Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s3.t5.51

v2.c35.s3.t5.51

(ii) *lakṣaṇānyathātva*: Bhadanta Ghoṣaka and others maintain that the *dharmas* in their transition from past to present, and present to future, undergo changes in characteristics (*lakṣaṇas*) only. A *dharma*, when it is past, is associated (*yukta*) with the *lakṣaṇas* of the past, but it is not dissociated (*aviyukta*) from the *lakṣaṇas* of the present and future, so also a future *dharma* is associated (*yukta*) with the *lakṣaṇas* of the future but not dissociated from the *lakṣaṇas* of the present and past; in the same way one can speak of the present. By way of illustration, it may be said that when a man is attached (rakta) to a woman, he is not detached (avirakta) from other women.¹