Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c19.62

c19.62

Keith holds this view to be a contradiction to that of universal contingency and Nairātmya.⁴⁶ Mrs. Rhys Davids would answer by saying that Buddha did believe in a self which became better or worse in accordance with its exertions. The principle of contingency was proclaimed for the very purpose of freeing man through knowledge. This is in fact her central contention about the gospel of Buddha. For a solution of the philosophical difficulty involved along more orthodox lines the exposition of Rosenberg may be mentioned.⁴⁷ Only, it must be remembered that these subtle and speculative implications were most probably not present to the ancient Buddhist.