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Indian Philosophy v1.c16: Chapter X

Indian Philosophy v1.c16

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English

Chapter X

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Page 590.—In the Mahāyāna, Buddha loses his human character and is endowed with superhuman powers. The *Jātakas* of the Hīnayāna give place to the Avadānas or the glorious achievements of Buddha and his followers.

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Page 592.—In the *Mahāyānasamparigrahaśāstra*, Asaṅga enumerates seven points in which the Mahāyāna may be regarded as superior to the Śrāvakayāna. “The Mahāyāna is comprehensive; whatever has been taught by Buddha, not by Śākyamuni in one life alone, is accepted; nay, more, as we have seen, whatever is well said, is to be deemed the word of a Buddha. Secondly, the Mahāyāna aims at general salvation, not at individual release, thus excelling in love for all created things. Thirdly, the Mahāyāna is intellectually wider in range than the Hīnayāna; the latter denies the reality of the self, the former goes so far as to deny all phenomenal reality whatever. Fourthly, the Mahāyāna inculcates spiritual energy; to seek swift release for oneself is not its aim as it is that of the Śrāvaka. Fifthly, the Mahāyāna is skilled in the manifold means (upāya) to lead men to salvation; it is unwearied in their varied application. Moreover, it leads to a far higher ideal; the adept aims to become not a mere saint but a Buddha in his complete perfection. Lastly, when an adept becomes a Buddha, he has the infinite power of manifesting himself throughout the universe in a body of bliss.” See Suzuki: *Mahāyāna Buddhism*, ch. ii.

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Page 594.—Vasubandhu says that the transitoriness of existence and the eternity of nirvāṇa are both implied by the reality of the absolute.

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Page 597.—In the Hinayāna, the physical body of the Buddha is distinguished from the body of the law which each man has to realise for himself. Later in the *Divyāvadāna* (pp. 19 ff.; see *Dīgha N.*, iii. 84), we find the idea that the material body of the Buddha is the body, while his soul is the law. The true nature or soul of Buddha is the intuition (prajñā) or enlightenment (bodhi) attained by him. When expressed in metaphysical terms, it is the ultimate reality which underlies the phenomenal universe. While this reality belongs to every Buddha, each Buddha is said to have at the same time a dharmakāya of his own. The dharmakāya is identified with the tathatā, or primitive undifferentiated reality, or the womb of the Tathāgata, or the source of every individual being (*Laṁkāvatāra*, p. 80). Each Buddha is conceived as possessing a body of ineffable brilliance which is called saṁbhogakāya. The relation of saṁbhogakāya to dharmakāya is explained by Candrakīrti (*Mādhyamakāvatāra*, iii. 12). Those equipped with wisdom (jñāna), as the Buddhas, reach dharmakāya, while those equipped with merit (puṇya), as the Bodhisattvas, reach saṁbhogakāya. One cannot, however, be sure of this, since the Mahāyāna literature gives visible forms to Amitābha and Śākyamuni.

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Page 597 n.—See *Sūtrālaṁkāra*, ix. 77, and *Kāraṇḍavyūha*. There is no absolute being possible even for a Buddha.

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Page 598.—" Those who worship the Bodhisattvas and read the Mahāyāna Sūtras are called the Mahāyānists (*I-Tsing*: Takakusu's E.T., p. 14).

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The conception of law as the body of the Buddha is suggested in the Canon. The Sautrāntikas seem to accept a body of bliss, one of the three kāyas.

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Page 599.—The conception of the absolute realising itself in Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is of great religious value. It shows how the absolute is co-operating with the individual to secure for him the bliss of deliverance.

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Page 600.—The radiant vijñāna transforms itself into active intellect and develops into the world of matter and consciousness.

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Page 601.—See also *Mahāvastu*.

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Page 602.—The Bodhisattva, out of compassion, is prepared to face the tortures of hell (*Bodhicaryāvatāra*, vi. 120; *Śikṣāsamuccaya*, p. 167). The sufferings of the Bodhisattvas are not the penalties of past crimes, but opportunities for the exercise of their perfections (*Bodhicaryāvatāra*, vi. 106). To the Bodhisattvas we owe homage and adoration. By confessing our sins to them we merit their forgiveness (ibid., vi. 119. 122. 124; cp. also *Śikṣāsamuccaya*, pp. 160 ff.). By the transfer of one's merit, one can please the Bodhisattvas (*Bodhicaryāvatāra*, v. 85; *Śikṣāsamuccaya*, p. 127). Śāntideva is alive to the folly of the man who hands over his body to the wild beasts for food, when he could confer on others the precious gift of the knowledge of the true faith (*Śikṣāsamuccaya*, pp. 119 and 34 ff.; *Bodhicaryāvatāra*, v. 86 ff.; *Bodhisattvabhūmi*, i. ix). There is no disgust with life. The rigours of monasticism are relaxed, and the householder is regarded as being in a favourable position for the attainment of Buddhahood. See Suzuki: *Mahāyāna Buddhism*, chap. xii.

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Page 603.—We cannot say how enlightenment arises. "The ancient alone knoweth the incomprehensible faith of action in that he doth lead to release men, even when they have abandoned thought of enlightenment" (*Bodhicaryāvatāra*, iv. 27).

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Page 604, *n.* 3.—Rāgadveṣamohakṣayāt parinirvāṇam.

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Page 605.—*Vimalakīrti Sūtra* gives a positive account of nirvāṇa. It admits the possibility of the growth of insight in the midst of life with all its distractions. Nirvāṇa is saṃsāra, and we must try to attain nirvāṇa in and through life and not through abstention from its activities. According to Asaṅga's *Mahāyānasamparigrahaśāstra*, the Buddha, though free from attachment and defilement, is yet full of compassion for the departed souls who are to be rescued by him.

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Page 610.—See also K. J. Saunders: *Epochs in Buddhist History*; Sir Charles Eliot: *Hinduism and Buddhism*; J. B. Pratt: *The Pilgrimage of Buddhism*.

Cites (7)