The History of Buddhist Thought c23.34

c23.34

What Śāntideva tells us in this work is expressed chiefly in extracts from Mahāyāna sūtras, and from these we gain a much more favourable impression of Mahāyāna literature than is afforded by such works as the Lotus. Śāntideva was no doubt an exceptional character, but the fact that such a man and such teaching could appear in the seventh century, and could obtain recognition as one of the most prominent teachers, shows that Buddhism was not in a general state of moral decadence. The degeneration which appeared affected certain schools, according as they suffered from the corruptions to which ascetic movements are always exposed, or as they adopted beliefs and practices foreign to Buddhism.