Manual of Indian Buddhism c7.s8.2

c7.s8.2

The Vaibhāṣikas and the Sautrāntikas may be qualified as realists⁴, acknowledging the real existence of the phenomenal world, but whilst the former acknowledge the direct perception of exterior objects, the latter hold that exterior objects merely exist as images, and thus are indirectly apprehended. The Vaibhāṣikas reject the authority of the Sūtras altogether, only acknowledging that of the Abhidharma. In their dogmatical system Sākyamuni is a common human being, who after attaining the qualified Nirvāṇa by his Buddhahood, and final Nirvāṇa by his death, passed into Nothingness. What may be called divine in the Buddha, is his intuitive knowledge of the truth without the aid of others.