The History of Buddhist Thought c19.84

c19.84

The omniscience attributed to Buddha is not what the Jains claimed for their leader, the view that complete knowledge is continually present, but that Buddha can so direct his attention that anything can come within the “knowledge net” (*ñāṇajāla*), the range of his knowledge. Still further classification is found in the scholastic list of the five eyes of Buddha: (1) the eye of flesh, which is keen enough to see to the distance of a league; (2) the divine eye (ninth power); (3) the eye of wisdom (*paññā*), which he possesses as the discoverer of the Path; (4) the Buddha-eye, by which he knows the hearts and intentions of individuals (sixth power); (5) the universal eye, or omniscience.¹