The History of Buddhist Thought c25.60

c25.60

Buddhism, which began with the mysticism of yoga-practices, also ended with it. For the mystic, the ultimately real of his experience was *tathatā*, “suchness.” As the goal of his attainment it was Nirvāṇa, and as the object of his thought it was Buddha as the *dharmakāya*, “the body of the doctrine,” or (with the ontological meaning of *dharma*) “the body of the nature of things.” Like other forms of mysticism that try to express the inexpressible, Mahāyāna developed a mystic symbolism. This will be seen in the other great Mahāyāna school, that of the Yogāchāras.