The History of Buddhist Thought c26.53

c26.53

As Asanga (or rather Maitreya) says, “ on the pure stage (free from the āsravas) there is neither oneness nor plurality of Buddhas; not oneness owing to their formerly having had bodies, not plurality because like space they have no bodies.”¹ Here we have the usual explanation of the absolute unity posited by the system. There is thus also an infinity of Buddhas. They are beings who have completed the career and have taught the doctrine; they exist now in a state of bliss, but behind all illusion and relative truth they are the one universal reality.