Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c8.s1.4

v1.c8.s1.4

the attempts of many an erudite commentator to find out the exact sense. The Buddhist texts abound in such enigmatic expressions. This Sutta, in marking out what Buddhism is not, serves, therefore, as an excellent guide for the comprehension of the sense of such expressions. Inspite of this Sutta, the terse saying did give rise to so many Buddhist schools of thought within a century or two after Buddha's death, not to speak of the divergent explanations offered by the present day scholars of Buddha's conception of Soul and Nibbāna. Though the Sutta contains many statements of doubtful value, an exposition of it as a whole may serve to remove many of our misconceptions.