The History of Buddhist Thought c18.28

c18.28

Oldenberg found a large number of passages bearing on the subject, but the most decisive of these are attributed to disciples, not to Buddha himself. They are interpretations which even his followers did not venture to ascribe to the Master. What we learn from them in the first place is the doctrine which had become established in the community. Whether it was the original doctrine, or whether the disciples had forgotten or actually effaced an earlier teaching rests on complex considerations.