Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t6.16

c7.s3.t6.16

² E.g., Dīgha, I, pp. 185 ff; Stcherbatsky, Soul Theory of the Buddhists, (p. 846) shows that Buddha would have said ‘tam jīvam tam sarīram’ if the questioner had not meant by Jīva a soul “as a real living unit, controlling our actions from within”. As an answer in the positive or negative about such a soul would be like the discussion about the hardness or softness of the hair of a tortoise, Buddha had to be silent on the point (avyākata).