile base in

society for the Buddhist monastery.

ru. TgB orrBNcEs, coNFESSIoN, AND PENANCE

Since the offences are listed in the Pdtimokkha (S. Prdtimokqa),

it should be recalled that this paper already established the mean-

ing of the term as "Liberation-onset." Consistent with my

findings, Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakoia (IY, 16) states: "Ths

Prdtimokqa path-of-act is the pair, candor (vtifiapti) and reticence(avijfiapti), at the outset" (adye viifiapty-aviifiapti prdtimoksa-

kriydpathal). And Vasubandhu comments in part: "Priti-

Ancient Buddhist Monasticism

moksa is the candor and reticence at the commencement, of theperson taking the vow (saynvara)" (saqnvara-samdddnasyaprathame vijfiapty-avijfiapti prdtimokga ity ucyate).82 Theseterms are in the Mahdsdmghika listed tenets I have elsewhere,cited: No. 60 "virtue caused by a vow increases"; No. 61 "candor(aijfrapti) is virtue"; No. 62 "reticence (auijfiapti) is immoral."83."Path of-act" apparently refers to the confessional.

The Pratimoksa-siltrq, verse 16, of the Mfilasarvdstivdda Vinayais cited in Tson-kha-pa's Lam rim chen mo as illustrative of theInstruction of Morality (adhiiilaiiksA) for the monks:8a

This Pritimoksa (Liberation-Onset) is like the bridle of ahundred sharp nails on the difficult-response mouth of thehorse-like mind driven by incessant effort.85

According to the context of this verse's citation, the "difficult-response mouth" means the spiritual guide's speech endowment(uacasd'bhyupetary) of Mahayana-Sutralarytkdra, XVII, 10..The "hundred sharp nails" are presumably the "one hundredkermoso' of the work Millasaruastiuddanikayaikaiatakarman,briefly alluded to by I-Tsing but not listed by him, and apparentlyall the main monastery rites starting with ordination as a novice.86The teacher who has gone through these "karmas" is said to have'these as a bridle on his mouth, capable of answering the difficultquestions of the disciples, while his mind, like a horse, is spurredon. Vinitadeva explains the "hundred sharp nails" as the "pointsof instruction" (iikpapada),87 which might signify the 150-odd

82P. Pn.noHaN, ed., Abhidharmakoiabhalyam of Vasubandhu (K. P.Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna, 1975), p.207.

83A. W,q,yr\aAN, "The Mahisdmghika and the Tathigatagarbha," The'Journalof thelnternationalAssoctationof Buddhist Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1,1978, p.36.

seTashilunpo ed. of Lam rim chen mo, fol. 20b-5, in an introductory,section on the topic; reliance on the spiritual guide (kalya4amitra).

85ANurur, CnaNona BnNeRlnn, ed., Prdtimok;a-sfitra (Mulasarvdstivada)-(Calcutta, 1954), p. 3, mentions that reconstructed passages have been put inbrackets in his text. He had to reconstruct a number of lacunae with the.help of the Tibetan. However, in the case of verse 16, his reconstructiondoes not appear to have been successful; and so I have used the rest of theverse (extant Sanskrit) plus the Tibetan translation to arrive at the translation"given.

s6Tararusu, tr., A Record, p. 95.87PTT, Yol. 122, p.279-3-2.

59

60 Buddhist Insight

prohibitions of the Prdtimoksa-siitra or might conceivably referto the "one hundred karmos.o'

The Prdtimoksa as a morality (iila) beyond the five layman'svows is called "morality of a day and night," since during thePoqadha (P. Uposatha) there is no eating atter noon for a dayand a night, which is the fast (upaudsa) accompanied by the eight-fold mor ality (a s! Ang ai tla).88

The recitation of the Prdtimoksa is ordinarily in full, but itcould be cut short to the minimum of the four "defeats" (pdrd-jika) alone.8e These four, mentioned first in the list, are the worstoffences, requiring immediate expulsion from the Simgha:l) sexual intercourse, of any sort; 2) theft of a valuable, with aware-ness that it does not belong to oneself; 3) murder, or commendingit or abetting it; 4) pretending to superhuman powers.eo

As to the second one, "stealing," it has been wrongly suggestedas relevant that the monk upon entering the Order had renouncedany claim to private property.el Rather, the four 'odefeats" arerelated to the Buddhist Genesis story, where-portraying the fallfrom a superhuman state of the first eon men-sexual intercoursewent along rvith eating of coarse morsel food, requiring crops ofsame, leading to their theft and mortal blows on that account.e2Indeed, all the "defeats" have features of "theft", sometimesmetaphorical. Thus the first one, sexual intercourse, m€ans takinga sexual partner, who (or even, which) does not belong to the monkfor such a purpose since he is supposed to be celibate. The second

ssCf. Errsrwn Lauorrl, Le Traitd delaGrande Vertude Sagesse,TomeII(Louvain, 7949), esp. pp. 825-832, for this fast, the "eightfold morality," andinformation about a six days' fast, which may amount to three days at fullmoon and three days at new moon, or else two days each at full and new, plustwo "eighth" days.

8eB. JN.q,NaNDA, ed., Abhisamdcarika lBhik;uprakir{rakal (K. P. JayaswalResearch lnstitute, Patna, 1969), Introduction, p. viii.

e0cf. the extended treatment in Bapnr and Hnlx swa,, Shan-Chien-p'i-P'o-Sha, op. cit.

elSo HonNnn, The Book of Discipline, Vol. I, introduction, p. xxi. Cf.preceding conclusion, employing the.IBRS article by Dn. Dpv Rar Cg.nNANA,n. 63, above.

e2Cf. Anx WAvuaw, "Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric Tradition,"Oriens Extremus,9:1,1962, pp 1,27-131, for a summary of the story and im-plication for the 'oupward" progress of the Buddhist monk. This essay canbe found also in A. wayman, The Buddhist Tantas (samuel weiser, Newyork,1,973), pp. 24-29.


one is theft per se, especially of material, valuable objects. Thethird, murder, means taking or promoting the taking of a life,which belongs to another and has irreplaceable preciousness. Thefourth one of pretense to realizations and powers in its explana-tion has five explicit thieves:e3 i) the big thief in the story aboutthe "defeat": monks living on the bank of the River vaggumudanear vesali (S. vaisali) getting by false pretensions food, medicine,and other valuables. ii) the big thief monk who pretends he learnedthe Dhamma (s. Dharma) from himself (through his powers ofrealization) and not from someone else. iii) the big thief evil-minded monk who condemns those monks who are following thepath and progressing in meditation, praising himself as the reallypure man. iv) the big thief who secretly takes and gives gifts ofmonastery property in order to get favors and support of certainhouseholder. v) the big thief who acts as though the monasteryproperty belongs to hirn and freely takes it and uses it or gives itaway. The preceding shows that thievery, either concretely or inmetaphorical senses, was viewed with particular horror. perhapsthis attitude is behind the Mahi.ydna Buddhist emphasis ooo'giving" (ddna) as the first perfection (pdramita), even ahead of"morality" (irla).

The Pdtimokkha of the nan (bhikkhuni) has eight ..defeats,"

the above four in common with the monk, and four additionalones: 5) enjoying the contact of a male person between thecollar-bone and knee; 6) concealing the "d.efeat" offence of an-other nun; 7) becoming the follower of a monk who has beensuspended; 8) possessing any of eight sexual dispositions.eaBesides, a nun had to accept the eight guru-dltarma, which theBuddha enjoined upon the women who would enter the order,considering that women are also capable of attaining Arhatship,but which doubtless did not encourage them to become nuns:eb

ssCf. Bapar and Hrnarlw.q, Shan-Chien-p'i-p'o-Sha, pp. 335, ff. for anextended discussion of the five big thieves.

eaCf. Upasl'x, Dictionary, p. 158.esFor the eight guru-dharma, cf. Gusrav Rorn, Bhik;u4i-vinaya (K. p.

Jayaswal Research rnstitute, Patna, 1970), Introduction, chap. III, pp.xxix-xxxii. The association of the number eight with women appears anestablished matter in the Pdli Anguttara-nikaya (Book of Eights), where be-sides the canonical story about Mahapajdpati's acceptance of the eightdharmas, there is the account that women have eight qualities who after death_

62 Buddhist Insight

i) no matter how old the nun, she should bow her head, to the feetof a monk, even one ordained that day; ii) being a virgin of eight-'een years she requests the Orders of monks and nuns for twoyears' training at the end of which she may be fully ordained;iii) nuns may not address monks regarding the true and the false;a monk may address nuns regarding the true but not the false;iv) the nuns must wait until the monks have been supplied withfood, bedstead, and lodging before being themselves supplied; v).a nun guilty of a grave offence must apply to the Order of nunsfor the severe penance of isolati on (mdnatva) for half a monthand certification of rehabilitation from both the Orders; vi) everyhalf month the nuns should desire the coming of the monks onUposatha day, for instruction; vii) the nuns may not spend therainy season at a place devoid of a monk; viii) upon the conclu-sion of the rainy season the nuns should desire to invite each otherbefore both the Orders (to be open about what transpired duringthe rainy season).'

Then for the monks comes a section of thirteen Sanghddisesaoffences. One of the traditional explanations for the title-whereby it is rendered "beginning with (Adi), and remaining with(sesa) the Sangha,"e6 i.e. entirely within the purview of theSangha-seems confirmed by Vinitadeva's commentary on theVinayavibhanga, with the S. SdryghdvaSesa ("remains in the'Sdrygha"). Thus Vinitadeva: "depends on the Sar.ngha" (Tib.dge 'dun Ia rag lus pa); "entailed by the Sdr.ngha" (dge 'dun dan'brel ba); "arises from the Sar.ngha" (dge 'dun las rnampar ldan par'gyur); and "'without a remainder' (would be) because there isno common (shared) means of purification; 'with a remainder'(would be) because there is a common means of purification."e?Hence, the term Sanghddisesa seems to have been adopted tocontrast with the Parajika ("defeat"), namely, where there is ameans of purification within the Sdr.ngha for a serious offenceand where there is no such means. As to the list, the first five relateto sexual indiscretions short of sexual intercourse. Then comeoffences relating to construction of morrastic dwellings, false

are reborn as lovely fairids; and earlier thethat a woman enslaves a man in eight ways.

e6For a discussion of the title, cf. FIoRNER,Introduction, pp. xxix-xxxii.

gzPTT, Yol. 122, p. 313-4.

'oGreat Chapter" has a passago

The Book of Discipline, Vol. f,

Ancient Buddhist Monastioism 63

accusations, abetting schisms in the Sangha, and polluting thefaith of a devout family. The nun had'some more possibleoffences. There was a light punishment of living apart calledparivdsa and a severe penance of isolation called manatta(5. manatva), both requiring the sanction of the Sangha in thebeginning and end. By "end" is meant that one becomes readyfor restitution (abbhdna) by the official act of the Sangha,consisting of at least twenty persons.es

Next come the two aniyata-dhammes or Indeterminate Offencesabout the association of a monk with a woman, where the gravityof the offence (whether o'defeat", Sanghidisesa, or the lesser faultcalled Pacittiya) is determined by a reliable witness, especially areliable female layman (upasika).se

The Theravdda Vinaya now presents thirty Nissaggiya-picittiyas, offences especially about the religious garb-itsmeasurements, renewals, etc.; and the begging bowl; as well asmoney transaciions with laymen.lm These are followed byninety-two infractions (pacittiya; Sanskrit uses the term pdtayan-tika) of the monk in the Bhikkhu-Pdtimokkha, with a hundredsixty-six of the nun in the Bhikkhuni-Pdtimokkha. Some of theseare heretic views on matters of morality, such as declaring permis-sible acts that are permissible, and vice versa. Violations of theprohibition on monks to view entertainments, concealing a seriousoffence of another monk, are among the miscellaneous offences.1o1Various Vinayas differ considerably in the material presented oneach of these sins. For example, Pdcittiya No. 33 in one list on"taking food successively" is quite short.102 In the Mtlasarvasti-vada Vinaya this is Pdtayantika No. 31, and Vinitadeva's com-mentary, taking its cue from the basic Vinayavibhanga, launchesinto a lengthy description of drawing the "Wheel of Life" (well-known from its Chinese and Tibetan forms),103 of which thereis nothing corresponding in the other account of this offence.

The Patidesaniya are a group of offences to be confessed in a

ssThis summary of the list is based on Upasak, Dictionary, pp,2l3-2I4.seBapar and Hrurrwd,, Shan-Chien-P'i-P'o-Sha, Introduction, p. xxxi.100{Jp4s411, Dictionary, pp. 121-122.l0lUpAsAK, Dictionary, p. 15I; B.lrer and Hmarawn, Shan-Chien-p'i-

P'o-Sha, Introduction, pp. xxxiii-xxxv.10296p41 and Hrnarltwt, Shan-Chien-P'i-P'o-Sha, pp. 470-47I.loaPTT, Vol. 123, p. 1.2-3-3, f.

64 Buddhist Insight

manner prescribed by the text: "r have fallen into a blameworthymatter, unbecoming, which ought to be confessecl, I confess it.'"They are the offences of requesting food from impoverishedpersons, four related to monks and eight to nuns.1oa

The group of sekkiya (S. Saiksa) is precepts. The Ther avadaYinal'a has 75 such rules, same for monk and nun : l-2, on properdress, 3-26 on how to enter a village, town, or house, 27-56 ontaking meals, 57-72 on preaching of the Dhamma,73-75 concern-ing toiiets, etc.los The Dharmagupta school is quite different here,n'ith 24 rules dealing with the stilpa}os

The final entries in the pdtimokkha have to do with settlingof disputes.loT

Asanga, in vinaya-samgrahani, says:108 "one may understandall transgressions (dpatti) to be established by the fifteen wicked-nesses (dugkyta)," as follows:

1. a grave thing, e.g. the four defeats. But the beginner canhave them in a pre-defeat form, which taken care of intime, can ayert a "defeat.,'

2. non-contentment with lack of things one might wantmore of.

3. creating incidents, or opportunities, to have offensiverelations with nuns, etc.

4. acting in such a way among raity as to cause those withoutfaith not to get faith and for those with faith to lose it.

5. trading or trafficking in merchandise and precious thingslike gold and silver.lust, leading to sexual discharges and to erotic advances.hurting others by calumny, etc.causing injury to others by requiring them to carry excessiveloads, etc.interrupting the progress to "heaven" (sugat ) by breakingthe concord in the Sangha.

104!4p41 and HrurAwA, p. 436; Upasak, Dictionary, p. l5l.105{Jp454K, Dictionary, pp. 240-241.1068A'4T and HrnarawA, Introduction, p. xxxv, and pp. 4g7_4gg.107 upASAK, Dictionary, has a good summary, pp. 223-224, and refers to the

lengthl, description in Cullavagga.108PT"I', vol. 111, p. 222-5-5 to p.223-4-3; in thistranslation from the

Tibetan I have given only the main list with meager expansion for some items.

6.7.8 .

9.


10. interrupting the way of the ascetic (or novice) by refusingprecepts, saying, "Don't tell me!,,

11. not eliminating what is to be eliminated; andwhat should not be eliminated.

eliminating

12. dwelling where one should not dwell; and not dwellingwhere one should dwell.

13. not venerating what one should. venerate, e.g. the prati-moksa; and venerating what one should not venerate.

14. to tell what should be kept secret, e.g. to express thesuperior dltarma (uttaradharma) to one not ordained; and1o conceal what should be told, e.g. not to tell theneophy-tes about the transgressions (apatti) that concern them.

15. to rely upon what one should not rery upon , a.g.on notproperly examined clerical garb; and not to rely uponwhat one should rely upon.

Asanga was pteviously mentioned to have been ordained inthe MDlasarvastivada vinaya; therefore, the foregoing and thefollowing from the vinaya section of his great work should betaken as consistent with that vinaya. He classifies by theirnature (svarupa) ecclesiasticar offenc es (apatt i)as minor, middling,and great, where the Defeats are the great transgressions, thesdr.nghdvasesa the middling kind, and any other the minortransgression. He gives another classification where the Defeatsand the Sdr.nghdvasesa are grave (s. guruka; p. garukdpatti),the infractions (Patayantika) and the pratidesaniya are middling,and the Dusklta is a light one. Classified by agency, he ,uy,what is done through ignorance and heedlessness is a minor trans-gression; what is done through many defilements is a middlinetransgression; and what is done through (deliberate) disrespect iia great transgression. classified by intention, whatever onedoes in a small way when enwrapped by lust, hatred, and delu-sion, is a small (transgression); does in a medium way, is amedium one; does in a great way, is a great (transgiession).classified by points (of instruction), there are also the minor, themiddle, and the great transgression. classified by the numberof monks required for the case, minor transgressions require oneto five; middling transgressions require ten, or twenty, or thirty;for the great one, no number given.ros

'0ePTT, vol. 117, p.224-l-6 to 224-3-2;rhave taken from Tibetan the maindetails of Asanga's remarks.

66 Buddhist Insight

Turning to the confessional, it should be observed that certa.in

offences were never a.dmitted to be atoned for by confessing them.

We have seen the four Defeats (para.iika) as a mandatory expul-sion from the Order. The grave sins that could be handled by

the Sdmgha, and called S. SamghdvaSesa, required suspensiort

and penance, not expulsion. Any others, i.e. the minor trans-gressions, could be atoned for by confessing, also referred to as"pacifying" the sin. According to the Pd:li Vinaya text Mahd-ragga: "If a Bhikkhu, after a threefold proclamation, does notconfess an existing offence which he remembers, he commitsan intentional falsehood.llQ The confessing of sins one by onewas a traditional explanation in Asia for the translation of theterm prdtimok;a by "liberation one by one." Thus I-Tsingwrites: "While thus confessing one's own faults and desiringto be purified, one hopes the sins are expiated being confessed oneby one. To confess sins all at once is not permitted in theVinaya."lrr The settlement of sins susceptible of being handledin this manner is referred to in Pdli as palififiatakararya.lr2 Themonk admits the offence before the assembled Sangha or beforea monk. This is a procedure wider than the confession of minorinfractions. If one restricts the consideration to these minorones, this is probably the situation referred to in the often-citedreport of a J. F. Dickson (lournal of the Royal Asiatic Societyfor 1875) who was allowed to witness a Patimokkha in Ceylonand said, among other things: "After we were seated the priestsretired two and two together, each pair knelt down face to faceand made confession of their faults, one to another, in whis-pers."rra Elsewhere I cited sources for the Mahdyina equivalentto this confession "face to face," pointing out that this abate-ment of sin, tantamount to a calming of the mind, is involved infacing the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession and in other formsof "facing" under specified 114ul.q.rqgsQrgces.l1a

"t *P#kmra (Sacred Books of thelloRHYs Devlos and OrorNeunc, tldEast, XIII, Oxford, 1881), \1, 3, 4 (Uposatha Ceremony and Patimokkha),p. 243.

111f46ar<gsu, tr., A Record, p. 89.112{Jp4s66, Dictionary, p. 130.113Cf. HeNny Ctanxe, WAnREN, Buddhism in Translations (Harvard Uni-

versity Press, 1947), pp. 405-408. For various features of this confessional, seethe Mahavagga (Ruvs Dlvros and OrorunrRc, trs.), 1I 27, l-15, pp. 282-286.

l la{1py WAyMAN, "Purification of Sin in Buddhism by Vision


However, if the monk is guirty even of minor infractions, itis held that concealment, i.e. failure to confess it in the appro_priate circumstances, acts as a hindrance to his success in medi_tation. He is "sitting on thorns," and the text continues: ..Ifthe vinaya-master goes to his place and asks him: .Good

friend,how is the state of your mind? Did you attain samadhi or not?,he replies: 'No samddhi.' The vinaya-master says: .In this world,one who commits an offence cannot conceal it. If at the timewhen one commits the offence for the flrst time, he tries to concealhimself, then the beneficent deities would certainly first come toknow it. So also the Samans and Brdhmans who can know theminds of others.' " 115 By ,.Samaqs,, iS meant the ascetics (p.samz(tq, S. irama4a).

Also in the case of the more grave offences called p. sar.nghd-disesa or S. Sdr.nghdvasesa, it is necessary to approach immediate-ly another monk to inform him of the offence ano make arrange-ment for expiation, in which case the offending monk need onlyobserve the six nights of "Man atta." But concealment of theoffence entails a period of penance called ,,parivasa',

equal to thetime he concealed the original grave offence, in addition to thesix nights of "Manatta." The sar.ngha decides on the limitationsof his movements, etc. during the period of penance. The nunswere treated differently: whether or not a nun conceals the offence,she only undergoes a Mdnatta of a fortnight. The stringencyof the limitations on the monk during this penance period issupposed to suffice for the expiatiol.rre Again, in the period ofMahdyina Buddhism, there is a rite of ripentance associatedwith worship of the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha, as cited: ,,Fullof shame, like a patient with sores upon his eyes, from one toseven days you must worship Buddhas, and especially the nameof the Great compassionate Bodhisattuu Atasugarbha, and youmust wash your body and burn several kinds of incense. ... outof compassion with.iinners this Bodhisattva in all kinds ofshapes appears in their dreams or in samddhi, and with thecintamaryi seal stamps their arms, thus removing the marks of

fession," A study of Kreia, ed. by GsNruN H. sesarr (shimizukobundo Ltd.,Tokyo, 1975), pp. 64-66.

11514p41 and HrnarAwn,, Shan_Chien_p,i_p'o_Sha, p. l7l.116cf. the entries 'parivdsa (I)' and .Mdnatta' in upasak, Dtctionary, pp.

142-144 and pp. 183-184.

68 Buddhist Insight

crime. After having obtained this sign they must return to thecongregation of the monks and explain tlie commandments asbefore."117

117$/avM4rr, "Purification of Sin in Buddhism by Vision and Confession,"pp. 70-71, citing M. W. on Vlsssn's translation from the Kwan KokuzdBosatsu Kyd inhis The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha (Kokazo) in china and Japan(Amsterdam, 1931).

3

ASPECTS OF MEDITATION IN THETHERAVADA AND MAHISASAKA

' INTRoDUcrroN

Monks, if a monk should wish: "May I be agreeable to myfellows in the pure life, liked by them, revered and re-spected," he should be one who fulfills the moral rules(sila), who is intent on calming the mind (cetosamatha)within, whose meditation (jhdna) is uninterrupted, who isendowed with discerning (vipassand), a frequenter of soli-tary abodes (sufifidgdra).

Akankheyy asutta (Digha-Nikdya, I, 33)

All Buddhist sects granted that the truths of Buddhism werediscovered by the Buddha in the course of his meditations, espe-cially beneath the Bodhi-tree at Gayd in India. Thus medita-tion has a paramount role in Buddhism for indicating man'sown ability to attain to truth. of those sects, Theravdda is thewell-known Buddhism still prevalent in various south-east Asiancountries such as Ceylon, Burma, and Thailand. Probably themost famous commentator of this tradition is Buddhaghosawhose fifth century A.D. work the Visuddhimagga is arranged inthree parts in accordance with the Buddhist categories of threeinstructions, that of morality forming the basis for the other two:mental training aimed at samddhi; and insight, leading to the see-ing of things as they really are with full comprehension ofBuddhist truth or the discerning of reality. Bareau has observed

70 Buddhist Insight

that the sect comparable to the Theravdd a that rernained in India

was called the Mahi5dsaka,l and I observed that its later form(the Later Mahi5asaka) had as its most famous son the Buddhist

teacher Asanga (c. 375-430).2 Asanga did not organize his en-

cyclopedic work the Yogdcarablrumi by the three instructions;

but he cherished these instructions in voluminous writ ing that

could easily be put under the headings of those three. It is the

last two instructions, mental training and insight that properly

cover the topic of Buddhist meditation; and this paper must deal

with the two topics, although necessarily stressing the mental

training, called "calming the mind."The literature about Buddhist meditation became quite exten-

sive, especially when taking into account the full regims, the

various techniques and meditation topics, the prcmised fruits,

and the inevitable controversies. Of the extensive coverages on

the textual, rather than interpretive level, Vajirafra4a's Buddlist

Meditatio,rus may be signalled as representative of the Theravd'da

exegesis in the Pdli language and for the Indian schools which

wrote in Sanskrit the extensive treatment preserved in Chinese

and now rendered into French by l-amotte, Le Trait|,a Tome III,

and a section in Tome II. Whcn present-day Buddhist monks

write on Buddhist meditation the treatment amounts to an ex-

position of how to do it, rather than of what is going on. A fine

example is Buddhadasa's Andpanasati.s Western writers have

various interpretations on behalf of their expected readers. For

example, there is Eliade's chapter on o'Yoga Techniques in

Buddhism,"6 using the important passages then available and

bringing in non-Buddhist movements of the Indian tradition.

lANonr BAnrau, Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Vdhicule (Saigon, 1955),p. 34.

2Arsx WAyvtAN, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manusuipt (Berkeley,

1961), pp. 25-29.3PlR.q.v.q,nsna, ValnaNANa MagATHERA, Buddhist Meditation in Theory and

Practice (Colombo, 1962).a6rtgNNe LAMotrE, Le Traite de Ia Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nagarjuna

(Mahaprajfiaparamitaiastra),Tome II (Louvain, 1949), especially pp. 1013-43;

Tome III (Louvain, 1970), especially pp. 1209-1309.sBuoon.loAs.q. BHrxrHv, Anap u nasati (M indful ness of Breathi ng) (Bangkok,

reTr).oMncrl Erlaou, Yoga: Immortality and Freedon (New York, 1958), pp.

162-99.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravada and MahiSisaka 1l

An essay by Cousins, "Buddhist Jhdna,'. '1 is restricted to thesecond instruction, calming the mind, with some modern ob-servations from Southern Buddhist countries. Another essay,by Goleman, "The Buddha on Medit&tion,"8 uses Buddhaghosa'sVisuddhimagga as a Buddhist textual base to make contact withthe "altered states of consciousness" terminology of modernPsychology. These three Western approaches are similar in notpurporting to guide anyone in meditation: they are attempts tograpple with certain technical features of the system which mostinterest the respective authors.

The present article seeks a middle ground: to convey only insummary fashion what is actually done in this classical form ofBuddhist meditation in order that there be room to deal withcertain matters of considerable contemporary interest, such aswhether the meditation brings the yogin to a break with humanreason and whether it results in faculties which a person did nothave in the beginning.

It is also well to mention that most of the Western works thatdeal with Buddhist meditation as a major topic have treated ratherwell the general practices enjoined upon all applicants, such asthe seeking out of a spiritual guide (the kalya1ta-mitrar 'ovirtuous

friend"), and the various restrictions on daily activities, exemplify-ing morality as the base for meditation. These works are fre-quently less useful for defining the specific practices which differfor various beginners and for the various degrees of advancementof a given meditator.

The restrictions on mental and physical acts are ritualistic inthe sense that the usual random movements are being cut down.Even so, the meditation practice is a comprehensible humanpursuit, since many other persons-for example, athletes--haveto follow special regimes with carefulness of diet and sleepinghabits, along with unremitting practice. Musicians too mustseek out good teachers and spend years of perhaps daily practice,ever attentive to avoid faults of performance. And again, onemust take the entire drill; for example, it is no use to stay awake

?L. S. CousrNS, "Buddhist Jhdna: Its nature and attainment according tothe Pali sources," Religion IIl, 2 1973, pp. 115-31.

sDaNrtt GotrMeN, "The Buddha on Meditation and States of Conscious-ness", Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, IV, l, 1972, pp. l-44.

72 Buddhist Insight

in the former and latter parts of night for meclitating, if one is notalso to practice moderation irr food

MtntrlrloN oBJECTS, pARTIcuLARLy rHE ..DEVICES"

The specific practices especially relate to different types ofpersons. The post-canonical Pali Abhidhamma exegesis compileda treatise on different classifications of persons (the puggala-pafifiatti). However, the old passages were sketchy about treat-ing personality differences, and it is rikely that the guru lentguidance that was not always spelled out in the texts. Thevisuddhimagga is content to assign a few meditation objects tocertain persons, six in number, in terms of their .,disposition,'(carita). vajiraffd4a translates :e "disposed to lust, to hate, todelusion, to faith, to intellectuality and agitation." Here,instead of "intellectuality" I render buddhi as ..discrimina-

tion," and instead of "agitation" render vitakka as ,,conjecture,"10

These dispositions are assessed mainly by a person's movements,in his manner of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down (fre-quently called the four postures).1l The spiritual guide, havingdetermined by such signs the predominant disposition of thecandidate, then steers him to an appropriate meditative object.vajirafrdna,12 following Buddhaghosa's works, tabulates the res-pective meditative objects. I have elsewhere given Asanga'ssolution,ls which it should be of interest to compare in part w;thBuddhaghosa's l ineage (pali: p., Sanskrit : S.):

sBuddhist Meditation,p. 9g.10It is difficult to assign a good rendition for vitakka. My suggestion of

"conjecture" (or "specuration") is based on the availabre evidence that theterm (in Sanskrit vitorka) is an abbreviation for .'inquiry and investigation,,(uitarkavicafa) (see later, "progress in theRealm of Form") ofthe type in theRealm of Desire, hence defiled by lust, hatred, and delusion.

nAmong Western thinkers, it is especially Hegel who insisted that characteris revealed by movement; cf. J. B. Bl'LrE, tr., Hege|s phertomenotogy ofMind (London, rev. ed., 1949), p. 349: "The true being of a man is, on thecontrary, his act; individuality is real in the deed.,,

rzBuddhist Meditation, p. ll0.13Wayuau, Analysis, pp. 86-7.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and MahiSdsaka I J

Candidate's

disposit ion

Appropriate meditative objects

Buddhaghosa (Theravida) Asanga (Mahi5asaka)

Lust (raga)

di t to

Revolting objects (P. asubha; Revolting objectsS. aiubha);

Mindfulness of bodies --

Hatred (P. dosa,S. dve;a)

di t to

Four totalities (blue, yellow, red,and white);four Brahmi.-vihdras (love, compa- Love (maitri)sion, sympathetic joy, equanimrty)

Delusion (moha)

Conjecture (P.vitakka, S. vitarka)ra

Mindfulness while breathing Origination in De-in and out (P. dndpdnasati, S. pendence of thisosmrti) condition (idarn-

pratyayata-pratitya-samutpdda)Mindfulness whilebreathingin and out

dit to

Pride (mana) Analysis of the ele-ments (dhatu-prabheda)

Mixed character(sabbocarita\

Six totalities (five elementsplus light);

Four formless realms

Whichever medita-tive object on whichthe yogin has up-surge of rapturels

Faith (P. saddha) Six Recollections (Buddha, etc.)

Discrimination(buddhi't

Mindfulness of death. etc.

.In Asanga's school, the -rOiiuti* oU:.rtr fo. tft. p.ilni ;rth

predominance of lust, hatred, delusion, conjecture, and pride, arecommonly referred to by a word pratipakta, which, along withother translators, I used to render as "antidote";but to whichlnow apply the standard lexical entry of "opponent" or 'oadver-

sary." In short, the meditation on love is not an antidote forracf. Bnxrnu ftANauorr, The path of purffication (visuddhimagga) by

Bhadantacariya Ruddhaghosa (colombo, 1956), p. 103, for the pairing ofmoha and vitakka, including," And just as delusion vacillates owing to sgper-ficiality, so do applied thoughts that are due to facile conjecturing."

rsThis is a teaching from Asanga's Sravakabhumi, as cited jnmy manuscripttranslation from Tibetan, Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real (colum-bia Uuiversity, New York, 1978). Asariga refers to "mixed character" by theterminology "addiction of equal parts" meaning that each of the faultydispositions is of insufficient strength to predominate over the others, and sothe meditative object is indeterminate.

74 Buddhist Insight

hatred, but an adversary meant to supplant hatred in the mind.That is so, because according to this theory the seconct instruction,calming the mind by way of success with a meditative object, aimsto remove the visible tops (the rnanifestation in the consciousmind); while it rs the third instruction, of insight (P. pafifia, S.prajiia), that is required for removrng the traces deep down in themind. But before these traces can be extirpated, it is necessary tosupplant the iratred, etc. from the conscious field. Therefore, inAsanga's school, the same set would not, as in Buddhaghosa's list,include "hAtred," and "faith," and "discrimination"; because"hatred" has a meciitative object meant to supplant i1, while"faith" and "discrimination" have meditative objects meant topromote them.

It is also necessary to speak about the "totalities" (P. kasipa,S. krtsna) frequently referred to as "devices." The Visucldhimaggahas a lengthy treatment of these "devices," far in excess of whatone would expect from the scriptural sources which are quitemeagre. The main ca.nonical source is the Maha-Sakuladdy,i-suttaof Majjhimn-Nika1,aII, 7, ff., which sets forth then ten "totalities"as one of the meditation techniques taught by the Buddha. Thelist is also explained in the Anguttara-I{ikayat'Book of Tens, andit occurs tlice in the Digha-i,likdya as a mere list. However, thePali term ka.silra does not occur at all in the Saryyutta-Ir{ikaya,which is rich in material on meditation.lG The standard ten arethe four colors, blue, yellow, red, and white; the four elements,earth, water, fire, and wind; space and perception (S. vijfrana).The practice was to contemplate the entire world by this "totality"or "device," i.e. all blue, all earth, etc.17 Such a totality seems tobe illustrated by the Fire Sermon: "All things, O monks, are onf i re. . . The eye, O monks, is on f i re; . . . " r4

l6Per ClnottNp Rnvs DAvtos, Samyutta-Nilca),a, Indexes Pdli Text Society,Vol. 54 (Lonclon, 1904).

lTAccording to the brief Buddhist scripture "The log of wood" in Aigu-ttara-Nikaya (The Book of Sixes), E. M. HARn, tr., The Book oJ'the GradualSayings (London, 1952), Vol. lII, pp. 240-41, the monk Sariputta (S.Sariputra) explained to a group of monks, pointing to a large log of wood,that when someone has learned to control his miiid he can be convinced(P. adhimucceyya) that the log is earth, or water, fire, air, beautiful, or ugly,because all those elements are in the log of wood.

r8Cf. HnNny Cr.rnrn Wl,nRrN, Buddhism in Translations (Cambridge,

Mass., 1947), pp. 351-53, translation of "The Fire-Sermon" from the Maha-

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and MahiSisaka 75

Buddhaghosa's generous treatment appeqrs explained by Vajira-

ffana1e in agreement with the Visuddhimagga,zo nlentioning that

the "devices" were employed as a means of induciqg Jhdna (S.

Dhydna).21 By this is meant the Jhiina-s of the Realm of Form

among the three Buddhist realms (Realm of Desire, Realm of

Form, and Formless Realm). As an example, Bapat writes re-

garding the water device,22 "He (Upatissa) also agrees with B.

(Buddhaghosa) in saying a beginner should not practise on natural

sheets of water Such aS ponds, lakes, rivers, ocean, but should

practise on water i1 a bowl or basin, placed in a quiet, solitary

place, neither too dark nor having too much light." C.A.F. Rhys-

Davids writes,2g "We have read of the great lay-mystic, Jacob

Boehme, accidentally falling into self-hypnosis by gazing at a

surface of shining pewter. Thereupon, so he declares, he seems,to behold the inward properties of all things in nature opened to

him.' By certain similar devices (kasiAa) the Indian sought to

obtain similar results systematically." Lounsbery points to their

danger :24 'olt will readily be seen that auto-suggestion played an

important part in this practice, which has been almost abandoned

in Ceylon since the death of a famous Guru three hundred years

ago. The Kasinas are said to be stilt used in Burma."

But this use of the "devices" to induce Jhana, as in Buddha-

ghosa's tradition and as exposed in the foregoing tabulation for

persons of hatred and of mixed character, seems to be a corruption

of Buddhist practice. Thus, Asanga explaiirs in his exegesis of the

vagga of the Pili Vinaya; and WupoI-l, RlHura,, What the Buddha Taught

(Bedford, 1972 reprint), pp. 95-97 , for the equivalent Sfrtra translated from the

Saryyutta-Nikay a.tsBuddhist Meditation, p. 139.zofiaNnrtaort, The Path, p. ll3.21So also in Buddhaghosa's Abhidhamma commentary called Atthasalini;

cf. Pe Maung Tinn tr., which CanortNr Rnvs Dlvms edited and revised,

The Expositor,Yol.I (London, 1958 reprint), p.248, in reference to the kasi4a,

"But why was this method taught? Because it led to the produrction ofjhdna."

22P. V. BAnAt, Vimuttimagga and Visuddhimagga: A Comparative Study

(Poona, 1937), p. 57.2sCaRotrNe Ruvs-Davros, Preface, P. xii, to F. L. Woodward, Manual of

a Mystic (London, 1916).24G. CoNsraNr LouNSBERy, Buddhist Meditation in the Southern School

(New York, 1936), pp. 43-44.

76 Buddhist Insight

Samdhitabhfimi:2s "The bases of Mastery and the bases ofTotality are the path of purilying the Liberations. The Liberationsare classified by liberation from the hindrance of the knowable;they liberate the mind of irdvakas and pratyekabuddhas fromwhatever hindrance of the knowable." Since the Liberationsbegin in the Realm of Form, meant for those who have surmountedthe Realm of Desire, the bases of Totality must begin with theDhydnas where the Liberations begin, and therefore cannot serveto induce Jhdna (Dhyana). Le Traitd26 makes the same point,mentioning that the first two Liberations and the first fourMasteries are contemplations of revolting objects, i.e. the cadaverin decomposition, and are practiced in the First and the SecondDhydna. The Manual of a MysticzT seems to agree because itprecedes the use of the "devices'o by accomplishment of the"mindfulness while breathing in and out" meditation that takesthe meditator out of the Realm of Desire into the Realm of Form;and then the subsequent chapter devoted to the "devices" cons-tantly mentions the Jhdnas, which are of course the divisions ofthe Realm of Fonn. This is technical but irnportant: it showsthe Buddhaghosa's exposition of these 'odeviiJes" permits themto be used by persorls who have not surmounted the Realm ofDesire, because using the devices for the very purpose of thatsurmounting ; and for these persons such "devices" carry somedanger, as suggested by Lounsbery. The danger probably amountsto something too strong for the psyche, just as a strenuous physicalexercise is dangerous if not worked up to by the gradual strength-ening of the muscles.

ThereasonwhyAsanga does not employ the kasi4as in hisSravakabhumi(Stageof the Disciple), although he cloes have materialon these in the Sarnahitabhumi of his Yogacarubhumi, seems tobe that the main task of teaching Budrlhist meditation is to get thedisciple over the great hurdle of the Realm of Desire, with its lust,hatred, and delusion, with its five hindrances (infra), and its 'oacts

of Mira."28 There is also no mention of these devices in mv

2sPhotographic edition of the Tibetan canons (PTT), Vol. 111, p. 10-5-7to p . 11-1-1 .

26l-auorre , Le Traitd, III, p. 1289.2TWooowaRD, Manual, pp. 67 tr.28See in this connection, Jaues W. Bovo, Satan and Mara (Leiden, 1975),

especially Chap. Six "The Deeds of Mira," pp,77-99.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and MahiSisaka 77

manllscript translation from Tson-kha-pa'g large treatment of"Calming the Mind."2e Presumably this is also the reason for thesilence on the topic in the Sarytyutta-Iiikaya of the Pali canon. Thetheory is that by calming the mind, the yogin may transcend theRealm of Desire in which humanit;' is plunged; and when he hasadvanced to the Realm of Forn:r, he can resort to various kinds ofmeditative objects and "devices" that would be contraindicatedfor him while he is still a tyro, a slave of ordinary human nabitsand appetites. When the yogin advances to the Realm of Form,he has new precepts to observe, especially with the Liberatiorrs,the bases of Mastery, and the bases of Totality, which also areinvolved with the Formless Realnr.

But that some persons, by reason of a peculiar constitution cantranscend the Realm of Desire without the regular course of train-ing, has long been recognized. Thus Asanga states in the exegesisof his Srdvakablturniin the Viniicayasarpgrahaqt; of the Yogdcara-bhumi:3o

The domain of magical power either arises from praxis(prayoga) or is attained from birth. Among those, the onearising from praxis is as follows:-the fruit of the cultivationby ordinary persons (prthag.ianu), those in training (iaik;a),those beyond training (aiaiksa), and Bodhisattvas, born inthis world. The one attained from birth is as follows: -the

subsequent attainment from birth after the former recourse tothe cultivation, on the part of those born in the Realm ofForm; the attainment through the porver of merit by the deitiesand certain men who range in the Realm of Desire, for exam-ple, like the fiegendary] King Md:ndhdtr's. Magical power alsobelongs to flying creatures [e.g. Vidyadhara-s] incorporated inthe same categories [the 1wo Realms] and to certain disem-bodied men (preta). There is also the power of gems, mantras,and herbs [respectively], as follows: to create a hypnotic fas-cination, to lay a eurse, or to induce death or a comatose state,and which is called "magical power."

2eThis is a portion of the encyclopedic work Lam rim chen mo by Tson-kha-pa (1357-t4t9), referred to above (n. 15).

soThis passage is found in the Tibetan canon, Derge Tanjur, Sems tsam,Vol. y'i,259a-1, ff.; with the equivalent statement in the Chinese canon,Taisho, Vol. 30, p. 683c-8, ff. However, the Peking Tibetan canon (PTT)is defective at this point, PTT, Vol. ll1, p. 47-2.

Buddhist Insight

A srnrcH oF MEDTTATTvE pRocRESS rN AsaNca.'s scHool.

Here I shall construct an abbreviated accourrt of meditative pro-gress according to Asanga's Yogacarabhumi. There are theseparts: (a) Trying to get beyond the Realm of Desire; (b) Progressin the Realm of Form; (c) Frogress in the Folmless Realm; (d)Further information on the Form and Formless Realms.

(a) Trying to get beyoncl the Realm of Desire. In Asanga'sschocl, there is what is callecl lhe "equipment" (,sarnbhara), arnount-ing to thirteen conditions, one chief and twelve subordinate, asdetailed in his Sravalcabhumi, where he sets forth:31

Among those, if persons have the element of parinirvdna, and,lack defective (organs), but have not approached (the spiritualguides), what are their conditions (pratyaya) for parinirvdna?He said: There are two conditons. What are the two? Chief(pradhana) and subordinate (hma). What is the chief condi-tion? He said, as follorvs- l. the discourse of others domi-nated by the Illustrious Doctrirrc (saclcllmruna) 'and the innerrnethodical rnental orientation (yoniio manaskdra). What isthe subordinate condition? He said: There are numeroussuborclinate conditicns, as follcrvs- 2. personal achievement(dtmasantpat),3. achievement of others (parasampat,\, 4. vir-tuous craving fcr the doctrine (kuialo dlnrmacchandal.t), 5.going forth (pravrqiya), 6. restraint of morality (Sila-sarTtvara),7. restraint of sense organs (indriya-sarTtvara),,8. moderation infood (bhojane mdtrajiiata), 9.practice of staying awake (jagari-k dnuy o ga), I 0. conduct with awareness (sarypr aj anaclvi har i t a).1 l. solitude (prdvivekya), 12. elimination of hindrances (niva-rana-viiuddhi), 13. right dwelling in samddhi (samadhisarynii-raya).

There is no rooln to dilate upon each of those conditions; some ofthem will come into our subsequent discussions. Besides, four ofthe subordinate conditions are especially pointed out in this litera-ture as constituting the "equipment" for both calming and dis-cerning, i.e. for both the second and third instructions. These areltos. 7-10 "restraint of sense organs" through "conduct withawareness."As to the favorable placeto perform the meditations,

slWavnalN, Analysis, pp. 59-60.

Aspects of Mcditation in the Theravdda and Mahi6dsaka 79

the Sutralarnkdra (XIII, 7) gives the main list:32 "The place u'here

the wise man accomplishes has the merits 'good access,' 'good

sett lement, ' 'good soi l , ' 'good conipanionship, ' and'good usage' ."

The theory of overcoming the tremendous power of the realm

of desire is especially in terms of the five hindrances (nivararya)

whicli are in the standard listing: sensuous lust, ill-rvill, torpor and

sleepiness, rnental wandering and regret, and doubt. Ratnakara-

Sdnti states in his Prajfiaparamitdbhdvanopadeia,s3 following the

Saryulhinirntocuna-sutra, Chap. 8: "Here of the five hindrances,'mental wandering and regret' is a hindrance to calming; 'torpor

and sleepiness'and 'doubl' are hindrances to disceming; 'setlsuous

lust' and 'ill-will' are hindrances to both."The yogin, having restrained his senses, being aware of his

conduct, in a place suitable for meditation, meciitates with folded

legs in the former and latter parts of night, resting in the middlepart. His spiritual guide had previously advised him on a medita-

tive object, and how to avoid the faults of meditation. F{e is sup-posed to stick with this rneditative object, without thinking about

it or using discursive thought toward it, until solne measure of

success appears. Of the main faults, the two most troublesomeones are the scattering(auddltatya) or fading (laya) of the medita:tive object. The Bhavandkrama 1 states:34

When, overcome by torpor and sleepiness, and because theapprehension of the meditative object is not vivid, one's mindfades, then he should dispel the fading by the contempiationof the idea of light and by a rnental orientation toward a glad-

dening entity, the merits of the Bucldha, and so on. Thereafter,he should apprehend that same meditative object more firmly.

Or, again, from the same work:

When he notices his rnind scattered from time to time throughremembrance of former laughter and delight, then he pacifies

the scattering through a mental orientation to a sober (mentally

aroused) topic, such as impermanence. Thereupon, he should

s2SvrvaIN Ldvt, ed., Asanga: Mahayana'Sutralarykara (Paris, 1907), p. 86.33PTT, Vol . 114, p. 235-3.saThe Bhavanakrama citations are drawn from my manuscript translation

of Tsori-kha-pa's "Calming the Mind" (n. 15, above). For KamalaSila's

Bhavandkrama I, see Glusnppl Tucct, Minor Buddhist Texts, Part II (Roma,

1958), Chap. 2 "The Contents of the First Bhavanakrama."

80 tsuddhist Insight

make an atteinpt to engage that same meditative obiect withoutinst isat i . - ' i r of the mind.

Also. B lt drcncTl; rama 11 states :At the rirne there is no fading or scattering, one notices reposeof rnind rorvard that meditative object; then one should relaxthe effort and be equable;then one should abide (in that state)for as long as he r,vishes.

.{cc.rrclrns to the ,irdvakabltu,ti, there are nine stages of thoughttlratiorr (cittasthiti) from the initial fastening of the mincl to am:'ditation object to the point where the mind, after learning toavcid the various rnajor faults, is made to flow one-pointedly(stage rro. B), and finally has a natural concentration (samadhi) inan automiitic manner with lack of effort (stage no. 9). There areinstructions going lvith each one of the nine stages.s5 But evenif one gets to the ninth stage, it does not necessarily constitute asurmounting of the Realm of Desire to arrive at a stage of equi-poise (somapatti) in the Realm of Form. why so? According tothe Rlumi-vastu (part of the yogiicdrabhilnti):86

why is it that only it is called oostage of equipoise," while anysingle area (of mind) belonging to the realm of craving is not?As follows-That samadhi is accomplished with lack of regret,the highest rapture, the cathartic, and pleasure.BT However,the one that ranges in craving is not that way. lstill,) there isno lack of thinking-volition that approaches right doctrine inthe realm of craving.

But then, how is one to know if he is surmounting the Realmof Desire, if gaining this effortless one-pointedness of mind doesnot shou,it?38 The reply is that it is also necessary to have whatrs called the cathartic (prairabdhi), especially shovrn by a service-abilitl' of bociy-an animation and lightness, ancl a serviceabilitv

35As ertensively set forth in "Calming the Mind".36As c i ted in "Calming the Mind, , .3;Cf. Cousr\s, "Buddhist Jhana." pp. 120-22, for an eraborate discussion

of the meditati i 'e "rapture" (5. prit i) by its pli i form ptti.ssrherefore one must now correct Erraor, yoga, p. r69, "Real Buddhist

meditation begins with experiencing the four psychic states called jhanas(cf. Skr. dhyana)," since one may not have attained the Jhana states evenwhen having achieved one-pointedness of mind by elimination of faults ofmedi tat ion.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and Mahi6dsaka 8l

of mind that prevails without hindrance upon the meditative ob-ject by an exchange (parivftti) of mental-concomitant natures.And this has a portent, as the Sravakabhumi states:3e

A short time before the obvious cathartic of mind and body

and the single area of mind become easy to discern, there

occurs a portent (pfirvanimitta) of that, the appearance of a

weight on the head, and this is not a sign of harm. No soonerdoes this occur, than the mind contamination in the categoryof defilements that interrupt the joy of elimination, is (itself)

elirninated; and, as its opponent [or, supplantor], the service-ability of mind and the cathartic of mind arise.

And this cathartic is a kind of wind, according to the Sravaka-bhumi:

As a result of its production, the great elements (mahabhuta),

urged by the wind, and concordant with the production of thecathartic of body, course in the body. By ree-son of theircoursing, any contamination (dauglhulya) of body disappears.Also, the whole body is filled with its opponent, the catharticof body, as though it were a radiance.

And the sarne wol'k states:

Furth.ermore, when one has emerged (from that samddhi) andis occupied with his (ordinary) mind, some measure of thecathartic continues in his body and mind. The mental orienta-tionos marks and signs consistent therewith should be under-stood as pure.

The late Mongolian Lama, Dilowa Gegen Hutukhtu, once toldme that if one does the procedure correctly, it takes about sixmonths to get to this attainment" called the calming of mind(cetoflamatha) within. This in short is the success in the meditativeobject, without discursive thought, without deliberating it at all.

(b) Progress in the Reaim of Form. According to Buddhisttraditions, to become a Buddha one must pass through the fourDhydnas of this realm.a0 The calming already delineated means

seThe following citations from the Sravakabhumi are all translated in thecontext of the manuscript "Calming the Mind".

a0ANon6 BAREAU, Recherches sur Ia biographie du Buddha dans les Sufta-pilaka et les Vinayapilaka anciens (Paris, 1963), pp. 69-71, points out that allfive Buddhist traditions that he examined agree that the four Dhydnas

82 Buddhist Insight

the yogin has atta.inod the threshold of the First Dhyana.. At that

time, he can procced further through the varior-rs divisions of the

Realm of Form and the Fornrless Realm, even up to the surnmitof existence and still not be liberated from the cyclical flolv(sarysara). But, it is taught, if he combines calming with discern-ing (the union of the two) he can attain liberation from the bond-age of cyclical flow. The value anyway of proceeding to a higherstate, even without the wherewithal of liberation lrom saqnsdra,is that the yogin's atta.inment of a realm gives him the good fortuneof possible birth among the gods of that realm.al

Now, suppose the yogin proceeds through the various states ofthe Realm of Fonn and the Formless Realm. It should be noticedthat the basic staternents for each state were established in theancient Buddhist canon, but in post-canonical tirnes, presumablyto resolve conflicts of scriptural passages, each one of those states,except for the bltavdgra (summit of existence). was divided intotwo parts, called in Sanskrit the "threshold" (sdmantaka) and"main part" (maula or rnauli), and in Pnli the "access" (upucdra)and "full concentration" (appana).a2 In such a division the term"attainment" (samapatti)-which I frequently render as "equi-poise"-stands for the "main parl" of "full concentration," andthere are ei-qht of these (four in the Realnl of Form, and four in theFormless Realm), with a ninth one sometimes added for the"summit of existence."

The four such two-part stares of the Realm of Forrn are usuallyreferred to as the four Dhydnas (in Sanskrit) or four Jhanas (inPali), and Asanga includes them under "right dwelling in samddhi."I now render the four statements from the old Buddhist canon.along with comments from Asanga's school.as

"Right dwelling in samddlti" (I) : Separatedfi'om dcsires (kama),separated from sinfiil and unvirtuous natures, with inquiry

d. Jha*) a*Jhe preparatory phase for the great enlightenment, and thensets forth his reservations about the historicity of the tradition.

4lAsanga's Sravakabltfimi, PTT, Vol. 110, p. 121-3; and KaruneshaShukla, Sravakabhumi of Acarya Asariga (Patna, 1973), pp. 468-69.

42For the Pdli terms, cf. Cousins, "Buddhist Jhdna," p. 118 and note;Buddhaddsa, Anapanasati, p. 37.

a3By Asanga's school, I mean especially the treatment in his SqmAhitubhumiand Srdvakabhumi (Fourth Yogasthdna), both being portions of his great

Yogacarabhumi.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravada and MahiSdsaka 83

(vitarka) and investigation (vicdra), haviTtg attained the FirstDhydna , he dwells in the rapture (priti) and pleasure (sukha)arising from the separation.

In the Sravakabhilmi, Asanga explains "he dwells" as "up toendeavoring to reach seven days and seven nights,"ca for whichthe Japanese trarrslation notes that seven days is the limit formaintaining strength while refraining from morsel food.as Also,the chosen meditative object is unsteady (vyagra).ao In theSamahitabhumi Asanga states that in the First Dhydna the bodyhas an outer light like a gem.a1

"Right dwelling in samqdhi" (II): Through allaying inquirlt andinvestigation, through inward serenity, through continuitl, oftlnught, he accomplisltes and dwells in the Second Dh1;fi11o whichis vtithout inquir.v or investigation, and wltich has rapture andpleasure arising .from sanfidhi.

Now the meditation object is steady, and the mental orientationis "without interruptions" by avoiding the faults of inquiry andinvestigation. Caroline Rhys Davids, following the Theravada,says:aB "The discursive intellection of the First Jhana, troublingthe ceto [the mind], as waves rendering water turbid, has in theSecond Jhina sunk to rest." The Samdhitabhumi explains the" inward serenity o' as mi ndfulnes s (s mr t i), awareness (s arpp r aj any a),and equanimity (upeksd). Here, the body has an outer light likethat of a flame.ae

"Right dwelling in samddhi" (III): He dwells with equanimityafter losing the feeling of rapture. futindful and aware he ex-periences pleasure by way of body, just as the one to whom thenobles referred, "Equable and mindful he dwells in pleasure."He accomplishes and dwells in the Third Dhydna which is with-out rapture.

44SHuKLA, Sravakabhumi, p. 451; yavad akaik;amanah saptardtriqn-aivasdni.

a'Kokuyaku Daizdkyd, Rombu, Vol. 7, p. 144.4oSnurua, Sravakabhumi, p. 451-6.47PTT, Vol. 109, p.278-1.48Canornqr A. F. Rnvs DAvIos, A Buddhist Manual of Psychological

Ethics (London, 1900), p. 46, note.4ePTT, Vol. 109, p.278-1.

84 tsuddhist Insight

The Srdvakabhunti explains the words "he experieri.ces pleasure byway of body": "with the body of form anc! the body of rl ind heexperiences the pleasure of feelings which is tl-re plcasure of thecathartic."5o Here he avoids the fault of rapture (.prit i). The"nobles" a.re the Buddhas and their disciples. According to thesamdlitabhtuni, this is the best place for the santrTcihiof knovrledgeand vision (jiianaderiana) and the Diamond -like,;arndcihi (va.iropa-masamddlti).5l Also, by sayii-rg in the same placo that love (maitrt)best accomplishes the pleasure of the Third Dhyana, Asa.nga mayhave hinted at what his brother vasubandhu rvas to rnention in acomment on a Mahdyina scripture, namely, tha.t the futureBuddha defeated the "son-of-the-gods" Mara by the samatlhi oflove (mairri) during the celebrated assault cf Mara.b2 In tli.is case,the 'oearth-touching gesture" would go r,vith the "bocly of form"while the "gesture of samapatti" would go with the ,,body ofmind."s3 Besides, Vasubairdhu, Abhidhctrmakoia, Chap. VIII,says this Dhyana is "shaken by its excellent pleasurs.,,6a Andin the legend, earth shook ar the future Buddha's tcuch. Thiswould accord rvith the general Iirdian theory that it is preciselyrvhen natural forces are inimical that the soiritual victory is possi-ble (thus during the stress of the full-rnoon, the clin'ractic of sun-down, etc.),55 so also rvhen the Dhyana is shaken by its excellentpleasure.

"Right dwelling in santddhi" (IV): Tlrough elirnination ofpleasure, through former elinination of pain and vanishing of

60Rfipakayena manaltkdyena veditasukharp ca prasrabdhisukhar\ pratisam-vedayate; shukla, srdvakabhumi, p.453-9. improperly separates vedita fromsukharyt.

51PTT, Vol. 109, p.278-3.52ArBx wnylaaN, "studies in Yama and Mh.ra," Indo-Iranian Journal,

Vo l . I I I , No.2, 1959,p.116.53The reference is of course to the celebrated incident in the Buddha's life

of the "Assault of Mdra," when the Buddha appealed to the "authority', or"measure" (prama4a) of earth by touching it with his right hand, while hisleft hand indicated by the "equipoise gesture" (sarncipatti-mudrtl) his n-reditativeattainment, an incident which long ago I attempted to interpret, per "studiesin Yama and Mdra," op. ci t . , pp. 117-18.

Eal,outs or La vanfn PoussrN, L'Abhidharmakoia de vasritandlzr, Septidmeet huitidme chapitres (Paris, 1925), p.209.

55cf. Arrx wAyrrrl.N, "climactic Times in Indian Mythology ancl Rerigion,"History of Religions Vol. 4, No. 2, Winter 1965, pp. Z9S-318.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravada and MahiSdsaka 85

satisfaction and dis,catis-factiort, havfutg attained the FourthDhyana, he abides in the purification of equanimity and mind-

ftilness free from both pleasure and pain.

Accorcling to the Sravakabhumi, this Fourth Dhydna has eliminat-ed the pleasure that characterized the Third Dhyana. Formerly,the Second Dhydna eliminated pain; the Third Dhydna eliminatedsatisfuction; the First Dhyiina eliminated dissatisfaction.sG How-ever, Sthirarnati, subcommentary on Abhidharmakoio, Chap. VIII,disagrees, presenting an Abhidharma tradition that both painand dissatisfaction ceass in the First Dhydna.57 Besides it says inthe Sravakabhilmi: the Fourth Dhyana is accornplished by avoid-ing the fault of inhalation and exhalation;58 and consciousness(citta) remains unshaken.se Le Traitb agrees that it is citta whichis unshaken.6o

It will be observed that the four Dhydnas divide into two groups

of trvo, since the first two Dhyd.rlas al'e realized by the mind, andthe meditative object is respectively unsteady and steady; whilethe last t,,vo Dhyanas are realized by the body, and are respectively

shaken or unshaken by pleasure. For these considerations, itshould be recognized that "pleasure" (suklta) has both corporealand mental varieties, while "rapture" (priti) is only mental. Also,the first two Dhydnas, according to the Abhidltarmakoia and LeTrait6,6\ go together by their association with the first two Libera-tions and first four bases of Mastery-in which association theirmeditation object is the visible form of the realm of desire, espec-ially the revolting object.

Furthermore, according to both the Theravada and MahiSdsaka,all four of the Dhyd:nas have a single area of thought, because that

56Cf. Ssurra,, Sravakabhfimi, p. 454-8-11.5?PTT, YoL 147, p. 265-2.58SHUKLA, Sravakabhumi, p. 454.16.

seSo reads the Tibetan: PTT, Vol. 110, p. 119-l-4,withthewordserns(con-

sciousness), and included in the Sanskrit as properly edited at this point by

Shukla (p. 454.18-19): cittaryt...aniryjyaryt santi;thate. But then he gives a

wrong reading, sarvaiijitayatenat.n, while the Bihar Society's manuscript which

he used (l3A-7,last line) reads: sarvveftiitapagatatn, verified by the Tibetan,g'yo ba thams cad dan bral bas na,"being free from all shaking."

6ol-auottp, Le Traitd, II, p. 1031.ol l -euorrr , Le Trai td, I I I , p. 1289.

86 Buddhist Insight

is the meaning of "Dhyana" (P. Jhdna) here.62 Besides (Samdhita-blumi), each of the four Dhydnas is "one's partial nin,d7e"(anganirvdna), because it eliminates only the side of defilement andIacks the side of certainty.os To avoid thc attachment to one ofthe Dhydnas as "Nirvarla," in Asanga's school one contemplatesthe lower planes as 'ocoarse" and the higher ones as "subtle" or"calm"; and is thus motivated to emerge from one plane and goto the next one.6a

Besides, the Buddhist theory of the reahns places at the top ofthe Fourth Dhyd:na what are called the "pure abodes," five innumber. The highest one, ca.lled Akaniqtha, is wherc certainBuddhist traditions say Sakyamuni was enlightened. Finally, itshould be mentioned that each of the four Dhyarras is divided intothree degrees corresponding with the gods of the realni beingordered into three groups. Thus, there are twelve such divisronsin the basic four Dhydnas, to which the five pure abodes, eachwith their own gods, are added to make the total of seventeenlevels in the Realm of Form.

(c) Progress in the Formless Realm. For the yogin prcceedingin the Formless Realm, the states are explained by these passagesfound in the Srayakabhtini:65

(l) He (the Lord) said: When one has transcended in every waythe ideas of form (rupasaryjiia-), wherr the ideas of impediment(pratighasaryjfiO have abated, and when one pays no attention toideas of diversity (ndnatva-sarnjfin), one perceives space as infinite,accomplishes and dwelis in the base of infinite space (atcaianantya-yatanam upasampaciya vihar,a/i). Now, he said, '.when one hastrapscended in every way the idea of form," because there wouldbe conviction of space when the ideas of color-blue, yellow, red

62This is the traditional implication of the expression "dwells,' or ,,abides,'used in the traditional statements of the four Dhyanas. More technically,Asanga defines the term dhyana in the samahitabhumi (prr, vol. 109,p'269-5.1):"Sincethereistherightdirected thinking which purifies conscious-ness pursuant to the (instruction of) mental training (adhicitta), there is theterm 'dhyana'." Cf. my Inrroduction.

63PTT, Vol. 109, p. 269-5-8, to p. 270-1.64WavuaN, Analysis, pp. 126-29.65SHUKLA, sravakabhumi, pp. 455.6, ff.; Bihar Society's manuscript of the

Sravakabhumi t3B-7, ff.; edition in Tibetan canon, pTT, Vol. ll0, p. 119-1-6, ff.

Aspects of Meditation in tho Theravida and Mahisdsaka 87

and white-disappear,oc and when one is freed from ald trans-

cends the clinging to weariness. Ftre said, "when the ideas of im-

pediment have abated," because when they have abated, one is

freed from the numerous and diverse ideas of hindrafice (avarana-

saanjiia) that are assembled by colors. He said, "when one pays

no attentiol to ideas of drversity," because when one does not

have them, ideas concerned with accumulation (aupacayikd

saryifrd), such as ideas of food, drink, vehicles, clothes, adorn-

ments, houses, gardens and glades, armies, mountains, etc.' and

one'S possessions in every sense, do not operate. The Samdhita-

bhunti6? adds that the best compassion (lcarulta) would be in the

base of infinite space; since compassion seeks to free the sentient

beings from their manifold sufferings.(2) One gets to the infinity of perception base (r,ylidnanantydya'

tana) by that very perception that was convinced of the space with

the infinite aspeat. The Santdhitabhumios adds that the best sym-

pathetic joy (mudila) would be in this base; because here one can

perceive whatever beings are happy, have attained, and So on, and

have syrnpathetic joY with them.(3) One emerges from the base of infinite perception by search-

ing whether there is another object-support (alambana) different

from perceptio n (viifiana), whether with form or formless; and not

finding such an object-support, one transcends the base of infinite

perception with its threshold and basic part. Being convinced

ihut th.r. is no other object-support, one is convinced about only

the idea of nothing-at-all (akificana-sarfifid). Frequently repeat-

ing the conviction of that idea one transcends the threshold of

nothing-at-all, accomplishes and dwells in the main part of the

nothing-at-all base (atcificanydyutana). The samdhitabhilmi$s

adds that this is the outer limit for those with non-fluxional mind

(anasrava-citta) and that it is the best place for those with equani-

nrty (upekpa).(4) Then he emerges from the base of nothing-at-a11. As to

66Since "form" (rupa) covels both "shap e" (sarpsthdna) and "Color" (varpa),

in the Formless Realm colors also disappear. Observe that these colors in the

same order are the traditional mention of the four color kasilta-s.67PTT, Vol. 109, P. 278-3-3-68PTT, Vol. 109, P. 278-3-8.6epTT, vol. 109, p.278-3-8 to 278-3-1. It is worthwhile to give the chinese

reference, Taisho Vol. 30, p. 338b-27.

88 Buddhist Insight

the idea of the base of nothing-at-a.ll, one possesses the idea ofcoarseness (auddrika-surltjfiin) and the idea of (eventual) trouble(ddinava-saryfifiin),so turns away from the idea of the base ofnothing-at-all and transcends it. Therefcre, there is no idea (naiva-sarpjfia) (of the base of nothing-at-all). But also, one proceeds ina subtle manner in an idea r,vhose object-support (alarnbana) isimageless (animitta). Therefore, there is no lack of an idea(nasarfifia). Being convinced that it is a base (ayatana) oneaccomplishes and dwells in the base of neither idea nor no-idea\naivasary{fia-ndsaryjiidyatana). Asanga mentiorrs that the ordi-nary person (prthagjana) has the "equipoise without idea"(asarfifii-samapatti) in this base;while the noble ones wish for thequiescent abode and so emerge frcm the base of neither idea norno-idea, to reach the cessation equip oise (nirodhasamapatti)-andthose who reach it are the Arhats. Asanga does not identify thecessaticn equipoise here with the item in other texts of "cessationof feelings and ideas" (satyjfiaveditunirodha); but he does mentionthis, what others call the "ninth samdpatti", in the Sqmdhita-bhunil as the eighth I-iberation, with the statement of the ancientscripture: "having directly realized with the body the cessation offeelings and ideas, he drvells therein."

(d) Further information on the Fonl arrd Formless Realms.Asanga has a remarkable statement in the Srarakabhunii aboutthe respective appearance of the body in the reakn of form incomparison with the formless realm:?0

Among (those states), the appearance shown by the body atthe time of equipoise in the Dhyinas is like entenng subter-ranean chambers and at the time of equipoise in the formlessrealms is like rising to the sky.

This suggests that the usual Western manner of listing the clivisionsof the Realm of Desire, Realm of Form, and Fornrless-as thoughthese were successively layered upwards-does not appraise themrightly. One is not really going anywhere, because calming of themind is an inward process; and still the yogin's body (if orie has

ToBihar Manuscript, 134-8. 4b: I tatra dhyanasamapattikale adhorasa-talapraveSavat / klyasar.nprakhydnalingam / arupyasamdpattikdle 6ka6ot-patanavat /. Compare Srturt"a, Sravakabhumi, p. 458.16-18. Tibetan atPTT, Vol. 110, p. 119-5-7-8.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravada and MahiSasaka

the "eye" to see it) exhibits those various features ("like a"like & flarne").zr

89

gefll,"

The theory of the yogin's attainments in the Realm of Formand Formless Realm is further clarified by ancient Buddhist scrip-tural passages about the Liberations, bases of rotality, and basesof Mastery.zz Asanga summarizes the Liberations (vimoksa)at the beginning of the Saniahitablurni:?g

l. Having form, he sees form. This is the first Liberation.2. Having the idea (sa,jiiin) that he is formless personall.y,

he sees exterior forms. This is the second Liberation.3. Having directly realized with the body the Liberation, he

accomplishes it and dwells in it. This is the third Liberation.4, 5,6,7,8. Having accompl ished 4. the base of inf in i te

space, 5. the base ofinfiniteperception,6. the base of nothing-at-all,7. the basc cf neither idea ncr nc-idea, and g. havingdirectly realized with the body the cessation of feelings andideas, he dwells therein. This is the fourth through eighthLiberations.

As to the bases of rotality (krtsnayatana), Asanga summarizesthem in the exegesis of his Samdhitabhilmi:1a

The cultivation by the yogin of the ten bases of rotality per-forms five deeds. What are the five?-l. By the earth totality, etc. up through the white totality(eight in all) he aoccmplishes the ncbre magical power (aryi-Tddhi) of magical manifestation and transmutation of substance.2. By the base of space totality, he accomplishes the noblemagical power of coming and going.3. By the base of perception totality, he accomplishes themerits of " samadhi purifying others" (ara4d-samadhi), "know-ledge of aspirations" (praaticthi-jfiana), and the four ..special

knowledg es" (p r at is atpv i C).7 E

zrrhis shows the difficulty of accepting Goleman, o.The Buddha on Medi-tation," Table 1, pp.30-31, on his imputed physiological differences of thesestates. For how is one to know which state the yogin is in, unless one hasthe "eye" for it?

72For the literature, see Lauorrr , Le Traitd,III, chap. xxxlv, pp. l2gl, ff.73PTT, Vol. 109, p. 276-2-5 ff.74PTT, Vol. 111, p. 10-5-3 ff.z5cf. La v,c.rrfn PoussrN, L'Abhidharmakoia, Septidme, pp. g5 ff. where it

is said that the three which Asanga mentioned are in common between the

90 tsuddhist lnsight

4. Upon accomplishing the base of perception totality, he

accomplishes the Liberation in the base of nottring-at-ail and

the Liberation irr the base of neither idea nor no-idea.

5. On the basis of that accomplishment, he is equipoised in

the Liberation which is the cessation of feelings and ideas,

comprised by the supreme stat ion.

The traditional Buddhist statement of the first base of Mastery

(abhibhval,at ana) reads :

Having the iclea of form personallY, he sees external forms,

as small, of good and bad color. He has this idea: "Mastering

those fornts, I know them; mastering them, I see them'"

This is the first base of MasterY.

Substituting the expression "large" for "small," one has the state-

ment of the second base of Mastery. According to the Samahita'

blu.-tmi,16 small forms are sentient beings, tools, etc.; large forms,

houses, tetnples, etc. Substituting in the first two statements,

"Having the idea that he is formlcss personally" for "having the

idea of form personaliy" one has the third and fourth bases

of N{astery. For the fiith through eighth bases of Mastery, the

statemetrt be-sins rvith "Having the idea that he is formless per-

solaily, he sees external forms as blue" (or yellow, red, and white,

respectively).There are some problems about dovetailing the three lists.

According to the Santdhitabhumi,TT the first Liberation has the

mental orientation toward forms, "f was born in the Reahn of

Desire and achieved freedom of craving toward desires, but am

not free from the craving toward fortns (of the Realn of Form)."2e

This Liberation is correlated with the first two bases of Mastery.

Buddha and the aryas,but here associated with the Fourth Dhydna, in contrast

with Asanga's assignment of them to the Formless Realm, the base of infinite

perception. Of these terrns, the praqidhi-ifiana is a type of knowledge of the

future; and the four "special knowledges" ale of entities (artha), scriptural

elements (dharma), denotation (nirukti), and eloquence (pratibhana).

zoPTT, Vol . 109, p.276-4-7.7?PTT, Vol . 109, p. 276-2-2,3 'zsThis seems to be involved in a disputed point among the Buddhist sects

aS Bareau, Les sectes p. 267, summarizes, "Il y a riiparaga dans Ie seul,

rupadhatu," meaning that craving for forms is restricted to the Realm of Form,

which the Andhaka and the Sammatiya sects concurred in, and the Theravida

rejected.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and MahiSdsaka 9l

Then, tl'le second Liberaticn has the idea, "I was born in the Realmof Desire and am free from the craving toward forms, but havenot reahzed the formless equipoise." This Liberation is correlat-ed with the next two bases of Mastery. The correlation with thebases of Totality is more controversial, but Asanga states:?e"Among them, the formal ones (rupin) are totality equipoises ofthe lower Realm of Form." Now "fornl" (rupa) in Buddhismis the four elements and their derivatives; thus, it is certain thatAsanga associates the first four Totalities (earth, etc.) with thefirst two Dhydnas. Furthermore, the second group of fourtotalities, the color ones, agree with the fifth through eighth basesof Mastery, involved with the third Liberation. But there was acontroversy over placing the third Liberation, since both theThird and Fourth Dhyanas are directly realized by the body.The Maha-Parinibbdna-sutta described this third Liberation as"pleasant" (subha), so it would be natural to conncct it with theThird Dhydna whose deities are called the "pleasant' ' (p. subba,S. iubha) deities. However, Vasubandhu (Abhibharmalcoia, YIII,32c) gives the Abhidharma tradition that the Ttrild Dhylna isshaken by its excellent pleasure an<l hence is not a place of Libera-tion;and so this Liberation belongs to the Fourth Dhydna (at thetop of which the Buddha is reputed to have attained Parinibbdna).Asangaso raises the question of where it is to be located, and" asso-ciates it with the purification of equanimity and mindfulness, andso places it in the Fourth Dhyina. On the other hand, Vajira-frana81 points out that the ccmmentary on the Mahd-parinibbana-sutta mentions that the Buddha's skillfulness in the particularbases of Mastery that deal with the fcur color-kasina objecls "wasthe basis of his fearlessness even at the sight of Mara." In thelight of my previous discussion (based on Asanga's and Vasu-bandhu's Mahiyana works), associating the Buddha's defeat ofthe "son-of-the-gods" Mara with th.e Third Dhyana, tr find here asupport (against Asanga.'s and vasubandhu's Abhidharrna-typecomments) for associating the third Liberation with the ThirdDhydna. But this solution has the demerit of allotting no Libera-tion to the Fourth Dhyana. It seerns that a solution which woultj

zesamdhitabhfimi, PTT, vol. 109, p. 276-5-5.sosamahitabhilmi, PTT, vol. 109, p. 276-3-4, ff.stBuddhist Meditqtion, p. 481.

92 Buddhist Insight

allorv the greatest compatibil i ty with all the foregoing positions,

is to allot the third Liberation, r,vith its prcrnotiolal yoga of four

bases of Mastery associatecl witn colors, and the equivalent bases

of Totality, to both the Third and Fourth Dhydnas. Then there

would be Liberations corresponcling to all the four Dhyanas as

well as to all the formless states.

Another correlation with the Form and Formless Realms, that

is apparently independent of the Liberations along with their

bases of Mastery and Totality, concerns a remarkable passage in

Asanga's Samahitabhumi.sz He raises the question, "When one

has the cessation equipoise, how do the three kinds of 'motiva-

tions' (sarytskara) sequentially cease?" And he answers:

There is both practice (carya) and station (uilwra). Arnong

these, at the time one is involved with practice, there is also

discourse, because that is the verbal motivati on (uaksaryskara)

which is the act of the First Dhyina. At the time one enter-

prises stations, since one is equipoised in the Second Dhydna

and subsequent stations in succession, they (the three "motiva-

tions") cease successivelY.

He raises the question, "If the thought (citta) and mentals

(caitasikadharma) of the one in equipoise cessation ceased, how

would he avoid a separation of 'perception' (uiifiana) and body?"

And he answers:

There is no absence of "store-consciousness" (alayauijfiana)

controlled by the seed of evolving perception (prattrttiuiifiana)

in his non-altering formal sense organs-because this is the

true nature of the coming event.

There is no doubt that Asanga here refers to the three kinds of

"motivation" which the Arthauiniicaya-sutra8r assigns to the

second member of Dependent Origination (pratityasamutpada).

The three, of body, speech, and mind, cease during the succession

of "stations" (uihdra), which therefore begin with the Second

Dhyana. The manner of ceasing is clear from the traditional

82PTT, Vol. 109, p. 281-1-4 ff.sgThe portion of this sfitrathat is relevant here is included in the fragment

published by Alfonsa Ferrari in 1944 in Atti Reale Della Accademia D'Italia,

Roma,serie Settima,vol. V,fasc. 13. InN. H. SAMT,INI, Tlrc Artlnviniicaya'

sfitra and its Commentary (Nibanrlhana) (Petna, I97I), the passage is in the

text, pp. 7-8.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and MahiSAsaka 93

Buddhist statements of the realms. Thus.the Second Dhydnaeliminates the fault of inquiry (uitarka) and investigation (uicdra)that was present in the First Dhyana, and so "motivation ofspeech" ceases. The Fourth Dhydna eliminates the fault of in-halation and exhalation, so "motivation of body" (kaya-sarytskara)ceases. Finally, the summit of existence (bhouagra) eliminatesfeelings and ideas, and so "motivation of mind" (manaft-sarytskdra)ceases.sa But this third kind of cessation of "motivation" doesnot constitute a radical separation from ordinary consciousnessaccording to Asanga. So Falk is right in saying,85 "In primitiveBuddhist ti jfianavada the notion of alayavijfiana is foreshadowedin the conception of citta:wteno:uiiifiana (synonyms in Paliliterature) as origin, source, and essence of all the dhammas(Dhp. 1)." She refers to Dhammapada 1, including: "The natures(dhatnma, S. dharma) are preceded by manas, have mqnas as chief,are made of manas." By mentioning the 'onon-altering formalsense organs" Asanga alludes to a celebrated Buddhist legend,that at the time of convoking the second Buddhist council theArhat Kubjita, being in the cessation equipoise, did not hear thegong. Kubjita's ear organ did not alter; and yet when he emerg-ed from his cessation equipoise, a deua informed him of the cir-cumstances. Asanga's equivalent to the "deue" is the yogin'sown o'store consciousness" (dlayauijfidna) controlled by the seedof evolving perception-a seed which holds futurity. The storycontinues that Kubjita, by virtue of his magical power (rddhi),then "flew" to the meeting.86

The tabulation will sholv the foregoing correlations, whichonly in the case of the Third Dhyana has a contribution of myown.

8aAccording to the ArthaviniScaya-sutra, when "motivation of mind" ceases,so must cease the volition (cetana) of an impassioned thought (rakta), of ahating thought (dvista), of a deluded thought (mu/ha). Moreover, LAuorrr,Le Traitd,III, p. 1299, when feelings and ideas cease, the tradition has it thatalso all thoughts (citta) and mentals (caitasika-dharma) cease.

SsMnnvra FALr, Natna-rupa and Dharma-rupa (University of Calcutta,1943), p. 85.

86For the story, see for example, Ferdinand D. LsssrNc and Anx WAyMAN,Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras (The Hague, 1968),o . 6 5 .

Buddhist Insight

Eigfri**."G". .t"ti"*t fttl ara) of eqr-ripoise (samapatti)

VIHARA8

SUMMIT OF EXISTENCE (bhavagra)

(freqtrently called the "ninth santapatti")

Cessation of ideas and feelings:cessation of "motivation of mind":eighth Liberation.

FORMLESS REALM

7 Base of neither idea nor no-idea:seventh Liberation.6 Base of nothing-at-all:sixth Liberation; the best place for those

with equanim*y (upek;a).5 Base of infinite perception:fifth Liberation; perception Totality,

with the four special knowledges, etc.4 Base of infinite space:fourth I-iberation; space Totality, with magic

power to come and go.

REALM OF FORM

3 3 Fourth Dhyana:,E unshaken by pleasure-cessat ion

)o f "n ro t i ua i i on o f body"c

2 lTh i rd Dhydna:Sshaken by pleasure)

Third Liberation; bases ofMastery 5-8; bases of Totality5-8; 5. b l t re, 6. yel low, 7. red,8 . wh i te

I :SSecond Dhyana: Second Liberation;,-c meditative object bases of Mastery, 3-4)steady:cessation Bases of Totality,I of "motivation of [. earth, 2. water,h speech" 3. fire, 4. windF First Dhyana: First Liberation;

Caryd j meditativ-e object bases of Mastery, 1-2samdpatti unsteady

Asanga's Samahitabhumi presents three degrees of passing

through these equipoises:87 (l) passing through them withoutskipping, i.e. First Dhydna up to Summit of Existence, and inreverse order, for a yogin who is not pure. (2) leaping over thesecond one in order, but not over the third which is too far toj,rmp, for erample, First directly to Third Dhyana, to Base ofinfinite space, to Base of nothing-at-all; and in reverse order incomparable manner-for a yogin who is pure. (3) entering any

s7PTT, Vol. 109, p.275-4,5. Cf. Jacques May's entry "Choj 6" in Hdbdgirin,Quatrieme Fascicule: Chi-Ch6otsush6, pp. 353-60, especially p. 358.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravida and MahiSisaka 95

of them from any other one as wished, for Tathdgatas and Bodhi-sattvas who have passed the second incalculable aeon (explainedin the Prajffdparamitd tradition as the last three stages, 8th, 9th,and 10th of the Bodhisattva path).88

THs INSTRUCTToN oF INSTcHT

The instruction of insight-the third of the three instructions-is frequently set forth by the term "discerning" (uipasyana). ThusSutralarykara, XIY, 8:

One should know his path of calming and the concisestatement of the doctrines; one should knolv his path ofdiscerning-the deliberation of the meanings of that (concisestatement).

As was indicated previously, the path of discerning, which gradu-ally perfects insight (prajmA), is meant to eliminate the deep-seatedtraces (anuSaya) of defllements, whereas the training in concentra-tion of the mind aims at a one-pointedness leaving no room in themind atthat time for a defilement. This position, so much stressedin the writings of Asanga's school (the later Mahisasaka) is alsowhat the Theravdda says.se

But, while calming the mind was already set forth as necessaryto attain the threshold of the First Dhydna, one does not continuethrough the various stations depicted above by calming alone.Thus the Yogdcdra sub-commentator Sthiramati states in hiscommentary on the SutralarTtkara (XVIII, 65-67) that in the firstthree Dhyanas, discerning is major, calming minor; while in theFourth Dhydna there is the pairwise-union (yuganaddha) of calm-ing and discerning. He means, starting from the main paft

Qnauli) of the First Dhydna.The path of discerning, otherw.ise called the instruction of

insight, presents methodical mental orientations in terms ofdeliberating, investigating the object. Thus the Visuddhimaggaincludes under this instruction such matters as understanding thepersonal aggregates to be void of self or of what belongs to self,observing impermanence, and the like. It is not necessary to havepreceded this path of discerning with calming of the type associat-ed with the cathartic and rapture; because, as was cited, "(Still,)

88Cf. LBssrNc and WAyuAN, Mkhas grub rje's, p. 21.ssBuddhist Meditation, p. 341

96 Buddhist Insight

there is no lack of thinking-volition that approaches right doctrinein the realm of craving." What is taught is that it is necessaryto calm the mind in order to transcend the Realm of Desire.

Along these lines, Buddhadasaeo cites the Visuddhimagga.' "Thewise man, standing firm on th'e ground, takes up the edged weaponin his hands, sharpens it on the stone, and, working diligently,succeeds in clearing away the thick jungle." And he well explains,"The 'wise man' is anyone with inborn insight (sahajata-pafifia)or what is nowadays called intelligence. This is an immatureform of insight which has to be developed into true and genuineinsight (uipassandpafifid)." In a separate essay,el I have citedAsanga's explanation of the scriptural "eye of insight" as thenative insight (sahaja prajfia); and have mentioned his later ex-planation that the native insight is attained through birth, andthat he contrasts the promoted insight possessed by the learnedman (paqfita) with the native insight possessed by the intelligentman (uijiia). He defines the term buddhi as standing for anynative insight capable of differentiating (alternatives). Earlierin his great rvork he shorvs horv the eye of insight is assailed inthe Realm of Desire: "For erample. smoke is preceded by theelement of f l re and hurts the e1'e. . . . In the same rvay, cravingtt" ' t . i i t is preceded b1' lust . hatred, and delusion and hurts theeyeof insight ..." It ri.ould be hard to find a more perfect agreementberu'een the Theravdda (as in Buddhaddsa) and the MahiSdsaka(as in Asanga).

Besides, there are numerous references in Buddhist texts to threekinds of "insight." The teacher AtiSa, who was very influential inTibet starting with his arrival in 1042, A.D., mentions the three inthis rvay:e2 "What is insight? As follows:-native (sahaja), orconsisting of hearing (Srutamayi), consisting of pondering (cinta-mayi), or consisting of intense contemplation (bhauanamayi)."Le Trait6e3 has a different way of referring to kinds of insight,discussing the prajfia of the irdualra, the pratyekabuddha, and theBuddha, and also of the heretics; and claims that Prajiidpdramitd(the Perfection of Insight) encompasses all the insights.

soBuddhadasa, Andpanasati, p. 21.el"Nescience and Insight according to Asanga's YogacarabhzTni," published

in this volume.szBodhimorgapradipa-pafiijka-nama, PTT, Vol. 103, p. 39-4-1.e3l-auorrr, Le Traitd,II, p. 1066 ff.

Aspects of Meditation in the Theravdda and Mahisasaka 97

f'herefore, it is not the position of these schools that in develop-ing a faculty called "insight" (prajiia) the yogin has acquired some-thing he did not have before. Rather, it is clear that the processof promoting this insight through the path of discerning is a matterof trading certain defiled concomitants, in the category of lust,hatred. and delusion, for other better concomitants, suiting prajfiain a more splendid fashion. The technical word for this trading ispariurtti ("exchange"). while these texts speak of different kindsof prajfrii, this is necessary because of the undoubted difference indegree and usage of this faculty in different persons. It cannothave been the intention of quite properly mentioning the "prajfidof the irduaka (disciple)" that the Buddha's prajfraparamitd ex-cludes and is radically different from that irduaka-prajiia,. fbr, ifthis were the case, then Le Traitd should not have taken the posi-tion that Prajfrdpdramita encompasses all insights. Thus, evenPrajffaparamita cannot be something to acquire as entirely new.Asanga makes the same point with his "store-consciousness"theory, namely, that even if the yogin manages to attain the"summit of existence" called equipoise-cessation, this "storeconsciousness" continues and from it there issues forth at a latertime the host of mental natures.

Granted that there are Buddhist scriptural passages suggestingthe ,v-ogin's radical separation from mankind. Such is this verse,whose Pdli form is in the sarpyutta-Nikdyas+ and which the teacherAsanga cites from the Sanskrit canon:eb

As the tortoise in its own shell withdrarvs its limbs, so maythe monk (withdraw) his mind's (outgoing) conjectures; resort-less, not harming another, denouncing no one, proceed toParinirvapa.

Asanga explains that this monk is progressing along the sevenstations (vihara) which begin with the Second Dhydna. Alongthe way, it is taught, he may gain supernormal powers, special

saSaryyutta-Nikaya,I, p. 9 (in the India Devandgari edition):

kummo va angdni sake kapdlesamoda-ham bhikkhu manovitakkeanissito aiiffam ahethayano,parinibbuto nupavadeyya kaflci

escintdntayibhilmi, PTT, vol. 110, p. 16-4, 5. Asanga would naturally beciting the verse from the Sarpyuktagarna.

98 Buddhist Insight

knowledges, and so on. But no matter what the meditative attain-

ment, the yogin should be able to return to society and communi-

cate on mundane matters, even if it is difficult or impossible for

him to communicate his visions and meditative success. Indeed,

as it was previously cited, "When one has emerged (from that

samadhi) and is occupied with his (ordinary) mind , some measure

of the cathartic continues in his body and mind." Accordingly,

the only way the yogin could lose the insight of ordinary men is

to lose insight itself.

4

THE BODHISATTVA PRACTICE ACCORDINGTO THE LAM RIM CHEN MO

Western readers interested in Buddhism of the Great Vehicle form,and particularly in Buddhism of the Tibetan form, have undoubt-edly encountered the great stress that this Buddhism lays on Com-passion for the sentient beings. It is of course easy for such teach-ings to take on a sentimental tone, as though they are simplyhigh-sounding words as "compassion." This may very well havebeen the case in the past because the usual presenter of suchthoughts has sought to spare the Western reader from what hebelieved would be boring to him. What these books reallycontain-their wealth of quotations, their lists of subdivisions, theiroccasional disputes over points, might be difficult for the Western-er to appreciate but which were once burning issues. On theother hand, some scholarly books with no solicitude about boringthe reader, and no way of getting to the inside of the subject-dissect it as a corpse in a mortuary.

The present essay seeks a middle ground between those ex-tremes. It will present this remarkable point of view of Buddh-ism that was preserved and embellished in its Tibetan form anddo it with sufficient technical material that the reader can knowwhat the person enrolled in this way of life is actually doing topromote that flne-sounding Compassion. At the same time, itwill avoid-on account of brevity-those extended explanationswhich often confuse the issue. If the reader will bear this in mind,he will begin to appreciate, even without a knowledge of the

100 Buddhist Insight

Tibetan lan-uuage, rvhat is actually in the Tibetan books, althoughonly by a sample of an enormous l i terature.

Tson-kha-pa (1357-1419, A.D.) , founder of the Tibetan Gelugpasect, f in ished his great compendium of Buddhism, the Lom r intchen mo, in 1402, A.D. This u'ork elaborately presents the stagesof the path to enlightenment in extensive amplif ication of Ati6a'sindications in the latter's brief work "A Lamp on the Path to En-lightenment" (byafi chub lam gyi sgron ma). He is the great Indianpandit who came to Tibet in 1042, A.D. In this work, AtiSa setforth three religious degrees of persons in the verses 3-5:

3. Whoever, by whatever means, pursues only his own aimin just the pleasures of this world, he is known as the inferiorperson.4. Whoever, turning his back on the pleasures of phenomenalexistence, and averting himself from sinful actions, pursuesonly his own quiescence, he is known as the mediocre person.5. Whoever, through the suffering belonging to his own streamof consciousness, completely desires the right cessation of allthe suffering of others-that person is superior.

Tson-kha-pa explains the mental training (blo sbyon) for eachof those three persons. In the section for the superior person-thebodhisattua-it becomes clear that the path here is especially apractice rather than a doctrine, despite the title of a useful bookby Har Dayal, The Bodhisattua Doctrine in Buddhist SanskritLiterature (London, 1932).

The emphasis on practice is at the very beginning of Tson-kha-pa'ssection. We learn that to serve the aim of others is a possibilityof the human condition, not of animals who only work for them-selves. The Bodhisattva is not distinguished from the Srdvaka(auditor), or the Pratyekabuddha (one enlightened forhimself), byviewpoint; because as far as Insight (ies rab) is concerned, there isno difference between the Lesser vehicle (Hinay6na) or Greatvehicle (Mahaydna). They are distinguished by practice. In thecase of the Bodhisattva, thepracticeis calied Means (thabs), and,the chief Meaus is the Thoughtof Enlightenment (byan chtib sems).This Thought is the door to the Great vehicle, and when onehas it he is called "son of the Buddha."

The person who would enter this path must generate theThought of Enlightenment with its double goal-enlightenment

The Bodhisattva Practice According to the Lam Rim chen Mo 101

for oneself and benefit for others. In ordei to generate it as avow, it must be taken ritually. Now it appears to have been theexperience of the Indian rnasters that if one simply went throughthe laid-down procedure of generating the Thought of Enlighten-ment, it could easily be dispersed, that is to say, not cohere in thestream of consciousness in the sense of the citation, "Thereforein all his births he loses not the Thought of Enlightenment.Even in dreams he has this Thought: much more if he be awake."Therefore, certain preliminaries are required. First of all, theperson must have the right circumstances of life, which are calledthe four reasons: 1. he should be in this family (rig,s),2. taken inhand by spiritual guides (dge bies), 3. be compassionate towardliving beings, 4. have zest for austerities. And he should have oneor other power to generate that Thought : 1. his own power, where-by he craves the perfect Enlightenment through his own force(of character), 2. another's power, whereby he craves it by wayof another's power, 3. the polver of a (deep-seated) cause, where-by he generates the Thought through the mere hearing in thepresent life of praises of the Buddha and Bodh.isattvas by reasonof having formerly cultivated the Great vehicle, or 4. the power ofpraxis, in the course of which he has for a long time been follow-ing a path of virtue, seeking out high-minded persons and listen-ing to the Law. Given that the person has such reasons and isendowed with such a power, then he is given a religious exerciseto further put his rnind in the right frarne for generating theThought of Enlightenment.

ColrpessroN AS nN ExencrsE oF Mrr.ro

Tson-kha-pa presents two alternate methods of such a religiousexercise, one which was handed down from AtiSa, and the otherfound in the texts by Santideva (i.e. his ,Siksasarnuccq)q andBodhicaryduatara;, in Tibetan Bslab btus and Spyod iiu7.

A. Atiia's precepts of "Seuen cquses and efficts". The sevenare as follows: perfected Buddhahood arises from the Thought ofEnlightenment; that Thought, from altruistic aspiration; thataspiration, from compassion; compassion, from love; love, fromgratitude; gratitude, from recollection of kindness; recollectionof kindness, from seeing as "mothsl"-ssysn in all. The candidatereflects that in the inflnite past and in the infinite future, all the


uncountable rebirths are possible through a mother's loving care.

Every sentient being has sometime or other served as one's own"mother." Thus, the meditator first sees vividly his own mother,

and through her passes beyond all bounds of love for all the

sentient beings. He dwells on his mother's kindness in taking care

of all his needs when he was completely helpless. This recollec-tion arouses gratitude; gratitude arouses love. Having gotten

into that frame of mind, he recognizes as his "mother" also hisfather and friends. He then proceeds to the more advanced task

of recognizing as his "mother" the neutral persons. When heis able to regard the latter the same way as he thinks of his friends,

he proceeds to the still more advanced task of recognizing as his'omother" all his enemies. When the latter can be seen this w&Y,he recognizes all the living beings of the ten directions as his"mother," expanding his meditations into the boundless state. In

this way he brings on the Boundless State of Love. Having cometo see all these sentient beings as one's "mother" in the Bound-less State of Love, the meditator then reflects on their manifoldsufferin-es in their subjection to transmigration. The intense reali-zation of suffering by einpathy ri'ith the loved objects-the"mother"-produces Compassion. As applied to all the sentientbeings, one enters the Boundiess State of Compassion. Havingthis compassion through realizing the sufferings of these sentientbeings, the meditator then aspires to free them from suffering andto bring them happiness-as one wishes to do this for one's mother.

Hence, the next stage, called "altruistic aspiration," which ex-pands into the third Boundless State of Sympathetic Joy with allthe happiness accruing to those sentient beings. The next stage

is reflection on the Thought of Enlightenment itself as having the

two aims of Enlightenment for oneself and Deliverance for others.

The candidate reflects on the seventh stage as perfect Enlighten-

ment-the final fruition of the sequence.B. Precepts based on SAntideua's texts. 1. Firstonereflects on

the benefit of changing places with another:

Whoever desires to speedily rescue oneself and others too,Should practice what is the highest secret-changing places

between himself and another'

$pyod lljug,vlll, 120)

What is meant is that the usual condition of holding oneself as

The Bodhisattva Practice According to the Lam Rim Chen Mo 103

dear must give way to holding others as dear. And if one manages

that conversion, then even that person who'had been considered

one's worst enemy and who caused disagreeable feelings just by

hearing his name-becomes converted into a friend who would

cause displeasure by his mere absence. This change of heart comes

about through cultivating this view of personality interchange.

Now, somebody challenges this procedure on the grounds that

another's body is certainly not our body, and so it is questionable

that anything like our own mentality could be generated therein.

The answer given is that we did something analogous when we

descended to rebirth in a habitation formed from materials of the

father and mother, who are "different" from us, although we

speak of ooour body." Having come to see the benefit, he then

proceeds to 2, the steps of cultivating the interchange between

oneself and another. Now, one should not confuse this procedure

with the thought, "f am seeing through his eyes," and so on.

Rather it is the interchange of feelings, taking on another's suffer-

ing, installing in him one's bliss. There are two hindrances to this

interchange. (a) One has the thought, "This is mine" and "That is

his" much the same way as the colors green and yellow are

distinct. One counteracts that with a contemplation given in

Bslqb btus (final verse section):

Through the repeated cultivation of the sameness of oneself

and another, the Thought of Enlightenment would be firmed.

The relation-oneself-and-another-ness-like this side and

the further bank (of a river) is in falsehood.

Not because of our own is that bank the other one; for, with

relation to what is there a "this side" ?

Ego is not proved by our own; in relation to what would there

be the other (where the "other" is ourself)?

(b) One has the thought, "His suffering does no harm to me;

why try to dispel it?" One counteracts that by contemplating in

such a case one should make no provision for old age, because the

suffering of the aged does no harm to the youth; and by contem-

plating that in such a case one should not bother to use a hand

to relieve a foot from something distressing, because it isooanother." An objection is raised that the old man and the

youth have a single stream of consciousness, and the foot and

hand are in the same set, while in contrast one cannot say the

to4 Buddhist Insight

same of oneself and another. The answer points out that thestream of consciousness is momentary and the set is subject toreformations. Thus it is a similar situation and one could justas well posit oneself and another self in the case of the youth andthe old man. Having in that way eliminated the wrong ap-proaches, one can attend to 3. the basic method of cultivation.

Make sure, O mind, that I belong to the other;And except for the aim of all the sentient creatures. henceforthyou must not plan.These eyes, which are theirs, must no longer see my aim:These hands, which belong to another, must not work myaim; so also all the other organs of action.

(Spyod Uug, VII I , 137-138).

TsB TsoucHT or ExucHTENMENT AND THEBonslsarrvR Pa'tr

Assuming that the person r,vith the necessary reasons, and pos-sessed of one or more of t ire powers, then reflects in the propermanner in one or other of the two religious exercises presentedabove, he is norv prepared to generate the Thought of Enlighten-ment. Here a distinction is introduced that the Thought has twodegrees:

Precisely the distinction that is made between the one whodesires to go and the one who is on the way,Just that distinction is to be understood respectively amongthe two.

(Spyod l,jug, I,16)

The verse refers to the Aspiration Thought (smon serns) and theEntrance Thought (hjus sems), respectively. The AspirationThought is understood as the aspiration of thinking, ,,I shallbecome a Buddha for the sake of the l iving beings," or such aformula, and then the practice of the perfections (par rol tu phyinpa) beginning with Giving. The Entrance Thought means thatone is holding that Thought as a vow (sdont pa), i.e. that it coheresin the stream of consciousness in all circumstances; ancl then thepractice of the Perfections takes on an addecl significance. Itwill be noticed that the foregoing religious exercises each havesomething in common with Aspiration Thought. Indeed., a rvide


latitude of events and objects is acknowledged as possibly servingthe purpose of inspiring the Aspiration Thought. However,the Thought of Enlightenment as the Entrance Thought is a trueconversion of the mind; and for taking it, a good guru is prefer-able-as explained by Atisa: "The guru is known as 'good' who isskilled in the procedure of the vow, himself is one who adheresto the vow, and who possesses the forbearance and compassionto impart the vow." Tson-kha-pa sets forth the elaborate ceremonyof Refuge formula and the like, obviously intended to make theoccasion memorable. At the appropriate point, the candidate takesthe rite of seizing the Thought, by reciting the following thrice:

All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten direc-tions, pray take cognizance of me ! Preceptor, pray takecognizance of me ! I, named so-and-so, have the root ofvirtue of this and other lives, consisting in the self-existenceof Giving to others, the self-existence of Morality, and theself-existence of conteinplation; and by means of that rootof virtue consisting of'what has been done by ffie, what hasbeen granted to do, and of sympathetic joy with what is done.Just as the former Tathagata-Arhat-samyaksambuddhas andthe great Bodhisattvas dwelling on the great earth were madeto generate their heart into the Incomparable Right-perfectedEnlightenment,In the salne way, f, named so-and-so, also holding from thistime on, up to reaching the precincts of Enligirtenment, shallgenerate my Thought to the Incornparable Right-perfectedGreat Enlightenment; shall rescue the unrescued beings; shallsave the unsaved; shall encourage the discouraged; shall bringto Nirvana those who have not attained complete Nirvala.

In the case where it is not possible to find a good guru or preceptor,an adjustment is made so the person can take it by himself. Infact, he has to imagine the Buddha dwelling in front, go throughthe rites of bowing and offerings; and when taking refuge andmaking the above statement, he must omit the entreaty of thepreceptor. Tson-kha-pa continues with the care the person shouldtake so that the vow is not broken; and there is a procedure ofbroadening the base of the vo\,v by reflecting on its benefits andgreatness, because the Thought of Enlightenment is the seed ofall the Buddha natures.


In order to appreciate how the Bodhisattva-as he is called

by reason of having that vow-is to proceed thereafter, it is neces-

sary to consider some fundamental principles. Tson-kha-pa

quotes a most important passage from the "Revelation-Enlighten-

ment of Vairocana" (rnam snnn mnon byan), also known as the

"Great Sun S[tra":

Master of Secrets ! The omniscient knowledge has Compassion

for a root, has the Thought of Enlightenment for a motive,

and has the Means for a finalitY. '

In that passage, the expression "omniscient knowledge" is equiva-

lent to the Buddha's Insight (ies rab). Compassion provides

this Insight with a root in the phenomenal world. The Thought

of Enlightenment provides this Insight with a motive, the vow

as cause. The Means provides this Insight with a finality, its

fulfilment. We have seen in the foregoing that the person desir-

ing to embark on this Bodhisattva path had to arouse com-

passion, and then to take the Thought of Enlightenment as avow.

Therefore, he has taken care of the first two steps in bringing the

"omniscient knowledge" to full expression. He has left to take

the third step, called the Means. And this Means consists of

the first five Perfections, rvhich are (1) Perfection of Giving

(sb1,itt pa), (2) Perfecrion of Morality (tshul khrims), (3) Perfection

of Forbearance (bzocl pa), (4) Perfection of Striving (brtson ltgrus),

(5) Perfection of Meditation (bsam gtan). This Means must be

combined with Insight, which is the sixth Perfection, (6) Perfection

of Insight (ies rab). The Means must be combined with Insight,

because Buddhism of the Great Vehicle is aimed toward the

"Nirvapa of no-fixed-abode," as Tson-kha-pa explains:

what is to be accomplished by the Mahd:ydnists is the Nirvdla

of no-fixed-abode. This involves no fixed abode in pheno-

menal life (hkhor ba), accomplished by the profound path

(zab mohi lam) along with the steps of the path based on

supreme (Truth) (don dam pa) withthe Insight that fully under-

stands reality, as well as accomplished by the portion of Insight

with the collection of knowledge (ye Ses kyi tshogs). And it

involves no-fixed-abode in quiescent nirua4ta, accomplished

by the ample path (rgya che bali lam) along with the steps of

the path based on Conventional Truth (kun rdzob kyi bden pa)

with the Insight that knows the phenomenal side (ii sfied pa),


as well as accomplished by the portion of Means with the

collection of merit (bsod nams kyi tshogs).

The Lam rim chen mo cites numerous passages to show in various

ways the necessity to combine Insight and Means. For example,

from the Sru-Paramddya (dpal mchog dan po): "Perfection of

Insight is his Mother; Skill in the Means is his Father." This

happens to occur in the last chapter of that work, where it is seen

that they are the Mother and Father of the hierophant (uairasattua,

rdo rje sems dpai). Again from the "Questions of KdSyapa" (ltodsrun gls 2us pa): "Ka6yapa, thus, for example, just as the king

who is governed by ministers performs all the acts of a king,

likewise the Insight of the Bodhisattva which is governed bythe Means performs all the Acts of the Buddha." And in the(Ittaratantra (rgyud bla ma): "The painters who are its aspects

are Giving, Morality Forbearance, and the rest. The Voidness(ston pa fiid) furnished with the best of all aspects is called thepicture." Tl-re point of this last citation is that there is nopicture if a portion is omitted; therefore, all the Perfections

are necessary.This requirement to practice all the Perfections simultaneously

is essential to the theory of ten Bodhisattva stages. For this pur-

pose, on each successive stage all the Perfections are present but

with one or more predominant; and so on each stage the "picture"is different. It is the Thought of Enlightenment which is moving

upward through these ten stages. With the end of the seventh

stage, however, conventional descriptions also conclude, because

a mysterious change occurs upon entrance into the Eighth Stage.

And great as this new situation may appear, it is not the same as

Buddhahood. Therefore Tson-kha-pa cites the "Slttra of Ten

Stages" (sa bcu pa) about the Eighth Stage called "Motionless"(mi sYo ba):

O Prince ! You should know concerning the Bodhisattva who

has entered this Motionless Bodhisattva Stage, who dwellsthere adding to the power of his former aspiration, that the

blessed Buddhas make for him, in that current at the mouth

of natures, a providing of the knowledge of the Tathdgata [anepithet of the Buddhal. And they speak thus to him. "Verywell, very well, Son of the Family. This is the supreme for-

bearance for understanding the Buddha natures. But you


should know, son of the Family, thatour perfection of Buddhanatures consisting of the Ten powers, the Four confidences,and so forth-that is not in you ! So, apply yourself to thequest for perfection of the Buddha natures ! Begin yourstriving !"Furthermore, Son of the Family, remember your formeraspiration-the inconceivable mouth of knowledge and achiev-ing the aim of sentient beings !"Also, you should know, son of the Family, that this is theTrue Nature of all natures. And whether tathagatas arise ordo not arise, this True Nature abides, this Realm of Naturesabides, in this sense: the voidness of all natures, the non-apprehension of all natures. But the Tathagatas cannot bedetermined by this alone, for also all the srdvakas andPratyekabuddhas reach this True Nature devoid ofdiscursive thought!"

This is the teaching that in the ascent of the Thought of Enlighten-ment, the Bodhisattva reaches a decisive point in his career whenhe attains the True Nature of all natures, which happens to be alsothe quiescent nirt'aua for those rvho reach that niruaua. But theBodhisatt 'a should not think he has reached the highest realm,and so he is reminded of his former aspiration and instructedthat he must begin all over again in this new manner of existence,and continue onrvard. The students of the Lam rim chen moare expected to know that the Bodhisattva reaches the end of hiscareer as a Bodhisattva in the Tenth stage when he is tantamountto a Buddha, but is not a comprete Buddha, for which a furtherstage, called the Eleventh, is allotted.

The foregoing shows that the six perfections are the chief kindof Bodhisattva instruction. They can also be grouped under theThree Instructions of Buddhism: Giving, Morality, Forbearanceare grouped under the Instruction of Morality; Meditation isincluded in the Instruction of Mind Training; Insight is includedin the Instruction of Insight; and Striving is included under allthree Instructions. The first four perfections (Giving, Morality,Forbearance, and striving) can be considered as accessories tosamadhi (tin ne lldzin) because they are different forms of non-swerving, and promote the f,fth perfection, the non-strayingmeditation; hence, if one cultivates clear vision (lhag mtlroiywith them as basis, one comprehends reality.


Reasons are advanced for the traditional order of the perfec-tions. when there is Giving that is unattached because it doesnot look to possession, Morality is adopted. when one hasMorality well restrained from evil conduct, he has Forbearancetoward harm. when there is Forbearance unwearied towardausterity, there is ability to go ahead with Striving that has scarceoccasion to turn back. When one enterprises day and night withStriving, there arises the deep concentration (or Meditation) thateasily serves a virtuous meditative object of mind. when themind is stabilized, it rightly understands (with Insight) the waythings are. It is also taught that the six Perfections are successive-ly higher or loftier. Besides, they are considered successivelymore subtle since each later one is found harder to enter and toperform in than the earlier one.

It was primary that the Bodhisattva has two aims, one for him-self and one for others. The six Perfections mature the Buddhanatures 1'or himself, and what are called the four persuasionsmature the stream of consciousness of others.

MlruRrNG THE Bunonn Nl,ruRrs noR ONEsBtn

l. Giving. From the extensive material on this subject, a fewpoints only: It is said in the Spyod l,jug (Iil, lI):

Nirvdpa is the renunciation of everything; and my mind isintent on Nirvapa.If I must renounce everything, best it be given to the sentientbeings !

And it is said in the Phar phyin bsdus pa (paramita-sen1dsa,l , l lB -12) :

This thing is only yours (plural). I have no pride of "mine"with respect to it.whoever he be, having such marvellous reflections-pursuantto the complete Buddha's mode of being-arise again andagain.That one, outstanding among enlightenment beings (bodhi-sattuA, byan chub sens dpak), the Buddhas (sans rgyas) who arethe inconceivable beings (bsam gyis mi khyab), call great being.

There are varieties in the essential nature of Giving: (a) giving ofthe BuddhistLaw (dharma), teaching the sublime Doctrine without


error; (b) giving of security against fear of men, fierce animals,and the elements; (c) giving of material things, either concretelyor imaginatively. Speaking generally, the household or laymanBodhisattva does the giving of material things, and the Bodhi-sattva ri'ho has entered the religious life does the giving of the Law.

In illustration of how the Bodhisattva practices all six Perfec-tions simultaneously with Giving predominant, the Great Com-mentary on the "Perfection of Insight in Eight Thousand lJnits"explains: At the time he practices, say, the Giving of the Law,he has the Morality of restraint against the mental orientation ofthe Sravaka and Pratyekabuddha; he has both the Forbearancewith conviction of the Law of the Omniscient One and the For-bearance of mistreatment by another; he has the Striving pur-posive to promote ever higher that very (Giving); he has theMeditation of one-pointed mind not mixed with the LowerVehicle, that transfers the merit of the perfected Bodhisattva. toother sentient beings; and he has the Insight which knows in themanner ofan illusion all three, the gift, the giver, and the receiver.2. Morality. Morality is the abstinent thought that averts themind frorn anything involving harin to another. The Spyod kjue( V , 1 1 ) s a y s :

How lead away all fishes and so on, that I may not kill any?When the abstinent thought is achieved, there is the Perfectionof Morality.

Generally in Buddhism this abstinent thought refers to abstinencefrom the ten evil acts, three of body, four of speech, and three ofmind. Morality makes the rest work. The Phar phyin bsdus pa(I I , l ) says:

The person whose interest has been aroused to make beingsdelighted by the Complete Buddha's jewel of Morality,Should first of all purify his own Morality, for Morality in-stills the power of effectiveness.

Without it, one's own aim as well as that of others is out of reach.for the same work (II, 48) says:

The person who falls from Morality is impotent even in whatbenefits himself. In what procedure for another's sake is hecapable?

The Bodhisattva Practice According to the Lam Rim chen Mo I I 1

Therefore, it is especially improper for one pursuing the aim

of others to relax his care in this matter' '

There are three kinds of Morality: the morality of restraints, the

morality of gathering virtuous natures, the morality of acting for

the aim of sentient beings. The morality of restraints covers all

the regulations of the Buddhist order, starting from those of the

layman and adding until those of the monk and nun are included'

The morality of gathering virtuous natures means paying atten-

tion to all virtues associated with the six Perfections, developing

those not yet developed, and guarding and enhancing those al-

ready developed. The morality of acting for the aim of sentient

beings means paying attention to the aims of the various kinds

of sentient beings, and pursuing those aims, sooner or later, in

a sinless manner.3. Forbearunce. This is the forbearance of not retaliating in any

case of another's harm-doing, the acceptance of suffering in one'S

own stream of consciousness, and the unshakable conviction while

thinking with certainty about the Dharma'

In the first aspect of Forbearance, the Bodhisattva reflects that

brutish beings are uncountable-he could never succeed in killing

them all. But when angry thought is slain, all enemies are slain !

There is not enough leather to cover the earth; but with the leather

of a shoe, earth is spanned! So the Spyod kiuS. "The fault of

anger hems in the good things of the world like a dam, the

1ry4fs1s"- Phar phyin bsdus pa. Anger is looked upon as a flash

of fire that destroys all the accumulated Perfections of Giving and

Morality. So the Bodhisattva notes the benefit of Forbearance:

few enemies ; few discords; pleasant state of mind; no regrets at the

time of death; and certainty of joining the gods in heaven after

his death.The second aspect of Forbearance-the acceptance of suffering

in himself-is in fact a solution of the problem posed by the first

Noble Truth of Buddhism: "There is Suffering-a Noble truth.

The Bodhisattva reflects that in pursuit of worldly desires he was

tortured in hell and yet accomplished no worthy aim of himself

or others. But it is different with the suffering that accomplishes

the great aim. It is ecstatic suffering that dispels the suffering

of the whole world. Then the question arises o'From what source

arises the suffering one should accept?" 'Ihere are eight such

bases, for example, suffering arising from the place where one is

112 Budclhist Insight

practicin-q the pure life, or arising from tire perishable natures ofthe rvorld. or arising while one is engaged in religious exercises,and so on.

The third aspect of Forbearanceerplained as eightfold. For example,is the pure-minded trust tov,'ard thethe Dharma, the Samgha), or r.vhensense of two kinds of selflessness, ofand so on.

amounting to conviction iswhen the field of convictionThree Jewels (the Buddha,

the field is realizable in thepersonality and of natures;

1. striuing. The spyod {,jus (vII, 24) says: ',what is Striving?\-irtuous perseverance." The sutrularytkara Qndo scleli rsyin)proclaims striving to be chief among the host of virtues becausebased thereon one subsequentry attains that host. So theBodhisattuq-bhumi (.byai sa) declares that Striving achieves theIncomparable, Rightly-consummated Enlightenment. And thePhar phyin bsdus pa says, "There is nothing at all that cannot bereached by the forivard step unacquainted with rveariness.',

Three varieties are set forth: the armored striving, the strivingthat amasses virtuous natures, and the striving which performsthe aim of sentient beings. Armored striving means the strivingwhich is carefully guarded to apply tor,','ard Enlightenment (one'sown aim); this presents the Bodhisattva in heroic form. He caresnot how long it might take, but is confident of the ultimate result.By reason of compassion for tire sentient beings he does notdesire to become a Buddha in a short time (whirL in fact wouldcause it to take a long time). Having donned such armor, hecan practice the kind of striving that amasses virtuous naturesin himself, namely the six perfections; and he can practice the kindof striving r.vhich performs the airn of the different classes ofsentient beings.

Furthermore, there are favorable circumstances for Striving,especially conviction (mos pa), steadfastness (brtan pa), joy (dlinba) and giving up (dor ba). Longing ({tctun pa) is said to form thebasis for Striving; and in this case longing is identified with con-viction in the La\/, which is the root of all virtuous natures.steadfastness supports striving during the term of the Striving,that is, ensures that Striving will not swerve from the goal. Joyshould be present from the beginning of the Striving, because it isnatural that persons do not rvant to give up an activity that givesjoy to them-so also rvith Striving. Again, the power of giving

The Bodhisattva Practice According to the Lam Rim Chen Mo

up temporarily stops the Striving for a needed rest, whereuponthe Striving can resume to reach higher than before.5. Meditation. The essential nature of Meditation is the virtuousone-pointed mind fixed without straying away from the meditativeobject. Tson-kha-pa devotes a rvhole rnajor section of the Lamrim chen mo entitled Calming (2i gnas) for the means of engagingin the cultivation of Meditation. As to varieties in terms of itsessential nature, it is mundane, supramundane, in the category ofCalming, in the category of Clear Vision. It also has varietiesin terms of its results: the Cathartic of body and mind in the onewho is stabilized; noteworthy qualities shared with the Sravakas,such as the supernormal faculties, and the liberations; and ac-complishing the eleven aims serving the sentient beings. TheBodhisattva having himself mastered Meditation, then installsanother in it: this is the Giving of Meditation.

It was already mentioned that possession of the first four Per-fections (Giving, Morality, Forbearance, and Striving) enablesthe Bodhisattva easily to master Meditation. Moreover, certain"equipment" or accessories are specified to serve as a foundationfor the speedy and pleasant accomplishment of Calming. Theseare (from the Calming section of the Lam rim chen mo): residencein a favorable place (good access, good settlement, good soil, goodcompanionship, good usage); meagre desire; contentment;elimination of multiple activities, such as buying and selling;purity of morality; elimination of discursive thinking, ofcraving,and so on. Purity of morality, seeing the disadvantages in craving,and residence in a favorable place are the chief ones.6. Insight. The essential nature of Insight is the analysis of thenature of an examined entity, in particular, skill in the five sciences,which are inner science (Buddhism), logic, medicine, grammar,and the arts. Tson-kha-pa devotes a separate large section of theLam rim chen mo entitled Clear Vision (lhag mthon) for the meansof engaging in its generation, in fact, the style of thinking of theMddhyamika School (dbu ma pa).

Nagirjuna (klu sgrub) says: "Insight is the root of all thisvisible and invisible merit; hence, to accomplish both, one musthold on to Insight. It is the great science-the source of (present)nature, (future) purpose, and liberation; hence, with devotionfrom the outset, one must hold on to Insight, the Great Mother."

Insight has three sources: insight consisting of hearing, insight

1 1 3

ll4 Buddhist Insight

consisting of pondering, and insight consisting of cultivation. Itsays in the "Questions of Ndraya\a" (sred med kyi bus ius pa):"Thus, Sons of the Family, Insight comes to the one who hears.Defilement ceases in the one with Insight. For him devoid ofdefilement, the tempter (.Mdra, bdud) does not appear."

Also, there are three kinds of Insight:Insight that understandsthe Supreme (don dam), that understands the Conventional(kun rdzob), and that understands what will serve the purpose ofsentient beings. The first ponders in a general way the meaningof reality of selflessness and ponders by way of direct realization.The second is the Insight skilled in the five sciences. The thirdknows the sinless way of accomplishing the present and laterpurpose of sentient beings.

MnruRrNG THE Srnnnu op CoNscrousNESS op OrnsRs

There are four methods of persuasion (bsdu balti dnos po) whichmature all the sentient beings. They are (1) giving, equal to thePerfection of Giving, already discussed; (2) fine, pleasant speech;(3) acts in accordance: (4) oneself serving as an example. Bythe first one. the subject becomes a fit vessel, psychologicallyprepared to l isten to the Lau'. 81'the second one, faith is arousedin him ton ard the Lari ' that is taught. By the third one, he ismade to exercise in accordance with the Teaching. By thefourth one, he is led to continue training his mind accordingly.Also, the first one involves material things, and the last three in-volve dharma (chos).

That stresses the importance of the Perfection of Giving, notonly as the first of the six Perfections, but also as the first thing forthe Bodhisattva to do in regard to introducing a change for thebetter in another's stream of consciousness. That is why Tson-kha-pa devotes such a long section to the Perfection of Giving.

Some idea of the main points in Tson-kha-pa's treatment of theBodhisattva practice is presented here. However, I have givenonly in brief measure what Tson-kha-pa has explained in greatdetail and extensively with numerous citations of texts to clarifyeach point as he goes along.

PART TWO

BUDDHIST DOCTRINE

5

THE SIXTEEN ASPECTS OF THE FOUR NOBLETRUTHS AND THEIR OPPOSITES

The sixteen aspects of the four Noble Truths are not canonicaland are not found in the Abhidhamma of Southern Buddhism.lThey are a specification resulting from the version of the FirstSermon of Buddhism, the Setting into Motion of the Wheel of theDharma, which, after stating the four Noble Truths, adds a tripleturning of the wheel with twelve aspects. This is the tripariuartaqnduddaidkaram of the Mahauastu.2 The sixteen aspects were possiblyrepresented by the aniconic symbol of the wheel of 16 spokes,four main ones and twelve intermediate spokes. A number ofillustrations of these Dharmacakra are collected by Dhanit Yuphoin a Bangkok publication.s The sixteen aspects are treated in theNorthern Abhidharma, as observed in vasubandhu's Abhidharma-koia, Chap. VII, verse 13, where a number of theories are pre-

lcoNpsn Lours nr La varrfB Poussrx, tr. L'Abhidharmakosa de vasubandhu,Septidme...(Paris, 1925), p. 30, note.zCoNrnn FRaNxrn EocrnroN, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Reader (New

Haven, 1953), p. 17, introductory note about the two original parts of theDharmacakrapravartana-sfitra; and p. 19, triple turning of the wheel in thesecond part, namely in the Mahdvastu version.

sDnaNIr YurHo, Dharmacakra or The wheel of the Law (The Fine ArtsDepartment, Bangkok, Thailand, B.E. 2511; third edition, 1968). Amongthe illustrations, the twelve-spoked wheel presumably or possibly synibolizesthe twelve-membered dependent origination (pratitya-samritpada);the sixteen-spoked one, the sixteen aspects of the four Noble Truths; the thirty-two-spoked one, the Buddha himself with thirty-two characteristics.


sented.4 Besides, Asanga discusses the l6 aspects in his ,irduaka-bhumi.s I have found the list in a native Tibetan text, lectures byTson-kha-pa on Buddhist logic, where he presents a list of sixteenthat are the opposites or adversaries of the sixteen aspects, agree-ing in large part with one of the theoriesin the Abhidharmakoia$.In short, the earliest specification of the sixteen aspects is in theNorthern Abhidharma schools, Vaibhdsika and Sautrdntika.How-ever, if the list of terms originated in these Abhidharma schools,it is curious that some obscurity should still remain after theirexplanations.

Asanga's school contemplates the sixteen aspects in the categoryof uipaiyana (discerning), i.e. discerning the truth (satya), aftercalming the mind (iamatha).? This agrees with the Abhidharma-koia, which identifies the list with prajfid ("insight"),8 since theterm prajfrd is frequently equated with uipaiyands. Tson-kha-pain those lectures refers to Dharmakirti's Pramdnaudrttika, Svdr-thdnumdna chapter, verse 218 (Sastri's ed., but verse 2I7 in theautocommentary and Tibetan version): "So as to determine thereality of rejecting and accepting together with the means, byvirtue of non-deception regarding the chief aim, there is inference(anumdna) in terms of the beyond."lo The autocommentary on

al-a Varrir PousstN, op. cit., Septidme, pp. 30-39.sThe lengthy treatment begins with Lokottaramdrga and then the exposition

of the vipari4ama kind of impermanence (anityata), Sravakabhumi, K. SuurrA,ed. (Patna, 1973), p. 470, where the sixteen aspects are named.

6TsoN-rna-ra, collected works (Tashilunpo edition), Vol. Pha, Tshadma'i brjed byan chenno (Rgyal-tshab-rje's notes on Tson-kha-pa's lectures),f. 13b, and following. For the comparable Abhidharmakoia theory, conferLa Vallde Poussin, op. cit., Septidme, p.38 referred to simply as the "fourthexplanation," which was appealed to by Samghabhadra to demonstrate that theaspects are indeed s ixteen.

?CoNrsn Alsx Wavu aN, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manusurpr (Berkeley,1961). pp. 130-131, for the exposi t ion, in part icular , examinat ion of theNoble Truth of Suffering with the kind of discerning (vipaiyana) called "specialknowledge" (pratisaqnvid) of the characteristics (lak;atta).

8La Valmn PoussrN, op. cit., Septidme, p. 39.eCoNrrn Arex W.lyMAN, tr., Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real

(New York, 1978), p. 28.rolheyopadeyatottvasya sopayasya prasiddhitah I pradhanarthavisarTuadad

anumanarp paratra va ll By "auto-commentary" is meant Dhannakirti'sSvarthanumana-pariccheda, edited independently by Raniero Gnoli and byDalsukhbhai Malvaniya; and o'vytti" means the one by Manorathanandin.

The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and Their Opposites 119

this mentions the four Noble Truths, and the .Vrtti clarifies that therejecting is of suffering and the source of suffering, that the accept-ing is of cessation and the path. The beyond means the parolc,sa (whatis beyond sight), namely, the chief aim, Nirvarla, which thereforehas to be inferred. Tson -kha-pa takes for granted that his audienceknows the sixteen terms and their opposites that are referred toin the Pramdnasiddhi chapter of Pramdnaudrttika, namely in theblock of verses in Miyasaka's edition 146-283.11 But Tson -kha-

pa expands to sixteen terms using Abhidharma-type vocabulary,and this is reasonable, since Buddhist logic has an Abhidharmabase.l2 The Abhisamaydlaqnkdra summary of the Prajfiaparamitdincludes the sixteen aspects of the four Truths as a concentrationin the path of the Srdvaka (as does Asanga), and a feature of thispath is the identification of Nirvdqa with the Truth of Cessation(nirodha-satya).13

While the list of sixteen was included, or generally alluded to, ina variety of texts as mentioned above, there is a question of howviable a classification it is, i.e. to what extent such terms help to

explain this cardinal teaching of Buddhism-the four NobleTruths. We should note that not only does the Southern Abhi-dharma textual tradition not use the sixteen-term system,ra but

also the SatyasiddhiSdstra of Harivarman, completely devoted tothe four truths, appears opposed to employing this organizational

rrThis is the edition published in Acta Indologica II (Naritasan Shinshoji,Japan, 1971172).

12At least this is the case in Tibetan tradition, since according to my ob-servation the chief Tibetan commentators on Buddhist logic also wrote com-mentaries on either Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakoia or Asanga's Abhidharma-samuccaya.

lsCoNrnn E. OsBnrvrtrLER, "The Doctrine of Prajfrd-pdramiti as exposed inthe Abhisamayalarykara of Maifieya," Acta Orientalia, Yol. XI (1932), pp.18-19.

laThe well-known Pili exegetical work, the Netti-pakara4a (translated

under the title The Guide) applies six terms to the four Noble Truths (E.Hardy's edition, p. 8): Adinavo phalafi ce dukkhary, assado sarnudayo, nissara-narp nirodho, upayo a4atti ca maggo. "Trouble and fruit are suffering;gratification is the source; exit is cessation; means and command are the path."Here, "means" and "command" might be equivalent to the two kinds ofPdtimokkha, by exhortation (ovada) and by command @ryA); cf. C. S. Uspasak,Dictiotnry of Early Buddhist Monastic Terms (Varanasi, 1975), p. 152; andchapter 2 above.

l2o Buddhist Insight

terminology.ls To arrive at a conclusion about these matters, itwill be necessary to treat each. of the sixteen separately, using theabove works. The Buddhist dictionary Mahduyutpatti (nos. l l90-1205) gives the individual terms as follor,vs: (Noble Truth ofSuffering,) dulikham, anityam, iunyam, andtmakam. (Noble Truthof Source,) samudayaiL, prabhaualt, hetulr, prat))q)a/2. (Noble Truthof Cessation,) nirodhah, iantah, pranitait, niltsqranah. (NobleTruth of Path,) mdrgah, nyayait, pratipattiit, nairyd4tikah.

of the sixteen aspects, the easiest are the four of the set goingwith the Truth of Suffering, mainly because the terms are so cele-brated in Buddhist texts. Leaving out the "voidness" (iunya) term,the other three are the well-knorvn set of three characteristics(lak;ana) which all constructed things (sarytskara) have: imperma-nence (anitya) pain (dui'kha), and non-s elf (anatntan). For canoni-cal references, one may consult Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary,under Ti-lakkhana.16 Asanga in the section mentioned writesmostly about this set.17 He introduces a group of ten aspects(akara) for treating the Truth of Suffering, namely, aspect of(1) transformation (uiparindma), (2) destruction (uinaia), (3)separation (t ' i .samvoga), (4) closeness (samnihita), (5) true nature(dltannatcl), (6) fetters and bondage (san_t,ojanabandhana), (7) thedisagreeable (ani,ta), (8) no securiry (ayogak-reffia), (9) non-appre-hension (anupolanfiha), (10) non-independence (asudtantrya).He states that the aspect of impermanence is examined by fiveof these ten aspects, namely, of transformation, destruction,separation, closeness, and true nature. The aspect of pain isexamined by three aspects, namely, of fetters and bondage, of thedisagreeable, and of no security. The voidness aspect is exarninedby one aspect, namely, no-apprehension (of a certain object).The aspect of non-self is examined by one aspcct, namely, non-independence.

The Arthouiniicaya-likd (author unknown, Tibetan Tanjur)

15N. Atvaswaul SasrRr has reconstructed from Chinese to Sanskrit of theSatyasidhiiastra (Baroda, 7975), and has translated it into English (Baroda,1978) .

loNvaNrurorn Buddhist Dictionary (colombo, 1950). (155-6). The lateEdward Conze gave his views on the three, call ing them 'omarks"

in hisBuddhist Thought in India (London, 1962), Part I, Chapter 3.

rTSee the references in notes 5 and 7. above.

The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and Their Opposites l2l

briefly explains the four in a description of the satnskdra personal

aggregate (s k and h a) :r8

It is impermanent, because it perishes in each instant. It ispainful, because possessing the nature (dharma) of birth, old

age, and so on. It is void, because those saqnskdras are notthe self imagined by the heretics. It is non-self because precisely

those are not the self-existence (suabhaua) of self imaginedby the heretics.

One should also notice that Harivarman's work attributes the listto an unnamed siltra passage: *dharma anityd dullkhdlr iunydandtmdnalz pratityasamutpannd.. ." but includes this passageand its discussion not under the first Truth, that of Suffering, butunder the third one. that of Cessation !1e Harivarman stressespursuant to this passage the voidness of dharmas, but also insistson voidness of self. Here there is a difficulty shared with theArthauiniicaya-lika, as cited above, that in the list of four termsincluding both void (sunya) and non-self (andtmaka), to interpretthe term "void" as denying a self should make one wonder whythe term "non-self" is included as a separate aspect. Asanga wasapparently appreciative of this point, since for him the voidnessaspect is examined just by the aspect of non-apprehension withoutfurther qualifying the non-apprehension.

Passing to the coverings or adversaries20 of these four aspectsin Tson-kha-pa's list,21 that the covering of impermanence ispermanence, of pain is pleasure, of non-self is self-is simpleenough. However, the covering he gives for voidness (iunya) iswith a term gcang, which I correct to bcang, "taking hold (of anobject)." This agrees with Asanga's "non-apprehension" forvoidness in the present context. The various explanations in theAbhidharmokoiq seem not to take account of a requirement toshow some adversity for the terms listed undertheTruthofSuffer-ing, and in particular the term I render "voidness." Presumablythe adversity is the sense of "voidness" that it is here the absenceof the thing one hunts and looks for, expects to find, leaving one

lsPhoto edition of Peking Tanjur (PTT), Vol. 145, p. 162-1,2.leArvasw.l,ur SlstRr, Satyasiddhisaslra, Sanskrit, p. 354.20The 'coverings' are indicated by the word aropya in Pramdqtavdrttika,

Pramarya-siddlti chapter, verse 27I : ;o(aSakaran dropya.2lSee the reference in note 6, above.

lZ2 Buddhist Insight

in a kind of despair. Asanga's "non-independence" for non-selfdoes indeed take account of the adversative intention. It mightbe for the reason which Vasubandhu gives as one tradition:22akdmqkdrituad iti "because there is no performance of what onewishes." Harivarman's placement of the list under the Truth ofCessation of course avoids the implication of adversative sensethat placement under Truth of Suffering entails. In support of hisplacement, there is the set called the four "aphorisms of theDharma"; cf . Mahdydna-Sutrdlarykdra, SVIII, 80, and commen-tary; "All sarpskdras (constructions) are impermanent; alI sarps-kdras (motivations) are suffering;23 all dharmas are non-self;Nirvdqa is calm (idnta)." Observe that this set has an entry "Nir-vdqa" in place of the term "void" of the other list, and thatHarivarman practically equates voidness (iunyata) with Nirvana.2a

Before leaving the Truth of Suffering, it is well to mention evenif briefly the theory of three kinds of dultkhqfa (misery). Asanga(Viniicayasaqngrahant on Cintdmayi bhumi)25 identifies the threewith the three standard kinds of feelings, painful, pleasurable, andneither painful nor pleasurable. The first dultkhatd is the miseryof suffering(dultkha), and as the painful kind of feeling; it is themisery experienced and acknowledged in the world, since the pair"pain and pleasure" (dukkha and sukha) are among the eightworldly dharmas, of course comprehended by ordinary persons.The Arthauiniicaya-tikd (Tibetan Tanjur)26 describes this kindof dulLkhafd consistently with a detailed list that shows it coversthe pains people can do something about, as well as those recog-nized to be outside bf one's control. The second dukkhatd is themisery of change (uiparipdma), and as the pleasurable kind offeeling; it is not recognized as misery by ordinary persons. SoSarytyut t a-1,{ ikdya, Part IV (S aldy at ana-Vagga) : / yom par e sukhat oAhu I tad ariyd ahu dukkhato I "What others call 'happiness' that

22La Vallis PoussrN, op.cit., Septidme, p. 32.23I translate the word sarytskara differently in the first two aphorisms,

because when saryskara is identified with suffering (dullkha) it is variously said

to be the five personality aggregates (skandha) or to be 'with flux' (sasrava).

On the other hand, the saqnskara said to be impermanent means all of the'constructed natures' (sarys k r ta-d har ma).

zaSee N. ArylswaN{t SlstRr, Satyasiddhiiastra, Eng. tr., pp. 358-359.25Asanga, Yogacarabhumi,PTT, Vol. 111, p. 28-3,4.26See n. 18, above, op. c i t . , p.209-2,3.


the noble ones call'suffering,"", The third dultkhata is the miseryof motivations (sarTtskdra), and as the feeling that is neither pain-ful nor pleasurable, it is also not recognized as misery by ordinarypersons. Asanga explains:28 "It was in connection with the miseryof motivations that the Lord said: 'In short, the flve graspingaggregates are suffering.' What is the misery of motivations?These and those bodies with motivations generated by karma anddefilement (kleia) arising,..." He also mentions that this miseryis evidenced by the four waywardnesses (uiparydsa), i.e., regardingthe impermanent as permanent, the painful as pleasurable, theunclean as clean, the non-self as self; and finally, that this miseryis the trace (anuSaya) of nescience (auidya).

It is clear that the duhkha of the flrst Noble Truth has a widerscope than the ordinary person can understand, and has a meta-physical side that is comprehensible to the drya, in the ancientuse of this word. Some persons accordingly challenged the trans-lation of duhklta as "suffering" or "pain." However, the presenttranslator translates the term in those two ways to accord with thevarious contexts in which the term is found, sometimes in concretesenses to apply to old age, sickness, and death, and sometimes ina metaphorical way. And to leave the term untranslated, as hasbeen recommended by at least one modern author, would entirelydefeat any communication of metaphorical nuance.

As we pass to the remaining three Truths, it turns out that thecoverings in the list of sixteen adversaries become of greater im-portance.

The second set going with "Noble Truth of Source (of Suffer-ing)" has the requirement of providing cause or causes for thesuffering without constituting suffering. Here there are the aspectscause (hetu), source (samudaya), production (prabhaua), and con-dition (pratyaya). The trouble with the AbhidharmakoSa explana-tions in the main is that they define these terms as various kindsof causes without thereby showing their natures as causes forsuffering. Asanga is quite superior here because he faces up to thenecessity that they not only be causes, but cause for suffering.zo

2zln the edition of Bhikkhu J. Kashyap, The Saryyutta Nikaya,4, Saliyatana-vagga, p. 116.16.

28See n. 25, above, p. 28-3,4.2eSee n. 5, above, op. cit., p.493, where Shukla wrongly edits dukkhak;ema-

for hetu; read instead; tr;ryaya dukkhqk;epakatvdd dhetutalj. "By cause (hetu)


One of the many explanations he furnishes,is especially interestingsince it relates these terms to Buddhist Dependent Originationpratitya-samutpdda).30 This particular solution takes the aspectof "cause" tc be craving (tfsUa),8th member of Dependent Ori-gination, heading the flve members which bring about new destiny.Asanga here says it is the cause of "indulgence" (upadana), andcasts gestation and suffering. The aspect of "source" is indul-gence (upadana), 9th member, which finalizes after the casting.The aspect of "production" is gestation (bhaua), lOth member,hence embryonic life, prior to the manifestation of suffering.The fourth aspect, of conditiot(pratyaya) is-birth UAfi), thg__l_1!h

\ -member. which holds the seed of future sufferi is the cqqdi--.member, which holds the seed of flltglqlqgqriitgald i

lgnlga"ld age, sickness, a\rd 4:.nth_flo!ice that in tt,_qt"krrg;s,_q"d death. !t{o!ice thAt i4-!hiq sqlUlion, ,utrt.Oir u

r,@ theryfopllo t iqgq uiur.ri"e. rtg-l4e@u=-mika tradition of the Pratitya-samutpdda com@

l:U:" atolgne'sirTrlu-fiR6?i@f!_m.anse it c_ounts ;'Uiitry-"r

"r;-f lag1 -suffEilng members of Dependent Origination.3l

-Tsofr&ha-pits list of coverings or adversaries of these four

seems to amount to non-Buddhist positions.sz Thus, for the aspectof "cause," from his list, positing that there is no cause of sufferingamounts to the position of the ancient materialistic Cdrvakas, theposition called ahetuka ("having no cause"), which Buddhismalways denounced. For the aspect of "source," positing the un-affiliated as the cause, or positing only a single cause, might beequivalent to the fourth account in the Abhidharmakoiass men-tioning at this place a Lord (ISvara), or pradhdna; since the Lordcsuld be considered unaffiliated to the effect, and pradhdna as the

tfrrougn-c*;ttg ttrlnd; which casts suffering." The other three aspectsare also explained as sources for suffering.

BoSince there is further confusion in Shukla's edition (p. 493) at this point,

I have consul ted the Tibetan t ranslat ion, PTT, Vol . 110, p. 126--5-4,5,6.sTDasabhumikaiisutra is cited in Sdntideva's Siktasarnuccoya (Vaidya ed.,

p. 123.21-22), happening to be in agreement with the Pratiyasamutpada

commentary, that of the members of dependent origination, avidya, t{t7d,

and upadana are defilement (kleSa); sarpskara-s an<l bhava are 'action' (karma)',

and the rest are sufferrng (duhkha). Hence, 'birfh' (jtiti) is counted as a'suffering.'

32See n. 6, above, f. 13b-6 to l4a-1.ssl-e VaLLJe PoussrN, op. cit.,Septidme, p. 38.

The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and Their Opposites t25

Sar.nkhya prakrti could be considered a single cause. For the as-pect of "production," positing (suffering) as created by the evolu-tion of the Sabdabrahman, would be a Vaiplava theory accordingto S. Dasgupta;3a while the Abhidharmakoia here mentions theevolutionary theory of the Sdr.nkhya called parindma, in whichthe effect is pre-existent in the cause. For the fourth aspect of"condition," positing (suffering) as created by a former lSvara-buddhi (cognition of a Lord), is the same as given in the Abhi-dharmakoia.

When coming to the treatment of the third set under "NobleTruth of Cessation (of Suffering)" and of the fourth set under"Noble Truth of Path (leading to the Cessation)," Asanga con-tents himself with a few neutral remarks for his possible reluctanceto enter into the controversies involved in a longer treatment. Letus pass first to the coverings in Tson -kha-pa's list,as namely, forthe third set, cessation (nirodha), calm (ianta), the excellent(praqtita), exit (niltsarana); and for the fourth set, path (marga),principle (nyaya), accomplishment (pratipotti), way of deliverance(nairyapika).

For the aspect of o'cessation," the covering is the positing byone gone astray that there is no liberation; for the aspect of"calm,"positing that there is a special liberation attended with flux of un-calmed defilements; for the aspect of "the excellent" (usually ex-plained as anuttare, "the best"), positing that there is a higherliberation than stopping suffering; for the aspect of "exit,"positing a temporary liberation and that there is no final liberation.

For the aspect of "path," the covering is the positing that thereis no final path of liberation; for the aspect of ,'principle"

(: method), positing that the insight comprehending non-self isnot a path of liberations; for the aspect of o'accomplishment,',

positing the situation of the object-scope having gone astray; forthe aspect, "way of deliverance," positing that none can put afinal end to suffering.

The "coverings" in Tson-kha-pa's list for the third and fourthsets amount to a paraphrase of the fourth Abhidharmakoia ex-planation. The adversary views do help to bring out the meaningof the aspect terms for these two sets.

saSuRpNonANArH DAscurra, A History of Indian phitosophy (cambridge,1940), Vol. III, p. 58.

35See no. 6, above, f. l4a-1 to l4a-4.


Now, a striking feature of the aspects given under "NobleTruth of Path" is that they are not obviously related to the usualstatement of the Path, namely, the eightfold members, frequentlylisted under the three instructions which form the organization ofBuddhaghosa's visuddhimagga. These three are the Instructionof Morality, the Instruction of Mental Training of samddhi, andthe Instruction of Insight. Even though Asanga does not organizehis Yogacdrabhumi along the specific lines of the well-known threeinstructions (adhiiik;a), these categories are basic for much of hiswriting. Examining the statements of Tson-kha-pa's adversariesfor the four of this path group in comparison with the four of thecessation set, a suggestive parallel emerges, which may provide anopening for relating the three instructions. By this I mean to callattention to the covering of "cessation" claiming that there isin fact no liberation, while the covering of "path" is the claim thatthere is no final path of liberation; then, forthe aspect of "exit"claiming that there is no final path of liberation, while the coveringof "way of deliverance" is the claim that one cannot put a finalend to suffering. These seeming affiliations of statement gaveme the idea that the two sets of four terms might be correlated intheir given order. Following this suggestion, I may propose thatthe aspect of path (marga) leads to the aspect of cessation(nirodha); that the aspect of principle (: method) (nyAyQ leads tothe aspect of calm (ianta); that the aspect of accomplishment(pratipatti) leads to the aspect of the excellent (pranita); finally,that the aspect 'o*ay of deliverance" (nairydqika) leads to theaspect "exit" (nihsarana). Then the way of relating the threeinstructions follows readily, namely, that the instruction of mindtraining is the principle or method that leads to calm, sincesamadhi is the standard procedure for calming the mind; that theinstruction of morality is the accomplishment that leads to theexcellent, which is consistent with ancient Buddhism's great stresson morality and extolling of its merit; that the instruction of in-sight (pra.ifiA) is the way of deliverance that leads to the "exit" or"escape" from phenomenal life, constituting the Arhat ideal ofearly Buddhisms6. Such a correlation would leave the main terms

s6TsoN-rna-y4 brjed byan, n. 6, above, f. 13a-5, states: "The acarya (i.e.Dharmakirti)...took the prajiia that comprehends non-self to be the chief(thing) of the path to liberation from phenomenal life, and the others to beancillary."


of "cessation" and "path" as headings underwhich are ranged therespe ctive three aspects that go with the three instructions. Thisis consistent with the early tradition that takes "cessation" asequal to Nirvdfa, and with the Tibetan translation of this termas "beyond suffering" (myangan la.s' das pa).This is because thethrust of these Abhidharma-type explanations of the four NobleTruths is that liberation amounts to the cessation of suffering(dulpkha).

Besides, a feature of the first sermon, Setting into Motion theWheel of Dharma, in various versions, is to take the four NobleTruths as objects. Thus, the statement is made : "Suffering, aNoble Truth, is to be fully known (parijfieyam)." Again, "TheSource of Suffering is to be eliminated (prahatavyal.r)." "TheCessation of Suffering is to be realized directly (sakgat kartavyah).""The Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering is to be cultivated(dultkhanirodhagamini pratipad bhavayitavyd)."t2 This promptlyraises a question: If cessation is to be realized directly, i.e., saksdt,as though before the eyes, then how could this cessation be equatedto Nirvdrla, if Nirvala be taken in Dharmakirti's sense as some-thing to be inferred rather than seen in direct vision? The resolu-tion here would be to take Nirvd4a in such usage not to be identi-fied with cessation (nirodlta). And we note that Dharmakirti iswriting in the mature Mahdydna Buddhism period, when a Nir-vala of no fixed abode (aprati;lhitantrvapa) had come to the fore.

Thus, a consideration of the sixteen aspects of the four NobleTruths, and their sixteen "coveringso' or adversaries, does appearto bring out important features of the four Truths, and to makesalient certain striking differences of the traditions. The investiga-tion attests to the teaching of the four Noble Truths as basic tothe earliest Buddhism and to later disputes of what to place undereach of the four. Thus, one strong current of interpretation tookthe sixteen aspects as a guide, while another was either obliviousof, or uncomfortable with, the neat list.

37So in the Lalitavistara, as presented in Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid SanskrltReader (n. 2, above), pp. 22-23.

6

THE MIRROR AS A PAN.BUDDHISTMETAPHOR-SIMILE

INrRooucrroN

The extensive literature of Buddhism contains works of sharplycontrasting spirit: some are dry metaphysical treatises; others,inspired sermons; and there are a host of ritualistic works, evenon how to conjure rain. If one passes from one work to anothercollecting material on a given topic, it is easy to amass numerousundigested passages. But the authenticity of the mirror metaphorrests-I believe-on the ease with which one can go from one workto another, written centuries apart, while paying attention to thismetaphor and assembling these passages with an overall sense ofrelevance. In the end I shall express a reservation about bringingtogether so many passages in one article.

Even so, it is as though-here a metaphor-Buddhist religion

and philosophy were an enormous tangle of string, and we shouldhappen to notice among the innumerable loose ends a certain oneto pull and thereby begin to resolve the entire tangle. If otherscholars-except for a sinologist like Demi6villel-have notdeemed this study important, they can be excused on the grounds

that it looked like just one of many loose ends.Indeed, the importance of the mirror metaphor was enhanced

when Buddhism spread from its native India to various Asiancountries. China was fond of mirror symbolism; and Asian

rP. DrurfvrllE, o'Le miroir spirituel," Sinologica | (1,947): ll2-37.

r30 Buddhist Insight

forms of shamanism emphasize the mirror, as when it figures onthe chest of the Tibetan oracle or is placed on high in the JapaneseShinto worship hall.

So far I have only publish.ed two articles dealing with the subject-one on the mirror of ladies (which included a divination section)2

and one on the mirror-like knowledge of Mahdyina Buddhism.s

The material has so increased that it is a matter of selection topresent the main ideas in a single essay. Speaking nrost briefly,there are three parts. First, the early Buddhist use of the mirror

as a metaphor of the mind, which becomes dirtied as a mirror

collects dust, eventually led to the highly evolved philosophical

position of Asanga and his school called the Yogdcdra, and thenin Buddhist tantric ritual to the washing of the mirror while a

deity was reflected therein. Second, the rise of the Prajffdpdra-

mitd literature as interpreted by the teacher Nagirjuna avoids themetaphorical mirror and employs the mirror simile for such illus-trative purposes as the theory of dharntas (natures, features), andthe meaning here is succinctly shown in the brief tantric ritual,init iation of the mirror. Third, the ancient use of a mirror forpredictive purposes, as knorvn in the Pdli scriptures and in storiescalled Jatakas, develops into the representation of mirrors inBuddhist art and eventually into remarkable forms of mirrordivination in the Buddhist Tantras. And there is an appendixon the problem of where to include the "prajiin--mirror."

It is also necessary to establish the character of the mirror

metaphor. The Sarydhinirmocana-sutra-which is the basic scrip-

ture of the Mahayana Buddhist Yogdcdra school-mentions in

its chapter 5 that when conditions are present a clear mirror will

reflect one image, two images, and so on, and yet the mirror sur-face is not changed thereby. The appropriating consciousness(ddana-u ij fidna)-pr actically equivalent to t he store- consciousness(alaya-ui.iiidna) of this systern-is compared to this mirror (adaria)

and also to a swift current of water (ogha).4 The swift water

zA. WavlaAN, "A Jotting on the Mirror: Those of Ladies," Mahfil 7(Fall-Winter 197 l) : 209-13.

3A. WaylrAN, "The Mirror-like Knowledge in Mahayana Buddhist Litera-ture," Asiatische Studien 25 (1971): 353-63.

aE. Lrvorrs, in his edition and translation of the Tibetan SarydhinirmocanaSutra (Louvain and Paris, 1935), reconstructs in part: tadoghasthdniyam

adarSasthaniyam adanavijfianary. It is of interest that Sthiramati, TrirpSika-

Tre \{ irror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile

current as a metaphor of the mind implies a progression, extend-ing forward and backward but not laterally-that is, a temporalsuccessiveness. [n contrast, the mirror as a metaphor of the mindirnplies alateral extension, a spacial simultaneity. Atfirst consid-eration, the two metaphors are inconsistent, and the applicationof both of them helps the reader to avoid the concretization ofeither metaphor.

In this light, it is signiflcant that the Yogdcara school prefersthe mirror as a metaphor-simile of the mind, while the Mddhya-mika is less likely to use it and, r.vhen it does, uses the same meta-phor-simile in any way except for the mind. Of course, in bothEastern and western thought, the application of this rnetaphor tothe mind suggests that it will entertain an image for which thereis a model somewhere; and this is the dualistic position. Theargument was transferred to china, where one branch of the ch'anschool, following the Lankquatora-slttra, applied the mirror meta-phor to the mind; ivhile another Ch'an school, turning to thePrajiiaparamita scriptural position, rejected this metaphor forthe mind.

A. Tire MnrApHoRrcAr MrnRoR AND rHEYocAcAnR Scnoor

Asariga, rvho heads the Yogacdra school, attributes to a sutra or.su!ras presumably in the olcl Buddhist canon (the four Agamasin the northern Buddhist version) the rnetaphorical identificationof a begging bowl (patra), a mirror (adaria), and a pond (hrada)with the three faults that stir up consciousness. The three suchfaults are "unrnethodical mental orientation" (ayoniio mqnqsi-kdra),'otracas" (anuiaya), and "entrapment" (paryauasthdna).sBesides, he mentions in the same place the three gateways toliberation, the place of ambrosia (amrta-dhdtu): these are the wish-less (apraqihita), voidness (iunyata), and signless (animitta) gates.Elsewhere he explains that the wishless gate is the opponent of

bhrisya, ed. Sylvair-r t-6vi (Paris, 1925), p. 33, has merely tacloghasthaniyantiilayavijii1narT, irT like context. That is, by only mentioning the swift currentof water, he may thereby be judging that this metaphor and the mirror oneare incompatible.

sviniScayasarygraha\i, photographic ed. of Tibetan canon (prr), TheTibetan Tripitaka, Peking ed. (Tokyo and Kyoto, lg5s-61), ll0:239-3, 4.

l 3 l


wish for gestation or becoming (bhaua); the voidness one, of defile-

ment (kteia); and the signless one, of signs.6 Taking into consi-

deration Asanga's further explanations of what he means by

"traces" and "entrapment," it is reasonably clear that in his sym-

bolism, the begging bowl, minus its craving, is the wishless gate;

the mirror with its traces erased is the voidness gate; and the pond,

devoid of entrapment, is the signless gate.

At least one of the sutras which Asanga had in mind would be

the Sanskrit equivalent of the Pdli Anguttara-I'{ikdya [Book of

Ones], section 5, where the turbid pool of water stands for the

turbid mind (duila-citta). This same section concludes and contin-

ues into the next section with the sentence: "Monks, this mind

fcitta] is luminous, but defiled with adventitious defilements."

This passage is undoubtedly the reason for the thesis pushed by

the Mahdsdnghika school: "The mind is intrinsically pure." But

while in this context the siltra used the pond metaphor, the mirror

was later employed in this metaphorical role for the mind that is

intrinsically pure but covered by defilements.A possible reason for the growing importance of the mirror

metaphor may come from the early account of Brahma's urging

the Buddha to teach. As recorded in the Sarpyutta-Nikdya,

volume 1, the Buddha saw with a Buddha's eye sentient beings

hardly dusty and sentient beings very dusty,T and he compared

them to lotuses in different stages of growth from the bottom fo

the pool to the surface where they were not adhered to by the

muddy water. While the lotus comparison would favor the pond,

his observation of the relative dustiness of the sentient being wouldfavor the mirror metaphor.s According to the celebrated accountcalled the o'conversion of Sariputra and Maudgalydyana," the

dust collects on the dharma-eye-also called the knowledge-eye-

directed toward dharmas.eAnother reason for the ascendancy of the rnirror metaphor over

the other two (the begging bowl and the pond)) is the association

6lbid., l l l : l l4-4.?See J. J. JonEs, trans., The Mahavastu, Vol. III (London, 1956), p.372,

n., for a discussion of the word here translated "very dusty."sThis is not to deny the importance in Buddhism of water symbolism,

whether of pond, stream, ocean, and so on.esee FnaNxrrN EocBRToN, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Reader (New Haven,

Conn., 1953), p.29; and chapter 7.

The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile 133

n'ith the voidness gate to liberation. Indeed, the growing impor-tance of the mirror metaphor would be fost'ered by the Prajfrd-paramitd scriptures, which emphasized the realization of voidness,even if these scriptures themselves drd not feature the mirrormetaphor in this manner (the pure and defiled mind).

Still another factor favoring the mirror metaphor was theMahdydna Buddhist theory of five kinds of knowledge or wisdomas the content of enlightenment, of which the flrst one is the"mirror-like knowledge." In Asanga's school, this knowledge isachieved through 'orevolution of the store-consciousness basis."10According to the Lankduatdra-sutra this occurs in the EighthBodhisattva Stage, where the Bodhisattva lives in a "body madeof mind" which is like a current of dreams.11 Among the mostrevealing passages which I collected on this subject is one inAbhaydkaragupta's M unimat dl aynk dr a :r2 " The mirror-like know-ledge is where consciousness of the infinite three realms and the'other one'-all the finest atoms of substance-come togetherindividually. The objective domain lui;ayal which is distant and(called) the 'other one,' and temporal states of past, present, andfuture (there) come together individually, just as a reflected imageappears vividly in a mirror." This brings out the sense of themetaphorical mirror's ability to reflect all things without itselfbeing changed, and to display simultaneously both the subjectivestates of past, present, and future, and all sensory objects. Itseems that both the metaphorical swift stream and metaphoricalmirror are combined in this particular explanation of the mirror-like knowledge.

Turning to the philosophical position of the Yogdcara school,I have devoted an article to rejecting the common attribution to

l0Asanga in his Mahayanasarpgraha (trans. E. Lalrorrr [Louvain, lg3gl,pp. 278-79) merely states that the set of four knowledges beginning with"mirror-like knowledgeo'are obtained throughtherevolutionof the aggregateof perceptions (vijfrana-skandha), while Vasubandhu, in his commentarythereonn clarifies that one obtains the o'mirror-like knowledge" throughrevolution of the "store-consciousness" (alayavijfiana) basis.

rlSee the Lankdvatdra references in G. Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, pt. I(Rome, 1956) , p .201.

12WAYMAN, "The Mirror-like Knowledge," p. 358, n.In 1970 I had ahelpful suggestion about this passage from the lama Gonsar Rimpoche ofDharmasala.


the Yogacara school of the unqualified denial of an externalobject.t:t In this case, there is the mirror sirhile of the Saindhinir-rnocena's Maitreya chapter, which denies a difference betrveen theimage in the mirror and the model of the image.ra Here thescripture alludes to the situation of samadhi when the perceivingmind (the reflecting mirror) that dwells upon a rneditative object(the model) is not different from that model anci so the latter iscalled "representation-only" (uijfiapti-matra). This passage doesnot constitute an idealistic denial of an external object, but rathera disinterest in externals; because the yogin has retreated frornmanifold sense objects and dwells only on the meditative objectin his mind.

Moreover, Asanga writes in his Yogdcarabhumi: "In short,there are two uijfianas, 'store-consciousness'

falayauijfiana) and'evolving perceptions' fpraurttiuijiiana]. Among these, the store-consciousness is the place and evolving perception is placed. Thelatter is sevenfold, the (five) eye, etc. perceptions, rnind-basedperception, and manas. The trvo are like a body of water and thewaves are like a mirror and a reflected image. In that way, thisestablishment of supreme method establishes the place and theplaced."rs Later, in the exegesis of his Bodhisottuablwmi, Asangadiscusses the three characters or naturcs (suabhaua) of the Yog[-cara school-the perf-ect (parini5panna), the dependency (para-tantra), and the imaginary (parikalpita); and under the rubric"thorough knowledge of, the dependency character," he placesthe similes of natures (dharma) that happen to be repeated againand again in the Prajfiaparamitascriptures, to wit: "like an illu-sion, a dream, a hallucination, an echo, the moon in the waters,a reflected image, a magical materialization."l6 Therefore, Asangaintends his l ikening of the "store-consciousnsss" and "evolvingperceptions" to a body of water and waves, or to a mirror and areflected image, to constitute metaphoric language appropriate tounderstanding the dependency characteristic of the Yogacaras) 'stem.

r3A. WaylrAN, "Yogdcdra and the Buddhist Logicians," The Journalof the Interrntional Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 2, No. l, 19j9,pp . 65 -78 .

lll-arvtorrr , Sarytdhinirmocana Sutra, pp. 211-12.15AsA\-cA, Viniicayasamgraha4i, PTT, 111 :16-1.16lb id. , 111:75-4.

The \l irror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile 135

Passing to the numerous mirror sirniles of the Lahkat,atdra-sutra, we observe a greater interest in describing external objectsthan is noticed in Asanga's school. Now the mirror simile is em-ployed in the problems of identity and otherness, and of error andnonerror. Despite its "mind-only" passages, the philosophicalposition of the Lankduatdra-sutra is shown by its mirror passagesas only somewhat idealistic.l?

Then there is the theory of the mind as a two-sided mirror-which the Buddhist tantra tradition has in common with KashmirSaivism.l8 In this case, the phenomenal mind (ntanas), on oneside, reflects with error the external world,, and the superior dis-criminating mind (buddhi), on the other side, reflects errorlesslybecause it is devoid of images. Along the same lines the Maha-yana-SutrdlarTtkdra is cited: 'oAs in a broken water-pot the reflec-tion of the moon cannot be seen, in the same way to those that areevil the Buddha does not manifest himself."ls In the language ofthe two-sided mirror, the buddhi side of the mirror can representthe Buddha because it is devoid of competing irnages.

The foregoing directly leads to the tantric ritual of rnirrorwashing preserved in Tibetan Buddhisrn. The meaning, of course,is washing the mind so it can properly reflect the divine world inthe form of a deity's body. This is consistent with the practice,enjoined by the tantric work vairam'ala, of contemplating thereflected image of the Lord ( == the icon) while washing the mirror.20For the rite in brief, Mkhas-grub-rje says.2r

Thereupon he reflects the image in a mirror, if he can provideit, and gives an actual bath to the reflected, image. If hecannot provide it, such persons as the assistant to the offeringor other persons make the seal (mudra) of "washing the body,,,that is, form a level surface with the backs of their hands, sothat the tops of the thumbs and the index fingers touch each

rTTo establish this conclusion would require considerable discussion-beyond the scope of the present article-including the comparison of theSanskrit and Tibetan versions for certain important passages.

l8see F.D. LrssrNc and A. wAyuAN, trans., Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentalsof the Buddhlst Tantras (The Hague, 1968), p. 210, n.

rsMahayana-SutAlarykara, ed. Syr.varN LEvr (paris, 1907), 9:16.zovajramald (an explanatory tantra of the Guhyasamaja), prr, 3:223-2.2llrssrNc and wavuAN, trans., Mkhasgrub rje's Fundamentals, p. lgl.


other. He offers abath,while reciting, OM SARVADEVATA

ACIN TYA-AM RTA SVAHA (O rn, the inconceivable ambro sia

of all the gods, svaha).

A text by MafrjuSrimitra mentions five perfume drops on the

mirror.22 The reason, as Gonsar Rimpoche of Upper Dharmsala(India) told me, is that the water for washing the icon is always

perfumed water. Geshe Rabten, tutor to H.H. the Dalai Lama,

explained that in the beginning they draw a square on the mirror

to represent the bathing room. The flve perfumed drops are in

each corner of the square and one in the middle. They signify

the five Buddha families, because all Buddhas are included in one

or another of those five. Or the five drops stand for the guru,

the tutelary deity, the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and the Pro-

tectors of the Faith.The rite in more developed form has been studied extensively

by the late F. D. Lessing, who, however, published only one

article on the subject.2s In his summary, he says: "An originally

simple devotional act is interpreted symbolically as (a) purifica-

tory, removing sins, both ritualistic and ethical, (b) mystical, con-

ferring gifts, both temporal and spiritual, and (c) consecratory,

communicating the three-fold gift of purification, illumination,

and mystical union with the deity, as preparation for the attain-

ment of 'gifts of grace' (siddhi) and final beatitude."

B. TsB MnRoR SIMILE AND rHn MAoHYAMIKA ScHoor

The mirror simile is rare in Mddhyamika works but found in

important contexts. The Madhyamika follows the Praifidpdra'

mitd scriptures, which stress voidness of dhqrmqs and give similes

for it in lists, for example, all dharmas are like an illusion , a mirage,

a dream, a city of gandharuas. Ndgdrjuna, in his Madhyamaka-

kdrikd, has "like an illusion, like a dream, like a city of gandhar-

uAS"; also, "resembling a mirage" and "like a phantom man and

2zMawruSnIMITRA, Arya-maftjuiri-namasaqngiti-cak;ur-vidhi-nama, PTT, 75:

t35-4.23F.D. LESSING, "Structure and Meaning of the Rite Called the Bath of the

Buddha according to Tibetan and Chinese Sources", in Studia Serica Bernhard

Karlgren Dedicata (Copenhagen, 1959), pp. 159-71.


like a reflection lpratibimbel."z+ Of these, "like a reflection" may

mean as in a mirror, or as the one moon reflects in many waters.

Whenever a list in a Mahayana scripture was long enough (as

though aiming at completeness), it would normally include the"reflected image," but by and large these scriptures preferred to

use the language "like an illusion, a mirage, adream." fn fimethelist grew to ten, as in the two largest Praifidpdramitd scriptures;and these ten similes, including the mirror one, are the occasionfor lengthy commentary in the Mahdprajfidpdramitdidstra, chap-ter l1 (as available in Lamotte's French translation).25 As I under-stand the matter, the longer lists are found in the later and larger

Mahdyina scriptures. If for no other reason, I am loathe to

agree with the Chinese tradition that attributes the immensely in-fluential M ahdp r aj fi dp dr amit di d s t r a to Ndgdrjuna.

The mirror simile is of course more important when a wholesentence or developed idea turns upon it than when it is simplyone member in a stereotyped list.

The first case concerns one of the most argued points of earlyBuddhism-the question of what transfers from life to life, or themanner in which the fruit is ensured for the karma as cause. TheArya Sattstambha Sutrq states:26 o'Now, no dharma transfers fromthis world to the other world. Still, there is recognition of karmaand fruit on account of the suffi.ciency of cause and condition. Forexample, the facial reflection is seen in a clean mirror, but the facedoes not transfer into the mirror. There is recognition of the faceon account of the sufficiency of cause and condition." Nagdrjuna,in his ,ialistambha-kdrika, writes: "Just as in a well-polishedmirror the reflected image of the face is seen, and while the reflect-ed image is in the mirror there is no transfer (to that place), in thesame way, the birth manifestation, irrespective of the agent anddeed which are mutually without discursive thought, comes insequence from the previous casting."" Along the same lines,Ndgd:rjuna states in his Pratityasamutpddahrdaya-uydkarayta:

2aThese similes were collected by the late Richard H. Robinson in his EarlyMadhyamika in India and China (Madison, Wis., 1967).

zsdusNur L.nrraottr,, Le Traitd de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse (Louvain,1944), I:357-90.

26N. AryaswAMr Snsrnr, ed., Arya Satistambha Sutra (Madras: AdyarLibrary,1950), Sanskrit text, p. 16.

2?PTT, 103:270-3.


"Just as in the case of a flame from a flante, the reflected image ina mirror from a face, an impression from a seal, a fire from aburning crystal, a sprout from a seed...a person is not taught tounderstand that the one is different from the other, so also in thecase of reconnection [pratisarytdhil of the personal aggregates

fskandha], the wise person will understand that there is notransfer.2s Buddhaghosa has a consistent remark in hisVi.suddltimagga.2e

The Prajfraparamita scriptural passages stress that the reflectedinrage has no discursive thought (uikalpa), as in the A5lasdhasrikdpraj fidpdramitd (chap. 26) 7to

lt is also this way, for example, Lord. It does not occur to areflected image fpratibhasa] that "the support-object whichproduces the reflected image is close to me, but those that donot approach in the mirror or in the bowl of water are farfrom me." For what reason? Lord, because the reflectedimage has no discursive thought. In the same way, Lord, itdoes not occur to a Bodhisattva great being who is coursingin the Perfection of Insight that "the incomparable completeenlightenment is close to me, but the stage of the disciple

lirritakul and the stage of the self-enlightened one fpratyelca-bucidha) is far from me." For rvhat reason? Lord, becausethe Perfection of Insight has no discursive thought.

It seerns possible to associate this passage with the previous onesabout no transit of the personal aggregates. That is, it does notoccur to the new personal aggregates as a reflected image, "Backthere are the old personal aggregates," because the reflectedimage has no discursive thought, at least not about the old personalaggregates.

But perhaps the most important use of the mirror simile in laterMadhyamika cornmentary, especially Candrakirtl's Madhyama-lcduatdra, is its use to illustrate that the self has no character ofits own. In this connection, the Ratnaklta scripture Pitdputra-

zsPTT, 103:271-4.2eBnrrruu NANAvtott, trans., The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)

(Colombo, 1956), p. 639.30U. Woctnau, ed., AbhisamayalarykcTraloka Prajiiaparamifivyakb,a

(Commentary) on Aslasahasrika-Prajfiaparamita): The ll'ork of Haribhadra,

fasc. 7 (Tokyo, 1935), p. 841.

The Mirror a.s a Pan-BLrddhist Vletaphor-Simi le 139

.\antdgoma IMeeting of father and son] ilro\/ides a lnuch-citedpa.tsage:3r "In the way that an inragc void of self-existenceis seen in a very clean mirror, so Drurna, understand theserlharmas.' ' The passage llteans tli.at natures (dharma) arisedependently, devoid of self-existence (,ruabhtiua). Also Nirgarjunastates in the Ratnduali:22

With recourse to a rnirror, one sees ttre reflected image of one'sface" but in reality this (reflection) is nothing at all. In thesame way, with recoursc to the personal aggregates, the ideaof self faharytkdra] is conceived, but in reality it is nothing atall, like the reflection of one's face.Without recourse to a nrirror, one does not see the reflectedirnage of one's face. Likelvise, ivithout recollrse to the personalaggregates, onc does not speak of a self. Having learned thenreaning this rvay, the noble Ananda gained the dharma-eye,and himself repeatedly spoke the same to the monks.

Before proceeding furiher, it is well to summarize thoseMadhyamika uses of the rnirror simile. It is used to illustrate theall-important Bucldhist theory of nonself, both of personality(pudgala) and of natures (dharma). It heips to explain the thornyproblem in Buddhisin, because of its nonself th.eory, of wirat, ifanything, transfers from lif'e to life. I'here is an assist to theBuddhist dependent-origination theory, with the natures soarising doing so lvithout self-existence. /\nd sincs the face in themirror has no opinions about tite person lool<ing in the mirror,this simile shows the rneaning of "no discursive thought," aterminology that is fiequent in Buddhist rvorks.

Now we can evaluate a passage in the Mahaprajiidparamitdiastre'sexplanation of the mirror sirnile.ts3 "The reflection in the mirroris not produced by the mirror fadaria], nor by the face lualctraf,nor by the holder of the mirror (adariadhara), nor by itself

srAs cited in Santideva's Siksasamuccaya, Vaidya ed. (Darbhanga, l96l),p. 139.17-18, i t is in prose, but the Tibetan quotat ions of i t are in verse.

32As cited in candrakirti's commentary on the Madhyamaka-karika(chap. l8). See this chapter in translation, J. w. de Jong, cinq chapirres de laPrasannapada (Paris, 1949), p. 6.

sslamotte, Le Trcrite, l:378, where the way of talking is traced back to theSelasutta of the Saryyutta-rtikdya, and to Nagdrjuna's Madhyamaka-karika1 . 1 .

140 Buddhist Insieht

fsuatalt]; but it does not exist in the absence of causes and condi-tions fhetupratyayaf." In the explanation there, all the factors-mirror, face, and so on-are required. If one is lacking, theremainder cannot produce the reflection in the mirror. This is ause of the mirror simile not met with hitherto, although admittedlythis is merely negative evidence for denying the Indian authorshipof this famous work of Chinese Buddhism. On the surface thepassage seems to be the way Ndgdrjuna writes in his Madhyamaka-kdrika 1, 1: "There is no entity anywhere that arises from itself,from another, from both (itself and another), or by chance."seBesides, Nagdrjuna says in the Lokdtttastaua:s5 "The sophistsclaim that suffering is done by oneself, by another, by both, or bychance. But you teach that it arises in dependence. That verything which arises in dependence you affirm as void. There is noentity self-dependent. Such is your incomparable lion's roar."But the author of the Chinese work goes on to say about thereflection in the mirror: "If it existed without causes and condi-tions, it would exist eternally. If it existed eternally, it would beproduced even in the absence of the mirror and the face."36 Thisis a remarkable piece of circular reasoning. According to Candra-kirti's Prasannapadd (on chap. l), the reason is found in Ndgdr-juna's own Madltyamaka-kdrikd, chapter 8, especially verse 4:"If there were no cause [hetu], there would be neither effect norinstrument; in such a case, there would be no deed, agent, or wayof effecting." Therefore, if the author of the Mahaprajfidpdra-mitdidstra had been Nagdrjuna, as the legend claims, we wouldhave expected him to explain: If what you call a reflection existedwithout causes and conditions, it would not be an "effect," andtherefore would not be a "reflection" of something.

Moreover, there are the mirror verses of Chinese Ch'an Bud-dhism. According to the legend, at the time of the Fifth Patriarchthe head monk Shen-hsiu wrote a verse to establish his credentials:

3aL. or L.q Varrie PousslN, ed., Prasannapada Commentatre de Candraktrti,Bibliotheca Buddhica, vol. 4 (Saint Petersburg, 1903-13), p. 12.

35L. oe L.q Vanfs PoussrN, "Les quatre odes de Nagdrju na," Musdon3l-32 (1913): 13-14, cites for these verses (Lokattta-staya, 19-20) the Sanskritfor the first one in candrakfuti's Prasannapada and for the second one inB o d hi car y av a t a r ap afij i k a.

solamotte. Le Traitd. I :378.

The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-simile l4l

The body is the Bodhi tree,The mind is like a clear mirror,At all times we must strive to polish it,And must not let the dust collect.sT

We observe at once that this is the tradition going back to earlyBuddhism, where the mind is intrinsically pure but covered withadventitious defilements, here the 66dss["-4 view favoring themetaphorical mirror as the mind, a metaphor pushed by theLankduatdra school.

However, a boy (Hui-neng) who in the legend became the SixthPatriarch wrote his verse:

Bodhi originally has no tree,The mirror also has no stand,Buddha nature is always clean and pure;Where is there room for dust?38

This is the switch to the Prajfrdparamiti language. Notice eventhat the mirror has no stand, recalling the argument in thePrajfidpdramitdidstra that if the holder of the mirror is missing,then there is no reflection in the mirror. But also in the Tun-huang version it is consistent with the theory of the two-sidedmirror, with the bttddhi-side capable of reflecting errorlessly be-cause it has no image in it.

The Mddhyamika employment of the mirror simile is continuedin tantric ritual, in particular in the Mirror Initiation of theAkpobhya Guhyasamaja-tantra tradition;but here we notice thatthe former theory of the deity appearing in the pure mind-themetaphorical mirror-is also involved. This is an extract from acommentary by the Tibetan author Tson-kha-pa:sg

Having had his eye opened in that manner, (the disciple)should look upon all dharmas as reflected images. So (thedisciple) may accomplish this, he (the guru) shows a mirrorincanted with an AH, and recites:

All dltarmqs are like reflected images, clear and pure, with-

sTTranslation by P. B. Yampolsky, The Platform Sutraof the Sixth Patriarch(New York, 1967), p. 130.

ssTranslation by Yampolsky, p. 1.32.seThe fuller form of this brief ritual is translated in A.Wayman, The Buddhist

Tantras: Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism (New York, 1973), pp. 68-70.

142 '. Buclclhist Insight

out turbulence: ungraspable, inexpressible. truly arisen fromcauso and action lhetu and, karnia].

Just l ike vajrasattva on a mirror that is clear, pure, withoutturbulence; so also rhe Buddhas, uni.,rersal lords, themselvesabide in the heart o1'thee, lny son.

Noiv that you have so understood the dltarmas as withoutintrinsic nature and lvithout location, may you perf,orm in-comparably tl ie aim of sentient beings so they may beborn as sons of the protectors !

Tsori-kh.a-pa goes on to explain: "Tl^,ose verses enjoin (the <lis-ciple) to understand in general that all dharma.s are like a reflectedimage, and in particular that the Vajrasattva dlvelling in one,sheart is l ike a reflected imase in a rnirror."

C. Tss PnporcrrvE MrRRon

In my article on the rnirror-l ike knorvledge, I discussed a passagefound in the Pali scriptLrre Parinibbuna-silftct;ao "-fherefore,Ananda. in this u'orld I u i l l reveal the rcirresentation of the lalvcalled 'mirror of the l;111r.' possessed of rvli ich zr noble discipleplanning u 'o i l ld predict for sel l 'or selves, 'wi th no more sojournsin hel l , no more animal bir th. no more realm of the hungry ghosts,no more disaster. evil destiny, ruin-f have entered the strearl,not l iable to purgatory, assured, proceeding towards enlighten-ment.' " The mirror of the law is explained in that pali context asthe four kinds of "faith with understanding" (auecca-pasdda, s.auetya-prasoda). The passage scarcely disguises what must havebeen a current practice in India of using mirrors for divination. Italso clearly sl-lorvs holv Buddhisrn takes prestigior-is or irnposingsymbols of secular l i fe and transforms thcur into religious symbols.

In my previous study on mirrors of ladies, I have alluded to theuse of a girl for mirror divination according to the writ ings ofNaropa connected with the Krilacakra cult.al srojkowitz shorvsthat in Tibet a boy was uti l ized for the purpose.az In old Buddhistl iterature the divining person could be referred to as "mirror-face".

4oW,q,vvnN, "The Mirror-like Knowledge,', p. 359.41WayuaN, "A Jotting on the Mirror," pp.2ll-lZ.42R. nr Nneesrv-woJKowrrz., oracles and Demons of Tibet (The Hague,

t956), p. 463,

The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simi le

In Pil i there is a Jataka (previous-birth story of tfte Buddha),

"Story of King Mirror-Face,"43 which has a Sanskrit counterpart,"Story of King Adar6amukha."aa This also appears to be the

meaning of the verse in the Sacldharntapun/arika.'45 "Just as

one SeeS an irlage on the surface of a mirror, so also the world is

seen on his body. Self-born, he sees no other beings. Just these are

the forms on his pure body." The hint is in tire l ine, "Self-born,

he sees no other beings." This points to tf ie denial of ordinary

vision and agrees.,vith the stress in various passages that one's own

face must disappear from the rnirror, because that lnirrored face is

the projection of phenornenal illusions r.vhich "dirty" the mirror'

And when the face is no longer reflected, it becomes itself the

reflector, "so also the world is seen on i l is body."The disappearance of the face is irnplied by the terrninology of

the void mirror. Presumably one must void his olvu face, and

then the mirror will be ciear to reflect other images which the

hierophant will then interpret. This magical use of the mirror

agrees with the description of the mirror-like knowledge as being

free from configuration (dkara) and so able to reflect allforms.a6

Now, to eliminate the face from the mirror requires that a

person appreciate the value of so doing. This was alluded to in

the Mahiyana Nirvaqa Sutra as cited in The Kyogyoshinsho:47"O Great King! This is l ike a ntan who takes up a ntirror and

sees in it his orvn self. The ignorant r,vill think this is the true

face, while the wise u'i l l see through and knou' this is not so."

But the realization that the usual face is not the true one does not

in itself remove the false face.a8 Then horv is one to avoid seeing

one's face in the mirror? This is of course easier with the Asian

mirrors that are somewhat duller than our modern ones. How-

43H. T. Fnaucts andE. J. THonaas, JatakaTales,lndia ed. (Bornbay, 1957),pp. 120-28.

aaSee N. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts(Srinagar, 1947),3, pt. 1: l l4-15, wherethe story is part of the Bhaigajya-vastu of the Mtrlasarvastivdda-Vinaya.

45U. WocnraRl and C. TsucHtol, eds., Saddharmapu?Sariku-sutrant(Tokyo, 1936), chap. 18, verse 62.

46WnyuaN, "The Mirror-like Knowledge," p. 356.4?Kosuo Yauauoro, trans., The Kyogyoshinsho (Tokyo, 1958), p. 153.asSee A. Wavtt^nw, "significance of Dreams in India and Tibet," History of

Religions 7 (August 1967):9. See chapter2l,

143


ever, the practice may be what is shown in Maitripada's Mahd-mudr ds iddh dnt op ade i a : as

First one worships the tutelary deity and goes through thesevenfold rite. Then he gazes at his reflected image in themirror in front. The constructed colored features of the faceare void of entity. The face of the reflected image lookshither; his own face looks thither. Because there is no dis-agreement of mindfulness, the genuine face is (also) void ofentity. According as he manages not to be attached, the ap-pearance of the reflected image is his own mind. He con-templates the color of his mind, for example, the manifesta-tion of lust, thinking it to be void. He contemplates his mindto be a reflected image, and the appearance of body to be hisown mind. Body and mind are like reflected images. Deny-ing a person that way, he has become free from attachment bygazing at the reflected image in a mirror.

In this process of transferring the mirror to his own face which isgenuine, the yogin divests the objective mirror of the false faceand replaces it with the colors of his mind, which will be referredto below as the "karma-mirror." So this voiding of the falseface is a kind of symbolic death.

The disappearance of the face is also an omen of actual deathaccording to the Sambarodaya-tantra.s0 The visions which canthen appear on the mirror of the mind are properly on what iscalled the "karma-mirror,' ' depicted in judgment scenes in Asianart.51 Charles Luk translates in theSurangama Siltra: "The twohabits from karma and disputation end in the exposure (of sins);for the mirror and lamp reveal former karmic deeds for (final)judgmenl."sz This might be the same passage alternately trans-

4gPTT, 87:162.50PTT, vol.2, chap. 19 of the Sambarodaya-tantra, p.212.sUudgment scenes with large karma-minors are depicted in The Ancient

Buddhist Arts in Central Asia ond Tun-Huang (Kyoto: Hozokan, 1962),pl. 504, A and B. According to the English introduction in a monographtherein by Yusho Tokushi, "Painted Manuscripts of the Shih-Wang-Sh€ng-Ts'i-Ching," these are part of the pictures of the ten kings found at the Cavesof Thousand-Buddhas, Tun-huang. They belong to the late T'ang, tenthcentury.

s2CnaRrEs Lvx, The Surarigama Sfrtra (London, 1966), p. 182. This workis probably a native Chinese composition and should not be confused with the

The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-simile

lated: "There is a mirror reflecting a glaring,cand.le. In the day-time it is not able to store the image - the mirror of karma and.the jewel of a fire, reveal the stored karmaandmake various affairsexperienced."ss The karma-mirror is mentioned in a nativeTibetan sddhana of Yama (lord of the dead) where four fearfulgoddesses, called "mothers of worldly existence', (Tib. srid pa,ima mo) each hold the karma-mirror in their right hands along withthe sack of diseases, the destructive ball of thread, and the notchedboard of the Maras, and in their left hands hold a pair of dice.ba

one mirror in art representations that is difficult to explain isthat depicted as held by the dancing musicians in paradise, forrepresentations of which one may consult Stein's work.br Now, itis not impossible that these representations are of the shaman inhis mystic flights, who in his frenzy can give prophecy. Also, inthe veda the gandharua was a musician in the intermediate space,but later on in Buddhism the gandharua became the being in ttreintermediate state (antardbhaua) between death and rebirth. Ifthe beings depicted in those representations can be construedas gandharuas, the suggestion is that the mirror reflects the being'sfuture destiny, which was decreed by the karma-mirror.

More particularly about the predictive mirror itself, the theorythat the prognostic descends into the divinatory mirror is alreadyin the Pdli scriptwe Digha-nikaya l, which twice has the expressiondddsa-pafihaan (questions put to the mirror), on which the com-mentary states: "adase devatan otaretvd pafiha-pucchenan.,'56Here, otaretua means "having brought down," so "having broughtthe deity down into the mirror, (then) to ask guestions."az

Surartgamasamadhisutra of Indian origin, which E. Lamotte has translatedunder the title La concentration de la Marche Hdroique (Brussels 1965).

53As a Columbia University student, Shinjo Kawasakihas translated forme,from the same Silrafigama text in the chinese Buddhist canon, the TaishoTripitaka, vol. 19, 144a.

sasgrub thabs kun btus (Dehra Dun, 1970). vol. Ta (9), fol. 623,lines 3-4.Also, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz (n. 42 above), pp. g4-g5.

55R. A. sruN, Recherches sur I'dpopde et le barde au Tibet (paris, lgsg),pp. 326,336,349, p l . 2 ,372-75.

56See s.v. "eddsa" jn The pali rext society's pali-English Dictionary, ed,.T.w. Rhys Davids and william stede, reprint ed. (London,7952), p. gg.

6?As cited in wavuaN, "A Jotting on the Mirror," p.2|2,N6ro-pdextendsthe items that can serve the same purpose: "the entrance of the prognostic issaid to be in the unreal mirror, sword, thumb, lamp, moon, sun, water, pot,

145


Besides, I have studied chapter 23 of the Laghu-tantra of Saryvara,along with Tson-kha-pa's commentary. In this chapter there isdifficult mystical language associated with the spirits- called(dkinis. The questions are put to mirrors, which are apparently

one's own consciousness. There are three mentioned: (1) in its

own house, like q uaira along with a mirror; (2) like a sword alongwith a mirror; (3) like a banner and like a javelin with a closed-mouth (double) mirror.58

As to where in the body itself would be located a divinationmirror, there is a suggestion that it is in the heart, because thenative Tibetan deity Zhang Blon has a mirror for his heart. TheTibetan author Bu-ston also has a phrase, "mirror and mirror-likein the heart."5e I have been told that the Tibetan oracles alwayswear a mirror on their chest to show their ability to capture anydesired information; and that when deities are shown by theirapparel only, a mirror is regularly placed in the position of theheart. Sometimes the syllable HR is put on the mirror-thesyllable itself probably an abbreviation of hrdaya (heart).60 Pre-sumably this heart mirror is intended in a work on the Buddhistgoddess Ndro-pdkini in which I found mention of a red two-sided mirror rvhich has the capacity to display brightly all thechiliocosm, because on one side are the five "strands of desire"(the sense objects) and on the other side, the inner forms such asthe "beautiful form" (one of the six allotments of the Lord,Bhagavat).61 Of course, this is an extension of the two-sided mirrorwith manas reflecting the phenomenal world and buddhi as theupper or inward side that displays such knowledges as the super-normal faculties.

A divination mirror is especially indicated in Tibetan icono-graphy by accompanying arrow and silk streamer.62 For

"t "yt" Tt* word "thumb" refers to the thumbnail, according to advice

given me in Calcutta in 1970.58Tson-xna-pA's commentary called "Sbas pa'i don kun gsal ba," PTT,

157: 49-50.seThe Collected Ll/orks of Bu-ston, reprinted. (New Delhi: International

Academy of Indian Culture, 1969), vol. 15, no. 66.60Conversation with Gonsar Rimpoche, in Dharmasala, 1970.61The Dpal nd-ro mkha' spyod dbari mo'i lam rim pa gfiis kyi zab khrid ji ltar

nos pa'i zin bris iin tu gsan ba gnas mkha''gro'i sfrin bcud (paper), fols. 40b-41a.6zln Tibetan: mda' dar me lori.


example, the Tibetan Earth Goddess, Sa'i-ll1a-rno brtan-ma, hassuch a divination mirror in her right hand. This is presumablyalso the meaning of the mirror held by Manene, the goddess of theTibetan epic Gesar of Ling, who was continr,rally making pro-phecies to the hero Gesar.63 The chief tantric deities do not cafiya mirror. Hence, tlr.ere is the suggestion that when a deity doeshold a mirror there is a divination cult associated with that deity.In illustration, the deity Kalacakra is depicted as holding a mirroramong the objects held by four white hands among his left hands,and in his retinue Amitdbha holds a mirror in one of his lefthands.6a But we have previously observed in a commentary byNdrcpa that the Kalacakra has precisely such a divinationsubcult.

After those theoretical considerations, it may be useful to givean actual ritual which concerns evocation of the white Tard toobtain an omen, which I now translate from a native Tibetansadhana:65

Homage to the gurus. As to the precept of having an omenarise in irnmediacy: Previously one has well performed in onesession therealization in contemplation of one's tutelary deity.In that state, one has generated himself into the momentaryreproduction of the White Tara. He imagines a white TAMon the center of the opened lotus of his heart, and from thatsyllable ablazing light which completely fills the empty interiorof his body. He sets four silver mirrors in the four directionsof the TAM syllable. Reciting A-NU-TA-RA he imaginesit [i.e., its four syllables] like a reflected image in the sequenceof the four mirrors of East, South, West, and North. Withrays emanated from that TA\4 he invites Tari from theAkanirtha heaven and he reabsorbs them. Three timeshe prays that the omen may arise in immediacy. Thenhe imagines that whatever be his own aim is a whiteTAM, that from it rays emanate which perform the

GsArnxaNoRa Davro-Nen and L,lrrla yoNGonN, The superhuman Lfeof Gesar of Ling (New York, 1934), p. 132: "in one hand she held a bow,in the other a mirror."

oaAccording to the Kilacakra maodala in B. Bhattacharyya, ed,., Ni;pannayo-gdvali cf Mahapapdita Abhaydkaragupta (Baroda, 1949).

tsSgrub thabs kun btus vol. Ga (3), fols. 438-39.


aim of all beings of the kingdom, and in particular performall of one's own aim; and imagines that then the rays of thisTAM become like a meteor which penetrates the middle of hisforehead. With fierce craving of imploring the siddhi [rnagicalsuccessl, he imagines that he swallows this TAM and that it isabsorbed into the TAM of his heart; and imagines that hisdesired thing doubtless arises as a dream. Then he goes intodeep sleep with the resting posture of the lion [i.e., on hisright sidel.. . (Later) he prepares a thanksgiving offering66 tothe venerable Goddess.

It is plain that the above rite is tantamount to a yoga state ofdream, in which the four silver mirrors become the basis of theprophetic vision, or omen. Combining this with our previousindications, the rite should be preceded by a kind of symbolicdeath, ayoga state of dreamless sleep, since the diviner has voidedthe phenomenal dream of his face in the mirror.

CoNcruorNc Rnuanrs

After the foregoing sampling of the numerous mirror passages ofBuddhist literature, I suppose it would not be possible to findanother Buddhist metaphor-simile so enduring throughthe vicissi-tudes of religious history, and so revelatory of Buddhist attitudesor instructive on how the educated Buddhist would structure hisarguments on crucial issues of his religion and associated philoso-phies with a metaphor-simile. Even so, these mirror studies arenot the most fascinating of study topics, because-I may ventureto suggest-the mirror is a static image. And there are sounds tohear, for which a mirror fails. Besides, such a study as I havemade tends to place the mirror metaphor in a tiresome role.After all, in their natural habitat these metaphors occur in aspread-out, occasional manner. It perhaps violates their meta-phorical integrity to bunch them, jostling their relatives, eachof whom would prefer the other to have stayed in his own book !

68See F. D. Lpsstuc, 'oMiscellaneous Lamaist Notes. I. Notes on the Thanks-giving Offering," Central Asiatic Journal 2, no. 1 (1956): 58-71.

The \4irror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-simile

ApprNorx

Tirn PnnrNA-MnnoR : DoES rr HAVE AN INDTAN OnrcrN

walter Liebenthal rendered great service to students of ChineseBuddhism and Buddhism generally by his translation, first pub-lished in 1948, The Book of chao; and years later, by his revisionof the same, published in 1968, chao Lun: The Treatises of seng-chao.67 Seng-chao was a youthful disciple of the famous Kumara-jiva in A.D. 401. His wonderful work has many obscure state-ments about prajfia and some in particular about prajfid as a darkmirror. It is usually taken for granted that there is non-Buddhistinfluence on seng-chao. can this mysterious prajfid-mirror betraced to Indian Buddhism?

Near the end of his Madhyamakduatdrq, candrakirti employsthe mirror simile in the sense of simultaneous appearance of allparts, to show the nature of enlightenment, as well as to show theappearance of a divine body. In Tson-kha-pa's commentary (thepart on the Tenth Stage of the Bodhisattva) the commentarialsentence is as follows.Gs "This Sarpbhogakaya reveals itself onlyto the attainers of the state [i.e., the Bodhisattva of the TenthBodlrisattva Stagel who have the mind of enlightenment [bodhi-cittal free from proliferating imagination [prapafica] and havegained the immaculate mirror of prajfrdfrom their own two collec-tions [of merit and knowledge]; and it does not reveal itself con-cretely to the ordinary persons [prthagjana] attended with proli-ferating imagination." Passing to the Lankduatdra-sutra, theequivalent language is the mirror wherein the reflections of allforms are seen simultaneously (yugapat) and free from discursivethought (uikalpa).6s rhis Lsnkduqtdra passage also speaks of theNiqyanda-Buddha associated with the Akaniqtha mansion, whichis obviously this scripture's equivalent to the sambhogak[ya ofother texts.

Earlier in his Madhyamakiiuatdrq (self-commentary,) candra-

67The 1948 publication was Monograph 13 of Monumentd serica (CatholicUniversity of Peking); the 1968 one was published by Hong Kong UniversityPress.

68TsoN-rura-pA's commentary called "Dgons pa rab gsal,,' pTT, 154:105-4.

6sThe Lankdvatdra Sutra, ed. Bunyiu Nanjio (Kyoto, 1956), 55, 1g.

/ tsOa Buddhist Insight\-/'

kirti (on 6, 174-75) speaks of purifying the face of proiiid from

nescience (auidya).70Now Seng-chao writes (Chao-lun, p. 54): "A perfect void where

nothing grows (and decays) such is, perchance, the transcendent

realm as it shows in the dark mirror of Prajfla." Again (p. 67):

"Prajfla reflects what is totally concealed, Yet does so rvithout

cognition." Indeed, except for the word "dark" applied to the

mirror, these statements agree perfectly with the fbregoing mate-

rials from the Mddhyamika tradition of Candrakirti and the

Tibetan commentary by Tson-kha-pa, and with the Yogdcdra

tradition of the Lankduatdra-sutra, although these particular

works were not available to Seng-chao.7l But as a disciple of

Kumdrajiva, Seng-chao should have had access to, and would

have consulted eagerly, the encyclopedic Buddhist work, the

Mahaprajridpdramitdidstra, which Kumdrajiva is credited with

having rendered into Chinese; and Seng-chao should have had

accessible a number of other Buddhist works already translated

into his language. Seng-chao's "perfect void" and "without

cognition" afe the equivalent for the statements in those other

works "boclhicitta free from proliferating imagination" and "free

from discursive thought." 'fhe

closest an Indian work comes

to calling this Perfection of Insight (prainapdramita) a mirror is

perhaps Candrakifii's praifia-face, although we are reminded of

the mirror-face of the Pdli Jdtakas. It does seem, therefore, that

the terminology "dark mirror of praifra" originated in China, while

the state to which this terminology applies may have already been

described in the Buddhist literature of Indian origin that was

available to Seng-chao. That is, for lack of Indian Buddhist

texts using this terminology,it may bepresumed that Tson-kha-

pa's term "projfid-mirror" derives from earlier -fibetan Buddhism

that was influenced in this matter by Chinese Buddhism.

On the other hand, the celebrateo Japanese author Klkai seems

not to have received or adopted this dark mirror terminology, for

?0According to the citation of Candrakirti's passage in Tson-kha-pa's Lamrim chen mo, namely in the vipasyana (discerning the real) section in my MS

translation , Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real (Columbia University,

New York, (1978).

TrIn particular, Gu4abhadra translated the Lankavatara into Chinese some

years after Seng-chao's passing.

The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-simile

he writes in the safite context of the Buddha's enlightenmentwisdom: "Just as all the forms are reflected in a clean mirror ona high stand, so it is with the Tathagata's Mind-mirror. Theclean mirror of Mind hangs high on the top of Dharmadhatu,being serene and shining on all without perversion or mistake.What Buddha does not possess such a clean mirror?"?2

?zH. Inagaki, "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi (Principle of Attaining Buddha-hood with the Present Body)," Asia Major n.s. 17 (1971-72):215.

r s l

7

THE BUDDHIST THEORY OF VISION

The Buddhist treatment of vision, especially in terms of eyes,whether meant concretely or metaphorically, is among the mostimportant topics of Buddhist thought from its inception to thepresent. The stress begins with the first sermon of Buddhism.while the present essay is relatively brief, it is possible to presenthere the main ideas by means of trenchant passages chosen froma wide variety of sources.

I. THE Elnly THEony op Vlsrox aNo CoNsrsrENT Trxrs

It is well known that every version of the first sermon, "settinginto Motion the wheel of the Law", has the Buddha's explanationthat when he oriented his mind to each of the four Noble Truths,a series of experiences occurred beginning traditionally with theexpressions o'knowledge arose, vision arose" eali fidrya andcakkhu, Sanskrit jfidna and caksus). The same point is made inother sermons with the expression 'oknowledge and vision" (p.fidqtadassana, Skt. jfidnadariana). A most important passageoccrurs in the Ahguttara-Nikdya (Book of Eights, "At Gaya"):'oMonks, before my awakening, when being a bodhisattua I wasnot completely enlightened, I conceived (mystic) manifestations(obhdsa) but did not see (mystic) forms (rupa). Monks, it occurredto me, 'If Iwere both to conceive (mystic) manifestations andto see


(mystic) forms, in that case knowledge and vision would be betterpurified in me'." It is quite clear that "knorvledge" is going withthe conception (saiirid) of manifestations and that "vision" isgoing with the seeing of forms.

The copulative interpretation of the cornpound iidnadassana iscontinued down the centuries to the commentary Arya-Daia-bhftmiuydkhydna, attributed to vasubandhu in the Tibetan canon(Tohoku Cat. No. 3998), where (Derge ed., Mdo ltgrel, jvi, f.l77a-6. ff.) we read: "Four of the supernormal faculties (abhiiiid)are categafizedby knowledge (jfidna),the fifth is categorized byvision (dariana). The one supernormal faculty of magical abilityQddhi) purifies the actions of body. The supernormal faculties ofboth divine hearing and knowing the make-up of others' mindspurifies the actions of speech. The supernormal faculties of boththe memory of former lives and the (knowledge of) passin g awayand rebirth purifies the actions of mind". (/mnon par 6es parnams lasbii ni ses pas rab tuphye bairo /Lna pa ni mthon basrab tu phye baho / rdzuhphrul rhnon par ses pa gcig gis ni / luskyi las yons su dag go / lhahi rna ba dah / pha rol gyi sems sespahi mnon par Ses pa gfris kyis ninag gi las yons sir dag go/ snongyi gnas rjes su dran pa dan / hehi hpho dan / skye ba mnon parSes pa giiis kyis ni yid kyi las yons su dag go /). This interestingpassage agrees with rvhat is well established, namely that the fifthsupernormal faculty, the knowledge of passing away and rebirth,is otherwisecalled the "divine eye" (dibba-cakkhu, diuya-caksus)and so constitutes the category of "vision". The passage further-more groups this ability with the memory of past lives, suggestingthat this memory is an inward-directed knowledge while the divineeye is an associated faculty that is directed outwards in the lnannerof an eye.

The emphasis on vision was continued in other kinds of termi-nology: "he who sees the Dhamma sees me, and he r,vho sees mesees the Dhamma" (S. i i i . 120; It.9l; Mil. 73).r The Mahayanaequivalent to this is found in many places, for example in theBodhisattua-pitraka, part of the Ratnakflta collection:z

lANaNoa K. CoouaRASwAMy(London, 1948) , p .23.

zThe passage occurs in Tibetanincluded the translation in myBrill, Leide n, l97l).

and I. B. HonNrn, Gotama The Buddha

in Photo ed., Vol. 23, p. 19-5; and I have"Buddhism", Historia Religionum yol. 2

The Buddhist Theory of Vision 155

Whatever is the meaning of Dependent Origination, is themeaning of Dharn-ra; whatever is the meaning of Dharma, isthe rneaning of Tathagata. Therefore, whoever sees Depen-dent Origination, sees Dharma; whoever sees Dharma, seesthe Tathdgata. Also, seeing that way, and accordingly fullyunderstanding in the sense of Thusness, still one sees scarcelyanything. What is that 'oscarcely anything"? It is the Sign-less and the Non-apprehension; the one who sees in the mannerof Signless and Non-apprehension, sees rightly.

Besides, the third Noble Truth, of Cessation (nirodha), must berealized directly (sdkgdt, "before the eyes") according to theancient Buddhist prescription. Thus, niruana in its oldest sense isattained when it is seen; and it is seen, according to the suggestionof our next section, by the o'eye" of insight (pafifid, prajfia).8

lI. TsB TuRan Eyss AND rHE Frve Eyrs

The three eyes are well-known in Pdli literature as the eye of flesh(marysacakkhu), the divine eye (dibbacakkhu),and the eye of insight(paiiiiacakkhu). Falk has discussed these eyes in terms of thebodies rvhich they respectively see. The eye of flesh sees therupa-personality, the divine eye sees the manomayakdya ("bodymade of mind"), and the eye of insight "sees" Nirvdla. Sheunderstands from her study of Pali literature that these eyes con-stitute the successive spheres or fruits of the Buddhist ascensiontreated in the three instructions, respectively of morality (sila),meditatiot (samddhi), and insight (paiind).a

The five eyes are an expansion in Mahdydna Sanskrit works ofthe original three (marytsa-, diuya-, and prajfra-cak;us). The twothat are added are the eye of dharma and the Buddha eye. Havingcollected a number of passages on the group of five, I have noticedthat some lists have the "eye of knowledge" (jfiana-caksus) asa substitution for the "eye of clharnma."s In fact, these books took

s"Contributions to the Mddhyamika school of Buddhism", in Journalof the American Oriental Society, Vol. 89.1. The same doctrine about Nirvaqabeing of utmost imporiance for understanding Nagarjuna's position is heldhere.

4Manyra, FAtr, Nama-Rupa and Dharma-Rupa (University of Calcutta,1943), pp. 114-115.

olndrabhUti's commentary on the SrFSarppulatilaka-tantra, Derge Tanjur,


the "eye of insight" and added the "eye of dharma" and "Buddhaeye" to make a Mahiydna set of three eyes. Thus vasubandhu'scommentary on the Ak;ayamatinirdeia-sutra (Derge Tanjur, Mdolrgrel, Ci, l5b-6, tr) states: "The three eyes are .eye ofdharma,' 'eye of insight,' and ,'eye of Buddha',' (f spyan gsum nichos kyi spyan dan/ 6es rab kyi spyan dah / sans rgyas kyi spyanno/). Kamalasila's commentary on the vojracchedikd (TohokuNo. 3817, Derge Tanjur, Ses phyin, Vol. Ma,25la-2,ff.)also setsaside these three eyes, defining them as follows: "He has the 'eye

of insight' toward the object which is the selflessness of person andnature (pudgala-and dharma-nairdtmya). The 'eye of dharma' istoward the realm of dharma alone in the conventional sense whenthere is the appearance only of dharmawhile personality (pudgala)is void, there being no personality (in view). The omniscienceconcerning all forms of the knowable is called the'eye of Buddha'."(lean zag dan chos la bdag med pahi yul la ni Ses rab kyi spyanmnaho/kun rdzob tu chos tsam du snan ba iid de gan zag ni mayin na zes gan zag sroir ste/ chos tsam gyi yul la chos kyi spyanno / ses bya thams cad rnam pa thams cad du mkhyen pa ni sansrgyas kyi spyan Les bya ste/).

A complete explanation of the five eyes from the yogdcdrastandpoint is in Sthiramati's commentary on the Mahdydna-sutrdlarykdra (Bodhipakqya chapter) from which the essentialsare given here:6

(a) The eye of flesh sees forms in present time.(b) The divine eye is of two kinds, both seeing forms in pastand future: (1) that born of past action (karma), the eye of thegods; and (2) that born of contemplation (bhauand) in thesamddhi of a yogin, and which sees the sentient beings passingaway from here and going to various destinies in accordancewith past actions.(c) The eye of insight is the non-discursive knowledge whichunderstands the individual and the general characteristic ofthe dharmas, seeing them in the absolute sense (paramdrthatas).(d) The eye of dharma understands without impediment all

Rgyud lrgrel, Ga, 75b-6, ff., states the five eyes as eye of flesh, divine eye,eye of insight, knowledge eye, and eye of Buddha, thus omitting the eye ofdharma and having in its place the knowledge eye.

6I have included this summary in my "Buddhism", Historia Religionum.


the scripture, understands the stream of consciousness of per-sons in the sense of discriminating whether it is an ordinaryperson, or one of the eight classes of disciples (on the four pathsor in the fruits of the four paths), or a Bodhisattva and if sothen on which of the ten Bodhisattva Stages; and seeing thedharmas in the conventional sense (sarpurtitas).(e) The eye of a Buddha understands all dharmas, whetherwith or rvithout flux, whether constructed or unconstructed;and realizes directly every knowable field; understands thestate of Arhat ensuing from the "diamond-like samddhi" andthe freedom frorn fluxes of the Tathdgatas.

It can be observed in Sthiramati's treatment that all three of theeyes which have been grouped above as a Mahayana set, turnout to be concerned with dharma or dharmas. Furthermore,the eyes of insight atd dharma can be grouped together as consti-tuting two levels of "discriminative knowledge" (pratyauek-

saryd-iiidna), namely in the absolute and in the conventional sense.Since Mahdydna scriptures insist that in the absolute sense thenatures (dharma) neither arise nor pass away, rro prophecy canbe made for them, and so the eye of insight is not prophetic. Onthe other hand, those scriptures assert that in a conventional sense,those dharmas arise void of self-existence (suabhdua). Sincethey "arise" a prophecy can be made for them.?

Asanga, in his Yogdcdrabhumi-uiniicayasanxgrahant (DergeTanjur, Sems tsam, Yol. Zi, f. 56b-7, ff.) compares the "divineeye" with the "eye of insight" and explains that the "divine eye"sees all visible forms (nidariana-rupa), rvhile the "eye of insight"ranges in all forms, namely visible and invisible, whether obstruct-ing or non-obstructing. "All visible forms" includes (cf. Abhi-dharma-koia, III, l4a-b) the forms of beings in the intermediatestate (antardbhaua), presumably because those beings also have a"visible form" of a sort, ordinarily visible only to beings of thesame class. Tson-kha-pa, in his Don gsal commentary on theGultyasomdja-tantra (Lhasa ed., Vol. Cha, f. 23b-1, ff.), basing hisremarks also on Asanga's Yogacdrabhilmi, explains that with the"divine eye" one sees the six classes of "passion gods" in the

?These remarks about prophecy stem from the Pitaputrasamdgama-sfitra(chapter on the Tutita gods), as read in the Tibetan version.

@ Buddhist Insight

"realm of desire" (kama-dhdtu),and all other beings in the "realmof desire," including the sixteen hells.

Follorving up the previous remark by tralk that the divine eyesees the nnttoma.r-akd.y'a, it is worthwhile to inquire what would bethis manomayql(71y, among the three given a prominent place inthe Lariliduottirq-st1tra. I have sumrnarized this S[tra's treatmentof that kind of body in rny "studies in yama and Mara". Inclo-Iranian Journal, III:2 (1959), p. l19:

The sanskrit text (136-7, f.) sets forth three manomaya-lrdya:(l) the mental body rvith stabilization in the pleasure ofsamddhi (samddhisukhasamdpatti-manomaya); (2) the mentalbody which completely comprehends the intrinsicn ature of thedharmas (dharmasuabhduduabodha-manomaya) ; (3) the mentalbody which performs the instigations natural to its class(nikdvasahajasarytskdrakriya-manomaya). The commentaryby Jfrdnavajra shovrs that the first of these, prevalent upthrough the Seventh Bodhisattva stage, does not involvetransmutation of the basis (dirayapardurtti) of the eightfoldset of perceptions (uijiiana). The second is prevarent on theEighth or Superior Stage of the Bodhisattva; and. here, witha body comparable to that (of the Buddhas) one proceeds toall the Buddha Realms.

In the Abhidharma-koia, rlr,4ac-41a, the being of antardbhauais called manomaya, sambhauei;in, and Gandharva. This parti-cular manomaya appearc to be the first of the Lankduqtdra-siltraset. It would be the one treated by Paravahera vajirafld4a asthe one of the Digha Nikaya i, 77, which the meditating monkdraws from his own body with identical form.8 Hence, this wouldbe the manoma))a-kaya which is seen by the divine eye. Sincethe second manoma))a-kaya of the Lankduatdra-stTtra compre-hends the intrinsic nature of the dltarmas, this would include boththe "eye of insight" and the "eye of dharma" as metaphorical eyes.The third manoma),a-kaya would involve the Buddha eye. Thiseye of a Buddha is mentioned in a famous passage in the saryyutta-It{ikdya, vol. I (the Brahma suttas), beginning, "Then the Exaltedone, understanding Brahma's entreaty,because of his compassion

sP,rn,qvanpnn varmaiiiANA ManATHERA, Buddhist Meditation in Theory andPractice (Colombo, 1962), p. 440.

The Buddhist Theorv of Vision

toward all sentient beings, looked dor,vn with a, Buddha's Eye overthe world...." This shows that the original conception of a"Buddha's eye" is the eye with which a tsuddha looks at the lvorldaiter his attainment of Cornpiete Enlightenrnent.

Then the question arises of whcther one sees with only one eyeat a time or can see simultaneo::sly lvith more than one of thoseeyes. For example, what eye or eyes are employed by the celestialBodliisattva Avalokite5vara when hc surveys the beings in thesix destinies (gali)? Sorne years ago, wllen I rvas reading'fibetanliterature at th,e University of California I asked tlie MongolianLama named Dilou,a Gegen Flutukhtu if AvalokiteSvara lookedat the world rvith the "eye of knowledge." FIe replied that Ava-lokite6vara and every Buddha sees with all five eyes. Thereis a textual confirmation of this remark in Abhayakaragupta'sSarltpula-tilakq commentary called Amndya+naiijari, in the Japair-ese photo edition of the Tibetan canon, Vol. 55, p. 238-1 : o' oBy

gazes' means. by the fleshly, divine, insight, dharma, and Buddhaeyes". (l1a dan lha dan Ses rab dan chos dan sans rgyas kyi spyangyis gzigs pa rnams kyis so/). Tson-kha-pa makes reference tothe same point in his commentary on Candrakirti's Madhya-makduattira, Photo ed., Vol. 154, p.238-2: "When one applieseye ointment to the eye and the eye becomes bright, the eye (itself)is not nullified. In the same way, when one applies the eye oint-ment for seeing voidness and the eye of discrimination (buddhi)becomes bright, the eye of knov,rledge is not nullified. If oneunderstands that (i.e. knor,vs the implication of the foregoing re-mark), (he realizes that) not rightly applied is the disparagingviewpoint that there is no knowledge (jiiana) in drya-sanfipatti".(lmie sman bskus pas mig gsal du 1:gro yi/mig bdon pa min pablin du ston frid mthon batri mig sman bskus pas I blolii rnig saldu hgro ba gyi/ye Ses kyi mig fdon pa min par Ses na / l.rphagspahi rnffam gzag tu ye Ses med ces pahi skur l:debs kyi lta bdenpa mi gos so/). As previously mentioned, this "eye of knowledge"is the 'oeye of dharma"; it is not nullified when the "eye of insight"is operating. In the M6dhyamika school, this "eye of insight" issaid to look upon the voidness, which in the oldest sense is thevoidness of self and of what belongs to self.

1 5 9


IU. THs Eyss rN BuDDHrsr CULT AND IcoNocRApHy

In the celebrated story of King Sibi, the generous king receivedhis eyes back through the rite of truth.e Arya-Sura's formulationof the tale in the Jataka-mald has this verse in the words of Indra:

And there will arise an unhindered power of your two eyes tosee.

All around for a hundred yojanas, even when interrupted bymountains.

Tson-kha-pa, in his Dban don ("Meaning of Initiation"), Lhasacollected works, Vol. Ca, f.45a-2, writes: ooBy the rite of eye oint-ment one dispels the obscuration of the nescience film over theeye of discrirnination and generates the supernormal power of the'divine eye'." (/mig sman gyi cho gas blo yi mig ma rig pahi lintog gis bsgrib pa bsal nas lhahi mig gi mnon Ses skyed pa danfi.The rite of eye ointment is presented in his snags rim chen mo(Peking block print, f. 278b-3. ff):

(The guru) places in a gold or silver vessel the golden eye oint-ment consisting of butter and honey. While the discipleimagines on his eyes the syllable PRAM, (the guru) applies(the eye ointment) with a probe (ialdkd), reciting OM VAJRA-NETRA APAHARA PATALAM HRIH (..OTn. Remove thefilm that is on the diamond eye ! Hril.r".) And he repeats the verseof the vairocqndbhisarybodhi-tantra,'oJust as the King of Heal-ing (bhai;ajya-rdja) with his probe removed the worldly film,so may the Buddhas dispel your fllm of ignorance, my son!',

I have also noticed a number of ritual passages about "eye oint-ment"in the Amoghapdiakalpardjd (No. 686 in the Tohokucatalog).

There are other tantric rituals about the eyes which involveimagining the syllables MA changing into a sun in the right eyeand T. A changing into a nroon in the left eye, and aHO in betweenthe two, radiating light. For example, such a ritual occurs inKukuri-p a' s M ah d m dy ds ddhan am a qt (al au i dh i (No. I 6 3 0 in Tohokucat.) and in Jf,anavajra's Karunodaya-ndma-bhduandjapauidhi(No. 2524 in Cat.)

e"The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-An Interpretation", Studies in IndianLinguistics (Volume presented to Prof. M. B. Emeneau on his sixtieth birthdavyear), Poona, 1968, pp. 365-369, reprinted here.


Concerning the "diamond eye" (uajranetra) the tantric Candra-kirti in his commentary on the Guhyasantdja-tantra called Pradi-podyotana (Derge Tanjur, Rgyud hgrel, Ha, 94a-I) writes: "His

eye (i.e. of Mahdvajradhara) sees by means of a perfectly pure

bright light; and that is the 'diarnond eye'." (/dehi spyan ni hoggsal bas rnam par dag pas gzigs pa gan yin de ni rdo rje spyanteD. In the Amndya-mafijari (op. cit., Vol. 55, p. 245-2), Abha-yakaragupta quotes the scriptural passage: "O Mafrju5ri, in regard

to that, the Tathagata, by means of the six supernormal facultieswhich see everywhere, sees the sentient beings passing away andbeigg reborn, also proceeding to a good destiny or a bad destiny.Likewise, the Tathdgata sees with the u,rpi;a; likewise, he seeswith the urpa-koia,' so also with each characteristic". The sameauthor quotes the last portion of this passage again in his Muni-matdlarykdra (Photo ed., Vol. 101 , p.268-3) and hereidentifies it ascoming from tl'te,sraddltabatadhqna-siltra (No. 201 in theTohokucat.). That relates to numerous passages in Mahdyana literaturenarrating that from the Buddha's ugqti;a otthe crown of his head,or from the urryd-koia it the middle of his forehead there arosestreams of light, illuminating all the worlds, and the like. Hence,the usnisa and the urnd-koia as well as the remaining thirty-twocharacteristics (laksarya) function as a sort of eye, answering to thedescription of the "diamond eye". According to the Bhqdra-kalpita-sutra,the light emanating from theu$nisa is the fruit ofthe "perfecti on of insight" ( pr aj iidp dr arnit d).r0

The urltd-koia in this sense of an eye is presurnably equivalentto the "third eye" depicted frequently on tantric deities in Asian

art, especially Tibetan.

10As cited by Hjam dbyans bzad pabi rdo rje inhis Mthak dpyod of Chapter8 of the Abhisamayqlarnkara (Tibetan text).

8

DEPEN DENT ORIGINATION_:THE INDO-TIBETAN TR.ADITION

INrnooucrroN

In the Mahd-niddna-suttanta of the Digha-Nikdya, the Buddhareproved Ananda for saying that while Dependent Originationlooks deep it is clear to him. The Buddha announced that it bothlooks deep and is deep. In this case the Buddha was on the sideof the gods, because the Brhadaranyaka-Upani;ad (IY, 2,2) says,"The gods love that which is hinted at darkly, and hate that whichis uttered directly." As William Blake puts it, the "dim Windowsof the Soul ... leads you to Believe a Lie When you see with, notthro', the Eye"-because Dependent Origination not quite "is"and not quite "isn't".

This signals the difficulties which authors of the past and presenthave experienced with the Buddhist formula. They consideredDependent Origination as something before their eyes to see inclear relief, as one might see a book. This essay claims thatDependent Origination could not become clear in such a way,since there are two distinct and contrasting interpretations of theseries, the first one which I label "discovery and seeing", and thesecond "lives of a person," and since both interpretations are re-quired for understanding the formula. The first, without concernfor particular persons, attempts to develop the Buddhist Doctrine.The second, recognizing individuals, showsthe role of defilementand karma in successive lives. In order to demonstrate this inconti-

164 BLrddhist Insight

nuance of mv previous published materialsl on the subject, itwould lead me too far afield to deal with the rnultitude of theoriesadvanced by sympathetic authors or to counter the hosti le crit i-cism that the Buddhist forrnula does not make sense.2 I shallreport the Indian tradition through the well-known Phli or Sans-krit works, and for the Tibetan part especially rely on the Depen-dent Origination section of Tson-kha-pa's Latn rim chen mo.

I. T',n Two KrNns ":";^DENr

oRrcrNarroN

The essential point of dependent (pratitya) origination (samutpada)is the requirement of a condition (pratyaya) for something to arise.lThe standard sequence of twelve such conditions in Sanskrit andmy English translation is this: l. nescience (auidyd), 2. motivations(sorpskdra), 3. perception (uijfidna), 4. name-and-form (nama-rilpa), 5. six sense bases (saddyatanq), 6. sense contact (sparia),7. feelings (uedcmd), 8. craving (ty,rqd), f. indulgence (updddna),10. gestation (bhaua), ll. birth (jAD, 12. old age and death (jard-marana)- I stumbled upon a possibility of trvo kinds by findingin Asanga's Yogdcdrabhilmi that there is a nescience "unmixedwith defilement" and in another place that Dependent originationcan be classified in terms of defilem ent (klesa), karma, and suffering(du/tkha), where nescience is labelled as a defilement.a Even-

rcf. the articles referred to below in notes 38 or 46, and 51; and the work inNote 37.

zAmong the many treatments, I mention here A. B. Knrru, BuddhistPhilosophy in India and ceylon (India reprint), pp. 105-109, for some of theolder European theories. Eowrno J. Tnovrls, The History of BuddhistThought (1933, with reprints), the causation chapter, for a number of viewsfrom Buddhist tex-tg. S[gtonr _Iida, in a mi-meggl4phed paper -eqtitlg{"r6f,.ti"i"g.-couiu-u's wheel of causation--an lnterpretation of thedvadaffiffi9d3, ancl for a number of

lTFLq, VarrBn PousslN, Thdorie des douze causesnd, 1913), for a still valuable survey of the scholastic theories of the causal

chain. K. N. Jay,qrlrrrrr, Early Buddhist Theorl, of Knowledge (London,1963), esp. pp. 445-457, for a Pali specialist's evaluation of the theories.

3Cf. J,qyarILLEKE, Early Buddhist Tlrcory, p. 449, for the basic statementsand canonical references:'owhenever A is present, B is present" (imasmtrytsati idary hoti), and whenever I is absent, B is absent" (imasmiryt asatiidary na hoti).

4Asariga expounds two kinds of nescience (avidya) in the part of his Yogd-carabhumi called Viniicaya-sarpgrahaltt, Japanese photo edition of the Tibetan

Dependent Origination _.The Indo-Tibetan Tradition 165

tually, I took the first kind as discovered by Gautama Buddhaand as unconcerned with particular beings. The second kind isapplied to lives of an individual rvhose karma is differentiated orunshared.

My division also follows the implications of Ndgdrjuna,sMadhyamaka-kdrilcd xxrv,40: "The one who sees Dependentorigination, sees tltis (idam) precisely (caiua) as suffering and theSource, precisely (eua ca) as cessation and path." This verseafforded the commentators a splendid opportunity, which theyseem not to have taken, to point out that Nagdrjuna's associationof voidness (iilnyata) with Dependent origination makes it possi-ble to see Dependent origination as any one of the four NobleTruths, i.e., one can see it as the "tree of suflerin g" (infra.) and asany other one of the four Truths.5 Since Dependent originationis not areal thing, seeing it one way does not prevent anyone fromseeing it another way. Hence I offer this explanation in terms ofthe present article: The first two Noble Truths of suffering andsource are associated with the first kind of Dependent origina-tion that deals with beings as a whole and not with particular ones.The last two l{oble Truths of Cessation and path are associatedwith the second kind of Dependent origination concerned withlives of individuals including the specialized ones who followthe Path. As to the "seeing" itself, later I cite various passages.

I.1. The First Kind o.f Dependent Originatiort

There is a celebrated account in Pdli, Sarpyutta-Nikaya, ii, 2s,presenting the twelve members in reverse order: "with the condi-tion of birth, o monks, there is old age and death. with the

canon, vol. 110, p. 28-1-5, ff. I gathered materials from many places of hisYogaccirabhumi and organized them in e papcr ,,Nescience and Insight Ac-cording to Asahga's Yogacdrabhumi", for the volume Bucldhist studies inI{onour of the venerable walpola sri Rahula (Gorclon Frazer,London, l9g0),cf. esp. pp. 154-255, and n. 11. This essay is publ ished in this volume.

sAmong the commentaries that do not face up to the issue is Canrlrakirti,sPrasannapada, the chap. xxIV of which is tra'slated into French by JacquesMay (Paris, 7959); Bhavaviveka's prajfitrpraclipa, the chap. xxlv of whichis avai lable in a draft translarion into Engtish by Ryushin Uryuzu, local lydistr ibuted in Madison, wisc., Nov. 1966, for a seminar in Madhyamikaphilosophy; Abhayakaragupta's Munimatalarnkara photo ed. of ribetancanon, Vol. 101, pp.220-223.


condition of gestation, O monks, there is birth..." And then,"Whether Tathagatas arise or do not arise, there remains thisrealm (dhatu), the continuance of dhamma,the rule of dhamma, thehaving of this for condition. This the Tathagata has discovered;this he fully understands; and having discovered it and fully under-stood it, he teaches it,..." And finally, the Arya disciple, havingrightly understood it, does not let his mind run to past tirne, think-ing, "Did I live in the past?" and so on. The important feature ofthis passage is that the discovery and concordant teaching ofDependent Origination is not concerned with whether Tathagatasarise or r.vhether sentient beings arise, existed in the past, will existin the future, etc. As to the meaning of such expressions as "conti-

nuance of dhamnta," "ru,le of dhammc," there is also the pithyutterance, "Whoever sees Dependent Origination, sees theDharma."6 There is nothing mysterious about this: Once theTathagata had discovered Dependent Origination, he taught it,whereupon it became the Dharma. This must be the Dharmaamong the Three Jewels; so it is the Buddhist Doctrine, or anessential or salient part thereof.

But also the Sar.nyutta-Nikaya,ii,120, says in the Vakkali-sutta.. .Whoever ,Vakka l i ' sees thec l |nmn, ,4 ,SeeSme;@,

sees the ciltantnta." Since DeiF-dent @nadffi;J-f-t[aM ed with whether lathagata$ ari$_q.gr.,nq!, itfdlffisTbqill-rg not conierned with whether dhqmm -(singll-larorQlilral) ariles olnot. A similar identification of dharma (theSanskrit equivalent to the Pali dhamma) with the Tathd.gata ismade in the Mahiyina scripture "Meeting of Father and Son"(Pitdputrasamdgama-sutra).t Here, after a discussion of Depen-dent Origination, it teaches: "Therefore, by understanding De*pendent Origination, one understands the dhqrmadhdtLt," anp_"Lord, the TarhagataffiiisTics(/akio,io , ; isDharmadhatu, Tnusnesil

'riue - End fbhnafroli). Att dharmus

are also bhutakoli. Therefore, all dharmas are the Tathagata."The foregoing suggests that the Buddha's discovery of Dependent

aCf. Satistambasutra in La llarlir PoussrN, Thiorie de-s doy4s ggU-es,p. 70 : yo, blt<jglel4lrliurs:ffi@g! to'a-Eorô,n po{yari; wtriteinlhe Pali Gml (Majjffia-Nikaya, I, l9[ITs in a discourse by Sariputrg/attributed to Buddha \/

TPhoto edition of Tibetan Canon, Yol. 23, chapter on "Instruction of theB1'halphala Deities," p. 181-1, ff.

Dependent Origination-The Indo-Tibetan Tradition 167

Origination involved no perceptual reach of particular sentientbeings, ordinary or advanced; or of particular dharmas,ordinary ones like love and hate or supernal ones like Buddhanatures. Along the same lines, the discourse to Kaccdyana(S3nqyotlu{ikayg=iii,134-135)andNdgdrjun4usi6T-I[-#-$c@anskrit name rcatvay@trffi uiinyamatca-kdrikd, show that the middle doctrine or path of DependentOrigination avoids the attributions of'"The world exists" or "Theworld does not exist," hence also avoids such formulations as"The Tathd.gata exists" or "The Tathigata does not exist," oragain, such formulations as "He is happy," or "He is unhappy."

To further clarify this kind of Dependent Origination, I shalltranslate below a Pdli Sutta (Sapyutta-Nikdya, Nidana Book, ii,2) which has no mention of such matters as karma and transmigra-tion. In particular, by explaining nescience as ignorance of anyof the four Noble Truths, it avoids any direct implications ofdefilement (kleiq). Asanga also denies that ignorance of the fourTruths is defiled since it does not involve waywardness of thought(citta-uiparydsa).8 Rather, the ignorance of the four Truths istantamount to not knowing Dependent Origination. The earlynature of this Pdli scripture is also confirmed by certain non-standard listings, such as its detailing of o'name" in o'name-and-

form" and of the member "feelings."e

When the Buddha was dwelling at Sdvatthi, he said: "Monks,Iwill teach you, I will analyze Dependent Origination.lo Listen to

sThis is in the Yogacarabhumi in the same passage referred to above, Note 4.Here Asanga gives two kinds of "unmixed nescience" (i.e., not mixed withdefilement), "the confusion of not comprehending" and the "undefiled con-fusion". He expressly mentions the failure of attention to the Truth ofSufferilg, etc. under the heading of the "unmixed nescience," and gives theterm cittaviparyasa.

sThat is, this Sutta has for 'oname" the five items, feelings, ideas, volitions,sense contacts, and mental orientations. It is usual to have, as does theSAlistambasiltra, the four "formless" aggregates, of which "feelings" and"ideas" are the first two, followed by "motivations" and "perceptions".More rarely, as in the Dependent Origination section of Buddhaghosa'sVisuddhimagga, "name" includes only the three middle aggregates, leavingout "perceptions". Again, the detailing of feelings as born from the six sensebases is not standard. It is usual to have three kinds, painful (duhkha),pleasant gukha), and neither prinful nor pleasant.

10It is of interest that the Buddha's analysis sets forth the last two members,


it, orient your mind well, and I will explain" "Agreed !" thosemonks responded to the Lord. The Lord spoke as follows:"Monks, with the condition of nescience, there is motivation.With the condition of motivation, there is perception. Withthe condition of perception, there is name-and-form. Withthe condition of name-and-form, there is six sense bases. Withthe condition of six sense bases, there is sense contact. Withthe condition of sense contact, there is feeling. With thecondition of feeling, there is craving. With the condition ofcraving, there is indulgence. With the condition of indulgence,there is gestation. With the condition of gestation, there isbirth. With the condition of birth, then old age and death,grief, lamentation, suffering, dissatisfaction, perturbation,

appear tcgether. Such is the source of this entire mass ofsuffering."And what, monks, is old age and death? Whatever, of this andthat sentient being, in this and that group, is aging, decrepi-tude, falling apart, whiteness of hair, wrinkled skin, affiictionof life force, spent sense faculties, this is called old age. What.ever, of this and that sentient being, in this and that. group, isfalling or passing away, separation or disappearance, deathwhich is concrete death, the appointed time, collapse of per-sonal aggregates, laying down of corpse, severance of lifefaculty, this is called death. Such is this old age and thisdeath, that is called old age and death.o'And what, monks, is birth? Whatever, of this and that sen-tient being, in this and that group, is birth-process, the beget-ting, the entrance (into life), definition and differentiation,manifestation of personality aggregates, acquisition of senseorgans, this is called birth."And what, monks, is gestation? There are three gestations:i'gestation in the realm of desire, gestation in the reaim of forpn{gestation in the formless reahn. This is called gestation. ( , \o'And what, monks, is indulgence? There are four indul-gences: indulgence in desires (kdma), indulgence in (false)views (drsti), indulgence in (fruitless) rules and vows (S.

birth, and old age and death, by(5. paryaya), and the remaining ten

sets of terms that are near-synonymsmembers by varieties (5. prabheda).

Dependent Origination-The Indo-Tibetan Tradition

iilaurata), indulgence in the self-theory (S. dtmauada). Thisis called indulgence."And what, monks, is craving? There are six partite cravings:craving for forrns, for sounds, lbr odors, for tastes, for tangi-bles, for mental objects (dhamma, S. dharma). This is calledcraving."And what, monks, is feeling? There are six partite feelings:feeling born from eye-contact, feeling born from ear-contact,feeling born of nose-contact, feeling born of tongue-contact,feeling born of body-contact, feeling born of mind-contact.This is called feeling."And what, monks, is sense contact? There are six partitesense contacts : eye-contact, eavcontact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind-contact. This is called sensecontact."And what, monks, is six sense bases? The eye-base, ear-base,nose-base, tongue-base, body-base, mind-base. This is calledsix sense bases."And what, monks, is name-and-lorm? Feelings (5. uedand),ideas (S. saryfiiia), volitions (S. cetand). sense contacts (S.sparia), rnental orientations (S. manasikdra)-this is calledname. The four great elements and the forms derived fromthe four great elements-this is called form. Such is thisname and this form that it is called name-and-form."And what, monks, is perception? There are six partiteperceptions: perception with eye, oerception rvith ear. per-ception with nose, perception r,vith tongue, perception withbody, pcrception with rnind. This is called perception."And what, monks, is motivation? There are three motiva-tions: rnotivation of body, motivation of speech, motivationot nrind. This is called motivation."And what, monks, is nescience? Whatever ignorance (S.

ajiidna) of Suffering, ignorance of the Source of Suffering,ignorance of the Cessation of Suffering, ignorance of the Pathleading to the Cessation of Suffering-this is called nescience.'oThus, monks, with the condition of nescience, there is motiva-tion; with the condition of motivations, there is perception;...(and so on down to)...perturbation. Suchis the source of thisentire mass of suffering. But with the utter dispassion andcessation of nescience, motivation ceases. With the cessation

169


of motivation, perception ceases ... (and so on down to)...per-turbation. Such is the cessation oithis entife mass of sufferins.

1.2 The Second Kind of Dependent Origination

But also, from its inception Buddhism never denied that a Tatha-gata arises, or that dharmas arise.l1 It was claimed that anythingthat arises, arises dependently. Therefore, there must be a usageof Dependent Origination to cover the arising of particular beingsor natures. Indeed, some Pali specialists hold that this is what theBuddhist formula amounts to. For example, Jayatilleke assertsthat the formula expiains rebirth and karma anilifie-arising gfsuffering while avoiding the extremes of atman-eternalism andnihilism of Materialism.lz Now rebirth is necessarily the rebirthof a particular being, and so this is the second kind of DependentOrigination as applied to lives of a particular being. This kind ofDependent Origination has been popularized in the West by re-productions of the "Wheel of Life" especially from its Tibetanversion.

To further clarify this kind of Dependent Origination, I shalltranslate below from Sanskrit a passage of the @lhyantauibhdgaalong with Vasubandhu's comment.ls Defilem'enffi p6minenllysufgested by the verb kliiyate ("is tormented or defiled"). Thegloss for "perception" (uijnana) renders it "a conducting" (nayana),i.e., to the birthplace, and the comment brings in the "habit-energy of karma." This pa.ssage is therefore concerned with thepast, present, and future life of some person or being:

The world is tormented by a covering (chadana), a quickening(ropaqa), a conducting (nayana), a circumscribing (sarppari-graha), a finishing (pura7a), a trisection (triparicclteda), anexperience (upabhoga), af,L attaetion (kar5a4a), a bondage(nibandhana), a confrontation (abhimukhya), a sorrowing(dwltkhana). (Madhyantauibhaga I, 10)

11And see Jrcroo TATASAKT, A study on the Ratnagotravibhaga (Rome,1966), p. 35, for the information thzt a chapter of the Mahayana scriptureAvatarpsaka with title Tathagatotpattisarytbhavanirdeia ("Dealing with theArising of the Tathagata") was translated into chinese as an independentS[tra in the 3rd century, A.D.

l2Jayartnnrcn, Early Buddhist Theory, p. 450-raCf. GaouN M. Nacao, Madhyantavibhaga-bhasya (Tokyo, 1964y, p.Zl.

Dependent origination-The Indo-Tibetan Tradition l7l

(vasubandhu's cornment:) The world is tormented (or defiled),among those, by 1.a covering, i.e., by nescience's hind.ering of theview of how things really arc.2.a quickening, i.e., by motivation'sdepositing in perception (uijiiana) of the habit-energy (udsand) ofkarma. 3.a conducting, i.e., by perception's reaching of the birth-placer 4. a circumscribing, i.e., by name-and-form's embodiment(atmabhaua), 5. a finishing, i.e., by six sense bases. 6. a trisection,i.e., by sense contact. 7. an experience, i.e., by feeling. g. anattraction, i.e., by the craving for re-existence (punarbhaua) castby karma.9. a bondage, i.e., by indulgences in desires, etc., thatagree with the occurrence of perception. 10. a confrontation, i.e.,by gestation's placing-in-front for yielcling the maturation in re-existence of the kqrma previously enacted. l l-12. a sorrowing, i.e.,by birth and by old age and death.

This formulation can be traced back to the Mahd-niddna-suttanta of the Digha-Nikaya, where the Buddha asks Ananda(Digha, ii, 63): "If perception would not descend into the mother'swomb, would name-and-form become consolidated in thewomb?" And Ananda replied that it would not.

II. I)rscovnny AND SnuNc

I' short. the Buddha discovered the formula of Dependent orisin-atio'; and when he ta*ght it, the forrnula becaml the BuddiistDharma or Doctrine. The later disciple can repeat the process_discover the formula in the reverse order (12--_l) and see theDharma in the direct order (l-12).

II. l. Discouery by the Buddha

Asanga alludes to this first kind of Dependent origination in hisParamdrthagatha along with his own commentary. There aretwo parts to it: "the dhartnas possessed of cause', are the first sevenmembers, frorn 'onescience"

down through ..feelings,'-here the

creatures are caught by delusion. "The suffering possessed ofcause" is the last five members, from "craving', down through"old age and death"-[e1e the creatures are caught by cravinglrn

According to the suggestions of the pdli scripture and later the

lacf. Arsx wrvuAN, Analysis of the sravakabhumi Manuscript (Berkeley,196l) , p.181.


Lalitauistara. wlten Gautama was meditating beneath the tree ofenlightenment he thought: There is this oid age and death and themass of other suffering. What is its condition for arising? Indeed,it requires birth. And birth requires a gestation (or a pregnancy),and this requires an indulgence (the taking of it, grasping, and soon), and this requires a craving. Thus, Gautama, working back-wards, re-discovered the finding of the Vedic seer who, searchingwith his intelligence (manipa) for the original principle, found"desire" (kdma) as the first-born and as the bond of the existentin the non-existent. Gautama stressed it somewhat differently:It is the first two Noble Truths: the Truth of Suffering, and theTruth of the Cause of Suffering. Here the cause is specified as"craving"-trsttd in Sanskrit, or tanhd in Pali. Even so, theVedic account is apparently continued in Buddhist dogmatics bythe karma theory, since o'craving" along with the bondage con-firmed by indulgence establishes man's free will by permitting anew bondage and so a new karma ("gestation"), and could besaid to connect the existent habit with the non-existent future.

But Gautama did not stop there. He thought: What is thecondition for the arising of craving? And concluded: It is feelings.And this requires senss contact, and this requires the six sensebases, the five outer ones and the mind (manas) as the sixth.Searching for the condition enabling the six sense bases to arise,he concluded it was "name-and-form" (ndma-rupa)-an impor-tant term of the old Indian Brahmanas and Upaniqads. As itscondition he assigned "perceptions" (uijfidna); and for this,"motivation" (sarTtskara); and for this, "nescience" (auidyd).According to the Pdli scripture, the Third Noble Truth of Cessa-tion is applied to nescience in order to undo the whole series thatIeads to the mass of suffering. It is a curious feature of Depen-dent Origination that while "craving" is the source or cause ofsuffering, once suffering has become the regular thing one canget rid of it only by the cessation of "nescienca". But this accordswith human experience gonerally: the broken leg is not healedsimply by eliminating the cause of the broken leg. Asanga'sstatement helps with this group because he refers to these sevenmembers as "the dhanna,g possessed of cause." This ties in thesemembers with tbe Buddhist Abhidharma theory of "all dharmas"as included in the flve personal aggregates (skandha) (:'oname-and-lbrm"), twelve sense bases (: "six sense bases" multiplied


for personal and objective bases), and eightecn realms (dhAtu)(: "contact," the six objects, the six sense organs, and the sixperceptions based thereon).15 Since the dharmas are included bymembers Nos. 4-6, it follows that members Nos. 1-3 are the"cause" of the dlrurmas. Member No. 7, "feelings," also adharma as a personal aggregate. is left over to culminate thedeterministic series, or the old bondage.

The following tabulation of the discovery order includes thesubdivisions according to Asanga's school:

12. old age and death j11 . b i r t h J10. gestation If. indulgence F8. craving )7. feelings6. sensc contact5. six sense bases4. name-and-form

3. perception I2. motivations Il. nescience )

fIif DharmasI

J

Suffering

Cause of Suffering

Cause of Dharmas

Naturally, the Buddhist works do not refer to the pre-Buddhistreligion (the Veda and ancillary works); hence they are sketchyand probably incomplete as regards the "discovery" of the series.In a partiai unravelling of this discovery, I have already observedthat the first four members, starting with "nescience," curiouslymatch tl-Le cosmic development of the Brhaddra4yaka-Upanisadla

II.2. Seeing by the Disciple

Since to see Dependent Origination in this sense of "seeing" istantamount to seeing Dharma, the later writers could fill in. Thisexpansion was conservative at the sutra level, as evidenced in the

15Cf. NAnlon, A Manual of Abhidhantma.(Kandy, 1968), pp. 348-350, forthe comprisal of "all" (sabbc) in the personal aggregates, the sense bases, andthe elements, with the usual translations followed by modern translatorsfrom Pali. Of course, the "all" is the abbreviation for 'oall dhamma" inSanskrit sarvadharmdl4.

16Ar,Bx WlvuAN, "The Intermediate-State Dispute in Buddhism", BuddhistStudies in Honour of LB. Horner eds. L. Cousins et al. (Dordrecht, 1974),p. 230. This essay is included in this volume.


t .

I sg,veral prafit),asantutpdda-type scriptures available in Sanskrit.rzlzlldgdrjuna's works on the subject are just as brief.18 The Abhi-dharma schools of course rlilated the mernbers. vasubandhu,whose early years were devoted to the Abhidharma. has a ratherlarge commentary on pratit),asamutpdda, and in the TibetanTanjur this is followed by Gu4amati's still larger commentary.leThese Abhidharma works inevitably introduce differentiated doc-trines of Buddhism beyond the primitive Dharma alluded to inthe phrase o'whoever sees Dependent origination, sees theDharnta.'o

Frowever, the foregoing leaves open the question of whether the"seeing" of d/zarma ot dharmas, when one 'osees" Dependentorigination, is the concrete 'oseeing" as done with eyesight, or isaway of speaking tantamount to "understanding" or is somethingelse again. The teacher Asanga has a section about this in hisencyclopedic work Yogdcdrabhilmi, in the portion called vastu-samgraha4i, second division devoted to analysis of sense bases(dvatana). After detailing various superlative benefits, such ascalming the mind, to be gained by seeing crharmas, Asanga ex-plains what is entailed by "seeing" a clhar.me:zo

There are two kinds of seeing dharmas: seeing constructednatures (sarltskrta-dharma) and seeing unconstructed natures

lTThese are now conveniently collected in p.L. vaidya, Mahayana-s[ttra-sarhgraha, Part I (Darbhange,lg6l), namely, two versions of the Salistambasutraand two versions of the Pratityasamutpada sijtras.

lsl-a Varre'p Pousstrq presents the Tibetan version with a French translationof Ndgarjuna's Pratityasamutpadahrdayakarika in Thdorie des douze caLrses,pp. 122-14. Ndgdrjuna briefly expands upon those seven verses in hisPratityasamutpddahrdayavyakhyana, preserved in the Tibetan Tanjur. Andjust preceding those two works in the Tanjur is his Arya-Salistambaka-karika.Besides, he devotes twelve verses to the topic as chap. xxvl of his Madhya-maka-karika.

leGrussppB Tuccr, 'A Fragment from the pratityo.-samutpada-vyakhya ofvasubandhu', Journal of the Royal Asiatic society Jury, 1930, pp. 611-623,prese nts some Sanskrit fragments of vasubandhu's ccmments on members l.nescience, 7. feelings, 8. craving, f. indulgence, and 10. gestation.

z0Photo edition of Tibetan Tanjur, vol. III, p. 175-3-g, ff. The equivalentchinese is in Taishd vol. 30, p. 924-c-2, ff. Tibetan and chinese agree onthe term "name-and-form" (nama-rupa); but where Tibetan continues ..calledthe 'own-nature of a man' " prior to the question "what is trutho' the Chinesetext has a series of several words beginning with ..man,'.


(asorytskrta-dharma). Among thern, seeing constructed natures(is as follows:) Just as there is here some place of tn-rth, herightly knows it as it is, and rightly knows as it is the truth(thereof). What is a place of truth? name-and-form. calledthe'oown-nature of a man" ('i'manu.tya-suarupa). Whatis truth?Conventional truth (satlturti-satya) and supreine truth(paramartha-satya). What is conventional truth? Any idea(sary.imQ regarding that place of tr uth that it is a self, a, sentientbeing, a living being, or a person. Also, the thesis "f see formswitlr the eye," ... (and so on, down to) ... "f perceive dharmaswith the mind". Also, the attribution, "Accordingly, hisname is called this," ... (and so on, down to, as previously)

"His measure of life amounts to this." Anything involving theidea of it, the thesis, the attribution, is conventional truth.What is supreme truth? Attaching to that place of truth thatit is impermanent,... (and so on, down to, as previously) itarises in dependence. And thinking that according as there isimpermanence, so there is suffering. Any monk who, in regardto a place of conventional or absolute truth, rightly knows theconventional truth as conventional truth and the absolutetruth as absolute truth, he is worthy of being called one whosees constructed natures. What is seeing unconstructed natures?Any monk who attaches to a place of truth with skill in thetwo kinds of truth; and taking recourse to that skili, engageshis mind with the view that all the personal aggregates(skondha) are exhausted, Nirvd4a is calm ... (and so on, downto, as previously ) there is liberation; and has the thought, "Isee unconstructed naturss," he is worthy of being called onewho sees unconstructed natures. Besides, one should knowthat there are three kinds of persons who see dharmas: (1)the one who engages dlnrmas consistent with dharmqs of theordinary person. (2) the one who is skilled in and heedfulto equipoise his mind, and methodically courses in dharma(s),and accordingly sees the points of instruction. (3) the onebeyond training whose fluxes are exhausted.

Nigdrjuna's equivalent statement for seeing "unconstructednatures" is in his Yuktisastrikd (k. 10-l IAB):zt "Having seen

zlThe 1-1/2 verses are translated from the Tibetan version in the Darjeelingpublication, Four Minor Madhyamaka Texts in Tibetan Translation Also

r75


with right knov,'ledge (: clear vision) rvhat has arisen with thecondition of 'nescience'

l i .e. 'motivation'], there is no apprehen-

sion at all ol either arising or passing away. That very thing is\u,.::r3;s tir is l i fe (:the dltarrua seen),22 and the requirement isi.-,:: ' -. :e-ki't)'a)." Here is a version from the Bodhisattuapilaka-

| . : , . ' ; . . r \ lahaydna scr ipture.2st -\' \\-hatever is the meaning of Dependent Origination, is the

meaning of Dharma; whatever is the meaning of Dharma, isthe meaning of Tathagata. Therefore, whoever sees Depen-dent Origination, sees Dharma; rvhoever sees Dharma, sees theTathagata. Also, seeing that way, and accordingly fully under-standing in the sense of Thusness, still one sees scarcely any-thing. What is that "scarcely anything"? It is the Signless andthe Non-Apprehension; the one who sees in the manner of theSignless and the Non-Apprehension sees rightly. I

Those passages by Asanga, Ndgirjuna, and in the Bodhisattua-pilalca, agree that the "seeing" is not the ordinary concrete o'see-

ing." But also, these works persist in using a word meaning"seeing." Sthiramati ri 'ould erplain: because it is without discur-sive thou_sbt (rt irt ' ikalpa).2t In the terminology of "eyes" it is ex-

I h.*"*k"- i,'ro u..ount the context in which tl-ris is cited in Abhydkaragupta's.\[urtitttcttdlan*ara. op. cit., p. 220-2-2.

::Nigir'juna apparently used in the original Sanskrit the term drstadharma,u'hich is rvell known to signify in Buddhist texts "this life". However, sincehe associated it with the preceding verse which employs the verbal form"having seen," it may be concluded that he intended a double meaning for theterm, so dr;tadharma also means "the dharma that is seen," or "the visibledhorma." Thus, Ndgarjuna implies the seeing (which amounts to not seeingof the unconstructed dharma Nirvana. But since this is the Nirvdna of thisrery life, this Yukti;astilca passage helps explain Ndgdrjuna's famous versein the Nirvdqa chapter of the Madhyanmka-karika (xxv, 19): "There is nodifference between Nirvala and Sams6ra; there is no difference betweenSanrsdra and Nirvd4a."

:sPhoto edition of ribetan Tanjur, Yol. 23, chapter on "Inconceivability ofthe Tathagata," p. 19-5-2, ff.

:rSthiramati's Abhidharmakoiabhasyalika-tatvartha-nama, photo edition.''f Tibetan Tanjur, Yol. 147, commentary on Samipatti chapter of the Abhi-dlnrntakoia, p. 274-2-1, in the course of explaining the jfiana-dariana, com-ments on the word dariana ("vision"): "vision bears comparison with eye-perception (cakSur-vijffdna), because it is without discursive thought" (mthonba ni mig gi rnam par Ses pa dan mtshuns par ldan pa ste/ rnam par mi rtogpa phyir ro).


pressly stated to be the o'eye of insight" in the SAtistambasfitra.zsIn agreement, Buddhaghosa's Visuddhinxagga places the consi-

{eration of nep@-in the Insiruction of lnsight

@amiiA); and the bhilmi theory of Mahdydna Buddhism includesthat consideration in ttie Perfection of lnsight (ptygimdpdramita)

&Id t" -predominate

in the Sixlh !tag6 @humi). Furthermore,Asanga pffits'out that tlie "seeing" differs according to theperson who "sges."

The manner in which a person may'osee" Dependent Origina-tion is set forth in the Sixth Stage of the Daiabhumika-sutra. Thepresentation here is based on Tson-kha-pa's citation and discus-sion of the passage in his Tibetan commentary on Candrakirti'sMadhyamokduqtdra:26

(The Bodhisattva on the Sixth Stage) reflects on DependentOrigination (pratnyasamutpdda) in the forward direction(and so on down to:) Thus he thinks. Only this heap of suffer-ing, this tree of suffering develops, devoid of a creator, a feeler(kdraka-uedaka). This occurs to him: Because of the clingingto a creator, activities are known; wherever there is no creator,there also activities are not perceptively reached in the absolutesense. This occurs to him: These three realms are this mind-only; whatever those twelve members of generation, all those,while explained by the Tathdgata in multiple aspect (prabheda-ias),infact depend on a single citta(ekacitta).

In the Sfltra itself this passage is embedded in a long exposition ofDependent Origination. The S[tra states that the tree developsdevoid of a creator; so Tson-kha-pa says, "Having denied aneternal self as the creator, (the Bodhisattva) understands that thecreator is just the conventional (sarpurti) mind-only." Or, asAsanga mentioned in the previous citation, the conventionalmind has the idea of it, the thesis, the attribution. The Bodhisattva

25Ll VarrfB PoussIN, Thdorie des douze catrses, p.T2.However here it is theBuddha using the prajffa-eye that is mentioned.

26The passage cited is in Sanskrit original in J. Rahder, ed., DaSabhumika'sfrtra et Bodhisattvabhumi, p. 48 and p.49:' RYUKO KoNo6, ed., Daiabhumi'Svaro ndmd Mahaydnasutrarn, p. 97.13 and p. 98.6-10: (evap hi bodhisattvo)'nulomikdrar.n pratityasamutpadam pratyavekqate 1...1 evam ayaln kevalo(and so on, down to) sarvdny ekacittasamaSritani/. Tson-kha-pa's discussionis in Photo edition of Tibetan canons, extra volumes, Vol. 154,p. 7l-4 to 72,1.

178 Budclhist Insighr

is said to reflect: "because of the clinging to a creator', whichis done by 'onescience", "activit ies" (: .,motivations") ,,are

known," to wit, by "perceptions," the third member--thus in-augurating the Dependent origination in the forward direction.Then, to show how the series is eliminated, so that finally, in theabsence of "nescience", "perception" does not arise, the Sfrtrasays: "wherever there is no creator (i.e., as delusively held by theconventional mind), o'there als o activiti es "( : those "motivations',)"are not perceptively reached in the absolute sense" (i.e., "per-ception" does not perceive them). Nag6rjuna's way of stating thesame point in that Yukti,raptrikd verse is to deny any apprehensionof the arising or passing away of that "motivation," whereuponthe Dharma seen is Nirvd4a.

Besides, Nigdrjun a's Sunyaffisaptati (k. 9-10) states:22 ..When

there is neither permanence nor impermanence, neither self nornon-self, neither purity nor impurity, neither pleasure nor pain,then there are not the waywardnesses. In their absence, there isno possibility of the nescience born from the four wayward.nesses(uiparyastz). In its absence, motivations do not occur. and like-wise the remaining members." This agrees with Asanga's dis-tinction of "nescience" as defiled (through wayrvardness) and un-defiled. There is the striking conclusion that when the Bodhisattvameditates in the manner prescribed by the Daiabhumika-siltra heeliminates the defiled nescience that heads the second kind ofDependent origination, but still has not eliminated the undefllednescience, wherefor he is still a Bodhisattva2s and not a Buddha.

27The two verses are translated from the Tibetan version in Four MinorMadhyamaka Texts in Tibetan Translation (op cit.).

28La Vatl-p'r PousstN , Thdorie des clouze causes, p. v, note, mentions thataccording to certain soLlrces, which he does not name, the meditation on thetwelve causes is reserved to Pratyekabuddhas. Indeed, the attribution of a -

Bodhisattva meditation in the Daiabhumikasfttra seems to be simply due tothis text being a Mahdyina scripture that expounds the stages of the Bodhi-sattva. But as far as the exposition of Dependent Origination is concerned,the meditation on it does not seem to require a Bodhisattva. Tson-kha-paplaces his Dependent origination section in the portion of his Lam rim chenmo devoted to the training of the middling person, according to the descriptionin Ati6a Bodhipatha-pradtpa: "whoever, turning his back on the pleasures ofphenomenal existence, and averting himself from sinful actions, pursues onlyhis own quiescence, he is known as the middling person." This is the secondkind of person, and the Bodhisattva is the third kind and called the superiorperson,


According to Tson-kha-pa's indications, the Bodhisattva on theSixth stage when revierving the tr,velve members seriatum empha-sizes the subject mind to the neglect of the objective form; thus heis awakening from the dream of defilecl nescience. In lotus sym-bolism this is the budding of the lotus. The Tath agata, when gras-ping the whole series with a singre thought (citta),emphasizes theobjeciive form to the neglect of the subject mind. This is the full-blown state of the lotus. This lotus symbolism is applied to kqrma:and we must observe that in the Daiabhumika-sutra as in Ndgdr-juna's Dependent origination commentary, the two karmas aremembers No. 2 "motivations" (sarp,skdra) and No. l0..gestation"(bhaua). Tson-kha-pa maintains in the same place that all thediverse realms (the bhdjana-loka)of the sentient beings are formedby the shared (sadhdrana) karma accumulated by the minditself,which must refer to a group karma. The sentient beings also haveunshared (asadharana) or individual mental karma. Tson-kha-paemploys the metaphor of the "variegated eye of a peacock's tail',(mecaka in sanskrit) for the unsharcd karma. and the metaphorof"variegated petals and colors of lotuses" fb" the shared karma ofsentient beings, which generates the variegated receptaclerealms. The metaphoric language agrees with the distinctionof two kinds of Dependent origination, because the lotussymbolism, applying as it does to shared karma and to the processof enlightenment, must be associated with the flrst kind of Depend_ent origination that is not concerned with particular beings andspecialized karma. It is the second kind of Dependent origina-tiorr whose karma would have t/ii metaphor of the .,variegated

eye of a peacock's tailt /There remains to be eftplr{ned, the SDtra reference to the devel-

opment as the "tree of suffering". According to the Arthaui-niicayalikdzs rhe first seven members of Dependent originationshow the development of the tree: 1. 'onescience"

is the manurecovering, 2. "motivations" is the field, 3. fluxional 'operceptions",

the seed; 4. "name-and-form," the sprout; 5. "six sense bases,"the leaves and twigs; 6. "cont aet," characteristic flowers bloom-ing;7.'ofeelings," characteristic fruit matured. In agreement withAsanga's attribution to the last five members of the role, ..suffer-

zgrhe passage is taken from the Arthaviniicayalika (author unknown) inDerge Taqjur, Sna-tshogs, Vol. No. f. Z7b-4. f.

179


ing possessed of cause," the Arthauiniicayatikd account continues;Someone craves that fruit ("craving"), takes it (("indulgence"),

moistens it with water and eats it ("gestation"), whereupon sharppains arise ("birth"), he shrivels up and dies ("old age and

death";.so The "tree" thus exhibits the two karma members asthe "field " into which the seed is cast, and as the "eating" ordigestion process.

III. LtvEs on'a PnRsox

This section is much indebted to Tson-kha-pa's Dependent Ori-gination section in his Lam rim chen nto,31 where he describes the

formula as applying to one life, two lives, and three lives of aperson. This treatment undoubtedly draws much from Asanga's

encyclopedic work, the Yogocdrabhumi and its summation in

Asanga's Abhidharmasamuccayq. In particular, there is Asanga'sgrouping of the twelve members as available in Sanskrit from the

latter work: "The downcasting members are nescience, motiva-

tions, and perceptions. The members cast down are name-and-form, six sense bases, contact, and feelings. The producing mem-

bers are craving, indulgence. and gestation. The members pro-

duced are birth, and old age and death."32 The expression "down-

casting" means casting down into the cyclical flow (sarylsdra).

Besides, the Tibetan treatment accepts Ndgdrjuna's brief exposi-

30In that Dependent Origination section already mentioned, Tson-kha-parefers to the SAlistambasfitra as "explaining that the seed of 'perception'

(vijftana) is planted in the field of karma which has the manure of onescience'

(avidya); and that is moistened with the water of craving, and then the shootof oname-and-form ' in the womb proceeds to completion." The Sanskritpassage is in Thdorie des douze causes, p. 84 3rd paragraph. Anyway,this associates the metaphorical water with "craving", and this may have alsobeen the intention of the Arthavini1cayatika's account of the 10th member

"gestation," to wit, that the fruit's moistening suggests the water of "craving".slThe Lam rim chen mo js Tson-kha-pa's encyclopedic exposition of the

path to enlightenment for the three orders of persons (cf. n' 28, above). The

many quotations in the part containing the Dependent Origination material

has numerous quotations from such works as the Lalitavistara emphasizing

the sufferings and ills of the world, representing it as a kind of prison. One

should understancl how all this mass of suffering came about, and how to

escape. Accordingly, such teachings as that of Dependent Origination are

expounded.s2Pnersan PnADHAN, ed., AbhidhQrma-samuccdya' text, p. 26, lines 20 ff.


tion in his Pratityasamutpdda-hrdaya-kdrtkd, in part that threedefilements-nescience, craving, and indulgence-give rise to twokarmas-motivations and gestation-which in turn give rise tothe seven sufferings, namely, the remaining members, and that'othus the wheel of becoming (bhauacakra) itself revolves againand again." Tson-kha-pa's treatment introduces the terminologyof 2-l/2 and 4-l/2. By 2-l/2 is meant the members 'onescisnce,"

"motivation," and then the visionary half of "perception" whichis called the "causal uijfidna". By al/2 is meant the membersbeginning with the fallen half of "perceptions" which is called the"fruitional uijfidna". One should note about all the above termi-nology that it agrees with the second kind of Dependent Origina-tion, involving karmo and rebirth of the person.

Besides, it is necessary to clarify the member No. l0 "gestation"(bhaua) as a karma. The ancient explanation by varieties of threeworlds (desire, form, and formless) immediately associates themember with the Buddhist theory of food; and it will be recalledthat in the detailing of the "tree of suffering" the eating of thefruit was credited to this karma member. The Samyutta Nikdya,ii, 98, sets forth four kinds of food "for maintaining the sentientbeings who have been born or for aiding those who wish to comeforth." The standard order of the four is morsel food, coarse orsubtle; sense contact (sparia); volition (manaltsarycetand); and per-ception (uijfiana). The Abhidharmakoiu (chap. IIf explains thatthe first two foods nourish the being already born-extend itslife-and that the last two foods enable the being not yet born tocome into existence. The kinds of food that are necessary differaccording to which one of, the three realms the sentient beingaspires to or lives in.s3 Hence, the role of this member as thenew karma by the act of eating. while I employ the rendition"gestation," the words "digestion" arrd "brewing" probably alsoapply. My "gestation" for bhaua agrees with its representation asa pregnant woman in the Tibetan wheel of Life. There is partialconfirmation from a definition in the Satistambasutra suggestingthat this bhqua is a self-perpetuating entity. According to the pdliAbhidharma it both looks behind (Epimethean) and looks ahead

33The above discussion of the four foods is based on my treatment in Analysisof the Sravakabhumi Manuscript, chapter v, "Asanga's views on Food,"pp. 135 ff.


(Promethean). Perhaps this member gives the mane bhaua-cakra(Wheel of Becoming) to the whole series of tr,velve members.Ba

The follorving, based on Tson-kha-pa's Dependent originationsection, probably cannot be worked out in the commentarialtradition consistent with the Theravdda. of course. all theseBuddhist schools believed in rebirth.

III. l. One Li/b of a Single Personl. Nescience, and 2. motlation, constitute an Intermediate statethat forecasts the destiny. Nescience forecasts either a good orbad destiny, to r,vit, confusion (sammoha) about karma and its fruitforecasting an evil destiny, confusion about the meaning of reality(tattua) forecasting a good destiny. Motivations are virtuous, non-virtuous, and indeterminate.

3. Perceptions, 4. name-and-form, 5. six sense bases, 6. sensecontact, and 7. feelings, are a set going with the destiny. per-ception (uijiidna) is imbued by motivation (sarytskdra) with habit-energy (udsand) either for good or bad destiny. Good destiny issaid to be gods and men; bad destiny, animals, hungry ghostsQtreta), and hell beings.

8. Craving, and f . indulgence, again and again foster the habit-energy of the destiny. 10. gestation-no information, but pre-sumably it would be a repetition of the realm, whether desire, form,or formless, with the same 'food' being eaten over and over.

11. Birth, i.e. rebirth, means that again and again one repeatsin this one life the same destiny.

12. old age and death; finally one sees the trouble ordisadvantage (adinaua) of the destiny.

This explanation of Dependent origination seems to go with the"tree of suffering" previously mentioned to agr:ee with the phasesof seven and five members. The first seven are the growth of thetree. The last five reinforce the habit-energy of the destiny and reapthe consequence. Finally, "old age and death" furnishes the real-ization that the destiny is deplorable, and the being determines toleave it.

III.2. Two Liues of a Single Person(l) The past l i fe:l i fe no. l.

l. nescience (as delilement)

Saof course, "existence" and "becoming" are established meanings of the

Dependent Origination-The Indo-Tibetan Tradition lg3

2. motivation (as karma)3A.. casual uijfiana (as suffering:last perception)

q |craving (defi lement, with r (death and,7 J indulgence object nor defined) [intermediate state)10. gestation (as Karma) :" karmq-pi11e1"ss J

(2) The present life ..- life no. 2, as effect.38. resultant uiifidna \4. name-and-iorm I5. six sense bases | (the seed of later suffering)6. sense contact I7. feelings )

I 1. b i r rh ?12. oid age and deattr J tttre present suffering)There are various cases in Buddhist theory to which this for-

tetm bhava. Still, where Buddhist tradition calls this bhava a karmamemberof Dependent origination, one wonders how such renderings as .,existence,,convey the connotation of the warned-of hells and glorified-of heavens forgood and bad acts (the karma. of course) of laity and monks ! A Tibetanwork included in the canon, probabry of the earry ninth century, with recon-structed title P r at i t y a sam u t pd da- ga qta ndn u s ri r e rja c i t t a s t hap a no p a y a, J apanesephoto edition of the Tibetan Kanjur-Tanjur, vol. 145, ;. 278-2-2, mentionsthat there are four ways to summarize the series, to wit, by count, nature,denotation, and grouping. Under the category of denotation (5. Nirukti,Tib. nes pa'i tshig) the unknown author presents the list that happens to be inthe salistambasutra, Thdorie des douz causes, p. B1; N. Aiyaswami sastri,ed., Arya ,gcilistamba Sutra (Adyar Library, 1950), p. ll; p.L. Vaidya,Mahayana-sutra-sarhgraha, part I, p. 103-30 to p. to+.i. when the list comesto bhava, it has punarbhavajanandrthena bhavart. ,,rt is bhava because it engen_ders bhava again." While the term punarbhava is usually rendered ,.rebirth,',such a rendering in the present case would imply that the definition refers tothe following member, 11. "birth" (iati), for which the definition shouldhave had instead punarjanma. However, none of the other ,,denotatior-r,,is in terms of the immediately following member, but is stated in terms ofthe member itself. Accordingry, this definitio' of bhava is simpry a recogni-tion that the word means 'oexistence"

but that we should regar,c it here assignifying the promotion of re-existence (hence my translation of the term invasubandhu's conment on the Madhyanta-vibhaga verse, supra). In short,that bhava is a self-perpetuating entity. rt both looks to the past and looksto the future according to c.A.F. Rhys Davids in her Hastings'ERE art icle,vol. 9, p. 672, giving the pari scholastic tradition of two kinds, kamma-bhava"fruition of past actions" and upapatti-bhava..result in future life,,.

35For the "karma-mirror", cf. A*x wAyltaN, ,,The Mirror as a pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile", History of Rerigion"v XIII: 4, May 1974, pp.264-265. This essay is pubrished ersewhere in this volume.


mulation of the members may apply. For example, there are

many popular stories of lcarma where something happening to a

person is explained as due to his previous life.36 There is also the

case of the Arhat, who is in his last life, for which reason his pre-

ceding life is called "having one more lifc." Then there is the

theory, so much identified with Tibetan Buddhism, of the incar-

nate Lamas. It was held that certain high Lamas could be im-

mediately reborn, e.g., the Dalai Lama series; and so it would be

pertinent to refer to the last life and the present life. The Srimdla-

sutra has a remarkable specialization of the theory called the

"inconceivable transference" of Arhats, Pratyakabuddhas, and

Bodhisattvas who have attained power. These beings are held to

have a special kind of nescience, presumably undefiled, called

the nescience entrenchment (auidyduasabhumi); and a special kind

of motivation described as non-fluxional karma (andsraua-karma).

With those two members as conditions, they have a special kind of

causal-uijiidna refened to as "bodies made of mind," with which

they have the "inconceivable transference" to another life.3z The

formulation of members also seems to accord with a tantric des-

cription in rvhich the three members 8, 9, and 10, are called

"rebirth consciousness" in the Sequence, "Gandharva cgnsciouS-

ness," "Indulgence-in-desire consciousness", and "Seizing-of-

birth consciousness".s8

III.3. Three Liues of a Single Person:

Here there are two solutions.A. Solution in Tson-kha-pa's section, with no Intermediate

State explicit.

BoThere is an enormous Buddhist literature of the karma stories. Besides, thenumerous Jdtaka tales, there is the Karma-Sataka kxtant in Tibetan). Onemay signal also the huge Arya-Saddharmasmttyupttsthana'sutra for popular

accounts of getting into the heavens and hells. The extensive verse section

of this scripture, with numerous kArmq verses, has been edited in Sanskrit,Chinese, and Tibetan versions, and translated into French with title Dharma'

samuccaya by Lin Li-kouang, lst part (Paris, 1946); 2nd and 3rd parts

posthumously with revisions by A. Bareau, J. W. de Jong and P. Demi6ville(Paris, 1969 and 1973).

37Cf. AI-Bx WlvuaN and Htosro WAYuAN, The Lion's Roar of QueenSrimala; a Buddhist Scripture on the Tathagatagarbha Theory (New York,

1974), pp. 29-31.g8Arrx Wayua.N, "Buddhist Dependent Origination", History of Religions,

10:3, Feb., I97t, p.195, in the Table "An 'Eastern' Tradit ion"'


Life No. I : the producing life, the previops life. This consists

of 8. craving, f. indulgence, and 10. gestation.se

Life No. 2:the life produced, the present life. It is possible

to have a series of these. Each such life consists of 38. resultant

uijfidna,4. name-and-form, through 7. feelings; and these consti-

tute a set included within 11. birth, and 12. old age and death.

Life No. 3: the forecast life, the future life. This consists of1. nescience, 2. motivation, 3,\. causal -uijfidna.

This formulation also can be interpreted to go with a number

of Buddhist situations. This essay has previously indicated that

8. craving, which is usually of sullied character and conceivably

so in the present formulation, has the decisive role of altering

destiny because it leads to a new bondage. But also it might be

a virtuous craving for the religious life. For example, in the Indian

Buddhist tradition there was a disciple phase called "entering the

stream," rvhich would be Life No. 1, when a set number of lives,

say seven, could be predicted for progress up to the Arhat-fruit,

each of which lives could be counted as Life No. 2, with the Arhat-fruit itself counted as Life No. 3, with the "causal-viifiana" as the"body-made-of-mind" already mentioned. Then, MahdydnaBuddhism sets forth its hero called the Bodhisattva, whose vowand action irr faith would be his Life No. 1; the lives necessary forthe first seven Bodhisattva Stages could be counted as Life No. 2;

and when he attains the status of a Bodhisattva of the EighthStage, this could be his Life No. 3, with the "inconceivabte trans-

ference" mentioned in the Srimdld-sutra. This agrees with thetantric maxim, "By passion the world arises; forecast by passion

it goes to its end. By knowledge of the diamond passion, the

seVasubandhu, in Tucci, "A Fragment," op. cit., p.621, states that in otherstitras the Lord said that bhava ('gestation') is the five "grasping aggregates""(paftcopadana-skandha). Nagarjuna accepts this explanation in his Madhya-maka-karikc XXVI, 8. This interpretation seems to accord rather well withthe present solution of Dependent Origination. And it agrees with the"Promethean" definition of bhava, implying "new karma". In contrast, thebhava in the previous solution "Two Lives of a Single Person" should beunderstood as the "Epimethean" kind, and agrees with the 'Intermediate-

State' (antara-bhava), a variety of bhava which Vasubandhu accepts in Tucci,"A Fragment," p. 621,line 6. As the Therav6da denies an IntermediateState, it uses the terminology kamma-bhava rather than antard-bhava.

1 8 5


mind becomes the Diamond Bein g.',no Besides, Ndgdrjuna con-cludes his vigrahauyduartini by bowing to the Buddha ..who ex-plained voidness (iunyatd), Dependent origination, and theMiddle Path (madhyama-pratipad) in the same sense." Andaccording to the Sattstamba-sutra, when it was said, ..whoever

sees Dependent origination, he sees the Dharma," the Dharmawhich he sees is the Eightfold Noble path.al And this is the pathproclaimed in the Buddha's First sermon as avoiding the ex-tremes of sense indulgence and flesh mortification. Now, in orderto treat Dependent origination as the lvliddle path, it appearsthat this formulation in three lives of one person works out thebest for the reasons given above.

B. Solution of the Theravada, which denies an IntermediateState.a2

Past Life:1. nescience, 2. motivation.

Present Life:3. perception, down to 7. feeling. This is rebirth process.8. craving, f. indulgence, 10. gestation. This is karma process.

Future Life:I 1. rebirth , 12. old age and death.

The remarkable difference between this solution and the pre-ceding Tibetan solutions, by suggestion of Asanga's workq isthat while the Theravdda Abhidharma tradition assigns the lasttwo members-birth, and old age and death-to the future life,the Tibetan solutions all place these two members in the categoryof suffering of the present life.

what they all, including the Theravdd.a, agree upon is that thesequence of twelve conditions does not by virtue of that orderconstitute a temporal sequence. There is a time factor, and it isstated in terms of "past life," "present life," and .,future life.,'In Asanga's school, as the Dependent origination section of theLqm rim chen mo puts it, there are "two cycles of cause and fruit."

a0The Dakini-vajrapafijra, as cited in the subha;ita-saqngraha (Bendalledition).

aTThdor[e des douze causes, pp. 7l-72.azcf. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dfctionary (colombo, 1950), p. ll4; and, with

more complications, Ndrada, A Manual of Abhidhamma, Diagrams XVI andXVII.

Dependent Origination-The Indo-Tibetan Tradition lg7

This means that the chief temporal factor of the series is thealternation of cause (hetu) and fruit (phala) ifl terms of lives, whilethe sequence of conditions (pratyal,a) is the sufficiency causes forthe members to arise. The two cycles are Asanga's groupings ofthe members into o'downcasting" (Nos. 1-3A) and "producing"(Nos. 8-10) as against the members "cast down" (Nos. 3B-7)and "produced" (Nos. ll-l2l.at Asanga's structuring permitsthe solutions in the Tibetan tradition to shift blocks of members,differing in this matter from the Theravida which sticks to theusual order of the twelve terms.

Another difference is that the Theravada, by not accepting anIntermediate State, was obliged to place nescience and motivationin the past life. A more subtle difference is that the Theravddahad only one solution in comparison with the three from theTibetan tradition's working over of Asanga's teachings. Thisindicates that the Theravdda insists on a single interpretation ofthe series, and so followers of that traditicn would likely notaccept my organization of materials into o'two kinds" of Depen-dent origination-and in terms of "original Buddhism" theymight be right.

IV. TsB Buoollrsr Fonuura AND rHE SAyrurvl

The Buddhist doctrine of Dependent origination can be furtherclarified by corrrparison with a non-Buddhist system, the Sarykhya.My foregoing materials have presented two kinds of Dependentorigination; and it turns out that the classical Sar.nkhya and eventhe kind of Sir.nkhya attributed to the teacher Ard{a, the oldercontemporary of the Buddha, are to be discussed along with thesecond kind, of Dependent Origination, as foliows.

+srhus, Tsor.i-rsa-pA, in the Dependent origination section, mentions fromAsanga's Bhumivastu (the first part of the yogacarabhumi): ,,The

membersreaching from viifiana down to vedana have the characteristic of being mixedwith the members birth, old age and death; that being so, why does one teachtwo kinds? For the purpose of teaching the difference of characteristic asthe basis of suffering, and for the purpose of teaching the difference betweenthe downcasting members and the producing members." By further citationsof Asanga, Tson-kha-pa shows that the rnembers vijftana (No. 38) down tovedana (No. 7) are the "seed" of suffering , while jati (No. 1 l) and, jara-mara(ta(No. 12) are the manifest suffering.


The initial comparison is with the third member, "perception"(uijfiAna). Previously, it was shown that "perception" is referred

to metaphorically as the "seed" (btio). So also Aryadeva in hisCatuhiataka (XIY , 25): " Vijfidna, is the seed of phenomenal life;

the (inner and outer) objects are its field (of apperception). When

it sees the object as selfless, the seed of phenomenal life ceases."44

That tlus uijfidna is the Buddhist equivalent to the dtman or"field-knower" of the pre-Buddhist literature is supported by

ASvaghota's portrayal of the future Buddha's visit to Ardda(Buddhacarita, Canto XII, 70-7 3) :as

For I deem the field-knower even though liberated from pri-

mary matter (prakrti) and secondary characters has the attri-bute of giving birth and the attribute of being a seed.For even if the purified soul (dtman) be deemed to be liberated,

again it will be bound by reason of the real presence of theconditions.It is my belief that just as a seed does not spring up throughlack of the season, earth, and lvater; and springs up by reasonof these and those conditions, so also does it (the soul).And rvhat is imagined to be liberation through abandonmentof (the three things) act, ignorance, and craving (: BuddhistDependent Origination Nos. 2, I , and 8) is ultimately not acomplete abandonment of them as long as there is a soul.

Along the lines of the previous finding of this paper, one may inferthat when the Buddha denies a true liberation of the purified selfit is because the purification is from defilement (kleia), so fromdefiled nescience and from craving as well as from concordantacts; while there is still no liberation from undefiled nesciencewhich, serving as the condition for an appropriate motivation,provides a condition for the seed-no matter which seed-toagain spring up.

Now, I have elsewhere discussed the terminology of 2-l/2 and4-l/2 members and concluded that the first l/2 of "perception" isthe equivalent to the Sdr.nkhya buddhi and that the second l/2 of"perception" is the equivalent to the Saankhya aharTtkdra. They

aaTranslated in the context of its citation in Tson-kha-pa's Lam rim chenmo, Lhag mthofi (vipafyana) section. Cf. V. Bnetucsaxvt, The Catuhiatakaof Aryadeva, p. 230.

45E. H. JouNsroN (ed.), The Buddhacarita, Part I (Calcutta, 1935), p. 137.


roughly correspond to the two selves, supreme and individual, of

the early Upanisads, which stem from the B.g-ueda; although

Buddhism does not call those halves of "perception" "Selves" or

a higher and a lower self, and in fact only counts o'perception"

(uijfrdna) once to be the third member of Dependentorigination.4G

To carry the comparison further, just as "perception" in Buddh-

ism was shown above to be the seed of phenomenal life, in the

Sar.nkhya system it is buddhi or Mahat that is the initial evolute,

inaugurating the phenomeual series. In Buddhism, the o'recon-

necting perception" (pratisarTtdhi-uiifidna of the Abhidharma

traclition) first arises as the "appropriating consciouslless"

(dddna-ui.ifidna of the dlay,auiiiidna tradition), i.0., the vision of

the phenomenal abode (the future parents); this is rather close

to the Sdr.nkhya Mahat as a field knower (k5etraifia)-the first

creation (sarga) of the Anugitd (of the Mahdbharata). Thus the

first half of "perception" has the role in Buddhism of establishing

the initial division into subject-object by perceiving an object, as

does the Samkhya buddhi which cognizes "thatness" and which

in Sdfnkhya-kqrikd No. 23 has the function of 'oascertainment"

(adhyauasdya).The reconnecting "perception" then falls into the womb as the

fruitional consciottsness (orpakauijfidna ot iiuitendriya), rather

close to tire Simkhya aharykdra-the second creation of the

Anugitd. The second-half uijfidna is followed by lame-and-form

ancl the six sense bases, just as in Snmkhya the aharykdra, accord-

ing to Sdrfkhya-kdrika No. 24, through its function of conation

(abhimana) gives rise to the various organs and elements constitut-

ing the body. According to the Viifiaptimatratdsiddhi the beings

take the alayauijfiana ("store consciousness") as their o'I" (suam

abhyantarant dtmdnanx or sua adhydtmika dtman) because of its

continuity and homogeneity, but one should not take it as aooself."47 This text of Yogdcdra Buddhism thus makes it equiva-

lent to "calling 'I' " (aharytkdra), but insists that one should not

call it that way.Now reverting to the first two members of Dependent Origina-

tion I shall continue the comparison with the Sdpkhya in a

46WlvuaN, "Buddhist Dependent Origination", p. 202.4Tl-ours or La Vanfe PoussrN, Vijfiaptimatratdsiddhi, Tome I, pp. 150 and

1 8 1 .


manner employed some years ago, while interpreting the cele-brated Yogacdra work Marthydntauibhdga to have two realities:"Thus, the Buddhist text replaces the sarnkltya purusa with the'imagination

of unreality ' (abhutaparikalpa) and repla ces prakrtiwith 'voidness'

(iunyatd). In this tsuddhist system, both the'imagination of unreality' and 'voidness'

are real, co-exist, andare yet distinct."a8 Enforcing my theory, "nescience" and"motivation" are added to the replacement correspondences:

Dependent Origination Madhyantauibhdga Samkhyaterminology terminology terminology

nesclence

motivations

imagination ofunrealityvoidness

purusct

prakrtiThe Buddhist formula starts with "nescience,' (auidvd); Sdlnkhyaholds that the puru.ws emerge in the new development each withtheir specific auidjd.4s Next Buddhism places ..motivations,,(sarpskdra), the karrna of body, speech, and mind; here Saqnkhyahas its prakrti (also with three strands, the gunas). prakrti and,samskara have the same verbal root, and in both systems have therole of causing a development-in the Sdmkhya, prakrti as theoriginal cause (pradhana); in Buddhism, ,oqrriar:o as the efficacyof former karma to attain a fruit. Moreover, the sdlnkhya setsforth an irreducible duality of purusa (pure consciousness, not theagent) and Prakl'ti (pure matter, the impersonal agent); whileBuddhism sets forth a primeval duality oi auidyd (nescience, notthe agent, but metaphorically the manure) and samskdrcr (motiva-tions, the impersonal agent, but metaphoricaily the ground).

As to the "voidness," Tson-kha-pa's great commentary on theAbhisantaydlarykdra helps, because of his section .,the subjectiveknowledge (yul can ye .fes) and the objective voidn ess (1,ur stonfiid)," showing that no matter how many the void.nesses, e.g., thelist of twenty, they are all objective, the ob.iect of the knowledgeor insight that discerns them.b0 Thus, the ..Imagination

or

a8A. wavlrAN, "The yogicdra Idearism (Review Articre),,, philosophyEast and West, Xy:1, Jan. 1965, p. 66.4esunswonANATH DAscuprA, A History of Indian phitosophy, vor. I, p.249.5'Tso*-rga -pA, Bstan bcos mnon rtogs rgyan'grer pa dan bcas pa,i rgyacher

bSad,"Legs biad gser phren,, (Sarnath, Varanasi, 15'TOy Vol. I, p.407,

Dependent Origination-The Indo-Tibetan Tradition lgl

Unreality" has cnly voidness (: the void Dharmadhdtu) as itsobject, just as Puru$a has only prakrti as its object.

The "Imagination of unreality" is deflnitely a form of nescience;and the Madhydntauibhaga (I, l l) states that from this "imagina-tion" proceed the twelve members of Dependent originationbeginning with 'onescience." The "rmagination of unreality"may therefore be this Yogdcara text's expression for what Asangacalls the unmixed nescience, or undefiled nescience. This text,as previously pointed out, counts the series as "defiled." or"afflicted," and vasubandhu in his comment accordingly explainso'nescience"

as the first member to be the positive irnpediment tothe view of reality.

In summary, the Madhyantauibhdga agrees with the Sar.nkhyain positing two preexistent realities that are on an equal footing.In contrast, the Buddhist Dependent origination has the firstand subjective member, nescience, serving as the condition forthe arising af the second and objective member, motivations.And in any case, it was never my position that correlation andreplacement of terms meant identiflcation. one should grantthat the Buddhist series, no matter of which Buddhist sect's inter-pretation, develops quite differently from the Sdr.nkhya evolutes,even though there are some striking parallels.

There is another way I compared Dependent origination withthe Sdr.nkhya in an early and admittedly speculative effort.blHere, partly by suggestion of the Kdlacakra and, other BuddhistTantric material, I set the first three members of Dependentorigination, namely, nescience, motivations, and perception, incorrespondence respectively with the three kinds of Ahankdraof the classical Sdr.nkhya system, namely tdmasika-, rdjasika-,and sdttuika-ahantkdra. f'his is tantamount to saying that if onesucceeded in abolishing the tr,velve fold Dependent origination,one would be at the level of Mahat, the cosmic intellectual sub-stance. I do not deny a possible merit of a comparison involvingeven late works like the Buddhist Tantras, but there is no point infollowing up this kind of comparison in the present essay.

51A. wavuaN, "Buddhist Dependent origination and the Sarhkhya gu4as",Ethnos (1962), pp. 14-22.

t92 Buddhist Insight

V. CoxcrusroN

Certainly much more is written about the formula of DependentOrigination in the Buddhist canon and commentarial traditionsthan can possibly be conveyed within the limits of this paper. Inthe application of writings from a long time span, it was inevitablethat the "discovery" and "seeing" of the series would be inter-tn'ined. It could also be argued about the two kinds of Depen-dent Origination that if one can 'osee" Dependent Origination,one can see both kinds in the form here organized, or perhaps"see" just one kind. But if what I have tried to show is indeedthe case. much of the past argumentation misses the mark.Those theories were not based on "seeing" Dependent Origina-tion, but rather on the premise that if one theory about the seriesis right, the others must be wrong.

9,

NESCIENCE AND INSIGHT ACCORDINGTO ASANGA'S TOGACANrcUAMT

Th.e topic treated here is of enormous importance to Buddhism."Nescience" is adopted as the translation of auidyd to include"ignorance" (ajfidna) and "waywardness' (uiparyasa ). For uidyaI accept ooclear sight," opposed by nescience's blindness. "Way-wardness," the seeond kind of nescience, has its "traces" (anuiaya)and 'oentrapment" (paryauasthdna\. "fnsight" is my usual trans-lation of prajfia, and the paper shows its association with lightand vision; it is the chief facuity to counteract 'onescience"in thesense of ignorance, and to erase the "traces" of "waywardness."

Asanga, circa 375-430 A.D., rvho wrote in Sanskrit, is probablythe most famous author of the Buddhist school called tiie LaterMahi5dsaka; and the vielvs of this school have the most extensivecorpus of preservation in Asanga's encyclopedic work, theYogacdrabhumi, which also includes some Mahdydna positionsespecially based on the scripture Sarytdhinirmocana-shtrql.Tltrs Yogdcdrobhumiz by Asanga has five major divisions (some-times incorrectly entered in catalogues): Bhilmiuastu or Bahu-bhtTmilca, comprised of seven t een bhwmis ; V inii cay a- s ot?tg r aharyi,tlre exegesis in order of those seventeen; Vastu-sarTtgrahani, by

1C1'. A. WavuaN, Analysis of tlrc Sravakabhilmi Manuscript (IJriv. of Calif.Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1961), pp.25-29.

2Paur DBMrdvrrr-s, La Yogacarabhumi de Ssngharak;a, BEFEO,44 (Ig54),shows that there were other works of the same title.


basic Buddhist topics, sa:skdros, etc.; Parydya'sarpgrahalti, of

synonyms, etc.; Viuara4a-sarytgrahapi, misceilaneous explana-

tions. The seventeen bhfimis are:

(1) Stage associated with the set of five perceptions (paficauii-

iidnakdy a-s aqnpr ay uktd bhumi).(2) Stage of mind Qnanobhumi).(3) Stage with inquiry and with conclusions (sauitarkd sauicdrd

bhilmi).

{4) Stage without inquiry and with only conclusions (auitarkd-

uicdra-mdtrti bhumi).(5) Stage without inquiry or conclusion (auitarkd'avicdrd

bhilmi\.

{6) Stabilised stage (somdhitd bhumi).(7) Unstabilised stage (asamdhitd bhumi).(8) Stage with thought (sacittikd bhumi).(9) Stage without thought (acittikd bhfimi).

(10) Stage consisting of hearing (irutamayi bhumi).(11) Stage consisting of pondering (cintdmayi bhumi).,(12) Stage consisting of contemplation (bhduandmayt bhnmi).(13) Stage of the disciple (Srduakabhumi).(14) Stage of the self-enlightened person (pratyekabuddhabhumi).

(15) Stage of the Bodhisattva (bodhisattuabhumi).

(16) Stage of Nirvapa with remainder (sopddhikd bhumi).

(17) Stage of Nirvdqa without remainder (nirupddhikd bhumi).

It is necessary to mention these divisions because various ones

will be ref'erred to in rny following materials. The entire work

is preserved in Tibetan and Chinese translations, and portions

are extant in original Sanskrit. Bhlrmis 3-5 are grogped as

Sauitarkddir bhumi in V. Bhattacharya's edition of the Sanskrit

text which ends with Bhumi No. 5.3

Tnn Two KtNos oF NESCIENCE

The two kilds of nescience are ignorance and waywardness. It

is well to include here from Tson-kha-pa's Lam rim chen mo an

exceptionaily clear explanation icientifying the ignorance kind as

BVronusnr,KHARA BnnrracnnRvn, The Yogacdrabhumi of Acarya Asartga,Part I (University of Calcutta, 7957).

Nescience and Insight According to Asanga 195

the first member of Dependent origination (pratttya-samutpdda),which I now translate from the Tibetan:a

Nescience is as stated in the (Abhidharma) Koia (in III, 28):

"the contrary of clear sight like enmity and untruth." Besides,one should not regard enmity and untruth as just the negationof friendliness and truth, or as just different from those two;rather, as the opposite side which actively opposes friendlinessand truth. Accordingly, nescience should not be regarded inthe sense of an opposite as just the negation of clear sight oras just different from it; rather as the contrary side whichactively opposes clear sight (uidyd). Here, the opposing clear:sight is the clear sight with the meaning of right selflessnessof person (pudgala-nairdtmya), so it is the view which destroysits enemy, the positing of self in person (pudgala-dtmagrdha)-such was maintained by the great acarya DharmakirtifPramdnaudrttilca, I, 2l5cd-2l6abl. Acdrya Asanga and hisbrother (i.e. Vasubandhu) maintained that from among theadhering to waywardness about the right meaning or just theconfusion about the right meaning, it is the latter; in short,that from among the deviant reflection and the intellect(buddhi) that does not understand, it is the intellect that doesnot understand. However, this is tantamount to maintainingthat the chief opponent to the opposing side is the insight@rajrta) which understands selflessness. When one analyzesthat confusion, there are two: confusion about karma andits fruit, and coniusion about the meaning of reality (tattua).According to the (Abhidharma) Samucce))e, with the former,one amasses the motivations (sarytskara) that send one to anevil destiny, and with the latter, one amasses the motivationsthat send one to a good destiny.

since this is an explanation of nescience as the first member ofDependent origination, it emphasizes the flrst kind of nescience,that of ignorance (ajiiana) or confusion (sarytmoha), as contrasted,with the second kind of nescience, that of deviant reflection orwaywardness, as regards Asanga's position.s

aThe edition which I use is the Tashilunpo one, and the passage is translatedfrom the Dependent origination section, as part of the instruction to the"middling person".

sFor the two kinds of nescience,cf. my early article, 'The Meaning of Un-

tg6 Buddhist Insight

Now, Asanga includes within the Cintdmayi bhumi these verses

of the Paramdrtha-gathd (nos. 10-11):0

One finds that creatures lie in two categories.

They are heedless in sense fields; moreover, deviantly setting

out.Truly those caught by delusion are those deviantly setting out.

While those caught by cravin g arc those heedless in sense fields.

Asanga's self commentary relates this classification to Buddhist

Dependent Origination in two parts: "the dharntas possessed of

cause" are the fi.rSt seven memberS, front "nescience" (auidyd)

down through "feelings" (uedand) -here the creatures are caught

by delusion. "The suffering possessed of cause" is the last five

members, from "craving" (trsUa) down through "old age and

death" (jard-mara4a)-here the creatures are caught by craving.

That explanation shows that in Asanga's position, when one

has eliminated "craving" he has overcome "the suffering possessed

Of cause," while when one has eliminated "nescience" he haS

understood "the dharntas possessed of cause." This implies that

in his school, "non-self of personality" (pudgala-nairdtmya) is

a realisation to eliminate "craving," while "non-self of dhaymas"

(dharma-nairdtmya) is a realisation to eliminate "nescience."7

This nrust also be why he states in the Bodhisattuabhumi ((text'

p. 3), ',r\mong them, the lineage of all the irduakas and pratyeka'

buddhas becomes pure through purification of the hindrance

of defilem ent (kleia), not through purification of the hindrance

of the knowable (ifieya). However, the lineage of bodhisattuas

becomes pure not only through purification of the hindrance of

defilement, but also through purification of the hindrance of the

knowable."s This indicates that when Asanga mentions that

"creatufes lie in tWo categories" he means also those follorving

*@i losophyEastandWest ,Y I I : | -2 . ,Apr i l , Ju |y , |957,pp. 21-25. I no longer use the rendition "unwisdom, " but my conclusionsthere are consistent with the present study.

\Analysis o.f the Sravakabhumi Manuscript, pp. 169, 180-181'zThis observation sets the position of Asanga-Vasubandhu in opposition

to that of Dharmakirti, according to the previous passage of Tson-kha-pa's,

where it represents Dharmakirti as assigning selflessness of person (pudgala-

nairatmya) the role of countering nescience as the first member of Dependent

Origination.sAnalysis, p.29.

Nescience and Insight According to Asafiga 197

the religious life in the Buddhist sense. Some (the irduakas andpratyekabuddhas) manage, by non-self of personality, to be notcaught by craving with its attendant defilement. Some (the

bodhisattuas) manage not only that, but also, by non-seif of

dharmas, to be not caught by delusion.Previously it was mentioned that in Asanga's school, the first

kind of nescience , that of ignorance, is the first member of Depen-

dent Origination. That leaves the problem of where in Depen-

dent Origination is the emergence of the second kind of nescience,that of waywardness. In this case there is an irnportarrt passage

in the Pdli scripture MadhupiqtQika Suttcr of Maijhima-nikdya(I, 111), in my translation:

(Yary uedeti taryt saiijdndti, yam safijdndti, tar.n uitakketi, yatV

uitokketi tarTt papaficeti...) What one feels, on has an idea

about. What one has an idea about, one inquires about.What one inquires about, one develops upotr.e

This passage shows that the "feelings" member, last of the firstseven members, has a concomitant inental state involving dis-cursive thought, with the possibility of "way'nvardness of idea"(saryi,4d-uiparydsa). Hence, when o'craving" arises in dependenceon "feelings;" these feelings, according to a passage of Asauga'sI shall later cite, may be associated with the three "poisons,"lust, hatred, and delusion; and, to anticipate tire later finclings,these psychological poisons lvould be in the form of "traces"(anuiaya). Thus r.vhile 'ocraving" has the frecdot,r to inauguratea new bondage, it is usually not a pure "cra-/i119" but is suliiedwith deviant leflection.

Asanga himself expounfu two kinds of nescience in the Vinii-caya-sar.ngrahani (PTT',10 Vol. 110, p. 28-1-5, ff.). Before translat-ing it from the Tibetan, I sirali outline the main elements of thepassage. And before that, it should be menlioned that Asangaevidently means by "nescience" here the auidya of DependentCrigination independent of the life of a single sentient being, since

eCompare with the translation by Bntrcuu NiANaNaNn a,, Concept andReality (Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1977), p. 3.

10PTT is the abbreviated reference to the "Peking Tibetan Tripitaka," thephotographic reproduction in Japan of the Peking edition of the Tibetan


two types of persons are mentioned, and so there is a nesciencewithout defilement.l1A. Unmixed nescience (: ignorance)

a. The confusion of not comprehendingd. The undefiled confusion

B. Having the mental conco,mitants of defilement (:wayward-ness)b. The confusion of heedlessnessc. The defiled confusion

The translation follows :

Among them, what is nescience (auidyd) ? The obscuration('gebs par byed pa fiid) and the hindeing (sgrib par bycd pa fiid)of consciousness in regard to the reality of the knowable thatis to be comprehended. Moreover, it is to be understoodbriefly as four kinds-the confusion (saqnmoha\ of not com-prehending; the confusion of heedlessness; the defiled con-fusion; and the undefiled confusion. a. The confusion of notcomprehending is the ignorance (ajfrdna) of not seeing andnot hearing, and not analyzing the variety, and not perceivingthe meaning of the knowable. b. The confusion of heedless-ness is the ignorance, when having seen, heard, analyzed thevariety, and perceived it (the meaning of the knowable), onehas mental straying and forgetfulness. c. The defiled con-fusion (klipla-saanmoha) is the ignorance through waywardnessof thought (citta-uiparydsa). d. The undefiled confusion(aklisla-sarTtrnoha) is the ignorance free from waywardness

uThis position of Asanga's of a nescience that is unmixed withdefilement,apparently the nescience which is the first member of Dependent Origination,seems directly opposed to Ndgirjuna's position that the lst, 8th, and 9thmembers arc kleia (defilement), as set forth in A. W.ryrrlaN, "BuddhistDependent Origination," History of Religions, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Feb. l97l),esp. pp. 188-189. Ffowever, in the Viniflcaya-sarygrahaqti, on the first twobhDmis, Asanga also states (PTT, Vol. 110, p. 269-4) that the lst, 8th and9th members (avidya, tr[Ud, and upaddna) arc comprised by kleia. Theseeming discrepancy may be resolved by noting that when Asanga says,'creatures lie in two categories,' he is using the formula of Dependent Origi-nation in its discovery order by Gautama Buddha and independent of applyingit to a single sentient being. When the formula is so interpreted, it is possibleto speak of a nescience that is unmixed with defilement. But when the for-mula is applied to a single life, two lives, or three lives of a sentient being, onethen speaks of the lst member, avidyd, being comprised by kleia.

Nescience and Insight According t o Asafrga 199

of thought. All those kinds of nescience rnay be summarisedas two kinds: having the mental concomitants of defilement,and unmixed. B. The one having the mental concomitantsof defilement is in the case where someone seeks that therebe no confusion and that no defilement arise, but still thereare present other defilements from the group of lust, etc.,and nescience is present. A. The unmixed nescience is in thecase of some person of dull insight who, while not entrappedby the other group of defilements, lust, etc., has the wrongmethod of orienting his mind to the Truth of Suffering, etc.and (the Truths) do not appear to him in the genuine way asthey really are; and there is obscuration, hindrance, entrap-ment, and darkening of consciousness.

It is noteworthy that Asanga qualifles the two kinds of nesciencein terms of persons following the Buddhist path. This is consis-tent with my observation that he did not lose sight of the distinc-tion alluded to in the Paramdrtha-gdthd, "One finds that creaturesIie in two categories." In the outline f reversed the order inwhich he presents these two persons so as to preserve the order inwhich the two kinds of nescience arise in this interpretation ofDependent Origination. Asanga's order is consistent with thepassage I cited above from tus Bodhisattuabhumt. He scarcelydisguises his implication of the irduakas who seek to eliminatethe hindrance of defilement, and yet there are still present otherdefilements, namely, the "traces" of lust, hatred, and delusion.And then there are the bodhisattuas, whose nescience is unmixedwith the defilements of lust, etc., and yet their insight is not strongenough to eliminate the hindrance of the knowable. It is thispassage which may be the one that led to Tson-kha-pa's remarkthat in Asanga's position it is insight (prajfiQ which is themain opponent to nescience as the first member of DependentOrigination.

The foregoing should make it clear that Asanga does not referto the two kinds of nescience when in his Vastusarpgraha(ti (PTT,Vol. 111, p. 138-1) he says that nescience has two states, former-the state of "traces" (anuiaya), and later-the state of "entrap-ment" (paryauasthdna). But then the question arises of whichone of the kinds-or is it both?-that has the former and laterstates mentioned. Asanga discusses these two terms ootraces"


and "entrapment" at length in ltiniicaya-samgrahani on hisSauitarkadir bhilmi, PTT, Vol. 110, p. 281-4, through p. 282,and to p. 283-1. For exarnple, he says (p. 281-4), "On accountof the state of waking, there is entrapment; on account of sleep,there are the traces."12 Furthermore (p. 281-5), "When onehas eliminated entrapment, but has not eliminated the traces,again and again the entrapment arises." Asanga (p.282-$ settleson the number eight for the o'traces" in connection with the Truthof Source (samudaya-satya). Here he means the eight-folddef;lement per Bhattacharya, (ed., text, p. tr61), with each defined(pp. 162-164). In the exegetical section he stresses the "exag-geration of vielvs" (dr;li-pardntaria); and the rernaining ones are"deviant views" (mithyd-drsli), exaggeration of rules and vows(iilaurata-pardmaria), passion (raga), enmity (pratigha), pride(mana), nescience (auidya), and doubt (uicikitsa). These twostates, being forms of defilement (kleia), cannot apply to the flrstkind of nescience, because as was shoivn above the first kind is"unmixed," i.e. unmixed vlith defilement. Therefore, they arestates of the second kind of nesc;ence, that of waywardness. Now,the eight "traces" must be a fuller list of possibilities that go alongwith the seventh member of Dependent Origination, "feelings."This is because at p. 282-2, in the case of the suffering ranging inthe "realm of desire," Asanga adds to the set of eight, "reifyingview" (satkayadrpri) and 'nview holding to an extreme" (antagrd-hadrp{i). This set of ten defilements therefore applies to the fivelast mei'.lbers of Dependcnt Origination which Asanga describedas 'othe suffering possessed of cause." It follows that the kind ofmeditation that gets rid of the entrapments that are in the natureof those ten defiiements has not elirninated the traces of eightdefilernents that iie deep and are vitalised in sleep, as Asangamentioned. Thus, Asanga's scriptural authority, the Sarytdhinir-tnocanq, says, "By means of meditation one suppresses the defile-ments; by means of insight one well erases their traces."13 There-fore, the power of insight must be applied to eliminate the "traces"

12For illustrations of these traces in sleep in terms of the three "poisons",see chapter 2.1, where Table 1 gives dream defilements of the six senses. Thisessay is reprinted in this volume.

l3EusNNs LAnaorrn, ed. and tr. Sarydhinirmocana Sfitra (Louvain, 1935),

p. 132 (Tib. text) and p. 244 (French translation).


of the second kind of nescience as well as. to counteract the

"ignorance" constituting the first kind of nescience.

Nescience as lgnorance

Asanga in the latter part of the Sauitarkddir bhumi (text, p.20a)

presents a list of nineteen entities about which one rnay be igno-

rant, each with brief explanation. Then he mentions (text, p.

205.11, ff. : PTT. Vol. 109, p. 260-2-3, ff.) a list of seven ignorances :

confusion about time (adhua-sollxmolza), confusion about entity(.uas t w"), confusion about transfer (s arytkr dnti- "), confusion aboutthe excellent (agra-'), confusion about reality (tattua-"), con-fusion about defilement and purification (sarTtlcleiauyauaddna-"),confusion about pride (abhimana:).

The same group of seven has been subdivided and partiallyexplained in the Artha-uiniicaya-likd (author unrecorcled), inTilretan (PTT. Vol. 145, p. 172-3). Here there ?.re sevorr kindsof confusion (sarytmoha) :

.a. Three degrees of nescience (auidyd\-1. rninor nescience is delusion (moha'), confusion about reality

(tattua).

2. middling nescience is nescience, confrision about defilementand puriflcation.

3. great nescience is blind obscuration, confusion about pride(abhimdna).

b. Four fornrs of ignorance (aifiana)-4. confusion about time (i.e. the three times), is ignorance.5. confusion about entity (inner, outer, and both inner and

outer), is not seeing (adariana).6. confusion about transfer (i.e. karma ... Dependent Origina-

tion) is "not understanding" (anabhisamaya).7. confusion about the excellent (the Three Jewu.ls of the

Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) is darkness (tamas).

This subdivision helps to clarify Tson-kha-pa's remark as wasprerriously cited: ooWhen one analyses that confusion, there aretwo: confusion about karma and its fruit, and confusion aboutthe meaning of reality (tattua)." That Artha-uiniicaycl commen-tary includes "confusion about realityl" as a degree of nescience(auidya), and includes "confusion about transfer" (which involves.karma and its fruit) as a form of ignorance. This implies that it


is the forms of ignorance, here listed as four, that constitute thenescience heading Dependent origination that is the conditionfor the second member "motivations" (saqnskdra) of the typeleading to an evil destiny. And implies that when one is nolongerplagued by this ignorance, it is the degrees of nescience, here listedas three, that are the condition for motivations toward a gooddestiny, and keep one in !'cyclical flow" (sarlesdra).

Besides, Asanga mentions (Sanskrit text, p. 205, 17; pTT, p.260-2-6) another list with five kinds of ignorance (ajfiaita), eachcalled a "confusion", which are associated with the list of nine-teen ignorances, in the follorving manner:la

a. confusion about view (drsli-sarpmoha).

f . ignorance of prior limit (the past sarytskdras)2. ignorance of later limit (the future sarytskdras)3. ignorance of prior and later limit (with doubt)4. ignorance of the personal (one's own sarytskdras)5. ignorance of the other: person (the other,s saqnskaras)6. ignorance of the personal and the other person (in terms of

friend, enemy, and neutral)7. ignorance of cause (believing in a creator lord, etc.)8. ignorance of saqnskdras generated from cause (the sinful,

the sinless, and the mixed)

b. confusion about heedlessness (pramdda-').

f. ignorance of karma10. ignorance of maturation11. ignorance of karma and maturation (with waywardness),

c. confusion about the meaning of reality (tattudrtha-").

12. igrrorance of the Buddha13. ignorance of the Dharma14. ignorance of the Sangha15. ignorance of suffering16. ignorance ofsource17. ignorance of cessation18. ignorance of path

laln the following, occasional extra material within parentheses, e.g. "thepast saqnskdres," constitutes minimal extra explanation from the definitionsof the nineteen ignorances in the Sanskrit text, (p. 204).


d. confusion about pride (.abhimdna:).

19. ignorance of the special knowledge of the six sense basesas they really are (with waywardness of consciousness)l5

c. confusion about the entity (artha-saqnmoha). Under thisheading one places all nineteen ignorances"

Therefore the comprehensive kind of ignorance called "con-fusion about the entity" is equal to the previously-mentioned kindof "unrnixed nescience" called "the confusion of not compre-hending," where the creatures are caught by delusion. But someitems add a "waywardness'o element.

Nescience as Waywardness

As was previously indicated, the second kind of nescience entersthe mind as a concomitant of the o'feelings" that are the seventhmember of Dependent Origination. With this condition therearises "craving" the eighth member, which is followed by "indul-gence'o (updddna), the ninth member. It is this ninth memberwhich according to the Abhidhqrmakoia is of four kinds, indul-gence in the five strands of desire (the five sense objects), indul-gence in any of the 62 views of the Brahmajdlosiltra,indulgenceinrules and vows, indulgence in the self-theory.

Along these lines, Asanga explains "waywardness" in theSauitarkddir bhumi, (Sanskrit ed., p. 166):

There are seven kinds of waylvardness (uiparydsa), as follows:'(l) waywardness of idea (sarpjfrd:), (2) waywardness of view(dfsli-"), (3) waywardness of consciousness (citta-"), (4) way-wardness that considers impermanent as permarrent, (5) way-wardness that considers pain as pleasure, (6) waywardness thatconsiders impure as pure, (7) waywardness that considers non-self as self. What is the waywardness of idea? It is thediscursive thinking (parikalpa) of idea that considers the im-permanent as permanent, etc. What is the waywardness of

rsThis category regarding confusion about pride especially concerns Asafiga's.discussion of Arhat attainment, as in the viniscaya-sarygrahapi of the Nirvipa-with-Remainder and Nirvd{ra-without-Remainder stages, (PTT., Vol. I[,p. 119-1, ff.) where he appears to hold that Nirvdna-with-Remainder keepsthe six sense bases, while Nirvdna-without-Remainder lacks the six sense-bases. For the inrplication in terms of gotra (species), see chapter 12.


view? Any acceptance, belief, settling on, or clinging rightthere to the so-discursively-thought idea. lVhat is the way-wardness of consciousness? Any defilernent of passion, etc.in precisely that so-clung-to (view). Here one should under-stand defilement by three aspects-There is defilement, the rootof waywardness. There is r,vaywardness. There is the out-flow of waywardness. Among them, the "root of wayward-ness" is nescience (auidya). "Waywardness" is the reifyingview (sotkdysdf s{i); the onesidedness of view that adheresto an extrerire; the exaggeration of view and exaggeration ofrules and vows; and passion. The "outflow of waywardness"is the deviant view (mitlrya-d75!i), the onesidedness of viewthat adheres to an extreme, enmity, pride, and doubt. Amongthose. the reifying view is the waywarclness that takes non-selfto be self. The onesidedness of view that adheres to an ex-treme is the r,vaywardness that takes the impermanent to bepermanent. The exaggeration of view is the wayrvardnessthat takes the impure to be pure. The exaggeration of rulesand vorvs is the wayrvardness ttrrat takes pain to be pleasure.Passion involves the pair of rvayrvardnesses, the one th.at takesthe irnpure to be pure, and the one thattakes pain to be pleasure.

As Asanga mentions, one should understand defilement by threeaspects. By defining the "root of waywardness" as nescience,he means the second kind, as he explains (Skt. text. p. 163):o'What is nescience? Any defiled ignorance-whether refectingupon or not reflecting upon the knowable entity (jfieya-uastu),be it (relying on) ignoble persons, flistening to heretic doctrine,orienting the mind in an improper manner, naturally] losingmemory (smrti)."76 It is feasible that by the alternatives "whetherreflecting upon or not reflecting upon the knowable entity" heintends the states "entrapment" and "traces." By mentioningo'waywardness' in terrns of the five "traces" he means them inapplication to the four "waywardnesses of idea,"as made explicitat the end of the citation. Then, the "outflor.v of waylvardness"includes sorne other "traces." Since the three aspects of deflle-ment include all ten of ttre defilements previously mentioned asgoing with "the suffering ranging in the realm of desire," it is

roThe portion within brackets was supplied from the Tibetan translation,(PTT, Vol. 109, p.250-4).

Nescience and Insight According to Asanga

clear that Asanga means by that "waywardness" passage "the

suffering possessed of cause." It will be iecalled that here the

creatures are caught bY craving.

Insight as qn Instruction

The division established previously of two parts of Dependent

Origination is consistent with the first sermon of the Buddha,

setting forth th.e four Noble Truths (or Truths of the Nobles, the

dryas), where the Buddhist path begins with operating on the

implications of the last fi.ve members of Dependent Origination,

and the candidates are those caught by craving and hence heedless

in sense flelds. So in that sermon the Buddha stressed the

avoidance of the extremes of indulgence in sense gratification

and mortification. These two extremes may well be what were

referred to among the ten defilernents as "passion" and "exag-

geration of rules and vows."Furthermore, the Buddhist training was expressed by the three

Instructions, of Morality, of Mind-control, of Insight. Asanga

(Cintdmayi bhumi, PTT, Vol. 110, p. 18-4) says, "Thus the one

rightly enterprising, basing himself on the morality set (adhiiila),

generates the mind-control set (adhi-citta); basing himself on the

mind-control set, generates the insight-set (adhipraiiid)." In his

Viuqrana-sarTigrahant (PTT. Vol. I I 1, p. 244-5) he says : "By the

Instructions of the morality-set and the mind-control set, there

is non-lust, non-hatred, and non-delUsion. (Thus,) the absence

of the four rvayu'ardnesses belongs to the Stage of accumulating

(merit) (sarpbhdramarga) and to the stage ofl praxis (prayoga-

mdrga). clear sight (uid|,a) and liberation (uimukti)belong to the

Instruction of the insight set, the stage of vision (dariana-mdrga),

stage of contemplation (bhauand-mdrga), and ultimate state

(ni;lhdgamana-mdrga)." Here Asanga combines the early

Buddhist theory of three Instructions with the Mahdyana classific-

ation, developed in the Prajiidpdramitd exegesis, of five paths

(marga), although the Tibetan word sa in each case shows that

Asanga used the term bhumi rather than marga.rT

In the Viniicaya-saqngrahaltt, Asafiga points out that the four

1?The theory of five paths is worked out in detail in Eugene Obermiller, "The

Doctrine of Prajfla-paramitl as exposed in the Abhisamayalar.nkara of

Maitteya," Acta Orientalia, Yol. XI, 1932.


aspects of the Truth of Suffering serve to oppose the four way-wardnesses. That is, the aspect o'There is impermanence', op-poses the waywardness that the impermanent is permanent; theaspect "There is pain" opposes the wayward.ness that pain ispleasure; the aspects "There is voidness" and "There is non-self"oppose the waywardness that non-self is self.l8 Here the medita-tions on voidness and non-self serve to counteract the reifying view(satkdyadrsli) that takes non-self to be self. In Asanga's position,the first two Instructions counteract the entrapment state of thedefilements during the phase "the suffering possessed of cause."But, as was already pointed out, for liberation from the tracesstate of nescience, the Instruction of insight is required.

According to Asanga's Srutamayi bhumi, (pTT, Vol. 109,p. 297-1,) among the members of the Eightfold Noble path, onecultivates Insight with Right views, Right conception, and RightEffort. consistent with assigning Right views, he says a littlepreviously, (p. 296-5), that the faulty adhiprajfid is adopting anyof the 62 wrong views (of the Brahmojdla-siltra).

Also, he states in the Srduakabhilmi (PTT, Vol. l l0, p.70-1):"what is the person liberated by insight? The person who hasachieved in every last degree the ending of fluxes (dsraua-k$aya),but rvho does not drvell accomplishing the eight liberations as a'rvitnesser rvith body' (k d1, a- s dk ;in) i'

Terminology of Insight

Asanga has a rather remarkable list in his parydya-sayngraharli(PTT, Vol . 111, p. 232-1,2,3).Some correct ions were made byconsultation of the equivalent chinese section in Taisho, (vol.30. 751).1e one of the most striking features of what follows isthe set of similes emphasizing light, with five entries that are inthe Pali "Book of Fours," Chap. XV. Here five paragraphs havethe sarne form, e.g. "There are four olustres' (abhd), that of themoon, sun, fire, and insight, and the last one is greatest." Like-wise, four "beams" (prabhd), "lights" (dloka), "secondary lights,'(obhdsa), and "lamps" (pajjota). But there is no hint in the pdliscripture that these similes have the implications which Asangamakes explicit. This is indeed a mystery of Asariga's sources.

l8'oThe Meaning of Unwisdom," p. 23.leMy wife Hideko aided me at this point.


Taking the order of terms as in Asanga's text, I have grouped themby rather obvious headings.

A. (1st group, 'oinsight" as the object, in sfitra passages):

"obtaining insight" means any insight that is virtuous withoutqualification, or which is purposeful."increasing, enhancing, and expanding insight" refers to anascending scale of small, middling, and great."perfectly pure insight" means the maturation at another timeof the insight formerly and repeatedly cultivated."equipped with insight" means the insight that recognizesdefi"lement of the one which eliminates it."fulfllling insight" is the proceeding to the ultimate state.

B. (2nd group, "insight" qualified in various ways, in sfrtrapassages for Sravokas):

"non-retreating insight" is the insight that does not retreat,but goes on to the ultimate state."speedy insight" is the insight that cannot be overtaken."sharp insight"is what well comprehends the phenomenon andnoumenon."insight that conduces to liberation" (nairydltika-prajfiA) iswhat well comprehends the natures that conduce to liberation,as well as the freedom from mundane cravings."insight that penetrates" (nairuedhika-") is what well compre-hends the freedom from supramundane cravings."profound insight" (ganfihtra-") is rvhat rvell comprehends thedharma possessed of profound voidness consistent withDependent Origination, and what rightly reflects on the pro-found meaning and insight which the Tathdgatas enjoin. It isthe great insight enjoined for the disciples (irduakas), in orderthat this insight would be for a long time and repeatedrycultivated."favranging insight" is the one whose domain is boundlessand infinite."incomparable insight" is the insight unequalled by others.

C. (3rd group, emphasising light):

'Jewel of insight" is the insight that is chief of all faculties(indriya), because it illuminates with a light like lapis lazuri's

208 Buddhist Insight.

among the gems of the Cakravartin. "Possessing it" meanspossessing the jewel of insight."eye of insight" is the native insight (sahajd prajiid)."lustre of insight" (dbhd) is the insight gained from others, orlvhat arises through the generative praxis of others."beam of insight" (prabhd) is the kind consisting of praxis, i.e.consisting of hearing (irutamayi prajfia) and consisting ofpondering (c int amayi p.)."li_sht of insight" (dloka) is the insight consisting of contem-plation (bhduandmayi p.).

"lamp of insight" (pradyota) is the kind which establishes theprofound scriptures expressed by the Tathagata, and whichil lumines."torch (or meteor) of insight" (ulka) is the one which goesalong only with the time of Teaching of the Dharma [i.e.during Gautama Buddha's teaching career]."secondary light of insight" (auabhdsa) is the one which goesalong with subsequent times, when the Dharma is well consi-dered with insight in this and that way, and it is not directlyrealised by the body [i.e. after the Buddha's Nirvdna]."insight free from darkness" is the one directly realised by thebody [i.e. the Buddha's eye of insight].

D. (4th group, emphasising faculty or function):

"faculty of insight" is the insight used to comprehend others."power of insight" is the invincible insight about principles

and dharma used to comprehend the distinction of former andlater of oneself."treasure of insight" is the one r,vhich generates among lord-

Iinesses the best lordliness, which secures the consecration(abhi;eka) for one's own mind, which is best of all treasures,

and q,hich is the basic cause of all mundane treasures."s\r'ord of insight" and "knife of insight" is what cuts all the

bonds of rebirth (sarytyoiana).

"stake of insight" is the one which dispels the Maras ail theway from the "defilement" one to ths "son-of-the gods" one."reins of insight" is the reins of the horse of mind-organ for

virtuous practice."expiatory insight" frees the body (of sins) and destroys (them).

Nescience and Insight According to Asanga Z0g

'ofence of insight" (has only one gate), croses off the innumer-able gates to the various defilements."ladder oi insight" is the path arising frorn the praxis."temple of insight" is the one concerned with the ultimate.

Asanga, Vastu-sawgraha4i, PTT, Vol. 111, p. 172_3_4, refers toinsigtrt's weapon (mtslton) fol eliminating ail defllernent. As tothe "bonds of rebirih" {s'atTtycjnna), Asaitga lists nias or" them,(ibid., p. 152-5) starting vrith entrapment by clinging to sentientbeings and non-ssntien'r entities associate<l with householder,slife, and nine vrere narned (in Bhattacharya, ed., p. 16l). The"stake" suggests an iinpaling of the Miras, who arc of course thefour, s'kailtii;a-', klesa-o , nTerana-o , and, deuaplttt,{t-" .zo

It is intr;guing that Asanga's list seems to iiave no elernentsdrawn from Mahayd.na iiterature, arthough he is generaily takenas a Mahayanist. The list appears based on the fow Agamas(th.e Sanskrit canon roughly equivalent to tire fcur pdli I,{ikdyas)-

Insight as Metapharical Light

Asanga's third group of terms, ernphasising light, obviouslybegins r,vith 'Jewel of insight" as can be observed by the descrip-tion "a light like lapis lazuli's". This group agrees with thetranslation of prajiid as "insight."zrThe "eve of insight" as the native insight (sahajd prajfid) deservesmore er'planation. Asanga himsellcxplains a iittle later (paryclya-samgrahat.ti, p. 234-1) that the native insight is aitained throughbirth (skyes nas thob pct). He contrasts (ibid., p. T2-$ the pro-nroted insight possessed by the learned man (pa;.t(ita) rvith thenative insigirt possessed by the intelligent person (ui.irte. Hedefines (ibid., p. %3-g buddhi (-{. blo) as any narive insighi capableof differentiating (alternatives). Therefore, this native insight ispresent in every rational act of thinking.22 As such it is usually

20Cf. A. WAv.raN, "siudies in yarna aild Mdra,', Vol. trII, No. 2,p p . 1 1 2 - 1 1 4 .

21Tlre nou,n prajiia is ren<lered into Tibotan as .fes rab {"superior,,, rab,."knowing," jf ia), u'hcre pra- ?,s a nonrinatr plefix has ihis pcssible significancein classical sanskrit. In contrast, pta- as in prajanrTli ("[: i iolvs about',) keepsthe oltl significa:rce of "f,orth" as a verbal prefix.

zzln thc vastu-samgraltani (1st topic, saqnskara-pravicaya; prr, vol. lll,p. 137-3), Asanga gives five childish states belonging to chilCish (cr foolish)

2tO Buddhist Insight

affiicted. Thus, Asanga in Srutamayt bhilmi, PTT, Vol. 110,

p. 2-3, gives a simile to show how the eye of insight is assailed :

For example, smoke is preceded by the element of fire and

hurts the eye.... In the same way, craYing (typaa) is preceded

bJ' lr.rst, hatred, and delusion; and hurts the eye of insight....

Asan-ea indicates a wide range of possibilities for this "eye" (in

ibid., PTT, Vol. 109, p.290-$: "With the eye of insight one sees

all aspects (akara) of all dharmas, whether with form (rilpin)

or formless (arupin)." He indicates an inferior and a superior

variety in Vastu-saqngrahani,(PTT. Vol. ll1, p. 170-4,) speaking

of "mundane eye of insight" in contrast with "eye of insight

belonging to the nobles (drYa)."A feature of this "mundane eye of insight" is the developrnent

of the coarse to the subtle prajfra as a discursive series, which

Asanga mentions in Viniicaya-sarygrahani on Sauitarkddir bhumi,

(PTT, Vol. 110, p. 281-3); "The coarse praifid based on 'mental

murmur' (manojalpa) is 'adumbration' (uitarka); ... the subtle

one is 'thinking with signs' (uictira)." Whether this uitqrka-uicdra

is a member of the First Dhydna of the "realm of form" or is the

kind in the "realm of desire," it always constitutes the develop-

ment of discursive thought, as speech motivation (uaksarytskdra),

starting, as Asanga says, with "mental murmur". "Presumably

the "arya" eye of insight is the three levels of praifid, consisting of

hearing, pondering, and contemplation.

Asanga states (Parydya'salngrahaUi, P. 231-4): "'Knowledge'

(jfidna)is any insight arising from supramundane praxis (lokottara-

prayoga). It is the insight transcending mundane insight. 'Ob-

taining insight'means any mundane insight obtained after (pfslha-

tabdhi) the supramundane insight." This is illustrated in Sruta-

mayiblrumi, (p. 16-1): "With that eye of insight, he perceives and

witnesses the Tathigata as the inner Dharmakiya. And when he

sees the body of form, a caitya, or an external painting, he thinks,'indeed, in the absolute sense, this is not the right perfected

Buddha."' Thus, after witnessing the inner Dharmakaya, he

persons (bata\, namely, 1. not having attained initially the

2. not having obtained insight arising by reason of others'

having a.ttained the insight of the iryas; 4. remaining with

confusion; 5. conjoined with the traces of that (entrapment).

admits that the irrational person may lack or be deficient in this

native insight;words; 3. notentrapment ofThus, Asaflganative insight.

Nescience and Insight According to Asanga 2ll

returns to mundane discursive thought, but not with idle verbiage,to deny something "in the absolute sense."

The foregoing involves the theory of flnal resorts (pratisaralta),including,in aclassical statement, o'One should cultivate by resortto knowledge (jfidna), not by resort to perception (uijfrdna)i'This points to the superiority of supramundane praxis, and doesnot intend to deny the value of the mundane praxis. Asangasays (Parydya-s., p. %3-Q: "The 'exercise of insight' (prajfid-pracdra) means any insight possessed of what is to be perceivedhigher and higher of perceiving the meaning by way of scripture,its recital in low voice, inquiries, the certainty of cogent discourse,and so forth." These provisional and final resorts are clarifiedin my previously published note:23

For the most obscure set-jfrdna and uijfidna-when we com-bine the references in de La Vall6e Poussin (especially from theBodhisattuabhnmi) with RatndkaraSdnti's explanations, we arriveat the following:

jfidna is supramundane insight (projfid) devoid of discursivethought, namely, insight consisting in creative contemplation(bhduandmayi prajfid), uijfidna is mund,ane insight, with dis-cursive thought, namely, insight consisting in hearing (iruta-mayi prajfid) and insight consisting in pondering (cintdmayiprajfid).

As to those three levels of prajfia-the first two, consisting ofhearing and pondering; and the third consisting of creativecontemplation, Asanga briefly explains them in Bhauandmaylbhumi (PTT, Vol. 110, p. 23-3):

Taking recourse to the insight consisting in hearing itself, therearise three kinds of trust regarding the path and the fruit of thepath which is Nirvaqa, namely, the trust that it exists, the trustthat it has good qualities, the trust that oneself can attain itand learn the means. So as to accomplish the insight consist-ing of pondering, there is the trust that when one has isolatedbody and mind, with isolation from hindrances and reflections,and that taking recourse thereto, one is especially certain aboutthe meaning-one accomplishes the prajiia consisting of

zsArEx WaynaaN and HroBro WayulN, trs. The Lion's Roar of eueenSrlmata (Columbia Univ. Press, New York and Lonclon, 1974), p. 103.


pondering. Taking recourse to that (i.e. the 2nd level ofprajiia) when one continually performs contemplation and hasthe praxis and engagement of devotion, by this sequence oneattains in the meantime the prajfid consisting of contemplation,Taking recourse to it, one starts the conviction which viewssamsdro as base and starts the conviction which views nirud4aas superb. Repeatedly contemplating this, one attains thecomprehension of truth (satya-abhisamaya), the path of vision(dariana-mdrga) which understands directly, the learnedliberation (saik5a-uimukti), and views the essential (gli mthonbar'gyur). After that, by repeatedly cultivating the bhduand-mdrga, one attains the liberation beyond learning (aiaik5a-uimukti) and completes the liberation. Now, the liberationwhich has bcen completed is, namely, only the Nirvd4a-with-remainder realm (s o p adhi i e.r a-nir u d 7t a- dh at u) .

Regarding the "lights" associated with these prajfid levels, Asangaexplains in the Bhduandmayi blrumi, (p.25-2), that the "light" is avariety of the "idea of light" (dlolcasaryffid) meant to counteractone or another kind of darkness, such as the frequent darkeningof consciousness lvhen one is trying to keep the mind on a medita-tive object. He points out that various kinds of "light" are setfortlr in the Samdhitabhilmi. Referring back to this part (PTT,Vol. 109, p. 268-5 to p.269-1), rve find "abstinences" (an-dhara)(from darkness) explained as when there is "light" (dloka) and fre-quent mental orientation thereto. There are three kinds of light-the opponent of darkness, the light of dltarma, and the light ofttre body. The "opponent of darkness" means at night the moonand stars, etc.; in daytime, the sun;and at both times, the lightof fire, gems, etc. The "light of clkarina" means reflecting on thedoctrines (dharma) as they were heard, as they were pondered,anci as they werefelt, or contemplating mindfulness of the Buddha,etc. The "light of body" means the light whicir arises from sentientbeings themselves (as in certain states of yoga). Asanga says(Bhcluanamayi bhilmi, p.25-2) that in the present context the "ideaof light" is meant that is aimed at the "light of dharma". There-fore, in that series in the Pali "Book of Fours,"-u1ong the linesof Sarytyutta-nikdya, (I, 14)-the lights of moon, sun, fire, andinsight, refer to the light of nighttirne, daytirne, both night and day"and the iight of dharma.


Asanga explains in the same place that in the practice of calm-ing the mind (iamatha) and discerning (uipalyand), there arevarious kinds of faults or darkening; and to counteract thesedarkenings, there are four "ideas of light" associated with theinsight consisting of pondering, and seven associated with theinsight consisting of contemplation. Thus, the "beam of insight"(prabh@ is the four "ideas of light" that counteract the four.damaging factors of the pondering, and the "light of insight"(dloka) is the seven "ideas of light" that counteract the sevendamaging factors of the contemplation.

It is the hope of the writer that the foregoing not only clarifiessome matters of Asanga's positions on nescience and insight.concerning some of the most fundamental problems of Buddhism,but also gives a taste of Asariga's encyclopedic work, the Yoga-carabhumi, by excerpts from its great extent.

10

THE TWENTY REIFYING VIEWS(SAKKATADITTHI)

The Buddhists were fond of making lists of doctrinal terms and

their varieties. Perhaps this bent justifies in part the Theravdda

claim, which can be found in the translation of the Kathduattnu(Points of Controuersy, London, 1913), that the Buddha was a

Vibhajjavddin (an "Analyst"). However, it is now difficult to

determine rvhich of the many lists found in the Pali canon were

so expressed by the Buddha himself or were added by later

"Analysts."A splendid example of this type of analysisis the Buddhisttheory

of the "reifying view." This theory stems from the well-known

Buddhist stress on "non-self" (andtman), especially while analyz'

ing man's make-up as five personal aggregates (slcandha), and

denying in four ways that any of these five is a o'self." The

commonplace view of man, thus denied, was referred to with a

technical term I render "reifying view."This particular kind of analysis also serves to illustrate how

subsequent teachers disagreed about these lists. This is because

in this particular case, the opposing positions are well defined and

each supported by eminent authorities. To anticipate my find-

ings, on one side there is the scriptural statement in the Saryyutta-

Nilcdya, the evidence of the Palisambhiddmagga, artd the teacher

Nagarjuna. On the other side there is the Abhidharma work

Jfidnaprasthdna, the Vinaya commentator Vinitadeva, and the

Sanskrit-Tibetan Buddhist dictionary Mahduyutpatti. Therefore,


study of this topic may reveal a sense in which Nagdrjunadiverged frorn the Abhidharmists.

Therc is a valuable article on sakkiiyadiyylti by J. F.ahder,1 butit seenrs possible to make a modest aclvance by considering thevarious bits of evidence. In the foilowing, 'F' will stand forPali, 'S'for Sanskrit, e.g. (5. satl<dyadr;{i,P. sakkiij,adilyhi). Theportion S. ,satkiiya ar P. sakkcl1,a isvaricusly Cefined, but the 'kr77'a,

is frequently explained and provisionally acceptcd in this paperas rei'crring to the five pcrsonal aggregates (s. slcancfi'ta, F.khandlia).: in this acceptance, the full tern cr-rutrrl -l.e renclerecl"vier,v that the aggrcgates are treal," but th.is is an unrvieldytranslation and I prefer to ernploy the rendition "reifyingview." T'ranslators from Pali sometimes rencler it "theory ofindiviciuality."s

The trventy views (.5. drsli, P. ditrtrhi) are variously referred to,in the Di!trhikathd of the Palisambhiricimagga paftof the Khucldctka-Nikdya as an "aspect" (P. dl;ara), in the Abhidhannakoia (Chap.IX) as an "alternative" (5. kolika), iii Candrakirti's lvfadliyama-kduatdra as a "piece" (S. atyia), in the Mahdtyutpatti as a'opeak"{iikhara).

Those viervs are applied in four \\,ays to each of the five aggre-gates to give a total of trventy. since the listing of the twentyaspects shou's in each case an observing of self (dtman) in a r,vrongmanner, it arnounts to a commentary on the waywardness (S.uiparydsa) in the traditional statement, taking as self what is non-self. Asanga explicitly states this:a "Among those, the reifyingview is the waywardness that takes non-self to be self." Further-more it is a 'oview" kind of waywardness.s

At the scripturai stage, we may consult the Indian edition editedby Jagdish Kasyap of the Sarytyutta-Ir{ikdya, sect. 41, "Citta-

rJ. RanorR, "La satkdyadrqti d'aprds Vibhdqd, 8',, Melanges chinois etbouddhique, I, l93l-32, p. 227 -239.

zSee Abhidharmakoia, Chap. V, La VarrfB PoussrN tr.,p. 15-17.3So BntrrHU NAxauorr, The Path of Purification (Visuddhimag7a) by

Bhadantdcariya Buddhaghosa (Colombo, Ceylon, 1956).4V. BuarrncHARyA, ed., The Yogacarabhfimi of Acarl,a Asanga (University

of Calcutta, 7957), text, p. 166.19: tatra satkdyadStir anatmany atmetiviparydsall.

sFor the three stages of waywardness, including the "view" stage, cf.ArBx and Hnmo Wavlraw, The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimata (ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1974), p. 102, note.

The Twenty Reifying Views (Sakkayadighi) 217

saqnyutta," 3. Dutiya-Isidatta-sutta, Vol. III, p.256, for the passagebeginning, "Well, then, your honor, how is there the reifyingview?" ("kathar.n puna, bhante, sakkayaditthi hoti" ti?). Thepassage continues with the reply, in my translation:

In that, householder, the ordinary person (P. puthujjana)who does not listen (to the Buddha's teaching), who does notobserve the nobles, who is not skilled in the doctrine of thenobles, who is not trained in the doctrine of the nobles, whodoes not observe illustrious persons, who is not skilled in thedoctrine of illustrious persons, who is not trained in thedoctrine of illustrious persons, regards form (rupa, or body)as a self, or the self as having a form, or the self as in form, orform as in the self; regards feeling as a self ... or feeling as inthe self; ideation as a self ... or ideation as in the self ; motiva-tion as a self ... or motivation as in the self; perception as aself ... or perception as in the self. Thus, you should know,householder, there is the reifying view.

'The scripture continues' "Well, then, your honor, how is there no

reifying view?" And the reply: "trn that, householder, thenobledisciple, who listens (to the Buddha's teaching) ... (and so on, withthe opposite of the foregoing statement, dorvn to). Thus, youshould know, householder, there is no reifying view." One mayfind approximately the same statement in Majjhima-Nikaya,(III, l7-18).

The scriptural style continues in the Dillhikatha which classifiesthe views under "nihilistic views" (P. uccheda-di1trhi) or under'oeternalistic views" (P. sassata-dilthi).u The views, o'observes

form as a self," observes feeling, ideation, motivation, percep-tion, as a self, constitute "nihilistic views." The views, ooobserves

self as having form," "form as in self," "self as in form," withanalogous views for the other aggregates, namely, feeling, ideation,motivation, and perception, constitute o'eternalistic views." Thepoint of the classification seems to be that since form (or, body)in time perishes, the identification of self with form (rupa),like-wise with the other aggregates, is the nihilistic view. On the

GThe only edition available to me is AnNoro C. T.nyron, Pali Text Society,Palisambhidamaggd; Vol. I, 1905, p. 150.


other hand, if self is other than form, by reason of having it,form being in self, or self being in form, likewise self vis-a-vis theother aggregates, then the fact that form perishes, likewise theother aggregates, still leaves self to continue; and so this is theeternalistic view of self. Thus, five of the aspects are nihilisticviews, and flfteen are eternalistic views.

The twenty are listed in the Dhammasangani.T Buddhaghosa'scommentary on that work, the Atthasdlini, has the remark:8"A11 of them are to be considered as blocking the way to the Path,as not blocking the way to happy rebirth, and as that which is tobe slain by the First Path." By "First Path" is meant "Enteringthe Stream."

For the tradition of Sanskrit Buddhism, we first notice Nagdr-juna's Madhyamokakarikd, Chap. XXII, especially verse l, whichon first sight one would think to translate this way:e

The Tathagata is not the aggregates (5. skandha); not otherthan the skandhas,' the skqndhas are not in him; nor he inthem; he does not possess the skandhas. What, then, is theTathdgata?

But in the context of Candrakirti's Madhyamakduatdra, citing thisvery verse under YI,744,to Candrakirti points out that when onetakes this verse as having five terms, when applied to each of thefive aggregates it would yield a total of twenty-five rather than thetraditional twenty. He denies that there are more than fourterms, and so we are forced to translate Ndgdrjuna's versediffetently:

The Tathagata is not the aggregates; also not other than theaggregates (skandha), to wit, the aggregates are not in him,nor he in them, nor does he possess the aggregates. What,then, is the Tathdgata?

Candrakirti's verses VI, 144-145 are especially devoted to the

zTr. by CanorrNp A. F. Rnvs Davros under title A Buddhist Manual ofPsychological Ethics (London, 1900), p. 259.

aTr. by Pp MauNc TrN under title The Expositor, ed. and rev. by Mns.RHys Dlvms (London, 1958 reprint), Vol. II, p. 457.

el-outs oE Ln Varies Poussnv, Mulamadhyamakakarikas avec la Prasanna-pada, p. 432: skandha na ndnyah skandhebhyo ndsmin skandhd na te;u sal.r/tathigatah skandhavan na katamo 'fta tathdgata\.

lol-ours on La Var,rf,e PoussrN, Le Musdon,lgll, p.311,-312.

The Twenty Reifying Views (Sakkayaditthi) 219

topic, and are among the few verses of his Madhyamakduatdra

cited in the Subhd;it as arytgr aha :11

The atman is not the rupa, nor does dtman have a rf,rpa, dtman

is not in rilpa, the riipa is not in dtman. Likewise, know all

the skandhas in four ways. These are held to be the twenty

pieces of the self-view.These are the high peaks located on the large mountain of

reifying views. With the thunderbolt of enlightenment to

non-self, the self is rent asunder, and along with them (the

high peaks) the mountain of views collapses.

La Vall6e Poussin points out in the note what is the first modifica-tion of position in comparison with the Pali Buddhism tradition

set forth above. That is to say, there are here two kinds of reify-

ing view; the first, the imagined (S. parikalpita), no longer exists

among those who have entered the stream, the First Path; but thesecond kind, the "co-natal" (5. sahajS remains.l2 Tson-kha-pa,in his native Tibetan commentary on the Madhyamakduatara,Photo edition, PTT, Vol. 154, p. 89-4, explains that the one whohas entered the stream has given up the bad doctrinal systems,and so no longer has the "imagined" kind of reifying view. Themore subtle form of "reifying view," is still there.

Now we move to the Mahavyutpatti dictionary, where in theSakaki edition, item No. 4684 is the title, S. uirytiati-iikhara-samudgatah. satkdyadr,rli-iailalt (the mountain of reifying views,high with trventy peaks). The twenty follow:

1. Form (5. rupa) is a self like a prince (suami).2. The self has a form like an adornment (alankara).3. Form belongs to self like a servant (bhTtya).4. The self is in form like a pot (bhaiana).5. Feeling (5. uedand) is a self.6. The self has feeling.7. Feeling belongs to the self.8. The self is in feeling.9. Ideation (S. sary{fi.a) is a self.

lrlbid., p. 312-313.tzSee Abhidharmakoid, Chap. V, tr., p. 41, for an old Abhidharma theory of

the two kinds. Furthermore, Rahder, "La satkayadrpti," p.239, points outthat the Brahmajala-sutra says that the satkayadr;li is the root of all the sixty-

two false views.

Buddhist Insight

10. The self has ideation.11. Ideation belongs to the self.12. The self is in ideation.13. Motivation (5. sarytskaralis a self.14. The self has motivation.15. Motivation belongs to self.15. Motivation is in self.17. Perception {5. uijiiana) is a self.18. The self has perception.19. Perception belongs to the self.20. The self is in perception.

Virritadeva, in his Vinaya-uibhafiga-pada-uydkhyana, part of hiscommentary on the "Fourth Defeat" (PTT, YoL 122, p. 310-1,2),gives the iist of trventy as in the Mahauyutpatti, and, moreover,repeats for each of the aggregates the similes, "like a prince,""like an adornment," "like a servant," and "like a pot." Sincehis is a commerfiary on the words of the Vinayauibhanga (of theMillasarvdstivddin Vinaya), it follows that in all likelihood theMahdryutpatti list stems from this Vinaya, r,vhich rvas the onlyVinaya accepted in Tibet. Vinitadeva, p. 310-1-4, explains thatthe reifying vier,vs are said to be like a mountain because they aredifficult to shatter. Candrakirti s expression "thunderbolt ofenlightenment" (bodhakulria) also occurs in Vinitadeva's accountby the same Tibetan translation, and with the explanation, "be-cause the defilements that are simultaneously destroyed are eli-minated by the path of vision (dariana-mdrga)."

Notice the difference from the Pali formulation of the fourterms, which obey a pattern of quasi-inflections, "nominative,""genitive," "locative", "locative", as follows:

X is a self,or the self has X,or the self is in X.or X is in the self.

The Mahauyutpotti in common with the MfrlasarvistivddinVinaya has a list with apattern of quasi-inflections, "nominative,""genitive," oogenitive," "locative," as follows:

X is a self,or the self has X.

The Twenty Reifying Views (Sakkayaditthi)

or X belongs to the self,or the self is in X.

22t

In short, the Mahauyutpatti reverses the third and fourth aspects,and substitutes "X belongs to the self" for "oX is in the self."While this is a definitely formal departure from the old pdli

Buddhist formulation, still in terms of the division into "nihilisticviews" and "eternalistic vier,vs" it would make no difference.This is because in the Mahduyutpattt account, the first one wouldalso be "nihilistic view" and the next three, all involving the selfas "other," would be "eternalistic" just as in the Patisambhi-damagga, n.b., if indeed the Mahauyutpatti list belongs to atradi-tion which is classifying the twenty vielvs, as "nihilistic" or"eternaiistic", but this is not borne out.

Rahder's article shows that the vibhdsd cites the Abhidharmawork Jfidnaprasthdna which takes five of the views to be "view ofself" (dtnnadrgli), and the remaining f,fteen to be "view ofwhat belongs to self" (atmtyadr,rli); that this work mentions thatthe Buddha expressed the list of twenty views, and that Sdriputrawhen explaining thern did not divide them into dtmadr5li and,dtrniyadrsli.L' It then appears that Sdriputra's explanation isthe one found in the Palisarnbl'aidctunagga, with the division into"nihilistic views" and "eternalistic views." The Jiidnaprasthdnaclassification also furnishes a reason for the difference between theMahduyutpatti list and the P51i literary tradition, which is that theinterpretation of the second, third, and fourth aspects as dtmiya-dr.rli favors the reinterpretaiion that substitutes "X belongs to theself" for "X is in the self." Hence, the Jiianaprasthdna is hereconsistent with the Mfilasarvastivadin Vinaya tradition preservedin Vinitadeva's commentary and with the Mahduyutpatti list.la

We may now conclude that Ndgirjuna in his Madhyamaka-kdrikd, Chap. XXII, is faithful to the old Buddhist scripture-he was probably using the canon known as the four Agamas,including the Sarytyuktdgama-in that he uses the four terms, o'X

is a self," or 'othe self has X," or "the self is in X," or "X is in the

13RAHDER, "La satkdyaolqti," pp. 228-229.14trn agreement with this conclusion, notice th:rt the Vibha;a,per Rahder, o.La

satkdyadp.;{i," p.231, uses the ternrinology, (1) rlrpa is the 6tman, and so on,including, (2) vedand is the ornament of dtman, (3) vedana is the servant ofdtman, (4) vedand is the receptacle of dtman.


self," but of course denies each of them. Furthermore, in myretranslation of his verse XXII, 1, deciding that "not other" is acovering expression for denying the next three terms, we shouldnote that Ndgirjuna has no implication of "not belonging to."Passing to Candrakirti, he is presumably familiar with the alter-nate tradition and affected by it sufficiently to empioy the termi-

nology of a mountain with twenty peaks that is shattered by the"thunderbolt of enlightenment" (bodhakuliia); but since he isfollowing Ndgdrjuna's school, the Mddhyamika, he does notdepart from this in favor of the list r,vhich made its way into theMahduyutpatti.

One may appreciate further this distinction by noticing Ndgdr-juna's treatrnent of the topic in Madhyamaka-kdrikd,XYIII, l-2.Thus, verse 1: "If the self were the aggregates (5. skandha), itwould be subject to arising and passing away. trf it were otherthan the aggregates, it would exclude the characteristic of aggre-g&tes."ls And verse 2: "When there is no self, how will therebe what belongs to self ! By cessation of self and what belongs toself, there is neither 'I' or 'mine.' " Nd,gdrjuna expresses in theseverses ti.vo quite different problems. Cessation of self automati-caily ends what belongs to self, bnt cessation of self per se doesnot end rvhat is other than self.16 Therefore, for him, the inter-pretation of the twenty aspects of the reifying view as a matterof self and other than self is incompatible with interpreting themas a matter of self and what belongs to self.rz For Ndgarjuna,apparently in agreement with Sariputra, if indeed he is responsi-ble for what was recorded in the Palisambhiddmagga,the reifyingview is not restricted to self and what belongs to self, but appliesto self and what is other than self. Therefore. for him the

15For the last part of the verse: bhaved askandhalak$(tah. Candrakirti'sPrasannapada commentary, text, p. 343.2,3 explains:lyatha hi gor anyo 'fvo

na golak;a1to bhavatil "Just as a horse, being other than a cow, excludesthe cow characteristic."

16As in Candrakirti's illustration, when a cow characteristic passes away, thisprovides no information on what happens to a horse characteristic.

1?In short, Ndgdrjuna's verse XXII, 1, citeC above (note 9) shows a rejeciionof the Abhidharma position espoused by Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakoia,Chap. V. tr., p. 17, who, restricting the satkayadr;tito belief in "I" and o'mine"

shows an agreement with the Abhidharma tradition of t}:re Jfianaprasthana,and so on, as was discussed above.

The Twenty Reifying Views (Sakkayaditthi) 223

"kdyA" of the satkdyady,i/i is not only the personal aggregates(5, skandha), but also anything that is other.than those personal

aggregates that could be understood as kdya (accumulation).This is consistent with classifying the 4X5 views as "nihilistic"or "eternalistic," since "nihilistic views" are other than"eternal-istic views," and the ending of one set does not entail the endingof the other set, as would be the case when ending the view of self,the view of what belongs to self also ends.

The present writer hopes the foregoing can be considered themodest advance promised at the outset.

11

Wi-{O UNIDERSTANDS TF{E FOURAI-T"ERNATIVES OF TI{E BUDDHIST TEXTS ?

INtRopucrroN

The Buddhist four alternatives are often referred to by theirsanskrit naine cctuskoli, and given in the form that something is,is not, both is and is not, neither is nor is not, with observationthat each of these terms may be denied. As we proceed we shallsee that this is not the oniy manner of presentin g a catu;koli.since so many authorities and scholars of ancient and moderntimes have discussed this cardinal matter, sometimes heatedly, itis not possibie to deal rvith all the previous studies. Certain dis-cussions wiil be considered herein within the scope of my fivesections: I. The four alternatives and logic, II. The four alter-natives in a disjunctive system, III. The four alternatives appliedto causation, each denied, IV. The four alternatives applied toexistence, each denied, v. The three kinds of catugkoti, variousconsiderations.

My findings differ from those of the western schorars that havecome to my notice, and the differences stem frorn my havingpublished a translation of Tibetan work that deals in severalplaces with the formulal. In fact, Tson-kha-pa's separation of

rTsor.r-t<rrn-pA's Lam rfm chen mo, the sections "calming the Mind andDiscerning the Real." The four-alternatives discussion occurs in the o'Discern-ing the ReAl" section. see A. wavuaN calming the Mind and Discerning the.Real (Columbia University, New York, 1978),


the causation and existence aspects of four alternatives, eachdenied, goes back to AtiSa (l lth century), who in hrs Bodhimorga-pradipa-paiijika-nama presents four ways of realizing insight

{prajfia), as follows:2

(1) the principle that denies existence by four alternatives(discussed in section IV herein).(2) the principle called "diamond grain" (uajrakaqa). Heillirstrates this in his text by Ndgarjuna's Madhyamaka-karika(M.K.), I. 1, with alternatives applied to causation (discussedin section III herein).(3) the principle free from singleness and multiplicity. Heappeals to such an author as Santideva (especially his Badhi-caryauatara, Chap. IX).

{4) the principle of Dependent Origination (pratityassmut-pAds). Here he means, for example, that the dkqrmas arisedependently and are void of self-existence.

AtiSa's classification is revealing of the meditative use put to thedenial of four alternatives when applied to causation or to exis-tence. The fact, then, that his listing does not allude to the dis-junctive system of the four alternatives, that I discuss in section II,may be simply because this system was not put to meditative use.

The tivo topics of causation and existence relate to Buddhistteachings that are essentially distinct. Thus, in Buddhism theproblem of how aTathagata or Buddha arises by reason of meritand knowledge, that is, the problem of cause, is distinct from theproblem of the existence, for exampie, of the Tathagata afterdeath. Naturatrly, the causal topic is first, since a Tathagata trrasto have arisen before there is a point to inquiring whether he existsafter death. Historically, the first topic represents what theBuddha preferred to talk about, and the second topic includesmatters which the Buddha sometimes refused to talk about.

As suggested eariier, my main sources are from Asian languages.I ail also indebted to certain Western writers, namely, HermannWeyl for the limitations of symbolic systems, Bernard Bosanquetfor treatment of disjunctive statements, and Willard Van Orman

Quine for his use of the world 'ologic" (bibliography herein).

2The passage is in the Tibetan Tanjur, photo edition, vol. 103, pp. 39-4-8to 40-2-2.

who understands the Four Alternatives of the Buddhist Texts? 227

1. TnB Foun ArrrnNarrvEs AND Locrc

Jayatilleke says, 'othere is little evidence that Nagdrjuna under-stood the logic of the four alternatives as formulated and utilizedin early Buddhism."s This scholar v,ras not content with puttingdown Nagdrjuna, founder of the Mddhyamika school; for heconcludes that scarcely any western scholars, ciassical Indianscholars, or modern Indian and Japanese writers have compre-hended tiris logic either. Richard F{. Robinson. one of thewestern scholars whose theories on the matter were rejected forthe most paft by Jayatilleke, subsequently repliecl to him,a amongother things, questioning the use of the word 'ologic" to refer tothe four alternatives. F{e hacl written an article entitled, ,,some

Logical Aspects of Nagarjuna's System,,,s which included a dis-cussion of the four alternatives, and incruded a section entitled"Nagarjuna's Logic" in his book (Earty Madhyainika...\.achataiian, in turn, asserts that Robinson dicl not justify his useof the word "logic" in his book.z wjriie agreeing with chatalianthus far, I am still puzzled by Robinson and Chatalian for theiroverattention to other persons' use of the word ,,logic.,,

euinepoints out that while writers have used the term ..logic', withvarying scope, a common part of their usage is called ..the scienceof necessary inference", although he admits that this is a vaguedescription.8 F{e then states that it is less vague to call logicalcertain locutions, including "if, ' , ,,then,,, ,,ar\d,,, ,,or',, .,not',,ttunless", ttscnlet', "alltt, ttevery", "arry", ,, i trr, gtc. Furth.er-more, he metrtions that a set pattern of ernploying these locutions

3K. N. JavannrBrE, 'orhe Logic of Four Alternatives,,' philosophy Eastand Vf/est, 17: 1967): 82; hereafter cited as Jayatilleke, ,.Logic,'.

aRIcnaRo H. RostNsot't, book review of Jayatilieke, Early Bucldhist Theory,Philosophy East and west 19, no. 1 (Jan., 1969):72-8tr., see especialiy 75-76;hereafter cited as Robinson, book-review.

sRrcnARo H. R-onnvsoN, 'osome Logical Aspects of Ndgarjunaos system,""Philosophy East and West 6, no. 4 (Jan. 1957): 291-30g.

GRtcnano H. RosNsoN, Early Mcdhyamika in India and chirua (Madison,wisc.: The University of wisconsin press, 1967), pp. 50-5g: hereafter Robin-son, Early Madhyamika.

7G. cnlrnlrAN, 'oA study of R. H. Robinson's Early Madhyamika inIndia and china," Journal of Indian philosophy I (i,g7z), section II, Logic andArgument, pp. 315-325.

8lvrrrlno vaN onuax Qunr, Elementary Logic (New york: Harper &Row, 1965), pp. 1-3.


allows us to speak of the logical structure. This is tantamount

to saying that every grammatical English sentence in the indicative

mood has a logical structure. Then, when Ndgd,rjuna writes

(Macthyamaka-kdrikd, XV[I, 8), in an English translation,

"all is genuine or is not genuine-" this has a logical structure.

Indeed, every statement with the paltern, "Every X is an a ot

& b," has the same logical structure. Quine further qualifies a.

statement as logically true if its logical structure alone yields

truth; and thus his use of the term 'ologic" involves truth and

falsehood in this sense. Other writers have used such terms as..formally valid," "analytic proposition", or "tautology" as

closely related to this usage of "logic.o'e Accordingly, the

application ofsymboliclogic to Ndgdrjuna's statements, to prove

them logically true or false, goes along with such a title as "the

logic of the four alternatives": and this application of symbolic

logic has been engaged in by H. Nakamura, Robinson' Jayatilleke,

R. S. Y. Chi, among others, including Shohei Ichimura in h.is

recent dissertatioo, "A Study on Nigarjuna's Method of Refuta-

tion." It does seem that both Jayatilleke and Robinson were

justified in using the term "logic" in a study of these matters

when tirey employed symbolic logic.

This still leaves the important problem of whether Ndgarjuna's

statements are indeed logically true, and thus have truth or false-

ness according to their logical structure regardless of content,

regardless of what is given. By "given," what is meant here is

the usual "granted, assumed." This involves a problem of

translation, because when Ndgd,rjuna's statements are assumed to

be at hand, the rnere fact that there are marks on a page in th-e

English language purported to be his statements does not prove

that tl-ley faithfully relay Nd:girjuna's intention by marks on a

page in the original Sanskrit language. Here there are two

pointr: If the statements do not have an easily isolated logical^structure,

it is hazardous and probably contraindicatod to apply

symbolic logic. Even if they do have an easily isolated logical

structure, one asks if they are also so complicated that one

requires a symbolic representation to sift or sho'v truth and

falsehood.eCoNrER, HsnulNN WEYL, Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science

(Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1949), p' 13; hereafter cited as

Weyl, PhilosoPhY.

Who Understands the Four Alternatives of the Buddhist Texts? 229

We may start to solve this problem with its two points, by

Iecourse to Weyl's remarks regarding "constructive cognition":10

"By the introduction of symbols the assertions are split so that

one part of the [mental] operations is shifted to the symbols and

theleby made independent of the given and its continued existence.

Thereby the free manipulation of concepts is contrasted with their

applicatiotr, ideas become detached from reality and acquire a

relative independeltce." Thus Weyl, an eminent mathematician,

is frank to admit that the pule operations of mathematics are

independent of the existence of the given. In the case of the

catupko!i, the given is a rather considerable corpus of material

in the Pdli scriptures and then in Ndgd,rjuna's works, not to speak

of contributions by later Asian authors. And there is the assump-

tion that this corpus is at hand in a translated form of English

sentences that are susceptible, in whole or part, of being converted

from their natural form to the artificial language of a symbolic

system.Now to the first point. Let us assume that the catuskoli state-

merrts do not have an isolatable logical structure, and yet sym-

bolic logic is utilized. If one would grant the applicability of

Weyl's remarks. even if there were a valid utilization of symbolic

logic, it could not account for the full corpus of the given, as the'"given"

has been explicated earlier. So it may be merely a

section or subset of the given whose logical structure is not isolat-

able. But then the application of symbolic logic is a matter of

mastering the art of the symbols. And so one may presume that

it is an arrogated comprehension of the -siven-although in fact

the symbols are independent, partially or rvholly, of the given-

whereby an undeniably brilliant rvriter as Jayatilleke takes the

stance that he virtually alone understands "the logic of the four

alternatives," while claiming that such a renowned author asNdgdrjuna cannot understand it ! Or claiming that a modern

writer like Robinson cannot undersfand, because he does not

apply the formal symbolic system right, that is, has not mastered

the art. Thus the symbolic system becomes a vested interest,

the users jealous of its misuse, while they champion its misappli-cation to the given, and even to what may not be at hand, for

example, a correct translation of a passage from an ancient text.

loWEYL, Philosophy, pp. 37-38.


Then to the second poirrt. I do not propose to denigrate, ingeneral, the employment of symbolic systems for representingpropositions of Indian philosophy. But are the catuskoli state-ments so complicated that a symbolic restatement is necessary,with the implication of an understanding already at hand tocertify the necessity? Perhaps there is working a psychologicalfactor which could be called '"wonder." what mathernaticsstudent getting the "right answer" with calculus has not at tirnesfelt a wonder at the ability of the mathematics-beyond hisnative capacities-s&y, to determine the intercepted volume of thecone? As Buytendijk has been cited: "wonder is charactefized,by a halting of the thing observed. This halting, which men callattention, is at the same time permeated by a premonition thatlight may be shed on this thing."' But this premonition oflight thrcugh the symbolic system is a will-o'-the-wisp, a subtleinfatuation. Because light can only be shed on the given, and thesymbolic system is independent, in whole or part, of the givenas it has been described earlier. rt is like a person fascinated bya brilliant lamp and therefore is not seeing anything illuminedby the lamp. The master of the art is hirnself mastered and usesthe symbolism willy-nilly: even for the simplest computation,he needs the computer. For centuries the Buddhists believed thatthe given of the four alternatives, including the traditional exegesis,provides sufficient material for understanding-if a person canunderstand. Some of the modern writers have rendered thediscussions into an artificial language, and then have dwelt onfalse issues of whether this or that scholar's formulation is a'ologic."

II. Tnr Foun ArrrnN,qrrvrs rN a DlsruNCTrvE SysrEu

Here by a "disjunctive system" is meant a system of statementssubject to the judgment 'oA is either B or c." Either B or c isleft and one of these two is excluded. Such a juclgment appearsto be involved in the Indian syllogism, whose "reason" (hetu)is relevant to the "thesis" (sddhya) when the case referred. to inthe thesis is agreed to be present in similar cases and absent in

llconNpus vsnuosvrx, The Philosophy of wonder trans. Mary Foran(New York: The Macmillan Company,1967), p. 38.

Who Understands the Four Alternatives of the Buddhist Texts? 23I

dissimilar cases.12 Anyway, the disjunctive judgment is a forinof inference (anumdna), and for a particular system it is necessaryto state the rule of the disjunction. Jayatilieke has shown thatvarious systems of four alternatives fouird in the early Buddhisttexts are in a disjunctive system whose rule seems to be that whenone of the alternatives is taken as "true" the rest are certainlyfalse. He points to such systems as : "A person is wholly happy...unhappy;...both happy and unhappy;...neither huppy norunhappy". "X is a person who torments himself; ... tormentsothers; ... both torments himself as well as others; ...who neithertorments himself nor othetrs".13 Bosanquet has an apt illustra-tion:1a "f suppose that the essence of such a system lies in arrange-ments for necessarily closing every track io all but one at a timeof any tracts which cross it or converge into it. The track Xreceives trains fiom A, B, C, D; if the entrance forthosefromA is open, B, C, and D are ipso facto closed; if A, B, and C areclosed, D is open, and so on."

But the matter is not without complications. The Pali workKathduqtthu recards a dispute between the two Buddhist sectsTheravdda and Andhaka about the nature of the meditativestate which is called in Pali neuasafiiidnasafiiiayatana(the base ofneither the safifia nor non-rafifia), where saiid means somethinglike "idea", and the disagreement was over the presenceor absence of safifiti in that state. The section concludes with anappeal to the case of the "neutral feeling" (the neither-pleasure-nor-pain), thus consistent with the traditional Indian syllogismwhich uses, as example, something well known to society(lokaprasiddha). Just as it rvould not be cogent to ask if thatneutral feeling were either pleasure or pain, so is it not proper toassert there either is or is not sqfifid on the basis of neither thesafiiid nor non-.rqfifid.ta This conclusion agrees with the previousobservation that only one of the four alterna+"ives is the case at a

tzCoNFER, Tn. SrcnenBATSKy, Buddhist Logic (New York: Dover Pubiica.tion, 1962), vol. 1, pp.242-245.

l3JayarnrEKr, "Logico', pp. 70-7l.14BeRN.lno Bos,rNeurr, The Essentials of Logic (London: Macmillan and

Co., 1948), p.125: hereafter Bosanquet, The Essentlals of Logic.lsCoNrnR in translation of the Kathavatthu, Points of Controversy, by Shwe

Zan Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids (London: Pali Text Society, 1915),pp. 155-156, where the term safifid is rendered "consciousness."


particular time. Besides, we learn that the "neither...nor"

alternative points to a neutrality with indeterminate content.Jayatilleke quito properly explains tb.e third alternative: "S is

partly P and partly non-P".16 Thus for the content of the third

alternative, stated as "the universe is both fiuite and infinite,"the Braimta-jdla Sutta explains this as wh.en one h.as the idea (safifil)

that the world is finite in the upward and downward direc-tions, and has the idea that the world is infinite across. Inagreement, Ndgdrjuna states in his Madhyamaka-kcirika,XXVII , 17- 18 :

If the same place (elcadeia) that is divine were the same place

that is human, it would be (both) permanent and imperma-nent. That is not feasible. If "both th"e permanent and theimpermanent" were proven, one must also grant that the pair

"neither the permanent nor the impermanent" is ilroven.

One should note about this passage (Jayatilleke mistranslates andmisunderstands it),17 that Ndgarjuira does not here deny au aiter-

native of "both the permanent and the imperrnanent" per se;he denies this for one and the same place. This can be i l lustratedby his own verse (MK XXV, 14, cited later), implying thatniruanais present in the Buddha and absent in ordinary persons, but notpresent and absent in the same place. Nagarjuna, in the present

verses (XXVII, 17-lB), also makes explicit his position that thefourth alternative (neither the permanent nor the impermanent)is derived from the third one, and that tire third one (both thepermanent and the impermanent ) combines the presumed firstone (the permanent) and the second one (the impermanent).

This brings up Ndgarjuna's remarkable verse (MK XVIII, 8):

AII (sarua) is genuine (tathyahl),78 or is not genuine, or is bothgenuine and not genuine, or is neither genuine nor not-genuine.That is the ranked instruction (aruSdsana) of the Buddha.

Accorclingto Candrakirti's comment ary "all" means the person-

ality aggregates (skandha), the realms (dhdtu), and the sense bases

l6Ja,varttrErt, "Logic," p. 79.1zlb id. , p. 82.18My rendition 'ogenuine" is close to the dictionary. Confer, the negative

forms atathya ("untrue, unreal") and avitatha ("not untrtte, not futiie").


(dyatana).ls See, along the same lines, Kalupahana's discussion2oabout the "Discourse on "Everything' " (Sabbasutta), availableboth in the Pali canon and in the Agama version in Chinesetranslation. Therefore the word "aIl" in Ndgd:rjuna's verse

amounts to "anything," where the "anything" is any entity chosen

from th.e set of "all" entities according to the Buddhist meaning,

as just expounded. This agrees witil Bosanquet's observation thatthe content of the disjunctive judgment "A is either B or C""is naturally taken as an individual, being necessarily concrete."21

Next, the interpretation of the word anuidsana as "rankedinstruction" comes from observing it among the three o'marvels"

(prdtihdrya) of the Buddha's teaching. of which the f,rst one iso'magical performance" (rddhi), the second is "mind readingo',(ddeiand), and the third, "ranked instruction" (anuidsana),

apparently made possible by the preceding "mind reading."zzThis interpretation is confirmed in Vasubandhu's Buddhdnttsmrti'

likd, saying in part, ".. .with the three kinds of marvels observingthe streams of consciousness of the noble Sdriputra, and so on,and of otirer fortunate sentient beings, teaches the true nature ofthe Sravakayana exactly according to their expectations and th.eirpotentialities."2s Th.is only clarifies rvhy Candrakirti's com-mentary on th.e verse interprets it as a ranking, and not vrhy hiscommentary interprets the ranking as follows:

(a) The Buddha taught to u,crldly beings the personal aggre-gates, tlie realms, and sense bases, with their various enumera-tions, in a manner that "all is genuine" ir. order to lead them

onto the path by having them admire his omniscience about

all these elements. (b) After these beings had come to trust

teln translation, see J. W. oe JoNG, Cinq chapitres dela Prasannapada (Paris:

Paul Geuthner, 1949), p. 27: "i l a enseign6 que ces agr6gats, 6l6ments et

bases ... sont vrais." Hereafter cited as de Jong Cinq chapitres.20D. J. KaLup.qFraNA, "A Buddhist Tract onEmpiricism," Philosophy East

and West 19, no. 1 (Jan., 1969), 65-67.ztThe Essentlals of Logic pp. 123-124.22See FnlNrrrN EoceRToN, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary,p. 392,

undet pratiharya. Here the form anuiasani is used.2sTibetan Tanjur , photo edi t ion, vol . 104, pp. 33-5-8 to 34-1-1: . . 'phags pa

Sa-ri ' i bu la sogs pa dan/de las glan pa skal pa dan ldan pa.rnams kyi sems

can gyi rgyud la gzigs nas cho 'phrul gsumbstan pas bsam pa ji lta ba dahl

skal pa ji lta ba bZin du ffan thos kyi theg pa'i chos fl id ston cin...1

234 Buddhisr Insight

the Lord, it was safe to inform them about all those divisionsof the world that "all is not genuins", i.e. "all is spurious",because they rnomentarily perish and charrge. (c) Certainselect disciples could be told 'all is both genuine and not-genuine'. That is, that the sarne element which is genuineto the ordinary person is not-genuine or spurious to thenoble person who is the Buddha's disciple. He tells themthis, so they may become detached, i.e. not see it in just oneway. (d) To certain advanced disciples, far progressed inviewing reality and scarcely obscured, he taught that "all isneither genuine nor not-genuioe", just as in the case of theson of a barren woman, one asserts that the son is neither whitenor black ( : non-white;.zc

However, he seems to be following, in his own way, the four"allegories" or "veiled intentions" (abhisarltdhi) which are listedand then defined in the Mahaydna-Sutrdlarykara, XII, 16-17.25The f,rst one is auatdrarya-abhi" (the veiled intention so they willenter), expiained as teaching that form, and sc forth, is existent,so as not to scare the irduakas from entering the Teaching. Thesecond one is lolr,rana-abltio (the veiled intention about thecharacter, namely, of dharmas), explained as teaching that alldharmas are ri'ithout self-existence, without origination, etc.The third one is pratipak,ta-abhi" (the veiied intention aboutopponents, namely, to faults), explained as teaching by takinginto account the taming of faults. So far these terms agree quitewell with Candrakirti's exposition. For example, in the case ofthe third one, the application to Ndgarjuna's line "all is bothgenuine and not-genuine" is the opposition (pratipaksa) to thefault of one-sidedness. It is the fourth one whose relevance isobscure: this is the pari4dmana-abhi" (the veiled intention aboutchangeover, namely, to reality). In illustration, the Sutra-larytkdra cites a verse: "Those who take the pithless as havinga pith abide in waywardness. Those who are mortified with thepains [for austere endeavor] [abide] in the best enlightenment."Candrakirti is at least partially consistent by saying 'oto certain

2aI have summarized. In full translation, see de Jong, Cinq chapitrespp. 27-28.

zsAsanga: Mahdyana-Sutralafnkara, 6dite par Sylvain L6vi (Paris , 1907),,p . 82 .


advanced disciples, far progressed in viewing reality," becausethese ones would take the pithless as pithless.

Jayatilleke26 refers to the same passage of Candrakirti's and toa different commentary on Nagaijuna's verse in the Prajiia-pdramitoidstra, both as presented in Robinson's book,zz to den.ythat in th.e verse cited above, the four alternatives are in a "rela-tion of exclusive disjunction" a{Ld to claim that they amount tothe non-Buddhist relativistic logic of the Jains. However,Candrakirti's commentary is consistent with Nagarjuna'sMK XXVII,17-18 (translated earlier, herein) concerning the depen-dence of the subsequent alternative on the previous one or ones.

Jayatilleke's hostility to Candrakirti's commentary on the versemay stem from the modern Theravadin's reluctance to attributea ranked instruction to the Buddha. ordinarily the canonicalpassage cited in this connection is, as Thomas renders it: "Buddhareplied, "What does the O'der expect of me? I have taught theDoctrine without making any inner and outer, and herein theTathagata has not the closed fist of a teacher with regard todoctrines.' ')28 From the modern Theravddin standpoint, Candra-kirti's explanation attributes to the Buddha precisely such aninner and outer, because it portrays the Buddha teaching worldlybeings (: the outer) in the realistic manner, and then teachingthose beings once they had become disciples (: the inner) in theillusional manner. And going on with a still different teaching tocertain advanced disciples. But that same scriptural passagefrom the traditional, last sermon of the Buddha could be takendifferently than it usually is, and perhaps consistently withNdgdrjuna's verse as Candrakirti understood it. That is becausethe original Pali (Digha-Nikdya, ii, 100) reads: mayd dhammoqnantaraLn abdhirary karitud ("By me was the Dhamma preachedwithout inner, without outer"). The phrase "without inner,without outer" can be restated as "with neither an inner nor anouter." And then just as the "neutral feeling" (neither pleasurenor pain) is not either pleasure or pain, so also one could notdetermine if the Buddha's doctrine was either inner or outer.

26J,qyA,rtttEKE, o'Logic," p. 82.2TRoerNsoN, Early Madhyamika. pp. 56-57.z8Eow.q,Ro J. THouas, The Life of Buddha (New York: Barnes & Noble,

7952), p. 146.


and one homogeneous character, wearisome by repetition of thesame doctrine over and over again. Ndgdrjuna's verse, by useof the word anuiasano, seems to mean that the Tathagata, withoutthe closed fist, would gladly communicate in a graduated mannerso that disciples in different stages of progress could have a teach-ing suited to their particular level. While this position may notbe agreeable to some rnodern exponents of the Theravadatradi-tion, it is not a "Mahaydna" quarrel rvith the earlier "Flinaydna"school, because also Buddhaghosa of the Theravdda tradition inhis Atthasalini insists that the Buddha's teaching was fittinglymodified in accordance with the varying inclinations of bothmen and gods.2e

III. THn Foun ArrrnNarrvEs AppLrED ro CauslrroN.Eacu Dnuro

Starting with the Buddh.a's first sermon, the four Noble Truthshave been a basic ingredient of tsuddhist thinking and attitudes.Of these Truth.s, the first is the Noble Truth of Suffering; and ofth.e fourth Truth, the Noble Truth of Path explairied rvith eightmembers, the first member is called "right views" (sam1,ag-drpti).

Sometimes "right views" \\/ere established by determining andeliminating the wrong t iervs. So in the Pdli Samyutta-Nikaya(II, l9-21),so the Buddha, replying to questions by Kassapa(KdSyapa), denied that suffering is caused by oneself, by another,by both oneselfand another, or neither by oneself nor by another.Then, in answer to further questions, the Buddha stated that heknows suffering and sees it. Then Kassapa asked the Buddhato explain suffering to him, and was told that claiming the suffer-ing was done by oneself amounts to believing that one is the sameperson as before, which is the eternalistic view; while claimingthat the experiencer of the suffering is different from the one whocaused it, amounts to the nihilistic view. Thereupon the Buddhatanght the Dharma by a mear1 namely, the series of tr,velve mem-bers which begin with the statement "having nescience as condition

zsThe Expositor (Atthasalinr), trans. Pe Maung Tin, edited and revised byMrs. Rhys Davids, vol. I atd 2 (London: Luzac & Company, 1958 reprint),l :246: 2:318-31,9.

soAs cited by I. B. HonNER, Buddhist Texts Through the Ages,ed.byEdwardConze (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1954), pp. 68-69, and my summary.


the motivations arise" and continue with' similar statements

through the rest of dependent origination (pratitya-samutpdda).

The Buddha proceeded to teach that by the cessation of nescience,

the motivations cease, and so on, with the cessation of this entire

mass of suffering. In agreernent, Ndgirjuna's Madhyamaka'

kdrikd, I, 1 states:

There is no entity anywhere that arises from itself, from an-

other, from both (itself and another), or by chance.

In this case the given elernent is called the "entity" (bheua). The

first two of the denied atternatives have the given element of

"cessation" (nirodha) in MK YtrI, 32. The element is "suffering"

(duhkha) or "externat entity" (bdhya-bhdva) in MK XII' The

meaning of the denial here is aptly stated by Bosanquet: "Nega-

tion of'a disjunction would mean throwing aside the whole of

some definite group of thoughts as fallacious, and going back to

begin again with a judgment of the simplest kind. It amounts

to saying. 'None of your distinctions touch the point; you must

begin afresh."'31 In the discourse to Kassapa, Io begin afresh

amounts to accepting "dependent origination." This is also

Ndgdrjuna's position, follorving the ancient discourse to Katyd-

yana, as mentioned later in the Madhyamaka-kdrika, and as

stated in Candrakirti's Madhyamakduatara, VI, 114:

Since entities do not arise by chance, (i.e.) from a lord, and so

on (primal matter, time, atoms, suabhdua, Purusa, Nirayanat

etc.), or from themselves, others, or both (themselves and

others) then they arise in dependence (ot causes and

conditions).32

Besides, to begin afresh amounts to the establishment of void-

ness (lunyata), for so the Anauatapta (ndgardja) pariprccha is cited:..Any (thing) that is born (in dependence) on conditions, is not

born (to wiQ: The birth of this (thing) does not occur by self-

existence (suabhdua). Any (thing) that is dependent on condi-

tions, is declared void. Any person who understands voidness,

slBosANQUur, The Essentials o.f Logic, p. 125.

s2Here translated from the Tibetan in the context of TsoN-rcra-pa's

Lam rim chen rno, o'Discerning the Real" section. See Wayman, Calming the

Mind and Discerning the Real.


is heedful."33 since Ndgdrjuna begins his Madltyamaka-karikdwith this theory of causation, it is reasonable to assume that it isessential for the rest of his work. Also, since voidness ((Sunyatd)is established in the course of the causal denials, it is taken forgranted in the denial in tcrms of existence, and so the attempt toestablish voidness by way of existence becomes a faulty point ofview (dr;!i), as in MK XXII, 11 :

One should not say "It's void," nor ,.it's non-void.," nor ..It's

both (void and non-void)," nor '.ft,s neither." But it maybe said in the meaning oi designation.

one should not say, "It's void," because the four alternativesapplied to existence cannot establish voidness. But in the mean-ing of designation (prajfiaptyarthom), as in the celebrated verses(MK xxIV, 18-19), there is the act of calring dependent origina-tion "voidness" and the dharmas so arising "void"; and hereNdgarjuna adds that the act of calling when there is the depen-dency, is the middle path.se

Besides, the denial of the four alternatives in the scope ofcausation (confer, MK I, l, earlier) rvas aimed at four philoso-phical positions, as follorvs:Bs

l. The denial of arising from itself is the rejection of the

33For the various occurrences of the important verse, see Louis DE LAvarrf,r Foussin, Mfrlamadhyamakakarikas de Nagarjuro o|"" la prasannapaddcantmentaire de candralcirti, Bibliotheca Buddhica, vol. 4 (St-p6tersbourg,1903-1913), p. 239.

34Here I accept Matilal's correction of my earlier statecl position; confer.Bimal Krishna Matilal,Epistemology, Logic, and Granrnar in Indian philo-sopltical Analysis (The Hague : Mouton, lg77), p. l4g-149; hereafter citedas Matilal, Epistemology, Logic, and Grammar. Flut now my understanclingonly partialiy agrees lvith his, to wit, o'Depenclent origination:Emptiness:Dependent cesignation:The Middle way." Because I would say that asfar as Nagarjuna is concerned, dependent origination is the way things happenand that it is voidness, whiie the dharmas so arising are void, whethei cnerecognizes this to be the case. But r,vhile his school designates dependentorigination voidness, this is not what every other Bucidhist sect does; andNdgarjuna goes on to add that the act of so designating, when there is thedependence, is indeed the middle path. so it is not voidness that is desis-nation.

85Here I have taken suggestions from the context of the Lam rim chen mowhen MK r, 1 is cited,_and from the annotational comments of the Tibetanwork calle d Mchan b/i.


Sdr.nkhya position, which is the satkdrywsdda (causation ofthe effect already existent). Murti is certainly right on thisPoint'so2. Tlne denial of arising from another rejects the creator being(tiuara), and Kalupahana increases the list from a Jainasource for "caused by another": destiny (niyati), time (lcala),God (tiuara), nature (suabhdua), and action (karma). Thelater Buddhist logicians heid a theory of "efficiency" thatbelongs here.3? Murti incorrectly puts this kind of denialunder the heading of asatkdryauada (the non-existence of aneffect before its production).383. The denial of arising from both itself and another is therejection of the VaiSe+ika, who say the clay pot arises fromitself (clay) and frorn the potter, wheel, sticks, etc. trn fact,this theory is in both the Nydya and Vai6esika philosophy,which Dasgupta,se in agreement rvith Shastri,ao calls theasatkdryaudda, the opposite of the Sar.nkhya's satkdryaudda.Here, the clay is the material cause; the stick, wheel, etc.,the instrumental cause.4. The denial of arising without a cause (or by chance), is therejection of the Lokdyata (the ancient materialistic school),which espouses the arising from self-nature.al That school heldttrrat consciousness is just a rnode of the four elements (flre,

36T. R. V. Munrr, The Central Philosophy of Buddhisrn (London : GeorgeAllen and Unrvin, 1955), pp. 168-169.

37confer, Davro J. KarupaHANA, causality : The central philosophy ofBuddhism (Honolulu : The University Press of Hawaii, 1975), pp. 5, 46.For the theory of the Buddhist logicians as later expressed by Ratnakirti,see surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, vol. I (London :cambridge university Press, 1932), 1:158-159. This is a theory that "effi-ciency" (arthakriyakaritva) can produce anything, ancl so a momentary,efficient entity is the 'oother" from which something may arise. The streamof consciousness is held to be of this nature, with one "moment" of conscious-ness giving rise to the next one. Hereafter cited as Kalupahana, causality.

38Murti. The central Philosophy, p. 170. rnisused the term asatkaryavada(for the correct usage, see below).

gsA l[[story of Indian Philosophy. 1:320.40DnanusNona Narn Snasrru. critique of Indian Realism (Agra : Agra

University, 1964), p. 236.41see now KarupanaNa., causality, pp.25ff, for a valuablediscussion of the

svabhdvavdda in connection with the ancient Materialists, and on p. 3l headmits for them the appelation'non-causationists' (ahetuvada).


air, water, earth): consciousness is not the effect of anotherconsciousness.42

Hence, there is no denial of arising per se, but the alternativesare meant to deny the arising falsely ascribed to certain agencies,to wit, itself, another, both itself and another, or by chance-This, then, is one of the "right views."

V. TsB FouR ArrnnNATrvES Apprrno ro ExrsrENCE.EacH Dexrrn

The Buddha rejected each of the four alternatives regarding theexistence after death of the Tathagata, because none of the fourare relevant (na upeti), or defined (auydkata).a3 Ndgdrjuna devotesMedhyamaka-karikd, chap. XXV to the same topic, saying gene-rally (XXV, 22): "Since all given things ("uastu\no are void, whatis endless, what rvith end, what both endless and with end, r,vhatneither endless or with end?" Tiris refers to the celebrated four-teen "undefined given things" (auydkrta-uastuni).as So in thechapter, nirudrya is treated in verses 5, 8, 13, 16; and the Lordbefore and after cessation, in verses 17, 18. For example, this isverse 17: "One should not inferaG that the Lord exists after cessa-tion (i.e. in NirvdrSa). One should not infer that he does not

a2The Tattvasafigraha of Sdntarak;ita with the Commentary of Kamalaiila,trans. by Ganganatha Jha, vol. 2 (tsaroda : Oriental Institute, 1939),pp. 887-888.

a3Cf. JnvarrLLEKE, o'Logic," p. 81; and K. N. Jayatilleke, Early BuddhistTheory of Knowledge (London : George Allen & Unwin, 1963), pp. 473-474.

acWhile the verse in Sanskrit has the locative plural dharme;u rather thanvastLttu, Candrakirti's commerrtary makes it clear that the latter word isintended, because he promptly talks of the fourteen avyAkrtu-vastilni anddoes not mention any dharma-s: while in the Tibetan translation of the verse,instead of the stairdard translation for dharma (T. chos), one finds the termditos po, which is frequently used to translate vastu; confer, Takashi Hirano,An Index to the Bodhicaryavatara Pafiiika, Chapter IX (Tokyo: Suzuki Re-search Foundation, 1966), pp. 273-27 6.

45EowaRo J. Tnouas, The History of Buddhist Thought (London :Rotrtledge & Kegan Paul, 1963 reprint), p. I24, states that they are actuallyfour, but become fourteen by stating them in different ways.

aGMy translation "should not infer" is for the Sanskrit nohyate. The verbuh- has a number of meanings, including "to infer", and the latter meaningis more associated with the verb root when there is the prefix abh[,withsucha form as abhyuhya" having inferred."

who understands the Four Alternatives of the Buddhist rexts? z4I

exist, or both (exists and does not exist),'or neither.,, Hencethe rejections, again, are aimed against att phitosophical positionsthat resort to inference or to ordinary human reason in suchmatters.aT The failure of reasoning is clearly expressed in theMahdydna work Ratnagotrauibhaga (chap. I, verse 9) whendenying the four alternatives about the Dharma-sun as theultimate nature:

I bor,v to that Dharma-sun which is not existence and notnon-existence, not both existence and non-existence, neitherdifferent from existence nor from non-existence; which cannotbe reasoned (aiakyas tarkayitum), is free from definition(nirukty-apagata!),, revealerl by introspection, and quiescent;and lvhich, pervasively shining with immaculate vision,removes the attachment, antipathy, and (eye-) caurs toward.all objects.as

The question arises whether it is proper to interpret this toinvolve denial in tsosanquet's meaning, what he calls, ..contrarynegation."4e "As we always speak and think within u g.n.rulsubject or universe of discourse, it follorvs that every denialsubstitutes sorne arlirmation for the judgment which it denies.,,one could argue that simply to deny onr ludg.ent and trrerebyaffirm another judgment would be a proceur or triinking that isnegated by the goal arlrrded to in the preceding passage, since theDharma-s'n "cannct be reasoned." Floro.i i, i f Bosanquet,sstatement were altered to read "every cle'ial substitute, ,o,n"affirmation for the de'ial," it then appears to suit the state of

azThis conclusion, however, goes against various speculative sclutions thathave been advanced to <ietermine particurar schools to go with the variousdenials applied to existcncc, namely, those of JayatilrJ<e. Earry BuddhistTheory of Knowledge, pp. 243ff.: Murti. The Central phitosophy, pp. 130_131: I(' v' Ramanan, Nagarjuna's phirosophy (varanasi : Bharatiya vicyaPrakashan, 1971), pp. 155-158. It is noteworthy that there is little agreementbetween these authors' solutions, ancl their arbitrariness itseif stems fromhuman reason, while to ccunter such positions Ndgdrjuna wourd also havehad to use ordinary hurnan reason.aEThe Rdtfiagotravibhaga Mahdyanottcratdntraiastra. ed. E. H. Johnston(Patna : Bihar Research society, 1950), pp. 10-il : confer, arso JikidoTakasaki, A study on the Ratnagotravibhaga (uttaratantrc) Roma : rnsti_tuto Italiano per il Medio ed Esrremo Oriente, 1966), pp. 163-166.aeBosauqurr, The Essentials of Logic, p. I29.


affairs alluded to in the passage above. In short, the whole

system of four alternatives would be denied in this contrary

negation, thus to suggest the retirement of convention (satpurti)

in favor of absolute truth (paramdrtha-satya).

In the preceding illustrations, it is the Tathagata or the Dharma

or Nirvif a which is affi.rmed as the affirmation of absolute truth

in the process of the denials, because these denials afe a medita-

tive act-and acts succeed where theories fail-which downgrades

the role of inference and human reason generally, and upholds

the role of vision, so-as AtiSa indicated-to promote insight

Qtrajfid).Therefore, it is now possible to evaluate two interpretations

which seem to be starkly contrasted: (l) Murti's "The Md,dhya-

mika denies metaphysics not because there is no real for him;

but because it is inaccessible to Reason. He is convinced of a

higher faculty, Intuition (praifia)...."50 (2) Streng's, "In Ndgdr-

juna's negative dialectic the power of reason is an effi"cient force

for realizing Ultimate Truth."51 One could argue that the dis-

agreement is deceptive, since if reason is to be taken as the mental

process of making the denials which substitute an affirmation of

the Real or Ultirnate Truth, then indeed while the Real is in-

accessible to reason, it cannot be denied that reason brought about

that higher faculty, the supernal insight(praifiQ, to which the Real

is accessible, This very pointis madein the Kaiyapa-pariuarta:

Ka$yapa, it is this way: example,for when two trees are rubbed

together by the wind, and fi.re arises (from the friction), (that

fire) having arisen, burns the two trees. In the same way.

KdSyapa, (when given things are analysed) by the most pure

discriminalion (pratyaueksalta). the faculty of noble insight

is born; and (that Fire) having been born, (it) burns up that

most pure discrimination itself.5z

Hence, the very discrimination which is the kind of reasoning

50\{1rp1v, The Central Philosophy, p. 126.srFnpoEnrcr J. SrnsNc. Emptiness : A Study in Religious Meaning

(Nashville. Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1967), p. 149.b2The passage is translated in the context of its citation in Tson-kha-pa's

Lam rim chen mo. lt is number 69 in A. Stael-Holstein. ed., Kaiyapapari'

varta, (Commercial Press, 1926), but original Sanskrit is not extant for this

passage.


that denies the alternatives is described metaphorically as a frictionwhich arouses the fire of insight that in turn destroys this kind ofreasoning.

Turning to Tson-kha-pa's section,ss defending the denial ofthe four alternatives, this concerns the presence and absence ofentities. Tson-kha-pa states that there are only two possibilities

for an entity, that is, accomplished by own-nature, and effi.cient.Then, if the first alternative is stated in the form, "An entityexists," this is denied-the denial meaning to the Prasangika-Madhyamika that, in the case of both truths (saryturti andparamdrtha), one denies that an entity exists accomplishedby own-nature, while the efficient entity is denied in the paramdrtlta orabsolute sense but not conventionally.

Likewise, the Prdsangika-Md:dhyamika rejects the nonexistenceof an entity, should someone affi.rm the nonexistence of anentity accomplished by own-nature among the unconstructed

{as aryt5k rta) natures (dhar ma).Likewise, this Mddhyamika rejects the simultaneity of existence

of that sort of entity with the nonexistence of the other sort ofentity. And he rejects that there are neither, even one accom-plished by own-nature.

While I have insisted that the ultimate nature is affflrmed by thefour denials, it should be granted that tbe acceptance of thisabsolute in Ndgdrjuna's Madhyamika is a matter much disputedby Western scholars; de Jong's thoughtful article5a on the topicdeserves consultation. In any case, Candrakirti 's position isclear, as he stat:s in his own colnmentary on the Modhya-makduatara:

Regarding this sort of suebhdua (self-existence) as written inparticular (Madhyamqka-kdrikA, XY, I-2), received from themouth of the acarya ( : Ndgdrjuna), does it exist? (In answer:)As to its authorization, the Bhagavat proclaimed that whetherTathagatas arise or do not arise, this true nature of dharmasabides, and so on, extensively. The "true nature" (dharmata)(of that text,:slssbhaua) (necessarily) exists. Which (elements)

5sReferred to in note 1, herein. There were many Tibetan controversies onthis issue.

54J. W. oB JoNc. "The Problem of the Absolute in the Madhyamakaschool," Journal of Indian Philosophy 2 (1972): 1-6.


have this "true nature" ? These, the eye, etc. have thissuabhdua. And what is their suabhdua? Their uncreatenature and their non-dependence on another; the self-naturewhich is to be understood by knowledge (in dryasantapatti)free from the caul of nescience (and its associated habit-energy). When it is asked, 'oDoes that sort of thing exist?"who would answer, "No."? If it does not exist, for whichgoal do the Boddhisattvas cultivate the path of the perfections?For what reason do the Bodhisattvas, in order to compre-hend the true-nature, assume myriads of difficulties that way?55

fn short, Candrakirti explains the suabhdua of MK XV, 1-2, as the"true nature" of the scriptures, and in a manner equivalent to thedharma-sun of the Ratnagotrauibhaga passage.s6

Finally, the denials concerning existence are also referred to asthe rejection of four "views" (dys!i). So MK XXVII, 13:

Thus whatever the view concerning the past, whether o'f

existed," "I did not exist," "I both (existed and did not exist),""I neither (existed, nor did not exist)," it is not valid.

Such passages undoubtedly support the frequent claim that theMidhyamika rejects all "views." But note that the views hereare of existence, not of causation; and that Nagarjuna elsewhereadheres to the view of Dependent Origination, which inBuddhism rvould be counted as a "right view" (samyag-drsli).

V. THE Tnnps KrNos or Cnru;KoTr, Vanrous CoNslonRATloNs

It might be argued that there are not really three "kinds" of

55The passage occurs in the Tibetan Tanjur, photo edition. vol. 98,pp. 151-2-3 to l5l-2-7. immediately preceded by Candrakirti's citation ofMK XV, l-2I l:eve translated it in Lam rim chen mo context.

soWhile it is not possible to deal here with the many misconceptions inIves Waldo, "Nagarjuna and Analytic Philosophy." Philosophy East andWest 25, no. 3 (July, 1975), one may observe that Candrakirti's passagedirectly contradicts his remarks (p. 283) that the acceptanc e of "relationalconditions" (pratyaya) entails a denial both of svabhava and of nonrelational"significant events." Because Candrakirti accepts, as does Buddhism gene-rally, the pratyaya in the causal chain of Dependent Origination, and yet healso insists here upon the svabhava as well as on a significance (the bodhi-sattve's goal) that is perhaps nonrelational.

who understands the Four Arternatives of the Buddhist Texts? 24s

catu,skoli but simply different applications . of the catu;ko1i.Perhaps an exaggeration of contrast is involved in using the word"kinds." still I feel the word is necessary to counter the fre-quent discussion of the catugkoli as though the catu-rko{i is athand and the only difficulty is in how to explain it. Hence wemay observe that the first kind of catuskoli, in a disjunctivesystem, is explanatory of the individual propositions, and thusserves as an introduction to the next two kinds or uses of thecatuskoli, to wit, to apply to the problem of causation or to theproblem of existence. There were disputes concerning eachof the three kinds, but it is especially the causation and existenceapplications of the four alternatives that occasioned spiriteddisagreements between the two main schoolsof the Mddhyamika-the Prdsangika and the Svdtantrika-disagreements whichwould require too many technical explanations to be treated inthis article.

Moreover, all three kinds of catuskoli arcfound in early Buddh-ism and later in the Madhyamika school. The first case wherethe four alternatives constitute a disjunctive system, rvith theindividual terms not necessarily denied, was well represented inpassages of early Buddhism, as preserved in the pali canon; andthen was included in Ndgdrjuna's Madhyamaka-kdrika in theverse about the ranked instruction of the Bucldha. The secondcase, denial of alternatives regarding causation, stating with thediscourses to Kassalra and to Kaccayana, is rnade much of byNagSrjuna as the basis of the Mddhyamika, but does noi seemto have been stressed as much in other schools of Buddhisrn.The third case, denial of four alternatives, has important examplesin both early and later Buddhism, and, of course, is generouslytreated in the Mddtryamika. Therefore, when Jayatilleke says,"rt is evident that Ndgdrjuna and some of his commenrators,ancient and modern, refer to this logic with little understandingof its real nature and significanee,"s7 these remarks define thelimitations of Jayatilleke's own views of these problems, outsideof which is his own "little understanding." Robinson answeredJayatilleke in a different way: "And since the catuskotri is not adoctrine but just a form, later writers were at liberty to use it innew ways, doing which does not itself prove that they misunder-

SUayarnrEKE, o'Logic," p. 82.


stood the early forms."58 This is well stated and is meant not only

to reject Jayatilleke's criticism of Ndgdrjuna and others, but

apparently also to justify the application of symbolic logic. How-

ever, I have brought up sufficient evidence to show that Ndgdr-

juna, in the matter of the catu;ko!i, is heir to and the continuator

of teachings in the early Buddhist canon (in Pali, the four

Nikd:yas; in Sanskrit, the four Agamas). Furthermore, I cannot

concede that the catuskoli is just a form. Indeed, if Ndgdrjuna

had used it in new ways, Jayatilleke would have been more

justified in his attribution of misunderstanding to N6g6rjuna.

Next, we observe by the foregoing materials that the flrst kind

of catu;koli is a disjunctive system that was used to explain the

Buddha's teaching. The second, applied to causation, each of

the alternatives denied, is a meditative exercise, and besides serves

to classify some of the philosophical positions rejected by the

Mddhyamika. The third kind, applied to existence, each of the

alternatives denied, is another meditative exercise, and besides

serves to establish the absolute by negating the notional activity

of the mind (sorytjfiaskandha) and its net of imputed quali-

f ications.ssThe priority of the causality to existence treatments-as I have

already insisted upon-is consistent with Ndgdrjuna's Modhya-

nnka-kdrikd, which devotes chapter I to conditional causes

(pratyaya), beginning with the denial of four alternatives concern-

ing origination of entities, but in the same chapter begins alter-

natives of existence, nonexistence, etc. So MKI,6: "Neither

an existent nor a non-existent entity has a valid condition

(pratyaya). What non-existent has a condition? What is the

use of a condition for an existent?" The next verse (I,7)

shifts to the word dharma: "Whenever a featute (dharma) neither

existent nor non-existent, or both existent and non-existent,

operates, in that case how could an operator-cause be valid?"

(and it is not valid.) MK chapteres III, IV, and V, deal with the

s8RouNsoN, book review, p. 76.ssThis is well stated in the Tibetan language by Red-mda'-ba's Commen-

tary to.Aryadeva's "Four Hundred Verses," ed. Jetsun Rendawa ShonnuLodo (Sarnath : Sakya Students'IJnion, 1974), p. 170: "The form and varietyof natures (dharma) are posited as different by dint of saryjfia (notions, ideas)"

but not by reason of the own-form (svarupa) of given things (vastu)-because

all of them being illusory, it is not possible to distinguish their own-forms.n'


products of causes, namely, the sense bases, personal aggregates'

and elements, that amount to "all entities" (sarua-bhaua,IV,J)-

Here again, "all entities" presuppose their arising as products'

so the causality. The establishment of causality in conventional

terms and of existence in absolute terms is therefore implied in

MK XXIV, 10: "Without reliance on convention, the supreme

(paramdrtha) is not pointed to."I propose that it was by not distinguishing these uses of the

catuSkoli that there has been in the past various improper of

misleading attributions to this formula. For example, there is

the problem of which two kinds of negations is involved: the

prasajya-prati.sedha (negation by denial) or paryuddsa-pratisedha

(negation by implication). Matilal concludes that the catuskoli

is of the prasajya type and that so understood the catu,skoli

is free from contradiction.co Staal after admirably explaining

the two kinds of negation (the paryuddsa type negates a term;

the prasajya type negates the predicate) agrees with Matilal that

the catu;kotri exhibits the prasajya type, but ciisagrees that this

frees the formula of contradiction.cl However, r,vhen one consi-

ders this along with my preceding materials, one can promptly

agfee r,vith Matilal and then with staal that it is the prasaiya

negation which is involved with the catu;koli, nota bene, the four

alternatives in their explicit form applied to existence, because the

proposition "f bow to that Dharma-su,n which is not existence"

is of the prasojya type (confer, Staal: 'x is not F'). But when one

examines the propositions of the four alternatives in their explicit

form applied to causation, one can pfolllptly disagree with Matilal

and then with Staal, because the proposition "There is no entity

anywhere that arises from itself," is of the paryuddsa type (confer,

Staal: "not -x is F'). And this paryuddsa type is of the variety

implying action, for which there is the stock example, "Fat

Devadatta does not eat food in the daytime." But "fat Deva-

datta" must eat sometime, so when? The world responds, ooat

night!"oz Also, the entities that do not arise from self, another,

60Mlrrrar, Epistemology, Logic, and Grammar, pp. 162-167..GlFnrrs SrAat, Exploring Mysticism (London: Penguin Books, 1975),

pp. 45-47; hereafter cited as Staal, Exploring Mysticism.62Confer, DsrRsNoRa SuARMa, The Negative Dialectics of India (Leiden :

E. J. Brill, l97O), p. 94; note where the example illustrates the Veddnta autho-

rity (pramapa) called'presumption' (arthapatti).


both, or by chance, must arise somehol, so how? Buddhismresponds, "in the manner of Dependent origination (pratitya-samutpdda)." In illustration, the first two members of Dependentorigination are: (l) "nescience" (auidya), and (2) "motivations"(sarTtslcara). "Motivations" do not arise from self (motivations)or from another (nescience), or frorn both self and another(motivations and nescience), or rvithout a cause (that is, bychance);"motivations" do arise with "nescience" ascondition (pratl,aya);and since "motivatiolis" are a lcarma member, have acause (hetu)which is karnia, hence the other lcarnta-member, which is (10),'"gestation"

(bhaua) or "re-existence" (punarbha?:a).,'asBut then lvhat of staal's position that even so (that is, allowing

the prasajya interpretation for the catugkoli of existence), this cioesnot save the prasajya propositions from mutual contradiction?saying, "In rejecting the tiiird clause, the denial of the principleof non-contradiction is rejected, not the principle of non-con-tradiction itself,"0c h.e interprets the third proposition in its literalforrn, denial that something both exists and does not exist. How-ever, at least in tlie Tsoir-kh.a-pa Prasangika-Miidhyamikaexplanation that I gave earlier, it is not possible to uncierstand thefour denials in terrns of existence just by their literai form, be-cause one must brin-e in tire tireory of two truths (,raryurti andparamdrtha) to unclerstand Nagarjuna's position. Iu such acase, the denial of th.e ttiirci proposition amounts in commentarialexpansion to: This Madhyamika rejects, in the absolute sense(paramdrthatas), tl'e simuitaneity of existence by own-nature ofthat effftcient entity rvith th.e non-existence by own-nautre of theunconstructed entity. In short, it is here claimed that '.existence"

and "non-existence" refer contrasting entities. Along the samelines, Nagdrjuna says (MK XXV, 14);

How could Nirvina be both a presence and an absence?Like light and darkness, there is no existence of the twoin the same place.

63Foi Ndgdrjuna's classification of the two members, nos. 2 and 10, askarma, see, for example, A. Wayman, "Buddhist Dependent Origination,""History of Religions 10, no. 3 (Feb., 1971):188. I have gone much moreinto the cause and effect (hetu-phala) side of the formula in my forthcoming"'Dependent origination-the Indo-Tibetan Tradition," (special issue ofJournal of Chinese Philosophy). See Chapter 8.

64Staal, Exploring Mysticism, p. 47.


Thus the third alternative of this type of catuskoli can be resolvedin various ways, for example, one may deny both a presence andan absence of nirud4a, adding"that is, in the same place"i or,with a different subject, adding perhaps, "that is, at the sametime"; or, with still other subjects, perhaps drawing upon the twotruths, "that is, with the same truth." A11 these additions areconsistent with Ndgarjuna's verses in the MK. Thus, in suchinterpretations it is not the intention of the denial, as Staal claims,to save a principle of human reason from default; but rather it isheld that such is really the meaning of the third proposition, towit, that a qualification of place, time, or truth must be added.However, it follows that the denials of alternatives appried to'existence, while in their explicit form constituting the prasajyatype of denial, turn out, by reason of the qualifications added inthe Madhyamika school, to be paryudasa negations. Indeed,study of the two main traditions of the Midhyamika, candra-kirti's Prdsangika and Bhdvaviveka's Svitantrika, will show thatboth of them insist on adding qualifications, especially in termsof the two truths (saryurti and paramdrtha), theft disagreementstemming from how such qualiflcations are made. But that aqualification should be added is consistent with most of theattempts of westerners to explain the catu.rkoli, because theyusually added something, to wit, their theory of the catwskoli.So the Mddhyamika cornmentators and the western writers sharethis solicitude to rationalize, even in the case of the absolute,which was supposed to cut ofr the net of qualifications. Even so,as was indicated previously, the Madhyamika is not against reasonas the faculty which denies a self, denies the alternatives, and soon, because this reason leads to the insight which realizes theabsolute.

CoNcrusroN

Now we must revert to the initial question: who understands thefour alternatives of the Buddhist texts? It is easier to define thepersons who do not understand: as was shown, they are the oneswho do not want to understand, or are not confident of theirown ability to understand. Besides, no one understands thefour alternatives, but perchance one does understand the fouralternatives in a disjunctive system, or the four alternatives applied


to causation, or the four alternatives, applied to existence. Thefour alternatives, disjunctively considered, constitute a prelimi-

nary orientation. The alternatives of causation, each denied,are a meditation with upholding of human teason with its in-

ferences, definitions, and the like. The alternatives of existence,each denied, are a meditation with ultimate downgrading of

human reason. Then to answer more along the lines of the

way Candrakirti writes:-Whether one who understands arises

or does not arise, "this true nature of dharmqs abides,"-thesuabhdua of that sort. So Candrakirti says in his Prasannapaddcommentary on Madhyamaka-karikd, chapter XV:

By suabhdua one understands this innate nature, uncreate,

which has not deviated in the fire in the past, present, and

future; which did not arise earlier and will not arise later;

which is not dependent on causes and conditions as are the

heat of water, (one or another) of this side and the other side,

long and short. Well, then, does this own-nature of flre that

is of such manner (i.e. uncreate, not dependent) exist? (In

reply:). The (suabhaua of such sort) neither exists nor does not

exist by reason of own-nature. While that is the case, still

in order to avoid frightening the hearers, we conventionally

make affi.rmations (such as "It is suabhaue" and "It is dhqr-

mata") and say it exists.6;

osl,a Vall6e Poussin, Mulamadhyamakakdrikds, pp. 263.5 to 264.4.

I2

THE INTERMEDIATE.STATE DISPUTEIN BUDDHISM

The possibility of life after death has always fascinated mankind.

India was no exception, even with its metaphysical setting of

rebirth theory. Then, with the belief in the extraordinary powers

of yogins to delve into nature's secrets, it was held that some

individuals could communicate what really happened after death:

as when the Buddha used a divine eye (diuya-cak;us) to observe

the sentient beings going from here to various good and bad

destinies, and later told his disciples about it.

But is there life between death and rebirth? It is well known

that the theory of such an intermediate state (ontard-bhaua) was

a disputed point among the early Buddhist sects. The ones

agreeing that there is such a state were the PlrvaSaila, Sammatiya,

sarvdstivddin, vdtsiputriya, and the Latet Mahisdsaka. The

Buddhist sects that rejected the notion were the Theravadin,

vibhajyavddin, Mahdsdnghika, Mahisdsaka, as well as the work

Sdriputrabhidharmaidstra (of the Dharmaguptaka sect, which

issued from the Mahi5dsaka).lIn the Mahdyana period vasubandhu's Abhidharmakoia,

Chapter III, and self-commentary, amassed strong scriptural

evidence in support of the intermediate-state theory.2

1Andr6 Bareau, Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Vdhicule, Saigon 1955,p. 283.

sL. de La Vall6e Poussin, in his translation of Vasubandhu's work, gavethe main known references of his day, L'Abhidharmakofla de Vasubandhu,

troisidme chapitre, Paris 1926, p. 32, n.


At the outset it should be admitted that the material is abundanton the side of the sects which admitted the intermediate state inthis sense, since it allowed a great scope for rnythological elabora-tion. In contrast, the sects which rejected this kind of inter-mediate state apparently did not make rnuch of a negative posi-tion; so their immediate textual contributions to the problem aremeagre and their reasoning has mostly to be inferred. It ispossible that the Buddhist sects did not always understand theexpression "intermediate-state" the same way, and so in some casesthere is only a seeming disagreement.

our considerations promise to relate early Buddhism to certainBrahmanical teachings, to clarify the position of the Buddhistteacher Ndgdrjuna, and also to tie in this intermediate-statedispute with Buddhist embryology theory.

I. Trm Tnrsrs oF No INrEnurnr.q.rr-Srarr

The Theravada rejection of the intermediate-state is set forth inPoints of controuersy,s but the space is devoted to rejecting somearguments for the intermediate-state rvithout giving in its steada coherent alternate position. This is not to deny the relevanceof criticism that only three realms are stated. in the scriptures,that of desire (kama), of form (rupa), and the formless realm.Perhaps this criticism forced the proponents of the intermediate-state theory-as this paper will show-to treat this state in termsof the three realms. Also, the Theravdda attempted to interpretthe scriptural name antardparinirudyin as "attaining Nirvdpabefore half of his life in a Brahma world ha.s expired."4 vasu-bandhu argues against this, charging that one could then reinter-pret the other ones among the five Andgamins.s

sTranslation of the Katha-vatthz by s. z. Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids,London 1915, pp. 212-13.

4Katha-vatthu (tr.), pp. 212-13; and Designation of Human Types (puggala-pafifiati) (tr. by B. C. Law), London 1922, pp. 24-25.

5de La vall6e Poussin (tr.), rII, p. 38. vasubandhu appears toargue thatin such a case, we could say that the upapadya-parinirvaylr means one whoattains parinirvdqta upon being born in a Brahma world, which is of courseabsurd. It seems that in his way of disputing, if a term is a member of astandard list, a reinterpretation of such a term has implications for the othermembers of the list.

The Intermediate-State Dispute in Buddhism 253

How then, does one cf the early sects express its denial of aninterrnediate-state in a positive way? I appeal to the Mahisd:n-ghikas, having shown elsewhere that the Srtmald-sutrq was aproduct of this school,6 and it may be cited in this connectioneven though it belongs among the early Mahdyana scriptures:

Lord, as to "cyclical flow" (sarytsara), no sooner do the senseorgans for perception pass away than it (the Tathagatagarbha)takes hold of sense organs for perception, and that is"cyclical flow."?

Presumably all the Buddhist sects-the Theravadin, etc.-thatposited centers of consciousness other than the mano-uijfidnaand also denied the interrnediate-state, would have some analogoustheoretical statement in terms of the sense organs.

Of such sects, the Theravadin irave a bhauanga-uififianq, theVibhajyavddin a bhaudnga-uijfiana, the Mahdsdnghika a mula-uijfidna, the Mahisisaka a saqnsdrakotrinislha-skandha-the fore-runner of the alayauijfrdna of the Mahdyanaa-and the Dharma-guptaka as an offshoot of the Mahisasaka inferentially theequivalent.

Passing to the Mahdydna period in its philosophical sense, threereasons may be advanced for believing that Nigdrjuna did notsubscribe to the thesis of an intermediate-state (antard-bhaua).

(1) He writes in the Pratityasamutpddahydaya-uydkarana:s

Just as in the case of a flame from a flame, the reflected imagein a mirror from a face, an impression from a seal, a firefrom a burning crystal, a sprout from a seed. . a person isnot taught to understand that the one is different from theother, so also in the case of reconnection(pratisarpdhi)of thepersonal aggregates (skandha), the wiseperson will under-stand that there is no transfer.

64. Wayman and H. Wayman (trs.) The Lion's Roar of eueen Srtmala; aBuddhist Scripture on the Tathagatagarbha Theory, New york 1974, pp.Z-3.

zlbid. p. 104.8Bareau, Les sectes, pp. 72, 177, 187, and 240.sPhoto ed. of Tibetan canon efT).Vol. 103, p. 271-4: I ii ltat mar me

las mar me dan I bLin las me lon gi gzugs brflan 'byun dan / rgya las rgya,i'bur dan / me Sel las me dan / sa bon las myu gu dan I . . I de dag kyande fiid dan de las gtan no Zes Ses par slob ma yin pa de bLin du / phunpo flin mtshams sbyor ba yan / mi'pho bar yan mkhas rtogs bya /.


Since the old skandhqs do not transfer, there is no intermediate-state for them, just as there is no intermediate-state betweenthe two flames in the case of a flame from a flame.

(2) He rvrites in the Madhyamaka-k,urikd (XXVI, 20):

What be the limit of nirudpa is also the limit of salnsdra.There is nothing, however slight, intermediate (antara) be'trveen the two.

This shows an aversion for intermediate states.(3) He does not refer to an intermediate-state in his Friendly

Epistle.lo although his description of the bells, and so on, in this

work allows him a context to bring in an intermediate-state ifthis were his sectarian position; and this is the context in whichthose who espouse the intermediate-state do in fact mention it.

Then what can we decide from this about Ndgirjuna's school?Now, the Mddhyamika school based on Ndgdrjuna always main-

tains that of the uijiianas, besides the five based on outer senses,

he accepted only the mano-uijiidna. We arrive then at the strikingconclusion that while Ndgdrjuna appears to be in the camp ofthose rejecting an intermediate-state, he cannot be identified with

any one of the knorvn sects rvhich reject it. But since Ndgdrjunais an independent thinker of the early Mahd'ydna, there is no reason

to insist that he be identified with any early sect.Perhaps the most important doctrinal effect of the opposition to

an interrnediate state is the interpretation of the flrst two members

of Dependent Origination (pratitya-samutpdda) as pertaining to theprevious life. This interpretation is deeply impressed on the

Abhidharma literature, both in the Pali and Sanskrit languages.ll

Of course, birth was standardized in terms of uiifiana, third mem-

ber of Dependent Origination. Therefore, the first two members,

nescience (auidyQ and motivations (sarpskcira) would perforce

constitute an intermediate-state, after No. 12, old age and death

(jordmara4ta), unless the first two members could somehow be

understood to not follow upon death. A solution was to say

that those two belong to the previous cycle. We can see this

l0"Ndgirjuna's Suhyllekha" (tr. by H. Wenzel in Journal of the Pali TextSociety, 1886, pp. 2-32).

11See, for exar^rple, Ndrada, A Manual of Abhidhamma, Kandy, Ceylon,1968, Diagram XVII; and de La Vall6e Poussin (tr.) III, pp, 62-63.


same theory in the Dependent Origination verses of the

Mahiy6na biography of the Buddha called the Lqlitauistara,,containing this verse :12

By the wrong procedure engendered by the constructions of

imagination, nescience (auidyd) arises and there is no originator

of it at all. It provides the cause of motivations (sarpskara),

and there is no transfer. Perception (uiifiana) arises with

transference in dependence (on motivations).

This is consistent with Nd:gdrjuna's statement cited above (from

his pratityasamutpdda commentary), because uiifidna, not the pre-

vious nescience and motivations, now Starts the transference by

descending into the womb, or other birthplace. Here uijfidna

depends on the old sarytskdra just as the face in the mirror depends

upon the model face. Thus the Lalitauistara agrees with the

theory found in Pdli Buddhism that the first two members of

Dependent Origination pertain to the previous life. Hence they

are said to be reflected in the new series, started by uiifiana,

the seed.But if the first two members of Dependent Origination are

attributed to the previous cycle, the question arises: Where? A

kind of answer is suggested by the Pitaputrasamdganta-sutra:13So, great King, a "first perception" (pratltamauiiiidna) arises

having two conditions pertaining to "birth" (aupapatti)-by

reason of the "last perception" (.coramauifidna) as predomi-

nant condition (adhipati-prat1'a1'a) and by reason of karma as

support co ndition (o r antb a 4t a- p r a t 1' a 1' ct).In fact-as I have shown in a different contextl4-this passago

takes "death" to be divided into two phases-expiration as the last

perception and death vision as the karma. The karma is called

12F. Eocrntor.t, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Reader, New Haven 1953, p. 24 :sar.nkalpakalpajanitena ayoniSena

bhavate avidyd na pi sar.nbhavako 'sya kaScit

samskdrahetu dadate na ca salnkramo 'sti

vijfldnam udbhavati sar.nkramanam Watitya ll13As cited in Santideva's Sik;asamuccaya (ed. by the Mithila Institute),

135 , 12 -13 .14A. Wayman, 'The Fivefold Ritual Symbolism of Passion', in Studies

of Esoteric Buddhism and Tantrism ,Koyasan, Japan, 1965, p. 133. This essayalso appears in A. Wayman, Buddhist Tantras (Samuel Weiser, New York,re73).


in Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist mythology the *karme-mirror"

of Yama's judgment hall.ls It is well accepted in the theory ofDependent origination, in the case where the f,rst two memberspertain to the previous life, that member No. 2, sarpskdra, is theold karma, and furthermore that member No. 1, auidyd, is thestate of previous defilement (kleia). Hence auidyd in this contextis tantamoun.t to the "last perception" (caramauijfrana); and per-haps it is for this reason that vasubandhu compares this auidydwith a king who, when he comes, is accompanied by his courtiers(the host of defilements).lo Then member No. 3, uijfidna, be-comes the "first perception " (prathamauijfidna) in the new life.

There is a remarkable foreshadowin g of this death-fertility-deathas the instigator of another life-in the Brhaddranyaka (Ipani,rad(I,2,2): "There was nothing whatsoever here in the beginning.By death indeed was this covered, or by hunger, for hunger isdeath. He created the mind, thinking, 'Let me have a self'. Thenhe moved about, worshipping. From this, thus worshipping,water was produced." Observe how neatly this fits the first fourmembers of Buddhist Dependent origination in the interpretationdenying an intermediate state:B rhaddrapyaka stat ement"by death indeed was this covered""or by hunger, for hunger is death""He created the mind, thinking, 'Let

me have a self"''Then he moved about, worshipping. 4. name-and-form (ndma-From him, thus worshipping, water rupa)was produced" (:uijfidna in the womb)

In short, the Buddhist sects that deny an intermediate-stateare consistent with the tradition, pre-dating Buddhism, that lifecomes from death.

II. Tnn Tsnsrs oF AN INTERunnnrn-SrArE

There must have been flerce argument on the subject to have called

15I have included a discussion of this matter in a paper, "The Mirror asa Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile", History of Religions, 13: 4, May 1974,pp. 264-65. This essay is included in this volume.

rcAbhidharmakoia, III, 21a-b : / pDrvakleSadasavidya sar.nskaralr p[rva-karmanah / And de La Vall6e Poussin (tr.), III, p. 63.

Dependent Origination1. nescience (auidyd\

2. motivations (saryskdr a)3. perception (uijfidna)


forth from vasubandhu his spirited defence of the intermediatestate. He says (Abhidharmakoia III, 12, commentary):

lasaty antardbhave katham antaraparinirvdyi nama sydt/werethere no intermediate state, how could there be the term[found in the scriptures] "a being who has parinirud4a in theintermediate state" ?

This is part of the teaching that among the five kinds of non-returnees (anagomin), there is the antard-parinirudyinwho, accord-ittg to the interpretation which vasubandhu follows, reachesNirvdna in the intermediate state. He refers to the satpurugagati-siltra for varieties of the antard-parinirudyin (infra.).

vasubandhu explains the intermediate-state being in two verses(ibid., IIr, 13-14):

It [the intermediate-state being] has the configuration of whatis to be the configuration of the future being, since it has thesame forecastingi to wit, which is subsequent to the momentof birth and prior to death (i.e. the future being has the periodof moment right after birth to moment just before oeattr;.It is seen by the pure divine eye belonging to beings of itsclass. It has the force of magical power of act. Its senseorgans are perfect. It cannot be impeded or turned back.It feeds on odours (gandhabhuk).

Vasubandhu's commentary refers to a saptabhauasiltralT for theteaching that the five destinies, men, gods, animals, hungryghosts, and hell beings, have their cause (sahetuka), namely ihlkarma-bhaua, and have their access (sagamana), namelythe aitard-bhaua. His commentary explains the term gandhabhuk asgandharua. He refers to the Aiualayana-sutra (presumably fromthe Madhyamdgama) for the reference to the word gandh-arua assome kind of being, to wit (as Miss I.B. Horner translates fromthe equivalent Pali scripture, the Assaldyanasutta in the Majjhima-nikaya): "But do you, sirs, know whether that gandhabba is unoble or brahman or worker or merchant?', And this questionwas preceded by the remark (her transration): 'owe do know, sir,how there is conception. There is here a coitus of the parents, ii

lzde La vall6e Poussin, II, p. 13, states that the authenticity of this sfitrawas contested.


is the mother's season and the gandhabba is present; it is on the

conjunction of these three things that there is conception."ls

In the Vedic period the gandharua is a kind of spirit generally

placed in the antarikpa (the intermediate space between earth and

sky) along with the Pitaras (ancestors) and Asuras (demi-gods).1e

The intermediate space can be understood as having Indra in the

daytime and the Gandharva at nighttime for chief or typical

deities.2o Besides being a musician, the gandharua in the Veda

could be a cloud,2L andthis meaning was continued into Mahayana

Buddhism as a simile of illusion (mdy\, the often mentioned "city

of gandharuas", meaning the "castle in the aif ," a particular at-

mospheric phenomenon.2z Even this use of the word continues

the association with the midspace. According to Vedic concep-

tionszs the gandharua was the second, of the three non-human

deities that married a woman before she married a human male

(:one born of woman), the first being Soma (:Candra) in the

sky, and the third being Agni (:Yama) on earth.24 The gan-

dharua, in these old Indian ideas, gave the woman her sweetness

of voice. Of course, the Vedas did not contain the notion of

gandharua as a disincarnate entity headed for rebirth; indeed, the

rebirth theory has never been traced to the four vedas.

However, since the theory of karma and rebirth has a sympathe-

tic treatment in certain old Upanisads, the question arises as to

whether the gandharua is mentioned therein along the lines of the

Assaldyanasutta. Such a mention may be intended, although

obscurely, in the Kalha Upanisad, which prgsumably is to be dated

at about the same time as that old Buddhist scripture. The Kalha

states (II, 3, 5):

18I.8. Horner (tr.) The Middle Length sayings, vol. II, London 1957, p. 349-lecf. A. A, MacDonell, Yedic Mythology, Strassburg 1897, pp. 136-37.20At least such are my conclusions in "climactic Times in Indian Mytho-

logyandRel ig i t t , "H is to ryo fRe l ig ions ,4 :2 ,Win ter1965 'p '300 '21R. S. Panchamukhi, Gandharvas & I(innaras in Indian Iconography

(Dharwar, 1951), P. 3.-rrCf. Eii"rrn" famotte, Le Traitd de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse,I, Louvain

1944, pp. 369-73.2sThe Marriage Hymn, $'gveda X, 85, 40'2aMy interpretation, "Climactic Times", pp. 298-99' was written with

leanings to the "intermediate state" position, generally accepted in Tibetan

Buddhism.

The Intermediate-State Dispute in Buddhism

As one sees in a mirror, so (Brahman) in.the dtman;As (one sees) in a dream, so (Brahman) in the world of the

forefathers (Pit rloka) ;As (one sees) toward (pari) the water, so in the world of the

gondharuas;As in light and shade, so in the world of Brahmd.

If we interpret this passage of the Kalha as a progression, asRadhakrishnan thinks it is,25 then the similes can be clarified asfollows:

simile referent

259

"as in a mirror' Brahman in the dtmann'as in a dream" Brahman in the world

of the forefathers"as toward the water" Brahman in the world

of gandhoraasn'as in light and Brahman in the world

shade" of Brahmd

progressionpresent life

state after death

heading forrebirth

uijfiana in theheart26

since "toward the water" (apsu pari) implies "toward thefemale", it follows tbat the "world of gandharuas" may reasonablybe identified with the gandharuas that are meant by the Assa-Idyanasutta.

Taking these gondharuas in the meaning of intermediate-stateb_eings, we notice that a Mahdydna Buddhist scripture, the Arya-Ananda-garbhdvakrdntinirdeia, classifies them so as to be withinthe Buddhist three wcrlds. It explains that beings headed for anevil destiny have in the intermediate state a displeasing colour ofpersonal aggregates, namely hell beings have a colour like theburnt stump of a tree; animals, like smoke; hungry ghosts, likewater; and that beings headed for a good destiny have a pleasingcolour in the intermediate state, namely, men and gods (in the

zsS. Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upani;ads, New york 1953, p.643,26so states Asafiga in the Yogacarabhumi (part I, ed. by v. Bhattacharya),

University of Calcutta 1957, 24.18-19: I yatra ca kalaladese tadvijflanar.nsammtircchitar.n so 'sya bhavati tasmin samaye hrdayadesatr / ,.At the timethat the viifiana becomes unconscious at wherever be the kalala,its place isthe heart." For the comparable idea in the Pali commentarial tradition, cf.Y. Karunadasa, Buddhist Analysis of Matter, colombo 1967, pp. 62-66,in a discussion of the term hadaya-vatthu. The comparable upaniladic theoryis in terms of the vijfianamaya-puruta.


realm of desire), like the colour of gold; gods in the realm of form,

the colour of abiding white; while gods in tbe formless realm are

colourless for the very reason that the realm is formless (and

therefore lacks both colour and shape)." This is presumably what

Vasubandhu means by saying the being has the configuration of

the future being, as one of the five destinies.Asanga, who belongs to the later MahiSd:sakaz8 and so accepts.

the intermediate state, speaks along the lines of that Mahdyina,

scripture in his Bo dhis attuabhumi when he says that the ant ar dbhau a

is of two kinds, the kind invested with darkness (tamalt-pardyalta)'

like pitch-black nights, said to have a bad colour (duruarpa); and-

the kind invested with light (jyotilt-pardyalta) like nights that are'

lighted, said to have a good colour (suuarrya).2e The kind of a bad

colour leads to a bad destiny; and the kind of a good colour leads.

to a good destiny.Asanga also explains:3o

Besides, there is its synonymous terminology. The term

"intermediate state" is used because it manifests in the inter-

val between the death-state and the birth-state. The termgandharua is used because it has access (gamana) by way of'

odour and has growth (pusti) by way of odour. The term"made of mind" (manomaya) is used because the mind, takingrecourse to itself, proceeds to the birthplace, but not because'its going to a body is going with an object-support (alambana).

The "resultant" (abhiniruytti) is used because it is productive'

in the direction of birth.

The AbhiChqrmakoia (III,40c-4la) adds a further name "seekingbirth" (sarTtbhauaigin), which Asanga apparently includes in"made of mind", according to his explanation.sl The denial of'

2?In the Tibetan Kanjur, Ratnakfi{a collection, PTT, YoL 23, p. 103-5.28Cf. A. Wayman, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manusuipt,BerkeTey 7961,.

pp. 25-29.zsBodhisattvabhumi, (ed. by Wogihara), II, pp. 390-91.\oYogdcdrabhumi,I,20.9-13: I tasya punah parydyFt antardbhava ity ucyate

maralabhavotpattibhavayor antarile pridurbhdvat / gandhawa ity ucyategandhena gamanid gandhena pultitaS ca / manomaya ity ucyate tannisrityamanasa upapattylyatanagamanatayi / Sariragatyd, ca punar nilambana-gatyd / abhinirvrttir apy ucyate upapatter abhimukhyena nirvartanatayd f:

BrCf. Abhidharmakoia, (tr.), III, pp. 122-23.


an object-support seems inconsistent with the explanation for the

name gandharua.sz So the proponents of the "intermediate state"also have here a problem that does not appear to be resolved.ss

Anyway, the gandharua has perfect sense organs, as Vasubandhuhas already been cited.

Besides there are the periods by weeks, found both in the inter-mediate-state theory and in the theory of intra-uterine develop-ment which could therefore be labelled the "lunar route." Thus,Asanga states:3a

Also, the intermediate state lasts for seven days. But whenthere is not the condition for rebirth, and when there is thecondition for rebirth-is an uncertain matter. And when this

[condition] is not attained, then it lasts from seven days toseven times seven days after one has died, while the conditionof rebirth is not being attained. When that period has elapsedcertainly one attains the condition of rebirth. Sometimes inthat very place there is the "resultant" (abltinirurtti) of the onepassed away since seven days. Sometimes, in the case of onewith bad fortune (or: who is unlucky) (a "resultant") else-where, for if another activity of the karma should change thecourse, it would cause that seed of antardbhaua to changecourse.

Presumably what Asanga means by the "bad fortune" is that the

3zThat is to say, odour is ordinarily taken as the object-support of the senseof smell. Compare MacDonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 137: "The RV. addsthe touch that Gandharva wears a fragrant (surabhi) garment (10., 123?),while in the AV. (l2.tzs1 the odour (gandha) of the earth is said to rise to theGandharvas."

33One rationalization to avoid the object-support could be that the gan-dharva is "perfumed" by vdsand (habirenergy), so provides its own odour.On the other hand, it would be natural to rationalize that the odour of sexualunion is the odour which rises to the gandharva, and this ordinarily wouldbe construed as an object-support (alambana).

saYogdcdrabhumi I, 20.4-8: / sa punar antardbhavalr saptahar.n tiqthatyasaty upapattipratyayaldbhe / sati punah pratyayardbhe 'niyamal.r

/ alabhepunaS cyutvd punah saptdhar.n tilthati ydvat sapta saptdhani ti;thaty upapatti-pratyayam alabhamlna\ I tata iirdhvam avaSyam upapattipratyayam labhate/tasya ca saptdhacyutasya kaddcit tatraivdbhinirvlttir bhavati / kaddcid an-yatra visabhage I sdcet karmintarakriyi parivarteta tad antardbhavabijar.nparivartayati ll

Buddhist Insight262

gandharua has contributed to the conception in the womb, andthen has gone away.

In the case of the intra-uterine development, there are the twogarbhduakrdnti scriptures in both Tibetan and Chinese of theRatnakfita collection. The smaller of these, the Arya-dyugman-nandagarbhduakrdntinirdeia, was translated from Chinese intoGerman by Huebotter.ss Both of these texts have the teaching thatparturition occurs upon 38 weeks.36 Interestingly, this total of266 days happens to be exactly the number stated by a modernbiological work to be the full term of pregnancy.sT

As the Mahdydna developed into tantric Buddhism, there wasmuch made of the intermediate state, with differerrt kinds ofbardo, as it is now frequently referred to by the Tibetan equivalent(abbreviated) of the word antardbhaua. My studies inthis literatureshowed me one usage of the term "intermediate state" practicallyequivalent to the ten lunar months of intra-uterine development.ssEven the Points of Controaersy would not have objected to the"intermediate state" ifthe opponent had said that this is what it is.Indeed, Asanga's statement of the periods of seven-day multiplessuggests a coordination of this "intermediate state" with the earlydevelopment of the embryo.

However, the early proponents of the "intermediate state"doctrine necessarily understood this in some way that put them atvariance with; and made them opponents of, those who reject theintermediate state. Just as there are doctrinal implications in thecase of those who reject the intermediate state, so there are suchimplications for those who accept it. Perhaps it is in the light ofthe intermediate-state position that Asanga has an alternate wayof grouping the members of Dependent Origination, as found inSanskrit in his Abhidharma-semuccqva :3e

35Dr. Med. et Dr. Phil. Huebotter (tr.), Die Sutra iiberEm pfdngnis undEmbryologre (Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Natur-u. Volkerkunde Ostasiens),Tokyo 1932.

s6Huebotte4 p. 2l; Tibetan for the same text, PTT, Yol. 23, p.99-3; atdTibetan for the larger text, the Arya-Ananda-garbhavakrdnti-nirdeia, PTT,Yol. 23, p. 107-4. But, according to P. V. Bapat, Vimuttimagga and Visud-dhimagga, Poona 7937, p. l29,the Vimuttimagga gives 42 weeks for the samedevelopment.

szMartin and Vincent, Human Biological Developmenf, The Ronald PressCompany, New York, 1960.

38Wayman, "The Fivefold Ritual Symbolism of Passion", p. 130.3sP. Pradhan (ed.) Abhidharma-samuccaya, 26.20 ff.


How are the members grouped-[Into] the groups [catled]members which cast downward, members which are cast down'

ward, productive members, and resultant members. What are

the members which cast downward? They are nescience'

motivations, and perception. What are the members which

are cast downward? They are name-and-form, six sense

bases, contact, and feelings. Whatare the productive members?

They are craving, indulgence, and gestation. What are

the resultant members? They are birth, and old age

death.

Since Asanga does not classify the first two members as "past life",

it is not possible to make the kind of correlation that was done

previously in association with the Brhaddraryyaka Upani;ad. One

may conclude that the first three members-those which cast

downward-are the intermediate state, although admittedly I

have not found Asanga stating this explicitly.

Moreover, when speaking of the species (gotra) of the religious

family, Asanga raises the question as to whether it belongs to a

single or multiple lineage, and answers in part, "That seed does

not have the characteristics of difference as long as it stays apatt

from the six sense bases (ga/dyatanA)."u0 This remark immediately

contrasts with the position previously cited from the Srmdld-

siltra. When Asanga allows a possibility of the "species" staying

apaft from the six sense bases, he assumes an intermediate state

between the prior set of six sense bases and the later set of six

sense bases. Perhaps Asanga must take this position because of

his emphasis on yoga training, with its premise that one may

detach himself from the senses. But usually such detachment

would be from the five outer senses, and Asanga allows such de-

tachment also from the sixth sense, the manas.

Turning now to the three kinds of antardparinirudyin in the

theory of flve kinds of andgdmin,long ago Louis de La Vallde

Poussin made a comparison of the Sanskrit version from the

Satpurusagati-siltra cited by YaSomitra in his Abhidharmakoiq-

uydkhya, with the Pali version in the Anguttara-nikdya, vii, 52.a1

For the putpose of the present article, I have edited from the

aoWayman, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manuscript, p. 59.

4l"Pali and Sanskrit", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,1906, pp. 346-51-

Buddhist Insight

Bihar MS of Asanga's Srdaqkabhilmi his statement about threekinds, which I thereafter translate:a2

f antara-parinirvdyi pudgalah katamah f antard-parinirvdyilahpudgalds trayab/

/ ekdntard-parinirvayi pudgalah cyutamd.tra evantaribhavd-bhinirvartikale antaribhavam abhinirvartayaty abhinirvartatesamakilam eva parinirvdti / tadyathd parittah sakalikagnirutpannaiv a parinftv ati f/ dvitiyo'ntara-parinirvdyi pudgalah antardbhavam abhinir-vartayaty abhinirvartate antardbhave tatrastha eva kaldn-tarena parinirvdti/ no tu yenopapattibhavas tenddydpy upana-to bhavati / radyathdyogu{dniry vd ayahsthaldndm vadiptdgnisar.nprataptandm ayoghanair *unmathitanam4r ayah-prapatikd utpataty eva parinirvdti // tvtryo'ntara-parinirvdyi pudgalah antarabhavam abhinir-vartya yenopapattibhavas tenopanamati / upanatas ca punaranup apanna eva pari nirvat i / tady atha / ay ahprap ati ka u tp adyaplthivyim apatita eva parinirvdti f taime trayo 'ntara-parinir-

vdyi4ah pudgali ekadhyam abhisar.nk$ipya antara-parinir-vdyi pudgala ity ucyatefwhat is the person who attains parinirudna in the intermediatestate? There are three persons who attain parinirudna in theintermediate state.The first person who attains parinirudna in the intermediatestate is made to fulfill the intermediate state no sooner hashe died, at the time of accomplishing the intermediate state.He accomplishes it at exactly the same time and attainsparinirud4a. For example, a tiny flame of hay arises andimmediately disappears.The second person who attainsparinirudryain the internrediatestate is made to accomplish the intermediate state and ac-complishes it, just staying there in the intermediate state andin the intervening time attains pariniradno, but where be thestate of rebirth (upapattibhaua) does not just now head toward

azThis is the manuscript utilized in the work of n. 2g above. The presentexcerpt is not included in that work. The Tibetan equivalent is found in theTibetan Tanjur, PTT, Yol. 110, p. 69-3tr.

a8Part of this word was covered by a tack used when R. sankrityayanaphotographed the manuscript in Tibet.


that place. For example, just as when iron balls or iron platesare made burning hot by being violently struck with iron ham-mers, and the mass of sparks from the irons just ascends anddisappears.The third person who attains parinirudqa in the intermediatestate when he accomplishes the intermediate state does headto where is the rebirth state; and having headed there, withoutbeing reborn, attains parinirud?a. For example, just as whena mass of sparks from the iron ascends and then when fallingquite reaching the earth, disappears.when one takes these three afiara-pctrinirudyinpersons together,the expression "person who attains parinirudpa in the inter-mediate state" is used.

so this is the theory repeated by Asanga and his brother vasu-bandhu centuries after the points of controuersy rejected thisinterpretation of the word antardparinirudyin. But, upon inspec-tion of the three kinds of antardparinirvdyin as Asanga statesthem, we find it is actually only the second one that has an afiara-.bhaua not accepted by the opponents of such a state. This isbecause all the Indian Buddhist sects agreed that there is a deathstate followed by a rebirth state within the womb (in the case ofhuman birth), and therefore would not deny the antardbhauaswhich coincide with the death and rebirth states. But they wouldlikely ask, "Then why use the expression 'intermediate state' in'these cases?"

III. FrNar. CoNsroERArroNS

My investigation indicates that the old Upanisads and the oldBuddhist scriptures both present the rival theories of "no inter-mediate state" and "intermediate state". perhaps in the upa-niqads this reflects a contrasting orientatiorr of the "re-death" (perBrhaddraryyaka) and the "re-birth" (per Kalha) positions. Inthe Buddhist sects the difference is partly temperamental, to wit,those rejecting the state preferring to have a rational control ofBuddhist doctrine; and those accepting the state willing to allowmythological exuberance. once one accepts the intermediatestate, there is no end to the elaboration, as evidenced in theTibetan Book of the Dead.

This research also leads to the curious conclusion that the same


ancient Buddhist scriptures can lead to opposing doctrines withpartisans equally divided among the old Buddhist sects. Thisshould unsettle the all-too-frequent posture among modernexponents of Buddhism where someone claims that he knowsbetter than others the Dharma of the Buddha. Of course, asfar as the intermediate-state dispute is concerned, there is no needto attribute one position over the other to early or "original"Buddhism.

PART THREE

INTERPRETATIVE STU DI ESOF BUDDHISM

13

NO TIME, GREAT TIME AND PROFANETIME IN BUDDHISM

This essay maintains that some important Buddhist texts con-tribute to a neat formulation of man's most treasured modes of'thought: No Time as the source of religion, Great Time as thesource of myth, and Profane Time as the source of reason. These,three forms of Time are not so named in the Buddhist works. Thelimitation of data to Indo-Tibetan materials makes possible the'addition of an expression "No Time" to the two categories "GreatTime" and "Profane Time" utilized by Eliade for worldwide cul-tural materials, while he marshals the evidence and terminologythat facilitate the integration of Eastern and Western spirit.lEliade's ontological interpretation of such modes is well known.The present writer is not thereby released from the obligation torework the available data arcording to his understanding of Bud-dhism. Then-to anticipate the development-without assertingany ontological status for such modes elsewhere in the world, itdoes appear that in the Buddhist case, in the Indian context, thethree modes of thought allude to three modes of being.

There is no claim to involve all of Buddhism in this treatment,although the prevalent Buddhist genesis legend, already studied,will play a significant role.z The metaphysical discussion stems

rAmong the works of Mircea Eliade, the following have been especiallyimportant to this paper : Myths, Dreams and Mysteries (London, 1960);The Sacred and the Profane (New York, 1961).

2AIex Wayman, "Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric Tradition," OriensExtremus, g (1962): 127-31. The essay also appears in A. Wayman, Buddhist'Tantras (Samuvel Weiser, New York 1973).

No Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhism

some early Western Orientalists considered Buddhism to be pre-

eminently rational.

CnB.q,rtoN Accononlc ro rHE MADHYANTAVmsAce

Before setting forth the intended structure of three modes ofthought, I shall separately treat the rather technical data of theMadhydnta-uibhdga, which not only contributes decisively to thepresent topic but also conveys a rather different picture of theYogdcira from the way the latter is depicted in current surveysof Indian philosophy.

The two realities of the Yogdcdra metaphysics are called abhitta'parikalpa and iunyatd, here translated respectively as the "fm-agination of Unreality" and "Voidness," compatible with Stcher-batsky's respective renditions, the "Llniversal Constructor ofPhenomena" and the "Absolute." The Madhydnta'uibhdga states( I , 1 ) :

There was the Imagination of Unreality,And in it no duality (of subject and object).There was Voidness in it,And it was in that (Voidness).5

Of the reality called "fmaginationof Unreality," what is the"IJnreality" (abhuta) and what the "Imagination" (parikalpa)?The text states (I, 5): "What is imagined is explained as the 'ob-

jective thing' (artha); what is dependent, as the constructionprocess of unreality; and what is perfect, as the unreality of both(subject and object)."6 And from the text (I, 3) and Vasubandhu'scommentary, we learn that the "Imagination" has its own fourcharacters (sualak$a(ta), called "objective thing" (artha), "per-sonal organ" (sattua), "self" (dtman), and "representation"(uijfiapti):

Perception was engendered as the projection of (six kinds of)objective things, (five) personal organs, self (:mind), and(six kinds of) representations. The objective thing does not

sabhtrta-parikalpo 'sti dvayan tatra na vidyate /ftrnyatd vidyate tv atra tasyim api sa vidyate llokalpitah paratantraS ca parinigpanna eva ea Iarthad abhtitakalpdc ca dvaydbh6vdc ca de5itab //

271

272 Buddhist Insighr

belong to it (i.e., perception). since the former (the objectivething) is unreal, the latter (perception) is also unreal.z

The implication is that when the Imagination of unreality is notso imagining, its four characters are not grouped in zubject-objectrelation, and that when it is so imagining, the ..self" approa.h.*the "personal organ," whereupon the "representation,' ialsely de-picts the "objective thing." As with all such ultimate processes'the modus operandi of the primordial subject-object emergenceis wrapped in mystery. However, it seems to involve an interac-tion of the "self" and the "personal organ" with voidness as Dhar-madhdtu ("realm of Dharma"), which is the material cause.8

The reality called "voidness" has this character (I, l3a-b):"the unreality of both (subject and object), and the reality (sub-jacent) of this unreality."s rhis translation, following strh.r-batsky, is consistent with yogicdra definitions in other works astypified by two statements, one of which specifies what is voidedand the other of which specifies what remains not voided. Thefollowing verse (I, 14) clarifies the sense of the ..reality (subja-cent) of this unreality" by names of voidness, justified in the next,verse (I, 15):

Thusness (t at h at d) becau se not otherwise, True Limit (b hilt ak o 1 i),because not wrong, Attributeless (animitta) because the cessa-tion of attributes, ultimate state (paramdrthatd) because thedomain of the noble ones, the Realm of Dharma(dharmadhdtu).because having the noble natures (dharma).

verses I, 8-9 and vasubandhu's commentary portray the Ima-

Tartha-satvitma-vijfiapti-pratibh6sar.n prajdyate Ivijflanam nasti cdsyarthas tad-abhivdt tad apy asat ll

vasubandhu's commentary (Nagao, Madhydntavibhaga-bha;ya, pp. 1g-19),clarifies the word "self" (atman) as the "corrupted mind', (kti;lamanas) andthe six things as objects grasped by the six sense organs (five by the wordsattva), including mind as the sixth, in terms of six representations (vijfiapti)-

sSuch an idea is found near the beginning of Asanga's Srdvakabhtlmi, ina passage for which original Sanskrit is lacking; here it is translated fromTibetan (Derge edition of raqiur, sems tsam, Sravakabhumi, 2b): ..Frow-

ever, that seed does not have the characteristics ofdifference so long as it stays.apart from the six sense bases $adayatana). That seed has been handed downin lineage from beginningless time and has states obtained through the sixsense bases which are attained by means of 'true nature' (dharmata).,,

sdvayibhdvo hy abhavasya bhavah Stinyasya lakqa?am.

No Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhism ZTj

gination of unreality in a new role. Since its own characters(saalakgana) had projected the unreal perception, the youngerImagination of unreality is now precisely that unreal perceptionof the unreal objective thing:

Now the Imagination of unreality was consciousness (of) andmentals, composing the three realms (of desireo of form, andformless). Perception ( - "consciousness of ") sees the ob-jective thing itself; its mentals see modifications of the objectivething. The first one is the foundation-perception (: alaya-uijrtdna). The other ones pertain to experience. These are thementals (namely, feelings, uedana) which enjoy, (ideas, sarltjfid)which distinguish, and (motivations, saqnskdra) which activate(perception).10

That passage covers two stages of the process which the presentessay intends to keep separate. They are "consciousness of,"which sees the objective thing itself, and mentals, which seemodifications of the thing. They are preceded by the atemporalstate in which the Imagination of Unreality abides with Voidnessdeprived of the subject-object relationship.

No Tlrua, THE Souncp or. RsrrcroN

No Time means the revelation of reality, everywhere, always.Man may or rnay not intuit the dazzling ultimate. rtis other thanGreat Tirne rvhen nature predicts by omens and man obeys. It isother than Profane Time when man predicts by reason and natureobeys.

The story of Buddhist genesis alludes to a mode of being pre*vailing as o'men of the flrst eon" while the lower receptacle worldsare reevolving after the periodic destruction. These men havebodies made of mind, are self-luminous, feed on joy, and arewherever they wish to be. Their actions have immediate fruition,and so involve No Time.ll

In the Madhyanta-uibhdga, No Time is the mysterious truth ofa voidness reality subjacent to the unreality of subject and

loabhfitaparikalpaS ca citta-caittis tridhdtukah /tatrirtha-drqtir vijfidnain tad-viSe,se tu caitasdb llekam pratyaya-vijflinam dvitiyam aupabhogikam /upabhoga-pariccheda-prerakis tatra caitasAb I IllWayman, "Buddhist Genesis."


object-a reality neither joined to nor separate from the creative

center called Imagination of Unreality. This Voidness is the goal

to which the noble ones (the elect) aspire, because it has the

noble natures, called in other Buddhist texts the "Buddha natures"(buddhadharma).

Generally, Buddhist texts referred to this state as Nirvi{ra,

more properly "Nirva4a without remainder." "Nirva4a with

remainder" is approximately Great Time. The Mahdydna

"Nirva4a without fixed abode" (apratiglhita-nirudqta) is all three

Times.

Gnner Ttltn, rsn SouncE oF MYrn

Great Time is the marvelous beginning of time in the sense of an

interval not always progressing in a continuous line, as does Pro-

fane Time, which has an anterior past, a present moment, and

a posterior future. The interval of time is colored by a glorious

quality, because then is the contact with earth by the hero, walk-

ing with erect stature. His fabulous and exemplary adventures

need only be recounted in myth to inspire the imagination, and

possibly also th.e conduct of men in later Profane Time; especially

men who are close to the soil. The myth of the Buddha's life also

begins with this walking, as the child leaves his mother's womb

by the right side, takes seven steps toward the north, and an-

nounces, "f am at the top of the world. . .)'rz The future Bud-

dha's seven steps are (No Time in) Great Time; his announcement

is (No Time in) Profane Tirne.

All those examples point to the touching of earth as constitut-

ing a symbolic moment which we could call Moment 1, as the

preliminary moment to rnundane life (in case of infant), to

spiritual life (in case of Buddha), to the symbolization of the

spiritual life (in case of main body of the rite), to acceptance

in marriage (in case of the auspicious bride). At Moment l,

the being is not yet alive, but anticipates the whole future life.

Astrologically, at the moment of birth the infant is at the

center of the universe, in sympathetic communion with the

planets and stars, which indelibly impress the being with a

sort of centriPetal force.13rzCf. Eliade, Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, pp.110'15.l3Alex Wayman, "Climactic Times in Indian Mythology and Religion "

History of Religions, 4 (1965): 310-1I.

t)

No Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhisrn 275

This place where earth is touched is the center, of which Eliadefrequently speaks.

In the Buddhist story of genesis, on the rsurface of earth thereappeared an earth essence-in the Tantric version called anambrosia (am7ta)-which a greedy being tasted with his fingerand then ate mouthfuls of. other beings followed suit. Thusthey became dependent on subtle morsel food and no longer fedon joy. They gradually lost the body made of mind as their bodiesbecame heavier and more substantial. The ones who indulgedleast proudly retained their beautiful form. The sun, moon, andyear became known. Hell beings, beings in the embryonic states,and the gods involved with desire (kdmduacdradeua) still havethe subtle kind of food which does not give rise to excrement orurine.la

According to the Madhydnta-uibhdga, in the beginning theworld became inner-outer, or subject-object. That is to say, whatwas always there in No Time continued just the same. But animaginary relationship was introduced among the four characters,semi-divine beings as it were, of the Imagination of Unreality.Perhaps in a magic square they projected their own being throughVoidness into an Imagination of Unreality the younger. This isfirst the foundation perception called "basic perceptio n" (dlaya-uijfiana) which has as object the objective thing itself. Since asyet there are no modifications (alsesa) of the objective thing,there is no error (bhrdnti) or specific illusion. Nevertheless, theobjective thing is said to be unreal. The unreality here is the cos-mic illusion, the begiiining of downfall. The fascinating objectivething conceals in its very freshness the specific illusion that issure to follow in a subsequent remove of Profane Time. From thebeginning, the world was pervaded by delusion (moha). It is asthe Buddha tells: all constructed things (sarpskdra) are suffer-iog. In Great Time, the suffering is of transformation.

PnopaNe TlMn, rne SoURCE oF RuasoN

This is horizontality. Man has nature down where it can behandled. But he believes that his inner knowledge stems fromouter happenings. Time now, according to L6vy-Bruhl, is what

laWayman, "Buddhist Genesis."


"our" minds-the minds of us, the "civilizedl'-take it to be. Inhis graphic words:

extending indefinitely in imagination, something like a straightline, always homogeneous by nature, upon which events fallinto position, a line on which foresight can arrange them inan unilinear and irreversible series, and on which they mustof necessity occur one after the other.ls

As long as man lives a profane life, his best guide is reason, whichis limited and superficial, accompanied by the latest "laws ofthought." The remarkable achievements of science fall here.Profane existence proves itself by accumulations such as mer-chandise and books (religious and. secular), and also by desacra-lized leavings or residues. It is "the rest of life" after Moment 1.

In Buddhist genesis, the beings began to subsist on coarsemorsel food, which gave rise to excrement and urine. The dis-tinguishing characteristics of male and female arose, along withsexual desire and relevant acts. Then the idea of "private pro-perty" arose with individual rice plots, followed by stealing andconsequent violence. Those beings elected a"great chosen one"(mahdsammata) to provide security.lo This shows the emergenceof lust and hatred, then private property and the status of rulerand ruled.

The Madhyanta-uibhaga alludes to this state of being by "men-tals'o seeing the modifications of the objective thing. These men-tals pertain to experience, and are feelings, ideas, and motivations.They are also called the "evolving perceptions" (praurtti-uijfidna).This state is full-blown illusion.

R.ecaprruLATroNs

It is a basic feature of Eliade's writings that h.e denies a purelyprcfane existence. The homogeneity of profane space is inter-rupted by certain "holy places" dear to the memory of even theprofane rronreligious man.l? While Eliade has not defined theprofane life in the terms I have employed above, I see no conflictwith his position on this matter. I can therefore go on to agree

lsl-ucien L6vy-Bruhl, Primitive Mentality (Boston, 1966), p. 123.16Wayman, "Buddhist Genesis."17So in Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane.

No Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhism 277

with him on this denial of the pure profane. There is no need torepeat here his well-presented justifications. My methods ofdemonstrating this conclusion are additional. Here there aretwo kinds of recapitulation-that of childhood and that of thedaily life of man.

The Recapitulation in Childhood

In a brief communicationls I called attention to the Indiantheory of life stages, of which the first three are in point now.They are the first year of life under the Moon, the second andthird years under Mars, and the fourth through twelfth underMercury. In the first year-as modern child developrnent studyshows-the baby begins with no distinction between himself andhis environment, and so is akin to the nondual state of No Time,from which he gradually emerges during the balance of the year.Recently emerged from the primeval waters called the amni-otic fluid and still dependent on liquids, the infant is governedby the Moon. For purposes of our correspondences based onIndian classifications, the entire year will be taken conventionallyas the "nondual state." About the beginning of the second year,the child starts to walk: this inaugurates the heroic stage of walk-ing on earth. It is a kind of anabasis, "advance uphill" (classi-cally used for "military advance"). Also in the next two yearsthe child speaks magic syllables expressing his desires and com-manding their fulfillment by parents. Morbid regressions to thisstate could be called catabasis, "retreat to the sea" (classicallyused for "military retreat"). So the child during those two yearsis goverrred by Mars, the commander-in-chief in Indian astrology.This is childhood's type of Great Time. Phylogenetic recapitula-tion in Profane Time is shown by the last period of childhood, thefourth through the twelfth year, when the lad or girl develops thepower of reasoning while playfully dashing hither and yon underthe dominion of Mercury. Modern studies show that the childis now a "socialized being" and his games increasingly have rules.leThe ages assigned to these stages are of course stated with gener-rality and. are not meant to deny individual differences.

18"The Stages of Life according to Varihamihira," Journal of the AmericanOriental Society, 83 (1963): 360-61.

leJean Piaget, Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood (New York, 1962),p. 142.


The Daily Recapitulation

Each duy, manos life exhibits modes that disguise the threetimes. Properly speaking, the disguise is inaugurated by puberty,because the maturation of the sexually differentiated characteris-tics recalls rvhat in the Buddhist genesis legend inaugurated thelast period, corrupted by lust and hatred. fn short, dreamlesssleep corresponds to No Time, dream to Great Time, and theu'aking state to Profane Time.

I must stress-and in a similar vein, so does Eliade20-thatthe kind of correspondence referred to in the iternization of re-capitulations does not imply identity with the three Times. In-deed, elements in correspondence are both related in some wayand differ in some way. No Time, Great Time, and Profane Timeeach have a universal or shared character. The recapitulationsare personal or private. Thus, Great Time is the source of mythas held by a certain society to work out public problems while adream is a private matter to work out private problems. Thedream is also like Great Time in its shortened psychological dis-tance between subject and object, evidenced by the conversion ofdiscursive thinking into nondiscursive imagery, especially indramatic presentation, and also by its premonitory character (inthe sense of shorving trends). In contrast, dreaming is mostlyinspired by experiences of the waking state, preeminently FrofaneTime, while Great Time is mostly inspired by No Time. Certaincases of unsuccessful (o'unresolved") dreaming even parallel thesuccessful "walking" of Great Time by the striking act of som-nambulism. The recapitulations of childhood are more faithfi.rlto the three Times (hence the Biblical advice for entering theKingdom of Heaven). That the third period (ages four throughtwelve), when the child is allowed to go out and play with otherchildren, establishes Profane Time, is a matter to be justified"

Buddhism generally explained that "discursive thought" (uikalpa)is the nescience (auidyQ, or cause of it, that heads the DependentOrigination (pratitya-somutpdda) constituting Phenomenal Life(sarysdra). This "discursive thought" is the basis of humanreasoning with its rules. Butachildplayingby itselfdoes notdeviserules for games.zl Therefore, I understand the third period of

20Eliade, Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, p."1.7.2lPiaget, Play, Dreams and Imitation, p. 142.


childhood to be involved in the parable of the Buddhist Mahdydna

scripture called Sdgaramatipariprcchd: "Now suppose this boy,

being a child, would fall into a pit of night-soil while playing.. .."

It turns out that this "pit of night-soil" is a term for salnsdra.zz

While the recapitulations in both childhood and daily life are

not identical with the three Times, they do share the universal

character in a salient feature. That is to say, we can combine the

childhood and daily recapitulations to observe that although the

child, and then the child becomes an adult, are in aspects of Pro-

fane Time, they do indeed still recapitulate all three Times. They

do so irrespective of the degree of religious feeling in particular

persons, do so irrespective of such rites as baptism, and do so

whether or not people indulge in food and sex sacramentally. In

every life the "Moment 1" is Great Time, the rest of life Profane

Time, but throughout life there are these recapitulations, echoes,

and intimations of the Sacred. This is why no person in Profane

Time can be utterly dissociated from No Time and Great Time.

In this light, an irreligious as well as a religious person may use

with sincerity such expressions as the "sanctity of the home."

Breakthroughs

By "breakthrough" I refer to the numinous experience as des-

cribed by Otto (Das Heilige). It is an irrational revelation of

overrvlielming majesty or of mysterious power. The complete

otherness of the revelation makes it appear as a breakthroughfrom a superior, nonhuman realm. According to the classifica-

tion utiiized above, this breakthrough would be from No Time

into Great Time or from No Time into Profane Time. In the

Indian context, the first case-overwhelming majesty of No Timein Great Time-is illustrated in the Bhagauadglta by Krishna'srevelation of his cosmic form to Arjuna. This is also the saqn-bhogalraya of the Buddha preaching to the great bodhisattuas inthe Akaniltha Heaven. The second case-the mysterious power

of No Tirne in Profane Time-is illustrated by the Hindu-BuddhistAct of Truth. This act is done by Sita in the Hindu epic Rdmd-yallq.and there are many examples in Buddhist scriptures. Herethe performer declares the truth of his outstanding acts and

22The parable is quoted in Jikido Takasaki, A Study on the Ratnagotra-vibhaga( U t taratantra) (Rome, t9 66,) pp. 246-47,


commands the gods to produce the desired miracle. The miracle-an incredible event apparently violating "Nature's laws"-is thebreakthrough. Anandagarbha contains this ritual statement inhis Srparamddi-1tkd: "He should recite, 'oh Bhag avatyajrasattva,just as it is true that all dharmas are like a dream, by virtue ofthat truth may r be allowed to see and be allowed to hear thesuch-and-such desired dream t' ))zg

Both kinds of breakthrough have been responsible in numerouscases for the striking religious phenomenon of "conversion." Inthe category of breakthrough I would also place some debatablereligious experiences, of more or less sullied character, all for"ego-defense": battlefield traurna, epilepsy, young man in thewhorehouse, psychedelic drugs (as indicated by such images of"shattering" as walls breached by sea-water).

Participations

There is also the attempt to ascend to higher states of conscious-ness as though to live integrally in them, reified as modes ofbeing-a sort of rnystical immersion-or at least to be able toget into and out of those states whenever one lvishes. Hence wespea.k of participation in Great Time or in No Time. Successhere can be understood as either discovery or verification of spiri-tual truth, and also as the acquisition of supernormal powers.Eliade writes:

up'n the plane of the archaic religions, participation inthe condition of the "spirits" is what endows the mystics andthe magicians with their highest prestige. It is during hisecstasy that the shaman undertakes, in the spirit, long anddangerous mystical journeys even up to the highest Heavento meet the God, or up to the Moon or down into Hell, etc.za

whatever be the truth in these cases, it is the human mindwhich so asserts it. It is a wonderful feature of Profane Time thatit asserts the truth of religion. The higher Times have truth butdo not assert it. Great Time should include the Buddhist search

za / bcom ldan hdas rdo rje sems dpal.r bden pa gan gis chos thams cadrmi lam dan lldra bar mfiam pa[i bden pa des bdag hdod pat'i rmi lam chege mo mthon bar mdzod cig / thos par,mdzod cig ces brjod par byaho l(Kyoto-Tokyo Photographic reprint [1959-6U of Kanjur-Tanjur, vol. 72, pp.305-3).

z4Eliade, Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, p. 95.

tj

Ill

il

-

t{o Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhism 2Bl

for or experience of suffering as a Noble Truth. For this it isnecessary to reduce, even to abolish, pslichological distance-man's advancing self-awareness in Profane Time that he is dif-ferentiated from the object (nature), which curtails a person's em-pathy with beings located mentally by that person in other groups.This factitious grouping-the castes of India and the world-is theprejudice engendered during the third period of childhood (see*'Recapitulations").

Buddhism, in common with Hinduism, believed that by a regu-lar course of conduct, such as restrictions on food and sex activity,and by finding the proper place and there a guru, a person (prefer-ably male) could then undertake the somewhat arduous trainingfor samddhi and thus ascend to various levels of consciousness,even the highest, the Incomparable complete Enlightenment ofthe Buddha. This meditative ascension is usually stated in termsof sensory experience. The attainment of mental calm graduallybrings out certain supernormal faculties, such as divine hearing.Eliade points out, 'oln short, throughout religious history, sensory,activity has been used as a means of participating in the sacred.,and attaining to the divine."25 In the bodhisattua doctrine ofMahdydna Buddhism this is also stressed. Thus. in Atisa's Bodhi-

pathapradtpa (verses 35-36) :

Just as a bird with unspread wings cannot fly up to the sky,in the same way the one without the power of the supernormalfaculties cannot serve the aim of the sentient beings.The merits of a single day that are due to the supernormalfaculties would not occur in a hundred births for one lackingthe supernormal faculties.26

rn that way, those bodhisattuas who are called "great beings"'(mahasattua) are in Great Time, vastly able to serve the aim of,sentient beings by dint of the supernormal faculties.

Extraordinary sensory experience is governed by the secondinstruction of the Buddhist path, which is arranged in threeinstructions : ( I ) m orality (adhi i I I a- i i k t a), (2) concentra tion (ad hi s a-mddhi- S ik ; a), and (3) insigh t (adhip r aj fi a- i ik s a).zt The implicati on

zsEliade, Myths, Dreom and Mysteries, p. 74.2oManuscript translation from Tibetan by Alex Wayman.27The famous Pdli text, Buddhaghosa's visuddhimagga, is arranged in

three parts in accordance with three instructions.


of these instructions is that Buddhism is not seeking to attainGreat Time or No Time just for the sake of doing so, or for the

sake of gaining a striking experience. The old Buddhist aim was

of liberation (No Time) and later came the Bodhisattva ideal(Great Time). Since Great Time had the seed of downfall into

Profane Time, the Buddhist rationale of reaching that lofty state

is to do it in circumstances whereby the concurrent hypnoticdelusion is elirninated. And so it rvas taught that on top of the

mental calming, the fruit of the second instruction, there should

be the insight which sees things as they really are (what early

Buddhism said) or which sees things arising as in a dream (what

later Buddhism said).The order of instructions places morality as the foundation for

both mental calrning and insight. This is borne out by the assign-

ment of certain rites to Great Time. Ritual action has this in

comrnon with the heroic conduct of Great Time: one has to give

up all random action and do things with exactitude in the per-

formance of a rituai, and one has to give up all means and timidacts in order to have h.eroic conduct. That is to say, they both de-

mand the abandonment of the usual huriran weaknesses exhibitedin Profane Time. These rites have features in common with medi-

tation procedures. I have in mind especially the map(a/a rites of

Tibetan Buddhism,2s rvhich are analogous to steps of meditation.Here one has to select the proper site, remove all the stones,potsherds, and other pains of the soil, and meditatively seize the

site by vowing to perform the reviewed rite. In Buddhist medi-

tation one must also find the right meditative object, eliminategross corruptions frorn the mind, and seize the meditative objectby leaving off the usual mental dashing hither and yon to a mul-titude of sensory objects.

These meditative procedures-the old ways or the 'oshortcuts"

such as the Tantras claim to have-are meant to reach an other-worldly condition. It is here that the myth, especially the genesislegend, serves the function of reminding profane man of thatmode of being he has lost and even suggesting how he may return.Then, what does Buddhism have to say about participating inGreat Tirne and No Time as modes of beins in the senses

28See Ferdinand D. Lessing and Alex Wayman, trans., Mkhas grub rje's("Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras"), (The Hague, 1968), pp. 279 ff-


suggested by the genesis legend? It was believed in ancient Buddh-

ism that by advanced meditative techniques one could draw from

the physical body a duplicate of it called the "body rnade of mind"

(manomaya-kdya), as recorded in the Digha-nikaya:

Here a monk creates a body from this (his) body, having form

mind-made, with all limbs and parts, not deprived of senses.

Just as if a man were to pull out a reed from its sheath, he

would know: "This is the sheath, this the reed. The sheath

is one thing, the reed is another. It is frorn the sheath that

the reed has been drawn forth."2e

The Lankduatdra-siltra distinguishes three degrees in development

of this "body made of mind": (l) its potential separation during

stabilization in the pleasure of samadhi; (2) its separation due to

reversal ofthe basis of the evolving perceptions and of the basic

perception (dtayauijfidna), with a reorientation ("alteration of

consciousness") toward dharmas (natures); and finally, (3) its

becoming a body of the Buddha.3o The second stage, pervaded

by "forbearance of the unoriginated natures" (anutpattikadhar'

mak,sdnti), means living without terror in Great Time; while the

third stage, when the "body made of mind" has been initiated as

a Buddha, means living in No Time. These three stages of the

"body made of mind" appear to reverse the three downward stages

of the Buddhist genesis legend and, by mastering the three Times,

to prove the myth.In addition, there are ancient and modern claims that certain

drugs, now called "consciousness expanding" (psychedelic), such

as the current LSD-possibly tbe soma of the ancient Vedic cult

is in the same category-bring one easily to the experience of

Great Time. Drugs that arouse striking sensory images haveprecisely this intense mindfulness (smrti) in common with yoga.In

the case of drugs, however, the experience is of kaleidoscopic andsomewhat distorted images rather than the o'one pointedness ofmind" (ekdgrata-citta) of samddhi and is uncontrolled by the sub-ject except for some affective preconditioning ("expectancy").

2eSee Paravahera Vajiraffdqra Mahdthera, Buddhist Meditation in Theoryand Practice (Colombo, Ceylon, 1962), p. 440:' and Mircea Eliade, Yoga:Immortality and Freedon (New York, 1958), p. 165.

30See Alex Wayman, "studies in Yama and Mira," Indo-Irdnian Journal,3 (1959): 1.19.

:284 Buddhist Insight

Therefore, these drugs cannot supply the mental calm (iamatha)necessary for the supernormal faculties. They seem to amount toat least one of the two extremes rejected by the Buddha in favorof the Middle Path-the extreme of indulgence in a riot of senseimages; possibly also they represent the extreme of mortification,of body chemistry.

Indeed, an artist of the visionary type is more likely to live inGreat Time than any drug-taker. This is because when percep-tion sees the bare objective thing, that object, as "nature,,' hasthe upper hand: being the only thing perceived, it has virtualhypnotic value. Notice the words of picasso:

There must be darkness everywhere except on the canvas, sothat the painter becomes hypnotized by his own work andpaints almost as though he were in a trance.... He must stayas close as possible to his own inner world if he wants to tran-scend the limitations his reason is always trying to impose onhim.31

Jung writes consistently: "A great work of art is like a dream;for all its apparent obvjousness it does not explain itself and isnever unequivocal. A dream never says:'you ought', or: 'This

is the truth."'32 The breakdown of formal profane structuresthrough shortened psychological distance can bring types of reli-gious experiences to artists and drug-takers as well as to yogins.However, there is no special distinction in reaching Great Timeor No Time somehow or other, no matter in how disoriented amanner; for, after all, there are the recapitulations which all of.us experience normally without risk.

CoNcl,usroN

If one accepts the terminology of three Times associated withthree modes of thought and further accepts that these modes ofthought allude to modes of being, he can easily grant that thereare various ways of reaching or plunging into those modes ofbeing as a veritable transfer or flight of consciousness to a different

slFrancoise Gilot and carlton Lake, Life with picasso (New york, 1965),pp. 110-11.

32C. G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul (New york, 1933), p. 171.

No Time, Great Time, and Profane Time in Buddhism 28s:

field or domain, one that is initially strange and possibly.frightening. The three Times themselves, and the correspondingprocedure used for dealing with them, are a kind of thinking wellknown from the ancient Upanigads, or the background ofwhich Buddhisrn itself arose. The states of Waking, Dream, andDreamless Sleep are encompassing categories and are themselves.included in the Fourth state (Turiya), which seems to be the fore-runner of the Mahdyina "Nirvala without flxed abode.,'

The use of the categories "No Time," "Great Time,', and ..pro-fane Time" for subsuming d,isparate features of man's d,evelop-ment or states of consciousness is not surprising since the mind ofman is structurally tbe same, though given to different "ways ofthought"; and, after all, one can select from various sources theparticular material that fits into a prearrangement. The formula-tion would be outstanding if it should prove to fit well with othersalient features of man's thought and life which persons at largemight cogently adduce as worthy of inclusion in such schema-that is, if it should turn out to be a more convenient descriptionfor worthy data than other schematic descriptions in use. This,is for others to judge.

T4

THE ROLE OF ART AMONG THEBUDDHIST RELIGIEUX

This paper will flrst go into some generalities about Buddhist art,

then proceed to the aniconic period, the iconic period, andproblems of discursive and non-discursive thought and art. An

attempt will be made to compare meaningfully with some Western

contributors to aesthetics theory, such as Herbert Read and

J. P. Sartre. The comparisons are non-historical, witir the premise

that these problems are common to man, of whatever period of

time. The author hopes to communicate his own fascination

with the topic as suggesting intriguing implications beyond

Buddhist art itself. Among the significant findings is that the

term "freedom" is employed in two contrasting senses.

I. GnNnRarttIns

The term "art" is here employed for the visual arts-namely,

architecture, sculpture, and painting-which constitute the greatest

artistic achievement of Buddhism. In contrast, rnost of the

versified Buddhist works are of a didactic nature, emphasizing the

message rather than poetical finesse. This is not to deny certain

outstanding works of Buddhist literature, such as ASvaghoga's

early Kavya and his drama, the works of Mdtrceta andAryaStrra,

as well as Sri Harsa's dramatic work. Probably others were

composed in the early A.D. centuries whose authors were not

sufficiently appreciated in monastic circles to have their works


repeatedly copied and thus preserved. There is presumably a.sizeable body of Buddhist poetry in the various Asian languages;and the Buddhists along with other Indians were fertile in tales,often of an elegant form. whether or not original, Buddhistmusic does not appear to have been especially influential. Let.us then turn to the visual arts which are our concern here. Manyflne Buddhist art objects are preserved in the great museums of theworld. certain monuments and art centers, such as sdffchi,Ajantd, and Ndgdrjunakop{a, are also well preserved at or neartheir original locations in India. Debala Mitra's BuddhistMonumenls (Calcutta, 1971) is a satisfactory modern coverage ofmost of the Buddhist monuments of the ancient India area, in-cluding modern Pakistan and part of Nepal. The remarkableoutpouring of art was characteristic of Buddhism in every countryin which it became followed by a sizeable part of the population.one can gain an idea of how Buddhist art spread through southAsia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East, by consulting the com-prehensive catalogue Guide du Musde Guimet I (Paris, 1966)-Many Buddhist monuments have been irretrievably lost when theylay in the path of invading armies in Northwest India, or in otherparts of Asia when they fell to marauders and depredation. Asfar as this writer knows, the only present-day creativity of Buddhistart is in some of the best Tibetan tankas and carpets; and weshould not overlook the continuing artistry of the Japanese.

As to the origins of the aft, it seems that the groundwork waslaid by instructions attributed to the last sermon of the tsuddhato allow a kind of division of labor for the monks and Buddhistlaymen.l It was the laymen who were to take care of the memo-rial edilices called stupas which contained the relics. But abouta century after the Buddha's passing, there was a schism in theBuddhist order with the splinter group called the Mahdsinghika,continuing alongside or geographically separated from the schoolof the Elders (the Sthavira or Thera, as now called). It seemsthat the Mahdsdnghika came in league with these laymen whowere probably among the prominent and especially devout of theBuddhist laymen, and began to make theological justifications

tThe Mahaparinibbana-sutianw; cf. in English translation, T. W. andC. A. F. Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II (London : Luzac &Company Ltd.,4th ed., 1959), p. 154.

The Role of Art among the Buddhist Religieux Zgg

for stilpa worship.2 Be that as it may, the production of Buddhistart now as in past centuries is mainly by well-trained laymen,although of course sometimes monks themselves were artists, aswe find these days in the case of some Tibetan lamas. For theGandhara Buddha-type, the local Buddhist establishment, orwealthy Buddhist laymen, perhaps hired some sculptors-say,from Rome.3

The preciousness of this art is inclicated by the depiction of"donors" at various art sites and numerous inscriptions whichname th.e benefactor. Besides, as is well known, gifts of art aremade to show appreciation for services renderecl. For example,there is the case of Tson-krra-pa in Tibet, founder of the yellow-cap sect called Gelugpa, whose new school was sponsored by apowerful hereditary family calred 'ol tr(ha. Tuccia shows howby invitation of the family, Tson-kha-pa had the worn_awaypaintings of the local temple dcne over in accoidance with the waythose gods had appeared to him in his own samddhis. Also, inancient times temple icons were not saleable (apanya) accordingto the grammarian patafrjali's gloss on a panini siltra,s but thetwere undoubtedly stealable.

In the long history of Buddhist art, the most striking feature isperhaps ttre shift of subject matter. Basically it is the movementfrom aniconic to iconic type art, but there is much more to itthan that. In the early days it was trre historical Buddhasakyamuni that was stressed, even if the art was aniconic. Theformer seven Buddhas also appear in the aniconic period. Later,with the first icons, again it rvas Sakyamuni as the main theme.The artists. poured out a deluge of art around all t'e details ofsdkyamuni's life, whether historical or somewhat legendary.But then the theme of heavens came to include the iconic formerseven Buddhas, the "Thousand. Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon(bhadrokalpa)l' and the Buddha Amitdbha-Amitdyus. shadowy

srhis is my deduction from the materials presented in Akira Hirakawa,"The Rise of Mahayana Buddhism and its Rerationstrip to the worship ofstupas," Memoirs of the Research Depqrtment of the Toyo Bunko, No. 22(Tokyo : The Toyo Bunko, 1963).'cf. Alexander soper, "The Roman style at Gandha ta,,, American Journa\,of Archaeology, LY, 1951, pp. 301-319..Giuseppe Tucci, Tibetan painted scroils (Rome, 1g4g), vor. I, p.4r.68. N. Puri, India in the Time of patafijati (Bombay, |OSV, p. lg2.

2go Buddhist Insight

flgures called Arhats, standardized as sixteen and then eighteen

and appearing even in groups of five hundred, came in for a share

of the art. The great Bodhisattvas, suctr as the future Buddha

Maitreya, Avalokite6vara, and Mafiju5ri inspired many artists.

Wiiletts's tableo shows that in the- century before the T'ang

dynasty, near the Chinese Lo-yang eapital, Sakyamuni and

Maitreya were the chief subjects, but that apparently starting

with the T'ang near tfre same capital the Amitdbha-Amitdyus and

Avalokitesvara types were dominant among the new art repre-

sentations. His data should be compared with Soper's.7 The

Tibetan art school, being later, missed the early stress on the

founder, Sakyamuni, and went directly to the Amitd,bha and

AvalokiteSvara types, and then to the host of tantric deities.

The seerning reptacement of the founder of Buddhism, sakya-

muni, with. these hosts of Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas,

paraltels the ernergence of a huge new religious literature, the

Mahdyd:na scriptures, which seemingly replace the early Buddhism

of the Pali canon. As I have elsewhere suggested, the local

differences of BuCdhist art involve an adaptation to the particular

country, a showing that Buddhism is "at home" t"!rere. Doubt-

less the Southern Buddirist countries are more conservative,

both in art representations and in doctrine. In agreement, their

art keeps mainly the first state of iconic representation, the

Buddha depicted in scenes of his life (such as the Great Departure.).

In contrast, the Malay Archipelago being subject to later influences

also exhibits Chinese-type deities and tantric art of later Indian

Buddliism.But the contact with original Buddhism is not lost to the extelt

it appears on the surface or at first giance. Deep sttrdy of the

Matidyana scriptures shows not so much a replacement aS a

reworking and overlay of the early canon. Again, it seeixs that

certain Bcdhisattvas began as personifications of high ievels of

the Buddha's life. Thus, Avalokitesvara may personify the

Buddha's look, i.e. his surYey of the living beings when he was

seated under the Bodhi tree. MafijuSri may be the Buddha's

insight (prajfiA). Arnitdbha may be Sakyarnuni's other-worldly

oWilliam Willetts, Chinese Art (Penguin Books, 1958)' I, pp. 348-349.?Alexander Soper, Literary Evidence for Early Buddhist Art in China

{Ascona, Switzerland, 1959).

The Role of Art among the Buddhist Religieux Zgl

form, the Dharmakdya so called, hence a substitution. Nomatter what their inception, these Bodhisattvaq and other Buddhafigures developed a life of their own in the course of time. It isail Buddhist art and can be regarded as the oak tree that doesnot resemble the acorn, from which by somo commonplace miracleit emerged. And yet the art forms become fixed by hieraticstandards, such as the proportions and icon size, as though topreserve intact that tree.

II. THp ANrcoNrc PnRroo

It is well known that in its first period Buddhist art was aniconic.The founder of the religion, Gautarna tsuddha, was not at firstrepresented in a human form, but rather by symbols such as:the elephant representing his conception; the auspicious markssuch as his footprint representing prophecy; the tree representingthe enlightenrnent as does the empty throne; the wheel as thefirst teaching set in motion; the parasol as the protective dome;the stilpa his Parinirvdf a. These symbols were images (in Greek,agalma) of deity, but not likenesses (Greek, eidon).8 As such theyamounted to living embodiments; and this sense is maintainedin subsequent centuries by the stupa (ot caitya). They are also"symbois for the unknown."e

That certain images in the above sense were associated withpilgrimage, and so a Buddhist kind of ritual, is weli stated byFoucher, quoting fro;l the last sermon of the tsuddha:10 "Thereare four places, o Ananda, rvhich an honorabie worshipper shouldvisit with religious emotion. wirat are these four?" Foucireranswers : "They are, as we know, those r,vhere the predestinedone for ttre first time received iliumination and preachecl andthose rvhere for the last time he was born and dieci. Now justin the devout practice of the four great pilgrimages resicles anyhope which we have of at last coming upon the long-sought pointof departure. In order that we may grasp at once th.e germ and

8cf. Francis M. cornford, Plato's cosmology (New york eclition, lg57),p. 99.

scf. Herbert Read, Icon & Idea (New york, 1972 repfint), chapter III,pp. 53, ff.

r0A. Foucher, The Beginnings of Buddhist Art (paris, London, lglT),pp. 10-11.

Buddhist Insight

the directing principle of Buddhist art, it is necessary and sufifi-cient to admit that the Indiarl pilgrims were pleased to bring backfrom these four holy places a small material souvenir of whatthey had there seen."

Foucher has an excellent point about these theorized souvenirs,which would have been images (Gr. agalma) of deity. Theywould be invested with an intangible power through the religiouszeal of the pilgrim who had travelled to the site-associated withlegends of miracles-often with considerable difficulty and sacri-fice while filled with faith. Pilgrimage was ordinarily associatedwith the cyclical return of a certain date of the year, and groupvisitation at the given place. Thus many persons would partici-pate in this auspicious concatenation of time and space. Theimage here is involved in a sort of spiritual synesthesia, a visualform somehow correlated with the auditory word which is the"insight consisting of hearing" (irutamayl prajfia), the sermonassociated with the spot visited.

The aniconic symbols reached triumphal expression in elaboratestfipas. The bas-reliefs of Barhut suggest wealthy patrons ofBuddhist art already in the 2nd century, B.C. The extraordinaryand still-surviving stitpa of Sdiiclii implies that in the lst century"B.C., the section of India norv calied Madhya Pradesh r,vas strong-ly Buddhist. In the same century (the 1st, B.C.) such Buddhist art,usually in cave and stupa elaboration r.vould be established just

south of the Vindhya range in a band that extended clear acrossIndia, and has such surviving centers as Ajanti and the more-recently discovered stupa near Nagpur. Sivaramamurti believesthat the Amaravati Sttpa ofAndhra in South India by the KrishnaRiver was founded by King ASoka in the 3rd century, B.C.11

Certain images-the tree, the wheei, and the stltpa-were intime rendered banal by appearing on punch-marked coins, theso-called "Buddhist" coins.lz Perhaps this very rnultiplication anddispersal of images would eventually result in a weakening of theholiness associated with the images, furnishing a reason for theBuddhist world to become receptive to a new form of art. But evenafter the iconic art appeared, the aniconic form exerted its

11C. Sivaramamurti, Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras GovernmentMuseum (Madras, 1'956), P. 4.

12Cf. Foucher, The Beginnings, pp. 14-15.

The Role of Art among the Buddhist Religieux 293

,religious fascination. Thus Subramanian says:13 "As late as thesixth century A.D. and even later, the Buddhist stupa^s continuedto exercise their influence over the Andhras who visited the holyspots and showed their reverellce to them in the shape of bene-factions and votive offerings."

Now, let us attempt to fathom some of the aniconic symbolism.At the old Karle cave stilpa in present-day Mahirdshtra, on thefacade by the entrance, there is a much-reproduced representationof a magnificent male and female pair: the woman depicted withrnature sensual corporeality, and the man as a well-built strongmale. Inside there is the bare, unadorned stupa. There is evidencethat at one time the cave walls were painted with Jdtaka-typescenes. It seems that the outside representations-and the cavepaintings like the Jataka sculptures of Barhut would be an exten-sion of them-are meant to show the "realm of desire" (kama-dltatu) which is left behind or surmounted when one turns to theplain stupa. This produces a stark contrast between the teemingscenes of "outside" and the spare 'oinside," and serves for a muchgreater challenge to the sculptor (and later to the painter of thecave walls) than if he were just to construct the stereotyped centralstltpa. The symbolism of the one's being detailed and the otherone's being plain apparently agrees with Herbert ltead's descrip-tioala of the ti,vo principles of att: "vital image" or "vitality asan aesthetic factor", and beauty as the "still 6enf1e"-because thesculpturcs and later paintings of rire Karle monriment are thevital image, and tL'te stupa is the still centre.

Indeed, if it is not stretphing the case to attribute "beauty" tothe stiil centrc, rvhich is the central stupa, one can f,nd intriguinglyapplicable Keats's "Ode On a Grecian urn," at least in Gom-brich's interpretation. I would be loathe to cite Keats's line"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," for fear of abusing the poet'sintention by quotation here, were not these rema.rks of Gombrich'sat hand: "For beyond the general neo-platonic faith in the truthof the artist's vision sucir as it is exp;:essed in Keats's letters, theidea that the realm of beauty can be entered by man only at theprice of renunciation plays an important part in eighteenth centuryaesthetics. Thus Schiller's speculations turned round the contrast

13K. R. subramanian, Buddhist Remains in Andhra (Madras, lg32), p. 16.L4lcon, Chap. I, pp. 17, [f., especially pp. 32,33,


between the enslavement of our animal nature and the freedomof aesthetic contemplation."ls Later in this paper I shall revert tothe nature of this "freedom," so called. For the present, let usnotice that the foregoing ties nicely with Read's two basic princi-ples of art -the principle of vitality and the principle of beauty.16If we take Keats's line in the above sense, we can split Buddhistart-as at Karle-into two: the "outer" with the vitality of ouranimal nature, to be renounced; and the "inner" with the beautythat is truth, where is the so-called freedom. Eventually theBuddhist Midhyamika school was to represent the "outer" ascyclical flow (sarysdra), referring to the vitalism as "effi.ciency"(arthalcril,dkdritd); and in this interpretation, the "inner" wouldbe the absolute truth (paramdrtha-satya), the changeless beautyof what never arose to pass away, like the Lover on theGrecian Urn.

III. TsE IcoNrc Prnroo

Buddhism in its inception was not hostile to idolatry, as was Islam.But that early Buddhist texts are simply silent on the matter hasbeen disputed by scholars. Also, Foucher says the idolatry startswith what he calls the "Gandhdrian revolution," the consequenceof the Greek incursions into India in the early centuries, B.C.;but his theory of the Greek-type has been countered by evidencetaking the Gandhdra Buddha rather as a Roman Apollo type.ttFurthermore, others lean to the native evolution of the Buddhastatuary, starting at Mathurd. The provenence is not very impor-tant to the role of art; because the main point is that the icons ofthe Buddha became popular, rvith their earliest remains belongingperhaps to the lst century, A.D. The icon, as was suggested above,is lifeless through being a likeness. Precisely because recognizedas a similitude, it is not taken as the residence of the Buddha;and so there are meditative practices-as will be illustrated later

on-aimed at getting the Buddha to descend into the icon. In

contrast, the aniconic symbols, such as the tree, are already the

15E. H. Gombrich, "VisualValues : An Initial Study, ed.p. 271.

t6Cf. Icon, p. 93.1?Per Soper (n. 3, above).

Metaphors of Value in Art," in Symbols andby Lyman Bryson, et al (New York, 1954),


seat of deity and so are not associated with meditation but rather

with practices of faith, such as the circumambulation of stupas.

The artists were not oblivious to the distinction; and in a com-

promise with the earlier form of art manage to include in the

background the aniconic symbols, such as the tree, and a touch

of vitalism, as with the hooded serpent-king who serves as a kind

of umbrella or sun-shade for the meditating Gautama. The shift

from aniconic to iconic art might constitute a movement from

impersonal reverence to the kind of personal devotion called

bhakti (In Hinduism it is easier to trace the hhakti movement from

its intellectual form in the Bhagauadgltd to the more emotional

type centuries later in the Bhugauata-purdna and later to the

erotic forms).Buddhist doctrine apparently supports the Bucidha icon by the

insistence on the human state as essential for enlightenment.

Asanga, doubtless giving the old teaching, deflnes "personal

SucceSS" as Success of the embodiment and heads the extended

list rvith "human state" (manu;yatua).rB Ndgd.rjuna's "Friendly

Epistle" states the theory negatively as the "eight unfavorable

moments" (ak5aym): "Adhering to wayward views; being born

among the animals, among the hungry ghosts (preta), or among

the heil-beings; being born rvhen the Buddha's promulgation is

not present, or among the heretics in far-off places; having defec-

tive organs and stupidity; or birth among the long-lived gods-

these are the eight unfavorable moments. If freed from these

you should get a favorable moment, exert yourself to avoid the

birth (of those eight)."r0 Nigdrjuna mentions the states to be

negated in order all the more to affi.rm the favorable state of being

in the presence of the Buddha and, generally, the saints and

gurus, and being able to listen with human intelligence and good

organs. So also there is the ideal human representation in art to

symbolize the condition o1' enlightenment.2o The iconic type

rsCf. Alex Wayman, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manuscript (Betkeley,

196l), p. 60.rsCf. Nagarjuna's "Friendly Epistie," Translated from the Tibetan by

Dr. H. Wenzel, Journal of the Pali Text Society, 1886, p. 19.2oDoubtless. once the Buddha became represented iconographically, there

would be some textual insertions to justify it. So one may understand thepassages mentioning the painting of the Buddha in such works of about the4th and 5th centuries, A.D., the Damamuka Nidana Sutra and the Chinese


thus has the role of constantly reminding the devotee of the oorrability of consummation by reason of human birth. In the latertantric period a goddess, such as Tara, as well as the male god,sewes the iconic purpose.

Another kind of Buddhist teaching would oppose realistic art-types. This was the instruction to the one in the reiigious life thathe should have sense-restraint (inclriyosarltuara), tirat is, l-re sl1ouldavoid taking hoid of signs (nimitta-grdha) or taking hold of details(ndnuuyaiijanagrdha) from sensory experience that would incitesinful, unvirtuous natures.2l But hell scenes could be represented.22rt is feasible that in the old days this favored the aniconic repre-sentations. Indeed, the non-realistic form rs usual in Bucldhisthieratic art, granting the early and temporary exception of theGandhdra Buddha with the wavy hair. The Buddha is normallyrepresented with the ugnisa on his head and elongatecl ears, neith.erof which features are characteristic of the actual male head. Thesetwo elements are included among the 32 standard characteristicsof the Buddh.a; and various other characteristics, sucir as the ab-normally lon-q arms, are also non-realistic. In a paper long ago Ipointed out that t ire variant l ists cf the Buddha's g0 secondarynrarks favor in one case an interpretation as a great 1,ogitr, and.in another case, as a k'atri):a (the Buddha's reputed caste).2sIn fact, the trvo interpretations give rise to tr,vo Buddh.a types-the seated one in meditation, and the standing one equivalent tothe universal emperor (the Cakr.avartin).

The non-realistic representations of the Buddha in tiine werecorrrbined with meditation exercises. Numerous benefits were setforth to be derived frorn contemplating the body of the Buddhawlriclr brcught calming of the rnind (iamatha), and then from

legend of King A6oka, as are citerl in Arexander Soper, "Early BuddhistAttitr-rdes Toward ihe Art of painting," Art Builetin, xxxll, 2, June 1950,pp. 149-150.

:1Wayman, Analysis, pp. 6l-62.zzNagdrjuna's "Friendly Epistle," p. 24 (verse 84): "But those who, seeing a

picture of hell, hearing (of hell), remembering (it), reacring (about it), ormaking images (of it), generate fear (of it), they certainly will experienceimmense rewards (vipaka)."

23Alex wayman, "Contributions Regarding the Thirty-Two Character-istics of the Great Person," Sino-Indian Studies; Liebenthal Festschrift, ed.by Kshitis Roy (Visvabharati, Santiniketan, 1957), p. 255.


making offerings thereto, confession of sins, etc., before the so-contemplated Buddha. In this case, the icon serves as a sort ofmeditative prop to assist in transferring the likeness to the mind,since samddhi is not accomplished by what the outer senses are.aware of, but rather by what the mind is aware of. So in Kamala-,Sila's Bhauqndkrama III:2a

In regard to that, first the )togin fastens his mind on the formalbody of the Tathagata as it is seen and as it is heard, and thenis to accomplish calming. He orients his mind continuouslyon the form of the Tathigata's body, yellow like the color ofpurified gold, adorned lvith the (32) characteristics and the(80) minor marks, di,velling within its retjnue, and acting for theaim of the sentient beings by diverse means. Generating adesire for the merits cf tirat (body), he subdues fading, excite-ment, and the other faults, and should practice meditationuntil such timc as that (body) dwells in front and is seen clearly.

'concerning the remark "dwells in front," as I have written else-rvhere, "the god assumes a concrete attitude, reflecting the reposeof the Dh.arrnadhatr"r, or rnerges lvith the external icon." Besides,shifting to the tantric literature, we know that showing an icondoes not violate tantric secrecy, since the violation does not consistin revealing to the eye, but to the ear.25

Coomaraswamy nnakes a sirnilar poiot about art creation: "Thusthe artist's model is ahvays a melrtal image."zo rhe sarne authorhas relevant remarks rvith some Indian terms.zz Here the termpratyctk.ra means "direct sense perception," hence of the icon;whiie the terrn parok.ra fireans "beyond the senses ," hence beyondvulgar experience. We may appeal now to a great line of theBuddl"rist logician Dharmakirti (Pramdna-udrttika, II, l32b):'"When

the goal (:cessation of suffcring) and its cause (.:themeans) are out of sight (pcro!r;a), to explain them is difficult."Difficult, but not impossible. Anyway, words rather faii to explainthe santiidhi, the religious goal, and the artist's model.

zaAlex wayman, The Buddlist Tantras; Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism,(New York, 1973), p. 58.

2,Ibid., p. 67.26Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, The Transformation of Nature in Art (Dover

Publications, New York, 1956), p. 79.ztlbid., Chap. V. on Parokta.


However, the icon-and the category includes the tantric iconas well-is exposed to direct sense perception (pratyak5a), andso is the basis for feeling. Buddhism explicitly states this situationin the formula of Dependent Origination (pratitya-sanautpada)where the first seven members are understood as the passive un-rolling of causes established in the o'previous life" and run downto No. 5, "six sense bases," which establish partite experience andserve as the condition for No" 6, o'contact", of sense organ,sense object, and partite perception, which serve as the conditionfor No. 7, "feelings" (uedand), pleasurable, painful, and neutral.Therefore, feelings, and this includes of course the pleasurable

feeling aroused by an art object, are not a matter of free will, sincethey are the culmination of the deterministic series. Besides,

Buddhist scriptures insist that feelings are associated with the'onaming faculty" (sarTtjiia), amounting to such particular views

or judgments as "ft hurts," o'The pot is pretty," etc. Hence, onedoes not choose to appreciate art. This is not necessarily in con-

flict with Sartre's position, as cited in Kaelin: "For this is quite

the final goal of art: to recover this world by giving it to be seen

as it is, but as if it had its source in human freedom."28 As thispaper will argue later on, the spectator seems to have, although

he does not have, freedom.It is the second part of Dependent Origination, beginning with

member No. 8, "craving" (tr;ttd.., in Pdli taryha), furnishing the

condition for No.9, "taking" otr "indulgence" (upadana), that

amounts to free will, if it is at all to be adrnitted by Buddhisrn. This

is because it is these members which create the new circumstances,prepare the new destiny of the being. Sartre is remarkably parallel:

"We have seen that the act of imagination is a magical ona. It is

an incantation destined to produce the object of one's thought,

the thirrg one desires, in a mannel that one can take possession of

it. . . . Next, these objects do not appear, as they do in perception,

from a particular angle, they do not occur from a point of uiew. . . .

For the rest, the object as an image is an unreality. It is no doubt

present, but at the same time, it is out of reach."2e Sartre further

28Eugene F. Kaelin, An Existentialist Aesthetic (The University of Wis-consin Press, Madison, 1962), pp. 123-124.

2eJean-Paul Sartre, The Psychology of Imagination, tr. by Bernard Frecht-man (Washington Square Press edition, New York, 1968), p. 159.


agrees with the old Buddhist series when he says: o'Certainly the

unreal always receives and never gives."so This is the intention of

Buddhist member No. 9, upddana, which always means "taking,"

and never "giving." Thus the new being is childlike and is free

in desire, even though to perception it rnight look helpless. And

like children, art products generally survive best in peacetime.

ry. DlscuRstvE AND NoN-DtscuRSIvETsoucnr AND ART

This section is quite technical but hopefully will permit some

further comparisons with modern aesthctics theory.The Buddhists more than trvo millenia ago had gone profoundly

into the matter of discursive and non-discursive thought. Was it

solely by introspection? In this connection I recall Francis

Galton's retort to Max Miiller who had claimed that all thought

involves language or language-signs: "Prof. Max Miiller . . has

fallen into the common error of writers not long since, but

which I hoped had now become obsolete, of believing that the

minds of every one else are like one's own. His aptitudes andlinguistic pursuits are likely to render him peculiarly dependent

o n w o r d s . . . . " 3 1Now compare what Santideva writes in his Bodhicaryduatdra

(IX, 25):

One illumines himseif by seeing someone associated rvith otherconditions. The pot that is seen through the adept's rite of

eye-ointment is not just eye-ointment.

Sdntideva's verse points to the supernormal facuity (abhiimQ ot

knowing another's state of mind (paracittaiiidna), i.e. knowing it

as impassioned if it is impassioned, etc. Sometimes this is referred

to as a faculty or eye which is opened by the magical eye-ointment;

but the object viewed by the supernormal faculty is independent

of the o'eye-ointment" itself. Thus, one learns from others' minds

the nature of one's own mind-just the opposite of IVIax Miiller's

procedure of judging everyone else's mind by his own or what

he conceives to be his own.

goJean-Paul Sartre, The Psychology of Imagination, tr. by Bernard Frecht-man p. 178.

sLF. Max Milller on the Science of Thought (Chicago, The Open CourtPubl. Co., 1909), Appendix, p. 4.

.3oo Buddhist Insight

Modern aesthetics theory has had its own "idealists." Thuscroce rejects the reality of the external world; and refusing to.admit an inner and outer in art, insists on the singleness of theintuition-expression. For Bernard Bosanquet's refutation, seehis "croce's Aesthetic."B2 According to Bosanquet, rvhile an artwork must originate in an artist's mind, its representation in ex-ternal or material forms is an essential part of the art process.Langer in turn takes R. G. collingwood to task, questioning why'"he

is anxious to deny craftsmanship any role in art and conse-quently to reject the concept of technique...."BB curiously, theBuddhist teacher Asanga-whom both oriental and westerntsuddhologists usually associate with the idealist school of Euddh-ist philosophy-accepts an "outer" part of art rvhen he desclibesthe parallelism of meditation and art tecirnigue:sq

If he would be convinced regarding the rneditati.re object at asingle time, he wor-rld not again and again leave off the intensecontemplation. His conviction (acihimok;a) does not becomeever higher, completely purified, conpletely cieansecl, up to thecomprehension u'ith direci perception of the knovrable entity.Hence again anc a-sain ire is convinced ; again and again heleaves off tire intense contemplation. Hence his convictionbecomes ever higher, more completelypurified, most completelypurified, up to comprehension v,,ith clirect perception of theknor,vable entity. A case in point: suppose th.e pupil of apainter for the first time is engaged in the work of painting.F{e, having first had instruction from the master, takes a mod"eland, haviirg looked and looked, makes an image. Havingd.one it and done it, he leaves ofi the intense contemplation,destroys it, ar,d remakcs it. Just as, having rejected andrejected, he makes it, so also one declares his image everhigher, more completely purified, more completely cleansed.Being rightly engaged ihat way, after some time he becomesthe equal of the rnaster or even his superior. Furthermore,if, without h.aving rejected that image, he were to make it

s2science and Philosophy and other Essays by the late Bernard Bosanquet(Books for Libraries Press, Inc., Freeport, N.y., reprint 1967), especiallyp . 4 1 7 .

ssSusanne K. Langer, Feeling and Form (New york,lg53), p. 3g3.saWaymen, Analysis, p. 119.

The Role of Art among the Buddhist Religieux

repeatedly by taking a stand on just that, never would thatimage of his become completely pure. So also in the presentcase one should understand the method (as that).

The tantric cornmentator Buddhaguhya writes, "fn the mannerthat a thousand ounces of silver are changed into gold by usinggold paint, it is said that one blesses the defilement into purity byusing the paint of samadhi-knowledge". Both the meditation andthe painting art require undivided attention, like being rapt inwonder at an object.rs

Asanga's passage enables us to define one kind of discursivsthought that is especially employed in art creation. The improve-ment of meditation, comparable to the improvement of painting,seelns to be what Read36 calls the "truthful consciousness" whichis "the foundation of all genuine art," as when he cites Colling-wood: "And this is precisely what evel'y artist is doing when hesays, 'This line won't do.'" This is the pursuit of perfectionfounded on despising one's olvn imperfection-the imperfectpicture. This is apparently the kind of thinking which Asangamentions in his Srauakabhumi as when the yogin regards the lowerplanes as coarser and the higher planes as finer, and thus emergesfrom a given plane and attains the next higher stage of conscious-ness. In the last serrnon of the Buddha, the Mahuparinibbdna-sutta, the Buddha is thus held to have surmounted the "realm ofdesire," and to have passed successively through the planes of the"realm of form" and "formless realm," then to have proceededdownward to the lowest plane of the "realm of form" and up-ward to the top of the "realm of form," from which plane he isheld to have entered Parinirvala. The emergence from each ofthese planes would, according to Asairga's indications, require thisspecial kind of discursive thought, which is the very kind of think-ing as when the artist says, "This line won't do."

Turning to the role of non-discursive thought, Langer says,'oNow consider the most farniliar sort of non-discursive symbol,? pictu1s."3z If the word "symbol" here suggests an ontologicalstatus, Buddhism would probably not agree with her, since at

3sWayman, The Buddhist Tantras, p. 94.36lcon, p. 92.sTSusanne K. Langer, Philosophy in a New Key (Penguin Books, 1948)".

p . 7 6 .

301


least the Madhyamika school does not allow such a status for"voidness"; and the picture is voidness in the Ratnagotrauibhaga([, r'erse 92): "Those painters are the aspects, Giving, Morality,F-orbearance, and so on; and the voidness, attended with all thebest aspects, is said to be the picture (pratimd)." The full list of the"painters" (: the act of painting) adds to the three already namedStriving and Meditation. The group of five, often catrtred the"meairs" (updya), is essentially non-discursive; although languagecan be employed to expatiate upcn the individual ones. Thisuse of the word o'means" in connection with the painting processagrees with Bosanquet's and Langer's point that technique is anindispensable part of art. But why would "voidness" be said tobe the picture, as in that R.atnogotrauibhaga passage? Perhaps theanswer is in a passage of the hfahdydna-Sutrolarykdra (XIII, l7)associated with Asanga, as cited by Coomaraswamy,ss "Thereis no actual relief in a painting, and yet we see it there" (citre...natonnatary ndsti ca, driyate atha ca). We flnd this as i,vell in theLankduatdra-siltra (text, p. 91), where notice is taken that a paint-ed surface (citrakrta-pradeia) is observed in relief (nimnonnata)though flat (animnonnata). Recalling that "voidness" in Mah6-ydna literature is associated with illusion (mayd), we can get thepoint: the "painters" rvho are the Giving, Morality, Forbearance,and so on, are seen in relief, and yet the picture which is voidnessis really flat: the "painters" are an illusion. In the earlier periodof Buddhism, more given to realism, the relief portion is reallythere, as Coomaraswamy points out: "in Vinaya, IV, 61, a monk'raises' (uwllhdpeti) a picture (cittam) on a cloth; and in SariryuttaNikdya, Comm., II, 5, a painter 'raises up' (samu!{hapeti) ashape (rnpant) on a wall surface by rneans of his brushes andcolors."se

'fhus, passages about the artist's techniques suggestthe phiiosophical positions.

Now, reverting to the topic of discursive thought, in Buddhistliterature its importance is emphasized by assigning it the rathernefarious role of prornoting nescience (auidya). And yet rve wereintroduced previously to a kind of discursive thought tirat is im-provement-oriented, the kind that serves for the Buddhist path,which is of course lauded in Buddhist circles. Sornetimes the

38The Transformation, p. 145.3slbid., pp. 144-145.


expression "right discursive thought" (samyag-uikalpa) is employedfor the right kind, observed previously by the ifustration "This linewon't do." Now a challenge would be apropos : Certainly thegoal of the painter and the gbal of the Buddhist path are different:Of course, they are sharing this right kind of discursive thought,and their goals are different. In addition to the rvord uikalpafor "discursive thought," previously we met with a kind of dis-cursive thought attributed to the "naming faculty" (sary1ifia),which properly belongs to the determined, involuntar.v part of thepsyche. But the philosophical discussions especially involve anarchaic pair of terms-uitsrka-uicdrA, terms which occur in thetraditional statement of the first meditation plane of the Buddhist"realm of form" (among the three realms), and are assumed forthe "realm of desire." ft would certainly be a gross digression inthe present paper for me to treat this pair of terms with anythinglike the amplitude of the materials I have collected for a separatestudy. I should mention my renditions of "adurnbration" and"inquiry" for uitarka, and "thinking with signs" for uicdra; andthat the Arthauiniicaya-sutra calls this pair "speech motivation"(uak-saryskdra). Suffice it to add that according to Asanga'sYogdcarabhumi, uitarka and uicdra always amount to discursivethought; but there is a discursive thought outside of uitarka anduicdra, especially in regard to supramundane knowledge (lokotta-rajfitina). Although Asanga does not name this distinguished typeof discursive thought, this is surely the improvernent-oriented one,or "right discursive thought," rvhich we have already noted to bethe one used on the Buddhist path as n,ell as by the good painter,and presumably by inventors, etc.

Dharmaklrti's l,{ydyabindu (Chap. f, t has a term pratiti :"constructive thou ght (kalpana) is a cognitive dawnin g (pratiti)of a mental reflex able to coalesce with verbalism." The textrefers to the initial universal (samanya-lakgaqta) wleich is the fielclof inference, subsequent to the serics of point-instants, the parti-culars (sva-laksaqta), that are the field of direct perception

Qtratyakpa); and this pratyak.;a may be of the five outer senses,of the mind, of introspection, or of the yogin. The verbalismis the "naming faculty" (saanjfid), the idea that something issuch-and-such. This pratiti (literally: "approach") seems to bethe most primitive discursive thought, a sort of bed-fellowto the non-discursive thought, the mental imagery of sound,


color, etc. After coalescing with the name, this discursive thoughtcould tend "downward" (hence, "wayward") toward the,.realmofdesire" in the manner of aitarka-uicdra, or tend "upward" (hence,"right") in reference to supramundane knowledge.

our technical meanderings do have this positive result-to showthat Buddhist teachings, based as they are on much meditationand practice, clearly differentiate between passive enjoyment andthe creative imagination. This distinction was established by theBuddhist Dependent origination formula. Here the first sevenmembers develop perception in a determinacy series and windup witlr feelings and their associated notions (uedana and saryjrta)in the manner of a syndrome. The last five members are headedby craving (tfsUa), which is the freedom to inaugurate a newdestiny. An example of this freedom, because issuing from desirerather than perception, is Sanfideva's Bodhicaryduatdra VtrII,120: "Whoever desires (icchati) to speedily rescue oneself andothers too, should practice what is the highest secrets changingplaces between himself and another." This is the Mahayana,Buddhist version of 'ocreative imagination."

Therefore, when I claim that Sartre makes the same distinction,this is not said by way of explaining the Buddhist position. lndeed,this position had to be understood prior to the comparison witha Western theory. The reverse procedure would have amountedsimply to a projection on to Buddhism of some system of ourculture, an attempt to make Buddhism come out or be in thatmanner. But that Sartre has a comparable position is clarifiedby Kaelin: "It will be remembered that for Sartre the perceptiveconsciousness intends a real object of the spatio-temporal conti-nuum we normally call the real world, while in imaginative ex-perience, consciousness intends an unreal or absent object whichmay appear only on the margins of the real world."4o Sartre'sperceptive consciousness goes with the Buddhist first seven mem-bers of Dependent Origination which develop perception with animputed realistic object, while what is here called "imaginativeexperience" (in fact, the creative imagination) goes with the lastfive members of Dependent Origination, headed by "craving.o'

The foregoing permits an assessment of the word "freedom" asemployed in more than one sense. That is, the "freedom of

L0An Existentialist Aesthetic, p. 364.

The Role oi Art among the Buddhist Religieux 305

aesthetic contemplation,'-which was brought up in tire discussionof aniconic art-is different from the o.freedtm,,

of creativeimagination-which was used in treating ic,xic art. Th., firstkind, of aesthetic contemplation, is not alterecl essentially by travel-ling far to a grandiose vista as cofirparecl r.vitir the lowl}, gazingappreciativell; s6 the local sunset. since it involves perception ofthe object as a real thing, with feelings and the naming f*nction,it reduces to th.e backyald-garden varieiy of having passive enjoy-ment and no creative imagination. we have already noticed ihatsome authors trave regarded this "free,Jom" as reali;i freed.om,although it is not. Moreover, we find the .,freedom,,

io be in-fatuation that the object is confolled by naming it. so Neitzschein The Genealogy of Morals has the "masters' right of givingnames . . they say 'this ls that, and th.at,' . . and take possession ofit."4' Heidegger, in l4that is catted Thinking?, resumes thisposition: "By naming, we call on what is preient to arive.,,azTo cite sartre again, it is "as if it had its source in human free_dom." Tliat is, while the naming function has an involuntarycharacter, following upon feelings pleasurable, painful, or neutraithese authors arrive at a seeming freedom called o.masters,

right,'to apply names. All the while they demonstrate that they liavelearned nothing frorn others, having resorted solely to intro_spection.

In contrast, the "freedom" of creative irnagination is to betaken as the genuine freed,rm because it is not limited by pcrcep_tion of this and that. sintideva's aspiration is of this iyp., u.-cause not directed in particularity to this or that being_in a \,/orcl,what Buddhist texts called "equanimity', (upeksa). Thus theremay be creative imagination as when an actor acts his role,r'vhether or not he enjoys the make-beiieve, r,zhile the spectatorsedoy what thcy take as a real object.

Besides, my study of the Buddhist nependent origi*ation,divided as it is into trie deterrninacy and the reratively-free s.ries,indicates that there is neither incompatibility between the two, norrequirement of their conju'ction. In this Buddhist sense, onemay have both passive enjoyment a'd creative irnagination, aspossibly does the creator of a piece of art. Atong the same

alln Horace B. Samuel's translation. (The Modern Library), p. 4.a2ln the translation by Fred D. wieck and J. Gjenn Gray (Ftrarper Torch*books), p. 120.


lines, the lack of incompatibility between the.first seven and second

five members of Dependent Origination (i.e. the Buddhists accept

that "nescience", the first member, can cohabit with "craving",

the seventh.one--called the "father" and the "mother"), permits

a Buddhist solution for man's nature as a compound of deter-

minacy and free-will. And, I suppose, this includes a nature

with desires and indulgence eYer young, and with perceptions and

feelings ever older.Finally, whether it be the seeming freedom of aesthetic contem-

plation or the genuine freedom of creative imagination, neither are

equivalent to the Buddhist "liberation" (mok1a) or "release"

(nirudpa). This is because for this liberation it is necessary to

have cessation of Dependent Origination. In contrast, both

kinds of "freedom" require Dependent Origination for a platform

in cyclical flow (sarpsara). Accordingly, the vinaya work

samantapdsddikd prohibits a monk from holding any of the

images of a woman made out of clay, wood, or painting'as The

monk is of course seeking liberation, not freedom in the aesthe-

tic sense. But when a Tibetan monk keeps a miniature painting

of his tutelary deity, the goddess Tara, and daily offers devotion

to it, he h.as the Mah6,yana ideal of enlightenment. This devotion

is not opposed to either of the two kinds of freedom mentioned.

In conclusion, the role of art among the Buddhist religieux

involves their appreciation of beauty and creation of great art

schools, the occasional monkish avoidance of some afi repre-

sentations, the Buddhist description of the plocesses of art pro-

duction in comparison with meditation techniques' and in general

a sufficiently detailed and ratioralized presentation of their pc'si-

tion to permit some comparisons with Western thinkers, provided

one is able to make the comparisons. That is, the present writer

believes in the feasibility of East-West comparisons on these

matters, and that the actual comparisons have clarifled some im-

portant issues. Unfortunately, such comparisons are frequently

made wittr insufficient background in Buddhist sources.

asshan-Chien-P'i-P'o-Sha; A Chinese version by Sanghabhadra of Samanta'

pasadika, by P. V. Bapat and A. I{irakawa (Bhandarkar Oriental Research

Institute, Poona, 1970), P. 368:

15

SECRE,'I OF THE HEART SUTRA

fNrRooucrroN

commentaries on the Heart siltra: There are two distinct types ofcommentaries of the Heart siltra (prajfidpdramitdhrdayaiatra):the Asian sectarian commentary, and the western non-sectariancommentary. Here there is easily a rnisunderstand.ing, to wit, thatwhen an Asian talks in the west on the lreart sutrahe communi-cates his Asian lore, say, as an Asian Buddhist monk. This is notnecessarily the case. For example, when Daisetz Suzuki wroteabout the Heart sutra, it must be granted that he wrote out of hisknowledge of sources especially in his native Japanese. But whathe said, for example,l "as far as we can ascertain, the BodhisattvaAvalokitesvara does not appear in any of the prajfldparamitdsttras. .." is not what would have ever been said in the traditionalAsian commentary on the Heart sfitra: it would have been consi-dered impertinent and impugning the validity of the S[tra. Inthe western sense this is a most helpful remark. It is quiteapparent that most of what Suzuki writes about the Heart Siltrais not the rendition of Asian commentary but rather what he thinksthe westerner, assumed to be an outsider to the topic, needs tobe told so that, hopefully, he will understand this scripture. Itis almost inevitable that an Asian (whether chinese, Japanese,

lDaisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Essays in zen Buddhism (Third series) London:Luzac and Company, 1934, p. 195.


or Tibetan), were he to lecture to a Western audience on theHeart Sutra would start by assuming-and ordinarily quitecorrectly-that his audience members are ignorant of the funda-mental teachings of Buddhism; and so, without ever intending todepart from the Heart Sutra, would end up spending the timelecturing on general Buddhism and never really explaining theHeart Sutra itself. Such lectures thernselves nray be quite in-formative of other matters.

In contrast, the Asian sectarian commentary is the type foundin the Tibetan Tanjur collection, and among Chinese and .Iapanesenative commentaries. A good illustration from the Far East is

Kfikai's "secret Key to the Heart Siltra."z In this case also, it is

a sectarian commentary filled with allusions to thc special tenets

of Kukai's own school (the Shingon)-suctrr as the Diamond

Realm and the Lotus Realm, and inCicating that portions of th.e

Sltra refer respectively to the Srivakas, Pratyekabuddhas, andthe Mahdyana Bodhisattvas. F{ence it is valuable for showingKflkai's position.. There is easily another misunderstanding, namely, that when aWesterner talks on the Heart Sutra he cannot help but give aWestern-type treatment, or could not be expected to speak as an

Asian would. But just as the Asian can speak as a Westetner,so also the Westerner can speak as an Asian. My present com-

mentary is probably to be described as an Asian-type commentary

composed by a Westerner. That is, it follows a certain type ofexplanations from sources in Asian languages, and could be

understood by porsons with the appropriate background. Tirisbackground is especially in the Buddhist theory of meditation,for wirich I have used some Yogdcdra passages of, Asanga (who

understood), Vasubandhu (who poputrarized), and Sthiramati(who clarified); but the illustrious Mdrlhyamika Aryadeva also ishelpful, as is the Vinaya master Vinitadeva.

Backgroundof thepresenl cotntnentary.' Al'ouild the middle 1950'swhen I was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, tbepoet Gary Snyder had received a scholarship from the First Zen

Institute of Nerv York to participate in the training of a Zen

monastery in Kyoto, Japan. After a while he wrote me a note

zYoshito S. Hakeda, Kukai : Major Works New York : Columbia Uni-versity Press, 1972, pp. 262-75.

Secret of the Heart Siitra 309

saying that while the monks recite the Heart Siltra every day, hehad been unable to find anyone who could expiain what it meant,and asking me if I could find out wh.at it means. In those days Iused to spend much time reading in the Tibetan canon, theKanjur and Tanjur in the Derge edition at Berketrey. So I con-sulted the Tdhoku catalog of the Derge canon and located the sixTanjur commentaries on this sutra in the section devoted toPrajiiaparamitd scripture commentaries. One feature of thesecommentaries on the Heart Sutra struck me quite forcibly: eachcommentary seemed so different from. the others, and yet theyseemed all to show in greater or less degree the influence of theMddhyamika school of Buddhist philosophy. The writers seemedto be experiencing some difficulty in exposition, as though theywere not writing through having inherited a tradition about thisscripture going back to its original composition, but rather weresimply applying their particular learning in Buddhism to theterminoiogy of the sutra. That would account for the greatvariety of their cornments. Then, for tire most part being follow-ers of the Madhyamike, tliey rvould sl:.olv this sectd.rian posi-tion by their kind of citation. It occurred to me that perhaps theHeart Sutra h.ad a different theoretical basis than what thesecommentaries were irnpressing upon it, and that the basis mightactr"iaily be of Yogacara nature. Certain commentaries gaveexplanations of the concluding inantras, and attempted to relatetlie structure of the siltra to what are called in Buddhism the "threegates to liberation"-ysid1s55, rvishiess, and non-sign-source.Accordingiy, I made my own translation of the sutra, using theMax Mtiiler and Bunyiu Nanjio edition of the shorier versionand taking into account some remarks from certain Tanjurcommentaries. In those days I communicated my understandingof the sutra to the Berkeley Buddhist Church. Later I incorporatedmy interpretation of the lfeart Sutra rvithin a published paper,"The tsuddhist'Not this, Not this'. "3 From my present vantageground, the interpretation of tire Heart Sutra in this early essaysuffers from various faults, such as a misappiication of the threegates to liberation; and I cannot commend it. There are perhapsonly two important points that I saw or rendered correctly inthose days, namely, 1) that the Tanjur commentaries, while help-

sPhilosophy East and West, 1l:3, Oct.,1961, pp. 109-13.


ful on this or that phrase, still were not really explaining thissiltra; and that it would be more fruitful'to consult Asanga'sworks; and 2) that the commentary by the author calling himselfVajrapd4i correctly related parts of the concluding mantra toearlier sections of the Heart Siltra. The present interpretation isbased on certain findings in my research on Buddhist meditation;aand in the case of the concluding mantra, based on my essayabout mantras.s Furthermore, f now find Conze's editions of thelonger and shorter Heart Sutra preferable to the editions of Miillerand Nanjio.6 For the purposes of my present explanation I havetranslated, the shorter version and added in parentheses certainsentences from the longer version that I deem essential for under-standing this sutra.

As to translation of individual words, the rendition that mostneeds defending is my o'aftetwards" f,or tasmdt, which is usuallyand quite properly rendered as "therefore," o'hence," and "forthis reason" as the "conclusive" interpretation of the ablativetasmdt, for which see Speijer.T This is the reasoned conclusion,which is a sort of logical afterwards for what went before. As iswell attested, the purely temporal interpretation of the ablativein Sanskrit, i.e. as "after, " is rare' but as I have occasionallynoticed, when the "after" interpretation is demanded by a contextit may be overlooked for that very reason of rarity. Anyrvay,in the context of the Heart Sutra, the usual translation of thetwo tasnta-f-s as "therefore" strikes a janing note, since thereis no obvious antecedent to appeal to as the reason for saying"therefore."

Doctrinal introduction: This commentary of mine, called "Ex-plaining the Difficulties," would not be comprehensible to theusual Western reader, unless prepared by introductory teachings,at least as concerns the Buddhist three worlds and the theory oftwo dharmas.

aSee Chapter 3.sSee Chapter 22.6For these editions, see Edward Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies

(Columbia, S. C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1968), pp. 148-67;F. Max Miiller and Bunyiu Nanjio, eds., "The Ancient Palm Leaves.." inAnecdota Oxoniensia, Aryan Series, Vol. III (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884),pp. 48-50.

U. S. Speijer, Sanskrit Syntax (Kyoto : The Rinsen-Shoten Bookstore,1968). Para. 444, p. 344.

Secret of the Heart Sfitra

a. Cessation of "motivations" in the three worlds. The secondmember of Buddhist dependent originatioh (pratityasamutpada)is "motivation" (sarpskdra), and one explanation of this memberin the old Budcihist canon (the Pali scriptures) is that it has thevarieties of body, speech, and mind. The Buddhist theory ofthree rvorlds (desire, form, and formless) is also ancient. Inmy essay on Buddhist meditation8 I have gathered the textualsources to show how three kinds of motivaticn successively ceasein various parts of the three vrorlds. The following lay-out willshow the nrain elements of the solution:

Sulrriarr or ExrsrnNcn (bhauagra)3. Cessation of ideas and feelings : cessation of "motivation of

rnind" (manairsaryskdra) ;cessation of constructeddharmas.

Fonnrnss Rparvt

R.Barlr oF FoRM2. Fourth Dhydna: free from inbreathing and outbreathing;

- cessation of "motivation of bodv"(kayasaryskara).

Third Dhydna: pleasure by way of body.l. Second Dhyana: free from inquiry (uitarka) and investi-

gation (uicara): cessation of "motiva-tion of speech" (udk-saryskdra).

First Dhydna: inquiry and investigation.

RB.q.rN{ oF DEsIRE

b. The two dharmas. One may contrast the older and laterreligious aims of Buddhism. For the ancient view there is theverse in the Saryyuttanikdya:s

As the tortoise in its own shell withdraws its limbs, so maythe monk (withdraw) his mind's (outgoing) conjectures; resort-less, not harming another, denouncing no one, proceed toPurinirudna.

sThe one of note 4, above.eSar.nyutta-Nikaya, I, p. 9 (in the India Devandgari edition).

3 1 1


However, with the rise of the Mahdyanaideat of the Bodhisattva,who has opted to stay {n the world for the benefit of other beingsrather than pursue the personal aim of liberation, there rvere in'effect trvo gcals-the older one of liberation from the cyclicalflavt (sc.titsaro), and the newer one of cleliberately postponingtliis iiberaticn to serve rcankind and later to acllieve completeeriiiglitenmcnt. The two are statecl this way in Aryadeva'sCatuiilatal:a, XItr, 23 (:r,/erse 298), available in Sanskrit:

T'he Tatiiaigatas have stated in shorl that the Dharrna is non-harming (of r:thers), and that .roidness is Nirvana. Here thereare only these two.

As candrakirti e>rplains in part tiiis passage, "Non-harming andvoidness-these two clharntas attain heaven (,ruarga)and liberation,{apauarga)."r0 The Tibetan ar,-thor Red-mcla'-ba, in his lectureson the catttf#ataka, refers to tl-ris vory pessage along with acitation,ll "Tkrc i"dirvil4a rvith rernaincler is explained as the twoForrnal Bodies [i.e. Sargbirogakava and Nirma4akayal; theNirvSla r,vithout remaind.sr as tire Dharrnakdya." Accordingly,non-harm leads to iiear:ea (sr:arga), and iir tlie l\4ahayana senseto the two Forrnal Bodies; ri,hile voidness ieacis to liberation(apauorga), and in th.e Mahdyana sense to ihe Dharmakaya. Inthe Frasqnnapa-do, where the verse is cited amidst the commen-tary on chap. xYuI, 4,72 the discussion appears limited to thevoirlness dhsrnca, sincr:. xvIII, 4, is concernec u'ith this sicle. TheBodirisattva path is the other one of ihe pair, lvith the dharma"non-harm." The Heart Sutra, r.,,ith its stress on voidness,mainiy presents the "dliarnta of voidness," but has hints of theother dharma.

It is in connection with those two dharnrus that this essay isentitlectr "secret of the trreart siltra." .Ifrdnagarbha explains the

rovidhushekhara tshattacharya, The catuhiataka of Aryadeva (Calcutta:visva-Bharati Book-shop, 1931), p. 163: mi 'tshe ba dan ston pa iiid ces pa'i.chos de gfiis ni mtho ris dai bvan grol thob par byed pa ste.

lrRed-mda'-ba GZon-nu-blo-gros, Commentary to Aryadeva's,Foi.rHundred verses', ed. by Jetsun Rendawa shonnu Lodo. sarnath: sakya stu-dents' Union, 1974, p. 157.

12J. w. de Jong, cinq chapitres de la Prasannapadd paris: paul Geuthner,1,949, pp. 10-13.

.Secret of the Heart SDtra 313

term 'osecret": "Because for immature sentient beings, the pro-.found Dliarma is secret."13

Tsn PRnri{ApAnar,rrrAHBDAyA-sUrRA. TneNsrRrED FRoM THELoNcBn AND SHoRTER

'1,/ERSIon-s, wirll THE CoMMENTARy

"ExPLRINING THE DiprlcurrlEs"

{And at tltat timc, you should k;tow, the lord was equipoisedin tlte sctmddhi "profounC aDpeat"ance"). Tlrc noble BodhisattvaAvalokitei,,,atre, while engaged in the pra.ctice of profuundpra.jfiaparamitd, ins:pactcd ond observe;! that the Jive personalityaggregaies are void of "self-exi,stence". (The noble BoCkiscrttvagreat being Avalokiteiyara spoke as fellsy,s 7s tlrc venerableSariptttra).

'There &re three persons mentioned: the Lord, i.e. the Bud-

dha, is the enlightened one, the inaugurator of Buddhism;Avalokiteivara, ome of the great Bodhisattvas, the sons ofthe Buddha, is especially noted fcr surveying the sentientbeings in compassionate mairner; Sariptltra, one of the greatearly discipies of the Buddha, is especially noted for pre-eminence of his insigirt (prajf;tt, in pAh, paiifra). TheHeart s*tra represents the Buddha, wh.ile in the samddhi" Prafc,und Appearance," inspiring Avalokitefvara to instruct

Sdriputra. it is claimed in Mahiyana Budcihism that theBuddha teaches Avalokitelvara rvith a body callecj the sam-bhogakal,a, and teaches the disciples like Sariputra witir a body,called th.e Nirmatakaya. So the Buddhist master vasubandhuexplains in the Buddhdnusntrtilikd:Ia "According to tlle scripture(agama), the Lord (bhogauct), with the Sambhogakiya, staying inthe abode of the Akani.rlha fheaven], teaches the MahayanaDoctrine to Avalokitesvara and the other grcat beings on th.eTenth Stage, and with his hiirrnd.irakaya, staying in the range of'desire for as long as the cyclical flow (sa4tsdra) lasis, observingthe strcams of consciousness of the noble Sariputra, ancl so on,.and of otlr.er fortunate sentient beings, with the three kinds of

13T. T. vol. 109, Jfranagarbha's Aryamaitreyakevalaparivartabhd,sya (com-mentary on the Maitreya chapter of the sarpdhinirmacanasutra), 203b:B to203c:1.

14T. T. , Vol . 104. 33e:5 to p.34a:7.


marvels (pratihdrya) teaches the true nature of the Srdvakayanaexactly according to their expectations and their potentialities.o'since Avalokitesvara teaches Siriputra, the Nirmalakaya is hererepresented by Avalokite$vara.

Concerning the Samdclhi "Profound Appearance," the Sans-krit expression is gambhira-auabhdsa. The Pdli equivalent toauabhd,sa is obhdsa,' and Gautama tsuddha spoke thus to themonks in a passage preserved in Pali in the Anguttaranikdya(Book of Eights). The additions "profound" and "far-spread" arebracketed in my translation:15

Monks, before my awakening when being a Bodhisattva Iwas not completely enlightened, tr conceived [profound]appearances (obhdsa) but did not see [far-spread] forms (rupa).Monks, it occurred to rne, "If I were both to conceive [pro-found] appearances and to see [far-spread] forms, in that caseknowledge and vision would be better purifled in me."

This expression "linowledge and vision" (5. jfidna-darSana) isimportant in early Buddhism in the theory of advanced medita-tion. Vinitadeva explains the expression in his commentary onthe Fourth Defeat of the Vinaya:16 "'knowledge' (jfidna) is theinsight (prajfia) involved in search; 'vision' (dariana) is the insightafter search." Thus vinitadeva's comment is directly applicableto that passage from the Book o.f Eights, to help explain theSamddhi "Profound Appearances." That is, the opening of the

reThis is in the Book of Eights, chapter on Earthquakes, sutta called "AtGayE i' in The Anguttara Nikaya (chakkanipdta, sattakanipdta and Attha-kanipita), ed. by Bhikkhu J. Kashyap @ali Publication Board, 1960), p. 391.+9.

loVinitadeva, Vinayavibhangapadavyakkydna, T. T., Yol. 122-3ll: ies pales bya ba ni rjes su'tshol bq'f fles rab bolmthori ba /es bya bani rjessu tsholba'i fies rab bol. Probably the term rjes su tshol ba translated a perfect formindicating completed action, even though there is evident clumsiness with apossibility that the second "rjes su" rneant "after". This is made certainin Ytian-ts'6's great commentary on the Sarpdhinirmocancts[itra, Maitreyachapter, in the Tibetan translation, T. T. Vol. 106:219 when, in the courseof giving numerous explanations for the term jfidnadaridnd, he presents onethat is the obvious expansion of Vinitadeva's gloss, 219:e:5-6: "Also, anyinsight searching the dlnrma-.r is knowledge; any insight discriminating(them) after search is vision" I S2an yan chos rndms yoris su tshol ba'i Ses rabgari yin pa de iti iespa2es bya'olyons su btsal ba la(s) so sor rtog pa'i ies rab,gan yin pa de ni mthon ba Zes bya'ol.

Secret of the Heart Sltra 315

Heart Siltra represents the Buddha entering the Samddhi "Pro-found Appearances" to inspire Avalokitesvira with the pre-enlightenment stages called "knowledge," i.e. when prajfid wasinvolved in search, and was assisted by sentient beings.1?

Besides, Avalokite6vara as an advanced Bodhisattva has certainabilities in proceeding through what Buddhism calls the "threerealms": desire, form, and formless. As meditative attainmentsthe realm of form is divided into the four Dhydnas (Pali, Jhdna),and the formless realm with its four "equipoises" (sarndpatti) issurrnounted by the "summit of existence" (bhauagra). Asanga'sSarndhitabhumi teaches that a yogin who is not pure can do nobetter than pass through these states sequentially, and likewise inreverse order. But he says that a yogin who is pure can leap overthe second one, and not the third which is too far, and comparablyin reverse order: for example, jumping from the First Dhydnadirectly to the Third Dhydna. And finally, Tathagatas andBodhisattvas of the last three stages, hence Avalokite6vara andother great Bodhisattvas, can enter any of these stages from anyother one.18

Finally, more can be said of Sariputra from the Pdli canon withhis Fali name Sariputta in the Majjhfmanikaya (III,29): 00...

speaking rightly he would say of Sariputta-'He is the Lord's son,born frorn his heart and his mouth, born from the Dharnma, acreation of Dharnma, an heir of Dtrramma, not an heir of materialthings.' " Asanga explains some of the terms of this sutrq passagein the Parydya-sarygrahani of the Yogdcdrabhtimi:1s

"Son of the Teacher" is the brief reference. "Born frorn hisheart" means among the inner sons, because omitting ordinarypersons (prthagjana) who are unadvanced. "Born from his

17The Mahayanasfrtralamlcara, Chap. XVI devoted to the Perfections(paramita), agrees with this identification af prajiia with iiiana because inverses 36 through 40 each of thefirst five Perfections (giving, etc.) is said tostay in the world with the assistance of knowledge (jiiana); and when comingto verse 41 to deal with prajfiaparantitd the text uses ihe word jiiana insteadof prajfra and says "with the assistance of sentient beings" (sattvaparfgra-herya).

18For this leaping of a Bodhisattva, cf. Edward Cowe, The Large Sutraon Perfect Wisdom (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975),pp.7l-73, and p. 502, note, containing the reference to J. May's article CffOfO(Hobogirin IV, 1970), which also includes Asariga's treatrnent.

leT. T. Vol. lll:238a.


mouth" means born from the words which teach the Dharma."Born from the Dharma" means born frcim orienting his mindmethodically to the Dharma and accomplishing the Dharmaaccordingly.

Then Avalokitesvara spoke to Siriputra about how the Sravaka,Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva contemplate the five personalaggregates (skandha) to reahze "non-self of personality" (pudgala-nairdtmya):

"Hcre, Sdriputra, form is voiclness, and voidness verily rJfo.rn't, voidness is not dffirent from .form;Jbrm is not dffirent-fi"om voidness. What is form, that is voidness; what is voidness,that is form. The sqi?rc is the cnse with Feelings, Ideas,Motivatiott,s, and Percept ions."

Here (iha) means the Second Dhyana of the "realm of form"where occurs the cessation of "speech motivation" (udk-saryskdra),since here there is neither "inquiry" (uitarka) nor "investigation"(as development of discursive thought) (uicdra). And here theyogin especially contemplates revolting objects, such as thecadaverin decomposition, as suggested in the htahaydnasutrdlamkdra,XIX, 50, by mention of the sign-source in front; Sthiramati'ssubcommentary clarifies that this contemplation is meant todestroy the immemorial attachrnent to the sign-source of location(p r a t i ; t h dn i mi t t a), the "recep tacle-r ealm" (b hAj anal o k a), or sens oryobjects (ui,raya).2o Form is voicilrcsr may be understood fromVimatramitra's commentary this r,vay:21 it is void of self-existencewhether form be a mode-of-being @hAua) or a designation (pra-jfiapti). Tire same would apply to the other aggregates-feelings,ideas, motivations, and perceptioits.

Voiclness verily is form means according to Vimalamitra thevoidness of the "city of gandhalyss"-fusnce, also the voidness ofa dream, of the o'moon in the waters (of earth) ," and so on. Usinghis hint, the statement voiCness vuily is form and a like statementfor the other personal aggregates, can be illustrated by combiningAsanga's explanations from two places of his Yogdcdrabhumifor tlie similes of the ancient Buddhist canon:22

2oT. T. Vol. 109:99b-c.2lArya-Prajfiapdramitd-tikA, T. T. Vol. 94:280.zzYogdcdrabhtimi in the edition of the Derge Tanjur, sems tsdm, vastu-

sarygrahalti, Zi, f . l47b-2 to 6; and Parydyasarpgrahani,'i, f. 40a-5 to f. 40b-6.

Secret of the Heart Sutra

"a lump of foamo' uerily i; form.Asanga: because form (i.e. the body) has arisen from the element

of rvater, appears as though it is a self while it is not a

self, and is incapable of behaving as it wishes.

"a bubble" uerily is feelings.Asanga: by way of a triple association, to wit, by way of cloud

(sense object), soil (sense organ), and rain (sense per-

ception).'oa mitage" uerily is ideas.

Asanga: by way of the appearance of a knorvable, and as though

tormented (by thirst) and deluded."a plantain trunk" uerily is motiuqtions.

Asanga: by way of (the noble disciple's) cutting the root which is

the reiiying view (satkdyadr"oli), which amounts to the

diverse causes of many kinds of body (" upright

shoots"); peeling it (pulling off the various volitions,

cetand) he does not find a core."an illusicn" uerily is perception.

Asanga: by way of perception being a "magician" approaching(motivations) virtuor:s, unvirtuous, and unshaken;

and being the o'traveler at the crossroads" based on

four stations (i.e. form, feelings, ideas, and motivations).

Voidness is not dffirent frotn form; form is not different fromvoidness means according to Vimalamitra: there is no respective

external entity (bdlryartlta) of form and voidness, that is to say,

voidness is not external tofarnt, and vice versa. This agrees with

the Mddhyarnika pcsition that positing voidness as an external

entity would be reifying it. As with form, so also in the cases

of feelings, ideas, motivations, and perceptions. As I take the

twcr statements individually voiclness is not different fromform-because ii differeat in the sense tltat voidness possesses a form,likewise, feeling,s, ideas, moiivations, and percepttons-then'ovoidness" would be reified as a self. And form is not different

from voidness-bscause if different in the sense that form is a lay-

out, so aIso, feelings, ideas, motivations, and percepttorts, uponvoidness as a base-then lve could also say that the paints used forpainting a picture are different from the picture, stand out asdifferent from the picture which is the reified void base.

Then Avalokitesvara spoke to Sariputra about how the,

317

I


Pratyekabuddha and the Bodhisattva contemplate "all dharmas"to realize "non-self of dhqrmas" (dhanna-nairdtmya):

'oHere Sariputra, all natures (Dharma) huve the characterof voidness; are not originated and not destrol,ed; not defiledand not ptre; without subtraction and without addition."

Here (iha) means the Fourth Dhydna,free from the fault of inhala-tion and exhalation, i.e. the cessation of "body motivation"(kay a- s ar.nsk dr a) . Vasubandbu' s Abhidharmako i a (VI, 24) states :

The Teacher (i.e. the Buddlia) and the rhinocerus (i.e. thePratyekabuddha) up to (their individual) enlightenments at theupper end of (the F'ourth) Dhydna, have a single basis (i.e.of the four paths). Before that: what is conducive to libera-tion (i.e. the path of equipment).

Hence here there are the two dharmas-non-harm and voidness,as alluded to in Aryadeva's verse.

The character of voidness: Sthiramati, subcommentary onSutralarykdra, XIX, 48, uses the term o'character of voidness"(iunyatd-laksa4a, Tib. ston pa fiid kyi mtshan fiid) in connectionwith the verse's "knowing as they really are" of the Bodhisattvastarting with his First Stage.23 Thus "character" (laksapa) pointsto the "dharma of non-harm," because it involves the Bodhisattva'spath as contrasted with that of the Pratyekabuddha. TheMadhydntauibhdga says: 'oThe unreality of the two (subject andobject), and the reality of the unreality, is the character ofthe void (funyalaksana)."2a

All natures (dharma) means thepersonal aggregates (skandha),the elements (dhatu), the sense bases (ayatana). The Mahdyanascripture "Meeting of Father ond Son" (Pitaputrasamdgama) hasthis: "O great king. Thus all dharmos are the gateway to libera-tion."25 This points to the o'dharma voidness " for the Pratyeka-buddha. According to Asanga, Viniscayasaqngrahapt of theSamdhitabhumi, the gates to liberation-voidness, wishless, and

23T. T. Vol. 109:98d.ztM ad hy an t av i b hag a- b ha ; y a,

Research Foundation, 1964, p,Iakiaaarhl.

25T. T. Yol. 23:208e.

ed. by Gadjin M. Nagao. Tokyo: Suzuki22: dvayabhava hy abhdvasya bhavah ifrnyasya

Secret of the Heart S[tra

non-sign-source-distinguish the Fourth Dhydna.z8 And further,it says in " Meeting of Father and son" :27

Great King, when one understands it rightly as it really is, theeye sense-base is void of the eye-sense-base. Why so? Thiseye-sense-base is a non-sign-source (animitta). Why so?When the sign-source of the eye-sense-base is void of the eye-sense-base-this is voidness. When the sign-source of the eye-sense-base is free of sign-source-this is the non-sign-source.When it makes no wish, this is the wishless. Great Kingaccordingly the eye-sense-base is the three doors of liberation.The eye-sense-base is directed toward liberation... Likewise,all dharmas are directed toward liberation.

Are not originated and not destroyed means the voidness gateway-because the sign-source is void of the eye-sense-base, i.e. iscomparable to a dream.28

Not defiled and not pure means the non-sign-source gateway-because it is sign-sources that are defiled or pure.2e

Without subtraction and without addition means the wishlessgateway-because there is nothing to subtract or add for the eye-sense-base to wish for.

Having told the two dharmas related to heaven (suarga) andliberation (apauarga), and since there is no other dharma inBuddhism than those two in the sense 'oborn from the dhamma"(as was said of Sdriputta), Avalokitesvara explained to Sdriputrathe Truth of Cessation (nirodhasatya):30

26T. T. Vol. 111:11d. I surveyeC much of Asanga's Yogdcarabhumi forvarious explanations of the gates to liberation, and the particular one herepresented seemed most to fit the context of the Heart Sfitra.

27T. T. Vol. 23:201b, c.28Cf. Pifiputrasamdgamasiltra, T. T. Vol. 23:201d:3-4 "O great king, the

sense organs are illusory; the sense objects dream-like" (rgyal po chen po de ladban po rnams ni sgyu malta bu I yul rnatns ni rmi lamlta bur ies par bya stel).

2ecf. A. Wayman, Analysis of the Sravakabhumi Manuscript. Berkeley :University of California Press, 7961, p. 6l: "he does not take hold of sign-sources (nimitta-graht) ot details by reason of which sinful, unvirtuous natures(dharma) would flow in his mind."

svThe Paftcavirltiatisahasrika Prajftaparamita, ed. by Nalinaksha Dutt(London;Luzac & Co., 1934),pp.46-47, sets forth approximately the samematerial as in the Heart Stitra under the title "precept of cessation-truth"(nirodhasatyavavdda). Corue, Thirty Years, p. 158, calls attention to this,similarity.

319


"Afterw.ards, Sdriputra, in voidness there are no form, nofeelings, no ideas, no motivations, na perceptions;No eya, eer, nose) tongue, body, or mind; no fcrm, sounds,sntell, triste, ttngibb, or mental;No reolm of eye ... [down to]... no realm of mind-percep-t Ion:No nescienct, no ext[nction of nescience ...ldown to]--no oldage and deatli, ito extit'tciion of olC age and death;No sulfering, s'ource, cesscttion or path;No knowledge;No attainment, to non-attainrnent."

Afterwards (tasmat): In the summit of, existence (bhauagra), thereis cessation of "mind-motivation" (manah-sarTtskara)-referredto in the ancient Buddhist scriptures as "cessation of feelings andideas" (sa4njfiduedita-nirodlta). since here there is cessation of all"constructed natures" (sarytskrta-dharma), this is not the state inwhich the Buddha discovered 'all dharmas':five personal aggre-gates (form down to perceptions), twelve sense bases (eye d.ovrnto mind; form dorvn to mentals), eighteen realms (realm of eyedown to realm oJ' mind-percaptlon); nor in which he discoveredthe twelvefold dependent origination and the manner in whichit is extinguished (nescience down to old age and death; extinctionof nescience down ta extinction of otd age and death); nor inwhich he discovered the four Noble Truths (su/fering down topatlt); nor in which he had the knov,ledge and the attainment.And in this condition there is no non-attainment just as one cannotspeak of darkness, if there is no light. According to the Mahd-parinibbanasutta, the Tathdgata took his leave of the monks andattained the First Dhydna, and successively the vari.rus equipoises(samdpatti) up to the base of neither idea nor no-idea, and ernerg-ing from this base, reached the cessaticn of feelings and ideas.Then, according to the tradition, the venerable Ananda said to thevenerabie Anurudcha, "Reverend Anuruddha, the Lord haspassed. into Nirvdna.'" 'oNoy, brother Ananda, the Lorcr has notpassed into Nirvdqa; he has reached the cessation of feelings andideas." Thereupon, you should know, the Lord emerging fromthe cessation, entered the base of neither idea nor no-idea, andsuccessively the equipoises down to the First Dhydna; and emerg-ing from the First Dhydna, proceeded again through the Dhydnas


to the Fourth Dhydna, and emerging from the Fourththe Lord passed into Nirvdna.

321

Dhydna,

Avalokitesvara explained to Sdriputra that afterwards theBodhisattva returns to attainment by recourse to prajfidpdramitd:

"Afterwards, sariputra, by reason of the non-ottainment, tlreBodhisattva takes recourse to prajfiaparamita, and dwellswithout obscuration of thought.,,

Afterwards (tosmdt): After proving that there is no attainment,and so also no possibility of non-attainment in the cessation offeelings and ideas, the Bodhisattva of the upper three stagesamong the ten returns promptly to the realm of form. TheM ohdy dn a s ut r d I aryk A r a (XIX, 28, 29), explains :

For the right praxis of the wise in the six perfections is thegiving of the one without wish, the morality of the one withoutenthusiasm for re-existence, forbearance everywhere, thestriving to bring forth all good; likewise meditation (cthydna)apart from the formless realm,sl and insight (prajm@ tied tothe means (i.e. the other five perfections).

The Bodhisattva's meditation is apart from the formless realm,for this realm leads to the non-attainment summit. Besides, thereis a theory that among the Dhyanas of the realm of form, theBodhisattva of the EighthStage is in the First Dhydna, the one ofthe Ninth Stage is in the second Dhydna, the one of the TenthStage is in the Third Dhydnq.sztskes recourse to prajfiaparamitd, and dwells without obscurationof thoughr: It is said, "He takes recourse to the wife of another,"and explained: 'vrife of another' is prajfidpdrantitd; the ..other" is.

srvindrfipyar.n tatha dhyanary.azThis theory is presented in Yiian-ts'€, commentary on sarnchinirmocona-

sfitra, T. T. Vol. l06:209e where he combines the Daiabhumil;asutra's deify-ing of the irreversible Bodhisattvas (those of the last three stages) lvith theDhyana tradition, since each of the four Dhycina heavens has various typesof deities. Thus, in the Eighth Stage the Bodhisattva is Mahdbrahmd. Thisis not necessarily inconsistent i,vith the previous information that Sthiramatiassociates the "character of voidness" with the First Stage Bodhisattva, andmy piacement of the informaticn under the Fourth Dkyana. This is becausethe present reference to the irreversible Bodhisattvas has to do with their.return to the realm of form, wherein are the four Dhvanas.


the Diamond being (Vajrasattva).33 He dwells without the defile-

ment obscuration, as a Bodhis attva of the upper three stages,

although still with obscuration of the knowable. Then, in terms

of the two kinds of "insight" previously mentioned from vinita-

deva,s vinaya commentary, the one involved in search called

"knorvled ge" (ifiana) and the one after search called "vision"

(dariona), this one is the "vision." And Gautama Buddha in that

passage preserved in the "Book of Eights" explained that when he

developed the "vision" he saw the forms of the deities (devatfl

of the different classes.sa

Avalokitesvara explained that the Bodhisattva has arrived at

the Summit-Nirvdna:o,Because of the non-existence of thought obscuration, he

fearless, having transcended waywardness, is at the summit'

Nirvdqa."

fearless; According to Sthiramati, subcommentary on the sutrd'

laqnkdra, there ur. i*o kinds of fear: l) oftemporal unexpected-

ne,ss(sadyas), i.e. of rulers, robbers, fire, floods, etc',2) of objective

(spatial) domains (ui;aya), such as planes of yoga, and sarysdra

itself.35 The Bodhisattva has no temporal fear for the twoooafterwar ds" (tasmat), and no spatial fear for the two "here-S"

(iha).waywardness: waywardness (uiparydsa) means taking the

impermanent as permanent, pain as pleasure, nonself as self, and

the impure as pure. There are three stages of waywardness, to wit,

of ideas (saanjfia), therr of views (drsti) attached to the ideas, and

finally of consciousness (citta) with secondary defllements going

with the view attachment.so Since the Bodhisattva does nothave

thought obscurati on (cittd-auarana) he cannot have tfie last stage

33The Collected Works of Bu-ston, Part 14 (Pha) (New Delhi: Indian

Academy of Indian culture, 1,969), the abbreviated survey of the Tantras(in Tibetan). Fol. no. 910. Bu-ston goes on to explain that Prajfldplramitais the son mo ('she r,vho arrives') at the other side of sarpsdra, while

Vajrasattva is the son po ('he who arrives') at the other side of sarytsara'saln the sutta called "At Gay6" (cf. note 15, above).35T. T. Vol. 109: 19c 2,3, 4, commentary on XVI, 52'seCf . Tlte Liott's Roar of Queen Srinnla; a Eudclhist Scripture on the Tatha'

gangarbha Theory, tr. by Alex wayman and Hideko wayman (New York :

Columbia University Press, 1974). p. 1'02' and note.


ofwaywardness, that of consciousne ss(citta); and the sDtra intendsthis to mean the Bodhisattva has transcended.waywardness.

The summit-nirvd(ta: He is at the summit (ni;lh\ where theBuddha entered Parinirvaqa, i.e. at the upper extreme of theFourth Dhydna. Besides, Le Traitd gives the denotation of theword pdramitd (perfection) as applied to prajfrd:87 "she is calledpdramitd, because she arrives at the other shore (pdra) of the oceanof insight, because she arrives at the extremity (anta) of all theinsights and attains the summit (niplhagata)i,

Avalokitesvara then made the Mahdydna identification ofNirvila and enlightenment:

"All Buddhas of the past, present, and future, after takingrecourse to the perfection of insight, completely realize theincomparable, right complete enlightenment.,,

with the sambhogakiya, they realize the complete Enlightenmentat the top of the realm of form in the Akanittha heaven.

Avalokitesvara then summed up all the foregoing by way of anincantation:

"Therefore one should know the great incantation ofprajfidpdramitd. The incantation of great vidyd, the incom-parable incantation, the equal-and-unequal incantation, theincantation which allays stffiring, true because devoid offalsehood, proclaimed in the prajiidparamitd, as foilows: gategate pdragate pdrasarytgate bodhi svdhd."

The great incantation of prajfiapdramita, the incantation of greatvidya is gate gate pdragate parasarTtgate bodhi svdha, becauseuidya means the female variety of incantation (mantra) and sudhdis the final mantra of a female formula.Bs Flaving referred to themqntra in general terms, the sirtra now treats the individual termsof the marfira:

The',incomparable incantation is gate gate because this meansone has embarked (tirlta),'s with cessation of speech motivation inthe Second Dhydna.

sTEtienne Lamotte, Le Traiti de la Grande vertu de sagesse, Tome II.Louvain : Bureal.rx du Musdon, 1949, p. 1066.

s8cf. Wayman, "The Significance of Mantras,' (note 5, above).seFor these terms tirrya, pdragata, and sthalagata, see Franklin Eclgerton,

Buddhist Hybrid sanskrit Reader, New Haven: yale University press, 1953,"Conversion of Sariputra and Maudgalyiyana,', p. 31.

323


The equal and unequal incantation is pdragate because thismeans one is well on the way (pdragata), with cessation of bodymotivation in the Fourth Dhydna. The Pratyekabuddha, and theBodhisattva, is equal to the Buddha in attaining the cessation ofbody motivation in the Fourth Dhydna. But these yogins are notequal to the Buddha as regards having attained the incomparableenlightenment in the Akanirtha, with the Sambhogakdya.

The incantation which allays suffering is PdrasarTtgate, because'this means one has reached the dry land (sthalagata), beyond theswirling waters of sarpsdra. But is this cessation of mentalnatures to be called 'oNirvaqa"? True because devoid of false-hood is bodhi. "Enlightenment" (bodhi) is true, because devoidof the various falsehoods, by suggestion of PraSS.strasena'scommentary and partial adoption of his remarks: devoid of thefalsehoods of body, speech, and mind.ao

Proclaimed in the prajfidpdramitd is sudhd because this is theclarification at the end.al

Thus Avalokitesvara finished his instruction to Sdriputra.

(Then, you should know, the Lord emerged from thot samadhi

and told Arya-Avalokiteivara, " sddhu Sddhu").According to Vimalamitra,a2 rvhile this sutra was expressed by'

Arya-Avalokitesvara, it was in fact the Tathdgata's promulgation(aj na),' accordingly, AvalokiteSvara was empowered (adhit istha) bythe Tathdgata in the Samddhi "Profound Appearance" (gambhtra'

auabhasa). So the Tathagata, saying sddhu, sadhu (It is well, it is.

well) indicates concurrence with Avalokiteivara's exposition.So ends the "heart" of noble prajfidpdramitd.

Heart: There are two kinds of "heart" (hydaya) intended by this.

scripture. 1) there is the "heart," i.e. the essence of Mahdyinateaching with reference to Prajfrdpiramitd as the mother of the

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. 2) there is the "heart" witlt reference

to the sons of the Buddha, as was Sariputra, "born from his heart."So ends the commentary, composed by Alex Wayman, called

"Explaining the Dififlcultie s" (paiijikd-ndma) of the Aryapraifid'

p dr amit d- h yd ay a- s ilt r a.

a0Edward Conze, "PraSistrasena's Arya-Prajfiiparamita-hydaya-!ikA,"Buddhist Studies in Honour of I. B. Horner. Dordrecht: D. Reidel PublishingCompany, 1974, pp. 58-59.

crThis explanation of svaha is from a tantric commentary by Ratndkara-Sdnti, cited in Wayman, "The Significance of Mantras" (note 5, above').

42T. T. Vol. 94:284e: 5, 6.

PART FOUR

i IEXTS OF ASANGA SCHOOL

l6

THE SACITTIKA AND ACITTIKA BHUMITEXT EXP TRANSLATION

The brief text here edited is from the photographic Srduakabhumi

manuscript, and is a portion of the encyclopedic work Yogdcdra-

bhAmi by Asanga (circa 375-43A, A.D.).t The Sacittikd and

Acittikd bhumis occupy only one folio side in the manuscript andyet constitute Nos. 8 and 9 of the seventeen bhumis. They have

an importance far greater than their length might indicate, since

the Sacittika and Acittika text is Asanga's most extreme sum-

marization of the psychological states that rvere discussed ex-

tensively in ihe first five bhilnis (edited in Sanskrit by V. Bhatta-

charya), and then discussed from another standpoint in bhhmis

Nos. 6 and 7 (samohitd and assmAhifi bhilmis). Asanga then

deals r,vith the traditionatr three levels of proiiia (insight)-bhumis

Nos. 10-12 (irutamayi, cintdmayi, and bhduandntayi bhuntis). F{e

then exposes the three vehicles (yAna)-bhumis Nos. 13-15

(srduaka-, pratyekabuddha-, and bodhisattua-bhumis). He con-

cludes with the fruits (phola) of the path-bhunzis Nos. 16 and lV

(sopadhiie sd and nirupadhiie sa bhumis).

Sacittika Acittika ca Bhumih

/ sacittika'cittikd ca bhflmilr katamd / sa dvidhdpi paiicabhir

Frkarak veditavya / bhtmiprajflaptivyavasthdnato'pi citta-

rCf. Alex Wayman, "The Sacittika and Acittika Bhumi and the Pratyeka-buddhabhumi (Sanskrit texts)," Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies(Tokyo), 7:1, 1960, pp. 375-379.


bhrdntivyavasthanato'py utpattyanutpattivyavasthdnato'pyavasthdvyavasthanato'pi paramarthavyavasthanato,pi //f tatra bhfimiprajfiaptivyavasthdnatah paffcavijfianasampra-yukti bhlmir manobhfrmilr savitarka savicara ['vi]tark6vicdramatrd ca bhfmir ekantena sacittika / avitarkdydmav ic aruy ar.n b hfl m au s amapattyupapattikam a s ar.nj fr ikam niro -dhasamapattim ca sthdpayitvd tadanya sacittikaiva bhumihsamdpattyupapattika lasam] iffiko nirodhasamdpattis ca td(a)cittika bhnmih //

/ tatra cittabhrantivyavasthanato yat caturviparydsap viparya-star.n cittar.n tad bhrdntam ity ucyute / yat punas caturbhirviparydsendviparyastar.n tad abhrantam ity ucyate f tatra yadbhrdntacitta(r.n) tad acittam ity ucyate (p)r(akrti)bhra;tlat /tadyathil lokair vacas uktam f unmattakqiptacittar.n drptvd'[yam purusapudgalo 'citta unma]ttah ksiptacitta iti I tadanena paryayena yad bhrdntary cittarp tad acittikd bhumiryat punar abhrdntap tat sacittikl, /// tatrotpattyanutpattito 'ttabhih karaqaih cittasyotpddo['nutpado] va / tadyatha indriyaparibheddd viqayd:ndbhisamayandd manasikaravaikalydd apratilabdhad virodhdt prahdlddnirodhdd utpadac ca f etad viparyaydd utpddo drastavya{rkqaya(e)va karataib / tatra ya utpddakaraqais cittasyotpidahsa sacittikl bhflmih / ya\, punar anutpadakara4air anutpddahsd 'cittikd bhnmi\ //

/ tatr av asthdvyavas thanatab p a{ avas thdh sthdp ayi tvd s aci ttikabhumir veditavyd / ;ad avasthdb katama tadyathi acittika-middhdvasthd'cittikamurchavastha'sa4rjfrasamdpattir dsar.n-jffikam nirodhasamdpattir nirupadhiSesanirvd4adhdtur ydpunar etah qad avasthd iyam acittik[ bhnmi\ /// tatraparamarthavyavasthdnato nirupadhiseqo nirvdnadhdturacittikd bhumih / tat kasya hetoh / tatha hy alayavijffdnar.nniruddhar.n bhavati f tadanyasv avasthasu pravrttivijfidnar.nniruddhary bhavati / yenacittika bhfimir ity ,rtu,. / Filaya-vijfrinary tu na niruddhap bhavati / panmirthato 'cittika

bhunrir ity ucyate /// yogacarabhflmau sacittikd bhlmir acittika ca samapta lfTranslation of Asanga's Sacittika and Acittikd Bhumiwith minimal additions from Asanga's own comments inV ini i c ay as arltg r ah a n i.

The Sacittiki and Acittika BhDmi, Text and Translation 329

What is the stage "with thought" and. the one "without,thought"? Each of these is known under five categories:establishment in terms of stages, establishment of thought delu-sion and non-delusion, establishment of (thought) occurrence andnon-occurrence, establishment of states, establishment of the,absolute.

EsranrrsnrvrENT lN Trnus or, Sr,c,crs'These

stages are in each case a stage with thought: l. Associationwith the five (sensory) perceptions (uijfidna), 2. Mind (manas),3. With inquiry (uitarka) and deliberation (uicdra), 4. Withoutinquiry and with only deliberation. A stage "with thought" mustbe apart from 5. without either inquiry or deliberation, underwhich there are non-ideational equipoise, non-ideational exis-tence, and cessation equipoise. Non-ideational equipoise, non-,ideational existence, and cessation equipoise (each) constitute aistage "without thought."

EsranllssMENT or TsoucHr DnrusroNnNo NoNr-Drlustotr

A thought wayward with four waywardnesses is said to be deluded.Any thought not wayward with the four waywardnesses is a non-deluded thought. Among those, the deluded thought is said to be"destitute of intellect" because it has lost its primal nature. Forexample, when worldly persons see someone of insane, distractedmind, they say, "That person is 'destitute of intellect,' insaneohis mind distracted." Hence, in those terms, any deluded thoughtis a stage "without thought," and any one not deluded is ,'with

.thought."

Esr.q,srrsHMENT op OccunRENcE ANDNox-OccuRRENcE

Thought occurs or does not occur by eight causes, as follows:f . impairment of sense organ (six in number), 2. non-appearanceof sense object (six in number), 3. lack of attention, 4. non-attainment (of other realms, such as the Dhyana heavens, byreason of not accomplishing the path), 5. opposition (to a thoughtby another thought which is present, as when experiencing pleasure


one does not experience pain), 6. elimination (of a thought by thepath leading to the elimination, as when lust, hatred, and delusion

are eliminated by the Eightfold Noble Path), 7. cessation (i.e.

states nos. 3-6 in "Establishment of states," below), 8. occurrence'

already (i.e. having finished occurring, as in momentary theory).

The opposites of those constitute origination (of thought), just

when there is ending of those causes. Among them, any origina-

tion of a thought by causes of origination, is a stage "withthought."

And any non-origination by causes of non-origination, is a stage

"without thought."

EsrasusHMENT oF STATES

One should knorv the stage "with thought" as exclusive of six

states. What are the six? As iollows: 1. state of sleep devoid of

thought (:dreamless sleep), 2. state of faint devoid of thought,

3. non-ideational equipoise, 4. non-ideational existence, 5. cessa-

tion-equipoise, 6. Nirvd0a-realm without residual basis. Further-

more, these six states constitute a stage "without thought."

EsrasrtsHMENT oF TI{E AssorurP

This is the stage "without thought," Nirvafa-realm without resi-

dual basis. For what reason? For the reason that there is cessa-

tion of the "store consciousness" (dlaya-uiifidna). In the other

(five) states, there is cessation of evolving perception (prauytti'

uijfidna), and consequently they constitute a stage "without

thought" (in the conventional sense), but (in those flve) there is no

cessation of alaya-uijfidna: in the absolute sense, they do not cons-

titute a stage "without thought." Finished is tho Sta-se With

Thought and Without Thought in the Yogacarabhumi.

According to Asanga, there are four cases for possession of

al ay au ij ii dn a and f o r evolr'ing perceptio n ( p r au rt t i-u ii iidna) :

1. Possessing alayauijiidna and not possessing evolving per-

ception: persons in states nos. 1-5 in "Establishment of states."

2. Possessing evolving perception and not possessing alaya-

aijiidna : Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, irreversible Bodhisattvas,

and Tathagatas, when in stages 'owith thought."

3. Possessing both: persons other than those (mentioned

above), when in stages "rvith thought."4. Possessing neither: Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, irreversible,

The Sacittikd and Acittika Bhumi, fe*t arrJfranslation 331

Bodhisattvas, and Tathagatas, when in cessation-equipoise,

or in Nirvdla-realm without residual basis.

The evolving perceptions are mind (manas) and the five sense

perceptions. Together with dlayauijfidna, they make a set of seven

uijfidna. The set can also be counted as eight by taking the sixth

u ij fi dna as manouij fi dna, the seventh as "defi led mind" (k li ; ! aman as),

and the eighth as dlayauijfiana. The set of eight is more common.

The associate natures (caitasika-dharma) that go with all the

uijfrdna, are: attention (manasikdra), contact (spar,ia), feeling

(aedand), idea (sar.njfid), volition (cetand). Besides, the mind

(manas) has many other mental elements associated with it.

There are fi.ve mental elements never associated with dlayauiifidna:

longing (chanda), conviction (adhtmoksa), mindfulness (smrti),

one-pointedness (s amddhi), insight (pr ai fia).

The four waywardnesses are to regard the impermanent as

permanent, suffering as happiness, non-self as self, and the impure

as pure.Asanga in the foregoing mentioned only "Nirvdqa without

residual basis." BothNirvir:as (with and without residual basis) are

treated in the comments to the Paramdrtha-gathd. The two kinds of

Nirvifa constitute two stages (Nos. 16 and 17) of the seventeen

bhumi of Asanga's Yogdcdrabhumi priorto the exegetical sections.

Regarding the three stages, "non-ideational equipoise," "non-

ideational existence," and "cessation equipoise," the essay "Medi-

tation in Theravada and MahiSasaka" above and Asanga's

Srduakabhumi explain the "non-ideational equipoise" (or "equi-

poise without idea") as that of the ordinary person, and the

"cessation equipoise" as that of the drya (noble person), and relate

this terminology to the "formiess realm." The term "non-idea-

tional existence" (dsaryjfiika) refers, according to the Abhidharma'

koia, II, 41, to a class of deities abiding in the Dhyina

heaven Bphatphala, placed as the highest of the three divisions

of the "fourth Dhyana" in the "realm of form." Speaking

generally, Asanga states in his Vastusalngraha4i (PTT, Vol.

111, p. 134-3) that elimination of ideas (sarnifiilhappensin the

samadhi of "signless mind" (dnimittacitta). (See my essay

"secret of the Heart Sutra"). Asanga points out there also

that some outsiders (wrongly) attributed the two kinds of

Nirvdla to this Brhatphala heaven.

T7

ASANGA'S TREATISE, THEPARAMAnTUI-;A,r uA

The intrusive folios in the unique Bihar Srduakabhilmi manuscriptinclude a large portion of the cintdmayt Bhumi, an earlier sectionof the Yogdcdrabhumi. The intrusive folios of that bhumi containthe Paramdrtha-gdthd and the complete text of Asanga's commentsthereon; the Abhrprdyikdrtha-gdthd, with incomplete text ofAsanga's comments; and the first part of the Sqrirartha-gathd,small sets of verses with Asanga's comments. Long ago I editedand translated the Paramdrtha-gdtha and commentary in mydoctoral dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley,published as Analysis of the Srduakabhumi Manusuipr (1961).rNow I shall present this text and translation with various correc-tions.z Some introductory remarks are necessary.

The bulky work called Yogdcdrabhumi was composed for per-sons in the Buddhist religious life. Thus "yogacara" in the title'oStages (bhumi) of Yogdcara" does not stand for the Buddhistphilosophical school sometimes referred to as "yogacara

luniversity of california Publications in classical philology, vol. 17(University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 196l), pp. 163,ff. for details of this text as originally edited and translated, bibliography forthe Asian renditions, and so on.

2From Franklin Edgerion's generous review in Language, vol. 3g, No. 3(1962), I have adopted all his suggestions except one (on verse 3g). Besides,I have made minor improvements throughout the translation as well as majorcorrection of two verses (nos. 4 and 38).


philosophy." Much of the large work is given over to

Buddhist abhidharma-type doctrinal categories; and, generally,speaking, the treatise exposes extensively the doctrine andpractice indications for one aiming to follow the Buddhistpath, either in the old sense of early Buddhism or in the later sense

of the Mahd:ydna Bodhisattva. However, the work does contain

an early form of what is called "Yogacara philosophy," especially

by Asanga's use of the term "store consciousness" (alayauiifidna)

and his three lakpa7a-s or suabhdua-s called "imaginary" (pari'

k alp i t a), " dependency" ( p ar at ant r a), and "perfect" (p ar ini ;p anna),

The Paramdrtha-gdtha themselves do not clearly evidence any

technical o'Yogacara philosophy," but Asanga's comments do

bring in some indications of this philosophical position.

The verse that most needs some explanation in this sense is no'

4,withtwo mentions of the word "self" (atman). The translation

of the verse followed commentarial suggestions, especiallyAsanga'suse of the word parinippanna, which, as a grammatically passiveparticiple is possibly controlled by the instrumental of anotherword, thus forcing the term dtmanas (genitive or ablative) to be

interpreted ablatively in overlap of instrumental function. So mytranslation of dtmano ndsti as "is not by way of self." When the

verse states that the "self" is imagined in reverse manner, itfollows that it is imagined to be "by way of self." Asanga'scomment with the word parini5panna implies the other two terms

of the three lak;aua. Thus, the "self" is "imagined" in reverse

rnanner-the "imaginary charactet." The "dependency charac-ter" is shown by the phrase "not by way of self," since Asanga'sSrduakabhumi examines the "non-self" aspect of the Truth ofSuffering by the one aspect "non-independence" (asudtantrya).t

Finally, the "self" is not the "perfect character" (parini;powru-

lakSaqta). Asanga's interpretation of the verse no. 4 is not in-consistent with the {Iddnauarga, I, 20, including: f dtmeua ltydtmano ndsti lcuto putrd lruto dhatto* / , since kuto (: Skt. kutas) isabiative; thus, "For the seif is not through self. Through what thesons? Through what the wealth?" In short, one should realizethat the self is not autonomous ; that an ooindepenclent" self, andone that "possesses" sons and wealth is an illusion.

sCf. V/ayman, "The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and TheirOpposites," place with n. 17.

Asanga's Treatise, the Paramdrtha-gdthi 335

For the meaning of the word paramArtha, we note that the

commentary on Sutrdlarytkdra, VI, l, says that paramdrtha.("absolute meaning") is non-two meaning (aduayartha). Asanga,

in his Vastusaqngrahaqti (PTT, Vol. 111, p. 162'5) says: "By the

manner of paramdrtha one should know the 'world' (loka)-arisen

by dint of ideas (saanjfid) and cognition (ifiana); theme44$ ofcom-

ing to the end of the 'world'-iightly knowing as it really is the

arising-transformation of aspects belonging to the six sense bases

of contact; and the end of the 'world'-apprehending the end of'body,' (after ) ending the craving for any sense object."a Ending

the craving points to Nirva0a with residual basis; the end of'"body" points to Nirvdla without residual basis (cf. gdthd 42).

Hence "non-two meaning" of paramdrtha signifies-this way and

no other way.

The Paramdrtha-gdthdss

svdmi na vidyate ka5cin na kartd ndpi vedaka\, /dharmdl,: sarve 'pi ni6ceqta atha ced vartatekrtyd //There is no proprietor at aIl, no doer, no feeler;

Although all the dharmas are inactive, yet possible activity

evolves.dvddaS aiva bhavdn gini skandhdyatan adhlfiav a\ /vicintya sarvarty etdni pudgalo nopalabhyate l/The trvelve members of phenomenal life are the aggregates(skandha), sense bases (dyato.na), and realms (dhotu).

Pondering all those, a person (pudgala) is not found.

Silnyam ddhydtmikar.n sarvar.n Sunyar.n sarvar.n bahirgatary /na vidyate so 'pi ka6cid yo bhdvayati Strnyatarnl/Void is all within; void all rvithout.Nor exists anyone who contemplates voidness.atmaiva hy dtmano ndsti viparitena kalpyate /

aI have condensed Asanga's passage, using just his words, from the Tibetanversion.

'By gc\tha Asanga apparently meant the ancient verses or verse portions

that he pieced together to make this set of forty-four. This meaning is certi-fied by his own commentarial conclusion, calling this group of verses o'master

lineage" (aptagama), i.e. scriptural authority. Flence, the commentarial dha(he says) refers to the Buddha.

t .

2.

3.

4.


naiveha sattva dtmd vd dharmds tv ete sahetukift //For the self is not by way of self; it is imagined in reversemanner. Here there is no being or oneself. But these dharmashave their causes.

5. ksapikah sarvasamskdrd asthitdndm kutah kriyl /bhfltir yesar.n kriydsau ca kdrakah saiva cocyate f fAII the saqnskdras are momentary; how could there be theactivity of transient things?Precisely their arising is the activity as well as the agent.

6-7. caktuh paSyati no rlpar.n Srotram Sabddm Srnoti nab /ghrdqary jighrati no gandhdm jihva ndsvddayed rasam /kayah sppsati no spar5d mano dharmdn nakalpayetfndsti caisam adhitthdta prerako vidyate na ca //Neither does the eye see form; nor the ear hear sounds.Neither does the nose smell odord; nor the tongue taste flavors.Neither does the body feel tangibles; nor the mind conceivedharmas.And these have neither controller nor instigator.

8. na paro janayaty enam svayar.n naiva ca jayate /pratitya bhdvi jdyante niqpurdpa nava navd //Another does not engender this; nor is it engendered of itself.Entities arise dependently. They are not old, but ever new.

9. na paro nd5ayaty ena{n svayar.n ndpi ca nalyati /pratyaye sati jiyante jatdh svarasabhahgura\ //Another does not destroy this; nor is it destroyed of itsetf.When there is the condition, things arise; and having arisen,are perishable by their own essence.

10. pakqadvaye ni5rita hi janatd upalabhyate fpramatta viqayeqv eva mithyd coccalitd punab //One finds that creatures lie in two categories.They are heedless in sense fields; moreover, waywardly ad-vancing.

I 1. mohenapahptds te vai mithyd uccalitas turye ft1'qf ayd:pahftds te tu pramattd viqayequ ye //Truly those caught by delusion are those wayward.ly advancing.While those caught by desire are those heedless in sense fields.

12. sahetukatvad dharmS-n5"r.n duhkhasyeha tathaiva ca /maulam kle6advayary kltva dvadaSango dvidhd krtab //Because dharmas have their cause, as does also suffering,

Asanga's Treatise, the paramirtha-sathaJ 5 |

Since one has created the two fundamental defilements, thereare the twelve mernbers, of two kinds.

13. svayamkrta kriyir naiva tatlta parakpta na ca fparaf kriyiqn na karayati na ca nasti kriyd pur,a\ //The activity is not created by self, nor created by another;Another (life) does not causeilie activity; but also the activitvdoes not fail to exist.

14. nddhydtma{n na bahir va ca nantarale tayor api /anutpanno hi saryskarah kaddcid upalabhy ate //Whether within, without, or between the two,The sarpskdra that rras not (yet) arisen is nowhere found.

15. utpanno 'pi ca samskaralr tendsau nopalabhyate /anagatam nirnimittam atitam tu vikalpy ate //Even 'rhen the sarpskara has arisen, it is not thereby found.The future is devoid of sig*. But one imagines the past.

16. kalpyate 'nubhtrtary (na) ca ninubhutar.n ca karpyate /anadimantal.r sarpskdr6 idiS caivopalabhyate //one imagines not just the experienced, but imagines also thenot-experienced.The saqnskdras are beginningless. still, a beginning is found.

17-18. phenapirl{opamarp rlparp vedani budbudop ama/maricisadlSi sapj nd sarirskdrdlr kadalin ibhab, /mdyopam aln ca vij fi dnam uktam adityaban dh.and /ekotpad.i5 ca samskara ekasthitiniro,llinah //The solar kinsman has proclaimed formation to be like alurnp of foam; feeling like a bubbre; ideation like a mirage;motivations like plantain trunks; and perception like anil lusion.The sarytskdra,s arise alike, abicle and perish alike.

19. na moho moirayed moirar.n param naiva ca mohayet fna paro mchayaty ena4-l na ca moho na vidyate fDelusion does not delude delusion, nor cloes it at all deludeany one else; nor does any one else delude it; and yet delusiondoes not faitr to occur.

20. ayoni6omanaskarat sarnmoh.o jdyate sa ca fayoni5omanaskAro nasarprnu$hasya jAya& l/Thai coni'usion is born of unmethodical mental orientation,And tlie unmethoclical mental oricntatioir is born of one notfree from confusion.

21. pu1.1ya aputyd anifl1'ya sar.nskdrds trividhd mata\ /


trividham cdpi yat karma sarvar.n etad asarlrgatam //Meritorious, demeritorious, and motionbss are the motiva-

tions (and) held to be threefold; andwhichever be the three-

fold karma, alI that is disjoined.22. prabhangura vartamana atita na kvacit sthitd/

ajatah pratyayadhinal. cittar.n cipy anuvartaka\n l/The present ones are disintegrating;Those of the past abide nowhere;The unborn depend on conditions,And the mind evolves accordingly.

23. atyantikah sar.nprayogo viprayogas tathaiva ca fna ca sarvair hi sarvasya cittary copagam ucyate l/In an absolute sense not all (mind) has association-dissociation likewise-with all (s arTtskdr a).

It is said that mind evolves accordingly.

24. tasmin srotasya vicchinne sadp6isadpSe punah /dtmadfqtyanusarena samvrtih kriyate tv iyary //Again, the stream (of consciousness) has similar and dissimilardisruption, but this convention works by follorving the viewthat there is a self.

25, bhidyate rupakdyas ca namakdyo 'pi nalyati fsvayar.nklto

'pabhogaS ca paratreha nirucyate //The set of formation breaks up; the set of names also perishes;

and the self-done is declared "fruit-eating" both in this and inthe other worid.

26. paurvaparyef a cdnyatvdt svahetuphalasamgrahAt /sa eva karta vetta ca anyo veti na kathyate //That is the 'odoer" and the "feeler" through difference of priori-ty and posteriority, and through comprising in itself the causeand thefruit. But one should not explain (that) as "different."

27. hetuvartminupacchedit simagryd vartate kriyit /svasmad dheto6 ca jayante kurvanti ca parigrahaTn //Given that the course of causes is not disrupted, activityevolves by reason of the asseinblage (of causes). They areborn by their individual cause and take control.

28. prapaflcibhirati hetu tatha karma SubhdSubham /sarvabijo vipdkaS ca ittdniqtatn tatha phalar.n //When the cause is delight in elaboration, likewise the action(karma) is good or evil. When any seed matures, likewise thefruit is desirable or undesirable.

':

Asaiga's Treatise, the Paramdrtha-gathi 339

29. sarvabijo vipiko 'bhijdyate atmadar5ana\n fpratyitmavedaniyo 'sau arDpi anidar6anab //When any seed matures, the view of self is reproduced.what is to be known of one's own self is that it is formless,invisible.

30. kalpayanty antarutmdnar.n tam ca biid ajdnakA\ /dtmadarSanam dSritya tatha bahvya5 ca dy;taya\ //And that is what the immature and ignorant imagine to bethe self within, having based themselves on the view of self.Thus there are many (false) views.

31. pindagrdhdtmabijdc ca ptrvabhydsdt sahayata\ /Sravaldd anukildc ca jayate dtmadar5anaan //As a result of the cohering seed of self, the former concomitanthabitual practice, and (present) hearing in conformity there-with, the view of self arises.

32. snehas tatpratyayam caiva adhyatmam upajayate Ianugrahabhild+aS ca bahih sneho mamayitarg l/Attachment originates in addition to that condition within;And attachment craving for acquisition (originates in additionto) the cherished thing without.

33. yato bibheti loko 'ya\n tan mohitmar.n haraty asau fpfrrvar.n niveSanary kptvd tenopaiti prapafrcita\n //whatever this world fears, that brings the self of delusion.Having formerly made an abode, it undertakes the elaborated.

34. yat ian nivesanatn krtar.n tad arya duhkhato viduh /yena duhkhita sadd baldh ktairamatram upaSamito nahi l/Whatever the abode that is made, that the noble ones knowas suffering.Thereby the imrnature always suffer, for it is not appeasedeven for a rnoment.

35. vain"rpyaparigatary cittam acinoti duhkhar.n tathdvidha\n /yada cittary bhavati baldnam ahar.nkdrasukhaduhkhapra-tyayarp //The mind that is filled with variations gathers suffering of likekind. Whenever it is a mind belonging to the immature, it isthe condition of egohood, happiness, and suffering.

36. yatra saktdl.r sarvabdli6dh parike patati kuffjaro yathd /sar.nmohas tatra cadhikah sarvatragah sarvaceqtite tatpara\ //Where all fools are stuck, as an elephant sinks in a bog,There is the remaining confusion, proceeding everywhere,

37.

38.

Buddhist Insight

glven over to every actlvlty.sarvasrotasdr.n vinirbhedaya ylni loke srotdrysi viqamdni /naitad asty agnir na vayur na bhdskaro 'tiSoqayed anyatradharmacaryayA //No fire, wind, or sun could dry up those unbearable streamsin the world, so as to destroy all streams-Nothing but the practice of the Dharma.Duhkhi duhkhito 'ham asmity atmanary sukhito v[duhkham vyavasyati fparikalpo dpqtisamutthdpakah sa tasmdj jdtas taj jinayaly

api // z

When suffering, one thinks, o'f am suffering;" or "I amhappy,o' when he ascertains himself suffering. Imaginationis the arouser of (right and wrong) views. It is produced fromthem and generates them in turn.sahotpannaniruddham hi kle6aih kli+tam manalr sada /tasya nirmokqo na bhlto na bhavi;yati l/The defiled mind always arises and ceases together with defile-ments.Its release has not occurred and will not.na tad utpadyate pa5cac chuddharn anyatra jiryate Itac ca plrvam asar.nkliltam kle5ebhyo muktam ucyate //That does not arise later. On another occasion it is bornpure. Precisely that which formerly was nnstained is called"freed from defilements."yat kli;tam tad ihatyantac chuddham prakytibhisvara\n Ina ceha Sudhyate kaScit kutaScid vipi Sudhyati llThat which was defiled, here in the end is purified, with itsintrinsic light. Anything not purified here would surely notbecome pure anywhere !sarvabijasamutsddit sarvakleSaparik;aydt /tatraiva c6py asarpkleSad dvidhdbhinnar.n pradarSita\n //By reason of the utter destruction of all seeds-the totalelimination of all defilement; in the satne place, as well, byreason of no stain, a portion of trvo kinds is specifled.pratyatmavedaniyatvdd duhkhamdtraparik;ayFft /tathaiva nilprapafrcatvat sarvatha na prapaficayet //Through what is to be known of one's own seif, throughelimination of suffering only; just so, through no elaboration,one does not elaborate at all.

39.

4r.

40.

42.

43.

Asanga's Treatise, the Paramdrtha-gdtha 341

44. pravahe pudgaldkhyd syad dharmasatnjry ca lakqane /na veha kascit sa(nsarta nirvdty api na kalcana //The terrrr "person" (pudgala) means "continuous stream"

and the expression "natufe" (dharma) means "character."

Neither is there any transmigrator here, nor is anything

allayed (in pariniruapa).

CorraunNraRy

/ pudgalanairdtmyar.n paramdrthatas tadadhikdrat paramirthaln

gdthd / samaropdpavdddntadvayapratipakpfa / tatta sudmi

parigrahasya karta kriyd4dr.n uedakalz / tat phalind:rir gdthdrd-

dhendrthantaraparikalpitam dtmdndm pratikqipati / dharmalt

sorue 'pi niice;ld iti dharmdfdm evatmatvary pratiksipati I etena

samaropantary parivarjayati / atha ced uartate kriyety anena

dharmastitvena cd,pavdddntar.n parivarjay ati f tatr a kriya trividhd

svdmikriyd karakakriyd vedakakriyd ca / yayd kriyaya svamiprajflapyate / karako vedako vd katame te dharmd iti noktam ata

itha / duddaiaiueti gdthdrddhap yatha bhavdngakramena ye

vartante skandhds tdn parid ip ay ati / skandhadhdtvdyatanagraha-

\ary\ I svdmikdrakavedakagrihakapratipakqela cak$uh pratitya

rupdi:i cotpadyate cakpurvijfrdnaqn phalagr na tu iuicid uedako'stity aqtddaSabhir dhatubhir vedakibh6vam paridipayati f suami

nd uidyata ity uktar.n/ sa punar yatha na vidyate tat paridipayati /uicirttl'a serL:dr.tj' etdni pudgalo nopalabhyata iti f uicintyeri tribhiirpramanaih pariksya / tasmin na vidyamdne katham ddhyatmika-

bdhyavyavasthanarlr sidhyatity aba I iilnyant adhyatntikary sor-

aaryt iunyatp saruatn balirgatarpf vyavasthanamltraln tv etad

iti j fl apay ati I kathar.n parik gyaparik pakavyavas than atn s idhyatiti

/Ahal na uidyate so 'pi kalcid yo bhduayati iilnyatamiti f katham

aryapythagjanavyavasthanar.n sidhyatiti I ?rha f dtmaiua hy dtm'

eno ndsti uiparitena kalpyata aryappthagjanatmaiva taddt-

manah parinippanno nasti viparyasena tu kalpyata iti jrt,apayati /katham paratmavyavasthanam sidhyatiti / aha naiueha sattuo

frtnna u eti I katharlr sar.nkle5av y av adanavyavasthanar.n sidh y atiti /aha dhqrmds tu ete sqhetukAk / na sa$klista na vyavadita va

kaScid astiti f dharmalt sarue 'pi niiceg[a ity uktar.n / na tuktar.n

kathap ni6cepta itiI ataAhaI ksanik{tit saruasarpskara asthitanaryt

kutah kriyeti I atha ced uartate kriyety uktar.n/ tat katham asatydinkriyiydan kriyd vaftata iti aha I bhutir yetAryt kriyasau ca kdrakas

saiua cocyata iti I phalatvdt kriyi hetutvat katakah I tam punar


bh[tir yayatanebhyo vijfianotpattyd sfrcayati / tadutpattya ca Icaksurddinap ndntarena tatsiddhel,r / dharmah sarue 'pi niice;la ityuktary / tary niscestatary saptavidhdrn darsayati / kiritraniscegta-tary cak;ult paiyati no rilpam ity evam ddind /anuvidhdnanisceqia-tlnp / nasti cai;dm adhistrhdtd prerako uidyate na ceti f svdmikdra-kabhavdd yathdkramary yasyanuvidhdnam kuryuh/ utpddana-niScestatdry na paro jo.nyaty enam iti / utpattiniscestat am suayarytnaiua ca jayata iti / samkrdntiniscestatdr.n prattya bhaud jayantenispurd?d naud navditi vindsananiScestat ary f na paro ndiayaty enqmiti vinastinisce;tatdnl f suayam ndpi ca naiyatiti / kiyathd, pratityajdyante tatha pratitya vinaSyantifi / aha f pratyaye sati jdyantejafik suarasabhafigurdl3 f dharmds tu ete sahetukd ity uktam /atas tan samklesasvabhdvdn gr-hasthapra.rrajitadharman sahe-tukan paridipayati / palc;aduaye niiritd hi jantateti f dvabhydr.ngathabhydm avidyatrst d.hetuparidipa ndt / ata\ param paff cabhirgdthdbhis tam eva saryklesam prabheda tab / dsrayatatr hetutahkdlatas ca samdarsayati f tatra sahetuka dharmlh avidya ydvadvedana sahetukary duhkha{n trud ydvad jaramarana etena trivi-dhar.n klesakarmajanmasamklesaln darsayati f maulary lclesadua-y aryt k rtu eti / kle(;asapklesat pradhanaklef agraha+ar.n d,ar say ati /suayantkrta kriya naiueti karmasamklesasya puna[ ppthagjanarpvacanar.n tatkrtatvad vaicitryasya f tadvipikasya cdcintyatvltt /tatra na svayamkrtaiva kriyd pdpakalydlramitraparopasatnhdrascaksanan na parakStaiva purusakardpekqandtf na para euakriydrytkarayati / plrvajanmahetvapek qa4at / ndcthydtmarn nq bahir uetyanay a gathay a / anitgatasri tasamkles asambhavaqr pratyutpannd.-titasar.nskirasritasamklesam darsayati f utpanno,pi sarpskdralttenaiva na vikalpyate 'ndgatarlt tu nirnimittatudn navikalpyate /idam idlpm vd bhavi s y atity anavadhdrart dd any athahi I kalpitamanyathaiva kaddcid bhavati f atitarp tu uikalpyate nimittakaralididary caivam cabhud iti / na kevalam anubhltam eva kalpyate /ananubh[tary canagatary vikalpyate vindpi nimittikarela etenakalpandhetukary saryklesary pratyutpannar.n sar.nskdrisrayar.ndarsayati / anddimantah saqnskdrd ddii caiuopalabhyata iti /s ar.nkl e S a sy a kdl ar.n dafi ay ati / anddikaldnu gatatvdd abhi n avo tthi-panac ca / atah parar.n vyavadandpakqary darsayati / yathltparik-syamano vyavadayate / svalakqanato rDpadindry phenapin-{ddyupamayEt, sdmanyalakranatah sa4rskptalaksanasamdny6dek o tp a t t is t h i t inir o dhatay a sar.nvptiparamartha saty atas ca f tathithi na kascid mohako na ca / moho ndsti pratitya samutpannah

Asanga's Treatise, the Paramirtha-gdthd 343

sar.nvgtyd aa moho mohayatity ucyate I yan namuQhasl'dyoni

Somanaskdrqh tasmad asau mohary na mohayatiti / paridipayati /tatha hi vijfldnary puqtyddisaryskdropqgam ucyate saryv$yd para'

marthatas tu nopagacchati / trtuidha matd ity atitdnagataptatyut'panndh I triutdharyt cdpi yat karmeti kayddikarma snruam etadqsarygataryx / paraspare4asamadhdndt tatha hi prabhangurd

uartamdndk I atitd nakuscit sthitdft | aiAffift pratyayadhindh cittaln

capy anuruartakarTt/ teqdfn yattatsalnprayuktam I atoyathd pulyd:-

dindr.n saryskarir.rdr.n sailgamo ndsti I tatha tat samprayuktas-ydpi cittasyeti katharyr tasyopagatatvaqr bhavi-syati I yad dhi

cittain yena saryskarena sar.nprayukta4r vd, i viprayuktar.n vd /na tarp tena f kadicid asar.nprayuktaln va I aviprayuktaln vd

bhavati I na ca sarvasya cittasya sar.nprqyogo va uiprayogo va fevar.n paramarthataS cittasyopagatatvam asiddham / cittaryx copa-

gam ucyate f saryv5tya yena karaqena tad darSayati 1 tasmin sro-

tasya uicchinna iti gathnyaTn saryturtik kriyate tu iyam ity upagam

ity eqd yathd cdsati kdrake / vedake ca paramdrthatah suoya\n-

krtopabhogah sarllttya nirucyate I yatha ca punah sa karoti /sa prativedayate I anyo ueti to vydkriyate I tat paridipayati /paurudparyena cdnyatuAd ii I gifihayd evar.n paramafthatah svi-

miny asati karake vedake va hetuphalamdtre ca sati codyapari-

hdrain hetuphaialak$alar.n f tatra cdtmaviparydsar.n / pafrcabhitgitlrabhih paridipayati I tatra yathdtmany asati punarbhavo

bhavati / nocchedahl yathd ca hetuto yugapat phalary nabhavatifyatha ca sarvatal] sarvar.n na bhavati / yathd ca yasya hetuvart-

manah ucchedo na bhavati I tad ekayd gathaya paridipayar.n6

caturvidhar.n codyar.n paridip ayati harati / caturbhil: padair yathf,-

kramaln dvitiyayd. hetuphalalakianafn / tisrbhis tatranatmani

hetuphale yathatmadgqtiviparyasah I tat punar dlambanata\ /afuayatab phalatalr hetuta5 ca paridipayati / tasydlarnbanamekayd gathaya f tac ca pratyatmavedaniyatvam arupitvdnidarsa-ndbhydr.n sd,dhayaty atarkyatvat / rnpa1d hi tarka4d sirtra ukta /anidarSanatvac ca f parebhyo 'desanaya

f a*ayary phalap cadvitiyaya / bald a6rayas tadanya drqtayah phalam hetur.n tstiyayd /tatra sahajdtmadyqlipiadagrahasvabrjat ca tadanuSayaj jayate /parikalpitn tirthikatmadlstih purudbhyasdd iti I sa ca tirthika-

drqlih abhyastd bhavati f ayonii;aS ceha tarkayati f tadanukular.nvdsaddharmaql paratab Slnoti / ity a6rayamanasikdrdlambana-dotaiir parikalpitasyatmadarSanasyotpattir.n darSayati I atallparatn yathd: tad, dtmadarianaryt / sarnudayanuplrvam dubkham


nivartayati / yathd ca tad" duhkham punah sdhainkdrayor dvayordubkhatayoh karapa4n bhavati / yatba ca moksasya vibacrdhdyabhavati / tat paflcabhir gathabhih paridipita ry f tatra pratia-maya gathayi samudayar.n darsavati / dvitiyatptiyibhydr.n oulrmra-sar.nski raduhkhafrsar.ngrhitam ilay avijfiitnar{r ay au7 tad. n iu e i q-naqn krtuti f tenopdti prapaficitam bhavisyami na bhaviqyamityevamadi f niueianam ity dtmabhavaparigrah ary, / tac ca duhkhar.nsarvakalanusaktatvat f rc;arlam,trant apy anupaSantarp I catui-thyi yatha duhkham anyayor duhkhavor atrarnkarasya ca prat-yayo blravati f paficamya yatha p*nar moksasya vibaddhayabhavati sarytrrtohas tatra ca(thikah / itariibhydrr-r duhkhatabhyamantikat f sawairagal3 sarvaved.itanugatatva.t / sarucce.r{ite kusa-lakusaidvydkl'te / tasyeclanim iirayavijflanasarygrrritasya duh-khasya sarah.sa-r.pyaqi darsayitva visoqagarp dharmacarltqiy^6o;Ftt / tatra ui.ramani srotdmsi caksuradini pa! paflca gatayalltrayo dhitavas ity evamddini I ti4r ca dharmacaryary bandha-moksaparijfraya darSayati I tatra bandhaparijna yad evar.nparijdniti / duhkham eva vyavasyati / yo out trritatr sukhito,smitiatmana4r vyavasyati / sa ca parikalpo ci19!el3 samutthapakastata eva / dpster jdtas tajjanako bhavati / moksaparijiidm sesa-bhih pdbhir garhabir.irr paridipay ati I saltotpannaniruddhaqnhi kleiaih kli;lary ntanah sada kresebhyas tasya nii.mokso na bhutoyadi klesais sahotpannary na bhauisyati / yada tai\ sahanirud-dham yada tarhi muktam ,cyate tat samciarsayati I tad evapaicdc chuddham utpadyate 'nyatra sucldhana mano jayate f tacca pfrrvam evasamkii,<tatvad rnuktam ity ucyate f etam evartharypunaf sadhayati I yot kli;larr tad ihatyantdct it,t anayagSthaydtary ca / moksap dvidham darsayati / kiefamokqarp vastumok-;ary ca f sarvabijasamusadena klesaparik":ayat klesamok qa\n /tatraiva capy asar.nklesad vastumokqary / yo bhikqavas caksuqi /chandaragas tam prajahita f evary ca tac caksul.r prahi4ar.nbhavigyatiti / sltrapadanyayena f eva41 sopadhisesary moksarndar5ayitva nirupadhiSelar.n dar(;ayati / pratl,61n.taueclaniy,ataya ftasyacintyatirp clarsayati I abhavamAtragrahavyudasarthamdultkhamctrakscyenopadhiricqapanayary / tatai; ca sarvathapyaprapaiicaniyatvam f anyo vd sah ananyo va bhavati vi f pararymaraqan na bhavati vety evamadi / saty api ca banclhe mokseca I yatha na pucigalo na dharmah sar.nsarati va parinirvati vdtat paridipayati I praudhe pudgaldkhyd syad ity anaya gitthayd Isamaptam ca paramarthagdthdn amaptagamavyAkhydnary I I

,Asanga's Treatise, the paramdrtha-gdthd

TRaNsrauoN oF FaRaviARTHA CoMMrNranyo-/l

L$t-af adversary to the extremes of affirmation and denial, thereare the verses of suprerne Meaning, referring to ..non-selfhood

of a person" (pudgalanairdtmya) from the standpoint of supremerneaning.

Among them, the "proprietor,' is of property; .odoer,,, of acti-vities; "feeler," of the latter's effects. By the half-gdtha [la_b]he r;fates the self (dtman) imagined of other meaning. ny sayinj"Althougb all the clharmas are inactive', [1c], herefutes the posses-;sion of self by the dhermas. frrereby he removes the extreme ofaffirrnation.By saying "yet activity evolves" [id), through exis-tence of the dltarmas, he removes the extreme of denial. Hereactivity is of three kinds: activity of the proprietor, of the d.oer,of the feeler. The proprietor is pointed out by the activity, like-wise the doer or feeler.

what those dharm{ts are, has not been (so far) stated. There-fore, he says the half-verse "The twelve . . . ."f2a-b] so that he mayexponnd those personal aggregates (skandha) r,vhich evolveaccording to the sequence of the tnembe.s of phenomenal life [i.e.pratityasamtttpddalT; (expound) the sensory object, that is, ..per-sonality aggregates" (skandha), "realms" (dhate, and ,.sensebases" (ayatana);8 and (expound) that the fruitional eye-based.perccption arises dependently on the eye and formse with exclu-sion of a subject, tirat is, 'oproprietor,,, .,doer,,'

and o.feeler.,,

eQuotations in 1hs ccmnentary of rire gathtis ai'e tier-e identified by thegatha nunrber and by pados,l:ibelcd a through cl.

TThe "members of phenomeual life" are the twelve of dependent origina-tion, referred to in gathas Z, 1l-I2.

srho f,ve personal agglegates are iisted by similes in gathas 17-1g. Thetwelve sense bases, six personal (eye, etc.) and six objective (forms, etc.) arelisted in gdthas 6-7. The eighteen rearms, mentioned below in the cornmen-tary, are arrived at by adding six "perceptions" (vijiiana), e.g. perceptionbased on the eye, to the twelve sense bases, making a total of eighteen ihatr.

9Asanga here accepts the ancient doctrine, as in the stock P6li phrase (cf.saryyutta-Nikdya, Pafi LY, salayatana-vagga, 32): I cakkufi ca paticca rupeca uppajjati cakkhuvififiuryary / "The eye-basedperception arises dependenrlyon the eye and form." Note that Asanga admits vijfiana is fruitional. Thisshows that the frequent translation of the termvijfiana(Pdlivifiiia4a) as .,cons-

sciousncss" badly misses the meaning, since the word .,conscionsness,'is

ordinarily used as a faculty independent of and preceding the function*'con.ciousness of (something)."

345


By saying "There is no feeler," he expounds the non-existence of

the feeler in the eighteen realms. It was said, "There is no pro-

prietor"; and he now expounds how there is none with the words,

"Pondering all those, a 'person' (pudgala) is not found" [2c-d]."Pondering" (uicintya) means inspecting by means of the three

authoritie s ( p r am d 4a) .1oIn the light that there is none, how does he prove the establish-

rnent of inner and outer ? He says [3a-b] : "Void is all within;

void all without." (Thu$ he teaches the mere establishment.How does he prove the establishment of the thing inspected and

the inspector ? He says [3c-d] : "Nor exists anyone rvho contem-plates voidness." How does he prove the establishment of the

noble one (c\rya) and the ordinary person (prthagjana) ? He says

[aa-b] : "For the self is not by way of self ; it is imagined in reverse

manner." (Thu$ he teaches that it is precisely the self of the noble

one andof the ordinary person that is not perfect (parini;panna)

by way of their self, but is imagined in reverse manner. How

does he prove the establishment of another and oneself ? He says

[4c] : "Here there is no being or 919ry]!" How:{ogqhe prove the

establishment of stain (sarykleia) an4 pqdfication (uyauadana) ?'

He Jivit4d1 ' "th. se dharmas have their causes"; that is, there,!-s

nonfeither stained or-pure.tt-was slated, "Although all the dharmcts are inactive," but it

was not stated how they are inactive. Hence hd says [5a-b] :

"All the saqnskdra,r are momentary; how could there be the acti-

vity of .transient thir-rgs ?" It was stated, o'yet possible activity

evblves.;' Then, in the light that activity is unreal, how does acti-

vity evolve ? He says [5c-d] : "Precisely their arising is the activity

as well as the agent." From the standpoint of effect, it is activity;

from the standpoint of cause, it is the agent. Further-nao{-e, -that

arising he indicates by the production of perception (uiifiana)

at the sense bases (ayatana) and by the production of that through

accomplishing it in a manner not apart from the eye, and so on.

It was stated, "Although all the dharmas are inactive." That

inactivity he shows to be sevenfold :{'

10The three "euthorities" (pramarya) are direct perception (pratyak;a),inference (anumatn\, and master lineage (aptagama), as described inAsanga's

hetuvidya section of the Yogacarabhtimi, a section I have translated ("Rules

of Debate") for inclusion in a separate work.

Asanga's Treatise, the paramdrtha-githa 347

l. Inactivity of agent, by [Gatha 6] "Neither does the eye seef o r m . . . . "2. rnactivity of obedient evolving, by (Gatha 7) ..And thesehave neither controller nor instigator', for which they wouldmake obedient evolving in proper order-because of the non-existence of the proprietor and the doer.3. Inactivity of generator, by the words [ga]

..Another doesnot engender this."4. Inactivity of generation, by the words [Bb]

..Nor is it engen-dered of itself."5. Inactivity of transmigration, by the words [gc-d]

.,Entities

arise dependently. They are not old, but ever new.,,6. Inactivity of destroyer, by the words [9a]

..Another doesnot destroy this."7. Inactivity of destruction, by the worcls [9b]

..Nor is it des-troyed of itself."

Is it the case that as they arise dependently, so are they destroyeddependently ? He says [9c-d] : "when there is the condition,things arise . and, having arisen, they are perishable, by theirown essence."

It was stated, "These dharmas have their causes." Hence he(norv) expounds the dharmas, having the nature of stain, of house-holder and monk, with their causes, by expounding the nescience-craving causes by means of tr,vo gdthas [ncs. 10, 1l] : ,,creatureslie in trvo categories. . . . " Moreover, by means of five gathds[nos. l2-16], he shorvs this stain in varieties : thatof basis (diraya),cause (hetu), and time (kale. Among them [l2a-b], the clharmaspossessed of causes are [the seven, viz.] nesci ence (auidya) throughfeeling (uedand); the suffering possessecl of causes is [the five,viz.l craving (trsud) through olcl age and death (iarimaroaro),.Thereby he shows the three kinds of stain (sarykteia): defilement(kleia), action (karma), and birth (ianma). with the words [l2c]"since one has created the two fund.amental defilements,, he showsthe chief defilement object by way of 'defilement

stain' (kteia-sarytkleia). with the words [13a] "The activity is not created byself" (he shows) furthermore the ordinary-person parlance of"action stain" (karma-satTtkteia) that is manifold by way of whatwas (formerly) done and has its maturation in an inconceivable


way.ll Here the activity "not created by self?' is what is brought

about by others-sinful and beneficial friends, through advice;that "not created by another" is with reference to human effort.

The words Ii3c] "Another (life) does trot cause the activity" refer

to a cause from a preceding 1ife.12With another gdthd [no. 14] he shows the non-origination of

stain that is based on the future and of stain that is based on

present and past saqnskdra,t. "Even rvhen satflskdra has arisen"

[15a] it is not thereby imagined; the "future" one [15c], because"devoid of sign," is not imagined. Since therc is no assurance

of the type, "This, or similar will occur," it sometimes happens

in one way r,vhile imagined in another way. "One imagines the

past" [15d] through making a sign expressing "So this arose."

Not only the experienced is irnagined [see 16a-b], but also the

unexperienced future is imagined without sign construct. There-

by he shows the stain which is the cause of imagination to be

present as the basis (diraya) of motivations (sarytskdra). With

the vrords [6c-dl "The soqnskclras are beginningless. Still, a

beginning is found," he shorvs tlr.e time of stain, by reason of

following it for beginningless time and by reason of generating it

anew.Nor.r, he shou's the category of purification. In the same v,'ay

as one purifies by inspecting from tfue standpoints of conventional

and absolute truth, that is, (by inspectiirg) forrnations and so on

from tire standpoint of individual characteristic (sualak;a4a)

by the similes of "himp of foam," and the iike [GAthA 171te

and (by inspecting) the generality of constructed characteristic

from the standpoint of generalizing characteristic (sdmanya-

lak.ra7a) by "like arising, abiding, and perishing" lcatha 18]-

. So also [Gathas lg-2O]-there is no deluder at all; there is no

rrThis remark may refer to the popular usage of the word karma, as whenpeopie speak Of "my kormo," and "your kertna," as though the unpredictableresults rnu:t h.ave been due to the different actions of former lives, not of thepresent life.

12In the cases of the human effort and cause from a previous life, Asanga

accepts the usual Indian terminology of "human effort" (puru;akdra), but

substitutes o'callse from a previous life" (pilrvaianmahetu) for the usual daiva(fate, or u'liat is due to the gods).

13For Asanga's explanations of these similes, cf. Wayman, "Secret of the

Heart Siltre," place with n. 22.

Asanga's Treatise, the Paramdrtha-githa 34g

delusion arisen dependently, and one says (only) by conventionthat delusion deludes; hence, the unmethoclical mental orienta-tion of one not free from delusion he expounds with tire words"It (i.e. delusion) does not deludo delusion" [19a]-

So also lcatha 21]-by convention it is said trrat perceptionevolves after motivations (sarpskdra) neritorious, and so on, butfrom an absolute standpoint it does not evolve. "Herd to bethreefold" means past, future, and present. "And lvhichever bethe threefold karma," that is, karma of body, and so on,14 ,,all

that is disjoined" for the reason of mutual unlike receptacle(asama-dhdna)-

So also lcatha 22-26]-"rhe present ones are disintegrating;those of the past abide nowhere; the unborn depend on condi-tions; and the mind evolves accordingly" [Githa 22], associatedwith them, as the case may be. still, inasmuch as there is no join-ing of the motivations meritorious, and so forth, howcan themindassociated therewith evolve accordingly ? Since the mind is eitherassociated or dissociated with a motivation, it is neither entirelyunassociated nor entirely undissociated with it. And not allmind has either association or dissociation. Thus, from an abso-lute standpoint, there is no proof that mind evolves accordingly.By convention "it is said that mind evolves accordingry" [23d],for which reason he sh.ows that. In the gdthd lno. 24l "Again,the stream has. . . . disruption," the vzords "this conventionworks" mean "evolves accordingly." while the doer and. feeleris unreal from the absolute standpoint, "The self-done is declarecl'fruit-eating"'

lin 25c-d] by convention. Moreover, how thatcreates, experiences, and is not determined as different he setsforth by the gdtha [no. 26]'o...through <iifference of priority andposteriority. ." Thus, while frorn an absolute standpoint theproprietor is unreal, iikewise the doer or feeler; and, while cause-and-result-only is real, the characteristic of cause-aird-effect re-moves objections.

And among those (gdthds), he expounds the delusion of seif(dtman) with five gdthas [nos. 27-31]. F{ere, (a) how, while theseif is unreal, rebirth occlrrs undisrupted; (b) how ttre effect doesnot occur simultaneously with the cause; (c) how nothing at alloccurs; and (d) how its course of causes is not disrupted;-setting

laThe reference is to karma of body, of speech, and of mind.


forth that rvith one gdtha (no. 27), he sets forth and removes afourfold objection with four pddas in sequence. With the second(Getha 281 he sets forth the characteristic of cause-and-fruit.With three (Gathds 29-31) he sets forth how, whiie cause-fruit iswithout self, there is the delusion of self-view (dtmadrili); and thathe sets forth from the standpoints of consciousness-support(dlambana), basis (diraya), fruit {phala), and cause (hetu). Withthe first gdthd lno. 291 he proves its consciousness-support-what is to be known of one's own self since it is formless and in-visible; namely, since it is non-rational; in the siltra "conceptionof form" (rupand) was declared "rational" (tarkaaru); and sinceit is invisible : through non-display to others. With the second

lcatha 30] he sets forth the basis (diraya) and the fruit (phala) :the immature are the basis; other (false) views are the fruit. Withthe third [GathA 3l] he sets forth the cause (hetu). In that (verse),it is generated from the self seed-the natural coherence of theself-view, which is its traces (anuiaya). "As a result of the formerhabitual practice," there is the irnagined heretic view of self.Not only is that heretic view habitually thought, but also oneunmethodically reasons in this world. Or one hears from anothera non-illustrious doctrine consistent therewith. Thus he shorvsthe origination of the imagined view of self by the faults of basis,mental orientation, and consciousness support.

Now, with five gdthos [nos. 32-361 he sets forth how that viewof self arouses suffering following upon its source; how thatsuffering then becomes the reason for two kinds of misery (duft-khatd) accompanied by egohood; and hor.v it becornes an obstaclefor release. Among them, with the first giithd [no. 32] he showsthe source (of suffering). With the second and third [Gathas33-341 he shorvs the store-consciousness (dlayauijiidna) that incor-porates the suffering-(dultkha) and motivation-(samskara)miseries (dultkhata).tu That is to say, 'oHaving (formerly) madean abode, it undertakes the (verbally) elaborated" (33c-d]-"Ishall be," "I shall not be," and so forth. "Abode" means the

lsThere are three kinds of "misery" (duhkhafi) found in the ancient Buddhistscriptures (cf. Sarytyutta-Nikaya, Part IV, Saldyatana-Vagga,259), the twothat Asanga mentions as incorporated by the "store consciousness" plus theo'misery of change" (vipariqtdmadukkhata). Ferhaps the "misery of change"is incorporated by what the Yogdcdra philosophy calls the "evolving con-sciousness" (pravytti-vijfiana).

Asariga's Treatise, the paramirtha-gathi 351

possessions of the ernbodim ent (dtmabhaua). And that suffering,by reason of adhering to it in all time, "is not appeased even fora moment" [34d]. with the fourth lcatha 35] he shows howsuffering becomes the condition for two other sufferings [or,miseriesl as well as for egohood. wirh the fifth lcatha :01 rr.shows that it then becomes an obstacle for release. ..There is theremaining delusion" [36c], because close to the other two miseries;"proceeding everywhere," because following after all feelings;"to every activity," that is, to virtue, non-virtue, and the indeter-minate.

Now, having shown [Gatha 37] that this suffering comprisedby the store-consciousness compares with a lake, he shows itsdrying up: just "the practice of the Dharma," for drying it. Inthat (verse), "unbearable streams" means the six (senses) ofeye, and so on, the five destinies, the three realms, and so forth.16He shows that practice of the Dharma by complete knowledgeof bondage and release. Among these, there is complete know-ledge of bondage when one so recognizes: he ascertains it as justsuffering. But [38b] he who thinks "r am happy," when he hasascertained himself as suffering, has an imagination that arousesa (false) view; and (imagination) born of just that (false) viewis a generator of that (view).

He sets forth the complete knowledge of release in the remain_ing six gathds [nos. 39-44]. "The defiled mind always arises andceases together rvith defilements" [39a-b].

,,Its release" fromdefilements "has not occurred" [39c] rvhen it arises together rvithdefilements, and "will not" [39d] rvhen it ceases together withthem. The time when it is called "freed" [40d], he shows that :just that later arises pure. At another time, the pure minci arises;and precisely that, by reason of its prior non-stain, is called"freed." Moreover, he proves precisely this meaning by the gdthd[no.41] "That which was def i ]ed, here in the end.. . . , ,

And that release he shows lcatha 42] to be of two kinds :reiease from defilements (kleiamokpa) and release from materials(uastumokrc). There is release from defllements by destroying all

16The six personal sense bases were previously listed in gathas 6-7. Thefive destinies are the gods (deva) and men (manu;a); and evil destiny (durgati)consisting of the animals (tiryagyoni), hungry ghosts (preta), and hell deni-zens (noraka). The three realms are the realm of desire (kamadhatu), therealm of form (rupa-dhatu), and the formless realm (arupadhatu).


seeds as a consequence of ending defilement; and in the sameplace, as well, there is release from materials as a consequence ofno stain. The sutra says : "O monks, whatever be the sensuouslust in the eye, abandon that ! So also wiil the eye disappear." lttIn the manner of that text he thus shows the release rvith rernain-ing basis and then shows the one without remaining basis.

Because it is "what is to be known of one's own self" lno.43alhe shows the inconceivability of that (release) so as to elirninatethe positing of mere absence. He sholvs the removal of the remain-ing basis by "elimination of suffering only" [no. 43b]. As a conse-quence, he shows the condition with nothing at all to be (verbally)elaborated; for example, "He becornes different, or not different,or beyond death does not exist," and so on.

Furthermore, he sets forth how, while there is bondage andrelease, no "person" (pudgala) or 'onature" (dharma) revolves

lin sar.nsaraf or is allayed lin pariniruapal; namely, with the gdtha

lno. 441 " The term'person' ( pu dg al a) mean s'continuous stream. . . "'The explanation of the master lineage named Paramartha-

gdthd thus ends.

17A similar statemgnt occurs in Sa4tyutta-Nikaya, Part IV (Soldyatana-

Vagga), 7: I yo cakkusmiry chandaragavinayo chandarogapahanam I idarn

calckussa nissaranarp | "That restraint of sensuous lust, that elimination ofthe sensuous lust in the eye-that is the way of release from the eye."

l8

ASANGA'S TREATISE ON THE THREEINSTRUCTIONS OF BUDDHISM

The sanskrit title of this treatise Abhtprdyikartha_gdthd signifiesthe gdthd set on the meaning of what was intended, or iiplied(in the Buddha's teaching). It seems that the word gdthd is hereused for verses that summarize sutra teachings about the threeinstructions in a way to bring out the sutralntentions_whichperhaps amounts to the school called Sautrdntika. Thus, thesegathd are not pieced together as were the poramdrtha_gdthdthat immediately precede the present set in the cintdmayi Bhumiof the Yogdcdrabhumi, but are presumably the author,s owncomposition. There are fifty-one gdthd, first one for Brahma,squestion, then fifty for the Bhagavat's reply. These verses onthe three instructions are among the same intrusive folios fromwhich I drew the paramdrtha-gdthd. r edited the gdthd bothfrom the separate verses and. from the partially extant commen-tary, which cites each of the verses.l Some bad places in themanuscript of the gdthd required. reconstructions of a few terms.

t'the gatha and commentary are on plates 3A-B and l5A-B of the Sravaka-bh*mi manuscript, a description of which may be foundin wayman, Anarysisof the sravakabhumi Manuscript (1961). The extant commentary (at leastone folio is missing) goes from the beginning down through citing verse g;it resumes with the commentary on verse 30 and continues throughverse 51.


that are italicized.2 I add my translation including commentarial

€xcerpts.One verse that deserves special mention is no. 38 : "One should

not adhere to one's own view, discarding the old lineage (paurd-

1tam dgamam). .." This verse supports a conclusion I made long

ago in my Analysis of the Srquqlcqbhumi Manuscript, p. 29,

that when Asanga was converted, according to the legend, to

the Mahdydna, he did not forget or reject the four Agama(sometimes called "Hinayana"). The verses also prove that

Asanga is a "moralist," and believed that the three instruc-tions-of Morality, Mind Training, and Insight-were prornul-gated for the monks, not for laymen. He evidently considered

that of the three instructions it was the morality one that neededthe most exposition. Of course, Asanga does not neglect the otherinstructions. His Paramdrtha-gdthd emphasizes the instruction

of insight, and his following extended section in the Yogdcdra'bhumi-the Sartdrtha-gdthd-deals much with Mind Training.

I tatra abhiprayikafthagathdvyavasthanatah // atha khalu

brahmd sahirypatir yena bhagavdrys tenopasarykranta upasar.n-kramya bhagavatab pddau Sirasi vanditvd ekinte nyalid(ad)ekintanipalno brahmi sahir.npatir bhagavantaln gathabhigitenapraSnar.n prcchati sma f

(l) Sik;asupiramipraptah sarvasar.nSayandsakta\ /Sikqim udglhite pf$Io ydnuSik+d suSikqaAn //

{2) adhi5ilam adhicittam adhiprajflam ca mari;a /tisrah Siksdh samasena Srrru yd td su5ikqaqLa //

(3) bhavet qa{angasar.npannaS cittasthitisukhdnvita\ /catursu caturdkdra(h) jflanaSuddhah sadd bhavet l/

(4) supratisthitamllab yaS cittasyopa6ame rata\ /samyuktavyd visamyuktavya drqtyadptyaryanarya /l

(5) adi5uddho dhydnantab satye ca kuSalo bhavet /utpddayed (vi)varjayed brryhayet satyam eva ca /f

(6) Sikqdpadequ vidyante catasro gatayas trisu /vivarjayitvd dvigati dvigati samudinayet //

(7) dve dvayapratyupasthdne ekd nirvdtagdmini /anupfrrvopanisadabhinnasarybhinnabhavita / /

2The reconstructions in 16, vyalambana; in 25, civarasarptu;ta; in 49.prihi-are certain; while in 29. ca yacitavyarTt-is possibly not the originalterm.

Asanga's Treatise on the Three Instructions of Buddhism 355

(8) nirkaukrtyo bhaved ddau paScdc ca sukhit o yatah fddydsau sarvaSikqa{rir.n yatra Sikseta parygita(\) //

(9) yato viSodhaye jfrdnar.n Sucotpattisukhanvita\ /madhydsau sarvaSikqanam yatra Sikseta paqgitah //

(10) yato vimocayec cittatn prapaflca(m) ca nirodhayet /Sreqthdsau sarvasiksapdr.n yatra sikqeta paaditah l/

(11) aSuddhagdmini pratipat tathd sugatigamini /ddyd pratipad ukteyary sa ca niskevald mald //

(12) viSuddhagdmini pratipad na sarvatyantagAmiii /madhyi pratipad ukteyary ndpi niskevala matd l/

(13) vi6uddhagdmini pratipat sarvatyantagamini /Srqthd pratipad ukteyarir sa naivadvayakevall //

(14) Sikseta yo na Sikqeta ubhau tau pa4{itau matau fsikqeta yo na sikqeta ubhau tau balau sarymatau ff

(15) parigrahaparityagdd dautthulyapagamat tathd /pratyakqatvdc cajfreyasya sikrddinam tridhi bhavet //

(16) sdlamband v(ydtambana) slkqmoddrikasar.nhird /sdmdddnaprdvivekyaghoqadbhogasar.nh rA / /

(17) eka ekd bhavec chiksd sadvitiyd paro bhavet fekasydtmd tltiyaiva td budhah samatikramet //

(18) ahrastaSilah SiksAt(sa) pratijf,eyagaro bhavet /agarhitasamdcdralt paf,casthdnavivarjitab //

(19) anapattaye vyutthdtd niskaukrtyo ,tha kaukrtya /Sikqam agamayet tatra pratipadyeta bhdvatas //

Q0) pratydkhydnar.n na kurvita jivitdrthar.n na nalayet /pratipattau sthito nityar.n pravrttavinayo bhavet //

QL) pratijf,aan Sodhayer pfrrvam djivam api Sodhayet Iantadvayar.n varjayitvd praqidhd,nary vivarj ayet //

(22) antarayakardn dharma(n) ndbhigrdhyet karhary cana fcittakpobhakardn dharmdn urpannd(n) nadhivasayet /i

(23) natilino ndtisltalr sadd supasthitasmitih /maulasamantakaiir Suddham brahmacaryar.n bhaved api //

Q4) bhaved drabdhaviryaS ca nityar.n d1{hapar akramah /niqevati pramddarp ca paflcingasuprati;thitayn //

Q5) bhavet salnchannakalyir.rah tathd vivltapdp aka\ /lDhena vd pranitena (ciuarasarptu;!)AdinA //

Q6) alpena vartayed mdtr6r.n 1[hen6pi ca vartayet fdhttdn gutdn samdddydn samarthar.n kle5ava{ita\ //

Q7) syid irydpathasar.npanno mdtrdp kurydt pratigrahe /tadarthar.n kalpitdm irydr.n kurydn naiva katha$ ca na //


(28) atmands ca gu+an bhutdn na ldpen ndpi liryayet /tdn gur:rin atha cdrthitvary nimitteria na datsayet /f

(29) pares[m antikdt kramin na yacfrary ca ydcitauydry fdharmenopagatary labham ldbheneha na sar.ncayet //

(30) labham naivdbhigldhyeta satkdratn ca kathar.n cana fdrqtiS ca nibhinivi6et samaropapavd,dikar$ /l

(31) lokdyatdr.ns tathd mantrdt nirarthan na paramlSet /apdrthary dhdrayen naiva utsadar.n pdtracivara\n //

(32) Brhasthaih sahasar.nsargam na kurydt klesavarddhanar.n I'dryais tu sahasar.nsargar.n kuryaj jfldnaviSodhanary //

(33) kurydn mitrakular.n naiva Sokavydkgepakdraka\n /duhkhasya janakdn klesan utpannd(n) nddhivdsayet /l

(34) Sraddhndeyatn na bhufljita kathar.n cic ca ksatavratah /pratyikhydnarn na kurvita saddharmasya kathatn cana /f'

(35) paresary skhalite do$e andbhogasukhi bhavet /dtmanah skhalitam doqar.n jffdtvd: vivlScaydt puna\ //

(36) dpattir.n ca tathapanno yatha dharmar.n prakalpayet ftatheti kara4iyesu svayar.nkdri patur bhavet //

(3i) buddhd,nd:r.n Srd.vakdndm ca anubhdvar.n ca desanary f'Srdddho 'vadyadar5i ca ndbhyacakpita satvatha //

(38) sugambhiresu dharmesu atarkavacare$u ca /paura4am igamaln tyakqvo svadrltir.n na par4myiet /[

(39) vyavakpqtavihari syit prdnte hi Sayanasane /ku5aldn bhavayed dharmdn d1{haviryaparakrama\ //

(40) acchadrikaS chadrajito apradusto vidl$alah /nirmiddhaS caiva middhi ca kale Sinto na ca stfutah //

(41) niskaukl'tyalr sakaukrtyo nihkdmkqvo 'tha ca kdnkqati /sarvatha sarvada yukto bhavet samyakprayogavdn //

(42) nudano bodhanaS caiva tathd samyojanopatah fnaimittika snehanaS ca tatha vilasanoparuh //

(43) nispidanas ca paramah snehanah kalpa ucyate fkdmaragasya janakas tam budhah pativatjayet ff

(44) atrptikarakdh kdmd bahusddhdralds tathd /adharmahetavaS caiva tatha trqna(m) vivarddhakd\ //

(45) satdry (vi)varjaniyds ca ksiprar.n vilayagdminab /pratydyeqv aSritalr kamdh pramadasya cabhnmaya\ /f

(46) karanka-sadlSd:h kamdh malnsapesyupamds tatha /tr4olkisadr6ds caiva tatha agniSikhopamA\ l/

(47) aSiviqopamdS caiva tatha svapnopamil.r punah /ydcflydlar.nkdrasadlSds tatha vskqaphalopamdh //

A,sanga's Treatise on the Three Instructions of Buddhism 357

(48) evar.n kdmdn paijnaya nabhigrdhyet katham carLa fsaddharmar.n Srtu yo nityar.n cintayed bhivayed api //

{49) Sdnto ddrikadar6i prag yavan aikdntiko bhavet /prthi yo kle6adauqthulyam prahd4e carato bhavet //

(50) mimatmakah sydn nimitte prayogaparamo bhavet /kurydc ca kamavairigyar.n rDpavairagyam eva ca ff

(51) satyabhisamayam kurydt sarvavairagyam eva ca fdftte dharme ca nirvayat tatha upadhi(r.n) saryksayifi //

For the following translation of the gdthd,I have selected por-tions of Asanga's commentary to go with relevant verses or versegroups. since half of the sanskrit commentary is missing, it ispractical to add commentarial remarks from the Tibetan version.gHowever, the extant Sanskrit portion was consulted for editingthe verses, and will be cited in a few places of the commentarialremarks.

Then, you should know, Brahmi Sahaqnpati went therewhere was the Bhagavat, and having bowed with his head tothe feet of the Bhagavat, went to one side; and remaining atone side Brahmd sahdrypati put a question to the Bhagavatby reciting a verse :(1) You have been perfected in the Instruction and havecleared all doubt. whatever be the training and the points ofinstruction, pray tell how one embraces the Instrnction !

(commentary advances the vieri' that in consideration of personsbeing fearful of too many rules and tending to raziness, theBuddha presented the Instructions compactly as three kinds :)a

(2) Exalted friend, Morality, Mind Training, and Insightare the three Instructions in short. Listen, what be the train-ing !(3) one should be equipped with the six members (of urora-

3. Besides, nlY wife Hideko gave some valuable suggestions for the trans-lation from the sino-Japanese versions of the text in the yogucarabhumi,namely, chinese trans., T30 [no. 1579i, pp. 365-67; Japairese trans., Koku-yaku Daizokyd, Rombo 6, pp. 462-82.

Asanga's further commentarial remarks make it clear that he has in mindthe Brahma sutras of the sarltyuktagama (in pali, the sa4tyutta-Nikdya, i,136-138), with the implication that since persons are of widely differentcharacter and ability, there should be an appropriate teaching for the lazyperson as well as for the enterprising one.


lity), endowed with the pleasure of mind-fixation; and thefour kinds among the four should ah,vays purify knowledge.

The six menbers are: l. one$remains in possession of morality;2. is restrained by the Pratimoksa vow; 3. has perfection of goodbehavior (dcdrasarytpannah); 4. has the perfection of lawfulresort (gocarasarltpannalt); 5. views fearfully the major and minorsins; 6. rightly takes and learns the "points of instruction"(iiksapada). The Instruction of Mental Training is fixation ofmind (cittasthiti) of four kinds, namely the four kinds of Dhyina;its pleasure by way of beatific dwelling of present life. The Ins-truction of Insight is the purification of knorvledge by the fourkinds for each of the four Noble Truths.

(4) (Namely, respectively,) a) have what is the well-estab-lished basis; b) have joy in the pacification of mind; c) takeon the nobie right view and leave off the ignoble wrong view.(5) He should be pure from the outset; have the pleasure ofDhydna; and should have skill in truth, to wit, he should(respectively) generate, eliminate, and promote truth.

He should generate the truth of path; should eliminate the truthsof suffering and source of suffering; should promote the truth ofcessation by cessation of defllement whettrrer minor, rniddling, orgreat.

(6) When there are ti'le ttrree "points of instruction," thereare the four destinies, to wit, having warded off two destinies,

one should acquire two destinies.

He should ward off two destinies, the bad destiny (durgati) andthe good destiny (sugati) of the realm of desire; and should acqu-ire two destinies, the "upper" destiny of the realm of form andformless reaim, and the Nirvana destiny.

(7) Two are based on two; one is the Nirv64a-road. Oneshould cultivate th.em becoming in sequence a basis, unmixed

and mixed.

Of the two, Instruction of Morality and Instruction of Mind

Training, the first one, Instruction of Morality, is the basis for

both the Instruction of Mind Training and trnstruction of trnsight.

The second, middling one, the Instruction of Mind Training, is

the basis for the Instruction of Insight and that part of the Ins-


truction of Morality as pertains to the "restraint of meditation."The best one, namely, the Instruction of Insight, is the road toNirvAna. One should cuitivate them unmixed (abhinna), i.e.consistent respectively, and mixed (sarpbhinna), i.e. consistent inleading to the goal.5

(8) Wherein the wise one trains, that one should be at firstwithout regret, next happy-this is the first of all instructions.

In sequence, be without regret through the Instruction of Mora-lity; and be happy through the Instruction of Mind Training.

(9) Wherein the wise one trains, whereby knowleclge is forpurification and one has pleasure in arousing purity-thisis the middling one of all instructions.

The Instruction of Mind Training especially promotes the root ofvirtue (kuiala-mula).

(10) Wherein the wise one trains, whereby one would liberatethe mind and destroy verbal elaboration-this is the best oneof all instructions.

This refers to the Instruction of Insigirt.

(11) The path said to be first, nameiy the impure way, likewisethe way to good destiny-this is held to be by itself (keuala).

Through failure of the Instruction of Morality, there is the impureway rvhich is the way to bad destiny. Through adherence to theInstruction of Morality, there is the rvay to good destiny. Andeither one is accomplished by one instruction alone.

(12) The path said to be middling, namely the path whichis the pure way and not the final way-this is held to be not byitself.

This path is pure of the defilements of the realm of desire. Butit is not free from the defilements of the realm of form and form-

slt appears that the "unmixed" exposition oi the three Instructions is pre-sented in the following gatha nos. 8-10, since thethreeare defined individuallywithout reference to the others. Likewise, it appears that the 'omixed', exposi-tion is presented in gatha nos. 11-13, since the three aie explained in terms of"peth" and in consideration of whether they are lrevala (by thenrelves).Hence, the Tibetan translation of the two terins as .so .r, "respective,' for theabhinna, anrl.'dren mo "guiding" for the sarybhinna. This information can beadded to Franklin Edgerton's Buddhist Hybrid sanskrit Dictionary, p. 5g0-


less realm, because it has not erased the tracps (anuiaya) of sen-suous lust. It is not the flnal way, since by itself, i.e. without thefirst and the best (instructions), it does not fulfil.

(13) The path said to be best, namely the path which is thepure way and the final way-this is not by itself, i.e. not with-out the two.

The way freeing from all defilements of the three worlds andfinishing off the traces, is not accomplished without the prior two(instructions) or by itself.

(1a) The one who trains and the one who doesn't train, boththose are held to be wise (pa4{ita). The one who trains andthe one who doesn'ttrain,both those are held to be fools (bate.

The one who trains rightly with the three Instructions, and theone rvho does not train in a wayward manner, is the wise one.The one who trains in a wayward manner, and the one who doesnot train rightly, is the fool.

(15) The taking of the Instruction is threefold by way of a)renouncing possessions, b) elirninating contaminations, c)and direct perception of the knowable.

Possessions are home, wife, etc. contamination s (dau;trhulya)are the discordant elements lo samddhi. The knowable are thefour Truths. The verse points to the three Instructions in their order.

(16) They are accompanied with meditative object or devoidof meditative object, are subtle or coarse; and are accompli-shed by rightly taking, solitude, word, and bent.

The trnstruction of Morality does not have a defined meditativeobject; the other two do have; thus the Instruction of Moralityis "coarse," the other two "subtle." The Instruction of Moralityis accomplished by rightly taking; the Instruction of MentalTraining, by solitude of body and mind; the Instruction of trn-sight, by the word of another and the bent (abhoga) of rightlyorienting the mind within.

(17) one Instruction (the first) is a single one. The Instruc-tion with a second one is the subsequent one. The third Ins-truction is the nature of one. The wise person should surmountthose.

."Asanga's Treatise on the Three Instructions of Buddhism 361

The Instruction of Morality is single. But.the Instruction ofMental Training needs a second one, the rnstruction of Morality.The Instruction of Insight shourd not lack those two. The one"beyond training" (aiaik;a)and the Arhat have surmounted thosethree Instructions.

(18) His morality should not fall away from the Instruction;he should be possessed of the vow; he should not condemngood behavior; and he should avoid flve places.

The Instruction is that of Morality. The vow is the prdtimokqa.Not condemning good behavior, he does not lose good behavior.The monk adheres to proper resort by avoiding five places, to wit,the royal palace, butcher shop, liquor shop, prostitute quarters,house of outcast.

(19) when he regrets that he cannot again sin, he should risewith no regret. one should rely on the Instruction and prac-tice therein sincerely.

He should view fearfully the major and minor sins, and rightly.take the "points of instruction."

(20) one should not repud.iate it; not lose it even for life'ssake; should always be stationed in the endeavor; should beinvolved with the discipline (uinaya).

These in order are the four o'roots" : permanence of morality;firmness of morality; no interruption of it; staying in it ,onii-nuously.

(21) one should purify his former vow, and should also purifyhis life. Having eliminated the two extremes, he should rejectthe (wrong) aspiration.

The two extremes are indulgence in sense desires and ascetic auste-.rity. He should reject the (wrong) aspiration for heaven, for this.constitutes merely the pure Instruction of Morality.

(22) one should not at all hanker after natures that createobstacles. one should not acquiesce in natures that havealready arisen that disturb the mind.(23) with mindfulness always present, he is neither over-reiaxed nor overly spirited (in mind). His pure conduct(bral'rmacarya) is purified by the main part and threshold (of.the four Dhydnas).


Q$ He should begin his striving and always have a stead-fast forward step by staying close to heedfulness that is well basedin five members.Striving means the kind that is armored and does not retreatfrom the praxis. Staying close to heedfulness shows distingui-shed purification of the Instructions. The fi.ve members of heed-fulness are of 1. past,2. future, 3. present-time, 4. actionfrom previous (striving), 5. practice in conformity (with

striving).

(25) He should be reserved about his virtues and confess his.

sins; be satisfied with his religious garb, etc. whether inferior

or fine.(26) He should abide the amount, even small; and abide it,

even inferior. Rightly adopting the virtues of a purified man,

he should eliminate defllements for the purpose of calming.(27) He should be possessed of dignified posture, and should

be judicious in acquisition. On that account, he should in

no case ever assume artiflcial postures.(28) One should not say one's own merits are real, or induce'

someone to say it. Besides, one should not reveal those meritsby signs in terms of desired objects.(29) One should not ask for alms forcefully in the presence

of others. When what was received came righteously (with

dharma), one should not speak badly of what was received.G(30) One should not hanker in any way for receiving things.

or for respect. One should not cling to views that over-em-phasize or under-value.(31) One should not adhere to the meaningless mantras ofthe Lokiyatas.T One should not uselessly bear the beggingbowl and religious garb in excess.

6As to "should speak badly" for the reading satncayet, both Tibetan andSino-Japanese agree on the rendition. While this reading is definitely in themanuscript, it should be understood as though avaiatpsiyat.

?Asariga docs not employ the name Lokdyata in the ancient sense of thematerialist school, but rather in his commentary here as a term of disrespectfor authors of worldly treatises that are bad (kuiastra) with bad views(kudr;ti), referred to in the gatha as "meaningless mantrA.s." To adhere tosuch treatises prevents the disciple from getting rid ofthe five upddanaskandha,(grasping aggregates).


One should not wear the religious garb and begging bowl in

excess so as to receive material things and respect.

(32) One should not associate with householders, who pro-

mote defilement. One should associate with the nobles, whopurify knowledge.(33) One should not make residence rvith friends who causegrief and distraction. One should not tolerate the defilementsthat have already arisen that generate suffering.(34) One who has lost his vow should not utilize in any casewhat is to be gained by faith. One should not repudiate in

any case the illustrious Dharma.(35) Should one have thoughtless pleasure in a stumblingfault of others, he should reflect upon his own stumblingfault and in turn confess it.(36) According as an offence has occurred, one should applythe appropriate Dharma (right act). The wise person shouldinvolve himself in duty for the matter concerned.(37) With faith in the power and teaching of the Buddhas

and their disciples (irduakas), one should never blame bynoticing faults.(38) One should not adhere to one's own view, discardingthe old lineage (paurdltam dgamam) regarding the profound

doctrines (dhsrma) which are not in the range of iogic.s

(The gatha-s 18-38 present various aspects for purifying the Ins-truction of Morality).

(39) Should he be dwelling in solitude, using a resting cot inthe outskirts, he should contemplate virtuous natures, withsteadfast forward step of striving.

So as to fulfill the praxis, he has solitude of body and mind, aresting cot concordant with his samadhi. Contemplating onlyvirtuous natures, he is not oppressed by secondary defllementssuch as "fading" (laya) and "scattering" (auddhatya) (of themeditative object). This is a special means of the Instruction ofMind Training.

(40-41) Should he, having been without longing, have long-

BThe phrase "not in the range of logic" is a frequent one in Buddhistscriptures, starting with the Brahmajala-sutta, para. 28.


ing arise; having not blamed, be blaming; been not sleepy,at this time sleepy; not abiding with calm; been withoutregret, now regretting; been without lusts, now lusts,-heshould get yoked in every way at all times, possessed of theright praxis.

This means he must purify his mind from the five hindrances :1. sensuous lust, 2. ill-will; 3. torpor and sleepiness; 4. mentalwandering and regret; and 5. doubt. This right praxisistherightInstruction of Mental Training.

(42-43) "stirring" and "awakening"; likewise being fettered;grasping sign-sources and passion; also given to multiplepleasures; being 'opressed," and sensual climax-are called"irnagination" (kalpa), the generator of sensuous lust (kdma-raga). This a wise man should thoroughly eliminate.

There are eight kinds of such imagination : 1. "stirrin g" (nudana)is any imagination that instigates the mind along with an impropermental orientation in a sensual object Qtudano uikalpah yo rafija-niye uastuni / ayoniio manaskdra sanxprayuktai ca cittasya pre-rakalr). 2. "awakening" (bodhana) is the being attended withawakening enrvrapment oi lust toward precisely that object(bodhanalr yat tasminn eua uqstuni prabuddhardgaparyauasthdna-saryxprayuktait). 3. being fettered (satTtyojana) is the seeking forprecisely that object (samyojanas tasyaiu(t uastunait paryeSakal).4. grasping sign-sources (naimittika) apprehends various pleasantsigns in precisely that object (naimittikas tasminn eua uastuniuicitrqiublrunimittagrdhakah). 5. passion (snehana) is the cling-ing to this object when it is obtained (snehanalt prapteh tasminaastuni adhyauasanasorylprayuktalt). 6. given to multiple pleasures(uilasana) is the engagement from various sides in multiple sen-suous enjoyment in that object (uilasanai ca tasminn eua uastuniuicitraparibhogdbhild;andndntukhapraurttak). 7. being pressed(ni,rpidana) is rvhat is at the tirne when two unite the two sexualorgans (ni.rpidanal1 yo duayaduuyendriyasamdpatt ikale). 8. sensualclimax (porama-snehana) is what is at the time of sexual discharge(paramosnehanah f J)o dsrauiuipramok;akale)s.

eWhile this sequence ofeight isexplicitlystatedintermsofsexual attractionand union, a generality for the process of addiction may also have beenintended.


(44-45) Desires are not satisfied, and have many cohorts;likewise cause bad conduct (adharma) and promote craving(tf;rtd).They should be avoided by illustrious persons andquickly brought to destruction. Desires are based on condi-tions (pratydya), and are the stages of heedlessness.

(Commentary indicates that one sees the trouble of desires andavoids them by the eight identifications of the verses 44-45).

(46-48A) Desires are like bones, like a piece of meat, like atorch of hay, like a peaked fire; like a poisonous snake, likea dream, like a borrowed ornament, like the fruit of tree.Having recognized desires in this way, one should not hanker'after them at all.

Like bones, because they do not satisfy; like a piece of meat,because they are frequent and common and occasion wrongconduct; like a torch of hay, because if not hurled away, but leftin place, they burn one up; like a peaked fire, because while pro-moting craving, they dry one up; like a poisonous snake, becausethey are to be avoided by illustrious persons. They are like adream, because they quickly perish. They are like a borrowedornament, because they are based on conditions. They are like,the fruit of tree, because they are the stages of heedlessness.

(48B-51) Listen to the illustrious Dharma, whoever wouldponder it and cultivate it ! First one should be calm and far-sighted, and continue on up to single certitude. Rejoice,whoever is engaged in eliminating the contamination of defile-ment ! Should he analyze the sign-source, he would becomeuppermost in the praxis. He would eliminate desire of thedesire-realm and eliminate desire of the form-realm. He wouldbring about the clear realization of truth and the dispassiontoward everything; would attain Nirv6{ra in the present life;and would erase the (remaining) basis.

The verses 48B to 51 shorv the pure Instruction of Insight in termsof the seven mental orientations.l0 Of these, the first o11e, "rea-lizatiot of the characteristics" (laksaua-pratisarytuedt), is shown

10See now Tson-kha-pa's discussion of these seven mental orientations,based on Asanga's exposition in the Sravalcabhumi,inA.Wayman, translator,Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real (Columbia University Press, NewYork, 1979), pp. 165-169.


by listening to and pondering the illustrious Dharma. The second,n'made of conviction" (ddhimokSika), is sh'own by cultivatingthis Dharma. The third, "seclusion" (prduiuekya), is shown bythe expressions "calm" and "far-sighted." The fourth,'oattrac-tion of rapture" (ratisarygrahaka) is shown by "continue on upto single certitude." The fifth, "orientation with comprehen-sion" (mimar.nsa-manaskdra), is shown by "should he analyzethe sign-source." The sixth, "final stage of application" (prayoga-nis(ha), is shown by "would become uppermost in the praxis."The seventh, "fruit of the final stage of application" (prayoga-nislhaphala), is shown by "He would eliminate desire of the desire-realm and eliminate desire of the form-realm; would bring aboutthe clear realization of truth and the dispassion toward everything.This seventh mental orientation (manaskdra), namely, "fruitof the final stage of application," is the mundane fruit, Nirvdr.rawith remainder; and the supramundane fruit, Nirvdqa withoutremainder.

PART FTVE

HINDU AND BUDDHIST STUDIES

t9

TWO TRADITIONS OF I}.{DIA_TRUTH AND SILENICE

Elsewhere I cited the Laws of Manu : maundt satyarn t,iii;yate("Truth is super:ior to silence;'; and turned the citation to myown purpose with the implication, ..Now is the time to speak out,because truth is superior to silence.,,1 However, admittedly, thecelebrated Indian raw book had something else in mind with this.intriguing maxim. rn this study I shall attempt to clarify the twotraditions called 'otruth"

and ..silence,, and to show that theyborrow from each other but maintain sufficient contrast to allowthe later philosophical schools to treat them as though distinct.

It should be acknowledgecl that the findings of this article differrather strikingry from the generarity of tie surveys of Indianphilosophy and religion. Also, the juxtaposition of materialsfrom diverse traditions of rndia requires u ,Jorgu' izationfrom theoriginal order of discovery for communi cation purposes. Tojustify that these traditions of trutrr and silence can be treated incontrast, tr have prepared individual sections ,Jevoted first to thesilence and then to the truth which the Laws of Monu takes to besuperior. As a conseqllence of these main findings, it turns outthat there are trvo Upanisadic traditions, althongriot in terrns oftruth and silence; and that some later philosophical formulations,such as "conventional truth" and .,absolute

truth,,, take their

l"observations on Transration from the crassicar Tibetan Languageinto European Languages," in Indo-Iranian Journal 14, nos. 3-4 (1972): r92.


inceptions in the old Upaniqads. This shows a sense in lvhich later

Indian philosophy develops from the early religion and mythology.

Tnr Mtnu TnaotrioN

For "silence" the word used was mauna (PAli, mona), related to

the word muni (one rvho has the vow of silence), used in the &g-

aeda hymo X, 136: "The munis, girdled with the wind, wear

garments soiled of yellow irue. They, follorving the rvind's swift

coufse, go rvhere the gods have gone before." The word muni is

important in Buddhism, where the founder has the title Sakya-

muni (muni of the Sakya clan). The Buddha is called "gtaatmLtni,"

and he adopted for his order (the Sangha) the soiled yellow hue

of dress that was alluded to in the Vedic hyrnn.z

The Chdndogya {lpanisad, VIU, 5, 2, in the course of its pro-

gressive expianation of breltmqcarya (the pure practice of the

student), says: 'oNow, what they call 'silent asceticisrn' (tnauna)

is really the pure practicc (brahmacarya), for only after finding

the self by the pure practice, does one think about it."3 This

passage apparently explains mqunt (ascetic silence) as a thinking

about, or contemplation of, the higher self.

The tlddnauarga, which is the northern Buddhist expansion of

the Dhammapada, has an important muni verse in its lt{irudrya

chapter (xxYI,27): "According as the Muni, with the state of

being a munia derived from himseli understands in this place

zThe Sanskrit word muni, accatding to Manfred Mayrhofer (Kurzgefasstes

etymologisches Worterbuch des Altindischen Heidelberg: Carl Winter, Uni-

versitdts-verlag, 1963, volume 2, pp. 654-655) is cognate with our wordo'mllte" through Greek words, and this cannot be doubted. It has been

arguecl-but the matter is not settled-that it is related to the Greek ntaentis,

our word "mantic" (gifted with prophetic powers), this beilg in the group

of words including "mania," from the weak grade of the Indo-Germanic

root mert, which the Oxford English Dictionary says is represented in many

words referring to mental states, emotions, etc. In Sanskrit this would be

moi.t-, the verb meaning "to think, to deem," etc. The Indian grammarians

affiliated the word muni with the verb n?an-, but asolution cannct be found

within the Indian context alone, for it requires a justification of this vowel

change in the early Indo-European languages'z. I atha yan maunam ity [caks,ate brahmacaryam eva tat / brahmacaryena

hy evd 'tmdnam anuvidYa manute /.A..State of being a muni" translates mauneya following Franklin Edgerton,

Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence

(i.e., in NirvdTa), then is he freed from form and formless, fromall suffering."s Along the same lines, but not using the wordsmuni or mauna, Aryadeva states in his Catul#ataka, as cited in thePrasannapadd : "He who knows how to ward off at first sin, thento ward off the self, and firrally to ward off everything, he is thesage (buddhimat)."0 Also, it appears that the ubiquitous Buddhistterminology of body, speech, and mind, stems from the munitradition. The Recital Sermon (sangtti Suttanta, of the Digha-nikdya, III) allows me to use the word "muted" in the sense"rendered mute, silent, muffied" in this entry among the three-fold items : "There are three states of being a muni. (Pali : tiytimoneyydni) : muted body, muted speech, muted mind." ElsewhereI cited Vasubandhu's commentary on the Daiabhumikasutra onhow to classify the five supornormal faculties (abhijfrfl by theirrespective purification of the acts of body, speech, and mind.The one cailed magical abiiity (yddhi) purifies the acts of body;the divine hearing and knowing the makeup of others' mind,those of speech; the memory of former lives and the vision of thepassing away and rebirth, those of rnind.T Therefore, this is thetheory of supernormal faculties consistent with the muni tradition.

As to how a muni describes himself, the Uddnauarga has theseverses iir its Tathagata chapter (XXI, 1-4)-the words attributedto the Bilddha intmediately r.rpon his enlightenment (my trans-Iation) :

I knorv all, have overcome all, am forever unstained by thedharmas, have eliminated everything, am free from all fear;having come to iully understand by myself, who can teach me !

I am the Tathagata, teacher of gods and men; have compre-hended enlightenment as a revealer by myseli; having reachedomniscience, am endowed i,vith the powers; incomparableand unequalled, rvho can teach me !

Buddhist Hybrid ^\anskrit Grainmar and Dictiorcry (New Haven, Conn.:Yale University Press, 1953), p. 441.

sFraru Bernhard, Udanavarga, Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissens-chaften in Gottingen Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Third Series, l.lr. 54(Grittingen, 1965).

ol-ouis de La Vall6e Poussin, ed., Milla-Madhyamaka-vrtti-prasannapatld,p. 359.

?See Chapter 7.

371


I am the Arhat in the worlds ; I am incomparable in the worlds;and in the worlds with their gods I ani the Victor (jina),the'ionqueror of the Maras.

As there is no one like me, none can be my instructor (acarya);alone in this world, I am fully awakened, have attained theultimate, complete enlightenment.

W. Woodville Rockhill, in the appendix to his translation fromTibetan of the Uddnauarga, cites the commentary preserved in theTibetan Tanjur. He says :

I translate the following lines to show how very nearly theCommentator follows the received Pali version of the events.that occurred shortly after Gautama had become a Buddha."When he (Bhagavat) had obtained perfect enlightenment,Brahmd the lord of the universe, humbly begged of him toteach the dharma. Then the great Muni thought, 'To whomshall I first teach the law ?' Rudraka had died seven daysbefore that moment, Alara Kaldma had also passed away.Then he thought, 'I will teach the five.' So Bhagavat startedfor Vardfasi, and on his w&y, an Ajivaka saw Bhagavat,and said to him, 'Ayusmat Gautama, your senses (appear)composed, your complexion is clear, your garments clean;who is your master (upddhyAya) ? Ayusmat, to what sect do,you belong ? In what doctrine do you find pleasure ?' Thenhe answered, 'I am the Jina who has conquered Mdra (the evilone).' 'Then, Ayuqmat Gautama, you say that you are theJina ?' 'The Jinas are all like me,' he answered. 'Where areyou going, Ayusmat ?' 'I am going to Vard4asi."'S

Sir Jotrn Woodroffe cites the Hindu tradition about the wordmuni to the same effect : "As the Mahdbharuta says, 'The Vedadiffer, and so do the Smriti. No one is a muni who has no inde-pendent opinion of his own (nasau munir yasya nmta;p na bltin-nem)."'e This practically adrnits that the only person r,vho couldstart a new religious movement in India must be, or must havebeerr. a muni.

The lvord muni is uncterstood as "the capable one" in Tibetan

sUdanavarga : A Collection of Verses from the Buddhist Canon (London,

1892), pp. 209-210,slntroduction to Tantra Shastra (Madras : Ganesh & Co., 1952), p. 30.

Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence 373

translation. According to Buddhaguhya, "The munis are pratyeka-buddhas.' because they have their own religious practice, pledge,and vow, and are capable by themselves while lacking a master,they are the capable ones (muni1."to This explanation is consis-tent with tho account about the Sanskrit name Rsipatana (Pali,Isipatana), another name of the Deer Park where the Buddhagave his first sermons :11

Formerly when the time approached for the Buddha Kdsyapato appear in the world, there lived on that hill flve trundredPratyekabuddhas. They learned from a message given bythe devas that the Buddha was to rnanifest himself. By theirmagical power they soared up to the sky and equipoised them-selves in the element of fire (teiodhatu). The fire that issuedfrom their own bodies burned their material bodies, and theashes fell to the earth. It was said, "The l.{qis have fallen,"and for this reason the place is called gsipatana (the fallingof the Rlis).

Hence, in consideration of this silence, there are the silent personscalled munis, who are called pratyekabuddhas since they are en-lightened by thernselves without depending on another teacher,and who are also callecl Bqis or seers. The association of themunis rvith flying, as mentioned in the vedic hymn, r,vas containedby otirer names, pratyekabuddha and r,ri.72 That the associationof the munis lvith the sky or space rvas not forgotten in later timesis apparent in the SaiTtditiul,dkarapa, afl explanato ry tantra of theGuhyasamdjatantra, in a Sanskrit passage I have edited from thePradipoddyotana manuscript :

Thus, the Reality, rrras heard by me on a certain time extra-ordinary. The Bhagavat, diamond lord of mysteries, wirh thesupreme pledge of the triple uajra,

Was dwelling as the l\{ahamuni (great silent one) in the pureheart of the worlcl, in this unique self-existence of sky having

loAlex Wayman, "Buddhism," Historia Religionunt (Leiden: E. J. Brill,1971), vol. 2, p. 397. Buddhaguhya's p:rssage is from his commentary on theSarvadurgatipariiodhana-talxtra in the Tibetan Tanjur.

11Wayman, "Buddhism," pp. 397-399.rzrhis flight of the ascetic is shown in later rndian art by beings called

vidyadhara (holders of the mystic science). Also, the Buddhist Tantra hadheroes called {aka or khecarin (sky-walkers).


the modes of omniscient knowledge," in the all-Tathagatagnosis having the inconceivable perfection of merits; beyondexistence, non-existence and both, called "place of no loca-tion."13

While the foregoing has been mainly based on Buddhist sources,it should be observed that the ruuni tradition is part of the greatascetic non-\redic tradition tirat became incorporated into l{indu-ism with worship of the god Siva, as R. N. Dandekar has welldescribed,r4 although this Saivitic incorporation apparently takesplace after the advent of Buddhism. It is well known that Sar:r-kara, the great Advaita Veclantin, was a follower of Siva andinsisted that knowledge (jfiAna) is the main thing for liberation(mokga). His followers use, among other works, the AslduakraSaryhitd, in which Aqtavakra says (chap. XVII, 1): "Hehas gainedthe fruit of knowledge as well as the practice of loga, who, con-tented andwithpurified sensgs, ever'enjoys being alone (ekakt1."tsAll th.is gives a new complexion to the Hindu opponent's chal-lenge to Sar.nkara-that he was a "Buddhist in disguise." Thisis often misconstrued as having doctrinal implications. In fact,the criticism was a rejection of Sarykara's monastic retreat system,which afforded and stiil affords individuais an opportunity to leavesociety for seeking divine knowledge in solitude.

There are several forms oi the Buddha's silence. First there washis ascetic silence; then upon his enlightenment, when he hesi-tated to teach, deeming his doctrine too profound for people atlargc, this was the first withhoiding type of siience. Later, hesometimes refused to answer certain questions dealing with ulti-mates, with a selective silence. A certain Buddhist sect had a tenet"The Buddha never said a word."16 Of course, the Hindu oppo-

ra / evar.n mayi Srutar.n tattvam ekasmin samaye sphule /bhagavdn guhyavajreSas trivajrasamayottama(D I Isarvatathdgate jfldne acintyaguqasampadi /sad asaCubh ay dtlte asthdnasthit isar.nj fl ini //ikdSaikasvabhave'smin sarvajfiajfldnabhdvini /jagaddhrdi viSuddhnkhye vrjahira mahdmunih ll

1a"Hinduism," in Historia Religionum vol. 2, see especially p. 247.l5Swami Nityaswarupananda, trans., A$avakra Satnhita, 3d ed. (Calcutta:

Advaita Ashrama, 1969), p. ll4.reCf., A. Bareau, Les sectes bouddhtques du Petit Vdhicule (Saigon: Ecole


nents of Buddhismwould notlosethe opportunity to argue cogent-

ly that it is a fine thing to know through asc'3tic silence, but that

this does not furnish validity for the Buddha's teachings, since

he would have to renounce the ascetic silence in order to teach,

and so ri,hat proof is there that the teaciring itself reflects the omni-

science of the silence ? Presumably it was through such attacks

that Buddhism was forced into its multiple-body theory, with

the Dharmakaya remaining silent and omniscient, and another

body, such as the Nirmaqakaya of the Buddha, doing the teach-

ing.rz Also the buddhas were said to help chosen disciples of a

progressed nature with adhiglhana (blessing, empcwerment, or

spiritual support), a kind of silent power. Thus, in Mahdydna

Buddhism, the Buddha came to have a role tantarnount to the

solar deity.

Tsp Tnurn TnlntrtoN

For o'truth" the ancient Indians generally employed two words,

satya arrd rta, r,vhich have respectively a subjective and objective

referenco. Satya is the truth of men and gods; and rta is the truth

of the universe-that the sun will rise and set and that seasonal

characteristics wiii recur.trt is well recognized that in the ancient Vedic tradition the deity

Varula was in charge of the rta, the- universal order; and it was

believed that liars incurred his punishment in tfue form of dropsy,

presumably because their lies constituted a violation of the world

order. In time, Varu4a's supremacy faded, and a new deity

named Indra camo to the foie, to be succoeded by Vilnu. The

latter two deities were not especially asscciated with preserving

the rvorld order; and in time the supreme spirit was generally

Francaise d'Extrdme-Orient, 1955), p. 60, among the thecries of the Maha-

sanghikas: The Buddhas never say a word, because they rernain eternally incontemplation; but beings, thinking they have pronounced wotds, leap frornjov.

17This matter is set forth at length, of course rvith Buddhist deflense, in theTattvasarytgraha of Santaraktita rvith the Pafiiikd commentary of Kamala-Sila, chap. 3l, "Examination observing the entity that transcencls the senses"(atindriyarthadarii-partk;a), which is the last chapter. The text has been reedi-ted by Dwarikadas Shastri in two volumes (Varanasi: BauddhaBharati,1968). The English translation by G. Jha is not available to me at present.

376

.called Bratrman. With all these changes ofnity, the prestige of "truth,, by the word.abated.

Buddhist Insight

terrninology for divi-shtya continued un-

For the rneaning of satyd, the adjective, I follow the late H. D.veiankar of the university of Bornbay who explained the wordin the introduction to his retranslation of Mar.r{ala seveir of the$g-ueda.l8 This satyti is the undeniable, after being said, thought,or done by someone; that is, bound to happen.le we shall ob-serve that this meaning continues into the chanclogya (i:elorv).Accordingly, one should reject the frequent transiation o,f satya-kdmdit in this upanisad as "real desires," as though the word.satya meant the "genuine," rvhat is simply a fact.Instead, itmeans a fact that is productive.

The Brhaddrspyaka [Jpani,rad (rrr, 5, r) provi.Jes the firstanswer to wh.at the Laws of Manu rneant by saying, ,,Truth issuperior to silence" :

"Therefore, let a brcThma4ta, after being satiatecl with learning,live as a child. After being satiated with childhood o, ,u.llas with learning, lct h.im be a nitmi (one vowecl t,l silence).After being satiated rvith non-silcnce (cmatma) as well as i,,,ithsilence (maiina),let him be a brijltmana." "In what manner(kena) is that brdltriia4ia ?" "rn rvhatever manner he be, he isjust the same in that manner; every thing else is afflicted.,'Thereupca, Kahola Kausitakeya held his poace Qqararatna).

That is, the state of a brdhmana, who is as he is, is claimed tobe superior to the state of a muni.

The wholc verse of the Manustnrti (Laws of Manu,II, g3) rllns:"The mcnosyllable (i.e., om) is the highest Brahman. S*ppres-sions of the breath are the best austerity. But nothing surpassesthe Savitri. Truth is superior to silence." My commcntarialedition does not help rnuch. It observes that "truth" is verbal,but this is the obvious part. However, it is easy to see the struc-

lsRgveda Ma4(ala VII (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavair, 19d3), iv-x.relt is of interest that a different way of expressing the acljectivc ,.trlle,"

to wit, by the sanskrit word a-vitatha 'onot untrue" (that is, "not contraryto the fact"), has a secondary meaning "not vain or futile"; and so, like theword satya, indicates that what is true is not in vain. rn contrast, for lying,

.a prohibition of the ancient five Buddhist layman vows, the expression mr;d-vdda was used, rather than a negation of the word satya.

'Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence 377

ture of the verse. when the breath is suppres$e,J, one dces notspeak-and tiiis is the best aasterity. Bui superior to this is thesavitri, anr:ther name of the Gayatri, the cerebrated mantrarecited by the Brahmans at tireir morning and evening devotion_als; and this mantra is designated as ';truth,,,

namely-as wehave observed-the undeniable that is not in vain. And so truthis s,perior to silence. At the same time, the verse shows the pre_ference for the Brahmans rvho recite the Gdyatri over the munisand other ascetics who engage in sucrr austerities as suppressingthe breath. The Giyatri (!?g-uecra,rfr,62,l0) is translated appro-ximately as follows: "we meditate on or may we attain, the greatglory, of the god savita, that he may inspire or who inspires, ourthoughts or works." It is preceded by the mantraom in the latereditions.

That remark in the Lows of A,Ianu rvoulcl equalry appry to whatis often cailed the "Act of Truth.', This truth act is well knownfro:n the Hindu epic Rdmdyana and. from Buddhist sources. Ithas a traditional forrn: the performer announces, if such-and-such be true, then let this or that happen. ..such-and.-such,,

is,according to w' Norman Brown's herpful explanation, the ,up.r-lative performance of the person's duty (dharrna), and ..this

orthat" is what the gods are commanded to bring about as a mira-culous interve'tion.2' In tire following essay ipoint out that itlvas not suficient for the pcrson to have been extraordinary infuifilling iris duty, but it rvas also necessary for the person toverbalize this fact; and so this is a verbal truth that is superiorto silence.2l In short, that a person deserves to be aided by thegods is not sufficient; this person must in addition command theaid.

. Tiie prececiing makes one issue quite clear. The tradition of

"truth" is follov,zed by trrose *,ho rvould be inspirecl by or wouldcommand the deity, especially the solar deity. The tradition of"silsnca" is followed by thosc who, o't of their own resources,would rise to a status beyond ord.inary mankind. And certainlv

20"The Basis for the Hindu Act of Truth," in Review of Religion (Nov.1940): 36-45. I-{is latest article on the subject is.,Duty as Truth in Aqcie'tlndia," in Proceedings of the American philosophicat sicrety ll6, iro. 3 (June1972): 252-268.

2rSee Chapter 20.


these routes are distinct and in vivid contrast, and so command

divergent allegiance. The Marusmfii definitely insists that the

Brahmans who appeal to the sun deiiy at dawn are superior to

the silent ascetics who try, like the Buddha, to be enlightenedjust prior to dawn.

One comolication comes, for example, in the development of'

Buddhism, lvhere the Buddha began on the muni side, the Tathi-

gata who became enlightened without reliance on another teacher.

Then he moved to the other side as the Teacher who inspires the

disciples. tsut when the Buddha did decide to teach and gave

his first sermon, what he talked about was satya. The Buddha

mentioned four kinds oi satya of the dryas, meaning the persons,

who hearkened to his doctrine and became disciples in contrast

to ordinary people (the prthogjana) who do not hearken. The

satyas, as was already exposed, are the "undeniables"-that

there is suffering, there is the origin of suffering, there is the cessa-

tion of the origin, and there is the path leading to the cessation.

And sort of analogous to the Vedic and Upanipdic usage of the

word, there is more to it. So the Buddha in the first sermon

(Setting into Motion the Wheel of the Law) made explicit this

something mofe. Suffering is not only undeniable; it is also to be

fully known; likervise, its origin is to be eliminated; the cessation

of the origin is to be directly experienced; the path is to be culti-

vated or contemplated.In the case of the Lqws of Manu, as a legalistic text, "truth"'

means the verbal kind; and this kind was observed above as in-

tended in the magical function of truth, illustrated in the "Act

of Truth." This amounts to what is often called the lcarma'

kdryda (section of rites). Incleed, this is the tsuddhist sense of the

Four Noblo Truths, which are the announced truths of Buddhism

establishing the norms of conduct, even though early Buddhism

opposed the old Veclic ritual.

This is not to insist, however, that "truth" (satya) was emplo-

yed in the old upaniqads solely with this verbal sense when, as

though by magic, it was undeniable. That it was already used in

the more philosophical sense of truths that are understood or

realized, and are sometimes inexpressible (aniruacaniya), is ctrear

enough in the celebrated Pfllan vefse. This frequently cited verse

about truth is the flrst of four verses that appear both in the

Brhaddranyaka (Y, 15, I-4) and the brief isa {Ipanisad (15-18),


and which constitute the prayer to the sun god,by a dying person;

S. Radhakrishnan mentions, ooEven to-day they are used by theHindus in their funeral rites."22 The first verse can be translated:"The face of truth is covered by a golden bowl. Unveil it, OPDsan, so that I who have trutir as my duty (satyadharma) maysee it !"

This verse foreshadows, on the one hand, the later terminologyof ab solute and con.,zentional truth (p ar arndr t h a and s arytu r t i s at y a) ;and on the other hand, the distinction between direct view (pra-tyak,ra) and the out-of-sight (parok;a). In Buddhist literature,both approaches are explainable in terms of the Four NobleTruths. Thus the Mddhyamika commentator Candrakirti inchapter 5 of his Madhyamakduatdra explains why the truths ofSuffering, Source, and Path are conventional truth, while theTruth of Cessation is supreme truth.z3 In the case of the Upa-nisadic verse, the "face of truth" would represent absolute truth;and "truth as duty," conventional practice of a distinguished type.

The later formulation of view distinction is found, for example,in Dharmakirti's Pramdnaudrttika (II, 132): "The compassionateone applies himself in the rneans so as to destroy suffering.When the goal (: cessation of suffering) and its cause (: themeans) are out of sight, to explain thern is difilcult."2a The emi-nent Tibetan commentator of Buddhist logic, Rgyal-tshab-rje,expands this verse in his brief work "Guidance on the path ofauthority" ( p r amd pa-mdr g a) :25

As to the perfection of application:-the person possessedof great compassion at first himself comprehends directly theultimate condition of the four truths; and in conclusionproperly strives in the application. But when the two truthsof the causal means and the two truths of the fruitional goal

22The Principal Upani;ads CNew York : Harper and Bros., 1953), p. 577.z3Wayman, "Buddhism," pp. 423-424.za I daydvdn duhkhahdndrtham updyegv abhiyujyate /

parok;opeyataddhetos taddkhyanary hi duskarar.n ll26Tshad ma'i lam khrid (Varanasi reprint), pp. 36-37: / sbyor ba phun tshogs

la sfiin rje chen po dan ldan pa'i gan zag gi thog mar ran flid bden bZi'i gnaslugs mnon sum du rtogs pa mthar thug pa la mnon par sbyor ba'i brtson'grus mdzad rigs te / thabs rgyu'i bden pa gflis dafl thabs byun 'bras bu'ibden pa gfiis lkog tu gyur pa'am sion du gyur kyan blo mi gsal ba'i lhag malus na gtan la phyin ci ma log par 'chad mi nus Zes pa /.


are out of sight or are not eariier clear to the intellect, there isno capacity to explain them completely utio in errorless man-ner to others.

Here, the two truths of the causal means must be the truths ofsuffering and source of suffedog; rvhile the tr,vo of the fruitionalgoal must be the cessation of suffering and the path leading to thecessation. Interpreting the PDsan verse along the same lines,we see that only when a person first has truth as duty can hesubsequently command the exposure of the face of truth.

Tsp Two TR,qorrroNs oF TRurs aNo SneNceIn setting forth two traditions of India, as has been done withtruth and silence, it is tempting to list various sects under one oranother column. one can, for exarnple, place the Brahmanicallineage-faithful to the four stages of life-in tlie ,,truth', ,blumn,and the ascetic groups (muni or sramana) in the ,,silenca,' column.This runs into the immediate difficulty that the Buddha, rvho iscalied "great silent one" Qnahdmuni) and "gteat ascetic', (mahd-sramarya), announces the four tirya truths and is held to be theteacher of gods and men. His followers never depart frorn this,eventually-although centuries later-naking much of trvotruths, conventional and absolute. And again, the Brahmanicallinea-ee has its emphatic visionary side; and all sects have theirsilence, even r'vhen merely exclusi.reness. Indeecl, it may beprincipally the opponents who classify one or another schoolunder a particuiar heading, thus to attribute a limitation of actionor view to an adversary.

Holvever, it should have already become apparent that the twotraditions called "truth" and "silence" are roughly equivalentto the vedanta classification, the karma-kdnqla and the jiidna-krlt.tdct, where "truth" in its sense of the magical verbal truthanrounts to the karma-kdn{a, and o'silence"

as the attainment oftlre r.r'ithdrawn ascetic amounts to the jiidna-kdatda. Expoundingthe Sar.nkara position, Surendranath Dasgupta says:

The teachings of the other parts of the vedas, the karrna-kdt.trJa (those dealing r,vith the injunctions relating to theperformance of duties and actions), lvere intended for inferiortypes of aspirants, r,vhereas the teachings of the upanisad.s,the jfianakaada (those which declare the nature of ultimate


truth and reality), were intended only for superior aspirantswho had transcended the limits of sacrificial duties and actions,and who had no desire for any earthly blessing or for anyheavenly joy.ru

But the Laws of Manu takes the opposite point of view, declaringthat the ritual performance of the savitri at dawn is superior tJthe silence-rvith whatever its knowredge (iiiana)-of the yogimeditating during the night. The celebrated. law book is forcedinto this position by its defense of dharma, the Hindu cod.e ofduty.

It has been called to my attention that Kumdrila-bhatta (theseventh-century A.D. comrnentator on the Mimdrysd), when dis-cussing the nonorthodox systems as authority lpramd4a) fordharma (ad Jaimini-sfitra I 3.ll-14), asks whether the Buddhistdharma, being as it is a prq)oga-iastra (statement of norms forproper performance), is authoritative; and thus deals with theBuddhist dharma as an alternative to the brdhmalical karma_kdrtda and not as an alternative to the upaniqads.2? Natu rully,this observation is quite consistent with what has been pres.nt.i,namely, that one can indeed separate the two traditions, especiallyfrom how commentators treat the opponent. consequently,there is a competition as to what properly constitutes the verbaltruth (: korma-kaqt(a) as well as to the content of silence(: jfidna-kdat(a). In illustration, Buddhisrn not onry presents analternative dharma. but an alternative enlightened person (theBuddha as the MahdmunD. At the same time, it is comprehen-sible that these Indian systems rvould not and do not treat them-selves in the manner that the opponents do. Therefore, Buddhismdoes not separate itself into two traditions, the dharma and theBuddha; rather it i'sists that the dha,na colnes from the Buddhaand has its authority (pramdrya) accorciingiy.

Tlln UpaNrgADrc DispurB Oven ,,TRUE DESTRES,,while my main purpose has been to expose two traditions in

26Histor! of hdian philosophy 5 vols. (cambridge: at the university press,1932), l:436.

2Tcommunication from Fred lllorgan, lecturer in Asian Religicns, Univer_sity of Bristol, in connection with my article, ',The Buddhist .Not This,.Not This'," Philosophy East and LV'est,2l, no.4 (Oct., 1961): gg_I14.


terms of "truth" and "Silence," I must acknowledge that such a

classification may imprison the mind in categories and lead to a

kind of game in which different schools and sects are mechani-

cally placed within this and that categorY, irrespective of how

those schools are constitr-rted in reality. Categories should not be

formulated just for the sake of making them. The importance of

a classification is what one learns or brings forward in the course

of making it. Now, while collecting materials, as previously

organized, on this topic, there was no intention of bringing the

Brhaddraryyaka and Chandogya into conflict-but this is exactly

what happened. According to the Chandogya, when one finds

the self, he finds and achieves all desires-which that text quali-

fies as "true"; according to the Brhqdaraltyalca, when one finds

the self, lie overcomes ail desires.

Indeed, my anaiysis agrees with Dasgupta's advice: "It vrill

be better tbnt a modern interpreter should not agree to the claims

of the ancients that all the Upaniqads represent a connected

system, but take the toxig independently and separately and deter-

mine their neanings, though keeping an attentive eye on the

context in lvhich they appeaf."2s A disagreement betvreen the

Brhaddraryyaka and the chandogya was long ago noticed by

Paul Deussen : "Betlveen the two great Upanishads, Brhadd-

ra0yaka, which serves as toxt-bock for the students of the (white)

Yajur-veda, and Chindogya, rvhich serves for the students of the

Samaveda, ate tc be observed Inany, often Verbal agreements,

but side by side with iirese, certain traces of a thorough-going

polemic, which is shown, among other things, by the iact that

teachers, wfuo appear in the one Upanishad as the highest autfuo-

rities, oocuty only a subordinate positicn in tlie otirer. Thus, for

examplo, ushasta. . . .) '2s The present essay defi les tl ie polemic

in terms of the attitude torvard tire desires (kanta) that are

"true" (satya).The meaning of the word satya as the undeniable is continued

into the well-known chapter 7 oit the "City of Bratrrnan" in the

Chandogya. Within this city of Brahman is contained all crea-

tures (bhuta) and all desires (kama); and the Upaniqad says,

zsHistor! of Indian Philosophy, l, p. 42.zsThe System of the Veddnta, trans. Charles Johnston (Delhi: Motilal

Banarsidass, 1972), pP. 146-147.

"Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence 3g3

"Those who depart hence, having found here the self (annan)and those desires (koma) that are satya-for ttem in all worlcisthere is engagernent with the desircs." That is, their desires areunclr-niable (satya), as illustrated in section 2 of the chapter 7,"If he desires the worid of the fathers, by his very conception,fathers arise." Likewise, the world oi the rnothers, the world ofbrothers, the rvorld of sisters, and so with tire worlcl of friend.s,of periumes and gariands, of food and cirink, of song and music,and fnally the world of r,vomen. His desires, being sa1)a, uponbeing thought, are bound to happen. Then, in section 3, theupanisad continues, oorhese saffre are true (i.e. undeniable) de-sires, with a covering of the false (anrta, the negation of rta)."And it goes on to illustrate what is meant by the false : "Just asthose who do not knolv the field walk again and again over thehidden treasure of gold and do not flnd it, even so all creatureshere go day after day into the Brahman-ivorld and yet do not flndit, for they are carried av/ay by untrutli." This shows that thecreatures are carried away by disorder, since snrta is the negationof the objective truth of regularity and universal order.

This chdndogya position v/as not forgotten in subsequentUpaniqadic literature. The Mu'qt{aka Upani;ad (III 1, 6), comingafter the rise of Buddhism, f,urnishes modern Ind.ia's motto"Trutir alone conquers" (satyam eua jayate). This has politi-cal overtones and rich slogan-connotation rvlr.en taken out of itscontext : "Truth (i.e., tire undeniable) alone is victorious, notuntruth (artrta, i.e., disorder). By truth is laid out the path fead-ing to the gods by which the seers (rsi) who have their desiresfulfllled prooeed to r.vhere is that supreme treasure." This trea-sure, according to the Chandogya, is in the Brahman-world.

But the Byhaddraqryaka (III, 5, l), rvhen setting forth pro-gressive renunciation as the way to know Brahnlcn, has asignificant opposrtion to the chdndogya's and ttte Mur3r.laka'semplrasis on reahzing desires :

Norv l(ahola Kausitakeya asked him, "Yajfiavalkya,', saidhe, "explain to me the Brahman tirat is directly experiencedand not indirectly experienced, rvhich is the self (dtinan)rvithin everything." "This is your self which is within every-thing." "Yajfiavalkya, rvhich one is r,viihin everything i',"The one which transcends hunger and thirst, sorrow anddelusion, old age and death. The brdhmanas, having recog-


nized (uidituO that Self, having overcome the desire for sons,the desire for wealth, and the desire for'worlds (loka),l ive thelife of rnendicants (bhiksr). A desire for sons amounts to adesire for wealth; a desire for wealth amounts to a d.esire f,orworlds; for both of these amount only to desires.Bo

And if that passage did not sufficiently castigate desires, BTha-doraryyaka, rY, 4, 6-7, drives home the point. After mentioningforcefully that the man who desires (lrdmayamdnal) is simplyreborn, it gives this verse for the man who does not desire :"when all the desires (kamQ that abide in his heart are renoun-ced, then the mortal becomes immortali he here attainsBrahman."

But the question immediately arises : what is in back of thisdisagreement, the Brhaddragyaka eschewing all desires, and thechdndogya pushing for true desires. The answer appears to be :their creation myths. The two positions of those upanisadsprobably both have in their background the S.g-ueda "Hymn ofcreation" (x, 129), where it was said, "Desire enterecr the onein the beginning : it was the earliest seed.. . the bond of being innon-being." Then the question arises : Does one attain_ the higheststate by reverting to the beginning condition ? The Brhaddran-yaka, and Buddhism as well, answers, No. The Chandogya, andinferentially any other treatise that lines up with it, answers, yes.

The Brhadarapyaka would not recommend getting back to theoriginal state because (chap. l, sec. 2) it says : ..There was noparticular thing here in the beginning. only by death was thiscovered, or by hunger, for hunger is death." The Chandogya(chap. 3, sec. 19) has a different story, called '''The Cosmic Egg.',

The sun is Brahman-so it is taught. This has an explanation:In the beginning this (worid) was non-existent (asat). It be-came existent (,sat). It grer,'r. It changed into an egg. It layfor the e;r.tent of a year. It burst open. trn the egg-shell therewere the silver and the gold. what rvas the silver, that is thiseartir. what was th.e gold that is the sky. v/hat rvas theouter member (i.e. the chorion) is the mountains. what wasthe inner membrane (i.e. tire arnnion) is the mist with the

soThis passage immediately precedes the previous citation of Brhadara4yakaI l I , 5, 1.


clouds. what were the veins are the rivers. what was thefluid of the membranous sac is the ocean. Ancl that whichwas born, it is yonder sun. As he was being born, shouts andcries rvere directed toward him, as were also all creatures and.all desires. Therefore, at his rise and at his every return,shouts and cries are directed toward him, as are also all crea-tures and all desires. He who knowing it in this way, repeat-edly meditates on the sun as Brahman, is one to whom well-disposed shouts would be directed, and they would gratifyhim, yea, gratify him.

Thcrefore, in the chandogya lineage, it is an appropriate aim toreturn to the original condition, namely, to find in the city ofBrahman all creatures and all desires, to be as the sun when it wasbeing born.

About the true desires, the Bhagauadgtta (III, i0) says in appa-reat agreement : o'of yore when the Lord of Creatures created.men with sacrifice, he said : 'By this may you bring forth, andmay this be for you the cow which grants desires (i$akfunaclhuk,\.,,,There were other rvords in Indian literature : cintdma4ri (thefabulous gern which grants all desires to its possessor), kalpa-urlcsa (the wishing tree in Indra's paradise). However,K. N. upadhyaya regards "disinterested action" (nipkama-karmq\as the "crux" of the tshegauadgitd's message.sl Therefore, itrnight be the case that the Bhagauadgtta was attempting to re-concile the Upanisadic dispute exposed earlier rvith a formulathat nonattachment to the desirable is eventually rewarded by alldesires. If this possibility has not hitherto been recognize,l byinterpreters of the Bhagauadgitd, it may be simply due to the factthat they failed to acknorvledge an upanipdic dispute which theBhagauadgtta might try to bridge.

As to schools affiliated to the BThadararlyaka, tr make bold topoint to Bu<ldhism, because the tsuddhist goal of niruiina is alsobeyond desire. And Buddhisrn heads its formula of Dependentorigination with nescience (auidyi)-a word. which is not foundat arl in th.e Bhagauacigfta.sz At least once Budclhism says ne-science is the father,and craving(tr;pa)isthe mother (per Lankd-

stEarly Buddhism and the Bhagavadglta (Delhi,IgT1.l,, p. 146.s2Surendranath Dasgupta, History of Indian philosophy, vol. 2, p. 49g.


uatdra-sfitra);33 but the commentary on "the (Iddnauarga says

nescience is the mother.sa The Buddhist genesis myth in the Pdli

and other scriptures starts out with the sentient beings in bodies

made of mind that are wherever they wish to be, and who feed

on joy (compare Vedic creation hymn). Their fall begins with

greed stemming from delusiol; next there is lust arising from

eating; and finally hatred due to stealing.so Buddhism not only

has negative procedures-removal of deflling conditions-for

reversion to a superior plalle of consciotlsness, but also a positive

requirement for adding knowledge arrived at in samddhi attain-

ment. The Vedintic currents that stress knowledge (ii;dna)

as the main requirement for liberation QnokSa) thereby agfee on

this particular point that one does not simply return to a pri-

mordial condition. Consequently, our previous observation that

Buddhisrn and the Upaniqads fuave a rival jfidna-karyqla should

be rnodified to admit the possibility that Buddhisrn shares to some

extent the jiiano-kaat(.ta of the Brhadararyyaka. At least this is a

partial breakthrough in the mystery of the Buddhist relation,

if any, to the Upanisads.Holvever, it should be noticed that the categotizing of the old

Upaniqads as the jiidna-kdncla in contrast to the preceding Brah'

malla ritual literature categorized as the karma-ktiltc.la ts again

an ovelsimplification that becomes strained when one examines

the facts. The Chdndogya naturally exemplifies the previously

exposed connotation of "trLLth," because it is an appendage to

the sdma veda (rneaning the collection of vedic hymns to be

chanted), and the word "Chando gya" means singer of these

chants. This Upaniqad is therefore ooncerned in part with the

Vedic meters rvhich, by their proper utterance, would satisfy the

Laws of Manu use of the word "truth" (satya); but this belongs to

the karma-kc14(a, The Brhaddra7yakq has a mantra section and

many other topics that are not easily subsumed under a single

rubric, so it is by no means to be thoroughly qualified as a ifiana'

kduda. Presumably, the over-all inclusion of the upanilads in

the jfiana-kaAqla intends the emphasis or principal object of the

ssDaisetz Teitaro Suzuki,p . l 2 l .

saCf., note 8 herein, PP.3bWayman,'oBuddhism,"

trans., The Lankavatara Sutra (London, l93Z),

210-211.pp. 428-430.

Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence 3g7

upanipads; and, in particular, the part of the Upaniqads whichmost interests the Advaita Veddnta.

The subsequent Tantric currents-mainly of Saivitic or ofBuddhist character-also have their two sides. As van Gulikwrites : "Above all, they enumerate what desires can be grantedby reciting this dhdrapt and how many times it should be recited.certain rites are required to accompany the reciting in order toobtain the fulfillment of certain d.esires.,'s6 But this recitation ofdhdraqtis, whether incantations or spells, is in the ample categoryof ritual utterances, including the sdvitri, which the Laws of Manuplainly counts as 'otruth".

D. L. Snellgrove, in the introduction to his work, The HeuajraTantra, says, "To dislike the tantras, is but to dislike the r,vorsttendencies in man, and of the terrible existence of these tenden-cies we have ample experience in every generation. The tantrasclaimed to remove like by like, and sc of r,vhat else should theytell ?"37 By removing like by like, snelrgrove refers to such linesas the citation in the Dohi commentary, "By passion the rvorldis bound; and precisely by passion it is rereas ed'; (rdgerya badlryateloko rdge\aiua hi rnucyare). His remark about disliking thetantras is consistent with what I consider to have been a seriouscleavage between the Brhsdaranyaka and the chdndogya follow-ing. Because-even ii modern scholars do not transfer theirdislike of the tantras to the Chdndogya Upanipad_the fact stillremains that the chdndogya theory of desires in the hearr could beparaphrased, "By false desire the world is bound; and preciselyby true desire it is released." so, as often happens, people clonot know what thev dislike.

CoNcrusroxsIn the foregoing I have attempted to set forth a rivalry of twotraditions, "truth" and "silence," while admitting that the tradi-tions becorne distinguished especially by the opponent to a sect,who finds it easier to mount a "refutation" by tieating somelvhat

36R. H. van Gulik, siddham; An Essay on the History of sanskrit studiesin china and Japan (Nagpur International Academy of Indian culture, 1956),p . 7 7 .

37The Hevajra Tantra : A criticat study (London: oxford university press,1959), part I p. 42.


artificially, a single aspect of an opposing sect. Then, while

acknowledging that the Upaniqads themselves are not distingui-

shed by the two ffaditions, the same investigation shows that the

Upaniqads are indeed distinguished by the attitude to "true

desires." The traditions thus made salient appear more fasci-

nating than what T. R. V. Murti sets forth in The Central Philos*

ophy of Buddhism as the "two traditions in Indian philosophy"-

the acceptance or rejection of the permanent dtman or self of the

Upaniqads. Therein Buddhism is characterized as rejecting this

permanent dtman in favor of a changing, impermanent self.

Of course, Buddhism does have its positive disagreements with

the Upaniqadic position, especially as concerns this theory of

dtman. The Upani;ads do agree on stressing a Self, even though

obviously disagreeing about some matters, such as the role of

desire. Murti's classification is faithful to the usual commenta-

rial style of distinguishing the orthodox and the non-orthodox

among the Indian schools.A value of exposing the Indian traditions in the manner of the

present article is the readiness of the classification for problem

solving, that is, for explaining in contrast to simple portrayal.For example, one can immediately find a plausible solution forthe term satydgraha in the modern movement associated withGandhi.38 In the light of the rich connotation of such words assatya and anrta, Gandhi did not really have to deliver a learnedexposition of his term satydgraha (adherence to the truth). Infact, the power of the term depends in part on its not being ration-alized or intellectually explained. It insimrated that the produceof the spinning wheel was satya, to wit, undeniable and not invain, and therefore victorious, while the British stuff was anrta,to wit, disordered and a lie, and therefore the sure loser to satya.The wornen doing the spinning-for the most part illiterate-would not have read the Upaniqads. They were raised in a culturesteeped in the connctation of the word satya.

Further, the meaning of satya as explained by Velankar is itsusage in ritual and politics, while the meaning in the Plqan verseturns out to be its philosophical usage in subsequent centuries.

Finally, the precious book by Max Picard, The World of Silence,

sBGandhi ; An Autobiography : The Story of My Experiments with Truth(Boston : Beacon Press, 1965), pp. 318-319.

Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence

reminds us of the spiritual resources that develop in silence,consistent with the Tibetans' translating the word muni by the"capable one" (thub pa). Picard also writes, in agreement withthe Lows of Monu, "Language is more than silence because truthis manifested in language."

389

20

THE HINDU.BUDDHIST RITE OF TRUTI{-_AN INTERPRETATION

some years ago at the university of california professor MurrayB. Eunxenu r,vas teaching a class in Aryastrra's Jatqkamald-*hi+ it r,vas my privilege to attend-and during the reading ofthe Siuijataka called attention to two articles : (l) Eugene watsonBunrrNcaME, "The Act of Truth (Saccakiriya) : A Hindu Spelland its empioyrnent as a psychic motif in Hindu Fiction," Journalof the Royal Asiatic Society 1917, 429-467; (2) W. NormanBRowx, "The Basis for the Hindu Act of Truth," Reuieiu ofReligion, Nov. 194A, 36-45. The contribution of BunTTNGAMEis to collect many examples oi this motif; and for the processinvolved he goes no further than to assert, "An Act of Truth is aformal cleclaration of fact, accolnpanied by a command or reso-lution or prayer that the purpose of the agett shall be accornp-lished." BnowN decides that"inevery case the basis of the TrutirAct is the singleness with which the performer, or some otherperson used by the performer as a dynamic reference, fulfils hispersonal duty...In this way ihe individual achieves personal inte-grity and fits the cosmic purpose. Life then becomes a sacrificialact, a rite (kriya), and as such, when perfectly executed, it canaccomplish any wish, compelling even the gods, as we are taughtin the vedas and the Brahmarlas is possible through the sacrifice."

There is an obviously different approach in those two articles_BuRrwcal,rn is more interested in the Truth Act and the resultscredited to it as elements in stories than he is in real life masic.


BnowN treats them as miracles, which, while related in stories,are nevertheless grounded in the religious outlook of the peoplewho therefore regard these miracles as possible even though'exceptionally rare. In the "real life" approach, one then lvonderswhy the people think such events might occur, and Bnowx wellstates the case in terrns of the person u'ho so succeeds : he hasbeen superlative in doing his duty, the Hinciu clharnta, whateverit may be--as, s'y, the dha,nq of a king, of a wife, of acourtesan.

BnowN was aware that there is more to it than this, because thatperson doing the Truth Act must verbalize the fact of his super-human performance of dharma. So Bnowx rightfuliy brings intothe discussion "the confession ritual perforrned. at the varuna-praghasas, when the priest asks the sacrificer's rvife rvith whomshe consorts other than her husband." And he continues, ,,rt

is essential for her to speak, not because speaking lessens the sin,but because it brings exactitude, that is 'truth', into the rite.And it is significant that she speaks out before varuna, r,vho isthe vedic custodian of the rtq, cosmic truth or order.,, It is ofinterest that thc spoken appeal is also to varrina in the case ofthe four ordeals-the balance, fire, water, ancl poison.l But inthe cases both of the varunapraghdsas and the ordeals the objectis the ascertainment of the unknown truth; whereas in the caseof the Truth Act, the emphasis is not on ascertainrnent of thetruth however unpleasant, but on teiling the truth that is extra-ordinary, superhuman.

In the Pali expression saccakiriyd, tbe lciriyd (skt. kriya) isthe doing that is here the ritual speaking. HrnRrsoN states thatin Latin, Sanskrit, and Greek there are nominal iormations basedon the verbs o'to do, make " that have side meanings of .,ritual

operations of a magical character," but provides no textual refe-rences.2 For the case of sanskrit she cites the word kytya.our present word kriya also conforms to her view : one of itsstandard rneanings is "rite." Magical aims are certainly behindthe performance of many rites in ancient times, while certainsocial rites, such as those of marriage, may also have had in an-

1Dr. Ludo RocHrR, vacaspati Miira, vyavahdracintamani (Gentse orienta-listiscle Eljdragen: Gent, 1956), pp. 320 ff.

zJane Ellen HAnnrsoN, Themis, Meridian Books, p. g2.

'The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-an Interpretation 393

cient times some magical associations. Therefore I employ therendition "Rite of Truth.',

'

The classical sources of the Rite of rruth are the Hindu Rama-yqrla and the Buddhist Milindapafiha. However, the vedic lite-rature already sets forth the creative nature of truth, especiallyin these two passages of the Atharua-veda and the yajur-veda :

I t(Td- qeqqrTl( tq f,rarTq( il"{o 1{, 1, ? |

"That became Truth, by That was produced (the world)."l 1 l

3r€ q fr 3r*

q'i.. 1l,io mtrf,r{ rrqo jc, { |

"May my Truth and my Faith bringlabout (the wish) through,sacriflce !"

The former passage posits Truth in a way comparable to thedoctrine of the Logos, an intermediary between the Divine intel-lect and the created r,vorld.3 The latter passage depicts the methodby which man may duplicate the primordial achievement : bysacrifice he will copy the plan of the Divine intellect, by Faithconvince himself of the eiticacy of the procedure, and by Truthbring about the desired extra-normal results. This tenet of theverbal component acting as an intermediary between mind andthe objective lvorld is worked out in a variety of ways in oldIndian lore and classical Indian metaphysics. we need only re-call the role of vak (the female personification of speech) uttiogas the iqkti, or power, for the lord to reveal himself in the world.This doctrine was elaborated with vak as a group of phoneticpowers, the mdtrikd, and Kashmir Saivism as well as the Tantric

'schools wrote extensively on the emanation process of thesemediating phoneme mothers.a

The verbal form of the Rite of Truth is not a tradition al mantra.It is rather analogous to the upanisadic expressions called vidyas,

3cf. H. J. Rosr, Religion in Greece and Rome, Harper Torch-books, p, 132.+cf. Andr6 PAooux, Recherches sur Ia syrnbolique et I'dnergie de la parole

,dans certains textes tantriques, Publications de I'institut de civilisationindienne Fasc. 21 (Paris, 1963), especialry chap. v, ,,L 'dmanation

.phon6matique".


which are really updsand-s or meditative exercises.5 As K.Narayanaswami Aryan points cut,6 there are three fruits of theseVidyd-s, namely (1) Duritaksaya, the warding off of calamities;(2) AiSvaryaprdpti, gaining of the Siddhi-s or occult powers;and (3) Krarnamukti, progressive liberation. The standardexamples of the Rite of Truth e-xhibit fruits falling within thefirst two categories. For example, in AryaSfira's Jdtakamdld thefirst category is exhibited by the Rite of Truth in three jdtakas,i.e., No. XIV, The Story of Supdraga, to turn a ship backfrorn its perilous position near the fabulous Mare-mouth,site of the submarine fire; No. XV, The Story of the Fish, tocall down the rain, thus averting the calamity to the fish in alake almost exhausted of water; No. XVI, The Story of the

Quail's Young, to turn back a forest conflagration. The secondcategory is exhibited in No. II, the Sibilatat<a, wherein the Rite,of Truth achieves for King SiUl the divine eyes.

Arya6Dra's formulation of the Sibijataka around fourth century,A.D., not only employs the Upaniqadic trptisana aspect of therite but also contains elements of considerable interest and rele-vance to an understanding of this R.ite of Truth. In the firstpart of the story, Indra appears in the form of a blind beggarbefore tire generous King Sibi and asks for the King's eyes, whichthe King with great delight gives to the beggar. In the secondpart, the King is seated with crossed legs at a lotus pond, indicat-itrg that he is in meditative retirement-his "blindness" sug-gesting allegorically the blindfold of the candidate for initiation.TThere is the humming of a swarm of bees (madhukaraganopa-

kujita); later on, when the King obtains two eyes of divine sight,large drums (dundubhi) of the gods sound forth with deep pleas-

ing sounds-the former and latter sounds suggesting the first andlast of the five andhata sounds going with yoga success.s Indra

sCf. Dr. V. RacnavaN's introduction to K. Narayanaswami Atutx, TheThirty-Two Vidya-s (Adyar; IVladras, 2nd ed., 1962).

elbid., p. 9.zCf. Giuseppe Tucct, Tibetan Painted Scrolls (Rome, 1949), p. 247.sSriSa Chandra VASu, tr. The Shiva Sanhita (Allahabad, 1905), Chap. V,

verse 2T : "The first sound is like the hum of the honey-intoxicated bee, nextthat of a flute, then of aharp; after this by the gradual practicc of Yoga, thedestroyer of the darkness of the world, he hears the sounds of ringing bells.

The Flindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-an Interpretation 395

decides it is time for the King to get his eyes back. Why cannotIndra, the porverful one of the Gods (Deuendra), simply go aheadand restore the eyes ? As a preliminary answer to this question,Indra is now made to say, "Hence I shall endeavour to have hiseye produced by showing away." The word updya is used for thisw&y, or approach, which turns out to be the Rite of Truth.Later, AryaSura will give a Buddhist dogmatic answer in terms ofthe requirement of two causes (hetu and pratyaya) fot a thingto arise. Indra asks Sibi why he still has his mind on the mendi-cants, suggesting that the answer will remove the condition ofblindness. The King replies : "Why is there this urging of yourhonor that I be made to boast ? (ko yam asmdn uikatthayitumatrabhauato nirbandhalt). But, Devendra, pray lend ear ! Justas at that time and at this time, the mendicants' words, which arecertainly expressions of mendicancy, are as pleasing to me asif made of benedictions, so may one eye of mine appear." Thenarrative continues, "Then, by the king's power of truth blessing(satyddhislhdna) and by his outstanding accumulation of merit(pu4yopocaya), no sooner had he expressed those words, thanone eye appeared,..."

Let us consider the implications of Arya5ira's account. Firstof all, we observe that the Rite of Truth is conducted beforeIndra, so Buddhism is here preserving a bit of the old Indrareligion for the goal of AiSvaryaprapti. It could be expected thatafter Indra dethroned Varufa as the chief Vedic deity, Indrawould have to carry on in some fashion certain functions formerlythe business of Varula. While Varula was the upholder of therta and satya, Indra becomes the one who tests the satya andbesiovrs appropriate reward or punishment. However, in the threestories Nos. XIV, XV, and XVI, for the goal of Duritakqayathere is an indiffflerent relation to Indra. In No. XIV, the R.iteof Truth is done before the sea-traders (visible witnesses) and thegods in the sky (invisible witnesses). In No. XV, it is done beforethe King of the Devas (deuardja), who in this case is probablyIndra incorporating the function of the rain-god Parjanya; andthe story continues with a eulogy by Sakra, Indra among thedeuas. In No. XVI, it is done before the fire-god, Agni.

then sounds like roar of thunder." The original Sanskrit of this text was notavailable to us at the time of writing.

"396 Buddhist Insight

Next, we observe that the basic cause (hetu) of the eye is theaccumulation of merit, which professor BRowN's article enablesus to identify as a substitution for the Hindu dharma. This isentirely puruSakdra, obvious acts of men, as is also the Rite ofTruth, constituting the updya as well as the anu5thdna for a corres-ponding adhislhdna. The blessing (adhis{hane by the deity is rheconditional cause (pratyaya) and constitntes a sort of daiua dis-pensation. But note that in the Milindapaiiha account set forthin BunrmcAME's article, pp. 437, ff., the Buddhist monk N6ga-sena holds that through the Power of Truth and no other cause,King Sibi received heavenly eyes. consistent with early Buddh-ism's rejection of the necessity for an Isvara or lorcl, Nagasenarejects any need for the adhi;trhana provided by the deity. Naga-sena's meaning of the word for "truth" implies th.e creative agencyof vak incorporated by Truth. This is the implication also in thecategory of Buddhist scripture said to be promulgated by "mindtruth-force," for exampie, "the r,vord.s of the doctrine (dharma),which proceed from mountains, trees, vralls, ancl so forth, throughthe force of having been uttered by the Bhagavat rnentally withthe power of truth (satya-bala)."s In such case, tire successfulperformer of tire Rite of Truth is himself the deity; and truth isnot simply the ethical kind, included by tire Buddhists in the"accumulation of merit," but has in addition a metaphysicalimplication of "reality" as the word scfiya is translated in Upa-nisadic contexts by Deussen.lo In the oldest vedic literatureNagasena's position would be untenable because the first mortalto become exemplary in dharma u'as the celebrated yama andso he received the title Dharmaraja; but in the old tradition hedid not become a god : he was tantamount to a deua with thecommensal relation of drinking with the gods,1l and presumablyalso with the interlocutory relation of talking to the gods, as isthe situation in the Rite of Truth.

Finally, there is the explicit element of boasting, which rong

gFrom the Ms. translation by F.D. LsssrNc and Arex wayuaN of Mkhasgrub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, (Mouton, The Hague, l96g),

Chapter Two.10Paul DnussrN, The Philosophy of the upanishads, auth. Eng. tr. by Rev.

A. S. GEnrN, (Edinburgh, 1906), p. 162.1lcf. our "studies in Yama and Mara," Indo-Iranian Journal, III (1959),

p. 50.

The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-an Interpretation 397.

ago attracted my attention. It is a feature of r4any vedic hymnsthat the deity proclaims his prowess in a boasting manner or thepoet boasts on the deity's behalf. For example, the goddessvdk boasts (RV, x, 125,5) : "I myself announce this thing favor-able for gods and men. whomever the man I love, him I makemighty, him a brahman, him a seer, him a wise man." As longas men believe in gods, they are not held in vain to boast or havetheir deeds boasted of, because they are believed to perform infact the acts as stated. But holv can puny man claim such super-human action except with the hurnan fault of boasting ? Arya-S[ra suggests that boasting ceases to be a fault, and hence be-comes divine, when it is uttered in the Rite of Truth. This featureof boasting seems to have an eiernent in common with whatanthropologists call "the breaking of the taboo" in the case of"primitive" societies. For example, the classic exposition bycn.q.wtnv12 uses this terminology for marriage breaking thetaboo involved in segregation of the sexes. If it is permissible toapply this description to Hindu rites or festivals, certain ones,such as the Holi festival in its older form, and Tantric rites withtheir striking indulgence in foods and sexual partners-seem tobe more appropriately char acterized. thereby than is the Riteof Truth. In a negative way, the latter Rite exhibits a weak aspectof taboo breaking. In a pcsitive way, the Rite has some featureof rvhat is called a "rite of passage,"rs .o incorporate and confirman individual in a new group, in this case the society of the gods.

The performer has an interrnediary, a meditative utterance,the uidyd-which is a goddess (strtdeuatd),ra in this case Vak, theTruth of himself, producing the desired reification.

l2Ernest CRAwLry, The Mystic Rose, Meridian Books, Inc.lsArnold van GBNNTp , Les rites de passage, available in Englisir translation,

The Rites of Passage, a Phoenix Book, university of chicago press.14cf. Yoginitantra(venkatesvarapress,Bombay, 1962), p. 40r : mantra-

vidyavibhage tu dvividhar.n jdyate priye I mantrdh pumdevatih proktividyah stridevatdh smrrah //.

2l

SIGNIFICANCE, OF DREAMS ININDIA AND TIBET

Dreams exert a perennial fascination on the lvaking mind. whe-ther or not we accept a certain western theory of dream arche-types, it is certain that in the fact of clrearning itself, in that anindividual culture attributes significance to it and makes conse-quent use of it, we find a common bond of mankind.

The allusions to drearns and the recording and classification ofthenr in India (by the word suapna) and in Tibet (by the rvord.rmi-lam) usually occur in brief passages in biographies, psycho-logical rrrritings, Mahdyd.na Buddtrist and Tibetan tantric iexts,and in general literature, or at most in chapters cf rvorks on medi-cine and astrology and in Jaina omen books. There are, however,some treatises represented by title to be devoted entirely to dreams,pre-eminently Jagaddeva's suapnacintdmar3i, which has a Gerrnantranslation, as well as the brief works such as suapnddhydya,in Sanskrit with Hindi translation, and the suapnauicdr,in Hindi.There are undoubtedly such brief tracts on dreams in all the ver-naculars of India and of course in the ubiquitous Gypsy d.reambook in English which one can purchase from sidewalk bookdisplays in large Indian cities.l

lDream bibliography for the Vedic literature is referred to in an article bythe Japanese Sanskritist N. Tsuji, "on the Adbhuta-br6hma4a" (in Japa-nese), Annual of Oriental and Religious Stuclies (original title in Japanese),No. 1 (1964), p. 41. Indian dreams and their interpretation have a brieipopularizing survey in French by Anne-Marie Esnoul, ..Les songes et leur

400 Buddhist Insight,

A. DREAMS POPULARLY BELIEVED AND AS THEMES IN LITERATURE

we may cite first the d.reams whose importance is independent ofwhether they were really dreamt, it only being necessary thatpeople at large think so. Thus the dreams of parents establish-ing sacred mother-son or father-son relations. The dreams attri-buted to the mother of Mahavira, historical founder of the Jainasect (i.e. , the fourteen, beginning vrith the white elephant), as wellas to the mother of Gautama Buddha (e.g., the white elephantentering her womb) are of this type. It would be difficult to provethat a different social order (polyandry) is responsible for the factthat to both the father and mother of rson-kha-pa, founder of'the Gelugpa sect in Tibet, are attributed the dreams by whichTson-kha-pa was regarded as all three bodhisattuas, Maffju6ri,Avalokitesvara, and Vajrapdti.2

Again, the dream theme of literature depicts dreams in rolesthat may or may not have occurred in reality. The parallel dreamis illustrated by the tale in Kathdsaritsdgara of how king Vikrama-ditya and the princess Malayavati first met in dream and wereflnally united in reality.s fn the work attributed to Bh6sa, theSuapnaudsauaCatta, the king goes to Padmavati's empty bed,falls asleep on it, and dreams of seeing Visavadatti and talkingto her, but there in fact she happens not to be dreaming. Thisexample, cited in Bhoja's Srngdra Prakdia, illustrates the capacityof a dream to breed love and thus serve as a literary theme.a In thisconnection the Tamil classic Tirukkural (No. 1216) rnay be cited :

And if there tvere no waking hour, my loveIn dreams would never from my side remove.s

interprOtation Oans l'fnde," in Les songes et leur interprdtation (Paris : fAitions du Seuil, 1959), pp. 207-47.'There is a psychological treatment from rnedical, Indian philosophical, andAbhidharma Buddhist sources in a chapter by Jadunath Sinha in his IndianPsychology : Perception (Lonclon, 1934), pp. 306-23.

2These dreanrs are in the brief biography called Zur ltdebs rnam tharlegs biad kun hdus,in Tson-kha-pa's Gsun ftbum (Collected Works), Lhasaedition. The identification of Tson-kha-pa with the three bodhisattvasis in the well-known poem of the Gelugpa seci tradition, Dmigs brtse rna.

3Esnoul, op. cit., pp. 226-27.aV. Raghavan, Bhoja's ,iyngara Prakasa (Madras : published by author,

1963), pp. 738, 895.iTirukkural, with translations in English by Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope, Rev.

W. H. Drew, Rev. John Lazaras, and Mr. F. W. Ellis (Tirunelveli, 1,962).

Significance of Dreams in India and Tibet 40I

As also Kdliddsa's The Cloud Messenger : "Wretch, I saw theein a dream caressing some woman or other."6 The ominous drearnappears in the Shilappadikoram.' "The Pdndya queen spoke :'Alas ! I saw, in a dream.. the night devour ing the sun.. . . Isaw the rainbow shining in the night....Alas !" '?

B. CLASSIFICATION OF DREAMS

with regard to dreams in general, the Indian genius for classifyingcomes into play. There are some differences between the Hindu,Jaina, and Buddhist works as well as much in common. Thesimplest division is into auspicious (iubha) and inauspicious(aiubha). The division is seen to be very ancient by the wordssDapna and dultsuapna to mean good and bad dreams and alsomuch later in a chapter of mundane astrology.8 Esnoul pointsout that the key words for good dreams and bad dreams stayedfairly constant from the earliest lists down to the tv;elfth-centurywork by Jagaddeva.e The Suapnddhyaya is based on this two-fold division by the words i;laphala, 'ohaving desirable effect,"and anisyaphala, "having undesirable effect." This work beginsthe good dreams by saying (s1.2-4): "rf a man sees a crossing overof a stream or body of water, the sun rising into the sky, a blazingfire, the vision of moon-disk among the asterisms and. planets,a mounting in palaces or to the summit of temples, he attainssuccess." It begins the bad dreams (Sl. 39-40): "If one sees thesun or moon devoid of light or the asterisrns and other starstumbling down; or sees the ASoka tree, the Oleander, or thePald6a tree in full bloom [apparently all of red blossoms], heattains sorrow."lo

eKdliddsa, The Cloud Messenger, trans. Franklin and Eieanor Edgerton(Ann Arbor : IJniversity of Michigan Press, 1964), p. 79.

zllango Adigal, Shilappadikaram by Prince llango Adigal, trans. AlainDani6lou (New York : New Directions, 1965), p. 126.

sTsuji, op. cit., p. 41. See also the words used in N. P. Subramania Iyer(trans.), Kalaprakaiika (Tanjore : Lawley Electric Printing Press, l9I7),chap. xlii.

eEsnoul, op, cit., p, 221.toSvapnddhyaya, with Hindi commentary (Bombay : Venkatesvara Steam

Press, 1927):/ nadi-samudra-taraqam akdSa-gamanarn yathd // bhiskarodayanar.n caiva prajvalar.n tar.n hutd1anam ll2ll


Nebesky-wojkowitz reports that in Tibet it is believed thatvarious deities and demons produce dreams : "If one saw a snowymountain or a soaring white bird, then the lha fdeua] caused thisdream. . . . To see snakes, frogs, girls with a pale-blue skin, andmountain-meadows, are mirages caused by the klu [naga]... .and if one trembles with terror and fear in the sleep, this is dueto the influence of the bdud [Mara]" (to mention only those duero spirits identifiable with Indian deities).l1

The Jaina work R.islasamuccaya says :

ll2. Dream is twofold. One is that which is told by the godand the other is a natural dream. That drean is a dream toldby a god vrhere a mantra (sacred formula) is recited.li3. The other (viz., a natural dream) occurs when one, voidof worries and well-poised body and r,veli-proportioned humo-urs, gets [it], indeed, without (muttering) a mantra (sacredformula).12

The expression "lacking well-proportioned humours" suggeststhe threefoid division rvhere pathologicai disorders are explainedin the medical works to involve imbalance of the three hurnours,"wind," "bile," and "phlegm." In the sixty-eighth PariSista of theAtharuu-Veda men are said to h.ave the temperaments bilious(fiery), phlegmatic (watery), and sanguine (windy). Differentdreams are attributed to such persons respectively: for ttre bilious,dreams, for exampie, of arid land and of burning objects; forthe phlegmatic, dreams, for example, of nature in splendor andburgeoning life; for the sanguine, dreams, for example, of racingclouds and of forest creatures running in terror.re In the Ques-

I graha-nak$atra-tdrdndrn candrama4dala-darsanarn I/ harmyelv irohanam caiva prdsada-Sikhare pi va ll3ll/ evam ddini samdrttvd naral] siddhim avdpnuydt ll4ll

adityarn vdtha candram vi vigatacchavikam yathd llpatar.nta cdtha nak.:atram tarakddim6 ca vd Vadi ll39lla6okaln karaviram v6. paldSam vdtha pulpitam /svapndn te yas tu pa5yeta naralt Sokam avdpnuydt ll40ll.

1lRene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet ('s-Graven-hage : Mouton & Co., 1956), p. 466.

lzDurgadeva, Ri;tasantuccaya, trans. A. S. Gopani (Bombay : BharatiyaVidya Bhavan, 1945), p. 56.

13Esnoul, op. cit., pp. 215-17.

Significance of Dreams in India and Tibet 403

tions of King Miltndo, there are said to be six men who d.ream :the foregoing three, (4.) those under influence of a deity, (5)'thosewho dream under influence of their experiences, and (6) thosewith prophetic dreams. The text adds tlat only the last-nameddream is true.la The basic Jai'a classification in the wonderfulbook of omens, Afigauijjd, is into cliitrha, .,seen,,

; rta_di1tha,"unseen"; and auatta-dillha (sanskrit :

-auyakta-clr,t{a), .,inscrut_

ably seen" (or both seen and unseen).1s Various lists increasethe number of sense organs invoived. Trre tsuddhist Mah ayanatext "Meeting of the Father and son" (pityptrtrasamdgama) gives'dreams based on all six senses, the usual five plus the mind as thesixth sense; but here again the basic classification is three-fold bythe three "poisons," lust (:atftaction), hatred (:repuision), ancldelusion (:incapacity), because the text gives a sample drearn foreach of the three in termsof each of the r*r.r, shown in Table 1.16

TABLE I

sEEi-i T,rt','iF-[31,J?, f ffi I sc"r]nnerTrt

f ir,"î"iia """" "'

i wrt. illr enomv

i :"1"Tr"'iokli,and beineconfused wit[fearHearing I Hears

,11."- ,]"gilq I ff.T lame'tation I Hror. ro_ethingund, illt1llmgn!{ I yop" _"ih;;t';; | ,u,o,music or the berre I ritrr..'i--affi, Jr I i,?il6r. ro un-of the land I uoon iori- oi' ' ony I dersrand thepleasant thing | ,r l ."ning

-; i

smelling ; t,

^^,T.li:il;l"g^_ 1..l' ] srnels t^hq ctinging I t.tlinlii,t,"r,bocly with iandre_ I ;{"; "ili";;?;;", |

't;il i,ii,i,lir

I^9.?d g. orher I of _ dog, muii, o, Ipcrfumed sub I snake

rasting I "{i?,1[r".:rr.

,o j *uu.oot1s hs resorts I rnu, he has rostsatratron very sa- | tqeating tire seeds | -

hl;-^r_"i' "fvoryfood

i of pLinrpkir i-- i rasregourds and other

(disagreeable) seedsrouching j Empr,i-ce; the waist i d;i:; r#[," Tiu:r: ] rnat he has lostI i":f"

bene of the I ing "opp.i ;i;b i ,i; i*i.?|:!

tix*,if,'J'* I "i:lf',;lu'rn:":l; I o,,?lg" yi:l -^?,,i:1 | tffii'['ff.i.?l?:^1.h"*5-_::.']:.: i ,q4: ana reilnue, |

-î^1il.";ui.,r"'fv

,:',1,'5 i;,'i:".I;..*i*,diYl ;5;;g}#;#tl *i,'"magrclan

tslbid., pp. 232-33.tsAngavijjd (Prakrit Text society No. l) [Banaras : prakrit Text society,19571j Introduction, p. 51, and texi, pp. tdO_gt.16 P it r put rasamaeain- mahali rrtt iir;lky oto-rotyo photographic reprint ofTibetan-canon), *xIIl., ioI!+' a;A' tr'

q4 Buddhist Insight

The Indian medical text Carakasarnhitd adds the category ofdreams as mere past experience (anubhuta) though immediatelyapprehended, and the category as mere imagination (kalpita)'

though based on memory data. Some dreams are wish fulfllment(prarthita), the principal category in the Western Freudian classi-fication, and some are prophetic (bhauika). The Buddhist cate-gory of recurrent dreams seems to amount to the VaiSesika

"dreams due to the intensity of subconscious impressions" (torn-

skdrapdtraua).1' Accordingly, Santideva quotes the Sirphapari-prccha, "Therefore in all his births he loses not the thought of'enlightenment. Even in dreams he has this thought : much moreif he be awake."18 The Jaina text has a classification of the beingsin the dream. Under "gods in dream" are gods and goddesses.

In human variety are the dead, the living, the unborn, women,

men, and the sexless. Under animals there are five : (l) birds,(2) four-footed animals, (3) reptiles, (4) aquatic creatures, (5)

insects.le The category of dead persons is consistent with Eme-neau's study, "Toda Dream Songs", showing that in Toda belief'only dead men sing in the dream.2o

C. PROPHETIC ASPECT OF DREAM

In the Atharua-Veda it was said that the dream comes hither fromYama's world.z1 Yama, the lord of the dead, is stationed in thesouth. Therefore, we see the reason that the Adbhuta-brdhmana,as analyzed by Tsuji, requires that one divine the dream whilefacing south.z2 Caraka and Sudruta both describe certain dreamsas prognostics of impending disease or death.23 A similar view

l?Sinha, op. cit., pp. 314-15.rsSdntideva, Sik;asamuccctya, trans,

(London : John Murray, 1922), p. 54;(Darbhanga : Mithila Institute, 196l),

nArtgaviia (cited in n. 15).

C. Bendall and W. H. D. Rouseand Sanskrit text, ed. P. L. Vaidyan ? ?

zoMurray B. Emeneau, "'Toda Dream Songs," Journal of the American'Oriental Society, LXXXV, No. I (January-March, 1965),39-44.

zrWifliam Dwight Whitney (trans.), Atharva-Veda-Sarphita (Delhi: Motilaf ,Banarsidass, 1,962), II, 993-94.

22Tsuji, op. cit., p. 41.zsSinha, op. cit., p. 321.

,Significance of Dreams in India and Tibet

was held by Aristotle.za rhe Indian view is that the prophetic'character of the dream is the adyg{a (the unseen agency), namely,the merit and demerit (dharmadharma) of the dreamer.2b

Prophetic dreams (bhauika) did not imply a fatalistic belief,because palliative measures were indicated. The suiruta-sam-,hita says : "If one has a sinister dream, he should not relate it toanyone, but should pass three nights in the temple to honor thepretas (the deceased). He will then be delivered from the baddream."26 rn the Malini school of Kashmere Saivism, if theworshipper sees a good dream he may express it to his disciples'and if otherwise he should perform the homa (burnt offering;.zzrn the Buddhist work Mrtyu-uaficana ("cheating Death"), theauthor states several portents of death of the dreamer himself,for example, the dream that a shepherd is wandering at nightwithout a companion and is unable to see the moon or stars.'To

counteract such a portent one performs the ritual of Amitayus,the Buddha of "Eternal Life."28 rn the above-cited Buddhisttext classifying dreams by the three poisons and the six senses,the position is taken that the psychological poison first shorvs inthe dream and subsequently in actions of body, speech, and mind.2esimilarly, the tantric work Arya-Tdra-xurit ulle-kalpa says,"when the sign appears in the dream, the siddhi [occult poweror success] will arise automatically.,,B0 This agrees with otherBuddhist tantras, where auspicious dreams that come true indi-

2aPedro Meseguer, s. J., The secret of Dreoms (westminster, Md.: New-man Press, 1960), p. 19.

zsSinha, op. cit., p. 315.26Esnoul, op. cit., p. 225.zTPandit Madhusfidan Kaul, Malinivijayottara Tantram (Bombay, 1922),

fntroduction, p. xxxi.2sMrtyu-vaficana (Kyoto-Tokyo photographic reprint of Tibetan .canon),LXXXVI, I21.zeThis remark occurs in an almost invariant formula after each dream ex-

ample. Fortunately, one such dream with the stanclard remarks was cited bysdntideva, op. cit., Sanskrit text, p. 135, showing howthe dream of lust, be-cause for the while believed in, establishes a propensity leading to three badactions of the body, four of speech, an,c three of mind : /so

.bhiniviftal: san'anuniyate / anunitah sar.nrajyate / samrakto rigajam karmdbhisaryskaroti...trividhar.n kayena, caturvidhar.n vdcd, trividham manasa /.soArya-Tard Kurukulle-kalpa (Kyoto-Tokyo photographic reprirt ofTibetan canon), vol. III., p. r20, fol. 2: / rmi lam mtshan ma ston zin 7 onosgrub ran flid hbyun bar hgyur /.

405


cate approach of the tutelary deity and success in the meditativeprocess as contrasted with the bad dreams indicating that thedeity stays far away as does the succes s (sidcthi).3l Here the dream,especially the one with psychologicai poison, reveals the ten-dency; and Buddhism in common with Hinduism always main-tained that one need not follow a portentous jnclination becauseboth religions have their regular ways of purifying pollution.s2

Prophetic dreams are well known in the traditional life ofGautama Buddha. The Pali text Anguttaranikcya relates the fivedreams Gautama had as premonitory of his full enlightenment.s3sixteen dreams are attributed to the King of Kosala in the Mahd-sttpina-Jdtaka. For example, No. 2 : "Methought little tinytrees and shrubs burst through the soil, and when they had grownscarce a span or two high, they flowered and bore fruit.,' Then theBuddha, cast in the role of a dream oracle, explains the dreamas foretelling the degenerate times when men wjll be shortlivedand young girls will cohabit with men as mature women do andso conceive and bear children.Ba Here also we see the metirod ofdream interpretation : tiny tree of dream equals young girl inactuality, interpreted in context by the dream oracle. This con-trasts with the set meaning of a symbol in lists of good and baddreams. The dream attributed to a king in the time of the formerBuddha Kdsyapa in the Buddhist Sarvdstivddin vinaya abouteighteen men pulling on a piece of cloth and unable to rip it, as aprophecy of Gautama Buddha's doctrine, is obviously fabricatedafter the rise of the eighteen Buddhist schools, which hopefullycoull not pull Buddhism apart.Bb

The life of AtiSa, the great Indian pandit who debated the invi-tation to teach in Tibet, shows him worshipping Tdrd to receivea dream advice : o'His tutelary gods directed him in a d.ream to goto the great Tirthika city called Mukhena in the neighborhood of

srMkhas grub rje, Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentars of the Buddhist Tantras,trans. F. D. Lessing and Alex wayman (Indo-Iranian Monographs, vol.VIII ['s-Gravenhage : Mouton & Co., 1966D.

32rn the Hindu case, the brahmins make the expiatory offering (prayaicittaarghya), especially in the early morning along with the gayatri rite. The Bud-dhist monks have confessional and meditative procedures.

33Esnoul, op. cit., p. 237.34H. T. Francis and E. J. Thomas, Jdtaka Tales (Bombay : Jaico publi-

shing House, 1957), p. 48.35One of the tales in Mkhas grub rje, op. cit.

Significance of Dreams in India and Tibet

vikrama Sila, at the centre of which there stood on a hillock asmall Buddhist temple. He rvas told that there he would meetwitir a female ascetic who coulcl tell him all that he wished toknow."36 Also, Tson-kha-pa's biography contains many pro-phetic dreams. In some cases he first saw in dream a teacher laterto be important in his life, as in the caseof the aged larna Khyun-po-lha, repository of the Yoga tantra.B, once he and a disciple"Tsha-go-pa, fasted and worshipped near the Jo-bo statue of Sirkya-muni in Lhasa, and both had dream omens. Tsha-go-pa saw indream two great white conchshells descend from the sky and fallinto his coat flap. Instantly they merged into one. when he tookthat in hand and blew upon it, it sounded an unfathomably greatsound. This was an auspice of a great spread and enhancementof the Buddha's teaching.Bs It was also a prophecy about Tson-kha-pa, dreamt by a second person.

In the Appendix to the Tibetan Gesar epic there is a pagedevoted to each dream analysis in terms of good and bad omens.Among the auspicious ones, if one dreams of the sunrise and dis-pelling of darkness, this portends happiness of oneself and coun-try. If one dreams of hearing tales of praise while surrounded bya retinue of servants, it is an auspice for movingupward in society.Among the ominous omens, if one dreams that a house caves inor is ruined by fire, one fears for men and others in the house andshould call upon Sitatapatra (the v,'hite Umbrella Lady).se

The Atharua-veda tradition holds that dreams in the first rvatchof the night bring their fruit in the year, those of the second lvatchin six months, while those of the third watch are alread.y half-realized.a' The Kdlaprt kaiika, written much later when the nightwas divided into quarters rather than thirds, says : "The effect of

sosarat chandra Das, Indian pandits in the Lancl of snow (calcutta :Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1965), p. 66.

sTManuscript of Tson-kha-pa's biography compiled by Arex wayman.The card files of the late F. D. Lessing call attention to the story that theEmperor Hsuan-tsung dreamed that he had met an eminent monk oi unusualappearaoce. "The Emperor, applying the paints himself, portrayed (thedream monk) on the wall of his hall. when shan-wu-woi arrive<l, he (foundhim to be) identical with (the monk) of the dream.,'

s8Manuscripi of Tson-kha-pa's biography.selohpon Tcnzin Namcak (ed,.). The Epic of Gesar (Delhi : sper khan,

1965)' Appendix. see aiso the list in Nebesky-wojkowitz, op. cit., pp. 465-66-4oEsnoul, op. cit., p. 217.


'dreams during the first quarter of the night will be realized in ayear; that of dreams of the 2d quarter, in'six months; the in-fluence of dreams in the 3rd quarter will be evidcnt in a month;'dreams before dawn will be realized in twelve days; dreams beforesunrise announce their effects in a day."al Again, the Afigauijjdclaims it is important to notice whether the dream occurred in theincreasing phases of the moon or decreasing phases and, in each,whether in the first part, middle part, or last part, which each.amount to sixty degrees of lunar motion.a2

D. THE NATURE OF A DREAM'The

philosophical treatment of the dream is especially interesting.Mahdydna Buddhism and Hindu Vedanta compared the world toa dream in the sense that it is unreal but works regardless ofwhether we understand it. The viewpoint is well stated by Rama-krishna : "ft is not easy to get rid of illusion. It lingers even afterthe attainment of knowledge. A man dreamt of a tiger. Thenhe woke up and his dream vanished. But his heart continued to

Palpitate."EaThe classical schools of Indian philosophy took two basically

'different interpretations of a dream. Sinha adopts the Westernterminology "presentative theory" and o'representative theory."The Nyaya-VaiSeqika school mostly held to the presentative theorywherein a dream cognition is explained as a perception of themind itself in retirement when the external sense organs have,ceased to function. The Mimarysakas with Prabhakara as spokes-man held to the representative theory that dream consciousnessamounts to a false recollection. In the Indian philosophical context,Prabhdkara's representative theory comes in for weighty blowsf,rom many quarters, including Sankara, the great Veddntin.aa

To make th.e two positions clear, I should say that they justinvolve the belief or disbelief in the rnind as a sixth sense; in whichthe Buddhists generally believed. If the eye as a sense organenables perception of forms, and not sounds, which require an

arThis is the way Iyer, op. cit., p. 236, understands the Sanskrit passage.azAfigavijja, p. 190, II. 30-33.a3Ram krishna, Tales and parables of Sri Ramalcrishna (2d ed.; Myla-

pore : Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1947).44Sinha, op. cit., pp. 308-10.

lSignificance of Dreams in India and Tibet

'ear, so also the mind-"because it is a sense organ like other senseorgans," as Bhdvaviveka stated itab-would have its own partitereality of object not shared as object by the other senses. There-fore, when it retires into itseli in sleep, the d.ream is its own object,hence a presentation of that perception alone, to which the fiveexternal sense organs cannot contribute. Bhavaviveka explainsthat th.e perception that is based on the sixth-sense mind (mano-uijfrdna) and that has the dharmas ("mentals" or "natures") as

'object is what perceives the dream.a6 Hence this manouijfiana isequivalent to Kashmere Saivism's buddhi, conceived of as mirror-like because it not only reflects external objects as perceived,through the five outer senses but also displays the revived. traces(satytskdras) "at the time of free imagination, remembrance, and'dream."a? Dandekar explains that in the Ftrindu view the subtlebody (silk,rma-iartra) is the basis for dream consciousness, havingbecome equivalent to th.e prdrtamaya (vitar), ntanomaya (mental),and uijiidna (intellectual) sheaths (koia) ali taken together.a8 Thissubtle body of Hinduism agrees with the Budd.hist manouiiiidnaas a kind of body that can detach itself from the coarse body

,and wander, thus perhaps similar in regard to dream as thewandering soul of so-called primitive peoples, although the textsI have seen do not spell out the 'owand.ering.,'

The philosophical interpretation of dream in India began espe-'cially rvith the upanisadic formulation of four states : waking,dream, deep sleep, and a state that is the first three all in all.certain later upanisads took a metaphysical and rnysticallyphysiological rather than philosophical turn and gave rise in timeto the special viewpoints of the tantra. Thus, they teach that the'"person"

(puru;a) has those four states when dwelling in the fourplaces, namely, waking state in the navel, d,ream in the neck,

'dreamless sleep in the heart, and the fourth in the head,.,'ae rheBuddhist tantras explain that the white and red. elements of the

asBhdvav i v eka, Tar k aj v a I a (Ky oto-Tokyo photogra.phi c repri nt), xcv r, 9 z.46Ibid.47K. c. Pandey, Abhinavagupta; an Historical and philosophical study

.(Benares : Chowkhamba, 1935), p. 252.48R. N. Dandekar, "Man in Hindu Thought," Annals of the Bhandarkar

Oriental Research Institute, XLIII, Parts I-IV (1962), p. 9.aeMircea Eliade, Yoga : Immortality and Freedon (New york : pantheon

,Bocks, 1958), p. 128.


bodhicitta passing up and down the o'central channel" of the bodygenerate those respective states and hence stay in the neck at thetime of dream.b' There were also numerous speculations in corres-ponding terms. So, in the theory of four forms of vdc, or"speech," the madhyamd "middling" form corresponds to d.reamand, in the southern Saiva formulation, is the kind of speechdissociated from consciousness.El It makes us recall the Jaina verseabove cited about the dream being told by a god when a mantrais recited. This alludes to the state when the constant repetitionof a mantra rcaches the point where it seems to sound by itselfand, being imagined as independent of the mind, is believed tobe pronounced or told by a god.sz In fact, the sound with thislife of self-sounding is the dream condition of sound, or,onames,,as things. This formulation of the situation rationalizes the above-mentioned correspondence of dream to dissociated speech.

This theory of creating a dream state by repeated incantation,thus to evoke a deity, implies that the bulk of Lamaist icono-graphy-those fierce and mild deities-amounts to sets of control-led dreams. Indeed, the production of an artificial dream state is.prevalent in the Buddhist tantras and in certain ones is called"purifying or exerting the dream" (rmi lam sbyan 6a). Further-more, the tantric machinations aim at a mixing (sre ba) of the,states of dream, deep sleep, and waking to attain the fourth state.These methods are rnuch practiced by Tibetan lamas, and themethod of one of these sects is well set forth by chen-chi chang,rs.as also in a work by Tson-kha-pa showing his standpoint.ba

The above cursory survey of the subject should attest to (l) aspirited interest in dreams, both in India and ribet, in regard totheir nature and purport and (2) to the attempt to use them widelyin literature and even in some technique s of yoga. I could have,

soAlex wayman, "Female Energy and symbolism in the Buddhist Tan-tras," History of Religions, rr, No. | (1962), g4. See also A. wayman, Bud-dhist Tantras (Samuel Weiser, New york, (1973).

51P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, outlines of Indian philosophy (Madras : Adyar,.1909), p. 160.

szMkhas grub rje, op. cit., Kriy6 and caryd, Tantra section, meditation of'"dwelling in the flame and in the sound."

saChen-chi Chang, Teachings of Tibetan Yoga (New Hyde park, N. y. :University Books, 7963), pp. 88-94.

sarson-kha.-pa, Dmar khrid (Kyoto-Tokyo photographic reprint), vor..CLIX.

Significance of Dreams in India and Tibet 411,

stressed more the differences between the Indian and Tibetantraditions, but enough has been presented to suggest that Tibet,despite being swamped by Indian Buddhism in its classical andlate forms, has a distinct tradition of its own, perhaps affiliatedwith the rest of the Flimalaya area as well as with china.

22

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MANTRAS, FROMTHE VEDA DOWN TO BUDDHIST

TANTRIC PRACTICE

The subject of mantra is of course too vast for a single article,although Gondal in one essay has an excellent coverage, especi-ally in terms of secondary sources. I find it possible to treat theprincipal issues in even briefer compass. The old word mantracame in time to have specialized usages, and, in Buddhist litera-ture, to be paired with dharapi and sometimes to overlap thislatter word. our procedure will be to lay a foundation of thetheme in the old Brahmanical literature, then show that the per-formance of mantros is in terms of varieties, and finally to ventureconclusions in the disputed topic of the meaning of mantras.

An OId Indiqn Theory

The old Indian division of the Veda was into Mantra and Brdh-malta. Dasgupta writes, "The word Brahman originally meantin the earliest Vedic literature, mantra, duly performed sacrifice,and also the power of sacrifice which could bring about the desi-red result."z Therefore, in the standard division of the Veda,the Brdhmallas are texts dealing with the actual performance ofthe sacrifice, while the Mantra is the sacrifice itself. Pdlini also

U. GoNoa, The Indian Mantra, in "Oriens", 1963, pp. 244-295.zSuRrNoReNarn DescuprA, A History of Indian Philosophy, Cambridge,.

1932, Yol. I, p. 2ll.

'41'4 Buddhist Insight

opposes the terms "Mantra" and "Brahmzila."s rhe Satapatha-.brd,hmana states4 :

"Make ye Agni's paths to lead to the gods !"-as the text sothe meaning;. . "making the parents young again,'_theyoung parents, doubtless, are speech and mind, and these twofires are speech and mind.

But the Satapathabrdhma\ta also record.s a dispute betweenspeech and mind as to which was the better of thetwob. Inagree-ment with the other passage that these two are paths leading tothe gods, they appealed to prajdpati for a decision. when hepicked mind, saying speech was only its imitator, speech, beingdismayed, 'omiscarried"

and refused henceforth to be Frajipati'soblation-bearer. Hence, in the sacrifice for prajapati the perform-er speaks in a low voice, since the Goddess of speech refuses tospeak out on these occasions.G The Anuglta of the Mahdbhdrataexpands upon the story?. when Prajapati chose the mind., speechreminded him that, after all, it was she wxro yielded his d.esiress.

3V. S. Acnawara, India as Known to pdryini,2ded., Banaras, 1963, pp.319-320, says that for Palini the mantra means a sacred formula whether avedic stanza (rich) or in prose (vajus), and that the Brahma\ds arc norr-nxantrAliterature. M. GaNcaNarHA Jua, The purva-Mimarytsd-sutras of .Iaimini,Allahabad, 1911, pp. 163-164, cites prabhdkara for mantra as including .oallthose vedic passages to which the learned men apply that name',. The Siltrassay that the name "Brahma4a" is applied to the rest of the veda. Also both"Mantra" and "Brdhmelxa" are referred to as ,,vidhi".

aJ. EccsrrNc, tr., Satupathabrahmarya, part IV, StsE, Vol. XLIII, pp.723'124, from VIII, 6, 3, 22.

5J. EccnrrNc, tr., Satapathabrdhmarya, Part I, SBE, Vol. XII, pp. 130-131,from I, 4, 5,8-12.

6Pt. GaNca Pnasan UnaoHyaya, Satpatha Brdhma4am, Vol. II, Delhi,1969, p. 318, mentions for this story particularly Aum prajapataye svahaIdam Prajapataye idam na mama, as on oblation spoken silently. However,the injunction is general in the yajiia.

7K. T. TeraNc, Tlte Bhagavadgita with the sanatsujatiya and the Anugitd,SBE, Vol. VlI, pp. 263-266. Critical ed., A|vamedhaparva, Section 21.

8Cf. Anrsun BsRRrnoaLE KElrn, The Aitareya Ara1tyaka, London, 1969reprint, p. 180 : "Speech yields all desires, for by speech man expresses alldesires. Speech yields all desires to him who knows this". So from I, 3, Z.Also, Sotapathabrdhmaila, YI,1, 2, sets forth Prajapati's union by his mind(manas) with speech (vac) to create creatures, to wri the eight Vasus to inhabitthe earth, the eleven Rudras to inhabit the intermediate space, the twelveAdityas to inhabit the sky, and the All-gods to inhabit the quarters. Thus,Vdc yielded Prajdpati's desires.

"The significance of Mantras, veda and Buddhist Tantric practice 415

Prajlryati mollified the goddess by declaring tliat there are two" kinds of,mind, the stationary $thauara)and tle moving (iangama).The stationary was his own. The rnoving, to ouit, uny mantra,or letter (uarna), or sound (suora), was in the dominion of thecowlike goddess, from whom comes the twofold flowing. Thusthe Anugttd sayss: "rt (speech) always proceeds aioud, or noise-less after birth; and of these two, the noiseless one is snperior tothe one aloud." These two kinds are apparently the trvofoldflowing. In the later refinement of thi Agnipurdna, chapterccxcflI (Mantraparibhdsd, verse 2g), there woutd be a .,four-fold flowing"ro '

The traditionll is that one uttered in a low voice is superior inthe recitation by tenfold merits that loud ones have. trn thecase of recitation by tongue, a h.ilndredfoid inerits (superior),by mind a thousandfold.

The foregoing is instructive of the ancient metaphorical langu-age. speech was a fire when it was a duly performed sacrificerr,leading to the gods; and it was a cow when it brought the desiredresultl'. Taking the two metaphorical references as a guide, onecan separato out the instruction. Thus, when speech is a fire, thereis the practice of reciting certain formulas three times, ior thcgods cannot be contacted, by random action. In agreement,Goirdala cites the Maitrdyaqtisaryltitdr,4, g,..because the gods arethree times in accordance with truth." Also, in Buddhist non-

gCritical ed., 14, 2I, 16 :gho;i4i jatanirgho;d nityam eva pravartate Itayor api ca gito;inyor nirgho;qiva gariyasl ll rc.

roAnanddsrama ed., p. 47I :uccair japad viii;yalr syad uparlciur daiabhir gu1taift Ijihvajape Satagu4ah sahasro manasah, smrtak ll 2.g.

uThe tradition is alluded to in h[anusntrti, ch. II, g5.12cf. Ksrrn, The Aitareya Araltyaka. from rr,4, r: o.From the mouth carne

speech, from speech fire".13K. N. ArvAR, The Thirty-two vidyd-.r, Adyar, Madras, 2d, ed., 1962, p.

58, points out that there is no vidya devoted to vik itself, and thrn "iti,Brhadaranyaka,Y,8, 1, for the meditation on speech as Dhenu (milch cow).

Two of her udders, (the btja-s) svdha and vafat, fecd the Deva-s; a thirdHanta, feeds men; a fourth one, Svadhd, the pitrs. Her bull is pr64a and calfManas. This calf, the manas, is presumably Anugitas..moving" mind.

uThe Indian Mdntra, p. 267.


tantric as well as tantric practice the voWs are repeated threetimes by the disciple after the preceptor, and this implies thatthe vow constitutes a sacrificial truth. So also the threetimes of circumambulation.ls One recalls here the theory of the"act of truth" (satya-kriya), as has been discussed in severalarticles by Brown and in one by myself above.16 This act requiresthe prior surpassing performance of duty (dharma) it the Hinduusage, or to have accumulated much rnerit (puuyo) in the Buddhistusage. But in addition the performer must declare his appeal orcommand to the deity : the fact that the person desires aid fromthe deity does not suffi.ce. One may observe that in this o'act oftruth" there is no implication of relative loudness for expecteddegree of fruit. Thus, even though the "act of truth" traditionallyinvolved an attempt to derive an extra-normal fruit, the emphasisis on communication with the gods; and so it must be includedwith speech as a fire.

When it is the case of speech as a cow, there is the emphasis onthe role of the guru. Accordingly we may understand the Agni-purdna, same chapter, v. 20B,-2lA : "A mantra heard by chance,by deceit, by power (i.e. forcibly), found on a leaf; and in gdtha

form, one would generate in vain". Presumably this is because,v. 20A, "the guru should bestow the mantrt". Hetrce, getting themantra in any way except from the guru renders it worthless.The guru is responsible for setting up the ritual circumstances,starting in Vedic times with imparting the celebrated Gdyatrior Sduitri of the Veda, according to P.T.S. Iyengar's eloquentremarkslT :

By sacramental use is meant the recitation of a mantra forproducing a saryskdrq conceived as a subtle change in themind and body of the reciter. A sarpskdra renders a man fitto perform some mystic duties...The Aitareya Brahmaryam(1, i, 3) describes the dtksha for yajfias,' in it the candidate for

15Cf. AnrnuR BeRRrsoarp KErrn, Rigveda Brahma4as, Harvard OrientalSeries, Vol.25; Deihi reprint, 1971, Aitareya Brdhma4a, ii, 5, 5, "Thriceround the sacrifice Agni goeth like a charioteer" (he says), "for he like a chario-teer goes round the sacrifice".

16W. Norman Brown's most recent article on the subject is Duty as Truthin Ancient India, in "Proceedings of the'American Philosophical Society",Vol. 116, No. 3, June 1972, pp.252-268. My own article is Chapter 20.

1?P. T. SRrNrvas IyrNc,l,n, The Gayatri, Madras, 1922, p. ll.

The Significance of Mantras, veda and Buddhist Tantric practice 417

initiation is clothed with a skin to symbolize the foetus beingencased in the arnniotic membrane. The sduitrt mantra is thechief one ussd for bringing about Saviia, the generator.

This is the general implication of mantras down the ages,namely, that they involve the freedom to alter destiny by usheringin a kind of rebirth. Also the initiate of the Buddhist yajrayanaenters a new and rnysterious world, as suggested by the Guhya-samdiatantra.rs "The pledge (samaya) and vow (saryuara) saidto be liberated from worldly conduct, when protected by all the'diamonds' (uajra), is pronounced 'practice of mantras' ".

VaRrprrrs rN TnRus op Fnurrs

These textual statements of mantravarieties exemplify speech as the"cow-of-plenty". The previously mentioned varieties in degreesof loudness of course also belong here.

Turning to the much later Puralic classifications, we apoealto the Agnipurdna, the Mantraparibhd;d, chapter, v.14-15.le

One should imagine them, beginning with the Siddhas, a$follows : The Siddha, by reason of surpassing merits. Whenthere is Siddha, the Siddha is through recitation (japa). TheSadhya is by way of recitation (japa), worship (puj\, oblation(huta), etc. The Susiddira by just meditation (dhyana). The

18-B. BgarrAcHARyA, ed., Guhl,asamaja Tctntra, Baroda, reprint, 1967.p. 156. 16-17.

rcAnanddsrama ed., p. 471 :siddhadin kalpayed evaln siddho 'tydntagu4air api Isiddhe siddho japat sadhyo japapujahutadina I I 14susiddho dhyanamatrena scdhakdry ndiaysd arih Idu;tarryapracuro yaft sydn mantralt. sarvavinfnditalt ll 15.

On the occasion of the Second World Sanskrit Conference, Torino, Italy"June 1975, Professor Flelene Brunner infolmed the writer that these terms,according to various texts, refer to a given disciple. Her position is justified ina valuable work, "Una tantra du nord.'/e Netra Tantra", in BEFEO, TomeL){I, 1974, p. 169. However, in Raslr Vrrnnr JosHr, Le rituel de la divotionKr;uaite, Pondich6ry, 1959, pp. 20-21, the terms are used for magical squareseach containing four smailer squares, which the master e',zaluates to deter-mine how the incantation will work for the disciple. Even here the termssiddha, etc., carl be understood as types of mantras in agreement with theAgnipuraqa. There seem to be different traditions for the use of these terms,and so the Agnipurdlta's version is justifiably understood at face value.


Ari would destroy the performer (sddhaka). Whatever mantraabounds in bad letters should be completely shunned (sarua-uinindita).

Here the varieties called Siddha and Sadhya evidently agreewith the Vedic mantra, according to Haug's description.zo

The Agnipurdqa chapter (verses 1-3A) starts with the varietiesin terms of syllables : "O twice-born one, the 'garland-mantras'

(mdld-mantra) are said to be mantras with more than twentysyllables. 'Mantras' have more than ten syllables. Less than that(todarudg), they are called 'bijas"'. The author thereby clarifiesthat performance is by way of a variety, and points out that thevarieties establish the speed and degree of success, namelyenjoyment (bhukti) and liberation (mukti), with the longer themantra the shorter the time.

The Agnipurdga continues (verses 3B-5A) with a well-knowndivision by sex or genderzl : "The species of mantras are of threekinds by way of the female, male, and neuter. The female mantrasend with the wife UAyil of Vahni (the Fire God) (i.e. Svaha).The neuter ones end with nqmah. The remaining ones are themasculine ones, and these are approved in the cases of subduingand ruining (of an adversary). The female ones (approved) inthe cases of eradication of disease, and minor acts. The neuterones (approved) in other situations". Here the varieties concernthe type of siddhi aimed at, the female ones for appealing to ini-mical forces to d.esist, the male ones for domineering the oppos-ing side, and the neuter ones otherwise, and so for miscellaneousfruits. Tucci in his l92B article cites the Sdraddtilaka (Calcuttaed., 2d palala,57-58) for a further clarification of the three genders,saying : "... .amqntra must end with one of the following words:hur1t, phatr, sudhd, namalt. According as a mantra is concluded bythe first two syllables or the third or the fourth, it is called mas-culine, ferninine, and neuter."zz He points out that the Bud.dhist

20Manrm HAuc, The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Rigveda, Vol.I,Bombay,1863, Introduction, p. 2.

2rAnanddsrama ed., p. 470:strtpuryndpurysakatvena tridha syur mantrajatayah ll 3strimnntra vahnijayanta namontai cd napurpsakah Ife;dh pumdrylsas te Sastd vaiyoccdandketu ca ll 4k;udrakriyamayadhvarpse striyo'nyatra napurpsakaft l.

22Glusnppe Tuccr, Notes on the Lafikavatara, in "Indian Historical Quar-terly", lV-3,1923; he discusses the Lankavatara-sfitra's dhdrapi-s, pp. 553-556.

The Significance of Mantras, veda and Buddhist Tantric practice 4pTantras have a crassification of mantra and oidyd, but of courseHindu Tontras, such as the yogint_tanri Ji_; have this.z' Inthis case, the Agnipurdrla's "mare mantra,,' (puf,tmantra) is calredsimply "montr," : and the "femare montra"'iriii-*ontra) is cared"tsidyd".

The Buddhist rantra susiddhikara-mahdtantra-sddhanopdyika_palala, extant in Tibetan translation, sts.tssza;

Mantras which pl. few syllables and have Orn and. Sudhd,speedily accomprish alr propitiatory rite; (idntika_karma).The mantras with a prenitude of vowers uod

"onronants andare equipped with Hurn as well as pha!, u.. ur.o by the wisefor harsh rites (abhicdruka_korrna).The wise should apply mantras other than the preceding, andwhich have the field of the supreme (paramdrtha) word,, forprosperity rites (pauslika_karnta).

In this description, it is a manlra usefui for prosperity rites thatis the logical candidate for equivarence to the neuter one of theother classification. The third verse of the susiddhikorq,s exposi-tion does not contain the word namalt, but possibly alludes to itby the terminology "supreme word" since namart is used toexpress homage to a deity or being superior to the human state.The preceding arrd further indication, "f

;;;resent paper forthe fruits of the uidyd permit an immediur. ,oriparison with theupanipadic uidyd-s. Thus K. N. Aiyar points o* ,t... kinds offruits of those uidyd-s according to the veddnta-sutras : (r) duri-zsYoginitantra, yenkatesvara press, B_gmbav, 1g62, p. 401 : l mantraltpurndevatah prokta vidyak strtdevatdk smytaft/. See also RaNrERo GNoLr, Zacedellesacrescritture (Tantraroka)diAbh113u3,upta,

Torino, 7g72,p.71g, buthere the vidyd isnot associateO wlth SieUl,and later (p. 721),when assigninsthe respective functions or operations of cerrain ;r;;;;, ;ii;;';r";;:,1;:o"l'oblazione" as one would expect ror its operation i" ,r.l ,to vedic ritual;and there is no suggestion of iis being a femare mantrq al menrorred in thesources which I cite.24Because of textuar difficurties wijh_ t^rre peking Kanjur version of theJapanese photo edition,. vol. 9, p. 5i4-5.3,I also i*rri"o the NarthangKanjur version, from which I adopied the reading aor-aii' trnig (paramdrrha_pada), o'supreme

word". Both editions were unsatisfactory for what I trans_late "vowels and consonants" (the presumed originar Sanskrit being arikati,for which see F' EoceRroN, iraitrt ltybrid sanskrit Dictionary). Therewas no difficulty with the remainder of the three verses-


taksaya, warding off of calamities; Q) aiiuaryaprdpti, gaining the

occult powefs which render the possessor invincible; (3) krama*

mukti, successive release by way of knowledge, thus reaching the

Sagurla Brahman.2s These fruits appear to go with the female

*irtro norv calle d uidyd, and seem also to illustrate the Agni-

purdrya,s susiddha type of mantrq amounting to meditation'(dhyona),

especially referred to as updsand-s or meditative exer-

cises in the upaniqadic context. Therefore, the aidya-s of the

(Jpani5acls may be taken as the forerunner of the later tantric

"female mqntra".A Tibetan text in my possession with numerous examples of

the three kinds of mantras (male, female, and neuter), may be

cited.zo This includes the mantrqs of the group called "the four

gods of the sublime heart", stressed by Atisa, the influential

Buddhist paafit who came to Tibet in 1042 :

l. ortt nlune mtme mahdmune ye sudha. This is the mantra of

Gautama Buddha, but it is also the uidyd of the A5lasahasrika

Prajfidpdramitd, and so the suahd emphasizes the female side"

insight (praifiA) of the Buddha.

2. Ortt muni paclme hilttt, the celebrated six-syllabled mantrq

of the male deitY Avalokite5vara.

3. Ottt tdre tuttdre ture sudhd, the ten-sytlabled uidyd of the

goddess Taru.4. Ortt canqlanruhdro,rqna

of the fierce male deitY,huan pha1, the ten-syllabled mantra

the blue Acala.

In further agreement with the classiflcations, the formula Gate

garc parogate pdrasalngate bodhi lyal suahd. is the uidyd of the

loddess Prajfldpdramitd since the formula concludes the cele-

brated Heart-sutra (Praifiapdramita-hrdaya-sutra). And when we

fincl the formula for the "Healing Buddha" (Bhai5aiya-guru)

to conclude with a sudha, this may be understood as the female

healing f,unction, as a fruit of the female formula according to

previous citation of the Agtripuraqa.

This same Tibetan text has many illustrations of the namalt

formula, as a thircl kind. It is intriguing that this so-called "neu-

25The Thirty-'s,,r6 Viclyas, pp. 9-10.zoThe book is entitled : Gzuns sriags dan I de bzhin giegs pa'i mtshan I bka'

,gyur siiin po sogs kha 'don byed rgyu zab mo'i rigs phyogs gcig tu bkod pa

don siiig lhun grub ces bYa ba l.

The Significance of Mantras, Veda and Buddhist Tantric Practice 4Zl

ter" (napurysaka) formula was always translated into Tibetan,while the formulas referred to as 'omale" and "female" lvere trans-cribed phonetically. This does show that the fidelity of pronun-ciation of the "male" and o'female" ones is an important issue,lvhile a possible mispronouncing of the "neuter" one seems not tohave been an issue. For example, the text includes : "Reciting''I

bow to the Tathagata Aksobhya' [completely translated intoTibetan], one purifies all the obscuration of evil karma and sin,and is born, by transformation from a lotus, in Aksobhya's field(ksetra)". Since this text always specifies a fruit from the recita-tion of a namah formula, and only does so for a few cases of the"male" and "female" formulas, the implication is clear that thistext agrees with the Agnipurdna in assuming a well-defined fruitfrom the "male" or "female" kind; while the "neuter" kind,standing for all the miscellaneous cases, must have a particularfruit specified in each case, since there would be no rvay of infer-ring the fruit from the mere fact that it is a "neuter" kind.

Speaking generally, Abhaydkaragupta in his Munimatdlary-kdra (extant only in Tibetan translation) states : "Furthermore,mqn is knowledge; traina is protection. This knowledge (whichknows) and compassion (which protects) is referred to by the termmentra; and the syllables of such affiliation are also called mantras.Those for the purpose of eiiminating nescience (auiC1,a) and pro-moting clear vision (uidyQ are the uidyd-s".zz

The overlapping with the rvord dhdrani can be observed from.Jfrdnavajra's commentary on the Vajrauiddra1ta-dhdrani (a Tantraof the Buddhist tantric deity Vajrapd4i). Again from the Tibetan:"Dhdrani is of two kinds : uidyd-dh. and mantra-dh. Of these, thepresent work is called a mantro-dh".28 Notice that the variedusage of the word rnantra resulted in adding the word dharapiin this type of classification to indicate the respective evocationof female and male deities, and in the present case, as Jfrdnavajramentions, it is a mantra-dhdraqti since the male deity Vajrapdiriis evoked. An earlier usage of the word dhdrani, as Tucci men-tioned in the 7928 article, was to indicate a long formula madeup of a series of mantras. Jfldnavajra states in agreement, "Be-

27In the Tibetan translation, Thub pa'i dgons pa'i rgyan, TibetanTanjur,Photo edition, Vol. I0[, p. 241-2.2,3.

28In the photo ed. of Tibetan Tanjur, Vol. 78, p. 169-4.3.


sid,es, because it retains many meanings and terms, it is calleddhdrayi. The vajraiekhara states that the dtiaroryt both providesa basis for all virtuous dharmas, and renders the meaning unfor-gotten".zs Hence, the word dhdrapi practically has the usage ofmemory", but more generally I render it o'retention".s0 Amongthe two kinds, the mantra-dh. is obviously the dhdrani made upof a string of mantras, while the uidyd-dh. is perforce a dhdrapimade up of a string of uidyd-s. If one were to translate the two.expressions-granted the hazard-it could be somethjng like"retention of incantations" (mantra-dh.) and "retentionof charms"(uidya-dh.)

Elsewhere I translated an explanation of three kinds of mantra:mqntra, uidyd and dhdraryi.rn short, the mantra constitutes anon-duality type of recitation, i.e. the non-duality of insightupon the void, and protection from signs and discursive thought.The uidyd opposes nescience (auidyd). The dhdraryi holds, i.e.retains, the Buddha-dharmas.sl This classification is consistentwith the preceding explanations of this essay except for havingdhdrarlt as a third kind. The meaning of a dhdraryi as a separatetype from both mantra and uidyd can be observed as a memorialdevice. For example, there is the A-RA-?A-CA-NA formula ofthe large Prajffdpdramita scripture of Buddhism.Bz Thus thescripture states, "The syllable I is the gate to all dharmos, be-cause of their non-birth from the beginning" (ddy-anutpannat-udd). Each of the remaining syllables is said to be a gate to alldharmas, RA "because they are free from dirt (rajas)"; pA'obecause of the settling of the supreme meaning (paramartha)";

zelbid., Vol. 78, p. 169-5.3, 4, and worth giving : I yan na don tshig mnn'po 'dzin pas gzuis so I rdo rje rtse mo lds dge pa'i chos thams cad kyi rten pabyed pas na yari gzuris so I yan na mi brjed pa'i don gyis nn gzuis zhes bya'o l.

3oThis appears also to be the meaning of dharapt as in Asafiga's Bodhi-sattvabhilmi (U. WocTHARA ed., pp.272-274) where four kinds are given anddefined : ooretention of doctrine" (dharma-dh.). "retention of meaning"'(artha-dh.) "retention of mantrd" (mantra-dh.), and "retention for acquiringpatience" (k ; ant i lab haya- dh.).

3lArpx Wayua,N, The Buddhist Tantras ; Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism,New York, 1973, pp. 64-65.

32The following exposition of the A-RA-PA-CA-NI formula is based bothon Eowano CoNzE, The Large Sutrd on Perfect Wisdom, Berkeley, 1975, p.160; and on the Munimatalaqnkdra, Tibetan translation (cf. note 27, above),p. 240-5 to p. 241-1.

The significance of Mantras, veda and Buddhist Tantric practice 4zi,

cA "because their decease (cyauana) and birth are not the objectof consciousness"; NA "because they are free from names(ndma)". The syllables stem from the initials of the respectiveterms. Therefore, A-RA-?A-1A-NA is a formula for remember-ing in the given order the five statements about all dharmas,and thus illustrates dhdrapt as a memorial device.

For other ways of referring to varieties, we may resort to theAgni-purdpa. rn its Mantraparibhd,rd chapter, verses g-r0, itspeaks mysteriously ;aa

been awakened,the great evoca-conveyance by

way of the right.One should ascertain thefrom the opposite of thatof both respectively.

waking time of the Agneya-Manuof the Saumya-mantra, i.e. the day

(The suara) should avoid the Manu-s when there are hostileletters, etc., bad asterisms (1kp a) and" zodiacar signs (rdii),etc. The suara (should avoid) the Kurus when an enemy hasintervened to the purpose of attaining the kingdom.

Here, the term "Manu" is known to mean a mantro, but alsothe Manu-s in Purd{ric tradition represent the solar lineage;while the Kuru-s represent the lunar lineage. Hence, the ..Kuru,,is also employed for a certain kind of formula, and it is evidentlythe "female" kind in contrast to the Mqnu as the ..male,,mantra. This is made certain by the end, of the above citation,"when an enemy has intervened. to the purpose of attaining thekingdom", at which time the suara should be of the Manu-typ"that subdues the adversary and not of the Kuru-type, which beingfemale, serves for eradication of disease, etc. on-the other hand,when the stellar signs are unfavorable, what is needed is thefemale'mantra, or Kuru, to appease the gods, and not the male-

saAnanddsrama ed., p. 470:suptaft prabuddhamdtro vd mantraft siddhrry na yacchati Isvdpakdlo mahdvdho jdgaro dak;i4dvahaft ll gdgneyasya manol.t sdumyamantrasyaitadviparyaydt Iprabodhakalarp janiyad ubhayor ubhayor ahah ll gdutlark;araiividve;ivarnddtn varjayen maniln llrajyaldbhopakardya prarabhyarill svaralt kurun ll 10

A mantra which is sleeping, or has merelydoes not attain success. The time of sleep istron (maha-duaha). The waking state is the

424 Buddhist tnsight

mantra which would only make matters werse. This interpreta-tion is consistent with the Siuasuarodaya (v.1001.a4 "During theflow of the Moon, poison is destroyed; the Sun leads to controlover the powerful. During Susumna, there is liberation. Onedeua stands in three forms." Here the flow of the Moon is equi-valent to the female-nwntra or Kuru; the flor,v of the Sun is equi-valent to the male-mantra ot Manu. The "Manu" and the "Kuru"are respectively the mantra and the uidya of the previous termino-logy. Furtherrnore, tite Agnipurarya apparefttly intends the fierymantra (Agneya-Manu) to be taken as the male-mantra, and themild (,Sartmya) one to be understood as the female-mantra. Hence,when the male one is awake, the female one is asleep, and viceversa. This terminology of "alvake" and o'asleep" r-nay amountto a striking way of emphasizing the fact that they cannot besimultaneous, since the fiery or male mantra and the mild or femalemqntra serve contrasting pu{poses. But since both are expressionsof the goddess Vac, the goddess herself is neither awake nor asleep.

The phrase "conveyanco by vray of the right" for the wakingstate agrees with my citation elservhere of the Buddhist TantraSarpuarodaya : "Having entered by the left, the right is the path

of leaving".35 Here expiration of the breath is said to be by wayof the right; in-breathing by way of the left. The Anwgitd (Sect.

21, verse 15) says36 : "Then the Praqta appeared, strengtheningspeech. Therefore, it (prana), having reached expiration, speechnever speaks up." According to the Agnipurdqta, this is the timewhen Ihe mantra is successful. There must also be vrhat the Anu-gita calls the "moving" (jangama) mind, which is in the dominionof the goddess. In apparent agreement, there is Sri-Laksmi'scomment on the Buddhist tantric lvork Paficakranta: "The causeis prdita, the effect is mantra,' and their reality (tattua)-is the 'real-

ity of mantrA' ".37

scThe popular edition of Banaras City, BihD Thakur Prasad Gupta Book-.seller, reads : I

candracare vi;ahate (src. for -hati) suryo balivaiatp nayet IsuSumnayarn bhaven mok,rd. eko devas tridha sthitalj ll

35lVavuaN, The Buddhist Tantras, p. 159.s6Critical ed. :

tatalz praqtalt prddurabhud vacam apyayayan punah Itasmad ucclnasam asadya na vag vadati karhicit ll15

szThis passage is in my Yoga of the Guhyasamajatantra; the Arcane Lore

af Forty Verses, (Motilal Banarsidass, Deihi, 1977).

"The Significance of Mantras, Veda and Buddhist Tantric Practice

Now, the AnugftA also says (Sect. 21, ver$e l4): "Verily, thegoddess speech always dwells among the prdpa and Apdna"(prdpdpondntare deui ttdg uai sma tis[hati). The Anugita said.eariier (verse 7) : "The Apdna, having become lord (pati), conse-quently summons tbe apdnata. That (apdnata) (the inhalation)one declares the intelligence (mati) of the mind (manas). Themind in consequence considers".ss Accordingly, this mind mustbe the "stationary" (sthduora) kind, which being prajapati's own,is superior to the goddess.

But what does the Agnipurdnq mean by saying, "The time ofsleep is the great evocation ?" we suppose that the rsls were en-

.gaged in the "great evocation" per Brhsddeuatq (i.3): "at the timewhen the seers had their vision of the mantras" (75tttd4t mantra-dy,r{i,ru).3s The Jaina rvork Ri5{asamuccar-a (verse 113) says: ..That

dream is a dream told by a god where a mantra (sacred formula)is recited." In an article citing this Jaina passage, I pointed outthat the dreai:r level of vac is callecl madhvamd. and, is the kind ofspeech dissociated from consciousness; and so the mantra byrepetition reaches the point where it is objectified as told by agod, as in a dream.a' Hence, the mantra is heard in the normal

"waking state and is seen (as by the r;zs) in a yoga state of dream.The author of this chapter of the Agnipurdrya apparently wishedto rcassure the reader that he r,vas not denying that an extra-ordinary kind of sleep is a "great evocaton" (as would also be themessage of the Mdnc.lukl,a upani;ad) rvhen he stated that ,,a

marttra lvhich is sleeping, or has merely been awakened, does notattain success."

ssCritical ed. :tam apanall patir bhnna tusmAt preryaty apdnatam Itam matirp manasalt prahur manas tasmad avek;ate ll 7

sevarious tales of rpi-s seeing mantras are related jntheAitare),aandKau;i-taki Brahma4as. There is the celebrated story of Kava$a Ailula (the .,SudraR$i"), who saw the hymn of fifteen verses cailed the Aponaptriya. The Gods,because able to see the "silent praise" (tu;nimiarysa) invisiute to the Asuras,were able to defeat their enemy. rn the episode of rndra,s fight with v1tra,when the Gods were frightened away, and rndra's friends, the Maruts, ex-horted him saying, 'ostrike, o Bhagavat ! kill (v1tra) ! show thy prowess !,,-according to Martin Haug's translation (The Aitareya Brahmananr, vol. II,Bombay, 1863, p. 192) "This saw a Rishi, and recorded it in the verse vrtrasya...." KrtlH, Rigveda Brahmanas, p.777, agrees but is less clear.

a'wavvaw, significance of Dreams in Inelra and Tibet, in ,.History of Reli_gions", Yol. 7, No. 1 (Aug., 1967), pp. 4,11. This essay appears above.

425

426Buddhist Insight

Tns MnaNrNG oF MANTRASThe preceding section should have mad.e it clear that when thetexts themselves speak of varieties of m,ntres, the intention wasto relate them to designated fruits. However, there is another-way of classifying mantrqs, and this is in terms of their meaning.The skepticism about the meaning of mantras is very ancient inIndia, but we shall see that the problem involves different species.of ritual utterance.

certain differences of ritual formuras emerge from initial consi-derations. Thus, there would appear to be an inherent d.ifferencebetween the kind of formulas which abound among the minute.details of a ritual, and the kind of formulas which a candidatecherishes and repeats daily. For example, in Buddhist tantraritual the candidate is drawn into the near retinue of the ma4(aladeities as he pronounces the so-called 'odiamond pledge" (uajra-samaya), AH KHAM uiru HCM41; but this does not seem to occurin another ritual circumstance.4z Among the daily recitation typesof formula is of course the Gdyatri of the Hindus and the formulaoM maui padme HaM of the Buddhists. It can be stated gene-rally that the disciple daily repeats the formula associated withhis tutelary deity (istradeuatd).

of a different nature are the three mystical utterance s (uydhrti),which the Satapathabrdhmana ascribed to prajapati.a' He utteredBhur which became this earth, subsequently to ue described bythe layers of Pdtdla, the underworld. He uttered Bhuaalt, whichbecame this firmament, subsequently to be described by the storiesof the "upon-world," the bhilmi-s. He uttere d. suar, which be-came that sky, later the pinnacle of existence or heaven (suarga)..In the Buddhist Tantras there is a set of seed syllables, o,fl,-Ak,Hu1n, repeated innumerable times. The three are correlated to,

41wavuax, The Ritual in Tantric Buddhism of the Disciple's Entranceinto the Maq/ala, in ..Studia Missionalia", Vol. Zi (tgl+), p. 45.

a2ln Brahmanism probably the most extensive collection of these occa-sional mantras is now to be found in the Srautokoia, of which the Englishsection has been published in two monumental volumes by the vaidika.SarhSodhana Ma{rdala, poona, l95g and 1962.

asAccording to the satapathabrahmaua, xI, r, 6, z-4, prajdpati was bornalong with the year, and when first he spoke the words Bhfir, etc., did so like,a child with words of one and two syllables; cf. J. EccsLrNc, tr., part v".SBE XLIV, pp. 12-13.

The significance of Mantras, veda and Buddhist Tantric practice 427'

the three mysteries of the Buddha and to the r[rmerous threefoldgroups. There is something in common between the three uydhrti-sof the Brdhmanic literature and the three seed syllables of theBuddhist Tantras. That is, both sets have an element of thememorial device, the dhdraui. By this I would suggest that inreciting the sets of three one may recall the associations-in thecase of the three uydhrti-s, the contents and deities of the threeworlds;aa inthe case of the three seed syllables, the various three-fold sets, as with orp rcmembering the night, with Ah the day,and with Hurn the juncture of day and night.as So underrtooi,the memorial syllables have no meaning in the ordinary sense;their meaning is in what they intend by way of the respectiveassociations.

on the other hand, numerous mantras, and the vedic ones areprincipally of this nature, consist of, or include words with mean-ing to those who understand the language (here Sanskrit). Natu-rally, even allowing for such meaning, there is occasionally someobscurity with difficulty of interpretation. In the classification ofmantra as the male formula ar,.d uidyd as the female one, there arenumerous cases with formulas having standard word meanings,with additional syllables at both ends that are of the memorialtype. since the Tdrd uidyd (or7t tdre tuttdre ture sudhd) occurs inthe Guhyasamdjatontro, chap. xIV, Ratndkaraidnti in theKu s umd fij ali-guhy as amdj a-nib andh o-ndma hasa verse (his own ?)a6 :

Precisely buddhi (discrimination) is the root of knowing. Itachieves through offering. Hence, at the beginning oi th.mantra is or7t, and it is made clear at the end with sudhd.

This verse explains the orp as associated with buddhi, the rootof knowing, which comes first; and explains the sudhd as the

arro which may be added the three strides of viqnu according to Satapatha-brahma4a r.9,3,10. vilnu strode on earth by means of the Gayatri meter,in the air by means of the Tri$ubh meter, and in the sky by means of thefagati meter.

45cf. wavlvraN, The Buddhist Tantras, Tables 14 and 15, for a number ofthreefold sets going with the three seed syllables.

cerhis is in the Tibetan Taqiur, Japanese photo ed., vol. 64, p. 16g-3: I blotsam frid ies rtsa ba yin I mchod pa las ni rab tu byed I des na sriags kyi thog marOrp I mthar ni Svd-ha zhes gsal byed l.

.428 Buddhist Insight

clarification or revelation at the end.4? The same work explainsthe Tard uidyd : Tdre ("O Tard.") because she rescues bybringing to the other side (i.e. is the pdramita). Now tud-is pain;tuttd, suffering; Tuttdre ("O Tdrd, from suffering"), because sherescues frorn pain. Then Ture ("O Tura, the fast one"), becauseshe is fast, i.e. rescues speedily. Thus Ratndkaraidnti explains theuidyd as composed of two kinds of elements, the syllables Ontand Sudhd which have a general intention no matter what theuidyd, and then the individual words of the particular utdya whichhave meanings of the iexicons along with grammatically definedinflexions. in this case the vocatives.

But also, even when the words of the mantra appear to have theordinary meanings of words, thero can arise an argument overtheir meaning and their function, just as happens in the case ofany other ancient sentence which now can occasion an argumentbetween prospective translators. For example, in the Nyaya-Maiijari (section translated in "The Calcutta Review", Oct. 1955),the opponent had argued that a mantra renders its assistance to.a Vedic rite only by its recitation, referring to the case of thernantra,'ol:[ear, oh slabs of stone l" (ir4tota grdua4alt), and ob-serving that stones cannot hear. The author of the Nydya-Mafiiarirepliecl : "$rnota grdudi.tah is..a miraculous act by the influenceof which slabs of stone can even hear". In this case, both sides ofthe argument have a point. The opponent could argue that this

remark just comes up in the course of the ritual, and evocation is

more to be ascribed to the daily-recited formula like the Gdyatri.The Nydyo-Mafiiari author is also on good ground, because he

is emphasizing the role of faith or conviction, that those going

through the ritual should believe that events take place as stated

47For some other explanations of Orp, see K. V. G.nnNoRAGADKAn, Neo[tpanishadic Philosophy, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1959, pp. 26-29.It should be understood that RatndkaraSanti's explanation has been specia-lized for the case of a vidya, as shown by the Svaha at the end. That is, theOry is here the seed from which comes the successes attributed to the vidya.Since the preeminent success of a vidya is the divine knowledge leading toliberation, the Ory is here explained as the root of knowing. The term buddhiis here involved, apparently since it is the process leading to the Buddha,who has been enlightened. While the term is employed in various ways inthe Indian texts, the usage here seems about the same as in the Bhagavad-glta, Chap. II, verse 39, including : o'associated with which buddhi, O Pdrtha,you will get rid of the bondage of karma".

The Significance of Mantras, Veda and Buddhist Tantric Practice 429"

(whether or not they do), this flrm belief ensuring the success ofthe whole ritual. In any case, this shows that the insiders of a cultfrequently do not agree on the meaning or function of a mantra;and so, the meaning or use of mantras cannot be established bythe criterion that all the followers of the cult agree upon it.48

Then notice also how some formulas which seem meaninglessare ascribed meanings in the cornmentaries ! Once I noticed in acommentary on the Buddhist dhdrani of Vimalopqita these uidyd-s/ksaqta k;aqta / ksitti ksini f ksuUu ksunu /.nn At usual these weretranscribed into phonetic Tibetan letters. The explanations weretranslated; and the three pairs were explained respectively :"Guard, guard !" (sruns iig sruns ̂ flg), "Rescue, rescue !" (skyobsSig kyobs ,fig), "Nourish, nourish !"(tshos fig tshos .flg). Besides,it appears tnat any mantra which is o'meaningless" in terms ofits constituents might also be considered meaningful in terms ofthe intended fruits to be derived from the ritual utterance.so

Still another case is when a mantra appears meaningful, andyet the commentary ascribes an unexpected meaning.sr Thusa work called Bolimdlika- preserved in the Tibetan Tanjur canon,consists of mantras transcribed into Tibetan, and a translationinto Tibetan is regularly added. Once I noticed therein the mantrahana hana, which we would expect to mean "Destroy, destroy !".But the translator added the Tibetarl snun snun, which means."Prick, prick !" and seems to preserve a Vedic meaning of theverb han-, "to hurl a dart upon".sz

a8Cf. Jna, The Purva-MImarysa-Sutras, pp. 43-54, which takes up variousarguments by the opponent to the effect that mantras are meaningless andthen replies defending the significance of nnntras.

aeThis dhara4i has a very long title, and l.he author of its commentary isknown in Tibetan as Lhan cig skyes pa'i rol pa (*sahajalalita); it has No.2688 in the Tohoku Catalog of the Kanjur-Tanjur; and the passage is inDerge Tanjur, Rgyud, Vol. Thu, f. 2B5b-1,2.

50Jne. The Purva-Mimanxsa-S[itras, p. 53, informs us "Examples of theinterpretation of apparently meaningless manftas are given in the Tantra-vartika (Translation, pp. 100-101)".

51Or, again, as Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi (Wogihara ed., p. 273) puts it:"Preciseiy this m:aning of them (i.e. the mantra words) is, to wit, fruitless-ness" (ayam eva cai$am artho yad uta nirarthatd).

52I originally consulted this work in the Derge Tanjur, where it is includedin the Rgyud (Tantra commentary) section but in the Narthang as well as thePeking Tanjur editions it is placed among the miscellaneous works concernedlvith grammar and lexicography.


In conclusion, the charge that mantrqs are meaningless is to begrouped with the innumerable other charges of meaninglessnessthat have been traded back and forth in India in past millenia,and the natural retort is that the opponent has either not been in.a position, or has not taken pains to ascertain the meaning. Andit is also obvious from the present study that later religious prac-tices of India, such as the Buddhist Tantra, have a profounddebtto the Vedic religion.

23

THE GODDESS SARASVATI-FROMINDIA TO TIBET

rn the vedic period, vedic lore and rearning deveroped on thebanks of river Sarasvati in North-west India. This river onceflowed to the sea, but in time disappeared in the desert sands, asthough to bring the vedic period to an end. Thereafter the god-dess of the same name, sarasvati, would convey this learning,11d as the inspirer of eloquence became calred by the HindusVdgdevi or the goddess of speech.

swdmi Prajfrdndnanda (Historicar Deueropment of IndianMusic)r conveniently presents the essentials or the vedic worshipof this deity. she was one of a triad of goddesses who, accord-ing to the commentator sdyana, were conceived as three blazingflames of fire (agni); and sarasvati in time became preeminentas a fire by which there was comm'nication with the gods. Thisauthor writes (p. 5r): "In the mytho-historical riteratu re, Deuisarasaati, the presiding deity of learning and all arts, was des-cribed as the tongue of the sacrificial fii (agniiihud sarasuati),,.And again, "The ancient authors on music conceived and deifiedthe primal sound, Ndda, as a symbol of the goddess ,saras nati.,,He refers (p. 56-57) to rhe satapatha-Brdhiarya (yrr, 2.4.r-7),for the legendary association of ihe godder, *ith the Gandhar-vas, the celestial musicians. The Gandharva visvavasu had stolenthe nectar Soma from Gdyatri (which is a certain meter, and also

rPublished by Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta" 1960.

Buddhist Insight.432

the charm, uidyd, addressed to the Sun dgity at dawn). when the'

Deuas learned of the theft of Soma, they sent the beautiful maiden

vdc or vdgdevi to rescue Soma. The Gandharvas are said to be

fond of women and beauty, so when vdgdevi approached, they

went to the gods (the deuas), and said, "Let yours be the soma

and let Vdc or Vdgdevi be ours." Since the Gandharvas lrad thus

secured Sarasvati ior their ranks, from that time they excelled in

music. This author also mentions that sri or Laksmi, the god-

dess of good fortune, was gradually separated from Sarasvati

though frequently paired with her'

J. N. Banerjea- line oeuelopment of Hindu lconography)z pro-

vides the main details for the classical Hinduism period' As

known by the Purd4as, sarasvati is sometimes connected with

Brahma, both as his daughter and his consort, and sometimes

with vitqu as one of his consorts, Pupli (who thrives). The Jains

put her at the head of the Srutadevatis and the Vidyddevis'

i, uo independent goddess (i.e. not a consort), she is usually

described in such texts as ttre Vi;ryudharmottara as four-armed,

white colored, dressed in white garments and decked with many

ornaments, holding in her four hands any four of ttre following

objects : manuscript, r,vhite lotus, rosary, musical instrument,

*ut r-n.rsel, and ,o ott. The musical instrument is possibly the

oldest emblem associated with her, although the manuscript is'

also old. A late Gupta form shows her in association with Brahmd;

she is four-armed, with gift-bestowing gesture (uaramudrd),

the rosary (aksamala), the musical instrument (uiTd), and the

water-ves sel (kamaudatu) in her four arms. one of her names is

Sarada, wtricil means "she who is autumnal," also the autumn

m o o n ; a n d t h e n a m e a l s o s t a n d s f o r a k i n d o f V i 4 a o r l u t e .B .Bhat tacharya(The lnd ianBuddh is t l conography)sSumma-

rizes the forms of surutuati in the late Buddhist period, namely

four types of the two-handed goddess, and a form with three faces

urro si* arms. From his work comes the foll0wing :

(1 )Mahasarasvat i , resp lendent l i ke theautumnmoon, res ts '

on the moon over the *hit. lotus, shows the gift-giving (uarada)

g.rtor. in her right hand, carries in the left the white lotus with

is stem. She has a smiling countenance (smeramukhi), is extre-

zPublished by the University of Calcutta ' 1956'sPublished by Firma K. L' Mukhopadhyay' Calcutta' 1958'

The Goddess Sarasvati-from India to Tibet 433

mely compassionate, wears garments decorated. with white sandaldecked in many ornaments; she appears a maiden of twelve years,and her bosom is uneven with half-developed breasts like flower-buds; she illumines the three world.s with the immeasurable lightthat radiates from her body. She is surrounded by four goddesseswho are apparently facets of herself : Insight (prajme in front,cleverness (medha) to her right, Memory (smrti) to her left, andbacked up by Intelligence (mati).

(2) Yaravi+Ft Sarasvati. She is distinguished by carrying inher two hands the Vild, and she plays upon it.

(3) As Yajrailarudi (deification of the autumn), she has a cre-scent in her crown: is three-eyed, and two-armed, carrying thebook in the left hand and the lotus in the right.

(4) Aryasarasvati is also called vajrasarasvati, a common nameof sarasvati among the Buddhist tantrics. She is a maiden ofsixteen, in the prime of youth, has white complexion, and in herleft hand holds a lotus stalk on which rests ihe prajRdparamitd.book. No mention of what is in her right hand is made.

The other form which Bhattacharya found is vajrasarasvati,with three faces and six arms, in pratydttdha dsana (this meansright foot bent forward, left retracted), on the red lotus. She isred in color, with right face blue and left face white. In her threeright hands she carries the lotus on which is the prajfrdpAramitd.book, the sword and curved brade; and in the three left, the skullborvl of Brahma, the jewel and the wheel (cakra). An alternatedescription has a simple lotus (no mention of book on top) and.a sirnple skull bowl (no mention of its being Brahma's).

Passing to the Tibetan tradition, I have used the collectionsgrub thobs kun btus, vor. Kha,a which is mainly given over to.rituals of the three insight deities : Mafrjusri, Sarasvati, and thewhite Acala. The sarasvati section has seven works occupying.consecutive folio side numbers 394-546, or about 150 folio ;id.;which I have surveyed for this paper. First some general remarks.may be made.

(a) since there is only one goddess, namely sarasvati, amongthe three "insight" deities, it follows that prajfr FryFnamita (whois occasionally depicted iconographically)s is here incorpoiated

aDehradun. G. T. K. Lodoy, N. Gyaltsen and N. Lungtok, rg70.sSee frontispiece in Edward conze, selected sayings from the perfection,

of Wisdom (The Buddhist Society : London, 195t.


in the Sarasvati treatment. The reason is suggested by a Mahd-

yana scripture that was popular in both Tibet and china, the

Suuarnaprabhdsa-sutra, which devotes a chapter to Sarasvati

setting forth her sddhana, together with the rite of expanding in-

sight (prajmfl and cognition (buddhi).u At several places in the

Tibetan materials, e.g., at f. no. 472, tbere is a discussion of the

nature of prajfid. At f. no.524, the Praiiidlatakais cited.? "Prajfla

is the root of all merits, whether seen or unseen. Since it accomp-

lishes both, first one should endeavor to promote insight". And

the same folio side States : "Among the numerous means for

promoting insight, the one that is best is the reliance on Devi

Sarasvati."(b) There were numerous sddhanas, or evocation rituals of

deities, translated into Tibetan; and the iconographical descrip-

tions are not always included in Bhattacharya's pioneer and still

invaluable work. Thus, he did not include a four-handed type;

but in this Tibetan collection the Sarasvati of the Bo-don school

is a four-handed one embraced by a four-handed Mafijughoqa,

although not having in her four hands the four hand symbols of

the Gupta forrn previously mentioned. Both Furdlic legends

afe fepresented in the collection : The white Sarasvati of the

Brahmin Kilas school is called "Brahmd's daughter," although

also referred to as a metamorphosis of Arya Lokesvara's great

tooth, a legend contained iL Mkhas grwb rie's Fundamentals of

the Buddhist Tantras.e The Sarasvati in the lineage from Bo-don

pal-chen phyogsJas-rnam-rgyal makes her an emanation frorn

Vi+lu (in Tibetan, khyab' jug).

(c) It is of interest that where the age was given I could not find

in the iconographical descriptions of this Tibetan collcction the

age "twelve" that was prevalent in the types Bhattacharya pre-

sented. The preference for the 16 yeared Sarasvati in these sddha-

nas is also evidenced by the description of the breasts, usually

"round, firm, high, and large." There is some significance in this

switch, because as the Guhyasamdjatantra, Chap. XV, 66, suggests,

the twelve-yeared girtr or boy was ernployed as a vessel for divi-

eCf. Ferdinanri D. I-essing and Alex Wayman, Mkhas grub rje's Funda-mentals of the Buddhist Tantras (Mouton : The Hague, 1968), p. 111.

TThis work is included in the Tibetan Tanjur, and attributed to Nagirjuna.sSanskritized from the Tibetan name, Bram ze phur bu.eSee note 6 above.


nation of ritual success.l0 The 16-yeared forrn loses the possibledivination connection, and by the suggestion of nubility fits theform of Viplu's consort, called Pupli ("thriving"). Also, the ageof 16 agrees with the well-known Buddhist association of "in-sight" (prajma) with the sixteen voidnesses (iunyata); and saras-vati's epithet vdgdevi agrees with the sixteen vowels of the sans-krit alphabet.

(d) These Tibetan materials help solve a problem allud.ed to byMadame Mallmanll in her study of Maffjusri's iconographywhere she mentions (p. 16) that Mafrjusri's association withsarasvati was previously pointed out by A. Foucher and by s.L6vi (the latter in his Le Ntpal), but that"so far she has not foundthis in the sanskrit text she consulted. In the esoteric sdclhanaof the red Sarasvati descended from the Kashmirianpayrdir Bhiksa-parama, the statement is made (at folio no. 52r . 2) : o'Now,

herethe esoteric evocation of the red Sarasvati is explained accord-ing to the KTspayamdritantra." This indicates that the associationof sarasvati wiih MafrjuSri is in the tantra devoted to his angryform called yamdri or yamdntaka. Therefore, it should be in sucha Sanskrit text that sarasvati would be thus set forth.

(e) These Tibetan sddhanas bring up some of their own prob-lems. Thus, the divorce from the original association with theSarasvati river seems complete by such remarks as frequentlyoccur, "Sarasvati dwells at the shore of the southern ocean."More fully (f. no. 481): "o11 the shore of the southern ocean, thedivelling of the gandharua maiden, in the pleasure grove of thevidyddh.aras." The term "gandharua" should be unclerstood bythe previous expianation, narnely, "heavenly nusician.', Thevidyddharas seem also to be flying spirits {cf. Kramrisch's illeis-tration "Flying Vidyddhara"rr).

The Tibetan materials at f. no. 444 call Sarasvati thelvife of theGandharva Tambura. Now prajfrdndnanda when discussing

10The reasons, as pointed to in Tson-kha-pa's annotaticn of the pradrpocl-dyotana cornmentary on the Guhyasamajatantra, in the Japanese photoedition, vol. 158, p. 125-3-4,5, is the sexuar isoration, hence, .,puberiy crisis,,unmixed with the other ssx. chap. XV oi the Gwhyasanzdja especially concernsdream and other auspices.

uMarie-Thdrdse de.Mallmann, Etude,iconographique sur Mafijuiri (Ecolefrancaise d'Extreme-orient : paris, 1964.)

rsstella Krarnrisch The Art of hdia (phaidon publishers rnc. : London,19s4). P1.68.


(p. 384) the varieties of ainds, says : "Tambyra, tamburd or tdna--purd is known as the tumburu-ueend". Thus, the name o'Gan--

dharva Tambura" probably means o'Gandharva who plays the'tumburu-uinii". In Mallman (p. 94),PafrcaSikha, king of the Gan-dharvas, is playing a Virtd; and this entry is followed immediatelyby reference to "Sarvarthasiddha, king of the Vidyadhara,'"thus pairing the Gandharvas and Vidyddharas, as in the Tibetantext cited above.

An. unsolved problem of the Tibetan sddhanas is the epithet ofSarasvati at f. no. 520-3,4, "messenger of Sila."13

As to the descriptions of the goddess in this Tibetan collection,there are three basic forms: 1) the independent white goddess;,(2) the independent red goddess; (3) the goddess as a consort.

(1) Here there is the white Sarasvati of the Brahmin Kilaschool,,f. no. 413 : The officiant goes through the various preliminariesnsuch as bathing, taking a comfortable seat, taking refuge, gene-rating the mind of enlightenment, and contemplating the fourboundless states. Then he purifies the void with the mantrc"suabhdua", etc.la Thereupon he contemplates that from therealm of the void appears a temple inhabited by the gods and thehost of accomplished rpis and gandheruas) surrounded by delect-able herbs of a Mt. Meru grove, within a white and pure ocearlof milk. From a PAM appears a trunk of white lotus with large,petals; and frorn an A a moon disk, and thereon a white HRIIIfrom which arises Vdg-devi Sarasvati, with white body, one face,.two-armed, her face calm, smiling, and lovely with charmingyouth of sixteen years, breasts firm and high, naffow waist, insquatting posture; with her hand holding an instrument of manystrings of lapis lazuli, and evoking it with the fingers of her righthand, producing an ocean of sounds. The back half of her blackglistening hair is tied together, and the remainder freely hangs.dorvn. She is beautified on the crown of head with a crescentmoon, and on her head is tied a garland of white lotuses; andher tresses of hair are beautified with various jewels. The upperpart of her body is covered with white silk, and the lower part

rsThe name o'Sdla" was transcribed into Tibetan phonetically.laThe mantra is given fully on f. no. 541 : I Orp svabhavaiuddhah sarvadharmah

svabhdvasuddho'haml 'oor.n. All dharmas are intrinsically pure. I am

intrinscially pure".


wound around in variegated fashion like a rai4bow. she is adornedwith strings of gems and jewels and with nets having small bells.Her body, lacking self-existence, emits light rays without end,and has in back a shining curtain in the form of a moon. Theofficiant contemplates in his own heart a lotus stalk with flowersthat had been suspended downwards, that becomes directed up-wards and takes on the aspect of a red lotus opening up; thatwithin the flower is a moon, and on it a white o\4. And he con-templates that while he hardly breathes out, the nddar| of theo$'(meaning the small circle on top of the oM) emits white rays,which pass out through his right nostril, and enter the left nostril'of sarasvati like the one he has contemplated (in front) butdwelling in the entrancing glade of the vidyadharas on the shoreof the southern ocean, and there entering her heart, attractssarasvati in the gnosic form together with retinue, blazing withlight, which leaving via her right nostril, like the rising moon ofautumn, in an instant appears in the sky in front (of the officiant),trlling the heavens with offering clouds. He offers flowers, etc.with the appropriate mantras, and then invites the godd.ess, whilemuttering with barely audible sound, while he holds breath within.He contemplates that the shining circle enters by his left nostriland merges with the oM in his heart. Then the oM transformsinto a rvhite eight petalled lotus with sarasvati and retinue. .(and so on down to) pervades his whole body with light, whichdispels the darkness of ignorance and expands the light of intelli-gence directed without hindrance on all the knowable (and soon, for the concluding part of the ritual).

(2) There is the secret evocation of the red Sarasvati in thelineage from the Kashmirian poryfit Bhiksaparama (f. no. 505).The aim is to expand the fulfilment of praifid. After the variousritual preliminaries, much the same as in the case of evoking thewhite Sarasvati, the officiant meditatively ascends to the voidcontemplating all dharmas as void and without self. He contem-plates that from the realm of the void there appears an eight-petalled lotus, that upon it his own mincl changes into a red.HRIH, which sends out rays that make offering to the nobles,chase away the darkness of nescience of the sentient beings, and.

lscompare the previous mention of ndda as a symbol of the goddess saras-vati.


amount to the light of prajfid; then returning, change into aknowledge mirror. That melts into light, and himself (i.e. theofffrciant) imagines that he becomes the Devi Sarasvati with bodyred like the color of coral, with one face, two hands, the right handholding the rvish-granting jewel (cintdmaryi) and the left hand

holding the knowledge rnirror (jfianddar,"ra), with right leg bentforward and left retracted, breasts firrn and large, with head

ornament of various jewels, earrings, necklace, hand bracelets, agirdle belt of pearl, a garment of variegated silk that flares out,the rrraiden aged exactly sixteen, countenance calm, smiling, and

charming, (body) sending out innumerable rays; and he imaginesthat appearances are devoid of self-existence, like reflections

on the mirror; and imagines on the head a white OM, on the

neck a red AH, and in the heart, a black HUM. (Then the offi-

ciant, as in the earlier rite attracts from the shore of the southern

ocean Sarasvati in the gnosic form just as he has imagined her

above).In explanation of the meditation procedures in the above cases

of the white and the red Sarasvati, the officiant first evokes the

Ceity, here the goddess Sarasvati, as the symbolic being (samaya-

sattua)-a conventional representation; then attracts tire know-

ledge being {jfianasanua)-usually from the sky, but here from the

shore of the southern ocean, perhaps meaning the Milky Way;

and the entrance of the knowledge being or circle into the offi-

ciant to be lodged in his heart, is held to establish the lineage of

the deity in that person, who thus unifies the symbolic and knowl-

edge beings.16(3) Here, for the red Sarasvati as a consort in the Bo-don

lineage, the offrciant follows preliminaries somewhat along the

lines of the preceding evocation of the red Sarasvati, leading(f. iro. 542)to the officiant's becoming meditatively Vajradevi Vagi-

Svari, the venerable Sarasvati, whose color of body is red, with

one face, four arms, of which the trvo basic ones embrace the

male deity; and with the two remaining ones, in the leftholds a

precious musical instrument of many strings that is resting on

her left side, which with the fingers of her remaining right hand

she slowly plays, producing an ocean of musical sounds with the

rGCf. Lessing and Wayman, Mkhas grub

Symbolic Being and Knowledge Being.rje's


full gamut of notes, gratifying all the Buddhas; while her twofeet are in the lotus intertwine. Next to her is the Lord, the vene-rable Mafljughosa, with body red-yellow, one face. and four arms,with the two basic arms embracing the goddess; and with the tworemaining ones, in the rightwields a sword thatblazeswith lightrays, and in the left holds a blue lotus on top of which is thePrajfiaparamitd book. Both of them have bodies wondrous tosee, adored with all manner of jewels, and dwell amidst a furiouslight display. on the petal to their East is Insight (prajfra), onthe southern one is Intelligence (ntati), on the western one isMemory (smrti) and on the northern one is cleverness (medho).Each of these have one face, two arms, hold a sword with theright and, a white lotus with the left, are each adorned r,vith silkand jewels, and stand with their two feet together. The centraldeities and the retinue all have on their forehead an o\{, on theirneck an AH, in their heart a HUM.

In this case, there was no indication of the goddess's age, al-though the presumption is that she is here also sixteen years old.

Finally, the elaborate ritual of the white sarasvati in the lineagefrom Bo-don pap-chen phyogs-1as-rnam-rgya1 mentions a roleof the goddess's utpa in the yoga of the watches (at f. nos. 473-474). This has to do with the yoga procedure of evoking thegoddess at the sandhis, especially dawn and dusk, taking restrvith the goddess's blessing, and being aroused by the sound ofher tiltcT. The text sa)'s : "The great music from the sounding ofthe ui\ta, of the profound and far-reaching dharma. ar,vakenshim from all the inner and outer sieep; and he sees directly herface".

In conclusion, the powerful goddess personality of sarasvatlthat had developed in the vedic period continued unabatedthrough the many centuries, even though the iconographic detailsvaried. Despite the adaptation of the goddess to later tantricmeditation procedures, the goddess's ability to promote insightand inspiration did not suffer serious detraction even when sheadvanced from twelve to sixteen vears.

24

THE TWENTY-ONE PRAISES CTF TARA,A SYNCRETISM OF SAIVISM

AND BUDDHISM

Dr. A. S. Altekar's wonderful and often-moving work named, ThePosition of women in Hindu Ciuilisation from Prehistoric Timesto the Present Day mentions that Tantric writers joined the cru-sade against the Sati custom. Using the Mahdnirud4atantra(X, 79-80) as authority, "They pointed out that woman was theembodiment of the suprerne Goddess, and boldly declared thatif a person burnt her with her husband, he would be condemnedto eternal hell." The Buddhist Tantras also stress the sacrednature of all women, and the fourteenth of the fourteen funda-mental transgressions (milldpatti) of the Anuttara-yoga-tantra

'code is "to disparage women, who are the self-presence of Insight,(prajfiit-suabhaua)".1 Inthe latter texts "fnsight" (prajmfl is a nameof the Great Mother.

There is no need here to dwell upon the importance of theMother-goddess in India or upon the antiquity of the cult.z In

lA6vaghola's Mulapattisarygraha is not completely available in Sanskrit,as edited and translated by Sylvain Levi, Journal Asiatique (1929), 266-7.'The

fragment did not go down to the fourteenth one, which, therefore, istranslated here from the Tibetan version.

2Among the numerous discussions of this subject, one may refer to thetreatise by Dr. Dinesh Chandra Sircar, "The Sakta pi!has,', J. R. A. S. B.Letters, XIV (1948), 1-108, especially Appendix YI, Siva and Sakti in the,Orthodox Indian Pantheon, pp. 100, f.

442 Buddhisr Insight

the west, the analytical psychologist c. G. Jung has pioneereda theory that this is an archetype in the hurnan psyche.

The worship of the Supreme Goddess under the name Tarabegan r,vith the Bucldhists, and subsequently Tal:- was admittedto the F{indu pantheon. This is recognized by Handiqui.s Thebriei text wirich forms the basis of the present essay covers thevarious moods, calm and fierce, of the Goddess, and does so with'a frank employment of both Saivitic and Buddhist terminology.It coirtains a rare use of the word iqkti (fernale power) in appli-cation to a Buddhist goddess. Such a syncretism is also rare.Ordinarily, Buddhist works, and perhaps the same is the casewith other trndian schools, disguise the influence of rival sectsby adopting ideas and changing the terminology. The situationis comparable to that of a manuf,acturer whose product is reallynot different from that of a rival firm, but who maintains throughpackaging and advertising a distinct image in the public mind.While there are probably persons in every age who seek the under-lying unity or secret resemblance, they usually gain little appre-ciation for their efforts because these do not appear to servesectarian interests. Yet, the u.nknor,vn author of our tsxt mana-ged to strike a winning coinbination. Waddell, who made arather unsuccessful attempt to translate the verses from Tibetan,amentions that the hyrnn is very popular among Lamaist peoplein Tibet, Sikkim, etc. The circumstances that originally causedsuch a text to become prominent are probably those depictedby Dutt in his essay "Buddhism in Kashmir". Speaking of theChinese pilgrim Hsuan Ts'ang's (or Yuan Chwang's) observa-tions in Kashmir in the 7th cent., Dutt writes, "He saw 100 monas-teries, but the religion followed in them, he remarks, was mixed,hinting thereby that the people r,vorshipped both Buddha andSiva."s

The Sanskrit for the text irere edited r,vas transcribed in thethird chapter of the Tibetan translation of the Saruatathdgata-

sKrishan Kanta Handiqui, Nai;adhacarita of Srihar;a, Poona, 1956,548-51.

4L. A. Waddell, "The Indian Buddhist Cult of Avalokita and his ConsortTird 'the Saviouress,' illustrated from the Remains in Magadha," J.R.A.S.(1894), 7l-4.

sNalinaksha Dutt, Gilgit fuIanuscripts, Vol. I (Srinagar, 1939), "Buddhism.in Kashmir," 36-' / .

The Twenty-one Praises of Tdr6, a Syncretism of Saivism and Buddhism 443

mdtrtdrduisuakormabhauatantra-nAma. The text was also trans-lated as a separate work in the Kanjur collectibn, which was pre-sumably Waddell's source. This information was found in anative Tibetan text on the Tantras by Khai Dub.6 Using thetranscribed Sanskrit, which is treated in that Tantra as a dharaqti,and the Tibetan translation, I made a draft edition and trans-lation. Then I compared my materials with Godefroy de Blonay'sedition of the text, based on two manuscripts, in his Matdriauxpour seruir a I'histoire de la ddesse buddhique Tdrd (Paris, 1895).Of course, most of his edltion is correct, but many a verse hassome serious fault-which may be the reason that he did notpresent a translation. However, the Kanjur transcription in theDerge edition has several corruptions, and there are also a fewplaces where this transcribed Sanskrit does not agree with theTibetan translation. Therefore, I was glad to have de Blonay'sedition, and it proved helpful in several details. Also the editedcolophon is a modiflcation of the one in his edition.

The Tibetan Tanjur collection has a number of works based onthis Tard text. However, they are not true commentaries, butrather ritual works dealing with the twenty-one aspects of Td:rd.These are principally by the dcdryas Suryagupta and Candra-gornin. The first work by Sfiryagupta is the sddhano, or iconogra-phic description for evoking the deity, for each of the twenty-oneforms of Tard. This rvork is plesumably the source of the roughdescriptions given by Waddell in the same article.? It is beyondmy present essay to deal with these Tanjur texts. Some of themare important in Tantric Buddhism, but they could contributelittle to the type of annctations which would bring out the origi-nal syncretic intention of the text. I expect to draw out this inten-tion in annotations to rnv translation that follows the editedSanskrit.

{q rRrd'{qE, ilTt T q1t eTut{ldiq'rid r

fu)+qqrrrqf,dr"qfi{s'€rc+:q'tgi I | 1 I I

GThis work by Mkhas grub rje, has been translated from Tibetan by Dr.F. D. Lessing and myself in collaboration. It appears as Mkhas grub rje'sFundarnentals of the Buddhist Tantras, (Mouton, The Hague, 1968).

zWaddell (op. cit.), 83-9.

4M Buddhist Insight

TU: v1-6vlFffrrfxuir.qFt Iilrtrqffiflrx-{HRfipnscq}' r r R r r

rq: mqsffiqqqlqr+R ril{fr4dq:qnfqmilqnbrmrH 1 1 1 1 1

rqq 6Trq1ffi1qk{q5ft-qrfruft Isqls@rrvrr

aqff i rqcil*frz;rrff,rfl. fr:viqa6iquq- | I { | I

; f q : @ f

laiarwr;eriTqqerg{€6} 1 1 q I 1anq ateflowa.il<q{q*"6rqf(h r

ftqrtrffitrq-rtfqr|qGftrr{frwfr rrsrrtqqq gt rrfl*t qrqm{r[qrfa r

C

i l c t l

ruq fa-<a'gcr g: 6urwrfufr rrlqt rs1f@qrfr+;{€'fiT5fr rrrrr

;rq: qqfEil-afqqgeTferffirt(q'1 rqVeryC -rnUtqr{dTrq{'ttnf{ | | i o 1 I

E'q: ttwf,rrTFilTeqrqr.iurert rmTg=Tf,-f,mrrqq.iq{mm I I I I I I

qq: ftrqu-squi€q3arwufrsrqt rerf+rarrwErqr{lTTFqTfs'q{e'- r r 1 R r r

q'q: sflT.rilGow'se'TcTTrFff.T{fte{t ren-dtatR?irqatrgq+f,EqrfqrfE | | 1 I r r

Tg: s'kt"TTvra*vn6o5t I

Tgats'Qffi l t iy11;Ft: fqf* {ri qnfr qn'FilHrmffi r

r*-6xur+q+t vqmrvsq-rfqrfr- I | 1 {r rq'q: sq|<ilr+aRguraxrtffi I

€TTTrfiqnrtqsris,rcft'fqt r r 1 q r rrq gtrcrqrtf,+T <ffir<frfqt r

tqq;En*,crsyra+arfoh I I 1 e | |

8 I have accepted here the reading of the Sanskrit transcription in theKanjur against both de Blonay's edition, iikhijvalakulojjvale, and the Tibetanwhich agrees with the latter, me kbar hkhrug pa fin tu ftbar ma.

The Twenty-one Praises of rird, a syncretism of saivism and Buddhism 44s,

nr:S@qtrdT{AeEdft-r,{riTffiaq-.gffi- t t 1 c I re

;rq: gT{rurTeqerg{ffifufr r3ilqdq"fEilTffieq:eqcq'1Tf$t{ | | I Q r r

@vrgtri lC r@nRot l

arq@qf,qt1TEEdrrqeI{rur;rRrfq- srq.t gt f tR I il

rqTeFrE Ff,td ;rqFs.risf:{qm, I4: qeffi"ftfiqT{ |eq.'t rrt+-aq.qf}qn: 1? R lr

Trq ET qkrcceTTq.. Fqtq{trrqT{ |tr*wqqrrsfi etUfmmqTq rrR R rr

srnTnE{il} rriqui sqftfwrqmefrT. refrrFwqtaqrq-{ v}st qtarE ilifl l?ytl

ffr ilFr rqr*r {sT.trR ETeT wg.q. rw<qrerezrznfd qrfqil fltT+{ qT tf R {t I

r-gaTtqqTtrTi rEqrfrtffirq-r+i rqeiqt qq triqmf fafMrrqfum ttRqtl

ff,friqi^ il*t36 em6* e,fu r

. q,+nrqri.acfrfd r f+i: Tfirdqt nR\erl

Tt:Rrs'"q'Sdtirfud rrT*ffiaqr qqr+-riqffiirEaj-a 1u1-t{il_qt{d Ht3i H.'qT€ r art FflBr I

HorrlecE ro TAnA

1' Adoration ! o Tdrd, the quick one (ture), the heroine, bright-eyed with twinklings;

Who has sprung from the opening flower on the lotus faceof the lord of the three worlds lro

er have taken the riberty of writing pharkarair aie.!a, arthough both theKanjur transcription and de Bronay" "artion

nuu" pnoiii,a ase;a.l'The three worrds in the epic are Bh'rr.ka, nnuuu.iotu, and svarr.ka.Possibly these are what Buddhism cails the Rearm oi D"ri." (kdmadhatu),Realm of Form (rupa-dhatu), and Formless Realm (arupadhatu). In the humanbody, the three worrds appear to correspond to (1) navel downwards, (2)neck down to naver, (3) head. These divisions of the foo",.." Iegaily recog_nized in Kautilya's Arthaiastra, XIX, 195 (translation ty R. Shamasastry,.

-446 Buddhist Insight

2. Adoration ! O Lady whose canopy faoe is full of a hundredautumn moons;

Who blazes with the laughing beams of a thousand starryclusters !

3. Adoration ! O Lady adorned with hand-held lotus coloredblue and gold;

Who ranges in giving, striving, austerity, peace, forbearance,and meditation !11

Adoration ! O Lady of boundless movement in the victoryof the Tathagata's u;Ui;a;

Who is frequented by the Victor's Sons who have attainedevery single Perfection lLz

Adoration ! O Lady who fills the quarters, intermediate direc-tions, and space with the sounds of Tuttdre and H[m;

Who presses down the seven worlds with Thy steps and isable to summon all !13

p. 219). As will be demonstrated more specifically by verse 12, TdrE" is thesacred Gafiga which flows from Siva's matted hair. She is the Gangd in hea-ven, or the Milky Way. According to Indian legend, once Tdrd, understoodas an asterism, was carried away from her husband Bihaspati by Soma orthe Moon. When she was recovered after a waro she gave birth to Budha,or the planet Mercury, and confessed that the latter was fathered by Soma,not by Brhaspati.

11with Saivitic flavor, austerity and peace here substitute for morality(iila). The Sanskrit word titik;a substitutes for kfinti, both meaning "for-bearance". Thus, she who ranges in givlng, etc. is the Perfection of Insight(prajiiaparamita). She ranges in the first five Perfections of the Victor's Sons,namely, in Giving, Morality, Forbearance, Striving, and Meditation. InMahdyana Buddhism, she is regarded as the Mother of the Buddhas andBodhisattvas.

12She is {Jlnilavijayd, born from the characteristic (lak;aua) of the GreatPerson (.mahapuru;a) called the uyti;a. This is represented in Buddhist imagesas a spiral hairlock of the Kapardin type on the head of the Tathdgata, onewho o'has come the same way" or "understood tlie same" as the former Bud-dhas. This characteristic rem.inds us of Rudra, of whoni Sir R. G. Bhandar-kar writes in ooVaifnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious Systems," p. 147 :'oHe is calie d [in the Satarudriya] Kapardin, or the wearer cf matted hair, whichepithet is probably due to his being regarded as identical with Agni, or fire,the funres of wirich look iike matted hair." The Victor's Sons are the Bodhi-sattvas. They unite the sixth Perfection, that of Insight, with the first five,giving, etc. (verse 3). Hence, she (Prajfla or Ulnilavijaya) is frequented bythem.

lsRegarding the seven worlds, E. Washburn Hopkins, "Mythological

4.

"The Twenty-one Praises of Tird, a Syncretism of Saivism and Buddhism 447

Adoration ! o Lady worshipped by Indra, the Fire God.Brahma, the Maruts, and Vi5veSvara; i

Placed above all by the elementary spirits, vampires, songsterspirits, attendants of Siva, and secret folk !

Adoration ! o Lady who defeats with the souncls of Tratand Phat the magical diagrams of others,

while Thy left foot is placed forward and Thy right retrac-ted, and Thy wild glance blazes like fire !1a

Adoration ! o thou quick one, most-fearfur Lady, who des-troys the heroes of the Mdras;

who slays all the enemy by contracting the brorvs of Thvlotus face !15

Adoration ! o thou adorned with the heart's ..thumb,,

marked by the seal of the Three Jewels;The distraught Lady whose own beams in bundles adorn all

the directional wheels.16

Aspects of Trees and Mountains in the Great Epic,', J.A.o.s. vor. 30(1909), 373, says : "rn the Purd4as, e.g. VP. 2.7. l f., there is fully developedthe idea of the planetary spheres (not Dvipas) which go by the nanres Maliar-I6ka, Janaldka, Tapardka, and satyardka, superaddeld uion the order Bh[r-I6ka and Svarldka or svargaldka (these are epic) with the intermediat e bhuvasas Bhuvarl6ka.,'

laHere we recall the legend that a glance from siva's third eye reclucedKdma to ashes and that such a glance destroys the gods and all

"rrut.,i thi'gs

at the encis of certain aeons. In any case, the u.rr" i, emphasizing fire in ilsdestructi'e sense. The second ritual work by srryaguptu Gqo. l6g6 in theTohokLr Kanjr-rr-Tanjur catalogue), contains for each of the twenty_oneTaras the rite (vidhf) constituting a karmanga. In the case of the seventh iaJ,the rite is called Gofi du hprto ba (sanskrit ilrddhva-sr6tas), ,,going up*u.d,in the sti:eam", strryag'pta mertions here (Derge Tanjur, Rgyud l:gier, sa,13a-5) : / i.ichi bdag bdud ni gzom pali phyir/hero ba

- rnams la srog styin

zin / "so as to defeat the Death Mdra (mytya-mara), (she) gives life force(praaa) to the living beings."lsThere are four Mdras in Mahayana Buddhism. Their narn€s are usuatygiven as skandha-mdra, Klesa-mdra, Mltyu-mdra, and Devaputra-mdra. rhave explained the word mdra to mean ..death" (understood metaphorically)

in my essay "studies in yama and Mdra, ,,Indo-Iranian Journar, vor. rII(1959), Nr. 2, 113.

16The Three Jewels are of course the Budclha, his Doctr ine (dharma), andthe order (sarygha). The "seel" (mudra) of trrese jewers is thei*v-uoti.representation, perhaps as discnssed by Tarapada Bhattacharyya, The cultof Brahma (Patna, 1957), 168. The dharma jewel is usually represented by awheel (cakra). The heart's thumb is presurnably the heart's liiga, und,erstoodto be erect.

6.

7.

B.

9.

48 Buddhist Insight:

Adoration ! O Lady whose garland is tossed about the dia-dern as you swell with delight;

Who domineers the world of Mdra with the laughing, mock-ing sound Tuttare !

Adoration ! O Lady able to summon the multitudes of allthe Local Genii;

Who liberates all in distress with Thy Hlrm of shaking con-tracted brows !

Adoration I O blazing Lady of the diadem ornament withthe plumed crescent;

Who is the constancy of radiant beams from Amitdbha'smass of braided hair !17

Adoration ! O Lady who lives amidst the garland blazinglike the flre at the aeon's end:

Who overcomes the enemy circle delighted in the circular

band of right foot forward and left drawn back !18

Adoration ! O Lady who strikes with the palm of her hand

and pounds with her feet the surface of the earth;

ttCf. Nai;adhacarita, XXII, 142 (translated by Handiqui, op. cit., p. 352):"The sixteenth part of the moon is called a digit, but only fifteen digits roundoff the moon, growing from the new moon to the full moon night. Was thenthe rernaining digit, which had no lunar day allotted to it, taken out of themoon, an<l made an ornament for Siva ? And, in its place, do I see in themoon a dark cavity, namely, the lunar spot ?" Jitendra Nath Baneriea, TheDevelopment of Hindu Iconography (Calcutta, 1956), p. 486, discusses theGangadharamtlrrti of Siva : "Siva releases Gangi pent up in his mattedIocks by stretching a coil of his jatas with his back right hand, while caressingwith his front right hand his principal consort Um6...." The Buddha Ami-tibha, whose name means "infinite light," here substitutes for Siva. InTantric Buddhism, Amitabha is the progenitor of the Lotus Clan(padma-kula),of which AvaldkiteSvara is the master, and the red-colored Tdrd is the Mother.The latter, by reason of white dress, is also known as Pandard, and is oftendescribed as being "16-yeared".

18The Sanskrit for "circular band", abaddha (or is it abandha ?), is heretranslated into Tibetan by kun nas bskor, "completely circumambulating".The Sanskrit expression is a substitution for the rak;d-cakra ("protectivecircle"), which is the name of the rite for the thirteenth Tdrd in the work bySfiryagupta used above (note 14). In this rite, it is customary for the hiero-phants in the cardinal directions to adopt the egoity and posture of an appro-priate rvrathful deity (krodha). Thereby, an inner circular region is freed frominimical elements, and the ma4{ala may be drawn. It is not clear why theouter enemy circle should be delighted. Perhaps a type of hypnotic fascinationis involved.

10.

1 1 .

t2.

1 3 .

14.

The Twenty-one Praises of Tdrd, a Syncretism of Saivism and Buddhisnr 44g

who shatters the seven underworlds with the Hrlm mad.eby her contracted brows lle

15. Adoration ! Lady of calm, Lady of virtue, Lady of peace,who ranges in the quiescent Nirvdqa;

who is attended by the sounds svaha and or.n, who destroys.the great sin !

16. Adoration I Lady who crushes the bodies of the enemy deli-ghted in the circular band;

who is manifested from the H[m of the magical formulaclnsisting in the arrangement of ten syllables !20

17. Adoration ! o Lady seeded with the appearance of the H[rnsyllable, who strikes with the feet of Ture,

shaking Meru, Manddra, Kaildsa and the three world.s !"21lB. Adoration ! o Lady who stays in the hand aspected. by a

divine lake and marked by a deer;who dispels all poison with a twice-uttered Tdrd and the

sound Phat !22

lsrhe seven un,cerworlds (patata) are of course, in order : Atala, yitala,.sutala, Patala, Mahdtala, Rasdtala, Taldtala. cf. Fausta Nowotny, .Ezadurch Miniaturen erlauterte Doctrina mystica aus srinagar (,s-Gravenhage,1958), 30-1. In the same work (p. 2r), we read: saptupaftlamayr prtivi,"Earth ccnsists of seven underworlds,'.

20In Tantric-Bucdhism, a vfdyd is a manifestation in female form, or themagical thoughts, utterances, and gestures which procluce that manifestation.Hence the worC is translated here "magical formula". The ten syllables arein a sddhana of Td,rd. translated by B. Bhattacharyya in The Indian BuddhistIconography (calcutta, 1958), p. 23 : om Tdr6 Tuttdre Ture Svihd; ..Thisis the lord of all Mantras, is endowed with great powers, and is saluted,worshipped and revered by the Tathagatas." when the verse speaks of theHDry of the magical formula, it is not clear whether it refers to the entireset of ten syllables as a H[ry, or intends the middle term, Tdre Tuttire Ture,to constitute a HDm. The latter case may be the intention of the next verse.

2rshe is seeded in the sequence depicted by the Advayavajrasaqngraha(edited by Haraprasad shastri), p. 50, line 7 : sunyatdbddhiro bijaan bijadbimbam prajayate. "From the realization of voidness proceeds the geim-syllable; from the germ-syllable, the image of the deity.,,

22.'Marked by a deer" signifies the moon. Together with "a divine lake"nthis is the "moon in the watet". The reference is presumably to the levelhand gesture (sarndhita-mudra) which symbolizes the samahita-citta or equi-pcised minrl that sees things as they really are. Therefore, the poison that isdispelled may be understood-besides the external poisons-as psychologicalpoison. Buddhism speaks of the three poisons-hatred (dve;a), lust (raga),and delusion (rnoha). In connection with the mention of poison here, fever-

2 t .

450

79.

20.

22.

23.

24.

2s.

Buddhist Insight

Adoration ! O Lady visited by the supefintendent of the host

of gods as well as by the gods and the horse-headed men;

who destroys quarrel and bad dreams with the delightful

winding of the circular band !

Adoration ! o Lady of bright light in (both) eyes that are

filled with the sun and moon;

who dispels the terrible fever by a twice-uttered Hara and

the sound Tuttdre !

Adoration ! o Lady endowed with the Power (sakti) of siva

to dispose the state of the Third;

Who destroys the host of, possessing spirits, vampires, and

secret folk ! Most excellent Lady ! O quick one !23

With clear cognition and full of reverence toward the goddess,

one should recite this Praise, which is both the basic montra

and twenty-one adorations.At dusk or rising at daybreak he should rernember (this

praise), which grants complete fearlessness, dispels all sin,

destroys every evil fate.2a

He would be initiated speedily by seven myriads of Buddhas.

Arriving at greatness herein, he would proceed in the end

to the rank of a Buddha.

trf he has eaten or drunk a terrible poison, stationary or

locomotive, he dispels it as soon as he remembers (this

Praise).25

in verse 20 and fire elsewhere, one shor"rld note that of the Atlnrva-veda Sir

Bhandarkar (op. cit., p. 148) mentions, "Rlldra is implored not to bring on

consumption, poisott, and celesiial fire (XI, 2,26)." The deity in whose domi-

nion the particular misfortune lies, is naturally tho one who can avert that

misfortune. F{ence, Tdrd ("the Savioress"), as the power (!akti) of Siva, can

save one from those Cangers.2BThe third one of the Hindu triad is Siva. The relation between Siva and

Sakti has been lvell described by S. K. Das in Sakti or Divine Pov'er (Calcutta,

lg34), for exarnpl e, p. 75, "In reply to this Bhairava asserts that Sakti is nothing

but Hrs own self (Svarupa) in the aspect of 'one who fashions, sustains and

withdraws the world' Bhairava is of course all three-Bratrlmi, Vilnu, Siva."

The preseni verse refers only to Siva. Hence, Tdrd is the destructive self or

ability of Siva, who withdraws the lvorld.zaln tsudclhism the three evil fates or destinies (durgati) are of animals

(tiryagyonikc), ghosts (preta), and hell-beings (naraka).2bThe two kinds of external poison of classical Indian medicine are meant.

For example, poison of plants is the stationary type; poison of snakes istr

The Twenty-one Praises of T6rd, a syncretism of Saivism and Buddhism 451

26. By repeating it twice, thrice or seven times, he removes thegreat pains, pains of seizure, fever, and poison, of even

other sentient beings.27. D esiring $ons, he obtains sons. Desiring wealth, he obtains

wealth. He achieves all his desires and is not frustrated bvobstacles.

completed and ended is the praise consisting of Twenty-oneAdorations of Her Lordship, Taru, the Goddess, together withthe merit and benefit, expressed by the samyaksambuddha.Hail, Tdra !

locomotive type. r have pointed out a third external category, created poison,for example that made from quicksiiver or from amyta, in my little essay inhonor of Leonardo olschki, "The concept of poison in Buddhis m,,, eriens,Vol. X (1957), 107-109.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

"Buddha as Savior," Studia Missionalia,29 (l9BO), pp. l9I-207.Reprinted by permission.

"Ancient Buddhist Monasticism," studia Missionaria, 2g (1979),pp. 193-230. Reprinted by permission.

"Meditation in Theravdda and Mahisasaka," studia Missionalia,25 (1976), pp. 1-28. Reprinted by permission.

*'The Bodhisattva Practice According to the Lam-Rim-chen-Mo," The Tibet Society Newsletter, l:2 (July-December 1967),pp. 85-100. Reprinted by perrnission.

"The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and their oppo-sites," The Journal of the International Association of BuddhistStudies, 3-2 (1980), pp. 67-76. Reprinted by permission.

*'The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile," History ofReligions, 13 :4 (May 1974), pp. 251-269. Reprinted by permis-sion of the university of chicago Press and copyright (c) rg74by the University of Chicago Press.

n'The Buddhist Theory of Vision," Afijali, Wijesekera volume(1970), pp. 27-32. Reprinted by permission.

"Dependent origination; the Indo-Tibetan Tradition," Journalof Chinese Philosophy, 7 (1980), pp. 275-300. Reprinted bypermission of D. Reidel Publishing Company and Copyright(c) by D. Reidel Publishing Co., Dordrechr.

"Nescience and Insight According to Asan ga's yogdcdrabhurni,"Buddkist studies in honour of walpola Rahulo, (]-980). Reprin-ted by permission and copyright (c) 1980 by Gordon Fraser,London.

"orhe twenty reifying viervs (sakknyaditthi)," studies in pali andBuddhism, Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap memorial volume (1979),pp. 375-380. Reprinted by permission of B. R. publishing cor-poration and copyright (c) 1979 by B. R. publishing corpo-ration, Delhi.


"who understands the Four Alternatives of the BuddhistTexts,"Philosophy East and West, 27:l (Januiry 1977), pp. 3-21.Reprinted by permission of the university Press of Harvaii.

"The Intermediate-State Dispute in Buddhism," Buddhist Studiesin honour of I. B. Horner (1974). Reprinted by permission ofD. Reidel Publisiing Company and Copyright (c) 1974 by D.Reidel Fublishing Company, Dordrecht.

"No Time, Great Time, and Profane TirneinBuddhism," Mythsand Symbols; Studies in Honor a/' Mircea Eliade (1969), pp.47-62. Reprinted by permission of The University of ChicagoPress and Copyright (c) 1969 by The University of ChicagoPress, Chicago.

'oThe Role of Art among the Buddhist Religieux," East-\4/estDialogues in Aesthetics (1978), pp. 2-15. Reprinted by permis-sion of State University of New York at Buffalo and Copy-right (c) State University of New York at Buffalo.

"secret of the Heart shtra," Prajfidparamitd and Related systems;Studies in honor of Edward Conze (Igl7), pp. 135-125.Reprinted by permission of Regents of the University of cali-fornia and copyright (c) 1977 by Regents of the university ofCalifornia.

"The Sacittikd and Acittika Bh[mi," text and translation, isbased on "The sacittika and Acittika Bhumi and the pratyeka-birddhabhfrmi (sanskrit texts)," Journal of Indian and BuddhistStudies, 7:l (1960), pp. 375-379. Reprinted by permission.

"Asanga's Treatise, Patamartha-gatha," is a corrected versionof the text and translation in A. Wayman, Analysis of thesravakabhumi Manuscript" (Liniuersity of california pubti-cations in Classical Phtlosophy, l7 (1961), pp. 167-185. Re-printed by permission.

"Asanga's Treatise on the Three Instructions of tsuddhism" issimultaneously being published in a volume on Buddhism inIndia, with different introduction. Reprinted by permission.

"Two Traditions of India-Truth and Silence," Philosophy Eastand West, 24: 4 (October 1974), pp. 389-403. Reprinred byperrnission of the University Press of Hawaii and Copyright (c)1974 by the University Press of Hawaii.

"The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth-an Interpretation," Studies'* in Linguistics, Murray B. Emeneau volume (1968), pp. 365-369. Reprinted by permission of the Linguistic Society of India

Acknowledgments 455

and Copyright (c) 1968 by the Linguistic Society of India,

Poona."significance of Dreams in India and Tibet," History of Religions,

7: 1 (August 1967), pp. 1-12. Reprinted by permission.'oThe Significance of Mantras, from the Veda down to Buddhist

Tantric Practice," Indologica Taurinensia, III-IY, pp. 483'497,

slightly altered from the original in BrahmauiCya : the Adyar

Library Bulletin, XXXX (1975), pp. 65-89. Reprinted by

permission.',The Gocldess Sarasvati-from India to Tibet", Kaila,sh; a Jour-

nal of flimalayan Studies, V:3 (1971), pp. 45-25tr. Reprinted

. by permission."The Twenty-One Praises of Tdrd, a syncfetism of Saivism and

Buddhism," Journal of the Bihar Research Society, A. S.

Altekar Memorial Volurne, 45 l-4 (1959), pp. 36-43. Reprinted

by permission.

INDEX.Abha_yakaragupta 133, 159, 161, 165n,

175n,421- ^

Abhidharnlx (p.. Abhidhamma) 37,z?, 85. 91, 117_119. 127. t72_174 ' .f ! f , 1-8_3.n, 186, 189, 216,221, 222n ' ,254, 334. 40an

Abhidharmakoia 20, 58, B4-g5. 90n.?1 ._ l l 7 -1 r8 , t 23_12s . t 57_158 , 18 i ;L21, ?03, 216, 222n, ZSt, ZSti, )AO',3 1 8 , 3 3 1

A.b h idltar ma ko ia- b harya 59 nA b hi dha r mak o i ab ha; y a y i k a-| a t n a r t ha_

nama lTGnA b hi dhar inako i a-v y ak hya 263Abhicllnrmasamuccaya' Ig0, lg 5, 262-

263oblr1flA^ (supernornral faculty) !2_13,

?9, 35, 97. 113, 146, 154. ' i60_16i .:80- :8 t . :3 .1 .

' 299, :z i .

- sG

_ "tacult_v." " rdr{hi."Abhiprd,rik,Trrlta-gJtha Chapter lg;

Ab hi sama cari k a (B hi k ; uprak ir qaka)60n

llliymatalarTkdra ltg, 161n, 190

"u,'i,' if,r,:;Y1; 1Y';n i{ o " P rai n a P a ra-

abhi t e!;a (consecrrt ion, ini i iat ion) 20g,3 9 4 , 4 1 7

abhiltaparikalpa (Imtgi nation of Un_reatrt$ | 90-1 9 | . 27 l_27 s

Acala, a deity 420,433(cit t i kablturni Chapier 16 ; 194Ad.arSamukha, a tiing t43Adbltuta-brahmana 4e4adhi;yhana (blessing, empowerment.

sprrrtual foundation) 2A_23, 324',375,395-396

Adva yn vaj ro sa n grah a 449 qAgSltr _(scripturc) 25, 131, Z0g, 221,. 23.3 . ? ! ( t . 3 t3 ; - . t incagc '354, ' 3 i i '

Agni 25_8. 395. 414, 416n, 446n,447Agnipurano 415-421, 417n, 423_425anql(}ry - (egohood) t88-199, t9l.. .3J9. 34[ r . 350-351. :set f ] 3 i

Ar-fcraya Arap.vaka 414n, 415nlilareTa Brdhnaqa 416,'416n, 425nAiivaka" sect 372

'

ALuiqinu, a heaven 21,85, 147,l4g,_279 ,313 , 323

!kafikkeyvcsutta 69Akadagarbha 67. See .'BcChisattva.',ak;?4o _(unfavorable moment), the

eight 295

Ak ; ayamat i nir de ia-s ut ra | 6, | 5 6S,kuoU.lv+ I4l, 421. See .iBuddha.',

lj3il Sglam? (:Ardda). tB7 _tBB, 37 2o tqyav rJ nar ta (store_consciousness, ba-

sr-c- perceptron) 92_93, 97. 130.!11-!14, 189, 2s3, 273, 27s, )81"i10-3.i l, 334, 350,'350n. S".' .;r,j 'Jiidne."

Arnitabha. :6-38, 147, 2gg-290, 44g,

iflX"; AmirayLrs, 405. Sce .;Budl

Amnq,a-nnfijar i 1 59, 1614 moghapa iakatparaja 160

Ananda 37-38, 139, 142, 163, 17I ,2gl ,320

dnandagarbha 280Anan da-gar. b h a vak r dn t i ni r cle S a 259,_ 2 5 2 n

Anapanasati 70Aila.v.a I ap I a- t nga r oja- pa r i p r c c lt ii 237Andhlka sect 231Aitgavtjjct 403, 404n, 4AgAnguttara-nikaya 12, 33-35, 35rr, 57.

7,4.,-74n, 132,-153- l5 4, 261-, ilq-,'{2)',446

K:; 13;::\41 4_4t s, 41 5 n, 424_425

Aristotle 405Arhar 3p)^42,88, 105, 126, 157, lg4-185, 203n, 290, 330-33t, :Oi ; - i t re

s.r.xtegn, etc. 290; as epithet of Bud-. dha 12, 372. See o,persons. , '

Arjuna 279Arthaiastra 445nA.rt hav ini i caya- s fi t ra 92, 303Artltaviniicaya-rika 120-122, I 79-l g0,

201

l'{?f*" 20, 43,188, 308, 372, 3rB,

Aryadelsa's "Foltr Hundred Verses,,'_ Commentary to 247n

4ryagayalir,ra 22lrya-p r aj iirt p aratni t d-t ik ci 3 1 6n.{ryaSr-ira 287, 3g1,.391-395, 3g7Arya-t ar a- k ur uk u I I e- lcat p s 405At^"lgl.. Ch-iprers 9. t6-18; t5-17,26.

30, 44-45.55, 57_58, 64-65. 70. ' 7t:74. 75-77, l lg-126, t30_1.15.

' ,15t.

164 . 168 . 171 -180 , 186_187 . l 9 i .2i 5. 234n. 259n, 26C-265. 270 ^ 27 :; ' .?21. 3o i ) : rc l , 363, 3 lo , 315-3te ;335n, .3.45n, 422n; meCitet iv. i rrolgrcss in Asanga's school. 7g-95

458

ASoka, a king 39, 48,tree 401

dsrava (fluxes) 35-36,

292 ,296n ; a

125, 157, 175,184,206

A;lasahasrika Prajfiaparamitd 23-24,26,138, 420; Great Commentaryon 110

Altavakra 374Allavakra Saryhita 374ASvaghola 188, 287, 44lnAsva I a y ana- s utr a (P., As sal a y anas ut ta)

257-259Atharva Veda 393, 402, 404, 407, 450nAtiSa 96, 100-102, 77 8n, 225, 242, 2Bl,

406,420attaehrirent (sanga) 44-45, I44, 339Atthasalint 75n 218, 236AvalokiteSvara 22,28, 159, 290, 400,

42A, 448n. See "Bodhisaitva";Chapter i5

Avaiarytsaka l70navidya (nescience, ignorance) Chap-

ters 8-9; 150, 160, 164,236-237,244,254-256, 263, 2i8, 3A2, 306,320,347,421,437; f ive k inds 202; sevenkinds 201:' nineteen kinds 202;-cravins. 374

Ay u ; tnanictn rlag ar b hi v alc r d nt in i r d.e 3 a262

Balinnliki 429Bhadrak a I pi :a-s il t ra 1 6IBhagavadgltA 279,295, 385, 428nBhdgavata-pilrana 295Bhai-sajya-guru ("Healing Buddha")

28, 420. See "Blrddha."Bhasa 400Bhavar:fikrarna I, 79-80; II, 80; III,

297Bhavanrsnmy t bhumi 194, 2II-212Bhdvaviveka 249" 439Bhik;aparama 435, +37bhik;u (monk) 30, 11 7, 165, 167-169,

175, 183n, 283, 288-2'39, 302, 306-307, 311, 315, 320, 3t7, 352, 354,351" 384, 395, 4A7n; f ivc s:Jientpoints of 33; five places avoicied bY351; "defeats" of 60-51 (See "offe-n-ces"); cornpare l to brahmana 56'53, 406n. See "persons"; ChaPters2-3.

bhiksutt i (nun) 31, 35, 42-58,67,l l l ;"defeats" of 61,62 (See "offences").See o'porsons"; Chapters 2-3.

Bhiktutti-vinaya 6lnEhcja 400bh'litti (st::ge) seventeen 193-194, 327,

333; as stories of thc wotl.d 426-See "Patlt," "stagos of life."

Buddhist Insight

Bhumi-vastu 80Blake, W. 163Blue Annals 53Bodhicaryavatara (Spyod'jug) 24-26,

101-104, 109-11 l , 226, 299, 304Bo dhicar y iivat urapafij i k a | 40nbodlticitta (thought or mind of enlight-

enment) 100-103, 149-t50, 436.tantric 410

Bodhi margapradipa-p afij ika 9 6n, 225Bodhipathapradipa 17 8n, 281Bodhiruci 24Bodhisattva 77, 153, 157, 177-179,

178n, 184-785, 194, 196-197, 244,244n, 270, 281-232, 312, 446n;greet, celestiai, suprantundane 22-24 ,28 ,95 , 133 , 135 , 138 , 279 ,281 -282,290-291, 315n, 321n, 330-331,400. See "Path," "persoits'o; Chap-ters 4, 15.

Bodhisattva-bhilmi Il2, 134. I9'+, 195,199, zIt , 260, 327, 422r^t

Bodhisattvapitaka-sutra 15,1-155, 176Bo-don school 434,438body (kaya, Sarlrt) 103, l4l, t43-144,

146, 155,169, 189, 206,2A8,210-212,217, 260, 283-284, 3ll, 316-317, 320, 335-335, 349, 350,363,373, 4*2-403, 199,,138 ; subtir 409 ;nrade of ttitd (tnatrcnn-','akd;'a) 733,155, 153, 18-1-135, 273, 275, 283,386.409; ofthe BudCha 20-25,270,283, 296, 375 (Nirmina-kaya 20,25, 270, 312-313, 375;Saubhoga-kd,ya 21, 25, I49, 270, 279, -112-313, 323-324; Dh.arnra-kiya 21, 25,210,270, 291, 312, 375); of deitY,1.35, 149, 433,436-438; tr:ntric 409-410: -satnskara 317,318, 324;:tlre three worlds 445r,.: bodY andmind 35A, 353, 416. See "bo':1y,speech, and mincl"; Chapter 3.

body, speech, and nind (kctya-vak-citta\ 19, 110, t54, 190, 371, 324,350, 371, 405, 4A5n. See "body,'o"speech,t' oo citta."

Boehme, J. 75Brahrnd L3-14, 252, 252n, 259, 353,

357, 372, 432-434, 447, 450n; ascelestial Bodhisativ a 32I rt

brah nrucar ya, -cd r i n (b'Lirm t-conduct,chrsie p:rscrt) l : . 30. 48. 55, 57-58, 361, 370. See "persons"'

Brah,majala-sutra 203, 206, 2l9n;-sutta 232, 363n

Brahman 259, 376, 382-385, 413;Saguira- 420

brahisna 3C, 375-378, 383; comoaredto bhik;u 56-58, 406n. See "Por-sons."

Index

Brahmaltas 172, 386, 391, 4I3, 414n.See titles.

Brahmanical tradition 252, 380-3E1.413-414,426n. See 'ostages of life."

Bralrmin Kila school 434, 436By hadaranyaka U,pani;ad 33, 163, 17 3,

256, 263, 265, 376, 379" 382-397,415n

Byhaddevatq 425Brhatphala, a heaven 331Bstan bccs mnon rtogs rgyan'grel pa

. . . . 1 9 0 nBudclha Chapters 1, 14; epithets of

1l-14; symbols of 291; boCies of(Sce "body"); the seven, the thou-sand 289; the Thirty-Five Buddhasof Confession 66; suprarnundane22, 26-28, 105-109, 136, 142, 160(See names); dynamic and static24-251' as Jina 372; Nilyanda-Bud-dha 149; Samyaksaqrbuddha 451;as Vilr-hajjavadin (Analyst) 215.See "Sikyamuni," "Tathagata,""Caktavartiil," "Arhat," 'o Sra-ntoi.lf,lr" "l?lttni." See also "eyer"' jc ivel," t 'persons."

Budrlitacarita 183Buddhaghosa 35, 59, 72-76, 126, 138,

167n, 177, 216n, 218,236, 28lnBuCdhaguhya 301,373Buddhc1n u s rn y t i- t tk u 233, 3 13budc!hi (intellect, cogniiion, discrimi-

nating minC, discriminatior) 20, 26,72 .96 , 135 , 141 . 146 . 159 .19s .2C9 .4?1. 4i3n. 434: -nnt (sag-' ,y 371:.in Saiv isnt 40g; in S5.nrkh l ; : ! S3-189

Buddhist art Chaptet 14;. 40'7, 407n,446n; music 432-433, 438-439

Buddhist Counci ls 37-38Buidhist genesis 60, 269-270, 273-

278" 282-283.386Bu-ston 146,322nByafi cltub lam gyi sgroil tna ("A Larnp

on ihe Path to Enlightenrneilt") 100

Cakravartin 13, 2A8, 296Candragomin 22, 443Candrakirti 138, 140, 149-1.50, 159,

165n, 177, 216-222, 222n, 23?,-235,237, 240n-, 243-2+4, 244n, 249-25O,312, 379:. tire tantric 161

Caraka 4A4Caraka,samhifi 404Cdrvdkas 124CatuhSataka 20" 188, 312, 371catutkoti (the four alternatives) Chap-

ter 11cause (or basic cause) (hetu) 123-125,

137, 140-142, 171, 17-2, 180-183,

459

186-187, 190, 196, 200, 202, 205-206, 225 -226,.236-241, 244-248, 250,255, 257, 297-299, 336, 338, 346-350, 348n, 379-380, 395-396, 424;the eight 329-330; material cause239, 272; insirumentiii cause 239;:reason 229. See "condit ion."

Chandogya Upani,sad 370, 376, 382-384, 386-387

Ch'an schocl 131, 140-141Chao Lurt: The Treatises of Seng-chao

(:Book of Chao) 149clraracieristics (or charact.:rs) (lak-

;aqta; P., lakkhana) 166, 234, 272n,318, 348-349, 366: rhree 19, 120-122, 334 four 277-272,275; thirty-two 161 , 296 -297 ,446 t t

Cintdmayi-bhfini 97n, 122, 194, 205,327. 333. 353

citta (thovght, minC, consciousncss)Chapters 3, 6, 1.6: 157 -170, 177, 179,t94, 1gg, 203-'204, 211, 239-240,245n, 322-323, 338,339, 358, 350-361, 383, 423. 449n: Aspirat ionthought 104-105, 107-108 ; EnrranceThotrght 104-10-s; ekagratci-citta283. See "men{!s," "bodhicitta,""iametlta."

Cloud Messenger 401compassion (karuna) 22, 87, 99-IA2,

112,313,379, 433; great 13,22-23;Boundless State of 102

condition (or conditional catse) (pra-tyaya) 123-124, 137, 140, 164-166,158-169, 187-188, 236-237, 244n,246, 248, 250, 299, 335. 338-339,347, 3 t19, 351, 3{ t5 , 39 i .1}5 . See"ca,r-lse. "

confession 58-59, 66-69, 362, 392,406n; Thirty-five Buddhas of 66

conficlences, the four 1C8conversion 103, 1C5; four means of

(sarygrahavastu-) 16"Conversion of Sarioutra ancl Maud-

galyayzna" 323ncraving (or desire) (tr;tta; P., taqtha)

96, l l -1, 124, 149, ig6-197,203,207,210, 263, 298, ?'04, 306, 335-335,339, 365, 385; nescicncl-craving347. See o'desire"; Chapter 8.

Cullavogga 38

dakini 146; Narc-dakini 145; fuka373rr. See oodeity."

D cik i n i - vaj r ap aiii ara 18 6nDamam[ilia NidCna Sfitra 295nDaiablifintika-sntra 121, |i7 -179 ,321n,

371Daiab hilmivvalc hv ana I 5 4

-460

Dbait don 160deafh Chapter 12; lll, 144-145, l4g,

1 5 ! , 1 6 l , 1 6 9 , 1 9 6 , 2 2 6 , 2 g l , 3 2 0 ,347, 352, 393-394, 404_405. SeeChapter 8.

,deity (deva, devata) 26-27, 135-136.!!\-tg. 1 44-145, 163, 2s8 _259, 280',289,295-296, 322, 332, 348n, 351n,370-390, 398, 391, 394-397. 402-404'.409, 414-4'16, 415n, 419,' 423-427'.425n; images of 291-292; Asurai258, 425n; as irreversible tsodhi-s.ltlves- 321n, 420; tutelary 144,306,406, 426; tantric 290, 421;."passiongcds" 157, 275: wrathful 448n: fourilods of thc sublimc heart 420:Divine inteilect 393. See namesi"(dkini," "gati."

Dependent Origination (pratityasa-mutpada) Chapters 8-9; 19, 53, 92.124, 139. 155, 2)5, 237-238, 244.?/:8, ?i1-256, 262-263, 278, 298',304-306, 3l l , 320,345. 385

desire (kfitrta) 365, 381-388. 414-416.4-14n, 451; eight similes of 365; asthe goJ Kinra 447n: sensuous iust(kc1ma-ruga) 352, 360, 364. See"craving," o'poisorI," '" :dht\! t t . , ,

Dge-'dun-grub 27.Dgons pa rab gsal 149nDhammapada 17, 19, 93, 370Dhamma,sangani 218

.dhara7i (retention) Chapter 22: 387,413, 421-423, 427, 429, 443; fourkinds 422n. Sec "morrtre."

dharma (P., dhammrz) (natures, fea-tures) 73,19,93, 105, 107, l l2, l2l-122, 130, 1,34-739, 741-14.2, 1 56-l 59,166-t 67. 170-!7 s. 195-197 . 207, 210,234, 238, 243,24.6, 245n, 250, 280,283, 31{n, 319-32CI, 324, 331, 335-336, 341, 345-347, 352, 361, 371,422-423, 437; seven dltarmas of anronk 34-35;,:mental ob-iects 169,409; consiructcd 174.-175, '-111,

320;unconstructed i74-17 5. 243 : virtu-ous 33, I I l -1 12, 363. 422; ur rv i r tu-ous 296: iliusory 231' Buddha-natures 105, 107-i09, 167, 27A, 274,422; ttoble 272, 274. See "eye."

Dharma (P., Dhairrnre) (Doctrine,Teaching, Laiv) 13, 17-19. 25, 37-38, 51, 64, 10'.1., l0g-114, 122, 154-156, 163" 166. 171, 173-178, 186,207 -208, 212, 217, 233 -237, 255, 340,351, 362-363, -?65-366, 372, 374,378-381, 395, 406-407, 447n;'ogo3l," of two kinCs 310-312,318-319; born from 315-316: as Hindu"'dlrty" 377-381, 392, 396, 416;

Buddhist Insight

mirror of 141-142; -sun 241, 244,247; dharynadharma ("merit anddemerit") 405; Dharma-kaya (See"body"); Dharmadhara 38; Dhar-madhatu 151, 156, 166, lg l , 270,272, 297; Dharmatd 120, 243, 250,272,n; dharmardja 395. See oJewel,""wheel."

Dharmaguptaka sect 40, 64,251,253Dharrnakirti 118, 118n, 195, 196n,

297 ,303 ,379Dharma-samuccaya l84ndhatu (realms), the three (:three

worlds) 293, 301, 303-304, 31 1, 315-316, 321, 321n, 323,331, 351, 358-360. 365-356. 427. 433, 445, 445n,447n,449: defined 351n

Digha-nikaya 25, 33-34, 69, 74, 145,158, 163, 171, 235, 293, 371

disposit ions (car i t a) 7 2-7 3Dirthilcaths 216-217Dmar khrid 4l0nDmigs brtse ma 400nDohd 387Don gsal157Dpal na ro mkha' spyod dban mc'i lqm

riin pa giiis. . . .145ndrean {svapna) Chapter 2l: I0l,133-

134, 136-137, 749, I7g, 259, 279,280, 282, 291-295, 316, 3lg, 330,365, 4.25, 435n, 450; Gypsy dreambock 399

duitlcha (suffering, pain) 15, 19, 100,102-103, lrl, l2a-127 , 196, 200-206,2 _14-237, 27 5, 280-281, 297 -299, 305,320-321, 330-33 l, 336, 339-340, 350-351, 358, 363, 371, 379-380, 429,450-451; sevenfold 179-180; duhk-hati (misery) 122-123, 350-351,350n;:Pi1q1 Noble Truth (See"truth". S3e "tree"; Clraptcr 8.

D ut [ya- I s i d,tt t a- s ut t a 217

earth 274-275, 282, 316-317, 373, 406,414n, 425, 427:t, 448, 449n; dirt4?.2: dry lanJ 324, 351, 402

Egg, Cosmic 384-385Enligirt:nment (bodhi) 100-101, 105,

112,133, 738, 142, l4g, I53, l5g,219, 234, 270, 295, 306, 314, 3lB,323 -324, 37 1 -37 2, 37 4, 404, (Incorn-parable) Complete 281, 312, 323,372; thnnderbclt of 219-22A, 22I.See "bodlticitta."

equipm:nt (sarybh,lro), as thirteenconditions 78

eye Chapter 7; 19,27, 103-104, 127,'J,41, 163, 1.69, 175, 177n, I79, 241,

244, 297, 299, 335, 345-347, 351-

fndex

352, 352n, 382, 394-395, 408; off lesh 155-159; divine 160, 251, 257 ,394, 396; of divinity 445, 4501' ofinsight 16, 96, 155-159, 177, 209-210; of knowledge 155,159; dlnrma-eye 132, 139, 155-156, 158-159;dianrond-eye 160-161 ; Buddha-eye14, 732,155-159: threefold or third433, 447n; -ointment 160, 299

faculty (indriya) 193,399; keen or dull74, 132; insight as chief 207, 2081'

^ .slrpernormai (See "abhijrta")faith (prasada) 142, 185, 263, 292-293,

393,429fatlrer 103, I07,306, 383, 386, 400, 403,

415nfaults 397: three 131fear 371,403.450: two kinl,s 322feeling (vedana) 197, 200, 203, 217,

219, 231, 235, 263, 273, 276, 276,299, 3A4, 305-306, 31 1, 316-31 7,320-

^ 321,331, 337,351. See Chapier 8 .fire 212, 250, 253, 264-265, 322. 340,

365, 373, 40I-402, 437, 445n-M7n,447-448, 4-{0;r; sermcrl 74; speechas 415, 424; of insight 242-243;glance as 447n: ordeal 392. See"Agni," "Vahni," "Sarasval i . , '

fog{ 45, 14-s7.60. 62. 64. 87, 276. 27s,281, 383, 386,397,403: four k ind io f 181-182; subr le 275

forebearance, perfection oi 23, I05-_ 106, 109-112, 302, 321, 446,' 1trl6nft"_*{o"t 287, 294, 298, 304-305, 337,

-340, 351, 360, 371

gandharva (P., gandhabba) 145, I58,184. 257 -261, 316, 431-432. 435_436

Gandhi 388Gangd 446n,448ngates to liberation, thc three l3l-133.

3 0 9 , 3 1 8 - 3 1 9gari_(destinies) 13, 121, 142, 156-158,

!91_, 1q2, 195, 202, 251. 257, 259',27-5, 295, 2gg, 304, 351, 35g_359;380, 397, 404; def,necl 351n.450n;-q;yali 239:- as Nirvana 358'oG&ya, At" (a sutta) 3l4n

G A1,9 r,t' i, (7 S.qv! r r t) 37 7, 381, 387, 406n,416-417, 426, 427n, 428

Gelugpa sect 100, 289,4A0Gesar of Ling 147, 407giving (dana) 16-17, 61, 104-110. ll2-

114, 2gg. 302, 321, 432, 416, 446n.See "perfections."

grace 1 l, 23, 136. See "adhi;!hdna.,,

461

Guhyasamaja-tantra l4l , 157 , 16l , 373,417, 427, 431

gu4a (quality, merit) 362; of a puri-_ fied nran (dhutagulta) 49, 54-55Gunabhadra 150n-Gunamati 174guru 281,295,416Gzuns-sfiags danlde b2in giegs pa'i

mtsharil... 420n

Haribhadra 138nHarivarman 119-122Harca 287heart (hrdaya) 142, 145-148, 259, 315,

324, 373, 384, 4AE-409, 420. 437_438 ; tuo k ;ncs 324; hc; r t 's . . [hu lnb ' ,: liiga '147 , 447 n. See ,,IleertSutra."

Heart Siltra (Prajiiclpr\ranitahrdaya-s[itra) Chapter 15; 331, 420

Hege l , G . l 72nHeidegger, M. 305Hevajra Tantra 387hinCrances Qivrlra1ta), the five 76,79,

364hou_seholder (glhastha) 45, 48, 50,57,

lI0, 209, 217, 347, 363. See .,per-sons."

Hsuan Ts'atg 442F{suan-isr-rn g 407nHui-neng 141Hui-yuair 43"Hymn of Creation," Vedic 384. 3g6

ideas (or iCcation) (saryifia) 44-45.273.276 , 3 l l , 316 -317 , 320 -J22 , ' 331 ' .115, ]]J: as naming facutty 298',303, 305

impermanence (anitya) 79, 95, 120-'123, ll5, l7g, 203-204, 206;,, 322.331 . See "characierist ics." three.

'

In{.q 258; 375, 394-395, 425,t, 44'/;:Sakra 13

Indrabht r t i I55n-156ninsight (prajfiu: F., pailiia) Chapter 9:

13, 22. 24. 96-98, 100, 106, 1 l '8. 126:209 r r -210n . 226 , 290 ,31J -315 , ' n l420, 422, 434-435, 438-439:.threelê1êls^gf 19, ?6,96-97, tt3-114, tg4,208, 2A9-212, 292, 327; two kinOj3t4, 322; terrninology of 206-209:noble -242; personified 433, 439, 447';as l ight 209-Zl3; as jcwel 2A7-ZO9.as ocean 323; eye of (See .,eye")i-mi r ror 130, 149- l5 l : among . , ih re6instructions" 69,74, 95-98, 125. 177.205-206,282 (See Chapter t8). Se6

462

"perfection of insight," "instruc-t ions. "

instructions (or traini nes) (adhifikt a),three Chapter 18; 69-71, 74, 108,126, 155, 205-206, 281-282. See'"rncraliiyr" o'meditationr" "in-sr gnt. "

inteimediate space (antarik;a) 21, 145,258

intermedia te state (antar dbhava) Chap-ter 1,2; 145, 157-158, 182-187; twokinds 259-261

Iia Upani;ad 378lslam 294I-Tsing 44n, 59,66

Jagaddeva 399,401Jainism 235, 239, 399-404, 410, 425,

432Jdtakanwla 20, 41, 130, 143, 150, 160,

184n, 274, 293, 391, 394, 406jewel (ma4,) 110, 1,45, 207-209, 433,

436-439; three Jewels (Buddha,Dharma, Sar.ngha) 44, 46, 50, tlz,1.66, 2AI-202, 447, 447n (See eachmember); cintdmani 67, 385, 438

Jfidnagarbha 313Jffdnaprasthdna 21 5, 221, 222nJfidrravajra 158, 160, 421joy 105, t12, 273, 27 5, 3Bl, 386, 375n;

Boundless State of Sympathetic Joyra2

Jung, C.G. 284, 442

Kahola Kaulitakeya 37 6, 384Kalacakra-tantra 142, 147, l9IKa lap r ak a 3 i lr a 40I n, 407Kalidasa 401Kamala6ila t56, 297, 375nkalpita (inaagination) 336-337, 346,

348, 404, 410, 417,438; of eightkinds 364. See "vika!pa." "pari-kalpa."

karma (act) 19, 123, 137, 142, 144-145,1 5 6, 79 5, 241202, 248, 25 5 -258, 261,338, 347, 348n-1319n, 335, 396-397,421; two 179-181; three 190, 338;onc hr:ndreC 59; ten paths of 34;-mirror (Sec "rnirr,:r"); Truth Act(See "truth").

Karma-iataka 1,84nI(arrnavaccrna 53nKar u n o da y a- na t na- b lmv a n uj ap av i d h i

160kasirya (5., krtsna) (totalities) 72-77;

bases of 76-77, 89, 9l-94. Seeo'meditation."

KdSyapa (P., Kassapa) 107, 236-237,

Buddhist Insight

242" 245,405KaSyapa-padvarta 242Kathasaritsagara 400Karha Upani;ad 258-259, 265Kathnvatthu (Points of Controversy)

215, 231, 252, 262, 265Katy-ayana (P., Kaccf,yana) 167, 237,

245Kau; italci Brahinana 425nKaulilya 445nKeats" J. 293-294Khanda-vagga ISnKhuddaka-Nikaya 216Khyun-po-lha 407kleia (defilement) 18 22-23, 81, 95,

l l4, 123, 125, 132, 141, 163, 167,170-17 7, 77 g-179, 192-194, I gg, 1 gl,1,96-197, 198n, 199-201, 204-205,207, 209, 220, 256,301, 319-319,322, 337, 337, 340, 346-347, 351,359-360, 362-'365, 386; three 181,358; four 44-45; eisht 2A0-201 ; ten201, 205; sarpkleia (stain) 346-347,352, 37 I

knowiedge (or cognition) (.ifiana; P.,iiAtta) 21.0-211, 225, 314-315, 320-322, 335, 351, 359-359, 363, 37 l -37 5 ,378, 380-391, 395-396, 420-421, 427,428n. 450 ; srrorainrrndlne 303-J04 ;:vidyti, five kinds of 133; -sqttva438; eye of 155. See Chapterc7,9.

Kokuyalcu Dafzdkyd 83nKrWa 279Kf ; tta.y amar i - t ant r a 43 5lc;atriya 296; five salient points of 33KDkai 150-15tr, 308Kukuri-pd 160Kumarajiva 149-150Kurnirila-bhatta 38ikuiala+nula (root of virtue) 15, 17, 44,

10s.359. 434Ku s uma ii.i a I i - g u hy a s a maj a+ti b an d h a-

ndma 427Kutos(lrasufra i)Ky:o{yishinshc 25n, 26-27, 143

Lakqrni 424,432Lalitayistara 26, 127n" I72, 1E0n,255Lama 184,289" 4I0,442lamp 19, 144, 206, 208, 230Lam rint clten mo (includiirg "Calrn-

ing the Mind and Discerning theReai") Chapter 4; l3n, l8n, 14n,49t , 57t , 59,73n,77n,79n, 150n,164, 1 80, lE5, 17 8n, 180n, 194, 225n,242n,365n

Ianguages 228, 288, 299, 302; of scrip-ture 39-40

Larikavatdra-stltra 17, l3l, 133, 135,1,41, 149-150, 158, 2U, 302,385-386

Large Surra on Perfcti Wisdon3ffi.,422

Laws of Manu 56-57, 369, 376-378,381, 387, 389

lay person. See "persons."liberation (mok ; a, v imok ; a, ap avar ga)

7 6-77 , 88-94, lt3 , 306, 312, 318-319,359,374,386, 394, 4lB, 424, 428n;eight 206. See "gates to liberation."

li9ht 23C, 259-260, 320, 340, 346, 401,433, 437-439, 448n, 450; three kindsof 212; insight as 193, 205-213, 438

liitga 447nLogos 393Lokatitastava 140Lokayata school 239, 362, 362nLokottaravidin sect 40lotrs (padma) 1.4, 27, 132, 179, 394,

421, 426, 432-433, 436-437, 439,445-447; Realm 308

Madhyanulgann 257Madhi 'amika school 53, 113, 124,136-

147, 150, 159, 221-222, 254., 294,302, 308-309, 317,379. See Chapter1 1 .

Madhyamaka-karika 136, 140, 165,767, 174n, 175n, 185n, 218, 222,254. See Chaoter 1l

J I arlh.t a niak a va.iara 1 38, 149-1 50, 1 58,1t -7 . 216-2t9 . 237. 213. 379

Iladhyrlnravibhdga 1 70. 1 90-191, 1 83n,270-276, 318

Madhya ntavi b haga-b hu ; ya 17 0 n, 27 0n,272n,378n

Madhy a nta- Vi b haitga 27 0nMadhupi nrlika Sutta 197Mahabharata 189, 372, 414Maha mu d r o s i dd hdnt opade i a | 44Malru-nidana-sut tanta 163. 1,7 1Mahdnirvonatantra 441Mahdparini bb ana-sutta 25, 142, 288n,

301, 32Cr . f -

Me lt ri praj fi a pd ram i t a lo s tra (Le Tra i tcde la Grsnde Vertu de Sasesse deNaglrjuna) l:-13, 60n, 70, 76, 85,93it, 96-97, 737, 139-l4l 235, 323

Ma in- Sak u !adayi-su t ta 7 4iVlahasan'lghika- sect 38-40, 59,'1.32,

251, 253, 2gB, 375nMaltds upi tia- J Atuka 406Mahivogga 32-33, 66, 66nMahdvairadhara 161Mahavastu 40-41, 117, !32nMahdvira 400Mahavyutpatti 71, 120, 215-216, 219-

222

-ic3

Mahdydnasarpgraha I3jn" I 7-tn. I83nMq@yury-SuftAlatttkAra 20. 59, ig,

9-r,-112,722, 135, 156, 2_t-1, _191, 316;318, 321-322, 315n, 335

Mahisasaka sect Chapter 3; 40, 15l,253,331; the Later 193,251,260

Maitrayanlsaryhin 415Maitreya 134, 270n, 290, 314n. See

"Bodhisattva."Mai t r e y ak e v alap ar i var t ab ha; y a 3 13 nmaitri (love) 84, l0l-102; Boundless

State of Love 102}'IaitripFlda 144Majjhima-nikaya 13, 74, 766n, I97,

2r7, 257, 315Malayavati 400Malinlv ijayot tara Tantram 405nmenas (mind, phenomenai minC) 134-

135, 146, 172, ',1.94,

209, 263, 271,299-300, 304, 3ll, 320, 329, 337,336, 349, 351, 403, 409-410, 414-415, 415n, 424-425; two kinds 415;kli;!a- 272n, 340, 351; -sarTtskara31.1, 320; mqnoma),a (rnade ofmind) 260, 409 (See "body',). See"citta."

maltlela 282, 426,448nMandilkya Upani;ad 425Manene, a goddess 147Mafljugho;a 434,439Mafijufri 22, 28, 16l, 2gO, 433, 435.

See "Bodhisattva."I\{afljusrimitra 136Ma iij u ! r i- na ma s arytg i t i - c ak 9 ur-v i dhi-

nanu 736nManorathanandii-r 1 1 8nnlantia (sacred frrmula, incantation)

Cfgpt-er 22; 77,309-310, 323424,462, 395-397, 393, 402, 410, 436_337, 449n, 450; ol prajrtaparatnita3.23-324 ; Ory 37 7, 419-420,- 426-428,428n, -437-439, 449; svaha 323-324',418-42A, 419n, 427-428, 428t. 449'.See. "dhuranl," "vilya"; "secd,"svllables.

Manuat of Abkirlhamnn 254nManual of a hfysyfs ]6Manusmrti 376-378.M4!u l3-I4" 18,91, 114, 145, I5B,'372,

4C7, 447-448; the four- 203-20), 372.447 , 447 n: "scn-,;f-the-go,js" Mara84, 9tr ,209; Deaih Mara 209,447n;acts of 76

Maruts 447Mq{r{I, bases of (rzDhibhvdyatana) 76-

77 " 90-94Ml.ticeta 287Maudgaiyiyana 47,132mcA:r,s (upaya) 22, 100, 106-107, 118.

297, 302, 321, 379-390, 395_396'

464

medicine 399, 400n, 402, 404, 450nmeditation (dhyana: P., jhana) Chap-

ter 3; 200, 206, 226, 231, 242, 246,250, 291-283, 294-297 , 300-301 , 303-304, 306, 309-3 1 1, 314, 331, 3gl, 395,393-394, 397, 406 406n,415n,4t7,420, 437-438; four Dhyinas 35, 57,210, 315-316, 320-324, 321n, 329,331, 358, 361; perfect ion of 23,106,108-109, 113,302, 445, 446n (See"perfections"); objects of (See"kasitn"); among "i.hree instruct-ions" 100, l0B, 126 (See "instruc-t ions").

nerit (punya) 44, 395-396, 415-417fuIetta-sutta 53Mimdrysa school 381, 408nrindfirlness 76, 83, 91, 144,212, 283,

3 3 1 , 3 6 1mind-only (ci t t a-mat ra) 17 7nrirror (adaria) Chapter 6; 253, 255,

259, 409; of the law 142; karma-144-145, 183, 256; knowledge- 438 ;prajfia- 130,149-15l

Milindapafiha (Questions of King Mil-inda) 393,396, 402-403

Mkhas-grub-rje (:Khai Dub) 136,M3

Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of tlteBuddhist Tantras 21,25n,38n, 39n,93n, 95n, 135n, 282n, 396n, 406n,410n, 434, 434n, 438n, 443n

monastery Qihara) 42-58, 308monasticism Chapter 2; 374moon 316, 401,405, 408, 424, 432,

436-437, 445, 445n, 448n, 449n, 450nrorality (ftla) 69,71; three kinds 110-

111; six members of 357-358; fourroots of 361; as seven abstinences34-36; perfection of 23, 61, 106-1 13,302, 321, 446n (See'operfections") ;among "three instructions" 57, 59,126,205,281-282 (See Chapter 18).See Chapter 2.

mother 102-103, 107, l l3, 145, 274,3A6, 324,383, 385, 393, 400, 403,441, 446n. See "iakti," "Tdrl.."

mountain 219-2201.1 rtltu-vsii.ana (Cheating Death) 4051t u I apat t i s arytgraha 441 nJI il I a sarv a s t iv a dani k ay ai k aiat ak ar man

59\{Irlasarvdstivdda sect 38-40, 42, 49-

51, 53, 59, 63, 65,220-221Millasarvastivdda Vinayav ibhariga 32,

42, 62-63, 143n,22AMundaka Upaniwd 383nuni (silent sage) 370-375; Buddha as

mahd-muni 380-381. See o'Buddha."

Buddhist Insight

Munimatdlarykara 133, 16l, 165n,176n,421s 422n

Nagarjuna 43, 53, 173, 124,130, 136-737,139-140, 155rr , 165, 167,174-180, 185n, 186, 198n, 215-216,2I8,221-222, 252-255, 295, 296n, 434n.See Chapter 11.

Nagdrjunako4da 288Nagasena 396Nai;adhacarita 448nNalanda University 43n-ame-and-fo rrn (na ma- r upa) 25 6, 263.

See Chaptei 8.Naropa 142, 145n,147Netti-pakarana l19nNietzichs, f'. :OSNikayas 25, 42, 209, 246. See titles.Nirmana-kaya See "bcdy",. of the

Buddha.nirvdna (release) 15, 19, 23, 86, i05-

105, 109, l lg ,122, 127, 755, 155n,175, 176n, I78, 794, 208, 2l l , 232,240,242, 249-249, 252, 254. 274,306, 312, 320, 323-324, 359-359, 365,370-371,385, 449: with remlinCer203n, 212, 274, 335, 352, 365-366:without renuindcr 2C3n, 274. 312.330-331, 335, 352,355; wirhrut f ixedabcde 106,274,285, 374 Surnmit-257 ; parinirvdna 17 , 78, 9l , 97 , 252n,257, 264-265, 29I,301, 3 I I , 323, 341

"352N i ; p annalt 0 g 4v al i | 47 nNoble Truths, four See "truth."non-self (andtman) 18, 19, 95, ll2,

111, 120-125, l3g, 179, 1gg, 195-197, 203-204, 206, 195n, 316-318,322, 331, 334, 345, 437-439. See"chau.cteristics," three; " iunyata"',"sslf"; Cha-oter 10.

Nyaya-Mafijari 428Nydya school 239; -VaiSeqika 408

offences 59-65: the worst as four "de-feats" (parajika) 60, 64-65, 3141'fourteen transgressio as 441'Od srun gis 2us pa ("Questions ofKdSyapa") 107'Ol I(ha family 289

ordination 46-54: compared withoostages of life" 48-49

PadmSvati 400Pali Chanting Scripture with Thai and

English Translation 53nPaficakrama 424

Index

Pafi cav irnfi at i s dha s r ilc d P r aj iiap ar a ni t a319n

Paqini 289, 413, 414nPafijika 375nparamar t ha (absolute sense, sllpreme,

supreme meaning) Chapter 17 ;'1"56-1 57, 177 -17 8, 210-211, 246-247, 329-330, 335, 338, 345, 349, 419,422;truth 18, 106, 114, 175, 242-243,248-249, 294, 369, 378-381; -ta(Ultimate State) 272

Paramdrtha-gatha (Verses of S upreneMeaning) Chapter 17; 17l,196,199,337,345,352-354

Pdramitd-samasa (Phar plD,in bsduspa) l0l-lll

parikalpa (imagination) 219, 27 2, 334,340, 345, 350 ; : dissllrsive tl-rinking203. See'oabh[itaparikalpa," "kal-pite," "vikalpa."

p arini rv d na See' o nirv a pa.o'parivrdjaka (one gone forth) 30,31,45,

49-50, 78. See "persorls."Parjanya 395Paryaya-sarygrahaqti 44n, 206, 2A9-

210 - 315 , 3 t r6nPatafljali 289Path (marga) Chapters 2-4; lI9, 125'

127, 165, 1,99, 202, 205, 212, 2lB-220,233, 281, 302-303, 320, 327,329-330,334,359-360, 383, 424; asa ladder 209 the, four 318; the five205; Eightfold Noble Path 19, 126,186, 206, 236, 330, 358, 378-379;Middle Path avoiding extrenes 55-56, 58, 167, 186,205,238,234, 345;stages of Bodhisattva Path 41, 95,107-108, 149, 157 -t58, 177 -179, 185,244, 312-315, 3i8, 321-322, 32rn,333; :Fourth Noble Truth (Seeootruth.")

Pat isamb hidamagga 21 5-216, 221-222Pavdra4d ceremony 56penance 63-5Eperception See " vij fidna."perfection of insight (prajfia-p aramifi)

25-26, 96-97, 106-108, 113-114, 138,150, 161, 177,313, 321-324, 446n;personified 321-324, 322n, 420, 433,445n, (See "mother"); mattra of323-324; as a type of literature 130-133, 1,34, 136-138, l4l , 205, 422,433,439 (See Chapter 15). See "per-fections," "insight."

perfections (paramita) 244, 323, 428;six Chapter 4; 16, 23, 61, 104-114,302, 321, 315n, 446, 446n. See "giv-ing," etc.; "perfection of insight."

persons 180-187, 195n; two kinds 198-1.99, 360, 380-381; three kinds 175,

465

178, r . l0 l . l i l j -155. J- ' ' l : > i r k in ls403; six rel igious ki l . i : l , -r : t l rreeCe.gt 'ecs or"rei igicu:99: ; . . . ' . . . : . :o-sit ions 72-7 3 : fir'e cir r !- , ii I -r ') r-2l0n; orilinary (pitlrtgjtt,r:r) \1. I t',77, BB, 122, 149, 157, 167 , l ' . i 5. :17,232, 234, 315, 331, 345-347, 317-378 ; lay (upasika, -kA) 44-45, 50, 63,110, 183n, 228, 354, 376n (See"householder"); novice t4, 30, 45,47-53; directing ordinatron 49-52;noble (arya) 14, 17,84, 123, 166,205, 210, 217, 234, 272, 331, 339,346, 363, 378, 431, 437; lazy 357,3-57n. Sec trt les.

persuasions, I'our t09, lt4Picasso, P.284Pitftp uf rasaniigama-sfit ra (Meet iiry of

Father and Son) 138-139,157n,166,255. 319.403

Platform Sutra of the Sixth Pairiarcltl 4 l n

poison 392, 424, 449-451, 450n-451n;the three'Poisons (lust, hetred, de-Itrsicn) 14, 30, 76, 96-97, 197, 205,210, 330, 386, 403, 405, 449n(among"dispositions" 72-74)

postures, fout 72; "walkiirg postureof the Buddha 12-13

powers, ten 108Prabhakara 408Pradtpoddyotana 161, 37 3, 435npraj iici See " i nsight.o'P raj iiap 11 rami t ab havanop ade 3a 7 9Prajdpati 414-415, 4!4n, 425-426, 426nFrajiicipradlpa 165nPrajialataka 434prakTti (primal netuie) 1.90-191, 237,

329pramd4ta (authority) 381; three 346,

346nPrarnrinavdrttika 118-119, 195, 297,

379Prdsangika-Mddhyarnika school 243-

245,249PrasannaJta;1,: l39n-140n, 140, 165n,

222n, 233n,250, 312, 371Pra5dstrasent 324pralrobdhi (caihrrtic) 80-81, 84, 95,

9 8 , 1 1 3Prdtimokia (F., Pitimokkha) (Liber-

ation-Onset) 30-42, 52-54, 58-68;two kinds 35-37 , I 19n ; -saqnvara 16,33-34,59, 358, 361 (See 'ovow").

Prdtimo k ; a- s [it ra 30-42, 59-60P r at t t yas amut p dda- gaitan d nus dr e 4aci t -

tusthepanopaya l83nP rat i t y asarnut p dda- h y daya-k Ar i k a 18Pr at i t y as amutp d dah y daya-v y dk ar a 4

1,37, 253; -vyakhyana 174n

466

Pratitydsamutpada Sutra 17 4nP rat i t y as amutp a da- v y a k hy a l7 4npratyak{a (direct perception, direct

view) 297-298, 300, 303,346n,360,379

p r at y e k ab udd ha (self -enlightened one)76,96,100, 108, 110, 138, 184, 178n,194, 196-197, 308, 316, 318, 324,330, 373; as rhinocerus 318. Seettpersons."

pudgala (person, personality) 139, 1,56,775, 195-796, 196n, 264-265, 316,335, 341, 346, 352

Puggala-pafifiati (Designation of Hu'man Types) 1,6,72, 252n

Purdnic tradition 41.7, 423,432, 434,447n

Pure Land (Sukhavati) 26-27purus. a (person) 190-191, 237, 396, 409 ;

maha- 446nP fi rv a- M imd qn s d- S ut r as 429 nPurvaSaila sect 251Pu;an 378-380, 388

Rajavagga 33Ramayalra 279,377,393Rat nac u (ap arip y c c hd 22, 26Ratnagotravibhaga 241, 244, 302Ratnikara6 dnti 27 , 79 , 211 , 324n, 428,

428nRatnakirti 239nRatnakuta 138, 154, 260n,262Ratncvali 139rddhi (magical power) 77, 89, 93, 154,

233, 257, 371, 373. See "abhiifrd,""siddhi."

reasons, four 101Red-mda'-ba 246n,312refuge (iararya). Buddha as 12; the

taking of 46,50, 105. See oJewel."

\g-veda 189, 370, 376-377, 384Rgyal-tshab-rje 379Ri ; tasamuccaya 402, 425rite (kriya, vidhi) 291, 378-381, 386-

388,397, 406n, 417-419, 426-429,433-439,447n-448n; of truth ChaP-ter 20; of passage 397; of eye oint-ment 160, 299; of mirrorwashing135-136; confession 392; homa 405,pilgrimage 291-292; sacrifice 381,385, 391, 393, 413-416, 416n. See"mcn(ala"; Chapter 22.

Rnam snan mnon byari ("RevelationEnlightenment of Vairocana") 106

Rii (Seer) 373, 383, 397, 425, 425n, 436Rudra 446n, 450n; -ka 372

Sabbasutta (Discourse on "Every-thing") 233

Buddhist Insight

Sa bcu pa ("S[tra of Ten Stages") 107Sacittikabhumi Chapter 16 ; 194sddhana (evocation) 145, 147 -148, 410,

428, 434-439, 449n; defined 443;Sadhya 417-418; sadhaka 418;:avaha 423, 425

S addhar map u 4(ar ika | 43Saddhar mas my t y up as t ha na- s il t r a l84nS agaramat ipari p y c c ha 27 9Sahajalalita 429nSa'iJha-mo brtan-ma (Earth God-- dess) 147Saivism Chapter 24, 135, 374, 387,

393, 405, 409-410, 442, 446niakti (power) 393, 442,450,450n. See- "mother," 'oTdt-a."

Sikyamuni 27-28, 35, 54, 56,289-290,370

Saldyatana-Vagga 122, 345n, 350n,352n

S afi stambaka-karika 137. 17 4nS Alistambasutra 137, | 66n-167 n, 1,7 4n,

1 7 7 , 1 8 0 n , 1 8 1 , 1 8 6samadhi (concentration, one-pointed-

ness, meditation) 55-56, 67-69, 78-84, 89, 98, 109-110, 126, 155-158,281, 283-284, 289, 297, 301, 313-315, 324, 331, 360, 363, 386; Dia-mond-like 84, 1571' of "knowledgeand vision" 84; of "love" 84

Samahitabhumi 76, 83-84, 86-90, 92,94, 194,212, 315, 318, 327

S 1mofiiia-p hala- s ut t a 3 4Samantapds adik a (S han- C hie n- P' i- P' o-

Sha) 35n-37n, 45n, 55n-56n, 61n,63n, 64n, 67n,306

samdpatti (equipoise) 80, 82, 84, 88,90, 92-94, 97, 159, 175, 313, 315,320, 329-33t, 373, 449n

iamatha (P., samatha) (calmine) 66,77 ,81 ,88 , 113 , l l 8 , 174 ,281 ,284 ,296-297, 362, 364-366, 436, 442,449; combined (:yuganaddha) witho'discerning" 82, 95, 213; amongthree "instructions" 69-71, 74, 78,95, 125-126. See "meditation,""vipaSyand"; Chapter 3.

Sama Veda 382,386sarrbhavai;tn, a being 158Sambhoga-kaya See "body", of the

Buddha.Sarpdhinirmocana-sfitra 79, 130, 134,

193,200, 3l4n,32lnSarydhivyakarapa 373Samgha (P., Sangha) (Congregation,

Order) 235, 370, 447n; eighteenearly sects 40, 406 (See names). SeeoJewel"; Chapters 2-3.

Sarnkhya-karika 189

Index

Samkhya school 125, 1,87-791, 239Sammatiya 39-40,251SatTtpula-tilaka-tantra 155n, 1 59sarytsdra (cyclical flow, phenomenal

l i fe ) 17-18, 82,106,176n, 180, 188-lB9, 202, 212, 253 -254, 27 8-27 9, 294,306, 312-313, 322, 322n, 352; asswirling waters 324

.sarytskdra (motivations) 92-94, 1,20-123, 191-19 5, 202" 21.7 -220, 237, 248,254-255, 263, 273, 276, 303, 3ll,316-317 , 320, 336-338, 346,348-350,404,409,416 (See "skandhe" ; Chap-ter 8); :traces 409; :gsnstructions120, 122, 174-175, 275 (See"d/1arma"\

,saynvarodaya Tantra 144, 146, 424sar.nv rti (conventional) I57, 242, 247,

330, 338, 349,438; truth l05, l l4,775, 243, 249-249, 349, 369,379;mind 178

Saqnyuktagama 227, 3 57 nSamyutta-nilcaya 75, 16, 19, 74, 77,

97 , 122, 132, 158, 165-167,' ,212,215-216,236, 302, 3l l , 345n, 350n,352n, 357n

Sanghabhadra 1 18n, 306nSanghabltedavastu 33nSangharakla 193nSangiti- S ut tanta (Recital Sernton) 37 |Sankara 374..381.408Safis rgya.r so lna'i mfion rtogs. . . . 15nSdntarakri t t 240n. 37 5nSintiCeva 24-26, 1.01 -102, 124n, 139n,

226, 255n, 299, 3M-305, 404, 405nSaptabhavasiltra 257Saradatilaka 4I8Sarasvati Clttpter 23Siriputra (P.. Sariputta,) 24, 47, 132,- 166n,221-222,233. See Chapter 15.

S-ar i p utr a b hidhar ma! d s t ra 25 1Sarir drtha-gAtha 333, 354Sarvad urgat i p a r i i o dlt ana- t an t r a 37 3 n'Sarvistivdda 40, 251, 406S ar v a tat hdg a t a ma t r t a r dv i i v ak ar rnab h-

avatantra 442-443Satapathabrdhmana 32, 414, 426,

426n-427n,431Satpur u;agat i-siltra 257, 263SatyasiddhiSastra ll9'Sautrantika sect 118, 353Savita 377, 417Savitarkddir-bhumi t94, 200-201, 203,

210Sdyala 431Sbas pa'i don lcun gsal ba l46n'Schiller, J. 293sciences, five 113seal Qnudrd) 67,135, 138, 253, 447,

447n.449n

467

secret Chapter 15; 313, 331,442"secret Key io the l{eart Sutra" 308seed (btja) 179, 183, 187n, 188-189,

253,255, 261, 263, 272n, 282, 338-340, 350, 352, 4491' syllabies 418,426-427, 427 n-428n, 437 -439, 449n.See o'mantra."

self (atman) 18, 95, 102,104, 121,138,142-1,43, 159, 169-170, 175-178, 188-1 89, 1 95, 203-204, 206, 247 -249, 27 l-271, 317, 322, 33r-340, 345-350,350n, 352, 370-371, 382-384, 388,Upanipadic 256, 259; as kli,rlama-nas 272n; :aharykdra 139. See"non-self"; Chapter 10.

Seng-chao 149-150sense lrases (iyatana) 169-172, 175,

179-180, 182-183, 203, 233, 247,263, 272n, 298, 318-320, 335, 345-346,345n

Sgrub thabs kun btus 145n,147n,433sham:rn 130. 145. 280Shan-Chien-F'i-P' o-Shz See " S aman-

taDasadrKa."Shen-hsiu 140Shilappadikaram 401Shingo;r school 308Shin school24,26Shinto 130Shiva Senhita 394nSibilatata 391,394Siddha 417-418,417nsiddhi (success, magical suscess,

occult power) 136, I48,394, 405-406, 418. See "abhijiia," o'rdChi,"

"Siddhe."iik;rlpada (P., sikheryada) (pcints of- instruct ion) 30-31, 34,50, 59, 175Sik;asarnilccaya 22, 26, 101, 124n,

139n. 255n ̂ 4041tSila See "rnorality."S.iryhapariprccha 404Si;yalekha 22sil, 279Sitdtapatr6 (White llmbrella Lady)

407Siva 374, 442, 446n, 447, 447n-448n,

450. 450nSivasvarodaya 424skandha (personal aggregates) 15, 53,

95, 12'.1., 123, 138-139, 158, 172-173,232-233, 246-247, 253, 259, 313,316, 320, 335, 345, 362n. See Chap-ter 10.

smrti (memory) 283, 372; personified433,439

Sriass rim chen mo 160soma 283: personified 259, 432, 446nspeech (vdi), and mind 414, 4l4n;-

-sarnskdra 210, 303,311, 316, 323;

468

as f ire or cow 415-417, 4l5n: oer-sonified 393, 39G-397, 410.' 414.414n-415n. 424-425, 431-432. 435:436. See "rrio;:lrG," 'obody, speech,and mind"; Ctraptcrs tg-:26, ZZ.'

S ra dd h (i l,a | (1 r! h ii n a - s tt t rtt | 6lSrayaly (\., satntt.ta; (as.;ctic) 30, 34,

55-57, 67, 3ai. 374-315, 375" 3e}io1" f 'oLrr ki lr : !s 30. tsuCdli i r *s'nw!ru-

,380; . fernr le 407. Suc . ,p , r .uo i r . ; 'Srautakoia 426nirdvaks (disciple) 30, 36, 76. 95-97.

1 0 0 , i 0 B , l t 0 , t ! 1 , l t 9 , l 3 s . t 5 7 :173. 194. 19( , -1 t7 . t99, 207: 217 ' .?r -219, 251, 308, 313, 3 t6_317 ' ,363, 415; :hearers 250. See .,per-so-lis,"

Sraval;abhtimi l5n.l7rr, 30n" 55n. 57.7-Qry,72r1r76-7'd, BO-Eu. 8.9, I I8, l7l i .r ,181 n. 194, 19. in , i96n, 205. 2C+. '260n, 263 n. 27Cn, 271n, l9-;;r, 29on.i 99 ' r , jQ1 , 3194 3 )7 ,331 , 333 -334 ;353n ,354 . 365n

Sred nicd kyi brts l,,t pn (..eucstions- of Nar'dyana") I 14

SrimC{rj-siiit'o (Ti:c Lion's Rcar ofQu-e eit,Slin-ti /i) 1 8-+-1 85, 2lln, 215i,

- 253,263,322: tS-r ip ar a n i i d :- t i k C 280Sri-ParamAdya 107\rngcrra Prakaia 4A0Srutamayi-bkumi 194, 2A5, 210stagr.s at life 277. tsrallaran;c 380

(contp;rr;d wirh Iil'r: of a tsir:l<lu 56-58; conri:;l 'ed r.viih Bulrlhist or.di-nation 48-49). See "bhfirsti.',

Sthavira seci 38-39. 288Sthiramati 85, 9:; , 130n, I5T, 176.

270ir, 308, 3\6, 318, 321n, 322strcari l 340.i41 , j - i9, 35 ! -J5:. 401 .

447n: - . i ,a rcr 15, 19,30, 142, lB5.218-219; oi cr::rc;cusn:s.; 99-104.109 , 171 , l l 4 , 157 , 233 ,313 , 338(cf. mind as u arcr 1 30- | 3 l)

strivirrg 108, 352, 353; three kinds!12; porfect ion of 23, 706,108, 1 13,302,321, 446, 446n (See "perfec-tions")

stupa 44, 64, 288-289" 291-292: seecaitl'a 291

Subha t i ta-sarytgraha 185n, 219Subhrrti 23-24Suhrllclrka (Fi'icndly Epistle) 254, 295iunya (voiri) or i{tnyato (voiCness) 22,

25, 27, 107-109, 12A-721, 131-133,736, 139-14A, 113-14,4,148, 150, 157,159, 165, 136, 190-191, 206-207.237 -239, 240 " 27 C-27 4, 27 5, 302, 309,312-313, 316-320, 321tt, 335, 346,

Buddhist Insight

348, 422, 436-437: sixteen kinds- 435. See "gates to liberation."

$ilnyatasaptati l7BS-fi r atig amasa mq {t i ti,g ilt r a 1 45 nSilra;igama Siltra I44SDryagupta 443, 447n-448nS u s i d d lt i lc ar a - nmh dt ani ra- s a riha ttop ay -

i ka-parala Tantra 419-420SuSruta 404Suiruta-sarythittl 405Suttavibhanga 34n, 45n,55n, 60n, 62n.

See'oVinaya."S uv ar n ap r ab hu s {t- s ut ra 43 4svabhava (self-existence, intrinsic na-

turo, olrl-n:1ture, nature) 721, I34,139, 142, 157-158, I74n, 226, 234,237-244. 244n, 248, 250, 316, 334,373,438; as mantra 435,436n

Svap;::ic;ntannni 399SvopntTdhyaya 399, 40tSvaytnava savadat t a 400Sltapnavicdra 399S't, tir than nmd na- p a r i cche da | 18nSvdtantrika-Madhyamika schccl 245,

249syr,rbol (sanmya) tr.17, 117n, 205-209,

291, 293, 294-295, 301, 406, 4I7,431, 434, 437 *, 447 ;t, 449tt; -sattva438. See "Bu.icihist art"; Chapter6-7.

T anfta. 1 30, 1 35-1 3 6, l4l-14.2, 145-t47,I 60-i 61, 1 84-1 85, 191, 262, 27 5, 282,29A, 296-298, 301, 322it, 373, 's73n,387, 393, 399, 405, 409-410, 433-435, 439-4'43, 419n; Caryi 410n;Kriya 4tr0n; Yoga 407; Anuttara-yoga 411. See tities; Chzpter 22.

Tantrayurtika 429nTara Chrpter 24 ; 25-28, 29.6, 306, 406,

420; White 'Idrl,27-28, 147; vidyaof 320,427-423; as Gangd 446n;as FanCara 448n. See "mother,""iakti."

Tarkajvala 409nTathigatagarbha 253Tattvasarpgraha 24Cn, 37 5nTheravaia sect Chapter 3; 4I-42, 49,

63, 182, 186-187, 785n, 215, 231,235, 236, 251-252, 288, -731

Thusness (tailtata) 12, 155, 166, 176,.189,272

Tibetan Book of the Dead 265time (kalct) Chapter' 13 ; 201, 239, 323,

347-343, 362, 359, 373, 395, 406:408,439

Tirukkural400"Toda Dream Songs" 404

Index

tree-242, 259. Z9l-292, 294, 317. 365.226,_4911406; wishing- 385: boai i

12,t,t fl ].ol+ iTia2eo ; or sutteringTr i rni i k ub ha ; ya l30n-l3I ntripila+a (Three Baskets) 37

"\k!'f l{g'[,'3r'î'ru]?i;-?l3i?1o'.358. 376n, 403; the two tiulfii iS-#,'i3fli: T#"# ig: { 6': {,',1' f !; 1"'t:I3Z',393',123:'r\'r?33t331'3ii;131;) :6) ; and s i lence (See Chapter^19):riie or Act of 1 60,'ztg, iiTISJS,'ii6

_ (_See Chapter 20)T4na-ma'i'brjed byan chen mo l|gnrshad ma'i lom khrid (,,Guidance on_ ln"

path of Authority") 379rsna-go-pa 407Ts91r-kj1al-g1 Cfraprer 4; l5n, 18, 49_

ii:t'l+'2,'ltul12;'_l?a,'l];_i:;.'ilio,.l{i;',oi;ojllx: ,trt". r80n. . 184.225_n. 237 n, rorT";1!1, |o'J., 1il;

_ J.o?n, 400, 407, 410, 435nratnagila lS5, 176,21g; defined I l ,

Tufita, a heaven 270

{,t;::r :z::gq .' l; -l!,0 37 o - 37 2, 3 8 6

"llt :' t1'u 1 Jr'i j i?,i "0#,, zl!,';',f!;;ffrS:

of 40e-4r0 (ruriya zes).-sreU pa sa m-padaj fiapt i h 46n

" fi :]i:?'% :,ts? :T ̂ *? Ji ; j,1",' 5 :([,tti;a 161, 296,446, 446nu t tf{a ta n t ra (: Ra t nago t rav i b h a g a)

469

Vajrapani 310,40A,4ZlVajrasarasv ati 433. 438Vajrasattve (Dianiond Beine | 142.

t8.6. 2!Q; -husband of praJniparalmitd 322.322n

Vajraiekhara 422Vaj rav i da r a 1t a- d hd r a pl- Tant r a 421Y ajray dna See "Tanira.',Vakkali 166Vakkali-sutta 167Varaharnihira Z77nVaruqa 3-75, 392,395;- praghdsas 392vayy! (habit-energy) lZO:t7t, IBZ,

244.261nV5:savadatta 400Vasttnorpg rahani 17 4, I99, 209 n, 209-

210, 316tt, 331. 335Vasubandhu 58. 84, 91, 117, 122, 154.

156, 170-171. 174, ' t91, 183n, 185n.l9_1, 196n, 222n, 233, 2SI-252, 256:257, 260-261. 265, 25 | tt, 252n. 270n.

_ _270-272, 303, 313, 31 g, 371Vatsipr,rtriva sect 251Yellytq !a7n, 380, 386, 408; Advaita

374 .387Vedarim-,satras 419V"!!: 145, 172-173, 25B, Z6in, 283.

370, 372-376, 379,3S0, 3S6. ' , 3 t i :_ _}?3,. 395-397. See Chapterc ZZ_23.Vibhqjravadin 257, ZS:; :nuOOtra

215Viblta;A 221vidya {clear vision, clear srght; charm,

mrgical fornrula) 12, lg3, tgS. Zi i-393, 4.22, 431; ihree fruits of 394-419-42O; -dhura 373n. 4-15-437: asfcmr lc nnt l r ra 323,397,415n, a$_42t.r_42-1, 42i-429. 428n. 4lg, 449n:of Tdra 420. 428, 449n. See ,,aii-

. dyd."_ "lcnou l+Cge." .. ntentre.',vterv (dr.ct i : P.. ditrhi) 158, 200. 239-

32: , iJ8-139, 350, 354. 379; fou i?11; Q?,.1, false, deviail 200', 203-204, 350-r51. 358, 362n; re i fv ins240..2A+ 206,317 (See Chapter tO;lnorning to an extremc 200, 204:r ight l9-10, 2OS, 237, 240, 244. 35g

_ ..(Se? "Parh," "eightfoid;Vigrahavyivartini 186

Vacaspati MiSra 392nVahni 418Vaibhaqika sect 1lBVairocana 106. See .,Buddha.,'Va I r o c a n d b h i s a r7t b o d h i - t a n t r a | 60varse$rka school 239, 404Vai$nava traditiott 125vai!! ldi+rylond, rhunderbolt) I 85_l 86,

21.6,- 417; tr iple 373: _iord 373;Iteatq 308; -ptedge 426; cf. kuliii(urunderbott) 219-220, 22L See"Va.;rasattva."

VajracchedikA 156Vajramala 135

v ij f i u r ta (perception, conscio usness) 74-!2,, l5-8_, 194, 209_21 l, 217_220, zfi:2^16., 2?2: 259n, 263, Z7I-273, 283-?91, ??9, 303-306,. 316_3 17. 320,329, 337, 345-346,'345n, 40g-409iprav rtt i- 134, 254, 27 6. 293. 330_33 I :349, 350n; adtrna- 130; cau;al lgl_185 ; f i ' u i t i ona l l 8 l - 185 , l g9 . 345 r i :ryalo- 253-254,409:. -kosa 409. See

- -.'.' a layavijfrarua" ; Chapter g.Vi j fr dnavada Sec'.yog6cara., '

470

vijfiapti (representation) 137, 271,-272vij iiap timatr atasiddhi 20, l8gvikalpa (discursive thought) 108, 113,

137 -739, 149-1 50, 17 6, 197, 210-211,,278, 297, 2gg, 301, 302-304, 316,422; right 303; :i*ugination 337.See " k a Ip i ta," " par i k a lpa,"

Vikramdditva 400Vimalamitia 316Vimalotnila 429Vimuttimagga 262nVinaya (discipline) 24, 30-42, 215, 220-

221, 302, 306, 314, 322, 361, 406;-_dlrdra 34, 38, 40, 51. See titlesiChapter 2.

Vinayavastu 53Vin aya-v i b h an g a -p a da-v y ak h y an a 220,

374nVinay a- sarytgr altapi 45nWniicayasaqngrahani 77, 122, 131n,

734n, 157, 164n, 197, 198n, 200,203n, 205, 210,318, 328

Vinitadeva 32-33, 42, 59, 62-63.215.220-221,309, 314,322

viparydsa (waywardness) 21.6, 234:1!!e" stages of 322; four 123, 178,322,329,331; seven 203. See Chap-ter 9.

vipaiyand (P., vipassana) (discerning.clear vision) 69, 108, l l3, 118, 176,190; among three " instruct ions" 78.95; conrbined (-yuganaddha) with"calming" 82,95,213. See "iama-tha"; Chapter 3.

vision (cak;us; P., cakkhu) (dariana;P., dassana) Chapter 7;' 314, 322,380. See "eye," "insight."

Vilnu 375, 42in', 432, 434-435, 450nVfiuudharmottara 432Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification\

55, 69, 72-76, 73n, 7 5n, 95-96, 126,138, 167n, 177, 216n, 262n, 28ln

Yisvesvara 447Viv ar a na- salng raha ni 205vow.(samvara) 168, 200, 204, 282, 361,

363, 373, 376n, 416-417; Bodhi-

Buddhist Insight

sattva vow 101, 104-106. See.,pr6-timok$a."

wl1e9l (cakra) 291-292, 433, 447; ofDharma 15, ll7, ll7n, 127, 153.378, 447n; of Life or Becomins(bhavacakra) 63, 170, 182: spinninE388; rak;a-cakra448n. See .,Cakralvartin."

wickednesses (dulkrta), the fifteen 64-65

woman 306, 383, 388, 401-402, 404-406, 432; sacred nature of 441:detractions of 13. See "bhik;u4i,,t"mother."

Ydjfiavalkya 383Yajur-veda 382,393Yama 145, 158, 256, 258, 396, 404Yassamdisam-sutta 33yati (restrainer) 30. See "persons."yoga 56, 212, 263, 283, 322, 374, 394,

324n, 410, 425, 439. See "Path";Chapters 2-3.

Yogacarabhumi Chapters 9, 16; l6n,70, 76-77, 126, 157, 164, 764n-165n,1.67n, 175, 187n, 216n, 259n-261n,303, 315-316, 333, 315-316, 333,346n, 353-354, 357n; meditativeprogress in 78-96

Yogdcdra school 53, 95, 130-134, 150,1 56, 1 89-19 l, 27 0-27 3, 309-309, 333-334; as vijfianavada 93

yogin 251, 284, 297, 301, 303, 315-316,324,381

Yoginitantra 397n,419Ytian-ts'0 3l4n,32lnYukti;a;likA 175,178

Zen schcol 308Zhan Blon, a deity 146Zur'debs rnam thar legs biad kun'dus

400n

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Buddhist Insight