Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s2.t9.3

c7.s2.t9.3

The Mahāsāṅghikas and their followers³ assert that Śākyamuni was an upapāduka (self-born), and that even his son Rāhula was also an upapāduka, for Bodhisattvas cannot have kāma. They assert that Bodhisattvas are possessed of ‘adhiṣṭhāniki ṛddhi’ (i.e., the power of appearing anywhere and in any form), and that by that power Śākyamuni made a seeming show of his existence in the womb of Māyā. They conceived Buddha as lokottara (transcendental), and Śākyamuni as only a phantom (Nirmāṇakāya). The transcendental Buddha has a rūpakāya which is limitless, everlasting, free from all sāsrava dharmas. He is always in samādhi,¹ never sleeps or dreams, and can know everything in an instant of thought. He knows neither fatigue nor rest, and is ever busy in enlightening sentient beings. His power and his life are limitless. For the benefit of sentient beings he appears at will in any one of the six gatis. Whatever he utters relates to the truth, though people may understand him differently. In short, the Mahāsānghikas conceived Buddha as a totally supermundane being with illimitable powers and knowledge, who never desired to attain Nirvāṇa.²